Edge glared at the Guardian in outrage as he had a child set in front of him by one of the bastard's tentacles. The child was tiny, tinier then he remembered Paps ever being when they were little. Dressed in an oversized Cyan hoodie with a black stripe across it and a pair of black shorts peeking out at the bottom, the child looked even smaller as he blinked up at him with curious eyelights.
"What the hell do you mean I have to babysit this brat?!" Edge demanded angrily. He wasn't some babysitter dammit, he made the alliance to help his AU since they had separated from the Omega Timeline so completely.
"Just that. I require all three of my group to handle a few AUs I have been putting off for weeks now. This alliance was primarily to give Mischief a safe AU to stay in instead of being in my Domain alone." Nightmare said firmly, setting a hand on the child's head.
Edge stared at the Guardian incredulously before looking at the child and back again. He had to be joking. Edge wasn't a babysitter, he could barely take care of himself on a good day.
"Wouldn't it be better to leave him in your domain then? I mean, Underfell isn't exactly a good place to bring a kid who hasn't grown up in it." Edge insisted.
"No can do, Edge. Mischief doesn't like being left alone and after we got stuck away from the Castle last time we can't risk leaving him alone at all." Killer replied, waving a finger at him as if scolding a child.
The child, Mischief, giggled at Killer's antics, seeming to encourage the other as Killer's grin grew.
"This is why we were building the alliance with you and your AU to begin with. We cannot leave Mischief alone, but I cannot always leave behind someone to watch over him, not with the risk of Dream interfering with my work." Nightmare agreed with his SIC as Mischief ducked from under his hand and grabbed Killer's jacket to tug on it.
Edge watched with silent shock and slight awe as Killer reached down and picked the baby bones up into his arms and allowed him to cuddle up to him. If Edge didn't know Killer as well as he did after all these weeks of negotiating, he'd swear he was looking at a different skeleton. But nope. One of the deadliest and most aggressive Sans' he'd ever seen in the Multiverse was willingly and even happily cuddling with a child without complaint or threat of bodily harm.
He supposed it was the sight of a usually very aggressive being so calmed and gentle with someone else that made him cave. If this group was this insistent about not leaving Mischief alone then he supposed he had no choice but to agree.
"Fine!" Edge growled with a huff jumping as Killer appeared beside him instantly still holding Mischief.
"Great! Now don't let anything happen to the baby bones while you have him or Boss won't be pleased." Killer said holding out the child to Edge.
He blinked in surprise and slowly reached out to take the child, holding him at arm's length away from him. Mischief smiled at him and giggled as he stared back in slight confusion.
"We should be back in a few hours." Nightmare said as Killer returned to his side, opening a portal for his three lackeys to go through.
"And if you get stuck somewhere like last time?" Edge demanded, sneering at Killer as he snickered at him.
"Then you better keep Mischief safe until we return." Dust grumbled back with a glare from under his hood.
Edge met the others' eyelights and felt himself get drawn in for a moment as he noticed that Dust's left eye was blue with an outer ring of red around it. He quickly shook himself as he huffed at the response and grumbled curses about them turning him into a babysitter without warning.
"Behave while we are gone Mischief." Nightmare instructed as the other three stepped through the portal with a wave.
"Yes Boss!" Mischief chirped cheerily and waved as the Guardian stepped through the portal last.
"Well, looks like it's just us kid." Edge said, gaining the child's attention, "I'll be honest. I wasn't expecting to babysit which means I don't have much to entertain you."
"Can we play in the snow? I read in a book once that you can make Snowmen in the snow, but I've never been able to." Mischief asked eagerly.
He tilted his head as he thought it over for a moment. Edge didn't have to go to his lookout stand very often anymore since the story of their timeline was long since finished, but he knew Paps would come looking for him eventually to tell him to do something. He supposed in the meantime they could play in the snow and then he could just take Mischief with him when he is given orders later.
"Sure kid. Let's go make a snowman." Edge agreed, setting him on his feet to lead them a bit off the path outside of Snowdin.
Mischief cheered happily and rushed after him eagerly.
Edge spent the next hour teaching and helping Mischief build several snowmen. He had helped the child build each one to resemble his four guardians and even helped him build a couple child sized ones that he didn't recognize. That was where Paps found them.
"SANS! HERE YOU ARE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Paps demanded as the taller skeleton stomped over to them.
