"Pa-," the small skeleton gasped as he fell backward and out of sight.
"NOOO!" Palette screamed, dashing across the roof. The dogs threw curses and accusations at each other as Palette blew past them, stopping short of the break in the rails, "GOTH!"
He nearly cried in relief when he found Goth hanging from a bar on the dangling section of guardrail and not laying in a broken heap against the pavement. "Palette... help...," he stuttered out, fear consuming his expression.
"Hang on!" Palette called out, unwinding his scarf. Goth was too far to reach by hand, and he couldn't rely on his friend or the rail holding out long enough to get help, so this was their best bet.
At some point, the three dogs had run off, but Palette kept his focus on unwinding his scarf.
Has this thing always been so long?
Goth stifled a whimper as the metal between them creaked, jerking downward.
Come on... come on... please...
Palette whipped his scarf off as he finally managed to free it from his neck. "Grab on!" he instructed, throwing the scarf to the frightened skeleton below.
Just as Goth reached for the scarf, the metal finally gave under his weight with a deafening snap. He yelped, latching onto the end of the paint-stained fabric, clinging to it for dear life as the broken metal pieces clattered to the ground.
Palette was thrown to the lip of the ledge, his friend's weight pulling him down. He grunted, maneuvering part of the scarf around his wrist to maintain a better grip and began pulling up with all the strength he could muster.
Goth's arms trembled along with the rest of his body, eye sockets clenched tightly while he held the scarf in a death-grip, "Pa... Palette..."
"You'll be okay, Goth," the taller grunted, tugging the scarf another few inches higher, "I'll have you up in a second... just don't let go, okay?" Goth whined but nodded his skull to show he heard his companion.
Once Goth was within arm's reach, Palette reached for the skeleton's right wrist, hauling him up alongside the scarf. Hooking his right arm behind his friend's back, he brought Goth into a hug that was quickly reciprocated.
Both monsters collapsed to the floor of the roof, worn out and shaking as they held each other tightly. Goth let out muffled sobs into Palette's chest, "I'm s-sor-ry... s-so so-rry...I...I..."
"Shh, I got you. You're okay... it's okay. There's nothing to be sorry for. I'm just happy you're safe," Palette cooed, rocking his friend gently while rubbing his spine in reassurance. As far as he was concerned, all had been forgiven.
A bell rang in the distance, but neither skeleton made a move to get up, too strung out to even think about classes after their ordeal. It wasn't until the bell rang once more that Goth unclenched his hands from the back of Palette's jacket, pulling away slightly.
The taller skeleton looked him over, "Are you feeling better? Anything hurting?"
Goth shook his skull, wiping his tear-soaked face with his sleeve. He opened his sockets, letting out a gasp and startling the other, "Palette, your arm!"
Palette's eye lights followed Goth's gaze, only now realizing there was a red stain on his left sleeve. "Oh... must've scraped it on the ledge at some point," he mused softly.
"Palette, we have to get your arm looked at!" Goth squawked, staggering to his feet while pulling on his companion's right arm.
"It's fine," Palette chuckled, picking himself up, "really, I'm-"
"Oh my god, what happened here?!" A screech was heard from below, causing both boys to flinch.
That sounds like a teacher. They must have found the broken guard rail...
"Guessed we're going to have to explain ourselves, huh?" Palette sighed, receiving a groan from Goth as he retrieved his scarf from the ground. He secured it around his neck, then wrapped his good arm around the small monster, "Come on, it won't be that bad. I'll go with you... we can explain together."
Goth blushed at the contact but eased into the grip as they made their way to the stairs. "... And get that arm looked at afterward," the smaller added.
They got partway down when Palette slowed to a stop, confusion written on his face. "Palette?" Goth questioned.
"Hey Goth... can't you float?"
It took a second but once realization hit, Palette had to hold back a laugh as Goth pulled his hood over his face and hunched down into his scarf in a vain attempt to hide his embarrassment. He lasted until Goth made a noise that reminded him of a broken squeaky toy, causing him to howl with laughter.
Guess he forgot.
***
So I'm going to submit a headcanon that I came up with. When Goth is afraid or panicking, he can forget about certain abilities, like floating... because I totally didn't write out the whole story just to remember he could float which completely nullifies the tension, so I had to rework the ending so it made sense... nope.
Word Count: 788