Chapter Text
"What happened?" Nightmare asked when he found them upon their return. They stood in the hall, soaked from head to toe in some foreign, orange-colored liquid. It was dripping on the floor, and Nightmare ushered them outside.
"the toriel of the au spotted us. she dumped this stuff on us," Killer shrugged.
"it stinks," Horror muttered.
"Yes, it does," Nightmare sighed as he had them stand in a line before he turned on the garden hose. He sprayed them off and then had each take a shortcut to their rooms to properly shower and dry off with the order to come to the kitchen for dinner when done.
This wasn’t the first and won’t be the last time they get stuff thrown on them. Their high LV does not exactly make them a welcomed sight.
While they were washing up, he made a simple dinner of mac and cheese, hotdogs, and mixed vegetables. Comfort food from what he had heard. They shuffled in, one by one. Each had dressed in their night clothing, graphic tees and some pajama pants, and sat quietly in the kitchen: no joking or light-hearted banter. And the smell of food made them nauseous that they were all but turning them green.
Checking them over, he could tell they were getting sick. "The infirmary, all of you…." Nightmare frowned as he watched them all move, shuffling off as if about to pass out any second. While that was not uncommon for Dust, it was highly odd for Killer.
Once he had them all in bed, he grabbed a dropper and vial and walked into the hall they had returned into through the portal. As he had hoped, there were still drops of that orange liquid. After collecting some, he took a portal to a particular AU to visit an odd Sans.
Walking through, he entered a lab and spotted said Sans sitting at a desk reading charts. Around him, there were multiple machines doing tasks—spinning bottles, scanning substances, and analyzing something. Sci, the Sans in question, lifted a coffee pot, drinking from it as he had long since discarded his mug to just guzzle the drink straight from the pot.
"I will never understand your odd addiction. Is it not better to get some sleep and work with a mind not clouded with exhaustion?" Nightmare said as he used a tendril to extract the coffee pot from Sci.
"not when you have deadlines to meet," Sci chuckled and looked at the dark skeleton. "so, what are you going to set me back an hour or two with this time?"
"This substance," He said as he held out the vial to Sci. "My men returned to my castle covered in this. Now they are sick with a fever and nausea. Even Horror is refusing to eat."
"horror's not eating?" Sci said as he raised a brow bone. "that is serious…." Sci took the vial and swirled the liquid a few times as he looked it over. "i'll get started right away. i'll call you when i've got any results."
With that, Sci hopped out of his chair and hurried to his workbench. Nightmare would watch, but he had learned that he didn't understand this sort of thing, and he would rather get back to the boys and make sure they were alright. Leaving Sci to work, Nightmare returned home and looked in on them. They were sleeping, still warm, but seemed peaceful at least.
With a sigh, he walked back to the kitchen to clean up. He put the food away… then checked on the boys. Put the dishes and pans in the sink to soak… then checked on the boys. Since the dishes were soaking, he spent time with them and read. But he couldn't focus; once he gave up trying to read, he finished washing up. When he checked on them again, his phone started to ring. Taking a few steps down the hall, so as not to disturb the boys, he answered the phone.
"Hello?" Nightmare said as he answered it.
"i won't get your need for calls over texts. you also know it's me, so i'll skip the formalities," Sci's voice said.
"Go on then," Nightmare replied.
"it's a potion… odd thing really, not sure how it works. the ingredients so far are just nonsense. like something you’d read out of a kids book about witches. tested it on some lab mice, and they all decreased in age."
"Decreased… in age?"
"yeah, you know, got younger?" Sci clarified.
"Younger?! By how much?" Nightmare felt himself start to shake.
"well, barely noticed with the one that got one drop… it depended on the amount as to how young they got."
"THEY WERE SOAKED!" Nightmare bellowed.
"well, it wasn't me that did it, pal."
Nightmare sighed and closed his socket, calming himself. It was no use getting mad at Sci. "Sorry, please continue."
"anyway, they all were listless for a while, then perked back up. the… youngest of the mice, i slipped into a litter of other wiggling pink babies with a mark on his back. but… so far, they are all still young but seem otherwise healthy. starting some other tests soon, but also continuing analysis of the potion. see if i can figure out how to reverse this."
"They still looked the same when I last checked on them," Nightmare pointed out.
"mice do have shorter lives and faster metabolisms; it's why they make good test subjects…. with the guys not doing well, i didn't want to waste time."
