Chapter Text
Outertale was undeniably beautiful regardless of a certain destroyer's favoritism to it. The stars reminded him of cold nights wrapped up under their Mother, chatting with Dream about their day and their future. It was an astronomical beauty not many AUs could copy.
"That's my spot."
Nightmare scowled, his earlier fascination vanished in the light of annoyance. He looked at the owner of the voice, immediately regretted the smug smirk plastered on the God of Destruction's stupid face. It irritated him to no end.
"Fuck off, assh—"
"Ah, ah, language! Children shouldn't curse, Moonshine," Error interrupted, the smirk turning to a full grin showing his yellow teeth upon the mocking use of the name.
"You-!" Moonshine—No, it's Nightmare—stood up, indignant protests dying in his throat at the blatant height disparity they now have. In this stupid, stupid body of a useless child. "I am not a child!"
"Sounds like one, acts like one," To add salt to the wound, Error simply held back the small figure with his strings, easily overpowering the thrashing monster.
Nightmare hated it, he couldn't bear the thought of this reality he now lives in. He wished he has his tentacles and eldritch appearance to have an equal footing against the destroyer but alas, ever since this happened, he was powerless as a fucking rock.
"Unhand me this instance!" He hated this voice, cracking almost to a screech in its high-pitched tone, he hated his small hands, he hated everything about this! "Stop treating me like a child!"
He had had enough of everybody thinking he was one, it was even more insulting when the only one who knows uses it against him.
Error looked around, the sound of the child's voice carrying over the area that may alert unwanted attention. Especially the Star Sluts... He sighed with annoyance as the Guardian of Negativity, now diminished to a random child, kept up with the tantrum. "Fine, fine, I'll let ya' down. You're gonna attract your brother's attention at this rate."
The destroyer's strings retracted, leaving no harm despite knowing that a mere CHECK would reveal an alarming high level of HP and unknown LV. The boy made a show of giving one last struggle by throwing a bone attack that barely made a dent. He looked at Error with furious turquoise eye light, the right one where once covered with sludge was left empty with a spiderweb crack. Error remained unmoved, not fearing the child in the slightest.
"Your stamina needs some work," he commented dryly.
"You think I don't know that?" Nightmare bit back and kicked at a random rubble. "Dream won't let me practice with them, because Moon is just 'oh-so-fragile'!"
Nightmare plopped down on the ground, hugging his knees close to his chest. His phalanges rubbed the fabric of his dark pants before picking on the loose teal threads of the trim lines. The same colors were matched with his tunic and he loathed how much it resembles his old one although Dream picked this out and a part of him couldn't bring to tell his brother 'no'. The uncharacteristic silence from Error made him look.
Error was observing him, crouched down to his level. Nightmare didn't like being stared at. "What?"
"It's really weird... how small you are."
As if Nightmare couldn't tell it himself. He huffed a breath, pulled out a snack bar from his pocket given by Blue. He didn't want it but the azure pest just wouldn't stop worrying over his eating habits. Who cares if he miss mealtimes? He did it before when only Dream was given food by the villagers, he's done it without reprimand with his team. Nevertheless, distracting himself with the semi-sweet treat was an excuse to not reply to the weird comment.
"It's weirder not seeing Dream hover around you though," Error continued, adding under his breath, "Where the hell is he anyway?"
Nightmare gulped down the food, replying curtly. "The squid brought me here as a reward for... suggesting something to the Council."
"I've destroyed five AUs consecutively yesterday," Error held out his phalanges for emphasis. "It took a sixth before they showed up; you've got them wrapped around your little finger, Moonshine."
It should aspire pride in him. Manipulation was his strongest suit and he effortlessly does it in this body. He would be lying if he said he wasn't guilty of using his childish charms for his own benefits many times. Yet...
"I hate Moonshine." It wasn't even being the kid or acting like one, it was the whole life he had somehow built as... this. There are far too many things that ire him though.
Nightmare is was a leader and protector of his team; they entrusted their lives to him if the tables turned because nobody did that for the Guardian of Negativity when he was younger and even then, he had to shield Dream from the wrath of the villagers. Yet this—this child—Moonshine didn't even have to lift a finger to be protected by the Star Sanses; the Omega Timeline adores his peculiar attitude and intelligence without prejudice and do their best to hide him from the worst out there although that worst for them is Nightmare himself. Moonshine had people from the start and Nightmare... Nightmare found them only recently, too recent for his immortal life.
