Written on 10/5/2025
Teen & Up, Jake English & GCATavrosprite Nitram
> Go back?Summary:
As time passes, the Creators continue to adjust to life on Earth C. Jake and Tavros can't help but feel out of place, though. Troubled, even though many of their troubles have already passed. Tired, even though nothing's actively tiring them. Even after enduring everything, the peace that they deserve doesn't come to them naturally.
It's not fair. After everything, things still aren't fair. Therefore, while figuring out how to continue living, they put it upon themselves to make it so.
> Be Jake English.
You are JAKE ENGLISH, and.. Whoooo boy, Christ alive. You don't show it, but you're exhausted! As fun as this festival thing is, it's definitely wearing you out. You wipe the sweat off your brow and readjust your shirt's collar, the bright Sun above beating down on you. It doesn't help that the weather's so sunny, lately, either.
As you reach for the miniature electric fan perched on your booth— just a grab away —one of your many adoring fans grin wide as they wrap their arms around you and GCATavrosprite's shoulders, and you reflexively smile and pose for the photo. The desire for a cool breeze slips your mind, as you stay still for a second— flash, and the photo's over. It was pure instinct, at this point.
The fan lets go of you both, and squeals with joy once the photographer hands the photo to them.
You take a pen out of your pocket, and write your signature— a grandiose, loopy thing; the kind that's limited edition and collectable —on the photo. You then hand the pen to Tavros, who looks at you with big, confused eyes. D'aww. His innocent confusion was so amusing to see, sometimes. Having just arrived to the grand event himself, he has no idea what's going on, but that doesn't stop someone like you from including him in the festivities.
The sprite grips the pen in his paws, and hesitates, before writing his signature— angular and Alternian. You know some Alternian characters, and you're pretty sure that the 'signature' was just a slightly fancier way of writing Tavros's full name, like cursive, instead of an actual attempt of what you consider to be a proper signature. Well, whatever works, works!
The fan's grin somehow gets wider, and they run off to show off their photo to the rest of the crowd. Another person happy and satisfied. You sigh. Whew! This celebrity thing sure is hard work. Tavros stares at the person as they leave, and places the pen onto your booth's table. He turns his head to you, and scratches the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.
Tavros nudges you in the shoulder with an uncontrollable grin, and you can't help but find yourself grinning back. Man, did you miss this guy.
You were a bit of a hypocrite with that comment, honestly. The teapot calling the kettle black. Both of you do look equally frazzled; Tavros's mohawk and fur has been growing out, blue hair now grazing his shoulders, and he hasn’t even had the time to change out of his work clothes! The poor thing.
You, on the other hand... You can already feel your gelled hair and carefully styled moustache beginning to grease. Your makeup (no, not like that! Just some foundation, contour, and the such) mixing with your sweat and slowly melting. Your button-up starting to cling to your skin... Eugh!!
To put it simply, you feel underdressed and gross. At least Tavros as an excuse to be such, he was just strangely lucky that way.
You wait in suspense as Tavros takes his phone out from his work apron's front pouch, and taps to get to his digital calendar and messaging app to compare dates. Not knowing what else to do with them, you rest your hands in your trousers' pockets.
Forgetting to contact or hang out with your friends was a common occurrence with you— starting when you were young and well into now, now that you're 19. It was a poor habit that you never really grew out of. It wasn't your fault, apparently, recalling when the doctor said that having things slip your mind was a common symptom of brain injuries, but you can't help but feel bad.
Hands up in a placating gesture as you go on and on, before you could continue rambling in an attempt to save your hide, Tavros cuts you off, putting a friendly paw on your shoulder. Right, right. You don't have to defend yourself when it comes to this guy. Tavros is just that unconditionally and unapologetically understanding. It's one of the many reasons why you hang out with him.
A group of fans approach you, one of the members —giving you an enthusiastic wave. You mentally sigh. Welp! Here we go again. But then Tavros takes one look at you, to the group, and gives them a dismissing wave in response to their enthusiasm. Oh dear.
Tavros puts a paw over your mouth, stopping your verbal train of bullshit in its tracks. Darn it! Your plans, foiled again!
Despite your protests, made after you pried Tavros's paw off your face, you can only watch as they mutter to their dismayed friends, and promptly walk away. Noooo!
With a dramatic sigh as you surrender to the troll's whims, you allow yourself to be ushered away from your beloved booth.