"Thank you," Nightmare replied.
"welcome, just… keep me updated, and i'll tell you what i figure out," Sci replied and hung up.
Nightmare looked down at his phone for a moment before putting it away. Before he could think about what he had just learned, a youthful voice called out.
"dad? dad, where are you?!"
He didn’t want to wake up. But he was forced to as something or someone kept poking at him. Sitting up, he looked at the others looking at him. Each were small skeletons that were similar to him. He hadn’t seen anyone other than the doctor before so it did make him nervous to see so many others. Did the doctor make more?
He looked at each one, picking out the differences to tell them apart. One had a hole in his skull, and one red eye light. That one also had tears dripping from his sockets, and he looked like he had been crying. The one who likely poked him awake was sitting beside him. That one red and one white eye and some red mark on his right cheekbone. And then there was one with black sockets that dripped some liquid. Of the three, that one looked ready to pounce.
“what’s your name?” the black socketed one asked.
That word… name? He wasn’t sure what that word meant. Should he ask them? Was this a test? He didn’t want to fail any more tests. But if they are like him they would do tests too, not give tests, right?
“see, all our names are sans, and we are wondering if that’s your name, too,” The one with mismatched eyelights said.
“uh, yeah,” He lied… or maybe he lied? He still didn’t know what a name was.
Looking around, this wasn’t where he fell asleep… this wasn’t where the doctor kept him. This was soft… nice….
The doctor was going to be angry when he found him here, he was sure of it.
“well, we can’t all be sans, can we?” the one with dark sockets asked, then sat back, folding his arms.
“why not?” The one with mismatched eyelights asked.
“because it’s confusing,” the dark socketed one said as he stood up. It was then he noticed that the dark-eyed one was wearing an oversized gown. They all were. Though they were nicer than the gowns he was used to. They had colorful pictures on them. Looking down, he saw he was wearing one too with some kind of sleeping animal on it. The fabric was nicer too, not stiff and itchy.
The dark socketed one climbed down from this soft place, feet clicked on the floor. “i’m getting dad; he’ll sort this out.”
“oh! i can see if i can find my dad, i bet my brother is with him!” the one with mismatched eyelights said climbing down, too.
As they wandered off, he started to feel over the blankets and smiled. The one on top was very soft, far softer than any he had before. He nuzzled his face against it and smiled. He didn’t understand why anyone would want to leave this soft thing.
“can i stay by you? my head hurts, and i don’t know how it got damaged like this.” The one with one red eye light asked.
“sure, if it’s okay with the doctor,” He replied.
“the doctor?” the other replied.
“yes… he… usually sits at his desk, writing. i don’t know where he is right now,” He replied.
The other shrugged and moved closer to sit by him. “i’m scared…,” the other said softly.
“dad? dad, where are you?!” One of the other two yelled out, and that made him scared.
“shhh, the doctor doesn’t like loud noises,” he quickly said, trying to shush them.
“the doctor? my dad is a doctor of science. is that who you are talking about?” the one with dark sockets said.
“so’s mine!” The mismatched socketed one replied.
“please, keep your voices down,” He said in a hushed tone.
“what are you so scared of?” the dark socketed one asked, folding his arms.
A dark figure appeared in the doorway, looking at them with one cyan eyelight. That wasn’t the doctor. But he doubted anyone taller than himself was to be trusted. He didn’t know what was expected of him here… what should he do?
“Great…,” The tall and dark skeleton sighed, pinching his nasal bone.
“when did you last take a shower?” The dark socketed one asked while looking up at the dark skeleton.
“This morning. I shower regularly.” The dark skeleton replied while still pinching his nasal bone..
“we are trying to find our dads…,” the one with mismatched eyelights said.
“Ah, yes….” The dark skeleton finally lowered the hand and looked at them again. “Well, there was an emergency. I am watching after you for the time being.” The dark skeleton said. There was a noise, like a little song, and dark skeleton pulled something out of a pocket and put it to his skull. “Hello, again, Sci… they are indeed doing well and… small. …. That checks out…. Yes…. There is some confusion…. Alright….” He then moved and put that thing back in his pocket.
The dark skeleton cleared his throat and put his hands behind his back. “As I said, there was an emergency, and I am to watch over you all. Your fathers are busy.”
What was a father?
“what else is new,” mumbled the one next to him.
“Now, I have some food that I am going to warm up. As you eat, I will take each of you aside, alone, to ask some questions. I want to get to know each of you,” The dark skeleton said.
