Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

You walk inside your office, adjusting to the new day, hoping to do something to distract yourself from your technical unemployment and your boss’s growing insanity at the situation.

Meanwhile, your Dateviators leave themselves hanging out of a strap of your jean shorts, idly swinging to the rhythm of your leg movement, stopping as you sit down.

You turn on your newly updated computer, it now moving faster than you were used to, as you idly scroll on various social medias.

You don’t see much, just more political bullshit and understandable complaints of AI among the stockpile of other things. It felt like seeing the various options on streaming services weirdly being placed alongside each other despite not being related.

You sigh to yourself, running a hand through your messy hair as you hear it... a faint yet peaceful instrumental coming from somewhere you couldn’t recognize.

You turn in your office chair, looking around between the various objects, trying to figure out what could be emitting the music.

Finally, you turn the full 180, and there you see it.

A pair of headphones with a purple bat charm hanging just a bit above the left ear cup.

“Were you always there...?” You mutter in a questioning tone to yourself, already reaching for the special sunglasses hanging from your waist.

You place the Dateviators on your nose bridge, your view becoming a tinted rose color as the similar small heart appears in the center, already pointing at the headphones, counting the charm as part of it.

“So, they’re a duo at least, huh?” You mutter once more before taking a breath and releasing the array of hearts as the headphones and charm shine.

And you’re met with them.

On one hand, the charm has become an alive bat plush, able to move and interact with things on their own chaotic accord, as your eyes meet black button-like eyes, perched on top of a headphone wearing head.

The headphones themselves became a short yet adorably chubby woman, wearing a black and white dress, the lower half seeming to be speakers as it continued emitting the same music from mere moments ago as her legs are covered in white fishnet tights leading down to grey heels with an earphone jack as the heel. Her black and gray hair half up in space buns, tied by gray cords, resembling bows. The other half of her hair lies peacefully on her chest, some cords meshing into it. Her face is also delicately adorned with freckles, making her seem a bit softer. And taking after her item herself, she also has a pair of black headphones, the left side having a subtle bisexual flag with an image of a skull overtop of it, as the right remains a standard black. Finally, there rests two moons on the back of her head, one smaller than the other as both are shifting between various colors, showing faint sound waves in them.

The bat makes a soft noise, alerting the woman who seems to be too into the music.

She looks down at it after a few moments, asking softly, “What is it, Echo?”

Her electric blue eyes, meeting yours properly. Sure, she’s pretty, but her eyes both throw you off and intrigue you further about this obvious introvert.

“Oh! It’s you! I was beginning to wonder when you’d look my way!” She speaks enthusiastically, bringing her headphones down to her neck, revealing pointed ears, as a soft techno beat plays in the background.

Now, you’re even more curious. You’d thought she’d be an introvert, yet she seems to be hyped you finally took notice of her.

‘Glad to know the office is like… 70% nerds.’ You think to yourself, grinning faintly upon realizing the irony of her placement.

You then clear your throat, remembering to interact with her, “Well, you’re in a bit of a… inconspicuous spot.”

She chuckles to herself as the bat, seemingly named Echo, moves to her lap, “I suppose that’s fair, yet you placed me up here last time you used these headphones.”

“Right, right… so what’s your name, pretty headphones?” You ask bluntly as her facial expression shifts to a slightly shocked look with a hint of embarrassment.

“I can’t believe I nearly forgot to introduce myself!” She exclaims before taking a breath as the bat moves up back onto her head, “Anyways… I’m Skull Sweet, your headphones! And the little bat, as you probably heard earlier, is Echo!” She smiles brightly at you.

The same title card you’ve seen many times before shows in front of you for a moment, her brightly smiling at you, waving as Echo smiles equally with their pointed teeth.

“It’s an honor to meet you properly.” She says softly, reminiscent of some fantasy video game character as the bat squeaks happily, likely also greeting you.

The card fades away and you see her and Echo once more with the backdrop of books behind the duo, “So, what brings me before you today?”

“Well, as I said earlier, I must’ve missed you between everyone else in here. Of course, I didn’t mean to, but there are literally a hundred of objects I can talk with here.” You say, not sure what else to respond with.

She laughs and the bat laughs in a higher pitched voice, seeming to play along with her, “True, we are an odd bunch. And this office especially is. And me and Echo here… are no exceptions to this.”

“Oh, I bet.” You joke.

“Though, while you’re here, I suppose something’s on my mind that I should let you know.” The headphones add, gently twirling the cord that seemed to mesh with the rest of her hair.

You raise an eyebrow, interested by what she could be implying, “Oh?”

She sighs, holding Echo to her chest as the bat looks up at her and squeaks softly. Skull Sweet takes an extra moment, likely thinking over her wording and responds with, “...Let’s just say I haven’t been connected to any other object in a while, and maybe I’ve grown a bit... lonely up here.... Don’t get me wrong, Lyric and Shelley are great! But I don't know...”

“Do you want me to get you down? So, you know, you can move around easier?”

“Not exactly... for something like me, that usually tends to either move alongside you or stays stagnant in one place, there are some objects I know scarily well, and others I don’t, whether that be for better or for worse. Yet, I want to at least get to know some. So, after this, would you mind moving me onto the desk after this conversation’s done?”

‘So... what I suggested pretty much?’

You took a moment, thinking to yourself. She seemed like a nice person, maybe a bit of a people-pleaser given her role as an item, but we’ll see how that pans out for her later. Ultimately, you saw no major downside to letting her roam a little, “Sure, ironically this is one of the tamer requests I’ve gotten from you all so... I don’t see why not.”

Her face lit up, her eyes seemingly becoming brighter as she smiles, Echo equally happy at the idea of a change of scenery, “Really?! Thank you!”

Skylar quickly showed up beside you as you looked over at her, expecting some kind of insight regarding the situation, which she gave, “When you’re done interacting with her, simply take off the Dateviators and move the item linked to her and place it gently on the desk. I bet you wouldn’t want her getting upset over something easily avoidable.”

The two women fade from your view, as you start doing as Skylar said. You take off your Dateviators, placing them back in the jean shorts strap, grabbing the headphones and accessory with your other hand. You then place the duo on the desk carefully, right beside the computer.

“4 hearts left...” you mutter to yourself, thinking about who you could interact with next. You look over the office, tempted by some obvious first choices in your mind to interact with. Yet, considering Skull Sweet’s circumstances, you wonder if there’s anyone else like her, someone you may have accidentally missed among everyone else.

So, you go to the place where it’s mostly likely you’d end up missing someone; the attic.

Chapter Text

You’ve reached the attic, quickly scanning between the objects with your eyes, looking around for anything you didn’t remember being there last.

