The moonlight shines throughout the night. The sounds of the wind flowing around, the grass waving with the wind. Nightmare was leaning onto the tree, looking into the beautiful night sky. He was one of the skeleton brothers within his village. His sister, Dream, was the more popular of the two, and got whatever she asks for because the villagers love her. Nightmare on the other hand was the mistreated one, the one nobody liked because of his “job”, of protecting the Negative apples, while Dream protects the positive apples on the Tree of Feelings. The people of the village always wanted the positive apples for their positivity. Nightmare had a keener mind and a sharper mind than his sister, so he understood what the people wanted. He loved reading books, as the people in their local library knew him well. He loved reading romance novels,wishing he was in them. Little did he know that his dream would become a reality on one fateful night.

He was reading one of his love books, looking at the stars. Dream was asleep beside him, so he was the only one awake. He heard the sounds of whimpering not far from the Tree, in the nearby forest. He knew that creatures lived in the forest, but this one sounded like a bigger creature, not one he’s familiar with. He got up, making sure to not wake up Dream, and slowly and cautiously walked over to the source of the sound. Once he got close enough, he saw it. He saw a gorgeous, white furred wolf. He knew that it was uncommon to get wolves other than the normal packs that were around, but this one looked to be an arctic wolf. Its leg was stuck in a bear trap, bleeding. He first opened the bear trap, making sure not to startle the beautiful beast before he took the biggest nearby leaves he could find and some string that he had on his body and started to wrap the wound up. Once he had opened the bear trap and was halfway through wrapping its leg, the beast realized that this being was not here to hurt it, quieting down and only whimpering when the injury started to hurt again.
It wasn’t long that Nightmare had already figured out that this was a female wolf, and that there was something off about her, she was just too big to be the pup that she looked to be. He finished wrapping the wolf’s leg, quietly talking to her, making sure that he took the negative thoughts away. “Hey, it’s going to be okay… I’m just going to gently pick you up, and carry you to someplace where I can close that nasty wound up, okay?” He said, trying to maintain his excitement, and to keep both himself and the wolf calm. He slowly started to pick the beast up, making sure not to worsen the wound as he started to carry the wolf back to the Tree of Feelings.
Once he arrived at the Tree, it was starting to become morning, and he knew how the villagers might react to seeing a wolf so close to their village, let alone the one who brought it so close. He gently placed her over his shoulder as he started to climb up the Tree, into the safety of its branches.

Dream was already up and awake when Nightmare brought the wolf, and she saw the creature. “Oh my goddess, what a beautiful fur color! Gosh, we haven’t seen a wolf with this fur color around here……” She said her tone was joyous as always and had a hint of curiosity for the wolf, as Nightmare brought the beast to the middle of the tree, on a small platform naturally made by the tree, strong enough to hold much more weight. Nightmare gently laid the wolf down, careful not to hurt it more than he possibly had already. “Dream, can you go get a med kit from the doctor? The wolf has a nasty cut on its leg.” Nightmare said with a genuineness in his voice. “Sure, i’ll be back soon.” And with that, Dream had left the tree to go get the medical supplies that Nightmare had needed. He had read just about every book that piqued his interests, so he had a bit of medical knowledge, he just never got to use it before until now. A few minutes pass by, Dream comes back while Nightmare examines the wound. He takes the needle from the med kit and starts to carefully close the wound of the wolf's leg. Time passes by like the wind blowing in the breeze, and the wolf’s leg is stitched up. Nightmare takes his cloak off, and gently lays it over the wolf’s body, covering her completely. He lets the wolf sleep in peace, as he continues to read his book.

The next day comes with new opportunities. The wolf wakes up and looks around, slightly confused as to where she is. She stretches a bit, pain shoots up her leg and she whines. Nightmare wakes up to the sound of whining, and looks around and looks directly at the wolf’s eyes, which were one mystery. One of her eyes was a bright but comforting yellow, like Dream, and the other a Lavender, like his own eyes. He stops and stares, stuck in a trance like state, admiring her eyes. Both of them staring, the wolf starts to get a feeling, a good one, telling her that she can trust him. Her eyes held a sense of gentleness that Nightmare felt. He slowly and gently got closer to her, so as to not startle her. He held his hand outwards towards the wolf for her to sniff.

