#they did not want to talk-

[come-down-that-tree]

Prologue Previous

Come Down That Tree! (An aftermare story)

Chapter 20:Unu partì per piglià a so scarpa, l'altri dui parlavanu.

Geno had watched as the other looked absolutely flabbergasted at his bare foot. Understandable. How could someone go through their whole day without noticing they’re missing a shoe?

That was a show of incredible head-in-the-clouds behavior.

Not that clouds couldn’t be very distracting but that was certainly not the point he was trying to make.

Point was: Nightmare had been rightfully mortified by the ordeal and had eventually run off to search for the missing boot, shouting that he must have lost it on the way back.

And all of this led to his current situation: alone with Dream, a plate of untouched cake sitting innocently in front of him and a ring around his finger.

The last element made his mind twirl in a confused dance, hesitant on where to put his next step and if doing so would unleash a beast or a rose. 

The fluttering feeling spluttered out once a simple question was thrown his way.

“Do you like the cake?”

“Uh?”

“I said,”Do you like the cake?”, you barely touched it.” 

Geno hesitantly brought a piece of cake to his mouth, munching on it until it dissolved easily with a fizzy leftover taste (indicating it was at least partially monster food) and nodded in the other’s direction. 

“For my part, I think the berries are a bit young, it’s bitter than it should be.”

Another nod, it wasn’t like he was any good at baking himself. Baking With A Killer Robot was one of the only times he watched someone explain the process. Unsure if the dramatic poses and furious buzzsaws were an obligated addition.

Silence stretched for a minute.

They ate their piece.

He then spent a moment ogling at Nightmare’s gift and wondered about any implication with choosing a ring. 

Shaking his head, the monster chuckled at the thought. Mere coincidence! And perhaps a little cultural difference.

“Can I ask you something?”

Dream’s question was sharp, gutting the silence with a surprising precision.

He merely hummed in answer, eye still focused on his hand.

“Who are you?”

At that, he glanced up and met a serious gaze. He frowned.

“Mind elaborating? I’m Geno.”

The eyes didn’t blink.

“What do you want?”

“I’m calling you back when it’s relevant again. I don’t want anything.”

A stone statue peering at him, unblinking.

“What are you doing here?”

“I think I remember that it was you who dragged me here to be precise.”

Not a twitch, it was a bit eerie if he dared to say.

“Have you ever hurt Nightmare?”

A flash of something made the guardian's eyes shine for a second before it’s gone. Geno hesitated, waiting. Maybe Dream counted that as an answer.

“Willingly?”

And at that, he indignantly sputtered and before he realized what he was doing, he shook his head furiously.

A beat.

Another one.

A sigh and a rigid pose gaining back some fluidity.

“I want to trust you.”

It didn’t even occur to him that Dream could have been anything other than a trusting soul, maybe a bit naive. To his defense, the guy brought a stranger to the very treasure he was made to protect. 

“Allow me to think about it, alright?”

And like that, the tension disappeared fully as if nothing happened. Dream smiled and took another piece of cake before frowning jokingly.

“This one is thoroughly burnt.”

The monster chuckled and pointed at the blackened crust -pushing away the unease to think about at a later date, maybe never- and declared that as it was still possible to see the colors under the black, “it couldn’t be that burnt!”

And they bantered about failed cakes and if baking something at a high temperature could shorten the time efficiently (obviously it would but it would be worth some experimenting to determine the length it worked) and thus and that for a good while.

Above them, the blue of the day was blending out with a softer orange, making the clouds pink on the underside.

A black shape flew right above them, shrieking and startling them both.

“What was that?”

A thud resonated and something fell on the grass between them.

There, lying in all its fluffy glory, a whole bat. A whole confused creature who bonked hard on the tree’s bark. Somehow.

The event got two very different reactions out of them.

Geno bit out an incredulous laugh and Dream swiftly started fretting over the dazed animal, quickly pulling it into his lap to check it.

It had dark fur all over, except for some burned golden hue around its throat, and was roughly the size of a fast-growing pupper.

Geno watched, bemused, the guardian handling the bat with care, moving parts, observing stuff. 

“Do you do that often, you’re being very… efficient at the task?”

Without looking up from the small beast trying to sink tiny fangs in a thumb -which ended up not doing much beside getting a chuckle out of the spirit, bone can be heard to break- Dream hummed.

“Yes and no, I wouldn’t say it’s a very common occurrence but it is not the first time a bat bumped its head here,” he looked up, displaying an amused grin, “and now I’m starting to wonder if it’s not the same one as last time…”

Little screeches arose from Dream’s prisoner and the bat was released at last.

“Bye, little bat, please stop bonking your head against mother’s trunk.”

And, like that, they watched the chiropteran fly in a circle over them once before going away in the darkening surroundings.

Dream sighed once and they quickly fell back into silence.

The gentle wind played with the frayed end of his scarf and a lonely thought of days it blew without help idly passed his mind.

“Isn’t he taking a long time to find a boot?”

“He is.”

They both glanced at the village, with its newly lit lights, contemplating.

Geno wondered, face closed and pinched, if Nightmare was even capable of going down there without running into deep troubles.

“What do you mean by that? It’s just the village. A few folks there can be pretty rough -and most hard to please, ignore that I said that- but they aren’t bad!”

He said that out loud, curses.

“I’m sorry if you’re stuck in temland or something but I can’t say they made a good first impression on me and I’m pretty sure they had been making a lousy one on your brother for a while now.”

Dream kept quiet for a few seconds and idly, Geno briefly thought about adding more facts to the argument.

“...really?”

