Chapter One: Initialize

Kanaya walked towards Karkat's hive, wearing a jade-colored jacket to protect herself from the cold weather outside. The wind was picking up and getting harsher, much to her disappointment. She had always preferred the warm weather over the cold, and it didn't help that Karkat's hive was about one more mile away.

Perhaps she would get the chance to sleep over this time, as they often spent a lot of time at each other's hives after their meetings like this. It was always nice to have Karkat over for company, he made the familiar home feel even more cozy.

After quite a bit of walking, she had finally arrived at his hive and knocked on his door, awaiting his response. He had opened the door moments later and smiled at her.

"Hey Kanaya," he said. "You came at a pretty good time. Crabdad isn't home and won't be for quite some time. I assume you want to come in after walking through the cold?"

"Yes, please," said Kanaya. "I have brought a jacket as you can see, but had I known it would get so cold, I would have gotten a coat or something."

Karkat let Kanaya in and then closed the door, re-locking it. Kanaya instantly felt better at how warm the hive was, sighing softly as she began to heat up a little.

"Are you in a satisfactory mood to begin?" inquired Kanaya, turning back to Karkat and taking her jacket off. "If I am to understand what you have told me via Trollian, it is that you also wanted us to talk?"

Karkat nodded. "Yeah, I mean, we can do what we usually do, and then we could have a… feelings jam, possibly?" Kanaya could not believe her ears.

"You want to have a feelings jam afterwards? Oh my… this can only mean one thing. Are you and Gamzee no longer on speaking terms?" she gave him a knowing look, for he had been complaining about Gamzee for some time. "You know that typically only moirails indulge in feelings jams, and you and I are not…"

"I know, I know," he said with a grumble. "I know that it's a thing only moirails do with each other, but c'mon Kanaya, we spend so much time together and help each other out all the time. I'd rather have you as a moirail or something than have that shiteating clown as one…" That made Kanaya smile a little.

"Are you asking me to be your moirail?" she asked with a playful smile. Karkat blushed and bit his lip.

"Let's talk about that later," he said. "For now, I've gotta go and quench your thirst."

"Well now, when you put it like that it makes me sound as if I am some kind of deviant." The two of them sat on the couch and Karkat began to relax, taking a couple deep breaths.

"Thank you once again for doing this," said Kanaya, baring her fangs to show Karkat. She had indulged in the blood of every caste, sure, but Karkat's mutant blood was always the sweetest. The most succulent. It was almost like a drug that kept her coming back for more, much to the pain in Karkat's neck.

"No problem," said Karkat. "Always happy to help my new moirail," he said, smiling a bit. Kanaya laughed softly.

"I never agreed to that, Vantas," she said, getting closer to him. "Although if I am being honest with you, the answer will most likely be yes, although I wonder how Gamzee is going to feel when he finds out that he has lost you in a pale relationship."

"Fuck him," he said, before shooting her a glance. "Well, uh, not literally. You know what I mean," he said. Kanaya nodded.

"Shhh…" Kanaya dragged her tongue across Karkat's neck slowly, getting him ready as she always did. Karkat swallowed and felt strangely nervous, although he didn't know why. This was something they had always done, so why the nerves?

"Ready?" asked Kanaya. Karkat nodded. With that, Kanaya sank her fangs into Karkat's neck and grunted softly, beginning to drink his candy red blood from him. She put her hand on Karkat's shoulder, and her other one draped over his chest for leverage. Karkat felt Kanaya suck the blood from his neck and moaned, clenching his teeth just a bit before loosening up, and relaxing. The first bite always made him nervous, but he eased up at this point.

"Mmmmmm….~" moaned Kanaya, sucking down and slurping the blood from Karkat's body though his neck, being careful not to drain him as she drank it down. After about two minutes, she pulled her mouth away from his neck, a trail of blood oozing from her mouth and down her chin, matching the trail of blood oozing from the two puncture wounds on Karkat's neck. He winced and put pressure on his neck with his hand.

