Mallstuck OR New Kids in the City

[sleepZombie]

He barely had any time to register that Gamzee had stood up before those horrible words hit his ears. Tavros' hand clenched almost convulsively as he visibly jolted, first looking up at Gamzee and then whirling around, twisting his back almost painfuly as he cast back over his shoulder towards Nepeta. His eyes were wide, tears actually visibly forming in the corners as he looked at her with an expression that was...

Distraught.
Terrified.
Heartbroken.

"NO!"

It was the loudest he'd ever been in his entire life, that single word.

[shiftyPotentate]

Nepeta started to apologize, but Tavros suddenly shouted. It made sense, from what she could tell he'd just come to terms with his matesprit! She wouldn't want to lose hers either!

"T-Tafuros, it's okay, I'm not going to... I'm not going to hurt him." She tried to give him a reassuring smile, before turning back to Gamzee.

"Gamzee... we both did some purretty awful things... there's no denying that..." She swallowed, hard. "You hurt me and Equius, and I... I wanted to tear you apart... but..." She reached forward with her free hand, taking Gamzee's free hand. Just like that they were all holding hands. "That's in the past... I think we should... move on. I mean... focusing on the past like that won't get us anywhere. We should all just be happy we have each other again! I furgive you, Gamzee... if you furgive me." She held Gamzee's hand close to her, smiling.

She wanted to be furriends again.

[nintendonut1]

Quietly, John's eyes widened at Gamzee's proposal. He too was ready to protest, to remind everyone that dying wasn't really the plan here, but he actually jumped back as Tavros spoke up rather loudly for him, startling him senseless. Idly, he glanced back, wondering if other patrons in the store had heard that.

He relaxed when Nepeta spoke again, drawn closer as she went to take Gamzee's hand. Understanding, John reached around and took Tavros' other hand, giving it a light squeeze of reassurance, and thus completing the circle of hands.

He nodded to all three of them, smiling. "Agreed on all accounts, there."

[sleepZombie]

Tavros felt John's hand clasp over his and he looked up, brows creased upward in concern. He gave a wobbly smile of his own in return, lifting the hand that was holding onto John's to wipe with his wrist at his eyes, giving a tiny sniff and trying to square his shoulders. He held Gamzee's hand tighter, and nodded at what Nepeta and John had said.

"Gamzee?" He gently urged, knowing his friend's propensity to zone out from time to time. Sometimes it was because of pretty colors or some rhythmic movements that caught his eyes... and sometimes it was just because he'd been thinking.

[kisashika]

Tavros' shout caught him off guard and Gamzee flinched- he knew full and well how selfish that had sounded after it passed over his lips. He'd completely forgotten how his matesprit would feel about such a proposal. Gamzee frowned at himself for even saying such a stupid thing and went to apologize to Tavros, when Nepeta spoke.

"Nepeta...." A wave of relief washed over him when she forgave him and finally, that horrible feeling in his stomach was gone. When their hands connected, he gave a small squeeze back, a smile breaking across his face. "Thank you, sister. I forgive you, too." Even though he wasn't sure what she'd done wrong- then John completed their little circle of hands and Gamzee laughed.

After a moment or so passed, Gamzee broke the ring, letting go of both Tavros and Nepeta's hands, before taking a step towards the latter. His arms gingerly spread in offering a hug. Sure, it wasn't deemed acceptable for a high blood to this, they weren't on Alternia anymore. "Can a motherfucker get a hug?" He asked.

[shiftyPotentate]

She smiled. Everything was forgiven and nothing hurt. She smiled at the ring of friendship they formed, before Gamzee broke it and offered a hug.

"Of course he can!" she said, letting go of John's hand and leaping forward into Gamzee's arms, hitting him with a little force and wrapping her arms around him tightly. She snuggled her face against his chest, glad that he was one of the few of her friends willing to ignore the hemospectrum. It mattered even less here, especially since humans were around too.

She would have held that hug for as long as Gamzee did, which might have been quite a while! But it was one of the most heartwrenchingly cute hugs in the history of history.

[nintendonut1]

Now THAT was more like it! To be honest, John was vastly impressed by how swiftly the trolls reached an understanding and forgave each other, especially after the horrible things that had happened between them. But maybe trolls were just built tougher, more than skin deep, and really, it was admirable.

It felt great to watch them hug, and a warmth spread across his chest as if he was in the hug himself. He grinned reassuringly to Tavros while they hugged, draping an arm around and patting his shoulder. The overall mood was just fantastic.

[sleepZombie]

The Taurus nearly reached out again for Gamzee's hand when he let go but stopped himself, tensely watching as he opened his arms and offered a hug. Finally, finally he let out a sigh as they embraced and it didn't look like claws would be unsheathed. John's arm around his shoulders could probably feel the tension leaving them as he slumped in his chair.

He looked up at the human and managed a weak, but real smile. Tavros awkwardly was quiet for a while longer, not wanting to disrupt the happiness of the moment.

"Uhm." And the air suddenly felt more clear, any remaining tenseness dissipating. "W-Where, should we go next? All together, I mean. I-If you don't mind, staying together, that is."

