(no subject)

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Nobody talked to the kid with the dreads.

Nobody knew if he'd been held back with the jocks, or if he'd just hit the world's worst growth spurt, but the long, lanky highblood seemed to top everyone else in stature, even the select little clique of seadwellers, all of whom had taken to muttering about him indiscreetly. Of course, it didn't help his image that he wandered the halls with the dazed expression of the perpetually baked. He'd already been forced to stop painting his face by the faculty to keep from distracting others in his classes. As if that was really what everyone was focusing on.

He was intelligent, even brilliant according to some of the instructors, but that didn't count for anything when none of his homework was turned in, either coming up missing or simply forgotten, or occasionally doodled on. He never took notes and rarely remembered to bring his textbooks. The only class he did well in, for that matter, was his visual arts elective and even then, he rarely stayed on task, often speeding through the lessons then slinking away to one of the broken-down loveseats what were used for the occasional sit-in model for life drawing sessions.

He was a flake, and ninety percent of the time, he was alone.

Fourth block Gym was never something that he participated in. He simply stayed long enough to be counted there for role call, then slipped out easily to settle down behind the gymnasium where the security guards never went, sitting on the ground in the shade in his gym clothes and packing a bowl out of sight where the smoke would be whipped away by the breeze.

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[princeofmelodrama]

With another, louder groan into Gamzee's mouth, Eridan's back arched and his hips rocked violently upwards into the highblood's hand, and his own hands wrapped firmly around Gamzee's shoulders, clinging to him as if to keep the world from spinning him off of it. "Side... side table," he panted as he pulled out of the kiss, "below. In cabinet." He buried his face against Gamzee's shoulder as one hand slunk down between them to run over the highblood's chest, and downwards, towards the elastic band of the borrowed pajama pants

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Figuring that he meant the nearest one, Gamzee pushed himself up and over to reach into the cabinet in the lower half of the side table, pulling out the pail and holding it on the edge of the couch, easily manipulating Eridan to minimize the mess. He latched onto the space just below Eridan's jaw, sucking just softly enough that any mark left would disappear before the end of the day. The burst of the thick, sweet plum scent made him grin against the side of Eridan's neck, glancing down between them and letting the bulge slip between his fingers as it retracted. He sat up between the other's legs and licked his fingers then ran his hand up Eridan's thigh, watching him relax again before finally removing himself from the couch and going back to the bathroom with the full bucket in hand.

[princeofmelodrama]

As he came, he clung tightly enough to dig his nails into Gamzee's shoulders, and shuddered out the other's name in a drawn out moan. As he came down from the high of orgasm, he watched Gamzee lick his fingers clean - or at least the slightly blurry figure of him - and then sat up with a slight pout when the highblood walked away. He grabbed his glasses off the side table and cleaned the lenses with the corner of a blanket before putting them back on and wriggled back into his pants, sitting up, absolutely confused. Didn't Gamzee want something in return? He certainly wanted to give it. Not that he knew what he was doing, but he'd learn.

He looked at the slight mess he'd made of the cushions under him and grabbed his shirt, soaking up the dampness into the black fabric of his sweater instead. The sofa cushions wouldn't stain - he knew that much from experience - but still, if anyone came in, he wouldn't want them to see that.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

By now, cleaning out the bucket had become habit and he did a quick, thorough job of it before returning to the room and bending over the back of the couch, laying a hand against the top of Eridan's head and leaning down to kiss his cheek, smiling faintly.

"Sorry about all that, figured you could use it after all that motherfuckin' teasing before," he smiled as he stood back up straight, retrieving his shirt from the other end of the couch and hanging it over his shoulder. He glanced down at the bowls that had long since dried, wrinkling his nose some and immediately wanting to apologize to the kitchen staff, wondering if they'd eaten the soup or left it alone to sit on the stove and cool. If it was the latter, he'd get another helping for each of them to try and beat back the sniffles again as much as possible.

