Sometimes what's lost can never be returned, but

[caprihorn]

WHO: Eridan, Equius, and Gamzee
WHERE: Abandoned building of some kind
WHEN: Sometime yesterday, so the tenth of July
WARNINGS: Maybe no violence for once, but there's still swearing and probably gore since there are injuries in here and someone only has one arm for a bit.
SUMMARY: Equius is replacing Gamzee's arm.
FORMAT: Words.


Gamzee was still in slight disbelief about how easy it was to get Equius to come. He thought that the murder attempt on Aradia from a little ways back and Sollux's successful murder coupled with Equius' previous disobedience might make him hesitant or even outright reject his order. Maybe Eridan's presence helped convince Equius to come or maybe he was planning on doing something else and he just needed to know where they were, Gamzee didn't really know. All he knew for sure was that he needed to try to get a replacement for his arm and he hoped that this wasn't a bad idea.

He glanced at Eridan, at where he was keeping his wand. At least there was some kind of backup if anything went wrong. Gamzee didn't want to completely discount his own abilities, but considering the lost arm, the cuts on his back, and his bites he was sure he wouldn't be as effective a fighter as he would have been otherwise. If he was being honest with himself he couldn't manage much as it was, at least not without risking bleeding everywhere again.

Most of what Gamzee could do right now was sit, wait for Equius, and gnash his teeth at his current weakness while he mulled over what exactly to do about problems like Kanaya.

Comments

[sweatquius.livejournal.com]

Equius, for his part, had settled uncomfortably into the role of "pacifist" of their group, which felt oddly unfit for a troll (boy) of his great strength. But he right now didn't want to make waves; in this uncertain world their unity was their greatest strength, and he was trying to reign in his temper like Nepeta would want him to were she here.

It was hard, but he was managing. Being defiant of the highbloods would only incite their anger more, which was would be foolish. Even if death here was impermanent, they had much greater things to focus their violence towards than one another.

Regardless.

He'd recently re-purposed his communicator into his sunglasses, allowing for a hands-free connection that made it easy to speak (with dictated text or not) while walking and he had no need to worry about breaking yet another one. He'd pulled a map to better find their location quicker, and clicked it off once he arrived.

"Highblood?"

[amoray]

"He's inside. Hope you're ready to bust your nonexistent gills, 'cos he's lookin' pretty fuckin' bad."

Eridan pushed open the flimsy front door to the building with his shoulder, wand in hand, and gave Equius and the surrounding area a halfhearted glance over for anyone else tagging along. Not seeing anything immediately alarming, he beckoned Equius in and strolled back into the house proper. It was admittedly more formality than actual concern, considering the b100b100d could easily take the both of them by himself. Still, a proper royal image needed to be upheld.

The front door lead into a short hallway, which lead to the main living area. That's where he and Gamzee had been keeping to, for the most part, and where he'd left the subjugglator to wait.

"I'm lookin' to get out of here today, on account a this place bein' fuckin' filthy as fuck and distinctly lackin' air conditionin'. Make it work."

[caprihorn]

Gamzee stopped snarling when he saw the two of them getting closer. He looked for any suspicious movement as they came in, knowing that even if something were up all he could practically do was run and he probably wouldn't make it far. It didn't stop him from trying to prepare - to tense up - though, and it made him a little more inclined to glare as Equius got even closer.

He had to briefly remind himself that Equius was actually likely to try and take care of his arm and not kill him. That paranoia rattling around in the top of his skull, detailing messy deaths involving strength, needed to be pushed down for a bit. If something happened then he'd deal with that, but tensing up and moving while getting metal attached to flesh seemed like a bad idea.

So, Gamzee took in a deep breath and looked at Equius with a look that if it wasn't less angry was at least more reserved.

"_{Took you long enough, motherfucker,}" he paused for only a second and then began to unravel the bandages on what remained of his right arm, "This is motherfuckin' all what you motherfuckin' got to up and work with."

As the layers of bandages came peeling off, most caked in indigo, it became clearer what Equius would be dealing with. There was even less to the arm than what the bandages might have implied, not even half of the bicep was left. Only good thing about the arm was that it had been a relatively clean cut, something which might work to Equius' advantage.

[sweatquius.livejournal.com]

"I apologize," Equius said once he saw Gamzee, casting an irritated glace toward Eridan. The warm room made his forehead sweat even more than he already had been, and likely would continue to be considering he was having his services solicited by two dangerous highbloods; he mopped it with a towel from his pocket as he walked toward Gamzee to observe his arm. He didn't like turning his back to Eridan, but he shook off the unease.

His expression was rather deadpan as he looked at the damage; after Vriska and Tavros, this wouldn't be difficult. The only problem would be working with different materials. "When was it severed?" He asked, standing to collect what he'd managed to find on his way over.

"I will need to collect more materials before I can complete it properly," he said, warily, and continued before either of them could get angry. "But I can put together something suitable until I'm able to build a permanent replacement."

[amoray]

Eridan had found a spot on the wall to lean against, arms crossed loosely over his chest and staring steadily at Equius' back.

