[♑/♐] [Video/Text.]

[hystericull]

[The terminal message today comes from one mug rarely seen on the network — Equius Zahhak, the awkward yellowblood one. He's fiddling around with the controls a little bit and only bothers to look up at the screen itself after a short delay. Probably fucking around with the settings or something. When he does look up, he offers the camera a truly pathetic attempt at a cursory smile and then jumps right to business, reverting back to his usual worried frown.]

Um, hello, everyone. I just have a really quick question for all of you, regarding the terminals here in this Tower. Uh, I've been doing some poking around in the systems, and they're... [...weird as shit.] ...well, not like anything I've seen before.

[At the same time this monologue was going on, Gamzee was feeling particularly restless. Although a petty altercation would be nothing in comparison to the carnage he craved, nothing seemed to curb the antagonistic streak that wound itself through his insides.]

[It was almost serendipity that sat Equius at one of the many terminals lining the dormitory halls. As he prattled on to the camera about something that assuredly was boring everyone to tears, Gamzee found himself trailing closer to the yellowblood, rows of teeth creeping out from behind his painted lips.]

So I was just wondering if anyone with a knowledge of computers had ever seen any system run like this, because I thought maybe it would help a bit in finding out which universe exactly we're in? I found some books in the library on the topic of various programming languages, and I know several myself, so...

[He lingered behind the boy for a moment, content with staring into the camera, or examining the back of his head. After a while, though, his fingers wound themselves over Equius' shoulders, and Gamzee lowered his chin between those phallic horns, barely pressing it against the top of his head.]

Give your babbly noise a fuckin' rest, motherfucker.

[It would be a lie to say that Equius hadn’t felt someone else’s presence as he talked. But really, who cared? It was a public area, there were people walking by all the time. Of course, then Gamzee started to come closer to him, and he stopped talking, his expression still neutral; when the indigo spoke, something near his eye twitched. The yellowblood shifted his position slightly in the seat, leaning more on his elbows on the table in front of the terminal. No movement was made, however, to dislodge Gamzee from his almost yoga-like Roof Gargoyle Position. He really, really didn’t feel like doing this right now.]

Do you have something to do here, Makara?

[He is trying quite hard to keep his tone level, though it ends up fairly deeper than he usually goes.]

Not all much fuckin' in particulars.

[Gamzee's tone was an odd mix of airy, childish, and condescending. His posture and pose didn't change much, save for the fact that he was now twirling a knobby finger around a lock of Equius' hair. A thick, purple tongue flicked across his teeth as his eyes drifted up to meet the ones of the Equius in the camera's playback on the screen. Seeing them together on the monitor had him choking a laugh back down his throat.]

A brother always fuckin' be at needing a god damn reason to get his friendlies on at you, huh?

Yes.

[He was almost a little surprised that Gamzee managed to catch on to that fact, because – well, it was true. People did need a reason to be friendly to Equius. Everything had a reason, right? Right. Absolutely. Sure, the way of thinking was a little skewed when it came to people who were just kind to everyone for absolutely no reason, but he’s still not sure why those people exist, and because of that he just kind of pretends they don’t.]

[But Gamzee is not one of those people.]

Now if you don’t mind, I’m kind of in the middle of something here, so please state your business and leave. [Emphasis on the ‘leave’.]

[The strained grin Gamzee had sported quickly became more strained at the mere sound of Equius' voice, without taking his words into account. Stretching his arms past Equius' torso to reach the keyboard, Gamzee tapped out a message with surprising dexterity. Sweeps on a husktop will do that to you.]

(+his bi+ch be in)(mo+herfuckin need all of some)(god fuckin damn how +he mo+herfuck do you even +ype you shi+s+ain)

Hahahahaha! Stated my fuckin' business. Be for me a fucking bro and motherfuckin' type "in need of some sack time, stat".

[He was still pressed up against Equius' back, trying and failing to type insults in that disastrous quirk of his.]

[Equius watched the hideous aberration of nature that some fools called Gamzee's typing process with much the same attitude as he had watched everything else the fucker did. God, that was such a poor reproduction of his quirk it was all he could do to stop himself from grabbing the indigo's hands and ripping them out of their sockets. He glanced over to the top of the screen; still recording. Damn. Well, if this got too much of a mess then he supposed he could just trash the video recording.]

