Terezi held Sir Candy McGrump close to her chest as she glared sightlessly at the wall. She bit her lip, running down the thread in her mind, only one of thousands. The connections spread out like a tree's branches, except worse, far worse, because the offshoots were endless.

And she had to go through them all.

Her abdominal foodbag was clenched in an uncomfortable knot as she followed one of the pathways in her mind, checking off which connections she had selected and which she had ignored. If she forgot that, she might end up going over it again. And again. And again.

She flinched. Bad end! Bad end!

Well, at least that was a short one.

Terezi kicked out at her wall so that her chair rolled over to the computer. She needed a distraction. Any distraction. If she had to see another bad end any time soon, she was going to go crazy.

Crazier, she reminded herself with a weak grin. She pulled up the Trollian window and began to tap at the keys.

[gallowsCalibrator has begun trolling carcinoGeneticist]

GC: H3Y NUBBY

CG: WHAT DO YOU WANT?

She paused. What did she want? She wanted to visit him, of course, or have him visit. To remind her why she was doing all this. Nothing eased her anxiety like a good whiff of fresh candy apples.

But Karkat was a douche and he would want a reason. She needed an excuse. And, running her fingers down the sides of Sir Candy McGrump, she found one.

GC: S1R C4NDY'S L3G 1S F4LL1NG OFF.

GC: F1X 1T FOR M3!

CG: YOU'RE SO NEEDY

CG: YOU WILL JUST HAVE TO GIVE ME SO MUCH COMPENSATION.

GC: SO YOU'LL F1X H1M?

CG: YEAH.

GC: GOOD.

GC: 1'LL G1V3 YOU 4LL TH3 R3DROM.

CG: OF COURSE. HOW CAN YOU NOT?

GC: H3H3H3

CG: I AM JUST SO HANDSOME EVERY TROLL AND THEIR FUCKING QUADRANT FRIENDS TURNED FLUSHED FOR ME WHEN I WALK IN.

Terezi giggled and slipped out of her room to the transportalizer. Once in Karkat's hive, she snuck quietly to his stupid uncolourful room.

"Yes, you smell delicious!" she called from the doorframe. Terezi tapped her way over to him and leaned in close, inhaling a torrent of candy apples. Yes, that was much better. "I mean handsome!" She dropped the plush crab on his desk and gave it a pat. "Hehehe."

She stepped back a bit as he pushed her, growling, "You know, that's almost entirely creepy."
"Only almost?" Damn. She had been trying for "insufferably creepy"! She leaned on her cane, tapping her claws on the dragon head.

"Sorry, have to work harder, Terezi." He was trying to stand up now, but she returned the previous favour and rammed him back down. She couldn't "see" his face, but experience told her he was giving her a beautifully annoyed expression.

He made a funny sound. "Get that creepy factor up. Not enough wrigglers fleeing from you yet. Gotta make them vomit their fucking airsacks up in fear the moment you sniff in their direction."

Terezi wasn't so sure. Wrigglers could be useful. When she was younger, she used to trick them into doing things for her at carnivals. They seemed to trust her, which was absolutely perfect for manipulation. It made it too easy, actually. "What if I licked you as I said it, hmm?" Terezi pressed on, face only inches away from his. "Well, I'll have to settle with making you uncomfortable, instead!"

She ran her fingers along the bottom of his shirt. She had missed these scars. Terezi was a little jealous. She'd have to work hard to get something so impressive, too.

Karkat had pushed himself as far away from her as he could, but she just reached out further, laughing. Stupid Nubby. There was no escape. "Hehehe."

"Oh, gog, no, okay. You win. That suggestion was pretty much the icing on the cake that is your creepiness."

"Too late!" Terezi replied, grinning. She trailed her hand across his chest and he trembled, to her great amusement. "I wonder what I should do to you!" She let the comment hang in the air threateningly. It was best to let him conjure his own terrified thoughts of what she could do. That was infinitely more effective than outright telling him.

"No, it is not fucking too late! You are not doing your creepy licking shit to me or anything else that will somehow make worse the fact you think I am something edible!"

