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secret-time-is-here · 3 years ago

Text

An Error's Journey

Chapter 80 - Terrible Secret

Previous - First - Next - We know

Does the 5.1K+ words excuse a three week wait? Also I threw in a lot of old details/questions in this chapter and I love the whole thing.

TW: Implied Dreammare

His soul felt like it was racing with excitement. The thrill of this secret, being able to surprise everyone, made him want to burst. It took a lot of careful planning but he made time for himself away from the castle. He missed the little plots he had. The scheming that went into being Lapse, coming up with something new and big every now and again just to throw Omega or even his friends off his trail.

Firstly, he tested the waters, asking Death to join him in Omega, just a small at-home date in the penthouse still under Lapse’s name. To say the other was surprised would be an understatement. To his credit, Reaper was careful on the subject. Poking gently, making sure he was ready for this new step, even if it was something so small. However, it was nice to feel the loving intent behind everything, and he sorely needed the reminder that this was a bigger step than anything he had done in the past weeks.

They sat contently, tangled in each other's arms as nighttime air and noise drifted in. They kept all the lights off, basking in each other's presence as the glow of neon lights crept into the open room. It was a little unnerving, finally being back in Omega, but it also brought him joy. The initial fear had been worth it. It was a step in the right direction. Moving steadily toward being able to visit Sydney in person, see his workers, and be able to be back as well as be hands-on in both his businesses.

The next step was a little harder since he wanted it to be a complete surprise to Sydney when he came back. So, he warned all his workers but her, giving them all a good scare. Of course, they still don’t know he’s Error, but they were surprised to hear from him at all. And while some were on the fence about keeping his return from Sydney, the surprise of it convinced them.

Then, he did the last preparation of visiting the Outsider and asked Chronic to follow him to the VIP loft.

He wanted to spend some time there and reacquaint with the bustle and buzz of people at a safe distance, take the small steps and take his time to readjust. And, through his listing of the pros and cons, this gave the most bonuses. He got to spread out all the paperwork he had without fear of eavesdroppers, as well as being able to spend more one on one time with Chronic.

It was difficult to talk with them–at first and still days later, as they seemed to seclude themselves more and more, but Error managed.

The small talk was stale but better than nothing. He was starting to understand the trouble his lovers had when he was lost in his own mind. But, that makes sense, they are one and the same after all.

“‘Ey, Chronic?”

The other hummed softly, unfocused eyes staring out at the cafe, blindly watching people come in and out. It was painfully obvious the other was lost in their own mind, although they may just be talking amongst themself.

Their shadows were more chaotic than ever, almost like his glitches when he was crashing. The room was covered in darkness, even with the overhead lights turned on. The shadows stretch unnaturally, beckoning yet pushing away.

With a sigh, he closed the laptop, setting it down next to himself on the couch. Slowly, he stood up and moved to sit next to Chronic, but as he did, he saw the physical proof of what he already knew. The shadows of the room suddenly sharpened, and the darkness that was crawling its way into the light faded. Chronic’s form became the image of perfection, an identical match to when they first met.

Green eyes glanced at him before staring blankly at the cafe again. Barely adjusting on the couch, leaning more of their torso over the back, and resting their head on top of their arms.

Error leaned into the spot next to them, looking out at the cafe with them. Customers coming in and out, trading seats, laughing and talking. It was a normal life that had long since passed him.

“...why are you pulling away?” He eventually spoke, just getting straight to the point. Chronic tensed, and for the first time, he watched as they stuttered through their thoughts.

“I- we… stars. Dear, we…” Chronic seemed to practically deflate. Their eye sockets fluttered, barely keeping open as that perfect image fell apart to something more normal. Someone who was just trying to keep it together. Someone like Error.

A shadowy wing stretched out, and there was a long moment of silence.

“We can’t.”

“Chronic, love ya but missed out on a lot of that. I doubt you're saying ‘I can’t pull away’.”

“Dear… you know we can not fuse back together… we can not let ourselves fall to that temptation. It is simply better to pull away.” Chronic moved, staring back at him. Green solid eyes slightly wavering, as were the shadows flickering, threatening. However, this threat was merely the sway of a cat's tail.

Chronic’s eyes were their weirdest trait, but he was finally beginning to understand them. The colors showed who was in control of the fusion and whom he was talking to, although context clues carried most of his theories. Despite centuries apart, they all hadn’t changed much between timelines.

Purple was for Nightmare, often given away by the subtle change of how Chronic held themself. Posture tighter, and their grace more elegant and noticeable. Yellow was for Dream, although telling they were there was more based on speech than anything else. The little “Dears” and older way of speaking, no “can’t” or “it’s”.

Grim didn’t show himself by color, although it’d be fair to bet it would be blue. The God showed himself through form and speech, wings appearing or a soothing and even alluring talk drifting from the fusion. Then Ink was a little more obvious, form shifting shorter and a much more pronounced talk. Exclaiming and bouncing around with brown or black eyes. Their freckles seemed to be more clear when they were out and about as well.

The Error of Chronic? That was far more difficult. For the moment, he just assumed they had the same speech. Although, this left out the color combinations. For now, Magenta meant all of them, and green showed Dream and Nightmare together. A small tribute to Nim it seemed.

Truthfully, it was painfully obvious now that the two were talking to him. It didn’t help Chronic’s case that Error had borne witness to Nightmare’s masking before, and Dream seemed to not be much better. He really needs to work with Nightmare and Dream then, help them be more selfish. Stray thoughts of times when Nightmare has pushed down his needs for “what has to be done” drifted in and he could only imagine how bad Dream could be.

Keeping gentle eye contact with Chronic, he moved to have one arm hold onto the wing around him, and the other reach out to Chronic. Not touching, simply offering his hand, palm up, and sincere expression on his features.

It’s slow-moving, but trusting as Chronic eases a hand into Error’s. Green eyes continue to stare back at him.

“What do the others think? Since it’s just you two talking to me… and Reaps I guess.” Error cracks a smirk, jerking his head to the wing wrapped around him.

Chronic sighs and their eyes go fuzzy before splitting apart into pixels. All the colors merge in the red background to an odd shade of magenta.

“They’re idiots.” Was all he got for a moment, before a new voice came along, “I, shit- We don’t want to lose you again! We just got all of you back!” Chronic’s other hand moved, clutching tight to Error’s. “Agreed, it was agonizing torture without you all. I think we’d be just as uncoordinated and difficult as when we first fused if we left you again.”

The words hang in the air for a moment, and Chronic seems to fall more and more. Expression exasperated, but nothing more is said.

“...What about other me?” Chronic blinked a few times but eventually bowed their head before rising tall, sapphire eyes gazing back at him tiredly.

“What of it, glitch?” There goes the red theory he had. Maybe Hearts was onto something with that nickname.

“Don’t you have an opinion on all this? I… I don’t know how different we are.”

“...I know ya don’t.”

He would, wouldn’t he? Maybe he was the one saying that all this time? Stars was he oblivious, Chronic never spoke in I’s…

“Heh, you were the one saying that all this time?”

“...Yeah. Yeah, I was.” Chronic’s tenseness seemed to slowly slip away, and they moved their gaze to the cafe, their head following, but hands still in his. “In the beginning, we were similar… down to the detail, but after ya n’ Hearts separated, we did too.” What little Error could see of their eyes were fuzzy, but there was a slightly sad smile on their face, barely made out underneath the shadows and freckles.

Chronic continued: “Ya met Core far before I did… Core answered your questions… ya met Grim faster than I had… spent time with him as Sans… Even dated ‘im quicker than me. Ya met Life, met Mercy, and met Magic when I only met ‘em all after I was sane again.”

It was near mind-shattering to realize how little Chronic had in his past life, all the support and companionship that kept Error going just wasn't there at all for them.

Chronic tilted their head, eyeing Error from the corner of their socket.

“...I dealt more with that asshole Gaster than you, but Ink made it worthwhile…” Their eyes glitched for a moment before maintaining their blue hue. “I spent my time remembering with Ccino… He n’ I were extremely close in my multiverse… he’s the one that convinced me to open The Outsider…” there’s a waver in their voice, but he moves on, “I didn’t hide away in a realm, my multiverse didn’t have them. I hid away in the antivoid–but got caught, so I moved to the save screen–to get caught again, and everyone found me in the ruins of my timeline…”

Chronic shrugged, breaking eye contact: “After that, to put it briefly, it was awkward… I didn’t have the connection to Dream and Ink like ya, or even Grim. We hung out at Life’s but that was pretty much it. Nightmare and I got close at some point though… What other differences will there be? I don’t know. None of us do. There are countless across all of you.”

The silence stretched once more, but it wasn’t one of tension, it was a sort of quiet relief. To think of the centuries that they had to keep that to themself, maybe even from the rest of the fusion.

