If there's one thing they had, it was time. Three sad disgusting years of it. Karkat has been and would continue to be stuck on a meteor for the rest of that miserable time.
It had already been a number of months. Such a number in fact that Karkat is not longer even sure exactly how long it has been, certainly not a sweep yet. Maybe half of one... "Oh fuck it." he finally grumbles.
There was a nice little part of the jumble of places on this meteor that Karkat resided on, his room, of course. It was rather messily set up with various posters he had alchemized and resiptblock to make him feel most at home. There was even a crab themed computer that he spent hours of his days arguing with himself with.
He spent pretty much all of his time there going over the events of his game. It was so messed up. All his thoughts trailed back to exactly how he fucked everything up. With his teammates, with his life...and with Terezi.
Sigh. Fucking Terezi.
He was stupid about it. He had wanted her in every quadrant. The mixed signals he sent her throughout their friendship ruined his chances to have her as a matesprit. And she didn't want him as a kismesis. She wanted nothing to do with him at all now. It's not like he could have known that she would have disowned him like that. In fact she blamed him for their failure in the game.
They never even got to talk anymore and even if he was to go and try she wouldn't even pay a lick of attention to her.
Because of Strider.
Dave fucking Strider, the cool kid who takes up all of her attention nowadays. They always color together in can town with the Mayor. The days he spends arguing with himself on his trollian are the days they spend with each other playing around and being perfect fucking idiots together. Terezi was long fed up with his shit and he knew it, now she flirts with Dave day and night. Karkat almost couldn't even believe that she would pity that worthless human.
But hey, that worthless human was higher on the list of things she cares about than he was. And lets be honest, Strider had a thing or two on him. Sure, he was an insurable prick- that much Karkat was sure of. But he was also rather interesting and compelling.
And attractive.
Sitting up he glanced around and realized he had been on the floor this entire time. "Fucking figures." he grumbles as he stands up and stretches his limbs. It truly had been awhile since Karkat had seen anyone.
Ever since that day in the earlier months of their time on the meteor. Karkat had gotten so fed up with everyones affections towards each other. So jealous.
It was all a blur to him now; Terezi's harsh remarks and Dave's hands on his shoulders. The Knights warm touch. Karkat could still feel it in his memory. One of the few things he actually enjoyed recalling was memories about Strider.
But the memories following that one weren't exactly nice either. He had ripped Dave's cape. He had ran away from them. Karkat couldn't stand the thoughts of remorse and regret he got from being around them.
They were all so happy. So calmed by the ones they had around them that the hardships weren't as painful for them.
Meanwhile, Karkat had no one. No one at all.
Not even Gamzee anymore. His once moiral and best friend was now hidden deep in the farthest parts of the meteor. Karkat never saw him anymore.
He got small glimpses and occasional reminders that the highblood did in fact still exist. Sometimes he could even hear honks in the air vents that gave him unwanted memories of events long past.
Either way and despite that Gamzee was never anywhere to be found. He didn't give a shit about what Karkat went through. How dare he not honor his side of the moirallegence. It just about pissed Karkat off to the point of wanting to end the relationship altogether. But for the sake of keeping Gamzee from flipping his shit- Karkat put up with it.
Karkat didn't want to see anyone else mostly because he didn't particularly feel like dealing with them. Rose and Kanaya always did there own thing and he wouldn't even go into thinking about what Dave and Terezi did together- he didn't want to contemplate those thoughts. Besides, what if they were still mad at him.
Karkat recalled the moment he ripped Dave's cape. The cool kid fucking loved that thing. The expression on his face when Karkat had ripped it was absolutely terrorizing.
And Terezi was nothing but obnoxious and cold to him anymore. It was well deserved sure, but it didn't make going out there to talk to them any less intimidating. So he just never has.
All of those things good and well and yet today was different, now he was just bored. At this point he was good and ready to take a risk.
