paradiseblossoms | Aftermath of the previous thread

[Dave wanders down to Tav's room - respiteblock, whatever, Dave's still not sure how seriously he's taking all this cultural understanding thing, although he did just have alien hatesex - and peers around the door.]

[Tavros looks up, startled; he wasn't expecting to see Dave here so soon. He's had some time to think, but he still hasn't decided whether his discomfort had to do with seeing Dave getting with another troll, or just blackrom in general. He's not sure if that's even a thing that's easy to figure out. He turns his desk chair so he's facing the door, hands fidgeting in his lap.]

uM,
nO, yOU CAN,
mOST DEFINITELY COME IN,

[He limps into the room, definitely favoring one side - he's pretty sure Gamzee cracked a rib - and looking much, much worse for the wear. He's bleeding from multiple places, bite marks all over his neck and shoulders, claw marks down one side of his face and hidden under his shirt, along with dark purple fist- and knee-shaped bruises scattered all over his torso.]

[Tav's face goes from distant to concerned in 0.5 seconds, and he's out of his chair abnormally fast, crossing the room to Dave's side in several long robotronic strides and helping him sit in the recently vacated chair. He grimaces at the sight of all those cuts and bruises, especially the ones on his face.]

wOW HE,
rEALLY DID, wHAT SOME MIGHT CALL, a NUMBER ON YOU,
hANG ON i HAVE, uH, sOME BANDAIDS AND STUFF SOMEWHERE,,,

[Dave sits, wincing, and reaches down to pull off his shirt - although he has to stop the motion about halfway through with a soft hiss. He might need a little help with that.]

hAHA, yEAH HE'S,
uM,
sOMETHING ELSE,

[Tav is already there, reaching with gentle hands to pull Dave's shirt the rest of the way off. Then he bends and starts digging in the bottom drawer of his desk, searching through a jumble of what appear to be Pokéballs and several long, fancy-looking feathers. He finally comes up with a bundle of gauze, some white medical tape, and several antiseptic wipes.]

nO i GOT THIS,
dON'T, uM, wORRY OR ANYTHING,
i'M GOOD WITH THIS KIND OF THING, kIND OF,

[And wordless, he tears open three packets containing the antiseptic wipes and begins dabbing carefully at Dave's scratches, cleaning away the blood and other various bodily fluids.]

[Dave arches an eyebrow over his shades at the collection of things in Tav's drawer, but he's soon distracted by the sting of antiseptic on his wounds.]

[He wonders if he should stop Tav from wandering too low, but there is some rather uncomfortable drying fluid happening in his pants. Maybe it would be better not to confront Tav with that just now.]

[He pauses over that particularly nasty bite mark in Dave's neck; there's no doubting that it'll scar, and isn't that a weird pang of something in his stomach that comes along with realizing he'll be looking at that for a long time.]

sORRY, i'M,
tRYING TO BE GENTLE,

[Finally, when he's sure he's cleaned out all of Dave's visible lacerations, he hesitates.]

dO YOU, uM,
tHAT IS TO SAY,
iS THERE ANYTHING, uHH, bELOW THE BELT,

[He feels Tav linger over that one particular mark, the one he thinks feels bad enough to scar, even with his new God Tier powers, and that pretty much clinches it - when Tav asks, he shrugs and shifts a little in the chair.]

[He gives Tav a few suggestive eyebrow raises, trying to ease some of the tension he can feel in the room.]

[Tav freezes, halfway through tossing the last bloody wipe into the garbage under his desk, and it takes him a few tries to frame a response to that. Because as much as that sounds very, very nice, there are several roadblocks in the way. One, the aforementioned tension, which, admittedly, might be eased in the process; and two, the fact that Tav's legs are made of metal.]

oH,
i,
uH,
i,
wELL,

[He stops, runs his hand through his mohawk, takes a deep breath, and starts over.]

yOU SEE, tHERE'S UM,
tHE ISSUE WHERE, mY LEGS ARE KIND OF INCREDIBLY NOT-WATERPROOF,
aND i'D, uM,
i'D HAVE TO TAKE THEM OFF, aND THERE WOULD BE A,
uH,
nOTABLE LACK OF LEGS,

[Dave's eyebrow arches up again, and when he speaks, there's so much sarcasm in his voice, it's nearly palpable.]

[Tav stares for a moment, not sure how to respond, until finally he realizes that this is indeed the infamous Strider sarcasm, and then he's just sort of...relieved. He clears his throat.]

sO YOU, uM,
yOU DON'T MIND, wHAT WITH THE, uHHH,

[His voice drops to a rough whisper, like he's having a hard time saying it.]

sTUMPS

[Dave shrugs - and then winces again, although it seems to hurt less than before. Maybe his crazy healing powers are finally kicking in.]

[He scratches at the side of his head, where the stubble from his last haircut is starting to grow in unchecked, and then smiles, that big, open, goofy Tavros grin. For a moment, he forgets about Gamzee, about the existence of blackrom.]

oKAY, tHEN,
i THINK, pERHAPS, wE CAN,
gIVE IT A TRY,

[Dave rolls his eyes, but there's a grin pulling at his mouth, nonetheless. Maybe there's something to this whole matesprit thing after all.]

