Fresh pulled up aCHECKand went over Ink's code. He could see Broomie was done for and let out a sigh. Now for the rest...

Ink

LV: [Redacted]

ATK: [Redacted]

DEF: [Redacted]

Protector of Alternate Universes

Star Sans

Free

It hurts

Has broken bones

Cannot be healed

Treat with caution

Fresh's expression fell, and his SOUL clenched; he looked up towards the kitchen and called out. "Blue! Papyrus! Gonna needs yer help over 'ere!"

Blue and Swapyrus rushed out of the kitchen, hoping their friend was all right. Judging by the looks of him, he certainlywasn't.Ink's bones were littered with deep cracks, most of which were bleeding rapidly, and his skull seemed to be the worst. Of his few exposed bones, most had at least a couple fractures. Blue and Swapyrus weren't keen on seeing the rest of his bones. Blue fell to his knees next to his friend, doing his best to heal his wounds; in response to his healing magic, however, the cracks worsened. Blue didn't seem to notice, too busy focusing on helping his friend to realize that he was hurting him.

Fresh, however, did notice. Glasses blank, he grabbed Blue's hands and shoved them away. "STOP! That's making it worse!" His expression darkened. "Broomie left Ink with a littlegiftbefore he left. Get a medkit. We're gonna need to heal Ink the old fashioned way."

"O-oh, mygoodness.."Blue gasped when he realized what he was doing, quickly lifting his hands from his friend's wounds.

Swapyrus teleported away for a moment, grabbed a first aid kit, and returned rapidly, worried about the Protector.

Ink was shuddering in his sleep; he must have been having another nightmare.

Fresh carefully pulled Ink to his chest and removed the Protector's shirt with a metal slappy bracelet. This revealed the bandages from the last time Fresh healed Ink; they were bloodied and torn.Blue nearly threw up at the sight of it; his friend was..his friend..oh,stars..

He began to remove the old bandages; his friend needed new wrappings. Swapyrus helped him out, and when they were done, they bore witness to Ink's shredded ribs; it was a wonder the bones weren't in pieces..

"What..happened?"Blue was tearing up.

"Back in Littleverse, where I live, Broomie took over. There was a fight." Fresh explained; he was gently holding Ink's head and petting it, trying to calm him. "He wasn't this bad off, though, when I left him. I think...because he was trying to be good, Broomie tortured Ink after."

"Oh, my.." Blue looked at his friend with pity..poor Ink.

He began to treat the wounds with some creams and bandaged them up after, Swapyrus helping. Ink didn't calm under his friend's touch, unfortunately. Once his upper half was bandaged, they moved to his lower body. It was just as bad there...

"How long has Ink been talkin' to his brush?" Fresh asked, brows creased in worry.

"Um.." Blue thought for a moment. "It was a little before we formed the Star Sanses..maybe sixty-three years ago?"

Fresh's face fell in utter dismay before hardening. He looked down at the skeleton in his arms. "An' no one noticed somethin' off? Noticed he wasn't actin' like 'emself?"

"I..no." Blue shook his skull. "Now that I'm actually paying attention..I don't know how I could havemissedit.."

Fresh sighed, once again trying to calm Ink or wake him from his nightmare. "Hey, Ink bro...you're okay now. Its gonna be okay..."

Ink whimpered in his sleep; the comfort only seemed to be worsening his situation. Blue and Swapyrus finished bandaging up the last of Ink's wounds, finishing with his skull.

"What now?" Blue asked, hoping that Ink would be all right.

Fresh frowned in thought. Something still wasn't right - something he missed when he was checking for signs of Broomie. He pulled up Ink's code again.

Ink's code was much cleaner than it had been before; the demon's code wasn't entangled with the artist's anymore. However, there were a few recent changes. Namely, the demon had somehow managed to disable the effect of healing magic on the artist's wounds, as well as tripling the amount of time wounds would heal on their own. Ink's pain tolerance had been lowered exponentially, as well. In addition, Ink's defense had been drastically lowered. To top it all off, there was one more change that had been made right as the demon had died..