Mischief jolted at the aggressive approach and hid behind Edge as if he was worried Paps was angry with him.
"Hey Boss. Nightmare called in on his half of the alliance about an hour ago. Apparently he has a kid in his care that he can't leave alone at his castle." Edge explained, reaching back and setting a hand on Mischief's skull to sooth the baby bones' nervousness.
"A KID? REALLY? THAT'S SURPRISING. I THOUGHT DREAM SAID NIGHTMARE WAS INCAPABLE OF COMPASSION?" Paps asked, leaning over and peeking at Mischief.
Edge could understand the disbelief. He'd been just as surprised at the sight of the child as Paps probably was.
"Yeah well I guess Dream doesn't know his brother as well as he thought he did. Not surprising since the guy was trapped in stone for five hundred years." Edge replied, scowling at the thought of the other Guardian.
He had nothing against Dream. The guy was a bit naive in his opinion, but not a terrible person. It was his absolute faith in Core and the Omega Timeline that Edge had a problem with. Even Blueberry questioned the Omega Timeline from time to time even if it wasn't as often as Edge believed he should. Nonetheless, Dream was okay, but now being allied to Nightmare, he was starting to wonder if Dream was to set on what his brother should be after the events of Dreamtale rather than what his brother truly was now.
"I SUPPOSE YOU ARE RIGHT. NONETHELESS, BABYSITTING IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO PATROL YOU CAN TAKE THE CHILD WITH YOU." Paps ordered, turning his focus back to Edge as he did, "AND CHECK THE TRAPS NEAR THE RUINS! IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE THEY'VE BEEN UPDATED!"
"On it Boss!" Edge answered immediately, snapping to attention a bit at the command.
He fought a scowl at the automatic response as he watched Paps march away again. He sighed after a moment before turning to Mischief with a small smile.
"Whelp, looks like we're going on patrol kiddo." He said, reaching out and picking up the baby bones to set him on his shoulders. The trek was too long and far to expect the little one to keep pace with him.
"You have a Paps too?" Mischief asked curiously, setting his hands on Edge's skull as the older began to walk in the direction of the ruins.
"Yeah. All Sans' have a Paps." He replied easily, his eyelights scanning the area as he walked.
"I don't. But Dust has a Paps!"
That was interesting. Did Mischief lose his Paps? It would explain how he might have come into Nightmare's care, but also not. If Mischief lost his brother, then wouldn't he be taken in by someone else in his AU.
"Did something happen to your brother?" Edge asked softly, not wanting to upset the child.
"What's a brother?" Mischief asked curiously, leaning forward slightly to meet his eyelights.
Edge paused at that question, blue screening at the fact that this little Sans had no idea what a brother was or that Paps was usually the one that word was associated with. To top it off, it appeared Mischief knew very little about the world, let alone the Multiverse as a whole.
"Well, a brother is someone you care about a lot, whether younger or older. It's an older brother's job to look after their younger brother." Edge explained as best he could.
It was hard to explain something he practiced little of nowadays. He and Paps were estranged at best, coworkers at worst. They hadn't been close since they separated from the Omega Timeline. No Edge had lost himself when they'd lost their eldest brother to the Omega Timeline's bullshit. He knew that some of the scientists in the labs there knew what had happened and kept their mouths shut about it to either keep Core's eyes off them or to protect themselves. He knew not from what, but nonetheless he was still enraged over it.
Pulling himself from such thoughts, Edge shoved one hand in his hoodie pocket while bringing the other up to grip around Mischief's ankle gently. The last thing he wanted was to drop the child just because he was distracted.
"So which one are you?" Mischief asked curiously, pulling Edge back to the topic at hand.
"I'm the older brother." He replied easily, passing by his Lookout station.
Mischief seemed to hum in thought as he continued on towards the ruins, being sure to avoid any active traps. The rest of the trip to the doors of the ruins was trekked in silence, Mischief appearing to fall into thought after the explanation while Edge forced his thoughts away from why he had left the Omega Timeline.
Once they reached the Ruin doors, Edge reached up and lifted Mischief from his shoulders and set him on the ground.
"Alright shrimp, I need ya to stay close, but don't step on the path alright? I don't wanna risk you triggering any of the traps okay?" Edge instructed, looking the child in his eyelights.
"Okay." Mischief agreed with a nod and a smile.
