Daemons
Chapter 15

Non-Consensual Drugging. Mild to Severe Violence Warning.

Nightmare looked to the smiling face of his brother at the door before turning back to glare at Killer’s hopeful expression. “No,” he simply said before turning his back on both with the full intention of crawling back into his nice, dark, people-free room.

Apparently that wasn’t the answer his brother wanted though, a bolt of yellow magic in the shape of an arrow cutting Nightmare off. “Night, you promised that you would hear me out and give my suggestion some thought,” the younger twin commented, the darker twin able to hear how much he was straining to keep his typical smile just through his voice.

“I did, I listened to your dumb idea, I considered it, and I still think it’s dumb. Bye.”

“Dude, Nightmare are you serious?” Killer commented, the other daemon turning to catch the look of disbelief on his face. “We all know that your soulmate isn’t going to just fall through the roof and land in your lap.”

“You never know,” he countered with a smug grin, part of him hoping to hear something falling through the roof at that moment. Alas, his smug look faded as that perfect opportunity was wasted.

Neither of his brothers seemed impressed with his insistence on denying their invitation out, Dream stepping inside to be even with Killer who kept trying to convince him. “Look, Reaper said that our soulmates were in the city, meaning that you have to head into the city in order to find yours! Speaking of, you really want to stay here with Mr. Depresso?”

All three looked into the nearby sitting room where the raven daemon was currently face down in one of the couches, one wing draped over the back while another dragged along the ground. A muffled whine could be heard from him, though he seemed just as insistent to stay in that position as Nightmare was to stay put. The constant failure to find his soulmate despite searching longer than any of them and constantly coming so close was starting to wear on him, leaving in a state of melancholy that none of them could seem to fix. “How... long has he been like that?” Dream questioned, worry seeping into his tone before turning to the other two daemons.

“I think this is day... two...” Nightmare pondered before correcting himself. “No three. Horror finding his soulmate really didn’t help, only made him feel worse for being one of the last two without his mate. Anyways bringing up bird brain over there isn’t going to make me change my mind. It’s not like I haven’t been searching, I’ve just been choosing to go out at night where I blend in more.”

“But your monster form-”

“-Is not a requirement to find them,” he cut the two off with a growl, not eager to feel as weak as he often did in that form. “Now, you two have your answer, so just leave me alone and go enjoy your date or whatever.”

He could hear the two of them muttering as he once again turned his back, paying them no mind as he was sure that they were trying to come up with another argument to convince him even if he’d made it pretty clear that he wasn’t going to listen. So he was a little surprised when Killer grabbed one of his tentacles instead of calling out to him, the older daemon instantly rounding on him with a hiss as he threatened to strike. His brother instantly put his froglike hands up in the air in a sign of surrender, Nightmare glaring at him until his words caught him off guard. “Sorry,” was all he said, the octopus daemon taking far too long to realize what he was apologizing for. Initially believing it to be an apology for touching his sensitive tentacles, the taller skeleton blinked a couple times as his vision started to blur. Only then he realized with rising panic that Killer had originally been in his monster form in preparation to head out, meaning that his current daemon form was a deliberate transformation that he missed when his back was turned. The blurry vision turned to a woozy feeling that left him swaying and fighting to stay awake, the daemon gritting his teeth as he tried to keep his eye open. “You... fucking... drugged...” He slurred, unable to finish his sentence before he lost sight of the pair of guilty smiles and hit the floor.

When Nightmare next opened his eyes, it was due to his head cracking against the car door he’d been leaning on. “Fuck!” He hissed as he grabbed his now throbbing skull, turning to glare at his twin in the driver’s seat. “You two fucking drugged me!” He snarled, blinking his eyes as he adjusted to the bright sunlight and the shapes whipping past the outside of his brother’s car. Wait... eyes, not eye... “And why the hell am I in this disgusting form?!” He screeched, looking to his hands only to see the porcelain white bone staring back at him. And with a sickening dread he realized that he wasn’t able to change forms at will as the moment.

“Sorry!” Dream cringed from the driver’s seat, looking in the rear-view mirror to see the darker twin’s furious expression. “You were being difficult!”

“Difficult?! That’s your excuse for fucking drugging and kidnapping me?!”

“You ever notice that your voice is a slightly higher pitch when you’re in this form?” Killer calmly commented from the passenger seat, clearly not as regretful as Dream was. It did work to silence the other daemon though at the reminder of his weaker form. “Look, this is for your own good. Reaper might have the world’s worst luck, but at this rate he’ll find his soulmate years before you do. If you only go out after dark, then you miss the best time to find your soulmate!”

“You found yours at night.”

“...” Killer paused as he legitimately didn’t have a response to that, shaking his head and moving past that little comment. “Whatever, Horror and I might’ve found ours at night, but the rest found theirs in the middle of the day. It’s obviously better odds Nightmare. Look, I only hit you with a mild sedative, enough for Dream to do what he needed to and to get you too far into the city for you to jump out of a moving car since you totally would do that.”

Ignoring the comment to some of his more reckless tendencies, he instead turned to glare at his twin who flinched as if he could feel his gaze while still watching the road. “Dream. Why can’t I change back?”

Both of them paid no mind to Killer questioning why he tried to change back in the heart of the city with nowhere to hide, the younger sibling growing more hesitant to answer only to eventually cave when pushed again. “I... mayhavesealedyourdaemonform,” he spluttered out all at once, leaving one daemon confused as to what he said but not the other.

“You know I despise when you do that, right?” Nightmare growled in a low tone, earning a meek nod but no verbal response. “And you know I’ll be sure to punish you for this once your spell wears off, right?” Again, another nonverbal confirmation. God, sometimes having a brother that was adept at magic was a huge pain. “When will it wear off?”

