AUTHOR'S NOTE: CHAPTER THREE MY LOVELIES!

This one is a bit longer but I felt like writing a bit more. Any who, on with the story!

Tavros saw the door quickly approaching. If he hadn't stuck his hand out to catch himself he would have smashed right against the glass door. He wrenched the door open and slowly rolled in, all the while catching his breath.

"I'm...here," Tavros panted. Despite not being able to walk, he felt like he just ran a marathon.

"Tav what happened? You never run late," A usually cheery voice asked with concern.

"Nothing Nep, just running a little late," Tavros lied. He didn't want to worry Nepeta with what happened to him this morning. Then again, it was only a half-lie, since he had been slightly late to begin with. Nepeta seemed satisfied with the answer, for which Tavros was grateful, and handed him his work apron.

Nepeta was one of the few people Tavros was relatively comfortable around, and made working at the small pet store much more fun than it already was. He found her easy to talk to, perhaps because he never had to say much; she usually eclipsed the conversation with her endless stream of chatter. The boisterous girl was very tiny for her age, making her look more like she was fifteen rather than a twenty-year-old. She had a round face covered in freckles and large green eyes that always seemed to gleam with mischief. She kept her short curly black hair tamed under a blue beanie hat with cat ears and a cat face on it.

"I'm going to refill all the water bowls," she told him as she walked to the back of the pet shop. Tavros tied his apron around his waist and took his place behind the counter. He liked working at the pet shop. For one, it was a peaceful place, aside from the collective noise of animals, and two, he got to spend all day with animals, not to mention working with someone like Nepeta was nice. The only problem was that since he was allergic to cats he had to stay away from that part of the shop. Normally someone with pet allergies wouldn't be hired somewhere where they would be exposed to them 24/7, but the owner had taken pity on Tavros, and Nepeta was the one who took care of the cats anyway. While an animal lover like Tavros, Nepeta was clearly someone who would grow up to be a crazy cat lady.

The air was strong with the unique smell the shop had. It was a combination of freshly mopped floors and Clorox muddled with pet food and the meaty smell of pet treats. The front of the store where Tavros manned the counter was where all the pet food, accessories and care products were displayed, and all the animals were in the back. It could be a bit of a hassle with just two people on staff, but Tavros was quick with transactions and Nepeta was a whirlwind of helpful exuberance. Tavros was organizing the cash register when Nepeta came barrelling towards him.

"TavTavTavTavTavTavTAAAAAAAAAV!"

"What?" he gasped, almost dropping the change in his hand.

"I forgot to tell you! You have GOT to see what came in!" She grabbed his chair and quickly wheeled him passed the pet food and near the dogs.

"Look!" Tavros' eyes widened and he felt a grin spread on his face.

"Awwww!" Inside a medium cage with an open lid, was a baby pot-belly pig. The little thing was about the size of a small dog, with pale pink skin and stubby little hooves.

"He's adorable!"

"I know!" Nepeta squealed.

"Where did he come from?"

"I don't know where, but the boss said that he's going to be here for a few days before they ship him to a petting zoo," Nepeta explained.

Tavros wheeled closer to the cage and reached his hand in. The piglet was curled up in the corner of the cage, sitting in a pile of hay.

"Hey there little guy," the young man whispered. The piglet perked up and lifted his head, ears twitching. He let out a little snort, wriggling his nose, to which Nepeta 'awed.' Tavros wiggled his finger, trying to coax the piglet over. At seeing the hand in his cage, the little pig stood up and trotted over to Tavros' hand, giving it a curious sniff. Nepeta giggled at the look on Tavros' face when the piglet started to lick the young man's fingers, making tiny grunting noise as he did so.

"I guess he likes you," she chuckled.

"I guess," he said absentmindedly, focused on the adorable animal playing with his fingers. The chime of the door announced the arrival of the day's first customer, and Tavros was forced to tear himself away from the piglet and return to his place at the counter.

The rest of the day was rather ordinary. There were a couple people who came in for pet food or some random pet item, who came in and out rather quickly. There were a lot of people who came in and browsed the various animals they had there, but Tavros had a feeling most of them were "lookey-loos." Tavros didn't really mind the people who only came in to look at or pet the animals. While he wished that they would take one of the pets home, it was still nice that the animals got attention.

As the day died down the last of the people had filtered out and Nepeta and Tavros were lounging around until closing time.

"So I got a call from the boss," she said as she played with one of the cats. She was poking her finger through the slots in the cage and letting the beast attack her finger with its tiny paws and teeth.

"What did he say?" Tavros asked as he petted the piglet.

"He said that the other guys can't make it tomorrow, so guess who's been left with tank duty?"

Tavros groaned. Though each tank in the aquarium section had filters that kept them clean, every three weeks they still had to go and clean each tank manually. It took forever since it was just Nepeta reaching in and cleaning the tanks, while Tavros sat with the fish in a plastic bag in his lap. He would help, but the tanks were too high for him to reach in.

