Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Dream has been clenching his head for a while now. His head is getting dizzier and dizzier as time passed. He feels hot and cold at the same time. The world is spinning around him.

‘This is suck, I just went back from Nightmare’s mansion 5 days ago, if they know about this, I’d be dead,’ the guardian thought.

Accidentally he tripped over a stone and now his face buried in the snow. Great. He feels even colder than he was right now. He tries to get up slowly and stop at the sitting position. A small cough escaped his mouth.

The universe he's in right now is a positive one. But somehow, it didn’t make him feel any better. It seems magic and sickness are two whole different things. He slaps his mouth when he felt a wave of nausea all of sudden. After his nausea died down, he’s using the tree beside him to support his shaking legs and stand up. He doesn’t understand how he felt nauseous when he didn’t even have a stomach?

Now is not the time to think something like that though. He’s torn between wanting to continue his patrol or just go straight home. He turns on his phone and flinches a little at the sudden glow from it. Great. Even something small like this was increasing his headache. Ignoring his headache, he scrolls through his notes.

‘I just have two universes left to patrol,’

He thinks about it before deciding.

‘Better finish it fast then,’

With a flick of his finger, a portal opened with a soft yellow glow around it. He can see Underfell’s Snowdin forest. He jumped a little and went through that portal. The moment his portal closed, he almost falls if not for the tree for him to hold on to. There’s also a sudden pain that arises in his head. He clenches his head hard.

It seems using his magic wasn’t a good idea.

'I have to…stay conscious,’

The world around him is spinning again. His vision is starting to blurred. The worse thing is, he can feel his legs weakened. The only thing he can do is waiting for his face to fall into the snow and hoping that no Underfell’s inhabitant meets him. They’re not… the best for him to meet in his current condition.

But his face never meets the ground because someone managed to catch him before that. With the little consciousness he has, he tried to focus on the sounds around him because he didn’t even have the energy to open his eyes.

“Holy shit, boss! He’s burning up!” someone screamed, and suddenly there’s a loud ringing sound inside the sick guardian’s head.

“Ngg, l-loud,” he whined unconsciously.

“Gosh, I’m sorry Dream, Nightmare what should we do?!” the person who’s holding him is torn between screaming and whispering it ended as a squeal.

“Cancel our attack for today and bring him home! Now!”

That was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.

It’s hot. And cold. And his head is aching badly. Something cold and wet suddenly placed on his forehead.

“C-c-cooold,” a little whimper escaped the sick guardian.

“Sssh, hang on for a little longer Dream, you’ll get better soon,” a familiar soothing voice whispered. A gentle hand is caressing his head softly.

Dream recognized Nightmare’s voice everywhere. It was the softest voice Dream ever heard Nightmare used for a long time and it never failed to soothe him. But with his bad state, he most likely won’t remember this.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“His condition looks so bad,”

“How the hell he became like this?!”

“Nightmare, I finished making the cream soup,”

“Put that on the nightstand, and can you guys shut up? I know you’re worried about him but being noisy isn’t going to help him at all,” Nightmare scolded quietly.

They murmured apologetically. After that, there’s only silence. But even with the silence, Dream’s condition doesn't look better. He has an uncomfortable frown on his face, sweats roll down from his temple, and his face flushed.

“Boss, should we give him medicine?” 

“Normal medicine won’t work on us guardians. We have stronger immunes than average monsters but it also make us immune to normal medicine,”

Nightmare fell silent for some time before talking again.

“Now I think about it, Killer, Cross, can you get fever medicine from Sci? He might have something for sick guardians considering how well his connection with the outcodes, if he didn’t have it, tell him to make one, and if he asks just say that it was for me,”

“We will return as soon as we can,”

“Oh, and make it sweet!”

“Okay!”

They left with Cross’s portal and the room fell silent again.

“Will he really going to be okay?” Horror asked worriedly.

“He will, he probably fell ill from exhaustion, this is just 5 fucking days since the last time he came here for fuck’s sake,” Nightmare grunted a little while squeezing the wet towel then put it on Dream’s forehead. He shuddered a little whenever Nightmare did that.

“I wonder why he keeps working that hard, without him helping many people, the positivity around the multiverse is still running just fine, we weren’t causing havoc that much after all,” Dust commented. Nightmare didn’t miss that worried tone from him.

“It’s just the way he is, or maybe there’s a reason I don’t know, but he always likes that since we were a child, now that behavior just… much worse,” his voice getting smaller at the last word like he was just realized something.

It seems Dream needs some explaining to do after he got better. Slowly, Nightmare shakes Dream's body.

“Dream? Can you hear me?”

Dream only groaned a little.

“Come on brother, wake up, you have to eat,”

“H-huuurt,”

The three of them stare at him sympathetically.

“I know Dream, I know, you'll get better soon, Cross and Killer are getting medicine for you, you have to eat now so when they come you can take the medicine and go back to sleep,” Nightmare persuade patiently.

Dream opened his eyes slowly. His usual bright yellow eye lights are dimmed and his expression pitiful. Looking at the usually active guardian like this is just... wrong.

“B-but… is it okay… if I just… eat a little? I'm… a little nauseous,” his voice is hoarse it came out as a whisper.

“It’s fine, tell me when your non-existent stomach can’t take it any more okay?”

Dream nodded in affirmation. Horror and Dust immediately help the smaller skeleton to sit and lean him back against the headboard. Nightmare put the bowl of cream soup on his lap then take a spoonful of it to feed his brother. Dream makes a face but swallowed it nonetheless.

“It’s bitter,” he complained.

“Sick people tend to feel like that, the more you eat, the faster you'll get better, now aaah,”

“Aaah,” the other guardian imitated his brother as Nightmare feed him. Nightmare holds back a chuckle because Dream didn’t realize that he was being treated as a child.

And that was the most adorable thing that Nightmare had ever done. At least Horror and Dust have ever seen. Dust is ready with his phone camera secretly when Nightmare repeated his action a few times. He's excellent at taking care of sick people. Well, he has four boys to taken care of, and sometimes one of them fell ill too. Nightmare never did that childish thing though. His boys are quieter and more obedient when they were sick so it’s not that hard to take care of them. Nightmare indeed acted sweeter to them, but not this…sweet.

Now Dream is more… whiny, in his sick state, whether he realized it or not. But it seems he had fallen ill before this too, and Nightmare probably took care of him too until he’s healed. He looks used to deal with Dream’s whining and know how to act since they brought him here.

Dust will probably tease the twins with this another time.

“Come on, just one more bite?” Nightmare still tried to persuade his brother.

“You said I should tell you when my non-existent stomach can’t take it anymore,” Dream pouted.

“Well, it’s still better if you finish it though, this is the last,”

“You said it too before,” 

“Come on Dream, you don’t want the cream soup to be sad, aren’t you?”

Horror and Dust are wheezing without sound when Nightmare said that. 

“…I don't want that,”

They have to cover their mouth to stop their laugh.

Dream makes a face again but still took the last spoonful of cream soup. Nightmare smile proudly and patted Dream’s head.

“You did a good job,”

Dream smile weakly at the praise.

“Awww,” the other two snickered.

They shut up when Nightmare shot them a glare. At that exact moment, a portal opened. Cross and Killer are back.

“We got the medicine!” the two of them half-shouting.

Dream flinched a little at the sudden noises. Nightmare, Horror, and Dust glare at them.

“Sssh!”

