Notes:
Hello! I did some art that I'll probably post on my tumblr, it's Noot and Luna hanging out. I don't know if I will though, I'm bad at drawing so self-conscious and all that jazz. Anyway, this chp explains a bit, and sort of sets the multiverse a bit more, because I got a comment or two about it over the different platforms this is on. If you have any questions just ask, bacause if they're meant to get answered later I'll just tell you. Anyway, enjoy <3
Now he knew how it felt. He knew why humans hated him. Why they could die from a rejection. It wasn't just misery. It hurt. It physically hurt. He'd done this to you twice? How were you still even talking to him?
"ok..." That's all he could utter.
"Wait. I have an idea." You paused. He didn't know why. Maybe you were wondering if you should say something. "Are you free on Friday?"
"In two days?" You nod. "I can be." It didn't take much to clear his schedule. He could just move the mission planned for Friday to tomorrow.
"You can take me on a date. A proper one. Then I'll decide. Right now it's a maybe." You sigh, rubbing the back of your neck awkwardly. It was cute. Well it was better than a no.
"Thank you." He mumbled, blushing slightly.
"Don't mention it. I get free food, so it's a win." You laugh as you step through the portal. "Bye." You smile, giving him an adorable little wave.
"Bye."
"Boss." Killer's voice sounded through the door to his office. He never knocked. Why didn't he knock? Nightmare had no clue. He'd come to accept this. "Boss." He repeated. If he thought Nightmare would humour him by looking up from his desk then he was wrong. "Bossbossbossbossbossbossbo-"
" What. "
"Whens training dayyyyyy?" Killer asked, rocking on his heels as he slammed the door. Nightmare twitched before he carried on writing. The boys knew he hated sudden loud bangs. Especially Killer. What was he trying to do?
"Hmm?" He made a passively listening noise and Killer sat on the chair in front of his desk, messing with a knife absent-mindedly.
"The training day you promised us for this week. Remember? You said you were gonna join in because you wanted to say sorry and this was like, a present." Killer reminded him. He really couldn't be bothered this week though. Fighting the boys was its own whole thing because he had to be fully alert to make sure he didn't hurt them.
"Surely you've all had enough fun this week. You've been on three missions, one of which I let you all do whatever you wanted. Could it get rescheduled?" He sighed, trying to focus. Then again, it as bound to be hard to focus on working when you're most hyperactive of the group was sat in front of you playing with knives.
"Ugh. Boss you're always moving the fun stuff. I want to kick your ass!" He huffs, putting the knives wherever he stores them and shoving his hands in his pockets. Honestly, Nightmare didn't know where he kept all his knives, and he didn't care.
"Killer, I'm very busy at the moment. Could you just be patient for five minutes?" He replies, sounding slightly irriatated now. Well he was, Killer should get the hint and quit while he was ahead. Who was he kidding, Killer never quit while he was ahead. Not once.
"You never find time for us anymore, what the hells up with that huh? I didn't agree to being your right hand to get ignored." Killer said loudly, causing Nightmare to flinch again. Damn it Killer.
"No. You agreed because I saved your life. So if you could maybe be grateful-" He nearly shouted, dropping everything and looking up at Killer.
"Don't flatter yourself. I was living just fine in my Au." He smirks, crossing his arms. He knew he'd hit a nerve, and he was being smug about it.
"How about the fact I helped you stop feeling? You said you didn't want to feel, I stopped you."
"Yeah. Because it was good for you. You still made me sign my life away to you though, didn't you?"
"It's not like you have anywhere else to go is it?" Nightmare said coldly. He didn't have time to regret this, not right now.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Killer asked defensively. Pathetic. It was pretty clear to see that most people didn't want a mass murderer in their homes, let alone four.
"Where else would any of you live if you weren't with me?" He rephrased. He didn't understand why Killer was being so defiant all of a sudden. He'd have to check his soul. Maybe it was Outer? "Go on. Humour me." Nightmare smiled in that unhinged way he was oh so familiar with. He didn't think you'd ever seen him smile like that, and he wanted it to stay that way. He leant his head on tented fingers as his arms were propped up an the desk, causing Killer to scoot his chair back a little. Still scared of him them huh?
"The omega timeline." He said quickly.
"Ha. As if they'd take any of you in over there. You're multiversally feared at this point. They're already near capacity, and I'm certain Dream wouldn't want any of you near his house." He scoffed. That was a terrible answer and Killer knew it. He was cracking.
"The stars." Nightmare Nearly started laughing. Nearly.
"They don't want any mortals right now. They said Blues hard enough to keep alive as it is. And you're too negative to be around my brother anyway, he'd get sick." He smiled a little wider.
