There were voices. That much he could tell.
Voices.
And darkness.
.
.
.
.
What?
Okay, quickly, go over the facts. What's your name?
Something...something with a T. T. T. Ta. Tavros. Yeah, yeah thats right.
Where are you?
I...I uh, don't know.
Where were you last?
My apartment...no...no Vriska took me somewhere.
Where?
A...a party...I think, I'm um, not sure.
Are you still there?
I...I think so.
Can you feel anything?
...no
Can you see anything?
No, no I can't um, see anything either...or...wait...I can...I can hear something.
What is it?
Voices.
Whose?
I'm...I'm not sure.
Listen.
Okay.
And listen he did.
There were two. Two voices. One was higher pitched, of that he was sure, a kind of trill that vaguely pierced through the fuddled mess that was his brain. Not nearly enough to make out words, but the shrill sound was definitely more audible than the other voice.
The other voice was...was...god, what was that? It was like a rumble, a low low rumble, the kind you hear when a thunder storm is distant on the horizon but closing in fast. But it was also...also deep, yeah, very deep. Well...no, the underlying tone was deep. There was another level, a higher one. That one wasn't quite so low.
Alright, so...two voices.
If he focused a little he could also pick up on a faint sound in the background. A white noise, crackling like the static on his tv when the cable went out (a common occurrence in his apartment). It held no meaning and was distant, unimportant.
The voices were much more prominent, easily stealing his attention away from the fuzzy background noises. If he had to guess, Tavros would have said they were right above him, close enough to touch. That is...if he could feel anything. Maybe he could see them, identify them if he opened his eyes? No, that wasn't going to happen either. He'd have to bring awareness back to his body first...
Was he dead?
The question was startling and Tavros was suddenly unsure of himself. Was this the afterlife? Is that why he couldn't feel anything, why there was nothing but darkness all around?
Well, fuck.
Now what? What where you supposed to do when you were dead? Were you even supposed to do anything? Somehow he doubted it. Maybe this was limbo and he was just waiting to pass through to hell or whatever. If those horns he'd seen earlier were any indication surely that's where he was going...
Wait.
That memory. Suddenly the darkness around him began to twist into life, like the flickering light of a movie screen as the image pulled itself forth from his mind. It was in sharp detail, right there behind his eyelids, that dark figure with the smudged shape and the long fingers that reached out towards him, so close that he could just barely feel them brushing against his cheek, soft and ridiculously cold (why were they so cold?) and just like that...
Feeling slammed back into Tavros' body so fast he was left gasping, an unbearable ache in his chest and a pounding in his previously numb mind. He couldn't get air into his lungs no matter how hard he tried, spluttering, convulsing, and vaguely he wondered if he was still on the bottom of the pool until there was a cooing above him and he was being tipped onto his side, a hand on his back as he coughed up so much water it should have been worrisome, but really he was doing all he could not to black out right then and there so the fact was lost on him.
There was noise around him, that fog in his head dissipating and leaving him reeling rather sickly. The previous white noise was now loud, raucous talking and laughter. The shrill voice was even higher, and the low grumble was distinctly at his side, the owner of the cool hand previously on his back (now on his shoulder) and the matching one against his stomach, keeping him steady as his body purged itself of the unwelcome intruder in his airways.
The low grumble said something, soft and wavering but the hands retreated, leaving Tavros weak. There was an ensuing squabble, as far as he could tell, between shrill and low before grumble seemed to retreat and he Tavros was alone with whoever was left. The identity became clear when he felt familiar manicured nails against his face and he winced away from the heat of Vriska's skin, finding it uncomfortable. He should have been cold, being pushed into a pool in late October (honestly how had they been swimming in that?) but instead he was hot, far too hot for his liking and he shifted onto his back, feeling cool concrete beneath him as his ragged breath slowly started to even out.
"Baby, are you alright?" Fire spread across his face as, again, fingertips traced across his skin, pushing wet hair back and following the curve of his jaw.
Honey tinted eyes opened slowly, the world spinning into focus with too bright colors and too bright lights. Tavros squinted against it, dark hair and blue eyes hovering over him, plump lips pulled into a straight line of concern. They opened as Vriska spoke again, but the words were lost on him. The last thing he managed to do before passing out completely was rasp out a quiet, "Please take me home," that was probably far too quiet for her to hear anyways.
The next time Tavros awoke there was warm sunshine on the skin of his arms and pressed softly against his closed eyes. He was aware of a comforter haphazardly thrown over his body, one foot (or rather, stub) free from its embrace as if someone had hurriedly tried to tuck it in around him. There was a plushness behind his head that he recognized as pillows and when he breathed in through his nose he was greeted with the warm smell of his home, familiar and safe.