Cross and Killer only grinned apologetically before sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Sci said get well soon, though, he laughed when we say to make it sweet, I’d be laughing too if I imagine you couldn’t take bitter medicine,” Cross snickered.

Nightmare rolled his eye. “Shut up and just give me that,”

“I don’t want to take medicine!” Dream suddenly said.

“Don’t be a brat Dream, this medicine is sweet I assured you,”

“But everything tasted bitter for me!”

“Indeed, but if you don’t want everything tastes bitter to you take the medicine so you can get better, Horror can make you a cake after that,”

Nightmare is such a smooth talker it terrified them sometimes.

“…fine,”

See?

Sci’s medicine produces a feeling of relaxation and drowsiness that made Dream sleep not too long after he took the medicine. He seems calm right now and that makes the others sighed in relief. Before Dust broke the silence.

“Hey hey Killer, Cross, look what you’ve missed when you’re away,”

Killer and Cross immediately gathered around their friend. They’re looking… at something in Dust’s phone? Not too long after that, they awwed.

“What are they seeing?” Nightmare asked Horror.

“Well, just a record when you acted so sweet towards Dream and−”

“Dust give me your goddamn phone or help me by erasing that goddamn thing!”

They never saw Nightmare that flustered and that’s hilarious. If not for the sleeping guardian they’d burst out laughing.

“Let me make a copy then I’ll erase it!”

“What’s the point if you do that?!”

“Nightmare! You’ll wake him up!”

“I’ll kill you in your sleep Dust,” Nightmare said with a low voice.

If Nightmare said it with his cold expression, not a flustered one, maybe they’d thought he’s serious. But Nightmare is blushing and that’s hilarious. It’s rare for them to have a moment to tease their leader after all.

There’s no movie night, considering Dream’s condition. So they went to their room and go to sleep. It’s past midnight when Nightmare suddenly awakened because of a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder. It seems there’s a storm tonight. Something is bothering him but he can’t put his finger on it. He almost fell asleep again before, he felt a negative energy. Fear.

Fear. Thunder.

Dream hates thunder.

‘Shit,’

He wasted no time and teleport to Dream’s current room. Dream is awake, as expected. He’s hiding under his blanket, shaking violently. Nightmare can hear a faint whimper.

“Dream?” he carefully approaches his twin, sitting beside him.

The shaking died down a little. Slowly Nightmare pulls the blanket off of Dream and found his brother curling up. He looks even smaller than he actually is with that position.

A certain memory flashed in Nightmare’s mind. Rain. Storm. Thunder. Dream’s cries. A certain yellow fabric. A hug. Warmth. A small, sincere smile. Happiness.

Using one of his tentacles, Nightmare took Dream’s yellow cape and wrapped him around it. Carefully, he also wrapped his arms around the smaller skeleton. Nightmare feels relieved wash over him when he realizes Dream's fever isn't that high. He's a little warm, but it's still better than before.

“Sssh, I’m here now, you’re safe, nothing can hurt you, breath with me okay?” Nightmare whispers reassuringly. Just like in his memory.

Dream control his breath, following his twin’s breathing rhythm. It was hard, but he managed. After some minutes he regained control of his breathing. Though, whenever the thunder flashed, he jerked sharply, and his breathing quickens a little. Nightmare tightens his hug whenever that happened.

“B-brother?”

“Hm?”

“U-um, you can go back to sleep, I’ll be alright on my own−” his words interrupted by the flashing thunder as his grip on Nightmare’s pajamas tighten. Nightmare realized it, obviously. But he only sighed.

“I’ll stay until you fall asleep,”

“T-that would be nice, thank you,”

A small, sincere smile formed on Dream’s face. It didn’t take a long time for him to fall asleep, even with the storm outside. Nightmare also lulled to sleep by the sound of the rain.

The next morning Dust gained a new teasing material.

Chapter Text

Dream woke up from the sound of Dust’s laugh and Nightmare’s…angry shriek? His head is still dizzy but he feels a lot better compared to before. He blinks a few times and saw the familiar outer space ceiling. This is his room at Nightmare’s mansion. So, the voices that he heard before passed out is indeed theirs. It seems he’ll be stuck here again. Maybe even longer than his usual stay. Welp. It's not like it’s a bad thing though. But he’ll probably get some…long brotherly lectures before he goes back to his home.

His headache worsened a little just by thinking about it somehow.

“Oops, sorry Dreamy, we were too loud, weren’t we?” Dust’s voice snapped Dream out of his thought.

Dust probably said that so Nightmare can stop attacking him (and his precious phone). That was quite effective because Nightmare’s focus shifted to his brother immediately.

“Oh, you’re awake, how’s your condition?” Nightmare asked calmly.

“Well, just a little dizzy, but a lot better than before, how long I’ve been here?” Dream asked a little sheepishly.

“Since yesterday, you’ve been asleep for 10 hours or so,” Dust answered.

“I’ll go to my room and inform Horror to bring your breakfast,” Nightmare said.

“Oh, the boys said they’ll have their breakfast here, I came here to inform you that but you attacked me before I had the chance to tell you when I found you were cudd−”

Nightmare smack Dust’s head with one of his tentacles.

“Not. A. Fucking. Word,”

The boss left after that, leaving a confused Dream and snickering Dust.

“Um, what actually happened?”

“Nothing important, you’ll know about it eventually, if I had the chance,”

“O…kay?”

A smirking Dust is usually a bad sign so he better not questions him any further.

“Oh right, you better change too, like I said before we’ll have our breakfast here so you won’t have to eat alone,”

Their kindness never failed to make the guardian smile.

“Awww, you guys are so sweet,”

Breakfast is always fun with them. They always have something to talk about, no matter how random as it was. Nightmare and Horror rarely talk when they’re eating but sometimes joined the laugh while Dust, Cross, and Killer are joking around a lot. They’re often harassing each other though.

“That time I had no idea that Cross is scared of cow, so when we were chilling at Farmtale after a mission, I saw him running around with some cows chasing after him for an unknown reason, I’ve never laughed that hard,”

They’re all laughing except the subject of Killer’s story. Cross gasped with a betrayed look.

“Killer I trusted you!”

“You shouldn’t have Crossy, none of us can be trusted, it’s not like you can be trusted either,”

“Well you’ve got a point but still−”

Their bickering is always fun to watch too. Before the first incident when they kidnapped him, Dream probably couldn’t even imagine Nightmare’s ‘friends’ to act...'normal'. To be honest he was a little scared of them. For unknown reason Dream rarely fight against anyone besides his brother but from what he had seen they were…scary. Especially with their creepy smile or cold expression.

But after they spent his time with them several times, they’re not that bad. Well, they have a dark sense of humor but after a few times hearing it, Dream has grown used to their jokes. Kind of. Overall, they’re good. One same trait Dream learned about them is that they have the same trait a big brother has.

Now he thinks about it, Nightmare’s gang consisted of Sanses from different timelines of the original universe. It means all of them ever had the ‘big brother’ role. Nightmare and he are twins but Nightmare is older by a few minutes when their mom created them. Nightmare himself often treated Dream like the younger one since they were a kid. Now not only him, but the other Sanses also treat him like a little brother. Dream really tried not to act childish but…it’s hard. Especially when they were spoiling him a lot.

“Do you want more ice cream Dream? I heard that ice cream is good for fever, you can have mine,” Horror said.

See?

“Really?!” his star-shaped eyes appear before he can control it.

