Oh, yeah. This isn't humanstuck. Like. At all. Or just a regular high school story au. Uh...just wait and see.

He hadn't mentioned it, and he felt rather bad about it- that, and the Jade thing. Tavros had been having nightmares, rather similar to what Gamzee had mentioned. They weren't exactly the same, but he dreamt of tall, dark figures with towering horns and glowing eyes, and of dead white animals. Once or twice he had awoken in a cold sweat, gasping for air, eyes darting around the room as though he felt like he was being watched.

The handicapped boy rolled over in bed, holding a plush of a bear close to his chest. Karkat had chided him for playing games for girls, but Gamzee assured him the bear was fine. Other toys littered his floor, and he was a little like Gamzee in that respect- he was a little messy, but he did his best to clean up after himself. Gamzee was actually a little more eager to help him clean his room than clean his own- and he smiled thinking about how kind Gamzee was towards him.

Tavros yawned, stretching a little and tugging the blankets closer around him; he was disappointed about not seeing Popop and Jade, but it wasn't the first time they cancelled.

Popop was an amazing guardian- he was wealthy (although that wasn't what Tavros was concerned about, he hated taking the elderly man's money), he was skilled, he was generous and protective and wise. Tavros actually remembered nothing about his past; the first thing he remembered was waking up in a hospital bed, with his legs casted and being told he couldn't walk. He didn't remember his parents, where he had come from, where he had been born; nothing. It was a little lonely and troubling sometimes, but Tavros had friends and a caring guardian, and he really figured he couldn't ask for more.

Popop had adopted him, along with Gamzee and Karkat- Gamzee had come from an abusive home and had moved around from foster home to foster home, until Popop had adopted him for good. Karkat had lost his parents in an accident, leaving him with some weird medical conditions with his blood, and he had blanks in his memory, too. Gamzee also had mentioned a few times his memories were surreal and fuzzy. It was all very strange, but Tavros tried not to think about it too much; thinking about his past made his head hurt and nightmares worsen, and it made him want to panic for reasons he couldn't explain.

Some things were better left unknown, he decided.

Tavros clung to the bear tighter, hoping that he hadn't encouraged any bad dreams by dwelling on his past, and fell into a fitful slumber.

—-

Gamzee stood up from their couch, turning off the television. He had a bad habit of staying up late, whether it was from smoking up, or playing games or surfing- he liked staying up late. It made him tired for school the next day, but he didn't really give a fuck- school just wasn't his thing, he figured. Television that night had been strange; nothing but horror movies seemed to be playing, and su much as Gamzee liked them, they were spooky. They focused on killer clowns and mimes and nightmares and graveyards and lurking shadows, and it was just too close to home for the teen. Not that he really had any of things going in reality, of course, but his dreams were a different story.

Gamzee made his way back to his room, passing by Karkat's and Tavros' room as he did. When he opened his bedroom door, he paused- he had sworn he heard something. Gamzee stood outside his room for a moment, frowning, looking down the hall, listening hard; it was dark and quiet, and Karkat and Tavros had gone to bed hours ago.

The noise came again, and Gamzee realised it was a voice- he stepped down the hall, and he heard it again- it was coming from Tavros' room. Gamzee licked his lips nervously, pressing his cheek to the door, listening carefully; he thought he heard another voice that wasn't Tavros'. Before Gamzee had a chance to verify this, he heard Tavros' cry out in distress and pain, along with a loud thump and the squeak of wheelchair tires.

Gamzee flung the door open, and his heart stopped when he was Tavros on the floor, crumpled in a heap, shaking. Tavros wasn't just shaking, though- he was lying in an odd position on the ground, grunting and twitching, and Gamzee understood that Tavros was having some kind of attack, and he ran into the room, calling out Tavros' name.

"Oh shit oh shit oh shit, Tav! Tav, Tav, Tavros, can you hear me?!" Gamzee shoved his wheelchair out of the way, pulling the trembling boy into his lap, trying to straighten his limbs. "Motherfucker- Karkat! Karkat, help!"

A terrifying moment later Karkat emerged from his room and rushed into Tavros' room, flicking on the light- his jaw dropped. "What the fuck, Gamzee?!"

"Call a motherfuckin ambulance! Call Popop! Do something, Karkat!" This seemed to make some kind of sense to the other male, as Karkat took off in the direction of the kitchen, knocking stuff over as he did. Gamzee turned back to the boy in his arms, making sure he was breathing and he wasn't hurting himself, hugging him close to his chest.

What the fuck happened?

—-

About an hour later Gamzee, Karkat and Popop were in a hospital emergency room with Tavros lying on the bed. Tavros was conscious now, looking tired and shaken, but alright otherwise.

"…So, …we believe that your nervous system is lot more damaged than we initially believed. The nerves in your legs have affected the rest of your body, and I'm guessing you must've hit your head in your sleep- causing a seizure."

