Chapter Text
Karkat slipped out onto the dark street, his hood pulled down over his messy hair. He was 500 bucks richer, but every step was an aching stab to his muscles. He should have charged more for how rough that man had been. He felt his muscles pulling over his hips and back, knowing they would be bruised to say the least. The small wounds from teeth littered his skin and left an annoying burning bruise when he moved wrong. He sighed as he hobbled down the street, more than a little eager to put as much distance as possible between himself and that apartment. He needed to go to a bus stop. Then he could rent a hotel room and clean up.
Kankri waited impatiently at the bus stop, a foot tapping against the grimy sidewalk. He was not sitting on the bench. Just the thought of sitting on that poor excuse for a seat made his nose wrinkle with disgust. His posture was aloof and pulled into himself, arms folded tightly against his chest. He sniffed and looked around for the bus. No sign. Not that the bus was anything to look forward to. He hated it. Hated that he was off on his own for the first time, hated that he had to take the bus to and from campus because his car had broken down, hated... He'd have to think of another reason why his life was so unreasonable. He had important work to do and this certainly weren't the conditions to do it in.
Karkat shuffled up to the bus stop with a feeling of relief and looked at the bench for a moment. The thought of sitting right then made his stomach clench and he chose to just stood quietly. He glanced through his dark bangs at the other man, trying not to be annoyed. of course, the one other person at the bus stop had to be one of the annoying fidgety people. He'd say something in his normal hateful growl but his voice was hoarse, his jaw aching from the gag that had been forced into his mouth. He leaned against the paneling of the stop shelter for a moment, his tired eyes half closed. He couldn't wait to be somewhere peaceful.
Kankri glanced over at the new person, the kind of glance where you don't really pay attention to the other when you look. After a couple seconds of his brain processing the short picture he had seen, his head turned back for another look. He tried to be surreptitious about it, casually looking the, probably younger, male up and down. There was something... off. Was that the right word? There was something off about him. The hood was pulled up a little too far for him to get a good look though. He looked away quickly, thinking the other had probably not even noticed his quick scrutiny. He looked around for the bus again, no sign, and checked his watch with an impatient huff. His foot continued to assault the pavement below.
Karkat noted that he was being looked at. It was subtle but the... jobs he had to resort to had taught him fast who was looking and who wasn’t. But the man's gaze darted away again. Yet still his foot tapped.
"Hey..." he tried to keep from pushing his voice, barely managing to stay in range of hearing. "Could you stop that...? I've had a rough nigh-" His voice broke and he started coughing hard, cringing as his body tensed and he felt every bruise throughout.
Kankri jumped a little when the other started talking unexpectedly, even if his voice was low. He watched as the other lapsed into a coughing fit, unsure what to do. He took a step towards him, though not enough to be anywhere near the other. Yes, this was definitely out of his comfort zone. He talked at- to people; he didn't touch them or whatever one was supposed to do when a stranger starting hacking their lungs out. Perhaps the boy was a smoker? An eyebrow rose at the idea. Perhaps this would give him a chance to steer the boy away from the dangers of polluting one's body with toxins. He stayed his awkward closer-but-not-really-all-that-close distance to the stranger.
"Are you all right?" Kankri asked.
Karkat nodded slowly and took a few deep breaths, coughing a little more as he righted himself. Each inhale was slightly labored and his lungs burned, ribs ached but coughing was making it worse and he needed to stop that shit. Counterproductive to say the least.
"I'll...“ another cough broke free of his throat, “I'll be fine," He tried not to snap at the stranger as he pushed his hair away from his eyes, careful to keep his hood drawn. It wouldn't help him to offend someone at this particular moment. Especially with his ability to insult every aspect was rather limited. It didn't help that there was a neat set of finger marks at the base of his neck he would rather no one saw.
The eyebrow rose again. "You certainly don't seem like you are going to 'be fine,'" Kankri said, but took a step backward anyways. He looked at the other male again, carefully. There seemed to be something going on under the hood; he had caught a glimpse of something as the other had finished his coughing fit. He was not quite sure what it was, though. However, there was a more pressing issue to be dealt with. He paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. "Excuse me," he said, breaking the short silence that had fallen, "but are you a smoker?"
Karkat paused and stared at the other, eyes slightly narrowed in something akin to confusion and disbelief put together in a sandwich of annoyance. Did he seriously just ask if he was a smoker? What the hell did that have to do with a fucking thing? "No. I don’t. I can't loan you any money to get any, either," he growled, every word feeling like sandpaper in his throat. He assuming the other was trying to mooch one off of him. He straightened up the best he could and settled back against the Plexiglas wall of the bus stop.
