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A week ago, Terezi Pyrope fell off the face of Alternia. Apparently, Karkat was supposed to know why.
Karkat was starting to get pretty sick of this assumption. In fact, he flipped his shit the moment the first of his idiot friends (why were they even friends in the first place...?) pestered him online to ask if he knew where Terezi was. First Nepeta, gushing about how Terezi is NEVER away from her "compurrter " for so long; then Tavros, who let Karkat know that he was "kind of, uhhh, really worried" about her; Gamzee, who apparently got an odd message from her several days ago and only noticed now; even Equius, who for some goddamned reason was asking "for Vriska's sake".
When Kanaya contacted him, she at least had the decency to apologize for making assumptions when he doesn't know shit about Terezi's whereabouts. Seeing how she was pretty much the sanest troll he knew, Karkat decided to ask her why does everyone assume he knows something.
GA: Everyone Knows You And Terezi Are Fairly Close
GA: Even If She Had Decided To Cut Ties With Everyone Else For Whatever Reason
GA: There Is No Doubt She Would Choose To Remain In Contact With You
Karkat rolled his eyes at that and called on Kanaya's bullshit, but upon ending their chat, he thought she actually had a point. On days when they didn't meet in person, Terezi pestered him online, doing her best to try and get a rise out of him, to which he always replied with his best insults (such an infuriating girl deserved nothing but the finest mockery). Occasionally, she'd try to invite him to visit her in her stupid tree hive, an offer he kept declining because fuck, a hive on top of a fucking tree is just the most retarded thing. She persevered, though, tolerating him even in his crabbiest moods. He, in turn, tolerated her constant pestering and her rather psychotic mannerisms. He supposed what they had was a very special and fucked up form of friendship.
As Karkat pondered, he got another message on his chat client. Groaning, Karkat checked the message. Speaking of friends, there was his best friend. Being an absolute grubfisted douche.
|PESTERLOG|
twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]
TA: KK have you heard anythiing from terezii?
CG: FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME.
CG: I AM NOT THE WHERE THE FUCK IS TEREZI PYROPE INFORMATION CENTER.
CG: AND EVEN IF I WAS, I'D MAKE FOR THE WORST INFORMATION CENTER IN EXISTENCE, SINCE I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE THE FUCK SHE IS ANYWAY.
CG: SO KINDLY FUCK THE HELL OFF.
TA: whoa KK what the fuck.
TA: god take a chiill piill.
CG: I'M AFRAID IT'S QUITE OBVIOUS THAT I CANNOT TAKE A FUCKING CHILL PILL.
CG: SINCE EVERY FUCKING NOOKSNIFFER ON THIS GODDAMNED PLANET APPARENTLY THINKS TEREZI'S WHEREABOUTS ARE MY GODDAMNED BUSINESS.
CG: WELL, GUESS WHAT.
CG: THEY'RE NOT.
CG: SHE CAN GO ON VACATION TO DANCE TO THE WHISPERY FUCKTARDED MUSIC OF FUCKING BARK GNOMES FOR ALL I CARE.
CG: YOU KNOW WHAT, THAT'S PROBABLY WHERE SHE IS. FUCKING DANCING WITH FUCKING BARK GNOMES.
CG: NEXT TIME SOME RETARDED GRUBSUCKER ASKS ME WHERE TEREZI IS, I'M JUST GONNA TELL THEM SHE'S DANCING WITH THE FUCKING GNOMES AND LEAVE IT AT THAT.
TA: ii thiink TZ would have told u2 iif 2he wa2 goiing anywhere even iif iits danciing wiith bark gnomes or whatever.
CG: WHATEVER, DON'T CARE.
TA: you 2eriiou2ly dont thiink iit2 weiird 2he dii2appeared liike that?
CG: OH, SURE, I THINK IT'S WEIRD SHE HASN'T BOTHERED ME IN A WHOLE WEEK.
CG: ON THE OTHER HAND, THAT'S FUCKING AWESOME.
CG: BEST FUCKING WEEK OF MY ENTIRE MISERABLE LIFE.
