8 - Decorations



I woke to the face of Nightmare looming over me. It didn't bother me, since I wasn't afraid of him.


"Do you need something, or were you just going to watch me sleep?" I asked.


"I sensed that you were having a nightmare." Nightmare responded.


"Yeah?"


"You didn't seem afraid; that interests me."


"It's really not that interesting." 


"Do nightmares not affect you?"


"Depends on what you mean by affect." I sat up, stretching.


"Even I can wake up screaming from nightmares. Please explain how you don't."


"I just sleep through them. Nothing special."


"How?"


"I don't know." 


I honestly didn't feel like this was a worthy topic for conversation. I just happened to not be bothered by nightmares; there was nothing outrageous about that, was there? Plus, it was pretty much every night, and I didn't think the others would appreciate it if I burst into tears every night recalling the horrors I've committed; it just wasn't practical for me to be scared of nightmares when I'd been through it a million times before when I was awake. Nightmares were just another reminder of what we shouldn't have done, and if we let them hold us back, we'd never move forward.


"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Nightmare squinted.


"If I told you, it would imply that I knew." I pointed out, straightening my dusty jacket. I probably wasn't going to clean the dust off my jacket anytime soon; that would be like cleaning my friends and family out of my life.


"Then tell me something else."


"Yeah?"


"Why are there the remnants of dead monsters in your room?" He gestured towards the jars of dust on my dresser.


"Purely personal."


"Fine, I'll find out sooner or later; there's food in the dining room, if you're hungry. We're going to spend the day decorating both of your rooms; they both look drab and honestly, embarrassing. Living room, after the food is eaten."


"Got it."


He then left my admittedly bare room, leaving me and Papyrus to talk.


"Nightmare is very nice, don't you think, brother?" Papyrus complimented.


"Not as nice as you, bro." I returned.


"Well, that is true; I am the Great Papyrus, after all!"


"You're the best, Paps."


"Are you going to go eat? You must be hungry."


"Yeah, Paps; come on."


Paps and I moved through the hall, reciting the rooms by their doors in an attempt to memorize the location of each one. Paps was better, since he had more time to memorize the rooms, but I was learning a few. When we reached the end of the hall, I opened the door to the dining room and shut it behind me. Nightmare was seated at the head of the table, eating what appeared to be steak. I took a seat at the table, not caring where, and quietly joined his silent eating; Nightmare definitely liked silence, and it was his house, so I was inclined to oblige his silent wishes. To be honest, I preferred silence too - unless it was Papyrus. Papyrus was better than silence any day of the week. The silence did have a certain flair to it, especially in the dark. Silence was like that, I guess. It wasn't long before Killer entered the room and broke the silence, though; he obviously wasn't the silent type.


"Good night." Killer greeted; it was always night here.


I nodded in response to him, in an attempt to have a certain silence to myself.


"Boy, you guys are quiet." Killer commented.


"That was the point." Nightmare replied. "At least one of you understood."


"Oh, ya wanted it to be quiet? Sorry. I can be quiet."


"Thank you."


Killer then tried his best to silently join us in our eating, but he wasn't as accustomed to silence as Nightmare and I were. I didn't mind it as much as Nightmare obviously did, but he didn't say anything more, in hopes of having as much silence as he could afford. It was a pleasant meal overall, and when we finished, Killer and I were in charge of cleaning the dishes; we both knew that living here would come with responsibilities, so we didn't argue. I was just happy having a habitable place to live, to be honest. Papyrus said it was good to see me doing some housework for a change, instead of the average 'find something to do in our everlasting boredom.' When we finished washing and putting away the dishes, we met Nightmare in the living room.


"Are you two ready?" He questioned.


"Yep." Killer replied; I nodded.


"In that case, we're starting with Killer, since he got here first."


"Cool."


"What do you want in your room?"


"Dunno."


"You're helpful."


"Thanks."


"That wasn't a compliment. Is there anything you want in the room you are literally going to live in?"


