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Skeppy has two types of nightmares.
In the first one, he is back in the cave, with Dream. He hears the vampire sneer, and he feels the cold breath on his neck. He feels the pure, hot pain in his neck. He cries and pleas and begs, but no one comes. He is all alone, with Dream’s cruel smile. There is no escape.
In the second one, he is lost in the dark. He cannot see anything, he cannot hear anything, he cannot say anything. But She is there. He can sense her watching him. He can sense her shining eyes on him. He cannot feel anything, but fear. He cannot move to run away. He cannot open his mouth to plea. He is stuck in the dark, all alone, under her gaze. He is alone, but he is with Her.
No matter the nightmare, Skeppy wakes up with a scream. He trembles and cries, inconsolable, and it takes Bad hours to calm him back down. To remember that he is at the base, that he is untouchable, that he is right with him, and that the Lord of the Undead will never allow for anything to hurt him ever again.
Skeppy has two types of nightmares, and he hates them both.
He refuses to speak about either of them.
Talking about the cave is overwhelming and it causes both he and Bad far too much distress. He cannot make himself pronounce Dream’s name, let alone acknowledge anything that happened during his few hours of captivity. He finds himself scratching at his neck, right where Dream’s fangs had met his tender skin. Sam made the scars disappear when he healed his body and Bad had proposed to have a few diamonds grow there, but Skeppy had refused. His skin is healed and there is no physical proof of what happened – of the fact that Dream took what was forbidden – and yet, it still feels raw and painful.
He doesn’t let anyone touch it or look at it and does the exact same thing with his chest. Only Bad is allowed to see the raw flesh there – it looks and feels like a newborn’s skin and Skeppy hates it. Sometimes he begs for Bad to put the diamond back there – to show him that they belong together, that they cannot be separated again. He begs to be Bad’s and for Bad to be his, and his best friend just shakes his head softly. ‘I can’t endanger you again,’ the Demon whispers. ‘This holds my life and yours now.’ Bad repeats, again and again, that they are fated to be together now. That they are linked by the diamond, more than they ever were. That Skeppy is in control of Bad’s powers as much as Bad is. Skeppy doesn’t understand, but he notices the way his mood sometimes causes drafts of wind and he feels energy tingling at his fingertips.
Skeppy feels powerful.
Skeppy feels helpless.
She watches him constantly and She laughs. He cannot hear Her, but he knows that She mocks him. She observes his newfound powers, his newfound invulnerability, his newfound nature, and She laughs at him.
Her gaze grows more intense when he looks down at his arms and finds that yet another amethyst has grown on his skin.
They are slowly covering him. At first, Skeppy had thought that it was a trick of light, that he was just looking at a strangely colored diamond. He had thought that maybe the blood he’d lost in the cave had somehow seeped into the diamonds and given them this strange purple tint. He had thought that it was a fluke.
And then he had gone to sleep and felt Her watching him intently. He had felt the purple gems on his skin react to Her presence.
He had woken up with a scream and had spent the next few hours shaking, desperately trying to rip the purple stones off his skin.
Bad hadn’t been there to see that – hadn’t been there to see him pull and scratch and claw at his own skin to get rid of any purple tint.
He had been there later – to see the raw skin and the bleeding spots and the awful awful purple stones. He had looked at him, horrified.
“Skeppy-” he had begun.
“Remove them,” Skeppy had begged. “Please, please, please, remove them, I don’t want-”
He had burst into tears and Bad had been there to catch him, to hold him to his chest, and to shush him gently. But no matter how much Skeppy had cried and sobbed and pleaded, Bad hadn’t been able to do anything to remove the purple stones.
And they had continued to multiply.
***
“They all want me to talk about it,” Tommy mumbles as he moves a pawn backward on the board.
“Can’t do that,” Skeppy comments, moving it back where it was. “You can only move back if it’s to take one of my pieces.”
Tommy glares. “That’s dumb.”
“That’s the game, kid,” Skeppy replies. “Move the knight instead.”
“I hate the knight,” Tommy grumbles.
“I know.”
They fall back into silence. Tommy scowls at the game and Skeppy smirks knowingly. They’re alone on the porch of the mansion – the vampires are inside, away from the sunlight, and Tubbo is hanging out with them. They all know to give Tommy and Skeppy their time alone, just the two of them.
They went through something that they both refuse to discuss but that made them closer and terrified of shadows. They both kept their humanity but lost a part of their innocence. Tommy flinches when he sees blood and Skeppy cannot stand to have anything touch his neck.