Shrugging he walked out of his room, making his way towards the more populated part of the meteor. His steps echoed down the metal walls. No matter how many times Karkat walked around the place it always felt ominous and creepy, but he couldn't care less lets be honest. Seriously what the fuck did he have to be scared of on this shit-hole?
The silence in the air ended as a breath cut through the hallway. Karkat turned his head left and right in an attempt to find the source of the sudden sound, but he saw nothing and no one around. There wasn't a thing in the hallway apart from the air vents. Gritting his teeth he moved on, slightly faster than before. Leaving the eerie feelings behind him swiftly.
In the main room Karkat found Dave on the ground drawing some dumb comic of his, as well as Rose and Kanaya at the table with piles of books stacked next to them. They had dedicated their time in this horrid place to learning more about each of their cultures and spent almost no time apart. The two of them giggled and read off different bits on information to each other, exchanging warm looks and smiles. The sight of that immediately stung Karkat but he kept his composure.
None of them had noticed him yet and he took that chance to scan around the room. He was nervous to approach Dave but to his surprise, Terezi was no where to be found.
No sign of Terezi. That's strange, she had always been with Dave. It amazing the mutant blood that she was anywhere else besides by his side. Where could she have run off too? It was probably better that she wasn't here anyway.
Despite Terezi's absence there was still Dave to worry about. The cool kid surely hated him and was still mad about ripping is cape. Let's be honest who wouldn't hate him?
Suddenly Dave's head snapped up and his damn hipster shades looked right at him. Karkat saw the slightest bit of a smile in his expression before he spoke, "Hey Vantas, long time no see bro."
Karkat tried to brush off the fact that Dave had just called him bro, which he found to make him surprisingly happy. But that wasn't the main point here. The point is he didn't scowl when he saw Karkat. He actually looked relatively happy to see him back. Could it be that the human actually forgave him? Karkat sure hoped so.
"Hey Dave..." he said almost too awkwardly, "What's been going on?"
He stood up- yeah he actually stood up and started walking torwards Karkat. His posture was strange, Dave wasn't quite as cool today. It was a fucking miracle, Karkat remarked. Although it was concerning. The kid didn't seem quite awkward nor did he seem completely broken down. A mix of the two? That didn't really make sense in Karkat's mind.
"Oh gee, not much." he shrugged, taking his damn good time to get anywhere near the troll. "I'm gonna be honest, dude, it's been pretty boring without'ya around."
Karkat struggled to keep a straight face and succeeded, only acting more jaded in return, "You had Terezi didn't you?" he spat, "You must have been perfectly fucking entertained."
Dave paused a moment before responding in a really emotionless tone, "No, not really."
Karkat raised an eyebrow and tried not to grunt in amusement. They had a fight didn't they, he chuckled in his mind. And it seemed to effect Dave rather harshly, what a dipshit.
He eyed the Knight for a few moments before his sight trailed to his cape. Karkat searched for the gaping holes he had made in it, but it was no use. They were gone. The cape was perfectly fine. Dave must have noticed him looking down at it because he spoke soon after.
"Oh yah, while you were gone we discovered something pretty cool about god tier clothes."
"Huh?" Karkat grunted, "Really, what?"
"That they repair themselves when damaged." Roses cool, collective voice sounded between his conversation with Dave. Her and Kanaya walked towards them.
Karkat's eyes widened, "So that means..." he said with a voice full of hope.
Dave nodded shortly, "Means the cape is fine dude."
Karkat found himself to be rather relived. In fact he was surprisingly happy. Happy that Dave's cape was okay...and happy that the cool kid wasn't mad at him.
This was turning out to be a pretty nice day after all.
That didn't last long.
"It Really Is Nice To Have You Back, Karkat." Kanaya mused. "We Were Starting To Get Worried."
"Yeah, and bored." Dave grunted.
"Well, Dave has been bored." Rose chuckled as she reached down and intertwined hands with Kanaya.
