It was well past 2 PM when Tavros decided he had given you enough time alone and went looking for you, soon enough finding you sitting in the trench of one of the dried up sewers that didn't really lead anywhere, since it had been blocked completely after this area was declared a safe place. You often come to this area when you want to be alone, since it was always so quiet and no one ever ventured that far away from the main habited area. It still is a safe part of the city of course, inside the Safe Zone completely, but it is just so lonely that no one really dares to come here alone. No one likes loneliness and silence anymore.
Tavros carefully crouched down before jumping down to where you're sitting at, and made himself comfortable right beside you on the cold, hard ground. He was quiet for several seconds, just looking at you as you chewed on the inside of your cheek and looked to the ground.
"Hey..." He finally muttered, lifting a hand to brush your hair and place a black lock behind your ear that stubbornly went back to its place immediately after he did so. "Are you, uh, okay?" He says in a worried tone. You purse your lips tightly and sigh.
"Yeah." You lie, and he takes a moment to reply.
"I really don't think that's, true, honestly." He keeps his eyes on you. You keep quiet until you suddenly decide to change the subject.
"You think these motherfucker are ever gonna come up with a cure or some shit that will fix all this fucking mess?" You ask with a frown, your eyes set on his face. He considers your question for a moment in silence, his eyes looking to the ground.
"Yes." He finally replies, but you sense doubt in his voice. You nod anyways.
"How do you think they can go all up and about doing something like that?"
"You mean, how can they find, a cure to the virus?" You nod. "Uh... Well, if it's a virus, like they had said, then scientists could try out some way to, create a vaccine, or something... The same way they have always done with, diseases, and such. But you, probably already knew that..." He chuckles nervously and rubs the back of his head, probably feeling silly for being obvious. You think his answer is valid, though. "They could find something that, kills the virus... Or they can find out a weakness, on those things." You figure the first option meant salvation for the monsters, while the second one meant annihilation.
"They could... all up and maybe find some motherfucker that resists the virus and use their blood." You say, and he looks at you funny.
"Uh... that could be a, very good way to go about, finding a cure, I'm sure. But the thing is, there is no one that fits the required traits... Everyone turns into those things. I think that sort of luck only happens in movies."
"But it's possible." you insist stubbornly, and he frowns as he thinks it over.
"Yes, I suppose. I just think it is, unlikely. But yes, it can always happen. It would be a, miracle, as you would say, if a person like that was still alive, though. One that resists the virus, I mean." You chuckle. A miracle. You briefly wonder if you really are a miracle. How else could you be still alive and human after being bitten?
"Where did you go yesterday?" He asks after a few moments, breaking the momentary silence and drastically changing the subject. You purse your lips tightly again. You assume he is asking both about yesterday afternoon, and last night. Probably whichever you wanted to answer. You remember the bag you brought for him from outside the Safe Zone, and wonder if you are brave enough to give the contents to him now. You decide you have to do it eventually, since you risked your life to give him back some of his memories. You guess the surprise wouldn't betray that you had gotten hurt at all, but you decide to wait a little longer just so that he doesn't associate your irresponsible trip outside the Safe Zone with your uncontrollable crying that same day. He would ask what you had seen or what had happened. He would maybe even see right through you and force you to stay still as he looked for wounds on your body.
"I was just hanging around." You shrug.
He stares at you again. God, you wish he wouldn't do that. You know he is trying to read you and you are so afraid he will succeed.
"I... wish I could do something..." he trails off and you wonder if he means that he wishes he could do something to help you from feeling sad ever again. You know he wants to know which painful memory had finally broken you down yesterday. You shake your head with a sad smile. He doesn't say anymore, and instead just sits by your side for a few minutes, until he finally decided to scoot even closer to you and rest his head on your shoulder, pressing a soft kiss there before doing so. You were glad it wasn't the injured one.
Another day has gone by and you still are human. You are now convinced you are immune, and you have been thinking about telling somebody about it. Someone you could trust, that wouldn't decide to shoot your head before you even had a chance to explain, thinking it was a better idea to prevent you from turning and killing them.
But first you decide it's time to give a certain someone their birthday present, despite it being a few weeks away still. Better sooner than later, or so you think, and with the constant worries looming over you, you guess it's better if you try to get that over with. You practice a confident smile that would assure him it had been a piece of cake to retrieve the items, and that you had made it back safely, absolutely unharmed.
