DD/: TheENDtale (Undertale AU Fanfic)

DD/:TheENDtale/Ink's Empathy

Then shoved it in his pocket.

He looked around where he sat and saw the blue strings around him, decorating the grass in their soft glow. He gathered them and put them in his pocket.

He took a deep breath and smiled looking back as the sunset was almost gone. He stretched and took Broomie, marking the floor with Ink, he stepped through.

As he came out on the streets of a city, walking casually with the crowd he walked to a pleasant home. Knocking on the door, Swap Papyrus opened up. Wearing his light orange sweater he soft smiled at Ink, moving aside to let him in.

"Hi Ink, how are you?"

"I'm doing well! Is Blue home? I wanted to hang out today."

"Yeah but he's a bit depressed" He huff. "Error stood him up again.."

He put both hands in his jacket and slouched obviously upset by the whole ordeal. Ink's smile faded and looked to the hall to Blue's room. He walked softly into Blue curled up on his bed, cocooned in his blankets.

Inksoftly stepping closer, he didn't really understand how to react in this situation, he could feel things in his own way but to fully relate to someone, to empathize with them confused him beyond words. He knew he wanted to help, he wanted to be there for him but the emotions felt distant, like he was encountering something alien and it filled him with an intense tightness in his chest that made it hard to breathe.

He opened the door and decided being cheerful might be the best route.

With open arms and an excited expression, he opened the door.
"BLUE!! I missed you! Do you wanna go out and play?!"

Blue poked his head out and looked at Ink sadly.

"Ink is that you?"

Ink got up close and sat next to him. "Yeah, it's me buddy! You look mighty cozy in those blankets but we could go on a walk? Maybe we could even go play at the park?!"

He leaned forward excitedly trying his best to hype up Blue, but he just buried himself back into the covers. Ink not having any of his shenanigans took the blanket and flung Blue out of the blankets, rolling him onto the bed with a puzzled expression.

Wrapping the blanket around himself he pretended to be a ghost and lept on Blue, tickling him.

They rolled around together and laughed. Eventually, Ink held Blue softly, pulling him close to his chest as he settled down, Blue teared up and nuzzled him.

"He...He did it again...Ink is there something wrong with me?"

Ink shook his head. "No, there's nothing wrong with you. Error... Well.... Error is just...." Ink struggled to find the words. He's been fighting Error so long but he never could find the right words to describe what Error was to him. He just sighed "Error is...complicated..."

Ink softly relaxed into Blue's embrace as he let Blue find comfort in his presence. Ink really didn't understand why it was comforting for Blue but it meant a lot to him and that was what mattered. So he held him close, stroking his head until he felt the tension leave his body.

Blue eventually fell asleep in his arms, while Ink stayed there watching him sleep, staying for as long as Blue needed him.

As Blue softly snored Ink was lost in thought about the woman in his drawing, he couldn't understand why she stayed in his head. Everything else was a vague fog, only things he's repeated tend to stick but he knows she's not that, she's new.

So why was she so clear in his mind? Why did she pull things out of him that he didn't even know existed? He breathed deeply and the sudden breath softly woke up Blue who looked up at Ink innocently.

"Ink are you ok?" His voice was soft, riddled with concern.

Ink stroked his head as Blue closed his eyes, relishing the feeling. "I'm fine, I'm just lost in thought."

"About what?"

"Well, something feels.... Weird about me. I don't know how to describe it."

Blue opened his eyes and tilted his head. "How so? What's happening."

Sitting up Ink pulls out the picture he drew earlier. "I keep remembering her but I don't know who she is... I don't think she's a Frisk or a Chara, she's just odd.... " Ink looks down "Worse than that I keep having weird feelings."

Blue looked at him concerned. "Feelings? I mean the Doodle Sphere and your vials help you feel normally so what's different?"

Ink looks at Blue, using his hands to try and illustrate the vastness of his experience "It's like a flood, like I drank all the ink I have and then swam in it! Then it all came swooshing out of me! It's....It's kinda intense..."

Blue thought for a moment. "Ok...So when did this happen? Is there a pattern?"

Ink thought with him. "Well, I don't know. Before I got here it happened after I drew that picture, I was on a ledge looking at a sunset surrounded by Error's strings, so maybe we fought again?"

Blue scratched his head and had an idea.

"Well then let's go see Error? He might know something."

He was still mad at Error but he also wanted to see him while helping his friend.

Ink lit up by the idea "That sounds like an awesome idea!! Not to mention you can talk to Error and figure out what happened."Blushing in embarrassment, Blue nodded. Standing up Ink reached out his hand and helped Blue off the bed. With small steps, he helped Blue clean up, eat, and drink water, careful not to rush him. Papyrus watched with some relief that Ink was able to comfort him. As he watched them about to leave he reached for his brother who swiftly turned around and hugged him.