#kanayas in this so obviously it belongs here

[dingodad]

ok a disclaimer that our sources on this do largely come from i) doc scratch's ancestor intermission and ii) act 6 information about beforus. so i'm going to preempt any comments about how this information may not be reflective of current-day alternia: THERE IS ESSENTIALLY NOTHING NEW IN PARADOX SPACE. EVERYTHING THAT CAN HAPPEN IS EITHER A VISUAL OR SUBSTANTIVE REPRODUCTION OF SOMETHING THAT HAS ALREADY TRANSPIRED ON A TIMELINE. alternia, beforus and scratch's fanfiction thereof are all reflections of each other, intended to weave together into a universal truth which broadens the reader's understanding of the text!! which is to say in simple terms: unless the text outright tells us or gives us some other reason to believe alternia has changed in the time since the dolorosa and kanaya, I am going to assume the information we are given remains meaningful.

TO THAT END: since this isn't the first time i have made a post along these lines, once and for all on the record, here is my assessment of the role of jadebloods as outlined by homestuck 2009-2016, in which there is a lot more to go off than people often seem to believe ("homestuck has no lore!!" - the clueless poster 2009-ongoing).

the Dolorsa belongs to "the rare class assigned strictly to serving the mother grub in the caverns, forbidden from visiting the surface"; from Act 6 Intermission 1, part 1, they are "the caste almost solely devoted to tending to the mother gru8, hatching the young and proliferating the 8rood", and according to Kanaya they "Tended To Spend A Lot Of Time In The Brooding Caverns Where A Convenient Source Of Light Was Often Handy" (A6I3, part 3). the last part is important; basically the entire point of rainbow drinkers, as far as Kanaya is concerned, is that they glow because they live in dark caves.

Kanaya herself might stand out as an exception to this, but I think there are obvious reasons as to why that would be. for one thing, she is the exception; she never came from the caverns in the first place, she landed on Alternia from space. she never underwent trials, she never went through the process of building a hive with her lusus - she lives in a copy of Jade's home, grown from a seed - and even that she was chosen by her particular lusus is "an event so rare as to elude documented precedent." she is in the truly unique position of having been raised by a mother grub rather than being the nanny of one.

(there is also some implication that Kanaya having been raised in daylight played into some deliberate plan on Scratch's part: "What would you say if I said a dutiful girl raised in the daylight was protected by a bulb-headed guardian, and learned to glow in the dark after death?" this lines up with something we've known about Alternia's undead from the beginning, which is that they "feast on the light and the living" - seemingly rainbow drinkers perform some kind of photosynthesis. this could be seen as contradicting Kanaya's speculation above, or it could simply be that these vampires follow the same basic rules as glow in the dark stickers (and perhaps the very reason they're usually kept underground is to keep them unpowered?) - but the basic premise that Kanaya's living situation was specifically engineered and not the norm remains.)

perhaps more importantly, I also think it's pretty clear within the context of the rest of the trolls that Kanaya is not yet in the position to be playing the assigned role of her caste. just as Karkat aims to be a threshecutioner and can expect to be sent off into space for this role when he reaches adulthood, working in the caverns is obviously something that awaits - or would have awaited, had other plans not intervened - in Kanaya's future. crucially, it has only ever been the "vast majority of adult trolls [who] are off-planet"; there is some minority of adults who stay behind, and, being the smallest minority among the castes, the jadebloods are an obvious candidate for that. in short being isolated underground is the jade caste's own version of being isolated among the stars (quite plausibly, I should reiterate, because being exposed to the sun offers them an undue advantage in the struggle of the castes(/sexes) of Alternia's society). all the other big rules of Alternian society - chiefly that a) after the Summoner's rebellion the Condesce decided troll adults and children were to be strictly separated from each other and b) that once a young troll pupates into their mature form they emerge from the brooding caverns to stake out a life of their own - make it clear that once they move down there, jadebloods are auxiliatrices for life. ultimately, Scratch's remark about the Dolorosa being forbidden from surfacing only makes explicit what is already clear when you put together all the other pieces.

so when i see the word "cloister" used in reference to jadebloods what comes to mind is already pretty familiar to me; it comes naturally to draw connections between the sequestered subterranean jadebloods and catholic monasticism. i just don't really understand what Hiveswap is saying when it uses that word. like, i would like to. it just is not clear to me like it's clear when i read Homestuck

i'm still so mad at how disastrously hiveswap managed to seemingly un-worldbuild the jadebloods. like pre act 2 i could have told you with pretty good arguments from the text what the role of the jade caste is in alternian society but now i struggle to get anyone to give me a straight answer on whether jadebloods even live in the caves taking care of the mother grub anymore. like can you tell me?

[incorrect-hs-quotes]

Rose: Tonight on "My Wife Doesn’t Know How to Baby Talk"

Kanaya: Ma’am, Are You Aware That These, Right Here Are Your Legs? They Belong To You. And You Get To Decide What Happens With Them. So When You Use These Legs To Pull Your Binky Out Of Your Mouth That Is Not Necessarily A Momma Problem. I’ll Fix It Obviously I Just Want You To Acknowledge It’s Not My Fault

[paechwrites]

Here's a gift fic @caruleanfox in apology for practically bombarding you with commishes _(:з」∠)_ tbh I just wanted to write something for your fankid so I whipped this up!!

~~

"Dude, you're holding her the wrong way-"

"I'm holding her just fine, dumb ass, I've had more experience with grubs than your whole time frolicking on Earth C."

"Yeah but, look at her face, she's obviously agitated 'bout something."

Karkat frowned, piquing a caterpillar brow at Dave's direction. He cradled the day old hybrid grub a tad more urgently, scoffing at his husband's statement. 

"We've only had Maydae for barely 24 hours, and you've already developed human father instincts?" Karkat tossed him a look from behind his shoulder, sinking his posture down into the velvety cushions of the couch. 

"Some kinda damn instincts that alert me our daughter is fussed up to the max," Dave huffed, resting his elbows on the frame of the couch. "Maydae is lookin' like she might explode from how irritated she is, aboutta turn into a ticking time grub and only her Papa Dave can defuse this shit, but Karkat is acting like he knows his stuff and doesn't let the obvious guy that knows how to calm down a crying baby."

Karkat rolled his eyes, softly brushing back his daughter's bleach hair, claws clanking against nubby horns that were completely shadowed by the puff of hair. Maydae wriggled in his arms, soft chirrups echoing the room as her face scrunched up in a fussy manner. Karkat stared aimlessly at her, humming quietly as theories ran about in his head as to why Maydae could possibly be angry about. 

Karkat huffed, slumping down on the couch more, seemingly in defeat. 

"Maybe we should just call Rose and Kanaya for this, they have more knowledge on this topic more than us combined." Karkat suggested, causing Dave to purse his lips in thought. 

He considered the suggestion for a mere second, before depositing it with a shrug. "We can't depend on Rose and Kanaya for every step on this, they have their own shit wrapped up in their hands too." 

"But Dave-" Karkat tried protesting, but Dave shushed him quickly with a sole finger pressed to his mouth. 

"We phoned them up like twice yesterday and Maydae only existed for six hours," Dave pointed out, a deflated look crossing on Karkat's face. "The second time was embarrassing as shit too, I'm pretty sure we interrupted Rose and Kanaya from a heated make-out session and our asses just barged in because Maydae coughed once."

Dave turned around to look at the clear window, moonlight bouncing off his shades. "It was around this time too, Karkat, do you wanna disrupt the Marylondes' canoodling again?"

Karkat gagged, his tongue flopping out in disgust. "Okay, no, we'll just deal with this ourselves - now shut your idiotic, filthy mouth before any other indescribable words come flooding out that belong in the privacy of Rose and Kanaya only, we have a child present."

Maydae emitted out a loud 'meep' at this, as if reminding Dave herself as well. Dave chuckled, leaning closely to Karkat's shoulder and perching his chin there. Maydae focused her completely red pigmented eyes on Dave, cheeks puffing up as she gave three more wiggles in Karkat's grasp, each stronger than the last. 

Karkat breathed out a profanity, carefully grazing his claws into Maydae's chubby red body, not wanting to cause an injury to her but also to effectively keep her locked in his arms. Maydae scratched at her father's cotton turtleneck, leaving slight indents. 

"Christ!" Karkat held her up, the bleach haired grub now flailing around in the air. A soft giggle escaped Dave, earning an offended glare from the mutant. 

"What?"

"What do you mean 'what', your daughter is upset, you whimsical shit." Karkat huffed, shifting on the couch and cautiously passing the grub into Dave's arms. 

A grin curled on Dave's face, holding Maydae close to his chest as she nuzzled into the disc logo printed on his shirt. 

"Aw hell yeah, my turn," Dave cheered, caressing the side of Maydae's head. 

Karkat crossed his arms, gruffly looking at his husband with an awaiting expression. "So, you claimed you knew how to 'defuse the ticking time grub', huh?"

Dave's face popped like a bubble suddenly, staring blankly behind his shades with an unmoving muscle for a moment. 

"Uhh," Dave drawled, glancing down at his daughter to come into contact with a curious look of her own. "Honestly, I was just saying that for like, showbiz. I just wanted to hold her."

Karkat gawked for a second, groaning loudly before jutting his arms out towards Dave. 

"Then give her back, Strider."

"Nah, man, I've got this," Dave assured, turning on his heel and trekking over to the kitchen, Karkat heaving off the couch and following in his tracks. 

"Maydae is my kid too, I wouldn't wanna be some kinda deadbeat dad, she's probably just hungry." Dave said, opening up the cabinets of something to feed to her, before lowering down to the fridge and pulling out a container. 

Karkat leaned against the counter, observing as Dave placed Maydae on the surface and unsealing the lid, the smell of meat wafting in the air. 