TA: arent you worriied at all?
CG: WHY THE FUCK WOULD I BE?
TA: KK ii need two tell you the truth.
TA: ii thiink iit ha2 two do wiith the flarpiing iinciident.
CG: OH YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME, NOT THIS SHIT AGAIN.
Karkat rubbed his temples. Everything had to do with the Flarping incident these days. Karkat never liked the idea of Flarp and when Terezi got into it several sweeps ago, he adamantly refused to play with her. In retrospect, he was saving himself from certain doom; it seemed that Vriska Serket was so spectacularly good at being a huge bitch that she managed to destroy both Team Charge and Team Scourge in one huge, bitchy move. In some circles, that would have been quite laudable. For Karkat, it just cemented Vriska's status as the biggest fucking bitch of all time. Especially since that dirty move she pulled with Sollux. At this point, Karkat wanted never to hear about Flarp ever again, but with Terezi and Vriska involved, he knew he was asking for too much.
TA: diidnt you talk to nepeta today?
CG: YES, WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE.
TA: 2he diidnt tell you about 2erket?
CG: TELL ME WHAT ABOUT THE PSYCHO BITCH?
TA: around the tiime terezii went iincommuniicado vrii2ka had an acciident.
CG: HUH. NO SHIT.
TA: no 2hit KK.
TA: equiiu2 ii2 fiixiing her a robotiic arm cuz her2 exploded riight off.
TA: and 2he lo2t her vii2iion eiightfold two.
CG: ARE YOU SERIOUS.
CG: WHAT ISN'T AWESOME ABOUT THAT.
CG: BITCH HAD IT COMING.
TA: ii know but.
TA: 2he 2aiid one of her 2tupiid doom2day deviices blew up iin her face.
TA: but ii thiink iit ha2 2omethiing two do wiith terezii.
CG: WHAT THE HELL MAKES YOU THINK THAT?
TA: ii promii2ed terezii ii wouldnt tell.
CG: THE FUCK. I'M YOUR BEST FRIEND, ASSHOLE, THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS TELL ME.
TA: iim 2orry KK ii promi2ed.
CG: WELL WHAT THE FUCK ARE WE BEST FRIENDS FOR IF YOU WON'T TELL ME ANYTHING.
CG: YOU ARE SUCH AN INSUFFERABLE NOOKFUCKER, I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M EVEN TALKING TO YOU.
CG: TELL ME, YOU WORTHLESS SEEDFLAP, HOW DOES IT FEEL BEING THE WORST TROLL IN EXISTENCE.
CG: CAN YOU EVEN LOOK AT YOURSELF AT THE REFLECTIVE SURFACE IN THE EVENING KNOWING HOW MUCH YOU FUCKING SUCK.
TA: ugh you know what fiine.
TA: iill tell you what ii can iif iitll make you realiize what2 at 2take.
TA: terezii got me two help her contact thii2 guy wiithout a trolliian account vrii2ka2 me22iing wiith.
TA: 2he 2aiid iit2 two get back at vrii2ka for what 2he diid two tavro2 and aradiia.
TA: ii wanted two get back at vrii2ka two and TZ wa2 iin a much better po2iitiion two do that 2o ii helped her contact hiim.
TA: ii have a bad feeliing 2he got hiim to make that deviice explode iin vrii2kas face somehow.
TA: but terezii dii2appeared the day vrii2ka had the acciident.
TA: and ii dont thiink vrii2ka would have taken iit liightly iif 2he fiigured out terezii diid iit.
TA: 2hed want revenge.
TA: you know that KK.
Karkat furrowed his eyebrows and leaned back in his chair. Of course she would. Especially against Terezi. The Scourge Sisters' current mutual hatred was just as intense as their former friendship, and both girls knew how to get dangerous. Vriska crippled Tavros without previous provocation and presumably killed Aradia as revenge for something Terezi deemed "relatively harmless". If Terezi really was behind Vriska's accident... he really didn't want to think what Vriska could do to Terezi in retribution.
