A/N: Since last chapter contributed absolutely nothing to the plot, here is another chapter! I decided to update WAY earlier than planned since I have a shitload of things to complete for school! :D
H3H3H3. RAndOmanimefreak123, I knew y'all would love the awkwardness of this suggestive conversation. I thought to myself, 'should I…..I should!'. Also, I do not know too much about how Sollux's lisp works, as I do not have a lisp myself, and I do not know how to type a lisp exactly…Thank you for your lovely review though. ;)
Aw, Midori! I appreciate your enthusiastic approval of chapters six and eleven! I cannot express my gratitude in written words how much it means to me that you are enduring this silly story, however odd and stupidly fluffy it may be. 3 :3 You are like my moirail (well, kind of, I may have several moirails, even though that is impossible, for it takes many people to calm me the fuck down). Alas, I will do more Karkat POV later, so do not fret! :B
Are my cliffhangers really that good, Marilynjayfreak? I thought they were a bit moronic on my part, but your compliments stay my wretched vascular pump's palpitations. I will of course write more of those pesky little fuckers.
Trust me, so-adorabloodthirsty, I loved writing about the horn touching. I think more horn-fondling will come later if you catch my drift. ;] Yet again, I am tremendously impressed by your use of Gibberish in your fabulous review. It clearly displays your fondness for the chapter. Many thanks to you, kind reader!
Ah, yes, perception, my darling Zexionienzo, is a powerful thing. Dear Sollux appears to be a victim of it. I almost feel a twinge of pity for this new burden he must carry, but in this chapter, he will be relieved of such afflictions. :)
AllTheLovelyBrains, have I ever told YOU that I love you? Well, now I have! :B I am so very pleased that you liked the shift in focus from John and Karkitty to Sollux. I rather liked writing that part; it was a nice change-up from the old routine. I hope that I continue to make you laugh uncontrollably as the story continues!
Kaoruhikaruluver, you make my day when you review! I sit here in darkness, ready to poke MY head up for your reviews! I myself enjoyed Sollux's part in this. There will be more of him later, H3H3H3. I love you! I feel like a good author when you praise me! I am such a spoiled writer. ;3 Please continue to read and review, my lovely.
Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck. If you think I do, you, my sick friends, are delusional.
Now, let us delve into a magical world filled with Karkat, John, Sollux, and a certain little spy. Oh yes, my children, new plot twists that go beyond the reaches of the sweet tendrils of romance will develop. Be prepared.
Veins
Chapter Twelve:
Condescension Amongst Us
"Hey, Karkat! A Sollux Captor is here to see you!" yelled John in an obnoxiously upbeat voice. The derp turned back to the waiting troll and giggled in a downright unmanly way when he heard Karkat retort faintly with an 'I'll be right fucking there!' to his call. In all seriousness, John's Mangrit was at an all time low.
"Sollux?" queried the Cancer as he came up from behind John, who was still standing in the doorway. John looked over the aforementioned 'Sollux'.
This 'Sollux' in question was only slightly taller than the diminutive Cancer. As the human examined this new figure a bit further, he gathered that his blood is of yellow hue, and the emblem on his shirt clearly represented the zodiac sign of the esteemed Gemini. The troll's black hair was cropped short, and spiked in the back. His horns were quite intriguing to John, for Sollux had two sets of horns, one pair smaller than the other, instead of the one.
Sollux grinned at this close scrutiny, and his sharp incisors protruded slightly. There were two sets of fangs as well, the shorter set on the inside like the horns. Glasses resembling the 3D pairs found at Earth's movie theatres, although the trolls had no idea what those were, concealed the Gemini's eyes. John thought for a brief moment that he could see distant galaxies, in all their celestial splendor, dancing in those red and blue lenses.
"Hey, KK, good to thee you again. I think you grew a little. Tho, who might thith human be, hm?" said Sollux, briefly looking John over and then returning his gaze to Karkat.
"This is my annoying-as-fuck blockmate, John Egbert," Karkat said, thumping the abovementioned derp on the head.
"Karkat! What the hell was that for?" John said in a whiny voice. He rubbed his cranium and glowered at Karkat.
Sollux watched this little spectacle amusedly. "I thee you've trained your human well, KK."
Karkat snorted and shoved John out of the way so as to allow Sollux to enter. "I sure as hell have. Now come on in nookstain, before I think twice about sparing you some of my precious time. I am fucking busy."
"You're definitely the KK I remember."
"And why the fuck wouldn't I be?"
Karkat, Sollux, and John entered the dorm room and made their way to the sort of 'living room' section of the place. There was a miniscule television that was admittedly a piece of shit and did not even work. In addition to the useless television, there was a shitty recliner with holes in the upholstery, and a small love seat that was probably infested with spiders and God-knows-what-the-fuck-else. As for the carpeting, well, let us put it this way: Karkat and John never walked on it without socks or shoes on for fear of what sorts of deadly diseases and parasites lay in wait amid the various stains and splotches adorning the flooring. In short, it was a cesspool of shitfuck crap compared to the relatively clean kitchenette, bathroom, and bedroom.
John plopped down on the left side of the love seat, causing a grey miasma of dust and filth to burst from the cushion, while Sollux made a beeline for the recliner. Of course Karkat would be stuck sitting next to John. Damn it all to fuck.
The Cancer reluctantly sat down beside John and scooted as far as he can to the right to avoid touching the derp. The love seat is barely able to accommodate two people, so the troll had virtually no room to maneuver. Squirming away was futile.
Sollux immediately locked eyes with Karkat when they were all seated.
