Karkat was being cornered by a hoard of trolls, weapons brandished. They wanted to take his eyes. He had tried to flee but there was nowhere to go anymore. Fuck. He scrambled at the walls, but the group came closer and closer.
He was woken up by something falling on him.
"ARGH, FUCK!" he shouted, completely confused for a moment. Something was on him. His mind raced. "What the fucking hell are you doing? Oh, gog, are you covered in slime?"
Terezi was, in fact, covered in slime. Fuck, he knew it had been a bad idea to sleep over.
"Oh darn," Terezi murmured. She flailed around like some kind of moron. "I didn't think you'd notice."
What kind of response was that? He had nearly died of shock from her fucking escapade! "How could I not notice when suddenly there is a slime monster crawling into my bed?" He was still shouting, feeling himself almost shake with anger. Really, he didn't fucking want to have been woken up like that.
"By the way," he continued, not done with the list of things he was particularly angry with, "beds are fucking stupid things."
"No, they are awesome!" she defended. "That is why I asked the cool kid for his."
Karkat's face went blank.
"I mean, um, the windy boy?" Terezi said, laughing.
"What? Fuck off, Terezi, you did not ask him for a bed code," Karkat was completely pissed all over again. Shit, he was going to murder her if this kept up. "And John is almost as bad. But not quite, because at least he doesn't fucking hit on you. He's too much of a fuck."
This was stupid, entirely stupid. He began to shift. "Argh, this is idiotic. I'm leaving."
The laughter again, as Terezi grabbed his arms before he could get up properly. "No, stay, Nubby!"
Her clammy, slimey hands didn't do anything to abate his rage. "You're gross, Terezi, don't touch me. I'm out of here. This is gogdamn stupid."
Struggling to escape wasn't working, however. Terezi was laughing anyway, and Karkat scowled deeply.
"But there are entire Earth sports dedicated to this!" she informed him.
"What, crawling into beds of others covered in slime? I hate the Earth even fucking more. I didn't even think it was possible, but congratulations."
He didn't really think that could be an Earth sport, but like fuck he'd ever investigated something like that. Shit, what kind of world had they made?
"It's fun, Nubby!" Terezi stated, flailing around some more. What the fuck was she even trying to do? Even though he had been freed, Karkat was too puzzled to flee to the transportalizer.
"What are you even doing? Not that it matters, since I am leaving."
"Sliding mostly." She kicked out, almost managing to hit his head. Fucking hell, she needed to stop moving so gogdamn much. Was she trying to piss him off this much?
"I meant, why did you even decide to do this, you futmunch?" Leave it to Terezi to miss the point entirely.
"Because I was worried, stupid!" she spat, agitation in her own voice. What the fuck was she angry about? "Stupid nubby!"
"I wasn't even having that bad of a nightmare. Gogdamnit, Terezi."
"It was still a nightmare!"
He rubbed his eyes. "And this compelled you to scare me even more by being a fucking freak? Thanks. So glad."
"Well, I wanted to check on you...and then I slipped." Her face settled into a frown, and she stopped moving as much. Karkat glanced over at her but returned to glaring at the ceiling before he replied.
"I totally fucking believe you," he muttered, words laced with all the sarcasm he had.
"Slime is slippery! Feel it!"
Oh, shit, he knew what was coming. "No, argh-" she hit him with her elbow "-don't, I know what it feels like!"
"Too late!"
Her slimey hands were all over his face, coating it. That was the last straw. No matter how amazing it made him feel to be with Terezi, sometimes it wasn't worth the torture.
"Fuck, this is why I'm going home." He shoved her hands away. "I can not sleep there as well as here. Except you won't fucking bother me there."
He shifted upwards, listening to her laugh. She followed suit shortly afterwards. "But nubby, if you go home, I won't bother you."
Karkat couldn't help but roll his eyes. "That is the point."
"No, nubby," she repeated. "I wouldn't be there to bother you."
