It was the middle of the night, and I heard a tap on my window. I groggily got up and pushed the curtains aside to see Karkat. I opened the window. "Karkat...? What are you doing here? How'd you find my place?" I yawned.
"I've got a friend who knows a thing or two about technology. Let's leave it at that."
So he stalked me? "Okay, well, what are you doing here? It's oh-dark-thirty."
"There's a meteor heading for this communal hive stem and I'm feeling nice enough to make sure you're okay. Besides which, Eridan would be devastated."
"Oh, wow, I guess I'm supposed to be grateful, right?" I shut the curtain and got dressed quickly.
Through the curtain, I heard him say, frustrated, "I don't need that sarcasm. Do you want to live or not?"
I sighed. "Yeah, I do kind of have things I want to do in life."
"Great, so get all your favorite material possessions and let's get out of here."
I packed a bunch of clothes in a suitcase and headed out the front door. A meteor appeared to be soaring down from maybe a couple hundred feet. Karkat led me to a gray car, stuffing my suitcase in the trunk. "Hop in."
"Shit, you weren't lying."
He glared in the rearview mirror. "Why the fuck would I do that?"
We sped off, and in moments the meteor had blown up the apartment building. I blew out a breath. What were the chances? Before I knew it I had fallen asleep.
My eyes opened slowly. I guessed that I was in Eridan's room. I was on a purple and blue bed. The walls were a sea blue, covered with posters of mermaids and seahorses. A wrecked ship in a bottle sat on a dresser, along with a little treasure chest full of gold jewelry. The carpet was the color, but luckily not the texture, of sand.
Impressive, I thought. They had more money than I did, somehow. I shuffled out to where Eridan and Karkat sat, watching some kind of romcom. Karkat was growling about one of the characters. "Is this your house? How in the world do you have more money than me?"
Eridan looked at me happily, but said somewhat glumly, "Oh, I had to sell some a my gold jewelry. I had more a it, lots a it. I'm practically royalty."
"Of what, the sea?" I teased, sitting between them.
Karkat cracked a little smirk. "He thinks he's special because he's almost got the best blood, but Gamzee's got more power. And Feferi's the highest."
"Oh? And what color is your blood? We're dyin' to know, Kar."
"That's right, your blood is purple-ish, isn't it?"
"It's violet," Eridan replied rather smugly. "So, Kar?"
"I'm not telling you, damn it. Not like it fucking matters."
"Why would it, anyway?" I asked curiously.
"The hemospectrum," Karkat grumbled distractedly. "Red's the lowest, a kind of fuchsia is the highest."
"But according to Kar here, it's all about who thinks they're the most powerful. Gam's insane without his slime, and Fef's pretty cool about her blood color."
"Gam and Fef... Other trolls?"
Karkat nodded. "Gamzee's my moirail, and Feferi lived underwater with this fish-for-brains."
Eridan made a little sound of protest and I giggled. "So I didn't know you had a soft spot for romance, Karkat."
He glared at me. "I don't."
"Don't lie, I came out and you were all upset about the character doing something."
Eridan grinned. "He's quite the expert at givin' advice on the quadrants."
Karkat swatted at him. "Shut the hell up."
I smiled and stretched out on the couch, my head in Karkat's lap and my legs in Eridan's. "What kind of movies did you watch back on Alternia?"
"I dunno about Kar, but one of my favorites was In Which The Main Protagonist Goes To A Chocolaterie After Finding A Golden Ticket-"
I frowned. "Wait, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Yeah, that one was good. I loved it when I was younger."
"I wasn't done," Eridan whimpered quietly.
Karkat rolled his eyes. "Troll movie titles tend to be longer than your human ones."
"Weird. What about books?"
"Same long titles," Karkat replied.
So we spent the rest of the day watching movies and talking about weird troll customs. Night fell again.
Karkat looked down at me, as my head was still in his lap, and he lifted it off. "Okay, since you're living with us now, there will be some rules. No coming into my room for any unspecified reasons, especially when I'm sleeping. Just thought I'd put that on the table."
I raised my eyebrows. "Oh, I'm living with you now? Two guys, one girl. What could possibly go wrong?" Eridan chuckled, but Karkat gave me a bored glare.
"You'd rather live on the street?"
"No, I'm sorry, not appreciating the 'tude?"
"No."
"I'd say you can sleep in my room-" Eridan started.
"But we have a guest room," Karkat finished.
Eridan's smirky face pouted at him. "Not even one night?"
"Stop making it so obvious that you're flushed, asshole." Karkat pointed over to an empty room, but I noticed my suitcase sat at the end of the bed. "That's the guest room, so make yourself comfy, and have a good night, I guess."
I smiled and gave both of them a warm hug. "Thank you both."
I woke up the next morning to a pleasant smell, and upon investigating I found Karkat in an apron and Eridan sitting at the table eating eggs and bacon. "Oh, well, good morning!"
"Mornin', Lexis. Turns out Kar is a decent cook."
I grinned. "You surprise me more everyday, Kar."
He scowled, but something about it was softer today. "It's enough for him to call me that, please don't start calling me Kar, too."
"Well, since you said please." I sat down beside Eridan and a plate was placed in front of me.
I've never had a nicer breakfast.
