Goth's POV hours later

Dispensing boxes now. Separate for trips.

"Palette...?"I say, lifting my head to look at him

His blurry face looks at me.

"Yes, Goth?"He asks

"What w-was th-that noise?"I ask

He rubs my back gently, which soothes the pain somehow.

"Umm, just relax...Gothy, the nurse put you in the tradition you told me about."He says

"Gothy?" Is that a nickname? I do like him calling me that....Focus!

"T-Then what are you doing here?"I ask, trying to sit up

I hit my head on something and lower my head, rubbing it. He pulls my head back down, resting in his lap.

"I couldn't let you go alone and risk some stranger hurt you. They'd just be taking advantage of you in your pain and current state no matter how nice they act. I don't trust that you won't get paired with a weirdo that may harm you randomly, especially since your parents don't like it either. They must have a reason to be against it and I'm not trusting a program your parents don't trust."He tells me firmly, rubbing where I bumped my head

I glance up at him, hiding my smile in my scarf. That feels reassuring. We hit a rough bump and bounce with the box. He holds me close and I wrap my arms around him. Then I notice his crutch isn't here and sit up, looking at his leg in a cast. I climb off of him, realizing that my entire weight was on that leg.

"I'm sorry, Palette! I didn't reali-!"I begin

"Ssssh, it's okay. Relax."He tells me, holding me close to him.

I feel my soul do flips and smile as my vision focuses again.

The box stops moving and Palette pulls me closer. There's a knock on the top of the box.

"Anyone in here?"Dad asks

"Hi, Mr. Reaper!"Palette says

"Oh, hey Palette!"He says

"Dad...?"I say

"Ah! And you have Goth with you. Great! Welp, you can continue."He says

SLAP!

"Reaper!"My father snaps

"Alright, alright! I'll get them out."Dad says

The box gets pried open and I see my parents looking in. Palette smiles as he picks me up. I curl up, snuggling into his grip and wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Goth are you okay?"Father asks

"Everything stopped spinning at least...."I say

Dad takes me into his arms and looks at Palette.

"You do have a way of keeping my son safe, don't you?"He says

"Goth's my best friend, of course I'm not letting him get taken into a stranger's van!"Palette says, gripping the side of the box to keep himself steady.

"Telling by that title, I'm guessing he didn't give you the gift yet?"He asks

My face burns, knowing what he is referring to. Well, burning more than it is already.

"Hm? What do you mean?"Palette asks

I dig into my pocket and hand him the card that I made for him. He looks at it, unfolding the heart and smiles.

"Thanks, Goth!"He says with a bright smile

Some paint appears in his hand and with a snap of his fingers, a pin is formed. He puts it on my shirt and smiles wider.

"We'll take Goth home so we can watch his condition."Father says

"And don't worry, we called someone for you as well, Palette. He will come here in a few minutes."Dad says

"Okay!"Palette says

My dad grabs my father and unfolds his wings, flying home. I look at the pin he clipped to my clothes. It has a nice image of a heart, half green and half purple. Words printed on it say "~My Best Valentine~"

I smile, holding the pin to my shirt gently. Then I glance up at Father.

"Who did you send to get Palette?"I ask

"Oh! Raven told us of a good friend of his named Slate! And the boy says that he was going to pick Palette up today to spend the holiday anyway."He replies

I frown.

Slate.....

Even from my first encounter with him, I didn't like him. Maybe it was because his first response to seeing me searching for Palette was to kiss him while glaring me down. Maybe it's because he spoke all condescending with comments like your kind or comparing me to violent groups. Maybe it's because he seems set on coming between Palette and I, I don't know. I just know that I don't like him, I don't trust him, and he reeks of something terrible. And not just bad odor. His aura is unsettling as it tries to appear friendly when it has something more threatening underneath. And yes, I found him on my list as well obviously to get him out, but I found him at the bottom near the Eh and TBD sections are. Past that is the end of the list, torn for whoever checks the guilty reads and the fact that he's that close is unsettling. I've seen that names could shift their position depnding on their actions or words so unless he suddenly becomes a saint to get higher on the list, I don't trust Slate one bit.

