A crowd stands before you looking at who knows what. You are short enough to easily push through these people and see what the fuss is. You are five years old and relatively short. You hear some murmurs about who let their kid run around loose but nobody stops you. Pushing your way through is a bit hard and you are thinking about giving up and going back to where your mother told you to wait, in hopes that she'll come back though you haven't seen her in a while. But then…

You hear something. Something that sounds so familiar to your little ears you can't help but push through even more urgently.

You don't go to the front but have a clear enough view from where you stand.

You really shouldn't be here. You really shouldn't be here at all.

You wake up in cold sweat in your small dark room, gasping and looking agitatedly around you, looking for people, listening for noises and sniffing for the awful scent of death. None of these come to you aside from one of your roommates stirring. You really were hoping to let Aradia sleep in as you don't see why it's necessary for her to check up on you like you were a baby. You're thirteen years old for crying out loud!

Your name is Karkat Vantas and if it wasn't obvious enough, you just woke up from a nightmare. You have these pretty often, so you prefer to slacken on your sleep until you absolutely can't stand up anymore or your dad threatens to stab you. You really don't doubt he'd hesitate to do that, wouldn't be the first time. But you don't hold that against him.

Aradia stands up and you quickly rub the tears out of your eyes. The way she walks towards you always freaked you out, like she was gliding instead of stepping noiselessly. It's fine in the daytime but here in the dark she looks rather ghostly.
"Another one?" she asks in a monotone voice, mostly out of sleep than anything else.

"What do you think?" you hiss. She sits next to you on your bed and pats your head. You growl in response and cross your arms.

"There, there Karkat, it's okay," she yawns. "Just…a bad dream. But could you maybe try having them when my dad doesn't keep me doing ridiculous work all day?" She stops patting your head and leans her head on your shoulder.

" Oh sorry!" you sneer, " I'll try to tell my subconscious how inconsiderate it's being for keeping everyone up! I've been so stupid when I could've done that all along! So sorry that my nightly torture has been catching up on your beauty sleep!"

"That's all I ask," she mumbles sliding off your shoulder and placing her head on your lap. "Night Karkat. Sleep well, don't let the..." she drifts off, her breathing slowing down telling you she is definitely out for the night. You just scream internally at the simplicity of this girl.

"Good night Aradia," you sigh giving her back the pat on the head. She smiles lightly and stays right where she's at. You don't have the heart to move her and wake her yet again when she looks so comfortable. Anyways, it's not like you can go back to sleep. You glance around the room, knowing nothing has changed. Your other two roomies are comfortably sleeping, one of them talking in his sleep.

Tavros is warmly tucked in sleeping like a rock and snoring at a bearable volume. He never stirs in his leep and he's always looking happy when he sleeps. He's very peaceful when sleeping and you did ask him about that once.

"Tavros, how the fuck do you sleep so well?! Have you even gotten a nightmare in your life?" You asked accusingly. The tanner boy simply smiled nervously and stared at you as though you had just grown two heads.

"Um..no? I don't think so," he replied awkwardly, "I have a clean conscience, I guess? I don't know Karkat. I never really thought about it. I just sleep well."

"No fucking kidding you ass!" You had yelled mockingly making the other boy cringe. "You smile every damn night as though you had just found the biggest treasure in life! Like our whole life wasn't some shitty hellhole!"

"Karkat, calm down," he gulped as you glared daggers. "I mean...sure civilization is pretty…um..."

"Doomed?" Aradia piped looking up from her chores.

"aggravating?" Sollux added.

"Fucked up," You deadpaned.

"Harsh," Tavros said meekly and quickly brightened up for the next part "But you know, our lives aren't so bad. We could be off a lot worse. Don't you think?"

"If you say so," Sollux shrugged.

"We have a roof over our heads," he insisted.

"Leaks count?" You sneered.

"Sollux was supposed to fix those," Aradia muttered to the blonde's annoyance.

