Work Text:
Blue had always remembered every timeline. And especially the genocides ones. He just never mentioned it. At first, he thought that they were only bad dreams. But it got more real every time. He would wake up paralysed, feeling his body dusting and a horrible pain in his neck. He could not help but check in the morning if he had a scar. There was none. But the dream was so vivid, that he was almost certain to see it.
He did not remember when he realised that those were memories. But when he did, he did not talk to his brother. Or anyone. They had their own problems. There was no need to annoy them with his own. Sometimes it was hard to hide it. One day, he burst into tears when he saw Alphys because he had woken up, convinced that she had died. That had been hard to explain. But he had been able to live with it anyway.
Then he started to date Edge. Everything was great. They took things slowly. Both were following their own dating manuals and they had already gone on many dates. This night, they were cuddling on the couch at Blue’s house while watching a movie. Stretch left the house for the evening, so they were alone.
At some point during the credits, they ended up kissing passionately.
After a moment, Edge rested his forehead against Blue’s. They were breathing hard.
“I should go home.” He whispered.
Blue pouted. So early? But he wanted to have his boyfriend a little longer…
“You could stay here, if you want.” Blue proposed. It was not their first date. Surely they were not breaking their dating rules ? Especially if they were just sleeping in each other’s arms.
Edge smiled and moved to kiss him again.
Blue was took that as a “yes”.
“But I’m warning you, if your brother tries to kill me in the morning, I will defend myself.” Edge said.
The smaller skeleton frowned. “What? I thought that you two get along better !”
“We do.”
He was not lying. They both made efforts, for Blueberry. But he was pretty certain that the protective Stretch would not be happy to see him coming from his little brother room on the morning. That could be funny though.
Blue watched Edge closely. “I hope so. You know that I don’t like when you fight.”
“I know, I know… Now, don’t you have a bedroom to show me ?”
Blue chuckled. “Of course.”
His brother had warned him. The human was dangerous. Blueberry was not stupid. He had seen the dust on the human’s clothes or on their hands. He did not want to think about the monster they killed. However, he knew that the human was not evil. He was certain that they could be friends. He just needed to talk to them. They just needed someone to believe in them.
His brother had told him to stay at home. But here he was. He knew that he could help. The human must be good inside. Someone had to show them. And he was going to do it.
The human arrived slowly. More dust on them. Blue was not scared. He was the magnificent Sans after all. He was not scared so easily. He did not try to fight the human. He immediately offered mercy. They must be scared in this new world. They needed a friend. And he wanted to be their friend. They did not have to fight. They could use mercy.
When the human attacked him, he barely saw them move. He just felt a terrible pain in his neck. He felt his body melting, becoming dust. Truly, it was a horrible sensation to feel your body disappearing bit by bit. But he kept the energy to tell to the human that he still believe in them.
And then he woke up.
Edge was a light sleeper. He had to, considering the world he grew up in. Anyone could sneak up on him and kill him in his sleep. He needed to be aware of anything happening next to him even if he was asleep.
That why he immediately felt Blue moving next to him. And he noticed that something was wrong. He could feel that Blue was quivering. Was he having a nightmare? Maybe it would be better to wake him up.
Edge switched the bedside lamp on and sat in the bed. He then saw his boyfriend.
Blue was on his back, his eyes opened. His gaze was unfocused and tears ran down his face. He was still quivering but not moving.
“Blue ?”
He did not react. Edge moved his hands in front of his face. He was hoping for some reaction with some movements. But still nothing.
“Are you okay ?” He tried.
Edge quickly understood that Berry could not see him or hear him. Was he still dreaming? He was worried but he needed to stay calm.
“I’m dying !”
What ? Berry was still unmoving but he was talking.
“Berry… “
“I’m dusting…My brother is going to be alone.”
Blue was truly afraid. He knew that he was awake but his dream, that memory of another timeline, paralysed him. He felt like he was slowly dusting, he was able to clearly feel his body disappearing bit by bit. He felt like it was still his reality. He could almost see the human smiling in front of him, their knife covered in dust.
