Otherus 19
Karkat didn't stop struggling until Gamzee was inside the hive, and then he just dropped like the switch had been turned off. Terezi helped Rose ease him up, keeping a hold on him just in case he caught a second wind.
"What the hell even happened there?" Rose demanded, walking him inside. Karkat remained stubbornly silent, saying nothing as Rose steered him into the nutritionblock and sat him down. Kanaya hurried in and looked him over, scowling when she saw the claw marks on his cheek, her skin glowing slightly with anger.
"Where is Gamzee now?" she growled, her fingers twitching for her pocket, forgetting her lipstick was no longer in there. Rose came back over with a wet cloth and some medicine.
"Dave's got him," she replied as she cleaned off Karkat's face, knowing the growl that came from the smaller troll wasn't just from the sting of the cuts alone. "And don't go off on him, Kanaya, Karkat started it and gave as good as he got."
Karkat's expression could only be described as the bastard lovechild between a snarl and a pout, and Kanaya would have honestly laughed if she wasn't so worried. "So what happened?" she asked, taking the bloody cloth from Rose to dispose of later. Again, Karkat remained silent.
Kanaya exchanged a look with Rose, who began putting the medicine on his cuts, hoping they didn't scar and gave him a set to match Gamzee's. "…Karkat, talk to us," she said softly. "If nothing more than to prevent what happened from happening again."
Karkat's jaw visibly flexed under Rose's medication application, his hands flexing tightly before he finally heaved a heavy sigh, like the weight of his own rage had forced him to collapse. At this point, it didn't matter, and he just stopped caring. "…Gamzee…tried to shooshpap me," he finally said.
Rose arched a brow. "Context would be appreciated, because now you're just coming off as a dick for hitting him first," she replied. Kanaya shot her a look, but Rose gave her a 'just wait' look in reply. As expected, Karkat put on his 'about to rant your fucking ears off so buckle the fuck up and start praying' look.
"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HE DID!" he snapped at Rose. "WHAT HE DID TO ME! I WATCH ERIDAN GO FUCKING APESHIT AND I WORRY ABOUT HIS STUPID ASS, ONLY FOR HIM TO GO SHITHIVE TOO!" He growled, his hands flexing into the kitchen counter.
"WE FINALLY FIND HIM AND I SHOOSHPAP HIS ASS INTO A STATE OF CALM, AND FUCK, ARENT I AN IDIOT FOR THINKING THINGS WILL BE HUNKY-FUCK-MOTHERING-DORY! I END UP DOING I END UP DOING ALL THE FUCKING MOIRAILLEGIENCE WORK WHILE HE VASCILLATES BETWEEN BEING A USELESS FUCK TO BEING NOWHERE TO BE SEEN WHEN I NEED HIM!"
Angry tears came to his eyes, dripping down his face, his voice hitting a strained pitch.
"So I END that shit….I fucking ended it, and he didn't even fucking CARE….after ALL THAT FUCKING WORK I PUT INTO TRYING TO MAKE IT WORK…!" He buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking hard.
"…So when he tries to comfort you, you cant help but think 'why the fuck would he care now?'," Rose finished. The high-pitched whine Karkat muffled into his hands let her know she hit the nail on the head. "…But that's only half the story, and you know it. It's not just the Pale gesture Gamzee sent your way, it's what happened to put you INTO that state. So spill. And seriously, don't pull any of that 'none of your fucking business' crap, because there's a good chance everyone knows what it is anyway. We're just trying to settle this."
Karkat rubbed his face hard, his face going bright red at the horrible embarrassment of what apparently EVERYONE knew. Not that he had been subtle at all. He took a few shaking breaths. "…I'm…being a fucking idiot," he replied, sounding emotionally exhausted. "…it's just like Gamzee….trying to see something that isn't there…"
"Stop beating around the bush, Karkat. You stormed out in a hissy fit when you saw Dave calming John down," Terezi piped up from her corner. "You're Pale as shit for Dave, and got stupid jealous when you saw him shooshpapping John out of his shitflip. Like Rose said. WE ALL KNOW."
She could honestly smell how red his face was from where she was standing, but she could also smell the horrible emotional turmoil that was practically festering around him like an aura.
"Karkat," Rose said, putting her hands on his shoulders and ignoring his muscles tensing. "Didn't Dave tell you what he was?" The bewildered look Karkat gave her made her sigh and shake her head, like she couldn't believe she had to be explaining this after ALL Dave and Karkat had been through. "…Karkat, Dave is what they call a Romantic Proteus mutant. He's not just bullshitting when he says he fills Quadrants where they're needed….it's like…literally his superpower. He can CREATE a Romantic bond with ANYONE, and change it up whenever he wishes.
"Not that he would ever intentionally hurt someone with it!" she added hastily, seeing Karkat's expression. "…Karkat, he wasn't offering to be John's moirail. In fact, Jade's got John's Pale Quadrant filled right now. He's only offered to be Gamzee's kismesissal stand-in to help me out with what needs to be done."