“Um... a few hours,” Dream mumbled, his behavior betraying his fear to both daemons, the younger of the two turning to growl at his leader for scaring his soulmate. “I-I figured that we could hit the park, there’s a really big one in the center of the city that a lot of people should be at since it’s a weekend.”

“I. Hate. People... And outside for that matter.”

“Yeah, but you’ll suddenly love it if you find your soulmate,” Killer threw in with a chuckle, seemingly unfazed by his glare as he simply pulled out his phone and started texting. When Nightmare felt his own phone buzz though, he pretty much already knew what the message was about. He pulled it out and glanced at Killer’s contact popping up on his screen, groaning silently at the message he was reading. Back off. Drugging you was my idea, so lay off him or I’ll give you something worse when you least expect it. He’s still recovering mentally and I know that he wants to use this trip not only to help you but to hopefully reconnect with you a bit. So do me a favor and play nice.

Fine. Even if he’d been the one to leave all those years ago, he didn’t want to be responsible for making his brother’s frail mental health any worse by arguing with him. Contrary to popular belief he still loved Dream, even if his constant attempts to be positive and smiley were a bit nauseating to deal with over long periods of time. Guess that meant spending the day with him at the park... yay...

It only took another fifteen minutes of driving before Dream pulled into the parking lot reserved for park guests, hopping out to quickly pay while the two daemons got out. The sun was far brighter than he expected it to be, but then again Nightmare had never been one to like the light. Thankfully he’d worn his hoodie today as he often did, allowing him to pull the dark fabric over his head to at least limit some of the light reaching him. “You know you look as emo as Reaper right now, right?” Killer casually commented as he got out, earning a muted growl in response. “Seriously, how are you and Dream related? It’s not even like you two are cousins or step-brothers or something, you’re twins and yet you two are polar opposites.”

“Trust me, Dream and I have been trying to figure that one out since we were kids,” he grumbled, looking up as his brother came bouncing over after paying for parking.

“Alright, we’re ready to go!” Dream chirped, eagerly taking the hands of both daemons and leading the way into the park.

It wasn’t bad really, though Nightmare was trying to keep being grumpy for the sake of being grumpy at this point. Between him and Killer most people gave their group plenty of space so he didn’t have to worry about bumping into strangers or having to talk to them, so it was a lot more bearable than he thought it would be. Plus Dream was being kind enough to stick to paths that were partially shaded by the colorful leaves that had yet to fall, as the octopus daemon had grown so used to the shadows over the years that he really wasn’t a fan of direct sunlight. Those same leaves that were somewhat protecting him also provided a very satisfying crunch when he purposefully walked over them, causing a smirk to eventually replace his usual frown.

After a couple hours of wandering around and talking about whatever, the golden skeleton led the two to a more secluded area of the park, giving them privacy from prying eyes. While a little surprised since half of their reason for being out here was to help Nightmare find his soulmate, he certainly wasn’t going to argue as he took a seat following his twin’s example. “Okay, I know you’re not a fan of gifts Night, but I couldn’t help but ask a friend of mine for help with making you something as a sort of welcome home present.”

He couldn’t stop himself from letting out a groan, shooting Dream a withering look. “Dream, if you know I don’t like gifts, then why did you get me one?” He couldn’t stand gifts, it always made him feel like he was indebted to someone, especially if he didn’t have a gift to give in return. This was one of those times.

“Well... I got an idea and I figured you would actually like it so I just couldn’t help myself,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his skull a bit before rummaging around in his bag to find the supposed gift. Nightmare honestly had no idea what he was going to get, Dream was pretty unpredictable when it came to gifts and nothing obvious was jumping to mind at the moment.

What he wasn’t expecting was for the lighter twin to pull out a silver bracelet, an amethyst gem in the middle of the otherwise plain piece of jewelry. “Um... thanks?” He muttered out, completely confused by why he was getting a bracelet that he’d likely never wear due to it being too feminine.

Now it was Dream’s turn to shoot him a withering look, forcing him to put it on as he grumbled something incoherent under his breath. “It’s enchanted dummy, this is what it looks like if you don’t need to use it. That way you can easily have it on you whenever you want. Just swipe your hand over it to activate it, my friend used my magic as a template so it should work.”

The daemon blinked a couple times in surprise at the golden skeleton’s words, looking to the bracelet now wrapped around his left wrist. Enchanting was an old magic, a human art as uncommon as the invocations that Reaper and Dream were skilled with. It was the science of infusing magic into an object, altering its properties and making it capable of things that people could normally only dream of. Flying carpets, extradimensional boxes, even places that were bigger on the inside, all examples of enchanting that were now only used in pop culture. Enchanters nowadays were pretty rare given how humans had turned away from magic in favor of science, leading to them condemning most forms of magic including the ones they used to practice. “You know an enchanter? That’s pretty impressive... please tell me this isn’t going to blow up the second I activate it.”

“I don’t need this to blow you up,” Dream scoffed, seemingly insulted that he would accuse him of such. “Come on Night, just do it! I wanna see what you think of it!”

While part of him was tempted to be an ass and hold off on activating it just to bother his brother, he knew for a fact that Dream wouldn’t back off until he did it. “Ugh, fine,” he sighed, shooting the bracelet a skeptical look before preparing to wave his hand over it. The daemon did pause though when he saw his twin shift away, shooting him a suspicious glare and only getting a smile and a thumbs up in return. Growling under his breath, Nightmare just sucked it up and waved his hand over the piece of metal, bracing himself for whatever was supposed to happen.

