Soo, this chapter took a while and I'm sorry for that D: It's really long too but I hope you'll be able to make it through this wall of text. I was thinking of splitting this into two chapter but I think the flow is better like this. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it

Tavros was nervous, He wasn't going to deny it. If his legs would still be attached to his waist his knees would undoubtedly be shaking. Luckily, that wasn't the case. His legs were now made of steel and bolts, Unfaltering and stiff.

He could walk again and he didn't look too weird doing it either. Equius was really good at those robot-things. Though none of that mattered right now, He was standing outside Gamzee's hive.

He was scared, He was worried about his friend but he had heard of his.. Little freak out. No one had had visited Gamzee so no one knew about his current mental state. Still, Tavros didn't want to think that his old friend was crazy.

The Gamzee he knew would never do such things. But maybe Gamzee had changed, Maaybe he'd actually turned into a bloodthristy monster, Just the thought of it scared him shitless.

Either way there was no way of knowing that before he had met the subjuggalator himself.

So now he stood there like an idiot outside his door, He couldn't quite bring himself to knock. He bit his lip,"Come on, We can do this" He said, Partly to himself and partly to Rufio.

This was stupid. He couldn't even knock on a door to check in on his friend, For all he knew Gamee could be laying face drowning one of his pies, drowning.

It wouldn't surprise him and he could very well be dying inside that door, Yeah, He had to atleast knock on the door. But if Gamzee was drowning, he wouldn't be able to open the door.. Right? So knocking was futile.

Tavros frowned, He needed to stop thinking and just do it. He reached out is arm and first now he noticed it was shaking too. Damn, Does it have to be this hard?

He tried to ignore his shaking limbs and cautiously knocked on the door but he immediately regretted it. He doubted it could be heard from the inside. Aww, This was just pathetic.

Just open the door, You can do it! He tried to imagine Rufio's voice in his head. Rufio was right, He took a deep breath. Tried to calm himself down and opened the door.

The stench was the first thing that met him, A breeze scented by rotting sopor slime and spilled Faygo hit him like a punch to the face.

He frowned as he saw the mess inside. He had been to Gamzee's house once or twice before and it had never been tidy or clean, Nor had Tavros expected it to be now but this was much worse than earlier.

Both empty and filled pie tins were strewn across the room, Their content had spilled onto the floor and created a strange pattern of green stains on the floor.

Tipped over Faygo bottles were not a rare sight either, Just as the pie tins their contents had spilled onto the floor. The multicolored stains from the soda strangely complimented the green ones.

Various household items laid on the floor as well, The whole thing was such a mess it was hard to focus on a single object but Tavros didn't mind the mess.

He just wanted to find Gamzee. He quickly made his way through the minefield of various items and substances of questionable origins.

He checked every room on the bottom floor but no sign of Gamzee. He was getting more and more worried after each empty room.

Soon he realized there was only one place left to check. Upstairs. He felt a sting of hesitation in his chest.

It wasn't like he couldn't walk up stairs like before, He had mastered the vertical deathtraps by now but he couldn't really say tat the many times he had tumbled down them on the meteor left him completely unharmed, mentally.

He still found himself a bit hesistant even to this day. Still, He stepped up the stairs barley no hesitation, He was quite worried at this point.

It suddenly occurred to him that he never had been on the upper floor in Gamzee's house. Understandable since until recently he had been stuck in a four-wheeled device.

But now he felt lost, He could only assume that the upper floor was as big as the ground floor and it was a very big house. He felt his confidence sink even more and the panic crawling up his spine.

He wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible, Away from the stench, Away from the mess.

But not without Gamzee. He walked up the stairs with a newly found determination.

First room was empty, Save themess much like the ones in the other rooms. He quickly moved onto the next.. and next.. and next.

His panic grew as he continued down the hallway. At the fifth door he was thinking that Gamzee maybe had left the house which only made him more worried.

Considering he lived next to the sea and quite a big forest, Tavros couldn't help but think of the possibilities, he could be drowning, Or mauled to death by some monster.. Or drowning..

The latter would be worst since Tavros would be sinking like rock in water. He could probably handle a monster or two, Sgrub had forced him to become tougher but deep water, He was defenseless against that.

He turned the handle with his head still ful of thoughts of a drowning Gamzee. Though all those thought blew away as soon as he saw the mess inside.

The room was just as messy as the rest of the house but there was something that caught his attention in this one. A troll's torso was hanging out from the recuperacoon, Tavros ran up to the troll to identify the troll though he already knew who it was.

Gamzee Makara's grinning face greeted him. Tavros wasn't really sure how to react. It was obvious that Gamzee was under the effects of Sopor slime, He was barely able to focus on Tavros, his eyes was constantly jolting between his face and the ceiling.

Gamzee had .. Changed. His facial features were the same, Those were pretty hard to change after all. But now that Gamzee lacked his usual white face paint it was if a crucial part of him was lacking..

His face wasn't empty for that matter, Three diagonal scars now adorned his face. Three thin lines of silver, Tavros looked at them. He realized how close Gamzee had been to losing an eye but he couldn't help but to wonder how he'd gotten them.

He supposed he could ask Karkat or something but he doubted he would get a straight answer. Mentioning Gamzee was a bit of a taboo right now...

Tavros couldn't quite see why but he didn't really feel like sitting through one of his screaming rants again

"Uuhh.. Gamzee, How much sime.. did you eat?" Tavros asked. No answer, Just gurgling and a bit of drooling. and Tavros was somehow relieved, Gamzee was alive, High as a kite but alive.

He didn't seem to be the homicidal maniac that Karkat and the others had described to him.

No, This was pretty much normal Gamzee behavior if you disregarded the fact that he was much higher than Tavros had seen him before.

"Uhh, Gamzee? Are you alright?" Tavros asked, Concerned about his friends well-being.

Gamzee had lost track of time.. Everything was spinning, The world was flashing in colors he had never seen before and he had to admit it was pretty awesome.

Still, He couldn't focus on all the awesome stuff going on around him. He couldn't stop thinking about what had happened o that meteor.

Although his mind was racing between painful memories his body was completely relaxed. It was a rather odd feeling but Gamzee was okay with it. The chaos inside his mind were nicely contained in a corner of his brain.

They were still there and as vivid as ever but it seemed like he had found a nice amount of slime to help keep himself relaxed, He hadn't felt this good since.. Sometime.

He saw a shadow towering above him but he wasn't scared, He was way to drugged up to even care. The silhouette said something to him but he didn't listen. The words coming out of his mouth seemed alien somehow.

Then Gamzee began to study the contours of the shadow. It moved and blurred randomly but Gamzee started to make sense of it. It was quite tall, From his point of view at least.

It seemed like he had horns, A troll? It moved around to quickly, Gamzee could barely see it now. He needed to get closer. He pulled himself out of the cocoon and got on is feet.

The house was still moving under his feet, Just like yesterday but he didn't trip this time but he still felt unstable. He reached out his hand in an attempt to grab the shadow, He needed to know if it was a solid object or just a hallucination.

He felt his hand against warm fabric, skin and he though me might have poked an eye somewhere, This was either another troll or he'd ingested some really potent slime.

He would prefer that the former was the case. Though he couldn't trust his eyes, Everything was distorted and blurry.

Normally he would sit back, relax and enjoy the show but it had been so long since he had been in the company of another sentient being. "Uhh.. Gamzee, What are you doing?" the voice again, Gamzee recognized that voice.

He hadn't really paid attention to it before but now, He was almost sure of the identy of the troll in front of him he just needed to check one more thing.

His hands traveled upwards to what he presumed was the head and .. Yes, There they were. Those horns. He could recognize those anywhere.

Tavros had to admit the situation was very awkward. Though Gamzee was looking directly at him, There was no contact. Tavros briefly wondered if he somehow had managed to blind himself but that seem unlikely.

Still, Gamzee acted as if he was blind and used his hand to 'see', stroking and poking at various points of Tavros body. He felt very uncomfortable and he began to feel the panic creeping up his spine, Once again.

Suddenly Gamzee let go of him but not for long, Soon the hand were on his face again. Tavros flinched at the sudden touch, It was cold and slimy.

His hands grabbed his horns and traveled along the length, Then without having any time to react, Tavros found himself in the arms of a sniffling subjuggalator.

