packaged just isn't as good as fresh

[bethehugejerk]

Who: Karkat and Equius. (Possibly Gamzee later?)
Where: The Makara-Zahhak hive.
When: Morning.
Style: Action.
Status: Closed.

[The thing about curses is that the rest of life doesn't stop just because one is happening. Well, okay, sometimes things do get put on hold due to the difficulty imposed by a certain thing happening. Not all regular tasks can be done if you're stuck in the body of a cat, for instance. But this week, Karkat still has all his thumbs and his senses, his scale and his capabilities; he just has distracting brightness and an appetite for blood on top. He can't call in to work just because he's a womper vampire rainbow drinker for the week, and indeed he hasn't done so yet. He's not going to, either.]

[The thing now isn't that he's got a shift tonight, but that it comes after a good chunk of the week since he fed. He's not worried that he'll hurt the customers! It hasn't been that long, and he's far from wracked with the kind of hunger that would make him attack a stranger. Besides, there's a stage before that Kanaya warned him about: indiscriminate flirting.]

[Without any sign before it happens.]

[There are many embarrassments Karkat has gone through in his life, but hitting on hapless video store patrons in hopes of scoring a meal is not one he wants to add. Instead, though he hates to do it, he's swallowed his pride to suffer a different one.]

ALL HOPES OF JOY STAND AS A FLAMING WRECK BEFORE ME
THE SURROUNDING VILLAGE NOTHING BUT CHARRED RUINS, PITTED OF ALL GOODS, VALUABLES, AND TRINKETS OF EVEN THE SLIGHTEST WORTH.
CHILDREN TREMBLE IN THE STREETS WEEPING OVER SUCH MERCILESS DESTRUCTION.
UPON THIS LAND WILL LIE A CURSE OF FOUL BACK HATRED FOR A THOUSAND, THOUSAND SWEEPS.
EQUIUS HORSEFUCKER ZAHHAK
I SWEAR TO YOU ON MY UNDEAD GLEAMING SOUL THAT SOMEDAY, EVEN AFTER MY RETURN TO MORTAL LIFE, I WILL FIND A WAY TO PAY BACK THIS ATROCITY WITH INTEREST AND THEN SOME.
BUT FOR NOW
IF MY HUMBLE REQUEST IS SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO PLACATE YOUR WHIMS, MAY I PLEASE FEED ON ONE OF THE BLOOD BAGS IN YOUR REFRIGERATOR.

[That is to say, he finally sends Equius a message about that "offer". An encrypted one, mind! Yes, encrypted: a girl called Ed gave him a handy program for such purposes for Christmas. Not that... he's mastered using it, but it's better than what he could do on his own. For now, he just hopes his request is enough. He even used the snooty blueblood term for thermal hull! That has to count for something.]

Comments

[bethehugejerk]

[Up comes the second hand. He'd thump him in the head with his shoe if he didn't care about agitating the wound.]

Why, oh cruel and malevolent god, did I choose this toolbag for a quadrant when fire is not a solid object I can use to scrub my think pan.

[It is not the venom, Equius. That can only account for so much, and not like this.]

[But if having his (usual) blood and random stabbings from Slick have taught him anything, it's to carry a first aid kit with him. Presently, he motions at the doorway out.]

Gamzee, just go. He shouldn't bleed out unless he does anything stupid about the bite, and I'll be at your block as soon as I can extract myself from this whirling vortex of oh-god-what-has-my-life-become.

[In any case, Karkat will (after washing his hands) get appropriate materials for tending the bite from the kit, and leave them for Equius when he stops... uh...]

[Tl;dr he crosses the line at actually patching him up. Too close to pity, and Equius can take care of himself.]

[420]

[Well... if Karkat says so. Karkat knows best, right? Right!

With a nod, he then turns to leave the kitchen and trudge up the stairs. He doesn't go into his block though. Well, not the one he shares with Equius normally, at least. If anything cause that'd be kinda awkward right now, and probably because Karkat is gonna wanna do nothing under the watchful eye of a beautiful mare galloping majestically through the surf.

Instead, what he does, is duck into the room across the hall, leaving the door open for Karkat. It's the room he once shared with Wataru, which is probably a far better room to do this in. Once there, he sits on the edge of the bed, patiently waiting for Karkat to come on up too.]

[bethehugejerk]

[Gamzee's easygoing nature saves Karkat so many problems. Of course, it's also the cause of several others, so it balances out. Right now it's working in his favor.]

