When they had finally decided to depart from Sollux's apartment neither had really thought much about how bad the storm had actually been. Since the building was further inland all they had witnessed was some rather impressive thunder and lightning, but the closer they drove to Karkat's the more apparent it became it hadn't been a typical storm.
Not long after starting out outdoor furniture had appeared strewn across lawns and sidewalks, fallen branches tossed into the road, usual storm damage. As they neared areas closer to the beach the debris kept increasing in both amount and intensity. When they reached the road that led to Karkat's Sollux was even forced to slow the vehicle to maneuver around obstacles.
The farther they traveled the more Karkat's nerves seemed to tighten. He fiddled with everything he could reach, the door lock, the AC, and he switched the radio on long enough to hear the news inform them they had been hit by a moderate tropical storm before turning it off again. Unsatisfied by these activities he proceeded to curl into himself on the seat and glare out the window.
Sollux went back and forth between watching him to surveying their surroundings before slamming the breaks with a curse. Karkat hadn't been prepared for the sudden stop and barely managed to stop from slamming into the dashboard.
"What the ever loving fuck was that about?" He demanded, turning on his friend. Sollux wasn't looking in his direction and curiosity piqued he maneuvered so he could see what the big deal was. He released a shaky breath when he noticed a large car – what looked like a minivan – peeking out from the surf. The rest of the beach was scattered with things ranging from more lawn furniture to small sheds and Karkat felt anxious about returning home.
"Holy thit KK, jutht look at all that. The damageth mutht be in the thouthandth if not hundredth of."
"Can we just keep going, please?" Karkat settled back into his seat, stubbornly refusing to look out at anything anymore.
"Calm your titth, it'th not like you thee thith everyday." Sollux retorted, but put the car into gear anyways.
"Calm my tits?" Karkat repeated, voice border lining on hysterical. "My house may have been swept out to sea and you want me to calm my tits? Did it even occur to you, you self-obsessive dick humper, that I might be homeless, and you want to stare at the fucking scenery?"
"That drama queen thing? Yeah you're doing that again. It'th not like you have no optionth if it'th not there. Kanaya would always let you move in with her."
"Oh fuck no, the woman's a saint and I don't want to share a space with that level of goody two-shoed-ness, and don't forget she's living with her girlfriend now. I like my psychological profile to remain unmolested thank you very much."
"Well there'th your dad. I wath there when he told you that you could move back in at anytime, remember?"
"He lives half-way across the state, there's no way I would ever get out here and like fuck I want that kind of sudo-guilt obligation hovering over me." Karkat hunched even further into himself and Sollux sighed, signaling to turn onto the last stretch.
"Well you could alwayth move in with me, if you wanted." Sollux said, voice casual and being careful to keep his eyes focused forward. "I mean I know I'm not the motht dethirable of people to live with but if you didn't want to take the other optionth. I have the spathe ith all."
Karkat didn't respond and Sollux began to regret mentioning anything when his passenger finally uncoiled his limbs and relaxed once more. His face was turned to the window but Sollux could see a reflection of a small smile. He let out a little breath he didn't know he was holding as the tension left the compartment. Despite this Karkat didn't speak until his house – still standing where they had left it – came into view. There was junk all over the place, and Sollux maneuvered the car as far into the drive as he could before debris stopped their progress.
"Congratulations Sollux, you have once again narrowly managed to avoid me classifying you as an unsympathetic raging sociopathic douche canoe. Fortunately for us both, my house still stands, thank whatever deity that decided to take pity on me." He paused, exiting the vehicle with slight difficulty. "This is going to suck balls cleaning up though. Holy shit what a mess."
"Do you want me to thtick around and help? With the general chaoth in the area I could probably get away with cancelling my appointmenth for the day."
"No, go and be a responsible adult. Fuck knows one of us needs to actually care about our lousy business. I can handle this; city is required to cart the junk off anyways. What's a day or two with deader grass than usual?"
"Are you thure?" Sollux asked, moving to climb out of the jeep. Karkat waved his hands dismissively.
"Yeah I'm sure. Now go and get off my property before I call the cops on you for trespassing."
"Like they care about thit all the way out here. I'll come by again tomorrow with food for you thince you were thuch a dumbath before."
With that Sollux was backing out of the drive and Karkat scowled at him until he was out of sight. When he could no longer see the retreating vehicle he picked his way to the garage door, forcing it open with some effort. The door that led to the yard hadn't stood a chance against the oceanic onslaught and hung open, resulting in the floor being covered in mud and sand. The only real casualty seemed to be the Sunfish getting knocked off its trailer. Karkat moved the small boat back into an upright position before checking the stains on the wall. They marked where the water had flooded to, and he measured himself against it to find it came almost to his chest.
Resisting the urge to be impressed – and the terror at thought of almost experiencing it – he made his way into up into the main house. The interior remained untouched, the only noticeable damage being a missing shutter on the bedroom window. He opened it and pushed the remaining one against the house to stare at the coastline. The water wasn't as far off as usual, maybe only a half mile, but he could tell where it had been and was relieved to see it was slowly receding. A freak flood was an easier event to deal with then the possibility of a surprise tsunami, since they always came in waves.