He was aware that if they somehow allowed him to live they must have revived the others as well but in his current state, rational thinking weren't exactly at highest priority.

At that moment, Gamzee never thought he would see his old friends again and the only ogical reaction to seeing his best bro again were to break down in tears.

Gamzee was overwhelmed with emotions, It seemed like it only had been moments ago since he'd held Tavros' decapitated head in his arms and now , He was there in front of him, Breathing.

His lower lips began shaking and Gamzee realized he was not far from tears. He lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Tavros in a somewhat violent hug. The tears were beginning to well up in his eyes.

He scrunched his eyes shut, He didn't want to cry in front of Tavros but soon he felt the hot tears running down his cheeks. Fuck it.. "It's a motherfucking miracle, Tav. A motherfucking miracle.."

Tavros sighed, partly in relief. He doubted that Gamzee would react this way if he was somewhat sober but Tavros could sense the sincerity in his words. He cautiously returned the hug. "I.. I missed you too." He stuttered, A bit shaken up.

He felt the cold sopor slime against his body and his natural reaction was to shun away but it was too late, Gamzee had him in an iron grip.

He was stronger than he looked, Not that Tavros was one of the stronger individuals out there but that didn't matter, He was trapped in a lung-squeezing embrace nevertheless..

"Uuuh, Gamzee... You can let me go now" Tavros wheezed after a somewhat awkwards 30 seconds, He finally felt the grip loosen around him. He exhaled, His chest hurt a little but he couldn't help but be happy.

He looked at Gamzee, Not surprisingly he was a mess, A sobbing, sticky mess of a friend. Hopefully he would be able to do something about the latter though it might require some effort. Quite a lot of it actually.

He sighed, He doubted it would be easy but he couldn't bare to leave Gamzee like this. He took a deep breath and prepared himself mentally. He stepped away from Gamzee and to his wardrobe, Pulled out a clean T-shirt and a pair of pants.

He looked back at Gamzee, He had stopped crying and now he just stood there staring into the ceiling and laughing that somewhat cackling laugh eh had heard so many times before.

Tavros smiled, He was slowly turning more and more recognizable. Sure enough, The Gamzee he knew was a bit of a hassle to hang out with but in Tavros opinion, It was worth it. "Uuh, Gamzee. Do you hear me?"

No reaction but Tavros knew that you had to be persistent with Gamzee. "Gamzee, look at me. Gamzee?" It took a while to get his attention but Tavros was patient.

Patience is one of the vital traits of a cripple on Alternia, He was used to getting pushed to the back for the line, He was used to spend 30 minutes getting dressed, He was used to hiding for hours from the culling squads.

If he could do all those things he should be able to get Gamzee to take a shower. "Okay Gamzee.. Are you listening to me? Take these and go to the bathroom, Take a shower" Tavros said and handed Gamzee the clothes.

He was surprised how authorative he sounded. He wasn't used to hearing that tone unless it directed towards himself. "If you need my help just shout or something" he said, This time slightly less confident.

Gamzee gave the garments a blank stare before he grabbed them. It took a few more seconds but then he began moving, Out the door, down the hallway. Tavros could hear a door open and close, He hoped that Gamzee wasn't too drugged up to handle this.

He could feel a sting of concern in his chest but he tried to convince himself that the indigo-blooded troll would be fine.

In an attempt to distract his thought he took a look around the room. It was just as messy but it seemed like it had been unused for a while. Still, A bright red object on the floor caught his attention. Gamzee's grubtop.

He knew he shouldn't be snooping but he still, He almost felt compelled to check it. He doubted it had been used recently but it felt like he needed to find out what's inside it. Maybe Gamzee had written something down in there, Just anything would be great.

He needed to know what was going inside Gamzee's head. He was usually rather predictable. Well, not really but one of the last things he would have expected to happen was that Gamzee Makara would go on a murderous rampage.

While he was prepared to leave that in the past, He still found himself craving some kind of reasoning to why he did it. The others hadn't really been very descritivbe when it came to that part, Understandably so..

Tavros couldn't imagine why they would want to revisit those memories but he still wanted to know. Right now he had the possibility of maybe stilling his curiosity at the cost of invading Gamzee's privacy.

