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Who: Karkat & YOU
Where: An ASSORTMENT OF PLACES (see below)
When: Backdated a few in-game days, I think, but pretty much any time between then anddd let's say Valentine's Day
What: getchur Karkat here, assorted
Warnings: almost definitely imaginative swearing

It takes a couple of days after CONDOR agrees that housing Feferi alongside Sollux and Karkat in the West Coast Trailblazers' HQ was the best option – someone with her political value against the Alternian Empire's current regime is definitely best kept where they could see her – for Karkat has finally accept in his heart that yes, he can leave both of them unsupervised for long stretches of time. Feferi might be extremely weird and in need of some ... gentle guidance, when it comes to Earth customs, but she isn't about to go on any kind of weird amnesiac rampage or get horribly lost or accidentally hurt civilians or something, and with her around neither is Sollux.

It is a massive weight off his thorax: Sollux's recovery is no longer his responsibility. While he's not enough of an asshole to just totally leave all of this in Feferi's hands now that she's here to take it, he knows she's way more comfortable taking that kind of role with Sollux than he is. That's not the kind of friendship he and Karkat have – and it's certainly not the kind of friendship he wants them to have. And he hopes with Sollux's matesprit around it won't be so long before they can go back to comfortable bickering and shit flinging, like they used to.

For now, though – and the 'now' here spans a couple of weeks, at least – he is just appreciating the fact that he's more free to do whatever without worrying about whether his best friend is OK without him than he has been for the last couple of months.

He ends up going outside a lot more than he usually would, just because he can, so if you are a member of the public you may spot him slouching down the street, or maybe a park, with as much of a spring in his step as he ever has, as if it's never occurred to him before to explore – or in a shop, perhaps your shop if you work in one (u kno who u r), probably looking kind of disdainful or disapproving about whatever it's selling, as a default, in spite of his mostly good mood.

(He's always in civvies, of course, because he is not allowed to fight crime on his own. He's usually wearing sunglasses when he's outside, though, which isn't wholly uncommon for Alternians in the daytime – Earth's sun is a lot less dangerous than Alternia's, but his species is nocturnal by habit and somewhere as sunny as LA can be a bit much. Honestly Karkat would be pretty OK with it by now, he's had a lot of time to adjust, but the arrival of his old friends has reminded him that he needs to keep his identity secret for a reason, and the sunshine serves as a convenient excuse.)

He certainly isn't spending all of his time outside, but he is in general spending more time out of his room. Fellow Trailblazers may find him sat on the floor by the TV, re-categorising his small but steadily growing collection of Earth movies (almost exclusively romance, of course), practising with his sickles in the gym, or, if they are unlucky, cooking something that smells completely and utterly awful. He seems in a good mood, if perhaps sort of thoughtful. He may even smile at you.

(IF your character would not actually approach Karkat under any circumstances suggested here but you would like a thread, feel free to just throw in a tag of them going about whatever they're goin about, and as long as it takes place either where Karkat lives or somewhere public I will find some reason for him to get up in your business, deliberately or not.)

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Karkat snorts. "Yeah right, like they have an Earth second to spare between all the emotionally intense feelings jamming." He waves a hand dismissively over his shoulder in the direction of his and Sollux's dorm room. "I can't even tell if they're flushed or pale any more, it's fucking obscene. So yeah – let's watch the shit out of these movies."

She perks a little at the mention of romantic tensions.

"Can they be both? Or is that sort of thing... frowned upon?" she asks, before looking through the DVDs to select the best candidate.

"No they can't be both," says Karkat dismissively. "Then you can't do both of them right and you don't know what you're supposed to be doing, and you put too much romantic pressure on one relationship..." He glances at the DVDs she's going through. Humans, of course, don't seem to have a problem with that...

She thinks for a moment, debating between two which she eventually holds up for Karkat to choose. 50 First Dates or Mannequin 2: On the Move. She doesn't seem to be paying much attention though.

"So wait, if you're flushed, you can't also look out for them too beclaws you're taking that away from a pale romance?"

He looks back and forth between the two movies for a second, but then, brows furrowed, he decides that question is worth more of his attention.

"No, it's more complicated than that, it's not just to look out for them, it's – a commitment to fulfilling someone else's need for balance and emotional support," he gestures with his hands, "when you know you trust them to be the same for you. You can look out for your matesprit," the word as ever sounds out of place in the middle of an English sentence, "but it's weird if you're spending all your time talking about feelings with them and crying on each other, okay."

She continues to hold up the movies, just in case he wants to pick one.

"Hm, so wait, is matesprits more of a," she pauses, wetting her lips and tries to think of a way to put it. "Furriends with Benefits kind of thing?" She knows he's been over this before, but also knows he likes to talk about it.

"Beclaws, like. If your girlfriend or boyfriend was crying and talking about their feelings on earth, that's sort of all part of being their lover? It's both in one? You're their best friend and make them balanced, as well as y'know. Wanting to have kittens with them."

"No! Moirallegiance isn't someone's best friend – or okay it can be, same in any other quadrant, but it's responsibility for them not just caring that they're sad. You can help them with feelings when it's flushed but matesprit should be able to take care of themselves, or have someone else for ..."

Karkat makes a frustrated noise and shakes his head, and decides to try another tack. "You don't want to human date someone who has no friends, right? Because then they come for you with everything. If they have..." he wrinkles his nose a little, "'really good friends', or 'family', then you know someone is watching out for them even if you aren't good at it and you don't worry. Matesprit doesn't have to be good at it but moirail does."

Edited 2014-02-24 15:17 (UTC)

She can't help but smile softly as he gets stuck into his rant, lowering the DVDs as she listened to her school him.

"I guess humans have sort of matesprits and moirails combined in a girlfriend or boyfriend," she starts before shrugging. "Beclaws if I had someone, I would look after them and make sure they were okay as well as kissing them and..." she can't help but focus on Karkat for a little moment before looking back down at their choices for movies.

She then lets them go and leans forward to sort of tackle Karkat into a hug.

"I really missed this."

He's obviously startled, but he's gotten used enough to this kind of thing over the last year that he doesn't actually protest, instead sort of awkwardly patting her on the shoulder and saying, "What, you missed being clueless about romance? I am pretty sure that's a relentless constant thing with you, and your entire species."

She takes a small inhale (trying not to make the fact that she's refamiliarizing herself with his scent look creepy) and rubs her cheek on his shoulder affectionately. When he talks however, she gives him a smile and punches him lightly in the arm.

"I'm not clueless, you jerk," she says, still smiling. "I missed hanging out with you."