He opened one eye as he heard the hum of magic activating within the piece of jewelry, both eyes now flying wide open as he watched it straighten and unwrap itself from his wrist before it started to extend and grow in diameter, continuing to grow until it had taken on the proportions of a staff. The ends of the staff shifted and melted before reforming as a pair of silver crescents while the rest of the staff shifted to take on a more ornate appearance, his signature lavender color marbling the silver and accenting the ends of the staff just before the crescent moons. “Shit,” he murmured as he felt the staff settle, signifying that it was finished changing. His fingers reached over to carefully brush over the edges of the crescents, finding that the edges were razor sharp and could easily cut anything. “Dream... I... I-I don’t know what to say... this is awesome.”

“Really? You really like it?” The golden skeleton blurted out, clearly very happy with the reaction he got. “I know you don’t like being in your monster form because you feel like you’re not as strong without your tentacles, but I also know that once you find your soulmate you’ll need to be in this form more often. So I figured that if you had a weapon that you could use no matter which form you were in and that you could always carry on you, then maybe you might like it. My friend made sure to make it really durable, like he took it and smashed it repeatedly into a tree trunk before having me drive over it to make sure that the durability enchantment was good enough. And look!” The golden skeleton rifled around in his bag before pulling out an identical bracelet, though this one was gold instead of silver with a garnet embedded in it. “My friend made me a matching one!”

The older twin let out a chuckle at how excited his brother was, admiring his own staff for a moment longer before waving his hand over it and watching it collapse back down to its original form, wrapping around his wrist as if it had never been altered. He then promptly got to his feet, surprising the other two as they had no idea what Nightmare was up to. Even though he wasn’t much of a clingy person normally, he knew how much Dream was and how much he loved hugs, so he figured that this was the best way to show his appreciation. “Thank you Dream, it’s a really thoughtful gift. I love it,” he assured as he gave his little brother a hug, chuckling at the barely contained enthusiasm expressed by how quickly and snugly he hugged back. Guess this was what Dream wanted, to spend some time reconnecting with the brother he used to know, and the dark twin had to admit that it was kind of nice to be with Dream again. Even though he saw the others as his brothers, there wasn’t the same level of closeness as there was with his twin.

As the two hugged it out for a bit longer, a strange sensation made the daemon freeze and snap to alertness, his gaze locked on to the trees surrounding them. Something in there was calling to him in a way that he’d never felt before. Dream certainly noticed his sudden tension, pulling away and looking to his brother in worry. “Night? Is something wrong?” He asked, watching as his brother got to his feet while never taking his eyes off the forest.

“They’re here,” both Killer and Nightmare said at once, the former recognizing the reaction the other was giving as nearly identical to how Dream had first stolen his focus on that bridge.

The octopus daemon took a few steps forward, looking ready to run in the direction that his soul was pulling him, only to stop as the shifting on his new weapon on his wrist reminded him of his brothers that he’d been out here with and making him turn back to look at them.

“Go,” Killer instructed, Dream sending him a smile and an understanding nod. They both knew what he was feeling and how he couldn’t deny it, neither wanting to stand in his way when his soulmate was calling to him. “We’ll just chill and have some fun on our own, just make sure to let us know when you manage to get them!”

Nodding in appreciation of their understanding, Nightmare didn’t waste another second and took off into the trees. He could feel his soulmate running after something, the direction he was being pulled down altering to reflect their new position once they stopped. But something was also pulling at his soul, a sensation that led to a growing sense of worry. The yelling he heard coming from nearby really wasn’t making that feeling any better.

As Nightmare managed to break past the bulk of the trees separating them, he finally managed to catch a glimpse of a small clearing with three different figures. Yet the one drawing his focus was the monochrome skeleton fiercely protecting the other skeleton in his arms. The moment their gaze turned he could’ve sworn it locked onto him, even if logically there was no way that he could be seen from his current position. Before fantasies could cloud his focus too much though, the sensation tugging at his soul reminded him of the significant threat that was currently endangering who he assumed was his soulmate.

Gritting his teeth, Nightmare moved in the shadows of the trees, careful not to make too much noise while trying to get a shot at the man’s back to catch him off guard. If he was in his daemon form he simply would’ve burst into the clearing and tackled the bastard, but his daemon form was still locked away and he couldn’t risk revealing himself too early to his soulmate anyways. So he figured that it was time to put his new gift to use, the daemon waving his hand over the staff to activate it. Part of him wanted to watch the change once more, but he knew that he didn’t have time, instead focusing on getting into the perfect location to strike. No way was he going to let that human lay a finger on what was his.

From where he was located the daemon could very clearly hear the labored and pained breathing of the scarfed skeleton in his soulmate’s arms, gritting his teeth at the look of desperation on their face. He would act right now, but they wouldn’t stop moving, which was a good thing considering how pissed the stupid human was but made it impossible to get the right vantage point. When they did stop though, Nightmare took his chance and got in position, preparing to strike and taking advantage of the man’s loud words to cover his advance from behind. “Any last words, you pathetic monster?” The man growled, looking ready to beat both of them into a bloody pulp.

“Funny, I was just about to ask you that,” the daemon growled in response as he took advantage of the element of surprise to leap on to the human’s back. Compared to having to wrestle Horror out of the kitchen, staying balanced even when the human started moving was relatively easy with his feet automatically adjusting while he spun his staff in the air. Admittedly that part was simply to show off to his soulmate, allowing him to throw a bit of flair and seem like an even more impressive hero before he attacked.

