Pastel Gunge [Pastel/Reader]

Part I

Note: Pastel is my friend Taylor's character. (PinkieLover98 on DeviantART and sparkly-arts on Tumblr.) She's kind of a rascal. Making sure she stayed in character was fun. Taylor drew the cover and an awesome little tie-in comic on her Tumblr. Title is a play on "pastel grunge". You can also read this on AO3, DA, and Quotev.

As much as you enjoyed wintertime, the salt on the streets and sidewalks meant that you had to travel to school alone. You weren't expecting to see anyone out the day your life changed for the okay. Sneople (snail people) and other halophobes were provided with alternate transportation during this season. Even sneople (snake people), whose scales made sure they weren't bothered by the grains, couldn't deal with the temperature. Species-wise your town was fairly diverse your home was in the Moist District, whose population primarily consisted of sneople (snail and snake people).

When you saw a pink naked person doubled over by the side of the pond you passed everyday you were caught off guard. What could you make of someone who committed public indecency while there was snow on the ground?

Skinny dipper???

As you neared you saw that her rosiness was not the result of hypothermia. She was made of slime. Legally she wasn't nude because what would have been considered her pink bits (if her entire body was't monochromatic) were not on display.

"Hana was right," you heard her mutter. "Guess I'm going to have to use actual skates if I don't want to become a frozen fishdick."

She was preoccupied with her legs, which were literally freezing from the knees down. The frantic calf rubbing was doing little to help so she started to stomp her left foot.

"Careful!" you called out. She spun around, her one large silvery eye wide open. "You might crack your leg or something..."

The slime girl either blinked or winked at you very slowly. When she realized she was still bent over, she straightened up.

"Can you get me to the-" Her nose scrunched. "-skull-ull?"

"The what?"

"The sko-skull."

"Mmm...?" you pressed your lips together, not meaning to make a sound with your mouth.

"You know, the place where people get to sit on their butts all day."

"The school?"

"Sküle. Yeah, that place."

"I was just going there. Do you want me to walk with you? I'm [name], by the way."

"Pastel."

"'Pastel'?"

"Yeah, like 'pastel grunge'."

"You're really named after a Tumblr subculture?"

"Welp," she exclaimed, clasping her hands together, "let's goo!"

Fists balled up, she started trudging along the pavement. Her frigid feet made it hard for her to gain speed.

"Pastel, do you need help?" She bit down on her lip, looking off to the side. "If you want, you can hold onto me."

"Right on," she replied, sliding backwards and behind you. When Pastel grabbed your waist, you noticed her hands felt more solid than a slime person's should.

"When we get there, I'm going to make sure you warm up."

"We just met, [name]."

You felt fortunate that she was still looking off to the side so she couldn't see the expression on your face.