thecapitol | (OPEN) at least he's not dead now

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(OPEN) at least he's not dead now

Who| Karkat and whoever runs across him.
What| Now that he's out of the mini-arena, Karkat's exploring the place he has to live.
Where| All across the Training Center.
When| After his death in the mini-arena ~ a few days after. Anywhere around then.
Warnings/Notes| Karkat is pretty foulmouthed and irreverent, but nothing else. Feel free to use prose (whichever tense) or action; I'll adapt with you.

Of all the ways Karkat would wish to be welcomed someplace new, this was not one of them. Thanks to the arena, which they'd shoved him in with only minimal explanation, he'd suffered his second death in as many days. Wasn't it enough for Jane to fork him before he showed up? Did he really have to get...

He didn't want to think about it. Maybe it was better that it was something from the arena rather than a fellow tribute, but it didn't make being killed by an oversized, animatronic cartoon beast any better.

Even after, being alive was strange. Back during Sgrub and everything else before Panem, at least there were countless mechanics to explain why someone might revive. Here he didn't know what they did. Something technological? It wasn't unthinkable when they'd brought him here from another part of reality, and while he was glad to not be dead permanently, it was unsettling to think they had such technology at their disposal.

Now he was... not free, but at least somewhere safe. Not subject to the current edition of the Hunger Games, at any rate. He learned his district and what that meant. (District 6, transportation, here's your floor and your room.) He learned that the tower was host to tributes and the various mentors, escorts, stylists, and whoever else served part of this entertainment machine. Night would bring curfew, but days would be relatively open, giving him the chance to feel out his surroundings.

A.
One place he'd definitely find himself was the actual training center, the floor from which the building got its name. Being here would mean needing to be in shape and on his game, and while he had skills still left over from Sgrub, they would do no good if left unpracticed. If he could find a sickle amongst the weapons provided there, he'd be practicing with that. Otherwise he might check out the other stations. Learn knots? Sure. Learn edible plants? Worthwhile. And then there was regular old relief of frustration: he may not have been a fistkind user, but that didn't stop him from taking things out a punching bag.

B.
Night of course would leave him confined to the District 6 area. Unused to a bed, lacking sopor slime, and still rattled from the arena, he didn't sleep much. It didn't help that his species was naturally nocturnal, but even during the day he sought little rest. At least the common area had a TV and games to play, and the kitchen helped for hunger or thirst. It wouldn't be hard to spot the look on his face: tired and grumpy, with perpetual bags under his eyes.

C.
During the day again, he more than once found himself up on the roof. Here the atmosphere was less stifling, with fresh air and an actual sky to see, unlike the darkness or the void or luminescent shapes of dream bubbles back on the meteor. It wasn't his sky, not the one he knew from Alternia, but if it had been he wouldn't have been able to stand the sun. This was tolerable - relaxing, even - and it gave him a space from everything else.

D.
But beyond the rest, he wandered. The tower was big, and he knew well enough that people he knew had to be around. He'd heard mention, or seen a flash of horn in the arena he couldn't stop long enough to identify, and he had run into Eridan while he was still in there. It meant teammates or friends were here, and these above all else he sought out, carrying him through common rooms or the lobby or across hallways and elevators throughout the tower. Feasibly anyone could run into him; though short, most people weren't grey with horns, and it made him stand out.

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"Yeah but I mean. We don't age or any of that crap. You're as tall as you're ever going to get now." He leans forward just a little, so he's verging on looming over his petite troll friend. All 5'9 of his twiggy self like a leaning tower of pizazz.

"If past you is an asshole it all kind of ties back to present you eventually, what with time being linear and all." He lilts his head to the side slightly as he mansplains time, taking the time to pause and look offended at being called a balloon of all things. "No, you're right, I'll let the magazine articles do the fellating for me." He brushes imaginary dust off his shoulder as Karkat inevitably catches onto the drama. Fuck. He was practically wafting it under his nose like freshly baked cookies.

