If I sleep,
you'll slip right by me.
If I don't dream,
then you won't find me.

He had taken to sleeping a lot, actually; something that rather surprised his friends who had grown used to his tendencies to hardly ever sleep, if he did at all. But Terezi was with Dave, now, and it had taken that blow for Karkat to realize that . . . he didn't really mind. If anything, he was happy for the blind-gazed friend of his. It was the fact that it had taken him this fucking long to realize his feelings didn't truly lie with Terezi that made him hate himself. All of this time Nepeta had dropped tiny hints - hints that he ignored back when he was blind and practically ignoring everything she said and did. And now she was dead - killed by his best friend, no less. And even though Gamzee regretted what he had done, it didn't . . . it didn't change anything. Nepeta was still dead, and Karkat was still left behind from everything he had ever really wanted in a matesprit.

What with how used to it he had grown, as of late, the Knight barely noticed when he drifted off into sleep, again. Blinking open his amber eyes, the figure of Nepeta was a few yards ahead of him. Cocking her head, a giggle slipped her lips as she waved, "Hi Karkitty!" At the sound of his nickname, Karkat actually didn't wince, as he formerly would have - and instead a flicker of a smile crossed his face before he shrugged, glaring off at the side in a vain attempt to keep up the not-really-caring act. "Yeah, yeah. Hey Nepeta. Sorry it took me a while."

"Hee hee - it's fine, Karkitty. Don't worry about it," the cat girl responded, the endings of her words heightening with the natural purr that she had long ago perfected. As Karkat approached, her attention remained fixed on him before abruptly flickering to the Derse sky, pointing at it with an outstretched hand, green jacket billowing around her wrist. "Karkitty - look!" She glanced at him as he looked up, tipping her head, "See? Even Derse has shooting stars - and my tower is the perfect view for it!" she purred, turning her attention back to the sky.

While Nepeta's attention was focused on the sky, a faint smile flickered across Karkat's face as he glanced over at her, attention drifting to focus on her as opposed to the sky. Hey, her gaze reflected it, after all - so that was close enough, right?

Feeling as though she was looked at, in which case she'd be right, Nepeta glanced over at Karkat, cocking her head as he swung his head away, a flicker of crimson crossing his cheeks at having been caught staring. Another light laugh slipped Nepeta's mouth as she kept her attention on him.

"Karkitty?"

"What?"

When she didn't speak back for a few moments, Karkat finally allowed his attention to drift back over to her curiously, wondering what it was she had been about to say. He was rewarded with a silent twinkling gaze from Nepeta, a grin still on her face, as she shook her head slightly. Leaning forward, Nepeta's lips met Karkat's, as the latter forced back a furious onset of cherry-red blossomed on his cheeks, a color that remained there for several moments after the feline-esque troll pulled away.

"Happy twelth perigree's eve, Karkitty."

And I'll forget the world that I knew,
when I'm reunited with you.
Oh, if my voice could reach back through the past,
I'd whisper in your ear; Nepeta, I'll always be here.