The Stars and Us [ by Midnight-Drawz ]

Chapter Six: Remembrance

[ February 17th, 2021 ]

The artist blinked, confused at the sight set in front of him. Dream had explained to Ink how portals worked, and now he was holding a... giant brush...? What was he supposed to do with that...?

Dream carried it over, handing it to the other carefully and chuckling slightly,
" I have no idea how you carried that on your back everyday- Ink, meet Broomy. Your paintbrush..."

" Broomy...?"

" Yeah, you named it. I'm not kidding"
Dream said, and Ink chuckled a bit.

" Oh really? Broomy fits it, though-"
Ink said, wielding the brush before swiping it up, causing paint to fly out and fall on the 'ground' of the Doodle Sphere. Ink yelped at this, having not expected it.

" Okayyy no more magic- We don't want to wear you out..."
Dream said, taking the brush and setting it down again,
" How about some old paintings you made...? Maybe that'll help..."
He said hopefully, going over to the mini dump in the DoodleSphere consisting of all the items Ink had enjoyed, including a lot of his paintings and drawings. The artist watched and wondered just how strange he was before all this, while Dream dug through to find a few canvases, bringing them over to him.

Dream set up an eisel carefully before placing one of the canvases in front of him,
" Let me know if you remember anything..."
He said, stepping back after leaning the other paintings against the bottom of the eisel.

Ink furrowed his nonexistent eyebrows as he gazed at the painting in front of him. He had a sense of familiarity with it, like he'd seen it before, but he couldn't spark any memories having to do with it. The artist set it down against the eisel and switched it out one of the others.

He repeated this a few times, getting the same results, before he looked to Dream, who still seemed hopeful,

" Anything...?"

" No... They're all just familiar..."

Ink said,

" I'm sorry..."

Dream sighed softly,

" No, it's okay... it was a long shot anyway... your paintings were never really your priority..."

He said, shaking his head and rubbing the corners of his eyesockets slightly, seeming to think to himself.

Ink just fiddled with his hands before he started to return the paintings to the mini-dump nearby, being careful with them as he did so, looking over it.

" Why do you keep all this junk, anyways? It's not like much of it is useful..."

" Well, what's that one quote people repeat in AU's- 'One man's trash is another man's treasure'?"

" How come you remember the dumbest things while at the same time repeatedly forgetting plans?"

" Oh shut up, Mr. Steal Fells' Chocolate."

" Okay, hey, it tastes better stolen then bought, to be fair, and it's funny to watch Fell react to suddenly having it snatched out of his hand-"

" Hehe- Oh hey, wait, I've gotta head off to meet up with Blue and Dream. We've got movie night planned- Will I get to see you later?"

" Maybe. Undernovela might beat you to taking up my precious time."

" Got it, glitchy. Cya later-"

" Hey, Ink, before you g-"

" Ink?"

Dream snapped the artist out of his thoughts,

" Did we get something...?"

" Huh...? Ah- Yeah... A small memory with Error, I think..."
Ink said, glancing between the guardian and the mini-dump, his mind fooling him and giving him the image of Error standing there, smiling a bit as he looked around, starting to walk away, fading into nothing as the artist felt himself smile a bit.
" You know- Beyond the yelling and the rude exterior... he doesn't seem like a bad guy..."

" Why do you say that?"

" I mean, you tried to keep him out of the hospital room quite a lot after I first woke up... and I just have the instinct you two don't have much of a positive relationship..."
Ink said, and Dream sighed, going over to the bean bag and sitting down, patting the spot beside him, inviting the artist. He ended up heading over and joining his friend.

" Error and I don't have the best relationship, that's true... But we respect each other. I'm not so sure why he's changed his view on Blue, Nightmare, and I so drastically in such a small time, but that's his story to tell, anyways..."
Dream explained, and the artist nodded.

" Hey, are you okay-? You're fidgeting...-"

" Listen, I can't hang out... I know you're disappointed, but something happened and I can't do this today-"

Error had told Ink why he changed, but the squid couldn't remember.

He sighed.
" I'm sorry, Dream... I know everyone wants me to remember, but... I can't..."

" Hey, Ink, it's okay... We want you to remember everything, sure, but none of this is your fault... We're going to help you get your memories back... One step at a time..."
Dream said, reaching out to rub his back a bit, comforting the other and smiling to add to the reassuring moment.

Ink smiled back slightly,
" Alright..."
He said, nodding a bit and glancing away,
" And, hey, Dream... "

The guardian perked up,
" Yeah...?"

Ink sighed a bit, fidgeting with his hands,
" What was I like...? Before this..."

Dream thought over that for a moment,
" Ink, you've always been great... You were energetic, artistic, creative... You progressed a lot as a person on how you acted just a bit after meeting Blue and I... You were loyal and kind and a great guardian..."

" Did I fail...?"

Dream was shocked,
" What...?"

" Did I fail as a guardian...?"
The artist asked, gripping his arms slightly as he looked over at Dream,
" When I got sick and lost my memories..?"

" Of course not, Ink... you kept it from us, sure, but you didn't want to bother us... None of this is your fault..."

Dream said, hugging his friend.Ink sighed and hugged back gently, waiting a few moments before he spoke," Thank you..."" Anytime..."