[princeofmelodrama]

"You're the only person who could legitimately fuckin' apologize for gettin' someone off," Eridan said with a resigned sigh and a lopsided smile. "An' not want anythin' in return." He was about to ask but knew from Gamzee's body language that just wasn't going to happen. He tossed the shirt in his clothes hamper, and then folded the blankets to set up on the back of the couch. "If you're goin' to the kitchen," he said as he watched Gamzee look at the bowls, "could you please get me a bottle a water an' just ask 'em for some aspirin? I'm pretty dehydrated."

Eridan stood and rounded the sofa to wrap his arms around Gamzee, leaving a light and quick kiss on his cheek, before slipping away to get another shirt to put on. It was only after he opened a window to air out the room that he went back to his game, only to turn it and the TV off, and start on his homework from classes that he and Gamzee didn't share.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

After catching Eridan in a quick kiss he left the room, following the same path back to the kitchen. He rounded a corner and nearly walked headfirst into Dualscar, looking up at him with wide eyes then letting a quiet, slightly nervous laugh. He still smelled like weed and now of Eridan, only just now registering the stinging of nail marks in his bare shoulders as he locked eyes with the massive seadweller. He leaned back, relaxing only minutely as he explained that he was going to return the bowls to the kitchen, only to have them taken and sent away with a member of the help before he was bidden to follow Dualscar back to his study.

The contract that was handed over to Gamzee was straightforward, worded in such a way that the Grand Highblood wouldn't be able to misconstrue any of it. He would be under the employ of the Ampora household, paid substantially better than anyone that paid the Makaras for Gamzee's services, whatever they may be. They would be making use of his skills that did not include the caving in of skulls, and should he wish it, Gamzee would be able to stay there, in the seadwellers' home, protected from possible outside backlash. Though it didn't explicitly say so, this included the protest of the GHB himself. Gamzee looked as if he'd just been handed a pardon from a death sentence. He would have to deliver a copy of the contract to his guardian himself, but after that, he would have no reason to go home, save for visiting his brother.

"Wait, what about Kurloz? I can't just up and motherfuckin' leave him alone. Dad don't know the first motherfuckin' thing about takin' care of 'im. Never learned how to talk to 'im either..."

[princeofmelodrama]

Dualscar pondered that over folded hands. It would be hard to pull one Makara away from the Grand Highblood, even though it was for the boy's own good. Two would be nigh impossible, and likely start an internal war in the Condesce's court. But Dualscar knew about Kurloz quite well, not just from intelligence and boasting from GHB himself, but from his elder son's gossip, and knew that if there was any single creature set on the path of succession, it was that boy. He sighed and murmured, "I'll see to it that he's looked after in your absence. It would be unfeasible at this juncture to try and take him out a the situation you're both in without incurrin' the wrath of your father. And not just on you an' our house, but truly, the world would feel his vengeance for losin' both his sons due to his own neglectful, abusive behaviors." He shook his head. "It's a damned shame, as well. Your brother should have the same lucky stars as you, but I fear he hasn't yet had that luck reach his shores." He rubbed his chin in thought, then got a sly, toothy grin.

"I've an idea. If you can be patient for only a few months, I may be able to put into motion somethin' which is long overdue. It should keep your brother safe an' potentially get a thorn from my side in the process." He nodded. "In any case, your brother is welcome to stay here with you, provided you're here when he is. As a guest, mind. I will see you are protected, but I cannot offer such asylum to your brother, I'm afraid. My hands are tied."

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Gamzee was watching him closely, his expression opening up slowly until he stood, walked around the desk that he was seated across from Dualscar at, and wrapped his arms around the seadweller's shoulders tightly, only able to reach them as he remained sitting. He stood back again, grabbing for the contract to be able to sign it, signing the copy as well to take back home with him to present to the GHB. He would have to sit down and have a long talk with Kurloz about this as well, knowing that he would have his objections but that ultimately he wouldn't fight it.

He nearly ran back to Eridan's room when he'd finished talking to Dualscar about the fine details of his employment, throwing himself down on Eridan's couch with his hands laced together behind his head as he turned over what had just been done. He turned over to watch Eridan working, his hands curled up in front of his chest with the paper held there rolled into a tube.

