Chapter Five

A/N: So. Uh. I would like to formally apologize for the two and a half month hiatus, which wasn't a hiatus so much as me dropping off the face of the earth. For the record, I am very very sorry. Thank you so much for all the reviews and continued support! (Even as I was a huge non-writing douchebag. Sorry!) I know this chapter is a little weird and transitory, which is kind of why I didn't want to write it, but never fear! The next one should be out in relatively short order. Again, guys, thanks so much! If you have questions or just want to kick me a few times, my tumblr is antioxidantsuperhero and my chumhandle, as ever, is cantankerousMaiden.

Proceed!

-carcinoGeneticist began pestering grimAuxiliatrix-

CG: I HAVE A PROBLEM.

CG: LIKE, A REALLY FUCKING BIG PROBLEM. THIS PROBLEM WOULD HAVE ITS OWN GRAVITATIONAL PULL IF MAGICALLY CONVERTED INTO MATTER. JUST ANOTHER THRILLING DAY IN THE ASS-BACKWARDS THREE RING CIRCUS THAT IS MY FUCKING LIFE.

GA: Would This Be An Ass-Backwards Three Ring Circus Of Dark Miracles By Any Chance

CG: HAR DEE FUCKING HAR.

CG: ACTUALLY, THIS IS KIND OF ABOUT GAMZEE.

CG: AND BY KIND OF I MEAN COMPLETELY.

GA: Whats Wrong

GA: Did He Have Another Break

GA: Do You Need Me To Call Someone

CG: NO! JESUS FUCK, NO, NOTHING LIKE THAT.

CG: WELL, HE ALMOST HAD A BREAK LAST NIGHT, BUT WE EXPECTED THAT, REMEMBER? CRISIS AVERTED. HE'S FINE NOW. OR I THINK HE IS, ANYWAY.

GA: Whats The Problem Then

CG: IT'S MY FUCKING ROOMMATE.

GA: I Thought You Said You Liked Your Roommate

CG: I SAID HE NEVER FUCKING SAID ANYTHING AND DOESN'T AGGRAVATE ME AS MUCH AS HE COULD.

GA: Thats As Close To Liking People As You Normally Get

CG: SHUT UP. IT'S JUST A FUCKING MESS, OKAY.

GA: Tell Me About It

CG: GAMZEE SORT OF LOST HIS SHIT LAST NIGHT SO HE CAME TO FIND ME, LIKE HE'S SUPPOSED TO, BUT I GOT HIS MESSAGE TOO LATE AND HE BEAT ME THERE. MY ROOMMATE WALKED IN ON HIM.

GA: Oh

GA: Oh God

GA: Is He Alright

CG: THAT'S THE THING, HE'S JUST FUCKING PEACHY. GAMZEE SCARED HIM GOOD AND I THOUGHT FOR FUCKING SURE HE'D RUN SCREAMING TO THE RA OR COPS OR SOMETHING, BUT FAR AS I CAN TELL, HE DIDN'T TELL A SOUL. HE SEEMED FUCKING FINE WITH IT, ASIDE FROM SHITTING HIS PANTS IN TERROR. NOT THAT I CAN BLAME HIM.

GA: Unusual

CG: WELL WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT. THE AWARD FOR HIGH HOLY EMPRESS OF UNDERSTATEMENT GOES TO KANAYA MARYAM FOR THE FUCKING FIFTH YEAR RUNNING.

GA: You Handled It I Assume

CG: YEAH. WASN'T TOO BAD. WE STRIFED A LITTLE AND I SMOKED HIM OUT AND HE WAS FINE. THIS KID, THOUGH. JESUS, KANAYA. HE LET GAMZEE CRASH IN THE ROOM WITH US. AFTER ALL THAT.

GA: I Admit Its Curious Behavior But As It Works To Your Advantage In A Delicate Situation Im Not Sure I See The Conflict

CG: THE FUCKING CONFLICT IS I THINK THEY MADE FRIENDS.