What the fuck did that even mean? "And rub slime all over me during a nightmare. Gee. I can't believe I'd want to miss out on that. I should just stay for the fucking fanfare that will cause. We should do this every night."
"Yes! You should try it. It is fun."
"No." Fuck, did she completely miss what he just said?
"Except it makes balancing harder..." Terezi noted, and then giggled to herself. Karkat belatedly realized he hadn't left yet. His legs should fucking move whenever he thinks instead of being against him.
"Fuck off. You are impossible," he let out a small sigh. "This is stupid. Beds are stupid and slime is stupid. Fuck."
"No, they are fun! You just can't see it yet."
He looked over his shoulder at her grin. She seemed to be enjoying herself, at least. She continued. "But then, neither can I."
"Great," he snarled. "More fucking blind jokes." She shifted, and he scowled. "Can't you see what you're doing? Oh wait!"
"That's mean!"
She didn't look very offended.
"It's not mean if it's true," he stated.
"There is still something called tact!"
Karkat couldn't help but snort at that accusation. "Really? Tact? Don't you think you might have had something like that before you woke me up?"
"I told you!" Terezi replied. "I slipped! I was planning to do something else."
"Oh, that makes me feel better." He paused. "Wait, what the fuck were you trying to do?"
The giggling began again. Oh, he was never going to get a straight answer from her now. "Well, if you leave, you'll never know, will you?"
She pulled her legs up close. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her knee and almost watched him. Fucking hell, she was distracting.
"Tell me," he thought he sounded a bit too demanding.
"Are you going to leave?"
She gave a glare. His resolve melted.
"No." He let out a moan. "Fuck, Terezi, of course I was not going to leave. Gog."
"Well nubby. Obviously I was going to slap you!"
Oh. Karkat felt himself sink a little, but then scolded himself. What the fuck had he expected? "Oh. Of course. I should have fucking known. Slap me awake. Works every time."
"It does! Why, do you sleep through people slapping you? Can I test that?"
"No, I do not. Let's not test that. Ever." He rubbed a temple, and let out another frustrated groan. "Fuck. Whatever."
"Hehehe. Stupid nubby."
Karkat grabbed the nearest pillow, chucking it back at the female troll. Terezi gracefully punched it out of the way. He didn't know whether to scowl or smile.
"Just go back to sleep," he said instead.
"No!" she snapped quickly, grabbing his arm. "You will leave!"
"I won't leave. Gogdamn it."
"I don't believe you! I am not leaving."
Fuck, he only had himself to blame for this situation. Another thing to add to the list of self loathing. "Can you at least clean up?"
"But slime is so fun! You are lame."
"I am not lame!" he sputtered defensively. "I like slime. It's fucking amazing."
"Yes!"
How to explain this? And why was she rubbing his arm? "It just feels weird."
"Do you not sleep in slime?" The female troll seemed puzzled.
"I mean that it feels weird that it's all over you. And you're constantly touching me." She seemed to realize she hadn't let go yet, but continued to rub slime over him. "That is the weird part."
"Well," she replied, the grin never leaving her face, "if you took a dip in the slime, we'd be even!"
Oh, hell no. "I will not."
"It tastes like apples," she noted, as if Karkat would ever eat the shit or understand its taste. She made a weird noise.
"I am not getting in your recuperacoon ever. End of story."
"But it is so nice and warm! And squishy, just like you."
"No, screw you." He looked around the room for a moment. Maybe he should have just agreed to it.
"Fine!" Terezi harrumphed. "I will be lame and go wash the slime off! Jegus."
Argh, they did not need an argument over something as shitty as slime. Karkat decided to try and diffuse the situation by being grumpy. "Whatever. Just stay there or some shit. It doesn't matter since I'm probably not going back to sleep."
Shit. He hadn't meant to admit that.
"That's no good, nubby! You need to sleep!" Terezi was nagging him instantaneously. Fuck. "Don't stay up for another 600 hours!"
