An Error's Journey
Chapter 80 - Terrible Secret
Previous - First - Next - We know
Does the 5.1K+ words excuse a three week wait? Also I threw in a lot of old details/questions in this chapter and I love the whole thing.
TW: Implied Dreammare
His soul felt like it was racing with excitement. The thrill of this secret, being able to surprise everyone, made him want to burst. It took a lot of careful planning but he made time for himself away from the castle. He missed the little plots he had. The scheming that went into being Lapse, coming up with something new and big every now and again just to throw Omega or even his friends off his trail.
Firstly, he tested the waters, asking Death to join him in Omega, just a small at-home date in the penthouse still under Lapse’s name. To say the other was surprised would be an understatement. To his credit, Reaper was careful on the subject. Poking gently, making sure he was ready for this new step, even if it was something so small. However, it was nice to feel the loving intent behind everything, and he sorely needed the reminder that this was a bigger step than anything he had done in the past weeks.
They sat contently, tangled in each other's arms as nighttime air and noise drifted in. They kept all the lights off, basking in each other's presence as the glow of neon lights crept into the open room. It was a little unnerving, finally being back in Omega, but it also brought him joy. The initial fear had been worth it. It was a step in the right direction. Moving steadily toward being able to visit Sydney in person, see his workers, and be able to be back as well as be hands-on in both his businesses.
The next step was a little harder since he wanted it to be a complete surprise to Sydney when he came back. So, he warned all his workers but her, giving them all a good scare. Of course, they still don’t know he’s Error, but they were surprised to hear from him at all. And while some were on the fence about keeping his return from Sydney, the surprise of it convinced them.
Then, he did the last preparation of visiting the Outsider and asked Chronic to follow him to the VIP loft.
He wanted to spend some time there and reacquaint with the bustle and buzz of people at a safe distance, take the small steps and take his time to readjust. And, through his listing of the pros and cons, this gave the most bonuses. He got to spread out all the paperwork he had without fear of eavesdroppers, as well as being able to spend more one on one time with Chronic.
It was difficult to talk with them–at first and still days later, as they seemed to seclude themselves more and more, but Error managed.
The small talk was stale but better than nothing. He was starting to understand the trouble his lovers had when he was lost in his own mind. But, that makes sense, they are one and the same after all.
“‘Ey, Chronic?”
The other hummed softly, unfocused eyes staring out at the cafe, blindly watching people come in and out. It was painfully obvious the other was lost in their own mind, although they may just be talking amongst themself.
Their shadows were more chaotic than ever, almost like his glitches when he was crashing. The room was covered in darkness, even with the overhead lights turned on. The shadows stretch unnaturally, beckoning yet pushing away.
With a sigh, he closed the laptop, setting it down next to himself on the couch. Slowly, he stood up and moved to sit next to Chronic, but as he did, he saw the physical proof of what he already knew. The shadows of the room suddenly sharpened, and the darkness that was crawling its way into the light faded. Chronic’s form became the image of perfection, an identical match to when they first met.
Green eyes glanced at him before staring blankly at the cafe again. Barely adjusting on the couch, leaning more of their torso over the back, and resting their head on top of their arms.
Error leaned into the spot next to them, looking out at the cafe with them. Customers coming in and out, trading seats, laughing and talking. It was a normal life that had long since passed him.
“...why are you pulling away?” He eventually spoke, just getting straight to the point. Chronic tensed, and for the first time, he watched as they stuttered through their thoughts.
“I- we… stars. Dear, we…” Chronic seemed to practically deflate. Their eye sockets fluttered, barely keeping open as that perfect image fell apart to something more normal. Someone who was just trying to keep it together. Someone like Error.
A shadowy wing stretched out, and there was a long moment of silence.
“We can’t.”
“Chronic, love ya but missed out on a lot of that. I doubt you're saying ‘I can’t pull away’.”
“Dear… you know we can not fuse back together… we can not let ourselves fall to that temptation. It is simply better to pull away.” Chronic moved, staring back at him. Green solid eyes slightly wavering, as were the shadows flickering, threatening. However, this threat was merely the sway of a cat's tail.
Chronic’s eyes were their weirdest trait, but he was finally beginning to understand them. The colors showed who was in control of the fusion and whom he was talking to, although context clues carried most of his theories. Despite centuries apart, they all hadn’t changed much between timelines.
Purple was for Nightmare, often given away by the subtle change of how Chronic held themself. Posture tighter, and their grace more elegant and noticeable. Yellow was for Dream, although telling they were there was more based on speech than anything else. The little “Dears” and older way of speaking, no “can’t” or “it’s”.
