Yo yo yo, my lovely readers! All right, so, this chapter kinda establishes a lot of things about certain characters. It's all very subtle, though, so you have to be very keen on it in order to figure stuff out.

And I'm really sorry to those of you who were anticipating a spicy bath scene, but that will have to come next chapter. Yeah, I apologize, but there was just a lot of stuff I had to get out of the way first and the chapter was getting really long. But next time, for motherfucking sure, next time there will be a hot n' saucy bath scene. Aw yeah.

DISCLAIMER: Nope, I don't own any of these hott characters or anythin' like that. I just really love Jade and her reverse harem, so that's what my mind's been on, and that's what I'm writing about.

REPLIES TO ANONS:

Okay, so, first off, thank you all very very much for complimenting my story. It's really great that all of you like it so much. I'm so happy. :D

To the Anons who are rooting for KarJade and DaveJade: I'll keep those pairings in mind. This is a Jade's Reverse Harem fic, so everyone is going to get a chance to interact with her in a romantic/sexual way, but I still don't know who she's going to end up with. As a huge supporter of polyamory, I just want everyone to end up with her, but if my readers only want her to end up with one person, I guess that'll have to happen. I'll set up a poll or something near the end of the story and you'll have to vote in order for your pairing to come out on top. :)

To the Anon who appreciates that Eridan doesn't use fish puns: Lol, you're welcome. I'm sure you've noticed that he does use oceanic metaphors/similes, though. I've decided that he doesn't use fish puns as much outside of the chat logs, because there's really no reason for him to. I mean, who's going to notice if he uses the pun 'reely' instead of 'really' in everyday speech? They both sound exactly the same, and it's stupid if I type it out like that. I also find it really annoying when authors do that.

To the Anon who wants sexytimes between Karkles n' Jade: Oh, believe you me, there are going to be some awesome sex scenes... much later in the story. You've probably all noticed that this fic is moving along very slowly, and that's because 1) I'm the biggest fan of romantic tension ever and I'm subtly building up the heat between Jade and other characters and 2) I'm trying to make the story realistic. For instance, Jade's not just going to suddenly go all doki-doki over Sollux or someone and jump straight into bed with him/her. These kids are all still wounded, and they're trying to make a life for themselves on a scary, unfamiliar world. Sex has gotta be the last thing on their minds.

And now, without further ado, let's begin chapter 5! :33 (Nepeta's my patron troll, that's why I like to use those double smiley kitty faces. Who's your patron troll?)

:o) +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ (o:

Jade looked on in horror as Dirk and the two female trolls brought Gamzee over to the campfire. She couldn't see if the Capricorn was breathing or not, but as the four came into the light she could tell that he was knocked out. And he was bloody. Oh god was he bloody. She could smell the metallic, gory stench even from where she was sitting. It stung her eyes, but she did not close them. She just couldn't turn away from the frightening sight.

As fortune would have it, other movements in her periphery caught her attention. She instinctively looked to her right to see what it was that had moved. It was Equius, with his prize. Jade couldn't see him very clearly yet, as he skirted the fire's light (whether intentionally or by chance, she didn't know) and kept within the shadows. He did, however, look to be exceptionally strong, if the way he carried the dinosaur's heavy body was any indication. Jade expected he would drop the dead dino any minute and help in any way he could, and then she'd be able to get a good look at him.

Yet the huge troll didn't stop at the campfire. He only nodded in Eridan's, Tavros's, and Jade's general direction before moving on to one of the log cabins with the carcass still slung over his shoulder, as if it didn't weigh any more than a small knapsack. Jade stared after him in some wonderment. Perhaps he was going off to clean and salt the meat? But why now? Why would he just go off like that when one of his friends was bleeding to death?Did dinosaur meat go rotten that quickly? Or did he just not care? I mean, why else would he completely bypass this situation- AH!

A flash of a memory began to play back in her brain.

++++++++++++++++STARTING FLASHBACK++++++++++++++++

For one small second she saw Rose, all poker-faced as usual, trying not to smile at one of her bad jokes. Then her vision began shaking and she was tossed to the floor. The floor of what? Oh, the spaceship! She was tossed to the floor of the spaceship! What was happening? Oh. Oooooh. Her head was spinning. But, aha! She could see a solar system right outside the window! Yeah, all right! Yes, the spaceship was finally arriving at its destination! They were coming in for a landing! A bumpy landing, but a landing! The ship passed by several celestial bodies in a few seconds, then entered a planet's atmosphere. They whizzed right through a couple of atmospheric layers, down into- HOLY SHIT!

