Fluent Freshman - Part 11
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FF could admit that he may not be working with a full tank at the moment.
He had not slept very well the night before.
He had watched a lot of horror movies (a genre that he generally does not consume because his mind is already a scary enough place).
He was not able to go see his Grandma and he was going to miss the traditional(tm) Black Friday extravaganza that he and his Grandma did every Black Friday since he was little and encountered the horrible truth about Santa and she’d let him in on when / where most of his Christmas gifts were obtained. (The answer was not the North Pole under the watchful eye of elves. He had cried himself to sleep at the revelation but Gran always had a way of making the worst moments of his life tolerable.)
He may have eaten just…a bit too much pie?
He definitely ate too much turkey.
His stomach is killing him because he had forgotten to take his pepto when he had slammed that five hour energy.
His heart may actually break out of his rib cage with how hard it’s beating in his chest.
He’s been listening to Andrew and Captain Neil go back and forth for the last hour and a half between discussing Aaron’s recent mess ups, to what they’ll do to one another with a locked door between them and the world, to Andrew complaining that Neil’s hand is sweaty, to Neil saying Yes and Andrew’s hand is no longer in Neil’s and-
He clenches his eyes close.
And Andrew has swerved back into the lane for the third time in the last five minutes while saying something unrepeatable about his plans for Captain Neil and the whipped cream.
FF does not handle swerving cars very well.
He hears Andrew say something that sounds like it could lead to a very uncomfortable yeast infection for Captain Neil didn’t properly rinse off afterwards.
The car swerves over the rumble strip.
A fear far stronger than his fear of what Andrew could do to him overtakes him.
“I don’t like swerving cars. So, I’m going to ask that you focus on the road and keep your hands on the steering wheel.” FF says so panicked that he sounds calm and he watches as both Neil and Andrew stiffen at the sound of his voice. “If you can’t, then I’m going to ask that you pull over and let me out.” He offers a second option and a part of him is just amazed that his voice doesn’t crack even once. “I’m fine with either option.” He says.
He says both are fine but…
Honestly he hopes Andrew chooses the first option as he looks at the dark and lonely highway.
He looks back up at the front seat and both Neil and Andrew are looking straight forward. Andrew’s hands are on the steering wheel.
“Thanks.” He says and returns his attention to back over Aaron’s head.
The rest of the ride to Columbia is blessedly quiet. Aaron and Nicky wake up when they get off of the interstate and Nicky has the good grace to try and wipe the drool out of FF’s hair while Aaron seems unbothered by the wet spot he left of FF’s shoulder.
They get out of the car and they each grab their own bag in exhausted silence. Nicky is barely managing to put one foot in front of the other and before FF can do or say anything Nicky is in his room and has locked his door.
The room that FF had been planning on sleeping on the floor of because Nicky had told him he could so that FF would not drink 20 5-hour energies over the course of the weekend.
But Nicky had looked really tired.
So he is given a general tour by a very quiet Captain Neil and FF forces himself not to think about the cooler that Andrew had brought to, what he assumes is, Andrew’s bedroom before it was brought to the kitchen. He gets shown where the blankets and pillows that Kevin uses are and FF nods in quiet acceptance even knowing that he is going to spend the night going over Katakana flashcards and maybe up his literacy on Kanji to a second grader’s level.
Captain Neil wishes him a good night while Andrew gives him a nod and it is the last time he sees Captain Neil that night.
It is not the last time he sees Andrew.
***
Andrew comes out of his room to go get two glasses of water nearly 2 and a half hours later. The house is silent and dark. He is pretty sure him and Neil are the only two up.
He is wrong.
He comes out into the living room on his way to the kitchen and finds FF going through flashcards at a rapid pace. He walks a little closer to see what it is but the flashcards aren’t even right side up half of the time.
He thinks about the car ride.
‘I don’t like swerving cars.’
FF had said it so matter of factly. He was uncomfortable with the swerving.
Andrew had told FF recently about the words he didn’t like.
It felt like FF was offering at least something of himself back to Andrew for the first time.
Andrew thinks about how once his hands had gone back to the steering wheel FF had leaned back into his seat and stared out the window.
Andrew has at various points tried to look up what FF’s circumstances were but searching news sites for someone named ‘Smith’ with no first name to work off of was an exercise in futility.
Neil has lamented many times to Andrew about his bizarre jealousy over how unknowable Smith is. “He’s learning new languages, keeping a low profile, and playing Exy. It’s everything that I wanted in my freshman year and couldn’t manage because Riko pissed me off so much! It’s just kind of hard to see someone living my dream.” He says.
Andrew had punched him in the arm for that one.
“My old dream!” Neil had said and Andrew almost punched him again for the smile he flashed but had ended up kissing his stupid pretty face instead.
Where was he?
