Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

The Day of Japes: Chapter 3

Time for round three~

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"Wuh! ... oh..."

Goth snickered into his hand, trying to regain an air of innocence despite the outburst in the hallway. He momentarily debated checking the condiments for tampering, but decided it wasn't necessary; his trap had been set up at midnight after Palette was asleep, it was still untriggered when he got up before the alarms, and they had an ongoing gentlemen's agreement to never mess with anything the day before. He would probably feel the lack of sleep later, but it was a problem for his future self to deal with that could easily be remedied with plenty of caffeine.

His composure immediately broke when Palette stepped through the kitchen doorway. He nearly spilled the sugar bowl, clutching his sides at the sight of his roommate covered in bright neon confetti strips; the skeleton in question leaned against the frame with crossed arms and a knowing look on his face.

"This means war, you know?" Palette smirked, passing the smaller to raid the fridge for his usual glass of juice.

Goth casually mixed his coffee as the microwave heating up his bagel beeped, prompting him to pop the door open. Setting the spoon in the sink and picking up his mug, he sent his roommate a taunting grin before exiting the room, "Bring it on." Taking his morning meal to the living room couch, it wasn't long before Palette joined him with a glass of orange juice and a bowl of cereal. From there, they engaged in poking fun at the cheesy early morning soap operas on the television; today's looked to be the medical variety.

"Whah...? Ish thah eefen lecal?" Palette asked, swallowing the cereal he had been munching on, "Wouldn't not telling the guy get him in trouble or something?"

Goth took a sip of the dregs of his coffee, puzzling over the question as the doctor on the screen placed a file inside their desk drawer, "Yeeeah... pretty sure a real doctor would be committing malpractice by withholding medical information from their patient; it might become a plot point in a future episode, but these shows aren't exactly known for being accurate either."

"True," the starry-eyed monster nodded, shoving another spoonful of cereal into his mouth as an actor playing a nurse ran into the fictional doctor's office with urgent news for the fourth or fifth time that episode. Dramatic organ music played to a close-up of the doctor's shocked expression as the screen faded to black and the end credits rolled.

"Aaand that's our cue," Goth rose from the couch, taking his mug and plate to the kitchen sink. Making his way to his room, he heard Palette's door shut as well. Changing out of his pajamas and pocketing his belongings, he left his room and headed for the door. "I'm off!" he called out to his roommate.

"Bye! Be careful!" Palette yelled back from his room.

"You too!" Goth replied before shutting the door. He turned around and squinted, shielding his sockets from the sunlight peeking over the horizon as he made his way down the stairs. He idly wondered if today would finally be warm; he hoped it would since sitting out in the cold was no fun, especially if he was tired.

---

Goth stifled a yawn as he traveled the walkway leading up to the stairwell. Today had been a long day with how many of his jobs involved holiday pranks gone horribly wrong; there had been more than one occasion where he had to look away or take a moment to collect himself afterward, though that wasn't exactly a rare occurrence in his line of work. Seeing some of the results really made him happy he and Palette had agreed on a set of rules revolving around pranks for this reason.

Slotting his key into the lock and opening the door, the skeleton was met with a shout, "Think fast!"

The keys dropped out of Goth's hands as Palette tossed something at him; catching the item, it looked to be a can of some sort. He wasn't given time to process what it was before his roommate raised a can of their own and showered him in bright green silly string.

"Ah!" With his prior fatigue forgotten, Goth clambered for the safety of the couch with Palette's laughter and footsteps not too far behind. Popping the top and angling the nozzle of his can, the smaller quickly crept around his hiding spot, sneaking up behind his roommate to nail them in the back with a stream of purple string as he yelled, "Take that!"

Palette laughed, ducking down behind the arm of the couch; luckily, Goth anticipated their movement with a pillow shield and countered with a solid shot to their forehead when the skeleton popped up to return fire. "Agh!" the taller dramatically fell backward, rolling back to his feet moments later and running for the kitchen.

Giving chase, Goth wasn't anticipating a second can being swiped from the counter; a devilish grin spread across Palette's face as he let loose two streams of green and yellow strings. "No fair; that's cheating!" the smaller cried from behind the kitchen doorway... though he couldn't say he was actually annoyed considering how much fun he was having.

"You better figure out where your second weapon is hiding, then!" Palette taunted, waving around both cans menacingly. It didn't take Goth long to spot the other can with a bright pink top hiding behind the table leg in the living room. Using the pillow to cover himself, he dove across the hallway, landing on his stomach and snatching the can; he felt something hit his back as he scrambled back to his feet, popping the top off his new weapon and discarding the pillow for a full-on two-can assault.

Palette laughed, squinting through one socket as he tried canceling out Goth's strings with one can. "I won't be defeated!" he cried, but his bravado was short-lived when the green can stopped spraying and he backpedaled, "Oh shoot."

"Charge!" Goth yelled, giving chase around the couch while unleashing a barrage of purple and pink; Palette tried to use the smaller's previous pillow block, but failed when he couldn't block the purple string angled to fall from above and the pink string coming from the front at the same time, "Take my pincer attack!"

"Alright, alright; you win!" Palette conceded, tipping himself over the arm of the couch to fall onto the cushions. His hat slipped off and toppled to the floor, some of the strings attached to it sliding down the brim; as he reached over to grab it, Goth approached and reached out a hand.

The monster gave him a confused skull tilt until he smugly requested, "Your weapons, sir."

"If I must," Palette heaved an exaggerated sigh, handing over his cans. As Goth set the cans on the table and sat on the arm of the chair, his roommate said, "Could I entice the victor with some pepperoni pizza?"

"Maybe; it depends on whether the pizza's safe," Goth leaned toward the taller with a grin, only for a yawn to slip out, "ahhhnn... you think it would be a bad idea to make some more coffee?"

Palette looked up from where he was removing the colorful strands from his clothing and chuckled, "Yeah, I got my prank for the day in. As for coffee..." His mouth quirked in thought, "Probably not a good idea; it'll mess up your sleep schedule again. Better to just turn in early so you're fully rested for tomorrow." Rocking backward and up onto his feet, the skeleton headed for the kitchen, "As the winner, you can rest here while I reheat the pizza."

"Thank you," Goth called out, letting himself slide onto the now-vacant couch cushions and picking the stray strands of silly string dangling from his hood and the couch.

As Palette came back out, he took a seat and glanced around the room, "This place is totally covered."

"A neon warzone," Goth agreed, turning on the television with one hand while taking the offered plate with the other; a memory resurfaced and he snickered, "it kind of reminds me of how you looked this morning."

"... I might not have thought about the cleanup that would be involved afterward," Palette mumbled with a hint of regret.

"I'll help out after we finish eating; I'm betting my mess is still in the hallway too," the smaller promised, picking a movie and setting the remote on the table, "In any case, we had fun and that's what counts, right?"

Palette grinned, leaning over to wrap Goth in a hug as he said, "Yeah, we did." The smaller skeleton felt heat rise to his cheeks at the close contact; choosing to enjoy the attention, he picked up one of the slices on his plate and began eating before the day's fatigue could really catch up to him.

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Word Count: 1,487