(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Hide and Squeak (One-shot)

So this story was inspired by a conversation regarding Cat!Goth antics with Ink_Sans_And_Echo and Cometdakitty; though the plot bunnies took off in a different direction than I was anticipating, the end result still made for a good story~

Happy Friday 13th and enjoy!

***

*ekekekekekek*

Palette looked up from his sketchbook; what in the world was that noise? It sounded similar in pitch to Goth, but the feline had never made a noise like that. Sitting up and setting his pad and pencil aside, he peeked around the edges of the couch as he called out, "Goth?"

*ekekekekekek*

The sound came from the kitchen. "Come here, Goth," the skeleton called once again, quirking his socket when the feline didn't appear in the doorway; Goth's food and water bowls were filled this morning and he usually came to Palette when he wanted attention.

*ekekekekekek*

Worried he might be hurt, the skeleton stood from the couch and ventured into the kitchen. It didn't take long for him to spot Goth and he immediately knew something was up; for one, the cat was hunkered down staring at the recycling bin in the corner as if it were the most interesting thing in the world as the tip of his tail twitched erratically behind him. 

Coming around to get a better look at his furry companion from the front, Palette was surprised to find their left pupil filly dilated with their mouth parted just enough the show teeth.

*ekekekekekek*

"Goth, what's wrong?" the monster asked, placing a hand on the cat's back; the action elicited a chirp as Goth looked up. Palette smiled as his friend rose from their hunched position and rubbed against him as they normally did, only to become confused again when their attention immediately returned to the bin as they resumed their noisy staring contest.

*ekekekekekek*

Repositioning himself behind Goth, he was able to notice the focus of their attention wasn't actually on the bin itself but on the space between it and the wall. "Did one of your toys get stuck?" Palette queried, reaching over the feline to push the bin aside.

"What's th-AH!" Palette shrieked, stumbling back onto his coccyx as something gray shot out from the space; Goth darted after the object, chasing it across the room and into the baker's rack by the back door. Backing out once the feline realized he couldn't fit into the space underneath, he took to hovering in a semicircle from one side of the rack to the other; all the while making that strange sound.

*ekekekekekek*

Regaining his feet, Palette slowly approached the baker's rack and got down on his hands and knees to see what was under there; a small gray mouse sat huddled in the center, still as a statue while Goth kept up their patrol. "Huh... cats do like to chase mice," he mumbled to himself, though he had also heard they could bite and sometimes carried diseases; the last thing he wanted was his friend getting sick or either of them getting hurt from the encounter.

Standing up and heading for the closet, he dug into one of the small bins until he found a pair of his mom's gardening gloves; slipping them on and adjusting them to fit snuggly, he reentered the kitchen to find Goth maintaining his vigil. "Come on, little guy; I'll get you out of here," Palette murmured, slowly reaching his hand under the rack to scoop the animal out.

It apparently didn't like his idea, choosing to run out from under the rack toward the living room; Goth was on it in an instant, pouncing on top of the creature as it let out a screech. Palette rushed after them, quickly urging the feline away before they were bitten, "Back, back, back!"

Slipping his hand under Goth's paws, he felt a small trembling object under his glove; taking a breath, he slowly slid his other hand underneath and cupped them together with the mouse cradled in between. He stood with his hands clasped in front of him as his feline friend began circling and weaving around his legs, staring at his hands as they continued the noise.

*ekekekekekek*

"Sorry Goth, this isn't a toy," Palette apologized, "this little guy belongs outside." Turning to the back door, he belatedly realized he had a problem; he needed a hand to turn the knob, but both hands were occupied containing the mouse.

Searching around the room, his eye lights caught sight of the cup on the coffee table he had been drinking out of. Goth following him into the living room, watching him as he crouched down in front of the cup; luckily, it was already empty. Hoping the mouse wouldn't mind the tiny dregs of water at the bottom, he eased his hands open and funneled the creature into the container before closing one hand loosely over the top.

With the animal safely transferred and appearing to be unharmed, he took the cup over to the back door; making sure to shoo Goth away as they tried to follow him outside, and jogged over to the edge of the yard. Crouching by a bush, Palette lifted his hand and dumped the mouse out; it wasted no time scurrying off into the brush.

"Make sure you stay out here this time," Palette chuckled, standing with the cup and returning to the house where Goth was waiting eagerly at the door. The skeleton took to cup straight to the sink, washing it out before placing it in the dishwasher; he slipped off the gloves as he crossed into the living room with his furry friend following close behind, tossing the gloves onto the table and reclaiming his seat on the couch.

For a solid two minutes, Goth's attention was fully on the gloves as they sniffed them, pawed at them, and even tried to climb inside them until Palette got up to intervene with a catnip mouse, "Sorry buddy, you don't need to play with real mice." He watched with a snicker as Goth batted the toy across the floor, chasing and pouncing on it just as they had done with the real thing.

As Goth played with the toy, Palette retrieved his phone in hopes of figuring out what that noise was. Within five minutes of searching, he was watching a video of cats 'chattering'; something they apparently did when they were excited by something. The noise managed to attract his cat to his lap, where they stuck their face into his screen to see what was making the same noise they had been making earlier.

"Heh, nothing's here this time," Palette chuckled, shutting the video off instead of teasing the feline while scratching behind their ear to distract them; as expected, Goth flopped up against him, rolling onto their back in anticipation of more attention.

Palette snickered as he settled back on the couch and rubbed Goth's tummy; after the excitement they had, he was more than willing to participate in some relaxing cuddle time.

***

Word Count: 1,128