Karkat felt like he was going to be sick and made a face, "Ugh you guys are so disgustingly friendly" The two females only glared at him in response and it shut him up quickly with a crude reminder of something he had nearly forgotten. Oh yeah. Karkat recalled. They are dating.
He heard the insufferable chuckle from Dave to his left followed by his voice, "You'd forgotten again, hadn't you?"
Karkat didn't even need clarification, "Shut your speech hole before I shut it for you." he growled. He scanned the room quickly as he remembered that Terezi was still no where to be found.
"Phhft, as if you could." he replied casually, cutting through Karkat's thought.
"Is that a challenge?" the troll quickly retorted.
"Barely."
"Yeah well whatever, fuck you, blah blah blah, have you seen Terezi?" he finally asked.
Dave stopped drawing abruptly and remained silent for a moment. Rose and Kanaya ceased giggling and glanced over at them with worried expressions. When Karkat met their gazes they looked back at each other, as if awkwardly pretending they weren't paying attention.
"Not telling."
"WHY"
"Don't wanna."
Karkat was getting rather impatient, he wanted to know where Terezi was. He felt like he could talk to her now. Maybe it could help. "Oh my god you iridescent pheasant, tell me right the fuck now."
"Did you just call me a colorful bird?"
"FUCK I MENT PEASANT- WHATEVER"
"Punctuation is important, man."
"Damn it, you aren't Lalonde"
Rose and Kanaya who had begun to whisper to each other snapped back at Karkat and made disapproving expressions, "You Know Karkat Maybe If You Showed Dear Dave Some Respect He Would Bother To Share His Information With You." Kanaya finally said very informatively.
With a loud sigh Karkat shook his head and sat down next to Strider leaning towards him persistently, "Seriously, have you seen her?" Dave only shook his head for a moment before answering.
"Haven't talked to Pyrope for a number of months." he said cooly, "T'hell if I even remember when the last time I saw her was." there was the slightest bit of anger or loathing in his tone which confused Karkat. They had always seemed like such good friends.
"What do you mean you haven't seen her around, there's NO ONE ELSE ON THIS METEOR STRIDER." he snapped, purposely disregarding Gamzee's presence, "So where could she have disappeared off to?!"
The cool kid lifted his head towards the girls on the other side of the room who were still listening as if asking for help. Rose and Kanaya exchanged looks. Glancing back he scoffed.
"So you telling me you seriously don't know, Karkat?" Rose asked, standing up and moving over to him and Dave, followed closely by Kanaya.
"Well I guess you wouldn't have ever found out seeing as you've been tucked away by yourself for so long." she corrected herself as if contemplating whats been going on around this place lately.
Karkat blinked in genuine confusion, "Know what?" he paused for a second, "Someone tell me what the flying fuck is going on right this instance or I will-"
"Karkat…" Rose cut him off, "I think it's best if you just forget about it." she said softly.
"No! Where is Terezi?! Did something happen to her? FOR FUCKS SAKE JUST TELL ME!" Karkat was beginning to become extremely worried. The girl might have completely fucked him over and left him to rot, but he still cared for her. He needed to know where she was.
He glanced over at Dave to find him- wait was he shaking?! Dave stood right in the spot he had been, with his head down, trying his best to suppress his shaking.
They all stood there in silence for a few moments and then...it happened.
Screaming.
It nearly scared the life out of Karkat. Ear spitting screams sounding all around them from the air vents. Then coughing, wheezing and a few other gruesome sounds of struggle and pain.
And the voice making them? Terezi's.
There went any shred of enjoyment in his day. Right out the non-existent window.
Everyone in the room tensed up, and they remained like that until the sounds finally got less and less until they stopped altogether. Shuffling could be heard, the small echo of sobbing. But it was too distant, too faded for them to really be able to hear it well. Or know where it's coming from.
She had to have been screaming rather loud for the noise to have echoed so clearly.