"Great," he mumbled, scratching behind the piglet's ear.

"Yeah, it's PAWsitivly painful," Nepeta replied, with one of her cheesy cat puns. The two talked some more, though it was mostly Nepeta going on about her roommate almost getting hit by a car, with Tavros commenting every now and then. Sometimes Tavros wondered where on earth Nepeta got all of her energy from. From her job at the store, to her college courses, to her volunteer work at the animal shelter, she should have been a walking zombie. But every day she came in, always cheerful and always talking.

They were startled by the sound of thunder booming.

Tavros moaned. "Oh, please don't be raining!" The two walked/rolled to the store front, and through the large front window they could clearly see the rain that had begun to fall from the bleak sky.

"Ah man," Tavros sighed, thinking about the miserable trip he'll have wheeling home in the rain.

"Did you bring an umbrella?" Nepeta asked. Tavros shook his head.

"You silly head!" She teased, ruffling his mohawk. She skipped to the back of the store and came back twirling an umbrella.

"Here, you can use mine!" she said, handing him the umbrella.

"What about you?" he asked, knowing that she didn't drive and had to walk to the bus-stop.

"I think the owner keeps a spare under the counter," she said. She dove under the counter and came back up with a dark blue umbrella.

"Bingo!" she cheered.

"I can just bring it back tomorrow." Nepeta glanced up at the clock.

"Oh man, we had better lock up. Equius will be wondering what's taking me so long!"

"Yeah, you better not keep him waiting." Tavros had only met Nepeta's roommate a couple of times when he visited the store, and from those few encounters Tavros decided that he was not the type of person you wanted to keep waiting. Nepeta insisted that he was "Just the FURendliest sweetheart ever!", but that was the last thing Tavros thought when he was cowering under the man's stare. He never actually did anything to Tavros, but he always felt uneasy around the dark-skinned brute of a man, as he did with most people.

Tavros helped Nepeta lock up and the two part ways, with Nepeta walking to her bus-stop, and Tavros rolling to his apartment. Tavros was certain he looked rather silly with Nepeta's umbrella, which was covered in kittens wearing raincoats and rain boots. He put it behind him so that it was between his back and the back of his chair, so that his head was covered and he was free to use his hands to push his chair. He saw that his feet and half of his lap were getting wet, but he couldn't feel it, so he was really just annoyed at his pants getting wet.

His apartment was just in sight, and as he rolled passed the side alley he thought he heard a noise. He stopped, immediately tensing. At first he thought it might have been an animal, but when he turned what he saw was obviously a human shaped silhouette crouched by the trash bags. He was ready to roll the heck out of there, when he noticed the man's pants. They were splattered with grey polka-dots. Curious, he ignored his pounding heart and hesitantly wheeled closer to the alley, eyeing the huddled individual.

"Uh...hello?" Tavros called out meekly. Slowly the person lifted their head, and it was indeed the clown man from that morning.

"H-hey...four-wheeled bro…" he said through clacking teeth. It was then Tavros realized the man was shivering, and that his faded hoodie was now dark with rain.

"Um, w-what are you uh doing?" Tavros asked.

"Ah you know, just chillin', trying to beat this motherfuckin downpour the upstairs neighbours be sendin'" he replied, wiping paint out of his eyes. His face paint had gotten wet and was now streaming down his face, more muddled and smeared than before.

"Why don't uh...you go home?" asked Tavros.

"Can't really go back, got evicted."

"You were evicted?"

"Well, not technically." the clown smirked with a shrug.

"Can a motherfucker really be evicted from a bridge?"

"I...don't understand." Tavros had an inkling of what the man was implying, but he was hoping it wasn't true.

"Yeah I had a nice setup. It was one of those little bridges in the park. It was right next to the bathrooms which was nice 'cause I didn't have to shit in the bushes, plus I could sit next to the heater when it got cold. But these cops started hanging around there and they started eyeing me. They hadn't said anything yet, but I knew it was only a matter of fucking time, so I high-tailed it."

Tavros felt a pit in chest.

'So I was right, he's living on the streets.'

"S-so you're homeless?" asked, even though he already knew.

"Nah man!" he sat up and spread his arms, as if expecting a hug.

"I'm no motherfuckin' hobo, I'm a bard!"

"Bard?"

"Exactly my four-wheeled bro. I'm the melody maker, the story sayer. Motherfuckers wished they could hear the stuff that goes on in my head."

"I see…" Tavros remembered the song he heard from that morning.

"That song you were playing this morning...it-it was really nice."

"Really?" The smile on the clown's face looked like he just got the best news he ever heard in his life.

"Thanks bro! I'm glad I could make a motherfucker happy."

"Y-you're really good."

"Thanks man, but really I'd be nothing without my miracle-maker."