Edge nodded as well and turned to focus on fixing the traps as he'd been ordered. He supposed that was his second mistake of the day, his first was assuming that the child Nightmare was caring for was normal. He really should've known better. It made no sense for the Guardian to have just a normal child in his care long term.
Thus when he heard the yelp of surprise that came from his temporary charge, Edge snapped around and barely had time to register the portal that had opened up under Mischief's feet before the child was gone. Edge stared at the spot the baby bones had been moments before, stamping down on the panic that wanted to fill him in hopes of being able to fix this before Nightmare realized he had lost the Guardian's adopted child.
"Shit!" Edge cursed, as his mind came up blank on what to do, "This isn't good."
Reaper could honestly say that his life was overall pretty boring for a being that dealt with death on the daily. After all Reaping SOULS was an easy thing to do, he wasn't like Life who had to oversee and care for the garden of SOULS that represented every life in the Multiverse. So one could imagine his surprise when a child dropped from a portal near him.
He blinked at the small being as they grumbled and muttered angrily to themselves about stupid portals and how they needed to behave. The child was a skeleton, like himself, but he was one of the smallest he'd seen in the multiverse thus far. Barely two feet tall and dressed in a Cyan hoodie with a black stripe with shorts and no shoes, the baby bones wasn't exactly dressed for playing in the snow that he'd landed in. Nonetheless the child seemed unaffected by the cold as Reaper tilted his head curiously at the child.
"That was quite the fall kiddo, are you hurt?" Reaper asked gently.
The child snapped their head to him and stared at him with pin pricked eyelights for a moment before tilting his head curiously at him. A bit strange. While he wasn't overly scary in appearance, most became apprehensive upon seeing his scythe at the least and terrified at the literal visage of death he portrayed with his hooded cloak at the most. Not this child. He appeared to become immediately curious, reminding Reaper why collecting the SOULS of children was often the hardest part of his job. Thankfully there were very few children SOULS that ever resisted being reaped, which meant his brother often collected them rather than himself.
"What's the matter kiddo, cat got your tongue?" Reaper joked carefully, not wishing to scare the child at all.
"How can a cat take your tongue?" The child asked, blinking at him in confusion.
Reaper snorted at the question and tried to cover it with a slight cough. The narrowing of the child's sockets, however, told him he'd failed.
"It's just a figure of speech baby bones." Reaper replied, carefully kneeling down closer to his eye level, "But I think the better question is, who are you and how'd you get here?"
"I'm Mischief! And my portal opened up suddenly and brought me here! What's your name?" The child, Mischief, chirped in answer.
The personification of Death knew that name was a lie. Well, not a lie, but it wasn't the child's true name. It was most likely a nickname he or his guardians had given him, but then why use it. Reaper didn't believe the child's true name was that of Sans like most skeletons in the multiverse. Why would he require another alias? Thoughts for later he supposed, since he also found it odd that the portal the child had come through led to Underfell and yet this wasn't an Underfell Sans either.
"Well Mischief, I'm Reaper and we should probably get you back shouldn't we?" Reaper inquired, standing up again and adjusting his grip on his scythe.
"Oh, yeah. Edge is probably panicking a bit." Mischief agreed easily, seeming to think over if his assumption was right or not.
"I'll open a portal for you then."
Just as Reaper was about to do just that however, he felt a tiny hand grip onto his own. He froze instantly as fear consumed him in an instant. His head snapped down to stare at the child terrified to find a lifeless corpse now staring back at him. Instead Mischief stared up at him with a bright smile and squeezed his hand slightly.
"Does that mean you can come play? Edge needs to check on some traps and I don't wanna play alone." Mischief asked, unaware of the turmoil he had accidentally caused.
There were very few beings in the multiverse that could touch Reaper without immediately succumbing to his death-touch. Of which one was his brother and the other his father. He never tested it with anyone else in Reapertale, not since what happened with Chara. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally reap someone before their time. Yet, here was this small child grabbing his hand and acting as if it was a normal occurrence. Usually his Non-Corporeal ability mitigated the possibility of such an incident, but it seemed Mischief liked to bowl through more than just his Death-touch.
His concern didn't waver, however, the longer Mischief had a hold on him. Instead, Reaper began to worry that this child was a powerful being that somehow fell into an Underfell AU. Pulling up the child's check, he stared at it curiously.
