(Palette)

I did as Ghost suggested: I took a walk. Kicking at the dust, I made it maybe thirty feet down the path before punching a tree. Hissing in pain, I glared at the tree. With a yell I punched it again, splintering the bark. The crack echoed through my mind as I panted in anger.

A crack behind me made me whirl around, still panting through gritted teeth.

Ghost grinned at me, leaning on a tree with a stick in his hand. He threw the pieces, crossing his arms and raising a brow bone at me. He looked a lot like when Goth would see me lose control, as if he knew I held back all the time.

"This is what I was talking about," he said, "This is the Palette, the boy your Goth fell for. Not the skeleton I spoke to in the kitchen."

I huffed, "How do you know?" I turned back to the tree, punching it again.

"Because this is the boy I see every day," Ghost said, "The one with so much control over his body it's scary how he can use all his strength."

"Scary, huh?" I let out a mirthless laugh, "Yeah, scary how strong he is. So strong one touch could break his boyfriend." I punched the tree again, "one touch and he could ruin it all!" again, "one single lash out and he could end all he cared for!"

There was now a sizable indent of splintered wood in the tree as I stood there panting, tense, angry. "One touch that could take away all he loves..." I said, almost quietly.

"The same touch that would protect everything he loves in a beat of a soul," Ghost said, sounding closer than before, "One touch that will save everything he knows from harm."

A hand gripped my shoulder but I refused to look Ghost in the eye. At least, until he muttered something I hadn't expected, "Has Goth ever asked you to let go?"

I turned to face him slowly, seeing a serious look on his face.

"Once," I said, "In our second time. I was drunk an-and couldn't control myself an-and-and-"

"He enjoyed the hell out of it," Ghost stated simply and I nodded. I turned back to the tree, rolling my shoulders in annoyance. I punched it softly, barely feeling it.

"He knows how to make me lose control," I said numbly, "The night he got pregnant...he wasn't himself, but he still knew how to make me lose my mind. I remember that night clearly, but I also know that I had no control over my actions."

Ghost had gone stiff behind me, his hand held tightly on my shoulder. I looked at him, and saw his eye light had gone dark. After a moment of stiff silence, it clicked on what surprised him.

"Y-your G-Goth is-is-is p-pregnant?" he asked softly, gripping my shoulder tightly.

"Yeah," I said, defeated, "That's how I knew you weren't him."

Ghost seemed pale, "Hey, Ghost, are you okay? You don't look too good..."

His grip tightened to a painful degree. I held in a grunt of pain.

"I-I-I..." he seemed to choke on his words, "He-he... I-I...no-not go-good..."

"What's not good?" I grabbed his arms, forcing his head up. He looked panicked.

"Ba-bad...Ra-raven...do-doesn't know...Rurik...ho-hot...no-not go-good..." he started panting, "Baby...preg-nant...c-condition...bad..."

He started shaking in panic. I did the only thing that came to mind: I wrapped him in my arms, holding him close.

"Ghost, calm down. He'll be okay. Rurik will keep him safe, right?"

Ghost shook his head, hugging me back as he panicked.

"Rurik...heats...need...want...takes..." Ghost said incoherently, "Take... me... him... want..."

"What?" I asked softly, horrified and confused. Ghost gripped my shirt tightly, looking into my eyes with massive panic.

"Rurik...lust...need..." he said, "How strong is your Goth? How easily frightened?"

The sudden change from panicked panting to clear sentences threw me off for a bit.

"Uh, since he got pregnant not easily," I told him, "He's pretty weapon handy, and strong. If he doesn't want to do something he won't let it happen."

Ghost seemed a bit relieved and loosened his grip.

"Good. Rurik might be possessive of me, but he won't push me or someone like me over an edge we don't like. Not unless he's...in heat, or in battle-lust," Ghost looked uncomfortable, shaking off memories with a shudder, "So he should be fine."

He looked into my eyes, nodding to himself, "He should be...just...fine..."

He trailed off, relaxing in my grip as he looked into my eyes.

"Just...fine..." he whispered again.

"Ghost, what are y-mm!" my eyes widened in surprise when he pulled me down roughly into a warm kiss. His arms wrapped around my neck as he held me down, kissing me lovingly. My arms trailed naturally to his sides, but I forced myself to pull him away. He looked up at me longingly, cupping the back of my skull as he smiled ruefully at me.

"We can't do this," I said, a little breathlessly.

"Why not?" he asked in a breathy whisper. He leaned up and started kissing me again, "I know you want it," he whispered in a small breakaway, going back to kissing immediately.

He wasn't wrong. My body screamed to let it happen, he felt exactly like Goth, just as warm, just as sweet...I pulled him off again.

"This...doesn't feel right..." I tried to tell him.

"Don't lie," he told me, hugging me close, "You're scared because it feels too right..."

I had nothing to say. Denying him would be lying, and admitting it would feel wrong.

"Please, Palette..." Ghost begged, "This will be good for the both of us, I promise..."

