He lays on the couch, head resting on her lap with an avalanche of blankets between them. Their fingers remain intertwined as she looks over her law books, leaving colorful notes between the paragraphs for herself. The television flickers on and off with varying colors, but the sound is muted and neither are paying it much attention. He stares at the ceiling as his mind starts to wander, and he holds her hand a bit tighter.
"What?" she asks, as if stating a fact.
"What do you mean, what?"
"Oh, give it up. You squeezed my hand. What is it?"
"Not every little change of grip means that I —"
She pushes the law books off the couch and turns off the TV.
"I thought after all we went through last semester that this wasn't going to happen again." She folds her arms across her chest while maintaining and strengthening a grip on him.
"I was just…thinking. It's seriously nothing important."
She shoots him a look.
"…Terezi. Do you think there are other universes?"
"Oi, I stopped studying for this?"
He lays in utter silence until Terezi bops him on the head.
"Kidding! Gosh, I thought you knew I was a bag of sarcasm!"
"Well, Terezi, after all we went through last semester —" he mocks.
"Just finish your thought about other universes so I can go back to cramming."
"Well, I mean like, what if we lived alternate lives or something? Or the same ones with different results? Like a bunch of different scenarios? Gah, this probably doesn't make any sense to you."
She gives a curt nod, "It makes sense."
She gets up from the couch, dragging Karkat with her.
"Where are we going?"
"On an adventure."
She pulls him into their shared bedroom and shoves him onto the bed.
"Wha—"
"Shh!" she giggles, "You've had a long day. Just go to sleep." She pulls the covers over him and is about to close the door when he calls her back.
"Wait!" he gets up on his elbows, "I told you I was going to stay up with you this time and I meant it —"
"I know what you said, Karkat. But please, make this easier on both of us. Get some sleep."
"Was this because of the alternate universe thing?"
"What answer will make you go to sleep?"
"None of them, it's a trick question."
"I'm shutting the door now, alright?"
"Fine. Do what you want."
"Sleep tight." She closes the door.
"Don't let the crazy, aspiring lawyers bite."
"Terezi! Are you done in there? We have to leave soon! Kanaya has been planning this dinner for a solid month, we can't be late!"
She inspects herself in the mirror one last time, perusing her appearance for anything that would be unacceptable at the heiress's banquet.
She finds a lot.
Her hair hasn't been brushed in forever, there are bags around her eyes from lack of sleep, Kanaya's going to have a fit once she sees how terrible the dress she made looks on her, and she can't find her glasses anywhere.
She's also hiding mutant red blood under that thick skin of hers, and if anyone where to know, she'd be culled on the spot. Why she even has any friends to begin with is a mystery better left unsolved.
"Have you seen my glasses?!" she does a thorough once-over of the bathroom again, just in case she left them in the hamper or something.
After a while of searching, her tealblood friend calls back,
"Found them!"
She rushes down the stairs to the front door, where Karkat holds her teal-tinted glasses.
She puts them on in haste, and the two of them are out the door.
The heiress, to Terezi's surprise, actually compliments her on how well she pulls the dress off, and has a bone to pick with Karkat's selection. As she drills basic concepts of fashion into his thinkpan, she wanders off towards the food.
"Hey, Tereziiiiiiii!"
"Oh." She can feel her face physically relax, "Hey, Vriska. Cool party Kanaya put together, don't you think?"
"Yup! But honestly, I could say that about any party that has free food. The decorations are nice, I guess."
"She went out of her way to make it caste-friendly."
"Yeah, there's a diorama in every color." The maroonblood elbowed her, "You don't have to say anything, just sit at whatever table is yours."
"Vriska, for the last time —"
"I know, I know, you're never telling anyone. But in this scenario, you're not really telling anyone. You're just sitting at a table, it's completely harmless!"
"Don't you have Mister Gentle Giant to keep under control?"
Her eyes went wide.
"Be right back!"
If Terezi had working eyes to roll, she'd roll them.
With Vriska out of the picture for now, she hums to herself as she goes down the line, piling her plate as high as she can without attracting attention. As meddlesome as Miss Fussyfangs is, she at least has the right idea when it comes to food and parties.
Upon acquiring a mountain of hoarded goods, she goes back to find her escort.
"Hey, Kanaya. Do you know which way Karkat went?"
"I believe he's chatting with Nepeta by the drapes."
"Oh."
"That's not a very enthusiastic oh. Is something the matter? Do the drapes look bad? I swear I didn't mean —"
"No, it's fine. I'm fine. I have that problem with my lungs, remember?"
"How could I forget?"
"Yeah, well I'll just go get some fresh air."
She drops her plate off at one of the random tables set up and heads out to the balcony. She jumps from the railing up to the tilted platform of the roof and gives an angry sigh.
She knew this would happen. Anytime she tries to do anything, Nepeta always has to be there to ruin it for her. It's been this way since they were first hatched.
"Terecita! What are you doing up here?"
"Gamzee?" she sits up so fast, she nearly hits her head on her own knees, "What are you doing up here?"
