A troll officer walks into the police department's main entrance; the receptionist greets him. "Good morning Mr. Vantas. Should I make note that you have returned from your assignment, or do you plan to depart soon?"
"Gah!" He spontaneously cries out. "I just want to go back to bed! Not arrest some two-bit sex offender who was probably drunk because who else would try to show the most worthless part of their body that has no chance of reproducing, to some woman on the street. And according to the information I got, the dimwit has been pulling that hoof-beast shit all morning."
Ms. Maryam stifles the smile forming, "Well after all that trouble, I hope you apprehended the offender."
"Yeah if I had anything going for me today."
"Oh?"
"The little shit kicked me in the shins and ran away with his dick hanging out!"
"You did not run after him?" The male troll glares at her. "Ah right, your-"
"Don't start with me Kanaya! Not this morning."
The female returns to the desk computer, "Well I'll be sure to avoid the streets today at the very least. And I'll inform the Chief, who I suspect will command that all officers keep an eye out for the perpetrator." She turns back to Karkat, "Ms. Harley and Serket have arrived while you were out."
"Thanks, and remind me on a daily basis never to come to work early again. I'm starting to think Vriska has the right idea."
"Whatever you say Mr. Vantas. Everyone else has started for the day, so you might be able to take a short break." Karkat nods for approval and walks in to the area where his fellow officers collaborate.
He quickly spots Jade and Vriska huddled close together looking over some papers.
"How about this one Jade?"
"Hmm . . . Nah. It's a bit too costly to me." Jade holds up another paper, "What do you think of this one?"
"Nope, the neighborhood sucks."
"Really? It looks nice."
"Trust me, a bunch of neighbor kids will throw rocks at your windows when you start moving in."
Jade frowns defeated, "Okay, then what about . . ."
Karkat swipes one of the papers from the pile, "Two to three bedrooms and a small bathroom with a fifty dollar monthly watering bill-Why are you two looking at apartments?"
"Jade's moving," Vriska answers without looking up. The woman gives an affirmative nod.
"Moving where?"
Jade answers this time, "Oh somewhere near the department. I'm only looking at new apartments since mine was temporary anyways."
"Temporary?"
"Oh right he doesn't know, "Vriska realizes. "Jade's passed!" The woman tries to hide her excitement, but fails miserably.
"Yup! I went to the Capital last week, and they reviewed my work here. They said I've improved so much that they made me an official officer, no longer in training!" Jade stands up from her seat and walks over to her partner. "So thanks Karkat," she opens her arms up, "Hug?"
Karkat stares at her unsure of the situation, "Uh congratulations then." Jade accepts that as a yes and pulls him into her arms. The troll gives her a quick pat on the back. Vriska watches them before snickering to herself. "What?"
"Oh nothing. Come on Jade, we need to find someplace for you to live." Jade agrees and sits back down.
"So I'm confused," Karkat admits, "Are you looking for houses at the Capital?"
The woman grins sheepishly, "No. I'm staying in Skaia. Like I said my current apartment is temporary and I would like something more . . . permanent."
"You're not going back to the Capital? I thought that was your home."
"Not really. Sure I had friends there, but I feel much more committed here with you guys!"
Karkat scratches his head thinking. He then turns around to find the room's television turned on to the local human news. "Ah fuck. Will someone turn that off?"
"Can't," Jade answers. "Chief demands we leave it on at all times for the next week while the election is running. Oh I'm so excited! I registered as soon as I returned!"
"That's really fucking great Jade. You're probably the only life form in this whole Grub-damn city who will give a shit about this election. I mean come on! Only Vallens is running again this year."
"Aww get excited Karkat! Voting is important to our political system! Don't tell me you don't vote."
"No I vote. And every year I vote for the only person who could ever run this city with a shred of efficiency, me."
Vriska rolls her eyes, "Like that'll ever happen. You can't even show your blood."
"How do you-Fine." Karkat starts to grumble to himself, "Not like I could save a lost cause like Skaia. Did you hear how Slick went on the news himself last week talking about how he was going to work on Skaia. Two words: lost cause."
"Hey hey! Let's calm down for a second!" Jade sooths. "We're all friends here! Or colleagues." The woman picks up coffee mug, "You want more coffee while I go to the break room Vriska?"
"Sure," she mutters handing Jade her cup.
As Jade leaves, her coworker looks over the papers that are at Vriska's side of the desk. Karkat soon catches a pattern, "Hey wait a second! Vriska, these are all in the center of Skaia."
"Well you wouldn't want Jade in Felt or Midnight Crew area would you?"
"But there's also North and South of Skaia that I know Jade would prefer to Central. Not to mention, all these locations are close to the hospital." Karkat continues to look over the documents, "And these apartments are too much for any officer's salary! But that makes sense since they are two to three bedrooms listed." The troll drops the papers in front of Vriska, "Explain."
"I thought Jade might like a roommate. Someone to stay close by her and be a good friend."
"You do realize that Jade has other friends that don't have stability issues? What makes you so special?" Vriska looks down at the papers a little embarrassed.
"I'm one of her closest friends so I think she'd prefer me over-"
"Right, and you haven't even asked her yet." Karkat looks at Vriska disgusted, "Ugh, don't tell me you're going red for her."
"What!"
"Dear Grub, you couldn't even pretend to like that John guy any longer? Going after Jade now? Do you have any self-respect or do you have some freaky human fetish?"
Vriska stands up furious, "Is your head so far up your ass that you're suffocating? Seriously! What you just said sounds like one of your shitty movie plots! Do you even have anything in that head of yours or is it full of hot air?"
"Look here Vriska," Karkat growls at her, "I don't want you to drag her in any of your shit. She's too nice for you."
"Karkat, I think it would be best if you mind your own fucking business." She sits down and returns to the papers. The male troll turns to his own desk opening up a file for today's work.
Jade shows up a few minutes later with two cups of coffee at hand, "Hey you won't believe what happened! The coffee machine like broke down and-" She then feels the tension in the air and nearly takes a step back shocked. Jade hands one of the mugs to Vriska and grabs a seat next to her. "Is everything all right?" she whispers to her friend.
"We're fine, Jade. How about this apartment?" The troll offers one of the ads to her friend.
A half hour of awkward quiet work passes between the three before the television grabs their, and everyone else in the room, attention.
"And there were no survivors in Skaia's mock zombie apocalypse," An anchorwoman informs. "Now three students recount-Wait. I'm getting breaking news from Fourth Billiards Street. We now go to our field reporter to relay the scene. Phil?"
The news station switches over to a man standing outside a known area of Felt territory. "Thanks Barbra, I stand with Dr. Scratch, known and well respected professor of Skaia University, who is announcing today his candidacy for mayor of Skaia. Dr. Scratch, how strong do you feel your chances of winning are against our own Mayor of many years? You don't have much time before election day, and not a lot of background experience with politics."
The doctor in questions stands proudly next to the reporter, "Please, call me Doc. And I think that you'll find that Skaia has long desired a new leader to run this city. Skaia has been in ill care that only I can fix. I assure Skaia that only I have the ability to save this poor city, not Mayor Vallens. So next week, vote for me for a better future."
All officers and Vriska watch the news cast in shock.
Karkat is the first one to open his mouth, "We are fucked."
AN: I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and will appreciate this update. We are going back to the main plot so be prepared for some changes. And please visit the PFS tumblr site for additional content.