Once you felt as ready as you would probably ever be, you waited until you were alone in the bedroom to check on the bag, and bent down to reach under the bed for it. You see some brownish, dried up blood covering the white plastic in random spots. You empty out the contents on the bed, and quickly shove the bag under the bed again, thinking of discarding it later, and you check the stuff to see if anything had blood on it. Everything is spotless, but the picture frames have cracks all over them and are just barely holding together. You shake your head a little disappointed, but you realize it probably doesn't matter all that much as long as the pictures are fine, which they are.
After a few moments of carefully looking the things over, you leave the presents alone and get out of the room to fetch Tavros from the living room, where you know he is chatting with Aradia, one of the girls that lived in the house that had become his friend rather quickly.
You drag Tavros away with a quick apology and lead him to the room, telling him to close his eyes before letting him inside. You check to see if he's not peeking before you make him sit on the bed carefully, and quickly grab the plush toy in you hand, suddenly anxious.
"I got a surprise for ya, bro." He begins to giggle at that, and you know he is suddenly excited, a big grin spreading across his face.
"Okay..." You take one of his hands in yours carefully and see him purse his lips with anticipation. You place the stuffed animal against his palm to let him feel the softness of the cloth, and he frowns with smile as he begins to squeeze it lightly, probably guessing it was a plushie. You are sure he hasn't even seen one in a very long time.
You lick your lips before speaking.
"Open your eyes." He slowly does as told, his eyes quickly darting to see what was in his hands. His eyes widen and he gasps as if he had just seen a ghost, and you saw a hand dart up to his mouth and cover it rather harshly in surprise.
"Oh my God..." He murmurs, lifting the toy with both of his hands to his face, looking it over with a confused and marveled expression, his eyes squinting when he began to grin widely.
Before he had time to process anything else, you grabbed one of the pictures from beside him and held it up, calling his attention to the small pile of photographs on the bed. He let down the plush on the bed and breathed out again, his hands running over the frames as if he couldn't decide which one he wanted to hold and look at first, or which one he wanted to kiss.
"Why... How did-" He stopped speaking before his face became drastically serious and scared, his eyebrows pulling together as he fixed his stare on you. "Gamzee, where did you get this?" He asks. You expected as much.
"Somewhere." You shrug with a smile. He lifts his hands to his face and groans loudly.
"You got out of the Safe Zone." His voice sounded worried even though you were right in front of him and out of danger. "You got out... God... Gamzee that, was very, very stupid." He let his hands fall from his face and he looked at you again, biting down on his lips as he held back tears. Oh hell no, you didn't want him to cry from anything else that wasn't happiness.
"I wanted to go all up and give a brother a surprise!" You say as you get on your knees in front of the bed, holding his face with your hands. "I thought these things would make you happy even for a little while." He lets a tear fall from his eyes before he wipes it off quickly, a moment of silence setting between you two.
"Don't... do it again." He says finally in a whisper, and looks at one of the portraits. The glass was cracked but the picture of him and his father was still intact. He breathes out a laugh, and you are certain it is from pure happiness. "... Thank you." He whispers then, and sets the picture aside to hug you tightly. "Thank you." He repeats as he nuzzles into your neck and gives you a soft kiss on your pale skin. You feel some pain from the tightness of the hug, but you don't let it show at all.
"You're motherfucking welcome." You gift him the hugest of grins you can muster, your heart beating madly at the sight of his glowing face as he squishes the plush toy. You haven't felt this happy in a very long time and it amazes you for a moment just how happy he can make you with just a smile. You suddenly think it had been worth it in the end.
He lets the plush down on his lap and looks at you for a few seconds, lifting a hand to your face. He cups your cheek and lets his thumb rest on your lips, and he slowly begins to rub it across them. You pucker your lips and kiss it before smiling. He giggles lightly before he starts to lean in, his own lips starting to part. And God did you want to meet his soft and warm lips with your own and let your tongue run over his. But you move your head in the last second, and he kisses your cheek instead, a frown beginning to grow on his face when he pulls away a little. You can read the confusion on his face. He leans in again, this time resting his forehead against yours.
"I want, to kiss you." He admits in a whisper, biting his own lips. You breathe out a soft laugh before leaning away and standing up, making him frown even deeper.
"I love you." You reply instead, successfully faking a smile. "Sorry, I don't feel any kind of good on my stomach right this second, I gotta go." You point a finger in the direction of the exit, and you see him nod, understanding you meant the bathroom.
"Okay." He says, and looks down at the stuffed bull again. You quickly get out of the room, cowardly deciding to hide in the bathroom for a few minutes before you get out and head to the street.