You hear from Jade about the night Karkat had, and you are filled with vague worries, even if she assures you that he'll be fine because trolls are more resilient than humans. This is a really bad start to his stay!
And it's stupid, because this could have been completely preventable if he was starved. It's just that he looked awfully lively for someone who hadn't eaten in a week. You imagine you wouldn't have the energy to argue with anyone if you went even two days without food.
You wish you could have had breakfast together, but apparently he was awake most of the night anyway, and it's not until mid-morning that you run across Jade again and she brings you up to speed.
"He's out of bed now," Jade says. "He's down in the kitchen, having a very light breakfast."
"Oh, he is?" You brighten up at the news. "So he's not sick anymore?"
"Well, if he didn't die last night, he probably won't now."
"Jade, that's a terrible thing to say."
"It's not my fault he's a dumbass who completely disregards his own well-being," she says, rolling her eyes. She looks like she wants to say something else, but she remembers who she's talking to and checks herself.
You decide to go to the kitchens. You haven't been here in awhile, but you spent a sizable portion of your childhood sneaking in and out of this part of the house, back when Jane was still an apprentice cook and thought it was exciting to squirrel away snacks for 'the young lord'.
You find Jane and Karkat in the kitchens. She is mixing something in a bowl, while Karkat is sitting at the table—hunched over, bleary-eyed—and having a cup of weak tea with biscuits. Jade wasn't kidding about it being a light breakfast. By his waxy complexion, you suppose he probably can't stomach anything heavier right now.
He looks at you nervously, and you try to smile in a reassuring manner.
"So I see you're back from the dead," you say. "Again."
He scowls at you as he unenthusiastically nibbles at a biscuit.
"Glad you find my physical agony so amusing," he snarls, but he's more subdued than he was last night.
"Don't badger your guest, milord," Jane chides.
"I'm not badgering," you argue. "And even if I were, Karkat wouldn't put up with it. Isn't that right?"
Jane looks doubtful, and Karkat looks away. It feels like you just said something wrong, but you're not sure what.
For a few minutes, the only sound comes from Jane's whisk. Karkat isn't eating anymore, just staring forlornly into his half-full cup of tea. You need to urgently change the subject.
"Hey, so, if you're done here," you begin, and Karkat looks up at you. "Would you like to meet Casey?"
"Casey. Who's Casey?"
"My horse!"
"Actually," you explain as you show him to the stables, "I have more than one. Some draught horses, and a few for riding. But Casey's my favorite. Or, well, just the one I like riding the most? She's very sweet-tempered. I mean, you know how horses don't usually like trolls?"
"Which works out fine, since we don't like them right back," Karkat mutters. He shrugs under the borrowed cloak like he doesn't like it, but you think bright red is a good color on him. It brings out his eyes.
"Well, Casey was with me when I found you. She didn't mind carrying you at all. I think you'll like her. Oh hey, there's Dave! You'll like him, too."
You wave at Dave as he walks out the stable doors carrying a shovel.
"Dave!"
He finally notices you as you come closer and he puts the shovel down against the stable wall.
He nods to you in greeting. "M'lord."
Then he nods to Karkat. "Sleeping beauty."
Karkat bristles. Okay, maybe Dave is more of an acquired taste.
"Going for a ride?"
"Not today," you say. "I just wanted to properly introduce Karkat to Casey."
"You want to introduce your new bedwarmer to your horse? I guess neither of them can complain about you wasting their time."
"Dave!" You feel yourself blushing to your eartips, and Karkat downright looks apoplectic. You'd always known Dave was coarse (working in the stables did not exactly foster a gentlemanly demeanor), and as a child, you'd even been a bit in awe of him for it, but now there's a line and he crossed it.
He is immediately aware of this, because he changes the subject.
"He can come in as long as he doesn't stay long or make any loud noises," Dave says. "I don't want him spooking the horses."
"We'll be in and out, I promise."
