It wasn't really fair that the bed was cold when he finally woke up, pale light of the afternoon filtered through the blinds of the bedroom and a distinct feel of unnecessary loneliness brushing through his chest cavity.
Then again, he should have expected Dave to already be awake. Groggily, he sat up, hand rubbing at his eye as a yawn stretched his jaw. It wasn't much longer before the troll was pulling his much-too-big sweatpants up, the elastic waistband doing little to keep the fabric from slipping down low while he was unconscious. His hands fell away from his hips, red fabric sliding down against his wrists and drawing his sleep-hazed gaze down.
At some point, he'd put on Dave's shirt.
And fallen asleep in it.
His lips quirked upwards subtly, wrists shaking themselves out until the sleeves fell to the tips of his fingers on both hands.
The other male's sunglasses were spotted on the bedside table as Karkat walked past, exiting the room, but no attempt to grab them was made. Dave could handle not wearing them for five whole minutes, he was sure. Another yawn came, nearly sending the Cancer stumbling into a wall as he was thrown off balance, shoulder just barely missing the corner leading from the hall to the kitchen.
Arms caught him, though, bare, strong arms wrapping around him and tugging him against their owner's chest. Little resistance was given, Karkat resting his temple against the hollow of Dave's throat, a quiet chuckle rumbling against his smaller frame. Words didn't need to be exchanged - Weren't, for a while. - as they stood together like that, body relaxed in his lover's arms and a face in his hair and breath ghosting his scalp.
The human moved away from him, though, much too quickly for his liking. His eyes blinked open - When had they closed? - and followed his retreat. The coffee pot was his destination, top flipped shut and button pressed, the device gurgling to life near immediately. Troll scurrying over to him, Dave took the opportunity to wrap an arm around Karkat's shoulders, fingers wrapping around the curve of his muscles carefully enough, tucking him against his side. Letting out a breath of warm air, Karkat just draped his arms around his waist, head falling against his shoulder, eyes half lidded as he watched the coffee pot expectantly.
A smile pulled at Dave's features. His gaze, on the other hand, was locked on Karkat, bright optics regarding him with an almost overwhelming amount of fondness. His chest swelled, his throat felt tight, and he couldn't count the reasons he loved him if he had eternity to do so.
He was cruel when he wanted to be, harsh and sometimes even hurtful - But Dave knew better. Their fights never lasted long, their banter always short enough.
He loved the way Karkat would break down into sniffles and reserved tears when watching a particularly upsetting film, no matter how many times he'd seen it.
He loved the way Karkat would, sometimes, forget to turn a door handle while attempting to step into another room, usually ending up double-taking when he almost faceplanted into the door.
He loved the way he'd roll onto his side when he slept, the way he'd curl up and leg muscles twitch when he would dream of more adrenalin inducing things, clench his jaw and nearly laugh when he had something so overwhelmingly joyful running through his unconscious mind.
He loved the way Karkat could just know, wrap his arms around him and shoosh him and pet his hair and tell him that, no matter what, everything would be okay because they had eachother and that was never, ever going to change.
He loved the way he could share body heat and brush his lips so gently against him, kiss him while cupping his jaw and pulling him down instead of leaning up to meet him.
Karkat was a blessing if anything, something he didn't deserve but somehow held onto anyway. His rock, his anchor, his over-dramatic, grey-skinned saving grace. The model for almost all his photography as of late, even if he didn't know about half the pictures, the inspiration for his beats, the thought of him moving to the music helping keep Dave in touch when DJing.
The gurgling stopped, smell of coffee suddenly assaulting his sense of smell. Before Karkat could even make half the first step, Dave was already leaning down, murmuring quiet 'I love you's against him as he showered the troll in gentle kisses.