Finally figured out how to get my alerts and whatnot working again! I'll now be able to answer your lovely reviews again!
John was amazed at everything he saw outside of the lab. So amazed, in fact, that it didn't even bother him when Karkat tugged on his collar to keep him from entering anyone else's "lawnring."
Seeing all the different trolls was probably what he liked the most. Each troll had a different style of horns from the others, and adorned zodiac symbols on their clothes. They gave weird looks to John and Karkat, but otherwise remained rather unfazed by the fact that there was an alien on their planet.
"I thought people would be a little more, you know, afraid!" John chirped, throwing his arms up into the air. "I mean I'm an alien after all."
Karkat scoffed. "Humans are so isolated and naïve," he sneered. "Haven't you noticed that there are only children on this planet?"
John shrugged. "I thought you guys just stopped aging after awhile or something."
"Wrong. All the adults of our planet go out in spaceships and conquer other planets. While it is odd for aliens to actually be on our planet, no one needs to feel threatened by you."
"Why?" John asked, tilting his head.
"Because you are pathetic and not worth their breath," Karkat murmured, rolling his eyes.
"Oh..." John said, slouching over a bit. "Well. Okay, I guess."
Karkat let out a small, frustrated growling noise. "Don't get all depressed on me. I can't be pulling you along while I have errands to run!"
"Oh yeah! Where are we going Karkat?" John asked, the normal bounce in his step returning at the thought of seeing more of the exciting planet.
"Karkat!"
John looked up at the sound of Tavros' voice.
"Sup motherfucker's?" Gamzee added, smiling his naturally aloof smile.
John attempted to run to them, but Karkat caught him by the collar of the shirt. He felt a little bad for nearly throttling John with the collar before.
Karkat smiled a bit when John bounced eagerly, trying to pull Karkat forward so he would move to the other two trolls faster. "Slow down, fuckass."
"Don't you think Jack will be, uh, mad if he finds out you took John, you know, from the lab?" Tavros asked, smiling with a hint of concern.
Karkat rolled his eyes. "Whatever. He won't fucking notice. I don't fucking care anyway."
"Motherfucker's gonna get his fuckin' party on this year?" Gamzee asked, leaning over Tavros' wheelchair.
Karkat just shrugged. "Not really. John wants to watch his shitty "80s action flicks" whatever the fuck that means."
"Oh, see, you're so nice Karkat!" Tavros scolded playfully. "So, uhm, no more putting yourself down! You hafta, uh, you hafta have more confidence! Like Rufio!"
"I'm not nice!" Karkat yelled. "It's convenient. This way I don't have to go back every day and fucking feed him and shit!"
"Whatever you say, Karkat," Tavros laughed, crossing his arms. "We just left the Food Place. Is that where you two are headed?"
"Yes." Karkat looked at their abundance of groceries. "Why on earth do you need that much food?"
"Perigees' Eve party tomorrow!" Tavros sang, cheering happily. "Uh, you know, everyone's invited! It's going to be a lot of fun."
John looked up as Karkat's grip on the collar of his shirt tightened a bit. The bitter troll looked away, his upper lip twitching a bit. "Oh yeah. Lots of fun."
John perked up a bit. "Oh yeah! That sounds like a lot of fun. You can totally count me and Karkat in!" he chirped.
Karkat's head whipped around and he slapped John in the back of the head. "Don't be fucking ridiculous. We're fucking busy."
"No we're not! Movies aren't important," John waved his hand dismissively. "I mean we are invited, aren't we?"
Tavros' eyes brightened. "Yes! Oh...Oh, uh, most definitely! Karkat never comes to our parties!" he said happily, a permanent smile plastered on his face.
Karkat scoffed again, shaking his head. "You never invite me to your parties, don't be a fuckass."
"Hey, best be watchin' that motherfuckin mouth around my best bro here, Karkles," Gamzee said non-threateningly, burying his face in Tavros' soft hair. "He be inviting you places like it's goin' out of style, motherfucker's just ignornin him or callin him a fuckass all the time."