Right.
FF didn’t like swerving cars.
It didn’t necessarily have to be the trauma that lead to that aversion. Andrew certainly hadn’t had anything scare him on a plane but he still hated flying.
Still.
“The flash card is upside down.” He says and watches as FF pauses in his shuffling before righting that card and flipping to the next one which was turned to the side as far as Andrew could tell.
FF should be asleep.
FF is not asleep.
It might be Andrew’s fault that his friend can’t sleep.
“It won’t happen again.” He says and FF turns and stares at him blankly for a few seconds before he nods his acceptance.
It’s nice having a friend who understands what he means without needing to explain every little thing.
***
FF thinks he might have double-dosed on the 5-hour energy.
He also thinks he might currently be able to see through time.
His flashcards are making so much sense right now.
Then Andrew had come up and it truly was a miracle that he did not shit himself considering the sheer amount of apple pie still making its way through his system. That’s a lot of fiber for one body and he’s sure the 2-3 Five Hour energies he has taken are not helping his plight in that regard.
“It won’t happen again.” Is what Andrew says and in an instant FF feels his stomach drop to his feet. He nods blankly and watches as Andrew nods back before the man went to the kitchen and left with two tall glasses of water.
‘It won’t happen again’
FF has asked Andrew for TWO favors today.
TWO WHOLE FAVORS.
WHAT WAS HE THINKING?
The answer was that he WASN’T.
Even if FF had paid back one of those favors with the sheer power of his granny’s pie there was the case of the secondary favor he’d asked for in the car.
‘It won’t happen again’
There won’t be anymore favors for FF. He’d used up any mercy his grandma’s pie had bought him.
He considers the time pulls out his phone and goes through some saved text files on his phone.
It’s time for guns even bigger than his grandma’s apple pie.
He takes another five hour energy and knows that he won’t be sleeping a wink. He looks up groceries stores that are open this early on Black Friday, he grabs his wallet and with immense fear in his heart grabs the keys Aaron had dropped into a bowl by the front entrance.
He needs the ingredients for his great-grandma’s brownies.
Do your civic duty and: CAST YOUR VOTE TODAY ABOUT MEMES
NEXT
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RealAgeAU - Godly Lessons
And the one that was third place in the poll!
I had this one ready for a while now so we are uploading it today!!
Timeline wise this is 6 months after Nightmare turned into a baby (so about 3 months after the gang arrived in Farmtale) We good there?
First Drabble (Thanks to @spotaus for the original prompt)
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*---------------*
It took them ages.
And when Dream says ages he means AGES to find Reaper.
It doesn't help that Reaper hardly interacts with anyone. He is so work focused it is crazy.
But, as Blue had said, Reaper was the only one they could ask!
Well... Dream had asked Ink and Error before but Ink had just tilted his skull confused at the question while Error just looked unamused and asked him why the hell he would ask him.
Dream makes a mental note to eventually explain to those two that they may be ascending to godhood soon, if they aren't already there. Look. Dream knows he should tell them this and help them but at the moment Dream is having issues with his own powers.
And honestly wiht those two still having their fifth truce (Look, Ink keeps forgetting they had a truce and so they just keep resigning the same truce agreement.) he still has time before he needs to explain the basics of godhood to them.
Not to forget that Dream is rather unsure nowadays about his own god status. He thought gods didn't change?! They had domains and stuff!
Okay so maybe Dream didn't know a lot about god things and only knew the things that... he had been told ages ago. Either in small snippets by his mother but those had always sounded like an afterthought.
Honestly the things he knows about being a god is all things he had... heard from those... those... horrible villagers... and later people from across the multiverse.
Either way, it means Dream is looking for more information and Blue is helping. Honestly Dream is unsure what he did to deserve Blue as best friend and Dream makes a mental note to somehow thank him for it later. There has to be something Dream can do to make Blue happy and show how thankful he is.
But that is for later.
Now, they are looking for Reaper.
And... well... with him being Death...
Dream has to physically stop Blue from jumping to someones defence as the human in this universe goes about the genocide run. Dream starts to regret his decision to let Blue come along.
"Huh. You aren't suposed to be here."
Dream looks up and smiles "Reaper! It is so good to finally see you!"
Reaper just looks confused before giving a grin "Really now? Why is that?"He winks before his face grows harder as he glances around "Also you two really can not be here."
Blue huffs "We wouldn't be here if you were easier to find. Come on Dream let me go I need to help them!"
Dream shakes his skull "No Blue you can't!"
Reaper sighs as he rubs his face "Okay. You need to talk?" he checks his phone and nods "Let me finish my job here quickly and we will talk on the surface of this universe. Just teleport to the other side of the barrier and I will be there in a bit." and he shoots off after the human, already becoming invisible again.
Dream has to drag Blue through a portal.