Dave leisurely picked up a cube, proceeding to hover it near to Maydae's mouth. Though, the hybrid grub immediately rejected it, squirming away from the piece of meat as ear piercing scratches emitted from the action of her little claws scraping against the marbled counter. 

Karkat and Dave cringed, the meat cube revving back and plopped back down inside the plastic container. Dave rested his elbow on the counter, his chin sitting in the palm of his hand as he looked on cluelessly at his daughter. 

"Well, she's not hungry, I suppose," Dave uttered, mulling around in his thoughts until a huff from beside him lassoed him out. 

"That's because she never was, Dave." Karkat criticized, reaching for Maydae and pulling her away from the corner, coddling her once more. 

Dave tossed the container back into the fridge, thinning his lips in thought then turning towards Karkat. "Should we try human baby food instead?"

"She's not hungry, Dave." Karkat asserted, raising an eyebrow a tad.

"I'm zeroed out of ideas then." Dave shrugged casually, walking behind the mutant troll as he started walking out of the kitchen, then down the hall. "You think she's coming down with something? It's been pretty chilly lately."

Karkat hummed thoughtfully, clasping around the silver knob and pushing the door open, shaking his head at the proposition. He relaxed Maydae's head onto his hand, strings of tiny trills filling the bedroom. 

"It's nine o' clock in the night," Karkat mentioned, his tone sounding dumbfounded. "She should've been tucked under her snuggleplanes hours ago. The answer was right in front of us this whole fucking time." 

Dave's lips shifted into an 'o' shape, sliding his hands into his pockets. "I thought she already took a nap before her tantrum started?"

Karkat shook his head, beginning to separate himself from the grub, then abruptly getting her claws entangled into his charcoal turtleneck. Her cheeks were puffed back up again, refusing to detach her tiny claws from Karkat's clothes as many attempts he tried. 

Karkat's eyebrows furrowed at this, a deep sigh trickling from him. 

"Looks like May wants to be with you still." Dave pointed out, sauntering to the opposite side of the neatly cleaned bed. Karkat hesitated momentarily, already feeling heavy weighted bags forming under his eyes and adding to his dark circles. 

Maydae made it very clear she wasn't planning to cease her hold on Karkat's sweater any minute, and the mutant troll's sleeping pattern had already dived down into disoriented and he was willing to do anything to get at least an hour's sleep; if letting Maydae snooze with him was the epitome of him getting just that, so be it. 

Karkat plopped down on the bed, while Dave sprawled on the mattress as soon as his back made contact. 

Kicking off his shoes, Karkat laid back, positioning Maydae comfortably on his stomach. Dave slipped an arm under Karkat's head, scooting closer to him and removing his shades, lazily placing them at the side of his pillow only to give it potential of clattering onto the ground. 

Karkat combed his daughter's hair lightly, the grub seemingly taking a liking to the ministration because she wasted no time in concealing her eyes shut and her breathing falling into a steady rhythm. 

Karkat let out a content sigh, relieved at Maydae hastily falling asleep and ending their problem for the night. Dave nestled his nose into Karkat's tangled, flared hair, sliding his own eyes shut.

"She's done for the night." Dave murmured, his voice sounding a bit slurred and obviously drowsy. Karkat opted to make a noise in agreement, drifting off albeit slower paced than Dave, who was already beginning to snore lightly. His eyelids gradually began weighing down, his wakening grip loosing up and then -

Tiny claws dug into his stomach, the owner of said claws effortlessly shuffling her way up to Karkat, making him groan and expecting a sudden intrusive interruption. Though instead, he was met with Maydae snuggling her head beneath his chin, resuming to nodding off just as quickly before.

[homestuckisautistic]

Epilogue Summary: Meat part 1 (1-25)

So this is just my notes as i read it, theres too much to condense it succinctly. It will be very spoilery, and is intended to be a summary of key plot points for those who don't wish to read it themselves but want to know what happens. I'll try to avoid explicitely triggering content but I'll probably still describe what happens so be aware. Ill still make another post when i finish it with my overall thoughts

Number is what chapter it is, dashes are separate observations within that chapter.

1. Weird graphic description of John fuckin voring the meat. Why

2. -Jane is a facist now and xenophobic?? Amd running for president of earth. Could yall not with the trump comparison

- "DAVE: in the world that mattered more, i mean like

DAVE: the one i belonged to that i used to imagine had a real future

DAVE: that didnt involve meteors or a fish dictator or the american political landscape turning into a nightmarish daily joke"

Oh sweet summer child

-A predominantly human government is responsible for trol population control??

3. John punches Aranea in the face

5. Im p sure Dirk is a facist now too? But like that "cool" edgy alt right reddit type

-He. Literally shoots Jake with a tranquiliser to shut him up

6. John rounds up the other kids from various points along the Game Over timeline and has some thoughts on how hes basically pupeteering these kids to their impending doom

7. Dirk has the same condition as Rose, which she reffers to as "ascending to her ultimate self". Hes not suffering as much because presumably the heart effect of understanding people is less taxing than lights understanding...everything

9. Yeah as expected john and co go to perform the masterpiece and get trapped in the juju for "quadrillions of years from your perspective" fuck you

10. -Firstly chapter from Jane's perspective and OH BOY she keeps making casual discrimatory remarks, pausing to ask herself if theyre discriminatory, and then concluding that they aren't. Oof.

-"And the consorts? Who had even given them the right to vote in the first place?" OOF.

-Confirms that the trolls are not immortal (by Jane basically saying she could wait for Karkat to die off)

-"the problematic nature of troll reproduction. The first generation of natural-born trolls obviously cannot be entrusted to a troll." excuse me what the fuck

11. The kids can talk to each other within the juju and hear whats happening outside.

-I think John has blackrom feels for Terezi?? And also voices he might actually be depressed

12. Okay this was actually p good its all dave and kk being rly gay but still acting surprised when massively horny jade calls them out. Also poly Jade heck yeah

13. VASKA. Immediately after unloading the Juju she gets hit with some debris and starts being pulled towards the black hole, at which point john &co escape the juju

14. Jane full on tries to seduce Jake for his support and its creeping me out

-?? It starts to describe a full on fuckin sex scene but before they do more than smooch and grope Jake starts fantasising about Dirk and excuses himself

15. Rose and Jade die, i think Meenah and Vriska too? And ghost Tavros. Davepeta shows up

-Johm gets vored??? Well almost, he ends up with englishes gold tooth in his ribs

-Dave stabs le then dies horribly (all of the death is p graphic)

-Davepeta dies, dragging le into the black hole with them

16. Rose muses that the 12 characters in Complacency of the Learned represent the 12 players that entered the new universe

-The condition rose and dirk have doesnt affect all god tiers, its linked to aspect

-Actually Rose and Dirk have some pretty interesting introspection here

-DIRK IS THE NARRATOR.

17. -The text is orange and Dirk addresses the reader direct- what the fuck

-He basically tears into the reader for voyuerism and speaks with the nost intense god complex ever seen in him

18. The furthest ring is destroyed

-Dirk as the narrator talks directly to John but like. Is mostly still just the narrator. It's weird.

-John finds his dads wallet

19. Dirk can read everyone except Roxy. Presumably because Void.

-Calli and rox are nonbinary and use neutral pronouns! Calli also talks about cherubs not really having gender

20. Oh John's Jade didnt die i guess. Earth C Jade passed out and this Jade got flashes of her memories

21. KANAYA. Also it legit didn't occur to me that they needed to raise the mother grub for years before it could perform troll reproduction. Durrr.

22. John finds Meenah and she steals the ring of life from him (he took it from aranea)

23. Uhhh. Dirk is basically fucking with Kanaya and trying to keep her from Rose?

24. John finds Terezi! But it cuts away again before literally anything happens

25. Dirk blocks Kanayas number in roses phone. Jesus fucking Christ

-oh sweet fuck hes talking about Kierkegaard

-Theres this really weird vibe of him talking about how smart he is and Rose calling him out in how hes just a dude whos read too much Wikipedia and i cant. Tell how ironic hes being

-He keeps talking about how hes in control of the narrative down to allowing her to react and its real fuckin creepy

-Huh...i guess hes showing Rose what happens in Candy. He doesnt describe it but talks about spoiling

-He...talks Rose into ascending to true godhood, i guess. To the point where her body would be dead if he wasnt doing something to keep it together

...yeah so far Dirk is a dick

[stellar-aide]

> Kanaya: Discuss, once more.

[ectoflowermaid]

DaveKat - Do I know you?

Hey y’all it’s been a hot second, trying to get back into writing for my pirates? fic and this is one of my favorite niche tropes, it’s just a lil oneshot for now but I might expand on it later if it’s something you’d want to see? Just testing the waters iGuess, any and all feedback much appreciated!!!!

———————————————————

You were in the YA romance section.

Well.

Technically it said ‘teen romance’, but you, Karkat Vantas, nearly ten sweeps old (or approximately 21 human years) and verifiably a young adult preferred to address it as such, if only in your head.

Besides, the only other person or troll in the bookshop that you could see was Kanaya, and she was sweating just as much as you looking for a trashy lesbian vampire novel.

The bell above the door rang and another group of college-age kids walked in. You didn’t recognize them. You still didn’t want them seeing you perusing teen books with a laser focus, so you shifted behind the stacks just slightly and examined the group as they noisily entered. Laughing raucously. Fucking idiots.

You came here to get away from all the noise, you couldn’t help feeling a little bitter that you and Kanaya weren’t the only ones who sought the fortitude of an old bookshop, the three humans who had walked in and now split their own ways didn’t even look like they belonged here. More like on the cover of some fashion magazine, Karkat couldn’t help but follow them with his eyes. Was it his imagination or were they...glowing?

