#is his AU just called dreamtale I genuinely don’t know

[capricioussun]

2am post jumpscare

[xxtha-blog]

Hello, I have an announcement to make. I will be calling out myself today.

It’s been brought to my attention something that happened just over 2 years ago has been brought back, so I’d like to talk about it:

So here’s a story. If you follow my blog you know I’m very critical of a lot of things, especially surrounding Dreamtale AUs. Now, I believe in one very important thing when I criticize things: No one deserves unsolicited criticism. Thus I tag/warn/hide all my stuff so those who continue reading it are prepared and I NEVER send my stuff to the creators of the work. EVER. If they’re in a server and I want to talk about it with someone, I move to DMs. If I get asked an opinion on tumblr I tag that shit with warnings, put on a read more label, and keep my criticism as constructive and analytic as possible.

So what does this have to do with anything. Let’s go back to November 2019. It was just prior to Dreamtale being continued, and a peak everyone hates Dream and knows nothing about his character. So if you think I dislike Dream alts and AUs now, it was a lot worse back then. Especially about one particular AU: Shattered Dream. One day I sat down and wrote a very long vent/rant essay on Shattered Dream, put all my emotions into it, then put it down and promised never to touch the AU again. I had it written down, it was done. No more would I rant about Shattered Dream. I had already put every opinion I could think of in a stupid document to get it out of me. The only people that were supposed to see that rant essay bullshit were my friends. It was meant to be private. It wasn’t constructive criticism. It wasn’t nice. I put all the frustration I possibly could into that thing. And I absolutely NEVER wanted it to be read by the creator. Why would I, it was me being an asshole for like 10 solid pages. It was just every problem I personally had, written down for me to get tf over it. I didn’t post it anywhere but my dms/private server. For any of my followers on this blog, you’ve probably never heard about/read this thing for a reason. I never posted it here, and if you do read it now, know I certainly don’t stand by the things I said in it.

However, me being a dumbass, I thought it was fine where it was. Discord. There was no possible way it could get out there. It was in a google doc. It was tagged with a big content disclaimer at the top for my friends (because a few of them did like the au). I did not post it anywhere beyond my own private dms and discord channels.

And the worst possible thing happened to that document.

Someone sent it to the creator. And they read it. And I was fucking mortified. I don’t know how they found it and I don’t know who sent it to them and I immediately asked to talk to them in discord so I could apologize. I also disabled the link for it to remove access since it had gotten out.

They sent me a message something along the lines of: I don’t want to hear your apology, what’s done is done, just take it down. And I was blocked before I could send a single message. I obviously had taken it down. The link they currently have posted it is a copy of it, the original was deleted.

So shit. I felt terrible. I believe very strongly in the idea that you should make things for yourself and nothing but yourself, I’d never want my opinions to genuinely affect someone’s ability to create, that’s terrible, that’s not what criticism should be ever. And then they quit their AU and I felt even more abysmal. And the situation was essentially the equivalent of someone screenshotting or copy pasting some shitty rant you made in a discord server about an AU, and having it sent anonymously to the creator. I had a false sense of security it was safe. I shouldn’t have. That was stupid. That will forever be on me.

Now, present day, they post a copy of the essay on their blog and say it was sent anonymously to them. I can promise you I would never send that to them or anyone connected to them. That’s insane. It was not me who sent it, but I am genuinely so fucking sorry you had to read that. I am so sorry for the pain it caused you, for the demotivation, for the loss to your followers of an AU they loved. It was not meant for you. It was not meant to accuse you of anything. it was solely a vent, full emotional bs rant keyboard smashed onto a page. If I could go back and redo things, it would never have been written in the first place. I wish you had continued your AU. I really wish none of this had happened.

I have been waiting 2 years to be able to say that. @shattereddreamsau I know nothing I say can make up for the two years, but if you’d be willing to talk about anything, I’m fully open to making up for this in any way I can. I know I can’t take it back, the internet lives on forever, but know that I will do whatever it takes to make it better if you’re open to that. If not, and I totally understand if you want absolutely nothing to do with me, but I do hope you see this and know I am truly sorry. If you do reply, I ask we continue it privately so we can sort this out away from tumblr.

I avoided making this type of post on tumblr for the last two years to avoid other people getting involved and to avoid causing you more problems, but since the essay has now been posted here, I am here to take responsibility for writing it.

I appreciate the effort people put into AUs even if I don’t like them. I hope you know I appreciate different opinions on AUs. I’m glad to see people find enjoyment out of things I do not. I do not ever want to take that away from someone, and I hope in the last two years, you have seen me make an effort to keep my criticisms properly hidden/tagged and short/respectful. AUs are supposed to be fun. I never want something like this to happen again and will do my best to make sure it doesn’t.

