#caesarscaesurae

[arachnidsglare]

wirrrp replied to your post: Chives, we aren’t even friends.

A critical loss. No longer enough friends to play bridge. - CC

I don't even know how to play 8ridge.

[abnegatetransilience]

1'm a cooler ancestor than you!

[deterministpalindrome]

deterministPalindrome: All this talk about sparring and level-grinding recently has reminded you that you don't /actually/ have anything any sane person would willingly refer to as proper weapons. Fixing that seemed rather high on your list of shit to do, so down to the alchemiter you go, grumbling to yourself, hoping that this wouldn't cost you all your grist, and continuing to wince every time you used the word "Hope." Fuck this game.

GM: Most definitely fuck this game. Fuck it hard and long, rough and splintery, and all other sorts of unkind adjective strings....oh my god, what have they done to this alchemiter? At least, it was probably an alchemiter. ...once. It has the flat dias for items to appear on, anyways. But my god, there are racks and racks of slots for cards to go into that take up two whole walls of the room, and it looks like everything from typing out codes into a punch designix all the way through the totem process has been automated, and there's unfamiliar pedestals and laser-arm arrangements everywhere and... ...This machine /might/ be cool. ...Nerds should(n't?) be left unsupervised for three years. Among other features (...as the player of Derse, tell me if there's specific ones he would have worked towards), it probably at least has a holo-display to show a code's cost and what the item will look like. Items can also be resized.

deterministPalindrome: ...It's going to take you a moment to just. Stare at this. Thing. Sure, you had all the basic machines on your version, but you'd thought having /all/ of them in one /room/ was luxury, especially with the suddenness of your need for them and a distinct lack of planning. Dear fucking god, what have they done to it.

doomedGemini:Derse's first goals would've been /ease/ and /cheaper/ to reduce the likelihood for alchemy induced stranglings, which there would've been a lot of over the years. Beyond that? He probably would've tried to find a way to get this damn machine to take whatever recipe it got and direct it to spit out a variety of food instead of whatever useless/ful junk it wanted, though that probably added to the frustration instead of reducing it. There were also additions that just made making things more entertaining and less monotonous, and ones that allowed multiples to be requested during the creation process to speed up said monotony. He also might have taken requests from other meteor residents just for something to do.

GM: Creating multiples of things is definitely a feature it has; but if Derse tried to kids-lock the alchemiter he probably would've had a lot of arguments on his hands and guests would've been warned about it so that one is probably not a go. It will by default show what the code will produce and then force you to click 'okay' if you really want it to make one.

deterministPalindrome: ...this seems easy enough. Seems being the key word here because god damn alchemiters. At least you're not going to waste grist for the most part. Time to start playing. The shoddy kind-of weapons in question are two throwing stars (of course), about a foot in diameter with three triangular points connected to a ring. A metal bar has been welded across the opening of each as a sort of handhold, and bent one has been welded to the opposite side of one of the points to make a kind of strap for your forearm, effectively turning them into punchdaggers of a sort. They've been repaired at some point by someone who actually knows what metalwork is, so they're sturdy at least. Go down your list of codes and what you've got on you to pick something to start with. Punchdaggerish things && steak knife might be a good place to begin.

GM: > Punchdaggers && Steakknife : The triangular points would be replaced by paired steak knives, back-to-back, and the crossbar looks like the knife-handles.

deterministPalindrome: ...okay that was kind of cool. Write that down, and try Punchdaggers || Steakknife.

GM: > Punchdaggers || Steakknife : The punchdagger's handle is an entire steakknife, and the entire mess is encased in a block of ice.

deterministPalindrome: :I of course it is. You'd forgotten that you can't use logic with this thing. Time to get ridiculous. Start scrolling down your list and grab the first code that you spot. Punchdaggers && Steakknife || A crate of blood oranges.

GM: > Punchdaggers && Steakknife || A crate of blood oranges : A crate of blood oranges. With a different code from the first one, that costs 4 less grist, but is otherwise identical. ...on immediate visual inspection.

deterministPalindrome: Fuck blood oranges. ...compulsively write that one down and move on, grumbling. Keep scrolling and... yes. Punchdaggers || Grill lighter.

GM: > Punchdaggers || Grill Lighter : A set of punchdaggers with small, promising looking front-facing holes along the forward blade, and what looks awfully like a trigger on the handle...

deterministPalindrome: :D Write that fucker the hell down, with stars. Punchdaggers && Grill Lighter?