Grim didn’t show himself by color, although it’d be fair to bet it would be blue. The God showed himself through form and speech, wings appearing or a soothing and even alluring talk drifting from the fusion. Then Ink was a little more obvious, form shifting shorter and a much more pronounced talk. Exclaiming and bouncing around with brown or black eyes. Their freckles seemed to be more clear when they were out and about as well.
The Error of Chronic? That was far more difficult. For the moment, he just assumed they had the same speech. Although, this left out the color combinations. For now, Magenta meant all of them, and green showed Dream and Nightmare together. A small tribute to Nim it seemed.
Truthfully, it was painfully obvious now that the two were talking to him. It didn’t help Chronic’s case that Error had borne witness to Nightmare’s masking before, and Dream seemed to not be much better. He really needs to work with Nightmare and Dream then, help them be more selfish. Stray thoughts of times when Nightmare has pushed down his needs for “what has to be done” drifted in and he could only imagine how bad Dream could be.
Keeping gentle eye contact with Chronic, he moved to have one arm hold onto the wing around him, and the other reach out to Chronic. Not touching, simply offering his hand, palm up, and sincere expression on his features.
It’s slow-moving, but trusting as Chronic eases a hand into Error’s. Green eyes continue to stare back at him.
“What do the others think? Since it’s just you two talking to me… and Reaps I guess.” Error cracks a smirk, jerking his head to the wing wrapped around him.
Chronic sighs and their eyes go fuzzy before splitting apart into pixels. All the colors merge in the red background to an odd shade of magenta.
“They’re idiots.” Was all he got for a moment, before a new voice came along, “I, shit- We don’t want to lose you again! We just got all of you back!” Chronic’s other hand moved, clutching tight to Error’s. “Agreed, it was agonizing torture without you all. I think we’d be just as uncoordinated and difficult as when we first fused if we left you again.”
The words hang in the air for a moment, and Chronic seems to fall more and more. Expression exasperated, but nothing more is said.
“...What about other me?” Chronic blinked a few times but eventually bowed their head before rising tall, sapphire eyes gazing back at him tiredly.
“What of it, glitch?” There goes the red theory he had. Maybe Hearts was onto something with that nickname.
“Don’t you have an opinion on all this? I… I don’t know how different we are.”
“...I know ya don’t.”
He would, wouldn’t he? Maybe he was the one saying that all this time? Stars was he oblivious, Chronic never spoke in I’s…
“Heh, you were the one saying that all this time?”
“...Yeah. Yeah, I was.” Chronic’s tenseness seemed to slowly slip away, and they moved their gaze to the cafe, their head following, but hands still in his. “In the beginning, we were similar… down to the detail, but after ya n’ Hearts separated, we did too.” What little Error could see of their eyes were fuzzy, but there was a slightly sad smile on their face, barely made out underneath the shadows and freckles.
Chronic continued: “Ya met Core far before I did… Core answered your questions… ya met Grim faster than I had… spent time with him as Sans… Even dated ‘im quicker than me. Ya met Life, met Mercy, and met Magic when I only met ‘em all after I was sane again.”
It was near mind-shattering to realize how little Chronic had in his past life, all the support and companionship that kept Error going just wasn't there at all for them.
Chronic tilted their head, eyeing Error from the corner of their socket.
“...I dealt more with that asshole Gaster than you, but Ink made it worthwhile…” Their eyes glitched for a moment before maintaining their blue hue. “I spent my time remembering with Ccino… He n’ I were extremely close in my multiverse… he’s the one that convinced me to open The Outsider…” there’s a waver in their voice, but he moves on, “I didn’t hide away in a realm, my multiverse didn’t have them. I hid away in the antivoid–but got caught, so I moved to the save screen–to get caught again, and everyone found me in the ruins of my timeline…”
Chronic shrugged, breaking eye contact: “After that, to put it briefly, it was awkward… I didn’t have the connection to Dream and Ink like ya, or even Grim. We hung out at Life’s but that was pretty much it. Nightmare and I got close at some point though… What other differences will there be? I don’t know. None of us do. There are countless across all of you.”
The silence stretched once more, but it wasn’t one of tension, it was a sort of quiet relief. To think of the centuries that they had to keep that to themself, maybe even from the rest of the fusion.
“Oh? Error?” Chronic spoke up, barely turning to Error, calming eyes washing an embracing aura of tranquility over him. “Don’t think wrong about this and do not take in our mistakes. I told you of this so you would not be in the dark any longer. No. Other. Reason.” They glare, crowding him in before leaning back, moving their hands to rest in their lap, “I’ve come to terms with the differences over the centuries, and if anything, the only thing you should take from this is to be grateful for what you have…”
Chronic smirked, gentle and wise eyes peering down, “It can always be better, and it can always be worse. We gotta live with what we got and make the most out of it. Take that lesson to soul, alright?”
Chronic didn’t give him a moment to speak, getting up from the couch, the wing wrapped around Error’s shoulders moving to scoop him up and pull him to Chronic’s side. A portal sprung before them, and the ever playful fucker just continued to smirk.
“It’s about time we get heading back, ain’t it?”
“Pft, could’a given me more of a warnin’, you jerk.” He smiled in return before walking through.
The bustling warm cafe turned into the static castle. Dust drifting in the sunlight of the windows and floorboards creaking. The runner carpet scuffled as he made room for Chronic to step through, and he chuckled to himself at the distant noise of steps and voices. A welcomed signal that their return wasn’t unnoticed.
The change was always a little startling, but it had grown to be a comfort. It was nice to have people to return home to, so many that cared so much about him and he returned it likewise.
His lovers rounded the corner, and Ink bolted into his arms.
“You’re back!” They both take a moment to just hold tight as Ink nuzzles close into his neck, and he can feel his soul preening at the loving intent cascading from the shorter.
“Oh, ya missed me, Inky?”
“Obviously!” Ink pulled back, “Where were you two anyway?”
Dream and Nightmare finally caught up, Death likely out on a job and the gang who knew where. It seemed Nightmare was getting more comfortable as of late, happily uncorrupted with a sly smile and a blushing Dream’s arm around his waist.
“I’d bet you were out on those errands of yours again, never did find out what you did on those…” Nightmare’s smile grew wide and innocent.
“Eh, nothing much.” Error shrugged with an innocent smile of his own. “Just a lil’ secret I like to keep up to date on.”
“Oh? And Chronic is allowed to go with you?” Nightmare spoke playfully, turning his attention to Chronic.
“A secret is a secret our dear night.” Chronic playfully spoke, shrugging as they turned and walked away. “We’ll leave ya to deal with that.”
“Well then,” Nightmare pouted, before turning back to Error, “May I ask what it’ll take to learn of this little secret of yours?”
Little was an understatement. At times it took far too much work to keep things under wraps.
He tapped his chin, looking around and about as if thinking. Honestly, he had thought about telling them a couple of times, especially more so now than ever. He wants them to be able to meet Sydney and give Nightmare the chance to see the cafe, and to bring Ccino up there too–but not as Lapse, as Error.
There was still the lingering problem, while Lapse was largely loved, Error was equal parts hated if not entirely despised. He’s not a welcome face and outright telling Dream and Ink would likely hurt them as well as disrupt Omega. Having to choose between keeping Omega safe and him is never a decision he wants to have to make, and he never wants them to come anywhere close to it.
However… there was one way it could work.
“A peace treaty.” Nightmare blinked, and Dream seemed shocked, as did Ink. “An official one, not the truce that you set up while searchin’ for me.”
“Wait- wait. You need a peace treaty to tell us why you’re going out on… errands?” Ink explained, “Isn’t that a little much– I mean, yeah, peace treaties and all, but…” they gestured with their hands vaguely.
“Ta be honest, ’s a little more than errands.”
Ink looked as if they wanted to speak more, however, Nightmare spoke first.
“That should be reasonably easy.” The God pulled himself from Dream’s side, “Before the truce I was thinking of going straight-” Ink chuckled, catching Nightmare off guard, who huffed a laugh before continuing, “-straight to making a peace treaty, and I may still have the draft.”
“Why didn’t we just do a peace treaty then?” Dream questioned
“It’s got a lot more legal hurdles than a truce, clearing names then working with telling the public and scheduling that and so forth…” Nightmare rolled his eyes, “But I’ve waited for ages to sate this curiosity. Another week or so won’t hurt.”
—--
When he agreed to the peace treaty, he didn’t expect to see this.
All things considered, the peace treaty went well. The Star council was completely on board with the idea, as were the main politicians of Omega. The issues came with planning the announcement ceremony.
The first issue came with the anxiety of it all. While the gang and council had been able to smooth things over, it doesn’t change the fact that for a good decade, the gang was hated and attacked on site–which multiplies into centuries for Nightmare. For Error, it wasn’t as difficult.
He knows Omega like the back of his hand, and he knows of all the issues the place has. The folk of the city were backless and when push comes to shove, yes they are survivors but they also live off the drama of the council and what few celebrities and politicians there are.
If you make it to the edges of town, as long as you can hold your own, there can be nicer people. Ones that want to live their lives peacefully and truly build a community. He trusts that in the end, Sydney would trust him–Error or Lapse–and would happily help hide Error, Nightmare, and the gang until they could properly get out of Omega.
Who he worried over the most though--Nightmare aside--was Cross.
For all of the trips so far into Omega, xey would go rigid and guard-like. Still as a statue until talked to and always by either Killer’s or Error’s side. He knew they had been alone for a long time before ending up with Nightmare but had never seen how bad it affected them. He had a small hunch, judging by when he came back–since they didn’t seem to make any friends–but this just all-out confirmed things.
Even now, standing behind the curtains as the crowd gathered outside, xey stood still and vigilant.
For the announcement of the truce, they took up most of the park. A stage was built as well as a curtain made room behind with tents for people to gather. He knew Nightmare and Dream had taken one of them to reread through the treaty one more time before the ceremony and Core and Chronic had stolen another. The gang was scattered with the friends they had made in the council, and per Cross’ pushing, Killer had split off as well.
For the time, Error mostly stood off in a corner, an arm wrapped over Cross’ shoulders as they watched whatever people were hired for the event run around and others mingle.
“Hey, kiddo?” Cross stiffened, before relaxing a tad, looking up at Error but glancing at the small crowd every few seconds, “I can tell ya ain’t doing the best.”
Cross winced, hunching in on themself and looking away.
“It’s that obvious?” Error shrugged, he wasn’t going to worry him more.
“Ya worried about people?” Cross didn’t respond, still avoiding his eyes.
He looked back over the crowd, letting his eyes scan through everything and everyone. Most he recognized, few were unknown. He spotted Sydney at the food table laid out as well as some of his workers. Keeping treats and drinks warm or cold as well as making sure everyone was drinking water and not feeling too nervous for the event. A good spider donut always was a great distraction.
He crouched down to nearly Cross’ height, the other snapping xeir attention over and upon seeing each other eye to eye, turned away.
“The curtains are heavy, not easy to move.” He started, to which Cross straightened again, looking out at the impromptu setup they were in, “A sharp bone attack could easily break through it though, looks to only be cotton- but, if you look up…” He saw Cross move to look out of the corner of his socket, “...and to the corner is the connection point. A bone or a blaster could break any of these sections apart for an easy escape.”
Cross relaxed more. “...I actually got someone here on my side,” Cross turned to look at him, confusion clear on their expression. Understandable since they’d both been standing in the corner since they all first arrived. “One of the workers has my back, and when push comes to shove, she’d hide us and cover our backs.”
With that backup plan in place, Cross finally rested xeir stiff pose, a hesitant smile appearing.
“Thanks, dad.”
“Any time, kid.”
An employee ran into Core’s tent, before swiftly running back out. “...Think it’s gonna start soon.”
Cross inhaled shakily, before sighing.
“...fun.”
Core stepped out of their tent, Chronic following in toe, and everyone turned to look.
“Thank you, everyone, for coming out and making this possible.” Core began, a brighter smile than he’d ever seen on their face. “From employees and volunteers to the kind workers from The Outsider for coming out to cater,” Sydney nodded with a sly smirk, “to the Star Council and Nightmare and his gang, again, thank you.”
Core clapped their hands together, a hopeful expression overtaking.
“Now! It’s time for us all to get up on stage. They are seats for us all up there, staff will direct which side you are to be on- for the gang, do not fret about what the crowd thinks. They have already been made aware that this is a peaceful event, and just in case security measures have been made.”
One by one, the Stars made their way up the small staircase to the stage, Hearts following Blue with a wink to Error.
Then, with Nightmare in front and Error following, they made their way out from behind the curtain and onto the main stage.
The crowd was loud and bustling but went deadly quiet as they stepped out. Only the smallest of coughs or a few people clearing their throat was heard as they took their seats. Hearts looked oddly out of place, standing behind Blue’s chair, and then an empty chair on Nightmare’s side.
Death, Core, and Chronic all walked out, standing together before the podium.
“Everyone,” Chronic boomed, not even bothering to talk into the mic, their voice easily projecting over the crowd. “Take your seats.”
