To his despair, Dave wasn't online. Sollux did end up sending him a guide to who's who in their online friend group, and Karkat felt more than a little pathetic for needing it. But hey, Karkat had established himself as a huge fucking asshole, so at least he was living up to that title.

Karkat did eventually go to bed, but only slept for two hours. When he woke up, he took stock. There were four packs of water bottles and two boxes of soda. There was some fruits, vegetables, and meats, but the majority of the food was canned and well preserved. Aside from the clothes he brought, there were a few more shirts, pants, socks, and pairs of underwear in the closet. The tv was stocked with ten different movies, all of which was a romcom. He was going to get out of this place hating romcoms, he swore (not really). There were also a few books, mostly the few he read in school that were decent. There was also a gamehusk beside his bed. Even if it was an old console, and most of the games were horribly cheesy, it was something.

Other than Karkat's sickle, which was kept safely beside his bed, he found a shotgun in his closet and a baseball bat in the living room. Good to know he was prepared for someone to show up.

Eridan and Gamzee had contacted him throughout the day, which was comforting if annoying. God, those fuckers. Eridan was disgustingly annoying, and managed to flirt with Karkat twenty times before Karkat left the conversation. Gamzee was high off his ass, and might've passed out somewhere during that conversation. Karkat pitied him a little bit. Then, after a day of dicking around, Dave was online.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling turntechGodhead [TG]!

CG: HEY ASSHOLE.

TG: hey not dead asshole

CG: WHO'S LIL' CAL?

TG: friend of my bros

TG: sometimes hell crash over at our apartment

TG: why

CG: I GOT A FUCKING LEAD.

CG: CALLIOPE PULLED THROUGH. LORD ENGLISH WAS HIRED BY A THIRD PARTY. A THIRD PARTY WHO GOES BY THE NAME LIL' CAL.

TG: oh wow

TG: sorry my brothers friend mightve been behind your dads death

TG: he is an asshole though

CG: CAN YOU TRY TO FIND OUT IF HE'S THAT THIRD PARTY?

TG: well heres the thing karkat

TG: hes not really a big guy or anything but hes fucking tough and scary and could probably kill me without a second thought so id rather not get involved

CG: STRIDER, IT'S MY DEAD DAD!

TG: hey man i know dead parents suck and i wish i could do more to help because youre one of my best friends

TG: but id rather keep this as you having a dead father than a dead father, a dead friend, and some lunatic who is more than capable of tracking you down and killing you

Fuck him and his reasonable concern.

CG: FUCKING FINE THEN.

CG: CAN I TALK TO YOUR BROTHER?

TG: yeah

TG: and dont think i cant see what youre doing now

TG: ill send you dirks pesterchum but you wont get bros

TG: i dont think hell take kindly to you accusing his closest friend of murder

TG: its timaeustestified

CG: THANKS. I'LL TELL YOU HOW IT GOES.

TG: or i could just ask my brother who is literally in the room right next to me and spare you the trouble

CG: FUCK OF DICKASS.

TG: dickass

TG: thats creative

TG: is my ass made of dicks or are multiple dicks being rammed into my ass

TG: what is the insult here i must know

CG: THE INSULT IS IF I COULD SEE YOUR STUPID FACE I'M SURE IT WOULD LOOK LIKE A COMBINATION OF DISEASED DICKS AND ASSES.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling turntechGodhead [TG]!

Fuck him and his uncanny ability to piss Karkat off, despite years of trying to calm down.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling timaeusTestified [TT]!

CG: ARE YOU DIRK?

TT: You must be Karkat.

TT: Dave already gave me the cliffnotes of what you need me to do.

CG: GOOD. WILL YOU BE ABLE TO HELP ME?

TT: I believe so, but we need to talk about this first. I know you're in hiding because of your informant with The Felt. You rushed in headfirst and didn't think that you were messing with a powerful gang.

TT: Right now, you have the benefit of needing information from an independent party, who doesn't have hundreds of foot soldiers ready to kill you.

TT: Keep this in mind, though. Lil' Cal has associated with nearly every gang in this city more than once. He gets paid not only in money, but in loyalty. Basically, he's untouchable.

TT: I'm not going to ask him whether or not he killed your dad. Once the words leave my mouth, he'll know the connection and find a way to send thugs to kill you.

TT: Give me a couple of days to do some snooping. Don't bring this up with Dave, because he's stupidly noble, and might try to help me. He's not sneaky enough, he might get caught.

CG: YOU SEEM AWFULLY FUCKING SURE OF YOURSELF.

TT: Of course I am. I was basically raised by Lil' Cal because I'm close to my older brother's age. He was a better parent to Dave than he was to me.

TT: I know how to spy. I'll get back to you soon enough. Until then, I have a suggestion.

CG: WHICH IS?

TT: Get all of your friends on board. I know you might be worried about The Felt finding a connection, but follow a basic set of rules. Tell them not to make any moves.

TT: I don't think you know that the death of your father meant something much more important than the loss of a parent. He was trying to bring about serious political and social reform to the city, and had plans to bring the rest of Skaia to do the same.

TT: It wasn't a murder, it was an assassination.

CG: BY THE PROTECTORS OF ALTERNIA.

CG: FUCK, HE WAS RIGHT.

TT: Who was right?

CG: I'VE GOTTA LEAVE RIGHT NOW. I NEED TO WRITE THIS SHIT DOWN.

TT: Karkat what happened?

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling timaeusTestified [TT]!

Karkat rushed through the cupboards in the apartment, searching for a pen and some paper. He had to make sense of his thoughts.