Prompt: Horror still has 1 HP but the other two occasionally forget that. One time, things go too far.
~~~
“Horror, you OK?" Dust asked.
"Yeah, dude, you haven’t been looking so great lately.” Killer jumped in.
“’M fine.” Horror said quickly, tightening his hold on his jacket.
The other two shared a glance but didn’t say anything else. Little did they know, Horror was both relieved and frustrated that they didn’t press the subject.
~~~
“Horror, we need to talk.”
Horror jumped at the sound of Nightmare’s voice. He turned to ask why but stopped when he saw that Killer and Dust were standing next to him, a concerned look on all of their faces.
“Y-yeah?” He responded, trying to sound confident.
Wordlessly, Nightmare’s tentacles flew towards the damaged skeleton and grabbed him before he could protest.
“H-hey!” Horror shouted, alarmed when he was grabbed and yanked towards the other three, “"Don’t-!”
He was cut off as his jacket was moved aside and there was a collective gasp from all of them. There was a small gash in his side. It wasn’t anything huge compared to wounds he’d given others but it was quite a bit of damage for him.
Nightmare was the first to speak, “Horror, tell me that isn’t what I think it is.” his voice was even but Horror could see the fear and worry in his eyes.
He tried to speak but nothing was coming out. After a moment, he decided to just show them. He pulled his shirt up a bit, revealing his ribs that were dusting around the wound. Once again, no one responded for a moment.
“Take off your bandages." Was all Dust said.
"But-”
“Do it Horror.” Killer said, cutting him off.
Wincing, Horror did as he was told, removing the bandages that normally covered the hole in his head. While it was normally there so as not to not remind him it was there, they had recently been used to cover up the fact that the corners of the hole was dusting. Without speaking, Nightmare summoned his soul causing another gasp from all of them. Horror didn’t need to look to know what they all saw.
His soul was breaking.
Not even just breaking, it was broken.
The only thing keeping it together were the bits of magic he still possessed.
None of them needed to say anything, they all knew what was happening. It was actually the silence that broke him.
He let out a choked sob, “It… It HURTS.”
Nightmare still didn’t speak, he only set Horror down between Killer and Dust and walked off quickly. If his negative aura was oppressive before, it was absolutely suffocating now. The remaining three were all crying. Dust was silently letting the tears fall and Killer was audibly sobbing.
“You… You CAN’T go.” Killer cried out, “I don’t know what I’ll do!”
“’M sorry…” Horror said.
“Why didn’t you tell us?" Dust finally asked.
"I didn’t want to hurt you guys."
"WELL IT SURE AS HECK HURTS!” Killer shouted, surprising the other two.
None of them said anything after that, they just held onto each other.
And it didn’t take long for Horror to finally dust in their arms, only leaving those two in the halls.
I am legit so sleep deprived and unwilling to do my homework
You're all going to hate me for this
--------
"We are NOT going in the creepy elevator."
"You know you want to though-"
"YES AND THAT'S THE WORST PART!"
Currently, Chris and Isaac were standing in front of the old school elevator. It was known as a hotspot for weird and unexplainable things. Students would claim to have heard noises coming from inside of it, there were stories of kids going missing after entering it, and even the old janitor wouldn't go near it. Chris was absolutely freaked out but Isaac couldn't care less.
"C'mon man," Isaac said, giving Chris a playful punch in the shoulder, "you gotta' admit you're curious."
"Maybe..." Chris muttered, "But that doesn't mean I want to go in there!"
"Then I'll go in there myself." Isaac said with a shrug.
"NO DON'T!" Chris cried, grabbing the artists arm.
Isaac just smirked, "C'moooooon! It'll be fun!"
"Disappearing in an elevator is fun?!"
"Who says we're gonna' disappear?"
"Literally every kid in the school!"
Isaac scoffed, "Wimp."
"Hey I-!"
"You are though."
"I'm not a wimp!"
"Then show me by going in the elevator with me." Isaac responded, grinning wickedly.
Chris sputtered, trying to form words for a few moments before just groaning and walking towards the elevator, "If we die or something because of this I'm blaming you."
"Glad to see you man up." Isaac said teasingly, only getting an annoyed grumble in response.
Chris pressed the button and instantly began fidgeting. There was a feeling of deep unease coming from the elevator that caused him to begin regretting his decision. Suddenly, it beeped and they both jumped in surprise. After a few moments, the doors slowly slid open with a mixture of a metallic shriek and a deep rumble. By then, they were both scared, but also even more curious.
"Well," Chris eventually said, "you still set on walking into what's possibly a death trap?"
"Of course." Isaac responded, dragging Chris in with him.
The second they entered the elevator, the doors slammed shut much faster than they had before and the singular flourescent light flickered on and off.
Chris latched onto Isaac, "I thought you said this would be fine!" he hissed.
"Well I didn't know we were gonna' get trapped in a giant metal box!" The other shouted before pausing and taking a deep breathe, "OK, calm down, we'll get out when this thing gets to the next floor and pretend this never happened."
"I can't do that if I get like, PTSD from getting stuck in an elevator!"
"Whatever, we're gonna' be fine." With that, Isaac pushed a button with a triangle pointing up, "Now, all we've gotta' do is wait and we'll be fine."
"I'm never going anywhere with you again." Chris muttered, folding his arms and looking the other way.
After about thirty seconds, Isaac spoke up again, "We probably should've gotten to the first floor by now..."
Chris glanced over at the right side of the door where the panel of buttons and a glowing sign displaying their floor was. However, when he looked at the sign, it wasn't a number.
"Hey Isaac?" Chris said, a bit of fear in his voice, "We don't have a floor named 'Eeby Deeby' right?"
