Meanwhile, at Ink's house...
Inky woke up the next morning dazed and confused. He got out of bed and went to the living room. He looked around tiredly, trying to remember where he was.
"Good morning, Inky!" Ink greeted, from behind the child.
Inky turned around and blinked at the adult, before he gasped and ran up to him. "Wow! You're me, but a grownup!"
"Yep!" Ink chuckled. "We met yesterday, and we became friends!"
Inky lit up. "Really?! Wow! That's so cool!"
He looked around the room, looking for something. Or someone.
"Need something?" Ink inquired.
Inky tilted his head and scrunched his face. "I thought Ruru was with me yesterday."
He looked up at Ink. "I need to find him. He gets worried if I'm gone too long. One time, I was gone for..." He stopped and put a hand to his chin. "A long, long, long time and he got so worried." Inky then giggled. "He thought someone had hurt me, because I was all scratched, and he got really mad."
"Ah, I see." Ink chuckled. "Don't worry about Ruru; he's all right with you staying here for a while. We talked about it before you came here; don't you remember?"
Inky shook his head. "No. I forget things a lot."
"I understand. You're going to be staying here with me for a few weeks."
Inky smiled brightly. "Really?! That's so cool!" He ran up to Ink and grabbed his hand. "Can we play now?" However, his stomach growled, and he looked down, patting it with his other hand. "I'm hungry. Food first."
"I've been making some breakfast!" Ink smiled. "Do you like pancakes?"
"I don't know what those are!" Inky said excitedly.
He ran into the kitchen anyway, somehow remembering where that was. He still had Ink's hand in his and looked around the kitchen for these mysterious pancakes. Ink plated a few pancakes and poured some syrup on them before setting Inky at the table and putting the plate in front of him.
"Enjoy!" Ink grinned.
Inky picked up a pancake and took a bite. His eyelights lit up, and he ate the pancakes happily. "This is good!"
"Thank you!" Ink smiled, sitting down to eat his own plate of pancakes.
Inky soon finished his pancakes and was left a sticky mess. He played with the leftover syrup, pinching it between his fingers and watching it stretch between them like a long string. He giggled, making even more of a mess of himself. Ink didn't mind; all that he cared about was that his new heir was happy. Inky eventually got bored of his game; sticky stuff was only fun for so long. He got out of his chair and looked around for something to use to wipe them off.
"Want to wash your hands?" Ink offered.
Inky nodded. "My hands are sticky."
He tried wiping them on his clothes, but that just made his clothes dirty.
"All right." Ink picked up Inky and lifted him up to the sink, turning the water on.
Inky stuck his hands in the water and splashed it around. It worked somewhat, but now there was a mess of water everywhere. Ink chuckled, helping Inky wash his hands more effectively, this time with soap.
Hands clean, Inky scrambled to get down. "Now we can play!"
"Sure!" Ink put the child down. "What shall we play?"
"Can we play hide and seek?" Inky asked.
"Sure!" Ink agreed. "Do you want to hide or seek?"
Inky nodded excitedly, running off to hide. "You count!"
"Okay!" Ink nodded, closing his eyesockets. "One, two, three.."
Inky giggled, looking for a place to hide. He went into Ink's room and crawled under the bed.
"Fifty!" Ink shouted. "Ready or not, here I come!"
Inky shimmied further under the bed. He tried to muffle his giggles, but he wasn't very quiet. Ink wandered around the house, pretending not to hear the giggles of his heir.
"He'll never find me..." Inky said to himself.
"Where are you, Inky?" Ink smiled, wandering the hall outside his room.
Inky giggled even louder. He crawled backwards and hid on the far side of the bed, peeking over the edge. Ink smirked at the sight of tiny eyelights, but he didn't immediately "find" Inky; that would have been too fast.
Inky spotted Ink and ducked back down, giggling. "He didn't see me."
He got an idea then. Back on the floor, he started crawling under the bed. Ink turned around for another pass. Inky crawled closer. While Ink's back was turned, he crawled out from under the bed and sneaked up behind him. Ink turned around again.
Inky tackled his legs. "Boo!"
Ink was startled from the sudden scare, but he soon began to laugh. "Ah, you're a sneaky one, aren't you?"
"Yep!" Inky chirped. He grinned up at him, hugging the adult's legs.
"Do you want to find me now?" Ink questioned.
Inky nodded. "Yeah!"
"All right!" Ink got up to hide. "Do you know how to count?"
"Nope!" Inky jumped around. "How do I do that?"
"Well, I'll teach you later." Ink put that off. "For now, just come find me when you think I've had enough time to hide, okay?"