[annaraebananawriter]

Day 6: Trust

Yellow everyone! Day 5 of ErrorDream Week, hosted by @errorxdream, here we go! I have nothing to say, really...except, I suppose...you are going to HATE the ending to this little story.

ALSO! Yes, all the prompts for this week are connected in one big story. Soooo…if you missed it, you might want to read Day 5 to understand everything in this one!

Fandom: Undertale, but specifically Dreamtale, Errortale, Inktale, Dusttale and Underswap

Characters: Dream, Nightmare (Who belong to Joku), Error (Who belongs to CQ), Ink (Who belongs to Comyet), Dust (Who belongs to ???, I don’t know) and Blue  (Who belongs to P0pcornPr1nce)

Pairings: ErrorDream/Insomnia

Warnings: None, I don’t think so. Let me know!

Word Count: 1975

~oOo~

Dream was still hesitant. Error was waiting.

Nightmare had helped them both realize a way to deal with their feelings.

Now, the question was:

Did Dream trust them both? His brother, who had been trying to defeat him and fought him almost to death in the past? His soulmate, who destroys multiple words, killing thousands of people as a living? Did he trust their word?

...Could he?

Let's find out.

~oOo~

Dream hesitated as he entered Outertale. He knew that this was the place. He just knew it.

However, he had a hard time accepting that he should come here. He wanted to be with Error; he really did, but he was just...afraid. Yeah, that was the closest word. He was afraid to commit to this, that the moment Error got sick of him, he would be left behind. It had happened before. He didn't want it to repeat.

He wasn't afraid of love, not exactly. He just...had made a promise to himself that he would never fall in love, because doing so only led to hurt and sadness, both emotions that he had to avoid unless he had wanted Nightmare to find him. Although...now that Nightmare has approached him like they hadn't been fighting in the first place...he didn't know what to think anymore.

What was true and what was not?

What could he trust and what couldn't he?

It was all so confusing.

Dream stopped. He gazed up at the stars above him. They were so beautiful, with all their colours and twinkling. He smiled at it, tears still at the corner of his eyes. It was more than he deserved. He looked down at his feet, frowning.

He shouldn't be here.

He didn't deserve it.

He rubbed at his eyes as he turned, only to freeze. Error gazed back at him steadily. All was silent. They stared at each other, Error calm and almost knowing, Dream with wide eyes, tears waiting to start. It hurt. It really did.

Error seemed to want to move forward and the slightest movement from him made Dream step back. The Destroyer seemed to notice this, as he stopped and stood as still as he could. Dream stared at him, wary, chest tight.

"Can I talk?" Error asked him, tilting his head at the guardian. Dream blinked at him. "You don't have to say anything, I just ask that you listen to me and think about it. Okay?"

Dream looked down. He knew that Error would wait until he was ready. If not now, then at some other time. The Destroyer was patient. Nightmare had also said that he should listen. He still had his doubts, but...

He owed it to him, to both of them, really, to listen, right?

He looked back up and nodded quietly.

Error exhaled and relaxed. "Thank you." He fell silent for a bit, allowing Dream to relax as well before he started. "You're afraid, aren't you?"

Dream froze and stared at Error with wide eyes. How did—

"I figured it out after you left. It was rather easy, actually. It made sense." Well, that answered his question. "And..." Here it comes, the anger. Error was going to ask him why he felt that way and get angry when he told him. It's what always happened. He—

"...it's okay."

...what?

"You're afraid; not of me, not of love, but you're afraid that people who say they love only mean that because of your aura." Error dipped his head, starting to walk towards Dream, who stood rooted to the ground. "And that's okay. You're afraid and that's okay. Okay?" He stood in front of Dream, a pained look in his eyes. "I promise you that."

Dream was silent; he didn't trust himself to speak.

"I want you to know, that your aura has nothing—and I mean, nothing," Error swore it, making sure Dream got that into his head. "to do with how I feel about you. You may think it does, and that's also okay; no one has tried to show you anything else. I will. I love you, Dream, and I'm going to everything I can to show that it's genuine." The Destroyer hesitated before reaching out and holding Dream's hands tightly. "Just...give me a chance?"

Tears started down Dream's face. He didn't bother to stop them.

He still felt that Error was mistaken. That as soon as it came to light that his aura was, in fact, making these feelings up, that Error would get angry and break off what sort of friendship they had. So would Nightmare, as he cared about Error, Dream knew he did.

But...

Maybe he could enjoy it while it lasted...

"Okay." Dream whispered, squeezing Error's hands back. "One chance."

~oOo~

One month later...

~oOo~

Banter, with an underlying sound coming from a video, could be heard echoing in the Anti-Void. Error and Dream were sitting on the beanbag chair; Dream's legs were thrown over Error's lap, though the Destroyer didn't seem to mind. In front of them, was a video playing. It depicted human characters, all played by the same person. It was a show they had found in the human world of one of the AU's which was rather liked, called Sanders Sides.

