So I've been working on trying to combine two different chapter sections and it hasn't been working and I give up. XD haha sorry guys, but this is the chapter I'm posting. god, academics is so hard. XD haha
TW: scars, past self-harm
Read, enjoy, and don't forget to review! XD they make me smile.
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The drive to the college was a lot longer than Tavros thought. He'd fallen asleep on the drive, leaning his head on Gamzee's shoulder as a result of his late night bonding with Karkat. When he woke up, it was to Nepeta's eager shoutings mixed with Karkat's frantic yells. Kurloz was driving with one hand, his teeth bared and breaking the stitch make up on his mouth. Meulin had one arm pressed against the passenger window, the other swatting at her daughter while Nepeta and Karkat fought. The youngest Leijon was pointedly ignoring her mother's free hand as she pointed out an exit on the freeway.
"No, fuck off, this one's right by the damn school!" Karkat snapped loudly by Kurloz's ear. The older Makara responded by wincing and jerking the wheel to the left, though he straightened out quickly. He leveled a glare at Karkat through the rear view mirror, freeing a hand to shove the boy irritably. Karkat yielded to his touch, but only for a moment; he wedged himself in between Kurloz and Nepeta again, shoving another map into view. "See, Kurloz can park here and then we go in here- - -"
"But efurrybody is going to go that way!" Nepeta protested. "If we go this way, then we can avoid that traffic and- - -"
"Nobody asked your opinion, Nepeta!" Karkat snapped. She hissed back, and Meulin finally seemed to have enough. She shoved both her daughter and Karkat back into their seats, pointing to the upcoming exit that Nepeta pointed out. Kurloz obediently followed her directions, exiting the freeway and signaling to turn left. Karkat fumed in the back seat, reaching over and roughly shaking Gamzee awake. The younger Makara glowered at his friend. "Fuck off, asshat, we're almost there."
Grumbling, Gamzee stretched as much as he could before casually popping a few pills into his mouth. As his gaze cleared as much as it was going to, the youngest Makara rubbed Karkat's head with a dopey grin.
"What's got my main motherfucker all up and in his fucking zone, bro?" He drawled lazily. Karkat shoved him away, and Gamzee fell until the back of his head collided with Tavros's shoulder. He beamed widely at his Varsity teammate, reaching back and grasping Tavros's face firmly in his grip while Kurloz turned left. His mind switched topics as quickly as his sight switched focus, and Gamzee opened his mouth and blurted "My Tavbro never up and answered a motherfucker."
"I, uh…" Tavros frowned, trying to remember if Gamzee asked him something before he inadvertently fell asleep, but he couldn't bring anything to mind. To make up for it, he smiled sheepishly at his best friend and shrugged carelessly. "Oops." He said instead. "I can't, uh, think of a, single thing you'd, um, want to ask me, Gamz." Running his fingers slowly through Gamzee's hair- - -it was dark and thick and soft, and Gamzee seemed to really like the sensation of fingers against his scalp; it tended to calm him, so he didn't mind when Tavros did it- - -Nitram tilted his head to the side. "Why don't you, ah, try now?"
"Nah, bro." Gamzee closed his eyes and let a strange smile cross his face; it was sad and tired but hopeful. "Too much shit in a thinkpan before our knowledge leak is fucked up. Best get our motherfucking focus on kicking ass." His grin turned vicious. "After all, motherfucking State is right at our motherfucking fingertips."
"Which is why we need to get to the damn college!" Karkat snapped irritably. "Christ, even fuckin Ampora is there already, can we move any tucking slower?" Kurloz stopped at a red light; at the same time, he and Meulin turned and leveled a dark glare at the Vantas. Tavros shrank in his seat, even though neither one of them was looking at him. It was eerie how dark their faces were, silent and glowering before- - -as if they were one being instead of two- - -they turned back to face the road. Tavros felt small tremors run down his back, but Gamzee and Nepeta seemed completely unfazed; as if such an occurance happened often, they were talking to each other with spirited hand motions and half-started audible sentences. Cringing slightly and ignoring Nepeta's knowing look, he shrunk into the back of Gamzee's head in the hopes that the two adults wouldn't turn on him next.
Karkat was suspiciously quiet until Kurloz parked the car.
He was also the first one out, dragging a dark grey bag behind him out of the car. Nepeta followed him, though Tavros and Gamzee went out on his side. They both rounded the corner of the car, waiting for Kurloz and Meulin to follow suit so they could head to the college which sat across the street.