"That's not tru-" Karkat paused, thinking back for a moment. Come to think of it, his brain practically shut down while he was at the lab. He wouldn't be surprised if he cursed at people to get out of his face without really listening to what they were telling him. "Oh. Well...I'm...sorry, then."
Tavros blinked in surprise. "You're sorry?"
"You fucking heard me!" Karkat snapped, pulling John forward again. "I guess we'll see you tomorrow."
Tavros looked up at Gamzee exuberantly. "Maybe John is Karkat's Auspistice? Because he, uh, he thinks he's in a Kismesissitude with himself!"
Gamzee chuckled, wheeling Tavros down the path to his house. "That's motherfuckin' funny, Tavbro."
John smiled at Karkat. "See! It was all just a big huge misunderstanding. You don't need to be worrying all the time. You've got some strange issues, you know."
Karkat's mouth twitched a bit, but otherwise he remained quiet. John looked back down, sighing a bit. He'd hoped Karkat would be a little more thankful, or maybe even just a little happy! John reeled back as his collar pressed down on his throat. He looked back, not having noticed that Karkat had stopped walking.
"Karkat?" John asked, leaning down a bit to look into Karkat's eyes. The troll was too focused on his feet to pay any mind to John, however. "Are you all right?"
Karkat shook his head and wrinkled his nose. "Thank you John." John smiled a bit, putting his hands in his pockets bashfully. "You keep doing all these fucking nice things for me, and I mean...for fuck's sake you're my hostage! An experiment. It's really pissing me off. Not at you, but...at me I guess."
John leaned back on his heels and then shifted to his tiptoes before standing straight again. "Well...you do nice things for me too. Like bringing me water and talking to me and bringing Liv Taylor and my Nic Cage DVD collection."
"I had ulterior motives. You're just doing this out of fucking...kindness. I don't fucking get it," Karkat growled frustratedly.
John put a hand on Karkat's shoulder, forcing their eyes to meet. "I like you Karkat. We're friends."
Karkat fidgeted a bit, marveling at John's high-blooded, vibrant irises. His Sclera were free of dilution, unlike that of a troll's. His pink lips contrasted his pale skin comically to Karkat whom was used to the gray on gray typical of his race. His fangs prodded his bottom lip and before he knew it, he had the human pinned between him and the wall of the Food Place.
John couldn't say he wasn't completely unsurprised at Karkat suddenly shoving him against a wall and kissing him. In fact he was completely utterly and ultimately caught off guard. He was a little afraid what Karkat would do if he tried to fight him off, but John couldn't help himself when he felt a foreign tongue in his mouth.
Finally, John yanked his head away. One hand was vehemently pushing at Karkat's face, the other pushing at his shoulder. He couldn't help but let out a loud "Ew!" at the thought of someone else's saliva in his mouth.
Honestly, it wasn't because it was Karkat. Anyone's saliva would be pretty gross in his opinion.
Karkat stared at him, a little confused. "What? You just said you like me. I fucking heard you. With my ears."
John blushed. "Well, uh, I mean. I do like you, as a friend, you know! A Moirlaga, or whatever! I'm not a homosexual. I'm sorry Karkat..."
Karkat looked thoroughly confused. "What in the hell are you talking about!"
"You know, a homosexual. I mean I'm not a homophobe, but...I just don't like boys," John said quietly, feeling a little guilty about having to reject Karkat.
"Is that even a thing on your planet? That's fucking stupid!" Karkat yelled, throwing his arms up.
"W-Well...I don't know, I just don't...feel like that about you. I'm sorry," John apologized, biting his lip.
"Shut the fuck up. I get it. I'm un fucking likeable. Whatever," Karkat grabbed John's leash and pulled him along again. "We have a lot of errands to run."
John sighed in quiet exasperation. He knew Karkat wouldn't want to try and talk it out, even though John desperately withed he would. He could only try and ignore the awkwardness of what had just happened.