"Did you just have a stroke Chris?" Isaac asked before looking at the sign and freezing.
Sure enough, instead of displaying a number, the sign only said "Eeby Deeby"
"Isaac...?" Chris started before the elevator shuddered, causing them both to stumble.
"Oh shi-" Isaac was cut off as the elevator suddenly started going up at unnatural speeds, knocking them both over.
And after a few moments, everything stopped as soon as it started.
"What just happened?" Chris mumbled, struggling to his feet.
"I have no clue." Isaac responded, still shaken by what just happened.
Chris helped him up and they both looked around. After a moment, the doors clanked open and revealed an unfamiliar landscape.
"I don't think we're in Foxfield anymore..." Chris whispered and all Isaac could do was nod.
-------
Basically, Chris and Isaac go to Eeby Deeby for gay crimes
Nightmare stormed down the hall, their tentacles thrashing wildly and just barely avoiding breaking some things themselves. Things like this (Which were once a rarity) had become quite common ever since the truce and the events that occurred as a result. In short, after peace was finally brought to the multiverse, both the Star Sanses and the Bad Sanses both realized just how dull life was without the other group present in their lives.
The solution? Get everyone to live in the same house.
And since Nightmare was the only one in possession of a building big enough for all of them to live in, the Star Sanses just moved in. It was difficult to get used to the sudden change in living arrangements. Fights would break out on a daily basis over small things and it would be up to someone else to keep the peace. However, once they all managed to get used to each other, things went a lot smoother.
Or rather, smoother than before.
Nightmare finally reached the living room, sighing as they saw the shards of porcelain covering the floor.
“And this was one of my favorites too.” They muttered, picking up the shards.
Thankfully, one of the nice things about being covered in sentient sludge is that it works as great glue. In a few seconds, the vase looked back to normal (If you ignored the subtle cracks covering it).
“Now where’s that clumsy squid?” They mused, scanning the room.
At that moment Dust walked in, probably having heard all the commotion as well and coming to see what happened. When he saw Nightmare, he gave a small wave before flopping onto the couch and curling up under the blankets.
“Hey!”
Nightmare jumped and Dust practically flew off the couch, immediately grabbing the pocket knife he carried, manifesting a few blasters, and pointing them at the now wriggling blankets.
Nightmare just sighed, signaling Dust to calm down, “Ink, come out from under the blankets.”
After a few minutes of silence, the artist was heard quietly cursing before sheepishly poking his head out from under the blankets, “Um, hey Nightmare?”
Suddenly, another person emerged from the blanket as well, “It’s his fault, bruh!”
Nightmare just sighed again, pinching their eyebrows, “What have I told you about roughhousing outside of the gym and your own rooms?”
“Not to...” Epic and Ink responded simultaneously, both staring at the floor.
Dust just snickered, de-summoning the blaster and putting away his knife, “What is this, the seventh time you guys have broken something just this week?”
Ink stuck his tongue out at the other, getting rewarded with a similar action.
“That doesn’t matter,” Nightmare said, “Ink, Epic, you two are doing extra chores this week.”
“What?!” Epic cried, “I didn’t even do anything, bruh!”
“Yes, because Ink decided to break the vase with no prompting.”
Epic just huffed and folded his arms, grumbling something unintelligible. Ink looked equally annoyed but seemed to accept what Nightmare said.
“Oh yeah, Nightmare.” Dust suddenly piped up, “I think Error wanted you. Heard string say something about Reaper harassing strings.”
“Not again...” Nightmare muttered, walking off and leaving the other three to do their own thing.
On the way to where they believed Error was, Nightmare passed Dream’s room where he was helping Horror read a story Killer had gotten them for their birthday. It had taken a while for Horror to be comfortable asking anyone to help them read. They felt embarrassed that they couldn’t read on their own due to not only being slightly dyslexic, but also having poor vision. It always Nightmare happy to see somebody helping them. After a few moments, Dream looked up and saw Nightmare. He waved, smiling brightly and Horror glanced up, waving as well. Nightmare returned the gesture before continuing down the hall, they had a job to do.
“HI NIGHTMARE!”
Nightmare jumped, their tentacles instinctively sharpening and pointing towards whoever scared them.
“OH!” Blue cried before lowering his voice, “Sorry, I forget how loud I can be sometimes.”
After recovering from the shock Nightmare smiled, ruffling Blue’s hair, “It’s fine, you just surprised me.”
Blue beamed, giving them a hug, “OK!”
They returned the hug, giving the shorter and giving him a peck on the cheek before letting go, “Forgive me for my abruptness, but I have something to take care of at the moment. See you again later.”
And with that, they left a very flustered Blue standing in the middle of the hallway. Now, to finally find Error. They thought, a determined glint in their eyes. No more distractions.
“Sup Boss.”
Nightmare just barely suppressed a groan, “Damn it.”
Killer scoffed, “Well, I didn’t realize how little you liked my presence.”
“You know I didn’t mean that.” Nightmare responded, continuing down the hall with Killer now practically skipping along behind them.
“Then what’s got ya’ so riled up?” Killer asked.
“I’m trying to find Error but I keep getting distracted by people.”
“Why ‘re ya’ trying to find strings?”
“Dust said something about Reaper harassing strings and I want to make sure Error doesn’t kill them.”
At that, Killer instantly tensed up, though he quickly hid his reaction, “Oh, you got any idea where string is?”
“Unfortunately, no.”
Killer didn’t respond, only speeding up and quickly overtaking Nightmare. In turn, Nightmare began speeding up as well to keep up with him. They expected Killer to become worried once he found out Error was even mildly inconvenienced. Dust and Horror were also very protective of the glitch. They all saw strings as a parental figure of sorts (Along with Nightmare).
