The sun was shining, the air was clean and cold, and the midday rush of the surrounding city was reassuringly present among the uneven gravestones Karkat currently found himself stomping through. Ahead, Aradia was focused on her work: making rubbings of random motifs and dutifully recording specifics in a notebook. Karkat was more interested in working to pull the information he needed out of her.
"So is Vriska selling Sopor or something? Why did she break up you and Sollux? Is this some kind of weird revenge, killing your ex's roommate?"
"Karkat, what is the name on that gravestone you're sitting on?" Aradia asked, crouched a few plots away. Karkat shifted his leg to see the gravestone he was perched upon.
"Mindfang," he read, tilting his head back in exasperation. I'm bored out of my skull and you're avoiding the question. "Why is she trying so hard to get under your skin?"
"Because she's Vriska, I guess," Aradia said, scribbling the name down. She set the pencil down for a second, and gazed out past the gravestones. "I think it's just a thing she does. She hates getting close to others, so she sabotages herself." Karkat squinted down at her.
"I thought you guys were like worst enemies. You were friends?"
"You could call it that. We were actually pretty close. At least, I thought so. I didn't know she had that much distaste for me until I found out it was she who…well. There was a thing that she did that really upset me. I guess you could say all of what happened was a vengeance war. " She toyed with her pencil thoughtfully, then looked up at Karkat. "She paralyzed an old friend of mine- Tavros Nitram. He's in our anatomy class. She said it was an accident, but…the circumstances were suspicious. In a cloud of bad judgement, I reported it to the administrators. I forgot how long Vriska holds grudges. Somehow…in the week that she was suspended, she managed to ruin my life. Sort of. It's not so bad, looking back on it. I'll never regret getting back at her for Tavros. Sollux and I would have broken up at some point anyways. It's a common eventuality."
"What…what the fuck. This is batshit! She paralyzed a guy and got suspended? She should have been arrested so she doesn't go try to paralyze guys like me! And…and 'common eventuality'? What the fuck kind of thinking is that? You said it ruined your life!" Karkat found himself ranting. "Did you like Sollux or not?" Aradia stared evenly at Karkat for a minute, before speaking.
"I was happy when we were together. And we both liked each other a lot. I can say that much. But the thing is…Sollux isn't the type to be tied to one person. Or one type of person, you know what I mean?" It was Karkat's turn to stare at Aradia.
"…No. No, I don't know what you mean. Please fucking enlighten me, Megido," Karkat said slowly.
"Sollux is bi." There was a short period of silence before she elaborated. "Uh. I mean, in addition to being bipolar, he's bisexual. He's got medication for the first one, though." Karkat didn't say anything, working the information into the mental file he had for Sollux Captor. It made a twisted sort of sense. Of course, this guy does everything in twos. Aradia made a few notes before looking back at Karkat. "Did you really not know?"
"No, I really didn't know. Fuck."
"It's not really a huge deal. Does it bother you?"
"N-no, I could care fucking less about what side of the spectrum my roommate's romantic preferences lie- I just didn't, uh, didn't give it much thought," Karkat murmured. A 'ribbit' noise suddenly cut through the darkening cemetery. Aradia dug through her bag and pulled out a cellphone.
"Terezi and Kanaya are going for Chinese food over at the square. Do you want to come?" she asked after flipping it open and reading a text. Karkat jumped off of the gravestone and stretched.
"Yeah, I guess I'm kind of hungry," he said, mind still going over the information helplessly.
"Okay. I just need to find a few more names."
Twenty minutes later, they hopped back on the bus and rode it to the restaurant their friends were waiting at. It was a hole-in-the-wall sort of place, but Karkat knew that those usually had the best food. More importantly, they were cheap. Aradia seemed to appreciate that aspect too. Kanaya waved when she saw them. Terezi, despite not facing them, turned in her seat as they approached and frowned.
"Oh man Karkat, I invited Aradia, not you!"
"Fuck, how do you do that," Karkat said, grimacing. It's like she can smell my blood.
"I always know when you come around, Karkat, you smell like candy," Terezi cackled, before turning to Aradia. "How goes the graverobbing, ghost girl?" Aradia shrugged.
"I found what I needed," She said as she and Karkat took their seats. Kanaya smiled, sitting across from Karkat.
"I like your jacket. Did you go shopping?" she asked, kicking his foot a little under the table. Karkat grabbed a menu and scanned it, nodding.
"You seem happy," he said, prodding her foot away. Terezi's foot stomped on his and stayed there. He glared at her, getting only a huge grin in response.
"Do I seem happy too, Karkat?" Terezi asked, trailing her foot up to his ankle.
"You're always fucking happy, positively tickled retarded, I fail to see any difference in your face between watching puppies cuddling and watching someone fall off their skateboard and crushing their junk on a railing." Terezi cackled at that, and tugged his menu down.
"What are you getting? I don't wanna order the same thing."
"I don't know, don't rush me," Karkat grumbled.
