Ink loved his new home. He loved all the colors and places he could explore. He loved the food he got to eat and the room Nightmare gave him. He loved the sofa in Nightmare's office that he slept on more often than the bed in his room. He loved the name he'd been given, but most of all he loved that Nightmare hadn't abandoned him.

Nightmare had taken him in and given him a home despite the trouble he seemed to cause him. Ink had never had anyone to interact with that actually truly acknowledged his presence (he didn't count the sketch of what was supposed to be his brother since it was the only thing besides the scarf their creator had given to the taller sketch) and so had never had to curb his play before. As a result he had caused Nightmare a fair bit of trouble when running around the castle exploring.

It was hard though! How was Ink supposed to know climbing roofs and bookshelves wasn't okay? He didn't have either of those before! But he could see so much farther and so much more when he was up high! He loved being up in high places! But Nightmare seemed to panic when he would find him on the roofs outside of the tower windows or up on top of the library book shelves. The Guardian had taken to keeping watch over Ink in his office during the day instead of letting him wander freely. Ink felt awful about it since Nightmare seemed to be so stressed over other things as well. Nightmare would make him food throughout the day though, so Ink hoped he wasn't super upset with him over all his trouble.

That was why he was shocked when Nightmare said he would be leaving and Ink would remain at the castle.
"You're leaving?" Ink asked nervously, as he watched Nightmare from over the edge of his desk.

"There is a world that has a high point of negativity that I wish to investigate." Nightmare responded, his attention seeming to be elsewhere.
"...Will you come back to see me?" Ink asked softly. He didn't know what he did wrong, but he supposed being left here at a castle was better than being back there.

Nightmare seemed to jolt out of his thoughts at his question and Ink shrunk back slightly, worried he'd asked too much.
"Ink, I will only be gone for a few hours at most. I'm not abandoning you." Nightmare said calmly, a tentacle reaching over the desk to the child.

"Promise?"

Ink's voice was small and sounded much more like a plea to himself than a question, but still he reached out and grabbed onto the tentacle. It slid through his hands until it wrapped around him and pulled him up and over the desk closer to Nightmare.
"I promise, Ink." He assured, before turning to a desk drawer and opening it. The Guardian hesitated for a moment before reaching in and pulling out a gold circlet with a crescent moon. Nightmare turned back to him with it in his hand and held it out.
"This is very important to me, I'm trusting you to hold onto it until I return, alright?"

Ink stared at the circlet for a second before carefully taking it in his small hands and smiled at the Guardian.
"I'll take good care of it, I promise." Ink replied firmly. Nightmare's eyelight softened slightly before he set Ink down beside his chair and pet his head for a moment.

"I'll be back soon." Nightmare insisted, before leaving through a portal.

He stared at the spot where the portal was for several minutes, afraid to move. Nightmare promised he'd be back. He promised he wouldn't abandon him. He even gave Ink his circlet to keep safe while he was gone. Ink wasn't back there. He wouldn't be abandoned again.

Fighting past the fear, Ink took a deep breath before heading off for the library. He would read while Nightmare was gone to pass the time. He had been excited when Nightmare had shown him the library and had laughed when the Guardian had been shocked he knew how to read. Now Ink often found books and took them to Nightmare's office to read while the Guardian looked over paperwork.

Nightmare looked around as he appeared inside the AU. According to the code the AU was actually an Alternate Timeline called Something New. He'd felt a lot of negativity coming from this AT for a long time, but hadn't thought it necessary to look into it. With Ink now in his care he was gonna need help taking care of his Guardian duties in order to watch the little one. However, he was expecting to have a possible pick of a few people to hire. He was taken a bit by surprise that the amount of Negative emotions were coming from a single being within the Timeline.

Stepping forward he inspected the being that was knelt in the snow of the forest outside of Snowdin. It appeared to be the Sans of this Timeline, not surprising it always seemed to be the Sans' that often survived the horrors that happened to their worlds. He was surprised however, when the Sans spun around to face him and brandished a knife in his direction with a manic grin on his skull.

Nightmare easily avoided the attack and slapped the Sans away from him with a slight smirk at the fact the other had even tried. They traded blows for a few moments before Nightmare grew bored and wrapped the other up in one tentacle before slamming him into the ground. The other cursed and struggled in his hold, but Nightmare's hold wouldn't be broken by a common Sans.

"You've got skill and guts, I could use that." Nightmare said conversationally, making the other look at him with empty sockets.

It was interesting now that he got a close look at the being. He appeared to have black tears coming from his sockets and his soul appeared to be a target shape instead of the typical monster soul. Interesting indeed.

"Fuck you." The Sans cursed, making Nightmare out right laugh at his gal. He can't remember the last time someone wasn't immediately afraid of him. Well Ink didn't count, the child had been afraid of his sudden presence, but not his appearance but that was because he was cut off from the Multiverse and information that caused most to learn how to fear something's appearance.

"No thanks. As I said I could use skills like yours, so why don't you come with me? I will give you a purpose again, one that is clearly gone from your world." Nightmare suggested, slowly releasing the other.

The Sans stared at him for a moment before slowly standing.
"And what would working for you entail exactly?" He asked, cautious even as his curiosity clearly grew.
"You would run errands for me mostly. Handle AUs that are more negative. You would help me gather supplies and provide protection for those under my dominion and handle anyone who tries to cause problems." Nightmare explained. It would be good to be able to send someone out that could handle the pests he didn't want to deal with.

"And if I refuse?" The other demanded.

"Then I'll simply leave you here. As the Guardian of Negativity, I have no need for someone who will conspire against me behind my back."

The other got a thoughtful look upon his skull before he slowly began to grin and knelt down to bow towards Nightmare. The Prince of Negativity was briefly surprised but quickly smirked at the show of fealty.
"What do you call yourself?" He asked, causing the skeleton to jolt slightly. There was a pause for several moments as Nightmare waited for a response.
"Killer."
"Killer… fitting for one who will be my right hand. I am Nightmare, but you will call me Boss."

"Sure thing Boss."

Nightmare smirked at the other before grabbing him up in a tentacle and teleporting home without giving any warning. He didn't want to be there much longer since it was already pushing the amount of time he'd been away. Ink would probably be getting anxious about now.