Red [A Karezi Fanfic]

Resemblance

"Fuck no." she spat, her chin held high and the child held to her chest was gently squeezed. Kendrick deflated, his shoulder slouching. He had just come home from work, seeing his wife in the kitchen feeding Karkat and Kankri on the couch watching infomercials-the kid was weirdly mature. God knows why Giselle was swearing in front of the children. That's what he gets for telling that Makara where he worked. 

"Really, its just some dumb barbeque with the Makara's." He rests one hand on his hip, not daring to do the same with his other, in case the woman read it as a counter attack. She simply let out a hum, rocking the baby gingerly as he slept. Her eyes were still closed as Kendrick watched her, but only opened a wink after a few seconds, looking at the man observantly. 

"Tell me, husband, what happened at the last barbeque with the Makara's?" Giselle told him stiffy, walking away from the kitchen table and into the living room to take a seat by Kanrki. Kendrick followed her, still standing by the woman and watching her ruffle Kankri's hair with her free hand. She looked up at him slightly victorious, expression calm. The man doesn't know how she does it. 

"Kankri and I got tied to the swingset." He sighed, deciding to sit on the opposite of  his eldest son, the boy only flipping to another channel. Giselle let out a small huff, sitting the toddler on her lap, and giving him a look as though that was not all that happened. The man sighed again, exasperated. "And some little girl stole my wallet." 

"Her name was Meenah and she didn't even have to try after she tied you up with the help of her mom." The female added, sending a glare over to the man who could only shrug sheepishly. He had yet to remember the exact details as to why he was even tied up in the first place, but assumed it was some revenge scheme. Either way, the two of them really got owned by some little girl with glasses, he was lucky Giselle was with Karkat at a doctors appointment. Or not, she could've at least saved Kankri from the humiliation. 

"Kankri couldn't stop crying!" Giselle whisper shouted, as to not wake the child in her arms. The eldest sibling let out a small huff, face almost a frown. 

"I wasn't crying that much, mother." The boy added, setting down the remote as he stopped at a channel playing the news. He turned to her, but the frown left as it came and he opted to just play with the toddlers thick locks of hair beside him. Kendrick watched with amusement and Giselle rolled her eyes before giving the boy a small kiss on his head. 

"We don't really have to go." The man mutters, looking over at the woman, content. "Heck, I'd just go there for the food." He shrugs, and Giselle lets out a little laugh. This stirs the toddler in her arms, and he let out a little high pitched squeal. The woman's expression is a wince, looking down at the boy who is pulling at her sweater, but before she can hoist the child up to her shoulder, Kendrick opens his arms to pick him up. He gets the boy with a small smile, setting the toddler in his lap to face him. 

Karkat is for some reason not a kid who cries upon waking up. Sure, he'll cry if he's hungry or he's frustrated, but when he wakes up, all he does is blink at you. Which was true, and Kendrick Vantas stared at the boy with amusement, the toddler simply blinking at him with a confused stare. Beside them, Giselle grabs at the remote and sets it on some romantic comedy flick much to Kankri's dismay, but she brings him on her lap as well with a pleased huff. Kendrick's focus goes back to the small child who is squinting a bit like he's angry, its quite hilarious.

"Hey little guy," He whispered with a smile, rubbing the side of his child's face and receiving a small scowl in return. It's funny as to how much Karkat resembles his mother, even though he looks like a carbon copy of the man himself. Its more of the little things, like the look on his face when he's concentrated, or the way his brows furrow when he's lost. Especially the scowl, oh boy, the little furious kitten look. 

"Don't be so grumpy." Kendrick told his child, holding Karkat's back up with one hand and moving his free one to the child's underarms. Instantly the toddler let out a small giggle, and Kendrick spared him of the tickle fit this time. Instead, he holds the boy up by the armpits, looking at the child with a grin. This time the scowl is replaced with a smile, eyes crinkling and beaming. Kendrick found himself laughing and turned to look at Giselle, who was looking over at them fondly with her head resting on Kankri's. He sends her a wink, turning back to the little child in his hands. His tiny hands are held onto Kendrick's arms, staring at the man with a peculiar smile. 

"You look a lot like your mother, ya know that, Karkat?" Kendrick tells the boy, who simply blinks at him with the same happy look. He wouldn't understand at the time for he was only telling his son lightheartedly, but a phrase like that would later haunt him. 

It was the smile, Karkat looked most like his mother when smiling. 

-

"Hear me out." Kendrick sighed, walking down the stairs with seemingly less confidence than he had when he started. He wished for a maybe more cooperative group, but then resents himself, as it was his fault that Karkat was so fussy in the first place. By the time he reached ground floor everyone was tense, and Kankri stood between him and the boy. Luckily the only other thing he recieved were glares. Crap, forgot I was a total dick a few moments ago. 

"Right," He started, taking a step back and clearing his throat. "Everyone, I would like to apologize for how I was acting a while ago." Kendrick skims through the group, noticing the same look- pissed off. His expression drops to guilt, coiling slightly under all the glares. 

Giselle, I swear if you're laughing at the sight of this. 

"I'm not a good dad, I know. I think, I was scared to face my problems. Which is rich coming from me, so really, you can hit me if you want." He glances over Kankri's shoulder and at Karkat, who doesn't look even the slightest bit convinced. Wincing desperately, he continues.

"I'm sorry, Karkat, I really am. I don't have the slightest clue as to what I should be doing. You don't have to forgive me now for treating you like shit, but it would be glorious if you went on this walk with me. Let me make it up to you somehow."  Kendrick stares at the floor, but spares a quick glance at the boy and finds himself unable to read him. Its almost as if too many things are running through his head that he can't quite find the right answer to his problem. At these moments of frustration, Kendrick sees himself in his younger son. 

It's deafening, the silence that passes in the living room. Kendrick is more confident now, setting a hand on Kankri and whispering an apology as his eldest son simply shakes his head. I don't need to hear your apology. And his eldest cocks his head slightly to the boy on the couch. 

Luckily Karkat's friends have stopped glaring at him, and are simply watching Karkat silently, probably unable to read the boys' expression either. And after what feels like hours, the boy finally speaks up, his voice wavering. 

"Buy me lunch on the way." He mutters slowly, seeming still confused at whether he should even be saying that or not. But then recieves a burst of courage and moves his gaze from the carpet to his father, face no longer distorted. "Buy me lunch, and I'll go." 

Kendrick finds himself smiling slightly, happy that his son has the resilience of his father. 

"You've got a deal." 

w//n i feel like the story is taking too long? dont know if i should be so patient with the plot or if i should be wrapping it up soon like how past me intended it to be.