You're in your hive and just about to sign in to that awesome new game you and your friends have been talking about for ages.
Now you finally got your hands on it too and you just can't wait for the endless hours of fun you and your friends are sure to have once you start this game.
All that is left for you to do is to enter your name.
Your hand reach for the keyboard to do exactly that when you hesitate, suddenly feeling as if you had done it already and if it was the first step to the totally destruction of your peaceful world, with a future filled with hate and fear, where you're doomed to see your friends dying over and over again without being able to stop it.
You shake your head and chuckle slightly. What a stupid idea.
As if a game could do such a thing.
You reach out to finish typing in your name.
''Karkat!''
You almost fall off the chair and into the pile of horns one of your friends keeps forgetting at your hive.
''Who are you? And where did you come from?'' The smile of the boy who had suddenly appeared in your room falters.
You notice the odd tone of his skin, not gray but rather a weird tone of pink clashing, at least in your opinion and thanks to another one of your friends you think you know a bit about fashion, rather terrible with the blue of his clothes.
''You don't remember me Karkat?'' You just stare at him, confused why he keeps addressing you with that weird name. ''It kinda makes sense I guess since Rose said they would try to send me back as far as they could to find more about the origin of the games but I kinda hope you'd still remember me, you see since we will meet at one point and..'' The boy keeps on rambling, a fascinating stream of words, while you listen barley understanding half of them. He keeps repeating something about time and pesterchums and you're not quite sure that you can understand what that has to do with frogs and doomed time lines though you keep on listening.
Part of you thinks it's an awful story, just trashy as the romantic movies you love to watch.
Another part of you just thinks that it sounds awfully familiar.
Just like that name the boy keeps mentioning over and over.
''Who is that Karkat you're talking about?'' You interrupt him, with sudden curiosity. The boy just looks at you with a weird expression before he laughs.
''Oh, I totally forgot to check if you're Karkat or his ancestor.'' He laughes a bit louder. ''Rose even told me to check first if I'm talking with pre-scratch you or not, though I shouldn't tell you too much since it might mess up the time line or something like that.''
''Ancestor?'' Finally you have found a word that you're familiar with. You have heard great stories about the things your ancestor had done and you hope that at one point you can become just like him and help to create a better and more peaceful world, just like he did.
''Yeah, Karkat is gonna be pretty pissed that I got to meet you when Dave and Jade and Rose get me back.'' He laughs again and you decide that you rather like his laugh.
It's happy and carefree just like a breeze on a warm summer night.
''So yeah what you're doing.'' He smiles at you and you suddenly decide that you would share your game with him.
You turn back to your monitor and make gesture to it, hopeful to impress your maybe-soon-to-be friend with the flashing logo on it.
His smile doesn't change. ''Ah you're just about to play it.'' But the look in his eyes does. Becomes less happy, less worry-free.
''Why don't you wait a bit before staring the game?'' he asks you.
Puzzled you point towards the monitor, where the enter name is still visible under the logo.
His smile widens. ''Just for a bit. I know I can't keep you from playing it.'' And suddenly you realize that it isn't just sadness in his eyes. It's despair and for a moment his blue eyes are like a sky and the white of his eyes are clouds and you can see things in them, terrifying visions and images of a future in which you desperately wish he wasn't right about him being unable to stop you from playing.
''You can play later.'' he says.
The visions disappear as quickly as they had come and you're left with a feeling of emptiness.
You blink, before nodding. ''Yeah.'' you say, suddenly not feeling at all like playing the game anymore. ''It's a nice night.''
Your eyes lighten up. ''I could introduce you to my friends! They might be a bit pissed about not getting to play the game right now but I'm sure you will like them!''
Eagerly you turn to the door, stopping when you realize he isn't following you.
He is staring at the monitor and the logo of the game and if you could read him like an open book before you don't know what he is thinking now anymore and he opens his mouth as if to say something.
''You're coming?'' you say quickly, suddenly anxious, about what he might say. His mouth closes again and looks at you, blinking before smiling again. ''Yes, sure.'' He turns his back on the game logo.
''Let's go. I'd really like to meet your friends.''
And way later when all that is left for you to do is hoping the next players have more luck than you had, you wish you had let him say what he wanted to.