Rose kicked Jade across the floor, out of range. The green-eyed girl's head smacked against a windowpane, hard enough for her to see stars. She slid to the floor. Her vision grew dimmer and then came back, switching back and forth like a flickering bulb. She barely registered what happened next.

A huge, sharply contoured rock, jutting from the side of a mountain, slammed into the side of the ship. It tore a long, jagged hole through the length of it and probably took out one of the ship's engines, because the ship started to fall in height. Jade blinked and managed to stand up, but found her legs seemed rather wobbly. A voice was belting out over the intercom, but it sounded very panicky and she couldn't quite understand it. She looked to her left and right, then behind, and caught a reflection of herself. She was bleeding. And, oh, she could see beyond the ghostly image of her face. Through the window she marveled at blurry colors: Browns, greens, and the occasional spark of blue. What was going on?

She walked around, stumbling, and stepped on something that made her slip. She landed hard on her bottom, winced, shook her head, and looked for the thing that had caused her to fall.

Bright red juice?

Well, that's weird. She reached out to the stain and let the liquid coat her fingers, then brought her hand to her lips.

Bluh! It tasted awful! Well, she shouldn't have taste-tested it anyway, even if it did look like tomato juice. That was the number one thing they warn you not to do when you go about investigating new or unfamiliar substances.

Huh, where did this stuff come from? She followed the trail of liquid to a... head.

It was a head.

It was Rose's decapitated, leaking head.

She had saved Jade from death, only to die herself. Oh, the absolute irony. The sad, terrifying, fucking irony of it all.

Jade began to scream, began flailing and scrambling away. Then the ship tilted and spun around and Jade couldn't control where her body was flung. Rose's head rolled all over the place and Jade finally couldn't take it anymore. Her friend's head would not be treated as if it was some inconsequential rubber ball!

The next time gravity brought the head close she caught it, scooped Rose's head up in her hands and held it, beheld it, and hugged it. Instead of screaming now she was sobbing, instead of clambering to safety she was rolling around on the floor like an idiot, unprotected from the inevitable crash. She would die if she didn't get to a safe room or strap down, would surely perish, and Rose would have died for nothing. But she didn't care at that moment; she was too caught up in this highly shocking and deeply distressing development to think of herself or for herself.

Then someone was lifting her to her feet, tearing the head from her hands and making her run, forcing her to sprint down the corridor. They were rounding the corner and she glimpsed someone with messy hair and wild eyes gesturing frantically for them to get inside a room- a safe room!- before the impact.

But she didn't make it.

++++++++++++++++FLASHBACK COMPLETED++++++++++++++++

Jade started to freak out a bit. Just a bit. She groaned and made some small, strangled, animal-like cries of desperation. Tears began to well up again, both trying to protect her eyes from the sting of blood-smell and to ease her frayed emotional state. She buried her face in her palms and began rocking herself, swearing externally and internally, whispering to anyone who was listening that she wouldn't see him die, couldn't see him die or she'd lose it... and they'd all die.

A pair of arms wrapped around her then. She started, gasped, looked up and craned her neck around to see who was touching her. It was the Taurus. Tavros was holding her from behind. He'd undoubtedly noticed that she was starting to choke up and did the only thing he knew to do. Physical comfort had a very strong calming effect for him personally, and he knew Jade was receptive to it as well.

She didn't struggle, but rather began to tremble. It seemed verbal comfort was also in order.

Tavros tucked a lot of her hair behind one of her ears and leaned in close to it. He started speaking in what he hoped was a soothing, very quiet voice, "It's okay Jade. It's okay. Everything is fine. Everyone is back safe and sound, yes. No one's been hurt..."

He continued on in this manner while Jade absorbed his words. Or rather, she took in his tone more than what he was saying. She closed her eyes and began to calm down. It really didn't take much. She was very practiced on her own at cooling down anyway; having another person there to help only sped up the process.

When she was relaxed enough (although she was still pretty shaken by the sudden return of that particular memory, there were other things to deal with at the moment), she allowed Tavros to maintain his hold on her. It felt nice to be enfolded in another's arms. And Tavros just kind of... fitted her. She thought about that while she watched Sollux bring Karkat to a log near them and help the Cancer to sit.

