How to Establish Your Gang and Take Care of the Children in It

Rule 28: Accept That Your Goop Boi May or May Not Have Been a Terrible Person

"I$ thi$ $0me $0rt 0f c0nv0luted plan t0 drag me 0ut here and murder me? Becau$e if $0, it'$ g0ing really $l0wly. $peed it up 0r $0mething."

NIghtmare laughed softly. Before this, Error wouldn't have guessed the King would have known how to laugh. He'd certainly never done it around Error before. This... this was strange.

It was weird, honestly. As though Nightmare's code had been rewritten. It was the same person, but with no malice, more trust, and a sadness that couldn't entirely be hidden behind that intensely piercing gaze. In other words, someone had given him the personality of a kicked puppy.

"Mmm... not entirely." It took Error a moment to realize the King was responding to his comment, not his train of thought. Different though this Nightmare could be, they both had the same uncanny guessing ability. Rather than as a weapon to unsettle Error, though, the King simply seemed to do it instinctively, without realizing he was already two steps ahead in the conversation.

"If I wanted you dead, I'd have done it with the element of surprise on my side," Nightmare continued. "And anyway, it's not really a habit of mine to murder random people."

They passed into a different room, this one furnished with ornate decorations. Error stopped in the doorway (carved and inlaid with some sort of precious metal... he wondered how satisfying it would be to tear it down), staring at the King incredulously.

"Have y0u g0ne in$ane?" He demanded. "Y0u're the King 0f Negativity, f0r fuck'$ $ake! Y0u have a kill $treak t0 match mine- the 0nly per$0n with m0re w0uld be Reaper 0f all pe0ple! Have y0u... genuinely f0rg0tten everything?" He added, noticing Nightmare's pained expression.

"I think you already know the answer to that," the King said quietly. "I've been trying to fill in this gap, but the more I hear, the less I want to hear the rest." He paused, then tipped his head toward Error. "Which is the reason you're here. I'd like to know what happened between us."

Error hesitated, following Nightmare as the King started to walk again. Normally, he wouldn't do anything purely to make someone else satisfied or happy. In fact, usually he would do the exact opposite just to piss them off- Nightmare especially. Anything other than that smug arrogance was a bonus, in his opinion. His immediate reaction was to spin such a bullshit tale, just to see how far the King's patience would stretch before he snapped and got furious at Error for lying to him. It's what Error would do to literally anyone- he'd done it before without a second thought. So why would he hesitate now?

"If you don't want to, I won't make you," Nightmare said mildly, as he absently paused to adjust one of the paintings on the wall. He turned back to Error as they continued walking (was there any destination in mind? If so, why not just shortcut? If not, why walk in the first place?). "I'd just like to know why, exactly, you seemed so scared of me when you first woke up."

Ah. That's why. Nightmare looked at him like he was an equal. Not an enemy, though there was still a hint of wariness there. Not an irredeemable monster, as was so common in Error's life. Not a useful but ridiculously idiotic and frustrating tool, like the King had used to see him as. No, Nightmare looked at him like he had the potential to be a friend. For now, there was respect. But maybe one day, that respect could lead to companionship.

No one had ever just... given him the benefit of the doubt before. No one had ever seen him as anything more than the destroyer.

"I d0n't... kn0w if y0u want t0 hear it," Error hedged. Not only did he not really want to be a storyteller (that was Ink's job), he didn't want to (watch that trusting expression lose hope) deal with anomalies for any longer than the bare minimum.