“Hellooooo~? Wakey wakey! Alternia to Karkles, is anyone hive?”
“UGH . . . UHHH . . . ?” Karkat grumbled as his conscience stirred from the darkness, dazedly holding his head. Had he been asleep? And for how long? The better question remained to be answered, just where was he? His surroundings were unfamiliar, if disarmingly cozy. Currently seated in an armchair positioned snugly by a fireplace, the embers and flames within the pit crackled, giving the room a gentle warmth and low glow to it.
Looking around, he appeared to be in a den of some kind in a hive that was not his own. No hive he was familiar with in fact, never having seen a room like this before. Seated across from him however was a face he did recognize, eyes narrowed into untrusting disgust, almost to the point of his body physically recoiling. “ADONIS.” was all he uttered in disdain, the yellowblood giving a wink and small wave in greeting.
“There we are~!! Hehe, I figured you would have never woken up.” Eshtin seemed to have something in his hands, reaching over towards Karkat to hand it to him. It was a mug with a rich, dark liquid inside. Foam played at its edges, and a heavenly scent of chocolate wafted upwards with the steam. “Some cocoa, just to help you get going. I know how you like things warm~”
Cautiously pausing for a few seconds, with a grumbled sigh he reluctantly took the cup, lifting it up to his lips and taking a slight, dainty sip, seemingly content with how the drink tasted. “ALRIGHT, LET’S JUST SKIP ANY BULLSHIT YOU HAVE PLANNED AND GET RIGHT TO IT. WHY AM I HERE, ESHTIN? MATTER OF FACT, WHAT HAPPENED?”
“My dear Karkat, I’m glad you’re so straightforward as always! Well, I decided to pay you back after our little, heh, deal last time. You know, the one in relation to our . . . bet~?”
He shuddered, Karkat grimacing as he nodded, indeed remembering such a time. “YEAH. I HATED IT AND I’M NEVER DOING IT AGAIN.”
“That’s exactly it! You seemed so downtrodden on the fact I decided to invite you over to my hive and lift your spirits. Would that make up for any past transgressions between the two of us?”
“I DON’T THINK SO.” Karkat nearly growled in reply, setting down the mug after apparently having downed most of it, using his sleeve to wipe some of the remnants of foam from off of his upper lip. “YOU’RE LUCKY I’M IN AN UNCARING MOOD OR I WOULD HAVE ASSUMED YOU KNOCKED ME OUT YOURSELF AND DRAGGED ME HERE, OR SOME OTHER MEANS OF BULLSHIT THAT I’M SURE IS UNCUSTOMARILY NOT THE USUAL WAY YOU’D GET A GUEST TO COME OVER. IF YOU’LL JUST POINT ME TO THE NEAREST TRANSPORTALIZER, THEN I’LL GLADLY LEAVE WITHOUT ANY FORM OF TANTRUM OR SPITE.”
“Now now! Now now now now now Mr. Vantas, there’s no need to rush! What’s the hurry? Out of the goodness of my heart I have you over and this is how you thank me? Tut tut, very rude guest manners if I do say so myself.” Eshtin shook his head in disapproval, a smug smirk on his face as he waggled his finger.
“Unfortunately, you won’t be leaving anytime soon even if I wanted you to. We’re a good deal of day’s journey away from a transportalizer.”
“. . . WHY’S THAT?”
“It’s just . . . in certain regards to the location of my hive, heh,” Eshtin giggled gleefully, licking his lips and performing his habit of rubbing his antenna-like horns as if he were styling them. “It’s not the most ideal place if you’d ever want to leave without assistance. And by assistance, I mean from my matesprit.”
“ZAHHAK?” Asked in disbelief, the emotions on display through his face slowly revealing that he was putting the puzzle pieces together in regards to their current situation and what sort of size shenanigans that usually plagued him in association. “. . . OH NO. DON’T TELL ME . . .” Spoken with a sigh, almost burying his face in his hands.
“You’d be correct on whatever conclusion you came to~”
A quaking rumble in the distance would alert them both to the seismic activity slowly but steadily approaching. Scrambling up from his seat, Karkat made his way to the nearest window and peeked outside. The surroundings made it clear Eshtin’s hive was located in a city, indicative on the towering skyscrapers and the sound of general hustle and bustle purveying the air, but what also caught his attention of that /sharp/, immediately recognizable scent also overlaid upon the environment. What further gave clues was that it appeared to be night, but no moons hung overhead or any stars at all, just a dim, low-light setting with a thick humidity that hung heavily.
The surroundings outside of the city gave no indication to any natural landscapes, but rather an off-putting, coarse flatlands that seemed to stretch on into the darkness. While this all was observed, Karkat had to cling tightly, feeling another shudder shake the hive, this one much more powerful than the previous one, the source growing closer. Eshtin was all smiles, giving Karkat a dismissive wave when he glared over at him.
“If you’re worried about this hive or any other building outside toppling over, don’t be. It has long survived any ‘earthquake’ its endured before, and certainly will continue doing so long into the future. At least, until our gracious benefactor accidentally decides to finally play with the pebble he finds~”
“ALL OF THOSE WORDS WEREN’T REASSURING AT ALL AND I’M EVEN MORE DISCONCERTED THAN I WAS BEFORE. THANKS, ADONIS. YOU REALL KNOW HOW TO MAKE A TROLL FEEL SAFE. YOU HAVE SUCH A WAY WITH WORDS ON THAT MATTER. TRULY.”
“It sounds like someone’s being just a little too ‘crabby’ for their own good~”
“YOUR JOKE GOES UNAPPRECIATED.”