"Towel, get a towel," he urged, and Kanaya got up and fled to the bathroom, something she should have done earlier, admittedly, but she was feeling too anxious to think about it before. She returned and handed the towel to Karkat, letting him put pressure on the wound and relax more. He felt a little light-headed, but it would later pass as it always did.

"Did you drink enough?" he asked, his eyes fluttering a little as he leaned back on the couch. Kanaya nodded, using the other end of the towel to wipe away at her mouth and chin.

"More than enough," she said, licking her lips a little. She smiled and nuzzled against Karkat, sighing with delight. "I know I always say this but I will say it again. Thank you so much for helping me with my craving," she said. "You are wonderful."

"Heh, it's nothing," he said, relaxing against her as well. These moments they shared were intimate indeed, and happened about every other week. But before that, it was every month.

"It's not even that I only want your blood," she said to reassure him, sensing what he was thinking. "It's that you live the closest and-"

"And everyone else is an asshole about it?" he asked, looking at her. Kanaya thought for a bit.

"I wouldn't put it like that…" she said, smiling warmly. Karkat chuckled, rolling his eyes. The two of them rested for quite some time in the delightful silence before Karkat was comfortable enough to speak about his feelings.

"Gamzee is an awful moirail," he says, sighing. "Every SINGLE time I have a problem, his solution is the same. Drink some of that stupid Faygo crap, or have some of that unhealthy sopor slime bullshit… it's tiring, and it's so infuriating, which only makes my feelings worse. He doesn't pacify me, Kanaya, and since sopor just pacifies him by default, it's like he doesn't even need me anymore…"

Kanaya frowned at hearing this, and held Karkat close to her, gently. "Continue." Karkat sighed and kept talking, spilling his feelings.

"It's like I don't even matter anymore, and every attempt to get his attention just fails. Those stupid soporifics of his are killing every brain cell in his stupid thinkpan and… I don't know, I feel like it's my fault? As his moirail I should have made a better attempt to stop him from doing that stuff… this whole thing could have been my fault."

"Nonsense," said Kanaya, petting Karkat's cheek gently and with affection. "You could not have always been able to keep track of someone like him. He most likely would have continued to indulge himself with dangerous substances," she said reassuringly. "This is not your fault, Karkat, I am sure."

Karkat sighed. "Are you really sure?" Kanaya nodded.

"You tried to stop him several times according to what you have told me prior. In addition, one cannot have a moirallegiance if both people do not try to help each other. You tried your best from here, but Gamzee never did try to help you, did he?" Karkat frowned and shook his head.

"Barely…" he said. "Which is why I wanted to talk to you about this. I feel so much more comfortable talking to you about anything than I ever did with Gamzee…"

"Really?" she said, a little surprised. She knew that Karkat enjoyed speaking with her, and she loved talking with him as well, but to hear him say it in this way warmed her heart.

"Fuck yeah," he said with a smile. "Being a moirail is more than just being good friends, I know. It's about keeping each other in check. Well… don't I keep you in check with my blood and keep your cravings from getting out of control? And you pacify me with your words, and your voice and advice and stuff… ugh, this is making me feel so fucking embarrassed…"

He glanced away and swallowed, but once again Kanaya seemed to know what he was thinking. She put her hand to his chin and turned his head to look at her again. "Shooosh, Karkat dear. Your points are valid and make sense. If you want to take our relationship past pity and wish for us to be moirails… I am more than happy to reciprocate, as always." She smiled, matching the one on Karkat's face.

"Really?" said Karkat. "You mean it?" Kanaya nodded.

"Consider us moirails from this moment onwards, dear," she said, smiling. She patted his cheek again with gentle affection, looking him in the eyes with endearment. Karkat snuggled up closer to her, wrapping an arm around her and holding her close.

This closeness was new, even for them, and Karkat still felt a little shy and nervous from it, but he figured it would soon pass. Kanaya welcomed it dearly, loving to see Karkat happy and looking content and safe. She sighed gently as she held him in her arms, cuddling him. This was surely the beginning of something amazing.