It started with Terezi, and it wasn't every night. Karkat didn't want to be that pathetic, and when he asked her to come over he always bitched about how fucking cold it was on the meteor. This was true: without a recuperacoon, it was always just a little too cold for a troll to naturally fall sleep. Really, though, he invited her over because he liked it when she rubbed his horns and put her head over his chest, and both of them knew it. They'd lie next to each other and just fall asleep, and it was wonderful.
Sollux came over on his own, because his insomnia had gotten much worse on the meteor. He'd knock on the door at some god-forsaken hour of night, surly, holding a pirated copy of a popular movie. Karkat made a fuss every time, but he never actually turned him away. Terezi didn't like losing quality time with Karkat, but she didn't want to see Sollux suffer either. Sollux seemed to feel bad about bothering them. Eventually he started bringing over movies where heroes hunted down villains, and Terezi appreciated that. The three of them would watch the movie together until one of them nodded off, then the others would turn off the movie and try to get some sleep. Sometimes Feferi would come too. She would whisper to Sollux about relaxation techniques while Karkat and Terezi pretended not to hear. These techniques worked a lot better for her than for Sollux, but he was much less irritable when she was around.
Eventually Karkat started worrying, because for all of the late night movies and talking Sollux's insomnia seemed to be getting worse. Karkat was the one who invited Kanaya, because he assumed that Kanaya would know how to deal with that sort of thing. She didn't have too much advice, but she did have nine different types of herbal tea. Every time she came over she brought a new tea for Sollux to try. She also brought snacks, because it just seemed like a good thing to do. Sollux eventually did find a tea that he liked, so he was fine with Kanaya. Terezi had been thinking about saying something to Karkat about the growing crowd, but it seemed to be working out for Sollux. Kanaya was quiet, and polite, and the night went over better when she showed up. The snacks certainly didn't hurt either.
Gamzee just showed up one night because he heard that there was a "mOtHeRfUcKiN SlEePoVeR," and it was impossible to get rid of him. (Though, again, Terezi thought Karkat's attempts to dissuade him were halfhearted. Profane, but still halfhearted.) He made a pilgrimage to Karkat's room every night. If there was someone missing from Karkat's room, he would knock on their doors thinking that they had just forgot that there was a rad motherfuckin sleepover at Karkat's place, with movies and snacks and everything. He was always excited about it, so turning him down seemed more than a little cruel. This did not mean he was a good guest to have at a sleepover. Most of the time he would lose the plot of the movie ask one of the other trolls to pause it and explain what was going on, or he would just lose interest and start talking about something else entirely. He was always one of the last trolls to fall asleep, and he kept trying to start conversations after the movie was finished. It was irritating, and Karkat started worrying about Sollux again.
When Gamzee started bringing Tavros it got a lot better. The two of them didn't really watch the movie at all, just sat in the corner and rapped or played cards. Gamzee was quieter when he was with Tavros, and that meant everyone could rest without being afraid of loud midnight conversations about miracles. Kanaya was more tense with Tavros in the room, but there was nothing to be done about it. She did make a stand on one matter: she was not going to make enough snacks to feed seven trolls every night. Feferi offered to pitch in, and Karkat did the same (because he had been feeling bad about that for a while).
When Nepeta asked Terezi if there really was a nightly sleepover in Karkat's room, Terezi had given up on getting any quality time with Karkat at night. She invited Nepeta to the sleepover, and Nepeta gleefully accepted. Equius came because he did not want Nepeta to go alone.
Kanaya invited Aradia. She thought it would help Aradia socialize a little more; secretly she wanted Aradia there so she would be able to focus on someone other than Tavros. Aradia turned it down most nights, but every once in a while she would show up at Karkat's door, without warning. She didn't do or say much, so no one could tell if she was enjoying herself. Still, she did come, and that was something.
Vriska assumed that with so many trolls in one room the smartest thing to do would be to sneak in and keep an eye on things, so she did. Sometimes she would try to start something with Tavros or Terezi, but most of the time she was manageable. Vriska also had a better collection of crime dramas, and would yell at people who talked too loudly during the movie.
Eridan was the last to know about anything that was going on, and the first time he came to Karkat's room he complained about it the whole night. He mentioned it every other night too, and generally spent the night whining or trying to solicit one of the other trolls.
Before long, there was a sleepover in Karkat's room every night. Nepeta, Terezi, Kanaya, and Feferi would end up in a group, and sometimes they would all use Kanaya's nail polish and paint each other's nails. Sollux would talk to Karkat if Feferi was busy; he didn't like that it was so crowded, but for some reason Sollux found it a lot easier to fall asleep every night. Gamzee and Tavros were happy in their corner. There were the ones who didn't quite know what to do with themselves, like Eridan, or Aradia, or Equius (if Nepeta was busy with the other girls), but between the movie and the other trolls everything worked out. There were snacks, there were crime dramas, there were games and in-jokes and other trolls. Not everyone would come every night, but Gamzee made sure that there were at least five trolls in the room on any given night. It was never totally silent, so some trolls needed earplugs to sleep. Ultimately, the high number of trolls in one small space made it slightly warmer, which made up for any of the noise.
Karkat made a point of being vocally pissed off about the entire thing. He complained that there were "TOO MANY FUCKING TROLLS, GET OUT OF MY ROOM YOU ASSHOLES" more than once. He was especially enraged when, right after he had told everyone that they should not be sleeping at all, a few of them showed up in his room anyway. It was insolence, and it was fucking ridiculous. Still, the television screen in his room always worked, and the floor was always meticulously clean, and he always had snacks ready.
After the scratch, after John's letter, after nearly everyone was dead, Karkat thought he was fine. There was the dream bubble shit so it wasn't like anyone was really gone, and Terezi and Kanaya were all right, and he had shit to do. So what if the halls were quiet, they were always quiet, nobody ever knew what anybody did during the day. He was fine. For hours, he was fine.
Then Karkat went to his room, which was a mistake, he could sleep anywhere, why was he going back to his room, what was he expecting? It was way too fucking cold and so fucking quiet and so big without the rest of them, and there was no reason for him to think it was going to be different, that's how it always was. And only a fucking grub would be this sad that his room was empty he had to get it together he was used to being alone this shouldn't have been a big deal.
He cried anyway.