Chapter Text
Nightmare wasn’t feeling great. He wasn’t even feeling okay. The King of Negativity was mad, or upset. …Something was wrong, and the entire castle could feel it. They could simply sense it.
Nobody had seen Nightmare all day, he hadn’t come out of his office since three days ago.
….Killer was extremely curious. They hadn’t been ordered to do anything all day. They had simply been doing chores for the time being.
What was wrong with The King?
Horror had advised Killer not to worry, as they didn’t exactly like working too much anyways. Dust had called the black-tear stained skeleton a dumbass, because Killer was getting ‘too curious’ about the situation. But Killer knew that Dust was only saying that to get out of doing work. The lazy skeleton.
So, in honour of his beloved friend Dust, Killer decided to go up to the Bosses room! Playfully humming and grinning to himself, Killer eventually arrived at The Kings Office. A sudden sense of nervousness washed through the skeleton, he couldn’t feel Nightmares' Negativity through the door. He raised his hand, bringing his fingerless gloves to knock gently on the door.
”Boss?”
The subordinate calls out, to no answer on the other side except hearing some scurrying of small, skeletal feet.
Killer suddenly became alert, his eye sockets narrowing at the sound of light feet in Nightmares room. He pushed the door open quickly, only to be met with a shrieked, high pitched voice.
”G-get out!”
Huh.
Killers eye sockets immediately lock on the tiny skeleton in the room with him. It was... naked. Looking around, Killer observed that Nightmare’s goop was.. everywhere. The small skeleton covered himself with Nightmare’s spare clothing, he was also covered in Nightmare’s goop..
oh..
oh dear.
The realisation settled pretty quickly. Killer approached the smaller skeleton without much of a second thought.
“Nightmare?” He mumbled, tilting his head to the side slightly.
The smaller skeletons' singular eye light blinked blankly. They were purple, his head had a massive crack just like Horrors own, just on the other side.. and much bigger. Regardless, he looked confused.
“…h-how did y-you—“ His stuttered words were cut off, looking extremely embarrassed and nervous. Nightmare sighs harshly.
....
”…Mind telling me what happened?” Killer enquires, giving a small and amused hum. The grin on his face widened at the sight of his boss so powerless and helpless.
“I- I don’t know what happened..” Nightmare mumbles sheepishly, his voice much softer and higher than ever before. The sound alone made Killer clearly amused, but he was still dumbfounded on how this could’ve possibly happened to the King. It was laughable, to see the King of Negativity in such a state, but netherless, Killer knew when the time was right to tease- and when wasnt.
This certainly was not the time... but it was extremely tempting.
Killer was speechless for a few moments, briefly thinking of the opportunities that this could bring, having Nightmare so defenceless.. He quickly shook his skull at the thought, speaking up once more.
“I dunno either, Boss. But this clearly ain’t good.”
Nightmare huffs in annoyance, his tiny skeleton hands reaching up to put his hands near what’s left of his broken skull in a helpless gesture. His purple eye light wanders for a moment, unsure on what to do. There’s a strong silence between the two, with Killer just taking in the sight of his Boss looking like a scared little kid. Suddenly, the now-taller Sans speaks up.
“You should prob’ly go check on Dream, no? This must be his doing.” He huffs, taking a last glance at Nightmare before prying his eyes away and looking a the utter mess in his Boss's office instead. Nightmare's singular working, purple eyelight downcast. Humiliated and confused. How could he have allowed this to happen....
Night slowly shook his skull, his phalanges fidgeting with one another. Killer took notice of this. His Boss never fidgeted, at least, from what Killer saw of him. The air suffocated them with a thick silence, although Killer broke it with a sigh. "You... cant.. l-let the others.. know.." Night softly commented, his expression saddened as he looks down at himself, still slightly covering his form in his old clothing. A pitiful sight to see. Killer didn't know how the others would react if they did find out, so he slightly nodded in agreement.
"...'s this...." Killer begins, but looses the ability to momentarily find the words. Despite the others not being particularly fond of the Boss, he was still the boss. He continued, his empty gaze looking back towards the broken little skeleton. "is this... y'know, permanent?" The moment of silence felt like a wave of confusing emotions peering through Night. His frown only deepened, as he responded with a quiet, gentle, "i-i dont kn-know..."
"Well, itll be okay. I'll keep ya safe. Can promise you that much." Killer assures with determination laced throughout his words, not wanting to appear weak in front of tiny boss.