It wasn't like him to skip out on his daily readings of vampires, but this was important too.

Dream waved goodbye to Sci and his brother before turning back to the man running the carriage.

"Are you aware of those roads down Ere street?" He asked.

"Oh, yes, I am," He said, "Do you happen to live near there?"

"Yes," Dream lied, leaning back in his seat, "I don't mind being dropped off at the woods, I'm meeting a friend there."

"Okay Sir, to the woods than," The driver said, turning back towards the dirt road.

Dream nodded and closed his eye sockets, rethinking about everything that had happened today. He didn't know why, but he had this nagging feeling that something big was going to happen. It probably just was the wedding that he heard some servants whispering about before, but it also could be something else.

There just seemed to be a lot off about everyone today, that could also explain the nagging inside of his head. Everyone just seemed plain off of their game, a vibe of uneasy tension wafting about within the air that morning. Dream had sensed it when he had awoken, but didn't think much of it until one by one, people he knew started acting off.

~~~~~~

Dream had first seen Blue and Sans leaving the kitchen, both with a stern look on their faces as they left the room.

"Is something wrong guys?" Dream questioned them at the time.

"There is never something wrong with the Magnificent Blue!" Blue said, tapping his chest.

"We stayed up a little longer than usual, that's all," Sans said, waving off his question.

The two of them walked past Dream without any more conversation, Sans' arms crossed behind the back of his head and Blue with his arms dangling at his side, which he usually didn't do very often. Since Blue constantly ate pop tarts, he was full of sugar, thus making him a large, unstoppable ball of energy. As a result, he often moved his hands during the day, they were never down by his sides casually when he walked. They usually swung wildly back and forth, or were playing with something he was holding, but they were never calm.

And Sans looked a bit uneasy and on alert. His eye sockets were open, aware of his surroundings much more than usual. Since he was the Royal Judge, he didn't have to worry about being attacked as much as others did, so he wouldn't pay much attention to his surroundings while he was with friends. He usually walked with his eye sockets closed.

So there was something off about them. 

Dream had continued walking at the time down the hall, before he noticed Ink's room, the door cracked open. He and Ink had a weird understanding relationship with each other, where they both knew they weren't normal monsters and bonded over this. It had hurt a lot when Ink went missing, but it didn't mean that Ink was dead.

Dream still held onto his hopes.

Ink had a large paintbrush infused with magic which he used, and it was still leaning against his bed when Dream had walked in. It was almost as tall as him, with a long wooden handle that was polished and regularly taken care of. Ink had liked the paintbrush, he liked using ink as magic attacks. He had always wanted to be an artist, but couldn't due to his current job. Dream knew that Ink would be a good artist though. Since he had to take medications to feel emotions, he could change the way he viewed the world in a blink of the eye, which would give him an advantage over his art. Not to mention he made a few doodles, and they were all incredibly good, he deserved to be able to go into art.

But art didn't sell here, so they both knew he wouldn't be able to get that job.

Which reminded Dream that he also had a job to do, since there was a case that needed to be judged by the jury members, so they had to all be in the conference room soon.

Sci hadn't been there like he usually was, which was off, and Dream hadn't seen the scientist until the end of the day, which he decided to ask about getting a ride together since he wanted to see if that same skeleton from before might've showed up again.

Dream was feeling kind of lonely and down, to be honest. 

Blue wasn't acting like his usual self, and he didn't even know if Ink was even alive, not to mention that Sci was gone for most of the day, he wasn't even in his lab when Dream had checked. Everything had just been going downhill lately, and Dream was desperate for someone, anyone who would actually listen to him to listen to him, even if it was only for a minute.

But there had been one last thing that confused him before he had climbed into the carriage with Sci.

He didn't know the Royal Guard member Razz very well, he knew him and Edge were good friends, but he never really talked to him that much. Their schedules were very different, so they never really saw each other, a relationship with each other would just be awkward.

So it had confused Dream when he saw Razz slipping something into an envelope before shoving it behind a curtain of a window, most likely a hiding spot for some sort of exchange. Dream was curious, and wanted to go investigate what Razz had hidden, but he didn't have time, so he had to leave. It'd be better not to stick his skull into other people's business, anyway.

~~~~~~

Dream watched the carriage rumble off before he turned to the woods, the dead trees circling him as he entered. It was dead silent, like it usually was, so he didn't feel uncomfortable.

He wasn't even five minutes into the woods before he heard a voice, a similar one which he knew due to his great memory, speak to him.

"Fancy seeing you here again," The skeleton from before said, emerging from behind a tree.

"Hello again," Dream said, smiling at the skeleton with black goo dripping from his eye sockets.

Sans sat down on his bed, a huff escaping his teeth from the exhausting day he had spent avoiding Asgore.

"What a day," He said, grasping the envelope he was holding in his hands above his head tighter.