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Passive floated just above Nightmare, grinning. Dream had just won a recent battle against the Bad Sans. Sure, he should probably be on his counterparts side, but he couldn't not root for his brother. Besides, Nightmare had hurt his dear twin on more than one occasion. Dream didn't deserve that.
“Ooh! Pretty!” Passive gasped as a burst of lavenders appeared. They were Dream's favorite. Actually, there were a lot of Dream's favorite things here due to passive. Nobody had noticed, surprisingly enough. Bunches of purple and yellow flowers had bloomed in the garden, unnoticed by Horror. Well, maybe somebody had Noticed. Dust. If Nightmare could see him, it was never mentioned, but Dust for sure had. He was so insistent on trying to find him, but he still hadn't yet.
“Boss!” Killer burst into the room, back from their recent raid. Was Dust on that one? Hopefully no- nevermind! Dust was staring right at him.
“Uhm, hi?” Passive had seen a Papyrus following Dust around before, but they never talked. He looked mean to him.
“Uh, found the ghost. It's hovering over boss,” Dust muttered, pointing right at Passive. It didn't help that the lavenders weren't invisible. Welp! Time to go!
Dream sat against the tree stump with a sigh. He missed his brother. His mom. If he hadn't been so naive and let himself get poisoned by the villagers, maybe his brother would still be around. If he- oh, Ink was calling.
“Soooo, more lavenders appeared in your room? Want me to get rid of them or uh..” A loud thud could be heard from the other side of the phone.
“More, really?” Dream asked, ignoring the sound. He stood up, legs nearly giving out, and portalled to his room, standing next to Ink now.
“So..”
“When you said more, I DIDN'T THINK YOU MEANT THE FLOOR WAS COVERED!” Dream shouted, slowly picking them up. Pretty, but still. Maybe some of these could be planted? Ink's apologies went unheard.
“Nightmare! Release Blue!” Dream's voice wavered as Blue was tossed between the Bad Sans. Dream didn't get much reaction time as a tentacle flew his way, at least bracing for the pain. It never came, instead the Bad Sans having vanished. Ink and Blue stood nearby, frantically looking around. “What..?”
Oh, Passive was done for. Dust had seen him interfere with- stars! He wasn't really even able to leave the castle to escape Nightmare's wrath! He could've gone with his brother, but nooo. Maybe he could find Sci, whoever that was? He'd been mentioned by Killer before.
Passive was being dramatic about not being able to leave the castle, teleporting to what he believed was Sci's au. Now, all he had to do was be noticed and request his favor.
It took close to a week, but was actually easier than expected. Time to find Dream!
That failed. Passive ended up accidentally making a portal to some random au. His clothes weren't for winter! Was he really going to die before seeing his brother again?
“Hi! I'm Ink, what's your name? You don't seem to really belong here,” Ink stretched out a hand, offering it to Passive. “You look a lot like my friend!”
“..Lavender. My name is Lavender,” He couldn't go by Passive anymore, and Nightmare was out of the question.
“Well! Let's get going, then!” Ink opened a portal, Dream and Blue sitting on a nearby couch with hot chocolate cups in their hands. It had been a while since Lavender had some.
“Ink! Welcome back. Who's that with you?” Blue asked, standing up. Dream.. Dream just stared. Maybe he didn't re-
“Moon?!?” Oh, maybe he did actually. Lavender was easily swept into his brother's arms. He had long missed this.
“Huh-? Dream, you know Lavender?” Ink said, tilting his head.
“My brother. Twin brother. I guess younger now though? Wait, how'd you even get here?” So, Lavender started his explanation. It was a lot to go through.
“‘Course Nightmare was out of the question. You were the one who kept bringing lavenders to Dream's room?” Blue smirked, biting back a laugh. “Anyways! It's decently late out, and while technically you're over 500? You're still a child in the moment, so you should get to bed.” Lavender groaned, but accepted it once Dream brought the two of them to his room. His big brother would stay beside him, humming him softly to sleep with a long missed lullaby.
“Lavender! You could you!” Ink gasped as batter got on his face. A knock on the door caught his attention. Who was that? The cake had long since been forgotten with the new sound. Walking out the kitchen, Lavender stopped in front of the couch, tapping his fingers slowly on the back of it. Ink opened the door, a monochrome skeleton standing there.
“Cross! Hi!” Dream poked his head out of the kitchen, having been monitoring the mess prior. Lavender remained behind the couch in an attempt to stay out of sight. He had planned to go back to Dream's room, but he didn't get the chance.
“You're a new face, aren't you?” The skeleton asked.
“Right! Cross, this is my younger brother Lavender. Lavender, this is Cross,” Dream quickly introduced as they continued to talk.
“Nightmare is planning to what-!?”
“Moon! Lavender?” The house was too quiet for Dream’s liking. He walked the halls, stopping when he noticed their bedroom door open.
Lavender sat on the floor, tears falling. His face was surely a mess, but nobody was home, so it'd be fine. Right? “Oh Starlight..” He knew there were times where his brother would be going through it. It happened quite frequently at the village, but what triggered this now?
Daydream sat next to Lavender as he cried, cradling him softly after a period. He'd watch over his brother. There would be no reason for him to be upset, not again.
It was only a while later had the tears stopped. Daydream decided it'd be best for the two of them to go do something else instead. When he was ready, Starlight would talk. For now, Daydream could show his brother's the new wonders of the world, starting with the cartoons on their tv. He would probably enjoy them.
The cartoons were strange to Starlight, of course. But, he did enjoy them. Cross had come by at some point to drop off a gift for Daydream before when left once again. The monochrome skeleton was strange. Always talking about Daydream and always asking Starlight questions. But he was nice, so that counted for something.
“Starlight, I do believe Cross dropped this off for you?” Daydream held out a small plush deer with little white spots. His eyes lit up, grabbing it. The deer was soft, much softer than any of the materials Starlight was used to in the village. “He said you deserved a proper childhood experience. I agree with him, really.” Starlight didn't pay much attention, fixated on the deer. They were always so pretty in Dreamtale, yet they could never get close.
“Dream! I burned the cake again!” Ink shouted, a scream coming from Blue.