"Um…caring guardians?"

"Oh!' You had feigned a super excited smile and grabbed at the bottom of your shirt lifting it to emphasize your next point " Like when dad gave me these loving stitches right? Man, that sure was fun and caring! Nothing says I love you like a good stab to your side."

"That reminds me," Aradia had mused "My own dad said he'd teach me to defend myself with short range weapons today."

"Oh I'm learning about explosives," Sollux had chimed "Something you definitely want kids around!"

"I give up," Tavros sighed and from then on, pretty much refused to talk to you for an awfully long time.

Sollux on the other hand was probably your best friend around here. He could see things your way and was probably more miserable than you. He certainly was snarky enough. He was sprawled on his bed snoring like there was no tomorrow. He says it's a sinus problem which due to his awfully nasal voice, you don't doubt for one second. He snorts like a pig and you crack a smile. Yeah, he's definitely your best friend and probably the only guy in the world you'd take shit from. And manages to care about you all the same. He snorts once again and sounds a bit startled.

You stare in his general direction as he begins sitting up groggily.

"Morning sunshine, "You say sarcastically. " Sleep well?"

"Kk?" He mumbles, "you awake?"

"No, I'm not," you roll your eyes, " You're still sleeping and you're having a dream in which I happen to be the brightest part of your day."

"Sounds like a fucking nightmare" he lisps.

"Don't talk to me about nightmares you shit," you growl shifting slightly causing Aradia to grumble. You silently apologize to the sleeping girl.

"What the fuck is AA doing on your bed?!" he nearly screams.

"Shh!" you hush him and he keeps cursing your name as many times as possible. "she fell asleep. I know the relation between you two. Can you guys stop ogling each other like starved dogs staring at food? It's pretty disgusting"

"Oh but I can't say anything about your romcoms?"

"You shut your mouth!"

"Make me!

"I would but your girlfriend is sleeping on my fucking lap!"

"Yeah what's with that?" he asks more calmly. You scrounge up your face in disbelief at how quickly he calmed down.

"Sollux, I," you choke on your words due to how irritating your best friend can be. You heave a ridiculously loud sigh. "Aradia was trying to calm me down. She usually tries that for whatever fucking reason. I don't ask her to, she just does that."

"Does it work?"

"No. I just calm down on the outside so she goes to sleep. I don't need any of you babying me." You both remain silent for a long moment. You sort of feel like punching yourself. You hate yourself so much right now! Your friends are trying their best to help with your ridiculous insomnia problem and you just avoid their efforts like the plague! Is this even insomnia anymore?! You don't know anymore.

"KK?

"Yeah?"

"You're an insufferable prick, a pain in my ass since the first day I met you and hell, you don't deserve the attention Aradia gives you!"

"Thanks man, I needed that," You say sadly.

"Let me finish!" He interrupts before you have a chance to self loathe yourself out loud. "We try our best to deal with your grouchy antics and ridiculously awful things you say. But KK, you're our friend. And even if you deny it, you care about all of us. Somehow, we all know that. Remember when Tavros was freaking out when he twisted his ankle?"

"I told him to calm the fuck down…It was no big deal," you mutter.

"And then you brought him home regardless of you being such a damn runt. And how about when AA burned her hand?"

"she held her tears back and didn't tell anyone until it had blistered," You answer.

"And even then she only told you!" Sollux points out. He pauses for a moment knowing the last one is himself. "And…remember when I told you I heard voices sometimes?"

"You woke up crying once and refused to sleep. We stayed up all night until Deuce showed up."

"If that doesn't deserve any type of attentions, then KK, you have some really fucked up sense of friendship." You both laugh lightly without saying anything once again. For a moment there is only silence as you both think about what you just said. Dammit, your friends make hating them difficult.

"But…" you hear a rumble coming from Aradia as she begins to wake up and look back and forth at you both. "Karkat…Do you remember the day Slick found you?"