"Yes, she's here. She's been here longer than I have. When I got here, she didn't know we broke up and I might have said something a little tacky. It was awkward, we weren't really a cohesive team for a murder match so I kind of just gave her some space and then died on her. I think that pretty much fixed all of the nothing that actually happened. Now we're friends on every level but we're never gonna be mite sprites again." Probably. No. Never. Not happening.

"God damnit." He says them emphatically, each apart, as if they were their own sentences. For a second his eyes squeeze shut, but only just; next thing he's leveling a if you don't move I will shove my fist through your nose and out your ear look at him. A whole 5'2" and that's it? His horns won't grow either this way! This is bullshit.

"I talked to past me more than you ever did, rumpsniffer." You don't need to mansplain time to him when he's set up the most ridiculous, unnecessary time loops there are. "Need I remind you that present me has had the time to learn, grow, and become less of a stinking crotch stain on the universe? Because that's a thing."

But hey, there's the other subject. Karkat chews at his lip as the details are laid out for him. Obviously this means she's from the past, and if they hadn't broken up yet... It leaves him hopeful that things with Gamzee hadn't started yet, or at least not gone far. By now he's well decided that he's pretty much a waste of time for all involved, and a horrible influence on their lives at worst. (Let's be real: it's worst.)

Then Dave says the thing. His hands fling up.

"How many times have I shared my books with you for you to still not get the word for the quadrant closest to Earth romance and the one you actually had? It's matesprit, you odious trash heap. There are no insects involved, no matter what a parasite you are on my tolerance for life."

He finishes out with a sigh, placing palm to face as he shakes his head. "You could have asked her, you realize. Hey, what happened last for you? Or you know, actually thought before letting that garbage out of your flap. Romance needs to be handled delicately." His hand drops, and with its twin gestures the word, fingers in together.

"Tell her, hey, shit happened. Don't pretend you have feelings you don't, but don't be a blunt sack of shit about it either. Maybe then you wouldn't have had to die to fix things. Amazing, right?" His eyes roll.

"Just please, tell me you're not fucking up that bad now."

Edited (removes a clunky unnecessary line, then realizes I need to reword the start of the next paragraph) 2014-11-09 12:57 (UTC)

That other subject takes precedence over bickering about past and future selves, for the moment anyway. It's a good thing, really. Dave might have had to admit that he really did miss Karkat and that he's genuinely glad that they're friends, even if he isn't glad that he's here. It would have been gross and awkward, it's better when Karkat is the one being sensitive and neurotic.

"But that implies I actually read them and didn't thumb through them while you were breathing down my neck. Besides, Rose kept hornswoggling them so I figured I'd just wing it and then decided it wasn't my thing anyway." He justifies his ignorance so readily, even if it had been facetious in order to avoid the awkwardness of this topic. "I did that, it just didn't go well because she gave me some monosyllabic answer and tried to ollie off. It's all in the past now anyway. Seriously. Done and dusted."

It's hard to tell if he missed this or didn't, but there's a strange sense of nostalgia he get from it that makes all the other bullshit seem a little less harsh right now. "No. We're friends like we were before, we've just mutually acknowledged the fact that we don't work in the delicate romance sense. No big. Moved on. Got a new boyfriend." He tacks that on like it's an unimportant after-thought. If he can brush that one under the carpet it won't be a big deal when Karkat inevitably finds out later. "Got a haircut too but I lost it in the war."

Karkat tips his head back, uttering forth the song of his heart: "Uuuggghhgghghh." Even as he rights it, he looks no more pleased. "You were in a matespritship, you culturally insensitive prick. How can you not know the word? And that's not what hornswoggling means!"

At least things are done and dealt with now, though it doesn't stop him holding a judgemental look for a moment. Does he not get the obvious? If she was acting like that, she was uncomfortable, and why wouldn't she be? You don't make a tasteless joke; you give her space. He may well have burst out with the whole spiel anyway if not for another topic.

