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Gamzee slid a newly baked pie out of the oven, sniffing appreciatively at the sweet pastry as he placed it on the bench to cool. He looked up at the clock on his kitchen wall and noted the time was around six pm. His friend should be coming over soon, and he was looking forward to it.
He glanced out the twelve paned window of his hive and smiled at the darkness that had fallen. The sky was clear, pinpricked with dots of coloured light. The weather was mild, the air still holding warmth from the sunny day, but fanned with a sea breeze from the beach that lay just in front of his hive. It was the perfect conditions for the activity the two friends had planned.
Gamzee flopped down in the horn pile on his living room floor, ignoring a few honks, and let his thoughts drift. He pondered how some things were similar while others were different, now that they had finished the game and obtained their prize. He could have chosen his new hive to be built anywhere he wanted to and he had still chosen to be by the sea. Maybe it was because it reminded him of his old home (although, this beach was a lot nicer, with its powdery sand and light aqua waves), or because he missed the sound of the waves lulling him to sleep. Or it could be because it brought back memories of seagoat dad. Or because he liked walking along the beach, admiring things the sea washed up. Gamzee suspected it was a combination of all of them.
The planet itself had two moons and was a mixture of both the troll’s worlds and the humans’ worlds, though a peaceful and beautiful one, combining the nicest elements of each. That’s not to say that there weren’t dangers and challenges. There were plenty of them but it was, on the whole, a better and kinder place than Alternia, Beforus and Earth had ever been, even with the fact that trolls and humans were living together.
He had lost track of time when he heard a car pull up outside. Next there came a knock at the front door. Gamzee loped out of the horn pile with a languorous grin, throwing the door open wide for his visitor. “Heya bro. Come on in. You all up n’ ready to get your chill on?”
“Hi Gamzee. You bet I am and…I brought over some movies we can watch, that is, if you want to, after we finish gazing at, however many stars there are”. The bull horned troll returned his friend’s smile with a pointy one of his own, stepping inside as he spoke. He was always happy to spend time with his best friend. Even though many of the other trolls still shunned the highblood for the events that transpired in the game, Tavros believed that Gamzee regretted things he had done. He was just glad to have his friend back. Putting the DVDs down on the small table in the entertainment block, Tavros followed Gamzee into his meal block.
“Sounds good bro. So, did Rufioh drop you off?” The taller troll asked casually, opening the back door that led from his kitchen outside to the beach.
Tavros nodded happily, “Yeah, he did. He’s the only one that has the license to drive so, I asked him to give me a lift. He’s pretty great, like, I think, what the humans call, an older sibling”, Tavros explained, sniffing the air before his eyes fell upon the pie cooling on the counter. A warm, sweet smell emanated from the golden pastry, making his mouth water. “Uh, you made a pie. Was that because I was coming over?”
“Maybe, maybe not” Gamzee replied playfully, taking two bottles of Faygo from the hunger trunk and tossing one to Tavros. “Here, catch”
“Whoa, thanks” The troll caught the cold beverage in both hands, fumbling it a little but managing to hold onto it. He walked over to the open door, sitting down to take off his sandals and stuff his socks into them.
Gamzee stepped outside, starting down the sandy track that wended its way to the beachfront while he waited for Tavros to catch up with him.
Tavros caught up to his friend quick enough, breaking into a small jog before falling into step alongside the other troll. They followed the short track through grassy sand dunes and stepped out onto the beach. The warmblood relished the feeling of the soft sand beneath his feet, scuffing his toes into it as they walked. He couldn’t stop smiling, and his eyes shone brightly. It was so great to have his legs back, his body restored, after winning the game. He was sad about not having wings like his dancestor, but it was cool not to be paralysed anymore. And Rufioh did take him flying sometimes.
Gamzee walked along the beach, looking around and spotting the tall sand dune he had chosen out ‘specially as their spot for casual astronomical studies. He sprawled out on the ground, patting the sand beside him as he snapped open his bottle of Faygo and took a swig of its cola contents. He may not have had sopor anymore, but he did still like the fizzy soda. “Take a seat and feast your eyes on some of the finest starry miracles Mother Nature has to offer” He bade, turning his gaze skywards.
“Yeahhhh” Tavros readily obeyed, plopping his butt down on the dune beside his friend and opening his own bottle of Faygo. Taking a small sip, he discovered it was grape flavoured. He looked at the stars then glanced back at Gamzee, and his smile widened when he caught the look of wonder on the other’s face. Sure, it wasn’t that exciting, what they were doing. But it was nice just spending time together, catching up, hanging out. And besides, Tavros thought, the stars really were pretty. He could see so many, uncountable specks scattered throughout the darkness, all twinkling like they were winking back at them.
