Chapter 3

The original wheelchair jockey cleared his throat dryly.

"Uh.. So, this is maybe, terminal?"

Tavros for once, had reason to keep his words strung out with unabridged little stutters. It wasn't that he did so often around Gamzee, and it wasn't that he did so often otherwise for lack of strength or any silly fantasy idea that so clique-ly makes up a strong troll.

Even still, at the moment, he couldn't catch any scent of consolation… or conviction in his own voice.

"Woah, my highway-horned invertebrother! That's not the haps here. I've got a couple perigee to maneuver the motherfuck out from this thing, hehe"

Tav's hands were clasped over his lap by now, a small crease furrowing at his brow. By the time TerminallyCapricous finished explaining how he was not terminally tethered to his wheels and managed a chuckle, Tavros found a little smile pressing against his own nervous lips.

It was strange.

"Ah, that's nice to hear. You wouldn't ,uh, like being like me."

Gamzee's portrait-permanent smile faltered a bit… 'like me?'. He didn't like the sound of it.

"Heeey Tav-woes, don't be all using that motherfucking tone of voice at yourself! You're fine all how you are, shit, I'd most probably be motherfucking overly-fine if this was all a permanent thing to be."

Tavros couldn't feel the slips of color spreading from the flecks on his nose, but Gamzee wasn't as quick to dismiss the little detail.

"Haha, well I still don't think it is a thing that you , um, would like, but also haha"

Tavro's lips were littered with giggles and sputters, more so the sputters. In thought, it felt as if a rusted orange nail was pounding bomb-shelters in his bone marrow.

"Oh gog, why is it Gamzee made it to my hive without me, um, not knowing?"

Gamzee nodded lithely, one of his trademark giggle-toothed grins hanging loosely to his face, it was almost as if Gamzee could read his- "Oh Gog! I, uh, said that out loud maybe, didn't I? I didn't mean it in any offensive sort of way." Gamzee just chuckled and kept nodding in his newfound transportation device, the sound muffled by his lazy habit of doing so with lips sealed. His teeth were authoratively sharp, but none the matter as Tavros would later figure he enjoyed his faygo-stained smile a lot better. Which now! Upon revision, reminded the butter-blood of his promised carbonated drinks.

"It's all chill, my brother, I just figured this fucking mellow would be damaged goods if I up and motherfucking handled it insincerely" Gamz fiddled with his wheels in reference to the situation meant to be handled gingerly. A borderline overly-conscious look on his face. No.

"It's o-okay-" Tavros found himself making amends to whatever it was in reference Gamzee was talking about, not that Tav knew, but he was sure anything to do with Gamzee's would be plainly not bad.

",I mean, probably, Tinkerbull's not been home lately. I guess he wouldn't mind you here a while, though. Hehe"

That is when Gamzee decided to do one of his best mates a favor and smile.

Not a copacetic, toothsome little grin here or there. The full-on trademark faygo smile.

The smile-receiving troll barely had time to flinch before Gamz was flying up to clash deviced softly and even then some, covering more space by his pushing his self up slightly above the seat with his arms on Tavro's lap to stare him in the face.

"There's where I gotta motherfucking ask a certain Tavros Bro for a motherfucking miracle. Heh."

There was, all at once, all the seriousness an indigo-blood should have, crocheted behind his eyes. It was a bit daunting to take Gamzee Makara seriously though.

" On account of me hurtin' and all this mother fucked up bats hit,"

Especially not with his grandeur, main attraction of a smile.

"I want to ask you all-"

Tavros twiddled his thumbs nervously. Timid fear rung out his confidence to dry, wondering what he could possibly do to help someone like Gamzee. Rufio took the floor however and kept him under con-troll.

"To Keep Me!"

The smaller troll's coded reaction was to withdraw, unfortunately, anatomy coded him to have his ridiculously long horns rattle the chair-heading behind him aswell.

"Here, that is-"

Gamzee rolled back as a courtesy, but not before helping the other back up."Woah-oah! Watch it, heavy-horns!"

He couldn't intercept the hand already coming in at an all too-wrong angle to help.

"Ah, th-thanks, I guess. I just- you scared me. Haha" Tavros mumbled, turning an eye to the fact that all he did was knock him crook-ways some more.

The trollian equivalent of unfledged butterflies, perhaps pupa, bred like wildfire in his head and nutrition sacks.

"Um ! Why is it here that, um, you would want to kick it?"

Gamzee's eyes flickered something curious. Mischievous?

"Well then Tav, I see we're coming all up to motherfucking business. Since I up and went rolling punches with the handle and got this motherfucker to show for it, I'ma be needing some renovations on the main hive. Brother, them fixer-upper bots can't hope to be doing their jobs at all even right. But I was hoping to put my motherfucking counts towards you, Tav, soes to help a brother out?"

He melted into a paper-thin trace of whatever he could cultivate into a plea at the moment. After mulling it over Tavros felt a bit…

Conflicted, at best.

Let us take a peek into his thought procession, just to sample the aforementioned conflict.

'Does Gamzee actually need me, uh, my help, I mean?'

'I'm uh, not exactly sure Tinkerbull would approve, maybe?'

'…He's only tethered to… his trolley for a ,uh, few perigee. He's not, like I thought, not like me.'