#saurex drabbles

[saurexhas]

[saurexhas]

Love is Blind - Part 1

So I’ve been hanging out with @studionovella​ and the team for @nightmare-castle​, and the sheer talent in their discord server is so amazing. It led me to be inspired, and while I’m typically more of a Sanscest writer, I figured that it’d be fun to try something new considering the source of my inspiration! So have some Nightmare x MC (Nightmare x Reader).

Be warned, this story handles blindness and... probably some other sensitive topics considering it’s me. So just watch the tags for any relevant triggers!

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You didn’t think that it was possible, but somehow you had fallen for Nightmare. On the surface he was cold, cruel, and calculating, using everyone he could to advance his goals. But if you could tolerate the coldness, get past his clinical treatment of those he believed were beneath him, then there was so much more to him. Nightmare was a scholar, a brilliant mind with a vision for a world all his own. He appreciated the arts, often enjoying his downtime with a good book and a calming cup of tea. And believe it or not, there was a small part of him that genuinely cared for the skeletons under his charge. You’ve seen that side of him more than most, managing to open even his eye to what was hidden beneath the centuries of anger and hatred.

Even if negativity was still a large part of who he was, you found yourself able to accept that darkness, because it only made the small lights within him shine brighter. Just like the stars the two of you were gazing at. Though as your gaze shifted to the skeleton currently dominating your thoughts, you found that piercing cyan eye of his locked onto you instead of the sky. If there was ever any doubt in your mind that your feelings were reciprocated, one look at his gaze would sweep it all away. There was a tenderness to him, reserved only for you as he would say. It was only in these moments where the two of you were alone that he would let his imposing demeanor slide.

Getting moments to yourselves was easier said than done though. Despite the sheer size of the castle, the others always seemed to be around. They knew how Nightmare favoured you, how he treated you special and wasn’t as harsh. You were pretty sure that they’d managed to piece everything together on their own, even if none of them ever said anything for fear of angering their king. That said, some of them, namely Killer, seemed to delight in getting in the way of your fleeting moments alone. And there was always no shortage of work to be done, not when your partner was as ambitious as he was. Nightmare aimed to create an empire, and you were doing what you could to further his goals. Even if all that work and Killer’s interference left you and Nightmare fleeing to other worlds in order to have some semblance of a relationship.

Outertale was a favourite destination of yours, the beauty of the cosmos always taking your breath away. It always seemed so far removed from the chaos of the multiverse, or the chaos of the castle.The peace and quiet out here made it perfect for when both you and your partner just needed a break. You could stand out here for hours, watching the subtle shifts in the sky or mapping constellations.

But for now, you were seemingly locked in a staring contest with the lord of darkness, neither willing to look away or break the silence that had fallen. Unsure of what to do, you simply reached out with your finger and booped the tip of his nose. The look of utter surprise on his face left you giggling, only for his own rich laughter to mingle with yours.

“You dare to lay a hand on the God of Negativity, hmm?” He teased, pulling you close with his tentacles before wrapping his arms around your waist. “You are either very brave or very foolish… maybe a bit of both. How shall I deal with your crime, my little moon?”

You couldn’t help but swoon a bit at the pet name he called you, grinning up at him like a fool as you took advantage of the close proximity to snuggle close. “I could swear my love to you, would that appease the great Nightmare?”

“Perhaps,” he chuckled, the distance closing between the two of you even further as he ducked his head down to be level with your own. Nightmare opened his mouth, perhaps to say something else or to move in for the kiss you were anticipating. Before either option could happen though, the dark skeleton froze for a split second. There wasn’t even time to ask what was wrong before you found yourself hefted into his arms, the two of you dodging a volley of bright blue arrows that had speared where you’d been moments ago.

Your heart hammered in your throat, adrenaline pumping through your veins as you tried to get a grip on what was happening. Nightmare still had you cradled to his chest, dodging arrows and… was that paint? Following the paint’s trajectory, you could see your partner’s enemies had managed to crash your little date.

The Star Sanses stood on the other end of the floating chunk of rock you were on, the portal they’d used to arrive closing behind them. Blue was just coming through the portal, his gaster blaster hammer in his grip. Dream had another arrow ready to fire, though he hesitated upon seeing you staring back at him. Ink on the other hand wasted no time in splattering more of his paints everywhere, a tentacle raising to block you from the oncoming attack. The paint hissed and fizzled on contact, a growl leaving Nightmare as he jumped to another nearby rock to escape the barrage.

“Night, are you okay?!” You look up to see him trying to hide his pain, showing you that those paints are far more than something to be smeared on a piece of paper. While you’d heard stories from the others about the chaotic creator, you’d never met him in person or seen him fight. Seeing that paint flying towards you was way scarier than the guys’ stories had led you to believe.

“I’ll be fine,” Nightmare insisted as he set you down, even if you knew that attack hurt. “Look, you need to remain here where you’ll be safe. I don’t care what kind of training you’ve been partaking in with the others; I refuse to let you endanger yourself by fighting them. Ink especially is dangerous, keep away from him at all costs. If you cannot dodge his attacks, make sure to shield your face. His paint can burn like acid if he wishes, and while liquid negativity protects my body, you have no such defenses. Give me your word that you will remain safe while I deal with these pests.”

As much as you wanted to argue that you could help, even you couldn’t muster the confidence to speak against him with such a stern glare directed at you. It was clear that Nightmare wouldn’t take no for an answer on this one, so you had no choice but to nod your head meekly. “I-I’ll stay here,” you promised, glancing up to see him seemingly satisfied. Without another word, he rushed off, preventing Blue from getting any closer with his large hammer.

Watching Nightmare take on all three of the Star Sanses by himself was both awe-inspiring and terrifying, much like the first times you’d joined sparring sessions with the guys. But there wasn’t the assurance in the back of your mind that nobody would be out to kill you. While it might not be the goals of all of the Stars, there was very much mortal danger in this fight for both you and the one you loved. Staying on the sidelines like this was painful, leaving you feeling useless as Nightmare struggled to hold off the onslaught.

Were they not essentially your enemies, you’d be impressed by the coordination and teamwork the Stars possessed. All three of them were capable of both melee and ranged attacks, and wordlessly organized themselves so that one of their own was never in danger of being hit by their own attacks. Dream’s precision with his arrows allowed him to stay primarily a ranged fighter, while Blue’s blasters and Ink’s attacks were a bit too widespread to risk while one of them fought in close combat. Nightmare was the only one without a specific ranged attack, which probably explained why the others rarely got close to attack. Your lover’s tentacles gave him reach though, and the ability to hit multiple targets at once, so he was somehow able to hold his own against all three.

The battle looked to be a stalemate… until one of the Stars suddenly switched tactics. While Blue rushed in with a hammer and bones at his side, Ink actually turned his back on the fight. He seemed a little lost, like he was trying to remember something, only for his eyes to light up as he locked gazes with you. Instant panic seized you as the one skeleton that Nightmare warned you about came straight for you, manic glee plastered over his face as he quickly crossed the distance between the two of you. A glance back at the battle proved that Nightmare had seen what was going on, but Blue was keeping him from coming to your aid. So it was up to you to think fast and avoid the creator, hope bubbling in you that this might actually make things easier. If you could keep Ink busy by dodging his attacks, then Nightmare might be able to take on the remaining two with better success before coming after Ink.

With this admittedly crazy plan in your head, you began a game of cat and mouse with Ink, jumping from one place to the next. If you didn’t have a splash-happy maniac chasing you, it would’ve been cool to enjoy the low gravity of Outertale. For now though, it was all that was allowing you to escape most of the attacks directed at you. You were far from unscathed though, small splashes of paint eating away at your arms and legs. It burned, but was nothing you couldn’t deal with as you continued to dodge and weave the bulk of the attacks. So long as none of it touched your face, you would be fine.

Glancing back at the main battle going on, your hopes of Nightmare doing better against two targets instead of three were steadily being crushed. He seemed distracted, constantly looking up to watch you kite Ink around the area. Instead of focusing on the two he had to deal with, he was so worried about you and Ink that he was now losing. It wouldn’t be so bad if he was facing off against Ink and Blue, because there was little the two could do beyond superficial damage. Dream on the other hand was still very much a threat, his arrows of pure positivity being about the only thing that could seriously hurt. And you could see several piercing the ground, coated in the black negativity that Nightmare relied on for protection. It was a surefire way to see when he’d been hit, and the staggering amount of these soiled arrows made it clear that your partner wasn’t holding his own anymore. Guilt welled up in you, because you were the reason he was now losing this fight. While there wasn’t much you could honestly do to shake Ink from your trail, reason did little to quell the negativity rising inside you. All you could hope for was that your own despair could give Nightmare just a bit more power, enough to keep himself safe at least.