"I think I just asked you that, sister."
"Yeah, but gentlemen first."
"Okay. As long as you promise to tell me right after."
"Sure thing, Gamz."
"If I go down there, I'm going to embarrass Kanaya like I always do."
"What? Gamz you are the least embarrassing troll I have ever met!"
"Yeah, but Kanaya's the heiress. She has a reputation to uphold and stuff. I feel like I'm ruining it through association."
"You're not ruining anything. Kanaya wouldn't go out with you if you were."
"But I think she only agreed to be my matesprit to prove a point to Equius."
"She agreed to be your matesprit because she cares about you."
"I guess maybe you have a semblance of a point."
"Just as long as I'm getting through that thick skull of yours."
"Now what's got you up here on the roof as of late, sister?"
"Nepeta." She sighs.
"Again? Terecita, you have got to stop comparing yourself to her."
"I can't help it. She's like this bizarre repellent for me to feel anything good."
"What?"
"That was poorly said, sorry. Like I guess she doesn't do anything to make me upset on purpose, but every time we're in the same room…"
"It's this yucky feeling all infesting your bloodpusher?"
"Exactly."
"I feel ya. I know you're the wrong person to tell this to, since she is your moirail, but I feel that way around Vriska."
"Why? Because she's good at games?"
"Because I think Kanaya likes her more than me."
"Kanaya and Vriska are just good friends, they go way back. But I can promise you that closeness is not anything threatening your relationship."
"Well then can't I say the same for you and Karkat?"
"No. We don't have a relationship, not really. And we're never going to have one because he likes Nepeta better."
"That's not true."
Terezi gives a howl, "This conversation isn't going anywhere, you'll accuse your matesprit of not liking you, and I'll deny that, and I'll accuse my flushcrush of not liking me, and you'll deny that, we're just going in circles here."
"Not if we both go down there together."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Sure if you're sure."
"Well alright then."
Together, they renter the party, mixing with the diverse crowd.
"Gamzee."
"Kanaya."
"Where have you been?"
"Me and Terecita were just having a chat out in the fresh air."
"Oh," she narrows her eyes into slits at Terezi, "I bet you two had fun."
"Um, yeah, the scenery around this place is great." She scratches the back of her neck, "I'll be going now…"
She wanders over to where Nepeta and Karkat are talking, listening, but not daring to make a move toward them.
"And then I shot the whale RIGHT out of the sky!"
"Haha, that sounds pretty cool. But, um…it wasn't serving as a lusus for anyone was it…?"
"Probably."
"Oh." He says disappointedly, looking down at the glass in his hands.
"Not."
"What?"
"Probably not."
"Oh, well, I'll be honest, that's a relief."
"You know me," she playfully pushes his shoulder, "I would never do that to someone."
The purpleblood sees Terezi before Karkat does and adds, "I mean, not having a lusus would turn someone into a pariah, wouldn't it? Anyone who doesn't have one, or you know, one that's not hatched would be something below dirt."
She looks right at Terezi as she speaks.
"Well, I don't know about —" he turns to see what Nepeta's looking at, and his eyes catch on Terezi's fleeting form, "— that."
She runs to the balcony and scurries back up the roof.
She knew she shouldn't have gone down there with Gamzee. Well, she's glad he's over whatever funk he was in, but she herself shouldn't even be here. A mutantblood attending a dinner hosted by the empress-to-be? How many people would lose their lunch if they knew?
"Terezi?"
It was Karkat, looking around the balcony.
He finally spots her, in spite of her attempts at staying as still as the night air.
"Terezi, what are you doing up there?"
"Oh, you know, hanging."
"Well, come down. I want to talk to you."
"Nah."
"Nah? Look, I understand if you're mad at me. I'm sorry, whatever it is I did, I'm really sorry. But you've avoided me this entire night, and I think I deserve to know why."
"What are you talking about, I haven't been avoiding you."
"No? There is an abandoned plate of food, and Gamzee can testify that it was you who left it there."
"I'm just not hungry. And you know about my lung condition."
"If you weren't feeling well, you could've just told me. I would've been happy to take you back to your hive."
"Yeah, where my unhatched lusus is?"
"You heard that."
"Yeah."
"Well, Nepeta's a seadweller, she has problems connecting with trolls out of her own caste."
"She doesn't seem to have a problem connecting with you."
"Because I'm a good friend!"
"You two seem like more than friends, if you ask me!"
"Well, if that's the way you feel, maybe I should ask her to be my matesprit!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!" and with that, he storms back into party, slamming the door behind him.
Terezi buries her head in her hands and curses herself.
It had taken months of pep talks from Kanaya and Gamzee, and weeks of telling himself that he could do it, but today all of that is finally going to pay off.
Karkat is going to ask her to marry him.
Sure, they've only been on a couple group dates, but from the moment he had met a certain Terezi Pyrope, he was adamant about having her hand.
He had picked out the ring and the spot, all he had to do was get her away from the rest of their friends and pop the question.
He could do this.
