Paradise Blossoms

[Everything hurts. His head is splitting. His hands are shaking. He can barely stand.

Except he's not standing at all. He really, really wants some Sopor right now. His entire body screams for it. His voice comes out in a whisper, strained and raw, and he's still bloody as hell. Most of it isn't even his. Brown and green and blue and indigo all over.]

From:

[Tav hears a voice, and though it's kind of a familiar voice, there's also something really, really off about it. It's worrying. Carefully, treading regrettably loudly on heavy metal feet, he peers around the corner.]

uH,
gAMZEE,,,

From:

[Dave's trailed the sounds of Tav's metal footsteps through the lab - kid makes an awful lot of noise - and he puts his hands on the troll's shoulders and leans around the corner, too.]

From:

[He doesn't believe his ears. That voice. He looks up, eyes and skin beneath stained indigo, like he hasn't slept in a week or two.]

[In case it is, he tries, he really does try to sound normal, but there are differences. In spite of the obvious roughness his voice is actually even more lyrical than it used to be, but the whimsical singsong sounds pretty forced. An almost tentative smile that's a shade of his usual smiles starts across his face. He doesn't recognize Dave yet.]

From:

[Tavros jumps a little at the hands on his shoulder, but relaxes visibly when he realizes it's just Dave. He makes a motion for Dave to shut up, and steps fully around the corner when Gamzee recognizes him. He approaches cautiously, because there's still something definitely off about his best bro. He laughs, nervous.]

yEAH, hAHA, iT'S,
dEFINITELY ME, bRO,

[He glances behind him, as if for moral support.]

tHAT'S, uM,
dAVE,

From:

[Dave trails behind, in a loping, easy slouch - which is rather deceptive, because Tav's nerves have put him on edge. These aren't the normal nerves, Dave can see that, but he's not about to let it show.

The remnants of face paint trigger something, though, and he steps closer when Tav looks back, grinning.]

From:

[Gamzee lurches up. He's not steady on his feet, but he'll be damned if he doesn't greet his not-dead bro who he's all flushed for properly.

The kiss misses and lands on Tavros's cheek, but it's pretty obvious where he was aiming. There's watery indigo dripping down his face, but with all his blood from the claw marks it's easy to miss. The dried streaks of brown around his mouth or the splatters of green and blue all over his shirt and hands? Not so much.]

[The overflowing joy gives him strength but he's still shaking all over. He almost misses what Dave says. Almost. He almost doesn't put the pieces together. Almost. It takes him a minute anyway, and then he's pushing away from Tavros with a bloodstained pair of clubs in hand. There's sheer hate twisting his face, but it's flickering. Cycling rapidly between platonic murderous rage and something more...caliginous. He yells, voice cracking and then softens to an acidic, almost sultry whisper.]

[He won't be hard to stop; he can barely keep a grip on the clubs, or to his feet. But that's if he can be caught before he finishes the lunge.]

From:

[Tav laughs nervously, like he's trying not to upset Gamzee; it isn't until he's up close that he spies a rainbow of blood spatters dotting the troll's skin and clothes, and oh god it's everywhere; there's brown. Brown blood, his blood oh god oh god oh god.

And when Dave addresses Gamzee, Tavros knows right away that it's wrong, it was the wrong thing to say. And he backs away, horrorstruck, trying to keep Dave behind him, away from Gamzee.]

oH GOD, nO,
dON'T, bRO,
dON'T DO THAT, oH jEGUS,

From:

[There's not too much danger - Dave's gone God Tier, after all, and even if he hadn't, his flash step is still well under control. There's a brief blur, and then he's behind Gamzee, his face impassive - but with a broken sword in his hand.]

From:

[Gamzee has mastered the flash step too. He blurs, changes direction--

and ends up on his back, winded. The clubs roll away, and for a few moments he doesn't move except for the uneven heaving of his chest.]

[He curls up on his side, hands going to his hair. He's vulnerable and everything screams to fight it but he can't even stand. His head hurts too much and if he had anything in his stomach it'd be coming right back up right about now.]

From:

[Stepping, nearly stumbling backward—hey, it's hard when you've got robotic legs, okay?—Tavros draws his lance, albeit a bit more clumsily because he's so nervous, so scared shitless. But he's trying hard not to let any of that show on his face because shit's uncool, and that's a fact. He's trying to keep a steady hand on his lance, but that's hard too, because these are both his best bros, even if Gamzee seems to have completely flipped his shit. He watches, eyes darting between Dave and the fallen Gamzee, and he licks his lips nervously.]

wH-,
gAM, bRO, wHAT'S THE MATTER,

From:

[Dave shifts slightly, almost imperceptibly, as a long-forgotten memory arises. Fucking time shit.]

From:

[He curls up more, hissing in pain as his head pounds too much for him to hold back anymore. He's very nearly in fetal position now, so tired and beaten down.]

[But he tries to make his feet again, ending up sitting and resting his head on his knees. He's shivering like he's freezing cold.]