"I know," Karkat muttered. "But fuck it, I don't enjoy it, okay?"
"I know, nubby, but you can't stay awake forever! I will stay right here and kill all the bad things for you, so that you can have good dreams!"
It was reassuring, but the nightmares still weighed on him. "I can stay awake for however fucking long I want to."
"That doesn't mean you should!"
"Terezi, you know that I have fucking bad dreams. How is this a cause for focus? Just let me stay awake."
The female troll seemed to resolve something in her mind. "Then I will stay awake too!"
"No," Karkat snapped. "You will fucking sleep." He knew how awful sleep deprivation was. Terezi wasn't allowed to feel that when she was around him.
"No, I will stay awake! I will use my grumpy powers!"
He glanced over. Her face looked like someone had just punched her. Karkat thought it was stupid.
"No. Fuck off. Go to sleep."
"No, I don't want you breaking my things!"
"Why would I do that. What the fuck would compel me to do that?" This really fucking puzzled him. It came from nowhere.
"I don't know, maybe you'll slip!"
"I am not planning to leave the bed, you shithead."
"Good!" Terezi said cheerfully. Karkat felt like he had lost some game he wasn't aware he had been playing. "Neither am I."
"Yeah, because you're fucking sleeping here."
"Stupid nubby!" she replied. Terezi paused. "But...I guess I am tired."
"Then sleep, you shit. It's easy."
"Is it easy?"
No, he was not going into that talk. "For you it should be. You can sleep really fucking fast."
Her face looked put out. "I just had a long, super exciting day, okay! Of course I sleep quickly."
"Yeah, my day was pretty fucking long too," Karkat muttered. "That's why I can't sleep. You get it?"
He bit his lip by the end of the sentence. There was no way he was going to lose it again in front of Terezi. Gogdamnit, he should never cry this much.
Presently, she was patting his head. "Of course, nubby. It's okay. We will fix everything, so don't be scared."
"I am not scared. I am not sleepy." Why was she always thinking he was one? He must be pretty fucking obvious. "There is a difference."
"Then what are you?" she punctuated the question with a giggle. He mulled over the words.
"I am just..."
His eyes.
"Fuck. Thinking a lot, I guess. It doesn't matter. Close your fucking blind eyes and return to fucking sleep."
She lay down. "What thoughts? So I can fall asleep while you tell me."
He twisted his hands. "Well, I mean. My eyes, Terezi. They're starting to show and I don't know what to do, I guess? I mean, I just don't know how to handle this..."
"Are my glasses not good enough for you?" she sounded a bit offended. And angry. Fuck.
"I don't mean like that. I mean, fuck, like, that will keep others from seeing it, sure. But that doesn't mean I don't know they're red and it doesn't mean that one day someone else isn't going to see them."
With a small sigh, he lay down next to her, staring at the ceiling. "I don't know even if I can tell anyone else."
And that scared him. Maybe.
"You'll get used to it, nubby. I did!"
"You're not a mutant. You're just blind." It hadn't been what he was looking for at all. Shit, she could at least show people.
"I'm different, you're different. What does it matter?" A laugh. "Besides, then we will match! Double the candy apples!"
"A fucking matching set," Karkat noted dryly. "We are just too perfect for each other."
"Exactly! All the candy apples will belong to us! All of them!"
He was so glad she agreed. But wait, what the fuck were they talking about? "Argh, no, this is getting off topic. I am a complete freak to the entire troll society. I guess I'm paranoid about what's going to happen. And..."
No, he'd ask later.
"No, fuck it. That's it."
"Nubby, there's no point worrying yourself about stupid, stupid dumb things that haven't even happened yet. You still have time, and then you will have my glasses. So it will be fine."
She sounded tired, but Karkat was irked. She thought it was stupid? Where had she been?
"And then," Terezi sounded threatening, "if anyone bad finds out, I'll kill them for you."