[He ends up washing his face thoroughly too, and wiping at his neck, wanting to get what stray flecks that may have landed there when Equius exploded the pouch. He'll want a shower later for his hair and anything he missed, and he'll worry about clothing stains when he's in his own hive. The mess in the room? Still Equius's to deal with, once he's back to being himself.]

[From there, he edges around his sunken kismesis, flees out the room, and heads upstairs. If there is one fact he can rest his mind with, it's that the embarrassment Equius brought on himself has to outweigh his own at hateflirting his way into the situation. He's caught himself now, and what blood he did get should fend off that bizarre instinct long enough for him to get the rest of what he needs.]

[At the hall, Karkat takes the sign of the open door and heads into that room. Gamzee will see him tugging his shirt up and over his head as he does.]

Clean one, hand it over. I am not wearing this one any longer than I have to.

[420]

[Oh. Right. The shirt. Karkat asked him to get one of those before.]

Just gimme a fuckin' sec.

[Won't take long. He just has to pop into the room across the hall to grab one of his own clean shirts. Of course, the closet here does still have Wataru's old clothes but, well, dressing one moirail in your old moirail's stuff that is just kinda weird, right? Besides, they'd probably be way too fuckin' dusty.

He returns quick enough, holding out one of his own shirts to Karkat as he pulls the door shut behind him.]

Here.

[bethehugejerk]

[Karkat liked Wataru well enough, but he doesn't want to wear his clothes. And yeah, the ex-moirail part does make it kind of weird. He captchalogues his own dirty shirt in the meanwhile, and takes the new one as soon as Gamzee's back to give it to him.]

Thanks.

[It's too big for him when he pulls it on, of course, but at least it has sleeves. He wore one of Equius's before - long, also awkward story - and a tank top that big just does not work on him.]

This is really not how I wanted this morning to go.

[420]

[Yeah, that shirt is a little (a lot) too big on him. But it is cool when it is just them, right?

He takes a seat on the bed again, giving a little shrug.]

Got Equius' glad on, at the very motherfuckin' least.

[Glad on, hard on. eh. close enough.]

[bethehugejerk]

[Karkat cringes visibly in his sea of a shirt.]

We're not talking about that, understand? Not. Talking. About that. Ever. Not now, not later, not tomorrow, not next week, not ever. I will flay you from horns to toes if you try to fish the story out of me, and hang you up outside my hive as an example.

[And from here, he goes and sinks onto the bed besides him.]

Now can we get to the point? That being, are you alright with me getting the last of what I'm hungry for from your wrist? If you're not, I've got others, so don't feel obliged for my sake.

[420]

[He doesn't really need to check on that front. Gamzee is already fishing up one of his sleeves, pushing it haphazardly up past the crook of his elbow.]

Already said I was all down with it, didn't I? Relax. Here.

[He holds out his arm, figuring Karkat knows best where to hold it. Because clearly Karkat is the expert on rainbow drinkers here.]

[bethehugejerk]

[One might mistake that easy willingness for eagerness if they didn't know better. Karkat would be touched by such ready trust from him, but he knows better for that, too. It's Gamzee. It's also a moirallegiance. If there were danger, it would be his job to pacify it away.]

[But none of that really answers how to do this. Karkat takes his arm, and... hmm.]

Okay, this isn't going to work like this. Scoot back on the bed so I can sit in front of you and get a better angle. Also, it will hurt at first, but that stops soon after.

[Thank god Equius's response isn't the normal one.]

[420]

[If you give him a boner from this, Vantas, he's never looking you in the eye ever again.

He scoots further onto the bed, until he is practically sitting against the head board, his legs folded underneath him, his bared arm still kinda awkwardly held out.]

Like this?

[bethehugejerk]

[It's not that kind of thing! There's a sort of euphoria that results: it feels nice, but not boner-nice. Karkat wouldn't even try it with Gamzee otherwise.]

That's fine.

[Anyway, with Gamzee sat in a better spot, he scoots up and takes hold of his arm again. It still takes a little shifting to find the best position. Ultimately he winds up sitting sideways from him, bent forward to get his mouth at the right angle without turning his arm an uncomfortable direction.]

This shouldn't take long since I don't think I need much more. And after that, you clean it, bandage it, and you don't let anyone see, alright?

Now, are you ready?

[420]

Alright.

Just do what you gotta, bro, I'm ready.

[It can't be that bad, right?]

[bethehugejerk]

[Yeah. It's not bad. Just... Now that he has the go ahead, Karkat has to think about it. That was the easy part before. With Eridan, sure he was nervous, but the bite and on was instinct. Equius, well, once the hunger-fueled flirting set in, he obviously didn't think of the consequences. But Gamzee? Gamzee's got red blood this week. Bright red.]