Dream was out, grabbing food for herself, her brother, and their new friend. She went around to the shops, looking at what she could get. She had the money to pay, but since the people love her so much, she never pays, unless they take it as a tip. She went around, grabbing and paying this time, for the food that they will need. Once she got what they needed, she started her journey back to the Tree. She makes it back and starts to climb up the branches, careful not to drop any of the food she just got. She gets up to where Nightmare is, and finds the white wolf laying across his lap, lying comfortably as he gently rubs down the wolf’s body, easing any tension. His face covered with his bright purple blush as he held the wolf in his lap. He gently nudges the wolf, trying to gently wake it up. The wolf wakes up, and immediately smells the food, and tries to get up and crawl towards the smell of food. Dream laughed, amused at the wolf’s behavior before asking if the wolf had a name, not knowing this wasn’t a regular wolf. “So, what’s your name, you ball of energy?” “I…….No……name…” The wolf replied, leaving both Dream and Nightmare surprised that the wolf could speak. They looked at each other with astonishment, then back at the wolf, who had a curious look in her eyes. The wolf had looked at both of them, before Nightmare realized that this wolf in their Tree, was a werewolf, and a young one at that. He thought about something for a while, then just said something that clicked. “Luna.” The wolf tilted her head. “Luna. It means Moon. How….. Do you like it?” The wolf looked at both of them, before her tail started to wag, accepting the new name.

Months had passed, and the three of them became close friends, Nightmare and Luna becoming very close, so close to the point that Dream could tell that something was up with Nightmare. She decides to investigate a little bit. “Nightmare, can I talk to you?” Nightmare turned around and looked at her “Yes, Dream?” “Have you been getting close with Luna?” She had a sly grin plastered on her face, waiting for his answer. He blushed a bit, his face starting to glow a purple as he started to get defensive. “N-No, We’re not that c-close!” “But you admit you want to be?” “.......” He stays quiet, now glowing a bright purple. “You like her….don’t you?” Dream asked him. She now knew that he liked her, even if he didn’t admit it. “...........” He was still quiet. He really didn’t want to admit to it, but she was right. He was falling in love with Luna. “Yes…. I admit that I have feelings for her…” He confessed to liking her “Why not tell her?” “I just can’t! I’m the guardian of negativity, Dream, negativity. She’ll never like me!” “You’ll never know for sure if you don’t ask her. Who knows, she might like you. You just have to ask.”

Luna was laying beside Nightmare in her wolf form, near the Tree. He had been reading a book to her, wanting to make her happy. He eventually gently picked her up and laid her across his lap, her still asleep. He just wanted to wake her up, look her in her beautiful eyes, and tell her how much she meant to him, and confess to her, but he couldn’t. He didn’t have the courage to tell her, hell, even write it out for her, even if he tried. He didn’t want to ruin what he has, just to see if she would let it go farther. He couldn’t help but feel something special for her, and he would do anything for her. He kept dreaming about her, wanting to tell her, hoping one day to have the courage to tell her.

As more time passed, Nightmare had become a target for bullies. They knew he liked someone, and they were determined to find out who. Nightmare tried his best to keep it a secret, for both his sake, and Luna's. These bullies soon found out, out of pure determination to make Nightmare's life hell. Soon, hunters were involved, searching high and low for Luna. Nightmare, with everything in him, tried to keep Luna safe. The thought of losing her so soon, he just couldn't bare it. Soon, he knew what he had to do, or at least, what he thought was right. Nightmare waited until he was alone, and then snuck off to the tree. He ate the black apple. It was his only choice. A sudden sharp pain seared through his entire body, as tendrils of dark goop form from his back. His vision goes blurry, then he collapses, everything around him fading into black.