Nightmare was calm and collected, his emotions were behind a curtain of indifference for the sake of himself and his boys. It worked for the longest time, it took practice but he had perfected it. Moonshine wasn't even close, in this helplessness, his emotions slip like sand between his phalanges. He was prone to tantrums and outbursts of anger yet instead of scorning him, the Star Sanses tries their best to understand him. They avoid what he dislikes and work around his unspoken traumas that it made Moonshine ashame of his actions resulting to little apologetic gestures.
Nightmare felt so alone when he was just a boy despite having his brother and mother. He felt disconnected and scared. Moonshine has people who supports his wishes and made him feel safe. Safe enough to fall asleep every night to a bed that wasn't his own with artfully painted glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling. It was unfair.
The only comfort he could take was that past Nightmare and Moonshine today, as cruel as it was, were helpless. They were powerless, hardly a threat that people took him lightly. Children were usually harmless after all. Usually...
"I mean, you could take it as second chance."
"I'm not looking for a second chance, I want my old body back! I can't just run away, I have to get home!" Nightmare looked at Error, trying to emphasize his plight. "They need me. I don't take lightly with my promises..."
"You know I could take you there if you really can't. So you can explain to them what's happening and-"
"No, I'll... I'll handle it by myself," his breath quickened and he tried to hide it by hugging himself tighter. "B-Besides, I don't want the Stars tracking me down and finding the castle. I can't afford that."
What should he tell them first?
"I apologize for my absence and the ruckus it caused... No, not like that," he muttered to himself as he carefully trodded into the brambles. "As you can see I am currently... useless? Weak? Fuck, I can't say that! They'll dust me where I stood."
Nightmare has to tell them. He's home, well, for now but if they knew he's alright then they'll be fine while he's gone. It took him two weeks to spark enough magic to get him here, it was almost impossible but it seems some of his magic remained. He'll ask them for help.
But what if they didn't want to help?
His feet stopped, shy away from the shades provided by the forest into the broken fences of the garden. A lurch of fear, a very foreign feeling he was getting accustomed to in this body, took hold of his soul. Why was he scared? These are his men! They trust him as much as he trusts their capabilities! If they try to hurt him, then they'll know he wasn't lying, no normal child have such a high HP.
He took a deep breath and entered the garden. Horror usually cared for the plants; some were vegetables while some are simply for aesthetics. However, it seems that it hadn't been tended to for a while... Weed has grown among them and some are way past harvest. It didn't bode well for Nightmare.
He pushed on, turning the knob of the backdoor and for once, thanked his boys' forgetful nature to lock it. Nightmare entered the kitchen and felt his non-existent stomach turn. The cabinets were open with almost nothing left, the sink was piled with dishes, the floor was too wet and dirty. This was one of the most pristine area in the castle with Horror's constant presence but somehow... it was left unattended.
Nightmare shakily continued forward. The negativity clung into the interior and it didn't bother him in the past but now, his breathing seemed to quickened and his sweat felt cold at every steps he took. The dining room was empty, the chairs were pulled back and with more scars from knives and bone attacks than the last time. The only area left untouched was his seat, preserved like a separate point in time.
He made his way into the lobby, voices echoed loudly from the living room and becoming louder. Nightmare didn't know why he chose to hide instead of facing them head on. Before he knew it, he was behind one of the stone pillars.
"Stop being an idiot, Cross! You're going to get yourself caught by the Stars!" Dust's voice was uncharacteristically loud. His scarf flow with his hurried steps to catch the monochrome's hand before Cross could climb the stairs.
"Me? Being an idiot?! Look at us! We barely got anything to eat and Horror—Horror's not doing any better! It's either we do a raid or we find Nightmare!" Cross argued. His back was turned from Nightmare's spot but he could see the way the skeleton's hand trembled as he pointed at the living room.
"You think you're the only one worried? Killer hasn't been leaving Nightmare's room! At this rate we'll have two unstable individuals and I can't handle them alone whileyou'reoutthereandwhatifyoudon'tcomebackand—" Dust took a breath as he realized his hurried speech. Purple magic flaring from his socket, distress evident with the way he gripped his scarf tightly. "Please... Please, don't leave..."