“s-sir?” He said softly.
“Hmmm?” The Dark skeleton asked, “What is it?”
“his skull hurts… he needs something for the pain… if he can have it?” He asked, directing the Dark Skeleton’s attention to the one beside him.
“Of course,” The Dark skeleton said and walked closer then picked up the one with the hole in his skull. “Now, everyone… please follow me.”
Sans didn't know why he felt like he could trust this stranger. Dad always said to not talk to strangers, but what if the stranger didn't seem like a stranger? It hurt his head to think about it, but he also didn't know why black stuff kept dripping from his sockets. He was also certain he should feel scared or something. He didn't.
It was all so weird.
Well, whatever; the goopy skeleton was showing them where to go and promised food, so what could go wrong? OH! What if he was a witch? The goopy skeleton could be like the witch in that one story about the human kids and the candy house. "hey! mr. goopy?"
"My name is… you know what, just call me Night," The goopy skeleton said.
"okay, mr. night!" Sans replied. "you're not going to eat us, are you?"
"What? What in the world would give you that idea?" Night questioned as he stopped and looked down at Sans.
Sans shrugged and looked up at one of those things coming out of Night's back. "i read a book about this witch, and she tricked these kids into eating food so she could fatten them up and eat them." With that, he jumped and grabbed one of those things. Sans hung on to it with both hands while his body dangled.
"I am not a witch. Nor do I know of any…," Night replied and walked into a room, letting Sans hang from the weird thing. "Though I get the feeling I am about to as one has gravely angered me."
"you're weird, mr. night." Sans giggled.
"you're even weirder with that stuff coming out of your sockets," the Sans with two different colored eye lights said… oh wait, there are two like that. It was the one that didn't seem constantly sad.
"we need different names. i'm confusing myself trying to think of you as sans with two different eyes, and that one is sans with two different eyes and sad." Sans said as Night pulled out a chair and moved the thing Sans was hanging from over the chair to set him on.
"Fine, you are Killer, this one in my arms in Horror… sit here, I will get you that medicine," He set "Horror" onto a chair and then pulled out another. "This one will be… let me see your face… Cross. Then this one here is Dust." He finished as he helped Dust up into his chair.
"their names are scary… i'm not sure i even like mine," Cross said.
"I am the adult here, am I not? Those are the names I will be using for you," Night said as he handed some pills over to Horror with some water.
As he was now called per the adult, Killer turned in his chair as he watched Night get things out of the refrigerator. "so, you're making leftovers?"
"I am not making leftovers but reheating them. I had expected to be feeding you four earlier… you… needed naps first, it seemed," Night replied without looking back.
"what are those things coming out of your back?" Killer then asked.
"They are my tentacles," Night answered patiently.
"like an octopus…," Killer then gasped and got off his chair to run over to Night, who looked down at him. "you're like an octopus! two arms, two legs, and four tentacles give you eight limbs!"
One of the tentacles wrapped around him and put him back on the chair. "Yes, well, please do not call me that again. I have enemies who enjoy using that… moniker for me, and I do not like it."
"what's a monnicure?" Killer asked.
"don't annoy him…," Dust said softly.
"i'm not annoying him, i'm asking questions," Killer said as he looked back at Dust, who only slid lower in his chair as if to hide. "how are we supposed to learn stuff if we don't ask questions?"
"That is true, but you could also space out your questions. You are tiring me out with them," Night said as he placed plates in front of them.
Killer loved this kind of food, and he grabbed his fork and started shoveling it in. Cross began to sniffle, though, and Killer paused. So did Night, who sighed and walked over to him. "Cross, are you hungry?"
"dad just adopted me… i thought he liked me…." Cross wiped tears from his sockets and then looked at Night.
"He… does. As I said, he asked me to watch after you while he takes care of some other matters. Things that are dangerous for children." Night explained.
"will he be safe?" Cross asked.
Night patted him on the head, "I am sure he will be fine."
"will my dad be fine?" Killer asked, and Nightmare nodded. It was not true in the end. All their fathers weren't around anymore. Nightmare knew nothing of most of their fathers except Cross'. But that's what happens when you're so notorious that the entire multiverse plots against you.
