Karkat grumbled, as he did so often, as his dad doused his back in an obscene amount of sunscreen. It was nice, he supposed, that the family got to borrow Slick's beach house (though Karkat had no idea how or why Slick had a beach house) but it really sucked for Karkat, because he had to deal with his massive, intense family for a weekend. His dad was more than nice; Kankri was… well, a prick, but Karkat could deal with it. Even living with Nepeta and Meulin and their mom was fine, but when it was all of them, and Kanaya, Porrim, their parents, and Nana Rosa, it was more than a little bit taxing. Not only that, but Karkat couldn't even enjoy the beach to the fullest extent. The sun was probably the worst thing for Karkat, which was why his dad was taking every precaution.
"Dad, wouldn't this be easier if you just let me stay at home?" Karkat grumbled.
"Oh, nonsense, Karkat. How often do we get the whole family together? Just be mindful," his father answered, as he finished and sat down next to Dessie. Karkat rolled his eyes, but he wasn't going to argue with his dad, especially about family. With someone of Solomon's background, appreciation of family only made sense, but Karkat couldn't help but feel like the black sheep. Or, really, the white sheep, especially when his cousins were around. Porrim and Kanaya both had fairly dark skin, due to their Indian lineage. Nepeta and Meulin and Dessie were tan. Karkat couldn't recall exactly where Dessie was from; Panama or Argentina or Chile? Well, she was born in America. And Karkat himself, along with his brother and father were hispanic as well, but Kankri and Solomon both had darker skin than him. Not just that Karkat was pale, Karkat was pale. Paler than most white kids. He hated to even think the word to himself. Karkat had albinism. And he was constantly embarrassed and self-conscious about his light skin and white hair and bright red eyes. Karkat checked his appearance in his cell phone camera. Ugh. His roots were growing out a lot, white flecks appearing at the top of his head in a stark contrast to the dark brown- nearly black- he'd been dyeing it. The eyes… well, he had his color contacts, but there wouldn't be a chance to fix his hair before school the next day. Karkat huffed, putting his phone away in the pocket of his swim trunks. He sat under the umbrella next to Kankri while Meulin and Nepeta ran into the waves, letting out a long sigh.
"Please try to enjoy yourself, Karkat," Kankri said, hardly even looking Karkat's way. "Or at the very least, don't let your negativity affect us all." Karkat opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it. The snarky retort wasn't fully developed anyway. Just something about how Kankri's negativity was affecting him. It wasn't worth getting in an argument with Kankri, at least, not in front of Nana Rosa. Kanaya seemed to notice Karkat was put off by the whole situation, and smiled at him.
"Karkat, Porrim and I were going to join Nepeta and Meulin in a volleyball match in a bit; would you like to play as well?"
"Don't feel like you need to cater to me, Kanaya. I'm fine," Karkat said grumpily. That was how he said most things, to be fair. Kanaya frowned.
"I wasn't catering to you, I was simply trying to be nice. Remind me not to do that next time." Karkat sighed. Great, now Kanaya was going to be all huffy with him. Kankri frowned at the interaction, and nudged Karkat in the back.
"Ugh. Fine," Karkat grumbled, taking the hint from his brother. "Kanaya! Sorry. Yeah, I'll play," he said, before shooting a look back at Kankri. "Only if Kankri will play too. I don't want to make the teams uneven." Karkat was grinning as he added the last part. If there was anyone more athletically incompetent than Karkat, it was Kankri, and volleyball was one of his most hated sports. Kankri scowled at Karkat, opening his mouth to say something that would surely sound pompous and overly chaste. Before he could even get a word out, Porrim's voice came.
"Kanny~~" she said, almost singing it. If there was one thing that could make Kankri as angry as Karkat was on a regular basis, it was Porrim's chiding and motherly mannerisms. Kankri's frown deepened, but much like Karkat, he didn't want to make a scene in front of Nana Rosa.
"I would love to play," Kankri managed to get out between pursed lips. Karkat was far too satisfied with himself for that one. He knew if Kankri wasn't so against violence, he'd probably beat the crap out of him.

When all the kids began to get ready for their volleyball match, Karkat stood, shielding his face from the sun. Kanaya lightly shook her head at him.
"Here, take my sun hat," she said. Karkat frowned, but took it anyway. He could actually tolerate his cousin's doting.
"I'm gonna look so fucking stupid," he muttered, putting the hat on. Thankfully, they were more or less on a private beach, so at least he didn't need to feel embarrassed. The kids split themselves into teams (Karkat, Kanaya and Meulin versus Kankri, Porrim, and Nepeta) and began playing. Karkat was incredibly unathletic; he was grateful he didn't end up falling on his ass in the sand like Kankri did, but the girls were all surprisingly strong. On one occasion, Meulin hit the ball, sending it soaring into the air and rolling up to a group of four kids.
"Oops, sorry!" Meulin shouted, unaware of how loud she was.
"Karkat, could you get the ball please?" Porrim asked. Karkat was suddenly very aware of how dumb he looked in Kanaya's hat.
"Yeah, but take this first," he said, taking it off as he passed Kanaya.
"You really shouldn't be in the sun," Kanaya said.
