—??? POV—

Their eyes never deceived them. 

It was clear. Clear as day. Clear as anything else as far as the horizons. 

It was love. 

A spoiled love, a delicate love. A special and endearing love. Between human and monster, between you and him. But alas, conflicting circumstances neither of you were aware of, threatened to tear you apart. 

And the scrying was so, so tiring. But they pushed on. Forced themself to look further, deeper. For a more detailed understanding. For an advantage. Some kind of leverage to buy more time. Save more lives. The multiverse, and the very well fate of Dream depended on it. 

Interruption.

Doors, knocked open in a rush. A loud cacophony of words that sounded more like noises. They tried to focus, putting the last of their energy into finding one key detail. 

Weakness. 

The world tipped sideways as they fell, faint from the overexertion. Strong arms were of course there to catch them, but it was too late, the child was out cold. 

—Meanwhile—

"Who's hungry?" 

"Here's Horror~."

Still the same silly sentence after months of having known each other. You were official now, a package, a couple, so to speak. It wasn't all to out of the ordinary anymore when Horror would place a peck atop your head as he passed, deliver a gentle touch, or make a quip about your love for him. And it wasn't strange going the other way either. 

"Whatcha' makin'." He asked lazily, chin resting on your shoulder as he peered down at the stove, watching you finish creating your masterpiece of a dish. 

"Breakfast." You supply sarcastically, flicking off the stove as you finish concocting your meal. "Now go sit so I can serve you." 

"Wow." Killer suddenly cut in, always knowing when to speak out of turn. "Horror eating human cooking rather than human? Rare occurrence." 

"You know," You start, having boldened in your time with the once spooky skeletons. You weren't afraid to throw snarky comments... you just minded your manners around Nightmare and Error, Cross and Reaper too, sometimes. "I could always poison your food." 

You grinned deviously at the appalled skeleton. Killer put a hand to his heart, feigning surprise. "N-Nightmare!! The human's t— mmph!" Horror was swiftly helping your cause, holding Killer in a headlock as Dust chimed in to crack a comment. 

"I always knew you two were partners in crime." It was almost comical the way he did nothing to save his dear friend. "Such a shame Killer was your next victim." 

You chuckled as you gave all three a well earned portion, before settling next to Horror in the dining room to do just that. Dine. You were retiring from the role as chef for the rest of the day. Whoever needed food would have to serve themself. 

Like Reaper. 

"Am I too late for top-notch five star service?" He asked, puppy dog eyes on full display as he clutched his empty plate pleadingly. "C'mon... spare a sec for lil' Reaps?" 

"Nope." You reply, shoveling food in your face. You were hungry. "Poor lil' Grim Reaper will have to feed himself." 

Ok, maybe you didn't mind your manners around Reaper. 

"Pity." He sighed, simply taking literally the rest of the food and plopping down at the table a couple seats away. "We'll see how you are next time you need some flying ace to reach the top shelf of the closet." 

"I'd ask Horror." You say simply, swallowing a mouthful. "He'd hoist me up, we'd get up there." 

"Well what if he was out on a mission? Then what?" Reaper challenged, eyes flashing with a mirthful glint. "Where's your lord and savior then?" 

"I'd get that giant ladder Nightmare keeps by the stairwell. Easy peasy." 

A short silence followed, in which Reaper looked anywhere but you. 

"About that..." Both he and Nightmare said almost simultaneously. Nightmare slipped into the kitchen, holding a bunch of pieces to it. "It's kinda broken right now." 

You held in a groan of frustration. How the hell did these numbskulls break the ladder— and why!? You knew you weren't exactly all too favorited or anything yet but seriously? 

"H-How did that happen?" You asked, squashing the anger in favor of shock. Sure, Nightmare could sense emotions, but if you didn't act on them then they couldn't hurt you. 

"Well, do tell us, Dumbass." Nightmare growls, glaring daggers at Reaper, who conveniently has a mouth full of food at the moment. 

"Don't act like it was all me!" Reaper argued back, arms crossed and plate clean. "You started shaking the damn thing while I was on it!" 

"Only because your ass can fly!" Nightmare snapped, tentacles rigidly twisted with one another behind him. "You didn't even need it!" 

"Well you're an octopus!" Reaper accused, the expression on his face not so much angry as it was teasing. "You didn't need it either." 

As the two continue to bicker, you tune them out in favor of picking up all the plates and making some dishwater to wash them in. From what you can grasp, Reaper was on the ladder fooling around when Nightmare needed it, and when he started to shake the thing, Reaper fell. Apparently the two were quite literally playing tug-o-war with the thing and now no one can use it. Not even you. 

Well, you guess you'll have to get Lust to help you in Reaper's proposed scenario. Though, it's strange the promiscuous skeleton hasn't come around yet. Maybe you should check on him in his room. 

For now, you'll settle for doing the dishes. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Yep! Chapter two! Wonder who that was at the start êwê. 

But guys! I got a chance to write out a VERY rough line of direction for this story. :3 it's gonna be a roller coaster! Though like, organized this time... we're shooting for maybe 80-90 chapters... maybe more, maybe less! We'll cross the bridge when we get there though! :)

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!

- De Moogus