The fight left Cross, his tense shoulders relaxing before he approached the other carefully then engulfing the other into a hug. "He'll be back, Nightmare... Nightmare hates breaking promises. He won't just up and leave, he'll take us with him wherever..."
Nightmare wanted to call out to them, emerge from his hiding spot.
I'm here. I'm home.
But his voice shrivelled and his feet remained rooted. What could he do in this situation? When they get episodes Nightmare could easily shake off Horror's feral tendencies, the bites won't hurt and neither were the sharp bones. He'll hold the bigger skeleton in the air until there was enough recognition in that one crimson eye for Nightmare to say it was fine, they were fine, all of them were safe. Nightmare will deal with Killer alone, lock his room for safety purposes because Killer was more slippery than a snake and could hurt anyone and everyone in his unstable stage. Much worse if he attacked Horror and spark the threat which could dust either or both of them. Seeping off that negativity and putting Killer directly to sleep was his best solution, then he'll guard his dreams because he was sure the nightmares will come.
That was all easy, a routine he had fallen into in his early days with them. But now... Now what? He was in a body of a child. He didn't have his tentacles and much worse was his magic. He couldn't take negativity and couldn't guard their dreams. Nightmare was... useless. Moonshine was useless. What could he even do here but make things worse? His magic was as good as gone with the way it behaves now.
This was a mistake. Coming here was a mistake.
He turned tail to run, his shoes making too much noise. The sound of gaster blasters made him run faster. They almost burned him, they weren't stopping. Knives embedded itself on the doorway of the kitchen but he avoided them after skidding to a halt. He didn't bother closing the backdoor knowing it wasn't going to stop them. Nightmare ran to the woods like a coward.
The footsteps disappeared as soon as he entered the forest and he knew what it meant.
"Come on, come on-!" His whispers were almost a shout as he tried to activate his magic. For once in his life, he wished his brother was here to protect him. His earlier bravado, everything he wanted to say was gone. He couldn't help them, stars, what the fuck was he thinking?!
A bone protruded from the ground, directly where his foot landed, tripping him in the process before a burning red knife embedded itself on his tunic and into a tree. Nightmare went to grab it with his hand and yelped in pain as it burned his palm. He sparked his magic again, tears blurring his vision from desperation.
"Did you get him?!" Dust's voice was near and he almost devolved into sobs upon seeing Cross landing in front of him from the tree he was currently pinned on.
At the exact moment, his magic activated, a small portal appearing underneath him and showing Moonshine's room. The only thing keeping him from falling was the knife but he could feel his tunic ripping from the tension. For a brief moment, he met Cross's eye lights. There was confusion there before Nightmare's world tumbled and he plopped onto the bed. The portal closed leaving him staring into the painting of the sunny skies.
It felt like a herculean task to take breath after breath. His hand still stung from the burn. He tried to wipe away his stupid tears.
"Moon?" He jumped from the knock on the door. Dream's voice was on the other side. "What's going on? May I come in?"
"I-I-!" He wanted to tell them to go away, he's fine! He could handle this. But his teeth merely chattered, unable to continue. What the hell is wrong with him?
With his lack of response, Dream entered the room. A look of surprise upon seeing the lights turned on but quickly morphed into concern upon seeing Nightmare's clearly disheveled state.
"What happened? Your emotions were faint earlier then it just suddenly crashes!" Dream asked. "Did you have a nightmare? Is that why the light is turned on?"
The Guardian of Positivity tried to hold his hand but Nightmare hissed as it made contact with his injured one. Dream didn't waste time to look at it. Seeing the damage, he looked at Moonshine pitifully. Nightmare hated that look.
"I'm fine. It's... I might have hurt myself while sleeping... It's just a small burn." He answered dismissively.
"Let me heal it, then we can change your clothes."
Nightmare watched Dream heal it with his magic. It felt... strange, the rush of positivity. He never felt it before in the many times Dream healed him as a child. After that, he let himself be manhandled into changing. The plain silk pajamas were his choice, he hated the cotton with silly cartoon characters. Dream tutted at wearing his shoes to bed but promised not to tell Blue about it if he wouldn't do it again as if Nightmare didn't know cleanliness. Dream also assured him that he'll mend the torn tunic for him.
