A/N: A gift for a friend. This takes place after everything has happened, however, I mixed it up a little. If you don't like it, don't comment. I can't tell you how many people are so serious about story timing and events. This is just a fic, yo. Use your imagination.
:-:
You've been at this shit for days now. There's no telling when a good strategy will decide to make its way to your think pan. In all honesty, things have been getting more and more intense, and you've had barely ANY time to think at all.
Almost everyone was either dead, close to dead, or mentally insane.
As if the end of all ends drawing nearer wasn't enough. Vriska seems to be pestering you on your husktop more than usual. It's nothing drastic or life threatening, though. Just the same witty and sarcastic remarks, as normal as they were for her, were nowhere NEAR normal for you.
You don't reject her, though. You know in times like this, everyone needs to be sticking together, and making sure that the number of trolls… and humans… left in this sick game were still alive and ready for any action, if a situation should happen to call for it. No matter how much of a fuckass she is, you know how it feels to be… insecure at times. If only things were back to…
Oh, look. Speaking of the queen spider bitch.
- arachndisGrip [AG] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] -
AG: Karkaaaaaaaat ::::)
CG: WONDER WHO THIS COULD BE.
AG: Wow I'm surprised!
AG: You didn't drone on for five minutes about my one-line message!
AG: Impressive! ;;;;)
CG: YOU SEEM IN A GOOD MOOD.
AG: Of course I'm in a good mood. Why Wouldn't I be?
AG: This game is fiiiiiiiinally starting to get interesting!
AG: Don't you think?
CG: INTERESTING. YEAH THAT'S ONE WAY TO PUT IT.
CG: IF YOUR GODAMN THINK PAN IS BROKEN.
CG: TRY A HELL HOLE THAT'S GOING TO SUCK US ALL IN TO ITS BOTTOMLESS NOTHINGNESS IF WE DON'T COME UP WITH A PLAN SOONER OR LATER.
CG: OR PERHAPS A POISONESS DESERT SITTING ITS ASS ON A SILVER PLATTER JUST WAITING FOR US TO COME ALONG AND EAT IT THEN DIE, NEVER KNOWING WHAT HIT US OR HOW THE FUCK WE COULD HAVE PREPARED FOR IT BETTER.
CG: INTERESTING. YEAH, THAT'S IT VRISKA. YOU HIT IT DEAD ON.
CG: MORE SO DEAD ON THEN THE RECONING WILL DO TO US SOON.
CG: SO FUCKING INTERESTING. DEATH SEEMES INTERESTING DOESN'T IT, VRISKA?
CG: SO INTERESTING THAT YOU WANT TO GET YOUR ASS OUT ON THE FIELD AS SOON AS POSIBLE, AND PROBABLY DIE WITH IN THE FIRST TEN MINUTES OF FIGHTING JACK NOIR, OR WHO EVER THE HELL ELSE WANTS TO KILL US.
CG: SO INTERESTING, I AM LITERALY ABOUT TO JUMP OUT OF MY CHAIR, LAND ON THE GROUND, AND START TO CRY TEARS OF JOY, BECAUSE DEATH IS SUCH AN INTERESTING THING TO EXPERIENCE, HUH?
CG: SO. FUCKING. INTERESTING.
AG: There's the rant I was looking for! See? I knew you could do it. ::::)
CG: UGH! THAT WASN'T MY FUCKING POINT!
CG: MY POINT IS, WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE SOONER OR LATER, AND I DON'T WANT YOU TO BE ONE OF THE FIRST ONES TO GO, FUCKASS!
CG: SO JUST SIT YOUR ASS ON THE GROUND AND SHOOSH! THERE'LL BE PLENTY OF FUCKING TIME TO KICK ASS LATER ON!
CG: WE JUST NEED TO FOCUS RIGHT NOW, OK!
AG: …..
CG: WHAT THE FUCK IS IT NOW?
AG: Karkat.
CG: WHAT.
AG: I never knew you cared about my wellbeing.
AG: It's nice to see that soooooooombody around here cares.
AG: And it's you of all trolls. ;;;;)
CG: OH
CG: OH GOD NO.
CG: NO NO NO NO!
CG: VRISKA DON'T YOU GET ANY FUCKING IDEAS, I SWEAR TO GOD!
CG: YOU'RE ONE OF THE ONLY TROLLS AROUND HERE THAT KNOWS HOW TO PUT UP A DECENT FIGHT.
CG: ANY OTHER VIAL THOUGHTS YOU HAVE SWARMING ARUND YOUR THINK PAN, YOU CAN FUCKING FORGET IT!
