To the Surface

-- TIME FRAME: SEVERAL WEEKS AFTER GRADUATION/PROM --

The door slams back against the wall as Gamzina tumbles through door into her moderate sized home. Which is relatively barren of much in it. She wobbles unsteadily on legs that don't seem to want to support her. There any many reason's she can't stand up straight, one of them is the several shots of whiskey she's had. She's only 18, her body just doesn't accept that kind of abuse very well. That's not the only reason though.

'There's blood on her fucking hands.

She counts her self lucky in her drunk state that she does have a real wound, on her side. Fuck she thinks as she almost runs into the toilet bowl. Why does she have a wound what happened? She feels like she can't remember but like a knife a vicious thought slices off any hope of forgetting. That's right, she was in a fight. Did she leave any clues to who she really was there? It had been a drunk fight taken outside, sense no one who was drinking was supposed to be. Christ she didn't even stay long enough to see if that kid was still breathing after wards. She'd know soon enough if he'd lived or died from many hits to the face.

Your about to vomit Gamzina. Get your head over the bowl.

Her stomach empties itself of its contents, a bit of it misses the bowl. Hacking over the objects legs curled on the floor, smears of red crimson are all over the place. With the alcohol out of her stomach, Gamzina more closely examines her situation. She's managed to smear blood from the knife wound every where. The Knife wound. She reaches for her cellphone camera, even if they track her, she now has proof it was self defense. In her mind its why she flew at him so fiercely. Pulling a knife during a fist fight? And stabbing her with it? What horrible cowardice. It hurt terribly, but it all she felt was sore pain and bleeding. She needed some one to help her with this. In a second of clarity, a voice some where said, you want help.

For a brief moment she considered the hospital, it seemed to only need stitches any way.. She shook her head no, She wasn't going to the hospital. The hospital had miss Mikora's records. Without any reasoning she suddenly begins to cry, angrily crying. This is the part she hates the most, the greif and neediness. She started that fight, and well, she ended it too, so at least her reputation is solid. She flops next to the wall, bleeding still, and weeping, she fumbles with her phone once more. The smears of red cloud up the touch screen. She needs some one to sew this, she needs help. Who does she call? Eridan? He'd help her clean herself up, but would he have the guts to sew up the wound for her? Kanaya? She might help her out, but there was no sure bet about it. She cringed hard when her thought came to her Cousin, she didn't want to burden him with the blood. Getting over substances? He was the man to call, always was , probably always will. This? This wasn't a situation for Gamzee. She scrolls through a specific contatct list, containing the above mentioned, plus a few other names. Equius, tavros, karkat? She only has karkat on here because of Gamzee, who is very fond of the boy. He's trust worthy, she deems, he's never ratted on Gamzee once for his drug abuse. Tavros knows some medical, but he's terrified of her, which could work to her favor for keeping a secret. Equius? Equius a strong hand, but he'd ask to many questions, and would hate the mess she's made of her self. Perhaps him least.

She dials a number, and waits for a ring tone. While she waits her mind full of raging emotions, she thinks to herself. 'i could have killed that boy. I WANTED TO KILL HIM. Maybe next time, I will kill that fucking boy. NEXT TIME, I AM KILLING THAT LITTLE FUCK.'Many thoughts of a similar number build inside her mind as it rages amongst its emotional pain. Her mind now an Effective maelstrom of emotion.

(( only reply if you are Gamzee, Eridan, Tavros, Karkat, Kanaya or Equius. ))

Tavros was suffering from insomnia, and was unable to sleep amongst his mind, which was frantic at the moment, the squeal of sirens that came from not too far away, and the sound of his own mother who slumbered in bed just a room over coughing and wheezing in her sleep. The contents of his mind ranging anywhere from childish thoughts and idealistic fantasy lands he had developed to cope with reality of things, reflection of his past, to his own self doubt. He laid in his bed completely motionless, his hazel eyes directed upwards towards the ceiling but his eyes captured nothing in particular as his mind wondered. The dimly lit room caused all sorts of objects and shadows that would seem innocent during daylight seem like the scary horrid monsters that haunted his every dream. The more he attempted to reassure himself that the shadowy objects were not scary monsters the more anxious he would become. He could hear his own heart pumping in his chest drowning out all of the other surrounding noise that previously distracted him, preventing him from sleeping.

There is nothing to fear but fear itself…there is nothing to fear but fear itself…

He told himself repeatedly, just a one quote from the ever-immortal speech that president Franklin D. Roosevelt gave during times of America’s deepest depression, insuring lingering optimism into all those who had heard the speech at the time. Giving them a brighter outlook, reinsuring that everything would get better eventually if all you did was allow time and patience. Tavros greatly respected president Roosevelt for this speech alone. Fragments of the speech made it seem like Roosevelt was speaking directly to him, although this was far from the truth. Since Roosevelt had died long before Tavros' birth.

