Chapter Text
From the depths of the dark, Rose could hear the slow, inconsistent melody of Gamzee’s honks, quiet and forlorn but with the emotional tenor of a banshee’s wailing. Kanaya told her to ignore him, and Dave seemed too put off of the subject to discuss it with her. This wasn’t the first time the exiled clown sought attention from the safe catacombs of the meteor, but usually Karkat was awake to seek him out and calm him. Karkat was too preoccupied with sleep somewhere in his own living quarters to answer the call now. The echoing noise seemed to go on forever, reverberated in Rose’s mind.
She stood. ”I’ll be back,” she said out loud before turning towards the exit.
"You aren’t going to meddle with Gamzee, are you?" Kanaya asked.
"Don’t mess with the murderclown," Dave said, only giving her half of his attention. "He’ll draw you in and drown you like some fucked up harlequin kelpie."
"I doubt it," Rose responded. "Don’t worry, I’m only going for a walk."
The half-truth didn’t weigh on her consciousness. She weaved through the dim hallways, not the least bit nervous about finding the source of the sound. Up stairs, down stairs, until she stood below a grated vent. ”Gamzee?” she called up. The honking paused for a moment, and a single honk, more purposeful than the others, answered her. Standing on her toes, she reached up and dislodged the grate. ”Gamzee, come down here.”
She waited patiently for signs of movement. Gamzee was hesitant, but she eventually heard the rustling of fabric and the metallic noise of weight shifting in the vent. Gamzee’s mane of hair proceeded his face out of the vent. His eyes shifted from her face to the dark ends of the hallway. ”I’m alone,” Rose assured him. He looked back at her, his lidded eyes examining her face, and he released a low honk. She sighed. ”Come down here. Karkat is asleep.”
A melancholy shadow passed across his face and he deflated, his face resting against the edge of the vent. Rose could hear him mumble some incoherent words, slang and jargon strung together with a chaotic syntax, and she crossed her arms. ”Do you always wait for him to come to you?” she asked. Gamzee’s eyes flashed to hers and away. ”Is it because of Kanaya? She’s probably lost interest in you by now.”
He pushed himself up and disappeared into the vent again. A flat honk echoed from inside. Rose sighed again and pulled herself up to crawl over the edge, struggling into the narrow vent. When she looked up, Gamzee was watching her with wide, startled eyes. He murmured some meaningless phrases as she slid next to him and got more comfortable. ”You can’t always wait for Karkat to come to you when you need him,” she said after a few quiet seconds. He answered with another incomprehensible string of words. She glanced at him. ”It’s my understanding that you’ve always been somewhat incoherent with your language, but this is a new development, isn’t it?”
He glanced away. She took in his anxious posture, his shoulders slumped and legs folded against his chest. Her mind ghosted over books’ worth of psychology and clicked connections into place. ”Gamzee,” she said, reaching out and placing a hand gently on his arm. ”Would you like me to take you to Karkat?”
His eyes snapped to hers, and he honked.
She nodded. ”Come with me,” she said, and she crawled out of the vent. She waited below while he dangled his lanky legs from the hole and dropped to the ground, standing taller than his huddled posture would have suggested he’d be. Trusting he would follow, Rose turned down the hallway and began the trek to Karkat’s quarters, which were several stories below them. Gamzee’s feet padded quietly on the floor behind her, and he let out occasional strings of soft honks. By the time they arrived at Karkat’s respiteblock, he was perfectly silent.
Rose opened the door. Karkat was sleeping soundly on a heap of books, drooling onto an open page. Rose stood aside and let Gamzee move past her. He scurried over with surprising speed but slowed as he squatted next to Karkat’s sleeping form, releasing almost inaudible honks. Karkat shifted and cracked open an eye. Rose turned away as Gamzee flopped over next to him, burying his face underneath Karkat’s arm, which Karkat lifted enough for him to get comfortable.