Authors Note: I realized that I had accidently selected a pokemon fanfiction to display before, but I have fixed that. Sorry in advance!
Darkness surrounded us, the last of our troll species. See, for us, and a lot of other places, it was the end of the world. We had to get out of the void, and into another one. It was our crucial need, and desire, to survive. Some trolls I didn't get to see very often until that point. At least, it had been a while since I had seen some of them last, but I could tell who was who, even in that blinding light that shimmered brightly before us.
See that one troll? Over there? With the stubby horns and the short body? Probably not because these are just words, but I guess if you try hard enough, you can imagine it. Right? Well anyway, he's Karkat Vantas, our leader. The other ones all around him covered in light, those were originally on separate teams. I was a part of that crowd: Tavros Nitram, the lesser blood. Rusty, not so confident, adiosToreasnore. At least, that's what Vriska called me. She's the one with the long hair and eye patch that I would rather not talk about at this time.
Another troll that I believe is very important to mention, is the one that was standing next to me. He's the one with the poofy hair and religiously based clown themed face. We were the best of bros, and did everything together, practically! We saw each other up close that day at the headquarters, and I can say, it had been a while. He had grown I think, cause his eyes were, i guess, purpler, and he was taller than I had remembered.
"Bro! Long time no see motherfucker!" He was sitting pretty relaxed in his chair. I could tell that this was true, only because of how his feet were rested on the desk in front of him. That and the fact that he was very much slouched over, kind of like what a doll does when you throw it on a couch and just leave it sit there the way it lands. He was doing the bro fist thing, holding his hand out in a ball and waiting for me to hit it with my own wimpy knuckles. I wanted to, but for some reason I was really shy about it. Maybe because our last conversation was really...awkward. He suggested that we, uh, make out, and I kind of disconnected my server instead of answering like a real man would. Honestly, I wasn't really sure if I was ready for that type of, uh, "self expression". I bro fisted him anyway though. With luck he wouldn't even remember the conversation.
"Uh, heeey maaan." I shivered, my teeth nearly gritted in remembering those weird words that were exchanged between the two of us.
"Shit Tav. You don't gotta be nervous about anything, it's me, your bro! You remember right motherfucker?" He didn't seem to recall our previous endeavor at all, so that caused a sigh of happy relief.
"Oh, yeah! Well, I never really forgot you Gamzee. It's just that, you changed so much! I mean, not really a lot, but you have grown some sense the last time I saw you in person!"
"Really my brother?" He sat up and looked down at himself as though surprised at what I said. It made me smile a little. "I look the same to me! Maybe I got a little taller or somethin'."
Yes. Gamzee was certainly the same old clown that I knew from before in the way he held himself, and in his actions. That was good. I'm not very great at getting use to change. An example is how I broke both my legs in that one freak flarping accident and needed a four wheel device...but that's kind of another story. I was in that same device when talking to Gamzee, and to make it all worse, in the future, which for me now is the past, I would, or did, get new robot legs. It was a gruesome experience, but I was pretty good at getting use to that change. Sort of...
"Heh, well, maybe I'm not use to the way you look now because of how long it has been sense I saw you last." I replied to him. I think at the time I was getting heated. My face felt warm, and I wasn't really sure what to do about it except hope that Gamzee wouldn't notice.
"You know what bro, it's all just one big pile of miracles. You look a little different yourself, from what I all up and motherfuckin remember." He squinted at me like he was comparing me to some kind of fake image he kept in his head from the past. I was really scared he would notice the rusty blush that covered my face. "Now what could all that shit motherfuckin be?"
After he said that, I'm pretty sure he scared himself, cause there was a loud honking noise coming from underneath his leg and he fell backwards in his chair.
"AaAaAaAgUhWaGuGH! Shit man! I forgot about that little thing bein all stuck up and underneath my pant leg! These little fuckers are like ninjas! I'm tellin' ya bro!" He pulled out the horn from under him, laughing the entire time, then squeezing the little knob thing on it twice really amused like. I smiled back at him. He was really good at making me do that, smiling, that is. "Hey Tavbro...?" He asked me with the same sharp toothed grin.
"Oh, uh, yeah Gamzee?" I shook my head, almost too distracted with him to reply.
"We should definitely go out and about some. You know, motherfuckin paint the town red and all that metaphorical shit. I never really under-fucking stood what that all up and meant. All I can motherfuckin picture is best friend bein' used as a punchline blooded paintermagigger or somethin...you know what I mean bro?"
"Uh, I think I'll just say that I did and smile about it." I grinned oddly. I don't think he really minded it when I didn't understand him, cause he would just continue on with whatever it was he was saying in the first place.
"Miracles my brother." He was spacing out now. I could tell, cause the hands he was using as another means to communicate, fell to his sides like a puppet no longer being used. I poked his nose, hoping that maybe it would wake him up some. It did, sort of. At least, he honked to let me know he wasn't dead or anything.
"Uh, Gamzee...weren't you just saying something a few seconds ago?" I reminded him. My nervousness was shrinking some, because it was getting a little easier to talk. Gamzee's eye pupils dilated a whole lot, then shrunk back to original size, almost as though he snapped back into reality for the first time.