“Oh? Error?” Chronic spoke up, barely turning to Error, calming eyes washing an embracing aura of tranquility over him. “Don’t think wrong about this and do not take in our mistakes. I told you of this so you would not be in the dark any longer. No. Other. Reason.” They glare, crowding him in before leaning back, moving their hands to rest in their lap, “I’ve come to terms with the differences over the centuries, and if anything, the only thing you should take from this is to be grateful for what you have…”

Chronic smirked, gentle and wise eyes peering down, “It can always be better, and it can always be worse. We gotta live with what we got and make the most out of it. Take that lesson to soul, alright?”

Chronic didn’t give him a moment to speak, getting up from the couch, the wing wrapped around Error’s shoulders moving to scoop him up and pull him to Chronic’s side. A portal sprung before them, and the ever playful fucker just continued to smirk.

“It’s about time we get heading back, ain’t it?”

“Pft, could’a given me more of a warnin’, you jerk.” He smiled in return before walking through.

The bustling warm cafe turned into the static castle. Dust drifting in the sunlight of the windows and floorboards creaking. The runner carpet scuffled as he made room for Chronic to step through, and he chuckled to himself at the distant noise of steps and voices. A welcomed signal that their return wasn’t unnoticed.

The change was always a little startling, but it had grown to be a comfort. It was nice to have people to return home to, so many that cared so much about him and he returned it likewise.

His lovers rounded the corner, and Ink bolted into his arms.

“You’re back!” They both take a moment to just hold tight as Ink nuzzles close into his neck, and he can feel his soul preening at the loving intent cascading from the shorter.

“Oh, ya missed me, Inky?”

“Obviously!” Ink pulled back, “Where were you two anyway?”

Dream and Nightmare finally caught up, Death likely out on a job and the gang who knew where. It seemed Nightmare was getting more comfortable as of late, happily uncorrupted with a sly smile and a blushing Dream’s arm around his waist.

“I’d bet you were out on those errands of yours again, never did find out what you did on those…” Nightmare’s smile grew wide and innocent.

“Eh, nothing much.” Error shrugged with an innocent smile of his own. “Just a lil’ secret I like to keep up to date on.”

“Oh? And Chronic is allowed to go with you?” Nightmare spoke playfully, turning his attention to Chronic.

“A secret is a secret our dear night.” Chronic playfully spoke, shrugging as they turned and walked away. “We’ll leave ya to deal with that.”

“Well then,” Nightmare pouted, before turning back to Error, “May I ask what it’ll take to learn of this little secret of yours?”

Little was an understatement. At times it took far too much work to keep things under wraps.

He tapped his chin, looking around and about as if thinking. Honestly, he had thought about telling them a couple of times, especially more so now than ever. He wants them to be able to meet Sydney and give Nightmare the chance to see the cafe, and to bring Ccino up there too–but not as Lapse, as Error.

There was still the lingering problem, while Lapse was largely loved, Error was equal parts hated if not entirely despised. He’s not a welcome face and outright telling Dream and Ink would likely hurt them as well as disrupt Omega. Having to choose between keeping Omega safe and him is never a decision he wants to have to make, and he never wants them to come anywhere close to it.

However… there was one way it could work.

“A peace treaty.” Nightmare blinked, and Dream seemed shocked, as did Ink. “An official one, not the truce that you set up while searchin’ for me.”

“Wait- wait. You need a peace treaty to tell us why you’re going out on… errands?” Ink explained, “Isn’t that a little much– I mean, yeah, peace treaties and all, but…” they gestured with their hands vaguely.

“Ta be honest, ’s a little more than errands.”

Ink looked as if they wanted to speak more, however, Nightmare spoke first.

“That should be reasonably easy.” The God pulled himself from Dream’s side, “Before the truce I was thinking of going straight-” Ink chuckled, catching Nightmare off guard, who huffed a laugh before continuing, “-straight to making a peace treaty, and I may still have the draft.”

“Why didn’t we just do a peace treaty then?” Dream questioned

“It’s got a lot more legal hurdles than a truce, clearing names then working with telling the public and scheduling that and so forth…” Nightmare rolled his eyes, “But I’ve waited for ages to sate this curiosity. Another week or so won’t hurt.”

—--

When he agreed to the peace treaty, he didn’t expect to see this.

All things considered, the peace treaty went well. The Star council was completely on board with the idea, as were the main politicians of Omega. The issues came with planning the announcement ceremony.

The first issue came with the anxiety of it all. While the gang and council had been able to smooth things over, it doesn’t change the fact that for a good decade, the gang was hated and attacked on site–which multiplies into centuries for Nightmare. For Error, it wasn’t as difficult.

He knows Omega like the back of his hand, and he knows of all the issues the place has. The folk of the city were backless and when push comes to shove, yes they are survivors but they also live off the drama of the council and what few celebrities and politicians there are.

If you make it to the edges of town, as long as you can hold your own, there can be nicer people. Ones that want to live their lives peacefully and truly build a community. He trusts that in the end, Sydney would trust him–Error or Lapse–and would happily help hide Error, Nightmare, and the gang until they could properly get out of Omega.

Who he worried over the most though--Nightmare aside--was Cross.

For all of the trips so far into Omega, xey would go rigid and guard-like. Still as a statue until talked to and always by either Killer’s or Error’s side. He knew they had been alone for a long time before ending up with Nightmare but had never seen how bad it affected them. He had a small hunch, judging by when he came back–since they didn’t seem to make any friends–but this just all-out confirmed things.

Even now, standing behind the curtains as the crowd gathered outside, xey stood still and vigilant.

For the announcement of the truce, they took up most of the park. A stage was built as well as a curtain made room behind with tents for people to gather. He knew Nightmare and Dream had taken one of them to reread through the treaty one more time before the ceremony and Core and Chronic had stolen another. The gang was scattered with the friends they had made in the council, and per Cross’ pushing, Killer had split off as well.

For the time, Error mostly stood off in a corner, an arm wrapped over Cross’ shoulders as they watched whatever people were hired for the event run around and others mingle.

“Hey, kiddo?” Cross stiffened, before relaxing a tad, looking up at Error but glancing at the small crowd every few seconds, “I can tell ya ain’t doing the best.”

Cross winced, hunching in on themself and looking away.

“It’s that obvious?” Error shrugged, he wasn’t going to worry him more.

“Ya worried about people?” Cross didn’t respond, still avoiding his eyes.

He looked back over the crowd, letting his eyes scan through everything and everyone. Most he recognized, few were unknown. He spotted Sydney at the food table laid out as well as some of his workers. Keeping treats and drinks warm or cold as well as making sure everyone was drinking water and not feeling too nervous for the event. A good spider donut always was a great distraction.

He crouched down to nearly Cross’ height, the other snapping xeir attention over and upon seeing each other eye to eye, turned away.

“The curtains are heavy, not easy to move.” He started, to which Cross straightened again, looking out at the impromptu setup they were in, “A sharp bone attack could easily break through it though, looks to only be cotton- but, if you look up…” He saw Cross move to look out of the corner of his socket, “...and to the corner is the connection point. A bone or a blaster could break any of these sections apart for an easy escape.”

Cross relaxed more. “...I actually got someone here on my side,” Cross turned to look at him, confusion clear on their expression. Understandable since they’d both been standing in the corner since they all first arrived. “One of the workers has my back, and when push comes to shove, she’d hide us and cover our backs.”

With that backup plan in place, Cross finally rested xeir stiff pose, a hesitant smile appearing.

“Thanks, dad.”

“Any time, kid.”

An employee ran into Core’s tent, before swiftly running back out. “...Think it’s gonna start soon.”

Cross inhaled shakily, before sighing.

“...fun.”

Core stepped out of their tent, Chronic following in toe, and everyone turned to look.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming out and making this possible.” Core began, a brighter smile than he’d ever seen on their face. “From employees and volunteers to the kind workers from The Outsider for coming out to cater,” Sydney nodded with a sly smirk, “to the Star Council and Nightmare and his gang, again, thank you.”

Core clapped their hands together, a hopeful expression overtaking.

“Now! It’s time for us all to get up on stage. They are seats for us all up there, staff will direct which side you are to be on- for the gang, do not fret about what the crowd thinks. They have already been made aware that this is a peaceful event, and just in case security measures have been made.”

One by one, the Stars made their way up the small staircase to the stage, Hearts following Blue with a wink to Error.

Then, with Nightmare in front and Error following, they made their way out from behind the curtain and onto the main stage.

The crowd was loud and bustling but went deadly quiet as they stepped out. Only the smallest of coughs or a few people clearing their throat was heard as they took their seats. Hearts looked oddly out of place, standing behind Blue’s chair, and then an empty chair on Nightmare’s side.

Death, Core, and Chronic all walked out, standing together before the podium.

“Everyone,” Chronic boomed, not even bothering to talk into the mic, their voice easily projecting over the crowd. “Take your seats.”

Somewhat jokingly, Reaper floated in the air, mimicking sitting in a chair. However, what drew everyone’s attention was Hearts.

Leaning down, Hearts gave blue a chaste kiss, before pulling out his ring necklace from under his shirt. Then, he stood back up and walked over to the empty seat on Nightmare’s side.

The crowd erupted in gasps, and Dream and Ink seemed to gawk at Blue who just stared dreamy-eyed after Hearts. The rest of the council looked equally as shocked, while the only reaction on Nightmare’s side was Killer giving Hearts a fist bump.

