Daemons

The college food court was full of bustling students as always, each trying to quickly grab a bite to eat between classes. Everyone was looking around for either an empty table or the table their friends had managed to grab, which is exactly what a particular skeleton was currently doing. The short student dressed mostly in gold and black tones, blending well with the gold of his eye lights. Black pants and shirt helped to make the pale-yellow jacket he wore overtop more striking; The edges of the jacket trimmed in a bluish green. He wore a matching set of golden shoes and gloves, both having the same accent color as the jacket. Black sleeves extended from the gloves to about halfway up his upper arm, and a bright blue belt held the jacket closed. A golden crown sat on his skull, giving him an almost regal look as the tails of his star covered scarf fluttered behind him.

He was wandering about until a bright blue glove could be seen waving frantically. “Dream!” The sound of his name being called helped direct the golden skeleton. As Dream pushed his way through the crowd he came upon four of his friends, all skeletons, crowded around a single table.

First was Blue, an energetic little skeleton dressed in his namesake. Blue bandanna, blue gloves, blue boots, dark blue pants; the only thing not really blue was his grey t-shirt. Even that was accented along the edges in bright blue. His starry blue eye lights somehow got even bigger as Dream approached.

Beside him was Ink, a very artistic skeleton who somehow always had a bit of black paint smudged along the corner of his jaw. His mismatched eye lights, one a blue circle and the other a yellow star, followed Dream as he came to sit next to the artist. Ink’s outfit consisted of chocolate brown leggings with a pair of beige shorts on over top. A simple white shirt was hidden beneath a brown sweater, with his baby blue hoodie that he always had but never seemed to wear tied around his waist. A beige scarf splattered with old paint stains was wrapped around his neck, the faded tail almost reaching the floor from his sitting position. The last thing that Ink always seemed to have on him was a satchel full of random art supplies, so that he was always prepared should a sudden wave of inspiration strike.

On the other side of the table was Sci, by far one of the smartest people Dream had ever met. Compared to Ink’s creative outfit, Sci’s was far simpler. He wore a blue turtleneck sweater and dark slacks, accompanied by the lab coat he often wore since he was in and out of his lab constantly. Sci waved a greeting to Dream, pushing his glasses back up his nose with his free hand.

Sitting next to Sci, and the last skeleton at the table, was Lust. The tallest one of them there was... confident, in how he dressed. A black crop top with a neon blue heart on it left the base of his spine in full view. The peaks of his hip bones were also poking out from his black skinny jeans. He also wore bright blue knee-high boots and black fingerless gloves. Out of everything, his sleeveless jacket stood out the most. The fabric was bright purple, the same color as his heart shaped eye lights, and the edges were rimmed with neon blue fur. Needless to say, Lust’s choice in fashion often drew attention to him, so it was a good thing he rarely seemed to mind.

“Glad you guys managed to snag a table, there’s never any of them free by the time I get here.” Dream began opening the wrapping on his sandwich as he made small talk, happy to see his friends.

“Be thankful that Blue here has enough energy to sprint from the education building every single day.” Ink jerked a thumb in Blue’s direction, who smiled with a mouthful of taco.

When he finished with his current bite, Blue’s smile only got wider. “Of course! The magnificent Blue will always be here fast enough to save the best table! Mweh heh heh!”

“Anyways~” Lust leaned forward, his arms stretched out across the table towards Dream as he cut off Blue. “I have a dance recital coming up in a couple weeks for one of my classes. It’ll be one of the biggest productions all year, so I’d love it if my adoring fans would all come to cheer me on!” In one of his outstretched hands was a ticket to the event.

Dream eagerly snatched up the ticket, his eyes practically sparkling. “Of course! I wouldn’t dream of missing it!” Everyone chuckled at his pun, including Blue who nearly choked on his taco while doing so.

While Ink helped Blue breathe, Sci continued the conversation. “Are you sure about that Dream? You wouldn’t miss it like you didn’t miss handing in your assignment last week? Or how you nearly went out the door the other day without pants on? Or how...”

“Okay I get it! I’m forgetful, so what?” Dream pouted as his friend chuckled, a little annoyed that his inability to remember things was being brought up right now. He couldn’t help it, some things just ended up slipping through the cracks. “But there’s a date on the ticket, and you guys are all going, so I won’t forget!”

“Like you didn’t forget the important thing you’re supposed to be doing right now?” A deep voice right behind him made Dream jump, his soul beginning to pound as a light-yellow blush started to form on his cheekbones. He turned around to see a skeleton dressed in white and black. White shoes, white belt, and black pants, all accented with white X’s. He was wearing his black turtleneck that had a habit of covering the bottom of his face, as well as his white short sleeved hoodie with white floof surrounding the hood. There were only three things of any color on him; his red right eye light, the red zigzag scar under said eye, and the golden heart locket he always wore around his neck.