Moonshine was ready for bed and Nightmare wasn't ready to be alone. Dream turned off the lights, the glow-in-the-dark stars taking center stage instead of its daytime counterpart. His brother looked at him softly, asking if he wanted anything else. The golden twin waited patiently and it was almost pathetic with the way his voice trembled.
"If I can't help someone when I know I should... Am I bad person?" He refused to look away, looking at Dream with one round eye light.
Dream's face fell, without his ability to read emotions, all Nightmare could rely on was reading his face. Dream gave a sad smile. "Sometimes, we were put into positions where we couldn't. We regret it when we look back but we also overlook the circumstances when it happened. It's not our fault sometimes... and maybe it's not too late to try and help!"
"..." Nightmare didn't know why despite it being too optimistic for his taste, his soul lifted for a bit. "Like... Like your brother?"
Dream nodded with sadness. "Yeah... I try my best to protect him, too, you know? I do everything the villagers ask so that... so that they leave him alone but... I guess it's just wasn't good enough and I never noticed the scars and pain until it was too late. I know I should have done more; stay with him and defend him but... we were kids and we were helpless. No one should have treated us that way just because we're Guardians."
Nightmare... can't deal with this.
Too much.
"Good night, Dream."
Dream lifted a hand and stroked his skull one last time. "Good night, Moonshine."
He pulled the covers and turned his back to the door. It closes after a moment. Nightmare looked at the faux moon of the Omega Timeline from outside the bedroom. He swallowed the bile in his throat along with the regret and the pain.
"I'm so sorry..."
"At least let me do something about it," Error offered. "I understood what's going on so... It's not like they won't."
"It wasn't about them understanding it's... Ugh, it's just—Would you threatened to delete an AU if you were just an NPC?" Nightmare asked.
"No...?" Error answered.
"Exactly. You don't have the power, you're making empty promises."
"Is that what you think it is? They're not gonna think less of you!"
"How would you know?! You've never had anyone you wanted to love, to protect, and people who trusts you to do that! You destroy everything for star's sake!" Nightmare rolled his eye light. Somehow, the air crackled with rage; the child could tell the way the glitches seemed to multiply on the God of Destruction. He flinched before saying, "I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said that."
The twitch of unbidden anger diminished, the annoyance lingered though. "You are being a fucking brat, pushing all my buttons..." the destroyer sighed before saying. "I won't tell them. If that's what you want, I'll bring them to raids and all the searches they want."
"Really?" There was a spark of hope with the way Nightmare looks at Error next. Almost a smile on his face.
Error cringed with superficial disgust. "Ugh, stop looking at me with googly eyes, I ain't your caretakers."
Nightmare dropped the smile, a bit ashamed with looking so childish. "Just... until I get back, I'm getting close, I could feel it."
"You really... never visited them at least once?"
Dream said that lying is bad, even if it was a white lie. Nightmare never claimed to be a good boy. "Nope, not like this."
His footsteps echoed through the AU. It looked unfinished with its pallid ground. Not even marble nor gravel path. Just untexturized plane. It must have meant to be a meadow though if the countless flowers dancing to a non-existing wind was any indication. It wasn't the usual golden flowers of Asgore's or the echo flowers. They were unusual. Like hibiscus but purple in color bleeding into white. The pistil was a shade of blue with glowing golden stigma and style. They were lovely.
"Moonshine flowers, huh?" Immortality has its perks like being able to wait for millenias for this AU to appear before disappearing again after a year. It was unnamed and almost impossible to intentionally get into but Nightmare had found a way to do so.
Rare and unusual artifacts across the multiverse were his favorite collections. Taking one as a trophy would certainly make him happy. Maybe pleased enough to leave the paperworks for today and spend the hours with his boys. He read about these although limited. They could survive being plucked off the ground for eternity. The issue wasn't with taking it, it was for waiting for it to appear and Nightmare was one lucky bastard to have all the time in the world.
His tentacles plucked one off, bringing it closer to himself. His eye socket squinted, was it pulsing?
A puff of pollen was sprayed to his face.
He coughed, dropping it to the ground.
Then it burns.
Nightmare screamed as the tar covering him seemed to liquify, with it, the feeling of acid being poured down his body came. His soul ached and his body felt too hot. The pain brought him to his knees, his hands catching his fall. His vision was fading, his screams were still continuing. It felt like the end and it was all because of a stupid flower.