“Times are changing.” Core spoke clear into the mic, bringing back everyone’s attention. “After centuries of fighting between positivity and negativity; destruction and creation, we can finally have peace. This will bring in a new age, and it’s one I’m excited to see grow and change everything for the better.”

Core moved the mic over to Chronic, who takes it gingerly.

“We have long lived in the background.” Chronic began, speaking carefully into the mic, “It’s safe to say, and there is doubtfully any disagreement, that these sides have torn apart the multiverse.” There are quiet murmurs of agreement across the mass, “At the beginning of the multiverse, and for nearly half of the existence of the Omega Timeline, there were no sides. There were just the gods. Omega was a place for new starts and a hub for the AUs and what few lost their worlds.”

Chronic grew more confident, speaking with purpose.

“Those times were abandoned at some point, and it’s not better. It’s worse. We’ve forgotten that while negativity can be terrible-” Nightmare inhaled, sneakily grabbing Error’s hand, “-it is needed. The powers of the multiverse and its Gods should not be limited to sides, as they work on multiple spectrums. Please, heed this as the peace treaty goes into effect and the multiverse adjusts. It will take time, but it will also be for the better.”

Chronic moved the mic back over to Core, who signaled for Nightmare and Dream to come up.

Together, they started to read out the peace treaty, and he could see them hold their hands together behind the podium.

“I, Nightmare, promise to stop the spread of negativity and let things occur naturally. Negativity can be evil, but it is nature.” He could barely make out Nightmare gripping tighter, and Dream clenching his hand back, “It is the fight or flight I have had to live with for the entirety of my long life, and it’s a force that many of you have likely experienced. It’s the anxiety that manifests in us, it’s the anger we feel for right and wrong reasons. It cannot be defined as one simple thing as we have for so long. It is not the evil that it is presented as. It is the push that gives our lives the greatest highs after we have felt at our lowest.”

Dream nodded, a bright genuine smile stretching from cheek to cheek.

“I, Dream, promise to stop the spread of positivity and let things occur naturally.” There were distraught murmurs amongst the crowd, but Dream held fast. Raising a hand to signal for silence with a high chin, he continued, “Positivity makes us happy, but it can be evil. People can be happy doing cruel, unspeakable things. In addition, too much happiness prevents the process of life. It takes away grieving,” Dream turned to look at Nightmare, “and undermines the loss of loved ones. It takes away the guilt of doing something wrong, the anger at somebody wrong, and it can make us forget to be thankful for what we have, by forgetting what was lost.”

With that final note, together the two raised their joined hands, showing their unity to everyone. The crowd begins to boom as they clap, but the show was not over.

Nightmare slowly bows his head sighing softly, barely heard on the mic, and the negativity covering him drips away. When the negativity is fully gone, Nega reforms next to Nightmare, who raises his head.

Nightmare extends a hand, turning to look at Nega, and the crowd, as well as the star council, go silent in shock. The large gaping hole in the side of Nightmare’s skull settled in their minds. It spoke volumes of how Nightmare's trust for Dream had grown, his entire blind side facing the crowd that had caused him so much anxiety the past days.

Nega takes Nightmare's hand, and the two raise it together.

It’s quiet for a moment, but slowly, hesitant claps start, before it's thundering with applause. Workers start to cue them behind the stage, and they all gather by the snack bar.

Before any conversation can start, even before Hearts can make his way back to Blue, a council member barrels into Nightmare’s arms.

"My boy! Oh- I missed ya!" Nightmare laughs, hugging Sci back. Everyone’s mouths fell to the floor, except for Error.

"So this is what ya meant by saying Sci took ya in. Wow 'mare, can't believe ya hid ya dad from us."

"Well, there's the small problem of-"

"Oh? Night, have ya finally found yourself someone…” Sci looks over at Ink, Death, and Dream, “...Someones? Why didn't you tell me!"

"That problem."

“Wha- Sci??” Dream finally speaks up, “When? When?!” Tone exasperated and surprised.

“Oh, I took Nightmare in ages ago! I think you were in stone at the time…” Sci recounts with a laugh, “We haven’t been able to meet up since all of this craziness started, but I’m glad I can finally see you again!”

“Yes, yes, I’m glad to see you too… but there was an initial reason for this peace treaty.” Nightmare directs his attention to Error. “Can you finally tell us this big secret of yours? All the errands??”

Error huffs a laugh, crossing his arms.

“I’m getting put on the spot now, aren’t I?”

“Yes, you are. I spoke in front of that crowd, you blab your secret in front of a few dozen people.”

“Yeah, that’s fair.” Error shrugged, “In my defense, all of you are more likely to kill me over this than that crowd.”

The gang shifts from side to side, and the star council is even more so confused. All of them–Dream and Ink aside–trying to turn their back on the conversation in favor of the food table, but still looking back for the gossip. The confusion of Hearts and Blue gone for the moment in favor of Error.

“Okay, really. How bad can it be?” Ink speaks up, a little pout on his face.

With a sigh, Error takes off his glasses, pocketing them, and pulls out his second pair and those little cards for the VIP loft of the outsider.

Cross’ eyes go wide and he stares at Error, but no one else quite understands. He can see Sydney peering at him from behind the food table.

“...Cards for the outsider? You know Mode?” Dream began hesitantly.

With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, he pulls the Omega ID for Lapse from one of his pockets and sets it on the table with the glasses.

No one says anything still, but Ink and Dream seem to be piecing things together.

“I- …I don’t understand.” Dream eventually stutters.

“Oh stars, fine.” And he pulls up the panel for Lapse, letting all of them see it as he clicks the button.

His body glitches, and an unimpressed Lapse Divinity Mode in Error’s clothes stands before them. The room is shocked into silence, and one of his workers pouring a coffee even stops. If everyone keeps dropping their jaws like this they’ll need to tie it to their head. “Ya get it now?”

The room stays in silence, until Sydney walks up.

“Boss?”

“Hey, sorry I couldn’t tell ya… or came back sooner.”

“No, no. Again, don’t worry- don’t even think about it… but, damn.” She folds two of her arms as her third rests on her hip, “Honestly… Nah, this makes sense. Guessing that secret menu of yours has a backstory with these folks?”

The gang finally pulls themselves together, and Killer yells: “You’re Lapse D. Mode?!!”

“I thought you said you didn’t know him!” Dust follows

Error sighs, laughing as everyone recovers. Death just smiles slyly, off to the side, which Dream and Ink begin to notice.

“Ye—eah, it was pretty hard to cover up. I still don’t know how I managed it. I even made Dream’s outfit at the base.” Dream’s eyes go wider, and he just covers his face as some moments start to click in. “Problems over there, pretty boy?”

“...Shut. Up.” Is all Dream musters, but the bright yellow peeking out from behind his hands is enough reward.

-----

THEY FINALLY KNOW ERROR IS LAPSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHAPTER FOR AGES

Also: I wanted to share the notes I have for this chapter. Not exactly what happened, but still funny.

For the ceremony, Hearts starts off at Blue's side, attached to his arm. But as Dream and Nightmare step up and ask everyone to get to their places, the crowd gasps as Hearts pecks Blue on the cheek and moves to stand with the gang. Blue watches with a lovestruck gaze as Hearts walks away. Ink and Dream gawk at Blue who just shrugs innocently, fiddling with his ring. - There is a celebration afterwards, and before anyone can pester Error with questions, Sci sprints over embracing Nightmare. "My boy! Oh- I missed ya!" Nightmare laughs, hugging Sci back. Everyone is confused, especially Dream. Error is only confused for a moment before speaking up: "So this is what ya meant by saying Sci took ya in. Wow 'mare, can't believe ya hid ya dad from us." "Well there's the small problem of-" "Oh? Night, have ya finally found yourself someone... someones? Why didn't you tell me!" "That problem." - He doesn't really reveal it. Just dramatically sighs and rolls his eyes, before pulling up a panel and clicking a button. Switching his form to a normal Sans, pulling a wallet and his other glasses out of his pocket and shrugging as the Star Sans look aghast at him being Lapse D. Mode. Cobalt is the most shocked by far, and even reboots for a moment. Blue pulls him away carefully and helps him through it, so does Hearts. Cross is stuttering in the background and Error just casually strides up as Lapse and just chuckles, "How's it goin, Chrome?" Mention in notes of post-Because this is too damn funny to keep to just us.

14 notes · View notes

zu-is-here · 3 years ago

Note

Hi zuu!! Long time to chat huh? Seems like I missed you last time :')

Also I didn't respond to your last ask, because I was waiting for you to be back again! so I'll do that now.

In the mean time, how are you a doing? How's work?