Then, it catches your eye; a bag of art supplies by the window with stray swatch sheets peeking out of it and an old sketchbook beside it. Most squares had their color messily filled in, holding a certain number under it, coordinating to the color it belonged to.

“Something gives me heavy nonbinary vibes about this one. Or if they’re somehow not nonbinary, then I’m expecting an artistic woman that’s most likely a lesbian... or at least prefers women.” you mumble to yourself, stating your prediction of how such an object would look personified.  

You grab the familiar heart-shaped sunglasses once more, your eyes adjusting to the pink shade you’ve grown used to.

After a few moments of heart beams, you see a person with vitiligo and rainbow hair. They adorn a white, slightly ink-stained jacket with gray edges with a jumpsuit made of the swatch sheets, the squares of color popping out against the black letters. Their eyes are heterochromatic, the left eye being a few shades of green combined gloriously to create such a spectacle. The right on the opposite side of the spectrum; red. However, it’s not a threatening red, it seems more... curious if anything. Their legs are covered in small bandages of multiple colors, you don’t know what could’ve caused them, yet you also consider it may just be the aesthetic. Nevertheless, they wear sneakers like that one kid-friendly, third person shooter game, a few markers in the straps.

You see them drawing peacefully, seemingly admiring the outside view, carefully sketching the view in a light pencil first before anything else. You can tell they’re serious about their form of art, not noticing your presence as they were busy drawing, likely tuned into the soft, pop-like music in the background (if they were even aware of that).

You watch them for a few moments longer before gently spooking them, “Boo.”

They jumped slightly, turning to face you, sighing in relief after realizing it was you, placing a hand on their chest, “You scared me.”

“I can tell.” You say teasingly, purposely messing with them to see what happens.

They chuckle then roll their eyes, seemingly used to that type of behavior from others. Which, given their location in the house, makes sense.

“Sorry about that, you just caught me during one of my sketches,” they apologized, “Anyways, I’m Robin. Nice to see you again.” They introduced themselves.

The card appeared once more, them now standing up with their sketchbook in hand, smiling at you, “Let us see where this takes us!” They said enthusiastically as the card fades away.

And you see them back in their previous position, sitting cross legged, sketching away at the sun and surrounding area of the house.

You take a seat beside them, “You’re really dedicated.” You say, not really thinking about it.

They look over at you upon hearing your words, showing a light smile, “Thanks. Some of the others say it’s a bit much, but some of them are equally obsessed with their own thing, you know?”

You nod, understanding their words about their situation, “Yeah. But honestly, yours makes the most sense.”

Their eyes widen happily, “Thanks. And I suppose it does. Since I’m, you know... art supplies. And I also have access to a sketchbook, which I can do and have done a lot with. While we’re on that...” they trailed off in thought.

“What is it?” You asked kindly.

“...I touched up some of your old drawings and redrew them in my own style. Wanna see?” They questioned, already reaching for the pages those drawings are on.

You nodded enthusiastically, intrigued by what they could’ve done. Robin handed you the sketchbook, already flipped to that area. You took your time looking over the many, many drawings.

All were done amazingly with highlights and a lot of time put into each one. What were initially simple doodles from you years ago, Robin made bigger masterpieces in weeks, maybe even days of dedication. Your silly fanarts for fandoms you were into years ago, also touched up and treated expertly by their various materials.

It made sense to you though; every object you met prior to them was either a master or a connoisseur in their interests or craft. And Robin was no different from the others, heck maybe even better than the others.

And every art piece you saw only impressed you increasingly as you continued going through the pages.

Even after passing their touch-ups, their own arts impressed you further. Masterful techniques were consistently shown throughout, the shading beautiful in each. There were even some about characters they’ve seemingly created, little drawings of their lore or silly interactions with other characters. Robin didn’t call you out on it and thank the gods they didn’t. It felt like a glory of sensory for the eyes in the best way possible.

After a few more moments of looking, you pass the sketchbook back to them, “Those are all really good. You’re way better than I ever was.”

Robin closed it, looking back at you, “Thanks, but to be honest, art didn’t come easy despite me being what I am. It took me a while to get used to everything and adjust to... having a body...somewhat.” They shook their head, continuing with their sentence, “The point is if you want to see more of my sketchbook or other stuff, or if you need a good friend in this complicated situation, you know where to find me.”

They smiled as their ‘FRIENDS’ achievement card showed up in the Dateviators, “Just one quick request... please let me nerd out about my interests every now and then.” They spoke.

You chuckle as the card fades and see your Empathy stat go up slightly before being met with them once more, nodding in understanding.

“Great! You know where I am and in that case, I’ll see you around, [NAME]!”

They fade from your view as two of your five hearts have been officially used for the day.

You stand up, placing the Dateviators on your head, looking fondly at the now-still art supplies, soaking in the sun.

Snapping you out of your wide range of thoughts, your stomach rumbles lightly.

“Well, I know what I’m going to do next.” You say to yourself as you begin to walk to the kitchen for some more food, having skipped breakfast earlier in the day.

That’s when your mind goes to the possibility... did you miss someone in the kitchen of all places?

Chapter Text

After grabbing some Chinese leftovers from the fridge and heating them up (while also apologizing a whole bunch to Mitchell and Luke in the process), you sit down at the table, peacefully eating away to refuel yourself.

Then you stand up and wash the plate and fork by hand at the sink (while also apologizing to Sinclaire). You then place the plate and fork on the little cart in the sun to dry.

You pull back slightly in thought, having tried the cart in the past knowing it ends up someone you already know. While turning your head, out of the corner of your eye, you see a blender.

...Wait, a blender?

You honestly forgot you had one for a hot minute. Yet the possibilities of what they could look like interested you. At some point during all of this, you made occasional predictions based on the item and how that would translate via the Dateviators.

You slipped them on, thinking over how such an item would look, “I’m guessing... tall, probably a dude, bit aggressive, bit dangerous in a sexy way, and pretty good with knives.” You state the final part, looking over the pristine blades of the blender.

With your help, the Dateviators worked their magic as you were right about most of your quick predictions.

However... instead of a man, now stands before you a tall, brown-skinned woman with an hourglass-like body-type and short black hair covering one of her eyes as the other shone a beautiful yet deadly golden. She wore an Asian conical hat with ribbons streaming down holding small knives at the ends. The top half of her dress was akin to the container, holographic with little measuring tabs with her sleeves being the same shade of white, holding similar blades to the ones on her hat, leading down to her skirt; black with some white imprints of the buttons and a bow, like her plug-in cord, on the back of her dress. Finally, ballet-like heels, still with a similar knife-like end to them.