Of course, he couldn't help but think. Suddenly, there was too much teal on his mind for comfort.
He was pulled out of his harrowing thoughts by the chat client's dinging sound. Sollux was still on the other end.
TA: KK are you 2tiill there?
CG: YES OF COURSE I'M STILL HERE. I WAS JUST THINKING. I HATE TO ADMIT IT, BUT YOU'RE PROBABLY RIGHT.
TA: 2o what 2ould we do?
CG: HOW THE FUCK SHOULD I KNOW? I CAN'T CHECK ON HER IF SHE WON'T ANSWER MY FUCKING MESSAGES.
TA: we could check on her phy2iically.
CG: OH FUCK NO, YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS.
TA: there2 nothiing 2toppiing u2 from goiing two her hive and 2ee iif 2he2 okay.
CG: YES THERE IS, IT'S CALLED FREE WILL. AND MY FREE WILL SAYS I DON'T WANT TO FUCKING GO TO HER FUCKING HIVE.
TA: KK be 2eriiou2 there2 liive2 on the liine here.
CG: I'D BE PLAYING RIGHT INTO HER HANDS.
TA: can you plea2e ju2t for one 2econd get the fuck over your2elf?
TA: who care2 iif you dont want two do what 2he wants.
TA: 2he could be dead for all we know.
Something caught in Karkat's throat. More teal pooled in his mind.
CG: OKAY, FUCK, I'M GOING TO CHECK ON HER.
CG: BUT YOU'RE COMING WITH ME.
TA: wa2nt goiing two let you go alone iin the fiir2t place KK.
TA: iif anythiing happened two TZ then iim re2pon2iible.
TA: were doiing thii2 twogether.
CG: THANKS SOLLUX.
CG: GOD, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE STILL MY FRIEND AFTER ALL THAT SHIT I SAID ABOUT YOU.
TA: hahaha you are 2uch a retard.
TA: why would ii not be your friiend.
TA: you 2ay 2o much 2tupid 2hit ii cant take half of iit 2eriiou2ly.
CG: WHY THANK YOU FOR THE VOTE OF CONFIDENCE, FUCKASS.
TA: 2o iill meet you at terezii2 fore2t iin an hour?
CG: DEAL.
carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
Sollux arrived at the outskirts of the forest Terezi lived in exactly one hour after he had ended his conversation with Karkat. He was only mildly surprised to find that Karkat was already there, looking crankier than usual.
"About time you showed up," Karkat snarled. "What did you do, crawl all the way here like a useless wriggler?"
"No, ath a matter of fact, I walked," answered Sollux, eying Karkat with an amused grin. "And how did you get here so fatht? Did you run all the way from your hive?"
Karkat's head sunk below his shoulders. "No, what the hell gave you that stupid idea?" he grumbled.
Sollux chuckled and shook his head. "You're incorrigible."
"Fuck off," snapped Karkat. "Are we going in or not?"
"Of courth, dumbath," said Sollux. "I'm not thure how to get there, though. Do you...?"
Hearing this, Karkat straightened up, a smug, toothy grin spread across his face. "Well, I guess even you realize it's time for Karkat Vantas to take the lead."
"Whatever, KK," Sollux waved him off. "Let'th jutht get going."
Karkat let out a little self-satisfied laugh. "Follow me, Captor, we're about to go where no sane troll has gone before."
As they walked deeper into the forest, Sollux asked, "are you thure you know the way?"
"Of course I'm sure, asshole," Karkat answered in a huff, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "You have no idea how many times Terezi tried to get me to come here to nookfuck nowhere. She drew me fucking maps and everything."
Sollux laughed. "Thee really went that far? Man, TZ mutht really like you."
Karkat shrugged. "She likes torturing me. She just wants more opportunities to do it in person." He looked at the treetops above them and scowled. "Well, fuck, looks like we're on the right track."
Sollux looked up and grimaced. "Are theethe really...?"