And they both understand it all without needing to put words into it. They call it The Cave instead of referring to specific events and they use euphemisms to discuss anything that happened. Skeppy’s death is referred to as him being Gone , and they work with it.
“Phil… Phil says I need to talk about it,” Tommy says, “To help with the nightmares.”
Skeppy looks up to him, seeing the vulnerability in the kid’s eyes. “You get nightmares?” he asks, keeping his voice low, as if speaking louder will call the images that haunt him and make them real.
“Every night.”
Skeppy swallows thickly and he blinks furiously to prevent tears from forming in his eyes. “Me too,” he admits, voice hoarse.
Tommy looks at him with wide eyes, like the kid thought that adults couldn’t get nightmares – that Skeppy, because he is Bad’s, and protected, and no longer a mortal, had become fearless.
“What are yours?” the child asks in a murmur.
“Mostly the cave,” Skeppy rasps. “I just- sometimes I don’t even see him, but I hear him behind me. Sometimes I just- Sometimes I relive it all. Sometimes things change.” He doesn’t know how to tell Tommy that he saw him die more times that he can count.
He doesn’t need to, though, because Tommy understands. “Me too,” he says. “The cave. It’s dark, and- Sometimes he lets them drink from me. Sometimes-” He chokes a sob. “Sometimes he turns me. And then-” He clenches his hands against the knight piece, the game completely forgotten. “Sometimes he makes me- He asks me to make you Gone…”
Skeppy clenches his eyes shut. “Shit, kid,” he breathes. He hears Tommy take a sharp inhale next to him. “Shit.”
“Sorry,” Tommy says quickly. “Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know we don’t-”
“ We can talk about it,” Skeppy interrupts. “But the others- they don’t understand.”
Tommy nods quickly. He looks at Skeppy, and there is so much vulnerability and hesitation in the way he tentatively moves forward on his seat. Skeppy opens his arms, and the child falls into them.
Skeppy close his arms around the kid and holds him. Tommy is careful to press his face on the left side of his chest, away from the new skin, because he knows that Skeppy would scream. Skeppy doesn’t hold him tight because he knows that Tommy can’t take feeling stuck.
They cry silently against each other.
“I’m so afraid,” Tommy breathes. “They say he’s gone, but I’m-”
Skeppy swallows thickly, nodding. “I know,” he says. “It doesn’t feel like it.”
“They came- They came to apologize,” Tommy whispers, “The- Dream’s…” He doesn’t finish.
“The fledglings,” Skeppy completes. “I know. They came to see us too.”
“Felt weird,” Tommy breathes.
Skeppy scoffs. “You tell me,” he replies. “Couldn’t- I couldn’t look at them. They reminded me of…” He shrugs. “Of the cave.”
Tommy nods. “They said he was possessive of me.”
“Yeah,” Skeppy whispers. “He was. I was- When he was…” He closes his eyes and tries to focus on the beating of Tommy’s heart. “In the cave,” he tries again. “I thought- I was afraid he’d kill you.”
Tommy lets out a wet laugh that sounds like a sob. “Me too.”
“We’re… He’s gone, though,” Skeppy whispers. “And we’re out.”
Tommy curls up a bit tighter against him. “Sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.”
And he is right. Because every time Skeppy closes his eyes, he feels like he is back at the cave. And when She watches him, he feels like he is back under Dream’s hungry eyes.
They don’t say anything more. They hold each other, comforted in the knowledge that they don’t need words to understand how the other feels. Comforted in the knowledge that they don’t need to talk about it.
***
“You need to talk about it.”
Skeppy hugs himself tightly, trying to avoid Sam’s intense gaze. Bad hovers behind him, unsure, hesitant, desperately trying to help without touching him, to be present without being overwhelming.
“I don’t want to,” Skeppy breathes, keeping his arms around his legs. He looks down at his gem-covered skin and scowl at the sight of more amethysts.
“Skeppy-” Bad tries, keeping his tone gentle.
“I don’t,” Skeppy repeats. “I just don’t. I get nightmares. It makes sense. I don’t want to talk about them. That should be my choice.”
Sam’s green eyes seem to look through him. “Nightmares are normal,” he agrees appeasingly. “What is less normal is you sensing a-…” He looks back at Bad, who shrugs “- a presence of some sort.”
Skeppy closes his eyes, as if refusing to look at the purple gems would simply make them disappear. As if Sam and Bad would pity him and allow him to leave without pronouncing another word.
