Sanscest Spooktober Prompts

Campfire

In their travels, the star sanses had stopped in a ruined universe.

It was just a shell, a husk of what it used to be; but still savable. Sure, the AU had seen significant damage to its coding, but not enough for Ink to determine it to be unsalvageable.

They had been scouting the outer edges of Dream's multiversal territory; a lucky section of universes which Dream had claimed under his power and protection. The discovery had been found while casually patrolling and had been a shock in all honesty. How had it managed to happen so close to their base without raising any alarms? 

It had been the work of Nightmare's forces, Ink concluded surveying the damage. Had it been Error's doing then there most likely wouldn't have been any more universe to scout.

They decided to stay the night and rest, before evacuating any surviving residents in the morning.

The only reason they had actually stopped in the desolate universe in the first place was because of Blue's protests. He had to often loudly remind the two outcodes, that while they may be the god of positivity and soulless guardian, he at least still very much a  mortal who required sleep. So begrudgingly, they had agreed to stop and set up camp.

They decided to make their camp in the ruins of what Blue believed to be the devastated remains of this universe's Snowdin forest. Trees were toppled and entire acres scorched in some places, but the three of them still managed to find a good enough clearing to begin putting up a tent. Firewood had been a bit tricky to collect, but they still managed to start up a meager fire with what little they had gathered.

Blue warmed his hands over the fire while Dream sat beside him, scratching away at a list he'd made. He mumbled to himself as he rearranged dates due to the sudden change of plans, wondering aloud how quickly they'd be able to finish their patrol now. And whether they'd find more devastated AUs like this when they did.

That left Blue to keep an eye on Ink and his... easily distracted tendencies. Last time they had stopped and stayed in a forest overnight, Ink had started licking frogs after spending too long unsupervised.

Currently, Ink scurried about their rushed campsite, finding sticks and other items to eagerly feed to the fire. He had recently managed to find a ball of tree sap that, when he chucked it into the fire, had sparked the flames so high they nearly licked Blue's face. With as accidently destructive as Ink could be, he worried about the other somehow managing to burn their camp down. How ironic for a guardian.

"Ink!" He said nervously. "How about you... don't do that?"

Ink paused, his hands still dangling a mass of sticks and twigs above the fire as his eyelights rapidly shifted shapes in confusion. "Do what?"

"Put things into the fire. I think it's big enough."

"Ok then." He shrugged."Your loss."

Ink dumped his collected items in a pile besides the fires, narrowly missing the flames in a way that still made Blue's heart jump. Dream still sat beside him, consumed entirely in whatever work he was sorting through in his hand.

It would probably be in his best intentions that Blue snapped Dream out of his workaholic haze before he tired himself too much. Something that could get Ink to stay still long enough to not destroy their camp would be nice also.

Blue clasped his hands together. "Campfire stories! Let's tell some campfire stories!"

"Campfire stories?" Ink asked, brushing the dirt and debris off his hands and onto his overalls.