Tavros squeaked when Gamzee's lips touched his; he sat there, frozen, eyes wide and staring into Gamzee's. They stayed like that for a few seconds – or maybe hours, or days, or even forever – neither stopping nor deepening the kiss.
Eternity was very short-lived, though, and Gamzee pulled back. Tavros was stock-still, but a dark blush spread over his face, creeping down his neck and toward his ears. Gamzee waved a hand in front of the stunned troll's face.
"Tav? …Tavros?" Gamzee touched his shoulder, and Tavros jumped. He focused on Gamzee again. "Tavro –"
Tavros grabbed the collar of Gamzee's shirt and yanked him forward so they were kissing once more. The Capricorn smiled into it and slipped a hand around Tavros' head, playing with his hair; the motion relaxed the wheelchair-bound troll, and he closed his eyes.
This kiss lasted longer but was no deeper than the first. It ended when Tavros' eyes snapped open and he realized what he had done. He let go of Gamzee's shirt and shoved him away gently.
"Um, I, uh, I-I'm sorry. I, uh, d-didn't mean to, do that. Um, s-spur of the moment," Tavros rambled, twisting his fingers together. "I, uh, I'll go now. Bye, G-Gamzee." He had hardly moved his hands to the wheels before Gamzee struck.
The indigo blood caught Tavros' wrists, effectively keeping him from moving at all. Tavros blinked up at him and opened his mouth, but Gamzee shot him a look that said "be quiet". He placed the smaller troll's hands on the armrests of the wheelchair.
"Keep 'em there, Tav; I don't want you going any fucking where until I'm done talking." Tavros nodded slowly. "Good. So… uh, I don't really know where to motherfucking begin." Gamzee dropped so he was sitting cross-legged at Tavros' feet. He tapped his chin. "I guess it started when we met up in the game and shit; you were motherfucking adorable, and you were determined even when you were fucking helpless. My mind was all fogged up with that sopor slime, though, and then I went all insane and fucking killed everyone I saw. Last thing I remember before waking up here was motherfucking wondering if you were all right. And after we got all settled here, it fucking grew. I didn't have anything holding me back from seeing motherfucking everything, especially you. You're what I'd call a miracle now, Tav: one damn miracle after another. I hate when those fucking idiots pick on you, but I love being there to help you, to motherfucking see your smile when I get whatever it is they took back. You make me smile, and I'm pretty damn flushed for you."
Throughout Gamzee's monologue, Tavros had sat still and quiet; now, he heaved himself from his wheelchair and threw himself at Gamzee, who caught him surprisingly easily. Gamzee rearranged Tavros so he was straddling the highblood. The smaller troll started crying, his face pressed against Gamzee's shoulder.
"G-Gamzee, I-I," Tavros sobbed out, voice muffled. Gamzee ran a hand through Tavros' hair and smoothed the other down his back. The calming gestures helped little; Tavros continued to bawl and attempt to speak through the tears. "I-I've liked you since, uh, f-forever. It's always, been e-easy to talk, uh, to you. I've b-been too, scared to, s-say anything, but you mean s-so much, to me. I h-hate when you're, uh, not around, or u-unhappy. I'm so f-flushed for, um, you." The lowblood pulled back to look into Gamzee's eyes as he said the last sentence. His eyes were bright from the tears, and his cheeks were soaked – as was Gamzee's shirt. Tavros wiped his face with the back of his hand. "I-I'm always crying, uh, in front of, you."
Gamzee chuckled. "It's fine, Tav. You can motherfucking cry in front of me whenever you want; I'll be there to comfort you. We are fucking matesprits, you know."
He brought Tavros' face close to his so their noses were touching. He smiled, eyes crossing to see Tavros. The other troll's did the same. They broke out in quiet laughter at each other's expressions.
"I'm, uh, really happy," Tavros sighed after the laughter had died down. Gamzee nodded, his nose brushing against Tavros'. "But, uh, why did you, decide to tell me now?"
"Vriska."
"What? Why?"
"Well…"
/Schoolstuck/ Before third period was completely over!
