Chapter Text
Nightmare was okay with being alone. Well, no, that was a lie. He was used to it; kind of had to be with the way he was treated. People naturally preferred his younger brother, a beacon of positivity and innocence that they seemed to be instinctively drawn to. Dream’s purpose was to spread happiness and keep everyone in their small village alive and well while his job was to feed off their negativity so they didn’t feel it as harshly and his brother's work could have a better effect. The townsfolk either didn’t know this or simply didn’t care, treating him like he was some sort of harbinger of disaster. Tsk, humans could be so silly…
He sighed as sounds of laughter and music drifted up the hill where he was seated from the village below. Sounds like they were having a party. Whatever. It wasn’t like he cared.
He pressed his nasal further into the crease of his book, attempting to drown out the sounds with his story. But the overflowing positivity made him feel a little ill and he pressed a hand to his mouth to hold back a gag. Ugh, Dream knows he doesn’t like too much saccharine, why does he always have to-
…Wait.
All of a sudden, there was a shift in his magic. The bitter taste of his brother's effects were still present on his tongue but there was something underneath it all that was sweet… familiar.
Sadness.
He knew that taste all too well.
Someone was sad when his brother was clearly having a drastic effect on the townsfolk. That hasn’t happened before?
Focusing on the melancholy aura he could sense, he realized that it wasn’t coming from the town at all, but actually a little ways down the hill. The lake, he thought to himself as he turned his skull towards the source. He focused his magic on the secluded area and sure enough, the sweet taste of negativity grew, resulting in him standing up and heading towards the aura. He was curious, to say the least. Curious of what was presenting such a strong sense and why they were allowing themselves to feel those sensations when his happy-go-lucky brother was less than an hour's walk away.
A girl. There was a girl sitting by the lakeside. He stood there watching for a moment, something holding him back from approaching her. She was definitely attractive, he could at least admit that to himself. With (h/l) (h/c) hair and glazed (e/c) eyes, she almost looked like she belonged in a storybook. Unexpectedly, the thought made him flush.
“What are you doing?” Nightmare kind of wanted to crawl in a hole and die as the blunt remark came out cold and irritated; he hadn’t meant it to sound like that but comforting people wasn’t exactly something he was good at.
The girl jumped, head snapping towards him as her eyes widened in alarm.
“Who are you?” She questioned quietly, her features softening as she seemed to register that he wasn’t a threat. Nightmare quirked a brow, skull tilting to the side slightly in his confusion.
“You really don’t know?” He asked in return. Even if he never physically went down to the village, the people still knew who he was and what he looked like - the rocks that got thrown at him were enough proof of that… The back of his skull stinging in familiarity.
But the girl genuinely didn’t seem to know who he was, brows furrowing as she briefly fell into thought. He could practically see the cogs turning in her mind as she raked her memories before she shook her head, shrugging.
“…Sorry?”
He shook his head this time, keeping his expression as neutral as possible.
“You don’t have to be. It’s actually quite refreshing to have someone not know who I am.” His comment only seemed to puzzle the girl more, but confusion was better than sadness so he took it as a win. “I’m… not exactly someone people want to have around,” he continued, eye lights drifting downwards. He could feel the girl staring at him, silent and contemplating.
“Me too.”
He looked back up at the muttered words, unsure if he had heard her correctly. But her posture told him he had; hunched shoulders, ducked neck, head bowed, hands folded in her lap - he could see them trembling from where he stood.
She avoided his searching gaze as tears began to pile at her eyes, one or two spilling down her cheeks.
“Damnit,” she said under her breath, moving one hand up to wipe the droplets away.
“Heh.” She looked up as Nightmare chuckled, lifting a brow in question. He shot her a smile, his drooped sockets being the only tell to his real feelings. “Sorry it’s just…” he paused, the words seeming to get stuck in his throat.
But the girl simply gave him a smile in return, understanding smoothing the creases of her forehead.
“…it’s nice to find someone like me.” She finished for him. He nodded, smile staring to wobble at the edges. She continued to stare before patting the ground next to her, shifting to the side slightly. An action he wasn’t used to. In all his years of existence, it was the one thing that he’d never been given.
An invitation.
He faltered, unsure if he really wanted to before remembering the sweet taste of her despair. ‘She… she really wants me here huh? I’m… actually helping her.’ With that last thought in mind he moved forward, settling onto the grass beside her and letting out a shallow sigh that she immediately echoed. 'What's happening... What's this feeling? My chest feels weird,' he thought, hands scrunching up in the grass.
"Thank you, for this, I really needed someone today it seems," she eventually said with a light laugh. The sound of it made his chest tighten and he swallowed, simply nodding in fear of stuttering if he tried to speak. She turned to look up the hill and he could tell her gaze was on the Tree of Feelings. He shifted in slight discomfort, feeling her eyes drop to him. "You're... The Spirits of the Tree - I've only heard stories about them but..." She trailed off to tilt her head at him contemplatively. "You wouldn't happen to be one of them, would you?"
"Observant," he said simply, risking a glance over at her. She was smiling at him, the positive expression setting his soul into a frenzy. She chuckled before shrugging.
"Well, not much else to do out here then take notes of your surroundings," she replied, earning a nod of understanding from him in return.
Their conversation gradually drifted off from there and they spent a few minutes sitting in a companionable silence.
It was... nice. Really nice.
...
She pushed herself up once the sun began to go down, offering him a hand to help him up. He took it with a shy smile, standing next to her before releasing her hand.
"Can we meet here again sometime?" she asked. Nightmare was shocked at that question, sockets widening before he forced a neutral expression onto his face and nodded.
"...Sure."
The girl smiled again, waving as he turned to make his way back up the hill. He felt his soul fluttering as he settled down in front of the Tree, picking up the book he had been previously reading. But for some reason, he couldn't really focus on the words...
Or get the stupid grin off his face.
Wait... Did he even get her name?!