A cursory glance at the backyard revealed a large portion of the fence wasn't there anymore, and he could swear he saw the off-colored planks lying amongst the rest of the trash like the useless things they were. The deck blocked the pool from his angle, so he pulled back into the house and grabbed his digital camera.
The first picture taken was where the shutter had been torn from the siding since that would need replacing. Insurance was stingy when it came to storm repairs and photogenic proof would make repairs easier on his wallet. With it properly catalogued Karkat made his way down to the kitchen, pausing only long enough to notice the power wasn't working and to grab a hammer before heading out back.
Karkat cursed loudly and viciously at the sight of his beloved pool, the normally pristine water impossibly cloudy with debris either floating or sticking out from its surface. There seemed to be no damage apart from cosmetic, but there was just no way to know for sure until the water was pumped and everything was inspected. Just the thought of what that would entail made his already darkened spirits nosedive.
The rest of the yard was much like he had seen from the window, though the amount of work didn't look as daunting from the ground. The cement of the garage wall seemed to have sustained minimal damage and when he punched the house supports – for purely scientific reasons – they didn't show any signs of weakening or damage either. Without the worry of the house collapsing on him he climbed the stairs to the deck, testing his footing and the handholds as he went. The only part in need of repair was the railing at the top, which wobbled dangerously when pressure was applied.
A few quickly snapped pictures later and the inspection of the deck complete, he started work removing the plywood cover from the door. The nails were tossed carelessly over the side, not really caring about tidiness when there was already a huge mess to deal with, but he did flinch at the sound of a few splashing into the water below. When the board came free he propped it against the side and entered his home, depositing the camera and hammer on the counter before heading back down to the yard.
Between the yard and the pool it was obvious which came first and he started by clearing the cement around it. When he had sufficient workspace he knelt down and pulled out what he could easily reach. Wooden boards where in the majority of items that he saw at first, some pieces that looked suspiciously like more missing fence posts and a cruddy old scarf tangled among them. He carried them to the far corner of the yard before going back and grabbing the pool skimmer. With it he began fishing out what was floating on top, depositing it off with the rest of the garbage.
When the surface was clear he scraped it along the bottom, hoping to grab whatever had sunk there. He hoped that if he managed that at the very least the water might clear since whatever was down there wouldn't let the muck settle. He hooked something soon enough and heaved up a fair sized rock, heaving and grunting until he managed to deposit it safely near the edge.
As he worked he was glad he didn't encounter anything else that was heavy, and he was almost halfway done when something almost knocked the pole from his hands. He scrambled to save it from having to be fished from the murky depths as well, pulling it out to check for damage. He was surprised to find a pair of glasses tangled in the netting. The frames were thick and black, with one missing lens and another cracked. He placed them cautiously to the side, worrying at what exactly he might find as he kept cleaning.
"It would be just my luck for some poor bastard to have drowned in there." Karkat muttered as he scraped along the area more carefully, being thorough to not miss anything. "Asshole would have deserved it for not paying attention to the fucking weather, as if I'm really one to talk."
When he didn't encounter anything within three feet he began to relax, and when five had passed he started to think of what an idiot past him had been to jump to conclusions. At seven feet he pushed the whole thing to the back of his head in an attempt to ignore his unfathomable stupidity.
"Just because there's a pair of broken glasses in a pool doesn't mean someone's head is there too, dumbass." He scolded. "It's not like they come off your face or anything what a piss poor invention they would be if you had to have them sealed on too. FUCK!"
The pole lurched in his hands, and he had barely managed to maintain his footing before a second lurch had him tumbling head first into the water. Weighed down by shoes and clothing Karkat felt the disorientation of weightlessness surround him. He blinked furiously to try and clear the murk from his vision. Bubbles from his impact rose past his feet and he pushed with his arms to follow, and as he kicked a shadow flicked just out of his vision.
The moment he met air he was gasping and coughing, trying to calm his racing heart as he glanced wildly about. Somehow he had managed to land just out of reach from the edge and he made to swim towards it when movement caught his attention. Slowly a small dark triangle broke through the surface, moving back and forth at the opposite end before turning for him. His brain hadn't finished processing what it could be before he was moving, kicking and hauling himself over the side, inertia keeping him moving until he had rolled to safety. Karkat was on his feet and watched as the shark fin turned and vanished once more.
A laugh was threatening to escape from his throat but he swallowed it down, forcing himself to move towards the stairs. He began crawling up them on hands and knees, not trusting himself to hold his own weight. The adrenaline was already beginning to wear off as it dawned how close his life had come to ending. A single giggle escaped and he scowled, dragging himself up onto the landing with every intention of calling Sollux and collapsing in the safety of the kitchen.
He paused, taking in great breaths of air before he pushed himself to his feet, taking a moment to steady himself on the rail. It occurred to him too late on why that had been a stupid idea as it groaned dangerously in protest before giving under his weight. For a few slow seconds he saw the sky below his feet and then he was back in murky darkness, mouth opening to scream but only taking in water. As the world went black a dark shape bore over him, jaws opening to send him into painful oblivion.
