breathe in, breathe out. breathe in, breathe out. you keep telling yourself . you can do this. he's your friend, even if he says no, he'll understand.
you finally manage to work up the nerve to knock on his door. his roommate answers, much to your dismay. it's not like you dislike the guy or anything, but… he's sort of obnoxious. he tends to ramble. in fact, he's doing that now.
"i assume you're here for karkat. he's in his room like always. what a loser. hey do you want a new game? john gave me skyrim and i-"
"i already have skyrim."
"-got bored of it. you don't want it? damn. i don't want to have to drive all the way to the shop. it's so boring. it's not like i need alone time, karkat gives me more than enough-"
"look, dave, i gotta talk to my buddy. sorry."
"oh god. don't say 'to' like that. i can pretty much hear the 'w'."
okay, however the hell that works. whatever. you kind of slam the door in the poor boy's face, but, hey, he's annoying. you notice a little lump of a person on the bed in the bed in the corner. he's shivering. must be cold. that blanket looks like it sort of sucks. you make a mental note to get him a new one or force dave to do so.
"…KK? you awake?"
he grunts. "…slightly." well, it looks like you woke him up. good job, numbnuts.
"oh, sorry. i didn't know you were asleep. i can go-"
"wait, no. c'mere," he almost whispers as he sits up, still shivering. "did you wanna talk?" he pats the spot next to him and you sit. he lays his head on your shoulder, probably subconsciously because he's tired.
"well… yeah, but… it can wait. until you're more awake, at least," you try your hardest to control your lisp so he doesn't get annoyed. he whimpers a little and wraps his arms around your abdomen.
"you know," he mumbles, "this house is unbelievably cold, like, all the time. it's nice to have someone to hold. dave's so awkward about it. probably feels like he's being 'unfaithful.' what a tool." he nuzzles your chest. you glance down to see him sort of looking up at you, and he glances down quickly before sitting up again and meeting your gaze.
"what are you looking at, weirdo?" (you secretly hope he just thinks you're pretty.)
he grins a bit and looks down at the bed. "y'know, mr. captor, you're kind of cute underneath all that lisp and need of orthodontia."
"gee, thanks, buddy."
"…well. maybe a little bit more than 'kind of.'"
your mind draws a blank before inadvertently blurting out, "i came here to tell you that i l-"
"i know."
"…what?"
"i like you too, sollux. let's just stay like this for a while."
well, it's not exactly the L-word you were aiming for, but hey. it's a start.