A/N: I'm sure Terezi figured out Karkat's blood color in some innocuous way, but this was always how I pictured it going down.


s3cr3t

Her fingers hold his wrist in a grip like heretic's irons; he can feel her yellow nails digging into skin through his thick shirt sleeve.

"Terezi," Karkat hates himself just a little more for the anxious thread winding under his words.

"Shoosh, you," she grins and pulls her folding cane closer, it's metal segments and flexible inner cords pinning his other arm to his side. "I told you, Karkat: you can't keep secrets from me. The law won't allow it."

"Oh, come on!" his fingers twitch helplessly in her grasp. "That's just your dumbass RP pla-augh! Fuck, ow! Okay, okay, stop! Shit!"

Terezi loosens her fingers, a line of crescent indentations marring the gray skin on Karkat's wrist. Her grin widens, wickedly sharp teeth too close, her chalk-scented breath tickling his cheek.

"I guess I can do this the nice way," she muses. "But only if the accused refrains from speaking ill of the coolest person in all recorded history."

"Fine, whatever," he knows she can feel his disquiet, smell the faint whiff of uncertainty off his skin, but Karkat pretends otherwise. "Play your dumb game and get this big fucking secret out of me already so I can go."

"Aww, not having fun?"

She presses herself closer against his back, arms drawing tighter over his shoulders, her cheek brushing his. Karkat swallows hard and tries not to look at her as he breathes in her warmth.

"Being tied up by a blind lunatic is not my idea of fun."

"I'm having fun," Terezi's hair brushes along his cheek as she dips her head.

Karkat bites his lip, his fingers spasming involuntarily as her tongue slides against his neck. Her fangs graze his skin and a shiver courses through his body. Terezi makes an appreciative noise, inhaling deeply. Her breath is a cold shock on his wet skin when she lets it out.

"Well," she says as she straightens. "That was fun."

Without any further warning, Karkat finds himself staggering free. By the time he regains his balance, Terezi is sauntering away. He feels cold and hollow inside.

"T-Terezi!" he calls to her back, "What the fuck was that about?"

"Bye, Karkat," she waves without stopping or turning around.

He wraps his arms around himself and watches her go.