This finally caught the older Vantas’ attention with a blink. He tried to end his sentence as fast as he could on whatever he was babbling about. “Yes? I w9uld have appreciated it if y9u’d raised y9ur hand if y9u wanted t9 say s9mething, instead 9f having t9 walk up and t9uch me, y9u kn9w very well by n9w that I d9 n9t appreciate such cl9se c9ntact with 9thers.” Kankri stared in a disapproving way, only to be met with a smirk. “FUNNY, YOU DON’T COMPLAIN WHEN I DO THIS.” Karkat sneakily stole a kiss from Kankri’s lips. “K-Karkat.” Kankri frowned. “I am trying t9 teach y9u imp9rtant less9ns, 9f which I d9 n9t appreaciate interrupti9n 9f.” “LOOK, I KNOW I SAID I WOULD LISTEN TO YOUR CRAP TODAY, BUT I’M JUST SO FUCKING BORED.” “S9 y9u are saying that my lectures are 69ring?” Kankri looked heartbroken, he thought Karkat had finally begun to enjoy his vast sermons. Also that the boy was more willing to learn about their mutant-blooded privileges. Maybe they could have even exchanged information about being Heros of Blood. But no, no matter what he did and even though the two had been together for a while now, Karkat was still dreadfully bored of the long intense speeches. Karkat sighed at the sight of the other’s pouting face, he hadn’t actually meant to upset him, but he really couldn’t stand being talked at all the time. “KANKRI, I HONESTLY  DID TRY TO LISTEN AND BE INTERESTED IN EVERYTHING YOU SAID, I REALLY DID, BUT JUST WATCHING YOU PACE ON THAT LITTLE SPOT OVER THERE AS YOU SPOKE WAS FRUSTRATING ME. WHEN YOU’RE IN ‘LECTURE MODE’ YOU BEGIN TO IGNORE WHAT’S AROUND YOU AND RAMBLE ON AND ON. ALSO SINCE YOU LIKE TO PACE AND ACCENTUATE YOUR WORDS BY MOVING YOUR ARMS ABOUT, IT MAKES IT DIFFICULT TO DO SOMETHING SIMPLE LIKE…CUDDLING UP IN YOUR ARMS.” Karkat looked down at the ground sheepishly as he finished his sentence. “The last time we did that, y9u ended up falling asleep in my arms.” Karkat’s face flushed a little as he folded his arms and looked to his side with an awkward embarrassed expression. Kankri couldn’t help but smile a little at this. “H9wever, I will admit that y9u did l99k cute as y9u slept, just as cute as y9u are 6eing right n9w.” “NO I’M NOT!” Karkat’s face reddened, making direct eye contect with the other troll. “Are t99.” He put his hand on Karkat’s shoulder, kissing the younger Vantas’ cheek softly, making Karkat’s blush deepen. “FINE, WHATEVER.” He mumbled. “S9 if listening to my serm9ns are so 69ring, what d9 y9u pr9p9se we d9 a69ut this? I d9n’t want y9ur 69rd9m to continue afterall.” Karkat pondered for a moment, as Kankri waited with a small, yet gentle smile. “WHAT ABOUT GOING OUT SOMEWHERE?” “Karkat, d9 I have t9 remind y9u that we are in a dream6u66le? We can 9nly g9 t9 places that are within them.” “I KNOW, BUT SINCE THESE ARE DREAMBUBBLES, I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE POSSIBLE TO MANIPULATE THEM…” “T9 create an area, made just f9r us, 9f wherever we desired as l9ng as it is s9mewhere we’ve 6een. Since the places in dream 6u66les are created fr9m 9ur mem9ries 9f places we’ve 6een t9. That s9unds like an excellent idea Karkat.” Kankri smiled happily as Karkat rolled his eyes. He hated it when the older troll did that, he seemed to have this uncanny ability to finish his sentences sometimes and seemed unable to stop himself from doing so.” “YEAH, SOMETHING LIKE THAT, SINCE I DID MANAGE TO CREATE LOCKS TO HIDE AWAY MY OWN MEMORIES, ALTHOUGH IT KINDA FAILED WHEN MEENAH KEPT BREAKING THROUGH THEM. BUT MAYBE WITH THE TWO OF US, IT WILL MAKE THE LOCKING MECHINISMS STRONGER AND KEEP EVERYONE OUT.” “S9unds like a plan, als9 if we try t9 g9 as far away as p9ssi6le fr9m every9ne else, then we will 6e less likely t9 6e distur9ed.” Kankri was beginning to sound quite excited by the idea, which made Karkat’s blush creep back onto his face a little. “BUT WHERE IS THE FARTHEST POINT FROM EVERYONE? THERE ARE QUITE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS BUBBLE.” “Well, last time I checked, every9ne was mainly designated in the N9rth and West t9 9ur current l9cati9n, h9pefully n9 9ne has wandered t99 far fr9m there, since it seems like the S9uth-East w9uld be the 6est l9cati9n f9r 9ur hideaway.” “I SEE, WELL, WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR? LET’S GET GOING.” Kankri chuckled and nodded at his impatience, Karkat hated the others interrupting their alone time just as much as he did, maybe even more. The two walked to the location of their dreambubble date, it took about half an hour to get to their desired place, so as they travelled they enjoyed seeing the various place merged together. Some of which was a tower from Prospit overlooking a blood