Chapter Text
“Ink! What the hell did you do to yourself?!”
Ink smiled weakly. Just the person he was avoiding. Er- both persons. Well, he was mainly avoiding all sentient lifeforms at this point.
“I fell.”
“For who?” Ink was going to continuously remind Dream that his soulmate was a smartass later. For now, he just grinned wider, attempting to be professional.
“Why don’t you guys go sit at the counter?” He was gritting his teeth.
Cross began to push Dream into a chair, and Error shuffled awkwardly after them, his head pointed down as if he’d just been caught stealing from the cookie jar. The cats literally flocked towards him, like he was some sort of cat magnet.
Ink grimaced. He was already exhausted, angry, in physical and mental pain, and now to add to it all, he had to suffer the embarrassment of people he knew coming to his workplace. Why did this have to happen today ?
He practically threw the menus at them, resulting in a glare that he could feel burning into the back of his skull. “What do you guys want?”
“Do the thing!”
“I’m sorry?”
“Do the thing, you know, the,” Cross put his hands up behind his head and meowed, “the thing!”
“Oh hell no. Er...no…” He glanced at his boss and sighed. “Meow.”
Error snorted. Cross glared at him. Dream glared at Cross.
“No, no, don’t say it. You have to meow like, mrrrrrreow .”
“That sounds like a dying skunk, not a cat. You got what you asked for, didn’t you?”
Cross grinned, defeated.
“Now order.”
~
Cats.
Everything was cats.
As in, everything was cat themed, or literally a cat. And for some reason, those cats liked him. Like, really liked him.
As in, they were glued to his legs and he had about three of them in his lap. One of them even tried to climb onto his shoulder.
The visit to the cafe was pretty uneventful, aside from the few unenthusiastic ‘meows’ that Cross somehow managed to pry from Ink. Oh, and Dream did almost slap Cross. Though, the emphasis was on almost.
There was one thing that had caught Error off guard. Between all the mindless banter and stupid jokes Dream had asked Ink about his string.
Ink had answered quickly, easily and convincingly.
“Oh, no, maybe someday though. I’m sure they’ll be a sad, lonely romantic, just like-”
“Ink!”
He sounded just like the rest of those utterly hopeless fools who spent their days worrying about soulmates. But Ink didn’t have a string.
Unless Error was wrong?
He wasn’t going to let curiosity get the best of him, tempting as it may be.
~
Error knew . Ink saw it. He saw it in the confused look he’d been given when he’d started gushing about the string like he’d seen others do.
But how could Error know?
Was there something Ink didn’t know about the strings? Could other people see them? Had everyone else just been better at putting up a front?
He stomped angrily on the sidewalk in front of him.
No, no, he knew Dream couldn’t lie. It was painfully obvious when he tried. And besides, Cross had been listening to him with a look of interest, not confusion.
So how did Error…?
Maybe he was overthinking this. Maybe it wasn’t even him. Maybe…?
Damnit! Everything he thought he knew about those stupid strings had just come crashing down, landing in a pile of dust at his feet. Did he even know anything? Or was Error different somehow?
But why would-
“Agckh!”
He stumbled, skull crashing into the pavement. Oh boy. He really needed some sleep, but at the rate he was going, it would be another half an hour before he got home. Blue wanted to talk again, and it wasn’t like Ink was about to deny his friend-friends-comfort, especially now.
He sighed, feeling at his forehead. No cracks. Just another probable bruise.
Maybe he should get glasses.
The streetlight ahead of him flickered on, and he only then noticed how dark it was getting. Maybe he shouldn’t have offered to stay that extra hour. At this point he could barely see the chain-link fence that separated the housing units from the campus. Ink knew the school was known for its art courses, but seriously, you’d think they’d have better taste.
Dull red, neon yellow, vomit green...just seeing the mass of buildings made his eyes hurt. Such horrible color combinations should be burned.
He almost laughed to himself as he noticed the crack in the sidewalk he’d tripped over running to Blue’s house. Maybe he needed new shoes. His were about two years old now...yeah, that was probably longer than the average shoe was supposed to last. It definitely wasn’t because he kept getting distracted and forgot to look where he was going.
Ink didn’t particularly hate his job. It wasn’t his dream job...but it wasn’t the worst job he could’ve picked either. Plus, he really didn’t care if people he knew visited. He was the one earning money, not the one spending it. It was just weird to have...that... ensamble ...show up.
He slid the key into the lock and it let out a satisfying click . There would be no fighting with the door this time. One good thing. He started to laugh as he realized that the door properly working was probably the only good thing that had happened that day.
“Oh! Ink, you’re back!”
Who the hell was-oh, right. People who actually talked to him existed now, apparently. Error had a strained grin on his face, and despite Ink only having known him for about two days now, he could tell the other was planning something.
Error followed him around at a distance, seemingly uninterested in what Ink was actually doing. Food, more food, where did they get so much food, beer, putting it back, picking it up again, putting it back and slamming the fridge door closed, cereal, when did they-oh!-was that a new jug of milk?
~
Alright. Time to ask. Er-time to...ask…? Ink seemed busy with...stuff.
Oh! He was going to their-the room now! Alright, now he could ask. Actually, wait, no, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. He took a deep breath. Damnit! Just ask the goddamn question already.
~
Error looked like he was hyping himself up for a love confession. Sure, it was funny, but there was a twinge of...discomfort(?) that hung at the back of his skull.
Maybe it was disappointment.
“So…” The other monster sounded awkward, clearly on edge.
Why?
~
Alrighty. Time to humiliate himself. Again.
Again?
“Do you have a string?”
~
Ink felt his soul drop. He hadn’t overlooked it. In fact, at the rate this was going, he had very much underestimated how badly he had misjudged.
Should he lie? What could he accomplish by lying? Questions, answers...regrets…
“I-I don’t have one either.” Error’s voice was painted with a false shade of cheer.
Ink blinked. No, that wasn’t right. He shut his eyes, and collapsed onto the floor. Dramatically. And proceeded to stare at the ceiling. He could hear the awkward shuffling as Error came to check on him.
“Really?”
“What?”
“You don’t have one?”
Error shook his head. Fortunately Ink could see him, because otherwise the small apartment-like housing was dead silent. For a Tuesday night this was rare. Well, honestly, this was rare anytime.
“How did you know?”
“I can see them.”
“See what?”
“The strings, dumbass.” A tentative foot gently swatted at his side.
Oh. Right.
“So...wait-you can see them?!”
“Yes that’s what I just-” Error backed away as Ink sat up, both his eyelights forming red stars.
“What do they look like?”
“Well, uh, they’re red, and...silky? I suppose, they just kinda look like really flimsy ribbons.”
Ink laughed at that. Flimsy ribbons they were, snapping in half as soon as one of those idiots died.
And people still had the audacity to believe in an afterlife.
“What do they feel like?”
Error shook his head once more, almost chuckling as he did so. “Every single one feels different, and I try not to touch ‘em, since it’s kinda an invasion of privacy.”
“Oh, but you had no problem moving your sorry ass in here and invading min-”
Ink was teasing, and was still met with a facefull of pillow as Error threw one at him.