Currently, they were arguing about who was the best side between their two favourites.

"It's clearly Patton, I mean come on!" Dream swore, waving his had to the video just as his favourite appeared. "He represents Morality, the most important thing to have!"

"But you forget that sometimes your Morality can be blinded." Error pointed out, waving to the screen as well as his favourite appeared. "So, you're wrong, and Deceit's clearly the best one! He protects Thomas, who, without him, would burn."

"As he also would without Morality!"

And so, it went on: Patton or Deceit (or as they would find out later, Janus)?

~oOo~

Another month later...

~oOo~

Dream was just opening the door when Blue spoke up from behind him.

"Are you going to visit Error again?" He asked, making Dream freeze in both the fear at being caught and surprise that Blue knew. Dream turned around slowly to face him, eyeing him in suspicion.

"How do you know about that?" Dream asked. There was no point in trying to cover it up if Blue had already pieced together that much.

Blue smiled mischievously. "I have my ways!" Dream narrowed his eyes. Blue was being vague again; that never boded well. Just look at what happened with the Christmas party a couple of years back... "Now, you didn't answer my question. Are you?"

Well, I kind of did but okay. "Yeah."

Blue blinked and nodded slowly in response, a serious look taking over his face before vanishing the next second. "Okay. That's fine." He grinned at Dream. "I'll be sure to come up with the perfect excuse to tell Ink about where you are." He tapped his chin for a few seconds before lighting up and pointing a finger in the air. "Aha! I know just the one; oh, I've been waiting for this day..." With that, Blue turned and hurried back to his room, supposedly.

Dream blinked. He blinked again.

...Yeah, he wasn't going to spend his time assessing what had just happened.

He was just going to go with it.

~oOo~

Yet another month later...

~oOo~

"So," Nightmare started as a new conversation topic, moving his knight and taking Dream's pawn. "How's Error been? Treating you well, I hope."

Dream blushed and looked away, smiling shyly. "He's been good. Both for himself and for me." His brow furrowed as he surveyed the board. He was losing; badly, at that. He hesitated before moving his bishop.

Nightmare smirked as he took Dream's bishop, making Dream groan. "That's good. My offer still stands, you know." He leaned back, crossing his arms. His tentacles waved behind him.

Dream glared at Nightmare. "No, you can't kill him if he breaks my heart." Dream sighed as he looked at the board. He half-heartedly moved a piece and braced himself.

Nightmare huffed. "Whatever." He smirked as he took another one of Dream's pieces and surrounded his king. "Checkmate." He leaned back as Dream groaned in defeat. "I still remain the champion of this game."

A voice came from behind him, making him hiss and startling both him and Dream. "But didn't you loss top Cross just this last—" Dust didn't get to finish as Nightmare spoke over him.

"DUST, what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Killer?" Dust only blinked at him before turning to Dream, who perked up.

"Error's here for you." Dust said, fiddling with his knife.

Dream brightened, making Nightmare forget about Dust for a bit. The kind smiled to himself; he hasn't seen Dream this happy in a long time. Clearly, Error was the best thing to have happened to him. That made Nightmare glad.

~oOo~

Another one...

~oOo~

Outertale had become one of their favourite spots in the Multiverse. Both because it was so pretty and of the memories for them that it held. Dream and Error sat side by side, watching the stars and holding hands, legs dangling off of the cliff. They did this a lot, but it was always so peaceful.

Dream hummed as he rested his head on Error's shoulder. "I swear, they get prettier every time we come here."

Error laughed. An idea forming in his head, he side-eyed Dream as he spoke. "But not as pretty as you, Starshine." He felt Dream freeze beside him and laughed again.

Dream lifted his head, a faint but bright blush on his cheeks. He shoved Error's shoulder, but that made the other laugh even more. "S-shut up!" He huffed as Error continued laughing. He crossed his arms. "That was cheesy, even for you."

"I know, I'm sorry, but I just had to." Error looked at Dream pleadingly. "Forgive me?"

Dream smiled. "Of course."

They went back to their previous position. They stayed there for at least an hour. Eventually, they decided to leave. As Error snapped his finger and started towards the portal, he heard Dream speak up.

"Hey...Error?"

Error blinked and turned back around to face him. "Yeah?"

Dream fidgeted before taking a deep breath and walking forward. He leaned up and gave Error a loving kiss before pulling away just enough to whisper, "I love you." Error's arms wrapped around his waist and held him there.

Error smiled, a warm feeling in his chest, and whispered back, "I love you too." He pulled Dream into another kiss before they left.

~oOo~

Finally, five months after the starting talk in Outertale...

~oOo~

Ink grinned as he hopped down the stairs and made his way into the kitchen. He felt confident that today would be a good day. Blue was just finishing up at making pancakes when he entered. Ink hummed and his gaze landed on the empty seat at the table.

