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Dave entered his room, finding himself being met with the wide smile and cackles of Terezi. "TH3R3 YOU 4R3 COOLK1D!" she said, a mischievous grin on her face. "1'V3 B33N W41T1NG H3R3 FOR 4 WH1L3 NOW. D1D YOU H4PP3N TO M1SPL4C3 SOM3TH1NG P3RH4PS?" She was interrogating him. Normally, Dave would've found the act interesting. However, it was obvious she wasn't even trying to be subtle about what she had done; not to mention that he had something better to do than play this little game. He had a picture to show.
"Striders don't misplace anything." he said, deciding to play along for the moment. "Besides I was out getting some scandalous evidence."
Terezi's grin changed into a look of confusion. "SC4ND4LOUS 3V1D3NC3?" she asked, doing that odd mouth movement that almost looked like a question mark. "3V1D3NC3 OF WH4T?"
Hook, line, and sinker. "Just a photo of two guys getting their cuddle on in that dumb horn pile." he said, taking out the photograph in question with a smirk.
Terezi didn't seem impressed. She actually looked rather disappointed. "4ND WH4T 1S SO SC4ND4LOUS 4BOUT TH4T?" she asked.
"Take a sniff yourself and find out," Dave said, handing the photo towards her. "Or a taste i guess i don't really care."
"F1N3. 1 W1LL. BUT ONLY TO HUMOR YOU 4ND NOTH1NG MOR3." Terezi said, taking the picture out of his hand and beginning to sniff it. "SO G4MZ33 1S SL33P1NG 1N TH3 HORN P1L3 W1TH SOM3ON3, WHY SHOULD TH4T B3 4NY-"
She stopped sniffing. A look of disbelief washed over her. There was no way she smelled that correctly. She took another sniff; the smell of grape jelly and charcoal, with just a hint of cherries, was still there. That couldn't be right though. She took a lick of it just for good measure. Sure enough, she tasted grape jelly and sickly cherries. She turned back over to Dave, confusion written all over her face. "D4V3, TH1S 1S ON3 OF YOUR 1RON1C JOK3S R1GHT? TH1S 1SN'T 4 R34L P1CTUR3 OF G4MZ33 4ND K4RK4T R1GHT?" she asked, hoping that this really was just a prank.
"It's no joke and that picture is 100% the real thing," Dave said. "Karkat and Gamzee are totally snuggling together in messed up affection."
Terezi didn't say anything further. She ran to the transportalizer with the photo in hand, needing a moment alone. Dave tried to keep his composure, seeing everything falling into place. "Perfect." he said once he was alone.
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The next morning in the computer hub, or at least what everyone assumed was morning since it was impossible to tell on the meteor, Karkat woke up to discover he was being held on by something. He began to struggle, but stopped upon realizing that it was only Gamzee hugging him in his sleep. He looked back at the events of the previous day since he figured he had a while before Gamzee would wake up. It all seemed to be so sudden. Getting into an argument with Terezi over what he was saying to Strider, Kanaya suggesting he try going for someone else, Gamzee telling him his flushed feelings, it all felt so rushed. He began to wonder if this would all work out. He had never considered being flushed for the indigoblood before, but he hadn't written it off as being impossible. Then he wondered how Terezi would deal with the situation. What if he was making a mistake? What if she liked being around Strider for platonic reasons? He shook the thoughts away. What he had with Gamzee wasn't official yet and only Kanaya, Rose, and Nepeta knew anything about it. Terezi had no way of knowing anything about this.
He looked back at the juggalo wrapped around his waist. He knew that there was no way he was going to wake up without him doing it. "GAMZEE WAKE UP. I'D LIKE TO GET OFF OF THIS STUPID HORN PILE AND THE ONLY WAY I'M DOING THAT IS IF YOU WAKE UP AND LET ME GO." he said, shaking his shoulder lightly. He knew how heavy a sleeper Gamzee was, so he had to do anything he could to wake him up.
Before long, Gamzee lazily opened his eyes and looked up at his matespirit happily. "hEy ThErE kArKaT," he said. "dId YoU mOtHeRfUcKiNg SlEeP wElL?"
"YOU AND I BOTH KNOW THAT ME GETTING A GOOD SLEEP THESE DAYS IS AS LIKELY AS KANAYA BECOMING FLUSHED FOR EQUIUS IS." Karkat answered. "BUT IT WAS BETTER THAN MY USUAL CLUSTERFUCK OF DREAMS TEND TO BE. NOW LET ME GO, I NEED A DRINK THAT ISN'T RED POP FAYGO." The night before, Gamzee had insisted that he had some Faygo. The taste was still in his mouth and he desperately wanted to get it out.
"sUrE tHiNg BeSt FrIeNd," Gamzee said, removing his arms from Karkat. "YoU gO aNd Do WhAtEvEr It Is YoU aLl WaNt To Be Up AnD dOiNg."
Karkat stood up, causing a few honks to release in the process, and walked to the transportalizer. "I'LL BE BACK IN A MINUTE. WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GO DOING SOMETHING COMPLETELY STUPID ALRIGHT?" he said before leaving.
Gamzee just gave a thumbs up. "YoU mOtHeRfUcKiNg GoT iT sWeEtHeArT." he said.
