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It was pretty gloomy for Swap recently. Tougher missions, he had missed his brother, he hadn't been resting properly and having to be the optimist had become increasingly difficult. He wanted to just...
Rest.
Swap was aimlessly walking around Snowdin and ended up in Waterfall, his figure being lit up slightly from the bright teal bioluminescent ECHO flowers that littered around the dark ground, whispering snippets of past conversations from other Monsters. It was soothing yet also anxiety inducing in a sense. There was some arguments, some comforting words, some encouragement, yet the mixed bag of feelings only made swap feel all the more stressed about his feelings.
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"Is it okay to rest a bit?"
"Am I good enough to keep up with Dream and Ink? They are kinda like... Gods in a way."
"Should I just quit and-"
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"Perhaps a nap will do you some good, little knight... I can see the dark circles underneath your sockets even in dim light... it suits you, oddly enough." Nightmare said, his deep yet oddly soothing voice pierced Swap's train of thoughts, his head snapping towards Nightmare.
Nightmare stood just nearby the bench Swap sat at, his body catching the bright blue bioluminescent light of the environment, which only made Nightmare look more ghostly and eerie. Swap then stood up and summoned two bones and held them close as he took a sloppy defensive stance.
"W-What are you doing here? Please don't cause trouble... I am.. too tired for this." Swap called out, his voice slowly went from defensive to utterly exhausted. The sudden movements of his body made him feel lightheaded, his weak body couldn't bear the sudden summon of his mere two bones.
He staggered and fell forward, only to be caught by Nightmare. As much as Swap wanted push off the dark skeleton's hold, Nightmare was oddly... warm. Many would expect the goopy Monster to be cold to the touch, but it was the opposite. He was warm, so warm and comfortable that it made Swap want to melt into him. That thought alone was embarrassing, making his cheekbones flush with a pale blue flush. Nightmare gently led the both of them into the soft ground and held Swap close, keeping the smaller skeleton's head on his chest.
"Your misery and exhaustion is palpable, you know?" Nightmare teased, his tendrils slithering to hold onto Swap's back, hips, and legs, acting as a blanket for the skeleton. "Even I rest, why don't you?" He asked, the curiosity in him was visible to Swap, weirdly charmingly so, too.
He's lying, he doesn't need rest like mortals do... not as much at least.. a good nap is nice.
Swap, before answering, sleepily nuzzled closer to Nightmare, even surprising the goopy skeleton, but Nightmare didn't move away. He didn't move away. "I just... is hard to rest... too busy." Swap mumbled, eyes fighting for their lives to stay open, his energy slipping.
"Hardships are difficult to combat when exhausted, and rest is important for a knight like you. You should seek it more, not avoid it as if it an enemy." Nightmare gently lectured, not scolding, not teasing, just advising. Like he had done this a thousand times before... which he has. His moronic lackeys seemed to lack the proper ability to sleep without struggling with nightmares (Nightmare always chuckled at that every time he said it, dork).
Swap could only mumble in response, his arms loosely wrapped around NIghtmare's waist, as if he's trying to hug the Guardian of Negativity. Nightmare didn't mind it, for he was made for this... he thinks. He can't really remember his purpose other than to spread or nurture Negativity, but over time he learned he can soothe others, lull them to sleep and even cast away terrors. As ironic as that is.
With a sigh, Nightmare placed his hands on Swap's and very subtly took the negative energy and emotions from Swap's body. It was.. oddly sweet tasting, making Nightmare oddly content. Ah, he should probably leave soon, the longer he stays in an AU, the higher chance he had being sensed by Dream. He wasn't in the mood to fight, and he didn't bring his little trio with him, so that made fighting more boring. And Nightmare didn't like to fight, as silly as it is, he wasn't a huge fan of fighting. Not that he couldn't, he just preferred to just sit back and watch.
Then, Nightmare moved, still holding Swap close against his chest and began walking. Swap wasn't heavy, especially since the smaller skeleton wasn't wearing his battle body. Is that what it's called? Nightmare didn't know but he's heard Swap refer to his armor in that way, Nightmare didn't experience a 'Papyrus' so he wouldn't know. He slowly walked out of Waterfall, his hood up, not that it would really hide much from his appearance, of course he can shape shift but no point. Waterfall is relatively empty, but Nightmare stuck to the shadows for the sake of not bothering anyone.
Despite what many would think, Nightmare really doesn't actively bother anyone. He can last just from any natural negativity swimming around the Multiverse for a good while, but every once in a while, he needs to poke at someones (or AU's) negativity to get a good fill and go back to being relatively relaxed and leaving folks alone.
Now entering Snowdin late into the "night", Nightmare trudged through the snow towards Swaps home. But Nightmare knew that Swap's... brother, would be present. When he made it beside the two story home of the skeleton brothers', he stood in the dark alley in between the home of another, a neighbors home. Nightmare's single eye-light tracked up the wall and found an open window, and considering the familiar scent of Swap coming from it, carried by the wind, it was his room. Nightmare merely teleported into the room, sinking into the snowy ground and appeared in Swap's clean room.
"My, little knight, you are well kept, aren't you?" Nightmare hummed, slowly placing Swap into his bed, ensuring that Swap was comfortable and even tucked in. I am not sure why I am doing this... feels odd being around him as of recently. Foolish knight does something odd to my soul.
Nightmare then felt another presence in the home, he assumed it was Swap's brother, Stretch, he believed the other skeleton's name was. Nightmare could care less about the other, for he didn't care about "side characters" (harsh words, Nightmare). But according to Error, this Papyrus had a nasty bite in battle. So, Nightmare turned to Swap who was asleep in bed, leaned down and pressed his 'lips' onto Swap's temple, pulling a little moonstone and placed it on Swap's nightstand.
"Shame you work for my brother. Rest well, Swap, pray you don't get a nightmare..." Nightmare said in a hushed tone with a chuckle at his own stupid pun, and disappeared into the shadows, leaving the moon's new favorite knight to rest after many days of unrest.
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A few days later...
Swap: holy smokes.. Dream I want your brother carnally
Dream: pardon?
Swap: I need him to top me.
Dream: the fuck did you just say to me?????