CG: GAMZEE WAS ALL OVER THIS KID. IT WAS FUCKING AWFUL. HE GAVE HIM HIS CHUMHANDLE AND EVERYTHING. TAVROS HAS TO BE THE STUPIDEST LITTLE SHIT I'VE EVER MET IN MY LIFE, AND I KNOW PEOPLE WHO MAKE A POINT OF REDEFINING IDIOCY. WHO THE FUCK BEFRIENDS SOMEONE LIKE GAMZEE AFTER AN EPISODE?

GA: Present Company Excluded I Assume

CG: WELL FUCKING OBVIOUSLY.

CG: IF THERE WAS EVER A CROTCH SNIFFING DOUCHEBAG DUMBER THAN TAVROS, IT'S ME. BUT WE ALL KNEW THAT. STAYING ON TOPIC.

CG: WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO?

GA: Why Do You Have To Do Anything

GA: Isnt It Good For Gamzee To Socialize

CG: WELL YEAH, BUT NOT LIKE THIS. THIS KID IS DELICATE, KANAYA. HE'S IN A WHEELCHAIR FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

GA: Maybe Youre Not Giving Him Enough Credit

GA: Gamzee Needs To Learn To Depend On Other People

GA: People Who Are Not You

GA: Its Too Big Of A Burden For One Individual

CG: THIS KID HAS NO IDEA WHAT HE'S WALKING INTO.

GA: It Seems He Has Some Idea

GA: And If He Chooses To Pursue A Friendship With Gamzee In Light Of That Information Then Maybe You Should Respect That Decision

CG: I DON'T GET IT. I THOUGHT YOU WERE ALL FOR LOCKING HIM UP AND THROWING AWAY THE KEY.

GA: Its True I Think Gamzee Is Dangerous And Your Relationship Is Unhealthy

GA: And That Worries Me

GA: But If Hes Going To Try To Function In Mainstream Society Then Socialization Is Very Important

GA: This Could Be A Good Thing For Both Of You

CG: AND THE CRIPPLE WITH THE FUCKING LITANY OF ANXIETY DISORDERS? IS IT GOOD FOR HIM?

GA: I Dont Know Him Well Enough To Say

CG: Do You

CG: GODDAMMIT, KANAYA.

GA: Im Always Here To Provide The Voice Of Reason

GA: If Not Outright Common Sense

CG: HOLYOKE IS MAKING YOU SNARKY.

CG: SNARKIER.

CG: I DON'T LIKE IT.

-carcinoGeneticist ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix-

-carcinoGeneticist began pestering grimAuxiliatrix-

CG: THANKS.

-carcinoGeneticist ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix-

Karkat snapped his laptop shut a little harder than he should have. She was right. She was usually right. It was one thing he hated about Kanaya, no matter how often it worked to his advantage.

Tavros was sitting at his desk across the room, eyes on his computer and buried in a small mountain of text books. He studied a lot, Karkat noted. How much work could he even have in the first week? Probably one of those obnoxious a-type personalities that had to have everything done three months in advance. Not that Karkat would know, because Kanaya was right and he knew jack shit about the kid. Goddamn her.

"Hey," Karkat barked. Tavros jumped and looked over. "So. About last night-"

"It's okay," Tavros assured him, spinning his chair around to meet his roommate's eyes. "You, uh, don't have to apologize o-or anything."

"I wasn't going to," came Karkat's peevish response.

"Oh."

An awkward silence descended on the pair. Tavros fiddled with the sleeve of his sweatshirt while Karkat glared hard at a discolored patch of carpet, stained from god only knew what. When he finally cleared his throat, he did so grudgingly; this was hard for him.

"I was going to thank you."

Tavros looked up, hesitation written in every line of his face.

Karkat gestured as he groped for the words. "For dealing with it. And, I mean - fuck, you know what I mean."

Tavros nodded slowly. "I think.. I think I do."