Hii Gayfish! <3 It's been a while indeed, missed you too (ówò)

Oh don't even worry about it, and thank you in advance! (*´꒳`*)

It’s been the second day of four without work on this week and it feels amazing ☆ I'm afraid to get used to it XD Finally got more free time and I can't help but pay off my debts drafts and share so many wonderful works! *^*

Your drawings are gorgeousss as always (ㅅ´ ˘ `) Ccino from Dreams Demons and Desires intrigues with his backstory *0* And the dreammare comic was just what my hungry soul needed ♡ So hyped for the next ones! Great job ☆

How are you doing lately? How's the work? How's Henry? <3

We can't always get things right on the first try but that's okay! (òwó) I'm sure you did it great after <3

If you mean Cinnabon then yes, they only specialize in cinnamon rolls (úwù)

Yeah the ice cream is the simplest there, in a waffle cone, the best one tho *^*

Koshka's doing good, thanks! <3 So hungry lately, winter is coming... xp

Hopefully it's nothing serious (ó3ò)

I've never tasted it! Sounds deliciously yet suspiciously xp

Thank you! (〃ω〃) Things were really much simpler then, I didn't even think about shipping that much, and they were just a cool team of baddie villains <3

UPD:

Thank youuu! Truly amazing, I'm looking forward to it (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

You can do it! ᕦ(òwóˇ)ᕤ I'm sure 3 hours is just a piece of cake for you ☆

Ohh but how could such a good boy act in spite?? (ówò)

Dude this chapter is so thrilling! \(//∇//)\ I was so worried about Cross and barely breathed at some moments but at the end I was ready to cry along with him ;3;

Haven't watched Helluva yet but I already feel it :')

Wounded?? (ó3ò)

Ohhh that does hurt _(:3 」∠)_

Gonna sleep, and draw, and clean the house and draw again, maybe play the piano and meet my friends (☆ω☆) What about you? *^*

M'lady's "bathing" before bed <3

#updated #ask #zu is happy #Koshka

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somewhere-insnowdin-forest · 5 years ago

Note

Dreammare with "I thought you were gone"