Nightmare slides the photobook neatly back into the shelf. The only shelf that was still together. The other shelves, falling apart, books scattered everywhere. The library, far too large for him to worry about the upkeep of it. As long as his memories are safe, that's all he cares about. Some days, he still regrets eating the apple. Things could be different. Perhaps Luna would still be around. But he doesn't have time to think about that. He has a new life now. "Hey boss?" A voice echoes into the room. It's Killer, one of his servants. "We found someone. She won't say who she is, you should come check it out"

“Take her to the cells.” He says calmly, still looking at the intact bookshelf for a moment longer before making his way back to his throne. He sits back down and gets comfortable in his throne, his black cape gently flowing beside him as the moon pins holding the cape on his shoulders glisten in the lighting on the room. His crown glimmering, the jews shining. He takes his gloves off and tosses them to the side table beside his throne only to remember the table is on the other side. Him being too tired to get up, he leaves them there, knowing a servant will come and pick them up eventually.
Another servant, Horror enters the room.
“Would you like something to eat, Sire?”
Horror has a gentleness to him that most other servants don’t have. He takes care of all the kitchen needs and preparation of feasts for Nightmare and his servants and guests. He was by far his biggest servant, and was the nicest of them all when he wanted to be, which was most of the time. He usually resided in the kitchen or his room, but he would wander around the castle, or go out on missions for the King. “I’ve got some other servants making some food for everyone else, I apologize for not thinking about asking you for food sooner, we’re running low on food...”
“Eat? No. But I will take some wine.” Nightmare rubs his temples.
“Of course.” Horror retreated back into the kitchen, only to return with a bottle of wine and a wine glass. He sets the wine glass in Nightmare’s hand and starts to fill the glass up until Nightmare says to stop. Once the glass was filled, Horror retreated back into the kitchen and didn't return.

Nightmare sits in his throne for a while, savoring the flavor of the wine before getting up and slowly making his way down the dungeon, his boots quietly make a soft clicking sound against the floor, his cape slightly blowing and his crown sitting sideways, him adjusting the piece of jewelry as he makes his way to the cells, hidden deep within the dungeon, where Killer and another servant, Dust, guard the cages and cells.
“What do we know so far?” Nightmare says as he walks closer to Killer and Dust.
“She won’t talk, even when offered food.” Dust says, a darker tone in his voice. Dust is another one of Nightmare’s favorite servants, who is usually noticeable because he wears a blue hoodie and a red scarf. He was the one who found the girl in the first place. Dust opens the main dungeon door, waiting for Nightmare and Killer to walk in first. “We tried to talk, we tried light torture, so the only thing left is real torture.” Killer says as he walks to the cell door and unlocks it before looking inside.

Nightmare froze once he saw the girl laying on the floor, bleeding slightly from the gaps of the bandages. He knew this woman too well, and the sight of her bleeding made his non-existent stomach turn in the worst way possible. He recognised the outfit she wore the second he saw her. “Luna…” He said under his breath with a shocked tone.

“Boss?” Killer looked at Nightmare, who looked slightly shocked. This was new, to his knowledge, and wanted to make sure Nightmare was okay. Nightmare broke free from his trance like state and cleared his throat. “Killer…… Go get one of my prized books… Dust, stop all plans of torture. If you want her to talk, you must let her get comfortable with you…” Dust looked at Nightmare. “How do you know this?” Nightmare looked at Dust before speaking again. “Because I taught her to use that whenever she was around strangers.”

Dead silence. No one said a word for a solid 30 seconds. “Wait, you know her?” Dust looked at Nightmare like he was insane, even more so than himself. “What the fuck has gotten into you Boss?” Nightmare saw that as a challenge, so he stepped closer. “Do you wish to be thrown in here as well? If so, go ahead, walk into the cell. Otherwise, do as I told you to.” Dust stopped and stared at Nightmare, before walking over to a little chart and crossing out everything on it for the cell the girl was in. Killer had gone and got a prized book of Nightmare’s. “This the book you wanted?” He looked scared, as if he hoped he didn’t grab the wrong book. “Yes, this is the one. Let her have it, then leave. I will watch.” Nightmare’s words were quiet, as to make sure the girl didn’t hear. Killer did as he was told, and left the book in the cell, next to the girl, got Dust, and left. Nightmare retreated into the dark corner of the room watching the girl.

