All He Needed

Karkat found himself worming his way into the arms of the sleeping Strider next to him. His mind wandered and he recalled how he'd gotten here. He'd needed some comfort; three years had finally and the other three trolls were off doing who-knew-what. He didn't exactly want to be near Strider- though they were quickly becoming better friends, they had their differences- but Dave was the only one around. So, he'd come to have a little talk (feelings jam, he'd told himself. You don't exactly have a moirail anymore). However, when he'd arrived, he found Dave asleep on the couch. He had sighed and turned to leave when he heard a shifting behind him and watched Dave writhing, muttering, calling his brother's name.

The troll felt a sharp pang of pity in his chest; Dave had been keeping far too much stress pent up inside of him from the entire game (and before), just as Karkat had. Rose had told him the bits and pieces she knew, but Karkat was severely lacking in terms of specific information on Dave's late guardian. He sat beside the blonde and awkwardly reached a tentative hand, stroking the human's face and whispering to him. After a few minutes, Dave began to calm down.

He had stood to leave again, but almost immediately Dave let out a whimper. Karkat swore quietly and glanced outside. Once he was sure no one was nearby he crept back to the couch and lay down next to Dave. The muttering subsided and the Strider rolled slightly onto his side. Karkat groaned and reluctantly scooted towards the sleeping teen, flushing a little from the close proximity as he pressed his back to Dave's chest. He felt light tickles of breath on his neck and, shivering, closed his eyes.

…

Karkat woke up to ebbing gray clouds and an almost insufferable heat. He sat up to observe his surroundings. He was on a mesh platform suspended in a sea of whirling gears. Beneath him lay a network of eddies of lava, twining themselves around gears and rocks and metal.

"You're up," Dave said. Karkat whipped his head around to see the teen standing a few feet behind him, arms crossed and eyebrow poised above thick shades. "How did you get here?"

"I don't fucking know," Karkat grumbled.

"Rose said the only way you get to places in dream bubbles that don't belong to you is by invitation, being with someone who's been there. Some psychological connection. Whatever. So, go on, where did you come from?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Strider. I just fell asleep and woke up here."

Dave still looked skeptical but he shrugged. "Fine, whatever you say, Vantas."

Karkat stood up, though Dave still towered a good half a foot over him, and motioned around with a wide sweeping gesture. "Where are we?"

"Land of Heat and Clockwork," Dave turned on a heel, God Tier cape flaring behind him, and began making his way cautiously up a staircase littered with the broken shells of gears that were no longer whole. "More specifically, the underbelly of the main mechanisms."

They walked in silence for a short while, up the stairs and through several complicated archways. After some time, though, Karkat started to clench his fists."How can I even try to hear mu own damn thoughts when this fucking ticking drowns them out?"

"From the clocks?"

"No, from the lava, shithead. Yes, the clocks."

"Calm down, Karkles, I hear it all the time. It's not a big deal."

"What, you mean to tell me that you dream of this stupid-ass planet a lot?"

"No, I mean the ticking is in my brain all the goddamn time. Guess that's how it works for players of my Aspect. Hyper aware and all that shit. Been happening since I ascended from the Sun."

Karkat fell silent. He couldn't imagine a never-ending torrent of tick-tocking could be in any way pleasant; for an insufferable prick of a cool kid, Dave handled it surprisingly well. Karkat had never heard a word breathed of the sounds in Dave's head. He wondered if anyone had.

…

"Dave," Karkat turned to face him. They had scaled a (rather precarious) tower and stood together, exhausted. The two could now see where they'd come from. Beyond the mesh platforms Karkat had awoken on and the infinite staircases, blue hills erupted from the ground, covered in lush cerulean foliage and cascading prismatic waterfalls of rock. The clouds there were just as gray, if not more so, and speckled with miniscule pinpricks of lights, like stars flecking the dull overcast.

"That's where I came from just before you arrived," Dave pointed. "It's John's planet." Karkat nodded slowly in distant recollection. "I was, uh. I was where Bro..." He trailed off and used a bony finger to shove the stop bar of his aviators up the bridge of his nose. "That's where Bro… died." Karkat silently observed his shoulders and noticed them gently shaking, what should have been the body wracking sort of twitching muted with years of practicing the Strider poker face.

Karkat nodded solemnly and sat down on the obsidian black ground, patting the spot next to him. Dave sighed and muttered a "thanks," taking the spot and pulling a knee to his crossed arms, resting his head and breathing in short, ragged bursts of thick air. The troll could tell he was trying hard not to let out a sob.

So he put a hand on the Strider's back and rubbed, shooshed, just as he had to the sleeping form of the teen, except this was different because Dave was leaning into his touches. Karkat found it all a little surreal; he remembered never imagining himself doing something like this with any of the humans, really- least of all Dave- and yet, differences put aside, here they were.