The moment Dream realized the fond look they throw at his direction, he cleared his throat. That was the exact look they use whenever he acted childishly. He noticed that after a few times.

“Eh, um, uuuh, n-now I actually think about it, n-no thank you, you can have yours,”

Killer, Cross, and Dust laughed at Dream’s sudden change of reaction.

“I think we’re long past the point where you were being polite?” Horror laughed amusedly.

“W-well…yes, I would like more ice cream,” with a flushed face he grins embarrassedly and gladly took Horror’s dessert.

Today is Nightmare’s turn to wash the dishes. So he went to the kitchen while the other stay at Dream’s room, chatting randomly.

“Hey Dream, do you remember what happened yesterday?” Dust starts a conversation.

“Um, not much, the last thing I remember was someone caught me before I fell unconscious, and then…it’s blurry, I remember someone fed me and gave me medicine though, after that I fell asleep,”

“Do you want to know what happened yesterday?”

Horror, Cross, and Killer snicker. Dream eyed them suspiciously but Dust's offer sounds tempting. He's curious a little. Or actually, a lot.

‘Did something happen? Should I know about it?’

“Um, sure?”

Little did he knows that he’s going to regret it.

Some pictures and videos later…

Dream’s scream muffled by his pillow. The memories from yesterday came into his mind. When Nightmare fed him and managed to made him finish his meal. When Nightmare persuaded him to take the medicine. And when he’s crying because of the storm last night. Nightmare probably sensed his fear and came to his room.

To be honest Nightmare’s act was really sweet but that’s still embarrassing for the guardian. He’s more than 500 years old for Asgore’s sake! Not a 5 years old!

‘Gosh, I acted even more childish than usual, this is why I hate it when someone knows that I’m sick, I want to bury myself hhhhhhh−’

Nightmare also often tease him about it after he recovered from his illness when they were a child. Dream knows that he tends to act even more childish whenever he’s sick but he has no control over it. He can’t believe he has done such embarrassing thing like this again. In front of them of all people.

The others only tempted to tease him more.

“Aw, look how cute you acted yesterday, you didn’t want to make the soup sad,”

“That’s what people say about act like your age,”

“I think acting like your face is more accurate, he’s far older than us combined remember?”

“I almost forget that he’s older than us,”

“Dream isn’t available, he’s in the pillow town, don’t talk to Dream,”

His murmur just made them laugh even harder. Fortunately, Nightmare finally entered the room and their laughter died down a little. Dream sighed in relief. He was saved, for now.

“Boys, we’re running out of groceries, and stop teasing Dream please, his fever just went down so don’t make it high again,”

“Oh! Oh! Let me do the grocery!” Cross immediately volunteered.

“…I should keep an eye on him so he won’t buy snacks more than necessary,” Horror said.

“Hey! I’m not the only one who did that! Killer and Dust were doing the same last time!”

While the others are bickering, Nightmare sat on the edge of his brother's bed.

"Stop burying yourself in the pillow, I need to check your temperature,"

Nightmare frowned at Dream's flushing face. It's whether from the fever or because of the teasing. He put his back of his hand on Dream’s forehead and hummed a little.

“Dust, Killer, can you two go to Sci and ask for more medicine? Just say that it's the same as yesterday,”

“Aye boss!”

“Are you okay being alone Dream? I need to finish some paperwork in my room,” Nightmare asked his twin.

“I’m not a child, leaving me alone while I’m sick won’t make me die,” Dream rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

“Well, just in case, if you need us don’t hesitate to call one of us, for Nightmare you can just bang on his door or something,”

“Okay! Safe travel guys!”

After everyone left Dream tried to close his eyes and sleep but he can’t. He got plenty of sleep since yesterday so he’s neither sleepy nor tired. His phone suddenly ringing on top of the nightstand. Ink’s name appears on his phone screen.

“Hello Ink?”

“Hey Dream! Are you busy right now?”

“Um, no, I guess not, why?”

“Blue made some cookies and tacos, it's been a while since the last time we spent our time together outside the battlefield so he said he wants to spend our time together even for a short time, ”

The guardian thinks about it for some seconds. He put his back of hand on his forehead.

It's still a little warm. But it's not that bad.

It’s okay if he goes out for just an hour, right? He just needs to go back before they come home, or realize that he's missing.

More importantly, he couldn't refuse Blue.

"I’ll be there after getting ready,”

“Great! Meet me at my home as usual!”

"Okay! See you there!"

"See you!"

With that Dream hang up. He got off from his bed and stretches his body. Dream opened his cupboard and take a soft yellow sweater and black sweatpants. After he finished changing, he opened a portal straight to the doodle sphere, warm yellow light coming from it. He opened a portal a little further from Ink's house in case Ink realize where he came from. Knowing Ink he won't even bothered to remember though, but better careful than sorry. Before he steps out of his room, he's suddenly hesitating. He has a bad feeling for an unknown reason.

Dream shook his head.

‘It’s going to be okay, I’ll come back before they even know that I’m gone,’

“After that Red screamed bloody murder!”

“Oh my god Ink I can't believe you’ve done that,” Blue shook his head but laughing with Dream.

‘Hmmm, I wonder how long I’ve been here,’ the guardian reached into his pocket for his phone but...he couldn’t find it. He paled immediately.

‘Shit shit shit I forgot my phone at the nightstand,’

“Hey Blue, uh, how long we've been here?” Dream asked.

Blue checked his phone.

“Hmmm, maybe around 3 hours, why?”

Great.

“I think now is my time to go back! I uh…I just remember that I have a business to take care of,” the guardian smiles to hide his anxiety.

“Okay then! Be careful on your way!” Blue didn't ask further. He hugs his friend tightly and let go after Dream hug him back for a while.

“Aw, already?” Ink pouted.

“It’s urgent Ink, we can spend time together again another time, Candytale sounds good for a place to hang out,”

Ink’s mood quickly changed.

“Good idea!”

Dream also hug the other guardian shortly.

“See you later guys!”

Dream opened a portal to his home so his friends won’t get suspicious before he opened another portal to his room in Nightmare’s castle. His soul is beating loudly for obvious reason. He has a really bad feeling. When he jumped a little into his room, he can feel everybody’s eyes on him. They’re so tense. Dream can feel a strong worry from them. Guilt started to creeps into his soul.

Most of them relaxed the moment they land their eyes on him. But not Nightmare. The guardian of positivity has never seen his brother look so furious. Nightmare approached him with an angry scowl on his face.

“Where the fuck have you been?!”

Chapter Text

“I-I was meeting Blue and Ink in doodle sphere−”

“And you didn’t tell anyone?! Do you have any slightest idea of how panic we were?! You haven’t recovered completely for fuck’s sake! I felt a portal opened and your presence suddenly disappeared without a trace! You could have been kidnapped!”

“But you guys wouldn’t give me permission to go out if I asked you!”

“You didn’t even ask any of us, how did you know we won’t give you permission?” Nightmare’s voice is lowered, making him sounds more dangerous.

The younger twin opened his mouth to reply but nothing come out. Nightmare sighed harshly.

“That’s it, I don’t fucking care whatever you’ll do from now on, leave if you want to and you can just die in a random universe for all I care, if you don’t want us to care then live alone like you always did, I’m out of here,”

Before the Dream could make any reply, Nightmare already left and slammed the door hard. A heavy silence fell upon the room. Dream’s expression is a mix of guilt, sadness, and shock. Horror managed to catch the guardian before he hit the ground. He sighed as he put Dream on his bed.

