Terezi twitched her nose in distaste. "It's hard to map out your room when everything smells like clay," she remarked.
"I like clay. It's fucking delicious," Karkat wheezed. Terezi pursed her lips, disagreeing. Clay was not delicious. It was bland. It was only bearable with colours. Candy apples, licorice, candy corn...even one would suffice. But Karkat seemed adament and she would not be able to persuade him.
...easily, that is.
Terezi grinned. Karkat groaned and shoved her roughly off his chest. She rolled down the pile of squishy things and landed softly beside a large grey blanket.
"Stupid Nubby," Terezi said. "Don't be so rude."
"Says the idiot who was fucking sitting on my chest," he remarked angrily. "And didn't move. Ever."
"Hehehe." Of course she didn't move. It had been such a comfortable seat! And so fun to go up and down with the rise and fall of his breath.
"Terezi, listen up you stupid ass."
"I am all ears, Asshat McNubby," she replied, amused.
"You never fucking answered my question."
Terezi paused, frowning slightly. Her nose twitched and she leaned forward, trying to get a clearer "look". As fun as tasting and smelling colours was, it could be a nuisance when she needed to see the details. She didn't think Karkat would let her lick him again so soon, either.
She stood up and walked to the desk, careful not to slip on any of the clay-scented pillows. Her nose twitched again. It was pretty frustrating to maneuver around Karkat's Hive. Everything was in monotone.
Terezi picked up her glasses and slipped them on. They calmed her a little. Everything was tinted with candy apple scent again.
"Terezi, are you going to fucking answer me?"
She leaned on the desk, deciding on the best course of action. "What question, Nubby?" Yes. This was the only way.
She could hear him flinch, irritated. "Before. The fucking vomit I spewed about…fuck. You know what I mean."
Terezi turned back to the desk, running her hands along the surface. How should she play this game? It seemed like a pretty delicate topic for stupid Nubby. Should she break him? She grinned.
No, no, no. That was a bad plan. She shook her head a little. That was stupid. She would lose him. She didn't want that at all. If she was going to play with him, she was going to play to win.
She picked up a bizarre device. What was it? She couldn't figure it out from touch alone. It didn't smell like anything but clay, either.
To tell the truth, Terezi had never really paid much attention to squishy feelings. She wasn't like Karkat. If something was amusing, it was amusing. If something was fun, it was fun. Maybe she was capable of feelings beyond the quadrants. Maybe she had already experienced them.
Now Terezi was at a shelf, sniffing at the books. They smelled boring.
6 sweeps old and she had never really paid attention. She could classify trolls as quadrants, sure. Karkat could be her matesprit, Vriska could have been her kismesis… But that was about as far as she thought it through.
Nubby was different. Nubby analyzed feelings like she analyzed crimes. She may be an expert on law, but he was an expert on romance. Surely he would know the answer, even if she didn't? Her mouth tightened into a straight line.
"Terezi!"
"What?" Terezi turned, arms full of books. She hadn't really been paying attention, only picking up random items to disperse across the room at her leisure.
"I just want to know…shit. Bulging vomited shit. Do you think we can have feelings outside the quadrants?"
Terezi dumped the armful unceremoniously on the floor, then rocked back on her heels. "What kind of feelings, Nubby?" It wasn't playing dumb if he didn't specify. Not really.
"Romantic ones, you fucking moron wriggler of vomit fields."
"Hehehe." Karkat was getting defensive. He was worried. Stupid Nubby! It wasn't like she could fully understand what he meant if he didn't explain himself. "Hey, Nubby."
"What the fuck do you want now?"
"Get out."
"What? This is my fucking hive, Terezi! If you're so disgusted by my weirdass mutant feelings, you should—"
"Stupid," she scolded. "I feel gross. I want to change. I don't want you with your perfectly normal sight-filled eyes to watch me."
"Sure, do whatever the fuck you want. Did you even bring your own clothes? Fuck, who gives a shit, you know what you're doing." Movement. "Just yell or something when you're done." He left, shutting the door behind him.
Terezi grinned. Where had the rustling sound come from? Over by the big block of liquorices. That made everything easier. She padded carefully around the pile of squish and reached out to touch the dresser. She felt for the handles and pulled it open.