But he was edible. And delicious! He could only deny it for so long. "Hmm." She pressed her claws against his chest. "Then, maybe I will touch your scars!"

"Or, you could, you know. Stop molesting me."

But it was too late, of course. Terezi was always right! She had already started snaking her hand up his shirt. Karkat slapped it away and she laughed, turned, and plunked down on his lap. She shifted, simultaneously trying to get comfortable and piss him off more.

Terezi pressed their foreheads together. "Silly Nubby, of course that is not an option!" Yes, this was what she had needed. This was a perfect distraction. The stress had already begun to loosen its grip on her aeordic beatpump and airsacks. She could breathe better now.

"Pretty sure that's the kind of thing you prosecute people over. You know, constantly feeling people up?" he growled.

She, of course, ignored him, opting instead to slide her hand up his shirt and run her fingers over his scars. They really were nice. Very impressive. Jack must have done a lot of damage. No wonder it had been so easy to smell!

"That is them," she reasoned, "this is me! Hehehe."

"Yeah, you're more annoying."

Terezi brought her face close to his, feeling the warmth radiating from his body. He was turning colours again. "You say that, but I smell cotton candy!" The pleasant scent wafted down and she grinned.

"I am going to break your nose off and stuff it in your fucking hearing holes," Karkat threatened unconvincingly, pinching Terezi's nose. As if that was enough! Nubby needed practice in mind games.

Terezi paused for a horrified second. Maybe he did need practice in mind games. If the pathway she had followed ended up occurring, then he would definitely need it. She wouldn't be there to protect him any more. He would need to learn how to manipulate by himself.

"Embarrassed?" Terezi teased, pushing the thought aside. Obviously, she would make sure they never went down that direction. She would cut the thread at the start. She would force a different end if she had to.

"More like, so full of rage, that the blood is rushing to my head to help me think of a better way to make you fucking pay."

Terezi whipped her hands out of his shirt and grasped his fingers between hers. "Aww, it is cute that you think it is possible for you to win!" She leaned in and pressed her lips to his forehead. She could feel him making an angry face against her throat. She held back a laugh.

"You're the one who's always on my bulge about beating you, you creepy-ass dragon fetish shithead," he rumbled. He struggled to pull away, but she kept her grip tight.

She brought her mouth close to his ear and said quietly, "Just because I think you should, it doesn't mean I think you can! Hehehe." She gave his hands a brief squeeze. "That's why you need to work hard!"

"You're just so impossible." She felt him push his forehead into her shoulder. Terezi wanted to reach up and fondle his stupid little nubby horns, but thought he might not appreciate that.

Which is why she would totally do it.

Just…later.

"Yes, I know! It is fun. Hehehe." She shifted again and toyed with the clay symbol on his shirt before inevitably sliding her hand back under the liquorice and pressing her palm to the scars.

"It…is really fucking annoying, actually," he mumbled. She twitched her nose. His tone sounded a bit funny, more strained than usual. Was he legitimately upset?

She sat back, eyebrows coming together in a look of muted concern. "Nubby, did you have another bad dream?" She measured his reaction carefully. This didn't feel like a bad dream. This felt like something else. Had someone found out?

No, he wasn't nearly panicked enough for that.

Her muscles tensed. Had she missed something?

"When am I not having bad dreams?" he muttered.

But he only smelled a little truthful. "Does idiot need a hug?" she asked, biting her lip. She pressed her palm against his forehead. What had she missed?

What had she missed?

"Why do you even need to ask, you stupid shit?"

Terezi wrapped her arms around him, breathing in the candy apples. She had missed something, she had definitely made a mistake. She hadn't calculated for something. This wasn't something she could afford to do. She had to fix it.

But first, she had to find out what it was.

"I thought you'd whine again if I didn't." She squeezed him tight, then stood and gave him a grin.

"Of course I would."

She turned away, running her hands over the various things in his room. Clues, hints, evidence… She needed something to tell her what she had missed. She found a few colourful things, which kept her interest for a couple of moments, but soon returned to searching for more valuable tidbits of knowledge.