Dirk, the female troll with the Virgo symbol on her t-shirt, and the female with the Leo sign wearing a comically overlarge green overcoat set Gamzee against the log closest to Jade. The Capricorn immediately slumped over and his head fell directly onto Jade's lap. She couldn't say she hadn't expected that to happen; after all, he was unconscious and it was really stupid to leave him sitting up like that. But as it were, it took all of her willpower not to scream and shove him off.

His nose was oozing some purple liquid, but the rest of his body was splattered generously with bright red blood. Jade didn't think to check if he was actually bleeding from anywhere before she let out a quiet shriek and prepared to get away. Tavros retracted his arms from Jade's sides, correctly assessing that she needed to put some distance between herself and the Capricorn. The Taurus was also planning to do the same, and Eridan too; Gamzee's bloody body was starting to stink.

Jade removed Gamzee's head from her lap as gently as possible and crawled over to the log which Sollux and Karkat had settled down on. Jade scooted up next to the Gemini's legs and latched onto them, still seeking physical comfort, and perhaps an anchor.

Sollux didn't say or do anything to shake her off. He was tired and sweaty from running through the woods. Helping Karkat walk back to camp while pretending to listen to the crabby troll gripe about his injuries had worn him out further. He'd also been constantly checking on Gamzee, who at that time was being carried by Equius, to make sure the stupid idiot was still breathing. All Sollux wanted to do was eat and go to bed. He didn't really have the energy to admonish and/or kick Jade off.

"So, everything went better than expected, then?" the female with the Virgo sign asked.

'What? But, Gamzee is still bleeding to death!' Jade thought.

"Yeah, pretty much, Kanaya. We have a week's worth of dinner, Gamzee's down for the night- which means I won't have to keep an eye on him. But, oh, wait! I had to go and fucking trip over a stupid, inessential branch and mess up my ankle even more! I mean, what the hell? Every time I turn around I'm looking at more and more possibilities to mangle myself!"

Why the hell wasn't anyone paying attention to the fact that the Capricorn was bleeding all over the place! Jade tugged on Sollux's pants leg urgently, but he ignored her. She hissed and released him, proceeding on all fours to Gamzee. If no one else was going to help him then she would, despite pushing him away from herself at first. Her actions drew Tavros's attention.

"What's up, um, Jade?"

She brandished one of her arms towards Gamzee's blood-covered body with a look of disbelief on her face. How was everyone else totally oblivious to this poor boy's exsanguination?

"Oh, yeah. He's really starting to reek, isn't he?" said the female with the Leo symbol on her chest. "Hey, someone should give him a bath befur the scent spurreds to purredators in the area."

Jade nearly went into a conniption. 'Give him a bath? These people are all insane! He's dying and they want to give him a bath.'

"I'll pass. My talocrural joint's fucking swelling up like a balloon and it hurts like a bitch. Besides, I've been on Gamzee duty since we got here. I know we're moirails, but we've gotta do our own things sometimes," Karkat groused.

Was everyone just too wrapped up in their own freakin' problems to realize that someone was dying here?

Jade gave an exasperated huff and moved herself closer to Gamzee's body. She began looking it over for cuts, but his clothes were way too blood-stained to see where any bleeding origin points were.

"Well, Dirk, Nepeta, and I already had our baths. In fact, we arrived at the campsite from the river right before you all burst out of the forest."

There was no other way for it but to take off his shirt to see where and what extent of damage was done. Jade looked over the article of clothing. It seemed every inch of it was soaked with blood; there was no clean place for her to grab onto to begin peeling off his shirt. Oh well, tough it out! Quickly, before he dies!

Sollux volunteered. "If everyone'th going to keep arguing about thith, I guethth I might ath well do it. I'm mad grungy anyway."

There were looks of approval and agreement all around the circle. Karkat and Sollux shared fatigued smiles.

"I'll, um, accompany you. If any creature, um, shows up, it'll have to, uh, answer to, er, me," Tavros helpfully offered.

The Gemini looked grateful for the assistance. "Thankth, Tav. I really apprethiate it."

Jade grabbed a section of the shirt and began to pull, which wasn't easy because the blood had already begun to dry and stick to the Capricorn's skin. Maybe that had helped stem the flow, but his wounds still needed to be treated ASAP!

"What are you doing, Jade?" Dirk, along with Eridan and the female troll Kanaya, had been observing Jade with interest over the past several minutes.