Ink couldn't feel happiness.

"Why, that little..." Fresh ground out, thinking of every insult he'd ever heard and applying it to the dead demon; some of them were quite surprising, given who he was. Fresh looked up at the brothers and relayed what he'd just learned. "He's going to need a lot of time to heal."

"Well..he can't stay here..the resets could mess him up.." Swapyrus informed. "Do you have a place?"

"There ain't no Resets in Littleverse. At least, inmostof da AUs." Fresh told him; he stood up, holding Ink in a bridal carry. "Weird, I kno'. But least it gives da kiddos da chance ta grow up. I'll take him back wit me."

"All right.." Blue understood that this was for the better good. "..Take care of him, will you?"

Fresh nodded. "Thanks fer trustin' me an' helpin'."

"Of course..do what you have to do." Blue stepped aside, allowing Fresh to leave.

"I'll take care of him. I promise."

FRESH POOF!

Fresh landed them in the Anti-Void, the same place he had met Error. Before he returned to Littleverse, Fresh needed to know if Broomie's changes to Ink's code could be reversed, but..

Error was not there; he was still on the swap brothers' roof, tired out from the ordeal that had just occurred.

Fresh briefly considered waiting for Error to return, but how wonky time could be in the Anti-Void, that could take a while. Deciding to come back later, Fresh left for his home in Littletale.

FRESH POOF!

He laid Ink on the bed and tucked him in, just as he would for his kids. He hoped Ink would be okay. In the meantime, he would attempt to restore Ink's code himself. Fresh opened a code bar and started typing; he wanted to get started on his pain tolerance first. Ink's code, unfortunately, now seemed to be guarded from disruption by a firewall; it must have been placed there a long time ago, taken down only by the demon and put back up without its presence. It would have taken quite a while to break through it without Ink's help, and he would likely be waking soon, if his increasing rate of tossing and turning was anything to go by. Fresh dismissed the code bar, realizing that in Ink's current state, he wouldn't likely have agreed to this. Fresh would need to take this slow. He may have needed to regain Ink's trust.

Or gain it in the first place. They didn't really know each other, did they?

This could take a while.

Ink didn't take long to wake up; only half an hour after being tucked in, he began to stir. His sternum hurt, and he had a bad headache, and..everything hurt..

He whimpered as he began to regain consciousness; all of that unhindered pain was flooding back into his system.

While he waited, Fresh had grabbed a new cup of water and made sure the pain meds were on hand; he leaned over in a chair he pulled up and asked softly, "Hey, Ink...how ya feelin'?"

"I-ithurts.."Ink began to sob softly; why did it hurt somuch?!

"I know, buddy. Here, take this." Fresh carefully,slowly,helped Ink up and passed Ink the water and pain meds.

Ink struggled to take the medication, but once he did it, he felt a bit better; the pain was still nigh unbearable, though..

"Wh-what..h-hap-" Ink's question was cut off by a coughing fit, which only caused him more pain.

"A new friend 'o mine and I were able ta rid ya of yer Broomie problem." Fresh explained. "Yer free."

"I-I...what?"Ink stared at Fresh in..confusion. "Wh-why?"

"Ya needed help. We 'elped." Fresh explained slowly.

Ink felt..torn.He should have been happy, right? Broomie couldn't interfere with his life anymore..he could do what he wanted. He should have been jumping for joy...

But hewasn't.

Instead, a solemn feeling crept over him; he felt..sad?Why did he feel sad that Broomie was gone? Broomie had tormented him for ages, and now he was gone..why wasn't he happy?

Was freedom..wrong?

"Why?" He asked, again; he didn't understand.

Fresh noticed the conflicted look on Ink's face and took one of his hands. "I kno' things are confusin' righ' now. It'll take time fer ya ta adjust ta dis." Fresh said, rubbing his thumb over Ink's knuckles. "Can ya tell me how yer feelin'? It'll help me ta know ta kno' wher's ta start."

"I..f-feel..sad."Ink rasped out. "I-I don't kn-knowwhy..I-I'm sorry.."