The girl slowly wakes up, looking around the room, knowing she’s still trapped in the cell they put her in. She notices the book. She flips through the pages and looks at all the photos immediately recognising Nightmare in most of them, but her in all of the photos. Nightmare just looks at the girl from the dark corner, his eye always on her, his cape curved around his body, hiding him into the shadows even more. He hesitates for a moment before walking out of the shadows and revealing himself to her. “You remember who you are, yes? You can trust in me…” He says, giving off a gentle aura towards her, since he taught her a lot of things that make her difficult to deal with, yet things he loves so. “Luna, you can put your trust in me.” Her head jolted upwards, looking at him. “How do you know my name.” There was no emotion in the words, but there was emotion behind them, he could see it behind her eyes. She was angered, and a little scared that he knew her name without her even telling him.

He puts the cape to the side, letting himself be more prominent against the dark stone walls. “I-It’s me, Luna.” He’s concerned that she doesn’t remember him, questioning if he should say his name or not to help her remember. Luna looks at him suspiciously, not quite sure what he means by ‘it’s me,’. The voice just resonates in her mind, remembering it, but not trusting the name paired with it: Nightmare. She remembers her Nightmare, the nice, calm Nightmare, not this version. “I……” She thinks for a moment, not knowing Nightmare can hear her thoughts very well. “I remember you……. Not much, but I remember…..” It was somewhat truthful, she just hoped that he wasn’t how everyone described him.

He looks down, ashamed by the way they’ve met. He’s this shell of what he was, and she’s, well…her: perfect in every way, in his eyes. “I…I know this isn’t the most ideal way for us to have met again…” He tries to hide his face, ultimately failing. “But I didn’t expect to see you again, and certainly not like this. Even more so while I look…” He pauses, unsure if he should make himself obvious in the light. “Well, I wasn’t expecting to get kidnapped, soo…” She stands up, still a decent way away from the bars of the cell, her tail gently swaying, she was starting to relax.

He noitces that Luna is beginning to grow more comfortable around him, and his tension seems to slowly drift away. He smiles softly,stepping lightly into the light of the torches. “H-How have you been, aside from the current situation?” She picks the photo album up. “Not terrible, but it could be worse. I couldn't find anyone from our home, and I recently learned to AU hop…then landed here and got drugged by whoever that crazed dumbass is, the one with the black tears or whatever it is…..” He could hear the annoyance of Killer’s ways in her voice. “That would be Killer,” He responds. “He’s just another nuisance I have under my control, but barely so. He’s… excitable when it comes to taking captives… self note, throw Killer next time I see him… unless you’d like to do it, then by all means.” he unlocks the door and simply stands out of the way. “Next time.” She walks ahead of him. “So, are you going to show me around so I don’t have to feel lost?” He smirks and laughs to himself. “Take a wild guess, Luna. Take an outlandishly foolish guess.” She smiles the same old smile as before, almost like she hasn’t skipped a single heartbeat of her life, although she missed 494 years. “Still using the same, long words that I refuse to comprehend are you? You haven’t changed much.” She looked him up and down with a mischievous smile on her face.

“What, it’s fun to confuse people.” Dust rushed down the steps. “Problem, sir.” “What now…” “Horror and Killer are going at it again, throne room.” “for the love of all things Holy and unholy alike, why must they do this now.” He turns regretfully to Luna. “My apologies for this. If you’d like, you can handle Killer while I deal with Horror. He’s the bigger one, big hole in his head, easy to piss off and pacify.” Luna walks around for a moment “I’ll be fine with Killer. He’ll be easier to deal with. Besides, payback.” She shifts graciously into her wolf form, her fur still a beautiful snow white, Nightmare stared at her form, unable to tear his eye off her. He eventually snaps himself out of his trance as they ascend the stairs to the throne room. Horror holds Killer in a headlock while Dust takes aim with a crossbow loaded with a high power sedative. “Thing’s heated up, and Horror’s hungry. Little help here, boss.” Nightmare simply nods to Dust to fire. Worst that could happen is it hits Killer ending the feud. He fires, and hits Horror in the upper shin. Killer is released from the hold and laughs. “Told ya he’d get me out, crackhead!” Dust just sighs. “Please tell me we still have more metal jaw traps…” Killer flips off Dust. “shut it, I’m winning here-why is she staring me down like that?” Luna stares him down, observing him as she slowly starts to circle him, her movements precise, each step placed carefully. “Are you always this hot headed, this…. immature?”