He shook his head. Just another group of human jerks, probably. One of the girls, one with short black hair and cherry red glasses made a beeline to the recipe books, much to the apparent entertainment of the other two, as they shared a meaningful look.

The other girl turned back fondly and spared her cooking companion a fond look before she ambled off through to look at old cassettes and records. Her very pink skirt matched the very pink clips scattered haphazardly through wild, blonde hair, and she danced through the aisles to music it seemed only she could hear.

The remaining human was a guy about Karkat’s own age, messy blond hair that, unlike his companion, looked intentionally so, and darkly reflective shades perched on a strangely delicate nose, headed straight for him.

What?

No. He was headed for the comics a few stacks short. Karkat let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. He turned around to look at Kanaya, she had picked up some trashy vamp novella and was perched in an overstuffed armchair in the far corner of the shop. Definitely wouldn’t be moving for a while. Karkat absentmindedly selected a book without looking at it and pretended to skim the book sleeve as he peeked through the shelves to see what shades coolkid was looking at.

Shades gingerly plucked an exceptionally old comic from the rack and something strange passed over his face. Nostalgia? Humor? Bitterness? Impossible to tell. The cover was tacky, some old, super famous comic Karkat had heard of but never bothered reading. The background was black, almost like space, but it was shattered like a prism, rainbow cracks in space and time. What was it called? Karkat wracked his brain. Homesafe? Homestruck? Homestuck. Based on mythology and the ways of the Old Church, it was supposedly a classic, although some particularly nasty New Church members had tried to get it banned in schools a few years back. They said it was nothing but, “lies and sacrilegious content, meant to rot kids’ brains out”.

Religion had never been Karkat’s thing.

Shades held up the comic to show the girl in the music section. He waved it tauntingly and she rolled her eyes in return. He set it back down and continued to search through the old comic books aimlessly.

Was he being creepy? Karkat definitely felt like he was being creepy. It was something about the asshole, he was too well dressed, but still somehow managed to look sloppy. If Karkat looked sloppy it was because he couldn’t afford to look any better. This fuckface was in a long black coat, darkwash jeans, clean red converse, and a red sweater over an untucked black button-up. And he had a long red scarf. Stupid asshole. Stupidly tall. Stupidly attractive. Stupid-

“Karkat? Are you almost done?” Kanaya materialized behind him with a respectable stack of books in her arms. “Would you like me to wait for you before I check out?”

“Um,” Karkat recovered from having had to resist the urge to leap back fifty feet. “No, yes. No. Um. I haven’t...”

He looked helplessly down at the meager pile of books he’d collected. He felt no particular attachment to any of them, or if he had when he’d pulled them he had forgotten his intrigue almost immediately.

Kanaya smiled patiently. “I will see you tomorrow for coffee as planned, yes?”

“Yes,” Karkat nodded emphatically. “Absolutely. Fucking yes. That.”

Kanaya hid a smirk as he turned to walk away before pausing. “Oh, by the way,”

“Hm?” Karkat responded distractedly as he stole a glance back toward the comic section. Shades was gone.

“Get his number, will you dear?”

Kanaya laughed and winked as Karkat fought to avoid turning bright red. Fucking figures.

Karkat sighed and looked at the pile of books at his feet. He slowly began to put them back, peering through the shelves as inconspicuously as he could. He couldn’t explain why he was so fascinated by this guy, this dumb human boy. It was more than that he seemed attractive, more than that he looked like the usual asshole Karkat liked to get his heart broken by, he seemed familiar. Like out of a dream, or a drawing. Like-

Karkat really did leap back this time. He had peered through a crack in the books and a pair of darkly reflective glass frames met him eye for eye. Fuck.

There was a wild scrambling from the other side of the bookshelf, then the human appeared at the end of the aisle and stopped in his tracks. He was breathing heavily. Or he was holding his breath? Karkat couldn’t be sure, but his heart sped up of its own accord.

Something about this human boy who stood there, stance wide, long legs planted apart, firmly. One arm reached toward the shelf as if he’d used the edge to spin around about-face, the other limp, distant, at his side. Face passive.

“Did she. Um.” His voice was crackly, rough around the edges. As if he hadn’t used it in some time. Or as if he had been crying. “Did she call you Karkat?”

Karkat blinked. “Yeah? What the fuck is it to you?”

Shades exhaled in an almost-laugh, breathy and disbelieving. He half turned around as if to say something to someone at his side, but upon realizing no one was there, spoke to himself.

“After all these years,” he muttered. “Fucking millennia. Like a bad joke.”

“Can I fucking help you?” Karkat said.

“Do you like comics?” Dave asked, taking a step closer. He pulled a shiny copy of a popular comic Karkat definitely recognized, Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff.

“Not that fucking bullshit,” Karkat made a face. “If you have anything that’s actually good, then maybe.”

Shades didn’t seem particularly offended by this scathing review. Just continued toward Karkat, a small smile gracing his face. He got the sense that this was a barely contained emotion.

“You know, I really fuckin’ think I do,” Shades lifted his namesake off his nose and pushed it to the top of his head, scraping any pale hair up and out of the way. He fixed Karkat with a pair of bright red eyes. Karkat, who was no expert on humans, was fairly certain that eyes were not supposed to come in that particular shade. After all, even as a troll, his own weren’t.

Shades looked off toward his friends and gave a nod in their direction. “I’ll be seeing you around, Karkat.”

There was a sudden sound of ticking, gears turning, and then Karkat was alone in the shop.

Shades was gone, and so were his female friends. It was almost as if Karkat’s brain had missed something, skipped a step. They were there, they were gone, and his brain had blinked in the middle during the process where point A bridged to point C.

Karkat searched through every stack, as if maybe the three human strangers were all in on some elaborate prank and just really good at hiding, but it was useless. He ended up right back to where he started.

Only now, there was something on the ground where Shades had been standing. The old comic he’d been looking at earlier. Homestuck, volume I. And a note.

“yo. its not perfect obviously because what really went down was a mad shitshow, and its missing some stuff. gotta simplify if you wanna spread the word i guess. anyways, this might fill in the spaces. or at least, i really, really fucking hope it does.

- d”

Karkat looked around the shop, as if he might catch whoever was responsible. No such luck.

“What the fuck?” He whispered. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

[mmetafour]

HAPPY 4/13 MUSIC MASTERPOST ALBUM

Good ol’ Homestuck is getting old, and its another 4/13 : D so I’m here to share a masterpost of EVERY HOMESTUCK RELATED PIECE OF MUSIC I’ve written since I joined tumblr! Here we go:

Str8 up Homestuck music: This is music I wrote that applies directly to homestuck related content, people, places and concepts that come from the comic itself, or works of art someone drew that are based around those concepts.

Prankster, Party of 2 A  song for a picture pseudo-innocent-clown made for 4/13 3 years ago hahahaha I believe they are now.....@pseudopossum​ (fantastic art check it out) and that pic can be found HERE

Ivory Spadille A song requested by tumblr user @temporalgrip​ ment to combine the songs “A war of one bullet” and “rectify” 

Scherzo della rosa nera Or “Joke of the Black Rose” was a song that combined the glass from “Black Rose/ Green Sun” with kingdom hearts’ “Scherzo di notte”

Stormy Heir Another combination song, this time Ocarina of Time’s “Windmill hut/song of storms” and “Savior of the waking world”

Calliope’s Harp This is an early piece inspired by Do-The-Slampora’s picture of Calliope playing a harp! Do-The-Slampora is now inactive, but I DO believe they are now @star-snail​  (fantastic art check it out!) the Calliope picture can be found here. The song takes inspiration from Lord English’s theme “English”.

Starbreath This is technically the song I wrote for last years 4/13! for the wonderful @chuchumi​ and this amazing picture! Check out the rest of their awesome stuff (including THIS years 4/13 pic) Here.

Boss Batle Ahead The ever popular theme for @m-arci-a​, inspired by this decadent piece right here. M-arci-a is an absolutely amazing artist, you can (and definitely should) check out their work Here.

Prospitian Crescent This is the first out of two songs I wrote for the LOFAM4 album. This song actually got accepted! Ironically, I spent the most time on the other song, wrote this while taking a break, and figured it sounded “homestuck enough” to submit.

Autocratic Attrition This is the song I originally started working on to submit for LOFAM4, a battle theme for the Imperious Condescension herself. I did submit it, but most people liked Prospitian Crescent more. Personally, I feel like this one is more original : )

Knight of Hope, Queen of Memes A song for this picture of the amazing @kyleehenke​ ascending to the fully realized KNIGHT OF HOPE. The rest of Kylee’s fantastic work can be found here.

Heroic I wrote this slow piano song after the update that featured rose’s death proceeding S GAME OVER. It is technically a combination of “Chorale for Jaspers” and Kanaya’s theme “Darling Kanaya”.

Cosmic Pot A slightly melancholy piece for Jade Harley. A combination of piano and flute (her good ol’ associated instrument) there is a part towards the middle that is a reference to “Sunsetter”

Robot Rock Heres another song for Jade...or rather Jadebot. We haven’t seen much content for her since...well...y’know...Anyhow, this song was made for this picture by celtyspoon (who has long since disappeared from tumblr) pretty sure they are now @necrophade​ and more of there awesome stuff can be found Here. (careful nsfw)

[S] Homestuck fandom: Rise Up [Act 1]                [Act 2]

[S] Homestuck fandom: rise up is the culmination of a ton of homestuck themes and motifs all sewed together into a couple songs. It is supposed to tell the story of homestuck, dragging motifs in IN ORDER the way most appeared in the comic itself, starting with Act 1 and ending with S GAME OVER (which was the newest flash at the time)

Temporal Demon This is a piece of scrap music I posted a while ago. The beginnings of an idea for lord english’s final boss theme. I don’t think it ever became anything, although it does sound like I took some inspiration from it when I was creating the beginning of Homestuck fandom: rise up Act 2. Like Calliopie’s Harp, it obviously takes inspiration from Lord English’s own theme “English”.

