"Mmmmh," Goth growled, squinting as he panned his phone's flashlight across the text on each box; he had been at it for a good hour now, but it didn't feel like he was any closer to his goal. "Kerosene... kerosene... plug-in... kerosene...," he mumbled to himself, wishing he could find even a single box containing a battery-powered heater that could be used inside a building. As things stood, he would either have a useless hunk of cold metal and plastic, or they would be camping outside.

As he shuffled over to the next set of boxes for the umpteenth time, the light from his phone flickered and went out, surrounding him in darkness. Checking his phone, the blank screen was enough to tell him that his phone's battery had given out. Charging the phone would be out of the question for quite a while thanks to the city-wide blackout Palette had warned him about earlier; the whole reason he was even in the store looking for a way to heat their apartment, to begin with.

Grudgingly admitting that shopping in a vacant store probably wasn't a good idea anyway, Goth pulled himself from his kneeling position with the help of one of the shelves and readied his magic to teleport outside the building. His world warped and was covered in white as snow enveloped his body, forcing out a full-body shiver as he hovered out of the drift he had unintentionally landed in; there was no way he would be able to walk through this mess. A chill wind blew past him and he shrugged down into his scarf, making his way home through the powerless, snow-covered city; most of it was difficult to recognize under the blankets of snow and, if he was being honest, the lack of life despite it only being six thirty-ish in the evening was pretty creepy.

Spotting the gray roof of his apartment building in the distance, he glided through the flurries only to stop short of the stairs; it and half of the second-floor landing were covered in snow, much like everything else. Letting out an exasperated huff while wishing Palette and he had gotten a first-floor apartment with a proper awning, Goth floated up to the clear section of the landing and toggled the doorknob; with a little pressure, the door finally unstuck itself and swung open.

Unsurprisingly, the apartment was dark and cold like every other building in the area; only the ambient natural light from the windows and his luminescent eye light provided any visibility. Landing on the doormat and dusting the accumulated snow from his jacket and hood, a pair of hands wrapped around him and pulled him off the floor and into a hug with a cry of, "Thanks stars you're okay! I was so worried when you took forever to get home!"

"I told you I was stopping by the store, right?" Goth asked, swearing he had said it aloud rather than thinking it.

"Yeah, I remember," Palette responded with a pout in his voice, "I just didn't think it would take this long and you weren't answering your phone when I tried to call you."

Goth grimaced at the reminder, "My phone died while I was using the flashlight app to browse, I'm sorry I worried you."

"It's okay since you're okay," Palette chirped, nuzzling into the back of Goth's hood, "Mister Geno showed up to keep me company while we waited."

"He was gearing up to go look for you when I arrived, but I managed to convince him to stay put," Palette set the smaller skeleton back on the ground and he turned to find his mom standing in the living room doorway, "I was tempted to go looking myself, but Palette said you went shopping-"

"Oh yeah!" Palette exclaimed, looking Goth over with a hint of confusion, "What'd you get?"

It was now his turn to pull a sour face, "Nothing, every heater I found either needed to be plugged in or could only be used outdoors; it was a total wash."

"Which begs the question of how you managed to go shopping when all the stores should be closed due to the outage," Geno cocked a browbone; Goth hesitated for a moment, suspecting his mom already knew the answer but wanted to hear it directly from him.

Biting the bullet, he grudgingly admitted, "I might have... sort of teleported into the empty building..."

Goth flinched at the gasp that resulted as Palette breathed, "You weren't planning on stealing the heater, were you?"

"No!" he squealed, "I was going to leave money for it under the cashier's desk with a note!"

Geno didn't look any less disappointed as he scolded, "Even if you planned on paying for a heater, that was still breaking and entering; you're lucky most of the stores here don't have backup generators for their security cameras."

"Sorry...," Goth shrank in place, glancing over at his roommate; Palette was equally quiet, likely sensing that any attempt to gloss things over would result in a scolding of their own.

Staring for a moment, the older skeleton sighed, "All's well that ends well, I suppose, but never do that again. Since your little excursion failed, you can both stay over for Christmas Eve and Christmas since we have a fireplace; gather everything you need and we can head over now."

"Oooh, a sleepover!" Palette cheered, dashing for the hallway closet and pulling out a stack of tote bags.

