Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

On Edge: Chapter 2 (End)

Chapter Warnings: Bullying, mild blood (marrow)

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"Pa-!" the small skeleton gasped as he fell backward and out of sight.

"NOOO!" Palette screamed, dashing across the roof. The dogs threw curses and accusations at each other as he blew past them, stopping short of the break in the rails, "GOTH!"

He nearly cried in relief when he found the skeleton hanging from a bar on the dangling section of guardrail and not laying in a broken heap against the pavement. "P-Palette... help...," Goth stuttered out, fear consuming his expression.

"Hang on!" Palette cried out, unwinding his scarf. Goth was too far to reach by hand, and he couldn't rely on his friend or the rail holding out long enough to get help from a teacher; this was their best bet. At some point, the three dogs had run off, but he kept his focus on unwinding his scarf... had it always been so long?!

Goth stifled a scream as the metal between them creaked and jerked him downward. "Come on... come on, please...!" Palette pleaded to himself. Finally, he whipped the scarf off as he freed it from his neck. "Grab on!" he yelled, throwing the long stretch of fabric down to the frightened monster below.

Just as Goth reached out, the metal gave under his weight with a deafening snap; he yelped, latching onto the end of the paint-stained scarf, clinging to it for dear life as the broken metal pieces clattered to the ground. Palette was thrown to the lip of the ledge as his friend's weight pulled him down. He grunted, maneuvering part of the fabric around his wrist to maintain his grip and began pulling up with all the strength he could muster.

Goth's arms trembled alongside the rest of his body. His eye sockets clenched tightly as he held the scarf in a death-grip and whimpered, "P-Palette..."

"You'll be okay, Goth," the taller groaned, tugging the scarf another few inches higher, "I'll have you up in a second... just don't let go, okay?" The smaller whined, but nodded their skull in compliance.

Once Goth was within arm's reach, Palette reached for the skeleton's right wrist, hauling them up alongside the scarf. Hooking his right arm behind his friend's back, he brought the monster into a hug that was quickly reciprocated; they both collapsed to the floor of the roof, worn out and shaking as they held each other tightly.

Goth let out muffled sobs into Palette's chest, "I'm s-sor-ry... s-so so-rry... I... I..."

"Shh, I got you. You're okay; it's okay. There's nothing to be sorry for... I'm just happy you're safe," Palette murmured, rocking his friend gently while rubbing their spine in reassurance. As far as he was concerned, all had been forgiven.

A bell rang in the distance, but neither skeleton made a move to get up; they were far too strung out to even think about classes after their ordeal. It wasn't until the bell rang once more that Goth unclenched his hands from the back of Palette's jacket and pulled away slightly.

The taller skeleton looked him over, "Are you feeling better? Does anything hurt?"

Goth shook his skull, wiping his tear-soaked face with his sleeve. Opening his sockets, he let out a gasp and startled the other, "Palette, your arm!"

Palette's eye lights followed Goth's gaze, only now realizing there was a red stain on his left sleeve. "Oh... must've scraped it on the ledge at some point," he mused softly.

"We have to get your arm looked at!" Goth squawked, staggering to his feet while pulling on his companion's right arm.

"It's fine," Palette chuckled, picking himself up, "really, I'm-"

"Oh my god, what happened here?!" A screech was heard from below, causing both boys to flinch; it sounded like an older woman, meaning a teacher must have found the broken guard rail...

"Guess we're going to have to explain ourselves, huh?" Palette sighed, receiving a groan from Goth as he retrieved his scarf from the ground. Securing the fabric around his neck once more, he wrapped his unbloodied arm around the smaller monster, "Come on, it won't be that bad. I'll go with you and we can explain together."

Goth blushed at the contact but eased into the hold as they made their way to the stairs. "... And get that arm looked at afterward," he added.

They got partway down when Goth asked, "... Do you like her?"

"Who?" Palette responded, cocking his skull to the side.

"That dog monster... do you like her?" the smaller skeleton repeated.

Thinking on it for a moment, Palette replied, "Not really. We only have one or two classes together, so I don't know her that well. She was kind of pushy yesterday, too."

Goth seemed relieved by the answer, grabbing his hand and leading him down the stairs, "... no sense paying any mind to her then, let's go. "

Palette nodded and followed along, only to slow to a stop with confusion written on his face, "Hey Goth?"

"Yeah?"

"Can't you float?" he asked bluntly.

Once realization hit Goth, Palette had to hold back a laugh as the smaller skeleton pulled their hood over their face and hunched down into their scarf in a vain attempt to hide their embarrassment. He lasted until his friend made a noise that reminded him of a broken squeaky toy, causing him to howl with laughter; he could only guess they had forgotten.

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Word Count: 899