You hook your arm around Karkat's to pull him along, and as you pass Dave, he bares his fangs. But Dave only gives him an impassive look, and you manage to walk on without a fight breaking out.
Casey's stall is in the far end, on the left. The horses you pass are unnaturally quiet, but Casey is her usual chipper self. She pokes her head out when she hears you coming and nickers. You fish out a small misshapen carrot out of the bundle Jane gave you and extend it to Casey. She happily accepts and eats it in one bite. It's likely the last one she'll get this year. But as she eats, she is looking past you at Karkat.
"Here, give this to her," you say, handing Karkat a carrot.
Karkat eyes Casey, paying special attention to her teeth.
"Come on, she doesn't bite. Usually. I mean, she hasn't for a very long time, so I don't think she'll start again now."
"Ugh, stop reassuring me, you're awful at it," he says, but he offers the carrot to Casey anyway.
It's a tense moment as Casey stares Karkat down. He looks like he wants to bolt, but eventually, the mare reaches down and slowly eats the carrot, slobbering all over Karkat's hand in the process.
He makes a face and wipes it off on his cloak. You laugh, and hand him the rest of the carrots.
"Give her some more, I have to go talk to Dave for a bit," you say.
"The horse doesn't need a nurse-maid, it can eat by its own damn self," Karkat mutters, but he does it while offering Casey another carrot, so you smile.
Dave is waiting outside, hands in pockets. He looks like a child who knows he did something bad, but is still being stubbornly rebellious.
"I don't think I'll be going out riding the next few days, not unless the weather changes," you say, looking up at the overcast sky. "It's just too depressing out there."
"I'll keep that in mind, m'lord."
Dave sounds so polite and distant, that it just makes you feel miserable to hear him. He used to be one of your best friends growing up, before the intractable differences in your status brought that to an end. You wonder, not for the first time, if Dave feels that working in the stables is an indignity all the more compounded by this fact.
But for better or worse, he works for you, and you can't let him run amok out of sentiment.
"Dave, I don't think you should talk like that about Karkat," you tell him, keeping your voice low so the troll doesn't hear.
It's better to be direct about these things. Dancing around the subject never helped.
"Oh, is that his name?" Dave drawls carelessly. Against your better judgment, it infuriates you.
"What's your problem?" you hiss.
"He's not your friend," Dave replies bluntly.
You blink, not sure how to respond to this. Is Dave jealous?
"He's not," Dave continues. "He'll stick around a few months, he'll act friendly, maybe he'll even seem like he's becoming your friend, and you'll grow attached to him. You'll start thinking he feels the same about you as you do about him, and you'll grow used to all his bugnuts crazy troll habits, like a penchant for raw meat or maybe a habit of licking everything and cackling like a loon, but when the weather turns and the snows melt away, he'll be out of here faster than a milkmaid can drop her drawers, and you'll be left behind, all alone, with this brand new gap in your life, where you'll be missing something or someone you had no idea you had room for in the first place."
Oh, so this is what it's about.
"Dave, you can't take it out on Karkat because you've had a bad experience," you say reasonably.
Dave's shoulders slump, defeated. You can tell he wants to argue with you, but he won't. It's frustrating, because you have to guess at what his gripe is before you address it.
"And anyway, I know that Karkat's going to leave in the spring. I'm not stupid. He's a troll, of course he'll leave, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the time he's going to be here."
Dave squares his shoulder.
"Get all the joy you want out of him, then," he says. "Because all he wants to get from you is a sure meal and a warm place for the winter. He isn't here to play nice and make friends, he's only here to survive. He's not your friend. "
Dave picks up his shovel again and excuses himself, but he leaves before you can dismiss him.
You look back at Karkat, as he concentrates fiercely on feeding Casey carrots. You get the feeling he's intense about everything he does. You don't think he could be unfeeling about anything or anyone, and you decide, in that moment, that you'll get Karkat to become your friend just to prove Dave wrong.