I'll Make You Mine

True Colors . . . or Lack Of: Ink

(Content warnings: Domestic abuse, mild torture, sensory deprivation, major character death)

The first month of the relationship felt like a fairytale and Ink was having the time of his life.

Nightmare knew how to be romantic. He took Ink out on dates to his favorite places in the Doodlesphere. Ink thought he saw everything, but Nightmare revealed secret places he liked to spend time in. His favorite was a minor AU called Silenceswap. As the name suggested, it was, well, silent. Too silent for the artist's taste. His favorite AUs were the ones with a lot of action and activity, or at least something to do. Silenceswap bored Ink quickly, but he stayed for Nightmare's sake and to listen to him talk. He couldn't believe he didn't realize how attractive Nightmare's voice was before. It was smooth like acrylic paint and as colorful as a rainbow. Ink could listen to him talk for hours. He loved the sweet time with Nightmare.

Even hanging around the castle was fun. It took Ink two weeks to explore the four stories and every little tower. The highest one was his favorite since he could see everything in the AU he didn't know existed. The dark green forests, the high mountains, the giant lake in front of Nightmare's window. This AU was amazing.

The castle never seemed to get any sunlight. The best weather Ink had seen was light gray clouds, the worst were violent thunderstorms. He didn't understand how any of the plants grew. Magic?

"I don't like sunlight," Nightmare said when he asked. "It's bright, obnoxious, and makes everything overheat."

Ink stared at him blankly. No wonder he was so miserable all the time. He remembered hearing something about how sunshine could improve mood. He didn't bring it up though.

Ink even got to know the other members of the gang. Killer was a blast to hang around. They had a similar sense of humor and he liked watching anime with him. He made commentary during the episodes, even if some of it was uncomfortable for his taste. Horror creeped him out and was on the quiet side, but still nice enough. The one person he didn't like was Dust, who enjoyed making him miserable and kept him on edge. He stared at him from the shadows with a both sick and pitying expression. He never talked to him directly, but he caught him muttering things to himself. "I can't wait for him to wake up from his fantasies, don't you Pap?"

Ink had no clue what he meant.

He guessed there was a downside to everything. Nightmare didn't like him to talk too much and used the hand signal a lot. Ink would get excited about something and start to ramble, only for Nightmare to shut him down.

"You're prettier when you're silent, Ink, and your voice is obnoxious, too many cracks and scratches."

Ink's smile fell. Was his voice that bad? Nah, Nightmare had to be teasing him. It was like when said Ink loved him and Nightmare wouldn't say it back. He was playing hard to get. Which confused him more because he was the one to ask to date and let him live in his castle . . .

His head would explode if he thought too hard about this.

The other downside was Nightmare focused on his battle training above anything else. It felt like Ink got less cuddles and kisses and more tendrils strangling him. He understood why the training was so difficult. Nightmare wanted him to be better, but this was miserable. And when they weren't battle training, Nightmare almost always had some other project or work he had to do.

"Nightmare! Come on, you've been doing work for hours. Can't we . . . I don't know, do something fun?" Ink wrapped his arms around Nightmare's neck, watching him fill out the files below. He didn't get what any of them were for. His associates? Did Nightmare have associates?