“Calm down Killer.” Nightmare said, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder.
Killer flinched and seemed to calm down a bit but he still radiated worry and anger, “Sorry, I’m just worried about strings.”
“I am too but you just need to calm down.” They responded, “It’ll be OK.”
Killer grumbled something but agreed following right alongside Nightmare.
“I wonder where-” Nightmare was cut off by a glitched out shout of frustration followed by a surprised yelp, “Found them.”
Killer broke into a run and Nightmare just walked along after him.
“Killer! Get away before I touch you!” Reaper cried, instantly stumbling backwards upon seeing the other.
Killer just scoffed in response and turned to Error who was still glitching slightly. It was obvious string was just frustrated with the pesky god, passive aggressively turning away from them.
Reaper finally steadied, brushing themselves off, “Well, that was an unexpected turn of events.” after regaining their composure, they turned to Error and did a dramatic bow, “Forgive me for my insolence my sweet cherry blossom.”
Error ignored strings blush and the fact that parts of strings were pixelating in and out of existence, “ץєคђ ฬђคՇєשєг, ןยรՇ ๒คςк ๏ŦŦ ๒єŦ๏гє เ ๔๏ ร๏๓єՇђเภﻮ ฬє ๒๏Շђ гєﻮгєՇ.”
Reaper took that as a win and grinned, spinning on their heel and walking down the hall, “I look forward to our next encounter beautiful~!”
“Sƚυριԃ ϝʅιɾƚყ Ⴆαʂƚαɾԃ.” Error muttered, though string wouldn’t deny the smile that tugged at the corners of strings mouth.
“You OK Error?” Killer asked, careful not to be too close without permission.
“They’re lucky I can’t touch them or else they’d be in danger right about now.” Was all he said, scowling at the floor.
Nightmare finally stepped forward, having just been watching the interaction, “Well, I’m glad nothing too bad happened.”
“Eαʂყ ϝσɾ ყσυ ƚσ ʂαყ σƈƚσρυʂ.” String responded.
Nightmare rolled their eyes, “My goodness, I thought we were over the whole octopus ordeal.”
“Never will be goop lord!” Killer said, instantly going from brooding to playful.
They sighed in disappointment before picking Killer up with a tentacle and motioning for Error to follow, “Anyways, it’s movie night.”
“Is it my turn?!” Killer asked, swinging his legs though being careful not to kick Nightmare.
“No, Cross.”
Killer groaned loudly, “Oh come ON! You know full well he and Epic are gonna’ make us watch the Bee Movie again.”
Nightmare just shrugged, “I don’t make the rules.”
“YES YOU DO!”
“Irrelevant.”
Error snickered quietly at their debate, “ʏօʊ ȶաօ ʄɨɢɦȶ ʟɨӄɛ ǟռ օʟɖ ʍǟʀʀɨɛɖ ƈօʊքʟɛ.”
“Bold of you to assume we aren’t.” Killer retorted.
“I’m pretty sure we all are.”
“Whatever.”
They walked in silence for a moment before Nightmare turned and rapped loudly on a nearby door, “Epic, Cross, stop making out and come to the living room. It’s movie night.”
After a few moments of frantic shuffling from inside the room, Cross opened the door, looking quite disheveled, “H-hey Nightmare, we’ll be out in a minute.”
Somewhere inside the dimly lit bedroom a frantic voice whispered, “Close the damn door, bruh!”
Killer burst out laughing, Error barely kept stringself from glitching out from laughter, and Nightmare chuckled before closing the door in Cross’s flushed face.
“Oh they are NEVER living this down!” Killer wheezed and barely managed to pat the tentacle holding him, “H-here, just put me d-down, I need to go tell the other two.” he wheezed out.
Nightmare set him down and after a few moments of trying to catch his breath, he was off, jogging down the halls and calling for Horror and Dust. After he was out of sight, Nightmare turned to Error.
“So,” They started, “Are you SURE you’re OK?”
Error looked at them in confusion for a moment before nodding, “Yҽαԋ, ʝυʂƚ ɠσƚ ƈαυɠԋƚ σϝϝ Ⴆყ Rҽαρҽɾ. I'ɱ ϝιɳҽ ɳσɯ.”
“Alright,” Nightmare responded, giving strings a soft kiss on the forehead, “but if they ever make you uncomfortable just tell them to back off. They’re a clingy flirt but they know to respect boundaries.”
String was now a blushing mess and Nightmare reveled in that fact, deciding to fluster strings more.
“I hope you know I love you.” They mumbled, moving closer to Error (Who thankfully didn’t move back)
String was glitching hard, not from how close the other was, but from how flustered strings was.
Nightmare decided to continue, embracing strings in a loose hug, “You’re so wonderful, I could never live without you.”
“₦-₦ł₲Ⱨ₮₥₳ⱤɆ...” Error responded and upon hearing how bad string was glitching, Nightmare backed off slightly.
After a few moments, string pulled them back into another hug, burying strings head into their shoulder. Nightmare was caught off guard but smiled and proceeded to hum quietly while holding the other. They occasionally gave more compliments just to see Error get flustered again while they both stood there in the empty hallway. After some time, Nightmare found themself wanting to make the other all the more flustered, just to see what would happen. They lifted a hand to strings cheek and moved strings so that they were face to face. The only warning Error got was a mischievous look in Nightmare’s eyes before their lips met. It was brief, nothing too long so as to not cause Error to crash, but Nightmare savored the brief moment.
After a few minutes of stunned silence, Error’s cheeks began to burn. String glitched sharply, trying not to crash as Nightmare began to regret the impulsive decision.
