carcinoGeneticist [CG] opened a text channel [021]

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TAVROS.
JOHN.
IF YOU TWO FUCKSTICKS THINK YOU'RE GOING ANYWHERE,
I WILL HUNT YOU THE FUCK DOWN
AND I WILL FESTOON THE ALIGNED PLANETS WITH YOUR INNARDS.
ARE WE FUCKING CLEAR HERE?

Comments

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LISTEN, IDIOT.

[But his fingers still over the keys. Is John really that upset? He's never seen the idiot look anything but overjoyed at everything. Or maybe a little annoyed and angry, but never upset.

When he types again, he's unsure of what he's writing.]

... SO YOU SAW ME LIKE THAT, HUH?

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['I tried to wake you.'

Karkat knew what that meant, and he wasn't sure if it made him humiliated or thankful or - or anything. But John had done that. He'd leaned down and kissed Karkat's bloody mouth right above his stupid, mangled neck, despite his whole 'not a homosexual' thing. He'd tried to help out, and Karkat couldn't begin to imagine the helplessness of trying that and having it not work. In the future, with Kanaya, he'll understand it perfectly, of course.

He can't tear into him right now.]

SROP BLUBBERING AND GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE, JOHN.

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... OH.

[He closes the feed off and crossed to the door, yanking it open to reveal John.]

... Shit. You look awful.

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What the fuck -!

[Karkat wasn't a touchy-feely kind of person. He didn't usually initiate contact. Someone had to get into his personal bubble and thouroughly trash it. Terezi could do it. And John? John just did exactly that.

His initial reaction was to step back. His hands came up and stayed, uselessly, in the air around John's sides.

But the contact felt nice. Good. And he was lonely, dammit. He was lonely and when he'd woken up in the infirmary he'd been so sick and - well, even scared, just a little. Well, more panicked. Blood wasn't his favourite thing, and remembering the way he'd licked up his and then gulped down Minako's had really twisted his gut. Literally and figuratively.

And now Yenyoji and Jade were gone, on top of Jr and Sollux and every other friend he'd sort of made here.

His hands settled around John's back, and he leans his head slightly against John's.]

You fucking sap...

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... I don't know.

[His grip on him is a little tighter, all of a sudden.]

Sometimes people come back. But there isn't any... reason to it. No reason or any shit like that.

[He shuts up, looking at the wall over John's shoulder. No Yenyoji. No Jr. No Jade, no Sollux, no Eridan, no Nepeta - hell, no Equius, Vriska, or Dave. They all left.

All he'd got from this place that was still here were some uncomfortable feelings about one girl, a livid scar across his face, and now a new one splattering across his neck. It was bullshit. This place was by no means worse than the Medium, no means worse than the Veil, but it felt hundreds of times lonlier, and hundreds of times more frustrating. At least there he'd had friends that he could count on not to leave - unless they died, but even still...

And all he had of that, here, was Tavros and John. And eve if he couldn't make himself act nice to them, even if he was too much of a prickly little shit to open up that much to them, he could at least not be such an asshole all the time

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[He lets go of John and steps back. Awkwardly, he rubs at the thick matt of scar tissue over his neck. Another one to add to the one across his face. Rubbing that one had become a tic and he didn't want it to be the same with this one, so he quickly moved his hand away again.]

I don't have any fucking intention to, idiot.

[He kicked out the chair at his desk and sat down on it, curving his back into its usual uncomfortable slouch. He kept his eyes on John.]

And... I won't fuck up again. Okay? Past me is an asshole. I don't want to be anything like that prick.

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[He stared at him a little longer, then shrugged.]

There's a bed in one of the other crofts. I'd let you use mine, but fuck if I want to see a human under sopor slime.

[In truth, he was relieved that John wanted to stay. It made keeping an eye on him easier and truthfully...

Well, truthfully he was just lonely. And John's presense was weirdly soothing, like some kind of balm or something. He nodded.]

Yeah. Just don't read my shit. That's private. [He jerks his thumb over his shoulder at the desk, where a lot of paper and scrawled notes and pretty detailed building plans are lying about the place.]