"It'll be like two minutes, it's fine! I'm not fucking walking over there with that dumbass hat on," Karkat huffed, walking off before he could be told otherwise again. Karkat could see as he ran over, one of the boys had picked the volleyball up. The kid was very blond, tan skin peppered with freckles, and his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses. He took a step towards Karkat.
"This yours?"
"Yeah, fuckface, hand it over," Karkat was already about to boil over. He could feel the sun's rays on his pale skin. Shit, he needed to get back into the shade. He reached for the ball, attempting to grab it out of the other boy's hand, but he just lifted it up. Karkat heard another boy snicker, and scowled. Why'd he have to be so short? Who did these boys think they were?
"Whoa, you got a temper there," the blond kid said.
"Look, just stop being a douche and give me the fucking ball back." Karkat didn't have time to come up with a more ornate insult.
"Maybe you should stop calling me names, then, shortstack."
"David," a girl's voice said, "stop teasing the boy."
"Ugh," David muttered something Karkat couldn't quite catch before tossing him the ball back.
"Thanks, David," Karkat said, pushing the same button the girl had a moment ago.
"It's Dave."
"Yeah, whatever," Karkat said before making his way back to his family.

After a while, Kankri stood to take a walk down the beach to collect a few shells while Karkat relished the moments he was gone. Karkat made a point of staying under the umbrella, Nepeta sitting next to him.
"Hi, Karkitty," she purred, leaning into him. Karkat tried not to be visibly uncomfortable, but she was putting him in an awkward situation. Karkat knew Nepeta had had a crush on him for years, but when their parents started dating, it was weird. When they moved in together it was weird, and when they got engaged it was weird. Karkat didn't have an interest before, and had mostly just ignored the obvious crush, but now he really didn't want to hurt Nepeta's feelings, because that would be just as awkward as long as they were under the same roof.
"Hey, Nep," Karkat murmured.
"Whatcha doin'?" Karkat sighed, tilting his phone towards her. He was reading a romance novel from the Kindle app. Nepeta smirked at him. "Honestly, I don't know why you read that stuff, it's so trashy!"
"First of all, it's not trashy. Second of all, you read shitty Wincest fanfiction so you're not really one to talk."
Nepeta stood, feigning indignance at the comment. "I do not read Wincest," she said, pausing to stick her tongue out at Karkat, "Everyone knows Dean and Castiel are PERFECT for each other."
"Dean isn't gay!" Karkat bit back, also standing. This was a common argument in the household.
"Dean could be gay, you don't know that."
"Okay, Dean is not gay. I supposed YOU could argue that he's bi, but I doubt even that. And anything the writers put in hinting at Dean and Castiel being a thing is blatant queerbaiting, which is gross. They tease and they tease and they tease, saying 'hey guys, look, we might have this potential gay couple, look how progressive we are!' And they proceed to jack each other off in some massive circlejerk at how they've now attracted this fucking fanbase of teenage girls searching for ~teh yaois~ without even putting the gay couple in the show in the FIRST PLACE, when all the actual queer community wants is some goddamn representation!" Karkat was legitimately upset at that point, whereas Nepeta looked taken aback. Karkat glanced over at the adults, all of which were staring at him wildly. Nana Rosa looked utterly terrified at her grandson using such explicit language. Karkat's dad and Dessie were used to it, at least, but Karkat's face reddened due to the outburst. He glanced at his father, whose stern look demanded that Karkat apologize. "Sorry… Nana Rosa." She still looked surprised, but nodded at Karkat, her face softening a bit as he and Nepeta sat back down.
"Okay, what about JohnLock?" Nepeta asked.
"That's the same fucking problem," Karkat whispered, now aware of himself again. Kanaya came to sit behind him, running her slender fingers through Karkat's hair. Normally, he would have swatted her away, but he needed the relaxation at the moment, and Kanaya was one of the only people who could help him with that. Kankri was the same way with Porrim, if a bit more reluctant to admit it.
"Mother is unable to take Porrim and I to school tomorrow, so we'll be coming over early in the morning," Kanaya said.
"Okay...What's your fucking point? I'm sure Dad would have told me later."
"Porrim still has some black hair dye left."
"Why would Porrim have- oh yeah. I remember, that dipshit at the salon over-bleached her hair when she got the green streaks put in and she bought the dye to fix it up when the color faded."
"Right. So, she could touch up your roots if you would like it done before you're forced to be seen by the general population."
"Well I'm sure as shit not going to make it over to the salon tomorrow morning so that would be great, actually."
"Though to be honest I still don't know why you don't just embrace your appearance. White hair certainly is unique."
"It's freaky as fuck, Kanaya, and I hate it."
"Very well, then, it doesn't make a difference to me."
Karkat huffed. How did Kanaya always manage to sound so put off by him? "Not your fault, Kan. I shouldn't be snipping at you."
"It's in your nature to immediately get defensive, and while I can tolerate it as your cousin, others may not be so used to it, and you should try to work on that."
"Jesus, now you sound like Kankri."
"Now that is truly insulting," Kanaya said, but Karkat could hear a smile in her tone. If there was one good thing he got out of his mess of a family, it was having Kanaya and Porrim as cousins.