"Yes, they really fucking are," confirmed Karkat, narrowing his eyes at the many colorful scalemates that hung from the trees by well-tied nooses. "I've always tried to pretend these things don't exist, but she's always talking about these things like it's her fucking pride and joy or something. I figured that if she's that psychotically pleased with telling me this shit, it just HAS to exist."
Sollux shook his head. "I don't underthtand her thometimeth."
Karkat snorted. "I don't understand her all the damn time."
The two trolls followed the route marked by hung scalemates for a rather long time before they reached Terezi's hive. It was built at the top of one of the gigantic trees, constructed around and inside the trunk itself. More unfortunate scalemates were hanging by their stuffed necks from the limbs of the tree, some in worse state of disrepair than others. The pulley-operated platform that served as an elevator was pulled up, with a large net full of scalemates tied to the other end of the rope to keep it there.
"This is worse than I ever imagined," Karkat mumbled.
"Thith ith pretty cool, actually," Sollux said, looking at the tree in awe. "Much nither than my communal hive thtem."
Karkat rolled his eyes. "You'd think that. Honestly, does the air up there fuck with your lousy think pan completely?"
"Whatever, KK," grumbled Sollux. "We thould probably call TZ out here."
"Right on it," said Karkat. He took a step forward and cupped his hands over his mouth. "HEY, PYROPE! STOP HIDING IN YOUR GODDAMNED TREEHOUSE AND GET THE FUCK DOWN HERE!"
Sollux winced. "I don't know how I alwayth manage to forget how good you are at thcreaming."
Karkat glared at him. "Fuck, Sollux, forget about that, help me out here."
Sollux nodded and brought his own hands to his mouth. "HEY TZ! ARE YOU UP THERE? TZ!"
"PYROPE, YOU UTTER FUCK, LET US UP ALREADY!"
"TERETHI, IT'TH KARKAT AND THOLLUKTH! LET UTH UP!"
"PYROPE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY WHAT THE FUCK IS HOLDING YOU UP?!"
"TZ, ANTHWER US!"
The boys screamed for Terezi again and again for several minutes, but there was no answer. Karkat growled and kicked at the ground. "This is fucking pointless."
"I hope thee'th okay," Sollux mumbled. His face was contorted in a harrowing mix of guilt and worry. Karkat couldn't bear looking at him.
"Stop making that face, you nooksucker," he snapped. " She HAS to be there, her goddamned elevator is pulled up. We'll just find a way to get the fuck up there and drag her out kicking and screaming for all I care."
Sollux's face brightened. "Yeah... Yeah, I could get uth up there."
"Well, sure, if you can--WHAAAA!!" Karkat yelped as he was lifted off the ground in a cloud of psionic energy. Sollux hovered beside him with arms spread out, engulfed in a psionic glow.
"You could've warned me before you did that, fuckass!" Karkat cried, flailing in the air.
Sollux grinned. "No fun in that, KK. Come on, we're going up."
Terezi's respiteblock looked like a complete disaster zone.
The room was a complete mess, with colorful scalemates and piles of books on Alternian law scattered all across the floor. It looked like the books had been stacked in tall piles but were then toppled. At the foot of Terezi's computer station laid a lemon yellow scalemate and several teal-colored Flarp dice. The Flarp poster next to her computer station had been partially torn, as well as several of the Flarp status sheets and character pages she had hung on her walls. There were trails of sopor slime on the floor, trailing from Terezi's dark red recooperacoon all over the place.
"It's like someone ransacked this place," Karkat muttered in disbelief.
"KK, come check thith out."
Karkat rolled his eyes. Of course Sollux was at the computer. He was so bananas about this shit he couldn't stay away for one second. "Fuck it, Sollux, now is not the goddamned time."
"KK, I'm theriouth," Sollux said grimly. "Check all theethe methages out."
The other boy groaned and joined his friend at the computer station, despite himself. "So we're snooping now? She'll kill us when she finds out."
"We're not thnooping, we're invethtigating," Sollux corrected him. "Look, thith ith the methage Gamthee thaid he got."
|PESTERLOG|
gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling terminallyCapricious[/span] [TC]
GC: TR214WEBIP413$Y$BNP%R43RETHE2YJDS464EWH23WAIP#V612$%NIUWE
TC: WhAt?