Name: Ink/Mischief
Original Universe: _tale
Role: Protector of Creation
Height: 2.0ft
LV: 1
EXP: Multiversal Level
HP: Multiversal Level
ATK: Multiversal Level
DEF: Multiversal Level
Abilities: Portals, Codes, Will Manifestation, Immunity to Death-touch, Innate Ability to draw Protectors, Innate Connection to his Destroyers,
CHECK
Baby Bones
Wants to play
Thinks your nice
The Protector. This child was the Protector of Creation. Reaper blinked as he allowed the check to fade, Mischief doing the same as he tilted his head questioningly at him. This child was one of the Multiverse's Balance Keepers. As one of the two Pillars that held up their Multiverse, Reaper didn't normally even associate with the Balancers. However, he had never known any of the other three to have been so young upon entering into their Roles.
Shaking himself free of the growing confusion, Reaper focused back on the baby bones before him.
"Sure kid, we can play, but let's get you back to your guardian first." He said, reaching out and lifting the little one into his free arm.
"Oh, we can't do that. Nightmare is busy right now, so Edge is watching me." Mischief insisted, his little hands gripping Reaper's cloak to balance himself.
Nightmare? As in the Guardian of Negativity? Reaper knew he had broken free from Negative years ago now, but he didn't know the grumpy octopus had gained custody of a child, let alone the Protector.
"Well then, we'll go back to Edge then." Reaper agreed easily, using his scythe to swipe open a portal to Underfell.
He stepped through the portal with Mischief in his arm to find a Underfell Sans pacing back and forth cursing audibly to himself as he dug his fingers into his skull in panic. Ah, he knew this specific Fell!Sans. He had seen him associated with the Omega Timeline a few years back, the other hadn't seen him, but he had collected this one's Gaster at his end. Rare was it that he found an Underfell Monsters SOUL fighting him not because they were stubborn but because they didn't wish to leave their family or friends. This one's Fell!Gaster had been one such rarity.
"I believe you might be looking for this one." Reaper called.
The Fell!Sans, Edge if Reaper had to guess, immediately snapped towards him, his eye glowing red as bone attacks manifested. Reaper didn't even twitch at the threat. While Mischief might have been able to touch him, that didn't mean Edge could. Not unless he allowed it, even then the other would definitely not be immune to his death-touch.
Edge appeared to quickly notice Mischief, however, and dropped his attacks before he seemed to register who Reaper was and almost visibly paled. Impressive since the other was a skeleton and didn't have blood to pale with.
"I know I'm deathly handsome, but no need to look so scared." Reaper teased, smirking as Mischief openly giggled at his pun.
"Mischief, you okay kid?" Edge asked, ignoring Reaper's joke.
"I'm okay. Reaper's been nice to me." Mischief replied cheerily.
That was a first for Reaper. Most people saw him as a threat, an annoyance at best, never was he considered nice.
"Reaper said he'd play with me while you fix your traps." Mischief explained, causing Reaper to chuckle as he watched Edge stare incredulously at him.
"What? He's a cute kid, it's hard to say no." Reaper said in defense of himself. He doubted many could say no to the baby bones and he'd bet his Role that his main Guardian was the worst when it came to giving him what he wanted.
"I don't know how his Guardian is going to like that." Edge said cautiously.
"Nightmare will get over it, besides I need to have a conversation with him anyway."
Edge stared at him for a moment before sighing in defeat.
"Fine! Just don't let the kid fall through anymore portals, the last thing I need is Nightmare coming back to kill me." Edge instructed turning back towards the ruin doors to focus on the traps.
"Can we play tag?" Mischief asked eagerly, pulling Reaper's attention back to him.
"Sure kid." He replied, setting Mischief down on the ground.
He silently wondered if he should find the baby bones a pair of shoes, before Mischief tagged him and giggled as he ran away from him. Deciding that the little one appeared fine without the footwear, Reaper leaned his scythe against a tree before moving to play with him. He'd question Nightmare on how he found the final Balancer when the other arrived and how he intended to keep the little one safe in the future.
Handling the AUs took much longer than Nightmare would've liked, but at least it was dealt with now. This meant they would be free for a few weeks before they might have to handle a situation like this again. They also didn't have to deal with Dream and his little pet either.
He allowed the trio to enter the portal back to Underfell first before he stepped through as well, closing it behind him. He hoped Ink hadn't caused too much trouble for Edge while they were away, knowing that despite how good the baby bones was he could often be a handful.