She seemed to be dancing when you caught her, despite not being on. The woman moved to her own tango-like rhythm as similar music followed in the background. She continued to move in that same beat, not realizing you were there.

You cleared your throat gaining her attention as she turned to you, “Sorry about that.”

She stepped back in front of you, her heels gently hitting the floor as you took in the fact that she was a few solid inches taller than you making her instantly more attractive to you.

“It’s fine,” you began, albeit shakily, “Besides, you seemed really into it.”

She nodded, her hair moving slightly with her, “That I was. Given my... real form, I believe is a good way to call it, that spins to function, it all makes sense, at least in the way I perceive it.”

You nod back, understanding her logic behind her role, taking her in a bit more, ‘This is certainly a nice twist from what I was expecting.’ You think to yourself.  

Her next words snap you out of your train of thought, “Though I bet you’re here to what? Make me love you? Hate you? Be your friend? One of the three I presume. I’ve heard many tales from various others, though I am intrigued by how this one will go. My name is Belinda and I’m the blender on the countertop.”

You’re met with the same introduction card you’ve seen plenty of times over, only this time with her staring at you intently, purposely moving the ribbons out of her view, “Better not disappoint me.” She says.

As you leave the introduction card panel, Skylar quickly shows up, issuing a quick warning, “Belinda can be a bit intense and accidentally violent or blunt with her wording or actions despite not always meaning it. If you have any issues with such a thing, I suggest moving past her after this conversation’s done.”

Respectively, you weren’t going to do that; after all, you handled Doug and plenty others with a similar Skylar intervention about potential triggers before getting any sort of major interaction in, surely one blender will be fine.

You clear your throat, “So... what are you? Like role-wise?” You asked, curious to see how she’d respond. Of course you had some ideas, given her outfit and, likely, affection regarding blades.

“I’m both a flamenco dancer and a knife-thrower.” She replies, gently twirling one of her throwing knives in her hand, “Both are equally fun, and I’m nearly always a hit at the Breaker Box whenever I put on a show over there. Not to mention, I can do stuff like this.”

Before you can say anything, she then throws the knife at the thin wall, right beside Timothy’s clock as the cat clock comes to life, “Watch where you’re aiming that thing! After all, I didn’t have ‘nearly get killed by the blender’ for three PM on the schedule for today.” He says in his usual, semi-annoying, semi-endearing voice, looking between his pocket watch and the taller woman.

Belinda stifles a laugh, likely amused by his reaction, “I was aiming. Just trying to show the human something.” She moves over to the wall in an oddly fascinating rhythm, gently pulling the knife out, saying a quick and quiet ‘sorry’ to Wallace.

“Well, couldn’t you have aimed elsewhere?” Timothy asks, crossing his arms.

The dancer takes a moment to think, covering the covered part of her face further with her gloved hand, “To be fair, you are closer to me, and besides, in any other direction, I’d risk either hurting two or more objects. Not to mention, you weren’t even doing much.”

“Sunlight is very important to me, thank you very much!” He responds indignantly before quickly recovering and following up with, “One must know how to take care of themselves after all.”

Before Belinda or you can respond once more, he goes back to taking his usual position on the wall, the eyes of the clock still moving in its usual beat yet feeling as if they’re following you and Belinda intently.

She sighs, placing a hand on her hip, pocketing the knife, “And in case you were wondering about how I fare with others... well, there’s already one answer for you.”

“He doesn’t like you?” You ask, interested of where this could take you.

“Not exactly. He’s just strict about his schedule, which to some degree I can understand. But the slightest disruption in his schedule as minor as the knife thing makes you think you could end up on some kind of list. Whether that list be good or bad, I don’t know.” She states honestly.

“...In retrospect, you did throw a potentially deadly weapon in his direction.” You say, slightly scared yet interested in how she’ll react.

She stays quiet for a moment, likely in thought, “Touche. Though, regarding that...” she turns her head fully to face you, quickly repositioning her hat and placing her hand on her chin, “If you want to see more of that, the dancing you saw earlier... or just me in general, look for me in the breaker box. I promise you won’t be disappointed when Volt and Eddie work things out regarding the show schedules. It should at least be... 2 days. Does that work?"

You nod, already excited by the idea.

Belinda shows a faint grin, showing sharp and pristine teeth, her sole eye staring into your soul intensely, “I’ll see you then, caro .” She says, fading out of your view.

You take off the Dateviators, messing with them for a moment, placing them on the belt strap of your shorts, “Well... that’s an easy Love route.” you mutter to yourself while walking away from the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Given your introductions with the other stray objects, you have chosen to make it a little mission of yours to look for any other easily accessible items you’ve missed throughout the house, checking high and low, making sure you leave no stone unchecked.  

Eventually after a solid 30 minutes of making sure you left no stone unturned on the first floor, you walk up the stairs, heading for the bedroom.  

And you lock eyes with it near immediately upon entering the room.  

A dreamcatcher hanging from the wall, covered with some small gemstones and teal and black feathers leading down you got as a semi-genuine yet still somewhat gag gift from the same party you got Ben-Hwa. Not from the same person luckily or else you would be worrying if they were oddly sexual too despite the item they were.  

You didn’t really believe in the mythology that dreamcatchers tended to fall under. Sure, your nightmares have been lessening little by little... but you were still skeptical of how well such an object worked.  

Though that was a small thought when your hands were already moving to put on the Dateviators.  

“I’m guessing... a bit of a hippie, cares about the environment, protective, mystic... and probably a lesbian.” You predict, the Dateviators working their magic once more.  

Now stands before you a dark-skinned woman, standing peacefully. Her short yet fluffy teal hair frames her face both powerfully and delicately, her eyes are covered by a bandana with some feathers trailing from tied ribbons. Her dress top is a crocheted icy-blue long-sleeved shirt with her dreamcatcher’s pattern woven clearly with a small opal in the center with white feathers on the ends of it. Her bottom is of purple feathers which you don’t entirely know where they came from, but it looked nice, nonetheless. She wore ballet heels with ribbons going up to her, gently adorned with various smaller gemstones. She stood confidently in a still position holding a small, silver sword towards the sky, the ends of her dress and ribbons swaying softly.  

“It is you.” She stated blankly, turning her head to properly face you despite the cover of her eyes.  

“...Yeah, it’s me...?” You introduced yourself to her, intrigued and confused.  

“Shocked, I could tell. My senses have heightened beyond most human comprehension. I can feel your soul and tell of others’ presence despite the blind that covers my eyes. I am Morgana, your dreamcatcher. It has been a pleasure serving you all this time.”  

The introduction card shows up, her voice going, “May your soul remain focused in times like these.”  

