One More Soul (two one-shots)

Reaper.

There are people who might think that when you've lived for this long, nothing can surprise you. Reaper thought so too for a while. The same home, the same job, the same issues every time, a moment of rest and repeat.

But he'd learned that not even gods can keep things the same forever. Death itself may be inevitable, but Reaper... Reaper is a creature like any other. He won't stop the changes coming his way. Hell, he even had to change his name at some point, because it caused some problems outside of his AU.

Speaking of the outside world, it turned out to be pretty big. He already had lots of places to research when seeking for souls through different dimensions, and now there were new multiverses.

It made him wonder what were the odds that he would meet his Geno and catch feelings for him at the same time as he did. He had to push a little before the other one admitted to returning his feelings, but at least he was right. He was so happy to finally find someone who could handle both his personality and immortality. He was ready to find a way for Geno to stay with him, no matter how hard it would be. But he waited too long.

When he learned about Error, it was like his soul shattered. He regretted leaving him in The Screen, all alone for such long periods of time, to the point of crashing his code. But it was either this or letting him die in his arms.

He didn't know which option was better anymore.

Of course, he tried to make the destroyer remember what their connection was, but along the way he realised there was no Geno, only Error. It wasn't fair to pretend that he was still the same. So, slowly he began to learn more about his new habits, likes and dislikes, from afar. Maybe someday they'll become friends again.

For now, the only thing left from their relationship was his little fledgeling, Goth. He never expected to have a kid of his own, not even with Life herself, because his job was not to create, but to destroy. One thing he had in common with Error...

When Reaper wasn't around he wanted to be sure that his son would be taken care of, but it wasn't always easy. Even with Life, Grim or Fell brothers babysitting him from time to time, he lacked the presence of his parents.

He secretly missed him too, especially after Geno was gone, because he noticed how it influenced him. Not letting Goth meet his other parent until he was old enough was a bad choice, but his partner insisted that he wasn't ready to introduce his child to the way he lived. Besides, no one knew what was coming.

Despite that there were times, like his "reaper trainings", when he felt close to Goth, because no one else but his son and his brother could experience the hardships of being The Grim Reaper. The kid never failed him, he always tried his best and eventually started to expand his powers by himself.

He didn't know if he held a grudge for the way he decided to raise him, but he did notice that it caused him to be scared of trusting new people. He only had a few friends, so he spent most of his time reading books or learning about his interests. That's why Reaper was relieved to see him still getting along with Dream's child, even though now they were "only" pen pals and visited each other sporadically.

Watching Goth grow up from socially awkward jokester to a distanced but considerate angel of death was certainly an interesting experience. In the end he had admit that he messed up a few things with him too, and he should work on it to make it better.