“Are you O-” Nightmare started but was stopped as Error, in a similar moment of impulsivity, kissed them again.
Now it was Nightmare’s turn to be caught off guard but they weren’t about to waste this. They kissed back and absentmindedly began fiddling with strings hair.
That was until they heard the sound of a phone camera clicking and snickering from a bit down the hall. They both instantly looked over and saw Cross and Epic snickering as Epic pointed his phone at them. The effect was instantaneous. Error crashed, scratchy dial up noise filling the hall and Nightmare’s tentacles sharpened and pointed towards the other two as their cheeks turned bright red.
“Go.” Was all they said and Cross instantly grabbed Epic and sprinted down the hall, cursing as he ran.
Nightmare uttered a few curses themself and turned back to Error who was still rebooting. It took a minute but string eventually finished, blinking a few times to clear the lingering pixels and error signs.
“₮ⱧØ₴Ɇ Ⱡł₮₮ⱠɆ ₳**ⱧØⱠɆ₴!” String cried, the glitches returning for a moment before calming down.
“Calm down Error.” Nightmare said, barely retaining their own composure, “It’s not like they can even do much with that picture anyways.”
String muttered something incomprehensible before just groaning and resting strings head on Nightmares shoulder, “ƈǟռ ʏօʊ ǟȶ ʟɛǟֆȶ ƈǟʀʀʏ ʍɛ? ɨ'ʍ ȶɨʀɛɖ ռօա.”
“Of course.” They responded, doing something similar to what they did with Killer and carrying strings in their tentacles.
They had discovered that while physical contact still caused strings to glitch occasionally, somehow their tentacles didn’t seem to trigger it. So, of course, whenever Error crashed and was too tired to walk much, they would always carry strings in his tentacles. As they walked, Error sighed contentedly and buried strings head in the mass of pure negativity. Nightmare couldn’t help feeling proud that they found a way to practically smother Error while not hurting strings, something very few could accomplish. They eventually got to the theatre room where everyone was either chatting amongst themselves or engaged in the giant pillow fight occurring in the middle of the room.
“Are we watching a movie or...?” Nightmare said, their voice seeming to magically project to every corner of the room and quelling all the chaos.
“I’ll get popcorn!” Dream said, jumping to his feet and running to the kitchen as Blue and Horror followed.
Nightmare sat Error down gently on the couch, making sure string was comfortable before moving around the scattered cushions and sitting next to strings. It took a few minutes for the other three to get back and by then, the movie was already chosen. As expected, it was the Bee Movie. Everyone was either howling with laughter or completely enraged by this development. The popcorn bowls were distributed across the couch and floor where everyone was sitting and the movie started. No one was watching the movie. Instead, they were all either talking or cuddling with the nearest person. Nightmare did the same and cradled Error in their tentacles along with Blue, who just happened to be sitting nearby, and reading a book.
The thing that snapped them out of the world of the thick novel was loud snickers coming from one side of the room. Killer, Horror, Cross, and Epic were all just barely keeping from bursting out laughing at something Ink was showing them. Out of curiosity, Nightmare reached out with a spare tentacle and snatched the sketch book, earning an indignant shout from Ink. They ignored it and opened the sketchbook, skipping past a few other, incredibly well done, drawing to what the other four were looking at.
So to say that they were shocked upon going from a drawing of a forest the looked like it was a picture and not hand drawn to some horrible amalgamation of Barry B. Benson and Shrek was an understatement.
Error (Who just recently woke up) and Blue saw the drawing and started snickering as well. Nightmare just stared at it in disgust and confusion.
“I don’t understand why you waste your incredible talent on such horrendous things.” Was all they said before giving the sketchbook back.
“Whatever Mr. Grumpy Pants.” Ink huffed, holding the book close to his chest as if someone else was about to take it as well.
After the laughter died down they all returned to what they had been doing. It was still odd to many of them. The fact that some were sitting side by side with who used to be their mortal enemies was still a foreign concept but it wasn’t unwelcome.
“Love you guys.” Dust whispered and everyone in the room looked at him in surprise.
After a few moments of Dust feeling incredibly self conscious about the fact that everyone was staring him down, Error responded.
“ʟօʋɛ ʏօʊ ɢʊʏֆ ȶօօ.” String said, cuddling closer into Nightmare.
A chorus of “Love you”s Rose from around the room as they all relaxed, enjoying the feeling of peaceful quiet. Well, at least until tomorrow when they were all reenergized and ready to cause more trouble.
--------------------
I FINALLY FISHING FINISHED OH MY GOSH
This took SO long to do (Almost completely because I procrastinated so long-) and I’m glad I finally finished it!
I hope this makes yalls as happy as it made me while I wrote it :)
So I took those angsty IBVS headcanons, procrastinated for forever, and have finally figured out how I shall write this.
Also I decided to get some hurt/comfort up in here ‘cuz our favorite school king doesn’t deserve pure distilled pain without getting hugs.
IBVS by onebizarrekai
It was odd to say the least. Edward was known to be arrogant and boisterous, enough so that he drew the attention of anyone and everyone. So it was certainly confusing when the normally loud and proud school king slowly became much more quiet and secluded. No one knew what had caused it but after just a week Edward was an entirely different person. He was jumpy and hardly interacted with anyone outside of his inner circle. Easy to say, this caught the attention of many of the students.
“Hey, you know what’s up with Ed?” Chris asked, “I mean, he hasn’t shown up to any of the meetings and I rarely see him outside of class.”
“I dunno’,” Isaac said, not looking up from his sketchbook, “but yeah, it is a little weird that Mr. High and mighty is all secluded now.”