Dave, on the other hand, made no moves away from Karkat's gently touching hands. He relaxed his back, trembling from the newly released tension in his shoulders. Karkat awkwardly scooted closer again, trailing his fingers up and down the Strider's back. He stared at his shoes, but when he did sneak a peek at the human's face, he found it powdered almost as red as his own.

…

Karkat didn't know at what point exactly Dave's head found its way to his chest, but he had wrapped his arms around Karkat's body and began to sob, letting it all out. Karkat, after overcoming the initial shock of Dave's breakdown, put his own arms around the teen's torso- albeit awkwardly, flushing a bit as Dave pressed closer, tears soaking into the troll's sweater and sticking to his skin. Dave's fingers dug in and clutched the fabric tightly.

Dave shivered like a leaf as his sobs began to die down, mere whispers. The whole scene was in a sense familiar to Karkat- much like when Dave was sleeping; the only difference this time was that Dave had latched onto him. Karkat felt important and he inwardly smiled, savoring the feeling of someone really, truly needing him.

The heartbeat Karkat felt on his chest slowed down and evened out as Dave's breathing became more regular again. "Sorry," Dave mumbled softly, word warm on Karkat's neck. He shuddered and Dave shifted around. Karkat took in their position- he should have been uncomfortable, what with the weight on his legs, but he didn't really notice- and found the human sprawled in his lap, knees laced and arms in an entwined mess. His face heated up a little more. Dave looked up at him and rubbed his eyes. The aviators slipped, exposing the fatigued red irises so much like Karkat's own.

This was similar to how they'd become friends (Karkat wondered if that was the right word. Friends? Dependent?) - they bonded over first their statuses as genetic outcasts and later other things. They had never done anything like this before. Cuddling? Karkat didn't know. The farthest they'd invaded each others personal space was a bro-hug every now and then, but this was entirely different. Dave's legs were in his lap, arms around Karkat's waist, and head propped on his shoulder. His soft, platinum blonde hair tickled the troll's nose as his head moved positions and all Karkat could think about was how close they were to one another. Heartbeat on heartbeat, swelling and falling of chest synchronous to each other, they were pressed together and Dave was leaning in and then he was whispering in Karkat's ear.

"Karkat," he muttered. "I... I'm glad you're here."

Karkat blinked. "Why?"

"I can... I don't know. I can depend on you. You're not as bad as you first came off as. I guess." The Strider's face began to match the troll's in terms of redness.

Karkat scoffed. "The same to you. You aren't so much of an insufferable prick as I thought you were."

Dave grinned and leaned in again. "Karkat..."

"Yeah?"

"... I like you. I've been putting some thought into it lately- actually, for a while- and I really do like you. A lot."

Karkat furrowed his brows in confusion as Dave leaned back from his ear again and-

Oh.

There was a soft pressure on the side of Karkat's neck. Dave's eyes fluttered shut sleepily and he moved his lips, traced a path upward as he trailed them to Karkat's mouth. Karkat made a small noise- not quite a squeak, but much like one- as Dave took him into a kiss. The troll squirmed a bit as Dave sat up on his lap, knees on either side of Karkat's hips and hands grasping his sweater. Karkat tentatively pressed forward, mindful of his teeth, and kissed back. He didn't know why; perhaps subconsciously this was all he needed- affection, warm and genuine and tender. His heart leaped in his chest and he slid his eyes shut, thinking of nothing but the Strider's lips on his own."

All too soon they broke apart, finding themselves no longer on Dave's planet but instead in the Library, on the velvety couch where Dave had fallen asleep. Dave's arm was now draped across Karkat's waist, the troll huddled under the cape with him and blushing heavily from their kiss. Karkat, surprised at the sudden change, tried to sit up but was snared in a mix of limbs and fatigue, ending up falling on the floor and pulling Dave on top of him with a thump.

The whole thing was rather ridiculous, so much so that Karkat began to giggle. Dave joined in after a moment, pressing his head to Karkat's as he pulled his arms to his sides, lacing his fingers with the troll's.

"Sorry about that," Dave breathed again, lips twitching into a sly half-smile. "Don't know what came over me."

"'s fine," Karkat yawned. "It's okay... I know how you feel..."

Dave pressed a hesitant, chaste kiss to his cheek and, pulling him to his feet, lay on the couch again. He left more room this time and pulled his cape over himself like a blanket, gesturing to the spot next to him as Karkat had in the dream. All thoughts of his Bro were gone; he wanted to forget, even if just for a little while, and Karkat (as he now knew) was more than happy to help.

The troll laughed, shook his head teasingly, and curled up, back pressed to Dave's chest again. He felt arms snake around his waist and the cape-blanket over his shoulders. As he drifted off to sleep, he felt the teen nuzzle his neck, breathing in his scent, as if it would soon fade.

Karkat vowed to be there for Dave as long as they needed each other.

He would stay forever.

Little bit of mindless DaveKat fluff, kind of rushed and crappy if you ask me, but maybe you enjoyed it! Thank you for taking time to read, it really means a lot to me that people like my stories. c: