Today was just one of those days.
Not only was Gamzee late for his first class, but his throat stung, his legs were aching, and his mouth would not rid itself of a bitter taste that not even water would ease the taste.
He received a good tongue lashing from his teacher, as well as denial from the class itself. So, he sat on campus, clutching his books and awaiting for the time to slip away. While this went on, he thought about things. He would have to receive notes from a fellow classmate, which sucked terribly because he didn't know many people.
He could only desperately wish that he could connect with someone soon.
An hour later, he found himself in his favorite class.
Home-Ec.
Today, they were in the 'lab'.
"Okay, class! Please go through steps one to five and then tell me when you're there!" The teacher announced, clapping her hands together as a signal to begin.
Almost immediately, his classmates had scampered off to the kitchen to start cooking. Gamzee faltered, looking around to see if anyone was left to be his partner. He'd rather not cooperate with another person, liking to be alone most of the time, but if anyone was left, he would join them. As it turned out, no one was left, so he shrugged to himself and strolled to the back as well.
Today they were cooking fish, salmon to be specific, and even more so, perfectly cooked with crisped skin and dribbled with olive oil. Fish was rather hard to cook at times, but Gamzee knew he would do well.
To start things off, he poured a fair amount of olive oil into a skillet and turned the stove on medium to await for the oil to sizzle. While waiting, he leaned against a nearby counter, sighing to himself and looking at the ceiling. He shifted his legs, trying to distribute his weight better and cause less pain.
The sudden slam of the classroom door brought his attention back and his gaze turned back to where his teacher was. The tall, young woman was talking to a shorter male with scruffy hair. This male seemed a bit odd for this class, rather gruff and angry looking. Even so, he handed the teacher a small piece of paper to look over. She soon smiled and gave a slight point to where Gamzee was watching.
The two approached him.
"Gamzee, I want to introduce you to a new student transferring to our school. His name is Karkat Vantas, and I would like it if you'd show him the ropes around here, can you do that?" She cooed softly, giving the taller male a comforting grin.
Gamzee smiled back and nodded. "Why, yeah. I think I can give that a shot…"
The woman clapped her hands together with and a triumphant, "Perfect! Continue with the lab, okay?"
"Right away, Ms. Megido!" Gamzee had farewelled before turning to the new student. "Hey, bro, my name is G-"
"Gamzee Makara, yeah, I know!" The other interjected in a hiss, making Gamzee flinch slightly. "Listen, I don't want to fucking be here at all. I just took this damn course for an easy credit. So, why don't you just make it easy on both of us and just cook or some shit!"
Gamzee paused for a moment, observing this short and temper-mental fellow momentarily before flashing a silly grin. "Why, sure thing my new best friend!" Dragging Karkat closer, he opened a drawer to pull out a spatula. "Let's get cooking!"
Such behavior could only leave Karkat sputtering, "I am NOT your best friend!"
.
There always seems to be a little ritual that goes on in the Makara household. The head of the household was most commonly found in the living room, wasting away in front of the television while chugging a bottle of whisky. Kurloz, the 'shy' older brother, wandered about aimlessly around the house, unless his girlfriend, Meulin, was around.
Gamzee had his own schedule.
An hour after arriving home, he had received a text merely stating: i'M HERE,
The youngest Makara bounded down the stairs to open the front door and let in his best friend in the whole wide world, Tavros. This young man flashed a soft grin as he was let in, his fluffy mohawk bouncing slightly as he entered. Gamzee couldn't help the silly grin on his own face as he watched that tuft of hair swishing with near joy.
"So, let me guess, you need help on your math work again, right?" He had murmured as the two beings strolled up the stairs. Gamzee gave a slight bit of laughter as well as a brief nod. Tavros rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Gamzee, seriously, you can be such a pain sometimes…"
Although hurt by the last comment, Gamzee ignored his friend and, instead, followed him as they entered his bedroom.
.
