Breakfast was quiet and tense when dusk arrived on Karkat's part. He felt especially aggravated from his and his matesprit's-such an ugly term-antics during the day. He forced his irate discomfort down however, staring at his plate before Gamzee spoke. He looked up at him, giving him his undivided attention, as was expected.

"Almost been five weeks bro," Gamzee told him, swallowing the bit of egg in his mouth, "Motherfuckin' Condesce is getting hella worse. Gonna be motherfuckin' dead real soon,"

"I don't see what you have against sea-dwellers," Karkat bit his tongue as it slipped out. He expected Gamzee to throw something at him, to try and strike his head. He was surprised when the highblood croaked, his voice tight with hurt. Wait, hurt? Did he…?

"Why would you all up and say that?" he asked softly, "Most of us motherfuckin' highbloods are land-dwellers, there's no motherfuckin' use for them fishy folk. Blood daddy said so himself,"

"If you recall-" Karkat stopped himself from saying it, pushing toward his new point, "If you recall…Sea-trolls have much higher senses and are more efficient combaters and hunters. I mean, isn't that the point of our species? To advance as far as possible, even on an evolutionary basis?"

Gamzee's and Karkat's eyes were locked as he said that, and the highblood knew that his consort's words were truthfully spoken. His heart wretched at the idea of his matesprit consorting with the sea-dwelling prisoners down stairs; he stood, gripping the table clothe between his fingers. Any caste above him could take Karkat away from him-he could not allow that.

"Come with me bro," Gamzee calmly approached him, holding his hand out to him. Karkat was a tad taken aback, surprised by the calm reaction, but took his hand anyhow and let him lead him down the corridors. This was stupid, this war, he thought idly. It only started when the Condesce embraced Dualscar over the Grand Highblood, who rebelled in a rage at his denied intentions. Subjugglators seemed to be under a sort of mass psychosis regarding issues of the quadrants. It was like they all shared the same gene pool and inherited a large amount of mental illness. Then again, they were highbloods torn between sea and land with the lusi that had been bred to raise them. Or maybe it was their weird clown religion-he didn't know! He just thought it was stupid for this war to start over some broken heart and spawn all this prejudice and heighten existing abhorrence to more extreme levels.

"Sir," Equius knelt down before his master. They were in front of the artillery room. Odd, Gamzee never let him in this area…

"S'up bro?" Gamzee asked out of common-courtesy. They had a weird relationship, Karkat often felt they shared the black quadrant with the way Equius would worship Gamzee's polluted blood and push himself into submitting despite his spoken dogma contradicted those actions. It was an internal feud. Of course Karkat could not justify these assumptions as he hadn't seen any physical consummation of it. He'd often stop himself from thinking these thoughts as well since the blue blood acted in a similar way around him, and it made him want to vomit.

"Nothing new has occurred, everything is as it should be," Equius retorted, "Is there anything you need, sir?"

"I want to show my red motherfucker something," Gamzee told him. He patted his own chest for a moment and pulled aside a flap on the vest. Karkat furrowed his brow as a roll of keys was revealed. THAT'S where he hid the keys?! Sure, sometimes he'd carry some open on his person, but to hide the bulk in slots hidden between the layers of his armored vest? Gogdammit, Karkat wanted to smack his forehead until it bruised. He decided not to and took a gander at the key. He took in its appearance, memorizing its structure and design as Gamzee unlocked the door.

He took a moment to reinsert the key into its slot under the flap on his vest before turning to his matesprit, taking his hand again, "C'mon bro,"

The Cancer's eyes examined the room as Equius shut the doors behind them. This room was filled with hands-on weapons; spiked clubs, swords, knives, whips, axes, bows and arrows, spears and a plethora of other sorts of sharp, pointed weapons of all shapes and sizes for all different kinds of fighting styles. They approached a table where a special three were laid out, Karkat's eyes went wide. A large, golden, double ended trident lay on at the top of the table, a purple and blue rifle just under it, and lastly Karkat's sickle which he had not seen in over a sweep. He wanted to grasp the hilt of it in nostalgia, just to swing it around a few times to remember how firm and suiting it felt in his hands.

