Work Text:
It was a cold, windy day in the AU where Nightmare and her gang resided. The surrounding forest rustled with every gust of wind. Any open window caused doors to slam loudly. Dust really quite enjoyed this type of weather, she didn’t think Killer really cared, but Horror preferred sunny days with minimal wind.
For good reason.
The outside garden had been infested with these pesky dandelions for the past few days. Horror was not happy. She’d spent hours over the past week solely on getting these weeds out of all of her flowerbeds, just to be reset from the puffy bastards spreading their seeds into her delicate rosebeds.
Watching from the window, Dust studied Horror’s frustrated form from afar as she knelt in front of some pink colored flowers. Her head stuck halfway out of the second floor living room window, she listened to the forest’s leaves sing a chorus of movement. Pure and undisturbed by Horror’s irritation.
A sigh left her teeth, content and amused by the sight. Horror was never one to feel any kind of anger without a good reason, so seeing her so worked up felt strange in a comedic way. One glance up at Killer found that she, too, was amused at the sight. Her teeth stretched to an uncomfortable looking grin as she watched Horror’s every move.
“How long do you think Rory’s gonna be at that ‘fore she gives up?”
Dust didn’t think she would give up, per say, just take a break for the rest of the week. She did deserve it, her spine was probably begging for a reprieve. “Thirty minutes until she’s done for the day… it looks like it might rain…”
Killer hummed inquisitively, her claw tapping mindlessly on the windowsill. She suddenly gasped as she jumped up, exclaiming, “We should bring her something!”
“...Like some water?”
“Yes!” Her voice raised in both pitch and volume as she garnered even more excitement.
Shrugging, Dust thought about what else they could get for Horror.
“It’ll be a picnic prank! We make a picnic and prank her by surprising her with it!” If she could, her grin would be even bigger at the thought. “Imagine the look on her face!”
Standing up, Dust rolled her eyes, if Killer wanted it to be a prank, so be it. It’ll make Horror happy all the same.
Somewhere along the way, a basket was acquired, probably from Horror’s room. It was slowly being filled with anything and everything the two of them thought was appropriate. Store-stolen muffins, some kind of chocolate Killer insisted on bringing, all of their water bottles, sickly yellow soda, and sandwiches Killer wasn’t trusted to make. A blanket was draped over the entire ensemble.
All that was left to do was to… ‘prank’ Horror.
Killer was getting more and more giddy by the second. As Dust began to pack everything properly, the other jumped up and down with her arms bracing herself to go up and over the countertop. Peering over the top peak of her hoodie, Dust watched in amusement. A small heat crept up her spine, leeching into her cheekbones.
Even with Phantom making a fuss in her ears, she was starting to get excited for this prank, too.
Setting up ended up being far harder than either of them had anticipated. It turns out, getting a blanket to lay flat in the wind was not an easy feat. After far too much time had passed, and far too many swears were sworn, the blanket laid flat. In one corner laid their basket and about seven big-ish rocks held down the border of the blanket.
Since she had packed the basket, Dust began to unpack everything they’d brought carefully. She chose to keep the majority of the food inside, only taking the heavier metal water bottles and the glass soda bottle. She tucked her knees to the sky, laying her upper half in the grass, feeling how it tickled her face.
“I’m gonna go find ‘Rory now! I can’t wait to see her face,” Killer just about cackled at the image she’d curated in her skull.
“Mhmm…” Dust rested her eye-lights, not from being tired, just to block the blinding white of the clouds up above.
Not so far from where the other two had settled, Horror stood on one knee, like a knight. Her teeth were parted, just inhaling air steadily. She craned her skull to look at the sky above. It was going to rain soon, and all the dandelion seeds wouldn’t be able to spread in the wind so easily. The air surrounding her smelt cold and a little damp, not very noticeable, but comforting nonetheless.
A quiet giggle snapped her out of her nearly meditative state. Her focus lingered in the direction it came from. Killer was trying to sneak up on her.
Not wanting to ruin her fun, Horror looked back to the flowerbeds. Here, she grew freesias long ago, she stopped planting them after the first 2 died immediately after blooming. Now, after clearing the soil, delicate lilies laid in their place. To the left of her, she grew three colors of roses, orange, purple, and red. One of the books in the massive library of NIghtmare’s called 'The Lover's Rose’. Apparently the orange meant enthusiasm and desire and the purple one was used to convey an enchanted, ‘Love at First Sight’, feeling.
