"I'll see you tomorrow Catnep, love you," I say as I hug the small girl. She latches her arms around my neck, and reluctantly releases me after a few seconds.
"Ok, Karkitty, love you too! Bye!" She says happily, grabbing Sollux's hand as he leads her down the sidewalk. I sigh and lean back against the wall of the building near me. I don't really want to think about anything, so I just watch a bird hop around across the street, until Sollux quietly walks back and scares me.
"KK, you ready to leave?" He asks with an amused smile at my jumpiness. I glare at him lightly and nod, wordlessly walking away. After a few minutes of silence, I decide to voice something that had been nagging at my mind.
"Sollux, Why did your brother think I was my cousin?" I ask , looking sideways at the taller teen. He sighs and slows his walking, keeping his gaze on the ground.
"We've moved alot and he doesn't like change that much, a few years back we were living in a town not that far from here, and he made friends there. The picture he showed you was where he met them. One of his best friends was Kankri, apparently your cousin. I don't exactly know why he freaked out like that...it happens sometimes." He trails off, looking at me before continuing. "He's often impulsive because we left that town. He used to be calmer and more rational about things. He liked that town the best, but my dad made him move again with us, because he had been only 17 at the time. He and my dad had a huge yelling match and when he lashed out, his arm hit the wall. At the time we had a picture hanging up and the glass in the frame somehow shattered and really messed up his face."
I stare slightly shocked for a few seconds, before glancing at the ground as well. That would explain why Mituna keeps his face covered by his hair.
"Wow..." I murmur.
"Yep, and tahdah that'th why my brother freaked the fuck out when he looked at you," He says sort of bitterly.
"It's alright, don't be so worked up about it," I say uncomfortably, not really sure how to comfort him. Before he can answer, the both of us look up to see we've walked (to his) home without realizing it.
"Well, let'th not worry about it, hopefully we can get our th'tuff and get out before hi'th friend'th get here," He states with a lopsided smile, opening the door and quickly walking inside, me staying close on his heels.
Before we can get there, a loud voice yells, "Oh my god there you are mini-Captor!" And Sollux is practically tackled to the ground by a somewhat tall red-headed girl. I have to clamp a hand over my mouth to keep from laughing aloud as Sollux mutters angrily under his breath and reluctantly hugs her back.
"Ni'the to th'ee you Latula, it'th been awhile," He says spitefully, pushing her away after a few seconds. The girl just laughs loudly, looking up at him.
"You got taller, how rad! It's nice seein' my boyfriends little bro!" She laughs, finally turning to look at me. "Whoa shit it's a mini-Vantas too!" She says in shock, pushing past Sollux to grip my shoulders. I give Sollux a "Help Me" look, but he just smirks and mouths "You didn't help me".
"What's your name kid?" She asks after releasing me. I rub my shoulders, glaring at her.
"Karkat," I mutter, trying to place why she looks so familiar. Her red glasses gleam slightly as she grins widely at me.
"You're a cousin! He used to talk about you sometimes," She proclaims, backing away a bit, "You're not going to lecture me are you? I need my ears today," She jokes, putting her hands over her ears. Mituna walks quietly up behind her, tackling her in a hug. "Yeth, please don't talk her ears off mini-Vantas," He says to me, smiling. Sollux rubs at his hair and glares at Mituna.
"He really doethn't talk much 'Tuna," He grumbles, then grabs my wrist and drags me to his room. Of course "Latula" and Mituna follow us.
"Where are you going Sollux?" Mituna asks, running up behind him only to trip and knock them both to the ground. Latula and I start to laugh as Sollux annoyingly pushes his brother off him and huffs as he puts his guitar in his case.
"Karkat and I are going to a friend'th hou'the to work on that project due in a couple of weeks," He says with an angry huff of breath. I chuckle and smile at him lightly.
"Don't get so worked up Sollux," I say between laughs.
"Yeah Sollux, but that sounds rad, why do you need your guitar though?" Latula asks, curiously watching the two of us.