"Okay!" Inky closed his eyes, sticking his tongue out, and started humming. He waited for Ink to hide.
Ink ran upstairs to the third floor, hiding in a closet. After some time, Inky decided he had waited long enough and opened his sockets; he started searching the first floor. Ink nestled into a corner of the closet, hiding behind some boxes. Inky checked every room downstairs. Or at least, every door that would open for him. Not finding Ink downstairs, he went to check the second floor. Ink painted a picture on the wall of the closet as he hid. Inky hummed, not finding the adult in any of these rooms either. He went up to the next floor to search.
"I'm going to find you, big me!" He called out. He was getting close; he knew it.
Ink smirked as he continued to hide. Inky entered a room and searched behind furniture and other things. Finally, he spotted the closet door, sneaking closer. Ink resisted the urge to giggle as he heard the tiny footsteps. Inky reached the closet and grabbed the handle, and Ink couldn't resist a giggle at that.
Inky grinned, pulling the door open. "Found you!"
"Good job!" Ink hugged his heir. "Do you want to hide again, or shall we do something else?"
Inky tilted his head in thought, hugging the bigger skeleton back. "I don't know..."
His face scrunched in thought. There was something at the muddy man's house that he did. Something with tiny people...
"What's that thing called, where you watch tiny people?" He inquired.
"Babysitting?" Ink guessed.
Inky looked at him, confused. "What's that?"
"When you watch children."
Inky scrunched his face in more confusion. "What's a children?"
"Someone small, like you!" Ink booped Inky's nonexistent nose.
Inky's eyelights crossed to stare at his nose. He giggled. "I'm a children?"
"You're a child, yes."
Inky tilted his head. "Child means small?"
"In this instance, yes." Ink nodded. "But there are some very large children in the world."
Inky nodded. "And...a child is..." He started putting things together. Ruru told him people bigger than they were were grownups. So if he was a child, that must have meant, "Is a child the opposite of a grownup?"
"Pretty much, yes." Ink nodded.
Inky thought some more. "What makes someone a grownup and a child? Is one just bigger than the other?"
"Well, grownups are older than children; at some point, a child becomes a grownup." Ink explained. "People usually use physical age, but I prefer to use mental age."
"What's fis-cal age? And mental age?"
"Physical age is how long someone has been alive; mental age is how much they know and how well they react in certain situations."
Inky nods. "Okay." He got up, done with discussing the mysteries of life for now and wanting to play some more. "Can we play another game now?"
"Sure, what game?" Ink questioned.
"Can we play another board game?" Inky asked, smiling. "I remember what we did yesterday!"
"Of course! What game would you like to play?"
"Let's play candy land!" Inky shouted. He jumped up and ran out of the room to look for the games.
"Okay!" Ink pulled out the board game in question and set it up, chuckling at the child's eagerness.
Because it was a game of chance, Inky won the first round. And the next. Then Ink won three other times. By the seventeenth game, it was clear this was Inky's new favorite game.
Inky giggled as his little gingerbread character piece made it to the finish line. "I win!"
"Good job!" Ink congratulated. "Do you want to play again?"
Inky shook his head. "I wanna watch the tiny people now. It was on something like..." He shaped his hands like a box. "And there is a flat thing that you hold in your hands, to make the people start and stop."
"A television?" Ink assumed.
"Yeah!" Inky clapped happily. "I want to watch the tiny people on there."
"All right!" Ink picked up his heir and brought him to the living room, where Ink turned on his 70" flatscreen 4k Ultra-HD wall-mounted tv. "What do you want to watch?"
Inky stared at the screen with wide sockets. It was huge!
"Um...I dunno." He shrugged. He didn't know a lot of movies. He couldn't remember what he watched at the muddy man's house, either.
"How about this one?" Ink turned on a children's cartoon.
Inky clambered onto the couch and watched the cartoon. He giggled when the characters were silly, and talked to them as if they could hear him. He didn't mind if they didn't respond back. Ink chuckled as he watched his heir; he liked this one..a lot. Inky enjoyed the cartoon very much; the characters were so silly!
He turned to Ink. "That was fun! Can we watch another?"
"Sure!" Ink nodded, turning on the next episode.
Inky really liked this show. He couldn't wait to tell Ruru all about it when he got back. He wondered when that would be. How long was a week? Inky put those thoughts to the side for the time being. For now, he crawled into Ink's lap, still watching the TV. Ink rubbed the child's skull softly, enjoying this quiet time together..he knew that it wouldn't last long if Inky didn't want to stay in the end..but he would fix that, if it ever came up.
This child was his.
Inky leaned back, smiling at the affection. He liked it here. Big him was fun and nice to him. The muddy man and his friends were also nice. He'd have to introduce them to each other. That would be so much fun! Then they could all be friends together!
