Chapter 13

Karkat headed down the hall, spotting Rose and John. Good, maybe they already had coffee made and he didn't have to go poking around the cabinets himself. "Hey, you already have some—"

He was cut off when John opened his mouth and an UNGODLY voice came out that was simultaneously glass-shattering high and bone-rattlingly low and made his hair stand on end and his blood freeze in his veins. He was also pretty sure he just pissed himself too, not that he could be assed to care.

Before Rose or Karkat could react, John kicked the door right off the hinges and bolted into the room, grabbing Gamzee from the floor and slamming him into one of Rose's work tables, scattering the miscellaneous items she had on it. Gamzee jerked awake with a startled honk, kicking and clawing at John.

"NGYUTHL'BA! GAZLUNUKLU M'LOOATH NYOT CLETHLYRSH YESKREL'KA!"

Gamzee froze, his claws embedded in John's shoulders as that voice screamed around in his think pan, but somewhere in the back of his head, he understood.

"SILENCE WORM! OPEN YOUR MIND TO ME, GAMZEE MAKARA!"

THE MOTHERFUCKING SHIT WAS THAT!?

Gamzee was spared having to think it over when Rose bolted into the room and grabbed John, throwing him off of Gamzee, a black aura enveloping her body, her eyes glowing a blazing white as she pinned John down and pressed her hand to his head.

"BEGONE FROM HIM!" she screamed, the black aura tangibly lashing out at John, who screamed right back, struggling under her hold before suddenly going slack. Rose kept her hand on his head for a few moments more before letting go, her aura simmering down before vanishing.

Karkat shakily peeked into the room, noting with relief that John was unconscious on the floor, but looking concerned at Gamzee sprawled back on one of the tables, looking like he had just seen death in the flesh.

He'd never seen that kind of fear on Gamzee's face before, EVER. It was highly disconcerting. No. It was freaking him clean the FUCK out. Gamzee Makara. Who strangled, bludgeoned, dismembered, and decapitated people without batting an eye, was SCARED.

Fuck. If his bladder wasn't voided already, it certain was NOW.

"…wh…what the fuck was that…?" he stammered. "I thought…you said…"

Rose leaned down, checking John over. "…I don't know," she replied, swallowing hard. "…that wasn't supposed to happen…he isn't a vessel…! I made SURE of it…!"

"Motherfucker wanted inside me," Gamzee said, his voice shaky and soft, another first for Karkat to witness. "…heard all shades of darkness in my head…said it wanted in my motherfuckin' think pan…"

Rose swallowed hard again, holding John to her tightly. "…I need to look into this," she said softly. "…Gamzee…would…you mind very much please leaving? You…you can sleep anywhere else…"

Gamzee sat up and slipped off the table, creeping for the door and giving a wide berth to John. It wasn't until he was out the door that Karkat could see Gamzee was SHAKING.

God DAMN it, if this wasn't a day for being the residential Paleslut…

He reached out and touched Gamzee's arm gently, biting his lip when the taller troll flinched. "…Hey," he said softly, "…you can use my block if you want. To sleep, that is…"

Gamzee kept his eyes to the floor, waiting a long moment before nodding. Karkat quietly led Gamzee to the block he picked out as his own, watching him ignore the recuperacoon and make a nest of blankets in the corner, curling up tightly.

He quietly shut the door, leaning against the wall, running a shaking hand through his hair. Something frightening enough to scare GAMZEE was certainly enough to rid the need for coffee, that much was for fucking sure. He made his way to Dave's respiteblock to bum a change of clothes, hoping Dave didn't question what happened to these.

Karkat was sitting in the dining block with a cup of tea from the bin Rose labeled 'for calming the fuck down', finding some mild humor in the labeling but having a feeling Dave had a hand in it. He made a huge pot of it, and was on his second cup, his nerves FINALLY calming down.

He was left to his thoughts until everyone else—minus Dave, Rose, John, and Gamzee—trickled in and made a beeline for the coffeepot.

Vriska yawned, stretching. "What the fuck was up with that commotion earlier?" she asked, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Hope to GOD it wasn't Gamzee trying to fuck with John—"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Karkat snapped, making everyone else jump. The cup in his hand shattered from his grip on it, but he didn't care. He glowered at Vriska, baring his teeth. "DON'T. JUST…fucking DON'T!"

"Who pissed in your grubflakes?" Terezi said, staring at his general direction as Kanaya hurried over with a towel. Karkat snatched the towel from her, sopping up the tea from the table.

"Just…fucking don't say SHIT about John or Gamzee!" he growled, pushing the cup pieces to the side for Rose to fix later, his nerves back to being shot and raw. He rubbed his face, letting out a heavy sigh. "Please. Don't."

There was an awkward silence in the dining block for a few moments before Dave walked in, sans shades per Rose's request to let his face heal, not looking happy about it. He glanced around, noticing Karkat's distress, scowling and sitting down at the table next to him, the squaring of his shoulders and blazing red glare in his eyes giving a clear 'BACK THE FUCK OFF' to everyone else.

Kanaya quietly fetched a couple more teacups and poured out the tea, pushing one to Karkat, sipping the other herself. "…did something happen?" she asked quietly, once Terezi and Vriska were in the nutritionblock to scavange for food.

Karkat shakily sipped the tea before nodding. "…yeah," he replied quietly. "…But I think Rose should be the one to explain it." He noticed Dave's sharp look, sipping the tea again. "…because that shit is WAY out of my league."

"…is it Grimdarks?" Dave asked, his eyes narrowing. Karkat nodded, pursing his lips to make it clear that he didn't want to talk about it anymore. Dave seemed to accept the fact and leaned back in his chair, only to sit up straight on the defensive when there was a scurrying past a window.

Karkat did the same, instinctively grabbing one of the decorative knives Rose kept on display at her table, clenching it in his fist tightly, only to heave a sigh of relief and annoyance when he saw that it was only Jade, who came sneaking in through the back door.

Jade immediately read the situation, looking abashed. "…sorry for worrying you," she said, unfurling a large cloth, showing the weapons they had left at her hive. "But I figured it was better than staying here unarmed, just in case."

Dave grinned, walking over and picking up the sword John brought him, snapping the blade out. "You're a doll, Jade," he said, twirling the blade before retracting it and putting it in his syllabus. "Yeah, fuck the establishment. I don't give a fuck if it's borderline illegal for me to carry around an unregistered weapon, John's not the only one who can take someone's head off!"

Kanaya sighed and went for the towel when Karkat shattered another teacup.