{Karkat,Kanaya}
Kanaya loved her job. She loved the flowery, perfumed smell of the shop and she loved the decor. She loved helping out the poor fashionless darlings that would wander in occasionally, and she loved to talk with the ones that knew what they were doing.
But today had been slow. Hardly a single person had stopped by, and she was bored.
She tapped the counter in front of her with lovely green manicured nails. Her abundant patience, one of her finest traits, was beginning to wear thin. No one was coming, and she was beginning to wonder exactly why. Usually, the shop was rather popular around this time of day, but not a soul was present.
People passed by the window, running, excited and terrified. What on earth could have been going on?
Perhaps it was time for her to take her break. She stood up from her stool elegantly (even if no one was watching her) and calmly walked to the front of the shop. She put up the closed sign and exited.
Now outside, she saw a huge crowd had formed under a nearby apartment building. They were pointing at one of the windows, murmuring anxiously, some holding up their phones to take pictures or call local authorities.
Kanaya looked. She blinked and looked again. She gasped and began to fight her way through the crowd.
There, standing precariously on the ledge of the open fourth story window, was a teenager. He was wearing faded old jeans and a baggy grey sweatshirt. He was not moving. He simply stared down at the people. She knew him. He and his girlfriend were frequent visitors to the shop, though to her understanding, the girlfriend had recently been in a terrible accident.
"No, no, no..." She mumbled as she unceremoniously pushed people out of her way.
This was not happening. This could not happen. No, not to him!
"Karkat! Oh dear God, what are you doing? Get down from that window!" She shouted, emerging from the front of the crowd. Her usually soft voice was full of panic.
Everyone stared at her. The teenager himself looked at her, mildly surprised to see anyone actually doing anything. He knew this person. She was that store clerk. The one that always put up with him and Terezi's bickering back while they still went 'couple shopping'. Before the whole mess with the LARP group.
He hadn't thought about her in awhile. Honestly, he hadn't thought about anything but that terrible day and Terezi's plight in a long time.
"Fuck no. I'm not backing down now! This is for the good of this whole shitty world!"
His words were full of anger and angst and nearly the entire crowd quieted. Nearly.
"What are you saying? Nothing will get better if you do this! Nothing!"
Sirens wailed as the police finally arrived. Karkat ignored them and Kanaya and slowly began to inch along the edge on the side of the building. Had he looked, he would have noticed she had disappeared from the crowd.
"Hey, kid, want to tell me why you're doing this?"
Clutching the building as best he could, he gazed down at the policeman with dumb-ass square glasses and the mega horn.
"Because I fucking have to!"
"No, you don't have to."
"YES I FUCKING DO, TURD!" He snarled. "I should have been there! I should have stopped her before it got so fucking out of hand! I should have stopped all of it before it happened! Now Terezi's life is ruined, Tavros can't fucking walk, and Aradia is goddam DEAD! Who knows what the fuck would have happened to Nepeta if she hadn't had work that day!"
"Son, I'm sure it was not your fault. There probably isn't any way you could've done something about all that unless it's like in Back to the Future and you have an awesome time machine!"
Karkat did not respond. He just glared at the police officer spitefully.
"Now, why don't you- ma'am! Ma'am, don't try to be a hero!"
Gaping, Karkat looked to his left. There, a tall woman with short hair, a fashionable outfit, and green eyes inched along the ledge after him. Her sensible shoes lay abandoned inside the building, she had a determined expression on her delicate features.
"Kanaya! What the fuck!" He shouted. His throat felt raw. He began to feel queazy. "Get down from here, you're going to hurt yourself! SHIT!"
She nearly lost her footing, but managed to stay on. Her heart was beating faster than she ever thought possible and she tried her absolute hardest not to look beneath her
"I am not getting down without you."
Suddenly, everything seamed very real to Karkat. Here was someone he barely knew, risking her life over HIM while he did something stupid yet again. He couldn't stand for this.
"No! Fuck! Stop being an idiot and get down!" His voice raised an octave. "I'm jumping Kanaya, and you sure as hell aren't coming with me!"
"Now you listen to me," She retorted, eyes blazing. "You are young and not the most rational of people, but believe me when I tell you you DO NOT need to do this! Darling, I know what happened and I know you feel that you are to blame, but you are not and this certainly is not the answer! Please think about all you would be leaving behind! You are intelligent enough to realize how much you would be missed, aren't you?"
Karkat grew silent. He guessed his dad may be a bit unhappy about his son being dead. Gamzee would probably end up overdosing to block out the memory. Nepeta would definitely cry. He had no idea what Terezi or Sollux would do.
"Don't you realize that if you kill yourself, only would be eradicating a part of everyone you have ever known?"
She tried to inch closer, but her foot slipped. Suddenly, she was wobbling dangerously. Cries of alarm came from the crowd. Firemen and police men below scrambled to put a trampoline in place below the two.
"KANAYA! SHIT! Fine, fine! I'll come down! Just don't fall!"
Kanaya did fall. She felt weightless for a few seconds as she stared at Karkat's terrified face. Luckily, the trampoline was there in time to save her. Several firemen helped her off. Someone wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She did not stop looking at Karkat.
'Come Down. Please Come Down.'
Karkat leaped off the building, managing to land perfectly safe on the trampoline. Seconds later, he was standing next to Kanaya with his own blanket around his shoulders. The police cleared the area. They remained quiet as they were slowly left alone.
After that day, Kanaya went back to work. Around noon, she was greeted by an angry young man and a blind girl, arguing over just about everything. They were on a date. Just as she always had, she assisted them.