oKAY i didn’t mean???? for this to go like this???? the characters took over again. tbh i would mind doing more stuff for this verse-

~~~~

“Nightmare.” Dream greeted. Nightmare looked over him, drinking in every glance as he stared in shock at the Guardian.

“Dream…. I thought you were gone.” Nightmare breathed out, voice barely louder than a whisper, yet still echoing in the empty throne room.

Dream was covered in scars, scratches and dents decorating his bones. He no longer wore his common yellow, and instead wore darker colors, fit for blending into the shadows. The shadows themselves seemed to cling to Dream under his eye sockets, making him appear as exhausted as Nightmare may expect.

“It’s been-”

“Years. I know.” Dream cut him off, with a sharp voice. Nightmare wasn’t certain, but he could swear he heard fondness in Dream’s voice.

“Where have you BEEN?!” Nightmare demanded, finally drawing himself out of his shocked stupor as he practically leapt from his throne. Desperation fueled his actions, yet he did not dare come closer to Dream in fear of this being another elaborate hallucination or illusion.

“Away. Not by choice, mind you my dear.” Dream responded dully, the pet name rolling off his tongue the same way it had years ago. Nightmare couldn’t help but notice that despite Dream’s new appearance, his crown still sat on his head. Of course, it was dull and dented, and in some places scratched, but it was the sentiment that counted. Dream hadn’t forgotten him.

“Who took you? I- We have been searching for years!” Nightmare took a hesitant step forward, still afraid this whole situation wasn’t real. Dream’s eyelights seemed to soften for a moment, before hardening again.

“They never bothered to tell me their names, only what they wanted me for.” Dream informed him, his tone reminding Nightmare of the times his followers would report on something. It pained him to hear Dream speak to him like that.

“And what was that?”

“They wanted to break me. Destroy a being of Positivity, and they could do it to everyone, right?” Dream tilted his head ever so slightly, a dangerous and far away look in his eyelights. “I didn’t let them get that far.”

Nightmare was afraid to speak, afraid that Dream would shatter into pieces. Despite how he appeared on the outside, Nightmare knew him better than that. On the inside, Dream was as fragile as shattered glass, and just as dangerous.

“I killed them.” Dream answered the unspoken question, hands twitching at his sides.

Nightmare took another step forward, drawing closer to Dream. He kept his palms facing outwards, and his posture submissive. It would be no good to set him off, after all. Nightmare just got him back, he couldn’t lose him again.

“I killed them all.” Dream’s eyelights grew hazy, a far away look on his face. Nightmare could recognize this look from years of handling his boys. He drew closer, slowly, in order to not set off Dream.

“Dream, you’re here now, with me, Nightmare.” He attempted to soothe. Despite his words, Dream started shaking like a leaf, staring into the distance at some unseen threat.

“I killed them. Every last one of them.” Dream muttered, before tilting forward, luckily towards Nightmare.

Nightmare only had time to spit out a curse, before racing to catch Dream.

“Dream! Dream, my love, it is alright. I am here, you’re with me, Nightmare. Your husband.” Nightmare cradled Dream in his arms, as Dream broke down into sobs in his arms.

Nightmare held him close, rocking him back and forth while Dream cried.

“Cry as long as you need, my love. I am here now. No one will ever hurt you again.”

#writtenwillows #dreammare #dream #nightmare #dreamtale #dream sans #nightmare sans #HAHAH DAMN #sanscest

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rarepair-haven · 5 years ago

Note

Can we ask to join the discord server? Do we dm for it or-

hey! i did already send u an invite, but i saved ur ask so i could explain how we hand out the invites for our server on this blog, and also a bit about how our server works in general!

so first off, if you didn’t know, yes! this blog has a discord server! it was created by mod galli and i, (mod fae), to be a safe haven for all ships!

to get an invite, all you need to do is ask us on this blog off anon! we won’t be posting invites (or perma-invites) publicly. this helps us ward against raids or other undesirables. (i have had someone asking me for an invite on my main blog, which was a bit strange to wake up to. i did give them their invite, but we prefer you to ask us here please!)

mod galli and i, (the admins of the server), are usually the ones who hand out invites! you’ll usually receive a dm from one of us on tumblr. if your dms aren’t open, or you dont feel comfortable having your messages open, don’t worry! we’ll save your ask and send it back privately with your invite!

before we send out an invite to you though, we do have to check and clear your blog, which is why getting invites out takes so long sometimes (we have to do our checks and clear you before we can send you your invite, after all!). our server is pro-ship, and we don’t want any fighting in the server. all our mods, for example, are pro-dreammare, which is a pretty controversial topic in this fandom. we’d just rather avoid shipping discourse by not letting it in at all. ((and a note, we won’t be posting or tolerating shipping discourse on this blog either. all people who attempt to instigate discourse will be blocked from the blog)).

we also check a few other things - like i said before, we don’t want any “undesirable” people in the server, so we check the blog of each person who asks to make sure we’re not letting in anyone who might start fights concerning certain ideologies or stir up political debates or trouble. most people who ask for invites do pass our checks pretty easily, though we are human and we do make mistakes sometimes. we do try our absolute best to keep the server a safe environment for everyone in it though!

basically, all you have to do is ask off anon! we take care of the rest!

a bit more about how our server works: when you get in, you have to introduce yourself before you can see the rest of the server! this means introducing yourself, telling us your age*, telling us your pronouns (we’re neo-pronoun friendly, and will make a pronoun role for you!), linking/telling your blog or other social media (somewhere online where people can find you, a little promotion, as a treat), and two optional last options, which are telling us your favorite ship and a fun fact about you. (you can check the pins in our intro channel to find a guide for our intro requirements!)

*your age is a requirement. if you feel uncomfortable telling the server, you may put “Minor” or “Adult”. this is for your own safety and everyone in the server’s safety (because minor could be from 13-17, which is a huge difference, and adult could be from 18 to anywhere beyond). you won’t be allowed in unless you let us know! (and one last thing, a gentle reminder that you must be 13+ to be on discord).

these are our server rules; they cover pretty much everything you’ll need to know about how the server is run!

server participation does get rewarded, by the way! we’ll upgrade you to a full member if you participate in the server enough for long enough, and this comes with access to our promo channel

our current server is about two years old (though overall, the rarepair server has been around for about four years; we moved servers two years ago). we’ve been steadily growing since we created this blog three years ago, and we’re very close to 100 members in the server! i can say that our server is very very peaceful and positive, despite its size. it’s such a fantastic ship environment

so, this has been an rph discord server post! hope more of u guys will join us!!

-mod fae

#mod fae #fae says something

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sleepyfan-blog · 5 years ago

Note

Dream and Nightmare, prompt 18?

Fandom: UTMV

Characters and pairing: Nightmare, Dream, Dreammare

Word count: 2,020

Warnings: murder, minor chracter death, lying, ask to tag

Summary: Nightmare comes home after a wonderful day spent in Dream’s clothes.

Taglist: @anxiety-is-married-to-depression @angelofthehalfmoon @trainwreck-of-skeletons @hisame-amadashi @therandomskelekey

Nightmare walks back from the village, a tiny smile appearing on his face, shaking himself a little. It was amazing that somehow, the little trick that Dream had come up with seemed to have worked so well. He had tentatively told the other that sometimes the villagers could be mean to him when he was by himself, no matter how nice he tried to be to them... So Dream had proposed that the two of them switch clothes for the day, to see if they would be mean to dream, if he looked like Nightmare... And considering the fact that the two of them had opposing auras, the idea of that working had been really silly at the time...But the temptation to actually able to go into the village and pick out as many books as he wanted without Dream at his side or having to dodge nasty questions and dark looks from the village librarian had proved too much for the young guardian to resist.

Dream had promised to stay at the tree today and guard it while he went out and got books. Nightmare had also promised to help some of the villagers, should they ask him for assistance. He hadn't thought that they would ask him for his help - unless it was to go away forever and not steal away Dream's attention from them. But... The villagers had greeted him with warmth and openness - they were happy to see him for once - and the baker had given him his favorite pastries for free - insisting that he do so, as he had helped the other bring in several huge sacks of flour.

Some of the fruit sellers had been having difficulties with rats getting into their wares, so Nightmare had woven a spell over their stalls, which should prevent the rats from getting into their food, and as that had proven true, he had been given some very tasty pears and peaches to eat. He saved a couple for Dream to try... And as word had spread that he could make a spell to keep rats and other vermin away from the stalls, the rest of the food selling shopkeepers had begged him for his help. Nightmare had been happy to help them purely for the way their eyes lit up in gratitude, and the praise that they gave him... It felt amazing.

If this was what it was like when Dream was able to help people... The young negative guardian understood why his positive counterpart liked being able to help them so much. Not only did he get the satisfaction of helping people, being thanked for it by other people was wonderful... He hummed happily as he made his way over to their tree, his arms full of books, inventory full of food that neither of them really needed, but enjoyed eating nevertheless, realizing with a bit of a blush that he was skipping on the way home... He felt a little bit silly for doing so, but he couldn't help the giddy grin on his face. They absolutely had to do this again sometime!

Dream... Wasn't sitting at the base of the tree, and nor could he clearly sense his other half. The smile faded on his face as he heard soft, hiccupping sound from the far side of the tree, the books tumbling from his arms as he rushed around the big tree, the dusk light dim, but his other half's pale golden eye lights shining in the darkness. He could see bruises on the other's arms and across his face, golden ichor long dried on his tunic. "Dream! What... What happened?"

Dream burst into tears and threw himself at Nightmare, burying his face into the other's chest "I-I-It w-was a-awful! A-About an hour after you were gone, s-several of the y-young vi-villagers showed up and s-started th-throwing rocks at me. They laughed a-and mo-mocked me wh-when I as-asked them to s-stop... C-Called me a d-demon and a pa-parasite! I... I ch-chased th-them off as one of them t-tried to reach the roots of the t-tree and th-their parents c-came back and a-attacked m-me... I... I had... I had to... They w-wouldn't stop..." Dream shakily gestured to the ground beneath Nightmare's feet, confusing the negative guardian. "N-No ma-matter what I t-tried to tell them... I had... I had to..."

Nightmare realized that he was standing on a pile of... Dust. He hadn't noticed at first, as he was focused on his injured other half. Oh no... He hadn't realized that Dream would experience a day like he usually experienced, while wearing his clothes... It was so obvious to the both of them that they were just changing clothes... Were the villagers really so blind? "I... Dream... it's... It's okay... We... We were made to protect the tree, and that means protecting each other and ourselves..."

"Do... D-Do the...Are the... Are the villagers m-mean to y-you like th-that a l-lot?" Dream stuttered tears continuing to fall from his face.