[princeofmelodrama]

Dualscar watched the highblood hightail it out of there after he got the papers signed, still taken aback by the sudden burst of affection, and he huffed a chuckle, shaking his head. He put the papers away in a folder and in a cabinet, and stood, having to go make sure supper was on its way to being prepared for the household, and then talking to a certain legislacerator about securing certain other situations that only secondarily related to this particular one.

Eridan had settled into his work quite easily, despite the fact that the cold had completely overthrown all clarity in his pan. When Gamzee came in with positivity radiating from him and a roll of papers, he inferred what had happened and smiled, looking down into Gamzee's eyes. "Good news then?" he asked with a quiet tone, running his fingers over his matesprit's cheek.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Gamzee took his hand and pressed his lips to the back of it, returning the smile as he reached out to lay his free hand on Eridan's cheek in turn. "All that's left now's to go and talk to dad, then I don't ever have to go back to that fuckin' house if I don't want to." He smiled a little wider and pressed his face back into the couch. He knew he should have felt some kind of remorse for trying so hard to get away from home, but all he could do was think about how much better off things would be now. No more going to school covered in bruises or falling asleep in the middle of class because he hadn't slept at all the night before. "He even said he'd take care'a Kurloz while I'm not there. Dunno what that includes but I can still go back and see him myself."

[princeofmelodrama]

Eridan's smile turned victorious and fond, as he turned to press a kiss to Gamzee's palm. "I'm glad it works out well for you. I'm sure he has seventy ulterior motives behind his decision, but so long as it works out amicably for you an' doesn't backfire, I'm not goin' to question father's motives." He paused and then bit his lower lip, snickering, "Did he say anythin' about those claw marks I apparently left on you? An' sorry for that. Didn't really know what I was doin' there."

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

"He didn't say anything about anything," Gamzee shrugged, sitting up finally and wrapping his arms around Eridan's shoulders, leaning their foreheads together. "Pretty sure he's all motherfuckin' sighin' in his office though. Ran into him still smellin' like you like I was."

[princeofmelodrama]

Eridan didn't know quite what to think. Either his dad would let it go without a word, or flip every shit known to civilization. He was hoping for the former, since if he was going to do the latter, Dualscar would have started already.

As it stood, Eridan just smirked. "About that," he said, looking down at Gamzee with a quirked brow, "Why didn't you stick around an' let me pay you back for that? I might not know what I'm doin', but that sure as hell doesn't stop me from tryin'." Not that he was offering just at that moment, that'd be a little spur of the moment, and definitely not the most smooth way of going about things.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Gamzee shrugged again. "It takes a lot more to get me goin' than you prob'ly have patience for," he excused, sitting back and letting his hands rest on Eridan's shoulders a moment before running down to his chest and falling away. "If it gets to where that's what I want, I'll let you know alright?" He offered a soft smile then leaned forward to peck Eridan's lips, then his cheek. "You can go back to doin' homework up there."

[princeofmelodrama]

With a quick reciprocation to the kiss and a lopsided smirk, Eridan responded, "An' I suppose I'm not supposed to take that as a challenge to try'n see if I can? You can't just say that sorta thing an' assume I'm not goin' to get it in my head to try." He looked back to his homework with the cocky smirk still in place. He wouldn't - at one point he might have if he was younger - but he knew that Gamzee would go at his own pace, and that was just fine with him.

He looked up at the highblood after a few more minutes, finishing his assignment. "You want to get some of our mutual assignments outta the way, just to get 'em done with? It'd be better than just lettin' 'em weigh on us the rest of the night."

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Groaning quietly, Gamzee replied, "Nope," but got up to find his bag anyway, dragging out the notepads and new binder that held his assignments, sitting down at Eridan's side. He propped his chin on his hand as he laid out what he had, getting settled in and tapping the end of his pen against the table. Already he was bored and he'd only just looked at the assignment. "But really man, I don't want you feelin' all motherfuckin' obligated to do anything for me. Even somethin' small like tryin' to get me off. Honestly, I don't care about all that. Used to, not so much anymore. So just don't worry about it."