The card fades with her continuing, “What do you wish to speak to me about?”  

You took a moment to think, remembering your thoughts from mere moments ago, asking her “I was wondering... do you actually protect me against nightmares? Because sometimes they go away and sometimes they don’t.”  

Morgana seemed to perk up slightly at the topic yet also soften slightly at it, “I... try my best. This blade in my hand has seen plenty fights of various topics. Whether that be familial issues or previous other traumas, I have done my best to do my duty. However, that doesn’t always come easy. Somedays they’re stronger and those fights take longer, or you accidentally wake up in the process. No fault on you, of course. I’ve come to learn that’s human nature over the years.”  

“Huh... I don’t know if that’s a dig or your empathy talking.” You say, repositioning the Dateviators slightly.  

“Consider it both. Though I mean it in a more positive light. I’ve only known two proper humans, my creator and you. Yet I also feel... honored to know as much as I do about you. While some may be sorrowful, the dreams that come after my dispelling... are beautiful in various ways. Some show the life you likely wished for as a child while others display your wants of the future. You lost your job recently, correct?” She asked kindly in that soft yet powerful accent of hers, similar to the one your old friend had.  

You nod, “Yeah... makes sense you know that.”  

“Indeed, it does, and yet... you’ve been worried about how you’ll fare regarding your little ‘quest’ and ‘tinfoilhat’s’ pleas on your mind. And as such your nightmares have spiked being harder to deal with than it was prior. The concept has now taken a proper physical form, am I right?”  

You sigh, nodding again. She seems to have you down-pat.  

“Those... glasses of yours, they allow you to see me and several others. Intriguing things, they are...” Morgana says, contemplative, her hands now gently tracing the edges of your face and Dateviators, likely trying to use her sense of touch to get a proper mental image of your face and the sunglasses themselves.  

“That’s one way to word it,” You start, chuckling slightly as your eyes met her blindfold once more, “Why do you wear the blindfold, if you don’t mind me asking?”  

“My senses. As I’ve addressed earlier, they’re stronger than yours. I could always sense the desires and yearnings of the others and combining that with the fact that I had to deal with both the real world and acknowledging of others’ wants, I put this on to prevent an overload. In short, it’s for my own stability.” Morgana admitted.  

“That sounds like it was a lot.” You answer, empathy clear in your voice.  

She nods, solemnly, “It was... the blindfold was Betty’s idea. An easy way of still being able to interact with the world despite my challenges regarding my abilities. But considering the circumstances, it was either this or try to make myself blind. I consider this the easier way. No pain involved and I’m still ready to fight whatever nightmares you may encounter during the night.”  

“Need only a moment to take off the blindfold, I assume?” You ask, still curious of her true capabilities.  

“That I do. And from there, I do what I was made to do. Dispel your nightmares and invoke sweet dreams unto you for the rest of night. My creator had only good intentions while creating me for you, I could feel it. I do not wish to let them down, so if you have any nightmares soon... just know I’ll be watching over you, ready to take them down. Now that you are fully aware of my presence unto you spiritually, I hope we can acknowledge each other when the moment I protect you comes forth. Farewell, traveler.” She says politely as her body fades from your view, leaving that singular heart left for your daily use.  

That’s when you get an idea of what to do next. She said a lot of stuff about nightmares and protecting against them.  

You take off the Dateviators, gently twirling them in between your fingers as you begin to go back down the stairs, seeing if you can get somewhat of a... special interaction with her and another item or rather... concept that came to mind.  

Chapter Text

You head back over to the kitchen, making a beeline to the coffee machine, knowing what would happen if you decided to drink coffee this late.  

This may be the only time in your entire life you’d ever want to get a nightmare on purpose.... Which feels odd to think.  

You placed the Dateviators back on your face for the hundredth time and aimed them at the coffee machine as you’re met with Kopi once more.  

“Welcome to Roofbucks! The home for all your coffee needs.” She began, smiling at you.  

“It’s nice to see you again,” you said back, smiling kindly at her.  

She smiles, albeit awkwardly, gently fidgeting with her coffee implements. Kopi looks at you as if she was searching for something in her memory, “Oh, well, it’s uh... nice to see you too? You’re uhh... ah, that’s right!”  

She snaps her fingers, realization striking as her mind pieces the puzzle together, “We had a little chat last time, didn’t we?”  

You nod, “We did!”  

“Well, thanks for coming back! I do appreciate your patronage. We actually have a new drink added to the menu since the last time you came in! So... what can I get for you today?”  

The interaction goes on as usual with her, a bit awkward considering the fact it’s now night and her now aware of what happens when you have coffee this late from whispers she heard from the others.  

She still gives you the facts of the Irish coffee in front of you, maintaining her usual energy despite her concern of your mental health upon doing this.  

You finish your coffee after a few minutes and by proxy, your interaction with her. The barista fades from your view as all your hearts have been used for the night.  

You stand up, gently placing the coffee cup by the sink as you head up the stairs and back to your bedroom.  

You consider visiting Zoey before seeing what could happen, yet your curiosity of a potential interaction between Morgana and Nightmare fuels you further as you get into bed, leaving the Dateviators on your nightstand as you fall asleep after staring at the ceiling for a few minutes.  

And now, you’re in the familiar dark place of your mind, the many eyes staring at you.  

Sure, you’ve grown used to Nightmare’s unsettling presence, but there’s no getting used to the shivers her gaze sends down your spine. She doesn’t even bother greeting you this time, launching into your nightmare with no fanfare whatsoever.  

“There’s a house across the street from yours...” She begins ominously as a view of a seemingly ordinary street filled with houses show in front of you.  

“There are many houses on your street, but the one across from yours... it’s identical in every way – even down to the two rocking chairs out front on the porch. You’re sitting in the rocking chair, staring at your neighbor’s house across the street. You realize you don’t remember when the house got there. You don’t remember anyone moving in. But it’s a beautiful day to be sitting outside, so you try to relax. You lean your head back and rock gently, basking in the warm day.” She describes, making you feel more unsettled.  

You lay back in your chair, anxiously looking at the scenery before your eyes forcibly close, like a puppet on strings to her command.  

“You’re not sure how much time has passed when you hear the front door across the street open. Your eyes snap open and you look to see who’s come out. The occupant looks happy, humming something to themselves as they sit on one of the chairs and relax. It doesn’t seem like they see you. Or, at least, when you make eye contact, they don’t make any motion of acknowledgement. You’re even more confused than you were before, because the resident of the house across the street is you.” She continues, as your anxiety starts to peak and the invisible strings, she has you on, tighten slightly.  

“Hey! Who are you?” You call out to them, hoping to get some answers.  

