An hour or so after the Alternians arrived at their apartment Karkat was sitting at his computer when a loud pinging sound rang and a notification popped up. Someone with the handleectoBiologist was pestering him.
ectoBiologist [EB]began trollingcarcinoGeneticist [CG]
EB: hi karkat!
CG: WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?
EB: it's john!
CG: OH. I FORGOT YOU WERE GOING TO CONTACT ME.
CG: SO WHAT IS IT?
CG: YOUR ADDRESS I MEAN.
EB: i live at 120 Sburb Lane.
EB: i know it's a kinda weird street name…
CG: THAT IS PRETTY WEIRD.
CG: SO I GUESS, THANKS TO FEFERI, WE ARE ALL COMING
SATURDAY.
EB: yeah! it will be a lot of fun!
CG: SURE. IT WILL FUCKING BE A LOT OF FUN.
CG: A CROWD OF PEOPLE BEING CRAZY AND STUPID PARTY GAMES.
CG: I CAN'T CONTAIN MYSELF FOR ALL OF THIS FUN THAT
IS GOING TO ENSUE.
EB: you really are antisocial karkat.
EB: it will be fun!
EB: i'm sure of it.
CG: WHO ALL IS INVITED ANYWAY?
EB: all twelve of your friends, dave, jade, and rose.
CG: WELL AT LEAST IT IS PEOPLE I KNOW GETTING CRAZY AND
PLAYING STUPID PARTY GAMES.
EB: i have to go :(
EB: my dad wants me to try his cake he baked.
EB: bye karkat! see you at schooltomorrow.
CG: GOODBYE FUCKASS.
ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pesteringcarcinoGeneticist [CG]
Karkat sighed as he left the warmth and comfort of the couch to go to Feferi's room to tell her where the party was.
"May I ask where you are going?" Equius inquired politely when he noticed Karkat standing up.
"I have to go to Feferi's room to tell her where to stupid fucking party is," Karkat replied grumpily; pretending to not notice Equius flinch when he used profanity. Equius had quite an aversion to "lewd" language as he put it. You'd think that he would be used to it after being around Karkat for a while.
Karkat slammed the door shut to his apartment and strode over to the door to Feferi and Nepeta's apartment. He rapped on the door until a tired looking Nepeta opened the door. "What are you doing here Karkitty?" she asked.
"I need to speak with Feferi," Karkat said, bristling at the use of the nickname, "Karkitty". He had given up on trying to get Nepeta to not use it, but he still disliked it.
"Feferi, Karkat needs you!" Nepeta yelled over her shoulder. Feferi appeared next to Nepeta, looking obnoxiously bubbly as always.
"Oh," Feferi exclaimed, "did you get the address?"
"Yeah. It is 120 Sburb Lane," he replied as he backed away to go back to his apartment.
Before he left, Feferi asked who was coming and he told her what John has said. Nepeta and Feferi both seemed excited at the people he listed. "They must be becoming good friends with those Jade and Rose chicks," he thought to himself as he fell back onto the couch.
The rest of the week passed quickly and it was Saturday before they knew it. The girls (and Eridan) spent most of the day getting ready for the party. The guys mostly just laid around the apartment until it was time to leave for John's party.
The group arrived about ten minutes after two due to Eridan making a scene until they agreed to go into the house at a time that was "fashionably late". Gamzee knocked on the door of the modest home until John opened the door.
"Hi!" John said excitedly, "I'm glad you could make it." He gestured for the group to come inside to the living roomwhere Dave, Jade, and Rose were already waiting. The group of twelve moved through the narrow entryway in a line. Gamzee was the first to enter, wearing his signature baggy polka-dot pants and black t-shirt. All of the guys (again, except Eridan) were dressed in a similar fashion. Eridan was wearing his black dress shirt, blue and black striped pants, a blue striped scarf, and a cape; a fucking purple cape. The girls were dressed much more fashionably; Kanaya in a red dress and matching heels, Aradia in a maroon dress and black flats, Nepeta wearing an olive green skirt and grey blouse topped with her signature cat hat, Vriska in a black dress and tights with a spider web pattern, Terezi in a suit resembling that of a lawyers, and finally Feferi was wearing a flouncy dark pink dress with her tiara that has the Peixes family sign in the center.
