John made sure to make some things clear for Karkat if he didn't want to clash against Sollux in a battle of wits and curses that could only lead to general destruction and tears of new widows. First, he should not, under any circumstance, comment on Captor's lisp, unless he wanted to start a fight. He should not comment on his incredible heterochromia either. He should not make fun of his glasses. He should not-
"OK! I GET IT ALREADY! I'M AN ASSHOLE, NOT FUCKING SOCIALLY RETARDED! I'LL JUST ASK FOR HIS NOTES AND LEAVE BEFORE HE PROVOKES ME!", Karkat exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air, as he walked together with Egbert that Friday morning towards school. Their first class was in about two hours, so they had arranged to meet Sollux at the school's cafeteria; John had taken the freedom to pick Karkat up on his way to school.
"Sorry", John chuckled, amussed at his reaction as per usual, "I just want to make sure you two get along. You're two of my best friends, and I think you would really like each other".
Baffled by being regarded so highly, Karkat just looked away while muttering something along the lines of 'fucktard'.

The cafeteria was surprisingly big. The wall facing west was made entirely of cristal, letting in the light of a sunny day of April. There was a bar with two men waiting for orders, and a fair amount of chairs and sofas. It was themed in a light orange shade, a slightly retro feeling to the whole place. Karkat had heard of its good reputation before (good coffee and nice place, even if it was part of the university), but this was the first time he'd stepped inside. He had always made sure to stay away from the institution for as long as he could after all.

After a few moments of waiting by a table, John looked up, his grin lighting up not only his face, but the whole cafeteria. "There he is! Hey! Sollux!", he waved happily, getting the attention of everyone else in that place. A few girls giggled amusedly. Sollux Captor sighed, and approached their table with an annoyed look. He was a man of average height, with a much thinner complexion than Egbert. Something told Karkat that if he raised his shirt, he would be able to spot the shadow of his ribs. His skin was paler than it felt it should, a sign of all the time he spent inside. His hair was short, but slightly sticking out to the sides, dirty blond of color, with darker sideburns crawling down his face. And, of course, his 3D glasses were present, covering his heterochomic eyes. Karkat had never seen them, but his new friend told him they were blue and maroon.
"Theriouthly, Egbert. How can you be tho fucking chirpy all the time?", Captor asked, sitting down in front of them.
"Ehehe", John giggled like an idiot before proceeding to introduce his friends. "Sollux, this is Karkat Vantas".
"Yeah, I know. You've burn my ear out about-".
"ANDDD Karkat", John cut in, starting to blush, "this is Sollux Captor, a friend I've have since high school", he ended nervously. Karkat felt like he'd just had a déja-vù, but decided no to mention it. He nodded at the new arrival, scowling out of comfort rather than of spite, but Sollux seemed to take offense to that anyways.

"Ah, that'th right. You probably retheived the e-mail, but you should check the paper's due date on the online camputh", after about half an hour of Sollux talking and Karkat silently listening, he finished his explanation of what had happened last week. The brunet simply nodded, as he had done through-out the entirety of his little speech. His reclutance to speak was starting to mildly annoy the computer genius, if he had to be honest.
"But that'th pretty much it", he leaned back on his chair, shrugging. Without thinking too much, he relaxed and spoke freely, "tho anywayth, what made you mithh tho many dayth? You're already pretty bad at programing ath it ith".
Karkat scowled more. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I do believe that is none of your fucking business", he replied, trying to stay calm. He would have added a few more colorful adjectives in there, but he didn't want to let John down, surprisingly.
Sollux raised his eyebrows in disbelief. This was probably the second or third time he'd heard Karkat's voice, and he was amazed to find that kind of harshness embeded to it and, even worse, fitting it so well. It was as if the word 'fucking' had been made specifically for him to spit out like bad coffee.
"Heh, calm down there, KK", he raised his hands defensively, but in a mocking fashion, "can't a guy be worried about hith prethiouth clathhmate?".
Karkat glared at him, ticked off not only by the stupid coment, but the stupid nickname too.

That's when John decided to cut in.

"Sooo", he grinned with those overly large palettes of his, "Sollux, did you know Karkat plans on specializing in genetics? Pretty cool, huh?". Things didn't seem to be clicking like they had with Dave, so Egbert decided to take matters into his own hands.
"Really?", Sollux let the faintest of admiration glances escape through his glasses, before shrugging, acting indifferent to the fact. "Well, that'th good. The world would be doomed if he dethided to continue with coding after all", he smirked again, "if there ith thomeone in the world capable of acthidentaly blowing up a computer, that'th him".
John could practically hear Karkat growling.
"U-uhm, yes", his attempts to save the situation were turning more desperate with every blow, "and Karkat, Sollux has been coding since he was eight! That's pretty amazing, right?".
"Figures", with only one word he managed to piss Sollux magnificently. He truly was a master at the fine art of making-people-hate-you. The blond met his eyes, to which he threw one of his famous glares his way. Rumours had it he could make you spontaneusly combust with one hard look -Sollux didn't last long before looking away with a 'humph!'.
John was starting to panic.

"Oh? John, Sollux! I didn't expect to find you here!", a voice that sounded slightly familiar and extremely obnoxious -in Karkat's ears- called from the side. A tall man with an open coat and a purple scarf losely hanging from his shoulders approached them with a happy expression. His hair was brown and meticulously stylized, a streak of purple calling for attention. He wore square lenses, but everyone somehow got the idea that they were for show. Over all, anyone could define the guy as a hipster without giving it much thought. It didn't take Karkat long to remember who he was.
"Oh, Eridan!", John exclaimed, welcoming him like a lost man would welcome water after wandering the desert for weeks. "Come, come, let me introduce you!", he grabbed his arm and practically dragged him down to sit at their table. "Eridan, this is Karkat Vantas. Karkat, Eridan Ampora", he introduced them. Karkat didn't seem surprised nor interested.
"I know", the shorter simply replied, "our older brothers have been best friends for ages". Sollux and John looked stunned, but Eridan simply nodded. "Doesn't mean we're friends, though", Karkat finished.

Another awkward silence set in after Eridan asked how Kankri was doing, and Karkat shrugged, "he's still an insufferable asshole". That made the other chuckled. Several seconds passed by after that, and no one knew what to say.
Tired of the tense atmosphere, John got up, "come on Eridan, let's get you some coffee". He grabbed the new arrival by the elbow and practically dragged him over the bar, a determined look on his eyes, leaving the other two without any warning.

Karkat and Sollux looked as stunned as Ampora, but they shrugged it off soon enough. They were now left alone and without distractions, so they proceeded to restart their glaring contest from before.

A/N: YAY! 10 CHAPTERS!
Well, look who's not dead yet. I'm sorry it's taking me so long to upload new chapters. I've been trying to write ahead lately, and I didn't want to publish this until I had a clear idea of what was going to happen next. And I repeat, if you have any ideas, feel free to send them my way. I don't bite.

Thanks for all the favs and follows. It makes me feel as fluffy and happy, as pressured to write more (which is a good thing. I would abandon this otherwise).

To musicalBlink, DeviusOne569, and A Soul of Shadows, thanks for the compliments and reviews :D. Shadows: I'm really glad I don't suck too much at writing in English, cause I enjoy it a lot.

And also thanks to everyone for reading this!

I don't own Homestuck nor it's characters~