[princeofmelodrama]

Eridan sighed as he grabbed his own books from his backpack, settling them on his knee as he looked over at Gamzee with a serious look on his face. "Let's put it this way. I don't think I owe you anythin', nor do you owe me. No matter what. This is one of those things that may seem selfless an' like me tryin' to be magnanimous an' it's really out of selfishness an' desire. I want to. Just assume when you're ready to hop aboard that ship, I'll be eager to get underway." He leaned down almost flat across his crossed legs to pull one last book that had migrated to the bottom of his backpack, and pulled it up. "Literature first?"

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

"Well see when it comes back around," Gamzee agreed quietly and ran his hand across Eridan's back before he straightened up, rolling his eyes some. It was one of his least favorite classes; just seeing so many words sitting there on a barren page made his eyes want to cross. Propping his chin up on his hand, Gamzee resigned himself to the fate of good grades and started to write down his answers between double-checking the reading.

Homework went fairly quickly and by the end of it, Gamzee was starting to sniffle again. Only then did he realize that he'd forgotten to fetch the water and aspirin that Eridan had asked for and he immediately stood, stepping over the corner of the table and making his way back out of the room without so much as a word of warning. He had to take a moment to find someone to ask about it, but as soon as he'd done so he followed behind them, talking amicably about what he'd seen of the place so far. The man seemed to have a rather high opinion of the Amporas, and not just from a social obligation; not only were the staff here paid well, they were treated quite decently as well. Gamzee smiled faintly, considering for a moment going home and trying to talk to the very small staff that the GHB hired to take care of his estate and convince them to potentially find some work at the Amporas' estate. But he was getting ahead of himself, realizing that Dualscar wouldn't be able to take in everyone. It had been a stretch just offering his brother temporary asylum.

He returned maybe five minutes later with two glasses of water and a blister pack of pills, putting them both down on the tabletop before once more taking his seat at Eridan's side.

[princeofmelodrama]

Blinking and minutely shaking his head at Gamzee's sudden standing and leaving, Eridan raised an eyebrow to all of it, and then sighed and went back into his own homework once again. He figured Gamzee would return whenever he felt like - he always seemed to go on his own non-schedule, go where the wind took him, and Eridan had long since become resigned to that. Homework had finally started becoming much more of a hardship than a task once his face felt like it was completely stuffed up, however, and he sighed, setting it aside to grab his husktop from under the sofa, booting it up. He sent off two messages immediately - one to his moirail, and one to... well, he didn't consider her a friend, nor did he consider her a kismesis. Platonic rival, perhaps. He smiled to himself as he chatted with the girls, content to simply fill both of them in on the happenings of the past couple days. Feferi had nothing but excitement for her moirail and Gamzee as well. She knew full well how dicey the Makara situation was from overhearing her mother talk about them. While they seemed to do just the bare amount to stay in the Condesce's favor, they weren't her favorite members of the court. Feferi still had no solid opinion of Gamzee himself, either. He made Eridan happy, and that, in turn, made her happy, but without knowing him, she had nothing much to say.

Rose, on the other hand, couldn't give two shits less that he was sick - AGAIN - for the beginning of winter, and managed to find himself in a relationship despite. She had 'bigger fish to fry' regarding her *own* outstanding performances. She had been taking college level courses and finally got her first assessment in them, which placed her highest in her class for reading and writing. Clearly, she was well on her way to being top student on the honor roll - a highly coveted position for her ever since Eridan landed that position the year prior. She then chided him that since he was too busy playing figurative and likely literal grabass, he probably had completely forgotten to practice for his recital that was coming up in only two months. He groaned at that, because she nailed it on the head, and sighed heavily, claiming temporary defeat - she was quite right, he really had. And then he signed off, pulled up the program that was part metronome, part sheet music, and wandered off to get his viola.