“I’m just worried.” Chris mumbled and Isaac gave him an odd look, “Hey! Don’t you dare. I just don’t want him to be hurt or something and we haven’t done anything to help him. I know you two don’t have the best relationship but you have to at least be a little concerned.”
After a moment of silence, Isaac sighed and set aside his sketchbook, “Alright, you caught me. Yes I’m a little curious about what’s up with the big guy, but what do you want to do about it? You can’t expect to just ask him what’s wrong and get him to pour out his heart or something. It was already difficult to get him to talk about like, anything aside from supernatural stuff before so I can’t imagine how sheltered about personal stuff he’d be now.”
“Well I’m getting the truth out of him one way or another.” Chris responded, standing up and grabbing his jacket.
“You should try asking Barry if he knows anything, he and Quinton are pretty close.”
Chris just nodded before waving goodbye and leaving to go find Barry.
-------
“I don’t know what’s wrong either.” Barry said sadly, “He doesn’t even come over anymore.”
Chris groaned in frustration, falling onto his back and frightening a nearby cat, “Great, so NO ONE knows.”
They both just sat there for a minute, neither of them wanting to break the silence.
“It’s just so frustrating!” Chris groaned, digging his palms into his eye sockets, “I mean, it’s not like the answer is just going to just waltz through the door!”
Suddenly, there was a loud bang coming from the kitchen and they both jumped. They glanced at each other and then tensed upon hearing the back door fly open and shut.
“Hello?” Barry called.
There was no response and Chris stood up, a fuzzy outline of a blade hovering next to his hand. Barry followed him as they slowly walked into the kitchen to see what was happening.
“Hey!” Chris called, “Who’s there?”
There was a quiet sniffle and then a weak voice responded, “S-sorry for j-just walking in...”
Barry blinked a few times before stepping forward, “Ed?”
Sure enough, the once proud school king was hidden in the corner hugging his knees to his chest. He was shaking and breathing unevenly and looked like a mess.
“Holy cow Ed,” Barry muttered, walking over quickly, “what happened?”
When he tried to reach out to comfort his obviously distressed friend, Edward flinched back, “D-don’t t-touch me p-please...”
Chris stepped forward, “Are you OK?”
Edward shook his head, barely stifling a sob.
“Is there anything we can do?” Barry asked.
“W-water.” Edward croaked, wiping his face with his sleeve.
It was then that Chris noticed that the other was wearing thick gloves and extra layers.
“Are you cold?” He asked, “I can get you a blanket.”
Edward shook his head slightly and Barry returned with a glass of water.
“Here.” He said, carefully handing it to Edward without touching him.
After confirming that he wasn’t hurt or anything, Chris and Barry walked back to the living room to give him some space.
“Did you see how much stuff he was wearing?” Chris asked, “He looks like he’s planning to go to Antarctica or something.”
Barry thought for a moment, “He said he didn’t want to be touched, maybe that’s part of it?”
Chris nodded, “But it’s weird, he was never this paranoid about being touched. Heck, he used to drag Isaac into closets. What changed?”
“That’s something he’s going to have to tell us.”
-------
After Edward finally calmed down enough to talk, Chris and Barry began rapid firing questions at him.
“Are you OK?”
“What happened?”
“Why were you so freaked out?”
“Did someone hurt you?”
“H-hey!” Edward stuttered, “I appreciate the concern but just... One at a time or something.”
Barry was the first to speak, “What happened?”
This seemed to catch the other off guard, “Well, umm... I just- Umm...”
“Here,” Chris interrupted, “let’s break it down a little, did someone do this to you?”
After a bit of hesitation, Edward nodded.
“Who?” The other two asked simultaneously.
“N-” Edward flinched, “E-emo kid...”
“Nevin?!” Chris asked incredulously and Edward flinched again.
Barry only grew more concerned, “What did he do?”
“H-he’d catch me a-after school and beat m-me up...” Edward mumbled, seeming to shrink into himself, “I-it sorta’ became an e-everyday thing. I’d get out of class and h-he’d drag me off somewhere and...”
“Holy...” Chris muttered, “Edward I- Oh my gosh... I’m so sorry man.”
At this, Edward broke and started crying. It took every ounce of self control in both of them not to rush forward and comfort their friend.
Barry rested a hand on Chris’s shoulder, “I’ll take care of him, could you go talk to Nevin?”
Chris nodded, his worry instantly forgotten as he was filled with anger and determination, “Of course. Take care of him while I’m gone.”
And with that, he was off again, this time with a burning sense of purpose.
--------
Chris knocked on the door to the Jovel’s house (To be fair, pounding would be a better word). After a few moments, none other than Nevin opened the door. He looked bored and vaguely annoyed, like Chris had just inconvenienced him.
“‘Sup Chris?” He asked nonchalantly.
At the completely unfazed tone, Chris couldn’t help the slight flicker of a knife appearing at his side.
“Well,” He said through gritted teeth, “I was wondering if I could talk to you about something.”
Nevin gave him a suspicious look, probably noticing his tone, before moving aside, “Then come on in.”
“I’d rather not.” Chris muttered.
“Oh?” Nevin responded, “But I insist.”
Chris finally snapped. He grabbed Nevin and after yanking him out onto the porch, pinned him against the outside wall. Before the other could even speak, there was a bright red blade inches from his throat.
After recovering, Nevin finally spoke, “Oh, this was unexpected.”
“How DARE you.” Chris hissed, the knife edging just a hair closer.
Nevin gave him a confused look, “How dare I what?”
“You know what!” Chris spat, “Here, I’ll help you out. Two words, Edward. Quinton.”
Nevin looked at him for a moment before he burst out laughing. It took all of Chris’s willpower not to give Nevin a taste of his own medicine and beat him up.