"I am sure he will as well," Nightmare reassured Killer, then frowned as he watched Killer go back to shoving food in his mouth. Not that he had the best table manners as an adult, but this was horrid. "Slow down…"
Speaking of table manners, or the lack of is more accurate, he then noticed Dust reaching with his hands to pick up the mac and cheese. "Dust, please use your fork or spoon," He kindly corrected before looking at the other two, who, per usual, were far better behaved.
Now, they needed something to drink. Nightmare decided to start with Cross since he had already been upset. Perhaps his favorite drink will help calm him. Even if Nightmare knew what that was, he still decided to ask, "What would you like to drink?"
"Can I have chocolate milk?" Cross asked through his hitching breaths.
"You may," Night replied, and Killer stood up in his chair.
"oh, oh! me too," Killer replied and then paused, "please."
Nightmare was surprised that Killer remembered to say the 'magic word.' Such behavior is to be encouraged. "Since you said please, yes. Horror?" Night asked as he got out the milk and chocolate mix.
"that's me?" Horror asked, and Night nodded. "just plain milk, please."
"Alright, I can get that for you. How is your head feeling?" Night asked, looking up.
"better, thank you." Horror smiled, looking far better than he did previously.
Nightmare poured milk into one of the glasses as he prepared the drinks. Now, there was one more to ask. "Dust, what would you like?" He then turned his head to see Dust looking at the others as he tentatively picked up his fork as if he had never handled one before.
… In fact, he seemed entirely baffled by the item but was trying his best to mimic the others. It reminded Nightmare of the first time he saw utensils and the awkwardness of figuring out how to operate such a simple tool. There was frustration building up in Dust. He needed to be distracted from the task and given a moment to think of something else.
"Dust…," He repeated calmly, and the child finally looked at him.
"sorry," Dust replied, trying his best to mask the quiver in his voice.
"It is alright, but what would you like to drink?" Nightmare asked, and Dust started to tear up. What was meant to be a distraction became a whole new ordeal. He could feel so much confusion and frustration beginning to pour off the small skeleton.
"water?" Dust asked, but he sounded terrified, as if his request might somehow be the wrong answer.
"Alright," Nightmare replied, not wanting to question his choice or why he was reacting that way. Not here… in front of the others.
He was starting to dread interviewing Dust.
He brought over the drinks and set them down. Killer tried speaking but had so much food in his mouth that the words were impossible to figure out. "Do not speak with your mouth full."
He pulled out the last chair to sit in and noticed Dust was eating too fast. "Dust," he said firmly, and the child looked at him with fear in his eyelights and pouring off of him. This was all too familiar to how he originally was after being brought to the castle.
Anger filled the dark skeleton for whoever put that need for such fear there. Knowing first hand some of the horrible things terrible people will inflict on children. He spoke softly but kept firm in tone as he meant the best for Dust. "Slow down your eating. Give your magic time to break it down. You will enjoy it better that way."
"i'm sorry, it… is just so good." Dust replied quietly and did as instructed.
"I am not upset; I just do not want you to make yourself sick," Nightmare explained.
"it is good," Cross agreed as he continued eating.
"mr. night, how do you know my dad?" Horror asked. "you're not one of my usual babysitters."
"Ah, yes," Nightmare paused as he looked at Horror, who was still looking at him expectantly. He didn't think of this when he came up with that lie.
"speaking of babysitters, my dad never uses those and just takes me to the lab," Killer said.
"... dad takes me to work too, but i guess i understand if it is dangerous," Cross said, and Killer then nodded.
"yeah, that's true," Killer agreed.
"I am an old friend of his that was away," Nightmare finally said as he picked up a napkin and gave it to Killer before he wiped his face on his arm. At least some things didn't change, which was comforting as he smiled at the little skeleton who took the napkin happily and used it.
"may i have one?" Cross asked, and Nightmare passed a napkin to him as well.
Indeed, some things hadn't changed.
"i'm done!" Killer announced proudly.
"Then we can talk first. The rest of you, stay at the table," Nightmare said as he stood up while wrapping a tendril around Killer, which is a far easier task with his small size. Though it did make Nightmare worry that he was curling it around him too tightly or loosely and didn't have a secure grip.
"can we go under the table?" Cross asked, and Nightmare blinked at him.
"Y-yes… if that is what you want to do. I mainly do not want you to leave the room or get into anything that is dangerous," Nightmare explained.
"ok!" Cross replied happily before sliding off his chair onto the floor to sit…. Was… this a child thing to do? The concept baffled him, but Nightmare decided not to ask questions about this and speak with Killer.