LAND music: These are all songs I created based on various fan made “Lands” or “medium planets”

Land of Cathedrals and Water [Land]    [Submerged]

These are the songs for @dognett​ and the dreary, wet Land of Cathedrals and Water.

Sylph in the Meadow This is the theme I wrote for the Sylph of Life, @roseroyalty​ and their amazing world the Land of Meadows and Stars.

Snow This is the song for the Land of Snow and Daisies, home of @neon-ko​ who actually drew this for the land herself : )

Curiosity This was for the Land of Curiosity and Presents, a world belonging to my recent partner in music @maladroitmeta4​

Land of Breeze and Labyrinth This is one of my favorites, inspired by @glub-on-it​ WHO MAKES TONS OF AMAZING HOMESTUCK FAN WORLD ART AND TONS OF ORIGINAL ART. The land of Breeze and Labyrinth is however @massivelynerdymint ‘s land : D

Land of Bubbles and Breeze This land belongs to @enchantingseeker and we will be going back there soon ; )

Land of Bloom and Glow Once again for @chuchumi and their Land of Bloom and Glow, which they drew here. 

UPSTUCK MUSIC: After a friend of mine got me into homestuck I started writing a fanfic called UPstuck, which is still technically online here. Its a story about 6 kids who play their own version of SBURB and shenanigans ensue. I wanted to create an entirely new soundtrack, not calling back to ANY of the motifs from homestuck itself, but these songs are still inspired BY the homestuck music style.

Yo-yo This song is for Even Tatris, the cocky cool kid of the 6. He can be brash and barely ever thinks before he acts, but he’s still a complete dork and I love him.

Salt Shaker This was actually a song I created for an entire album akin to the “colors and mayhem” albums. I actually wrote themes for 4.5/6 kids (before my computer crashed), but I only posted this one on tumblr....I have this thing where I feel like if I post tons of spoilery music from UPstuck, its like I’m admitting that I wont continue it ever.

This song is for Jack Aslaagn, our stoic ACTUALLY cool guy. 

Lucid Droplets & Opal bubbles These are the two songs that would have played if characters from Derse or Prospit went to sleep, Lucid droplets for Derse and Opal bubbles for Prospit. Pretty simple stuff : )

And thats it folks. Tons of music for your 4/13 needs! If you want any of them, shoot me a message and I’ll be happy to send the tracks your way. Happy 4/13!

[themockingcrows]

Two Fates, Two Kingdoms Ch. 11: Safety In The Unknown

AO3 mirror: [X] This chapter is SFW.

Though the winter rips and tears at castle Prospit, life continues to move within it. The down side, however, is that the hostilities brewing towards Dave from the other members of staff over his special treatment now have less filters in their way and even fewer witnesses. Luckily, he is not alone. Aside from John, his siblings, and the curt librarian, the seamstress Kanaya continues to be a shining beacon of friendship and comfort. He might not know what a moirail is, but he certainly enjoys having one.

    Castle Prospit remained locked in the grasp of swirling snow, and Dave remained locked in with John, much more at ease with his lover than anywhere else in that slow crawl of a castle. True, he could occasionally get the heir to leave the room, go to meals with his siblings or brave the icy air to step out into the garden space and admire just how much the world had changed. ..Till Dave inevitably wanted to throw a few snowballs and John would quickly retreat like a grouchy cat. It was worth it for the brief moments of fun, but not worth it to wind up alone again in his play till he inevitably followed John back upstairs.

    They had begun to work through the books Karkat gave them together, but it was slow going. Those things took focus that neither of them had when they were in the middle of trying to avoid hibernating like bears, or otherwise distracted by each other, caught up in the privacy the chill afforded them and how appealing sex was in lieu of that. Well. That, and just how much body heat could be generated under the blankets as well. Must faster torn through were the other books that could be read in their own time, John devouring tales of history and adventures and legends, and Dave continuing to eagerly advance through learning to read Prospitian, as well as learning to write the flowery, flowing script with a more accurate hand.

    Mostly. Most of the letters still looked the same, but if Dave adapted them into something a bit more akin to Skaian script, or even better the messy lovechild between Prospitian and Dersian, it was much clearer and less prone to spilled ink and frustrated scribbling. Practice papers were carefully stored with John's belongings, not just to keep them hidden and keep Dave safe, but to preserve the sheer amount of dicks he drew when focused on something or agitated and lost in something he was trying to work on.

    Charming, really.

    Today was a day of changing the books out alone since John wasn't feeling up to leaving his little den. The hallways were cold enough that Dave could see his breath and feel the burn in his throat while walking down certain corridors, cold enough that he actually took to wearing slippers and a loose cloak as he traveled around, able to handle working with less but more than happy to indulge in the soft fabrics and gentle feeling of warmth they offered. Really, anything was a literal breath of fresh air compared to the stifling heat from the fireplace, and the mostly empty halls were relaxing to let his mind wander in.

    He paused by the door to the library, knocking at it with his knuckle a few times before popping the door open and letting himself inside. Formality here was.. wavering, Dave had come to realize. General niceties like knocking, minding manners, speaking softly, etc. were all common place and expected. Full formality like waiting outside to be let in because he was a slave was not. Same as with Kanaya, he expected Dave to let himself in if he wanted in, same as everyone else in the building, and would only change that if he was in the presence of another member of the household. ..Or if Dave fibbed and used the more constant fallback of “Master sent me, I have to follow my orders promptly and this was the quickest way” that obviously annoyed the household staff.

    A re-shelving and inventory was underway from the look of it. Karkat was nestled among empty shelves, unopened crates, massive stacks of sorted books and open crates of scrolls, going down a list he'd written before to confirm against a new list. Different papers indicated the new organization method he planned to put into action to accommodate the new acquisitions, which sections would go where being marked with different colors. A gargantuan project, but one that was perfect to do in winter: more solitude, less people being interested in leaving their rooms as often, and a nice chill to the air if he worked up a sweat. This would probably kill him in the height of summer, or at least make him want to die for potentially getting sweat on the covers.

    Dave adjusted his grip on the books he'd brought to return and approached slowly, clearing his throat.

    “Pardon. I knocked, but you seem really focused. Is it okay to exchange these?” Dave asked. “I don't know which sections you've already removed from the shelves, but Master wanted me to get some new options while he's resting.”

    “Couldn't be bothered to bundle up and drag himself down here, huh? Prospitians and their aversion to cold. It's like watching cats try to navigate a puddle, lifting their paws every few seconds and looking alarmed that there's moisture touching them. In the center of a puddle that they stand in every single year to cross,” Karkat grunted, shifting the stack he'd been working with so he could get up from the ground and dust himself off. “Give them here. I can get a selection for him easily. Next few books in this series, probably another more serious history text. There are actually some new books on ghosts and legends in the crates, but he'll have to be patient, because I'm not digging those out till they're damn well ready to come out and be shelved,” he said, deftly sorting a few of the books Dave held in offer into different stacks before moving to put the rest in their home shelves. Empty handed again, he reached to grab a few others from different shelves and different points in the library, coming back to Dave's side to hand them over before pulling a few directly from the stacks he'd been working with on the floor, yanking quick enough to not have them all topple like a stack of cards and instead thump quietly down to their new positions on the floor.

    “There. That should do him.”

    “And, uh. … And me?” Dave asked quietly. Books were still hush-hush, and the library should be empty, but just in case, Dave was cautious. There were already enough hostilities around him, he didn't want to add even more special treatment to his list of reasons why a lot of the staff was aggressive.

    “Oh. Yes, right, forgive me. My mind's a bit cluttered today,” Karkat said, raising a hand to thump it against his forehead. Stupid, he'd literally just put away a volume in the Dersian selection, that should have jogged his memory but no: muscle memory automatically pulled him through this time. “Are you wanting more of the same series you were working on, for the Prospitian?”

    “Yes, please. They're a good mix of too easy and a bit hard, keeps me on my toes. I'd be fine with whatever you recommend from the Dersian section, however, you seem to have copies of things I've either read and forgotten about ages ago, or things I've not gotten around to reading and didn't know of.”

    Karkat lifted his chin, proud and a little smug. Yes, good, praise his collection more. It wasn't funded by his own coin, but it was maintained with his sweat, blood and affection and each purchase was usually made while consulting him to avoid getting extra copies of unwanted volumes. It was a very important job, after all, and this was truly his domain.

    “And the Skaian offerings we have: need anything more from that yet?”

    “Oh, Gods, no, not yet,” Dave said hurriedly. “We're, uh. ..We're still working on that.”

    “I imagined you would be, it can be a bit much to get through if you're not practiced in translation habits,” Karkat said, bypassing the Skaian books on his shelves and pondering what else to grab for Dave. Eventually, he settled on a fat volume of tales from the borderlands, collected by a traveler as he walked the entire border of Derse and wrote of what he saw and who he met. All their stories were varied and colorful, with notes added to clarify or expand on the authors thoughts while he was being told these tales by others. Dave ran his fingers over the cover a few times when he got hold of it, adjusting his grip on the other books to do so. After so much flowery writing, it was really soothing to see something in the familiar letters of home. The cover was even a soft, dusky purple.

    “Thank you, I've not read this one either, though it appears that it'll be a good one to plow through, Dave said finally, once he realized that he'd gone quiet. “Thank you for keeping so many books from Derse on your shelves. I know you would have anyway, but even so: it means a lot to me.”

    “Of course I'd keep books from Derse on the shelves, especially with the war going on. That's usually the first thing to go during any stupid conflict: books. Scrolls. History. Keeping that safe hopefully prevents MORE stupid mistakes in the future, or at least prevents the past from being erased. Keeps the enemy human, whether people want that or not.”