As time dragged on, both you and Nightmare were running out of stamina. Your legs cried for rest as you continued to run away from the creator, while your lover’s movements were growing noticeably sluggish. More arrows seemed to connect than not at this point, and he had barely any time to recover from one attack before dealing with another. The two of you were badly losing, and it was quite clear now why Nightmare rarely let anyone from the castle venture out on their own.

The Stars seemed to sense this sudden weakness in their target, Dream finally stopping his barrage to call out to the one going after you. “Ink! Stop playing around, I need your help!” Help? What help could Ink possibly be? Even his corrosive paints couldn’t breach the surface of Nightmare’s negativity, the only thing that could was Dream’s… oh… oh no.

As the realization hit you, Ink finally gave up his pursuit. “Woo! Looks like my plan actually worked… at least I think this was my plan. Whatever, let’s do this!” Laughing at some untold joke, Ink hopped away from you to return to the large rock that most of the battle had been on. At the same moment though, you felt your legs moving as the horrific reality of their plan hit you. Ink purposefully went after you to distract Nightmare, allowing the others to weaken him enough so that their special attack would hit. The creator might not be able to damage the surface, but if Dream’s arrow ripped through first, then there’d be a narrow window where Nightmare’s greatest defense would be gone. In a single spot he’d be vulnerable, which is why they needed to slow him down enough to ensure their hit would work.

You weren’t going to let that happen. Promise be damned, your soul was screaming at you to protect the one you loved, and you were going to heed its call. The ache in your legs went completely ignored, adrenaline pushing you forward with more speed than you thought you could muster. You needed to be faster though; Ink was already there, and Blue had set about corralling Nightmare to keep him still.

Only a few floating chunks of rock were between you and your beloved now, but you still weren’t fast enough. Panic rose once again as you watched Dream draw back his bowstring, the arrow glimmering faintly in the surrounding darkness. Ink stood ready beside him, the paint coating his brush a dangerous shade of red. That same paint had left such horrible burns along your limbs, and you could only imagine the damage it might do to the weakened god of negativity. With Blue running interference and drawing Nightmare’s attention, it was only a matter of time now.

As your feet touched down on the large space rock, several feet from everyone else, you knew that you were out of time. Nightmare was too absorbed in his fight to hear your warning calls, and it would only alert the two and likely cause them to reset before trying again. This attack would only work once though, because once Nightmare knew of their plan, he wouldn’t let it work a second time. That meant that you had one chance to stop them, especially when you saw that Dream was aiming towards his twin’s soul.

Courage and determination welled within your soul, driving you forward despite the risk you were running straight into. Any number of things could go seriously wrong, but… you couldn’t risk them killing him. Nightmare was the bane of the multiverse to many, but he was everything to you. Gritting your teeth, you timed your steps so that you’d only enter Dream’s field of vision after he fired, preventing them from stopping you and trying again. The second he saw you, the god of positivity’s expression changed from one of grim determination to one of shock and horror, his hand reaching out as if he could stop his attack or stop you. His hesitance once again wasn’t present in Ink, the creator wasting no time in flinging the red paint directly after the arrow.

With mere seconds to spare, your outstretched hands made contact with the cool goop that covered Nightmare’s body. All of your momentum and might went into a push, knocking the deity away from the incoming attack. Your lover turned back to look at you the second you made contact, his eye conveying the same shock and horror as Dream’s had when he saw you. All you could do was smile, knowing that you’d managed to save him no matter what danger you’d put yourself in. Nightmare reached out for you just as the arrow whizzed past, its trajectory leaving it slicing past your eyes. Pain bloomed as the minor cuts scratched the outsides of your eyes, but it was nothing compared to what came next. You’d been so concerned about the arrow that you temporarily forgot about Ink. His attack followed as per the Stars’ plan, splattering over the both of you with its acidic effect. The scratches to your eyes had left you temporarily blind, so you weren’t able to see that red paint as it splashed all over your face. The last thing you saw was instead Nightmare, reaching out to you as if to save you from this pain.

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[saurexhas]

Feast of 1000 Beasts (Not Literally)

Butcher’s birthday was back in January, but this was still so much fun to write up. I don’t think I’m catching up any time soon though XD

Once again, this is set in the @nightmare-castle universe, with a guest appearance from Utotale! Hope you all enjoy!

“Excuse me! May I have everyone’s attention?” Pyre looked upon his brother’s teammates… coworkers? Associates? Whatever… Cross, Killer, and Dust were all in the lounge, playing cards. Well, Dust and Killer were playing, and Cross was about three seconds away from turning the table into a lawn dart. Why the ex-soldier continued to play cards against these two never ceased to surprise him, considering that it almost always ended up with Cross being broke and angry at the world.

At the very least, it seemed that his announcement would save him from having to replace another table. All three of them looked up as he spoke out in his usual loud voice, with various amounts of actual interest in whatever he had to say. Still, he had their attention, which is exactly what he asked for, so no time to complain about all the little details!

“As I’m sure you’re all aware, today is my brother’s birthday!”

“Oh… was that today?” Cross chimed in with uncertainty.

“Butch has a birthday?” Killer added.

“Don’t care,” was all Dust mumbled, placing down a card from his hand. “Ono.”

“Dammit! How the hell do you always win?!”

“Cross, if you don’t break the table, I shall forgive you all for forgetting my brother’s birthday,” Pyre sighed, looking to the three in exasperation. “Never fear! The great Pyre always has a backup plan to account for things such as others forgetting birthdays! I’ve already planned a great feast as my brother’s present, with our king’s permission of course! And you three are going to help me!”

Killer’s skull moved as if he was rolling his nonexistent eye lights. “And why would we do that? What do we get outta helping ya?”

With the most serious look he could muster, Pyre calmly stated, “Only those that assist will be allowed to enjoy the feast.”

“Wait, so if we don’t help you out, we go hungry?” Cross seemed to be the most upset… er, well he seemed to be the only one that was upset about that possibility. That meant that he’d have to plan around Killer and Dust’s obvious reluctance.

The taller skeleton’s usual grin was back on his face as he waved off the soldier’s worries. “Oh, not to worry! Your task is relatively easy Cross! All you need to do is keep my brother occupied whilst I shop for and prepare the feast! As for you two…” His gaze turned to the others, ignoring how the monochrome skeleton clearly didn’t think that entertaining Butcher would be easy. “You two will be coming with me to the Uto market! I’ll be in need of help carrying the groceries and picking out the best selections!”

“Why don’t ya just take Butcher hunting?” Killer piped up, leaning back in his chair as he casually threw down a skip that left Cross fuming. “Don’t you Horrortale variants love fresh meat? Just throw him in some safari or nature preserve and call it good!”

“Oh, now that is just verse-ist and you know it.” He waggled his finger disapprovingly in the emotionless skeleton’s direction, even if his scolding would have little to no effect. “If you wish though, think of the trip to the market as a civilized hunting trip! And we shall be doing the hunting so that my brother can enjoy his birthday without having to worry about food!” Even if his brother might truly revel in the thrill of the hunt, he wanted to pamper him and allow Butcher to enjoy a meal with no work or strings attached for once.

“I’m in,” Dust shrugged his shoulders, turning his focus back to the single card in his hand as he threw it down. “And I win again.”

“Wait, you’re actually gonna go along with this?” Killer seemed surprised that the normally reclusive skeleton was up for it, everyone ignoring how Cross was tugging on his uniform’s straps and trying desperately not to scream in rage as Dust scooped up all of his G on the table.

The hooded skeleton was focused more on counting his winnings, only glancing up slightly between Pyre and Killer. “It’s a day off, right? The king gave permission, and we all know better than to argue with Pyre.”

“Huh, good point… okay, I’m in!” Killer hopped to his feet, with his quiet teammate legging behind as he scooped up his winnings. “So, we heading out right now?”

The tallest skeleton of the bunch was thrilled that the two were willing to assist on the promise of a day off, clapping his hands a bit and nodding. “We can if the both of you are ready!”

“Wait, how the hell am I supposed to distract Butcher?!” Cross cried out, looking at the group as they started heading out.

Killer was the one to respond, turning around and sneering, “Maybe play cards against him! It’s always fun watching you lose over and over again!” Dust snickered quietly at the remark, with Pyre sighing once again as he ignored all of the curses slipping from the soldier’s mouth.

“Very well, let us get going then! The sooner we get there, the sooner we can procure everything we need!” Leading the way, Pyre turned back once to wish Cross good luck in his quest, missing the look of desperation directed at his back as the three skeletons teleported to Utotale.

