Stone Cold

Chapter 13

[Guess who's baaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!! I finally had a burst of motivation that I used to write the chapter instead of focus on my school work. I'm sorry for leaving you guys for so long. My motivation is very flaky so updates will be inconsistent but I will not be abandoning my fics. Thanks for the kind words and patience! I love you all so much <3 Also, you guys are really funny. Your comments make me laugh. This is kind of a filler chapter so sorry about the lack of plot. I will admit I was planning on showing more of Dream's POV to make it angsty during the hangout thing but eh. The boys are spacey today lol]

*Dream's POV*

Ink was in fact free on this particular day. Unfortunately.

Dream was determined to have a good time with Blue anyways. He hadn't spent time with his friend for a while and each moment was precious. Even if Ink was there as well.

Dream groaned before grabbing the cookie container that he bought from the store earlier. He had only eaten one so there was enough to share still.

He looked at the time on his phone. He was glad that he didn't have to actually sign into it and open a program to see the time. Dream was terrible with technology. It's not a surprising side effect of living in an au that was set in the middle ages. At least, he thinks it was the middle ages. There are too many ages without technology to keep track and Dream had no idea what the difference between them was.

Anyways, he had a few minutes before he had to leave.

Dream started looking around for any other snacks that he could take to the picnic. He found a big bag of barbecue potato chips but that was it.

Dream really hadn't spent much time here, choosing to stay at the star sanses base. That is, until.... anyways, he hadn't been here very long and needed to go shopping later.

Dream shook his head. He was getting distracted. Picnic. Blue. Ink. That's what he needed to focus on.

He looked at the time again. It was time to leave.

Dream took a deep breath and opened a portal. He put on a smile and stepped through.

*Blue's POV*

Saying that he was excited about Ink being there would be a lie. Truthfully, even before he found out about the balance, Blue was always wary of Ink. He was so flaky and impulsive. His mood would change as fast as his eyelights and he would forget both almost everything, important or not. Yet Blue had the feeling Ink remembered a lot more than he let on. It was almost as if it was  planned.

That's not even mentioning his morals. It could be called gray at best. At worst, almost psychopathic. It was like he didn't even care. Every action he made seemed to benefit in some way.

It all made sense when Blue found out the creator was soulless. That made the wariness 10 times worse. Blue tried to give him the benefit of the doubt but it was hard.

Dream didn't share the worry Blue had. He knew about it yes, but he didn't share it. He seemed to understand where he was coming from, wincing whenever the creator did something that reflected his soullessness. It clicked when he found out Dream had known about Ink's condition long before Blue did. Whether he figured it out on his own with the help of his emotion powers or Ink told him Blue didn't know.

Blue didn't know how to feel about that. Dream was so ready to trust that it almost scared him. As time went past, he decided he didn't like it one bit. Ink was so very manipulative and Dream far too easy to manipulate.

When Blue was kidnapped by Error, these thoughts were shoved to the side. Helping Error become more stable and managing the balance in the background were Blue's main focus.

Make sure your friend doesn't die and the multiverse doesn't collapse and then deal with the star's issues.

But things are never that easy are they? The creators would never allow it. What's a story without a plot? A world without pain and suffering in the name of development? A place without invisible strings guiding lives into a downward spiral with only a spare few coming out on top with their sanity still intact?

Blue's background problems were brought to the front along with the one's he was already dealing with.

Stretch's depression grew so very much. Blue had been scared that any day he may just give up. (Granted, his medication was helping a lot but Blue still worried.) Ink continued making things worse. Dream was no longer ok. The balance leaned closer and closer too tipping. Error came back more and more injured. Nightmare's gang of broken people grew in size.

How was Blue supposed to save them all?

He thought of Nightmare's encouraging smile and the gang's hug before he stepped into the portal taking him home.

'One step at a time Blue. I won't stop until they're all safe no matter how long it takes.'

Blue was willing to fight Fate and even the mysterious creators to the death if it helped the people he cared about. So far, fighting Fate was most definitely going to be on the menu in the future.

He thought about Dream's bright smile, Stretch's laugh, Error's love for his brothers, Nightmare's gentle aura, Cross and the murder trio's fun pranks, and the beauty of the multiverse. It would all be worth it in the end. He would make sure of it.

With a smile, he welcomed Dream and then Ink into his home. He watched as Dream stayed close to him at all times, even if it meant insisting on helping to grab a snack from another room or just going instead. It seems Dream would rather not be in a room alone with Ink.

He laughed as Ink did something stupid and they all got covered with the pudding they were planning on eating at the picnic. Dream laughed as well, though not as joyfully as he would have in the past.

After they made lunch, they grabbed the supplies they would need for the picnic. Blue made sure to give Stretch a big hug and remind him to take his meds before he left. He felt hopeful at the genuine smile his brother gave.

They went to most cliche place in the multiverse. Outertale. The inhabitants there didn't even blink at the strange things they saw anymore.

They had a wonderful time regardless of how basic it was. They chatted while eating and looking at the stars and bounced around in the low gravity.

After lunch, they went to a fair in a random au and browsed all of the stands. They even went on a roller coaster. Poor Dream looked ready to pass out when he got off. Later, Blue almost died laughing when Dream asked about the 'strange snake dragon machine that almost killed them.' Blue forgot how Dream was about technology. Nightmare had a full 500 extra years to figure it all out so he didn't have that problem.

Blue was able to believe Dream's smile was genuine today.

Later, Blue rambled about his day to Stretch and his joy only grew at the fond smile on his younger brother's face. When it was his turn to talk, Stretch told him about the jokes the old King told him. They were so bad the Blue couldn't help but groan which only made Stretch laugh more.

It was a good day.

Blue knew he could do this. He would help his brother battle his despair, he would save Dream from whatever was causing him pain, he would eventually expose Ink and save the bad sanses from their suffering, and he would finally join the royal guard. The only reason he hadn't yet was he hadn't shown Alphys his true strength yet. After all, he didn't have the time to be a royal guard at the moment. He couldn't wait to show off his guardness to his friends when the time came.