(Untitled)

[golden_lyre]

Autumn, in Orpheus' opinion, is better than winter, though only slightly. The days are not as short as they will be, but sunlight is still more difficult to come by than he likes.

Still, there are things to celebrate, and though he often drifts into melancholy, he's been feeling a bit more upbeat lately. The presence of a certain god of music in

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[crabbycustomer]

It is attracting crabs. Well, one crab. It's about two inches wide and black, but its legs are bright orange, like a pumpkin. It scrambles, sideways, as crabs do, towards the music. Well, vibrations, anyway. It's a crab.

Karkat will miss it in a second.

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus is quite used to attracting animals with his music, though this may well be the first time he's attracted a crab.

He watches in amusement as it draws nearer.

[crabbycustomer]

When it gets close enough to detect him as a much larger animal, rather than a distant mountain where the noise comes from, it hesitates, drawn by the music and affronted by the presence of a giant. It temporizes by squatting and raising its violet claws over its head in a challenge.

"GODDAMMIT BIRGUS, YOU SHITHEAD." On a distant sofa, Karkat looks up from his ~ath text and realizes he's misplaced his crabhat.

The kid that approaches to scoop up the crustacean is young, thirteen or so if he was human, which he's not; grey skin, with nubby horns the same color as the crab's legs poking out of hair that looks like it has never seen a comb. He grabs the crab, then hesitates himself, scowling at the music with his eyes narrowed yellow slits.

It's sort of a resemblance.

[golden_lyre]

Between Orpheus' own background and his time in Milliways, he's hardly surprised by the in human qualities. He smiles up at the kid, still playing distractedly.

"Friend of yours?"

[crabbycustomer]

Friend is a term Karkat likes better than pet, especially in light of the unwelcome memories the song stirs up, so that mollifies him. "YEAH. BIRGUS." Birgus shows his appreciation for the mysterious emotion of crab friendship by pinching Karkat's fingers halfheartedly.

[golden_lyre]

"He seems a good companion."

And now Orpheus is mentally composing what he's already calling 'Birgus' Tune'.

[crabbycustomer]

"HE'S OKAY, I GUESS," Karkat says, in a way that is deeply suspicious. Both in the sense that he mistrusts... everything going on here, and in the way where it is completely obvious to everyone with a brain that he adores the little crab.

Birgus, for his part, gets bored with the pinching and begins to scale Mt. Karkat. He wobbles but is not dislodged by an intensely awkward shrug. "I LIKE CRABS."

The song has woken up thoughts of Phorcytes, Karkat's (equally crabby) Guardian, that are not going to go back to sleep easily. There are harmonics.

[golden_lyre]

"So I see."

Nodding to the kid's shirt, he says, "Cancer? Your sign?"

[crabbycustomer]

"WHAT'S THAT ABOUT CANCER?" Karkat says, sharply.

[golden_lyre]

"Is it the sign you were born under?"

[crabbycustomer]

"CANCER'S NOT A SIGN, NUMPNUTS. IT'S A DISEASE."

He gestures, in turn, at his shirt. "THIS IS MY CASTE SIGN."

[golden_lyre]

"It is a sign. It is also a disease. And it is hardly the only thing in the universe with multiple meanings.

"Tell me about your caste sign, if you will."

[crabbycustomer]

"IT IS MY CASTE SIGN. IT'S PART OF A HUGE ALPHABET OF SIGNS ASSIGNED TO TROLLS IN MY CASTE BASED ON THEIR GENETIC PROFILE AND USED AS A SORT OF UNIVERSAL ID CODE. THAT'S ABOUT ALL THERE IS TO IT."

"IF YOU ARE FROM EARTH YOU HAVE PROBABLY SEEN IT UP IN YOUR SKY AT NIGHT FOR REASONS THAT ARE KIND OF INVOLVED TO GET INTO AND NOBODY REALLY BELIEVES WHEN I TELL THEM ABOUT IT ANYWAY."

[golden_lyre]

"I am from Earth, and I have seen it in the sky many times, though I suspect I am not from your Earth, as I know very well why it is there and how it came to be so."

[crabbycustomer]

He folds his arms, radiating stubbornness. Birgus, meanwhile, has regained his position half-hidden in Karkat's hair, undermining him greatly. "WHAT HUMANS DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF THEIR REALITY IS DWARFED ONLY BY WHAT THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE."

"WHATEVER SERENDIPITOUS INTERNAL COURSE OF EVENTS, ASSUMABLY INVOLVING GIANT BALLS OF HYDROGEN, THAT LED TO OUR SIGNS BEING SCRAWLED ACROSS YOUR SKY FROM YOUR POINT OF VIEW, THEY WERE OUR SIGNS FIRST. IF I LIVE FOR A THOUSAND SWEEPS I WILL NEVER FORGET THE ENDLESS GODFORSAKEN ACRES OF FROG-HAUNTED SWAMP I HAD TO STOMP THROUGH TO GET THAT UNIVERSE RIGHT, AND FRANKLY I THINK I STILL FUCKED THINGS UP A LITTLE ON THE FINE DETAIL. MAYBE THAT IS WHY THERE ARE SO MANY ENDLESSLY FRAGMENTING AND VASTLY DIFFERENT TIMELINES OF IT."

[golden_lyre]

Orpheus arches an eyebrow, more than a little stubbornness on his side as well.

"Well, to begin with, I'm not human. And beyond that, I remember when Cancer was thrown into the heavens. Kicked, rather. In your world it may have been your sign first, but in mine, it was a creature of Earth before it was relegated to its current position."