(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

My Fine Furred Friend - Chapter 4

Chapter Warnings: Blood (and marrow), Arson

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Palette peered through the treeline at the edge of the woods, scanning his surroundings for any traces of his neighbors. Thankfully, his inspection revealed a clear path to this doorstep.

Pressing Goth securely to his chest and hiding him beneath his left palm, the skeleton dashed for his house, wrenching open the door and swinging himself into the threshold. He pushed the door closed with his back, taking a moment to listen for any suspicious sounds.

Seconds went by with only the hammering of his own soul and Goth's faint panting punctuating the silence.

Releasing the breath he'd been holding, Palette drew the curtain over the window to block out prying eyes and brought Goth over to the bed in the right corner. Gently unhooking the small bat's claws from his blue vest, he set them down in the middle of a pillow.

Goth blearily opened his eyes, gazing up at the skeleton towering over him. "Wait here, I need to gather some things," Palette moved his hands in a placating gesture, noticing the rusty stain running along his right sleeve and his left glove from where he'd held his friend. 

Once Goth's taken care of, I'll need to treat the stains before they set.

The bat gave a drowsy chirp of confirmation before closing his eyes once more, trusting his friend's words.

Palette went through the house, pulling out two clean bowls, a hand towel, a roll of bandages, and a moderately sized knife. Realizing his friend's bat form would make it hard to drink from a large container, he also pulled out a spoon.

Setting his supplies onto the table, Palette picked up the knife and raised it to his right hand.

This is probably going to hurt, but Goth needs it.

Taking a deep breath, he cut into the outer edge of his palm, gritting his teeth as he let the resulting marrow drip into one of the bowls. It was a slow process but within five minutes, Palette felt he had enough to help his friend.

Cleaning his cut and wrapping a bit of the bandage around his hand, he brought the marrow-filled bowl and spoon over to the pillow Goth was resting on. The white bat was scooped up into Palette's left palm, cradled softly onto his back as the monster dipped the spoon into the deep red liquid.

"Alright... here you are Goth. Drink up," Palette crooned, bringing it to their mouth.

Nothing happened.

He tipped the spoon a bit, gently prying open Goth's mouth and dripping some of the liquid in.

Still no reaction.

The skeleton began to panic, thinking he was too late... until the bat in his palm gave a tiny shudder and began to slowly lap at the spoon's contents. Once he got going, the spoon was quickly emptied.

"Thank stars... don't scare me like that," Palette exhaled softly, refilling the spoon and placing it to Goth's mouth once more. After a few spoonfuls, he seemed to regain some of his strength, gripping along the metallic edges with his tiny clawed thumbs as he drank.

The taller smiled at the sight, muttering quiet encouragements as he continued to scoop more marrow each time the vampire emptied the spoon. He had to admit, it was morbidly fascinating to watch Goth eat... or was it considering drinking?

Eventually, the vampire was able to empty the bowl of its contents, letting out a contented chirp.

Standing up, Palette placed the spoon into the empty dish and brought it to the sink. Filling it with some water and placing it inside to soak, he retrieved the other bowl, filled it with clean water, and brought it along with Goth to the table.