"New boyfriend?" His eyebrows perk out of their tangle. "Shut up about your haircut, I don't care. Who is he?"

Edited 2014-11-09 13:57 (UTC)

"Because it didn't matter and she didn't care, when I'm dating you I'll care about what box you want me to label you under." The tone he takes on is vaguely threatening, as if implying he'll date the shit out of Karkat just to prove a point. "Clearly I'm not a major in English or Trollish. The shit you miss when you leave school at thirteen just creates a void you'll never fill." He shakes his head mournfully, glad that Karkat doesn't burst into another spiel. It was an uncomfortable and awkward time for him and one he'd rather not relive by having things he can't fix pointed out to him.

This is much better. Sort of. He does get a little gratification telling Karkat, it's not like he's particularly ashamed of Loki after all. Instead, his hand raises to his head to scritch at his fluffy hair with all the indignation he can convey in a simple gesture. "Loki." He says like that should explain everything. "He's from Asgard. It's another planet. Pale. Black hair. Dreamy smile. Green eyes. Bout this high." He gestures vaguely upward, rattling off the description like he's talking about a lost dog.

Threat? Please. Karkat's head outright rolls along with the swirl of his eyes, ending tipped on its side. "You would never date me, dumbass. I'd get my quadrant hangups all over everything, and you already told me you can't do those. We are firmly seated in the 'bro' square, and there we shall remain until the end of time."

The subject of Terezi is hereby left behind, and he rights his posture to listen to the rest. Loki, as it turns out, does not explain everything. The rest gives a better idea, though he'd have to see him to get it. Pale with black hair and green eyes doesn't mean a lot if he's from another planet.

"Obviously you met through the course of murderpalooza so I'm not asking that. What's he like, though? Personality and shit, and how you got together." He motions away, adding, "And let's go sit down if we're going to have this chat. I had a perfectly nice chair that way before you showed up."

"Point taken." He complies without so much as a debate as to whether he could sweep Karkat off his hooves given the chance. The idea is a little too awkward to even joke about right now. "We're strapped into this platonic ferris wheel for life." And he finishes off that point with a curt nod of agreement. If pixels were a thing in this very real world, it would be the best way to describe the amount his mouth moves upward into the tiniest hint of a smile.

Dave opens his mouth to describe Loki, but shuts it as he both realises he doesn't know how and acknowledges that Karkat wants to move this conversation to a chair. He's wary of Karkat and chairs, but now it seems like a good distraction. It's a relief not to hash out everything that sucks here, he's glad he's managed to find a topic that Karkat can probably find some appreciation for in his chafed little heart.

"Sure. Why the fuck not?" He gives his shoulders yet another shrug before he strides toward the chairs and plonks onto one half. He doesn't really wait for Karkat to sit before he starts talking, mostly because he feels mushy and gross telling the story. "He's fun. Witty. Kind of a world renowned trickster, I guess. Don't read into that." He warns as soon as the word trickster leaves his mouth. "He's a massive smartass and you can tell he always thinks he's right." He folds his arms low over his chest as he leans back in the chair. "I dunno how it happened. We sort of did the whole dumb flirting thing, then he left me a note after an Arena and we chitchatted about shit." He'd almost forgotten that, despite a lot of this being fake, the foundations of it were still because they'd become good friends. "Then things got tough and I didn't see much of him for a few weeks. I caught up with him in the Arena after a fight and he went in to check my eye and ended up smooching me." His mouth tugs to the side as he tries not to pull a face. "That was about three months ago by now. I should get him a card."

Trust him, Dave, there will be no backwards sitting and different levels of elevation this time. With talk of their dating potential settled and done, Karkat heads on over to settle back in the seat he'd had before. It doesn't bug him that Dave starts talking before he's even sat down; he's used to his constant babbling by now.

"Don't read into what?" he asks first with a raised eyebrow, but quiets for the rest. He doesn't know the Earth myths.