The two watched the show for a few more hours before it was time to eat lunch.
Ink had allowed Inky to continue watching the show while he prepared some lunch; he made some spaghetti, which, consequently, would also be tonight's dinner.
Inky sniffed the air, rubbing his tummy. He got off the couch and walked to the kitchen, following the delicious smell. "What are you making?"
"Spaghetti." Ink replied. "It's basically pasta with tomato sauce."
"Oh, I think Creampuff told me something about that." Inky said, getting on his tippy toes to see the pot on the stove. "He said it's really good."
Ink lifted the child to let him see the pasta. "It's a favorite of many people."
Inky looked in the pot and saw long noodles and red sauce mixed together. It smelled really good; there was garlic, oregano, tomato, and so many other spices coming together to create a delicious aroma.
"It looks good..." Inky said, his eyelights turning to yellow and green stars.
"Well, it's ready, so you can have some whenever you're hungry!" Ink invited.
"I'm hungry now!" Inky shouted, sticking his tongue out in anticipation.
"All right!" Ink plated some spaghetti, before giving it to the child. "But blow on it - it's hot."
Inky nodded before taking a deep breath and blowing on his food. He blew really hard, splattering sauce onto the table.
Ink rolled his eyelights at the child's enthusiasm. "Maybe don't blow that hard."
Inky blinked at the mess. "Whoops."
He tried to use his hands to clean his mess.
"It's all right, Inky; I'll clean that up." Ink assured. "You eat."
Inky smiled at him. "Thank you!" He promptly got started on eating, once again ignoring the fork. "Mmm! This is good!"
"Thanks!" Ink let the ignorance of utensils slide; he would teach his heir about that later.
Inky soon finished his food, managing to contain the mess to himself. When he was done, he wiped his hands on his clothes. Since they were already dirty, it didn't do much.
"All done!" Inky announced. "Can we play another game now?"
"Well, actually, I have a friend who's coming over today; do you want to meet him?" Ink offered.
Inky nodded, smiling wide. There were bits of sauce on his face, and noodle somehow on top of his head. "Yeah! I love meeting new people!"
"Cool!" Ink giggled, wiping the child's face (and head) off with a wet rag. "He should be here anytime now!"
Inky bounced in his seat, excited. "When? When?"
"Within the next few minutes - do you want me to clean your clothes?"
Inky looked down at the dirty tomato stained outfit. "Okay."
He jumped off the chair and took off his clothes without hesitation, not caring about decency. He then scooped up the filthy garment and handed it to Ink.
Ink chuckled, using his magic to clean the clothes in an instant. "All done!"
Inky took the now clean clothes back and put them on. He smiles up at Ink. "So when is your friend gonna get here?"
"Right about.." Ink paused for a golden portal to open. "Now."
Inky perked up and watched the new person exit the portal. He ran up and smiled at them. "Hi! I'm Inky! What's your name?"
"I-Ink..?" Dream blinked, before seeing Ink. "A-and Ink..?"
"There's a tiny version of me now, and I'm keeping him here for a while." Ink explained.
"Oh..um..I'm Dream.." Dream introduced.
"Hello! Wow! You're really yellow! Is yellow your favorite color? I like all colors! Yellow is fun and makes me happy. It tastes good, so I like to drink lots of it. What do you like? Do you have a favorite food? I like chocolate!" Inky spewed out all the questions off the top of his head, jumping up and down in front of Dream.
Dream blinked. "Um...yes?"
Inky smiled wider. "Cool! Are you gonna play a game with us? Big me has lots and lots of fun games to play!"
"I thought we were going to talk about-" Dream was cut off by a skull shake. "Um..sure!"
Inky ran back to Ink and grabbed his hand before running over to Dream, grabbing his hand, too. He dragged the adults to the board games and picked out Chutes and Ladders this time.
"All right, let's play!" Ink set up the board game.
Inky sat down and started his turn.
Dream felt uncomfortable; he had thought that this was going to be a friendly discussion about multiversal affairs, not..this.
Inky looked up at Dream. "Your turn!"
"Ah, thank you.." Dream had no idea how to play this game; he imitated what Inky had done.
Inky also didn't know how to play; he was making it up as he went along. While Ink knew how to play, for the sake of fun, he went along with the others. Once the game was done, Inky stood up to find another one, and it turned out that Ink had quite the stash of board games; it was a wonder they all fit in that tiny closet. Inky looked around at the selection before picking a random game and bringing it back to the table to play. Ink grinned at the sight; it was Monopoly, the game that Dream absolutely despised! Inky didn't know how to play this game either, but he had fun. He liked collecting all the paper money! Sometimes he paid too much for a property though. He still didn't know how to count; Ink made a note to teach his heir numbers later.
