(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Where You Want to Be (One-shot)

This idea came to me while I was writing out Reaper and Palette's arrival at the hospital in 'Cold Reception'... so one thing led to another and shenanigans happened. Also, I'm coming to the realization that any story I write where Reaper gets dialogue will inevitably turn into a comedy skit.

***

Ink decided spur of the moment one day to teach Palette the fine art of teleportation. Palette's initial reaction at the news was to, of course, tell his best friend Goth. When the small skeleton showed interest in learning as well, the creator had no way to refuse two children giving their best puppy dog looks.

Dream came to support his son and to make sure no one got hurt since teleporting could be dangerous. He also wasn't willing to leave Palette completely alone with Ink given his ex-husband's flighty personality, even if he wouldn't outright admit it. 

Geno also wanted to watch, being the protective mom he is... which meant Reaper was present as well, following Geno wherever he went more often than not. 

All three observers were sitting off to the side under a tree in a big clearing, where the training was taking place. 

Ink cleared his throat and turned towards his two students.

"All right," the painter started off, both children listening intently as their eye lights shined, "so there are two different ways to travel using teleportation: either channeling magic through an object, like my paint or Reaper's scythe, and creating a portal or channeling magic directly through your body. Channeling magic into an inanimate object takes a bit of work, so we'll start you two off with the direct method.

"The big thing with teleporting is knowing where you are and where you want to go. Build up your magic while picturing where you want to be, take a step, and poof," he snapped his fingers, "you've teleported. Now, who wants to start us off?"

"Oooh, me first me first!" the Palette shouted, jumping around and flailing his arms in the air. 

His hooded companion chuckled as Ink motioned for his son to step forward. "Alright, try to aim for the target on the ground over there," he instructed, pointing to a spot a few yards away with a painted red 'x' on it.

Gathering his energy within himself, Palette scrunched up his face and imagined the target in his mind. Everyone looked on in anticipation as he took a step. Not feeling anything different, Palette opened his eyes... to find he had only taken a single step.

"Guess he didn't put his best foot forward," the black-cloaked skeleton chortled. 

"Reaper!" Geno hissed, elbowing him in the side.

Dream sighed as Ink let out a pronounced cough, patting his confused son on the back, "It's fine, these things take time. Not everyone gets it the first time... multiverse knows it took me a couple tries to get the hang of it. How about we try Goth next?"

The hooded child stepped up, taking a breath before closing his eyes. An aura seemed to grow around him, slowly building in intensity. His sockets opened, his single eye light glowing a bright purple as he stepped forward... and disappeared. The creator whistled, eye lights changing shape while the other adults stared on. 

He actually did it on his first try?

"Goth? Where'd you go?" Palette called out, looking around. His shout brought a key detail to everyone's attention: the smaller skeleton wasn't on the target, or anywhere they could visibly see, for that matter.

"Oh, stars... Goth, where are you, honey?!" Geno yelled, already imagining the worst. 

Dream was attempting to calm him down when Reaper looked up and chimed in, "Found 'im."

Everyone followed his gaze up into a tree. "Oh dear...," Dream muttered. There was Goth, hanging upside down, his left foot snagged on a high-hanging branch. 

"Hi...," the small child waved gingerly, his sleeve flapping over his hand with each motion, "a little help?"

"I suppose we can't just leaf you up there. Yew might not like my method though, I can guaran-tree you'll be oak-ay," his dad replied, earning snorts from Goth and Ink, and a glare from his husband. 

"Don't just stand there making puns, you idiot, get our baby down!" Geno scolded.

Giving a shrug, Reaper searched the ground for a nearby stone, picking it up and lobbing it into the tree. It hit the branch dead-on and snapped it. Everyone else tensed for a moment as Geno screeched.

He began running for the base of the tree... coming to a stop as his son stopped in midair.

"Geno...," a smug voice purred behind him, "Did you forget our son could float?" 

The glitched skeleton bristled, shouting out an indignant, "No!"... only to shift his gaze and grumble out, "...maybe."

The hooded child drifted down to the ground as his dad cackled, receiving a smack on the shoulder in return. "Well, now that that's settled, care to try again Palette?" the painted skeleton asked his son. 

Ink knew Palette always did better when he was actually able to see and feel the process, unlike Goth's more intuitive approach to learning.

"Yeah!" came an enthusiastic reply, undeterred by his previous failure. Stepping up once more, Palette tried gathering his energy once more. As the energy grew, the young skeleton whispered, "Where I want to be... where..."

A bright glow enveloped him as he took a step... and disappeared. Ink whooped while Dream cheered.

Everyone turned as a pair of yelps and a grunt pierced through the cheers. Beside them, stood Goth, holding a very confused Palette, the smaller's knees nearly buckling in their effort to hold up the additional weight. The creator burst out laughing.

"I think your aim's a little off, sweetie," Dream chuckled. 

"Oh, I don't think his aim was off at all...," Reaper corrected with a sly grin, "he landed right where he wants to be, after all."

The hooded teen blushed along with Dream as Geno chastized his laughing husband and a cackling Ink.

"What's so funny?" Palette asked, shifting himself around rapidly in Goth's grasp in hopes of finding the answer. 

Goth's eye sockets widened as he tried to compensate for the sudden movement, "Pa-AAAAAAAH-!" He lost his balance as Palette's squirming causing him to fall backward, crying out and landing with a dull, "Oof!"

"You okay?" Palette asked worriedly, moving from his position on top of his friend. 

The smaller groaned out a soft, "...Yeah."

"Looks like you've really fallen for him," his dad snickered, getting a blush and a groan in reply as the child pulled his hood down over his face.

"I... I think that's enough for one day," the creator sighed, finally regaining his composure and wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. 

Today was interesting, at least.

***

So, my college classes start up tomorrow. I want to try posting something at least once a week and I have a couple random ideas on thing I would like to do, but I can't make any promises until I know what my workload's going to look like. Until next time, ciao for now~

Word count: 1,084