It's been a few days since the villagers last tried to bully Nightmare. Geno was happy to stay behind while Dream went to visit them a majority of the time, he meant it when he said he'd make sure that he didn't leave Nightmare alone. He lets him have his privacy, of course, and doesn't hover around him the entire time. He knows that if he just hovers around him all the time, he'd probably be annoyed that he couldn't do anything without having him pretty much watching him the whole time.
Geno was by the flowers again, he can't deny that he's fascinated by them. He does take the time to look back at the tree, where Nightmare was reading a book. He had noticed that it was something the other liked to do when Dream wasn't there and he was alone. He decided to go see what he was reading this time. As he walked back up the hill, Nightmare noticed him coming up. He continued reading, but scooted over. They had gotten used to each other's presence by now, and Nightmare didn't mind him being closer now. They've been hanging out with each other over the last few days, Nightmare was anxious about being alone after the villagers came to bully him.
Geno sat down near him and just relaxed for a bit. After a few minutes, he asked, "So, what are you reading today?" Nightmare paused in his reading, "It's a mystery novel, there's this detective who's trying to find out who murdered the owner of a mansion and host of a party. There are a few suspects, the chef, the butler, and some of the guests who are believed to have some reason for wanting him dead." "That's interesting, do you have an idea who did it?" "I'm pretty certain it's the butler, possibly a plot between him and a guest, haven't figured that out yet." Geno nods, and starts feeling a bit nostalgic, remembering when he used to read Papyrus bedtime stories.
"You good? You look kinda sad, is the subject of the book I'm reading an upsetting topic for you?" "Huh, oh, no. It's not that, I was just remembering my brother and how I'd always read him a bedtime story. It was something that we both enjoyed, even when he outgrew the usual need for one. It was just a thing between us, something that made us both happy. ...I miss it, too, but nothing can be done about it now." Nightmare hesitated, before placing his hand on his shoulder. When Geno looked over at him, he smiled softly. "Do you want to read this with me? I can read the narration and you can read the dialogue?" Geno was surprised, but accepted the offer. He could tell that Nightmare was offering a way to still do what made him happy, even if he couldn't read to his little brother anymore.
After a while, they finished the book. Turns out, the murderer was the chef, who had poisoned the host's food, but not the rest of the guests' food. The chef was bitter about his job, but had hidden it well. "That was an interesting read, if I'm honest, I never knew of these genres of books. There... wasn't much to read, back in the Underground. Mostly puzzle books, kids books, and the occasional other book that was salvageable from the dump." Nightmare thought over his response, and decided to ask something he's been curious about."If it's alright, could you tell me what the Underground was like?"
Geno figured this question was coming sooner or later, he had already planned what he'd tell him. Nothing about the human or the resets, though. He knows how absurd the concept of resets sound, and the last thing he wants is for his new buddy to think he's mentally unstable, or crazy. "It's alright, the Underground was an okay place. It has a few places where monsters would live in, the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, and New Home. The Ruins used to be called Home, and it's the oldest place, that I know of." Nightmare was a little amused when hearing that. "It was called Home? Really?"
Geno smiled, "Yeah, King Asgore wasn't the best at names. It doesn't get better, either, Snowdin was a town that lived with snow that magically didn't melt. Waterfall had, well, waterfalls. Hotland had lava, since it was the deepest part of the Underground, and the name speaks for itself. It was also the home of the Core, which powered the entire Underground. And New Home is where the king's castle and home is."
"Pfft, not very creative, is he?" Nightmare couldn't help but laugh, it was funny that a king would come up with bad names for places. Geno was a bit surprised to hear his laugh, he never heard the other laugh before. He smiled, and continued, "In Snowdin, there's this inn, and get this, it's called Snowed Inn." Nightmare laughed even harder at that, he started tearing up from laughter. He had to wave for Geno to stop so he could catch his breath. Geno does, happy that he got him to laugh.
After a few minutes, Nightmare is able to breath normal again. Geno goes back to relaxing against the tree, but sees a few villagers quietly looking at them from a distance. He stared them down with a glare, and they back off rather quickly. He suspects they were checking to see if he was around Nightmare, likely looking for an opening to harass the poor guy. He looks back just as Nightmare finally calms down from his laughing fit. "Haha, ha, that was very funny. Man, I can't believe how uncreative he was, though that last bit caught me off guard. Did anyone complain about it? Or point it out?" "Nah, there weren't any complaints about it, people would joke about it sometimes, but he never seemed to mind. He's basically a big fluffy pushover with the other monsters, not to say he can't be serious or pull his weight, but he's very friendly to everyone."
"That's nice to hear. So, what else are you willing to tell me?" Nightmare looked so enthusiastic and excited to hear about his life before, he couldn't resist thinking it was cute nice of him to be so invested in it. So he told him of some stories of when he and his brother were little. How Papyrus would be so adventurous and sometimes got himself into situations where he had been worried sick about him. Like that one time Papyrus somehow got it in his skull to try climbing the wall of the cave. He had been trying to find him when he saw how far up his brother had been. He yelled up to him to come down, but that had unfortunately startled him enough for him to accidentally fall. He was okay afterwards, despite nearly breaking his bones from the fall.
He continued telling stories, mostly about his brother, when Dream came back from a long day with the villagers. That was when the two had realized it was late. Geno went to his spot near the tree where his "bed" was and laid down, ready to fall asleep. Neither of them noticed how tired they were until they were in position for sleep. Nightmare stayed up a bit later telling Dream what Geno was telling him about. Geno was fine with it, he was glad to see the normally reserved skeleton being open with his brother, even though he thought he should tell Dream about how the villagers treated him. He promised he wouldn't say anything, though, and knew it was up to Nightmare to tell him.