GM: > Punchdaggers && Grill Lighter : ... This looks sort of like a cross between a very chunky kind of squashed wand and a disc-shooter.

deterministPalindrome: ...well okay then. =/ Punchdaggers && the better of your two husktops?

GM: > Punchdaggers && Better Husktop : Two grilled cheese sandwiches, costs 1 build grist.

deterministPalindrome: ...you hate this game. Write that one down and scroll through your list a bit more... oh that seems promising. Leather fingerless gloves from the nights when you tried to fashion || Steakknife && Why do you have the code for a cleaver, whatever, toss that in too.

GM: > Leather Fingerless Gloves || Steakknife && Cleaver : Artifact 2x3dent with a constant, horrifying aura of darkness and strange cosmic lightning effects. Large frog carvings and intricate decorations worked into its surface. Costs a crazy high amount of grist, possibly more than Pal has, and it's all of weird types. Including 3 artifact grist and an awful lot of chalk.

deterministPalindrome: ....holy fuck. Your stocks are comparitively low after so long, but jesus /fuck/ that is a lot of grist. Write that the hell down with no less than four notes to send the codes to Feferi, plus a discription and grist costs. ... Leather Fingerless Gloves && Steakknife || Cleaver?

GM: > Leather Fingerless Gloves && Steakknife || Cleaver : Big fancy claw gauntlets.

deterministPalindrome: Those are cool. Not what you're going for, and a little anticlimactic but cool. Write that down, and try Leather Fingerless Gloves & Steakknife || Cleaver.

GM: > Leather Fingerless Gloves & Steakknife || Cleaver : Fingerless gloves, with giant disembodied hovering cleavers that seem oriented promisingly kinda like the fingers would be.

deterministPalindrome: ...yeah, you have to write that one down, those look like fun. Leather Fingerless Gloves || Steakknife || Cleaver?

GM: > Leather Fingerless Gloves || Steakknife || Cleaver : Strange dagger that's a steak knife mounted into the back of a cleaver. Comfortable-looking grip.

deterministPalindrome: That sure is a thing. Eh. One more with this set: Leather Fingerless Gloves && Steakknife && Cleaver.

GM: > Leather Fingerless Gloves && Steakknife && Cleaver : ~ath programming reference / user manual.

deterministPalindrome: ...yeah you're done with that combo. Uh... scroll scroll scroll... why the fuck not. Back to the Punchdaggers themselves || Five apples.

GM: > Punchdaggers || Five apples : Punchdaggers that appear to have been carved out of a single unrealistically large apple.

deterministPalindrome: ...you're so tempted to make these and send them to Vel when he gets back from whatever's keeping him as a "welcome back I missed you" gift or something. ...write it down, along with the cost and a bunch of diamonds to make later when you're sure you don't need that grist for whatever weapon you find. Scroll scroll, oh, that's an idea. Make a box of matches (provided it's not horrendiously expensive to do so), light one, and get the code for that. Punchdaggers || Lit Match.

GM: > Punchdaggers || Lit Match : Flaming punch-daggers! Including around the handle area.

deterministPalindrome: So close :I Punchdaggers && Lit Match?

GM: > Punchdaggers && Lit Match : The mildly more expensive crate of blood oranges.

deterministPalindrome: You need a thirty second "Fuck blood oranges" break before starting up again. Punchdaggers || one of your smaller three-point shuriken.

GM: > Punchdaggers || Small 3-point shuriken : Fractal punchdaggers, with entire 3-point shuriken for each blade.

deterministPalindrome: That is cool looking and mostly useless. God damn it. Scroll scroll Punchdaggers && Small 3-point Shuriken?

GM: > Punchdaggers && Small 3-point shuriken : Small 3-point shuriken with adorable little crossbars. ...Solid construction at least, looks like it's all one piece.

deterministPalindrome: Murr a little. There's an Enlarger on this thing, right? How expensive do they get when you crank them up to a usable size?

GM: > About 4x as much as the normal punchdaggers. ...But, he'd get three of them, and they'd be brand shiny new with no wear and tear. Or welding. > Probably manageable pretty easy, normally. With dumb skeletal monsters, it'll take longer to grind the grist back. But, hey. Doable, probably.

deterministPalindrome: Yeah, you make a set of these, you need weapons and these are as good as any. Plus maybe you'll get better stuff with the better set? Who knows. Do they still count as shuriken like the old set so you can slip them into your thrwnstarkind?

