For everyone who was waiting for A Pj's Daycare AU story, here you go~

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Goth surveyed the tables and counters he had been wiping down with a smile; all he had left to do now was sweep and mop the kitchen floor and take out the trash, then Palette and he would be free to head off to the fair that had rolled into town. Even if he had more or less given up on ever winning his oblivious friend's affection, he could still enjoy the time they spent together outside of their job.

Grabbing the broom and dustpan, temptation gnawed at him to fudge the remaining tasks so they could leave sooner, but he shook the feeling off and set his mind toward performing his tasks with the thoroughness that was expected of a child care facility; he was a skeleton with standards, after all, and there was still plenty of time to make it to the fair before it got dark.

Dumping the stray cracker crumbs and apple bits from evening snack into the trash can, Goth heard the chime go off for the front door. He set aside the cleaning supplies in confusion; everyone usually left together, with Mister PJ always making sure he was the last one out before locking up, and the last of the kids had been picked up twenty or so minutes ago. Sweet and Sour were still here, but they always went home with Fika, so the door shouldn't be going off yet.

Crossing through the kitchen doorway into the main play area, Goth thought he heard Palette's voice, "Palette? Who's th-" Cray stood at the entrance, looking down at the shorter skeleton with a confident smirk on his face; Goth couldn't see his coworker's face since their back was to him, but their gloved hands were twitching, "Is everything alright?"

Palette jumped a bit, turning to Goth with a flushed face as the grin on Cray's grew, "Just the person I was looking for!" Slipping past the surprised monster, the taller wrapped an arm around his shoulder, "I heard there's a fair in town for the weekend and came to see if you wanted to check it out with me."

"Oh, I'm sorry Cray, Palette already invited me this morning," Goth explained, watching the grin fall from Cray's face. Not wanting to disappoint his friend after coming all this way to invite him, he turned to his best friend and suggested, "I know, why don't we all go together? Does that sound alright?"

An odd look crossed Palette's face for a moment before it was immediately replaced with a smile that didn't quite feel genuine, "Sure, if that's what you want."

As Goth opened his mouth to question the reaction, Cray interrupted, "Great, let's go!"

"Ah, I still need to finish emptying out the trash bins in the kitchen and Mister PJ's office, then mop the kitchen floor," the smaller pointed out, "it shouldn't take me more than a few minutes..." He looked around, only now noticing the absences, "Where's Fika and the kids? She's supposed to be helping out here, right?"

Palette puffed up his chest, "Sour was acting fussy while she was helping clean up, so I told her she could leave the rest to me and she got permission from Mister PJ to take him and Sweet home."

"Oh, that was really nice of you," Goth praised, "Do you want me to help you after I'm done?"

Palette grinned, opening his mouth to answer as Cray interjected, "I can help him; you finish what you need to do and we'll head out."

"Thank you Cray; I'll go get the trash from the office, then," Goth smiled, trotting over to Mister PJ's office and knocking on the door.

"Come in," their director's voice called from the room; it was a fairly standard office save for the crayon drawings plastered across the corkboard on the wall, the basket of toys, and the small shelf of children's picture books for visitors or the occasional sick child that needed to be isolated for pick-up. Mister PJ looked busy as usual, flitting through the paperwork on his desk with a proficiency the younger skeleton couldn't fathom.

"I'm here for the trash," Goth announced as he entered the room and pulled the half-filled bag out of the bin, hearing the vacuum turn on somewhere behind him, "Palette's almost done too."

"Right, thanks for letting me know," PJ nodded without looking up from his work; Goth left him to finish up knowing the verbal acknowledgment was enough. Coming back into the room, Palette was spraying down the toys on the shelves with the sanitizer bottle while Cray was helping vacuum the carpets; it was always nice to see them working together despite occasionally being at odds with each other for whatever reason.

Bustling off to the kitchen, he added the small trash bag to the bigger one, replacing the bag with a clean one before taking it out to the dumpster behind the facility. Locking the back door once he was finished, he quickly filled a bucket with warm soapy water and mopped the floor. Dumping the remaining dirty water down the drain, wiping down the area, putting the supplies away, and closing the utility closet, he tiptoed cautiously over the damp floor back to the playroom area.

Cray was putting the vacuum away as Mister PJ closed his office door and locked it for the night. He glanced toward the smaller skeleton, silently asking for an explanation. "Cray's joining us for the fair tonight," Goth glanced at the other two skeletons, noting Palette's expression looked a bit strained, "Is everything alright?"

Palette brushed off the concern, "Yeah, just a little hungry."

"Right, it has been a while since lunch...," Goth mumbled to himself, hooking both his friend's arms and leading them to the door, "Let's not waste time then!"

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Word Count: 971