"To live with mom. She has enough money for a bigger house... and... and..." He stared at Nightmare, tripping over his words. Another flimsy answer.
"And what Killer? Do you think she has any more time for you than I do? Do you think I'd keep giving her money to care for you when you were going against our contract? She'd run out eventually. Then where would you go?" He picked apart his argument fluently, just like he was so good at doing. He almost felt bad for Killer, he'd been doing this act much longer than Killer had even been alive.
"Outertale. I'd live with Outer." He states defiantly, as if he'd only come up with it now. To be fair to him, he didn't know that au was dying. Hollowed out of it's core from the inside. It was an au Ink had already said was at the bottom of his list too because Error liked it, so it'd never get fixed. It had two years tops at this point.
"And leave your brothers behind? Anyway, Outertale is dying. That many timelines have been destroyed the core of the aus disappearing. Ink doesn't care enough to fix it either. You could only live there for a year or two max, then you'd disappear with the rest of it." Killer went silent, void of ideas. "Are you done yet? Ready to listen?" He stayed silent, staring at the floor.
"We'll find a way to get out of here if you keep ignoring us. Better get that apology to us quick before our loyalty lies somewhere else." He mutters, looking at the carpet.
"Are you threatening me Killer?" Nightmare asked calmly, now staring straight at Killer. "Answer me." This was a fun game. He didn't play it too often nowadays though.
"Yes. I am threatening you." Brave. Boldness only gets you so far though. "The real question is if you'll see reason or not."
"All this over getting to fight me hmm? Seems a bit much to sulk because I've said you can't get exactly what you want for a week or so. Especially for a fairly emotionless being." He mused. "Let me see your soul Killer. Come here." He gestured next to him with the flick of a tentacle. He shook his head silently. Nightmares expression hardened."Killer. Come here." He said with a commanding tone. Luckily for Killer, he obeyed. And there was the problem. "Killer. How long has your soul looked like this?" Nightmare stared at the heart shaped soul, wondering why his sockets were still blank. If he was trying to hide this from him by not improving his own eyesight, that was kind of stupid. He stayed silent. "It'd do you some good to listen."
"A week or so." He muttered, still staring at the floor.
"And why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't want to hurt Outer. I can't hurt him. Don't make me. Please Nightmare." He begged slightly. See, that's the problem. Killer with a proper soul wasn't Killer. He wasn't the ruthless cocky murderer that never stopped to think, he cared about things. People. Was haunted by his past. Was more similar to Dust than either of them would ever admit.
"I never said I would." He smiled slightly, saying this a bit softer than he would've liked but oh well. "Don't you want me to fix this though?" He shakes his head. "Are you sure? You can't be enjoying yourself. You're still a state emotionally."
"Outer makes it better. I don't want to hurt him. If I'm emotionless I know I will." He sighs, still not looking at Nightmare. "You know how it feels don't you? Constantly watching yourself around the person you love because you don't even trust you. You feel like you'll be cuddling, then the next second you'll have killed them. You know you won't. But you still get worried about it because you had that thought." Nightmare did understand. He did. But he couldn't risk Killer hesitating. There were reasons he was his right-hand man. Because he didn't hesitate on a kill, everyone else did. They still felt some form of mercy, but not Killer.
"Are you sure?" Nightmare asked, making sure Killer was happy with his decision. It ultimatly was his decision, but he made a choice that Nightmare wasn't sure of.
"Yeah. I want to have a proper soul for tomorrow anyway." He sighs, wandering back to a chair.
"What's tomorrow?" Nightmare asked, keeping the panic from his voice. He hoped it wasn't important. He really did.
"It's... I told you the other day. It's Pap's birthday. For everyone." Shit. "We need you here so you can drop Horror off... and help us out a bit. The rest of us need it. You do it every year." He didn't need reminding of that bit. He swore the boys took his age seriously sometimes. In reality his body was like 21, just frozen in time. So he was younger than them health wise. But he wasn't going to tell them that of course.
"Yeah. Yeah I know. I'll be here tomorrow." How could he have forgotten that? It was one of the best days of the year for him. Of course, he never told the boys that, and he always helped them out with it, but it was. Every single abandoned genocide timeline where Sans was too hard to beat was so negative Dream didn't dare go near him for a week at least. That's how strong he got from passively absorbing it. If he ran around the multiverse to the worst (Or rather best for him) timelines it was ridiculous. He hadn't been doing that for the past decade or so though, even before he got the boys. It was effort. "Would you want your Mom to come over? Then she could cook since Horror's out, and you'd get more... comfort." It was a long shot, but it might work. He didn't want to flat out cancel you. Killer stayed quiet for a minute, actually thinking.
