It took Karkat a few moments to collect himself, but he was snapped back to reality by the firm demand to move his feet. Wobbly as he threw himself off the tub, he stumbled out the door. He didn't know where Strider was, but his feet were flying down the hall. His suspicions of Dave's sexuality go the best of him, he realized, as he stopped at John's bedroom door.
"Dave!" He knocked a few hurries times before pressing his ear to the door. "Dave, I know you're in here!"
Muffled voices sounded from behind the door and Karkat was able to make out a hushed "shh, shh, he'll go away if we stay quiet." A few chuckles followed, bringing a scowl to Karkat's face.
The knob. Karkat reached for the knob, but it rejected the twist he gave.
"Dave, it's your sister!" He called desperately. "She's in the bathroom, puking up bl-"
He was interrupted by the door as it flew open, forcing Karkat back a few steps to watch as Dave burst from the room, running down the hall faster than Karkat could keep up with. Scurrying close behind, they made it back into the bathroom.
"Rose?!" His voice was loud.
She gave nothing more than a sputter, goo dripping from her chin as she tried to choke down the inevitable.
"What's wrong with her?" Karkat whined, his voice overflowing this worry and sheer disgust.
"Something," Kanaya began slowly," that I don't understand."
"Is Aradia still here? She's into creepy shit, maybe she knows what's wrong with her," Karkat offered hopefully, his eyes darting from person to person as his body shook with panic.
"No, she left already," John was just catching up, his voice cracking upon laying his eyes on Rose. "Oh, my God, Rose!"
Rose hurled loudly into the toilet in reply, the splash echoing in the dull atmosphere. Something solid had dislodged from her throat, the sound of a splosh registering in terrified ears.
"Are you going to make it?" Kanaya's voice was soft and calm as opposed to everyone else, even as it wavered here and there, but the consternation that lingered was making her heart pound loud in her ears. The fear would remain subdued, however, for the sake of everyone's thoughtfulness.
"Yes-" Rose gasped between sobs and gags. She took in a few shaky deep breaths, her pants picking up right before she swallowed down another flood. She was careful not to let the damn break as spoke. "I-I'll be o-o-" her sentence was cut short by the sharp sound of vomiting, slick black bile erupting from her mouth.
"Get out," Dave urged over his shoulder, uncharacteristically authoritative. "She doesn't need an audience, leave her to Kanaya and I."
"But I need to help," Karkat blubbered.
"Karkat, come on," John coaxed, grabbing the albino's shoulder and pulling him into the hall. "Listen to Dave, okay?"
"Karkat, I'm f-f-f-ine!" Rose choked and strangled the vomit back to assure him, but to no avail; sludge punctured the toilet water with a guttural groan to accommodate.
The door shut before Karkat could help it, the sound of the lock clicking behind him rendering the albino useless. Muffled grunts of anger and determination sounded from behind the door before there was a few thuds, accompanied by an approaching Terezi to see what the commotion had been about. The company, while making her feel cherished, fashioned a sense of stage fright in her bowls, which complied with a soft rumble before taking over in more puke as Rose drowned in her sweat and tears. She knew backsplash had dirtied her favorite dress, encouraging the quilt that had begun to accumulate in her cranium.
"I'm so so-hgn-orry, Dave," she groaned, her head lolling onto her shoulder as she held in another outburst.
"No, Rose, it's fine," the man knelt at Rose's free side, glancing at Kanaya for assurance.
"I tho-ought it was just a, a, ughh-a once-thing."
Between all the panting and pained gasps, not to mention the thick tongue of liquor, Rose was hard to understand but had managed to get her point across before her shoulder blades contracted as she released more bile.
"It's alright," he repeated softly.
"Rose, honey, you're going to clog John's toilet," Kanaya interjected, preening the woman's hair apologetically. "We need to flush it."
"She needs a bucket and a tums," Dave added in an attempt to lighten the mood. He shrugged abstractedly at Kanaya as her jade eyes met his red ones, a look of slight antipathy lingering in her orbs as she began to continue. "Hold back for a moment."
With an affectionate kiss to the side of her lover's head, Kanaya slung an arm over Rose's shoulders and used the free one to maneuver, reaching across the toilet bowl of guck to pull the handle. The toilet roared as it tried to swallow Rose's stomach content, gurgling as it managed to suck down the black encrusted solidity.
Rose's eyes watered as she held her breath, the sterile sting of vomit berating her nostrils. The water slowly began to resurface with an awful slurping noise, and Rose couldn't hold back anymore. Her chest began to spasm, her upper body flinging closer to the white bowl as she emptied her gut.
There were no breaks now; gallons of the black bile washed away the lingering odor of bathroom, leaving only the stale smell of puke and, peculiarly, salt water.
"It smells like the ocean," Dave observed, horror fluctuating his voice.
Kanaya said nothing in return, her eyes fixated on the drunkard woman before her. One hand was her support beam, the other hand working Rose's back in a futile attempt to sooth her. She tried hopelessly to keep her breathing even, but it was no use, her oxygen intake hitched every time Rose displayed a hemorrhaged ailment, she had to resist the urge to join Rose in vomitting.
"K-Ka-Ka-na-Kana-blrugh!" In a pursuit of trying to spit out Kanaya's name, Rose had managed to project another mop of black secretion.
"Don't try to speak," Kanaya cooed, rubbing Rose's back with a bit more fortitude.
The female managed a nod, her eyes wide and staring into the toilet. The black was sticking to the insides of the bowl, consorted every so often by a fresh new splash of moisture, a consolation of tears on her lashes. She gripped the sides of the bowl for balance, her head spinning and as heavy as a ton. For a brief moment, she felt bad for possibly tarnishing her friend's toilet, but the guilt was washed away as soon as she propelled more vomit.
It was getting harsh now. Whenever the bile climbed up her throat, it made her entire person tremble as the heat pushed so hard against the walls it nearly expanded her neck, only to come out in an explosive projection from her mouth that mingled with the sounds of pained cries. The vibrations shot down her spine, boiling and pooling in the pit of her stomach, only to assault another glob of bile. She wanted to believe she was being drained; almost finished, but something told her there was still so, so much more to go through.