The problem was that Karkat was an idiot.

Or maybe just really, really smart.

He probably didn't even have some sort of record of whatever it was that she had missed. She knew the search was probably going to be fruitless, that he was the one that had to tell her, but…

It was something to do.

Karkat was suddenly behind her and she paused. He leaned in and she took this as an invitation to give him a rather violent kiss.

"Nubby, when you feel bad, just talk to me!" Terezi said. Maybe this would persuade him to spill the proverbial legume food product. Then, to properly disguise her intentions, she added, "And I will laugh at you! It will be beautiful."

"I don't wanna just dump shit on you," Karkat growled. She felt him playing with her hair again. It was weird, but she was secretly starting to enjoy it. It was amusing.

Terezi shook her head as he stepped back. There. Now he'd be able to do it again, if he so desired. "Stupid Nubby. That is what I am here for," she said truthfully. "I told you, I'll make all the bad things go away."

"I dunno, it just feels so lopsided," he muttered. "All my life is shit and you're stuck with it."

But she wasn't stuck with it. She had chosen this path. There were infinite threads where she completely ignored him, or left him, or went off in a different direction entirely.

And Terezi hadn't considered any of them.

She didn't need to.

None of those were good ends. None of those were even options, as far as she was concerned. They may be stuck to the paths the threads outline, yes, but as Seer of Mind, free will was always an option. It was the only option.

Terezi turned away and began to search through his things again. Maybe the clues were hidden. Maybe it was a placement issue, not a tangible thing.

"It is okay," she reasoned absently. "I am perfect, so it balances out! Hehehe." She grinned at him, then continued pawing over the things on his shelf.

"Yeah, at least I can give you delicious red shit."

"Exactly! So just tell me when you have bad feelings and we will fix them!" Terezi promised. She would use everything in her power to make the best of this situation for the both of them. She would go through every thread.

"I will."

"Good Nubby. Have you stopped freaking out now?" Terezi returned to him, reaching up to touch his face. He made a funny expression, but she didn't pull away. She wanted to imprint the feel of his features on her mind. It was almost comforting.

There was a point, though, where she kept her hands there just to piss him off. He slapped her hands away and she grinned.

"Pretty much," he grumbled.

"Good!" Terezi whipped her hand out and caught his cheek between her claws, giving it a sharp pinch. "Just trust me and it will be okay!"

Karkat swatted at her again. "Why the shit wouldn't I trust you? Way to say something incredibly stupid."

She twitched her nose. Now he was angry again. Not just Karkat-grumpy, but angry-grumpy. She narrowed her eyes. "That kind of thinking is why you need me."

"Why, because your blatant idiocy balances my wit?"

Terezi leaned back, crossing her arms. He obviously didn't understand. She would have to be blunt. "Because you trust really easily…" It was surprisingly uncomfortable to say out loud, though she knew it was true.

"Do you want me to cut off all ties? Do you want me to be wary of every fucking troll I trusted, played a shitty game with? Even the ones you already said we can trust?"

"No, don't cut off ties!" Terezi snapped, grabbing his shoulders and digging her claws in. Karkat was being as thick as ever. Did he really not understand how precariously this situation was balanced? "Just be careful." Cutting off ties was stupid. Terezi didn't have to calculate any of the pathways to know that any of those threads would lead to bad ends. All of them would lead to bad ends.

"Geez, please, Terezi! Be more cryptic and vague about what you want me to do with my life. I await your orders."

Terezi shook him roughly. "Stupid!"

"Then just tell me!"

"Just be careful!" Really, Karkat shouldn't have the right to be pissed off. He wasn't the one who had to see hundreds of bad ends every day. He didn't have to painstakingly, tediously follow every thread through. He didn't have to calculate the probabilities of his own death, of the death of the ones he pitied, hated…loved. "You are not a bad leader," she allowed, digging her claws in deeper. "But you don't know minds the way I do. Just be really cautious!"

"Of course I am. I will be extra fucking cautious just for you," he grunted.