“They don’t respond. You stand and lean on the railing that wraps around the porch. You don’t take your eyes off your doppelganger. Out of the corner of your eye, you see people walking in the middle of the street.... There’s two of them, too – identical in every way.” Her voice slowly fades out toward the end, her narration still controlling you despite you no longer hearing it.  

You see them moving in perfect sync until they diverge down a different path. One walks up to your neighbor and the other walks up your walkway.   

They seem... warm. Comforting, even considering your circumstances. They point to the rocking chair next to yours.  

“Can I sit with you?” They ask, “I’ve been walking for so long,” they plead further.  

You think for a moment before answering, “Are you going to stay? Or will you leave?” Your mouth moving on her accord once more.  

They seem confused by your question before responding, “I’ll leave eventually, but this is where I want to be now. I really need a rest.”  

Your head is moved beyond your own control and wave dismissively, saying as you feel your mouth being controlled once more, “If you’re going to leave, then leave,” you grumble, sitting back in your chair.  

They look disappointed by this, but do as you ask, and leave. You see them walk down the street the way they came.  

You look back at your neighbor across the street and see that they’re sitting next to the stranger who walked up to them.  

They sit and chat, laughing and giggling, occasionally glancing towards your house but always returning back to each other. You feel anger start to slowly burn withing your chest. You try to soothe yourself by knowing their stranger will leave – they won’t always have something you don’t.  

You’ll end up the smart one, the one left with a heart intact.  

As you watch them, they start to change. Suddenly, they look older. Grey starts to come through their hair and crows-feet appear by their eyes as they laugh and hold each others’ hands.  

“You look down at your own hands, seeing your own skin wrinkling.” Nightmare’s voice calls out properly once more.  

“No, no,” you say to no one. “Wait, wait!”  

All of a sudden, you hear the quiet sound of someone drawing... a sword?  

“Hold it right there!” You hear a familiar accented voice call out, pulling both you and Nightmare out of the immersion.  

“Little miss dreamcatcher... you’re back.” Nightmare spoke, turning to face Morgana.  

You did the same as Nightmare, now free from her strings, intrigued to see how she’d look in such a state.  

Her blindfold was now off her eyes, now wrapped around loose bits of her hair, revealing heterochromatic blue and red eyes, her dress and sword glowing softly as ribbons wrap around her arms.  

“I’ve been patiently observing this night to see if this would end up a nightmare... glad to know I was right. And I believe you know how this’ll go, huh, Nightmare?” Morgana asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.  

“That I do... though I have an idea before I take my leave,” she turned to face you, the several eyes focusing on you, “Do you just want this to end simply or do you want maybe a more... dramatic finale to this moment?”  

You looked between the two, intrigued by the eldritch horror’s suggestion, “What do you mean by ‘dramatic’?” You ask, both interested and worried.  

“Perhaps... a sword duel in which Morgana nearly dies perhaps?” Nightmare asks as your eyebrows raise in sync, already imagining the situation.  

“I’d rather not,” Morgana sighs, before gently grabbing what seems to be a talisman, “To save us both the time and misery, begone until the sun rises on their eyes once more!”  

Nightmare after a few moments leaves as only a white background is left behind you and Morgana.  

“Well... that was surprisingly easy. Most days we’d just end up fighting until you woke up inevitably... it appears she’s softened up a bit,” she begins in thought before closing her eyes as her bandana goes back around her face, “Do you know why this could be?” She asks.  

You take a moment to think before answering, “Maybe it’s because she’s gotten to properly know me beyond the fears...?”  

Morgana hums lightly in thought, responding with “Perhaps, but I doubt it’s that simple.”  

Before either of you can say more, the blank white scene before you both shifts to a soft purple and stars appear beside you, the kind you see in the various cartoons you’ve seen over the years.  

“Guess that’s my cue.” Morgana starts, “In case you’re wondering, Nightmare... has a counterpart. They aren’t the same person for clarification; they do work closely together though. Also, forgive them if they can be a bit immature... they haven’t seen you in a long while.”  

“They?” You ask curiously.  

She nods, answering “Yes. I’ll see you in the waking world, [NAME]. When you rise to the sun on your eyes after a peaceful dream.”  

Morgana leaves your view, slowly fading away as one of the stars floats over to you.  

That’s when you realized just what she meant upon looking at it for a few moments, “Finally caught on?”  

The biggest star turned into a soft purple as it began to shapeshift, touching the ground with a gentle click of heels.  

Once the light dissipates, you see someone with periwinkle and white hair, small angel wings peeking out from behind their ears, galaxy-like vitiligo and soft red eyes emitting grand yet secret power. Their outfit is a white bodysuit with various golden markings of stars and moons ending a bit above her knees and middle fingers respectively with a cape of similar patterns flowing behind them. One of their legs are natural, with a gold boot with a ribbon of periwinkle and a star in the center, their other leg is a standard peg-leg of the same blue and purple combination and a star coming of off it.  

They clap as the other stars come to life, beginning to perform with trumpets in a grand arrival type way.  

“May I present to you... their divine self, Almos! Personification of dreams!” One of them speak dramatically as the personification stands directly in front of you.  

The introduction card shows up as their voice comes out energetic, sounding perfectly androgenous, “Allow me to grant you sweet dreams until the end of your waking life!”  

The card fades as one of their stars walks up to them, “Would you like us to remain here, or do you want us to move onto the next people?” They ask.  

“Go on ahead. I want to speak to him/her/them first before I move to any other person.” Almos answered, looking at the blond beside them.  

They nod and leave with the rest of the stars.  

After a few moments filled with scattered chatter and footsteps between the wide entourage, you and Almos are now alone.  

“How long has it been?” They ask, kindly yet curiously, staring at you intently.  

“I don’t know,” you admit, “Years at least.”  

Their eyes widen upon hearing the word ‘years’, looking at you with concern more than anything now, “That... can’t be right. Has your life been that unkind...?”  

“...That’s a bit of a loaded question, huh?” You answer, albeit hesitantly because of the memories that rose upon their question.  

“In a way, yes. But, in theory, I should be one of the ones who know you best. I have access to everything you’ve ever been through, everything you’ve ever been remotely interested in, every idea you have ever had...” They trail off, clearing their throat for a moment, “Sorry about that... guess the years also have had a toll on me in a way. Between my coworkers and the several people I give dreams to every single night... it can be a bit much. But enough about me! What kind of dream would you like tonight?” Almos asks, gently clasping their hands together, looking at you intently, awaiting your answer.  

You stare at them a moment, taking in everything they said yet also considering what you would want, “Why don’t we just... talk?”  