Nightmare closed his sockets. The pain faded with his consciousness.
Soft murmurs filled his senses, it was almost gibberish. His body aches, nothing was movable.
I'm alive.
He forced himself to open his sockets. It was hard to do so and with his vision fading in and out. A blur of gold, brown, and blue was all he could see. His right side still bear the blind spot he had gotten used to despite not fully seeing the blue one. The golden one was asking him something... What was it?
"—Tell...?"
Maybe they were asking what happened?
"Moonshine..." he managed to croak out and he hated looking weak but it's not like he would be able to get up.
He closed his socket, a migraine becoming prominent from the bright colors. It was better this way anyway, all he could hear was the voice from his unexpected rescuer.
"My brother seems to have done a number on you, I'm glad you survived, Moonshine."
...What?
His socket snapped open with frantic look. The faces becoming clear making him screech in panic.
Dream was here. Ink was here. Blue was here.
They were here.
They're going to kill him.
"Get away!"
What the hell happened to voice? It must have been with all his screaming. Nonetheless, he ignored the pain in his body as he flailed on a soft bed before landing on the floor. He hit something with his wrist making it topple and splash cold liquid everywhere. Doesn't matter, Nightmare had to get away from them.
He desperately crawled, avoiding their feet and the hands trying to take hold of him. It took him a while to notice. Took too long before he noticed that his hands weren't... they weren't stained with darkness of negativity. No, they were ivory white. Was he hallucinating?
"Calm down, Moonshine, you're safe," hands managed to get him under his radius, lifting him.
It was Ink who had managed to do so. Nightmare wasn't even standing, he was dangling and that was something to say when the artist was only four feet tall.
"What did you do to me?!" Nightmare hates this and they kept calling him—they kept calling him Moonshine! Is this a joke?!
"Uh, Dream, we need to put him to sleep," the blue royal guard commented and the prospect of unawareness while surrounded by enemies made him panic even more. "He's going to hurt himself, Dream, please!"
He tried to look for anything that could help him escape. His skull turning until his sight laid on a mirror on his left. He froze, hands still trying to pry off the artist. Nightmare couldn't almost believe it was him. It didn't look like him in the slightest at all. Not before the Apple incident and not after. It looked like an amalgamation of it.
The turquoise-colored eye light almost a tiny pinprick from shock within his sockets. The one on the right was broken irrepairably so with the spiderweb crack crawling to the top of his cranium and down his cheekbone. The pale color of his bones were almost a reminder of his weak self. Who the hell is this? He was too engrossed with his reflection that he failed to notice Dream come from his blind spot and touch his temple knocking him unconscious.
"Welp, I got you all I could about the place, it ain't easy finding it. I thought you said you have a way."
"I did then when I try to do it by having Fresh take me in a sequence... It doesn't appear. I think it changes but it has a pattern. I just have to predict which of it."
"Yes, in a thousands of thousands of AUs and timelines..." Error drawled on.
"I've got a year to figure this out and then I'll be home. I will." It was an assurance to himself more likely than to Error.
"I'm surprise the Stars haven't caught on yet. Heh, fucking gullible," Error muttered.
"They're not stupid just... too kind," it still surprises Nightmare how much of him defends the Stars. He thinks its inevitable when you live with them for a while now. Seeing them struggle like any other living being puts things into perspective. "I think they just wanted to believe I'm not out to kill them or infiltrate their circles."
"So someone has caught up, huh?" Error asked with intrigue. "Who is it? Is it Stretch, but eh, that guy was too fucking high to notice most things—Wait, maybe Epic-?"
"It was Classic."
Error let out a whistle before cackling. "Man, you're in trouble~" Nightmare appreciated the support, thanks, with a roll of his eye light. "Are you confirming or denying?"
"Denying," definitely denying. "I can't tell whether he'll find me a threat or not. He's a fucking contradiction and a chaotic one at that."
Settling in with the Star Sanses was his namesake.
Since seeing his pallid hands upon waking up, he knew it confirms his not-so-dreamlike situation. They tried to be more careful, promising to take off the restraints made by Ink if he behaved. Nightmare did his best spiteful attitude. They just looked at him with pity.
