Archive of Our Own ^beta

Bigwig the Mancoon cat was the first of the many animals inhabiting the castle that Cross met. He’d only been living in the castle for two days by this point when he’d been startled out of his anxious musings on the living room couch by the large fluff ball jumping up onto his lap. Cross, for his part, had sat frozen in slight fear until Nightmare had come to check on him due to his negative emotions. Cross had then explained that he’d never been around animals much so wasn’t entirely sure how to act around them. This had led to a crash course on meeting and learning all the names of the different pets that lived in the castle.

Bigwig was a four year old Mancoon cat who was missing most of his left ear and was also blind in his left eye due to an accident when he was a kitten. The injuries had led him to be dumped on the streets as he couldn’t be sold for the normal high price his breed usually went for. He’d thankfully been found and patched up by a shelter before he’d been adopted by Killer. Despite his harsh start to life, Bigwig was a gentle giant who loved to snuggle up on laps and receive pats and scratches all day long.

The next two animals Cross was introduced to were the two female rats Dust had taken in. They were sisters, Daisy the brown one with a white tummy and Holly who was white with a black saddle patch on her back. They had been rescued by the same shelter that saved Bigwig from a hoarder's house where they had been kept in a cramped cage with ten other rats. Both sisters were missing toes and had parts of their tails missing from the other rats biting them during their time in the cramped cage and yet both were also still sweet gentle souls. They had a whole room that Dust had converted for themselves instead of a cage that was filled with climbing frames, bridges, dig boxes and warm soft hiding places for them.

Next on the list were the three hens Horror had adopted, once again from the same animal shelter. Gwendolyn was the largest and the leader of the little flock. She was a Plymouth Rock chicken who had been abandoned in a wooded area after she’d hatched. Gertie was an Australorp and had been saved from a small farm that had been mistreating their animals. The last one was Sasha, an ISA brown hen that had been rescued from an egg farm where she’d been kept in a tiny metal cage for the first year of her life. Now, all three hens had free range of the castle gardens and didn’t need to worry about predators as there was no natural wildlife in the little AU Nightmare had claimed as his own.

After the hens, Cross was shown into Nightmare’s personal study that had three large four foot long freshwater aquariums. Each one was a planted tank with an array of different aquatic plants in them as well as little cherry shrimp. Each tank had a different coloured shrimp colony in it. One had bloody mary ones, another yellow cherries and the third had emerald jade ones. Each tank also had a few small fish swimming in them, mainly guppies, and all of them had some form of deformity that hindered their swimming. Nightmare explained that these tanks were treated like hospice tanks for fish from the animal shelter. These fish couldn’t be rehomed as they often didn’t have long left to live so Nightmare allowed them to live out the rest of their lives in peace in his planted aquariums.

Finally, Cross was shown the little area in the living room that was sectioned off for Error’s pet rock, who he lovingly named Dirt. The rock had a pair of large googly eyes stuck on it and had its own miniature bed with a bedside table and everything. During festive holidays little hats would be placed on Dirt to help celebrate, all of which were knitted by Error himself.

Cross got to know all the different animals of the castle and slowly began to lose his fear and apprehension of them. He could often be found sitting in the living room with Bigwig curled up on his lap or out in the garden following the chickens or in the rats room playing games with them. He’d also wander into Nightmare’s study to just sit in the quiet and watch the shrimp and fish swim around when his mind became a bit too loud. He liked being around the animals, like how they didn’t hold any judgement, and didn't have expectations of him. He could just be around them without having to worry about possibly offending them by accident. He was content to just spend time with his teammates' pets, so he was surprised when Nightmare approached him one day with the offer to get him a pet of his own.

“You don’t have to if you do not wish to. But having a companion of your own can often help in recovery. It helped the others greatly by having something to look after and care for.” Nightmare said.

Cross stood there, body tense and eyes slightly narrowed as his soul hummed with uncertainty-interest-doubt-doubt-longing-sadness-desire-fear. The emotions had Nightmare frowning, confused by his youngest’s fear of having a pet while Error, who stood next to Cross, placed a gentle hand on the smaller skeletons shoulder.

