Unwanted protection

Retributions and rewards

The day had started well.

Ink had, for once, slept in their room with them, and he had woke up smiling (actually smiling!), and had put on his old clothes. The three of them had gotten up very early, aware that most residents of the castle liked to sleep in; Sans had taken up Horror's offer, and so he and his friends holed up in the kitchen, preparing an elaborate breakfast.

The cannibal was already awake, and remained as supervision and as a buffer against everyone else: he had even stopped Error from entering, claiming the glitch would only be in the way, and Ink's time away from him had helped the artist tremendously, making him regain some light in his eyes. They had jokes, laughed, reminisced about fun times, and the kitchen had felt like a reprieve.
The good mood had remained even after sitting at the table with everyone else, and Sans had allowed himself to think that, maybe, possibly, the day could be good.

He never learned, did he?

The twins had gone to the library, while Sans and Horror had pushed for everyone else to watch a movie, so they were all on the couch in the living room.

It had only been 30 minutes, before they started hearing an argument, and Nightmare walked into the room, followed by Dream. Everyone watched in anticipation.

"Nightmare, please."
"No."
"You can accompany me, you can even let Error tie my wrists!"
"I said no, Dream, and this is the last word on the subject."
"I haven't seen her in 500 years!"
"Then one more year won't make a difference now, will it?"

Sans couldn't understand what they were talking about, and it seemed no one else did either.

"Why are you being so unreasonable?!"
Nightmare stopped walking away and faced Dream.
"I'm not, the rules are here for a reason!"
They were both gesticulating wildly, and Nightmare's appendages were moving restlessly.
"You made these rules, you can make an exception!"
"This isn't exception worthy!"

Sans started feeling a bit sick, as Dream and Nightmare's auras were reacting to their emotions, and he both felt like smiling and curling up in a ball. Dream became enraged, while Nightmare looked exasperated.

"Nightmare! I will pay my respects to Mother tomorrow, with or without your permission!"
"You aren't leaving the castle grounds!"
"Watch me!"
The twins started moving closer to each other.
"I will! You won't be left alone even for a second, let's see how you'll sneak out then!"
"Like I don't have any experience escaping from you!"

Dream had to stop, he was letting his frustration get the best of him; he would end up saying something he would regret, and then he'd get punished, like Ink had been.
Glancing at the artist, Sans saw his barely disguised panic, and knew he was thinking the same thing.

"Stop being stubborn! It's for your own good!"
"What good?! You're stopping me from visiting Mother's grave!"
"The castle is the safest place for you!"
"I don't care! I want to visit Mother!"

The sick feeling evolved in a splitting headache, and everyone but Ink started holding their skulls. The twins didn't notice.

"You never listen to me! One would think 500 years would be enough to learn, but you're still the same spoiled brat! I'm trying to protect you!"
"Why can't you escort me if you're so worried then?! Do you hate Mother that much?!"

Sans and Error laughed with tears streaming down their face, Killer had put his skull between his knees, Dust and Horror seemed unconscious, and Ink was just holding his forearms tightly, frightened and confused.

"How dare you! I always protected Mother, you were the one who kept handing out apples as if they were candies! You let those disgusting peasants exploit her, and you never listened to my warnings! You never stopped them from hurting me!"
"I was a child!"
"We were both children! You're the reason I'm like this!"