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Gamzee didn't talk to anyone anymore. No one wanted to talk to him, certainly. That whole night of mistakes from nearly half a sweep ago had blocked him from doing anything for a while, and that suited him fine. He didn't care anymore. It wasn't like it mattered. He holed up in a room in his section of the meteor and drank faygo and stared at the ceiling or watched movies or whatever. Really, none of that mattered, or would matter for another sweep or so, because there was a bright, shining light in the void.
Tavros.
Whenever the meteor passed through dream bubbles, she appeared. She always appeared. She faded into the corner of the room Gamzee was in and waved, and together, the two would talk for hours and hours, weaving the stories of their respective failures. This Tavros wasn't the one that Gamzee had known in life, no. She came from a universe where she'd reached 'god tier' and only died once the alternate Jack found the meteor. It was unclear how Jack had found it. Gamzee had never asked. All that mattered was that this Tavros had a bit more confidence- not enough to really change her, but confidence. Confidence to snub Vriska's advances. Confidence to realize she was a girl. Confidence to ask Gamzee to be her dream ghost matesprit.
And of course, Gamzee had said yes. Tavros was the moons in his concrete sky, had been since the day she materialized. Without her, Gamzee would have flipped his pan again within weeks of the beginning of this journey. When the dream bubbles were gone, he still sometimes thought he got close. He would do anything for Tavros.
Like, one time, Tavros had been sitting in midair, seemingly just chilling, when one of the meteor's squeakbeasts had scuttled into Gamzee's hideout. Gamzee thought they were cute, and he usually left them alone to drink from the half-full bottles of faygo or whatever it was they liked to do when he didn't look, but Tavros, Tavros looked terrified. Tavros had begun to fade as if the bubble was floating out, but it wasn't, clearly, no. There were still stars in the open sky beyond Gamzee's ceiling, and the window still looked out to open fields where fairybulls drifted over the grass. It was only Tavros leaving. In a panic, Gamzee had summoned a club from his strife specibus and whacked the little pest hard enough that it looked like a green flavor disk. He was breathing heavily when he heard Tavros speak again.
TAVROS: hOLY SHIT,
GAMZEE: i'm sorry, invertesister, they come in sometimes :o(
GAMZEE: I DIDN'T THINK YOU'D HATE IT SO MOTHERFUCKIN MUCH :o(
TAVROS: nO, I jUST GOT STARTLED, aND SCARED,
TAVROS: sORRY,
TAVROS: iT WAS CUTE,
GAMZEE: nah, don't even get your worry on all about it
GAMZEE: THAT WAS NOTHING!
Gamzee had picked up a horn then, and honked it, trying to lighten the mood.
TAVROS: wOULD YOU ALWAYS DO THAT,?
GAMZEE: huh?
TAVROS: gETTING RID OF THOSE, tYPES OF, tHINGS, uM, wOULD YOU DO THAT AGAIN?
GAMZEE: YEAH, MOTHERFUCKING HELL YEAH!
GAMZEE: you're all i've motherfuckin got, tavvy
GAMZEE: IM NOT GONNA GO AND LOSE YOU
GAMZEE: when you're all like the best thing ive got left and shit y'know?
TAVROS: ,,,oH,
Her cheeks became tinged with russet, although she was dead. She could still blush.
TAVROS: tHAT'S REALLY SWEET, AND, i GUESS YOU SHOULD KNOW, THAT LIKE, I,
And before she could finish her sentence, the entirety of all of the beautiful scenery began to fade out again. Damnit!
GAMZEE: OH MOTHERFUCK
He rushed to Tavros's spot in midair and pulled her down into an embrace.
GAMZEE: come back soon, okay? :o(
TAVROS: hAHA, uM, i'LL TRY, BECAUSE THAT'S A THING I CAN DO, cERTAINLY,
GAMZEE: I'LL MISS YOU :(
TAVROS: ,,,mE TOO,
And she was gone.
After the visits, Gamzee usually just sat for a while before he did anything. There was nothing that really stuck as an interest between dream bubble visits. There was nothing left for him. The others would never want him back, no. He stayed here unless he needed supplies.