"It's a project on creativity," I answer for him, "My friends and I, including him, are playing a song." She begins to look interested, staring at me with wide light-gray eyes.
"Oh that's awesome! What song are ya' playin?"
"Why are you tho intere'thted?" Sollux retorts, walking past her to motion me to follow once more. But of course the two of them begin to follow us.
"Because your life is interesting, duh!" Latula smiles, slinging an arm around Sollux's shoulders. "Where is this friend, I can drive you if you want!"
"Oh hell no!" Sollux yelps, twisting out of Latula's grip, "I don't trust you behind the wheel!" I chuckle at this and follow him out the door, with Mituna and Latula close at our heels.
"Oh fine, geez, how about you drive and I'll stay in the backseat, because I don't trust you with my truck," She says instead, darting to the driveway where I see an old red truck parked there. Wonder how I didn't notice it before...
"If you'll leave u'th alone after thi'th then fine, I'll drive, c'mon Karkat," He barks, catching the keys that are thrown at him and opening up the door. I claim the shotgun seat and our two tag-alongs jump into the back.
"I'm gonna tell Tavros that we'll be there in a few minutes," I tell Sollux as I grab his phone from his pocket. He nods in response and just focuses on the road.
[twinArmageddons has messaged adiosToreador]
TA: HEY, SOLLUX IS DRIVING
TA: SO WE'LL BE THERE IN ONLY A FEW MINUTES
AT: aLRIGHT KARKAT
AT: gAMZEE IS ALREADY HERE, bUT, uH, rOXY HASN'T SHOWN YET
TA: I'LL MESSAGE HER THEN
"Hey, Roxy isn't there yet, but Gamzee is," I mumble to Sollux as I begin to message the teen.
"Unthurprithing, th'eth an interethting character," He replies with a laugh.
[twinArmageddons has messaged tipsyGnostalgic]
TA: HEY WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU
TA: YOU BETTER BE SOMEWHAT CLOSE TO TAVROS'S HOUSE
TA: BECAUSE ME AND SOLLUX ARE ALMOST THERE
TG: I'm almost there karat
TG: *karkat
TG: geez caml down
[ tipsyGnostalgic has ceased chatting with twinArmageddons ]
"Ok, she's on her way so we're good." I state, looking up to see him pull into Tavros's driveway. Gamzee and Tavros are standing out front watching for us.
"Hey Solbro! Karbro! Glad ta' see ya'," Gamzee says happily, giving me a hug and lifting me off the ground. I yelp and struggle out of his grasp.
"Gamzee! You saw us not that long ago at school! Jesus fuck put me down!"
He just laughs and looks back at Latula and Mituna, who are climbing out of the truck.
"Whoa, who the motherfuck are they?" He asks me in confusion.
"My brother and hi'th girlfriend, I used her truck to drive here," Sollux replies, turning to them. "You guy'th can go home now," He says impatiently.
"Oh but mini-Captor, what if I want to say hi to your friends," Latula teases, poking the taller boys' cheek.
"Then th'ay Hi and leave, th'imple," He mutters. Gamzee looks at him confused, but turns to the two of them.
"Motherfucking Hi," He greets, waving at them with a dumb smile on his face.
"Uh, hi," Tavros says awkwardly, walking up behind Gamzee.
"Hi!" Mituna yells, grinning at them.
"You two seem familiar..." Latula states, tapping her chin with a painted red fingernail. "Nitram and Makara!" She yells victoriously, pointing at the two of them using the "rock on" hand sign.
"Motherfuck? How do you all up and know our names?" Gamzee questions, looking at her curiously.
"Whoa really? That's your names?" She asks in shock, staring at the two of them with wide eyes.
"Yeah bitchtits, I'm Gamzee Makara, and this is my bro Tavros Nitram," He drawls, slinging an arm around Tavros's shoulders.
"Radical! You two remind me of our friends, Rufioh and Kurloz, speaking of Kurloz, he should be here soon with Meulin, we should tell him to come here instead!" Latula exclaims, whipping out her phone and rapidly texting.
