(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Finding Yourself in Hot Water - Chapter 2 (End)

"Oh my stars, Goth, that was priceless!" Palette laughed out, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

A few moments passed before a surge of water followed by copious flailing and splashing motions came from Goth's direction. The taller skeleton continued laughing as he made his way over, the water barely reaching the bottom of his sternum now.

As soon as he came within range, however, Goth's hands scrabbled for purchase and he had to throw his hands out to balance himself.

"Woah!" Palette's arms reached around to hold Goth, who was now grasping tightly around his neck, as he let out a little chuckle, "What's the rush? If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were..."

His sockets widened once he took a good look at his friend. 

He was shocked into silence by Goth's quick and panicked breathing spaced around coughs and wheezing noises, the way his eye light had blinked out, creating a hollow appearance, and how his entire frame shook violently as he held onto Palette for dear life.

Goth's scared. No, not just scared... he's absolutely terrified.

Palette tightened his grip on the frightened skeleton as concern wormed into his features, "Hey, what's wrong?" His worry grew when he received no response. "Goth? Goth!" he shouted, only to get more rapid breathing, coughing, and a thousand-mile stare in return... as if the smaller monster wrapped around his neck weren't even present.

Hooking his right arm under the crook of his friend's knees, Palette picked up the shuddering monster and waded toward the shore as fast as the water surrounding them would let him.

Glances every few seconds showed Goth was still staring off into space, eye light still missing, still trembling, his grip never loosening from the other. As they reached the shore, his breaths were still short and uneven, but he was no longer coughing or wheezing, so there was progress.

By the time they made it to their towels, Goth's eye light had finally returned, albeit dim, and he was actively working to control his breathing. He was still shaking, but his grip had slackened from fatigue.

Sitting on his blue towel, Palette placed a curled up Goth between his legs, resting him against his chest and wrapping him in a hug, laying his chin on top of their skull as he muttered quiet assurances. And he waited.

—

"Why didn't you say something?" Goth looked away as Palette questioned him, "I wouldn't have pestered you to go out there if I knew you couldn't swim."

So he said, but Palette still wanted to kick himself. 

Goth has been giving me clues since we got here that he didn't want to go into the water, even if most of them were subtle. His reluctance to come in the first place should have been a huge red flag because he rarely turns down an invitation. Of course, I was too excited that I finally managed to convince Goth to come to the beach with me that I couldn't see the warning signs.

Now he's laying on my lap, recovering from a panic attack. One that I caused.

"Because... it's embarrassing," the smaller admitted, shame etched on his face as he played with the drawstring of his damp hoodie, "The only water I've ever been near is a bathtub or a kiddie pool, so I never got to learn. It never seemed important... at least, not until now... and you were so excited when I finally said yes... I didn't want to disappoint you."

"I'm more disappointed that you thought you couldn't be honest with me," Palette countered, earning a wince from his companion. He sighed, "Look, Goth. That panic attack you had out there really scared me, I had no idea what was wrong. Not to mention what could have happened if I hadn't come over..." 

That wasn't something he wanted to imagine.

It didn't happen...

"Sorry...," Goth hunched in on himself, hugging his arms closer. 

"It's okay," Palette assured him, expression softening as he placed a hand on their skull, "just talk to me next time. Please? I would rather not do something than risk you getting hurt because you tried to push yourself past your limits, okay?"

A hesitant eye light rose to meet his pair and he softly replied, "Alright."

With the conversation finished, Palette slowly eased the smaller into a sitting position and walked toward the basket. At his friend's questioning glance, he said, "We didn't bring all this food to look at it, right? I want to try some!"

Comprehension dawned on Goth and he scooted over as well, reaching into the basket to pull out two sets of plates and utensils.

"Maybe later we can practice how to swim?" the taller skeleton suggested. He can't say he wasn't expecting the napkin to the face.

***

Good news for all those people that actually care about the new Poth book I hinted at a while back (idk, I got no response at all about it or the teaser image...), I've gotten all of the chapters of the story rough drafted and some of the art drawn, now I just need to do some fine tuning and finish the art and I'll be able to get the book uploaded~

Word Count: 793