    “..You know, I'd not thought of it that way?” Dave admitted. “Our library at home is stuffed to the brim as well, but I never really thought about why that was. Huh.”

    “Leave it to a fucking prince to not consider the importance of humanity,” Karkat said, rolling his eyes. “It literally took you being in chains to realize that. This is amazing. If all royals were in shackles for a year, they'd probably all change their tunes. But that'll never happen,” he said, waving his hand. “Now, do you need anything else, or are you going to stand here lurking and staring at me while I figure out which shelves go where and what to tell the carpenters to start building for additions? It might not seem like it to you, but I'm working, and I'd like to keep it that way.”

    “Oh. No, no, these should be fine,” Dave promised, moving the stack a bit to make the Dersian volumes less noticeable against his chest.

    “Excellent. ..Oh. Wait, no, one thing,” Karkat said suddenly, darting quicker than Dave had ever seen him move to go get something out of an opened crate further back in the room. Another purple cover, though this one was soft and silvery with its script in Prospitian. “I need you to deliver this to Kanaya, if you would. I've also gotten some correspondence for Jane from a Skaian publisher.. but I think it may be easier to have someone else deliver it. You're already running errands, I don't want to pile more work onto you. Those stupid towers are hard to climb when you're weighed down.”

    “A publisher in Skaia?”

    “Yes, she sent several letters pestering this fellow half to death about some pony book she was enraptured by. I think back when you first got here, actually? She translated most of it herself in a single chunk because she was so taken by it. It's modern, or at least fairly modern, so it was much easier to get through than the book you and John are in possession of. Apparently, the publisher wrote back, or sent note from the author. Or is telling her to leave them all the fuck alone and stop heckling them,” Karkat chuckled. “I'll send it with someone else though, like I said. The delivery for Kanaya, though, I'm insisting on. You need to spend more time with your moirail, Dave, take advantage of the slower months.”

    “I'm going, I'm going. I've just been. Busy. Very, very busy.”

    “I already can guess how busy you've been because I'm not blind, and I'd prefer some strong spirits and a boar bristle brush to scrub that image out of my mind with as soon as possible,” the man said with a sudden grimace. “Now, get moving. I've got important work to do, and you're distracting me, Dersite. Jingle on your way. Beat it.”

    With a half joking bow, Dave shuffled back and away from the librarian, back out to the halls. He could see the delivery for Kanaya was written in Prospitian, but between the color and the title, he was a bit confused. ..It seemed familiar. Was this a book from Derse as well, or another Skaian volume that had been translated? Why did it seem so familiar, what was he missing? Dave wished there was a way to jog his memory as easily as to jog his steps along the corridors, chin up and ignoring the few stares and mutters he caught in the more populated areas that he jingled his way through in pursuit of his delivery.

    “Look, there's the Dersite,” he heard said softly. “Unaccompanied again.. Acting like he's so much better, just because he's the heir's favorite plaything.”

    “I don't think he's nearly vicious as the rumor is, considering how much he's already gotten from us.. Especially unarmed. He can't fight back either way, not in chains. If he fought one of us, we'd get a slap on the wrist for disruption, he'd probably land in the dungeons or at the end of a flogger,” another voice said, amused.

    Just keep moving, don't engage, and everything would be fine. It was only when he had to interact with the others that things got tense. Dave could deal with people staring and muttering easily. Didn't stop him from shuffling a bit faster, hurrying on towards Kanaya's the more voices he heard commenting behind him.

    Not safe. Very not safe, and they were absolutely fucking right. The most he could do was shove back, more would be pushing his luck even though the family enjoyed him. He couldn't risk pushing that letter too much, or that favor might fall away in the face of keeping peace among the ranks of the house staff. A slave acting above a hired servant was unheard of, and the special treatment he got was no secret.. but he wouldn't be able to fight back. Not safely. And certainly not well in numbers.

    Ignore it and hurry on, there was nothing he could do but bear and ignore.

    Dave calmed himself when he reached the seamstress' room, taking a few deep breaths to slow his heart before he kicked the bottom of the door a few times.

    “Kanaya? It's Dave, could you open the door for me, my hands are a bit full. I've got a delivery for you, too, from Karkat,” he called. The door wouldn't be that big of a struggle to open on his own, but eh. This saved steps, really. Announce his presence and get to see his friend even sooner, AND get the door open without any struggle.

    Though she didn't call back to him, he heard the immediate shuffling and some clatters from inside as she scurried around, soon popping open the door for him. She was wearing a few layers, all topped with a warm looking shawl in several bright colors draped over her shoulders, and a smile lit up her face.

    “Oh! Dave, I knew you were coming eventually, but I wasn't sure just when. Please, come inside and set all those down. You said something from Karkat?” she said, standing back to hold the door open for him, gesturing towards her work table. She'd been working on something, though from the many pieces he wasn't able to tell just what or if it was a single thing or multiple small items.

    Relieved of his burden, and hearing the soft click of the door behind him lock the safety inside, Dave picked up the top book and turned to hold it in offer.

    “He said this was for you?”

    “Ahh, yes, finally! I'd ordered this some time ago, after hearing about it from some of the maids. I'm so glad it's finally here, I was worried he wouldn't order it for me after all,” she sighed, taking the book and hugging it tight to her chest.

    “What is it, though?” Dave asked, pulling up a stool and perching on it, leaning on his elbows over the table to relax. “A novel?”

    “Oh, yes, it's uh. Well. A romance novel, actually.”

    “Is it any good?” he asked, grinning at the way she was measuring her words and enthusiasm.

    “Terribly good, from what I've heard. I loved the last book by the same author, and this one is supposed to be even better,” she said, pulling the book from her chest to look at it.

    “Is it a really good romance novel because it's really romantic, or because it's really romantic and full of lewd things?” Dave teased, and his smirk only grew bigger when the book immediately went back to her chest and her cheeks lit up pink.

    “It's... in Prospitian anyway, you wouldn't understand it that well,” she said, but returned the grin in embarrassed amusement. “But considering the maids are the ones who got me interested in this author to begin with, and it's spreading like fire in the staff quarters, the answer is yes.”

    “To which one?”

    “Yes.”

    “Kanaya you're being difficult,” Dave pointed out.

    “And you're being short and nosy,” she teased right back, reaching the book out to thump him on the head gently on her way past him to tuck it away safely for later out of immediate view. “Were you just coming for the delivery, or will you be staying a little while?”

    “Staying, if that's alright with you. It's not as stifling in here, and John's not expecting me back immediately. ..And it's been a while since we just got to sit and chat, mm?”

    “I don't see the point in burning up wood and coal like a wildfire when I can keep a comfortable flame in the grate and just keep on layers. It's not like there's a shortage of cloth happening,” Kanaya said. “Since you're staying, come. Let's go back to a more cozy spot and have something to drink while we talk. I've got some snacks as well, if you're alright with letting them warm by the grate for a little bit or don't mind eating them cold.”

    At Kanaya's offer, Dave stood up once more and followed her towards the back of her work space before being tugged gently down to the floor. The heat was rising from the nearby fireplace, but the floor around it was cozy and comfortable, and where they eventually perched was also more comfortable by virtue of the tons of fabric scraps that she had accumulated into a fairly neat pile atop a large tarp. More rolls of fabric in their entirety were settled here and there, some soft, some bulky and more for being rested against, as well as bags tagged with different colors of wool.

    “This is quite the nest,” Dave said with a soft whistle, nestling down and relaxing once Kanaya offered a cup and poured some well steeped drink for him, already sweetened and tinged paler with milk. He gave it a brief sniff before enjoying a long sip, savoring the flavor and spices. This was definitely not a Prospitian or Dersite blend that he was familiar with, but it made for a perfect atmosphere once Kanaya settled down against his side and sighed.

    “Isn't it? I've been keeping scraps and remnants since starting this job. There's no sense in throwing any of it away, there's always a need for sudden patches, or matching additions in tiny quantities, or blankets, or stuffing, or.. well. Too many things to name, really. So I keep them when there's more than a palm full, and with how many projects come through here for me or other assistants, there is no shortage of that. It also makes the most comfortable sit in the castle, short of one of the royal's suites. And it's all mine.”

    “You're not wrong. I've been in everyone's quarters but Jake's and the king's, and so far, this is a definite contender,” Dave hummed.

    They sat in silence for a time, drinking their drinks and just enjoying being side by side again. Dave could feel the tension melting from his bones, and from the way Kanaya's features relaxed, she was feeling the peacefulness as well. They ate a few small, baked pocket sandwiches over light conversation and catching up, sating their hunger and swapping news. Not too much excitement, and the most she was looking forward to as far as work went was spring arriving. So much flowy fabric to whip out, light colors and pastels that would be flooding in if the fashions from the other cities were going to hold true and make their way to the capital.

    Eventually though, they wound up in a lazy cuddle while talking, natural as could be. Kanaya had shifted to her side and rested her head in her own hand to idly nibble a few dark colored cookies, and Dave had settled to lay against her waist with his upper back, toying with a soft fabric scrap and running it between his fingers over and over. The conversation had turned from lighthearted things to more serious subjects, such as the similarities of what they had gone through during training, the pain and the ache and terror of it. The problems they'd faced, and some that Kanaya faced even now that she'd been free for so long.

    “Nobody would fault you for being homesick, Dave. I don't care how much love you may have for John, being ripped away from home and brought somewhere else doesn't just go away. You still feel the burn to return to home. I still feel the burn to return to Alternia, even if I'm not sure it would be so safe to do so anymore.. I hope you can see Derse again, or at least get in contact with your family somehow.”

