Jesus, last night was an emotional roller coaster, mostly up. Long story short, found a replica of my childhood teddy bear (which I still have) in mint condition on the internet after nearly five years of searching and purchased it, along with a different-colored version, also in mint condition. So yeah. Everyone seems excited for the GamTav in this chapter... no porn, but lots of fluff I guess.
Many thanks to Insert name here, Random reader, LinkinPark X, SlytherinUnicorns, iDreamBig, Marina45, Wolfen Artist of Hetalia, Bitblondetoday, MissArsenicChaos, Rand0mAn0nym0u2, Heki564, CatastrophicAquarius, FanficFinatic2, and region-discontinued for your reviews to the last act!
Tavros was starting to get a little concerned about Gamzee. It seemed like he was starting to spend a lot more time asleep, which wouldn't have bothered him, not really, except it was starting to approach twelve hours a day. He was worried—Gamzee always slept at least eight hours a night unless finals were approaching, but now he would wake up, skip breakfast, go right to school, stay until five-thirty or six, grab dinner from a fast food place on the way home, eat, and go to sleep around seven. He wouldn't even play video games with Tavros anymore. He was withdrawing from everything, and Tavros couldn't figure out why.
He'd tried to bring it up once on the way to school after Gamzee dropped Karkat off at his first class. "Hey, are you okay? You've been sleeping a lot lately. I'm getting worried," he'd said, hoping he could spark an actual conversation with him. They hadn't really spoken much since he'd gotten back from Eridan's place last weekend.
But Gamzee had just smiled mysteriously and kissed the back of his hand. "Don't you worry about me, motherfucker. I'm just fine." He'd refused to say anything else, so Tavros let it go but resolved to mention it to Karkat. After all, they'd known each other before he and Gamzee had started dating—maybe he would have a better idea of what was going on with him.
Not that Tavros blamed him for being exhausted—he was taking some stupidly difficult classes with students who were working on their Masters degrees, and his schedule was packed with eight classes while most students had five or six. He didn't understand how Gamzee was able to handle all of it—Physics and German III and World History and Psychology and Advanced Calculus and whatever other classes he had (Tavros couldn't keep them straight in his head). With his schedule, it was no surprise that he spent every free moment asleep, but it hadn't been like this a month ago. It was a fairly recent development, and Tavros couldn't pinpoint what might have triggered it, but after a year and a half of being with him, Tavros couldn't help his concern.
He didn't get to talk to Karkat until the one half-hour at lunchtime when neither of them had class. That was his fault for only leaving a half-hour for himself, but on the plus side, he got out of his after-lunch class at two, leaving plenty of time for him to finish his other homework before Gamzee drove them all home. Despite that, Gamzee liked to stay late at the library since it was the only place Karkat wouldn't yell and, therefore, the only place he could study in peace.
"Hey, Karkat?"
"What's going on?" Karkat didn't sound very interested, but he was trying to decide what to order from the grill, so Tavros didn't blame him. He, meanwhile, grabbed the same double-decker peanut butter and jelly sandwich that he always did—the woman at the sandwich counter always made it special for him.
"Um... I was just wondering... Have you noticed him acting weird? Gamzee, I mean." He cast a sideways glance at Karkat, who had paused with a strange look on his face.
"Weird how?"
"Um, like... Well, haven't you noticed him sleeping a lot more? And he doesn't talk much anymore. Not even to me. And I don't think he's been, uh, eating very well, either."
Karkat scratched the back of his head. "I don't know—I mean, it kind of sounds right, but really, I only noticed the talking thing. He hasn't played his Xbox in awhile, either, has he?"
Tavros shook his head. "No, um, not that I've seen."
He shrugged. "I don't know, I figured it was just one of his weird quirks or something. Leave him alone for awhile. He'll get over it."
Tavros didn't like that answer, either, but he supposed he had no choice but to do what Karkat said. Besides, it wasn't like Gamzee was mean to him or anything—he just wasn't talking much to anyone, and Tavros still had no doubt that, if Vriska were to harass him for any reason, Gamzee would still somehow be able to materialize out of nowhere and hover menacingly behind him until she scampered off. That thought, at least, was enough to put a smile on his face.
Kanaya's phone trilled cheerfully, but she didn't want to expend the energy required to pull it out of her pocket. She was in the middle of a lovely afternoon nap at Rose's house and her limbs were leaden. Besides, her phone was in her left pocket and her left arm was pinned beneath Rose, and she didn't feel like jostling the other girl or reaching across her body to retrieve it. Then Rose yawned and shifted, freeing Kanaya's arm, so she finally dug out her phone and checked the text message.
"It would appear we've been invited to partake in Halloween festivities tomorrow night."
"Huh. Who invited us?"
"Aradia. Apparently, several people are going. Equius and Nepeta and Sollux and Eridan... probably others as well. Since Eridan is going, it wouldn't surprise me to discover that Feferi was coming along."
"Mmm." Rose rolled over and burrowed into Kanaya's side. "Is it a costume thing?" she asked sleepily.
"I believe so. I hadn't planned for such an eventuality—I fear I may not have an appropriate costume."
"It's Halloween. There's no such thing as an inappropriate costume."
Kanaya laughed softly. "I have to disagree with you there. However, I may be able to come up with something last-minute. Do you have a costume prepared?"
"I think I have something from a few years ago that'll work. It's from a video game I used to play when I was younger—my character's title was Seer of Light, and I made an outfit based on what it looked like in the game."
"That sounds lovely. I do hope you wear it, then."
Rose chuckled once. "Maybe. I might find something else. I think all the other good costumes are gone already, so it may have to be something from odds and ends."
"You could wear your sister's barista uniform," Kanaya teased gently.