“I don’t mean to make you feel worse but this is indeed your fault Dream, you shouldn’t have disappeared without telling anyone, for all we know you could’ve hurt somewhere and it’ll take a long time to search for the whole multiverse. If you told us you went to doodle sphere, we wouldn’t have to worry because we know it’s one of the safest places in the multiverse, even Nightmare could never find the right code, the bad thing is he can't feel your presence there,” Killer scolded.

“If you tell us, one of us could watch over you in whatever universe you were in, if something bad happens we could do something, you were scaring the shit out of us to the point we couldn’t decide where to start searching for you because Nightmare couldn’t feel your presence anywhere at all,” Dust lightly hit the ‘oldest’ skeleton on the head.

Dream bowed his head in shame.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you guys think like that, I thought I could come back before you realize my disappearance but I forgot that Nightmare would know when someone enters or leaves his place, I also forgot to bring my phone and I was having fun with them for too long, I don’t know that I make you worried so much, I’m so sorry,”

“You’re okay and that’s what matters the most, but you should say that to your brother, I’ve never seen him that terrified,” Horror sighed.

“I doubt he’ll forgive me, maybe I’ll just…go back to my house, he probably doesn’t want me to set my foot here ever again, or even see my face,”

“Dream, no one’s kicking you out of here, sure Nightmare is angry but he didn’t kick you out, that was just an emotional burst, you of all people probably know what he felt the most, and we spent a lot of time together with you to know that you were anything but a coward, you’re better than this, trust me, he just needs time to cool down,” Cross explained before the little guardian's mind went even further.

“Aren’t you mad because I was making trouble?” Dream murmured.

“Well, rather than mad it’s more like panic, dread, and worry mixed into one, fortunately you didn’t go to a battlefield or something, we would have a heart attack if we had one, we were upset though, but our relief outweigh our anger and you’re lucky for that, you probably knew about our back story, we already lost our brother once, we just…we don’t want to lose another,” Dust rubs the back of his neck with an uncomfortable expression.

That explained a lot why they were so panic. Dream knew that they care about him, but he didn’t expect them to care about him to that extend.

“While Nightmare, well, he…was far more terrified than us, he kept murmuring something like ‘what if he died somewhere’ or ‘what if he hurt badly’, something like that, so I guess he lashed out at you mostly because he was scared for your life,” Killer said.

“Why did you guys…being so kind to me? Even every time I came here, I’m nothing but a burden and nuisance,”

They’re smiling after Dream said that.

“Aren’t we all a burden and nuisance to each other though? What’s so new about that?”

An amused smile formed on the guardian’s face. “You got the point,”

Now Dream has a determined look on his star-shaped eyes.

“I will apologize! Running away isn’t a choice! I’ve decided that I won’t leave before Nightmare forgives me!”

“That’s the spirit!”

"That's our positive lil' bro!"

“But I guess you shouldn’t do that now, give him some times to calm down,”

Dream looks a little down but he didn’t complain because he knew that Dust is right.

Nightmare drowned himself with paperwork to distract his mind from a certain incident. He didn’t even come out to have lunch and dinner with everyone. Horror ended up brought his meal to his room and he’s thankful for it. Nobody disturbed him because they probably know it’s a bad idea to talk to him. For now.

After dinner time passed, there’s a knock on his door every once in a while. He knew who did that but he didn’t bother to move from his seat. Nightmare can feel a lot of negative feelings from his brother. Sadness and guilt are the strongest.

'Serve him right for making me worried half to death,’

Nightmare got to admit that his brother is very persistent. Even after some hours, he still comes back. He didn’t say anything. Just knocking a few times, then walk away when Nightmare didn’t answer.

Dream can be stubborn but Nightmare is even more stubborn when he wanted to. And he’s not going to forgive his twin that easily. He needs to learn how to not make people worried because of his careless behavior. Guilt trip is sometimes necessary. Hopefully after this Dream will understand his mistake and stop acting so careless. Hopefully.

‘I haven’t planned when to forgive him though, maybe tomorrow…or until I decide to forgive him,’

‘But how many times is he going to come here and knocking at my door? He’s still sick and supposed to rest as much as possible for Asgore’s sake!’

‘His sickness won’t get worse from this…right?

‘What if it gets worse?’

‘Nonono, I can’t show him that I’m worried just yet,’

‘…but what if−’

A weak knock interrupted his thought.

“Brother i-if you're still awake, I…I just…I want to say that I’m sorry,”

Nightmare’s grip on his pen tightened a little.

‘No, he must learn the consequences of his mistakes,’

“I’ll just…wait until you’re ready to talk to me again, um, see you tomorrow,”

He can hear the sound of his twin walking away. He glanced at the digital clock on his nightstand.

11.35 p.m.

‘Figures, he probably went to sleep, good for him, now I can focus on my work,’

The guardian finally can concentrate again and continues working on his paperwork. He didn’t actually have to finish everything now but this is better than doing nothing. He’s not sleepy anyway.

Some paperwork later…

Nightmare stretched his stiff body and yawning a little. He glanced again at the digital clock.

12.25 a.m.

‘I should sleep now,’ he thought.

After finished tidying up his table, Nightmare stood up then stretches his body once again. Before he reaches his bed, he suddenly stops. Something…is bothering him and he knows darn well what (or who) it was. Guilt is slowly creeping up on his soul.

‘I shouldn’t have said something that far,’ the guardian sighed a little. He canceled his plan to sleep and decide to check on his brother first.

From his experience, sick people tend to have an unpleasant dream. He can’t give someone a nice dream but he can prevent someone from having a nightmare. Usually, when his boys were sick, he used a spell so they could sleep soundly.

Nightmare opened his door. Something suddenly leaning against his leg. He looks down and almost let out an unmanly screech. Something, or rather, someone, bundled in a yellow cape, sleeping in front of his door.

‘How can I not sense his presence?! How long he has been sleeping here?! Didn’t he walk away an hour before?! What the actual fuck?!’

“D-don’t…go,” a soft whimper escapes his mouth. His eyes are both closed, yet tears are still leaking from them.

“I-I-I’m s-sorry,”

“P-please don’t leave me, d-don’t hate me,”

“I-I’ll be good, I’ll be better, just p-please don’t leave me again,”

“I’m sorry, I’m s-s-sorry, b-brother,” he continues to apologize and calling his brother like a spell.

The awake guardian couldn’t help but stares at his brother sympathetically.

‘Geez, this is not fair, how can I stay mad at him like this?’ Nightmare rubbed the back of his head in frustration.

Carefully, Nightmare tried to lift his brother then carry him on his back. Dream is still whimpering. His skull that pressed to Nightmare’s shoulder gave off a hot temperature.

‘Great, his fever came back, just…great,’

He wonders how many times he sighed today. Probably more than ten. Maybe twenty.

Chapter Text

Dream feels restless. He tried to close his eyes for a while but he just can’t fall asleep. Not going to mention his headache just came back and make it harder to sleep. His fever is not helping either and he can’t bring himself to call the others. His grip on the blanket tightened as he felt a shiver run down his spine. He’s still cold.

The night before is a little hazy but he remembers storm, thunder, and someone’s comforting embrace. A pair of arms wrapped around him in a hug. It's warm and familiar. It feels like his brother's embrace in the middle of the storm back when they were a child. It's warm, comforting, and made him feel safe. Actually, whether it's Nightmare, Cross, Killer, Dust, or Horror, all of them also gave him those sense of security. But Nightmare's is his favorite (the others will probably agree with him).

