Hahaha. *awkward laugh
Um, four months. Sorry. I had a major break up a few weeks after the last chapter and I just about lost my muse for this. I don't want to give this up though. I keep getting wayward reviews and kudos on ao3 and a pbj blog on tumblr reblogged all the chapters and well, I said fuck hiatus and shat this out.
If its shitty, well, my ex was my editor. So yeah.
"Tavbro?"
"Hm?"
Tav's slowly petting the bot's unkempt hair, grunting in pain every few minutes. Poor Tavvy overdid himself, jumping from the bed so fast. Not that Gamzee blames him. Outside the room they can hear pots and pans clanking together, alongside the not-so- muffled frustrated curses of Karbro trying his motherfucking best to whip out some grub for the sick boy snuggled up right here (technically, he's not supposed to be in bed with him, but mother of all fucks Tavbro needs cuddles, even if best friends yells at him for it later).
"'M sorry." The clown tightens his hold around the boy, desperately clinging on to him like a anchor in a vast storm.
The boy's comforting movements stills and Gamzee dares to look up at him. The bot expected a different look that what Tav's giving. Instead of the disgust he's anticipating, he's given subtle confusion. His hand continues the movements and with a quiet, scratchy voice, he replies, "For what, Gamzee?" The boy's hand finds a small spot behind the bot's auditory ducts, and Gamzee almost motherfucking purrs on top of him.
You led him on, that fucking voice taunts you, disrupting your moment of bliss. Led him to believe that his dad might be alive. You got his hopes up. LOOK AT HIM NOW. You don't deserve the way he says your name. OR THE WAY HE'S TOUCHING YOU RIGHT NOW.
Each ringing syllable from his think pan makes the bot cringe on the spot. They've been getting louder. If Tav notices, he doesn't say anything, just continues petting Gamzee affectionately, just how the steambot likes it.
Now he's just as alone as YOU AR-
"Gamzee, it's okay." Tavbro's hand doesn't leave the bot's hair, even when he nearly falls of the bed with a surprised 'hOnK'. "You, did nothing, wrong." The boy coos softly, slowly threading his free hand with yours. He's so warm, the clown realizes as he digs himself closer to the boy.
He's motherfucking LYING. Gamzee's gears whirled almost painfully and he nuzzled into the crook of the boys neck. A small part of the bot wants to believe Tav, but the voices call out loud for him like a demented siren song. They've been gone for so long, why won't they leave him alone?
"I'm, glad you're, here, with me," he continues, and the bot could hear the soft smile in his hushed tone. "I don't know, what would happen, without you." Tav's fingers card through Gamzee's messy hair, pulling at the tangled curls held together by grease and other things unimaginable. "I'd be, alone, I guess…" He trails off, a bitter chuckle following.
For once Gamzee's think pan has nothing to say, and the copper clown buries himself in Tavbro's neck, a smile threatening to pull from his paint stained lips. The bot holds on to the chocolate boy harder than necessary, but Tav holds on just as tight, not wanting to let go for a time.
"GAMZEE! QUIT TRYING TO FUCK THE KID AND GET IN HERE AND HELP, YOU OVER GLORIFIED TIN BUCKET!"
And of course 'best friend' ruins the motherfucking moment. The order is followed by a loud curse that makes the bot cringe worse than the degrading voices.
With an awkward smile the steambot pulls away from the ill boy, but not before the boy pulls Gamzee back by his shirt and kisses him on his lips. The bots entire body heats up like the sun as the chocolate boy carefully glides his lips over the bots. With a coy grin Gamzee definitely feels against his own mirroring goofy smile, he pulls away from the too short contact. Instead of helping palebro like he asked, Gamzee spends the next few moments reveling in the fact that for the first time Tavros himself initiated a kiss. Feeling a little too giddy for his own good, the copper clown leans in for another one before Karbro makes his existence known again, like a motherfucker. By shouting once more.
"Go," Tav urges, "before he breaks something." His teasing tone is flawed by the scratchy affliction behind it. Reluctantly, Gamzee leave the bed, blowing a cheesy kiss to the boy before leaving the bedroom for the kitchen.
Of course the minute the bot enters the said room, Karbro's maliciously glaring at him with eyes that can wield battleaxes. Without tact, he points to the copper pot lined up perfectly on the top self, amidst several pots and pans scattered about haphazardly around and under it.
"Say one word, and I'll melt you into a walking stick for Sollux."
When he puts it that way… The bot passes the short raven with a throaty chuckle, reaching for the deceptive cookware with ease and placing it on the gas stove. Gamzee turns back to Kar and flourishes his wrist at the assembled wares. He couldn't finish his 'ta-dah!' before the raven pushes him aside and turns on the cooker. Without missing a beat, Karbro violently slaps pieces of uncooked meat on a wooden slab and shoves it in front of the bot.
"You wanna help your kid, chop this stuff up, and if I see a speck of oil on it I will boil you in this soup."
