Ink eagerly hurried down the hall towards Nightmare's office, briefly spotting Horror on his way to the kitchen to make breakfast. Nightmare had told him when Horror first joined them at the castle that he did not want Ink alone with the tall skeleton any time soon and Ink listened. This meant he would continue his usual routine of going to Nightmare in his office first to get him for breakfast, Killer too if he's there.
He pushed the door to the office open and grinned when he saw Nightmare and Killer in the office. Killer had been pretty busy since Horror joined them and had only been in the castle for breakfast once this week.
"Horror's making breakfast!" Ink exclaimed, receiving both of their attention instantly.
"Very well." Nightmare responded as he stood.
"Let's go squirt." Killer said, stepping over and scooping the child up as he giggled.
They went to the kitchen, where Horror was making omelets. Ink hadn't had omelets yet and he was excited to try them. As they waited for the food Ink asked about what was in the omelets and if they could add syrup to them. Syrup on his pancakes made them better so it must make omelets better too right?
"It might, but you'd have a better chance with ketchup or Hot sauce." Killer commented in response to his question.
"Ketchup? Like for fries?" Ink asked, perking up slightly in his seat.
"Yeah, like when you use it for fries." Killer agreed, watching with a bored expression as Horror brought over plates for everyone.
"Can I try it with ketchup?" Ink asked eagerly, watching as Nightmare's tentacles gathered drinks for everyone.
"I don't see why not kid." Killer said, handing the bottle of ketchup he had over to Ink.
Ink eagerly turned it over and squeezed the condiment all over the omelet, making the other's chuckle at his eagerness. He handed the bottle back to Killer when he was done and immediately dug into his food with an eager hum. The egg part of the omelet was fluffy and soft while the strange green and red tiny squares of a food Ink didn't recognize were kinda crunchy as he bit into them. Meanwhile the ketchup made the whole thing slightly tangy and salty, but overall it tasted great.
"Good little one?" Nightmare asked as he ate his own omelet.
"Mhm, though I still think syrup would've been better." Ink replied.
The other three chuckled at him again, but didn't disagree with him. They finished up breakfast quickly and Nightmare herded Ink out of the kitchen.
"Can I go get some books from the library?" Ink asked as they stepped into the hall. Nightmare looked at him for a moment before nodding.
"Be quick, if I have to come get you and find you climbing the shelves again, you'll be confined to the office for the rest of the day." Nightmare instructed, letting Ink slip under his tentacle and down the hall.
"I will, promise!" He called back hurrying down the hall and away from his guardian and Killer.
Ink hurried to the library and threw one of the double doors open as he hurried inside. He wanted to pick the books that talked about the different AUs this time. With Nightmare having brought Killer and Horror to the castle, Ink was curious about some of the other worlds that might exist in the multiverse. It was as that thought crossed his head that he stepped up to the bookshelves. The sudden feeling of nothing under his foot made Ink's SOUL skip in fear before he fell through what looked to be a portal and disappeared from the library.
Dust trudged through the forest outside of Snowdin, his gaze skipping over the layers of dust that covered his world. He was getting close to his old Sentry post when he heard a loud thump. He spun around and summoned a ring of bone attacks around him only to freeze as he noticed the tiny skeleton that was sitting in the middle of the snowy path.
"Ow." The child mumbled rubbing his skull.
Dust could do nothing more than blink in surprise at the sudden appearance of a child skeleton. He hadn't seen anyone in a long time. Well, besides Paps, even the Human had delayed in resetting the world. He glanced at Paps looking for some sort of explanation, but received only a confused glance in return. Returning his blue-red gaze to the child, he vanished the bone attacks.
"Uh, you okay baby bones?" Dust asked gently, tensing as the child snapped his head around to stare at him with pin pricked eyelights.
"Who are you? Where am I?" The child asked, looking first at him before glancing around anxiously.
Meanwhile all Dust could see was a tiny Papyrus looking lost and confused at him after the loss of their father. Shaking his head, he quickly wiped the vision away and noticed that the child appeared to resemble him more than Papyrus. Perhaps this was another version of himself from another timeline. But then why were they a child?
"Hey, it's okay. You're safe." He said gently squatting down so he didn't seem so intimidating to the extremely tiny child.
"How did I get here?" The little one asked softly, his eyes welling up with tears.
Before Dust could answer he heard an odd sound as if a computer was glitching out. Snapping his head around, he launched a bone attack at something moving in the corner of his eye and watched as a strange human shaped glitch distorted and disappeared before several more appeared behind where it stood.
"Shit!" He cursed, jumping up and picking the kid up. He yelped in surprise and grabbed onto Dust's arms in surprise before the older short cutted them both away towards Snowdin.
He avoided the appearing human glitches, occasionally putting bone attacks through their heads. He stopped to catch his breath when he put a bit of distance between himself and the glitches, only to stumble as the child began to wriggle and panic.