You forgot the ones, Makara. The Ls are ones.

Mmn, the fuckin' ones.

[This was more taxing than entertaining. Equius was so dry, always acting like he had a telephone pole crammed up his delicate yellow sphincter. In Gamzee's time fucking around with the guy, he always found physical comedy to be more appealing than keeping it strictly verbal.]

Guess fuckin' what?

[He chuckled, tone rather irritated and darker than before. He snatched Equius' left hand with his own, bringing it up to the keyboard and jamming his index finger down on the number 1, making sure to drive the point of his overgrown thumbnail into the flesh of Equius' knuckle as he did so. His right hand caught more hair between its fingers, twisting it up until it was pulled taught.]

I. DON'T. GIVE. A SHIT.

11111111111111111111111111111111111

[With every erratic pause in his speech, he'd slam his nail into Equius' finger, until there was a line of 1's across the screen.]

[OW.]

[Equius took the abuse like a champ, basically shifting his body to lessen the strain on his hands and scalp (little shit acts like he's never had his hair pulled before).]

Well I can see that. [You know, because you missed it the first time and all. And are now trying to rip him apart for daring to point it out. One way or another, though, Equius looked pretty fed up with the indigo's bullshit, but it was anyone's guess if he was going to actually do something about it or not.]

So, do you want to tell me what 'sack time' is? I'd love to comply to your demands, but unfortunately your bizarre psychopathic cultist lingo isn't the best choice for diplomatic concerns.

[Gamzee has to pause a moment in disbelief. He even stops abusing Equius' finger to shift his head to the side and take a good look at the kid's face. Before bursting into peals of laughter.]

Hahahahahahahaha! Aww, shit, you poor motherfuckin' gangsta.

[He just kept going. Kept laughing until tears formed in his eyes and he was practically shoving all of his body weight against Equius' back in a lame attempt to hold himself up.]

Naw, I ain't one to fuckin' be all pryin' up in yo' business and shit what's all improper like that noise is.

[What a fucking liar. The fact that he still couldn't contain his laughter was a good indication of his mockery.]

I be lettin' you all get your wicked discover on at them miracles all on your motherfucking own. Mainly 'cause I can't all be up and stomaching thinkin' on it no more.

[This conversation was great and all, but he really did need to use the network. And the video on this terminal was already up and running. Let it be said that Equius was not good for nothing. He at least functioned quite well as menial labor.]

Why don't you fuckin' find your ruddy-ass motherfuck of a dead-red and y'all can find that shit out together? I gotta use this thing now.

[And with that statement came a sharp shove against Equius' side, aimed to push him out of his seat so Gamzee could take it instead.]

[At this point, it became a little unclear to the viewers as to what exactly was going on; it happened rather fast. Because instead of saying something, Equius just moved. He twisted his body around in the chair, seemingly having finally decided that enough was enough, at the same time that Gamzee settled in for the long haul. The inevitable result was that both of them lost their balance and, along with the chair, they toppled to the ground.]

[All the camera got was an unattractive tangle of limbs for a few seconds, and an awful lot of spitting noises.]

[And then, one of the two boys being slammed against the terminal, knocking out the feed.]

Comments

[geometry]

[Obviously not you, Gamzee Makara, and that was kind of really fucking stupid. After who-knows-how-many fights they've had by now, and you still don't realize when some people are powerful enough to shove? For shame, Makara. For shame. Actually it's probably at least partially your fault that he's this physically capable at all. God knows he wouldn't have been able to come close to matching you when he first came to the Tower. But of course, that's all detail when compared to the fact that FUCK YEAH, there's a flying indigo here.]

[He sprints forward after Gamzee, not really caring that there's a Wriggle in the way. She's strong enough to push him away, right? ...Right?]

[wrigurun]

[She may not be strong enough but she's certainly nimble enough. With the body falling towards her she throws a kick to his side and uses it to push herself into the middle of the scuffle. She might be a little scared but for a bug she seems to have quite a strong sense of honor. As far as Wriggle was concerned it was her fault that Gamzee killed Equius last time and she wasn't going to let that happen again. She casts a worried glance over her shoulder]

H-hey, are you alright?