"I, uh..." Karkat's frown became a little more pronounced. "I know I've kind of been a shit this week, but that's not going to fucking change. So. Deal with it."

In return, a tiny, shy smile began creeping its way over Tav's features. "I think... I think I can handle it."

The boys regarded each other a moment more before Karkat splayed himself out across his bed. Some kind of unspoken agreement had been reached and the atmosphere changed accordingly, whatever hostility and awkwardness they harbored softening around the edges and preparing to evaporate. Karkat jutted his head in the direction of Tavros' book pile, eyebrows raised.

"Trying to power your way through the entire semester in an afternoon or what?"

"Oh." Tavros grinned almost bashfully. "Heavy course load."

"We've been here a week. Most of these dickwipes still haven't bought their fucking books yet."

Tavros shifted self-consciously. "W-well, to tell you the truth, uh, I wasn't really sure what to do today, so I just... thought I'd keep busy. I guess I'm not v-very social."

Karkat shrugged. "In a socially disabled loser-off, I'd kick your ass, kid. You know how many people I met this week, excluding you?"

Tavros did not.

"Fuck all. So you've got me beat by at least one or two. What's the skinny prick like?"

"The skinny...?"

Karkat rolled his eyes. "The one with the lisp."

"Oh! Sollux. Uh, well." It was Tavros' turn to shrug. "I don't really know. We only talked once, and it was kind of.. in passing."

"Well, I guess we can kiss a positive first impression good-bye."

Tavros almost grinned a little. "Do you care?"

"Fuck no."

He didn't think so.

"I don't know," Tavros admitted, "he seemed okay - I mean, uh, he backed off fast enough when we met, and, you know, that's a good sign. To be honest, though, he seems a little intimidating. Him and his roommate."

Karkat's eyebrows almost disappeared into his hairline. "You would still call the two of them intimidating after living through the last twenty-four hours? Jesus christ on a fucking pogo stick, kid, no one should be able to intimidate you anymore. You should basically be passing into the upper echelons of intimidation tolerance nirvana or something."

Tavros actually laughed at that. It was more of a self-deprecative chuckle, but Karkat was almost surprised to hear it coming from him.

"I don't think that's how it works," Tavros assured him, "but, I guess, on the upside, things can't get much weirder than... uh..."

"Than a mentally unbalanced, quasi-homicidal juggalo showing up in your fucking dorm room," Karkat supplied, explaining the situation in simpler terms than Tavros could have, and his roommate's response was to nod enthusiastically.

"Yes. That. I don't think it can get much weirder than that."

"I'd bite your tongue on that count," Karkat muttered, rolling over. "So?"

"So what?"

"So, are you ever going to ask what the fucking deal is there, or just roll around town picking daisies and shit like it never even happened?"

"Daisies grow up here?" Tavros asked, mystified. Karkat made an aggravated noise.

"No, asshole - well, maybe, I don't know because I'm not exactly up on the habits of localized flora and fauna and whatever the fuck else, but that's not the point. What I mean is, you haven't asked a whole lot of questions about the..." He frowned, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he looked for the right way to approach it. "Look, someone like Gamzee shows up in someone's room, they don't just say 'okay sure' and invite them to fucking breakfast."

"He kind of, uh, invited me, technically."

"Shut up. You're taking this way, way too well and I want to know why."

Tavros took a moment to gather his thoughts before responding. It was hard to say. It wasn't like Tavros was particularly adept at dealing with unfamiliar situations on the fly, and he had no way to explain what had happened or his response to it. He just didn't have the words. Eventually, he shrugged, a strange little smile playing at his lips.

"Dunno," he said. "It seems really, I guess, personal? Obviously. And maybe not my business, but, I mean, you both seem like good people, and I'd like to help, if I can. You know, with, uh. Whatever's going on, exactly."

Karkat pushed himself up to stare appraisingly at Tavros for a long while, and finally, the boy sighed. "I guess you deserve an explanation, but I don't think you're ever going to fucking ask for one, so whatever, it's like.. okay, it's like this. Gamzee and I have been friends since we were kids, right? He's dumb as hell sometimes, but he's a good guy. And it's not like there are a whole lot of people that can put up with me."

