"WHAT? NOBODY'S GOING TO FUCKING ANSWER THE DOOR? I GUESS I'LL HAVE TO DO IT, NOOKSTAINS." Karkat walked over to the door and swung it open.

The troll that stood before them was their lovable high idiot.

"iS tHeRe AnY mOtHeRfUcKiNg RoOm HeRe?"

"gAMZEE?"

"did they not take you away to the other ship?"

"wElL fOr SoMe MoThErFuCkInG rEaSoN, wHeN i SaId ThAt I wAnTeD tO bE oN tHiS sHiP tHeY gOt AlL sCaReD aNd PuT mE oN tHiS oNe. ThEy WaNtEd To PuT mE wItH sOmE sTuCk Up TrOlLs, So I'm So GlAd To Be HeRe, BrOs."

"That so figures. They're not going to say no to somebody with indigo8lood."

"you can curl up here, gamzee, we've got purrenty of room!"

"MORE LIKE ONE EXTRA RECOOPRACOON. I WOULDN'T CALL THAT A LOT OF ROOM."

"SUCH 4 DOWN3R."

"wElL tHaNkS bRoS, i WaSn'T lOoKiNg FoRwArD tO bOaRdInG wItH a BuNcH oF sTrAnGeRs."

Gamzee had just noticed Karkat right in front of him, who was a head shorter than Gamzee. Then, he saw Tavros in his four wheeled device, sitting next to Aradia and Sollux.

"tHaT's WhErE yOu TwO wEnT, i WaS sO mOtHeRfUcKiNg DisSaPpOiNtEd WhEn I dIdN't sEe YoU tWo."

"wE CAME RIGHT AFTER YOU LEFT, i MEAN, tHAT'S WHAT ARADIA SAID,"

"wHaT tOoK yOu So LoNg?"

"H3H3, 1T W4S 4LL K4RKL3S'S F4ULT."

"NO IT WASN'T."

"iT KIND OF, uHH, wAS,"

"YOU WERE THE ONE WHO COULDN'T WHEEL HIMSELF TO THE PORT."

"aND YOU WERE THE ONE, tHAT, wELL, cOULDN'T PART FROM HIS LUSUS,"

"THAT'S NOT FUNNY."

"iT WAS PRETTY FUNNY,"

"mAn, I wIsH i WaS tHeRe, SoUnDs LiKe A mIrAcLe."

"REALLY? ME BEING SCARED OUT OF MY FUCKING MIND IS A MIRACLE?"

"man kk, you 2houldn't take that two per2onally."

The next half an hour was spent with everybody catching up with current events. Most of them had never seen each other, and some had trouble remembering who was who.

"sO nEpEtA," Gamzee started, looking at Aradia.

"no, i'm aradia."

"oH, yEaH. sOrRy, SiS."

The respiteblock was quite crowded, and Tavros's wheelchair didn't help at all. Trolls kept bumping into it, knocking Tavros over and causing a bit of panic around the room.

A little while later, Nepeta got an idea.

"hey, vriskers," she whispered, "i bet if we can convince gamzee to help us, equius wouldn't pawsibly say no!"

"Can we not talk a8out this here?"

"hehe, what kind of reputation are you trying to paw, anyway?"

"None of your 8usiness, Nepeta!"

"hehe, you just look really silly when you do stuff like this!"

"what'2 up wiith you two?" asked Sollux, placing himself between the two trolls.

"C'mon Sollux, get out of the way. You're so rude!"

"tho2e word2 2ound 2o hollow comiing from you. try and follow what you preach."

"Are you trying to make people 8elieve I'm rude?"

"no, ii'm poiintiing iit out."

"hey, you two," said Aradia, "we can't get into fights this week. we should stick together."

"Y34H VR1SK4, NO F1GHT1NG. R1GHT?"

"It's funny how you only directed that statement at me, Terezi."

"OOPS, 4ND TH3 S4M3 TO 3V3RYON3 3LS3. MY B4D."

"no fighting with vriskers, terezi!"

"we've all got to stick together," said Aradia. "it's no use if we separate."

"c'mon aa, we're not goiing two driift apart on the 2hiip, iit'2 an enclo2ed 2pace."

"no, i meant in spirit."

Gamzee looked around the room again.

"wAsN't KaNaYa WiTh YoU aLl?"

"sHE'S A JADEBLOOD, rEMEMBER?"

"oH yEaH, i FoRgOt."

"OH Y34H, B3FOR3 1 FORG3T…" Terezi reached for the box Kanaya wanted her to deliver, "G4MZ33, TH1S 1S FROM K4N4Y4. TH3R3'S THR33 1N TH3R3 FOR 3QU1US, 3R1D4N, 4ND F3F3R1. BUT TH4T ON3'S YOURS."

"mAn, ShE's AlWaYs LoOkInG oUt FoR uS."

Nobody had time to try on their presents from Kanaya, because a shrill bell rang. All of the ship's lights automatically turned off, and it was time for them to go to sleep. Because of the complete darkness, everybody kept stumbling over each other.

"G4MZ33, TH4T'S MY FOOT!"

"2hiit, where diid my gla22e2 go?"

"why do you need your glasses when you sleep?"

"cAN SOMEONE HELP ME INTO THE RECOOPRACOON?"

"Help yourself, Toreadork."

"i'll help you, tavros! i'll pounce over there in a second!"

"hOnK hOnK, bRoS."

Then, by some mIrAcLe, everyone settled down. And they went to sleep, knowing that there would be a week of ship shenanigans ahead of them.