By the time Gamzee came back, Eridan had just started fine-tuning the strings as he looked down at the composition on his laptop's screen. He looked back up with a brief smile. "Was thinkin' you be gone for longer than you were, decided to keep myself busy," he explained, before starting the program, which let out a faint, slow, and steady ticking, which kept him on time with the song, which he started to play with near effortless grace and ease.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

"Sorry. Remembered you wanted some fuckin' meds. Got all motherfuckin' sidetracked earlier and completely forgot." Gamzee hunkered down to listen with his chin propped on top of his knees, his arms wrapped around his thighs. He hadn't had the chance to watch Eridan play more than once in the time that they'd been friends and it was something of a treat to be able to sit down and watch. He wasn't musically inclined; he could rap, pretty well as a matter of fact, but that wasn't really something that came up in casual conversation or talk about school. It was simply a hobby that very few people knew about. He clapped quietly when Eridan drew the piece to a close, sitting back and popping out a couple of the pills to hand over to him, eyeballing the glasses of water sitting in front of him then chancing a sip of one, only to make a face and hold it out.

[princeofmelodrama]

Eridan gave a graceful little bow of his head to the applause, chuckling silently before he took the glass of water and the pills, downing the latter with the former, and finishing off the entire bunch of seawater in one go. "Still need to keep workin' on this. Don't let it keep you from gettin' a hold a your moirail. You got a phone? I can lend you mine, if you'd like." He nodded to his backpack, where his cell was, and then turned to point out the land line phone with his eyes. "I'm willin' to bet that after all the drama a the past few days, it'd be nice to hear from you." He certainly would be worried if his moirail went out to do something dangerous, only to up and disappear for a couple days with no word.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

Gamzee chewed at his lower lip as he looked over at the phone, shaking his head some. "Karkat's not really all that big on talking on the phone," he explained then sat back, glancing at the husktop, wishing that he'd thought to pick up his own before hiding out here. His phone had been damaged in the same altercation that had left him with the slowly healing scars across his face and he obviously hadn't been able to replace it yet. He gestured toward the computer vaguely without reaching for it. "He's always online at least..."

[princeofmelodrama]

Eridan raised an eyebrow, and then sighed, leaning down to turn off his music program and sign out of trollian to get it to the login screen, before turning the husktop around to face Gamzee. He was wary of anybody even touching his computer other than himself, but it was important to him to have Gamzee touch base with someone who seemed to be the only other person other than him who gave a damn.

He leaned down across the back of the couch to give a kiss to Gamzee, and went to grab his actual sheet music and metronome instead.

[cookinglikeamotherfucker]

At the sigh Gamzee started to withdraw, willing to forgo the computer if Eridan was that uncomfortable with it. At the kiss he frowned softly, reaching out to turn the husktop around gingerly and sign back into trollian, blinking then smiling faintly as immediately a window popped up. Apparently Karkat had been waiting to see him come back online.

The explanation was short and to the point, letting his moirail know where he was, and more importantly, that he was safe, at least for the time being. He let him know that he wouldn't be on very long given that he was on a borrowed system then finally promised that he would come back and visit as soon as he knew he could. He didn't spend much time elaborating on what he was doing at the Ampora estate in the first place, promising that he would explain later. Karkat wasn't satisfied with that but seemed to accept it when Gamzee signed back off and returned the husktop to the other side of the table, crawling back up onto the couch.

[princeofmelodrama]

Eridan raised both brows at Gamzee's hesitation and swift discussion as he continued to practice, but once he played through a song, he slipped back up and took a seat on the back of the sofa, and ran a hand over Gamzee's shoulder. "You don't gotta take how I react personally," he murmured, holding his viola and bow against his leg. "I'm not a gentle person. You should know that by now. I'm sorry." He looked up at a knock to his door and walked over to see what it was. They were being told that dinner was prepared, and that they had the choice of eating with his father, or eating here. After a moment of thought, weighing the decision, he bade the maid to bring it up for them. He closed the door after she departed and rubbed his face.

"Listen, Gam, you gotta understand that no matter how callous I'm actin', it isn't on account a anythin' you've done. You hold aloft the moon to me, all right? I'm tryin' to get better at showin' that sorta thing. I don't want you to think a me as cold." He set his viola on a stand and carefully placed the bow beside it, before he walked over and settled down to pull himself up into a slight ball on the corner of the couch once more, tense and pouty.