Somehow, Inky managed to obtain a third of the board's properties. He smiled, looking up at Dream and noticing his face. "Are you having fun, Dream?
"Yeah..sure." Dream didn't seem thrilled.
Inky tilted his head. "What's wrong?"
"Um..nothing." Dream took his turn. "I'm just not doing well in the game."
Inky hummed. "Do you want me to help you? I'm really good at games!"
"Sure." Dream sighed.
Inky got up and moved his seat next to Dream. The chair legs scraped noisily across the floor. Hopping up, he started explaining the game to Dream…in all the wrong ways.
"And then the dog wears the hat to escape jail, because he robbed the bank. The houses are to hide him from the ships." Inky helpfully explained.
Dream smiled a bit at the child's description. He knew that that wasn't how the game worked, but he wasn't going to ruin the child's fun. They played a bit longer, and Inky declared Dream the winner. By the rules and logic he was following, this made sense to him.
Perhaps not to the others though.
Dream had cheered up a bit (although he still wanted to discuss the multiversal affairs he had originally come to discuss!), and Ink seemed as happy as ever.
Inky was happy. He had made his new friend feel better. Smiling up at Dream, he asked, "What do you want to do now?"
"Well, if Ink would be all right with it, can we maybe talk about what you invited me over here to talk about?" Dream hoped.
"..Oh, right." Ink blinked; he had forgotten about that. "Inky, you can watch some tv while Dream and I talk, okay?"
"Okay!" Inky hopped off his chair and ran out the room.
He went to the living room and put on a cartoon, just like big him had. He then stood in the room, listening.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Ink inquired.
"Ink, several universes are on the verge of war; we can't just sit idly by like we've been doing for the past three months!" Dream exclaimed, but not too loud.
"You know how I feel about interfering."
"Ink, this is our purpose! We can't not interfere!"
Inky couldn't make out their voices from the living room. It was just mumbling from here. Sockets narrowed, he turned the volume higher and laughed loudly. Setting the remote down, he tiptoed back to the game room. He was surprisingly silent, given how loud he usually was. He held his head close to the door, ready to run back to the living room at a moment's notice.
Ink sighed. "Fine, what do you want to do?"
"We should hold a peace conference with the leaders of each AU." Dream decided. "Then they can talk without hostility and reach an agreement."
"Okay, sure, and if that goes wrong, just call me, eh?" Ink didn't seem interested.
"Ink, you really should be more involved in this.."
"I don't like war." Ink shrugged. "It's too messy for me. You go right ahead, though!"
Inky frowned. He didn't understand everything the adults were saying, but he did know that Dream really wanted big him's help. And big him...didn't want to. Why not? What was war? Big him didn't mind it when he made messes before, so why did he care now? What kind of mess was it?
"Ink, people's lives are on the line!" Dream shouted. "Don't you care?"
"Of course I care, and if there is a war, I will make sure that those innocents will be provided for; I just don't want to be involved in a war of this magnitude." Ink said. "Besides, I have to watch the little kid by the door now."
Inky jumped in surprise. He thought he was being sneaky!
"You can just come in, you know." Ink smiled.
Inky shuffled in, arms crossed and pouting. "How did you know I was there?"
"I can hear pretty well!" Ink chuckled.
Inky stuck his tongue out at him. Then he asked, "What's war? Are people going to get hurt?"
"Not if we avoid the war." Ink shook his skull. "And we will."
Inky nodded, thinking; his face scrunched. "Why don't you want to help stop it though? You said you weren't going to help."
"Oh, I'm not!" Ink smiled. "Dream is on prevention duty, but if a war does start, I'll help end it as soon as possible!"
"Oh..." Inky said, face blank for a moment. Then he lit up and ran in to give Ink a hug. "That's good! Helping people is good!"
"Yep!" Ink picked up his heir and hugged him back. "So, do you need anything else, Dream?"
Dream seemed annoyed by Ink's actions, but he wasn't about to start scolding his friend in front of a child who was obviously young enough to be scarred for life by something of that sort.
"Yeah." Dream forced out. "I'll see you at the next multiversal meeting, Ink."
Dream made a portal and began to leave.
Inky waved goodbye. "Bye, yellow man!"
"Bye.." Dream said, before closing the portal.
Inky tilted his head. "He looked mad. Did he not have fun?"
"He's just worried about the people who might go to war." Ink waved it off. "But don't worry; I'm sure he'll be happy again soon! Do you want to do something?"
