My Little Highblood (Equius/Gamzee)

[raunchyJanitor]

The fact that the highblood clown suggested that the inferior blueblood offer his services to assist him in behaving as royalty should brought a flood of STRONG, sweating pride over Equius's body. After all these sweeps, he had finally persuaded Gamzee that his fraternization with the lowbloods was in no form befitting to his true nature. Either that, or he was merely attempting to humor Equius, which was ironic in the sense that a lowblood should be the one teaching a highblood their proper place. This disarray in the hierarchy would not due; Equius had to make it right again.

Equius felt that it would be copacetic to hold their first lesson in royalty at his own hive as he did not wish to accidentally ruin anything of his superior's if he taught at Gamzee's residence. However, the indigo blood insisted that he was not inclined to surround himself in the blue blood's taste in Alternian artwork, even using lewd language as, "I dOn'T nEeD tO bE sTaRiNg At MoThEr FuCkInG hOoF bEaSt BuLgEs WhIlE yOu Is TrYiNg To TeAcH mE sHiT." Incapable of swaying his superior's narrow mind, Equius had his lusus flip his paintings over and place them against the wall, hiding their POWERFUL imagery from anyone's view. Perhaps in later lessons, he would teach Gamzee how to appreciate fine art.

It was now half an hour from when Gamzee should have arrived. Equius kept having to remind himself that he should not expect the highblood to be punctual. It would not be fitting to believe Gamzee should go by a schedule set by an inferior such as himself. Even so, Equius's hands were bending the metal arms of his computer chair, his impatience swelling for his student's indolence.

[Guest]

Said highblood was in fact, standing outside of Equius's hive. He had arrived a mere ten minutes ago, but never bothered to let the other know that he had arrived. He was staring up at the sky, a dark abyss speckled with dots of dazzling white. Gamzee couldn't help but space out as he gazed upwards, a soft grin on his face. The sight always made him feel at ease, always made him smile. It was one of the things he would consider a motherfuckin' miracle.

After a while, the clown troll blinked himself out of his trance and casually looked down at the door before knocking on it; as if he had just stepped onto the threshold a second ago. He fiddled with his fingers, his tall but lithe frame sort of hunched, as he waited for the other to answer the door. In all honestly, he wasn't sure about doing this. Hell, he liked himself the way he was. But Equibro never hopped off his bulge about the subject so, shit, he was going to give it a try.

[raunchyJanitor]

When the cavernous echo of knocking resounded throughout the blueblood's castle-like hive, Equius shuddered in anticipation, nodding at Aurthour to escort him to the door. Troll and lusus walked side by side down the spiraling, stone stairs, one panicking over making the highblood wait another moment, while the other was, well, no one knew really. Perhaps he was contemplating over what they should have for dinner tonight that would accommodate royalty. Maybe the only thought that occupied his think pan at that current point in time was simply how itchy his mustache was. The finely toned troll could only hope that it was the former of the two.

At the first floor, the muscle beast-admirer stepped in front of the door, listening carefully for any more signs that Gamzee was outside and not Vriska playing tricks on him. He had been rather jubilant over his expected company and had requested that his neighbor of rude and arrogant nature not disturb him while he had royalty over. One should not put it past her to sabotage their evening.

Equius squinted through his cracked shades and saw the dented doorknob from where he occasionally opened the door himself, retracting his hand from the damaged device. Instead, he muttered silently for Aurthour to open it for him. If there was royalty on the other side of that door, he did not want to embarrass both of them by breaking the doorknob and rendering the door a useless, plank of wood and metal that separated them. It would not be an impressive show of STRENGTH if he broke the door down on top of his honored guest.

As the masculine lusus opened the door, revealing a lazy eyed, grinning goon of a royal, one of Equius's eyes twitched behind his tinted lenses. The blueblood had his work set out for him.

"Ah..." Equius hesitated as he addressed Gamzee, already beginning to perspire, "Please... won't you come in?" He stepped back to make room for his superior, gesturing with a swing of his arm for the other troll to step inside.

[Guest]

When the door opened, the clown gave a small lazy wave of his hand, his grin growing even wider. "Sure thing, motherfucker." he said with a drawl. He strode inside, gazing in awe around the place. "Damn, this place is huge--" he blinked his eyes a little wider: normal for standards considering his eyes were always halfway shut.