But a trickster in combination with smartass qualities does make him wonder. It's not like Terezi, really, and to him the guy sounds like a pain in the ass waiting to happen. Then again, Dave himself fit that mark before he got to know him better. He leans forward to prop his chin on folded hands as he takes in the rest.

"Hmm." He taps a finger against the back of his hand. "This would work better if I actually knew the guy, and I wasn't around to see or hear about this all unfolding. Are you happy with him, at least?"

When Karkat asks what he shouldn't read into, Dave breezes past without a response. He had been referring to John with that little comment and he's kind of glad that it doesn't get picked up on. He'd only prefaced on the offchance that Karkat would make the implication himself, but he's safe now. probably.

It takes a lot not to pull the face of a supremely unimpressed teenager when Karkat positions himself like that and talks like that. He's glad, in a way, that he's the Karkat he most recently remembered him to be. There's a weird urge in him to just throw his damn arms around the damn troll, which is the point in which he realises he really is a little bit fucked up from all the shit that he's been going through.

Fuck it. He's gonna do it, yep. Leaning in, leaning in close- actually no. Bad idea. Abort. Now he's just leaned in. Awkwardly. With no follow through in the form of a hug. "Guess." He says cryptically, choosing to try make the lean part of his response, like he's taunting Karkat for even asking.

Karkat has no idea about Dave's thought process. From his side all he sees is one pale weirdo leaning in post-question, intent hidden behind ugly shades, to... just... stay like that. Leaned in. With a one-word response critically lacking in explanation, either for what he asked or why he made that move.

His hands drop to his lap.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he asks. The subject of Loki is for the moment forgotten.

Goddamn it. He should have known it was too late to bail, but he can't bring himself to follow through the gesture now. It's like the mere expression of affection is both a) stupid and b) way too fucking vulnerable at this point. Everything sucks, he's admitted everything sucks, but it's even harder to admit that even a hug from Karkat of all fucking people would be comforting. He's got plenty of friends and family here, but the core group of people he'd Been Through Shit with back home were either there fighting the good fight or here and busy with their own things. Karkat was rarely too busy for bullshit. Or at least, nothing Dave would prioritize as more important than hanging out and talking about how stupid people are.

But no. He can't just. Hug him. That's opening up in a way that lights a big "I'm not alright" sign over his head and he'd rather avoid that. "Guess." He says again, cryptically as he can. "Can't a guy lean for emphasis around here?" He straightens back up, measuring a flat stare on Karkat. "Of course I like him. He's saved my ass more times than Oprah saved America." And then he pauses to consider something. "Are you friends with Eridan? Because we're going to have problems."

Edited 2014-11-25 09:15 (UTC)

God damnit Dave, you can't just go "guess" again and lean back like it's nothing. What does that mean? What does that convey? Emphasis his ass; that was too out of nowhere and lingering and weird. He's only tangentially thinking of his thing with Loki when he manages his answer (with its useless pop culture reference - seriously, what's an Oprah?), and even that small grain of on-topic thought gets blown out with the next question.

Eridan. It's kind of sudden, and it's a question he hasn't really considered yet.

"Uh," he says thoughtfully. His hand lifts, tips back and forth in a sort-of-not-really, slows, then lifts palm-up in helpless not knowing. "He helped me in the arena some, but we didn't get to have a sit down chat or anything. I don't now yet. He shot his hooves clean off with what he did before he died, but it's been a few years and we haven't sorted it out yet."

There. Succinct isn't the word, but it's condensed and honest.

"What's the problem?"

Dave can do whatever he wants, such is the beauty of being him. He refuses to adhere to your arbitrary standards of not being a vague piece of shit and actually following through with things you start.

To Dave, it's a natural flow, Loki had to step in to protect him from him and he's helped him after fights with him too. It both saves Karkat having to ask for specifics and reminds Dave that he ought to warn him that he's a piece of shit.

"Right, well. The problem is primarily the fact that he's a piece of shit." Dave nods, as if in agreement with himself. "It's a really long story. Multifaceted. Point is, he was being smug so I punched him and he took it as some big. I dunno. Thing. He came for me in the Arena so I beat the ever loving shit out of him and left before offing him." He shrugs, like it's no big deal. He's still uncomfortable with how close he came to killing him.

