Thanks for the reviews! I was very pleasantly surprised when I casually checked my email this morning in math and found reviews and favorites and alerts! Made my day. c:{


Chapter notes: I wanted to upload this early since I had it done. In my Journal I've already written up to chapter 9... I guess I should start digitalizing them.

At Fault: Chapter 2

It wasn't very late in the afternoon when Tavros rolled in from school. He had nowhere else to go except home so he didn't hesitate to retire to his room and get on his computer. He felt like leveling up his character in his roleplaying game. He quickly booted up his computer and logged into pesterchum as well as opened up WoW. He threw himself into his game, unaware of most everything around him. Over in the small cage, his bearded dragon scrabbled at the rocks and foliage in a protest for food (it wasn't his dinnertime but that hardly mattered to the piggish lizard). Tavros really just wanted to ignore everything, really. The only way he could get out of his reality was to lose himself in the fun of his roleplaying games, like WoW or FLARP. He allowed himself to be forgotten within the game. It grew dark in his room and night came full-on, but he still hadn't moved from his spot. It was hours before he pulled his eyes away from the screen and rolled away from his desk; his father was calling him from downstairs.

He rolled away from his computer and was careful not to knock over his piles of trading cards that littered around his whole floor. It was a real inconvenience and every time he passed it he wondered why he never cleaned up the mess. He rolled out his room and stopped at the top of the stairs. It was a real obstacle for him obviously, so instead of wasting the time he just called to his father who was still impatiently waiting downstairs. "Y-yeah dad?"

"Get your ass down here!"

There was a sigh. No use fighting it, he guessed. He struggled out of his chair and crawled down the stairs. He'd been doing this since they moved to the house almost ten years ago, so it wasn't a big deal. It was just time consuming and tedious. He really didn't have a problem with it anyway; his father couldn't afford any other house. He certainly didn't want to cause trouble for him! Besides his arm muscles had grown very strong.

Once to the bottom of the stairs and back in his other wheelchair that he always kept near the stairs he wheeled into the kitchen where his father was standing over the message machine. He cast a somber look over at his son, "I have been calling for you for three minutes."

"I-I'm sorr-ry." Tavros murmured as he wheeled himself over to the counter. "W-what did y-you need?"

"I got another call from school. Today you skipped math class." His father glared down at him, "being late for all these classes, and then you SKIP one? Do you have any shame?"

Tavros looked away, "I-it wasn't my fault." It really wasn't. Other students blocked the elevator so he couldn't get to the second floor where the classroom was located. They would often do it to make him late, but never had they kept him from actually missing an entire class. It was very shaming, really. But there was nothing he could have done.

"I suppose it isn't your fault that your mother died too!" his father growled and rubbed his temples in exasperation, "The call said we are to visit with the counselors tomorrow. Now I have to miss work. I hope you're happy with yourself."

Tavros fiddled his thumbs around each other, "I'm s-sorry Dad…" It was futile fighting it. Whether his dad knew of Tavros' bullying or not, it hardly mattered.

"I wonder if you really are." His father replied. "I get calls from school all the time. Don't you know how to behave?"

"I-I do behave, just… Sorry, Dad." All he could do his apologize and hope his father doesn't get angry with him.

"If you behaved we wouldn't be going to have a meeting with your counselor." His Dad snorted and went to the fridge to pull out a beer, "go back to your room, Tavros. I don't want to be reminded of your existence right now."

Tavros nodded and wheeled out of the kitchen. He climbed up the stairs- which were easier to climb up than down- and instantly went back on his computer to find somebody messaging him.

-apocalypseArisen [AA] began pestering adiosToreador [AT]-

AA: hell0

AT: uHHH, hELLO aRADIA,

AT: wHAT'S UP?

AA: n0thing really

AA: I just g0t on I th0ught I w0uld message you

AA: y0u were upset last night

AA: actually y0u are upset every night it seems

AT: i WAS BUT THAT'S OKAY,

AT: aRE YOU ON WOW OR FLARP RIGHT NOW,

AA: n0 n0t yet

AA: did y0u start with0ut me

AT: hUH, nO i DIDN'T,

AA: 0kay

AA: h0w are you t0day

AA: did anyb0dy get y0u into tr0uble

AT: uHHH, yEAH BUT ITS NO BIG DEAL,

AT: hAPPENS ALL THE TIME,

AT: jUST THIS TIME THE SCHOOL CALLED MY DAD,

AA: what did y0ur dad say 0_0

AA: wait what happened in the first place

AT: jUST THAT i COULDN'T GO TO CLASS TODAY, uHHH,,, bECAUSE SOME KIDS BLOCKED THE ELEVATOR,,,

AA: that is terrible

AT: wORSE THINGS HAPPEN,

AA: what did y0ur dad say

AT: hE WAS UPSET THAT WE HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL TOMORROW FOR A, uHHHH, cOUNSELOR'S MEETING,