The ends of his staff were even sharper than he realized, rending both cloth and flesh with little issue. If he’d dragged it down the front, he likely would’ve hit something important. Guess he’d have to ask if the sharpness was another enchantment from Dream’s mystery friend. Deciding to test out that durability that had been mentioned, he proceeded to smash the metal staff into the man’s thigh with everything that he had once both feet were safely on the ground before making sure to put himself in between the threat and his soulmate.

A glance back revealed that the other skeleton was clearly in bad shape, his soulmate looking like he was on the verge of a panic attack over his condition. “Go,” he instructed, for as much as he wanted his soulmate to stay so that he could show off before officially meeting him, the other skeleton needed help fast and was clearly important to him. “Get him out of here, I’ll take care of this idiot.”

The monochrome skeleton paused long enough to thank him before bolting to safety, leaving Nightmare alone with the human. “You bastard! I’m gonna kill you! Do you know who the fuck I am?! I eat pathetic monsters like you for breakfast!” The man roared, his words really irking the lavender skeleton who glared back at him.

“Pathetic? You think I’m pathetic?” He asked, voice ice cold as he felt something snap inside him... literally. It took him a second to realize what it was, though in his rage he started to call for his daemon form and could feel that what had snapped was Dream’s seal. It had been three hours since they’d left, and just as his twin said the spell wore off at what couldn’t be better timing. “Do you know who the fuck I am?” He asked in a very calm voice, his disposition already growing cockier as he realized that his full strength was back in use. While he didn’t dare risk using it outright and blowing his cover, the shade provided by the trees would be perfect for his plan. So he started to slowly back up, grinning as he did so. “If not, then you’re about to find out.”

Without his soulmate here, there was no reason for him to show off, so he decided that the best thing to do would be to get this over with quick and then go hunt that skeleton down to make sure that everything was alright. “Oh what, scared little monster gonna hide in the shadows?” The man taunted, Nightmare’s grin only widening in response the moment he was concealed enough to change forms. And all the human would see would be his wide grin and two lavender eye lights being replaced by a single icy blue one.

It certainly seemed to unnerve the man, as he stumbled back a step and looked around once those indications of the skeleton’s presence vanished. “Wait... what the hell are you?!” He growled as his head spun around, trying to catch another glimpse of his target that had all but vanished.

“Your worst Nightmare,” the daemon purred from the darkness, moving fluidly from the shadows once the man turned to the sound of his voice to find another vantage point where the man’s back was turned. Shifting back into his monster form, Nightmare once again went on the attack, delivering several cuts to the man’s back before hooking one of his ankles and pulling the second he saw him starting to recover from the surprise barrage. As the man stumbled to ground the skeleton retreated to the shadows again, seriously wishing he could just strangle him with tentacles and be done with it.

It took his enemy a moment to recover and get to his feet, Nightmare once again moving through the surrounding trees and using his daemon form’s talents for camouflage to remain unseen in the darkness. “Fuck, you just attack any old humans picking on monsters, is that it? You some kind of hero?” He challenged, trying to figure out where Nightmare was by getting him to speak up.

“A hero? Oh no, I think most would think of me more as a villain,” he chuckled, quickly moving away from his spot as he felt the human zero in on his position. “No, I couldn’t give a damn about most other monsters, but he’s the exception.” The guy whirled to face him again, Nightmare once again moving away with little issue. “You should be thankful that you never managed to lay a hand on him, otherwise your life would be forfeit.”

This time he didn’t move, though he could tell that the human was expecting him to even if he still looked in the direction of his voice. “What’s so special about that bastard that you’d risk your neck to save him then?!”

“Everything,” was all he said, catching his target off guard as his voice came from the same spot once again. Not wanting to give him a chance to prepare, Nightmare returned to his monster form and lunged out of hid hiding place, readying his staff to finish this. The human was impressively fast for his size, but Nightmare had to deal with Dust, so he was faster. He swung his staff out, aiming for the face and ripping the tip of the crescent diagonally across his face on the opposite side of the wound he assumed his soulmate created, leaving an X pattern carved into his face.

The human reeled backwards and roared in pain, clutching at his face and giving Nightmare enough time to land one last blow. He swung the staff down with everything he had, right on top of the man’s skull and felt such satisfaction in seeing him collapse unconscious from the strike. “Like I said, you’re lucky that you didn’t manage to lay a hand on him, otherwise I wouldn’t be stopping right now,” he spat, kicking the man’s body once more for good measure. There was also the fact that a human killed in broad daylight in a park likely wouldn’t go unnoticed, but he preferred to think of it as mercy letting him live so that’s what he was going with. Now, to find his soulmate.

Given the state of the other skeleton with him, they likely went to the nearest hospital to get him urgent medical attention. If he wanted to get there in decent time without getting lost, then he’d definitely want a ride. Thankfully he had a brother with a car. He swiped his hand over the bloody staff to turn it back into a plain old bracelet, feeling it wrap around his wrist before running back in the direction that he’d come from.

Part of him wasn’t expecting Killer and Dream to still be there, so he was quite thankful when he got there to see Dream using a bow to shoot magical arrows into a nearby tree while the frog daemon watched on and chatted about stuff that Nightmare couldn’t hear and honestly didn’t care about. Both stopped when he came flying back in though, Dream by his twin’s side in seconds and gesturing to patches of blood on his hoodie. “Night, there’s blood on you! What happened, are you hurt?”

“Relax, it’s not mine, but I need you to take me to the nearest hospital right away.”

“Um... not really convincing us you aren’t hurt,” Killer piped up, now on his feet and looking worriedly over at his brother.