Tavros' eyebrows raised in what was almost a semi-sarcastic display of surprise - really? - and Karkat flipped him off.

"He's got problems. Which you're already acquainted with. Stuff he's medicated for, and it's really not a big deal most of the time. But he's just really dependent on me to stay level, I guess, and I don't think that's going to change." Karkat's face scrunched, like he was somewhere between laying down a rule and asking permission. "He'll be around sometimes. I mean. He fucking needs me."

Tavros thought this over. He tilted his head at Karkat in an appraising way, something like understanding in his eyes. "Maybe, uh, the next time it happens, just text me or something? You know, just some forewarning. Like the Batsignal!"

"Batshitsignal," Karkat ammended. "There won't be a next time. But, if there is, I'll give you a heads up. But there won't be."

"But just in case."

"Just in case."

Tavros nodded, happy with this compromise. He was happy to be talking with his roommate with something approaching civility, truthfully. He was beginning to suspect that maybe, given time, they could kinda be friends - sorta. That was an exciting prospect.

"So, are you going to IM him?"

Tavros blinked. It wasn't a question entirely out of left field, but it felt like it. "Gamzee?"

"No, the fucking Pope, you blithering toolbag. I hear he's big into social networking now. Real fucking chatterbox. Yes, Gamzee." Karkat jutted his chin at the handle his friend had written on his roommate - which was almost irritating, as there was no need for it. He just as easily could have written it on their whiteboard or a spare scrap of paper or something. Jackass. "He doesn't reach out very often. I'm not saying you should, since he's obviously a huge fucking douchecanoe loaded down with enough baggage to capsize himself, and only an idiot would willingly walk into a situation like that, and-"

Tavros cut the rant off with a gentle shake of his head. "I don't, uh. I guess I don't really know yet." Truth was, it was a frightening thought. In their narrow hallway hours before, Tavros had nodded his assent and his gut instinct was still to follow through, but it was laced with a hesitancy he couldn't shake. "Does... I mean, uh. Does he actually want me to, or, you know, was he just being nice?"

Karkat's eyes narrowed. "I'm not going to answer that on grounds that any possible outcome of this situation could bite me square in the ass."

"Oh. That's, uh. Actually not very helpful."

"I'm not a helpful person," he huffed, digging around in the calamity his side of the room had become until he found his DS and flopping back, apparently at his toleration limit for casual conversation. "But, I mean. It's up to you. Obviously."

As the familiar beeps and boops of the DS start screen filled their room, giving way to the soundtrack of some game Tavros hadn't played, he leaned back in his wheelchair, worried his lower lip between his teeth and began waging a silent debate with himself.

"I'll think about it," he finally replied, though Karkat had long since stopped listening.

And he did.

For nearly a week, Tavros thought about it. The spiked, slanted letters Gamzee had scrawled gradually wore off his hand, but he wasn't in any danger of forgetting the distinctive handle. The words terminallyCapricious echoed in the back of his mind day in and day out. Slowly, he began to adapt to his new life; everything was easier the second week, and the frenetic pace of his first few days began to settle into something like a stable schedule. His classrooms and the hallways leading to them became familiar. He began adjusting to the foreign autumn chill, though learning to dress warmer was partially responsible for that. Classes, homework, even the occasional dinner run with Karkat - it all began to ring with a note of normalcy, and Tavros was grateful. Relieved, even. Some tiny, incredulous part of him was starting to believe it might be possible. He might be able to do this.

But those words. Those words. They hung low over him everywhere he went, a constant reminder of his crippling indecision.

"I think you should just do it."

Tavros shifted his shoulder so his phone was propped more flatly against his ear, leafing through a textbook with one free hand and uncapping a highlighter with the other. "Of course you do. That's always your advice."