However, upon returning to Underfell he was greeted with the sight of Death himself holding his tiny charge in his arms. Nightmare felt horror fill him at the sight as Reaper turned towards them from where he had been speaking to Edge. The smirk that spread across the other's skull did not ease Nightmare's growing fear, but Ink's eyelights turning and brightening at the sight of him slightly did.
"What's the matter, Nightlight? You look as if you've seen a ghost!" Reaper called teasingly.
"Nightmare!" Ink called excitedly, immediately wriggling in Reapers hold to try and get down.
Nightmare could feel relief fill him at the sight of Ink's eager reaction before confusion filled him as he realized Reaper's Death-touch did nothing to the child. Was it because Ink was the Protector? If that were the case then he should be immune as well, but couldn't honestly say if he would be. He wasn't willing to test it, but also didn't like the fact that most likely Ink had grabbed onto Death in order to discover this fact as well. He doubted Reaper would've done it willingly which only left Ink and his fearlessness when it came to giving affection to those around him.
"Mischief, did you behave while we were gone?" Nightmare asked as he carefully approached Reaper.
The Death God had managed to keep a hold of Ink despite the child's persistent wriggling. However, upon seeing his approach, set the child on the ground and allowed him to rush over to the Guardian. Nightmare didn't hesitate to kneel down and scoop his charge up the moment he was close enough. Killer appeared at his right as soon as Ink was in his arms with Dust manifesting on his left, leaving Horror to stand behind all of them.
"No need to be so serious, Nightlight. I just have some questions that I'm sure you can answer for me." Reaper said, his eyelights flicking between his gang with disinterest.
"And what questions are those?" Nightmare asked with a glare as he stood back up with Ink in his arms.
"I think you know exactly what questions I have."
Reaper's eyelights flicked to Ink briefly before returning to Nightmare's own. As much as he wanted to play ignorant, he knew better. Reaper was one of two pillars that built up the foundation of their Multiverse, if anyone could pick up what Ink was it would be Death himself.
"I suppose I have no choice then. I would rather have this conversation back in my castle however." Nightmare agreed, receiving a nod from Reaper.
"Agreeable."
Nightmare sighed as he flicked a tentacle to get his trio of menaces to stand down as he used another to open a portal.
"Edge, I will return to speak with you later. Perhaps by then you can explain how Death came into contact with my charge." Nightmare said, looking at the oddly quiet skeleton. He smirked as he heard the other cursing as they all stepped through the portal. Yeah Edge had better have a good explanation for how Reaper managed to meet Ink.
They all stepped out into the entrance hall of the castle, Nightmare allowing Dust to sweep in and take Ink from him once they were back home.
"So what questions do you have Reaper?" Nightmare inquired, turning towards the scythe wielding skeleton.
Killer and Horror had moved to converge on Dust, most likely to check Ink was alright, and Ink was already off on a tangent about playing with the Death God.
"I'm curious as to how you found the Protector? Not to mention how you intend to keep him safe from the Omega Timeline." Reaper inquired, easily meeting the Guardian's reproachful gaze. Of course that would be his concern. It was Nightmare's concern as well when he learned what Ink was.
Despite the good Core tried to do with the Omega Timeline, it was a constant threat to the Balance with how it took beings from his Domain. Not to mention the scientists there weren't all there to help better the multiverse, the current Fell!Gaster there was a good example of such an issue. Core allowed too much freedom of what the scientists were allowed to do and it led to ones like Fell!Gaster doing experiments that were questionable at best and down right horrific at worst.
"I ended up pulled into an abandoned AU, that's where I found him. As for keeping him safe from the Omega Timeline, right now I have Error coming by to help teach him better control of his portals. For the moment that's the best I can do, as long as his portals are uncontrolled there is a risk of him ending up in some place I can't reach." Nightmare replied easily.
"Hmmm. Understandable. Luckily for you, the baby bones seems to only be pulled to those who will protect him. Now that I know what his SOUL looks and sounds like I should be capable of finding him anywhere he goes. If there is ever a time he gets lost and you cannot find him, you can call upon me to help." Reaper said thoughtfully, his eyelights moving to where Ink was now cuddling up with Killer.
"It would ease a lot of our worries having your assistance on that. Error is able to find him in the Anti-void the few times he fell in, but if he were to fall in the Omega Timeline accidentally there is nothing I or Error could do to find him."
