Chapter Text
Nightmare regretted going to this one AU.
Error told him that this AU would be easy, a world that would be easy to take and erase but it wasn't too easy. The people fought back.
Of course they were not beaten, and the world was easily destroyed but it was more annoying, than anything else. A waste of time, just like that world was a waste of space that was so needed in the multiverse. At least, that's what Error believed. Nightmare did all this for a fully different reason that he would rather the others not know, at least not yet.
Axe got hit by something, a potion created by one of the humans after he moved in front of Dusty and Killer, so they would not get hit by it. Nightmare thought him doing it, and getting hit, instead of the others was kind.
It made him a tad... confused. If Nightmare had to be honest about it.
Why would you try to sacrifice yourself, just for others? Whatever the reason, Nightmare told him that he did a good job, and then they went back to his own AU once they were finished in this world. He was happy to be back in his castle.
When they got back, they made food, and he made sure that Axe got more than normal. If any of the others asked why he would explain that Axe took a hit that could have easily dusted him to keep the others safe, and he didn't need to do that. Nightmare believed that that deserved a bit of extra, didn't it?
"I don't see why" Dusty grumbles, but doesn't say much else, eating slowly. Killer nudges him in a silent way of telling him to shut up, Nightmare letting out a soft hum at that. Dusty always enjoyed speaking back, for whatever reason. Maybe it made him feel better about himself? Whatever the reason, it annoyed Nightmare more than anything else.
Killer looks over at Axe, noticing the fact that he wasn't eating, and had his head lent forward his eyeshine out. His shoulders were rising and falling with his slow breathing "Axe" Killer starts, hoping that that would be enough. The large skeleton didn't wake, "Axe, wake up" he reaches over, lightly patting Axe's shoulder. It was the best way to wake him up normally; strangely enough he was normally a very heavy sleeper.
The large skeleton startles awake, digging his fingertips into the wood easily, looking around quickly. He sighs, rubbing at his face letting out a mrr sound. It seemed like he had quite a bit of bad feelings coming from him, maybe from a headache? He got those fairly often because of how low his magic level was.
Nightmare makes a soft hum sound. "Axe. Go to sleep. You can eat when you wake up" He didn't care much for the scratch marks in the table, it would not be the first nor the last time that the scratches happened, and he would rather it be the wood, than others.
Axe starts to object, then had to stop himself, covering his mouth with his hand, yawning. "I said sleep" Nightmare squints, annoyed. Axe lets out a huffing sound but gets up anyway, heading out slowly to go to his bedroom muttering a good night.
Slowly, the rest of them started to go to sleep as well. Killer was the last one to go rest, and Nightmare went to his bedroom to start to read.
He didn't need to sleep. He would much rather spend the time needed doing other things, and that normally meant that he would read, write, or make plans for other AU's that they could steal from. They didn't have to mess up every single one, if they did that, it would become a tad too much, wouldn't it?
In the morning, he slides out of the bed, puts his books away with his tentacles, and walks towards the kitchen to clean up. Yes, he knew that he could easily get his underlings to clean but if he did nothing, it would get boring after a while.
Sometimes it was already boring.
After a bit of time, he looks at the time, letting out a hum "They should be awake by now" he grumbles, a tiny bit annoyed now.
Did he have to go and wake them up himself?
Before he could even go to do that, Killer walks into the kitchen dressed up, a grin on his face like normal "Good morning, Nightmare." he says, fixing his sleeve. A black sweater on. He would put back on his blue jacket if they were to leave the castle, most likely. He liked the black sweater on Killer, it matched his... eyes.
"Hm. Good morning. It took you long enough to wake up," Nightmare hints, with light annoyance in his voice. Yes, he knew that they weren't gods, they needed rest but that did not mean he liked to be kept waiting.
"I'm sorry" he lowers his head, "Shall I go to wake up the others?"
Nightmare lets out a hum at that, "I am sure you know the answer to that already, must you waste my time asking me?" Honestly Killer, if they didn't wake up Axe and Dusty, then they would sleep forever! It isn't like they could trust them to wake up themselves.
Killer turns, walking off to go and wake up the others. Nightmare starts to get coffee. Axe makes the breakfast most of the time, seeing as though he was the best cook out of them all. Dusty was the worst and he was unsure about Killer, he has yet to even try now that Nightmare thought about it... that may be for the best. Cross used to be a good cook but... Nightmare does not like to think about that much anymore.
Nightmare didn't even need to eat, that didn't mean he didn't like to.