"Latula! No! We need to work on our project and having you and your weird friend'th here i'thn't going to help!" Sollux protests, trying to get the phone out of her hands. She just laughs and easily keeps away from his grabby-hands as she finishes texting. Within a few seconds she gets a text in response and shouts in victory.
"Aw yeah! They're coming here instead, haha mini-Captor!" She taunts, waving her phone in front of his face.
"Don't tease him tho much 'Tula," Mituna giggles, patting the top of her head. She just laughs and gives him a peck on the lips before turning around and walking toward the road.
"They said they were fairly close, so it shouldn't take long.
"Uh hey, Roxy isn't here yet," Tavros mentions, causing me to growl and walk over to Sollux and grab his phone again.
"I'm calling Roxy," I growl at him, ignoring his sound of protest, then dial the number.
Click.
"Hey fuckass where are you," I spit, not even waiting for her to say hi.
"Calm down, Rose is driving me and we got caught in traffic, I'll be there in a few minutes," She calmly states.
"Ugh, fine dammit, but try to get here in a few minutes alright," I sigh, ending the call. I return Sollux's phone then a thought hits me. Rose, as in our teacher? I shrug it off when I see Roxy walking up the driveway. Yep, there's Rose, telling her to be careful before quickly driving off. Oh yeah, they are related weren't they.
"About damn time Roxy," I growl good-naturally at her. She shrugs in response.
"What can I say, traffic was a bitch."
"Well now that we're all here, we can go practice," Tavros states, beginning to walk up toward his house. We all follow him inside, although Sollux stays with his brother for a few extra seconds before following.
"My brother and Latula are going to wait out'thide for their friend'th, i'th that alright Tavroth?" He asks, looking at the taller teen, who shrugs.
"Uh sure, I'm sure my uncle won't mind." He leads us inside then walks down to the basement. I smile, having been there before, his basement was awesome. His uncle has alot of musical instruments. Plus most of them had amplifiers and there was a recording station. It's pretty sweet to say the least.
His uncle comes down the stairs, looking at us all before saying, "Don't be afraid to play loud, I already piss off the neighbors enough," With a wide smile, I chuckle and nod at him.
"Oh yeah, Sollux's brother and his girlfriend are out front waiting for some friends, you should go say hi!" Tavros shouts after him, hearing him shout a reply before the door opening and closing is heard. He looks at us.
"So I guess just set up and stuff for the moment."
He goes to do stuff with his drums, since I don't know about drums I can't tell you what he does. I guide Sollux over to my favorite corner, grabbing his guitar out of the case and tuning it for him before searching for a pick.
"Oh Hey! Keyboard!" Roxy exclaims happily, walking over to the keyboard in the corner. She pulls it out and begins aimlessly playing a tune on it, humming something. I chuckle at her attention-span and turn back to Sollux. He had found the awesome electric guitars that Rufioh owned. He was quietly plucking at the strings and testing out the song he knew. he had the blue one, so I grabbed the red one and placed the strap behind my neck.
"Hey Tavros, I'm going to use this guitar alright," I say, already knowing he'll be ok with it. He nods with a small smile, turning to Gamzee to help him with his bass.
:Outside: 3rd Person POV:
"Hey, my nephew said I should come say-" Rufioh begins, then stops as he looks at the two before him.
"Latula! Doll it's been years!" He shouts happily, walking forward to hug her.
"Whoa no way Rufioh! Is little Nitram your nephew?!" She exclaims, giving him a quick hug before pulling back.
"Yeah doll! And Mituna! Did you move again?" He asks the man, smiling at him.
"Uh huh, but I might be able to move into my own place soon, I've been saving up," He grins.
"Nice, so who're you two waitin' on, Tavros said you were waitin' on friends."
"Kurloz and Meulin, Hey did you know that Gamzee kid is a Makara?" Latula answers, then looks at Rufioh questioningly.
