Cherubplay

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Tucking his skirts beneath him as he sat, Tavros chirped a "Thanks, love!" before taking his tea and beginning to add the appropriate sweeteners. People were really taking an interest in them now; Gamzee was not at all barbaric or even somewhat nasty. He seemed well adjusted and kind, romantic in every sense of the word. One woman at a table not too far whispered to her friend, "The way he gazes upon Alice so sweetly is liable to give me cavities!"

2014-09-23 00:43:31
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Overhearing this, he couldn't exactly tell if it was positive or negative, but decided to take it positively. Tasting his tea delicately, he decided it was good on it's own, not needing milk or sugar. He really was most excited for the turnover though, and picked up the delicate silver fork to cut a small bite and taste it. He smiled at the taste, there /was/ maple mixed in, browning the top, and it hit off perfectly the slight tartness of the blueberries. "Tav, do you want to try a bite of this?" he asked his companion quietly, cutting another bite for the brownblood.

2014-09-23 00:59:00
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His mouth was full of peach bread at the time of the question, and he looked over, suddenly brought out of his thoughts. Tavros had been, mostly, just gazing around and looking at the decor, the painted ceiling and the striped wallpaper. After chewing and swallowing, he nodded eagerly, sipping his tea as a bit of a palate cleanser before cutting a bite of the bread onto his utensil for Gamzee, "Sure! Do you want to try mine? It is airy and sweet, it reminds me of that cake you made." He lifted the bite up and over the table towards Gamzee's lips, smiling widely. Their date was shaping up nicely, it seemed.

2014-09-23 01:08:37
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Taking a sip of his own tea so he could taste the confection properly, he took the bite delicately off the fork, chewing in contemplation as he offered Tavros the piece he'd cut for him. After a thorough chew and swallow he responded. "It is an awful lot like that cake, except peachy! It's really good... the texture is great too..." he drifted into ideas of new creations, still giving Tavros most of his attention. He didn't want to miss a thing this excursion was going so well. "Mine has a flakier texture, almost, with some heavier cake like elements. The maple is really delicate; I wonder how they got it that way..." he waited to see what the copper would think about it.

2014-09-23 01:22:45
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He opened his mouth to take the bite, and Tavros made a sound of delight, chewing and swallowing so he could talk properly, "That is just as delectable as you described. To think, people enjoy these lovely items on, a daily basis." Tavros reached across the table to take hold of Gamzee's hand, his attention being briefly turned to the window they were situated by. "Ah...it has begun snowing. How pretty!"

2014-09-23 11:04:20
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Gamzee glanced out the window, taking in the sight of large heavy flakes slowly floating down and sticking to the sidewalk. "...It is pretty...if we were somewhere else, and snowed enough, we could make snow trolls...It's good packing snow." Looking back at Tavros, he couldn't help the goofy in love gaze on his face at their fingers laced together. "And soon enough you'll get to enjoy sweets like this every morning. I can make small batches so you could try something new every day."

2014-09-23 12:55:11
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"Aw, you are so sweet to me," He beamed over at him, leaning across the table to plant a sweet kiss to his cheek, "I will have to do something wonderful for you, in return!" Tavros sat back again, taking a sip of his tea as he looked around and noticed a woman approach them. He tried to look as friendly as possible, though he was apprehensive. What if she was hostile? But she smiled some shyly and questioned, "Ah, excuse me, but I was wondering how long the two of you have been together? No one can believe that a high blood, much less Alice, could have such pure love with a violet..."

2014-09-23 19:49:09
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The purple across the table looked like he was about to burst with joy at the kiss, and was about to say that Tavros was wonderful enough just by himself and needn't do anything when the woman came over. He kind of looked away a little, fiddling with his teacup as he took small sips, not intending to answer himself. Tavros could if he wanted, but Gamzee didn't see how that was her business, and found it a little rude to be interrupted on their date just because people were curious. It was also a little rude, he thought, and was a bit tired of being a violet rather than just another troll. And because of that he figured she was probably just asking the copper in the first place. Also he wasn't all that sure. A few perigees, sure, maybe a month? He couldn't recall exactly.

2014-09-23 20:01:02
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"Today marks the month anniversary," Tavros answered, though even that was a rough estimate. He just assumed it was almost a month and kept it at that. He did not think the woman was particularly rude, just thought that, perhaps, that was how highbloods in Starnette acted. She probably didn't think that she had done anything wrong to begin with. She smiled widely, "Wow, congratulations! It is rare that something so pure would last a month. Well," She said her goodbyes with a curtsy, adding that she really did support the Alice mission and moved to her seat. Now it seemed that not only did the hemophobes approach them, but their supporters did, as well. Tavros peered over at Gamzee, nudging his feet beneath the table, "That was...interesting."