Lost in his thoughts Tavros was hardly able to hear the phone ring at the corner of his room. He jumped up in his bed, his heart practically skipping a beat due to shock as he heard the sound of his phone ring. He let it ring a few more times, taking a few heavy breaths in order to calm himself and muster up the courage to get out of his bed. He rose to his feet and walked over to the phone, his previously racing mind had quieted and all he wondered was who would be calling him at this hour of night. He reached over for the phone, pressing it against his ear and answering with an uncertain; "h, hELLO,,"

He received Gamzina's distress call and hesitated a few moments trying to think of reasonable excuses not to help her. But she seemed frantic and what she had said was true, he did have some medical knowledge, enough to stitch up a simple wound. Prior to him facing the reality of the situation that he wouldn't be able to afford college, much less medical school, his ambition was to be a doctor, but now that dream was all but killed. It was true, Gamzina did intimidate that, and he could only imagine what she had done to get cut. But Gamzina was a friend, and Tavros found the fact that she turned to him almost flattering. She did have enough trust in him to come to him for help. Finally, Tavros would have a chance to be a knight in shining armor. Although no one's life depended on him sneaking out in the middle of the night and stitching the female's wound, he felt as he did, and this would be a major boost to his self confidence. After almost a few seemingly endless moments of hesitation he finally responded, telling her that he would be over right away.


I can do this

He reassured himself as he left his room, the door making a slight squeak as he opened him. Hastily he grabbed his mother's keys from the table and made his way down the stairs. He had considered leaving his mother a note, but it wasn't necessary. If all went well he would probably be home before she would wake up anyway. As he left his home a sudden gust of wind past, causing the male to shiver slightly. He had wished he grabbed his coat but he knew there was no time for that, Gamzina needed his help and finally for once he would become the protagonist in this tale. Sliding his key into the lock he gave it a few turns and locked the door, rushing down the stairs each footsteps making a slight thump as he put his weight on it. He made his way to the parking lot, and unlocked the car door putting the key into the exgnition , pulling out of the lot, and making his way to the richer side of town.
It was a good twenty minute drive. Luckily, this late at night there was little traffic so he could make his way to the other side at the exact speed the region's speed limit would allow him. To past the time and to make him feel less lonely as he ventured to the other's house he played the radio, allowing the lovely mainstream pop tunes, music by Kelly Clarkson, the Johnas Brothers, Hannah Montanah...or whoever was popular these days to take him away. Right now he needed to keep out of his mind, he needed to calm himself in order to ensure that he wouldn't begin to panic and change his mind.

A good twenty minutes later he finally arrived, he hoped that the female had taken his advice and kept a towel or what ever she had available over it, putting pressure on it until he made his way there. His heart was pounding and there was a lump in his throat that was proving difficult to swallow. He was anxious, but he promised himself he wouldn't let his anxiety of the way of things. He made his way up to the female's door and pounded on it, praying that she didn't get into any trouble before he had made his way there.

[[Hopefully this is adequate enough for you. I didn't really have much to say, so most of it is filler. ;A; ]

She whimpered into the phone , which she felt ashamed for doing, but quietly understood that Tavros was one of the few who probably didn't care that her tone was whimper-y and a little sobby. She listened to him and did as He said, pressing the towel to her side, which finally for the night reacted with pain. She might have liked it on a different day. Today she winced with pain but held the towel firmly there. Morbidly visualizing that she was suffocating the blood flow. She Hung up the phone and sat on the floor and waited. It felt like forever as she came down from her rage filled high.

Tightness in her gut again. She pulled self up enough towards the toilet to throw up yet again. Her bathroom was at least huge. She wondered if her cousin would notice, suddenly remembering that in fact, he was not far from her home. Practically next door. She stretched out her legs on the floor. Semi Admiring the amount of blood she was bleeding and how it got on literally everything. There were vague prints on the counter, a few smears along the sink handles. A few drips here and there on the floor. AS well as the stink of sick in the toilet. She kicked at the handle and successfully flushed it. She sort of had a hazy smile to her face when she realized that she was really tired. She couldn't tell if it was blood loss, the alcohol, exhaustion, or all three. She quickly assumed it was all three.

The door to her home had a light smearing on it, still fresh enough to come off, but thank god her door was brown. Blood stained horribly. Knocking on Gamzina's door, made it sound like the rest of the house was mostly empty. Which it partially was, she hardly had any big deal furniture. The house was payed up on, and she lived in it for several years. propertly forever owned by the Makara family.

"its unlocked tavros!"

She called from the bathroom. Not feeling the energy to get up and open it for him like a proper host. Not that she really cared about being a proper host to begin with. She kind of smiled a bit, she didn't remember closing the door. She supposed it was for the best, damn this room was a mess. A beautiful mess.

((

Normally, the meek male never entered ones home without being greeted at the door, even if he was permitted to, just as a safety precaution, but desperate times called for 'desperate' measures. He gripped onto the silver door knob, which seemed to gleam in the florescent light, and twisted the knob pulling open the door. He took a moment to collect his thoughts and took a deep breath before entering the 'unknown' territory. He had never before entered the female's home because of the rumors that spread about her like wild fire. He didn't want to believe the rumors, he wanted to think that she was simply misunderstood and misjudged because of her unique quirks, but he was unable to convince himself otherwise. The female had /always/ intimidated him...more so than Vriska did, and simply entering her house made a chill run down his spine due to the peculiar and particularly eerie atmosphere. But, like the man he was, he simply puffed out his chest like any dominant alpha would do in this situation and made his way through the house searching in every direction for a sign of her.

"uH, wHERE ARE YOU," He called only moments before spotting her in the bathroom, crimson blood forming a small but noticeable puddle under her as she sat there, hunched over the toilet as if she was about to vomit a cloth pressed against her side as Tavros had suggested, she looked particularly pale, her eyes slightly narrowed due to what seemed like shock about this whole situation. This state that she was in, this state of pure desperation...it made her almost seem more human than she ever has appeared before Tavros before. It made him almost sympathize for her. The cloth was now completely stained with the red liquid that leaked from her as well as the rest of the bathroom. It made his stomach turn slightly to witness such a horrific sight, growing a little light headed. He didn't think that the wound be this bad.

He took a deep breath once more and turned around, reaching for the medicine cabinet where he assumed she would keep her alcohol. He reached for the half emptied bottle, taking a clean cloth that laid near the sink and pouring the liquid onto it. "tHIS MAY, uH, sTING A LITTLE,," He cautioned the other, crouching down to her level and grabbing gentle hold of his wrist and moved her hand from her side. He lifted up her shirt in able to expose her bare side and pressed the cloth against her wind, holding her hand lightly in case she wanted to squeeze it. He looked over his shoulder, still pressing the cloth against her side.

"dO YOU HAPPEN TO HAVE A NEEDLE, uH, lIKE A NEEDLE YOU WOULD USE TO SEW THINGS WITH?" He asked.

GAmzina forced out a lazy smile for tavros, what she thought would be pleading, or warm hopefully. She was aware that she looked pretty messed up. The clown make up smeared down her face from the tears. The mixing scents of blood and fading vomit smell. "hey you made it." She said almost like this was some sort of party that was just at its wrapping up point.

"There should be a little sewing kit in the cabinet in my 1st bedroom." She said, this was 2 bedroom house and she did her best to make use of the first one, which was smaller than then the second, which she slept in. Making use of it meant putting stuff away in it, and there was a tiny cabinet filled with sewing stuff. She customized a lot of her clothing.

She pulled the bloodied cloth away from her side for a second to morbidly investigate the wound. "Heh.. I think maybe they hit something major.. or maybe I made it worse?" She laughed a little then put it back.

He grabbed the sewing kit and pulled out a needle, reaching into his pocket he pulled out a lighter. With a flick of his thumb a small flame appeared and he held the tip of the needle in the flame in order to sterlize it. Trying to keep his hand as steady as possible he watched the small flame dance as it brushed against the needle. Once he was content that the needle was burned enough with another flick of his thumb he killed the fire, and poured alcohol into a cup putting the needle in it. He began counting under his breath to twenty, and washed his hands once more aggressively.

He turned his head to look at the other, removing the needle from the alcohol before speaking, "uH, iF YOU THINK IT HIT A VITAL ORGAN, iT MAY REALLY BE IMPORTANT THAT YOU GET IT CHECKED OUT AND GO TO A HOSPITAL, dUE TO THE LIMITED RESOURCES I HAVE HERE, aND, uH, mY LIMITED KNOWLEDGE I DON'T THINK THERE IS ANYTHING I CAN DO IF THAT IS SO,," His eyebrows furrowed slightly, crouched down to her level once more. "bUT, iF YOU ARE GOING TO THE HOSPITAL, i AM NOT SURE IF I SHOULD SEW THIS UP,, uH, i SUGGEST YOU DO GO SINCE YOU HAVE THE MONEY TO AFFORD IT, aND IT IS YOUR LIFE, i WILL BE WILLING TO TAKE YOU,," He continued.

