But here you see

[maladgogo]

So here he is, doped to the eyeballs, dressed in comfortable pajama pants and a sheer white tanktop, meandering through the halls of the Ampora mansion and greeting whoever he might come across on his trek to the kitchen. He was damned hungry, after having spent the greater part of the day in Eri's bedroom, sprawled out and munching contentedly on a small variety of edibles that, honestly, were less than filling. Add to that a bad case of the munchies, and he felt it necessary to raid the sizable kitchen of the estate.

They always had the best shit in stock here anyway. Fresher than most things at home, besides the veggies that grew in the same greenhouse as their much more psychoactive crop did.

It was with a song stuck in his head and causing his steps to be rhythmic and his hips more mobile than usual that he stepped into the kitchen, making his way around a familiar path to stop at the refrigerator. His loccs were hanging around his face, only half of them tied up behind his head, obscuring his periphery as he fished for the jug of milk, as well as the strawberry syrup that he'd brought over, himself. Perfect way to quench the cottonmouth and sate his need for proper sweet. He was mouthing a catchy K-pop tune with his hips switching subtly to the beat when he turned to place his plunder on the counter, and only then did he actually catch sight of the other person in the kitchen.

Person, not human. As tall as he was or thereabouts, grey, finny... "Yooo Glowstick. You have a motherfuckin' growth spurt when I wasn't lookin'? Dayum, lil' brother." All of it said to this new alien Ampora's back. The horns were recognizable enough, after all.

Comments

[finnyacademic]

"Wwrong Eridan, but you're in the ballpark," Eridan said flatly, around a lit smoke dangling from his lips. He'd been warned - well, more like told endlessly about - Eri's boyfriend, and his frequent returns back to the town from his stint in culinary school up north. So it wasn't any surprise to watch the doped up clown human saunter in - except for the fact that he was wearing clothes, the clothes were a pleasant surprise - and Eridan turned to face the other. He was working on making breakfast for the troop, including a light breakfast for Glowwstick and himself. The human Amporas and Jerry had substantially heavier breakfast needs, so he was flipping a blueberry pancake on a pan while bacon sizzled on a griddle nearby.

"Hi, I'm Eridan. They call me Prince, though, to avvoid confusion." He offered a hand out to the tall glass of motherfucker before him. "You hungry? Wwait, wwho am I askin', you're Gam, right? Makaras are alwways hungry, from my experience."

[maladgogo]

"Right on the motherfuckin' nose there bro," he replied with a bright, lopsided smile. It figured that Eridan would know him on sight. If he knew Glowstick, and knew the tendencies of Makaras in other 'verses, it was likely that he would regard this particular clown with the same sort of narrowed eyes that the other alien had when he'd shown up. His hand slid into Prince's and gave it an easy squeeze, before he returned to his milk-related task. "Good to meet another fishman. Heard all about Glowstick from Cro n' Eri, wasn't made aware'a you just yet. Ain't blamin' anyone, guess they figured I'd be comin' across you 'fore I went back north.

"Don't worry about food for me though, you just keep right on doin' what you doin'. I'm good makin' for me," he added as he grabbed down one of the largest glasses he could find, pouring the milk and starting to stir in the syrup. "You dead, motherfucker? Only time I see eyes like yours, they be belongin' to some motherfuckin' ghosts."

[finnyacademic]

"All right then, figured I'd givve you the day off from cookin' since I'vve been told you're doin' that for school. As a felloww student, I knoww that sorta thing could take a wweight off your shoulders." He shrugged at that and went back to his task at hand, taking another long drag from his cigarette before ashing it in the tray he'd carried upstairs with him. It had to have been Dualscar's at some point, since he knew that Cronus didn't smoke, and whatever Eri was smoking, it wasn't cigarettes.

"Yeah, been dead a wwhile. Fivve swweeps or so, meanin' probably somewwhere around elevven years for you," He said with a side-nod, figuring his math correct. "Got chopped in half by a angry vvampire. Totally deservved it though, not gonna lie." He took the pancake out of its pan and plated it with another few pancakes that he'd already made. "Figure that's just the fate a us though; I'vve yet to meet a livvin' me that wwasn't nervvously avvoidin' his owwn death due to the vvast majority a us wwho cacked it in some dramatic fashion." He lifted the edge of one bacon to make sure it was merely cooking, not burning, before hopping onto the ledge of the counter, letting his legs dangle as he watched Gamzee move around.

