(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Back to the Start - Chapter 4

And here begins my quest to write characters I've never written before and not make them OOC. Let's hope I succeeded~

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"ONII-CHAN!?"

Palette's knee slammed into the open drawer at the shrill voice outside his door, forcing him to stifle a curse as he rubbed at the injury. Abandoning his unpacking once the pain subsided, he popped his skull through the doorway to see Goth being picked up and swung around by a skeleton that looked to be in her teens despite being slightly taller than Goth, wearing a long white dress under a long navy blue cardigan with matching shoes, and a pink scarf tied in a bow at the back.

Goth mentioned having brothers and sisters, Palette guessed this was one of them. At least she looked happy to see her brother.

"You're really here! It's been forever and I missed you, you haven't changed a bit!" she exclaimed, bouncing in circles while giggling and nuzzling the smaller skeleton like a treasured stuffed toy.

"S... Shino?" Goth gasped, his arms locked at his sides as he was jostled helplessly. Palette chuckled as he left his room and his boyfriend was finally set down. The hooded skeleton stared at the girl; his eye light blown wide, "Wow, you've really grown; you barely came up to my waist when I last saw you."

"Yup," she chirped, popping the 'p', "I might have gotten the glitched socket from mom's side, but it looks like I got dad's height." Goth seemed less than enthused at this news.

Coming up behind Goth, Palette wrapped his arms around the small skeleton's shoulders, "I prefer you the way you are, you're more huggable like this."

Goth sputtered, his cheeks lighting up as Shino gasped, "Is this the boyfriend mom was talking about?"

"Y...yeah," Goth confirmed, holding the hands resting against his chest, "this is my boyfriend, Palette."

Palette watched as Shino began bouncing around again, wincing when she squealed, "Sugoi, sugoi!"

"Shino, volume!" The trio heard a shout from downstairs.

"Oops...," Shino clamped her hands over her mouth before giggling into them. Latching onto Goth's arms, she began tugging, "Come on, come on!"

Following her lead, the pair were led down the stairs. Halfway down, Palette leaned closer to Goth and whispered, "Who's suegoy?"

Goth snickered, "It's not a name; it's the Japanese word for 'great' or 'awesome'. Shino used to sprinkle Japanese into her sentences all the time; I guess that hasn't changed."

"I don't do it as much anymore," Shino pouted, pulling her brother toward the living room where Reaper was already sitting and onto the empty couch opposite the parent; cuddling into his side.

Palette couldn't help but smile at the siblings, pleased to see they were getting along so well even after so many years. The pair must have been really close when they were younger.

"I figured you were the reason she was being loud," Reaper chuckled, sipping on a steaming mug.

Goth quickly apologized, "Sorry for the noise; we'll try to be quieter."

"Nah," Reaper shook his skull with a grin, "It's been too quiet since Xahji, Raven, and Sorell moved out, we've been sorely lacking in the noise department around here."

Palette took a seat on Goth's other side as the hooded skeleton glanced around, hesitantly asking, "Um... where are the others...?"

"Oh, Xahji Onee-chan lives with her husband now; they're coming down tomorrow," Shino chimed in, seemingly oblivious to her older brother's anxious attention to her words, "Raven Onii-chan's at the store with his boyfriend getting some milk, and Sorell Onii-chan moved to a different country to live with his boyfriend; but we're planning on having a video chat with him tomorrow night."

"I see...," Goth mumbled, his sockets furrowing a bit.

Palette leaned closer, grasping Goth's free hand, "You okay?"

"I think so, just...," Goth exhaled, squeezing the hand holding his.

"You're nervous," Palette finished for him, getting a nod in return, "I'm sure it'll be fine. Your parents were happy to see you and Shino doesn't hate you."

"Why would I hate Onii-chan?" the young monster cocked her skull to the side in curious confusion while still clinging to her older brother's arm.

"He was convinced you would all be mad that he moved away," Palette explained.

Her face scrunched up in an expression reminiscent of Goth's when he was contradicting something, "I was really sad, but Okaa-san and Otou-san told us he was sad too and needed space to be happy. They said he would come back when he was ready and now he's back; so I'm happy!"

Goth's expression melted as he reached over to hug Shino, sending her into giggle fits as she enthusiastically returned the embrace. Reaper chuckled, cradling his mug with a grin stretched across his face as he rumbled, "See? All good."

"It looks like everyone's settled nicely," Geno's voice called out from the entryway. His previously stained sweater was now replaced with a royal blue one. Setting a tray of steaming drinks on the table, he distributed the mugs while informing Palette, "I was able to get most of the stain out; your jacket's going through the wash to get the rest out now and should be done by tomorrow morning."

"Thank you Mister Geno," the young skeleton nodded in thanks.

"just my name is fine; we're all family here," the parent stated, taking a seat on the couch with his own mug next to Reaper. Shino to detached herself from her brother to grab her own mug as Geno directed his attention to Goth, "While we're waiting for Raven and Blueprint to come back, why don't you tell us how you two got together. Goth only told me Palette was the one to confess."

Palette took an experimental sip, happy to find it was hot chocolate instead of coffee when he perked up in recognition, "Blueprint? Blueprint's coming?"

"Oh, you know Blueprint?" Geno inquired.

The artist nodded, "Yeah, he's my half brother from my dad's side."

"Well, what are the odds?" Reaper snorted, "You don't happen to know Snazzy, Rewrite, or Radier, do you?"

"Otou-san!" Shino blurted out, her cheeks dusted in a light blue hue as she gripped her cup. Goth looked taken aback at the sudden outburst.

Palette shook his skull, "Those names don't sound familiar."

"Pity," the black-clad parent shrugged, taking another drink from his mug, "would have been really funny if you did."

"Anyways," The smaller parent interrupted with an exasperated glance at his husband, "back to the previous topic; how did you two become a couple?"

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Word Count: 1,073