The sound of gentle waves was lulling him into a relaxed state but Tavros shivered slightly in the wind coming off the water, leaning a little bit closer to Gamzee. He did so almost without thinking, careful not to bump the other with his horns. The purple blood’s body temperature was naturally much lower than the Taurus’ and would probably cool him down rather than provide extra warmth, but it just felt nice to be closer.
Gamzee, noticing the subtle movements of his friend, casually draped an arm over his shoulders and drew him in to his side in a loose embrace, a simple friendly gesture that felt right to do. He could feel the Taurus’ delicious warmth emanating from his smooth grey skin, even through the fabric of his clothes. Being lower on the hemospectrum meant his friend naturally had a higher body temperature. Not that Gamzee was cold. “So, how’s the new job going for ya? Still liking it?” he asked, curious to know what was new in Tavros’ life since they last talked. “Managed to adopt the entire motherfuckin’ store yet?” he added with a chuckle, knowing how much Tav liked animals.
Tavros nodded at the questions, continuing to look at the stars while they talked. “Yeah, mostly it’s really good. I mean, yeah to enjoying the job, not, adopting everything” he grinned, having already adopted one or two creatures. “Um, I enjoy working with all the different animals, especially the purrbeasts, even though they give me my allergies” he sighed. “But, I play with them anyway, because they are cute. I also really like the bull fairies, that we sell a lot of, for obvious reasons. Oh, and, people really seem to like the miniature cuttlefish as well. Did you know they have three blood pushers?”
Gamzee nodded. “That’s probably Feferi’s righteous influence over the whole mother fucking population. And no, I did not have my know on of the triadic nature of our squidgy lil’ motherfuckers miraculous inner workings. That’s pretty sick, bro”
“Heh. Yeah, I’ve learnt a lot about, not all, but most, of the things we stock in the beastiary. Speaking of her, uh, the empress, I mean. What do you think of her reign so far? What she’s doing, and overall, just how things are going?”
Gamzee looked thoughtful for a moment and fell silent, literally staring off into space. He was quiet for several minutes, until Tavros thought that maybe he’d zoned out, or just hadn’t heard him properly. But then he spoke, disrupting the soft cadence of wind and sea.
“I think, that our mirthcitable troll sister be working some truly phenomenal magics with the way she’s bringing everyone together, honk! Herding ‘em like a marine clickbeast rounds up shoals of fish in the shallows. Her rules are ushering in a new reign of peace and harmoniousness what can be respected by all” he replied.
“Mm. That’s what I thought” Tavros agreed quietly, shivering against his friend. He continued to sip at the Faygo, though he wasn’t really that thirsty. But his stomach was feeling a little bloaty and small sips of the sugary, tingling liquid seemed to be helping it settle somehow. “In all honesty, what I like the most about what Feferi is doing, is how she’s changing all the old rules and laws. Like, the ones we had on Alternia. That one about, for instance, being culled, for not having a perfectly tended lawnring, I’m glad she got rid of that one. And, the changing of definition of the word cull, to coddle. It’s a lot nicer and not, uhhh…as stressful, I think”.
“Right on brother. Could not agree with you more” Gamzee answered, continuing to look at the stars. “Coddling is where it’s at these days. Honk. And grub adoptions. Grubs what are gonna grow up looking at these very same stars on this very same planet we’re on now. Blows your mother fucking mind doesn’t it?” he said, making a wide sweeping path with his other arm that wasn’t wrapped around Tavros, a gesture that took in the whole sparkly scenario before them.
Tavros was going to answer. He opened his mouth to but instead of words, what he ended up letting out was a very loud, juicy sounding belch. He set down the bottle of Faygo to immediately press his fingers over his lips in embarrassment, a chocolatey blush rising to his cheeks. “Uhh, sorry, dunno where that came from!”
Gamzee burst out laughing, throwing his head back as laughter bubbled out of him and brightened the night air. “Hahaha, can’t be telling what’s gonna happen when you start sucking down the wicked elixir man. Sometimes the wicked fizz gets its belch happenin’” he chuckled. Then, with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, he raised his own bottle to his lips and took several large gulps before lowering it to let out a long, and impressively loud belch of his own, laughing afterwards. “’S’a good thing the bubbles go up instead of down, hey?”
Tavros couldn’t hold back a laugh at his friend’s antics, and accidentally snorted as he tried to hold the laughter in, spraying Faygo out his nose. Somehow their peaceful stargazing episode devolved into some kind of burping contest after that but it didn’t matter. Tavros was used to and in fact loved Gamzee’s impulsiveness and sudden unpredictable actions. They continued their impromptu contest for a while, until Tavros’ stomach started to feel distinctly uncomfortable and he realised that he’d drunk most of what was nearly a 24 oz bottle in a very short space of time.