Nubby was more organized than she had thought! Terezi pulled out a shirt. This would do nicely. It smelled like liquorice!
…and clay.
She wrinkled her nose. She sighed, then sniffed the air again. Nubby was really gone, that was good. She didn't want to spoil the surprise. Chuckling quietly, she pulled off her own grimy tear-stained shirt.
Now for the fun bit. She grinned ear to ear and slid Karkat's sweater over her head.
It was a little odd wearing someone else's sign. It felt almost rebellious. This was going to be even more exciting than she had first thought.
Without calling out, Terezi headed to the door and down the stairs.
It smelled like Karkat was in the other room, so Terezi decided to explore the hive again. There wasn't enough colour for her taste, not by a long shot—everything smelled like clay. It was getting to be a little hard to navigate, especially after moving the few coloured things to Karkat's room. She wondered if there were any she had missed, objects she could use as directional markers. She began to sniff around the living room, opening drawers and moving their contents. Maybe the clay was just overpowering the smell. Maybe if she uncovered things, she would find some lemon or apple scents. Those would be a welcomed change! Anything that wasn't clay would be, really.
No, she had evidently found all the coloured things in this room. She decided to check the next area. Maybe he hid something with the dishes. Maybe he had a nicely coloured plate she could leave somewhere.
"Terezi, this place is a fucking mess! Fucking bulges, did you just destroy anything you fucking saw? Did you just let a hoard of flying hyena dogs through?" She could hear Karkat coming nearer. How rude! She hadn't broken anything. At least, not to her knowledge.
"Hehehe." She thought she caught a whiff of mint from somewhere and reached for it. There! A pot with a minty handle. Perfect!
"Shit ass bulging fucked vomit, Terezi, what did you do to my house?"
Terezi turned around, clutching at the minty treat. She hesitantly put it on a nearby table—it was so blurry with all the clay! She hoped it wouldn't fall.
But Karkat had moved on at this point. "That is my fucking sweater."
"Hehehe. Yes, Nubby, it is." She grinned.
"Why the fuck are you wearing my sweater?"
She chuckled. He sounded a little strained. "You said I could do whatever I wanted."
The table crashed suddenly to the ground. She sniffed. The mint was scattered all over the floor now. Damn. She would need to find a new marker.
"Fucking ass, Terezi, why are you wearing that? And don't fucking step on a piece of this. I am not dealing with you bleeding."
She stayed still, wondering why her blood would be such a big deal. She wasn't the mutant, after all! But then again, Karkat had always been weird about blood. She laughed. Silly Nubby.
She heard the chinking of pot pieces on the table. Was Karkat done?
"You need to get the fuck out of my house," he growled. "I am done with your messes and shitty answers and bulging asswipe answers to my questions. I have had it with your shitty, fuck licked—'
"Want to go to a carnival with me, Nubby?" she interrupted. Her mind had warned, as it was apt to do. All this clay was getting to her and she could feel her senses getting duller. She needed colours! Lots and lots of colours.
"What the fuck?"
She pulled at the hem of the sweater a little. It was tighter than she was used to, though it was still well within her realm of comfort. It reminded her of her FLARPing outfit a little. "Do you want to go to a carnival?"
"Where the fuck did that come from? Don't change fucking topics on me, Terezi," he mumbled. She grinned. It was always fun to diffuse his temper. It was an art form.
"I thought we could go to the carnival! It is colourful there. It is a little stuffy with all this clay."
"Carnivals are for wrigglers and assholes, Terezi."
"Well, then, it makes sense to take you, Nubby!" Terezi replied.
It felt like sweeps since Terezi had been able to go to a carnival. She used to run around eating cotton candy and liquorices and candy corn and candy apples. Even after she had lost her sight, she would go just to smell the rainbow of colours that always seemed to go along with it. Carnivals were always fun. Even without a lusus to accompany her, she still found ways to entertain herself.
Now it was Nubby's turn.
"Sorry. Uh. Fuck. Fine, we can go to a fucking carnival. How the shit did you even know there was such a cankering bulgefest around here, though?"
"Miracles," she replied. Terezi always knew where the good carnivals were and where they were headed. Always.