GM: > Sure do.

deterministPalindrome: Fuck yeah. Get the code for the new ones, then swap the two sets, slipping your trusty pair into your actual sylladex along with the third new one. Take a break from alchemizing to test the weight and balence of these new ones, how they feel, the usual shit when you get a new weapon.

GM: The weight and balance is a little different, and it'll take a while to get used to the aerodyamic properties if he ever actually throws one instead of...using his hands or his mind. Overall, marginally heftier, slightly pointier shape.

deterministPalindrome: Next time you run across an imp, you're definitely going to practice. Physically throwing larger stars is a bitch normally, so you don't bother usually. Glance back at the machine. Stop here or play a little more? ...maybe a couple more. New Punchdaggers && oh let's start wiiiiiiiiiiiith Fingerless Gloves sure why the fuck not.

GM: > New Punchdaggers && Fingerless Gloves : Same great weapon, now with more comfortable grip and built-in glovey strappy bit.

deterministPalindrome: Ooooooo yeah writing those down plus cost. It's hard to convince yourself to spend limited grist on cushy versions of what you just made, but you'll definitely keep them in mind for when you find grist again. ...yeah you're practically obligated. New Punchdaggers || Crate of Blood Oranges.

GM: > New Punchdaggers || Crate of Blood Oranges : Science Wand.

deterministPalindrome: NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE NOPE Write that the fuck down with a big NO over it and resolve yourself to never letting another blood orange within your sight again. You need a moment to stop sparking and to get your pumprate down to reasonable levels.

GM: Truly, the devil of small, reddish citrus fruits haunts Pal today. When his pulse finally slows down enough for him to be able to hear a damn thing, one of the first things he hears is a combination of footsteps and something trailing lightly against a wall. The steps are heavy, and slowing down a bit as they approach the room from a side-hall.

deterministPalindrome: You startle a tad, ears perking and a few stray sparks curling around a back horn as you look, eyes a little wide. Who the fuck is down here and please let it be Sparks or Karkat that would be wonderful.

caesarsCaesurae: With a disappointing wave of purple, that hipbone is neither Sparks nor Karkat. Ampora balks in the doorway a moment. ...He had a bit of trouble telling everyone apart still, but he was pretty sure this was the small violent one.

deterministPalindrome: Your ears going back and the growl starting up does nothing to dissuade him of this opinion of you. Your sparking is mostly nervous crackles, and you are trying to figure out how to wrangle your emotions and which way you want them to end up.

caesarsCaesurae: Fins slowly flexed back against his head, but the Orphaner's expression stayed otherwise neutral as he absorbed the problem. It took him only a few moments to decide on a plan of action, and slowly bring his elbow up to rest on the wall, and lean his cheek against his knuckles again. Carefully casual poses were important, particularly ones that happened to emphasize physique. His face stayed thoughtful, but purposefully relaxed a little.

caesarsCaesurae: "... You alright?" Careful. ...Careful.

deterministPalindrome: Your growl hitches louder for a moment as he moves, surprising no one, sparks still curling around your horns. His choice of positions does not go unnoted, but you're a tad busy trying not to bolt to actively notice. "I'm fine!" Oh wow good job Captor he'll believe that for an instant could you have made it more obvious?

caesarsCaesurae: "I'm sorry," he offered. It sounded almost out of context; in a sense it was. He was pretty sure the easiest way to solve this was to figure out what the boy needed to hear, and to just say it all. Within reason. His fins lowered a little further, drifting outwards marginally as he gauged Pal's response to his first guess. ...the rest of him stayed dead still, for now.

deterministPalindrome: Curl your lip a little at that, though it did through you a bit off. The last thing you were expecting was an apology, especially from an Ampora, /especially/ especially from an /adult/ Ampora. "Why?" Confusion was mixing with the rest of the slurry, slowly but surely elbowing out the fear, giving you something else to focus on.

caesarsCaesurae: "For all this." Vague, yet probably apt. Force the boy to ask more specific questions, until there was something random affirmations could fix, or he admitted that Cronus hadn't done anything. Just don't get caught. ..He resisted the urge to gesture as he spoke.