'What does it look like I'm doing, you moronic laggards!' Jade brushed off Dirk's question and continued to work on her task.

"Hey, do you think Gam's hurt?" Eridan asked the group at large. "I mean, he is bleedin' from the nose a bit, but it doesn't look broken or anythin'."

Jade questioned Eridan's eyesight for a brief moment before succeeding in ripping off a large part of the shirt. This, apparently, was enough to bring Gamzee back to consciousness.

"Ow! What the motherfuckin' motherfuck what it is you're doin'?" Gamzee sat up and suddenly Jade felt very small. "Oh, hey, sis. You're okay! Motherfuckin' seein' you is glad-makin'." The Capricorn looked around and his default grin soon returned to his face. "Look's like I'm back at the ol' motherfuckin' campin' grounds." He focused on Karkat. "My main man! Did we win?"

Karkat sighed and frowned, looked at his ankle while he spoke. "Yep. You killed it, but somehow you got underneath it as it fell. It crushed you. I tried to get it off, but..." He paused for a second, and then went on, "Luckily Sollux and Equius arrived in time, and Equius managed to lift it. Are you feeling okay?"

Gamzee nodded. "Feelin' motherfuckin' fine."

Jade was starting to feel rather silly. What had Eridan said? Something about Gamzee's nose bleeding? She looked at his nose closely, which was easy because he was not two feet away from her. Huh? All that was there, running from one of his nostrils to his chin, was a thin line of crusting purple stuff. She had noticed it before, but hadn't paid it any mind because, well, y'know. Did that mean that red wasn't Gamzee's blood color? How very, very strange. Then again, he was an alien. Just because he had blood didn't mean it had to be the same color as a human's. Jade could have kicked herself.

And as for everyone around her acting so nonchalantly about Gamzee's bloodstained clothes (except for the stink), that should have been her first clue as to why no one cared about his state. If he had actually been bleeding out, his friends would have done something. They all cared about him; they would not have let him die. She had made herself out to look like an idiot. Yet again.

The Capricorn began sniffing the air. "Motherfuck, something smells straight up nasty."

"That would be you, I'm afraid," Kanaya said. "It seems your opponent thought it appropriate to garb you in its red apparel, lest you forget your crowning victory."

"What?"

Kanaya giggled. "You're covered in the dinosaur's blood, my good fellow."

"Oh. Hey, that motherfuckin' demon drenched me! Bitchin'." Gamzee gazed down at himself, admiring the many red streaks splashed across his clothes and arms. "Whoa, clawbeast even liked a little piece of me. Took a rip outta my shirt, seems like."

"No, actually, I think you'll find someone else did that. Though why, we're still not sure," Dirk supplied.

Jade clenched the torn fabric. She should probably sow it back on for him or something. And yeah, she owed an explanation to the group too.

"Sla- swo- sorry," she said, addressing everyone around the campfire. She held the black, bloodstained piece of Gamzee's shirt out to him. She apologized again. "Sworrly." It didn't come out so well the second time, though, and she winced.

Karkat and Sollux did double takes. Gamzee merely smiled wider. The Capricorn took the cloth from her.

"It'll grow back," he reassured her, patting her on her shoulder in a friendly manner. Jade raised her eyebrows in confusion at Gamzee's odd suggestion, but nodded. He was an alien. He wore alien clothes. Maybe their t-shirts really did grow back if they were torn.

"Since when did Harley start talking lucidly again?" the Cancer asked, looking to Dirk for an explanation.

Dirk cleared his throat. "You mean she wasn't speaking clearly earlier? Were you with her when she woke up?"

"Yeah. Gamzee and I were both there. She woke up and, after I explained some stuff to her, she started babbling. I couldn't understand a word of it."

"Hm. Well, after Kanaya, Nepeta, and I arrived back from the river, she asked quite clearly who I was."

"She asked who you were? Are you sure?"

"Yes. Everyone else who was there can attest to that." Dirk gesticulated towards most of the group. Everyone included in the sweep of his arms nodded in agreement. Jade bobbed her head as well, remembering how surprised and happy she was when she had spoken clearly.

Karkat's eyes were immensely bright. "Does that mean she'll regain speech fairly quickly?"

Dirk's mouth was set in a grim line. "I'm not sure. When Roxy and the others get back with the equipment, we'll have to run some tests. And there's another complication. Something that, unfortunately, could be a severe impediment to her recovery."