“Uhhh, Gamzee? I think we’d better, stop, or, at least, take a break for a while. I’m feeling kind of full” He pointed out, rubbing a hand over his slightly distended belly as he lifted the almost empty bottle in his other hand and shook it for emphasis. He shivered again in the sea breeze. “Also, I’m getting sort of, cold out here” he admitted, wondering why Gamzee wasn’t cold too. He also felt moderately queasy, which he attributed to chugging concentrated sugar too quickly.
Gamzee looked at the bottle of what once held purple fizz and held his own up next to it, measuring how much remained. His bottle was three quarters empty but the smaller troll’s had only half an inch left sloshing around in the bottom. Tavros was clearly the winner of this little contest, if they’d been competing to see who could drink the most. As it was, they’d both let out some fairly impressive belches, along with giggles and snorts.
”Yeah, you’re right; we’re runnin’ low on fuel. About time we watched those flicks you brought over anyway” Gamzee consented. He removed his arm from round Tavros’ shoulders and stood, holding out his hand to help his bro up off the ground. “Come on, can’t have a brother freezing his horns off” he teased.
“Ok yeah, let’s do that” Tavros grabbed the offered hand and stood, brushing sand off his pants. His stomach felt kind of tight and gurgly from carbonation, and he wished he could burp again to release some of the pressure. He tried, but it wouldn’t happen, so he just walked silently beside the taller troll as they headed back into the house, hoping the short walk would ease things a bit.
Gamzee on the other hand, didn’t seem to show the slightest hint of discomfort but then he was bigger, he could probably hold more. And he drank this stuff all the time, unlike Tavros who really only drank it when he visited.
The taller troll held the back door open for Tavros and led the way into the house, moving into his rumpus block. Loping over to the coffee table, he put his Faygo down and gracefully swooped up the DVDs, holding them up to study the pictures and titles on the cases with interest. Both were fantasy and images of troll horned fairies could be spotted on the covers amidst mythical creatures and the troll heroes and heroines. Gamzee smiled at his friend’s choices. “Which one my man?” he asked Tavros, shaking the DVDs a little as he held them up in the air. “The one with the bitchtits looking dragon, or the one with that dude what’s got a massive hook for a hand?”
“Um…”Tavros chewed at his lower lip for a moment, his fangs and pointed teeth poking out rather cutely. “They’re both pretty good but, the one with the Gamblignants and Pupa Pan has more action scenes. The one with the Fae has more magic and mystery” He bounced a little where he sat, grinning at them both. “I’m happy with whatever”
“Okay then, I guess we’ll go with…this motherfucker” Gamzee chuckled, picking one at random and dropping the other back onto the table, going to pop the shiny rainbow disc into the player beneath his TV. He walked over and flopped onto the couch next to Tavros, sitting back to watch the screen as the starting title (which being a troll movie, was insanely long), and opening theme began to roll.
They sat watching the Pupa Pan movie, making the occasional joke or comment. Apart from having to pause several times for pee breaks they mostly sat and enjoyed the show. They were just over halfway through when Gamzee got up without a word and walked out of the room, disappearing down a hallway.
“Uh, Gamzee, what are you doing?” Tavros called after him, quickly hitting the pause button and tearing his eyes away from his favourite scene. He knew Gamzee was prone to wandering off and zoning out, but they’d been right in the middle of an exciting part when he randomly wandered off. And he usually asked him to pause if he was going to the bathroom, which by the way, was in the other direction.
Gamzee’s voice floated back to him down the hallway. “Oh nothing, mother fucker. You just sit there, I’ll be back in a jiffy”
True to his word he came back a moment or two later with a blanket bundled up in his arms. He handed it to the warmblood troll. “Here, thought you could use this. We can cuddle up all under it like purrbeasts in a basket. Maybe then we’ll calm them mad shakes you got going on” he suggested, sitting back down and putting the blanket over them both.
“Uhh…” Tavros blushed and squirmed a little where he sat, pulling the blanket closer and up around his body. “Oh, uhh…thanks. I guess I was colder than I thought” he admitted, embarrassed that his friend had noticed he was still shivering, even after coming in out of the wind. “Thanks, for the snuggleplane, that is. Sorry…” He looked down at his lap, trying to will away the heat spreading to his ear tips.
“No worries. You don’t got nothing to be sorry for. Maybe it’s the temp difference cause of our blood colours” Gamzee suggested offhandedly, turning his attention back to the TV as he cuddled up under the blanket, shifting closer to his best bro and draping an arm around him.
“Y-yeah…” Tavros’ stomach was making small growls and gurgling noises and he massaged it gently under the blanket, wriggling his weight around. He still felt pressure and tightness from sculling the Faygo earlier. At least that’s the only reason he could think of for it feeling this way. He really wanted to burp but it seemed like all the gas was content to remain trapped in his insides. It was actually starting to hurt, though he tried not to show it. He’d already interrupted the movie once or twice. They kept watching and Tavros’ shaking subsided somewhat as he leaned into Gamzee, curled up close to him under the blanket.
