"Karkat! Where do you want these new ties?"

"Where you always put them, Egbert…" Karkat's patience was wearing thin, and it wasn't even noon yet. Sollux had been staying at his house for a few days already, giving Karkat even more stress than the position he held at the local suit shop already did. His underling, who was in grabs for the manager position if and when Karkat ever left the shop, peered from behind a rack of slacks at his boss.

"You okay, Karkat? I mean, you seem sort of… I dunno… Harsher than normal…"

"I'm fine, Egbert. I think you need to get your glasses checked." John Egbert giggled and ducked back behind the protective rack of clothes before his boss could do anything violent.

"I got a date tonight."

"Why do I care?"

"Because you're always telling us to be careful, and to have fun and know what we're getting ourselves into." John reappeared from behind the rack and slowly began to push it towards the back room. Karkat watched him with a grim frown. He really didn't want to like John, but it was hard to not like the goofy bucktoothed bespectacled man.

"Who are you going with?" The question took both of them off guard. John stumbled over his own feet, catching himself on the rack.

"You know the DJ from the club a few blocks away? Dave? I'm going with him. We're going to see that new Nic Cage movie that came out."

"Uh-huh."

"Maybe you and Terezi could come! We could make it a double date!" Karkat shuddered at the suggestion.

"No. Just, no, John. Things aren't going so well with Terezi and me." The short tempered manager left it at that. He adjusted his tie and strode back out in to the main show room, smiling and greeting customers and keeping an eye on the other workers. Predictably, John didn't leave it at that.

"Well, do you want to come over to my place? I can cancel with Dave, and we could have a romcom marathon or something! I make a pretty mean pizza, you know."

"John… I have plans tonight, as always." His patience was wearing thin. He didn't mind this sort of conversation in the back rooms, or in the small employee lounge area, but he did mind them in front of customers.

"You always have plans. What are you so busy with, anyway? Taking night classes at a university you don't want anyone to find out about? Or… Are you doing some shadier business…?" Karkat flushed at his friend's suggestion.

"I just have a lot of stuff. Manager stuff, that you wouldn't understand." John giggled at his friend's horrible excuse. He motioned for Karkat to join him in the back rooms again.

"It's alright if you don't want to tell me, Karkat. It's understandable." The bucktoothed young man grinned at his boss and hugged him quickly. "But I'm here if you wanna talk about anything. And my offer still stands for a romcom night sometime." Karkat awkwardly patted his underling's back, blushing lightly. It wasn't like him to become flustered, but it also wasn't like him to reveal all of his secrets.

"Yeah… Thanks, I guess, fuckwad…"

"That could be considered harassment."

"Get over it."

"Hehe, I was kidding, Karkat."

"Shut up, dick head."

"You're lucky I like you."

"Heh, I know." John giggled again, an annoying habit that Karkat hated, and scurried off to do something that wasn't all that important. Karkat leaned on his desk as he let out a long sigh. Sollux living with him, things falling through with Terezi, and worrying about everything else was starting to get to him… Maybe he did need a day off. He ran his hands through his black hair and groaned. He really did not like being in the passenger seat when life decided to change course on him. He chalked it up to just being a control freak.

It was a quarter to seven when a loud knock rang through the small apartment. John, in the middle of selecting a pair of pants, jumped.

"C-coming!" He grabbed the first pair, a pair of khaki shorts, and tugged them on quickly before rushing to the door. He swung it open, smiling brightly at Dave, who stood in front of him wearing those same old shades.

"Egbert."

"D-Dave! I'm almost ready, give me a second." The shorter man left the door open as he rushed around to find his socks and shoes. He grabbed his keys from the dish by the door and his jacket from the back of a chair and joined Dave in the hall.

"How are you, Dave?"

"It's nearly ironic that you asked that." Dave's voice was even, a normal tone of voice for him. A sly smirk barely ghosted over his lips for a moment before he leaned in and captured John's lips for a gentle kiss. The suit seller smiled in to the action.

"Hehe, I missed you too, Dave." The blonde man said nothing in return; he fixed his glasses before popping his elbow out as a silent offer for John to take it. John giggled and slid his arm through Dave's, leaning into the lanky body as they strode to the elevator.

On the other side of town, Karkat was sitting in Kanaya's basement, listening to the last few costumers shuffle out of the shop. Vriska and Sollux were catching up quietly on the sheet covered couch. The dim lighting showed the lanky silhouette of Gamzee lumbering down the stairs that led to the alleyway behind the shop.

"What's up, motherfuckers?" Karkat grumbled at the rough rumble of the voice. That swagger, the way he slurred some of the syllables…. He had been visiting someone.

"Gamzee, what the fuck? Where have you been? Do you know how worried I've been?" It was Vriska that scolded him. She didn't particularly like any of the people currently in the basement, but it was a brotherhood thing. When Karkat wasn't around, it was left to Sollux, but when both were gone, as they had been earlier in the evening, it was left to Vriska. She stood up, her tall black pleather boots giving her a few more inches to almost match his height.

"Hey, chill, Vriska. Is all cool. I'm not harmed, see?" Gamzee spread his arms wide to show that there were no new heroine marks, or cuts or bruises. "We chill now?" Karkat growled audibly this time.

"No, we are not fucking chill, Gamz. You need to be here on time. And you need to stay away from that shit."

"What motherfucking shit, bro?"

