Karkat spent most mornings in a living room of a house down the street from the apartment that Gamzee and he shared. The activities spent in the house were monochromatic on better days, but it beat being stuck in that small living space called his home with the stoner. Karkat seemed to hold a certain grudge against his roommate, but the truth was that he was just angry at the things that surrounded his friend which only clouded his emotions and judgment.
They became friends on account of both being children of single fathers, both which were not home very often and leaving them at day cares for most of the day. That didn't end their similarities, they both grew into having terrible anger problems, only Karkat expressed his with dealing out words and Gamzee threw out punches. Regardless they were always good for each other, keeping the other out of trouble and genuinely taking care of each other like they were family.
Things changed when Gamzee's father started sending him to child psychiatrists which in turn gave him subscriptions of different medications to keep his anger down and his focus up. Karkat was the largest protestor of this, it changed his friend too much and he didn't like it. Still Gamzee was happy with any attention his father would give him, so he didn't resist the change after some time.
Both of them started to grow apart by the time they entered High School when Gamzee started experimenting with abusing his medications and began smoking marijuana with a crowd that Karkat wasn't too found of. After awhile of trying to help his friend but not being successful he switched to spending most of his High School years struggling to pass classes and hanging out with his girlfriend Nepeta, or later Terezi.
Gamzee's neglectful father pissed Karkat off well enough, but Gamzee's destructive behavior and avoidance to taking his advice ticked him off even more.
There were shadows under his bloodshot eyes, making them seem even more otherworldly than usual. He was focused on watching a movie titled 'Pretty in Pink', ignoring the comments from a man born in The Philippines, but raised in Australia. On most days he would partake in a debate with his younger friend, who was stuck on ranting about Andie Walsh's choice on choosing Blane for a romantic partner instead of Duckie, however his mind was in different place at the moment.
The last couple of days at work was different, for lack of a better word. He spent most of the time by himself stocking the shelves and cleaning like always, but now in addition to this he spent time arguing with Dave Strider. Or rather, Dave making some sort of witty joke and Karkat spewing off steam by attacking the joke with claws and fangs bared. There was the other activity they partook in, such as Karkat trying to inform Dave of something and him making a mockery of it.
Most people observing would say the relationship they so far established was an unhealthy start, but the truth is Karkat hasn't felt this calm without the constant use of cigarettes in years. The energy their encounters required took a lot of thinking to outmatch the other, and this left him feeling tired instead of antsy from not using his mind enough to burn off energy. This was especially helpful since you wouldn't catch him dead in some gym and jogging was a big no due to his condition.
"Eridan!" The tanned boy next to him jumped, eagerly looking at the other Australian resident. "You've seen that flick a million times, come an' help me unpack these groceries please!" Her words were slurred with elongated vowels due to the accent, thought it was outmatched by Eridan's thicker one. He quickly scurried over to the athletically built Indian woman known as Feferi, complaining about something trivial as he exited outside to retrieve more plastic bags.
Eridan's spot was soon filled by another man who was a few years his senior. A man who actually sounded like he was born and raised in Rhode Island, which he was.
"Why aren't you helping?" Karkat asked, sending a scrutinizing look over to a Korean man named Sollux. The two of them met a few months after Karkat moved to Charlestown when Karkat started at his second job, despite getting on well enough they bickered half the time. Neither of them seemed to mind the fighting too much, as they both equally valued the friendship they formed.
"Eridan would just turn it into a competition and start a fight, the programming I'm dealing with is stressful enough so I'm going to avoid putting myself in that place. Really not in the mood for it." His words sounded monotone due to getting over a bad lisp he had for years, but even if they sounded empty of all emotion Karkat could tell that his friend was feeling burnt out.
He only shrugged, turning away so he could go back to watching the movie. It didn't take much to regain Karkat's undivided attention though, all Sollux had to do with open a beer can for those glaring red eyes to be set right back on him.
"Dude!" Karkat made a noise of disapproval, Sollux rolled his eyes. "It's one in the afternoon! Are you fucking kidding me right now?"
"Geez step off, drinking this early is hardly a crime anymore." He rolled his elbows back, letting himself sink into the couch. Karkat wouldn't have any of it, Sollux may be some 'upcoming mind of our generation' but he really made some stupid decisions and Karkat wasn't about to let him fall back into bad habits. He swiped the can out of his hands, ignoring the startled yelp from his friend when some of the liquid spilled on his clothes.
"Man, these were clean too." He groaned, lifting the wet fabric off of his chest before letting it fall back again. "I have an interview today, I can't go smelling like a drunk." He crossed his arms, glaring right back at his friend. "Dammit K.K, I'm so sick of your straight edge act you pull on everyone when you won't even put down the fucking cigarets."
"Are you stupid? You were going to drink before an interview?" Sollux looked like he was about to explain but was interrupted. "Don't answer that. You know I'm not going to let you end back where you have to go to Alcoholics Anonymous once a week, keep this up and you won't be getting a job in a long time. Hell, keep it up and you'll get kick out of university. I bet you're parents will be really happy about that, wouldn't they?"
Karkat was now standing by the window, emptying the contents of the can outside onto the lawn. Feferi made an upset squeak from the kitchen as she watched. Though she made no other indication that she was going to stop it. Besides, it was for the best, even if Karkat was going to poison her plants in the process of scolding the unstable techie.
