crusthatecean | ♋ PCG 10; backdated to Thursday

♋ PCG 10; backdated to Thursday

[Action; Outside 1338 Benny Road!]

[Early Thursday morning, there's a strange sight out on Benny Road. A terrifying crab monster appears to be menacing a young troll lad! Karkat is trying to fend off the crab monster with a garden tool and appears to mostly be managing it, but the monster won't stop trying to grab him with its claws.]

[Action; 1338 Benny Road; Later]

[Later that day, in a house that smells horribly of fish but is much cleaner than usual, Karkat is sitting on the couch watching TV. The crab monster is lurking behind the house, occasionally growling until Karkat feeds him some fish from a can.]

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I was going to kill her.

[she looks sightlessly down at her lap; she doesn't seem to realize that her eyes are faintly misty.] I was ready to kill her and I didn't know if I really wanted to. How dumb is that? Even though I knew it was the right thing to do.

I saw something, you know.

[she brushes her fingers across her temples.] Here.

Yeah?

[He doesn't know how to feel about that; Vriska has been a danger to them from the beginning, and he knows whatever she's been up to since they've reached the lab, it won't be any good.

He can't judge Terezi for deciding to kill her. It's probably the right decision, the kind of decision a real leader would make. But it's not the one he would have made, which is probably part of the reason he's so terrible at the leadership thing, now that he thinks about it.

Still, it makes him happy in a small way, that she didn't want to. When he wavers, he knows it's because he's weak, but if she's wavering too, it's something he can respect.]

What was it?

I saw myself hesitate. And she flew away, and Jack killed her. Of course he killed her. And then all he had to do was follow her trail back to us.

...

And I saw...

[she doesn't even want to think about it, the awful vision of the death that could have been and might still happen. deaths that already happened on that same doomed path in yet another timeline fated to end horribly.

but hearing and knowing about doomed timelines is very different from having a vision of one, and just recalling it is making her feel sick. it isn't her own death that bothers her, but the sheer brutality of what it had been (could be), the horrible scent of Karkat's blood pouring out of him and what had run through her mind right then:

it's my fault.

it would have been her fault for hesitating, for being weak, and so Terezi had resolved herself to kill Vriska, her own reasons for being reluctant to do so evaporating in the face of what the vision had given her.

but she doesn't know how to say it aloud, what she saw.]

I had-- I have to stop it from happening. [she clenches her hands together on her lap, and decides that it's better to just be blunt about it, as she is with everything else.] I saw us die together, Karkat. You were so close but I couldn't even reach out to you. I couldn't do anything. [suddenly she's glad she can't see anything at all. it makes it easier to pretend he can't see her face, either.] And I can't let that happen to us. If I don't kill Vriska, Jack will come back and kill us all.

So I have to. Even though I didn't want to- maybe I still don't want to- I'm going to kill her. [though she sounds tired and distant, there is the same old iron conviction in her voice.]

[He can see her face, though, and even though she's being strong, he thinks about how he'd feel in that situation. He knows how he'd feel, actually, because he's felt every mistake he's made and every death that resulted from one so far. Ever since Gamzee messaged from her account, ever since he found that horrible note telling him to meet her on the roof, he's wondered if he hadn't already failed her, too.

It hurt him, and she's so strong, but it's hurt her, too.

He wraps his arms around her back, giving her the privacy to not meet his eyes if she'd rather not, but still holding her close.]

Okay.

I'm not going to act like some fucking expert here, but the thing is that I just...I just think that if that's the decision you're going to make, then I know it's the right one.

[she buries her face in his shoulder, and she's greatly comforted by his words. Terezi still looks to Karkat for guidance- she's always respected him as a leader. he'd been the one she wanted to talk to about her struggling with the decision to kill Vriska- not Dave. Dave could be there for her on some things, but he hadn't understood the gravity of it. Karkat would have. and he does, she thinks. he understands even now, and she feels an overwhelming rush of attachment to him.]