"You fucking know what shit." Intelligence flashed behind the dark blue eyes of the taller man. His shoulders pulled back some, but no other physical change seemed to appear on him.

"What do you mean, Karkles?"

"You fucking know what I mean, fuck ass! You've been hanging out with that fucking dealer again, haven't you? You've been out, wasting your money on things like drugs and booze instead of paying it over! Or even buying food or making sure your fucking rent was paid!" Karkat shoved himself to his feet, his coat swishing around his ankles. "I don't give a fuck if you live with someone who's able to pay the entire rent. You need to stop wasting your fucking money like that!"

Gamzee shoved Vriska aside as he stalked to Karkat. He was much taller than his boss, and a lot stronger.

"You know what I think, bro? I think you need to calm your fucking tits. Tavbro don't mind, hell, he don't even care about half the shit I do! As long I show up to dinner on time, kiss him on the forehead before he goes to sleep, and let him cuddle with me every couple of nights." The drug addicts voice dropped a few octaves as he knotted his fingers in the plush fur of the coat on Karkat's shoulders. "He don't even care if I bring him anything, ever. He's as low maintenance a guy as I could ever ask for. He don't even ask why I come home smelling like sex and drugs, or have strange bruises on me, or healing bite marks. He. Don't. Even. Care."

Karkat had had enough. His jerked his knee up and into Gamzee's groin, head butting the taller man at the same time. It was enough to dislodge him.

"Gamzee, you need to go clean! You're gonna end up killing yourself, or someone else, with these antics!" Karkat's voice rose with every passing word. Gamzee stumbled back, knocking over a few of the small wooden chairs before he sagged against a large workbench. The ruckus was apparently enough to get Kanaya to come down the stairs, for she slammed the door open not a minute after the sound finally died down.

"What is going on here?" Her voice was stern. Her eyes shone with an irritation that the group had only seen a few times before. "I have a date soon, and I really would like to be on time for once." Karkat sneered at Gamzee and sat back down in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose gently.

"Gamzee's gone back." Sollux murmured, sitting back down on the couch. Kanaya let out a long sigh and eased down next to him.

"Gamzee…"

"Whoa, sister, I don't need no motherfucking lecture from you too. What I do in my fucking free time is what I motherfucking do. It ain't none of your motherfucker's business, now is it?"

"It is when you might kill yourself! Gamzee, we actually care for you!" Kanaya stood up and walked over to him, holding his face in her hands gently. "If it wasn't for you, who'd be here to make us laugh with stupid clown jokes? Or be the one to test out my new makeup without telling me? Or be the one to chase away the mice?" He scoffed lightly, shaking his head slowly.

"No motherfucking way, sister. I've fucking had it." His deep blue eyes were perfectly calm, the hidden intelligence scaring Kanaya as it shown through perfectly. He did nothing to push her away.

"And where are you going to go, Gamz? It's not like you can get a normal job when you're all hopped up like you are." Sollux joined Kanaya. He normally didn't show his compassionate side, but one of the few times when he needed to be calm and in charge. Karkat looked at the small gathering from his chair with a grim mask of distaste.

"If he wants to go, let him go."

"But, KK…"

"Did you not fucking hear me, Captor? I said to fucking let him go!" Vriska grumbled something and glared at Karkat through her glasses.

"Oh, so now you're just going to abandon him?" She flipped him the bird. "If you're going to let Gamzee go because he has no support system, I'm out of here too. Good luck with your one slut, Vantas." She grabbed Gamzee's wrist and hauled him up the back staircase that led to the alleyway. After the three that were left heard the door slam shut, Karkat screamed at the top of his lungs. His hands knotted themselves in his hair roughly.

"Fuck! Goddamn it! Son of a motherfucking whore from Hell!" The small man got up and kicked the already turned over chairs, throwing things this way and that as he continued to scream and rant at the top of his lungs. Kanaya closed her eyes and tried to steady herself.

"Sollux, could you please deal with this? I really do have a date, and I'm going to be late if I don't leave soon." She kissed his cheek before she left without waiting for a reply. The bipolar man sat down on the couch, waiting for Karkat to come close enough for him to grab.

Karkat let out a yelp of surprise as he was tugged onto Sollux's lap and pressed close to the lanky man's chest.

"Sollux, what the fuck?"

"You need to calm down, KK. The night's still early, and you still have me."

"Fuck you! All you've done is mooch off of me for a week because I'm too fucking soft! This was my fucking chance to shine, dipshit, and I fucked it up!" Tears pricked behind his eyes as he continued. "Terezi doesn't fucking take me seriously anymore, and John's just this big stupid ball of energy that tires me out at work, and nobody else there takes me seriously."

"Vantas, this is no time for a pity party." His lisp slurred some of the words, but Karkat got what he was saying. He sagged against Sollux, embarrassed to be seen like this but unsure of how to make himself feel better. Sollux sighed, rubbing Karkat's back and holding him close.

"You have the keys to the store room, right?"

"Huh? For the shop? Of course I fucking do, why?"

"We're going to take a pair of suits, and we're going to have a fancy dinner and a movie date."

"What? Why? I swear to God, Sollux, if you're trying to get in my fucking pants right now, I am going to kick you in the nuts so fucking hard-"

His words were cut off as Sollux kissed him deeply. His skilled tongue worked Karkat's mouth open, moaning at the little resistance that Karkat put up. When the initiator broke the kiss, Karkat slapped him.

"You better keep the fuck up."