Cross knew that he was screwed. Why did he get this assignment?! Didn’t Pyre like him? He was way more responsible than the other two, so why was he the one left on babysitting duty while they got to go to Uto? Groaning to himself, the ex-soldier looked down to where Butcher was sitting in the garden, sharpening his axe and humming some tune to himself. Maybe he could just leave the big guy alone? Surely Butcher would be able to entertain himself for a while… though he’d get suspicious the second he went to the kitchen and found his brother missing. Stars, he really was about to do this, wasn’t he?

Descending the steps, he noticed the subtle movements of his teammate’s skull, indicating that Butcher now knew he was here. “Whatcha doin’ here, marshmallow? Come ta smell the roses?” The larger skeleton clearly thought that he was funny, whereas the marshmallow nickname just left Cross once again considering to bail on this plan and fend for himself for dinner.

“I told you not to call me that,” he growled back in response, shooting the other a glare as their gazes finally met. Taking a breath to calm his temper, he tried to seem as casual as possible. “I was just… curious about what you were working on, that’s all.”

That one red eye narrowed suspiciously at his words, Butcher putting his whetstone in his pocket as he stood up. “Yer a horrible liar, little Oreo. Mind tellin’ me why yer really here?”

He didn’t know which nickname was worse, but at least Oreo didn’t imply that he was soft and squishy like marshmallow did. Steeling his nerves, he stood as tall as he could… even if it did nothing to minimise the height difference between them. Well… Killer had said that they love seeing him lose… “Fine, you caught me. Had a bit of a challenge for ya. I need to practice dealing with more aggressive monsters, so… how about a hunt?” Oh stars, this was a horrible idea! “I run off into the garden, and you hunt me down. I get my practice, and you get… whatever you get out of hunting other monsters down.”

It seemed to take the scarred skeleton a moment to process his request, though his eye was quick to dilate as if trying to take all of him in at once. “Y’sure ya wanna do that, Oreo? Can’t say I’ll hold back if ya really get me going.” Swallowing down his fear, Cross nodded, the action causing Butcher to let out a raspy chuckle. “Alright tidbit, I’ll give ya a head start. Better hope ya can run fast, or this won’t be any fun~”

Blinking a couple times, the monochrome skeleton quickly processed the predatory look he was being given, and bolted. “I’m such a fucking idiot, I should’ve gone with cards!” He hissed at himself, hoping to put as much distance between himself and his hunter as possible before his head start was up. He could only hope that things were going smoothly on Pyre’s end of things.

“Here we are, the Utotale market!” Pyre announced with glee, gesturing to the many stalls and shops filled with monsters bustling about. This utopic world welcomed anyone so long as they didn’t cause trouble, including those among Nightmare’s ranks. As such, nobody spared them more than a glance before continuing on their way. It was nice to not be scorned for their political associations for once, the tall skeleton enjoying the peaceful view for a moment before getting on with the day’s mission.

Fishing out a pen and notebook, he turned to the two skeletons he’d recruited with his usual enthusiasm. “Alright! I want my brother’s feast to be memorable, and as such I want to collect ingredients from several AUs! The main focus shall be meat, as it’s my brother’s favourite, but we’ll need all sorts of supplies. Killer, can you please start looking around for more rare and exotic meats? I want the main dishes to be special and memorable! And Dust, can you look for unique produce? There should be plenty of options here. I shall be acquiring a few of the items I already know that I need, but do not hesitate to get my attention if you find something!”

Feeling confident in his instructions, he waved as the pair wandered off to explore, watching them mutter to themselves before snickering. Part of him was worried that the two were planning to cause trouble, but he figured that neither of them would be foolish enough to provoke a fight in this world. Just because it was a utopia, didn’t mean that the world was void of talented fighters. It was practically a requirement, given how often multiversal travellers and outcodes stopped here.

As the papyrus went about his shopping trip, he wasn’t too surprised when Killer flagged him over quickly. When he went to see what he’d found though, Pyre was left unimpressed as the emotionless skeleton pointed to a piece of gum on the sidewalk. “Hey look, I found something! Think this’ll work for your feast thing?”

“Killer… that’s a piece of gum.”

“Yeah? Just because I don’t have eye lights doesn’t mean I’m blind. Besides, you said for us to call you over if we found anything, and I found something. It’s even edible, so bonus!”

Already regretting his earlier wording, Pyre’s attempt to chastise Killer for being a smartass was interrupted by Dust flagging him down. “Hopefully it’s something good…” Turning back to Killer, he glared as he clarified, “Alright, how about I reword things? Call me over if you find a meat product that I can use in the feast.”

Ignoring the snickering coming from behind him as he turned away, Pyre rushed over to where Dust was, only to sigh as he saw the same shit-eating grin on his face. “Found a good napping spot. This bench is pretty comfy.”

“Nyeh! You’re supposed to tell me if you found any decent produce!” Grumbling to himself, it became clear quite quickly that the pair had planned this. “Only call me over if you find good produce, understand? I have a lot of shopping to get done and I cannot spend all of my time chasing after you two!” Huffing, he quickly walked off back to where he’d been shopping originally. He really hoped that Cross was having better luck on his end of things.

“Ready or not, here I come, marshmallow!” It took every bit of training Cross had to not snap back at Butcher for the comment, knowing that doing so would give away his current location. Lucky for him, the garden was vast and had plenty of ground for him to hide in. Still, he knew better than to stay still; keeping moving would be best considering who was chasing him. If he just hid in a bush, then Butcher would sniff him out in no time.

At the very least, his plan was working to keep the big guy occupied and distracted from his brother’s shopping trip, though he was still questioning his sanity given the plan he’d ended up going with. There wasn’t any way to change it now though, so all he could do was keep going, running deeper and deeper into the gardens in the hopes of buying himself more time before Butcher actually made contact.

Every twist and turn through the maze-like garden left the ex-soldier more and more disoriented, the thought that he’d gotten turned around and was actually heading towards his hunter having come up more than once. Sighing, all Cross could do was keep going and hope for the best at this point… best being that he didn’t get an axe embedded in his ribcage.

After however long he’d been going, Cross figured that if he hadn’t already been caught by now, he’d put enough distance between them for a break. Despite his training, he knew that he couldn’t go on forever at the same pace. It would be better for the monochrome skeleton to take a break now while he could, ensuring that he’d have enough energy to run when the time came.

Yet just as he sat down and leaned up against a tree, his instincts started screaming at him to move. Cross was quite thankful that he listened when he did, rolling out of the way just as a familiar axe went flying through the air and embedded itself in the tree he’d just been against.

“Oh bollocks, looks like I missed,” Butcher purred, slow steps taking him directly towards his axe and his quarry. Taking the hint, Cross scrambled to his feet and took off once again, all thoughts of taking a break now completely gone from his mind as he realised that his teammate would pounce on him the second he stopped. No, he had to keep going, and just pray that he wasn’t making some horrible mistake.

Pyre was finally starting to make some headway, having purchased a few essential ingredients, when he noticed that Killer was trying to get his attention. Seeing that the shorter skeleton was actually standing near a shop this time, he felt that this trip would turn out to be more promising than the last one.

He was so wrong. While Killer had indeed found a meat product as instructed, he was proudly gesturing to a regular old butcher shop with the more common meats found across the multiverse for sale. Beef, chicken, pork, and various fish all filled the counter, and Killer was acting like he’d found a cornucopia of goodies.

“Killer… we have all of this meat available to us at home,” he pointed out, frowning at the chuckle his words received.

“Not my fault someone wasn’t specific with their instructions, you just told me to find meat.”

“I told you at the beginning of our trip to find rare and exotic meats! Not- ugh, I don’t know why I’m wasting my energy arguing with you when you’re doing this on purpose.”

“Honestly, I’m not sure why you are either,” Killer shrugged, waltzing out of the butcher shop and leaving behind an annoyed Pyre and one very confused butcher. Apologizing to the people present for the disturbance, he quickly fled the shop and tried to get back to his shopping, ignoring the laughter echoing from the emotionless skeleton nearby. For someone with muted emotions, he sure did get an annoying amount of joy out of making others miserable.

He was half-expecting Dust to pipe up with some annoying misinterpretation of his instructions as well, only to see no sign of him. The taller skeleton cautiously went about his shopping, though he was distracted as he kept expecting his sullen friend to pop up with another joke to tell. But… nothing. There was no sign of him anywhere, and Killer even commented on his absence.

Growing worried, Pyre wondered if Dust had simply taken a nap on the bench he’d found earlier. But instead of finding the familiar sight of a sleeping skeleton, all there was at the bench was a hastily scrawled note. Got bored. Too many people. See you later. - D

“Oh no! Dust has wandered off somewhere! Oh, what if he gets lost? Or hurt? Or lost and hurt?! Oh nyoh-hoh-hoh, why did he go off on his own?!”

