Horror brought them dinner while Dream continued to try and teach her. Of all Nightmare's underlings, he seemed the most ok with her. Dust despised her for the thrall thing, and Killer hated kids, but Horror understood the need for survival more than anything. He didn't take it personally. Of course, that didn't mean he was gonna go behind the boss' back. No, that would only sign his death certificate, but the least he could do was give her (and in extension Dream) the benefit of the doubt and keep their little sessions a secret. "might wanna be more careful not to get caught. boss could take advantage." Horror said simply as he set two plates on the dresser. "w-wait- horror, it isn't like that -" Dream tried, but Horror wasn't having it. "it looked to me like you were trying to teach her to speak. i'm telling you. don't get caught." He closed and locked the door behind him, leaving the pair alone again. When Dream recognized Horror wasn't going to say anything, he grabbed the plates and brought them over. The confusion written all over Fable's face was palpable... she'd probably never eaten anything worth eating before.

🟡🟣

Feeding Fable was like feeding a baby. She was messy and uncoordinated, and a bath was definitely in order, but that, too, was a new experience. She'd lived alone in Dreamtale for who knew how long... of course, she didn't understand what a bath was. After Dream drew her a bath, he helped her to strip down, keeping his gaze respectfully glued to her face as he lifted her up and into the soapy water. He tried to show her how to wash herself so that this wouldn't feel so awkward in the future. Fable seemed to get the hang of scrubbing fairly quickly and scrubbed bone wash into her ribs... and only her ribs. Dream sighed in mock exasperation and took over washing her up and letting her play in the water while he looked for something cleaner to change her into. He found her a navy sweater and a pair of light blue leggings along with undergarments in one of the dressers and fetched a towel from a closet before taking her out to dry her off and show her how to get dressed. Fable helped with her own shirt, seeming to get ahold of the new thing.

🟣🟡

The speech lessons continued into bedtime, and the two cuddled as they slept. This time, Dream kept her close, not wanting to wake up unawares if Nightmare wanted her for something. In the morning, Dream and Fable were awoken by Horror. "the kid has to come with me. boss wants her present at breakfast." Dream couldn't say he trusted Horror. However, he did prefer Horror above everyone else here. "you promise to return her safely?" Horror chuckled in dark amusement as he looked at Fable. "dream, if she feels threatened, she won't give me a choice." Dream gave Horror a confused look as he offered his hand to the little Guardian. Fable took it, trusting in Horror's intentions. "the kid has an ability unlike either of you have ever had, and the boss wants to cultivate it." Dream hated the sound of that, hated that Nightmare was using her like this. "she's just a kid horror. she doesn't know any better... can't you get her out of here, somehow?" Horror barked out another laugh. "why would i? as far as i'm concerned, he's gonna make this kid stronger, besides." Horror led her out, grabbing the door handle. "what's a little bonding between boss and his baby sister?" The door shut behind him.