Hn... Thank you, Karkat. [his reassurance is all she needs, really. if Karkat thinks it's the right thing, then it is, and Terezi knows it. she can't let fate fall the way it did in her vision because of her own hesitation.

she can't watch him die again.

she lifts her head, offering a tiny if somewhat sad smile.]

[He smiles a little too at her expression, although she can't see it. He really does know she would make the right decision; he's worried about her, but maybe less than about some of the others. He trusts her judgment and ability to take care of herself, and only worries to the extent that he just cares about her.

But if he managed to help her in some way, even if it was just a small thing, he's happy about that.]

I guess that means we were the Alpha timeline after all. After I lost track of everyone, I started to think we weren't. There are still some things that don't make sense about that.

[she nods and murmurs darkly.] Like what we're all doing here on the human planet.

[she puts her hands on top of his, gently.] But I almost think we're... safer here than we were before.

Yeah. For all the fucked up stuff this place pulls, everyone always comes back from the dead.

Anyway, Gamzee seems fine for now as a human. If he becomes a troll again, though, I'll take care of it.

How are you going to take care of it?

[but that has her thinking about Vriska. what if she gets her god tier powers back...? what then?]

I'll figure out a way to get my claws on some sopor. I think that might be enough.

If not, well...I don't know. But I'll figure something out.

[He'd like to think he'd make the same decision she was making; that if he had to kill Gamzee to save the others, he would.

But he's not sure, if it came down to it, he'd be able to do something like that. Not to Gamzee.]

[she nods; she won't ask him to explain more than that, because she thinks she already knows what's going through his head.]

I know you will.

Whatever happens, he's my responsibility.

[He sighs.]

This is such a fucking mess. Aren't you glad we have to talk through all of this awful shit?

Glad? Hehe... [a pause.] Well, I'm... glad you listened. [it's been weighing heavily on her shoulders ever since she got here.] And I'm here to listen to everything you have to say, too. I'll even save my judgements and nooses for later.

Even if it is pretty awful shit.

Yeah.

Well, at least it's out of the way. I don't think there's anything else from my timeline that needs to be talked about.

[Yes, Karkat, nothing has gone left unsaid between them at all.]

Yeah.

[yes, nothing at all.

they are terrible at this.]

[Still holding on to her...

Okay so now how to transition this trainwreck back to the original objective. He wishes he were maybe a little bit cooler or maybe a little less of the kind of person where romantic moments so easily turn into discussing which of your friends are on murderous rampages at the moment.

Awkward.]

[it's hard.

being a troll and one of the last surviving members of your species and all of your friends are dying. it's hard and only other trolls understand.

Terezi sort of wishes Karkat were a little cooler too but that's in general, not just right now.

she will wait a little bit before she decides to make the first move like the girl in How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, but she doesn't really want to do the losing part.]

[Okay. Well. Doing this.

Hitch taught him that the secret of a good kiss is to go 90% of the way and then hold, so he's doing that.

Except she's blind so she can't see what she's doing aside from the fact that he is suddenly very up in her space and yet not kissing her.]

[y...yeah...

well she can sense that he's pretty close because she can feel the heat coming off of his skin, so she just kind of.

waits there.

waiting for it to happen.

come on Karkat be all cool for once.]

[But Hitch said...to wait until she comes the other 10%...How could Hitch be wrong aside from that being the whole point of the movie?

Okay, this is stupid. Closing the gap the rest of the way.]

[wow Karkat............

okay yeah she'll just lean in a little too, put her arms over his shoulders, and yes finally the makeout is happening.]

[Yes too cool, too cool.

He's not pushing this too fast, just slowly kissing her and holding her close and other such descriptions of thirteen year old makeouts.]

[yes this is totally great, she is just going to sit herself on his lap and mack on him

is that the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs

not that Terezi notices, she's kind of distracted right now.]

[No, Karkat doesn't notice either. He's depending on you to be the one with attentive hearing, sheesh.]

[o-oh... well no she is not noticing

sorry......................]

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