An Error's Doll

Chapter 21

Arriving at the arts and crafts room after your arduous journey, you slip in through the crack in the door and tip-toe your way to the table. You're more than glad you made the makeshift rope in a spot hard to see from Ink's place at the table. Grasping it, you quickly climbed your way up. Then, you pulled off the piece of tape from the table, rewrapped the yarn ball, put the tape on it, and rolled it silently back to the basket.

You reached underneath the ball of yarn and pushed it up against the basket, using it to support the ball as it rolled up. It dropped inside with a quiet plop. You stiffened, turning your head to check if Ink heard it. He seemed just as absorbed in making the AU as he was before. You sighed in relief, grabbing the side and crawling up.

You landed inside on a soft yarn ball, then scrambled up to push everything in as normal positions as possible. When you finished, you climbed back onto your original perch and leaned on the basket, facing Ink and pretending to have been watching him this entire time. As you observed his progress in your absence, you realized that he had actually made several AUs.

On a counter beside him was a stack of glowing papers. Your 'brows' raised in surprise. You were not sure how long it took you to prepare everything, but the amount he had finished was impressive regardless. You grimaced when you remembered how much trouble this ability of his actually was.

You still had not learned an awful lot during your stay here, besides the fact that Ink was an idiot–you were certain his previous smarts were a fluke–, Dream and Blue were pretty cool, Dream spreads Positivity sometimes–you did not know how often–and liked gardening, and Blue was scarier than you thought. He was also a better cook than you expected. You did not get to try his food, but no one threw up trying it, so it had to be somewhat good.

You were startled when you heard a clatter from downstairs. Your first thought was that someone broke in. Then, you recalled that this was the Doodle Sphere, and that was not likely to happen here. Your second, and more likely thought, was that Dream and Blue had returned.

Huh, that did not take very long. But that may have to do with time passing faster when you are doing anything that is not watching another person do something, even if said something did look cool. Plus, the adrenaline of setting up pranks was making you jittery. You watched Ink jump, focus broken, and look around in alarm. He spotted you and bewilderment marred his expression.

"When did you get here?" He asked, mildly confused. You looked blankly at him, "...Wait! Why are you here?!" he exclaimed, suddenly more focused on the why than the when... You felt exceptionally stupid.

With his horrendous memory, what was the chance he remembered he was supposed to watch you? All that caution... it now felt like it was for nothing. You felt your 'brow' twitching. Thus, you slowly inhaled and exhaled. You had to keep your cool. The frustration will be worth it when you see his face, you convinced yourself. It had to be, otherwise, you think you would end up going feral with disappointment and bitterness.

"Dream and Blue left me with you because they had to leave, remember?" you asked, a strained smile on your face. If he said something stupid, you hoped it did not make you snap. He gave you an odd look, before setting aside his small brush and pulling up his scarf. After scanning it, he hummed, long and slow.

"I don't see anything about watching you," he eventually stated. Then, he looked at you, quirking a bonebrow, "Are you lying to me?" he asked, his eye sockets squinting with suspicion. You scoffed.

"Why would I lie about something so utterly detestable," you grumbled, crossing your arms. If you were in less of a bad mood, you may not have been so blunt with your response.