He smiles smugly. “And if I say yes?” Dust looks down. “Oh boy…Boss, if he’s found dead, can I take his weapon cache?” Nightmare ponders for a moment, as if to taunt Dust. “I see no problem in that.” Killer starts to walk backwards. “Now let’s not get rash, shall we?” She walks closer. “I’d figure someone like you to stand your ground. Now yes, I have beat more powerful people, but my point still stands.” Dust shrugs. “Wrong guy. Horror’s only really violent when he’s hungry or pissed off. Killer’s all talk. Me and Boss are the only ones worth a damn in a fight.” Nightmare agrees with a simple nod. “Good to know….” She ponders a thought, before walking back over to Nightmare. He smirks, wanting to make a remark towards Killer. “Eh, no reason to waste my breath to say what I would say about our least competent member. Where’s Cross?” Dust responds accordingly. “Still scouting, sir. Same goes for most of the others.” Nightmare scoffs agitated. “Get him back here, all of them.” “Aye sir.” Dust rushes off to get the others from their scouting posts, Killer’s being dragged off by Horror, who’s now calm as can be: Nightmare and Luna are left alone. Luna looks around for a moment. “So, what exactly do you do here, sit around and bitch at people?” He shrugs. “Mostly. On occasion we get something entertaining like a fight or an honor duel. What about you? What do you do for self-entertainment?” “Still figuring that out. I haven’t had much time out of stone….” He looks at the floor, ashamed. “Apologies for that…”

They stand in silence for a moment before Luna turns to Nightmare.
“How…… How long has it really been?” He shakes his head. “I’ve stopped counting… I stopped caring to be honest. After the first few years, I just lost all ability to care about menial things like time or day or even year for that matter… Everything’s been cast to the shadows, myself with it all.” She shifts back to her skeletal form, her ears tilted backward as she tries to think of some other small talk. “So…. What all have you accomplished?” “So far I've ruined a family name, killed too many to count, and I’m left managing a group of rag-tag fools. The only two who aren’t completely useless are Dust and Error. Cross has his uses, but not many. The others are just here for each other’s entertainment.” he takes a breath, calming himself. “How about you?” “Well, trapped in stone for god knows how long, got out recently, went around trying to find anyone and failing, then attempted to find out how the hell to keep myself in check during a full moon… and found out that I have the ability to AU hop, ended up here….” She goes quiet, then looks back at him, her voice growing quiet and slowly filling with vulnerability “With one person I can actually talk to…. Someone I remember….” Her voice genuine, slowly remembering him. He picks up the cues, and blushes slightly, the cyan washing over. “W-Well then, I guess that puts us all up to date then, huh?” “I guess so.” She smiles. He smiles back, the blush starting to fade as he grows more comfortable with the thought of spending time with her. “So, what would you like to do first? Anything at all.” She thinks for a moment, her face becoming serious. “If you are really the Nightmare I knew, then prove it, please…” He nods, then takes her into the kitchen. He then makes the cookies he knew how to make when they were younger. “That enough proof?” She smiles again. “You’re still you….. I can already see it, …Nighty.” She picks a cookie up and takes a bite, then holds one up to Nightmare. “Come on, take a bite!” She had her playful tone on. He takes a bite, just because it makes her happy. They enjoy the cookies, playfully teasing one another. “So, what would you like to do next?” “Many things….” Her voice goes quiet for a moment. “How about we look upon old memories in that little photo album in a sorry attempt to make new ones?” “Why not!” He pulls out a old photo book from a shelf on the wall. “So, what all did you manage to save?” Luna asks, leaning against Nightmare. “Too much to count. Here, have a look.” he hands her the book as the two sit in his rather oversized throne. She sits down right next to him, his legs under hers as they go through the book. A few hours pass, the room filled with laughter as Luna and Nightmare go through the book. He turns to the page where it’s him and her relaxing, leaned up against the tree with a book. “You remember that?” “Yes…. That was… what, a few hours before those damn hunters showed up? I still like that book… I actually found it, and it’s still intact.” She lays her head on his shoulder. He blushes slightly. “Do you know where it is? I’d love to have that day all over again, minus the hunters of course.” “I did not bring it, no, but I do know where it is.” She looks up at him, a grin slowly forming. “Why, do you wish to go and get it?”

