Yo, I'm terribly sorry for the late installment of this and...well...everything else. Even though I said I'd work on stuff over the summer that's honestly when my muse (Fallen) decided to run away from Homestuck. I will try my best to do what I can, but I really don't know what's gonna happen with motivation reaching a new low. On another note, I know I said last time that this was gonna be DisneyXNepeta/Equius but I've been listening to this Naruto opening nonstop for the past few days and I've got the motivation to do this at least. So without further adieu...
Song: Diver
Artist: Nico Touches the Wall (I like the English cover by either Unknown Songbird or Jeet Suresh Paul)
Character: Karkat
Karkat stared unseeingly at the thick red curtain in front of him, his scrawny fingers knotting the hem of his dark sweater over and over again. If he didn't stop soon, or preferably now, then he was going to wear the fabric thin and put a hole in it. Not to mention that if he didn't let go of his shirt then everyone on the other side of that curtain was going to know what nervous, blithering dunderfuck of a chicken he really was. And Karkat, being his usual leaderly prick of a self, would absolutely not stand for something like that. So he swallowed down that lump in his throat and forced himself to relax as if he had just ingested some of that god awful slime pie Gamzee always carried around.
How in the ever living fuck did I let Terezi convince me into doing something like this? It's a talent show for hell's sake! I. Am. Talentless. The only thing I'm good at is bossing people aro- WHAT THE FUCK?!
The curtain began to rise, shedding the harsh, white light of the stage beyond into his dark space. Though he'll never admit it out loud, and most definitely not to himself, he jumped. Karkat scrambled to put himself into place, praying to every and any entity- yet also to no entity because he isn't really a religious man -that he wouldn't choke and forget the lyrics to the song. Yet even as he internally begged and pleaded with himself and whatever was out there and listening, he felt the words slipping from his mind into a river of the forgotten. He reached a pale hand out and wrapped it around the microphone in a desperate attempt to ground himself.
People in the audience, friends that came to his aid as mental support, began to cheer and holler. Karkat swallowed hard again. The lights beat down on him, making him regret his wardrobe choice- but then again it's not like he wore anything else, yet the heat was unbearable. A bright glare caused him to squint, and suddenly the blackness that was beyond the stage grew a little more focused. He could make out the people in the first couple of rows. Not one of them looked familiar to him. Karkat leaned back from the microphone, a fresh wave of panic moving over him, causing his grip on the device to tighten further.
Everything's gonna go pear shaped, he just knew it. Where's Dirk or Dave when he needed a decapitation?
"You can do it Karkat! Woo! Kick some ass!" His head jerked at the sound, searching for the familiar voice. That was Jade. Despite the nervousness a shaky grin still pulled at the corners of his mouth. The audience sensed the shift and more words of encouragement flew at him as the music began to play. As he waited for the intro to get over with, Karkat realized that this song was very... ironic for his given situation.
Karkat raised his other hand up to grip around the microphone as well. The crowd quieted to an excited hum and he opened his mouth to sing.
"The faded horizon is drifting further away,
As the people all around decay with suffocation.
Continuing to shape the world they clench to all their guns.
And surrounded by the hate I find there's no where to run."
His chin had been dipping lower as he sang, almost as a reflex to the dramaticness of the intro. But as he moved on his head slowly made a return up. Karkat closed his eyes, mostly in an effort to block out his surroundings, and thus (childishly) blocking out his fears. His voice gained power as well and it filled him up. The words didn't fade, and he didn't choke; his feet remained rooted, and he didn't feel as scared.
"I'll bleed out all these tears and take all this pain.
Maybe the path is fighting in vain.
And I can't carry on, I just can't be the one, again-
He shook his head, getting him stuck further in the rut of comfort.
Even if flesh and blood turns against me like so,
The fire inside oh I'll never know,
To go so far, forsake the sins of time-!"
Karkat's eyes snapped open and the world became illuminated once again. He leaned in closer to the microphone and poured his soul into the words. He wanted everyone to know that he had been scared, that he is still indeed very frightened of being up here, but also that he wasn't gonna just give up like some nooksucking pansy assed prick. This was his stage and like hell is he just gonna skip off so he can go crawl under a rock to die.
"Fighting to hold on tight!
Yearning for a breath of life!
I cannot tell if I'm alive but,
Feels like I'm a suf-fo-cating diver!
Staring with endless sight,
Into a darkened night.
Taking in one last breath I dive into the unknown-.
To the endlessness I go!"
This was where he felt the irony became critical to his situation. Nothing screams 'I'm Nervous As Fuck!' quite like comparing yourself to a suffocating diver.
The music played on and he lightly bobbed his head to the beat, counting it out and trying to time it for when he could start singing again. The last thing he needed at this particular moment in time was to fuck up the song by singing ahead of schedule. As his head bobbed, the nervous tick in his right leg began too. It continuously locked and unlocked itself in a pattern that verged upon being erratic. He almost lost it then because god fucking dammit why is this so hard?!
His distraction almost caused him to miss his cue.
"Revisiting the darkness locked away inside.
The loneliness remains and the emptiness confines-
Even though I always thought that I was strong within-
Frightened by the things I lack my confidence wears thin-
One reason that he liked this song was because he always felt that it reflected his thoughts of himself as a person...
Struggling to find a path in vain,
A bird still flies in a light, gentle rain,
but I cannot define, no I can't deny that pain-
But I continue to walk, in myself I atone.
Am I a fool for standing alone?
To go so far no longer will I kno-o-ow-!
To where do I go-?"
The crowd rioted. He caught sight of rows of people standing up, waving their phones in the air in place of glow sticks. His name was tossed around like a disjointed echo. Oh god, was he imagining all this? It'd be an unfair and cruel joke if he were. But if it's not...
Karkat grinned. The tempo of his heart remaining fast, but steady. For some unknown reason an overwhelming urge spliced with daring stupidity caused him to let go of the microphone and begin playing the air guitar, killing those metaphorical rifts. He drifted to his knees, only to shoot back up a little breathlessly. The euphoria killed the anxiety and fear in one fell swoop, dissipating it like fine mist.
He leaned in close and closed his eyes again.
"The anchor of pain I hold bears down again,
I'm praying for life, for sound,
As it pours, like a sign, as the rain falls down again-
In one slick move he removed the microphone from the stand and backed away, his eyes opening to the world once again.
Fight to hold on tight!
Yearning for a breath of life!
I cannot tell if I'm alive but,
I struggle to fight this drowning diver!
Staring with endless sight,
Into a darkened night.
Taking in one last breath I dive into the unknown, yet again.
Fighting for one last breath, oh yeah!
If I could just come to realize the light at the end-
I would never drown again."
The final keys of the guitar faded out and Karkat's arms fell limply to his side. The whole auditorium rose to a new level of noise and he gave a weak smile. His body shook, the adrenaline high running away as soon as the end had come. Karkat somehow managed to string together a stable command and his body put the microphone back where it went. Slowly he waved his hand and waved, just before lightly jogging off the stage to be greeted by his friends.
While this turned out to be a success, he still had a few choice words for Terezi...
Ay, not too shabby for a couple months of being gone. I'll slowly but surely work my way around to everything else *dramatic gaze into the dying sunset*
Next chapter: Heartbreaker (Dirk/Meulin/Nepeta) ((I added the other two because of a funny idea and bloopers)