They’re already kind – more than kind. Skeppy can feel the energy that Sam put into making his Glade into a warm and welcoming place and he appreciates the soft light of the sun in the clearing. Bad remains behind him, ready to react, to protect him, to defend him, or to simply comfort him.
They’re kind and supportive – they had been supportive when they taught Skeppy to deal with the constant energy and power fluttering in his chest and they had been kind when they had both ensured that he was willing to participate in the Council as a full-fledged member, and to take his place on Bad’s side.
So yes, Bad and Sam are kind. And they are willing to be so much kinder and so much more protective. He just has to explain, they say. But they don’t understand that he is afraid. Anytime he speaks of Her, She grows more present . Anytime he acknowledges Her existence, She becomes more tangible. He senses Her eyes on him while he is awake.
She scares him.
She scares him so much.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he repeats. “About Her.”
“You need to,” Sam responds, his voice firm. “Skeppy, we have to understand if you want us to help.”
“Sam,” Bad whispers tentatively, “Maybe we don’t-”
“Maybe what?” Sam interrupts. “We can’t wait forever. We can’t afford to waste more time.”
“Maybe we should,” Bad responds. “Skeppy is shaken.”
Sam shakes his head. “He’s been shaken for weeks.” His tone is gentle, under the firmness. “Bad. We cannot allow Her to endanger him.”
“Maybe it isn’t Her,” Bad tries weakly. “Maybe it’s just-”
“Bad.” Sam sounds grim. “He died, we brought him back, and now he feels a presence? There are purple gems on his skin? What other indicators do you need?”
They continue to speak about Her as if She was a secret. They don’t explain who She is or why she observes Skeppy. They don’t. It’s as if they were afraid of saying Her name, the very same way Skeppy is scared of acknowledging Her existence.
Bad lets out a small, distressed sound. “It’s not fair,” he says. “He doesn’t-”
“I don’t want to speak about it,” Skeppy agrees immediately. “I want to go home.”
“Does She speak to you?” Sam insists. “Has She said anything?”
Skeppy shrugs, looking back to staring at his arms. The amethysts stare back. “A little,” he admits in a murmur.
Bad gasps. “What did She say?” he asks immediately. Skeppy feels the Demon’s hands rest on his shoulder for a second and he flinches when his neck is touched. Bad jerks away as if he had been burnt.
“I’m sorry,” he says immediately. “You’re safe. You’re safe. He’s gone. I won’t allow him to touch you. I won’t allow anyone to touch you again.”
It’s a litany of prayers and promises that Skeppy knows by heart. He nods a little, his shoulders still far too tense and raised all the way to his neck, as if they would serve as a protection.
“Skeppy,” Sam says gently. His green eyes shine with concern. “You can leave after this. Just… Tell me. What has She told you?”
Skeppy shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he breathes. “I don’t know. I always- I forget when I wake up. But she- I know She watches me. And She speaks. And She laughs.”
“She speaks in your dreams?” Sam repeats, incredibly calm. “But not when you’re awake?”
Skeppy nods. “She just watches.”
Bad trembles behind him and Skeppy reaches to take his hand.
“I want to go home,” he says (begs).
The Demon nods quickly. “Yeah,” he responds. “We should- We could go home. I need to think about this.”
Sam swallows thickly. “Agreed. We will- If anything gets more serious, I will call a Council meeting.”
Skeppy grimaces.
She watches and mocks them.
***
Skeppy looks up from the letter he had been reading when he feels Bad coming into the room. Sharing the diamond allows them to sense each other in a way that seemed impossible before. Skeppy doesn’t need to turn to look at the door – he knows that his best friend is there.
“Connor is back on his nonsense,” he announces, not turning. “Karl wrote to say that he and Quackity found him squatting in their house when they came back from spending time with the fledglings.”
Bad comes closer.
“Karl has a weird writing style,” Skeppy continues, picking up the letter. “Don’t get me wrong, The Treatise was good, but like…” He gestures at the pages and pages covered in Karl’s elegant penmanship. “I think he wants us to tell Connor to stop stealing random houses, but also…” He tilts his head. “Did he really need to spend three pages on how much he and Quackity enjoy spending time with Sapnap?”
Bad chuckles behind him.