Jade wasn't sure, but she thought she heard Karkat's breath hitch. "What? What is it?"

The white-haired boy steepled his fingers and re-directed his gaze to someone else. "Why don't you ask Sollux?"

"Huh?" Karkat turned to his friend, then back to Dirk. "Why would he know anything about it?"

Suddenly, Sollux interrupted. "Guyth. We can talk about thith later. Right now I'm tired and dirty and I want to have a thoak." He stood up, stretched, and then offered Gamzee a hand. "You too. Come on, or you're going to draw more hungry animalth thtraight to our camp."

"Okay," Gamzee said. He took the proffered hand, jumping up without the slightest bit of pull on Sollux's end.

"Wait, Sollux," Karkat began, but the Gemini was already halfway to the path that led down to the river. Gamzee followed him, unconcerned with his moirail's increasingly angry calls. Then they stepped onto the path and were out of sight.

Karkat's teeth clicked together when he closed his mouth. He looked quite mad with his low, furrowed brow, pursed lips, and crossed arms. Jade was frightened that he might start going off again in an even louder, more furious tone. Karkat was not as comical in real life as he was in chat logs when he was pissed off.

"He'll talk about it when he comes back," Dirk said, pushing his anime shades up his nose.

Karkat snarled. "Damn it, if my fucking ankle wasn't so fucking useless I'd make him talk right now!"

"Ooh, Karkitty, that sounded a bit dark," Nepeta remarked. "Say, Dirk, why do you think Sollux wanted to keep Jade's amnesia a secret?"

That got the Cancer's attention. He glanced at Dirk, who only had to nod to confirm it before Karkat was staring at the green-eyed girl with something akin to terror. No, wait, not terror...

Karkat pivoted in his seat to address Dirk again. "Are you fucking serious! Where do you fucking get off diagnosing her with fucking amnesia! She knows who we all are, she can't have-"

Dirk intervened before Karkat threw himself into a full-blown rage, a crease between his brows. "For the record, I think she has partial amnesia. You should've seen my reaction when she asked who I was. You know she and I are close. We are very good friends. And she can't remember me at all. She didn't even know my name. Partial amnesia isn't as serious as full-on amnesia, but it will take her some time to recover. Also, it won't do you any good to yell about it. There's a good chance, once Roxy and I perform the surgery to restore her speaking capabilities and balance, that her memory will come back."

It looked like Karkat was beginning to cool off. His expression and body language softened, became less aggressive, at least. "Don't tell me what to fucking do. I can yell whenever I fucking want, wherever I fucking want. How do you know her memory will come back?"

Dirk smirked. "Because I'm Dirk Motherfucking Strider, and I get shit done."

The Cancer snorted and waved a dismissive hand at the orange-eyed boy's machismo. "Yeah, fucking whatever. Just don't mess it up, all right? If you do, you'll answer to me."

It was really odd, watching two guys argue over her mental faculties and swearing to protect her with her sitting right there. On the one hand, she was just beginning to realize how much she meant to Dirk and Karkat both. On the other hand, she couldn't remember much of her time on the spaceship, so their dedication to her seemed... just a bit creepy.

"Challenge accepted," Dirk said. He looked over to Jade and grinned at her. "You're going to be okay, Jade. They'll be back with the equipment in a few days, and we'll take care of everything."

The rest of the group turned to the green-eyed girl too. They all smiled at her (well, Eridan didn't, but he was a jerk), and buoyed her spirits up with similar confident claims. Jade beamed widest of all and thanked everyone for their support (except for the fishy fuckass).

When she caught Karkat's eyes, she held his gaze for several seconds longer than necessary. The Cancer took a deep breath and said, "We are going to get through this, Harley, and we'll be able to say it made you a survivor, a stronger person, because of it. Strider knows what he's doing, I'm completely sure of it. So we've just gotta... trust in his judgment and hope for the best."

'Why's he making it sound like he and I are a team in this? I'm the only one with amnesia.' Still, Jade managed to say a coherent thanks to him, to which the Cancer gave a small smile.

"Let's eat," Nepeta suggested, and everybody agreed that it was time for dinner. Jade, by this point, was feeling quite ravenous. Eridan doled out the plates, and Jade finally had her first bite of real food in a week. Mm, it was delicious. The seadweller really did know how to cook. Tasted like chicken.