“What’s wrong, niño?” Error asked, always so soft and caring towards the monochrome Oreo.

“I wasn’t allowed a pet growing up. They were unhygienic and a waste of time better spent on studies and training.” Cross said, voice hollow and an echo of someone else. He continues before Error or Nightmare can voice their opinions. “I wanted one though, really bad. So I snuck into the garden one day and brought a little snail back into my room and named him Henry. I kept him in a shoe box under my bed and fed him scraps from my rations.”

Rations, not meals. It’s a stark reminder that Cross had been conditioned from birth to think that everything must be earnt, that nothing was a given right and that even things such as food had to be earned. Error scowled, pulling the smaller back against his chest and resting his chin on top of his skull.

“What happened to Henry?” Nightmare asked gently, though he thinks he knows the answer already if the sadness that clings to Cross’ soul is any indication.

“My brother, Paps, told our father about him. XGaster…he crushed him with his foot and then made me clean up the mess.” Cross said, eyes distant and soul heavy with sadness and guilt. “If I had just left him in the garden then he wouldn’t have died.”

“Oh mi pequeña paloma. It wasn’t your fault. That abomination should never have done that. The blame is on him, never you.” Error cooed as he moved Cross to face him, hands gently cradling his face.

“Error is right, dear. That man was vile and cruel and should never have hurt you or Henry in such a way.” Nightmare soothed as he moved in closer, a hand also holding the side of Cross’ face. “If you don’t feel ready to have a pet then that is completely fine. But if you’d like to have one then you are more than welcome too.” 

It takes a few more moments for Cross to sort through his emotions, to figure out how he feels about the situation and what he wants. Eventually, he agrees to at least go with Nightmare to the animal shelter to have a look.

“You should get him a therapy dog.” Killer had suggested before they headed out to which Dust elbowed him harshly in the ribs.

“Don’t pressure him, let Cross decide what he wants.” Dust grumbled.

“Boys, please behave yourselves.” Nightmare sighed while Error sent the two a warning look.

“They’ll behave, or else.” The glitch threatened, causing Killer and Dust to quickly step away from each other with nervous chuckles. Error smirked before turning back to Nightmare and Cross, leaning down to press a skeletal kiss against Cross’ head. “Be safe cariño, and remember that you don’t have to get a pet if you don’t want to or don’t feel ready.”

“Lo sé mamá. I promise I’ll be careful.” Cross huffed though he still smiled brightly up at the glitch.

“Cheeky,” Error laughed before nudging him towards Nightmare. “Off you go, and mind your manners.”

“Please, Error, he’s not like the other three.” Nightmare smiled before opening a portal. The pair give one last wave before walking through into a surface AU. As far as Cross knew, this particular AU had been on the surface for years and no longer experienced resets. Monster and human relations were also going strong so there was no need for himself or Nightmare to be worried about walking along the streets. A few humans and monsters did send Nightmare a side glance but other than that they were left completely alone as they walked down the sidewalk towards a small building with paintings of all sorts of animals along the outside walls.

Entering the building they were greeted by a small reception area with all the walls covered in photos of dogs, cats, birds, rodents, horses, cows, fish and reptiles. There are humans and monsters alike milling about, talking with staff and each other as they walk through the lobby and down different hallways. Nightmare pays all the other patrons no mind, heading right to the front desk where a young female human sits with light purple hair. Cross expects her to be nervous in the face of the God of Negativity, instead she smiles warmly up at him while her eyes lit up with recognition.

“Nightmare, it’s good to see you. Here to pick up more fish?” The human asked warmly.

“Grace, a pleasure as always. While I am happy to take more fish home with me, I am actually here with my youngest to let him see the animals and see if he’d like to adopt one.” Nightmare said while gesturing to Cross who flushed at the sudden attention. The human, Grace, just smiled softly. She was used to Nightmare taking in not just animal strays and had met all three of his other children who had been stand-offish and wary as well.