"I keep forgetting how creepy it is when your parents fucking do that." Karkat muttered venomously at Nepeta. She giggled, beaming brighter when he glowered at her. "Seriously, how the fuck do they even do that? They've done it for-fucking-ever."
"My papa uses mind control on my mama." She said as seriously as she could while Meulin climbed out of the car. The older Leijon frowned playfully, admonishing her daughter as Kurloz rounded the car as well. He tapped Meulin's shoulder, gaining her attention while he motioned to the college. Teams were gathering by the front door to go in, and Nepeta nodded as she translated, "Papa says we should go in now."
"Right." Tavros felt his nerves flare up again; the college was daunting and towering, and there were the same amount of teams and coaches as there was yesterday. They created a dull roar of sound, over lapping conversations, and the sound was louder the closer they got to crossing the street.
Almost as instantly as they appeared, the Varsity's nerves vanished with the appearance of warmth in his hand. Blinking owlishly up, Tavros met Gamzee's warm high with a stunned look.
"Calm the motherfuck down." He ordered, reaching over with his other hand and fingering the name tags Tavros had barely remembered to grab on his way out; the number indicated which seat he was going to be at, just like it had for the essay the day before.
"There they are." Karkat sounded more relieved than he wanted to; flushing scarlet, he stomped off towards a table closest to the double doors, right in front of a pillar.
Tavros shifted uncomfortably, dodging around people as he tried to keep Karkat in sight; there were even more people than there were yesterday. The majority of them were students, teams that looked vaguely familiar to Nitram as they passed him by. There were coaches as well, but the rest of the people gathered were parents and others for moral support, it seemed. He was doing a fairly good job at avoiding them until he bumped into a girl with floofy hair and a blue-and-green skirt.
"Tavros!" Feferi beamed at him with warmth, hugging the Varsity tightly to her. "Oh, my glub, it's been ages!"
"Uh, hi, Feferi." Tavros stammered as she released him. She giggled at him before embracing Gamzee as well, smiling toothily at both boys.
"I'm so EXCITED!" She squealed, jumping twice before grabbing a hold of both their hands. Tavros could barely hear her voice as she led them to the team table, but Feferi made her voice audible enough for them both to hear her. "This is the only part of the competition that we can sea- - -well, not the testing, reely, but the Super Quiz Reelay. But that isn't til later, so I'm helping Eridan and Sollux study whale we wait to take their tests!" She smiled over her shoulder as they sat down. "For shore, though, me and Nepeta are going to be getting you guys stuff you need to keep your FOCUS!" She sang out and jumped, seating herself beside Eridan and slamming a water bottle down.
The rest of the team had claimed a table and were already sitting around it. Vriska was pouring over another packet; Dave had John in his lap, the two talking in hushed whispers while sharing headphones; Eridan, Sollux, and Feferi were eating, Ampora quizzing Captor between bites; Equius was mopping his forehead with a towel, a strained expression on his face that melted when he caught sight of Nepeta. Said Leijon beamed gleefully at him, launching herself in his direction and stopping short of touching him.
While the two of them talked animatedly, Tavros took an empty chair next to Sollux. His Varsity teammate flashed him a tired smirk, but it faded almost as soon as it crossed his face. He swallowed heavily, staring back down at his half-eaten food. Tavros ignored the tug on his leg that indicated Gamzee had just sat down on the floor to meet Eridan's gaze curiously, though the Honors student avoided him in order to frown at Sollux before repeating his question. Captor shrugged out an answer finally, the wrong one considering how Eridan's brow lowered a bit more, and Tavros shot Sollux another look.
Sollux seemed different from the way he was yesterday; he was absent-minded and kept getting a far away look in his eyes. There was a dejected slump to his shoulders, as if he already resigned himself to failure and didn't care. Eridan was shooting him worried looks, ones that went unnoticed by Feferi only because the girl was gushing about the college and trying to stay seated in the room they were in.
Unfortunately, just as it occurred to Tavros that there was something really wrong with his teammate, the other teams around them started leaving the room.
"What's going on?" He asked with wide eyes as Vriska stood and Equius pressed his fingers against Nepeta's in the shape of a diamond.
"Time to throw down our sick beats and prove we're the shit." Dave told him seriously. Still, his arms tightened around John like he didn't want to let him go. Karkat grabbed Egbert's arm and tried to pull him but Dave wouldn't release him until John let out a slight noise of pain. Tavros leaned forward- - -
And was pulled out of his chair by Gamzee, who grinned with his teeth.
