Hot for Strider (Karkat/Bro)

Jeff decided it was best to drop the subject of his house. "Would you like to come home with us?"

Karkat hiccuped and nodded, gasping for air again. He gripped Bro's shirt tighter, sniffling and sobbing and just a big mess.

Dave needed to hurry his ass up and get out here. This was his friend after all. Jeff walked over to the passenger side of his car and placed Karkat inside. He made sure to buckle the smaller male's seat belt, before going back to the driver side. Dave had just come out and was putting everything in the trunk. In less than two minutes, they were pulling out of the parking lot and heading for the Strider's small apartment.

Karkat stayed in the passenger seat with his knees pressed to his chest and his forehead resting against him. He stopped sobbing at some point during the drive, so now he was only hiccupping softly and panting softly for air.

Jeff got Karkat out of the car and took him into their little apartment. Gently, he placed Karkat on his futon and covered him with a blanket. "Stay here. Tell one of us if you need anything. Dinner will be done in half an hour." The older Strider left to make dinner, while the younger was bringing in groceries.

Karkat laid on the futon, still curled in on himself, for the majority of the half hour. He pushed himself up when it was almost done, and the smell filled the apartment. he couldn't help but feel bad, bad that he had soaked the sheets on someone's bed, bad that they were feeding him, and bad that he had cried on Dave's older brother.

Dave was setting the counter as Jeff went to get Karkat. "Ah shit," he mumbled. Maybe he should have dried the kid off before putting him in the bed. Oh well, coulda woulda shoulda. The sheets could be dryed. Hopefully Karkat wasn't sick. "Time to eat little dude." Jeff was smiling as he picked up Karkat. He sat him down next to Dave at the counter. The older Strider went to stand at the other side of the counter.

Dinner was chicken nuggets and steak fries. Ketchup, mustard, and bbq sauce were on the counter, closer to Dave and Karkat. Jeff dumped a large amount of all three on his plate before he started to eat. Dave only got bbq sauce and ketchup.

Karkat didn't put any on his plate, instead picking at it and eating in silence. After a few minutes in silence, he spoke up. "I'm sorry" he mumbled. "I've been having a really shitty month. My mom died, and my dad's in jail, and to keep me out of the foster system, my dad appointed one of his best friends as my legal guardian, and I've been staying with him, but his kid, my friend, is really bipolar, and my uncle, the guy I've been staying with, went out of town on a business trip just before he started his manic episode. I took out the trash and he locked me out and that was two days ago." He sighed deeply before continuing. "I didn't have my phone, my wallet, or my keys and hobos stole my socks when I fell asleep sitting on a park bench."

Jeff only nodded as he continued to eat. Damn, that was some pretty shitty luck. No wonder the kid looked like crap. Dave snorted as he shoved a chicken nugget into his mouth. "Sollux is even more of a dick than you. I keep forgetting that." Jeff smacked him from across the table. "We don't say dick at the table shit head."

"I'm still not even sure how they did it. I mean, they didn't even take off my fucking shoes, just the socks" Karkat mumbled. He stared at his plate for a little bit longer before starting to eat again.

"Maybe faeries stole you socks," Dave commented. "I doubt a bunch of gays would want his socks," Jeff repiled blanky.

"That's not what I meant,".

"Don't get that shitty attitude at the table either."

"It's not even a table, it's a counter."

Jeff reached across and smacked Dave again. "Just shut up and eat your food." He looked at Karkat.

"So, what do you want to do? Think Two-Face has calmed down yet? Wanna call your house?"

Karkat shrugged. "He probably won't answer his phone. Or the house phone. I'd be better off just calling my uncle. And he isn't two faced. He's between medications."

Jeff held back his snarky comments. Now would not be a good time to make the kid even more upset. He'd been through enough already. He pulled out his phone and slid it across the counter. "Call him."

"What should I tell him?" Karkat asked, looking up at Jeff from under his damp bangs as he lifted the phone and flipped it open. "Just that Sollux locked me out?"

Jeff only shrugged before shoving another chicken nugget into his mouth. "Just tell him the truth."

Karkat nodded before carefully dialing the phone and holding it to his ear. It took a few minutes to get the man to shut up once he answered, but he explained the situation, told him that if sollux wouldn't let him in that he would probably end up seeing if he could stay where he was until the man got back.

When he was done, he handed to phone back to Jeff. "Thank you, sir" he mumbled.

Jeff was frowning as he took his phone back. "Kid, don't call me sir. You call old men like Rob Egderp sir. You call cool, ironic young guys like me dude."

"Bro, you're like 32." He yelped as he received a third smack to the back of his head. "Stop telling everyone all my secrets."

Karkat stared at his plate. "Would it be alright though? I mean, if I stay here until my uncle gets back? If sollux won't let me in of course."

"Can't exactly kick you out to live on the streets," Jeff was picking up his plate and heading for the sink. He rinsed off his plate and set it down. "That would make a cruel, heartless bastard. And that's totally uncool and unironic." He had walked back to the counter to grab Dave and Karkat's plates. He let his shades slip down a bit to wink at the latter. "Besides, why would I let such a little cutie just walk right out of my house."

Dave huffed under his breath. He had never told his bro about his crush on Karkat. He'd probably tease him about it until the end of time. He got up and grabbed Karkat's hand. He started pulling the smaller boy towards his room. "C'mon, you need to get into something that's dry."

Karkat blushed slightly, staring at Jeff before Dave pulled him out of sight into his room. He didn't fight Dave off, too flustered by his brother.

"Just ignore him," Dave huffed. "The man is nothing but walking bag of teenage hormones. Yes even at 32. He'll sleep with anything that breathes and walks on two legs. Possibly four legs too. I don't know for sure and don't want to find out."

He led Karkat to his bed and made him sit down. Then, he went over to his dresser and started looking around in it. "What size do you wear?"

Karkat looked to his knees in embarrassment. "29 waist, 29 leg." he mumbled. "Or just a small to make it simpler."

"Jeez, don't let him get to you." He pulled out a red shirt and put it on top of the dresser. He started to look through the drawer below the one he had just looked through. "Besides, when he finds out you're only 17 he'll stop." Dave pulled out a black pair of pajama pants. "Hopefully, he'll stop," he thought.

He took the two articles of clothing over to Karkat. "The smallest size I have for anything is medium. Better than nothing or wet clothes though."

"Yeah, I guess" Karkat mumbled. He stood up to accept the clothes from Dave. "Um, can I change in the bathroom?" he asked.

Dave shrugged and sat down on his bed. "Dude, change where ever you want. It's not like you have something I've never seen before."