TC: oH mAn SoRrY aBoUt ThAt!
TC: I KiNdA sPaCeD oUt FoR a Bit ThErE.
TC: wHaT wAs ThAt YoU wAnTeD tO bE aLl mOtHeRfUcKiNg TeLlInG mE aNd ShIt?
TC: YoUr BrO gAmZeE iS mOtHeRfUcKiNg HeRe To HeAr YoU oUt!
TC: hOnK :o)
TC: TeReZi?
TC: yOu SpAcInG oUt OvEr ThErE tOo MaN?
TC: WhOa MoThErFuCk!
TC: fUuUuUuUcK, tHiS iS fRoM lIkE a MoThErFuCkInG wEeK aGo!
TC: BrO nOw I jUsT uP aNd DoNe It, I sPaCeD oUt BiG tImE.
TC: nO wOnDeR yOu AiN't AnSwErInG!
TC: No WoRrIeS tHoUgH sIsTeR, yOuR bRo WiLl HeLp YoU ouT.
TC: gUeSs I gOtTa AsK mY mAiN bRo KaRkAt WhAt YoU mEaN bY...
TC: WhAtEvEr YoU mOtHeRfUcKiNg WrOtE i GuEsS!
TC: hAnG iN tHeRe! :o)
TC: HoNk HoNk HoNk
terminallyCapricious [TC] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]
Karkat frowned. "Gamzee showed me that message. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?"
"I have no idea," murmured Sollux. "Doethn't thee uthe the numberth of the blind prophetth or thomething thtupid like that?"
"Yeah. She only ever stops when she wants to prove to me that she can type like a normal fucking person. Or freak me the fuck out."
Sollux looked at Karkat, lowering his bicolored shades. "Freaking you out ith tho eathy, though."
"Fuck you. Any other messages?"
"Yeah, a lot of them." Sollux pushed his shades up his nose and brought up several chat windows. "There'th a lot from Nepeta, a few from Kanaya, one from Equiuth, one from Vrithka... that one's Equiuth uthing Vrithka's account, though, the thtupid fucker didn't even bother to type differently. There'th three from Tavroth, and two from me..." Sollux lowered his shades again and narrowed his heterochromatic eyes. "KK, either that one'th from you or I'm thtarting to thee thingth."
Karkat's eye twitched. "No there's not, stop fucking around."
Sollux smiled. "Yeth there ith! Gueth you got pretty worried too, huh?"
With a gravelly snarl, Karkat pushed Sollux away from the computer station and shut the offending chat window down. "THERE WAS NEVER A MESSAGE FROM ME," he growled. "NEVER. DON'T EVER TELL ANYONE OTHERWISE."
Sollux tried his best not to grin. "Okay, okay, no methage from KK, got it."
Karket grumbled in response.
"But let'th get back to the point, Karkat," said Sollux, looking solemn again. "TZ hathn't anthwered anyone's methages for a week now, and her latht methage made no thenthe. And thee ithn't even in her hive to kick our nookth for going up here without permithion... What happened to her?"
Karkat frowned. Now even he had to admit to himself that he was worried. "Fuck if I know."
Sollux rubbed his chin in thought. "We thould probably collect more data to help our invethtigation."
Karkat sighed. "Sure, whatever. Go check the cabinet over there or something, I'll start with her recooperacoon."
Sollux nodded and went to the cabinet next to Terezi's recooperacoon, while Karkat approached the recooperacoon itself. It wasn't much different from his own, aside from the color. He stood on the tips of his toes to glance inside. It looked empty apart from the nourishing slime, but Karkat knew that with recooperacoons of this type, looks could be deceiving. In any case, he wasn't going to dive headfirst into someone else's recooperacoon to check if they're inside. Especially if they are inside. Especially if they're Terezi.
Still, he decided to take a closer look. He grabbed the edges of the recooperacoon's entrance and pulled himself up, popping his head inside.
