A/N:Hello lovely readers. I've been in a big Homestuck mood lately, and began reading some fanfics again...which is really not a good thing for my sleep schedule OTL but oh well. I hope you guys like this first chapter and look forward to the rest of my story; not sure how long it'll be yet...but I can definitely see it being over 6 chapters.
Read, enjoy, like, follow, review! :) Honestly I enjoy reading reviews; it's a good way for me to see how I'm doing and if I'm ever accidentally going too OOC which is something I do not like reading or doing.
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Ch 1. A Brand New Day
Tavros Nitram was just your ordinary boy living the ordinary life of another ordinary 19 year-old boy. He lived in an ordinary house with his ordinary family, working an ordinary job and going to an ordinary college; the only thing that he ever really considered unusual – besides his brother's appearance…the man looked like Rufio from Hooked…then again…his name was Rufioh to begin with – were his wheelchair, his mohawk, and a "Lost Boys" tattoo on his inner left arm that he got matching with his older brother.
But today was a different day and not an ordinary day. Today Tavros had one of the best days he had had in a very long time. Last evening at the hospital, Tavros was given the gift of mobility back into his life.
When he was 13, he had gotten into a terrible accident, that to this day still plagued the back of not only his mind, but his brother and father's as well. He had been playing by a cliff with some friends, when Vriska Serket, his childhood tormentor and long abandoned crush – because those two obviously make sense together – got a little too rough for their Flarp game, and ended up causing him to fall down said cliff. His father came running to him as fast as he could, kneeling next to Tavros' small, unconscious body, trying to shake the boy awake, not wanting to fear the worst. Rufioh and Aranea, Vriska's older sister who had just arrived to pick up Vriska, ran over to Mr. Nitram as well, with Aranea glaring daggers at Vriska's shocked face above them. When Tavros finally regained consciousness the ambulance had already arrived, and he was immediately hugged tightly by his father; he could remember Rufioh's glassy eyes and the sound of relief that escaped him when Tavros said he was ok and that the worst pain he felt at that moment was just a brutal headache…until he was asked if he could stand. That was when the small boy realized that he couldn't. He began to cry and panic, asking over and over why he couldn't feel or move anything below his knees; his brother tried pinching his lower leg but Tavros just shook his head saying he couldn't feel anything.
He was carried by one of the paramedics and put on top of the gurney to be put back into the ambulance. Rufioh was in a state of complete shock, while Mr. Nitram tried his best to calm down Aranea, who was also practically in tears apologizing repeatedly for her younger sister's actions. Vriska didn't say anything, she simply stared at the ambulance with a hollow gaze, and Mr. Nitram could tell that, although there were no words coming out of her mouth, her eyes said everything for her. But Rufioh wasn't as understanding, not even close; he couldn't even hear Vriska's name being mentioned without making a face, and he was even somewhat evasive of Aranea for some time, but eventually he let go of his grudge for the most part and things went back to "normal" again.
Tavros sat on his bed, smiling sadly at his newly acquired metal prosthetics as he remembered that day. Vriska never apologized until they were about 16 after a big fallout between the two of them involving not only his crush on her but her aggressive and confused crush on him. What started as a huge fight ended up as this awkward, neutral, friendship between the two of them, though the cerulean-eyed girl still intimidated him and made him uncomfortable at time…still, he could tolerate her a lot better now.
So that was part 1 of Tavros' best day so far; the next thing that made him so happy was that he had gotten accepted with an open scholarship to a college about 4 hours away from his home that offered one of the best veterinary programs in his state, and his proud father was more than happy to let him go, though he constantly reminded Tavros of how much he would be missed. On top of it all, one of his best friends, Aradia, was already attending said college for her own Geology and History degrees, and the two managed to find a cozy little house at a rational price (for two students) where they could live and share the rent as roommates.
A knock on his door brought Tavros out of his reverie and he turned his attention to it.
"Hey, can I come in, or are you doing lewd things in there?" A voice teased.
"R-Rufioh!" Tavros sighed, blushing lightly on his cheeks, "Yeah you can come in…"
The door to his room opened, revealing his older brother on the other side, with his own messy spiked hair, with dyed red tips just like Rufio's, and still in his pajama pants. He came in and sat next to Tavros at the edge of the bed, poking his brother's new "legs" with one index finger, turning to Tavros with a small smile on his face, "How do they feel?"
