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This was the last straw. Tavros was used to Vriska calling him weak, he could ignore her, but hearing it from the guy who gave him his new legs, who made him stronger than he already was unbearable. So what if he fell down the stairs a lot, that didn't make him weak, it just meant the legs were unbalanced. There's only so many times a guy can knock his head on the ground before he starts getting sleepy. Well, concussed.
So when Equius found him yet again passed out at the bottom of a long flight of stairs, with insults on his strength and blood color, Tavros decided that he'd had it. "nO, i'M A LOT STRONGER, tHAN YOU THINK," Did Equius just chuckle at him? "sHUT UP, iT'S NOT FUNNY," That actually did shut him up, but not how Tavros expected. No, Equius's face was blue with rage, the grinding of teeth was almost loud enough to echo. Was that a tooth that just fell out of Equius's mouth. Oh dear.
"D --> How dare you
D --> After all I've done for you, lowblood
D --> You will not tell me to shut up"
Tavros gulped. If he had real working legs, they'd be shaking, but the steadiness of the mechanical ones gave him some false confidence. "wELL,,, i DID, aND THAT IS A THING THAT HAPPENED, aND THAT I'M NOT TAKING IT BACK,"
Where did he get up the nerve? This was not a good time to irritate the blueblood. Aradia just blew up that day and didn't even say goodbye. Equius spoke to Nepeta a little, but she was too busy with the humans for now. He left the others to get some time alone, only to find Tavros poorly using the new equipment he so kindly gave him.
Having him talk back to him, to tell him to shut up, it was so infuriating, and also a little titillating. Perspiration was already starting to drip off his face. He wasn't having it though and backed Tavros up into the wall. All he did was lightly press his fist against the wall and the stone already started to crumble.
"D --> I should take my generous gift back, you ungrateful little gutterblood"
That worked enough, Tavros was shaking from the waist up. For a moment, his eyes were full of fear and he looked like he wanted to melt into the wall, but for a few seconds, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. Who was this "Rufio" and why was he muttering to him?
Tavros opened his eyes again, straightened up, and stared over Equius's glasses right into his eyes. "nO, yOU WON'T DO THAT, bECAUSE EVERYONE WILL KNOW IT WAS YOU, aND EVEN nEPETA WON'T FORGIVE YOU, fOR HURTING ME," Shoot. He was right. Why did Nepeta even fraternize with such peasantry? Equius's frown was enough to let Tavros think he had the upper hand. "bESIDES, i CAN JUST SHOW YOU, tHAT I'M REALLY STRONG, nOT JUST BECAUSE OF THE LEGS EITHER,,," That smirk was killing Equius, and he hadn't a towel on hand to wipe all the sweat from his brow.
"D --> Fine. Prove it"
And that, Tavros did. He reached beside his face and grabbed Equius's wall embedded fist and pushed him away. That didn't prove much, Equius was barely putting much force into it. No, what proved his strength was the ease in which he picked up Equius and tossed him across the hall. Equius lay on the ground, staring up at Tavros, mouth agape and glasses askew. How? How was that possible? Why was he still smirking? And why did he look so gosh darned confident?
It was probably because Equius looked completely dumbstruck. Tavros walked over with a few clanks, and pulled Equius back on his feet. "sO, aRE YOU DONE CALLING ME WEAK?" Equius just nodded silently and finally remembered to close his mouth. "gOOD," And Tavros pulled him in and pressed his lips against the blueblood's, completely lacking grace or hesitation. Lowbloods were going to be the end of him.