Hi all, i know its been 4 years since i last attempted an update but time isnt real. I know we're all in quarantine and that it sucks but at least people are updating old fics like i am? That is if anyone out there still even cares about this fic which i would be very surprised if there was someone bc i know i sure didnt care about this fic for a long time.
So im not going to go back and be editing any of the previous chapters as incomprehensible and bad as they are because it would just bring me too much stress since theres so much i'd want to change. Hope thats ok lol
Anyway. Ive sort of forgot where i was going with this story aside from a few specific plot points so bear with me if things seem long and drawn out and aimless and bad gfjfghjfgj
Im just going to try and pick off where the last chapter ended, if you could even call it a chapter. Here we go!
also Sorry if my writing has gotten bad lmao
IMPORTANT: forget any dumb lore i was trying to do regarding tav's fake island and its language. Just forget all of it lol
ALSO also I KNOW I said aradia basically knew that tavra was bitten but tavras just a little confused
Tavra's thumb hovered over her phone, Aradia's handle selected, before quickly shutting the device off. It could wait, Aradia could wait.
She sighed, shifting her bruised legs over her white covers and placing her feet firmly on the cool hardwood of her bedroom floor. She should really be telling Aradia. Who doesn't tell their best friend something so important? Apparently her, it would seem.
She'll definitely tell her at some point.
Her phone pinged once, and she couldn't help the second sigh that escaped her. It was from Equius.
- [ CT ] centaursTesticle began pestering adiosToreador at 11:49 -
CT: D - Eat nutritiously
AT: uHH, oKAY?
- [ CT ] centaursTesticle ceased pestering AdiosToreador at 11:49 -
Anyway.
Rewrapping her inflamed arm back into its bandages, she pushed herself from her bed, making her way out her bedroom door and proceeding down the hall to the kitchen, not feeling the need to change out of her sport shorts and t-shirt. Spotting Karkat rummaging through the pantry she tapped delicately on the closest cabinet door with her fingernails, tearing his attention away.
"Good morning," she offered.
"Oh, good, you're up. Where are the poptarts?"
"No good morning back?"
He exaggeratedly rolled his eyes, "Good morning, dearest step sister. Where the fuck are the poptarts."
She rolled her eyes and pointed. "On top of the fridge."
"Oh." He stated simply, making his way over to said location. "Would you like a thank you as well, your majesty?"
"It would be nice." She gave a half shrug
"Thank you. Catch." He proceeded to rather violently throw a pack at her. It was less of a throw and more of a hurl, actually.
She flinched away on instinct and it slapped against her side, plopping to her feet.
"Um, ow?" She made a show of holding her side as she leaned down and picked up the breakfast pastry. "Rude."
"Oh shut up, that did not hurt," he said as he tore his silvery packet open. "Any cactus-snatching dumbfuck shenanigans planned for today?"
"No." She said defensively. "I'm probably just going to hang out with Equius."
"Equius?" He asked slowly, like he was pronouncing the name of an exotic fruit.
"Yes, Equius."
"Why?" He asked even slower this time, clearly suspicious.
Tavra looked away, carefully opening her breakfast as she pretended to look at something interesting out the window. "Oh, um, you know."
"No, I don't know."
"Just… interested in some sea troll stuff…" She said, taking a bite, moving to rest her good arm's elbow on the island counter.
"Sea troll stuff?" He repeated skeptically, Tavra nodding in affirmation. "Just go to the aquarium then, don't they have an exhibit with scales and hides and stuff? Hell go to the fucking library, you don't need to hang out with that sweaty freak."
"He's… he's not that bad." She tried to defend weakly.
"Oh yes the fuck he is. Tav, he practically thinks of us like we're lowly commoners."
She pursed her lips at that. He had a point, but it's not like she could just tell him that Equius was helping her with a sea troll bite.
"Now finish your poptart and go… do whatever. Take Aradia with you too, I don't trust you to get ass backwards lost and go fucking cactus hunting again." He waved his hand at her, shoving the remainder of his poptart into his mouth.
"Are you ever going to let that go?" She barely hid a pout.
He shook his head no, looking at her matter of factly. She gave him a withering look in return and set her poptart down on the counter, not particularly hungry anymore.
Karkat started to yell through his full mouth, "Hey you clean that shit up!" But she was already out the door.
The near-midday warmth of the sun coaxed her out from the screened-in porch of her house, inviting her into its rays. Stretching her arms high above her head, she let out a breath through her nose and flopped her arms back down to her sides, only icing a little bit when her arm protested.
