Re: My Little Highblood (Equius/Gamzee)

[raunchyJanitor]

The soaked towel was relinquished from Equius's grasp and he accepted the replacement gratefully, muttering a muffled word of thanks as he held it against his nose. Gamzee had really gotten him good, that was for sure. And the highblood was right-- there was something definitely wrong with this. A moment ago, he had been waiting for Gamzee to bash his skull in and now they were hugging, or at least one of them was being hugged while the other was letting it happen, that is.

That goofy grin Gamzee gave him made the Sagittarius feel strange, especially since he had front row seats to watch the Capricorn's friendly expression. "Nothing is wrong unless you believe that is the case," Equius tried to reassure Gamzee since he honestly didn't know if he was doing this wrong. He probably was. Yes, this hug was lasting too long, wasn't it? Or was it because he hadn't said anything for a while? Damn him for not knowing what else to add to the uncomfortable silence.

"If you feel that you've had enough... we can end the lesson for today and start anew tomorrow," he suggested, figuring that Gamzee probably didn't want to continue when he was making such a mess out of the lesson thus far.

[Guest]

He shook his head, the smile faltering a little. "One more thing for today." he said, finally releasing his hold on the other and giving him a little space. He walked over to the small pile of dirty towels and placed the blood soaked one on it. He stared at it and frowned, turning back around to face him. "You're bleedin' an awful lot, bro. You sure I didn't do somethin' too serious?"

[raunchyJanitor]

Lowering his elbows to a more comfortable level, Equius followed Gamzee back to the board, shaking his head in turn. "I am quite certain that there is nothing to be worried about," Equius answered, thinking about how his robots had done far worse damage to him than a mere nose bleed, even if this one was pouring like a waterfall. It wouldn't seem polite to belittle the highblood by letting him know how trivial he found this wound to be, though at the same time he wanted Gamzee to stop fretting over him. "Besides, what did I say about concerning yourself over me?"

[Guest]

"I said I can't help it." he repeated, crossing his arms with a pout. How could he not concern himself over others? It was how he grew up acting. He blinked, making a small realization. Maybe...Could it be that's why he wasn't proper highblood material? All of the others that were considered high bloods have had their lusus behind them every step of the way, guiding and raising them like they should be. Meanwhile Gamzee...Gamzee had no one. Finally thinking this over, his expression fell to one of sadness, looking down at the floor.

[raunchyJanitor]

That expression on the Capricorn's face caught Equius off guard when he looked back at the other troll, filling him with an uneasy sense of pity. "Did I... say something wrong, highblood?" He asked worriedly, this whole thing being slightly ironic considering how he was asking for Gamzee to stop showing concern for him while he showed concern for the other troll. He pulled the towel away from his nose and sniffed, realizing that he was still bleeding. Maybe the highblood had been right about the severity of this injury.

[Guest]

Gamzee was unresponsive for a moment before he shook his head and looked up, grinning once more. "Nah, it's nothin' you said." he reassured him. Even though his smile appeared happy, his sopor induced gaze was pained. He tilted his head when he saw the blood continue to drip out of the others nose, his smile falling. "Uh...maybe you should get Aurthour or somethin'..." he said, taking the towel from him and replacing it with a fresh one. Rather than giving it to him though, he placed it over Equius's nose, and pressed with his thumbs, using the Thumbs Up method. "Lean forward." he instructed.

[raunchyJanitor]

It was unsettling for the blueblood to receive such care from a highblood and he couldn't help but make a whinnying noise of disapproval. Even so, Gamzee had asked him to do something and he had to oblige, even if it was a backwards approach to the hierarchy. Equius tipped his head forward and pressed his nose against the highblood's thumbs, breathing through his mouth. "This is nawht... entireleh necessawry of you," he mumbled nasally through the towel, averting his eyes from the Capricorn's and placing his finger tips underneath Gamzee's thumbs to hold the cloth in place. His fingers weren't close enough to actually touch Gamzee's, but it was about as close as he could get to nudging the highblood's hands away.

[Guest]

"I know." He said as he kept his hands in place. He knew he didn't have to do this, but he wanted to. Its the least he could do pay him back for all of the things he was going to be taught...even though it was apparently a necessity. So instead, he chalked it up as making up for his mistake earlier. He smiled softly, tilting his head to look at him.

[raunchyJanitor]

It's a rather difficult thing to do, trying to avoid someone's eyes when they're staring right at you. Equius's eyes kept dragging themselves away from something distant in the corner and back to Gamzee's then back again instantly each time he realized what he was doing. The Sagittarius kept on breathing through his mouth, a bit more shakily though each time he glanced over to the Capricorn, wondering how long he was going to have to remain like this until the bleeding stopped.

Most of the trolls that got to know Equius thought he was supposed to be the creepy one, yet here he was, being the creeped out one. Trolls didn't stare at him, he stared at trolls. He made them feel uncomfortable, why was the exact opposite occurring instead? Well, highbloods didn't look at him this much. Yes, he was flustered over having a highblood's vision set on his inferior being and it had nothing at all to do with feeling flattered that someone was actually concerned for his well being besides a certain white mustached centaur with utters who shall remain nameless.