Gamzee walked swiftly through the empty hall, backpack slung over one shoulder. He had gotten out of third period early because he had said he needed to use the bathroom. His teacher was gullible with a capital G: she never asked why he was taking his stuff. It worked out nicely since Gamzee couldn't take another second of being surrounded by humans who were not Tavros. After his fuck up in first period, he had been thinking about the other troll and debating over whether to find him and explain or not.
"Hey, Gam-zee," Vriska's voice rang out. She stood from where she had been leaning against the wall and strolled toward him, disregarding his dangerous expression. "Someone told me you royally screwed up with Tavros."
"What do you motherfucking want?"
"Oh, testy!" She slung an arm around his shoulders, dragging him along with her. "I wanted to offer a little advice to you! Can't I be friendly without your suspicion?"
"No."
Vriska sighed dramatically. "It's to be expected, but I think you'll reaaally want to hear this."
Gamzee shrugged her arm off. "Unless you're gonna fucking break up with Tav, I don't give a shit."
"This is so much better than that, Gamzee!" She tilted her head only slightly to stare mischievously into his eyes. "Look, I'm not actually going out with Tavros; I was just blackmailing him. Will you listen now?"
"Fine. Just get to the motherfucking point." He glowered at her.
"Okay then, here's the deal: Tavros and I are moirails, and I am using him to make someone I like jealous. You might be wondering why I'm telling you this. Well, I'm telling you because Tavros is my moirail, and he is miserable. I might act like I don't give a shit and half the time, I don't, but this is different. Now, what I want you to do is go confess to him, so he will be less miserable."
Gamzee blankly stared at her. "You expect me to believe a motherfucking word of that shit?"
"It is pretty unbelievable," Vriska said, smirking, "but it is all true. As true as Tavros being insanely flushed for you. You can ask him all about this once you go and confess."
"I'm not fucking stupid, Vriska. I know you have something else planned."
Vriska pressed her hand to her chest, smirk never leaving. "I'm wounded; but yes, I do have other plans that need you to make Tavros happy to move along. It's win-win, Gamz. Come on. I promise you won't be disappointed."
Gamzee thought it over: he had multiple confirmations of Tavros' feelings, so he didn't think Vriska was lying about that, but what if Tavros wasn't ready to face his feelings? And what about this whole moirail business. Sure, he could ask Tav… Which meant he might as well go along with Vriska's plan, sort of?
"I'll see."
Vriska clapped her hands together. The bell rang, and the hall filled with students in less than five seconds.
"You won't be disappointed," Vriska repeated. Gamzee walked away from her, missing the last part of her statement, as well as her snicker: "And neither will I."
/Schoolstuck/ Back to the present!
"We are, uh, moirails; she, um, confessed to me yesterday, after you left. She is also, trying to make someone, jealous. She hasn't, told me, uh, who, though."
"Why did you fucking accept her feelings, Tav? She makes your life harder than it needs to be, damn it. But I am glad I motherfucking listened to her about you, even if she is a bitch." He stroked his thumb over Tavros' lips.
The smaller troll 'eep'-ed and blushed again. "U-um, I already told, uh, Terezi that I was going to, give Vriska a chance. She isn't, uh, t-that bad all the time." He looked down. "I'm glad you listened, too," he whispered.
They sat in comfortable silence until the bell shocked them out of their little world. Gamzee glanced around dazedly, and Tavros made to climb back into his wheelchair. Reacting automatically, the highblood slipped an arm behind Tavros' back and under his knees, standing with almost no effort.
"Gamzee –!" Tavros clung to his matesprit's neck, not used to being so high off the ground. "I could have, uh, done it by myself."
"Why would I let you? We're matesprits; we're supposed to fucking help each other."
"I don't, uh, see how I could, be much help to you," Tavros said lowly.
You don't know how motherfucking much you help me, Tav, Gamzee thought sadly, depositing Tavros in his wheelchair. "You don't need to see it because I can see it just fucking fine," he said aloud. Tavros ducked his head, dark orange spreading to his ears. "Come on; let's get to cla—"
"Highblood!" Equius skidded around the corner of the bookshelf, catching sight of them and stopping. Nepeta peeked over his shoulder, arms wrapped securely around her moirail's neck. She looked extremely worried, and Equius didn't look much better. "The lowblood…!"
