So uh, remember the whole Goth headcanon thing? All it took was one person wanting to see it for me to cave in and show it lol.
TW: SH, BLOOD, AND STUFF OF THAT NATURE
Basically to sum up the headcanon: Goth has a deep self-inflicted scar on his wrist that he did out of impulse. He kind of was trying to kill himself but he also kinda wasn't? There were a small number of reasons why he did it, mainly being morbid curiosity, escapism from the grim reality that when he grows older he'll have to follow in his father's footsteps and be a reaper, and a cry for help to show that he was indeed suffering. (I hope this makes sense)
But here's the small fic I wrote, honestly I'm not crazy about it. I could've done better:
Palette sat in bed, humming along to the music playing on his headphones as he tapped away on his phone. Mindlessly playing some color-matching game he installed out of late-night boredom.
That was until his phone began to ring. It was Goth. He smiled as he answered the call.
"Hellllo?" He hummed with a grin.
But his grin quickly fell as soon as he heard sniffling on the other end.
"P-Pal..I-I don't know what to do--I messed up." A shaky voice spoke weakly on the other end. He's never heard Goth like this..so lost..so panicked.
"Okay--Uhm," He shot up. "I'm coming over right now. Just stay where you're at. Are you home?"
"Y-Yeah.."
"Okay, good. I'll be right there. Don't do anything without me."
As soon as he heard a quiet 'okay', he hung up before throwing a coat on over his pajamas. He swiftly left his room and searched for his father's paintbrush.
Technically, he was supposed to ask before using it, but whatever is going on must be urgent for Goth to call him so late crying. He'll just have to explain the situation to his parents later. He found it leaned up in a corner. Classic Ink, forgetting it, he partially wonders if they even remember putting it there.
He grabbed hold of the paintbrush before putting to use what his father taught him. He closed his eyes, trying to concentrate as he drew a circle on the ground underneath himself. He quickly fell through and landed on the floor of somewhere else. He let out a small 'oof' before getting up.
He looked around; it was Goth's room. He smiled in accomplishment, having successfully teleported. But that accomplishment was soon pushed aside as soon as he noticed Goth wasn't there.
"Goth?" Palette spoke up. Not yelling, he didn't want to alert Geno or Reaper. Knowing their awful sleep schedules they're both most likely still awake.
That's when he heard muffled gasping and choked sniffling coming from the cracked bathroom door in his room. Palette slowly approached it with a concerned frown.
"Gothy?" He approached the door before pushing it open.
Once he opened it, he was met with a gut-churning sight. Goth sat on the cold bathroom floor, choking on his own escalated breaths as he held a once white cloth over his wrist. Purple tear streaks ruined his face. Palette froze for a moment as he looked with wide eyesockets.
"G-Goth..?" He softly spoke. He was at a loss for words. What should he even say? He needs to snap out of it. His friend needs him. What would his mamá do?
Goth's shoulders hunched as his bony wings hovered around him, as if trying to hide himself.
"Palette..I don't know what to do. I'm so stupid--What do I tell my dad?" Goth's breathing got heavier as he squeezed his wrist tighter.
Palette hesitated for a moment before walking up to him. He put his hand over Goth's; the sickly feeling of the damp cloth underneath both of their hands made his nonexistent stomach turn. He grimaced before taking a deep breath to regulate his emotions. He looked Goth in the eyes.
"I-It's okay..Don't worry about that right now. You're okay, I'm here. Everything's going to be okay, okay?" He tried to make his voice as gentle and comforting as possible.
It seemed to work as Goth leaned against Palette. Palette responded to this by slowly wrapping his arms around Goth and softly rocking back and forth, mimicking what his mamá did for him whenever he was having a bad day.
They sat in silence, the only sound being Goth's muffled sobs. Eventually, sobs turned to hiccups and hiccups turned into sniffles. Next thing Palette knew, Goth was lying limp in his arms. He hesitantly spoke.
"Can I help you bandage it..?"
There was a pause before a soft nod. Palette felt a small bit of relief as he weakly smiled.
They both got up and Palette directed Goth to sit on the top of the closed toilet seat while Palette rummaged through the cabinets to try and find a first aid kit. He found it pretty quickly inside the cabinet underneath the sink.
Palette opened the kit with shaky hands. Since when had be started he shaking? Why is he shaking? Palette slightly frowned before ignoring any further thought about it.
He gently motioned for Goth to move the cloth. Goth hesitated for a moment before moving the cloth away as he looked off to the side.
Moving the cloth revealed a deep horizontal gash with smeared, dripping blood all around it. The sight made Palette want to vomit, but he swallowed it down as he took a shaky breath. If he wants to become like his parents and help the universe, he'll need to get used to sights like this.
He very gently moved Goth's wrist to the sink and softly rinsed it with warm water. He felt Goth twitch in his hold and heard a small wince. He muttered a small apology before continuing.
He then softly dabbed it dry before grabbing some healing ointment and applying it around the open wound. He finalized the process by wrapping it securely with a bandage and overlapping the bandage with medical tape.
Goth finally looked over at his wrist. His eyesockets looked heavy with eyebags as the singular white eyelight in his right eye looked fuzzy. He frowned in thought looking at his wrist.
One question sat on the tip of Palette's tongue: "Why?" But he bit it back. He'll know when Goth's ready to tell him.
Instead of lingering on it, he attempted a comforting smile as he spoke.
"You look exhausted. How about we go to sleep?"
Goth looked up at him before weakly nodding.
Palette took hold of his hand and helped him up. Goth's legs weakly rose. And just like that, Palette led Goth to bed, tucking him in before crawling in next to him. Goth was quick to fall asleep while laying against Palette. It was no surprise to Palette; it must've taken a lot out of him. But unfortunately Palette couldn't relate. He just couldn't fall asleep.
He stared blankly at the ceiling, his mind felt like it was racing full of thoughts but it also felt blank at the same time, strangely enough. He should go back home before his parents notice he's gone. But he doesn't want to leave Goth. He should stay for his best friend.
He'll just figure out what to do in the morning..Hopefully..
(Also, here, @vampygothy since you wanted me to share it lol, I hope you like it. Also to anyone reading this please go seek help if you or someone you know is going through this. Ik that sounds redundant but it's serious. People care about you, and if no one you know irl cares then I care.)