“Like the guy’s a writer!” Skeppy continues with a smile. “Surely he would understand that conciseness is an important skill. Especially for my attention span!” He picks up the letter again. “He could just have said ‘Hey, get Connor to stop squatting.’ I don’t need to know that they went to the night market together and that he braided Sapnap’s hair. Why would he-”
Skeppy , Bad rumbles, and Skeppy notices that his best friend is in his panther form rather than his humanoid shape.
“Yeah?”
Take a break , Bad demands. He comes forward and rests his head on Skeppy’s lap. Skeppy lets out a small chuckle and brings a hand to his best friend’s head, gently scratching him, right behind his ears.
Skeppy hums a little. “Yeah, in just a little bit. I’ll just make sure to reply to Karl and-”
No. Take a break now. Bad purrs a little, nudging himself closer. I miss you. I want to cuddle.
Skeppy huffs out a little laugh. “Cuddly mood?” he replies, petting the panther a bit more attentively.
Bad purrs in response. Come cuddle with me , he says. I want to take a nap with you .
Skeppy freezes at the words and his hand pauses in the caresses.
“About that-” he whispers.
Bad must sense his anxiety because he shifts back into his humanoid form immediately. “Skeppy?”
“I’m- I’m not- I don’t have a mortal body anymore,” Skeppy says. “So I don’t- I don’t need to sleep, do I?”
Bad frowns, humming a little. “You don’t,” he confirms. “Your body doesn’t need sleep to be sustained. It’s like me and Sam, or Techno and the others. You can sleep if you want to, but you don’t need to.”
Skeppy swallows thickly. “I don’t think I want to,” he says.
Bad’s face falls a little. “Oh?”
“Yeah,” Skeppy continues. “I don’t- I don’t want to sleep anymore.”
Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the way Bad bites his lower lip worriedly. “You don’t want to snuggle together anymore?” he asks, his voice shaking a little.
Skeppy knows that the Demon never needed sleep- he simply joined Skeppy in bed for the pleasure of spending time near him, cuddled next to him. And so, obviously, Skeppy’s refusal to sleep sounds like a rejection to him.
“It’s not that, Bad,” Skeppy sighs. “It’s just- I don’t need sleep, so why should I…?”
“It’s fun,” Bad replies immediately. “It’s warm and comfortable and-” He cuts himself short when he sees Skeppy’s expression.
“It’s not,” Skeppy says, his voice shaking. “If I sleep, I’m back- I’m back in the cave, or I am stuck with Her. I don’t- Sleeping is not fun or comfortable.”
“Skeppy,” Bad whispers, clearly concerned. Worry shines in his white eyes and he reaches out to him.
“I don’t- Yeah, I think I’m going to pass on the naps,” Skeppy murmurs. He tries to ignore the lump in his throat. “I’d rather… We can… do something else.”
Bad looks heartbroken and Skeppy wants to cry and beg for forgiveness. “Something else?” the Demon repeats. He sounds so much more vulnerable than he should be. He is the ruler of the Underworld, the Lord of the Undead, and yet, he sounds like another word from Skeppy could break him.
“Just- how about we play some board game instead?” Skeppy asks quickly. “Techno won’t stop helping Tommy at chess, so I need to continue training.”
Bad takes in a deep inhale. “Yeah,” he says, his voice sounding a little too high-pitched. “Yeah, that sounds good.”
“Bad…” Skeppy whispers. It is his turn to furrow his eyebrows in concern.
The Demon gives him a reassuring smile. “No, that’s okay,” he says quickly. “You don’t need to sleep. You’re right. Wasting time snuggling is a…” He shrugs. “We don’t need that.”
He sounds a little too careless for Skeppy to be completely reassured, but he doesn’t say anything. Bad comes closer and presses his lips to his forehead in a gentle kiss.
“There,” he says softly. “We’re all good.” Skeppy hums a little, and Bad moves to take his hand, interlacing their fingers. “Do you want to read Karl’s letter together? I think there might be a reason he has written so much about Sapnap.”
Skeppy shrugs and he shifts a little in his chair for Bad to come join him. They sit right next to each other, their bodies pressed together. Bad is warm and comforting against him – a constant presence that he knows won’t ever leave. Bad’s gentle humming is low and reassuring and Skeppy knows that he is safe and loved.
They won’t sleep anymore, but this can be a good replacement.
***
She is still there. Skeppy doesn’t sleep anymore, but She is still there. She watches him even more intently. He can feel Her eyes on him thorough the day. He can sense the way She laughs at him and at all of his efforts to ignore Her gaze.
The amethysts continue to grow on his skin. They grow more numerous every day. They glow brightly when She looks at him. He hates them, he hates Her, he hates this.