"Hmm....a poster that has a knife surrounded in red bold letters sayin' knife to meet ya."


"That's pretty particular.."


"Only thing I've ever wanted."


"Anything else?"


"Nope."


"This is just embarrassing. If somebody breaks into your room with the intent to steal something, don't you want to be the guy who can say 'Look, my room got robbed and my most valuable possession was taken - it was a trophy!' or 'it was an olympic medal!'? All you're going to be able to say is 'it was an inspirational poster.'"


"Your point is?"


"Nobody's going to respect that."


"I don't need respect."


"Dust, can you decorate your room in a respectable manner while I teach Killer about respect?"


"Sure." I responded.


"Good; you go do that. I don't care what you use or how you get it."


"Okay."


When that was said, Paps and I left the living room, heading to my room; I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like. We played the recitation game as we approached my room, and I was getting better at it; I kept forgetting some of the storage rooms and closets, but there were a lot of them. When we reached my room, I opened the door to the same white-walled room I left a couple hours ago; the bed without coverings, the empty closet, and the jars of dust were all still there. I figured I should start with the walls.


"Hey Paps." I started.


"Yes, brother?" Paps returned.


"Is there any paint in this place?"


"I believe there is some paint in the storage room directly across from your room."


"You're the best, Paps."


"I am the Great Papyrus!"


Gray and black; those colors would look much better than a blinding white. I skipped across the hall to the storage room that I had previously thought was a closet, and opened the door; it was unlocked, thankfully, and I was able to start my search for the paint I would use for my walls. It took a few minutes, but I did eventually find some pitch black paint, and it was right next to a medium gray! I'd give the credit to Papyrus, though: he's the best at finding paint. When I found the paint, I returned to my room. Luckily, I had also found a large paintbrush suitable for painting the walls; I began painting a simple design on the walls, to imitate dust floating against a black background. It reminded me of my universe, and how I would sit in the darkness of the forest, watching the dust float around freely. It had an almost hypnotic effect as it swirled around in the windless air. It was almost like it had a mind of its own, just dancing across the line of sight, never stopping, but rather, continuing, as if it was in an endless trail, unable to stop until something forced it - almost like me.


When the walls were done, I decided to get some blankets for the bed. It wasn't cold, but it was slightly uncomfortable at times; a blanket would offer some much wanted protection against the unforgiving bedsprings. I decided to let the room compliment the walls; this meant a theme of dust. I didn't mind it; I actually welcomed it, since my name was now Dust, my entire recent life had been filled with dust, and it actually looked pretty good. Dust didn't bother me. Should dust have bothered me? It was just the remains of people you once knew, right? Just their remains. I supposed it would have been weird if they didn't turn to dust; then it would be creepy. I would have probably died faster. You were supposed to bury or burn bodies; with dust, you just spread it in the place the deceased one was most comfortable with. If they liked gardens, they would be spread in a garden; if they liked stars, they would be spread in an open, cloudless field; if they never had a home, they were given one. Dust was simple; dust was easy; dust was what filled my life. Dust was my name.


Paps directed me to a place where I could get a blanket to cover my bed, since I had no clue where to get one. Paps really is the best. It was a storage room on the other end of the hallway, which resulted in a long walk down the corridor; I did finally reach the room, though, and opened the door. The room was filled with blankets. I guessed in large buildings, rooms were dedicated to weird things; this just so happened to be the blanket room. I started to peruse through the heaps of blankets, trying to locate one that would fit the theme of my room. It took a bit of time, and Papyrus's help, but we did locate that black and gray blanket that suited me perfectly. Good thing I had permission use anything, since I had no idea where Nightmare and Killer were. I took the blanket back to my room, and, laying it on the bed, wondered what was next.


"Perhaps a rug would look nice, brother." Papyrus suggested.


"You have the best ideas, Paps." I complimented.


"I know!"


"Know where a rug is?"


"Indeed I do! Follow me, brother!"