Fresh moved himself behind Ink and held him in a light hug, still holding his hand. "Shhh...it's alright...ya don' got nothin' ta be sorry fer. It makes sense ya feel like dis..." Fresh hesitated, wondering if now was too soon to explain what Broomie had done before he had died.

"Wh-what d-do you m-mean?" Ink questioned; why would it make sense? Did he not understand emotions? That would have made sense..

Fresh decided to go slowly, but Ink deserved to know the truth; n the long run, this would be the best choice. "Well...two reasons. One is ya and Broomie had been stuck together fer areallong time. Dat's bound ta mess wit one's perceptions an' emotions. Makes gettin' free righ' confusin'."

"O-oh.." Ink nodded; that sounded right; Broomie had possessed him for over seven decades, after all.. "Wh-what's the s-second re-reason?"

"Ya kno' how Broomie had control over yer code...?"

"Y-yes..?" Ink had a feeling that he wouldn't enjoy the next piece of news.

"...He made a few last minute changes 'fore he died. I don' believe der permanent." He certainlyhopedthey weren't. "But 'til I 'o someone else who knows code can take a look at yer's, den things will be a tad confusin' fer a bit."

"O-oh.." Ink bowed his skull sadly; he supposed that he should have expected that. "O-okay. Wh-where are w-we?"

"We're back in Littleverse. Da OG timeline 'round 'ere." Fresh explained. "Ma house. Din' wanna risk a Reset messin' ya up in Und'o'swap, so's aye brought ya 'ere. Dis world has neva known doe's time shenanigans."

"O-oh..i-is Inky h-here?" Ink asked, cautiously; he didn't want the child to see him in this condition..he would never have forgiven himself if he did.

"Inky bro and da other kiddos are at a sleepover wit a friend 'o mine."

"A-all right." Ink nodded, but he didn't feel relieved; if anything, he felt more paranoid..what if Fresh's friend wasn't a real friend? What if the children were indanger?!Ink began to shiver at the thought.

"Hey, bro... wat's wrong? Talk ta me, alright?" Fresh tilted his head, brows creased as he pulled the blanket over Ink. "Are ya cold?"

"I..I just.." Ink was just being paranoid..he was sure that Fresh's friend was a good person..but his fears didn't know that. "I'm f-fine.."

He couldn't be a burden. He was already a failure, a mistake; he shouldn't have even existed. He was a horrible person, and he deserved everything bad that came to him. He didn't want to be a burden, too. He should have killed himself when he had the chance. He should have just obeyed Broomie in the beginning and tortured the child. He wouldn't have had to deal with any of thisnonsensethat others called life. He didn't deserve this. He deserved to be trapped in the demon's clutches forever and tormented for the rest of his miserable life; what had he done to deservefreedom?

Nothing.

Because he didn't deserve it.

He deserved to die.

Ink sobbed, clutching his skull tightly; maybe it would be best if he could induce a coma! Then, when he didn't wake up for a few days, he would be discarded as worthless and cast into the void! That was what he deserved!

Fresh grabbed Ink's hands and pulled them away, holding them in one while he hugged Ink with his other arm; he rocked them gently. "Easy there, Ink...ya gonna hurt yaself."

"Th-that's..thep-point!"Ink struggled in Fresh's grip, trying to do what he should have done a long time ago. "L-let mego!"

"No." Fresh said firmly, speaking clearer than he preferred to. "I am not going to let you hurt yourself. Talk to me, Ink. Why do you want to hurt yourself?"

"I-Ideservei-it.." Ink wept, shrinking at Fresh's tone.

"No, you don't. Why do you think that?"

"I-I'm evil..I-I'm sohorrible..I deserve todie.."Ink's voice was quiet; Fresh was scaring him..

Fresh sighed, loosening his hold on Ink. He didn't let go, but he wanted Ink to not feel trapped. He rested his skull next to Ink's; his broken propeller cap was on the side table.

"You aren't evil." He said softly. "An evil person wouldn't care as much as you do."

