[open] ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

[alienates]

WHO: karkat and you!
WHERE: various locations, two prompts are at the high school though.
WHEN: forward dated to monday (4/10)
WHAT: guess who has two thumbs and just regained his troll horns? THIS GUY.
WARNINGS: none at the moment except for explicit language from karkat!



a; morning at recollé high

[ if you share a first period 12th grade english class with karkat, you will notice that at one point he gets up to go to the bathroom, leaving his backpack at his desk. you will also, eventually, notice that he just never comes back. it's almost like he just suddenly decided to skip altogether, which is a little weird considering all of his stuff is still at the classroom? he misses the rest of the class. if you have his phone number maybe you text him to see what's up?

likewise, if you enter one of the boys bathroom, you might spot karkat fussing over himself in front of the mirror. when he sees you come in, he will immediately stop what he's doing to rush into one of the bathroom stalls. you might catch what looks like two, small orange shapes on his head?? weird. anyway, karkat has made this bathroom stall his home and he is just camping out in here for whatever reason. ]

b; afternoon at recollé high

[ or it's his home until security kicks him out of the bathroom.

so now you might run into karkat frantically speed walking through the halls. he seems to have acquired a hat, which is fine, except for whenever a teacher makes him take it off in which case karkat goes back to covering his the top of his head with his hands.

whether you spot him while he's wearing the stylish hat or while he is trying to cover his new nubs on his head, he is not going to look very happy. ]

The "what the hell are you looking at?" line is really goddamn cliche, but I swear to god I will unironically use it if you don't stop staring.

c; late afternoon, all around the city

[ while karkat would love to just run home the second school ends, he unfortunately has shit to do today. you might spot him returning books to the library, or maybe at the freshens, buying pet food for his army of cats. maybe you run into him in the streets! no matter where you see him, though, he is going to be nervously tugging down his very fashionable hat and glaring at anyone who looks at him for longer than two seconds.

at one point you can even spot him inside the retrospec building! if you're on the outside, it'll just look like he's talking to himself. if you pop inside, you will discover that he is, in fact, talking to himself! well. he's yelling. at the nonexistent staff. ]

-- and hey, maybe next time you can turn my fucking dick into candy corn too, so that way when you're choking on it it'll be more pleasant, you shady, poor excuse of--

[ maybe you should just shut the door and walk away tbh. ]

d; evening, grub mart

[ finally, late at night, you can find karkat at his job at grub mart, a convenience store in tisse. unfortunately, due to dress code, karkat is not allowed to wear his hat, so his horns are just out there. he keeps trying to hide them like he had been earlier, but at this point he more or less has completely given up on life and is ready for death.

seriously just end him. ]

Comments

[true_noir]

Really? Just strange online conversations? Tell me, are you as pleasant and gregarious then as you are normally? [she gave him a little wink. Nope, she hadn't quite given up on teasing him, and that felt safer than the horns... which she still really wanted to poke. What did they feel like? Inquiring minds wanted to know... and to know if they were actually candy corn.] I am almost envious, though. Online conversations sounds much better than some of the ones I've heard of already. It certainly sounds less alarming and crazy.

[alienates]

[ karkat... really does not know how to answer her here, for many different reasons.

a) even he is shocked at how much of an asshole he was in those conversations? like, he has said some mean things to people, but those transcripts he remembers were very "holy fuck why does this me have such a flaming stick shoved up his pisshole"
b) those online conversations were definitely not less alarming or crazy. in fact, they were almost more bizarre than the actual visions he had that were in person instead of online. mainly because he has no idea what they fuck anyone was talking about in them.

but he isn't sure how to say any of this to chloe. karkat, unfortunately, does not know how to explain homestuck yet. ]

I dunno. Nothing we were saying made any sense at fucking all, it was almost like we were speaking some other language.

[true_noir]

(OOC: Let's be honest. Even Hussie doesn't know how to explain it. Poor Karkat never stood a chance.)

[She thought about that and cocked her head before sighing. Her fingers went up to pinch the bridge of her nose and she finally nodded.]

I... think I understand what you mean. That tea party, the one I remembered at your place? They were looking for something in it. Talking about it left and right. This thing called the Soldats, but none of it made sense. It was like I was missing all the pieces of the puzzle but this one that I just got, and it wasn't even a corner piece.

We're missing too much to know who these people are. Who 'we' are supposed to be. [Yes, she did air-quotes there. She would not admit that she was this person.] And we're supposed to just figure it out somehow.

...ugh. Well, I'll help you with your insane online visions if you ever want, but it sounds like it might be a bit much for me too.

[alienates]

Well. I have someone I can be confused with, anyway, since she's remembering more or less the same things I am.

[ jade, he means. and also dave, but karkat doesn't like dave at all so he's pretending that dave isn't involved in any of this. it makes him feel better. ]

But yeah. There is no fucking way we're going to figure anything out going by what we have now.

[true_noir]

You do? [She blinked, the confusion evident in her features for a second, before she piped up.] Wait, do some of your visions involve someone that you know here as well? I had heard someone else was dealing with the same sort of thing, but most don't seem to be.

That... is at least a little helpful, to not be alone in something.

[alienates]

[ he nods his head at that. it's weird in his case, because from conversations he's had, most people who have matching visions with others, they're actually pretty close to that person? karkat has spoken to dave like twice and both interactions went Very Poorly. and while he might consider jade a friend, he definitely isn't close to her so.

basically. this is weird. ]

I wonder why it's like that though.

[true_noir]

[It wasn't something that she knew. Until the blackout, she wasn't even aware that some of the visions were shared in the first place, so she knew very little about the topic of shared things.]

I, honestly, have no way of knowing. It is like invisible threads of fate tying us, but not in any way that actually makes sense to us, isn't it?

