"You're sure about this?" Dream asked as he stared up at the rundown, three story apartment building that was situated on the corner of a busy street. A busy street corner located in a bad part of town.
"Absolutely." Ink stated, throwing a box into his friend's arms.
"There's no way I can talk you out of it?"
"Absolutely not."
Dream sighed, his frown deepening to the point it might become a permanent fixture on his visage.
He and Ink had… broken up. They had lived together and when things didn't work out, Ink wanted to move out on his own. Not even in with another roommate. Alone. Completely isolated from the rest of the world in this little studio apartment on the third floor of a building that probably had bed bugs. And in the middle of the large city, no less.
They had split amicably and were still friends, but Dream was uneasy about Ink living on his own. He had the attention span of a goldfish and his memory was so bad that if he had an actual goldfish, he would forget to feed it. And probably forget that he had even bought it in the first place. Ink might even just wander into the street and get hit by a bus because he was too consumed in sketching. He had to worry if Ink would forget to feed himself.
Thankfully, Ink didn't own much so they only had to go up the three flights of stair four times. It probably would have been easier if their friend Blue could have made it. After their fourth and final trip up, they collapsed on the floor, their faces flushed from the effort.
"We did it!" Ink thrust his fist in the air triumphantly. "I'm going to order pizza."
Dream sighed. At least there was going to be pizza after this.
They had seen a few of Ink's neighbors in their scramble up the stairs. It was a motley crew of monsters and humans. Some young with families, some old enough to have outlived all of their relatives.
"You need furniture." Dream huffed as he sat up.
"I'm getting a bed delivered tomorrow." Ink shrugged, his back against the wall.
"So, you're gonna sleep on the floor tonight?"
Another shrug.
Dream sighed.
"You can always come back with me. There's no reason for you to sleep here if you don't even have a bed."
"I've already made up my mind. I'm staying here from now on." Ink grinned at him. "And if the floor gets too hard, I'll just fuck one of my neighbors and sleep in their bed."
Dream choked.
"Wow, I was only joking! Lighten up, Dream." Ink laughed at his friend's discomfort. Though, he wouldn't have minded getting some. It'd been a while, even though their break up was pretty recent.
There was a knock on the door.
"Pizza!" Ink shot up with excitement and bounded over to the door. His stomach was starting to ache and only the sweet relief of cheese and grease could ease his pain. He flung the door open.
The human seemed a bit uneasy with Ink's enthusiasm and watched his irises change rapidly.
"H-here's your pizza…" They said awkwardly, stretching the box out to the skeleton.
At that moment, Ink heard a jangle of keys to the right and turned his head to catch his first glimpse of his next door neighbor. He was tall, to Ink's standards, wearing a sweater and loose-fitting jeans, paired with decrepit tennis shoes and a backpack slung over one shoulder. While that was all very interesting, the thing that stood out the most was that he was a black-boned skeleton. He was unlike anything Ink had even seen in his short existence and he wanted to get closer.
"U-um…" The pizza delivery human bounced from foot to foot, unsure of themselves.
At the sound of the human's voice, his neighbor turned, and Ink caught sight of blue streaks running from his eyes to his jaws. And his eyes. They were fascinating. He frowned at Ink, catching him in his stare before pushing the door open and stepping inside, away from the artist's pointed stare.
Ink finally snapped back to reality.
He leaned back into his own doorway, that he hadn't realized he was hanging out of. He looked back at the human.
"Sorry… Here's an extra tip." He laughed awkwardly, taking the pizza. He squinted at the human's nametag. "Thanks, Frisk."
The human smiled and moved back, turning towards the stairs. Ink closed the door.
"What the hell was that about?" Dream looked up at him, puzzled.
Ink plopped down on the floor, setting the pizza box between the two of them. He flipped it open, taking a piece of the sweet, artery-clogging pie.
"It was my neighbor. I saw him." Suddenly his eye lights sprang into stars. "He was the most interesting-looking monster I've ever seen! His bones are black! He has lines on his cheeks. And his EYES, Dream! They're so colorful! Well, technically they're only red and yellow and I think I saw some blue? You should have seen him…"
Dream drowned out the rest of Ink's description of his neighbor. Maybe he really should be worried about Ink spending the night in a neighbor's bed.
After they had finished the pizza and Ink had finally stopped rambling about his "interesting" neighbor, Dream stood to leave.
"As much as I hate leaving you here to sleep on the floor, I do have to go. I promised Night I'd pick him up from… whatever he's doing." Dream shrugged. He couldn't remember what his brother was up to. It was one of the many things that had irked Ink, though perhaps that was a little hypocritical.
Ink stood, stretching and cracking a few joints while he was at it. Dream grimaced. That was one of the things that had irked Dream. He couldn't stand the sound of joints popping.
"Alright Dreamy. I'll see you…" Ink's brow furrowed. When would he see Dream again? With his new job starting in a few days and Dream being a university student who lived in the suburbs, he wasn't sure.
