Chapter 2 guys, WOOT!
The next one should be up in a week or so, but it may die down a little after due to plans with a few one shots.
For now though, CHAPTER TWO!
With some skilful juggling that surprised even the performer of the action, Gamzee managed to enter the dorm room, arms laden with the fruits of his wallet. Walking over to the already accumulating clutter of the kitchen table, he relieved himself of his burden, taking a step back to survey the bags of food and to formulate a new plan of action. After a moment of pondering, he unpacked the various groceries, a spread of various foods and ingredients that he hoped Dave wouldn't be too picky about, even going as far to buy a decent amount of bacon as a peace offering. Gamzee wanted to do his best to remain on good terms with his roomie, no point in being enemies through the duration of the year.
Gamzee sat at the table, a fresh cup of coffee cradled in his hands. He indulged himself in the calm resting on the living space. He was snapped out of his inner musings by the door being shoved open. The volume of the bang produced by the action more than enough to guarantee a reasonably sized dent on the wall.
"Yo," Dave called out as he kicked the door shut behind him, making a beeline for the kitchen. He hungrily dived into the fridge, a look of something akin to joy subtly crossing his face as he took in the treasure trove that the fridge now held.
"Dude, if I got down on one knee and popped the question, would you say yes? This is important, because only my future wife would bring me a bacon child." He pulled out the slab of packaged meat and cradled it to his chest.
"Who are you to assume that I'd be the wife?" Gamzee smiled, propping his head up single handedly, eyes tracking Dave as he went about the kitchen, pulling out a frying pan and setting it up.
"Have you seen me? No way would I be wearing a white flowing gown as I walked down the aisle. Would sooner fly off to planet Jupiter than deprive the good people of a Strider in a tux. Plus you totally have the hips." He laughed in a way that was pleasing but highly restrained.
"You've got that straight, these motherfucking hips don't lie" Gamzee revelled in the fact that Dave had to stifle his laughter.
Popping and sizzling filled the comfortable silence that descended onto the room, both parties more than happy to let it hang.
Dave sauntered over to the table, plate of bacon in one hand, packet of Oreos in the other. Gamzee watched in both fascination and horror as Dave proceeded to wrap each of the biscuits in bacon before eating. An eye-brow, surprisingly well-shaped for a dude, was raised at the look of disgust on Gamzee's face.
"Don't be dissing 'til you've tried it." He reached into the packet for another one. Gamzee shook his head.
"I've tried some weird combinations in my time, trust me, but that-" he gestured to the greasy pile of meat, glistening, "-just looks revolting. I respect your choice in eating, but can I please ask you to not subject the poor Oreos to such a fate."
Dave smirked, picking up one of the strips of meat and munching on it steadily.
"Since you asked so nicely I'll refrain from future endeavours in culinary exploration without your direct approval." He passed over the Oreos, extending an olive branch. Gamzee accepted with little to no hesitation, splitting it before dunking the non-filling covered side into his still warm coffee.
"Do you know you are the only one to ever argue against bacon Oreos? People usually pass it off as me being ironic on some level or another, and Bro, he just let me do it. To be honest, it is gross as, I've just been waiting for someone to call me out on it. Congrats to you." He went back to his bacon after holding up a fist. Gamzee responded with the silent request of a bump.
"You are a motherfucking strange guy," Gamzee laughed.
The previous comfortable silence settled once more.
"My buddy, John, wanted to come over for dinner and a movie or three. That cool with you?" Dave called out as he entered the room.
"Nah, that is chill as bro, can't wait to meet the little man you are always conversing with," Gamzee calls back, halting his previous course of channel flicking in order to address Dave.
"Dude, are you high as a kite or what?" He plops down next to Gamzee, snatching the remote from his grasp.
"What can I say, it's been a busy week and I needed to up and get my self-medication on," Gamzee rambled, lazy grin stretching over his gaunt face.
"It's the first week," Dave deadpans.
"Doesn't mean it hasn't been an emotionally taxing time for me, cut a brother some slack," Gamzee laughs, relaxing into the plus surface of the couch.
"Oh, speaking of brothers, mine is up and popping in before we go and hit a concert. This place is yours and yours alone for the evening."
"Way to give me some notice. Should I be worried that there are two of you walking around or not?" Dave settles on the Disney channel, purely for the irony of course.
"Nah, he's a chill motherfucker, big baby." Gamzee takes a moment to sniff him-self. "I should probably clean myself up, I don't think I'm to pleasing to the nose currently."
"You're telling me," Dave laughs, doing his best to not think of himself as a hypocrite. He hadn't been wearing the same pair of jeans for over a week, and in terms of his shirt, it was nothing a little deodorant couldn't mask. He was one to only concede defeat when meals started turning up on his clothing. What could he say, he hated laundry.
With a chuckle, Gamzee managed to extract himself from the couch and made his way to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
Gamzee traced the sharp bones of his face as he stared into the mirror. His hair was damp, even after he roughly attacked it with the towel now wrapped around his waist. With a final look at his reflection, eyes tracing the scars, three jagged lines, trailing across his face, did he leave the steamy confines of the room. Walking into the hallway, he noticed the somewhat tense atmosphere. Looking down the hallway leading to the main area, Gamzee spotted the cause.