Explanations be damned, Terezi could still smell that torrential aura around Karkat, knowing automatically what he was thinking. That whatever bond he felt he had with Dave was nothing more than an artificial fabrication. She stood up and walked over, grabbing his head in her hands.
"Terezi, what the FUCK—"
Terezi ignored him, clenching her eyes shut and resting her head against his, willing SOME form of her power to PLEASE not be a dick about this and give her SOMETHING to work with.
Miraculously, it did.
Like a third-person view, both she and Karkat could see the memory of Dave and Karkat bonding in the sitting room, Dave's offering to be whatever Karkat needed him to be, out of a kindness and not a necessity, them laughing until they cried and had to support each other up, baring their tear colors without a single fear or shame.
Terezi leaned back, keeping her firm hold on Karkat's head. "…If that's a 'fake' Romance, then I'll eat my shades without grubsauce," she said seriously. Her nose twitched. "It's subtle, but I'm getting the smell of Dave's Romantic hormone changes and REAL Quadrant hormone changes in the air. Me and Vriska saw you and Dave, Karkat. That was REAL. Just as real as anything you felt for Dave back home." At Karkat's flinch, she growled, tightening her hands.
"AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!" she shouted, making sure he was hearing her. "Let's face FACTS here, Karkat! WE MIGHT NOT GET TO GO HOME. It's a REAL possibility! And if I know Dave like I KNOW I do, he wouldn't give two shits and a fuck with some damn on the side if you bonded with the Dave HERE! You know how he got when you beat yourself up!" She quietly let his head go.
"Karkat, NO ONE here is thinking you're committing Pale infidelity. So PLEASE. Just calm down, stop lashing out, and let yourself be Pale for Dave, because I'd like to think that with someone like HIS ability, he'd want a REAL relationship too."
Karkat could feel cascades of tears falling down his face, looking like a wiggler in need of a good shooshpapping on a pile for a few hours. Kanaya sighed and pulled his head to her shoulder, rubbing his back.
"…Rose has told me that the medication they have here has apparently done some…pardon me for using this word, but it must be used…miracles with Gamzee's psychosis," she said quietly. "I've observed him myself, and he seems to be…incredibly well-adjusted." She sighed, patting his back. "…What I'm trying to say is…I don't think he was TRYING to be ignorant and hurtful. I think he was being genuine in wanting to comfort you."
Karkat mumbled something along the lines of 'stupid clown', but didn't protest or deny what was said. Kanaya sighed, rubbing his back again.
"I think he's just trying to mend the bridge he left behind with you. Something we should all take the opportunity to do, since we're all working for the same goal. The least we can do is try."
The four of them remained in quiet silence for a few minutes before Vriska hurried in and started rummaging around the food locker for one of Dave's sodas. "What are you doing?" Rose asked, exasperated at the thought of having to put up with Dave's whining of people touching his drink stash.
"Just getting some refreshments for the strifing Dave and Gamzee are having in the backyard," Vriska replied offhandedly, grabbing a few and hurrying out. "Not missing THAT shit, FUCK no…"
The others looked among themselves for a moment before scrambling up to follow Vriska, who had procured a lawn chair and was reclining back to watch the show.
Gamzee and Dave were indeed strifing it out, Gamzee using his clubs while Dave was keeping the fight fair with dual swords that took the spectators a few moments to realize were dull metal and non-lethal.
Having never seen Dave face off against Gamzee, the visiting trolls were surprised at how well Dave was faring. The mutant-blood had more speed than strength, which was an advantage against a Highblood whose blows could shatter rock, and his agility rivaled Gamzee's own, leading to rather interesting blow-and-block techniques.
Gamzee managed to catch an advantage when Dave had to duck extra low in order to keep his horns from getting hit and lost his balance, leaving Gamzee to kick a sword away, knock Dave onto his back, and then pin him down with a foot to his chest.
Karkat instinctively jerked forward to stop it, but Rose caught the back of his shirt. "Calm down," she said quietly, a hint of a smile on her face. "He's got this."
"You don't understand, Gamzee—" Karkat was cut off by the sound of Gamzee laughing. Not psychotic, honk-laid laughter, but genuinely amused if not arrogant laughter.
Gamzee stepped off Dave, grinning. "Match set, motherfucker," he said, smirking. "Be easier to pin your ass down if your stupid-ass horns weren't fuckin' up your landing."
Dave sat up, brushing his clothes off. "Hey, you're just jealous a mutation got these glorious bad boys and you got stuck with a mediocre set," he retorted, exaggerating a sweeping stroke of his left horn. "So who REALLY won this fight?" He yelped when Gamzee shoved him over.
"I motherfuckin' did, that's the point," he retorted. "And we both know it aint the horn size that matters, motherfucker." He gave Dave a genuinely lewd grin that had the spectators blushing their respective colors.
"…Oh my god, is Makara SERIOUSLY hateflirting with Dave?" Vriska asked, grimacing. "Because EWWWWWWWW."
It was a sentiment shared by everyone else.