(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Back to the Start - Chapter 5

Where I try to write sibling interactions despite being an only child.

Chapter Warning: Swearing

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"... but Miss Mona interrupted by telling him, "We are". I turned around and the whole staff was behind us, glaring daggers at the guy. She chased him out and let us take a few minutes in the back to calm down afterward; that's whe-"

Palette paused mid-story when the front door swung open. Everyone turned to the entryway as a skeleton wearing a white hoodie with a red streak running across his left shoulder, a black scarf with a skull clip, and black pants walked through the front door with a plastic bag dangling from his wrist, dropping a set of keys into a bowl in the foyer. Another skeleton walked in behind him, wearing a gray sweater, a blue plaid scarf, and brown pants; there were also two grayish-blue smudges on top of his skull and his right cheek.

The artist recognized the second skeleton as Blueprint, meaning the taller one was probably Raven.

"Sorry we took so long, there was this lady three people in fro-," Raven looked up as he passed the living room's cased opening, halting mid-sentence as his two-tone red and blue eye light caught sight of Goth. His mouth clamped shut as he stared at the older skeleton with an unreadable expression.

"Raven...?" Blueprint peeked around Raven's shoulder in mild curiosity, his blue diamond eye lights widening at the sight of new guests. Palette glanced over at Goth, unsurprised to find the smaller skeleton tensed next to him while staring back at his younger brother; he really couldn't fault the reaction given the stony gaze being directed at them. 

Palette placed a hand on his companion's leg in silent support, getting a startled jolt at the contact. Shino sat staring back and forth between the two brothers in what appeared to be confusion.

"Raven, you're staring again," Geno broke the silence with a deadpan tone. The words caused the skeleton to blink, his stern expression disappearing as he redirected his attention to their mother, "Put the milk away, then you can come say hi to your brother."

"Right...," Raven mumbled as he made his way down the hall to where Palette assumed the kitchen was.

Blueprint entered the living room, taking a seat on the couch once Reaper and Geno made room for him. Flashing a shy smile, he asked, "I wasn't expecting to see you here, Palette... how do you know Raven's family?"

Recalling that Blueprint wasn't too good with social situations, Palette offered a simple explanation, "I came up with Goth; we started dating three months ago."

"Oh, that's Raven's older brother, right?" Blueprint's eye lights morphed into stars, getting a nod from the skeleton in question, "... um, congratulations!"

"So you're the guy mom was talking about," Palette looked up to see Raven. He came in and sat down next to Blueprint, directing his gaze silently on Goth for a few seconds before finally speaking, "How have things been? Mom said you both work at a cafe; what do you do there?"

"Good...and yeah, we both work at a place called Mona's," the hooded monster replied warily, looking toward Palette, "That's actually how we met... and the cafe serves finger foods and drinks; nothing really fancy. Most of my day revolves around taking and serving orders and preparing drinks."

Raven nodded before continuing, "What about the people there; they treat you alright? No one gives you a hard time?"

"Well... other than the occasional rude customer, everyone's nice," Goth answered with a faint smile toward his lap, "Mona especially; she reminds me of mom sometimes."

"I like the sound of this lady," Geno commented, getting a hum of agreement from his husband.

"And what about him?" His brother pressed, flicking their eye light over to Palette, "You're happy with him? He treats you right?"

Goth stared at his brother in stunned silence, then huffed in amusement while placing his hand on Palette's, interlacing their fingers together, "Palette's wonderful; he always does little things that let me know he cares and always makes sure I'm doing alright. He always asks how my day went when we don't work the same shift; we confide in each other when something gets us down and he helps out with chores whenever he can around his studies.

"Honestly, I wouldn't even be here if it weren't for him; I was so convinced everyone hated me, but he helped me find the courage to reach out again. Meeting Palette was the best thing that ever happened to me," Goth finished, wiping at his sockets that had begun watering partway through his speech.

Palette leaned closer, pressing a kiss against the top of the smaller's forehead, resting his cheek upon his hooded skull as Shino wrapped her arms around her brother's waist to hug him from the other side. Goth, in turn, nuzzled into the crook of his boyfriend's neck with a soft sniffle while draping an arm around his little sister.

Raven sat gaping like a fish, completely at odds with the cold persona he had been giving off earlier. The artist grinned as he stated, "You really care about Goth, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Raven hotly declared with a look of indignation, "Everyone could see how broken up he was about not being able to work with mom and dad; then he left and disappeared for eight years! He might be two years older than me, but that doesn't mean I can't worry about him; he's my brother, after all!"

"Ya just need to learn to curb that resting bitch face; it gets ya in trouble," Reaper chortled, reaching around Geno to rub his younger son on the skull. He ended up getting a whack to his own skull and criticism from his spouse for the crude choice of words.

Palette's chuckled at the confirmation. Raven was a nice guy, after all; he just had a hard time showing it. The artist admittedly found Goth to be pretty similar at first; both seemed cold or indifferent at first glance, yet they were warm and caring once you looked deeper.

"Thank you Raven, I really needed to hear that," Goth sat up straight, rubbing the last of the moisture from his face, "I knew you used to be hard to read, but I wasn't sure how much had changed since then. I'm glad you still consider me your brother."

Raven huffed, crossing his arms as he slouched into the couch, "Even after eight years, you're still such a softie."

"Um... didn't you want to ask about something?" Blueprint quietly interjected, tapping on the younger sibling's arm to get his attention.

"That's right; Goth!" Raven shot forward, causing nearly the whole room to jump at the sudden volume, "Where did you put my CD Player eight years ago?"

Overcoming his shock, Goth repeated, "... CD Player?"

"Yeah, the white one with the orange and silver display," the sibling confirmed, crossing his arms once more, "I let you borrow it because yours ran out of batteries and you never gave it back. I tried to look for it myself after you left, but mom had a conniption and chased me out of your room before I could find it; so where did you put it?"

"Mmm... a white CD player...," the small skeleton quirked his mouth, mulling over the information before his face lit up, "Oh, it might be in the drawer of my nightstand..."

"The drawer?"

"Yeah, I didn't want it to fall off the nightstand, so I think I put it in the top drawer," Goth explained, nodding his skull along with the words. The rest of the group watched as Raven bolted up the stairs.

"Was it really important?" Palette inquired to no one in particular.

"I don't think so," Blueprint answered with a hesitant smile, "I remember he said he bought a new one shortly after; I think it just bothered him that he never knew where the old one went."

"Yes! Finally!" they heard a triumphant shout from upstairs.

Goth and Palette stifled their laughter as Shino openly giggled. Even Blueprint was trying and failing to keep a straight face as Geno and Reaper chuckled.

If Goth wasn't forgiven before, he certainly was now.

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Word Count: 1,370