Error spent the rest of the evening ticking away at his laptop, trying to finish some work for his classes the following day. He tried to get some research for his job done as well, but his mind kept drifting elsewhere. He thought of his strange new neighbor, who had jumped up so suddenly and ran out the door. He didn't think that it had been anything he had said, but Error wasn't exactly the best at social interactions. And even though Error had made fun of him, Ink had seemed to be fine with it. He couldn't really place where their interaction had gone south. He shouldn't have been worrying about it; he had just met the guy. Maybe Ink was socially awkward as well.

He knew of a monster who was good with people, in a weird way. His brother. He opened a new tab in his internet browser and went to UnderNet. He pulled up his profile and grimaced. The newest photo was of his brother, doing a trick on his skateboard while giving the camera a peace sign. It was captioned: "Getting high on life, my dudes!" Error groaned and sat back in his chair. There was no way he was asking Fresh for help. But the guy was a professional social media influencer. He knew how to read people and cater to what they liked.

No, Error wasn't contacting Fresh. He wanted to put as much space between him and both of his brothers as possible. He thought moving away to a big city would do the trick. It didn't. His brothers had come after him, though they said it was for other reasons. At least Geno's was more plausible than Fresh's.

Error was rubbing his brow ridge when he heard a popular song playing from… in between the seat cushions of the couch. His own phone was on his desk, right next to his mouse where he liked it. He stood and crossed to the little couch, sticking his hand down into the abyss and came out with a phone he didn't recognize. He pressed the button and the screen lit up and showed a picture of Ink and some other skeleton hugging. So it was Ink's phone. He pressed the button again and was immediately granted access.

"Not even password protected…" He grumbled. If he and Ink were dating, he'd make sure Ink had a password.

He froze.

If he and…Ink? He shook his head. It was too quick for that kind of thought, wasn't it? He wanted to see more of Ink, but skipping straight ahead to the relationship?

Slow down there, Error buddy. He scolded himself.

He looked back to the phone, frowning. Didn't relationships start with flirting? Then a date or two? How did someone flirt?

He suddenly had an idea.

He went to Ink's contacts and added his own number, but under the name 'Cockroach.' That was cute, wasn't it? Error nodded to himself, satisfied with his work. Now he needed to get the phone back to its owner. And maybe scold him a little bit for not having a password.

He left his apartment and walked a little way down the hall before arriving at his door. He knocked softly, since it was late, and he didn't want to wake his other neighbors. He waited. And waited. He didn't hear any sound from the artist's apartment, and it looked dark. He frowned and went back to his own place. He scribbled on a sticky note before placing it on the phone's screen and sliding the device under his neighbor's door. That would have to do.

As he closed the door to his own apartment, he let out a yawn. Error guessed it was probably time for him to go to bed. After changing and brushing his teeth, he crawled into bed. He was closing his eyes when a thought struck him. What if Ink wasn't single? He had that picture… What if that was his boyfriend and not a friend? Error felt panic rising in his chest. What if he was being a homewrecker? He could feel himself starting to short circuit. He took a few deep breaths, trying to steady himself. He started stretching; first his toes, then he moved up his body, relaxing his muscles.

When he had calmed down, he thought about the situation logically. Worst case scenario: Ink never spoke to him again. Best case scenario: Ink thought it was silly, but definitely NOT flirting, and would still be amicable towards him. In any case, what was done was done. Error couldn't take it back.

He rolled over on his side, curling up into a ball. He finally fell asleep, pushing romantic inklings into the back of his mind.

Ink woke up the following morning in a pile on the floor, his cheek pressing into his sketch book. He slowly sat up, rubbing at said cheek and smearing charcoal onto the back of his hand. It wasn't unlike him to have some kind of media on his face. He sighed and reached for his phone. His fingers wiggled around on the carpet, not hitting anything. Panic rose in him. Where was his phone? He patted his pockets, since he hadn't changed the night before, but nothing showed up. He did find a pencil that was really just a nub in his back pocket, but nothing else.

