The following week was uneventful. Tav found himself dreading that distasteful science period he now had to share with Vriska, and he occupied himself with either working himself to the bone while Vriska blabbed on and on and bullied and flirted with him, or sneak glances at Gamzee every now and then, wondering if the stoner was in as much mental pain as Tav was.

With Gamz it was hard to tell- the taller troll was either always busy staring off into space or mumbling some conversation with Dave, not really seeming to be engaged with the project. Then again, he was probably never really enthralled with anything- he was more preoccupied with pretty colors and miracles.

As the weekend came, Tavros was overjoyed. He dashed out of his last classroom in a hurry to get away from the harsh school environment. As soon as he was out those grand double doors and into the fresh air, standing on the sidewalk outside of the looming prison they called an educational facility, he felt free. Like a 16-ton weight had been lifted off his chest, he took in a deep breath of air and let it out in a relieved sigh; oh this was so much better.

He stopped off at his small hive and dropped off his schoolbag, deciding to break the routine of a normal Friday evening (which typically consisted of rping with Nepeta over Trollian and playing Fiduspawn) to go take a walk at the beach- his first walk on the beach in a long time. He hadn't really stepped out onto that sand since before his accident, and it wasn't like wheelchairs were exactly beach-friendly.

As he explored the sandy shores, indulging in the salty breeze and the water rolling up towards him, he noted that there weren't as many people or trolls there as he remembered there being- it was probably because the weather was getting colder. He didn't really mind the chills that came with the breaths of air- he just stuffed his hands in his pockets, smiled, and kept on walking.

It was a relaxing place, he figured he ought to come down more often, he could use some of this calming scenery a bit more often. As he approached the more rocky areas of the beach, he looked ahead and saw a tinge of black, purple and orange sitting not far away, on a rock that jutted out over the salty water. He hesitated before continuing on, eventually realizing it was Gamzee sitting there, looking out at the ocean with the breeze teasing his black hair.

Tav wondered for a moment whether or not he should bother the lanky troll, but he decided Gamz had always seemed nice enough... Maybe this was his chance to redeem himself for that mess he'd attempted at getting into back when they were choosing partners in biology. Maybe he could show to Rufio yet that he was capable of doing something brave.

He awkwardly stumbled through the rocks, the metal of his legs making his approach obvious, and he wished that they were made of plastic or something. But as he drew closer, Gamzee didn't move; he just kept staring out at the ocean, spacing out or something. Tav paused next to the rock, noticing the water swelling up around it and deciding it'd be a bad idea if his feet got wet. He called up to Gamz from where he stood. "Uhh... H-Hey... Gamzee..."

It took him a moment before he finally jumped slightly and looked back at Tavros- wow he had really slow reaction time. "Oh, hey there motherfucker, you all up and scared me." he said with a lazy smile on his face. Tavros felt his cheeks heat up a little bit more, his heart sped up- he was doing it! He was talking to someone new, he'd started this conversation up by himself! He hoped his blush just looked like a reaction from how cold it was or something though, he felt a little embarassed. "Uhhh, sorry, I, uhh, thought you'd hear me coming. What're you uhh... Doing out here, by yourself?"

Gamzee offered his hand to Tavros, who hesitated before taking it and allowing the bigger troll to help him up onto the rock. "Just gettin' my motherfuckin' chill on, brother. I like the ocean, it's beautiful. Life's beautiful." Tav didn't really know what to say to that, so he just smiled and offered a simple "Oh..."

Gamz was back to staring out at the open water again, and Tavros felt pretty awkward, just sitting there in silence with some troll he barely knew, but at the same time it was kind of nice. With Gamzee he didn't really need to worry about being nervous or thinking of what to say, or at least he didn't feel like he did, simply because Gamzee didn't really give a flying fuck. It was nice to just sit there and enjoy life without much worry. He wondered if Gamzee liked this too.

"Hey, uhh, do you think we could... Um..." He didn't know how to word it without making it sound like he was coming onto the purple-blood or anything, he wasn't! He didn't like Gamzee that way, right? How could he, he barely knew him... Yeah. He just wanted to... Chill with Gamzee more. Gamz lazily looked over at Tavros with a lax smile on his face, waiting for adiosToreador to go on. "Uhh... Could we hang out... Sometime? I mean I'm not uhh, trying to, uhh, flirt with you or anything-" "Sure motherfucker."

Tavros blinked stupidly at Gamzee for a moment, who was still smiling lazily at Tav, before smilling awkwardly and looking away, scratching the back of his head. Well... Okay he'd made that a lot more awkward than it needed to be, but he couldn't help it! At least he'd gotten it off his chest. Rufio would be proud of him, if Rufio existed. "Yeah... We can all up and get some motherfuckin' sick beats goin', throw down some rhymes, slam a Faygo..." Gamzee drawled, drawing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin on them, gazing out at the ocean. Tav wondered if it was just him, or if Gamzee looked a bit... Happier. Not the kind of lazy happy brought to him courtesy of his use of... Drugs or whatever it was he was on. No, it looked a bit more genuine.

It was probably just Tav's imagination. He smiled, mimicked Gamzee by resting his chin on his knees, and also looked out at the water. "Hehe, yeah that, uhh, sounds fun..."