The next morning, Inky woke up early. Today was going to be great!
He ran to his Daddy's room and jumped onto the bed again, forgetting about the knife from the previous morning. "Good morning, Daddy!"
Ink made sure not to grab his knife this time as he sat up. "Good morning, Inky."
"What's for breakfast, Daddy? Can I help make it?" Inky asked, buzzing with energy.
"Bacon and eggs." Ink replied, getting out of bed. "And, yes, you can help."
"Yes!" Inky pumped the air before crawling off the bed and running to the kitchen..
Ink got dressed before following Inky downstairs. He grabbed some uncooked bacon and eggs before pulling up a chair for Inky.
Inky climbed onto the chair. "What do we now?"
"Would you like to try to crack the eggs?" Ink offered, handing Inky a couple eggs.
Inky nodded, taking the eggs carefully; he stared at them as they lay in his hands. "How do I do that?"
"Here, I'll show you." Ink demonstrated the proper technique for cracking an egg.
Inky followed the instructions and managed to only get a few bits of shell in it. Ink scooped the shell out before gesturing for Inky to crack another, and Inky repeated the process; this time, there were no shells!
"God job!" Ink congratulated. "Just one more!"
Inky cracked the last egg, once again without getting shells in the pan. He cheered when it was done. "I did it!"
"Very good!" Ink patted Inky's skull. "Now, you watch that, and I'll prep the bacon."
"Okay! Should I be mean so they cook faster?"
"That would help." Ink nodded, slicing the bacon.
Inky glared at the eggs and insulted their art skills, and the eggs cooked in fear as Ink laid some bacon on another pan.
"You'll never find love!" Inky yelled at the eggs, repeating a line from Undernovela.
The eggs were suddenly ready.
Inky cheered. "I'm super mean!" He glanced at the bacon. "Should I yell at them too?"
"If you wish." Ink allowed, as he plated the eggs.
Inky yelled something unflattering about the state of the bacon's garden, and the bacon sizzled.
"Señora Toriel's heart will never belong to you, you uncultured esqueleto!" Inky continued.
The bacon was suddenly ready.
Inky cheered again; he was really good at being mean! "It's done!"
"Well done, Inky!" Ink plated this round of bacon and put some more on the pan.
Inky glared at the new bacon. "You son of a motherless goat! You'll never get an A on the spelling bee!"
The next batch was suddenly ready.
"Wow. That was faster than the last one." Inky commented, before looking at Ink and smiling. "They're done!"
"Very good!" Ink grinned, putting more bacon on. "Only one more batch left!"
Inky smiled proudly before going back to glaring and threatening the food. "Cook faster or I'll tie you up and leave you in the white place for eternity!"
The bacon was suddenly ready to eat.
Inky clapped his hands and giggled. "Yay!"
"Well, let's eat!" Ink set two plates on the table.
Inky moved his chair back to the table and ate his food, glad he could help with cooking breakfast. Ink also began to eat his breakfast; he was looking forward to Ink'splaydatelater! Inky hummed happily as he finished his breakfast, oblivious to his daddy's dark plans.
When he was finished, he got dressed for the day and grabbed his backpack; his homework was already inside. "I'm ready to go to school now!"
"All right!" Ink grinned, opening a portal to Inky's school. "Don't forget!"
"I won't!" Inky assured, smacking his arm for good measure.
Running through the portal, he went straight to his classroom and looked for the kid from gym class, who was sitting at his desk, doodling.
Inky walked over and smiled. "Hi!"
"What doyouwant?" The other kid rolled their eyes.
Inky frowned briefly, before his smile returned. "I want to be friends. My daddy is making a cake and you can come to my house to eat it. Then we'll be friends!"
The other child thought it over, before nodding. "Okay."
"Yay!" Inky cheered. "You can come over after school; we can eat cake, draw, and play games!"
"Okay!" The other child was satisfied with the offering.
Class started then. Inky took his seat, legs kicking back and forth as he waited for the school day to end. He couldn't wait to go home and play with his new friend! This school day was much like the others, and Fritz had returned to play with him and Clara! The day soon ended, though, and Inky was ready to go home.
Inky led his new friend to his daddy and the portal home. "Hi, Daddy! This is the kid I told you about. I told them about the cake and everything."
"Oh, it's very nice to meet you!" Ink smiled at the child. "Well, come along!"
Inky followed his daddy through the portal, leading the child along with them.
"Where's the cake?" The child wondered.
"In the basement." Ink answered.
Inky tilted his head before looking up at his daddy. "Why isn't the cake in the kitchen?"
"Because the basement is where we're going to eat it, silly!" Ink grinned.
"Ohhh...!" Inky nodded; that made sense. "Can we eat it now?"
"Sure!" Ink opened the door to the basement.
Inky led the child down the basement stairs, before looking around the room curiously. He'd never been down here before. The basement looked..scary.There were iron bars in the corner of the room, arranged in a pattern to act as a cell, and there were many weapons lined along the walls. Ink locked the door behind them. Inky blinked, backing away slightly. He wasn't sure about this anymore..and he didn't see any cake. The knives on the wall looked pretty though.
