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Within the Multiverse, it was highly discussed what Ink’s and Error’s relationship could be.
Many chalked it up to simple hatred. They were opposing forces, always on opposite sides of every conflict. They fought frequently, always brutally, and always going too far by anyone else’s standards. They used cheap tricks and often mocked and berated one another (both to each other’s faces and behind each other’s backs), and neither of them was above being petty and vengeful.
Some, however, speculated that there had to be something more going on there. Mortal enemies didn’t usually have cutesy nicknames for one another after all. On top of that, it had been observed that the two usually chose to spend time together even when it wasn’t necessary. They sought one another out in and out of the battlefield. And, on rare occasions, they could be found spending time together peacefully.
It was also well known that they were usually the wild cards among the gods.
Ink mostly allied himself with Dream, while Error mostly worked with Nightmare and Core, but they both had been seen working for their respective enemies on occasion. Or, at times, they’d been seen sitting on the sidelines watching conflicts unfold without intervening even if their allies' safety was on the line.
Ink had been asked a few times if they were in a relationship as well, usually by whatever Underswap Sans Dream had taken under his wing most recently. Every time he couldn’t help but laugh at them. He always made sure to remind them that he could feel no romantic attraction of any kind (he always chalked it up to his lack of soul though, if he had to be honest with himself, he doubted he’d feel any even if he had one. He doubted his personality would change as much as Dream always hoped for either).
For some reason, nobody ever asked Error that. Nobody wondered if he had a big fat crush on Ink and was just dying to make out with him and that was the reason why he acted the way he did. It sometimes irked the Artist. The Destroyer was the one with a soul, why did people never bother him with all those repetitive questions? Was it because his intimidating demeanor made him feel less approachable? Was it because people somehow thought his haphephobia made him incapable of developing romantic feelings? Was it because they’d already decided that his answer would be a resounding ‘Yes’ so they found asking rather pointless?
He didn’t know.
Regardless, the truth was rather different from what everyone theorized.
Really, their relationship hinged on the simple fact that they were both real, both there. They had always been and would always be. Even after all the other gods ceased to exist, even after their Multiverse would end up collapsing into itself, even after the Creators would start fizzling out and going silent, they’d still be there. They were the beginning and the end and they were everything in between. They were a fundamental part of one another in a way that nobody else could be.
Sure, they were capable of change, Error had proven as much. In time he’d developed attachments to mortals and reigned in his more violent outbursts, preferring to redirect his destructive powers to more productive means. Ink wasn’t too bothered by those changes since they didn’t impact their game or their relationship all that much (although Error did begin to spend more time away from his Anti-Void, where Ink couldn’t reach him and he wasn’t the biggest fan of that) and he had no intention of following suit. The Creators would have had a lot less to work with if they both became goodies-two-shoes.
And regardless, in the end, they’d always be a team.
If one of them needed help, truly needed help, they knew they could go to the other. Because maybe they weren’t friends, maybe they didn’t love each other, maybe they weren’t making out every day, but they were still one another’s anchor. They were each other’s one point of stability.
So, of course, whenever Dream somehow managed to get to him and make him doubt himself and his commitment to the AUs, he was quick to jump into a portal to Error’s little corner of the Anti-Void. One good thing that had come out of the Destroyer’s most recent changes had been Cross visiting him to watch Undernovela with him, because Ink had never been a big fan of the overwhelming whiteness of his home, to say the least. And if there was one thing Cross loved to do it was painting and drawing on every surface available, so Ink no longer had to look at the horror whenever he visited.
“Ruru!” he yelled in a whiny voice, startling the man in question to the point of him falling off his beanbag. Ink would have usually cackled at that, but he was feeling rather distressed at the moment, so he only let out a small chuckle. “Man… never gets any less funny”.
Error groaned in both pain and frustration.
He used his strings to pull himself into enough of a sitting position to glare at Ink and even flipped him off for good measure. Because, sure, he had matured, but also he was and always would be Error at heart. He was a manbaby and that was a fundamental part of his charm.
Ink strode over and, without even asking, plopped himself down on the beanbag Error had been occupying until a moment prior.
“G-go right-t ahead Squid-d” Error muttered sarcastically in his usual glitchy voice. He didn’t try to push Ink down, nor even to grab him with his strings and throw him as far as he could. Which usually was pretty dang far. For being such a lazy guy who hadn’t seen a single day of exercise in his life, he was surprisingly strong. No, instead of doing any of that, he grabbed whatever new crochet project he was working on that he must have dropped in the fall, leaned against the side of the beanbag, and got back to what he was doing. “So-o what i-is it-t this ti-time?” he asked once he got back into his rhythm.
He truly had gotten softer.