Nepeta took over, slipping from Equius' back and running over to Gamzee. "Karkitty! These three big humans! You need to help him!" she said frantically, making little to no sense.
Gamzee rested a hand on her shoulder. He looked to Equius.
"The lowblood is in a fight, and he is not fairing very well. I would have assisted him, but my strength is too great; it would have put unwanted attention on us."
"Go find Sollux," he said to Nepeta and gave her a little push when all she did was stare at him.
Nepeta glanced at Equius, who nodded, then took off to find the Gemini. Gamzee stood for a second, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Gamzee?" Tavros tugged on his matesprit's sleeve. "Shouldn't we be going?"
"Ah, yeah. I don't know how well Karkat can motherfucking fight. He never seemed very physical…" Gamzee pushed Tavros out of the aisle with Equius following. He navigated the halls using Equius' guidance, and they made it right as the fight was turning into a fight.
/Schoolstuck/
"Sollux."
…
"Sollux! Stop walking and fucking listen to me, damn it!"
Sollux stopped abruptly and whipped around. "What do you want, Kk?"
Karkat met his glare head on. "I want you to stopping being an ass and listen to me; I'm trying to apologize."
"What the fuck are you thorry for?"
Karkat shifted uneasily and mumbled.
"I'm leaving. The bell ith going to ring thoon." Sollux walked off, not looking back.
The Cancer watched him leave forlornly. His shoulders slumped. Karkat sighed, unaware of the danger lurking behind him.
"Aw, look at the little pansy, all sad because he got rejected," a voice echoed in the hall. Karkat tensed as there was movement in his peripheral vision. A hand clamped onto his shoulder, and the guy who had harassed Tavros leaned down to sneer right in Karkat's face. "I'm not surprised; I find you just as repulsive."
"Fuck off."
"Oh, you have more fight than that cripple you hang around with. You're all so weird, staying in that big group you've been in since you got here. What the fuck is up with that? Are you guys so sad you can't make any new friends?"
"Look, fuckass, we stay in that group so we don't have to deal with shitbrains like you. Go the fuck away," Karkat spat.
The guy signaled with his free hand, and his two friends came up to hold Karkat's arms. The small troll struggled fruitlessly as the leader raised his fist.
"Karkitty!"
Nepeta bowled over the teen before he could attack. She hissed at him (quite convincingly) from her spot on his back.
"You leave him alone, you big idiot."
"Nepeta, don't fight. It is unbecoming." Equius also showed up, lifting Nepeta off the guy. The Leo strained to hit the leader, arms and legs flailing.
"They're hurting Karkitty!"
"Stop calling me that!" Karkat yelled, trying to free himself again.
The 'big idiot' got back to his feet and laughed. "See? You even help each other fight. But I guess you're pretty bad off since you need a girl's help." He and his cronies laughed, drowning out the bell.
Nepeta bit Equius, but he held on. "Let us go find the highblood," he said.
"We can't let Gamzee fight; he'll go crazy again," Nepeta argued.
"Go ahead and bring him. He can't be much of a challenge," the leader taunted.
Karkat made a motion with his head for Equius to leave, and the Sagittarius carried Nepeta off to find Gamzee.
"Ha, like that skinny piece of shit can do anything."
Karkat kicked out and hit the human in the back of the knee. He staggered. Once he righted himself, he turned and punched Karkat in the stomach. The Cancer coughed, blood flecking the floor, and gasped for breath. For the first time, he was glad for his mutant blood color. They were always so careful not to bleed in front of other humans because that was one thing that wasn't camouflaged. At least, since it was Karkat, no one would notice.
"Hmph. You're actually no fun at all, are you?"
"You little nooksuckers," Karkat rasped, getting a 'what the fuck' look for his insult. "My moirail could kick your asses so hard you'd fly for the rest of your shitty lives. I suggest you let me the fuck go and run while you can."
Kids started to filter into the hall from the various cafeteria doors, and, intrigued by the impending fight, they didn't go any farther. Among the crowd were some of the other trolls, and they pushed their way to the front when they heard Karkat speak. Vriska, Eridan, Feferi, and Aradia emerged to see what was going on.