Grabbing her phone from her pocket, she selected Equius' handle and pushed the screen up to reveal the keypad.
- adiosToreador began pestering centaursTesticle at 11:58 -
AT: hEY, sO UM,,, wHERE DO YOU LIVE?
AT: nOT ASKING FOR ANY REASON IN PARTICULAR }:)
Equius' house was huge.
Perched high against the island's main mountain, It was all white wood and tall glass windows. Inside, it was freezing compared to the mild weather outside.
She felt small compared to its wide hallways and tall arches.
Adorning the walls were small photos of who she could only assume was Equius' father and himself, the living room containing a wide portrait of the small family featuring a young looking Equius. The floors were an old fashion parquet with a blend of browns and the walls were the deep blues of the ocean meeting a white baseboard.
She'd been greeted by a butler, who's stark black and white suit made her feel painfully underdressed in her old shirt. It was only after declining refreshments of milk several times from the butler that she was ushered upstairs and pointed to a door on the right.
She hesitantly poked her head through the doorway, barely containing a yelp of surprise as she was yanked in by a strong arm. She was let go just as fast, and the momentum from the pull had her falling forwards into a heap, where a warmth immediately curled up in her lap.
"The huntress spots her friend, and curls up in her lap, for she has missed her so!" Nepeta stretched out over her legs making a fake purring sound in her throat and looked at Tavra expectantly.
"Oh, um. Okay. Right! I— for the time being, and for the sake of this fantasy scenario— pretend that my cat allergies aren't that bad. And also I pet the huntress in greeting because, it's been a long time since I have seen her." She smiled and gave the other girl a pet.
"AC takes a long nap, and then wakes up and frowns beclaws she was bad news." Nepeta looked up to her with a downturned expression, rolling off her legs and sitting up straight on the shag carpet.
"Oh no, is what I say," Tavra said, shifting her weight onto her good arm. "About the bad news, not the nap."
"Equius said he has an idea to help your wound out so it wouldn't get infected, but said it's going to hurt really bad!" Nepeta shook her hurt arm, but jumped back like she'd been burned when Tavra jolted in pain, "Oh! Oh, I'm so sorry! That was your injured arm!"
"It's okay, it's fine, don't um… don't worry about it," Tavra reassured, tenderly prodding her throbbing bicep. "So then, you know? About the bite?"
"Yes, but I swore an oath! I won't tell anyone! Purromise!"
"Thank you," Tavra let out a breath. Nepeta gave an affirmative nod.
Tavra took a moment to take in the bedroom around her. The walls were a dark blue and covered with art and posters that had her blushing to the tips of her ears and looking away. She focused instead on the workbenches strewn with spare parts of shiny metallic robots with dark red eyes. It smelled of Clorox and ozone, making her nose twitch in mild irritation. There was a third smell, a dank, musty smell that she could only assume was sweat. Scrunching up her nose at the thought, she stood and dusted off nonexistent particles from her shorts, as though there'd actually be dirt in the immaculately deep cleaned carpet.
"Here, here, sit here!" Nepeta ushered her to a sad looking couch, likely sunken in over the years by Equius' broad frame.
"Making yourself at home, I see." Equius' deep voice made her jump at how close it was to her. She looked to her side to see Equius in all his six-foot-five-inch glory crouched over her like an oversized goblin. Thankfully, he was periodically whipping his forehead, stopping little droplets of sweat from falling over her.
"Um... Hello, Equius."
"Greetings. I'm pleased to see you made it here in one piece." He stood to his full height, pushing his cracked sunglasses up from where they'd slid down his wide nose.
His pale skin contrasted deeply with Nepeta's own dark complexion. Everything about them seemed to contrast against one another. Equius' long stringy hair stood out starkly against Nepeta's shoulder-length voluminous locks and his pungent scent stood out more than usual compared to Nepeta's own cloying smell she had about her.
"Well look at you bein' all polite and stuff!" Nepeta skipped over to him and pulled him down to tug on his cheek
"Please Nepeta," He gently batted her away until she ceased.
"I trust you've read over the document I sent you?"
"I skimmed it, yeah." Tavra wrung her hands out in front of her as Equius stared her down.
"Good, then you'll have no issue with me packing your wound."
"It's going to hurt!" Urged Nepeta.
"Nepeta, hush." Equius scolded. "There's no use in working Nitram up over it. It's going to happen regardless."
"Uh, packing my wound?" Tavra repeated.
"Yes. I didn't go into it much in the document out of worry that you would try it yourself."
"That's nice of you, I guess." She smiled up at him awkwardly.
