Chapter Text
>Karkat: Try to be social this morning
It's first period and you take the fourth seat from the front of the classroom, second from the left wall, right next to where you know Nepeta sits. You decided to pick a different seat today because you were getting real tired of the bitchsniffers near your usual corner. And Nepeta seemed so enthusiastic about getting to know each other yesterday that you're basically obligated to be friendly on account of her saving your sorry ass. Yep, those are definitely the reasons that you decided to sit here. You even had to tell some hipster to go crawl back up whatever shithole he was expelled from when he tried to tell you that you were in his seat. The douche tried to get the teacher to give you detention but he eventually just sat down to pout in one of the front seats. Fucking sea-hipsters.
As you brood over your hatred for said sea-douche, you see Nepeta rush through the door right as the bell rings, same as every day. She moves hastily across the front of the classroom to take her seat, but halfway through, she takes notice of you and pauses midstep with a startled look on her face for a moment before continuing more slowly than before, her head lowered. She sits in the desk to your left, her focus still anchored to the ground.
She might be creeped out by you sitting here. Why wouldn't she be? She was probably just humoring you yesterday and now you're being a clingy asshole. Goddamnit, you may have just condemned yourself to an entire class period of awkwardness next to some girl who's too nice to tell you to fuck off. That's what you get for trying to be “friendly.” You turn your scowl to the front of the room and continue to mentally berate yourself, completely tuning out whatever the teacher is saying.
> Nepeta : Be cool
You had spent plenty of time imagining everything you would say to Karkat today and all the friendly chit-chat you would engage in, but you were not expecting him to sit next to you in first period. It's absurd that something as silly as that could completely catch you off guard! After you've set your bookbag down and removed your notebook from it, you wrench your gaze from the comfort of the ground and check to see if Karkat is still looking at you. You're relieved to see he isn't but he seems awfully stressed about something. He's just sitting there wringing his hands and staring blankly in front of himself, a scowl settled on his face. This distracts you from your own awkwardness for the moment.
Since the teacher is currently in the front of the class giving a lecture, you rip a small peice of paper from your notebook and scribble a question on it. Talking through notes is a perfect way to avoid awkwardness! It'll be just like talking to your friends online:
:33 < Is evpurrything alright??
You fold up the paper neatly and toss it at Karkat. It bounces off his shoulder and lands on his desk. He shakes his head a little as if being shocked back into reallity. He looks at you curiously in his usually-grumpy way and even though your heart makes a little jump, you nod and give him a soft smile as if telling him to read it. He meticulously unfolds the note and stares at it for a little while, before taking out his own pen to jot something down and toss it back to you. You cautiously unfold the paper, as if expecting it to explode with Karkat's temper. You see he added a line below yours in all capital letters:
OF COURSE 'EVPURRYTHING' IS ALRIGHT. WHY IN FUCK'S NAME WOULD YOU ASK THAT?
He's just being his usual grumpy self. You find his disposition quite endearing, although when faced with it directly, it's a little intimidating. You write down what you think is an acceptable response and send it back to Karkat, and continue to do so for the rest of class:
:33 < You just seem more crabby than usual. So I wanted to see if I could cheer you up!!
NO THANK YOU. I AM PERFECTLY CONTENT WITH MY CRABBY STATE.
:33 < Nobody can be happy with being angry. It's impurrsible!!
WELL MAYBE I DON'T GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT HOW IT DOES OR DOES NOT WORK. AND WHAT THE FLIPPING FUCK IS WITH THE WAY YOU WRITE?
Oh... do you not like it?
SHIT. NO, I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO STOP WRITING LIKE THAT. JUST DISREGARD EVERY DOUCHY COMMENT I EVER THOUGHT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO SAY ALOUD.
:33 < Um... Pawlright then! Now stop being such a grumpy ass and tell me whats wrong!!
NO
:33 < Yes!!
NO
:33 < Yes!!
NO
:33 < Fine, no sex then!!
..........................WHAT????????
:33 < No sex for Karkitty!!
...I DON'T KNOW HOW TO RESPOND TO THAT
:33 < You should laugh!! It was a purretty funny joke if I say so mewself!!
HA HA. GOOD ONE
:OO < Wait, did you think I was serious?? Nononononono I didn't mean it like that!!
HOW ELSE COULD YOU MEAN... WHATEVER. JUST NO MORE SEX JOKES, OKAY?
:(( < Ok... Sorry...
YOU DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO BE SORRY ABOUT.
:(( < Yes I do!! I pawbviously made you upset!!
I AM COMPLETELY FINE. I WAS JUST BEING AN OVERLY-AWKWARD LITTLE SHIT LIKE USUAL, OK?
:(( < But you didn't do anything wrong!!
NEPETA, I'M FINE ALRIGHT? SEE, I'M EVEN SMILING. TAKE A FUCKING PICTURE, THIS IS YOUR ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CHANCE TO SEE KARKAT VANTAS WITH ANYTHING BUT PURE HATREDPLASTERED ON HIS FACE.
:33 < Okay!!
GODDAMNIT I DIDN'T MEAN IT LITERALLY.
:33 < H33h33 but you look so adorable with your grumpy little smile!!
I AM IN NO WAY “ADORABLE”
:33 < Yes mew are!!
NO I'M NOT
:33 < Yes!!
NO
:33 < Yes!!
WOAH, SUDDENLY A CHANGE OF SUBJECT RAPIDLY APPROACHES, AND IT DEMANDS THAT WE TALK ABOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN THIS BEFORE YOU MAKE ANOTHER HORRID, CAT THEMED SEX JOKE.
:33 < *ac resentfully obeys mysterious “change of subject” and looks at her furreind quizzically, wondering if his proposed situation is a hint that he engages in the art of RPing?*
...I SUDDENLY HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON.
:33 < Oh, neffurmind then!!
UM, OKAY.
And with that, the bell rang signaling the end of the class period and the students around you begin to leave the classroom. Well that sure was awkward! You were being way too forward, and you hope to god you didn't just scare him off with your sex jokes and hopeful role playing attempts. Note to self: People are much more awkward in real life than over the internet. And now you have no idea what happened in class. Hopefully it wasn't anything important.
You turn to face Karkat, and bid him farewell, but your voice decides not to work as soon as you look at him. You mentally scold yourself as you hurredly gather your things and start to head towards the door. But same as yesterday, a certain crabby voice stops you in you tracks.
“See you fifth period, Nepeta.”
Oh god you actually have to use words to answer him this time. You rack your head for the appropriate response to such a simple statement. But after a couple seconds of standing in the middle of the room like a deer in the headlights, you manage to turn back and let out a cheery “See you then!” then you rush out of the classroom.
>Karkat: Breathe
You don't think you've ever has such an awkward conversation, and it reminds you why talking to people is one of your least favorite things to do. You nearly geave her a panic attack in the middle of class. But you definitely weren't helping the situation either. Dumbass. If a girl brings up sex, even if it's a joke, you don't do... whatever the hell it was you were doing... But just thinking about Nepeta like that is wierd for some reason. It's not like she's some random broad. You actually want to get to know her before you even think about a relationship. Well isn't that just goddamn chivalrous of you. Why are you even thinking about this? This whole train of thought is shit, and should not happen, in any form, ever.