Terezi released him and began to walk around the room again, picking up things and moving them around. She had stopped looking for clues. It was pointless. Everything was just clay now.

When she got to Sir Candy McGrump, however, she hesitated, hand trailing across the worn fabric. "Nubby, I am really worried. So just, take this really slowly, okay? So that I have time to plan." She was running out of time and she knew it. Karkat would only be patient for so long. Their friends would only be patient for so long. It was a race and she was losing. There was just too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

"I'm not doing anything without you. So, yeah. We can take this slowly."

Terezi heard him sit down and went over to sit beside him. She leaned her head against his shoulder, putting a hand on his arm. "I feel like I'm running out of time, but I can't think fast enough…" she admitted. It took everything she had to let herself say it, but she thought he should know. Stupid as he was, maybe he'd have a solution she hadn't thought of yet.

"Terezi, it's okay. But…" An ominous pause. "I think for a while, it'd be best not to see me. In person."

The cogs in Terezi's mind stopped spinning suddenly. "What?"

"It's just, argh!" he growled, shifting. "It's just that I'm sure Sollux and Gamzee and shit are wondering why I never visit. Especially since I am always seeing you. And we're not ready yet."

"Oh…" She couldn't think anymore. Her pan had suddenly stopped working. No, no, no. Think. This is what she had missed. This was her mistake.

And it horrified her.

Because, out of all the calculations she had done, every one of them had been focused on the future. What was going to happen, rather than what was happening right then. She hadn't paid attention to the present and now she had overlooked something so monumental that even Karkat had noticed.

It was an irredeemable failure.

"If you think that is best, Nubby, then okay." Yes, yes it was best. It was obviously best. She knew it was, but it drove her crazy. She still had so many pathways to map out, and now she'd have no distraction.

No, she scolded. This is your fault. This is what you should have been doing already.

"I think it's my only option left, Terezi."

"I understand!" Terezi assured, holding his hand tightly in hers. She forced a grin. She didn't feel happy, though. She was upset. Upset and furious with herself for letting something like this happen. She was supposed to take care of the problems, not completely miss them. It was unforgivable.

"You're so fucking amazing, Terezi." Terezi felt him kiss her forehead and she giggled, but still wasn't happy.

She tightened her grip on his hand. "I'll figure this out fast!" she found herself saying suddenly. "Then you won't have to worry anymore." Then they could see each other and she wouldn't have to spend every waking moment going through bunches of tangled threads until her pan hurt and everything turned an awful rotten red.

She wouldn't sleep until she finished.

There would be no mistakes this time.

"Thanks, Terezi."

"No problem!" But there was a problem, and she had caused it. What if there were other problems spawned of her hideous negligence? How badly had she failed?

Terezi turned away. "So I guess I should leave soon?" she asked.

"No, I want you to stay. Just…just yeah. Don't leave."

"Okay!" She motioned for him to turn and he obeyed. Terezi pulled him until his head rested against her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, leaning her chin against him. She would make it up to him, somehow. She wouldn't make any more mistakes. She would go home and start right away. She would go through every connector, even if they overlapped. She would suffer through the bad ends in search of the good.

Karkat was speaking again and Terezi forced herself to attend. "Hey, Terezi. I like this. Just, can we do this next time we can get together too?"

"Of course!" She held him tighter. She didn't want to leave, but maybe it was best if she did.

No. She may have failed, but she would make it up to him. She could afford to enjoy herself a little longer. Maybe it would make the sea of botched threads more tolerable.

"Nubby?" she murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Make sure you go on Trollian every day, okay?" It would keep her mind at ease. At least she'd know he was alive. As long as he was still living, the bad ends didn't matter.

He made a funny noise. "Of course."

"Don't forget!" She squeezed him tighter, choking him until she noticed and loosened her grip.

"Is pupa going to miss me?" He elbowed her in the abdominal foodbag and she crushed his head between her hands until he let out a torrent of swearwords.

"I am not! I am going to worry," she replied.

"Terezi, shit, look. If you get scared, or worried, or any shit like that, just, forget I said anything and come over, okay?"