"Aw shit bro, this place echos!" He said with a little too much amusement than the subject should hold. But then again, this was Gamzee. "Your pad is cool bro, not counting those weird fetish paintings you got." He turned around to face the blueblood, flashing a grin to his lusus, only for it to falter a little. Despite his sweet and ever loving disposition, Gamzee always had one little sore spot that caused that evil envy to rear its ugly head.

All of his friends had their lusus right by their side, or at least close by. He, on the other hand, was lucky to see Goatdad every once in a while. He never understood why he always went away, but he would never complain. It wasn't in him to do so. But that didn't mean he didn't cry about it every once in a while...

Whoa man, bad vibes are bad. Time to put that shit away.

He finally blinked himself back into focus, noticing the other troll was trying to get his attention.

[raunchyJanitor]

Indeed, Equius had been trying to grab the royal's attention in a silent stampede of cut off phrases as he followed behind him, his hand poised in the air to tap his shoulder, but too mortified to do so in fear of harming the highblood. "That it is-- yes, I realize-- I put them away just as you... requested... are you even listeni-- Oh... you are now."

Now that he had Gamzee's attention, or at least his partially conscious gaze, the blueblood lowered his hand, continuing in his carefully worded speech, "I am... humbled that you find my hive to your liking, highblood. Please, if you will, follow me. It would most likely be within our best interests if we began right away." This was the blueblood's way of saying that they needed to get down to business ASAP. The sooner they finished, the sooner Equius could stop sweating over having royalty in his hive. Not that he wasn't exhilarated to have Gamzee so much as that he did not want to displease the highblood by occupying too much of his time.

Aurthour guided Gamzee politely by the shoulder towards the hallway where Equius was heading through, insistent that he follow suit which was noticeable by the way his mustache twitched anxiously.

[Guest]

Listening to the other, Gamzee turned and faced the direction Equius was going, only to feel a hand on his shoulder. He turned and found he was face to face with the lusus, almost startling him. "Whoa bro, you're a quiet motherfucker." he stated before feeling the others urgency. He complied, following the blue blood with long strides, considering his height.

Now that he noticed, both he and Equius were around the same height. Excluding his horns, Equius stood a little taller than him. He somehow found this as an intriguing discovery, considering the fact that everyone else was shorter than him. Eridan was the closest to being his height, falling short by just an inch or two.

He was broken out of his roaming thoughts yet again when he was taken into another room, gazing around to see where they were now.

[raunchyJanitor]

After a satisfactory clap of his hands, Aurthour trotted away from where the two trolls had gone, going off to work on their meal.

The room Equius had lead Gamzee into was similar to the one that he used for fighting robots, only slightly smaller, in total being about thirty feet from the center around. There were several of these robots standing in a row in the middle of the room along with a chalkboard in the far corner with many pieces of broken, various colored chalk on its tray. In front of the chalkboard, at a readable distance, was a thick cushion of soft material that the blueblood had brought in for the highblood's comfort. At first, he had considered bringing a sopor slime bag chair, but decided against it since having his guest eat his furniture wasn't part of his lesson plan.

Already standing in front of the chalkboard, Equius was struggling to pick up a shattered grey chalk piece off the floor, constantly breaking it into even tinier pieces. Until it was a fine powder, he gave up and went for a thicker chunk of chalk on the tray, asking slowly, "Now... have a seat... if you prefer that is. All I ask is for your... undivided attention... for now." It was strange and perverse to the STRONG troll, asking for a highblood to pay him any notice-- much less all of it. This truly put the pressure on him and he began fumbling and sweating all over the chalk, cursing at the powdered color, drawing material and its frailty.

[Guest]

Gamzee watched the other struggle with the chalk, his mind going to Terezi and how she always had the stuff. She had convinced him to lick the chalk once, but he regretted doing so after he had to lap his tongue quite a lot afterwards like someone had put peanut butter on his gums.

He gave a sharp shake of the head, shaking him loose of his thoughts. He wanted to try and pay attention as to not upset his troll brother. Without hesitation, he flopped down on the cushion with a grin before looking up at the other, actually listening for his words of wisdom in the ways of being a good motherfuckin' highblood.