"See this bro?" Gamzee picked up the rifle, "This ain't no motherfuckin' normal gun. No bullets,"

"You don't even USE guns, what the fuck does it matter?" Karkat rolled his eyes.

"This ain't no ordinary gun bro," he pointed the gun to the mutant's head. Karkat froze for a moment as Gamzee's finger traced the trigger, "This bitch shoots a motherfuckin' laser, its power is limitless. It can take down the biggest motherfuckin' lusus you've ever seen. It's dangerous. This is what they want for us; to die under their weapons or serve their decadence,"

Karkat's eyes were wide as he stared at the ceiling; his body was still racked with fear. He could still feel the cool steel of the rifle barrel against his forehead. He knew he shouldn't feel such an immense amount of fear since Gamzee did not pull the trigger. The Subjugglator was on to him though, he felt it. He'd have to leave soon…Thank gog that Gamzee and a group of Subjugglators were out for the day. They had received word from the border that some spies had been discovered. Still a way's away from the border, they went to meet up with a small party at a designated location a few miles away. The fear had not dispersed though. He packed imperishables for the trip, they were under his bed. He had a separate satchel packed for the dungeon; he had to proceed quickly to inform the prisoners of his plan.

Guards had been placed mainly on the castle's surrounding walls, so Karkat did not have much trouble sneaking into the dungeon. It was unnerving though, why wouldn't Gamzee put more guards in the dungeon area? Dammit, if the highblood had not left he could have stolen the necessary key to break into the artillery and get the weapons he needed. Gamzee would be back by nightfall though; it was only a day away, so to speak.

When he arrived at their cell he noted the two were asleep. Eridan lie on his side, arms wrapped around his moirail who slumbered peacefully. Karkat sighed, reaching through the bars to try and wake them up. They would have plenty of time to sleep after they ate. They'd need all the energy they could get for this escape. Eridan was the closest; he tugged at his pants leg. If he could get them some new clothes he would, they were tattered and torn in several places. If he could find a safe house for them he would look for new clothes, possibly a disguise as well to better hide them from any Subjugglator's eyes.

"Mmm…" Eridan moaned softly in his sleep, "Fivve more minutes,"

"It's me fish face, get up," Karkat rasped.

"Mm, Kar," Eridan smiled softly, stretching a bit without disturbing his moirail. Feferi was a rather heavy sleeper, having spent most of her life in a thunderous sea. Eridan's stirring did not spur her from her sleep; she merely curled up in a ball when her moirail's presence next to her was gone.

"Shouldn't you wake her up too?" Karkat asked as he began to push the food through the bars.

"She needs her rest, I'll wake her up after you're gone," Eridan told him, spitting into the bucket in their cell that was used for waste. He hadn't been asleep long, but the linger of evening taste was in his mouth. If not for the hygienic oral rinses that Karkat snuck down sometimes he and his moirail would have developed cavities.

"Whatever," Karkat sighed, leaning against the bars, "He knows,"

"Wwhat?" Eridan asked, a piece of bread in his mouth.

"Gamzee's on to me, we have to escape tomorrow," Karkat told him, "I can get the key, I can get us visors and your weapons back,"

"My rifle?" Eridan's eyes sparkled, "You can get my rifle back?"

"Yeh, I can, along with that trident and my sickle," Karkat told him. Eridan frowned, sensing that he was tense. He set the bread back down into the wax-paper and scooted closer to the bars. He gently ran his fingers through the mutant blood's hair as he leaned against the bars tiredly. He seemed depressed, well, more depressed than usual.

"Kar, you seem sad, wwhat's wwrong?" he frowned, petting the area around one of his horns. Karkat shivered a bit before cooing, leaning into the caress. That felt nice. It wasn't meant to be erotic or sexual in any manner. In fact, the act reminded him of his lusus. Krabdad would rub his head like this when he was upset. It always helped him relax; he was surprised that Eridan took to it so naturally. Eridan noted Karkat's pleasure as he relaxed against his hand, a soft smile on his face.

"I take it Gam doesn't do this?" he asked.