"Hardly. You are a valued friend of Megido's and it would be unfortunate if anything unseemly were to happen to you." He glanced at Nepeta. Or at least, Tavra thought he did. It was difficult to tell where he was looking due to his sunglasses. Who even wears sunglasses inside?
"Nepeta, fetch me the first aid kit. You know where it is."
"Roger," She replied, scurrying off to what Tavra assumed was the bathroom.
Equius sat down stiffly next to her, clearly uncomfortable as he grabbed hold of her elbow and tugged at the bandages wrapped messily around her upper arm.
"Look at this. Absolutely filthy. Did you not change these this morning?"
"I didn't think I needed to," She defended meekly.
"That sort of thinking will get you an infection in no time. Is that what you desire? And infection?"
"No…"
"Oh, leave her alone, Equius!" Nepeta reprimanded as she reentered the room, setting down a white plastic first aid kit on the couch next to where Equius had settled in, as well as handing him a glass of water and setting down a bowl-like container.
"Is it not a kind thing to let someone know what their actions will get them?" He asked, sounding genuinely confused.
"Not with an attitude it isn't." Nepeta huffed, quickly flicking him in the ear as he went to drink out of the glass she had handed him. "That's not for you silly, use it to clean Tavra's arm and moisten the packing material!"
"Ah, yes, of course. Pardon me." He wiped sweat from his brow, pausing to look between his sweaty hands and the first aid kit. "Perhaps you should do this, Nepeta."
"Purrhaps I should." She cocked her hip, rubbing her chin, "At Least for the disinfecting part. We can get you some rubber gloves or something so you can pack it purroperly."
"Yes, yes that does sound best." He stood from his spot, looming over the two girls as Nepeta took his place and opened the first aid kit with a snap of her fingers.
"Thank you for this…" Tavra offered quietly as she watched Nepeta get to work wiping down the area with a wet piece of gauze.
"Yes, well we may speak of compensation at a later date—" Equius halted mid-sentence at the glare Nepeta was sending him, quickly clearing his throat, "...Of course, Nitram."
"Now, I'm going to disinfect it real quick. You ready?" Nepeta asked.
Tavra nodded, unsure, leaning away on instinct as the other girl began wetting a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol. Nepeta held fast to her elbow as she very gently began to dab over the open wound. It wasn't nearly as bad as Tavra had expected it to be as she watched with mild interest as Nepeta continued her work. She hardly noticed when Equius left the room, muttering about rubber gloves.
"There, all done," Nepeta smiled. "Not so bad huh?"
"Not so bad," Tavra repeated, giving her a tentative smile back with a nod.
Equius reentered the room as Nepeta threw the used cotton ball into the trash across the room with expert precision, standing from her spot to allow Equius to sit.
He held up his gloves, not the kind she was expecting. They weren't ones you would see someone cleaning with, but instead kind you would expect to see a doctor wearing. She was silently glad it wasn't rubber cleaning gloves.
"I'm sterile." He stated, sitting there awkwardly with both hands raised like he was afraid to touch her.
"...I see that," Tavra replied after a short silence, giving a nervous smile. It was broken by Nepeta's giggle.
"Get on with it you big oaf." She affectionately swatted at his head.
"Ah, Right." He coughed a little, gently taking hold of Tavra's arm, not showing any of the roughness he had shown earlier. It was as if he was suddenly hyper-aware of his own strength, afraid he would break her arm or something along similar lines. "Nepeta, pour half that glass of water in the bowl and fill the rest with rubbing alcohol if you would."
"AC the nurse complies with the doctor's request as she—"
"No roleplay."
"Aw, come on!" She whined.
"Please, for my sake." He gave her a weary look through his sunglasses.
"Fine." She mumbled, doing as she was asked and moving the full bowl to the arm of the couch, careful of the sloshing liquid.
He released Tavra's arm, making her wonder why he had grabbed it in the first place, and cut off six small sections of ribbon gauze, enough for each puncture in her shoulder. He worked fast, removing the gauze and squeezing it out, taking out a cotton swab from the kit.
He looked her in the eyes, "I'm going to begin."
"Stay strong, Tavra!" Nepeta said, squeezing her good arm.
Tavra nodded, giving Equius the go-ahead.
He began.
The pain had an unpleasant warmth to it, traveling down her arm and eating at her stomach. There was an unexpected wave of nausea too, just enough to make her curl over and hold onto the coffee table in front of her for support.
