A What Now? A Nightmare X Reader Story

Chapter 14: The Forbidden Room

I smiled at him. "I'll never tell a soul. Or a soulless" I added, remembering Ink. "I promise, Nightmare." I said it seriously. Promises are binding, and I've always taken them very seriously. Ink told me once that it made me very Sans-ish, but I never understood why until it came up over dinner, and Dust explained it to me. Come to think of it, that was the first time Dust had ever taken me seriously...

Nightmare smiled at me, pleased. "Excellent, let's go!" He sounded more excited than I had ever heard him; giddy even, like a kid at the carnival. I giggled; his infectious excitement was adorable. He glanced over at the sound, curiosity in his gaze. I noticed that his eye was a slight purplish hue around the edges, which looked strange next to the cyan I was used to.

"What's funny?" his voice was saturated with giddiness. 'How is he inadvertently being so cute?' "Nothing," I said. "Your mood is infectious is all." I nudged him with my shoulder and he flushed cyan. Did he know when he did that how cute he actually was? I sincerely doubted it.

"I'm just really excited to show you this." He tightened his arm around my shoulders, where it still rested. "You're the first person I've ever shown this to." he murmured into my ear.

I blushed profusely, resisting the urge to turn my head to look at him. 'What is he trying to show me?' Nervousness twisted my stomach into knots; I had no idea what to expect. Nightmare hovered near my ear for a moment more before returning to his original position. A sideways glance revealed his little smirk; he was gazing at me, watching my blush triumphantly.

"Your blush is lovely." his voice was soft as he trailed the knuckles of his free hand across my cheek, almost as if he were speaking more to himself than to me. "I'm not really fond of the color pink, but I find your particular hue to be... irresistible." he locked eyes with me as he said this, causing my "particular hue" of pink to spread even further. I couldn't match the intensity of his gaze, and looked away.

Nightmare moved his arm from my shoulders to place his hand on the small of my back, ghosting his fingertips along my spine in the process. I couldn't suppress the little shiver that followed them. Nightmare chuckled. "Here we are."

I looked up to see that we were standing before the doors of the Forbidden Room. My eyes widened and I turned to look at Nightmare in disbelief. All of his smugness from before was gone, replaced by a gentle, earnest expression. He reached out with his tentacles and opened the doors. "After you," he whispered.

I stepped inside cautiously, and what I beheld astounded me.

I was met with a small garden, which was lit only by the luminescent blossoms that it housed. My breath caught as I ventured further inside, in awe of the flora that surrounded me. I turned to look at Nightmare, who had closed the doors and followed me in silence. His eye glittered with amusement as he took in my awe.

"It's beautiful," I said softly. "Why would you hide it?"

Nightmare chuckled, looking down as he spoke. "It brings out a part of me that I don't like to let people see," he admitted a bit sheepishly. He looked up at me with trepidation. "But... I trust you, (Y/N). You're... important to me. So, I- I wanted to share it with you."

His words, and the sheer honesty of his tone touched me deeply. I teared up, and worry spread over his face. I chuckled.

"Isn't it ironic? The first time the King of Negativity makes me cry, and it's because he's said the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me."

I laughed again, covering my mouth as tears started escaping.

"I don't know why you would ever think so highly of me." I whispered it, but in the stillness of the garden I knew he could hear everything. "You haven't even known me for that long... and even if you had, I'm not good enough- I'm not worth-"

Nightmare pressed his fingers against my lips, effectively silencing me. "Don't" he whispered. He removed his fingers from my mouth and cupped my face between his hands.

"You are beautiful," he murmured "and kind, and intelligent, and strong, stronger than you know." he smiled gently, wiping away my tears with his thumbs. "You are worth every star in the sky, and a million more."

I closed my eyes tightly, gasping, each breath quivering more than the last. "I'm sorry," I whispered between gasps, "I don't know why I'm crying so much." a lump in my throat blocked any other words from coming out.

"It's okay," Nightmare nearly purred, "you shouldn't ever apologise for crying."

I opened my eyes and his face was less than an inch from my own. His gaze flicked briefly to my lips before locking back onto mine. He paused for a second, perhaps taking in the moment, before pressing his teeth to my lips.

There was no anger this time, it was a soft, gentle pressure. I kissed him back, the thought of resisting never crossing my mind. I felt like my heart had expanded in my chest, lifting me up onto my tiptoes as I slid my arms around his neck. His tentacles wrapped around me, pulling me tighter against his chest as he leaned further into the kiss, leaning me back ever so slightly.

I ended up being the one to break it off; I was already lightheaded and I didn't want to faint. I only got a tiny gasp however, before Nightmare pulled me back in with a small growl, kissing me more intensely than before. It only took a few seconds for me to lose consciousness.

I guess Nightmare forgot I needed to breathe.

(I love the idea of Nightmare having a little place that expressed his soft side; a place he would never dream of showing someone... until you, that is! If he does seem a bit erratic, or rather, if it seems like he switches directions a bit too much, that's what I'm kind of going for. He wants you to love him, to be able to love you, but he's also been Mr. Big Bad Guy for so long that it's not easy for him to be gentle with you all the time, like what we saw in Bite. And of course, you have to remember that he does have... urges. Sometimes he will have trouble restraining himself, mostly because he's not used to having to. Also, keep in mind that he will forget things sometimes, since he doesn't deal with humans often.)

(TLDR: Nightmare switches back and forth a lot because he's learning how to love again.)

I hope this information is helpful in some way.

Love, Author-chan.