After a few moments Dave spoke, his voice was shaky and dark, "That's the loudest time so far- probably the most intense too..."
Karkat stood frozen in thought- his yellow eyes beaming with terror. Terezi...what was happening to her? He shook his head. No, it couldn't be. The possibilities dwindled down until only one remained.
Gamzee.
He knew she hated him but this? This is too far. Karkat knew Gamzee all too well. For someone to start up that kind of relationship with him? That...thats worse than even his position. The danger involved. And Terezi doing something like that? He gritted his teeth to keep himself from breaking down.
Kanaya's soothing voice sounded into his ears. She was trying to help. "Terezi Has Been In The Farther Areas Of The Meteor Lately. I've Tried Looking For Her While I Attempt To Find Gamzee But-" Karkat interrupted her.
"Why the FUCK as she been way over there- wait…." Karkat froze as he realized what Kanaya had said. "You said..Gamzee?"
Dave shifted uncomfortably as Kanaya nodded, "She Has Been Spending An Overly Abundant Amount Of Time With The Juggalo." her expression darkened. "No Matter What I Do I Cannot Seem To Locate Either Of Them, And I Worry For Terezi...Daily."
Before anyone else could speak, Dave cut in, "You can here them sometimes." Dave's words flowed over the three others, especially Karkat, rather ominously. "Gamzee's honks, their breaths in the air vents…." he tensed up,
"Her screaming."
Karkat's chest tightened, "What are you talking about, don't fuck with me Dave!" he whipped around and grabbed the humans stupid cape by it's front, knocking him off his balance and nearly tugging him into Karkat.
"Woah bro, let go of the cape." he said trying to undo Karkat's grip on his cape with his hands. As Dave's fingers grasped his own and the troll could feel his skin touching his own, Karkat's nerves shattered and with a shove he let go of Dave's cape, sending him into the ground with a thud as the troll ran out.
"Karkat wait!" he could hear Dave's voice sound through the room as he sprinted away as fast as he could.
What could they have been taking about? Terezi has been hanging around Gamzee? She hates Gamzee. Karkat stopped walking, breathing heavily his eyes grew wide.
That's just it- she hates Gamzee. Karkat shook his head. "Oh no, no, no, NO!"
"She couldn't. She..wouldn't." the troll panted in frustration.
"She did."
Dave's voice broke into his reality and he whipped around to face him. That dumb cape, his lame god tier and stupid shades. Dave Strider was a sight Karkat couldn't stand to see- for a few reasons. But in that moment Karkat didn't think about that. His mind was stuck on Terezi. And his moiral Gamzee.
He knew the highblood all too well, Gamzee was unstable and violent in relationships. The only reason Karkat's moiralegence lasted so long was because of his ability to keep Gamzee calm- but Terezi. She didn't like to fight, she was hell bent on justice, she would never be able to handle Gamzee. His thoughts were train wreaked when he realized he had been staring at Dave the entire time.
"Dude are you alright?" Dave tilted his head, "You're staring at me like some kind of lost puppy." Karkat wasn't in the mood to respond to Dave's shit. Shaking his head away from Dave's figure he looked down, gripping his own hand tightly.
"How long has this been going on?" Karkat asked slowly.
"She's been disappearing for months, like I said." Dave answered, "Each time has been longer and now…I haven't seen her since…." he trailed off.
Karkat looked up, but all he could see in Dave's expression was glints of sadness in his posture. Those shades of his worked so well in covering him up. "Since…what?"
With a sigh Dave walked forward Karkat and touched his shoulder. Tensing up Karkat wasn't sure if he should retaliate or not but he decided against it when he realized Dave was only turning him around. The two of them walked down the hallway in silence for a few moments, the humans hand still on Karkat's shoulder.
Karkat glanced over at Dave and noticed that he could just slightly see Dave's eyes through the side. He only managed for a moment and caught nothing before Dave turned to meet his gaze.
"I think we need to have a talk"