Chapter Text
"Dream, Dream!"
The said skeleton looked up from where he sat under their mother tree, setting down the funny shaped leaf he'd been looking at. A small skeleton creature was running up the hill towards him. There was also something colorful in his hands… What could it be?
Dream stood and tilted his head in curiosity as his twin approached.
"What is it, Nighty?"
Nightmare excitedly held out a bundle of dandelions.
"Look, look! I found a new thing! They're soooo pretty! And they're the same color as your eyes. What should we call them??"
Dream's face scrunched up as he thought.
"Uuhhh... I dun know... You're better at words, you do it."
"Hmmm... well they reminded me of you so... Dream puffs! 'Cause they're yellow and so soft and fluffy!"
Dream nodded with a giggle. "That's a good name! I'm gonna have to find something to name after you now!"
He looked around for anything remotely purple or similar to his brother. When he didn't immediately find any, he puffed out his cheeks in a pout. Dream looked to the other.
“Where did you find the, uh, dreampuffs? I wanna go look over there too!”
Nightmare beamed at the request and bounced on the balls of his feet in excitement. He turned to point behind him, his mouth open to speak. Only to remember he still had the flowers in hand. He looked from the flowers to Dream and back again. He cleared his little throat and tried to calm his excitement. It wasn't a very convincing attempt.
“Over by the pretty color swooshes. With all the buzzes and hummers. Imma take you there after I put the ‘puffs away.”
Dream nodded, his eyelights sparkling with mirth.
Nightmare scurried past Dream to one of the places they kept their finds. This one was in a small nook tucked between the roots of the tree. He reverently placed the flowers inside the hole.
“Okay! Let's go!!” Nightmare grabbed Dream's hand and they ran towards their destination, giggling and chatting all the way.
It didn't take them long to get to the flower field. They emerged from the forest treeline to reveal a small hidden valley with a stream twisting through it. The water gathered into a pond before flowing onwards. And almost every inch of land around it was covered in all manner of flowers and plant life.
Dream breathed in the smell of it all and let out a content sigh.
“Color swoosh place always smells so nice.”
Nightmare nodded in agreement and trotted forward. He was careful not to crush the flowers too much.
“Mhm, I like it too. That's why I wanted to bring you some. Then it's nice smelling at home, too!”
Dream followed the ‘older’ skeleton while looking for purple flowers. Most of the ones they'd previously found so far were pink, red, yellow, white… or weren't quite the right shade of purple that reminded Dream of Nightmare. He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts as he bumped into Nightmare.
“Ow!” They both exclaimed as their skulls conked together. Dream rubbed his forehead while NM turned around with a pout.
“Why'd you run into me?”
“Why'd you stop all a sudden??”
“Because this is where I got the dreampuffs!” NM pointed to the broken stems of a group of dandelions.
“You said you wanted to look around where I found them, silly.”
Dream blinked then gave a meek smile. “Oh! Right. I forgoted.”
NM rolled his eyelights but smiled back. “You always do that! It's so silly. But now we gotta find a me-puff?”
The yellow twin nodded and resumed his search for purple flowers. “Yeah, but I gotta find it first because it doesn't count if you do it. But, um, you can still help me look. I gotta decide if it counts though!”
“Mhm!” Nightmare scanned the area to assist in their quest. He walked off in a different direction in hopes of finding something. Wandering over to the pond, he looked around the reeds and plants to see if he could find any flowers they'd missed previously.
Far in the middle of the water, he could see flowers on lily pads. Most of them were pink or white though. One looked a little more purple than pink, but he didn't think Dream would count that one.
A frog swam up out of the water and climbed onto a lily pad. It croaked at Nightmare who laughed and croaked back.
“Hi little croaker. Have you seen any color swooshes that look like me? It has to be juuust right.”
The frog croaked again and stared at the child emotionlessly.
“Is that a yes or a no? I don't know croaker words very good.”
The frog just stared and blinked. Nightmare sighed and resumed his search.
“Okay, you can think about it I guess. Imma look for it by myself.”
The little waves he made as he waded through the water splashed the frog's perch and it jumped away.
“Wait, come back! Where are you going?” Nightmare followed the frog but it quickly disappeared into the mud and murky water at the bottom of the pond. The child huffed.
“I just wanted help! Why'd you run away? Meanie.”
The water did not respond. But some of the plants shivered in the wind and a flash of purple caught on the edge of Nightmare’s vision. Encouraged, he waded over to it. Maybe the frog was helping him.
He found a single purple iris, standing proudly amidst the other plants.
“Oh, yes! Yes, yes, thank you little croaker! This is just the right color.” He happily plucked it and began to look for Dream.
Meanwhile, Dream was searching on the edges of the field. It felt like they had already spent forever looking at flowers in the field, so maybe there was something on the fringes.
Dream gasped as he caught a glimpse of stunning violet through the leaves of the bush. He struggled forward, pushing branches out of the way and blowing at any leaves that whacked him in the face.
It was worth it for the treasure that he found though.
A lavender bush the size of him and twice as wide sat serenely nestled between two tree trunks. A few bees and butterflies fluttered about it, adding to the fantastical whimsy of the sought-after prize. The tufts of purple swayed peacefully in the wind. It was perfect.
Dream leaned in to sniff it. He smiled. For some reason, it felt calming. Reassuring even. Just like when he was with his older brother. A puff of color sharing its existence with the few insect visitors of its humble little dwelling.
He carefully plucked a branch of the flowering bush and made his way back through the branches of the other bushes guarding it.
“Niiiight! Nighty! Niiiightmaaare! Come look at this! I found a good one!” He waved the sprig of lavender in the air proudly. He saw his brother's head pop up from the tall grass some distance away. Giggling and skipping along, he made his way over to Nightmare.
He bounced in place as he and Nightmare met up. Then he noticed that his brother was all wet and also had a flower.
“Oh, did you find one too? It looks pretty… Why are you wet? Did you go in the splashy?”
Nightmare nodded as he looked at the lavender Dream had picked.
“Yeah, a croaker helped me find it. Mine's taller than yours, but I like how puffy yours is.”
Dream beamed. He held it out in Nightmare’s face. “Me too! Smell it, smell it! I really like it.”
NM pushed Dream back a bit and then sniffed. He hummed as he considered the smell. “Hmm… that is a nice smell. I didn’t smell mine yet.”
He sniffed the iris to compare. “Oh, mine smells nice too… which color swoosh do you like better?”
Dream tottled over and took a sniff as well. “Mmm… I dun know. Yours is a better color, but I like the smell of mine better. Oh, I know! Let's take both! Mine can be a Nightpuff and yours is a Night-swoosh!”
NM considered it. Then he nodded with a grin. “Yeah, I like that! Let's go home and put it with the dreampuffs.”
Both twins satisfied with their finds, they strolled on home as the sun started to set. They placed the flowers with the ‘dreampuffs’ and then curled up to cuddle for the evening.
“Nighty?”
“Yeah Dream?”
“Can we go say hi to the croaker tomorrow?”
“Yeah, of course! I gotta say thank you for helping find the night-swoosh.”
“Yay! Love you Night.”
“Love you too Dreamy.”