Reminder: I don't speak English as the main language, so if someone sees an erratum (grammatical or orthographic error), I would appreciate it if you would tell me.

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The wind gently moved the leaves of the tree where
Nightmare rested, immersed in his world of mystery, the main theme of the book he read with such enthusiasm. If he looked up, he could see the inhabitants of Dreamtale playing ball with their brother, with whom they had planned a picnic. He had not been invited.

He inhaled heavily as these thoughts invaded his mind. "Anyway, I didn't want to go" he said to himself, in a desperate attempt to feel better about himself. But even so, no matter how much he avoided it, more doubts always arose; "why don't they like me? What did Dream do that I didn't? Why am I negative? Why am I so envious?"

"Are you ok?" He looked up as a skeleton stood before him, his red scarf standing out among the blue clothing of a normal Sans. "You look upset."

"I'm fine, Geno." He assured, closing the book and then leaning against the tree behind him. The minor understood the message and, immediately, sat next to him in silence, waiting patiently for the Guardian to decide to speak. "Geno"

"I know you, dummy. We've been dating for long enough to know that something is wrong with you. So tell me, what happens? Are you frustrated about something?"

Nightmare sighed, growling at being discovered. However, despite hating feeling trapped, knowing that someone worried about him made him feel very good, he felt calm. Geno always made his insecurities, his fear and his anger sink back into the depths of his mind. He was grateful to him. If only his brother cared as much about him as Geno did.

But it wasn't like that. Dream only thought of those peasents. Dream didn't care about his brother. Dream just wanted to look good with the rest, how would he feel to know that those villagers only used him for his positive presence?

"Nightmare ..." He returned to the real world as hands gently held his face. The oldest of the two was carried away by that soft touch, those bones that collided with his gave him a feeling of warmth that he didn't know how to explain. "Are you okay?"

Nightmare pushed Geno to the floor, careful not to hurt him, and simply lay down next to him, hugging him from behind as he was so close to the most perfect skeleton that could exist.

He didn't need help, it was only a matter of time before Dream realized how unpleasant those peasants were, there was no reason to involve his partner in something as simple as that.

He was fine, possibly everything would be resolved in a few months. With his arms, he attached the body opposite to his, both lying on the grass, looking at the gleaming apples hanging from the tree.

"Did Dream say something to you?"

He didn't answer. Geno understood.

"Error," The mentioned gave a little jump in surprise at that voice. Nightmare had caught him off guard in the Anti-Void, he was very exhausted, but he didn't imagine it was to the point of not feeling his presence close.

They both stared at each other, as if they were waiting for something, and it was, but they were very different things: Error expected an attack, Nightmare see someone who was already dead.

After a few seconds, the glitch ran a hand over his face, wiping the blood that drained from the crack in his skull. His eyes shone with sadness, giving the image of someone who was about to cry and could not take it anymore. The Guardian inhaled firmly, not knowing what to say or what to do. He couldn't hug Error to comfort him, Error was the complete opposite of what he once was in the past.

Nightmare had already noticed many years ago that Error was a lost case, he would not accept anyone's help, not even his, he would not remember anything of his life before being the destroyer. Long ago he had decided that he would no longer try to get involved with the glitch, that it was time to look after his future, for a revenge against his brother and against the Multiverse that had done him so much damage, but he was still weak. A part of him kept thinking about all the good times he spent with the glitch and, as an act of internal torture, those memories kept him from forgetting. He felt forced to help the destroyer, and that's what he wanted, he wanted to take care of him, hug him and make him feel loved, he owed it to his former Geno.

He couldn't just let him go, not if he had a chance to help. He had to make him happy, he was determined to make him remember, to make him return to his side as his partner, to have the treatment they had before all these tragedies happened to them.

He was guilty of what happened with Error, after all.

"What do you want, Nightmare?" His voice sounded different. He sounded tired, exhausted, but not physically, but mentally. Of course, the negative being had already seen the glitch sad for his work, but this time it felt different, that worried him.

"Are you okay, Error?" The destroyer nodded, still sitting on the floor, one of his hands went to his head, holding it tightly, and he seemed very tired. Nightmare frowned. "Error"

"I'm fine. Leave me alone, I want to rest before Ink creates another AU..."

Suddenly he saw a large black stain in front of him, he blinked a few times before noticing that it was Nightmare, who was practically on top of him, bending over to see him better. Error jumped back, all his defensive instincts were activated suddenly, so, unconsciously, he invoked a Gaster Blaster with which he aimed at the nightmare, who simply saw him coldly, a gesture that tried to hide how hurt he felt.

He didn't want Error to react like that, he wanted to hug him, hoping to cheer him up. He hadn't forgotten his haphephobia, but he held out a small hope that the glitch would remind him once he feeling his touch. One hope of many that he had previously had, only with him.

"What do you think you're doing?!" The question was rhetorical. Error didn't want an answer; he wanted Nightmare to leave the Anti-Void. He wanted to be alone. "Go away!"

"...I want to help you."

"You want to attack me!"

