Terezi stirred in the recuperacoon. What time was it? It wasn't often that she woke up in the middle of the night. She yawned and pulled herself to the surface hole.
She wondered how Nubby was doing.
She watched him shake and mutter on the bed like a frightened huntbeast. Stupid. She slid out of the recuperacoon and stepped onto the floor. It took a while to manoeuvre her way over, slipping and sliding across the floor. She bent over him. Should she wake him or let him sleep on? No, nightmares were stupid. Should she wake him with a slap or a kiss?
Terezi bent down, her hair plastered to her forehead. Just a little further and—oops.
"ARGH FUCK! WHAT THE FUCKING HELL ARE YOU DOING? OH GOG ARE YOU COVERED IN SLIME?" Karkat shouted.
"Oh darn," Terezi said, trying to stand again. Slime really was, well, slimy. "I didn't think you'd notice."
"How could I not notice when suddenly there is a slime monster crawling into my bed?" Karkat rumbled, shivering. "By the way, beds are fucking stupid things."
"No, they are awesome!" she protested. "That is why I asked the coolkid for his." She paused for effect, holding back a grin. "I mean, um, the windy boy? Hehehe."
"What? Fuck off, Terezi, you did not ask him for a bed code," Karkat snarled. "Also 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." The rustling of sheets. "Argh, this is idiotic. I'm leaving."
Terezi chuckled. "No, stay, Nubby!" She quickly grabbed his arm, hands slipping against his skin.
"You're gross, Terezi, don't touch me. I'm out of here. This is gogdamn stupid."
"Hehehe but there are entire Earth sports dedicated to this!" she replied happily. She found Earth sports were strange and strangely intriguing.
"What, crawling into beds of others covered in slime? I hate the Earth even fucking more. I didn't even think it was fucking possible, but congratulations."
"It's fun, Nubby!" she replied, slipping on the sheets and flailing around like a shellcrab flipped turnways. She frowned. Sitting upright was harder than normal. It was no wonder she usually hosed off as soon as she left the 'coon.
"What are you even doing?" Karkat asked, a hint of hesitation in his voice. "Not that it matters, since I am leaving."
"Sliding mostly," Terezi said, kicking her legs out and narrowly missing his face.
"I meant why did you even decide to do this, you futmunch?"
"Because I was worried, stupid!" she snapped, irritated by her own inability to sit up. Maybe beds were stupid. Not that she'd ever admit it. "Stupid Nubby!"
"I wasn't even having that bad of a nightmare. Gogdamn it, Terezi."
"It was still a nightmare!" she said. Her arms were starting to get tired. This was infuriating! She was quite ready to set fire to the bed—and the recuperacoon—as soon as she managed to get up, that was.
"And this compelled you to scare me even more by being a fucking freak? Thanks. So glad."
"Well, I wanted to check on you!" she snapped. "…and then I slipped." She frowned. Maybe if she calmed down and took it slowly, she'd be able to beat the slime at its own game.
"I totally fucking believe you."
"Slime is slippery! Feel it!"
"No—ARGH—don't, I know what it feels like!"
"Too late!" she replied, rubbing her hands on his face.
"Fuck, this is why I am going home." He slapped her hands away and she chuckled gleefully. "I can not sleep there as well as here. Except you won't fucking bother me there."
Thankfully, the slime was finally beginning to dry. She sat up, tension released from her muscles. Finally! "But Nubby, if you go home, I won't bother you."
"That is the point."
"No, Nubby," she said, pursing her lips. "I wouldn't be there to bother you."
"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!" she agreed, ignoring his blatant (and douchey) sarcasm. "You should try it! It is fun!"
"No."
"Except it makes balancing harder. Hehehe."
"Fuck off. You are impossible. This is stupid. Beds are stupid and slime is stupid. Fuck."
"No, they are fun! You just can't see it yet!" She grinned. "But then, neither can I!"
"Great. More fucking blind jokes. Fantastic. Can't you see what you're doing? Oh wait," Karkat snarked.
"That's mean!" Terezi wasn't actually offended, but it was always fun to see what would happen.
"It's not mean if it's true."
"There is still something called 'tact'!"
"Really? Tact? Don't you think you might have had something like that before you woke me up?"
"I told you I slipped! I was planning to do something else."
"Oh, that makes me feel better. Wait, what the fuck were you trying to do?"
"Hehehe. Well, if you leave, you'll never know, will you?" Cackling, Terezi pulled her legs to her chest and leaned on her knee.
"Tell me," Karkat demanded.
"Are you going to leave?" Terezi narrowed her eyes.
"No." Karkat made a funny annoyed noise. "Fuck, Terezi, of course I was not going to leave. Gog."
"Well, Nubby. Obviously I was going to slap you!"
"Oh. Of course. I should have fucking known. Slap me awake. Works every time."
"It does!" She paused. "Why, do you sleep through people slapping you? Can I test that?"
"No, I do not. Let's not test that. Ever." Another funny noise. "Fuck. Whatever."
"Hehehe. Stupid Nubby."
Karkat tossed a pillow at her. She deftly punched it aside. "Just go back to sleep."
"No, you will leave!"
"I won't leave. Gogdamn it."
"I don't believe you! I am not leaving."
"Can you at least clean up?"
Now it was a matter of principle. It didn't matter how gross Terezi felt, as long as Karkat felt grosser. "But slime is so fun!" she said. "You are lame."
"I am not lame! I like slime. It is fucking amazing."
"Yes!"
"It just feels weird."
"Do you not sleep in slime?" What a weird guy! Nubby was strange.
"I meant that it feels weird that it's all over you. And you're constantly touching me. That is the weird part."
