A Tiny Error

Chapter 15

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a tiny bark. It was so quiet, he had to strain himself to hear it. He looked down at Error, and another tiny bark came from the sleeping dog. Another few barks sounded, and Ink realized: Error was having a nightmare. He gently shook Error's shoulder, urging him to wake up.

"H-hey, Error? It's ok, it's ok. C'mon, buddy. Wake up."

Error jolted awake, and tried to stand up. Ink carefully got off the couch and sat in front of him. He smiled reassuringly, and petted him.
"It's ok, Error. It's ok. You're safe. Please don't worry, you're safe."

Error breathed out shakily, looking into Ink's eyelights. Once again, he searched them, looking for some hidden agenda in the creator's eyes. He could see none, only the kind and gentle concern he seemed to have for him, and him alone. At least, for now.

"A-are you hungry? I-I can give you something to eat!"

Error nuzzled into Ink's hand. He was surprised himself how much he craved affection, being starved of it for so long. So, so very long. For once, he felt completely at ease, as if everything was alright, that his job didn't matter, that he was cared for. But he felt awkward and clueless about being waited upon, by none other than Ink himself, to boot. After a tense silence, he nodded.

"Ok," Ink said with a grin. "I'll be right back."

He got up and headed to the kitchen. On the counter was the bag of treats he'd received from the vet the first time he'd brought Error to the clinic. Curious, he went through the bag, and found that the treats were little bite-sized pieces of meat. He wondered if it was any good, and decided to try it for himself.

Welp, that was a mistake.

He immediately spit it out, wiping his tongue off with his hands in a desperate attempt to get the taste out. It didn't work, so he resorted to drinking some water, swishing it in his mouth, and spitting it out in the sink. That made the taste mote bearable, but it was, nonetheless, still revolting. Now, he might not be an expert on dogs, but no skeleton would eat that and enjoy it!

He rummaged through the fridge, hoping to find something a little more suitable to eat which didn't taste like it's been through a meat grinder twice. Nothing seemed to catch his eye, until he saw it.

The shiny aluminum of a chocolate bar wrapper.

Beaming, he pulled it out and unwrapped it. He broke off a piece and tasted it, deciding it tasted alright. He walked back into the living room, and knelt down in front of Error.

"Here," he said softly. "This tastes better than those gross treats we got."

Error sniffed the chunk of chocolate Ink presented to him. It wasn't a large chunk, just a bite, and Error's stomach growled. He opened his mouth, and Ink fed him the chocolate. It tasted amazing! Error tried grinning, and Ink smiled at the effort. He fed him another piece, seeing no harm in giving him more.

A portal opened up, and Dream came through. He smiled when he saw that Ink and Error were safe, but his smile dropped to a horrified frown when he saw what Ink was feeding him.

"INK!!!"

"AAAH!! WHAT IS IT???!!!"

"DOGS SHOULDN'T HAVE CHOCOLATE!!!"

Ink's eyelights shrunk, and he looked down at Error. The poor dog was breathing heavily, startled by Dream's sudden outburst. Ink looked back up at Dream, then hung his head.
"I-I'm sorry...."

Dream rubbed his eyes, then knelt next to Ink. The creator's eyesockets had filled with tears, and his breath hitched as Dream put a hand on his shoulder.