(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

Eternal Vow - Chapter 4

Goth was able to anticipate the feeling this time, willing himself not to react while returning the smile, "Yeah, thank you." Palette seemed pleased at the confirmation and proceeded to rub the gel onto the red blotch on his tibia. The vampire held still as his friend worked their way up, treating each burn and applying a bandage to cover each one, despite the way each touch left a lingering heat on his bones and made his soul tingle.

Looking up from where he had finished bandaging the smaller's fifth right rib, Palette asked, "Are you sure you're okay? I can feel you shaking."

The smaller somehow managed to keep his voice even as he replied, "Yeah... it's a little cold without my shirt."

"Oh, okay. I'll try to hurry up, then," the servant nodded, moving around to Goth's back. The vampire was mildly dumbfounded that Palette believed him considering the blush he could feel burning on his face. It was likely proof that the skeleton trusted him enough not to question his words, making him feel even worse for his dishonesty.

His breath hitched when Palette touched his shoulder blade, but the servant didn't react in favor of finishing his task; likely assuming it was cold fingers or something similar again. Goth let out a slow exhale to cover for the sudden inhale, wondering what was going on today. The taller had touched him plenty of times in the past year, whether it was holding hands, caring for him, or giving hugs, and he had never felt tremors, tightness, tingling, or growing warmth from contact with anyone before. Even more puzzling was the pleasant undertone to the sensations; almost as if he were-

"Oh...," Goth croaked softly, hit with an epiphany that he sorely hoped was wrong.

"Did you say something?" Palette questioned, peeking around the smaller's shoulder. He frowned when he caught a glimpse of the smaller's face, "Hey, is something wrong?"

Hastily snatching up his clothes and pulling himself to his feet as the capped canteen tumbled out of his lap, Goth shimmied into his shirt; his mind racing as he tried to find any other excuse for what was happening.

"Goth?"

Whirling around at the hand on his shoulder, the small vampire took in Palette's anxious expression, "Goth's what's wrong? Is it something I can help with?"

"I...," Goth breathed, blurting out the first thing that popped into his mind, "I remembered father asked me to do something important, and I only now remembered I haven't done it yet."

The tension seemed to drain from the skeleton as they smiled, "Oh, is that it? That's no problem; there's still have plenty of time, we can-"

"No!" Goth shouted, immediately slapping his hands over his mouth at his unexpected volume. As his companion's face fell, the smaller tried to backpedal, "I'm sorry for yelling, I was only... you've already done so much for me today and I was planning on using my bat form to get there quicker. I didn't want to make you tag along on another errand."

The servant met the explanation with a tentative smile, "Goth, you know I don't mind; I like spending time with you."

While the words made Goth's soul flutter, he really couldn't let Palette come with him, "I'm sorry, this is something I need to do myself. I swear I won't be long, so please wait for me at home."

He had to fight not to cave at the hurt eking into his companion's voice despite the grin on his face as he said, "... Okay, if that's what you want, then I'll wait at home for you."

"Thank you. Once I return, we can do anything you want. You can figure out what we'll do while I'm away," the small vampire promised, retrieving the dropped canteen and handing it to Palette, "I'll see you at home."

Palette took the container as the smaller stepped back. A gust of dusty wind engulfed the area as he transformed into a tiny white bat. The servant kneeled down and presented his palm for the vampire to climb on. 

As expected, the contact provoked another reaction in Goth; he hoped it wasn't noticeable in this form. That seemed to be the case as the skeleton rose to his full height once more.

"See you at home. Good luck and be careful," Palette murmured with a warm expression before raising the bat higher into the air.

Goth's soul clenched at the words; as if it was urging him not to leave. Still, he had suspicions and needed to know for sure. Using Palette's hand as a launching pad, the vampire beat his wings and took off in the direction of the athenaeum. Hopefully, his theory was wrong and this was nothing more than his imagination running away with him.

***

For your convenience, an athenaeum is a room or building used for the promotion of literary or scientific learning; housing books, periodicals, and newspapers for public use. The more you know~

Word Count: 1,550