AG: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
AG: What did you think I was thinking? ::::/
CG: …
CG: NOTHING!
CG: JUST GET BACK TO…
CG: WHATEVER THE FUCK IT IS YOU WERE DOING.
CG: I HAVE LEADERSHIP STUFF TO DO.
AG: Karkaaaaaaaat! ::::/
CG: WHAT!
AG: …..
AG: 3
AG: ;;;;)
- arachndisGrip [AG] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] -
You have no idea what in the name of fucking god just happened right now.
Vriska is going a bit over the edge with this shit. As far as your concerned, the only reason why you should EVER type a "3" in trollian is when you're messaging your matesprit, right?
What is that spider bitch up to?
:-:
You just had the most wonderful time on trollian. Karkat must be swimming in a pool of his own frustration tears right now. You giggle at the thought of his pissed off face. He always looked so cute when he was pouty. However, the thought of him raging on about stuff annoyed you enough to rip your think pan out.
Oh well.
You make your way down the stairs of your hive, when something stops you dead in your tracks. One of the windows displayed a view of vast terrain, and some troll moving very quickly across it headed straight at you.
Who the fuck?
You take a closer look, and much to your surprise, it was Karkat. Man, whatever you did to get him going surly got him going… literally. It was only a chat over your husktops. He knows you like to mess with him. Why would he bother coming all this way just to yell at your face about ONE chat session?
Oh shit, he's at the door. You must brace yourself for the loud roaring army that is his loud mouth.
:-:
A nubbed horn troll stood rather impatiently, taping his foot at the doorstep of a cerulean blooded trolls hive. He sighed, wondering if it was really worth it to come all this way just to talk to her about this… or … rant rather. Karkat, for some reason, hated that Vriska send him the "3" over trollian. He doesn't know why…
Maybe it caught him off guard?
"Well, well, well, look who we have here. Miss me that much Karkat?" Vriska smirked that mischievous smirk she always seemed to posses.
"Shut up, Vriska! I don't need that from you right now. Now, if you'd so kindly show me inside so I may speak with you about something, that'd be fucking fantastic!" He said with a firm tone.
Vriska was surprised he didn't yell, but… whatever.
"Alright, alright. Since your SO eager to see me." She said, smiling.
Karkat prayed that she'd stop smiling at him. It made him… nervous.
:-:
"SO, Karkat… what's up?" She asked nonchalantly, and plopped herself in her chair she kept by her desk, next to her recoopracoon.
Karkat wasted no time telling her "what was up".
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK IS UP?! What was that on trollian?! Are you just trying to mess with me to the point where I have NO sanity left WHATSOEVER?"
"Yeah, basically…" Vriska huffed.
"Well it's pissing me off, and-"
"Like everything else I do?" Vriska smirked. She knew exactly how to get on his last nerve, and she loved it. However, this time, he seemed much more furious about… whatever she did on trollian. She was only kidding around. Can't he take a joke?
"Fuck yes like everything else you do. I don't see why you can't-"
"Can't what Karkat? Stop pestering you all the time?" Vriska said, and got out of her chair, walking towards him.
"YES! Is it too much to fucking ask?!"
"Yup." Vriska stated, and put her hands on his shoulders.
Karkat froze at her touch at first, but the shoved her away, making her fall to the ground.
"OW! What the hell Karkat?!" She yelled at him. According to her, that was completely unnecessary. And it hurt like a bitch too. Ever since she had her arm blown off, if she applied too much pleasure to the robotic replacement, it dug into whatever skin with nerves left on that side of her. It felt like a knife.
"Don't TOUCH ME!" Karkat pointed at her, as if accusing her for a crime.
"THAT FUCKING HURT!" She screamed at him. Vriska then sprung up and gripped him by his shirt, glaring at him with pure hate.
'Shit' she thought.
This is not how she wanted their conversation to turn out. She thought he'd just come in, rant for an hour while she sat in her chair nodding occasionally at the crap he spewed, and go back to his hive like any other time he came over.
This was different.
This was bad.
Karkat looked annoyed beyond all hell, however she could see another emotion in his eyes. It looked so familiar too… an emotion she could sense from Tavros almost every time she harassed him. Was it… fear?
Karkat gripped at her wrists, which broke her train of thought, trying with all his might to pry her off of him. Vriska loosened his grip, but did not let go of him. She stared at him, looking deep into those red-tinted eyes of his.
He was indeed afraid of her.
Karkat looked away suddenly, with a faint blush washing over his cheeks. Vriska let go of his shirt, and slid her hands over his shoulders. She felt horrible for the incident, especially for making him feel afraid. The end of the game is drawing closer and closer every day, and everyone left who wasn't dead yet needed each other more than ever. They shouldn't be fighting. They should be comforting one another.
