If there was one place where you were sure to find Karkat during a free period that wasn't the dorms, it was probably the library. And that's where John was after seeing the exchange between him and the upperclassman over the journals.

And that's where John was, searching between the bookshelves for the other boy, until he finally heard a familiar angry voice not too far away. Sure enough, there he was, reading one of his romance novels.

John approached him. "Hey Karkat." His tone wasn't much different from usual, if a little more careful, but perhaps the most noticeable difference was the effort to pronounce Karkat's name properly, instead of just saying 'car cat' like he usually did.