Mallstuck OR New Kids in the City

[nintendonut1]

"Rogue of Heart, huh?" John chuckled. "Wow, haha, I have no idea how the game knows us so well, because that fits you to a tee!"

He... rather liked when she got close to him like this. Not like before, where she was afriad and clinging to him like a lifeline, but that contented closeness that made you all warm and fuzzy inside. The purring definitely helped. John found himself smiling and lacing their hands again so she could remain leaning against him as they moved forward.

Part of him knew the odd looks people were giving them while he gave his order to the quietly shaking worker behind the counter. Part of him might have even realized they looked like a couple almost. Or maybe not. He wasn't thinking too deeply about it, just a good friend leaning against him.

He was told the price, and he smiled sheepishly at Nepeta. "Um, can you cover this? I'm not sure where my boondollars stand right now."

[sleepZombie]

"Oh." Tavros blinked, startled out of his dreamy thoughts by Gamzee suddenly talking to him. He looked at the other troll, considering reaching out to touch the wild, fluffy mane of the Capricorn's hair but decided against it.

"G-Green?" He gave a surprised laugh. "That would be, a little strange but also, pretty interesting! You would kind of be like, Nepeta. You know. Her blood color." The notion of associating with any color other than the ones they were born with flowing through their veins was... was strange. And something that Gamzee would certainly think of!

With a little chuckle he touched the sloppy ruffle of his hair, pinching a few strands between clawed fingers. "What if, I used red in mine?"

[kisashika]

"Oh shit man, you'd look totally fucking wicked with red in your hair!" Gamzee said. "Like, three stripes, right down the motherfucking middle and on the sides." He ran his fingers through Tavros' hair to show as he spoke. "You would look so badass, Tav." He chuckled.

"Maybe I should, like, grow my hair out and dye it indigo, that would be fucking awesome." Gamzee slouched forward in his chair, lazily leaning on one of his hands while the other mindlessly played with Tavros' hair. "We'd be the coolest motherfuckers around."

[shiftyPotentate]

Nepeta smiled and closed her eyes, deeply relieved and comforted to have a full-time moirail once again. She walked forward with him, and looked up at him when he spoke to her.

"Oh, sure! I can handle it." She stepped forward, producing her porkhollow and giving the cashier the right amount of boondollars to cover the price. "Hee hee, I got a whole bunch furom doing the healy thing, John!" she exclaimed. "A whole boonbuck I think!" She showed him her obscene amount of boondollars she possessed, well in excess of the multi-billions at this point.

After that, she idly batted at the long hood John wore, giggling softly. She hoped she wasn't setting John off with her sillyness and catlike behaviors, but he didn't seem upset by it so far!

[nintendonut1]

"Sweet, thanks." After they paid and stood off to the side to wait, Nepeta showed John her loot, and his eyes bulged. "Fffffuuuuuck, that's a lot!!" Well, they weren't going to be having any financial troubles for some time, that was for certain! "Goddamn, no wonder you were able to get us an apartment so quickly!"

Which was great, of course. As much as he liked to wander, John was going to appreciate having a home base to return to. That hotel was...just a little weird. And smelled funny.

As they waited, his mind instead began to wonder, back to his old home, once in Washington, then in the Land of Wind and Shade... god only knows where it was now. He idly wondered how those stupid imps were mussing up everything and otherwise entertaining themselves. He wondered how his dear ol' Nannasprite was doing.

He wondered how his father was... oh. Oh wait.

There would have been an overwhelming sadness that he hadn't had the chance to go through yet soon to follow, but not today, because he was pulled out of his thoughts when he noticed Nepeta was no longer at his side, but behind him, playing with the tail of his hood. When she noticed him looking at her, her eyes looked big and innocent, and John pushed his feelings away again and laughed. "God, Nepeta, you're adorable."

[sleepZombie]

"We would, be completely bitchin'." Tavros giggled as Gamzee played with his hair. "A-And maybe, you could draw your hair back. In, uh, one of those hair-tails with the stretching and retracting elastic bands that, Equius used, sometimes. Or, it would also look good down."

Tavros leaned idly into Gamzee's soft touches at his hair, feeling even more red for him than even yesterday as he sighed happily. He turned his eyes towards where John and Nepeta stood, watching the little Leo fawn and paw and bat playfully at the tail of his hoodie. He gave a surprised little sound, leaning towards Gamzee and whispering, even though he really didn't need to because no one else was around. "Do, you think maybe, Nepeta is pale for John?"

[kisashika]

"Totally bitchin'." He repeated with a laugh, reeling back in his chair a bit, then leaned back on his hands. Man, he was so going to dye his hair now, maybe not permanently, but it was gonna' happen today. Maybe he can pitch it off that they go get their hair done as a group and everybody color their hair something hilariously ridiculous, maybe even get it styled silly, too.

When Tavros leaned over to him, Gamzee leaned into him. "Huh..." He looked over at John and Nepeta and watched her play with John's hood like it was a loose string. "Pale? Man, its fucking possible. Her and Equius were moirails...." A short wave of sadness washed over Gamzee before he continued. "It would be motherfucking great if John accepted 'em."