“Well, you know your way around the place so feel free to take your time. I’ll let David know you're here.” Grace said while waving them towards a door to the right.

“Thank you, Grace.” Nightmare nodded before guiding Cross through the door. They walked down the hallway before stopping at a door that had a sign labeled ‘Dogs’ above it. Here, Nightmare turned to Cross with a patient smile. “We’ll go through each room and meet all the different animals. If you get overwhelmed at any point, let me know and we’ll come back out to this hallway. And if you see anything that grabs your interest let me know too, do you understand?” 

“Sí, papá.” Cross said, pulling a smile from the God.

They make their way through all the different rooms of the shelter. They start with the dogs though it quickly becomes apparent that a dog isn’t the pet for Cross. While he does enjoy their affection and loyalty, their overexcited energy and sometimes loud barking was a bit much for the sometimes shy and nervous skeleton. Next are the cats. Cross relaxes quickly around the felines and spends a good hour in the cat room just laying on the floor with them. He respects the ones that want their space and happily gives pets to the ones that come up to ask for them. After an hour though he asks to move on and explains to Nightmare that while he loves the cats and especially Bigwig he doesn’t feel like a cat is the right pet for him.

They skip the rats and mice as Cross had already said that while he liked them he didn’t think he’d be able to handle the smell of cleaning their cages. He does briefly stop in and look at the guinea pigs as he’d never seen them before and was curious about them. After the rodents were the birds which followed the same path as the dogs. While Cross does like their funny little personalities he doesn’t enjoy how loud they can get and they quickly end up having to leave the room when the noise gets overwhelming.

After the birds, Nightmare told Cross to wait in the hallway while he went to go speak with a staff member about collecting another batch of fish for his tank. Waiting in the hallway is boring though and Cross can’t help his eyes from wandering until they land on the last doorway they haven’t gone through. It’s a deep green colour and above it is a plaque with the word ‘Reptiles’ printed on it. It instantly has Cross’ attention as he didn’t even realise you could have reptiles as pets. He looked back down the hallway where Nightmare had gone but doesn’t see the Dark Guardian at all. He knows he should just wait, but curiosity burns through his soul so with one last glance down the hallway, Cross went over and slipped through the door.

The room is warm and covered wall to wall in large glass tanks. Each tank has a small globe light on top of it along with a long tube light that fills the room with a warm glow. In the closest tank, Cross could see a small orange coloured lizard basking on a wooden log. The reptile gazed right back, head tilted to the side before it closed its eyes and laid down on the log, completely unbothered by his presence. Walking deeper into the room found more lizards along with snakes and even a few turtles. Cross was so caught up in his awe of looking at the reptiles, he didn’t notice the human male who had entered the room with him.

“Did you need a hand with anything, sir?” Cross yelped in fear, swinging around with wide eyelights at the sudden voice from behind him. The man backed up, face apologetic with his hands raised. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s…it’s okay, I’m sorry for jumping.” Cross muttered as he looked down in embarrassment.

“Well, we’re both sorry so all good then.” The man laughed as he moved about the room checking different equipment to make sure it’s all working. “So, you one of Nightmare’s boys?”

“Um, yeah. He went to go look at the fish and told me to wait in the hallway but I got curious. I’m sorry if I’m not supposed to be here.” Cross said.

“Hey now, all good. You're allowed to be here just like how you're allowed in any of the other rooms. Not a lot of people come into this one is all.” The man said.

“Why, what’s wrong with this room?” Cross asked.

“Oh, nothing, just most people don’t like reptiles. They think they’re creepy, gross and dangerous and most people would rather see a dead snake than a living one.” The man said sadly while looking in at a tank that held a small snake that was a gleaming copper colour with faint patterning running down its body.

“That’s not fair. Just because they are reptiles doesn’t make them evil.” Cross huffed while looking down at the little snake that was slowly moving around its tank. It made its way up to the front glass, looking up at Cross while it’s little tongue flicked back and forth causing him to smile. The man watched with a gentle look to his face before reaching for his keys. Cross watched with wide eyes as the man reached in and scooped the small reptile up before gently holding it out.