“Oh I forgot about that!” He wheezed, “That was fun! Can’t believe you’re actually worried about that guy.”
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done to him?”
“Oh please, inform me.” Nevin drawled, once again looking bored and inconvenienced.
Chris felt his eye twitch and he dropped Nevin, “OK, how about I give you a demonstration then?”
As the other stood up, Chris noticed that his eye had turned to the unnatural cyan color indicating that his powers were activated. Then, to his surprise, a thick black liquid seemed to materialize on his shorter opponent.
Meanwhile, Edward was sitting with Barry on his couch watching a movie. It took a while, but Barry eventually managed to convince his friend that he wasn’t going to be hurt. Not long after that, Edward was practically on top of him, furiously denying that the action meant anything. About halfway through the movie, the front door slammed open and Edward screeched before falling off the couch.
“Chris?” Barry called and received an affirmative grunt in response.
After hearing him struggle for a bit and mutter something about octopi, Chris finally walked into the living room.
Barry jumped up at the sight of him, “Holy-! I’ll go get my kit, stay right there!”
Chris groaned before flopping face first onto the couch. He was covered in cuts, bruises, and odd patches of black slime.
Edward looked worried, “Are you OK?”
“Peachy.” Chris responded, turning to look at him, “How ‘bout you?”
“Better than you I suppose.”
Barry got back with some medical supplies and started fussing over Chris. While he was getting cleaned up, Chris explained how he got into a fight with Nevin and “Taught that crazy goop lord a lesson”. Barry didn’t even question that statement, just telling Chris to go take a shower before he made even more of a mess.
“Want to finish the movie?” Edward asked after hearing the upstairs bathroom door close.
“Sure.” Barry responded, “Just let me clean off the couch first.”
-------
By the time Chris finally finished showering, realized he didn’t have spare clothes, and was supplied some sweats and a T-Shirt by Barry, it was already dark.
Chris swore quietly, “My dad’s gonna’ kill me when I get back. I should probably go before he gets even more mad.”
“Oh heck with your dad!” Edward shouted from the kitchen, “He’s gonna’ be pissed whether you go back now or a week from now! How ‘bout we all just hang out here for the night?”
Barry shrugged, “Sounds good to me.”
Chris was dumbfounded, “B-but I need to-”
“Ah shut up ya’ nerd.” Edward said, sauntering out of the kitchen, “You already had quite the day so there’s no point in going home just to get chewed out by your dad.”
“Besides,” Barry interjected, “I don’t think he’d miss that you’re wearing someone else’s clothes.” Chris flushed slightly at that statement, “I’ll toss your clothes in the washer and you can go back tomorrow looking like nothing happened.”
“OK...” Chris mumbled, still embarrassed.
After Barry left to put Chris’s clothes in the laundry, Edward jumped onto the couch, bouncing once and then burying his face in a pillow. Chris just grabbed the blanket and sat down on the other side of the couch, wrapping himself in it. Then, to his surprise, Edward grabbed a corner of the blanket and yanked on it, pulling Chris (Who had a death grip on said blanket) onto him.
“‘M cold.” Edward muttered, yanking on the blanket a few more times.
Chris was conflicted and incredibly flustered. On one hand, he wanted that blanket and on the other, he wanted to apologize for nearly falling on top of his new friend. Edward didn’t seem to mind though. In fact, he seemed quite content. It took a few moments of mental struggle for Chris to decide that being warm under the blanket was worth more than apologizing profusely. Barry finally got back, stifling a laugh at the sight of an unconscious Edward practically cuddling a very flustered Chris.
“Help!” Chris whispered.
Barry just grinned and sat next to them, “Sorry buddy, I’ve learned from experience that there’s no escaping Ed when he’s in a cuddly mood.”
With that, Barry grabbed a corner of the blanket and pulled some onto his legs before leaning up against the arm of the couch. Chris sputtered a bit before succumbing to his fate and deciding to just get some sleep, almost instantly passing out.
---------
Anyways, I’m too lazy to write it out but Chris totally wakes up to Edward and Barry acting like an old married couple and giving each other kisses while they’re cooking. But yeah, I decided to write some good ol’ Edward angst and accidentally turned it into a poly ship, so sue me.
Prompt: Dust gets his cranky boyfriends some chocolate
~~~
“G-G-G1v3 M3 t-tH3 cH0c-c0L4t-t3 Y0u J-J-J3rK!”
“No! I got it fair and square!”
“D-D03$ 1t-t L-L00k L1k-K3 1 C-C-C4r3?!”
Nightmare sighed, beginning to grow tired of the arguing, “Dust, could you stop them before I throw them both out the window?”
Dust jumped, surprised by Nightmare’s voice, before he nodded and walked briskly towards the kitchen. He stopped when he saw what was happening though. Cross was holding a chocolate bar in a death grip while Error kept trying to grab it. Unfortunately, his haphephobia started acting up whenever he got too close and he couldn’t grab it. After a moment, Dust tapped his knuckles against the counter, getting both of their attention. Error was glitching wildly and his eyes were blown wide open, the strings beneath them already clutched tightly in his hands. Cross had his knife summoned and when Dust looked closely, he could see the soldier’s eyelights had become red target symbols.
“Nightmare wants you guys to stop fighting.” Dust said quietly, “Also, I don’t want you guys getting hurt so just calm down.”
Error immediately stepped back, looking at Dust sadly, “$-s-s0rry Du$t.”
Cross nodded, looking equally sad and guilty, “Yeah, sorry.”
They stood there silently for a while before Error’s glitching finally began to calm down a little. After this, Dust approached him slowly and held out his hand to the destroyer. After a few moments, Error hesitantly took his hand, noticeably glitching at the contact but ignoring it, and gave Dust a weak smile.
