Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

All Wrapped Up: Chapter 4 (End)

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays one and all~

***

As empty bowls began accumulating on the trays, Goth let out a yawn. Raven cocked a browbone and teased, "Are you already tired?"

"Today was tough," Goth defended himself, "you try spending the day reaping souls in the snow and see how you feel afterward."

"Yup! He worked hard, so he deserves to rest," Palette nodded his skull in agreement.

"Speaking of rest, we should all get to sleep before our holiday visitor arrives," Reaper hinted with a wink toward his daughter.

Shino gasped, dragging her mom out of the fort, "We need to get Santa-san's cookies and milk! Hurry, hurry!"

"Alright, let me get out from under the blankets first," Geno grunted as he was led to the kitchen.

"Dad, I'm not tired yet; can't I stay up?" Raven requested in a honey-sweet tone; his brother only ever used that when they wanted something.

Their dad patted him on the back, "Once Shino falls asleep, ya can get up and help us with the presents; for now, go ahead and get changed into your PJs, kiddos."

"Can I help too?" Sorell asked as Raven left the living room.

"Sure thing; now scoot before Shino comes back," Reaper chuckled, watching his son scamper off to their room.

"Well I'm going to put these blankets to use," Goth stifled another yawn as he reached for one of the pillows; debating where he would sleep, he remembered an important detail that needed to be addressed, "Oh! Palette, you should sleep over here so you don't accidentally bump into my dad." Palette was the only one without immunity to his dad's touch, after all.

Palette stared at him for a moment of incomprehension before realization hit; he laughed nervously, crawling over to the space Goth indicated on the outer edge, " Yeah, that would be bad..." 

Luckily, the nerves were short-lived as Palette flopped onto the blankets, pulling one of the pillows toward himself and snuggling into it. Goth tried not to stare while organizing two blankets over himself as footsteps raced from the kitchen to down the hall, back into the kitchen two minutes later, and across the living room; Shino stopped at the fireplace in a bright purple and pink nightgown with a plate of cookies; Geno appeared soon after holding a glass of milk. Both got placed on the mantle as Raven and Sorell reentered the room and picked out their spots for the night.

"Oh?" Reaper pretended to listen for something, "I think I hear sleigh bells coming closer."

Shino dove into the blankets beside Sorell, burrowing under one of the throws to appear on the other side, snatching up a pillow, and urging the group, "Go to sleep before Santa-san sees we're awake!"

Both parents exchanged amused looks as his mom crawled into the opposite end of the fort beside his dad and pulled the covers around themselves; by that point, Shino had screwed her sockets shut to make it look like she was already asleep.

Goth clenched his jaw to keep from joining in with Raven's snickering, turning on his side to avoid looking at the spectacle. Bids of goodnight were mumbled as blankets were drawn close and fabric rustled while everyone settled down. The occasional crackle of the fire behind the screen provided calming background noise as he shut his sockets. He could also hear Palette's steady breathing next to him, but he found himself too tired to even get worked up the way he normally would... if anything, the sound only soothed him to sleep faster.

---

Goth jolted awake with a start and looked around groggily; the light from the fireplace was still burning and everyone else was fast asleep save for his missing parents, who he assumed were busy putting presents under the tree from the occasional rustling. He smirked at Raven laying flat on his back with their mouth wide open and arms splayed out above him; it seemed he was more tired than he claimed earlier.