“Talk? Boring! I can literally do anything here! Yet all you want is a conversation?!... With me?” Almos questioned you, seemingly confused at the idea.  

You nod, confirming the statement.  

“Huh,” They say blankly, “Never been in this situation before. Usually, it’s someone unaware of my presence and I just... work magic based on the stuff I mentioned earlier. But I suppose... given these unique circumstances, I may as well indulge in this once in a lifetime experience.” Almos says, gently shifting the area with a few simple movements of their hand.  

You then look past them to see your childhood park, two swings right behind you two as the sky stays the same soft purple, stars still visible in it. They sit in one of the swings, gently motioning to the other, encouraging you to take a seat beside them.  

You do so as you look over at them, “If I can ask... how many people’s dreams do you give?”  

Almos sighs at the thought, “Hundreds of thousands I believe. I’m not the only one of my caliber luckily or else I’d be way more exhausted and overworked.”  

“That makes sense.... What exactly is your relationship with dreamcatchers?” You ask, wondering how such a question would be answered.  

They take a moment to think about responding to this, “Dreamcatchers are both like knights and messengers to entities such as myself. They deal with the nightmares prior and allow us to take over easier.”  

“Makes sense... what about your relation with nightmares?” You question, starting to gently swing in the still yet warm air.  

“Nightmares and dreams... are kind of one in the same. Sure, the former tends to be more negative but we’re very similar if you think about it. Both sides tend to use memories or correlations of certain emotions to do what we do, and we learn a lot about human nature because of it. Every person I’ve given dreams to is different and you’re no exception... in a good way, of course!” Almos calls out, now gently moving with the now gentle winds, “I get to widen my genre experience with all the people I give sweet dreams to. Now, next time we meet, let me give you a proper dream, please?” They ask.  

“You’re leaving already?” You inquire, looking at them, confused.  

“In a few moments I must, I have a lot of people to visit given my job. But I have enjoyed our conversation, I’ll say that much. And with that...” They finish as they float off the swing, waving at you, “See you tomorrow!”  

You wave back at them, watching as they fade but not before they can blow a quick kiss.  

Next thing you know, your eyes open in the waking world and it's a new day. 5 more hearts to use...

Chapter Text

You’ve already been awake these past couple minutes, continuing to function as an ordinary human being despite your... crazy situation. No job, specially engineered sunglasses and the ability to interact with more than 100 objects and concepts.  

If you heard it from anyone else, you probably would’ve brushed it off as a dream they had.  

This is no dream though... this is the waking world after all. You know that well.  

You wonder just what you could interact with first in the day, just to properly wake you up if anything and maybe learn something new about either that object or one of the others.  

Instinctively, your head turns towards the blender in curiosity. You know she’s supposedly going to be performing at the Breaker Box tomorrow yet you’re wondering if she’s doing anything at the moment.  

Could she also just be waking up or has she already been up and about for a while?  

You grab the Dateviators off the jeans short hook and place them on your face, the motion automatic just from how many times you’ve done it in the past few weeks as they help to begin the interaction.  

Then you see her, swaying in perfect harmony to the music playing, which you realize after a few moments sounds a bit different. Stronger beats and sharper moves from her, the various blades shining in the sunlight.  

Belinda opens her eyes, now aware of your presence, “Ah, it’s you. Here to watch me practice?”  

You look up at her, not sure what to say for a moment, “Yes! By the way...” you trail off, not sure if she was aware of the question you’re to ask.  

“What is it?” She asks, placing a gloved hand of hers on her hip.  

“Where’s the music coming from? It sounds... different.” You answer, curious as to where this is going.  

“Oh, you have good ears. As for your answer,” she stepped out of your viewpoint, revealing Skull Sweet gently holding Echo, seemingly asleep of passed out, as the woman’s speakers emitted the music for Belinda, “There she is. Skull Sweet purposely enlisted herself to ‘make up for lost time’ or so she says. I have a feeling she was rather lonely, hence why she takes on tasks given by Mayor Celia or others easily. Savior complex that one... yet I can’t help but respect the hustle.”  

“Wait... why is she asleep?” You ask, confused looking between the two women and the bat plush.  

“She’s not quite asleep,” Belinda confirmed, “But she’s in her own special state. She told me that once she gets properly into the music, she’ll close her eyes and focus her energy to her sound via her moons and skirt speakers. Though that comes with a little extra thing with it...” She looks down at Echo.  

“Why are you looking at me as if I’m some gnat that needs to be brutally killed?” They bluntly asked, raising an invisible eyebrow.  

You step back slightly, realizing what just happened, “Holy shit, the bat talks.”  

“Yep... all day, it’s been either praising me for my looks and moves or being a little shit. Which... is oddly expected from the companions of others. They’re either delightful saints or annoyances.” She states, clearly annoyed as Echo gently flew out of Skull Sweet’s hands, moving to her knees and sticking their tongue out at the blender, “See what I mean?”  

You nod, “That I do. Do you know why Echo can talk when she’s like this?”  

She shook her head, “No one does. Heck, I don’t think she’s even aware of it herself.”  

“She knows, she just lets me have my turn to properly interact with everyone while she’s asleep.” Echo says, moving off of Skull Sweet’s knees and now flying beside Belinda.  

“Huh... I bet you’ve caused far more chaos outside of this, little one.” She looks at them, crossing her arms.  

“Ehh. Depending on the object, or objects around her whenever she gets into this state, I either am annoying, or I keep my mouth shut.” They answer.  

“So, you’re a selective extrovert then?” You ask the flying bat.  

“...Something like that,” Echo responds, now landing back on the counter, “Though, Bee, you should probably get back to training. Mama’s going to wake up in a bit to deal with other things.”  

“Good point,” she turned back to face you as the plush bat’s eyes followed you, “Would you like to stay and continue to watch me?”  

You nod as soon as the words register.  

The music picks back up, returning to the volume it was at the beginning of the scene as the moons on the back of Skull Sweet’s head glow a soft mix of pink and red, the speakers in her dress bouncing slightly. Belinda also moves into her routine once more, dancing as her heels click the floor delicately while gently slicing through the air with her knives in her hands and the blades hanging from her hat.  

She stops for a moment as the music starts to slow and picks back up as soon as the music reaches its crescendo, faking you out for a moment. It felt like a marvel to your eyes, the constant reflections and consistent movements from her as Echo seemed to look at the scene in similar wonder to you from their little perch.  

It felt like a scene you’d see in a movie, the type of scene that’d leave you mesmerized by the end of it.  

Despite the limited space given her awareness of the other objects in the room, she was still moving on what you had to believe was a professional level for her.  

