Karkat Vantas ♋ carcinoGeneticist (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
crabmunicator) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
thecapitol2015-05-26 01:51 am
crabmunicator) wrote in thecapitol2015-05-26 01:51 am
[open] and the stains coming from my blood tell me
Who| Karkat and anyone currently around the Capitol
What| Died like a loser at the Cornucopia, now back in the Capitol. At least his leg's fixed?
Where| Tribute Tower + out in the city
When| Evening the day after the start of the arena + the following days.
Warnings/Notes| Mild wound reference/description, but nothing big planned.
God damnit, really?
It's been about a day since Karkat's untimely death post-Cornucopia, and he wastes no time lingering about the cold room he wakes up in after every death. He's whole and hale again, his leg free of so much as a scar to hint where he'd been shot, and it feels good to be able to walk around without hurting. Doesn't hurt after his death, either; whatever that was, it sure wasn't a comfortable way to go. Speaking of, how did he go? His memories are jumbled and vague, and he mostly remembers a bang and then being carried somewhere by Shepard. Where, he doesn't know; he doesn't think he made it that far.
A. Tower Lobby
He makes a stop in the lobby, not planned, but because he catches the answer to his question. There on one of the various screens playing this arena's games is his own body, rushing on up to the pyre that served as the Cornucopia. There's others around him, some familiar and some not, and is that the douchebag he ran into at last Crowning? He looks different without all the glitter and LEDs, but he's positive, and--
Holy shit, that is lightning. A commentator rattles in the background, explaining how the charge radiated outward, hitting not just Gary but a number of nearby tributes. He sees himself laying there, and--wow, yes, this is about him, huh? Because the footage sticks on him as Shepard comes up, telling him to hold on and how they're gonna move, and how he better not puke on her. To his credit he didn't, but man, he really couldn't move, could he? And he couldn't hear a word. But she walks, carrying him somewhere, and...
"Are you kidding me? I died just like that?" He gestures at the screen, as if whoever is blathering about the moment can hear him. "That is the lamest, most watery nooked excuse for a death I've ever been through! Even worse than that time with the fork! Didn't I do anything? There were sickles that time, come on--"
The camera zooms in as Shepard, having realized his death, now fishes for the necklace he wore as token. She grips it and gives a hard yank.
"She broke my fucking necklace!"
B. District 6
It's after he's vented his anger at his arena performance (and gotten away from whoever might have found him there) that Karkat finally hauls up to his district. He's grumpy still and not real keen to be back, but he wants to change, and he figures he'll need to talk to some people. Which is to say, his mentor and escort.
It's after he's switched into something comfortable and familiar that he heads out. If any other tributes have the misfortune to be here already, they might spot him, but otherwise he makes his way to bang on Stephen and Linden's doors.
"Guess who's dead!" he shouts through the barrier by way of greeting. He hopes they're around. He is not in the mood for an untamed honkfowl pursuit.
C. Training Center
It's in the later days that Karkat gets back to training. With his body fully healed again, he's able to actually work at it like he wants to, and make up for what he missed after his return from jail. Well, maybe not 'make up' properly with the way bodies reset around here, but it feels like it anyway, and he's glad to be able to work out again.
In a way, he feels like he owes it to Shepard to keep up with the regiment she put him on. So for all she's still in the arena, each morning bright and early he brings himself down to train. Running, practicing forms, and generally keeping at old habits is part of it, but another is honestly a good chunk of angry sickle training.
He's really mad he didn't get to use one in the arena. He's going to stay mad. His training dummy, innocent and sweet, takes the brunt of this anger.
D. The Capitol
The best thing by far (apart from the healed body sweet mother grub hell yes) is that with his return from the arena, Karkat is finally free of the tower arrest that kept him cooped up after the mess with the Initiate. Better yet, that second point means he can go out and walk to his heart's content. He downright refuses to stay in, and he goes everywhere, from parks to that favorite pastry shop he hasn't visited in a month to just random paths down the streets. In a rare sight, he can even be spotted talking animatedly to fans, bitching to them too about how unfair it is that he died in such a lame way. They are sympathetic to his plight, and a good few are eager to hear him boast about the sickle skills he could have shown off.
But whether his path takes him to restaurants or bookshops, gardens or city streets, it's not hard to find him somewhere.
What| Died like a loser at the Cornucopia, now back in the Capitol. At least his leg's fixed?
Where| Tribute Tower + out in the city
When| Evening the day after the start of the arena + the following days.
Warnings/Notes| Mild wound reference/description, but nothing big planned.
God damnit, really?
It's been about a day since Karkat's untimely death post-Cornucopia, and he wastes no time lingering about the cold room he wakes up in after every death. He's whole and hale again, his leg free of so much as a scar to hint where he'd been shot, and it feels good to be able to walk around without hurting. Doesn't hurt after his death, either; whatever that was, it sure wasn't a comfortable way to go. Speaking of, how did he go? His memories are jumbled and vague, and he mostly remembers a bang and then being carried somewhere by Shepard. Where, he doesn't know; he doesn't think he made it that far.
A. Tower Lobby
He makes a stop in the lobby, not planned, but because he catches the answer to his question. There on one of the various screens playing this arena's games is his own body, rushing on up to the pyre that served as the Cornucopia. There's others around him, some familiar and some not, and is that the douchebag he ran into at last Crowning? He looks different without all the glitter and LEDs, but he's positive, and--
Holy shit, that is lightning. A commentator rattles in the background, explaining how the charge radiated outward, hitting not just Gary but a number of nearby tributes. He sees himself laying there, and--wow, yes, this is about him, huh? Because the footage sticks on him as Shepard comes up, telling him to hold on and how they're gonna move, and how he better not puke on her. To his credit he didn't, but man, he really couldn't move, could he? And he couldn't hear a word. But she walks, carrying him somewhere, and...
