(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Royal Pain - Chapter 1

This is set in a royalty AU, just to give you guys context (though you could probably guess from the title).

***

"Hi, my name's Palette, what's yours?"

Goth looked up from his breakfast. A boy with a stain on his right cheek grinned back at him while holding a tray of food. 

They looked a bit taller than him and had drab clothing similar to his own, a dirty hat, an off-white dirt-smudged shirt, brown pants, and scuffed brown shoes. They were probably hand-me-downs from the orphanage director, much like Goth's hooded white shoulder cape, grey shirt, brown pants, and brown shoes. 

The red scarf around his neck was the only article Goth laid claim to, being a memento from his deceased mother.

The boy tilted their head slightly. As if he was waiting for something. 

Right, he asked a question...

"It's Goth... I don't remember seeing you around here. Are you new?" the hooded monster questioned. He heard that a new kid had arrived two weeks ago, but had pushed the thought from his mind when no new faces had appeared.

"Yeah! The nice lady said I was living here now since I can't remember anything besides my name! She said it had something to do with the crack in my skull." Palette chirped, placing down his tray and lifting his hat to show off a jagged mark the size of the smaller's pinky on the right side of his skull.

Can't remember anything? Like amnesia?

"... Does it bother you? Not being able to remember anything, I mean," Goth quickly added, looking away in shame. 

Palette quirked his mouth for a moment before shaking his head, "Nah, everyone seems really nice, so I don't mind being here!"

The small skeleton didn't expect that kind of response, gaping at the taller before chuckling. 

Well, at least he's optimistic.

"Sorry," Goth took a breath, "you surprised me. Most monsters would be upset about not remembering their past, but you're going along with it as if nothing's wrong."

Palette let out a laugh, wrapping an arm around the smaller, "You're funny, I have a feeling we're going to get along great! We'll be best friends!"

Goth flushed at the comment. 

This kid called me their best friend? He barely even knows me! Well... having a friend for once would be nice... most of the other kids avoided me anyway, so I suppose I could try it.

---

From that day on, the pair had become nearly inseparable, doing almost everything together.

From what Palette told Goth, he'd been found unconscious near the smoldering remains of a burned-out carriage, probably the result of bandits. He'd spent the first two weeks of his stay in the sick bay recovering from his injuries.

When it had been assessed that he had no memories to aid them in returning him to any remaining family, it had been decided he would stay at the orphanage instead.

Palette seemed to adjust well to life in the orphanage, the month passing by in a flash. The pair were currently in the dormitories on the bottom bunk of their bed drawing.

He also had a flair for making art and became excited to pursue the talent upon discovering it. Since the smaller didn't have the soul to suggest anything else, they had managed to scrounge up some paper and crayons to make a picture. Goth was drawing a butterfly while Palette was putting windows on a castle.