“Pyre, relax!” Killer commented, appearing beside him and clapping a hand against his back. “This is Dust we’re talkin’ about! Dude’s a one-man army, so if he gets in trouble, he won’t be the one hurt.”

“ … That’s somehow even worse! Oh, what if he hurts someone? We’ll be banned from ever shopping here again! And the king will be so mad! Oh, Killer! We have to find him before everything goes wrong!”

The smaller skeleton shot him a wry smile, looking at him as if he’d grown a second skull. “What part about relax did you not get? Ya gotta stop looking at all the things that can go wrong… and instead look at that sick-ass pachinko parlour! I bet I can double my G in there!” And off Killer went, waving for the other to follow him before he disappeared inside.

Sighing, Pyre went to check if he had enough to pay for the inevitable gambling debt that would come, only to frown as he patted his pocket. It. Was. Empty. “Killer, you scoundrel! How dare you pickpocket the great Pyre?!” Maybe Killer was right and Dust could take care of himself for a while. Even if the hooded skeleton was moody and prone to outbursts, he knew well enough to not cause a disturbance in a place like this. With that justification, Pyre found himself chasing after Killer in the hopes of getting some of his G back before the idiot spent it all. He just had to pray that he wasn’t making some horrible mistake.

“Ohshitohshitohshitohshit! Fucking shit!” Cross was left cursing up a storm as he dodged swing after swing of Butcher’s blade, the larger skeleton cackling behind him as he swung his weapon haphazardly. Each strike came perilously close to hitting him, leaving him struggling to dodge and weave around as he struggled to see both where he was going and where his attacker was aiming.

In one of his moments of looking behind himself, the monochrome skeleton failed to see the one tree that he was coming towards. As a result, he crashed straight into it, the air fleeing his chest and leaving him winded as he collapsed back into the dirt.

He half expected to open his eyes to find a blade buried in his chest, only to find himself alone once he looked around. Sitting up, Cross looked to the surrounding foliage in disbelief. There was no way that Butcher had given up hunting him… no, this had to be a trap, or… or something.

His teammate’s cackling laughter seemed to echo from all around him, causing his head to whip every which way until he was certain that he’d give himself whiplash. “Why don’t we… change things up a bit, marshmallow? Chasin’ ya’s no fun if ya can’t see a fuckin’ tree in the way. So instead of gettin ya glasses, we’re gonna see how well ya can find where I’m coming from.”

“Oh, fuck…” Cross groaned, pulling himself to his feet and surveying his surroundings. In the time that he’d been winded on the ground, the other skeleton had hidden somewhere within the gardens, waiting to ambush him. This was most definitely not what he’d expected when he’d come up with this idea, his hate for such a stupid plan only growing. But there was nothing that he could do now except live with the consequences of his actions… even if that meant having Butcher stalk him like a piece of meat.

As the monochrome skeleton tried to get his bearings, faint rustling could be heard behind him. Whipping around, he saw a bush rustling nearby only for it to go still shortly after, no indication that the larger skeleton was in there. Another rustle behind him led to the same result, and once again he was left spinning in circles, with a raspy cackle echoing through the air as if to taunt him.

Well… at least someone was having fun, and more importantly was staying distracted to buy Pyre all the time he needed. Gritting his teeth, Cross decided to be proactive for once and summon one of his swords, knowing that he’d most likely be needing it to better fend off attacks. “Ooh, look who’s gettin serious?” Butcher’s voice was crystal clear, coming from right behind him. Whipping around with his sword ready, the shorter skeleton intercepted the incoming attack, their weapons clashing against each other with both skeletons in each other’s faces. “The marshmallow’s finally fighting back~ I love it when my prey struggles.” A tongue snaked out from between Butcher’s parted teeth, licking along his mouth as he looked at him with hungry eyes.

Even as part of Cross grew worried at the predatory gaze locked on him, his temper flared at the demeaning nickname directed at him. Pushing the scarred skeleton off of him, he jumped back before lunging at the other with a snarl. “I told you don’t call me that!”

Snickering, Butcher fell back behind the shadow of a nearby tree. By the time Cross rounded the corner, his opponent was already gone, disappearing into the nearby dark foliage. “This is what I get for trying to hide from a Horror variant,” he grumbled, fully expecting the rest of their night to be full of jump scares and the two of them clashing. If he got out of this without a few wounds, he’d honestly be surprised. About all he could do now was make the best of a bad situation and hope things turned out like he’d planned.

“You spent HOW MUCH MONEY?!” Pyre blurted out, about ready to wring Killer’s nonexistent neck. “We needed that money to buy the ingredients! Why would you spend all of our money?!”

“Technically I spent all of your money,” Killer snickered, looking pretty pleased with himself as he was forcibly dragged out of the third place he’d bolted into. Contrary to his claims, the emotionless skeleton had not doubled his money in the pachinko parlour. In fact, he’d hadn’t even broken even, resulting in Pyre grumbling as he dragged the other from his seat. Insisting that he could make back the losses, Killer had then darted into a shop to find some rare, one-of-a-kind item that he could sell for a ton of cash… only for them to come out of there with more junk to carry around and a replica of some rare, one-of-a-kind item that was utterly worthless.

Now Pyre’s companion was apparently in the mood for snacks and junk food, disappearing into a convenience store where he spent an ungodly amount of money on scratch tickets, cigarettes, and some local drugs that were legal. The skeleton had been just grabbing his snacks for another round of purchases by the time Pyre got his hands on him.

“This is just great,” the Papyrus variant muttered, slumping down to look at what his money had been spent on. “I’m broke, have none of the supplies I needed, and Dust is still missing! Can this day get any worse?!”

As if the universe saw fit to punish him for testing fate, thunder rumbled in the distance, and the first few drops of rain started to fall. “You had to say it,” Killer sneered, looking to the sky. “Though I gotta admit, I’m surprised that the rain didn’t start until you opened your big mouth. Woulda thought stuff like that only happened in the movies.”

“You are not helping my mood whatsoever, you good-for-nothing pickpocket!” Grumbling to himself, the tall skeleton knew better than to stay out if it was truly going to rain. “Come on, let’s find a place to shelter and wait out the storm. I refuse to add being soaked to my list of reasons for being miserable.”

The two dragged Killer’s purchases along as they hunted for an overhang to hide under, hoping that the storm would blow past and they could continue on with their shopping. Judging by how the local monsters were closing up shop and seeking cover though, Pyre didn’t have a ton of hope. “Oh, I do hope that Dust will be alright!”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Came a familiar voice right beside Pyre, the suddenness of said voice causing a screech that may have cracked some nearby glass. Dust didn’t look impressed as the Papyrus turned to greet him, a bored look plastered on his face as he tugged his hood down a bit to keep out the growing wind. “I told ya I’d come back, right? Besides, why would you worry about me? I can take care of myself.”

“I told ya so!” Killer chimed in with glee, waving to his companion. “Heya Dusty! Where ya been?”

The other Sans variant just shrugged his shoulders. “Had a nap until someone woke me up. Then got bored again and went and played cards.”

“Please tell me you aren’t broke like Killer is,” Pyre groaned, wondering why all of his brother’s teammates seemed to have gambling problems.

“For the record, you’re the broke one Pyre. I’ve still got all of my G!”

Ignoring Killer’s comment, Dust just smirked and pulled out a large bag. The contents clinked against each other as he shook it, hinting that the whole thing was full of his winnings. “I don’t lose at cards.”

Before Killer could drool all over the bag, it disappeared back into Dust’s inventory. A book was then pulled out in its place, the hooded skeleton quickly tossing it to Pyre who fumbled and barely managed to catch it. “Found you a fancy cookbook. Thought you might like it. Picked up a few of the things the book said ya needed a bunch of too.”

When shown some of the ingredients that had been procured for him, Pyre felt ready to cry out of pure joy. “Oh Dust! You’ve saved the day, my mood, and my brother’s birthday feast!” Unable to hold back, he launched his arms around the shorter skeleton and hugged him close, missing the look of confusion, pain, and discomfort on the other’s face. By the time they pulled away, there was no sign of his expression having been anything but the neutral boredom from before.

“Right! With all of this and what we have at home, I should be able to pull the feast off! This book should help me turn even the most bland and basic ingredients into a dish for the ages, nyeh-heh-heh! Come now, let’s go home before the rain really gets going!” He didn’t have nearly the supplies that he’d hoped for, but the rain was shutting down the market so there’d be limited options for him to get more ingredients. That, and he had no money to get anything else thanks to Killer’s antics. Between what he managed to get earlier though and what Dust had got him, he’d hopefully have enough. About all he could do now was make the best of a bad situation and hope things turned out like he’d planned.