"I don't wanna be here! I wanna leave!" The kid said frantically sniffeling as he fought tears.
"Easy baby bones, you're okay, I won't let anything hurt you." Dust tried to soothe.
His SOUL stopped however, when he heard what sounded like fighting and yelling coming from the forest. Before he could take a step however, he felt the ground disappear from underneath him and barely had time to panic before he fell through what appeared to be a black portal. Before Dust could shout, they fell through and he was falling through the air of what appeared to be some version of Waterfall. Shifting the child in his arms Dust maneuvered to soften his own landing and rolled so that they didn't take as much damage. The kid most definitely wouldn't be able to afford any injuries.
Dust huffed as he tried to gain his bearings. The Waterfall they were in appeared to be the one he knew, but he couldn't be sure after falling through that portal. He couldn't hear the sounds of glitches or fighting, but they were so far from the Forest and Snowdin that it wasn't very telling. A grunt from the kid in his arms had Dust looking down and meeting a pair of very confused and scared eyelights as the little one wiggled in his grasp.
"Easy baby bones, wherever we are, those glitchy things aren't here yet." Dust reassured, adjusting the kid to hold him better.
He really is tiny. If it wasn't for the fact that he had formed full sentences before Dust would swear that he was only about two. He was smaller then he remembered Paps being when he was forming full sentences.
"I want Nightmare." The kid said in response, making Dust tilt his head at the kid.
"That's the first time I've heard a kid ask for a bad dream." Dust muttered.
"He's talking about me."
Dust clutched the baby bones close as he spun around and summoned a Gaster Blaster to fire at the entity that talked. The one who spoke brought what appeared to be a goopy appendage up and blocked the blast until the Blaster dissipated. Dust starred in surprise and confusion at the strange goopy skeleton that stood before him with several tentacles protruding from his back. He had a single cyan eye that watched him warily while occasionally flicking to the child in his arms.
"I'd appreciate it if you gave Ink to me now." The goopy skeleton said, bringing his arms up slowly and gesturing for him to put the kid down.
The kid, Ink if Goopy was to be believed, wriggled in his single armed hold and tugged on his jacket to try and get free.
"Who the hell are you?!" Dust snapped, settling the kid on his feet, but keeping him close. Just because this strange goopy thing was asking to take the kid didn't mean it was a good idea.
"My name is Nightmare, I'm Ink's Guardian. Ink are you hurt?" Goopy- er Nightmare replied, before aiming his question at the kid.
"I'm okay. I don't know how I got here! I wanna go back to the castle!" Ink sniffled, his eye sockets watering as the little one was clearly overwhelmed and scared.
"Soon Ink, just be patient." Nightmare instructed before focusing back on Dust.
Dust tensed under the gaze and glared when he saw another skeleton, this one appearing to be a slightly shorter copy of himself with black tear lines under his sockets, came running up. The interaction between Ink and Nightmare made it hard to argue that this goopy entity had sinister motives to get ahold of the kid.
"I can return you to your own AU, the corruption that was happening was only a small instance due to the uncontrolled portal that opened into it. I sealed it up upon our own entry and dealt with the glitches. I can bring you supplies even as payment for protecting Ink." Nightmare suggested, clearly trying to make any kind of deal to get the baby bones back. His almost desperate need to get the kid back made Dust slightly suspicious, but didn't voice it.
"Do you and your lackey even know how to take care of a kid?" Dust asked, summoning a bone attack as the second skeleton stepped forward towards him.
"Who the hell you calling lackey!?" The other demanded angrily.
"Killer!" Nightmare called, looking at him sharply.
The second skeleton, Killer, grumbled and stepped back as he twirled a knife Dust hadn't noticed before.
"Look I understand the caution and if you are that concerned then you can come with us back to my castle, but I would like to get Ink back within the safety of its walls and look over him to be sure he is uninjured." Nightmare responded, his irritation clearly growing as his tentacles lashed behind him agitatedly.
Dust thought about it for a moment before nodding and stepping towards them with the kid. Ink seemed to relax as they got closer and eventually Dust allowed him free enough to scurry to Nightmare. The goopy skeleton immediately knelt and scooped the baby bones into his arms once he was close enough. Dust stood a good couple arm lengths away from them, not that it probably mattered with the additional appendages, and waited to see what happened.
"Killer go get Horror." Nightmare instructed as a portal appeared behind the knife wielding skeleton.
"Got it Boss." Killer responded, stepping through.
They waited for a moment before Killer stepped through with a six foot tall version of them with a hole in his skull. Dust tensed at the sight of him, but the taller simply turned his red eyelight to Ink.
"Is he alright?" The taller, Horror most likely, asked, not moving to close despite clearly being concerned.
"Appears so, best to get him back to the castle and check him over there." Nightmare responded, closing the previous portal before opening another.