"It's motherfucking on." He dragged Tavros out after him, the two of them getting swallowed up by the mass of students.
"Shouldn't we, uh, wait for everyone else?" Tavros asked, straining to find the rest of his team in the flock around him. Gamzee's grip tightened on his hand, and Tavros mimicked the action so he wouldn't get lost. They followed them up two flights of stairs, bringing them to the second floor; Tavros peered over the edge, gulping as he saw Feferi waving up as she took a seat by a bored looking Kurloz.
"Nah, bro." Gamzee was leaning down as they came to a stop; his voice was deep and clear in his ear, calm. "They got three rooms, cool? A motherfucking room for each motherfucking level. This year, we get first place room. All the motherfuckers in the first place room go here. Our motherfuckers will be here shortly."
A hand entangled itself in Tavros's mohawk, yanking his head back. He let out a startled whimper, Gamzee's warm breath replaced by cool air.
"If it ain't our Alternian boys." Shark teeth were all Tavros could see, and he let out a giant squeak of shock until he realized it was just Meenah glaring down at him. She looked a bit different from the last time he saw her, and it took him a moment to take her in to realize why.
Her hair was in long braids, trailing down her back and stopping mid-thigh. There were fuschia ribbons braided in, matching her tinted glasses and lipstick. But that was all the color she had. There was a black sweater hugging her form, with a golden "PP" emblem stitched into the lower right side. She had a black skirt on that stopped just above her knees, and black flats on her feet.
"Like whatcha sea, Varsity?" Meenah bit at him.
"Let a brother go, sis." Gamzee rumbled. Meenah bared her teeth at him in response, but the Makara glowered at her without blinking. His lip curled threateningly, and Meenah stepped back, releasing his hair.
"Whatevah." She flicked a braid over her shoulder and wrapped the end around her finger. "Sea ya little briners at the Reelay." With a huff, she pushed past an oncoming Karkat; he shouted something unintelligible at her as he dragged the rest of the team behind him. When they reached Tavros, Gamzee behind him and the rest of the team before him, they stared at each other for a moment.
"Right, fuckasses." Karkat said finally. "IDs out; once we're fucking seated, this is fucking it."
They all took a deep breath; Dave and John were gripping each other's hand so tightly both of their knuckles were white. Equius was taking deep breaths, his fingers twisting around each other in midair. Vriska was pulling her hair back, an intense 'going for the gold' look on her face that promised to not put up with any bullshit. Eridan and Sollux were hanging back, staring ahead at the door; Ampora looked vaguely pissed off, but Captor still had the defeated look on his face. Karkat looked determined, twirling his pencil in his hand and pointing them forward as if he were a general ordering his army to attack.
"Onward, assholes." He said seriously. Together, they shuffled forward brandishing the IDs they got the day before. Once in the room, they were led to their seats quietly. At Tavros's table, there was someone seated already.
Tavros took his seat quietly, staring ahead at the back of Sollux's head. He could hear Karkat behind him; the rest of the Alternia team sat behind them, Scholastic following Varsity and Honors behind them all in alphabetical order. They were on the far right of the room, right next to a window that was showing just a little ray of sunshine. A giant of a teen sat next to Tavros, a kid from a team who called themselves the Midnight Crew. He was glowering fiercely at Tavros, making him shrink in his seat and glance behind him at Karkat for help. Vantas ignored him, though, snarling something at the girl sitting next to him. Behind him, Vriska was already scribbling her name onto one of the three scantrons they got.
Tavros sighed as Art tests began being handed out, and resigned himself to focus on the tests before him. He scooted back to hand the other packets to Karkat. Moving back to the table, Tavros made sure to stay as far away from his tablemate as possible and waited to start the first test.
He had a feeling that it was going to be a long day.
When the Art test started, Tavros felt his head begin hurting already. He stared blankly at the questions in front of him before flipping the test over, making a split second decision to start at the end of the test and work his way forward. The last three questions weren't any easier than the first seven, and so with a quiet groan Tavros took a guess and bubbled random letters as his answer.
Time passed slowly; he got through the Art test quickly, which meant without a doubt he failed it miserably, and spent the remaining twenty minutes doodling on the back of his ID card. Then came the Economics test, and after that was the Language and Literature test.