"Oh, I had no idea you cared so much. Quick let me grab you a noble peace prize, or better yet ring up Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I'm sure they'll make you chairman." Sollux removed himself from the couch, stalking over to the basement stairs before removing his shirt and throwing down to be cleaned later. His skin wasn't that far off from being as pale as his albino friend's and his body was skinny with scars from an accident a couple of years ago. Karkat flinched at both the words and the harsh reminder.
"That was nearly two years ago Sollux. Everyone is okay now." Karkat knew it wouldn't make anything better when he spoke those words. He didn't get a reply and Sollux retired to his room upstairs, the wood creaking loudly under his feet. The house was silent for a moment before the sound of the shower broke it. Karkat slumped his shoulders, feeling defeated and guilty, as if he made things worse instead of better.
Feferi sent him a look of empathy, she had many similar rows with Sollux and wasn't able to receive much better results herself. Eridan scowled, looking irritated by the whole show. Unlike the other two, it seemed like he was the only one to get through to the guilt burdened bi-polar resident. Even if achieving that meant Feferi being forced to stay with Jade for a night while the two partook in physical violence that left them with many cuts and bruises; sometimes a visit from the police would follow.
Afterwards though everything would be as right as rain. Sollux would be making playful banter at Eridan who took Mario Kart too seriously and Feferi would laugh and giggle and join in with the silliness. The three might as well be skipping through a field of flowers half the time and be suiting up for war the other.
Karkat would never understand their relationship.
"I need to get to work, sorry for setting him off like that." He sighed, pulling out his care keys. The other two nodded, knowing that there wasn't anything they could have done to prevent it. With that their guest was out the door, turning the ignition of his dad's old 1988 Toyota Camry. The engined roared loudly, sounding exactly like the rusted piece of junk that it was. Karkat squeezed the steering wheel tightly, his level of stress was already high enough. He really wished he had the money to take a day off right about now.
Karkat ended up spending much of his shift cleaning up an isle reserved for sodas and other junk food on account of a couple of unsupervised kids experimenting the affects of coke and mentos a couple of times. This required everything, and he meant everything, to be scrubbed down. There was one good thing to come out of that though, he didn't have to spend time around other people and was left to think to himself. Some alone time was just what he needed, no one bothering him so he could silently get things in order. That usually back fired though, as he was always hard on himself, and he ended up feeling worse than before.
"You've cleaned that spot three times in a row now." Karkat's shoulders tensed and shot upwards, his spine straightened and his eyes widened. In other words, he almost quite literally jumped out of his skin.
He shot a dirty look at Dave who was free of his tacky employee vest, he was now stylishly dressed in a red hoodie and leather jacket. It was early fall sure but the temperature wasn't that cold, or at least it wasn't to residents of the north. Karkat made a note to tease him about that later.
"Don't sneak up on me like that." Karkat was scowling, he decided that the scowl wasn't just aimed at Dave but at everyone else on this planet as well. He glanced at the clock, it was a half past ten and everyone was either closing up or checking out. His shoulders relaxed and Karkat was back to his typical bad posture. He really wasn't in the mood to bicker with Dave right now, his headache was bad enough and all he wanted to do at this point was curl up in bed after taking a handful of painkillers.
"Why are you still here anyways? It's Wednesday." He stated, knowing that Dave had the next two days off and it was customary that workers hadn't need to help close up on their last work day. Karkat starting putting the cleaning supplies he was using on the giant, obnoxious, yellow cleaning cart. The blonde passed him one of the 'Caution: Wet Floor' signs he set up, and Karkat gave him a suspicious look before taking it.
"I lost a wager to that guy in the wheelchair. I bet him that he couldn't convince Terezi to act like a regular person towards the customers for five minutes and if he could I'd stay after for him." He paused for a moment, looking embarrassed. "I lost."
Karkat decided that staring at him was the best and only way to express how stupid he thought Dave was. "Tavros? He is the assistant manager, you knew that right?"
Dave threw his arms in the air, his lips pulling into a small frown. "I know that now!" His arms crossed. "Turns out they're good buddies too, I totally screwed myself over." Karkat wanted to laugh at him, but his face remained stone-like, his body feeling heavy. He probably wouldn't feel better until he saw Sollux bounce back emotionally, then he could go back to worrying about more simpler things.
So instead he only shook his head, pushing the cart towards the supply closet. Dave followed, but the two of them were silent as Karkat put away the equipment. When he closed the door behind him, Dave was still there. It was his turn to cross his arms, he knew there was something suspicious going on here.
"Okay, what do you want?" Dave didn't answer at first, and Karkat imagined that he was looking around behind those shades, maybe reevaluating his reasons for pestering him. He started mumbling something Karkat couldn't make out, and he frowned out of the irritation the whole situation was giving him.
"What? Can you repeat that?" He growled, his expression cross.
"I said; can you give me a ride?" Dave repeated, a bit louder. His shoulders were slumped, and from what Karkat could read with those sunglasses on his face, Dave appeared to be humiliated. Karkat had to admit, just that seemed to make his day a bit better.
"Why should I?" There wasn't any betraying his enjoyment, he was going to milk this for all it's worth.
"Because if you don't I'll have to wait like, an hour before the bus comes." Karkat titled his head slightly, as if he was deep in thought. "Hey! Come on, I live off of Holiday road, it's not even that far."
They stood like that for a moment before Karkat finally nodded, turning to walk towards the exit. "Alright, but don't think this is going to be a normal thing. " Dave responded, not with a thanks or a promise, but with an 'Steller'.