He looked up at his daddy for an explanation.
"Inky, it's time I introduced you to thefamily business."Ink announced.
"What's that?" Inky asked, going over to Ink and grabbed his hand; this room wasreallyscary. His new friend didn't seem to like it either.
"Torture."Ink smiled malevolently as the other child began to back away from him.
Inky blinked at the new word; it didn't sound very nice. He glanced at the other child and frowned; they didn't seem to like the word either.
"Daddy...what's torture?" Inky asked hesitantly, as his eyelights, a blue X and purple square, eyed the sharp knives again. "Does it hurt people?"
"Only a little." Ink waved it off. "But this is only a child, so I'm just going to tell you to kick him in the shins."
Inky frowned deeper, and his tone turned scolding. "That's not nice, Daddy. Kicking people isn't nice."
"Perhaps not, but he won't bother you again." Ink chuckled, increasing the strength of his hold on Inky's mind. "Kick him in the shins, son."
Inky frowned. He still didn't want to hurt his new friend, but...he obeyed. Inky went over to the child and kicked their legs.
"Good job!" Ink pulled out a cake. "Now we can eat that cake!"
Inky didn't really feel like eating cake. He fiddled with his fingers and lowered his head, before glancing up at the other child and mumbling, "I'm sorry..."
The other child was crying as Ink handed him a piece of cake, and Inky felt awful. He hadn't evenwantedto hurt the other kid.
So why had he?
Ink put a piece of cake in front of Inky; it was chocolate-flavored, but..Inky glanced up at the cake sadly. He didn't feel like eating chocolate; he just wanted to feel better. And to know why he had hurt the child; he didn't like hurting people.
Inky looked down, brows furrowed in thought.
"Something wrong, Inky?" Ink inquired.
Inky glanced at the other child. "I didn't want to hurt him." He looked up at Ink pleadingly. "But I did! I didn't want to, but I did!"
"Oh, Inky.." Ink hugged his son close. "Do you want me to make you feel better?"
Inky buried his face in Ink's shirt and nodded. "Please, Daddy..."
"All right, baby."
Ink opened a code bar and made a few changes regarding his son's guilt; his beautiful child didn't need that feeling ruining his life, now, did he? Inky could feel his emotions shift. It felt similar to when he would drink yellow when he was sad or mad, but the instant change was noticeable. He no longer felt bad about what he did. A new confusion filled him. He didn't drink his colors, so how had that happened?
Inky's grip on his daddy loosened as he processed this change.
Ink smiled down at his son. "Feel better?"
Inky pulled back from the hug and looked up at Ink with a blank face, nodding lightly.
"Good." Ink smiled, patting Inky's skull. "Now, do you want some cake?"
Inky looked at the chocolate cake and walked back over to it. He ate his cake, uncertain how to feel. He didn't feelbad,but he knew something wasn't right; he would need to think about this later. He focused on this moment and kicked his foot into a table leg, stubbing his toe while Ink continued to eat his cake. With that done, Inky allowed himself to enjoy his cake. When he was finished, he glanced at the other child to see how he was doing, finding that the other child was now happily enjoying his dessert, having forgotten about his hurt shins. Inky was glad to see his new friend feeling better. He didn't feel bad for what he did anymore, but he still wanted everyone to be happy. Inky got himself another piece of cake. After a while, Ink sent the other child home, and he brought Inky back upstairs. Inky glanced back at the basement door, wondering how his daddy used the knives and other things to...torturepeople. What all did torture involve?
Inky had a lot of things to think about.
He looked up at Ink and said, "I'm going to go draw," walking to his room without waiting for a response.
Ink hummed, allowing his son to leave.
When he got to his room, Inky grabbed paper and drawing supplies. He started drawing what he had seen in the basement. The colors he chose however, represented his feelings while down there.
Purple for when they had first entered. Blue when he had hurt his friend. And then...white, for the briefest moments when he was being comforted. A confusing mix of yellow and purple followed shortly after.
A hand went to his vials. No matter his outfit, Inky kept the vials with him. He still only took them every three days or when he felt low; somehow, he instinctually knew when he needed more. The sensation of going from barely feeling to being filled with emotion was indescribable.
As was the sensation of an emotion leaving suddenly.
Inky wasn't sure what happened. But he knew something wasn't right.
Downstairs, Ink wondered whether he had started too soon..he knew he had. Ink wasn't ready for torture; he probably hadn't ever felt spite in his entirelife!He didn't know of the desires or the urges..he was too young. Ink considered wiping Inky's memory of the event; that would have erased everything that had happened..
It would have given Ink an opportunity to ease Inky into it.
Ink needed to make his decision before it was too late to go back.
And, soon enough, Ink had decided; he would do it. Inky needed to enter this slowly, and today had beenmuchtoo fast. Ink walked up to Inky's room, opening the door and looking down at his son.
"Inky..I'm sorry for what I did today." Ink stated. "Can I give you a hug?"