"Stupid!" she shouted, punching him in the thigh.

"Fuck!" said Karkat.

"Just when I thought you had actually been thinking, you threw it all away!" How could she trust him to catch her mistakes—even the obvious ones—if he switched his train of thought so casually? He had made a valid point, and now he was just contradicting it! They would never win if Karkat could be swayed so easily. He was too soft!

"I'm not that fucking stupid! Just, this reminded me. Fuck, Terezi, I'm trying to keep an eye on you too!"

"Reminded you of what?"

"I just want you to be alright, too."
Terezi calmed down a little. He was just being a squishy douchebag. Maybe it wasn't so inexcusable. "You are sweet, Nubby," she allowed. "But I am strong! I will be just fine!" In the long run, her feelings really didn't matter. Maybe once they won that would change, but for now, they'd both have to get used to the idea that some things were more important.

Living, for example.

"I know, fuck off." He slid down, practically lying on her. "It's just gushy feelings talking to me, alright?"

"Thank you." She pressed her face into his liquorice hair and breathed deeply. "Candy apples are my favourite."

"For good fucking reason!" he snapped. She chuckled a little. "Hey, if my blood wasn't…red, then what would you say?"

Oh, that was fun. He actually said it. Maybe she would reward him.

…Eventually.

"Hmm." Terezi tapped her claws against his knee, squeezing him tighter. "That is hard to say! Because candy apples are my favourite…. So maybe something else?"

"It was a stupid question."

But she wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot. Nubby was going to get his reward, even if he was too stupid to notice. "Grumpynubs are my favourite? Stupid leadertrolls are my favourite?"

"Should have seen that coming. Just giving you the opportunity to slam me at every moment." Oh, that was even more entertaining. He was actually getting angry. That would make this even more fun.

"Well, you do make it easy for me!" she teased, laughing. He moved, but she pulled him tighter.

"But maybe," she hissed in his ear, "if I ran out of things, I would be lame and say, 'I love you' instead."

That shut him up. She could smell the cotton candy scent flowing from his face now. Excellent.

"Yeah, that'd be super lame," he grunted.

"So lame! Hehehe." She began to play with his shirt again, running her fingers over the printed clay.

"Damn, Terezi. I really don't want to stop seeing you."

Terezi hesitated. "It's okay, I will just work harder. Then it will be over faster!" She would work nonstop until she finished. That was a promise. She had made her mistake. Never again. This time she'd be thorough and efficient.

Terezi leaned on him heavier. "I'm tired."

"Yeah? What do you want to do about it?"

"Is it okay if I stay here one last time?" Terezi paused. The words had come out before she had even considered them. Maybe she was tired. She was making careless errors left and right. Maybe this was a bad idea.

"Yeah, of course."

Oh, and now he had agreed. They were just a pair of idiots.

Doomed idiots.

"Do you want a sweater?" he asked.

"Yes!" she said immediately.

Karkat slid out of her grasp and went to get a shirt. It was cold without him. But soon he was back and offering the sweater to her.

"Thank you, Nubby!" She took it from him, grinning. "You aren't getting this one back, either!" she warned, pulling it on.

"What a twist. You're probably going to smother it in chalk or some shit."

"No! That would ruin the smell!" she snapped.

"What smell?"

She blinked sightlessly up at him. Was he really that stupid? "Yours…" Sure, the other colours made it more of a black cherry sort of smell, but it was still definitely Karkat.

"Uh, yeah. Obviously." His voice sounded strange again. "Fucking hell, I am going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Nubby. I'll work hard so it won't be long," she promised.

Karkat grunted and stood, walking around the room. Terezi followed his movements with her nose. He picked up various supplies, then grabbed Sir Candy McGrump and sat down, getting to work. Terezi got up and went over to him, twitching her nose as he stitched the legs on. The thread was liquorice, but she didn't mind. When Karkat had finished, he shoved the crab at her and she took it, crushing it against her chest. She smiled a little. At least she wouldn't have to worry about mini-Nubby anymore.

"Take better care of the shit I give you."

