Work Text:
They always said that the holidays were the least lonely time of the year, that no one should ever be alone. It made him scoff, what a farce that was. A lie they told themselves to make the lonely feel less awful about the situation.
He, the Dreambender, Alcor, with so many followers, had been lonely, for a very long time. Now, it wasn't that he was actually alone, there was always some sort of presence in his life, be it The Flock or his devoted cultists or even occasionally a reincarnation of a loved one or a new friend he somehow met. But that didn't mean that he wasn't lonely. Oh no he was terribly lonely, especially during the holidays as everyone celebrated and joined together, he who sat on the fray, not quite a demon, not quite a human, something eternally in-between (at least in his own perspective).
At the moment Alcor found himself sitting in a park, dressed in his human meat suit or whatever they called it these days, fingers twisted and fiddling with the frayed ends of a knit scarf as children and families were gathered to play in the snow and skate on the frozen pond. There was music in the air and the sound of laughter and joy could not escape his ears. He should have been happy.
He was not.
How long had it been? How long since this empty, hollow feeling had nestled in and taken root? How long since he last felt it? Sometimes he didn't feel lonely, usually when Mizar, his twin's reincarnated soul, was by his side, but even then his heart ached. No reincarnation would ever replace her, his dear sister, the very one who had long ago hand knit the scarf he was twisted up in. Sure he loved each incarnation, even the ones that spat and hissed at him with the heated hatred of a thousand suns. He loved them unconditionally, even when their presence didn't soothe them. But right now he wanted his sister, he wanted Mabel.
Mabel had thrived during the holidays, loving each one and taking the time to celebrate as many of them as she could. Winter was filled with cookies and new sweaters, trees decorated with an absurd amount of tinsel and baubles and even a menorah lit every night. The holidays with Mabel were a sort of controlled chaos that Alcor had not seen anyone else master.
She would have hated to see him so sad, so miserable, a lump of sorrow and wallowing. But he couldn't help it, how could the holidays ever feel the same without her? She wasn't there to knit him a horrendous but love filled sweater, or offer cookies to him to try and keep him out of the other ones tucked away. He missed the laughter of the triplets when they would throw the Christmas tree decorations on him, squealing when Henry or Stan would come in and be absolutely befuddled yet happy at the sight.
For a long moment he sat there, mulling, rather wallowing, in these feelings, on the verge of tears, on the verge of ruining the joyous scene before him. How dare these people be so happy when he was miserable, how dare they, did they even know who he was? How complacent they had become, these gnats which he could easily swat away or burn to ash-
Then there it was, a small reminder, a hand on his leg, a little girl with a curious expression, a gentle, familiar soul. Ah yes, that was why he was there, for her. Not an incarnation of a loved one, but rather a new soul who he had come to care for, abiet she knew not the truth of his reality and he intended for her to never know.
She had been why he, the Dreambender, render of souls and terror of dreams, was sitting there in the park, because she wanted to play in the snow with her friends and he was meant to keep an eye on her.
Blinking out of his stupor, he smiled at her gently, untwisting a hand from his scarf and reaching out, patting her head in a kind gesture, comforting and assuring as she then grabbed his sleeve, tugging and pointing at the frozen pond.
And for a moment as he watched, Alcor didn't feel as lonely.