“I swear it’s not mine! But my soulmate just had to take someone to the hospital and I don’t want to lose my chance to meet him!” Both froze, sharing a look with each other before nodding. They didn’t waste another second before running towards the car at the end of the park, the octopus daemon vaguely registering the sound of sirens as he followed hot on their heels.

Dream didn’t even bother looking up any sort of directions before taking off, leaving the darker twin a little bit worried about the possibility of them getting lost. “Um... do you know where you’re going?”

“Course I do! A friend of mine is in and out of the hospital constantly, and since I’m the only one in our group that has a license, it’s my job to pick him up any time he gets discharged. So I pretty much know the location of every major hospital in the city and the fastest ways to get to any of them.”

“... How is it that you can’t remember to put pants on in the morning but you can memorize the layout of the city enough to know all of that?”

“Shut up! That was only one time... in recent history.” While part of him wanted to tease his younger brother a bit for having that happen again even after all these years when it was a common childhood occurrence for them, he’d rather the golden skeleton focus on getting them to the hospital as fast as possible so that he didn’t lose his chance. He’d have plenty of time to tease him later.

An air of tension hung in the air as the car sped along the various twisting streets, Dream’s eyes quickly scanning the road conditions ahead as he adjusted their course on the fly. Nightmare shot Killer a look, seeing that he had absolutely no clue where they were going just like him. With nothing left to do, he was forced to place his trust in his twin’s ability to navigate the twisting streets of the city without getting them lost or taking too long. Every second seemed to tick by too fast, the chances of his soulmate leaving the hospital before he could get to him growing with every passing moment. “Why are we stopping?” He growled at one point, earning a withering look from his twin.

“Night, I get that you’re impatient, but it’s a red light. There are other cars going. Don’t think you want to get to the hospital in an ambulance, so just let me drive,” he snapped, the darker sibling going silent and pouting in the back seat until they started moving.

Eventually the building that he assumed was the hospital given the ambulances parked nearby came into view, Nightmare practically glued to the window as he scanned the area for his soulmate. They had to still be here, they just had to! Killer made a snide remark at how he was suddenly acting, but he didn’t even hear it as a flash of black and white could be seen outside on the sidewalk. With how his soul was crying for him to go to the blurry figure, he knew that was them. “Wait, wait! Stop the car!”

“First you want me to go, now you want me to stop,” Dream mumbled, clearly not impressed with his twin at this moment.

“No, no we’re driving past him! Dream stop the damn car!”

“I can’t! We’re in the middle of the street! Hang on, I’ll pull into the nearest parking spot and you can chase after him from there!”

“But he could leave! I need to get out now!” Not caring about the moving traffic or the complaints coming from Dream, he went to grab the handle of the door and yank. Before he could jump out of the moving car though, a click could be heard and the door handle refused to work. “Did you seriously just lock me in?!”

“Ah childproof locks, that the reason you said to throw him in the back seat?” Killer asked, calm as ever and clearly enjoying seeing Nightmare in such a state of desperation.

“One of them,” Dream growled, not nearly as happy as his daemon companion about this situation. With Nightmare trapped, all he could do was watch out the window like a puppy waiting for its owner to come back, even shifting in his seat to look out the back window longingly once they got so far away. True to his word, the golden skeleton found the first available parking lot and pulled in, the darker twin not even waiting to hear what the other two said and practically throwing himself out the door once the car stopped and was unlocked.

All thought of his brothers that he was leaving behind flew out the window as he raced out of the parking lot, barely avoiding getting hit by oncoming traffic as he ran back the way they come. Please still be there, he prayed as the honking and annoying shouts faded with distance. He could feel the pulling sensation within his soul growing stronger, a sign that he was getting closer. Judging from the distance, it seemed like his soulmate hadn’t moved since they drove past him.

As the daemon cleared the peak of a small hill, he could see that the monochrome skeleton was collapsed on a bench on the side of the street, looking utterly exhausted. Had he ran that other skeleton all the way here? A thought pinged in the back of his mind that made him quickly double back, having noticed a convenience store on the other side of the street. Dream had gotten all of the daemons set up with credit cards that he would help take care of using the inheritance left to the both of them by their parents. Neither really wanted to touch that money more than necessary but agreed that this was probably the best use of money that they didn’t want anything to do with. So it was easy for him to walk in there, grab a couple bottles of water, and head back out on his original path.

When he approached this time though, his soulmate seemed far more alert, almost as if he was expecting a threat. Hoping that the water would make him seem like a friend and not a foe, Nightmare pushed aside the desperate eagerness that had been driving him since the park and put on an air of calm. Last thing he wanted to do was freak the smaller skeleton out by coming off as a desperate stalker.

As he walked towards them his soulmate’s gaze whipped around to glare at him, and even though his expression was filled with distrust bordering on hostility, it was still the most beautiful face Nightmare had ever seen. Is this what it had been like for the others? Now he was starting to see why none of them were ever home for too long, not if they each had their own person who looked as breathtaking to them. “Can I... help you?” The smaller skeleton asked with an icy tone, snapping the daemon back to alertness as he realized that he’d been staring.

Feeling a bit of heat flooding his cheeks, he instead held out a water bottle with a smile that was a poor attempt at hiding how awkward he was feeling right now. When the other’s expression only grew more confused and a bit more on edge, he realized that he was looking like an idiot right now. “I got this for you. You looked tired... and thirsty! Hence why I got you water, because I can’t get you a nap.” Oh god he was so awkward! This is why he didn’t like people! It was one thing when he knew someone like he did his brothers, but even though this person was his soulmate he knew absolutely nothing about them and so was getting extremely nervous about acting right and not scaring him off. So far, he didn’t think it was going well.