He never expected the hand that grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.
He screamed, struggling to pull his head out of the recooperacoon, but the hand gripped on him tightly. It was soon joined by another hand, and an upper body covered horn to toe in sopor slime.
"KK!" Karkat heard Sollux cry out, and felt his best friend pulling him out of the recooperacoon by the feet. The hands lost their hold on his shirt and Karkat fell back, landing on top of Sollux. Karkat quickly scrambled off of Sollux, breathing hard.
Sollux sat up, his shades askew. "Fuck, KK, are you okay?" he asked, wide-eyed. "What the hell happened?"
Karkat didn't have a chance to answer, as his assailant pulled themselves out of the recooperacoon and leaped on him, making him hit his head on the floor and pinning him down. His head throbbed, and Sollux's exclamation of "what the hell?!" made it hurt more, but he tried to regain control, grabbing the attacker's arms and holding them back. He finally managed to open his eyes in spite of the pain, and looked at his attacker in the face.
Terezi.
She didn't look like the Terezi he knew, though. Her hair and clothes were soaked with sopor slime. Her eyes were completely red, irises and pupils gone, leaving them looking fiery and burnt, somehow. Her face was covered with an ugly teal-tinted burn, with blisters and the like that made her facial skin look rough and ragged. She was gritting her teeth and snarling, so unlike her usual easygoing demeanor.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HIVE!!!" she roared, trying to wrestle her arms out of Karkat's grasp. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING ME, NOT THIS TIME!!!"
"TEREZI, WHAT THE FUCK?!" Karkat yelled back. "GET THE FUCK OVER YOURSELF AND LET ME GO!!!"
Terezi stopped struggling. Her red eyes widened, giving her a confused appearance. "Karkat?" she hazarded.
She tried to move her hands again. Sensing that she wasn't going to try and strangle him this time, Karkat let go. Her hands ran over him, lightly touching his shoulders, his chin, his nose, his forehead... finally, she stopped on his nubby horns, feeling them out. Karkat bit his lower lip. "Cut it out," he grumbled.
Terezi complied. She then grabbed his shoulders, pulled him up to a sitting position, and hugged him so hard he thought his innards would burst.
"Oh, Karkat! I'm so glad it's you!" Terezi cried. "I knew you'd come through, I knew it!"
"Th-that's great," Karkat breathed. "Now get the fuck off me."
Terezi let out one of her familiar chuckles (sweet music to Karkat's auricular sponge clots) and pulled back. She still had her hands touching the sides of Karkat's arms, and he wasn't in much of a hurry to make her remove those too.
"Man, TZ, are you okay?" Sollux kneeled next to them, readjusting his shades. He was staring at Terezi's face, quite perturbed by the sight.
"Oh, Sollux, you're here too!" Terezi exclaimed, her familiar grin widening. "That's perfect, I thought I was going to have to handle Mr. Grumpypants here all alone."
"Hey, fuck off!" Karkat protested.
"Shush, Grumpypants," said Terezi, patting his arm. Karkat pouted.
Sollux sighed in relief. "You have no idea how worried everyone wath, Terethi. We thought thomething awful happened to you."
"Well, it was kind of a scary week for me too," Terezi admitted. "Oh, it's so good to see you... well, hear you, I suppose."
"Hear uth?" Sollux repeated. "The hell?"
"It's not like she can see us with those big red WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED," uttered Karkat.
Terezi scowled. "Vriska happened," she hissed, letting go of Karkat's arms to rub her own. Karkat could now see that her arms were covered with teal and blue bruises. He imagined they were probably the result of fumbling around her hive in her newfound blindness. He had a feeling that her torso and legs had similar marks underneath her clothes... and he tried not to linger on that thought.
Sollux looked like someone kicked him in the bone bulge. "Thhit, no," he mumbled, his voice low and full of all the self-loathing a person could muster. "TZ, I am tho thorry."
"Sollux, if you start beating yourself over this I'm going to have to kick you in the face," Terezi said plainly. "It's not your fault."