Tavros moved his legs and smiled back at Rufioh, "Still a little awkward…and I uhh…may or may not have fallen down the stairs when I went to get a midnight snack last night…"
"I warned you about the stairs bro! Dr. Zahhak warned you too."
"I know! I-I know…I just gotta get used to them. I promise I'll be more careful next time." Tavros said.
"Yeah you better," He chuckled and sighed, "I can't hover around you to make sure you're ok and help you once you move out, you know?"
Tavros huffed softly, crossing his arms over his chest, "You don't have to even now! I'm 19 Rufioh, I can take care of myself. Besides, you can't baby me forever."
Rufioh ruffled Tavros already messy bed-head-mohawk, making it look more like a fluffy dark mess on the boy's head, and smirked teasingly at him, "Yes I can; I'm your older brother, and as my baby brother, you shall never escape my babying. Kay hermanito*?" (*"little brother" in Spanish)
Tavros laughed and smacked his brother on the arm, "I'm not a child anymore Rufioh; I haven't been one in…a while really." He checked the time on his alarm clock next to his bedstand, which indicated it was now 10:45 a.m. "We should go have breakfast now; is dad awake?"
Rufioh nodded and stood up, "Yup! In fact he should be nearly done making breakfast by now."
"Oh, alright." Tavros looked down at his legs and awkwardly swung them over his bed so that he was now sitting on the edge. He tried standing up but he still felt like his balance was kind of wonky, with his body forgetting what it was like to stand up completely on it's own. He wobbled a little, nearly falling back into his bed had it not been for Rufioh catching his arm and making him stand up straight again, "T-thanks….uhm…by the way… "lewd" Rufioh? Really?" the younger teased.
Rufioh blushed and scratched his head, chuckling "Guess Horuss has been rubbing off on me a little, heh…you'll know what's it like soon enough kid."
Together they made their way downstairs, following the sweet scent of fresh blueberry pancakes and fried eggs coming from their kitchen. Rufioh walked in front of Tavros as they walked down the stairs, making sure his brother didn't fall again and killing himself before even making it to the kitchen.
Mr. Nitram was a tall, well-built, tanned man with black spiked hair with red dyed-tips, resembling Rufioh's hair, though slightly longer, sweeping slightly to the back of his head. He greeted his sons and asked Tavros how he was managing with his legs so far, to which he received a "perfectly fine" from the boy, and a sarcastic "mhm" and a chuckle from his eldest.
They sat down together to eat the meal, chatting about nothing in particular as they filled their stomachs.
"Oh, Tavros, your friend Aradia called earlier today; she said she can come over this weekend to help you pack up some of your stuff and she can drop it off at the new place."
"O-oh, really? I didn't hear the phone." Tavros furrowed his eyebrows.
"That would be because you're a heavy sleeper Tav. Seriously, there could be an opera going on in our living room and you would never notice." His brother laughed, earning a flicked blueberry to the face from Tavros.
"Anyywwaaaayyy…I'll uh, call Aradia after breakfast and give her the ok I guess. Thanks dad.
After breakfast Tavros spent his day walking around the house, trying his best to get used to the feeling of walking again after 6 years of being stuck in a wheelchair. One thing he was grateful for though, was the upper body strength the wheelchair had given him throughout the years, and though he wasn't quite as toned as his brother or father, he still had a sturdy and defined lean figure. Something he considered a total improvement from his awkward, lanky days as a young, newly pubescent teenager with the cracking, raspy voice. After 3 days of practicing his walking, he felt a little more comfortable and normal, and was glad he didn't have another stairs incident at any point (Except for that one time he nearly tripped on the very last step as he was going up the stairs... Falling down is one thing, but falling up takes "talent".)
A few days later on Saturday, Tavros sat on the couch in his living room waiting for Aradia to arrive, when finally he heard a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Rufioh opened the door and smiled down warmly at the wavy-haired curvy girl who stood in front of him with her long gray skirt and white blouse with a thin red ribbon to match her red lips. She stood at 5'5" to Rufioh's 6' "Hey doll, how's it goin'?"
