Of Soulmates and Bonds - Errorink

8. I know it's today

"Oh c'mon! Again?! Can you believe that Broomie?! It's like, the gazillionth time!"

Ink looked at his trusted brush, ignored the pain he felt at the loss of yet another AU, and then looked back at the one he was currently fixing: it had been ripped in half and its colors were almost gone, and that meant the AU it represented was destroyed. For some time now (how much? It wasn't possible to tell time inside the Doodlesphere, it could have been hours, or days, weeks, y e a r s- what was he thinking about?) he kept finding a lot of AUs like that, and didn't know why! Of course, it was normal for some to be destroyed, or corrupted, or even frayed (or even incomplete, forgotten, never finished, abandoned, alonealonealone-) but not these many all at once! Even so, he kept fixing the same ones over and over again: his memory wasn't very good, and his attention span wasn't any better, but he was sure of that.

The Creator was not happy. In fact, he felt the opposite of happy! He had never felt like this before, like something was crawling all over his body, making him restless and seeing red (he had checked, his pupils changed to red crosshairs and targets whenever he felt like this).

Protecting the AUs was his duty, he knew that, They told him that: They had been so kind, helping him when he was (abandoned in the empty void space, he didn't have a soul anymore, he couldn't feel anything, all he could see was whitewhitewhitewhite-) in need, and brought him to his beautiful, colorful, full home.

He couldn't hear Them anymore (it had been so long since he had last heard from Them, how long was it again?), but he could still feel Them, when They were proud of him, and of his work, and when They were happy, and satisfied (which was like being happy, but not really), and excited, which was similar to a combination of happiness and his new feeling now that he thought about it, almost like a better version of it, but he preferred being happy- where was he going with this?

The point was, he liked when he was good to Them, because They had given him everything, so it was only fair he gave Them all of himself in return.

Besides, he really liked AUs!

The AUs taught him many things, like what was what (he knew what a sock was, what a knife was, what a dog was, what a flower was, what a friend was, what a brother was, what a family was, what a-), what other people did (they went shopping, and ate, and met friends, and worked, and walked, and fought, and sang, and danced, and-), what places existed (mountains, and planes, and deserts, and oceans, and beaches, and forests, and space!), how to do stuff (he knew how to walk, and talk, and read, and write, and smile, and fight, and-) and a lot of other things!

The AUs were Their best gift: he never got tired of watching them, looking at all the different colors, things, places, people inside, seeing the many timelines and searching for what made them similar and what made them unique.
What he liked the most though, were the characters: they were all so interesting, and special!

Sometimes, Ink imagined that they were all his friends, and that he'd visit them all, and they'd be so happy to see him! They'd be like: "Ink! We missed you so much! You're our best friend!"

Ink wished he could do more than just watch, though he knew he couldn't get out, They had been very clear about that: he didn't belong, it was dangerous for someone like him (without a soul) to get out, because everyone would think he was bad, just like the Floweys, and the Temmies (but sometimes Floweys were nice, like in the AU 04U10F15) and then they would all hate him, and hurt him, and-

He couldn't get out. It was for the best.

Whenever he thought about that, he got sad (that was something he felt many times, his pupils would turn to blue teardrops and he felt like he couldn't breathe, like something was weighting on him and taking away all the fuzzy feeling of happiness that was there before) and felt the need to hide inside his big scarf; to make himself happy again, he'd look at Broomie.

Broomie was his first friend and companion, (and also another gift from Them) and would never ever turn him away: his brush always had an encouraging word for him whenever he felt bad. Broomie couldn't really speak, but Ink knew what it was saying anyway, he felt it. And, after cheering him up, his friend would always remind him to read the inscription written on it, the Prophecy.

One of the last things They ever said to him (maybe even the last, but he wasn't sure) was about the Prophecy: it talked about a soulmate, his soulmate (what a weird thought, a soulmate for a soulless), someone who would care for him and accept him for who he was, but if he wanted to meet them, he had to stay safe and stay put.

Ink trusted Them: if They said he had to stay in the Doodlesphere, then he'd stay and wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And- what was he thinking about again?

Ink shook his skull a bit; he had spaced out again, and found himself looking toward the small house he painted for himself. He hardly used it, but he had thought it would be fun to make (it was). "Ooops, I did it again Broomie!" Silly Ink, always distracted!

The Creator laughed, Broomie was so funny sometimes! Still smiling, Ink turned back to the AU he was working on and, using a small brush, he started to meticulously paint it back the way it was; after that, he'd use Broomie to glue the paper back together, then the AU would be restored.

The same couldn't be said for the dozens of other AUs that were still destroyed, floating around him lazily, but Ink wouldn't give up!

He'd keep fixing and protecting the AUs, and observing the people who lived inside the AUs, and waiting for his soulmate! They were coming any day now!

Any day.