river from the Land of Pulse and Haze which transformed into some random tall building structures similar to hive stems that humans called ‘flatts’ covered in some snow with plenty of frogs hopping about happily. They finally arrived to the far South-East area of the dreambubble, this area was a lot like Vriska’s planet, the Land of Maps and Treasure, yet it had the shining rain clouds from Rose’s planet, the Land of Light and Rain. Also there were various towers of sugar cubes scattered around on the rocks, which were clearly from Nepeta’s planet, the Land of Little Cubes and Tea. “S9 what kind 9f place were y9u thinking 9f?” Kankri asked which made Karkat blink. “WELL ACTUALLY, I WASN’T TOO SURE WHAT KIND OF PLACE I WANTED EXACTLY. I JUST WANTED TO BE SOMEWHERE ALL ALONE WITH YOU.” “9h? Pers9nally, I think that this place, despite being rather bright, is quite pleasant.” “I SUPPOSE.” “Then why d9n’t we n9t 69ther a69ut changing already lovely scenery.” “I GUESS, THAT WOULD BE EASIER.” Karkat shrugged, not really bothered. They walked down to a little cavern, finding some sugar cubes to sit down on while facing the ocean. “It’s 6eautiful here, isn’t it?” “YEAH…” Karkat agreed, unsure of what to really say, it wasn’t often he really go to say anything to Kankri. It was surprising that the older troll hadn’t started rambling on yet, but then maybe it was because he was distracted by the area surrounding them. Was it possible that he’d never seen a place like this before? “HAVE YOU…NEVER SEEN THE OCEAN BEFORE?” “I never saw it on 6eforus, I 9nly g9t t9 see it after we started 9ur session. 6ut even then, 9nly a few times f9r sh9rt while, from travelling thr9ugh vari9us 6u66les. Though, this is the first time I’ve ventured s9 cl9se t9 it, since 6ef9re I w9uld try t9 stay away. 6ut with y9u ar9und, I felt safe and 6rave en9ugh t9 c9me d9wn here.” “BRAVE AND SAFE ENOUGH!?” Karkat was confused, Kankri didn’t seem nervous in the slightest when they arrived. “Yes, with y9u ar9und I always feel like n9thing 6ad c9uld happen, that n9thing w9uld hurt me. 6ef9re I was afraid I might accidently get t99 cl9se t9 the 9cean, that the tide w9uld c9me in 9r a great wave w9uld c9me and wash me 9ut t9 sea. 6ut I can’t imagine anything like that happening with y9u ar9und.” Kankri looked at Karkat with a small smile, which made the other’s eyes widen and blush. Karkat could barely muster out any kind of reply, so Kankri scooched a little closer and layed his head on the other’s shoulder. Karkat responded by putting his arm around Kankri’s shoulder and placed his head on top of the older troll’s. They sat in silence for quite some time, watching the waves lap up the sand or throw some on the beach. The blue skies began to change into some spectrum from purple to orange as if some sun was setting, but they couldn’t see one from where they were sat so it was hard to tell if it really was or just a hallucination created by the dreambubble. Karkat lifted his head to get a good look down at Kankri, who responded by looking back up at him. “Is s9mething the matter?” Kankri asked worriedly. “NO, I JUST THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE TO SLEEP, SINCE YOU’VE BEEN QUIET FOR WHO KNOWS HOW LONG.” Kankri chuckled. “We gh9sts d9n’t really need t9 sleep, th9ugh we can feel tired and sleep as we were used t9 6eing s9 6ef9re we died. Anyway, it’s y9u wh9 falls asleep in my lectures, 6esides, I w9uldn’t want t9 miss a m9ment with y9u.” Kankri was smiling that never-failing-to-be-cute smile he did that always managed to get a little blush out of Karkat. “…KANKRI…” Karkat spoke softly, struggling to find the right words, which seemed to be a common occurrence towards the older troll. Kankri’s soft smile turned into a smirk as he kissed Karkat. After the initial moment of surprise, Karkat kissed back with force as he fought Kankri for dominance over the kiss. Unfortunately it was short lived as Kankri pulled back, making Karkat pout. “N9w, n9w Karkat, d9n’t be upset. They’ll 6e plenty m9re where that came from.” “BUT WHEN!? YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT AND WE BARELY GET ANYWHERE.” Kankri leaned to purr in Karkat’s ear. “9h I pr9mise that we’ll 6e d9ing m9re than that kiss, if y9u’ll just g9 t9 this certain place with me.” Karkat flushed madly and nodded. Kankri stood up and held out his hand for Karkat. “Alright then, let’s g9.” Karkat took his hand as he stood up. “WAIT, WERE YOU PLANNING ON THIS AND PREPARED SOMEWHERE FOR US?” “...May6e…” Kankri chuckled, then smirk, making Karkat blink in confusion. Before Karkat could make a response, Kankri led him away to a more private location within the dreambubble.