Kankri's dark brown eyes widened with shock. It hadn't even occurred to him the other would think that /he/ was a smoker. "No, no, I'm not a smoker. Certainly not," he said, his hands waving off such a ridiculous notion, "I was just wondering if you were. The cough, you see. Normally those who have stumbled onto such a dangerous habit have lung problems." He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his curly hair. He lapsed into silence, not really sure what to say next. He wondered what could have caused such a fit, and such seeming pain, if it wasn't the fact that the other male was some kind of marathon chain smoker.
Karkat rolled his eyes, wishing the bus would come. "Wow. Your first assumption is that I smoke. Do I look like that kind of fucking kid to you?" he asked, regretting every word but refusing to back down. He was already in too deep. But he knew he did. He looked like some sort of street urchin that dealt pot on the corner or begged for change. He wasn’t the cleanest right now and his clothes were full of holes. What else was the other guy supposed to think, giving his current looks.
Kankri bit his bottom lip for a moment, troubled by the other's statement. However he caught himself doing it and quickly stopped. That was a bad habit of his, one that, he thought, made him look ridiculous. However, it was obvious he had triggered the boy. It could happen even to the most careful of speakers and, unfortunately, when it did happen one had to admit one's fault. Even if the person one triggered had a foul mouth on them.
"I apologize. It seems I have triggered you. I did not mean to imply that you look like the kind of person who would be involved with such activities. I merely meant to help you if you did have such a problem. I will, in the future, try to be more sensitive when asking about such volatile subjects." He mentally filed the fact that asking a rough-looking kid if they smoked was triggering, no matter how much like a smoker they looked, and went back to talking, "Of course, when one comes to the subject of physical health one cannot be too careful. As you know, our bodies are precious things that must be looked after. Of course, when one of us is not able to fulfill that duty others must be vigilant and try to lend an encouraging hand to our fellow human beings." He took a breath, having fallen into a rant. His eyes had closed and his mouth had started to run away with him. This was why he did not have many (any) friends. He could probably go on like this for hours unless someone stopped him.
Karkat stared at the other as he ranted about health, bodies, and 'triggering'? He sighed in exasperation, praying to whoever was out there to send the goddamn bus already. "Shut the fuck up," he muttered. "I don’t need a fucking lecture from some weird stranger at a bus stop." He glared at the other, a truck passing by at an obviously illegal speed and blowing a gust of wind over them. A cool nights air became frigged on his skin, Karkat feeling his hood falling, but he was slowed by his aching ribs as the cloth fell and exposed his neck and face.
Kankri's mouth snapped shut as the stranger told him to shut up. He felt a flush rise to his face, fuming. /Kankri/ shut up? /Kankri/ is the weird stranger on the bus? He was, miraculously, silenced by his anger. He was certainly triggered by the other. He was about to launch into another bout of (much more angry) ranting when the truck passed. His eyes narrowed in disapproval as is sped by. 'Some people,' he thought, turning back to shout at the other male. All thought stopped when he saw what was under the hood.
"I- /you/..." he stuttered, gaping like a fish. The guy was a mess. Finger marks adorned the base of the neck, just barely visible from under the hood, and his face had some drastic bruising on it. Kankri had never seen anything like it. "What happened?" he managed to ask, taking an involuntary step forward.
Karkat winced as he tried to put his hood back up, fingers fumbling slightly for the cloth. The other had already seen him and it knew he looked like shit. "I had a rough night." He growled, his eyes on the ground. "It doesn’t matter. You’ll forget you ever saw me in a few days," he said under his breath. Everyone forgot they saw him the moment they looked away. He was a nobody street kid selling his body. He wasn’t worth a single fucking thing in this world aside from a hard fuck, and he knew it. It had been a fact for far too long.
Kankri had exactly zero ideas on how to deal with this situation. However, that certainly was not going to stop him from sticking his nose in where it didn't belong and trying to deal with the situation.
"It seems like rough may be an understatement." He thought for a moment as the other pulled on his hood. He was shocked to think that that boy would think he could just /forget/ about something like this. It was violence like this that he was trying to eliminate with his social movement projects. His eyes furrowed for a moment. No, he could not just let this poor wayward soul vanish into the cold, dark night. Now it was just a mater of what to do...
An idea came to him and, though it was against his better judgment, he knew what he was CALLED to do.
"You're coming home with me!" Kankri said suddenly and vigorously, with a self assured nod to his head.
