Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Cold Reception: Chapter 5

Warm... and soft.

Those were the first words that came to mind as Goth roused from unconsciousness. There was a soft beeping noise coming somewhere from his right side. It sounded a bit muffled... as if his skull was stuffed with cotton.

Where was he? He was... wasn't he outside before? It didn't feel like he was on cold ground anymore, and it didn't smell like the outdoors either; it was closer to... disinfectant...? A hospital, maybe?

Attempting to open his sockets didn't cause pain now, so there was that. Everything was still blurry and a little dark, but it was a marked improvement from the last time. An orangish-gold hue painted the room; it felt calming.

He shifted in an attempt to pull himself into a sitting position. Trying to sit up, however, proved to be too much; his arms weren't able to support his body's weight at all. Giving up, he eased back into the bedding with a quiet groan.

"Easy kiddo, ya had a pretty rough day yesterday," a low voice broke the silence.

That voice was... "Dad...?" Goth croaked, his voice straining to get the single word out. Why did his throat feel so raw?

A blurry black and white blob on his right side; his dad leaned towards him. "Yup," came a soft reply, "You've nearly slept the day away. Had your mom, Palette, and I pretty worried for a while; had me almost worried to death."

Goth frowned, guilt knotting in his chest... then he registered his dad's pun. He let out a breathy chuckle and could practically hear the grin in his dad's voice as they continued, "It was a chilling experience. Definitely snow joke." He couldn't suppress his quiet laughter as Reaper kept up their string of winter-related puns, "I was piste, but it looks like you're having an ice time now. I'm really sleigh-ing ya, huh? Guess ya got more than ya toboggan-ed for."

The elder monster only stopped when Goth's laughter devolved into a coughing fit, the noise harsh and grating in the otherwise silent room. Reaper brought his left arm forward to lift Goth's head up a bit, moving something away from his face as something else was placed in front of his mouth, "Drink this, kiddo."

Goth opened his mouth in compliance, but another bout of coughing prevented him from taking anything in. Once he was able to stop long enough to get a few small sips of water, he was able to settle back down and close his sockets so he could calm his breathing. The sound of bone-on-bone contact snapped his sockets back open; it was a slap, he realized.

"Stop trying to kill our child with your jokes, Reaper," scolded a new but familiar voice; their tone warmed considerably as a white and red figure nudged the black and white one aside and leaned over him, "How are you feeling, honey? Does anything hurt?" A warm hand glided across his right cheek; he leaned into the gentle touch.

"Tired... but m'alright, mom," he mumbled, his contented smile fading as a more pressing issue came to him, "Oh, my eye; I can't- it's not-"

"It's alright," Geno interrupted him gently, "The nurse said the crack next to your socket is disrupting the magic in your eye light, so it might not be able to focus properly right now." Before Goth could become upset, the parent continued, "She also said as long as you don't strain yourself and get plenty of rest, you should be fine in about two more days at the most."

Goth let out a sigh of relief; he wouldn't be permanently blind. Trying to lift his left hand to feel the crack, he was met with resistance. The skeleton shifted his gaze to another blurry figure, white with smatterings of black, beige, gold, and light blue, laying where his left hand was... that was-

"Heh, Palette hasn't let go of your hand since we got in here," Reaper chuckled, "He was the one that found ya at the bottom of the hill. By the time I got there, he was curled up with ya in his lap; wrapped around ya like a blanket."

The small skeleton blushed at the thought of being held so close; it created a warm feeling in his soul that caused Goth to squirm a bit... he kind of wished he had been awake for that.

The movement woke the sleeping skeleton by his hand; Palette let out a yawn as fuzzy black circles appeared with green and yellow gradient blobs forming within them. The blobs turned toward Goth and fixed on him for a moment, then grew larger.

"Goth?" Palette asked cautiously. Within seconds, he sprung out of his chair in an explosion of energy, "Oh thank stars you're finally awake! Everyone said you were okay, but I was starting to get really worried when I woke up and you were still sleeping!" The excited skeleton looked as though he wanted to pounce on Goth... but he seemed to think better of it at the last second given the current situation; the nurse popping her head into the room to remind him where they were and asking him to use an inside voice certainly didn't hurt.

The sheepish skeleton opted to sit back down and grab Goth's hand once more, playing with the joints of his fingers to quell a bit of their excited energy. The movement sent fluttery ripples up Goth's arm, but it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling; if anything, it felt comforting.

"Do you two want anything to eat? I'd imagine both of you are starving," Geno asked, standing up from his seat. An audible growl resounded in the room from Palette's direction and Goth had to admit he felt pretty hungry too now that he was thinking about it.

"I'd say, they're nothing but skin and bones at this point," the god of death chuckled, earning a snort from Goth and Palette and what he could only assume was a glare from Geno.

"Oh, just come on already!" Geno hissed, grabbing his grinning husband's arm and dragging him from the room.

"You kids have fun," Reaper called out as both adults disappeared through the doorway.

Goth chuckled softly before his attention returned to Palette; the usually boisterous skeleton was oddly quiet. "Palette?" he asked, worry plain in his voice.

"Oh, sorry... was thinking...," Palette waved away the concern, but he could tell something was off as the skeleton seemed to analyze him, "How are you feeling? Your eye light looks a bit fuzzy around the edges... does it hurt?"

"It's... kind of hard to see still...," Goth began, a little unsure of his words; he took a moment to mentally check himself, "but it doesn't hurt anymore and mom said it's only temporary. I feel... kind of tired... a little... floaty, maybe?" he quirked his mouth in thought, that seemed to sum up how he was feeling pretty well.

Palette tilted his skull to the side, pointing out with a snort, "But floating's normal for you."

"True," Goth replied, "I guess that means I'm alright then."

Palette went quiet once again. "I'm sorry...," he finally whispered, so soft that Goth almost didn't hear it.

The words earned a confused look from the smaller, "What for?"

"When you were stuck out there, talking to me through the phone... you sounded so scared," Palette said in a subdued tone, "I was scared too; you needed me, but I couldn't do anything except spout pretty word. You could have-" Palette took a breath, "... you could have died, and I wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."

Palette's voice was now laced with tears as the monster gently placed his left arm around Goth in a makeshift hug, burying his face in the small skeleton's left shoulder as he choked out, "I almost lost you yesterday... and that terrifies me more than anything else ever could."

Goth stared ahead, speechless at the raw display of emotion as the normally cheerful skeleton's shoulder shook. Shock eventually morphed into a sad smile and he slowly lifted his right arm to rest on Palette's back, returning the hug to the best of his ability. "But you did do something," he reassured them, lightly patting their back to comfort them, "You looked for me and you found me; you saved me... and you're here with me now. I'm alive because of you, so there's nothing to be sorry about."

Palette looked up with wide sockets, taking in his companion's words. Gradually, his eye lights softened into something more tender, "You know, I should be the one comforting you, not the other way around... but thanks. I'm glad I was able to make it in time, Gothy."

Goth barely had time to blush and fluster at the impromptu nickname, his crush's skull close enough for him to make out the finer details in their expression despite his impaired vision and the warmth in their words before Reaper and Geno reappeared in the doorway with food from the cafeteria.

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Word Count: 1,517