Inky looked up from his drawings and looked at his daddy. His face was blank, contemplating. He had hidden his pictures of the basement, and now he had a picture of a flower in front of him; it was an old picture, the edges worn, and there was a tear.
Inky nodded and raised his arms. "Mhm..."
"Thank you." Ink hugged his son, and he silently wiped his memory of the day as he told him how much he loved him.
Inky hugged his daddy. With the memory gone, and the pictures left forgotten behind his dresser, Inky didn't know why he was being comforted, but he was happy that his daddy was there. "I love you too, Daddy!"
"Now, is there anything fun you'd like to do?" Ink inquired.
Inky smiled brightly, all his past worries forgotten (how had that happened?). "I want to play outside!"
"Let's go, then!" Ink picked up Ink and put him on his shoulders, zooming him out to the backyard.
Inky squealed in laughter, clinging to Ink's head. "Faster, Daddy!"
"Hold on!" Ink grinned, running faster.
Inky gripped the top of Ink's head tighter. "Yeah!"
When they got outside, Ink set Inky down on the slide, allowing him to slide down immediately after the landing.
Inky giggled and raised his arms over his head as he went down the slide. "Weee!" When he landed, he got up and ran around the yard. "You can't catch me!"
"Oh, yes, I can!" Ink chased after Inky, giggling happily.
Inky ran around the swing set and ducked around the the seesaw. "Nuh-uh! I'm too fast!"
"Not if I use my full speed!" Ink sped up a little.
Inky ran back around to the slide, climbing up the ladder to escape. He slid down and prepared to run again, and Ink decided to play along, climbing up the slide and sliding down before continuing the chase.
Inky returned to the swing set and shimmied up the supports, sitting himself down on the top. "You can't get me now!"
"Oh, no, whatever shall I do?" Ink dramatically put his hand to his skull.
Inky blew a raspberry at Ink. "Ha ha! I'm taller than you now!"
"I see that!" Ink smirked. "But this also means that you won't be able to help make dinner unless you come down!"
Inky gasped; he hadn't thought of that! "What?! No fair!"
"Well, you have to come down!" Ink shrugged.
"No!" Inky stuck his tongue out at his daddy.
"Then I guess you'll be skipping dinner!"
Inky squawked indignantly. "No!" He scrambled off the swing set, hanging by his hands and kicking his legs; he swung himself off and landed in a crouch before taking off past his daddy. "I'm going to beat you to the kitchen!"
"Not if I beat you first!"
Inky ran faster and made it to the back door first; when he got there, he grinned up at his daddy. "Ha! I win!"
"Good job!" Ink congratulated.
Inky giggled, running inside; he soon grabbed a chair and moved it towards the stove, while Ink began to grab some ingredients from the fridge before setting them on the counter.
Inky looked at the ingredients curiously. "What we making?"
"Fried chicken." Ink answered.
"That sounds yummy!"
"It will be! Can you get me a plate and a paper towel?"
Inky moved his chair and retrieved the requested items.
"Thank you, Inky!" Ink smiled happily. "Now, I'll start cleaning the chicken."
"Okay." Inky watched Ink prepare the chicken.
Ink made sure that the chicken was entirely clean before cutting off the bits he didn't want Inky eating and throwing them away. After that, he allowed Inky to bread the chicken, and Inky followed his daddy's instructions on how to bread chicken carefully. He coated the chicken pieces in the breading and placed the ready ones where Ink had told him. After Inky finished the breading, Ink placed the breaded chicken on a prepared pan and began to cook. When all the chicken was breaded, Inky washed his hands as Ink had instructed and sat down in his chair to wait.
He kicked his legs back and forth as he waited for the chicken to cook. "How long does it take?"
"A little longer than other things, but not too long." Ink replied.
Inky glared at the chicken, shouting. "If I yell at it, it'll cook faster!"
"Good idea!" Ink encouraged.
"Cook faster, or I'll make you go to bed early! And no dessert after midnight!" Inky shouted his childish threats.
The chicken was terrified.
Inky threw more threats at the chicken - all ones he'd heard adults say on TV - and Ink chuckled at the threats; he was glad that he hadn't allowed Inky to watch any adult programming..that would have been bad.
The chicken was cooking rapidly.
Inky followed up with a threat on the chicken's life. A rather pointless threat, but what was it going to do?
The chicken was almost done, now.
Inky was getting impatient and started screaming at the chicken. "Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!"
The chicken, so terrified from this outburst, burned.
"Whoops..." Inky muttered.
"That's all right." Ink assured. "It happens to meallthe time."
Inky pouted. "Do we have to start all over?"
"Well..we could cheat."
Inky perked up. "Yeah?"
Ink created some perfectly-cooked chicken to replace the burnt chicken. "Voila!"
Inky gasped. "Woah!"
"Pretty cool, huh?" Ink chuckled.
Inky nodded. "That's so cool! I can make stuff too, but not food!" He picked up one of his vials. "I made these; it was super hard."
"That's very good!" Ink approved. "Are you ready to eat?"
"Mhm!" Inky jumped down from his chair and pushed it back to the table. "I'm hungry!"
