Red Blood (Karkat X Reader)

The Beta Test

You were tired.

Sooooooo damn tired.

You just wanted to lay down and go to sleep and not wake up for years/sweeps. But you wanted to at least bandage a few cuts before you got any rest.

You checked the bag for anything useful, and you were in luck. You found some bandages and a bottle of antiseptic. You quickly managed to bandage a few of your own wounds, a few of Karkat's, and went back to examining your loot.

You had a few knives and tools, a couple small guidebooks in Alternian, a basic medical kit, and a canister of water. There wasn't any food, but you were in a field of... something. Edible, probably. Yeah.

You glanced at the small, purple box that fell by your feet earlier. You picked it up slowly, opening the folds with a caution. You couldn't help but wonder if there was some sort of bomb or troll monster thing inside. Instead, you found a plastic bracelet.

You flipped it in your hand. It almost looked and felt like a jelly band. Was this what the machine spent all that time making? Was it simply some mutant troll's personal jelly factory? That was actually pretty cool, though. You wanted a jelly factory. But you didn't exactly need a jelly bracelet, though.

You decided to check the rest of the box first. You pulled out a sheet of instructions that was filled with tiny Alternian characters. You didn't understand the point of this, other than to warn someone that it was a grub choking hazard or that it was made of silicone. God, you wished you could read Alternian.

You sighed and slid it on your wrist for now. It tingled slightly, but didn't do anything strange. Maybe it was an energy bracelet? Well, you knew who needed energy right then...

You glanced over at Karkat's sleeping figure. He looked hella less angry when he was sleeping, you noted. You slipped off the bracelet and carefully slipped it onto his wrist. His eyebrow twitched slightly, and he almost immediately opened his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?!" He demanded.

"I got you a jelly bracelet."

"A what?" Your troll friend sat up. "Agh... head still hurts. Is the thing on my wrist the fuck bracelet?"

"Jelly bracelet. It's a jelly bracelet." You rolled your eyes. "They're squishy and fun. Anyway, where are we?" You asked.

Karkat glanced around with his yellow eyes. "Most likely an Alternian colo... oh... HOLY FUCKING SHIT! OH FUCK!" His pupils suddenly dilated.

"What?!" You demanded, surprised by his outburst. The troll was clenching his wrist. "What's wrong?!"

Karkat gritted his teeth harder. "You blithering waste of space! Do you have any idea what this is?!" He held his wrist up, sporting the purple bracelet. "No wonder this ridiculous piece of shit-"

You glanced around. You could vaguely hear something. "We need to go! Someone is here!"

Karkat gritted his sharp teeth. "Dammit! If we're spotted, we're dead!" He grabbed your wrist and started running through the crops. You had no choice but to keep up with him, occasionally falling into ditches filled with water. He would glance at you in distaste, but you'd get up and keep going.

"Do you have any idea where we are going?!" You hissed at him, running through the endless field. The low hum in the background was growing much louder. Karkat barked back a reply, but you couldn't hear it very well. Regardless, you didn't think it was anything useful by any standards.

You broke into a clearing a moment later. The ground was covered in orange mud, and the only present object was an overturned cart. Karkat didn't even spare a thought and crawled under it. You had no choice but to follow.

Under the cart, the deafening noise was muffled and bearable now. However, it was very dark, and the temporary shelter was dank smelled of mildew.

"What was that?" You whispered, breathing quickly.

Karkat groaned slightly. "Most likely a plow." He replied lowly with a sigh.

"Hmm..." You mumbled quietly. You eventually waited until the sound was gone. You waited in the dark, the only sound being your companion shuffling around. "Karkat, I think we should go back to Earth." You finally said. "I know there aren't trolls, but I have an extra storage room." Your conversation had started out solemn, but at this point you were teasing him. "You can come out during cosplay conventions. You'll blend right in." You snorted, pulling yourself out towards the opening.

"What is a 'cosplay?" Karkat asked, as you crawled out into the sun, sighing at its warmth. It was a nice relief. You rolled onto your back, praying it wasn't strong enough to give you cancer.

You heard Karkat follow you, a few pebbles sliding back as he crawled into the outside. You heard him sigh loudly, as if something was disappointing him. "Well, damn."

"Hmm?" You sat up to face him, immediately freezing. You stared, attempting to connect your thoughts.

Karkat looked very much human.

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A/N: Sorry for the late update. I haven't had time at all to write. School has been an utter pain in the ass. I'm also sorry this chapter is so short. Anyway, thank you for your support! ^^