[ that... is actually a lot better than karkat had been assuming. but then, karkat tends to assume the worst of eridan these days; with good reason. the one time he hadn't, the one time he had given him a fraction of faith, he'd come away from it as a corpse. he refuses to make the same mistake again.

he scoffs, scornfully, but without the same malice he tended towards lately. far too much like old times. ]

Seriously? You, diplomatic representative of Alternia? If you legitimately start painting yourself as a symbol of our race I'm pretty sure everyone remaining will permanently seize up out of collective embarrassment. They'll think we're all scarfsucking hipsters with awful taste.