a/n:

Sorry guys, this chapter was kind of rushed so if there are any mistakes kindly forgive me!(: Have some Dave/Karkat bonding moments though! ;D

Dave just nodded as if it was a reasonable enough reason and wrung out the brown tissues he'd been wetting. The kids face was already turning a mix of ruby and dark grey from the bruising he had. Dave looked at the dried blood on the bottom of Karkat's chin and winced a bit, but not enough to really show any emotion. How the guy managed to keep the sweater clean he couldn't comprehend.

Speaking of the sweater, this was not Karkat's normal black and grey turtleneck. This was John's hoodie. Why was Karkat in John's clothes?

"So what did you do to piss everyone off?" Dave asked offhandedly while he wiped the squirming troll's face off.

"Apparently breathing is enough to piss off these idiotic fuckasses."

Dave paused briefly to look at him; he could tell the kid was hiding something. He wanted to know why exactly they jumped Karkat so soon. He figured eventually they would want to mess around with him, maybe knock his books out of his arms or trip him in the hall. He never expected them to blatantly beat the shit out of the guy. He felt pretty much like shit now considering he was the one who stopped John from checking up on Karkat during class. That probably would have saved him a beating or two, but there was no way to change what had happened; the best he could do was clean him up.

"My eyes."

The words came out of nowhere; barely a whisper and Dave almost thought he didn't hear it.

"What?" He asked, trying to be sure what he heard was accurate.

"My eyes. They attacked me because of the color of my eyes." Karkat was looking downward. A slight shiver took hold of his body hardly noticeable if the watching person would have been anyone else besides Dave.

A cold feeling sunk in Dave's stomach. No one but his close friends knew that he had red eyes and he'd always intended to keep it that way, now he had a real reason too. Is that really the reason they harassed Karkat so ferociously?

Shame. That was the feeling coursing through Karkats' veins at the current moment in time. He'd always been self conscious of the way he looked and the color of his blood. He was a freak by troll standards and an even bigger freak by human. He didn't want to go through the rest of the day, knowing that they were watching him, examining every little detail that differed from their own definitions of normal. He also didn't want to give the shitsacks the satisfaction of knowing they'd put him in a state of dismay. He was unbelievably embarrassed at the hot prickling that was building in is eyes that would top it all off, cry like a grub in front of Dave fucking Strider.

Karkat felt arms wrap around him, awkwardly at first, but then with more confidence as they secured him close to the body they belonged to. Dave had him in a gentle, but firm, embrace and Karkat was not sure why the fuck he did. He was surprisingly greatful for it though.

"Seriously bro, fuck them. Fuck them with the plethora of freakish Smuppets Bro keeps at home; Smuppets with spikes and shitty sword accessories." The words he spoke were nonsensical but his told was cold; serious.

Even though Karkat could tell Dave was trying to be reassuring and somber, he couldn't help but giggle some at the (slightly disgusting) mental image that brought. He rested his head on Dave's chest and took a steadying breath. He was going to get through this day, and all the day's after it, he was going to show John it was a good idea to bring him.

Dave felt Karkat pull away from the hug, so he released his arms. Expecting to see a pissed off expression or hear a wave of swearing, he was more than a little shocked at the sight that presented its self. Karkat was looking up at him, a wide grin gleaming on his face. It was most likely the cutest thing he had ever seen and he could definitely see why the bitches flocked.

A silence went between them, Karkat had decided that he was in fact going to finish this year at the godforsaken shit hole and everyone else was just going to have to deal with it. He pondered maybe asking Rose if she could conjure up a spell that would make his horns temporarily disappear, that would make things a hell of a lot easier; He hated that damn beanie. He heard Dave cough, dragging him out of his thoughts.

"C'mon fuckass, let's see what shitty compilation your human food maids have designed for us to force down in some shit poor excuse for nutrition." Karkat joked, still smiling.

Laughing Dave countered, "Bro, you don't have to tell me twice."

They walked out of the restroom together, after making sure nobody had watched the little scenario that unfolded itself moments ago, and walked down to the lunch room. While listening to Dave rap, showing off his sick beats as he put it, Karkat couldn't help but notice the large group of girls that had begun to form around the lunch doors.

"Oh shit bro, looks like all the bitches lined up to greet you." Dave nudged Karkat with his shoulder; pulling his shades down just low enough Karkat could witness the sarcastic wink.

Chuckling, Karkat playfully shoved him; maybe this kid wasn't such a douche after all? He could definitely see why John still hung out around him at least. This matter aside, he could still see the growing problem this was going to cause, if he didn't manage to find a way around all these bulge hungry nook suckers. An image of his beanie being ripped off his scalp like a rocket propelled spaz maggot spring-loaded up the ass of a psychedelic fucking freak out weasel on idiot drugs flashed through his mind, this caused a slight bought of gooseflesh to crawl its way up his arms.

"You okay dude? Got a mad case of goose bumps going on?" Dave noted looking down at Karkat's exposed arms.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Just the thought of those nook sucking, frothing, Looney block assholes down there just, augh!"

Rolling down the sleeves of John's sweater, he shook out his arms in an attempt to shake away the minuscule bumps. There had to be a way around them, looking to his left he only saw a long hallway leading to the other classes. Hoping there would be more opportunity on his right he swiveled his head. There was no such thing. Opportunity did not present its ugly head and the only way he was going to get through was to go through those girls. This was going to fondle major seedflap and he just knew it.