Of Soulmates and Bonds - Errorink

Oneshot - Outerdate

Ink was looking at the glitchy portal in front of him and wringing his hands, mustering up the courage to cross it. It felt really weird, as it somehow reminded him of the first time he got out, and how scared he was, what if something goes wrong, what if he messes up again, what if-

Error put his hand on his back, gently pushing him forward. It immediately calmed him down, and made him feel better: he knew Error would always take care of him.
"ι'爪 𝓱ＥяＥ Ⓦ𝐢t𝓱 𝕪σ𝕌, ＥѶＥя𝕪 ştＥｐ σⓕ t𝓱Ｅ ⓌＡ𝕪.(I'm here with you, every step of the way.)"
"Awww."
"ᗷ𝔩𝕌Ｅ!(Blue!)"

His soulmate (he never got tired of saying it) sharply turned to their friend, who was clasping his hands and looking at them with a fond look.
"You two are just so cute!" Blue turned to Dream and said: "Dream, they grow up so fast!"
"𝕎Ｅ'яＥ 𝔩𝐢tＥяＡ𝔩𝔩𝕪 t𝓱σ𝕌şＡŇ𝓭ş σⓕ 𝕪ＥＡяş σ𝔩𝓭Ｅя t𝓱ＡŇ 𝕪σ𝕌!(We're literally thousands of years older than you!)"

Ink giggled, both because Blue was acting silly, and because he knew he was trying to make him feel better by acting silly.
He reached behind him and clasped Error's hand in his; his soulmate (how he loved the term!) glitched a bit, but he was getting better with touching Ink, so it was fine.

Dream moved at his other side, smiling.
"Don't worry Ink, with your new paints there shouldn't be any problem. And if you feel even a bit weird, you can turn back immediately. No one will judge you, you know that."

Dream was so smart, he always knew what to say to make him feel better (he was a very good Guardian); Ink had felt a bit conflicted about his new paints, not wanting to waste everyone's hard work, but also not wanting to damage another AU, especially one so beautiful and perfect as Outertale (it was Error's favourite, he would feel especially bad if he hurt it somehow!).

After all, the four of them had accidentally stumbled onto the paints only two weeks ago, and still weren't sure of how they worked exactly: how much their effect lasted, what was the correct blend, and they could only guess from where they came from (Ink and Error had a feeling they were connected to the Creators and the AUs somehow, but just like with other things they had learned when they Bonded, the knowledge was fleeting and murky at best).

And that was without taking into consideration other people: would Ink be convincing enough? Or would everyone realize he was a soulless fraud, and that he shouldn't intrude in the lives of real people? Or worse, what if Ink was convincing enough and then the paints ran out while he was with new friends, and everyone found out about him, and got mad at him because he lied, and then tried taking revenge on him for being a fake?

Great, now he was getting worked up again.

"𝓱Ｅ𝕪.(Hey)" Error squeezed his hand, grounding him, and Ink blinked, realizing everyone was staring at him with concern. Oh, he had spaced out. "尺Ｅ爪Ｅ爪ᵇＥя Ⓦ𝓱Ａt ⓌＥ tＡ𝔩𝕂Ｅ𝓭 Ａᵇσ𝕌t.(Remember what we talked about.)"

Error obviously knew about what Ink was feeling: ever since they had met, Blue had stressed the importance of transparency between the two of them (the two soulmates knew too well the consequences of secrecy and miscommunication), and so Ink never hesitated to tell Error everything that came to mind, no matter how trivial (of course, if Error said he was tired or something, Ink knew to not take it to heart and stop talking for a bit). Error was less forthcoming about his feelings, as he got embarrassed when he tried talking about "mushy stuff", but he had opened up as well about some of his insecurities. It made Ink feel all warm inside, knowing that these were things Error kept secret from everyone else but him, because he trusted him, and at the same time he felt safe doing the same, because he knew Error would never tell.