(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

A Brewtiful Beginning - Chapter 15

"Hey Palette, the supply truck just dropped off our shipment, can you help me move the boxes into storage so we can run inventory?" Flo called out from the storage room's open door.

Goth looked up from the food and coffee he was setting on his tray to find the taller tilting their skull toward him in askance. The smaller sighed, "Go on, it's slow so Tai and I can handle the front for a few minutes. If things pick up, we'll call you."

Palette nodded and went with the plant monster. Once his companion disappeared behind the door, the hooded monster's expression drooped as he lifted up the tray.

"I think I see what you were talking about," Tai commented as he handed over a customer's drink, "I wouldn't notice if I wasn't looking for it, but he is acting more low-key than usual today."

"Glad it's not me being paranoid, now if only I could figure out why," Goth lamented, rounding the counter to distribute the contents of his tray. As he set the last plate down, the door chimed and a tall man with buzzed brunette hair stepped in.

"I'll be with you in a second, sir," the skeleton said as he leaned over the counter for a menu, pulling his notepad from his apron pocket as he went over to the table the man selected. Putting on a smile, Goth greeted, "Welcome to Mona's, I'll be your server today. Is this your first time with us?"

"Nah, I was here yesterday," the man replied, taking the offered menu and looking around, "Is Palette not working today?"

The question immediately set off red flags as the skeleton stated, "He is. He's currently doing stock in the back... is there a problem?"

The customer leaned back slightly in his chair, "I just wanted to have a talk with him about his service yesterday. He was acting awfully cold when I asked him to sit and chat with me. I felt very offended."

"We're not supposed to be sitting and chatting with customers while on the clock. Any complaints should also be directed at our manager" Goth stiffly recited from the handbook. Though he had his suspicions, he probed nonchalantly, "How do you know Palette?"

His suspicions were confirmed when the guy said, "Oh, we know each other from college. We were close friends before he trashed the Dean's office and tried to pin it on me. I happened to run into him yesterday and figured we could try to patch things up."

Goth narrowed his sockets, his expression stony, "That's a bit different from the story I heard."

The man didn't seem phased by the news, sighing in a long-suffering fashion, "He's been making up stories again? I was hoping he'd learned from his mistakes, but I guess he still enjoys the attention too much. I hope he hasn't been causing problems."

"Oh, he's actually been great here," Goth deadpanned, not buying the nice guy act for a minute, "he's very eager to learn, works well with us and our customers, and he's been doing well in his studies. In fact, he was recently telling me how much better things have been since he came here."

"Oh did he now?" the friend chuckled, though it had a rough tone to it, "And did he mention the things he did before he left?"

"No, but he did mention some of the things that were done to him," the skeleton retorted, holding up his notepad with false cheer in his voice, "Now, what would you like to order?"

The man ignored the question, "And you believe him?"

"I do. He's a kind, thoughtful monster that was given a hard time and deserves to be happy. What I don't believe is that he would ever be capable of anything requiring expulsion or that talking to you will do him any good," Goth replied firmly, holding to his etiquette by the barest of margins, "Palette is busy at the moment and I will not force him to talk to you. Please order something or kindly leave."