"Hmmm…No…Not like this…" Karkat answered idly, enjoying the sea-dweller's ministration, "Mmmm, Krabdad used to rub my head like this,"

"Krabdad?" Eridan echoed, he decided to engage Karkat in conversation, "Your lusus, you mean,"

"Yeh," Karkat closed his eyes, "He was kind of a pain in the ass, had to strife with him every time he got pissed off…But, he took really good care of me…Considering my blood color, that is…Man, I haven't thought of that fucker in so long,"

"Oh? Wwhy not?" Eridan asked.

"Well, he died when the war got started and I guess I just focused on my own survival," Karkat opened his eyes, a sort of poignant contentment in his eyes. It had been the first time Eridan had seen such fulfillment in the mutant's bright red eyes; it was touching, "Didn't realize how much I missed him until now,"

He chuckled a bit, "Y'know, he used to carry me around on his back until I was three sweeps old,"

"Really?" the sea-dwellers chuckled as well, amused by such a notion.

"Yeh, I use to trip around a lot and always get dirty or hurt. Guess I was a handful, huh?" Karkat's laughed breathlessly, "How about your lusus?"

"Hm, my lusus?" Eridan was puzzled for a moment; he did not stop rubbing Karkat's head though. He wanted to keep his hand in place for what he had to come, "Wwell, he wwasn't as ideal as your Krabdad, but I guess Seahorsedad wwas okay. He helped me wwhen I had to hunt for Fef's lusus, used to ride on his back,"

"That sounds like fun," Karkat commented, closing his eyes again.

"Eh, I guess," Eridan shrugged, "Other than that though, he wwas kinda a dick, alwways seemed to crush my hopes one wway or another wwhen I was young. I don't think wwe really met tide to shore,"

"Fish puns," Karkat nuzzled his hand inadvertently, trying to display his physical disapproval of the pun.

"That wwasn't a pun, that wwas a metaphor for howw wwe should'vve been," Eridan pointed out.

"Oh," Karkat sighed softly, "Sorry…Not even on 12th Perigree?"

"Eh, I guess wwe saw more eye to eye around those times, but that's kinda expected," Eridan shrugged, slipping his spare hand through the bars to cup Karkat's cheek as his moved the hand on the mutant's head to the opposite side of his face. The mutant shifted a bit, opening his eyes and changing his sitting position to look the sea-dweller in the eyes. He felt a tad perplexed by Eridan's actions while, at the same time, enticed. His words began to trail off.

"Yeh…My lusus and I weren't... that... close...then... too," his eyes started to shut as he and the sea-dweller moved closer to each other despite the bars. Karkat brought his hands up to grasp the bars as Eridan's lips pressed against his own, drawing the mutant to coo a bit. He fought momentarily, gripping the bars until his knuckles turned white. He couldn't do this, it was perfidious and if he was caught he'd surely die. It was nice though. No, "nice" was not the proper word to describe how being kissed by someone other than Gamzee felt. It was new and felt absolute, it was solacing to know that he was having a say in being kissed.

Eridan moaned softly as Karkat's mouth relaxed against his own, opening against his which allowed him to slip his tongue in. The mutantblood squirmed a bit before pushing himself closer, removing his hands from the bars to wrap around the aquatic troll's shoulders. It was somewhat difficult, due to the bars and also the fact that Eridan was bigger than Karkat in stature. He wanted to push this further, to kiss him deeper and harder, before pulling away, wiping his mouth.

"Kar…" Eridan frowned, "Wwhy did you stop? It wwas gettin good an red,"

"I can't," Karkat turned away, tears cornering his eyes, "I'm sorry, I have to go,"

"Kar~!" Eridan cried, reaching through the bars as Karkat rushed away and toward the drainage pipe, "Did I do somethin wwrong? Come back Kar!"

Karkat would come back, but only at the next daybreak. That would be too long, Eridan felt. He bit his lip and scooted into the corner of the cell, feeling too nauseated to eat as a wave of emotions overcame him. He was no long a wriggler, or a teenaged troll, he was a young, adult troll. Why then did his chest ache so much to have the mutant blood run away? He'd have to speak with his moirail when she woke up to eat herself, unless he had cried himself to sleep by then.