Authors note: Hello to all! Sorry about not updating last week. I managed to get hella sick, somehow, and I'm sure the boatload of school work isn't helping things along either. So if it's worse than my usual caliber of shit, blame one of those. To make up for it I'll try, try, to get two done next week. No promises. As usual, review! Really I need some feedback here. Oh yeah, and a poll. Who's your favorite character (borrowed characters as I portray them or my OC's), and who's your least favorite? Also, who do you think is the antagonist and where do you think it's going?
Chapter fifteen: of conversing, worrying, and confusion.
Okay, you're going to need to find Jake. But not because you need his help or anything like that! It's just… You've come upon a dead end in your little search for answers… And you figured that you couldn't avoid Dirk forever… And you might as well just see what the bastard has to say and OKAY FINE YOU NEED HIS HELP. But that doesn't mean you have to like it. Goddess, he's never gonna let you live this down. If he can actually remember something for more than five seconds. Now… How the hell are you gonna say this so that he won't slap you? 'Hey, Jake. So you know your ex-boyfriend? Well, he's infatuated with me but I don't want him. Any ideas on how to let him down?' Yeah, he'd punch you. Hell, you'd punch you. You just might just, because this is a fucking waste of time! There's no way in hell he'd help you! Wow, you've been using the word hell far too much lately. You should use a different word. A human word should be fun. How about cunt? Yeah, that should do for now.
You round the corner and see the afore-mentioned bastard. Oh and Jane too. And… The leader-guy of the humans? That's curious. Maybe you should… No. Snooping is wrong. It's wrong. Wrong! Fuck it. You follow behind the strange trio and hope to chaos itself that you don't get caught. Okay so maybe chaos isn't the best choice of entities to put your faith in right now. But it works! So who cares! They don't notice you. Probably because you're being awesome by being as sneaky as Omegaly possible behind them. Oh yeah, you're undeniably awesome.
They had come to the mouth of a cave and just stopped. You think they might be waiting for something… Either that or they've been brainwashed by something that claims to be a higher being to be its minions and are currently receiving instructions via telepathy. But, really now, how likely is that? After waiting approximately forever and a day out of the cave comes… a dude in a sweater. You half want to boo and demand a refund or a hanging. Wait. No, wait. Wait. Wait. Wait, you got this. There's something about that dude. Something strange in relation to his surroundings. Something important. Something that should be obvious. Wait. Wait, no. Wait. Almost there. Wait. Oh! He's a troll! Wait. Fuck he's a troll! An adult fucking troll! In a sweater! Why the fuck is he conversing so not violently with a trio of humans?! Something here is amiss. Also he is lacking one sign. Alright, so you don't either. But that's different! You're not a troll, he is a troll. Not a very fashionable one at that. True you're not very aesthetically inclined, but it's kinda hard to miss his candy-red sweater. Wait… Wait for it… His sweater is red… Pffft. Okay, don't laugh. Don't laugh. If you laugh you'll blow your cover. Why is it important to stay hidden? Shit, don't laugh! Don't. Laugh. If you're right and this dork is Karkats ancestor, which is a huge fucking assumption, then you officially have blackmail for life on him. Yes, you must get closer. Once you manage to stop giggling that is.
"Have you managed to secure her yet?" You hear the troll ask. Holy shit, his voice is all proper but it's obvious that he works on sounding like that. You have to suppress more giggles at the sound of it.
"Killing one of our own isn't a simple thing for us, Kankri." The Boss-man says. Wait, killing? Who?
"As she's been chosen by His holiness she will die one way or some other. As for her being "one of your own" as you put it, you know as well as I do that she isn't human." Kankri says. Pfft, even his name makes you want to laugh.
"True, but if we were to just kill her then the entire village would be in an uproar over it. They see her as one of us and don't want anything bad to happen to her. When we kill her, we will have to make it look like an accident. Even her moirail must suspect nothing." Jane says. Wow. Bitch. Clever bitch. Sure you mindlessly kill, but not your fucking allies! You always had seen her as an open book, but you didn't see this coming. You should keep a better eye on her.
"You will secure her. She will be a sacrifice to the Great One." Kankri said. Don't laugh, this is serious shit.
You think he would have gone on, but apparently they didn't want him to do so. They quickly departed with some lame excuse that he either bought or pretended to buy. Maybe you should... You stay hidden until the trio is gone. You pause. Should you really do this? Yes. You jump out at the troll with one sword drawn. He sidesteps out of the way and you obviously don't stumble and fall over. You turn and have to hold back another laugh. It's like he's trying to actually control himself. A wanna be pacifist! Don't. Laugh. Must. Look. Serious. Okay, this was an incredibly bad idea. He was in the middle of a rant or speech about something or other when your resolve broke (he has a funny voice!) and you had to get the fuck out of there. Before long you're away from him and on the ground struggling to breathe through your laughing. That guy!
