Whoo! Sorry for the short chapter before, but hopefully this makes up for it. As always I really appreciate the reviews, and I'm always open to people's ideas on how the story might proceed. Enjoy this long chapter, guys. Loves!
After spending time bickering over Karkat's little victory, they left Mia Roma's, talking and catching up with each other as Sollux walked his soon-to-be boss back to his suite, discussing old times. After the college debauchery, Karkat had all but deleted his Trollian account, but somehow Sollux wound up convincing him to get it again, and to go back to his old trolltag of carcinoGeneticist. He still had no idea why he called himself that so many years ago, but it stuck.
The next week proceeded rather smoothly. They spent almost every day together, hanging out at his suite, or talking online. After a couple of days just hanging out, Sollux had to take care of something for the team, a code he needed to go over and fix. He insisted that it wasn't his, but that could have easily been a lie. Easily. At any rate, they were still chatting online the whole day, while Karkat went over some files and got to work at some last-minutes work situations, settling his place at both companies. It was around five until he had any other contact, a phone call.
Why didn't he ever check the caller ID before answering his phone? It was always a good habit.
"Vantas speaking."
"Kaaar, w-we should talk about, you know-w, a few-w days ago." Karkat let out a sigh. He could just as easily hang up on Ampora, couldn't he? Shit, then he would find it in him to come and visit. It was a personal pledge to get a new phone number when he moved. It was going to happen."
"Ampora, I have more important matters to attend to, I can't listen to you gossip over your photography collection and underrated music choices." A hipster joke was exactly what the situation called for. Just to be even more of a rude asshole, Karkat grabbed a bag of chips, munching on them before either responded, sitting on his bed once again.
"Oh fuck you Kar!"
"Very romantic Ampora." He stuttered, growling. "What do you want this time, Eridan, I'm getting business done for my move."
"An that's exactly w-why I'm callin'! I w-want to know-w w-where you'll be livvin after this w-week." Still at it. He'd be at this for quite some time, Karkat already had to contact all of their friends in order to get some sort of assurance that no one would tell Eridan where he lived afterward. "Kar, please!"
"No. " It was such a simple answer, and the silence he won from it was a nice prize. But, of course, after a while the silence turned to sniffles, then to full on sobs. God, he was crying. What was it about him that was so pitiful? Why was he the epitome of desperation and overpriced hair gel? "Stop fucking crying, you know as well as I do why I'm not telling you!"
"No I don't!" He sobbed, it was almost a screeching sob, too. "W-why Kar? I still lovve you!" Finally he says it. This comes up so often when interacting with Eridan, but it was so rare that he actually admits to his love for him. It was a major flaw in their relationship. They started dating as two college-bound interns, when he was especially flirty and, for the most part, just wanted a good fuck. But they both got attached, hooked on each other. Eridan was still trying to get over his half-sister refusing to speak to him; he needed that care and confidence. And he found it for the most part, along with his feelings for his boyfriend.
He just didn't realize it until their relationship was pretty much over. Of course he would cling to Karkat now instead of finding someone new. Pathetic asshole.
"Eridan, I loved you too, okay? That was two years ago, and I'm not going back to that. I still have trollian, but don't you dare bug me every day with this shit." He wanted to keep yelling at him, to rant to him some more, but he just couldn't. He couldn't. That kind of emotional control wasn't him right then. Not at all. "I don't love you anymore!" he hissed, hanging up finally. In fact, he threw the damn phone against the wall, not even noticing his emotions picking up as well. Yeah, that expensive smart phone was busted. Collapsing onto the mattress, he let silence calm him, tears threatened to fall, and he wasn't having any of that shit. He just wasn't.
'you 2tiill there kk?'
Yeah, he was still there. Still on the bed crying -but not really crying, that is definitely too much of a girly thing- and glaring at the yellow text on his laptop screen. Yeah, he was still there.
'YES. PHONE CALL.'
'mu2t have been a pretty iimportant phone call then.'