[He can feel his pulse out with the press of his fingers, and it can't be that difficult to bite a wrist now that they've found how to sit, but... It's just the color. He swallows empty-mouthed, lines up his fangs, and closes his eyes. Just do it already, he tells himself. The warmth is distracting.]

[Ultimately, it is a conscious effort, but he makes himself bite down. Drink, he tells himself next, and instinct and the dregs of his hunger help with that. And okay, the taste won't win awards. It's better than Equius's bagged and refrigerated, but it's nothing impressive; in irony, it's blue blood fresh from the neck that wins that spot without much effort. Caring is not something he can bring himself to do, though.]

[And as he goes, steadily, he relaxes.]

[420]

[Gamzee's mouth twists for a moment when Karkat's fangs first sink into his skin. Okay, a little more pain than he necessarily had been expecting, but all in all, nothing he can't handle. He's got quite the pain tolerance on him, after all. And once a few moments pass, it even starts feeling somewhat pleasant.

For lack of anything better to do, Gamzee just leans back and relaxes, watching Karkat feed. The taste he would apologize for if he knew. And if either of them had cared to remember that Gamzee's blood comes with its own sopor dosage. Nothing to write home about in Gamzee's perception --it's actually towards the tail end of his last dose-- but for Karkat, a guy who has got no real build up tolerance to it?

Yeah, Gamzee is basically the rainbow drinker equivalent of eating a pot brownie.]

idek the right icon for this

[bethehugejerk]

[Karkat has not had slime for over a full year. There was the time he got high on catnip, but that was different, and he was a cat that week. The effect of Gamzee's blood doesn't settle in all at once, but it still eases his nerves at the outset. By the end, his movements are slow and easy.]

[He is not really thinking when, after removing his fangs, he decides it best to lick the traces of red away. Future him will surely facepalm at this act once he's sober enough to consider it.]

[420]

[Gamzee though considers it a reasonable approach. Kinda like... when he pricked himself he sucked the blood away too right? This is probably just like the same thing. Kinda. Basically.]

You done?

[bethehugejerk]

Wha?

[Karkat looks up, then back at his wrist, and considers. This takes more than a moment than it should.]

Yeah. Yeah I'm done.

[He stares at it some more, frowns.]

Terezi is a liar.

[420]

Huh?

[Wait, what did Terezi do, she isn't even here, Karkat, you are being fucking silly.]

[bethehugejerk]

It doesn't taste like candy at all.

[And he turns Gamzee's arm back to him, like he expects him to take it with his other hand, as an object, not an attached limb. His expression is one of somewhat miffed betrayal.]

Not cherries, not anything like it. Now, uh--the thing, you were supposed to do, you need to do the thing.

[420]

The thin... oh yeah, the thing. I gotta do the fuckin' thing, yeah.

[We are talking about patching up his wound, yeah? He hopes they are talking about that.]

Just lemme fuckin' go handle that shit.

[bethehugejerk]

[That is the thing! Karkat's just not that eloquent at the moment. He shuffles off the bed now and stands.]

I'm going with you, too. Make sure you do it right. That part's important.

[420]

Sure.

[Karkat is... sounding a little off but that is just maybe part of the whole Rainbow Drinker thing? Gamzee bets it is. Nothing to worry on then.

He motions him along to the bathroom so he can start cleaning his wrist.]

[bethehugejerk]

[And Karkat follows, readily enough. Not near as warily as he would normally, either. If he were his usual self, surely looking out for anyone nearby would be a concern, but right now?]

Dude. Do you think. Do you think Kanaya has this chart of blood flavors?

[This is the thought Gamzee is graced with.]

Like, what's better, and how they don't taste like the things Terezi tastes at all. What if it's an actual chart. With too many words everywhere.

[420]

[He pauses in his steps, possibly even sudden enough for Karkat to bump into him if he isn't watching where he is going.

That... is not a question he was ever expecting Karkat to grace him with but never mind that cause now that he has starting thinking on it and just... does Kanaya have a blood chart? Shit what would it even say, man? What if he had a blood chart, what would he put on it?]

Woah.

Man, do you like... do you fuckin' think she all up gets her look on for it when she gets her nosh on? Like... Like the motherfuckin' pizza listings?

[bethehugejerk]

[Karkat does in fact bump into him. He stares a second, as if wondering how Gamzee got so solid, then backs up a pace.]

Huh. Maybe.

[Hmm.]

Maybe she puts it in her thermal hull. Instead of regular food, you know, you can eat it but it doesn't do anything, that is so weird.