Eventually their first movie finished and Gamzee got up to put on the next one.
As the second movie played, Tavros’ stomach continued to make noises and he could have sworn they were getting louder. He hoped Gamzee couldn’t hear it. He tried not to wriggle too much but the tummy pains were also getting worse and he started cringing occasionally or holding back soft whimpers of discomfort. On the screen, the dragon had just managed to snap a troll Faerie in its jaws. The only thing stopping it from devouring her was the fact her long, sharp little horns had stabbed the roof of its mouth and it couldn’t close them. Tavros’ pump biscuit felt like it was in his throat as he leaned forwards, one hand pressed on his belly, mouth hanging slightly ajar as he silently willed the hero to rescue her before the dragon found a way to eat her. His stomach chose that exact moment to let out one of its distressingly loud rumbles, a sick bubbling sound that caused Tavros to cringe and take a breath. He didn’t realise that he’d shut his eyes until the sounds from the movie stopped abruptly and he blinked at the frozen image on the TV before looking up at Gamzee, surprised to see the purple blood giving him a somewhat concerned look, his brows furrowed.
“Um…uh…” Tavros stammered, blushing hotly again. Shoot, Gamzee had definitely heard that one. He’d have to have been deaf not to.
“Dude are you okay, your stomach sounds hella mad or something. I been listenin to the cacophony since we started this flick. You sure you all up and fine?” He asked gently, looking down at the troll tucked against his side. “It wasn’t the Faygo was it? Sometimes air gets trapped. Maybe you gotta burp”
Tavros shook his head slightly, waving a hand in the air “I uh, I don’t think so! I’m fine, really. It’s just being noisy, uhh…I’m probably getting hungry. Actually yeah, now that, I think about it, I’m really hungry” he lied quickly, rubbing his stomach with a nervous laugh as it let out another rumble. Actually, that could have been the reason, come to think of it. He hadn’t had dinner yet and it was an hour or so past the usual time. He ignored the fact that he still felt rather nauseous. Maybe a little food would settle things down.
Gamzee slapped a palm to his forehead. “Aw shit, bro. I forgot. Was gonna order some takeout way ages ago. But then your bitchtits movie started and I kinda got lost in it” he scratched his head, laughing a little. “But it’s cool. We got dessert. You want some pie? I got ice cream to go with it” he said enticingly, crawling up off the couch, careful to leave the other half of the blanket over his friend. “Not a trace of sopor, promise. I made it all special like, with those flat pastry squares and some a those frozen berry things the humans use, fresh outta the pack”.
“Sure. Pie sounds good” Tavros answered, nodding. He remembered smelling it when he first walked in and it had smelled pretty damn good. He wasn’t going to complain that it sounded like more sugar.
“Right, be right back” Gamzee smiled and disappeared into the meal block. He soon came back carrying two bowls with spoons, each holding a sizeable slice of pie and a dollop of vanilla ice cream. He sat down next to Tavros and covered himself with the blanket again, plonking a bowl in each of their laps and un-pausing the movie.
“Mmm” Gamzee hummed around a spoonful of food, clearly enjoying it. “Thish ish good shit”
Tavros giggled a little and followed his example, taking bites of the pie. For some reason, he couldn’t appreciate the flavour as much as he thought he would. He also felt really full after only a few mouthfuls, but forced himself to keep eating, determined to make his stomach shut up. He wanted to prove to himself that he was fine. He would definitely not ruin their night with a bellyache. He triumphantly finished off the dessert and put the bowl down on the coffee table. Tavros leaned back, focusing his attention back on the movie. His belly seemed quieter after his meal, although it still felt tight and achy. He tried to forget it, pushing away the anxious thoughts that kept telling him that something was wrong, and waiting for things to calm.
Tavros at some point, started breathing through his mouth, eyes half lidded as he watched the film. He’d started to shiver again, and pulled the blanket tighter around himself. The ending credits were rolling and he was enjoying the song and reflecting on the awesome ending when his stomach clenched and growled so strongly that he accidentally let out a breathy whimper, wrapping an arm around his belly and gritting his teeth. “Ughhhh”
He felt hands fall on his shoulders and opened his eyes to see Gamzee kneeling in front of him, this time with an undeniable look of worry. “Alright bro, tell me what’s wrong. I know something’s up with you” he demanded. His voice was soft but his words serious.
“I’m fine” Tavros insisted, trying to sit up a little straighter so he wasn’t so hunched over in pain.
Gamzee looked Tavros straight in those gorgeous chocolate brown eyes, and waited. He wasn’t stupid. He could tell when someone was lying to him.