Tavros tried to draw out the Economics test as long as he could, brow furrowed as he handled questions like 'The major reason why Germany experienced hyperinflation in the 1920s was…', 'The unemployment rate is calculated as…', and 'All of the following were components of the "New Deal" EXCEPT…' by staring at them as if that would bring the answer to the front of his mind so that he could put the correct answer on his scantron. When the answer didn't magically pop into his head like he wanted it to, Tavros would glance back furtively at Karkat behind him before bubbling in the first letter that came to mind. After he finished the test, he put his head down and closed his eyes; his hands clenched into fists to keep them from trembling too noticeably.
The Language and Literature test was much harder than Tavros expected; there were ten questions on a selected reading, and another fifteen on the short selections from the resource material. But 75 of the questions were on the book, and Tavros couldn't remember what he did read of The Grapes of Wrath. With a sinking feeling in his gut, Tavros raced through the test, bubbling in random answers that he wasn't entirely sure of; still, it was better to guess and be wrong rather than just leave the whole scantron blank. After all, he had about a 25% chance of getting at least one question right.
Then he sat back miserably and stared out the window, waiting for the time to run out so that he could get out and stretch his legs.
Once the tests were collected and they were dismissed, Tavros bolted without waiting for his teammates. Maneuvering around the clusters of desks and students, he made a beeline to the two doors that they went through three hours earlier. He was thirsty and really needed to pee, and he didn't want to be deterred by anyone.
Unfortunately, right as he went down the stairs and made it to the table with the Alternian team's stuff on it, Tavros realized that he didn't know where the bathroom was.
Groaning in frustration as realization crashed in, Tavros pulled a water bottle towards himself and drained half of it in one long swallow. Bracing himself, he stood and moved against the oncoming crowd to try and find the bathroom.
After being turned around several times and ignored even more, he decided to give in and ask one of his teammates for directions. A sudden burst of noise made Tavros bite back a squeak and duck back behind the wall. He'd almost made it back, he thought, because he could hear the general sounds of too many people in one room; Tavros was overjoyed, ready to find someone to help him find the bathrooms, when he rounded the corner and stopped short. In the hallway before him was a barrier between him and the room where all the teams were gathered: Sollux and an unfamiliar girl.
"It's been quite some time, hasn't it?" She started out. Tavros winced a bit sympathetically; her voice was scratchy and hoarse, as if she either didn't use it much or had managed to get sick before the competition started. Whatever the reason was, she was far too pretty to have such a voice.
"Three years, at least." Sollux shot back. His voice was just as dead as hers was, though emotion wavered in his voice. Tavros peered around the corner again.
She was fairly pretty, he decided. She had dark hair that rolled down her back in gentle waves, framing a slightly rounded and sun kissed face. A small bun was wound tightly on the top of her head, seemingly held in place with dark red chopsticks. Her eyes were dark and narrowed only on Sollux, as if nothing else existed around the two of them. She wore a black long sleeve shirt that hugged her slightly thin torso, a golden crescent moon stitched on the front. A yellow skirt covered her legs to her ankles, lined with a rusty looking thread. Tied around her waist was a sweater, one that was most likely the same as Meenah's.
"At least." She agreed with a slight twitch of her head; a nod, Tavros guessed. "You look well."
"So do you, for someone who's supposed to be dead." So this was Aradia, Tavros assumed with another wince. It was a harsh statement from Sollux, a real low blow, but Aradia seemed to take it in stride; she didn't so much as changer her facial expression, though she did shrug one shoulder.
"Ah, such is life, I suppose." She said monotonously. A flicker of a smile crossed her face, as if she wasn't sure what she should do in the situation she found herself in. "I had no idea you were on the Academic Decathlon team. What a pleasant surprise, running into you here."
"Cut the crap, AA." Sollux drew back a step as he spoke, his voice breaking on the two letters. "What's going on? What happened to you?"
"A lot of things." Aradia answered honestly. "There was a lot going on in my life a few years ago, Sollux, stuff I didn't think you could help me with and things that I couldn't handle alone. I needed help, and I barely managed to get it in time."
"You didn't think me, at least- - -" Sollux trailed off, hurt coloring his words as he tried to keep quiet. Tavros felt uncomfortable, huddled where he was to hide from Sollux and Aradia, and he hoped the silence growing meant that the two had finally gone.