After the apple incident, he would never imagine that he could feel that comforting feeling yet he got another chance to feel it again.

At the thought of his angry brother, Dream let out a small whimper. The cold glare from before reminded him of Nightmare’s eye from those centuries ago when his twin was looking at him with so much hatred in his eyes and left him as he turned into a stone. It's different, but also similar. Nightmare’s cold glare never failed to hurt him. Call him weak but when his brother, his twin, the person he loves the most in this world, is looking at him with so much hate in his eyes, can you blame him for feeling that way?

Dream almost forgot Nightmare’s cold glare since his older twin often looking at him with a soft stare lately (when he thought Dream didn’t notice). Just like he always did when they were a child. Either it’s his purple or his turquoise eye lights, for Dream both looks the same. But because of his mistake, he met that...kind of stare. Again. It hurt him more than he expected.

Since the first time he got kidnapped for a week, he never actually talks about their… ‘problem’ so the said ‘problem’ between them never actually settled. It was just like it never exist in the first place. He also never asks what Nightmare’s reason for doing what he did. Nightmare just showed that he still cares about him and Dream can’t ask for more (besides, he got 4 extra brothers).

The guardian of positivity won’t admit it, but the apple incident is still bothering him. He’s getting better with his night terror since he spent his time in Nightmare’s mansion. Whenever he stayed there, they like to watch movies together and often fell asleep in the same room. Or usually, two of his 'brothers' will come to cuddle with him. Dream himself didn’t understand why they like to cuddle with him but he likes it too so he never complained.

Sleeping with other people always gave him a sense of security (especially Nightmare). It reminds him that he’s not alone anymore. There are people that care about him. Those positive thoughts are the ones that kept the night terror at bay.

It’s another story when he sleeps alone though.

But because of his sickness, he preferred to sleep alone. He couldn’t risk the others to get sick too since their immune isn’t as strong as his or Nightmare’s. Not that he’ll bother Nightmare if he has a night terror though. Especially in this situation.

When he just thought that their relationship will be okay, this happened.

‘I'm the worst,’ he thought.

Dream sighed and get up. His bright golden eyes shining in the dark. A certain yellow cape lying on the edge of his bed caught his attention. He reached for it and wrapped it around his body. It’s not as warm as his blanket, but it gave him a comforting sense of warmth.

It’s not warm enough.

The guardian gets up from his sitting position. He wants his brother. He didn’t need Nightmare to stay by his side for now but he just…he just wants to feel his twin’s presence close to him.

Before teleporting, he didn’t forget to hide his aura and emotion so Nightmare won’t feel his presence. Dream learned to control his aura and emotion since he was being freed from the stone of prison. He doesn’t want anyone to take advantage of his magic again. He practiced so hard for years until he can control his aura and emotion even in his sleep.

He closed his eyes and he meets Nightmare’s door the moment he opened his eyes. Dream can feel Nightmare’s calming aura and relax immediately. Most people don’t know that when his twin didn’t use his negative aura intentionally, he has a calming aura that can affect people around him. That, and Nightmare himself is good at soothing people (Horror told him that and it's not like Dream doesn't know about it).

He can just hope Nightmare won’t realize that he’s here. Either he’s sleeping or not, Dream doesn't want to disturb him. Carefully so he won’t make any sound, Dream leans against the door.

‘I’ll teleport in the morning so he won’t find out that I was sleeping here,’

With a content sigh, Dream closes his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he meets the sight of Nightmare, sitting under the tree of feeling while reading a book. A wide smile formed across Dream’s face. He waves his hand happily and runs towards his twin.

“Brotheeeeer~!”

Nightmare raised his head, smiling softly in return and wave back. When he’s in the right distance, the yellow guardian flopped himself towards his brother. Nightmare caught him out of reflex.

“I told you to stop doing that!” the older scolded with an annoyed tone. Though, his purple eyes looking at his twin fondly.

“Eh~ I know you’ll always catch me!”

“I know I will, but you can injure yourself if I didn’t,” Nightmare flicked Dream’s forehead then moves his twin to sit beside him.

Dream pouts while rubbing his forehead.

“I can’t promise you anything,”

Nightmare rolled his eye lights.

“I know you won’t,” he paused. “But Dream, I also can’t promise to catch you when you fall again,”

“…why?”

Nightmare only smiles knowingly. He stood up, patting his clothes to remove some dirt from it.

“Because you didn’t even catch me when I fell into the darkness,”

Nightmare’s once soft, loving gaze, suddenly changed into a glare that full of hatred. His right eye covered in a black substance he knew too well. Dream’s eye sockets widened in fear and remorse.

“N-Nightmare! D-don’t go!”

The guardian of negativity turned around then walking away without saying anything.

Just as Dream tried to chase his twin, something is holding him down. Black shadows, gripping tightly into his legs and arms.

“I-I-I’m s-sorry! P-please don’t leave me! D-don’t hate me!”

Nightmare keeps walking, ignoring his plead.

“I-I’ll be good! I’ll be better! Just p-please don’t leave me again!”

His older twin just getting far, far away. The sight around Dream started to get dark. Dream’s tears flowing more swiftly. He failed. Again. His head hung in despair.

“I’m sorry, I’m s-s-sorry, b-brother,”

"P-please don't leave, I'm sorry,"

He doesn’t know how long he has been sitting there, in the middle of the void. When suddenly, he’s being wrapped around warmth. Someone is hugging him from behind.

“It’s okay brother, I won’t leave you again,”

With that, the darkness around him started to crumble.

Nightmare decided to walk to his brother’s room. He’s afraid if he uses teleportation, his negative energy will just make Dream weaker. Besides, his brother is so light. Carrying him on his back is not a problem.

Dream’s whimper has stopped for a while. It seems Nightmare succeeds in driving away his twin’s unpleasant dream. Dream’s quick breath slowly became steady. The younger guardian’s grip around Nightmare’s neck tightened a little.

“I’m…sorry...don't...leave,” Dream muttered.

“Dream? Are you awake?”

There’s no answer.

‘It seems he was delirious,’ Nightmare thought.

“It’s okay brother, I won’t leave you again,”

Chapter Text

Dream is hearing someone’s footsteps, but he’s sure he’s not walking. Instead, he feels like someone is… carrying him? His arms are circling around someone’s neck too. This calm feeling definitely came from…

“Night…mare?”

“You’re awake,”

Nightmare frowned. That came out more like a statement than a question.

‘Welp. Nevermind that,’

Dream tried so hard to open his heavy ‘eyelids’ but the moment he saw just a bit light, his head went dizzy. Nightmare’s mansion is not that bright since it’s night time but even the dim light from the yellow lamps in the hallway makes him a little dizzy.

“Brother I−”

“Let’s save that for tomorrow and don’t force yourself to open your eyes just yet,”

Nightmare didn’t sound angry. Or annoyed. He did sound tired though. Dream regretted his decision to sleep in front of Nightmare’s room. He didn’t expect his brother to know that he was sleeping there after all.

“How long have you been there?” Nightmare broke the silence.

“U-um, not too long from… the last time I knocked on your door,”

Unexpectedly, Nightmare chuckled.

“What’s with you guys and sleeping in front of my door whenever you argued with me?”

After hearing that, Dream laughed weakly.

“The others also had done this too?”

