[mingle post!]

[cavedwellers]

Boy Valentine's Day was sure an adventure, wasn't it? Gosh, it's a good thing all that's over with.

Have a mingle post! If you're starting a new thread, mention where you are in the subject line. Tag each other, hang out, do whatevs.

Comments

[bythehorns]

I'm so sorry, Karkat, a-and I know it doesn't help anything, but, I don't want to, mess up, your quadrants, at all.

[pincerattack]

[okay, he seems more upset about this than you are! and that says a lot, considering you are holding your breath to keep yourself from either leaping onto him like a ravening scavengerbeast and ripping his face off with your teeth or crying like you just watched Troll Leonardo DiCaprio die in the tragic spaceliner crash and leave Troll Kate Winslet all alone.

so in a supremely hypocritical act of fucking up quadrants, you reach out and pap him right on the face.]

[bythehorns]

[you do the only thing you can do under the circumstances: you burst into tears. and hug him.]

[pincerattack]

[this is so, so fucked up, but you do it anyway.]

Shooosh.

[bythehorns]

[gosh you are only making things worse, and this isn't fair to him or to Gamzee or anything, but you cling to him and wuffle a tiny sad purr into his shoulder, so grateful for this.]

[pincerattack]

[seriously, how did he survive this long without a moirail? because you really doubt he collected as many best friends as he could to get whatever scraps of something resembling a pale relationship until he actually got into one, because that is only a thing you are desperate and stupid enough to do. you pet the back of his head, because he is a complete mess.]

[bythehorns]

[you purr your gratitude into his shoulder and think about how amazingly kind he is -- okay, he yells a lot and that's scary, but also he should be eating your face off right now and instead he's shooshing you, like he can just forgive the horrible thing you've done to him, and that makes you feel just terrible for him. it's pitiable, isn't it? being a troll who gives so much to others, knowing how badly that will get him hurt.]

[pincerattack]

[you are still kind of upset about this whole thing, but seriously, yelling at Tavros is like yelling at a little wriggler-- it doesn't achieve anything but scaring him. and seeing him dive into the pile again because he's terrified of you is not something you need to see again right now.]

Better?

[bythehorns]

[you nod, just a little bit, trying to be careful of your horns and not smack him in the head with them.]

Thank you, Karkat, for being, so patient with me, when, you really should, be mad, a-and also, I really hope, that, you and John, can still, be together, and that, I haven't, ruined everything, for you, because I, um, I, I want, you to have, nice things.

[don't tell him you pity him don't tell him you pity him that would be horrible]

[pincerattack]

[what the hell is this, a surprise feelings jam? not that you don't do that for all the trolls anyway, albeit over the internet.]

You are legitimately the most ridiculous troll ever, and this is comjng from me, the other contender for that title.

...it's not really your fault if it does get messed up, is what I'm trying to say.

[bythehorns]

I know, I am, pretty terrible, at being a troll. But I guess, if even, someone like me, can fill a flushed quadrant, then, I am sure that, you have better odds, since, you actually, know what you're doing.

[is this how comfort works? you have NO IDEA.]

[pincerattack]

At least you have intimidating horns. [grumblegrumblegrumble]

...you are actually not terrible at this whole pep talk thing. [don't call it a feelings jam this isn't a feelings jam YOU aren't in the pile this isn't a feelings jam]

[bythehorns]

Haha, well, they are impressive, until you know me, well enough, to know, I would never use them. Or, almost never.

A-and on the other hand, you can be, really intimidating, when you are angry, enough to yell, like that, which, I could never, pull off.

[how does i compliments]

[pincerattack]

Yeah, see, I'm pretty sure we as a whole would not be so collectively fucked right now if certain trolls we are not going to name here thought a little bit more like that.

[you pet him some more. this is such pale cheating, you horrible troll, but you feel so bad for him right now.]

[bythehorns]

Yeah, uh, it must be, really awful, to be in charge, of keeping all of us, from hurting each other, I mean,,,,

[wait stop this is going to lead to you saying something you really shouldn't]

I hope that, being here, is at least, a nice break from that, when, I'm not ruining it, anyway.