    She was a treasure. An absolute treasure who listened, who had wonderful things to say, and who said them in just the right tone to make him not feel foolish for bringing it up in the first place. It was a raw wound to open up, many of the things Dave had to say, but she listened and calmly responded when it felt right, or just kept her hand moving to stroke at his hair or along his upper back to encourage him to keep going.

    No risks. No problems. Just them talking in a comfortable, warm, safe space. It was like being with John but.. different. Wonderful in its own way.

    “It's not quite homesickness, though. It's foolishness. I don't want to just go home and see my family, or even just go and stay safely in Derse forever. I want to take John, too. It's.. it's complicated, now,” Dave said, sighing. “When I first got here, I wanted to die for what they'd done to me, or I wanted to kill them all and escape, or just escape in general. Now though, there's John. Even his siblings, actually, they've ALL been nice to me. They're considerate, they don't ask me to do more than I feel I can, none of them order me about. They seem to worry about my well being, even, and I can't tell if it's just a favor to John or because they like me at all, but it's all so complicated. I can't have both. I can't have Derse AND John, and I'm not willing to give either of them up.”

    “Perhaps if the war ever ends, you can. Wars are messy things, but the thing about them is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. And the more they stay the same, the more they change. There may be open borders again someday. Perhaps you could settle right in the center of the countries,” she chuckled. “Or flee to Skaia even.”

    “Two princes on the run, to be wed,” he said, though his stomach gave the briefest, happy flip. Married to John.. that would be a lovely thing someday, perhaps. When pigs flew and he wasn't acutely aware of the fact that, as things were right now, he'd most likely be forced to sit and watch John marry someone else in a political marriage. The same situation would await him in Derse someday, of course. The expectation to marry, to sire children, to further the crown and the familial line was not an uncommon thing in royal homes. At least in his situation, the bride would not be a mystery.

    ..But it wasn't a bride he wanted, when all his heart sang for was a tall man in shades of blue and gold with messy dark hair and a smile like sunlight. It was an impossible predicament. And it wouldn't be bearable, if John were to marry. Dave wasn't sure he'd be able to handle what he'd be expected to cope with, and the very idea made the earlier happy flip turn to nausea.

    “..It's just a dream, though. One I can't have, Kanaya. It hurts to even think about,” he admitted. “And even now while there is the consolation of at least having John here, and of having your friendship to see me through, there is still no peace for me. Things could be so much worse. I was prepared for so much worse, but I was not expecting it to be from servants,” he said.

    “...Servants? What are they doing that's so bad?” she asked with a frown, brows lifting. “Or who is doing the wrong thing? Someone will be getting pins left in their alterations for them to sit upon.”

    “Most of it's not that bad. I'm just whining,” Dave said with a shake of his head, turning the fabric in his hands to start unraveling bits of the thread that made it up, focused on the new task intently as he spoke. “A lot of jeering and nasty things being said to me, or about me being a whore and a beast. I've had water thrown on me, I've been tripped multiple times, shoved, trays knocked out of my hands or jostled so I'd spill. ..They're angry I'm treated the way I am. I understand in a way, but at the same time, I don't.”

    “You're the easiest target of all for unhappy, vicious people. Though, depending on which ones are doing the worst of it, they could just be like that in general. Some of the employees here are.. not that friendly, really, I'm glad they don't interact with the public at large when events are held here,” Kanaya tutted. “And as for WHAT they're saying, you know as well as I and John and everyone else, that it's not true. You're not a beast, even if you pretend to be one with your biting and glaring, and you're obviously not a whore. You're just.. in a really bad circumstance that someday you may be free of. Were it my world, my power, I would do this for you in an instant. It would already have been done.”

    He smiled a bit, reached back a hand to squeeze Kanaya's when her empty one went to touch his hair again. They laced fingers and he sighed a bit, the tension and upset beginning to slip away once more like magic.

    “I think it's gotten worse over time, is the thing. It used to be funny. I'd growl and snarl and show my teeth, and people would scatter and leave me be if I was with John or not. Now though, it's.. it's not. It's threatening. I feel apprehension when I go to the halls and someone starts jeering with no witnesses or guards around. I don't imagine they'd do anything, not more serious than bruises and frustration, but. ..I don't know. There's a definite sense of ill ease lately, and it's gotten so much worse since the festival, I can barely wrap my head around it,” Dave murmured.

    “Try to stick near guards, then. Or try to make John come with you more often. Try to find the staff members that don't do that and be friendly as you're able towards them if you're receptive. Maybe having more people warmed up to you will help discourage the loud, rude ones a bit more than usual,” Kanaya said. “And visiting me more often as well. I can wait for you in the hall sometimes, if we plan ahead what days you'll come. Or even come get you sometimes, if it's as bad as you say. Discourage anything from happening within my earshot at least, same as the library. ..You're loved, Dave. You're cared for by more people than you know, even here, and that will see you through things one way or another.”

    He smiled, pacified, and nodded. It was a stretch, with how he was feeling, but.. it was encouraging enough that he couldn't help but agree with her. It made sense enough for him, calmed him down, and made the situation not seem so bleak.

    He was loved, and that would work things out somehow.

    “Right. Alright, enough of that doom and gloom, I can't handle more serious talks right now, it's exhausting. ..Thank you, Kanaya. For listening.”

    “Dave, you don't need to thank me, this comes with the territory,” she reminded him, amused. “You listened to me earlier as well, and I've not spoken of those terrible things in years. I agree though, it's exhausting. Would you like a bit more to drink, or a few more snacks? I need to get back to work soon, but while you're here, we might as well make a good time of it.”

    “No, thanks, I don't think I could handle anything more. That drink already has me ready to bounce off the walls, it's quite amazing.”

    “Isn't it?” she hummed, though for having had so much she looked calm and peaceful as ever. Must be quite used to it, or be getting some other effect that Dave was being spared from. “My own take on a favored blend, since it's not available here at a sane price. Import prices are ridiculously steep for some of the simplest things,” she tsked.

    “I think.. I think I'm going to head back up to the room now actually,” Dave said. “I'm feeling much better, I'm full of energy, and things finally feel brighter again. I'd like to keep that perfectly in mind when I'm going with my hands full like this, it'll keep me calm.”

    “I'll be seeing you and John either tomorrow or the next day,” Kanaya said when Dave started to slowly get up from the pile of fabric and find his legs once more, shaking the few clingy remnants off his body and smoothing down his clothing. Yes, she supposed it was time to get up, no sense in staying in a pile ALL day after all. “Some new bedclothes for both of you, and some gloves as well. I was experimenting on how to make some nice, light wear gloves for indoors or gentle use and retain some grip, and I think by adding segmented portions of very soft leather to the pads of the hands and fingers will do the trick just fine. I'm just adding the finishing touches on everything, shouldn't be too terribly long, but it'll save you a trip.”

    “Tomorrow or the next day, got it. I'll be looking forward to it,” Dave said, waiting till Kanaya was up to give her a tight hug around the middle, resting his head and cheek against her fondly. “I'll try to visit more often as well, not just for deliveries. I'm sorry I've not been coming around as often.

    “Shhh, don't apologize, things slip around a lot and I know your situation. Though, because I know your situation so well, I do request that you await my arrival fully clothed if possible? John as well. I've seen him bare for measurements many times over the years, I can survive not seeing more than I have to now,” she said as they pulled apart, Kanaya pinching either of Dave's cheeks and tugging them gently before smooshing either side to distort his features when he squirmed and complained.

    “Yes! I will! Geeze, first Karkat, now you. We're not rabbits you know.”

    “Young love: close enough,” Kanaya chuckled as she released him and headed back to her table, adjusting her shawl back into place as she went. “Be safe on your way back, Dave. And thank you again for the book. I'll see if I can find a way to explain the contents easier next time.”

    “Or at all,” Dave snorted as he picked up his books again and opened the door, turning to give her a loose bow out of habit. “Later then. Have a good day, Kanaya.”

    The smile she flashed at him when she waved and he left remained stuck in place for quite some time after, as did the warm, peaceful glow of an early afternoon of contentment spent with a moirail. ..This wasn't like being at home in Alternia, where everyone knew the social customs so well already, the implications, the expectations of the bonding. But considering Dave didn't understand everything about why it meant so much to her, and was still more than willing and capable of filling the part? The way they could relax immediately, and feel that sense of peace?

    This very moment was the closest to Alternia she had felt in years.

[tashaleway]

KVAAFCRS: Chapter Six: Sortings and Low Tolerance of Babblings

The rest of the train ride had thankfully passed quietly, which Karkat contributed to his yelling. Ironically enough. He had hoped to meet Kanaya on the train, but he hadn't been able to find her. Or rather; he had looked in a few cars down the train, hadn't seen her and let that matter rest. It wasn't all that important anyway. He was certain that she got other friends and had only invited him because she was polite. People were like that. Polite. To spare others feelings, but if were able to look past the false veil, you would only get hurt even more. Kankri was wrong; politeness wasn't something to strive for. Bluntness and truth was. Or so he had decided a few years ago, when one of Kankri's speeches had been too much for him. He had lived by those rules ever since.

Soon they arrived. The older student all walked towards some carriages, but the first years were led by some random professor, or groundskeeper, as he introduced himself. It wasn't all that important. Karkat was sure he wouldn't see much of him. Karkat regretted that decision as soon as he saw the old, leaky boats. This groundskeeper would be his new archenemy.

The boat ride was… well… wet. And cold. He should leave it at that. After some chatter between the groundskeeper and the Deputy Headmistress, Umbrage, they finally reached the castle.

They had been ushered into a small room, where he finally found Kanaya. They had both been unable to find each other on the train. Kanaya admitted that she had only been able to search a small portion of the train, before a prefect had ordered her to find a seat. They weren't able to talk much more, before Professor Umbrage had ordered them all to follow her.