He couldn't bring himself to a decision, Several minutes pased as Tavros held a staring contest with the grubtop.

A door slammed out in the hall, Tavros realized that he'd completely forgotten about Gamzee. He quickly grabbed the grubtop off the floor and hurried out the hallway. He hadn' decided whether he would use it or not but it felt good t have it with him.

He looked at Gamzee, He seemed to been able to handle the shower pretty good. He was in one piece and looked a lot better too.

But Gamzee didn't seem to notice him, He continued down the hall and down the stairs. Tavros panicked and followed. Gamzee was in no state of going outside right now, He needed to sober up a little before that was even an option.

Gamzee was practically sleepwalking, he didn't respond to anything Tavros said so he decided to just follow. He wasn't doing anything dangerous yet. Though Gamzee's journey was a short one.

He merely walked downstairs and collapsed on the couch. Tavros was a bit confused but he slipped down o the couch next to him nonetheless, It took a few seconds to realize that Gamzee had fallen asleep.

Now that Gamzee was safe and asleep, The thought of opening the grubtop was more tempting than ever. After a few seconds of deliberation he opened the lid.

He was just about to click one of the icons on the desktop when a familiar sound reached his ears. Someone was trying to contact Gamzee via Trollian.

He had no right to do this but it couldn't hurt to atleast check who it was, He opened the window.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

CG: WHAT THE FUCK GAMZEE

CG: TOOK YOU FUCKING LONG ENOUGH TO LOG IN

CG: I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO READ THIS

TC: uHH, hE'S PROBABLY NOT GOING TO DO THAT,

TC: hE'S ASLEEP RIGHT NOW

CG: TAVROS, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING ON GAMZEE'S ACCOUNT?

CG: PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU VISITED THAT CRAZY FUCKASS

TC: i DID,, bUT TO BE HONEST HE SEEMS PRETTY HARMLESS

TC: hE'S JUST THE OLD GAMZEE, I MEAN, hE HAS BEEN EATING MORE SLIME THAN USUAL, bUT OTHERWISE, hE'S PRETTY NORMAL

CG: FIRST OF ALL, WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, DISOBEYING MY ORDERS?

CG. I KNOW THE GAMES OVER AND SHIT, BUT I'M STILL YOUR FUCKING LEADER

CG: SECOND, I FUCKING WARNED YOU ABOUT GAMZEE. I KNOW HE SEEMS AS HARMLESS AS YOUR WIMPY ASS EXCUSE FOR A LUSUS RIGHT NOW BUT THAT'S WHAT WE ALL THOUGHT TOO.

CG: THEN HE JUST SNAPPED, BEGAN BASHING PEOPLE'S HEADS IN AND PAINT THE WALLS WITH THEIR BLOOD

CG: YOU DO KNOW HE RAN AROUND WITH YOUR DECAPITATED HEAD AT ONE POINT?

TC: uHH, nO

TC: i MEAN YES BUT, iT REALLY DOESN'T SEEM LIKE THAT'S WHAT HE'S THINKING ABOUT,

CG: THEN WHAT'S HE THINKING ABOUT?

TC: i DON'T KNOW HOW YOU THINK I WOULD KNOW THAT BUT, uHH, i PLAN ON ASKING HIM WHEN HE WAKES UP,,

CG: ARE YOU CRAZY?

TC: uHH, mAYBE,,

TC: bUT GAMZEE IS MY FRIEND AND I JUST CAN'T LEAVE HIM LIKE THIS

CG: LIKE WHAT?

TC: uHH, iT'S KIND OF HARD TO DESCRIBE

TC: iT WOULD BE MUCH EASIER, IF YOU JUST CAME OVER

CG: ARE YOU FUCKING ASKING ME TO TAKE A 40 MINUTE WALK TO A CRIMINALLY INSANE' TROLL'S HOUSE, RISKING LIFE AND LIMB JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T WRITE A DECENT SENTENCE?

TC: uHH, iF YOU DON'T WANT TO, i GUESS YOU DON'T HAVE TO,

CG: FUCK IT, I'M COMING OVER

CG: WHAT KIND OF LEADER WOULD I BE IF I LET YOU DIE TWICE?

TC: tHANKS, kARKAT

CG: FUCK OFF

carcinoGenetecist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]