Karkat's eyes narrowed as he gave him a look. "No. No, I’m not. I've had my fucking fill for tonight. I’m going to go rent a fucking hotel room and pretend I have a fucking home for a night," he tried to growl, ignoring the harsh hoarse sound of his words and turned, moving to hobble to a different bus terminal when the bus finally (and slowly) pulled up to the station.
"No, no, no. I'm afraid I have to persist with this offer," Kankri said, moving so that he was slightly between the stranger and the bus. "Just wait one moment, please," he called to the bus driver over his shoulder. "I'll give you an extra tip if you'll just give us a second." The bus driver grumbled but seemed to agree to stay put for the moment.
Kankri turned his focus back on Karkat, "I just can't have you wandering out in the street in the condition you're in." He figured that the other's hesitancy was from the fact that a stranger was offering him a place for the night. "Now, obviously this is rather odd; me, a stranger, insisting that you come over to my residence. However, I assure you I hold no ill intentions for you, and you will be quite safe with me. Not to mention that, by your "hotel" statement, I think I have assumed correctly that you have no proper lodgings of your own. What could it hurt?"
"Me, obviously." Karkat pushed past the other and got onto the bus, paying his fare before gingerly setting himself down in a chair, unable to contain the flinch. Strangers offering him to stay over? Like that didn’t scream serial rapist/murderer out of a foghorn. Or even worse, a client. He leaned his head back waiting for the bus to move.
Kankri followed the stranger onto the bus, rubbing his shoulder where the other had shoulder checked him. He paused at the bus driver, shelling out his fare and the extra money he had promised. Now locked onto his goal, he made his way down the isle and took the seat across from his stranger. The boy was going to accept his help if he had anything to say about it. Kankri could be a stubborn bastard if he put his mind to it, and at the moment he had put his mind to helping the hooded stranger (even though his help could be considered misinformed and slightly incompetent).
"Look. I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. Let's try this again. I'm Kankri." He held out his hand for the other to shake.
"I'm more than you can afford," Karkat's gaze raked over Kankri slowly, "college boy." He shifted in his seat slowly, the amusement obvious in his voice. "I told you I was done for the night. Maybe if you run into me next week." He shrugged, which made him wince. He knew he was being a jerk, but this guy seemed determined that he go back to his place and his ass was too sore and the bruises were far from faded.
Unless he had a thing for that. And even then, Karkat didn’t.
Kankri took a moment to study the stranger, for the third time. "I honestly don't think you're going to make me go broke." It was practically scoffing. Of course, Kankri would never talk to someone like that.
Honestly, how much would housing a stranger for a night be? Maybe the cost of some eggs and a cup of coffee in the morning, tops. Unless the stranger thought Kankri was offering for a more permanent roommate thing, in which case he certainly wasn't. Not like he’d just ask some stranger to be a freeloading roomie. So that could be it.
"In any case, I'm not asking for much. One night, really. I think I night at my place could even give you some time to recuperate from your... erm... condition." He felt awkward talking about the bruises at the moment when others seemed to be listening, so he tried to throw in some humor, "I don't play rough if that's what your concerned about." He smiled, trying to lighten the mood.
Karkat gave the other a look that said are you fucking serious. Part duex. Maybe the other was from a wealthy family or something. He knew his rates were a little high, but it meant he could do it less often with general regulars.
"One night?" he asked, watching Kankri's reaction. "$300 without the rough stuff. Any roughness and I go up to $500 automatically. " He closed his eyes, waiting for the other to call him fucking expensive and to just be left the hell alone.
Kankri raised an eyebrow. He wasn't quite following what the boy was saying, but at least it wasn't an outright "no" anymore.
"Uhm... I suppose? If you really think this little excursion will cost me $300," he said, his voice taking on a slightly disbelieving tone. Naturally, there was no way the little guy in front of him would cost him $300, even if Kankri gave him both dinner, breakfast and some basic first aid for those injuries. However, he realized, it was probably a defense mechanism to push people away. Or perhaps a breakfast and a bed for the night would be like $300 dollars for a poor kid like him.
Yes, that was probably it. He became serious again, "And naturally if you come to any harm from me, you will be recompensed." This he understood. Naturally just going over to someone's home would be risky at best. It was always good to be prepared. "Now, how about that name?"
Karkat sighed when the other agreed to his terms. He was really hoping he'd back down. "Karkat." He glanced at Kankri for a moment, the bus shaking a little bit, his hood still up. "Anything else you wanna know?" he asked softly. This strange guy was a client now. He needed to behave at least a little better.
Kankri beamed, glad that they were on the same page now. "Great!" He thought for a moment about other important information he would need to know about his new guest. "Well, I suppose I should know how old you are." He let out a small laugh. "It's hard to tell just by looking, you know." He was on the edge of his seat, partly to hear Karkat's response over the bus's noisy engine, partly because the bus seat was disgusting and he honestly didn't want any unnecessary contact with it.