"Hey, Blue? Where's Dream?" He asked, sliding into his seat at the table and helping himself to some food.

Blue looked to the seat as well before grinning. "Oh, he's probably out with Error again." He paused as he thought. Ink froze, a forkful halfway to his mouth. "Or he might be with Nightmare; he's been going over there too recently." Ink set down his forkful and drummed his fingers on the table.

"What's this about Dream and Error?" He tried to sound as casual as he could, but some stiffness slipped through. He hoped that Blue didn't catch it.

Luckily for him, Blue didn't and looked at him only with surprise. "Oh, Dream hasn't told you yet?" Then he was rambling on and on about how Dream and Error were soulmates and how they sparked everything else.

Blue was oblivious to Ink's eyelights turning red as he spoke.

[sleepyfan-blog]

Blackmail

dreamswap by @onebizarrekai

Fandom: undertale AU, dreamtale

Characters: Dreamswap Blue, Dreamswap Dream, Dreamswap Nightmare

Warnings: Blackmail, Drueswap (maybe?)

Summary: DS Blue wants to make a deal with DS Dream.

Word count: 2,152

"Oh Dreamy-boy~! I hope that you're not busy, as you and I need to have a little chat." Blue sang, squatting on the open windowsill, grinning at the golden angel, his eye lights shining brightly with a genuine glee that sent a cold shiver run down Dream's spine.

"And why should I talk to you, Blue? You are a criminal - one raised voice or pulse of my magic, and you'll be thrown in the dungeon, while it is decided what to be done with you. I do have power restraining cuffs and chains that hold you, and given the crimes that I know for a fact that you have committed..." Dream threatened, turning to face the other with a scowl "And for your information, I have a great deal of paperwork to do, and am in no mood to entertain your nonsense. I will grant you a thirty-second head start out of here before alerting the guards to your presence. Starting-"

"I know why you won't kill Nightmare. Despite everything that you say to your loyal followers about how you will kill him when you capture him, you haven't yet. and I know that you've managed to capture him at least a dozen times. You've even had him in your grasp for months a couple of times, and yet he still breathes. Tell me, did your lackeys ever question you, or are they too blinded by your light to understand the truth?" Blue purred, cutting Dream off as he hopped down from the window and sauntered over to the powerful CEO. He draped himself across the back of the other's chair, one hand coming up to lightly cup the other's jaw, leaning so that he could whisper into the other's non-existent ears "You can't live without him."

Dream deliberately suppressed the panic clawing at his soul, so that it didn't affect his aura. The last thing that he needed was for this miserable, slippery outcode to know for certain that he had something on him, voice hard and implacable, not betraying the tumultuous feelings and thoughts he was struggling to suppress "I have been living without Nightmare as a permanent person in my life for over a hundred years, Blue. I can, and have quite handily, been living without him for quite some time. I don't know what you think you have on me, but you are wrong.Cease touching me, or I will break your hands."

Blue clicked his tongue condescendingly at him, shaking his head a little "My powers allow me to see parts of the code of the people and universes I interact with. I hadn't had the pleasure of meeting your other half until quite recently. He is in possession of one of my favorite toys - who I was unable to retrieve due to his and another's meddling. He's managed to acquire a pair of adorable misfits - I wonder if he'll find more. I am sure that there are more out there. But that's not the most important thing I discovered that day. I'm not quite sure how or why, but your life and his are bound together. If one of you dies, the other will die immediately as well. Given that the two of you have opposing but complementary powers, I suppose that the multiverse decided that the two of you had be closely bound to prevent one of you from killing the other... Perhaps for the emotional balance of the multiverse?" The outcode grinned as he waited for the other to respond.

Dream continued to suppress his emotional reaction. There couldn't possibly be a way that the other could prove a word of what he was saying. He was fairly confident that he could out bluff the other. "I have never heard of any other being's life being so closely bound with another's in the entire time that I have traveled throughout the multiverse. Why would anyone believe you? You are known to be a liar and manipulator.. Whereas I am the head of JR, and have helped millions of beings find safety and happiness." He was glad that he was able to keep his voice and aura calm and steady, though he had tucked his hands beneath his desk, as they had treacherously started to shake a little.

"If I was lying, then you would have immediately called the guards, no matter what I said." Blue retorted back "The fact that you're still talking to me - rather than trying to use violence proves that I am correct. Besides, though my lovely toy and that knife were able to escape, I did steal something from the three of them." He snapped his fingers, and Nightmare appeared before the both of them, struggling and cursing in the other's blue strings.

"I DON'T KNOW WHO THE FUCK YOU ARE, YOU SHITHEAD OR WHY YOU - of fucking course you work for Dream! What fresh hell did you pull this asshole out of? Ink wasn't enough, you had to find another fucking psychopath to add to your collection!" Nightmare ranted, starting to struggle more against the blue strings holding him captive.

