[There's no real ignoring that look. He doesn't know the whole state of his world—that's part of why he's even asking—but he's been jumpy enough with his own background that it's easy to understand. People are shit about this. He's been shit about it in the past. And here he is, giving Billy reason to worry again by being defensive about it all.]

[He nods a little to what he says, looks away, and lets out a sigh of his own.]

It's not you, it's...

[Nerves prick through his chest like needles.]

Karkat and I are... We're not like that, but it's an alien thing. Keep it quiet, aight? Enough people around here make assumptions about us without us saying dick about it, so when you said shit that way, I thought you were jumping on the bandwagon.

[He shrugs roughly. His head is turned partly toward him, but his gaze is still off to the side somewhere.]

Karkat could tell you how their whole romance thing works; they've got four kinds with different feelings and purposes to it. But that's—he wanted to ask because what if he gets to dating a human that way, how that works. And I got curious too because... even if it's not the kind where anybody gets married, he's still an alien, you know?

[The tips of his ears and what part of his cheeks is visible around the shades have turned a brighter yellow, and he tries valiantly to pretend no such thing is happening. It's harder to hide when his blood glows beneath his skin.]