"I-I don't even kn-know what c-careis.."Ink curled up, whimpering at the pain it caused; he deserved it.

"Care is when ya steer me away from da kiddos' hidin' spot when we're playin'. Care is when ya regret hurtin' dem. Care is when ya try ta make me leave so Broomie don' hurtme."Fresh went over all the times he'd seen Ink reveal his true self. "Ya care so much, kiddo. Now it's someone else's turn ta care foryou."

Ink frowned bitterly, looking down at his bandaged hands; Fresh was right. He knew what care was. Hedidcare.

But the knowledge didn't comfort him. If anything..he felt worse.

"Wh-why am I s-sad..?" Ink asked, his voice filled with frustration and confusion; words like that should have beencomforting,not antagonizing!

Fresh took a moment to respond. "Like I said, Broomie made some changes before he died. I can't fix the changes without your permission."

"..Y-you can m-manip-pulate code?" Ink asked, suddenly seeming more fearful of Fresh; was he going to be enslaved again?!

"I won't touch anything without your permission. I believe heavily in consent." Fresh assured him; the only reason he had tried before was due to the nature of the situation, and he would only be returning Ink's code to how it was supposed to be.

"P-please don't hurt m-me.." Ink whimpered, trying to distance himself from the other. He didn't seem to understand that Fresh meant no harm; his hindered emotions likely played a part in that.

"I won't hurt you, Ink." Fresh didn't try to stop him. Ink may not have been able to feel happiness at this time, but surely letting him do this would make him feel better - less fearful, at least?

Ink slowly backed up to the edge of the bed he was on, which was as far as he could go at the moment; that didn't serve to comfort him..not that he could be comforted, anyway.

"Wh-why not?" Ink inquired, trying to hide his fear behind a glare; he wasn't doing very well.

Ink knew that code manipulators hurt people. Broomie had hurt him, and he had hurt others. Error was only an exception because he was one of the people Ink had been hurting; he would probably hurt people too, someday. There was no reason for Fresh not to hurt people (especially Ink, who was at his mercy right now!); Fresh couldn't have just..sparedInk..

Code manipulators never spared people.

He knew that.

He was one.

"Because I made a promise toneverabuse my powers." Fresh admitted, looking away briefly before looking Ink in the eyelights. "Irefuseto use them to forceanyoneto do anything they don't want to. To force someone to be something or someone they aren't."

"..D-do people h-hurt you f-for it?" Ink wondered; maybe Fresh was like Error..

Fresh expression shifted, but it was nearly unnoticeable. "How do you mean?"

"D-do other..m-manipul-lators..hurt y-you?" Ink rephrased the question. "B-because y-you won't?"

Fresh looked aside again, a hint of unease in his expression. "...One did. I was helpin' a friend get away from her, and..."

Ink nodded, understanding; Fresh was like Error..which meant he could be trusted..

"C-can you h-help me?" Ink asked, almost inaudibly; he was still scared, but if Fresh really would help..the fear wouldn't last.

Fresh nodded, expression patient. "If you'll let me. If at any point you want me to stop, you just need to say so."

"O-okay.." Ink was shaking in fear, but he wasn't going to ask Fresh to stop, no matter how bad he felt. If Fresh was going to help him, he would; if Fresh was going to take advantage of his weakened state..well, he would accept it.

He had nothing to lose, anyway..

"P-please do i-it.." Ink requested, quietly.

Fresh took a deep breath and opened a code bar. He looked at the fire wall; was it down?

Ink had lowered the firewall, opening his code to Fresh; he was putting his life and his freedom in Fresh's hands.

Fresh started typing. He started with Ink's emotions. If he could restore those to how they were supposed to be, then he would run into fewer troubles; Ink hopefully wouldn't resist him and would let him restore the rest. Ink felt..weird.He wasn't used to having his code manipulated by anyone but himself and Broomie. His emotions were shifting rapidly, and he couldn't react in time to identify any of them; he resorted to curling up and hoping it would end soon.

Ink's code lended itself to Fresh; he hadn't blockedanythingoff from the other code manipulator.

