Paperjam meets Goth
(A small fic of in the scenario of Paperjam meeting Goth after the discovery of Error being Geno)
Voices crowd and cradle the vicinity of Olympus, many intrigued at the freshly discovered news. Most prominently on the grounds of Olympus were the Gods of death, destruction, and creation. All three beings gathered to discuss new arrangements in the foreign circumstance that had not too long ago come to be. On the horizon, just on the edge of Olympus, sit Goth and Paperjam, legs dangling on the edge of the free fall down below.
The air between the two is one-sidedly tense, Goth's fingertips curling tightly into his snow-white cloak from the anticipation. While Paperjam's gaze lay calm and collected, basking in the beautiful sunset before him.
"I'm sorry," Goth uttered under his breath.
Paperjams' skull snapped toward the smaller skeleton. "What?"
Goth repeated. "I'm sorry."
With an arched eyebrow, Paperjam pressed forward, "For what exactly?", genuine curiosity spilling.
"I... I'm sorry for taking your dad away from you." Goth spoke, guilt spilling from his trembling mouth.
Even more confusion spread through Paper Jam's expression before finally landing on realization. "My....? Ah, right."
Goth's eyes widened as words started spilling from his mouth, apologies and explanations, desperate acknowledgments to understanding the conundrum that had unfolded with the discovery that Error was in fact Geno.
"I-i know it's probably messing with your family-."
Paperjam interrupted casually.
"I don't really consider Error to be my dad."
Goth's body froze, then loosened at once.
"....oh."
Possible misinterpretations flooded Goth's head, as Paperjam rushed to explain.
"Uh, well, it's more like I consider Error and Ink to be my creators?"
The silence grew from Goth, and more concern and confusion sprouted.
Paper jam took a breath and took his time to explain.
"It's hard to say, I guess I was kind of an accident?"
At the time of Paperjam's creation, Ink and Error were never in a formal relationship; the two clashed at many points, and the opposites attracted yet repelled each other consistently. The relationship was casual at best, for both a being that was erratic and ever-changing in moods, to a being that felt nothing without the interference of vials to guide the direction of emotions, consistency was difficult between the two.
Paperjams's creation itself was a mesh of magic intertwining at length at enough of an intensity to create life, and such a life that confused both Ink and Error.
Both the guardian and the Destroyer found themselves at an impasse, neither having memories of experience with cultivating life, let alone raising it.
"It's not that they were horrible at taking care of me, it's just they were kind of...detached? Especially when I was just a baby bone, which wasn't for a long time."
Paperjam explained, glancing at Goth, who solemnly nodded along. Oddly enough, even though time frame-wise, Goth was surely older than Paperjam, perhaps a child created from soul-bonding and a child created from magic had different rates of age progression, but Paperjam couldn't be sure.
"Error wasn't bad at parenting, now that I think about it. Probably was better between the two. It kind of seemed like he vaguely knew what he was doing, like some... far-off muscle memory."
Goth's eyes gleamed at the prospect.
Paper Jam's memory of the early days was hazy, especially when he could barely take care of himself. Blurred memories of Ink's enthusiastic attempts at connecting with the child before losing concentration and forgetting what he was even doing in that moment.
Error's attempts at child care were sporadic and nonsensical in their levels of effectiveness. Ranging from leaving him on a couch to watch Undernovella to attempting to educate him with books and puzzles.
Error seemingly understood that touch was an important aspect in a child's development, whether this knowledge came consciously or unconsciously. The days when Error showed affection and attempted to make contact were just as sporadic as his attempts in child care.
Some days, Error would hold Paper Jam at arm's length, maybe just barely cradling him in his arms, until he would place Paper Jam on the ground as his body would force a hard reboot from the sheer stimulation of physical contact. Other days, Error struggled to even stay in the same room as Paperjam, as if the mere air of living beings made his spine shiver.
For the days that Error did leave paper jam on his lonesome, which happened more frequently than both his creators would have liked to admit, he would spare Paperjam a puppet of Classic Sans to supplement his need for affection, and Error's lack of availability to provide it.
A certain moment in time rang clear as odd in Paperjam's memory. An afternoon filled with oddly casual parental affection, a young Paper Jam being held close and dear to Error's chest, skull resting softly on the Destroyer's shoulder as his back was gently patted, Error humming a tune. The moment had been odd yet well appreciated in the grand scheme of things, appreciated until the moment was broken as if a sudden realization came to Error that something was off.
Paper Jam was tugged away from Error's shoulder and brought once again at the regular arms-length distance that usually Error provided. The glitch's eyes squinting hard, eyes blurred in their effort to see what was before them, before a shiver ran up his spine as Error quickly plopped Paperam on the floor. A hard reboot racking his body, the sound of shrill glitching echoing in the emptiness of the antivoid, painfully coursing through Error's body for many minutes.
What followed was many days of silence and isolation from Error, though Paperjam’s memory didn't remember those days with as much clarity.
Paperjam's gaze returned to Goth, only to see intense glee.
“My dad was also weird!”
The little skeleton started sharing his own stories of memories of his father as a baby bone.
Toriel freaking out at the site of Goth covered in his father's blood, after being hugged just a little too hard to his father's chest. The eternally-bleeding stab wound blessed him with a horrifying look that made the Goddess of Life almost collapse from surprise.
Paper jam and Goth spent the rest of the night trading stories and sharing laughs, worries of the future lying behind them as a concern for then, not now.