"What were you two doing together?" asked Kanaya, who had set her menu on the table. "I do not recall you being a history fanatic like Aradia."
"We talked," Aradia said, glancing at Karkat before elaborating. "About the thing with Vriska." Kanaya nodded, and Terezi leaned forward.
"I told you I was on that!" she said, almost indignant. "The evidence is piling up!" Karkat snorted.
"Then maybe you could actually show me some of it, you incredible psychopath." Kanaya sighed and Aradia flagged down a waiter before the two could start arguing.
Dinner became substantially longer after somebody ordered a few rounds of some kind of alcohol. The party found a bus to stagger onto afterwards, and collapsed upon the seats, mostly giggling (Terezi) and a little grumbling (Karkat). By the time they got back to campus, Karkat was ready to go back to his room and pass out. Kanaya invited them back to her room to continue the whole 'get-drunk' process, but he and Aradia passed. Terezi gave them a look like 'suit yourself', and went with Kanaya in the direction of the room. Karkat and Aradia watched them go, silence falling over them. Karkat turned to Aradia.
"So, uh…thanks. For the…you know," he said clumsily, syllables falling out of his mouth through the haze of mild inebriation. Aradia shrugged.
"No problem. I hope she doesn't succeed-" she paused, "- …She won't. We'll think of something." Karkat nodded.
"Yeah. So. …bye, I guess." He began walking back to his dorm. Aradia waved after him. The last thing Karkat wanted to have was a conversation, but it seemed like that's exactly what he was going to get when he opened his door only to nearly get plowed into by Feferi. Her face seemed like it was torn between anger, surprise, and…guilt?
"Oh, sorry, Karkat." She looked back in the room behind her, to Sollux, who was sitting on his bed with a frown on his face. He nodded, and she turned back to Karkat. "See you later!" She giggled, but it sounded forced. She was gone in a breeze. Karkat stood there, still processing what just happened.
"…Hey," he finally managed to say, eyebrows high on his forehead. "What the fuck was that?" Sollux rubbed his face.
"Just…forget it," he mumbled. Karkat didn't feel like arguing with him while impaired, so he decided to take his advice for once. He flopped down on his bed.
"I have no clue how you do it, Captor." Sollux looked up at the mention of his name, confusion all over his face.
"Uh, sorry? What are you referring to?" Agitation laced Sollux's tone.
"How you keep managing to get chicks like it's nothing, then it magically just 'doesn't work out'."
"…wow, so tell me, why are we bringing this up?" Sollux was still in the same position, but his eyes were on Karkat.
"Hung out with Aradia. I needed some information on the whole 'gonna die' thing, the same fucking thing I've been doing this entire goddamn week. I'm starting to feel kind of impatient." Karkat let out a humorless laugh. "Anyways, we weren't talking about my fucktastic people skills, we were talking about yours. Aradia finally helped me figure out what the deal was with you." He rolled over to pin his gaze on Sollux.
"You wanna know why I broke up with my exes," Sollux clarified flatly, regarding Karkat with a creepy sort of scientific observation look. "You know…when Fef was here…she asked me if I knew who was orchestrating that ridiculous shit. She wanted to report it." Karkat shot up, anger shooting through his limbs, train of thought abandoned.
"She can't. That's not going to help anything, it's just going to make it worse." Sollux rolled his eyes.
"I still think your logic is fucked up, but don't worry. You can do whatever the hell you want, KK. That's what John said to do, anyways. But I can't do much about Fef. She's got her own thing going on."
"Wait a fucking second. John? What the hell did he say that for?"
"He told me a few things about you, told me you could be a little difficult, so he gave me some pointers."
"What the shit did he tell you."
"What did Aradia tell you about me?"
"…she told me you're bi."
"John told me I have a pretty good chance with you." For a second, all Karkat saw was red. He stood up and flew to Sollux's bed, leaning over him furiously, one knee on the bed.
"Don't make me kill you, fucker, I will make you regret ever rooming with me, if you ever tell anyone-" Sollux grabbed his arm and stood up, getting way too close for comfort.
"Nobody hates living with you more than me, KK." Sollux's voice was a low hiss. "Don't move. Just stay still for one goddamned second." He pushed Karkat so that he was sitting on the bed, reversing their previous positions, then swooped in for the kill.
Karkat sat on the bed, eyes a little wider and lips a little redder than before, murderous intention high on his cheeks. The room was empty, the other occupant having strode out moments before.
"SOLLUX YOU GIANT MOTHERFUCKER."
Wow. Okay, I have decided I am definitely not a romance writer. I put this off for a really long time, in case you couldn't /
My personal thoughts on Karkat in this story- to me, hiding a huge thing is a really essential part of the Karkat we know. So couldn't a potential parallel be an alternative orientation? ...just let me have my theories.
As always, thank you so much for your reviews! It helps me know what's working and more importantly, what's not.
I also put together a little Dormstuck FST (fan soundtrack!). The link can be found on my profile.