From:

[There's a clatter, thunderous in Tavros's ears, as his lance falls to the floor, and as Gamzee is talking (raving, he's raving), he comes ever closer, creeping, cautious, until with a thud he falls to his metal knees next to the highblood, scooting until he's right up next to him. And he's not so good with the words, never has been, so he just carefully folds his arms around Gamzee's huddled frame, trying to forget about the blood everywhere, his blood, everyone's.]

hEY,
iT'S ALRIGHT, bRO,
i'M HERE, yOUR BESTEST BRO IS HERE,
hAHA,
yOU'LL BE ALRIGHT,
uH,
i PROMISE, i THINK,

From:

[Dave tenses a little as Tav approaches Gamzee, his hand tightening around the hilt of his sword, and when Tav hugs him, there's a odd flush of something that burns through Dave - obviously not jealousy, that would be way too lame - although his face remains impassive.]

From:

[Sorry Dave, but he's getting his ignoring on. Gamzee turns with sudden blinding speed--

...and just clings to Tavros like his life depends on it. His fingers dig in to Tavros's shoulder and back and their horns clack together--he winces at that because just about everything hurts right now. He ends up with his cheek pressed against Tavros's jaw because their horns are in the way of him burying his face in the other boy's shoulder. He's shaking, and taking in rasping, uneven breaths, while indigo tears sneak past his lashes and drip down.]

From:

[Tavros jumps a little at how quickly Gamzee moves, he wasn't expecting—maybe it was a mistake, but no, it appears that for once in his life Tav has done something right. And there's nothing he can really do but let Gamzee cling to him for dear life. The jarring sensation of horn hitting horn makes him wince, but he's not unused to it, not with horns like his. And while Tavros may be making leaps and bounds in the social interaction department, this is all rather unexpected; he hasn't had the proper notice required to summon up large amounts of self-esteem. So he pats Gamzee's back quietly, rubbing in small, soothing circles, and then after awhile it occurs to him that Dave, Dave's still standing there, so he looks up at the Knight of Time through a wild tangle of black hair and gives him a sheepish look like Don't hate me, please?]

From:

[Dave flashsteps again when Gamzee moves, his arm drawn back - but he stops, lowers it again...and then dismisses his weapon entirely. Something tells him he's not going to need it - not right at this moment, at least.

This feels like something awkward and private, and Dave's just considering absconding and leaving them to it when Tav looks up, and suddenly he's a part of it, even if he never wanted to be. So he gives a smooth, one-shouldered shrug. Couldn't care less, it says, as he carefully ignores the odd twisting feeling that seems to be happening in his gut.]

From:

[It's a long time before he moves and the shaking doesn't stop, but the tears do and his breathing slowly evens out. He pulls back slowly, breaking as little contact as possible. His cheek brushes against Tavros's and he presses their foreheads together. When he speaks his voice trips up and down the scale in a little spoken melody, so soft and pitch perfect. It's almost a song.]

[As he speaks the hand on Tavros's shoulder trails up to very gently cup his jaw. He might as well have shouted "I'm so flushed for you"]

From:

[He catches that shrug, and that's a relief, because, well. He's flushed red as a baboon's ass for Dave, and that's a fact. And for a second, this is fine, it's okay, and when Gamzee speaks, Tav could cry in relief.

Except.

Except other things are happening now, and Tavros really doesn't know what to do with that.

And, oh God. Dave is there. Dave is right fucking there, and Gamzee could basically have not picked a worse time to do this. Tav's eyes go wide as saucers, and he goes stiff as a board (and not in a good way), gaze wheeling wildly from Dave to Gamzee to Gamzee's hand on his face.]

uH,
uH,
bRO, gAMZEE,
wH-,
wHAT ARE YOU, uM,

From:

[Dave's eyes narrow behind his shades, and he steps a little closer. Screw that twisting feeling not being jealousy, because it fucking is - these trolls have four quadrants to choose from, and Dave's totally okay with the idea of sharing Tav with a couple other people (mostly), but Gamzee's trying to muscle in on the one quadrant Dave's pretty sure he's got a firm handle on, and that's just not cool.]

From:

[He stops so suddenly when Dave butts in that it even the trembling is stilled for a second. Fuck no. No! Bastard stole every damn thing from him. A slow, rolling growl builds in his chest, starting too low for a human to hear and slowly rising like a wave. It grows until Gamzee is nearly vibrating with it and then it cuts off just like that. When he speaks again his voice is sharp, stacatto and atonal. He sounds very, very hurt and young.]

From:

[Oh, dear sweet Jegus this could not be any more awkward. Nope. This new information has Tav flushing like a grub, cheeks turning ruddy brown, and it's not in a flushed kind of way, no, not at all. It's more like he wants to die, disappear, straight up sendificate himself somewhere else.]

nO, mAN,
i,
i MEAN, pERHAPS IN A WAY THAT'S, fLATTERING,
bUT UM,
yOU SEE, i'M, uH,

[He cuts off with an embarrassing, frightened squeak in the change in Gamzee's voice, and slowly unwinds his arms from around the other troll. God, no, they were good, everything was fine, this is just not good.]

nO!
i MEAN,
wELL,,
yES, hE'S MY,
tHAT IS TO SAY,
i'M HIS,
wELL, aNYWAY THE, uHH,
tHE POINT IS i'M STILL YOUR BEST BRO,
wHAT WITH THE, hAHA, tHE SICK FIRES AND ALL,

From:

[That blade is in his hand again when Gamzee starts growling, but before Dave can make up his mind about whether or not to pull Tav away - everything changes. And if the situation was awkward before, it's even worse now, because Dave doesn't know what to do with this kind of thing, this kind of...emotion. He really needs to get a better handle on this cultural understanding thing.

Or maybe just stop hanging out with trolls who are insane.]

From: