When he was awake, it was easy enough to tune out the voices which haunted him. Sure, sometimes it was a struggle, shouting his own thoughts to make them heard over the din. It was when he slept that they really took their toll. How long had it been since he'd had a true, restful sleep? He couldn't remember. The voices had been particularly persistent as of late, and he'd been waking up at all hours of the night, in a cold sweat, jolting up in bed, before sinking solemnly back into his sheets.
His roommate had certainly noticed too, the blonde had become increasingly worried over the skinny hacker over the past week or so. Sollux's cheeks were gaunt, even more so than usual, and the dark circles under his eyes sagged with his mental burden. He shuffled out of his own room, and into their open living room/ kitchen.
"Hey, are you ok?" Strider asked from behind his signature shades, "You look like you've been dragged through hell by the four horsemen of the apocalypse." His voice was lacking the edge to his normal ironic tone, instead, it was noticeably laced with genuine concern.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine. I've jutht been trying to get thith code finished, they wanted it two dayth ago, I feel like an ath making them wait thith long." He lied through his teeth. Well, it was only partially a lie, the part about the programming job was true, but that was not what was bearing down on his mind like a copy of Colonel Sassacre's Daunting Text.
Dave's brow furrowed as he looked down at the half empty coffee mug in his hand. He'd heard stories of kids in Asia who stayed up on their computers for days on end until they just keeled over dead from exhaustion.
"Get more sleep man, I don't want to wake up one day to a corpse for a roommate," He grabbed a pack of poptarts, and flung it at the barely coherent brunette.
Surprisingly, he managed to catch the foiled pastries, and proceeded to flop down at the small table with mismatched chairs which served as their primary dining surface. Sollux opened the package and began eating the frosted rectangles. So they weren't toasted, they tasted just as good and it took less time. Honestly if not for the gestures like this from his roommate, He'd probably be in even worse shape. On some level, he acknowledged it, and felt bad that Dave had taken to looking after him when Sollux was just too out of it to take care of himself. Between bites he offered a reply.
"Yeah, thorry."
Pausing a moment, he looked up at the lean form of the DJ propped up against the counter. His blue and sepia eyes searching for a clue behind those damn sunglasses. Though, he's not sure why he even tried anymore, his eyes were blurry with fatigue, and even if Sollux was on top of his game, Dave Strider was pretty damn unreadable. The shades which enhanced his cool guy aura, had really begun to piss Sollux off. Like a wall between him and his roommate. He was left to wonder what prompted these acts of kindness. Was it really just a concern for his wellbeing? He'd convinced himself that was the case, or had tried really hard to convince himself of this. Sure, Strider had never mentioned having a girlfriend, and he'd never been one to be checking out the ladies, but Sollux was pretty sure ogling would fall squarely into the too obvious for one so cool as Dave Strider to be seen doing category.
"Tell you what," Dave said nonchalantly between sips of coffee, "why don't we play hooky today? Do some grocery shopping, maybe hit up the putt-putt course or laser tag or something."
"Why mithter thtrider, are you athking me out on a date?"
"Ha," Dave laughed and gulped down the rest of his coffee, "you couldn't afford this piece of hot vinyl scratching ass. You'd need to create a parallel universe where you had all the money. All of it."
Sollux chucked as he watched the blonde disappear into his room.
When his head finally hit the pillow, the brunette had no problem falling right to sleep. Strider had managed to keep him out of the apartment and away from the isolation of his monitor-glow-lit room all day. They had been to the grocery, went and played a round of putt-putt, met up with John and Karkat for a grueling battle of laser tag, then hooked up with Rose, Terezi, and Tavros for the latest romcom that Karkat just had to see.
The dreams came quickly, and with them the voices. Tonight the cacophony of sound was particularly alarming. Every little voice seemed to be reaching out to him. Some were crying, asking for help, others yelling in unmitigated anger and disappointment. Still others mocked and berated him. Maybe it was because he was more tired than usual. Maybe it was because he had let his guard down from such a stress relieving day. Whatever the reason, Sollux found himself feeling panicked and grief stricken. He screamed at the voices to go away. He screamed so hard, his voice cracked and tears spilled down his cheeks. Then a voice broke through them all.
"Sollux?"
The voice was thicker, richer than the others. It was full of substance where the others where whispers of wind. There also was a tone of alarm and concern that was startlingly absent from the others. And he was shaking. He fought his way to the voice. Fought with every fiber of his being, screaming out for it to wait, to come back and save him.
Sollux woke with a start and flung his arms securely around the first thing he came into contact with. It was strong, warm, soft, and gave a slight yelp when the brunette latched onto it with a death grip, tears of relief pouring from his dichromatic eyes. As the nightmare quickly evaporated and the reality of the waking world settled in, he suddenly realized his arms where locked around a very rigid Dave Strider.
Sollux threw himself off the blonde with a curse, "The fuck, man."
"Just what I was gonna say," Dave's tone was flat, almost as if he was deliberately sucking all the emotion out of his voice. For some reason this pissed Sollux off greatly.
