Abyss came out of his room fully dressed a few minutes after slamming the door on Nightmare with his magic. He was fuming, and it took his all to suppress smacking Nightmare across the face.

"Why would you just walk into my room like that!? At--" Abyss paused to look at that clock, "--eleven in the morning!"

Nightmare still had a remaining hint of blush on his face but he acted like walking in on Abyss sleeping without a shirt on was no big deal. "You seemed like a pretty well-kept person. I thought you would have been up by now."

The way Nightmare spoke about this so nonchalantly made Abyss practically foam at the mouth in anger. How dare Nightmare act like he HADN'T just done that? "You-" Abyss gaped at Nightmare with anger in his gaze, "You just WALKED IN on-" He couldn't even finish his sentence. Abyss let out a frustrated groan. "You're insufferable!!"

Nightmare looked as if he didn't know whether to be amused or running for his fucking life. He had his hands up in defense, laughing with a hint of uncertainty. "Ahah... sorry. I kinda lost all my sense of personal boundaries, I guess." There he went again with that naturally cool, smooth voice. Even though Abyss knew that it was just his voice and Nightmare wasn't doing it on purpose, it still angered the winged Sans. Mumbling, he led Nightmare back down the stairs.

"I thought you said you were coming at noon," Abyss commented halfway down the stairs, not looking at Nightmare.

Nightmare shrugged. "I was lonely." His voice was a teasing pout. It took all Abyss's willpower not to roll his eyes.

"What about your brother? Where's he?"

"With Cross."

"He found Cross again? Since when?"

"Since just yesterday. I figure they're catching up with each other."

"Oh."

"Yep... I'm not too excited about it, either. But as long as he makes Dream happy..." Nightmare sighed, "I guess Cross can live as long as he makes my brother happy."

"How sweet of you..." Abyss remarked sarcastically, walking down into the kitchen, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"I live in a black void... There aren't many food options in a black void." Nightmare replied with a playful edge to his voice. Abyss cringed at himself for finding amusement in Nightmare's witty comebacks.

"Well there are plenty of food options here," Abyss turned around and held up a small, fluffy dog to Nightmare. "Eat up."

Nightmare actually looked in shock at Abyss, then after a moment his expression totally changed and a big, dorky smile plastered across his face. "So you have a sense of humor after all." Nightmare laughed, "I can't believe I nearly fell for that." He took the dog in his arms, though, and scratched behind his ears.

Abyss chuckled and turned back around. "Whatever. I'm just gonna slap something together and you're going to either eat it or starve."

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Nightmare sat on the couch with an empty plate on his lap. He and Abyss had just finished their breakfast, and Nightmare was beginning to tell Abyss about his past. Before Nightmare turned evil, went insane.

"I'd love to hear about before your...troubles began." Abyss had said earlier.

"Well there really wasn't a time before I had troubles," Nightmare'd countered lightly with a sigh, "They were always there."

"...Oh...?" Abyss blinked a little while Nightmare gave a nod.

"I was treated like an astigmatism in a room of perfect eyes." Nightmare made this analogy with a distant look in his eyes.

"Meaning...?"

"I was bullied," Nightmare paused, "A LOT."

"Oh." Abyss was about to say something else but then there was a knock at the door. Instead of a question for Nightmare, Abyss spoke to whoever was at the door in a slightly raised voice. "I'm coming."

Abyss stood and Nightmare took their plates back to the kitchen and placed them in the sink, lightly rinsing them off first.

"Heya, Abi!" A robot-looking Sans walked straight in as soon as Abyss opened the door.

Abyss looked pleased to see his friend but he sighed. "I told you not to call me that..." he groaned.

"Nah I can call you whatever I want and there's nooooothing you can do about it," the newcomer announced proudly, then his gaze slid over to Nightmare. "...Who's this?"

"Oh... Mecha, this... ahaha. You aren't going to believe me when I tell you who this is." Abyss rubbed the back of his neck hesitantly.

"I highly doubt that. What, is he your boyfriend?" Mecha gave Abyss a smug look.

Though Abyss knew this was nowhere near true, nor did he have such feelings for Nightmare, he couldn't help but blush. Who wouldn't feel embarrassed at an accusation like that?

"Um, no, he--"

"Yep. That's me." Nightmare cut in, holding a hand out for Mecha to shake, "I'm totally Abyss's boyfriend."

Mecha looked shocked that he'd been told his playful assumption was true. Reticently, he took Nightmare's hand and shook it.

"Nightmare! That is not true!" Abyss gaped at Nightmare in alarm, then turned to Mecha with wide eyes. "That is so not true," he gasped to Mecha.

Though Mecha looked relieved that Abyss indeed hadn't made a boyfriend, his expression turned from relief to alarm. "Wait. Did you say Nightmare?" Mecha's eyes went wide and he yanked his hand from Nightmare's.

"Rude..." Nightmare pretended to be sore about Mecha's wariness, letting his hand fall to his side.

Abyss's mouth curved into a nervous smile. "...Yes...?" He stammered.

"You can't possibly mean THE Nightmare Sans. The one that worked so hard to kill us for all those years??" Mecha looked at Abyss incredulously.

"In the bone and blood," Nightmare held out his arms as if putting himself on display, "The one and only."

Mecha was wide-eyed and not to mention cautious. Immediately a look of distrust crossed his face. "You can't be serious. Abyss, you trust this menace?!"

"...Um...y-yes...?" Abyss hesitated in his words, now feeling stupid to say he trusts his former arch nemesis.

"And when did you meet this...this..." Mecha looked the prince up and down, "THIS version of him?"

"...Y-Yesterday."

Mecha blew up into a frenzy of anger and disbelief. He was cussing Nightmare out with no fear, no hesitation. Nightmare just stood there, taking it all in, while still keeping his cool, go-with-the-flow expression on his face.

"You killed several people- several WORLDS- and you think you can better yourself enough to deserve Abyss's trust? His friendship?!" Mecha's face was twisted with anger.

To Mecha's surprise, Nightmare shook his head. "No. Not at all."

The robot's expression slowly unraveled into one of confusion as Nightmare went on.

"I've done so many people so many wrongs," He continued, "I don't believe I even deserve the love of my own brother." Nightmare rolled up his sleeves and revealed his arms to the two others.

...They were covered in cuts.

Recent cuts.

Mecha and Abyss were both in shock. Mecha looked suddenly guilty, and Abyss looked alarmed.

Nightmare quickly covered his arms back up, still talking in that nonchalant tone. "I know I've done wrong things." He paused. "Like... WRONG things. The past is in the past... And I can't fully  grasp that." He shrugged.

Mecha and Abyss exchanged glances.

"Nightmare, I..." Abyss's voice trailed off and he stared back at Nightmare. "...I didn't know..."

Nightmare shrugged again. "It's fine." He cleared his throat. "...I should go."

"W-What?" Abyss blinked, "But you just got here an hour and a half ago."

"I'm going to make sure Cross isn't getting too touchy with my brother."

"Oh... Okay."

With a small nod to Mecha, and a friendly wink to Abyss, Nightmare teleported away without another word.

--END OF PART 3--