He pulled me down again, gently, and started kissing me once more. My body let it happen, though I fought to not kiss back. His hand gripped between my shoulders and rubbed my spine. His other hand held my head close to his own. His actions soothed me in a disturbingly knowledgeable and comforting way.

His kissing got firmer as he moved in ways to ask me to kiss back, arching his body into me. My eyes closed as my hands wrapped around his waist.

Forgive me, Goth...

(Goth)

A few hours and a nap later, Rurik led me back to his little home. Doc had healed my shoulder and arm more than I had thought, but my ribs still ached a bit. Then again, they had been very, very broken. I'm amazed they're in one piece.

Rurik had learned what he wanted about my pregnancy, but he had not brought up the topic of my carvings. I knew he thought about them, I had caught him glancing at them in our silences. But he never mentioned them. He was probably afraid of the answer. Because of his own violent tendencies, I'm certain he believed Palette had carved them into me, claiming me.

Once we got back to the safe house as I've come to think of it, I decided to tell him the truth. After learning a few things of my own.

Rurik groaned and started taking off his shirt, preparing to lay down. My clothes had been torn, so I wore some old things of Doc's while my clothes were being repaired by a friend of Rurik's. According to him, it was a spider. So, they were good with strings.

I just got into bed. I sat against the wall, waiting for him to lay down. Once he did, groaning a bit as he settled down, I crawled over to him and sat next to him. He looked over at me, a small grin on his face.

"Whacha want, sweetness?" he asked.

"Answers," I told him. He leaned back, rolling his eyes.

"To what, love?"

"To why you haven't just up and claimed me already," I told him bluntly. He sighed, looking up at me.

"Me taking you in bed is only half of it, Peppermint," he said, "To really claim you, make you mine...well, I need you to be welcome to the idea."

"You said I was a prize," I looked at my hands, twisting my fingers together, "Why? Am I really nothing more to you?"

He propped himself on his elbow, looking over at me, "You are indeed a prize to me, my sweet. After seeing you fight, seeing you take on the group of low-life's that attacked us, seeing you take over talking to Doc...I wanted to be the one to feel that fight. I wanted your fire to belong to me, as Cupcake's obedience belonged to me."

That stung a bit for some reason. His hand grabbed my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"But you are more than that, my sweet, much more," he purred, "You are my second, my other half. You complete me in so many ways, ways much different yet similar to Cupcake. Your love, your spite, your silence, your anger: they are all mine. Without you..." he trailed off. He made a fist and looked at me with bright eyes, "This world would be incomplete."

"You...you really think of me that way? Even though I'm not...you know, him..."

His hand on my chin moved to cup my cheek, using his thumb to caress it, "Yes, you are. Cupcake may be my other half of a long age, but you have merely traded places with him for the time being. Being near you, it has been a refreshing glimpse of a Goth I rarely see. And knowing why," he glanced down at my belly, smirking, "Makes me want you even more."

"You don't see this half because we don't want you to see," I said quietly, "it's not a part we're proud of."

"Regardless of that, my sweet," he said softly, "It has been lovely..."

I went silent at his words. I don't know why I wanted to know how he felt about me. But seeing his reaction from earlier made me realize just how much like Palette he was, how much of Palette he was. He sighed and laid back down, staring at the ceiling with his arms behind his head.

Sighing, I crawled over and straddled him. "I have one more question," I told him as he grinned at me.

"Oh? And what is that~?" he asked slyly.

"Why haven't you asked about my carvings?"

Rurik went a little stiff. He stared at me, his grin stuck on his face as his eyes went slightly cold. With a little breath, I looked at the ceiling and pulled my shirt off. All my scars were bare and visible, all the ones from Geno, all the ones from Palette, all the ones from me.

Rurik's eyes fastened on the word carved in my chest. He looked a little angered and scared at the same time. Looking back at his eyes, I got his attention, "Well?"

He looked away with force, staring at the wall.

"Rurik, please answer me."

Silence.

"If you don't say what's on your mind right now, I'm going to tell you what I think you're thinking," I threatened.

His eyes slowly came back to mine, flashing to the carvings every so often.

"Did he do it?" he asked roughly, forcing the words out.

I shook my head, "No."

"He didn't claim you?"

"Not this way," I looked down at the rough lines.

"Then who did it?"

"I did."

Rurik sat up, placing his hands behind him as he looked into my eyes. He seemed angry and confused, "Why?" he breathed heavily.

"It's a long story," I sighed, "but I did it because this was the only way I knew that Geno couldn't take away from me."

Rurik's mouth curled at the mention of Geno and I let out a little laugh, "You don't like him either, then. Heh, neither does Palette."

"But long story short, I claimed him," I said. I set my hands on Rurik's shoulders and pushed him down, leaning over him.

"What are you doing?" he asked warily.

"You want your prize," I whispered as I leaned in close, "I want your love."

"Why?" he sounded doubtful. I smiled softly, grabbing his hands and placing them on the red glow of my ecto-belly.

"Because your love is the only reason me and my baby are alive."

----

(Am I evil?)

(...Maybe...)