"I work for myself, and I would have had him pay me up front before capturing you, oh guardian of negativity. No, I brought you here because I need to give him proof. Once he's made aware that I know his dirtiest, darkest secrets I'll send you off to an universe that you'll be able to run around in causing mischief for some time to come." Blue cooed, voice full of false sweetness. "What I need from you, Nightmare, is your soul." With a flick of his wrist, Blue dew out the other's soul - a violet colored apple, with blue and gold flecks in it. He then used his strings to pull out Dream's soul - which was a golden apple.

Dream hissed a little in pain - those bright blue strings dug painfully into his soul, and he had summoned his claymore on instinct "Stop this, right now! wh-what are you trying to prove?"

"Oh hush. I was just about to show you." Blue responded dismissively, lightly touching both Nightmare and Dream's souls, pulling out their code information - prompting nearly identical whimpers of pain and misery "let's see... power levels, abilities... Ah, here we go. Mortality and lifespan. See?"

Dream swallowed hard, as written very clearly in Hands, was the fact that his fate and Nightmare's were tied together. That he and the guardian of negativity were unable to live without the other. Their spirits would cease to exist, and a new guardian or guardians would be created to replace them in Dreamtale. "S-stop this... R-right now... It... hurts..." Dream answered weakly, his voice trembling a little. It wasn't quite a plea, but it wasn't a demand either. "What... what is it that you want?"

The smile on Blue's face widened considerably and he purred in response "There, that's better! Now that I'm done with you for the time being, Nightmare, I will be letting you go. Ta-ta!"

"Wait, hold on, what the fu-" Nightmare hissed, his eye lights wide with worry and confusion as a portal opened up behind him.

Blue first dismissed the guardian of negativity's soul back into his body, and then flung the other through the portal with his strings "Oh, do be quiet. I'm done with you. For now at least. This is between me and the leader of JR." Blue closed the portal, turning to look at Dream again, still holding his soul in his strings, watching him with that unsettling grin on his face.

The CEO kept still, despite the instinctive desire to try to fight the being who was holding his soul hostage - but that wouldn't help the situation at all. "Just what is it that you are after? I dislike repeating myself. Unless of course, you're just enjoying holding my soul with your magic?"

"I want so many things, but to start, I would like you to tell your people that I work for you - that way they won't harass me when I am doing something that could be... Misconstrued as something that is illegal, as I would be doing it to help your organization. I also want to be paid to keep this information quiet, as I doubt that your followers will take very kindly to the fact that you can't actually kill Nightmare, since you've painted him as the true source of all negativity in the multiverse. Not that's actually true but that's a different issue and one I don't particularly care to try to correct other beings on." Blue responded, his smile widening a little further as he slowly released Dream's soul.

"How much money do you want per month? I will tell the accounting department that it is your salary for working for me." Dream responded, scowling a little as he continued to glare at the other, crossing his arms defensively over his chest, dismissing his claymore, despite wanting very much to run the smug glitch through and be done with it... One never knew how hardy outcodes were, and Dream sincerely doubted that a failed attempt at killing the other would mean that the other would ask for less, the next time that Blue worked up the brash courage to approach him like this.

"Oh, while I do like money, that's not the only form of payment that I want from you." Blue purred, leaning in close to Dream, lightly tracing a finger along the other's jawline, settling onto the other's lap. "Your magic is so warm, and your aura... It really does feel good. At least when you're in a calm or happy emotional state... I wish to experience that up close with you."

"So, what? You want to spend time with me while I am happy or calm? That is a... Strange request and not one I am sure I can grant you, given that you are blackmailing me so that you can continue to do illegal and immoral things throughout the multiverse, while being able to claim to do so under my banner." Dream responded through gritted teeth, eye lights flashing with fury. He shuddered a little at the other's presumptuous touch "What reasons do you have for touching me like this? Stop, now."

"Come now, surely you know that you're one of the most eligible and desired bachelors in the multiverse? Wealthy, powerful, a very popular image of an angel - down to the righteous fury and ability and willingness to smite evil and evildoers wherever you appear." Blue purred, his hands starting to wander a little before he pulled back, his eye lights shining with pure avarice. "But no. You're not comfortable enough with me yet, for the two of us to become better acquainted with one another like that. At least for now. I want an hour a day of your time, for every day of the week. Provided that you aren't on a raid of course, or badly injured. I'm sure that the more that we get to know one another, the more time that we will be spending together. during that time the two of us will talk to one another, explore different universes... Perhaps even have a couple of light and friendly sparring matches. I will find you when I have the hour to spend time with you - and I will do my best to come to visit you when you are alone. However if I do come and you are busy, it would be in your best interest to find a way to clear the next hour so that the two of us would be able to spend it alone... Unless of course, you'd like for me to give them an explanation as to why we will be spending time together. Not that I would tell them the truth. I want my monthly salary from JR to be... Oh, given my talents and information network - which I will share with you to an extent - ten thousand gold coins."