"Are you kidding me? I died just like that?" He gestures at the screen, as if whoever is blathering about the moment can hear him. "That is the lamest, most watery nooked excuse for a death I've ever been through! Even worse than that time with the fork! Didn't I do anything? There were sickles that time, come on--"
The camera zooms in as Shepard, having realized his death, now fishes for the necklace he wore as token. She grips it and gives a hard yank.
"She broke my fucking necklace!"
B. District 6
It's after he's vented his anger at his arena performance (and gotten away from whoever might have found him there) that Karkat finally hauls up to his district. He's grumpy still and not real keen to be back, but he wants to change, and he figures he'll need to talk to some people. Which is to say, his mentor and escort.
It's after he's switched into something comfortable and familiar that he heads out. If any other tributes have the misfortune to be here already, they might spot him, but otherwise he makes his way to bang on Stephen and Linden's doors.
"Guess who's dead!" he shouts through the barrier by way of greeting. He hopes they're around. He is not in the mood for an untamed honkfowl pursuit.
C. Training Center
It's in the later days that Karkat gets back to training. With his body fully healed again, he's able to actually work at it like he wants to, and make up for what he missed after his return from jail. Well, maybe not 'make up' properly with the way bodies reset around here, but it feels like it anyway, and he's glad to be able to work out again.
In a way, he feels like he owes it to Shepard to keep up with the regiment she put him on. So for all she's still in the arena, each morning bright and early he brings himself down to train. Running, practicing forms, and generally keeping at old habits is part of it, but another is honestly a good chunk of angry sickle training.
He's really mad he didn't get to use one in the arena. He's going to stay mad. His training dummy, innocent and sweet, takes the brunt of this anger.
D. The Capitol
The best thing by far (apart from the healed body sweet mother grub hell yes) is that with his return from the arena, Karkat is finally free of the tower arrest that kept him cooped up after the mess with the Initiate. Better yet, that second point means he can go out and walk to his heart's content. He downright refuses to stay in, and he goes everywhere, from parks to that favorite pastry shop he hasn't visited in a month to just random paths down the streets. In a rare sight, he can even be spotted talking animatedly to fans, bitching to them too about how unfair it is that he died in such a lame way. They are sympathetic to his plight, and a good few are eager to hear him boast about the sickle skills he could have shown off.
But whether his path takes him to restaurants or bookshops, gardens or city streets, it's not hard to find him somewhere.
no subject
"But," he protests, helplessly. "But they're still hurt from it. I didn't do enough, and they have to deal with the consequences, and I can't change it. I can't go back and fix any of it, and I hate it." He still hasn't pulled away, but his shoulder trembles under his ancestor's hand.
"I end up feeling so... powerless about it all. I'm doomed back in Paradox Space, Signless. I'm dead, Dave's dead, Jade's dead, Terezi was on her way there--and these timelines, it's always one little thing that sets it off wrong. If I don't do everything right, everyone dies, because that's how time works. And even if--even if it's not how it works here, I don't know, there's just so much shit..." Pink has been beading up in his eyes, and now it spills over, quiet and detached from the rest of him.
"This is all I have left," he says. "So much has gone wrong already. How am I supposed to not put it all on myself?"
no subject
"The fate of the universe doesn't hinge solely on you, Karkat. All of your friends had their own parts to play along timeline and their own mistakes to make. Would you blame Dave or Jade or Terezi for not doing enough to work toward the proper outcome? If you could trace it back to someone other than yourself -- and I don't doubt that you could -- would you be so quick to place the enormity of that blame on their shoulders?"
no subject
He looks down. Of course he wouldn't blame other people, because it's never been about blaming them--not without big, obvious things like murders. He was ready to kill Eridan then, and tried to send Equius after Gamzee for the same thing... Though neither of those turned out well in the end. For better or worse, Eridan helped him here, and Gamzee turned into his own set of issues.
He still, in his way, found things to blame himself on for both of those.
"I'm the leader," he says at length. He wipes at his face with the end of his sleeve, not minding the pink marks left behind. "I have to take responsibility for my team." This time he says it not like an argument, but a statement of fact. To him it might as well be.
no subject
He runs a hand through his hair, less in sheer frustration and more because he knows what Karkat is feeling. Really, he does, and he knows that it hurts.
"There are trolls who, hundreds of sweeps after my death, will use the words I spoke and the philosophy I tried to teach as an excuse for hate and genocide. In my name, they will try to wipe out all highbloods because they think somehow that kind of intolerance will help create peace. I used to think that was my fault, that if only I hadn't spoken out in the first place I might not have caused thousands of trolls to die. Looking at it now that seems ludicrous, doesn't it? What they did, their use of my words to justify their hate and fear, wasn't anything I could have prevented. It would be ridiculous to hold myself accountable for someone else's choices.
"You are responsible for your team in that you can offer guidance, structure, a strong foundation. You are not responsible for what they choose to do with that."
no subject
He catches himself before he can start to put the words out of his mouth.
"We aren't getting anywhere like this." His voice is soft and sounds like giving in. "If we keep going, we're just going to keep debating until our aeration sacs give out and leave in protest."
It's depressing that this is how their first real conversation after things with the Initiate has gone. Signless can mean all the good in the world, but his sense of responsibility is weighed down by stone after stone, too heavy for one conversation to lift off.
Karkat stands, and crabdad chitters complaint as the move dislodges him from his lap.
"I'm going to go find something to take my mind off this. I'll see you around, yeah?"
aaand done i figure
He also knows better than to insist. If anything, he's proud of Karkat for having the maturity to know when to walk away.
"I'll see you."