Nepeta awoke in what felt like the wee hours of the morning. She groggily blinked away the sleep in her eyes and turned her head to the side. In doing so, she felt a smooth, cold surface under her cheek. She started awake when she realized it was Gamzee's bare chest. In a moment of panic, she jolted upwards, causing her to sway dangerously.
Shit, what did we do? she thought, momentarily horrified. The sopor was still clogging her brain, but through her bleary vision she soon came to the conclusion that the only clothing that had been shed were Gamzee's shirt, her hat, and her jacket. Suddenly tired, Nepeta breathed a sigh of relief, once again laying her head down on Gamzee's chest. It was smooth, and a paler grey than most of his body. She took a moment to admire her matesprit for a moment before drifting off once again to sleep.
When she awoke again, she immediately felt the lack of Gamzee's chest under her head. With effort, she pulled herself into the realm of the waking to find Gamzee crouched on the floor a few feet away, slowing rocking back and forth and clutching his head. Nepeta felt a dull ache in her skull as well. Was it just the sopor? Maybe for her, as she was new to the drug. But Gamzee wasn't.
She hopped off the couch and approached him slowly, bending down to put her hand on his shoulder. He jerked around to face her, causing her to startle and jump back. He relaxed most of his tensed muscles but still kept his hands to his head, gripping it as if intent on digging his yellow fingernails through the thin flesh.
"Gamzee, what's wrong?" she asked tentatively. He squinted at her like she was a stranger, and he was wondering what she was doing in his room. The way his body was twisted, his ribs were outlined clearly through the skin of his slender chest.
"It hurts," he managed to breathe out, and then gasped like a dying fish. The sharp intake of breath brought on a short coughing fit. Nepeta was instantly at his side, holding him close to her. He weakly tried to push her away, but gave up halfway through as if he didn't have the strength.
His hands left his head and he wiped them down his face, smearing his makeup and pulling down the skin under his eyes, which snapped back up when he dropped his arms into his lap.
"Why does it hurt?" Nepeta hastily questioned. She needed to know what was wrong, so she could fix it as fast as she could.
"No more sopor." Gamzee seemingly struggled to form the words, as he spoke slowly and shakily. "Withdrawal. Motherfucking. Hurts."
Nepeta didn't understand. "But you just had some last night!" she exclaimed.
"Wasn't motherfucking enough," Gamzee painstakingly explained. "It was the first time in almost two days. I was saving it up for when you spent the night, so I could motherfucking share it with you. But it wasn't. Motherfucking." He groaned. "Enough."
"You shouldn't have shared it with me, Gamzee!" Nepeta cried out, close to tears. "You didn't have to do that."
"I motherfucking wanted to, sis," he croaked. "And it wouldn't have made any motherfucking difference. Sooner or later, I…" he closed his eyes tightly.
Nepeta wrapped her arms around him, doing what she might to sooth him. "Shh, it's okay. It's going to be okay," Nepeta breathed. She hated that phrase, but she found herself saying it anyway, as a matter of instinct, and being at a loss of anything else to say. And she loathed herself for it. It was something people said when it obviously wasn't going to be okay.
"I just hurts so motherfucking much," Gamzee shuddered, his body shaking against hers. "It's like I want to take my brain like one of Equius' towels and wring it motherfucking out." Nepeta also shook, but for a different reason. Gamzee was in pain, but she was scared. She felt something wet on her cheek, slowly trickling down. The tear seeped into the corner of her mouth and tasted of salt.
Suddenly, Gamzee completely froze. His eyes flashed open, and he stared straight ahead of him. Nepeta stopped running her fingers through his mess of hair, which she hadn't even realized she was doing. Ever so slowly, he turned his head to face hers. His eyes looked unnatural, and he was grinning at her menacingly.
"What's motherfucking up, sis?" he rumbled, low in his voice. Nepeta fell back on her ass and looked up at his slowly rising form. He towered about her as he stood, as if the troll who had been crouching on the floor quivering just moments ago had been completely replaced.
Nepeta scrambled backwards. But in an instant, as soon as he had come, the ominous side of Gamzee disappeared. He now looked at her with more tangible fear in his eyes that she had ever seen in anyone. Collapsing to the floor, he looked at her like she was about to admonish him. She said nothing, simply glued to her place.
"You have to get motherfucking out of here," Gamzee murmured.
Nepeta shook her head instantly. "But –"
"GO!" Gamzee roared. She jumped to her feet, grabbed her coat and hat, and quit the room without looking back.