Fresh soon found the problem: a block around all of Ink's positive feelings. Carefully, he worked to remove it. Ink shook rapidly as Fresh worked, but he did not call it off; he needed to see this through.

The barrier was strong; the demon had likely intended for it to remain there forever.

Fresh scowled, typing faster. He needed to break this barrier.Withouthurting Ink more than necessary. He looked up occasionally to check on Ink, scowling harder; he needed to hurry...

The barrier, when it did yield to Fresh's coding, yielded quickly; it had been put up in haste, after all.

When the barrier was about to fall, however, Ink screamed out inagony;the demon must have put a defense mechanism in place.

Fresh's glasses went blank and searched for the problem. Was the pain temporary?

The code gave no indication; the information must have been stored somewhere else.

Ink was screaming and writhing in pain; if Fresh was going to do something to make the pain stop, Ink was hoping that he would do itquickly..

Growling to himself, Fresh moved to Ink's pain tolerance; he needed to raise it. Ink's pain tolerance was in a different section of his code; when Fresh laid eyelights on it, its numerical value was zero.

"If he wasn't already dead, I'd-" Fresh cut himself off, focusing fully on raising Ink's pain tolerance to its original strength; his body should have remembered the original settings.

Ink's screaming subsided slowly, and he eventually stopped writhing. He took the pain that he was in quietly now, but he was still breathing heavily and shaking. Ink would have felt grateful, but he couldn't. Fresh moved back to the wall around Ink's happiness. He typed quickly, fingers moving faster than the human eye could have registered; he needed to get finish the wall off and restore Ink's emotions to how they should be. Once the wall was down, he began the process of turning the positive feelings back on. Ink flinched when the barrier fell; if his pain tolerance hadn't been increased, he knew that he would have been screaming his skull off at the pain. Instead, he let out a whimper. The pain finally began to subside, however; he would be fine.

Ink's emotions were easy to disable and enable now..perhaps even a bittooeasy. Ink probably didn't even realize the extent at which Fresh had access to his code.

Fresh enabled Ink's happiness and scanned the other emotions for abnormalities. Only one thing wasn't normal: the extent of Ink's fear; it had been raised exponentially from a normal figure.

Ink let out a small sigh of relief as the pain continued to subside; it was much more manageable, now.

Fresh returned Ink's fear levels to their default state - to what it had been before Broomie entered the picture. Once that was down, he moved on to Ink's healing. He pulled those codes up to fix that so Ink could heal at a normal rate and would respond positively to healing items and powers, but the codes regarding Ink's healing capabilities were a jumbled mess. Random letters were scattered everywhere, and some portions of code were missing altogether; the demon must not have wanted anyone to mess around withthispart..

Ink was still in pain, but he was breathing easier now.

Fresh didn't let the mess discourage him. He started piecing together what was already there. Putting the strings of code together where they needed to be. Everything not there, he rebuilt from scratch. It was a lengthy process, but not impossible.

He knew from experience.

After half an hour, Ink was feeling much better than before; his emotions were stable, and he wasn't in too much pain, although his body still hurt a lot. His code, when it was returned to normal working condition, began to passively heal Ink's bones immediately. Fresh was relieved it was working, and he took this opportunity to scour the rest of Ink's code, searching for any other nasty surprises Broomie might have left...

Everything seemed rather normal, save for Ink's stats; they had all been lowered drastically.

Fresh huffed, restoring those before adding new defenses to Ink's code. If Ink wanted to remove these then he could, butonlyInk could remove these new defenses; no one else could even touch these. When he was done, he closed the code bar and looked back up at Ink and asked, "How ya feelin,' bro?"

Ink did not respond; his eyesockets were closed, and he was curled up in the bed. He didn't seem to be having a nightmare, though, and he wasn't in pain, either. Fresh moved closer and laid down next to Ink, pulling him into a gentle hug. He started applying green magic to Ink's wounds to speed the healing process up. Ink wounds now responded to the healing magic, but they were healing slowly; it would take a while before he would be healthy again. Fresh was relieved it was working. Once he had done all he could, he laid back and brought Ink close to his chest. He rubbed his back and hummed softly.