Gamzee made a face at the doctor, who was flipping over some notes. He was seated next to Tavros in a chair, and the handicapped boy's fingers grazed his, and he gave his hand a squeeze. "Is that even motherfuckin' possible?"

The doctor turned to Gamzee, giving him a look. "You say you found him on the floor having an attack, yes?" Gamzee nodded, tightening his grip on the hand he was holding. "Well, I suppose he might've simply rolled out of bed, maybe hit his head on his wheelchair, perhaps on the floor. Trauma to the head can trigger such attacks- especially with conditions that he has. His body is already quite sensitive; any further blows to his head or other areas could cause him to go into another seizure."

Popop shifted nervously, folding his hands behind his back, casting a concerned look Tavros' direction. "Is there anything I can do, doctor? I don't live with the boys, but please, if there's anything…"

The doctor sighed, looking his notes over again. "Unfortunately, there's not much we can do. His condition is rather uncommon; with such extensive damage to his legs…it'll be difficult to pinpoint what we can do, exactly. But, I suggest monitoring him- he should have someone with him in the house at all times, and perhaps his teachers should be made aware. Having someone who knows how to handle his attacks is the best thing for him."

"I can motherfuckin' do that." Tavros turned to Gamzee, giving him a small, weary smile, thumb brushing over his fingers.

The doctor turned back to Popop, after glancing at their entwined hands. "Are these three boys the only tenants in the place, sir?" Gamzee didn't appreciate the way the doctor seemed to doubt his ability to take care of Tavros. Gamzee, Karkat and Tavros had been taking care of each other for years; anything else that was thrown at them, he was positive they would be able to handle it. Both Karkat, Tavros and Gamzee threw pleading looks at their elderly guardian.

Popop smiled a little. "Yes, doctor, but they're quite mature. I'm sure we'll be fine. Gamzee and Karkat are quite capable of taking care of you, isn't that correct, Tavros?"

The squeeze Tavros returned to Gamzee's hand was more than enough consolation for Gamzee.

—

"Motherfuckin' quack. I don't think he knew what the fuck he was talking about."

"Really, Gamzee, I'm fine, you don't have to do this…"

"Fucking hell, I'm not about to watch you two homos climb into bed together. Have a nice life, Tavros."

Karkat turned back into his room, closing his door with more force than was possibly necessary, causing is best friend to snicker. Currently, Gamzee and Tavros were piled up in Tavros' bed, and Gamzee had amassed all the blankets and pillows from his bed and buried the other boy in them, wrapping him up, making him look like some kind of burrito.

"…If I could kick you, I think, I probably would." Tavros noted, trying to unwrap himself from the shell Gamzee had rolled him into. The other boy laughed again, standing up to turn the lights off, and he came back into the bed, pulling the blankets from their vice grip around Tavros.

"Alright motherfucker, just chill." Gamzee had taken the visit to the hospital to heart, and he decided that he wasn't going to leave Tavros alone if he could help it. Thusly, Gamzee had invited himself into Tavros' bed, with much fussing from the other boy.

"Really, I'm fine. You don't have to, um, sleep here. I think with how tightly you rolled me up, I don't think I could fall out of bed even if I wanted to."

Gamzee ignored him, pulling the sheets over him, curling up at Tavros' side, ignoring him and plucking the bear he had in his hands. "What was this fucker's name again, bro? I forgot."

A loud sigh left Tavros, but he gave Gamzee a defeated smile. "…Rufioh."

"That was that motherfucker from that movie…Hook, right? Or some shit like that, yeah?" Tavros nodded, wiggling so he could get comfortable in the bed, adjusting to the warmth that was Gamzee, and his sudden lack of bed space. "He doesn't look very…fearsome to me, man."

A hand shoved Gamzee's face away, with Tavros giggling and yanking Rufioh away from his bony fingers. "Shut up and go to sleep, Gamzee."

"Ooh, givin' me some orders, huh? I like it when a fucker is so demanding like that." Gamzee waggled his eyebrows at Tavros, who shoved the bi-colored bear into his face, laughing.

"Oh yeah, and, you sure like being ordered around, right? I know you love being, uh, dominated."

"Take me now, ." Gamzee feigned a swoon, closing his eyes and throwing a hand over his forehead. Tavros chuckled and shook his head, using his hands to heft Gamzee further away from him, towards the edge of the bed. Gamzee yelped, lanky limbs flailing as he almost fell to the floor, pulling on blankets to keep him from toppling over the edge.

"Shit man, I know you don't want me up in your motherfuckin' bed, but you don't have to throw me out." Gamzee slid back into his original position, and Tavros grinned at him.

"It's not my fault you're so persistent. I think, I might have to, um, try shove you out when you're asleep, maybe."

"Aww bro, that's real fuckin' cold."

Tavros' smile was apparent even through the dark, and he curled into Gamzee a little more, his temple resting on his shoulder. "Goodnight, Gamzee."