He sips from the cup, shutting his eye socket, the goop still covering the other like it always did. He leans against the counter, waiting for the others so he could talk about the plan for the next few days while thinking about it himself.
That AU gave them quite a bit, which was good, but that didn't mean they were off the hook forever. They needed to keep going, getting stronger and getting more LV and everything. If they ran out of food, it would be bad for them all. Mostly Axe, he would hate to make him go through that again. It was one of the reasons why he never brought up the fact that they would sometimes run out.
Suddenly, he could sense a bit of negativity making him smile, just a tad. Ah... Dusty woke up. Good good. Knowing him, he was most likely annoyed about the fact. The thought amused Nightmare. He deserved to be annoyed sometimes, Dusty was, for the lack of a better word, sometimes a dick to the rest of them. Of course he knew why, it was a fight or flight response that didn't make it any less harmful, or hurtful.
He goes into the living room to sit down, so he could wait for the others. It was taking them longer than normal, Dusty most likely being annoying and fighting about having to wake up. "I swear if they don't hurry up" he mutters, to himself tapping his foot on the ground.
"uh... Sir"
He perks up a little when he heard the voice, that was Killer. He turns his head to the side, to look over at him "What?" He asks, then pauses his eyeshine slowly scanning down to see the little creature in Killer's arms.
It was little Axe.
A babybones version, it seemed. He was wearing very similar clothes to what he had before but much smaller, and looked big on him. Only one of his eye sockets was still working, giving off light and there was still that crack in his skull. He seemed almost uncomfortable, most likely with how Killer was holding him.
"I found him like this" Killer mumbles, looking down at little Axe.
"What should I do with him?" he continued, asking in a slightly confused and unsure voice. That was exactly what Nightmare was feeling as well.
How strange?
Nightmare doesn't say anything at first, then slowly reaches out and presses his finger against Axe's cheek, causing him to lean away from the touch a little, letting out a soft mrr sound "Noo..." the voice was so soft and quiet, similar to that of Axe's normal voice, now that Nightmare thought about it.
Axe didn't often speak, normally just making sounds to show how his reactions were. He would growl in annoyance, purr when he was happy, make confused sounds, and so many more. His actions spoke more than his words ever could.
"Well look at this" He mumbles. With that, he moves one of his tentacles wrapping it around the little Axe, lifting him out of Killer's arms. "I suppose that means that this is the result of the potion that he took for you both. It's best that he was the only one hit instead of you two." He did not want to deal with a child Dusty...
Might not act too different than his normal personality, though.
Killer nods in approval and reaches over poking at Axe's cheek "He doesn't look as threatening when he's this small" Killer jokes, with a soft laugh. Most likely because he was so small?
Axe lets out an annoyed sound. He never did quite enjoy being touched unless it was by someone he trusted, and most likely the trust wasn't gained just yet. Nightmare wondered just how much Axe knew of himself, of them? It seems like not much, seeing as though Axe suddenly lent forward, clamping down hard on Killer's finger, causing him to tense up.
"Fuck!" He pulls his hand back quickly, getting Axe to almost fall off the couch but Nightmare caught him with his tentacle "He bit me!"
"I saw" Nightmare smiles, resting his head against his fist "and I also saw it was deserved. He did give you a warning to not touch him. You didn't listen to it" oh this was amazing...
It was annoying that they lost one of their best workers for as long as this lasts... Axe was strong, fast, not the smartest of the group by a long shot but he could do the most damage without using too much magic.
It would be strange to not have him around, at least for the amount of time it takes for the potion to stop working.
Dusty walks in, rubbing the palm of his hand over his eye socket, yawning out "What is all the yelling about?"
Killer huffs, heading to the kitchen holding his hand closer to his chest. Damn it all.
Magic was most likely leaking from his finger because of the bite, Nightmare did not feel bad at all.
"Axe has seemed to be returned to his babybones state... different, most likely but still a babybones. It seems we will have to watch him... and by we, I mean myself, because I do not trust any of you"
Nightmare's eyeshine shoots down to look at Axe, who was now chewing on one of his tentacles. He didn't feel it. The closer to his back the more his tentacles had feeling but, as of now, he couldn't feel near the tips. He was happy about that... his teeth were so sharp and easily slicing through but it reformed just as quickly, so it was most likely more of chew toy for the little skeleton.
"He's little?" Dusty walks over, leaning over the back of the couch looking at him, and laughs "You're right holy shit." He reaches out, and they could both hear a growl from Axe but Dusty ignored it, just like Killer did, and lightly poked at the hole in his skull. That caught Nightmare's attention, frowning and letting out a little hum.
