Huzzah! Next chapter, all lined up for you guys! Enjoy, I love writing for this story, you have no idea how many plans I have for this story!


Your name is Sollux Captor, and you might have just heard the best news in your entire life. Okay, maybe there are better things, but damn you're excited! Your boss was just ranting to you again (rambling mostly, he does that a lot when you choose not to listen) and he mentioned a name you haven't heard in a long time. Karkat Vantas. Your old roommate from college. Your best friend pretty much.

The two of you met online years ago, back when your mental state was less-than excellent. You're your Bipolar disorder under control and stable for the moment, you can't help but be excited as you told John that you knew him. In fact, it was a nice surprise, because he was good friends with him, too. You had long since hacked into the employee files and discovered that, yes, he worked at Propsitian Technologies, the sister company to Dersite Tech. You wanted to try and contact him again, but he changed all of his phone numbers, got rid of trollian, and pretty much dropped out of your life.

You deserve it, mostly. All the shit you pulled on him, you deserve more than that actually. But college was a confusing time for you. Apparently it was for him as well. John, however, knew him personally. And seeing as he is your boss until the transfer, you figure that this is a good chance.

So you asked him to be the one to help you move. Basically asking for a week off of work, too, while you helped Karkat settle into Boston. You had to explain some things about your relationship with him, but yeah, he was pretty gung-ho about it. He's like that a lot, even with work. Somehow Amarant, the crazy guy he is, got John really confused as of late. Not one to brag here, but you are a pretty awesome guy, and Amarant always finds some way to flirt with his co-workers. He's like that all the time though. Flirty even to people he really hates. He sees a guy or girl he finds attractive or cute, then yeah. Flirt city.

And John's been his target for a while now. Sollux has to deal with him flirting, having to see it across his cubicle, and it's embarrassing most days. That one day you turned up at work in your PJ's however, took the target off of Egbert's back somehow. Goldbawnt the Great has been flirting with you non-stop, ignoring John. At least you can give him some credit for not just going after EVERYONE at the same time.

You also used that as an excuse to get out of work for a while. Amarant is a nice guy under all the flirtiness, but honestly he's a tool. Like that guy you met in your favorite bar last week, that one with the shades and shit. You hope Karkat still has those same colorful insults, and the bottom lip piercings. Those were pretty hot. Yes, your previous best friend is hot in your eyes, problem?

Hmm. Maybe he's single...


Letting out a hefty sigh, Karkat relaxed in his chair, pulling off the suit blazer. He really hated things like this at work, suits and shit. But if everyone's gonna dress like a slob to work, than he'd have some policies to put in place. He could hear some shuffling from outside the room, probably some of his new subordinates wanting to get a peek at their new boss. Nope.

Luckily, his door had an electric lock keeping people from just walking in. With his blinds down, this was a message to the others: 'Leave me alone.' Sitting up, he pulled up his white work shirt from the slacks with a sigh of relief. Finally able to relax a bit, Karkat turned to his terminals. He had access to a huge monitor, attached to the wall to show everyone's computer screens. The Cancer had just turned it on, and already he could see some things to bring up to the meeting. Someone checking their e-mail, someone on Tumblr, someone on Facebook looking at pictures. Starting up his own computer, Karkat waited for his screen to join theirs on the wall before typing in a few codes.

With his access, he could send messages to everyone's screens, freeze their screens, and even take over their computer completely. A tiny power trip rushed through him, making the neat and orderly hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He really felt like he had all of the control, and god he loved that. Opening the Maintence Control Program, he glanced up at the screens again as he sent a message to every computer in the hall.

'MEETING IN FIVE MINUTES. DON'T YOU DARE BE LATE.'

Yeah, so he was going to use his quirk, who cares? He was the leader, deal with it.

Okay, calm down Karkat, acting like a childish little imp wasn't going to get you anywhere. Sighing, the boss stretched out in his chair, locking up his computer, Karkat watched as grey text spread across each mini-screen on the wall monitor. He rolled up his sleeves and removed his tie, finding that it looked ridiculous on him then. He took all of those precious five minutes alone to relax, taking a deep breath as he prepared for the incoming speech.

