OH GOD OH NO AN IDEA HAPPENED
Nm tries to attack pale but w how the wedding rings work or whatever, he accidentally hits dream, turning him to stone and all that. But this also locks Pale into place w/ the ring-
So pale’s stuck, without his source of happiness
Dream would likely have actually ended up jumping in front of Pale.
I mean, pale is the first person to show interest and love and care for him in years. He can't afford loosing something like that. Not again.
So he would jump in front of Pale to protect him, and he would get struck in the soul.
The process would be slow. Dream slowly turning to stone. And Pale would try everything he could to stop the stone from expanding.
Pale would constantly have his castle lit, always having a light on him so dream will never be left in the dark (since that's when it gets worse) and the thing is, it works! Kinda.
Pale slows down the process. Something that, in the story, lasts a couple day has now been slowed down to almost a couple months. Sadly, that's torture for Dream.
Dream is slowly loosing his ability to walk, and to move his joints. Eventually the stone covers his mouth, making him both unable to talk, and unable to eat.
Pale selfishly keeps Dream surrounded by light though. Sure, Dream is suffering, but he's still alive! So Pale still has his positivity. His positivity is still there with him.....
Until Dream isn't of course.
Dream ended up turning completely into stone in the middle of the night. Pale woke up, and felt the lack of emotions he felt before he met Dream. He lays with Dream, hoping to feel his warmth that made him oh so happy once before.....