"Beth. What're you doing?" You hear someone who sounds suspiciously like John say.
You hold up a hand as a signal for him to wait as you recover the ability to speak. "I'm dying is what I'm doing!" You say once your laughing fit turns into mildly manageable giggles.
"I've never seen you laugh like that! What could be so funny?" He asks. The look on his face makes you want to laugh too.
"I met a really funny guy. He reminds me of Karkat." You say, and deciding that the sitting position would be more comfortable you get up.
"Really?" He says. There's something weird in his voice.
"Quick, say that again!" You command, pointing at him.
"Um... Really? He repeats. The Weird Thing is gone.
"Hmmm..." You've been seeing and hearing The Weird Thing a lot lately in faces and voices respectively. It's affected Dave, Jade, Dirk, Rose, Karkat, and now John! Maybe it's some weird sort of disease... You wonder of it's contagious. You examine his face. He looks confused, but The Weird Thing is there as well. "Hey, have you been feeling alright lately?" you ask while wondering if you should start avoiding him.
"... Yeah. Why?" He asks.
"You hesitated." You say.
"I'm fine!" He says.
"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much." You say.
"What do you want me to say? That I've been feeling anxious for the past two weeks and have no idea why?!" He says, then immediately after he looks like he regrets it.
"Have you?" You ask.
"... No..." He says.
"Is that a lie?" You ask.
"Weren't you laughing about a funny guy?" He asks.
"Wow. Nice change of subject there. Very subtle. But yes. What of it?" You ask.
"How did he remind you of Karkat? I thought trips didn't have relatives?" He asks.
"It's a long, long story. But in the end it comes out to the fact that trolls have this thing called an ancestor, with whom we share most of our genes." You explain.
"Oh. So they're like parents?" He asks.
You shrug. "The fuck if I know. I still don't quite get the concept of "parents". Why do you ask?" You ask.
"How did this guy make you laugh like that anyway? He must be a great comedian!" He says.
"No I'm just mean. He was just being himself, but I found it to be hilarious! I couldn't spend more than five minuets in his presence without laughing." You say with a smile. "Oh shit, he said something. Something important. Oh yeah, he said that one way or another she will die. Or something like that."
"And you laughed at that?!" He says.
"No, but he looks like a dork and has a hilarious voice... Okay so /maybe/ I was tempted to laugh at it. But only because of his funny voice!" You say.
"Okay... But who is "she" and why does she need to die?" He asks in a slightly panicked voice.
"Dude. Calm. I don't know the answer to either of those questions. But I do know that "she" has a moirail, isn't human, and has been accepted into the village." You say.
"We need to find out who she is and keep her from dying!" He says.
"Alright! Keep an eye on Jane." You say.
"But... Jane's a human." He says.
"True." You say.
Then there's silence. You think he's trying to figure out what you mean. You honestly have no idea why you play these games. Other than... No, you really don't know why you do this. Maybe you should stop being so obtuse all the time...
"So... Jane wants to kill her?" He skeptically asks.
"The "want" of it is still up in the air, but she said that she would kill her. Along with your Boss-man-guy and Jake. Jake... Shit, I forgot to ask him!" you say.
"Ask 'im what?" You hear Roxy say behind you.
You obviously don't nearly jump out of your skin with her suddenly appearing like that. "Holy fuck, Roxy! What the hell are you doing here?" You turn around and ask. Wasn't there something about that word you should have remembered? Oh well.
"You dogged the question. Erm, dodged." She says.
"I was going to ask him the question that I was going to ask him. You dodged the question too." You say accusingly.
"Did I? Well, I was keepin' an eyes on Janey. What're you doin' out here?" She asks.
You pause. "Yeah... What are you doing out here John?" You ask.
"Um..." He says. Huh, The Weird Thing is back.
"He's not who I was talkin' 'bout." She stage whispers to you.
"Wow, you suck at whispering. John?" You say, prompting him to speak.
"I was... Out here looking for Vriska." He says. Damn, The Weird Thing is coming on full force.
"Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm..." You say.
"Johnny boy~ are you-" She gets cut off by you exclaiming
"Wait wait wait wait, Vriska's here?! When the fuck did that happen?" You ask. No you're no freaking out. 'Cause you don't do that.
"She's been here for about two months, I think. Why are you so upset about it?" He asks.