Karkat sighed. "I’m 17." More often than not he got creepers who wanted him to call them daddy or some sick shit like that. As if they wanted to play house with him before they fucked him and tossed him back onto the streets. It was his least favorite game. He knew he was small for his age, never quiet getting much taller once he had hit the streets. "Are we almost there?" In truth, he wasn’t eager for sex, but he wanted a shower. Soft play meant he would get to clean up first.
Kankri nodded, his brows furrowing in concern. Whoever had beaten him up like this was sick. Teenage fights were horrid, violent things (so he had heard, he had never actually witnessed said fights). Or even worse, an adult in his life could have done this to him. "Actually, my apartment is at this next stop," he said, getting prepared to leave. He never liked riding the bus for long and generally walked at least part way. Honestly, it could have come sooner. The air was getting suffocating in this nasty metal tin. The bus pulled to a stop and he stood.
"This is us. Let's get going."
Karkat had to literally pull himself to his feet, eyes closing in pain as he started moving again, his muscles having relaxed slightly from sitting. "I'm right behind you," he muttered, hobbling after him. He curled his fingers around the strap of the backpack hanging on his shoulder as he moved down the bus stairs to follow Kankri, refusing to audibly admit how uncomfortable stairs were.
Kankri wasn't quite sure what to say about Karkat's obvious agitation. Honestly, he wasn't quite sure about what to do with Karkat, period. Randomly inviting bruised up strangers into his apartment was not a thing he normally did. He definitely didn't do touchy-feely "are you okay?" comforting too well. He just decided to leave it as they made their way to his apartment. "Fortunately for us," he said helpfully to his young companion, "this apartment complex is rather large, with 100 rooms on each floor. So I managed to get a room on the ground floor. Well, I had to make a call but regardless, no stairs to worry about" He walked over to apartment number 69 and fished out a key. "Here we are." He opened the door and gestured for Karkat to head on in.
Karkat stepped inside, staying quiet. "I need to clean up before we start. Can I use your shower?" he asked as he looked around it with curiosity. So this was a college boy’s room... interesting. There was barely anything in here. It looked like some sort of fashionista put it together and Kankri had just moved in. There was no way the kid in the red sweater had this sort of style.
Kankri followed him in. His apartment was clean and organized, just like he liked it. Furniture was sparse as he was trying out a "living in frugality" lifestyle. Well, mostly. His mother had insisted on adding a few touches. It was... interesting to say the least. There were three rooms to his small apartment. From the door, there was a main room that was part sitting room, part kitchen. In the sitting room was a sofa, where he was planning on letting Karkat sleep. There was also his bedroom, where his desk and computer were, and off his bedroom was a bathroom. A small Sun room was sectioned off on the east facing wall.
"Start...?" Kankri vaguely asked, trying to remember if he had made in definite plan of action with Karkat, "Um... okay? Anyway, of course you'll want to get cleaned up. The bathroom is in there, through the bedroom. Clean towels are already on the rack. Just use one of them."
He waved off the explanation, not particularly caring as slipping into the overly tidy bathroom and carefully shed his clothes. It wasn't his first time he had dealt with strange new bathrooms. It only took a moment for him to figure out the shower, letting it warm. This guy must have some weird 'rescue the street kid' fetish to want him that badly after his rough night. He sighed, glancing in the mirror. There were bruises on his back, ribs, neck, ass, and thighs. Bite marks littered his chest, hips and collarbone. He flipped on the water and climbed in, erasing as much of the damage as water could.
Kankri locked the front door behind him and went into the bedroom. He opened his closet and grabbed the spare set of bed sheets. Might as well get the sofa set up as soon as possible. Kankri wouldn't be surprised if Karkat wanted to start sleeping right away after his shower. After he had set up Karkat's makeshift bed, Kankri went to check his computer. He sat down at the desk, his back facing towards the bathroom, and turned on his laptop. He ran various social justice blogs (one of them was quite popular, it had almost 30 followers!) and even wrote a small column in the college's newspaper. It was his great work to create a social movement in the world. He always liked to update them after each day. Since he had a guest, he wasn't planning on doing anything major. However, he noticed that a person had been critiquing his views on the state of social welfare in their city and became focused on writing a rebuttal to it. As he typed he became oblivious to most everything else but the computer screen.