Dust watched Killer and Horror step through that portal without prompting with Nightmare waving for him to follow. He refused and stared the goopy skeleton down for a moment before he rolled his single eyelight and stepped through before him. Dust followed last and looked around what appeared to be an infirmary/clinic room.
"Horror, go get some food from the kitchen and bring a glass of water too. Killer, go grab Ink's pajamas." Nightmare instructed as he stepped through.
Both skeletons left the room without a word to follow the orders while Dust watched Nightmare set Ink on one of the counters and tug on the sleeve of his dark green hoodie.
"Take this off Ink, I need to check you don't have any cracked bones." Nightmare ordered softly.
"But I'm not hurt." Ink argued, but wiggled out of his hoodie nonetheless. The child also wore a pair of shorts under the oversized hoodie keeping him still partially clothed.
"You may not feel hurt, but that doesn't mean you didn't get injured." Nightmare argued back easily, his eyelight inspecting the child carefully as he ran a hand over his rib cage to feel for any fractures.
Ink huffed but remained still and silent for his guardian as Nightmare looked him over. A few minutes later Horror returned bringing a glass of water and a slice of cinnamon butterscotch pie. He set both on an empty counter before stepping back to the wall, only to tense when Killer returned with a pair of small pajamas in his hands.
"Buying a kid silk pajamas Boss, can the squirt even appreciate these?" Killer said jokingly.
"I like how they feel like water flowing through my fingers!" Ink piped up with a cheerful grin.
Dust took notice that the little one's response made Killer tense for a moment before his countenance seemed to soften and he shuffled over to stand next to Nightmare with the clothes still in hand.
"Yeah, I suppose it can kinda feel like water." Killer agreed, handing the clothes to Nightmare when he finally finished his inspection.
"You seem alright, but eat the pie just in case." Nightmare ordered picking up the plated slice of pie and handing it to Ink.
Dust chuckled softly when the baby bones made no objections and began eating the pie with a happy hum. His chuckle drew both Killer and Nightmare's attention to him, the latter of which turned to him with a calm expression.
"Ink is safe here, I can return you to your AU now." The goopy skeleton said calmly, while it appeared to be a question it was clear he was telling him. Dust however, took one look at the baby bones finishing up his pie and decided he wasn't going anywhere.
"Nah, I'm good, I think I'll stick around a bit longer just to be doubly sure the baby bones is safe." Dust responded, stuffing his hands in his hoodie pockets.
"That wasn't a question, asshole." Killer growled, a knife appearing in his hand as he turned to Dust.
Dust readied himself for a fight, but paused when Nightmare held up a hand to stop Killer.
"Why are you so set on this?" Nightmare asked, his eyelight turned snake-like as he met Dust's. Dust thought about it for a second, looking between all three of the older skeletons before settling on Ink. Ink grinned at him so brightly when he noticed Dust's attention was on him that he couldn't help but think about Paps once again. He glanced at Paps over his shoulder before turning to meet Nightmare's gaze again.
"Kids cute, besides it seems you lot could use a minder for him if he's ending up in places he shouldn't be." Dust replied.
Nightmare stared him down for a few more minutes before relaxing and turning to look at Killer.
"Killer show our new recruit to a room next to Ink's." Nightmare said before turning back to Ink and holding out the pajamas.
"Come on, helter skelter, you'll have to clean it yourself." Killer said, moving past him. Dust followed him out, glancing back only for a moment to see Ink chattering away at his goopy guardian as he dressed in his pajamas.
As soon as the door closed behind him, he brought up a bone attack he'd summoned to block the knife that came for his neck.
"Didn't know getting a room meant stabbing me in the throat." Dust commented, looking at the empty sockets of Killer from under his hood.
"I'm only gonna say this once. Do anything to hurt the Boss or especially the squirt and I will gut you in your sleep and leave your dust to be taken by the wind." Killer growled, his eye sockets narrowing as the black streaks below them darkened from what appeared to be a black ichor.
Dust stared at him for a moment longer before nodding sharply. Killer immediately pulled away from him and led the way through the…castle? Yeah this place was a castle. He'd heard both Nightmare and Ink say castle, but he hadn't thought they were being serious. He was led down a couple halls before Killer stopped before a door and waved.
"This one will be yours, Ink's is to the right, Boss' across from his though he's rarely in there. Horror and I are in this hall too." Killer explained, before heading back down from where they came, "Kitchen is near the main entrance hall, but you'll most likely have to either get up early enough to catch Ink or play maze to find it."
Dust glared after him, accepting that the asshole wasn't going to be helpful, but knowing he didn't have to be happy about it. He stepped into the room and noticed that it appeared pretty clean despite what Killer said about him cleaning it himself. He opened the window in the room to air out the clearly stale air, but other than that it looked like the room had at least recently been dusted and tidied. Deciding he'd need to get some sleep to get up in time to catch Ink waking up, he could still remember the early hours he'd have to get up to handle a young Paps, Dust climbed into the bed and promised he'd read a story to Paps tomorrow night before falling asleep.