[ It's when he doesn't rise to the bait - this particular bait, the physical aggression and latent threat - that she finally starts to chill her shit out. Just a tiny bit. Whether he'd intended it or not, the effect of his flat and more or less unruffled demeanor is to make her suddenly feel very silly, like she is parading all this rage for the world to see and absolutely everyone knows there's no bite behind it.
All bark, no bite. When did that become who she is? When did everyone stop being scared of her and what she could do? Times were, if she threatened someone like this, everyone would freak out because, oh shit, Vriska's about to do something terrible!
(It changed when it became as clear to everyone else as it always was to her that she wanted to do the right thing. And now that she's being taught what the right thing is, she's been doing it more and more often.)
At least he flinched.
She doesn't respond to his dig, because that's rote banter they're basically both expecting at this point. It's his quiet comment that gets her to shift and frown, softly. Plus the way he grips her wrist. It's a familiar gesture. It's the same thing she did to Aradia when Aradia beat her almost to death. Karkat will be unaware of the parellel, but it isn't lost on her, and makes her feel even worse. ]
I'm fine. [ She says so softly probably only he can hear it. But now, after jumping over the fucking table and manhandling him and-- christ, Dave and John aren't even paying attention. Karkat isn't the one here behaving like a wiggler. (Well. He did start it.)
Suddenly too self-conscious to stay here even another second, Vriska frowns more sharply, lets go of Karkat--
Then bends her knees, grabs him around the middle, hefts him over her shoulder, and pushes up into the air. To John: ]
I am borrowing your dumbfuck boyfriend. I will try to return him in good condition. No promises, though! [ A beat, and to Dave: ] And yes, Dave, you can have my lunch. Thanks for being so considerate and asking, because I might have actually given a shit about that!
[ With that, departs. Karkat can protest all he wants. As long as he doesn't do anything to make her drop him, they will probably make it to the roof more or less intact.
WHATEVER KARKAT. YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY GETTING BACK TO YOUR SHITTY HUMAN LUNCH FOOD. ]
no subject
All bark, no bite. When did that become who she is? When did everyone stop being scared of her and what she could do? Times were, if she threatened someone like this, everyone would freak out because, oh shit, Vriska's about to do something terrible!
(It changed when it became as clear to everyone else as it always was to her that she wanted to do the right thing. And now that she's being taught what the right thing is, she's been doing it more and more often.)
At least he flinched.
She doesn't respond to his dig, because that's rote banter they're basically both expecting at this point. It's his quiet comment that gets her to shift and frown, softly. Plus the way he grips her wrist. It's a familiar gesture. It's the same thing she did to Aradia when Aradia beat her almost to death. Karkat will be unaware of the parellel, but it isn't lost on her, and makes her feel even worse. ]
I'm fine. [ She says so softly probably only he can hear it. But now, after jumping over the fucking table and manhandling him and-- christ, Dave and John aren't even paying attention. Karkat isn't the one here behaving like a wiggler. (Well. He did start it.)
Suddenly too self-conscious to stay here even another second, Vriska frowns more sharply, lets go of Karkat--
Then bends her knees, grabs him around the middle, hefts him over her shoulder, and pushes up into the air. To John: ]
I am borrowing your dumbfuck boyfriend. I will try to return him in good condition. No promises, though! [ A beat, and to Dave: ] And yes, Dave, you can have my lunch. Thanks for being so considerate and asking, because I might have actually given a shit about that!
[ With that, departs. Karkat can protest all he wants. As long as he doesn't do anything to make her drop him, they will probably make it to the roof more or less intact.
WHATEVER KARKAT. YOU'RE NOT ACTUALLY GETTING BACK TO YOUR SHITTY HUMAN LUNCH FOOD. ]