It was Cross, one of his other friends and the guy he’d secretly had a crush on for the past year, gazing down at Dream with a look of disappointment on his face. Wait, he was forgetting something right now? The golden skeleton completely forgot to be flustered by the other’s presence, instead trying to recall whatever Cross meant. What was it? Dream dove deep into thought, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration as he tried to figure out what he could be forgetting. When nothing came to mind, he looked back up at Cross with a sheepish expression. “You’re kidding right? How could you seriously forget this? I even reminded you this morning!” A shrug indicated he had no idea what his Black and white friend was talking about.

Cross sat down at one of the empty seats, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. “It’s the 27th today Dream, what does that mean?” He looked up, only to facepalm as he saw the golden skeleton’s blank expression. “Dream, Geno was discharged from the hospital fifteen minutes ago. You were supposed to be there to pick him up, remember now?”

The entire table watched in silence as Dream processed this information before, “Oh my god I forgot Geno!” Everyone joined Cross in facepalming as Dream frantically began to shovel food into his mouth while packing up his bag. In every friend group there was always that one friend that everyone loves and would drop everything to help out. For their little group that was Geno. That just made the golden skeleton’s ability to somehow forget about him even harder to believe.

“Seriously Dream?” Ink questioned. “I mean I know your memory is bad, but this is a stretch even for you!”

Cross didn’t even look up from his salad as he said, “Says the guy who’ll stop in the middle of a sentence because he saw ‘something beautiful’.” Ink was about halfway through a retort when a bird flew past a nearby window, causing Ink to become fixated on it and only prove Cross’ point.

“Oh hey, since you’re going to see Geno, mind giving him his ticket?” Lust produced another ticket to the dance recital, which Dream ripped from Lust’s hands and frantically shoved into his bag. With everything packed and his lunch mostly eaten, Dream waved goodbye to his friends as he bolted to the parkade where his car was parked.

It took him about half an hour to get to the hospital, and that was with Dream pushing the boundaries of how many traffic laws he could safely get away with breaking without getting pulled over. He quickly parked in the closest empty parking spot to the door that he could find, before practically bursting through the front doors of the hospital. Everyone seemed startled by his sudden appearance, with a nurse going up to the heavily breathing skeleton to ask if he was okay.

“Dream?” A familiar voice cut through the nurse’s panicked questions as the student snapped his head up to find the source. There, sitting in a wheelchair in the middle of the lobby, was a familiar skeleton. He was wearing black basketball shorts and a simple white shirt and hoodie. The blood red scarf he always wore was really the only splash of color in the outfit, helping to draw attention away from the perpetual glitch cloud covering his right eye.

The red and white skeleton had a kind smile on his face as he wheeled over, only for Dream to nearly tackle him in his rush to get to his friend. “Geno! I’m so sorry for being late! I-” He was cut off as the nurse from earlier shushed him, reminding him that he was in a hospital. Geno couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s reaction while Dream sheepishly walked behind Geno and slowly started to push him out the front door.

“Let me guess, Cross had to remind you again?” Geno smirked back at his friend.

“I’m reaaalllly sorry, Geno. Please let me make it up to you!”

Geno couldn’t help but burst out laughing again at his friend’s constant apologies. “It’s okay Dream, really. You weren’t even an hour late this time! But if it’ll make you feel better, how about you make it up to me by taking me to the park? I’d love to get some fresh air before I’m stuck at home trying to get caught up on all the work I missed.” The golden skeleton was practically skipping at the suggestion. Dream loved nature and would take any chance he could to get outside. The fact that Geno wanted to go to the park just made him almost forget why he was upset.

With practiced movements Dream helped Geno stand up from the chair and step into the passenger seat, before folding up the wheelchair and sliding it into the back. Geno wasn’t paralyzed or anything like that, he just often didn’t have enough strength to stand on his own. The doctor usually made him stay in a wheelchair until he got his strength back, which usually took around at least a week. Dream, being the only one in their group with a vehicle, was always the one responsible for helping Geno move around whenever he was stuck in the chair. Unfortunately for Geno, his poor health meant he was constantly in and out of the hospital, meaning he was stuck in the chair more often than not.

Despite everything the frail skeleton never minded his situation. He was always one of the more optimistic friends Dream had, except for Blue and Dream himself. Geno would always try to help the others out in any way he could, and he always made a point of somehow making it to every important event his friends had, even if all of them were yelling at him to go home and rest. Honestly, Dream couldn’t think of a better friend, which made him wonder how he could forget to pick him up. Again.

You’re so pathetic, you can’t even remember to help out one of your best friends when he needs you.

He hates you, he’s just too nice to tell you.

Why stop at Geno? All your friends hate you. They’re constantly having to remind you about everything. I mean, did you see how they all reacted today at lunch?

There’s no way in hell that Cross likes you...

The negative thoughts were swirling in his mind, eating away at him as he tried desperately to push them away. The sound of Geno’s voice calling to him finally managed to snap him out of it as he looked over to see his friend’s face filled with worry.