"Hello Rufioh," she smiled wide, "Is Tavros here?"
"Yeah, come on in." He opened the door wider and stepped aside to let her into the house. She went into the living room where Rufioh pointed to and hugged Tavros (he was also taller than her, but still slightly shorter than his brother at 5'8"), asking him how he was doing and how his walking was going. She was very happy to see him standing up again. Like Rufioh, Aradia held a grudge against Vriska for a long time after the incident, and it wasn't until she apologized to Tavros that Aradia began to tolerate her presence again. The two friends made their way up to Tavros' room after they got a few empty boxes from her car and started packing some of Tavros' things. The mohawked boy felt a small pang of pain as he began to take down the posters that covered his walls; Peter Pan, Fairies, Fiduspawn, and all these other movies, creatures, or other interests Tavros had. I was like stripping his bedroom of his childhood; peeling off memories and little bits of himself with each poster or photograph. Aradia put a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder; she had a way of reading people that sometimes was so accurate it was scary. You couldn't hid much from her, and she knew that right now, the realization of moving out and being away from his family and home for the first time was starting to hit him.
Rufioh had left to go out with his boyfriend, Horuss, so Tavros' dad helped them carry the filled, heavy boxes back to Aradia's car. Mr. Nitram closed the trunk as Aradia walked back to the driver's seat and opened her door to get in.
"Uhh, dad, is it ok if I go with Aradia? I haven't seen the place for myself yet…e-except in photographs… but I want to see it in person."
"Of course! Make sure it's in good condition alright guys?" Aradia and Tavros both nodded and said goodbye to Tavros' dad before heading off to their new place.
They were more than thankful that the traffic was surprisingly light for a Saturday in the summer, and they managed to only take 3 and a half hours instead of 4. Tavros looked down at his phone, where he had saved the address to the house and helped Aradia look around the neighbourhood to spot it.
"405…407…411…413! There it is Aradia!" He pointed to a cozy looking, pale yellow, two-story house. It seemed rather inviting from the outside, though it was obvious it needed to have a little work done; the small front yard had a few patches of dried grass and wilting bushes near the entrance, but that was aesthetic and they could live with it until they had enough money to make it pretty again.
"The realtor told me the place is about 12 years old, so it will need a bit of upgrading here and there, still, the inspector didn't find anything hazardous about it so we'll be fine." Aradia said, as she parked her car in their new driveway. They got out of the car, grabbed the boxes, and opened the door. It wasn't anything grand, but it was a very nice size for just the both of them, with an open-plan living room and kitchen, a dining room, 3 bedrooms, and 2 and a half bathrooms. Tavros walked around the first floor, grinning as he looked around at everything and anything. Aradia had already brought some furniture in, so the house wasn't completely empty.
They carried his boxes up to his new room and set them down. "I'll be right back ok? I'm gonna go get some of my own stuff from the car." Aradia said, and Tavros nodded. He looked around the room; it was empty and pale, with newly carpeted floors, so it felt almost clinical to him, but it was a comfortable size, maybe just slightly bigger than his room back home. He walked to the window to look outside and noticed an older looking, but bigger house nearby; the place looked practically abandoned, but he could've sworn he saw movement by one of the windows. Something about that house felt a little off to him, but he ignored it and went back to his boxes, when Aradia came in again.
"Like your room?" She asked with a smile.
"Yeah! It's nice….hey, Aradia, is there anyone living in that house over there?" He pointed out the window towards the old home. Aradia shrugged and shook her head.
"Not that I know of. I asked the same thing to the realtor and she said no…but she did have a weird aura when I asked her...They'll probably just clean it up a bit and sell it too." Aradia looked out the window, and Tavros noticed her gaze change from just a normal glance to a curious stare. Had she seen something too?
She placed a delicate hand on the window, as if she was trying to feel something, more so than reaching out or using it for support. After a brief moment of silence, she retrieved her hand and simply said, "This house is fine." And walked out of the room, leaving behind a slightly confused Tavros.
"W-what does that even mean…I would hope this house is fine, otherwise we just wasted some good money…" He sighed and simply began to empty one of his boxes unaware of the watchful gaze from outside.