The music slowly came to an end as she stopped, facing you once more, “How was that?”  

You started clapping slightly as she smiled, amused by your lack of words and your appreciation.  

You two were practically in your own world unaware to the headphones leaving her state until Echo let out a small noise, alerting you and Belinda.  

“Morning...” Skull Sweet said, still tired.  

“Morning. How was your little nap?” Belinda teased, grinning faintly.  

“...It was alright,” Skull Sweet answered, albeit hesitantly, aware that the blender was teasing her, “I should probably be on my way, see you both later?” She asks, gently bringing Echo into her arms, looking between the two of you.  

You and Belinda nod and smile at her as she leaves, gently floating away.  

“Wait, how can she...?” You trail off.  

“Her heels aren’t that comfortable to walk in or so she says... And somehow, she learned how to float. She likely does something similar with her noise emitting as she does to her floating.”  

You open your mouth once more to further question her, yet her finger ends up on your lips, “No more questioning,” she begins, “I’ll see you at the Breaker Box tomorrow.” She said, leaving your view once more.  

You take off the Dateviators a moment, looking down at it in thought... maybe the 5 have more secrets and things to be found out than you expected.  

Chapter Text

Ever since interacting with Belinda and the headphone duo earlier, you’ve been seeing and hearing about the latter all day long while using up the rest of your hearts.  

All of the people you talked to seemed to appreciate her opinion or help regarding something. Heck, even Lux praised her for her music taste and help with coming up with a background melody for a specific... type of content (which seemed crazy when you first heard the words from the lamp). Though they all mentioned about how she had to leave in a hurry to deal with something else.  

You knew that despite Belinda’s claim of her ‘making up for lost time’ she was working herself down to her circuitry, trying to be a people pleaser. Which, unfortunately you could relate to, considering the way you used to act when you were younger.  

The words you heard both made you happy that she was fitting in well and worried about how much she was pushing herself.  

And so, before you went to bed, you dropped by the office, seeing the headphones on the desk where you left them yesterday morning after her request to move her and Echo.  

You placed the Dateviators back on your face, looking down at the headphones and small bat charm as the two appear in your view, Skull Sweet sleeping peacefully, playing a soft instrumental and Echo in the air while chasing a mouse... wait, a mouse?  

“Echo, may you please stop chasing Roni?” A familiar voice asked.  

You turned towards the familiar voice, seeing your computer, Mac, looking after the bat while the headphones tried to get some rest, fully unaware of the chaos that was happening.  

“Mac?” You questioned, raising an eyebrow as the mouse went back on their hand.  

“It is indeed me, [NAME]. In case you’re curious about how exactly I ended up in such a situation, Skull Sweet passed out as soon as she got back here and so, since you haven’t done much regarding your work given the circumstances, so I tasked myself to watch after Echo. However, as you can see, it’s been... difficult to maintain.” They admit, looking between you, Roni and Echo.  

“I can tell,” you say, chuckling slightly at the situation, “Would you like some help?” You asked, studying the situation further.  

They nod, grateful, “I greatly appreciate the assistance for such a task.”  

You smile back, gently grabbing Echo out of the air as the bat stared up at you, pouting, visibly annoyed that their fun was disrupted by you. You gently placed the bat back in Skull Sweet’s arms as she hugged them tight, using them similarly to a pillow.  

They sighed, appreciating the comforting motion from the headphones, just not how they got there.  

Roni relaxed, taking their usual place on Mac’s shoulder now that the situation has relaxed, their tail cord now gently coiling around Mac’s fingers in comfort.  

You heard a soft yet disappointed ‘boo’ from Echo, glaring at you as Skull Sweet continued to rest, making the bat’s situation seem more amusing than threatening (and that’s not even including the fact that they appear as a button-eyed plushie with the Dateviators).  

You chuckled, looking down at them, “Sorry, little one, but it’s late and the others need to rest. Skull Sweet being one of them.”  

Their pout grew but still nodded in understanding, looking between you and Mac, “Fine...”  

You both smiled in amusement as the situation calmed down, “I thank you for your aid. Had it not been for you, the two would’ve likely chased each other in a classic prey-and-predator situation given what animals they correspond to,” Mac answers, smiling at you as Roni looks up at you innocently.  

“Wait, bats prey off of mice?” You ask curiously yet also wanting to hear more of their voice, thus giving them a reason to.  

They prop themselves up into their usual cross-legged position whenever something search (or generally computer)-related, bringing their rainbow glasses onto their face, “Some species do, not all of them. Considering the situation, we can merely write it off as typical nature despite the situation...” they showed a small smile, not sure how to word it otherwise.  

“I guess we can,” you smile back at them.  

You had to admit; you weren’t expecting an oddly domestic scene between you three and the two object pets. But it was a welcome change considering the chaos that usually comes with maintaining positive relationships with more than a hundred objects, all with different personalities. The break from the... everything that this house seemed to be littered with in the unknowing shadows all the time you were unaware of their technical sentience.  

You, Mac and Echo continued to talk amongst yourselves as Skull Sweet slept peacefully in the comforting situation, the music from her headphones and speakers continuing softly in your conversation.  

“Keep talking about tech jarrr-,” you trailed off upon seeing something you, for some reason, never noticed before.  

You saw a small, gear-like thing sticking out of the back of her corset. Mac’s head turned to follow suit, noticing the little gear’s existence as well.  

“If we may ask,” Mac began, turning their attention towards Echo, “What is that little thing on Skull Sweet’s back?”  

At first, Echo seemed confused for a moment. They gently wiggled their way out of the woman's grasp and made their way to her back to see the bass booster.  

Then they finally understood, “...Oh. That’s what you meant.” They say in their usual high-pitched voice, now looking at you and Mac.  

“So... what is it?” You asked, raising an eyebrow.  

“That’s Mama’s bass booster. You know...  the thing that makes the music she plays seem stronger.” Echo answered blankly as you and Mac process it, now looking at each other and not Skull Sweet.  

“I... suppose that makes sense.” Mac answers, showing a light smile in slight embarrassment for not picking up on what it was sooner.  

“And lemme guess-” You start before the computer cuts you off.  

“It has a 96% chance to function similarly to you double-clicking me.” They answer, already rushing through possibility calculations on their holographic screens.  

“...Ah. I don’t know what else I expected to be honest.” You say to yourself, remembering how the inputted bass tends to function for headphones, causing them to vibrate, depending on how high it was.  

Mac chuckles at your response, gently patting your shoulder, “That is alright. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t disturb her sleep mode. Let’s let the musical beauty rest now.”  

Your eyes widened once you processed the words. A shit-eating overtook your face only a moment later as you teased them, “Wait.... ’Musical beauty’?”  