Months later, Palette's POV

I walk through a park, practicing my walking on a bridge by the lake. Pakeekee sits on the railing eating birdseed. I can wear my scarf again but I haven't found my hat anywhere. I shrug it off though, knowing that I can just make another. I have supplies for crafts including hats in a bag. I hear running footsteps coming over to me, then two.

"Palette!"A voice squeals

"Wait up!"Another says

I turn around, seeing Shino running over with another kid close behind. I smile, seeing Shino hop up eagerly, looking up and down at me.

"I'm so glad that you're healing, Palette! This is my friend Radier!"She says

Radier looks up at me and waves shyly.

"Hey Cuz! I am glad that you got out safely!"He says

I kneel down, recognizing him as my cousin. I notice his long sleeves and reach my hand out. He steps forward and gives me his arm. I roll up the sleeve, seeing the scars and some fresh wounds on closer to his wrist and elbow. I recognize the wounds from strings or tentacles. I recall seeing Nightmare attacking him while Nightmare was waiting for me to become conscious enough to get put through another round of attacks. I shake the memory away and frown, sliding his sleeve back down.

"Do you have a place to stay?"I ask

"Hmm....I have a sleeping bag but.....It rips often for obvious reasons....."He says, pointing to his extra set of arms

"Wait...You're cousins?"Shino asks

I nod, inspecting his skull carefully. Pakeekee lands on my shoulder.

"More family?"He says

"I...I hope my relations doesn't change things, Shino. I won't ever let them hurt you."Radier says, looking at Shino with twinkling eyes

Shino hugs him close.

"Of course not! Family doesn't define people! You're my best friend! I won't just drop you over bad family! If anything, I'll keep you away from them!"The seven year old says

"You're staying with me from now on."I say

"Can we craft together?"Shino asks

I take out the crafting materials with a nod and just sit on the bridge with them, sewing new crafts with them. I make Shino a new hat as she requested, making Radier a new blanket and sewing a sleeping bag to fit him properly. We talk casually and I work out the details of the new living arrangement with Radier as we craft. Then I smile at them as they run off with what they crafted.

"I'll bring you to your new home! My grandpa has a security system on it so I know you'll be safe!"Shino giggles as they run off

Radier smiles and holds her hand as one of his tentacles wave goodbye to me. I get up to my feet again and Pakeekee smiles at me.

"New family?"He asks

I nod.

"May I go to him?"He asks

I nod and he eagerly follows where Radier went. I smile, gazing at the peaceful lake. The sunlight is beuatifully reflected and glimmers across the water. It's peaceful. Nice.

"Palette!"A voice shouts

"Pallete! Buddy!"Another shouts

I look to my left, seeing Slate running over. I look to my right, seeing Goth running over with his arms outstretched. They're both smiling widely. Goth even has the pin from Valentine's Day on his cloak. I glance up at the sky and sigh, feeling my face burn already. The past few weeks both of them have been so affectionate and cling to me with hugs or any way they can to the point that my soul beats faster just seeing them come. Yet whenever they see each other, there is trouble bound to unfold. They make it clear that they don't like each other.

Oh dear.....

"Palette! There you are!"Slate shouts

"Palette!"Goth cheers, wrapping his arms around me

He happily hugs me close, his wings wrapping around me as well.

"Hey, Gothy.."I say, then he puts my hat on my head

"I thought I'd finally get this back to you!"He says sweetly

"T-Thanks, Goth."I say

He looks me in the eye and glances away.

"Cute....heart eyes....."I hear him mutter

"Palette! I want to see-Oh, hey, Goth...."Slate says, slowing in his tracks

"Slate."Goth says sternly, hugging my arm

Slate glances at me, then at Goth.

"So, was this planned? Cause I had plans with you, Palette."He says

"Funny, so did I. And I sent a text to try to alert him. Did you?"Goth asks

I check my phone and find that he did send a message, I just have my sound off.

"No, I didn't think I'd need to. Live in the moment, ya know?"He says

"Well, you thought wrong."Goth says

"What's that stupid pin on you?"He asks

"Stupid? It's wonderful. Palette gave me it."Goth says, emphasizing his words

I smile, glad that he thinks that. I'm glad that he likes the pin.