He didn't answer for a long time, he had to calm down, but he eventually explained himself for the most part. How Eridan called to be pathetic, and made him feel like shit for pushing him away. It seemed like his mood was rubbing off on the other, Sollux wouldn't stop reassuring him and everything, but with self-depreciating bullshit about how he should have done something to help, to get the ex off of his back. Karkat just shook it off though. He said his goodbyes and turned off the computer for some much-needed emotion-settling sleep.
The last few days of the week was pretty uneventful, Sollux set up a meeting to enjoy a calming dinner with John on the move in day. They would drop off the rest of Karkat's stuff, the two boxes he had partially packed, and meet John at a nice restaurant for a celebration. It was a while since he actually saw John last, it was back when his girlfriend was coming to terms with her sexuality, and when John needed some kind of comfort, even from his asshole of a friend.
They could have been a great couple, actually. But John wasn't a homosexual. So fuck, yeah that wasn't happening. No, they spent the weekend watching horrible movies and episodes of the Fresh Prince of Bel-air. John and Rose both broke up on agreeable terms at least. That was a year or so ago. Apparently now she was dating another old friend of theirs, Kanaya. Not like Karkat really cared too much about them now.
And finally moving day arrived. Sollux hung out at the suite most of the day, something about timing, and avoiding some kind of difficult situation, he never specified. As always, Karkat didn't care too much. They folded up things and re-packed the rest of Karkat's shit before heading out around 4 PM. The cab ride was expected to take about two hours long to get to the next city, so they had a lot of time to sit around in the car. It was quiet, pleasant for the most part.
"So glad I'm finally out of this shitty city." Karkat muttered, relaxing into the car seat. Sollux nodded, that long-ass arm find it's way around his shoulder. As comforting as it was to have the buzzing bipolar freak around, the constant flirting didn't just end: Implied flirting online, hanging out together and watching movies online together, and of course eating together pretty much every day. It kind of bugged him really. No, they weren't dating, Karkat wouldn't allow it. It will not be a thing.
But for now it wasn't so bad, he could deal with this, especially from his best friend. Yeah, they kind of went back to that whole thing. Turns out work associates agree on better terms. Wasn't gonna stop him from being an ass when it came time to get started at Dersite. "Yeah, gonna miss it at all?" He asked, leaning over towards the other.
"Nope. Not at all." He shrugged. "Hey, you didn't tell any of the team about me, did you?" He asked, arms crossed. "I want to surprise them when I get there."
"Nah, I don't even talk to those guys regularly." He answered, shrugging. "Though, we'll have to get you a new phone when we get there. Thince you broke yours." He snickered again, pulling his arm away and leaning against the window. "Didn't think you had such a strong throwing arm."
"Careful, I tend to throw shit if you piss me off in meetings." He cracked up, wanting to say something, probably some snarky comment about how he expected that kind of thing. Karkat really didn't bother to pay attention though. One of the perks of being the best friend of Karkat Vantas was ignorance on some of said friend's lack of intelligence, and shortcomings. Sometimes. Sollux was being pretty damn tolerable lately, which was kind of weird. It was like he was taking it easy on Karkat since a few days ago, after the whole Eridan fiasco. He never really asked about that, actually. "So…"
"Tho… what?"
"About the asshole-ex, about how long did you date him again?" It was just something he asked based on pure curiosity, but something about how Sollux responded, with one of his eyebrows raised up, (How does he do that, anyway?) made it seem like he was more suspicious.
"A few months." He said, shrugging. "Met in a bar, took him home, it was pretty much downhill after that. Things ended pretty badly." He shrugged, seemed reasonable. "Tho, was that whole thing true, about you two dating for two years?" Karkat looked away, out of the car window as he fell silent. That was confirmation enough. Sollux rubbed the back of his neck before letting out a sigh. "I thee."
"Things ended pretty badly for us, too. Well, everything resulting from that puss-spewing mutant called our relationship was pretty bad." Sollux shook his head, not wanting to go into it too far. "So, what about Feferi? I never really thought you were into guys after how close you two were."