"He's a good kid, you knoww. Eri, I mean. Saddest one a us I'vve met. I mean the majority a us got some issues but that kid's got fuckin' vvolumes. I hope you're doin' right by him." He was wary of his other selves, often eschewing them immediately, but the Amporas in this house had endeared themselves to him as they had to Jerry. The poor kids had the worst kind of life, and he could only imagine it from the incidental stuff they let slip into mundane conversation, or how their movements betrayed them. A cringe there, a flinch here. The way Eri skirted the walls and tucked himself small into the corners of the sofas and chairs he inhabited. It was singularly heartbreaking, but likewise, it made him more embittered to the very thought of Dualscar. Especially this one.

"He deservves the wworld. I hope you knoww that, Gam," he said, his tone warning.

[maladgogo]

It wasn't the first time he'd gotten that speech, and it wouldn't be the last. So he merely nodded.

"Love 'im more'n anything else I got in my life, man. Blood included. Mighta ended up a hell of a lot worse'n I was when I met 'im, he hadn't started talkin' at me when I came here the first time like...shit, couple years ago now. Takin' care'a him best I know how, when I got time off class." His smile softened some as he talked, and he laid his spoon across the top of his glass, putting the jug of milk and bottle of syrup back where he'd found them. He took up a spot next to Prince at the stove top, picking up a fork and starting to turn over the bacon that had started to crisp up nicely.

"Got hearin' about what other kinds'a me got up to, so you talkin' at me civil's kinda...I'unno. Surprisin' I guess. Glowstick still wary'a me, can't blame 'im none fo' that. 's one reason I prefer stayin' up outta the way when I get my stay on here. That, n' there's still hints'a evil here n' there. Doin' what I can to keep it clean, but some things, they sink in real mothefuckin' deep, can't be expunged with nothin' but motherfuckin' fire. Wouldn't do that to this place though. Too much here worth a lot to a lot'a people, fam here included."

But that was a dark subject he didn't care to pursue any further. Instead, he patted around his pants before realizing that they didn't have any pockets, so he couldn't have brought anything to smoke down with him. "Yo, you got any cancer t' spare?"

[finnyacademic]

It took Eridan a few moments to parse what Gamzee was saying. Then he nodded and reached over to his silver cigarette case and grabbed one, handing it over before simply snapping his fingers and producing a flame between them, holding it up for Gamzee. "You're human. No human I'vve met has the capabilities a bein' so evvil as any givven troll. That's not to say I underestimate a human's ability to be malevvolent, but the chances a you gettin' up to shit like your other selvves' havve done? Slim to none, I'd say. That, an' for howw he only can speak the wworld a you, I'd say you're better than the majority, too." He blew out the flame and bowed his head.

"Besides, I can differentiate betwween one vversion a somebody an' another. You're not the Gam I greww up wwith. Might be a Makara, but you havven't slighted me personally, so unless an' until you do, wwe're good."

[maladgogo]

It was like that for most people. At least Eri and maybe Cronus knew how to interpret what came out of Gam's mouth on the fly.

"Yeah, heard at least a little'a what grey alien me got up to. Fucked up, man. Put a lot'a shit in my system in my life but straight-up narcotics is the fuckin' beast. Any blood I shed, 's shed for the right reasons." He shook his head, taking a drag off his cigarette then blowing a thin stream of smoke from the corner of his mouth opposite Prince. "Good'a you though, not to be assumin' every motherfucker's as bad as his alternate. Circumstances make a man what he is just as much as genes do, y' dig?"

As he spoke he started to pick things out of the cupboards to start on his own breakfast, opting for waffles since that was his very specific craving of the moment. He'd already concocted a fresh strawberry syrup days before, to be used for such breakfast-related pursuits. He'd bring some up for Eri when they were done.

"So, 'side from weird reality differences, you settlin' in alright? Figure by now you met others Eri's close to. Mustache n' his comp'ny, Ara if she come over lately."

[finnyacademic]

"Not yet, though I'm bound to sooner or later. I hear the mustache has a shop abovve the bookstore that Eri's said needs a assistant, an' I'vve yet to meet the rest'a the twwelvve. Jus' you an' Eri. I'm actually kinda lookin' forwward to meetin' the rest, the similarities are there for you twwo but the differences are blowwin' me awway." He stubbed out the butt of his cigarette and hopped down to finish making breakfast for Jerry and Cronus, figuring that Guy was making breakfast for himself and the young ghost.

"Other than that, I like it here. I'vve spent a lot a my time in death tryin' to find a wway to be alivve again, an' I'll be honest. This is as good as I'll likely havve it short a bein' resurrected."