“Obviously. For unknown reasons whenever I argued with one of them, I always found them sleeping in front of my door the next morning. Damn brats,”

Dream couldn’t see his expression, but from his tone, he can imagine Nightmare smiling fondly.

“And why, pray tell, did you do the same? I never imagined that you of all people would do something like this too,” he asked with such a calm tone, conversating with him normally. Like they didn’t have any argument before this.

“I… can’t sleep,”

“I wanted to say don’t do this again but I doubt you’ll do as I say,”

“Hehe, you know me so well brother,”

Nightmare rolled his eyes.

“Of course I know how stubborn you are. Remember when you always refused to drink milk? No matter what I did, I never get you to drink it. You either ran away or use that damn puppy eyes of yours,”

“It’s not like I would die if I didn’t drink it,” Dream shrugged.

“Geez, that’s why you’re so short,”

“Can you please stop making fun of my height oh my dearest brother?”

“No. And you can’t change my mind in this,”

“…”

“…Dream I will drop you here if you don’t stop strangling me−”

“Sorry,”

“You didn’t sound sorry at all,”

“I didn’t?”

“Your innocent act won’t get you anywhere Dream,”

Even though Nightmare can’t see his brother, he’s sure Dream is grinning right now.

The rest of their walk is silent, but it’s not that kind of awkward silence. It’s strangely comfortable silence somehow? Just when they arrived at Dream’s room, he’s able to open his eyes since his room already dark. Carefully, Nightmare put his brother down and tucked him to bed. Nightmare sighed.

“You guys are such handful brats but I will never exchange you all with anything,” he muttered.

Even when it’s dark, Dream can see his brother’s faint smile. Nightmare put his hand on Dream’s head and stroked it. Dream leaned into the soft touch with a little smile.

“Get well soon Dream,”

Not too long after that, Dream meets the darkness once again. But this time, the darkness ‘feels’ warm and comforting.

“WAKE THE FUCK UP SLEEPYHEADS!”

“IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY OUTSIDE!”

“FLOWERS ARE SINGING−”

“BIRDS ARE BLOOMING!”

“ON KIDS LIKE THESE−”

“DAYS LIKE YOU−”

“SHOULD BE AWAKE ON HELL!”

It has been quite a long time since the first time Dream stepped his feet in his ‘enemy’s’ mansion and this kind of morning is perfectly normal. It’s just… part of their routine. Killer and Cross are literally their alarm every morning.

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE SHUT UP!” followed by Dust’s frustrated screaming,

“I SWEAR TO ASGORE YOU TWO LITTLE FUCKERS−” and Horror’s unfinished curse.

Nightmare rarely responds to their antic except he was in a bad mood. He’s the only one who could stop those two troublemakers.

There are gaster blaster noises, some furniture definitely probably destroyed, and of course both skeletons’ roaring laughter. Dream tightened his grip on his blanket. He has an annoyed scowl on his face because of the noises but Nightmare’s mansion was never quiet in the first place except when all of them sleep. Ignoring the noises, Dream chose to go back to sleep.

It felt like he just closed his eye for a second before someone shook him awake and another person put their cold hand on his forehead for a while.

“How is it?”

“A little warm, but I think he’s okay,”

Before he could fall asleep again, they shook him harder.

“It’s time for breakfast kiddo,” it sounds like Dust’s voice.

“Still… sleepy,”

“I planned to make a cake just like Nightmare promised you 2 days ago~”

Dream opened one of his eyes and met two figures smiling softly at him. The guardian grinned weakly.

“Really?”

“You’ll get it after breakfast. Keep it a secret from Cross and Killer though. It’s chocolate lava cake, I can only make one for you since we only have one chocolate bar left,” Horror whispered.

Not too long after he said that, Dream’s door suddenly being slammed.

“WHO SAID CHOCOLATE?!”

“I only make it for a sick person!”

“Uhuk! Uhuk! AAAA MY STOMACH!”

“My head! My head is hurt!”

Dust smiles evilly sweetly.

“I can help to make your wish come true if you wanted it so bad,” he said as one of his eye lights glow with purple. "You guys want to be sick, right?"

Cross and Killer’s soul suddenly turned blue. Both screaming when they’re being thrown up and down. Yes, Dream is used to their violent nature. He didn’t even flinch when it’s happening right in front of his eyes. He remembered panicking over Dust who broke his tibia after Killer threw him out of the window from the 3^rd floor. Turned out it was a normal thing in this mansion. Very, very normal. It took a few months for Dream to get used to their… unique way to show their love to each other. But yeah. He used to it by now to the point he’s laughing when he watched them doing their thing. Just like now.

Nightmare, a little worried that something might happen because all of them hasn’t come back to the dining room since he sent them to get Dream for breakfast, decided to go to his brother’s room. Well, he just sent Dust and Horror but not too long ago Cross and Killer suddenly teleport after yelling 'Someone said chocolate!'.

He shouldn’t have worried. Yes. This is normal. Dust throwing Killer and Cross up and down is perfectly normal. But seeing Dream laughing at them is a little worrisome. His gang promised him not to fight too much in front of Dream since he was not really a fan of violence.

…it seems the more time Dream spends with the gang, the more brain cells he loses. Nightmare is a little concerned about this. Not that he wanted to do anything about it since it’ll probably pointless.

Nightmare cleared his throat to draw their attention. It was effective. Dust’s lost grip of their soul out of shock. Both skeletons fell flat on their face. Horror and Dream also stopped laughing abruptly.

“This is why I only asked Horror and Dust to get Dream for breakfast,”

“But Horror mentioned chocolate!”

Nightmare shifted his gaze to Horror.

“I swear I just whispered about the cake you promised him so he’ll wake up but those two suddenly burst in!”

“It can’t be helped that their chocolate-sensor is as sharp as Error’s,” Dust shrugged.

The two chocolate lovers only grin as an answer. Nightmare rubbed his temple while Dream laughs again.

It's chaotic. But Nightmare secretly glad that their chaotic morning is back. Ever since Dream has fallen ill, his mansion was kind of... quiet. It's only a few days, but to be honest, Nightmare missed their chaotic morning routine. Especially hearing their happy laughter that never failed to make his mansion feels alive.

Chapter Text

Nightmare chose an enormous building as his home for...well, reasons. Even though he didn’t plan to 'pick up' some homeless, traumatized skeletons, he already planned to choose a big building. It gave him…a sense of security since the tree of feelings wasn’t really a safe place to stay.

His magic was far stronger back then when Dream hadn’t been freed from the stone prison, making it easier to make a lot of mindless shadow puppets to clean and tidy up the enormous mansion that he found in an abandoned AU so it could be habitable.

It's certainly a good place to live although it was a little lonely, no matter how he told himself he doesn't need anyone, especially with 4 chaotic skeletons in the household and occasionally a certain glitchy guest that loves to raid the fridge, resulting in a small fight. Now, he has one more addition of a more or less, chaotic skeleton, which is his little twin.

Though, sometimes Nightmare regretted his decision in choosing such a big mansion as his home, like now.

“DREAM THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS! GET BACK HERE!”

“STOP CHASING MEEE!”

“YOU ARE THE ONE WHO SHOULD STOP RUNNING DAMNIT!”

“NOOOOOOOOO!”

Wow, such a good place play chase indeed, sarcasm noted.

It’s only morning but he has sighed 5 times. Or perhaps it was the sixth? He’s not sure but that’s not important right now. The important thing right now is to catch a certain someone who’s not supposed to be parkouring around his mansion and hasn’t even recovered completely!