AT: i THINK,,,,

AA: for missing class or that you were bullied 0ut of making it t0 class

AT:,,,, fOR MISSING CLASS

AA: i can assume you did n0t even tell your father that it was from a bully

AT: iT DOESN'T MATTER, rEALLY,

AA: yes it d0es

AT: cAN WE JUST PLAY THE GAME,,,

AA: I just want to make sure y0u are 0kay

AT: i AM FINE,

AT: rEALLY,

AT: iF i WASN'T FINE i WOULD INFORM YOU SO,

AT: bECAUSE THAT IS WHAT FRIENDS DO,

AA: i hardly believe you but i w0nt waste time fighting y0u ab0ut it

AA: i am g0ing to l0g 0n

AT: sEE YOU THERE,

-apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering adiosToreador [AT]-

Tavros sat back in his chair and waited. His only other close friend was too kind to him. She was his roleplaying buddy on all the games he played as well as a good personal friend. She always asked about his problems, but never shared any of her own. It made Tavros feel a little selfish always telling her about his father or his school problems each time they talked. Ah well, at least they never talked for long, they spent most of the time playing on an array of online games, which was perfectly fine with him. Dwelling on his problems was never a thing he liked to do.

It wasn't a long wait before he noticed his friend was online now. He wasted no time plunging back into his game and playing with his friend late into the night. It calmed his nerves greatly, and he forgot about his daytime problems. Bullies and his dad were far in the back of his mind as he became his character and explored virtual worlds with his good friend.

It was when she had to sign off that all the memories of the day returned.

-apocalypseArisen [AA] began pestering adiosToreador [AT]-

AA: g00dnight

AA: g00d luck t0mm0rr0w

AT: tHANKS,

AT: yOU TOO,

-apocalypseArisen [AA] ceased pestering adiosToreador [AT]-

Tavros glanced at the clock and found it was terribly late; too late to take a shower. It took a long time for him to take showers, naturally. He'd probably end up waking his father up anyway with the running water and get yelled at. He just decided to go straight to bed and hope for the best tomorrow. Getting into bed was a bit of an inconvenience, but once Tinkerbull was in his tight grasp and his head comfortably resting on his pillow he was out like a light.

Tavros woke with a start. He'd been dreaming, or rather; having a nightmare. It wasn't frequent luckily, just on some nights where his thoughts were churning. Sitting up in bed he turned off his incessantly annoying alarm and tried to push away the feelings after the dream. It was another one of the crash he had been in all those years ago, only his mother didn't die. She was alive. She didn't even have to go to the hospital for any sort of wounds or injuries. She was different though; she had no emotions. She went by impassively, and she when she walked her legs wouldn't move. Her flesh had begun to rot, and her eyes fell out, leaving dark, gaping holes that crawled and wriggled with white, sticky maggots. Her nails and teeth continued to grow until they were grotesque and gnarly. When she tried to hug him, whispering unintelligible words that echoed through the space between them, he screamed in pure fear and cried until wakefulness. Dreams like that were a bit rare for him these days, but they still happened and he'd grown used to them by now.

Moving quickly, he knew there wasn't time for a shower again. It took at least an hour to properly wash himself, and he just didn't have the time that morning. He pulled off the clothes he fell asleep in and quickly re-clothed with some cleaner attire. It was a struggle to get into a pair of long jeans; he had to have a struggle on top of his bed, wriggling his hips and trying to put his pants on. Once back on his chair, he smoothed them out; he still had a habit of making it look like he had legs to avoid scaring anybody. He easily slipped on a button-up gray shirt and ran a comb there his Mohawk, making sure it was tame and fluffy. Perhaps it was time to cut it here soon… or maybe dye the tips… Tavros mused as he wheeled himself to the staircase. He crawled down the stair He thought nothing of it most of the time, especially when he was distracted by other things; like today's meeting. His fingers prickled with nervousness as he pulled himself onto his other chair that he kept at the bottom of the staircase and wheeled himself into the kitchen.

"Morning, Tavros. Are you ready to go finally?" His father asked uninterestedly from the kitchen table, his nose in today's newspaper and his hand holding a cup of coffee. The scene looked sort of comically stereotypical.

"Yeah." He was going to have breakfast but that could wait, he supposed.

"Good." He finished his coffee and abandoned his paper and left the kitchen, Tavros following close behind.

His father waited impatiently as Tavros wriggled into the backseat of the car and folded the wheelchair up and pulled it in as well. The drive to school was very quiet. He had quite a dislike for riding in cars, and the reason was obvious. His father didn't care for it much either, especially with Tavros in the car as well. Sometimes he noticed his father shift his gaze up into the rear-view mirror just to glower at him in the backseat for a few short moments before he returned his gaze back to the road. Tavros's fingers prickled uncomfortably again and he looked outside instead. He nervously watched every passing car with a certain fear. It was silly; who gets into a car accident twice?

They drove up into the school parking lot. His dad wasted no time making his way towards the building while Tavros pulled out his wheelchair and unfolded it while trying not to fall out of the car seat. Once he slithered rather awkwardly into the wheelchair and shut the car door some nearby kids exchanged glances and snickered at him. The nervous boy turned his head away and hurriedly rolled after his dad who was already at the entrance of the school. They made it to the counselor's office again in a lingering silence.