When the group returned home, Butcher was thankfully nowhere in sight. It seemed that Cross was still managing to keep his attention, giving Pyre all the time he needed to prepare the feast. Killer was almost immediately relieved of duty, the taller skeleton not wanting him to ruin anything else with his juvenile behaviour. The emotionless skeleton had just snickered and walked off, as if he’d accomplished his goal.

Dust wasn’t much help either, but he at least stayed around to sort and prep ingredients upon Pyre begging him to do so. There was simply too much work to get done in time for dinner. Had someone not used all of the tall skeleton’s savings to gamble and buy useless junk, perhaps he’d have more time like he’d planned for. But as it stood, he figured that Cross could inevitably only hold his brother’s attention for so long before the smell of food would steal Butcher away.

Thankfully, the castle had a wonderful kitchen that allowed him to cook many of the dishes at once, speeding up the process as Pyre used his boundless energy to run this way and that. It was the fastest he’d ever prepared a meal before, especially when factoring in the fact that many of the dishes and ingredients were foreign to him. Thanks to the cookbook Dust got him though, several mouth watering delicacies were prepared and set on the table by the time Butcher made an appearance.

The scarred skeleton came in with Cross slung over his shoulder, the ex-soldier wheezing and covered in dirt and bleeding cuts. Plopping the short skeleton in one of the dining chairs, Butcher stuck his head around the corner to find his brother coming through with another armload of dishes.

“Oh, Brother! Welcome back! And Happy Birthday! I do hope you enjoy the present we prepared for you!” As he went to set the dishes on the table among the other ones, Pyre finally caught sight of a barely conscious Cross slumped over in his seat. “Oh goodness, what on earth happened to him?”

“Lil marshmallow bit off a bit more ‘an he could chew, is all,” Butcher chuckled, fingers reflexively hooking onto his dead socket before Pyre made a point of swatting at him for the bad habit. “So what’s all this then? Ya said somethin’ bout a birthday present?”

The younger of the two brothers just grinned and gestured at the table, his smile only growing when he saw recognition and understanding fill his brother’s gaze, followed shortly after by awe and hunger. “Stars know I understand how much food means to you, so I figured what better present than a feast! Everything at the table is yours to taste and devour as you see fit, brother! Most of these dishes or the ingredients used are from foreign universes too, to make the present more exciting! Do you like it?” He was practically bouncing in place as he waited for feedback, paying no mind to Dust bringing the last few dishes in to fill in the few empty spots on the long banquet table.

Butcher remained silent for a while, looking over the various dishes while visibly drooling. He seemed to be struggling to take in such abundance, which made perfect sense to the taller skeleton, given that they’d gone without for so long. “Heh,” his brother finally spoke up, turning to his brother with a wide grin. “Best present I eva got, thanks bro. I’ll be sure ta enjoy it.” With that, his brother took Nightmare’s usual seat at the head of the table. Given that their king had no interest in participating or assisting with the events, there was no harm in the action. In fact, it was almost like it was the king’s gift to Butcher, giving him an evening where he was the most important and the center of attention.

Instead of taking a seat himself, Pyre remained standing to help keep his brother’s plate full. He brought the older skeleton various dishes from all over the table, allowing him to taste a bit of everything that was prepared. At Butcher’s insistence, he helped himself to a few servings as well, not wanting to upset the scarred skeleton on his special day.

Dust remained quiet as he ate, taking a modest helping from a few of the nearest dishes. When some of them weren’t to his liking, a bit of blue magic served to bring other options to him, allowing him to remain seated at the other end of the table and away from the chaos.

Killer must’ve heard the ruckus in the dining hall, because it wasn’t too long before he appeared and started stuffing his face. While Pyre would’ve scolded him for his lack of manners, he quickly thought better of it as the end result would likely only be a headache with no change in behaviour.

And poor Cross just sat there, groaning something about pain and hunting and stupid. Whatever he’d been up to as a means of distracting Pyre’s brother, it might’ve been a bit too effective from the looks of things. Ever appreciative of his efforts, the tall skeleton made sure to save him a plate to thank him for his hard work. Hopefully the intent poured into all his meals would help soothe whatever pain he currently found himself in.

While his plans hadn’t gone as expected, Pyre found himself thrilled with the result. His brother was full and happy, and Pyre himself even had a new cookbook and several new recipes to add to his repertoire! All in all, things turned out better than he’d hoped. Now… all that was left to do was dump dishwashing duty on Killer as payback for the stolen G.

[saurexhas]

A Himbo’s Birthday

It’s late but I don’t care! I finally got it done! Happy birthday Cross, you lovable himbo!

This story is once again set in the world of @nightmare-castle because I’m addicted and love the personalities they all have. I feel kinda bad for Cross during the first half because I totally abuse him and don’t treat this like a birthday fic, but it has a happy ending! I swear!

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Cross took a deep breath before entering Nightmare’s throne room, keeping his stride steady and his emotions as muted as possible as he approached the god of darkness. Once he reached the throne, he knelt, bowing his head to his king. “You summoned me, my king?” Referring to Nightmare as a king or emperor always stroke his ego just right, possibly enough to spare him whatever misery he’d just willingly walked into.

Even without looking up, the soldier could hear the smile in the god’s voice. “You may rise Cross.” Without hesitation he stood, treating his words as an order instead of an option. “You and the others have all done well recently, and I am most pleased with your performance.”

Something wasn’t right. His instincts were screaming that this was a trap, and he’d learned long ago to trust them. Keeping his eyes on Nightmare, he subtly scanned the room, only to freeze as a familiar smile peeked from the shadows. Before he could be distracted though, the dark skeleton continued his speech, effectively stealing Cross’ focus back to him once more. “I have been so impressed with some of you in fact, which has led to me accepting certain… requests or favours, whatever you wish to call it.”

Did… did Nightmare call him here to ask what he might want? But then why could he see Killer’s soul pulsing softly in the darkness near the throne? Why was he here to see what Cross’ request was? Nightmare’s grin took on a malicious note, borderline a sneer as he continued. “You can put that useless hope of yours I sense away, Cross. You’re not here to make a request of me. No, you’re here to make good on one of the requests from the others.”

As if on queue, Killer stepped forward, something round being twirled around his one finger. “To be honest, I’m surprised the boss agreed to let me have ya!” Killer chimed in, snickering as the item he was spinning around came to a halt. Only then could Cross see that it was a collar.

Likely sensing his outrage, the god of negativity spoke up again in a voice that never failed to steal the soldier’s attention. “Killer has requested that you serve as his dog for 24 hours, performing any task he asks of you within reason. Until that collar is removed, you will not disobey him or fight back, understand?”

“But Nightmare, I-I thought you said that you were impressed with my work as well!”

“I am,” he hissed, standing from his throne as his tentacles writhed behind him. “But this is a reward for Killer, not a punishment for you. I am not the most generous of beings, so I do not see fit to reward all of my subjects at once. Continue your good behaviour, and I might impart a similar favour unto you. Until then, you are hereby ordered to serve Killer however he pleases, do you understand?” There was a bite to his words, indicating that he wasn’t pleased at all with Cross not immediately complying.

Not wanting to risk getting punished on top of this humiliation, he merely bowed his head and gave in. “Yes, my king.” Before he could even react, there was something quickly wrapped around his throat and the click of the collar could be heard, followed almost immediately by Killer tugging on it to bring them face to face.

“I am gonna have sooo much fun with ya, Crossy! This is the best reward I ever asked for!” As the soldier growled and radiated hostility, his companion only played dumb and laughed. “What’s the matter? I thought you’d like to spend some time with your good old pal Killer! Come on, tell me how excited you are!” After a pause filled with nothing but a contemptuous glare, the taller skeleton added, “That’s an order, soldier boy.”

Audibly growling, Cross risked a glance in Nightmare’s direction, the god was merely standing there, barest hints of amusement on his face as he silently gestured for Cross to do as he was told. “I’d rather get a hole in the skull like Butcher,” he spat, grinning in mild victory as Killer’s expression darkened. “What? You told me to tell you how excited I was. You didn’t say I had to lie for the sake of your ego.” In hindsight, maybe he should’ve swallowed his pride on that one, but it was worth it in the moment.

The collar around his neck was yanked suddenly, sending him stumbling onto the floor as the lack of warning left him unable to catch himself. “You better watch that mouth of yours, Crossy. I could bash your skull in ta make you look like Butch right now, and there’s nothing you could do about it.” For added effect, Killer squatted down next to him, playing with a knife in his hands. “Or I could give you a scar like the one you used to have, right under the socket! Boss’ only rule was that I can’t permanently disable you, otherwise you’d be useless to him. But so long as you’re still functioning at the end of our time together, I can do whatever the hell I want. So think about that before you mouth off at me again.” The taller proceeded to spit on him as he stood back up, pulling a leash from his inventory and hooking it to the collar as he did so. “Come on, mutt. Crawl beside me like a loyal dog and you might get dinner tonight.”