[He starts to get up, pauses for a moment, and then continues - very slowly. Jesus, he's gotta be careful how often he does this hatesex thing - it really does a number on him.]

[Tav nods, weird butterflies flipping shit in his stomach, and he stays close by Dave's side on the way to the bathroom, just in case.]

i'M, uH,
WITH YOU ON THAT, bRO,

[They make it to the bathroom, and Tav shuts the door behind them, leaning cautiously against the door so he can watch Dave's movements. He doesn't want him aggravating that rib.]

uM,
bE CAREFUL TAKING YOUR, uH, pANTS OFF,
i COULD, mAYBE, hELP, iF YOU WANTED,

[Dave looks back over his shoulder - man, his skeptical eyebrow is getting a lot of work today.]

[He stays turned away as he carefully strips his pants off, figuring Tav doesn't really need to be confronted with the splashes of indigo fluid dried across Dave's hips and thighs.]

[Tavros draws back, flushing brown, and shakes his head.]

oH, nO, i MEANT,
uM,
bECAUSE OF, yOU KNOW,
yOUR RIBS,,,

[Still turned away, Dave laughs a little, reaching past the shower curtain to turn on the water.]

[The cuts on his body are fading, too, little by little - they look like they were sustained a few days ago now, instead of just minutes. He sticks his hand into the water, testing the temperature.]

[Tav relaxes, realizing Dave isn't angry with him or anything, and advances further into the tiny bathroom, maneuvering until he's seated on the toilet seat. While Dave's testing the water, Tav strips off his own shirt, revealing a torso well-muscled from years of pushing himself around in a wheelchair and training with a lance. It's apparent from the hunch of his shoulders, though, that he's still not totally comfortable being naked in front of Dave (or anyone, for that matter). His pants come next, and then he's sitting there in just a pair of boxers and his legs.]

i'LL, uM,
kEEP THAT IN MIND,

[Dave climbs into the shower and quickly rinses himself off, the water turning an odd deep purple as the last of the dried blood sloughs off him and mixes with Gamzee's indigo. Then, he finally turns towards Tav again, pushing the curtain back so he can see the troll, leaning casually against the back wall.]

[He gestures down at himself, bruises and all. He's always tended towards a leaner build - nowhere near as muscled as Tav, but also not as lanky as John or Gamzee. He lets a hand slide down his torso, heading for his hips.]

[While Dave is rinsing off, Tav stands and pushes his boxers the rest of the way down his hips, tossing them into a pile with the rest of their clothes. He turns at the sound of the curtain sliding back, gaze wandering automatically down Dave's body, which he swears he gets more appreciative of every time he sees it. But it comes with a price; he catches the last of the blood flowing down the drain, remembers that not long ago, he witnessed some things that were very, very uncomfortable.]

uHH,

[His response is cut off by the sight of Dave's hand wandering downward, and even though he's feeling pretty shitty, he can't deny that it's an awfully nice sight. So he nods, still flushed, reminding himself that he and Dave are matesprits, that it'll be alright, and moves so that he's sitting on the edge of the tub. His stomach is churning; this is going to be awkward, and what if Dave sees him with his legs off and decides Tav isn't attractive anymore, that it's too weird?

But no, he reminds himself. You know who wouldn't be having a problem with this, he asks himself? Rufio. Rufio would take his damn legs off and be sexy as hell, all while positively bursting with self-confidence. Hell yeah.

Tav reaches down, carefully, and tugs at the edge of one metallic thigh, carefully angled so the mist coming from the shower stall doesn't get on his prostheses. And after a moment and a hard tug, it comes off, leaving the bare stump of his thigh, which has finally healed after its rather brutal removal. He repeats the process on the other side, and then uses his arms to swivel himself on the edge of the tub so he's facing Dave, lain bare with his heart on his sleeve.]

[Dave slides rather unceremoniously to the floor of the tub, propping his back against the wall so that he's relatively eye-level with Tav. Briefly, he tips his head back to let the warm spray push his hair back from his face, then looks back across at the troll, readjusting his shades.]

[He reaches out, his face serious, and places a hand on Tav's stunted thigh.]

[He struggles to keep his expression completely neutral, and hopes Tav's spent enough time with him to know that he's joking.]

[Tav's gaze follows Dave's descent, and he's grateful to him for putting them on a level with each other. He stiffens, just a little, at the hand on his thigh, and at first, his throat tightens up—until he takes a deep breath, reminds himself that this is Dave Strider he's talking to, and then proceeds to crack the fuck up, dissolving into that ridiculous giggle, much to his horror.]

hAHAHA,
yES, i DID, nOTICE THAT,
fUNNILY ENOUGH,
i, uH,
hAD AN UNFORTUNATE INCIDENT WITH A,
cRAZY CHAINSAW-WIELDING TROLL GIRL,

[Dave feels a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth when Tav dissolves into that fucking giggle, but it fades away as the troll keeps talking, and his grip tightens slightly on Tav's leg.]

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