Paps then led the way, floating down the long halls, eventually stopping at yet another storage room; there were a lot of storage rooms in this house. I opened the door to a room full of rugs and carpets; Nightmare had a lot of random possessions. I found a gray rug suitable for my purposes and hauled it back to my room, laying it next to the bed. Now all I needed was a pillow. Paps led me to a room that I assumed was filled with pillows and pillow cases; of course, for all I knew, it could be filled with spiders. Spiders didn't scare me, though. I opened the door, and came face to face with a room of pillows; exactly what I expected. I located a pure black pillow and brought it back to my room. Now I was done; of course, if I wanted, I could find some extra decorations later. They weren't necessary right now. I did, however, rearrange my arsenal of weaponry to look nicer; it used to just be a pile in the corner. Now it was an organized cluster of deadly weapons; I wouldn't be tripping over that anytime soon.


Now that my room was decorated, I felt like it was a good time to take a trip through somebody's life. I picked up a jar of dust; it was Papyrus. Paps really liked it when I looked through his life, and I didn't mind it, since he's always been the best. In my period of isolation, I had become better at looking through lives. I could now physically see any event I wished to, or even feel certain feelings if I was focused enough - what they felt when they dusted always prevailed, though. I held the dust of my brother in my hands, and closed my eyesockets, then I allowed the magic of the dust to surround me, and began to see flashes of my brother's life. Heh, he was such a cute kid. These were my favorite parts; childhood was such a time of wonder and joy, yet it passed so fast. Some wasted their childhood; others savored every moment, knowing it would not stay forever. Papyrus's childhood was almost all happy, with the occasional disappointment or letdown, but he recovered quickly. He really is the best, in life or in death.


When I had seen enough, I paused the magic from continuing its course through me, and placed the dust back in the jar. I was tired after everything I had done, so after placing the jar back onto the dresser, I lay on my newly furnished bed, allowing myself to drift into another dusty nightmare - or at least, I would have, if Nightmare and Killer didn't just enter my room. I sat up and looked at them, wondering what they were doing.


"You see? This is respect! If somebody broke into this room, they would silently compliment the theme!" Nightmare pointed out.


"Do ya get many burglars here?" Killer wondered.


"No, but that isn't the point!"


"Dust: ya have a fixation with dust."


"Yep." I honestly replied.


"That's not healthy."


"You have a fixation with knives."


"...Noted."


"Now if only we could get you to decorate your room, Killer." Nightmare wished.


"Why does my room even need to be decorated?" Killer looked annoyed.


"Because it will look nice. Wouldn't you rather sleep in a comforting room created to reflect your personality than a basic room that has no creativity at all put into it?"


"I don't really care."


"Then let's put it this way. You decorate your room how you want it, or I will."


"Is that supposed to be threatening?"


"Only if you've seen the interior of my room."


"And what's so scary about that?"


"Killer, we're going on a trip."


Nightmare then pulled Killer out the door, leaving me and Paps.


"Say, what is in Nightmare's room, Paps?" I questioned.


"You don't want to know." Paps replied; I didn't know ghosts could shudder.


"If you say so, Paps."


I then attempted once more to get some rest, lying down on my dust themed bed. I shut my eyesockets, and succeeded in drifting off to another of my dusty nightmares. There really was something special about dust - the mystery that surrounded it, the magic it radiated, and even the feelings it allowed you to experience; I didn't know some feelings existed until I felt them through the dust. I guess the myths surrounding dust could be easily explained once you'd mastered the magic behind it. The ability to experience every event of a person's life, in mere seconds at that, is a wonder in itself; yes, the ability to see through lives did not take as long as it felt. I'd lived through years of events just to realize I was in the trance for mere minutes. I belived the longest I was ever held was slightly less than an hour, and I was recounting the events of Asgore's life then. Mistakes were made, and he had to live with the consequences, just like I had to live with my consequences. There truly was something special about dust.


I guess I did have a fixation.


~~~chapter end woot~~~


Dust bean has new room decor.


Thanks for reading my decorative writing!


Bye!

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