A/N: I am soo sorrryyyy *cries* I had a lot of shit happen recently, and I was a bit overly depressed to be writing, so I'm sorry to all of the people I told I'd have this chapter up within a few days.
On the subject of the story, I think Backstories'll max out at fifteen chapters. I'll be getting into the bigger swings of the story next chapter, and I'm sending out the warning now that things'll get violent. Not too much, though. Just, like people getting beat up, and I'll be killing a few characters soon... Don't hate me, please D:
Also, a timeskip will come after the end of the Backstory chapters, 'cause I actually have a few plans now that I'm getting back into this.
I'm again so fucking sorry for the late update, and I promise I'll try to be better about them in the future. Also, thank you guys so fucking much for your reviews, and favorites and shit; they really helped me get through all the shit this past week. Two weeks. Something like that.
Anyway, thank you. It really means a lot to me.
Ciao for now,
~Webs
Also, warning: Sollux is very fond of his hair.
BE THE POUTING PSIONIC
Having walked out onto the beach to look for Karkat, and after over an hour of searching, do find him sparring with douchebag Strider, you'd retreated back into Crabdaddy's, heading to your cot and flopping down on it.
You bury your face in your pillow, growling; how are you supposed to make up with karkat if Dave's always getting in the fucking way? They'd met two days ago, and already seem inseparable. How are you supposed to compete with someone who knows more about Karkat than you do?
You feel a weird sparking behind your eyes, but ignore it, grinding your teeth as you seethe into the pillow. You know you shouldn't be this upset, especially over something like this, but you can't find it in yourself to care much what you should and shouldn't be doing. You're already a fugitive; how much worse could you do?
You laugh bitterly, rolling over onto your back and rubbing your eyes. You then just look up at the ceiling, glad the blinds are closed against the morning sunlight flitting through the window, relishing in the darkened shadows of the room. Back home, the rooms were always bright; the people of Derse have always had a chronic fear of the dark, so lights are always on.
Here, that doesn't seem to be a fear; rather a preference even... It's different for you, but strangely calming. The sparking eventually fades back, and you relax with it, letting your muscles untense.
You lay like that for several hours, or what you think is several hours, until the door to the room opens. You sit up, expecting Gamzee or Crabdad, but it's Dave, carrying Karkat in bridal style. You're at first angry, but then confused as Dave brings him straight over to you.
"Lay back down, idiot," he hisses, waiting for you to do so before laying Karkat next to you and letting the other boy curl up.
"What are you doing?" you hiss back, furrowing your brows in confusion.
"Karkat's cold," he says simply, glaring at you. "He took a swim, and he likes you, so why not?"
"What do you mean he likes me, asshole?" Dave rolls his eyes, turning back towards the door.
"Just fucking cuddle the kid. He'll feel better." You fall silent, but watch him leave with a confused glare.
Once he's gone though, you look back at Karkat, reaching up and patting his head, finding his hair slightly damp, as if he really had taken a swim. You sigh, and hug him closer, holding him against your chest and pulling the blanket over the two of you.
You watch the wall across from you until you drift off again.
You only start to wake when you feel Karkat shifting in your arms, his sharp nose digging into your throat. You refrain from groaning, instead just opening your eyes and looking down at him, finding with surprise that his eyes are open, and his cheeks are flaming red. You quirk an eyebrow before whispering,
"You alright?" Karkat makes a high-pitched squeak, almost toppling off the cot and to the floor, and he would have, had you not caught him with a snicker. "Idiot."
"H-Hey, don't scare me like that!" he protests weakly, and you just smirk at him, hugging him tighter for a moment, then releasing him.
He immediately gets up, brushing himself off disgruntledly, but you see him chance a glance at you over his shoulder. You smile a little, more of a smirk, and his turns back away, heading towards his trunk and rooting through it for fresh clothes. Once he's got some, he mumbles something about a shower and disappears into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind him.
You let out a small sigh, rolling over and laying on your back, looking up at the ceiling. You listen to Karkat turn on the shower as you tuck your arms behind your head, sighing again as you think.
Dave cheered him up, once again. Because you pissed him off. Again.
You see a pattern here you're not very fond of, grumbling to yourself to try and think of ways to apologize, and to tell Dave to back off without getting on both their bad sides. You sit up and punch your pillow into a more comfortable shape, before flopping back down and crossing your arms over your chest with a huff, sulking.
"This is bullshit," you mutter to yourself, glaring at the single light in the middle of the ceiling. You've got nothing to do but brood about how you're pissing off the only friend you've got in the world, and to think about why Karkat trust Dave so much more than you. "It's probably because of his hair," you muse to yourself, then shake your head with a sigh. That's stupid; besides, you have great hair.
You ignore your ego and sit up, though continue grumbling to yourself as you leave the back room, finding Crabdad baking a strange aray of pastries you don't know the name of, Gamzee sitting at the cash register despite the day off. As soon as you come out, Gamzee tips his head back to grin at you upside down, winking.
You feel your cheeks heat up at this, but ignore him, going over to sit on the stool next to him instead. To four disgruntled dismay, you find said stool occupied by one asshole blonde. Your frown deepens a little, instead going over to Crabdad.