Terezi was suddenly aware that she had been sliming up his arm for the past five minutes. Oops! She grinned. "Well," she reasoned, "if you took a dip in the slime, we'd be even!"
"I will not."
"It tastes like apples," she added. "Mmmm."
"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."
"Fine! I will be lame and go wash the slime off! Jegus."
"Whatever. Just stay there or some shit. It doesn't matter since I'm probably not going to go back to sleep."
"That's no good, Nubby! You need to sleep!" A rested leadertroll was a useful leadertroll, after all. No sleep means no use means mutiny! "Don't stay up for another 600 hours."
"I know 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!" she told him proudly.
"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."
"Then I will stay awake too!" She nodded to herself.
"No, you will fucking sleep."
"No, I will stay awake! I will use my grumpy powers!" She tried to set her face in a crabby expression, but it was difficult to judge the outcome.
"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?"
"I don't know, maybe you'll slip!"
"I am not planning on leaving the bed, you shithead."
"Good! Neither am I."
"Yeah, because you're fucking sleeping here."
"Stupid Nubby!" she said. "But…I guess I am tired. Hmmm."
"Then sleep, you shit. It's easy."
"Is it easy?"
"For you it should be. You can sleep really fucking fast."
Was he talking about their amazing squishy sleepover? What a jerk! She had totally worn herself out trying to navigate his stupid monochromatic hive. "I just had a long, super exciting day, okay! Of course I sleep quickly."
"Yeah, my day was pretty fucking long, too," Karkat said, completely misjudging her reference. "That's why I can't sleep. You get it?" His voice grew weaker near the end.
She sighed, then patted him on the head like a good huntbeast. Terezi smiled at the smell of liquorice. "Of course, Nubby. It's okay. We will fix everything, so don't be scared."
"I am not scared. I am not sleepy. There is a difference."
"Then what are you? Hehehe."
"I am just…fuck. Thinking a lot, I guess? It doesn't matter. Close your fucking blind eyes and return to fucking sleep."
She finally stretched out, closing her eyes and resting her head against the pillow she had commandeered from him. "What thoughts? So I can fall asleep while you tell me, hehehe."
"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?" Yes, that was the perfect tone of roughness for the situation. She congratulated herself. Perhaps that would entice a good reaction from him.
"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 isn't going to see them." She felt the blankets shift. "I don't know even if I can tell anyone else."
"You'll get used to it, Nubby. I did! Hehehe."
"You're not a mutant. You're just blind."
"I'm different, you're different. What does it matter? Hehehe. Besides," she said with a chuckle, "then we will match! Hehehe. Double the candy apples!"
"A fucking matching set. We are just too perfect for each other."
"Exactly! All the candy apples will belong to us! All of them!" After all, the more candy apples, the better!
"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, 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 said sleepily. "And then," she said, tone darker, "if anyone bad finds out, I'll kill them for you."
But Karkat wasn't soothed. In fact, he sounded grumpier than usual, his voice cracking angrily. "It's not something stupid, Terezi. Come on. We are a race of fucking hierarchies and anger and stupidity." He seemed to calm himself. "But thanks. I'll count on that."
"It's stupid if it hasn't even happened yet," she muttered.
"Terezi, this is my fucking life. It terrifies me. Is it that stupid to you? It's still there and it's going to be broadcast across my fucking pan," he hissed.
"Shooosh," she soothed. "I know. I am just trying to make it better."
"I know. Fuck. Sorry. I just can't deal with this or joke about this shit."
"I know. I went a little far," she admitted. "But…if you can joke about it, I feel like it will be less scary! And then you can be silly and grumpy and stupid instead. That is more fun."
"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!"
"How am I not a fucking burden? I am the whiniest shitmonger ever."
"Hehehe, that is not a burden! It is…interesting?"
"…hey, Terezi, can I just…ask you something?"
"What is it, Nubbynubface?"
"I just…if I decide to tell one of our friends, would you go with me?"
"Of course I'd go! Who would I know to kill if they took it badly?"
"Yeah?" He sounded relieved. "Well, thanks, Terezi. For everything."
She frowned a little. Nubby wasn't taking her as seriously as she had hoped. "But Nubby," she warned. "I am not kidding. I would kill them. So choose carefully."
"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 hesitated. "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. And I know you'll protect me, Terezi, you're fucking stupid like that."
She shrugged to the best of her ability while still remaining curled up. "They are your close friends, after all! Besides, only highbloods seem to really care."
"Yeah, I know our friends are fucking amazing and shit." Terezi felt him put an arm around her. "I'm worried to tell Gamzee, though."
"Yeah," she said at length. "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."
Terezi promptly ignored him. "I suppose it would be hard to hide it from him, though. Hmm…" Moirail relationships were far too close to hide something so major. Gamzee probably would have to be told eventually.
"Yeah. Fuck. Whatever."
"Just…be careful. Subjugglators are hard to kill." She leaned in to his shoulder. Perhaps if she ambushed him, though…? No, aside from Aradia, Gamzee had done the most damage in their session. Despite her strength, Terezi knew she wouldn't be able to defeat him. Not alone, at least.
"It's alright. I could probably calm him down if he flipped shit."
"I hope so." She had always thought that shooshpaps could only go so far, but maybe she was missing a key element to moirailship. Something Karkat knew that she didn't. It wasn't like she was the expert on feelings! "It is still worrying, though. So don't do anything stupid!" She paused, trying to raise her mood. "But I suppose it is hard for you not to, stupid Nubby."
"Shut up, fuck off, and go to sleep. Gogdamn it, Terezi. I know what I'm doing. Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"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'd better be asleep when I wake up!"
"Fuck that."
Then there was silence, and Terezi drifted off into her own little dreamworld.