Tavros really was all he had left.
He'd do anything for her.
Anything.
Mother.
Fucking.
Anything.
Unfortunately, it seemed like today would be the day that 'anything' came.
Tavros and Gamzee laid on the ground, holding each other close. Tavros, of course, felt cold, misty. She was dead, she always felt that way, but today she wasn't only cold physically. She was shaking, and her eyes were always away from Gamzee's. They hadn't spoken yet. Gamzee was about to say something when Tavros sighed.
TAVROS: i MISSED YOU,
She wrapped her arms a little tighter, burying her face against Gamzee's. She was trembling. Why was she trembling?
GAMZEE: is something up?
TAVROS: i, … i THINK, I tHINK YOUR VRISKA SAW ME??
TAVROS: aND, uM, FUCK,
TAVROS: tHIS IS BAD, THAT'S REALLY BAD,
GAMZEE: WHAT? MOTHERFUCKING TALK TO ME, DUDE
GAMZEE: why's it bad? i can motherfuckin work it out for you, y'know
TAVROS: … uM,
TAVROS: sO, iVE BEEN, LIKE, FOLLOWING YOU
TAVROS: tRYING TO KEEP IN TIME WITH YOUR METEOR, bECAUSE, THERE ARE A LOT OF THEM, bUT,
TAVROS: YOUR METEOR IS THE ONLY ONE I WANT TO FOLLOW, YKNOW,?
GAMZEE: HELL MOTHERFUCKIN YEAH
How adorable.
TAVROS: ERM, sO ANYWAYS,
TAVROS: vRISKAS DON'T REALLY LIKE TAVROSES, I THINK, nOT IN A GOOD FRIEND WAY, ANd, i, i THINK SHE MIGHT TRY TO CHASE ME OFF, } : (
GAMZEE: … oh.
GAMZEE: OH.
GAMZEE: oh
GAMZEE: FUCK
GAMZEE: motherfucking
GAMZEE: NO.
It was at this point that Gamzee wriggled out of Tavros's embrace and stood, grimacing.
GAMZEE: she won't do shit.
GAMZEE: I'M GONNA MAKE SURE.
GAMZEE: don't even worry, tavvy, i'm gonna motherfuckin-
TAVROS: waIT, WAiT,
TAVROS: iSN'T YOUR VRISKA GOD TiER, WHICH, sHE CAN'T DIE, RIGHT? aND YOU'RE NOT?,
TAVROS: pLEASE DON'T, UM, dIE, dUDE,
TAVROS: nOT YET AT LEAST,
TAVROS: i hAVE A FRIEND, wHO SAYS SHE FOUND SOMETHING THAT COULD MAKE ME ALIVE AGAIN, aND BE ALIVE WHEREVER I WANT, aND, THAT MEANS I CAN BE WITH YOU,
TAVROS: sO MAYBE HOLD ON SO THAT SHE CAN'T KILL YOU,
GAMZEE: NAH, GIRL, I KNOW WHAT TO MOTHERFUCKIN DO
GAMZEE: i'm gonna get it motherfuckin right again, tavvy
GAMZEE: STAY HERE.
So began the spree. Gamzee left his room for the first time in days and padded down the stairs, opened the vent above the barricaded door, and climbed up into the ceiling. The corners between the walls and floor of this space between the ceiling had long since gathered dust from lack of passing breeze. Down the vent, through the floor, into the decoy room where Gamzee kept all the things he'd been able to squirrel away- the bodies and the weapons of the dead. No one had found it yet, but Gamzee liked to stay safe. No one could go in his real room this way, they'd think this was the real room, and… whatever. Whatever! His mind was racing so fast, fuck… he grabbed the claws off the wall and just left already.
It took a while to find Vriska. She sat on a high ledge outside of the dream bubble, looking into the void. She'd killed the first Tavros, Gamzee reminded himself. She would do it again if she got the chance. After a moment of steeling himself, Gamzee started off by knocking Vriska over the head with a juggling club, cutting her up with Nepeta's claws, and throwing her dead body out into the void. She hadn't even been able to put up a fight, and her eyes still carried surprise when her head whizzed out of Gamzee's hands. Gamzee figured she wouldn't be able to find the meteor again, and that was fine, that was exactly what Gamzee wanted, even. He would've been happy to get right back to Tavros if it weren't for Terezi walking in.
