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Dark grey pinetrees faded into fog on the other side of the large lake, the pointy tops reaching the grey sky that was dusted with thick clouds that threatened to pour any minute now. It was calm, yet dismal; rather fitting after a day like today, but certainly not helpful.
⠀⠀⠀⠀ A top the mud sat a fairly large rock, one that Y/N liked to sit on whenever they came here to draw or read. However, they hadn’t come here to read nor draw. Hell, they weren’t even actually there: they were in the dreamscape. Physically, they were asleep in bed, pained.
⠀⠀⠀⠀ Bill Cipher, the town’s resident bastard and chaos maker, approached the teen with caution tonight. He didn’t know the horrors of their illness, but he saw how it made them feel, and simply went off of that. And, well, it wasn’t great: their cane had been thrown on the ground, evident by the marks in the mud, and their head rested in their hands while their expression held a grim look. Their eyes even teared up once or twice.
⠀⠀⠀⠀ The equilateral sat on a smaller rock beside them quietly. He was a lot bigger than usual; maybe 35 centimetres instead of the usual 30. He bent his shape slightly to slowly look up at Y/N, who only briefly made eye contact with him before their gaze returned to the ground, then to the lake, then to the distant trees, then back to the ground.
⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Hey, kid.” Said Bill, his eye reshaping in such a way that gave the impression that he was giving a sympathetic and sad smile. “Rough day, huh?”
⠀⠀⠀⠀ Y/N made a noise that could have been a scoff or a half hearted chuckle. “Yeah. Guess you could say that.”
⠀⠀⠀⠀ Bill crossed a leg over the other. “PoTS again, right?” They nodded. “Right...”
⠀⠀⠀⠀ The triangle’s slit pupil gazed down at the same small worm Y/N was staring at. It moved slowly, like it was free and had nothing restricted it from functioning like any regular, healthy, not chronically ill person. Y/N clenched their teeth and breathed out slowly through their nose.
⠀⠀⠀⠀ “I’m so tired of living like this.” Y/N started, sounding tired. “Every day I wake up and feel like my body is made of glass, or rusty metal. It feels like one day my legs are going to fall off and I’ll need more than just a cane. What if one day I end up fainting and hit my head on something? What if I accidentally throw up on someone? What if my legs stop working and I fall in front of everyone?
⠀⠀⠀⠀”What makes it worse is that nobody cares. Everyone still goes on like nothing’s wrong. Everything still feels right for everyone else. I feel so alone. No one listens to me.” The enby crossed their arms across their stomach and let their eyes fill with tears, glaring at the ground. “But I can’t be selfish; I’m not the only one who has problems.”
⠀⠀⠀⠀Cipher creased his brow and gave his best attempt at comfort in the softest voice he could muster. “No, kid, I understand what you’re saying. You want to feel listened to, and you feel betrayed by how normally the world works for everyone else. I get it. You just want the aches to stop.” A tear fell from Y/N’s eye. At the same time, it began to rain, the pace of the raindrops slowly increasing. “You aren’t selfish for wanting to be listened to. And hey, I’m listening to you right now, aren’t I?”
⠀⠀⠀⠀A small chuckle left the human as they wiped their tears. “Yeah, you are... Thank you, Bill. It really means a lot.”
⠀⠀⠀⠀While they’d been speaking, the demon picked up the cane and wiped the mud off of it, revealing a shiny, matte black surface under the grime. He handed it to the other. “Of course! Anything for my best friend.”