[maladgogo]

"Resurrection don't seem to stick around here, sad to say. Eri got hisself his mortality back for a lil' while there once, but it didn't stay, obviously."

Guy was in full swing making himself breakfast by now, and his tempo had changed to something still mostly upbeat. He was busy whisking his waffle batter together with a few spoonfuls of his homemade syrup by now, occasionally tasting it to see if it needed more of the berries.

"You sayin' twelve, so what's that, everyone in our age range here? Well you got Lu up the way, he do the robotic shit with his fam, music shit sometimes, rides a motorcycle n' avoids people a lot. N' Nep's mama owns that one taxidermy n' florist on downtown. Mm...lost track'a Vriska, sad as that is. Damn good friend in her, real bad about takin' risks though. Ain't seen hide nor hair'a Tav n' his family in ages. Might be they found a way outta town by now. Sad about that, the animal shelter went when they did, for the most part. Mm...Vantasesses's in school, 'cept preacher's still around. Might wanna meet him one'a these days. Same wit' the Captors, they good n' stuck here, tied in real close wit' father Vantas n' his doin's. Got Ara doin' her spirit thing, keepin' Eri comp'ny when I can't, so he always has that safety net. Just don't be lookin' at her too close, start gettin' the willies real fuckin' bad doin' that. She still sweet though. Ain't seen 'rezi in a motherfuckin' minute, could be Pyropes skipped town too. Mother Maryam. Iunno what happened wit' her. Carlisle was avoidin' her real hard though. Uh...I think that about does it."

Talking the entire time he was working made him look a lot more careless in what he was doing than he really was. He was pouring the waffle batter into the mold and setting it to cook before digging out the syrup to warm back up to room temperature before serving.

[finnyacademic]

Eridan absorbed all that information, nodding to each point, amazed by how all of them seemed pretty close knit, even here. He flipped the final pancake and rescued the bacon from the griddle before putting some eggs on so they could fry up in the bacon grease.

"I miss my Nepeta. A lot. She wwas my moirail, an' wwe just... fell awway from each other. She wwas far from monogamous in the pale, an' neither wwas I to be perfectly honest, but then things fell all to shit wwhen she started seein' one Strider, an' I wwas seein' another. Miss my Strider, too. I lovved her beyond wwords." He sighed and wandered to the fridge to grab some juice to pair with the food.

"I also found my Kanaya. Miss her to death, too. I mean, sure, she cut me in half, but that wwas only after I killed her. One good turn, as they say. Still, though, it's good to knoww that the lot a you are as close as wwe wwere. I knoww Eri is friends with Ara, he goes to hang wwith her sometimes, but I havven't met her. But I'll take your advvice wwhen it comes to lookin' at her straight on. Wwish I had that advvice for him, too, to be honest." He walked back over to nudge at the eggs with the edge of his spatula, then looked over at Gamzee.

"Not to speak ill a him, he's a vvery good kid, I just wwish I hadn't thought to look at him straight on. It's like lookin' at all the sorroww in the wworld."

[maladgogo]

Guy was nodding along in kind as Prince told him about the various others that he was close to. When it came to Kanaya, he figured that whatever had set her off, it had absolutely been deserving of being chainsawed in half.

He shook his head when the comments about Eri were needlessly clarified. "Nah man, I getchoo. He been through a shitfest n' a half, 'fore AND after he got talkin' at me regular. He ever tell you how we met in the first place? Figure with how you's talkin' about him you know what happened beforehand, shit wit' Deema n' all that darkness what they was caught up in, you at least know him bein' ghosty like he is...well." He shook his head once more, then shrugged a shoulder. "Not that that matters all that much wit' me. Love 'im just as much no matter whether I can touch 'im or not. Got some damn chilly feet though, had to start askin' him to be wearin' socks when I'm up in his bed."

[finnyacademic]

"Mmhmm, I knoww. It's some darkness, you've got that right. He an' Cronus both havve the wworst livves I'vve evver seen outta our ilk. They're the most humble Amporas I'vve gotten to knoww. That's not necessarily bad or good, but it's true irregardless." When the food was done, he wiped down the pan and moved the rest of food away from the work area so Guy could work his magic. "Listenin' to 'em, wwatchin' 'em, it's hard to see. I'vve met a lotta different vvariations on our theme, an' the majority a us, myself included an' high up on the list, are prideful fucks. Prideful an' wwith good reason. Since I'm stuck here, I'm gonna make it my place to lift these twwo up. They deservve to havve the founded self-confidence our ilk has naturally. I'll mend wwhat Dualscar fuckin' broke here if it takes my wwhole eternity."