Inky hummed in thought, still looking at where Dream was. Turning back to Ink, he smiled. "Yeah! What are we gonna do? Can we go outside again?"
"Well.." Ink looked outside; it was raining. "Maybe not in this weather - you could get a cold."
Inky looked out the window too; his sockets widened. "Is that rain?"
"Yep!" Ink nodded. "If you bundle up, maybe we can sit on the porch and watch the rain fall."
Inky nodded. "Yeah! I love rain! It makes me feel better!"
"All right, let me get you a jacket. What color?"
"Um...yellow!" Inky said; he was still thinking about his new friend.
"All right!" Ink created a yellow jacket and gave it to Inky.
Inky put it on quickly and ran to the door, eager to go outside. Ink opened the front door, walked out onto the patio, and sat down in a chair, enjoying the small breeze and pattering rain. Inky walked out and stared at the rain in confusion. It didn't look like rain. At least, not the kind he was used to. He walked closer to the edge of the porch before reaching inside the jacket and into his belt. He pulled out an empty glass tube and held it out in the rain. When it was half full, he pulled it back to examine it.
"It's just water." Ink informed.
Inky tilted his head. "Where's all the colors? Rain is supposed to have colors."
"This is..different rain." Ink replied, assuming that Inky had his vials filled via some sort of rain, judging by his actions. "It doesn't give emotion."
Inky frowned in disappointment. He was going to run out of colors soon if he didn't get more. He opened his jacket, checking his vials. They were about half full. He had about three days before they were empty. And then...
He would be empty.
He looked back up at the dark sky with a worried look. He didn't want to stop feeling.
"Are you all right?" Ink asked, wondering why his heir was sad.
Inky shook his head. He walked over to Ink, looking down. He crawled up into the adult's lap and leaned against him.
"What's wrong?" Ink inquired, hugging his heir.
"I have to go soon." Inky mumbled, holding onto Ink's shirt. "I'm gonna run out of colors and I...I need the colors." He pulled back to look at Ink's face with big sockets. "I'll come back though! I won't be gone forever!"
"Hey." Ink chuckled. "There's no need to worry about emotions; I use those, too!"
Inky blinked. "Really? From the color rain too?"
"No, mine fill themselves with magic." Ink shook his skull. "You can use mine, if you want."
Inky gasped, perking up. "Really?! So I don't have to go yet?"
"Nope!" Ink giggled. "Here, I can fill yours up, if you'd like."
Inky sat back on Ink's lap and opened his jacket. He started pulling out his vials one at a time to be filled. Ink filled each of his heir's vials with the appropriately-colored paint, and eventually, they were all filled up! Inky grinned. He wouldn't have to go now! He was having so much fun here that he didn't want to go yet. And Ruru was supposed to come get him; Ruru would be mad if he wasn't here when he came to get him.
"Thank you!" Inky said. Relieved to have that taken care of, he snuggled into the adult's arms and watched the rain fall.
"Of course." Ink held his heir close, enjoying this company; he was sure that he would like it more after Inky knew that he would be staying forever, though.
They watched the rain fall for a few hours. The cool air and the gentle pitter patter of rain drops lulling Inky into a dazed state. He wasn't asleep yet, but he might as well have been. Ink rubbed his heir's skull softly as he continued to watch the rain. Inky yawned; he was getting sleepy.
"You can take a nap, if you wish." Ink whispered softly.
Inky shook his head. "I'm not tired." He mumbled, his sockets drooping.
"I know, but just if you want to." Ink continued to rub his heir's skull.
The rubbing soothed Inky into a light doze. He couldn't keep his sockets open any longer. Ink smiled down at his sleeping heir; he already loved this child. Inky slept for about an hour before waking back up. He blinked up at Ink, and His eye lights were a little duller than before.
"Hey, Inky." Ink greeted, quietly.
"Hello." Inky said dully. He sat up and pulls out his vials again, this time taking sips from each. His eyelights brightened and he smiled at Ink. "Hi! How long was I asleep?"
"Only an hour." Ink replied. "Do you want to go inside now?"
Inky nodded, holding onto Ink. "Mhm. Can you carry me? I don't feel like walking."
"Sure." Ink picked his heir up carefully and carried him into the house, before setting the child down on the couch.
Inky swung his legs over the edge, humming. "What are we gonna do now?"
"Whatever you want to." Ink replied.
Inky hummed in thought. "I think.. a movie?"
"All right!" Ink grinned, sitting down next to Inky and looking through the descriptions of some family-friendly movies.
Inky looked at the selections. He couldn't read, but with the pictures, he could guess what they were about. He pointed at one about a big red dog. "That one!"
"All right." Ink turned on the movie about 'Clifford.'