"When have I advised you to IM a potential psychopath before?" Aradia wondered. Her voice sounded distant, and Tavros thought he heard laughter in the background. Her dorm, as it turned out, was significantly less peaceful than his, if Karkat's occasional explosions were discounted.

"No," Tavros grunted, "I mean, when I get like this about anything, your advice is always to just do it, even when you know it's not that simple."

"It's not that simple because you complicate things." If it were anyone else, Tavros might have been hurt by such an observation, but coming from Aradia, it rang true. "I mean it. Stop freaking out about it and just message the guy."

"What do I say? Hi, remember me, remember that super awkward situation last week that you probably never want to talk about again, want to hang out?"

"You want to hang out with him?" Aradia's voice was suddenly colored with curiosity and Tavros almost groaned.

"No, I mean - that was just an example. A bad example. See? It's too weird. I can't do this."

"You can so. And if you didn't want to, you wouldn't still be obsessing about it."

"Yes I would," Tavros argued, almost petulantly. "I obsess about everything."

An exasperated noise meant, two thousand miles away, Aradia was flopping across her bed, hair fanned out dramatically in faux-desperation. Tavros knew her so well he could see the splay of her limbs and the way she buried her face briefly in her pillow just for effect. In spite of himself, he smiled.

"Okay, look," she said, and she was using her I Mean Business tone now. "You're going to run into him again eventually anyway, right? I mean, the likelihood of never again seeing your roommate's crazy best friend is pretty slim. If you never contact him, it's going to be super awkward when he shows up next."

Tavros stopped highlighting. He hadn't considered that.

"Really, the only graceful way out of this is to message him. Pronto." She sounded smug. Tavros bet she looked smug. "The longer you wait, the worse it's going to be."

"But, it's already been forever, won't it be weird now?" Panic was starting to curl around Tavros' chest; he didn't know why this mattered so much, but it did. It absolutely did.

"Tav, it sounds like this dude pretty much personifies weird. Just say you've been really busy with class or something. What's got you so hung up on it, anyway? I'd have thought you'd be avoiding someone that volatile like the plague."

Tavros huffed, blowing his deflated mohawk out of his eyes. Normally, she'd be right. "I don't know. It's a bizarre situation."

"But you want to hang out with him."

"No! Well, maybe. I don't know!"

There was a pause. The bass of Dave's music was pulsing softly through their shared wall, a sound so semi-constant Tavros was almost starting to tune it out. "Is he cute?" she asked.

"Aradia!"

"Is he?" she insisted. "This isn't like you, I need to know!"

"Shut up!" Tavros was moaning. "It's - it's not like that, I mean, I don't even know him, and, that's - it's not that simple!"

"Holy crap." Aradia sounded floored. "I didn't even know you had a type."

"I don't!"

"I need a picture."

"I'm not getting you a picture!"

"Do you think his facebook profile's set to public?"

"Aradia!" Tavros wailed a second time. He was seriously considering hanging up on her. "Seriously, stop! It's.. I don't know, okay? I don't know why it's a big deal." For what had to be the hundredth time, Tavros' mind drifted to that moment at the breakfast table, to the strange chasm that had opened up beneath him and the painted intruder. He had played it back so many times and still wasn't sure what had happened, or what it meant - if anything at all. "He just.. he really seems like, I guess, like he needs a friend."

Aradia was quiet. Tavros was almost ready to apologize for speaking so sharply, but when she spoke, there was no irritation in her voice. She sounded thoughtful. "Then I guess you'd better message him, huh?"

With a suddenness that almost made him dizzy, Tavros found the situation seemed a lot less complicated.

"I'll call you tomorrow," Tavros assured her. Aradia made a noise of assent and hung up, likely to prevent him from stalling. He sighed and hauled out his laptop, pushing his history homework away. No time like the present.