Her favorite flowerbed, however, wasn’t either of them. No, her favorite held anemones and asters, both a beautiful shade of purple or lavender respectfully. She wouldn’t tell anyone, but the single, tall, bright red aster would remind her of Killer. Really, almost all of her flowers held some sort of feeling for Horror. The anemones, a deep purple, supposedly symbolized anticipation, but really they just reminded her of Dust.
“What are these ones?” a very sneaky Killer asked, almost startling Horror.
“Lillies.”
“...cool. Anyways! I wanted to ask you another question on the other side of the garden,” Killer lied straight through her teeth, attempting to lure the other straight into their prank.
Horror just nodded in acknowledgement as she stood up. She never thought she was that tall until she met Dust and realized she was a few inches taller than Killer. She remembered how embarrassed she felt when Killer pointed it out. It almost felt like she stuck out, not in a necessarily bad way.
They followed the stone path which was probably older than each one of them combined. After only a minute, Horror could see Dust’s knees pointing up at the sky as she laid on a blanket. What was she doing?
As she slowed herself down, Killer noticed immediately, grabbing one wrist with both hands. If she were just a little stronger (or had been trying harder), she could’ve tugged the other straight into the grass. Picking up their pace, Killer just about jumped towards Dust.
“...What is this…for?” Horror asked tentatively
“It’s a picnic, duh,”
“No… I understand that… but why?”
“It’s a prank!”
Dust began to sit up, her ulna pressed to her forehead, “Yeah, we got you good, huh?” she smiled just a little.
“Huh… Are you sure that… this is a prank?”
“One hundred percent sure, yes.” Dust made eye contact with Horror, “Come sit down, no reason to stay standing when there’s a blanket”
Sitting in a triangle, Horror sat criss-cross, Killer sat on her shins, and Dust sat with her knees to her chest, head resting in the center. Killer peaked inside the basket, pulling out a sandwich for Horror.
“Do ya want one too, Dust?” Killer asked
“...Not now”
She shrugged as she remarked, “Suit yourself”
“I had one in the kitchen, idiot”
The other two continued their picnic food as Dust watched through her hood. This was kind of… nice. The other two were smiling, Horror still hadn’t fully understood the ‘prank’ and Killer was trying to explain it to her. Not quite tuning out, the conversation sat in the background as the surroundings wooshed around in the wind.
As the conversation simmered down, Horror still didn’t truly understand why the other two had gone through the trouble to come hang out outside. It almost felt like a surprise birthday, on a random tuesday four months before your actual birthday. Killer kept bringing up her face when she realized it was a picnic. Her face didn’t feel like it changed very much, but according to the other two, her eyelights widened and her teeth crooked awkwardly.
She quietly studied the other two’s faces. Dust held a small, soft smile that would widen and point downwards if she was addressed. Killer held her usual grin, but it wasn’t so strained. Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the sprinkle from the sky until it landed on Dust’s knee.
“It’s raining”
“It is?” Killer looked up at the clouds, startling as a raindrop fell on her nose bridge.
Sighing, Dust stretched out of the position she’d held the whole time. It was weird seeing how her eye sockets would scrunch up and her teeth would clamp shut as she tried to keep quiet.
All three of them began to quickly toss everything into the picnic basket, not leaving a single piece of trash. Rushing inside so as to not get too wet. As soon as all three of them got inside of the castle, the rain began pouring down far harder than its warning sprinkle.
The basket was placed somewhere in the kitchen to be dealt with later as Dust returned to her space by the window. She watched as the dirt turned to mud turned to water with her head up against the glass. Killer had gone off somewhere, she didn’t know where she went or what she was doing, maybe she was putting away what was left in the basket…
Yeah, right.
Horror had come into the room with her, only a few minutes after she’d settled in. The TV was turned mostly all the way down as she watched. After a few minutes, Dust felt a strange feeling from behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see Rory looking away from the window and the TV. She snickered just a little at the sight. Looking back at the window, a small fog from her breathing sat against the glass. As she dragged her finger across it, she heard Horror standing up.
“...I know Killer said… that it was a prank… but why did you do it?”
“Well it was a pran-”
“No– I mean… that’s what Killer’s reason was… why did you do it?”
“Can’t we have the same reason?”
“I… really doubt you had the same… reasoning and rationale… as Killer.”
Shrugging her shoulders, Dust said, “Maybe I just wanted to see the look on your face”.
The smile Horror had given was awkward and nervous. It was so genuinely and undeniably Rory. Maybe she really did just do it to see that look on the other’s face. Maybe she did it to make Killer happy. Maybe it was boredom. It didn’t matter. All that did was that she got to enjoy some time outside and the looks on their faces.