"Oh shit bro! I almost up and forgot! Sorry for spacin' on ya." He chuckled with a wink. That made me grin yet again. "Hey, let's explore this motherfuckin hive mine bro! It'll give me a chance to stretch out these motherfuckin gumby ropes that I like to call legs."
Gamzee didn't wait for an answer. He just got up, and bent back while stretching his arms up and over his head. There was a lot of popping noise coming from his spinal area, so I'm sure that it felt good. I almost longed to do that, because being in a cripple device, my back was definitely getting stiffer and stiffer by the day.
"Alright then bro! I'll wheely you around and see what the motherfuck this place is all about!" The clown troll smiled. Surely I was more than ready to join him! But then I remembered about Karkat, and how now a days we had to ask advice from him before doing, well, pretty much anything.
"Wait a sec Gamzee...shouldn't we ask Karkat first? I mean, he did say that he was our leader before." I reminded my friend. I didn't want to get in trouble at all about this. He just looked around groggily for who he called his best friend. I guess a part of me felt kind of sad that he did this all the time, because it seemed like no matter how hard the Capricorn tried, he just couldn't be accepted by Karkat. I pitied the idea.
"Best bro is fast asleep Tav, and I don't think it would be a motherfuckin good idea to wake him." Gamzee pointed out the lump of Karkat on the floor not too far away. He was right, the troll was fast asleep, and I didn't dare picture waking him up at all during that time. I think Terezi had the same idea though, because she began to talk to us too.
"Don't bother trying to wake him up you two!" She said with her seemingly permanent grin. "I already tried, but atomically failed to awake him with very consistent nub drubbings." The she troll chuckled, much as though she was amused with the predicted headache that she was going to give her troll buddy when he awoke.
"If it were up to me though..." She began again. "I would say, go right ahead and explore this place! It's pretty big, and it looks like it would be a great adventure~" Terezi sort of sung the last part of her sentence. I think she liked to do that, cause she did it a lot.
"Ya hear that bro? Best friend is fast asleep anyway, so wouldn't it make more motherfuckin sense if we all up and left him to sleep for a while? The further away we are, the less of a racket we'll be making. So let's get our motherfuckin' explore on!" Gamzee chimed in. I guess I couldn't really argue with that, even though Terezi had just said that it seemed impossible to wake the sleeping troll up. Oh well, he would probably be resting for a while anyway, so I just nodded and agreed.
"Motherfuckin' miracles my brother! Let's roll!" Right after this exclamation, Gamzee grabbed the handles of my cripple device and started to run really fast to the next hallway. I had to hold on tight, otherwise, it was nearly impossible for me to stay in one place.
"GAMZEEEEE THIS IS REALLY FAAAST!" I tried to say it clearly, but that was kind of hard, because I think my face was flapping around as we were moving so very rapidly! Not to mention, I could definitely see that there was a wall not too far away from where we were headed! My eyes closed almost automatically when this happened. Oh please gog if you're out there, DONT MAKE US RUN INTO THAT-...nope, not gonna happen.
I can say that I have always wanted to fly, but this was not exactly what I had in mind. My body took lift off, and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't so naturally inclined to expect pain! Good thing Gamzee was there, because otherwise I'm sure I would have been even more cripple than I was at that very moment. He was tipsy, but at least he had somewhat of a saving instinct hidden somewhere inside him, because some way, some how, he caught me right where I landed.
In an instant, I was on my belly and on top of Gamzee. I think he honked whenever I landed on him, which is kind of funny to me now, but I'm not sure it was so much funny to me then. I looked around where I was suddenly laying, and wondered why I had landed so comfy. Gamzee may look kind of skinny, and maybe a little bit bony in some places, but he was actually really comfortable to me at the time.
"Gah! Gamzee, are you ok?" I asked while pushing myself up some with my arms. It was quiet for a while, and I almost thought that I had killed him, that is until he wrapped his arms around my back and started laughing.
"You motherfuckin' flew bro! I saw you with my own see holes! It was like you were your motherfuckin' Pupa Pan all up in this shit! Miracles Tav! You are made of Miracles!"
I almost wanted to ask if he seriously thought that I was flying, and I really think he did, but I didn't want to ruin his fun, so I didn't question it.
"Well, I'm pretty sure, that there was some gravity involved." I replied with a small smile.
"Motherfuckin what bro?" Gamzee twitched. I had almost forgot that he wasn't much of a believer in science and explanation, so I didn't take that any further.
"Uh, never mind. We'll just go with, yeah, I kind of did end up flying." It was an honest statement. I really did fly, even though I almost died in doing so.
"Like I said Tav, motherfuckin miracles!"
I started to try and lift myself off of him, but with little to no success. Not just because of my legs, but because he began to hug me to him. It was really weird, and a part of me wanted to get away, but at the same time, another part of me didn't want him to let go. Why did he like me so much? The one thing I wanted to avoid was making eye contact. I was already blushing enough as is, and if I looked him in the eyes, well, that would only make things worse. It was inevitable. Gamzee took me by my chin and forced me to make eye contact. I was shaking.
