"What the fuck is that?!" Karkat asked in his usual half-yell to his human friend, John Egbert.

"What do you mean what is that?" John responded. He pointed to the antique piano in the corner of the room they were forced to share and cocked an eyebrow. Karkat nodded.

"You seriously have never seen a piano before Kitkat?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me for not knowing about your strange humany things. 'Cause, you know, IM A FUCKING TROLL! And I thought I told you never to call me that!" all all blush crept across his face. He would never admit he secretly loved when John gave him little nicknames like that. Or that he had the biggest crush on the human. Not even to himself.

The human smirked and opened the key protector on the piano. He ran his fingers over the keys that were yellowed and chipped with age. Karkat curiously tried to sneak a peak, but acted uninterested.

"It was my dads," he finally said with a sad smile, and his right hand found the G chord-his favorite. Meanwhile, his left hand patted the space next to him on the bench, signaling Karkat to sit. He didn't even realize HE was sitting.

With closed eyes, happy memories of his dad on Earth filled his mind. But his fingers disobeyed and played a sorrowful melody full of minor chords. It was peaceful and almost welcoming in a way. His music was funny that way. A small tear took its time to slide down John's face as he played. It hung from his chin then silently splashed down onto the keys, only to be followed by several more. Ironically, he ended the piece with an A-major chord. A happy one.

Putting both arms up in a stretch, he noticed a slight pressure on his left shoulder. He turned to see Karkat fast asleep and leaning against him. A shallow sigh escaped, but the corners of his mouth turned up ever-so-slightly as he carried the troll to bed. 'He's way too old for this,' he thought as he plopped Vantas into his bed. 'But he's so cute when he's sleeping.'

Before making his way to his own room, John stopped in the doorway and looked back at Karkat curled up under the covers. 'There's no way he'd feel the same,' he thought as clogs turned off the light and closed the door. And for the third night in a row, cried himself to sleep.