caughtinanetwork | [video] in before eeveelution jokes

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[video] in before eeveelution jokes

[It's late. Or too damn early. Somewhere in that ambiguous area, like 3:00 in the morning, just fine for certain parts of the alien population and a god-awful time for the rest. But here Kid is, addressing the network from the confines of a room in the island-side village.

One can just make out a few figures (Maka Albarn and Rin Okumura) behind him, sound asleep in their bed.]

I have a very important announcement to make, one that simply cannot wait until morning!

[The grim reaper, looking more lively than he has since... well, since the bubble cracked, stoops out of sight of the SFC, and reappears with an Umbreon in his arms. Beaming with the pride perhaps only a father might have for their child, he declares:]

This is Pip, and he's become even more beautiful than ever!

[It is indeed Pip, recently evolved, and he is still fat. He is also a she, but Kid never investigated that closely. Promptly forgetting about the SFC in his eagerness, Kid retreats with Pip in his arms to bend over Maka.]

Maka, Maka! Wake up! I don't want you to miss this!

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Dude, don't even worry about it on this one. It might be the usual for our species but I'm not so delighted with my own culture that I'm going to insist to you that potentially getting killed over quadrants is superior to how you do it. Though, troll romance is otherwise better than your limited form, and I will defend that mark to wherever my corpse is left to rot when I die.

But yes, that's basically it, unless you have a filled pail at the ready when the drone shows up.

But I don't.

[His expression speaks more of the revelation of 'oh' than his mouth does; he elaborates:]

--you mean humans in general. I see.

[Oh god he doesn't want to think about why they need to fill an entire bucket that's fdklshgg ugh no.

Ok, a moment later he's switching this conversation to private.] Karkat, if you'll forgive a deviation from the subject, I'd like your advice on a slightly related matter.

Are procreation and romance really so intrinsically tied together?

[That's a different kind of question entirely, but one Kid keeps finding cause to ask. The jury still seems out on that one, with people being split on whether romance can stand on its own or if consummation is a required part of it.]

Maka's reassured me I shouldn't worry about it, and I haven't had a chance to talk about it with Rin, but if there's some understated obligation to being in a relationship, I'd rather know what I'm getting myself into.

Edited 2013-05-15 14:46 (UTC)

[Karkat gives Kid a flat look for that first comment, but it's quickly swept away with the rest. Probably a good thing, meanwhile, that he has no intent whatsoever to explain the fine dynamics of troll procreative activities. Nooot gonna happen, not ever.]

[As such, he winds up with raised eyebrows and his mind on another subject.]

Wait, relationship? You're getting in one?

--But I guess it depends. I don't know the usual for human romance, but it's not like anyone's going to cull you for failing to... [Vague hand motion.]

I've told you about quadrants before; half of them aren't related to procreation at all, and still give emotional satisfaction and benefit to the involved parties. I don't want to pail my moirail, and auspisticism can boil down to committed bulgeblocking depending on the pair being mediated.

While the arrangement of your romantic quadrants are attractively organized, distinct from each other while balancing out their individual traits--

I am not a troll.

[Wait, let's back up a little.]

Oh, you don't-- I suppose you might not have known, Maka can be a rather private person, and Rin has his reasons. Furthermore, a lot has happened since that demands our attention.

In any case, my concern is that I might be failing an unspoken obligation.

You mean with them? Both?

[Give him a second while he gets this blinking out of his system.]

Lucky for you this isn't the first time I've heard about relationships with more people than the usual, so I will save you the barrage of questions that would otherwise come with the subject. But how did it happen? What went down?

[His own curiosity expressed, he leans back in his chair to think more.]

... Talk to them. That's basic, right there. Maka told you not to worry, right? But you should talk to Rin too--or both together might be better. Make it clear what your concerns are, and that, if I'm interpreting you right, you're not interested in the procreative aspects. But this is human romance otherwise, right? Basically flushed feelings sans the concupiscent part? Tell them too that your concern about the potential obligation doesn't mean you don't care about them.

Ultimately, if it is going to be a problem, it's better to find out now than get too far in and wind up expecting different things from each other.

[People learn through example, and sometimes, by reading between the lines. Kid has, since he started his relationship with Maka and Rin, detected that there might be something less than socially acceptable about being romantically involved with two others at once, but he doesn't own it.

He has no shame for his feelings whatsoever, but nevertheless he finds himself bracing for judgment.

That Karkat instead focuses on giving him the requested advice only drives his regard for the troll up a few more rungs.]

It happened. I think we felt this way much longer than when we became conscious of it for what it is.

