video

[centurybaby]

[ the view is obscured by an exhale of cigarette smoke, until jenny lifts a hand to wave it away. the gesture is unremarkable, except it's irritable somehow. the camera is sitting on her bedside table, angled a bit carelessly, because when she moves away from it, she doesn't seem to care if her face shows or not-- but she's visible from the middle down, pacing and smoking. ]

Hey.

Has anyone seen Julian Keller?

[ another exhale of smoke. then she moves to sit on the cot. ]

He sent me something. So I just wanna know if anyone's fucking seen him or not.

[ she lifts a hand to run through her hair. it's getting long now. but she's quiet. quiet for a while. then irritably, she flicks her cigarette to floor and grinds it out. hard. ]

Happy fucking holidays.

[ then she turns the feed off. ]

Comments

[crab]

I guess I can find it in the limitless goodness of my blood pusher to let it slide today. You're fucking welcome.

[centurybaby]

[ mildly: ]

Gee, you sure know how to make a girl feel special, Kitty.

[crab]

Stop calling me Kitty.

[centurybaby]

Or what?

[crab]

Or I'll have an aneurysm and die, and add manslaughter to your list of charges.

[centurybaby]

[ fff. ]

I guess I can't let you die.

[crab]

You guess. Well, good to know my life is a top priority for you.

[centurybaby]

[ again, mildly: ]

You are important to me, Karkat.

[crab]

[ he falters, for a moment, taken off guard. briefly, the irritable mask falls away, reveals something more vulnerable, before he struggles to fix it back in place.

there's a pause. ]

You are to me, as well.

[centurybaby]

[ quietly: ]

I know. That's why you're here.

[crab]

You shouldn't have to deal with this by yourself. [ he says it like a confirmation. ]

[centurybaby]

That's what I've got you for, right? [ dryly: ] Proves you're a fucking masochist. Everyone else got smart and jumped ship or got ported out.

[crab]

You're going to have to step up your game if you want me to get sick of you, Quantum. I lived a year in a house full of dead bodies with what is apparently the Alternian equivalent of the human subculture known as juggalos, which are every bit as awful and embarrassing on Earth as they are on Alternia, covered in soda and surrounded by booby traps. Just try and top that.

[centurybaby]

[ it's a little entertained when she answers: ]

Sounds like you have shit taste in friends, Vantas.

[crab]

Maybe. They do have an unfortunate tendency to kill each other.

[centurybaby]

I promise I'll try not to kill anyone you love.

[crab]

I appreciate that.

[centurybaby]

Anything for you, KK.