Tavros swallowed hard, looking back at the pure skepticism reflecting from slotted purple orbs with a jolt of nervousness. Shoot. There was no getting out of this. “I…uh…th-think I ate too fast” he stuttered, trying to keep the whimper out of his voice as cramping pains began to shoot through his middle, making him regret his recent decision. “Nngh”
Gamzee sighed, feeling sorry for the poor Taurus. “You got belly pains, that it? Oh man I know what that feels like. Used to get ‘em when I had sopor binges” He leaned forwards and tugged the blanket down off his friend, then reached out and slid his hands up under the troll’s black tee. Gamzee had never been shy about getting into people’s personal space. “Here. Just lay back and relax for me, Tavbro. Chillax” he soothed, beginning to massage the other’s belly. The warm grey skin did feel and look a bit bloated, and he could feel a lot of movement and bubbling under his fingers. It was definitely not a happy tummy.
“Ah, G-gamzee, wait! You don’t have t-to!” Tavros eeped and gasped as the other troll laid his much cooler hands against his skin and began to massage his belly, squirming a little as long and nimble fingers smoothed over his more ticklish areas. He started to shiver more now that the warm blanket was taken away. He had to admit though, the massage did feel pretty good, and he sank into the back of the couch with a soft moan, letting those fingers work their magic.
Gamzee stopped and frowned after a minute or two. Something else was bothering him. He looked up at Tavros, who was leaning back into the couch, watching him through half lidded eyes and taking shallow breaths through his mouth.
“Bro, you feel really warm. Just lemme check something” Gamzee muttered, removing a hand from Tav’s stomach and placing it instead on his forehead. His face was pretty with that brown flush but his skin was several shades lighter than usual and his normally charcoal lips were almost grey. He felt considerably sweaty and sticky.
Tavros leaned into Gamzee’s cool, smooth hand, sighing softly. It felt so good.
Gamzee frowned. “Okay, I think you ain’t been tellin’ me everything, brother. You feel like you’re running a pretty high fever”
Tavros’ eyes popped open and he sat up quickly, giving a small yelp of pain immediately afterwards as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. “Nngh! No! I’m fine! I’m just h-hot, because my body temp is higher th-than yours” he stammered, willing his teeth to stop chattering as he shook from head to toe. This was so embarrassing. “I’m not sick, I s-swear” Tavros tried to inject as much confidence into the words as possible. “We sh-should slam about something and, uh, do some other fun s-stuff before I go home”.
Gamzee smiled knowingly, placing a hand on Tavros’ head and ruffling his hair. “Wait right here. I’mma get the thermometer and then we’ll see which one’s telling the truth at me” He sounded amused, but there was an undercurrent of worry. He returned with an oral thermometer and knelt in front of Tavros again, tapping the instrument against his bottom lip. “Open up and say ahhhh motherfucker” Gamzee teased.
“I don’t – mmph!” Tavros opened his mouth to protest and found a thermometer jammed under his tongue. He closed his mouth with a low growl and a pout and sat there sulking and glaring, but didn’t spit it out. He raised a clawed middle finger at his friend, making it known this was completely unnecessary.
Gamzee laughed at that. “Honk Honk Honk! You better have somethin’ worser’n that if you want me to back down, man”
“D’you even know ‘ow to, uh, read thish fing?” Tavros grumbled from around the offending object, drooling a little as it was holding his tongue in a weird position. His gastric sac twisted and churned uncomfortably, angrily reminding them both of its presence.
“Yeah I do, and don’t spit that motherfucker out, or I’ll get the other one and we can do it the hard way” Gamzee warned. He walked into the kitchen and Tavros could hear him clattering around, before he came back out carrying a small plastic trash can and set it down beside Tavros’ feet. He took a seat on the other side of his friend and draped an arm around his back, pulling his shivering buddy in close to his side.
After a minute or so, he reached over and removed the thermometer, holding it up to take the reading. “Shiiiit man, ninety-five degrees. What all is your normal temperature meant to be at?” He could feel the smaller troll’s tremors against him.
Tavros glanced down at the dross coffer that sat near his feet, kicking it lightly away from him. “Gamzee,” he whined, sounding embarrassed, “I don’t need th-that. As for my temp, uh, it’s usually, I think, around n-ninety two. But uhh, that doesn’t prove anything! So what? I just have a, small fever. We can still do, uhhh s-stuff” He felt bad for making his friend worry about him and for wrecking their night. He was sure the pain and discomfort would pass eventually. It’s not like he was really sick or anything. Right?
