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You’re afraid of him being sent back to prison again. He may be an adult to the rest of the world, but to you, he’s still just that confused little kid.
First it was the drugs that took him away from you.
Your attempt to save his life from his own self destructive urges.
But now, it’s his anger. His control has been weakening - slipping - no matter what he, you, or any of his friends try to do.
You get a panicked phone call from a terrified Karkat late at night and he sounds like he’s had the life half strangled out of him.
You listen in silence as he tries to give your brother excuses.
He had a bad night and I wouldn’t quit fucking with him.
I didn’t quit when he told me to stop.
I’m not mad, I’m just…
What do I do?
This isn’t normal, is it?
Your hands rub hard against your temples as you shake your head.
Your father had beaten the kid to hell and back more than once. You had been devastated (but not surprised) when the doctors pulled you aside to whisper in hushed tones that the youngest Makara had suffered brain damage from the countless altercations between himself and your shared father.
It explained the headaches he suffered from. The way that he had gone from a mellow and easy going kid into a teenager on a hair trigger.
The substance abuse had kept Gamzee ‘sane’ for years. It only made sense that he had built up an astounding tolerance for it all.
And with nothing to dull the constant pain within his head, you knew as well as he did that it would only lead to his uncontrollable anger.
You just hadn’t expected him to turn on the kid he claimed to love.