"All right!" Ink put some food on the table, and he sat down at his seat to eat.
Inky dug into the food happily. It was really good! Ink occasionally had to remind Inky to use his utensils, but other than that, the meal was quiet. Inky's face was greasy by the end of it, but that was okay; he just wiped it off on his shirt. Ink made a mental note to give Inky another bath later.
When he was finished, Inky hopped off his chair. "Can we play now?"
"Sure!" Ink nodded, putting the plates in the sink. "What do you want to play?"
"Hide and seek!" Inky said. "I'll hide!"
He ran off before Ink could say anything else.
Ink chuckled and began to count as Inky hid in a closet upstairs; the child was giggling loudly. When Ink finished counting, he began to look for Inky, making sure that his footsteps were very loud and that he called Inky's name every twenty seconds or so. As Ink got closer, Inky muffled his giggles; he tucked himself behind some boxes and covered his mouth.
"Is thatlaughterI hear?" Ink hummed loudly, stomping closer to Ink.
Inky shook with silent laughter as he hid. Daddy wouldneverfind him; this was the perfect hiding place!
"Hmmmmmmm..." Ink smiled. "Could Inky be in thecloset?"
A tiny gasp could be heard from the closet.
"Hmm..nah,he isn't!" Ink giggled. "Maybe he's under the bed!"'
Inky sighed in relief; he had almost been caught.
"Well, I should probably check the closet, anyway." Ink decided.
"No!" Inky gasped, before smacking his mouth shut with wide eyes.
The door to the closet slid open slowly -veryslowly, but Inky thought quickly and grabbed an open box, shoving it over his head. Papers spilled out on the floor.
He was very sneaky.
"Hmm.." Ink stared at the mess. "Guess he isn't here."
Inky giggled under the box.
"Well, I guess he'll miss out on dessert..what a shame." Ink smirked.
Inky squawked. "I want dessert!" He ripped the box off his head and looked at Ink hopefully.
Ink gasped. "You were there the entire time?"
Inky giggled. "Yeah! You couldn't find me! I win!"
"Good job!" Ink congratulated. "How about some nice cream?"
"Yeah!" Inky jumped up.
"Come along, then!" Ink began to lead Inky to the kitchen.
Inky skipped after him; he wanted dessert! When Ink got downstairs, he made some nice cream for him and Inky. Inky got Rocky Road nice cream, and it was yummy!
"Thank you, Daddy!" Inky thanked.
"Of course, Inky!" Ink smiled.
Inky ate his ice cream, and, as could have been easily predicted, he was very messy at the end of it. Ink wiped his face before allowing Inky to leave the kitchen.
"I'm gonna go draw!" Inky got up and skipped to his room. He grabbed paper and crayons and brought them to the living room, where he knelt down by the coffee table and started drawing.
"Okay!" Ink nodded, beginning to clean up the kitchen.
Inky hummed to himself as he drew a picture of his daddy, who was currently washing the dishes.
Inky worked really hard on his drawing, and whenhen he was done, he took the picture to the kitchen. "Daddy, look what I drew!"
"That's wonderful, Inky!" Ink grinned. "You're very good at drawing!"
"Thanks, Daddy! Do you wanna draw with me?"
"Sure!" Ink agreed, following Inky to the living room.
Inky pushed some paper and crayons to his daddy. "Here you go."
"Thank you, Inky." Ink accepted the gift.
"You're welcome!" Inky went back to drawing; now he was drawing cartoon characters.
Ink began to draw a scenic landscape, and they drew pictures for about an hour. Now, it was time for a bath.
"Do you want to take a bath?" Ink asked.
Inky perked up and grinned. "Yeah! Bubbles!"
"All right, let's go!" Ink smiled, beginning to lead Inky to the bathroom.
Inky took off his clothes and climbed into the tub. It hadn't been filled yet, but he was eager; bubbles were fun! Ink chuckled at his son's eagerness, turning on the faucet and beginning to fill the tub. Inky scooted over to the faucet and made motions as if he were squeezing the water; he giggled when that resulted in spraying himself. Ink rolled his eyelights, pouring some bubble soap into the tub, and Inky swirled his fingers in the rising water, mixing the bubble soap in. When there were enough bubbles, he scooped some up and blew them at Ink.
"Hey!" Ink giggled, returning fire.
Squeals of laughter echoed through the bathroom as Inky retaliated by splashing. Ink splashed back, but he managed to keep his attacks within the tub, unlike Inky. Soon, the bubbles were gone, and the floor was soaked. Inky still wanted to play, but he needed to get clean. He was on his front, sliding back and forth in the tub, making waves, and Ink took this opportunity to clean Inky's spine first. Inky giggled and wiggled to escape the cleaning cloth, but Ink would not let up, making sure his son was squeaky clean! Inky ultimately failed to escape the cleaning portion of bathtime. He was clean within minutes, and after that was done, Ink allowed Inky to play with some bath toys.
Inky played with the rubber ducks and boats. "Arg! I am the pirate ducky! I will plunder all your stuff!"
Ink hummed, checking the state of the multiverse via code while his son was occupied with his playing.