He fell asleep soon after, and the brothers eventually fell asleep. Dream was happy for his brother, he hadn't seen him this happy in a while. He doesn't know what caused it, but he did notice that Nightmare seemed upset about something. He had asked him if something happened, but he never told him what happened. He doesn't push for the answers, though, opting to let his brother tell him in his own time.
Later in the night, Nightmare woke again to the sound of whines and muffled sobs. He knew the source of the noise before he even looked around. He had noticed that Geno had very rough nightmares, and him being a light sleeper, had always woken up after the other woke up from them. He isn't mad at the other, he knows that he can't control when his nightmares come or how bad they get, and he certainly isn't mad at Geno for being a light sleeper. He went over once again, as these nightmares have happened every night since that first time. Sometimes he didn't know where he was, and other times he thought that there was someone or something that was a threat to him. He's already learned to carefully bring him back to reality, and he had been lucky to have not unintentionally set him off in his fragile state of mind. He knew one wrong move would have him summoning that "gaster blaster" thing he told him about, and that could have led to either him getting injured, or unintentionally damaging the tree.
He slowly walked up to Geno, being careful not to move in any way that could be interpreted as a threat. As he moved in Geno's line of sight, Geno's sole eyelight locked on him. It took a bit, but his eyelight went from hazy to focused, and he relaxed a bit. "Another nightmare?" Geno nodded, slowly releasing the tension in his joints and trying to take deep breaths. Nightmare sat by him again, and took deep breaths to help him imitate his rhythm of breathing. Once Geno had calmed down fully, he thanked Nightmare for helping. "Sorry if I woke you up again, I really don't like that I'm keeping you up at random hours of the night." "I really don't mind, you're really not bothering me with it, I'd much rather you be okay than keeping an hour or two of sleep. These nightmares won't leave you alone, huh?"
"...Unfortunately, no." "I figure the answer is no, but, do you want to talk about it? I won't push if not." Geno almost said no, but he hesitated. Did he trust the other enough to tell him about his nightmares? He's only known him for a few days, yet why does he seem to want to tell him? Is it from all that time alone, and now he can't help but think he can trust him with more personal stuff. The thing is, he's not as against the idea as he would've been, the problem he has is that it's too much for the other. The last thing he wants is to scare him, he's been through enough. He doesn't need to deal with his issues, too.
"You don't have to if you don't want to, you know? I had just thought I'd ask in case you did. I really don't mind if you don't want to tell me-" "I do want to tell you." Nightmare blinked in surprise, "You do?" Geno nods, "Yeah, but I also don't want you to have to deal with my issues. It's bad enough that I wake you up in the middle of the night." Nightmare placed a hand on Geno's shoulder, "Hey, I told you, I don't mind at all. I may have been bothered by it if you were someone I didn't know or trust, but, despite how little we know about each other, you were the first person to stand up for me. Especially when you didn't have to."
"I couldn't just watch you get hurt, I would be just as bad as those villagers if I did. I... suppose I can tell you some of it." "You don't have to push yourself to do it, you know? If you're not ready to tell me, you don't have to." "I know, but I think it might help if I talk about it a bit." "Okay, whenever you're ready, I'll listen." Geno nodded, took a few deep breaths, and started telling him what happens in his nightmares. "My nightmares aren't always the same, but the one I had tonight was like I had woken up back to the place I was in before I got here. It, wasn't very good for sanity, but it was the only place I could be without me dying. I know you were wondering why my clothes appeared to be stained with blood, and the reason why was because I was bleeding.
"I had sustained a severe injury that was going to kill me, but I made it to that place before I could die. The only drawback to that was that my injury stayed the same, it didn't heal, but it didn't get worse, either. My nightmare was that I woke up there as if I never left. I wouldn't be able to see the stars, or interact with anyone else, or have met you and your brother. I would have been completely alone. I had gotten used to being alone, but now that I'm free of that place, I don't want to go back."
Nightmare rubbed his back, offering comfort as he noticed that Geno was shaking. He was glad the other had trusted him enough to talk to him about it. "Thank you for trusting me about some of what happens in your nightmares." Geno took a shaky breath, he didn't realize how tense he was while telling him. He surprisingly felt better after talking about his nightmare, he hadn't actually expected it to work. He briefly considered telling Nightmare about other nightmares, but decided against it. He told him enough for one night, and he was feeling tired now. "Thank you for listening, that actually helped I think."
"It's no problem, really. I'm glad it helped. Are you good to go back to sleep, or are you up for more stargazing?" Geno almost just went with going back to sleep, but decided that stargazing is a good way to fall asleep. "What about stargazing until we fall asleep?" "That's a good idea, actually. Alright, let's do that." They laid down and watched the stars for a while before Nightmare fell asleep. Geno put the blanket on the both of them and fell asleep soon after. He already knew that he was going to wake up being in a cuddle position, it's happened enough times in the last few days, though not back-to-back. He's still a bit embarrassed by it, and judging by the face of the other, he also was embarrassed, but he's somewhat used to it now. Even if it gets a bit awkward. Dream sure has fun teasing Nightmare about it, and has started teasing him too. He had no more nightmares that night.
Here it is! @jann-the-bean @bluepalleteuniverse @shinechermont @zu-is-here
I had taken a bit of a break from writing this when I first started on this chapter. I had realized I had a bit of a burnout with Aftermare after Aftermare Week, so didn't push myself to write it out. I got back to it about a week ago after two weeks of no writing. I'm glad i did.
(Also sorry Jann for making the list of things you have to catch up with longer XD)
Geno belongs to @loverofpiggies
Dream and Nightmare belong to @jokublog