Dream twitched at the rather exorbitant price, before sighing. the bastard had him over a barrel, but Blue wasn't wrong in his assessment of his abilities, from what the CEO had seen of his skills and network of illegal contacts. "Deal."

"Wonderful! It's been such a pleasure doing business with you, Dream! See you soon~." Blue purred, pressing a light kiss to one of Dream's cheeks before teleporting away.

The CEO buried his face in his hands, elbows resting on the desk as he forced himself to go through a calming breath exercise. It wasn’t working, but he needed to get a handle on himself, particularly as he could sense someone coming. There was a knock on the door, and he heard a tentative “Sir?”  from the person behind the door.

He straightened, pretending to be the calm, confident leader that many believed him to be at all times.

[sleepyfan-blog]

The Gleam Of Truth

Fandom: Dreamtale AU

The title has been provided by @bl3ppsn3kk . Set after this and before this. 

warnings: violence, threats, forced marking

word count: 1,357

Summary: Nightmare confronts the human about her lies in the middle of the village, and then informs the assembled mortals of something he will not tolerate.

Nightmare pressed a light kiss to the top of his other half's skull, hugging him close. He didn't want to let Dream go to deal with that lying mortal, but he also didn't want her to go back to whoever else she may have spoken to about this foolish and cruel plan about, in an attempt to better try to fool his gentle and kind-hearted Dream. This was new and something he was going to firmly nip in the bud - he wasn't going to let them torment Dream as well as himself. Still, he kept a tight hold over his emotions - lest he worry the only good being in this wretched place. "Do you want to be held for a while longer? Or should I go speak with that human?"

Dream hesitated for a moment, nuzzling into him a little further, his arms tightening a bit more around him. But that lasted for only a brief period of time before the other reluctantly started to let him go "You... You should go talk to her. I hope that you'll be able to help her figure out who the true cause of her flower blossom curse... Eugh. We need a better name for that curse... Sorry. I hope you can help her figure out who she's really pining for."

"Don't you worry. I will make sure that she's set right." Nightmare promises, his voice light and kind, making sure to project a feeling of calm into his aura. "And I agree about the name thing. We should talk about it once I come back, alright?"

That caused Dream to smile brightly as he nodded, letting go of the other fully and he took a step back towards the tree "Okay, thank you. I'll wait here." He sat down at the base of the tree and sent Nightmare a bright warm smile. "That sounds good to me! Good luck helping her, Nighty!"

That smile sent something warm and fluttery through Nightmare, who's resolve to deal with this problem quickly strengthened further. He teleported a couple of steps behind where he could sense Sally.

He blinked a little bit in surprise - had she really run all the way to the village? That was almost impressive. Gasps of surprise from the villagers caused the human to shift around. Nightmare stalked closer to her, grabbing one of her wrists and dragging the taller being behind him until he was in the center of the village. he stood on the sturdy wooden box and called out authoritatively, flaring his aura a little so that they would listen "If you would please stop what you are doing and pay attention to me, as I have something to say."

"P-Please let me g-go! I-I don't know wh-" The human tried to lie.

Nightmare growled a little, his violet eyes flashing brightly with irritation and magic "Quiet you lying mortal." When Sally obediently went quiet and the whole town was staring at him with a mix of rapt attention and fear he continued "This human came up to Dream less than twenty minute ago, claiming to be in love with him. To the point where she started coughing up flowers, due to the strength of her emotions. Such attraction is impossible in that short of a span of time - given that she has lived in this village for less than a week at most, and has never actually spoken to him until her pathetic attempt at manipulation. I want her gone from this village, permanently. All of you live this close to the tree only because we tolerate you to do so. should she not be gone by the end of the week, I will ensure that she is gone."

"I... W-Wait! Please!" Sally begged, her eyes wide and aura filled with panic and despair "D-Don't send me away! I-I'll never try to talk to Dream again... I-I freely admit to faking having the Flower Curse.. But this is the most beautiful, wonderful village I have ever seen... Please don't make me leave this amazing, peaceful place."

"You should have thought of that before daring to manipulate one of the two of us." Nightmare responded coldly, his eye lights still glowing brightly. He summons his weapon - and it takes the form at the moment of a twelve-inch long violet dagger with a gold handle. He presses one of the cutting edges against her neck "I could kill you right now, and be well within my rights as Guardian of Negativity for the potential threat that you pose... But they would tell him that I killed you, and murder upsets him."

"Please I... I'll leave... I swear on my life and e-everything that I hold dear. Please jus-just spare me!" Sally pleaded, continuing to sob and shake, fearful.