"How the fuck did she do that?" asked Karkat in disbelief. "I mean, she's probably the biggest fucking sociopathic bitch in Alternia, but fuck, her face just exploded, how could she do that?"
"Her face exploded?" Terezi sounded somewhat hopeful.
"Thee lotht her vithion eightfold and her arm," Sollux explained. He still sounded guilty.
Terezi sighed, smiling bitterly. "Well, I suppose that'll have to do. I'm certainly not going to try getting back at her again."
"Fuck yeah you're not," Karkat muttered to himself.
Sollux rubbed his temples. "But TZ, how did Vrithka do thith? What happened to your eyeth?"
Terezi groaned. "Oh my GOD, Sollux, shut UP! Does it matter? All you need to know is that Vriska managed to get back at me and now I can't see shit."
"You can't thee anything?" Sollux asked miserably.
"Not at all," answered Terezi. "Just a whole lot of darkness." For some reason, she didn't sound like her newfound blindness troubled her in any way.
Sollux sighed. "That eckthplainth that's why you haven't been anthwering any of your methages."
Terezi perked up. "I got messages? I did try to contact someone... anyone."
"You got Gamzee," Karkat told her.
"God, Gamzee!" Terezi slapped her forehead lightly. "That explains so much."
"He figured out there was thomething wrong eventually, though," said Sollux. "And a lot of other people were worried about too. Nepeta, Kanaya, Tavroth... even Equiuth and Vrithka. And... you know." Sollux looked at Karkat's direction with a small smile. Karkat growled at him.
Terezi crossed her arms. "Vriska, huh. Trying to make sure I'm dead, I see."
"Well, you're not," said Karkat. "Fuck those highbloods, you're not going anywhere."
Terezi smiled at his general direction.
Suddenly, she closed her eyes tightly and hissed through gritted teeth. She began swaying, but Karkat quickly grabbed her by the arms and steadied her.
"Fuck, Terezi, don't do this!" he exclaimed, and then winced - he sounded a little too worried.
"TZ, are you feeling alright?" Sollux asked, patting Terezi on the shoulder.
"It's just..." Terezi swallowed. "My eyes still hurt. It burns... Sollux, I know you're making a face, calm the hell down, I'll be fine."
Sollux grumbled and stood up. "Right, that'th it, I'm gonna get you thome thtuff tho you won't feel like utter thhit. I'll athk my neighbors if they have anything for your burn -- anything elthe you need?"
"Food," Terezi mumbled. "I had enough in my storage room for less than a week... I had to live on rations for the last... oh, two days or so. I thought I might have to start eating my chalk!"
Karkat stared at her. "Pyrope, you've been licking your fucking chalk since forever anyway. What's the goddamned difference?"
"Well, I don't want to eat my chalk!" Terezi protested. "I like my chalk!"
Karkat shook his head. "You're completely fucked up."
"Not fucked up enough to eat chalk." Terezi laughed weakly. "That was just ridiculous. From now on I'm stocking up for the upcoming apocalypse."
Sollux grimaced, not appreciating Terezi's stab at his visions of the end of the world. Karkat rolled his eyes.
"Can I make a specific request?" Terezi asked.
"Thure."
"Can you get me orange creamsicles?"
Sollux raised an eyebrow. "Terethi, that's not real food."
"Goddamnit, Sollux, don't be a nooksniffing health nut and get her the fucking creamsicles," said Karkat. "I think I have some in my thermal hull, you can hop by my hive and bring those."
"Why, Karkles! You're willing to sacrifice your orange creamsicles for me?" Terezi playfully drew patterns on the back of his hand. "I'm touched, really."
Karkat sighed. Infuriating girl.
"Okay, Terethi, I'll go get what you need," said Sollux. "The round trip will take me a while, tho try to retht while I'm gone or thomething. And Karkat?"
"What?"
"Keep an eye on her, alright? I'd feel like the thittiest perthon on the planet if I left her here and thomething horrible happened to her while I'm gone."
"Fuck you, you don't have to tell me twice!" Karkat yelled, shaking his fist at Sollux. The other boy grinned at him, shook his head and took his leave.
