Once Goth composed himself, he slowly began to recall the incident with detail that left Palette shifting in empathetic discomfort; it all sounded horrible from his companion's perspective.

"A tall man in a black hoodie yanked you by your scarf and pulled out a knife," the guard reiterated, jotting the facts down on a notepad, "Any other descriptors? Patterns on the hoodie? Hair, eye, or skin color? How tall was he compared to you?"

"His hands looked pale...," Goth answered slowly, fiddling with the tail of his scarf, "his hood shadowed his face, so I couldn't see anything... I don't remember there being any pattern and I was sitting before he pulled me down, so it was hard to tell how tall he was..."

"He had dark brown curly hair; about chin length, his eyes looked kinda grayish-blue, he was a couple of inches shorter than me; about to here," Cray stated, raising his hand to the level of his eye sockets, then donned a smug grin, "and he should be sporting a hefty little shiner on his right cheek from where I clocked him."

"You saw all that?" Goth murmured with a hint of awe in his tone.

Palette groused as Cray puffed up a bit, "His hood fell off when I hit him, so I was able to get a good look at him before he ran off."

The man wrote down the information, glancing toward Palette; assuming it was a silent request for additional details, he sheepishly shrugged, "I wasn't really looking at the guy; I was more focused on Goth."

"That's fine; this should be enough information to get started," The man gestured with the notebook, "You three be careful on your way home."

"Thank you," Goth nodded as the man turned to leave.

"Here's your bag back," Cray handed over the tote.

"Ah-!" Goth gasped, taking the bag and digging into it, "I hope nothing got damaged!"

Before Palette could ask what Goth had bought, Cray interrupted, "Hey, think you could get us some drinks? I think I saw a vending machine back a ways."

Palette opened his mouth to object, not wanting to leave after what happened, but Goth chimed in without looking up from their inspection, "I am feeling a little thirsty now that you mention it."

"... Okay," he reluctantly agreed, vacating his spot on the bench, "Is Lemonade good?"

Goth flashed one of those smiles that just made his soul flutter, "That sounds great, thank you!" He didn't think he could ever get tired of seeing that smile-

"Soda for me," Cray added, bringing the pleasant mood to a halt.

"Right, I'll be right back," Palette directed a hard stare at his rival, reminding himself that he was only going for Goth's sake as he jogged through the crowd in search of the vending machine; he knew Cray had only made the suggestion to get some alone time with their companion, so he had to get back before the monster could do anything sneaky. Tracking down the machine, he quickly inserted the necessary change, selected the drinks, and rushed back.

To his surprise, he returned to find Cray didn't even look like he was trying to put the moves on Goth as Palette had feared... in fact, he looked to be deep in thought as he sat next to the smaller skeleton.

Handing off the canned drinks, Palette was met with his crush's warm expression once more, "Thank you, for the drinks and for helping me earlier. I was really scared and it felt like I couldn't even move; I don't know what I would have done if I was by myself."

Taking a seat next to Goth, he wrapped his arm around the skeleton and beamed, "Of course, I would do anything for my best friend!" As soon as the words left his mouth, he could feel his soul recoiling in dissent. At the same time, he noticed a strange look passing over his hooded companion's face. Loosening his grip he asked, "Hey, is something wrong?"

"N-nothing! The drink's sourness surprised me, that's all!" Goth stuttered, hastily taking a sip of his drink. Palette tilted his skull in confusion; didn't they just open their cans?

"Hey, didn't you say something about pictures with the flowers?" Cray subtly plucked Palette's arm off of Goth's shoulder.

Goth perked up, "Oh, that's right! I was thinking we could take a picture with the flowers before... before...," his voice trailed off and his gaze dropped to the ground.

"That sounds like a good idea," Palette quickly agreed. Hoping to keep Goth's mind from wandering back to the incident, he pointed to a nearby area, "What about over there? There's a ton of flowers blooming over there."

Sliding off the bench, Goth trotted over to where Palette had pointed; he and Cray followed along as the smaller fawned over the flowers, "These would be a perfect backdrop!"

"Kay, give me a sec," Cray chuckled, searching for a willing photographer from the other roaming patrons. A minute later, they were setting their cans and bags to the side and posing in front of the colorful arrangement as the picture was taken. Taking the phone back and giving their thanks to the stranger, a copy of the photo was sent to the pair, though Palette had a feeling he didn't get his copy willingly.

Placing his phone back into his jacket, Goth asked, "Do you think we can visit the petting zoo next?" No sooner were the words spoken, the street lamps began to flick on overhead; he looked up at the fluorescent lights and sighed, "or maybe we should head home instead..."

"Home sounds like a good idea; they're probably putting the animals up for the night and we don't want to lose track of each other again," Palette reasoned; the last thing he wanted was to lose Goth in the dark, especially if that maniac was still on the loose. Noting his companion's dejected posture, he added, "Why don't we just come back tomorrow? Then we can spend the whole day having fun!"

"Really?" Goth's eye light shined as he bounced in place. Palette smiled and gave him a nod of confirmation. Maybe this would be his chance to-

"How about we meet by the entrance booths tomorrow around... ten?" Cray suggested, leaning in between the pair.

Palette scowled and opened his mouth to object, but Goth exclaimed, "That sounds like a great idea! What do you think, Palette?"

He put on a fake smile to cover his ire, "Oh, sure... that sounds good; ten at the entrance." It seemed he wouldn't get any alone time with Goth as long as Cray was around to invite himself along, but it also worked reverse for his rival and he still got to spend time with his crush, so it wouldn't be a total loss.

He just had to be patient... only then would he eventually get his lucky break.

***

Word Count: 1,152