This stopped Nightmare dead in his tracks. He mentally scrambled ot figure out how he should answer that question - as the truth might break the other more... Especially as he'd been lying to him about where the injuries had been coming from, as the villagers had been getting meaner and more violent the longer they stayed to pester the two of them "I..."

"Ni...Nightmare? You... You can tell me... Tell me the truth... Please? You... I... You weren't clumsy before the villagers showed up. Not that clumsy..." Dream stuttered, sniffling a little bit as he presses into the negative spirit a little further, grateful to feel the other's familiar and safe pulse of magic beneath the shirt.

"I... They've never not stopped when I drew a weapon on them... I'm... Well... That's not... Quite true. But that was an older villager, and he was really smelly and slurred his words a lot. I think he might have been... Drinkin? I... Wh-what happened to the kid of the person who attacked you?" Nightmare asked, mentally scrambling. If someone had seen Dream dressed in his clothes kill someone... Things could get way worse really, really fast.

"Th-They att-attacked me too... What... What if the villagers realized that they went missing? What are we gonna do?" Dream asked, panicking a little. The first guardian had never allowed mortals to live so close to the tree... Dream hadn't understood why util today. They could be every bit as cruel and violent and mean as the memories had stated that they were.

"We're going to take the Dust and we're gonna bury it in the forest. That way they can't prove that they went missing here, alright? If the mortals push it, we'll remind them that they live around this tree at our sufferance, and if they don't like it, they can leave." Nightmare huffed, violet eye lights shining. All he had wanted was a day to find out what it was like to be in Dream's shoes... He hadn't realized that Dream would suffer so much... That the villagers were so blind as to who the two of them really were.

"O-Okay... S-Sounds good to me.... H-How was your day, Nighty? W-Were they... You... You're not hurt..." Dream stuttered, as the two of them gathered up the Dust from the two beings who had attacked him, using the underside of their flag to carry it all.

Nightmare thought about how to answer, then again went for the truth "I... I think they thought I was you... Like they thought you were me. They were all really nice to me... On the plus side, that means that we have food so that you can heal up. I was able to look at all the books that I wanted... It was... It was a really good day... I'm sorry, I idn't think that they would hurt you... It hough they'd realize we'd switched clothes and chase me out of the village, or demand that we switch back... Not... Not this..." He hadn't wanted Dream to suffer like he had. They walk side by side, the flag between them as they walk a good distance into the forest, out of sight of The Tree. Nightmare casts a spell to dig a two foot square hole that's ten feet deep. They carefully pour the Dust into the hole and once the flag has been shaken clean of Dust, they shove the dirt back on top, patting the newly turned over soil down as much as possible. The flag is still kind of dirty, so they walk a bit further into the forest, washing the flag so that it was clean.

Dream speaks a warming spell over their flag as it also dried the flag, The two of them walk hand in hand back to the tree, as true night fell. Dream spoke up after they reached the tree "They hurt you a lot... Do all of them, or only a few? Please... Please tell me the truth."

"I... Not every single one of them have gone after me, but a lot of them have." Nightmare admitted as he fidgeted with his hands "You seem to like the villagers a lot - and as they were really nice to me, I understand! such praise is really nice. It felt so strange coming from not you... But good... I wouldn't want to take that away from you."

"No! We're going to ask the village council to drive out all those who have gone after you like that - including the council members themselves who have hurt you, if some or most of them did! We have to protect one another, as well as the tree. I... I'm sorry I failed you. I should have been there. I should have realized that the mortals were hurting you. I'm not going to help any of them, should they refuse. And we'll chase all of them away if necessary." Dream hisses, shaking his head, a determined expresion appearing on his face. "I won't let this happen anymore."

"I... Dream..." Nightmare began, unsure as to what to do now. On one hand, the idea of being rid of those who hurt him sounds wonderful. But it could be difficult and dangerous to drive them away. "But... But what if they refuse?"

"Then we make them leave. We are the guardians of the tree... But just as important as that... We have to guard and protect each other from those who would cause the other harm... I... I failed you, and for that I am deeply sorry. I'll speak to them tomorrow, in my clothes? Or we could go together, and reveal to them what should have been a harmless little trick." Dream explains, his eye lights shining strangely. "And we'll see how they respond. Hopefully the ones who hurt you will leave peacefully... But if they do cause trouble..." He swallowed, and shuddered a little "I... We'll do what we must... Right?"

"I... Okay. If... If you're sure..." Nightmare murmured, hope flaring in his chest, despite the probably awful way that this is going to end. He'd try his best to make sure that any additional Dust created or blood spilled is by his hands, rather than Dream's... He doesn't want to see more of the warmth and gentleness in the other's eyes to fade. "Tomorrow morning, we'll confront them, and show them what they've done."

Dream nodded as the two of them sat down and leaned against the tree "Tomorrow morning we'll call for a village meeting and confront them on what they've done. I love you, Moonstone."

"And I love you too, Sunshine. I'll take first watch, you rest." Nightmare murmured, reaching out to gently stroke the other's cheek.

Dream leaned into his touch and nodded, and yawned tiredly "I... Okay... Wake me if trouble comes..."

"I will..." The negative guardian promises with a small smile, watching as the other fell asleep cuddled into him. Tomorrow would be... Interesting, but for tonight, he held Dream in close, watching for anyone who might try to take the apples (or Dream) from him.

#my writing #dream sans #nightmare sans #dreammare #murder tw #lying tw #minor character death tw #ask to tag

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ebelwrites · 6 years ago

Text

Reviving Something Dead

Well, I’m sick. I’ve been sick for the past few days and it sucks. At least it’s doing wonders for my writing. So, DS Dreammare, soulmate AU edition. I really like how this turned out and I’ve already got ideas for a followup oneshot to this. Also, human Dreamswap crew, just because I felt like it.

Nightmare was seriously regretting accompanying Error to JR’s Orphanage. Not that there was much choice in the matter; with how new their status as innocents was, Error going alone was out of the question and Cross was far more likely to create an unwanted incident than Nightmare was. Still, though, Nightmare found himself only growing more and more uncomfortable the longer they stayed. The supposed to be five minute stop to drop off another package of knitted goods for the kids winding up being thirty minutes and counting, as Error got caught up talking with the guy who’d been checking the packages when they’d been anonymous. Nightmare was stuck silently fidgeting behind them.

It didn’t help at all that Dream was in the same room as them. It had only been two weeks since the other had forcefully changed his nature from negative to positive; after a hundred years of being on the run, of having to flee at the slightest hint that the positivity guardian was anywhere near him, of the other’s presence bringing nothing but pain and the reopening of old wounds, two weeks was far too soon for him to be comfortable with the other’s presence. Luckily, Dream was busy talking to one of the more senior-looking orphanage workers about budget estimations, if he was hearing right, and hadn’t made any move towards them. Which was good, because Nightmare was not ready for any sort of conversation with him.

Nightmare scratched lightly at his hand as Error and the guy continued talking, looking around in a mix of boredom and uneasiness. He noticed a group of kids settling nearby, probably under the watch of a worker nearby and all looking like they were eight to thirteen. He nearly groaned out loud as he heard what they were discussing; their soulmate marks. They were showing each other their wrists, cooing over the names printed there and the few who had already met their soulmate were showing off the first green leaves of their branches. Nightmare felt a sour expression cross his face and he gripped his own wrist tightly. The ugly feeling of envy turned in his stomach as he watched them parade around their marks, blissfully unaware that a soulmate mark didn’t automatically mean a happy ending.

It hurt more the longer he watched them; a name written in a font that best suited your intended, the name resting on a large tree branch that wrapped around your entire wrist. The tattoo-like mark would change based on your relationship with your soulmate, green leaves sprouting with every happy memory and flowers blooming from the bark with gestures of love. If a truly important event happened, a charm representing the moment would form tied to the branch with a ribbon. And the marks between soulmates were always identical, so you always had proof of your relationship printed on your skin. Of course, Nightmare thought bitterly, people always forgot that the mark would change for hurtful moments between soulmates as well; leaves dying, wood rotting, ribbons ripping, good memories forgotten under a mountain of pain. He grit his teeth and tried his best to ignore the kids, but his eyes kept drifting back over.

Not all the kids had their wrists laid bare; it was considered a personal preference if you wanted to show off your mark or if you wanted to keep it private. Some proudly kept their wrists bare while others had simple leather cuffs with a simple latch, easy to undo if they wanted to sneak a quick peek. Nightmare had a thick and long one that laced up tight and was difficult to undo. In truth, he’d never undone it; he’d put it on when he noticed the first few leaves starting to turn yellow and hadn’t taken it off since. It was cowardly of him, but Nightmare hadn’t wanted to watch as his once-beautiful soulmate mark shrivelled away into a rotten carcass. He wanted to remember it as it had been at its best. He bit his lip and sighed; it was starting to make him feel sad.

He continued to idly watch the kids. They seemed to have grown bored of looking at each other’s marks and were now going around and asking the adults about theirs. Some happily showed, others preferred to describe it and keep the marks private, but each answer only seemed to make the little ones even more curious. It probably shouldn’t have come as a surprise to him, but he still felt like time slowed to a crawl when one of the youngest kids turned his inquisitive smile on Nightmare. It felt like Nightmare was watching a tragic event; where you could clearly see that things were going to end badly but you were powerless to stop it and all you could do was watch it happen. Nightmare had, for many years now, told anyone who asked that he wasn’t wanted by his soulmate. It was true, after all; it just cut out all the detail that he really didn’t want to go into with strangers. It tended to make them stop in sympathy rather than ask probing and uncomfortable questions. And so, when a child with a bright and naive smile asked who his soulmate was, his automatic answer rolled off his tongue without him even really thinking about it.

“I don’t have a soulmate; I’m unrequited.” There was a loud crash and some child-friendly curse replacements. The noise immediately drew everyone’s attention and, to Nightmare’s immediate relief, any interest Dream had in the people around him was absorbed by trying to clean up the remains of his coffee cup. The worker he’d been speaking with was bending down to help him and someone ran over some paper towels. Unfortunately, the now-silent atmosphere meant that everyone heard it when the child began talking to Nightmare again.

“What does ‘unrequited’ mean?” It was obvious from the kid’s body language that he’d figured out that it wasn’t anything good. Nightmare could feel a hundred pairs of eyes on him, watching the interaction and listening to him, and he felt his chest tighten.

“It means they didn’t want me.” It was immediately clear that no one had told these kids that it was possible for your soulmate to reject you. They did not take it well. They all started talking at once, voices rising with panic and sentences quick. Other workers went to them to try and soothe them, but it was all loud white noise to Nightmare. The child in front of him, now with tears forming in the corners of his eyes, took a step towards Nightmare. Nightmare wanted to step back, but his legs felt paralysed.