"Alright, I'll go ahead and get our stuff," Goth grabbed one of the bags and headed to his room to grab a set of pajamas, ducking into Palette's room to grab a pair for him and anything else they would need for their overnight stay.

"The presents can be hidden in the closet when we get there," he heard his mom as he returned to the entrance. Palette stood with two totes full of presents already dangling from his wrist as Geno asked, "Got everything you both need?" Getting a nod in response, the parent held out both hands to the pair. Taking hold, the world warped around them as their location changed from the cold, dimly lit apartment into an equally cold and dim, albeit larger living room of his parent's home.

Goth swayed a bit as he regained his balance, earning a concerned look from Palette, "Are you okay?"

Shaking his skull to rid himself of the lingering disorientation, Goth answered, "Yeah, I guess I'm not used to being the passenger in a teleport anymore."

"It doesn't help that you've been working all day as well," Geno added, guiding his son to the couch, "Go ahead and rest for a bit while I prepare some hot chocolate to warm everyone up."

Palette looked up from where he was putting the gifts away in the closet, "How can you do that if the power's out?"

"It's a gas stove; as long as there's an outside flame source to light it, it can be used without electricity," Geno supplied, then offered, "you can come and see for yourself if you want."

Palette's starry eye lights shined in curiosity as he followed the elder monster into the kitchen, leaving Goth alone in the living room to search the couch for the throw blanket that was usually present. Latching onto the fabric and wrapping it around himself, he took in the room with the help of his eye light's luminescence. The furniture arrangement was pretty much the same as he remembered it save for the tree taking up space in the corner; it looked dull and lonely without the colorful blinking lights and the mountain of presents that would be underneath it by tomorrow morning.

"Onii-chan!" A pair of arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him from his introspection. Recognizing Shino's voice, he turned to find she wasn't alone as Raven and Sorell were following behind with a tower of blankets, quilts, comforters, throws, and pillows in their arms.

"I thought you weren't coming until tomorrow," Raven said, dropping his stack on the empty side of the couch alongside Sorell's pile.

"Mom invited Palette and me over since we don't have heat at the apartment," Goth explained before positing a question of his own, "What's with all of the blankets and pillows?"

Shino unhooked herself to raise her arms wide, "We're making a huuuuge fort for everyone to sleep in tonight!"

Picked up a pile of pillows from the floor, likely Shino's discarded stack, Sorell softly elaborated, "If everyone sleeps together, we should be able to pool body heat in one room and stay warmer."

Goth nodded his skull in agreement, a smile forming on his face; that sounded like something Palette would really enjoy.

Raven donned a smug look, "You've got that dumb look on your face again; you're thinking about getting all cozy with Palette, aren't you?"

Goth bristled, grabbing a pillow from the top of the stack and throwing it at Raven, "Am not!" He only became irked further when his brother managed to dodge his attack, "We all know you're projecting what you want to do with Blueprint."

He felt a bit proud when the jab earned a blush; not so much when Raven returned fire, "Don't drag him into this just because you got caught spacing out."

"Please don't fight...," Sorell pleaded as Shino cheered them both on; Goth was tempted to let it go for his younger brother's sake up until a pillow connected with his face.

Grabbing the edge of the case, he reeled back only to hear Geno's stern voice, "Both of you behave! You need to set a better example for your younger siblings." Goth's meek apology overlapped with Raven's, and their parent gave them a satisfied nod, "Now that that's done, Raven, can you go get some firewood from the bin? Six or so pieces should do it."

"But it's freezing in there! Why can't Goth go; he's older," Raven protested. Goth scowled at the idea, remembering the garage was considered extra freezer storage for a reason.

Luckily for him, Geno held firm, "One, Goth's been working all day while you're been on winter break for four days now; two, he's a guest; three, I asked you to do it."

Palette interjected, "I can go with him to get the wood if that'll help."

"Thank you Palette, that would be great," Geno smiled, redirecting his focus on Raven once more, "Go ahead and show him where the wood bin is; you can both warm up with some hot chocolate when you get back."

Raven's mood seemed to improve a bit at the mention of hot chocolate. Turning on his heel, he beckoned toward the hallway, "Alright, follow me."

Watching his brother and Palette disappear down the hall leading to the garage, a blanket blocked Goth's vision as Shino chimed in, "Onii-chan, you can help us with the fort!"

He chuckled, unwrapping himself from the throw to join in, "Alright; where should we start?"

***

Word Count: 1,837