"Soon." Dream finished for him with a smile. "We'll see each other soon." He gave a small wave and opened the door.
"Remember to lock your door. I don't want to hear about how you were murdered in your sleep."
"Aye aye, captain!" Ink saluted his friend as he closed the door behind himself. He went to the door and turned all the locks into place, just for Dream. He yawned and went to slump against one of the walls, pulling a blanket over himself and taking his laptop out.
He had lied to Dream. He didn't have a bed coming tomorrow. He opened his web browser and began to hastily search for a bed that he could have delivered to him within a few days. If he knew Dream, and he knew him well, Dream would randomly stop by sometime in the next few days to check on him. And he didn't want Dream to find him without a bed. That he said he already had.
He found a simple set and a mattress to match and sent the order off. He even paid a little extra so that they would assemble it for him when they delivered it. He felt accomplished, and exhausted. He still needed to unpack his few boxes, but that could wait. His job at the art gallery didn't start until Wednesday, so he had plenty of time to get settled. And maybe he would be able to strike up a conversation with his neighbor…
"Just fucking die already!"
The little artist-in-training blinked. It was a yell that had been muffled by the wall… He glanced around, trying to figure out where it was coming from.
"You're an abomination. A waste of space on this planet. You don't deserve to live. You deserve to burn in hell!"
He heard a crash and a thump as something fell to the ground. But now he knew where it was coming from. It was coming from the wall to his right, the room that held his intriguing neighbor. His heart raced. Was he having some kind of fight with someone? It sounded almost like some kind of… domestic fight. Was someone hurt?
He stood and went to his bare wall, pressing the side of his skull to it, trying to hear better.
"You come in here, in my home, and try to pull this shit? You're pathetic. You're nothing. When I find you, I'm going to desiccate your body so badly that your own MOTHER won't be able to identify your corpse."
Ink jolted back. Someone was really in trouble! And like the idiot he was, he dashed out his front door with no way to defend himself, no cell phone, and not even his keys. He began banging on his neighbor's door frantically.
"Hello?! Is anyone in there?! I heard yelling! I-I'm going to call the police!" He shouted.
The door flew open, and there was his new neighbor, panting softly with a sheen of sweat on his forehead. In one hand he gripped one of his ratty old Converses.
"What do you want?" He practically growled. Ink swallowed, pulling his courage from the pits of his non-existent guts.
"I won't let you hurt them!" Ink shouted. His neighbor grimaced at the sound.
"Quiet down! And hurt who?" He wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
"Whoever you're yelling at! They're not a waste of space! They're valued and cherished and I won't let you kill them!" Ink was still frantic.
His neighbor paused, then blinked at him.
Then he laughed.
"Oh shit, you heard that? That's embarrassing." The monster chuckled for a few more seconds. Then he looked back to Ink, was still prepared for a fight.
"Oh, you really want to rescue them? Be my guest." The man moved out from the doorframe, allowing Ink to come inside. The room had the same layout as his, only a lot tidier than his place could ever hope to be, and furnished with a small bed, a couch, a TV and what looked like a video game set, a desk and chair, and some bookshelves.
Other than that, the place was empty.
"But where…?" Ink frowned, doubting himself.
The man pointed to a corner.
"Right over. There's the sacks of shit that you need to get out of here."
Ink quickly moved to the corner where a few books had landed, probably from when they were knocked over just a moment ago. Nestled just next to the books were a pair of long, thick, cockroaches.
He shrieked and jumped back.
His neighbor howled in laughter.
"Not so brave now, huh, hero?" He cawed.
"U-um… I-I wasn't expecting that…" Ink rubbed the back of his skull.
His neighbor pushed his shoe into Ink's hand.
"There ya go, knight in shining armor. If you'd rather scoop them up with your bare hands and take them allllll the way down the stairs and allll the way to the garden to release them, be my guest." He laughed again before sitting down on his sofa.
Ink frowned at the shoe in his hand. He was NOT going to be picking the roaches up anytime soon. He gripped his weapon and started moving back towards the corner. Now that he knew his neighbor was abusing anyone or a murderer, he could impress him with his roach killing skills.
He advanced on the roaches, raising the shoe. Then he paused.
"Having second thought, Sir Lancelot?" He heard behind him.
"Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate." Ink shushed.
He swiftly brought down the shoe, striking one of the creatures. It simply bounced on the carpet and began trying to squirm away. The sudden movement stirred it's partner out of its malaise and it too began a scramble. Ink cried out and bounced away. This only caused his audience to laugh harder.
"Now do you know I was talking to them like that?" He grinned at Ink. It was a nice smile, filled with yellow teeth. Yellow teeth that Ink assumed wasn't because of a lack of proper oral hygiene.
"Are they mutants?" Ink scowled. The force behind his blow should have at least broke through its exoskeleton a little bit. Or broken a leg. SOMETHING.
"I don't know. I'm pretty sure the lady next to me has a collection of 'em. They're probably African or some shit. Built to survive." He hopped off the couch, setting his drink aside. Ink glanced at it. A cheap light beer. Fits the demographic of people who would live in a place like this.