They sit in the grass as Blue glares at the ground.
"I am sorry Blue-"
Blue shrugs as he looks away "We could have helped them..."
Dream sighs and nods "I know... but we aren't suposed to interfere in other universes or stories..."
Blue huffs as he mutters "You don't have that problem when your brother does something or Ink wants to interact with people when he isn't suposed to." he doesn't look at him.
Dream frowns as he rubs his arm. Yeah... that is fair... Dream is a hypocrit, he knows that already.
They sit in silence before a chuckle "Wow. What is going on here? Did someone die?" and Reaper grins cheeky.
Blue groans but Dream stands up "I need your help"
Reaper blinks before letting out a long sigh "Dream. We have been over this. I am not picking sides."
Dream shakes his skull "This isn't about that!" he rubs his arm before forcing it out "I am losing my powers."
Reaper immediantly stares at him "What?!" Reaper looks him up and down much more critically.
Dream nods as he looks to the side "It is going slowly. But it is happening... it has been happening slowly but surely over almost half a year now."
Reaper shoots upright "And you only decided to search for answers now!"
Dream feels embarresed "We have been looking for almost 4 months now! But I also have other stuff to do as guardian of positivity!" he crosses his arms.
Blue leans over "Also you are hard to find."
Reaper raises a brow "Just ask Ink. You guys are like roommates half the time."
Blue and Dream share a look.
Reaper looks pained "Oh no what is going on with them now?"
Dream thinks about how to say it before just throwing it out there "They don't know they are gods."
Reaper stops, stares and groans loudly as he covers his face "I thought! I thought they knew what they were doing?! They call themselves god of creation and god of destruction for crying out loud!"
Dream rubs his cheek and shrugs. Blue nods "Yeah. that is what tripped us up too. We asked them if they had heard of gods losing their powers. and Ink just looked confused while Error asked why we asked him. And told us to ask a god instead of them."
Reaper looks so tired before rubbing his forehead "Okay. okay. Good thing those two are on a break of their weird war again. Does explain why they would keep fighting instead of just working together to make sure both get their job done." Reaper frowns as he rubs his face "I will have to ask the others about this... this may become an issue. Someone has to teach them and explain it to them but Ink has the memory of a squirrel and Error doesn't listen unless he respects you..." Reaper looks thoughtful as he mutters "Maybe it is best to go to him... Error and Nightmare already work together and Error respects him..." he frowns and huffs "Will have to find him first..."
Dream flinches at the name of his twin as Blue steps over "Anyway... Dream said with them having their truce that can wait. We went looking for you in the hopes you got answers for Dream."
Reaper pauses and clearly thinks it over "I personally don't... but if anyone has answers..." he looks considering to the side "I can go ask a friend of mine first. See if she has answers. if she doesn't we will need to go to Asgore, king of the gods and god of the sky... he will probably know but..." reaper pulls a face "he doesn't like multiverse stuff generally..." Reaper looks over "You two okay with waiting here for a moment?"
Both dream and Blue nod and take a seat to wait again. Reaper disappears and silence returns.
In the end, Reaper's friend did not have answers and they were forced to go to the land of the gods, or universe of the gods. Which, caused a tiny issue with Blue being there. Blue had just looked at him and asked if Dream wanted him to come. To which Dream had said obviously and so now Blue was Dream's chosen warrior to hopefully let this go smoothly.
They manage to get into the universe and it is glorious beyond anything that Dream could imagine. it is bright and colourful and so many powerful beings make their ways around. They all look curiously at them as they go by.
Reaper whispers "Do make sure to just address me with Sans here. Either that of Death. They don't like the idea that I as god don't go by my name or title when I am making my way around." Blue nods as Dream gives his own agreement.
They manage to get to the hall of gods and find the Asgore of this universe. the kind of all gods and the very sky. Which, with Dream knowing the story and how the monsters longed for the sky and all it held, understands is a very big deal.
They arrive to the end of the hall and Reaper nods to Asgore "Asgore."
Asgore looks over and frowns "Death, I thought I told you what i thought about this interacting with mortals." he looks very displeased.
Reaper answers smoothly "I know, Dream however isn't a mortal. He is a god, just not from our universe. The mortal with him is his chosen warrior Blue."
Asgore huffs but the irritations melt away easily "I see..." he smiles at Dream "Dream you say? You must still be very new to godhood. I can only assume Death brought you to me for a specific reason."
Dream gives a slow nod and after an encouraging smile of Blue he starts talking "I supose I am still a bit new to this all. I may be over 500 years but many of those years were spend locked away. The problem is... I am losing my magic and powers. I do not understand why."
Asgore frowns as he nods "I see. Were you cursed by any chance?"
Dream thinks it over "I don't think so. I at least don't remember a single moment which stands out where i could have been cursed."