He could do this one thing and his whole life would finally have some meaning.
"Hey, Terezi, can I talk to you for a second?"
"Sure thing, Karkat, what is it?"
"I —" he reached into his pocket and fished for the ring.
But it wasn't there.
His fingers groped fruitlessly around in his pockets, panic setting into his mind.
Where was the ring?
"Hey, Tz."
"Yeah, Dave?"
Karkat watched on in horror as Dave got down on one knee.
"Dave, what are you —"
"Tz, you are the coolest girl I've ever met, and I've had a lot of fun these past few weeks. So will you do the honor of marrying me?"
"Yes!" she cackled.
Karkat ran back to the parking garage. He sat in the corner of the structure, dragged his knees to his chest and cursed himself.
The carriage rattles like a shivering skeleton as it traverses the country side. Terezi and her betrothed sit across from each other in the most uncomfortable silence imaginable. She smooths the silky, teal fabric of her dress and wishes more than anything for it to be rags. She wishes for the sweet freedom of peasantry, with no expectations or forced marriages and the ability to travel the world without anyone's say so.
Of course, she realizes the drawbacks of her one true desire, but with what false happiness money can buy, she is not satisfied. She wants one thing, and one thing only.
To call off her marriage.
"I'm sorry." Her soon-to-be-husband says as the horses go over another bump in the road.
"It's not your fault, Equius." She tries to smile, but it amounts to a less-than-soothing mess of sharp teeth and chapped lips and nonexistent hope.
"I know what it's like," He confesses through a tightened jaw, "to be in love with a servant."
Terezi sharply inhales through her nose.
"Who told you about that?"
"It's not that hard to piece together. Most girls have female personal servants, who change throughout their lifetime. You've stuck to one since you were of age."
"What can I say? I may be crazy, but at least I'm consistent."
"We could hire him and my servant to come with us when we move away."
"It's not the same." She whispers, turning to stare out the window.
The green hills swirl past her and the blue sky twists and bends around the openings in the horizons as the words reverberate through her skull.
It's not the same.
She wants to marry Karkat, fair and square. She wants to be walked down the aisle and into his arms and she wants to say vows and giggle with happiness as he slides the ring across her finger and she wants to hear him say I do with that breathlessness he always does when he talks about them getting married someday, and she wants to dance with him afterwards at a reception with all of their friends and do toasts and take off for their honeymoon in an adequate carriage and go where they can finally be alone, truly, and she just wants to kiss him one good time when they both don't have fear in their eyes from the risk of being caught.
Anything less wouldn't be fair to her or to the boy who's already given up his life for her.
Karkat, after all he's been through, deserves a wedding like the one he's always imagined. She hates that he'll never get it.
There once was a boy who fell in love with a goddess.
She was beautiful and unique and he loved every off-kilter thing about her. But all of the other gods and goddesses didn't understand her quirky beauty, or perhaps felt threatened by it, he had assumed, and mocked her talents and her individuality, making her feel as if her strongest features were things to be ashamed of.
Now, he was just a lowly human, and his opinion meant nothing when compared to that of the god's. But he screams into the clouds words that she needs to hear, regardless of what gods may scoff at his naivety.
He stares up at her from below and he loves her so much, but he can only look up, and she can only look down.
His words make her feel better. She has enough courage to stand up for herself.
She has enough courage to go after another god whom she loves.
And it turns out he likes her too.
The boy curses himself for thinking that his words might have made him noticed by the goddess, let alone be loved by her.
He's glad she's happy, that his words had at least some effect, but it still hurts.
For a moment he had forgotten that she was a goddess and he was the scum of the Earth, for a moment he had forgotten that he had no chance, that his fate was out of his own hands.
And there was nothing he could do.
In the morning she awoke to him pushing a hot mug of coffee into her hand.
"Ugh, mom, five minutes, please."
"Oh, you wish I was your mom." He rips the blankets off of her lap, which jostles the coffee in her hand, "Your mom would've let you sleep in."
"Yeah, but my mom wouldn't have done the laundry or made me coffee or tried to stay up with me while I cram." She gives him a butterfly kiss before getting up.
"Yes, thank you, I am a better roommate than your mother. Consider me beyond flattered."
She giggles because she knows, despite the sarcasm, that he is.
"You know," she drawls, sitting down at the mini-kitchen table, "After you fell asleep, I started thinking about that alternate universe idea you had."
"Oh?" he hands her a plate filled with bacon and eggs and sits down next to her with his own.
"Yeah. I don't think I like the possibility. It scares me."
"Hey, it's fine, it's just a hypothetical."
She cups her hands around her cheeks and sighs.
"I don't like the idea of being separated from you."
"I don't like it either. In fact, I hate it. It would be the worst thing to ever happen to anyone ever."
"Eloquently put."
"Hey," he takes her hand in his, "I love you. And being anywhere but by your side is the most horrifying thought I could've ever devised."
She squeezes his hand.
"I love you, too, Karkat. And if my alternate versions can't see that, then they might as well not be able to see at all."