Nightmare clicked his tongue against his teeth, answering disdainfully "You should suffer more than that for trying to manipulate Dream... So I will give you a reminder not to do something so stupid ever again." with that he slashed an L across both of her cheeks, the magical nature of the dagger he'd summoned meaning that the wounds cauterized instantly, so that she didn't spill so much as a drop of blood. He dropped the human on the ground, glowering at her coldly "Get out of my sight, mortal."

She whimpered wordlessly and ran off as fast as her legs could carry her.

Nightmare stared coolly at the rest of the town, noting that all of them seemed to be holding their breath collectively "I will not tolerate threats against Dream, whether someone is trying to manipulate him into loving them, or them threatening his physical well-being. If I so much as hear a rumor of this happening again, the next being dies. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Guardian Nightmare!" The entire village seemed to shout, on their hands and knees and trembling with fear and respect.

"Good. I would strongly suggest that no one approach us for the next fortnight unless they are in genuine and dire need of our assistance. Whether they live here or are a traveler seeking solace or healing." The negative spirit growled. He got more frightened nods and smirked a little. At least that meant that they probably wouldn't bother them for a while. "Oh... And do not mention this to Dream, understood?"

They agreed with frightened whimpers and frantic nodding. Good. He'd give it three months before the villagers started bullying him again. A couple of years if he was lucky.

~

Nightmare teleported back to the tree immediately afterwards, a warm smile appearing on his face as he saw Dream sitting down in the grass, making a flower crown of red and yellow roses - although where he'd gotten them, the negative spirit couldn't guess. "Hello, darling."

"Nighty!" Dream greeted, a bright grin appearing on his face "Here, I made this for you!" He lifted another flower crown from where it rested in his lap - also made of red and yellow roses. "Did you speak with that human?"

"Yes. She realized that she was in love with one of her closest childhood friends, and decided that she would move back home in order to try to see if they were interested in her." Nightmare lied effortlessly, pressing a fond kiss to the top of the other's head. "Thank you for the crown." He hummed as he put on the offered flower crown.

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear that. Was it hard for you to knock back her curse?" Dream asked curiously.

"No, luckily for her, it had only begun to get to the petal stage. You reminded her somewhat of her beloved, which is why she confused the two of you. Not that it was your fault at all." Nightmare fibbed gently. Better to give the other gentle lies than bitter truths.

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope that things end well for her." Dream murmured, snuggling into his other half's side, putting on his own crown of flowers. The positive spirit seemed distracted by something, but he fell asleep before Nightmare could ask what it was that was bothering the other.

[sleepyfan-blog]

Sleepy Dream [Part 1]

fandom: Undertale AUs

continued here and here.

Characters: Underswap Papyrus, Dream

warnings: none

Word count: 1,462

Summary: Dream tiredly eats tacos. He’s fine, he promises. 

Dream let the smile on his face drop as soon as he closed the kitchen door. He bit back an exhausted groan as he shuffled over to Blue and Stretch's fridge, pulling out some tortillas and fillings, barely caring enough to fill them properly before stuffing the monster food in his mouth. Dream sat down with a near soundless thud, leaning against the partially open door, the cool air kind of nice against his face. The energy boost was minimal, despite the fact that the food had been made with love and care. But a half-dozen hastily made cold tacos was enough to stave off the looming exhaustion. Hopefully while Blue and Ink sparred, he would be able to take a nap. He just… Needed to put the food away first…

“Uh… Dream are you okay?” Stretch’s voice called out, causing the positive guardian to startle a little and flail, nearly spilling Blue’s cooking - which would be terribly rude.

Dream shoves the food back into the fridge after re-wrapping it up as best as he can with his shaking fingers before turning around and giving the other a big smile, nodding as he looked up at the taller skeleton “Yes, I’m fine! Do you need something, Stretch?”

The younger being squints down at him, a concerned frown on his face that does not in the least bit abate the longer that they continue to stare at one another. Stretch folds his arms over his chest and sits down next to Dream, asking quietly “... I don’t need anything, but I’m wondering if you do. You’ve been dead asleep for the past six hours. Ink and Blue’ve been causing well meaning chaos that entire time and haven’t come in yet. This is the first time you’ve reacted to me calling your name. I would have tried to shake you awake, but I couldn’t actually get into the kitchen until you woke up. Every time I tried to get close to the door, you’d activate some sort of yellow shield thing. I couldn’t even use a short-cut to get in here. Unless you were just ignoring me for some reason.”