His new resolve didn't make the prospect of contacting someone he barely knew any easier. Tavros' fingers trembled as he punched in the handle that had been burning a hole in his head for nigh on a week now, and he had to take a deep breath when his chumroll informed him that Gamzee was, in fact, online. What now? Did he just.. say hi? Was it that simple? He clicked once, twice on the screen name, and the window popped up.

Then he panicked and closed it.

Swearing in colorful Spanish, Tavros opened the window again. He was going to do this, goddammit. He typed in three or four different greetings, all of them sounding bizarre and awkward and stilted, and deleted them all. Eventually, he closed the window again. Maybe now was just the wrong time. Maybe he needed to plan this out. Maybe-

The window popped open of its own accord.

-adiosToreador began pestering terminallyCapricious-

-adiosToreador ceased pestering terminallyCapricious-

-adiosToreador began pestering terminallyCapricious-

-adiosToreador ceased pestering terminallyCapricious-

-terminallyCapricious began pestering adiosToreador-

TC: SoMeThInG YoU WaNnA SaY To mE BrO?

Tavros could have screamed. Part of him wanted to fling his laptop from the seventh story window and hide under his blankets, but he was pretty sure that was an immature response, so he swallowed hard and tried to salvage the situation.

AT: uH, hEY! hELLO, uH, sORRY,

AT: i DON'T NORMALLY, yOU KNOW, im PEOPLE OUT OF THE BLUE, oR ANYTHING,

AT: i GUESS, i JUST WANTED TO SAY HI,

AT: bUT, yOU KNOW, tHAT SOUNDS KIND OF WEIRD, jUST, cOMING OUT OF NOWHERE, aND,

TC: WeLl hEy tHeRe, mAn

TC: KaRkAt'S RoOmAtE, rIgHt?

TC: ToOk yOu lOnG EnOuGh :o)

Was it possible to die of humiliation through a virtual medium? Tavros was pretty sure he was going to find out.

AT: uH, yES! yES, tHAT IS ME,

AT: tHAT IS, dEFINITELY, wHO i AM,

AT: sORRY,

AT: i MEAN, fOR HOW LONG IT TOOK ME, uH, tO SAY HELLO,

AT: iT'S BEEN, yOU KNOW, kIND OF A REALLY BUSY WEEK,

AT: nOT THAT IT WASN'T, i MEAN, nOT A PRIORITY,

AT: bECAUSE, iT WAS, oF COURSE, bUT, rEALLY HEAVY COURSE LOAD, aND, yOU KNOW,

AT: nOT THAT THAT'S AN EXCUSE,

TC: iT'S NoT A PrObLeM, bRo

TC: PuT ThE BrAkEs oN ThE PaNiC TrAiN, yEaH?

TC: i'M JuSt aLl kInDs oF FuCkIn pLeAsEd yOu tOoK It uPoN YoUrSeLf tO SaY HeY In tHe fIrSt pLaCe :o)

Tavros took a moment to stare at his screen. That was a relief, but what now? He had no idea what to say. His cursor blinked steadily, and every time his fingers touched the keyboard, they paused and pulled away again. He wanted to ask if Gamzee was okay. He wanted to know if he was doing better, if there was anything he could do - but that was so off limits it wasn't even funny. How were they supposed to dance around this?

TC: So, HaVe yOu uP AnD MuRdErEd kArKat yEt?

Tavros surprised himself with the abrupt bark of laughter that exploded from his throat.

AT: nO, aCTUALLY, hE CURRENTLY REMAINS, uH, aMONG THE LIVING,

AT: i'M NOT REALLY, tHE MURDERING TYPE ANYWAY,

TC: I DuNnO, mAn, kArBrO CaN Be kInD Of hArD To LiVe wItH In cLoSe sPaCeS

TC: I dOn't mInD, bUt hE'S NoT A VeRy cUdDlY MoThErFuCkEr, YoU FeEl mE?