[hystericull]

[It didn't take Gamzee long to recover from the stumble - if it had, he would have lost many a fight many a time. Skidding the rubber sole of his sneaker against the floor, he steadied himself, intending to lock eyes with his target... only to find Wriggle in the way. At this point, he really didn't care who was in the middle of them, and as bratty and tough as Wriggle was, in Gamzee's mind, she was small enough to not pose much of a threat. He surged forward again, attempting to snatch her by the collar (hair, antennae, whatever was available) and shove her away.]

[geometry]

[There isn't a lot of time to cater to Wriggles in a time like this, so the most she got as a form of response was a quick and breathless "YEAH". Ignoring the fact that he clearly wasn't alright (and in reality was kind of in the middle of a fight), Equius was just hoping to get her as far away from here as possible, so that maybe he could minimize the damage. Or not let anyone see him get his ass kicked again, especially not Wriggle. God, she'd never let him live it down. But regardless, he was eager to get her out of the way — and so when Gamzee lunged, not appearing to care which one of the two he hit, Equius grabbed her by the collar before Gamzee could and pulled her after him, off to the side. Somehow, the force was a bit stronger than one would expect from Equius; maybe it was adrenaline, maybe it was a faint green glow, but one way or another Wriggle was sent well away from the other two. Maybe if he was lucky, she could get out alive.]

[wrigurun]

[She wasn't so used to such close combat. With little time to read their movements the moment she saw Gamzee lunge she instinctively thrust her palms in front of her. What she hadn't been expecting was for Equius to react as quickly as he did to wrench her out the way.

The force threw her off balance, sending yellow coloured lights scattering around the hallway, bursting against the walls and ceiling and whatever else they might come into contact with. They weren't deadly, but it would certainly sting to get hit by them]

[hystericull]

[Gamzee took a ball of light to the face, and it snapped him out of his drunken rage long enough to slap at his now-singed cheek. What the fuck was that!? The lights were exploding everywhere, and every time they came in contact with him, they burst in a stinging burn against his skin.]

[Equius, if you aren't dealing with the same shit, yourself, it would be a good opportunity to catch him off guard.]

[geometry]

[He wasn't, actually. Unless this is one of those attacks where Wriggle shoots bullets in all directions, not just in front of her, but the mun didn't even play Imperishable Night, so who even knows. In light of that, upon realizing that Gamzee had other things to deal with, Equius promptly went for the first attack he could think of — a full-body tackle. It wasn't as if Gamzee was much taller or heavier than him, after all...]

[wrigurun]

[Having to act so quickly she didn't have time for a spellcard and simply shot what was in front of her. Honestly she didn't know how people could fight like that without spellcards, she just didn't have the physical strength or the reflexes. It was so surreal to see this boy that she thought was afraid of his own shadow go in with such a surge of energy.

It was also kind of... Humiliating? Demoralizing? Wriggle had wanted to protect this person because she thought he couldn't fend for himself yet it seems like she wasn't needed at all. Pressing herself against the wall and out of the way she watched the on-going brawl, wondering what she should do]

[hystericull]

[Gamzee took the tackle head-on, totally defenseless and unprepared. With a loud, pained growl, he got knocked off-balance, and he and Equius fell to the floor. It was a long drop, and he didn't let the slam of the back of his head against the metal ground stun him for too long. Utilizing what he could of the shock and numbness in his skull, he threw his head forward, intending to clock it sharply against Equius' forehead. If he didn't connect, prepare to have those nasty fangs biting and tearing at any skin available.]

[To Wriggle, it would have probably been more like animals fighting, than anything remotely human. Gamzee alone was snarling, growling, tearing away with claws and teeth and bleeding from everywhere Equius had managed to hit or cut him. He wasn't going to stop as long as there was a yellowblood wailing on him. But, for fuck's sake, you protected Equius - HE'S ON THE FUCKING GROUND WHERE THE FUCK IS HIS LOVE, YOU BITCH!?]