"Okay, time to go." He mumbled. Walking over to the meeting room meant passing by cubicles of unlocked terminals, and surprisingly, Sollux, still in his chair hunched over with his ear buddies in. He obviously saw the message. It wasn't even an issue to him apparently, he was still furiously typing shit out, a program he was getting to work. Walking up next to him, Karkat took note of the dark circles under his eyes, 3-d glasses couldn't hide that and the dirty t-shirt he wore. "Sollux." He called, not getting an answer.

Growling, Karkat didn't even try speaking again, if his music was just that loud, the only thing that would settle it is pulling the fucker out. Sollux reacted immediately to that, snarling and almost snapping at the other as he glanced up. Blue and brown met with bright red and Sollux froze in silence just taking in the anger staring back at him, eyes wide. He hadn't seen him since they kissed a week ago, this and the text before was some of the only contact they even had. "Uhh… hey KK."

"Meeting." Karkat ordered, arms crossed. "Come on, before I flip the fuck out." And he left him to scramble out of his seat, locking his terminal in the process, as he walked to the meeting hall.

The room was big enough for about fifteen people, chairs spread across the room quietly, some filled, and some just all over the place as workers stood around them almost nervously. Amarant was among those seated, staring up at his boss silently when he arrived. Karkat however, went right to the whiteboard, catching the attention of mostly everyone. As soon as he was sure the head count was right (including Sollux, who followed him inside like a little puppy) he spoke up.

"Alright. Now that we're all here, I'd like to remind you fuckers that we're a software company. Any and all of you who forget to lock your computers had better-" he stopped, quickly snapping his fingers at those heading to the door. "You will stay here until I'm done." He hissed. Yeah, they all stopped instantly. Good. "Like I was saying, right now I would go off on you morons about how you're endangering the company, blah blah bluh." He rolled his eyes for emphasis. "But it's the first day. So get your sorry worthless asses up and lock your damn terminals before I change my mind and ensure that your life is hell for as long as I run this division." Karkat finally dismissed them to go lock up and probably whine at him. Karkat nonchalantly sat down comfortably and rubbed his forehead, slightly annoyed already as he cursed expletives in Russian.

"Having issues already KK?" Sollux called, finding a seat nearby, in the only red and blue chair. Naturally. Karkat just shook his head though, waiting for everyone to return. It took ten minutes. Ten. Fucking. Minutes. What was John doing with this team and how were they actually even capable of getting their work done?

Making sure everyone sat down and were quiet, Karkat started his introduction speech. "Well, took you long enough, now didn't it. I may have said how I would spare you the details, but this will not be happening again. Get it through your thick skulls for next time." He stood up then, arms crossed. "As you have no doubt figured out, my name is Karkat Vantas, the newest lead programmer for all of you ingrates." He starting pacing a bit and rambling about himself, just giving his workers a small bit of knowledge about him while he could. Ice breaker stuff first, you know.

"I'm amazed by the supreme lenience John had with you all. It's amazing that you could produce a single update or patch together without failing." He was rambling for quite a while before getting things started, having everyone talk about themselves and say a few things about who they are to them. Karkat took it all in stride, trying to remember names as much as he could. All Sollux said was his name though. Karkat was so expecting something along the lines of 'my name ith Tholluxth Captor and I like beeth. KK ith my beeeetht friend!' Or something stupid like that. He would almost be disappointed if the idea wasn't completely ridiculous in the first place.

All of the stupid shit finally over with, Karkat finally sat down again. "Well, now that we've got that down, I'd like to take a minute to summarize what I've seen so far." So far so good. Some of his subordinates seemed a little calmer. They really shouldn't. "You all are a bunch of fucking pack rats, and from what I've seen of your cubicles, there needs to be an improvement. So, today and tomorrow there's no need for any more computer work, you're allowed computer freedoms as well, under the normal limitations. But only after those things are cleaned up. We'll be having another meeting as soon as the last person's cubicle is up to my standards." He took a break to catch his breath, glancing around the room. "You lazy assholes were wasting all of your time anyway. Seriously, there's a deadline Egbert set for the end of the week, what the hell are you doing?" He swore he saw some of them flinch when he let the venom out. Not Sollux though, his poker face was up, like usual.