If he didn't know any better, the teen may have thought that his memories of last night were nothing but a silly dream. But his throat was raw and painful, and his limbs heavy and he knew, as much as he dreaded it, that the events were unfortunately true.
Aka- he'd almost drowned last night. Fuck.
Tavros let out a low groan, rolling over in his bed and blinking his eyes open lazily. Sure enough, there was his room spread out before him, his computer still on and whirring softly and his blinds on the far side of the room pulled up to let mid afternoon sun leak in through the rather dusty windows.
Apparently this small movement alerted Vriska (was she was just...sitting around his apartment?) and she leaned into the doorway, smiling brightly at him. "You're awake!" was her exclamation as she came in to sit on the edge of the bed. He pushed himself up onto one elbow to face her.
"I was soooooo worried. You looked like shit last night, you know! Your lips were damn near blue by the time I hauled your ass in here, and not in the good way!" Her own blue lips pulled into a smirk and Tavros had to wonder at that. He distinctly remembered being overly hot and uncomfortable before he'd passed out...Speaking of remembering though...
"Who, um, pulled me out of the w-water?" His voice was raspy and definitely betrayed just how tired he felt, but he didn't mind it much.
Bright blue eyes studied him for a moment as a pretty face twisted into what looked like confusion. "I did, of course. I was in the water when Eridan pushed you in. Swam over and pulled you out."
Tavros scrunched up his own face, knowing that his adrenaline altered memories were not to be completely trusted but..."I-I could have sworn I, uh, saw s-someone with horns," he mumbled. The image was certainly clear enough in his mind. Not to mention he distinctly remembered an empty pool beforehand when he'd been staring at it apprehensively.
Looking a little put out Vriska rolled her eyes dramatically. "I honestly have no ideaaaa what you're talking about, moron. I pulled you out of the pool and after you hacked up water all over the damn place, Eridan helped me carry you out to my car and then into bed."
Okay...what?
"E-Eridan helped you?" He honestly couldn't help the disbelief in his voice this time. Bullies didn't usually help their victims in any way shape or form.
His girlfriend's eyes narrowed in what he knew was a dangerous way and she snapped out a sudden, "You accusing me of lying, Toreadork?" Before he could even think of answering she'd scoffed, tossing inky black hair over one shoulder before continuing. "Anyways, your wheelchair is still in the pool. Eridan says the druggies who own the place might get it out at some point but until then you'll have suck it up and do without. Just do me a favor? If one of them comes over don't let them in. They're fucking psychos, you got it? Just let them leave your stupid chair outside in the hall or something. Who knows, maybe they'll forget like the stoners they are and you can learn to stop being such a baby."
Tavros was just opening his mouth to ask what he was supposed to use in leu of the chair but she cut him off once more, not even looking at him now as she prattled on in that high, rough voice of hers. "I won't be around for the next few weeks or so, I'm going on that trip with Meenah down to the beach. I'll check in on you every now and then but try not to need me too much, okay? I don't want your annoying voice in my ear 24/7 when I'm supposed to be relaxing."
With that she stood, bending down once to press a kiss to Tavros' lips before turning on her heel and leaving the room. There was the sound of her grabbing her things and then she was calling out a goodbye and the front door opened and shut.
Her boyfriend, meanwhile, pursed his lips and flopped back down into his mattress to try and understand everything Vriska had just prattled off to him. Honestly, he wasn't even fully awake yet and here she was talking ninety miles an hour before up and leaving for...what had she said...weeks? Ugh.
One deep breath through his nose later and Tavros had quickly come to the conclusion that the thing he needed (more like wanted, really) was sleep. He could sort out all the little bombshells his girlfriend had dropped on him later (something about Eridan helping him and being delusional?). He wasn't even awake long enough to hear the roar of Vriska's mustang or the sound of it pealing out of the parking lot on smoking wheels.
His dreams were strangely filled with dark strangers who pressed ice cold fingertips to his skin and made him want to curl up into their cool embrace. But then he'd look up and the figure was gone, leaving only dark prints on Tavros' body wherever he'd been touched, as if he'd been marked, claimed by the shadow. When he awoke again, sometime late at night, he searched sleepily for the fingerprints and was disappointed when he found none. But then he was asleep again and darkness closed upon the silken thought of hands upon his skin and devoured it whole, leaving him nothing to remember come morning.