A Tiny Error

Meanwhile, with Ink...

Ink skipped around the same pet supply store they'd visited when he found Error. The list he brought with him had five items on it: shampoo, conditioner, a brush, a towel, and a comb. Ink had found the first three items pretty easily, and was moving on to find the last two things. He'd been thinking about some things. First, he hadn't created an AU in quite awhile now, but he didn't have any inspiration for one, so it didn't bother him too much. But that train of thought led him to Error. Where was the glitchy skeleton? Had he really seen the last of the destroyer? No, that's impossible. Error will turn up again to destroy AUs, eventually. Question is, when?

Ink shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. He got distracted, again. This was bad. If he got too distracted, he might forget all about Cinnamon! And the poor pup could starve to death under his supervision! Ink noticed a nearby bench, and sat down. He put his head in his hands and rubbed his tired eyesockets. Cinnamon needed a good owner, not whatever Ink counts as. It's probably his fault anyway that Cinnamon was alone in the first place. For all he knew, Sci had been responsible for kidnapping and mistreating him! Cinnamon had probably come from an AU that Sci just happened to visit via Ink's help, and somehow Sci got the poor dog in his briefcase. And Ink willingly helped Sci torture an innocent creature!

At this point, Ink was in tears. He couldn't believe he'd trusted Sci. Maybe he was overthinking, though. Yeah! There's no way Sci would intentionally hurt something as tiny and cute as Cinnamon! But, with Ink's memory problems, he couldn't help but feel like those blanks in his memories held secrets he should know. And without someone or something to remind him, they would be lost to time and his own clumsiness.

Ink sniffled, and stood up. Dream's probably wondering where he is, by now. He grabbed the items he'd collected so far, and went to find the rest. He walked up to the cash register, and the same employee was there to greet him.

"Hi! Find everything ok, today?"
The employee said cheerfully, scanning the items one by one.

"O-oh, yes, I did." Ink tried to smile, but it looked strained.

The employee noticed immediately.
"Sir, is there something wrong?"

"Uh, nope! I-I'm fine. Just tired."
Again, he attempted to smile, and it looked even more forced.

The employee wasn't stupid. They had seen Ink sit down a little while ago, and realized something was wrong. The only thing that kept the employee from going over to see if they could help was the other customers needing assistance. They knew the signs of a soul pleading for help due to their experience with their Bitty. Their Bitty was a Sans, Classic to be exact, and they saw right through his efforts to disguise his suffering. He had lost his younger brother in a theft incident a few years before he was adopted, and had been depressed ever since. The employee knew the skeleton before them needed some assurance that he wasn't alone, and that he had a friend in them, at the very least.

"Well, if you say so. Just know I'm always available to talk to if you ever need to get something off your chest. I can only hope I'd be of some comfort to you."

"Th-thanks. What was your name, again?"

"My name's Chris! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Ink! It's nice to meet you, too!"

After Ink had paid for his items, he got Chris' number. He bid them farewell, then returned to the Doodlesphere, feeling more happy about his situation. He found Dream kneeling in front of Cinnamon on the couch. Dream got up to greet him.

"Ah, you're back. Did you get everything?"

"I think so. Are we gonna give him a bath now?"

Dream looked down at Error, and he looked from Dream to Ink. Dream could feel slight fear from him, and he turned to the creator.
"Maybe later. Right now, I think I'll take a walk outside to think. I'll leave you to spend some time with him, ok? That toy you bought is still on the counter. Maybe he'd like to play with it?"