Her Guardian || Demon! Dream Sans x Reader

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Swap was already shaking his head before Ink finished talking. "He's not going to help us."

"Then we need to offer him something he wants." Ink stood his paintbrush upright on the floor with the bristles down then climbed on top of it, perfectly balancing on it with legs crossed as he made a show of thinking.

(Y/n) stared in befuddlement as Swap cocked his head to the side, shifting his stance but keeping his arms crossed. "He calls you his arch enemy, so you must have an idea, right?" Ink's face remained blank like he had no idea what Swap was talking about, and Swap sighed. "Well, I know he likes chocolate and he hates Ink. Somehow I don't think chocolate will be enough to convince him to help considering..." Swap's eyelights ran over Ink before he looked down at (Y/n), tapping his thumb on his arm idly. "If you were bribing a demon, how would you do it?"

"I'd tell him if he doesn't agree to the soul contract, he dies." Suddenly all eyelights were on her. Dream's gaze was troubled as Ink leaned closer with interest and Swap frowned.

"But you don't actually want to kill him, do you, human?" Swap's voice wavered as he looked her over.

(Y/n) met each of their eyelights with confusion. "Well, that's part of the ritual and a common trick to coerce demons into complying. Most demons will get desperate and listen because if they stay in the summoning circle, they die." Then she shrugged. "If this strategist guy is as good as you're making him sound, we don't want Waylon getting his hands on him anyway." At their stunned silence, she continued. "Killing demons is normal back home, why are you guys looking at me like that?" It was a brutal kill or be killed world back home—which partially explained why, despite Dream killing multiple men, his soul remained pure. A pure demon was probably one that avoided killing if possible as opposed to actively seeking it out.

"If he can't be reasoned with then we will send him back, summoner," Dream said carefully, eyeing (Y/n) with a look she couldn't place.

There was a pause as they stared at each other, but instead of backing down, (Y/n) frowned. "Do most demons just suck at strategizing or something?" What made this guy so special that they were forbidden from killing him?

"He's the best there is," Ink piped up, his elbows resting on his femurs as he propped his head up with his hands.

"If he is on our side, we stand a much better chance," Swap explained, then added quietly, "Assuming he hasn't been summoned already."

"I can buy some chocolate for this demon, but you said he hates Ink." (Y/n) looked between them, her lips pressed into a thin line. "That alone will make him refuse to help us." It wasn't an illogical jump to expect this unknown demon to turn them down on the grounds of Ink being on their side, so they needed an offer he couldn't refuse. The Stars gave this some thought, and while they did, she glanced up at Ink. "Can you tell me about this demon?"

He smiled down at her from his perch. "He's an outcode like me and he's been Nightmare's trusted advisor for centuries. Because of him, nobody's been able to get into Night's castle. He and I fight a lot, but I'm not really sure why we're 'arch enemies'." He snickered. "Well, we're both Archdemons, so maybe that's why." She smiled a little at the joke. Another Archdemon on her side? She wasn't complaining.

"Why does he hate you so much?"

"Because he thinks all AUs deserve to be destroyed." AUs were alternate versions of the original skeleton demon—Dance told her about this classic demon once but she'd forgotten his name. "He calls us anomalies, but we're not the ones on the verge of crashing like a glitched bug in a system." Ink's words came off harsh despite his relaxed expression, and he accompanied them with a roll of his eyelights.