“Why not? Give ourselves the illusion of simpler times, have a few laughs, maybe find something new…” He smiles smugly. “Have a little fun like old times.” “Well, to do so…. You’d have to go back to our home. To the Tree.” “I know where it is, if you’d like to go now?” He waits, hoping she’ll say yes. “Well…… I may or may not have changed the location, but yes, I think you’ll be surprised when you see home…” “pleasantly or otherwise? Don’t tell me, I’ll find out when we get there. Lead the way, since you said you changed the location.” She gets up. “I haven’t controlled the power, you’ll need to get us to the world.” She then grabs his hands and gently pulls him out of his seat. He looks at her, knowing he wants to ask her something, but decides to toss it aside for now. “So, what first? Rituals, items, anything?” “All we need is a portal, nothing special. Now come on, I wanna show you what home looks like now!” “you haven’t changed at all, have you- hey HEY!!!” Just as he finishes his sentence, he’s pulled into a portal. “You’re fine, I’m right here!”

“That……………was weird as hell…let’s go again!” “Come on, take a look around you Nighty! Look at what’s still here!” He looks around, and can’t believe his eye: it’s all here, as if the past never happened. He drops to a knee in astonishment and slightly of disbelief. “How………” “You know, your mother always liked me…” She motions over to the Tree that stands, almost like it never fell. He smiles gently,but at the same time remorsefully, remembering all the madness that’s happened. “Well….. She tasked me to restore the Tree, then the rest of the AU, soo… That’s how this still stands.” She walks over to the tree, waiting for him to follow after her. He walks over to it, places a gentle hand on its firm yet comforting moss-coated bark, then sees something caught in the branches, gleaming with the brightness of the sun 10-fold. He sends up one of the tendrils to collect it, and he fumbles his jaw in his hands when he realizes what it is: it’s his crown. “Yeah, I also found that. I wore it a few times as well, very comfy, I wore it when I was sad and thought about you..” She hops up onto the low tree branch and climbs up, then after a few moments, she climbs back down with the book that was in the photo now in her hand. “Here it is…”

“I still don’t see how you pulled this off…I mean really, how?” “I don’t even really know. But then again, I don’t know how long I was out of the statue thing. I don’t even know how long I was a statue.” “Can we avoid that topic, please?” His voice slightly sharp due to him hating himself for what he did. “I wasn’t attempting to go to that topic.” She raises her hands in defense as she sits down at the base of the tree. “”s-Sorry…just a little, unkind to the mention of it. I despise myself still for it. Forgive my hasteful tone.” “Yeah yeah, now come on and sit down.” He sits down gently beside her, and finds a warm sensation strike him: he’s at ease, comfortable. He fiddles with the crown, doing little tricks like spinning it on the tip of his finger and letting it roll from one hand to the other, across his shoulders and back to spinning on his finger. “I used to love doing this. Just sitting here, relaxing, no one to pester us.” “I remember you used to be a huge bookworm. At least 10 books in the tree, if not more.” She flips through the pages of the book, the bookmark they used still somehow intact. He smiles as he leans a little closer to her, remembering simpler days. The days when life was straightforward and uneventful: When life was normal. “Of all the things that could have survived, that somehow makes it…life is strange. All I’m gonna say-” He gets caught off guard by something Luna does: She shifts into her wolf form and lays across his lap like she used to do, but it feels different this time, it feels much different. There were new feelings sprouting throughout him. “U-Uh…can I help you?” He’s trying to avoid the obvious, but knows it’s not gonna happen. She stretches, yawning slightly, getting comfortable. He looks at her fully, and can’t help but imagine things that he shouldn’t be, at least not about her, in his mind. She happens to take notice only because his face is glowing cyan. She smiles. “Whatcha thinkin’, Cyan?” “I’d rather not say…” He glows brighter as the thoughts just keep piling on. She then realizes what he’s got on his mind, and decides to play it to her advantage to mess with him.