All you do in response is fall back onto the ground and groan. Roxy looks at you curiously before completing what she was trying to say before.
"You got a crutch on her?" She asks teasingly.
"A crutch? Wouldn't that hurt?" He says.
After that you started tuning them out. There were some key thing that you find very worrying. Why is Vriska here? And /why/ is she taking an interest in John? Or has John taken an interest in her? Then there's this mysterious "she" that is being hunted for some obscure reason. And the fact that two of the J-Quartet, as you've started calling them, along with Leader-boss-man-guy wanting to kill "her". The appearance of an adult troll that you think may be Karkats ancestor. The adult Indigoblood rumored to be lurking around the forest. Then there's the thing about no one approaching you newcomers unless forced to. Oh right, then there's your problem with Dirk. Shit how're you gonna handle this one? Wait, what was Roxy saying? That she was keeping an eye on Jane?
"Roxy!" You interrupt her yet again while sitting back up. What ever you interrupted, it made John blush and start mumbling things you didn't quite catch to himself. "Why were you watching Jane?" Wow that sounded perverted.
"Dirk told me to a loooooooooooooong time ago." She says.
"Well fuck. Anyway, what did you see her do not too long ago near the cave?" You ask.
"I saw her say to some troll guy that she was gonna kill somebody." She says.
"Yes! Do you know who she's going to krill? Fuck, I mean /kill/." You say.
"Nnnnnope!" She cheerily says.
"Damn. John!" You say.
The sound of his name snaps him out of whatever daze he was in. "Yes!" He says.
"Change of plans! Roxy will continue watching Jane and you get to keep an eye on Dad-guy." You say.
"Pffft. You suck at rhyming." Roxy says.
"Yes, yes I do." You smugly say.
Later on, after you've left the other two to do whatever it is that they do, you're pacing again. You can't help it! You /have/ to be moving, especially when you're anxious! Why're you anxious? Simple, you're an idiot. You have absolutely no idea how to break it to him. Emotional and social relations aren't your thing! So you're thinking. And pacing. In your house. Your respite black is six paces wide. Maybe if you do something mundane and commonplace it'll take your mind off things. Counting might work. One, two, three, four, fuck! What're you gonna say? Fredrick, that unhelpful bastard, is just sitting there on your bed and watching you pace. That fucker. Yeah a bed. You never did care much for sopor. It always made you feel like you were drowning for some reason. Besides, beds are comfy. What were you doing? Oh yeah, fuck! Okay, being in such a confined place is starting to get to you. Besides it's almost time for your shift.
You walk outside and Fredrick follows. Just let your mind wander. Wander. Waaaannndeeer. The trees are pretty tonight. Oh look, it's almost a new moon. Just a few more nights. It reminds you of the night you first officially met Cat. You smile. You've really changed since then. Or have you? You'll have to save that debate for later. Oh, Fredrick left again. You wonder where he's always going to. Is it the same place, or is he just hunting? Well, he did get you your choker on one of his little excursions. Your smile gets wider and you touch your gift as you remember that night. Almost everything was perfect. Your back on peaceful terms with Gamzee too. And then there was Dirks gift. It's not that you didn't like it! Actually, your feelings for it are quite the opposite. You just, don't pity him in the least. You don't think you could if you tried. Maybe you should just tell him the plain and simple truth. Sure it would hurt him, but he deserves the truth. Great, now you're preemptively feeling like bitch.
"Have you been avoiding me?" You hear behind you.
"HOLY SHIT!" You screech after jumping about three feet in the air, then turn around. "Good Goddess Dirk, you almost gave me a heart attack. You shouldn't- Er..." You trail off one you get a good look at him. At first glance, it's as if nothings changed. But after a bit, you start to see things. He's pissed. He's hurt. He's lost sleep. Fuck. Now you really feel low. "Look about that kiss. I'm not flushed for you in the least. Sorry." Why the fuck did it come out like that?! Better get out of here before he either kills you or does something to make you want to kill yourself.
"Well that's good. I'm not flushed for you either." He says.
You draw a blank. You turn around to question him, but you seem to have lost the ability to form words. Shit, maybe Cat was right about that bet thing...
"Love isn't the same as pity Beth. I'm not asking to be your boyfriend or matesprit or anything just yet. I just want you to think about what I said." He says. And leaves. He fucking says that and fucking leaves.
Great now you're more confused than you were before. You see Fredrick slithering after Dirk. That bastard worm! He led him to you! Shit shit shit fuck! Why does everything have to be happening now? What about all that time when shit wasn't happening?! You turn around and keep walking.
You are royally screwed.