Gamzee gave him a sympathetic smile. “Hey, it’s not like we can’t do this again. If you wanna call Rufioh to come get you, we can always hang out another time. I think what all’s happenin’ is you got that asshole virus what’s been going around infecting all the warmbloods. Nasty motherfucker, that bastard is”
Tavros swallowed as his mouth filled with oddly salty saliva, having the sudden sensation that he just wanted to drool, as if it would somehow release the pressure squeezing up his insides. He swallowed again, a slightly bitter taste at the back of his tongue. All of a sudden, he really felt terrible, as though Gamzee’s words had somehow triggered a reaction. Nausea was all he could feel, and a hot prickly, numb sort of sensation swept up the back of his neck, making the tips of his ears tingle. A warm rush felt like it was rising in his throat. He hugged his arms around his middle, curling in on himself and swallowing frantically as a painful spasm went through him. “Uhhh…I don’t…don’t…” he managed to choke out.
Gamzee saw the look on Tavros’ face and got up to retrieve the trash bin, plunking it down on his lap. “Think you’re gonna need this, babe” he told him gently, and started rubbing his back. “It’s okay, just let it out”
“I, already….t-told you I d-don’t need, hurk!” Tavros’ protest was cut off by a sharp gag, and he jerked forwards a little over the bin, tensing up in fear. He hated puking, and worse, doing so in front of others. There was no way he wanted Gamzee to see him like that. He’d rather die of humiliation first. Brown tinted saliva dripped past his fangs and splatted lightly into the container as he fought back his nausea with everything he had, panting slight shallow breaths through his mouth. “Do-on’t need it- gurgk!” He gagged again, this time harder than the last time, and another gush of saliva dripped past his lower lip. Tavros could feel himself starting to panic, and tensed up even more, shaking now with fear as well as fever.
“Shhh, shhh, it’s okay, just gotta relax. Don’t be all tensing up like that or you’re gonna make it worse for yourself” Gamzee murmured, trying to help the frightened troll as much as he could, while rubbing soothing circles on his back. He was sort of alarmed how scared his friend was acting. He didn’t think Tavros had a fear of vomiting but he was being proven wrong.
“Guh- I do- hurk! Don’t wanna- hurgh!” Tavros managed to gasp out short pained words between painful gags, and tears suddenly streaked down his cheeks. He gasped and panted, fighting with everything he had not to throw up in front of Gamzee, or at all.
“Come on, it’s all right, just let it out. You gotta stop fighting it, brother. Let things take their natural course” Gamzee encouraged. He didn’t like seeing his friend in so much fear and pain and wanted to help him any way he could. Gamzee knew from experience that nothing good ever came of holding it in.
Tavros gave a hard cough, and a thin stream of brown tinted watery vomit splashed into the bin. He immediately moaned afterwards, his hands clenched into the material of his shirt, claws pricking holes in the fabric. “N-noooo” Strands of saliva and watery puke dripped from his mouth. A sob escaped him. Translucent brown dismay fluids slipped from his eyes and dripped into the bin. He looked truly miserable.
Gamzee sighed, shifting his grip on the little Taurus and moving a hand to start rubbing his belly again as it gurgled and protested. He could feel how apprehensive his friend was, the tightness in his muscles and the shaking signalling his fear. Without really thinking about it, he placed a kiss to Tavros’ temple, keeping up the comforting words and encouragements. “Okay, here it comes. Good boy, just let it out. Take a deep breath for me” Gamzee spoke, massaging the boy’s stomach. “Deep motherfuckin breaths, bro”
Still gasping and choking, Tavros paused and took a deep shuddering breath as he was told. As the cool, gentle fingers massaged his stomach he felt something shift inside his gut and before he could react, a loud wet belch erupted, followed instantly by a particularly strong gag, and – ‘Hurrrghhhh!” A wave of chunky brown vomit gushed out of him with sheer force, splattering noisily against the plastic of the bin. Acidic bile streamed out of his nose, stinging like a bitch. He cringed inwardly at the disgusting sounds, and shuddered, barely having time to catch his breath before he was gagging again and bringing up a second rush of lumpy liquid and chunks. “Hrrrrrrrkkk!” Tavros coughed and gasped, shaking and sobbing like a wiggler. “Guh! Bad…do-don’t want t-to…hic…disgusting!” he hiccupped, thoughts scrambled and hazy.
“Aw, Tavbabe” Gamzee sympathised, moving his hand to resume rubbing his back instead “It’s okay. Purge those fuckin germs outta there, that’s it” In reply, he got a heave and another splatter of puke, then another in quick succession.
Tavros spat into the bin and coughed, trying not to think of what a sight he must look right now. Tears, spit, snot and vomit were everywhere, and he couldn’t make himself stop crying. His gastric sac clenched again and he lurched forwards, a surge of sour slush gushing from his throat into the bin, then another. The smell wafting up from the container smacked him straight in the nose, and the sight of chunks of half-digested pie, bubbly saliva and other unidentifiable things he’d consumed just made him want to puke even more. Between bouts of heaving the poor troll could barely breathe.