"There will be consequences if you can't get the cubicles clean when Egbert gets here for his last review." He warned, very sternly. "Speaking of Egbert, I've also noticed a major ignorance of company policy. Music played throughout the room is to be accepted with everyone, and definitely not as loud as it was then. And the only time Tumblr and other free-time websites are allowed is during breaks." He was scolding them basically, trying not to make himself too overly commanding. Yet. "Now then, I'd like to brink op a few personal issues, but since we all have work to do, I'll forgo that little addition."

Karkat stood up, pacing about his spot a little to get a feel for how he was going to word things. "After the last deadline for the recent Solstice program you're all a part of I'll be imposing my own rules and guidelines towards work." He bit his tongue in punishment; his accent really was getting the best of him during this little speech. How annoying. Brink op? Seriously?

"I've noticed an amazing amount of late reports on the record. It doesn't matter how much you rate yourself as a programmer, sometimes things need to just be on time. Starting next week, I'll be imposing very particular rules to your coding segments. For example, things like the typically standard five error rule. It's so simple that it pretty much explains itself, and it's similar to the standards John imposed—e-xcuse me, tried to impose." He took a break to breath before continuing. "If the results to that particular segment tests and results in five or more errors, you will be sending it in to the testers. No exceptions." He stared at the others as the chatter in the room increased. It was such a simple policy. "Any questions?"

The room fell silent as Karkat returned to his seat, sitting back and just waiting for the expected idiocy. Finally, someone spoke up. "So, as long as it's only five errors, we just send it in to testing?" Ah, one of the older members of the team. He looked overconfident and cocky. The fun type.

"Yes, our testers should be capable of correcting that many errors. Five errors in a single segment of code one person is assigned to? Yeah, I would think that it's a simple change." Karkat shrugged. "And the method has already been effective to reduce late reports and code." He effectively had to answer the same thing a few more times, until he just moved on to the next topic, which was basically him ranting about company policy and deadlines, as well as breaks and everything, until even he could tell that everyone was done listening to him ramble.

"Alright, enough of this. It's not that hard to understand and we're about done with this meeting. Before I excuse all of you, I want to briefly explain that my cubicle cleaning task is fairly simple. No garbage, clean off your computers, and make sure things are put away properly for the management staff to vacuum the place up. Any and all policy changes will be explained in detail and sent to your company e-mail. I recommend you keep an eye out for it." With a sigh, Karkat shook his head and waved them all off, excusing them from his lecture. "You can go now. Except you, Goldbawnt."

Karkat rested his head on his hands and watched as everyone left, the last one being Sollux. Amarant was freaking out, the onsets of the 'oh fuck' moment recovery period making an 'oh shit what now' relapse. A few minutes of silence had him practically shaking in his old shoes. "Y-yes Mr. Vantas?" He asked, finally. Karkat was currently staring him down, searching though his already scared brown eyes for that little aspect of fear.

But enough of that, there was plenty of time to do that later anyway. Karkat sat up, stretching out his back a little. "I don't ever want to see you relaxing in my office ever again like it's your personal screw-off zone. I'm picky about my things, so I'll disinfect my own desk after your disgustingly grime-covered shoes had their way with it. But instead, you're going to stay here and clean every one of these desks and chairs." Karkat stood up, shrugging. "Your computer will be locked until it's done. I don't know where the cleaning supplies are, so have fun looking. Get to work."

Karkat left him there to think and work on cleaning as punishment before walking by, and stopping to watch everyone start on their cleaning. Passing by Sollux's cubicle, he noticed that the busy bee almost instantly back to coding, a few paper cups and such in the trash. Wow, great work, lazy jackass. Karkat sneered at him a little before heading back to his office to clean up that shithole himself. Might as well try to set an example, right? What an excellent first day at work. His iPhone buzzed from inside his suit coat pocket. A text? Maybe it was Dirk or John or something…

'we need two talk KK.'


The meeting was really gonna be this long boring discussion, so I kind of rushed through it since it's pretty standard. Oh well. How does one accentuate an accent in writing, anyway? Anyway, Karkat really can't control his accent after talking to too long like during a speech or something. Then again, that kind of thing is common, isn't it? Too bad he has to do it a lot in this line of work. Sollux's segment mentioned Karkat having piercings, yeah, he used to have them. And an earring on the cartilage of his right ear. Sollux has a tattoo of the Gemini symbol on his upped leg. He was drunk when it happened, hehehe.

DawnAtSky