[geometry]

[At the end of the day, even the weakest-willed troll is still a troll, and all trolls have primal reflexes. Some of them are just better at accepting that fact than others; Equius was not one of those people. Times like this were pretty much the only time he acted like a Real Troll at all. Case in point: the loud, screeching howl he emitted when Gamzee rammed him in the head. Motherfucker, that hurt! He responds without thinking or seeing anything of where Gamzee was, but due to their... compromising position, it wasn't as if there were many places that errant limbs could be.]

[Ever seen a cat fight, Wriggle? As in, a fight between two angry cats? That is pretty much exactly what this is.]

[wrigurun]

[This wasn't anything like the fights she'd been in at home. There was no elegance, no artistic flourish in the intimidation and no sense of order. She still stayed, pressed to the wall and slowly becoming a little more fearful with each blow. This wasn't a duel, they were in it for the kill]

S-stop, both of you! Please stop fighting...

[Wriggle didn't want to see either of them dead but her pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears. She couldn't sit idly by and watch them tear each other throats out. If she wanted to get their attention she'd have to use another way. Reaching into the front pocket of her blouse she pulled out what looked like a small card]

Lamp Sign "Firefly Phenomena"!

[Around her those lights started to swirl again, this time in blue and green. It wasn't the most powerful of attacks but she needed something to get their attention and hopefully break up the fighting for now]

i let that loop like three times before realizing it was looping

[hystericull]

[Gamzee's mouth was stretched open, intent on taking a huge chunk of flesh out of Equius' neck. What he didn't intend was to get a burning burst of light in his mouth, instead. The shock and sudden rush of pain from his singed mouth dragged a startled, angry honk from his throat, and he jerked backwards.]

[All around the two boys danced dangerous, brightly-colored little balls of anguish, popping against their skin and searing each fleshy contact point.]

[Gamzee scrambled back in desperation, rushing to distance himself from the range of the attack. The lights spread out the farther they went, and he managed to wedge himself between a few of them as he moved backwards and away from Equius.]

Touhou music, man.

[geometry]

[Equius will never get over the fact that Gamzee honked in surprise. Or honked at all. It was such an ugly noise... and he did it seemingly in place of yelping. That was kind of gross. But, then, what about Gamzee wasn't kind of gross? These thoughts and others were nowhere near flying through Equius Zahhak's head as the spell card activated, and the bullets were enough incentive to get him away from the whole scene. Was this some kind of weird chucklevoodoo magic? Why would Gamzee utilize it at a time like this?]

[It took him quite a while to realize that there was actually a pattern to the lights, but if he moved backwards they were easier to dodge. He was never really very good at Trollhou.]

[wrigurun]

[With enough space between them she 'stood' (floated about three feet in the air to make herself look more intimidating), arms stretched out and palms flat as a clear sign to stop. Looking between the two she certainly didn't look pleased]

Stop fighting! I mean it!

There's no point in killing each other, if you want to kill someone save it for someone that matters!

I don't want either of you to die...

[The normally over enthusiastic and unrealistic Wriggle seemed almost reasonable for once]

[hystericull]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[That was a good one. And the laughter that sounded suspiciously similar to his earlier honk of surprise was anything but kind.]

Ain't no one in this fuckin' shitstain of a place what's motherfuckin' someone what matters.

[Gamzee dusted himself off, springing to his feet.]

GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY MOTHERFUCKIN' WAY BEFORE I TEAR THEM FUCKIN' SCRAWNY-ASS ARMS YOURS OUT UP THEY MOTHERFUCKIN' SOCKETS.

[geometry]

Shut the fuck up!

[Equius is now shouting across the bullets at Gamzee. He's not very pleased that Wriggle thinks she can just step in to other people's business like this, but at the same time, he really doesn't appreciate it when people start to trash-talk or threaten her. It seems that for now, the Nightbug intervention has managed to stop him from jumping back into a brawl, but it doesn't mean that he can't just scream from far away.]

[And then he turns on the youkai.] Wriggle, get out of here! This isn't your business!

[wrigurun]

You wouldn't dare!

[A small number of lights seemed to materialize around her in anticipation, a little larger than the other ones and somehow less solid. With the tensions running high it was only natural that she'd become more agitated too. Gamzee was the most dangerous in her eyes and she tried not to let him out of her sight, bar a quick glance back at Equius]

Shut-up! If it wasn't my business then you wouldn't have shown it to the tower and it wouldn't have been my fault he killed you last time!