"Oh yeah, I would know, Tavros and Gamzee've been been friends for years, and lately they've been actin' more than friends," He comments with a suggestive wink. Mituna giggles, but is distracted by a car door slamming. The three of them turn to see the tall clown and catlike girl climb out of their sleek black car. The two of them begin signing rapidly to the three of them, and knowing sign language they sign back.
((A/N: When they are talking using "these marks " they are actually signing at the same time to Kurloz and Meulin, because Kurloz is mute and Meulin is deaf, well Meulin can hear, but not very well))
Kurloz: Hello everyone, it's been way to long.
He smiles at them, keeping his mouth closed. His light blue eyes look over all of them before returning to Meulin, who's signing quickly at them
Meulin: Oh my gosh I'm so glad to see you guys!
She's jumping up and down rather hyper-like as she runs around to give each other hugs.
"Good to see ya' doll!" Rufioh returns the hug and smiles at Kurloz. "Nice to see you to!"
Mituna and Kurloz exchange a hug, and Latula and Kurloz just nod at each other.
"It has been way to long, I've missed you guys so much!" Mituna says first, grinning happily at them, jumping on the balls of his feet.
Meulin: We need to get everyone to meet up ! I mean, EVERYONE, and it should be soon!
She gestures wildly with her hands and grins to show her enthusiasm for the idea.
"That would be so radical! I mean, we already know you and Kurloz can get here, Cronus and Kanny still live near you two right?" A nod in response from Kurloz, "Then Megido, Peixes and Serket, Roxy is here, so Dirk is here as well, Zahhak, and Porrim we would have to find, but that should be simple!" Latula signs happily, counting off on her fingers.
Meulin: Yeah yeah! Zahhak actually works at a place not to far from here, a few hundred miles north or so! And Porrim is living with her sister near here, they own a fashion business, and her sister teaches nearby!
"Oh hey, I'm going to check on the kids, I'm supposed to watch them after all," Rufioh says/signs quickly, walking back to the house.
"We'll come too!" Latula says quickly, motioning for the others to follow her. She's also desperately trying to annoy Sollux in any way possible.
(Back to the basement)
"Ok, are we ready?" I ask, turning to the others. They're all set up and had their instruments in position. I'm going to accompany Sollux with guitar in case he stumbles/messes up. I've made sure all of us are hooked up to amplifiers, and that the microphones were working. And just for the heck of it, we're going to record ourselves.
I took a deep breath and looked Tavros, nodding at him before using the step pedal to create the echoey sound in the beginning. Letting him start off, Sollux, Gamzee and I effortlessly shoot into the bridge in the beginning, and I step up to the mic closest to me, glancing at Roxy before beginning to sing.
"You're a mess, tangled in you confidence,
you think you haven't sinned,
Well you're unstoppable,
your walls are impassable, oh
I think you're better off looking alone,
if the boys that chase your hips could just go find their way home
and at the end of the day, you think to yourself
my body is a product being sold on a shelf
Tell me I can change,
tell me I can change
Well I know you lay in bed
Contemplating your own death
Well just look at what you've done
Don't you dare forget the sun, Love"
I begin to smile widely, Tavros is keeping the beat, Roxy is the perfect back up singer, Sollux was doing pretty well with his playing, and my voice hasn't cracked yet. Gamzee's amazing; I can't believe I've never heard him play before.
"Don't forget,"
I take a deep breath before continuing, subconsciously crossing my fingers. The sound of the front door opening catches my attention, but I ignore it and continue to sing.
"Cold white walls, Keep you from your pad and pen
you just wanna stab again, I can't believe its
Half this hard,
you never knew your mind was dark, no!
I think you're better off lookin' alone,
The boys that chase your hips can just go find their way home
You can dig so deep for scars
you never knew your mind was dark
come on and breathe with me oh!
Breathe with me ohhh!
Well I know you lay in bed
Contemplating your own death
Well just look at what you've done!
Don't you dare forget the sun, Love!
