okay sorry i've been gone awhile. and ik this isnt much of a chapter its more of a filler so sorry if its a disappointment. anyway hopefully the next chapter will be longer (as i only called this a filler due to how short it is) yes in this chapter it could be classed as johnkat, but its more of a pale relationship. anyway im still open to ship ideas (you can be specific about the ships if you want it to be more of a bro ship or a romance. only set ship at the moment that i will eventually put in is rose x kanaya because that ship is beautiful and non debatable. sorry if you dont like it , it wont be the main ship of the story.) and any ideas that you have that you would like seen put into this story. emjoy arahs13

smile

He didn't remember how long they had sat there. All he could think of was silence.

Silence it was, nostalgic. They had been born into silence. They were taught silence.

Be quite. Stay quiet; do not utter a word, not even a breath. Then you will survive.

They strived in silence. Silence was how they lived, how they survived. Perhaps that was why he hated the silence. None heard you in the silence, people suffered in silence, die in silence.

They died in silence.

Karkat hated the silence.

Sometime passed before both john and Karkat managed to peel themselves off of the cold and wet concrete floor. it was raining again, more heavily than before but Karkat couldn't bring himself to care let alone pull up his hood. And by seeing johns face, neither could he.

Though he hated the silence, Karkat couldn't bring himself to say anything, let alone form a coherent sentence. So they just walked, through the alley down the street around the comer, hands in their pockets heads bowed and shoulders brushing against each other constantly: still in an uneasy pregnant silence.

From a glance he could see john was tense, uneasy but who wouldn't be. He had just lost the man so close to him that he was practically a farther. Karkat didn't know what it was like, to have that bond, but it had seemed nice to a point that he had been envious at times. But now, it seemed like it wasn't worth the effort, it was crushing john from the inside out to the point that he wouldn't even utter a breath.

His shoulder brushed his again, subconsciously most likely but even so the way he kept doing it, subconsciously or not, was a cry of help in itself. John needed an anchor at the moment, something to grab on to something to climb up even if it was a thread. Karkat wasn't jade or Jane or even Jake. He could not share the pain john felt he couldn't console him, it would just be a lie. But he could be an anchor for now, a sliver of thread for him to grasp.

Karkat looked back at john, then down and then forward taking a breath in before he grasped johns hand.

He really didn't know what to expect, he wasn't big on reading people but when he felt john hand tense, well he would be lying if he didn't panic slightly. Just as he was about to pull his hand away though he felt john shift his hand slightly entwining there fingers. Startled, slightly, Karkat looked at john again. He didn't look back but his lips formed a small smile. That's all he needed.

If he could, if john needed it, he wouldn't mind being an anchor for a while. He could never abandon his friend in a time of need.

However nothing could last forever, they turned the last comer just where Karkat's apartment stood.

Before Karkat entered the apartment steam there was a tug at his arm. He turned around looking at john. There right in his eyes, hidden behind those stupid large frames, was dread.

He exhaled a breath before he allowed a small, extremely small smile to spread on his lips before he breathed

'Ready?'

John didn't answer straight out, just looked at their hands squeezing Karkat's again before he look him dead straight in the eyes a glint in his eye.

'What you think Jerk-face?'

Karkat couldn't help but chuckle a little at that, at least john was acting like his old self even if it was a little bit.

'Four eyes'

i really tried with the nicknames/banter you can see im not good at it.

thanks for reading so far and reviews and criticism is welcome.