“They didn’t? But, but why?” The child was deeply distressed, that much was clear just from his voice, and Nightmare hoped desperately that the kid didn’t try to get any closer.

“They just didn’t want to.” Nightmare was amazed at how steady his voice sounded, although not as strong as he’d hoped it would be. “They told me that they didn’t love me, that they wouldn’t love me, and that was that.”

“Who are they?” The kid wasn’t quite shouting but it was still said loud enough to make Nightmare jump and his breath quicken. “They’re mean and they shouldn’t have said that, so who are they?”

“Tony!” Came the sharp reprimand from the worker that Error had previously been talking with. “Those are some very personal questions and we do not ask that!” The worker came around from behind him and the kid clung to him like a lifeline. One of them, or maybe both, said something to the other, but Nightmare couldn’t process it. There were too many people, too many questions, and Nightmare didn’t want to talk about this. His breath was coming in short pants now and he had to hold his own hands to stop them from shaking. He needed to get out.

“I have to go.” Nightmare had no clue how if he’d managed to say his sentence at anything above a whisper, but he no longer cared. He backed away until he had a clear path, and then he ran. Someone called his name but he couldn’t make out who it was. He couldn’t say how long he ran or where to, but when he became aware again, JR was far behind him and out of sight. His legs finally gave out from under him and he dropped to his knees in the dirt. He was trying to catch his breath when he heard a nearby bush rustle. Fear instantly filled him but he had no more strength to run. Then a blue string snaked out from the leaves and Nightmare calmed again. Error walked out and knelt beside him, strings wrapping around his hand in the approximation of a hand hold. For a long time, Error said nothing. But just his presence was enough to start calming Nightmare down; to know that there was someone who cared about him and his well being. Who knew how much time had passed before Error finally spoke.

“He hurt you a lot, didn’t he?” Nightmare nodded, unable to look at Error’s face. Tears pricked his eyes and he tried to shake them off. He would not cry; he’d shed enough tears because of that b*stard. They fell anyway. Error’s hand hovered over his shoulder and he could almost feel the willpower that it took for Error to be able to make the contact. The touch was comforting, but the knowledge of how far Error would push himself for Nightmare’s sake was even more so.

“Let’s get you home,” Error said, “You’ll be safe there.” Nightmare nodded in agreement, feeling the drain of the day weighing on him. At least with his friends, he knew he was loved and cared for.

Dream approached the lone house in front of him with a not-insignificant level of uncertainty. Perhaps it was still too early for this but Dream had little choice now. He had hoped that Nightmare would approach him for this conversation when the other felt more comfortable, but it was clear from the incident at the orphanage earlier today that it needed to happen sooner than that. It had taken a while for him to be able to leave; the children had all been in distress and had needed a lot of time in conjunction with his aura in order to calm down. Many of them had expressed a deep distaste for the one who’d abandoned Nightmare, and Dream privately wondered how many of them would cling to that distaste if they’d known the truth. Not that Dream had told them, though he had suspicions that the Toriel he’d been talking to had worked it out. It wouldn’t be hard to guess, considering his reaction when he’d heard what Nightmare had said. He should have been prepared for the answer, but he shamefully had not. Of course Nightmare would still believe that Dream didn’t want him when Dream hadn’t gotten around to telling him otherwise. Well, that was what he was here for now; it was time to clear up the miscommunication. He knocked soundly on the front door and waited for it to be opened. Though, the one who opened it was most certainly not the one he hoped would.

“Oh, it’s you.” The distaste was clear in Cross’ voice, the other staring at him with narrowed eyes. “What the h*ll do you want?”

“Not that it is any of your business,” he tried to hold back the bite in his tone but he didn’t entirely succeed, “but I am here to speak with Nightmare.”

“Not a chance, f*ckface.” Cross blocked the opening with his full body, physically preventing Dream from being able to push past him.

“Agreed.” A new voice came from further in the house and Dream could see the shape of Error making his way down the stairs. “I have only just gotten him calm and sleeping. Now is not the time for this.” Dream grit his teeth, trying to see over Cross’ shoulder.

“This is important, I need to speak with him as soon as possible.” He spoke to Error, hoping to appeal to the more sensible of the two, but the only reply he got from the dark-skinned man was a shaking head.

“Haven’t you already done enough to him today? Just bugger off!” Dream gave Cross a glare at those words and felt his patience slipping.

“What happened to him today was not my fault-”

“It’s always your fault!” Cross barely let him finish before cutting him off, screaming in anger. “Literally everything he’s been through has been your fault! Or are you not the b*stard who threw his soulmate aside like he was garbage?” The sudden increase in rage startled Dream into silence. All the irritation drained from him and he had no idea what to say in response. He wanted to say that it wasn’t true, that Cross was letting his anger lead him to exaggeration, but they all knew he would be lying. Dream could not think of a single bad moment for Nightmare since the apple incident that hadn’t been caused by him, indirectly or otherwise, and the realisation hurt him more than he ever thought it could.

“Please leave, Von Licht.” He’d been standing in silence for a while, trying to think of a counter and coming up with nothing, and it seemed that Error was tired of waiting. “You are not welcome here.” Cross punctuated the request by slamming the door in his face, leaving Dream standing on the front step alone. He stood there in silence for a bit longer, out of shock and uncertainty more than anything, before he finally moved away. He cast a look back at the house, but nothing changed. And so he left, his soul feeling like it was weighed down by lead. He had a lot to think about.

Dream paced in his room, fingers fiddling with the laces of his wrist cuff. It had been a long time since he’d taken it off, having originally put it on so that it wouldn’t distract him from his goal. But that meant that he had no clue of what condition the mark was in anymore. Of course, it wouldn’t be in good condition, a hundred years of trying to sever it made sure of that, but he didn’t know how far it had degraded. He wondered if Nightmare had checked either, or if the other had chosen to forget about it, just like he had.

He stopped his wandering feet and stared at the laces, gritting his teeth. It took him a while, and more willpower than he thought it would, but he eventually managed to yank off the cuff and reveal the skin underneath. When he caught sight of his soulmate mark, he choked, horrified. It was even worse than he had thought it would be.

The wood of the branch was shrivelled and rotting, ugly mushrooms growing where flowers had once bloomed. The lettering of Nightmare’s name was small and shrunken, almost as though it was trying to hide from sight. Some smaller branches were missing, cut clean off from the main branch, and deep wounds scored the bark. The charms that had once symbolised their most important moments were gone; the ribbons that once held them were now tattered and colourless, limp and lifeless. Each and every leaf was brown and dead, every good memory spoiled and rotten. But the most horrifying thing was the blood that splattered the entirety of his soulmate mark; not a single leaf wasn’t dripping with crimson. It was the one thing that wouldn’t be the same if he checked Nightmare’s mark. It was the brand of one who’d hurt their own soulmate, the more blood meaning the more damage, and it was seared into his skin.

The sight made his chest heavy with horror and sorrow. He’d once had one of the most beautiful soulmate marks in existence. One that made everyone who saw it envious. Now, and through his own actions, it was a wreck. It was a pitiful and poor copy of what it had once been, and the sight brought tears to his eyes, though he refused to let them fall. And the thing that hurt most of all was the knowledge of just how badly he had to have hurt Nightmare in order for the mark to look like this. It laid bare all of his crimes against his soulmate, no lies and no excuses, and it was a horrifying thing to see.

He had to do something. Even if Nightmare never forgave him or accepted him back, he had to at least apologise; the mark showed he had many things to apologise for. But could he do so sincerely? Apologies only meant something if you regretted the actions, not just the consequences. If he couldn’t say that he would change the past if he could, his words would mean nothing. He took a deep breath and thought carefully.

He was still firm on his stance towards negativity, he could not see any benefit from allowing it to stay in existence. But Nightmare and negativity were not the same thing, and it had taken him far too long to be able to see that. The hundred years of pain, of trying to hunt down and kill his other half instead of even trying to think of another solution, that he definitely regretted. He should have tried to find another way earlier, he should have tried to find another way from the beginning, but he hadn’t, and Nightmare had suffered needlessly at his hand. That would be what he would change, if he could do it all again; to never give up on having Nightmare in his life, to never bring pain to his other half. He’d found his answer.

He hurriedly pulled himself up off the floor, when had he fallen to his knees, and grabbed his cuff. He slid it back into place, spent a moment composing himself, and then walked out of his room. He had an apology to make.

Dream waited anxiously in the forested spot he’d asked Nightmare to meet him at. The other hadn’t arrived yet, Dream wasn’t sure that he’d even come at all, but Dream found himself willing to wait for however long it took. His mind kept running through possible answers to any questions or accusations Nightmare might send his way; some of the thoughts were quite ridiculous but Dream was too nervous to talk himself down into a calmer frame of mind. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of his decision. He’d hurt the other too much already, and he’d forfeited any right he had to be the other’s soulmate; in the end, it was Nightmare’s decision and he’d respect it, no matter what it was. No matter what the final outcome, even if Nightmare told him to leave and never come back, he would accept it.

The sound of footsteps heading towards him made his soul race, and he tried desperately to remain calm. There was the rustling of leaves before Nightmare appeared from the foliage. The other looked rough around the edges; wary look on his face and dark circles around his eyes. Nightmare kept distance between them and Dream did not go to close it. He didn’t want Nightmare to feel trapped or cornered.

“I got your message.” Nightmare’s voice was not welcoming. He held up the paper airplane note he’d judged as the best way to get Nightmare’s attention without alerting his housemates. “What do you want?”

“I want to apologise.” A look of confusion and suspicion crossed Nightmare’s face when he spoke, and he could feel the anger rising in the other.

“What exactly for?” The words were almost spat and Dream internally winced.

“For many things.” Dream’s arms folded in front of his chest as his guilt grew. “For hurting you, for scaring you, for abandoning you. For almost everything, in fact.”

“Are you really? Or are you only saying that?” Nightmare’s scepticism hadn’t diminished in the slightest and Dream felt his soul sink. “I doubt you suddenly changed your mind about negativity.”

“Negativity still needs to be erased,” Nightmare looked betrayed and like he was about to shout but Dream quickly kept speaking. “But you are not negativity. You are not the same, and it took me far too long to realise that. Everything I did to you, everything you endured, it was entirely unnecessary. But I was too stubborn and set in my ways to see that. Negativity had to go, but that never should have included you as well. I’m sorry, for being so blind.” Nightmare looked uneasy, unsure if he was speaking the truth. The smaller male was holding himself and Dream longed to comfort and reassure the other like he would have many years ago. But he wasn’t welcome to do so any more.

