The Pages Between Us (Karkat Vantas x Reader)

Chapter Five (part two)

You and Karkat went on discussing your lives to one another even after you had finished eating at the fast food restaurant. As discussed, you both used your phones to document the conversation so you could write down reflections about each other in your partner diary, as instructed by your Philosophy teacher.

Simple questions were asked, such as favorite color, food, past time. You thought the whole conversation was pretty wholesome. Karkat's voice took on a gentler tone as you conversed, and the more the two of you talked, the more you felt yourself gravitating towards him. When it was his third turn to ask, Karkat posed the question of your hometown.

"I've lived here in (hometown) for my whole life," you spoke into Karkat's phone. He held it between the two of you as you walked, and courteously denied it when you asked if he wanted to rest his arm and have you record it instead. You giggled softly at how weird the situation was. "My Aunt raised me alongside my cousins to the point where they're practically my siblings."

"And your principal custodians?" Karkat asked. When you shot him a questioning look, he quickly clarified, "I meant, your parents."

"Oh!" Your face lit up. "My father's a historian and my mother's a linguist. They're in Alternia at the moment. They visit us here sometimes, but their work keeps them busy all year 'round. Alien artifacts aren't going to decipher themselves for humanity." You smiled up at him. "What about your family?"

Karkat considered the question first before speaking up. "I used to live here in Earth with my older brother and Crabdad - he's my lusus." You couldn't suppress the small "aww" that popped out of your mouth at the mention of Karkat's lusus. Karkat blushed profusely and glared at you. "Shut the fuck up. Anyways, when I was around six-years-old, we had to migrate and live in Alternia. Then, when things got a little messy in Alternia three years ago, Crabdad decided that we should return here where it's safer for us."

You let out a whistle. "Tough luck."

"Yeah, the whole thing sucked phalli and testicles." Karkat sighed. "My older brother Kankri is still off-planet, though. He's stuck in Alternia because of some document mix-up caused by this shitty dumbass who couldn't distinguish his name from a fucking dog's. Now, the document says that my brother's name is Floofer, and some house pet's name is Kankri Vantas."

"Who confuses Floofer with Kankri?" You laughed. Karkat massaged his head, unable to even grasp the absurdity of his brother's situation.

"Some chair-humping fuckfarter with a negative intelligence quotient." Karkat answered with a scoff. The two of you walked on for a while, until Karkat broke the silence with a string of curses.

"What's wrong?"

"The battery's dead." said Karkat, stuffing his phone back in his bag. You looked down at the phone in your hand, flashing a warning.

"Mine's at 5%. Guess I should've charged it before going out." You tucked your phone away and took Karkat's arm. "Hey, how do you feel about arcading?"

---

"MUHAHAHA! Get fucked, Vantas!"

"GET YOUR FILTHY APPENDAGES OFF MY AVATAR, INSIGNIFICANT BEING."

"Damn, KK, your ass is literally being handed to you,"  mocked Sollux as he watched Achlys slam her fingers on random buttons. You were honestly surprised that she hasn't destroyed the game console yet.

Achlys's avatar Marquise Spinneret Mindfang was currently beating the shit out of Karkat's avatar, The Signless Sufferer, and it was really hilarious to see Karkat being defeated after hearing him boast about his unmatched skill in the game Ancestors of Alternia. You decided to switch perspectives and go watch from Karkat's side of the fight, mostly so you could see his expression as his avatar's life bar depletes pathetically.