Inky really liked the movie. The dog was silly and big; he wanted a dog now. Where did people find giant dogs? Ink would have made a giant dog if Inky had asked him to. After the movie, Inky was hungry again. He rarely got this hungry before; he wondered if this had anything to do with not being in the white place anymore. He looked up at Ink and asked for food.
"What would you like?" Ink wondered.
"Can we have spaghetti again?" Inky asked; he really liked that.
"Sure, I'll start it." Ink got up. "You can play for a while, if you want."
Inky nodded his head. He then decided to practice his handstands while waiting. He used the couch to balance. Ink started the sauce first, knowing that it took the longest to cook. Inky had perfected his hand stand. Now...to see if he can walk like this...
He fell. A lot.
But he kept trying!
Ink put some seasonings into the pot, and done practicing for today, Inky rolled into a summersault and stood up. He walked into the kitchen to check on dinner. Ink was beginning the pasta.
Inky pulled up a chair to watch. "Is it almost done?"
"Almost." Ink nodded.
Inky hummed. "Can I help?"
"Sure." Ink handed Inky the box of pasta. "Just pour this into here."
Inky took the box. By some miracle, all the noodles made it into the pot.
"Good job!" Ink congratulated.
Inky smiled at the praise. "What's next?"
"Now we wait." Ink answered.
Inky sat down in the chair, swinging his legs. He hummed to himself. Meanwhile, Ink stared menacingly at the slowly-cooking pasta.
Inky looked up at him. "Are you mad at the noodles?"
"No, just increasing the tension so they cook faster." Ink replied.
"Does it work?" Inky asks.
"I don't know, but it's fun." Ink shrugged.
Inky stood back up on his chair and glared his meanest glare at the noodles. He even stuck his tongue out at them.
The pasta was intimidated.
Inky giggled, but was quick to resume glaring.
The pasta cooked faster because of the intimidation tactics.
Inky smiled. "It's working!"
"Apparently!" Ink smirked.
Inky intensified his glare.
The pasta cooked in terror.
"Is it almost done?" Inky asked angrily..or he tried to; his giggling ruined the effect.
"Yep, almost!" Ink confirmed.
Inky nodded. He decided to yell at the pasta. "Cook faster! Or else I'll- I'll do something not nice!"
The pasta cooked even faster at the threat.
Inky smiled at the progress, yelling some more. "If you don't finish right now, I'll...string you up by your toes!"
The pasta finished cooking.
Inky cheered. "It's done!"
"Good job!" Ink approved, beginning to put some of the pasta on a plate.
"Yay! Ruru always tells me he's gonna string me up when I won't leave him alone." Inky said, pushing the chair back to the table. "He never does, but he says it a lot."
"That sounds interesting." Ink commented, putting the plate of spaghetti in front of Inky.
Inky picked up a noodle and slurped it up. "He gets annoyed a lot and shouts. He acts like he doesn't wanna be friends, but he also hates being alone. He's weird."
"A lot of people are weird like that." Ink shrugged. "You just have to deal with them."
Inky nodded; that made sense. He scooped up more spaghetti with his hands and shoveled it into his mouth. Ink really needed to teach his heir about utensils. Inky continued to use his hands, not caring about the mess he made of himself. Meh, Ink would clean up later. Inky finished his food and burped. He was surprised by the sound and slapped his hands over his mouth.
Ink giggled a bit at the burp. "It's all right; everyone does that."
Inky giggled back, still covering his mouth.
"Let me clean you up." Ink prepared his magic.
Inky nodded, hopping off his chair and going to Ink.
Ink used his magic to quickly clean his heir up; within a minute, there were no stains at all!
Inky smiled, looking at his clothes. They had never been cleaner! "Thank you!"
"Of course!" Ink smiled down at his heir.
Inky looked around and settled his eyelights on the door. "Can we watch another movie?"
"Sure!" Ink agreed. "Do you want popcorn with it?"
Inky nodded. "Yeah! Popcorn is good!"
"Okay, you go pick a movie, and I'll be in with popcorn in a moment!"
Inky ran into the living room and put on a movie called Megamind. It looked fun! Ink came in soon enough with a giant bowl of popcorn.
Inky patted the seat next to him on the couch. "Sit here! The movie is about to start!"
"All right." Ink sat next to Inky with the popcorn.
