[Saying his name is all Dave needs to do to get his attention, but the hands at his face and neck don't hurt—shouldn't hurt, wouldn't if Karkat weren't being such a goddamn wiggler about this. Boo fucking hoo, his moirail doesn't want to tell him everything, shut the fuck up and deal with it, like any of this shit couldn't be worse? Even if Dave says—if he says...

... He's so fucking weak.]

I d-don't want you to hide things from me.

[The instant the word leave his mouth, he's cringing at them, flinching away from Dave's touch because what the ever-loving hell is wrong with him? God, he sounds so miserable, so pathetic, is he actually this fucking disgusting? Can't keep his own shit in check for a second, oh, sure, prime palemate material he is, who the fuck would trust him to look after them? Dave doesn't deserve this, doesn't deserve to be trapped in a quadrant with him, why had he ever opened his fucking mouth in the first place?

He scrubs hard at his eyes and pulls back from Dave entirely, trying to retreat. This was such a fucking mistake, what had he been thinking?]

I just—I just wanted you to t—I kn-know that isn't it, it's just hard for you, you don't need to explain that. I just d-don't want to make you...

[He's not making any sense and he knows it, but every aborted half-sentence is just so awful and he fucking refuses to finish any of them. He doesn't want to control Dave or make him feel guilty or anything; none of this is his fault. It's all Karkat. It's always Karkat's fault.

He rises abruptly, not giving Dave a chance to react. Fuck this. Fuck everything.]

I should go, I'm not—I'm n-not helping you. This isn't what you need.

[He turns and begins to leave.]