"I take good care of it!" she protested. It was true—aside from Pyralspite, no plushie had survived long in her care. Thankfully, scalemate heads could be reattached. Troll heads, not so much. "It is just my favourite."

Terezi dropped the crab into his lap and leaned forward. "Close your eyes, Nubby, and don't open them until I say."

"There."

She sniffed. Clay. He had obeyed. "Good." She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pressed her lips to his. She would miss this. His reactions were always so fun.

Terezi pulled away. "Don't move yet." She slipped her glasses off and reached out to touch his face. After she had gained a basic understanding of where his features were, she flipped the glasses around and slid them over his eyes.

She leaned in again and kissed his forehead. "There," she muttered into his ear. "And if you break them, I will tear off your bulge with my bare claws and forcefeed it to you with your own sickle."

"What a pleasant image." Karkat curled his fingers around the fabric of her shirt and pulled her to him. She stumbled onto him, grinning. "I do understand what this means to you, Terezi." He played with her hair for a few minutes before adding, "Thank you."

"Nubby…" she said. He was a pretty distracting guy. But then, that was why she liked him so much. "Thank you, too."

"I like your eyes."

"We match," she replied, grinning. "It is perfect."

"Terezi?" Karkat was holding her tighter now and she rested her head against his.

"Yeah, Asspants Von Bulgetoucher?"

"You can't stay over. Fuck, I want you to. But you just…can't."

"I know," she replied. "I didn't mean to ask. It was an accident. I'm sorry." She buried her face in his neck. The candy apples were especially strong here. "I will go soon."

She felt him touching her hair again, then her horns. "I'll miss you."

Terezi twisted her hands into his shirt, pressing closer. "Candy apples are my favourite."

"Sit here. Just a little longer. Please."

"Yes." She breathed in the candy apples, trying to erase the nightmare scent. Maybe if she forgot about it, the bad ends wouldn't be painful. They were just thoughts, after all.

But they could become reality.

"Good Nubby," she said mindlessly. "Good…"

He kissed her forehead, flinched and drew away. "I love you."

"Then don't do anything stupid while we are apart."

He gave a weird laugh. "Idiot. I won't. I have to look after these fucking glasses."

"Yes. They are important to me, so don't you dare let anything happen to them. If there is even a scratch, I will punish you."

"I guess it'd have to be something worse than biting." He toyed with strands of her hair.

"Much worse," Terezi agreed. She slid her hand into his shirt and traced his scars with her claw. "These would look like scratches in comparison."

"Be careful, Terezi. You're going to counteract all your careful planning to save my life."

"I wouldn't let you die," Terezi replied. "That would be too easy. How would you learn?"

"Sit back for a fucking moment."

Terezi twitched her nose, but obeyed. "Is it time for me to leave…?"

But Karkat seemed to have other idea. He grabbed her face and pulled her close. "Not yet, alright? I think I'm going to let you have a going away present, too."

"Oh?" she said, grinning. "And what's that? Hmm?"

"Just bite me already, you crazy bitch."

Terezi pushed his hands away and leaned in, pressing her lips to his. After a minute or so of letting him squirm impatiently, she bit his bottom lip. Karkat swore, but stayed remarkably still as she licked the candy apples away. "I will miss this, too."

"I will too."

She wrapped her arms around his back and gave him a squeeze. "You are adorable. I will work hard so that it won't take long. I promise."

Terezi felt him press into her shoulder, then pull away. "You should…get going, Terezi."

"Yeah." Terezi untangled herself from the chair and stood. She pulled the now very squashed Sir Candy McGrump from his lap and hugged it to her chest. "Thank you for fixing this."

"I'll do it again if you decide to rip off more limbs."

"Hehehe yes," she replied. She hesitated, then reached out and patted him on the head. "Good Nubby." She paused, fingers still brushing his messy liquorice hair, then stepped back. "Hehehe. Well. Smell you later."

Before she could turn to go, Karkat had sprung up and grabbed her arms, pulling her close and crashing his lips against hers. "Get out of here."

Terezi grinned, then left.