After a few moments of silence, Terezi said, "now it's just you and me, Karkles."
"Yeah yeah, just don't try anything funny," Karkat grumbled.
Terezi opened her burnt eyes slightly and gave him her most innocent-looking smile. "Why, Karkles, why would I try anything funny?"
"Because you like torturing me like that. Didn't the douche that just left tell you to rest or something?
"Wait, Karkat."
"What?"
Terezi grinned. "As long as you're here, I want to try something."
Karkat stood up abruptly. "Okay, see, fuck, this is what I mean by 'something funny'. I'm not going to be a victim to your fucked up mind games, Pyrope."
Terezi pouted, her eyes still fixed at the spot where he just sat. Something tightened at the pit of Karkat's belly. It finally sunk - Terezi wasn't looking at him because she didn't know he was standing up. She really couldn't see.
He was just glad that meant she couldn't see his absolutely miserable expression.
"I'm not playing any mind games, Karkat. I just need you to get a new pack of chalks from my storage room."
Karkat raised an eyebrow. "The fuck you need that for?"
"Just get it, you'll see."
When he came back with the chalk, Karkat found Terezi laying on the floor, with her eyes closed and her arms crossed on her belly. She looked peaceful, as if she had fallen asleep. Karkat tiptoed towards her and sat down next to her as quietly as possible.
"You're back," Terezi said with a smile, not opening her eyes or otherwise moving.
"Shit, don't do that!" Karkat exclaimed, startled. "Ugh, whatever, I got your stupid chalk."
Terezi's smile widened. "Excellent. Now, I need you to pick one. Don't tell me what color it is."
"This IS a fucking mind game. Fuck it, I'm not playing."
Terezi frowned. "Karkat, it's not a mind game, I swear! Just pick a chalk already."
Karkat let out a loud sigh. The things he does for this psycho tree girl. He opened the pack and pulled out a chalk at random.
It was bright red.
The universe was mocking him and making him its bitch.
"Come on, Karkat, did you pick one?"
"Yeah, yeah, I picked your fucking chalk," Karkat spat, dropping the chalk on Terezi's belly. Terezi managed to catch the chalk before it rolled to the floor and sat up, bringing the chalk to her nose. She began sniffing it from all sides, taking long whiffs of the red color stick.
"It smells like candy..." Terezi muttered.
"The fuck?" Karkat sputtered. "What the fuck are you doing with that?"
"Karkat, I'm trying to concentrate!" Terezi scolded. She let out a small "hmph", and unceremoniously licked the red chalk. Karkat stuck his tongue out in disgust.
"It tastes like..." Terezi gave the chalk another thoughtful lick.
"This is stupid," Karkat mumbled to himself.
"Candy apple."
"Huh?" Karkat looked at Terezi curiously. She was grinning a grin so wide he thought it could break her face if she grinned any wider.
"This chalk smells like candy apple," she told him, enthralled. "It tastes like candy apple."
"No it doesn't, it tastes like fucking chalk," said Karkat, confused. He didn't like where this was going.
"It's a red chalk, isn't it?"
Karkat gaped. "H-how... What...!!!"
"It's bright red chalk," Terezi whispered.
"It-- what-- how did you...?!"
The troll girl started laughing. Karkat was taken aback. Her laughter was different than her usual playful chuckles. It was like all the happiness, relief and hope in the world were encompassed in that laugh. He almost wanted to laugh with her... but he just wasn't the kind of person who laughed much. And besides, he felt like it was the laugh of a goddamn madwoman. The happiest madwoman alive.
He heard the chalk drop to the floor and break to pieces, and before he could react, his torso was wrapped in Terezi's bruised arms. Terezi buried her head right under his chin, snuggling against his chest. "Thank you, Karkat," she whispered. Her voice was choked, high on emotion.
Karkat didn't know what to do but hug her back. He had no idea what he'd done or how had Terezi known he'd picked the red chalk, but for some reason, it gave her hope.
He hoped she wouldn't mind sharing.