“Awww, are you thinkin’ about me?” She starts to play with his face, her paws tapping his cheeks. He remains dead silent, his breathing slightly heavy as he tries to get up, but fails. “No, don’t get up, you’re staying right here!” She keeps tapping his cheeks, her playful side refusing to let him up. “What would you do if I did?” “Chase you down…” Her playful side started showing more, showing that she was determined to pin him back down if he got up. “Let’s test that, shall we?” He slingshots up into the tree, then throws himself forward to start the chase. “Catch me if you can!” He starts out slow, but slowly picks up speed as he gets farther. Then he realizes something: She could outrun him then, she could do it now with ease. She lets him get ahead, giving him plenty of space between them before getting up to chase him. She runs into the forest, disappearing, forcing him to find her first. He spends hours running and looking for her, eventually finding her back at start: the Tree. “Why am I not surprised you’d lead me in a loop?” He climbs up into the tree, making a proper platform for the two of them using the tendrils and solidifying it so that they can literally walk in the trees, or do other things… “Well, you’ve gotten my attention, what is it you would like me to do?” “What do you want to do?” He feels his insides stirring around, him growing nervous. He doesn’t understand why he feels this way, but yet he likes it, wants more of it, he wants more of her. She turns to look at him, not sure if he heard her. “Did you hear me? What is it that you want to do?” Midnight was slowly creeping up. “Plenty of things, hence why I’m asking you.” “I don’t know, I’ve got plenty of ideas, but I don’t know which ones to do, but I also want to know what you want to do.” “Oh really? Well then what do I want to do then?” “That’s what i’m asking.” “Well, you said you know what I want to do, so tell: what do you think I want to do.” She simply smiles “You want personal time with me.” He clams up real quick, but doesn’t deny it. Finally he speaks after 15 minutes straight. “Define personal time.” She smiles smugly. “I don’t think I need to.” She was blushing a bit, not bright, but enough. He notices, and takes the hint: she feels the same. He lies down next to her, getting comfortable with her. “So, what first?” She shifts back to her skeleton form. Her voice grows quiet, seductively quiet. “I want you to admit it first, then we’ll see where it takes us…” Her ears tilt back slightly, waiting for him to make the first move, to see if he was ready for the next step. He mentally studders, not sure how to word it. Passive starts to try and coach him. (just say it, it’ll make it go right on by.) He turns aways and covers his face, the cyan light so bright he could be used as a spotlight. Passive continues. (It’s a simple phrase. So simple Dream could say it, come on. Three words is all it is.) Nightmare eventually breaks and whispers under his breath. “Hush, lemme handle this on my own, for christ’s sake.”

“I can hear you, you know. Sometimes I find it a curse that I can hear a wide range of pitches and for such a large radius.” Her tail sways slightly as she waits to see what he does. He stutters verbally, trying to put words together and failing miserably. “Uh…I, Uh…hehe…so I……uh…” She waits a moment before speaking again. “It’s obvious that you aren’t ready, so don’t worry about it.” She hops down the Tree and lands perfectly on the ground. “Let’s head back to your castle and give you more time to think about it, wherever it is…..” “no, it’s not that, it just…I can’t quite…I can word right now.” He looks down ashamed as they head back. “I can tell.”