Maka's afraid of becoming like her father, who is especially indiscriminate in his pursuit of love. Rin... that's a more complicated matter that can't be explained easily. Suffice it to say that we had our reasons for not acknowledging our own feelings.

Your advice seems sound, but I wonder if there isn't something [ELSE] wrong with me.

[Karkat gestures with a pointing finger.]

Tell Maka to stuff it because she isn't her father, and it's not like she just jumped on the both of you the moment you showed up.

[Then, more calmly:]

I already said I don't know all the cultural norms for humans, but I'll put it this way. Most people here now know that I'm a mutant. I'm not going to pretend I'm perfectly 100% okay with that fact, and if I were still on Alternia it's something I'd be culled for, no question, if it ever came out. But outside it? It hasn't stopped me from gaining friends or quadrantmates. People, amazing weirdos that they are, have actually found it in themselves to care about me despite me being a more literal freak of nature than any of the assholes I keep on my team.

So if there is something wrong with you? So fucking what.

Of course not. The difference between father and daughter is so vast, you'd hardly tell they were related at all if not for their soul wavelengths. She's--

Maka is nothing like her father.

[Not that Karkat can see souls, or has ever met Spirit. But there's more, and here's when Kid falls silent for longer than his conclusion.]

Is it really that simple?

[Rhetorical question. When he can't see himself clearly, an example rooted in the experiences of another works like a magic charm, but there are still ample seconds of thought poured into this until:]

...Karkat.

[Then there's something they agree on. Karkat may not have met Spirit, true, but he knows as sure as he's neither his ancestor nor his dancestor (thank the fucking horrorterrors), Maka surely isn't her dad either.]

[He does allow Kid his silence to think things over. Sometimes it's needed, and even he can respect that. And rhetorical or not:]

No, of course it's not that fucking simple. If you have a question about yourself like that you're going to wind up wondering about it and talking about it and dealing with it and learning what to do about it, and it will take time of some length or another, and hopefully you'll have a better time of it than I have with who I am. But my point still stands, which is why I said it.

Now if you actually have a point to just saying my name without followup of any kind, go ahead and tell me.

[Bluntly and abruptly:]

You're a good friend.

[Is that seriously all he wanted to say. Really.]

[Karkat's eyes open wider--]

[--then he looks pointedly away.]

Spare me the sap. You asked advice, I gave it, and I have given it to pretty much everyone on my team and several others besides between my time in the game and my sweep and change spent here.

[Something Karkat just said has prompted the vaguest of upward curves at the corners of his mouth.]

Is that so? Does this mean we're on the same level as teammates?

[Is this an admission of friendship. Is it.]

No.

[No hesitation, even. But--!]

You're not part of my team, dingus. If something comes up that I think you could help with, I'll call you and ask, but you're no more a teammate than Maka is and she's the best friend I've made here. Besides, a lot of my team is dipshits and assholes, and you are usually more intelligent than that.

[This is, in fact, an admission of friendship. Karkat-style.]

[He's allowed to tease, right. Teasing is a thing friends do.]

Maka is often utterly unaware of the profoundly positive impact she has on people, and once reminded, she quickly forgets. I think acknowledging her own importance is difficult for her.

[And he can see why: she's put down for a whole slew of imagined wrongs, for not being pretty enough by other's standards, for instance. That she's praised for her intellect at all is issued like it's a consolation prize. A dreadful shame.]

I'll repay your kindness one way or another, Karkat.

[He lifts an eyebrow.]

It's not about her not acknowledging herself. She's not a teammate because she didn't go through the game with the twelve of us. That's who's on my team. This does not mean that valuing you guys and your efforts isn't taking place here.

[Now he leans back, reaches a hand over, scratches his shoulder.]

I don't see what needs repaying. All I did was give some advice, which, as said, is not even that rare for me to do.

I understand what you meant, and I am not offended. Rather, I'm flattered.

[He was speaking of a slightly unrelated matter -- that of Maka's tendency to overlook the positive impact she has on others.]

Kindness and consideration should be appreciated no matter the form it takes. Just as those opportunities of struggle should be appreciated for their value in what they teach us. Everything is balanced.

[But before he can go on another of his ridiculous symmetry rants, he summarizes:]

I mean that even though it hardly seems like anything special, it is to me.

[Karkat gives Kid a skeptical sort of look for the balance comments, but says nothing. Of course he'd say something like that; it's him. But as for the main topic?]

Fine. Then you're welcome, repay it if you want, since you apparently intend to anyway.

[It's not such a bad thing.]

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