“So, what do you want from this?” Nightmare shuffled his feet, looking down at the dirt. “Are you looking for forgiveness? For me to just forget any of this happened?”

“I would like to be forgiven, but you are right to not give it and I would not ask for it. What has happened cannot just be forgotten. If you one day choose to, that is your choice alone. But even if you never do, you deserved to hear the apology.” Nightmare bit his lip. Dream watched him as the other was lost deep in thought. Silence bathed the forest.

“I don’t know if I can,” Nightmare was trembling and Dream wondered if he was as well, “but I don’t know if I can’t.” The last little bit was like a tiny scrap of hope, and Dream felt his breath leave him.

“Does that mean?” Nightmare bit his lip harder, shaking his head.

“I don’t know, I don’t know. Maybe, but maybe not. It might work out, but if it doesn’t…” Nightmare suddenly made eye contact with him, eyes searching for something within Dream’s. “If I tell you one day that I can’t forgive you, that I never want to see you again, would you accept that?”

“Yes.” The thought of it made his chest hurt something fierce, but he would. He’d given Nightmare too little happiness in the past century; he had no right to keep him from any more.

“Then,” Nightmare let out a wavering sigh before a tiny and fragile smile creased his lips. “Then I’m okay seeing what happens next.” Dream almost thought he’d cry when he heard those words. It was better than he could have ever hoped for.

“Thank you.” His voice was breathless and he felt himself smiling back at Nightmare. Nightmare gave him a shy look which was unreasonably endearing, and Dream could feel himself almost growing lighter at the sight of it. He remembered what it was like to love Nightmare; he wondered how he’d ever been able to give up this feeling.

“I need to get back,” Nightmare finally said, bringing the moment to an end, “before Error or Cross notice I’m gone.” Dream nodded and stepped back a step.

“Sleep well.” Nightmare gave a jerky nod in response and turned around to go back the way he came. He cast a look over his shoulder at Dream, and Dream gave him what he hoped was an encouraging smile. It seemed to bring comfort to Nightmare, though, as the other gave him a soft smile. And then he disappeared into the night.

Once Nightmare was gone, all the strength seemed to leave Dream’s knees. He knelt in the dirt, trying to regain his breath and composure. His eyes strayed to his wrist cuff. It was too soon, and he was sure it would all look the same, but the temptation to check was too great to resist. He yanked it off with no care of it’s well being, and his breath got caught in his throat. On a tiny stub of a branch, so small it almost wasn’t there, was a new little green leaf. It was tiny and almost blocked from sight by the bigger brown leaves, but it was whole and healthy and without a single drop of blood to be seen on it. He ran his thumb over it, almost not believing what he saw, before he pulled his arm to his chest in a tight grip, not wanting to let it go. The last bits of his restraint broke and tears started streaming down his face, but nothing could break the smile of relief on his face.

It was only tiny, but he had a chance to make things right.

#ds dreammare #dreammare #ds!nightmare #DS!Dream #ds!error #DS!Cross #soulmate au #really looking forward to the followup

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onebizarrekai · 7 years ago

Text

this is also a thing–

DREAMMARE IS GREAT OKAY and this has been sitting in my notes for a while

Nightmare: DREAM JOIN THE DARK SIDE SO WE CAN BE TOGETHER

Dream: NO YOU MORON TURN GOOD AGAIN SO WE CAN BE TOGETHER

Nightmare: DAMMIT DREAM

Dream: ASSHOLE

Nightmare: I LOVE YOU PLEASE TURN EVIL

Dream: I LOVE YOU TOO BUT HELL NO

Dream: TURN GOOD

Nightmare: BUT BEING EVIL IS MORE FUN

Nightmare: DREAM WE CAN RULE THE MULTIVERSE TOGETHER

Dream: I DON’T WANT TO RULE THE MULTIVERSE I JUST WANT TO BE WITH YOU 

Nightmare: THEN TURN EVIL

Dream: TURN FUCKING GOOD YOU ASSHAT

Dream: I WILL DRAG YOU BY FORCE

Nightmare: COME AT ME BRO

Dream: (pulling up nonexistent sleeves) I THINK I WILL

Nightmare: wait dream I didn’t actually mean

Dream: FITE ME

(Dream dramatically leaps into the air to tackle Nightmare but Nightmare flips him upside-down by his ankle with one of his tendrils.)

Nightmare: dream please 

Dream: (INCOHERENT SCREAMING)

Nightmare: dream okay you need to calm yourself

Dream: PUT ME THE FUCK DOWN

(Nightmare tosses him upward and catches him in his arms.)

Dream: I SAID–

(Nightmare kisses him and Dream shuts up.)

Nightmare: okay dream. let’s just pretend I captured you and we can cuddle and watch a movie and you can leave afterwards okay.

Dream: ………… fine.

#dreammare #nightream #dream sans #nightmare sans #dreamtale #nightmare x dream #dream x nightmare #… I love them all right #dream being so explosive that it makes nightmare look calm is great

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secret-time-is-here · 3 years ago

Text

We know - AEJ

Chapter 4 - Ink

AEJ - Previous - First - Next

Ink, before/during Chapter 69

TW: Implied Dreammare

The days continued on, and eventually, Error went back home. Safe back with Nightmare and Death, with the gang. Meanwhile, Core and Chronic went full steam back into work, it was only a matter of time before Error’s memories were over now.

They continued to pick up the slack for Error, but less and less they had to step in. It seemed that the young gods had finally learned how to care for the multiverse. Or at least, had begun to do it unconsciously enough that the multiverse could help and correct itself. With not much else for Chronic to do, they took up watching over Error full time. However, it wasn’t long before Error fell into yet another memory recovery, and once again it was less of watching Error and more of watching his team.

It seemed that whatever conflicts between them had been put aside for Error’s sake at this point.

Dream freely came and went, even allowed to stay alone with Error at times–although the gang still was a little weary, and rightfully so. Hearts did well to avoid Dream and for the time, it seemed there was a silent agreement that they wouldn’t let anyone know that Hearts was allied with them just yet. That drama could wait, right now Error mattered much more.

Ink and Death openly talked and even at points cuddled close to Dream as well, and it seemed that Nightmare and Dream started to repair their relationship, talking long into the night after everyone else had gone to sleep or left.

They listened in to the late-night conversations. Listening to both of them recount the past centuries, talk about their journeys, and understand each other again. It was soul-warming, to say the least. The two quickly grew as close together as they used to be. Often nights they caught the pair dozing off clustered together, arms wrapped around each other. If the gang noticed, they didn’t speak up about it.

As the days progressed and Error stayed in recovery, the air hung thick with anticipation.

With everyone at home waiting, supplies ran low quicker than they would’ve, and soon enough Nightmare organized a little “shopping trip” and Dream joined them, leaving Death and Ink to watch over Error.

Chronic finally stepped out from the shadows and was pleased to meet Death’s smiling face.

The kitchen was sparse, some snacks left behind on the tables, and a few drinks around. The shopping trip was only meant for a few days of groceries, so they would be back soon.

“Fancy seeing you here, my divine.” They raised a brow, and Death shrugged, “I’m trying to come up with some nickname for you, and that’s the best I got right now. Nightmare and Dream are already my Sun and Moon, Error’s my soul, Ink my mate. Not much left that I could need, aside from my amazing divine.”

“...We could think a’ plenty of things ya’d need. Like everything else-”

“Well, that’s just a chronic problem, isn’t it?” Death laughed softly, a smirk plastered across his face. “Is that how you chose your name? Assuming Core didn’t pick it out for you.”

“Hmm, something like that.” They smiled in kind, “It’d be much more accurate to say that our reasoning for our name is much different, however.”

“Oh really?” Death laughed, leaning against the island and hiding his smirk behind a mug of coffee, “And what reasoning would that be?”

“That,” They turned towards the living room, where they knew Ink and Error still were, “Will have to wait for another time.” They walked off, hearing Death’s short sound of defeat before sulking with his coffee.

The living room was in far more disarray than the kitchen. Cups scattered about around a kettle and tea bags, small plates of half-eaten baked goods and tea sandwiches were littered about the tables of the room, a bookmarked book sat in Nightmare’s armchair, a blanket thrown over the back of another couch, and Ink laying in another loveseat.

At first, Ink didn’t notice them, engulfed in their tome, writing away with an elegant fountain pen. Likely recounting the day so far so they wouldn’t forget. One of Nightmare’s sweaters was hung over their much smaller body, wearing a pair of Error’s old shorts as well. However, as they floated closer, Ink took much more notice.

Colorful eyes drifted up to them, staring back before locking onto the swaying pendant before them. Studying the details of the coin before eyes glazed over, looking further. Two pearly blue eyes looked up at theirs.

“...I- I know you, right?” Ink sat up further, tome pushed away in favor of the moment at hand.

“That you do,” They chuckled softly, “but not quite in the way you think…”

“...it’s like Error right? And Death, and Night- and Dream? The… the yearning?” Chronic nodded with a kind smile, sitting down at the foot of the couch, reaching just eye level with Ink.

“It’s just like that… but we’re afraid as much as you yearn, we are not allowed to reunite. It’d cost the multiverse far too much.” Ink slumped somewhat, “Now now, don’t be so down, my mate… We have gifts.” Ink’s eyes sparked back again, but they stayed slumped.

They pulled a small box from their inventory, “This is for the gang, they deserve some treats, no?” Ink nodded along, laughing softly at the box of candy, they pulled out another, handing it off, “And this is just for Cross-” Ink’s hand went to open it, and Chronic stopped them, “It has a little something more than just chocolates… and I think Cross would prefer for it to be kept secret.”

Ink seemed confused, but shrugged and put it to the side with the other box. “And finally, we have something just for you.”

Ink’s whole body language seemed to light up at that, practically floating in the air and expression light and airy, a large smile across their skull. “This is a very special present, alright? You have to take good care of it this time. If it gets too hard, you have your lovers to go to this time.”

Ink’s expression changed to confusion, but still seemed excited nonetheless, “Can you promise me you’ll take good care of it?”

“Yeah- yes! Of course, whatever it is!” Ink was nearly vibrating with joy and anticipation. Chronic gave them a pointed look, “... I promise? I promise!”

Chronic smiled, and with one hand they pulled their pendant out of the way and pulled their souls out. The room darkened with a forest green light bathed in magenta hue, and Ink looked in awe. “It feels just like…” Ink started, a small unbelieving whisper.

“Just like Nightmare and Dream… and just like Nim. This will keep a balance in you, and likely inspire some dormant powers in you. The world may be overwhelming for a time, and you will be very sensitive to the intent around you, but you will have a soul once more.” He could feel Death’s eyes watching from the kitchen, eyes watching over, not boring in. A soothing presence.

The dark green apple floated over, drifting to Ink like it belonged to them, and slowly absorbed into their ribcage. Ink surprisingly stayed relatively calm through it all, until a sudden stuttered unneeded breath came from them and their eyes closed.

“Whoa… whoa-” Ink’s arms searched to hold onto something, one grabbed onto Chronic and another onto Error. He could feel Death drifting closer.

Ink’s eyes snapped shut, and Death cuddled close to them. Stealing the arm holding onto Chronic and wrapping it around his own shoulder.

They smiled further, they would be safe.

And now, this makes every interaction Ink had from chapter 69 onward so much more wholesome (and hopefully you guys can piece together something about Error...) Everything Ink does from this point on is with his full self. Her coming out was truly meant, the joy they got from that was real.

#undertale #undertale au #utmv #ink sans #chronic sans #chronic error #reaper sans #my writng #my works

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