Truce (error x ink)

Chapter 7: Rest and the rest

(Error's POV)

"Sit the fuck down and relax for star's sake!" Currently, the lord of negativity was frowning down at me, after having forced me back onto the couch. "You've been running yourself ragged, again, with your 'fix the multiverse' projects you've been obsessed with." Nightmare practically growled, arms crossed tentacles swaying dangerously. "You've hardly been home at all and the boys miss you!"

"Oooo, are mommy and daddy having a fight?" Killer snickered as he and Dust enter the room. Dust remains quiet as he makes straight for me, sitting next to me on the couch and leaning against me gently, face still obscured by his hood.

"Save the sass Killer, this is serious. This idiot hasn't eaten or slept in weeks again!" Nightmare pointed an accusatory tentacle at me which sobered Killer's snarky expression immediately.

"I'll go get Horror and we'll whip something up. Dust, make sure he doesn't leave." Dust nodded threading an arm around mine as Killer sprinted from the room.

"You don't need to worry so much, I can't die so-" I was cut off midsentence

"That's no excuse to treat your health like a second thought! Just shut up and let us care for you! I'll get your room habitable so you can get some sleep after food." Nightmare made to leave but paused at the doorway, "don't you dare leave or I'll hunt you down, tear your legs off so you're forced to relax until they grow back." He said darkly before sweeping from the room.

I sighed, I didn't like worrying them, but I just don't understand why it matters to them so much. A soft ping caught my attention, as a text box appeared in my view.

Dust (Dusttale sans)
* is worried about you.

I smiled softly at Dust. "Found a new way to communicate?" I asked the little mute skeleton. He nodded, picking at my sleeve.

Dust (Dusttale sans)
*has worked very hard to improve, and impress you.
*he still finds it hard to filter certain things.

*he thinks of you as an older brother.

"You've really come a long way, I'm proud of you, buddy." I said, putting my arm around him, pulling him close. "and while you've been perfecting this impressive magic, I've made a lot of progress in my therapy." Sighing contentedly, I carefully took his hand in mine. "Now I can show the affection I've always wanted to."

Dust (Dusttale sans)
*is happy you are home.
*missed you.

Dust seemed to be blushing lightly at the praise and physical contact all at once. He nuzzled a little closer to me sighing gently, then another soft ping.

Dust (Dusttale sans)
*thinks Nightmare will get jealous now others can touch you.

This made me laugh, shaking my head. "I seriously doubt that, it just means now he isn't obligated to help out when I need help healing."

Dust (Dusttale sans)
*is annoyed that you underestimate how much people care for you.
*wants to stab everyone who ever hurt you ever.

"I'm sure I'll get it through my thick skull eventually." I chuckle, patting the grumpy, murderous skeleton on the head. Suddenly Horror ported into the room, shoving a large plate piled high with sandwiches.

"Eat those while I'm cooking," he ordered gruffly porting back out as Killer walked back into the room with a pitcher of milk and a glass.

"Here, you'll need the calcium. Bones looking a bit thin." Killer placed them on the side table, taking the blanket from the armchair and wrapping it around both me and Dust.

"It's... good to see your therapy is going well." grumbled Nightmare from the doorway. Killer just turned a huge smirk his way.

"Aw, don't worry, mommy won't divorce you just because he can hug other people now." he snickered, making Nightmare glare daggers at him. I really did miss the almost constant bickering around here, chuckling as they continued their back and forth.

(Elsewhere!)

Laughter isn't the first or even fifth thing you think of when you think of Sciencetale, yet there it is, echoing through the sterile hallways to seep into rooms that never heard the sound before. Well, it was one laugh to be precise, continuing long after anything should lose its humor.

"-and you honestly believed him when he said drinking the whole bottle was fine?!" Classic yelled over the incessant laugh, "that's bullshit and we all know it Sci. your curiosity got the best of you if you wanted to know so bad you could've looked through his stuff and found his color's journal." He said, gesturing to Ink's sash.

Medic made a beeline for the sash as Sci grumbled under Classic's disapproving gaze. The fourth skeleton in the room, small and quiet rushed over to Sci.

"The white paint didn't do anything, and now there isn't any left." The poor little guy looked slightly panicked and close to tears, "what if this kills him?!"

"He literally can't die, so he'll be fine," Medic yelled coming back with a small leather-bound book. "His notes are extremely organized, unnervingly so considering who wrote them." He commented glancing at the strapped down and wire covered skeleton in question, who was writhing as he laughed. "Says to wait for it to pass, or kill him, or-" before he could finish there was a retching sound, "throw it up." He finished dryly.

"I'm taking the wires off, this is fucking ridiculous." The little green one huffed zipping back to Ink, gently wiping ink off the former protector's mouth. "Mr. Ink? Can you hear me? Are you ok?" He asked as his other arm snaked to the other side of the gurney, unbuckling the straps. Instead of responding right away Ink just stares at him, as if not comprehending the words.

"Here, I mixed up his baseline levels." Sci called floating a cup over, "have him take that and ask again." The lab coat wearing skeleton was busy packing up the equipment strewn about the room, while Medic came over to help take electrodes off the dazed skeleton.

After getting Ink to drink the concoction, he got to work on taking off all the electrodes while keeping up a stream of mindless chatter, hoping to give Ink something to ground himself after the experience. He honestly needn't have bothered as after a minute or two, Ink's unbound hand shot out and grabbed him, causing him to yelp in surprise.

"You..." he began in a whisper, "have... tentacles for arms!!" He ended in an excited shout wiggling said jade green tentacles with glee.

"Y-yeah, but they aren't supposed to be." The other said withdrawing his arms from Ink, hugging himself slightly embarrassed, "I just get lazy sometimes, h-hold on." Rapidly the tentacles condensed down and formed normal skeleton arms, except green and transparent.

An embarrassed flush still on his face the small skeleton offers his hand to Ink. "My name is Vital, we haven't spoken before, but I've been around." Ink took the hand and shook it enthusiastically as he peeled the wires off himself by the bundle.

"Great to meet you! I'm sure you'll be a great asset to the multiverse." He grinned broadly, "they've really taken an interest in you."

"What do-"

"Oh! Classic when did you get here?! Is this what you do in your free time?" Ink swiveled away before Vital could finish his question.

"He does stuff like that a lot, it's best to ignore it." Medic gave Vital a sympathetic pat on the shoulder blade, "he is so scatterbrained I swear he mixes up what he is saying and to who."

Vital nodded absently, watching the artist chat animatedly with sweating Classic who flinched slightly as Ink dug electrodes out of his skull by carelessly shoving his hand deep into his own eye socket. Avoiding looking straight at him, Classic nodded politely along with Ink's yammering and he continued to dig around his skull even after the last wire was extracted. By the time Vital came over to stop Ink's digging, the rainbow skeleton had shoved his entire forearm up to the elbow into his socket.