Several hours later, once Luna has left for a bit, passive speaks openly. “So, what in the name of all things holy and unholy alike was that sorry excuse of an attempt…” “I got nervous, okay! You can’t say jack, either, we’re the same person.” Passive grunts, agitated. “Got me there.” Exactly, now, since you’re clearly experienced, what would you do, casanova?” “First off, I wouldn’t stutter my lungs out. I’d use something called proper english.” “smartass-” “let me finish. Second, I'd bring something to help carry the message a little better: moon lilies and dark chocolate. Get where I’m comin’ from?” “yeah: be stereotypical…” “It's cliche, but it works. Go for it, man.” “If that's what you really think will help, we’ll give it a shot.” “go gett’em tiger.” “shut up.” A few hours later, Luna comes back, and Night walks up to her, the gifts hiding right behind her, hung by tendrils to keep them out of sight. “So, I’d like to try again, what happened at the tree…” “Uh huh, are you able to talk properly now?” “no, but I think this will get the point across quite thoroughly.” He kisses her, deeply and lustfully. Then lowers the gifts down in front of her as he pulls away. Passive’s jaw hits the floor of CN’s mind, awestruck by the rogue move. “.....I enjoyed that,but i’m not going to reciprocate until you say it first.” She noticed the gifts and takes them, immediately starting to eat the dark chocolate. “I love you, to the finest and most powerful meaning of the word.” “Now, I want to hear Passive say it. I know he’s there, I heard him.” He speaks up. “I love you.” “Say the full thing, I know you got more to say than just ‘I love you’, come on, spit it out…” He spits it out, all in one word, almost impossible to understand. “IloveyouandIwanttosleepwithyouandspendlongnightswithyouinbed…” CN shakes his head. “Nice going Casanova…” She takes a moment to process all the words that were just said, slowing down Passives' little speed rant. “You…..want to sleep with me……. What exactly is the context, or is there none?” CN smiles smugly. “Take a wild guess~” “Well that’s something I wouldn’t expect Passive to want, but okay.” She pats his chest “Maybe another night, not tonight.” “It’s not him, that’s me, I just didn’t want to say it aloud.” “Well, considering he said it for you, that’s saying something.” “I just hope you’ll meet my hopes and expectations~” He kisses her again as the moon takes its place perfectly in the middle of them: it’s midnight exactly. “Rest well, Luna, I’ll see you tomorrow~” He strides off proudly and show-off like as Dust walks up moments later. “Lost, ma’am?” She walks off slowly, stumbling some as she goes, slowly making her way to whatever part of the castle she can that gives her a view of the full moon, which turns out to be the throne room. Dust, who had been following her to try and help her find her way, speaks. “I ask again, are you lost? I can get you a room next to Boss’ if you’d like, make it easier for you to get around.” She lets out a low growl, a warning growl as she opens the large windows. He promptly leaves. “I’m just…yeah.” She watches him leave before climbing through the window.

Meanwhile, CN argues with himself, wanting to get things straight with Passive. “Look, thanks for saying it, but WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT…” Passive remarks back. “I just said it, but you wanted it~” “Shut it, tiny…” “I don’t think I will~ I’m going to push you to engage her, one or another.” “FINE, I’ll go to her. Where should I go?” “Where else, the throne room, duh.” CN rolls his eyes and walks out to the throne room, timid but confident in a way. “Luna, you okay?” He notices the window open, then hears a loud roar from outside the window. “Shit, Luna!” He rushes out the window using the tendrils to brace his fall. He looked all around the castle wall to try to find her, but when he looked down, there she was, running down the wall, her form much bigger than he wolf form, so he assumes that the full moon set her off and turned her into her full werewolf form, her stunningly beautiful werewolf form. “...Luna, I……uh…” Passive grows agitated as CN stutters, then realizes what’s happening, and speaks. “Well, this puts a twist on morning events, donnit?” “Not the time for comedy, little man.” Luna runs off the building and through the forest. Passive knowing the only way to get her back. “You know she’s protective of me, so i’ll have to take control. Buuuuuut…” Passive smiles smugly. “I’ll only take control if you agree to make more moves with her after she calms down.” “Do I have to?” “Do you want your shot?” “fine…go for it.” Passive takes control, and approaches Luna. “Take it easy, it’s me, okay?” She stops and slowly turns around, growling the whole time, slowly approaching him, the growls growing quieter as she approaches. “See, it’s just me. I’m not gonna hurt you and you know it.” She starts to slowly circle him, the circles slowly growing smaller and smaller, until she’s rubbing directly against him. “That’s it, calm down. Let’s get you inside, okay?” He slowly guides her inside and to the room.

She lays on his bed, curled around him, refusing to let go while still a full werewolf. She’s calmed now, but still very protective. “You can loosen the hold now, It’s a little hard to breathe…” She lets out a little huff and loosens her grip on him. “Thank you…now, do you want to talk to other me?” She lets out another little huff, not caring. All he does is curl up around her, comfortable. “Get some sleep, you’ll need the energy for tomorrow.” “What’s…. Tomorrow….” Passive simply smiles. “You’ll see, love.” She simply lays her head in his lap and closes her eyes, attempting to fall asleep.