"Well you're the one in my fucking room," the brunette huffed indignantly, flinging his sheets off of himself and sitting on the edge of his bed away from his roommate.
"Well excuse me princess for wondering why I was woken up at three in the god damn morning by my roommate fucking screaming his fool head off," Dave snorted.
Sollux's breath caught for a moment. Had he really been screaming out loud? He turned to look at Dave, to see if he could read his face. But no, the bastard had those fucking glasses on. Always with the fucking sunglasses, even at three in the fucking morning. Sollux's blood began to boil. He didn't know why he was suddenly so angry, why every little thing about Dave Strider seemed to be pissing him off in just the wrong way at that moment, but for some reason it was.
"Jutht a nightmare," the programmer scoffed, "Thankth for waking me up. I'll try not to dithturb your beauty thleep nextht time."
"Noted. Hostility and all," Dave jabbed back, "Ya know, you're really starting to sound like Karkat with all his anger issues. Not cool man."
"Fuck you," Sollux burst out.
"You wish."
"God damn it, what ith it with you and the fucking gay joketh?" Sollux was on a roll, taking all his sudden rage out on the nearest person who just happened to be the person who was making him inexplicably angry, "Look I'm thorry I woke you up, but I will not appologith for showing some shred of emotion. Not all of uth can hide behind shadeth. Some of uth fathe the world and what it throwth at uth. And thometimeth it throwth nightmareth. It happenth. Tho jutht go back to your own fucking room, thankth for the momentary conthern, now get the fuck out."
"Yeah, what a fucking way to say thank you," Dave rumbled back, his cool and collected voice crackling with a little anger of his own.
"I didn't athk for your help."
"Yeth you did," Dave mocked his lisp fueling Sollux's rage even more.
"Oh yeah, right," Sollux's pulse was racing, "like I would thay 'Dave, help me!'"
"You did."
"I'd rather…" Sollux stopped. Dave's words had been so suddenly soft that it caused the brunette to halt, all the rage draining from him instantly as he turned and took stock of the way Dave's head hung, his face tilted towards the ground, his shoulder's hunched over like they were suddenly under a very heavy weight, "I what?"
"You called my name," Was Dave's voice…choked?
"You said 'Dave, help me. Save me. Please.'" He continued, his voice barely a whisper, "You were screaming it over and over again, how could I not…"
Sollux moved closer as Dave's voice faltered. He reached for Dave's sunglasses, but the blonde turned his head just out of reach. Sollux huffed and repositioned himself so he was kneeling and just a little hunched over Dave and again reached for the maddening shades. This time Dave didn't fight him as the brunette slowly lifted the specs from his face. Deep Copper irises appeared, a touch moist, one tear escaping the corner of his left eye.
Something overtook the brunette, some primal urge spurred him on and before he could stop himself he was kissing Dave Strider, desperately pressing his lips into the blonde's. He would have pulled away, ashamed and confused at the sudden outburst if Dave's hand hadn't curled its way around the small of his back and pulled him into the DJ's lap, the blonde hungrily kissing back. Hands began exploring chests, backs, thighs, anything they could touch in a fever pitch of kissing and groping.
Suddenly Dave lifted himself and Sollux and deposited him onto his back, the blonde startling the brunette. They pulled apart panting. Sollux could feel Dave pressing his erection into his own rapidly hardening cock, the nylon of Dave's gym shorts and the cotton of Sollux's own boxers providing a delightfully maddening barrier between their bodies. Dave smiled wickedly and went back in for another round of snogging when Sollux stopped him.
"Wait, jutht, wait," Sollux was still panting.
"Why?" Dave's eyes seemed to glow almost scarlet as he devoured the brunette with them.
"I don't know," Sollux wrapped his arms around the blonde's neck and crushed their bodies and lips back together.
Don't think, just act. He told himself, his hips bucking up into Dave.
His fevered mind was racing, piecing it all together. Of course it would be Dave Strider, and why not? How blatantly obvious it seemed suddenly. Dave looked after him, even when it seemed more like pity there was always a hint of worry and care in his actions and words. And that's why he hated those fucking sunglasses. He could hear it in his voice, but the eyes were truly windows to the soul and Sollux wanted to know if Strider's words were only pity or if the hints of care and compassion were in fact real. How long had he wanted it to be real? How long had he wanted exactly what was happening right now?
Dave pulled away from the kiss and stripped off his shirt, nearly tearing it off his body then ran his hands under Sollux's a-frame, exposing the brunette's hot skin to the cooler air. Dave's mouth attacked Sollux's nipples causing the programmer to moan low and long, his hips bucking up involuntarily. Dave moved his mouth lower, sucking, kissing, licking every rib, every muscle, every curve of Sollux's body. When he got to his boxer's Dave wasted no time in removing them, releasing the skinnier boys pulsating dick, the wave of heat seeming to raise the temperature in the room.
