Repeating Steps

Tension

The council was louder than usual.

Loud in a way that made Ink want to run and never turn back. It was a familiar feeling, if one he rarely followed the whims of. As much as he disliked the noise, he understood it. This wasn't just about Broomie, it was about their lives. Their homes. They were allowed to be worried.

"-Of commission? What about Error? We can't-"

"-Could break! Honestly, what kind of-"

"-And Nightmare? What if he hears about-" 

It was understandable. Ink just had to keep reminding himself so.

His gaze rose to look at Blue beside him. Like usual, Blue seemed unbothered by the noise reverberating through the room. His expression, though it was hard to tell, hid a familiar frustration. Blue never liked it when they got like this. Especially when it was targeted at something Ink had done.

As if noticing his stare, Blue turned to his right, blue eyes looking down to meet Ink's own. Anger melted away, revealing a fond look. He gave Ink a familiar smile, no doubt noticing Ink's own tenseness. 

A pain Ink had slowly started to recognize hit him in the chest, forcing his eyes away.

With his head turned, Ink noticed Dream beside him. The guardian had a flustered look on his face, his body moving wildly as he tried to calm down the rest of the council.

"Uh- guys? Please calm down, everything will be just-!" Dream's pleas were heard by deaf ears, his words cutting off when a harsh slam vibrated against the table. His startled expression turned sour, before tiredness replaced it, his usually stiff form slouching slightly in his chair.

Ink winced. He could already feel the headache coming.

"-Bet 'dey already heard 'bout-" 

"-Our homes! We're all in danger-!"

"-Goodness gracious, what kind of language-" 

A horrid, piercing shrill suddenly filled the room, startling Ink enough he was unable to mask the pained expression on his face. Looking over to where the noise came from, Ink's eyes once again caught sight of Blue, who was now holding a small, unassuming metal whistle, staring at it with a smug, contemplating look.

The room was now silent. "I believe Ink was trying to say something?" Blue asked innocently, mindlessly swinging the whistle back and forth from it's rope, it barely missing the table each time.

Ink quickly plastered a smile onto his face. "Yes, thank you, Blue!" Thanks, but never do that again, he thought, despite knowing he probably would. "None of you need to panic. I'm not out of commission- despite what some of you seem to think" He told them, eyeing the previously chatty Chesstale Sans. Chess? King? Pawn? Ink wasn't sure about his name.

"I can still fight perfectly fine without Broomie, I'm not useless without them." Ink tried to joke, but it seemed as if it didn't even land, nobody noticing. 

Dream nodded, a relieved look on his face. "Yes. Ink's done it before, and he can do it again." Dream, rather helpfully, didn't mention that last time Broomie wasn't broken, but rather lost underneath Blue's bed, a fact Ink was quite happy to keep to himself.

"Error's been rather quiet as well, hasn't he? I wouldn't be surprised if it was fixed before he came out again." A voice- Outertale Sans, pointed out. Ink knew this name. Orbit? No. Outer? Yes. Outer sounded right. 

Ink bristled slightly at Broomie being referred to as an it, but nodded anyway. 

"That would be the best case scenario, but even if the Destroyer does come out, everything will be fine. Ink has it handled." Blue retold the group.