“You okay there bud? I’ve been calling to you for about a minute now. Please don’t space out while you’re driving, I don’t exactly want to go back to the hospital right away.” Geno chuckled a bit, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

The other skeleton shook his head, chasing away the dark thoughts as he put on the best smile he could manage. “Yeah, sorry about that. Guess I just got a lot on my mind.” The frail skeleton didn’t seem completely convinced though, as a look of concern flashed across his face. That said, he did get Dream’s hint to drop it. The rest of the drive was filled with small talk, neither one touching on the big subjects of either their classes or their health. They both had their issues academically; with Dream’s forgetfulness he often forgot assignments or major due dates, and Geno was constantly scrambling to get caught up on the work he missed. When it came to health, the glitching was the most obvious of an enormous collection of things wrong with his friend, while the golden skeleton tried his best to hide just how badly he was struggling mentally behind a bright smile.

Dream knew Geno was smart, and not in the same way Sci was. While Sci had perfect scores in all his classes, Geno was smart in a more practical way. He could figure out anything, or anyone, if given enough time to do so. He’d been the first one to clue into Sci’s huge problem with anxiety and was also first to figure out that Lust was getting bullied. Geno had then proceeded to help both with their problems, and while he had been successful, his health had suffered because of it. Dream knew that it was only a matter of time until his clever friend figured out the truth behind his silence, but he didn’t want to cause anyone trouble, especially not Geno. The red and white skeleton beside him had enough to deal with between his fragile health and his coursework. He certainly didn’t need Dream’s problems on top of that.

The lighthearted conversation continued as Dream pushed Geno through a nearby park, both enjoying the gentle autumn breeze. They kept going until they found an empty bench next to a small pond, allowing Dream to sit down next to Geno.

“Wow, it’s really empty here right now, I’m surprised there’s not more people. Normally we wouldn’t be able to find anywhere to sit.” Geno looked around, seeing barely anybody around the two skeletons.

“Well, I guess it is the middle of the day, most people probably just finished their lunch breaks and are going back to work or school.”

Geno was silent for a moment, before realization dawned on his face. “Oh crap, you probably have class right now, I’m sorry!” His friend looked truly guilty, which only made Dream’s gut twist from guilt as well.

“N-no, it’s fine. Pretty sure I’m already done classes for today.” Truth be told, he knew he had another class later, but it wasn’t one he was really interested in going to. The notes were always posted online anyways, so it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he “forgot” to go today.

Unfortunately, Geno saw through his friend’s fib. “Dream, you are horrible at lying, you know that. And don’t try to tell me you ‘forgot’,” he said, stressing the word “forgot” with air quotes.

“N-no, I-” He was cut off as his phone started ringing. Dream pulled it out but didn’t recognize the number. He showed it to Geno, but the other skeleton simply shrugged. Hesitantly, he answered the call. “H-hello?”

"Heya Dreamy.” The voice on the other line was painfully familiar, not even Dream would forget it. On top of that, only one person ever called him “Dreamy”.

“N-Night?! Is that really you?!” The golden skeleton shot up, not even trying to control his volume anymore.

“Jeez, stop shouting would ya? Fairly sure half the city can hear you!” He quickly apologized, but his brother brushed it off. “Look, I need to ask you for a favor. My bros and I will be in the city for the next while and we need a place to stay. You still got that stupidly large house mom and dad left ya?”

“Y-yeah, I do. But wait, what are you doing here? I thought it was too dangerous for you to stay...” He drifted off, clearly remembering the note that his brother had left as his only form of goodbye.

“Look, something’s come up, so are you gonna help me or not?”

Dream was torn. On one hand, he was already out here with Geno, who really shouldn’t be left on his own especially after just leaving the hospital. But this was a chance to reconnect with his twin brother, someone he’d missed for years now and thought he’d never see again.

A cough to his right startled Dream back to reality. Looking over, he saw Geno hinting that he wanted to say something. “C-can you hold on one second?” He stuttered into the phone, not waiting to hear his brother’s answer. He fully turned himself towards his friend, showing him that he had his full attention.

“Would that happen to be the same ‘Night’ that’s your twin brother that you haven’t seen in years?” Dream nodded numbly, feeling tears beginning to well up in his eye sockets. Yet Geno’s warm smile helped to push them back. “Then you should go see him, don’t worry about me.”

“You sure? I mean, I did say I would take you home from the hospital, and your apartment is at least a half hour drive away.”

“And it’s directly on a major bus route,” he said, flashing his student ID with the transit pass sticker on it. “There are some benefits to being a student you know, and everyone always moves out of the way of the wheelchair.” Dream went to protest again, feeling guilt gnawing at him, but the red and white skeleton quickly shot him down. “I’ll be fine Dream, just go. I’ll even promise to phone Cross if I get too tired, happy?”

This time Dream couldn’t hold back the tears as he thanked his friend before running off. “Okay Night, I’m on my way, where do you want to meet?”