Gamzina watched him burn the needle with a sort of curiosity. She also began to wish that she had something to dope up on while waiting for him to prepare. To kill the pain for this. Ugh her head was throbbing and she was still pretty tired. She still held the towel close to her body despite the protests of her nerves, which burned numbingly with pain. Then he stopped, she almost asked why but with her body so slow and tired, she didn't ask in time before he asked his own question. Why not the hospital.

She looked at him, quietly glaring while he explained with his knowledge of her, and her situation, and his view of the wound. Her furrowed brows were augmented by the piercing glare from her left eye. The very light indigo eye that was cold and harsh.

"NO. i cAN't gO To tHE hoSPitAL." her voice uneasy, but still angry. "thEY asK To mANy qUEstIOns, ANd tHEy haVE up ALl tHE anSWerS." She growled out, then relaxing a little realizing that Tavros still had to stay and help her, not run off and leave her with a bleeding wound or force her to the hospital. Which in her bloodied state, she realized he probably could force to the hospital. "I'll DEal WIth WHat HAppENs mY FucKIng SElf. JUst SEw iT Up pLEasE." she ended the sentence with a pitying look.

Gamzina did not want to go to the hospital despite the very good argument that injury could infact be very severe. She'll go if she absolutely has to, but not a moment before. right now the goal was to not bleed to death. That'd be a truly horrible thing for her cousin to find, Since he was the only one who checked in her when she stopped responding.

Gamzee Makara parked his car in front of Gamzina's place, curious. He'd heard that some kind of shit had gone down nearby, so he was going to go check on her anyway. But when he saw Tavros's car parked in front of his, his curiosity grew. WhAt'S gOiNg On HeRe? Am I mIsSiNg SoMeThIn?

When he finally reached the door, he saw that it was unlocked. hMm, I fOrGeT tO lOcK mY fRoNt DoOr AlL tHe TiMe. MaYbE gAmZiNa FoRgOt To LoCk HeRs, ToO! He pushed the door open and froze. Was that...were those bloody footprints on the f-floor? ...Naaah. maybe it was ketchup. Maybe Gamzina had gone to some....ketchup party. As he walked on, he saw more and more clues of trouble. "GaMzInA? yOu AlRiGhT?" He thought he smelled vomit. "tAv? YoU hErE?"

He saw more blood leading towards the bathroom, where the vomit smell was coming from. He broke into a run for the bathroom, mind fuzzy with terror. "gAmZiNa?! ThIs IsN't FuNnY!" When he finally reached the bathroom and walked in, he took a second to examine the situation. FuCk, ThErE's BlOoD oN tHe SiNk HaNdLeS, cOuNtEr.... His mind seemed to freeze mid-thought as he saw Gamzina, bleeding. He saw Tavros too, and was slightly relieved that he'd been there to help.

"h-HoLy ShIt, WhAt ThE fUcK hApPeNeD?" Gamzee crouched down near his cousin, color draining from his face as he examined the wound she had. He wiped some sweat from his face, not caring that it was smearing his gray and white makeup everywhere.

"pLEASE gAMZINA LISTEN TO REASONING, iF THE WOUND IS THAT DEEP, wELL, uH YOU COULD DIE IF WE DONT TREAT IT," He said practically begging her to listen to reason. He still wasn't quite certain how she had gotten the wound, but he was sure she had gotten it doing something not quite too moral or even illegal if she was risking her own life just to keep this secret. "uH, aLRIGHT, i WILL SEW IT UP i GUESS," He bit his bottom lip a bit anxious. Taking some thread from the sewing kit, he carefully maneuvered the string inside the small hole at the bottom of the needle, before knotting it around the medal.

Just as he was about to begin stitching her up just as he was a doll Gamzee had entered. He caused the male to lose his concentration and jump slightly, the needle dropping from his hand and onto the floor. "sHOOT," He muttered before turning his attention towards Gamzee. "uH, gAMZINA, sHE UH, hAD A LITTLE ACCIDENT," He said with a frown glancing towards his best friend. This is the first time the two have seen each other since prom, but unfortunately it wasn't during better circumstances. "i, uH, i AM GLAD YOU CAME,," He continued. "i MIGHT NEED A LITTLE HELP OR SOMETHING,"

Gamzina grimaced at tavros, it was almost a snarl, almost. She was to tired to really expend the energy needed to fully snarl at the young man. She clenched her teeth then spoke. "YoU aRe WaStInG TiMe By TaLkInG aBoUt It" She relaxed again as he prepared to sew up her wound. She was finally starting to feel at ease when she heard her cousin-brother calling her name. She stiffened and saw Gamzee make his appearance.

"b-BrO! yOu GoTtA eXpLaIn To TaVbRo I cAnT gO tO tHe HoSpiTaL!" she begged, showing a softeness that she only showed with gamzee and eridan, and once, kanaya.