2014-09-23 20:23:11
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"...interestin', yeah." Gamzee looked back up to Tavros, smiling at his cute as fuck matesprit. He wasn't sure it was possible to stay upset with him around to light up the room. No, he wasn't totally in love or anything with those kinds of cliched cheesy thoughts, not a bit. It was just that some of the comments seemed somewhat backhanded to Gamzee... but maybe he was getting upset over nothing. Her intentions seemed harmless enough. Setting his teacup down, he took another bite of turnover, and cut another to offer Tavros. "Do you want another bite of this, or do you wanna stick to your peach bread?" he asked with a wider smile, getting back into the romantic swing of their date.

2014-09-23 20:38:46
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"No, this is fine," He answered, then paused, considered it, and shone a smile over at Gamzee, "Well. Maybe another one." Tavros was, mostly, just trying to push the woman's words out of his head. It bothered him plenty that he was sometimes regarded as somewhat of a celebrity and Gamzee was thought of as some kind of anomaly because he was with Tavros. The fact that he was usually called just 'the violet' or 'the purple' frustrated him - dehumanizing his matesprit, no matter how casual, wasn't something he supported in the slightest, and he made a mental note to correct the next person that did not call him by his actual name. It was annoying how no one else seemed to acknowledge all the wonderful traits encompassing his matesprit: the way he smiled, how his laughter could melt even the coldest hearts, how he was the pinnacle of politeness in nearly every situation...Tavros, truly, could see all the parts that everyone else overlooked.

2014-09-24 02:37:30
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He had nodded at Tavros's initial declination of a second bite, and grinned brightly at his change of mind, feeding the bite to the copperblood tenderly. His smile had him forgetting the woman easily, and when Tavros got to chewing with his happy face at the taste he couldn't resist leaning forward to give him a small peck on the cheek. Sitting back again, he took another bite of his pastry, squeezing the hand he held tenderly and scooting his leg forward so that their feet just touched under the table. Sipping at his tea, he switched between gazing at Tavros and glancing at the snow. "Glad we went out and did this today, it's nice to get out of the apartment for a little while."

2014-09-24 03:56:44
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He nodded eagerly, his face feeling warm at the kiss. Tavros could not dream of a better date for their supposed first month anniversary, which he wasn't entirely certain if it was true or not. A month just seemed like a good estimate, but he did wonder if he and Gamzee were taking things a little too quickly in what they were considering already. Tavros supposed that was mostly his own fault, but it had felt as though they had been together for much longer! When he stopped to think about it, it was much shorter and he mentally chastised himself for leading the relationship in such a way. Perhaps. He nudged his foot again under the table, "Me too! It is one thing to, uh, have a little date at the apartment, it is another thing entirely to actually go out and do something. "

2014-09-24 10:12:04
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"They both have their benefits, yea. I like 'em both." Gamzee didn't really have any issues with their seriousness. It was a little daunting occasionally, but the rest of the time there was an ease between them where it felt like either of them was fine with going slowly and waiting for the right moment for whatever turn of events. Though they might talk about serious things there seemed to be an understanding, even if it took some confused discussion to make sure, that the right time for actions upon the talk were in the indeterminable future.

Deciding he should try and make some conversation, Gamzee asked a question: "Do you do anything special for midwinter in Alternia?"

2014-09-24 15:38:46
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"Midwinter? Ah...I think now would be around the same time as, uh, 12th Perigees," Tavros reminisced some as he ate a bite of his peach bread, humming as he remembered, vaguely, his guardian coming home with a tiny present of some sort, or a pudding. They were poor, yes, but at least his guardian never made it out to be a bad thing. "I see some decorations around that are, uh, similar to that of Alternia's. Oh, but, to answer your question, yes! It is all about, umm...gift giving. Well, the feelings behind them, you know? To show the ones closest to you how much you care about them with something thoughtful. It is a time hallmarked by compassion and thoughtfulness that, uh. Is kind of not exactly potent in normal Alternian life."

2014-09-24 22:30:12
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Nodding along with the explanation, Gamzee sipped his tea and nibbled his food. "Pretty much the same then. Kind of surprising, all the parallels... you'd think a different world would be more different!" he grinned. "We give presents, too, and everyone loves to decorate, of course. And all the different foods and things... Sometimes people go around singin', but I dunno if they do that in Starnette." Gamzee hadn't bothered much with the holiday, not having reason to. "Do you think we should try doing something with the others? Or will it just make everything more stressful?" Gamzee mused, watching the snow fall. It was really coming down now, though there was no real wind so visibility wasn't horrible.