"Your color…"
"Yes, I fucking KNOW, Sollux, I'm a Goddamn mutant who isn't worth two shits, let alone one measly shit. You don't have to tell me how miserably useless my mewling, disgusting being is. Feferi and Gamzee didn't seem to even notice, and Kanaya doesn't give a flying fuck. Terezi can't see the change, but she can probably smell it or some shit like that. She's fucking weird. Anyway, I alrea-"
"Dammit, KK, thut the fucking hell up for one damn thecond! I wathn't even going to go into all of thith shit with you. It ith jutht…after all thothe yearth of hiding it, I finally know why you've been tho careful about your blood," there was a pause. Sollux seemed to making up his mind about something. That something had to be said, or major consequences in the future could wreak havoc on all involved in this issue.
"How did you path the blood samplth required to board the ship?" asked Sollux after a moment of thought. He had boarded the Earth-bound ship without hassle, but he had a common blood color. If anyone had seen Karkat's true color, he would have been culled immediately, no question. How the hell did he pass that damn test?
Karkat bit his lip and looked away from the Gemini. "I passed off as a lime blood, okay? I…There was a lime blood…among the heap of culled wrigglers that Gamzee used for painting his fucking asshat clown pictures. It was only a few days before we were to board the ship, and I was flipping a colossal shit like it was going out of fucking style, so I just…took a vile-full of it and presented it to the inspector. He gave me the green light to get on the damn ship. He never questioned where I got it, so I passed. Besides, it made sense, since our group had every other color on the fucking hemospectrum. Lime was the only color missing from the otherwise complete set. Those careless assholes bought it, and they let me through."
"KK…"
Karkat merely grumbled in irritation and glared at the floor.
A long period of silence saturated the atmosphere with tension and uneasiness. A crackle of nervousness and a spark of disquiet flickered in wordless fidgeting among the three boys.
After an impossibly lengthy ten minutes elapsed with no more words yet spoken, the Gemini cleared his throat and addressed the agitated Cancer.
"KK, do you…know of our ancethtorth? Do you know anything pertaining to yourth in particular?" Sollux queried, his voice strained. The Gemini shifted in his seat, and his hand slowly crept toward his neck. He grasped something through his shirt, maybe a pendant of some sort, but neither Karkat nor John could tell what this peculiar body language entailed.
"I am aware of our fucking 'ancethtorth' but I only have bits and pieces of memories. It's like I get these weird-ass visions of him, the Sufferer, or rather the Signless. I see him preaching to a clusterfuck of lowbloods and highbloods alike. He had this inner circle of trusted followers, including your ancestor, the Ψiioniic."
"Ah yeth, the Helmthman of the Condethce's battleship," added Sollux with disdain evident in his voice. The Condesce was undoubtedly the hugest bitch in the known and unknown galaxies. She's the whole fucking reason Alternia went to shit. Karkat of course would never admit this aloud, but he thought that Earth might be a better bet for their survival than that forsaken planet.
"I don't know all that much about him, besides that he is a mutant, like myself, and he is executed for his 'blasphemous preachings' about equality. His matesprit was Nepeta's ancestor. I think she was known as the Disciple or some shit. That's about all I know for certain about the snarky douche."
"That thounds about right. There ith definitely more to it, but that will come later."
"I am so fucking out of the loop, it's not even funny. So what the hell does this have to do with anything? I just fucking got here yesterday, and I am tired as fuck, so we can deal with this steaming pile of shittery at a later date," Karkat said in irritation. The rude red blood yawned loudly, allowing his mouth to gape open wide.
"KK, thith ith important. You'll find out eventually, but it ith better to know now," Sollux said, stress apparent in his tone of voice. Of course Karkat blatantly ignored the ominous undertone.
"Sollux, get the fuck out. I need sleep, and I don't need more bullshit on my thinkpan. Good-fucking-night."
The Gemini stood from his seat and glared at the Cancer. Karkat rose to meet Sollux's eyes, his body language clearly stating: "Leave right the fuck now, or I will thrust my sickle through your abdomen, rip your nutrition sack from your corpse, and use it for my new shitty messenger bag."
"Fine, KK, but we will thpeak of thith later. If I don't tell you, someone elthe will. Goodnight."
Sollux turned on his heel and walked briskly out of the dorm room. There was a pause in the echoing footsteps in the hall. The troll poked his head around the still open door of the dorm room.
"And KK? Be careful. Don't fuck up anything."
John still sat on the love seat, wordlessly watching. His pure cobalt eyes were wide as half-dollars.
"Kar-" protested the derp, wanting to hear what the Gemini had to say.
"Will do, Captor."
That was the last time that night that the boys would be disturbed. All was quiet. For now.
~O~
A lone Scorpio, after finally escaping her archenemy, the Libra, paces in her dorm room, which is devoid of any other trolls and humans. With no blockmate, there is no one to interfere with her nefarious doings and cornucopia of irons in the fire.
There were certain 'developments' to be reported.
A small, sleek communication device is in her clawed hand, glinting in the dim light filtering in through the window. The Scorpio smirks in malicious contempt and presses a small fuchsia button. She brings the device to her ear.
"Yes, my spy?" asks a smooth, oily voice dripping with condescension. A dangerous undercurrent was sewn carefully in those three words, infiltrating every seemingly safe place in the Scorpio's thinkpan. No secrets are safe. Even the troll's last sanctuary, her mind, is invaded by foreign probes.
"I will fill you in when I have more information, but know this, my Queen: Some of us are not what we seem. His vengeance is upon Her Imperious Condescension."
"Well, this is an...interesting development. Continue your faithful surveillance, spy. Confirm your suspicions, and report to me once more."
"Yes, my Queen, in due time."
She presses the button again, severing the connection.
He will pay.
Brownie points are rewarded to those who find my little pun on Sollux's bees.