Somewhat jokingly, Reaper floated in the air, mimicking sitting in a chair. However, what drew everyone’s attention was Hearts.
Leaning down, Hearts gave blue a chaste kiss, before pulling out his ring necklace from under his shirt. Then, he stood back up and walked over to the empty seat on Nightmare’s side.
The crowd erupted in gasps, and Dream and Ink seemed to gawk at Blue who just stared dreamy-eyed after Hearts. The rest of the council looked equally as shocked, while the only reaction on Nightmare’s side was Killer giving Hearts a fist bump.
“Times are changing.” Core spoke clear into the mic, bringing back everyone’s attention. “After centuries of fighting between positivity and negativity; destruction and creation, we can finally have peace. This will bring in a new age, and it’s one I’m excited to see grow and change everything for the better.”
Core moved the mic over to Chronic, who takes it gingerly.
“We have long lived in the background.” Chronic began, speaking carefully into the mic, “It’s safe to say, and there is doubtfully any disagreement, that these sides have torn apart the multiverse.” There are quiet murmurs of agreement across the mass, “At the beginning of the multiverse, and for nearly half of the existence of the Omega Timeline, there were no sides. There were just the gods. Omega was a place for new starts and a hub for the AUs and what few lost their worlds.”
Chronic grew more confident, speaking with purpose.
“Those times were abandoned at some point, and it’s not better. It’s worse. We’ve forgotten that while negativity can be terrible-” Nightmare inhaled, sneakily grabbing Error’s hand, “-it is needed. The powers of the multiverse and its Gods should not be limited to sides, as they work on multiple spectrums. Please, heed this as the peace treaty goes into effect and the multiverse adjusts. It will take time, but it will also be for the better.”
Chronic moved the mic back over to Core, who signaled for Nightmare and Dream to come up.
Together, they started to read out the peace treaty, and he could see them hold their hands together behind the podium.
“I, Nightmare, promise to stop the spread of negativity and let things occur naturally. Negativity can be evil, but it is nature.” He could barely make out Nightmare gripping tighter, and Dream clenching his hand back, “It is the fight or flight I have had to live with for the entirety of my long life, and it’s a force that many of you have likely experienced. It’s the anxiety that manifests in us, it’s the anger we feel for right and wrong reasons. It cannot be defined as one simple thing as we have for so long. It is not the evil that it is presented as. It is the push that gives our lives the greatest highs after we have felt at our lowest.”
Dream nodded, a bright genuine smile stretching from cheek to cheek.
“I, Dream, promise to stop the spread of positivity and let things occur naturally.” There were distraught murmurs amongst the crowd, but Dream held fast. Raising a hand to signal for silence with a high chin, he continued, “Positivity makes us happy, but it can be evil. People can be happy doing cruel, unspeakable things. In addition, too much happiness prevents the process of life. It takes away grieving,” Dream turned to look at Nightmare, “and undermines the loss of loved ones. It takes away the guilt of doing something wrong, the anger at somebody wrong, and it can make us forget to be thankful for what we have, by forgetting what was lost.”
With that final note, together the two raised their joined hands, showing their unity to everyone. The crowd begins to boom as they clap, but the show was not over.
Nightmare slowly bows his head sighing softly, barely heard on the mic, and the negativity covering him drips away. When the negativity is fully gone, Nega reforms next to Nightmare, who raises his head.
Nightmare extends a hand, turning to look at Nega, and the crowd, as well as the star council, go silent in shock. The large gaping hole in the side of Nightmare’s skull settled in their minds. It spoke volumes of how Nightmare's trust for Dream had grown, his entire blind side facing the crowd that had caused him so much anxiety the past days.
Nega takes Nightmare's hand, and the two raise it together.
It’s quiet for a moment, but slowly, hesitant claps start, before it's thundering with applause. Workers start to cue them behind the stage, and they all gather by the snack bar.
Before any conversation can start, even before Hearts can make his way back to Blue, a council member barrels into Nightmare’s arms.
"My boy! Oh- I missed ya!" Nightmare laughs, hugging Sci back. Everyone’s mouths fell to the floor, except for Error.
"So this is what ya meant by saying Sci took ya in. Wow 'mare, can't believe ya hid ya dad from us."
"Well, there's the small problem of-"
"Oh? Night, have ya finally found yourself someone…” Sci looks over at Ink, Death, and Dream, “...Someones? Why didn't you tell me!"
"That problem."
“Wha- Sci??” Dream finally speaks up, “When? When?!” Tone exasperated and surprised.