"DON'T EVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN." Karkat said, finding the term to be humiliating. He tried not to sound harsh when saying that though.
"aLrIgHt ThEn BeSt FrIeNd." Gamzee replied. With that, Karkat left the room.
As he walked, his thoughts once again went to Terezi. What would happen if he did get in a real relationship with Gamzee? And what would happen to his relationship with her? After all, it didn't seem like she cared about him anymore. They barely had a relationship at all by this point. The whole thing was swarming around in his head. He tried to think about something else, but nothing helped. The only thing that managed to snap him out of his thoughts was the sound of the transportalizer activating behind him. He turned his head to see Terezi coming towards him, an angry expression all over her face. Karkat tried to regain composure, he didn't want her to suspect anything. "WELL LOOK WHO IT IS," he began. "COME TO BITCH AT ME ABOUT STRIDER AGAIN I PRESUME?"
"CUT TH3 CR4P K4RK4T, YOU KNOW WHY 1'M H3R3!" Terezi retorted.
"NO, I DON'T. YOU JUST STORMED UP TO ME FOR PRETTY MUCH NO REASON AS FAR AS I KNOW." Karkat said.
"K4RK4T V4NT4S 1 H4V3 PROOF TH4T YOU W3R3 W1TH SOM3ON3 L4ST N1GHT, SO DON'T L13 4BOUT 1T." Terezi told him.
Karkat began to get nervous. How could she have known? "WELL IF THAT'S THE CASE THEN SHOW ME. WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS PROOF OF YOURS?" he asked.
Terezi pulled out a photograph from her pocket and stuck it right in front of Karkat. He looked at the photo, seeing that it was of him and Gamzee last night sleeping in the horn pile. "3XPL41N TH1S R1GHT NOW K4RK4T." Terezi demanded.
Karkat didn't want Terezi to catch on to his relationship right away, things would be ruined. Luckily, he managed to come up with an excuse that he thought for sure would convince her. "LOOK, I FELL ASLEEP IN THE HORN PILE BECAUSE I FELT TOO TIRED TO GET TO MY RESPITEBLOCK WITHOUT PASSING OUT LIKE A MORON. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL GAMZEE'S DOING IN THERE, BECAUSE HE CERTAINLY WASN'T WITH ME WHEN I FELL ASLEEP OR WOKE UP." he said.
"TH4T H4S GOT TO B3 TH3 WORST 3XCUS3 1'V3 3V3R H34RD." Terezi said, obviously not convinced. "YOU W3R3 CL34RLY WR4PP1NG YOUR 4RMS 4ROUND H1M. T3LL M3 TH3 TRUTH K4RK4T."
Karkat realized that he had been caught. There was no use hiding it any longer.
"FINE, YOU CAUGHT ME. I WAS CUDDLING WITH GAMZEE LAST NIGHT. AND YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY? BECAUSE EVER SINCE YOU STARTED TALKING TO THAT STUPID COOLKID YOU HAVEN'T BEEN WILLING TO GIVE ME THE TIME OF DAY. AND THE ONLY TIME YOU DO ACKNOWLEDGE MY MISERABLE EXISTENCE IS WHEN HE'S INVOLVED. LAST TIME I CHECKED, YOU DON'T IGNORE YOUR OWN FUCKING MATESPIRIT FOR SOME PRICK YOU MET OVER A SCREEN. YOU OBVIOUSLY DON'T CARE ABOUT ME, SO I FIGURED I'D TRY SOMEONE WHO DOES. GAMZEE'S ACTUALLY FLUSHED FOR ME, AND I FIGURED THAT I'D GIVE HIM A TRIAL PERIOD TO SEE IF THINGS WOULD WORK OUT. BECAUSE THE WAY THINGS HAVE BEEN GOING LATELY, I'D RATHER BE WITH A STONED RELIGOUS SHITHEAD THAN YOU."
Terezi was silent. Karkat looked at her as if he was expecting something. "K4RK4T..." was all she managed to spit out before walking in the opposite direction. Karkat decided to head back to the computer hub, at least Gamzee would be-
"wAs ThAt AlL tRuE kArKaT?" Karkat looked behind him to see Gamzee standing a few feet away. The highblood troll had a forlorn look on his face. "aM i JuSt mEaNt To Be A cHoIcE bEcAuSe I mOtHeRfUcKiNg ToLd YoU mY fEeLiNgS?"
Karkat didn't know how to respond. He didn't even hear the sound of a transportalizer activating, which meant Gamzee must have entered when he wasn't paying attention. "OH, HI GAMZEE, UH, HOW MUCH OF THAT CONVERSATION DID YOU HEAR BY ANY CHANCE?" he asked.
"i HeArD eNoUgH." Gamzee answered. "dO yOu ReAlLy FeEl ReD fOr Me At AlL kArKaT?"
"GAMZEE, I..." Karkat sighed, not sure what to say. "...I DON'T KNOW."
"oH." Gamzee said. He looked down and walked past Karkat in silence. Once he was gone, Karkat slumped to the ground. He couldn't believe it. Now he managed to screw things up with both of them. He felt like an idiot and a prick.
"DAMMIT." he said as he banged his fist against the wall.