Once upon a time, before offering to listen, he would have called Ink an idiot in at least a couple of different languages several times. That used to be their way of expressing affection for one another. Kind of. Well, that’s how Ink chose to always interpret it, at least.
Something in his mind rejoiced at the idea that they’d moved past it.
“Well… Ruru, do you think that I’m a bad person?” he started with a basic question.
‘Basic’ because he’d asked it plenty of times before, not because the answer to it was a simple one. Usually, Error’s response depended entirely on whether he’d stolen some chocolate from him recently or not. He was a man of very simple principles.
Predictably, as Ink had committed no such thefts recently as far as he could remember, Error shrugged. “N-not any mo-more than-n mo-most”.
That was why Ink liked going to him for advice especially when Dream was the one that had caused him to start having doubts. His friend was great, but he also had a very black-and-white view of the world. This made sense considering the whole 'different extremes' thing he had going on with Nightmare but was utterly unhelpful for Ink when that wasn’t what he was looking for.
He didn’t care if the answer he got was a simple one, he just didn’t want absolutes. There was so little to work with when people reasoned in absolutes.
“Do you think my actions ever go too far?” he prodded next.
Error gave him a look that could only mean that he was putting a considerable amount of effort into holding himself back from calling him a moron. Which, honestly, after that question, it would have been pretty deserved. Between the two of them, he was the one who had gotten closest to bringing the Multiverse to its knees. In all fairness, he also had been rather misguided during the X Event and had since gotten his ass thoroughly kicked enough that he had started to regret his actions. But, regardless, he understood why the Destroyer had that reaction.
He didn’t even let Ruru answer the question before going ahead with his next one: “How do you know when I’m going too far?”. And there it was. That was the crux of his issues that day.
He could have started off with that, of course, but that wasn’t how he worked. Error had always been better at getting directly to the core of the issue, so he would have been fine just answering one question. But Ink’s thoughts tended to pass by him too fast. They often ended up scrambled and retracing his thought processes helped him calm down and focus.
Funnily enough, the Destroyer had been the one to teach him that trick. He had heard about it in one of the shows he liked to watch.
Ruru hummed in thought for a while. He was still working on his little project and Ink could now tell that it was meant to be a fluffy kitten. Probably a gift for that guy Nightmare liked to always keep by his side. Killer, was it? He’d seen a few versions of him throughout the years, and one thing they all had in common was their love for those little critters. He’d never understood it.
It wasn’t as if he disliked them, he just thought that they were far less interesting than actual people with their complex characters, struggles, and messy relationships. Ink had always been much more of a sucker for a good story than for admittedly adorable furry creatures.
On the ground next to Error, there were a few more already finished plushies: a crow, a dog, a wolf, a fox, a cactus, and a bunch of bunnies. Ink couldn’t figure out who half of those were for (maybe the Destroyer just wanted to expand his personal collection) but he was willing to bet that the wolf was for Cross. That kid always liked to see himself as more dangerous and more powerful than he was. A cute little puppy could have fit him so much better in Ink’s objectively correct opinion.
He was also surprised that there was no grumpy octopus for Nightmare himself. Maybe he’d already made too many.
“I t-think…” Error started, and Ink’s attention was immediately back on him. “That-t it’s t-too far-r when y-you s-see that-t your a-actions-s hurt-t s-someone”. The artist pouted. Had he wanted such an obvious answer he would have just asked Core. The little gray child would have at least spouted the same thing in a more interesting flowery language. Ruru, however, was not done yet. “A-and you no-notice that-t there w-was no-o po-point to that-t pain-n at a-all. Ba-basically, y-you have to-o a-ask yourself if-f what-t you gained-d was t-truly w-worth it-t”. He paused for a moment, frowning. Ink wondered what he could be thinking about. He’d been such an open book once, always so quick to anger and always displaying his emotions openly… he truly had changed, hadn’t he? After a while, Error shrugged, going back to his work. “T-that’s just-t my op-opinion. But-t I’m s-still learning-g a-all this s-stuff. So d-don’t just-t take m-my word-d for it-t. D-do some t-thinking yourself”.
Ink nodded slowly, mind still processing everything.
As always, Error was the best to get advice from.
The truth of the matter was that they weren’t mortals, so they didn’t think like them either. Their morals would most likely have been considered screwed by most. That was why he couldn’t just go to even those he liked best or found most fascinating when he had a moral dilemma.
Error was the only one who didn’t judge him for not knowing. He was the only one who never even dreamed of condescending to him. He was… probably the closest thing to an actual genuine friend Ink had if he wanted to be honest with himself for a moment.
He shot up with a grin and opened himself a portal. “Thanks, Ruru! I’ll think about that next time”.
Error just nodded and waved him off.
What a grumpy old guy that he was. He was Ink’s grumpy old man though, so he was perfect as he was. And he’d always be, no matter how much he changed.