He shot up, beginning to dig through the things he had unceremoniously pulled from his boxes the day before in his mad scramble to find his sketch book. Dream was going to kill him for losing his phone! He stopped. He shouldn't be worrying what Dream would think about this. They weren't together anymore. He stared at the floor, frowning. He had made this move to get space from is ex-boyfriend. They were friends, but Dream didn't have the same hold on him as he used to. It wasn't his place to reprimand Ink.

Suddenly, he had a rare moment of clarity. His phone might be at Error's! That would make sense. But he thought he had rushed out his door without it. But he remembered putting it in his pocket after ordering pizza. But what if he had taken it out again? His memory was so spotty, it couldn't be trusted. It was worth asking his neighbor anyway.

He was just about to step out the door when he happened to glance on the floor and… There it was! His phone! He grinned and picked it up. There was a note stuck to the screen.

"You left this. And put a password on it. -E"

Ink appreciated the sentiment, but he wouldn't be able to remember the password to save his life. He peeled the note off and stuck it to the wall next to the door before wandering back to his small nest on the floor. As soon as he lit up the screen, his heart dropped. His background was still of him and Dream. He knew Error had seen it. He had to turn on the phone to see it wasn't password protected. What if… what if he thought he was in a relationship? His soul screamed in agony. Dream was coming to haunt him again.

He pushed the unpleasant feeling away and opened his phone. There was a new message from Dream, asking how his first night was, but he decided to ignore it. He was now mad at Dream, for something he didn't do, nonetheless. He blinked as his phone opened to his contacts. Why was Error in there? He scrolled a bit until he reached an entry named "Cockroach." He blinked and frowned. That hadn't been there before, had it? He lost himself in thought, trying to figure it out. Then it dawned on him.

Cockroach.

Cockroaches.

Cockroaches that were murdered with a fork.

He smiled. Maybe Error hadn't thought the worst of the picture. Adding himself was cute but giving himself a nickname that was somewhat of an inside joke was even cuter. Ink hoped Error was flirting with him. He wasn't sure he was ready for a new relationship just yet, but it was exciting to find someone new that interested him. He hadn't felt that spark, the thrill of the chase, in a long time. It energized him.

Ink knew he needed to go and thank his neighbor for returning his phone, but he decided to wait. Would he look too eager if he ran there now? And it was midmorning on a Monday. There was a good chance Error wasn't even home.

And so, he waited.

Error got home later than he would have liked. It had been a busy day. He had his regular classes, and then he had to put in his hours at the research center. To end the day, Cross made him go to anime club, and even though Error bailed five minutes in, it still made him miss his usual train, so he had to wait for the next one to show up. He dropped his backpack on the floor unceremoniously and turned on his gaming console to blow off some steam. He luckily had nothing due tomorrow, so he got to rest for the night.

He was in the middle of his game when he heard a knock on the door. He ignored it at first, thinking it was probably the crazy lady next door who wanted to ask if he had seen her cockroaches. But the knocking persisted, so he paused his game and went to the door.

"What?" He asked as he opened. He paused when he saw who it was.

"Um, it's me. I just wanted to thank you for bringing my phone back." Ink smiled shyly. In each of his hands was a mug of what Error assumed was hot chocolate, piled with marshmallows. He blinked.

"Uh, no worries." He scratched the back of his neck as Ink continued to stare at him, one eye a star and the other a blue oval. They watched each other for a moment as Ink blinked, his pupils changing.

"I brought hot chocolate as a thank you. Can I come in?" Ink asked.

"Sure." Error felt awkward as he moved away from the door so that his neighbor could come in.

Ink trotted in happily and set the mugs down on Error's coffee table. Error felt like he had been worrying for nothing. The other seemed fine and unfazed by their parting the night before and had even brought hot chocolate, which Error couldn't refuse. He closed the door and went over to the couch, where Ink was already making himself at home. He sat down next to him and picked up the mug, taking a sip. It tasted exactly as he expected it to: a powdered version, but with milk. He slid his eyes over to Ink, who was looking at him expectantly, his pupils changing rapidly.

