Chapter Text
Three Months.
It had been three months already. Three months since six young trolls came out of a ship that had been traveling for three years. Three months since they had buried the 18 that didn’t live the trip. Three months since they began to find a way to disguise themself. Three months since they began to learn the foreign language of the place they landed on. Three months since the Jadeblood of the group had made everyone fake IDs.
Three months since Karkat felt free for a few seconds.
Now here he was, a, according to the human IDs, “16-year-old” troll in an abandoned warehouse, on a shared husktop as all his friends slept on the floor around him.
Karkat sighed, scrolling through the human job website. He hovered the cursor over the ‘Hand Down Item Shop.’ According to the website, it was usually called a Thrift Shop, but that didn’t make much sense to Karkat. The human language was weird. And this ‘English’ one wasn’t even their only one! Weird.
Just then, Karkat looked up from the husktop, watching Terezi stir awake. Her face paint was smudged, grey poking through.
“Karkat?” She said in English, her accent strong. “What… do you, uhm.” She struggled, before shrugging and beginning to speak Alternian, "WH4T 4R3 YOU DO1NG?”
“Human work search,” Karkat replied. He still needed English practice, but according to Aradia, he was doing well. That was what mattered.
“Why?” Terezi responded.
“Money is needed for humans to live.”
“Idiotic. Many humans can’t even achieve money well! How does this society thrive?” She stretched, grabbed her glasses, and sat next to Karkat.
Karkat shrugged before clicking the apply button on the screen. He copied the application file and put it through the Alternian translation, reading the questions side by side as he typed them in. “Kanaya achieved a job at a book home shop.” He began, attempting to make conversation. It helped with adjusting to English (as well as volume control.)
“Wow. Fitting.”
“Very.”
Karkat stopped scrolling for a bit, squinting at one of the questions. “ WHAT THE FUCK DOES…” He began yelling in Alternian. Karkat squinted at the unknown word, attempting to sound out each letter. “Reh-feahr-ehnkes?” He looked over to Terezi, who simply shrugged. “ WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? AND WHY IS IT SPELT LIKE THAT?”
“ K4RKL3S, 1 H4V3 NO 1D34. 1M 4S F4R 1N MY 3NGL1SH STUD13S 4S YOU.”
Karkat sighed, copying the word and pasting it into the search bar.
And of course, the word had multiple meanings. Just ‘gr8.’
Karkat looked at the time on the husktop. It was already 7 AM, which meant his friends would all be awake soon. No wonder Terezi had awoken. It was an important day today, as well.
The thirteenth day of the April month. Today was the day the trolls had decided to go out into a more public place. Kanaya would lead, being the most fluent in English, as all the trolls went to buy necessities. Aradia had also heard of something called a “Job Fair” in the area, which may help them all get cash. That was the goal. They couldn’t stay in this warehouse furrever, after all. Sollux was literately the battery powering the whole thing. Obviously, nobody wanted to lose him again, so they had to find a way to live better.
And quickly.