Soul Fused

SnowPuff

Cross sat at the edge of his friend's bed. Sure, he was being kind of creepy, but it was his job. That was HIS best friend with a literal target on his soul! He needed to protect him. Even if that meant staying up into ungodly hours of the night watching over him to make sure no one snuck in and attacked him. Sure, Nightmare could do that for him, but still. Wasn't it better to have a living person do it? Besides, he needed to prove his usefulness to everyone.

It had been about a month since Cross (and by extension Chara) had joined the team. They had all been very welcoming (concerningly so) and had shown him nothing but kindness. Well, except for Chara. Chara was always reminding him of how much of a failure he was. Killer had told him it's just because he's jealous and he'd get over it eventually.

"You are such a goddamn creep, you know that? One second you're practically scared of the dude and one toss in the lake later you're-" Speak of the devil. Cross sighed, cutting his own ghost off. "Shut up please." He whispered, waving his hand through the air where Chara was floating, looking as smug as ever. "Now why would I do that?"

"Because you are an annoying little prick bothering your vessel. Have you no etiquette? Dear god child." Nightmare phased into existence, plopping himself weightlessly next to Cross and scowling at the ghost floating next to the skeletons head.

"Pfft, you act like him being my vessel is a good thing. I'd rather be my own being, thank you very much." Chara retorted, crossing his arms. Nightmare huffed and put a ghostly arm around Cross. He could only physically touch and manipulate Killer and objects, but he still pretended to be able to touch the others when he felt like it. The first time Nightmare had given Cross a hug he nearly cried because not even his actual FATHER ever did something so nice to him, yet this practical stranger was willing to take him under his wing-tentacle-things.

"Well I think he would make a fine vessel if you would quit being so self centered and got to know him." Nightmare retorted. Cross smiled, leaning into his not father.

"What are you bickering about at five in the morning?" The blankets shifted and Killer sat up, looking more tired than he did when he fell asleep the previous night. Not that Cross would know! ...*cough*...

"Chara was being a... less than likable person." Nightmare replied, shooting a dirty look at Chara. Killer couldn't see Chara, but he knew of his existence. Chara was super shy for someone so manipulative.

"...Why is Cross in our room?" Killer asked, pulling his thin, raggedy blanket further over himself, shifting uncomfortably. It made sense, given he wasn't wearing a shirt or his usual overly fluffy sweater.

"I... do not know, but I am sure he is not here without purpose. Go back to sleep." Nightmare smiled warmly at his vessel as Killer sighed. "Would love to. But-" Killer coughed violently, making Cross flinch. When Killer pulled his hand away from his mouth, it was coated in a strange purple liquid. "...I was going to ask ya to shut up, but add that to the list of reasons I won't be sleeping."

Every once in a while, this would happen. Because Nightmare was a god using a mortal vessel, Killers body couldn't handle the amount of magic his body made to accommodate the ghost and would get rather ill. It wasn't contagious, and it usually only lasted about a day, but it was extremely painful for him. He either had to wait for the magic to boil down on its own (which took about two and a half days according to Horror, who had joined the party first and had been dealing with the 'episodes' the longest) or get rid of it. Normally, 'getting rid of it' meant puking it up. Cross had the pleasure of walking in on Killer in the middle of one of his episodes despite Horror and Dust explicitly warning him not to and getting the absolute honor to witness Killer unceremoniously puke his non-existent guts out into a bucket.