As they squabbled, the third and final ‘THOOM’ was upon them with such thundering force the very foundation underneath them seemed to feel as if it would crumble any second. It held firm fortunately, and while Karkat was attempting to find his footing after his legs had given out from stumbling over during the quake, he gazed upwards, watching the sky literally be ripped open and parted by some incomprehensible colossi. Or, at least as close as it could get to such a case.
He did not remember if it had ever been mentioned offhand at some point, and if it had been he would try to forget it, tuning out as much of whatever Eshtin spewed from his gobhole as he could, but Karkat now recalled something about where Eshtin lived. It was in relation to an experiment Horuss Zahhak had done one day, or he had grown, or some other random nonsense of size extremes he could not remember, but the city in which he lived was reduced to nothing but being a grain within the blueblood’s boot. Now for obvious reasons apparently it was still standing just fine, but despite that he couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread as the sky darkened once more with a new cast shadow, this one emitting from a vast monument of wrinkled, grey-blue tinted flesh.
The foot entering the boot seemingly wiggled its toes with anticipation, its proclivity for such an enormous visage above generating even more rumbles and booms than before. Nearing closer and closer, it suddenly slammed down with enough erupting power Karkat was /sure/ everything around them would crumble just from the shockwave alone. Once it settled down however, everything seemed to be standing in the right order, either meaning this place was built to last or the people of this city had gotten so used to their new lifestyle it affected them no longer.
On either side of the cityscape, two massive walls resembling mountainsides loomed high above, occasionally wiggling with an earth-rendering shake to get adjusted to the boot they were wearing. The tiny town seemed to be situated directly between the big and second toe in an impression embedded into the sole of the footwear’s bedding, seemingly keeping it safe. As the visitor gawked at the sight, Eshtin had made his way over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and wrapping his arm into a sidehug. Suffice to say the agitated twitch in Karkat’s left eye was out of reaction.
He sighed in admiration, the mustardblood giving a partial giggle. “Ahhhh, isn’t it wonderful, my good man? I wake up and greet this sight every day. My matesprit is such a caring fellow, isn’t he~? <3″
“GET YOUR HAND OFF OF ME.”
“Wait until he starts walking! If you’ve ever been to any form of amusement park Karkat, it’s just like that. Except the ride has no seatbelts and seemingly never ends until he stops.”
“HAND. YOU. ME. OFF.”
“Fine! That’s fine by me, I know how to respect personal space. Sometimes, at least. Oh, by the way, you should brace yourself. I believe it’s going to start any second now. Riiiiiiiight about . . .”
“Now?”
Just as Eshtin finished, a sense of heaviness came over Karkat as they were suddenly whisked upwards, the ground rushing up so fast he was clinging to it from the vertical velocity forcing them to be pressed into it. It stopped a split second later, and for a few moments, they were absolutely weightless in the downshift. Until a sense of vertigo overcame Karkat, and then, the exact opposite as they were now on the ceiling, the entire world slamming downwards with an impact that felt absolutely cataclysmic. The worse part was that this repeated countless times afterwards going on and on until finally things settled down. The entire time Eshtin had been laughing, Karkat groaning and having to hold his stomach, lest he be sick and let that cocoa he had downed earlier revisit being outside of him.
“Haha! Looks like Horuss took a brief detour to his workshop. Perhaps to enjoy a view out of a window, or survey the fine musclebeast art he’s garnered over the sweeps.”
“CAN I GO HIVE NOW.” Karkat uttered weakly and sadly, feebly trying to crawl back up to his feet after such an ordeal.
“Why Karkat I’m shocked. After all I’ve heard you’ve gone through, this seems like it’d be a walk in the park for an experienced fellow such as yourself!”
“EXPERIENCED, YES. ENOUGH SO I’M UNAFFECTED BY IT? GOD FUCK NO.”
“Don’t worry, the worst is behind us. At least until Horuss thinks of a song and starts tapping his foot to it. Better hope it’s the other boot and not the one we’re in!” Eshtin chuckled. “Oh by the way, what do you say to a little mountain-climbing, hmm?” With a waggle of his eyebrows he pointed outside to the insurmountable masses that loomed everpresently nearby. “It could be fun scaling such dangerous heights, perhaps even rewarding with the bonding we’d share~”
Slowly Karkat stood up, first shakily on his knees, then leaning over to catch his breath, then back up to his full (if non-intimidating) stature. His expression held a glare so full of vitriol one could practically feel the heated hatred ebb and flow off of the mutant. “LISTEN HERE AND LISTEN GOOD ADONIS, YOU COMPLETE WALKING SACK OF IGNORAMIC SHIT FROM A LUSUS WHO’S SUFFERING FROM SEVERAL VIABLY DEADLY DISEASES. I HATE YOU. I HATE EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR. HELL, I HATE EVERY PLACE YOU’VE EVER EVEN STOOD! YOU’VE TAINTED IT. WHEREVER YOU HAVE WALKED, IT IS NO LONGER SANCTIFIED AS YOU’VE SPOILED IT WITH JUST YOUR PRESENCE ALONE. I HATE YOU DOWN TO THE VERY MOLECULES THAT COMPRISE THE MATTER YOU ARE MADE OF. EVEN THE AIR YOU BREATHE I HATE; I ESPECIALLY HATE IT RIGHT NOW CONSIDERING IT’S SHITTY AIR LACED WITH WHATEVER STINK YOUR GODDAMN BLUE BOYFRIEND HAS EMITTING OFF OF HIS FOOT.”
“. . . My, Mr. Vantas, if I didn’t know any better, it sounds like you were pitch-flirting~”
“. . . Err there is no need to bring out the sickles, hehe. I’m only backing away because you might do something you’ll regret later, K-Karkles~!!”
“Now now, I’m sure we can discuss this like orderly, gentlemanly trolls who-”
