It'd been four months since Sgrub had officially come to an end. The details of what happened after he died were fuzzy: apparently Gamzee had killed Terezi, the Condesce had shown up, some kid named Jake did a weird hope thing a second time, an imaginative version of some Dirk kid came back to life and stole the Condesce's soul, and then Jade came back to life? After the Condesce had been killed, along with that seemingly nice Aranea girl, Lord English had shown up to wreak havoc. Through a series of confusing events, the Calliope cherub was given the ring and came back to live. Her and Lord English faced off, but instead of a battle like most had thought, they'd joined together in some strange cherub mating ritual, which was supposedly still going on in another universe.

Again, Tavros was a little fuzzy on the details. He hadn't been there, and most of the things he'd been told made no sense whatsoever to him. The only things we were certain of occurred AFTER the dead had come back to life. It was a strange feeling, or at least for him it was. The whole situation pissed a lot of his friends off, because the game turned out to be just that after all: a game. Once Lord English was 'defeated', in a manner of speaking, it was like someone hit the reset button. Even the dancestors had come back to life, which Tavros thought made zero sense, but whatever. There were only a few things that proved the game had even existed in the first place.

First there were the memories, but this only seemed to affect the ones who'd played. Everyone else was completely unaware that their planets had been destroyed, which brings us to the next piece of proof: Alternia. The entire planet just ceased to exist, which meant that the game did have an effect on external forces after all. The part that confused Tavros the most, though, was the fact that both trolls AND humans now lived on Earth. The two races behaved well together, seeming to have lived this way since they were born, which in their minds they did.

Then there were the scars. Not the physical ones, although a few of those did remain, but the mental ones. For example, almost everyone hated Gamzee. After they all mysteriously awoke on Earth, Gamzee was back to his old self again. Or at least, he would've been had it been for the depression constantly attacking him. It wasn't the lack of sopor that'd caused him to go crazy: it was that stupid puppet. The juggalo claimed to be overtaken by an evil spirit that'd traveled from Lil Cal to him, but many of his friends refused to believe that. They all thought it was that green ooze that'd fucked him up, but a few remained open minded. Tavros was among those few, as was Karkat, Sollux, Eridan, and Feferi. Everyone else stuck up their noses: even Kanaya.

There had been many nights where Gamzee would come to the apartment that Tavros shared with Rufioh and unload all of his sorrows onto the Taurus, revealing just how horrible it'd been during the time he was possessed. He'd been forced to give up control of his own body and watch as the being inside of him hurt all the people he cared about. He could only watch as he killed and beheaded them, and he'd often awake in a cold sweat from the nightmares. On Earth, there was so sopor slime, because none of the trolls had nightmares anymore. Or at least, not the kind of nightmares that could turn your think pan to mush like they had back on Alternia. Therefore, nothing could be done about Gamzee's night terrors. All he could do was turn to Tavros, who was always there for him, no matter the time.

Another example would be Eridan. When he'd come back to life, there was no excuse for what he did. No spirits or demons had possessed him, or at least no demons that weren't already there before Sgrub had ruined their lives. He had murdered them in cold blood, and the ones he cared about hated him for it. The troll was even more alone now than he'd ever been. The only two trolls who even bothered with him were Vriska, who merely harassed him, and Gamzee, who could easily understand how the violet blood felt. He may not have intentionally killed his friends like Eridan had, but he still knew what it was like to have everyone turn their back on you.

Then there was Vriska, who was forgiven by most. The only trolls who refused to talk to her were Terezi, who felt too guilty to say anything, Tavros, who was still upset about the whole 'treasure hunt' fiasco, and Gamzee, who hated Vriska for everything she'd done to Tavros. He was all about forgiveness and everything, but when it came to his Tavbro, he wasn't so easygoing. Fuck with him, he'd fuck you up, in a manner of speaking.

Tavros was still adjusting to life on Earth, much like his friends were. During the first week, Tavros had spent most of his time courting Jade, who friend-zoned him on many occasions. Finally he'd just given up, and in time he'd gotten over her. He was now perfectly content with just being close friends, seeing as Jade wound up with Karkat anyway. Their matespritship was a weird one, but it worked, and Tavros was happy for the both of them. Besides, he'd found a new matesprit that he pitied much more than her.

By now Tavros had completely mastered walking on his metal legs, but he still kept his wheel chair around just in case. Since he was only paralyzed from the mid-thigh down, the metal dug into his skin and started hurting after a while. When this happened, he just unlatched them and used his wheelchair, which he typically did when he was in his apartment. Over time he'd become an excellent cook, always letting Rufioh, Kurloz, and Gamzee sample his dishes as well. His apartment was like a second home to the high bloods, and they rarely stayed at their own apartment that was literally two floors about Tavros'.

Kurloz's stitched lips were fully healed once the game had ended, even restoring his tongue so he could speak. His matespritship with Meulin, who regained her hearing, was back on and stronger than ever. She even visited sometimes, but she never brought Nepeta with her. The younger Leo was too disappointed with Gamzee to visit, and she knew that Gamzee spent most of his time at Tavros', so she never went there. Her and Tavros hadn't even talked for three months. Most of the friends didn't, actually…

Rufioh and Kurloz had become close now that the latter could talk again. He didn't creep Rufioh out anymore, so the rust blood permitted him to come to his wonderful home whenever he pleased. He and Gamzee even had keys to the damn place. Ya, life was pretty good for Tavros Nitram, even if he'd lost contact with some of his friends. He was happy, and that's all that mattered.

Soon Rufioh would be getting married to his boyfriend, Horuss, whom he'd proposed to a couple weeks ago, and moving into his house. Horuss lived alone, seeing as Equius had rented an apartment with Nepeta immediately after the game, who had become his matesprit a mere month later. This meant that Tavros would be getting their shared apartment all to himself: save Kurloz, Meulin, and Gamzee, but he didn't really mind. The two former trolls just sort of came with his matesprit.

Oh, did I forget to mention that GAMZEE was Tavros' matesprit? Oops, well he is. It'd all started one night when Gamzee came to his home after having another one of his night terrors. Tavros' had quietly let him in, not wanting to wake his roommate, and allowed him into his room. The two curled up together on Tavros' bed, which had become a regular thing for them, as Gamzee sobbed onto Tavros' shoulder. The Taurus allowed him to bawl his eyes out to his heart's content, but inside of lulling himself to sleep like usual, Gamzee had turned Tavros towards him and kissed him.

Tavros was a little uncomfortable as first, not sure where to place his hands or if he should close his eyes, but with Gamzee's help he'd figured it out. When the Capricorn pulled away, he looked at Tavros desperately, using his eyes to beg for what he needed. He just needed to be loved by somebody and accepted, just like Tavros wanted.

They started out slow and awkward, but soon their sloppy kisses had turned into so much more and they made love, crying out each other's names as they gave into ecstasy and slipped into unconsciousness. They'd awoken to a very amused Rufioh standing in their doorway. Gamzee only smiled at the elder, but Tavros had been embarrassed beyond belief and even hid under the covers.

Looking back on that day, Tavros smiles as he remembers the thoughts running through his head. He had been so nervous back then, but now his confidence had peaked and his life was good. He had his matesprit right by his side, his dancestor in the room next door, and Tavros didn't think that life for him could get any better. In fact, he was glad he'd played that silly game, because if it weren't for Sgrub, he wouldn't have been so close to the people he adored.