The monochrome skeleton shot him a very suspicious glare, narrowing his eyes slightly as he took a step forward. “Thanks...” He muttered as he took the bottle from the daemon’s outstretched hand, though that hand lingered probably a bit too long in the air before he hastily pulled it back and wrapped it around his own bottle of water. The monochrome skeleton proceeded to open his drink and take a long sip, his gaze never leaving the taller as he quickly downed half the bottle. “Is there a particular reason you keep staring me?”

“N-No!” Nightmare hastily blurted out, his cheeks going bright purple as he was caught staring again, this time only realizing that he’d been doing it when he got caught. “I-I mean... uh...”

“Is it the blood?” The other skeleton gestured to the large bloody stain on the front of his jacket, Nightmare taking the lifeline and nodding, finding the action too meek for his liking and adding it to the growing list of how he was screwing this up. In his daemon form he was always so cocky and confident, but it was growing pretty obvious to him that the confidence came from that form’s strength and wasn’t available to him in his monster form. “It’s not mine, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“O-Oh I know,” he mumbled without thinking, the suspicion practically radiating from the smaller skeleton as the octopus daemon felt a sudden desire to crawl into a hole and die. This was it, he screwed everything up and his soulmate hated him!

That suspicious look roamed over him, analyzing every detail before his eyes went wide. “Wait a minute, you’re him! The guy from the park! But how... why are you here?”

Because you’re my whole world and I wanted to see you again. Nightmare had to actively keep himself from blurting that out loud, biting down on his tongue before a much more reasonable response came to him. “Well... your friend didn’t look too good and you didn’t seem to be doing too well either, so I wanted to make sure you guys were... you know, okay.”

That was clearly the right answer as much of the defensiveness melted from the smaller skeleton’s posture, giving the daemon some hope that he hadn’t screwed this up completely. “Yeah, I’m okay. My brother’s in the best hands money can buy, so he’ll be okay too. Though he’s probably going to be in the hospital for a bit because of that bastard... How did you get away from him anyways? I told the cops who attacked us and they pretty much said that the guy was bad news and that we were lucky to be alive.”

“Oh, I kicked the shit out of that dick and knocked him out,” he proudly proclaimed, feeling a bit of his usual confidence returning as he made his declaration. That confidence only doubled as he caught sight of the surprise on his soulmate’s face. “Don’t know why you seem so surprised, I’m sure you could’ve taken him too if you didn’t have your brother to take care of.” That had the intended result of getting a bit of blush to streak across the other’s face, the hostility that he’d earlier possessed nearly nonexistent.

With the conversation taking a better turn, the daemon figured that he could safely push his luck as he gestured to the bench the other was sitting on. “May I?” He wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting, but seeing his soulmate’s gaze suddenly dart to the side wasn’t it. A bit of that mistrust seeped back into his gaze, as if something was telling him to not trust the taller skeleton. “Is... everything okay?”

His question served to snap the monochrome skeleton out of whatever had stolen his attention, the smaller quickly shaking his head as if to clear some thought away. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine, it’s just...”

“Your brother?” Nightmare guessed, noticing that his eyes had looked back over in the direction of the hospital. A nod was the only response he got, though it seemed almost hesitant, as if he had to think about his answer for a split second. “Hey, I’m sure everything will turn out fine. You said yourself that he’s in the best hands possible,” he offered, trying to cheer him up a bit while also growing bold enough to take the seat beside the smaller skeleton.

While he did earn a look for his sudden proximity, the other made no move to shift away and put more distance between them, merely taking another sip from his water bottle. “Why did you save us?” He suddenly asked, his tone growing suspicious once again. It was as if he couldn’t believe that Nightmare had simply save the two out of the kindness of his heart, which was completely true despite the daemon trying to throw that image out there. It’s not like he could treat a complete stranger like they were someone special to him, not without chasing them off and possibly getting hit in the process.

Once again having to stop himself from blurting out a more truthful answer, he instead went with the safe approach: answering a question with a question. “Well, why wouldn’t I?”

“Um... sorry if this insults you but you don’t exactly seem like the type of person to randomly jump to a stranger’s aid.”

“Oh, is it the dark clothes?”

“More like the fact that you seem kind of wimpy-”

“Wimpy?!” Nightmare cut him off mid sentence, bristling at the accusation but forcing himself to calm down before he got truly mad. Guess this form looked just as weak as he thought it did.

Instead of being on edge due to the sudden flare of his temper, the other skeleton merely smirked as if he wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. “Yeah, honestly I’m still finding it hard to believe that you beat that guy like you said. You might be strong like you claim, but you have the intimidation factor of a flower and it’s not doing you any favors.”

Nightmare could feel his eye twitching, though he had to admit that he liked how much backbone his soulmate had. What he wouldn’t give to be able to change right now and knock that smug look off of his face. Instead, he smirked back as an idea came to him, finally seeing a way to get the other skeleton to open up to him and hopefully trust him a bit more. “Fine then tough guy, if I look so weak then how about a friendly bet? Arm wrestle, you win and I admit to being a wimp and will do one thing you ask of me, even if that’s simply me leaving you alone. I win and you admit that I’m strong, and I’ll ask you for one thing. Sound like a fair wager?” That seemed to catch him off guard, the monochrome skeleton’s cocky expression faltering just a bit. “Oh come on, don’t tell me you’re scared to get beaten by a ‘wimp’,” he taunted, hoping to get him to play along.