“Shit…” Gamzee exclaimed quietly, moving his hand to place it on Tavros’ forehead, holding him steady. He’d never seen anyone puke so much before, or so violently. He’d heard bad things about this virus, but not that it was this shitty. Still he knew he had to remain calm, for Tavros’ sake. His friend was already freaking out enough without scaring him even more.
Tavros spat a few times as he finally finished puking, panting heavily and catching his breath. His stomach felt a lot emptier but it was still in knots. He hovered over the bin, shuddering, too scared to move, and too dizzy to want to move his head. He could feel the blissfully cool hand on his forehead, and was grateful for it holding his head up. He was so dizzy and exhausted he doubted he could do so. Tavros sniffled, and managed to say the first word he could in a while. It came out in a pathetic whimper and trailed off into another sob “Gamzee…”
The sound was pitiful and whiny and tore at Gamzee’s heart. He kissed Tavros’ temple again, helping to hold him up since he seemed to be acting dizzy. “I know, babe, I know. Told ya, this virus is a bitch. But it’s all gonna be okay, you got me and I ain’t leaving ya” He grabbed the edge of the blanket that was still draped over Tav’s lap, and gently wiped off his face with it, cleaning away the strings of pukey saliva that were drizzling off of his chin. He could just chuck it in the wash later.
“Mnn…I wa…I want Rufioh…” Tavros sniffled, big brown tears leaking from his eyes. “To come get me”
“Got your phone on ya?” Gamzee inquired softly, not having the older Taurus’ number in his phone.
“I-in my pocket” Tavros voice was weak and raspy, his throat and nose burning after the punishment they’d just been through. He moved a hand and dug around in his shorts pocket, pulling out his handheld device and thrusting it at Gamzee with a shaking hand. He had no worries over his friend getting sick from germs on the device, if there were any, because like Gamzee had said, the virus only affected the warm bloods for some reason. Tavros had heard of it going around. In fact, Rufioh had it the week before. He just never thought he was going to get it. It was some new strain that the trolls had never encountered, a perk of being on a completely new planet with all new organisms to contend with.
Gamzee kept one arm wrapped around Tavros’ back, grabbing the proffered phone with the hand that had been on Tav’s forehead. He quickly scrolled through the list of contacts before finding Rufioh’s name and pressing the dial button. It took a few moments of ringing before Tavros’ dancestor picked up.
“Hey there motherfucker, honk honk honk!…yeah, it’s Gamzee. Ha ha, sorry for the honks. They just sort of happen”
“Yeah, he’s still here. …Little brother ain’t feeling so hot…yeah, it’s that virus…yup, that one. …Affecting all the rustbloods... Not so good. He’s throwing up, in hells of pain. …Like a motherfuckin angry volcano…. Yeah, he needs you to come get ‘im, bro. Okay…. ….Nah, just Faygo and pie…”
Tavros listened half-heartedly to the conversation that ensued, chin resting on the bin as he leaned on it heavily. For all he’d just been through, he still felt like his insides wanted to leap out of his throat, and his stomach was still experiencing stabs of pain. Whatever bug was causing his suffering, he hated it with a passion. Tavros found himself longingly wishing there was some sort of vaccine or miracle cure. Something that would make it all better so he could get back to those other things he’d been planning to do with Gamzee.
Hanging up the phone, Gamzee leaned over and placed it on the coffee table. He turned his attention back to his friend, who seemed to be waiting anxiously with his head in the bin, too scared to move. “Okay brother, Rufioh’s on his way here. He should be here in ten to fifteen minutes. How’re you holding up?”
Tavros whimpered, “Hurts…”
The purple blood wiped away the bull horned troll’s tears with his thumb. “I know it does, Tavvy. I’m gonna get up now and see if we can find you some fuckin medication. You just sit tight. Stay right there and don’t move okay” Gamzee gently helped him lean back against the couch, Tavros still clutching the bin in both hands. The Capricorn slid his arm out from behind Tavros’ back and got up, rearranging the blanket over the shivering troll. “If you want me, you just sing out. I’ll be right there”
“O-okay” Tavros sniffled, starting to calm down a little. He was still crying a bit, but it had slowed to the occasional trickle of one or two tears down his cheeks. He continued to hang onto the bin for dear life, not knowing if he would need it again. He wished he could stop shaking. Instead he closed his eyes and leaned his head back, trying to relax and get his emotions under control. He listened to Gamzee’s footsteps moving around the house, padding upstairs and then back down into the kitchen. After a while he heard the sounds of a kettle boiling and the clinking of a tea cup being stirred with a spoon.