If it sounded like a Rick Astley song, then that was just a coincidence.

Ink slept soundly in Fresh's arms, feeling comfortable for the first time in a long time. He didn't look as if he would be stirring any time soon. Fresh allowed himself to drift off, as well, glad to finally have this nightmare of a situation over.

Mostlyover.

Ink still had a long way to go before he could truly say he was recovered. Even then...there would always be something to remind him of this point in his life.

Ink woke up five hours later, looking around the room and remembering what had happened..he wondered if Fresh had fixed him..or if he had been claimed by a new master. Fresh seemed nicer than Broomie..Ink wouldn't have minded serving him, if that was his fate. Ink looked up to see Fresh still asleep..he hoped his shifting wouldn't wake the other. Fresh remained where he was; he appeared to be sleeping calmly. Ink looked down at his hands, noticing the bandages; they were blackened with his blood. He must have been hurt fairly bad. He wondered if he had been wrong to put his trust in Fresh..

Fresh listened closely for any signs of distress. He had woken at the same time Ink did, but he wanted to wait and see how he would react.

"Why'd you help me?" Ink asked, not really expecting an answer. "I'm a no-good failure of a Guardian..I couldn't even beevilright. There's no place for me..I don't deserve such kindness. I'm somessed-up.."Ink clenched his hands to his skull. "Why can't I just be normal? Why do I have to be this way? I..I'm..I should just die..don't you think?"

"Nope..." Fresh said, quietly; he removed his glasses and looked up at Ink with deep purple eyelights. One was darker than the other. "Life is messed up. It messesusup. We just gotta muddle through."

"..I've lived a lot longer than I should have." Ink mumbled.

"My birth multiverse devolved into the Civil War." Fresh admitted, rolling over onto his back. "Lost my other half the day before I ended up here; that should killed me. It didn't though. There's an old saying...what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."

"..I'm sorry." Ink sighed. "I shouldn't have been feeling sorry for myself; I'm not important.."

"That's not the reason I brought it up. I was trying to make a point." Fresh shook his head. "You didn't die. Even after everything you've been through. Ink...youdomatter. You're important. And I don't mean as a Protector or some other fancy title; I mean as a person."

"..." Ink looked down. "You don't know what I've done..you can't pass judgment without knowing all the facts."

"Are you talkin' 'bout 'fore or after your possession? 'Cause far as I see it, ya ain't ta blame fer what Broomie made ya do."

"..He didn'tmakeme do all of it..I had achoice."Ink admitted. "He didn't always take over; a lot of the time, he just told me to do things..and Ididthem. I could've said no. I could've fought. But I didn't. I obeyed him because I was a coward; I tortured people when I was in control..when I could have fought him. I'm soworthless.."

"...Then move forward from 'ere." Fresh stated simply. "Ya made mistakes? Move forward and learn from 'em."

"How?"Ink asked, looking up at Fresh with tears in his eyesockets. "How can I move on fromthat?I hurt so many people..and Ienjoyedit! I'm sosick.."

Fresh sighed and sat up, pulling Ink into a hug. "Ya take it one day at a time. You regret it. And Iknowya don't wanna keep doing it; that's the best place to start from."

"That's..the thing." Ink sighed. "It..I did it somuch..it..I'm.."

Ink looked down in shame.

"It..I'm..addicted."Ink stated.

Fresh hummed. "So we gotta break the addiction. Hmm...how ya feel about video games?"

"I-I don't think I've ever played one.."

"Den we can giv dat a try. See how ya do wit violent video games and go from dere."

"O-okay.." Ink nodded; torturing video game people would have been better than torturing real people..

Fresh pulled back from the hug and looked down at Ink. "But first...we need ta change yer bandages."

"All right.." Ink frowned; he knew that this wasn't going to be pleasant. "Let's get it over with.."