“You’re on!” The smaller growled, easily rising to his bait as he dragged the taller over to a nearby coffee shop before pulling him into a booth and setting himself up. The daemon was grinning as he grabbed hold of his hand, ready to put all of his strength into this. No way was he going to admit to being a wimp.

Their little contest kicked off once they counted down from three, both sets of eyes going wide as their arms vibrated in the middle but never moved much from the starting point. “Okay, I’ll admit that you’re a lot stronger than you look,” his soulmate said, smirking as he shifted in his seat to get better leverage.

“Same to you, can’t remember the last time I arm wrestled someone who was just as strong as me,” Nightmare admitted, knowing that only Horror was physically stronger than him amongst his brothers while the other had never come close. He could still recall the one time when he’d challenged Error only to be laughing as the spider used both of his right arms and still lost. It had been a long time since he’d done this, as the others had quickly learned that this was how he often tried to get things he wanted, essentially pulling the exact same strategy that he was now by making a simple yet vague wager that seemed too good to be true.

The two skeletons kept at it for several minutes, their strength and stamina seemingly completely matched as neither showed signs of giving in. And judging from the smiles on their faces, both seemed to be enjoying the challenge just as much as the other one. “Gotta admit, you’re not like everyone else, honestly you’re way more interesting.”

“The feeling is definitely mutual. Any chance I could know the name of such a worthy opponent?”

“Cross,” the smaller skeleton finally introduced himself, the earlier tension between them completely gone.

“Nightmare. So how long do you think it’ll be before one of us loses?”

Cross thought about it for a moment before his smirk came back and the daemon felt a bit more force put into their little contest. “I can keep going as long as I need to. The question is how long can you go?”

“Like hell I’m going to put myself into a position where I have to call myself a wimp. I’m winning this thing and getting my prize!”

“Oh yeah, you decide on what you’re going to ask for?” The monochrome skeleton asked, both of them staying even with each other as they chatted. “I’ve been trying to come up with something, but I honestly haven’t been able to figure out what I’d want you to do.”

Nightmare gave himself a moment of thought, deciding that this might be how he ends up winning their little bet. “Well... I was thinking that maybe I could ask you on a date.” He shot the smaller a fairly suggestive look as he said this, hoping to throw him off in the process.

“W-What?!” Cross blurted out, his focus on their contest faltering just as the daemon had hoped while purple streaked across his face. Taking advantage of the situation, Nightmare put all of his strength into his one arm and managed to push his soulmate’s hand over, celebrating at the relative ease of his win once the other was distracted. “What?! No, no fair! You cheated!”

“Oh come on, how is you getting distracted and being a sore loser the same as me cheating?”

“You said that just to throw me off!”

“No I didn’t,” the daemon said, shaking his head and remaining calm. “If I’d wanted to throw you off, then I would’ve asked for sex.” The fact that he said that without shame made a nearby customer quickly scurry away, just as red in the face as Cross was purple. “A date is truly what I intended on asking for, but the key word is ‘ask’. I’m not gonna make you go on a date with me if you really don’t want to.”

He added that last part in as he didn’t want to come across as a jerk, though part of him was now seriously regretting it as he saw the conflicted look on his soulmate’s face. Still, he wasn’t going to go back on his word and suddenly say that a date was his mandatory prize, especially when he’d admittedly tried to distract him in order to win. Once again he saw his soulmate’s focus suddenly shift away from him and to the side, as if focusing on something that wasn’t there. Maybe that was it though, maybe his focus was on someone who wasn’t here, namely his brother. “I-I’m sorry,” Cross muttered, his gaze falling to the table as he finally pulled his arm back with Nightmare doing the same. “I’m really flattered that you’d want to ask me out, but...”

“Is this about your brother?” The daemon blurted out, seeing an even more conflicted expression sweep over the smaller skeleton’s face. “I mean I get it if you don’t want to go out because your brother’s in the hospital, I’ve got brothers of my own so I know how they can take priority when they’re in trouble.”

“... Yeah, I bet you do,” he mumbled, seriously confusing the taller by what he even meant by that comment. Yet when he asked for clarification, all he got for an answer was silence as Cross suddenly stood up and stalked out of the door.

Not wanting to lose him again, Nightmare hastily got to his feet and chased after him. “Cross, wait! If I said something to upset you, then I’m sorry!” He called after him, only to freeze at the look in his soulmate’s eyes when he spun around to face him. “Your eyes... they scream murder... you’re going after the bastard that hurt him, aren’t you?”

Hearing him respond so calmly about such a topic seemed to throw him off, surprise evident on his face before being replaced with the same hostile suspicion as when he first approached him. “And? What if I am?”

“Then I’d happily offer you a hand in taking him down.” Once again he seemed to surprise the other, taking that as his chance to advance with a confident grin on his face. “You know how strong I am, and while you’re definitely one of the strongest monsters I know, having backup is never a bad thing, is it? Besides, I’ll never pass up a chance to kick some ass, especially if it means I get to hurt humans.”

“... You really aren’t like everyone else, are you?” He sighed, his posture slouching a bit and losing much of the stress contained within it. “You came running out here to ask me on a date, and now you’re wanting to help me commit murder,” he mumbled lowly so that no one else would catch on to the conversation. “What kind of sane person does that?”

“I never said I was sane, did I?” The daemon countered with a grin, having to admit that his sudden jump in priorities was a bit weird. “I mean there’s nothing saying I can’t go for both. We call it a date, and if things go well maybe I could take you somewhere more romantic for a second date!”

For a moment all he got in response was a strange look at his proposition, before Cross just burst out laughing. “God, you really are insane! But... sane people are kinda boring anyways.” Both of them chuckled at his statement, a faint hint of lilac tinting his cheekbones once their laughter subsided and the monochrome skeleton looked him straight in the eyes. “Alright you win, only because I’m curious to see how this ‘date’ will go.”