Inky splashed the duck into the boat. "Ha! Take that!"
The boat was mortally wounded. Inky splashed around the boat, trying to sink it; unfortunately, it was very buoyant. In addition, the water level in the tub wasn't very high; the boat would have still survived if it touched the bottom. Inky picked up the duck and held it up to Ink's face. He squeaked it and giggled, but Ink only sighed, smiling at his son. He made no attempt to retaliate.
Inky squeaked the duck some more and made a funny voice to pretend that the duck was talking. "I am a duck. I am going to yell at you. Rawr!"
Ink chuckled, continuing his work.
Inky lowered the rubber duck and asked, "Whatcha doing?"
"Working." Ink replied.
"What kinda working?" Inky asked, leaning over the edge of the tub.
"I'm making sure everything is all right in the multiverse."
"Can I see?" Inky asked; he stood up and leaned against Ink's shoulder, trying to see what he was doing.
"Sure." Ink turned his code bar towards Inky.
Inky blinked at the code bar. It looked...
His head buzzed lightly. He thought he'd seen something like this before..but he wasn't sure what it was.
"What's that?" He asked lightly.
"Code." Ink replied, before closing the code bar. "It's what the world is made out of."
"Am I made of code too?" Inky tilted his head; he'd heard that word before too. He couldn't remember where, though.
"Yes, you are!" Ink nodded.
"Oh." Inky blinked.
Since he didn't know what to do with that information, he went back to playing. He tried to sink the boat again by stacking other toys on top while Ink smiled, beginning to clean up the water that had landed on the floor. The boat did not sink, but the other toys fell off and splashed in the water. Inky scooped some water up in a little cup and poured it on his head.
"Ah!" Some of the water got in his sockets. He blinked and stuck his tongue out, making a face; that felt weird!
"Are you okay?" Ink inquired.
"It's in my head!" He tried to shake it out, but he just made himself dizzy.
"Ah, here, let me help." Ink picked up a cloth and began to get the water out of Inky's skull.
Inky was still making a face when he was finished. "That feels funny. I don't like it!"
He was done with his bath now and stood up, starting to climb out.
"It can be irritating." Ink admitted, wrapping his son in a towel burrito. "Let's get you all dried up!"
Inky nodded and yawned; he was ready for bed now. Today had been very eventful.
Including the parts he doesn't remember.
"Okay, Daddy." He mumbled, sockets droopy.
Ink picked Inky up and carried him to his room, laying him down on his bed, where Inky snuggled under the covers.
He blinked sleepily up at Ink. "Can you tell me a story?"
"Sure." Ink nodded. "Once upon a time, there was an evil coalition."
Ink continued the story, watching his son with love as he said each and every line, and Inky listened with a small smile. After a few minutes, Ink finished his story, and Inky was out like a light, breathing softly. Ink smiled, standing up and going to his room for a good night's rest, too.
Early next morning, Inky woke up and stretched with a big yawn. He rubbed his sockets and sat up, blinking sleepily at the wall. Getting out of bed, he padded down the hallway and went to Ink's room. He pulled himself up into the bed and crawled under the covers, tucking himself into Ink's side. Ink hummed, wrapping an arm around his son and hugging him close; today was a Saturday, which meant that there was no school. Inky cuddled Ink as he fell back asleep in his daddy's arms, and Ink simply continued to sleep. Inky snuggled deeper into his warm hold and gripped Ink's shirt in his sleep and Ink, to everyone's joy, did not snore. After some time, Inky woke up; he was no longer tired and wanted to play. He sat up and looked around the room and down at his daddy; Ink appeared to still be asleep. Inky's eyelights drifted to the pillow under the adult's head. He remembered the knife his daddy kept under there. Daddy said not to touch it, but...
Inky stuck his tongue out and lifted the pillow to get a peek.
The knife was still there, and it was still as sharp as ever.
Ink continued to snooze.
Inky stared at it. He wanted to touch it. But Daddy said not to...
Inky got an idea. He picked up a corner of the blanket and used it to cover his hand as he reached for the knife.Technically,he wasn't touching it...
The knife was rather heavy for the child, weighing a hefty five pounds. Inky pulled it out from under the pillow with a grunt, sitting on his knees and studying it. He tilted his head and scanned it from tip to handle.
It was shiny...
The knife blade seemed new, but the handle was a bit worn out; perhaps Ink used it a lot? Inky reached a hand out to touch it, but he stopped himself. Nope. Daddy said not to. He glanced up to see if Daddy was awake yet, but Ink was still fast asleep, unaware of his son's thought processes. Inky looked back at the knife. He took the blanket and tried to lift it again, but it slipped-
And now there was a hole in the bed sheet. Inky gasped and quickly covered the knife and hole with the blanket. He looked back at Ink with wide sockets, and Ink finally stirred, yawning as he slowly began to open his eyesockets. There was time for Inky to do something before Ink would become lucid again, though; Inky tried to subtly push the knife back under the pillow, still keeping the blanket between him and the handle.
