Chapter Text
The setting sun cast a warm glow over the office where Nightmare sat alongside their “partner”, Ink. The smaller one was seated cross legged atop the large oak desk with a sketchbook and a pencil in hand. Every now and then, he would glance up and stare at Nightmare in front of him before looking down at his sketchbook and assumedly scribble down their features. The guardian didn't mind however, as this was a common occurrence whenever Ink visited. At that moment, the room was calm and the two were simply enjoying each other's company. That was until Ink's phone buzzed in his pocket. Nightmare, slightly annoyed by the interruption, glanced at him as he fumbled for the device.
“Ah, it’s just Dream.” He announced. “Probably wondering where I am.”
He answered the call with a hum and hopped off the desk to pace while he talked; a habit that Nightmare found cute, but would never in their entire life admit out loud. They soon went back to reading, only half listening to the conversation.
“Yeah. Okay. Okay, be right there.” Ink said calmly before hanging up.
“What was that about?” Nightmare asked with a hum.
“Dream just wants help with getting the refugees settled. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“Well then, be back soon. Oh, and don't forget-!” But before they could finish, Ink had disappeared through a puddle of… well, ink. “... Your vials.”
They shook their head and sighed, before returning to their book. They knew he’d be back once he realized the vials were missing.
An impulsive thought suddenly crossed Nightmare's mind. They brushed the thought away, knowing it was silly, but it continued to return. They paused their reading and stared at the sash. The golden light danced off the vials, taunting them with their promise of… what, exactly? Feeling? Freedom? They couldn’t tell…
…He won't notice if a little bit goes missing. Hell, he doesn't even notice when I'm in the mood. Clueless bastard…
Nightmare stared at the sash for a moment longer before hesitantly standing up and making their way towards the couch where the sash rested. They were as gentle as possible with the sash and its magic liquids, for they knew how much Ink relied on them. They held it up and eyed the single coloured vials within. They knew what each colour did, as it wasn't that hard to figure out. Red was anger, blue was sadness, pink was love… or, lust? They could never tell the difference, and yellow… happiness. The joy that their twin constantly handed out. The joy that they could never experience…
It's… just a small sip. Nothing too drastic…
Their mind raced as they slowly took the yellow vial from its place in the sash, it was as if their body was on autopilot as they began to pull the heart shaped cap off and place the rim to their mouth. All it took was one swift gulp for the liquid within to have completely emptied. They quickly swallowed and glanced down at the now empty vial, blinking rapidly as they realized what they’d just done. After standing there for a while they began to calm down as they realized nothing was happening; feeling slightly disappointed, they began to wonder if it was due to the fact that they had drunk a positive emotion instead of a negative one. With no hesitation they picked up the red vial, popped off the cap, and chugged it back.
Nothing.
Whether it was curiosity or desperation, Nightmare ended up chugging back every single vial of paint within minutes. They looked down at the empty vials and sighed before placing them back in their respective places and returning to their seat; explaining this all to Ink would be quite embarrassing, so why bother? They shrugged and went back to reading, assuming that gaslighting the little god would be easy enough. He didn’t exactly have the greatest memory and usually took their partners' word at face value. Yes… no one would have to know their moment of weakness had happened at all.
It took only 10 minutes before the guardian began feeling… off. Their soul ached and their head was spinning, they felt like they were about to throw up and pass out all at once. Leaning back didn’t help, leaning forward didn't help, and there was certainly no way in hell it would help if they kept sitting, so they got to their feet with help from the desk. Big mistake.They hit the floor with a loud thud, landing face first and losing consciousness on impact. By the time Ink had finally returned, the guardian had remained still on the ground.
“Ah, shit.” He muttered. This wasn't a new thing, as Nightmare was prone to passing out, but when Ink saw the empty vials his mind went to the worst possible scenario. Hoping this wasn’t anything more than a simple fainting spell, he dropped down next to them and tried to wake them up with gentle nudges to their shoulders and waist.
“Night, hey Nightttt… This isn’t funny, wake upppp…. Wake. Up.” When that failed, he began to panic. If it was a normal spell, they would have woken up by now, but his suspicions were confirmed when a small dribble of green paint that Nightmare hadn't yet wiped away caught his eye. He immediately recognized the colour and consistency, that's when the panic finally set in. Only soulless beings were supposed to consume the emotion alternatives in order to give them a sense of normalcy. If a being with a soul consumed anything of the sort, it could kill them! And with Nightmares' need for negativity, the yellow paint alone would be enough to turn them to dust. This wasn’t good, not good at all. He needed to help them, and fast. The only way he could go about doing that was…
No… he couldn't. He’d promised them, but was now really the time to be worrying about some silly promise? With a sigh, he took a deep breath and summoned a large puddle of paint. He took a moment to locate the souls of their subordinates before opening a puddle of paint beneath them and watching them fall upwards into the room. Ink knew Nightmare would be mad when they woke up, but a promise tends to differ when a life is on the line.
“What the fuck-!” Killer started to shout but was cut off when he saw Ink kneeling over Nightmare.
“I know this is weird okay, b-but please… hear me out…” Ink said, an almost desperate tone in his voice. “I-I don’t know what happened… I think they… I-I don’t know…” He sputtered, glancing down at Nightmare’s body.
The biggest one, Horror, was the first to move, helping Ink by kneeling over his boss’s body and rolling them onto their side. Dust was the next one to help, by steadying Nightmare's head as Horror began to pick them up. Killer was the only one who didn't move or even bother helping. It was as if he was stuck in a daze of sorts, silent as he watched the others carry their boss out of the room. Nightmare was limp in Horrors arms, their hands curled inwards as if they were a child. The sight made the usually stoic and feared boss look almost peaceful in their sleep.
The guardian was laid down on their side in case they choked or puked at all. Ink scrambled up into the king sized bed with their partner, sitting behind them and frowning, all while looking down at their unconscious form. Horror glanced silently between his boss, and Ink, before letting out a sigh.
“Dust, would you mind grabbing Killz…?” He asked the hooded one, who simply nodded and teleported off.
Once he had left, Horror took a seat at the foot of the bed.
“So… you wanna explain to me why you were in the boss’s office?”
Ink paused and glanced at Horror before quickly looking away.
“I… Um…” He stuttered, fidgeting with the sheets.
Horror raised a bonebrow in suspicion, waiting for Inks' explanation. When he received none, he moved onto a simpler question. “Well… ” He began, “Can I at least ask what happened?”
Ink refused to look at him as he stayed silent. Seeing how careful and gentle Ink was being, Horror had a feeling there was something more going on… but he had to be sure Ink knew he wasn’t in trouble. All that time with Frisk and Aliza had made him quite experienced when people shut down. After a long and tense silence, he hummed and glanced at Nightmare.
“... I assume you didn’t do this.”
Ink looked up at Horror and nodded
“I-I didn’t, no… I got back and they…they were like this…” He muttered with a frown, looking back down at Nightmare. “I think… I think they drank my vials…”
Horror paused. “Why would they do that?” He asked, wondering if there was a deeper issue. All Ink could do was shrug and frown.
“I don't know…”
The two were silent for a long while, before Horror stood up with a grunt and a stretch.
“Well… I assume you're not gonna try anything.” He said as he walked to the door. “If they wake up… let us know.”
With one last reassuring glance, Horror exited the room and gently shut the door behind him, leaving Ink and Nightmare alone once again.