[raunchyJanitor]

From the corner of the blueblood's eye, he could see that Gamzee actually was directing his focus on him just as Equius had asked and he quickly turned away to face the chalkboard so as not to get too overwhelmed. His hand trembled as it made its way to the board, finally coming to a standstill at the faint 'tap' of chalk meets board.

"I thought that we should begin with the basics... as it appears to be the... obvious place to start." Equius uttered in a deep tone, the words, Proper Speech Etiquette written and underlined hastily over the top of the board with many more, 'tap tap tap's filling the near, deafening silence of the room. Then underneath this title in quotes, there was the phrase, "The musclebeast bounded eloquently through the vast veldt, its rippling, robust hind quarters glistening shades of vibrant hues reflected from the setting sun."

The chalk was placed once again in the tray before he turned back to Gamzee, moving to the side so that the words could be seen more clearly from where the highblood sat. "If you would be so willing, highblood, might I implore you to state the phrase on the board?"

[Guest]

While the other was writing, Gamzee had been craning his neck, in an attempt to see what he was doing. When he could finally see, he blinked, staring at the sentence before him. His gaze shifted to Equius when the other instructed him to repeat the sentence, which had his gaze returning to the chalk board.

Now there were two problems. The first being...what the flying motherfuck did half of those words mean? He tilted his head, as if that would provide some clarity. Second, he wasn't sure he wanted to repeat anything that had the words "hind quarters" in it. He knew what those words meant. He then tilted his head the other way, his mouth agape as a subtle 'uhhhhh...' sounded from the clown.

[raunchyJanitor]

The royal's blank stare made a strange form of uneasiness wash over the equine-obsessed troll. For a moment, he feared that the highblood could not read, but soon thought better of it as that was an absurd claim. Of course he could read! How could he know how to type, albeit so inefficiently, yet be illiterate? Equius paused for a little while longer, not wishing to rush his superior as he held his hands behind his back at respectful attention. After a minute of fidgeting, sweating silence, he finally asked, reaching back towards the chalk, "Should I rewrite the phrase so that it is more legible?"

He wondered if this hesitant quietness was simply of his own fault for not writing more BOLDLY. Yes, that had to be it. Already, he was punishing himself internally for having not written in all caps or perhaps made the letters just a bit larger.

[Guest]

"That...might be better, bro..." he said slowly, his mind still trying to comprehend the words laid out for him. When the other took to writing on the board again, he looked around at the room to distract himself. His eyes locked onto the robots that he figured the other built in his spare time. And judging by the littered metal pieces about the room, he made the connection that he used them for training. And he wouldn't doubt that Equius couldn't shatter a robot with a single punch.

He also noticed the overturned portraits that hung on the wall. Good, at least he wouldn't have to look at those. He shuddered slightly as one of the images came to mind the first time he saw them. He had no motherfuckin' clue how someone could actually LIKE looking at that kind of shit. But then again, Equius was a weird dude.

[raunchyJanitor]

The phrase was erased with a towel from the neatly folded pile on top of a metal plate on the ground Aurthour had made for Equius beside the chalkboard. Equius used it soon after clearing the board to wipe away the perspiration on his forehead and neck, placing it next to the clean pile. He wrote the phrase once more on the board, in all caps, so that it filled up 80% of the space provided. When he stepped back to survey his writing, it reminded him of Karkat's screaming tantrums. If Gamzee still couldn't read it, he should worry that the royal was partially blind or partially deaf as the words could practically be heard shrieking out of the vile, mutant blood's food trap. Or at least that's the impression Equius always seemed to infer when being trolled by that lowblood in particular and seeing all of that caps lock.

"Can you... read it now?" Equius inquired, making sure that he was not blocking the dazed clown's vision. He glanced back in concern for the Capricorn's comprehension, adding tentatively, "Perhaps... you are finding it difficult to articulate one of the words?"

Maybe it wasn't the size of the words, but the words themselves? Well, part of this lesson was to broaden Gamzee's vocabulary anyway, so it really shouldn't matter too greatly if he couldn't understand one or two of the words. This was part of the point of having these lessons after all: to get the highblood to talk like a highblood. It just meant that they had much more work to do is all.

[Guest]

"I could read it before, bro, but uh...maybe if you said it first?" he suggested, removing his gaze from the complicated sentence to his teacher. He guessed he was going to have to say the weird sentence whether he wanted to or not. He shifted slightly on his plush seat, staring at the Sagittarius expectantly.

