"W-wow..." Vux mumbled, blushing as he stared at Gradient's body. Gradient blushed and looked away, though he loved Vux staring at him. 

He wanted Vux's eyes on him. 

He wanted Vux's hands on him.

 He wanted Vux's body on his-

'W-what?! I can't be thinking like that! It's too perverted!' Gradient tried shaking it off, but his eyes couldn't look away from Vux's eyes once they met.

"Gradient, p-please raise your a-a-arms." Alphys instructed. Gradient obeyed, raising his skinny arms. He flinched when she used antibiotics on him, though his eyes never left Vux's.

Vux just watched. Gradient's body was so beautiful to him. So thin. So fragil. So delicate. Vux only ever wanted to be so gentle with him. Gradient looked like he would just break other wise.

"T-there you go! I-I will notify your s-second p-period teachers. Go on to t-t-third period." Alphys told them. Gradient put on his shirt, nodding.

"What do you have?" Vux asked.

"G-gym..." Gradient mumbled.

"Here y-you go! Give that t-t-to your d-dad and y-y-you'll be off the h-hook!" Alphys gave Gradient a smile. He liked her, she was definitely nice. He just didn't like people knowing he's hurt. He can heal himself. And he definitely didn't like people worrying about him.

"You alright there, Gradient?" Vux asked as they left.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Gradient shrugged.

Vux walked Gradient to the gym, making sure he'll be okay.

"Will you be okay?" Vux asked, putting a gentle hand on Gradient's shoulder.

Gradient nodded before he hugged Vux quickly.

"Thank you..." Gradient looked away, blushing.

"Of c-course." Vux's face exploded in a bright purple blush. Gradient ran into the gym, blushing a bright green and leaving Vux.

The gym locker room was filled with boys changing, making Gradient look down. He passed through, hurrying to the other side. He looked up, looking at the dark skinned face of the gym coach. He instantly regretted it as he coward under the glare of his father.

"Why aren't you changed?!" The coach yelled. Gradient managed to hand him the slip the nurse gave him. Error read it, before scoffing. "Fine. Go to the library. And don't leave until the period's over!"

Gradient nodded and left. As he passed by, PJ turned to him, confused on where he was going. Never the less, he had to go to gym.

He followed the crowd, walking along the track. He looked around, hoping to see someone who might be able to be friends with him.

"Hey, you alone?" A boy came over. His black bangs were tied into a messy ponytail, and his tips were a light cyan. His eyes nearly glowed in eerieness, and his skin was a light brown. Light cyan markings, matching his tips, covered a lot of his face.

Two tentacle-seeming markings went up from his jawline and curved a little under his eyebrows. In the middle of his forehead, a waxing crescent marking showed from his tied back bangs. 

"Yeah. I'm Paperjam, just call me PJ." PJ held out his hand.

"Crescent Knives." The boy took his hand with his fingers, shaking it. PJ's lips curved to a small smile.

PJ noticed how much makeup Crescent was wearing.

Thick and clean eyeliner.

Cyan lip gloss.

A dab of dark pink blush.

He didn't look like a girl, but he looked feminine. Not so much that you'd misgender him, but enough that he looked... pretty. He wasn't sure if the markings were makeup as well. It wasn't likely he would actually have markings on his face when he was born, but it seemed to match how his cheeks move when he talks or how his forehead slightly wrinkles when his expressive eyebrows moved in a certain way. They wouldn't match his face as much unless it was a really thin layer, but where would he get such bright and bold colors if it wasn't a thick layer.

"You look like someone, but I can't pinpoint it." Crescent told him,

"Who do I look like?" 

"I don't know, I know you look like an adult though..."

"Ink?"

"Yes!" Crescent exclaimed, realization hitting him. "I couldn't tell because- oh, uh..."

"My skin tone and hair? Yeah, I inherited them from Error." PJ shrugged.

"Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine. I'm fine with it, people do it all the time."

"Oh. So, are you their kid?" Crescent asked,

"Yeah. Ink's my mom and Error's his husband." PJ strained a smile.

"So Error's your da-"

"No. Error will never be my father." Crescent jumped slightly. He didn't expect such aggression just came out of nowhere. "I hate him. And I will always hate him."

"How could you hate your own father?" Crescent asked and thought of his own father. Killer was a kind soul, but he worked most of the time. He loved both of his parents. Nightmare was overprotective and very specific, but he was a good mother and he had always been there for him. He liked his parents. He had a good family. He couldn't even imagine hating his father that much.

"He is not. My. Father." PJ growled.

"Right. Sorry." Crescent nodded.

"Get running!" Error yelled. He didn't need a megaphone, his voice was loud enough by itself.

PJ and Crescent began running. For being so short, Paperjam was fast. Really fast. It was hard for Crescent to keep up. Music blared trough Error's speakers, but his yelling voice was still louder.

"DO YOU CALL THAT RUNNING?!" Error yelled. He was very... enthusiastic when it came to his class.

PJ was so much faster than everyone else.  Fresh was surprised as he saw the nerd running, so fast and not even panting.

"Wow. That nerd is fast." Sprinkles mumbled. Fresh blinked, surprised into silence. 

After a few minutes, the music stopped. PJ stopped running, controlling his breathing. Crescent looked like he was going to pass out.

"Why the fuck are you so fucking fast?" Crescent managed out through his heavy pants.

"I live with Error. He says because Gradient's the genius of the family, and Palette's the jock, I have to be a little bit of both." PJ shrugged. "I also run, like, a lot. Too bad I can't run from my problems."

Crescent looked at PJ, obviously taken aback.

"Big... bro..!" A boy with fluffy, white hair hugged Crescent. His right eye was covered by his hair. He had two thick black lines under his visible eye, looking like tears streams. He was pale, not matching Crescent's appearance at all.

"Scrouge. Hey, little bro." Crescent smiled to the boy.

"Is this your friend?" Scrouge smiled brightly at PJ. His violet eye shown with cheerful stars and lights.

"Yep, I'm PJ." he smiled.

"I'm so happy Cres has a friend who isn't in our family!" Scrouge smiled.

"S-Scrouge!" Crescent blushed. He didn't seem all that socialable.

"It's okay. Besides my brothers and who used to be my babysitter, I don't really have any friends either!" PJ chuckled. His eyes didn't close the way people do when they laugh. They stayed open. His eyes showed emptiness instead of joy, the way a person genuinely laughing would.

"Oh, well then..." Crescent looked down. He had quite a large family, so he naturally had a small group of friends. Mean friends for the most part, but they all loved each other.

"Error wants us to listen to his instructions. Come on." PJ skipped away, where the crowd of the class gathered for their instructions.

*1240 words*