Karkat stepped out of the shower and glanced at his clothes as he dried himself. Opting out of his shirt, which had a rather obvious stain, he just pulled on jeans leaving them unbuttoned and most of the bruises showing. He assumed Kankri would like it like that, since he seemed so like 'oh poor homeless child all bruised der der der'. Even in his head, mocking him was sarcastic. Sarcasm was in his nature. And his natural defense against idiots. He stepped out into the bedroom, glancing at Kankri at his computer, feeling a hint of awkwardness. Normally, his clients were ready and waiting on him. Not... ignoring him for a computer. "I'm ready." he called out. Now that he was clean, he could do a small soft job, then sleep till he was tossed out again.
Kankri didn't look up from the computer. "Hmm? Oh you're done. Just, make yourself comfortable. I think I may have some soda in the kitchen if you are interested. I don't really drink it myself, but an acquaintance of mine from college always leaves things like that in my fridge. I'm just working on this reply really quickly. Honestly, some people are so misinformed." He lapsed into a series of mumbles about the hideously low intellect of some people these days. "It's absolutely ridiculous."
Karkat's eyebrow quirked up. This guy was weird. But he never passed up free snacks. He ducked out of the room, popping open the fridge. He glanced at the soda and taking a can to sip at as he moved back into the bedroom, crawling onto the bed to wait. No way in hell was he gonna stand around. His knees were roughed up and the rest of him still ached as much as the rest of him. He needed to get settled to get this over with Kankri seemed to be blogging. Which reminded him of diaries that the whole Internet could see. A stupid as fuck concept.
Kankri had been mostly oblivious to Karkat as the other went and got himself something to drink. The creak of his bedsprings, however, caught his attention. He turned in his chair to look at Karkat. His eyes widened and a slight flush crossed his face as he saw the position Karkat was in. He coughed awkwardly and stood, heading for his closet. "I suppose it should have occurred to me that your shirt was filthy. Here," he took one of his own neatly pressed shirts from a small stack and held it out to Karkat, averting his eyes slightly as to not stare at the other's bare chest, "This should be sufficient to, ahem, cover you. That is, until we can get your shirt cleaned."
“Cover me?" Now this confused Karkat. "I don't do this in my clothes. That’s just another mess I can't easily clean up." He frowned and sat up, looking at the shirt and then up at Kankri. "What kinda weirdo pervert are you?" he demanded. He had been humoring him up til now, money bought a lot of patience but that was the final straw. "You better not have been yanking my chain just to get me here. I shoulda fucking demanded the payment up front."
Kankri was now completely confused, offended, and irritated all at once. He offered a place to stay for the night, for free, mind you, let him get a shower, and was offering him his own shirt, and the younger male goes off on him? "What? I am not any kind of pervert, thank you very much. And, honestly, I will have to insist that as long as you're staying in my apartment you'll have to cover yourself. I do understand that I invited you over here, insisted in fact, however this does not mean you can simply let yourself run around so... nakedly. We barely know each other and it is highly triggering! And what exactly is this about payment? I don't think I have to pay you for staying letting you spend the night." He put his hands on his hips, as if demanding an explanation. He was the picture of prissy exasperation.
Karkat stared blankly at Kankri as the realization dawned on him. The other hadn't realized he had bargained with a whore. Fuck.
"Oh gods, you're oblivious," he muttered, sliding off the bed and ducking into the bathroom to gather up his clothes. His ribs slowed him down, hips and thighs screaming in agony. He couldn't stay here. The other was probably some sort of virgin and he was polluting his home with his filth. "Sorry. I'll go. You... You need to be more careful about what you say to people."
Kankri was once again mystified by Karkat's sudden mood flip. "Okay, hold on just a moment," he blustered, following Karkat quickly. "What exactly have I said to initiate this retreat? As far as I'm aware I have said nothing this triggering. What is going on?" He grabbed Karkat's arm, forgetting for a moment that any touching would probably cause Karkat great pain.
Karkat hissed in pain as the other grabbed a banded bruise on his arm. He didn't look back his gaze on the door. "I told you you couldn't afford me. I was telling you I sell myself." His voice was quiet, his drink having taken some of the harshness from his throat. "You said you could. And I would be compensated if you hurt me. You made a spoken agreement with a whore. Now, let me leave." It was hard to say. Hard to actually call himself a whore. He knew it was what he was. But saying it aloud? It made him feel disgusted at himself. This is what he had been reduced to.
After Karkat laid the facts out for him to see, Kankri's mind finally put together what exactly was going on. He took in the kinds of marks that were on Karkat's body. "Oh... /oh/... I..." His face filled up in a red flush, and his hand that had been grabbing Karkat's arm dropped to his side, "Oh my god..."
He, Kankri, had just bought himself a whore off the street and then took him home.