"Mm, I figured out I was bi after her. Trutht me; you don't want to hear about that one." It was quiet again until Karkat asked the driver to turn up the heat. He hated the cold. The conversation did eventually pick up, some random conversation about the new city they were moving to. By the time they arrived, the mood was back to normal, joking around, and still pretty calm, nothing too major.
John was waiting for them at the suite, happily bouncing around happily. He really didn't grow up since the last time they met, still slightly taller than Karkat, and in casual blue-jeans and his typical dark-green jacket. So yeah, normal John. Spotting the two, he practically bounced to the others, pulling Karkat into as much of a hug he could manage with the boy grabbing his things from the trunk. Right, John was the huggy type.
"Karkat! It's been so long since he saw each other, I am soo glad we can meet up before switching our positions at Derse and Prospit, you have no idea!" He was known for having a lot of energy, by the time Karkat had his stuff out of the taxi, he had already hugged Sollux, and even payed for the...
"John, you did not just pay for me, did you?" Karkat growled, glaring at the other while holding his shit. Sollux grabbed the rest of it, directing them towards Karkat's new building.
"Yep!" He smiled, showing those annoying buck teeth with vigor. Karkat couldn't argue with pure energy incarnate, so he just dropped it, shaking his head. They helped Karkat to his new suite, which wasn't too bad, before dropping his shit off and heading to dinner. John reserved a table at a one of the best (family) restaurants in town.
As for Boston, it was a fairly impressive city. Not overly busy or dirty. Kind of loud, but from his tenth floor suite, it wasn't going to bother him any. Karkat mostly just skipped over details in their conversation as they were heading there. If it wasn't dark out, they would stroll by the sea-side. Karkat would probably go on his own, or drag Sollux with him to the beach or something. John had a week in Boston before moving into his old city, and into Prospitian Tech as their new manager.
Yeah, have fun with that one John. Those guys are insufferable pricks.
Dinner was nice, they all got caught up and spent the whole dinner asking John about this 'new girlfriend' he had. Of course he wouldn't say anything past her name, Vriska. Sollux met her once, apparently, but it wasn't like he cared, he in his own little world, too, drinking wine and adding small talk to the conversation. Maybe he just gained a taste for wine and wanted to enjoy it? Or was it that he was intimidated being surrounded by two of his bosses? Hm.
After dinner, John bid farewell to them to get back to his suite in time to get some sleep, only after hugging the shit out of the other two first and bounding off in a blaze of sugar and happiness. Disgusting.
"I think he drank too much wine." Sollux noted, chuckling quietly. They shared a collective shrug before heading back to Karkat's suite. It was already almost nine, did they really spend three hours at dinner?
"So, where do you live in this city? I'll walk you back." Karkat offered, arms crossed, "After all, you indulged in the wine a little too much, too."
He scoffed a little before rolling his eyes. "KK, John thaid where I lived when we got here. It'th the building right across from yours." Karkat tried raising an eyebrow in confusion, of course failing, but it got the same effect on the other. "Theriously KK, were you that out of it?"
"Possibly. Just getting used to Boston." He answered, arms crossed. "Kind of nice, I guess. And shut up, I wasn't the one guzzling down the drinks there." He shook his head. Sollux went back to being silent on their way back. It was kind of awkward actually, quiet and dark, like Dersite's home base. Kind of a good counter to Prospitian Tech, that town was fucking loud, and obnoxiously busy.
He didn't even notice Sollux holding his hand until they got to his building. How long had they been holding hands? Shit! As they got to the elevator, the cancer backed off, arms crossed. It was quiet, still kind of awkward at the same time. Everything was awkward all of a sudden. Sollux's suite was on the fourth floor, room 4-2. A little smaller than a two-room apartment, the whole room decorated in black and white, with the only exception being his furniture. Deep red couches, purposefully colored bright mini-rugs, even color coordinated curtains. It was so unorthodox Karkat couldn't even begin to pick apart this shit. No, he spent the first few minutes in his apartment openly gaping at the decorations. Taaacky.