"What the fuck is a moirail? Some kind of code word for 'lover'? I bet that's why that other guy left! Well, other than you being gay." He and his friends roared with laughter. A few people in the crowd joined in.
Eridan stepped forward, hand slipping into his pocket. Feferi saw this and grabbed his arm.
"Eridan, you said you wouldn't glubbing use that anymore."
He shook her off. "I won't unless I need to." He took a few more steps. "Hey, douchebags."
Karkat craned his neck to see Eridan. "Stay out of this."
"Yeah, right, Kar, because you've got this situation totally under control." Eridan redirected his attention to the humans holding Karkat. "You should be lettin' him go."
"Oh, it's mister 'king of the school'. Sorry, but he's a little tied up," the one of the left said, smirking. He and his fellow dragged Karkat so he was facing everyone.
The Aquarius clenched his hand around what was in his pocket. "You should really let him go."
"Don't think we will," the other said airily. He shook Karkat's arm a little.
Eridan pulled out his perfectly white wand, pointing it threateningly at the thugs. Quite a few kids snickered, and the bullies were hardly frightened. Karkat let his head fall in shame. Feferi stomped her foot, annoyed.
"I glubbing told you not to use that stupid wand," she fumed.
The leader covered his mouth, doubling over in mirth. "Maybe you s-should listen to your girlfriend."
Vriska strode forth to end these shenanigans. She put a hand on Eridan's, telling him silently to let her handle it. He lowered the wand but did not back up. Vriska rolled her shoulders and cracked her knuckles. The three stopped laughing and shuffled back warily.
"You assholes remember me, right?" Her grin revealed sharp canines that were not previously there – well, not to humans. "If you don't want to be humiliated a second time, run. I'll give you 'til the count of three: one." She held up a finger. They stood their ground, the two followers tightening their hold on Karkat. "Twooo." Another finger went up, and there was still no movement. "You must want to piss me off. Three!" Vriska charged toward the leader, smiling maniacally.
The late bell reverberated through the school at the same moment Vriska's foot made contact with his face. She spun with the momentum of her kick and dropped low to the floor. The teen held his nose in obvious pain, falling backward. His friends scurried away, still manhandling Karkat who was fighting back again.
Vriska, lightning-quick, snatched the boy's ankle and tugged: he slid across the floor, now flat on his back. She climbed on top of him, sat on his chest, removed his hand, and punched him. Students started egging them on immediately.
"HEY." The dark voice cut through the noise in the hall like a knife through butter: all shouting, clapping, stomping, and fighting ceased. Vriska's arm halted in the air. Almost as one, everyone looked to the end of the hall, where Tavros, Equius, and Gamzee were. Tavros' hands were clenched on the armrests of his wheelchair; Equius was looking worriedly around for Nepeta; and Gamzee had his eyes fixed on the guys holding Karkat. "Put him down. MOTHERFUCKING NOW." They dropped Karkat without a fuss, pressing themselves against the wall.
Karkat scrambled to his feet, running over to the three trolls. The leader threw Vriska off himself, going after the Cancer. Vriska cursed, getting up to follow the guy.
A few things happened in the next second: Karkat reached Gamzee, and the highblood pushed Karkat out of the way to get at the thug; Nepeta came out of nowhere and tackled Vriska out of the way; the teacher's desk from the nearest classroom went hurdling over the girls, hitting the leader straight-on.
The sound of the desk banging against the floor prevented them from hearing the crack of broken bones. Aradia and Feferi ran to check on Nepeta and Vriska. Eridan went over to the desk and kicked it off the human. He was unconscious.
Gasps echoed from the crowd, which had retreated more into the cafeteria when Gamzee, Tavros, and Equius had shown up. Quite a few snapped pictures with their cellphones, and the rest started texting their friends.
Gamzee stared down at the guy emotionlessly. Karkat stepped in front of him.
"Gamzee, I'm fine. Snap out of it." He waved his hands around. The Capricorn turned his gaze to him, eyes dark with insanity. "Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. This isn't cool; stop it!"