Gamzee walked back into the living room and set down a tray on the coffee table in front of his friend. He carefully took a seat beside Tavros and rubbed the arm that was closest to him. “Hey come on, man. I got you some stuff that might be able to help. Found some Panatrol, and I made ya something to help your belly beast all up and get it’s settle down”
A fresh, slightly sweet and minty scent wafted towards him. Tavros opened his eyes and saw Gamzee holding out two white pills and a glass of water. Beside him on the table was a mug, emitting tendrils of steam and the minty scent. He frowned at the pills uncertainly, but reached out and took the two round tablets and put them in his mouth. He quickly reached for the glass of water, and nearly dropped it, his hand and arm shaking badly.
Gamzee wrapped his hands around Tavros’ shaking hand and helped him raise the glass to his lips, “That’s it, take little sips, all slow like…”
Tavros managed to swallow the pills with a few gulps of water, before turning his head aside, “No more”
Gamzee placed the glass of water back on the tray, and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He just witnessed a whole lot of fluids leaving his friend’s body, and he didn’t want him to get dehydrated, especially with the fever he was running. Then again, Tavros looked so miserably unwell that he didn’t want to force him to drink or eat anything he didn’t want to. Still, he wanted to help somehow and it was worth a shot. He picked up the mug of minty liquid he’d prepared and held it out to Tavros.
Tavros eyed the minty smelling mug warily through half lidded eyes. He had to admit, the scent was really calming, but he didn’t really trust himself to drink anything else at the moment. “What’s uh, that?” he rasped quietly, looking a little worried.
“This here is what be known among the humans as tea. Something Kanaya taught me how to make one time when my own stomach was killin’ me for nomming too many pies. ‘Cept I think she called it um, ‘scalding leaf fluid’” he shrugged, making a face. “Dunno why. Tea is easier to say” Gamzee chuckled softly. “Anyhow, I’m not real good at the caretaking stuff. All’s I know is, it helped me, so mayhaps it’ll help you. Tame the puke monster for a bit” he pressed, patiently holding the mug out and waiting to see what Tavros would do.
“Tea…” Tavros replied weakly. He had heard of scalding leaf fluid before, when they were all on the meteor with Rose and Kanaya. Not that he really drank it.
“Yeah…okay” At this point in time, the Taurus would do anything to feel better, anything to ease the awful nausea invading his body. He let go of the half-filled dross coffer and dropped it carefully onto the ground next to his feet, wanting to get away from the smell. He reached out a hand, wrapping it around the warm mug of ‘tea’ Gamzee offered. With his friend’s help, he cautiously raised it to his lips, taking a tentative sip. He waited a few seconds. His stomach growled softly, but that was all. He took another sip, and sighed. Soon he was taking more mouthfuls of the minty drink. The peppermint tea was incredibly soothing and Tavros couldn’t help but think that both it and his friend were a blessing. He didn’t know what he’d do if he’d been alone when this illness happened.
Gamzee helped him drink from the mug, smiling at the sight. By the expression of relief crossing Tavros’ face, he could tell it was helping already. Some of the colour was returning to his face and lips and his shakes had reduced to mild tremors. Score one for Kanaya’s knowledge of human herbs. He helped his friend finish the mug of tea, and then stood up, collecting the empty bowls and spoons, along with the now empty mug, putting everything on the tray. He took everything into the kitchen, then came back and grabbed the bin, going to clean it out. He returned and placed the bin on the couch next to Tavros, going to turn on the breeze blender to get air currents to air out the room somewhat. Gamzee then went looking for his incense sticks, lighting a few and setting them around the living room, replacing the sour smell of vomit with sandalwood and jasmine. He kept puttering around, taking care of things while he kept an eye on his friend, who seemed to be falling asleep where he sat. Gamzee was glad to see it. He needed to rest, poor motherfucker.
Tavros had closed his eyes and leaned back against the couch after finishing the tea, listening to Gamzee’s footsteps and movements around the hive. After his ordeal he wanted nothing more than to slip into sleep, his exhausted mind and body sending him into a light doze already. He didn’t know how much time had passed, when he heard the sound of a scuttlebuggy pull up outside, and then voices at the front door. He was too sleepy to protest when he felt arms go under his body and lift him up against someone’s chest. A familiar voice spoke in his ear, and he relaxed in his dancestor’s embrace.
“Alright kiddo, time to go home” There was a pause and then “Thanks for taking care of him. And uh, sorry for the trouble. Didn’t think he was gonna get it…”
The conversation blurred to Tavros’ ears, as he slipped further into sleep. Before he fully passed out, he remembered something. “Gamzee…” Tavros murmured with a soft sigh, “…Thank you”
He felt a hand brush sweaty hair back from his forehead, and then a familiar sound that made him smile, the last thing he heard before drifting into dreams.
“Honk!”
The sequel to this is 'Warmblood Virus Round 1' which I will be posting as well.