"I'll ask the others. I'd like it, but they might not." He shrugged.
"Ok. Tell me at dinner. You're dismissed."
"Ru? Ru are you ok?" You ask as you step into the living room, finding her slumped across the couch in a pitiful way.
"Are you ok?" She echoed as you moved her legs so you could sit next to her.
"I get like 10 grand a week off my ex boyfriend for no reason, I'm doing just fine. Why are you all floppy looking? You look like soggy piece of bread." You laugh a little, smacking her lightly to get her to sit up. She does, but still floppily.
"Error kicked me out of the anti-void. Said I was spending too much time there." She pouted, mumbling.
"There was probably a reason. Did he tell you a reason?" You ask, tilting your head.
"No. He just told me I needed to leave."
"Maybe the stars were coming." You state calmly. Error wasn't one to get rid of company so... rudely unless he didn't like them, like they were Ink or something. Which made you think he was somewhat frantic.
"Who?" She quiries, sounding confused.
"Oh you're new to all this aren't you? Ok. So the Star Sanses are these three guys that we all hate. Remember that. We hate them. Except Blue. Hes ok. So there's Dream, who I don't doubt you know about, you know Nightmares twin. Then there's Ink, who's like Error's nemesis. And Hes very annoying. I don't doubt you've seen him running around either." You explain, trying to make it somewhat understandable. Hell, you barely understood it.
"Is it the rainbow hobo man that tries to hit Error with a paintbrush?" She giggle, probably thinking of those two running after each other in their usually Tom and Jerry fashion.
"Yeah. That guy. Then there's Blue. Hes cool, but he gets pushed around by the other two." You shrug. You felt bad for Blue when you thought about it. Maybe you could save him one day.
"Whys everyone a skeleton?" She laughed, seeing the funny side of it rather than the exerstential crisis side. That's good then.
"No clue. I think they just are. No one ever told me. The only person I know not to be a skeleton is Life." You muse, actually thinking about it now.
"That makes sense. Skeletons aren't usually alive."
"Mhm. I'll ask Nightmare about the anti-void thing. I doubt Error would've kicked you out for no reason." You say comfortingly, trying to make her feel better.
"Are you two on better terms now then?" She smiled, sounding hopeful.
"Kinda. He asked me out yesterday. And when I said no he looked really sad. So I gave him a pity date." You shrug. It was becoming a habit. You kept being exposed to too many shrugging skeletons.
"Thats cruel Y/n." She scolds.
"No... I never said I wouldn't enjoy myself with him. And it is a date, I'm taking it seriously, I just wanted to say no. But then I didn't because he was cute. If I want to I'll give him a second one. But I'll get to pick that one. I'm interested to know if hes ever been on a proper night out before. You know, going to a nightclub, going on a bar crawl afterwards." You smirk. It'd almost definitly be new to him, and you were so ready for it.
"And then getting laid?" She laughs.
"I might cut that bit out. We don't have two beds over here. We have a couch and a bed." You say, sounding thoughtful. You really werent being thoughtful at all, it'sm just how it come out.
"Just go to the castle." She smiled, seeming confused why you hadnt already thought of that. Of course you had.
The boys don't knock. And the walls aren't sound-proof." You explain.
"That sounds like a you problem." She says, booping you. How dare she.
"Shut up. You have a crush on a piece of broken code." You huff, grinning smugly.
"Well you have a crush on what could best be described as tentacle hentai." She retorts.
"Piss off." You both laugh, falling back into the couch. "I just hope you're into bondage."
"He wouldn't use the strings. They're like fishing wire." She grins, rolling her eyes.
"I wouldn't put it past him." You smirk, raising your brows.
"And I wouldn't put it past Nightmare to cancel your date." She says, folding her arms.
"Shut up. Hes not gonna let me down again. I'll whoop his ass."
"I wouldn't put that past you. In fact I'll help." Then your phone goes off. It's a text from Nightmare.
"I don't know if I'll be able to make it on Friday. Think we could push it back?"
Fuck. Fuck this.
"What r you doing? If it's not a valid reason ists"
"It's important I promise. You can come over if you want, but we're having a sort of funeral party thing. It's hard to explain. We do it every year but I kinda forgot."
"Who for?"
"It's hard to explain. If you want to come I'll tell you on Fri."
"Cyc?"
"For like 5 minutes"
Good enough for you. You shush Ruby and call him, he picks up instantly. Ruby giggles and whispers that he likes you in a mocking tone, but you just shush her.
"The fucks going on Nightmare? You said you were free, and you said you wanted to try your hardest to earn my trust back, then last minute you cancel." You say, frustrated.