After seeing the look of confusion on Tavros' face, the clown started digging between the trash bags and pulled out something. It was a black guitar case that had definitely seen better days. Most of it was covered in duct tape, which seemed to be the only thing holding the case together.

"This is it, my miracle-maker. A bard ain't a bard if he ain't got something to spread his magic with," he said, stroking the case lovingly. Tavros saw the way he looked at the decrepit case, that was so useless that he had to put it under trash bags to keep the rain out, how his bony hands grazed the ratty material, and realized it was probably the most valuable thing he owned.

Tavros also saw that the clown's shivering hadn't stopped also, and that it looked like it had been a while since the guy had gotten a decent meal.

The moment the thoughts started to creep up, Tavros started to mentally scold himself for thinking such things.

'That's crazy!' He told himself.

'You don't know this guy! He could be a rapist, or a serial killer! He could be waiting to cut off your head and make-out with it or something!'

Tavros started to tune out the thoughts as he looked back to the clown. He knew he wouldn't be able to rest knowing the guy out here in the rain, and not to mention he somewhat owed him after that morning.

Despite everything telling him not to, Tavros found himself asking, "D-d-d-do you need a p-p-p-place to st-t-tay?"

The clown cocked his head, like a confused puppy.

"I-I-I-I mean it's raining and it won't b-be letting up soon so if you wanna…" As he continued talking his voice got quieter and quieter.

"You could stay with me for the night," he said in the faintest of whispers. He held his head down, but yelped when two hands grabbed his shoulders. His head shot up and he saw the clown was staring at him with the darkest blue eyes Tavros had ever seen.

"You serious?" he asked incredulously.

"Y-yeah?" Tavros squeaked. The clown's smile could have outdone the sun.

"Thanks bro! I mean wow I just-thanks man!" Tavros found himself the victim of a bone crushing hug as the clown prattled on about his gratitude. Before he could pass out from lack of air, the man let go of him and picked up his guitar case.

"Is this your apartment?" he asked, pointing to the building.

"Y-yes," Tavros stuttered still trying to recover from the sudden lack of oxygen.

"Alright, lead the way," said the clown with a wave. Tavros saw the water drip from the man's sleeves and remembered how soaked he was.

"Here." He handed the clown Nepeta's cat covered umbrella. It wouldn't help since he was already soaked, but he thought the clown might appreciate no more rain falling on him.

"But you'll get wet," said the man as he took the umbrella.

"I'll be fine, it's just to there," Tavros assured him, though he could already feel the rain droplets flattening his mohawk and seeping through his clothes.

The two walked the short distance to the building door. The clown walked very close to Tavros' wheelchair, leaning almost completely over him so that both were under the umbrella. Though he appreciated the gesture, Tavros was a bit uncomfortable with the close contact. He chose to ignore the clown's smell, which declared it had been a looooong time since he'd bathed.

It was as they approached the elevator that Tavros' internal panic began to pick up again. This was so unlike him, he wondered if he had been possessed. He clenched the wheels of his chair a little tighter, and hoped his new companion hadn't noticed his lightly tanned skin had gone pale. Every possible reason for him not to do this began to pile up in his head, and his heart was beating in tune to the fast clacking of his chair over the tiles. He was considering backing out until he was snapped out of his mental debate by the clown.

"What floor man?" he asked, hand hovering over the elevator buttons.

Tavros gulped.

"Th-three," he forced out, sealing his fate. The elevator came and the two males stepped inside. As they rose they sat in an awkward silence, at least, it was awkward for Tavros, he had no idea how the other felt. He sat with his head down, picking at a hang-nail on his thumb.

"Soooo." Tavros looked up when the clown spoke.

"I realized that I never got your motherfuckin' name this morning."

Tavros stiffened. In his mind he was slapping himself, and it took all of his will power not to start doing in real life. He had invited a total stranger, who he had just met this morning, and knew NOTHING about-

-and he didn't even know the man's name.

He was really starting to question his sanity.

"M-my names T-T-Tavros Nitram," he answered.

"Tavros Nitram…" the clown mused, mulling over the name like it was a brand new candy he was testing out.

"Nice to meet ya Tavbro!" the clown grinned, grabbing Tavros' hand in an energetic handshake.

"The name's Gamzee," he replied.

"Gamzee motherfuckin' Makara."

AUTHOR'S NOTE: ENTER GAMZEE!

I hope that this chapter is pleasing to you darlings! I've never worked at a pet shop before, but I imagine it could go down like this. Even though I don't describe it in vivid detail, the pet shop Nep and Tav work at is based off an actual pet shop in my town! When my older brother had a pet snake we'd go there and buy it a mouse to eat, and while my mom and bro were getting it I'd pet the puppies and kittens w and one time they actually did have a pig! It was a full grown pig, but a pig nonetheless!

Reviews and suggestions are warmly accepted!