2014-09-24 22:40:01
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Tavros pressed his tea cup to his lips thoughtfully, wondering how well that would go. It could be nice to have a more familial setting implemented at the apartment, especially since the males and females had been so separated - they could, perhaps, even do something sweet for Tourna and Borina. But, at the same time, it wouldn't mean that anything they were doing would stop; between the festivities, they would be working, there would be no time to cease or have a vacation of sorts. "Ah...Perhaps we can have just one event? Something nice to celebrate, uh, our friendship."

2014-09-25 01:43:17
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"That sounds like a nice idea... what should we do? Presents will be too hard, since we can't get out much with all this crazy stuff going on. Maybe dinner? I know we always do dinner, but it's easiest since we can all sit and chat and eat together... unless you think it might just be too similar to everything else... gotta be at least a little special." Maybe he was just having an attack of self-consciousness, concerned food wouldn't be good enough, even if he made more of a feast than usual... he supposed it could be more of a smorgasbord of smaller things but more variety. "I dunno, Tavros...any ideas?" he looked up at him curiously.

2014-09-25 01:55:17
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"Hmm. I like the idea of a feast. In Alternia, we wrote down what we did not like about our life or wanted to change, on a tiny slip of paper, then burned them on a candle," It was a tradition that seemed strange when he said it aloud, and he sipped his tea before setting down the cup, "It symbolizes getting rid of negativity. I think it would really nice to have that incorporated in a nice evening with everyone."

2014-09-25 02:05:15
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Smiling, Gamzee nodded. "It sounds like a good thing to do; I think they'll like it. Helluva nice idea for a tradition." It seemed like such a Tavros-y activity; it was such a positive, hopeful action. He drank his tea and ate most of the rest of his turnover, not really having much else to say. In their silence he held Tavros's hand, petting gently with his thumb over what he could reach with soothing repetitiveness as they worked on finishing their tea and treats.

2014-09-25 02:21:35
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He questioned curiously, "What do the people in Wonderland do this time of sweep?" Tavros could tell that there were plenty of similarities in Alternian culture and Wonderlandian culture, but there had to have been key differences that he wanted to learn about. "Other than decorate, that is." Idly, he wondered what the orphans would get up to - they were such a fiery bunch, so rambunctious but sweet to one another, it was adorable. "Do you all pray to your ancestors?"

2014-09-25 02:32:34
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"You...huh? Pray to our ancestors? I dunno if that's done, I've never done it, and no one's ever talked to me about it... though I'm not the greatest source, you know... Normally if they're still alive I guess our families came over; it's something Ma always lamented over this time of year... Mostly we just ate food and get a few gifts, and play in the snow. My sweep traditions might be different than most though, since, well... You should ask the others what they do!" Gamzee would even if Tavros didn't. He was pretty interested in what they might get up to.

2014-09-25 02:38:30
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"Well, I meant more like the older ancestors, the ones that would have passed away long ago. The founding trolls of your surname," Now he felt mildly embarrassed; he supposed there were just some things that wouldn't exactly be parallel in the two worlds. Tavros would likely still pray to them for safety in those upcoming months, and burn a paper concerning his tendency to panic. The others probably had specific things they did as well; he could only imagine how different the holiday was in the Screechlands opposed to Starnette or Undlegire.

2014-09-25 09:16:00
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"Oooh, I see. I guess we don't remember the first troll... but there is this pantheon of creator gods... it's fallen out of practice I guess." Gamzee shrugged, but winked almost imperceptibly with a small smile, then said, "If I knew anything about them I'd tell you." He hoped Tavros understood that like he hoped, code for 'can't really talk about that here, but later'. Since they'd gotten rid of information pertaining to the twelve in the Smoke Sweeps, Gamzee didn't feel all that comfortable telling Tavros the legends in a public place like this. He was already an undesirable; if he also openly had old knowledge and stories he figured it would only make his situation worse.

2014-09-25 13:04:33
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Slowly, he nodded, coming to the understanding that Gamzee was intentionally leaving information out. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he was assuming that it was something that he couldn't just state while in the middle of the cafe. Tavros gave a little chirp of happiness regardless, leaning across the table again to kiss the tip of his nose, "You are so cute. I would love to talk much more about this with, Sollux and everyone else. Perhaps they know specifics?"

2014-09-25 20:49:42