Gritting his teeth, Cross remained on his hands and knees as instructed and followed after him, certain that Nightmare was revelling in his misery right now. After all he’d been through, a little humiliation and abuse wouldn’t break him. He was stronger than that, and he’d prove it to all of them. The others might laugh now, but once he was free of this twisted reward, he’d make sure that he got the last laugh. That was the only thing that kept him going as his day of following Killer’s orders began.

In his teammate’s defense, he was expecting much worse than the tasks that were assigned to him. At first, it was mostly just mundane chores, tasks that Killer often was instructed to complete and complained about constantly. The chores weren’t bad at all since he merely took care of his own at the same time, the tasks taking a bit longer than usual but otherwise relatively tame. It was a bit annoying once the other caught on and Killer “volunteered” him to take care of their chores as well though, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

Things… got progressively worse though. Killer was back to treating him like a dog by dinnertime, his meal served in a dog bowl as he was forced to sit on the floor and eat with his hands. It was humiliating, but when he’d tried to refuse, his tormentor had cheekily called out, “Oh Nightmare~” It wasn’t loud enough for the dark god to hear, but it got Killer’s point across. If he refused, the other wouldn’t hesitate to tattle on him. So there he was, on the floor with his dog dish, in view of everyone as he sulked and ate while ignoring all the teasing jokes sent his way.

Next came the blackmail. “Come on Crossy, you’d look so cute as a kitty maid!” Killer sneered, dangling the costume in front of his teammate.

“Like hell I’m wearing that!” The shorter skeleton growled, eyes bright red in anger despite the purple flush consuming his face.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, you know the rules. Gotta do as I say!” The taunting words only served to have the tip of a knife pressed up against Killer’s neck, his grin only widening as he didn’t even flinch. “Oh Nightmare~”

The hand holding his weapon trembled, only imagining what kind of punishment he’d receive if he refused a direct order like this. Even if it plucked at every last string of patience he had, the blade vanished and a hand darted out to grab the costume. “I’m gonna make you pay for this, mark my words.”

“Sure ya will, Crossy,” Killer chuckled at the threat, waiting for him as he hopped into the bathroom to change. Thank the stars he wasn’t being forced to change in front of him, but that didn’t make the stupid costume any less infuriating. One glance in the mirror was all it took for him to want to rip it to shreds, but he swallowed his pride for the umpteenth time today and stepped back into the bedroom.

The distinctive ‘click’ of a phone camera went off the second he left the bathroom, only causing his magic to surge across his cheekbones once more. “Nice~ Knew that this was a good idea! Now be a good kitty and pose for me~”

“You are a sick and perverted waste of magic and I swear I’ll-”

“Oh Nightma-”

“Shut up, I’m doing it!” Cross cut him off before he could finish his threat, reluctantly posing as Killer asked for what felt like hours. There was no end to the photos the other took, photos that would no doubt be used to force him to do similar degrading acts in the future. But once the sadistic freak was done tormenting him for the night, he was free to go to bed without any further orders. His sleep wasn’t very restful though, worries of what Killer would have in store for him in the morning keeping him tossing and turning. Nightmare had said that the reward lasted 24 hours, and Killer wasn’t one to waste any time. Honestly, it was a miracle that he was being allowed to rest instead of suffering further embarrassment.

When he woke up the next morning, Cross set about his usual morning routine, albeit a bit slower than usual. One glance at the small calendar in his room had been all he needed to wake up with a dark cloud hanging over his head. It was October 10th… his birthday. Normally he didn’t think much about his birthday, his friends and family making a bigger deal out of it than he did. But… they were gone now, and he’d hoped to have today to himself to spend in quiet reminiscence of his loved ones and his destroyed world, remembering all the birthdays with them that he took for granted. But instead, he was still going to be dragged around by Killer today until the very end of his 24 hour reward.

As if on cue, the obnoxious bastard entered without even knocking, being greeted by an even more sour frown than usual. “Woah, someone’s extra grumpy today. What’s the matter, you have a… nightmare or something?” The taller snickered at his dumb joke, though he didn’t even get a response. No eye roll, no huff, not even a curse under Cross’ breath. “You… okay there buddy?”

“Like you care,” he snapped back, hands twitching and itching to form something just to vent some of his frustration. “Just give me whatever stupid and embarrassing order you’ve got so I can get this over with!”

“Wow… okay, geez.” Killer didn’t seem to expect such hostility at all, his false smile faltering as he shoved his hands in his pockets and jerked his head out the door. “Come on then, follow me.”

The two walked in silence through the castle, no quips from Cross’ teammate for once. It was relieving to have some peace and quiet, but it was almost as if… Killer was actually worried about him. That wasn’t possible though, as the guy legitimately couldn’t feel something like worry. He was probably just wondering why the soldier was in such a foul mood this morning, and it wasn’t something the smaller was willing to discuss.

The room they stopped in surprised him though, now leaving him slightly more curious than grumpy. They stopped in the training room of all places, with Killer striding over to a rack full of bamboo sparring sticks and throwing some at his companion. Cross caught them with ease, looking at them in confusion until he saw the other grab a set and move across from him. “I wanna spar, and you clearly need to blow off some steam, so this is what we’ll do, got it?”

“You’re… using what time you’ve got left over me to force me to spar with you? We spar all the time though?”

“Well… it was either this, or force you to clean out the garbage disposal near Butcher’s room. Pretty sure there’s enough human bits in that clog to make a whole new one.”

“... Sparring it is.” With one last smartass comment from Killer, the two lunged at each other with their usual intensity. The pair both fought primarily with knives, albeit Cross’ were typically bigger and he suffered no end of compensation jokes because of that. Still, their similar fighting styles made for great sparring matches, ones where the two often put their all in as if it were an actual battle. That was the reason why they used the training sticks instead of their actual weapons, on Nightmare’s orders after one too many trips to the infirmary.

With his earlier frustrations, Cross was fighting harder than he had in a long time against Killer. The other was right, he did need to blow off some steam, and this was more effective than he could’ve imagined. His anger for this twisted reward and his guilt for his world and loved ones slowly faded into the back of his mind, all focus on the sparring match to avoid making a mistake. He didn’t have time to think about those things if he wanted to avoid getting smacked in the face.

After who knows how long of the two of them dancing around and swinging at each other, the battle calm he was experiencing gave way to fatigue right around the same time as his opponent. When it became clear that neither of them had energy to keep going, Killer merely chuckled and dropped his sticks before sinking to the ground, his ribcage heaving for air while his soul burned a fiery red. “Ya feelin’ better now Crossy? A little less pissy?”

“I was fine until you opened your mouth,” he grumbled, falling to the ground to rest as well before deciding to flop onto his back. “But… definitely better than cleaning up after Butcher’s cooking experiments.”

“I think we both can agree on that.” Silence reigned between the two for a moment longer, only their laboured breathing echoing in the training room. Just as Cross was tempted to close his eyes and rest a bit though, his companion spoke up once more. “Though… we got one other thing that I have to drag ya to today.”

“Seriously? You’re really gonna push that 24 thing to the very end, aren’t you?” After the match he just had, all he wanted was a moment to rest.

But it looked like he wouldn’t be resting anytime soon, Killer hopping to his feet and scooting over to grin down at the smaller. “Would I really be me if I didn’t take a mile with every inch given? Now up and at em! I think you’ll like this even more than the sparring match.”

“I swear to the stars, if you put me in another dress, I’ll kill you on the spot” the soldier grumbled, reluctantly getting to his feet before the collar still around his neck was used to get him up faster. His teammate merely chuckled, gesturing for him to follow as he led the way once more.

This time though, he was led to the closed door of the dining room. Before he could ask though, the emotionless skeleton with him suddenly got right into his personal space, grabbing for him in a way that made him instantly pull back. “Chill, you big idiot! I’m just trying to take the damn collar off! This is the last thing I’m gonna force you to do anyways, and the collar would just get in the way. So, I’ll just take it off a little early… unless you want it to stay on~”

“Fuck no! Get it off of me!”

“Heh, figured you’d say that.” No longer fighting the advancing hands, he felt those deft fingers slip around his neck, the vulnerable position sending a shiver down his spine that he tried his best to repress. Thankfully, Killer didn’t comment on it, merely fumbling with the latch and undoing the clasp to pull it away. Cross’ hand shot up to his neck, rubbing at the now bare vertebrae and visibly relieved to have it off.