caesarsCaesurae: Let the eyebrows drop a little, but the eyes relax. That was how concerned sympathy worked. He'd practiced things like this for centuries.

deterministPalindrome: Narrow your eyes. What the hell has Sparks been telling him? He'd already dumped that you weren't completely over fishboys yet on him, the bastard. What other weak points has he spread out for Ampora to pick and chose, like some god damn arsonal of fucking your life over? ...why hadn't he fucked your life over yet? "What do you want?" You make it as biting as you can, which is a decent amount considering.

caesarsCaesurae: "I wvas thinking about the alchemiter." Slow and reasonable, guide the topic. Briefly be proud for remembering the weird name. "Unless you meant in general."

deterministPalindrome: Curl your lip again for a moment at that. "No, I wath wondering why you were in the mathhineblock, containing only thaid mathhineth and located at the athh end of the meteor." Every end of the meteor was the ass end but that doesn't matter. "Of courthe. What elthe could it be?" It was much harsher and sharper than your usual sass, but it was the most words you've said to him.

caesarsCaesurae: The meteor certainly had its fair share of ass. So did Ampora. So /was/ Ampora. "Then it depends. So far, I wvant to help."

deterministPalindrome: Snort at him. "Courthe you do. What ekthactly doeth that /mean/."

caesarsCaesurae: "Keep evweryone in one piece and get things done." Possibly not the best phrasing, not that he knew that. "Same as anyone else. Sparks hired my help, he's got it."

caesarsCaesurae: "WVhat do /you/ wvant?"

deterministPalindrome: You flinch, and your sparks, which had started to settle, flicker back. Leaving was starting to crawl its way back onto the table of options, but the urge to not back down was still stronger. "You ta thtay the fuck away from my clade." You weren't even trying to filter anything at this point.

caesarsCaesurae: Fins slowly ..slowly, bobbed up and down once, evaluating the flinch. ...He wasn't sure what he'd said, he needed to stay careful. His tone gentled a little bit, even more sympathetically. Apologetically. "...I don't wvant to hurt anyone. ..and I'vwe no interest in you or yours. Outside of wvhat I owve."

deterministPalindrome: Back to narrow eyes. The hell was up with him? "...you'd better not. 'm not gonna hethitate ta thplatter you all over a block if you do." A couple of purposeful sparks for emphasis. Try not to think of the visual. Kind of succeed. Lightly tap your clawtips against the heel of your palm in a pattern.

caesarsCaesurae: "Let's both be glad it wvon't come to that then." Was that condescending? It could be.

deterministPalindrome: Your ears flick at that and you snort again. It probably was condescending. Amporas. Fuck all of them.

caesarsCaesurae: "/I'm/ glad." Fingertips rose to carefully indicate and touch his chestplate, eyebrows arching.

deterministPalindrome: You tense at his movement, a quiet growl slipping out for a moment. Even now, you're still on edge. "I'll be glad when I believe you." Which won't be for a while.

caesarsCaesurae: "So wvill I." Gentle was key. Calm, understanding, reliable. ..Don't give the boy any excuses. "Do I need to fuck off till you're done, then?"

deterministPalindrome: Glare at him for a moment before flicking your glance over to the alchemiter. Wow, no, you still don't want to try anything, you can do that later. Flinch a little and look back at Ampora. "Done with it anyway. Good timing, I guethh." Huff at this, then take another moment to try and figure out if you want to turn your back on him or not.

caesarsCaesurae: "Guess so." ..the boy had flinched? "...You alright?" Wouldn't hurt to try that one again.

deterministPalindrome: "I'm fine!" It's not quite snarled, but close. Decision made: pride dictates you turn from him and leave, tense as hell and ready to dodge anything he might throw at you, literally or not.

caesarsCaesurae: "...Alright." The words came from exactly where Ampora had been standing when Pal was watching, and there wasn't the slightest whisper of cloth against cloth or skin against anything, for Pal's entire way out.

deterministPalindrome: You keep up the stiffness until you're a decent distance away, then duck into a closet, pull out your pile, and snuggle into it so you can very calmly freak out a little.

caesarsCaesurae: Thoughtful, soft squinting and consideration of the door that Sollux left by. Cronus didn't move, didn't bother continuing at all, until he'd had a few minutes to think about the conversation that had just happened. ...Palindrome was long gone by the time he finally went about his business.