"Why?"He asks coldly

"Well, Goth is my best friend! He gave me a card asking to be valentines so I gave him that pin to show that he's my best valentine!"I say

He narrows his eyes at Goth. I hold Goth closer. Through their tense encounters or interactions I have also caught onto a darker, more unsettling side to Slate than what I first saw. Not as warm or friendly as before, colder and uneasy in an instant.

"Stop giving that dirty look. You only asked to spend that day with me. Nothing about being valentines. I would've given you a gift too if you desired it."I say

Goth smiles at me.

"I know a nearby playground and brought chalk. Wanna have some fun?"He asks, lifting a box of colorful chalk from a pocket

"Palette, may I speak with you first?"Slate asks

"I guess, what is it abo-Gah!"I begin before getting pulled away by Slate

He pulls me off of the bridge roughly by the arm until Goth is out of sight.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"He snaps

"Hanging out at a park until my friends showed up? Now here talking to you....? Then I'll go to the playground with Goth..? What do you expect me to answer with?"I reply, looking at him confusedly

"You shouldn't hang out with that thing!"He snaps

"Goth is a person, not a thing!"I tell him, crossing my arms

"No he isn't! He's half a person! The other half is a god! And gods aren't people! They're animals without any reason or common sense to care! A god attacked me and gave me this scar, Palette!"He snarls

"Well that isn't Goth's fault and to assume that about any god is rude and wrong of you!"I snap

"I don't want you near him! Don't want to see him, hear him, smell him, anything of him near you!"He snaps

"Then you can leave! He's my best friend and you can't boss me around or get possessive like this! What's gotten into you, Slate? This is exactly the toxic warning signs you've warned me about!"I tell him

"Yeah, to protect you from toxic, animalistic gods! Mortals like me are a different story!"He says

"No you aren't! There's no double standard with toxicity! Leave!"I snap, furious that he's really trying this garbage

He glares at me.

"You're my friend, and it's going to stay that way."He growls before stomping off.

I roll my eyes and walk back over to the bridge. I have a little limp in my step but I grab the railing to steady myself. I am okay, mostly.

"Palette! Are you okay?"Goth asks

"Yeah I'm fine. Slate left."I say

"Oh..."He says, glancing away

"Do you have an issue with him?"I ask as we head to the playground

"He has a problem with me being around you obviously. I'm just anxious about him being with you or taking you from me....I don't want to lose my best friend. It's more of being anxious than an actual problem."He replies

I nod, understanding and holding his hand.

"Nobody is going to take me from you, Gothy. I won't leave my best friend."I say

He blushes a deep purple at the nickname. I smile, finding him adorable and taking it as a sign that he likes the nickname.

We reach the paved playground and he opens the box of chalk and we start coloring.

"I don't think my cousin would let me anyway."I chuckle

"Cousin?"He says

"Yep, I have a cousin and he's moving in with me. He's a friend of your sister so I don't think he'd let me be any issue for you or your family."I say

"Isn't your brother living with you as well?"He asks, referring to Gradient

"He moved in last week, still as timidly protective as ever. If Asgore's system ever fails, I'll just release him on the intruder. He's a force to be reckoned with."I chuckle

"What did he mean when he said that he's like you?"He asks

I glance at him, then sigh.

"We're both mistakes with all things considered."I say

"No you're not!"He snaps without hesitation

"Technically we are. We're not supposed to exist. My birth was just because my parents' tools mixed as well as some emotions and accidentally became a living being with a soul. Ink's paints and vials mixed with Dream's arrows and joy or hopes lingering from them mixed to make me by pure chance. And Gradient was randomly formed from the traces of a fight between Error and Ink. If it weren't for that, we wouldn't and aren't meant to exist. It's not like our parents even intended for us to exist or have us."I say with a shrug

"Well that's how they view it. Not me. Or anyone you've befriended. You both have made a life for your own and are some of the best people to have around. We're lucky to have you. You're not a mistake. I think there's a reason that so-called accident happened that they can't see. Your lives change things for the better."He tells me

I smile at him as he squeezes my hand.

"Any summer plans?"He asks

"Probably going to get a summer job. There's a studio looking for new artists and I think I'll check it out."I say

"Perhaps I will go with you."He says

I smile at him.

"Yeah...I'd like that."I say

TBC