The smaller quickly rifled in his pockets for a moment before pulling out his phone, unlocking it and holding it out to the purple skeleton who shot it a strange look as he was confused by the simple gesture. “Put your number in it dummy, can’t exactly plan things if I can’t get in contact with you,” he explained with a chuckle, Nightmare frantically snatching the device with no small amount of embarrassment. “You haven’t done this before, have you?”

“Killing someone, yes. Going on a date, nope,” the taller answered, not looking up from the phone until he was finished as he was admittedly unwilling to meet Cross’ gaze right away. “Is it that obvious?” He asked in return with a sheepish smile as he handed the phone back, watching him fiddle with it before feeling his own phone vibrate in his pocket.

He pulled it out and checked, seeing that it was a test message from the other skeleton. Saving the other’s number, he looked up at the laughter directed at his question. “Just a little bit, yeah.” The monochrome skeleton put his phone away, sending him a smile as he started to walk off. “Well, guess I’ll see ya around Nightmare, looking forward to our ‘date’. And nice bracelet by the way, it’s cute.” That drew the daemon’s attention to the fact that him waving goodbye had caused his sleeve to fall down around his elbow and reveal the piece of jewelry, causing his face to go bright purple once Cross turned his back and continued walking away, occasionally glancing beside himself and almost looking like he was talking to himself. At least he wasn’t the only one that was a bit insane.

“Why did he have to make it a bracelet?” He grumbled, glaring at the disguised weapon that could’ve easily taken a more masculine form. “Why not something like dog tags? Or a watch? Or anything that isn’t jewelry?” Once his flustered state subsided, the daemon found himself filled with joy for the first time in a long time. He’d finally met his soulmate, and not only had he landed a sort-of-date with him but they seemed like a perfect match for each other! Both of them were physically tough and unyielding from the looks of things, making him even more excited for how their date would go as he’d likely get to see the smaller in action. Hopefully he was just as talented of a fighter as him, though being slightly less so would also be acceptable as it would increase his ability to show off and protect him. Plus with both of them admittedly a little nuts, he could only see their inevitable future dates being just as crazy.

With a blissful sigh the lovestruck skeleton headed back in the direction of the hospital, remembering that he’d completely abandoned his brothers in pursuit of Cross. The walk there almost seemed more pleasant though, the sun just bright enough to cast everything in a positive light while not being hard on the normally nocturnal daemon’s eyes. Birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and everything finally seemed to be going his way.

Since he was taking his time to enjoy his newfound happiness and how it changed his perception of the world around him, his walk back took longer than expected but he eventually made it back without even getting lost. Having only a vague idea of where Dream parked, he decided that a simple text was the best option. So he let Killer know that he was waiting at the parking lot exit, waiting a couple minutes before his twin’s car rolled up and an audible click could be heard as he unlocked the doors for him to get in.

His good mood must’ve been obviously giving away what happened, as both turned back to shoot him an eager expression. “So, how did it go? I’m assuming you got him, right? You never smile like that so I’m assuming you got him,” Killer rambled as Dream went back to focusing on driving.

“Yeah, I got him,” the older daemon answered, giving the frog a high five when it was offered. “I got him something to drink, we went into a coffee shop for a bit to talk, and then we planned what we’d do for our first date when I arm wrestled him into one.” He decided to leave out how socially awkward he’d been through about two thirds of the exchange, knowing that the others wouldn’t leave him alone if they found out about that.

“Dude, you seriously arm wrestled him into a date? That seems pretty low, even for you.”

“You act like I plan on forcing my soulmate to be with me,” he grumbled in response, huffing at the accusation before elaborating. “I asked him out, making it very clear that he could refuse if he wanted to. Think I managed to impress him enough that he wanted to give it a shot.”

Killer gave a small ‘oh’ in understanding, quickly grinning at the smoothness that his leader was portraying. “Alright, so spill! Who is he? What’s he like?”

“Well, his name is Cross, and-” The octopus was cut off by a gasp coming from his twin, looking to him in concern but unable to see his face from the back seat. “Dream? Everything okay? You... you need to brake! Dream, red light! Brake!” He frantically yelled, seeing that his brother had zoned out and wasn’t paying attention to them almost driving full speed into oncoming traffic.

All three of them jolted as the brake pedal was suddenly pressed to the floor, causing the vehicle to lurch to a stop just past the stop line and safely out of danger. That didn’t seem to be the source of the muffled sobs now coming from the lighter twin, Killer instantly fussing over his soulmate. “Nightmare,” he spoke up, not once looking away from Dream as he did so with a dark tone in his voice. “Your soulmate, were they dressed primarily in black and white? Was their right eye red with a zigzag scar under it? Did he have a golden heart necklace around his neck?”

“Yeah... all of those actually, you just perfectly described him. How do you know what he looks like?” While it was true that they drove past him earlier, all he’d managed to see was a black and white blur from the car and he’d been the only one knowing who to look for. There’s no way Killer could’ve seen the necklace or the scar or his eyes unless he knew him from before.

“That’s... Cross is the guy that broke Dream’s heart,” the frog daemon explained, having to coach the golden skeleton to continue driving when someone started honking behind them. If that was the case and those two were the same skeleton, then his soulmate was the one who had driven Dream to the point of suicide not even two weeks ago. And mentioning that name and the fact that they were destined to be together had just opened up that wound for his twin before dumping a whole mountain of salt in it.

“... Fuck.”

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