"Ok but this is a genuine reason. Just hear me out." He replies slowly, realising he was fighting an uphill battle here.
"Wait! Can I ask you a question?" Ruby pipes up.
"Go on?" You could almost hear him smirking through the phone.
"Why did Error kick me out of the anti-void?" She asks quickly.
"Shut up! We need to find out why hes doing this first!" You whisper.
"No we don't!" She whispered back.
"Yeah we do! My phone, my ex-boyfriend, I get first dibs." You stick your tongue out at her, she returns it.
"Ladies, you can fight over my attention later, for now I need to tell Y/n why I'm actually not being an asshole this time." He says smugly.
"Shush you. Actually don't. Get on with it." You spit.
"Right. So every Sans has a brother. Pretty much anyway. A Papyrus. And it's Papyrus' birthday tomorrow, so Horror goes home to spend time with his brother and the rest of us basically have a party remembering the good things about our brothers rather than the times we kicked their asses. Except it gets emotional. And that's why they need me. So I can stop them from getting too emotional. Make sense?" you nod, then realise he can't see it. Ruby snickers at you so you flick her.
"Do you partake in these brotherly activities?" you ask, genuinely curious.
"If I can be bothered. Dream's always been an ass to me though. There's like two good memories of him that I have, and one of thems when I ripped his arm off." He chuckled slightly, you smirking. Ruby seemed the only confused one here.
"Ok so he hates you with valid reason then? If you ripped my arm off I'd be pissed." She states.
"Ruby, go fuck with someone else for 5 minutes." You sigh, face palming.
Like your mom?" she smirks.
"Especially her. Shoo." You say, waving in the direction of the kitchen. She does as told, and you hear her rooting through the fridge like a raccoon five seconds later. Oh well. "Carry on Nightmare."
"Mhm. Anyway, you can come if you want. It wont be very date esque, and you'll probably have you deal with drunk Dust because whenever the topic of his brother comes up he becomes an alcoholic and I just let him, but it's partyish if you like that." He explains, a hint of hopefulness in his voice.
"We talking modest black dress?"
"We talking the comfiest clothes you have. At night it gets all depressing and then it becomes cuddles and straight up wailing." He sighs, probably not looking forward to doing it on his own poor thing. Maybe to wouldn't make him do it on his own.
"Ok... I'll come. And I forgive you for being forgetful. I don't remember your birthday. It's like the 21 st of December right?" you smile, not that he could see it.
"Dreamcember where I'm from. I'm not actually joking. See you tomorrow at like 8 then. That's around when I'm dropping Horror off." You could get ready by 8.
"Ok. See you then." You say, hanging up. Then you hear a rustling that sounds suspiciously like a cheese wrapper. "Ruby I swear if your lactose intolerant ass ate all the cheese again-"
"Nope!" You heard her call from the kitchen with a full mouth. "Maybe. I can't help it." She said guiltily, walking back to the couch and flopping down on it with a huff.
"Yeah you can. You still have to run the shop tomorrow." You sigh.
"About that...I haven't really been taking my shifts. I thought you were taking them." She shrugged.
"I thought you were taking mine?" you say quickly, confused.
"What just because you were trying to sort Nightyboo out? Like hell I was. I mean, I don't mind that you aren't taking them, you're paying for your shifts by giving me access to your bank account, but I sure haven't been taking them on for you." She smirks, taking a sip of water from a glass on the coffee table.
"Don't call him Nightyboo if you're tryna pull Error. These men are possessive and jealous a lot of the time. I gave Nightmare a good slap for it this morning actually." You grin, remembering it. You was actually really annoyed, and he very much deserved it, but it was funny too.
"Oop. What'd he say?" she frowned, ready for the drama as always.
"He shouted at Cross for touching me. He's not even my boyfriend." You roll your eyes. Stars he was possessive. You just got used to it though, since he ghosted you for like a month you forgot.
"Stars. I'd get it if it was Killer but Cross? Hes just a fluffy little boy." She squeaks the end bit, remembering his happy little chocolate covered smile from when she came over.
"I know. Then he got all shocked when I slapped him. I was like, I slap guys all the time, get used to it. Then he gave me a rose and asked me to be his girlfriend."
"Well that escalated quickly."
"I know! That's why I said no."
"You know what I think?" You shake your head. "We should go on a double date." You shake your head again, causing her to pout.
"No more double dates." You frown, remembering your last double disaster .
"One. Me and Error, you and Nightyboo." She saw your face and decided to sweeten the deal. "I'll help you look for a dress. You know, one of those ones that would kill him to see you in." she smirks.
"Deal."