Then why let a clown bot cook? Oh well, Gamzee's learned a while ago not to ask these things.
The rest of the prep work was met in silence, (and Gamzee can proudly state that he did not land a bit of oil on the chicken, as Karkat calls it) only the sounds of the pot boiling and small curses from the pale kid echo through the empty kitchen. As the pot steadily shakes with boiling food, Karbro sighs, leaning over the sink with a contorted glare at nothing in particular. The day's are catching up to him, Gamzee can tell, but before the clown could inquire, the kid grunts out something so low, it almost passed right through Gamzee's auditory sensors.
"Sollux's getting evicted too." '
The bot should be more surprised than this, but somehow he knew this. Gamzee may be blissfully ignorant, but he's not completely stupid. "Sorry, bro." Was all he could really say, despite his think pan reveling different ways to cheer him up.
"It's… Okay, now, I guess. Dad wants to take them in, but Sollux's too fucking proud to take the help and," he breaks off with another aggressive sigh and runs his ranks his hand through his hair, "I… don't know. Sometimes I wonder if my fuckbrain of a brother is right; they we're just pawns of the hierarchy or whatever."
Gamzee doesn't give two shits about this so called 'hierarchy'. All he knows is that they are people more important than him and if he leaves them alone, it's all mIrAcLeS. The steambot stays uncharacteristically quiet, stirring the bubbling soup and only nodding when it seemed appropriate. The clown hears the sound of a head slamming against the counter and he turns to see palebro doing just that, repeatedly. The bot chuckles, earning a heated glare from Karbro.
His glare softens though, once the timer dings behind him and he realizes where he's at. He clicks it off before obtaining two bowls ("I'm hungry too, assface."), and pouring a hearty portion for the ill boy in the next room.
"You want him to stay with you, don't you." And that's why he's Gamzee's best friend. Karbro just knows. MiRaClEs is what that is.
"Yeah," the bot admits, shuffling from foot to foot, nervously. "Is that motherfuckin' okay, or something…?"
Karkat finishes filling the porcelain dinnerware, shoves a silver spoon in it, and hands it to the shifting bot. "I'll have to ask dad." He answers, brushing his warmed hands against his pants and turning back to the pot. "He's still not too entirely thrilled with you staying there for free." Gamzee shrugged, unabashed. While his heartgear drops at the answer, he sort of expected it. "Now get that to the kid." He waves the bot off, and with that he leaves for Tav's room with his trademarked smile.
Gamzee likes this; he likes helping out palebro and Tavvy. He likes playing nurse for Tavbro until he's all better. He likes cooking for him, even if he's not really doing anything and has to endure Karbro's malicious (but harmless, for the most part) threats in his general direction. Brother needs a chill pill. Whatever that is.
It's a sense of normalcy, is what he's trying to get at. Something that he's never quite experienced in the bot's long years of life. Feeding his birds is the closest he's gotten, but that's pure habit. It's hard, not going out to that nice place in front of that water thing, performing nice little tricks for all the lil' tikes, and his gears sometimes want to compulsively push him toward the door. But Tavbro rules them all out unanimously. And he's strangely okay with this.
The door creeks open and you find Tav propped on his bed, hunched over one of the letters he got today. By the ghost of a smile peaking behind his lips, Gamzee assumes it's the one from his friend elsewhere. He jerks his head upward, and he catches the bot's sight and the steaming food in his hands and that beautiful smile widens. His gears heating up with renewed vigor, the bot sets the food on the end table.
"You, made this?" The boy asks when he scoots over to the table. HE peers over the bowl and the bot could hear an audible grumble from Tav's general direction. Gamzee laughs as he ineffectively pouts at you behind a heavy blush and grabs the spoon.
"Yep!" The bot chirps in response, taking his place on Tavbro's bed next to him.
"NO!" Came an intrusive shout from the outside. Gamzee winks and cups his lips at Tav, like he's sharing a deep, dirty secret.
"He motherfuckin' all up and had his bad self help this fine dish in it's quest for completion." The bot whispers, and the boy chuckles. It feels nice hearing that, his laugh, no matter how small, especially after everything that's happened.
The nice feelings continues even after the doorbell rang and Karbro shouts his disapproval, but announces that he'll get it. Their curiosity is peaked; the boy rising out of the bed and the bot turning toward the door.
"Horuss?"
Gamzee bolts, barely comprehending anything and anyone other than his mission to run behind a door that's not the front. He finds safety huddling inside the cramped walk-in closet, leaving Tavbro and his face of pure and utter confusion behind him.
I love Horuss. It's too hard for me not to put in here. 8==D
I want to explain what a CHeckpoint is (mentioned in Ch. 10). It's like a crossroads in the sky, basically put. I think of air travel like the game Jade Empire (if anyone's ever played that...). You need maps, a good ship, pilots, and if you veer from the path the wind'll knock you down a peg.
Or pirates. Pirates are also a bad thing to consider.
Um, here's some cookies for those emo corners y'all been occupying for a while. *toss
