Dreamswap Oneshots

I - Odd Phenomenon (Dreammare)

I don't think there's any need for a warning.

I honestly don't know how I should tag this as: angst? Fluff? Hurt comfort?

Anyways, enjoy.

***

When Nightmare opened his eyes, he was sitting on a tree branch. He blinked several times in confusion, not remembering when and how he got there but brushed it off as just dozing off while doing so, it happened sometimes. He assumed he went there to write fanfiction but he soon noticed that his hands were empty of a pen or paper.

Furthermore, something felt familiar with the tree and its overall surroundings. He looked at the leaves and was blinded by the sunlight that managed to seep through the holes in between them. He cursed, bringing a hand above his head to shield him from it.

That's when he noticed the fruits.

There were apples attached to the branches of the tree, the ones on the left were coal black while the ones on his right were a bright and majestic golden color, wrinkling with the sun.

Which meant that he was currently sitting on the Tree of Emotions. His eyebrows furrowed and confusion filled his head. How in the world did he end up here out of all places? The universe has been discarded if he remembered right so why did—

Then something hit him.

There were black apples on the tree.

Which meant Dream didn't turn them into golden ones yet.

It was crazy, absolutely insane. Not even a mad man would have thought even for a second that this could be possible but painful hope clenched in his chest and set his soul pounding loudly in his throat with delusional wishes that would likely end in disappointment.

Even with that thought in mind, he jumped down the branch, completely throwing the idea of climbing down the trunk off a cliff. He didn't have time for that bullshit, he needed to see if his theory was right.

He ended up landing on his feet and since his entire weight was put onto them, it surely would have hurt. However, thanks to the blessing that was adrenaline, he didn't feel the pain and on the contrary, started sprinting as he had never run before towards a small one-floor house that was placed near the tree.

It was in good shape. The window placed at the front of the house, which made anyone able to take a look at the living room, had light visible on the other side of it. That light unsurprisingly came from the lamps but someone needed to light them up for them to function.

It made him run even faster than before, and the faint hope lingering in his mind lit up like a wildfire. It started to take shape and grow bigger, making Nightmare almost believe it was happening.

He arrived at the front door and instead of searching for the key like a normal and civilized person, he backed away a bit before kicking it down mercilessly. If anyone was replaced with that door, they would have been taken into the hospital right away but again, Nightmare did not give the slightest fuck.

He stood on the remnant of the door, shards of wood sprayed across the floor messily as he panted. Soft footsteps echoed in the other room.

"Now I don't know what that door has ever done to deserve this," A voice stated. It was muffled but Nightmare could still feel the sense of familiarity in it. "But I hope you're aware we're gonna have to pay for the repair."

A figure appeared from around the corner, holding a book under his elbow. His voice was clearer now and with the face accompanying it, there was no mistake possible, the person speaking to him right now was Dream.

He did not mean the 6-foot-tall Dream with golden wings shed out on his back which he ran away from during the last 106 years. No, he meant the five-foot-five Dream from a century ago with dark brown hair, who he spent eight whole years crushing on.

The latter had his eyes narrowed at him with an unimpressed look rather than one of hatred. "And we don't have that much money." He finished, looking away from Nightmare and preferring to look down at the ground, analyzing just how screwed they were.

"Seriously, wha—" Before he could go on any further, Nightmare threw himself at the other, snaking his arms around his neck. Dream yelped, not expecting this, and lost his balance. They both tumbled on the floor, back colliding harshly with the ground, thankfully there wasn't any damaged wood lying there that could have stabbed Dream.

The brown-haired man withered in pain, still with Nightmare laying on top of him. He was about to scold him, ask him what was that for until he was cut off by a sob that came from the other. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and concern, that must have been the first time he's seen him act so emotional.

"... Nightmare? What's wrong?"

Nightmare didn't reply, only hugged the other even tighter as more sobs tore from his throat and made him tremble from head to toe. God help him, he probably looked so pathetic right now, wailing like a toddler while clinging to his ex-crush.

He couldn't help it though, all the memories flooded back to him like a tsunami when he entered the house and all the longing for them to go back to the way it was came launching at him like a brick when he saw Dream walk in. All of those were way too much for him to handle, especially when they were harassing him simultaneously like right now.

He felt Dream's arms slowly wrapped around his back, one of his hands rubbing little soothing circles on it. He gritted his teeth, about to cry again, and buried his face in the crook of the other's neck. Hugging Dream felt exactly like he remembered it and a discreet sniff was enough to confirm that he also smelled the same.

He was never a fan of sweet things but even he couldn't deny that vanilla smelled good, or maybe he was just saying that because that's what Dream smelled like? He was such a freak. He snuggled even closer to him, planning on not softening his grip on him. He feared that if he let go of the other, he would disappear again and he didn't think he was ready for that to happen.

Dream didn't make any comment on his behavior and had yet to repeat his question, he probably figured out that Nightmare didn't trust himself to speak at the moment. It would come out as incoherent and pitiful gibberish if he tried.

The duo stayed like that for a while, the silence only broken by Nightmare's sniffs and the wind blowing outside. Dream had stopped rubbing Nightmare's back at one point, instead preferring to gently pet his hair until he'd calm down.

The Guardian felt comfortable right now, so much that he was starting to get sleepy. He resisted against it though, anxious that Dream would disappear if he did.

"Sorry." He let out after a few with a hoarse voice, better to talk and look miserable than have Dream leaving again. "I just missed you."

Dream hummed at that. "If I knew you would react this badly, I would have taken you with me to the store."

Nightmare puffed, slouching onto Dream even more.

If that was a dream, he hoped he'd never wake up from it.