"I'm sorry, SX." Aradia's deathly calm voice echoed slightly. While Sollux attempted to keep quiet, Aradia had made no such effort. Her voice was so deadpan and blank though, that the Varsity wondered if she had any feelings at all. Tavros's chest ached for her, wondering what she would have been like before she attempted suicide.
He wondered what had brought her to such a breaking point.
"Don't call me that." Sollux's voice was vicious in his rejection. His words wavered though, and Tavros winced in sympathy. Sollux, ever since they found out they were up against Aradia, had been torn between a vicious rage and a dark hurt that never really went away. Captor had told Tavros that they'd been really close, and for a while Sollux even thought he loved her. She'd attempted suicide and vanished soon after, without so much as a word to him; for almost two years, Sollux had been beside himself with worry about her wellbeing.
"You seemed so fond of it before." Aradia said questioningly; a curious tone tinted her voice just a bit. Tavros imagined her tilting her head the slightest bit to the side as she spoke. "What happened, I wonder, that would make you so against two letters?" Silence reigned, and Tavros understood in a jolt.
Eridan Ampora.
Eridan had crawled under Sollux's skin from the moment he'd joined AcaDec fully; Sollux told Tavros that it was Feferi who actually convinced him to join. She'd made it sound fun and exciting, whereas Eridan almost had him running in the opposite direction, screaming bloody murder.
And then once Sollux started coming to class and showed no signs of giving up, the Honors student hounded him more relentlessly than Karkat. No matter where Captor went, Ampora was never far behind, Feferi in tow. They'd stuck together and studied together and fought before making up and going at it again. And without Feferi around to distract them recently, they'd gone at each other violently with results that often gave them both kiss-bruised lips and black eyes. It was almost a destructive cycle, but one that Sollux clearly needed; he'd gotten over Aradia and managed to focus on something other than what happened to her.
And Eridan, mean sassy bossy insulting Eridan Ampora, had managed to steal Sollux's attentions away. Nobody ever called him the way Aradia did; he was either Sollux, Sol, or Captor. Or fuckass, in Karkat's terms of endearment.
Tavros wondered if it was because the two letters were too hard to hear in someone else's voice, or if it was because his teammate had outgrown the nickname.
"It's none of your business." Sollux snapped uncomfortably. Tavros debated the merits of interrupting their conversation to save Sollux; this conversation was obviously long in coming, but during competition was not the time to be having this emotional sort of break down. "I want to know why. Why didn't you call me? Why didn't you try?" There was another silence. When Sollux spoke again, his voice was thick, cracking on every other word. "Was I not important enough to know?"
"That's not it, Sollux."
"Then what was it?" Sollux exploded at Aradia. She blinked once, but Sollux seemed to be on a roll. He was pacing from side to side, Tavros could hear his shoes squeak on the linoleum of the floor. He moved to go out to stop them, but Sollux's voice was so full of helpless rage that Tavros flattened himself to the wall to wait it out. "What the hell was it? Because nobody ever heard from you again! We all assumed you really died!"
"Sollux- - -"
"Two years!" Sollux roared at her. Tavros squeaked, frightened by Captor's unusual anger, and even Aradia stepped back with wide eyes. Her lip trembled and he saw her stoic demeanor as what it was: a cover, a shield to keep her emotions in check. "Two fucking years of my life, I cried and mourned and tried to get over you. Two fucking years, Aradia! And this whole fucking time, each and every single god damned day for the past three years," Sollux visibly deflated, his head cradled in his hands. Aradia bit her lip, her hands reaching out slowly to touch Sollux, but he drew away from her before she could. "This whole time, you haven't been more than a two hour drive away."
"I'm sorry, Sollux." Aradia repeated. Her voice shook, though, and it seemed to be the breaking point for her; her legs wobbled a bit and she sank to her knees, not even caring about the fact that they were outside in the hallway in plain view or that people were starting to gather thanks to Sollux's outburst. She buried her face in her own hands, looking a bit pathetic even in her beauty. "I'm so sorry, Sollux, I really am."
Sollux stared down at her impassively until Eridan appeared. Without sparing a glance at the silently crying Prospitian Varsity, Ampora gently touched Sollux's shoulder. His hand trailed comfortingly down the Alternian Varsity's arm, not stopping until his hand entwined with Captor's. Tugging until Sollux moved with him, Eridan passed Kankri as he walked into the room.