"And the last thing we need is for the Omega Timeline to gain access to a child Protector that is easily manipulated."
Nightmare nodded in agreement as he watched his gang fuss over their collective charge. It was his biggest fear that Ink would accidentally portal himself right into enemy territory. And while he liked to think nothing could stop him from reaching Ink no matter where the child ends up, Nightmare knew better than to be that arrogant. Reaper offering his help was a huge weight off the Guardian's shoulders.
"So how is it you are able to touch Ink? I thought you killed anyone you touched?" Nightmare inquired, looking back to Reaper.
"I was as horrified and surprised as you are. Apparently he has an ability that gives him Immunity to my Death-touch." Reaper replied.
"Interesting, that wasn't listed in his abilities when I checked him."
"You are a Guardian, Nightmare. I am Death. There is nothing that can be hidden from me in a check."
Nightmare supposed he had a point. Checks were finicky and with how Ink was tied to his Domain he would not be surprised if the Doodlesphere helped to obscure information from those that didn't need to know. As a God of Death, Reaper had access to anything and everything that made up a SOUL; it would be pointless to hide things from him in a check.
"Well, I suppose since you are here, you might as well join us for dinner. I'm sure Ink would like you to stay a little longer." Nightmare suggested, looking over when he heard Ink cheer at his suggestion.
"Can't say no to that. Besides I fear what kind of pout I'll be gifted with by the baby bones if I tried." Reaper joked, looking down as Ink had wriggled free from the other three to scurry over to the God.
"Horror's making pancakes, come on!" Ink exclaimed, grabbing Reaper's hand to begin dragging him in the direction of the kitchen.
Nightmare scowled at the fact they would have to scrunch together at the table once again with another addition. At this rate, Nightmare was going to have to open up the dining hall of the castle. There were worse things to have to do, he guessed. He shook his head at the thought and followed after his charge as he led the way to the kitchen, rambling away at Reaper the whole time.
Dinner was quick and filled with conversation for a change. It appeared upon learning that Reaper was Death himself that Killer became extremely interested in their guest. In turn his questions had Ink spouting out his own about Reaper's role. This led Reaper to turning to Nightmare and suggesting he start coming by to give Ink lessons on the Multiverse and the child's role in it as a whole. Nightmare agreed, but informed the other that they wouldn't be drilling it into Ink's head just yet, he was still a child and deserved to enjoy his time as one rather than worrying about the Balance just yet.
By the end of dinner Nightmare was exhausted and decided to be the one to take Ink to bed for the night, allowing Dust to head off to bed early for once. He carried Ink through the halls as the child cuddled into his shoulder with a happy hum.
"Nightmare?" Ink called after a moment of silence, receiving a hum from the guardian in response, "Are you and the others my brothers?"
Nightmare paused as he was about to step into Ink's room before continuing over to the bed.
"Where did this question come from?" Nightmare asked gently as he set Ink in his bed.
"Edge mentioned that Sans' have a Paps and that they're usually brothers. I asked him what a brother was and he said brothers take care of one another. And well, you and Dust and Killer and Horror all take care of me, so does that make you my brothers?" Ink explained before looking up at him with a slightly nervous expression.
While it wasn't the exact explanation of what a brother could be, it was a decent one and an accurate one for how most Sans and Papyrus' were. And as Nightmare thought it over, he could see where Ink made the connection between them and himself. It also made him smile in reassurance when he realized how nervous Ink was about this.
"Yeah Ink, we're your brothers." Nightmare agreed, settling Ink down on the bed before pulling up the blanket over him.
Ink immediately brightened at the response and reached out for a hug that Nightmare happily gave. He pulled back and finished tucking his little brother into bed, the baby bones grabbing one of the now many dolls Error had made for him. This one was made to resemble Killer and had amused its model immensely when Ink had showed it off. Nightmare smoothed down the blanket as Ink curled up on his side and seemed to fight sleep for a moment.
"Night, Big Brother." Ink muttered with a yawn as he finally passed out.
Nightmare froze at the words only to visibly melt as he pet the little one's head soothingly. He leaned forward and pressed his teeth to Ink's head in a skeletal kiss.
"Goodnight, Ink." Nightmare whispered, allowing the feeling of warmth in his chest to fill him for a bit longer before he had to return to work.
At that moment Nightmare knew he would do anything to keep Ink safe. For him nothing in this Multiverse mattered more than his baby brother ever would.