“I… No… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to pass out on your kitchen floor like that! Hahaha… I had your fridge door open and everything. That was so rude of me! But really. I’m fine. And sorry about subconsciously keeping you out of part of your own home. It’s just that before I left my timeline, for the longest time I only slept when I passed out from exhaustion - which took several months of staying awake and moving around constantly trying to…” Dream paused for a moment, blinking as he realized that he had been about to admit to have been trying to flee… From a certain someone. He must still be in need of sleep if he was about to say something like that. “Help people in my home timeline.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. Dream had been doing what he could to help the scattered and miserable survivors of Dreamtale. Nightmare fancied himself the king of their world - and it wasn’t as if he could actually rule an empire of dust and dead human bodies. There would be no one but him to torment, which as he’d been told repeatedly, was boring. He couldn’t quite suppress the shudder and hoped that Stretch hadn’t noticed.

The worried frown that only deepened on the other’s face told Dream that he’d failed miserably. “Uh… Dream, I’m pretty sure that Ink sleeps more often than that. You do sleep more regularly than that now, right? Or at least since you’ve been running with Ink and my bro?” Stretch pressed, frowning at him in concern.

“Of course! I’m… Not entirely sure why I passed out on your kitchen floor, actually. I knew I was tired, but tile isn’t the most comfortable thing to sleep on? Then again, it’s pretty clean, which is nice! I’ve definitely slept in much worse places.” Dream answered cheerfully… And mentally beating himself up over the fact that he’d just said that.

Particularly as, predictably, Stretch’s concern and worry over him grew, not lessened “Dream… You know that you can tell me anything, right? Even if you want it to just remain between the two of us. You’ve done a lot to help me and mine. I care about you and want you to be okay.” The other reached out and lightly patted the top of his skull in an affectionate gesture that the positive guardian was wholly unprepared for.

“I… I know. I promise that if there’s ever anything bothering me I’ll tell you.” Dream lied, still smiling cheerfully up at Stretch, hoping that the other would buy it. “Really, I am fine. Just a little overtired…”

“... Are… Are you sure about that? I don’t meant to press… It’s just this is the third time in two weeks I’ve found you huddled in the kitchen over a pile of food and passed out, unable to get to you until you wake up. But you snuck off the other two times and I wasn’t able to talk to you then.” Stretch pushed, still watching him with a surprising amount of care and concern.

“... I…” Oh hell. He might as tell someone. Stretch might be able to help him come up with a better option rather than shoving food in his stomach and sleeping in weird places, as it was incredibly inconvenient and… Worrying. He’d very nearly collapsed in that last fight against Error due to exhaustion and he’d never done that before. “... I don’t have as much energy as I used to. My mana recovers slower than before, and I don’t know why. Even when I’m up at full strength, it doesn’t last nearly as long as I used to… I’ve been trying to sleep a bit more and grab MP restoring potions when I can but… They’re kind of hard to come by and most AUs tend to regulate them if they are sold and not just for the use of the royal guard, sentries and any court magicians who work for the magical royalty or leadership in the AUs I visit. It’s been… For the past three weeks it’s getting worse and I… That last fight with Error I nearly…” Dream stopped talking when he felt Stretch’s emotions shift from concern and worry, to something closely resembling panic.

He let out a tiny sound of surprise when the Papyrus grabbed him by the shoulders and Checked him, staring hard at his stats. “Dream… You’re not beginning to Fall Down, are you?”

“No! No it’s not anything like that. I have lots of HP and am full of positivity. I kind of am the guardian of such feelings, you know. Haha. People feel much happier and more hopeful around me, so why wouldn’t I?” Dream answered, telling the truth… More or less. He wasn’t falling down. “Besides, I can’t die from natural causes, so I’m unable to Fall Down.”

“I… What do you mean by that?” Stretch questioned, frowning a little “How do you know that?”

Dream sighs and shakes his head “Due to how I was created, I cannot die of natural causes. Not from illness, hopelessness, starvation, old age, cold or heat exposure. I can only die if I’m killed - and it’s a lot harder to kill me than it may look. In part because I heal really quickly. I know this because the previous guardian of… The previous guardian told me. They were dying and created me to take their place. They gave me a lot of information so that I wouldn’t be helpless at first as I adjusted to my form and role.”

“Okay… Does any of that information that they gave you explain your recent lack of energy? Or is it just that you need a bit of a break from running all across the multiverse? Maybe stay someplace safe for a couple of weeks and just chill.” Stretch was pretty sure that he could talk Blue into staying in this timeline for a while - or hell. Dream could go to the omega timeline to rest where there was absolutely no chance of a reset and everything suddenly going horrible on him. Ink was… Generally a reasonable sort about taking breaks and the like.

“Yeah, I figure I just need to recharge in a high-positivity timeline. We have been fighting more with Error than normal… And we were fighting to try to protect a neutral-run Underfell so… That usually takes a bit more out of me than other timelines I’ve been to.” Dream responded, the smile on his face mostly genuine this time. They’d been battling in darker timelines as of late. That’s probably just what it was.