==>
You continue to murmur, resting your head on the cafe's table, your cup of vanilla ice cream beside you starting to slowly melt. It almost feels practiced, rehearsed. You've done this before, of course; most of your hangouts with Tavros end up like this, catching up until it devolves to you rambling about your day and your mushy feelings. It felt repetitive in that way.
...Too repetitive, perhaps. You try not to feel guilty about it. Er, sometimes you have to try to feel guilty about it, but not now. After and during long days like these, the guilt and self-doubt tends to come naturally.
From the corner of your eye, you see Tavros take a sip from his milkshake, before reassuringly patting your back. This is repetitive, too, just another part of the scene you both regularly play out. Tavros, however, doesn't mind playing along with this, with you and your antics overall. A lot of people don't mind (your dear lifelong friends come to mind), but Tavros takes pride in it. That's what made him different.
Tavros says, keeping his attention on you, eye contact and all, even putting his milkshake down on the table. Your iconic grin has faded away a while ago, to a more neutral look, but Tavros keeps on smiling. It's like his default face or something.
Gosh, he makes everything sound so simple, too. As horrendous the thought is, sometimes you wish you could yell and knock some sense into his head— Give him the same painful thoughts, self-judgement, and standards you put on yourself. But you wouldn't do that, no, no. The troll's been through enough.
Plus, sometimes he has a point in his simplicity! Sometimes you really are just a crazed over-thinker, or under-thinker, for that matter. Things slip your mind too easily, and you end up doing so much just to compensate. You try to act normal, you try to be the best version of yourself, you try to keep things in order, and you stall for time. It's what you've been doing for most of your life, it's what you're doing right now, by staying silent and thinking.
You need something to change! You need spontaneity!! And a break from your adoring fanbase!!! So, you raise your head from the table, and look Tavros in the eyes.
The question arises from your throat, a small smile beginning to form on your face. Tavros only looks at you, curiously.
About to end your tirade, you blurt out the offer, and Tavros's eyes widen just a bit in surprise. Yikes. You're a bit surprised at that too, honestly! Just look at you, inviting a guy to live with you out of nowhere. You don't even have your own place yet— you've been living in the same damn house the Can Town residents made for you and your friends years ago —and here you are!
It was weird, yet you can't seem to bring yourself to feel bad about it. You do need the spontaneity, after all. Less stalling, more action, and the such. Tavros takes a sip from his milkshake, expecting you to say more. But you don't.
You watch the corners of his mouth lift up from that, clearly flattered, but he doesn't say anything just yet. He's still thinking, it seems. You decide to stay quiet. You give him the time to think.
As the sprite trails off, his eyes drift away from you and to the cafe's interior. He's got this unsure expression on his face. Definitely not embarrassed or anything, though, more like he's trying to figure out what to say or do, with his eyebrows knit together and the corners of his mouth going downwards.
He's stalling for time, just like you do. Possibly for a good reason, too. This must be very, very strange to him— to a troll. You think you might be crossing a line of some sorts, just from asking him to live with you.. Ugh. You try to not think of the implications.
Tavros shakes his head, long hair swishing with the movement, bringing his arms to the table, meeting your gaze yet again. He looks less confused now and much more willing to listen, but he doesn't say anything else.
That short silence starts to get to you, as you finally lack the right words to say. Well, shit! The tables have turned, now you're the one feeling unsure! Do you egg him on, or retract your offer? You can't say. You don't know. You respect this guy far too much to test him and his willingness like that. So, you ask for an answer.
The troll helpfully replies back, looking a lot less worried than you're currently feeling. Right, right. You don't get answers from Tavros, he's just not that kind of guy. He'd rather gently guide you to them, by frequently giving back maybe's in response to your should-I's and should-I-not's. It's either how he really was, or that accursed cryptic sprite programming affecting him.
Not to say that you hate it! Those traits of him were fine, of course, but god, did it make these things such a pain. Oh well.
You lean onto the table, towards Tavros, and you point to yourself. You go silent, looking your friend dead in the eyes, and you allow him to think. The conversation dies down for a second, two, three, then four, until Tavros finds it himself to snicker.
He nods to emphasize his words, and you snap your fingers as you lean back in your chair. There we go! Hook, line, and sinker, this one!
You'll need to do a lot to prepare for the move— whenever that'll actually happen. You need to gather the funds, check out some places with Tavros, announce your hiatus, but that hardly matters right now. You feel high. A high only achieved from the thrill of on-the-spot decisions and adventure.
Oh boy, adventure! It's been a while since you've gone on one yourself, but damn, this felt like one.