Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

All's Fair in Love and War: Chapter 5 (End)

Leaving the fairgrounds, the bustle of the crowds gave way to the peaceful suburbs as the trio made their way down the sidewalk. Cray filled the time showing off the different items he had bought at the stalls earlier while Goth marveled over his finds; as much as Palette pretended not to be interested, he still found himself glancing over more than once during one of the taller's many explanations up until they arrived at their companion's home.

"Thank you again for today. I hope we can have even more fun together tomorrow," Goth spun in place, his smiling face lit by the soft glow of the street lamps.

"Of course, tomorrow will be even better!" Palette cheered, finding himself easily swept up in Goth's enthusiasm.

"Just try not to oversleep tomorrow," Cray donned a cheeky grin.

Goth's cheeks puffed up as he retorted, "You're way more likely to oversleep than I am. Make sure you both set your alarms so no one's late."

"Will do," Cray laughed, "We'll see you."

"Oh, hold on!" Goth piped up, digging into his bag. He pulled out a rectangular box first and handed it to Cray, "I got you some acrylics; I wanted to get you some pottery glaze, but the woman said this could be applied after firing."

Cray accepted the box and turned it over to read the color list with a low whistle, "Nice, I should be able to come up with some cool designs with these. Thanks."

"No problem, I'm glad you like them," Goth happily chirped. Reaching into the bag once more, he pulled out a small case and turn toward Palette with a noticeably gloomier expression, "I meant to get you this watercolor kit, but a couple of the watercolor cubes inside broke and the case got cracked when I dropped my bag earlier...," His grip tightened slightly on the case as he apologized, "I'm sorry I wasn't careful enough; I might be able to replace it whe-"

"No!" Palette blurted out, a bright green blush lighting up his face as he tried to elaborate, "I mean, you didn't drop it on purpose and it's still usable, so I... I'd like to have this one."

"A-are you sure you don't mind...?" Goth mumbled.

Palette nodded, "Yeah, I'm sure."

A soft lavender hue spreading across Goth's cheeks as he placed the case back in the bag and handed it over, "Here, since you don't have a bag of your own to carry it."

As Palette accepted the bag, a hand grasped his shoulder and Cray said, "Well, we'll let you go get some sleep now. We want to make sure we're all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed tomorrow."

Goth nodded in agreement, turning toward his house, "Alright, I'll see you two tomorrow."

As Goth hopped up their steps and closed the door, Cray growled, "Don't think you can just swoop in and get all cozy with him just 'cause you won today."

"Won?" Palette shrugged off the taller skeleton's hand, giving him a hard look, "What are you talking about?"

Cray averted his eye lights, clenching his fists to the point of popping as he muttered, "After you left to go get drinks, I was talking with Goth...," he scowled at the ground, then took a breath, "he thanked me for staying with him, even if the guy ended up getting away; said he would have been terrified being left alone."

"Okay... so?" Palette honestly didn't understand where he was going with this; that was pretty much the same thing Goth had said to him.

"So, I was totally planning on chasing the guy down earlier," Cray's scowl deepened, though it now had a guilty tinge to it, "The only reason I didn't was 'cause you called out to Goth. If you didn't speak up when you did..."

The taller skeleton's shoulders hunched in and Palette thought back to the fear-stricken look on Goth's face; how ragged his breathing sounded. If Palette wasn't there and Cray left to chase the attacker, what could have happened...?

"Yeah...," Cray muttered despondently, as if reading Palette's mind... or maybe his grim expression gave it away, "My focus should have been on Goth instead of that creep. I didn't deserve the thanks he gave me; that's why I lost today..." Suddenly, his rival's shoulders squared up and their tone became defiant, "but don't think I'm going to give up just 'cause I made one mistake! I'll totally prove myself tomorrow, just you wait!"

Palette snorted at the display, turning his feet toward his own house as he called back, "Yeah, sure. If you don't mind, I'm going to head home and test out the gift Gothy got me."

"He gave me a gift too, genius," Cray shot back.

Turning to find Cray wearing a superior smug grin, Palette grumbled, "Mine's better."

Cray's smile dropped, "Mine's not damaged."

Palette waved off the response, "So? He didn't drop it on purpose and he even offered to get a new one to replace it; I just didn't want to make him go through the extra trouble. Besides, a little wear and tear adds character."

The taller skeleton huffed, his mouth contorting when he couldn't come up with a better rebuttal, "Whatever, I have better things to do than argue with a short stack like you. Just know you better be ready tomorrow 'cause I'm bringing my A-game."

"Let's hope your 'A-game' also involves better comebacks," Palette laughed as he resumed his trek home. He heard Cray grousing behind him, but paid it no mind as he turned his attention toward the tote bag on his arm. While he really wanted to try out his new watercolors, he knew he would stay up way later than he should if he started so late at night; he would have to bite the bullet and forego the anticipated art project in favor of being well-rested for tomorrow.

In fact, he might be able to get some inspiration and take reference pictures tomorrow since Goth wanted to see the animal exhibits; he might even be able to get his companion in some of the pictures... images of his crush cuddling and posing with baby animals began to form, leaving him a blushing mess on his front porch.

"Ugh, now I don't want to wait for tomorrow...," Palette groaned as he shook off the mental images and opened the front door of his house. It looked like his mom had already gone to bed, so he locked up before heading up to his room, changing into his pajamas, and flopping back onto his bed. Setting the alarm on his phone, he switched over to his pictures. He stared at the photo that had been sent earlier, an unconscious smile creeping onto his face at the thought of seeing Goth again tomorrow. Finally putting the phone down and rolling over, he let the pleasant thoughts carry him off to sleep.

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Word Count: 1,157