He hates the purple stones on his skin with a burning passion.
He hates purple.
Purple reminds him of Her and so he decides that he hates it hates it hates it. He can’t rip off the amethyst on his skin – he tried, and he sobbed with pain as his nails dug around it, sharp and whetted and unable to remove them. Bad had hushed him gently and pressed tender fingers to the dark purple bruises Skeppy caused on his own skin. (It was more purple and so it was worse).
He hates purple.
So, one day, when She mocks him too much, he rushes to his bedroom, and he frantically sorts through the jewelry that he has accumulated for centuries – each of them a different present from Bad, all of them symbols of his undying affection.
He takes the amethyst, and the sugilite, and the charoite, and the jasper, and the tanzanite, and all of the other purple-colored stones and he throws them all in a bag. He barely looks at the necklaces, and bracelets, and rings – he doesn’t want to remember when Bad gave them to him or the bright smile on his best friend’s face when he wears them. He wants them out of his sight. He wants purple out of his sight.
He hates it he hates it he hates it he hates it he hates it.
Bad’s sharp inhale brings him back to the present.
“Skeppy?” the Demon whispers, sounding so vulnerable and fragile and breakable . “What are you doing?”
“I hate them,” Skeppy says, throwing more of the purple jewelry in the bag. They clink against each other in a terrible sound that sends shudders down in spine. “I hate them I hate them I hate them.”
“Skeppy…” Bad sounds concerned. “Skeppy, can you look at me?”
Skeppy shakes his head furiously. There are gold and blue and green jewels, and those can stay, but he needs to get all of the purple out. Maybe then She will stop watching him.
“I need- Bad, help me,” he begs, frantic, almost hysterical.
Bad lets out a small, shocked sound. “Help you do what, Skeppy?” he sounds almost afraid. Almost like he is the one begging. He sounds almost like he did in the cave. Skeppy lets out a sob.
“The purple,” Skeppy says quickly, “I want- The purple. I hate it. Get rid of it.”
Bad holds his breath. “I can’t remove the purple on your skin,” he whispers. “I tried already, I-”
“No!” Skeppy snaps. “The jewels! The jewelry! It’s purple, it’s bad, it’s Her! She’s watching me! She’s looking! She-” He turns to look at Bad. He can sense Her amusement. “Bad, please,” he whimpers. “Please! She’s here! She’s here! She’s here! She’s here!”
Bad scoops him in his arms immediately. Skeppy struggles for a second, screaming when his friend encircles his shoulders. It’s too close and too warm and too cold and too dark and he is alone and She is watching and-
Bad.
Bad against him, speaking, whispering words of comfort.
It’s the same words, again and again. ‘I’m here.’
Bad’s here.
Bad’s here.
Bad’s here.
Skeppy hiccups.
“Bad,” he whimpers. “Bad, I’m scared.”
“I know,” the Demon breathes. “I know. You’re safe. I’m here.”
Skeppy lets out a small whine. “She is mocking me,” he sobs. “Why is She mocking me? Why is She watching me?”
Bad shakes his head. “I don’t know,” he admits. “I don’t know. I’m sorry.”
Skeppy closes his eyes. “I hate it,” he says. “I hate Her. I want- Please.”
He isn’t sure what he wants, but Bad must understands before he nods against him. “Of course,” the Demon breathes. There are cold lips on his forehead and then Bad pulls away. He hears the clanking of the jewelry and he tenses for a moment. Then there’s a sudden draft of wind, and Skeppy feels burning heat against his cheek.
His head snaps to the source of the heat and he sees the jewelry melting on the ground. Bad’s eyes are shining like little suns.
“I’ll get rid of it,” he promises him when he senses his gaze on him. “I’ll get rid of the purple.”
Skeppy sobs in relief. He cries the entire time. He hears sizzles and cracks and gems being destroyed to tiny pieces and he weeps .
***
Skeppy is tired.
Physically, he no longer needs to sleep. But emotionally and mentally, he is drained.
He refuses to sleep, though, because sleeping would mean giving in to Her. And he refuses that. He refuses to be weak. He refuses to let Her win.
She can’t speak to him anymore – not for as long as he is awake. She watches, and She laughs, and She sneers, but She cannot speak. That’s Skeppy’s victory. She can’t speak to him.
But he is so, so tired.
He’s been along for so long, and he isn’t used not to take breaks. He isn’t used not to have time where he simply lays done and relaxes in silence.
