This idea popped into my head and I figured with most people stuck at home, they would need something to read. While nothing bad happens in the story, some people might not be comfortable reading this since it centers around the virus and its societal effects, so if you don't feel comfortable reading about the current events then feel free to skip this story; mind the warnings and stay safe~
Chapter Warning: Coronavirus discussion, death mentions
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Goth dispelled his scythe with a sigh as he trudged up the front steps and fished out his house keys. Opening the door and discarding the keys and his phone into a bowl to sanitize later, he quickly stripped off the outer layer of his clothes and slippers along with his washable mask and deposited them into the plastic bin stationed by the door.
Judging by the fact that Palette hadn't come out to greet him yet, he guessed his roommate had gotten caught up in whatever activity of the day he had taken up in an effort to occupy himself during quarantine and didn't hear Goth come in.
Reaching over to the ever-ready bottle of hand sanitizer next to the bowl, he massaged the clear liquid into his hands and the lower halves of his ulna and radius, making sure to disinfect every crevice on his bones before grabbing the handle of the plastic bin and making his way to the laundry room. Dumping the bin into the open washing machine, he headed for the bathroom with the bin in tow while snagging a towel along the way.
The skeleton turned on the shower, pulling off the shorts that remained and tossing them into the bin. Once the water warmed up, he jumped in and quickly scrubbed himself down. As the warm water washed away any remnants from his job, he let his body relax and his mind wander through the events of the day.
The body count had gone up once again; while he was mildly relieved his job was now more centralized around hospitals, morgues, and mortuaries which required less overall travel from place to place, it was still disheartening that the influx of deceased souls he needed to transition into the afterlife only required his assistance because basic precautions weren't taken.
It frustrated him to no end seeing people and monsters alike bypassing barricades to visit closed public venues or crowding around food stands as if nothing was wrong. What part of 'only leave home if you have to' and 'pandemic' did they not understand; was outside time and ice cream really something to risk their families and other innocent lives over?!
The infected and death count kept rising every day, yet so many continued to ignore what was happening!
Realizing he was getting himself worked up again, Goth took a deep breath of steamy air and gave himself one more scrub-down just to be on the safe side; he didn't think he could handle it if he had to reap Palette, so any extra precautions to keep the bug out of the house were well worth it.
Shutting off the shower, Goth wrapped a towel around himself and dragged the bin back into the laundry room; letting his shorts slide into the machine, he closed the lid, set the wash cycle on hot, and hauled the plastic container back into the bathroom. Placing the bin in the tub, the skeleton retrieved a bottle of bleach solution from under the sink; he sprayed inside, then flipped it over to spray down the outside, leaving it to disinfect in the tub so it would be ready once again for tomorrow.
Once he was in a fresh pair of pajamas, his key bowl was sitting on the counter full of soapy hot water, and his phone was wiped down, he flopped onto the couch as a voice called out, "Goth?"
"Yeah?" the smaller called out, rolling onto his back and unlocking his phone in hopes of finding something to entertain himself. He frowned when his browsing yielded mostly talk about the virus, what the government was or wasn't doing, and similar discord; he just couldn't get away from it.
"I thought I heard someone banging around out there; did you just get home?" Palette appeared from the hallway leading into the living room as Goth locked his phone in distaste. A sad smile adorned his companion's face as they sat down on the other side of the couch by the smaller's feet, "hard day?"
"Yeah...," the smaller huffed, tossing his phone onto the table and staring at the ceiling.
"Want to talk about it?" Palette offered, leaning back into the cushions.
Mulling the idea over for a moment, Goth declined, "No, talking about it will only make me upset. Right now, all I want to do is relax and forget this whole mess exists." Leaning his legs to the side so he could see the lounging skeleton past them, he changed the subject, "what did you do today?"
"Well, I did some commissions, tidied up the apartment, watered the plants, baked some cookies...," Palette listed the items off on his fingers excitedly, though his expression morphed from excited to sheepish, "buuut I might have left something out because they didn't taste right when I tried one... oh, and I watched some videos on my computer!"
Goth smiled at their enthusiasm, feeling like a broken record when he said, "Thanks again for volunteering to stay home; I know you don't like having to stay cooped up in the apartment all day." With the stay-home order currently in place, Palette wasn't able to meet up with friends or train with the Star Sans' as he normally did; even with all the activities the skeleton found to keep himself occupied, being stuck inside every day had to be incredibly difficult.
"Of course," The taller skeleton chirped, "You're the one that has to deal with the craziness outside because of your job and I know how everyone going out for non-essential stuff bothers you; the least I can do is give you one less thing to worry about by staying inside like I'm supposed to until this whole thing blows over. Besides, the humans on the news said it would probably only last a month or two at most, so I can handle staying in for a little bit."
Goth didn't have the soul to tell Palette it would likely last longer due to the people and monsters ignoring the recommended guidelines and continuing to spread the disease; instead, he settled for reaffirming how grateful he was, "Still, thanks for taking the social hit and for always cheering me up. I feel like I'd go crazy if I was by myself, so having you here to talk to really helps."
"Aww, I'm not really doing that much," Palette chuckled shyly, but looked pleased by the praise regardless, "but if my being here helps, then you can always count on me- oh!"
"What is it?" Goth blinked at the taller's sudden exclamation.
"I just remembered I found this really cool video I wanted to show you!" Palette elaborated, jumping off the couch, "Hang on and I'll go get my computer!" The skeleton disappeared down the hallway for a minute and a half before returning with his laptop in hand. Setting the device down on the coffee table, Palette lifted up the pillow Goth's skull was resting on and set it upon his lap. A bright blush enveloped the smaller monster's face as he struggled to get his voice to work properly, only managing a flustered squeak that caught the taller's attention, "is something wrong?"
"N... no," Goth finally stammered, fidgeting with the hem of his hoodie, "I was wondering why you did... this."
Following his line of sight to the pillow, Palette smiled easily, "I figured you were tired and didn't want to get up; by doing this, you can still lie down and we both can see the screen."
Goth nodded wordlessly, not trusting his voice to maintain any type of composure. It always amazed him how Palette could turn him into a blushing mess with such innocuous actions... then again, that sense of caring with no ulterior motives was part of what made his companion so endearing to him.
Leaning forward and fiddling with the computer keyboard, Palette's voice sounded positively electric, "You're going to love this; it's one of those optical illusion videos where they show pictures and sculptures that change at different angles!" Goth knew exactly which video he was talking about, but kept silent so as not to put a damper on his excitement.
As Palette leaned back and the familiar music began playing, Goth shifted onto his side to watch the video more comfortably. The video ended fairly quickly, only being about four minutes long, but his roommate had another one ready with two taps of the touchpad; this one looked to be an animal blooper compilation video from the recommended section on the sidebar.
Goth chuckled as a moose went romping around in a sprinkler when he felt a hand rest against his shoulder. Glancing up covertly, Palette was fully distracted by the video while smiling in mirth at the animal's antics. Returning his attention to the screen, the hooded monster settled in and elected to not bring attention to the action; he wasn't averse to the touch by any means and after the day he had, he wanted to preserve the cozy and peaceful atmosphere he was fighting so hard for every day.
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Word Count: 1,518