Rose just shook her head. "I'm not wearing anything that gin-soaked wench wears every day," she joked.
"Hush. Your sister seems lovely."
Rose nodded. "She is. It's just hard to see her ruin her life the way my mom did."
"Have you talked to either of them yet?"
"No, not yet," she sighed. "I don't know how to bring it up."
"I'm sure you'll think of something."
Jade really did not see what the big deal with Vriska was. She seemed perfectly nice—sure, she could be snarky sometimes, but she was trying to pretend that she wasn't as lonely as she actually was. Rose had definitely overreacted or something. There was no way Vriska was as bad as she claimed.
Also, her tarantula was really cool. She climbed slowly up Jade's arm in a way that made her giggle, but as she crossed behind her neck, she was suddenly reminded that tarantulas were dangerous and she needed to be careful. Vriska was monitoring closely, but Jade didn't relax until she felt the Marquise's legs start to work their way down her other arm.
"She likes you," Vriska proclaimed, scooping up Marquise Mindfang as soon as she crawled off Jade's hand and onto the floor.
"How can you tell?" Yeah, the Marquise was cool and all, but Jade had a hard time believing Vriska could sense her moods.
"Well, for one thing, she didn't try to attack you or anything. Plus, she took a really long time to climb on you. She only does that with me and Aranea. Most people, she just kind of goes halfway up their arm and then she stops or she turns and goes back down." Vriska grinned widely. "Yeah, she definitely likes you."
"Good," Jade said, reaching out to trail her forefinger down the Marquise's body. "I would certainly hate to see her if she didn't like me."
At Jade's touch, the tarantula settled into Vriska's palm as if greatly enjoying the sensation. Jade half-expected her to start purring, although she supposed that would have been weird if she did.
"See?" Vriska crowed, drawing out the word as though it had eight vowels. "She doesn't do that with just anyone."
The fact that an ordinarily-aloof spider liked her was a strange ego boost, and it emboldened Jade to actually cradle the Marquise in her hands. For a few moments after Vriska deposited her in Jade's hands, the Marquise stood up as if trying to figure out what was going on, but then, slowly, she settled into her palms, just as she'd done with Vriska.
After they'd put the Marquise back in her tank, Jade had started to gather up her things when Vriska asked, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"
Jade turned to face her, about to ask if it would be okay with her mom, when Vriska went on quickly.
"Or you could come over for dinner tomorrow, too, if you want. My mom won't care. We're having pizza and wings."
"Halloween tradition?" Jade asked with a smile.
"Sort of. We have it every Halloween, anyway."
"I'd love to, actually. Are we going trick-or-treating afterward?"
Vriska nodded enthusiastically. "Probably. And hopefully Aranea doesn't..." Her voice trailed off and she bit her lip. She seemed to be debating whether or not to continue. "Never mind. Um, you can wear your costume here or change later—I don't really care which. I'm thinking about wearing mind to school tomorrow, actually," she added with a grin.
"What are you dressing up as?"
Vriska's grin widened. "Spiderwoman, of course! What else would I be?"
Jade had to laugh. The costume definitely fit her. "I can't even imagine."
"And you better be ready to go harder than the paint, because in this neighborhood, people give out sick amounts of candy. None of that fun-sized shit—here, everyone goes for the regular sizes or king-sized. It's awesome!"
Jade had never been unenthusiastic about Halloween or acquiring candy, but somehow, Vriska's excitement was contagious and she felt herself getting even more excited about the next day. It would definitely be a lot of fun, and she'd probably be able to convince her grandpa to let her go out. She hadn't gone trick-or-treating since she was seventeen, but the pang of childhood nostalgia was sharp, and she knew she had to go tomorrow.
Plus, she liked to cosplay as various characters from The Wizard of Oz, so the fact that she hadn't necessarily planned for Halloween was pretty much moot. She could totally throw together something.
She said goodbye to Vriska and headed for the nearest bus stop to take her home, feeling quite content. She had a really good feeling about the next day.
Tavros played Little Big Planet until about eight-thirty, but it wasn't the same without Gamzee playing next to him. The apartment seemed quiet with Gamzee already in bed—even Karkat sensed it, and for once, he didn't yell or pound on the door or try to get him to eat something more than just Burger King. Tavros wished he could tell what was going on with his boyfriend. It was just so out-of-character for Gamzee to pull in on himself like this.
He finally grew exhausted with pretending to be interested in the game when all he wanted to do was curl up next to Gamzee and hold him close, so he turned off his PS3, bade Karkat goodnight, and disappeared into his and Gamzee's room.
He kept the light off and changed out of his jeans into a comfortable pair of sweatpants that served as his pajamas along with whatever T-shirt he'd worn during the day. He didn't want to wake Gamzee, but this turned out to be a useless concern when he heard his voice floating through the dark.
"Hey," Gamzee said.
"Sorry," Tavros murmured. "Was I being loud?"
"No way, motherfucker. I wasn't sleeping."
"Oh." He slid into bed next to Gamzee. To his surprise, almost as soon as he got comfortable, he felt Gamzee's arms sliding around him. Automatically and with a smile coming to his face, he snuggled in next to his boyfriend and draped an arm over him, too.
"I've just been having a couple of weird motherfucking weeks. Don't worry about me, though. I motherfucking love you."
In the dark, Tavros's smile widened. "Alright. I motherfucking love you, too."
It was a lot easier to sleep tonight than it had been for almost a week before this, and as he pressed his ear to Gamzee's chest, he could feel that the two of them would be okay.
I kept bouncing around and I'm sorry about that but this chapter is basically filler. In the next chapter: Eridan gets his goddamn fish.
(BTW, Jade doesn't know that Halloween is Vriska's birthday.)