The voice was small and the eyes searching, searching for what? He wasn’t sure. 

He nodded.

They both glanced, once again, to the houses and streets, ant-sized people moving along and treading back home.

Geno swore and stood up.

“I’m going to go find him.”

The other did not follow but he felt burning eyes digging into his back all the way down the hill…

End of chapter 20... Go to chapter 21?

@dragon-tamer-1 @shinechermont

Geno!Sans belongs to @/loverofpiggies Nightmare, Dream and dreamtale belong to @/jokublog

That chapter is dedicated to @shinechermont! Happy birthday AC <3 🦇🎉💖

[butchfalin]

the funniest meltdown ive ever had was in college when i got so overstimulated that i could Not speak, including over text. one of my friends was trying to talk me through it but i was solely using emojis because they were easier than trying to come up with words so he started using primarily emojis as well just to make things feel balanced. this was not the Most effective strategy... until. he tried to ask me "you okay?" but the way he chose to do that was by sending "👉🏼👌🏼❓" and i was so shocked by suddenly being asked if i was dtf that i was like WHAT???? WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME?????????? and thus was verbal again

[artkaninchenbau]

A h-heartfelt reunion..?

Bonus

[heartorbit]

if we could stay connected, just like this

[akanemnon]

I don't like this place. It's turning everyone edgy and sad.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[bunnieswithknives]

As much as I love angst I think it would be funny if he just didnt give af

[dark-elf-writes]

Athena in My Goodbye: You need to learn to kill your heart and do what needs to be done

Athena checking back on Ody post Thunder Bringer and seeing him sitting there like:

[egophiliac]

should've just let Vil be the one to fly, it would've gone SO much easier. 😔

also HEY how are everyone else's pulls going, because I have had the most RIDICULOUS luck, seriously, halloween magic is 100% real

[inkskinned]

we were sitting on the floor and i was cutting out tiny pictures to make a collage for a friend's birthday. you were on your phone and you laughed about something, and i was still in love with you then, so i asked what had you giggling.

"sorry. i was just..." you took a moment and went back to texting. "i was telling someone about how you're afraid of the dark."

i'm afraid of the dark because something bad happened. "oh." i felt a little slinky of shame crawl down my throat.

you glanced up, and maybe it showed on my face, because you rolled your eyes and held the phone to the side casually so i could see the group chat. "what? was it a secret?"

i looked down to the scissors in my hand. "i just..." no, it's not a secret. it just felt like something private, something serious. saying why would you tell someone that just feels like an accusation. it's unfair. i honestly am not even ashamed of it, it's just a fact about my person that i don't usually share.

what a strange experience. is this a human thing or a generational thing? for our grandparents: did they need to worry about how quickly someone can just... share your personal information? again, i didn't even really have a true objection. what could i say? i want any person in my life to feel they can be honest with their friends. it's not like i said don't tell anyone this.

i cut out another letter to complete the rainbow happy birthday, started hunting for the exclamation mark. i heard you sigh dramatically.

"don't make a big deal about this," you said.

this entire conversation was a pattern for us, and this was when we got to my least favorite part of the pattern. i would get my feelings hurt in some oblique not-technically-terrible way, and then it would be making a big deal about something. you'd get frustrated for me for being soft, but i was born soft. you knew i was soft when you pierced me. it's one of the things that made controlling me so easy.

"i'm not," i felt my voice crack. the question came without my wanting. "why are you guys talking about me?" and why are you saying that thing? why not like - i'm telling them how you're generous and kind and pretty.

you let out this low, tragic groan. "oh my god." you tossed the phone away from your body. "there, see? i just won't talk to them if you don't like it."

the rest of the hour went the way it always went, between us: i said i don't actually mind if you talk to your friends but -, you found a way to call my minor expression of discomfort "being dramatic." you got upset that i had been offended. i ended up apologizing, even though i hadn't actually done anything.

afterwards, you picked up the phone again. after texting for a little bit, you snorted. "okay," you said, "but it is kind of funny you're afraid of the dark. i mean, when you think about it."

[hinamie]

"I'll show you every day that choosing to live was worth it"

some of my favourite scenes from @hijinks-n-lowjinks' fic things i would miss from the other side . this fic tore my heart out fr but like in a good way and i wanted to pay it homage the only way i know how <3

[firethekitty]

last semester i wasn’t doing well in a very important class i needed to pass in order to graduate so i was working my ass off writing essays and shit and every time i started slacking i would bring up this image and i’d say “ah fuck you’re right vash i really need to keep working” and then i’d write for another two hours and i actually managed to pass and graduate and i honestly don’t know if i would’ve been able to without this picture. thank you vash

[chloesimaginationthings]

FNAF Cassidy knows how to “help” Michael Afton

[artkaninchenbau]

People keep on asking for more Baby Robin and Papadile so here is more Baby Robin and Papadile. Now never ask anything from me ever again

[pollyanna-nana]

Did anyone else notice that seemingly one of the first things they did after bringing Thistle into the kingdom was cut his hair short?

And given what Marcille says about how important hair is to magic…. That’s probably not a coincidence.

[abstractfrog]

Happy 1 year anniversary to Mr Sherlock Holmes! Here's a litttleee celebratory comic from me

[sarcastic-clapping]

LET YOUR DAD DIE: IT'S FINE IT'S FINE IT'S WHAT HE DID TO HIS DAD.

Lestat + Claudia: Patricide & The Cycles of Violence - INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (2022) - Catherine Lacy, "Cut" (2019) / Anne Rice, "The Vampire Lestat" (1985) / Anne Rice, "Interview with the Vampire" (1976)