[kisashika]

Gamzee wrapped his arms around Nepeta when she latched to him, being careful not to hurt her. He then did a silly twirl around, making sure not to bump into anything before setting the Leo back on her feet.

"You know what sounds like a good idea- fucking food. I don't know about you guys, but this motherfucker is starving." Gamzee still hadn't broken the hug between him and Nepeta. "Y'all think they got food here?"

Gamzee looked around, there wasn't any in this store, just paintings of food that didn't look appetizing at all. Discolored and misshapen round things that were probably some earth food.

[shiftyPotentate]

"I'm purretty hungry too!" Nepeta said, giggling as Gamzee twirled her with him. She closed her eyes and smelled the air. She could easily smell Gamzee, and Tavros and John also near her.

She extended her search, trying to pick up on faint smells. It was difficult, the scents of all the shoppers distorting the scent map, but she did pick up something. Something hot. Hot and meaty.

The huntress was on the trail! "I found some food! Follow me!" she said, giggling and letting go of Gamzee and starting to prowl out of the store they were in, toward the food court. As far as she knew, though, it was just some recent kills ripe for the eating. She'd never seen a human restaurant before, so that would come as quite the shock.

[nintendonut1]

At the very mention of food, a soft growl erupted on command, possibly attracting odd looks from at least one of the trolls. John bit his lip and clutched at his stomach sheepishly. Jesus, when WAS the last time he ate something?! The last thing he remembered were those Gushers that were actually--the heir shuddered. He didn't want to think about it.

"Food sounds like a GREAT idea," he agreed, trying to ignore his gurgling tummy that was suddenly reminded of how starved it was. He watched Nepeta take off, grinning. "Alright!" he cheered, taking off after her.

[sleepZombie]

Food, that was a really, really good idea. He was pretty hungry now that he thought of it! As Nepeta took off Tavros grabbed the wheels of his chair and began pushing. If there was one thing he had to say that he especially liked about this large communal hive shopping place it was the smooth, even flooring... and no stairs in sight! It meant that he could gain momentum and with only a few pushes of his strong arms he got himself up to a pace that easily kept up with John's jog-run. He glanced back a few times to make sure Gamzee was following as well.

The sound of a low growl nearly startled him into faltering, and he looked up at John a bit nervously. "What, uh. Did I, do something wrong? I didn't, even know humans could make a sound like that."

[kisashika]

When everyone took off, Gamzee blinked, being left in the dust. After a second he let out a hearty laugh and jogged up behind everyone, making a beeline for the food court.

As they got closer, Gamzee could smell the various restaurants, too. The court was big, consisting of several small eateries and a large cafeteria in the middle. The hustle and bustle of the mall seemed to conjure here, it being close to lunch time. People stood in short lines and long lines, waiting for their turn to order a meal.

When the group got to the food court, Gamzee skidded to a stop, looking around. It wasn't anything like he'd ever seen before- so many places to eat, so much food, so many smells- Coffee from Starbucks, Hamburgers from McDonalds, Chinese food- it was overwhelming!

"Whoah! Man, is this where we're eating at?! Holy shit!" Gamzee stood in awe, trying to take in everything, not being used to human.... Well, human anything.

[shiftyPotentate]

Nepeta looked around at all the different restaurants and smells and sights, and was stunned for a moment by the mixture of it all!

Then her hunger took over and she darted into a McDonalds, immediately vaulting the counter and speeding past the minimum wage workers there. The poor part time employees had no idea what was going on - particularly the new guy, who wasn't entirely used to the island's crazy shenanigans - and could only stand by as the cat troll barrelled into their kitchen.

The smell of the meat was all around her now, and she quickly found the source, grabbing at the stovetop. She pulled some of the burgers off the stove, but was rewarded with burned hands for her trouble, letting out a loud mrowl of pain, dropping the burgers and licking her injured hands. She also had managed to cut her hand on the sharp corner of the stove, getting a little olive blood on one of the burgers.

A customer would later compliment the amazing condiment the store had managed to find, asking what it was. Jason, the chef, could only shrug his shoulders, he didn't have a clue!

Anyway, Nepeta sullenly walked out of the restaurant, licking her wounds and empty handed for her efforts.

[nintendonut1]

"Huh?" John looked over to Tavros, whom to his surprise, was able to keep up with him. What a trooper! "Oh! Oh, no, that's not me! I mean, it is, technically, but that's just the noise my body makes when it's hungry. Don't sweat it!"

He hadn't realized yet that trolls were probably physically different from him, despite the initial similarities in overall structure. Suddenly, their differences were beginning to become quite evident to him, especially with their reaction to the food court. He didn't think that maybe this whole entire mall experience was completely alien to them! Wow.

He didn't have a chance to feel like he was being insensitive, though, as his face paled when Nepeta leaped over the counter at McDonald's.

"Wha--Nepeta-no-wait-stop-oh-my-god--!!" Flailing, John dashed over, leaning over the counter and about to climb up, but cringed at the painful howl in the back. He glanced up, chewing at his lip, and finally climbed over the counter, apologizing profusely to the workers before approaching her.

"God, Nepeta, are you okay??" He reached out to take her hands to inspect them. "...shit. Aw, geez, Nep. What was that all about?" he asked, brows upturned in worry.