Fading Ink

Chapter 18

He could only remember trying to hold onto Error's hand.

Blueberry woke up, his blurry vision dotted with white and blue glowing stars that shimmered far above him.

He sat up, rubbing his head and glancing around. It almost looked like he was in a field of echo flowers. In fact, he was. He could hear the whispering voices of the monsters who had come here.

Actually, the whispers all had the same voice, now that he was listening closer.

'i wish he'd remember'

'i wish we could see the real stars'

'i wish that dumb kid and flower would stop RESETing everything'

'i wish... we could stay on the surface'

Blueberry blinked slowly, listening to every wish.

The soft sound of footsteps behind him made him straighten up and look around, trying to see who it was with his ruined sight.

The red and black figure stopped right behind him.

Blueberry stood and turned around, facing this world's version of himself.

"the fuck are you?"

"LangUagE." Blueberry huffed, crossing his arms.

"not from here, then. what freaky universe spit you out?"

"ExcUsE mE. i happEn to think that mY UnivERsE is pREtty cool. wELL, it was..."

"yeah yeah, i don't wanna hear your sob story. i've got better things to do."

The skeleton turned to leave, walking away.

Blueberry decided to follow him.

He guided himself mostly by sound, and what little he could see. He followed the other's footsteps, until the crunch of snow under his boots sent a feeling of excitement through him.

It felt like forever since he'd last seen snow.

Well, not seen exactly, but his excitement was just the same.

It was then that he bumped right into the other skeleton, who had turned to face him while he was lost in thought.

"gotta bone to pick with me or somethin'? why're you following me?"

Blueberry looked up at the other.

"BEcaUsE i wanna know what UnivERsE i'm in."

There was a moment where Blueberry assumed the skeleton was staring at him incredulously.

"you're in underfell. if you want specifics, underfell classic. now leave me alone."

Blueberry ignored him and followed him again, matching his pace.

"i think i'm going to caLL YoU 'fELL'."

The other groaned in exasperation.

"are you trying to make me angry? 'cuz it's working."

Blueberry ignored him again.

"So, Back in thE Echo fLowER Room, wERE aLL thosE whispERs YoUR wishEs?"

Fell froze, and Blueberry walked past him a few steps before realizing the other had stopped.

"... you may not be from here, but don't think i won't kill you for that."

Fell sounded angry. More than that, he sounded furious.

"kiLL mE foR what?"

"... mentioning that in snowdin. you don't know who could be listening." Fell had lowered his voice so that Blueberry was sure if someone were listening, they couldn't hear.

The sudden grip on his wrist was tight, and he cried out in surprise, his blurry surroundings changing rapidly from the white and red of snowdin to the blue of the echo flowers.

~~~~

They were sitting on the edge of the cliff, Error flicking rapidly through the undestroyed AU's, Ink looking over his shoulder.

"Have you found him yet?"

"nO."

After a moment, Error froze, staring at the screen.

"thERE's Only thiRty lEft."

The image on the screen flickered and dissolved, making Ink gasp in what Error assumed was pain. Ink clutched at the fabric of Error's jacket, burying his face into the other's shoulder.

Error flinched violently, and he bit down on the instinct to move away, staying absolutely still. He looked at the screen, watching four more universes disappear.

When it stopped, Ink pulled away from Error, muttering a 'sorry' and refusing to look at him.

"i-it's finE, just... waRn mE."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments, neither skeleton knowing what to say, it would seem.

Before, Error'd thought he would freak out. But, it wasn't as bad as he thought.

Even if Ink was in pain, and it wasn't really a hug, Error was going to count it as one.

Almost smiling to himself at the thought, Error knew Blueberry would be upset that he didn't get to hug him first.

"ink?" He spoke suddenly, surprising himself with a new thought, as well as the fact that he was going to act upon it.

"Yeah?"

"um..." He forced himself to spit it out. "what dO hugs fEEl likE?"

Ink stared at him.

"Oh, well, um... They aren't really something you can describe."

Error silenced himself, staring down the cliff.

He felt almost silly- no scratch that, he felt stupid- asking his next question.

"th-thEn can yOu shOw mE?"

Ink smiled at him, and Error felt warmth wash over his face.

Then, Ink scooted closer and wrapped his arms around him in a side hug.

Error froze.

Then, he slowly lifted his arms and hugged back.