"Something wrong bro?" He smiled, voice soft. The purple in his see holes was starting to shimmer some, and I got confused. If I got any closer to him, I thought that I would die! Especially considering our noses were only inches away from touching. Oh gog, I was pretty sure that he suddenly remembered our little conversation from before!
As quick as I could, I used as much upper body strength possible to roll off of his warmth and onto the cold floor around us. From there, it would be pretty much useless for me to hoist myself up with my cripple device because of how far away it was now. Gamzee got up soon after I rolled away and crouched down in front of me, lifting me off the ground much without my permission. I was surprised how strong he was, and I felt like a grub as he was cradling me up to him.
"You are one jumpy motherfucker, you know that?" He smiled at me as he placed me back down in my chair. "Don't worry so much! You're in good hands. I won't do a brother no harm!" I noticed that his eyes were sparkling when he spoke, and it made me feel less uncomfortable.
"Oh, yeah, sorry Gamzee. I guess I've been a lot jumpier as of late. Maybe I need to take a nap or something..." I replied, once again avoiding eye contact.
"Nah bro! You'll be ok! But I mean, if you're motherfuckin tired, I can't really control that..." He looked kind of disappointed. I didn't want that, I didn't want him to be sad...
"Hey, don't worry Gamzee! I think I still got some energy in me! Just, uh, if it's ok, try not to go so fast this time..." I said. Here's hoping he would agree.
"Sure thing bro! I'll take you around nice and easy this time. Ok?" He smiled. That was a relief.
We went around a whole lot of places, and I really enjoyed looking around. Gamzee was doing a good job in keeping his promise. At one point, we were looking over a really tall balcony area. There were rooms and staircases below us, but we made sure to avoid those for my own sake, even though Gamzee had suggested that I ride on his back for a little bit, and to be honest I almost said yes.
"Tavbro, check this motherfuckin place out! It's like a motherfuckin wicked cave all damped up and ready for habitation! My brother, we own a castle! It's like we're all crowned up and shit, ready to rule our own pimped out motherfuckin universe!" Gamzee said to me. His voice was echoing because of the building's vastness.
I thought for a long while. A castle...wow...how cool would that be? I imagined hard that we were surrounded by big beautiful pillars and stone carved designs. Gamzee was dressed up in imaginary purple robes and a tilted crown placed over his right horn. It was all so very cool! But then I thought about myself...a rust blood...all I would have in castle time would be rags, and dirty shoes. That made me feel sad, and less confident, and if Rufio were real, he would talk down on me for thinking that way. It didn't take long for Gamzee to notice my discomfort, so he turned his head to me, and all that imaginary stuff faded away.
"What's up bro? You look upset! Anything I can do to help a motherfucker out?"
"Uh, nothing, it's not important..." I was looking down from the railing we were standing in front of when I responded. Wishful thinking caused me to want to just jump into the hole made by the twisting staircases below us, but at the same time, I didn't want to run away from the situation.
"Nah bro, you're cool. You got a situation on hand, I can hear a brother out! Just motherfuckin say what it is you need to say, I won't put a motherfuckin judgment on it." Gamzee was a true friend. The only thing I could do at that moment was explain it to him.
"See, there was one thing I was never really able to understand..." I began subtly.
"Yeah Tav? I'm all ears my brother."
I started off quietly, for some reason, even more nervous than before.
"Well...why is it...that you accept me? I mean, not just cause I'm nearly one of the lowest bloods on the spectrum, but cause...I don't think anyone else takes me seriously like you do Gamzee. Yeah Terezi is pretty supportive, and Aradia is kind of nice too...but they don't stick around like you do...you're like...my bestest bro ever, and I don't know why."
"Woah motherfucker, there has to be a reason now? Shit, I'm just your bro cause I wanna be your bro man! Me and you form some sick rhymes, play games...I don't think I all up and know how to be unfriendly! Plus, like I up and motherfuckin said before, you are made out of miracles! Pure, sweet, miracle juice bro." I looked at him now, not as afraid as before. It's hard to tell sometimes, but I could definitely see that he was not joking at this point. Now his hand was on my back. It was warm, and pretty comforting too. I was lucky to have a friend like Gamzee to be there for me.
I looked out and over the railing again, this time in higher spirits than before. My imagination looked better too, because with Gamzee around, I felt more like royalty.
"Heh...I wish this really was a castle, then we could be the greatest princes in all of Alternia, and rule together. Right?" My smile this time, was most certainly saying hello, instead of being shy like usual.
"Why the motherfuck not Tav?" When Gamzee spoke to reply to me, my hear holes started to tingle, like his lips were right next to my face. What I didn't know, is the fact that they were, and he kissed me lightly on the cheek.
In shock, I didn't say anything at first. It was all so sudden! It wasn't even a make out session and I was still blushing! I looked at him, my ears drooping, and he looked at me. Another awkward moment exchange. Then in the silence, he put his arm around me and smiled out to the dark below staircases.