"No, Error. I really want to help you. I care about you." It was the first time he has revealed one of the reasons for his behavior to the destroyer. "I want to help."

'I care about you'.

Error felt something inside him stop at those words. Did Nightmare care about him? Why would he say something like that for someone like him?

Why did everyone want to hurt him?

He shook his head. It hurt a lot. This didn't have to happen. He couldn't generate such a close bond with someone, much less with Nightmare... He did not want to suffer more. "Go away." They should only be known, allies. They could not be close. "Please go."

"No. Let me help you. You can be very happy if you let me get close to you." Nightmare did not understand why it was so difficult to accept that he needed him. Error was very unstable on his own, but he knew very well that they could return to being the couple of before, the only thing missing was for the glitch to play his part in this. "With me you will be very happy, you will no longer suffer because I will not allow you to be hurt ..." He advanced slowly towards the opposite, without noticing how the negativity of the destroyer increased with each word.

"Leave me alone!" A row of bones from the ground caught Nightmare by surprise, who turned into a pool of negativity to avoid the attack, appearing several meters away from the destroyer. "I don't know what you want to gain from this, but you're not going to manipulate me by saying all those stupid things!"

Given this, and the explosive reaction of Error, the Guardian was unable to remain calm in front of the situation. He spread his tentacles out so that he seemed larger and more intimidating, his expression quickly changing to one filled with anger. He seemed ready to fight.

"I want to help you and that's how you thank me for it! Do you realize that because of these attitudes of yours I have thought many times about giving up on you and leaving you alone?! You are not the same as before!"

"Shut up and get out of here!"

"I want to make you happy and you just refuse! You don't accept my help, you don't want to stay by my side!" He hit the floor hard. If he had been somewhere else, he might have left a crack. However, even if it did not cause damage, this action caused the glitch to back up a few steps, he did not want to fight Nightmare. "I'm trying to be patient with you, but you don't cooperate! I want you to stay with me and be happy!"

Silence reigned, allowing the Guardian to breathe more calmly, returning to a relaxed position that gave no sign of danger. In his mind he knew that he had acted rashly, but for him it was still very difficult to want to love someone without hurting him when it was not in his nature of corrupted being.

Once he thought well of everything he said, and how stupid he had been, he decided to retake the word to offer an apology to the minor, but was stopped for the image that was presented to him.

Error looked at him annoyed, or that is what he wanted to pretend, but nobody can hide feelings from Nightmare, especially when they are obvious. Error looked tired, his eyes were shiny and wet, he closed them tightly for a while, perhaps hoping so that the tears would not fall.

Nightmare didn't want to make him cry. He didn't even imagine that it would make him cry. He knew that Error had received words a thousand times worse than his, so he did not understand what was happening. He sighed, knowing that he must apologize: "Sorry".

Error wiped his eyes hard, opening a portal behind him. Before running away, he glared at the corrupt skeleton in front of him. "Look, I don't mind that you insult me, or that you hate me, I already..." His voice was lower than before, but at the same time, more broken, "I'm used to that... but don't tell me that again. I know that you want to see me suffer like the rest because that's what you are, a monster that feeds on the suffering of others ... but this is the only thing I ask of you, p-please... I'm tired, I don't want someone I care about to show me that I'm not important for him.

Nightmare did not understand what he meant. What had he said to make him say those things?

Error looked at him for a few seconds, maybe he expected an answer? A confirmation? It no longer mattered, for when he least expected, the destroyer had crossed the portal into an unknown AU. It would surely destroy to get away from the guardian. The sad expression he carried was etched in Nightmare's mind.

He had accidentally made him suffer again. It was the only thing he knew how to do well.

Hurt his loved ones.

'I care about you'. If he hadn't said it, would something have been different? Again, it was all his fault.

Immersed in his guilt of an event occurred years ago, Nightmare ignored the accumulation of negativity coming from an AU being destroyed, like that of an excessively large group of monsters, with a very great determination for a frightening end; there was a plan on the table. They were divided into groups, each one having its mission, all with a common goal.

Ink felt a tug on his chest, causing his pupils to turn into different red figures. He was upset. Noticing this, Dream reached out, positioning his hand on the other's shoulder, wanting to provide support.

"Are you ok?"

The creator looked at him, then at the rest of the skeletons that were in the room. Some noticed his action and were now watching him expectantly, others were still working. Ink smiled, knowing that the support he had was immense. This had been planned for a long time, they would finally carry it out.

"I'm better than ever, Dream."

After all, this would be the day they would get rid of the destroyer.

"Error's genocide will end today."

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hehe-
Anyway, I have no new excuses, the same as before. ¿

You may notice that Nightmare's personality in the story is very strange and very much in contradiction with himself, but it's on purpose, since Nightmare loves Error, but, knowing that his love is not good and keeping concern for him, he wants to love him appropriately, something that's very difficult for him for obvious reasons.

Equally, I already mentioned it at the beginning of the story, but I'll do it again now, I'm sorry that the personalities are so out of the canon. In the context of the story and the plot that I have, I have a hard time keeping the canon.

『✿-Cxnni-❀』