Well, shit, no one would accept their moirail getting murdered. Gamzee certainly wouldn't. He knew that, if Terezi got away, later she would find him and she would get rid of him. But Terezi was smart. She certainly knew she wouldn't be the one to win like this. She had turned to get away, probably to warn the others, but Gamzee knocked her unconcious before she could even get so far as transportalizing out. He stuck the claws through her chest and threw her out to go join Vriska in the void.
Breathing heavily, Gamzee took a couple steps away from the ledge and stumbled back through the door to this room. It took him a moment to recalibrate, and when he did, he finally began the journey back. He caught glimpses of the others talking in the dream bubble and walked right by. They'd figure it out eventually.
Gamzee finally jumped out of the vent and climbed the stairs up to his room. Tavros was still there, sitting in the air.
TAVROS: dID IT WORK,?
GAMZEE: yeah, imma motherfuckin hope so
GAMZEE: NO ONE'S GONNA FIND US UP HERE, SO…
Gamzee stepped down on a horn. Hooooooooooooonk. Tavros laughed, grinned softly.
TAVROS: sO IT'S SAFE NOW?
GAMZEE: yeah :o)
Her joyous laugh got louder. Tavros reached down and lifted Gamzee up into the air.
GAMZEE: WHOA
TAVROS: tHIS IS GREAT, jUST, SUPER AWESOME AND EPIC, WHOA,
TAVROS: tHANK YOU,
TAVROS: i HOPE THAT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO, i MEAN, IT MUST HAVE BEEN, wHOA, HAHA,
GAMZEE: it's no big motherfuckin problem
Gamzee wrapped Tavros up in his arms.
GAMZEE: Y'KNOW WHY :o)
They kissed.
GAMZEE: because i motherfuckin love you so much :o)
TAVROS: oH MY GOG DUDE, } : D i,
And then the dream bubble began to fade. Tavros went pale, white eyes widening.
TAVROS: oH, OKAY, UM, wAIT OKAY, jUST WAIT,
TAVROS: i'M GONNA FIND MY FRIEND AND GET THE BEING ALIVE THING,
TAVROS: i LOVE YOU, GAMZEE, sEE YOU SOON,
Tavros' voice drifted into an echoey mess as she dissolved into the air, leaving Gamzee to fall to the floor, covered in blood that didn't belong to him. Grinning, he spread out on the ground and began to wait.
Time passed. Gamzee spent his time drinking faygo and listening, feeling. It was a week before another dream bubble came, but Tavros wasn't there. Neither was she there three days later when another dream bubble came. Or after another four days, when the next.
It was hard to wait. Gamzee hadn't waited this long before, but he'd do it. He'd wait for as long as Tavros needed. When the days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, Tavros didn't return and Gamzee continued to wait. He barely left his room, he was busy waiting. When he needed food, he rushed, ran. What if he wasn't there when Tavros came back? It was only several months later when the doubts started. Where'd Tavros gone? Was she joking, was all of this a joke? Would she ever come back? Vriska and Terezi were dead, and for what reason? More of nothing? Tavros wouldn't just leave. Was she lost? Was she double-dead somehow?
What if the others found Gamzee and made him leave before anything happened? What if Vriska found her way back? What if Gamzee accidentally starved? It may have seemed unlikely, but he really spent a lot of time just thinking, he really could have forgotten to eat. There was nothing to do but worry and wait. He was so well-hidden, Gamzee doubted he'd ever be found.
Several times, Gamzee heard the sound of a chainsaw somewhere far-off, or voices in some corridor through the vents. Although he had his doubts, he didn't want to quit waiting. Tavros would come back. She'd basically promised. There was no reason for Gamzee to believe she wouldn't come back, and yet…
Because he would do anything for Tavros, anything, motherfucking anything,
Gamzee waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
But Tavros never came back.