vatheon | i WAITED FOR YOU, i WAITED SO LONG,

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i WAITED FOR YOU, i WAITED SO LONG,

Who: Tavros and Gamzee and ?? oh my
Where: The Island
When: 4/5
Status: Open

Tavros had waited.

For an entire day he'd sat in the plaza and waited, diligently and faithfully, for The Summoner to return. Even when the sun was high enough to start bothering him, the most he did was shift to follow the shade.

The longer he waited, the more frustrated he'd get, but he fought off the burning behind his eyes and was mostly successful. His lower half might be metal but by the time the night rolled on again his lower back and shoulders were aching from remaining mostly immobile.

Where is he?

Lysunder should have been back by now. Tavros was getting frustrated an impatient, until he forced himself back up onto his robot legs. He'd had all day to think and worry and fret and roll things around in his mind until they twisted in on themselves and didn't make sense anymore. A chorus of what if what if what if what if had become his constant companion, regardless of who came to talk with him.

What if he hadn't died? That could be why he didn't come back, right? What if he was still out there, hurting and needing help and he'd been sitting around doing nothing? He'd still hadn't eaten properly, to sick to his stomach, but he'd decided to head up to the island to search for his 'Dad', and no one was going to change his mind.

((ooc: feel free to poke at him while he's waiting around in the plaza, or whatever you'd like.))

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"Bro, wait up."

Gamzee understood it. He'd been there before; perhaps not in Tavros' exact place, but close enough. He too had lost people he cared about to Vatheon's capricious whims. Some only for a short time, but others had been pulled forever. So when Tavros hadn't come back the whole day, it got a dude's worry on. Especially without there being any sort of 'Yo, back' post from Summoner. And Darkleer had been continuously glum as well. A quick glance at the list had made the lack of Summoner's name there quite glaring, but you know what, fuck lists. Lists could be wrong. Miracles could still happen. Just cause he weren't on a list, weren't any sort of good motherfuckin' reason to give up. Besides, his bro looked like he needed him.

He jogged after Tavros until he could catch up with him, making sure to stay out of smack radius of those horns. "You wanna a fuckin' hand?"

Tavros hadn't looked at the list. He didn't want to look at the list. He knew full well that there was a chance Lysunder's name wasn't going to be on it, but if he didn't see it then it wasn't real. If it wasn't real then it would be easier to believe that he could find the older troll.

The most he did was turn his head to look back at Gamzee, but he doesn't stop, stomping along with a single minded determination. "I, uh... would appreciate it. We need to find him, as fast as possible."

Gamzee reaches over, laying one hand on Tavros' shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. He gets it, man. He does. "Aight, I hear ya. You gonna all like check at the motherfuckin' island?"

"That's w-where I'm going to start, yes." He appreciates the company, he really does. He's been more than a little out of sorts since Lysunder went missing. "He, uh... has to be, somewhere."

"Yeah! Maybe he just up and got fuckin' lost or some shit all like that." He drapes his arm around Tavros' shoulders, leaning close. "No worries, yeah. We'll fuckin' find him if he is to be fuckin' found. Maybe you can be asking the animals, yeah? They might be in the know on some stuff."

"I, uh.. I have been trying that, but none around here know anything. So I am going to try again, up on the island." In all honesty, he's grateful to have Gamzee with him. It seemed to make it just a fraction easier. "I think that maybe he, must be badly hurt somewhere."

"Maybe yeah. He wouldn't all be about leaving you to your motherfuckin' lonesome for any other reason." Well, you know, that or he is gone, but Gamzee figures it is better to just let Tavros slowly come to accept that himself. He knows what it is like. It is hard either way, but it is a little easier to just let the idea sink in slowly while trying to do anything you can than to just point blank be told. "Maybe if he got laid into, whatever beast what know been scared and hiding. We just gotta find them."

He knows. Somewhere deep down he knows but he's desperately trying not to be the kind of person who just sits back and takes it anymore, just accepts the horrible things because he can't do anything to stop it. He just has this tendency to overdo it when trying. "Birds and, uh... r-rodents, are the best at seeing and finding out hidden things. So I'll see, if there are any that w-will help."

"There's always a whole motherfuckin' bunch of featherbeasts up at the lake there. Maybe they be knowing some shit." Probably not, but you never know. Miracles could happen. You just had to hope for them.

Edited 2012-07-12 19:36 (UTC)

Tavros isn't the only one keeping vigil near the plaza. Ever since he had to finish some... unpleasant business, it was the first spot he went to. Yet the days had passed, and there was simply

nothing.

When he notices the younger lowblood move off, he somehow finds himself following after. He was Summoner's descendent. If anyone, he deserved to know what had happened. Still, despite this, he keeps himself following in the shadows. It almost hurts to look at him. There's just... so much of him in the boy.

