Yo. I guess this is starting out a lot better than the other one, thank god. Like I said in the original, I know what I'm gonna do. I'm still going to follow the same plot, but I've added a lot more fluffy stuff for the future ;). I'm also going to try to make these chapters as long as possible (except this one, this one will be somewhat short due to the fact that it's only the first. I promise I'll make them WAY longer), but at the same time I want to have at least over 30 chapters. I want this to be a long running story, and I'm pretty sure it will be. This will also be posted on Archive of Our Own, my username the same there.

The prince was messing around with the large quill in his hands, not really listening to my dad as he was being yelled at. Something about how he needed to stop messing around and get to work, I suppose.

"Just get off your ass and at least do some paperwork!" But don't I need to be on my ass to do paperwork?

The albino sighed, kind of tired of hearing his loud voice just complain. This lecture has been repeated to him so many times, and he gets it. It's just that there was so much work. He can't handle all that with only two hands. "Whatever. I'll get on that," he said, half-meaning it.

Giving a content sigh himself, the king muttered a 'good' and turned on his heel towards the door, making his leave.

Giving it a few moments so he was sure he wouldn't be heard, Dave let out a loud, frustrated groan.

Dave Strider is a prince with too much work. Dirk Strider is the king who gives too much work. Roxy Lalonde is the queen who, well, doesn't really do anything except be cute, to Dave at least. And Karkat? Oooh boy. Have you ever had a cranky uncle that you just wanted to squeeze lovingly, only to have him bite you repeatedly (Dave knows this by experience)? Well, that's him. Everyone wants to hug that sarcastic bastard. Sadly, only one person accomplished that without getting hit so far.

The blonde looked up at the ceiling, lost in thought for a moment about his father, until a knock on the door made him snap out of it immediately. Afraid that it may have been Dirk again, he quickly faced directly in front of his desk, grabbing one of the many papers on it and setting it in front of him.

"Come in," he shouted, loud enough for whoever was on the other side of the door to hear him.

It popped open, Karkat on the other side with a tray of food. Dinner, probably. Was it really that late already?

Upon seeing this, Dave gave a relieved sigh, setting the quill down again. Karkat kicked the door shut, bringing the tray to the desk and setting it down in front of the blonde, on top of the paper there.

"There's your lunch, dumbass." He only cusses at Dave when they were alone or with certain people. He couldn't do it around the king, or he'd get fired immediately. He already didn't like him in the first place.

"Thanks, Kitty," Dave said, a smug smirk on his face. This nickname caused Karkat's face to heat up rapidly.

"Don't fucking call me that, you shit," the troll mumbled, before letting out a sigh. He turned towards the door, stopping when he heard a call of his name, turning his head back to look at the albino again.

"Are you gonna go make the bath soon?" He asked, an eyebrow raised.

Karkat facepalmed, actually almost forgetting to do that. "Yeah. I'll do that," he said, heading towards the door.

"I'll be there in twenty."

Dave opened the bathroom door, the first thing he sees being Karkat, who was sitting on the stool by the sink. His eyes then shfted to the bath, full and steaming. Just how he liked it.

He stepped towards Karkat, giving him a light pat on the back for the good work. Then Dave just started stripping right there, starting with his shirt. This earned him a growl from Karkat, the troll standing and stepping away, from him, and instead settling to sit on the edge of the tub, "Don't do that so close to me."

The blond snorts as he kicked his shoes off. He unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, taking them off along with his underwear. He then stepped into the tub, Karkat getting back up to neatly fold his abandoned clothes and set them in the dirty clothes basket.

A relaxed sighed left Dave's lips as he sank down into the hot-warm water, hearing a scraping down behind him and a 'sit up, asshole.' He glanced behind him, seeing that the other had pulled up the stool and had the washcloth and soap in his hands ready. He nodded and sat up like he was told (who ever heard of a servant bossing the prince around?), a small, content smile forming onto his face as he felt the now-wet-and-soapy cloth be gently rubbed across his back, not only cleaning him, but also giving him a little massage too. That reminded him, he needed to ask Karkat for a massage after this. Strifes with his dad really did no good for his back.

"..So. How was your day, Karks?"

"Terrible."

"I see, so like usual," he coughed awkwardly. "What happened this time?" Dave asked curiously. Usually it was people pissing him off, so he wouldn't be surprised if that was the answer to his question.

There was a bit of a silence. An odd silence, and then a pause.

"..Nothing," he said somewhat quietly and continued rubbing his back.

Oh shit. Was there actually something wrong with him? Fuck. Usually Kanaya knows how to take care of it when he was sad but she was obviously not here.

"You sure?" he asked, deciding not to break any cool he had.

"I'm sure."

He sighed a bit in relief, taking this as a sign they didn't have to talk about it right away.

After about twenty more minutes, Dave got done getting washed, Karkat stepping away and allowing the blond to get dress in the clean pajamas that were on the sink. Both left the bathroom at the same time, Dave watching him. He just now noticed how Karkat was walking. All slouched over and tense. He looked extremely uncomfortable and in a lot of pain. He himself was nowhere near like that. He quickly made the decision to stop him.

"Hey, uh, you want a massage or something?" he asked, choosing that he wouldn't be selfish and actually do something for Karkat instead of asking him for it.

Karkat turned his head towards him, stopping his footsteps. His expression lightened up at the mention of a massage.

"You're joking, right?" he asked, really not believing that Dave would really offer that.

"No, no, I'm being completely serious. Unless you don't want on-"

"No, I do. I definitely do," Karkat corrected, quickly crawling up onto Dave's pretty-big bed, earning a snicker from said blond as he joined him.

"Fine, if you really need one that much."

Yeah. Don't worry, it's not gonna get dirty.