[you feel like you're taking advantage of him but it's so nice to get pets]

[pincerattack]

Imagine the most horrible thing you can, then make it ten times worse. I have been licked, sweated on, threatened countless times, slapped, licked some more, sexually harassed, dressed up, pounced on, honked at, and every other stupid thing that can possibly happen, and my only reward is to trip on piles of shit everywhere in the lab and then never be able to sleep again! So yes, that is a fair statement!

[bythehorns]

[you should just. you should get Gamzee! that is the responsible thing to do right now.

...instead you pet Karkat, very carefully, because he could still decide to eat your face off.]

But you don't, have to worry, about that, right now, so, maybe, it's okay, to save being mad about that, for some other time.

[pincerattack]

[oh fuck he's papping you back. this has crossed a line; before you were just calming him down so he didn't break down and upset Gamzee, or at least that was a plausibly deniable excuse for getting pale all over your moirail's matesprit. there is no other word for it when you're sitting here petting and reassuring each other: you are cheating like fuck on Gamzee and you are a horrible person. you are the kind of person you platonically hate the fucking most. so you pull back, even though you know it's probably going to upset Tavros and make him think it's his fault. maybe you can explain.]

Look, you really fucking need a moirail and you don't have one and I'm okay with this, but I really need to talk to Gamzee about it.

[bythehorns]

[you wince when he mentions Gamzee because wow, it's true, you're not being fair at all, and you just got through making Karkat's relationships harder in one quadrant, so really you shouldn't go messing up any others.]

Um, you're right, I'm sorry, yeah, definitely, this is, a thing where, you should be, talking to Gamzee, and, I didn't mean to, make things, more complicated for you, so, thank you, for being so nice about it.

[pincerattack]

[ffffffffuck well, that was only the most pitiful thing you've ever heard. so you pap him on the head one more time for good measure.]

As weird as it is for me to suggest this, we should probably talk to him and make sure this is in the same universe as okay for him before it turns into a giant pale affair. ...or we could pretend this never happened, if you want to do that.

[bythehorns]

[deep breaths. you are going to be okay and also Karkat is treating you like he thinks you are not a total screw-up, so try to prove him right.]

I think, I would rather, talk to him, because, I would feel bad, keeping it a secret, and also, if I'm being honest, because, I sort of hope, that, it will be okay, and, maybe, this could, happen again, sometime.

[faygoandpie]

[You're kind of getting the motherfucking feeling you're all up and missing all kinds of shit in this cave. For a moment you wonder about that before deciding you aren't going to worry about it.]

What all the fuck is happening over here, my motherfucking brothers?

[pincerattack]

[fuck, how does he just pop out of nowhere like that? it's like he's got some sixth sense or weird ability-- nah. you're just unlucky. or lucky. now, deep breath!]

I.

Oh, fuck. I MAY HAVE JUST SHOOSHPAPPED YOUR MATESPRIT IN AN INCREDIBLY PALE MANNER, BECAUSE I AM A HORRIBLE CHEATER AND HE NEEDED A MOIRAIL AND I HAVE TO ADMIT I'D DO IT AGAIN BECAUSE HE STILL REALLY NEEDS ONE BUT I STILL TOTALLY HAVE A HUGE DIAMOND FOR YOU AND THIS IS EVEN MORE AWKWARD THAN MOST CONVERSATIONS WE HAVE.

Please don't freak out.

[faygoandpie]

[you blink pretty rabidly at that because fuck that was a lot of words coming at you.]

Shit, bro.

[You look from him to Tavros and then back. Karkat just put down some shit you were unprepared to be all picking up.]

You want two 'rails, bro?

[bythehorns]

Even though, Karkat is being, really nice to me, I don't want to, try this, unless, that's okay, with you, because, I really don't, want to mess things up, for us, or for you two, uh, again, because, that would be, pretty awful.