Echo’s mouth became a small ‘o’ in interest as Mac grew flustered, “Let’s... schedule this conversation for another time.”  

You chuckle to yourself, teasingly ruffling their hair, “Alright then, keep your secrets, you delightful nerd. I’ll see you and Skull tomorrow.”  

“I’ll hold you to those usual 11.4 hours daily,” they teased back, still slightly flustered from the interaction mere moments ago.  

“And don’t forget me as part of this!” Echo called at you, pouting slightly at the lack of notice.  

“I wouldn’t dare,” you tease the small bat as the duo, and their pets fade away from your view leaving you with zero hearts to end off the day.  

You take off the Dateviators for a moment, already heading to your bedroom for rest. But you stopped yourself for a moment, looking back towards the headphones upon hearing a song emit from them.  

You walk back to them, leaning over slightly, listening to it while trying to figure out what song she was playing. The melody was obviously familiar, likely meaning her memory is more so song lyrics, “...Is that ‘Good Luck, Babe’?” You say to yourself as the song continued to play for a few moments longer before you took your leave.

Chapter Text

You returned to the attic with a spring in your step, refreshed after everything that happened yesterday.  

You looked around, trying to figure out who to interact with, mentally going over what kind of interaction you could expect from that object. Though, since you were already decently awake, maybe you wanted a gentle awakening in contrast to yesterday with Belinda.  

Your eyes landed on the various art supplies, in their same spot as yesterday.  

It’s been a while since you talked to them, and you were curious to see if both of their positive routes were decently fast or if you had to work a bit harder to get in their ‘higher’ graces.  

You placed the Dateviators on your face as Robin sits before you once more, drawing peacefully as the Greek statue-like man loomed over their shoulder, studying their technique intensely.  

“What mastery... you have a clear understanding of facial construction,” you heard the man compliment the other as Robin continued to draw in the sketchbook.  

You moved closer to the two to see what they were drawing in curiosity.  

Now standing beside Artt and looking down at the sketchbook, you saw that the art supplies were drawing you. You laughing, a close-up of your eyes, even noting the light at certain angles, all as little doodles on a singular page at least as far as you could tell.  

“Thanks,” Robin began, talking to Artt, seemingly unaware of your presence, “Given what I am, I think it only makes sense that I’ve grown accustomed to this. I just hope they’ll like it.”  

Artt looked at you for a moment, seeing your expression of happiness and wonder, “I think they love it.”  

The way the Greek statue worded it made Robin’s eyes widen in realization that you were there all along as they turned around to look at you.  

“O-oh... hello.” They smiled anxiously upon the situation they now found themselves in.  

“Hey, Robin.” You said softly, now sitting down beside them.  

Artt simply looked between you two for a moment, in intrigue, yet he understood that this may be a personal thing, “I’ll leave you both be. You know where to find me, [NAME].” He said before leaving.  

Robin’s face was visibly flustered in embarrassment, before chuckling, still anxious, “Talk about  Déjà vu ,  right? You know, with you giving me a heart attack and all?”  

You nod, “That I do.”  

You two awkwardly sat beside each other, not sure what either of you could possibly say, them gently drumming their fingers against their bag full of markers and color pencils.  

“...Do you have any others?” You ask softly.  

“What do you mean by ‘others’?” They question, making you contort your face in slight dumb-founding, not sure if they were playing dumb or genuinely confused.  

You face-palm at their question, motioning between you and their sketchbook.  

“Oh!” They said in realization, looking back at their sketchbook.  

They looked between you and the sketchbook, “There’s not much beyond this page of you. There’s only this one.” They said turning the page back.  

The page showed more doodles of you, seemingly just living life, cleaning peacefully, likely back in the days where you weren’t aware of the objects having souls. There’s was also one of you singing along to some song, wearing your headphones while gently dancing.  

Overall, it was all really domestic and sweet. It seemed that the art supplies knew the true value of the little things in life by simply watching you and others over the years. There was even a little drawing towards the lower right corner of the page of you smiling, dimples showing with some hearts in various shades of pink and red drawn around it.  

“Aww,” you said softly, not even noticing you said it for a moment as their face grew flustered.  

“Don’t... patronize me.” They answer weakly.  

You smile and chuckle softly, “Don’t worry, I’m not. I think it’s adorable.”  

They grow even more flustered at your words, “I... Thank you. I’m just... not used to being in this situation, I didn’t expect this to happen so soon,” they admitted.  

“That’s fine. The fact you managed to stay here and not yell at me to go away or something proves how... mature you are.” You said kindly, your smile widening slightly.  

“Art is a subject that is praised by people like you. Not in a bad way, but rather in people that can see deeper and understand silent messages expressed in ways that aren’t directly stated. That’s one of the reasons I grew to love it despite my initial challenges. It’s a way of expression that some take for granted given the quote-unquote ‘simplicity’ of such ways. It’s a way of influence and understanding in others. I was talking with Skull Sweet the other day and she agreed. Creativity can be used in any regard, whether that be messages or influence, I just hope the person or people I get with understand my view of such a subject that I’ve grown to care so much about.” They say as a truly heartfelt speech, staring at you intently.  

You stayed silent for a moment, soaking it all in. Their passion, their viewpoint of something that clearly meant so much to them.  

“Robin...” You trailed off, not sure what you could follow-up with at first.  

“You don’t have to say anything. I just... wanted to get it out to someone aside from everyone up here in the attic... and Skull Sweet.” They admitted.  

You gently kissed their cheek, “I believe I know what to say. And I think you know exactly what I meant by that... message.”  

They could only fluster as they turned to face you, before smiling fondly, “I think I do.”  

Their ‘LOVE’ card showed up, them smiling brightly, holding a small heart stamp in their hand, while holding their sketchbook in their other hand, “May you... be my muse?” They asked shyly, that anxious smile being increasingly endearing the more you see it.  

The card fades as you nod, welcoming them into your massive (and will only continue to grow) polycule, gently bringing them into a hug as they gently pepper your face with kisses.  

“Thank you, muse,” They compliment, “Maybe next time you visit me... could you pose for me?” They ask as your eyes light up.  

“Alright! See you tomorrow then, darling!” You say, leaving one quick kiss on their forehead before they vanish from your view.  

That heart was used up as their object form showed itself once more. And as you started walking away, the small stamp in their love card floated up and gently stamped your cheek, “Farewell, my muse,” you hear their voice say softly, making your heart melt slightly.  

“Makes sense that the literal art supplies is one of the best at romance,” you mutter to yourself, leaving the ink there for the moment as the stamp went back to their little pile as you left the attic, happy at how the interaction with.