He's Just "Tired..."

~42~

Dream was quick to lead Ink downstairs to the living room, have Ink sit down on the couch with him. A look of utter guilt was more than visible within the guardian's eye sockets. Could he even ever have a chance to make it up to Ink for what he had so quickly accused Ink of? Who was this entity that had been going around and mimicking people to frame them for horrible acts? "While I am unsure if you could ever find it within you to be able to forgive me for my accusation, the impersonator you mentioned sounds like an utterly horrible individual. A stop must be put to them as soon as possible; if only to prevent something like this from happening to anyone else! After all, do you know how many friendships and relationships that that horrible being may potentially ruin?! We need to figure out the true culprit and fast!" Dream seemed to have moved on from his remorse, with it having been replaced with absolute determination to put the horrible criminal behind bars. Ink may have thought he could have gotten away with what he had done to Faith and Cross, but now he could face much more grave issues now that Dream thinks someone else is responsible. Why does Ink keep getting himself into such major trouble?...

Ink could only muster an anxious small smile on his face as he quietly nodded. "T-They do sound truly terrible... Who could ever let themselves become such a terrible being?... How could they even sleep with such guilt at night?... Do they feel no remorse?..." Dream quietly shook his head. "I am unsure of those things, Ink. What I do know however, is that I'm going to have you help me put this monstrous criminal behind bars. After all, you seem to already have at least some form of a small lead in this case! Ooo! I've never gotten to play the role of a detective before! I wonder if we'll manage to catch the culprit! Actually, scratch that! We WILL catch the culprit and bring justice for their horrible actions!" Dream thought for a moment. "I'll be right back, I'll go get a notebook that we can write our information down in!" He quickly got up from the couch, sprinting upstairs immediately. Ink quietly muttered under his breath once Dream had gone upstairs. "Oh, how in the name of the stars above am I going to get myself out of this pit?..."

As Ink almost got lost in his thoughts of feeling seemingly guilty for his actions, his thought process was interrupted by Dream running back down the stairs. "I'm back, Ink! Have you thought of any information we could write down yet?? I already know someone we could probably rule out! My brother, hopefully! He may be mean nowadays, but he wouldn't just go and kill his own nephew without reason!" Dream was quick to write down a basic layout on the page. The first name Dream had put on the list of not likely to be responsible for the crimes was Nightmare. After all, Dream couldn't bring himself to believe it could have been his brother, Nightmare, no matter how much he may try to do so. He knows that deep down in Nightmare, his original brother was in there. And for that reason alone, he is solidly convinced that Nightmare is not responsible.