"Hey, are you okay?"

Nightmare was making food, noticing Dream's quiet. Something was off, but what?

"Ye-"

Dream instinctively went to reply with a short yes, but was quickly cut off by the sharp voice of the brother.

"Your first instinct is to lie, take a moment and think. Are you okay?"

That silenced the smaller twin. Dream took a deep look inside himself. Was he okay?

... He could be better, but is it enough to consider himself quote unquote "not okay"?

Yes. Because he didn't just feel bad. he felt terrible. He were cold, and drained of life. He felt tired. That wasn't okay. He weren't okay.

" Not really.."

The taller twin smiled at the response. Yes, while it was disheartening that his partner felt bad, that was cast aside at their overall joy at how much progress that had made. Dream used to lie on the spot, and somehow manage to be convincing at the same time. But, slowly and surely, they had gotten better at that.

"Alright, how about we take a nap? Together. Does that sound good?"

The smaller nodded.

"Yeah... That sounds wonderful."

And the couple did just as the taller promised.