~𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐆𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬~

~𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭~

"That's okay, I'll just eat it later when I'm done!"

"OR You cOUlD eat IT nOw anD KeEP YOurSeLF ouT of ThE time-Out CORneR."

The two of them turned to look across the table where the king stood over them.

"But I'm doing my spelling!"

"YoU cAN do THAT lATeR, YoU HaVe yoUr claSsEs fOr THAt." He pat his son on the top of his head. "rIght NOW YOU NEed TO Eat YoUr BreAKfaST."

Error sat down in the chair across from his son, folding his hands together on the table, staring at him with a withering gaze.

Cross gulped. Was there a moment in the day this guy wasn't scary?

"anD yOu."

He jumped, looking to Error with wide eyes. He shivered, stress weighing on his shoulders.

Error's glare softened.

"HAvE YOu SEen nigHtMare? WE have pLANs To GO oveR WHIle The OtheR threE Are oUT."

Had he not been sitting right in front of him, Cross would have grabbed at his chest and sighed in relief.

"Not since last night, sorry."

"dAM-" He paused, his pupils flickering to Paper. "DarN iT. Let ME kNow IF YOu see him, OkAY?"

"Yessir," he saluted, then cringed at his awkward gesture.

Error snorted at his expression.

"thANK YOu. PapeRjAm, eAT yOUR BreakfASt, PlEaSE."

"Yes, dad," Paperjam sulked, hanging his head.

Error gave him a pleased smile, before nodding to Cross and walking off.

"Rats," the child cursed, scooping a green "v" out of the bowl and shoveling it into his mouth.

He looked back to Cross, batting his eyes.

"So what do you do, anyway?" He innocently asked, unaware of Cross's reasoning for working in the castle.

"Me? Oh... uh... I'm just here to help! Yeah..."

He didn't know for sure, but he didn't think Error would appreciate it if he told his kid he and his co-workers had been hired to take some poor girl hostage.

"Help with...?" Paperjam urged him on. He was smarter than he looked.

"Just 'around the castle' stuff! Nothing in particular."

That wasn't so much a lie. Cross wasn't stealthy enough to go stalk the princess like the others, according to Nightmare. So to keep him busy, his boss had made him into his and Error's personal assistant, just doing whatever extra work needed to be done.

Like babysitting.

"Whatever you say," Paperjam teased, giggling to himself.

Ugh. How he hated children. It wasn't like he wasn't trying, but this kid had some nerve. If this kid wasn't higher on the food chain then him, he would've already lost his patience with him. It wasn't any use, though. If he had even so much as tried to tell him off, Paper would have snitched on him to his father.

Error yelling at him was the last thing he needed.

Cross's eye twitched.

"Right. What do you like to do for fun around here, Jammy?"

Paperjam tapped his spoon to his chin.

"I like to color!"

Cross hummed, amused at his harmless response. He was halfway expecting him to say "overthrow empires" or something sadistic like that.