caughtinanetwork | 043 ♋ [VIDEO]

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043 ♋ [VIDEO]

[Appearing on screen is a troll, grey-skinned and scowling, utterly unamused as he holds up a tan choker with a heart design. Guess who Sandy Claws visited?]

Thank you, Vatheon, for this pointless and utterly useless gift. This is definitely what I wanted, and you have outdone yourself in practice of earth holidays. I actually liked the stupid lobster until it went and left me this piece of crap.

But if other posts and personal discovery have told me anything, things have been lost and sent where they don't belong. So, I'll make the guess that this thing actually belongs to someone, which is the one saving grace to stop me from throwing it out with the trash. You're welcome.

... On that same subject, though.

[He shifts, coughs.]

If anyone has a--it should look like a crab monster, okay? This white crab thing, a completely badass one. If you have it, just contact me in private and I'll come get it, alright?

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[Piece of crap. Her heart choker.

. . . Really, now.

Yukari's been waiting for this broadcast, but wow, she still finds herself gritting her teeth while she watches it. She's used to this kind of language from Gamzee, but this attitude is just a little too much.

Someone was bound to turn up with her choker -- and granted, she'd been close to making a broadcast herself, but why did it have to be someone like this?? She has to take a moment to compose herself before replying, even setting up a private filter as he requested.

. . . The first thing Karkat will see is the crab he so desperately seeks, followed by Yukari's unamused face.]

So then I take it this is yours? I don't suppose your name is "Sandy Claws."

[She holds it the same way he holds her choker: with disgust. And if her sarcasm wasn't totally obvious, she rolls her eyes a little, too.]

[Crabby attitude (harr, harr) is par for the course with Karkat, as Yukari may soon come to know. At the least, he hardly looks like the kind of guy who'd be glad to receive such an accessory. The toothy scowl on his face hardly points to "kind and considerate" either, and it only deepens to see how she holds his stuffed lusus. Things strangers were not meant to see: that, right there.]

Be glad I at least saved the thing for you. Yes, it's mine, and no, my name is not Sandy Claws.

[He rolls his eyes right back, more exaggerated.]

It's Karkat Vantas, not that I presume you give a shit. Just tell me where to meet you and I'll bring the stupid choker, safe, clean, and unharmed. You can't complain about that, can you?

[Not that she actually did verbally, but expressions and body language speak volumes.]

[Karkat. Yeah, now she sees, after she glances down at the caller ID on the SFC. But at this point, it's probably obvious they both care more about getting exchanging their items back than anything else -- so hey, it's not like he gives a shit either.

She simply shrugs, sounding as sarcastic as ever.]

Of course not. ['But I can think of a few other things,' she grumbles to herself -- to complain about, that is. Luckily, though, that never escapes her lips.] I'm in the middle district right now, but I know the city well enough.

Where are you?

[Her tone is pretty demanding. She'd rather get this over with, so . . . where would be the best place for this?]

I'm at my hive, or house as you humans put it, and no, I'm not telling you where that is.

[It's not so much that expects harm to come from telling her, as much as he's developed a tic here about relative strangers knowing his address. Besides, given no reason to be fond of her yet, his mind is hardly changed on the issues.]

Unless you've been around for longer than two years, I know this city better than you do. Pick a place - name a building or describe an intersection, even. I'll find you there.

[Ugh, I didn't ask--

And Yukari certainly planned on telling him where she lived either. But since they seem to agree on that point, if nothing else, it seems there's no need to dwell on it. Yukari just lets it slide, even if the assertion that he's better than her at anything makes her grit her teeth.]

Let's just meet at the coral, all right?

[Geez -- she pauses for a split-second, just for a calming breath, and then:]

I can be there in five.

[That's actually a good idea. Big, easy to spot, and pretty much the central landmark of the city. Anyone who's been here more than a little while should be able to find that, and Karkat himself visits it on a regular basis. Still, he grumbles out an obligatory complaint.]

You could have suggested that in the first place and saved us both time. Great going there.

[Sniff.]

I'll be there soon enough.

[And with that, he shuts off his SFC, and soon sets out. Regardless of who arrives first, it shouldn't be hard to spot him once they're both there. Most people aren't grey teenagers with nubby horns, or such sour expressions.]

[Yeah, because clearly that's my responsibility. It's not like you couldn't have just as easily suggested it, no, no, no, perish the thought!