[deterministpalindrome]

==> Meanwhile in the past: CC and Pal's meeting sure goes

caesarsCaesurae: The Orphaner Dualscar was standing in one of the large, more chamber-like hallways in the meteor on the day immediately following his resurrection. He was looking up at a gigantic chesspiece in a jar, head tilted, face kind of scrunched up a bit, and just looking sort of confused.

caesarsCaesurae: The cape is distinctive, no matter what angle you approach him from, leading most reasonable minds to ask one question : Why the hell is there an Orphaner Dualscar on the meteor?

deterministPalindrome: The best thing about the meteor being too big is that nervous pacing turns into going that way for a longass time. Which is what you're doing now that you can walk again. It's a while before you decide it's time to get your barings again and look up to spot... holy fuck adult tall adult who the fuck is this. Start growling low and standing up at your full height before recognizing the cape and the horns. That's when the archs of blue and red electricity start, and the growl kicks up to a snarl. /Why is there an Ampora/.

gouramiGriever: Feferi had, by that point, made a point to follow Dualscar around like a lost little duck. The fact that one of the sollux's is freaking out about him being there makes her frown, stepping in front of the elder. ")(ey. Relax."

calodemonGelastic: Naturally you'd gotten lost again. Let it be known that Karkat Deltrese Vantas can not read maps. Sigh. Look around you. Look ar/ound/ you. Just look around you. There. Now take a closer look. People! Thank fuck, you hadn't wandered into space. That was an entirely logical concern. If anybody could manage that it was you. Who were these people. ...Ugh. UGH. /Her./ And /him/. But Pal! :D Pal made up for them both. ...Sparky Pal. Gdi what the fuck had they done. Shuffle up to him quietly, putting a hand on his arm, "You okay?"

caesarsCaesurae: He heard the growl first, and that was a little weird, but also kind of tiny and high-pitched to him like a kitten or something and so he wasn't as instinctively concerned as he could be. And then the sparking started, and they abruptly had his full attention. The fashionplate frowned, cape swooping gracefully as he turned halfway around, one hand reaching into his cape for....nothing. ...he pauses there, fingers half-curled, squinting down (down, way down) at the slightly smaller Sollux.

caesarsCaesurae: The Orphaner's grimace worsened slightly when he noticed Karkat there. Just ducky.

gouramiGriever: Oh, Karkat. She cringed away, stepping to put her back to the orphaner. Nope.

deterministPalindrome: You regester Feferi in a distant "oh that's a thing" kind of way; your attention is on the Ampora. Him noticing you did nothing to make you cower, hell, it made the snarl louder. Your fingers twitch.

The only reason you know Karkat's there is you can feel your psionics arc onto him, probably painfully. These aren't little nervous sparks, this is a wreath of power ready and waiting. A glance to see who the fuck that was and ahahahahaha fucking /NOPE/ you are getting in between him and that fucking /fish/ and /hiss/ at Ampora.

caesarsCaesurae: Welp, reflexive half-snarl for the fish too, fins starting to lean back as he focused exclusively on the angry psionic. "WVhat the hell is your problem?"

calodemonGelastic: It did hurt, but you'd had worse. ...Blink? What the hell /was/ his problem? Had he never actually met a Dualscar before? "Sollux." louder this time, firmer, "Calm the fuck down,"

caesarsCaesurae: The Orphaner looked very not pleased, but he also wasn't /moving/ at all. He knew not to startle people, no matter how irritating they were being. He planned to wait until the boy threw the first shot to get uppity about all this.

deterministPalindrome: You really hadn't met one before, especially not one that /shouldn't be here/. Your ears flick from where they're pinned back at Karkat's words, and your snarl quiets a touch. You aren't actively attacking, but you sure are on a hairtrigger for the moment he does something stupid. He's ribbons if he tries anything.

gouramiGriever: Feferi frowned, looking at Ampora, then over at Pal. This is not going to be good.

calodemonGelastic: Slowly slide your hand into his, ignoring the sparks of pain and squeezing lightly. You stroke his hand with a scarred thumb, urging him to turn around and face you, "He isn't doing anything,"

caesarsCaesurae: Dualscar held still a few seconds longer, still frowning, before taking a risk. His hands slowly started to spread out to the side and away from himself, sweeping his cape gracefully wide, and then he was starting to settle down to sit on the floor. One knee up. And then elbow rests on knee, chin in hand, and he arches his eyebrows slowly. ...If you counted his horns, he was still around the same height as the assembled.