With cuffs on, Dream explained how they found him. Alone in that abandoned AU, his anguish guided them there. They found him in a pile of oversized heavily-stained clothes, with Nightmare's tar staining the white floor. From the looks of the AU and his state, they assumed the worst.
"I'm sorry, Moonshine, I think... I think everybody in your AU's gone..."
The protest died from his teeth as they cooed and cared for him 24/7 in the Omega Timeline's infirmary. He couldn't bring himself to reveal his identity when he's in enemy territory. He rode with it, merely stating that majority of his memories were blank. One act of crying immediately dispelled there attempts of interrogation. He listens to them discuss things in the corner of the room though.
"I can't believe they left him there alone," Blue said with that annoying pity. "Do you think Error's involved?"
"Judging with the state of the place, I think yeah..." Ink said with contemplation. "They rarely team up but why leave the kid alive? Why not destroy the AU with him inside? It's either they just want him to live for sadistic reasons or... maybe someone's injured."
"Nightmare?"
"If he was then the kid's..."
Dream's figure blocked his vision. He startled, too close to his opposite. The Guardian of Positivity sat down on a chair, looking at Nightmare with a small smile.
"I'm quite glad you look well, I tried to do my best but I can't heal major damages though," he tapped on his own skull, where Nightmare's cracked socket was.
"It's fine," Moonshine shrugged, making up a story just so they would leave him alone. "I tried to heal it too but I guess that's all it could take."
"You did? By yourself? That's impressive!" Dream praised, practically glowing. Nightmare hated the way his skull heats up from the words. He tried to look behind the Guardian again, just to catch a glimpse of the two behind. Dream scooted closer, blocking them further and as Nightmare confirmed, on purpose.
He pulled out a container, rice porridge it looks like. It looks unappetizing and the boy didn't really feel hungry. Dream obliviously held up a spoon. "Healing magic takes a lot from you, you should eat something."
If it would get the other to leave him alone...
Nightmare tried to take the pre-offered spoon but found his cuffs too short. With a resigned sigh, he opened his teeth and gulped it down. The porridge was warm but almost scalding from his summoned raw throat. The food gave way to an annoying feeling of hunger... so he might have been actually hungry. The kind gesture continued and his brother even wiped the stray streaks after. It reminded him of Dream messily eating and him exasperatedly cleaning his little brother. It was stupid to ask why a random child gets a similar treatment from Dream and only scorching positive arrows for Nightmare.
Were they only kind because they think he was a victim of the Guardian of Negativity? Was it the only reason? If they knew who he really is, would those warm touches change? Will he have to crawl back into the hole he calls a castle? But in this form, as Moonshine, would his boys—Killer, Cross, Dust, and Horror—accept him when he could no longer protect them? If they knew he lost most of his abilities, would they see him as free EXP? Would they hunt him down like any other monsters they executed? Will Moonshine run from them in the woods, panting and scared, wishing for help?
Suddenly, his hospital gown was very much interesting. "It's itchy..." he commented out of the blue.
"We'll get you new ones once you're all clear, how does that sound?" Dream asked and Nightmare nodded defeatedly.
*CHECK
Nightmare couldn't help the scowl as they drag him around the stores. Letting him choose but none of them were good. They looked childish and even some were downright a sin to ever grace the multiverse. He hated purple and too bright colors, that's what they knew. They try their best but nothing ever looks good.
"I hate it here..." he muttered under his breath after trying another one of Ink's annoying suggestion.
"Moon?" Dream has taken the liberty of shortening his name and he couldn't stop it. He didn't hide his displeasure though, looking at the other with a scowl that Dream just interpreted as a pout. "I know this might be exhausting but... this will be the last, I promise."
Then he held out a paired set of black pants and tunic. The trim lines were teal and to get it over with, he went back inside the changing room. He pulled it on without problem looking at himself on the mirror though, his breathing stuttered. He looked too much like his old self... all he was missing is a crown.
The curtains of the changing room opened and Dream entered. "It looks good on you!" Then he knelt down next to Nightmare and wrapped a white jabbot around his neck before securing it with a brooch. It was teal in color as was the trim lines, the faint image of a crescent moon embedded to it.
Looking at himself at the mirror, he was willing to admit it was the most passable outfit he had tried on so far. If it will get them off his back...
"I like it," Moonshine said with a small blush. "Can I keep it...?"