[shiftyPotentate]

She continued to play with John's hood, only now, it was because she had the vague feeling that sad emotions had started to creep into John. A moirail looked out for their partner! She clapped the tip of the hood between her gloved hands and tugged lightly on it. "Hee hee, thank you, John!" she exclaimed, glad of his compliment, and that she'd successfully distracted him.

When their food came, Nepeta gleefully stepped forward to take the tray of food, careful not to spill anything, and escorted it and John back to the table with Gamzee and Tavros. "I come bearing food, it smells pawsitively delicktable!" She sat down, pulling out another seat beside her for John to sit. "So! What did we miss over here?" she asked the other two trolls. "Anything interesting to stalk about?"

[nintendonut1]

John gladly returned Nepeta's smile. Man, her delightful demeanor could lift any torrental mood!

And really, he was glad for it. No, it wasn't good to hold onto for too long, and yes, he wanted to get that all out soon, but it was better to do it in private, and not in the middle of their mall romp, especially after the difficult apology earlier. He had a feeling Nepeta understood the same, somehow. Maybe it was from how their moirallegance was steadily forming.

Not that he was aware of that factor. He just enjoyed the sentiment.

He followed her back to the table, about to grab a chair, but blinking. "--Oh! Thanks, Nepeta," he politely thanked, slipping to his chair and reaching into the bags, dealing out all the food to each respective troll and himself while they talked.

[sleepZombie]

Tavros had still been leaned towards Gamzee, peeping over his shoulder to watch as John and Nepeta got closer. He turned back to the Capricorn and gave a tiny nod. "Yeah, it would." He sat back, turning to update the two on what they had been talking about, which was really just silly hair color talk.

But of course, the great span that were the horns on his head whanged around quickly, deftly knocking over the two cups that had been set between himself and the Leo, sending them toppling to the ground and dumping their contents all over the floor. "A-Ah. I'm so sorry!" He wasn't sure if it was more embarrassing that everyone was shooting him dirty looks or that he really couldn't physically move to pick it up.

[kisashika]

Gamzee studied the odd package before him, wondering if he was supposed to eat the paper with the burger inside, but observed John removing it and followed suit- just as Tavros knocked over the drinks. His hands shot up in the air and he scooted away a bit, trying not to get wet. "Whoah, man!" His pants managing to get a bit of soda on them. Oh well, they were here to get him new clothes anyway.

"Did we get, like, napkins or something, brother?" He turned and asked John.

[shiftyPotentate]

"No purroblem, John!" Nepeta smiled and took her food, which sure smelled like meat, and lifted it, packaging and all to her mouth, interrupted only by an accidental spill. "Oh!" Her and Tavros's drinks were knocked over. "Awww... well that's okay!" She set her food down. "We can go get more, right, Tafuros?" she said, standing up and looking around.

Where was a restaurant humans were getting drinks from? That one with the green emblem looked like the spot! "How about that one?" She was already headed there, but not before seeing if Tavros was going to join her.

[nintendonut1]

John was about to take a bite of his sandwich, glancing up at Nepeta and was about ready to warn her about the plastic, when Tavros bumped the drinks over. "Whoop!" He jumped up out of his chair as the drink dribbled into his seat, but the others weren't so lucky. "Aww, no big deal, accidents happen," he reassured, reaching into the bags. "Yeah, we got some napkins, here." He split the pile, handing half of them to Gamzee and used the other half to clean the table.

He nodded to Nepeta knowing she had the boondollars to get replacements and saluting. "No prob! We'll get this cleaned up."

[sleepZombie]

Tav pulled back away from the table with a quick, embarrassed "Sorry," and quickly rolled after Nepeta. He caught up to her as she waited for him and looked towards the counter with the green circle. He smiled a little as he saw the general motif of the store as green and brown.

So much of their world was governed by color. And it was surprising when he realized the lack of color he'd had in his life before now. Now everything had colors all over it, and not just one plain motif but a million different combination. Like the logo in front of him. Almost as though it was a sign that he, Tavros, and Nepeta should come to this store.

He looked at the menu for a bit, fingertip pressing at his lower lip before turning to Nepeta. "What is, uh. A mocha cappuccino?"

[kisashika]

Gamzee watched Tavros and Nepeta dash off to get themselves new drinks and wiped off the spot on his pants as best he could, before using what was left to help clean off the table. Luckily there was a trash can nearby, where Gamzee threw the messy napkins away.

He sat back down, partially clean, and continued unwrapping his burger. "Oh, yeah, mind if a motherfucker asks you something, John?" He thought it was a good idea to bring up what Tavros pointed out earlier, not sure how much this John knew about quadrants.

"Do you know anything about quadrants and shit, brother? 'Cus me and Tav think Nepeta might be fucking pale for you." He examined the burger, lifting the top bun off, trying figure out what it was made of before eating it- it smelled good, but flowers smelled good, too and tasted bad.