"So they were handing out guns for some scavenger hunt, right? Someone was stupid enough to give him one and he came for me again." His lips twitch, still mortified that this shit happened. "But he didn't just shoot me or anything, nope. He held me at gunpoint and made me fucking role play with him until Loki stepped in. Afterward he kind of implied that it was because he had a crush on me, so I rebuffed him pretty hard and now he's all chafed over it."

Edited 2014-11-25 10:43 (UTC)

Karkat doesn't interrupt him, not even at the intro. For all Eridan helped in the arena, it's hard to argue that moniker when he did murder two of his friends and blind a third. Besides, surely there's more to why he's saying it when Dave never even met him before he died.

He's... not real sure what to make of it when Dave admits he beat him that intensely. It's the arena, and it's Eridan, and... And Dave's still talking. Karkat's expression is complicated as he listens, mouth a tight frown and eyebrows just pressed in, and it's not helped when guns enter the mix. Eridan used riflekind; surely that can't go well. What he's told is not what he expected, but in light of the rest it makes a kind of sense.

"Oh my god, no wonder." His head sinks into a cradle of his hands. "He's caliginous for you, dude. If you were a troll that would be straight up black flirting. One punch isn't much, but beating him that badly without finishing the job?"

He looks up again. "Jegus, man, why did you even go that far? Obviously he's a dumbass for not stopping to think you're human, but that would be why he only pulled some stupid roleplaying thing with you instead of killing you outright. It's a power thing. A return for what you did to him, knocking you down a peg, that kind of thing. And if he thought you knew what you were doing, no wonder he's sore about getting turned down." He pauses then adds, "Not like it ever took much for him."

Even though Dave isn't aware of Karkat's line of thinking, he'd be quick to get defensive about beating the hell out of him. It's a sore spot, honestly, he hadn't wanted to go that far. He'd been stressed, scared and tired. So tired. It still feels like it's making excuses for very nearly savagely beating someone to near-death, so it still irks him to his core.

"I know that now, asshole." He gives Karkat a shove to the side, but he shuts up when Karkat continues to explain, because it continues to add friction against that sensitive spot. "I dunno. I just got out of jail, he really got on my tits and I couldn't take his shit anymore." He raises his hands in a shrug. "I made it this far without killing anyone." On purpose. "He just pushed me too far, y'know? Don't poke the bear and all. Plus he's hella fun to fuck around with." A hypocrite? Dave? Never. "But if he's your friend, I totally won't suplex the shit out of him next Arena."

Karkat tolerates the shove if only because there's more serious discussion going on. Dave's answer particularly grabs him in the defense of his own actions and the hypocrisy in his reasoning.

His features press in as he asks, "Don't poke the bear? Who the hell do you think you're talking about? This guy murdered two of my friends and blinded a third. If anyone's the volatile cholerbear it's him."

Still, the question of whether Eridan counts as his friend is not an easy one. He really doesn't know yet. If the question were did you miss him, it would be a yes, but it's always easy to miss the good parts after someone's gone. To have them back means having to deal with everything, not just the good parts, and he hasn't had the chance to address much of anything with him yet.

But even if Eridan is someone who did all that, what Dave did sticks in mind. Karkat chews his lip as he mulls it over, finally saying, "But isn't beating someone half to death a big deal for humans? I know what this place is, but..." His lips press tight for a moment. "It's not like you just punched him for being a douche. You kept going."

Shit. Really, brain? Why did you even feel the need to bring this up? You could have let it coast by, he'd never have even known. Sure, maybe Karkat would catch it on the screens eventually, but there was a big maybe involved in that ever happening. Maybe he just wanted to get it out there and maybe he was kind of hoping it would be brushed off and to the side like it had been. Maybe he said it because it actually still bothers him a little, it makes it hard to defend himself when he's not sure he should.