[Guest]

GGamzee wasn't exactly sure when the bleeding would stop. He did get a good hit on his nose, which he now felt bad for. He used to get nose bleeds all the time when he was younger, doing reckless things. Since Goatdad wasn't there he would pester Karkat as to what to do. The easily annoyed troll would constantly have to remind him to plug his nose, then follow along with a stream of insults. He didn't mind waiting until it stopped though; he didn't mind being close to Equius, for reasons unknown.

"Are you hurting, bro?" he finally asked, deciding maybe breaking the silence outside of the Sagittarius's breathing would be good right now.

[raunchyJanitor]

That was a question that left the blueblood very conflicted. If Equius said 'yes', he would only make Gamzee more concerned, which, while it was flattering, wasn't what was right with the order of things. If he said 'no', it would seem rather insulting for him to shrug off Gamzee's punches as though they were nothing. So he decided to not really answer him in black and white. "Ah'll live," he muttered, his nose humming under Gamzee's thumbs.

It looked like the indigoblood was just trying to fill in the silence, so despite how weird he sounded when he spoke, Equius finally went through with continuing, "How lawng dew we hawv t'stay like this?"

[Guest]

Though he was expecting a yes or no, Gamzee settled with accepting the vague answer.The indigoblood shrugged, trying not to move his hands in the process. "Until it stops I guess." He took note as to how on edge the other seemed. It had him tilting his head in curiosity. Wasn't it usually the other person who would be on edge rather than the blueblood? To test this theory, he moved a little closer to him.

He wasn't one to judge, but there was a time where the Sagittarius would creep him out. However, due to their little arrangement, he was willing to look past the veil of eerie around him and comply. That was going great, even going as far as to apparently breach the others comfort bubble.

[raunchyJanitor]

Every muscle in Equius's body tensed when Gamzee moved closer, his back became even straighter, if that was even possible, and his eyes widened and stopped jumping away to focus solely on the Capricorn's. His eyes stayed like that for a while, that is, until he remembered that he needed to breath in which he gasped sharply, returning to staring off to the indigoblood's shoulder. Perhaps he should have stepped back so that he would seem intimidated rather than intimidating? Neigh, it was already too late for that. It would just make it look like he had incredibly slow reflexes all of a sudden really.

He was over-thinking this whole thing and it was causing the blueblood to sweat like crazy, why, he might even require another shirt this was getting so far out of hand. "Highblawd... Ah... belewv yew cawn leggo now," Equius insisted, trying not to seem overly eager for Gamzee to cease the invasion upon his personal space.

[Guest]

The indigoblood raised a brow at the others reaction. Why was he so offput by him? Or rather, why was he so afraid? Did he really hurt him that badly that he didn't want to be near him? His expression changed from curiosity to sadness at that thought, moving back and releasing his nose as he was asked.

[raunchyJanitor]

The disappointment in the highblood's face did not go unnoticed by the Sagittarius. Gamzee was only trying to help and all it was doing was making Equius extremely unnerved and anxious to get away. This was probably why he had blown his matespritship with Aradia, being sweaty and nervous and turning into a statue every time they came this close. Not a lot of trolls wanted to get this close to him and he had not anticipated for a highblood to want to do the same, though he was uncertain as to why Gamzee had taken that extra step closer. He probably was just moving around for no reason. Yes, that was it. All of this fuss was over nothing truly significant and he was just making a fool of himself for thinking otherwise.

He held the towel when the Capricorn relinquished it, pulling it off his nose and examining the blood stained blue into the white fabric. At least the blood had stopped pouring out of his nose. "...Thank you," Equius said finally, wanting to appear grateful towards Gamzee's gesture and make the highblood feel better about his actions, though he did not agree with them.

[Guest]

Gamzee took to rubbing his forearm and looking off at something else. "No problem, bro..." He mumbled. He wasn't sure what to do now. He had said he wanted to learn one more thing for the day, but if the other was afraid of him, maybe he should leave. If it wasn't for the fact that the blueblood had thanked him for aiding in stopping the nose bleed, he would have excused himself. Slowly, his gaze returned to the taller troll, awaiting their next move.

[raunchyJanitor]

"You said that... you would be willing to learn one more thing... so perhaps we should go back to the basics again," the Sagittarius started, wrinkling his nose and sniffing dryly. He thought carefully over what they should do next when he realized that now would be as good a time as any to teach Gamzee the way of blood murals. Besides, there was all this blood laying around, why not use some of it for the greater good? "You don't have to sit down this time... it will only take a moment."

Equius wiped up most of the blood under his nose onto the towel before heading over to the pile and placing it there. He pondered over how they best should go about this and he glanced at his injured hand. Of course. The makeshift wrappings he had used were unfurled and the blueblood hovered his fingers over the open wound, glancing at Gamzee uncertainly. "Do you... enjoy painting your face, highblood?"

