crusthatecean | ♋ PCG 20

[Action, 1338 Benny Road]

[Karkat wakes up unable to shake the memory of his dream. He has nightmares regularly, a combination of sleeping without a recuperacoon and everything he's been through since he began playing Sgrub. But something about this one felt more real and vivid and awful, and he remembers it more clearly.

But he wakes ordinarily, only to watch the news and hear his own name, among others, listed. He remembers. She told him she would erase his existence, and he said yes. That memory combined with the news spooks him; Mayfield is clearly doing something, and he doesn't know what to think. So when the television shuts off, he'll go looking for his housemates to try to calm his nerves.]

[Phone, later]

All right, this is Karkat. No, guess what, this is actually Karkat. I'm here. You can choose to believe me or not.

Is anyone else who supposedly disappeared still here? Let's discuss this latest Mayfield fuckstorm like the rational conversationalists I know we all aren't.

[Filtered to Feferi, Tavros, Eridan, and Sollux]

And I especially need to talk to all of you. Now. Don't give me any shit about whether or not I'm the real Karkat. If you are here, answer me now.

I can't believe a single one of you complete drooling panrotted fucking assholes.

[Filtered to Signless.]

You.

((OOC: Karkat has been erased, so he will seem like a fakey fake doppleganger!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I never said it made sense. It comes with having the universe's most obvious and exploitable flaws.

[He sighs, watching Gamzee's reaction to him. Gamzee is friendly to everyone, so he wouldn't have thought the difference between how he's normally treated and this would be so obvious, but it is. It's clear he's not being spoken to as Gamzee's best friend but as a complete stranger, and it bothers him a lot more than he would have expected it to. He wants to be someone important to him. And he knows he should let this conversation stay impersonal, it's the unselfish thing to do, but it's hard to pretend he doesn't care.]

I'm sorry, Gamzee. I'll fix this somehow.

[He shrugs, finally managing to smile now that he's no longer looking at the fake.]

Thanks, bro, but we all chill. I got all my motherfuckin' faith that a miracle will be up and bringing...bringing....

[He trails off, looking confused. He knows he's talking about someone important, someone who's missing, but he can't -- he can't remember their name, he's never forgotten something this huge before but no matter how much he wracks his brain, he can't remember his best friend's name--]

[Karkat can't tell what the cause of Gamzee trailing off is well enough to understand exactly what's happening, but he can tell something is wrong, and he gives him a look of concern.]

Hey, you okay?

I can't...

[He runs his hand through his hair, frustrated and bewildered.]

Sorry, who were we all talking about again?

[There's a sinking feeling in his stomach; he's gradually realizing what's happening and it makes him feel even more desperate.]

Karkat. We were talking about Karkat.

Right. Right, yeah, of course.

[He breathes a sigh of relief, still looking a little puzzled.]

Fuuuuuuck, I think I must have done hit one too many motherfuckin' pies today.

Be careful. Don't go off that stuff, but don't eat too much of it, either. No more than usual, all right?

[He's worried, but he's a stranger. There's no chance he can make Gamzee listen to him.]

You just check in with Jade if you aren't feeling well, let her make sure you're doing okay.

Sure motherfuckin' thing, brother. [Getting Gamzee to listen to someone isn't hard at all, even for a freaky fake clone thing - getting him to remember, on the other hand, is the difficult part.]

Don't worry, I'll hit her up if anything happens. Gotta all up and check on -- Kanaya, too. [He hesitates in the middle of that - he'd been planning on saying Tavros's name or maybe Terezi's, but Kanaya's had popped into his head for some reason. Oh well, he'll just go along with it.] She's real motherfuckin' smart, I bet she'll figure out what's going on.

[Kanaya's name surprises him too, but it's a good idea. Kanaya understands why it's critical he doesn't go off the sopor, though she won't know just how bad Gamzee can get when he's had too much.]

Good idea.

I'll be here, too. I know we don't know each other, but I'll help you if you need anything, okay?

Thanks, dogg. [He sounds as friendly as usual, but it's obvious from his vague tone that he's not planning on coming to the clone for help any time soon.]

No problem.

[Yeah, he can tell he's being written off.]

It's just that Karkat might not be back for a while. You understand that, right?

He'll come back. [There's complete faith in his voice and expression - he can't fathom a world without Karkat in it, so he's not going to even consider it as a possibility.]

And you're not angry at him for being a selfish asshole and agreeing to disappear?

Naaaaaaw, I ain't gonna fault a brother for wanting to help his motherfuckin' friends at.

[He's not being entirely honest here - it stings that Karkat would have chosen to leave, that once again Gamzee couldn't make someone he loved stay, but he's not about to admit this even to himself, let alone to Karkat's replacement.]

If you say so.

[He really can't tell if Gamzee is being honest right now, but he shrugs it off. He's angry at himself even if Gamzee isn't. He rubs his temple, starting to feel his pan ache from everything frustrating about this situation.]

Okay. I know I'm sort of freaking you out and we've only just met, but you're always making piece of shit friendships with creeps. I think that we should be friends. How does that work for you? Assuming this is a universal response, you're probably the only one who'll talk to me.

[He hesitates for longer than he normally would; the clone really does unsettle him quite a bit with how much he looks like Karkat and yet not, but Gamzee's never been one to turn down a friend.]

Hey, I am always motherfuckin' down with kicking a wicked friendship off the stairs. Any time you wanna get your chat on bro, you can hit me up.

[He'll give him a small smile that he doesn't mean at all, just trying to be friendly. He feels a little pathetic for this, but he doesn't know how long this will last and he needs someone, even if it's just a pity friend who probably likes the Major more than him.]

Good, then. I'll do my best to refrain from freaking you out.

♋ PCG 20

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