Halfway through the meal, Tavros remembered his promise to Sollux about keeping predators away from the river. "Oh, shit. I forgot, um, about-"

"Don't bother. They'll be back anytime now," Nepeta said.

Tavros worried his lip. "Yeah, but, um, maybe I'll just go, uh, check on them."

"Take Jade with you," Kanaya advised. In an aside to the green-eyed girl, she said, "Not to offend you, dear, but you need a wash too."

Jade was finished with her plate, and she was fairly full, but she didn't know if it was such a good idea for her to go with Tavros. Although she did feel like bathing, she didn't want to do it in the presence of males. Especially males she didn't know! Or rather, had no memories of. And besides, she didn't want to bathe in the dark, and she didn't have any shampoos or conditioners or soaps-

"Um, okay," Tavros said. "C'mon, let's go."

Jade fervently shook her head.

"You don't, uh, want to go?"

Well, yeah! Why else would she be refusing to stand up? Besides the fact that she had serious vertigo, anyway.

Dirk spoke up, "She can go tomorrow morning."

Jade cast a grateful look to Dirk. She thought he winked in response, but she couldn't be sure, because of his shades.

"Um, tomorrow morning? We'll all be, er, sleeping by then..."

Huh? Sleeping?

"You misunderstand me. I think she'd rather not-"

"And who are you to say what she'd rather do and what she'd rather not do, hm, Strider?" Karkat broke in with an annoyed tone.

Dirk sighed. He glanced at Jade, who was kind of confused by this whole situation. Why the heck would Kanaya think it was appropriate for Jade to go bathing when Sollux and Gamzee were already in the river? Did troll culture just not have any qualms about opposite genders bathing together, like the Japanese, or was there just a huge misunderstanding here? Had Jade regularly bathed with the trolls, males and females alike, aboard the ship? Damn if this wasn't the best time in her life for her to have fucking amnesia, of all the things that could've happened to her!

"What's wrong with her going to bathe now? If Jade waits until morning, she won't have anyone to purrotect her from the clawbeasts," Nepeta chimed in.

Dirk seemed like he was considering something, then he shook his head and said, "Well, that is true..."

Whose side was he on! And she could protect herself, thank you very much. Waitaminute. Where was her sylladex?

The white-haired boy looked up to find Jade's eyes wide and centered on him. He cracked a grin and said, "Best to grin and bear it, Jade. Or should I say, bare it? Heh heh."

What the hell was he talking about?

"Oh, it will be fun, Jade. For some reason you and Rose never wanted to bathe with us on the spaceship. Now you'll see what a good bonding time it can be. We'll have to bathe together tomorrow evening," Kanaya said, smiling as Tavros hoisted Jade up when she couldn't quite seem to stand properly. "Enjoy yourself."

It was kind of futile to say no. Most everyone (except, again, Eridan) was egging her on, encouraging her, and she allowed Tavros to help her walk. Dirk had the smallest of smirks on his face, like he thought the outcome of her experience would be most interesting to hear.

Well, Jade was nothing if not an explorer and an investigator. And she was very brave, too. Even if she was a bit wary of this whole set-up, she could always laugh about it later, right? Right. This wasn't such a big deal, it really wasn't. She had known the trolls all her life, and they knew her... well enough! What could possibly go wrong?

And the answer to that was, unsurprisingly, a lot.

XD +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ XD

I'll see you guys in steamy chapter 6, where Jade gets down to some sweet, sweet soaking in the river. Uh-huh, that's right. :D Feel free to leave comments and/or questions, and I'll do my best to answer your queries. :)

Answers to the questions I posed last chapter:

1) What kind of shampoo does Sollux use?

Answer: Herbal Essences: None of Your Frizziness.

2) How much weight can Equius lift?

Answer: Since he's so STRONG, I'd imagine he can lift a fuck ton more than his own body mass.

3) Does Karkat need a hug?

Answer: Oh gog yes. Have you seen how grumpy he is lately? Also, my friend Anon said: "...Yes, Karkat does need a hug. And a kiss. And sex. With Jade." See my response to this Anon's suggestion at the beginning of the chapter. :33

4) Where the hell are Dave, John, Jake, Roxy and Jane?

Answer: Why, they're off to see the wizard-! Oops, wrong fanfiction. Actually, they're scavenging the group's spaceship that crashed in the valley, looking for viable parts. You'll meet them soon enough.