He tries not to be too obvious when he draws in a breath, keeping his tone measured. "In normal context it's a big deal, sure. But here, not really. If I didn't incapacitate him he was probably gonna keep coming at me." That's what it boils down to, really. He got scared. Scared and really, really angry. "I mean on top of the whole murder match, I was coming off the tail end of a long month." He justifies, but it feels forced for some reason. "Rose and Terezi went to jail, I went to jail, we were there like two weeks until they sent us right back into the Arena and then they started just arbitrarily blowing people up." Like Karkat. "So yeah, maybe he's not the only one entitled to be volatile here."

Karkat inhales deep, then lets the breath out through his nostrils as he thinks things over. Honestly, this is so much beyond him. Human culture is always set askew from his own, and while this might not be normal for them, these also aren't normal circumstances. They aren't even circumstances he's been in long. If someone were coming at him, he'd defend himself, but... The weight of it, how far it was took, that's what leaves him wondering if it's really okay.

The thing is, it's not wholly his place to stop. He voiced his concern. Any more fussing over violent actions and he'd be sounding like his moirail, and the two of them aren't in that kind of relationship.

Ultimately he sits back, and without direct comment instead says, "Tell me about jail if it's something I can ask about. That sounds important."

It's his way of dropping the subject without saying so.

Now that Dave's hackles are raised, it's hard to lower them back down. He doesn't know why he's defensive- no. He knows why he's defensive, which is why he'll gladly move along so he doesn't have to lay his conscience and his guilt out on the table for analysis.

"What's there to say? It was shit. I was there for two weeks, they interrogated me, the food was shit and the worst part was that I had to spend it all in the same cell as Bro and Rose." He makes an exaggerated gagging expression, but he dials it back a little. "Better than some people though. Torture. Branding. It wasn't a pretty month." It's kind of a subtle way of telling Karkat to be careful.

The joke passes without comment. Jail is something more serious, and while two weeks might not be a long time to be stuck there, it's notable that he had to be there at all. And he's glad that Dave didn't get anything worse if that's what was on offer. Part of him wants to ask why he was there, but when Dave doesn't volunteer the info, he figures he shouldn't. Instead he takes the obvious point.

"... Doesn't sound like it," he says after a moment. He's not looking at him. "Just try to stay out of it, would you? It doesn't help anyone if you get locked up again." Which is his own way of returning the message.

"Trust me, I have no intention of winding up back there." But intention means very little when faced with decisions that need to be made quickly and situations with no simple ins and outs. "I'm a changed man, I've learned my lessons. I'm just here to entertain and be complicit in multiple counts of murder and attempted murder like a good citizen." He taps his fingers to his head in a lazy salute before dropping them back to his lap. "Any other burning questions left for me?"

Isn't that a comfortable way to put it. Karkat's jaw tightens, but he shakes his head without a fuss. "Not really. Not yet anyway."

He just doesn't want to talk about jail and murder and beating people anymore. It's too unsettling, verging on the depressing as it lingers.

"What about you, anything you want to clear up or think I should know beyond what you've said so far?"

There's a part of Dave that strongly considers talking about Sollux, but it's too much right now. He knows he and Karkat were tight, he knows how Sollux reacted when he thought Karkat was gone forever. It's too heavy now, though he knows he'll more than likely find out later. He's happy to bury that conversation now.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He pulls himself up off the bench and stands in front of Karkat. "Ever had a frappe? They do a good one downstairs." Coffee sounds so much better than anything they've spoken about right now.

Sollux is a complicated subject. It's been three years since he last saw him on the meteor, and there's a part of him still sore about being left. It would be better saved for another time, so Dave's discretion is a wise choice.

"No. What's a frappe?" He stands himself, and starts off toward the elevator, intending to head on down with him to try one. It's gotta be some kind of food or drink, and chilling out over that would make a nice change of mood.

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(OPEN) at least he's not dead now

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wanna wind this up?

sounds good