Chapter Text
Their messages had been brief, but now was Tavros’ chance to prove himself. He squared his shoulders and stood as confidently as he could in preparation.
“Why are you doing this again?” Vriska’s shrieking voice could be heard from the staircase above.
He turned, grabbing the handle of his lance tighter and he immediately reverted back to his slouched posture.
“Oh come on!!!! I know you won’t even do anything.”
“Maybe I will if you don’t stop,” Tavros tried his best to not let his voice waver but it did crack at the end of the sentence.
Vriska boldly stomped down the stairs and they both started circling slowly on the unstable platform, taking fighting stances. Tavros maintained a rigid posture while Vriska lazily walked around with an inscrutable smirk.
“What are you gonna do? Stab me? Like you could ever, you’re a coward. You know everyone would hate you afterwards because they allll love me. Could your little self esteem handle that?” She snorted at the last statement.
“Shut up!” His voice went an octave higher.
“You are such a boy.”
Tavros wasn’t good at holding eye contact with people because it made him feel uneasy, but in this moment he held Vriska’s, and stared her down with the ferocity of someone who was much higher on the hemospectrum.
“Actually, thinking about you being a weakling. Why did your lusus even choose you? I thought they weren’t meant to pick weak ass grubs and raise them into shitty trolls! Not like he was much of a powerhouse himself--”
“You can bully me all you want but don’t talk about my lusus, you...” his voice trailed off.
“You... what? What were you gonna call me an idiot? A bitch?” it seemed even the thought of Tavros insulting her made Vriska crack up, “Boohoo.”
“YOU WHORE.”
That stunned both of them and Tavros naturally went in to apologize but held his tongue. Instead of laughing again, Vriska frowned with her fangs bared and her eyebrows scrunched up.
“Fuck you.”
The atmosphere wasn’t light in the first place, but as Vriska’s eyes glazed over with murderous intent, Tavros took a step back and he finally realized the scope of the situation. It felt like he was at the bottom of the sea, the pressure heavy on his chest. She had already paralyzed him, blinded Terezi and indirectly killed Aradia, so there wasn’t really a limit to how far she would go.
He stopped circling and hesitated in front of the stairs for a moment. Vriska put her hands in her pockets and walked towards him but then went straight past.
“See? I knew you wouldn’t do anything,” and she walked off with a wave of her hand.
But Tavros turned. He turned full speed and swung his lance around only for it to skewer straight through Vriska’s torso.
Oh god. Oh no.
His eyes widened and he stepped back, aiming to drop the weapon but it remained upright in Vriska. She turned her head slowly and gave the most malicious death glare that Tavros had ever seen in his measly life. He felt the pang in his chest and his head becoming hazy under mind control but it didn’t take full effect as Vriska fell. She fell down the stairs and the thicker part of the lance pushed further inside her, blue blood gushing everywhere.
Just
“Holy fuck.” Tavros whispered.
Vriska’s eyes turned dull and her mouth was left hanging open, last words unspoken.
All he wanted to do was intimidate her and show that maybe he was capable of doing something right for once in his life, but this was all so wrong. She was right, he couldn’t take this and he felt like he was going to be sick. Tavros turned away and he puked out all the contents of his stomach off the edge of the platform and continued retching when there was nothing else left. He looked down into the misty darkness and contemplated jumping. His friends would hate him after this anyways, no, he would hate himself after this, even more so than before. What was the point of staying around?
Maybe there was something else left in his stomach, as he retched and a mix of guilt and anxiety continued turning his stomach. He finally let up for a moment and migraine took place instead. In the midst of this, a few meaningful sniffs had come from behind and then a gasp.
“I saw this could happen but, I didn’t think...” it was Terezi’s raspy voice now drenched in confusion, sorrow and horror.
Tavros turned with a queasy face and a dark look in his eyes, “I’m sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen I didn’t think I could do it, it was just an accident,” he rambled on
Terezi had her sight fixed on the darkness in the distance and she slowly stepped around Vriska to kneel down next to Tavros. Not only moments before she’d gotten to grips with her seer powers and though she hated it, she knew that this was going to happen. They sat in silence for a moment.
“I’m so sorry,” Tavros whispered, “I was scared.”
He slouched further and looked like he was going to be sick again, “I have to kiss her.”
“What?”
“I have- I need to revive her”
Tavros stood up and stumbled back to the stairs, Terezi turned around standing up herself.
“No wait. You can’t.” Terezi interjected.
“It’s all my fault, I should have been the one who died.”
“She was going to get all of us killed.”
“What are you talking about?”
Terezi swayed for a moment unsure whether she should lay it all out.
“I saw it, in this vision. And Vriska was going to go and get us killed.” She crossed her arms and turned away. While she wanted to tell Tavros more, her body felt too heavy and she didn’t have the willpower to speak right now.
Tavros in turn wanted to question Terezi but he’d already done enough, so instead he stayed silent.
This was overwhelming for both of them.
Terezi’s best friend had just died and was lying right in front of her, but she also knew that if Tavros didn’t do it, she would have killed Vriska herself and would have to live with the guilt. Was she angry at Tavros? Yes, but right now she just needed to process it. Plus she never actually thought that this outcome would be the one that takes place, and surprisingly still keep them in the alpha timeline.
Tavros had just committed his first manslaughter on a person he’d known for years, and even though she had been verbally and physically abusing him for all those years, he still hadn’t realized that. And everything had just come crashing down on him. Why did he do it? What if he had died instead? Did she really deserve it?
So they both stood on the platform, their thoughts churning, neither of them aware with how to deal with the death of someone so close to them.
A loud and belligerent honk echoed in the distance.
“I’m gonna get out of here.” Terezi abruptly said.
Tavros stood still as she walked away, he looked down at Vriska for a second longer then looked down at himself in disgust. When Terezi was out of sight he finally broke and tears streamed down his face as he hyperventilated. Even though he trusted Terezi and wouldn’t want to hurt her anymore than he already has, he quickly walked over and leaned down to Vriska. The only way to fix this was to bring her back to life. Their dry lips connected and his brows furrowed in disgust. She didn’t even flinch.
“Come on, please,” He croaked.
After more frail attempts he gave up, sitting up fully and now openly sobbing into the darkness. What distracted him from his misery was a loud sigh from next to him, and when he blearily opened his eyes he saw Terezi extending out a hand.
“Let’s go,” she murmured.
He gently grabbed her hand to get up, “I’m really sorry I--”
“Just shut it until we get to the top of the meteor.”