You look down on me so casually in everything, I know
you look down on me, but not right on me
Did I wreak this broken home?"
I'm almost shocked we've made it this far through the song, there are only a few lines left now. Tavros had gotten a bit quieter in his unsureness, but it wasn't terribly bad. We've even kept up to speed with the actual song.
"Dear Diary, life is trying me
Can I get a sign?
Or a two of mind, a piece of mind,
oh, Can I get a sign?
A sign
Can I get a sign?
I know
Well I know you lay in bed
contemplating your own death'
Well just look at what you've done!
Don't you dare forget the sun, Love!
You look down on me so casually in everything I know
You look down on me but not right on me
Is it plain to see that life is tryin' me?"
I can't stop the grin from spreading over my face as I energetically strum the chords. When I glance over, everyone is smiling.
"Life is trying me!
Life is trying
Can I think of something? Gotta think of something!"
We all let the final notes echo before giving a victorious shout. We're interrupted by energetic clapping though, and we look up in shock to see Latula has dragged everyone onto the stairs and they'd been watching us.
"Damn Vantas you have a voice! Now I'm curious to know if Kanny has a one too," She exclaims with a lopsided grin, jumping down the majority of stairs to walk over to me and giving me a one armed hug.
"Yeah Karkat, you have a really nice voice, I'm surprised I didn't find out sooner," Rufioh smiles at me. Of course, I've only been to Tavros's house a few times and both times Rufioh left a few minutes after I arrived.
"Thanks I guess," I mutter, trying not to blush at the attention.
Kurloz: That was quite amazing playing, you are quite talented and so are your friends.
He smiles slightly as he looks at me, but I only stare as his hands practically blur from signing so quickly.
"Oh, Kurloz is th'aying "That was quite ama'thing playing, you are quite talented and tho are your friendth," Sollux says to me, watching Kurloz closely.
"Oh, uh thank you," I say even more awkwardly. The tall man smiles and nods at me. His clown makeup is a tad bit more intricate than Gamzee's, and I catch myself comparing appearances between the two. I turn to Sollux, "You know sign language?"
He shrugs, "If I wanted to under'thtand half of the conver'thationth Mituna and hi'th friends had, ye'th I had to learn," He quickly signs something to a girl standing behind Kurloz, who beams at me and signs quickly in return.
"That'th Meulin, the'th deaf tho I'll thign to her for you," He reports, "Oh, she thayth "you are almotht the th'pitting image of Kankri"."
"Oh, well I guess tell her "I get that alot, do I really look that much like him?"
"She thayth yeth, the only differenthe ith the hair, and the fact that you aren't talking," Sollux chuckles, then signs to her quickly. She laughs silently and signs in return.
Before Sollux can tell me what she says back I'm almost tackled by Gamzee.
"Wow Karbro I didn't motherfuckin' know your voice was that amazing, you're so awesome," He chuckles, hugging me tightly.
"Ugh, yeah fuckass, and I'll say that you're a badass bass player now get the hell off my back," I retort, shoving him off my shoulders. He laughs a bit more and turns to Tavros.
"You did awesome too Tavros, I'm glad you're able to play the entire song," I say with a slight smile.
"Well uh, I sort of winged it, I'm glad it wasn't uh, bad," He says nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. I smile at him and turn to Roxy. I guess I just had to dish out the compliments didn't I.
"Hey Rox, good job, you didn't fuck up," I say jokingly. She laughs and tips her head to me.
"I'm glad Karkles," She giggles.
Turning to the elder people in the room, I see that Gamzee is now saying something to Kurloz, tossing in a few hand signs. I laugh lightly a the sight, and earn some strange looks.
"Man you even laugh like Kanny now that I think about it!" Latula exclaims, giving me wide eyed look. I frown slightly now, I'm curious to meet with Kankri to see how alike we really were. I can't remember anything about him from when we were younger.
"Hey, do you know a way to contact Kankri?" I ask in the most casual way possible.
