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The air felt different today. It was crisper and clearer. The sun seemed brighter, and the nature surrounding the palace was greener and colorful. But maybe that’s just because Horror was absolutely glowing after last night.
He woke up with Nightmare by his side, naked and satisfied in every way. After sex, Horror always felt better. Lighter, happier, more energetic.
As he made breakfast for the others, he played music on his phone. The music drifted around the kitchen in a happy rhythm, he couldn’t help but hum the tune. Because he was more distracted than usual, he had to stick to the written instructions much more than usual, but that was ok.
“Hey, big guy,” Killer said, slapping his ass playfully. Horror jumped a bit. Killer did that every morning, yet he managed to surprise Horror with it every single time. “Whatcha making?”
Horror glared down at his smaller lover, but his glare lacked all heat. “Breakfast.” He said plainly.
“Yeah, but what are you making?”
“You’ll j-just have to see, won’t you?” Horror said, grinning. Killer crossed his arms and pouted childishly. But Horror ignored his indignant stare.
After a moment, Killer went over to the table and sat down. “You seem to be in a good mood.” Killer observed. “Can’t blame you. You and Nightmare must’ve had a good time last night.”
Horror blushed. “Mhm. Did we k-keep you up?”
“Nah, I slept like a rock. Thanks to the Xan I took. But the boss messaged me a minute ago asking me to go out and get shit that got used up. You know, like lube and condoms.” Killer said. He opened up his phone, staring down at it. “He sent me; ‘Good morning, love. When you’re done eating breakfast, could you go get condoms and lubricant? I trust your judgment when it comes to this sort of thing. Buy whatever you think is best, along with any sex toys you find that you would like to use.’” Killer turned off his phone and dropped it on the table. “My god, he can be so long-winded.”
“I think he was j-just trying to make it c-clear that he’s giving you free rein to buy w-wh-at-e-w-… He’s giving you free rein in a sex store.”
“A terrible decision to be honest,” Killer said, shrugging casually with a mischievous smirk.
“I think he’s sending you b-because he knows you know everyone’s size and kinks.”
“Wow, did you just slut shame me?”
“Never.” Horror said, a hint of mischief in his tone. It was quiet for a moment. “You are a b-bit of a slut though.”
“Wow.” Killer deadpanned. Horror laughed.
Slowly, everyone else entered the kitchen. They all ran on schedules. Not ones set for them, just ones created by habits and repetition.
And it made Horror very happy. Some of his boyfriends could be very reclusive and would probably be happy to just eat alone in their rooms. Yet, because they knew he liked it, they always ate together here at the table. Occasionally, on holidays, they’d all eat on the couch instead, but even that made Horror happy.
“Pwetty pweas?” Killer begged, practically sitting in Dust’s lap. “You’d look so cute!”
“No.” Dust deadpanned, completely ignoring the other skeleton who was practically straddling him.
“Aw, but I want to see you dressed as a femboy!” Killer cried.
“I’m sure that’s not the only reason you want me to dress up.” Dust said.
“Pfft, what? Me? No… Why would you think that?” Killer said cheekily. “Cross!” He turned to the bigger skeleton. “You want to see that too, right?”
“What the hell? Don’t drag me into this.” Cross said.
Their bickering was endearing. Horror didn’t know what he’d do without them. However, he noticed someone was missing. With a frown, he stared at Nightmare’s empty chair.
When the other had eaten, Horror got a plate of food and went to find his lover. He didn’t have to search too hard. Nightmare was in his office, going over papers. He looked so beautiful when he was like this. Calm, in control, sitting pretty at his desk like the king he was, and absolutely shining in the morning light.
“Good morning, my gemstone. How are you?” Nightmare asked. His slightly angry and apathetic expression died as soon as Horror entered the room. Now his expression was softer, and deep in his eye was a spark of the warmth he held for them. Nightmare rarely showed open affection, but right now, they were in the safety of his office, which is what allowed such sweet expressions to be born.
“I’m good.” He said. “But y-you didn’t come down t-to eat. So I brought you food.”
He set the plate down near Nightmare. “Thank you, my love.”
“You work too h-hard.” Horror complained. He was always busy. Always up here in his office.
“I know.” His tentacles looped behind Horror’s back to pull him closer. Then, he planted a kiss on Horror’s forehead. “But you know I have to.”
“Yeah…” Horror conceded. But he didn’t like it. He wanted to spend time with Nightmare. The other hummed in thought.
“Tell you what… Tonight, why don’t you cook something nice for us and we’ll have a sort of date?” Nightmare suggested. Horror hummed and nodded.
“Anything specific?”
“Whatever you want.” Nightmare said. Horror nodded once again. Having free rein to make something nice and fancy was a good feeling. Before he left, he kissed Nightmare once again. “I’ll see you tonight.”
“See ya.”
As Horror went about his chores and tended to his garden, he watched videos online. His for you page was full of fun recipes he wanted to try. That’s what got him into cooking in the first place. Besides, knowing exactly how much food they had and watching the people he loved enjoy his cooking made the memories haunt him less.
When he found something fancy but within his skill level, he took notes on it. Detailed notes about the ingredients and cook times. If he didn’t do that, he’d struggle cooking anything.
“Hey, lovey,” Cross said, his tone very sweet. He wrapped his arm around Horror’s midsection and kissed him on the forehead. “I’m going out to get something from the store.”
“Mkay. Be safe.” Horror said, he nuzzled into Cross’s side for a moment. “Are you going to b-be gone for long?”
“I shouldn’t be. I’m just getting something for the boss.” Cross said. Horror raised a metaphorical eyebrow.
“Huh…”
“What?”