AT: yES,

AT: oN THAT COUNT,

AT: i THINK, i DO, iN FACT, fEEL YOU,

AT: bUT, aCTUALLY, wE'VE BEEN GETTING ALONG A LITTLE BETTER,

AT: i MEAN, cOMPARATIVELY,

AT: aT LEAST, hE TALKS TO ME NOW, sOMETIMES,

TC: wElL ShIt, If yOu aReN'T A FuCkInG MiRaClE WoRkEr

TC: KaRbRo'S GrEaT

TC: JuSt tAkEs a cErTaIn sOrT Of mOtHeRfUcKeR To dRaG ThE GrEaT BiTs OuT

TC: SpEaKiNg oF

TC: I ThInK We wErE In tHe mIdDlE Of diScUsSiNg jUsT WhAt sOrT Of mOtHeRfUcKeR YoU MiGhT Be tHe lAsT TiMe wE HaD ThE PlEaSuRe oF GeTtInG OuR TaLk oN

TC: CaRe tO CoNtInUe iLlUmInAtInG A BrOtHEr?

AT: i GUESS,

AT: tHAT IS A THING, tHAT COULD HAPPEN,

AT: sURE,

TC: ThEn wHy dOn't yOu sTaRt fRoM ThE MoThErFuCkInG BeGinNiNg?

Gamzee was surprisingly easy to talk to. Tavros hadn't realized how starved he'd been for real, uninterrupted conversation until he began spilling everything about his hometown, his mother, his father, how he hated the ramp to the library, how his English professor had a habit of spitting as he spoke and how aggravating it was that Tavros was eternally trapped in the front row. It was almost a relief, being able to ramble endlessly about everything and nothing, and he was amazed at how steadily the words came. Not even Aradia listened the way this man did.

Tavros didn't notice the shadows getting longer against the walls. He barely stirred when Karkat came home, greeting him only in passing before the boy was hunkered down at his own computer, headphones in, as was Karkat's custom. The silence of their room was total, punctuated only by the sounds of fingers on keyboards and the occasional rumble of Tavros' laugh - a soft, compulsory noise, unavoidable and spurred by the words on his screen. He didn't notice as the hours dragged on, as Karkat turned in and as it went from very late to very early. There was a stiffness to his back and an ache behind his eyes when he realized with a start that the sky outside his window was not as black as it had been the last time he'd checked - when had that happened? How had an entire night rushed by?

AT: sO, uH, iT APPEARS, tHE SUN MIGHT BE COMING UP,

AT: pRESENTLY,

TC: WeLl hOw aBoUt tHaT

TC: I HaTe tHaT ShIt

TC: AlL SnEaKiNg uP On a mOtHeRfUcKeR

TC: No pRoPeR FuCkInG WaRnInG

AT: oF IMPENDING SUNLIGHT?

TC: ExAcTlY

TC: ShIt iS JuSt rUDe

AT: sO RUDE,

AT: yOU'D THINK, a STAR OF THAT MAGNITUDE WOULD BE A LITTLE MORE MANNERLY,

AT: iN THE BUSINESS OF ITS ROTATIONS,

TC: ThIs iS WhAt i'M SaYiNg, bRoThEr

TC: A LiTtLe bAsIc fUcKiNg dEcOrUm wOuLdN'T Up aNd kIlL AnYoNe

AT: i'M INCLINED TO AGREE, bUT, uH, bE THAT AS IT MAY, i'M PRETTY SURE i SHOULD, yOU KNOW,

AT: tURN IN,

AT: pREFERABLY, bEFORE i HAVE TO GET UP,

TC: NaW, mAn, YoU'Re tOtALlY RiGhT

TC: HiT ThE HeLl oUt oF ThAt hAy

TC: ShOw tHaT HaY WhO'S BoSs

AT: bUT, i'LL TALK TO YOU LATER?

TC: FuCkInG CoUnT On iT, BrO

TC: :o)

Tavros closed his laptop with a soft click and spent a moment or two sitting in the dark, listening to the sound of his breath ebbing and flowing in the early morning stillness. He wasn't sure what, but he got the distinct impression that something important had just happened.

Sleep came easily after that.