teethteeth

A follow-up on this ask :D

Dust spends the first few days of your imprisonment watching you. He might say a few words... let you know Horror's coming for dinner or murmur that you haven't brushed your hair, but otherwise he's so silent you could forget he was there.

Er... if he wasn't entirely creepy.

He's conflicted. You're Dream's healer—a human directly threatening his family. But Horror seems to think they abused your soultype.

Mostly, though? He can't bring himself to act any of his violent impulses out. You already experienced plenty when they took you. Plus... well... Every time he considers it, the faint memory of your magic flowing through him comes back, and he shortcuts away.

He doesn't trust you with Cross, but unlike in LCITN, he wouldn't object when Horror suggested bringing you to him, and would shortcut you there himself.

Dust starts actually interacting with you after he receives a nasty injury from Blue about a week following your capture and you fix it up for him. He'd been hiding it under his hoodie for several hours before you noticed it during his daily "stare-at-the-human" time. He never asks you to fix it... you just start doing it, and your magic is warm and strange and horribly sad. He can't help but try to experience it again. Every minor injury, and he's down there, letting you fix him up and exchanging quiet conversation about magic. Your facination with it is perplexing, yet strangely endearing.

Still, though, he's not opposed to Nightmare holding you for random, even if it starts to feel uncomfortable the more Horror shares about your naivity. Of course you didn't know who they were, or you never would have bothered helping him. When Nightmare resorts to some drastic measures, Dust ends up confessing how you saved his life, which contributes to his ultimate decision to allow you to roam the castle free as their healer.

While Killer still beats him at getting into a relationship with you, Dust takes far, FAR less time deliberating it. Plus, Horror's pretty quickly in agreement that they should show you some real love and affection.

Horror leaves you alone in the dungeons for a week after you’re captured. Killer can bring you food. Cross can linger at the bars and try to understand why you lied to them. He wants no damn part in it.

Except, it starts to eat at him.

That first time you healed him, you pushed yourself so hard you passed out. Why do that, if you’d known who he was then?

And every other time… that soft smile you gave, that drop of loneliness mixed into your loving magic.

Then there was the other things. The air mattress you called a bed. The dangerous neighbourhood.

The lack of food in your fridge.

Why hadn’t Dream been taking better care of ya? Why hadn’t they brought you to safety when they knew what Mare would do to you?

He finally brings himself to deliver your food himself and actually hear you out.

You knew him. Knew he was connected to Mare. But you’d enjoyed his company—enjoyed when Cross came too.

You’d practically been all alone since the Stars found you.

He can’t really help himself after that. He brings you fancier meals, makes you a soft nest of blankets to comfort you… and eventually convinces Nightmare that it’s far more useful to use you as a healer than it is to keep you in a dungeon.

Now you can know what it’s like to be taken care of. To have a real family…. And perhaps some lovers to make that soul of yours shine.

Dust, meanwhile, is fucking pissed in this reality. It's arguably worse than the fic itself. He can tell, from the way Horror's acting, exactly what he's considering. That somehow, because you saved his life and heal them all up now, that you're going to start being part of the family.

That you're going to be their LOVER.

Every attempt by Horror at connecting you fails worse than the last. And he tries. Cooking together, going out stargazing, going fishing... even a secret trip to the Omega Timeline. Nothing works.

It takes exactly the same extreme circumstances as will occur in LCITN to get Dudt to even warm up to you, and even then it is a while before he allows you close enough to realize that Horror might have been on to something.

Horror’s quite delighted when he finally gets to have both of you in his arms.

Cross is the only one of the gang who, once in love with you, has a far greater loyalty to you than the rest of the family. So when Nightmare drops them off in a universe that looks IDENTICAL to the one you're in, and Cross receives a sobbing call from you, terrified that you're going to die? He doesn't hesitate. Doesn't even bother trying to ask Killer for help. He finds you in the alleyways, wraps you up in his arms, and shortcuts.

You land in a random pacifist AU. Cross refuses to put you down until he finds a hotel where he can tend to your wounds.

Meanwhile, neither Nightmare nor Dream can find you. Nightmare doesn't know you enough to sense your negativity, and you're so upset Dream can barely pinpoint you. He knows, vaguely, that you're in another AU. That someone has taken you away. But he can't follow you without Nightmare coming too.

What Nightmare does know, however, is that Cross is missing. Missing and harbouring a heavy layer of guilt.

And when the gang track him down, only to find him curled around Dream's healer? To realize he has betrayed them?

Well, they aren't very happy.

Nightmare snatches you up, tossing you in the dungeons, and drags Cross to his office for an explanation. His perfect soldier lied to him. Failed to disclose a hidden relationship. Failed to realize who you were. And worse, he involved Killer in the whole affair.

After hours of apologies and begging, Nightmare allows you to share Cross' room, but refuses to drop his plan to use you as a bartering tool.

Killer knew about you. He was even starting to contemplate making his own move on you. But you were going to take Cross away from their family. Sharing loyalty is one thing—Killer could love you and the others. Would have, before all this. But Cross was going to leave them. Leave Killer forever for you.

Killer is extremely jealous at basically everything you do, and spends over a month being openly hostile towards you until Cross finally snaps at him. He panicked. He didn't have a choice but to run away with you. He was never going to leave Killer forever.

And just like that Killer is back to teasing and cuddling up to you. The two of you should have just said that you were going to include him in your little getaway eventually.

Horror, Dust, and Nightmare also take considerably longer to warm up to you, on account of you nearly stealing Cross away.

Nightmare:

In the world where Nightmare found you, you'd arrive in the castle of your own volition after many weeks of Nightmare carefully convincing you of how wonderful your life would be with a real family, in a comfortable, safe home, with all the affection Nightmare could give to you. He's successfully convinced you that he isn't quite as terrible as Dream made him out to be.

Is there an unhealthy dose of Nightmare convincing you Dream is worse than he actually is? Absolutely. But ultimately all he wants is for his healer to come home with him. Where you belong.

You're given the massive Queen's Quarters to live in. Nightmare absolutely pampers you. You're given beautiful dresses and jewels, luxurious picnics in the gardens, and showered in his affections.

The castle comes alive with your arrival, too. Nightmare allows vendors to come in and set up little market days. In the evenings the theatre is alive with plays, operas, and symphonies.

He does not object when Killer and Cross begin stealing kisses from you in the hallways. Killer might be a bit much… but they would make good lovers for you.

It takes many months of PAINFULLY obvious pining from Nightmare (and Killer continually hinting it to him) before Nightmare realizes that it does bother him. Not because they are your lovers. But because he, despite every action of his subconsciously screeching that it was so, deeply adores you.

Loves you.

He brings you outside of the castle to confess. It’s the first time you’re allowed since he brought you home, too afraid Dream may try to take what is rightfully his.

The feeling of you kissing him is beyond anything he could have imagined from books.

Every single person on this planet thinks about dark and taboo things. It's literally the most normal thing in the world.

(Trips and drops my doomed yaoi) oh no! My! (Crawling) my doomed yaoi (limply pawing at it on the ground) my yaoi (picking it up very slowly) thats doomed (looking around to see if anyones paying attention) my doomed yaoi………

i like 'em big i like 'em chunkeehh

It’s still raining…oh..