"Dave, that's my bro, Kurloz. Kurloz, Dave." He signed as he spoke, and Dave seemed to light up in understanding.
With a nod, Kurloz walked past Dave, handing patting his shoulder before he followed Gamzee to his room.
'How are you going' Kurloz moved his hands, his eyes roamed the chaotic mess of the room before he waded over to the bed, lounging back on it.
'I'm doing fine. I can't complain really. What about you?' Gamzee went about assembling an outfit from his floor-drobe, taking a moment to sign the question, before returning to his task at hand.
Kurloz waited until his brother was more or less dressed.
'Pretty good, the new job is working out fine.' He shook his head as Gamzee held up one top, repeating this several times before finally deciding on one. Gamzee pulled the approved shirt on, recognising it as one he'd borrowed from Tavros and had never gotten around to returning. It hung loose on him but he didn't care.
'That's good to hear. Speaking of which, how's your girl?' Gamzee sat down on the bed next to Kurloz. He reached over to the bedside table, pulling out his face-paints. Kurloz took the hint, tying his hair back with a hair tie he had strategically placed on his wrist.
'Low blow, but she's doing great. The long distance is a bit rough but we'll pull through.' Kurloz kept still as Gamzee applied the white base coat.
"Damn straight you will. If anyone's going to make it, it will be you two. I'm guessing she's digging the exchange then?" Hands steady as they dabbed at the hairline, before leaning back to survey his work.
'She keeps sending me pictures from her phone. She looks like she's enjoying it. She hasn't gotten around to buying a webcam yet so I'll have to wait a little longer before a full detail report can be made.' Kurloz took the opportunity to respond
Gamzee picked out a dark shade of grey, dabbing a makeup wedge into it before applying it in practised sweep, following the prominent cheek bones and filling the space in between that and his jaw. Gamzee hummed as he worked, applying the same colour across his eyes before whipping out an eyeliner pencil, thickly applying it around the elder Makara's eyes.
'Time to return the favour bro, then we can get our groove on,' Gamzee smiled as his brother rolled his eyes. He pulled out his hair tie and passed it over. Gamzee took the hint.
As the two Makara brothers walked out into the living area, Dave jerked from his perch on the couch.
"You could have warned me that you were juggalo? Fuck man." He straightened his trademark aviators, knocked askew in his shock. Kurloz cracked a smile at this.
'If I had known that you were a jumper I would've taken more effort to slink out.' Gamzee relayed this for Dave.
"Don't you fucking dare, now go on, off to your Faygo bar with the both of you. My bro-date will be arriving any minute and he's weird about clowns and anything remotely harlequin-like." Dave said, making shooing motions all the while.
"Don't worry. We'll be going, have traffic to beat after all." Gamzee called from the doorway, Kurloz waving to Dave before he followed him out.
"Dude, your brother is anything but a big baby, nearly pissed myself when he walked into the place," Dave called out as Gamzee staggered through the door.
"Just wait 'til you get to know him. He's a librarian, still goes out with his childhood sweetheart and visits his mentally handicapped friend every weekend at the least." He paused in the kitchen briefly. "Do you want a beer while I'm up and motherfucking here?"
"Heads up, you never have to ask. I'm always game for a cold one." He moves his feet around, propping them on the coffee table, making room for Gamzee to sit down beside him. Gamzee hands over the can, completing the transaction.
"How did your bro-date go then?" Gamzee enquired, popping his can open. Dave followed suit.
"If it wasn't for his constant insistence that he wasn't a homosexual, I'd think he had the biggest crush on Matthew McConaughey, it's not funny. What about you? Scare any children?" He took a deep swig from the can.
"It was a pretty good night, haven't hung with my bro for a good long while now. It's good to be so close to him now, can bond 'n' shit. We saw some pretty amateur rappers at the local, and bar hopped for a few hours afterwards. No children were spotted in this time, but Kurloz managed to make a kid who was clearly under-aged spill his drinks. Man can he move like a shadow when he puts his mind to it."
The droning of the television filled the room momentarily, both occupants utilising the lull in conversation as an opportunity to knock back their drinks.
"So your brother, Karlos," Dave starts.
"Kurloz," Gamzee corrects.
"Kurloz, he's mute, right?"
"Yeah." Despite the shortness of the responses, Gamzee was anything but hostile.
"A little heads up next time you introduce me to someone requiring different means of communication, I had no idea of who he was or what the fuck he wanted. I was starting to fear for my virgin ass before you stepped out." Hands waving around as he spoke.
Gamzee gulped down the rest of his can before hauling himself up.
"I'll keep it in mind. Gonna turn in for the night." Dave offers a wave in response, turning his attention back to the screen illuminating the room, resuming his game once more.
Gamzee took care to assure that the majority of his paint was wiped off before burying his head into his pillow. His plans of slumber were quickly interrupted by the realisation that he'd almost forgotten something. With a frown and a muttered curse, he reached into the draw, rummaging far into its depths. He pulled out the container, rattling in his careless grip. Popping the lid open, he extracted two of the pills, washing them down with the remainder of the beer he had brought in with him. He slammed the container down onto the bedside table before rolling over, blankets bunched around his form.
His sleep was haunted by laughter and gentle, smiling faces.