deterministPalindrome: The odds of you taking your eyes off of the seatroll were pretty much null at this point. The seatroll who was moving. Your snarl hitches louder and you visably tense ready to... watch him sit down. It takes a moment of him not moving again to get your snarl and tension back to the previous lower level.

caesarsCaesurae: Yeeeep chillin on the floor now. Looking back at Sollux. Not amazingly impressed. Slow secondary-eyelid blink.

calodemonGelastic: I:<B Fine then. You'd just stand in front of him, hands on Sollux's chest, "He's here to help us. Calm. Down," ...turn to Cronus, hands on hips with a pissy scowl, "And you stop being a smug douche, you're not helping,"

gouramiGriever: that's ... some anger he's got there. Ease to Ampora's side, hand on his shoulder. "All )(e's doing is sitting, Vantas." Feferi says neutrally. No need to cause problems...

calodemonGelastic: "Are you really that blind. He lives in a perpetual state of smug douche,"

caesarsCaesurae: "Howvevwer wvill I stop then?"

gouramiGriever: "T)(at's... Just )(ow Ampora's are."

caesarsCaesurae: ...Aaand glance at Feferi without moving head.

calodemonGelastic: "That doesn't negate the fact that it's not fucking helping,"

deterministPalindrome: A liiiiiiittle calmer. Down to a loud growl.

caesarsCaesurae: Aside, to Fef.  ".../Really/?"

gouramiGriever: "W)(at. I was moirails wit)( your descendant for a good number of sweeps. I'm not saying it's a bad fin. I t)(ink it's endearing." Shrug. Endearing till it gets someone killed. She doubts that'll be a problem here.

caesarsCaesurae: Eyebrows up slightly higher.

gouramiGriever: Puffup. Flustered finwiggle. Put that eyebrow back. Gosh.

calodemonGelastic: Shhhh, pet his face, pet pet pap pap peck peck, shhhhhh.

caesarsCaesurae: And the tone was getting even drier somehow.  "Really."

gouramiGriever: "W)(at?" Socialization. sh'es bad at it

deterministPalindrome: Between Karkat and Ampora not /doing/ anything, your sparking's starting to be less storm and more static electricity. You're still growling though, leaning into Karkat's affections and not taking your eyes off of the seadweller.

calodemonGelastic: Nuzzle his cheek and mwah! Right on the nose. "Everything's okay, it's fine," kisskisskiss.

caesarsCaesurae: "I don't feel like a smug douche."

gouramiGriever: "It's just t)(e way you carry yours)(ellf. Confident. It's a good fin, I promise. T)(ere's nofin wrong wit)( taking pride in yourshellf, as far as I'm clawncerned." Catpuns, fishpuns, compliments.

caesarsCaesurae: Skeptical eyebrows.  Sollux still hadn't left his field of vision, and he hadn't blinked with the normal eyelids since the young psychic arrived.

caesarsCaesurae: Ampora risked moving his free hand again, still broadcasting his movements clearly, and reached down to take the corner of his cape.  Lift it up, up, up-- gracefully flick it over her head.  At least he seemed to be less irritated, fading from that through dry incredulousness, all the way towards mild amusement.

deterministPalindrome: "Ith /not/." Finally, words. It's growled to Karkat. Oh, hey, movement, louder growling.

calodemonGelastic: "Would you fucking sit still!"

caesarsCaesurae: "/Fine/."

calodemonGelastic: "/Thank you/."

caesarsCaesurae: Hand on knee, Ampora resumed sitting still with a poorly stifled sigh.

calodemonGelastic: Back to the calming and papping now, "It's fine, see? He even listens to people,"

gouramiGriever: The cape over her head doesn't seem to bother her, and she scoots closer to the elder. Is she drawing that thing around her like it's protection? She certainly is.

deterministPalindrome: ...okay back down to growling. ...and on to low growling. And s l o w l y relaxing.

caesarsCaesurae: Mumble to new cape-weight, "am I behavwing yet?"

calodemonGelastic: Tiptoe kissus! ^OuO^ "Good. Proud've you," hugs and purring and snuggling and yes.

gouramiGriever: "I t)(ink so." quiet quiet voice.

caesarsCaesurae: Faint sigh.  He wasn't a patient troll, mostly.  "..alright, good."