[Guest]

Gamzee blinked at him. Painting his face? What did that have to do with anything? He rubbed his arm a little more before giving a nod. "Yeah." He said simply. He wasn't sure why he did, but he remembers covering his face in white paint for as long as he could. It was almost automatic now, being the first thing he did everyday after getting up. "Why?" He asked innocently, his gaze shifting to the wound on Equius's hand.

[raunchyJanitor]

Swiftly, the fingers over the wound sunk into the gaping flesh, pressing fresh, blue blood to the surface. "Bathing in the blood of an enemy was once considered a form of... soothing nerves." Equius stated, unfaltering in his tone despite the horror show he was displaying. "Although not all highbloods covered themselves in blood, sometimes it is used to settle their temper long enough to clear their mind and make important decisions."

He pulled his blue stained fingers off of the wound, cupping the injured hand to keep as much of the fresh blood in place. Equius stepped towards the Capricorn with an almost alarming calm about him as he said, "It was even once considered to be the most frightening form of battle paint. Especially when a highblood painted their being with their own blood." The Sagittarius offered his cupped hand to the indigoblood like a painting pallet. "You do not have to paint yourself of course if you do not wish to, highblood. I only ask that you paint something- anything. You may even feel free to paint the walls of my hive if you find that most preferable."

[Guest]

Gamzee couldn't tear his eyes away from the display of gore in front of him. What...what was he doing?! Why was he making himself bleed even after they had just stopped the flood from his nose. He took a couple steps back away from the blood, but the Sagittarius just kept getting closer. He stared into his hands, seeing the deep blue blood that just sat there, waiting to be touched. He swallowed, giving Equius an expression that basically said 'do i really motherfuckin' have to?' before he slowly reached and dipped his fingers into the fluid. He gave an involuntary shudder; the shit was still warm and that just creeped Gamzee the fuck out. Regardless, he lifted his fingers and watched in slight fascination at how the blood just dripped off of his fingers.

[raunchyJanitor]

It appeared that the tides of creepiness had shifted in Equius's favor and he was one hundred percent ok with this. He did not enjoy being the freaked out one, not even by a tiny bit. Although he knew that he should not be thrilling over getting his creepy on around a highblood, it was a far better change of pace than the moment prior. Also the fact that Gamzee wasn't running away screaming was encouragement enough for the Sagittarius to press on with his disturbing little speech, "I believe that... because your lusus often leaves you alone, it has filled you with a need to search for ways to bring peace in mind where there is none. It could be why you allow your think pan to become..." He tried to think of a gentle way to phrase this, "disoriented through your constant consumption of sopor slime and as a substitute for the therapeutic effects of blood, you use face paint instead."

[Guest]

Gamzee looked up at him as he spoke, taking all of that information into actual consideration. Could that be true? He wasn't sure if he was willing to give up his face paint and his sopor slime in favor of blood; not yet at least. He shuddered at the thought of actually making the switch. Though...now that he thought about it, the blood felt sort of...nice. He suppressed another shudder at that thought, but he couldn't deny it. He dipped his fingers in the blood again, getting more on them before looking around. He found a large space of wall that had nothing around it to accidentally get blood on. "Paint anything, you said?"

[raunchyJanitor]

"Ah... yes..." Equius nodded slowly, using both hands now to keep the blood mostly in one place as some of it was beginning to leak on his boots and floor. "Preferably not something lewd, of course, but that is your decision to make, not mine." Nervously, he added, "Not that I am saying you are lewd, that is, at times you can be--" Oh Gog, stop talking. This was usually why he had the short pauses in his speech: so that he wouldn't embarrass himself like this. The tips of the Sagittarius's ears tinted blue in shame of his inelegant wording and he decided to share the highblood's gaze on Gamzee's blue coated fingertips, finding the image to be oddly captivating. It was probably from all of that blood loss that was causing him to speak out of place like this. He lowered his head, muttering apologetically, "Sorry, I'll... leave you to your painting."

[Guest]

"Nah bro don't worry about it...I knew what you meant..." Gamzee said softly, finally satisfied with how much of the blood was on his fingers. Placing his free hand underneath the other, Gamzee walked over to the wall space. He stared at the metal for the longest time, unsure of what he should paint. He could feel drops of the blue blood dripping off of his fingers and splattering onto his once clean hand.

Finally, he just went with the first thing on his mind. He reached out, using one finger to draw a circle, filling it in after. He lifted his hand, moved it to the right, then proceeded to draw a second identical circle, also coloring it in. A little lower, in between the circles, he draw another, but left it hollow. Finally, beneath them all, a crescent pointing upwards. He stood back and examined his work: a big clown smiley face.

[raunchyJanitor]

Equius watched Gamzee draw the smiley face with interest, grateful that the Capricorn hadn't drawn something against his morals like a happy Tavros with a balloon animal. It would have been beyond insulting to have his blood used to make such an illustration and he was fairly neutral as far as the highblood's fixation on clowns went. With careful steps, he stood beside Gamzee, admiring the drawing not so much for its subject matter, but for how it proved to be a promising start for the other troll in becoming a true highblood. "Do you... feel any different?" He asked hesitantly, oblivious to how he was running his blood coated hands over one another and consequently dripping even more of it on the floor than was entirely necessary.

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