"Somethin' like a day ago. Day and a half, maybe," he answered for Gamzee, strolling over to watch Equius' work. Halfway because he was interested, but also because he knew it would most likely irritate the blueblood. And irritating other people usually somewhat helped his own bad mood. "We got a cleaner room in the back you can use, if you want. This permanent wersion is gonna be sturdy enough for his subjugglatin' hobby though, right?"

[caprihorn]

Equius' current lack of murder attempts and his earlier apology convinced Gamzee that he didn't actually have to watch out for much of anything right now and so began to tense less than before. Being examined by Equius though was still something he wasn't entirely comfortable with. It was a little disgusting for him knowing that he had to be helped by a peasantblood.

He could deal with it though, just as he could deal with Eridan answering for him. If dealing with it included allowing him to glare at both of them. Gamzee may have been tempted to go beyond the glare and tell Eridan off for speaking for him, but he was still somewhat woozy from blood loss and Eridan asking questions for him seemed easier for the moment anyway.

As Eridan asked the last question Gamzee said half-threateningly, though fortunately mostly to himself "_{Better all be.}"

[sweatquius.livejournal.com]

Equius did bristle when Eridan walked closer, but he made no mention of it other than a distinctly unsubtle gnashing of his mangled teeth. He haughtily tossed his hair over his shoulders, trying to keep an air of dignity even in the presence of two superior bloods.

The 'yes' was on his tongue, despite his reservations in abetting yet more slaughter. Humans he didn't care about, but Aradia and Nepeta he did, and Gamzee distinctly didn't seem to want to switch to humans. This was absolutely the most disorganized, improper world-conquering Alternia had ever seen and certainly the worst sort of SGRUB prize, and even if conquer was only a deluded elite fantasy, Equius wanted to protect his friends over a bunch of filthy humans.

Well. Some of them.

"Yes, I will require cleanliness if we want the procedure to be cleanly successful," he said finally, glancing upward to locate the other room. "I can assure that it will be STRONG to your satisfaction."

[amoray]

"Good. I'm acceptin' nothin' short a perfection, so don't fuck this up."

Pompousness done, at least for now, Eridan made his way to the rear of the room and opened the door to the kitchen. It was about as clean as one could imagine an abandoned kitchen to be, though there were touches of someone else cleaning it themselves very recently. Not that he'd admit to anything.

Gamzee he continued ignoring, because this was one of the few opportunities he had to do so.

[caprihorn]

Gamzee half sneered at Eridan this time, but again didn't say anything. He realized that his aggressive gestures were essentially wasted right now, but it felt almost like it'd be wrong not to go through with them. It wasn't like he'd focus on that forever though, Gamzee did need to get his new arm and pay attention to Equius.

"Let's all get this motherfuckin' shit all motherfuckin' done then," Gamzee said looking briefly at Equius, avoiding commenting on Equius' earlier reservation on that yes. Then he got up and headed over to the cleanest spot in the kitchen, not commenting on how clean it was. The sooner his arm work done the sooner he could get out of this place.

[sweatquius.livejournal.com]

"Of what concern of yours is it?" Equius inquired of Eridan, almost snappishly. He looked immediately abashed after speaking, then added "I apologize for my tone," in a hasty mutter. He hated having to answer to Eridan, but to disrespect one of them tonight would be to disrespect them both.

He sullenly followed them into the kitchen, eyes surveying the room behind his sunglasses as he settled by Gamzee with his materials. Equius glanced over to Eridan again. "You have no need of repair, do you?"

[amoray]

Eridan grit his teeth at the insult, biting back a retort... for now, at least, because he didn't need his collarbone fractured right now or anything. The apology would have to do. He headed into the kitchen instead, speeding up his pace to drift ahead of the other two and... pick another section of wall to lean against and watch from. Slightly eerily.

"Kan snapped my fuckin' wrist, but other than that it'll all take care a itself."

[caprihorn]

Gamzee might have smiled at Equius' inquiry for a split second. As it was though it would only have been a split second since tensions were high enough already and he didn't need fighting right now. At least he didn't need fighting that could become physical, the wall leaning was just too much for him not to comment on.

"_{There are all chairs and tables and other shit like for you all to motherfuckin' get your sit up at on.} You don't all motherfuckin' need to get up at motherfuckin' attaching your ownself to motherfuckin' walls all the time like an irritating motherfucker."

After he said that he made his spot, a chair next to the counter, a little more comfortable. He'd need to be here for awhile, so it made sense to make it as good of a seat as possible.

[sweatquius.livejournal.com]

"Very well," Equius muttered, eyebrows lowering over his glasses. He settled down to work, affixing the metal parts together over a span of long, careful minutes before he dared go near Gamzee's body. He didn't want to hurt him more or break anything else, after all. The metal flexed and bent as Equius build upon it, but it was at least strong enough to craft back into shape easily enough.

Some thirty, forty minutes later, the arm lay on a clean strip of counter. Equius's hands hovered over it, sweat dripping down his face and palms, but he lost the courage to lift it and begrudgingly turned to Eridan.

"Would you mind," he said, hissing through his broken teeth, "affixing the arm to his person? This part--" He touched a circular metal fixture, "should go on first to hold the rest in place, it will desensitize the wound. I don't wish to injure the highblood further."