deterministPalindrome: You are still sparking around your horns, and your fangs aren't completely covered, but you are wrapping your arms around Karkat's shoulders and semi-nuzzling one of his horns. While still staring down Ampora. But progress!

caesarsCaesurae: The Ampora continues not looking at Sollux directly!  ...nor letting him out of peripheral vision.  Focus on the other seadweller instead.  Idly glance at the cloak-wrapping, without really commenting or reacting much.

calodemonGelastic: Eski   mo  kiss, ses?? / ? It was worth a shot! Wiffle nose kisses! Wiggly ears! "I love you, you're doing so well," talking quietly. Very quietly. Hopefully only Sollux could hear him, "Play nicely and I'll give you a blowgibble later,"

gouramiGriever: Stay under the cape! Safe cape.

deterministPalindrome: That chunk of growl could easily have been mixed with a purr or a grumble, but it was mostly drowned out and hard to say. ...of course it was that that got you to stop looking at the seadweller and flick your gaze down to Karkat. "I am. 'th not dead yet." Grumblegrowl.

caesarsCaesurae: (murmered) "..wvhy don't you wvear a cape?"

calodemonGelastic: Well... this was going to take a while, it would probably be best if you just... separated them, "Come on dude, let's go get pancakes or something, I'm hungry," quietquietwhispers, "Hungry for the D,"

gouramiGriever: "My )(ood doesn't )(ave one.... Yoars is betta anyway."

caesarsCaesurae: ..Ampora was mildly amused again, still mostly alert. (murmered) "Thank you."

deterministPalindrome: You were loathed to back down, but... Karkat wanting food. (or possibly more) You can't just let this slide by. A growlly murrrr and a shifting of weight. Look back up at the Ampora.

caesarsCaesurae: ...Meet Captor's eyes. Mild, unreadable expression.

calodemonGelastic: (You weren't sure if you actually wanted the D but if it would avoid major ccatasrophe,,,) "C'mon, please?" Biiiig eyes. Oh he's not looking. Tug at his shirt, pay attention to me you swine.

caesarsCaesurae: ...His chin hadn't actually left his hand, nor his elbow his knee, this entire time.

deterministPalindrome: Somewhere deeeeeeeep in the back of your pan, it regesters that /wow/ those are pretty eyes. Look back down at the tugging and oh no upset Karkat. Droop your ears a little while they're still pinned back. "........'lright." Glare back up at Ampora.

caesarsCaesurae: "...WVhich ones are you twvo, again? I knowv your names, but wvhich ones."

calodemonGelastic: Small smile up at him and run your fingers through his hair, "Thank you. C'mon now, make me food bitch," yay hand holding now.

gouramiGriever: "T)(E Karkat" Fef whispers really quietly.

caesarsCaesurae: ..he glances at Feferi again. "..there's apparently twvo, that doesn't help."

gouramiGriever: "Sparks' moirail"

caesarsCaesurae: "Alright." ... Glance at Sollux. Back between everyone, brows up.

gouramiGriever: "T)(at one's not sparks."

caesarsCaesurae: "I..." ...The hand slipped up to actually cover his face for a moment.

caesarsCaesurae: "T--Tumblr. D--d-o you ...Name." Damn it, Feferi... Kind of point at Sollux.

deterministPalindrome: That growl is fading into a raspy upset purr and you lean into his hairfloofing, nuzzling faintly. Shit, movement, tense up a little and snap your glare back to Ampora. Progress!

calodemonGelastic: "Deterministpalindrome,"

caesarsCaesurae: "Okay, go, goodbye."

caesarsCaesurae: "Fuck."

gouramiGriever: Confused blinking, facefin flutter.

calodemonGelastic: Backto the kisses and snuggles and hair floofing, herding him out. You would not be above throwing him over your shoulder if you had to.

deterministPalindrome: ...and there goes the tension. It doesn't need to come to that (your dignity thanks its lucky stars), you'll follow him out, but only /follow/. He leaves first.

calodemonGelastic: Sigh and lead out, keeping hold of his hand all the while, "You're sweet but dumb,"

caesarsCaesurae: Soft, tired sigh.

gouramiGriever: OH karkat's leaving... Nott leaving the capefort yet. Nope.

caesarsCaesurae: "..wvhat wvas his problem?"

gouramiGriever: "I'm... not s)(ore."