“You wanna hold him? He won’t hurt you.” The man said.

Cross hesitated for a moment before holding his hands out, watching in awe as the little reptile was placed into his hands. The smooth soft scales glided against his bones, a soothing sensation to his still slightly overwhelmed mind. He laughed as the little serpent coiled around his fingers, gently squeezing his bones as it made itself comfortable.

“This little one is a Pygmy python, the smallest species of python in the world. He was rescued from smugglers who were hoping to sell him abroad.” The man explained. “He’s still growing but even as an adult he won’t get much bigger than 60cm.” 

“What happened to his tail?” Cross asked when he noted that the little snakes tail was actually partly missing.

“The smugglers didn’t take good care of him. During one of his sheds he got some stuck around the base of his tail that constricted the end of it causing it to die and fall off.”

Cross gazed down at the snake sadly. The poor thing didn’t deserve that. It had been so mistreated in it’s early life yet it still trusted him not to cause it further harm. He lifted his hands up to his skull, watching as the serpent leaned forward to flick its tongue against his nasal ridge pulling a soft laugh from him. At that moment, the door to the room opened and Nightmare came rushing in.

“There you are, I thought I asked you to wait in the hallway?” He asked, voice filled with relief but also disapproval. Normally, Cross would have cowered, stuttered apologies and be filled with guilt and slight fear, something Nightmare was trying to fix. This time, while there was guilt but there was no fear. He also turned to Nightmare with a shy smile, holding the little snake out for inspection. 

“Look Papá!” Cross beamed. His smile was wide, eyes shining with excitement and soul singing with joy-excitement-happiness-awe-joy-wonder-joy. It has Nightmare repressing a flinch at the positivity, yet also has a smile of his own creeping across his face. Cross is a gentle soul, always looking to help others, always trying to be the best he can be for everyone else. He’s young yet has suffered more than most will in their lifetime, has been let down by those meant to care and guide him. Because of his childhood, he always carried a sense of guarded caution to himself, always had the pricking sense of fearful paranoia clinging to his soul. Now, however, he was open and calm, happy and relaxed and it had Nightmare’s soul surging with love and joy.

“They are a beautiful creature.” Nightmare smiled as he moved to stand beside the younger.

“He’s a Pygmy python.” Cross said while looking back down at the serpent. There’s desire there, a longing that calls out with every pulse of the youngers soul. Nightmare had gotten used to his boys surprising him over the years, but he can safely say that he never expected one of them to want a pet snake.

“Well, what does one need to look after a Pygmy python?” He asked the man still standing close by. Cross jerked, wide eyesockets turning to gaze at Nightmare in shocked wonder.

“You mean, I can actually keep him?” Cross asked.

“I did say you could pick any animal you wanted.” Nightmare said. It’s worth the stinging positivity to see the radiant smile that takes over Cross’ face, worth the dent in his wallet to see how excited the other is as they gather all the things needed to keep a snake happy and healthy. It’s especially worth it to see the stunned looks on his other boys faces when they peek into Cross’ room to see the four foot tank all set up with a heat lamp, UVB light and climbing logs while Cross stands proudly before them holding his new pet snake.

“He’s beautiful, hijo. What are you going to call him?” Error asked.

Cross looked down at his new scaly friend with a wide smile, laughing as the little serpent weaved between his fingers. “Pippin, his name is Pippin.”

“And here I thought you would come home with a dog.” Killer laughed as he offered his hand to Pippin who flicked his little tongue for a moment before slithering onto the offered hand.

Cross scoffed at the notion, eyes sparkling playfully as he smirked. “Therapy dogs are so last year. Snakes are all the rage now.”

“I’ll take a snake over a dog any day of the week.” Dust said.

“Cute…little noodle.” Horror rumbled happily.

And that is how the small family gained a little snake, another misunderstood soul that had been hurt by others wishing to use him only to find happiness and a family amongst those under Nightmare’s care.