This time it was Dave who stopped, turning his eyes up to Sollux who was panting in short, quick breaths, a puzzled look on his face.
"I'm not gay," Dave said it more like a question than a statement.
"Doeth it matter?" Sollux groaned, his hips bucking a little bit more.
"Not really," Dave smirked before engulfing Sollux's cock, swallowing the whole length into his mouth, letting the tip tickle the back of his throat.
"FUCK!" Sollux tried to sit up, the sudden sensation sending shockwaves through his body, but Dave's hands slammed him back onto the bed.
Swirling his tongue as he pulled back off of Sollux's cock, Dave smirked at the loud moan that escaped the brunette's lips. He got to the very tip, letting his tongue flick over the sensitive skin at the head and watching with amused satisfaction as Sollux's eyes rolled into the back of his head, before once more burying his face into the soft brown pubic hair that lay at the base of Sollux's shaft. He continued pumping furiously, bobbing his head, swirling his tongue, swiveling his hand so he hit every spot causing a long line of broken moans and nonsensical phrases to lap from the brunette's throat.
"," Sollux grabbed Dave's shoulder and dragged him off his dick, panting.
"What?" Dave groaned.
"Not yet," Sollux pulled Dave up and kissed him, "More."
"Oh, so you think you can handle this?" Dave thrust his nylon shorts covered cock up against Sollux's thigh eliciting a deep rumble of a moan in response as the brunette shook his head in affirmation.
"Not without lube you can't," Dave gyrated his hips, teasing himself almost as much as the boy under him.
Sollux's hand shot out to the bedside table and threw open a drawer, pulling out a bottle of lube and forcing it into Dave's hands.
Dave hesitated. Shit was getting real. Not that it hadn't been real enough already, but now Sollux was practically begging him to fuck him. Dave reigned in his hormones and stopped. He looked down into Sollux's eyes, the fire in his own cooling considerably.
"Are you sure?" Dave's voice took on a softer timbre.
"Ugh, yeth," Sollux groaned, but when he tried to thrust into Dave, the blonde didn't thrust back.
"Say it," Dave's voice was flat again.
"Fuck me."
"Say it," Dave looked more intently into the brunet's eyes.
Sollux rolled his eyes, "Dave, I want you to thtick that mathive cock of yourth up my tight ath and fuck me till I thcream."
Dave smirked, leaned down, and softly kissed Sollux, "Say it."
"Pleathe?" Sollux almost whined.
"Why?" Dave's lips played at the other boy's neck.
"Becauthe," Sollux moaned.
"Because?"
"Becauthe I want you to," Sollux wrapped his arms around Dave's neck and took in a shuttering breath, "Becauthe I want you. Becauthe…"
And then it all became clear to him. Sollux pushed Dave up so he could look directly into his eyes.
"Becauthe I love you."
Dave smiled broadly, "That a boy."
As Dave's lips met Sollux's, he slid the first lubed finger inside the brunet eliciting the loudest moan yet. Dave continued to kiss him furiously as he wriggled his first finger around, then inserted a second, and a third. Sollux was practically shoving himself onto Dave's hand, squirming around his fingers, begging for more. Dave chuckled softly as Sollux protested when they were removed, before lining himself up between the brunette's legs.
"Pleathe," Sollux whimpered.
This time Dave didn't hold back. Slowly yet steadily, the blonde pushed his way into the skinnier boy until he was buried to the hilt. Sollux panted and squeezed himself around Dave's cock.
"Jeguth, your big," Sollux groaned.
"Thanks," Dave smirked and mashed their lips together.
As the brunette began to relax his internal grip on Dave, the blonde slowly began to pull out achingly slow before pushing himself all the way back in, his soft blonde patch of hair meeting the subtle cleft of Sollux's ass. Steadily his speed began to increase, in and out, in and out, and with each full resheathing he coaxed a louder moan from the brunette until Sollux was nearly screaming as Dave slammed furiously into him. The slick sliding of their bodies together, lubricated by their own sweat, and the sound of Dave's grunts with every thrust was driving Sollux mad, but when the blonde grabbed his cock, it was all over. With one final teeth clenching scream, Sollux spilt rope after rope of cum onto his stomache. With the brunette's orgasm, every muscle inside of him clamped down onto Dave's cock like a vice and the blonde let out a shuddering moan of his lover's name as he emptied himself with short, shallow thrusts.
Dave collapsed onto Sollux's chest, panting furiously. The brunette ran his hand through the golden locks that stuck together with sweat and chuckled.
"What?" Dave mumbled into his chest.
"Nothing," Sollux chuckled, "Jutht don't think I'll look at nightmareth ath thuch a bad thing anymore."
"Fuckass," Dave murmured on the edge of passing out.
"Now who thoundth like KK?"
"…fuckass."
Sollux laughed and pulled Dave up beside him. Kissing him softly, he curled into the blonde and it wasn't long before both were asleep, and no nightmares or voices bothered Sollux, not while his Knight was there to protect him.