Finally, he speaks up. "Tavros."

Tavros was determined, more so than ever before. Even the footfalls of his heavy, metal feet sounded steady as he plodded onward, shoulders tense like he was carrying the weight of the world between them. His eyes were wet and ringed with bronze but his was still biting back his frustration.

It wasn't fair.

He stopped when he heard Darkleer's voice, turning to look back at him. "Hey..."

No, it wasn't fair. Especially not for a place that was supposed to bring back the dead.

"May I speak to you for a moment? It is... rather important, I am afraid."

"Yeah?"

He turns around quickly, his eyes suddenly brighter, hopeful.

"D-did you find him? Is he okay?"

Seeing that look on Tavros' face and knowing the knowledge he must pass on, it almost feels as if he should shoot himself before he goes any further. This is going to hurt telling him, and it will hurt for him to hear it.

"I... am afraid he's not, Tavros." He's been able to give news of death before, but when it's his own matesprit, Tavros' own ancestor, it hurts more to say. "I do not believe he is coming back, either."

His expression falls, melting from his face down through his shoulders. He has an idea of what's coming, but he's not willing to believe it.

"What do you mean. O-of course he's coming back!"

"Not this time." For a brief moment, his throat closes on him and he can't get the words out. It ends, and he steps closer, kneeling.

"He was attacked, Tavros. This time, he didn't win. I've waited, just as long as you have, but... It's taking far too long. You and I both know that by now, he should have arrived. Come back. But for whatever twisted reason of this place... He hasn't."

"Th-that just means he didn't die! He's, uh... he's still out there somewhere, and he needs help! I'm g-going to find him, and bring him home!"

Darkleer is Lysunder's matesprite! Why isn't he still out there looking? He should still me out there looking! Tavros was going to do it alone if he had to.

"Tavros!" His voice becomes firmer and he reaches out to take the boy's arm in one hand. It would be a lie to say he didn't expect this. Darkleer's tone slowly becomes more quiet and heartbroken the more he speaks.

"His name is no longer on the list. He's gone.

Tavros goes very still when he's grabbed, very still and very tense with wide, confused eyes. He doesn't try to pull away. At least, not yet. The news is still a shock even though he'd expected as much by this point, he just isn't ready to believe it yet.

When he first tries to speak it's just a mess of stuttered sounds and fasle starts, needing to pause and take a breath before he manages to get anything out. "I d-don't care what the list says! I have to go... go look for him!"

"He's dead, Tavros, and no amount of looking will make him come back!" Saying those words is as much of a shock to him as it is to Tavros, really. It's a finality. A realization.

Keeping his grip on him, Darkleer moves just a little closer. "You remember how he lived, don't you? He moved, he couldn't stop, and he wouldn't want you to suffer the opposite of that. He wouldn't want you to be trapped by the impact of his death. Mourn if you must, but don't... Do not do this. Do not keep looking."

"He will come back!" He doesn't want to hear this. He really doesn't want to hear this.

"You d-don't understand!" All he ever did was sit still and let horrible things happen to him, over and over again. He'd accept the things that happened because he thought there was nothing to do that could change it. Now he was moving. This was moving. He was trying.

"I have to k-keep looking!" He's pulling now, eyes wide and frustrated and full of tears he's trying to force back. "I have to!

As Summoner himself learned quite some time back, if Darkleer doesn't want to let go, he doesn't. Right now, he truly doesn't. Instead, he jerks Tavros close and blast it he hopes his glasses hide the way his own eyes are getting wet and glassy.

"I am- was- his matesprit," he hisses, holding Tavros close. "Tell me what I do not understand."

"He believed in me!"

That's when he loses what faint control over his tears he has left. He hates crying. It makes him feel pathetic and stupid and thats exactly what he was trying not to be. "H-he actually believed.. that I was worth something, and made me f-feel like, I could do anything."

Tavros starts rubbing at his traitorous eyes with the back of his hand, "I have to believe in him too!"

There's no judgement here. Darkleer just pulls him all the closer and wraps his arms around him. He's doing his best to keep his breath from being too wet; this isn't something he can afford now.

"There's belief, and there's denial, Tavros. He wouldn't want the latter. Not for you."

He doesn't expect a hug, not from Darkleer. At first, Tavros just stands there, trembling and dumbfounded before he lifts his arms to cling to the large troll. This is exactly why he hates crying so much. He keeps so much bottled up inside that once he starts it feels like it will never stop.

Normally, he wouldn't be so touchy with someone hurting, or crying. However, this time, he can share the same loss, the same pain, and goodness if he doesn't know how important Tavros was to Summoner. This is all he can do, bowing his head and just holding onto the boy as he cries.

"Tavros."

Signless had been lurking on the edges of the Plaza too, though he'd left Tavros to his thoughts for the most part. Now, with the younger troll on the move, he gets up and follows him.

"Mind if I tag along?"

"If you, uh... If you want to."

Tavros wasn't going to stop him, nor was he stopping himself. Everything seemed to hurt, like the fear and worry in his chest was radiating out to everywhere else.

"I do."

Signless falls in step with him, letting Tavros lead. He stays quiet for a bit.

"Where do you think he could be?" Because it's pretty glaringly obvious what they're doing and who they're looking for.

"I, uh.. d-don't know."

He scrubs his hand back through his hair, looking unsure yet determined.

"But I am going to look everywhere, until he is found and s-safe at home again."

"Maybe you could ask the animals? They probably know where his favorite places are." That, and using his own power, so unique and that he only shares with Summoner, might make Tavros feel better.

"I, uh... am trying."

He chewed at his lower lip, brows burrowed. "But, uh... if he does not want to be found, he could have asked them not to say but, uh... I do not think that is what happened. I want to check the island."

"All right." Signless falls in step beside Tavros, letting him lead the way. "Let's go check there."

Nepeta had been by Tavros' side on and off throughout his vigil at the plaza, only disappearing now and then to check on Equius and to get news of Darkleer as well.

She'd been certain he wouldn't move until Summoner had turned up again, so it was an unpleasant shock when she went back yet again to find that not only was there no sign of Lysunder and his friends greeting him, but even her matesprit had gone missing.

She knew what to do though, scenting the air and catching onto his trail quickly, realization dawning on her when it led her to the elevator. She didn't hesitate in catching it up to the island, determined to be there for Tavros as he searched for his ancestor.

Tavros was a filthy wreck by the time she found him, having dug and tore his way through the thickest parts of the forest. There was so much ground to cover, too much, and he was exhausting himself trying..

He felt sick to his stomach, and he still hadn't eaten anything worth while. Just a little more, just a little more, like a mantra running through his head to keep his legs moving.

"Tavros! Tavros, wait for me!" She scrambles her way through the forest, letting her claws slide out of their sheaths and cut an quicker path to him as his scent grows stronger. And then she catches sight of him and runs the last few steps until she's close enough to sheathe her claws again seconds before throwing her arms around him, forcing him to stop and take a breath. "Tavros, what are you doing?!"

He tenses up when she grabs him, pulling in a sharp breath. He'd heard her coming, and the animals he was in commune with let him know someone had been tracking him, but it's still a jolt when his mind keeps drifting in other directions. "I-I, uh... I n-need to be sure."

"It's okay, it's okay, I know." She hugs him, presses her face against his chest. She's too short to reach much further than that. "I'm going to come with you to help find him too, okay?"

Tavros sniffs softly and rubs at his eyes with the back of a hand, smearing even more dirt across his cheek in the process. He actually takes a moment to hug her tight to him, needing the affection more that he'd realized. "Thank you..."

Her arms hold on even tighter, tears gathering in her own eyes at seeing her matesprit so upset. She clings to him, buries her face against him, nuzzling with a determination that's more fierce than soothing. "I love you so furry much, Tavros. And it's going to be okay, you'll see."

It's a long time before he eases up his hold on her. Lysunder not returning brought up a lot of unfortunate, repeating thoughts. The loudest being what if i loose her too? He wouldn't be able to take that. "I love you too. S-so much."

"Me too, Tavros. Me too." She looks up at him once he eases up his grip, face faintly stained green, and reaches up to stroke at his cheek. She hates seeing him so very unhappy and broken up and being unable to do anything about it. "Let's keep on looking together now, okay?"

His eyes are swollen and stained the color of caramel candies, and he looks so broken hearted as he turns his face into her hand and closes his eyes. Tavros just feels so worn and empty and scared, but he still nods and takes her hand. "Okay..."

"Shh. Tavros, oh, it'll be okay somehow, you'll see." It's breaking her heart right now to see him like this. "We can wait another few minutes before we go looking for him. Sit down next to me a little bit?" She just needs to hold and reassure him right now, more than anything.

He hesitates. The more time he wastes the worse off Lysunder will be. If he's even still here. The point of this is to prove it to himself, even if deep down he knows that he's already lost his ancestor. Tavros sniffles softly, biting back a torrent of tears before moving to sit next to her, hunching over himself.

She climbs over him in that familiar way of hers, purring soothingly and wrapping her arms over him, rubbing her face against his soft fluffy mohawk. She kisses the top of his head and clings and does everything she can think of to let him know she's there and she's got him. He's not on his own.

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i WAITED FOR YOU, i WAITED SO LONG,

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do you kinda wanna gloss over a lot of their search? to keep things flowing.

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