[raunchyJanitor]

Ah, of course! It was an issue of pronunciation. Equius could have face palmed for ever having thought otherwise. He cleared his throat before repeating without missing a beat, "The musclebeast bounded eloquently through the vast veldt, its rippling, robust hind quarters glistening shades of vibrant hues reflected from the setting sun." Had any other troll said this, it might have proven rather difficult to keep a straight face. But this was Equius, who likely stated such things on a daily basis.

"Would you prefer hearing the definition of one of these words before proceeding?" It couldn't be easy trying to say something if you didn't know what it meant after all. This was what the blueblood thought to be another one of the reasons for the other troll's hesitation, anyway. Otherwise, he was completely oblivious as to why Gamzee was so apparently uncomfortable with the phrase.

[Guest]

Gamzee just gawked at the other as he said the sentence, one of his eyes twitching. Say fuckin' what?? He was supposed to repeat that? He shuddered at the thought, but he sighed, shaking his head. "Nah man, I got this." he said, sitting a little straighter.

He hesitated, but eventually spoke, slowly as to not mess up. "The musclebeast bounded...eloquently through the vast veldt, its..." he paused here, his eye giving another twitch of discomfort. Despite his thoughts of this phrase, he pressed on." ...rippling...robust...hind quarters...glistening shades of vibrant hues reflected from the setting sun."

[raunchyJanitor]

"Exquisite." Equius muttered, acquiring the towel from earlier and patting all around his neck with it. "It is refreshing to hear you say a complete sentence without inserting defiling language into it. There should be no such... soiling of the tongue, lest it is directed towards an inferior in the form of an insult. But even then, there is such a... variety of adjectives one can use to degrade a lowblood without the need for lowering oneself to their level."

He erased the board again and picked up the chalk, glancing back at Gamzee behind his shades, "For example, what would you call someone say... Tavros for instance?"

[Guest]

Gamzee listened to the other speak, nodding occasionally. But he didn't know what the fuck he was talking about. He had no motherfuckin' clue as to what he meant by 'defiling language'. Shit, this guy was just fucking the everliving motherfuck out of his think pan. He frowned at the thought of insulting anyone, rather than a lowblood. He hated that word. He hated the whole damned blood system altogether. Couldn't everyone just get along?

He perked at the name of his best bro and grinned broadly. "Tav? He's my best fuckin' friend, man. My best bro." he stated proudly.

[raunchyJanitor]

A deep, aggravated sigh was breathed through Equius's nostrils and he ran a strained hand through his hair in irritation. "And that is precisely the problem. You treat them like brethren. You don't see them as the scum that they truly are." Filthy lowbloods, poisoning royalty's mind far enough to make them believe that they could actually be considered 'friends'.

He began writing on the board again, continuing, "What you should be calling him is hideous, abominable, incongruous, dimwitted, gruesome, mindless, lousy, obnoxious, infuriating, lazy, unremarkable, detestable, irresponsible, foul, loathsome, moronic, nauseating, revolting or even... sickening." The steady stream of words were jotted down as he said them, filling his mouth with a bitter taste supplied by the imagery that they brought about in his head. Apparently lowbloods were so vile, they made him blanch at the mere thought of them.

"Why do you consider this lowblood your... friend?" The blueblood inquired solemnly, moving out of the way again so that Gamzee could read the wall of spiteful words for himself.

[Guest]

Gamzee just stared at the other with confusion, tilting his head slightly. That was always one thing he never understood: why the highbloods looked down on the lowbloods. For whatever reason, they felt they were better than them just because of the stupid hemospectrum. Everyone was the same to him, and no one was lower than anyone. However...that was apparently not how a highblood thought. And it pained him to think he would have to act in this manor.

Despite his obvious discomfort, he read over the words on the board before speaking up. "We talk and chill all the fuc--...all the time." he said, correcting himself. "He's really sweet and he never judges anyone. Hell, the boy can't even hate. Anyone who can go about their life without a hateful bone in their body can definitely be my best bro."

[raunchyJanitor]

When Equius noticed the highblood correct himself, a hint of hope glinted in his eye. It was progress, sluggish and small, but nonetheless progress all the same. "Of course he doesn't judge anyone; he has no right to. It is not his place to hate. It is ours and even more so yours than mine."