“T-thanks,” He said, “I f-f-feel better now.”
Dust nodded and then turned and walked towards Cross who looked like he wanted the ground to swallow him up. After being stared down for a bit, he sighed and desummoned his knife as well.
“Sorry.” He muttered again.
Dust sat down and wordlessly hugged him. It surprised the Oreo for a moment before he smiled and hugged back.
“Y-you guys n-n-need to hide the chocolate b-better.” Error mumbled, getting a chuckle from Cross.
“Or maybe we need to quit fighting over it.” He said.
“That’s a good idea.” Dust added, getting the usual look of momentary surprise from the other two and a barely noticeable blush.
Since he never to speak unless given a strong reason to, it always surprised everyone whenever he spoke without being prompted to. The only different response he got was from his boyfriends who always said that he sounded adorable.
When he noticed the looks he was getting from the other two, Dust sighed, “Come on, you two go sit on the couch and I’ll be there in a second.”
Cross and Dust stood up and while Cross left the kitchen, Error slowly approached Dust, looking somewhat uncertain of his actions. Dust stood there and watched as the other hesitantly shifted towards him. He waited as the glitch gave him a small hug and slowly returned it, trying his hardest to make the other comfortable.
“I-I-I’ll go k-keep an eye on C-Cross.” Error said, backing away a little.
Dust gave him a reassuring smile and with that, he walked out of the kitchen, his scarf whisking against the floor as he walked. Once the destroyer was gone, Dust stood there for a moment before blinking and turning towards the cabinets. He hopped onto the counter and dug around on the top shelf before finally pulling out two bars of chocolate. After climbing down from the counter he made his way to the living room where he saw Cross leaning on Error who was playing with the fur on the soldier’s hood. Dust sat down on the other side of Error and offered the two the bars of chocolate.
Cross looked at him in surprise, “You... You found more for us?”
Dust nodded, handing one of the bars to him and giving Error the other one. Both looked like kids on Christmas and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
I made the sequel to this fic right here and I was honestly just in the mood for aggressive fluff™ So here, take some wholesome beans
IBVS is still by onebizarrekai
After that night, the trio had grown much closer. Chris got more comfortable with the subtle signs of affection he’d receive, though that didn’t stop him from being incredibly flustered when it happened. They were still figuring out if their relationship was anything more than very close friendship. Even if it was though, none of them minded the sudden closeness. Edward was still pretty jumpy on some occasions but his paranoia began to ease up. On a similar note, Nevin came back after disappearing for a few days. He said something along the lines of his powers acting up and making him a total jerk. Edward accepted his apology but needless to say, the two weren’t on great terms.
School resumed as normal and soon enough, there was a solid ton of homework and a big project. Luckily, the teacher assigning the project was nice and allowed the kids to pick their own groups. Understandably, the new three musketeers chose each other. Eventually, the final bell rang and they all met up at the front of the school.
“Are we going to my place?” Barry asked.
“How about we go to mine.” Edward responded, “I’ve got more supplies and we won’t have to worry about a cat using our project as a scratching post or something.”
Chris shrugged, “Sure, sounds good to me.”
“Fine by me.” Barry said, “How about we meet up there at 4?”
“Alrighty.”
“I’ll get to cleaning then.” Edward responded with an embarrassed smile.
----------
Barry knocked on the door to Edward’s house with Chris standing next to him. After a few moments, they saw movement through the warped glass on the side of the door. Finally, Ed opened the door, holding Geno an arms length away.
“Hey guys!” He said, “Come on in.”
After they walked in, Ed shooed Geno to another room but not before the shorter child shouted one last statement.
“Beware the domain of the frog king!” He called ominously before running off somewhere.
“Frog king?” Chris asked and Edward flushed.
“You’ll see.” He mumbled and started walking upstairs.
“This sounds incredibly ominous.” Barry said, chuckling.
When they reached Edward’s room, the jock stopped them, “Hey, umm... You guys promise not to judge me?”
Chris gave him a confused look, “Well yeah, of course. What do you have in there? A crime scene?”
Edward just opened the door, promptly shocking the other two.
There were frogs everywhere.
Most of it was little figurines or posters but there was also a terrarium in the corner holding several colorful frogs.
Barry whistled, “So this is what he meant.”
“I just think they’re cool...” Edward said, looking like he wanted to sink into the floor.
Chris shrugged, tossing his backpack over next to Edwards bed, “Hey, you’re not wrong, frogs are pretty neat.”
Edward instantly lit up, “I know right? And some of them look really awesome! Like the one I have over here!”
He pointed to a black frog with blue spots sitting on a log in the center of the terrarium.
“I didn’t know you liked frogs so much.” Barry said, sitting down on the floor next to the bed.
“I have since I was ten.” Edward said, still looking incredibly happy that they liked his frogs.
“Maybe we could do the project on each of our favorite animals?” Chris suggested, “It shouldn’t be too hard to find things on endangered species of dogs, cats, and frogs.”
“I like it!” Edward said, grabbing his laptop, “Also, you like dogs?”
Chris nodded, “Yeah, especially big ones.”
“Dalmatians?” Barry teased.
“As a matter of fact, yes, I think Dalmatians are awesome.”
“Whatever ya’ nerds,” Edward interjected, “let’s just get to working on the project before we forget about it and start debating about the best animal or something. It’s obviously frogs though.” he added the last part quietly but the other two heard it anyways and gasped.
And so, that was how their debate over the best animal, that lasted a full hour, started.
--------
“I’m pretty sure we should’ve gotten more done.”
“Nah, that looks good to me.”