They should be friends.
"Shit… sorry." Karkat said softly. "I didn't mean to push you down… and for you to land on your bad arm." His apology was short, but meaningful.
Vriska looked down, taking in what he said. Karkat doesn't apologize to anyone unless he feels it's absolutely necessary to keep a friend. She knew this from Nepeta telling her about the time she and Karkat had a fight. He felt so horrible, and apologized, then hugged her, and made it all better. Vriska was feeling pretty sad, although she'd never admit it.
If anything, Karkat really was sorry.
She pulled him in to a hug, and sighed.
"It's ok. I started it. Like I do everything else that leads to fights…" She said softly.
She could feel Karkat smile, and then he wrapped his arms around her waist. Vriska blushed, surprisingly. She felt slightly uneasy about seeing this side of her nubby-horned friend. Nonetheless, she accepted his show of affection, and hugged him tighter in return.
The embrace lasted for a while, as if they had ben moirails for sweeps.
They didn't care, though.
They just needed to be held.
"It's not your fault, Vriska. That's just how you are, and I would never try to change any troll I'm friends with. Although… I wish Gamzee was still…" Karkat paused, thinking about his moirail. Vriska knew they were close, and felt a similar feeling when she met up with Tavros in the desert land. She hugged the smaller troll more, fully wrapping her arms around him and occasionally stroked a and up and down his back.
He was hurting, she could tell.
"Shoosh. Don't think about that. What's done is done, and if he's really your moirail, he'll realize how much all this is hurting you, and come to his senses." She said.
Karkat was surprised at how kind and helpful Vriska could be. He liked it. It reminded him of a certain blind troll of whom he was never sure if she felt red for him or not. That was probably what partially caused him to push Vriska away, and come to rant to her in he first place. The only one who he wanted physically touching him was Terezi, and the thought of this cerulean blooded troll coming with in a three foot radius of him just felt… not right. Well, that was until now.
Now, Karkat felt… relaxed in her arms. Like everything was going to be ok.
She made him feel ok.
"I know. I miss the old Gamzee… and Terezi too. I just… want both of them back. I… want everything back!" He shouted into her shoulder. A single tear dripped down his left cheek, sinking in to Vriska's jean jacket.
"I never fucking asked to lead a group of trolls… fuck… my best fucking friends… into a world of hell. I lead us all here! It's all my FUCKING FAULT!" He cried.
Vriska held him close, knowing how stressed and frustrated he was with himself right now. She couldn't relate to the stress, but could totally relate to the frustration.
"No it's not." She whispered in his ear. "It's no ones fault. This whole fucking game was a mistake. I'm tired too." As she spoke, she made the strokes on his back longer, and softer.
She could have sworn she heard him purr.
Vriska giggled lightly. She had to admit, Karkat could be such a cutie.
"Yeah… tired. So. Fucking. Tired." He said, and buried his face in her shoulder.
"Wanna take a nap? I can leave if you want…" She suggested.
Karkat only gripped her tighter.
"Uh… Vriska… I know you're not much of a touchy-feely person, but-"
"HAH! Look who's talking!" She smiled, and pulled away from their drawn out hug. "What? You want me to take a nap with you?" She asked, grinning in his face.
Karkat actually smiled back.
"If you don't have anything better to do…"
"The end is drawing closer, so why the fuck not."
Vriska gave Karkat a quick peck on the cheek before hopping in his recoopracoon, patting the surface of the slime next to her. Karkat laughed.
He hadn't genuinely laughed in a long time.
It felt great.
He hopped in with her, and settled in her arms.
"Hey." She said.
"What?" Karkat responded sleepily.
"If things don't go back to normal… wanna be moirails? Or maybe even… matesprits?"
Karkat smiled up at her, and she ran a hand through his soft hair and chuckled.
"Me and you in the red quadrant, huh? What about Terezi?" She asked.
"I don't think Terezi will come through in the end." He spoke softly as Vriska kept stroking his hair. "Not that I don't care for her, because I do…" He paused, grabbing her other hand and giving it a light squeeze. "But I honestly feel safe with you, Vriska."
"I feel safe with you too, Karkat." She kissed him on the forehead. "I'll give it a try." She sighed.
Karkat smiled and held her close. He had no idea what the road ahead looked like, or what strategies would be the best for preventing the end. What ever may lay ahead, he didn't care. He was with Vriska now, and he felt happy and at peace like never before.
He felt safe.
And so did she.
They both felt…
…safe.