That was strange, but despite his open eyes, it was like he was still dreaming, noted Edge. Did he have to wake him up? He could try.
“Sans. Look at me.” This time, his voice was firm. He held Blue’s shoulders, forcing him to obey.
Blue blinked, suddenly coming back into reality. He looked at Edge as if it was hard to believe that he was here.
“Edge? I….” He tried to say something, before he sobbed.
Actually, it was so unusual to see him cry. Edge was used to see him smile, that he had forgotten that he could cry.
“Shush. Come here.” He whispered.
He held Blueberry in his arm, slowly rocking back and forward.
“Do you need something? I can wake up your brother if you want.”
Stretch must have come home by this hour.
However, Blue shook his head. He hugged Edge tighter, as if he was afraid that he might disappear.
“No ! Just… stay there… please.” His sobbing made it harder to talk.
“Of course.”
They stayed silent a few moments. Edge had already helped his brother through similars situations. So he hoped that it will help Blue too, as he was a Sans. He slowly breathed in and out, encouraging Blue to mimic him. It worked a little. Blue stop sobbing, however that did not stop his quivering. Edge wanted to ask what the dream was about. It must have been terrifying as he was still shaking. But he was afraid that speaking about the dream will only scare Blue more.
“Are you okay ?” He asked instead.
“I don’t know. My neck hurts.”
His neck? Edge checked it. There was nothing. But he still massaged it gently. Blue relaxed a bit. He finally stopped shaking.
“Thank you…” Blue murmured.
They stayed like this until Blueberry fell asleep. Edge then carefully laid him down and spooned him. He was awake for little more time, thinking about what just happened. He had no idea that Blue made such terrible nightmares. But he liked to think that he helped a bit. He will need to ask if he could do more. He hated to think that Blue was suffering alone.
The next morning, they were both awake early. It was usual for them, unlike their lazy brothers. They were quick to dress and they were now in the kitchen.
They had been happy to wake up next to each other, but during the breakfast, the atmosphere was more serious.
“Blue. We need to talk.”
Blue stopped smiling. Edge hated that. He loved the fact Blue could be happy and smiling for almost nothing. It was something that he could not do. But now, they needed to deal with this problem.
“I know…” He sighed. He sat down next to Edge.
“What was that ?” The taller skeleton asked. They both knew what he was talking about.
“Dreams. Memories of other timelines. ”
Just talking about it made him quiver a little. Edge immediately noticed it. He gestured for Blue to come on his laps. Blue did it without complaining and curled up against his boyfriend. Edge hugged him, hoping that it will ease him.
“Why do you react so badly? I mean I know that dreams can be quite horrible, but I couldn’t tell if you were awake or not at that moment.”
“It’s just that sometimes… They seem so real. I feel like one day, I will be stuck in these dreams. As if I will never be in the real world again. Just stuck into these memories. Believing that I’m dead, or that the others are dead. What if that happened ? What if I never reach reality again ? ”
Blue was really scared. He did not want to live in a memory. But if that happened, what could he do against it? Nothing. He was powerless. He could not stop that from happening.
“Blue.” He looked at Edge. The taller skeleton seemed deadly serious. “I’m here. As long as I can be here, I will always bring you back to reality. I promise to you.”
He meant every word. He truly loved Blue. He wanted to protect him and help him.
Blue smiled. He knew that his boyfriend would find the right words.
“Thank you.”
“No one could say that the great and terrible Papyrus was not able to protect his boyfriend! Even if it’s from dreams.”
That made Sans chuckled.
“Also…Could you… not tell this to my brother please ?”
“Sure.”
They stayed against each other, just enjoying the other presence. Blue loved it more today. Because it was real. And even if it was not, he knew that Edge would be here for awake him. He had nothing to be scared about when he had such a wonderful boyfriend.