onepissedoffcancer:

Well, truthfully, yeah. Y’know, I used to hate cops. Still kind of do. They never found the asshole that caused the car crash that killed my mom. Sure, pops has never liked cops because of his own profession, but, I only started disliking them because they couldn’t do their own job. They couldn’t find evidence. So, I’m going to school to catch those idiots that the cops can’t.

-It has been a while since you even talked about your mother. Hell, you never brought her up with Dave or with Sollux. But it was part of the reason you were going to school in the forensic area, despite it being for genetics.-

Yeah, yeah, I’ll be sure to let someone know if it becomes unbearable. What the fuck are you, my nurse? My new mother?

-Okay that was meant as a joke, and you really hoped that your voice made it seem that way. Didn’t need to make her upset.-

You nod with understanding.  He did understand, you realized.  The traumatic incident that happened in his adolescence was certainly of a different nature, but it was no less significant, and no less long-lasting, even if it affected his outside world instead of his body.  It starts to make you feel a sense of weird kinship with him.

My condolences.  How old were you when that happened?

You can tell it isn’t something he talks about all the time, and you tread as lightly as you can around the issue.

I’m just a friendly acquaintance who cares, Karkat.