Asgore nods and waves at him to continue.
Dream does just that "I have been losing my powers slowly over the last few months. It started with being unable to passively make others happy. At this point I can hardly feel emotions as it is."
Asgore suddenly chuckles as he leans back "Well, of course you can't do that. You are no god of emotions."
Dead silence. Blue and Reaper share a shocked look as Dream sputters "but I am?! I am the god of positive emotions!"
Asgore tilts his head "No you are not. I can sense that you have no domain."
Dream sputters and glares "But I do have a domein!"
Asgore chuckles as he waves off his anger "Had. You HAD a domain."
Dream feels hismelf freeze "what...?"
Asgore nods "You are losing your powers because you lost your domain. You aren't losing your godhood however, that is something of that is yours by right of birth and a great power is needed to take that from you. But your powers are leaving you as those were connected to the domain you were connected to."
Dream stares down at the ground.
Asgore continues on, either unaware of the actual crisis Dream is experiencing or he just doesn't care "Now that the balance is able to establish itself again it has no need for either you or your counterpart."
Dream blinks and looks up "Balance?"
Asgore looks smug "Yes of course I know what your domain used to be. A god of Balance. together with your counterpart your duty is to establish and keep balance over your area. In this case, the focus was on emotions and the area was quite large with this so called multiverse."
Dream is seconds away from hyperventilating.
"Remember Dream. You are to keep balance." Nim sounds so proud.
Oh gods.
Nightmare looking at him annoyed "Dream what are you doing?! You are going to tip over the balance if you keep interrupting my work!"
Oh no.
"-It doesn't mean i don't like them. Just, even too much of a good thing is bad. you know?" Blue smiles at him.
Oh he is so dumb.
Reaper luckily sees that he needs some assistance and continues the question "Meaning that Dream needs a new domain? And that will give him powers again?"
Asgore nods "Indeed."
Blue looks between them confused "But what restored this balance then?"
Asgore looks annoyed at Blue for a moment but when Dream looks at him expecting he humors them "I do not know. I supose something unbalanced it. But that with time and the suport you and your counterpart gave it it managed to recover and heal."
So there may be a new tree of emotions somewhere in the multiverse-
WAIT!
Dream steps forwards, feeling much more panicked "You mean. That whatever unbalanced it must have been reversed?!"
Asgore raises a brow "I just said that yes."
Dream feels the panic return. Because the only thing he can image unbalancing it. Would have been the tree being cut down. The tree and the apples of his mother's tree had been the thing keeping balance.
Nightmare ate the apples...
Where is his twin?
Dream takes a few steps backwards "I... I need to go. Thank you. I need to go now." His brother. Where is his twin? Is he hurt? What if... what if these powers disappearing are also disappearing for him?
Those apples had healed him... kept him alive...
Dream knows that much, Dream had seen the images in the book. The only reason Nightmare survived was because of those apples.
Can... can Nightmare survive without those apples in his system?!
Dream doens't know what Asgore said but he rushes back to the enterance, blue already by his side again and looking worried.
They get to the edge and Dream teleports them out again.
As soon as they are back Dream feels himself shake and Blue hugs him "What is wrong? What did you realise?"
Moments later Reaper appears "Why did you do that?! Now i need to deal with a ticked off Asgore and-"
Dream breaks "Nightmare may be dying!" sobs break through as he collapses in Blue's hold.
silence.
Dream hadn't seen his brother in months. Not once ever since Dream started losing his powers. He had only seen the gang members once in a while. They always left quickly as soon as Dream even started talking about Nightmare.
Dream had been losing his powers and magic for half a year now and not once did he question if it may be affecting Nightmare.
He sobs as he falls to his knees, Blue keeps holding him.
Reaper floats closer but still out of reach "What do you mean? He is also a god. those are hard to kill." he grins a tiny bit but there is a nervous edge to it.
Dream sobs as he looks up. "The only reason he is alive is because he ate the very thing that helped keep the balance..." he sobs again "if the balance is restored... and all the magic we have connected to it disappears..."
Reaper seems to realise what Dream realised before cursing "Fuck."
Dream sobs as he hugs himself.
He doesn't even know where Nightmare is. He should have started looking for him months and months ago. As soon as he found that storybook, earlier even! When he realised his powers were acting weird. Make amends.
But Dream had been a coward. He had been afraid that Nightmare would never forgive him for his foolish and blind behaviour. Dream had figured he could try and ease their relationship a bit first. Maybe a truce like Ink and Error, and work from there on trying to repair their broken relationship.
But turns out... He may have been too late already.
Half a year too late.
*---------------------*
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Why is it that each time i do a Dream chapter it is a gutpunch? I honestly really like dream. It is just, from his side this whole story is more of a horror story than a family comedy...
Oh well.
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