“Hey, I’m not about to argue with that if it means I don’t have to work anymore.”
“You hardly did anything though!”
“Irrelevant.”
Currently, they were all laying on the floor, a piece of poster board and an empty bag of chips forgotten in the corner. Barry had given up on trying to keep them on task long ago and ended up joining them in a cuddle pile.
“This is so gay.” Chris said simply and he heard Barry chuckle.
Edward grumbled something incomprehensible, “Oh shut up, you’re being gay too.”
“We all are.” Chris retorted.
“Touché.”
They were all silent for a moment before Barry spoke up.
“We’re not doing anything else with that project today, huh?”
Easy to say, the answer was no.
---------
“Well, see you tomorrow guys.” Chris said, standing on the porch with Barry and Edward.
“Sure hope so.” Edward said and paused for a moment, “Hey, umm, mind if I do something?”
Chris gave him a curious look, “I mean, so long as I’m not about to get kidnapped or something.”
Edward nodded, proceeding to lean forward and give Chris a small kiss on the cheek before leaning back, looking incredibly embarrassed.
“Sorry,” He mumbled, “just felt right at the moment.”
Chris was completely dumbfounded and was blushing just as bad as Edward. Then Barry, deciding to go with the apparent theme, did the same to the jock, leaving them all in a state of gay panic.
“OKseeyouguystomorrowbye!” Edward said before slamming the door and leaving the other two standing on the porch.
“I think I’m gonna’ need a day or two to recover from this.” Chris squeaked and Barry just nodded.
“I guess we go home now?” Barry suggested.
“I guess so.”
“No one else ever gets to know?”
“No one.”
-----------
hhhhhhhhhhhhh f l u s t e r e d b a b e y s <3
Anyways, pretty sure this is even more ooc than the last one but heck with it, I’m a sucker for frog Ed and in turn, him being a sweet little boy :>
Being a guard was easily the most boring job out there and of course, Cross was almost always the one to do it. Even after the events of the X-event he never seemed to be able to lose his mantle of royal guard. Nightmare always chose him to guard the castle and, as usual, Cross muttered his complaints and proceeded to stand watch at the gates. At this point, he’d kill for something, anything, to happen, just to break the mind numbing silence.
“Hey! Bruh! Over here!”
Cross jolted, summoning a few knives out of instinct, and turned to face whoever had shouted. He was both relieved and unsurprised when he saw a skeleton in a long purple coat running towards him, flailing their arms to try and get his attention.
Cross chuckled, “Sup, dude?”
Epic, his best friend and recent boyfriend, leaned against the huge gates, panting, “Nothing…. Much… Bruh….” he wheezed, “Why is the castle so big?!”
“Nightmare just really likes big things.” The monochrome responded with a shrug.
“I can tell!” Epic shouted and then sighed, “Seriously bruh, you need to tell me where you are next time. I just ran around half of this place trying to find you.”
“Is that why I heard Killer saying something about my boyfriend trying to break in to steal me?”
“Most likely.”
Cross just smiled and shook his head, “You could’ve just teleported you know.”
“Oh whatever.” The other huffed, crossing his arms.
Cross rolled his eyelights, giving his boyfriend a small peck on the head, “Alright, I’ll go tell Nightmare to send one of the others out here to keep an eye on things and then I’ll be right back.”
He teleported away before Epic could protest and walked briskly towards the equally giant doors of the throne room. He pushed them open, not being able to suppress a chuckle at the sight of a very frustrated Nightmare being smothered by Solar, his boyfriend. No one really knew where Solar came from but Nightmare eventually told them that the winged tyrant had actually come from another multiverse. No one really questioned it since it wasn’t entirely the weirdest thing they ever learned.
Cross cleared his throat, “Umm, Nightmare?”
The dark king looked at him boredly, “I heard Killer’s comment about your boyfriend, I already sent him and his idiots to take your position. I also suggest you get back to your walking grape before those three start terrorizing him.”
“Now shoo,” Solar said, waving his hand dismissively, “tentacles and I are busy.”
Cross smirked as Nightmare grumbled at the nickname and bowed slightly as he teleported away. As expected Epic was being bothered by Dust, Horror, and Killer. The trio had somehow become even more close and in tune with each other after they started dating. It was honestly quite frustrating for the other residents of the castle you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing them doing something destructive or stupid.
“HEY!” Cross shouted, causing all of them to jump, “Leave Epic alone, we’ve talked about this.”
“Then I don’t suggest leaving him in a position where we can bother him.” Dust said hoarsely, a small smile on his face.
Cross sighed, pushing the three aside and grabbing his boyfriend, “Fine, just don’t blow up the kitchen again or something.”
“No promises!” They all said.
“You wanna’ get out of here bruh?” Epic asked.
“Definitely.” Cross responded, giving the other a small kiss.
“Make sure to use a condom!” Killer shouted and Cross flipped him off before teleporting away.
~~~
“Now this is pretty awesome bruh.”
“I thought you’d like it.”
Currently, the two were sitting on the roof of an apartment building and eating Nice-Cream. It had been a fun day of pranks and general stupidity and this was the best way to end it.
Epic flopped over onto the roof, “And you know me quite well.”
“I sure hope so.” Cross responded, lying down next to him.
They sat there in silence for a bit, watching the wispy, orange clouds drift by as they slowly turned a cooler shade of blue and purple.
“You got the silly string?” Cross asked after a bit.
Epic grinned, shifting his coat to reveal several cans of neon silly string, “Why wouldn’t I bruh?”
Cross grabbed two and sat up, “Now let’s end tonight on a good note and go terrorize Error for stealing my chocolate.”
They disappeared in a split second, but not before sharing a quick kiss.