His mind is buzzing but he can’t take time to sit down and think because he is so afraid that he would fall asleep.
He gets to his bedroom, feeling heavy and exhausted, but determined that he will not sleep. He just wants to change his clothes.
He freezes at the sight of a gigantic black panther curled up on his bed.
Bad is breathing in deeply, almost asleep. He doesn’t purr like he usually does when he is cuddling near Skeppy, though.
“Bad?” Skeppy calls, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He takes a step forward. “What are you doing?”
The panther jumps in surprise and his head snaps toward him. White eyes stare at him, wide and surprise. And Bad shifts back into his humanoid form.
“I’m sorry,” the demon says quickly. “I didn’t think that you’d- I’m sorry-”
Skeppy blinks. “What were you doing in my bed?” he asks slowly. He doesn’t understand.
Bad looks terribly guilty. “I’m sorry,” he repeats, “Skeppy, I’m just-”
Skeppy takes another step forward. “Hey, I’m not angry,” he says, “I’m just… confused…?”
Bad makes a miserable sound and he looks down, hiding his face in his hands. “I miss you,” he mumbles. It’s muffled, but Skeppy still heard it.
“You-”
Bad lets out a small whine, refusing to look at him. “I’m just- It’s stupid.” He sounds like a vulnerable mortal rather than the Lord of the Undead.
“Bad…”
“I just… I miss it,” Bad murmurs. “Laying down with you. Cuddling. Just- spending time, just the two of us.” He breathes in deeply. “Just- without having to talk or- I just miss it.”
Skeppy swallows thickly. “Bad, I’m-”
“And I know that you’re afraid, and that it isn’t fair to ask that of you, so I won’t, Skeppy. But I just-”
“I’ll nap with you,” Skeppy says before he can stop himself.
Bad looks incredulous - like he cannot believe the words that were pronounced. "You don't have to do that," he starts. "I'm just being stupid and clingy. It's f-."
"I will," Skeppy interrupts him. "I'll cuddle with you. Just… Just a little bit. Half an hour. I'm clingy too." He doesn't say it, but they both hear the rest: I miss you too. I'm sorry.
Bad smiles at him, so soft and gentle and tender and, for the first time in weeks, Skeppy feels a sense of safety wash over him. It doesn’t matter who She is and what She wants. Bad is here. Bad is here, warm and real, and he will keep him safe no matter what.
Skeppy takes another step toward the bed. It calls him – it looks warm and comfortable and appeasing. In front of him, Bad shifts back into his panther form and his shining eyes blink at him reassuringly.
He is safe, he tells himself, pushing his finger into the black fur and listening to Bad’s content purr. He is safe, he thinks as he lays down on blankets that haven’t been touched in weeks. He is safe, he reminds himself, nestling a little against Bad’s warm body. Bad’s purr intensifies, conveying a feeling of safety and undying affection.
They are safe, Skeppy corrects, and he buries his head in Bad’s fur. It tickles a little and he giggles softly. Bad lets out a contented rumble and Skeppy relaxes almost instantly.
He loves him, he tells himself. They love each other; they have each other.
Skeppy has nightmares – two different kinds – but he also has Bad. Bad is a constant in his life – and past his life. He is a constant in his unlife. Bad is there, constantly, forever. They promised it – they promised that they would be by each other’s side. Bad will outlive the nightmare and he will be there every step of the way as Skeppy heals from his trauma.
It’s reassuring. Bad’s very presence screams safety and reminds Skeppy that he is loved. He doesn’t need the diamond to remind him that they are linked. They are linked because they love each other, because they were meant to be by the other’s side – the diamond is just a natural conclusion of it all.
Skeppy buries his face a bit more in the black fur and he listens to Bad’s peaceful breathing. He is scared of sleeping, but not as scared now that he realizes that Bad will always be there. It doesn’t matter how many nightmares plague his sleep; he knows that he will wake up by Bad’s side, and that his best friend will be there to hold him tight and remind him that he is safe.
She doesn’t matter.
Bad will never be taken away from him, and that’s what matters.
So he rolls a little on the bed, nestling closer to Bad, and he allows sleep to come claim him.
Before he can fully fall asleep, though, he hears it.
He hears Her.
At the edge of his hearing.
He hears her voice.
“You poor, poor, precious little thing,” She says. She whispers the rest as if it was a secret. “Sleep well. I’ll keep you safe.”
She is with him while he is awake, now, he realizes, petrified. She found him.
Bad is here, but so is She.