The movie played. Megamind became good, won the day, and got the girl. Inky likes the dance scenes best; he even got up and copied the moves! Ink was amused by his heir's eccentricities; he was going to love having him around all the time. Inky's dancing soon slowed down, and he yawned. He was sleepy again. He walked over to Ink and crawled up into his lap. Inky curled up in the adult's lap, laying his head on Ink's chest. Ink smiled as he stroked the child's spine softly, encouraging him to sleep. Inky sighed contently. His sockets blinked closed, and he was breathing deeply in no time. Ink picked up his heir gently, walking him over to the room he had prepared for the child. Inky turned in Ink's arms, gripping the adult's shirt. Ink smiled as he laid his heir in his bed, tucking him in.
Inky blinked his eyes open blearily at Ink. "Hmmm?"
"Shh, go to sleep." Ink whispered. "It's time for bed."
Inky reached his hands up, making grabby motions at Ink. "Mmmm!"
"All right." Ink took his heir into a hug.
Inky hugged the adult to him, gripping his shirt. He didn't want him to go tonight. He didn't know why, just that he wanted to cuddle with someone. Ink sighed, climbing into the child's bed and hugging him tightly. Inky curled up in Ink's arms. Happy to have someone near him, he was finally able to sleep again. Ink fell asleep soon after, holding his heir close.
Back with Nightmare's gang…
Ruru was still trying to figure out how to save Inky. Nightmare and the others were formulating a plan, but since they had never tried to break someone out of Ink's home before, it wasn't going very well. Ruru glared at the table he was sitting at, considering just attacking an AU and drawing big Ink out that way. He wanted his friend back.
"That wouldn't work, either.." Nightmare sighed, throwing another plan to the side.
Ruru huffed;tThe adults were getting nowhere.
He slipped from his chair and opened a portal to a random AU. He was just gonna attack something and wait. Cross was the only one who noticed the child's departure; he swiftly entered the portal before it closed. Ruru looked around the AU, summoning his strings. He got to work immediately, pulling down trees and killing random people.
This was bound to get big Ink's attention.
Cross sighed; he supposed that this was the plan, now. He contacted the others with his communicator. Ruru continued his destruction. He squeezed his strings around a dog monster's neck, dusting them without even blinking. The others arrived soon after the destruction began, ready to fight Ink at a moment's notice. Ruru didn't acknowledge them, continuing his rampage.
He would get Inky back.
When a portal inevitably opened, Ink did not come out of it; instead, Dream and Blue did .Ruru narrowed his sockets at the two, sending his strings at them. Dream and Blue ducked out of the way with their vast experience in fighting, before realizing that they were responding to the actions of a child. Ruru used his strings to throw objects at them. He didn't know who they were, but he didn't care. He would attack anyone if it meant drawing Ink out.
"Err-little Error?" Dream tried to speak in a soft tone. "There's no need to be so..destructive!"
Ruru throws a tree at Dream in response. "I WANT INKY BACK!"
"I-Inky..?" Dream recalled the small Ink; his name had been Inky..was this his friend? They must have been very close friends..
Ruru zeroed in on Dream's face. He saw the recognition. He readied more strings, sockets narrowed at Dream. "You know where he is. Don't you?"
The gang stood by; they weren't going to protect Dream from a child.
"Uh..maybe?" Dream squeaked.
"Where is Inky?" Ruru asks slowly. A string stabbed the ground near Dream. More connected to the trees and buildings, creating a blue web around them.
"Um.." Dream looked around; not even Blue was willing to fight off the child. "Ink's house."
Ruru glared. "Where's that? I want Inky back! Give him back!"
Ruru stomped his foot like a child younger than himself.
"I..I'm not..uh..Ink is.." Dream stumbled over his words.
Ruru growled, stabbing the ground with more strings. "He had no right to take Inky! Inky is MY friend! Give him BAAACK!!"
Ruru screamed, throwing more trees and debris at Dream and Blue.
Blue teleported out of the way, bringing Dream with him.
"Okay!" Blue decided to make Dream's decision for him. "We're going to take you right now!"
Ruru stopped throwing things and approached the two, and Blue opened a portal to Ink's house.
Ruru walked in and marched up to the house. He slammed the door open and yelled. "INKY!!!"
In his room, Inky jerked awake and blinked blearily. He sat up and rubbed his sockets. "Ruru?"
Ink woke up suddenly, sitting up in an instant next to Inky.
"Oh." Ink sighed. "You must be Ruru."
Ruru stomped into the bedroom and glared harshly at Ink. He glanced at Inky on the bed, before pointing out the door. "Inky. We're leaving. Now!"
Inky slumped and whined. "Ahhh...but I was having fun!"
Ruru scrunched his face. "He kidnapped you!"
Inky tilted his head; he was still sleepy. "What's kidnapped?"
The gang were not able to enter the portal before Blue closed it; Ruru was on his own.
"I didn't kidnap him!" Ink gasped indignantly, opening a code bar behind his back.
