Friday came around and it was nearing four o'clock. The place was busy for once and Karkat found himself handing coffees, teas and every other sort of drink to teenagers fresh out of school and adults fresh out of offices. He was the only one working since Sollux (his best-friend) had called in sick (he wasn't sick. He was too busy screwing around with his new girlfriend to work) so the workload on Karkat was tougher. His red converse had a coffee stain on the white front and he was pretty sure he reeked of espresso but the olive-eyed girl was still in his head.

"Two iced teas, one raspberry and the other peach, please." A familiar voice said.

Karkat turned to look at the olive-eyed girl. She looked different, her hair curling down her back and over her breasts, whilst she donned a white see-through blouse (she wore a camisole underneath) and a pair of black skinny jeans. The girl looked much different, but the smile on her face was still the same.

Behind her, however, was a girl Karkat had seen many times before. Feferi, Sollux's girlfriend, was stood with the olive-eyed girl and smiling at Karkat. How the two knew each-other Karkat didn't know but they seemed close. Good friends if not best-friends. God, it was strange seeing Feferi with someone other than Sollux or Eridan...

"Sure. Hey Fef." Karkat said before hurrying to make the drinks.

"To go, please!" Feferi chuckled before fishing her purse out of her bag.

So maybe Sollux was sick, for once. What a fuckass. Just when it was getting really busy too. Quickly, Karkat finished off the other orders and handed them out before making the iced teas and switching them for money and a...

"I could've swore my phone was an iPhone 3G..." Karkat said, looking at the shiny, new iPhone 5S in his hand along with t he five dollar bill.

"My brother said your phone was rubbish so he replaced it. But this one has all your data on so it's practically the same. Sorry about that..." The olive-eyed girl said quietly, looking slightly sad.

Sure, the phone he'd had before had been a pleasant gift from his sister but this stranger had just brought him the newest version and the much better version too. He gulped, unsure whether to accept. He opened it up and typed in his old password, bringing up the same background, the same apps, but in a much shorter amount of time.

"I..." Karkat said.

"Just take it Karkat." Feferi giggled. "Now, Nepeta, are you going to ballet or mine?"

"I think I'll stay here a while, but I'll be over later, okay?" Nepeta asked, smiling sweetly.

Karkat got back to work and before he knew it, the olive-eyed girl was beside him, donning the same apron and pouring out the coffee. He would've refused and told her to fuck off, sit back down and drink her drink, but he was running behind a little and for once, he was actually thankful for the help.

As he made the drinks, Karkat began to think. Feferi had said the girl's name was Nepeta... right? Cute name. He was sure Jade, his old high-school friend who'd had an obsession with horticulture and plants, had mentioned the words Nepeta Cataria when referring to Catnip. After all, she'd had a dog who hated the stuff so it had amused them both to watch the animal run around destroying the plant. How ironic that she used cat puns and her first name was latin for Catnip.

By the time eight o'clock rolled around, Nepeta was sitting on the side, sipping a mug of chai latte (it was light so he presumed that meant diet) and Karkat was locking up the front door. He'd fixed himself up a cup of Americano, black coffee with no sugar or anything, and sat on one of the sofas as he lowered the blinds and then locked the shutters.

"Thanks, by the way." Karkat said, not looking up from his coffee.

"No purroblem. Mew needed help so it was the right thing to do!" Nepeta chuckled, smiling sweetly.

"Well, I guess I owe you since you bought me a whole new phone, helped me at work, raked in way too many tips for me and made my day a lot easier. So, what do you want?" Karkat asked, sighing with a grimace.

"How about you come to my ballet recital tomorrow night."

Karkat almost spat up his coffee.

"What?"

"Look, I don't really know mew but I came in yestpurrday and you looked lonely. I mean, you had a look that I once had and I wanted to be friends with mew. I guess I liked the idea of making a new furiend and I have this ballet recital I can't convince my brother to come to. I have a spurr ticket if you can come."

Karkat thought for a minute. This girl, she was pretty, kind and apparently talented too. And she wanted to be friends with him? Sure, he'd just been forcefully pushed into the friendzone but he didn't really care. The only real friend he had around the city was Sollux and then nobody else really. Gamzee, his stoner friend, was probably his other friend but the guy was always stoned so could it really be classed as a friendship?

And what had he got to lose? A girlfriend? Terezi had slept with another guy and now they were together so she clearly wouldn't care. Sollux, it was his grilfriend's friend. It was clearly going to work. Plus, it wasn't like anything was about to go wrong. After all, sure he was crabby and seemed to be constantly pissed off with the world but she hadn't seemed to care at all. In fact, it seemed like she felt the exact opposite and liked him for it since she'd offered to do so much for him. And he had to repay her somehow...

"Sure, want me to pick you up and take you there?" Karkat asked, realizing it was the least he could do.

"Around six would be great." Nepeta giggled, smiling.

"Where do you live?"

"How about I meet you here?" Nepeta chuckled, "I live just around the corner so it's hardly a walk."

"Sold." Karkat said before chuckling slightly.

One of those rare times occurred and Karkat found himself left with a smile on his pale lips. The chuckle that left his lips was something even he rarely heard and now he was just sitting there, smiling. It was a rare thing for him to smile since he'd a;ways been the stereotypical crabby and moody "teenager" though he wasn't exactly in that area anymore. But the people who made him smile were the people in his life who were special and hell, this chick was special.

Karkat walked Nepeta to her apartment, since it was dark outside and New York wasn't the safest place for a girl of her looks and height. Especially since she didn't look like she was too strong. After all, she was no more than 5'3", a whole head beneath him. Plus, she looked so innocent and sweet that Karkat wouldn't have been shocked if someone tried to abduct her or something. She looked like the type who wouldn't hurt a fly...

So, as Karkat got on his motorcycle, he began to think about Nepeta. He'd known her, what? Two days? Not even that, he thought solemnly. He knew so little about her and yet he felt strangely attached to her. She danced ballet, had a model for a best-friend, had an older brother who was good with electronics and she had enough money to live in apartment alone and buy him the new iPhone. That was all he knew over all, but she knew less than him. Then an idea came to Karkat's head. Kanaya, Karkat's older sister was sending him some money for his birthday and he could take Nepeta out for dinner. Get to know her a little better.

It was decided, he would ask her tomorrow.