Axe tenses up at the sudden touch then burst into tears. The bright red tears rolled down his cheeks as he let go of Nightmare's tentacle. The tears only came from one of his sockets, and the tears were very faint, it did take magic for skeletons to cry and it could be dangerous for the little babybones.
That was worrying.
Nightmare flinches a little at the loud sound, causing him to sigh out slowly "Idiot" he scoops Axe up in his tentacle again, starting to rock him back and forth slowly, heading to the library "I will be in my library. Do not disturb me unless it's important. Duster, finish cleaning in the kitchen, and sweep. Think of this as punishment for making him cry like that" He guessed that he would be watching little Axe until the potion wore off, this did explain why he didn't feel the need to eat as much as normal last night. This will be interesting.
He would admit that he was annoyed at Dusty for making Axe wail like that. Why would he even touch the hole? They all knew that that was a sensitive subject for Axe.
Maybe, just maybe, if this all works out well, he will allow the others to take care of little Axe for a short amount of time though, as of now, he would rather make sure that there was nothing else going on with that potion and the best way to do that, is to keep an eye on the little skeleton.
While Nightmare was in the library, he could sense the negativity coming from Dusty. Nightmare could, honestly, care less about that. The punishment was well deserved because now he had to deal with the babybones crying, and Nightmare never enjoyed seeing people cry. Negative feelings were alright, but tears were... annoying.
That's why he was happy when Axe's tears stopped though, despite that, it also made him nervous, honestly. Did it stop because Axe wasn't sad anymore, or because he didn't have any more magic to spare? That could be dangerous for him and truthfully, Nightmare would rather not lose Axe fully.
He was a very good member to have on the team, strong. If he served no purpose, he could care less if the other skeleton dusted but, as of now, he was nervous.
Looking down at the babybones who was holding onto one of his tentacles, the eye shine out fully. That's not a good sign... He reaches over, tapping the babybone on the cheek "Axe. Wake up" he swore, if he had to get the other two to share their magic, he was going to be pissed.
It seems like he had to do just that. The lights flickered for a second, then went back out Axe letting out a weak little whine. He sighs out slowly, rubbing his hand over his face "Damn it all..." He blamed Dusty for this.
He stands up, walking out of the library, moving Axe closer to his chest. "Duster, Killer, over here!"
Killer pokes his head out of the living room, and hurries over while Dusty came a bit slower, holding a broom "What? I'm trying to clean up" Killer looks over at him and narrows his eye sockets "Don't speak to Nightmare in that way, Dusty." Dusty repeated what was said in a mocking voice.
"Shut up!" Nightmare snaps, his tentacles moving out making them both flinch backward, and he huffs in annoyance then holds out Axe "Both of you, share your magic with him. Before you ask why, just do it" Killer nods, reaching out taking Axe gently from him.
"He better not bite me again" He grumbles, which causes Nightmare to roll his eyeshine himself.
"If he does, it would be better than not reacting. I believe that the crying took out more magic than his body was able to deal with"
Killer nodded a little and shut his eye sockets his soul starting to glow, while Dusty huffs, and slowly reaches over, putting his hand against Axe's arm sharing his own.
Dusty had much more to give.
Slowly Axe's eyeshine came back, brighter than before, blinking a few times and looking around. He seemed so confused. "Hmm?" Nightmare could already guess the thought going through his mind...
why am I being touched?
The thought almost made him chuckle.
"Better. Now, I expect you two to be able to handle him while I go to search for a way to fix this. I still do not trust you two to take care of him correctly but it is the best option. If Error comes, then please do explain to them what happened... and ask them where they had been" he turns, starting to walk.
It did worry him to leave Axe with those two but he hoped that they would be smart enough to take care of him correctly. They both raised their brothers from a young age, so they should know what to do.
With Nightmare gone, the two boys looked at each other, both looking a tad unsure of what to do. "Why would he leave us with him?" Dusty asked.
Killer shrugs his shoulders, looking down at the little Axe that was in his arms, staring up at him looking unsure. "I'm not sure but if he trusts us, then we should try our best to please him. Plus, this is Axe and I believe you have to repay him for a few things you've done to him over the years"
Dusty grumbles a soft shut up. Axe lets out a soft growl, putting his arms around his stomach. Right, hungry, that makes sense... "Well, let's go get this over with" Killer then walks over to the kitchen, Dusty following after stuffing his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, the broom long forgotten.