“Um… Nothing, I guess. Be back s-s-soon, ok?”
“Alright. Have fun in your garden.”
It seemed strange that Nightmare was sending them out so much today. But Horror decided to ignore that. After all, if Nightmare had a plan for them, he could only expect it to be executed flawlessly. After all, it was Nightmare.
Later that night, he had just gotten into the kitchen when Dust entered as well. “Hey.” He said plainly, setting a bottle of fancy wine on the table.
“I didn’t know you l-liked wine.” Horror said.
“I mean, it’s ok. But I just got it because Nightmare told me to.” Dust said.
“Mm.” Horror hummed. He paused for a moment. “Nightmare asked m-me to make something fancy tonight. He also told K-Killer to go get… something, I can’t remember what, but I kn-know it was something sex related.”
“Yeah, I think he’s planning something.” Dust said.
“Why w-wouldn’t he have Killer grab the wine? If he’s already going to be out shopping, it only makes sense.” Horror said. Dust shrugged.
Maybe Nightmare was planning a really extravagant date. Horror thought it would be more of a casual night in (not like they had many dates outside the castle). The idea was nice. He liked the thought of having a fancy yet private date with his lovers.
“Hey, can I chill in here with you while you cook?” Dust asked.
“Of course.” Horror said.
His lover chatted idly with him as Horror made dinner. Usually, Dust retreated to his room when he was done with whatever he’d been doing. It was a pleasant surprise that he wanted to hang out while Horror made dinner.
Dust gasped a little, a light burned in his eyes for a moment. Horror glanced at him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just saw someone is selling-… You know… a camera I’ve wanted for a while.” He barely restrained himself from going into a rant about cameras. Horror grinned a little.
“Yeah? Why d-do you need a new camera?” He asked just to get Dust talking.
“Well, I don’t need a new one. Mine still works, but the display screen is glitched out. The photos come out the same, it’s just… annoying. Besides, I have wanted this one because it has such an impressive zoom.” Dust said. And that of course started him off on a rant about cameras and photography.
Horror loved hearing his boyfriends talk. No matter what they were ranting about, it was nice to listen to. They were all so talented, all so amazing in their own little ways.
“Am I being too chatty?” Dust asked suddenly.
“What? No, of c-course not.” Horror said.
“I just ranted for like twenty minutes.”
The bigger skeleton huffed a laugh. He walked over, setting a hand on Dust’s shoulder and gently rubbing the bone. Then, he bent down and kissed Dust’s forehead.
“You could never be too chatty.”
“I wouldn’t save never, but ok.” Dust said, amusement leaking into his voice.
Soon enough, the food was ready. Nightmare, surprisingly enough, came out to set things up. He helped plate the food and made the kitchen romantic with scented candles and bouquets that had each of their names on them.
“Wow. You’re really going all in.” Dust said.
“Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” Nightmare said nonchalantly.
Even Killer seemed to be affected by the atmosphere that Nightmare set up. He was calmer, but also more horny. Horror was the one sitting closest to him, so he was on the receiving end of Killer’s horniness.
Killer was half on his chair and half on Horror’s lap. He was clinging to Horror’s arm, cheek squished against it. And whenever he wasn’t using his hands to eat, he was running them down Horror’s body. That caused sparks of warmth to flare up across his chest and thighs.
“So, what’s up with all this?” Cross asked. “You had me get flowers for us, you had Killer get sex toys and things. This can’t all just be because you wanted to have a date with us.”
“Well, first of all, I do want to spend time with you.” Nightmare said. “But uh… I also want… uh… I tried to space out the tasks for today, designating you to each task so hopefully you wouldn’t figure out my plan as easily. And that plan is… um…” He hesitated, anxiety flashing across his face. That got everyone’s attention. Nightmare closed his eyes and took a breath. “We’ve been together for years. And every year I’ve spent with you all is better than the last…”
Killer sucked in a breath. Horror glanced at him. He didn’t get it. He stared at Nightmare, confused and eager to hear what he was going to say.
“I want to spend the rest of my life with you all.” Nightmare said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue box. He opened it, revealing a ring. Now, it was Horror’s turn to gasp. “Will you marry me? I have rings for all of us. And… I feel like it’s time to move on to the next step.”
Cross took Nightmare’s wrist, gently rubbing it with his thumb. “I would love nothing more than to marry you.” He said.
“A-Absolutely.” Horror said, grinning. He couldn’t believe this was happening! A proposal? He never thought anyone would want to marry someone like him, yet here he was. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with these men.
“Oh my god, fucking finally,” Killer said. “I’ve been waiting for you to pop the question for years. I’ll absolutely marry you.”
“Is this the right time?” Dust asked. “I was just wondering with everything going on, and…”
“There’s no time better than now. I planned this for months. Maybe years.” Nightmare said.
Dust thought for a moment longer. “Then yes.” He said, very confident in his answer.
The air felt perfectly warm. Soft, loving intent floated through the air along with the delightful lavender smell. Those factors worked together to make the room feel full of love.
“God, I want to fuck you all so hard,” Killer said.
“Yeah, we can tell.” Dust said. “You keep squeezing on Horror.”
“Well, is everyone done eating?” Cross asked.
Killer’s eyes lit up. “Hell yeah!” He cheered.
Dust rolled his eyes playfully, finished off his wine, then nodded. Horror had finished eating a while ago, he always ate quickly. Nightmare needed a moment more, but soon enough he nodded too.
And with that, they were off to the bedroom. Life was good. Simple, yet domestic, peaceful. He couldn’t wait to marry them. He couldn’t wait to see what was next. God, he loved them all so much.
The future looked brighter than ever.