"Hey, Inky.." Ink yawned. "Morning already?"
Inky pulled his hands back to himself; the knife was under the pillow. "Mhm. Good morning!"
"How are you feeling this morning, Inky?" Ink asked, sitting up to stretch.
Inky smiled innocently. "I want to play! Can we play something now?"
"Sure!" Ink smiled, crawling out of bed and beginning to change his clothes. "Put your day clothes on, and we'll find something fun to play."
"Okay!" Inky slid off the bed and skipped to his room; he didn't get caught! That had been a close one.
When Ink was dressed, he went downstairs to wait for Inky on the couch..maybe he would just take him out to eat again; he was tired. Inky soon came downstairs, dressed for the day.
He grinned up at his daddy brightly. "Hi! Can we play now?"
"Do you want to get some breakfast, first?" Ink asked.
"Okay!"
"All right, do you want to cook or go out?"
"Hmmm...I want to go out!" Inky exclaimed; he bounced up and down, excited to see where they would go today.
"All right!" Ink smiled, happy that he wouldn't have to cook breakfast. "Do you want to go to the same place as before, or somewhere else?"
"Somewhere else!" Inky continued to bounce up and down, excited to go somewhere new.
"Okay!" Ink smiled, knowing where to go. "Would you like to go to a kids' restaurant? They'll have games to play, and maybe a playground!"
"Yeah!" Ink shouted.
"Let's go, then!"
Ink opened a portal, and Inky followed him through. The portal led to a restaurant that had two distinct areas: an eating area and a place for children to play. Ink held Inky's hand before his son could think about running off just yet, leading him over to get a table first. Inky craned his neck to look at the play place as Ink led him to the table. He sat down in his chair, but he kept glancing back at the play area.
"Let's order our food first, and then you can play, okay?" Ink compromised.
"Okay." Inky replied, distracted by watching the other kids play.
The waiter came soon enough, asking for their orders. Ink looked to Inky, wondering what he had chosen.
"Um...I want this!" He pointed to a picture of some corn dogs on the menu.
"All right!" Ink nodded. "He'll have a corn dog, and..what do you want to drink, Inky?"
"Tea!" He demanded with a smile.
"Hot or cold?"
"Hot." Inky nodded; there was simply no other way to drink it.
"Very well." Ink accepted. "He'll have that, and I'll have a bowl of the soup of the day with just a vodka martini - shaken, not stirred - please."
The waiter nodded and left.
"All right, you can go play, now." Ink allowed.
Inky didn't need to be told twice! He bolted towards the play area and immediately started climbing things. Ink snickered, watching his son run off.
Inky went down a slide and ran back up the into the play set, where he found another kid in there. "Hello!"
"Hi!" The other child returned. "Do you like dinos?"
"Yeah!" Inky had seen a cartoon with dinos, and he thought they were cool. "Do you want to pretend to be dinos?"
"Sure!" The other agreed.
"I'm gonna be a triceratops!" Inky declared.
He stuck two fingers out from his forehead and used his other hand to make a horn over his nose hole. He grunted and snuffled like an animal to mimic what he thought a triceratops sounded like.
"I'll be a pterodactyl!" The other grinned, flailing his arms around and cawing.
Inky snuffed some more, pretending that he was headbutting the other child. Only pretend. He didn't want to hurt his new friend. The other began to fight back, but he wasn't really hurting Inky, either. They squawked and grunted at each other in the tunnel for a few minutes, but soon, Ink came over to tell Inky that their food was ready. Inky said goodbye to his friend and went down the slide before going to the table to start eating his corndogs. Ink sipped his vodka martini that had been shaken, not stirred, while Inky finished one of his corndogs and chewed on the stick. It still tasted like corndog. While Ink began to eat his soup, Inky drank his tea. After the two were finished eating, Ink allowed Inky to go back and play, and Inky ran back to the play place to climb the kid-friendly rock wall. It was barely three three feet off the ground. This led to a tunnel in the play set, and he crawled around until he found the slide again. He slid down and repeated the process as Ink simply watched his son from afar. When Inky was tired, he came back to his daddy and sat down to finish his tea.
"Did you have fun?" Ink asked.
Inky nodded his head as he drank, spilling tea down his chin. "Mhm!"
"Good!" Ink decided not to pay attention to the mess.
Inky finished and set the cup down. "Can you come play with me?"
"I'm afraid that I'm too old." Ink shook his skull. "They wouldn't let me in."
Inky pouted. "That's not fair!"
"It is what it is."
Inky looked down with a frown, but after a moment of thought, he looked back up with a cheeky grin. "What if you did itanyway?"
"Then we'd get thrown out and probably never be able to come here again." Ink informed.
Inky pouted again, crossing his arms and grumbling. "That's stupid..."
"Yes, but those are the rules." Ink shrugged. "Do you want to go home, now?"
"Rules are stupid..." Inky grumbled under his breath, before looking back up and nodding. "Can we get dessert too?"
"Dessert for breakfast?" Ink raised an eyebrow.
Inky grinned widely, seeing no problems with this. "Yeah!"
