Butterflies
Fandom: Dreamtale AU
Another fic in this AU here
Characters: Error, young Nightmare
Warnings: none
Word count: 1,237
Summary: There are butterflies. Nightmare shows them to Error
It was a beautiful summer afternoon - the sun was shining, the flowers that dotted the meadow were blooming, and the grass was soft and green. Nightmare giggled softly as his violet eye lights focused on a large black and yellow butterfly gently came to rest on top of a patch of small white flowers that grew in big bunches all over the meadow where he and Dream lived. Uncle Error was having a bit of a nap beneath the shade that Mama was providing. He slowly scooted closer to the colorful insect, wanting to hold it “So… Pwetty…” The very young guardian murmured reverently, one of his tiny hands coming up to rest on one part of the flower patch, holding his breath as the yellow butterfly fluttered once at his approach.
He squeaked and giggled loudly in delight as the butterfly suddenly fluttered up and landed on his face - right between his eye lights. Several more of the black and yellow creatures fluttered on top of him and Nightmare giggled at how their little feet tickled him. He moved very carefully, the top of his head just barely clearing the top of the grass - which grew very long in the summertime - as he made his way over to uncle Error. He wanted to show the other the butterflies that were sitting on him!
“Kid…? Oh funk me, Nightmare where’d you go?!” Uncle Error called out, worry in his voice and emotional aura.
“I stayed c’ose by, Uwnca Ewwow!” Nightmare called out, waving one of his hands slowly, in the hopes that the other could see him. He didn’t want to move too quickly, or it might scare away the butterflies “Found buttewfies! So pwetty!” He didn’t know how they could possibly move - they were so small and their wings so delicate, they looked like they’d just fall apart every time that they moved… But somehow, they didn’t. It was amazing.
“I can’t see you, kiddo. The grass is too tall.” Error grumbled, having already gotten up and was heading in Nightmare’s general direction, squinting as he tried to find him. The other’s pretty blue strings appeared from his fingertips “I know that the butterflies are pretty neat, but remember, you’re not supposed to go out of sight of one of us or… Your mother unless one of us is with you.”
“I know! I’m still hewe Uwnca Ewwow!” Nightmare moved a bit faster, hoping that the butterflies would stay. He made it over to where Error was standing - looking in the direction, and gently tugged on one of his pant legs, staring up at the much taller skeleton “See? I behave. An’ buttewfies!!!” It was very important that one of his favoritest uncles see the pretty butterflies while they were both here.
“There you are… And look at you…” Error purred, kneeling down and cautiously reaching out, lightly patting the top of Nightmare’s head “Covered in butterflies. They must think that you’re a flower. Not that I blame them. You’re so sweet, I bet that they want to eat you up, ‘cause you’re full of nectar!”
“Not a flowew!” Nightmare pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing a little. Curiosity pulled at the little guardian and after a moment he asked, tilting his head a little “What is nectaw, uwnca Ewwow?”
“Nectar is sweet stuff that’s inside some of the flowers that the butterflies land on. They eat it, because they need food to keep moving.” And to stay alive, but he wasn’t going to explain that to the very young guardian. The last thing that he needed was to try to explain the concept of mortality to an infant immortal. Also, Ink would ban him from this incredibly strange if charming world for years.
“Oh… That’s weally nice of the flowews to make the food for the buttewfies! Do I has nectaw to give them?” Nightmare asked curiously, suddenly intensely focused on Error. He wanted to feed the butterflies too, if he could! And that way he might be able to see more of them! Papa said that they couldn’t keep any of the butterflies because they needed to keep moving… But it was really nice to see them!
“No, sugarskull, you don’t. You’re not a flower. But that’s why we should let the flowers grow in the meadow, and not make too many flower crowns, so that the butterflies have food to eat.” Error explained, chuckling a little and gently patting the top of the kid’s skull again. He wasn’t very comfortable with touch, but he knew that kids needed positive touch… So he was trying…. And the cute little purrs he got from Nightmare whenever he surprised the other with a pat on the head were soul-shatteringly adorable.
Nightmare leaned into the light touch, his eye lights dim. He wanted to hug the other and almost did so when he paused for a moment. He remembered papa’s words about hugging Error. “Uwnca?” He asked, tucking his hands behind his back so he didn’t give into the temptation, though he shifted from foot to foot a little, wriggling a little bit to help him suppress the urge to hug Error.
“Yes, kiddo?” Error asked, a small grin appearing on his face as he wondered just what was going through the kid’s head to make him so wiggly. The butterflies were still sticking to his face, which made the tiny guardian even more adorable looking than before… Which Error hadn’t thought possible.
“I was… Uhm… An’ you can say no if you don’ wanna! I was just… I was wondering if…” Nightmare scuffed one of his feet against the dirt, feeling suddenly incredibly shy, though he wasn’t sure why it was so hard to ask for anything he wanted sometimes. The ground was very interesting. There was grass… And a couple of sticks… “... Nothing…”
“Nightmare, would you please look at me?” Error asked, his voice gentle but firm. The other’s emotions were a mix of concern and care. Nightmare silently obeyed after a couple of moments, though it was difficult for the young guardian to maintain direct eye contact with the other. “If you need or want something, you should speak up, okay? No matter what it is, alright? We all love and care for you… and I know that you can feel that. Which is very lucky Most of us just sorta have to guess if the people around us care for us or not. What do you want, kiddo?”
Emboldened by his favorite Uncle’s words, Nightmare bounced a little bit on the balls of his feet and asked “I wanna hug you, Uwnca Ewwow! Pweeease?” His hands had come up, without him meaning to, pressed just below his mouth, one hand curled into the other as he held them, desperately trying not to cling to the other before he was given permission.
“Of course you can hug me, kiddo… But when I ask you to let go, you’ve gotta. Okay?” Error responded with a small smile as he scooted a little bit closer to Nightmare, raising his arms up a little.
Nightmare ran into the other’s touch, a huge grin appearing on his face as he tackled the other, purring loudly “Thank you Uwnca Ewwow!”
“You’re welcome, Kiddo.” Error responded, scooping the other up and walking back to where Mama’s stood, the two of them snuggled together as they fell asleep.
