You felt much better after talking to Ink. You hadn't spoken another word since what happened with Chara and 'chapters' so you had had a lot of time to swim in your own thoughts.

With bags swung over your shoulders, you walked briskly through Hotlands, paying no mind to the odd looks you attracted. Ink and Chara talked animatedly behind you as you led. As per usual, Undyne helped you through puzzles, though you had them memorized. But you knew that demonstrating that knowledge could potentially damaged the time line. Then again, it was pretty ruined already... without Blue....

Shaking your head, you raised your head and trudged onward. Time moved faster than you knew and it was growing late as you approached Napstatton's Resort. You trudged in and payed for a room, smiling at Ink and Chara before heading to the stairs.

"Well guys, I paid for the room. We'll rest here for the night. We should be making it to the Judgement Hall sooner than I thought." You confessed.

Yeah, you'll have to face Error even earlier than you'd hoped. Fun...

"Don't worry about the hall," Ink reassured. "I'm sure it'll be fine. After all, all of us against Error will be nothing."

He smiled warmly and you could help but crack a small smile. "Yeah... sure."

You began the jog up the stairs and didn't look back. As you finished the first flight, Chara groaned. "There has to be a better way to get to the room." She complained.

You glanced back and snickered. "Sorry kid. With the elevator broken, stairs are the only option. Guess you shouldn't have eaten so much chocolate before we left."

She growled and rolled her eyes. "You're not my mom."

Ink smirked. "Well actually. I have a shortcut." He boasted.

You sent him a questioning look and and he beamed. "Watch this."

Unstrapping the brush from his back, he slashed a stroke against the wall. From the paint left behind stretched a portal that opened just before our door number. His grin widened even more as he waved a hand and said, "Ladies first."

Chara, grateful for the free ride, bolted through first and snatched the key from you. "Thanks Ink!" She chirped, opening the door.

He chuckled and turned back to you and offered a hand. "I believe it's your turn (Y/N)."

You didn't notice the blush that brushed your cheeks as you took his gloved hand and stepped through. "Thank you Ink. You saved my legs from straining themselves before tomorrow's venture."

He blushed slightly, remembering the previous morning's events and smiled in a small way. "Yeah sure, anything to help."

He closed the portal and you both entered the room. You threw your stuff down on the floor and sat in a chair in the corner of the room while Chara chattered away to Room Service. "Any food is coming from your gold." You reminded her.

Hearing your statement, she stuck her tongue at you and you smirked as she removed a few orders. Ink approached you and you smiled. "What's up Ink?"

"Can I talk to you in private for a moment?" He asked.

Glancing at Chara you nodded. "Sure. She'll be fine on her own." He quickly opened another portal and led you through, plopping you in the middle of the Resort roof. Your breath fell from you lips as you looked over the scenery of Hotlands. The way that civilization had created such a lively community in such a temperate place had always astounded you in the best way. You approached the edge of the roof and rested against the railing, eyes examining the 'skyline' fondly. Ink soon joined you and followed your lead in admiring the city.

"This has always been one of my favorite places to make." He admitted, breaking gaze only to meet yours.

You blushed slightly and looked down at your hands. "Why's that?" You asked.

"I love watching them improve it, I guess."

You raised a brow. "Improve it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. In almost every dimension I make, Hotlands, by itself, is almost always the same. But every time, the people make it different. I love to see how the different dimensions' communities customize what's given."

You smiled. "So you like to see your work grow."

He sat a moment the laughed, slight blush covering his skull. "Well, it kinda sounds silly when you say it like-"

"No it doesn't." You said with a relaxed smile. "What you do... it's everything I've ever wanted to do. Everything I've ever done, everything I've ever created... almost all of it falls apart. I'd love to see how people see what I do. I'd love to see people use what I've done to help their lives and others... but it hasn't."

He caressed your cheek gently, knocking away a tear. You laughed shallowly and shook your head. "Heh, sorry. I'm making this about me aren't I. What was it you needed to talk about?"

He put his hands over your and looked at you tenderly. "Actually, I wanted to talk about you. You seemed... distracted, today. What's on your mind?" 

You kept your eyes on your folded hands and sighed, refusing to meet his gaze. As your silence pursued, his mismatched eyes bore into you and you shifted. "You do know you can talk to me right? You shouldn't close yourself up like that. You'll just end up getting hurt." 

You laughed dryly, lowering your head so it rested in your palms. "So what?" 

He seemed to tense at your words. 

"This dimension is just one among many right? There are a million different versions of me in a million different worlds. What is even my purpose here? What if I just fuck this up even more than I already have?!" 

Abruptly, he grabbed her face and turned it in his direction, forcing you to watch his mismatched eyes. He looked serious in an almost scary way. "(Y/N), I want you to listen to me closely. Whatever you're thinking right now, you need to stop."

"What?" 

"Stop whatever you're thinking because you're wrong. All the things you're saying are side effects of the anti-void." 