"Er… It's good." Error complimented. He saw the artist's expression brighten immediately.

"Really? I'm glad!" Ink looked cheerful at his success. It was cute, and Error decided then that if Ink ever made him anything else, he would say it was nice just to see that face again.

Ink looked over to his TV and laughed.

"You play video games? How old are you? Twelve?" He laughed. Error frowned.

"Twelve and a half. And what's wrong with video games? I get to kill people without actually killing people." Error crossed his arms.

"They're for kids. And what kind of game is this? Some kind of cowboy simulator? Do you say yeehaw and howdy?"

Even though he was frowning, Error liked Ink's banter. He picked up the controller and thrust it into Ink's hands.

"Play it. You'll see." Error winked at him, earning a slight blush on Ink's cheeks. "If you don't like it, you win. If you do, I win."

"What do I get if I win?" Ink huffed.

"A fun time."

"Don't want it. How about… if I win…" Ink furrowed his brow bone as he thought. "You model for a painting for me."

Error blinked, then smirked.

"Okay. And if I win, you get me more chocolate."

"You're on!"

Error had to teach Ink some of the controls, but once he was done, he let him off into the vast digital world of the game. He sat back, drinking from his mug as he watched. Ink was hilariously bad at it, and he was cursing the entire time.

"You should watch out here. There are bears." Error warned.

"Bears? Why do I need to watch out for bears?" Ink grumbled.

Two seconds later a bear emerged from a group of trees and proceeded to attack and eat Ink's horse.

"It's eating my horse!" He cried, jolting back against the couch.

"I told you to watch out!" Error laughed.

"Oh no! It's coming for me!" Ink began to frantically press buttons in no particular order.

"Shoot it!"

"How?!" He wailed just as the bear began to maul him. A few seconds later, the 'You have died' text scrolled across the screen.

"Still think it's for kids?" Error smirked. Ink frowned.

"I guess not…" He grumbled, setting the controller down. "I still didn't enjoy it, though. But you made your point. You win." He huffed.

"The deal was made that you would enjoy it. So, you win." Error sighed. He couldn't stand that look on Ink's face. And he felt stupid for it. Ink immediately perked up.

"Oh, in that case, great! That means you have to model for me!"

"I guess so." Error shrugged and picked up their now empty mugs and taking them to the sink.

Ink began stretching, popping his back and then his neck. He let out a sigh.

"I'm so sore…" He complained under his breath.

"From moving?" Error asked, washing the mugs. He didn't want to let them sit too long and become crusty.

"No… From sleeping on the floor. I don't have a bed yet, which is kind of annoying." He sighed.

"You don't have a bed?"

Ink looked at him sheepishly.

"No… I… It's coming tomorrow." He laughed awkwardly. Error was probably going to scold him like Dream would. Or any logical thinking person.

"…I guess that makes sense. You just moved in." Error set the mugs aside on the counter to dry.

Ink blinked.

"You're not going to make fun of me?" He asked.

"No?" Error quirked a brow. "When I first moved in, I only had a mattress that I slept on. It's kind of a rite of passage when moving. And I only ate takeout when I first moved because I didn't know where the grocery store was."

Ink laughed. At least someone else didn't have it together. It made him feel a bit better about forgetting things.

"Since you don't have a bed…" Error paused, hesitating. "Do you want to sleep over here? You can take my bed and I'll sleep on the couch."

Ink's eyes changed into stars. Error almost took a step back. They seemed so bright.

"Really?! That would be great!" Ink almost cheered. "But I couldn't take your bed. I'm smaller anyway, so I'll fit on the couch better."

Error smiled slightly.

"Alright."

A/N: I feel like I need to add a little note about this world, since I don't know how to casually include it in the actual story. Basically, no one has a tragic backstory. Maybe some unpleasant things happened, but nothing too sad. For example, Ink never had to rip his soul out, Error doesn't hear voices, Fresh isn't a parasite, and Geno isn't deformed. I just really want them to be able to be happy. T^T