Tavros crept out slowly, following his team mates as quickly as he could. Kankri could handle Aradia, she was on his team, and Tavros needed to find the bathroom before the tests started again. He was halfway through the hall, just about to walk past them, when a hand shot out and grabbed a hold of his arm. Tavros squeaked in shock, turning sharply to meet with Kankri's pleading gaze.
"My apologies, I did not intend to startle you." Kankri said quickly, barely stopping to take a breath as he plowed ahead. "I also did not mean to break whatever physical boundaries you have, and I ask your forgiveness in such a matter, as I'm not exactly sure what triggers you may have and do not have the time to ask you at the moment, but please don't leave me here with her." Tavros's eyes darted to Aradia, debating quickly, and Kankri's grip tightened pleadingly. "I don't quite know how to handle her, and Porrim isn't here. Nobody else is going to care, aside from Jade really, but she's currently quite preoccupied in fighting with my little brother. You seem like you'd be much better equipped than I to be handling a crying girl, what with your predisposition to be under a constant stream of bullying and stress."
Tavros debated on feeling insulted, though he wasn't quite sure why, but Kankri's pleading expression won him over; he sat down on the floor next to Aradia, reaching out and touching her shoulder gently. Aradia jerked away from him, but looked up hopefully. Tavros felt horrible as the hope faded from her eyes when she realized it wasn't Sollux.
"Are…" He trailed off before the question could continue to form, knowing that the answer was no even before she said it and feeling stupid for even thinking of the question. Clearing his throat awkwardly, Tavros tried again. "I'm sorry, about Sollux, I mean."
"It's my own fault, really." She sniffed. Tears were still leaking from her eyes, but she seemed to be pulling herself together slowly; Kankri, who had pulled his hands back and was twisting his fingers through his crimson sleeves, pursed his lips together. He glanced back at the room, uncomfortable with Aradia even as her crying stopped.
"He's not usually like that." Tavros mused quietly, following Kankri's line of sight for a completely different reason.
"He can be like that every once in a while." Aradia admitted. "When he's overly taxed, like now. I don't know what I expected, to be honest, especially because of what I've done. I do think I've gotten off easily, to be honest."
"Easy?" Tavros asked, but Aradia had finally dried her tears and was standing again.
"Thank you, Kankri." She said softly, catching his attention quickly; the elder Vantas twisted his head around to look at her, standing up as well. Megido moved forward, but halted just as quickly as she started. "I know how hard it is for you to be out here when you could be studying. Can I give you a hug?"
"Your thanks is both unnecessary and enough." Kankri said stiffly, taking a precautious step back as if Aradia was going to jump him and hug him anyway. "I have no requirement of further gratitude, especially something as repulsive as a hug. If you're feeling better, perhaps you could make yourself look at the very least decent enough for the public so as to not tarnish the name of Prospit any further. People are looking at our school to lead the way to State competition, and because of your breakdown with the Alternia Varsity, they are already doubting our ability to do so. You have a lot to work on at the moment, Miss Megido, on top of the already taxing amount of work we have to continue to accomplish with your help."
"You're an asshole, Kankri," She shot back tiredly; still, there was an undercurrent of amusement in her voice, and she chuckled a bit at Kankri's appalled face and his hissed warning of 'language, Miss Megido!' Aradia turned to Tavros and gave him a sheepish smile. "You're…a teammate of Sollux's?"
"I am." Aradia jerked her head away from the main room, indicating that Tavros should follow her. Kankri sniffed disdainfully and strode into the room quickly.
"Come with me to the bathroom?" Tavros's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Blood rushed to face, and a second later, Aradia's face was just as scarlet. She shook her head almost wildly, waving her hands around to dispel whatever thoughts were half forming in his mind. "Not what I meant, it's just…" A darker flush covered her face, trailing down her neck and the top of her ears as she rolled up her sleeves. "I can't go by myself, I'm not allowed…"
Tavros's breath caught in his throat at the reveal of scars similar to Kankri's littering her visible skin.
"It's not pretty, I'll admit." She smiled ruefully as she fixed her sleeve down again. "I wish that they weren't there. Nothing to do about it now, though."
"Well, if you can show me, uh, where the bathroom is, I think, I'll follow you anywhere!" Tavros burst out. Aradia blinked at him, eyes widening a bit at his statement. It made Tavros flush darker, and he hid his face in his hands. "That, uh, that sounded much better. In my head, I mean, I, uh…" he peeked at her bashfully. "Lead the way?"
Aradia laughed.