His neighbor went to his small kitchenette and opened one of the drawers.
"What are you doing?" Ink asked, trying to sneak a peek. The front door was still open, so if he did turn out to be a murderer, Ink could get out pretty quickly.
"If you're going to slay a dragon, you gotta get the right tools." The man dug around in his silverware before pulling something out. Ink was intrigued. What did he plan to do with a fork?
"Oh by the way I'm-" Ink began to introduce himself.
"Yeah, one second." His neighbor brushed passed him. Ink fell silent, curiosity overtaking him. "They haven't moved much…" He sounded like he was deep in thought.
He kneeled down and… thrust the fork down into the carpet. Ink twitched as he heard a crunch. And then… another thrust, and another crunch.
"Got 'em." The man said happily, standing back up. He held the fork out to Ink. Skewered on the tongs were the two roaches, both of them moving their legs wildly. As Ink watched in horror, disgust, and slight amazement, their legs slowed down as the life slowly left their bodies.
The victor laughed again and moved out the front door to where the garbage chute was. He threw it down the chute and pulled the cover closed with a loud clang. Ink watched. This man was so different from anyone he knew.
"Want a beer?" The dark skeleton asked as he bounded back into his apartment. "You're new, right?"
"No thanks, I don't really drink… And yeah! I just moved in today! My name's Ink." He thrust out his hand, excited to finally be introduced to his neighbor. Even though their meeting was a bit off color, he was still grateful for the chance.
The man looked at his hand, seeming to hesitate for a moment before reaching out and shaking it.
"I'm Error." He pulled his hand back. Ink was left with an empty coldness. He wanted to touch his hand again. "And it's probably good you don't drink. You look like a sloppy drunk."
Ink frowned, though he was still amused.
"Why do I look like a sloppy drunk?" He crossed his arms.
"Hm." Error tilted his head at him, studying him. For some reason Ink had the urge to do a twirl. "I can pinpoint why. But you look like the kind of guy that'd get drunk and start confessing your love to anyone who looked at you the right way."
Ink thought for a moment. Then shrugged.
"Maybe I would. What do you do?" He asked.
"What do I do when I'm drunk? Get in fights, mostly." Error paused. "Do you want to stay and chat? You could close the door and sit down if you are."
Ink blinked, realizing this was quite an uncomfortable position they were standing in and that he spied a door across the hallway that was open a tiny bit. He quickly shut the door and moved to the couch. It was nice to use some furniture.
"I meant what you do for work, but that's good to know." Ink huffed. None of his friends really drank and did anything… "bad." Error seemed like the kind of guy who had wild high school and college years.
Error sat next to him, laughing slightly. Ink didn't realize how small the couch was until their knees brushed against each other. He forced down a blush.
"Oh. That makes more sense. Um, I'm a grad student. I'm studying cyber security." He took another drink of his beer. "What do you do?"
"Cyber security? That's interesting. Do you catch bad guys on the internet?" Ink asked, ignoring the question aimed at him. He wanted to know more about Error.
"I guess? There's a lot of shitty things going on online, Ink. So, where do you work?" Error prompted again.
"Oh! Um, I'm about to start working at the Dreemurr art gallery. But outside of work, I'm an artist." He gloated, a bit haughtily. Surely, artists were Error's type. He was a grad student, after all.
"Oh, my ex works there." Error said nonchalantly. "What kind of art do you do?"
Ink nodded to himself. He was right, artists were his type if his ex worked at an art gallery. Then he stumbled over himself. He was going to be working with his neighbor's ex?! Especially a neighbor that he wanted to see more of? He wasn't sure if that was a very good, or very bad thing. On the one hand, he could see what Error liked and maybe even get know some of his neuroses before getting in too deep. On the other hand… it was his ex. His EX.
"Ink?"
He snapped back to reality.
"Ahah, sorry. It looks like I spaced out a bit there. I'm really tired from moving, and slaying dragons. I should probably go home." He laughed slightly and reached down, accidentally grabbing onto Error's thigh and using it to push himself up. Embarrassment number two of the night.
Error stilled at the touch but got up after a moment, following Ink to the door.
"Have a good night." Error said, opening the door for him. "I'll see you around." He gave Ink a weak smile. The artist blinked and studied that smile. It would help him tonight, since inspiration had struck so suddenly.
"You too. It was nice hanging!" Ink said quickly before rushing to his own door. He closed the door quickly and thankfully remembered to lock it.
He started rushing through his boxes, opening each of them and tossing their contents onto the floor as he searched for it. His sketch book. After he had emptied the last box, he realized he had put it away in his messenger bag so that he wouldn't have to dig for it. He laughed at himself and pulled it out, eager to get started on the sketch of Error he wanted to try and draw from memory.
A/N: This started from a prompt with something about cockroaches that I can't really remember. I've been wanting to do a broad AU story with many of the different AU characters coming together, so expect a lot! And of course, lots of Errink :)