“COME GIVE ME A HUG DREEE−KILLER YOU BITCH!”

There’s a sound of something…or rather, someone crashed into something−

“HA! THAT’S WHAT YOU GOT FOR STANDING ON MY WAAAAAAAYYYY!”

−followed by the sound of two people crashing against each other.

Dream cringed a little at the noises behind him. He stole a glance at the crime scene to see Cross currently stuck at the chandelier because Killer threw him using his blue magic. It looks like he’ll be too dizzy to get up for a while.

Killer was aiming for the little guardian but Cross suddenly appeared, ready to squeeze the life out of Dream but accidentally shielding him instead, which resulted in Killer accidentally throwing him onto the chandelier. Well, the last part wasn’t fully an accident. In his defense, Cross was getting in his way.

Not too long after that (it was literally 3 seconds later), Dust appeared from the hallway corner, trying to catch his breath after running for a while when Killer, who was busy laughing at Cross yet hadn't stopped running, didn’t pay too much attention to where he was going. When he noticed Dust came from the corner, it was far too late to stop himself.

They (more precisely their forehead) bumped into each other quite hard and both of them appear to be unconscious. For now.

For once, Dream fought hard his instinct to go back, to ask if they were okay (which is obviously not) and heal them immediately. But he knows what would happen if he did that. After the three of them are out of commission, Dream ran for some more time before he finally stops to catch his breath.

‘Three down, two more to go,’

He concentrates, trying to track everyone’s presence. Killer, Cross, and Dust are still at the last place Dream ‘met’ them and he can feel Horror’s presence in the kitchen, most likely making dessert. The warm feeling the castle’s chef feels whenever he was cooking is a good source of his energy recharge.

‘Hmmm, Horror is baking so I guess it’s one more to go,’

The guardian of positivity can’t feel Nightmare’s presence, which is totally something his brother would do. Dream sighed exasperatedly. He can’t believe what started the hunt is something so stupid, in his opinion.

The morning after breakfast is unusually chaotic. It’s not that chaos isn’t usual in the castle, it’s just the moment after breakfast is the rare moment where the castle is in a quiet yet comfortable state when the residents all awake. After all, it’s a time for dessert after breakfast. While eating their dessert, they either have a light chat, play with their phone, read a book, or watch something random on the tv.

Everything was fine during breakfast. The dining table occasionally filled with small chatter and laughter, someone chocked on their food, cutleries being thrown here and there, and Nightmare’s scold once in a while, just a usual morning for them.

What Nightmare said after they all finished the breakfast was the start of the chaos.

“I almost forgot. Dream there’s still a medicine you need to take after breakfast since you haven’t recovered complete−”

It took a second for Dream to disappear from where he was sitting before Nightmare could even finish his sentence. There’s a loud bang like someone just crashed a wall and the sound of a vase breaking, followed by the sound of someone running on the second floor.

"...ly,"

He probably couldn't teleport too far, probably because his magic is still unstable from his sickness. The others were silent at first, still processing what just happened a few seconds ago. Nightmare took a deep sigh, and all he said was…

“Boys,”

“On it, boss,”

And that’s how the others are currently trying to catch him, which is…surprisingly a hard task, knowing their records on kidnapping him.

Whenever Dream spent his time with them, joking around and doing random things together, sometimes they forgot that he is someone they fought against on a daily basis. His skill in fighting is unquestionable and he’s extremely skilled at dodging. While dodging is something they all mastered a long time ago, just now they realize that Dream is on another new level.

Dodging Nightmare’s sharp tentacles that threatened to stab or grab him in countless fights they had sure has its own benefit. More often than not, Nightmare was his opponent on the battlefield but sometimes he fought the others too, making him at least know how to read the pattern of their attack.

If he was serious, kidnapping him would be near impossible. The kidnapping was succeeded in the first place because Dream was caught off guard and in a low condition. The next time it happened was probably because of the same reason or Dream actually let himself be kidnapped.

Dream can’t help but get spooked a little whenever any of them almost caught him. To avoid them, he jumped, ducked, and even teleport when it was absolutely necessary since it would make him dizzy. Fortunately, dodging their teleportation is easier! Whenever they were about to appear, some small, blue particles in the air would alert Dream first.

Maybe if he can survive in this ‘hunt’, he can prove to them that he’s okay and doesn't have to take the disgusting medicine!

Just when he just thought about that, a sudden ache in his head had Dream groaned in annoyance. When he opens his sockets, the world spins so he has to stop and use the closest wall for support.

Okay, maybe his body actually did need to take the medicine but he still doesn’t want to. They either taste bitter or smell disgusting. Or worse, both. He had enough of them. Even the one that Nightmare said has a sweet taste smelled absolutely disgusting. The thought of taking it already made him nauseous.

Dream blinked slowly a few times, taking some experimental steps to make sure his sight doesn’t spin again and he won’t crash against the wall like at the beginning of his escape. His head still aches but it’s not as bad! He can move normally at least. While moving quietly, Dream is thinking of where to go to avoid the others before they could recover from their state. He especially needs to keep his guard up from the unknown whereabouts of his big brother. He’s pretty confident though! After all, he had always won in hide and seek with Nightmare in the past!

No, Nightmare totally never let himself lose just to see his twin’s bright smile in the past. Nope. Totally never. Not that Dream actually knew anyway.

He’s keeping his senses sharp. His vision, his hearing sense, his smell sense−

Talking about a smell, he just realized there’s a very nice scent of chocolate filling the castle. Maybe he can stop by at the kitchen? Horror must be finished. He’ll just snatch the cake Horror promised him and then went somewhere else to eat it alone, without Killer or Cross’ grabby hands threatening to snatch away his chocolate treat. He closed his sockets, imagining the kitchen in his head. The moment he opened his eyes, the world is spinning and he felt his body run cold when his feet can’t find the ground, probably teleported in the middle of the air.

But before he could fall, someone caught him, and he feels his soul is filled with panic.

“Got you,”

That’s Horror’s voice!

Dream gasped, squirming to get away from Horror’s bear hug to no avail. He won’t be able to teleport without bringing Horror with him, so teleporting is pointless right now!

“Noooo! Unhand me right now!”

“It’s for your own good, little guy,” Horror chuckled at his reaction.

“Well done, Horror,” another voice joined them and Dream is squirming harder yet Horror won’t budge. Not going to mention his feet don’t even touch the ground, making it harder for him to escape.

“Let me gooooooo!”

“You’re in trouble young man,” Nightmare scolded, one of his tentacles poking Dream’s puffed-out cheek.

“Oh come on! I’m totally fine!” the ‘young man’ whined. “I can run around, jump, teleport, everything I could do in my perfect shape!”

“Yes, you could. But not without bumping into something at least four times and don’t think that I didn’t see you almost fall to the ground after teleporting if not because of Horror a few seconds ago. Goodness, do you realize how many bruises you have right now?”

Despite his exasperated tone and expression, Nightmare looks more concerned than anything.

Now that Nightmare mentioned it, some part of his body does feel a little sore.

“It’s no biggie! I’m a big, strong, and healthy adult after all!”

“The same said adult that just gotten caught because of a cake,”

The younger guardian glared at Killer who just entered the kitchen with a smirk on his face.

Dream is going to wipe that annoying smirk from his face.

“That’s rich coming from someone who had their fingers caught in a mousetrap Horror put in the kitchen because of a piece of chocolate twice last month,” Dream replied with spite in his tone.

