The artificial light

Illness

Tw. SH, ED mention, vomiting

Inks pov

   I top up my buckets again. They're what I fill my vials with. Usually, I would go and get my paint by filling the vials with every colour. But lately the paint has stop falling as frequently, so I came up with this plan.

I smile and pour the bucket into the large bin. Of course I have one of each colour. Its a few month supply, ensuring I will not be without emotions again.

Although I look quite happy and content, it's just a face I practice for my teammates. I am not feeling good as of lately. I believe its coming from my vials, more specifically the yellow one. The one of positivity. I think Dream can sense it, he keeps looking at me funny and asking whats wrong. It's a good thing that both of them are super happy all the time, letting me mimick them.
Besides, I haven't been able to find my yellow vial in a few weeks. Probably lost it in one AU or another. Not a huge deal.

A hand goes on my shoulder making me jump. I look up and see Dream, who's eyes are fixed on the bucket in my closet. It only takes him a second to snap out of it.

"Honey, we have been calling you for dinner.. now I know it hasn't been making you feel good, so we made some safe food for you, okay. Some potatoes mixed with cheese. Try it?" he asked, answering most of my worries.

I nod and slowly get up, closing the closet door. Dream seemed to stare at the buckets again. Right, I've never told them about it before. It must be a shock to see so much at once.

Dream takes my hand and leads me down the stairs, as if I'm a small child. Alot of people think we are dating, but that is false. The three of us are just friends. Close friends. I love them both, platonically. 

Blue is just finishing putting dinner on the table. Seeing their plates makes me quite relieved. My meal was the same as theirs, missing the carrots and whatever meat that was. At least they didn't make a whole new dish for me. The potatoes are a hint of yellow. They even got Yukon potatoes, my favourite kind. It's so nice of them!!

"Hi guys" Blue smiles "Ink come here for a minute please, dear?"

Strange. I go into the kitchen, leaving Dream to sit at the table and wait for us. Blue immediately grabs my arms and rolls up my sleeves, making me fight him immediately. He sighs deeply and calls out to Dream
"There are two new ones"

I finally pull my arms away and hold my arms as if im hugging myself. I can't believe I keep forgetting about that stunt. They do it every week or so.
A hand is put on my shoulder. Why is everyone touching my shoulder today?
"We're just trying to make sure you're okay. If you wanna talk... anyway, dinner is ready." He smiled and left the kitchen, my hand in his.

Dream is frowning a bit, staring at my food as I sit down.
"Here, eat, it will make you feel better" He said, pushing my plate towards me.

I begin to slowly put spoonfuls in my mouth, tuning out their conversation. Slowly, I get my good mood back, eating more and more. I don't understand it, but those two are always right. The food always makes me feel better.
I scrape the last of it off my plate and smile widely, earning praises from the other two.

"There's our happy boy" Blue smiled, cutting his meat again. Dream pats my head twice. It makes me feel like a pet at times. But that's okay, I understand I'm still equal. Ish.

"Why don't we watch a movie tonight?" Dream asked, finishing his plate aswell.

"Sure!! Can we talk about our day?? because mine was good! Error taught me a new stitch in crochet! I think it's called a half double crochet? It's like .. two loops, then you have four loops, and you go through two loops, then.. uhh" my legs stop swinging as I try to remember how to do it.

"Why don't you show us later?" Blue smiled, picking up all of our plates and bringing them to the sink. We will wash them later. Usually it's my job, but for some reason no one has been asking me.

"Okay, couch time sunshine!" Dream grabs my hand and swings it. We make our way over to to the plush couch and he wraps the three of us in the blanket. Blue and Dream picks some sort of animated movie out. It takes me a few minutes, but I can't focus on the movie. It doesn't go unnoticed.

"Go get your crochet, it'll keep you occupied" Blue says, letting me out of the blankets. I nod and absently mindedly wonder up to my room.
It doesn't take long for an hour to pass. Then two. Then.. where am I? It feels like I'm being choked, and everything is completely dark.

Suddenly the door whips open and someone sighs in relief. He begins to untangle me from the scarves. He takes extra time to unwrap the one around my throat. Dream runs over and sees us, sighing deeply in relief. So Blue found me.

"How.. did I get here?" I slur out, both of them looking shakey. Blue pulls me out of the closet and begins to rub my back.

"We weren't hoping you would know.. we've been looking for you for over an hour.." He says, picking me up. It always amuses me that he can pick me up, him being smaller then me and all. Must be from all the training.

Not before long, my stomach turns and everything I ate comes back out quickly. My body lurches a few times, making sure to empty everything and then some. I hold my abdomen, having that pain again. The pain being a sore, hot pain centering around the bottom of my ribs and around my stomach itself.

Blue puts me on the couch, wrapping me in the blanket again. He watches me for a moment before getting up and going to clean up whatever mess I made. Dream comes over and places a cup of tea infront of me. Food? Is this technically food? Food makes me better so..

I pick up the cup and tilt it backwards, ignoring the burning pain in my mouth.
"Wait- wait honey" Dream takes the cup from me, putting it back on the table. "That's hot" he gently scolds.

Footsteps come around the back of the couch and someone gently wraps their arms around my neck, resting thier head on mine. Slowly, it's starts to feel better again.

"We're gonna find out whats going on.." Blue promises, kissing my head and going to sit beside Dream. I'm all smiles and feeling better again.

"I would say eating disorder, but he looks fine eating" Blue says to Dream. It was supposed to be quietly, but I could still hear it. I lean over and hug both of them, tightly.

"Hi sweetie" Dream smiles and rubs my back. Before he can get another word out, I'm back on my feet, running to my room.

I begin to search for something, only for my door to burst open again. 
"What the hell, Ink?" Blue shouts, clearly worried.

I shrink back a bit, making Dream scowl at Blue.

"What do you have there?" Dream asks, kneeling down to me. I hold out the two crocheted plushies.  They sort of look like Blue and Dream. The stitches are messy, and some parts are inncorrect, but it definitely is my teammates.

"Look Blue, he made us" Dream smiled, handing the plushie to him. Blue smiled at it, looking at every surface it had.

"Okay.. into bed." Blue said. His mother mode has activated a few minutes ago. He takes me shirt off and replaces it with a more breathable one and covers me with blankets.  He turns on my mushroom lamp and pulls the cord to my main light.
"If you have any more problems, come get us, okay?" Blue said, standing up.

"I'm.. actually going to stay with him. Until he falls asleep. To make sure he doesn't have any more .. issues" Dream said. Blue nodded but kept his face full of worry.
"Make sure you sleep too, okay?" he said, waiting for Dream to confirm.

He shuts the door, leaving the two of us alone.
I giggle a bit, it's like they are my parents!! It's super funny.

"What's so funny, honey?" Dream asked, sitting in the chair beside my bed. They brought it in here a few weeks ago, when my issues started.

"Nothing.." I try to keep my face straight, only to laugh a bit more. Dream smiles and shakes his head.

"Okay, it's time to sleep" He coaxed, picking up his book. I roll over and ride out the happy high I'm having.  Its weird. I don't have my yellow vial, so how am I feeling happy? Am I developing real emotions??
Before I realize, I'm fighting to keep my eyes open. Not long after, I loose the fight, falling into a deep sleep.