One small problem (A Babybones Dream fic)

[ Killer and Dust bring home a child ]

To put things simply, this was the last thing Nightmare had expected Killer and Dust to find while on patrol. And, now he found himself wishing he hadn't sent the two of them out there at all.

"...You found him like this? Are you certain this isn't a trap?"

Killer gave a soft chuckle, shifting the small skeleton in his arms. "Ain't a trap, boss. Found him in the middle of the forest, no memory of anythin' besides his brother and..Well. That place." The murderer refrained from mentioning the au by name, knowing how Nightmare got about it.

"..He..asked if we could help him find his brother Nightmare," Dust added quietly. "and seeing as it's you, he's.." he trailed off as Dream's gaze turned to him, and shook his head. He decided to let Nightmare be the one to explain that to Dream. "Thought we should bring him to you."

The small skeleton stared up at Nightmare curiously, golden eye lights scanning over every part of him. Dream tightened his grip on Killer's hoodie, tilting his head.

"H-hello..!" He wondered if this drippy person was friends with the other two. He looked scary, but..maybe he was nice?

Nightmare had to keep himself from recoiling as Dream spoke. He met the child's gaze calmly, although his tendrils had curled up tightly behind him, a clear sign of the guardian's discomfort.

"What's your name?" Dream queried and wiggled a bit in Killer's grasp. It took Nightmare a few moments to think of how to respond. This was..incredibly uncomfortable.

Killer studied Nightmare's face, raising a brow. After a few moments he stretched out a hand, snapping his fingers in front of the other's face. "Boss?" He suppressed a snort when this caused Nightmare to jolt, startled.

"..Nightmare." the corrupt being answered Dream simply, hoping that he wouldn't- "Ooh, that's my brother's name too-!" Fuck. The small skeleton lit up as Nightmare winced, both at Dream's comment and at the excitement he felt radiating off of him.

"..Yes, well, about your brother," Nightmare began, but was quickly interrupted by Dream. "He's missing-! I..I don't know where he is, and I don't know where my home is.."

The small guardian managed to squirm out of the murderer's hold and took a few steps closer to the dark skeleton. A bit too close, in Nightmare's opinion. "Please help me find him, mister! He doesn't like being alone!" Dream pleaded, reaching out and grabbing one of Nightmare's hands.

The latter had to resist the urge to immediately wrench his hand out of Dream's grasp, stiffening. He allowed himself a moment to think.

Why not? He'd play along. For now. It would save him the headache of his brother and those other two incompetent skeletons from thwarting his plans. Besides, Dream being a child, he should be relatively easy to keep occupied and out of the way. If he was lucky, he wouldn't even have to be anywhere near the small guardian. That's what he hoped for, at least. He wasn't sure how long his brother would be stuck like this, but they'd use every possible second to their advantage.

A grin slowly crept onto his face, but Dream did not seem to recognize the ill intent behind it. "..Of course, little one. We'll help you find your brother." Not a total lie. He'd tell Dream he was his brother eventually. He didn't want Dream to become overly clingy now just because he knew Nightmare was his brother.

His grin dropped immediately when he was embraced tightly, much to his dismay. "R-really? Thank you, mister Nightmare! You're really nice!"

Nightmare must have looked absolutely mortified, because Killer was very clearly trying not to laugh his ass off. Even Dust looked slightly amused.

The corrupted king took a deep breath. Right. Dream was a child, so he'd still be incredibly bothersome. Likely even more so than usual.

"Get off." He hissed. This had the opposite effect he was expecting, however. Instead of flinching or becoming fearful, Dream stepped back, crossing his arms and frowning. "That's mean, mister Nightmare." He scolded.

Nightmare gaped at him for a moment, ignoring the laughter that erupted from Killer. His eye twitched, and he turned his attention to the two other skeletons in the room. "Get out, both of you. Now." He snapped, tentacles lashing impatiently.

He kept his narrowed eye on Killer as the murderer went to speak, but was abruptly dragged out of the office by Dust, the door slamming shut behind them.

His attention returned to Dream, who was still frowning up at him. "What?" Nightmare questioned, annoyed. "You have to say you're sorry!" Dream's frown deepened. He didn't like that Nightmare was being mean.

"..You want me..to apologize?" The goop covered skeleton asked, unable to help feeling slightly amused. He scoffed when Dream nodded, shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "You're going to be quite an annoyance, aren't you?" He muttered, studying the other with his single icy eye light.

There was absolutely no way in hell he was going to play babysitter for this little brat for the rest of the evening. Perhaps he could keep Dream locked in one of the spare rooms. He doubted the child would manage to escape.

He snapped himself out of his thoughts to find Dream still staring at him. "Stars's sake, what do you WANT from me, child?!"

"You have to say you're sorry!" "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

________

So recently -shiifty and I have been obsessing over the babybones Dream au idea and decided to make a fic out of our own ideas for it.

I'm doing the writing and he's doing the editing.

We aren't taking this story too seriously and neither should you it's just for fun.