“Oh, I took Nightmare in ages ago! I think you were in stone at the time…” Sci recounts with a laugh, “We haven’t been able to meet up since all of this craziness started, but I’m glad I can finally see you again!”
“Yes, yes, I’m glad to see you too… but there was an initial reason for this peace treaty.” Nightmare directs his attention to Error. “Can you finally tell us this big secret of yours? All the errands??”
Error huffs a laugh, crossing his arms.
“I’m getting put on the spot now, aren’t I?”
“Yes, you are. I spoke in front of that crowd, you blab your secret in front of a few dozen people.”
“Yeah, that’s fair.” Error shrugged, “In my defense, all of you are more likely to kill me over this than that crowd.”
The gang shifts from side to side, and the star council is even more so confused. All of them–Dream and Ink aside–trying to turn their back on the conversation in favor of the food table, but still looking back for the gossip. The confusion of Hearts and Blue gone for the moment in favor of Error.
“Okay, really. How bad can it be?” Ink speaks up, a little pout on his face.
With a sigh, Error takes off his glasses, pocketing them, and pulls out his second pair and those little cards for the VIP loft of the outsider.
Cross’ eyes go wide and he stares at Error, but no one else quite understands. He can see Sydney peering at him from behind the food table.
“...Cards for the outsider? You know Mode?” Dream began hesitantly.
With an exaggerated roll of his eyes, he pulls the Omega ID for Lapse from one of his pockets and sets it on the table with the glasses.
No one says anything still, but Ink and Dream seem to be piecing things together.
“I- …I don’t understand.” Dream eventually stutters.
“Oh stars, fine.” And he pulls up the panel for Lapse, letting all of them see it as he clicks the button.
His body glitches, and an unimpressed Lapse Divinity Mode in Error’s clothes stands before them. The room is shocked into silence, and one of his workers pouring a coffee even stops. If everyone keeps dropping their jaws like this they’ll need to tie it to their head. “Ya get it now?”
The room stays in silence, until Sydney walks up.
“Boss?”
“Hey, sorry I couldn’t tell ya… or came back sooner.”
“No, no. Again, don’t worry- don’t even think about it… but, damn.” She folds two of her arms as her third rests on her hip, “Honestly… Nah, this makes sense. Guessing that secret menu of yours has a backstory with these folks?”
The gang finally pulls themselves together, and Killer yells: “You’re Lapse D. Mode?!!”
“I thought you said you didn’t know him!” Dust follows
Error sighs, laughing as everyone recovers. Death just smiles slyly, off to the side, which Dream and Ink begin to notice.
“Ye—eah, it was pretty hard to cover up. I still don’t know how I managed it. I even made Dream’s outfit at the base.” Dream’s eyes go wider, and he just covers his face as some moments start to click in. “Problems over there, pretty boy?”
“...Shut. Up.” Is all Dream musters, but the bright yellow peeking out from behind his hands is enough reward.
-----
THEY FINALLY KNOW ERROR IS LAPSE I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS CHAPTER FOR AGES
Also: I wanted to share the notes I have for this chapter. Not exactly what happened, but still funny.
For the ceremony, Hearts starts off at Blue's side, attached to his arm. But as Dream and Nightmare step up and ask everyone to get to their places, the crowd gasps as Hearts pecks Blue on the cheek and moves to stand with the gang. Blue watches with a lovestruck gaze as Hearts walks away. Ink and Dream gawk at Blue who just shrugs innocently, fiddling with his ring. - There is a celebration afterwards, and before anyone can pester Error with questions, Sci sprints over embracing Nightmare. "My boy! Oh- I missed ya!" Nightmare laughs, hugging Sci back. Everyone is confused, especially Dream. Error is only confused for a moment before speaking up: "So this is what ya meant by saying Sci took ya in. Wow 'mare, can't believe ya hid ya dad from us." "Well there's the small problem of-" "Oh? Night, have ya finally found yourself someone... someones? Why didn't you tell me!" "That problem." - He doesn't really reveal it. Just dramatically sighs and rolls his eyes, before pulling up a panel and clicking a button. Switching his form to a normal Sans, pulling a wallet and his other glasses out of his pocket and shrugging as the Star Sans look aghast at him being Lapse D. Mode. Cobalt is the most shocked by far, and even reboots for a moment. Blue pulls him away carefully and helps him through it, so does Hearts. Cross is stuttering in the background and Error just casually strides up as Lapse and just chuckles, "How's it goin, Chrome?" Mention in notes of post-Because this is too damn funny to keep to just us.