Fresh retrieved the medkit and brought it back over. He started on Ink's hands and made his way up his arms. Ink tried not to look at the wounds; he had a feeling that he wouldn't be pleased by them. They weren't pretty, and Fresh didn't linger on them longer than necessary. He cleaned away the blood and applied fresh healing gel before wrapping them in clean bandages. He made a mental note to lend Ink some clothes until they could get him his own. When he moved onto Ink's chest, he found a large crack there, and Fresh cringed. He regretted his decision to kick Ink during his fight with Broomie.

"I-it's bad, isn't it?" Ink frowned sadly, but he still didn't look.

"It ain't good...I'm sorry." Fresh wrapped his ribs, securing them in place. "You'll be fine though, kid. 'Don worry...you'll be fine."

"Okay.." Ink nodded, hoping Fresh was right.

Fresh finished with Ink's upper half, including his skull, and moved on to his lower half. It looked better than it did back at the Swap bro's house. There were new scars along the bones though...

Ink hoped Fresh would be done soon; the temptation to look was strong, and he didn't think he could handle looking right now..

Thankfully for Ink, Fresh finished quickly and pulled the blanket back over Ink. He then summoned a gameboy and pulled up the most violent game on the device. Killer had installed it as a prank and Fresh had forgotten to delete it.

"Here ya go." Fresh handed him the gameboy. "Ya give dat a try while I go an' get ya some clean clothes."

"Um..okay." Ink accepted the gameboy, and he began to go through the tutorial.

Ink wished he had learned to play video games before this..it was hard.

After thirty minutes, Fresh returned with a purple t-shirt and bright orange shorts with a white stripe down the side.

"Here ya go, broski! Try these on fer size." He handed Ink the outfit.

By that time, Ink had gotten the mechanics of the game down, and..well, it helped his urges a little. The video game characters were not having a great day, with Ink around; Ink understood why the game had a mature rating. When Fresh came back, Ink looked up to him.

"Oh, um, thanks." He smiled gratefully, taking the clothes.

He exchanged his old clothes for the new ones, which didn't fitperfectly,but he hadn't expected them to; they were better than the bloodied clothes, and that was good enough for him. Ink had a leaner figure than Fresh, making the clothes a little baggy. Fresh thought Ink looked adorable - like a little kid playing dress up with his big brother's things.

"No prob, broski." He picked up the old clothes and left to dispose of them.

Ink looked back to the game. Despite his initial thoughts, it was helping to stave off his unwanted desires, and that was a good thing.

He was also getting better at it.

Fresh returned and sat down next to Ink. He glanced at the game and winced; that was not the sort of game he would have chosen for himself, but he knew Ink needed it. Ink noticed Fresh's unease, taking a moment to look up at the other.

"Are you..uncomfortable?" He inquired. "I can just..not do this..if you are.."

"...nah, bro. Yer fine." Fresh laid back on the bed and rested his arms behind his head. "Imma just take a nap. Wake me when ya feel up ta doin' somthin' different."

"Okay." Ink nodded, looking back to his game; he was surpised that a video game could portray torture so realistically.

Fresh closed his eyes and tried to tune out the virtual screaming. That wouldn't haunt his nightmares. Totally! Ink continued to play the game for about an hour, until he finished the first chapter of the game; there were over eighty chapters at the moment, which meant that he would have enough to do as he tried to get away from his addiction. Ink put the gameboy down and looked around the cabin; he wondered if he could walk..perhaps he should have waited a bit longer. Well, that only left waking up Fresh, and Ink wasn't going to do that; he didn't want to disturb the radical skeleboi. Fresh slept peacefully. Surprisingly, given who was next to him and the disturbing sounds that were coming from the gameboy not that long ago.

Totally peaceful.

Definitely no face twitching that gave away less-than-pleasant dreams.

Ink sighed; he wished that he could have just been normal. Unfortunately, he wasn't. He decided to see if there were any other games on the gameboy; maybe he and Fresh could play something together? Fresh turned in his sleep, pressing his face into the mattress. His sockets were squeezed shut. Ink's gaze was drawn to Fresh. He put down the gameboy.

