Sans AU One-Shots

Dream || toxic positivity.

Pairing: Dream Sans x Reader
Prompt: Dream's toxic positivity needs to be maintained for the betterment of the multiverse, but it's killing him inside. Good thing you're around to help him feel better.
Type: hurt/comfort, implied pure fluff at the end
Length: 2.2k words
Background: Dream's toxic positivity is one of his abilities/powers, but as the name implies, it hurts him to have. So not only did he lose his mom (Nim) and brother (Passive Nightmare), but now he's gotta fight their killer (Nightmare) while his own positive aura consistently drains him like a poison.
Notes: This poor baby... There's a reason I'm in the works of writing him his own full-length story. | This was requested by a lovely reader but I added the angsty elements so you can blame me for that lol

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There was no rest for the weary, and this week had been especially rough. Nightmare had been cooking up more negativity than normal, spreading destruction and fear everywhere he went, and it felt like he was everywhere at once. Dream had been metaphorically putting out fires all week without rest, and now it was coming back to bite him. He was exhausted and drained, but he kept a smile on his face all the same. He was the Guardian of Positivity after all. He didn't have a choice.

So when he finally got a small gap of time where he wasn't needed somewhere, he found himself in front of your house. He wasn't entirely sure how he got there - the days had been blurring to the point he felt more dead than alive, and that was saying something considering he was a skeleton. But telling himself to keep his smile wide and his presence positive, he knocked anyways.

"Dream!" You threw the door open and glomped him, making him let out a surprised yelp before laughing, hugging you back. The sheer love in such a simple action made him freeze, suddenly overwhelmed with your mere presence. So he hugged you tighter, burying his head in your shoulder for as long as you would let him. He needed to hold himself together, yet here he was practically unraveling in your arms. He was the Guardian of Positivity. He was better than this.

You pulled back from the hug to smile at him, but paused when you saw his smile waver. His golden eyelights were flickering unsteadily, and it was immediately obvious the smile was fake. So you frowned at him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Dream said brightly, crossing his arms nervously as he tried to keep his smile up.

"You're a terrible liar." You grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him before holding his face in your hands. Your gaze was warm and sympathetic, and as you asked in the sweetest voice, "What's wrong, honey?", he cracked.

"It's just been a long week." His tone wavered like he was on the cusp of tears, and he set his hands over yours as he forced the fake smile wider. "How have you been?"

"What happened?" You ignored his question, knowing full well he was just asking to get the attention off of himself. He was selfless to the point it was self-destructive, and you'd gotten rather good at not letting him get away with it.

"Just all that's been happening with Nightmare," Dream said, trying to brush it under the rug quickly and efficiently as his eyelights couldn't quite meet your gaze.

"You still miss him, don't you?" You already knew the answer. Dream's sockets filled with tears and he quickly shook his head like he was trying to shake off the negative emotions.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he whispered to himself, but he wasn't being very convincing.

"You're not fine, Dream," you said firmly, squeezing his boney face in your hands to bring his gaze back to you.

A tear slid down his cheek as he looked at you, pure sorrow in his dim eyelights. "But I need to be fine. I don't have time for this." He wiped at his eyes as you sighed.