The Great Hall certainly lived up to its name. It certainly was great. And huge. And… pretty amazing actually. Karkat wondered briefly, if anyone got hit by the melted wax from the floating candles, but figured that there was some sort of spell or charm that kept the students safe from being occasionally burned. He hoped. All the first year students looked around the room nervously, but with Kanaya by his side, Karkat felt a bit better. Not that he was nervous or anything, no sir.

The witch who had introduced herself as Umbrage, placed a stool on the floor along with a mouldy old hat that had certainly seen better days. Karkat nearly jumped in shock when the Hat began to sing about the different houses. It was as he had expected from whatever Kankri had told him. Gryffindor valued honour and bravery. Hufflepuff was all about hard work and loyalty. Slytherin searched for those with ambition and cunning (to be frank, that didn't sound as bad, as when Kankri had told him tales about the Slytherins, but Karkat could feel a small headache building, so he decided to just focus on the matter of hand, and not whatever the Houses represented. It wasn't like it was important or anything) and Ravenclaw invited the witty, those with love for learning and wisdom. So far, Karkat couldn't see what House he would fit into, but alas, no child (or adult) was only made up from one House. Everyone had a bit of every House in them. Or so, one of his books had said. He thought that it sounded rather clever. And a tad confusing.

"Ampora, Eridan!" Umbrage called and a dark-haired boy with a purple streak, staggered nervously up to the hat.

After a moment the hat yelled, "SLYTHERIN!" the table far to the right clapped for their new member. Karkat noticed that their colours were green and silver.

The Sorting seemed forever. A Captor, Sollux apparently belonged to Ravenclaw. John Egbert, the boy from the bookshop and train, was a Gryffindor (he got the biggest applause so far as the red and gold table seemed rather excited to have him). Jade Harley, John's cousin, was a Hufflepuff. Lalonde, also a Ravenclaw. Leijon, Gryffindor. Karkat only half listened to names and their destination. Only five children had been sorted and he was already bored. A long way to the V's. He idly wondered if the rest of the school was as bored as he was. Karkat quickly refocused on the Sorting when 'Makara, Gamzee' was called forth. It was the kid, Kankri had warned him against, and when he thought about it, it was also the clown-kid that had visited him in his compartment along with McStutters. He honestly didn't seem all that dangerous.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" Karkat nearly laughed out loud. From all the warnings, he'd heard, he hadn't expected Makara to end up in Hufflepuff, the House for the so-called losers. He ended up rolling his eyes. So much for being dangerous.

"Maryam, Kanaya!" Kanaya walked forward with grace. Karkat whispered a quick 'good luck' and was rewarded with a nervous smile. She wasn't on the stool for long, before the Hat proclaimed her to be in "RAVENCLAW!" for the next seven years of her life.

Karkat gave an assuring smile to Aradia when she was called up next. She also ended up in Ravenclaw. The Mohawk was next and got Sorted into Hufflepuff. What a surprise. Or maybe he just wanted to be in the same House as the clown. They seemed to be great friends. Hmpf.

A girl named Peixes also got Sorted into Hufflepuff, which she seemed to be very satisfied with. Pyrope, who seemed to be blind, if you noticed her cane, but didn't have much trouble finding the stool, got sent to Gryffindor. Serket, the girl with the spider and a wicked grin, got sent to Gryffindor as well. She seemed surprised, but quickly joined the Pyrope-girl. Strider, a boy who lazily walked up to the Hat, wearing sunglasses (who wears sunglasses indoors?) was put in Slytherin.

"Vantas, Karkat!" he was finally called, and Karkat wished that he didn't have to be Sorted right now. Couldn't it wait? For like… the rest of his life?

Karkat walked uncertainly up to the stool with the moulding hat, suddenly not so sure about this whole deal. Actually wishing to just turn around and leave. Why did they need to Sort the first years in front of everyone else?! He most likely looked like a wreck, but tried not to show the growing feeling of panic in his chest. He reached the stool, sat down and darkness surrounded him when the Deputy Headmistress placed the hat on his head.

"Hmmm… I see plenty of dreams and ideas for your future, huh? You certainly don't dream small. Wanting to be a leader? Perhaps the Minister of Magic? …No? you want to be higher up than others, so they won't look down at you? Plenty of loyalty as well, not a bad head, and  also hardworking. A fair sense of honour. But what is… hmmm… is it possible to..? …no… but who would..? …oh… Oh!... this is something you must solve yourself, I'm afraid. Just remember to look out for yourself. Only trust the few. I believe that SLYTHERIN will fit you best!"

Karkat froze, but the table, far to the right, started to clap loudly, so he stood up and stumbled towards the table in green. When he sat down, he risked a glance at the Gryffindor table. His brother looked more shocked than Karkat had ever seen him be. He was probably more shocked than Karkat. Imagine telling your brother horrortales of this place, and finding out that it's the place where your brother belongs. This line of thought didn't make Karkat feel better.

~naknaknak~

While being guided to his common room by the prefect, Karkat glanced at Kankri, who had apparently been staring worriedly at him for some time, but they didn't get a chance to talk before they were led in different directions. Tomorrow then.

Down in the dark common room, they were directed towards their dorms, where they would share rooms with their classmates. Sweaty Guy was there, along with Sir Sunglasses, another kid Karkat couldn't remember the sorting of, and Purple Streak. Karkat couldn't be bothered to remember their names at the moment. It was too goddamn late to be polite.

The other boys in the room seemed to share his sentimentality and went straight to bed. Well, except for one boy. The boy he couldn't remember the sorting of. His eyes were red, like Karkat's, but instead of being crimson, the other boy's eyes were more of a rusty colour. Karkat secretly hoped that the other boy had received as much trouble for the rare eye-colour, as he did himself. Or maybe it was more common in magical families. He hoped not.

The other boy walked towards Karkat and stretched out his hand. Karkat nervously shook it. It seemed awfully mature and grown-up to shake another kid's hand. What eleven year-old shook hands willingly anyway?

"My name is Caliborn Uranian. Your name is Karkat Vantas, correct?" it came out more like a command, than a question. Karkat nodded. He certainly didn't like this Caliborn Uranian. He was a douchemuffin.

"Good. Here in Slytherin, we need to stand together. Everyone is suspicious of us, so we need to show an united front, so no fighting outside the common room. And as we are obviously the superior house, we have to live up to that. So no slacking off. You need to show your best. We need every student here in Slytherin. Even those who are obviously usele-" a groan interrupted him mid-speech.

"God-fucking-damnit! Are you gonna drawl on forever or what?? We're all pissing ourselves in our half-asleep state, so I'd rather go to bed, than listen to another word come out of your shit-blubbering hole. Jesus! And no, I don't give flying fuck about what you think of me! I will probably not live to your insane expectations anyway! This is fucking school and we're like, eleven, so cry me a river, you whiny little fuckstick!" Karkat had finally lost his cool, after a long and trying day. Making an enemy out of a classmate the first day, might not be the smartest move, but he'd already tried to be polite (-ish), but he'd been polite the whole day! He'd reached his quota! There was only so much politeness he could do in one day. Come back tomorrow.

Caliborn was shocked, and didn't seem to mind, when Karkat crawled into bed, pulled the curtains on his bed shut and went to sleep. Or perhaps he was just shocked that anyone was stupid enough to be so rude to the son of one of the greatest wizards of all times; Calious Uranian. Karkat Vantas would regret his decisions, but firstly, Caliborn needed to inform his father about this.

[corvid-knight]

Demon Eyes - chapter 10

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13740258/chapters/31990530

Karkat's right; it only takes about forty-five minutes for the pleasantly weird dizzy feeling to mostly wear off. Mostly. There's still a comfortable bit of euphoria left over. It makes everything just a touch more pleasant, for no reason at all.

Dirk offers Karkat a room, and the demon just shrugs and grumbles something about how he wants to keep an eye on you. And yeah, maybe that gets a raised eyebrow from your cousin, but he doesn't say anything about it. Which is good, because even with the leftover magic high you probably would have gotten immediately, intensely uncomfortable with any questions Dirk could've asked.

So the room that Karkat carried you to so you could come down, that's your room. (And his.) For as long as you stay, anyway. Which could be a while—you did promise Rose you'd stick around until she came down to see you, after all. Anyway, you'll be here long enough to justify bringing your shit in from the truck.

Karkat's been shanghaied by John again; Hal makes at least an attempt to help carry stuff in, but after a couple trips back and forth, he notices Bro's laptop, its bag tucked under the seat, and pulls it out with a quick glance at you. "How open would you be to my going through this? I'd like to see if that asshole had any info he wasn't sharing with the rest of us."

"It's probably gonna be encrypted, but knock yourself out." The phone's on the console between the front seats; you snag it and toss it to him. "Might be shit on that too—just, like, be careful going through the pics if you decide to do that."

Hal grimaces as he catches the phone, sliding it into one of the outer pockets of the laptop bag. "Unless he collected glyphs of unmaking—"

"Not sure what that is, but I don't think so."

"Right. Good. I'll be fine, then; fucked-up shit doesn't bother me quite as much as it does Dirk or the others." He pauses halfway through the movement of digging out one of your bags, a thoughtful look spreading across his face. "...which might possibly say something about my morals, I suppose. Or lack thereof."

"How come?" You yank the bag all the way out—Hal seems more hesitant to treat your belongings roughly than you are—and try to remember what's in it. Bro's clothes, you think. Karkat can take anything he wants, and you're making a goddamn bonfire out of the rest.

"The obvious assumption for a normal human is that a person who isn't immediately and viscerally disgusted by graphic images is one who's comfortable with them." Hal shrugs, taking the bag out of your hands and slinging it over his shoulder. "Maybe even desensitized to them, possibly approving of them."

"Are you?" You don't really expect an affirmative answer, but you're curious as to how exactly he will react. You're probably risking pissing him off...but that didn't occur to you until after you asked.