"Karkat, uh, could you move?" Karkat switched his wide eyes to Tavros. The handicapped troll rolled more toward Gamzee, urging Karkat to step to the side. He also pointed to the classroom the desk had come out of. "I think Sollux, wants to talk to you."
The Cancer gulped and left, but not before giving Tavros a hard look. Tavros situated himself in Karkat's vacated spot, making sure Gamzee wouldn't attack the already hurt boy. Equius went over to the group of girls and Eridan, while Sollux and Karkat disappeared into the classroom.
Tavros reached up as far as he could and wound his hands into Gamzee's shirt. The highblood resisted Tavros' insistent yanking at first, but then gave in. Flashes went off behind them as Gamzee let himself be pulled. Equius and Eridan started herding the students back into the cafeteria.
"Gamzee." The Taurus shivered as blank eyes settled on him. "Um, Gamzee? I know you're not, completely gone yet. Look at me – please. I want to, uh, help you like you, helped me. Don't – don't hurt anyone again." Gamzee pressed his right hand to his forehead, the left latching on to Tavros' wrist. Tavros winced at the tight grip. "We only, just became matesprits; I-I haven't been so, uh, happy since Equius gave me metal legs. But, this was so much, um, better. Please, Gamzee…"
Silence reigned in the hall. The rest of the trolls sans Karkat and Sollux, watched hopefully. After long minutes of Gamzee nor moving or talking, he brought his hand to Tavros' face and loosened his hold.
"I'm sorry, Tav. I almost motherfucking ruined the best thing in my life."
Tavros kissed Gamzee, happiness practically pouring off him. "It's okay; it's fine now. Just… don't do that again?"
"I'll try."
Nepeta and Feferi 'aww'-ed at the scene. Aradia smiled, and Vriska smirked. Her plan was turning out nicely.
"Can we get this pity fest moving before a teacher shows up?" Karkat interrupted the moment with his usual tact, though this time he had a blush on his face.
"Where are all the teachers? Shouldn't they have come looking when most of the students didn't turn up for fourth period?" Nepeta voiced the question on all of their minds.
"You can thank us for that."
Rose and Kanaya walked down the hall side-by-side. Rose was the one who had spoken, and she looked satisfied.
"We heard Equius and Nepeta come into the library and listened in on the conversation. We acquired the assistance of John, Dave, and Jade to occupy the teachers until everyone was safely back in class," Kanaya explained.
"That is one instance I appreciate eavesdropping," Aradia said. "We should get to class, though."
"What are we, um, going to do about him?" Tavros indicated the still knocked out guy. The other two had run off hardly a second after letting Karkat go and seeing the desk flying through the air.
"He isn't dead… is he?" Nepeta asked, poking the boy. Equius examined him.
"He seems to have broken his spine. He will not die, but we should move him to the nurse's office immediately."
Sollux went over and picked the teen up with his psionics. "I'll do it thince it wath my fault." Karkat trotted after him.
The rest of the trolls (and Rose) milled around awkwardly for a minute until Feferi brought up the second question on their minds.
"So, Tavros, what happened to you and Vriska?"
/Schoolstuck/
Author's Notes:
Yay, another chapter! Thanks to H3H3H3, Zamp Night , and the anon (it's fine, as long as you say it's you so I don't get confused :) ) for reviewing, and thanks to those who story alerted/favorited. You guys rock! (Also, almost 1,000 hits on this story~)
I have a question, too: I've seen Tumblrs where people answer questions from their HS AUs, and I wondered if anyone would be interested in me doing that? Of course, questions would be limited to things that have already happened/the past/relationships/feelings. No spoilers! You would be getting answers from my perspective of the characters in my story; plus, you would get a little drawing! If you want a sample of my drawings (and the Tumblr I will use for questions), here it is: justhomestuck. tumblr. com Without the spaces, as usual. My dA is also on my profile, so yeah...
Keep being awesome, and I'll keep writing ;) Actually, I'll write whether you guys are awesome or not XD Hope you're enjoying~
MusicofFire
P.S. Almost the whole time I was writing this chapter, I was listening to "Say" by John Mayer. For some reason, it just made sense for this chapter.