Reborn as Error

Author note: *sitting there sipping tea while watching the comments*  Ya'll are scary.... should I be concerned? Also I feel a little insulted by a certain comment I've seen on both sites so.... I'll try to not be petty.

I was currently outside with Viper, Dream, Nightmare, and Fell. Such a weird group but it started with me just lounging under a tree reading a book. The others joined one by one claiming it was too loud inside, I knew what was going on but if it was something else then I didn't want to get involved at all.

Nightmare was reading over my shoulder while Viper talked with Fell about a surprisingly normal topic. Their home and what their daily schedule consisted of mainly. Dream was actually laying back with a slightly glazed look. That look when you're nodding off and are halfway asleep but still awake.

Today Gradient was going to learn how to do some cooking with Papyrus, Blue, and Ink. He asked me and understandably I was very unsure. If it was just Blue and Papyrus I wouldn't hesitate to agree but Ink was also involved. I know I said that I would let Gradient intract with Ink when he wanted but that didn't mean I had to like it.

Stretch and Classic happened to be walking by when that happened and said they would supervise so the kitchen wouldn't catch on fire. That wasn't my concern, they knew that, but I sighed and agreed. It's nice that Gradient asked for permission first instead of just going ahead without letting me know. 

I have faith in Blue and Papyrus, their cooking only gets better as days go on and the kitchen isn't up in flames yet. I had no faith in Ink since I don't know if he was even capable of cooking. 

It didn't take long for Viper and Fell to get restless though. They were apart of the more active skeletons so it was to be expected.

"Hey we're going to spare, do you want to join us?" Viper asked us as he and Fell pushed themselves up to their feet. Nightmare shook his head before looking back at the book.

"No thanks, maybe next time.... maybe move a good bit away since we have a nodder over here," I said gesturing to Dream. Seeing nothing wrong with what was suggested the two skeletons went off to work off their extra energy.

Only when a few pages were turned I realized an opportunity was given to me and I was going to waste it if I wait for too long. I glanced over to the positivity guardian and saw that he was relaxed, but I had no idea if he was awake. This was going to be risky. 

"Nightmare, can I ask you for a favor?" I asked in a mumble. I meant to whisper but it didn't come out like it.

"You're asking for a favor? What is it?" He asked and saw my glances to his brother.

I cleared my throat as Nightmare moved a bit closer understanding that I didn't want his brother to hear if he was still awake and just had his eyes shut. 

"Can you make Dream fall asleep, if he is already then can you make sure that he stays asleep? There's something I need to check and it would be better if he was asleep." I hoped this wasn't too weird or impossible of a request.

".....I can do that. I need to have a chat with my brother anyways so this works out." He took a bit to respond but I did ask suddenly so I'm actually surprised he decided to go along with it. 

I shut the book, after remembering the page number, and watched as Nightmare shuffled over to Dream. Carefully he moved his brother so his head was on his lap before his rested his pointer and middle fingers on his temples. 

"Whatever you're going to do, be careful," Nightmare said before I felt a shift of magic and saw Nightmare close his eyes. To anyone unaware it would look like two brothers just napping under the shade of a tree.

I waited a bit before moving so I was closer to Dream. I've had a sneaking suspension about Dream for a bit. He is the guardian of positivity but some things that have happened just didn't make sense. 

I hovered my hand over his chest and tried to repeat what I did before with Frisk. It was much easier to feel for his soul since it was warm and pretty eager to react with my magic. Pulling it out though I was hesitant on. Monster souls are much more fragile than humans. He might be a guardian but he was still a monster. 

I pulled up and eased the bright soul out and saw what I feared. More strings. Though they seemed to be struggling. With Frisk they wrapped around and stayed there. With Dream the strings were loose and tried to tighten but his soul pulsed not allowing it to happen. 

I don't know how long it's been like this but I could tell it was fighting back. But, it hasn't won yet since the strings were still there. If I had to guess this was the reason for his less than favorable attitude. Sometime he was the normal guardian I knew of and others he was way over bearing and aggressive. 

I'm guessing that the times when the strings win is when he's in that irritating state. That's the only thing that makes sense for me at least. So carefully one by one I starting removing the foreign strings. Everytime Dream flinched, stired, or made a sound I would freeze like a child getting caught with their hand in a cookie jar. 

Once the last one was gone I returned the soul back to where it belonged. Hopefully that didn't raise any alarms since he is talking with Nightmare, maybe even fighting I wouldn't know. Hopefully I am correct with my theory. I scooted away so I wasn't so close to the duo and layer back staring at the leaves filtering the sunlight above. It took way more concentration than I realized to pull off what I did.

I rested the book on my chest finding comfort in the added weight before I shut my eyes. I wasn't sleepy but decided to try and relax. Wouldn't be the first time I laid still for a long time with my eyes closed without falling asleep.

My thoughts drifted from what happened just now, to what happened in the past, to what the future could be. I could feel, see, hear, and experience everything fully aware of my actions and thoughts. Yet I know a small part of me had that fear, one day I'll go to sleep and wake up either back in the void or back to my old human life. 

If that happens then that would be a horrible joke. 

I don't know how much time has past but soon Gradient came over. I only knew that because I heard soft steps in the grass followed by a soft thud then weight on my lap. I peeked open an eye to confirm my thoughts and rested a hand on his head. 

"How was the lesson?" I asked in a lazed tone.

"Good, we just made some tacos since they aren't too complicated." He moved a bit to be more comfortable but didn't move much else after. 

"What did you do?" I asked curious to what he did specifically.

"Blue didn't let me cook the meat but he did let me watch. Papyrus helped me with prepping the ingredients, we had to do many things since he said everyone has a preference and won't like the same thing. Ink helped with putting the tacos together but he didn't cook." He said in response.

"Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, they were really nice and patient with me. I wouldn't mind another lesson." I closed my eyes again satisfied with the answers I recieved.

"As long as you're having fun, that's all I care about." 

"Well, the food will be done in a bit. I only helped with tacos but they're making more." He added which explains why he didn't call us in to eat if he was done with making stuff.

"Of course, some people have black holes for stomachs and need to eat more." 

"Uncle Killer?" He guessed and I felt a smirk creep up and held back a chuckle from escaping.

"Yep, don't let him know that."

It went silent after that. Nightmare moved away from dream ten minutes later only to resume resting with the rest of us. I hope their talk went well since he wasn't leaving and Dream was still resting. I can tell since their was no shift in magic and no moving around. It was a peaceful moment.