Though, there was still one more thing he had to do because of Nightmare’s command, and it was behind that door. With a goading look from the taller skeleton next to him, he sighed and braced himself for whatever was on the other side as he opened the door to the dining room.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” The loud cry of multiple voices, mainly Pyre, hit him all at once. It was enough to stun him in the doorway, leaving the soldier dumbfounded as he took in the unusually cheerful atmosphere. Wrapped presents were in one corner of the room, balloons and streamers were all over the place, and the dining table was piled high with all sorts of dishes. The two things that really caught his attention though were the large plate of carefully-made tacos and the chocolate cake sitting in the middle.

Pyre bounded over as he remained in the doorway, slipping a flimsy birthday hat onto his skull. Upon one more look around the room, everyone except Nightmare was wearing one, the god having one sat nearby to likely appease their cheerful chef. “Happy birthday Cross! I do hope that you like the secret birthday celebration we prepared for you! And thank you for helping so much Killer! We wouldn’t have been able to pull this off if you didn’t keep him busy for so long!”

“No probs Pyre,” Killer shrugged, snagging a hat as he entered the room and putting it onto his skull like the others as he took a seat at the table.

“Wait a minute… keep me busy?” Cross echoed, the words catching him by surprise as he processed them.

“Oh come on Crossy, I know you’re slow but please don’t tell me you’re this stupid, bud!” A moment of silence greeted them, purple creeping up Cross’ cheekbones as he felt like an idiot right now.

Dust was surprisingly the one to speak up, though he didn’t even look up from whatever book he was reading at the table. “Killer used his favour with Nightmare to keep you out of the way so that Pyre and Butcher could set this up.”

Seriously? Killer of all people used a favour with Nightmare to help set up a birthday party for him? “No way, I’m calling bs.”

“Heh, call it whatever ya want, small fry, but it’s true,” Butcher chimed in, already nibbling on some of the food even if everyone else was waiting for him. “My bro is pretty amazing and damn convincing when he sets his mind to something. Once he got it in his head that your birthday was coming up and you needed a party, not even the king himself could talk him outta it. And trust me, he tried!”

The comment earned a huff from Nightmare, his one eye rolling a bit before it turned to regard Cross. That icy gaze left him still as a statue, even as Pyre herded him towards the table. “What they say is true. Pyre used one of his favours for this party, and Killer apparently was convinced to use his to keep you occupied long enough to prepare everything in secret. I only agreed to attend given the deal I made with Pyre, however…” Seeing a smile spread across the god’s face, Cross didn’t know if he should relax or be even more scared. “As I said yesterday, you have done commendable work in furthering my goals, Cross. And… your emotions were a delightful treat the past 24 hours, so I believe that you’ve more than earned a reward such as this. You might not be able to name your prize, but I’m sure that the effort the others put in was fitting. I… even left you a more personal reward within that pile, to show my appreciation for your hard work.”

It was still hard for the monochrome skeleton to wrap his head around this whole idea, taking his usual seat next to Killer with the same confusion plastered over his face. “So… the chores from yesterday?”

Killer glanced over with a lazy grin, using his knife to absently pick at his teeth as he answered. “Had to keep ya busy while the others worked on prep work and wrapping presents. Wouldn’t have made ya do Dust and Butch’s stuff too is you weren’t so damn efficient, but you were too fast and I need to give you more stuff to do.”

“And the humiliation that was dinner?”

“Oh, Pyre needed to sneak the cake out and hide it so you wouldn’t notice or smell it. Figured that was one way for you to be so focused on yourself that you wouldn’t even smell a chocolate cake coming from the kitchen.”

“And the outfit and pictures?”

“Oh, that was just for my enjoyment.” Killer’s response was met with instant anger, his only reaction being to laugh at his teammate that looked ready to skewer him. “Oh come on! I wasn’t gonna waste a reward from Nightmare and not get anything out of it myself! Besides, if I hadn’t treated you like shit, you would’ve suspected that something was up, right?”

“That’s… fair point, I guess.” Yeah, if Killer hadn’t been such an ass with his orders, then Cross would’ve grown suspicious. Nobody but Pyre ever treated him kindly, though Nightmare seemed to respect his skill at least. But if any of the others had been all buddy-buddy with him or started treating him special, then he would’ve known something was up and probably would’ve ruined the surprise.

And… it was a nice surprise. He hadn’t had a birthday party in a long time, and while it wasn’t the same as being surrounded by people that loved and cared for him, he could be happy with this. The guys might treat him like crap sometimes, but he knew that he gave as good as he got and at the end of the day, any of them would have his back in a fight and vice versa.

A team wasn’t nearly the same as a family, but… it was better than nothing. Besides, if they were all willing to put in this work for him, then it meant that they had to care for him even a small bit. Not even Butcher’s brother could force the three of them to set up and attend a birthday party if they didn’t have even a little attachment to the person it was for. The knowledge that the guys even liked him enough to get him presents was even better than the gifts themselves. It was still hard to believe that even Nightmare had gotten him a present, but he certainly wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

For now, he was just enjoying being genuinely happy for once. Sure, the guys spent the entire meal teasing him and each other while Nightmare sat quietly at the head of the table, but he wouldn’t expect anything less from them. Considering that he thought he might never have the fun of a birthday party ever again, this was honestly perfect.

Plus… Pyre made a damn good chocolate cake.

[saurexhas]

Love is Blind - Part 3

We’re back to MC’s perspective with this one, and prepare for feels!

Fun fact, as someone who rarely writes xreader stuff, the sheer amount of times I write you or your is driving me crazy because I legit cannot replace them with some other descriptor like I would in third person to break things up XD

As always, mind the tags, you never know what I get up to when I’m writing angst :)

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Blinding pain was all you could recall as your mind drifted towards consciousness, hazy memories mingling with your dreams. You could hear Nightmare calling to you, his voice raw with so many emotions that it was almost overwhelming. The others could be heard too, though most of their voices had a somber note to them. Yet as you tried to recall what you could see, the only thing that came to you was the colour red.

With no means of making sense of the fragmented memories, your mind let them go only to be replaced with new sensations as you truly started to wake. Every little shift brought pain, your face feeling like it was still being burned by Ink. Your limbs felt stiff, like there was something restraining them, though at least your surroundings were soft. It felt like your bed, the same soft sheets and blankets that Nightmare had gotten for you. But as you thought of the dark god, you were made acutely aware of just how dark it was right now.

Nothing you did could alleviate the darkness; it was the same whether your eyes were open or closed. Considering how even your eyes ached and burned, it felt better to keep them closed for now since nothing could fix the crushing darkness. As panic set in, your movements became more erratic. Even if you knew you were safe within your room in the castle, that fear still gripped your soul with relentless strength. Blankets were nearly ripped off in your efforts to escape, and as you sat up in bed you hoped that your negativity would be a beacon to Nightmare.

The feeling of cool, slippery bones sliding against your cheek served to snap you out of your hysteria, your hopes answered in the familiarity of Nightmare’s presence. With his touch, you felt him steal away the negativity within you, leaving you calm if feeling a bit empty. He only absorbed your emotions whenever they were clearly out of control, so you were never too mad at him for doing so since they would come back after a while. And it served this time to calm you down from the panic that had consumed you, allowing you to relax as you leaned into the hand still resting against your cheek.

“There we go, little moon, you’re alright,” Nightmare cooed, his thumb rubbing against your face while his tentacles all moved to ensure you remained calm. While you couldn’t see them, they remained close enough that you could feel them crawling along, finding different places to rub against in a petting motion. “Just relax for me, okay?”

“A-Alright,” you stuttered out, melting under his precise touches. A sigh left your mouth as the previous tension within you let go, leaving you feeling truly relaxed. As much as you wanted to simply stay in the peaceful moment though, a thought kept nagging at you as you turned your head in the direction of his voice. “Night… why can’t I see you? E-Even if I open my eyes, it’s… just black. T-There’s nothing.”

The appendages currently touching you froze for just a second, and even as they continued their comforting motions, there was a stiffness to them that wasn’t present before. Silence filled the room for quite a time, all the while you waited with growing dread. Eventually, your partner spoke up, but his words weren’t what you were expecting. “What do you remember happening on our little outing to Outertale?”

