Karkat looked down at the cold waves beneath him. On any other day, he would have said they were menacing.

But at that moment. In that instant they only seemed, inviting, beckoning even. He looked around. There was no one around him. No one was there for him. So he closed his eyes.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward, feeling the void under his feet and then the rush of the air from his fall.

The cold of the water hit him like a brick wall, but he didn't even feel the urge to fight against it, or try to stay afloat.

He curled up in a ball, keeping his eyes sealed, but he could still feel the salt prick at his eyes. If they were open he would have seen the water around them tinge with a light shade of candy red.

He tentatively opened his mouth, letting the air escape from his lungs and the searing pain of the ocean filling them. He felt the bubbles stroke past his cheek as they ran to the surface, while he was heading down, dragged by his soaked clothes.

Karkat fainted before he could feel a cold hand tug at him. A ringed hand.

Karkat opened his eyes, feeling… warm.

He could still feel them a little encrusted with what was probably sea salt, but he didn't really bother to wipe them.

He looked around, finding himself in a familiar looking place, but he couldn't quite pin it down. Then he was met with a very well known concerned face. Ugh, not him.

"Kar..?"

He tried to speak but his lungs still felt like on fire. The only sound that came from his mouth was a hoarse croak, so he just turned away, silently screaming as tears started rolling down his face again.

The seadweller sat beside him and pulled Karkat in an embrace. He tried to fight at first, but then gave in to his friend's arms, leaning on him as he opened his mouth trying to shout his pain.

He cried on and on, his sobs making him tremble and shudder as Eridan held him tight, until he fell in a quiet state of numbness. He was barely aware that he had woken up with a different set of clothes and wrapped in a blanket.

Eridan had just sat there with him, holding him tight. He hadn't a clue for why Karkat was sinking in the waters near his hive, but now he started connecting the dots. He sighed, stroking the landdweller in his arms. He dared not to speak, preferring to wait until the other opened up.

"What… what is wrong with me?" Karkat whispered with a scratchy voice.

"Kar nothin' wwrong wwith you." He replied.

"Why am I still here?" Karkat felt the anger replace the numbness. "WHY DID YOU SAVE ME? I SHOULD BE… I SHOULDN'T BE HERE! I DON'T DESERVE TO BE HERE..." he felt a knot in his throat but he couldn't bring himself to cry again.

Eridan held him tight again as Karkat struggled to get away. "Karkat, no, I'm serious!" He held his face with one hand, making him look at him in the eyes. He even dropped his accent to show how much he meant it. "No one really deserves to be here, we don't have to earn our place in this world. We just are who we are an no one is better than the other." He held his racist thoughts back. Karkat obviously wasn't in the mood for that.

"And you're my best friend, Kar, probably the only one who really listens to what I have to say on shit, so do you think I'd let my friend die like that if I saw him drowning?"

Karkat looked away, but Eridan turned his head. "Kar, look at me."

The smaller troll looked at him. His eyes were the portrait of how much he had suffered in the last sweep, the bags under his eyes darker than ever.

Eridan wished with all his heart he didn't look that way. He felt a tug to his stomach.

"Kar, please, don't be like this.. At least, don't try an do a thing like that again.. okay?"

Karkat just closed his eyes and nodded and Eridan let go of his face. The Vantas didn't look at him again, preferring to sink in the blanket and keep his gaze fixed somewhere in front of him. Eridan leaned on the wall, heaving a sigh.

After a few minutes, Karkat spoke up again.

"Thank you.."

Eridan turned around. Karkat still wasn't looking at him, but he had leaned on him a bit.

"For… for being here for me.." The Ampora hinted a smile and leaned his head on Karkat's.

"Don't mention it."

They lapsed in a comfortable silence for a while.

"How.. uh.. long can I stay here?"

Eridan shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm not lettin' you anywhere until I hear you say 'fuck' at least once in one of your sentences."

Karkat giggled slightly. "Okay then: fuck you Eridan for doing this and being a terrible douche."

Eridan bonked him playfully with his head. "Rude. I think I'm still goin' to keep you here though, that ain't enough."

Karkat rolled his eyes but didn't say anything. A tiny smile started to make its way on his face.

Maybe Eridan wasn't that bad after all.