The pain increased in waves, small lulls giving false hope of an and. Each time the gauze was pushed down to the bottom of a wound, it robbed her of breath. She generally prized herself in ignoring physical pain and just rocking on regardless, but that just wasn't possible right now. Tavra must've closed her eyes at one point, blocking out all that was around her, until she was abruptly shaken back into reality by a pair of hands.
"Equius! Don't be so rough, geez!" she heard Nepeta scold. Tavra looked around, feeling like she was in a dreamscape as her eyes landed on Equius, his hands up in defense. He must've been the one shaking her.
"Are you okay?" Nepeta asked, entering her field of vision with a concerned look, "It all one now, you can relax and let go of the table."
Realizing she was gripping the table like it was her sole lifeline, she quickly released it, glancing down at her upper arm and being met with fresh white bandages wrapped around the appendage.
"Oh," Was all Tavra said.
The pain settled into a sort of sharp throbbing that kept time with her heartbeat, like someone was poking her repeatedly with a burning stick.
"You did well." Was all Equius said, though it lacked sincerity. He stood up with the first aid kit in hand whilst grabbing the bowl and half-empty glass of water, returning to the bathroom with said items.
"Don't mind him. He's just bein' a weenie." Nepeta stuck her tongue out in the direction of the bathroom, making Tavra let out a quick breath of amusement.
Equius returned shortly, gloves gone and replaced by a hand towel as he vigorously whipped his palms down. The constraining gloves had likely left a fountain of sweat in their wake.
"Now, I don't recommend leaving the packing in for more than a day's time. I'll forward you detailed instructions and perhaps a video on how to properly pack it yourself. I would also recommend finding a second party to help you with it, perhaps Megido if I may be so bold as to offer a recommendation." Equius pulled out his phone, "Sending it now. Just a moment."
Tavra took out her own phone, the device confirming with a ping that it had been received.
"Thank you." She simply said, unable to think of any other words to properly express her gratitude. "But um. Aradia doesn't know about the bite. Not yet, at least."
"No?"
Tavra shook her head.
"I would get on that, Tavra. It's no good keeping secrets from besties." Nepeta gave her a cheek a poke all while to herself sagely as though agreeing with her own advice.
"I know…" Tavra looked off to the side.
"What are you afraid of?" The other girl asked.
"I don't know." She answered truthfully, hiding a childish pout. There was honestly no real reason to not tell Aradia, yet here she was.
"If you do not tell her, I find myself in no other position than to fill her in on the facts myself." Equius cut in.
"You wouldn't," Tavra challenged, looking at him in incredulity.
"I would. Megido has every right to know and would likely be invaluable as a trusted friend to help you through this." He pushed up his glasses slightly, "This is not the time to be childish, Nitram. You need all the help you can get."
She stayed silent at that, knowing he was right.
"We're only trying to help Tavra. At the end of the day, that's all we're trying to do." Nepeta put her hand on her shoulder gently, giving it a sound squeeze.
"You have inestimable information on Megido as well," Equius added in, rather unhelpfully.
"Equius." Nepeta said firmly. "Can you forget your weird crush for five seconds?"
"No."
"It's fine Nepeta, really." Tavra cut in between the two.
Nepeta still looked unsure but nodded nonetheless.
"Fiddlesticks," Equius abruptly said, smartphone raised to his face. "Interesting as this may have been, I find myself in the difficult position of asking you to leave, Nepeta. You as well Nitram, though to a lesser extent. My father will be home shortly."
"Aw, man!" Nepeta stood and grabbed him around the waist, hanging off of him. "Do I have to?"
"I would never ask you to bear the brunt of his unpleasantness." He said fondly, patting her on the head.
"AC nods solemnly, understanding, and hugs her strong and stoic friend." Nepeta held her position, as she had already been hugging him in the first place.
Equius lowered his phone into his pocket and hugged her back.
"I hug back the ferocious huntress and—" He stopped, beginning to sweat as he noticed Tavra staring at the two unabashedly, arms crossed and head tilted as she regarded them. They were so cute.
"I mean," He coughed, "I hug Ms. Leijon back without issuing a statement of action in the first place."
Nepeta gave a short giggle and squeezed her arms before releasing him.
"Now off with you both."
"Uh, bye, Equius." Tavra tried, drooping a little when he didn't respond but instead busied himself with the occupants of one of his workbenches, fiddling with what looked like a broken bow.
Nepeta rolled her eyes at him and tugged Tavra along out the door, skipping down the steps two at a time and waving goodbye to the butler, with who she was apparently on first name terms with.
"Let's go, Tavra!"
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh idk how to end chapters sorry
Leave a review maybe? I would love to hear you guy's thoughts