An Unscratched Surface: Part 22

A whole night with his moirail was just what a broken heart called for. After he was done getting his relax on, Kanaya led Gamzee away from the beach, the whole time lamenting the state of his clothing. Gamzee didn't feel like pointing out that these were his favorite pajama pants, and that the shirt was ripped because he'd used strips of it to tend to Karkat. Instead he let his moirail talk about the clothing she was going to put him in, his mind focused on the warmth of Kanaya's hand in his as she led him into the pale pink night of the city. It was hard, but he focused on the walk, imprinting the path to a motherfucker's hive stem in case it was needed in the future. Luckily the trip wasn't long, her hive stem closer to the border of the city than Spided's had been. When they made it to the stem it was almost amusing to see the way his moirail ducked her head in embarrassment whenever they saw a troll who lived there. Still, Gamzee did his best to put on a presentable face and act like he was dressed to perfection.

Kanaya waste any time when they reached the hive. After a few brief measurements, she shoved Gamzee towards the hygiene block, insisting that he shed himself of all the sand and tear stains. Once he all up and had himself clean, Gamzee came out of the block wrapped in one towel and running another through his hair. There wasn't time to breathe before Kanaya had descended upon him, swaths of fabric in hand. Soon she was thrusting some items into his hands and bustling off to make 'notes.' There was nothing to be done but pulling on the soft black slacks, the billowy, blood purple shirt, and the black vest with gold colored buttons that Kanaya had given him. She returned a few minutes later with a pair of dress shoes, mumbled something about borrowing them from a neighbor, then helped Gamzee brush out his hair and pull it into a loose que at the base of his neck. At last she stood back and looked Gamzee over, clear approval in her eyes.

"Yes, I believe this shall suffice for the moment. I believe it would be better with an ear babble and maybe a gilded chain for around your waist, but you shall do."

"Aw man, sister, you ain't all up and got to take my motherfucking style under your wing."

"I shall not have my moirail seeming as ill-kept as you were, I would never feel comfortable. I do have a reputation which I wish to uphold. In addition to that, I have a fondness for the creation of garments that suit the personality and appearance of the trolls who wear them. I created this design for you a sweep ago, and after our recent encounter, I was able to put it together in such a way that it would work without proper measurements. There is another which I shall give to you before you depart tomorrow, and I shall continue in the construction of further outfits now that I have acquired accurate measurements."

"But this must have motherfucking cost you..."

Kanaya waved her hand dismissively, an amused look on her face.

"Please, Gamzee, this is not only a hobby from which I derive pleasure, but earns me no small amount of extra income. As such, I find there to be no issues with working on items to gift to either my moirail or my matesprit."

"Vriska don't up and like to take stuff from you without payment either?"

The amused look faded into a soft, pitying smile. "No. Vriska is far more complex than most people give her credit for. But the look upon her face when I present her with a particularly wonderful dress..."

Gamzee smiled and put his arms around his moirail, holding her tight and whispering in her ear, "Thank you, sister. This is more than a motherfucker deserves."

"Consider it a gift to celebrate our quadrant," she whispered, and Gamzee could see her cheeks turning faintly jade.

"Only if you let your palebro up and get you a gift as well."

"Of course, anything..."

"You promise me that I'm allowed to up and motherfucking pay you for more than half of what you make me in the future. Got it?"

"That doesn't seem..."

"Naw, palesis, it's fair," Gamzee said, releasing her and pulling back so she could see the serious look that was all up and on his face. "Think about it this way. I'm all up and going to double my size, at the very least, in the next five or so sweeps. How much of your free credits are you going to have to spend to keep up with a brother when he gets his growth spurts on? If you're going to keep your moirail looking sharp, you best not broker yourself over it. What kind of motherfucking palebro would I be if I let you do that?"

Kanaya seemed to consider this for a moment, looking Gamzee up and down before at last nodding. "Alright, this appears to be a fair deal in my estimations."

"Good," Gamzee said with a smile. "Now, since you've all up and borrowed me some shoes, I expect you have intentions on our evening?"

"Other than assisting you in acquiring some proper shoes and accessories? Of course. Today we shall work to take our redroms off of our minds."

"Our redroms? Something wrong with Vriska?"

Kanaya just smiled and waved the question off as she grabbed Gamzee's hand and pulled him to her hive door.

* * * * * *

The night was a wonderful thing. Kanaya forced a few pairs of high quality shoes on him, assisted Gamzee in piercing his ears and selecting some ear babbles that she felt would work with some of her designs. There was lunch at a wonderful cafe run by a purple blood that knew the wonder of making fruit and faygo pies, and when Kanaya confessed to an affection for the flavor combinations Gamzee all but dragged her to a food acquisition venue to get ingredients. The rest of the day was spent teaching the jade blooded wonder how to prepare fruit and faygo pies of Gamzee's own creation while watching silly musical movies and pale romcoms, and just laughing and enjoying themselves. At one point Vriska showed up at the hive, and while Gamzee tended to the decoration of the latest pie, Kanaya had a bit of private time with her matesprit before the two joined Gamzee and worked on a shared dinner. After the meal Vriska left for her own hive, and Kanaya guided Gamzee to the respite block, and they spent the early morning hours in pale cuddling and watching animated wriggler movies.

The day passed too fast, and soon it was late in the afternoon, and Kanaya was rousing them both from the slab. She was as early a riser as Gamzee might have expected, and she moved around the hive with purpose, preparing for a day back at her work as Gamzee had insisted he was ready to return to his own work. At Kanaya's prompting he divided the remains of their dinner, gathered up the things they'd bought, his pajamas, and the clothes from the previous night into a bag, and he changed into the other outfit Kanaya had hinted at. Soon enough Gamzee was dressed up (more black slacks, a white shirt, and a blood purple vest shot through with think black stripes), packed up, and ready to get his travel on. Just as he finished his moirail joined him, looking properly professional and cool, and she held out a small key.

"What is this?" Gamzee found himself mumbling, though he well knew it.

"A key to the hive. While I shall continue to insist that you wait until I have had all of the paperwork processed for your change of residence, I would not seek to prevent you from my side if it were truly necessary. Retain this, for emergencies."

"Kanaya, I..."

"Forgive me, but I really must be off to my work. Have a good day, Gamzee, and do not hesitate to contact me if it becomes necessary."

From there the night was perfect. One of the junior guidance adjustors allowed Gamzee to sit in upon a session, Nepeta seemed calmer than she had been, and most trolls he encountered were all up and appreciative over the change in style that Kanaya had wrought. Everything was motherfucking perfect.

Until he got back to the hive.

Not that it was hostile there. When Goatad saw him, the older troll nodded in approval and went back to whatever it was he was doing. Both Aradia and Terezi were already gone, and Karkat was no where in sight. Nor did he see Karkat for the rest of the night. While Goatad did say that Karkat was up and about, the other troll didn't bother to come see him. Even though he stayed up late, hoping his bro would show up, would talk to him, would just acknowledge him, it was long past dawn when Gamzee finally went to sleep, alone and feeling almost worst than he had before his night with Kanaya.