“Outertale?” You echoed, thinking back on what you could recall. The two of you had been watching the stars, enjoying a moment of peace away from the crew. But that peace was shattered by the Star Sanses ambushing you, attacking Nightmare while he had nobody to fight alongside. You could recall Ink pursuing you despite Nightmare’s efforts to keep the Stars focused solely on him, and you remembered the joint attack that you saw coming from Dream and Ink. That attack would’ve crippled Nightmare if it didn’t kill him, and you clearly remembered your last-minute decision to save him despite the risk. Beyond that though, everything was a blur. “I… I remember the fight, and… I remember how the Stars were teaming up to take you down. I know I tried to save you, but… I don’t remember what happened after that…”

You trailed off, frowning at the gap in your memory that stopped you from answering any questions you may have had. The frown was quickly swept away though as you felt a gentle ‘kiss’ placed against the back of your hand, Nightmare’s teeth mimicking the affectionate gesture as they pressed against your skin. “Yes, you saved me, little moon. You saw right through my brother’s trickery, and you risked your own life to save mine. Part of me wishes to berate your foolishness for rushing into such danger, but… I’m more angry at myself for being unable to save you in turn.” The hand rubbing against your cheek shifted up to your temple, gently brushing against the underside of your eye. Yet you couldn’t feel his bones directly, merely the pressure indicating the presence.

Something was in the way, preventing him from touching you directly at that spot. Before his tentacles could stop you, your free hand reached up only to freeze at the far too familiar feeling. “B-Bandages? Night, w-why are my eyes covered in bandages?”

Your trembling hand was gently coaxed away from your face, a soft tentacle wrapping around the limb and pulling it back down. While you now knew why the world was dark for you, it only brought up so many more questions, and from the sound of Nightmare’s sigh, he didn’t want to tell you. “MC, you… Dream- ugh, this is harder to say delicately than I expected.”

“Then spit it out!” You almost growled, panic and desperation clawing at your soul. Until you had an answer, the feeling wouldn’t go away, even if your partner tried to force apathy upon you.

Thankfully, the dark god hadn’t resorted to attempting such, a groan of displeasure leaving him. You tightened your grip on his hand, silently begging him to simply be blunt if stepping around the issue was too difficult. Any answer would be better than nothing at this point… at least that’s what you thought.

Your opinion on the matter very quickly changed as Nightmare spoke up. “When Dream fired his arrow, you pushed me out of the way of his strike. Your actions spared me, but… his arrow damaged your eyes. That alone wouldn’t have been so difficult to deal with, however Ink, that chaotic little devil… his paint hit both of us. It did little to hurt me since my brother’s attack missed, but…” The dark skeleton trailed off, and you could’ve sworn that you heard him sniffle a bit. Such a “weak” display of emotion was uncharacteristic of him, even in front of you. “I’m so sorry little moon, but his paint got into your eyes. It burned them, and… we couldn’t undo the damage. You… I’m afraid you’re blind.”

“W-What?” Your voice was barely more than a whisper as you processed his words, finding yourself riddled with disbelief. There’s no way you could be blind, there’s no way the guys failed to heal you. Cross and Pyre had both taken care of your injuries in the past, and you knew that Nightmare’s preferential treatment of you made them too scared to fail for fear of his wrath. “You… you have to be wrong… t-there’s no way I’m suddenly blind!”

“MC, please calm down. You’re still recovering from your injuries, you could hurt yourself-”

“I’m already hurt, Nightmare! You told me I’m fucking blind!” You screamed, your eyes stinging as if they were trying to produce tears. Yet you couldn’t feel anything, not even the damn bandages growing damp. Growing furious, your hand shot up to rip them away, your arm pulling out of the tentacle’s lax grip with ease. The bandages had to be the reason you couldn’t see, it wasn’t that you were blinded!

Just as your hand managed to touch the soft fabric, the tentacle returned to grappling your limb with renewed vigor. “MC, stop this foolishness! You’ll only hurt yourself further!” Nightmare snapped, the tentacle continuing to wind its way around your arm and pull with increasing strength. Gritting your teeth, you dug your fingers into the bandages, determined to pull them away, and simply stopped fighting against the tentacle.

Your arm was yanked from your head, tearing bandages and damaging the still-healing flesh beneath. But despite the pain, you opened your now uncovered eye only for despair to hit you. “I… I-I’m blind,” you mumbled, feeling a sob build in the back of your throat even as your eyes refused to let you cry. They only continued to burn, the sensation growing worse the longer you held your eye open for. “I-I’m blind… I’m blind... I-”

Several tentacles wrapped tightly around you, bringing you closer to Nightmare as he hugged you to his chest. It managed to stop your spiralling thoughts, your hands digging into his jacket as you tried to come to terms with reality. Nightmare wasn’t lying; you really had been blinded by the Stars.

Some of your negativity was siphoned off, but most of it remained so that you could process your emotions and not simply run from them. Part of you wished to ask for the same emotionless bliss that Killer enjoyed, even if temporary, but you knew that your partner wouldn’t oblige. Still, he at least made the swirling negativity within you easier to handle, allowing you to have your moment with the god’s silent support.

It was only when the maelstrom within you calmed that he pulled away, his fingers brushing against the tender, burnt skin on your face. You couldn’t help the flinch, now keenly aware of the pain that your actions caused. The skeleton said nothing as he shifted, rustling being heard from what you assumed was the nightstand. It wasn’t much longer before the rest of the ripped bandages were stripped away, the air stinging your face until they were replaced with fresh ones that hid your injuries from the world once again.

“There, I’ll have to apply a cream to your facial burns a bit later, it seems you managed to rip open some of the blisters so I’ll wait until Cross can heal them.” More rustling could be heard from around the nightstand again, and you so desperately wished that you could simply see what was going on rather than trying to guess. “In the meantime, you should eat something now that you’re awake.”

One thing you were at least acutely aware of was Nightmare’s presence; the air around him was always a degree or two cooler, and there was a faint aura of dread that emanated from him. In your time together, you’d grown so used to his aura that it no longer bothered you. What did bother you was when you felt that aura pull away, your panic surging at the thought of being left alone. Without thought, you blindly reached out for him, managing to grab one of his slippery tentacles despite his movements. “P-Please! Don’t go! I... I-I don’t want to be alone…”

“MC, I’m just going to the kitchen to have Pyre prepare you something to eat,” he argued. Despite the fact that your eyes were hidden by bandages, you immediately tried to put on your best puppy-dog eyes, the one look that you knew he couldn’t resist. If it was from an actual puppy, Nightmare might’ve kicked the thing away out of annoyance, but you’d worn him down to where he caved to your begging almost every time.

This time was no exception, the god of negativity sighing as his tentacle wrapped around your arm and his presence returned to your side. “Alright, I’ll remain here for now. When one of the others comes to check in, I’ll send them to get your meal. Will that appease you?”

“Mhm,” you simply hummed, following the tentacle back to Nightmare’s chest where you proceeded to snuggle into it. He might’ve been seen as cold and cruel to everyone else, but he was nothing but a source of comfort for you. It would take quite a bit of adjustment and probably a few more meltdowns before you properly came to terms with your newfound blindness, but for now you felt surprisingly calm as you simply enjoyed the moment of rare peace in the castle.

“Hey Night, do they know we’re a couple yet?”

Just as your partner went to answer, the door to your room slammed open, causing you to jolt and pull back.

“Woah, not what I was expecting to walk into!” Killer’s voice echoed throughout the room, your face heating up despite your best efforts. “Didn’t know that you were into cuddles, boss! Guess it takes a certain special someone to make ya all soft~”

A groan left Nightmare’s mouth, and you could practically envision him pinching the bridge of nose at Killer’s words. “If they didn’t before, then they definitely know now.”

The two of you didn’t hear the end of it from Killer until Nightmare slammed the door in his face, though he could be heard loudly blabbing about what he’d seen to everyone in the castle. Yelling would be a more apt word. Still, it at least brought some of the others to check on you now that you were awake. Cross tended to your burns with some healing magic, dulling the pain and taking care of the blisters that you broke open in your earlier hysteria. Pyre rambled off something about cooking from the great Papyrus before darting off as quick as he came, returning with a bowl of soup that honestly smelled delicious right around the time Cross left. Nightmare never left your side the entire time, treating your wounds alongside Cross while one of his tentacles almost never broke contact with you. It was more reassuring than you would’ve thought it would be, allowing you to physically feel that he was staying with you just as he said he would.

It was strange having everyone fuss over you so much, though you guessed that might’ve been the fact that your relationship with Nightmare was now out in the open. It wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be though, as everyone except for Killer was respectful. Killer… well, there was only so much you could expect from someone who insulted others for the fun of it, so it wasn’t too surprising nor hard to deal with. It was almost… easier now that you didn’t have to hide your feelings for the lord of the castle, and it might’ve been your imagination but the others almost seemed to be treating you better than before. Pyre was always kind to you, and Cross was never difficult, but they seemed to be treating you a bit more carefully now than before. It was likely all in your head though, merely some of the castle’s nicer residents showing compassion to you in one of your times of weakness. Killer certainly wasn’t acting any differently. Regardless, the biggest source of comfort was your boyfriend sitting next to you, never leaving your side even as the warm meal, healing magic, and sheer emotional drain left you nodding off and relaxing back into the covers of your bed.

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