Fresh looked as if he was having a frightening dream..likely one that was..scarring.Ink twitched. He remembered the victims he had kept for a few days (or evenyears)at a time..how they feared him. He knew how they ate, how they thought..how theyslept.He knew the nightmares well; he had had his fair share of them, after all. He knew that..if he woke one of them up..they'd fear him more. They'd be more afraid.

They were always more submissive when they were afraid.

Ink let out a small breath, staring at Fresh. One..onelittle cut wouldn't hurt. It would only be a nick. He could say that the other had bumped into something in his sleep; he knew how to make it look like an accident.

A blade formed in his hand silently.

He gripped it tightly.

Fresh was unaware of the other's thoughts. His face was screwed up in a grimace, and he started mumbling. Nothing clear, but it sounded as if he were talking to someone.

Ink shouldn't have been doing this. It was wrong. He was trying to be good, right? But..

Itfeltgood..

Ink moved subtly over to Fresh, the blade clenched tightly in his hand; it was shaking.

Fresh..Fresh was a friend. Fresh had killed Broomie. Fresh had freed Ink. Fresh didn't deserve to be..tortured..

But didn't he?

Fresh had probably hurt people before...everyonedid, at some point. Fresh wasn't special.

Ink brought the blade over to Fresh's hand; it would have been the most logical point to frame the situation as an accident in. Tons of people who tossed and turned in their nightmares flung their hands in odd positions. He would know; he had done it many times before on his own.

The blade touched Fresh's hand, but it did not pierce the bone.

The moment the blade touched his hand, Fresh's other hand darted out and grabbed Ink's. His sockets shot open, and he had Ink pinned beneath him in a blink.

Fresh's eyelights were glowing a smoldering violet, wispy smoke leaking from them as he stared blankly at Ink. He was breathing deeply, not moving from his position.

"Don't. Don't..." Fresh rasped, eyelights unfocused and fuzzy at the edges. "You don't have to do that, kid..."

Ink yelped as he was taken down, and he had no time to think logically.

His instincts took over.

He was beingattacked.

He had tofight.

Logical thought was replaced with fear and panic, and what should have been a moment of careful thought and remorse was turned into a desperate fight for survival. People never attacked him unless they wanted to kill him.

He needed to kill first.

Ink's free hand was soon grasping a new blade, and he swiped at Fresh, hoping to gain an exit from the pin.

The blade grazed Fresh's cheek, but he didn't jerk away. Instead, he grasped both Ink's wrists and twisted Ink around, sending the two tumbling to the floor. Fresh quickly rolled to get an advantage in the fight, removing the knife from Ink's grasp, and Fresh used one knee to pin Ink's legs down. Fresh was now fully awake, the sting of the cut having brought him back. The remains of his ̶m̶e̶m̶o̶r̶y̶ nightmare lingered on the edges of his mind. He regretted his extreme response, but what was done was done.

Ink struggled in Fresh's grip; he..he was going todie..Fresh was going to..

No..

Fresh wouldn't kill him.

Ink knew that. Ink deserved worse than death.

Ink whimpered under Fresh, his skull pressed firmly into the hard floor. This..he knew this feeling; it was familiar. The feeling of helplessness..he couldn't move. What was Fresh getting at? He was cutting off all escape routes and preventing Ink from fighting back; why?Why?!Fresh had said he was going to help..or was that..just a lie? A lie to make Ink drop his guard and accept this..but now Ink could see what was really going on.Fresh was making it clear that Ink belonged to him now; he was taking the first step. Ink could see that now, and he had to abide by the laws he knew. If Ink gave up the fight, maybe Fresh would skip the punishment..although he doubted it.

He had harmed his new owner.

That was unforgivable.

Ink stopped fighting against Fresh, and he stopped struggling, letting Fresh's pin hold him.

"I..I'm sorry..m-master.." He whimpered out, beginning to weep silently; this was a bad start. "I-it won't happen a-again.."

"I... I'm sorry... m-master..." He whimpered out, beginning to weep silently; this was a bad start. "I-it won't happen a-again..."