Dream stared at him for a moment before smiling. "Of course!"
Exiting the changing room, Blue was waiting there with a pair of shoes. It was his size and they didn't insist for him to put it on seeing his tired expression. Nightmare hated this body and how easy it drains with energy. Ink scooped him up despite his whines, carrying him off to the side away from the noise of the cashier. Nightmare doesn't understand how they could cradle him and shower him with attention after seeing his HP and LV.
Weren't they at least scared? He expected the worst from Ink but all the other said was he would love to spar with him sometime and ended up with a reprimand from Dream. They seemed to believe that he fought the destroyer and Guardian of Negativity by pulling a miracle out of his coccyx. He would leave them to speculate. For now, Moonshine was just a child with a traumatic past blocking his memories.
SNAP
His ugly sleepy face was now posted on the refrigerator door with a silly magnetic tack. Nightmare didn't expect them to keep him after the shopping haul. In fact, he was sure he was going to be dropped off from a nearby equivalent of an orphanage in the Omega Timeline. Then again, they might be taking precautions with what they knew about him so far. It felt like a long time ago despite only being a week.
They treat him like any other child albeit with less cuddling and cooing as they could see how much it irritates him. They try to spend time with him, mostly never leaving him alone which left Nightmare trying his magic in the middle of the night like some teenager having some alone time.
Blue likes cleanliness as much as Moonshine; it was almost a therapy to wash the dishes or sweep the floors with him. Ink was neurotic, never focusing on one thing other than art. Just to keep him busy, Moonshine asked for him to paint his ceiling with the sky or something. The squid took it to the next level and painted the ceiling with glow-in-the-dark, just for him. Where the artist was invasive, Dream was more respectful in privacy. Always asking if something was alright although some slip-ups happen and he'll treat Moonshine the same way he does with Nightmare when they were younger.
One instance of it was trying to read him a story straight out of their childhood and Moonshine had had enough of it. He angrily closed the book, looked right at Dream with the most scornful gaze and said, "I'm not your redemption. Stop treating me like I'm your brother."
Dream looked shock for a moment before guilt settled in and he stopped trying to model his care around what Nightmare was like. Instead, he started anew and got to know Moonshine as much as he could. In just a span of a week, somehow, Moonshine was a permanent resident of the Star Sanses's base.
Nightmare finds the arrangement quite a hindrance. The Stars were attentive and that was something to applaud for when they get an easily-distracted artist in their group. They never forgot about him and mostly take him wherever they wish to go. From what they've glimpsed on, they knew Moonshine wasn't unaware of the multiverse, he knew its intricacies far better than any rescued monsters do. He suppose the only benefit he got was that he had an unsolicited views of their meetings with the Star Council. At first, they oggled him like seeing a kitten but after a few protective talking and explaining from the Stars, they left him to his devices most of the time.
The unaccounted times were them hovering around him as he read a book. They would comment how it wasn't for someone Moonshine's age as if Nightmare didn't understand the manipulations and double-edged justifications of Humbert Humbert or how Lovecraft's literature will give him nightmares when he was literally one in their reality. Well, once was, but that could change. His little sarcastic comments or remarks were noted as spunk, a peculiar child but nonetheless for them: harmless. His visits to them had became frequent in his second week of staying as the three drops him off to the Council before fighting Error or whoever was wreaking havoc. The people here were too pleased with Moonshine's oddity to complain.
The feeling of interest was mutual because he found out things while in here, too, like for example: Nightmare never knew that Sugar, Horror's brother, was in contact with the Council despite their AU being under his protection. The Council never interfered, just watched out for any sign of Nightmare utlizing the AU for his advantage. Which he never did! He would never do that to Horror... Another thing was that the gang hasn't been out for any raids nor killing spree which... didn't bode well. Nightmare had been practicing to get magic under control, maybe it will be enough to open a portal.
They have to know he's okay.
"You've been stuck like this for almost a month," Error said, finally standing up and dusting himself in the process. "But you'll figure it out; you're a smartass after all."
It was true, it had only been three weeks since his shrunken self appeared but calling for Error as a favor was his best choice. Nightmare watched him leave, "If they get too close... Don't let them take me. I don't want the Stars to see them much more of a threat than they already are..."
Error, much like him, hated promises. So with a nod and opening a glitching portal, his only parting words are, "We'll see."