[hystericull]

[Using the glance to Equius as an advantage, Gamzee stepped forward. He was surprisingly swift, for someone so dopey. In a blur of black, his arm reached out, seizing the wiggling bug by a wrist and yanking her forward. Wouldn't dare his ass.]

[This was bullshit. This little bitch wasn't getting in the way of him killing the pissblood, and if she insisted on being a hindrance, she was going to die, as well.]

I'LL FUCKING KILL BOTH YOUR MOTHERFUCKING ASSES!

[geometry]

getoFFOFHER!

[That was... hmm. What even was that? Equius wasn't really concentrated on being easy to understand right now, let's be real.]

[What he was concentrated on was rushing forward to get Gamzee's arm off of Wriggle. Which in this case turns out to be via a full-body tackle. That... okay. That happened.]

[wrigurun]

[As instinctual as ever one of the balls of light burst into several smaller bullets as Gamzee grabbed her arm. She struggled and pulled, kicking at him with her legs. Knowing she was least accessible in the air she tried pulling upwards, anything to get away. She wasn't going to die, she knew that much but if this fight wasn't going to stop without someone getting killed she didn't know what to do]

[hystericull]

[Flying backwards again while simultaneously hanging on to a flying bug girl was not what he had in mind for today. But, as with any other day, it was full of surprises. Gamzee took a dive again, landing square on his back, followed by a heap of yellowblood and then a thud of insect loli. The air in his lungs was not a thing that was existent right now.]

[From banging his head back against the floor, the blood that had clotted in his nose began flowing again. It streamed across his cheeks and down the back of his throat until all he could do was cough and sputter it everywhere.]

[There were burning lights and fatasses on top of him and blood and spit spraying from his mouth and oh my fucking god did he just want to destroy everything right now.]

[geometry]

[That was exactly what Equius needed on his face right now, indigo blood/spit. Thank you, Gamzee. Please accept this unholy banshee-caliber shriek as a token of his thanks. It only prompted him to thrash more, though, which meant that in the long run there were more limbs flailing at the Capritroll's skin, and a lot of screaming right in his face besides. So maybe you should have kept that gift to yourself, eh?]

[He doesn't really care what Wriggle does at this point. Equius is vaguely aware that there's something on top of him and it's not Gamzee because Gamzee is below him, but maybe this will convince her to get the fuck off.]

[wrigurun]

[All she can do is register the struggling and thrashing below her. Instinctively she hovers up to get away, except something clicks in her head and she pushed back down again]

This is getting stupid! Just give it a rest already!

I'm not letting you two go until you do!

[Whatever force she uses to fly she used to try and push the two against the ground. She isn't the strongest of beings but hopefully that little extra power she can use to propel herself is enough]

[hystericull]

[This situation was going from fucking retarded to impossibly absurd in a matter of seconds. As much as Gamzee loathed Equius to the point where it passed any sort of sexual connotations and delved right into the "I actually wish you were dead" territory, being sat on by a fucking bug girl was not the way he would have chosen this altercation to go down. He was perfectly fine with the bloodbath it was before.]

[However, this was fucking stupid, and he was outtie.]

[Throwing his arms past Equius to try and get a slap or hold or smack or whatever the fuck at Wriggle, Gamzee let out a shriek of his own in exasperation.]

DO YOU FUCKIN' ACTUALLY BE THINKIN' YOU CAN MOTHERFUCKING TAKE ME!?

[Beneath them, he thrashed.]

fun fact: i nearly used a female pronoun for equius in this tag

[geometry]

STOP!!

[Oh, sorry, he's screaming into your face Gamzee because you screamed into his. That's just how it works bro. It looks like this yellowblood's poor, fragile psyche has finally cracked under the pressure of a tiny flying bug girl and a six-foot-tall indigo whose hair weighs more than the rest of him does. And also, uh, a six-foot-tall yellowblood whose hair weighs more than he does, but that's kind of there all the time so whatever.]

BOTH OF YOU GET OFF.

[Gamzee gets punched in the side of the head. Wriggle gets elbowed in the face. Equius needs his personal space ok]