Title: Take on Me (1/?)

Rating: R (overall)

Pairing: Jade/Karkat

A/N: WIP

Summary: Jade's only slightly obsessed with the manga Alternia Bound and the candy red eyed troll that stars in it. Only slightly.

A young woman named Jade Harley sits in a Starbucks - she likes their green tea fraps - reading the newest issue of her favorite manga, Alterniastuck

Jade is a great many things. She's top of her class. She's a good granddaughter to her aging and slightly - eccentric - grandfather (who often goes on about video games that destroy the world and strange aliens). She's the kind of girl that does math for fun and is better friends with her dog than any person.

She's also a complete and utter fangirl. And she thinks she should really not read this in public when she wants to squee loudly every few pages.

It's pouring down rain though, and she doesn't want her precious new manga to get wet. So she's hold up in Starbucks trying her best to pretend to be a mature young woman that doesn't make high pitch noises over her favorite male character. It's just that he's too precious for words or anything rational.

Her favorite character is one Troll - that's the name of the alien race that star in the book, Jade thinks its an odd name but she figures it's a mistranslation - named Karkat Vantas. He's only a year or so older than Jade herself if you convert into years (which she has) and Jade thinks if more guys near her age looked like him she'd be more interested in dating. Of course, Karkat doesn't look really human. None of the Trolls really do.

The grey skin, horns, and pointed teeth really does something for her.

Okay, she likes his shouty but secretly sweet and soft personality too, but the artist really outdid herself when she drew Karkat.

Sipping her drink, Jade turns a page. In the manga, Karkat has just joined the ranks of the Threshecutioners and Jade's pretty eager to see where this takes him. What will this mean for his relationship with the pretty 'girl' troll Terezi? Will this cause problems with his Moiralage with Subjugglator Gamzee?

She's sure time and further translated volumes will tell. She just wishes that there was a glossary or notes or something at the back of each volume. Troll society was complicated and the manga drops all sorts of words like she should know them. Translation issues, she guesses.

The book is only in its third volume but Jade already likes it more than this Mangaka's last book. It had been a very short two volume manga that seems to have been a prequel to this one. But other than the rather intense relationship the main character had with a female follower there hadn't been much to it that interested Jade. It'd been way too dark and hopeless for her liking.

Jade figures she should really be working on class work as she sits waiting for the rain to stop. Instead she winds up reading the whole volume in one sitting. Her butt is numb and her drink has gone runny and she'll have to take the late ferry back home. And get a lecture from her grandfather.

But SO worth it.

Jade collects her things and tucks the manga safely into her bag. She leaves an extra tip for taking up a table so long and head out into the lengthening shadows. Maybe she feels just a little lonely as she walks down the street towards the ferry dock - or maybe she just wishes she could really meet Karkat Vantas.

A young troll named Karkat Vantas sits in his respiteblock trying to get his shit together. He's lucky they don't cull trolls for 'mutant' blood colors anymore, but there are still a ton of other shit you can get culled for. Like being seen freaking out in your respiteblock at the Threshecutioners academy, because you dreamed about that human female again.

Human's are a race on one of the planets the Empire is seeking to conquer. Karkat isn't sure why, human's seem like a pretty pathetic aliens. Hardly a threat and the planet doesn't have any resources the Empire doesn't have on other planets. One does not question the motives of Her Imperious Condescension. Not if a troll had any sense in his thinkpan and didn't have a cull wish.

Karkat has both sense and not a single wish to be culled. Which is why the dreams freak him out so much.

He in a very tiny, almost non-existent way as a flush crush on the human. It's fucking ridiculous, because all his dreams tell him that she's silly and forgetful and weird and alien. Okay, so she's the cleverest human or troll girl he's 'met, but she's alien.

She has pale skin and green oculars that, according to his xeno biology class, don't match her blood color (but somewhat match her name). Her teeth are blunt (and he has not thought about what they'd feel like on his skin) and her cartilaginous hear handles are round not pointed.

Karkat thinks she's rather pretty in an alien sort of way. If he was at all into aliens, which he's not. He has a quite perfect possible maybe matesprit in Terezi (if he's honest with himself he's not sure what he has with Terezi). She's the perfect troll girl and he doesn't see her blindness as a handicap or 'defect' at all. And he'll gladly put his scythe into any one who calls her such things - not that Terezi wants or needs such defending. She can defend herself.

He likes to imagine sometimes that the alien girl would like him defend her, maybe even be flattered by his whiteknighting. She seems handy enough with the rifle of hers, but she's never seen her use it.

Gog damnit, he's thinking about that alien too much again. Why can't he dream of blood and death like a normal troll? Why does he dream about an alien girl reading silly books (though some of the romance ones look alright) or playing with what he assumes is her lusus - though oddly she has a older human guardian as well, damnit he should have paid more attention in the xeno-culture class.

Karkat scrubs his hand over his face and moves over to his computer. He'll bug Gamzee and forget all about Jade Harley for the moment.