Of Soulmates and Bonds - Errorink

15. I do adore

Gift gift gift gift gift!

He loved his gift so much!

Ink was walking in between Blue and Error, holding his amazing gift with both hands: the Creator felt a little calmer after being in Snowdin, and he wanted to try to not get distracted on his own, so he asked Blue to stop holding his hand. He still wanted to go everywhere and touch, hear, see everything, but the novelty of being elsewhere was wearing off a bit, and Ink believed he could manage to remain on track. Mostly.

On the other hand, he couldn't stop thinking about his gift! And the fact that it came from Error made it extra special: Ink knew that you only give gifts to people you love (like brothers, parents, children, partners) and knowing Error loved him made him feel all tingly and warm inside, and he was pretty sure that if Blue had given him a gift instead, he wouldn't feel like this.

Ink tried imagining himself giving something to Error, and him feeling the same way, and the feeling became stronger, making him giggle a bit.

"𝕎𝓱Ａt'ş şσ ⓕ𝕌ŇŇ𝕪 ιŇ𝕂?(What's so funny Ink?)" Error turned around and looked at him. Ink loved when Error looked at him, because his eyes were very pretty, so unique and colorf- oh wait, Error asked him a question, what was he thinking about?
"I forgot." he shrugged and smiled at Error, but then noticed where they were. "An echo flower!"

He put his gift in his pocket and ran to the blue flower, kneeling in front of it: he really wanted to try it!
"Hello!"
Hello!

How fun! Ink laughed, and the flower copied him.
"Error come try it!" Error come try it!
Error was making a weird face and blushing, though Ink didn't know why (blushing means you're embarrassed, but there was nothing to be embarrassed about, or maybe there was and Ink couldn't see it, but in that case Blue would probably say something, since he always seemed to know when Ink was unsure or confused about things, but Blue was just smiling at Error, why? Was there something fun?)

"ι 𝓭σŇ't t𝓱𝐢Ň𝕂 𝐢t'ş Ａ Ｇσσ𝓭 𝐢𝓭ＥＡ, Ⓦ𝐢t𝓱 爪𝕪 Ѷσ𝐢𝓬Ｅ ＡŇ𝓭 Ａ𝔩𝔩...(I don't think it's a good idea, with my voice and all...)"
"Your voice? What's wrong with that? Your voice is really nice!"
Your voice is really nice!
He was blushing again! That was what he was embarrassed about!
"Error please? You don't have to be embarrassed, your voice is lovely!"
Your voice is lovely!

Error looked at Blue, who just raised his hands up, and then came closer mumbling under his breath (who knows what was he saying, was he practicing for the flower?).
He didn't kneel, but instead leaned forward and articulated slowly and clearly: "t𝓱𝐢ş 𝐢ş şt𝕌ｐ𝐢𝓭.(This is stupid.)"
t𝓱𝐢ş 𝐢ş şt𝕌ｐ𝐢𝓭.(This is stupid)

Error winced at the echo, so Ink made sure to make him feel better.
"See? I told you it would be fine! I liked it a lot!"
I liked it a lot!
"Oh no! I talked over your message! I'm sorry Error!"
I'm sorry Error!

Ink got up and put his hands on his mouth, so he wouldn't make the same mistake again, then looked at Error and smiled. Now Error could record his message again!
"Try again Error!" was what he wanted to say, but with his hands on his mouth all that came out was: "Trrr hghnn Hrrrr!". Error looked confused and then laughed. The flower copied him.

Ink had heard Error's laughter before, when they were at Blue's house, but he hadn't paid attention back then, so this time he focused, and the laughter was exactly like he thought it'd be (not that he had actually thought about it, at least he couldn't remember doing it, he just imagined it might sound in a certain way due to how Error looked and acted, and maybe he imagined it more than once or twice): it went up and down, fast and slow, it was almost like it was two different laughters mixed together, and Ink felt again the tingly feeling inside.

Ink couldn't see it, but his right pupil changed from a yellow star to a pink heart.

And the ground around his feet became paler.

=============

Ink was looking up at the ceiling in awe, his pupils two stars to match the glowing gems above them, and Error felt like he was about to combust: the other had no right to be this adorable!

He could (barely) manage to keep his composure when Ink smiled, but the fact that his crush loved stars like him was becoming too much to handle.
The Creator reached a hand toward the ceiling and said, unusually soft: "Stars are amazing; these are nice, but the real ones are way better. 14O11T15 is one of the most beautiful AUs I've ever seen. When you watch its sky, so full of nebulae and stars and galaxies, you never feel alone."

Error imagined Ink's face bathed by the light of Outertale, and his soul skipped several beats.

"You know Ink" Blue said "Error has been to Outertale before. That's the place you were talking about, right?" His friend motioned for him to speak.
"үＥＡ𝓱 t𝓱Ａt'ş я𝐢Ｇ𝓱t, ι'ѶＥ ᵇＥＥŇ t𝓱ＥяＥ ᵇＥⓕσяＥ. ιt'ş ᵇ𝐢Ｇ.(Yeah that's right, I've been there before. It's big.)" So smooth Error, what a way with words.
"Will you take me there someday?"

What.

"𝕎𝓱Ａt?(What?)" Glitches started crawling all over him. Was the other asking him out on a date? He had thought about taking Blue to see Outertale before, so maybe it was just a friend's thing? Was that a thing? Platonic stargazing? For fuck's sake, how was he supposed to take this? Error turned to ask Blue for help, and his friend smiled widely and gave him two thumbs up. That wasn't helpful! He needed to know how to respond! Error angrily mouthed: "What do I do?!" and gestured to all of Ink. Ironically, the irritation kept his focus away from his nerves, and lessened his glitching.

Oblivious to the exchange, Ink kept looking at the ceiling and continued speaking: "It's not safe for me to go alone anywhere. I'd-" he stopped, and his expression turned nervous, his pupils changing to a purple pentagon and a pink spiral "-get lost too easily! Too many distractions, ahah!" His pupils then went back to their default state "But if you were with me, I'm sure I'd be alright." He smiled at Error, then glanced at Blue and added: "Oh, you too Blue, of course!"
The bastard just smirked. "Don't worry Ink, I'm sure you'd have much more fun with Error anyway."

Blue was enjoying this way too much for Error's liking.

"So, will you take me?"
Ink's face was full of hope, and he also had the lightest blush on his face. It was rainbow coloured, because of course it was.
"𝓾𝓱, ş𝕌яＥ.(Uh, sure.)"
Stars, he was whipped.

===============

Sans was enjoying this way too much. Watching his two friends awkwardly "flirt" with each other was like having front row seats to his own personal Undernovela.

Of course, neither of them had forgotten what they had to do; the AUs were still destroyed, there were still refugees in the Antivoid, Nightmare had still conquered and laid waste to the Omega Timeline, but... It was nice to be able to forget it for a while, and enjoy this budding romance.

Besides, their journey through the Underground was going way faster than expected, in spite of Ink's earlier detours and their stop at Sans' house, and soon they'd enter Hotland; they'd be one step closer to the exit point, the Antivoid, and to bring everyone home. Though Sans was still unsure about what to do with Ink's phobia (making him enter the Antivoid would be cruel and distressing, not to mention that Ink couldn't help anyone in the middle of a panic attack), he was also confident that they'd find a way.

Error and Ink were ahead of him, and the Destroyer started laughing at something the Creator told him: the glitch held his sides, unable to stop, while the artist looked happy, his pupils a yellow star and a pink heart. They were adorable.

Author's note
Aww, aren't they cute? Let's hope nothing bad happens :)