"Gamzee, don't you remember learning this last year?" Tavros asked in a clearly exasperated tone.
Beside him, Gamzee was leaning against the bed frame, looking at the ceiling as he tried to think. "Uhh, no my brother, I don't remember any of that number stuff…"
The Taurus flung the pencil in his hand away, only to use the now available hand to run through his hair. Gamzee sat up more so, staring at his best friend. "I am sorry, Tavros. Math is just really hard for me…"
Tavros shook his head. "Yes, I know Gamzee, it's just…"
The taller one's brow furrowed. A fair amount of silence was allowed to be produced while he tilted his head the slightest bit. "Is it your dad?" Of course, he knew the answer before the Taurus even said it.
"Yes. He's being possessive again, overbearing and…" the shorter murmured heavily, eyes downcasting. There was the 'and', Gamzee knew what that meant as well.
"The people at school…" Gamzee never understood why people could be so mean, especially to his best friend. He always absorbed a lot of negative attention, mostly being referred to as a nerd, geek, special-needing, anything that could possibly demean him, and it was terrible.
People were terrible.
Gamzee looked at his best friend with a sympathetic gaze. "I am real sorry about all the stuff that happens to you, Tav…"
The look given to him couldn't have been more bitter. "Yeah, you say that a lot, Gamzee."
There was a long pause between the two best friends. Tavros was leering at a seemingly interesting piece of notebook paper with detailed notes while Gamzee was fiddling with his fingers. It was times like these that made the Makara's heart ramp up. "Do you wanna… talk about it?"
And this was when the rambling started.
"It was Vriska again, well, mostly. Then that rich, pompous, douche, Eridan. Feferi was, as usual, didn't really mean much but…" his voice faded rather quickly as he tried to catch his breath and keep himself calm. "Other people are joining in, like, a lot of people and, uhh… I don't know what to do about it. Then there's my dad…" at this point, his words faded to nothing, and it was well-known that he was done with his speech.
Gamzee bit his bottom lip, weighing what to say next. Also at times like this, he felt guilty for not always being there for his friend. Living across town from each other, they were forced to go to different schools, and it was painful knowing that he couldn't be there for him. However, it was also times like these where he could at least try to help.
Tavros was brought to attention when his friend had run a hand through his fluffy mohawk. Gamzee faltered slightly, eyeing his counterpart of a friend with a distant gaze. With their gazes intertwined, it was silent for a very long time. Yet again, the Makara found himself biting his lower lip with a bit of nervousness, and a quake in his lower back had made him falter in his question.
Even so, a mumbled of words had passed by his lips, "Do you want to… y'know?"
That spark in the Taurus' eyes was petrifying. "I thought you'd never ask…"
.
No one ever noticed, no one ever heard. Father was half drunk, brother was mindless, and Gamzee was on his own.
The whole thing felt rather disgusting. Being penetrated and shoved into so roughly was cruel, burning, and aching. It always left him sore. The rocking of his bed was like a soundly reminder of what was going on, so even closing his eyes wouldn't ease him. He wished that was the worst part, but it wasn't.
He could remember the use of the word 'slut' a few times, and then 'bitch', and 'whore'. Was that supposed to be a turn on? It wasn't working very well. Then his hair would be pulled, ripped by the strands so he looked up, and, on the rare occasion, he was slapped across the face just on the spur of the moment.
Gamzee was silent, almost all the time, except for the occasional grunt or whimper. He never said no, in fact, he sometimes suggested it. Although he didn't like what they were doing, he'd put up with it, since it was helping his best friend feel better.
Even so, he couldn't look at his dear friend when he was being violated, it was disgusting. Instead, he closed them tightly and tried to stay calm.
At times like these, he would wonder: what exactly was going on between him and his best friend? Were they just friends? Is there something more? If so, what is this something?
And when Tavros finally would become calm and smile once again, Gamzee would answer that question silently to himself.
Let's call this 'love'...