Ruru japs a finger at Ink and growls. "Yes, you did! You took him without permission! You took MY friend!"
Inky pouts. "I still don't know what kidnapped is."
"He isn't your friend." Ink chuckled, typing into his code bar. "He doesn't even know you! And..for the record..I don't think you know who you are, either, little one..would you like to stay with me?"
Ink finalized his changes.
Ruru blinked, stumbling back. He clutched his skull, groaning. "No...StOp tHat! Inky! weeeEEE Ha- hav- HaVe to GO!"
Inky scrunched his face at the glitching child in front of him. "Are you okay?"
"I don't know who you are, but I don't want you associating with my son." Ink glared at the child. "Please leave, and don't come back."
Ruru was glitching hard, his body spasming as it fought off the hacking. "No! InkyKY! We- EE- E- EEEeee nEE-d to LEave!"
Inky's head was fuzzy. He frowned at the other child in concern. He didn't remember them, but they looked hurt. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."
He made to get off the bed.
"Inky, don't touch him; he could be contagious." Ink warned. "I'll take him somewhere to recover."
Ink began to approach Ruru.
Ruru backed away from Ink, summoning his strings to hold the adult back. "NO! Inky, don't listen to him! He's messing with your code! He's lying!"
Inky paused on the bed. Who was this child? Why was he scared? What was wrong? What was going on?
"Hey, I won't hurt you." Ink approached Ruru slowly, opening a portal behind the child. "I just want to help."
Ruru froze in front of the portal. He was trapped. He couldn't move forward or back.
Inky slipped off the bed and walked closer. "Daddy? Is he going to be okay? He looks scared."
Ruru stared at Inky behind Ink's legs, face terrified. He looked back at Ink and summoned more strings, these ones to tie Ink up and stop him from getting closer.
"Inky! Please! You have to remember me! It's me! Your best friend, Error! You call me Ruru. Remember?"
Inky blinked, face blank. The buzzing in his head persisted.
"Don't worry, Inky." Ink paused in his approach due to the strings. "He'll be okay; I just need to find out who his parents are and how he got here. You go to the living room; I don't want you getting hurt."
Inky looked uncertain; he wanted to help. The child seemed to know him, so maybe they met before? His memory is pretty bad.
"We don't have parents!" Ruru insisted, begging his friend. "We only have each other! Inky, please remember! Remember the fun we have! You drag me through puddles and on adventures. Remember when we pranked people together? Or when Nightmare let us stay at his house? Remember him? He looks like he's covered in mud."
"You know the muddy man?" Inky asked, smiling a little. So he did know this kid. He just forgot.
"He must be his son." Ink said, opening another code bar and typing in a new potential reality..if this child didn't reject his changes again, that was. "Maybe we can visit sometime. I'll take him back home."
Ruru doubled over screaming, clutching his head in pain. "ST- T- t- OOoooOP!"
Inky ran past the adult and hugged Ruru. "It's okay! Daddy will make you feel better!"
Ruru couldn't focus on his strings, and they went limp. He couldn't even hear Inky; he was barely holding himself back from crashing. Ink knelt down next to the child and picked him up.
"I'll take him home now; he must have been experimenting with portals!" Ink chuckled. "You get back to sleep; I'll be back in just a minute."
Ink opened a portal to Nightmare's home, in a random bedroom, and prepared to carry Ruru through.
Ruru shivered, still curled into himself and unable to fight back.
Inky followed, determined to make sure his friend whom he couldn't remember got home safely.
Ink sighed as Inky followed him through the portal; it would be fine, though. Ink walked over to the bed in the bedroom and tucked the child in.
"There, now we must go; they'll find him in bed soon enough, and it would be weird if we were here, too." Ink picked up Inky and turned back to his portal.
Inky waved at the shivering Ruru. "Bye! Feel better."
Ruru didn't respond. He shivered, body wracking in pain. The portal closed, leaving him to silently sob into the sheets.
When the portal closed behind him, Ink carried his son over to his bed once more and tucked him in.
"It's late; you should try to get some more rest." He stated.
Inky huffed, glancing at where the portal had been. "Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes, he'll be okay; his dad is good at healing." Ink nodded. "Now, go to sleep."
Inky hummed, lying down in his bed. He was still tired. He fell asleep quickly, dreaming of the mysterious child who knew him.
Ink smiled down at his son as he turned the light out and left the room, walking to his own bedroom. He had a feeling that he was going to have to alter the memories of a lot of people, but for now, he would simply focus his power into the glitchy child; if he could convince both of the children of the reality he wanted them to believe, things would be much easier in the future.
He spent the entire night trying to successfully manipulate the glitch's code.
