I Actually Figured Out A Few Personal Things While Writing This - Tumblr Posts

Pepper

With Horror

TW: Eating disorders are mentioned in this chapter!

Masterlist

Prev / Next

“How dare you.”

Horror looked over his shoulder at you, pepper in hand. “Hmm?”

You rushed over and looked in the pot of macaroni. There was a small pile of pepper on the top as well as a smaller pile of salt. You groaned. “How dare you!”

“What?” Horror looked confused. “What I do??”

You thrust your hands at the offending pot. “You put pepper in the macaroni!! Why would you do that??”

A smile split his confusion. “Seasoning.” As if that explained his actions.

“It doesn’t need seasoning!! It’s macaroni!!!” You tried to reason with him. “Macaroni is good by itself!!”

“‘s better with pepper.” Horror said. He was enjoying this.

“Well, good luck getting me to eat that.” You commented.

You should not have said that.

Horror’s gaze shot to you. You froze. “I- I’m joking, Horror! I d-didn’t mean i-it!”

Horror’s eyes narrowed. “You will eat.”

“Yes, sir! I w-will!” You promised. “I love your cooking!”

His eye gained a dangerous glint as he smirked. He held up the pepper shaker. “Even with pepper?”

You nodded frantically. “Even with pepper! I’m sure it’s amazing! I’m sorry!”

He nodded, seeming satisfied. “Good. You’ll be here… for lunch.” It wasn’t a question.

You nodded anyway. “Yes, sir.”

He shooed you out of the kitchen and you retreated to the living room where Dust was mumbling to himself again. You sat at the other end of the couch and curled your legs against your chest, staring at the blank tv screen. You’d never been good at trying new things. Especially when it came to pepper for some reason. But you knew how Horror was with food and now that he knew he’d probably watch you eat.

“What?”

You startled and looked at Dust. “What?” You echoed. Had you said something?

Dust rolled his eyelights. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” You said too quickly.

He sighed. “Y/N.” You suppressed a flinch at his use of your name. “What happened? You don’t curl up unless you’re anxious.” He pointed out.

You released your legs subconsciously. “It’s dumb.”

“You’re dumb. Talk to me.”

You snorted. “Whatever. Horror’s making macaroni.”

Dust’s eyes narrowed at you and you shrank, Horror’s narrowed eyes still fresh in your memory. “And?” He prodded.

“He put pepper in it. I…” You grabbed at the collar of your shirt. “I’ve never liked pepper. Or been good at trying new things.”

Dust nodded. “Understandable. A lot of people aren’t comfortable with change.”

“That’s not the bad part.”

“There’s a bad part?”

You nodded. “I…” You brought your legs back up. “I… told him… ‘Good luck getting me out eat that.’”

Dust’s eyelights went out.

“Oh. This is serious.”

You shrank further into yourself. “…yeah.”

“Did you backtrack?”

“Yes. But now he’s going to make sure I eat it.”

“If it’s any consolation,” Dust turned towards you. “His macaroni is really good. So at least you won’t be suffering.”

You huffed a small laugh. “Thanks.”

He held his scarf in an echo of you holding your shirt. He turned his head to his shoulder and started whispering. You ignored it and looked away. He did that sometimes. You had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that sometimes he knew about a conversation or event he wasn’t there for. Your current theories were that he had a friend ghost or he talked to the castle. Talking to the castle made more sense despite not making any sense.

He finished whatever conversation he was having and the room fell into silence.

You had no reason to be so scared. It wasn’t like it was a life threatening event. It was just food. And Horror’s cooking was always good. So why did it scare you so much?

Dust finally broke the silence. “You should talk to Nightmare.”

You nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah. Nightmare.” You stood after a moment’s hesitation and set down the hall to Nightmare’s office.

“Enter.” Came Nightmare’s voice before you had even knocked.

You obeyed and stood just inside the doorway. Nightmare tapped his papers into a stack and set them to the side.

“Well? Come in.” Nightmare beckoned. “And shut the door behind you. I don’t want Killer to see the door open and barge in. Not that that stops him.”

You obeyed and sat on one of the stools by the desk.

Nightmare sat leaned back in his chair, waiting for you to speak.

You didn’t.

He sighed. “Did you know, I could feel your anxiety all the way across the castle. And your disappointment, though I assume that’s directed at yourself with all that guilt.” He tilted his head at you. “What happened?”

You sighed, upset at yourself for being upset. “It’s stupid.”

“That seems to be a common occurrence. Continue.”

You smiled. Him and Dust were the same. You explained the situation to Nightmare who waited patiently for you to finish.

“Hmm.” Nightmare brewed over the information. “Did you have any eating disorders growing up?”

You froze. Yes. Yes, you did.

Nightmare nodded even though you hadn’t answered. “Was there a time where you refused to eat?”

You nodded.

“How long?”

You shook your head. “Not very long. I always got too hungry to starve.”

Nightmare slowly leaned onto the desk. He looked thoughtful. “I think that your experience with that might bleed into how you treat food. And Horror picks up on that. So he’s more strict about you eating than the rest of us. Does that make sense to you?”

You nodded.

“If you want, I can come with you but you need to talk to Horror about feeling forced to eat. You will still have to eat what he prepared but hopefully, in the future, it won’t feel forced.”

“Okay.” You mumbled.

“Y/N.” Nightmare’s tentacle rested on your shoulder and you felt some of your anxiety leave. “No one is forcing you to do anything. If you feel like someone is, you can talk to them about it with or without me. I don’t mind either way.”

You fidgeted. “I… don’t want to be alone…”

Nightmare nodded, standing. “Understood. Let’s get going, shall we? Before Horror serves lunch.”

Horror looked up to call that lunch was ready only to see you and Nightmare in the doorway. He immediately noticed how you kept fidgeting with the collar of your shirt. His eyelight locked with Nightmare’s for a moment, piecing together what was going on.

“Y/N?” Horror asked. “You need… something?”

You hesitated. “I… Horror…” Nightmare set a hand on your shoulder. You straightened a little. “I’m sorry I said I wouldn’t eat your food. I wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to eat what you’ve made. But…” You hesitated again. Horror gestured for you to continue. “I’d like it if you didn’t force me to eat things.” You said hurriedly before shrinking as if you expected him to lash out. You might actually expect him to, Horror realized. He hasn’t given you a reason to think he wouldn’t. Especially after he almost hurt you the other day.

Horror nodded and looked at Nightmare who seemed proud of you. There must have been a lot of fear for you to conquer to say that. He glanced at the pot of food. He wondered why you acted weird about food so much. This seemed like a step towards progress. “Okay.” Horror said, slowly. You looked shocked. “I’m sorry… you felt… forced. Can you help… me fix… that?”

Your face lit up with so much hope that Nightmare flinched. “I… uh… y-yeah. Yeah. I can try.”

He glanced at Nightmare who nodded in approval. Horror looked back at you. “Wanna help… set the table?”

You seemed excited. “Sure.” Horror handed you the bowls from the cabinet, not missing the way you sniffed at the macaroni when you thought he wasn’t looking.

The table was set and everyone was halfway done with their food when you took your first bite. Your eyes lit up at the flavor. It was amazing! How had you never tried it before? You glanced up at Dust who sat across from you. His eyes were on his food but you saw the smile on his face.

Unbeknownst to you, as you scarfed down the rest of your food, Horror and Nightmare shared a smirk between them.