A lady at the desk near the door glanced up as they entered, "Mr. Nitram and his son, correct?"

His dad nodded, "I was called for my son missing yet another class."

The desk-lady arched up her eyebrow, "Missing class, huh?" She cast an unsure glance at Tavros before shrugging and picking up her phone and pressed a single button. "Mr. Nitram and his son are here."

There was a muffled reply before she returned the phone to the receiver and fixed them with another look, "You can go down the hallway behind me to the second door." She said before returning to her work.

The two headed down the said hallway. It was painfully narrow, and it was difficult to get through the doorway to the cramped office. The air was thick and warm and stunk of coffee and cheap cologne, sorta of like the kind his dad wears. The walls were decorated with sheets of paper that had varying types of information on them, as well as bulletin boards, drawings students made, and generic pictures of presumably the counselor's family. There were several awkwardly scattered chairs, a wide desk in the corner and several boxes and filing cabinets with overflowing papers. He rolled over a paper and it made a loud crinkling sound; he then flinched when the counselor and his father looked up at him curiously.

"Good morning you two. My name is Mr. Johnson." The counselor finally said when Tavros got himself situated in the corner and out of the way, "I hope this meeting wasn't an inconvenience, Mr. Nitram."

"It was a little bit. I had work today, but I can afford to take a day off if my son is acting badly in school." His father replied with a sort of scornful, calm voice.

Mr. Johnson offered a crooked smile, "ah yes. Well, there lies the one of the problems. You see Tavros here isn't a bad student at all. His grades are average, see." He turned to his computer, clicked this, typed that and pulled up a digital record of Tavros's grades. "You can see here, B's mostly, with a C or two."

"Well nice to know my son doesn't fail at everything." Tavros's father muttered, "So if he isn't a bad student why am I here?"

"You're here because he has been late to class too many times," Mr. Johnson explained, "He's been having struggles socially, as well."

"I'm not surprised, who could stand to be around Tavros anyway?" His father said it as if it were the most natural thing to say in the presence of your child.

Tavros didn't react, like usual he was used to it. He kept his eyes trained on Mr. Johnson instead. He looked a little uncomfortable at his dad's statement about Tavros, "do you usually talk about your son like that?"

"I'm only saying what he knows very well himself." He said in a disregarding manner, maybe even a little bored.

Tavros suddenly had eye contact with Mr. Johnson and he immediately glanced down at his lap. The way Mr. Johnson had looked at him was a bit strange. He stared at his fingers as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. I should really paint them or something, he thought, feigning interest in his own nails.

"…Okay. Mr. Nitram you do know your son is bullied?" Mr. Johnson inquired, leaning a little forward.

"Oh? Still being called names from the playground?" His father sounded generally uninterested, which hurt Tavros more than he would care to admit.

"I would assume so. " Mr. Johnson said, still eying Tavros. "Hey… Tavros, why don't you leave for a bit? I'd like to speak to your father in private."

Tavros glanced up at him, a bit surprised, "D-do I have t-to go to class?"

"No. The meeting isn't over yet… come back in about 10 minutes alright?" Mr. Johnson told Tavros with a fair smile.

"A-alright…" He replied, uncontrollably stuttering as he wheeled his way out of the office. He wasn't sure what to do with himself. Maybe play one of his handheld devices or look on his phone to see if anybody was on pesterchum. He checked and sighed; nobody online. Reaching into his book-bag he didn't find his PSP either. He must have left it at home. Darn it he thought crossly before sighing again and wheeling past the front desk and out into the hallway. Maybe he could use the restroom. That could consume a lot of time.

He returned to the office about ten minutes later. Just in time as well. Mr. Johnson looked up, "hello Tavros. Welcome back."

Tavros offered a small smile, "t-thanks."

"Okay Tavros. Why did you not go to class yesterday?"

Tavros fiddled with his thumbs, "uhh… S-some students wouldn't let me on the elevator."

Mr. Johnson nodded, "can you tell me who they were?"

"Err…" Tavros never really repeated the bullying he was always succumbed to. It would just cause more trouble. When he glanced up Mr. Johnson was looking at him expectedly and very quietly and slowly he said the names of the students. Mr. Johnson wrote them down and nodded.

"Don't worry; they won't bother you anymore." Mr. Johnson said with another smile. "We will be sure to talk to them and make sure they don't mess with you again. Now Tavros, is there anything else you'd like to add?"

When Tavros shook his head no, Mr. Johnson nodded and gave him another smile, "You can go to class now. I'll write you a pass. These people shouldn't bother you anymore; we'll talk to them."

Tavros knew it was a lie. He'd probably get in trouble with them now. He didn't argue, however, he just slowly wheeled himself out of the office and to his next class.


Regarding the pesterchum conversation I'm not entirely sure if I got Aradia's personality down. I was going for more... Pre-death personality, but a bit of post-death personality...? Hard to explain, borderline both I guess.

If I got anything wrong or anything I should improve on let me know!