"All right, but just this once." Ink chuckled. "What do you want?"
"Hmm...I want ice cream!" Inky exclaimed.
"Okay." Ink called a waiter over and ordered the requested treat, which arrived within five minutes.
It was chocolate ice cream, and Inky soon becameverymessy. The ice cream dripped down the cone and stained his sleeve. Somehow, there was ice cream on his forehead as well. Ink made a mental note to give Inky another bath..
Inky raised his cone to Ink and asked, "Do you want some?"
"No, thanks - it's yours." Ink insisted.
"Okay."
Inky went back to his treat. Once he couldn't get any more ice cream from the top, he lifted it up and bit the bottom of the cone. He sucked the melted ice cream out before he munched on the rest of the cone. Ink hummed a tune as he pulled out enough money to pay the bill, while Inky swallowed the last bite and stuck his tongue out to lick the bits that got stuck around his mouth.
Ink put the money down on the table before looking to his son. "Ready to go?"
Inky nodded, wiping rest on his shirt. He grinned up at Ink. "I'm ready!"
"All right." Ink opened a portal home. "Let's go."
Inky skipped through the portal into the living room, where he stood in front of the TV and looked back at Ink. "I wanna watch a movie!"
"All right." Ink turned on the television. "I have to do some work, but I'll put something on for you, okay?"
"What you doing?" Inky asked, slightly distracted by what Ink was putting on.
"I need to finish checking some code and making sure that nothing is malfunctioning." Ink explained, turning on a child-friendly movie. "Here, you'll like this one."
Inky was quickly entranced with the show, and Ink left the room to work. Without taking his eyelights off the TV, Inky walked to the couch and sat down. Ink's work took him about three hours to finish, and he had switched Inky to a different movie when the first one had ended. When he finally finished his work, he sat down on the couch and sighed.
Inky scooted over and climbed into Ink's lap. "Are you done working?"
"All done." Ink nodded. "How did you enjoy your movies?"
"They were fun!"
Inky launched into an hour-long recount of everything that happened in the movies. He even got down and acted out a few scenes to demonstrate. He then spent another half hour talking about apples, because one of the characters in the one of the movies really liked apples. Ink listened patiently to his son's ramblings, smiling all the while; he was glad that his son was so energetic and happy!
Inky wasn't even out of breath when he finished; he ran back to Ink and asked, "Can you play with me now?"
"I suppose." Ink nodded. "What do you want to play?"
"Hide and seek!" Inky shouted, jumping up and down.
"Okay, you go hide!" Ink covered his eyesockets and began to count.
Inky ran off and hid in his daddy's room, under the bed. This time, he was quiet. When Ink finished counting, he wandered the house, calling out for Inky and making his footsteps loud again, but Inky remained tucked under the bed, careful not to make a sound.
"Inky!" Ink called out, stomping up the stairs.
Inky gasped, hands over his mouth to muffle the sound. He scooted further under the bed as Ink stomped down the hallway, looking into each room. Inky listened closely to the foot steps, watching for any feet that might have gotten closer. After a little while, Ink entered his room, calling out for Inky.
When his legs got close enough, Inky shot a hand out from under the bed and grabbed Ink's ankle. "Gotcha!"
"Woah!"Ink jumped, not having expected that. "Heh, I guess you got me!"
Inky giggled, slinking back under the bed. "I'm sneaky..."
"Well, my little sneaky son, how would you like to find me for a change?" Ink offered.
Inky poked his head out from under the bed and grinned. "Okay!"
He pulled it back under and started to count. Some letters may have gotten mixed in..and he might have simply just switched to singing the alphabet, but nonetheless, Ink left the room and went downstairs. He hid inside the fireplace, climbing up a bit so his feet wouldn't be seen. Inky finished his song and went to look for Ink. He searched the closets, under the sink, in the bathroom...
Ink wondered how Sansta could stand being in such a cramped place..
Inky wandered into the living room and checked under the couch, under the cushions, and behind it, too. He was rather noisy with his searching.
Ink couldn't help a small yelp when he slipped a bit; he regained his footing, but it might not have been enough..
Inky perked up and looked around. He sneaked closer towards the source of the noise. "Daddy~ I heard you~"
"No, you didn't!" Ink refuted.
Inky giggled and ducked his head into the fireplace. "Found you!"
"That you did." Ink smiled, coming down. "Good job!"
Inky poked his daddy as soot fell off him. "You're dirty." Inky smiled up at him and declared, "You need a bath!"
"I suppose I do..but you need one, too!" Ink chuckled. "Come on, you first."
"Nuh- uh! I'm not dirty." Inky protested. He held his arms out as if to show how clean he was, but the ice cream stains and dust bunnies revealed the truth. "See! I don't need one. I wanna play more."
"You can play in the bathtub." Ink informed.
Inky gasped. "I forgot!"
He then ran to the bathroom and looked for the bath toys, while Ink rolled his eyelights before following Inky to the bathroom. Inky found the toys and dumped them in the tub. He then tried to get in without taking his clothes off.
"Inky, maybe take your clothes off first?" Ink suggested. "It'll be a lot easier to clean you."