He was livid. "It's not something stupid, Terezi. Come on. We are a race of fucking hierarchies and anger and stupidity!" Karkat took a breath. Okay, yelling at her obviously would do shit all. "But thanks. I'll count on that."
"It's stupid if it hasn't even happened yet," Terezi whispered.
The troll couldn't help but snap again. "Terezi, this is my fucking life! It terrifies me. Is that stupid to you? It's still there and it's going to be broadcast across my fucking pan."
"Shoosh," she murmured. "I know. I am just trying to make it better."
Of course Terezi didn't know what the shit to do either. She was just as neck deep in his shit as he was, because he had fucking dragged her there. "I know. I'm probably such a fucking burden. Sorry. I never had anyone to talk to before about this shit, though."
"Don't be stupid, nubby, you aren't a burden. You are our special leadertroll!"
That puzzled him. "How am I not a fucking burden? I am the whiniest shitmonger ever."
Terezi laughed, and it was almost reassuring. "That is not a burden! It is...interesting?"
Karkat shuffled a little closer. "Hey, Terezi, can I just..."
Maybe now was the right time?
"...ask you something?"
"What is it, nubbynubface?"
"I just...if I decide to tell one of our friends, would you go with me?"
There. He had asked. Fuck, if she said no, he'd probably just hide for the rest of his miserable life.
"Of course I'd go! Who would I know to kill if they took it badly?"
Karkat felt a weight lift from his shoulders. "Yeah? Well, thanks, Terezi. For everything."
"But nubby," her voice carried a hint of something in it. "I am not kidding. I would kill them. So choose carefully."
What kind of shit idiot did she think he was? Of course he knew she was serious. "Terezi, fuck, look, it'd be like, Sollux, or fucking Aradia or Kanaya, or some shit. I kind of hope it doesn't end in killing." He bit his lip. "Especially of me."
"Hmm, well, I think they would be okay! And nubby, I will protect you. Dying is not an option."
"Yeah? I hope they're okay with it. I just. I can't fucking tell them yet." He wanted to curl up closer to her, but he wasn't a fucking wriggler. "And I know you'll protect me, Terezi, you're fucking stupid like that."
She shrugged awkwardly. "They are your close friends, after all! Besides, only highbloods seem to really care."
"Yeah, I know our friends are fucking amazing and shit." With a small sigh, he reached an arm around her. Fuck it, he didn't care, he just wanted to hold her. At least the slime was mostly dry. The highblood comment made him realize something. "I'm worried to tell Gamzee, though."
It took a moment for her to reply. "Yeah, he is...capricious."
"Yeah, I know. But he's my moirail...I feel almost like he needs to know, too. Fuck, why are we talking still? You need to be asleep."
"I suppose it would be hard to hide it from him, though. Hmm," Terezi noted, completely missing his ending statement. She leaned in against him, and he wasn't sure if she even noticed she was doing it. He liked it when she went along with what he did. Just as much as when she fucking didn't.
"It's alright. I could probably calm him down if he flipped shit," Karkat replied.
"I hope so. It is still worrying, though. So don't do anything stupid!" She fell silent for a moment. "But I suppose it is hard for you not to, stupid nubby."
"Shut up, fuck off, and go to sleep. Gog damn it, Terezi. I know what I'm doing." He smiled. "Sort of."
"Sort of?"
There was a fucking ton he had no idea about. Kind of like what the shit he and Terezi were doing. "Yeah. So go to sleep."
"That is not very reassuring."
"Fuck off, it is plenty reassuring. You are beyond reassured."
"If you say so. Night, nubby. You better be asleep when I wake up!"
"Fuck that."
It wasn't too long before Terezi was fast asleep, although Karkat realized she was trapping his arm. For ages, he lay awake, watching Terezi through half open eyes. Eventually, he curled as close to her as he could, as awkward as they were, and closed his eyes tightly. At least if he was going to have nightmares, he'd feel safe when he woke up.