So many things Yukari wants to scream, but of course, he's still in possession of her choker -- not to mention, he's already cut off the call before she can react. Great, really great. Though it0 probably was a good thing in the end, since the next thing Karkat would've seen is Yukari, punching a wall.

. . .

It hurts her hand more than she cares to admit. Definitely hurt her more than the wall -- but after taking a few more huffy breaths, she grabs Karkat's plush, leaving remnants of the package it came in all over the floor. Ignoring it for now, she leaves as quickly as possible -- because the last thing she needs is to hear him complain about how she's late.]

[In contrast with her treatment of it earlier, she actually does carry the plush very carefully: and high off the ground too, since she wants to keep dirt from getting on it. The walk luckily helps to calm her down, so by the time she reaches Karkat, she's a bit more mellow. At least she's getting her choker back, after all, and she knows what to expect now.

Karkat will likely see the plush before Yukari behind it. But either way, she'll approach him as soon as she sees him.

. . . How do you even greet someone like this, anyway?]

Delivery.

[In a tone that makes no attempt to hide how much she doesn't want to be there, of course. She holds out the item in offering.]

[By now, Karkat's poor mood has eased some what, his expression existing more as an after-image of the exchange they had earlier. It's hard to stay as irritated with the walk separating him from the source. But now that they're in the same place, things aren't so easy. He almost flinches to see her hold the crab out plainly. Clean and undamaged, those are good, and he knows it's necessary to hand it over, but in public--that's the damaging part. He steps in close enough to snatch it from her hand, no delicacy here. In barely a second it disappears into a sylladex with no more than a flash of card in the air.]

[Sure, he wanted it back. It's good to have it again! Still, he can't shake the thought that he must come off like a child, younger than he is, like some wriggler who needs a stuffed animal to sleep during the day. Even if the people around him don't know what the shape means, what a lusus is, that thought still has to translate.]

I've got your choker.

[His voice is clipped and abrupt. Of course he has it - that's the whole point - but it feels weird not to say anything.]

[In a moment, he's pulled out another card as if from thin air, and after another, somehow extracted the accessory to hold in his hand. He holds it out to her carefully by the ends of it, clean and undamaged, just like the plush she returned to him.]

Happy?

[Funnily enough, the last thing Yukari is thinking about is how old Karkat is or how childish he may seem. She has no idea what a lusus is, but she's got a plushie of her own -- and besides, she has plenty of other things to judge him for, if it really came to that. Since they both seem to have mellowed out, though, there's really no reason to make a fuss. Especially not in public.

So she simply takes her choker quietly, with a relieved sigh. There is a brief silence as she examines it, but finally, she answers him.]

Yeah. I am, actually.

[Another brief pause, and she almost says thank you -- almost. She still might, but for now she just looks at him with scrutiny, as she puts her choker back where it belongs.

Around her neck.]

And what about you? You barely looked at it, before you . . .

[. . .

She was going to say "stuffed it in there," as if the plush had gone into a bag of some kind. But the truth is, it just kind of disappeared. She doesn't know quite what happened, so her sentence kind of trails off there, since she doesn't know how to finish it.]

[Karkat watches wordlessly as she puts on the choker. What's so important about it to her? If indeed it is--for all he knows, it could be no more than a normal accessory she just happens to be fond of.]

[He's interrupted from wondering by her question.]

Captchalogued it is the phrase you're looking for. And I'm fine, alright? I didn't need to stand around gawking at it to recognize what it was. If you're waiting for me to smile and break down in gratitude, empires will rise and fall before it happens. I got my thing, you got yours, hoo-fucking-ray.

[He could be the poster child for mothers warning their children about their faces sticking that way, with as much as he frowns, scowls, glowers, and glares in his life.]

Are we done here, or are you going to keep scrutinizing me?

[She happens to be fond of it, and it's important to her. Though it's not like he's going to care enough to ask nicely, and by this point, she's not going to care enough to tell him of her own volition. Likewise, maybe Yukari would've also liked to inquire about the stuffed animal--

But now she's not going to bother.]

All I did was answer your question, and then I asked you the same thing. I never said I was waiting for anything, but it's nice to know that even a simple 'thank you' is just too much for you.

[A pause for breath, annnddd she realizes she's slowly losing it again after she'd spent the entire walk here cooling down. She lets out a slow breath.]

. . . So yeah, we're done. Thanks.

[A little more sarcastic than she would have liked, but at least she said it.

Unless Karkat would like to explode at her or something, she'll be walking away.]

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