Inky looked down, finally noticing the stains, before looking back up and suggesting, "I can clean my clothes too. They're dirty."
"That's what a washing machine is for, Inky." Ink chuckled.
"Oh."
Inky thought for a minute. He then decided he didn't care, but since wet clothes were heavy, he took them off and threw them out of the tub. His shirt landed on Ink's face. Ink sighed, pulling the shirt off his face before beginning to fill the tub. Inky stuck the boat under the water and made the rubber duck act out a scene from the movie he watched earlier, and Ink watched his son play while he cleaned his bones. The bath eventually finished, as baths tended to do. Unless one was a fish.
When he was all clean and done playing with the toys, Inky smiled up at Ink. "Your turn!"
"All right." Ink hummed, taking his clothes off. "I'm gonna take a shower, though."
"Okay!" Inky tilted his head. "What's a shower?"
"It's basically when you turn the water on and clean yourself standing up, I guess." Ink explained.
Inky looked at the bathtub faucet. It was shorter thanhim,even. He didn't think standing up was very practical. One would have had to bend down a lot. Ink soon drained the tub and turned on the showerhead, but Inky was still in the tub, and he was surprised when water fell on his head.
He covered his sockets and shouted, "It's raining!"
"It's just the shower." Ink chuckled. "This is how adults get clean."
Inky shielded his eyelights and squinted up at the showerhead. "No, it's raining water!"
"Maybe so, but it's still how adults clean themselves."
Inky hummed, standing up. He waved his hands in the spray curiously. Inside rain was weird. It didn't feel like normal rain. This stuff came down faster.
Curiosity satisfied for now, he moved to get out of the tub. He slipped though-
But Ink was ready, catching his son before anything bad could happen to him. He also totally didnotwipe Inky's memories and heal his injuries from any accidental falls!
Inky blinked, unaware of anything that totally didn't happen.
He smiled up at his daddy, "Thank you, Daddy!" He then noticed his daddy's arms, and his sockets widened. "You have pictures too!"
"Pictures?" Ink raised an eyebrow.
Inky pointed to the tattoos on his own arms and then Ink's. "See? You have pictures on your arms, just like me."
"Ah, yes." Ink nodded. "These are just markings, but since everyone assumes they're tattoos, I just call them that."
Inky hummed, tilting his head. He traced a finger along the pattern. "Where do they come from?"
"They're tiny bits of code that have managed to make their home on our bones." Ink shrugged. "I'm not sure how it happened, but it happened."
"Oh." Inky lifted his arm and looked at the markings; for as long as he could remember, they'd always been there. "They're pretty, though."
"Yes, they are." Ink admitted. "Now, I need to get into the shower."
"Okay!" Inky let go and went to his room to get dressed.
Ink began to take his shower, and Inky got dressed and decided to draw while he waited. Ink's shower took twenty minutes, and when he was done, he went to his room and got dressed. By the time Ink got out, Inky had drawn pictures of flowers and apples - some animals, too.
When Ink was dressed and clean, he went to Inky's room. "Hungry?"
Inky abandoned his drawings and stood up. "Yeah!"
"Come on, and I'll make you something." Ink began to lead Inky to the kitchen.
When the two arrived, Inky grabbed his chair again and pushed it to the counter. He climbed up and asked, "What are we making?"
"How about tacos?" Ink offered.
"That sounds yummy." Inky hummed. "Can I help?"
"Sure!" Ink nodded. "Grab whatever you'd like from the fridge, and..I'll make sure that your taco will taste good..I won't give youeverythingyou pick."
"Why not...?" Inky pouted.
"Well, some things taste good apart, but not together - like ketchup and soup!"
Now Inky wanted to try that. "But, I like soup. But...I've never had ketchup...does it taste good?"
"Yes, but not with soup."
Inky still wanted to try it. But not today; today, they were having tacos. Inky jumped off his chair and went to the fridge. He pulled out a bunch of veggies, including carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms, before grabbing the jelly, ketchup, pickles, and a carton of orange juice. Ink began to prepare the tacos, and Inky watched as his daddy cooked some ground beef in a pan, adding seasonings as needed. Ink cooked some tortillas on the burner and placed them in a cloth to stay warm. Next, Ink sautéed the mushrooms and diced the tomatoes, and Inky got to put the tomatoes in a bowl! Lettuce was stripped into smaller pieces and chopped up, and the juice was poured into cups to accompany the food. When the food was finished, Ink gave Inky a custom-made taco, and he grabbed one for himself. There was plenty extra in case these didn't fill the duo up.
Inky took a bite of his taco and hummed; there was clearly no jelly, but it tasted too good for him to care. "Thank you, Daddy!"
"You're welcome." Ink smiled, eating his own taco.
Inky somehow managed to keep the food in the tacos, and he ate three before he was full. Ink managed to eat six, which was probably a big mistake, but he couldn't take it back, now. When they were done, Inky hopped out of the chair and asked to play some more, and for the rest of the day, Ink and Inky played happily.
They were such a loving family.