Aside from the couch and large entertainment system, he had a few of those cube side tables with the lights in it, and a few yellow-cased mainframes in the corners, leading down the hall to his computer room. Sollux mentioned having a cat at home, but it wasn't around right now. Sollux had made his way to the couch, tossing his shoes off somewhere and relaxing with his cellphone. He noticed the other not following him to look at the mess called his tome of hues. Yes, this was what the suite would be called from now on.
"KK, you're letting all the warm air out." He mentioned, pointing to the open door, obviously painted a white and black checkerboard pattern. Naturally. Shaking his head, Karkat closed the door finally and walked over to the blue chair, falling down onto it without a care in the world, eyes fixated on Sollux. "What?"
"I have never seen such a ridiculous color scheme in my entire fucking life." He snickered at that, sitting back and giving the crab an 'oh really' glance. "Seriously, I've known about your little color fetish for years, but fuck, seriously Captor?" They both sat back, Crossing their arms as things fell silent again.
Karkat stayed over for another hour, just sitting there and watching TV with Sollux. He owned every game system, as it seemed, but they wasted time just staring openly at dancing colors, watching the Big Bang Theory. (Shut up it's a good fucking show.) He was about to get up and excuse himself out after that credits rolled on the second episode, only for Sollux to stop him, grabbing his arm.
"KK, before you go, could you answer thomething for me?" He glanced up to the other. There was that nervous glance again. Karkat couldn't help but stare openly at the brown and blue irises meeting his glance. He noticed the heterochromatic eyes a while ago, he just never paid attention to it, or cared.
"Yes, your lisp is still annoying Sollux."
"Hey, I'm trying to be seriouth here Karkat." He blinked, okay, Sollux broke from his nickname. Rolling his eyes, he pulled his arms back, staring down at his nerdy best friend. Please dear god don't let it be what he thought it wa-
"Are you still set on that 'no dating in the workplace' thing?" Fuck. He tried to avoid this conversation all week. After that rocky first day, the oh-so casual seductive slipping, and the return flirting. With them becoming friends again, he seriously thought that they would be good, you know, being 'just friends'. He was lying to himself, obviously. Letting out a sigh, Karkat nodded. He couldn't look up to those eyes wide as plates, staring up at him after such a clear rejection. "But, KK…!"
"Cut it out Sollux, nothing good results from this kind of thing, alright?"
"And how the fuck are you thupposed to know? We could be amazing together!" He didn't shout back, or anything, just an empty questioning that wasn't going to be resulting in anything. "Karkat, I didn't jutht start flirting with you randomly, alright? I really want thith to work!" His tone raised up again, Sollux noticed a wince from the other immediately and silence flooded the room. Everything seemed to stop: time, the commercials on TV, even their breathing. Sollux didn't understand it at first.
And then he realized exactly why. Karkat grabbed the back of his head, pulling them together. The softest, hottest lips he had ever felt were covering his chapped ones before he could even think or respond. It was forceful, and vicious, and the best damn kiss the Gemini had ever experienced. Wiry arms wound around tiny hips, and nothing else seemed to matter anymore.
Lips entangled, melding together in their heat. Those smaller hands running through dark brown hair, to cup his cheek as they pulled apart for all of two seconds. Their lips collapsing together, over and over again in short kisses, hot and sudden and pulsing with external tones of hesitation and passion he couldn't mistake above arousing breaths and-
And just as sudden as it began, Karkat pushed back, pulling himself apart from that grip Sollux had on him. A firm hand pushed Sollux back to his gaudy couch and Karkat a good few feet away. He missed the heat not even a second later, panting for breath as he watched the crab's cherry-red face glare at his, red into brown and blue. Minutes passed and it was quiet until finally his boss spoke up, loud and clear, and firm. Mostly.
"That's the kind of thing that isn't for work partners. Sollux-" His voice wavered a bit speaking his name. "It just doesn't work out Captor. Only idiots and children who obviously don't get it would disagree. Just… no." And with that, he just left, wiping away the kiss and leaving the suite, and more importantly, leaving Sollux.
Did he even have a chance?
