(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

High Anxiety - Chapter 2 (End)

Palette felt his soul wrench in his rib cage as he sat crouched next to his companion, feeling the small skeleton tremble like a leaf under his hand from the physical toll of throwing up combined with the emotions they were trying to bottle up; that ache morphed into seething anger as the three girls continued berating Goth from the line behind the barrier. Wrapping his arms around the crying monster, he sent his nastiest glare at the gaggle of gossiping women. He felt a small spike of satisfaction when the trio fell quiet, each averting their eyes in clear discomfort.

"Hey, is he okay? Do you need me to call someone?" one of the attendants shuffled forward, their hand on the walkie talkie attached to their belt loop.

Palette dropped the glare as he turned to the attendant and shook his skull, "No, I think he's just shaken up." Glancing at the puddle of expelled magic on the ground, he asked, "Is there something I can use to clean this up?"

"Oh, it's fine; our attendants can handle a small mess," the guy waved away the offer as another left, presumably to get whatever they used to clean messes.

Nodding his skull and scooping his companion into his arms, he let them bury their face into his jacket as he mumbled softly beside their skull, "There should be some benches nearby; do you want to go sit?" A nod punctuated by a quiet hiccup confirmed his plan of action.

Thanking the attendant for their time, Palette jogged to the exit gate and down the ramp, slowing to a casual walk once they reached the pedestrian pathway at the end; a few people glanced their way but they were largely ignored by the crowd, which the skeleton was silently thankful for. Spotting a faux wood bench across the way, he weaved through the crowd; he set Goth down before crouching in front of them, "Do you want me to get you water or something?" The smaller shook their skull, rubbing at their closed sockets while taking shaky breaths in an attempt to calm down. Reluctantly, the taller monster asked, "Do you want to go home?" As much as he wanted to stay and salvage the day, he wouldn't make his companion stay if they didn't want to be there anymore.

"No, I don't want to leave," Goth hastily croaked, looking down at him with an imploring expression, "I promise I'll be fine in a minute."

"Okay," Palette gave him an encouraging smile before taking a seat next to him, feeling a slight weight resting against his arm moments later; he wrapped an arm around Goth, resting his skull against theirs as he watched people and monsters pass by. After a minute, he murmured, "You're really brave, you know that?"

Goth sniffed, glancing up at him, "Are you serious? I was a total crybaby up there and I don't even know why; I'm always using my magic to float in the air, so I shouldn't have been scared."

"Of course I'm serious! It takes a lot of courage to keep going after getting scared," the taller countered, giving their shoulder a squeeze, "As for why... hmm... oh! Maybe it's because you're used to using magic. If you're used to doing something a certain way, doing it differently would probably feel weird or uncomfortable and might make you scared?"

"Maybe...," the scarved skeleton sighed, his eye light trailing down the pathway as a light lavender hue dusted his cheeks, "hey, there are other things we can do besides riding roller coasters, right?"

"Absolutely!" Palette exclaimed, removing his arm to list off the different attractions on his fingers, "There are game booths, food stalls, stores, shows, and plenty of rides that don't leave the ground or go fast." Thinking for a moment, a grin grew on his face, "Have you ever been on a carousel?"

Goth sat up straight, seemingly pondering the word, "I don't think so... that has the spinning horses, right?"

"Yeah, though some of them use different animals," Palette confirmed, "They have all sorts of different designs and some of them even move up and down like they're jumping." Rising to his feet, he held out his hand, "You sound like you're feeling better; do you want to check it out now?"

A giddy feeling welled up inside him when Goth smiled up at him and took his hand, "Yeah, let's go try the carousel. Also, thanks for your help back there."

"No problem; it would've been bad if you fell out of the seat during the ride," Palette grinned as he helped the smaller to his feet; 

"Not only for that... those girls that were talking trash earlier too," Goth explained, "they went quiet all of a sudden; I'm guessing you did something to shut them up?"

"Oh... I guess I did," the taller skeleton donned a sheepish smile, belatedly remembering burst of anger; he usually didn't behave that way, but he had just gotten so mad at those girls...

"Well, I'm glad you did," his hooded companion praised, tugging on his hand, "Now come on, you need to show me where the carousel is."

Palette chuckled, happy to see Goth in higher spirits as he took the lead. The pair ventured deeper into the park while discussing everything they could do afterward, forgetting in their growing excitement that they were still holding hands.

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Word Count: 905