#**ask meme

The ask makes Ray's eyebrows clench together, makes his eyes avert to Gavin desperately. When his boyfriend shrugs his shoulders and sighs, Ray pulls his right sleeve over his hand and wipes his eyes. He had to get to the bottom of this. Where did this sudden hate even come from?

[text; Chocolate Bronco] Karkat?[text; Chocolate Bronco] Karkat what were you talking about, in that ask[text; Chocolate Bronco] Karkat please talk to me

Ray's reduced to slight tears and shaking.

What if Karkat's right? Wait --.. He was right, he was so right. X-Ray and Vav were never fucking heroes. All of those times they chased those street rats was for themselves, for a sick ego boost that ended with one of them committing a double homicide.

[text;] YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. [text;] MY DAD TOLD ME, X-RAY. HE TOLD ME WHAT YOU AND YOUR LITTLE SIDEKICK DID[text;] YOU AND VAV ARE DISGUSTING. A SHITTY EXCUSE FOR HEROES THAT EVEN I BELIEVED. 

Ray can feel bile rising from his stomach to his throat and it burns. His breath is black smoke that suffocates him as he breathes in and he can't do it anymore. His hands shake as he tries to form a real reply.

[text; Chocolate Bronco] Karkat no please lis ten to my side of the story [text; Chocolate Bronco] Karkat don't leave [text; Chocolate Bronco] I'M NOT HIM KARKAT [text; Chocolate Bronco] I'M NOT X-RAY I'M A MONSTER I'M SUCH A FOUL BEING

Michael, I’m Puerto Rican. We’re known for being deadbeat dads.

I’m sorry, my boi, but you’re on your own.

It's been like fifteen minutes and Ray's knocked three different times and Gavin hasn't answered anything. There's a major delay between their text messages and Ray's kind of worried but he's not going to admit that now. The situation's probably not that bad, maybe Gavin's doing something or he has his headphones in and doesn't check his phone until it's long enough to worry Ray. But soon Ray gets tired of standing around so he leans on the door that leads right into Gavin's little privacy shed and it ends up behind unlocked - and buckles under the tiny amount that Ray's packing. When he finally lets the scene settle in, Ray tenses completely and raises his hands like he's been caught doing a crime.

"I'm! Wow, uh, I'm really sorry! Didn't mean to barge in! I, uh, continue on!" was his hurried response, and quickly he backsteps out of the shed and walks backwards, retreats completely back until he's safe inside the Ramsey house.

"Hey, Karkat, where's your bathr-"

Ray skips over the entire step of 'knocking' and walks right into Karkat's bedroom, right as Karkat stops what he's doing and slowly turns his head in the general direction of Ray. Karkat's breathless, his face is flushed and immediately, Ray can figure out what he just walked into. His mouth opens and closes once, twice, before he can finally find something to say.

"I can't get mad," he says with a rising blush on his cheeks. "When a boner comes, you gadda do what you gadda do." Wringing his hands together, Ray turns and drags the door along with him, shutting it softly.