"Well, I know where he lives, but most of the time he doesn't answer his phone, and don't ask me why because I don't know," Latula replies.
"Oh..." I murmur, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. She smiles and pats my shoulder.
"Hey don't worry, we're planning on having another meetup soon so all of us can see each other again, so you'll be able to see him if we make it happen," a wide grin is on her face as she turns to the others.
"Hey, we need to plan this meet-up!" She shouts and signs at the same time. The others yell/signs in agreement and they all follow Rufioh upstairs.
"Wow, ok that's really motherfuckin' strange," Gamzee mutters.
"How ith it thtrange GZ?" Sollux asks curiously.
"Well lets see Solbro, Tavros's uncle knows your older brother, who is also best friends with Karbro's cousin, and then my stepbrother knows them as well. Isn't that a bit motherfuckin strange?" He asks, sounding intelligent for once.
"That...ith really weird," Sollux frowns, looking over at me, then at Tavros.
"Yeah, especially since we haven't personally known each other that long, besides me and uh Gamzee that is," Tavros stutters.
"Hm, come to think of it, Meulin sort of reminds me of Nepeta," I mutter, looking back on how the girl lit up when I turned to her. The happy expression on her face as she eagerly signs at me reminds me of how Nepeta would look when I would play with her.
"But...there's no way they can be related," I continue quickly, trying not to dwell on it to much.
"You never know Karkat, there's always the possibility," Roxy says with a shrug, walking past us and up the stairs, stopping halfway she yells, "Rose is picking me up so I have to leave, Bye guys!" Then she absconds the fuck out.
"Heh, should we go back to my hou'the Karkat, or are you ok with uth thtaying awhile Tavros?" Sollux asks, looking at the teen. He shrugs.
"Since your brother is here, and they're your ride and you're theirs, I'm fine with you guys staying awhile," He smiles kindly at us and runs up the stairs. When he returns, he reports, "Rufioh says it's fine because they're going to talk awhile, so..." He trails off.
"Come on Tavbro, let's play some video games, I know you've got a motherfucking badass game system," Gamzee says with a large grin on his face. He walks over to the other side of the basement and we all follow him into the "gaming" room. I'd only been there once,so I know kind of what to expect but even so I'm in awe of the amount of gaming appliances in one small room.
Sollux lets out a strangled gasp, "Holy thit thith ith awethome! How the hell could you get tho many contholeth!" He gasps, examining the pieces with awe. Tavros chuckles.
"Rufioh likes games, and he likes to play alot, and he kept getting them so ta-dah! A ridiculous amount of systems." He chuckles as he walks over to the large flat-screen, turning it on and he motions to the large bin of games in the corner.
"Pick out a game and we can play it," He says, focusing on the TV. I watched Sollux and Gamzee run over to the bin and begin sorting through the games. Gamzee finds a game and throws it at Tavros, who expertly catches it.
"Oh god no Gamzee," I say in horror, watching as the Mario Brothers game is installed. "I fucking hate you," I groan as I pick out my controller and sit down in the corner of the room.
Needless to say, the next few hours were spent kicking each others asses at video games.
"AH SHIT JUMP YOU DUMBASS!" I shout to Sollux.
"FOR ME TO JUMP YOU HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE FUCKING WAY!" He yells back.
And then we're both pushed into the never-ending abyss by Gamzee and Tavros who laugh and high-five before running away from our back-to-life avatars.
Soon the day fades into night, and the menu screen is being displayed as I get comfortable on the ground. The other adults haven't come to get us, so we just peacefully make do with what we have, which is basically our jackets and a few old blankets. Somehow Gamzee and Tavros are passed out on one side of the room, and me and Sollux end up on the other. Sollux is almost asleep, but me being the insomniac that I am, am just watching his sleeping face as I lean on one of my arms.
His glasses have fallen off so I fold them up ad set them a ways from his head. It probably would make him mad if they got broken.
Shockingly, it isn't long before my own eyelids become heavy and I fall to sleep.