Cross and Dust, who followed closely behind Killer, broke into a fit of laugher. Horror didn’t laugh out loud yet Dream can feel his figure shake. Even Nightmare cough a few times, immediately leaving the group to take Dream’s medicine he put somewhere in the kitchen, obviously hiding his laughter. Dream is too busy with his victory for being the cause of betrayed and flustered look on Killer’s face to notice where Nightmare is going.

“Y-you have no proof!”

It’s amusing how Killer still tries to save his pride when his reaction is so obvious. Not that he has any more left in their eyes in the first place. Actually, none of them had it anymore except Nightmare since he’s the only one who’s careful with what he’s doing (though, sometimes his mask tends to slip easier with his brother's unexpected antics).

“I have some copies,” Dream paused, grinning ‘innocently’. “If only someone let me get my phone now, I can send them to you!”

“No. You should take your medicine first,” Horror immediately cut in before anyone could agree.

Dream crossed his arms. “Humph! I won’t send anything to anyone then!”

Cross and Dust exchange glances, ‘speaking’ to each other through their eyes before nodding at the same time. Horror doesn’t like the look on their face as they’re walking closer to him. They took a step, and he took a step back, tightening his grip on Dream just in case.

“Horror come on, this is top tier blackmail material,”

“Give Dream to us and we’ll give him back later,”

Horror would be lying if he doesn’t want to see such a hilarious picture, but Dream has to take his medicine, or else his condition might worsen again.

Killer steps in between them, ‘protecting’ Dream and Horror.

“Don’t you dare take another step closer,”

“Ohoho we totally dare,”

Nightmare, who actually has found the medicine for a while and preferred to just watch the drama unfold (it was quite amusing), finally decides to interrupt. Dream was supposed to take his medicine moments ago after all.

“You’re getting better at tempting people to your side,” the older twin chuckles. “But unfortunately, the blackmail materials can wait, your medicine doesn’t,”

The peace in the mansion is back after all the commotion in the morning. Regardless of their conflict, Dream insisted to heal Dust, Killer, and Cross’ wounds they had gotten during the chase. Being used to their roughhousing doesn’t mean Dream would stay still seeing them hurt. Though, Dream only healed them a little since he’s not allowed to overwork his magic, especially after such chaotic morning. Horror also applied healing gel on his bruises after that, which fortunately worked quickly.

And yes, Nightmare finally got him to take his medicine. Which was why Dream has been pouting, leaning against Horror’s side on the carpet while eating the cake Horror made him while watching Killer and Dust playing a game on the tv (more precisely, watching them pushing each other to win). Cross is sitting upside down on the sofa while reading a manga, Horror is playing a random game on his phone, and Nightmare is nowhere to be seen.

It didn’t take too long for that pout to disappear from his face with the nice treat in front of him though. He’s never the type to sulk for too long anyway.

“Whew’s Nwight?” Dream asked with his mouth full of cake when he noticed his brother’s absence ever since they all had gathered in the living room.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Horror scolded him softly. Dream swallowed, then muttered an apology followed by a small grin.

“Maybe he’s chillin’ in Underfell or something. The negativity there is pretty good as a dessert since someone caused chaos too early to his liking,” Dust answered with his tone jokingly sarcastic.

“Hmmm, is that so,” Dream only hummed innocently then continues eating with a face that said I’ve-done-nothing-wrong.

That drew a snort from Dust. The guardian sure has changed quite a lot, which is not a bad change in his opinion. He’s sure the others will agree about that too.

After Cross finished reading, he finally closed his manga and moved to sit beside Dream. He poked the side of the little skeleton’s upper arm a few times.

“Can I have−”

Dream immediately swallowed the cake and cut him off. “No. The last time you said that you took half of my cake in one spoonful,”

Cross pretended to think before frowning. “When did that ever happen, I wonder?”

Dream glares at him and immediately shields his cake from Cross’s grabby hand.

“Come on Dream, don’t be so stingy!”

“No!”

“Just a liiiitle?”

“I said no! Your definition of little is not little at all!”

“GIMME THAT CAKE!”

“NO! THIS IS MINE!”

“CHOCOLAAAAAAAATE!”

“NOOOOOO!”

“I just came back and you already caused another chaos, Dream?” a tired voice joined them in the living room.

“But Cross started it!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Yea Cross did,” Killer confirmed without turning away from the television.

“Killer you little snitch,”

“If I can’t get that cake, then so do you,”

Nightmare shook his head fondly, then walk away from the living room.

“W-where are you going?”

Dream’s nervous tone stopped Nightmare on his track, and not only that, but he also drew everyone’s attention.

‘Oh? Does someone actually feel guilty?’

Dust and Killer are still playing but their attention is divided between the brothers and the tv screen. The same goes with Horror and Cross, they’re pretending to be busy with their phone when their eyes are actually on them. They just know that Nightmare is planning something interesting, especially seeing a small smirk he tried so hard to hide.

“I’m going to rest in my room because I feel tired,”

It was a lie. He only wanted to make a cup of tea in the kitchen before joining them but apparently, his dear little brother has something to say.

“Do you need anything?” Nightmare asked back.

“U-um…perhaps you want this cake, brother?”

Ah, so that’s it. Does he want to apologize by offering him food?

Honestly, Nightmare doesn’t feel that tired after the little mischievousness Dream caused in the morning and neither does he feel annoyed by it. If anything, Nightmare is actually relieved seeing how carefree and cheerful his brother is this morning compared to his condition in the last few days. Though, it would be good if he didn't force himself just to avoid taking a mere medicine. 

But teasing him a little won’t hurt, right?

“Perhaps I do want to take a bite,”

That was…an answer Dream didn't expect. He thought his brother wouldn’t want his cake. A part of him indeed feels guilty and he did want to apologize! But another part of him is not willing to give his cake! Dream looks conflicted as he got up from his seat, approaching his waiting brother. There's…something familiar about Nightmare's expression yet he can't put his finger on it.

Nightmare was a pretty mischievous big brother to him in the past, now he's this old there's no way he's still like that, right?

Or that's what Dream thought until Nightmare did something Cross intended to do not too long ago.

Nightmare took half of the chocolate cake with the spoon and ate it, which wasn't that much since Dream himself had eaten it firsthand.

He's frozen from shock, his expression was so priceless that the others are having difficulty holding back their laughter and pretend not to watch their little ‘drama’. Dream looks so betrayed it’s hilarious.

There's a rare amused and satisfied look on Nightmare's face. Ah, it’s been so long since the last time he pranked his brother like this.

“Traitor!” Dream wails dramatically. “I’ve been betrayed! Backstabbed and left to rot!”

That was the last straw. At his dramatic reaction, everyone burst out laughing. Even Nightmare, who very rarely laughs out loud, laughing with all his soul.

This is how the mansion is supposed to be. Bright, and also filled with laughter and chaos.

A few days later…

"You should wear a double jacket,"

"This scarf will keep your neck warm,"

"Wear this beanie too,"

"These gloves will protect you from the cold,"

"Isn't this too much?"

"It's for your own good. If you show even the slightest sign of sickness, we will immediately bring you back,"

"Psssh, I'm completely fine now−achoo!"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"W-well, if you excuse me, I have a tea party with my friends so…"

With a snap of his finger, Dream disappears into thin air, leaving the others dumbfounded in a déjà vu.

"Boys,"

“On it, boss,”