The Sagittarius pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to think of another way to clarify what he wanted to convey. "He is a pet at best, not a friend. I would have to insist that you no longer call him as such, but it is not my place to tell one of a higher blood than my own what they can and can not do." Although he truly wished that he could set them straight on their rightful path to glory. But all he could really do was nudge and plead with them to see reason, like he was trying to do now.

The chalk was carefully placed back on the tray and he wiped his hands on the damp towel from before again, an unusual sense of pity coming upon the blueblood when he looked back at the other troll. To shoot down that pride Gamzee held towards someone he regarded with such tenderness was rather painful for Equius and he soon found himself almost stating in an apologetic tone, "I don't mean to tear you away from your... 'best bro', highblood. I only ask that you reconsider what you think of him... so that it may better suit what he truly is."

[Guest]

A pet? A pet? Gamzee didn't like the sound of that at all. Tavros, as well as the other "lowbloods" were people too, no different from anyone else. Besides the all important blood issue anyway. Showing and forming anger was a rare characteristic for the Indigo blood to show, and he was trying his hardest not to let the ugly side of him show, whatever that meant. He sat up a little straighter, though he still remained slouched, his eyes halfway shut. Though at this moment, they were a little more narrowed for obvious reasons.

While he wanted to protest or say something, he bit his tongue and kept his mouth shut. Only did the other finish speaking in that softened tone did his ember of anger die down. "...Sorry, bro. No can do. However, we can work on the other shit--" he coughed to try and cover his small slip up. "--stuff. I said stuff." Yeah, real convincing. "What else does it take to be a 'proper highblood'?" he asked, even doing air quotations to get his question across.

[raunchyJanitor]

Those narrowed eyes prompted Equius to step towards the silently fuming Capricorn and he spoke somewhat excitedly as he explained the next important role of a highblood, "That... right there." He pointed at Gamzee, his interest peeking at how the other troll had straightened to a slightly more attentive level. "What you felt towards me just then. Anger... is the key to being a true highblood." If a highblood couldn't feel rage, they most likely wouldn't feel inclined to subjuggulate anyone. Because really, where is the satisfaction in killing someone if you don't hate them from inside out?

"Acceptance is for the weak and highbloods are not weak." He might have had his doubts with that statement, however, when Eridan, of such noble blood, came off as nothing short of pathetic and desperate considering how he flirted with anything that held a pulse.

"If you would, please, stop holding back your hatred, I feel that you would understand these things far more than I could describe them to you." Equius elaborated, moving a little closer to Gamzee, yet a bit apprehensively, "Might I ask... for you to hit me?"

[Guest]

Anger. That was something Gamzee tried to stay away from at all times. Normally, he was a laid back, goofy grinning guy without a motherfuckin' care in the world. But moments like these, where his buttons were constantly pushed just little too far, is when that hidden emotion forced its way out into the world. By now though, his anger had died down, reminding himself that Equius was only trying to help. And it was from that fact alone that caused him to just gawk at the blueblood, blinking a couple times.

He slowly stood, sort of tilting his head in confusion and disbelief. "...hit you?" he repeated, as if he had spoken an entirely different language. How could someone ask another to just hit them? Sure, he knew Equius probably wouldn't be harmed at all, considering how strong he was, but the actual concept of Gamzee attempting to do harm on anyone had him reluctant to do so. "Why?" he decided to ask.

[raunchyJanitor]

"Because violence is what you are missing, highblood," Equius explained, sweating now that Gamzee was standing before him either potentially to fall through with his request or to leave in a hurry. "I feel that... if you could let out your frustrations on me, perhaps it could reawaken your inner subjuggulator." If the indigoblood stopped acting so 'care free', the blueblood might not have brought them to such lengths as these. He needed to pull the noble out of this relaxed realm of peace in mind as it had to be one of the least fitting characteristics of a highblood.

Gulping noisily, he braced himself for the onslaught he prayed for Gamzee to ensue, gingerly removing his glasses and suggesting, "Think of something that... displeases you to a great extent. Imagine that you are hitting the very thing that is frustrating you, if it makes this any easier." The glasses were pocketed in his shorts and his unshielded eyes lowered off to Gamzee's shoulder, awaiting his next move. He couldn't bring himself to look the Capricorn in the eye as he had no intention of challenging his superior as he felt that's what it would suggest if he did so.

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