John, Dave, Jade, and Rose were all in t-shirts and jeans. It was painfully obvious that all of the Alternian girls were extremely overdressed for the event; but it didn't seem the phase them.
"Yo," was all Dave said when he saw them.
Jade rushed over to Feferi to hug her hello as Rose stood up to greet Kanaya. Once everyone was sitting in the living room John ushered them to sit in a circle.
"We are going to play truth or dare!" John announced happily.
"Of course, stupid party games," Karkat grumbled, "I thought this game was for middle school kids."
"Oh come on my invertebrother," Gamzee said, "let's just all up and have motherfuckin fun playing the game." He had obviously had some sopor before the party; he looked even more stoned than usual.
Karkat scowled. "What the fuck does invertebrother even mean Gamzee?"
"Karkat," Kanaya said dangerously, glaring across the circle at Karkat. He shut up but still made a point to look blatantly unhappy.
"Who wants to go first?" John asked. Dave raised his hand. "Okay Dave, pick someone to ask!" John instructed.
"Karkat," Dave said in a monotone voice, "truth or dare?" He looked next to him at Karkat, who had sat between him and John.
"Truth," Karkat huffed, hugging his knees to his chest.
"What is your sexuality?" Dave asked with a smirk.
Karkat snarled at the question, obviously not wanting to say the answer, but he did anyway. "I'm bisexual. Actually, all twelve of us are." Dave smiled a tiny bit at this answer, which is a very rare occurrence.
"That's a bit odd," John butted in. "Oh no! I don't mean that you being bisexual is odd! I just meant that, well, all twelve of you being bisexual is a bit odd," he added, horrified at the words that had just poured out of his mouth. A silence filled the air after this comment. He awkwardly fiddled with his glasses before someone said something.
"It's okay," Aradia said soothingly, "we understand. It is a bit odd since here bisexuals make up a small percent of the population." She reached over to pat John comfortingly on the arm.
For Karkat, this was the last straw; he jumped up and stomped away, slamming the door on his way back to the apartment.
When the door slammed shut Sollux said, "Well, I think we should give him some space for a while." Tavros, Vriska, and a few others nodded in agreement.
Against this advice, Dave stood and followed Karkat out of the house. Karkat walked all the way to his apartment whileDave followed him. Karkat was unaware that Dave had followed him until he heard a knocking on his apartment door a few minutes after he had arrived.
"What the fuck do you want," he snarled with as much animosity as he could muster after he violently opened the door to see Dave standing there.
Dave leaned casually against the doorframe. "I just wanted to see if you were okay," he replied.
"Well you know what Strider? I'm not fucking okay. I'm tired of people treating us different in this new country and saying things like what John just said," Karkat said between gritted teeth, clenching his small fists.
Dave walked into the apartment without invitation and plopped down on the sofa, patting the spot next to him. "Come on and sit here. We can talk," he said calmly.
Karkat looked around, as if he was trying to find a way to escape, before grudgingly sitting next the Dave. Dave looked him in the eyes and muttered something inaudible.
"What did you say?" Karkat inquired, shifting uncomfortably.
Dave struggled with how to reply, before leaning towards Karkat and gently kissing him. He knew they had known each other for less than a week, but damn, those lips were beautiful. Karkat's eyes widened and he was paralyzed when he heard the door open.
"Karkat? I just wanted to apologize-" John called, stopping when his horrified gaze fell upon Karkat and Dave. He stumbled backwards. John then absconded from the apartment building. He knew that seeing his best friend kiss Karkat shouldn't have affected him; especially since he is "not a homosexual", but for some reason it did.
Karkat unfroze after he saw John leave and the reality of what had just happened dawned on him. "What the fuck Strider!" Karkat screeched as he pointed to the door. "Get out, get out!"
Dave looked puzzled, nobody had ever rejected him before. He strode out of the room silently and kept walking with his head held down as he heard the door slam behind him.