You were silent a moment, confused by his words. "Side effects?"

He nodded. "Yeah. The void forces people into... places you shouldn't be. It creates scenarios and thoughts with the soul purpose to break a person's will. Some people, like Error, embrace the anti-void, seeing it as the perfect place. He was using it to break your spirit, to make you his puppet. The fact that you survived is haunting you, causing it's effects to linger too."

You laughed obnoxiously. "Sure. We'll stick with that. You can go on thinking I actually have good reasoning to be the way I am, but I'm realistic. I'm a fuck up. I got myself captured. Destroyed my own scraps of confidence because of a little loneliness. Had to get my ass saved by someone who probably had better things to do and I couldn't even save Sans! I failed! I'm not even worth-"

Ink grabbed you tightly enough to make you wince and you tried to pull away. "Hey! What's the big deal?!" You hissed.

"Shut. Up." He growled, tone low and dangerous.

Your face fell the smallest fraction it could as you looked at Ink. He trembled, hand still clenched tightly on your arm. His multicolored eyes focused on your struggling features left from spilling your internal conflicts.

"I'm.... so sorry...." He said in a soft voice.

The change in mood was almost a slap to the face. In a swift movement he pulled you into his chest, cradling you head in his shoulder and arms wrapped tightly around you. "I-I'm so so sorry (Y/N)." He whispered.

"What?..."

"I'm so I let him get to you. It's my job to keep him in line, and I failed. If I could just keep up with him he wouldn't have taken your Sans and he wouldn't have hurt you. It's my fault, but we need to move on. I will save him, and I will help you."

You were quiet yet again. Your heart seemed to pound in your ears and you shook gently. Being held that way scared you. It didn't seem real. A thousand time lines had passed, and a thousand times you'd faced repetitive results. You'd set the Underground free. You'd watched it crumble. You'd seen humans start another war and you'd watched them accept the monsters. War and hatred, pain and joy, so many lives and you'd never known what it truly meant to feel this way. It confused you in a way you couldn't describe.

"Ink... why do you care so much? You've known me a few days and I've already shown you so much more than you need to see. I'm broken. You don't need to try and fix me."

He shook his head and looked down at you with a gentle smile. "I care because you're my friend. I'm not going to abandon my friends, especially when they need me."

You let off a weak chuckle and hugged him tighter, your face hidden so he didn't see your silent tears. "Thank you Ink."

"Always."

You sniffled quietly and pushed back. A laugh racked your throat as you smirked. "Hey, you did this just to see me sappy didn't you?"

He stood confused a moment, then laughed. "Oops, ya caught me. I just love seeing wishy washy crying women."

You punched his arm lightly with a snicker. "Asshole..."

He chuckled and ruffled your hair fondly. "Shortie."

"Hey! I'm not short!"

"Suuuurrrreee... you're just fun sized, aren't ya?"

You huffed and smiled. "Thanks."

You glanced down at your digital watch and turned back to the portal. "Come on. I'm scared Chara may have cleaned out all of the gold we have."

"Didn't you give her a limit?" He questioned.

You laughed. "She never listens to me. At this rate she's probably ordered enough for a small country."

Ink rolled his eyes and offered a hand in a very gentlemanly way, before leading you through the portal. You reappeared in the room and sat on the bed, Ink closing the portal behind you. Chara, as you suspected, was in a fortress of delivered food. Her face was stuffed in a sickening full way.

"What the hell Chara?! You're not a chipmunk!"

She rolled her eyes and you sighed. "I'd ask how much you spent but I doubt you speak through that solid wall of burg in your mouth."

She nodded. You reached over an snatched a random dish. Before digging in you glanced at it and shrugged. Nothing like spaghetti. Shoving a forkful in your mouth, you offered Ink a fork and waved at the food. "Feel free to take from whatever. Chara will only be able to eat about 80% of it."

He snickered as Chara flipped you off. You mocked her in the same manner, squeezing eyes shut and sticking out your tongue before shoving more spaghetti into your mouth. Chara seemed to be surprised as you slurped up the noodle. You ignored her as you turned in Inks direction. "Hey I-"

You blushed violently as you glanced the noodle connecting you to Ink. He began to turn towards you and you bit off the noodle and averted your gaze to the blank television. You scrambled for the remote as he raised a brow at you, clearly oblivious of what happened. Deciding to play it off, you put on an annoyed look and looked at him. "Why're you stealing off my plate?" You asked.

"You noticed?!"

Chara giggled from her bed and you flipped her the birdie. You surfed the channels, finding primarily finding Napstatton on his usual schedule. You turned to one of his plays and pushed aside your food in favor of your sketchbook.

"You're already done eating?" Chara asked in a teasing tone.

"Nah, I just don't have much of an appetite tonight." You lied, knowing she knew well why you'd stopped eating.

She snickered in secret while Ink remained in his innocent ignorance.