"Night, Tav."

Silence settled over the pair; Gamzee stared into the darkness of Tavros' room, looking over his walls, his floor, and the mess that was Tavros Nitram. It was unfamiliar and alien- but somehow, everything in his room felt softer and looked warmer, making the taller teen shift closer to the other one without even recognizing he did so.

Hours seemed to pass- Gamzee continued to lie there, thinking of how lucky he was to be living with his best friends, how lucky he was that Tavros didn't mind him in his bed. His cheeks pricked with warmth when he thought about it, but movement against his leg shook him from his thoughts.

"…Gamzee, are you still awake?"

Gamzee pondered whether the smaller boy was a mind reader for a moment, feeling panic fill his veins; he shook it off with a breathy laugh. "Yeah bro, what's up?"

"…You didn't ask about…earlier."

Dark eyebrows knitted together in thought. Earlier? "…You mean why we went to the motherfuckin' hospital?" Gamzee glanced at Tavros, who nodded, biting his lips, eyes fixed on something on the ceiling. He hadn't planned on asking Tavros on it, not really- as worried as he was; he chalked it up to Tavros just rolling out of bed. Gamzee figured there was more to it- and Tavros deserved a listening ear. "Well, what the motherfuck happened then, bro?"

A soft sigh left Tavros, and he frowned, gentle features drawing lines up in hesitation and thought. "…This is going to sound crazy…"

"You mean…like the kind of crazy I like?"

A smile broke out against Tavros' brown skin, and he nudged Gamzee. "I'm trying to be serious." Gamzee took this as a cue to shut up, mouth drawing up into a thin line, restraining himself for teasing Tavros. "Okay. This is kind of, like the dream you had that you told me about, actually. I dreamt that…there was this grey room, and this woman with long hair was talking to this man in yellow. She was really, uh, beautiful…she was wearing a lot of gold and, dark pink- but I couldn't see either of their faces. They were in this room, filled with, lots of animals. But…they weren't just animals, they were monsters. There were eleven of them, and I could tell, they were all really angry, and sad, and they were in a lot of pain." Lips pursed, lips that Gamzee wished more often than he would like to admit that he wanted to feel. "They were talking, and I think they were arguing, and the woman suddenly slapped the man, so hard that he fell into a cage, where one of the monsters were being kept. He got hurt- the animal had eight legs, and they tore at him, and she laughed at him. She yelled at him, and he bled…yellow. Then the man got up and he opened a cage, and he let out this monster that had two heads."

Tavros moved in bed so he was facing Gamzee, and Gamzee mirrored his position. "…I'm not really sure how to, um, explain this, but he did this thing with his mind…and everything glowed blue and red. And then…I felt as though I woke up. I thought I was awake. But, I guess I was dreaming…"

"What happened, Tav?"

Tavros closed his eyes, and the pads of his fingers slipped into Gamzee's palm; he welcomed them, hands caving around his, tracing words and shapes over his skin. "…I woke up, and I sat up, because I felt like I was being, watched…and I heard this voice. It spoke to me- it told me to come back. It told me that it needed me, that it needed me in this place…called Silent Hill." Gamzee frowned- something sparked in the back of his brain, and his head hurt trying to recall the memory of why that sounded familiar. "A-and then…I saw my wall open up. Everything peeled away- the paint, the shelves, my bed; it all turned brown and…dirty." Tavros was visibly upset talking about this, so Gamzee coaxed him into his chest, twisting the strands of his black Mohawk into his fingers. "Then I saw…it. This…thing came from my wall, and it was that monster from my dream. It walked towards me, it's heads and eyes staring at me…those red and blue eyes…" He took a sharp breath. "Hands. Arms. Black hands came from out of the wall, calling my name, telling me to come back. It came closer, and closer, and it…it pushed me out of my bed…and I guess…that's where I had my attack."

Tavros' voice had softened into a whisper the more he spoke, hands clutching Gamzee's shirt and hand, mumbling into his shoulder. This was a lot to take in. "…is that when I came in and got you, bro?"

Tavros shrugged. "I-I dunno. I don't uh, remember much after that. I woke up in the hospital room. But…I'm really…glad that you came when you did, Gamzee."

He didn't know why he did it- he just did. It felt right. Gamzee dipped his head to Tavros' forehead, pressing a kiss into his hair. He stiffened just as he did, realising a moment too late what he had done. Tavros turned quiet, as did Gamzee.

The moment stretched on. "Sorry, bro. You just…sounded so motherfuckin' upset."

Tavros nodded. "…It's okay, Gamzee. Thanks for, uh, listening."

To his surprise, Tavros moved a little closer, slinging his arm around Gamzee's waist. Heat warmed his face, and Gamzee was suddenly very glad Tavros couldn't see his face. He twisted around so he could return the awkward half- embrace, grinning stupidly into his friend's hair. "Anytime, motherfucker."