Hal just shakes his head. "I do have morals. I can recognize atrocities as such—not sure if that's the right word for what's on the phone—"

"It's. Uh. It's a pretty good word for some of them."

"Ah." There's a hesitation, maybe just to acknowledge what you just said and maybe to give him time to consider what you might mean. You're not going to enlighten him. "...that's not the sort of thing that upsets me, but I'm as capable of knowing what's morally wrong as anyone is."

"Well, other than Bro. Obviously." Damn, I seriously didn't need to say that.

"Obviously," Hal agrees, and glances at you as you stop to get the door to your room open. "Would you mind if I saved any images that'd incriminate him as..."

This time, the hesitation is definitely him hunting for a word that's descriptive but also inoffensive enough not to hurt you. He really shouldn't be worried about that second one.

"As a sick fucking bastard?" you supply, and Hal smiles a bit.

"Exactly that. Just in case."

You almost ask in case of what? but you guess you do know, actually. Just in case anyone tries to say that his death wasn't justified. Just in case you and Karkat need protection later.

"Take whatever you want off of there, dude." As you take the bag back from him, you think of an exception to that offer. "...uh. Just, like. Do me a favor, alright? Delete anything of me that you find."

He gives you a sharp, very-like-Dirk look that you pretend not to notice at all. "So I'm going to find compromising photos of you?"

"Maybe. Dunno." Bro didn't usually keep the kind of pics you're thinking of longer than overnight—at least you don't think he did. It's entirely possible he's got a whole file of them, buried deep enough that you never found it in your quick forays through his electronics. More than possible; probable.

You don't want anybody seeing the pics he took of you like that. Bad enough it happened at all—it'd be fucking horrible, humiliating almost beyond anything Bro did to you, to have anybody else know.

Hal's just watching you, head tilted. You realize that you let this pause go on longer than is comfortable. Fuck.

"Look, if you do find any? Delete 'em. I sure as hell don't want 'em."

"Of course." He nods, stepping out of the room. "And I'll show you anything I want to save before I save it, just to be sure."

"Yeah." God, you don't know how to thank him for that. "That's, uh. That's good, that's great." Dammit. You're not good at this kind of shit.

Hal doesn't seem to mind, at least. "Give me a couple hours and I'll have these back to you," he says, and then he shuts the door and you're left to finish unpacking by yourself.

Which is also, actually, good.

It's more like four hours before Hal reappears. You spend the time sorting out shit you want from shit you don't, making Karkat go through the latter category to see if there's anything he wants (other than a couple shirts, there isn't) and obtaining permission from Dirk to torch it in the backyard.

Piled into the firepit and soaked with a cupful of diesel siphoned from the truck, it all burns pretty damn nicely. Maybe petty destruction shouldn't make you feel this much better, but fuck it. You think you've earned the right to be petty against the fucker this stuff belonged to.

Rose calls Dirk before you're all the way done watching the fire. She wants to talk to you, once she knows you're there, and he ends up bringing the phone out and leaving you with it, and you talk to her for a good hour, sitting in the grass and watching clothes get converted to ashes as you do.

She tells you that she's engaged, to a vampire. Kanaya, she says, and you have to grin at the way she says it. Rose is most definitely in love, and you're more than happy for her.

She tells you that she and Kanaya are flying down in a week or so, and they're stopping to pick up Jade and bringing her down too. Then she has to ask you if you're okay, because you managed to choke on absolutely nothing at the mention of Jade and cough into the phone for a solid minute.

You're fine. Just. Surprised. With a couple questions.

Yes, Jade is fine. Apparently she's a shifter now (which gives you a definite what the fuck moment), bitten by a werewolf a couple years ago. Rose spends maybe five minutes rambling about the fascinating interaction of the bite's curse and Jade's latent magic (you didn't actually know she had magic at all), which combined to make her something distinctly different from a were. Yes, she remembers you; she's excited to see you. Yes, she knows you're traveling with a demon, and she's more than okay with that.

The fact that everyone's okay with you being this close to a demon is taking more than a little getting used to.

By the time Rose has to hang up, the sun's half-set. Dirk and John are working on what you assume is dinner, and Jake's using the floor of the living room to do a tarot reading for Karkat. You try to avoid stepping on any of the cards as you sit down on the floor next to the demon. "He tell you anything you don't already know, 'kat?"

"A couple things." He shrugs and scoots a few inches closer to you, enough to just barely touch. "I think Jake's being flattering. There's no way those fucking cards are calling me heroic as often as he's claiming they do."

"Oh, be quiet." Jake huffs and looks up from his work, pushing his glasses back up. "My interpretation is the most accurate you're going to get, Mr. Vantas."

Karkat groans at that name, rolling his eyes. "Please fucking forget I ever told you my last name."

"No can do; I need that for accurate divination." Jake smiles brightly, reaching down to gather his cards up into one pile. "Dave, I'd like to do a drawing for you tomorrow."

"Uh." He'll know shit about you, maybe more than you strictly want him to. But Jake's not going to use whatever he learns against you. "You can do me now, if you want."

"I'm afraid I might've already done a few too many rounds today, actually." He shrugs, giving you a quick, apologetic smile. "My own stupid curiosity, making me keep fooling around when I have a headache. I'll be fine so long as I stop trying to do readings for a bit." He finishes straightening up his cards and gets to his feet, almost bumping into Hal on his way out of the room.

Karkat raises his eyebrows as Hal comes straight over to sit where Jake was a minute ago, watching as the shikigami opens the laptop he's holding and starts typing. "You look pissed over something."

"Accurate." Hal nods, eyes fixed on the screen. He doesn't look upset to you. Well, not unless you really focus on the set of his shoulders and the stiffness of his calm expression. "Dave, question."

"What?"

"Do you still want to see the images I wanted to save, or no? I...didn't quite realize how bad some of these are. I know you might not want to look..."

Karkat growls softly as Hal trails off. Dave, don't you dare.

I can take it, you think at him, and nod at Hal. "Yeah, it's fine. Lemme see."

He spins the laptop to face you, and you immediately regret that decision. There's just thumbnails up, but you can still see the pics well enough for your brain to supply the details. You got to see most of these in all their original bloody horror, after all.

Fuck. Fucking bastard.

"Fuck this," Karkat growls, reaching forward to shut the laptop; you catch his hand right before he can touch it.

"Hold up. Hal, this one—"

He leans over to see which one you're pointing at. It's not a really bad one; just an image of a tattoo with blood mostly obscuring the pattern and a series of teeth marks dug into it. Human teeth marks; you know that even if it's hard to tell from the picture. "The one with the fucked-up protection rune?"

"Yeah. Delete it." Just looking at the image provokes a faint phantom pain at the base of your neck, and you have to restrain yourself from rubbing uncomfortably at the scarred tattoo there. "And any other pics you saved of it, I guess. Copy whatever else you want and delete the originals, okay?"

"Of course." He nods, spinning the computer around again. "Twenty minutes tops."

"Yeah. Thanks." Without thinking, you lean against Karkat.

The fact that his immediate reaction is to wrap an arm around your shoulders is so comforting.

You wake up at somewhere around two in the morning, briefly confused by the fact you're curled up on top of someone before you remember that it's Karkat. The grin that that realization provokes brings on the second realization that you really need a drink of water.

Getting off of Karkat and out of the room without waking him up isn't all that hard. Finding a fucking glass in the kitchen is more difficult, actually; every cabinet door creaks, and every time you make any kind of a noise you can't help but freeze, even though odds are nobody can hear anyway.

Call it force of habit.

Eventually, though, you find a cup and get your drink, rinse the glass off and leave it in the rack to dry. When you turn around, Jake's standing in the doorway, watching you.

Which nearly gives you a heart attack. How the hell did you not hear him?

"Uh..."

"Hello, Knight of Blades and Fortune." The words come out of his mouth at what seems like half-speed, and he cocks his head to one side, eyes half-closed as he smiles at you. "You've come a long way."

"Jake, what're you—"

You stop when he shakes his head slowly. "The Page of Wands sleeps."

"...okay, then." You're not entirely sure what's going on, but Page of Wands would be as good a card for Jake as any. He is a bearer of important news, after all. "You oughta go back to bed if you're asleep, man."

That earns you a slow smile from him. "The Page is asleep."

"And you're not?"

"Perish the thought." Okay, that comes out closer to how Jake normally sounds. "Tomorrow."

"What about tomorrow?"

"A task for the others. It wasn't meant for you, but without you—" He raises his hands, cups them in front of him and then jerks them apart, bowing his head. The gesture's oddly terrifying, and even though it should be meaningless you know it does have a meaning. Destruction.

Well, fuck. Not like you can let that kind of thing happen. "So I gotta go along on whatever job y'all end up getting, huh?"

Another shrug as he raises his head. His eyes are closed now. "Free will is yours to invoke, Knight."

"Yeah, yeah. C'mon, let's get you back to your boyfriend, alright? Let him figure out your prophecy shit."

Jake doesn't react to that, but he lets you lead him to Dirk's room, and Dirk doesn't seem all that surprised at being woken up. He just nods when you tell him what Jake said, mumbling a sleepy thank you before pulling him into the room.

You can hear Jake start to talk again as Dirk shuts the door, and you can't help but wonder whether it's more predictions or just sleeptalk. Either way, Dirk might be up for a while.

Karkat growls at you when you crawl back into bed, opening his eyes for a second before pulling you back on top of him. "You were scared for a minute there?"

"Jake came up behind me, is all." You could tell him that something might happen tomorrow. Then again, you could not do that, and just go back to sleep. You decide on the second. "It's all good."

He just grumbles something unintelligible and drapes an arm around you. With him this comfortingly close, it only takes you a little while to fall asleep.