Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Where You Want to Be (One-shot)

Ink decided spur of the moment one day to teach Palette the fine art of teleportation; the young skeleton's initial reaction at the news was to, of course, tell his best friend Goth. When his friend showed interest in learning as well, the creator had no way to refuse two children giving their best puppy-dog looks.

Dream came to support their son and to make sure no one got hurt since teleporting could be dangerous. Ink also knew his ex wasn't willing to leave Palette completely alone with him given his flighty personality, even if the guardian wouldn't outright admit it; not like he cared either way as long as he wasn't getting arrows shot at him. Geno also wanted to watch, being the protective mom he is; this meant Reaper was present as well since the god usually followed his husband everywhere when not working or sleeping.

All three observers were sitting off to the side under a tree in a wide clearing, where the training was taking place.

Ink cleared his throat and turned towards his two students. "Okaaay," the painter started off; both children were sitting in the grass in front of him, listening intently, "so there are two different ways to travel using teleportation: either channeling magic through an object, like my paint or Reaper's scythe, and creating a static portal or channeling magic directly through your body. Channeling magic into an inanimate object uses less energy but it's also harder to control, so we'll start you two off with the direct method. The big thing with teleporting is knowing where you are and where you want to go. Build up your magic while picturing where you want to be, take a step, and poof," he snapped his fingers, "you've teleported. Now, who wants to start us off?"

"Oooh, me first me first!" the Palette shouted, jumping around and flailing his arms in the air. His hooded companion chuckled as Ink motioned for his son to step forward.

"Alright, try to aim for the target on the ground over there," he instructed, pointing to a spot a few yards away with a painted red 'x' on it. Gathering their energy within their body, Palette scrunched up his face and hunched his shoulders. Everyone looked on in anticipation as he took a step. The young monster opened his eyes... to find he had only taken a single step.

"Guess he didn't put his best foot forward," the black-cloaked skeleton chortled.

"Reaper!" Geno hissed, elbowing him in the side.

Dream sighed as Ink let out a pronounced cough, patting his confused son on the back, "It's fine, these things take time. Not everyone gets it the first time; multiverse knows it took me a couple tries to get the hang of it. How about we try... your friend next?"

Either not noticing Ink's mental slip or not saying anything about it, the hooded skeleton stepped up. Taking a breath and closing his sockets, an aura slowly built in intensity around him; his sockets shot open, a single eye light glowing a bright purple as he stepped forward... and disappeared. The creator whistled, one eye light shifting into an exclamation mark while the other adults stared on; he was honestly kind of surprised the kid got it on the first try.

"Goth? Where'd you go?" his son called out, looking around. The shout brought a key detail to everyone's attention: Goth wasn't on the target, or anywhere they could visibly see for that matter.

"Oh, stars... Goth, where are you, honey?!" Geno yelled, likely imagining the worst.

Dream attempted to calm him down when Reaper looked up and chimed in, "Found 'im." Everyone followed his gaze up into a tree.

"Oh dear...," Dream groaned. There was the kid, hanging upside down; his left foot was snagged on a high-hanging branch, leaving him to dangle like a ragdoll.

"Hi...," the small skeleton waved gingerly, not looking too worried as his sleeve flapped over his hand with each motion, "a little help?"

"I suppose we can't just leaf you up there. Yew might not like my method, though I can guaran-tree you'll be oak-ay," his dad replied, earning snorts from Goth and Ink while his husband glared daggers.

"Don't just stand there making puns, you idiot, get our baby down!" Geno scolded.

Shrugging his shoulders, Reaper searched the ground for a nearby stone before picking it up and lobbing it into the tree; it hit the branch dead-on and snapped it. Everyone else tensed for a moment as Geno screeched; the skeleton began running for the base of the tree...  slowing to a halt as their son stopped in midair.

"Genooo...," a smug voice purred behind him, "Did ya forget our son could float?"

The glitched skeleton bristled, shouting out an indignant, "No!" only to shift his gaze and grumble out, "... maybe."

Goth drifted down to the ground as Reaper cackled, receiving a smack on the shoulder in return. "Now that that's settled, ready to try again?" Ink asked his son.

"Yeah!" came an enthusiastic reply, undeterred by his previous failure; Palette always learned better when he could actually see and feel the process, unlike Goth's more intuitive approach to learning... there was a name for it, but Ink couldn't really remember what it was. Stepping up once more, the younger monster tried gathering his energy once more. As his energy grew, he whispered, "Where I want to be... where I..."

A bright glow enveloped his son as they took a step... and disappeared; Ink whooped in excitement while Dream cheered. A pair of yelps and a grunt pierced through the celebration, and everyone turned toward the noise. Beside them stood Goth, holding a very confused Palette in his arms; the smaller monster's knees were nearly buckling in the effort of holding up the additional weight.

Ink burst out laughing as Dream chuckled, "I think your aim's a little off, sweetie."

"Oh, I don't think his aim was off at all...," Reaper corrected with a sly grin, "he landed right where he wants to be, after all."

The hooded skeleton blushed along with Dream as Geno chastised his laughing husband and a cackling Ink.

"What's so funny?" Palette asked, rapidly shifting around in his companion's grasp in hopes of figuring out why so many people were laughing.

Goth's eye sockets widened as he tried to compensate for the sudden movement, "Pa-AAAAAAAH-!" He lost his balance as Palette's squirming causing him to fall backward, crying out and landing with a dull, "Oof!"

"You okay?" Palette asked worriedly, moving from his position on top of his friend.

The smaller groaned out a soft, "... Yeahhh."

"Looks like you've really fallen for him," Reaper snickered, getting a blush and a groan in reply as the embarrassed monster pulled his hood down over his face.

"I... hah... I think that's enough for one day," Ink sighed, finally regaining his composure and wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. The day was interesting, at least.

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Word Count: 1,168