[alienates]

Maybe the big ball of yarn from Founder's Day was more symbolic than we thought.

[ it's a joke but it doesn't carry his usual tone. if anything karkat just sounds tired. this has been a very, very long day for him.

[true_noir]

...if that is a joke, it is a little too close to prophetic to be funny. [She sighed sadly, reaching up and raking her hand through her hair.] Well, if I can help somehow, I would like to. We are not exactly close, you and I, but I would still like to become friends...

and that is what friends do, yes? Help?

[alienates]

Jesus, what is with you people and the whole friendship thing? You can't walk five steps without someone cartwheeling in front of you and trying to hold your hand on the way to buddy mountain.

[ again, he doesn't even sound annoyed by it, just tired. ]

[true_noir]

[She laughed a little and leaned forward.]

Yes, well, this is not simply something from the app or our recent lives. I have always been a bit like this, Karkat. I am afraid that you are simply stuck putting up with me.

Ah, but there could be worse fates, surely.

[alienates]

True. I could have tiny orange horns sticking out of my head.

[ at least his usual tone is returning now, so the deprecating joke carries more of its usual bite to it instead of the general sense of tiredness he's had throughout the conversation so far. ]

[true_noir]

[She snickered gain and sighed, shaking her head.]

I am buying you a baseball cap for when you are not at work. That or an adorable little hoodie. I think that the latter would set off your personality well. You could shove your hands into the front pockets and glare sullenly at the world.

It would be as if nothing changed! [She clapped her hands together and, having paid, opened the bottle to down just about a quarter of it in a go.]

[alienates]

You don't have to buy me anything. Also, especially something adorable? Someone can say adorable and the thing I imagine might be really fucking different from what you think is adorable.

[ like... if she buys him some lisa frank hoodie he is going to want revenge. ]

[true_noir]

[Oh, she would be tempted to torture him with that, on principle, but even she could tell that something quite that garrish would be asking for elaborate plans for revenge, and that was a dangerous prospect when you angered someone who looked like the devil...

if the devil was really into candy corn.]

Now, now. It is my money and besides, I think what I consider adorable is a bit more mundane. I was just thinking of something gray or red for you. It would suit your complexion, maybe with a nice dull maroon you can lurk in the shadows wearing, glaring at everyone.

[Implication: She thought his sulking was adorable. Chloe could be weird, but if he'd ever met her taciturn girlfriend or that weird, quiet girl from her dreams, perhaps it would have made more sense.]

[alienates]

[ just wait til he gets more of his physical regains, chloe. ]

What am I? A gargoyle? [ a pause, as he realizes with the horns he might fit that description. goddammit. ]

You're basically describing a cryptid.

[true_noir]

[Interesting conversations to have one day. Would he even come out of his house when his skin turned gray?]

You, my friend, would give a gargoyle a run for its money with the way that you glare at the world, and I say that with the most affection possible. It's one of your better personality traits. [Girl had weird tastes.]

And are you an endangered, fabled species now? My my, but you aren't bigfoot at least. Well, let us hope. I don't think anyone needs that much hair.

[alienates]

[ he would spend at least a week locked in his room until people came to force him outside honestly. but that's going to be his very last physical regain, at least. ]

Bigfoot is overrated. I'm leaning more towards mothman, who is a darkhorse of the cryptid world.

[true_noir]

[At the very least, he could get eased into the weird a little before going full gray skin.]

mmm, as long as you don't turn into batboy. We would not wish you to be hiding in someone's basement all the time, after all. [She smirked at him. Yeah, she read the tabloids for fun sometimes.] But, I think I will pass on giving you a nickname.

You might just punch me if I did that.

[alienates]

I would definitely introduce you to my sickle if you did.

[ not like that would do any good; he did not regain the ability of actually wielding a sickle so all he can do is wave is threateningly while trying not to accidentally cut himself. ]

[true_noir]

Now now, you wouldn't want to mar a pretty face such as mine? But I suppose it is a good thing I have no plans to do that, isn't it?

[She winked at him. She could always bring a knife to a sickle fight, but she was just as unskilled right now as he was. Even with recent changes, she'd be more likely as not to stab herself, so nope. No weapons getting drawn today.

Well, that, and she just liked teasing him a little.]

Very well, though. No hoodies. You can care for yourself. But, you look like you could use stress relief, yes? I will take you out sometime for lunch. Somewhere you can wear a hat.

[alienates]

The last time you said you'd do that, there was a blackout and you broke into my apartment.

[ that is an exaggeration, since technically karkat did let her in even if she did arrive uninvited.

he glances at the store's entrance, as if someone might suddenly walk through it, but no one does. karkat looks back at chloe. ]

Why do you want to be my friend so much?

[true_noir]

Broke in, indeed.

[She laughed softly, shaking her head. Hey, she knew good and well she hadn't broken in, but no point arguing with him over it. This was just him grumbling, after all. His question, though, made her tilt her head and then shrug. She supposed it was far, but would have admitted she didn't entirely understand the question.]

I think perhaps the better question is why would I not wish to become your friend? You are amusing... and besides, I tend to like tough nuts to crack.

[alienates]

[ there is a joke somewhere in "tough nuts to crack" but karkat manages not to make it because he is far above that level of humor (unless he's mad and then all bets are off). ]

Okay but if the person just flat out refuses no matter what, don't you feel like you just wasted all of your goddamn time?

[true_noir]

[She reached up and tapped at her chin before shrugging.] Yes, but you have not refused no matter what, Karkat. And besides, if we are unwilling to risk failure, some of the best prizes cannot be won. So, if I were to fail with you, that would not be a waste of my time.

I simply would not succeed. Friendship is not about winning, you know... except in the video game contests. I am told this is very competitive.