"Do you need any help?" The man looks up in surprise, then straightens with a shrug.
"You can go over and start putting the dough on the cookie sheets." He points to a stack of baking pans that look far too big to be normal cookie sheets, and to a humongous bowl of dough. "A spoonful every two inches."
You nod, quickly washing your hands before following his instructions, ignoring the smirk tossed in your direction from Dave.
You work with Crabdad in the kitchen for a little over an hour before Karkat exits the back room, wordlessly joining the two of you, though avoids your eye. You hear a snort from Dave's direction, but ignore it, instead watching Karkat from under your eyelashes, helping Crabdad effortlessly. Okay, now that you really think about it, he's extremely cute, so you can't really blame the looks Dave is sending him.
You force yourself to keep in mind the unlikelihood Karkat even swings that way, and that you're both thirteen. You don't know how old Dave is, but you tend to want to ignore him, so you do so, instead going back to watching Karkat. You realize he probably helps out in the kitchen a lot, and that this Runner's life isn't... all that fast. There's a lot of downtime; you're not constantly doing something.
Karkat doesn't need to steal everyday, and you can only torment the BatterWitch so many days in a row; you realize that you suddenly don't know what to do with yourself. You don't even have school to distract you anymore; what are you going to do with your life?
Your hands pause in their glazing of cinnamon rolls, frowning down at the platter before you. What... could you possibly do without schooling, without something to occupy your time?
"Hey." You feel a tap on your shoulder, and look up, finding Dave standing next to you in surprise. "Can I talk to you?" You glance at Karkat, hesitating before nodding.
"I'll be right back," you tell Crabdad and Karkat, before setting down your glazing brush, and following Dave out to the front. You feel Karkat's eyes on your back until the door closes behind you.
"So." Dave sticks his hands in his pockets, cocking his head slightly as he looks at you. "About your family." You blink.
"What?"
"You miss them, right?"
"Of course."
"You've thought about going back?"
"Of course," you say again, frowning.
"Then why don't you?"
"Because they won't remember me. Kk said that the Batterwitch would wipe their memories of me..."
"False." You blink in surprise again. "Well, okay, not really, but there's a chance. You have little sisters, right?"
"Yeah..." Eyeing him warily, you frown more, shifting your feet on the pebbles beneath you.
"There's a higher chance of them remembering you since they're so young. And if they can convince the rest of your family that you're theirs, they can remember."
"But that's..." You don't know; this sounds wrong. Karkat said there was no chance...
"It'll be difficult, sure, and dangerous, but if you ever wanted to see them again, I'd be glad to help." He shrugs, thumbs drumming his hips as his fingers rest in his pockets.
"Why would you even offer?"
"Because I'm a Runner, I had a family, and I couldn't get them back." You think you can almost see his eyes through his shades, but then he turns his head, and the glare from the sun blots it out. "Karkat doesn't have a family he could try and reconnect with, so he probably doesn't know this is possible. He'd be against it anyway; he doesn't want anyone in any more danger than they already are, which I agree with, but I thought I'd pose the question in case... Yeah, just in case." He nods self-satisfaction, turning towards the steps to the top of the beach, starting to walk away, and you just realize he has his backpack.
"H-Hey, wait!" You take a small step forward, your words, being enough to stop him and turn him back to you. "If... If I ever wanted that, how could I contact you?" He shrugs a little, tipping his head to the side and giving a lopsided smile.
"Just as Gamzee. He'll get me."
You blink, but let him leave, watching his retreating form until it disappears over the crest.
BE THE SIGHING REDHEAD
You heave out a deep sigh as Sollux leaves with Dave, setting down your spoon and moving to sit on the stool next to Gamzee. You cross your arms on the wood counter, putting your head in your arms to better concentrate on reading the emotions of the people just outside the restaurant.
Surprise. Confusion. Fright...? Relief. Then doubt.
Dave's told him something, something you don't know the nature of, and you start to panic a little. Sollux is new, some could say too new, and you still don't know too much about Dave... You don't want Sollux getting hurt, or anyone around him.
You've already seen him torn about leaving his family... You don't want him ever feeling something like that again, though you know that's a lost cause, honestly. You're Runners. Being torn is the worst that could happen.
You feel Gamzee start rubbing your back in large circles, and immediately relax, feeling tiny pricks of comfort at the edge of your mind, the closest Gamzee'll ever be to reading you like he can others. Sometimes, most of the time, it's a relief, but now you're just a muddle of confusion and helplessness.
You look up as Sollux comes back inside, the psionic's eyes on his feet, before he glances up at you, your lips tugging into a frown. He looks hurt, betrayed.
You immediately wonder what you've done.
A/N: I don't know if I have anything to put here... Um... I might've said there'd be big revelations this chapter, and there really isn't, aside from Sollux's family-thing, so my apologies for that. Things will start picking up soon, I promise.
And just thank you all so much again. I don't think I'll ever be able to express how happy you guys make me when you read my stuff.
Oh! Yeah, and do you guys think I can pull off a DirkKat fic? D: I really want to write one, but I don't know if it's something I'd be able to... do successfully. Any opinions on the matter are greatly appreciated :3
Okay, I'm done. Ciao for now!
~Webs
