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BE KARKAT VANTAS
Be very insecure about the color of your blood. You're still on the meteor, and you feel worse than ever. You've been avoiding everyone as much as you can without seeming weird, and you seem to be doing a pretty good job at keeping visibly calm. Hats off to you. You're walking through the halls of the ship, and racking your mind on how you can possibly ignore these feelings for another day. Maybe you coul- JEGUS.
"Karkat." It's Dave. Jegus, how is he so gog damn quiet? He seems to have snuck up behind you.
"JEGUS FUCKING CHRIST, DAVE! WHY IN THE HELL DO YOU ALWAYS DO THAT??" You yell at Dave, your arms shooting up into the air.
"I just-" You abruptly cut him off to keep spouting your nonsense.
"My fucking gog. Did you just randomly decide 'HEY!! Let's scare Karkat for no gog damn reason! That'll be fun! I'm sure he'll love that!'? Seriously, Dave! What could you possibly want!"
"Didn't mean to make you all pissy. Well, you're always pissy, but you get the point." Dave tries to defend himself. He seems a bit anxious, and you start to relax your body a bit. You and Dave have grown closer over the time on the meteor, although you still bicker over small things. You can't exactly tell if Dave holds you in high regard, and you don't think you know as much about him as he does you.
"Was there a purpose behind scaring me besides trashing on me?" You have to remind yourself to talk after a few seconds of awkward silence.
"Right, uh.. can we talk?" Dave shuffles around awkwardly. You begin to realize you might have done a worse job at hiding your feelings than you initially thought. You look away, considering a moment, before giving in.
"Fine." You keep walking to your room on the ship, Dave following behind quietly. Normally, he won't shut up about some stupid bullshit, but he's so quiet now. It makes you uncomfortable. You reach your room and open the door, letting out a quiet, shaky breath. You're not exactly sure what he could want to talk about, but you have a general idea.
"So, uh.. Karkat." Dave starts to talk. He sounds so.. unsure. He's standing awkwardly next to you, so you sit down on the nearby couch and he follows suit. "I'm kinda.. concerned for you. You've been like, quiet and shit. Not shouty and being a total asshole as much, if you get what I mean. Are you.. okay?"
Shit. He DOES know.
BE DAVE STRIDER
It's another day on the meteor, but you can't seem to find Karkat. You've looked for him yourself, as well as asked around. Rose said he was walking around the halls earlier. Checking near his room is probably smart. You make your way over to the halls, unintentionally sneaking around. You spot a certain troll walking around, looking tense as ever, if not more. You approach, and one thing leads to another, and you're now sitting in his room, staring at him.
"I'm FINE, Dave. I'm peachy! Why would I not be?" Karkat's voice is drenched in sarcasm. He avoids eye contact, his body visibly tensing. You (obviously) don't believe him.
"Bullshit. I can tell when you're upset, and you're definitely upset right now. You've been moping around the ship for the past week! Sure, nobody else might notice, but I did, even if you don't think I did. You're not as good at hiding your feels as you think." You retort. He seems to be burying himself in his turtleneck, so you decide to calm down a bit. "I didn't mean anything negative, Karkat."
"Whatever.." he grumbles. He looks at your face, probably trying to look into your eyes. Unfortunately, it's awkward on his part, as your shades cover your eyes pretty well. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You clearly do. C'mon, Karkat. Talk to me. I'm here for a reason." You try to get him to listen. He looks down at his hands in his lap. You can tell he's considering. He lets out a long sigh, then starts talking.
"You're.. gonna think I'm pathetic. I can't." Karkat shuffles, and you think he might be serious. He's actually upset. Real upset. You've never been great at helping others with things, but you'll sure as hell try. For him. Over your time on the meteor, you and Karkat have grown closer. You're happy about it - really happy - but you don't think he likes you the same way you do. You can hardly gage your own emotions. You'd never admit how you feel, though.
"I won't. Honest, man. Emotions are.. hard, I know. Trust me. But, uh.. nobody should go through them alone. Okay?" Was that good? God, you don't even know.
"I... uh.. it's just.." He stumbles over his words, trying to piece together the right ones, like it's a puzzle. "I don't feel like I belong. Everyone else.. they know my secret. They know about my dumb blood. But.. I can't help the feeling that they just.. judge me! I know they don't, and that's why it's so dumb! It's just that I'm different. Different in ways they won't ever be able to understand. I'm mutated! I'm a mistake!" Oh. You get it.
"Karkat.." you take a deep breath and gently grab his hand. God, what are you doing? He probably doesn't want to be touched right now. Whatever. "I know how it feels to be.. different. Especially when almost nobody around you can understand. I know that it's not easy. You can hide it all you want, but you can never really change how you are inside. But it's okay. Because you can accept who you really are, or.. uh.. something like that. God, I sound like a nerd, don't I?"
"..Just a little." Karkat lets out a small huff that's like a laugh. He has a small smile on his face. It's hardly there, but it makes your heart beat.
BE KARKAT VANTAS
You don't get how Dave's different to other humans, but it doesn't matter. Tears prick at your eyes, and you try to blink them away, but to no avail. They start flowing down your cheeks before you can stop them, the light red color pouring out of your eyes. Oh my god just stop it, this is so embarrassing. You didn't want Dave to see you cry. You bury your face in Dave's shoulder, clinging to him.
"Woah-" Dave huffs, not expecting the sudden clinging. You let out a quiet sob, then bite your lip. "Shhh, shh.. it's okay, Karkat.." Dave rubs your back while you're digging your claws into his. You keep sobbing, tears drenching his stupid shirt.
You descend into a line of mumbled curses, scolding yourself for being this dumb. Dave gently runs his hand through a portion of your hair. He leans back so that you're lying on top of him, while he lies back against your wall. You eventually stop with the curses and just lay there.
BE DAVE STRIDER
Karkat's died down, and he's even started purring. You keep one hand rested on his back and one playing with his hair. He seems to be all cried out, and as a result, is exhausted. You hesitate before talking.
"Love you." He keeps laying there and purring. He eventually falls asleep in your arms, and you press a gentle kiss to the top of his head. You keep gently petting him until you're tired, too, and doze off.