"Strider! I have a challenge for you!" Karkat shouted as he walked into the room where Dave was casually seated on his couch. At the young troll's sudden outburst, he looked up and tilted his head.

"What sort of challenge is this?" He asked.

"A bet. If I win, you have to do something for me, and if you win I have to do something for you." Karkat said grinning a bit.

"Alright, I'll bite. What's the challenge?"

"A drawing competition. We each must draw something and present it to Nepeta. Whoever gets picked wins."

Dave thought it over for a moment. "And what if I win? What do I get?"

"That's up to you. But if I win, you have to watch Titanic with me tonight." Karkat said, pointing to the TV.

"Ew. That movie is so bad and way too long." Dave said and made a face. "Why would you even want to watch that?"

"I've never seen it before and I heard it was good." Karkat said and folded his arms across his chest.

"I've seen it. Didn't like it. More so for girls...but you did say I could pick whatever I wanted right?"

"Well..yeah I guess. So what do you want?"

Dave grinned a bit. "If I win you have to do what I say for 24 hours."

Karkat made a face. "Okay...deal?" He asked and held out his hand.

Dave stood up and shook the troll's hand. "Deal."

For the next hour the two sat at the table drawing a single picture. When time was up, they presented the drawings to Nepeta, or rather she took the drawings and looked them over herself. "They're both so purrtty. But I must choose this one. It's simply puuurrrfect!" She said and held up an adorable one of herself and Karkat cuddling in a very well done drawing.

"That was not cool, Karkat! You used her weakness." Dave growled.

"We had a deal, Strider! Now you have to watch Titanic with me tonight!" Karkat said triumphantly.

Dave groaned and rubbed his temples. "This is going to be a long night..."

"Strider, get your ass in here! The movie is gunna start!" Karkat shouted as the time finally rolled around for the blond to pay his price.

"I'm coming! Geese.." Dave said and sluggishly walked to an end of the couch. Karkat was sitting on the other end of the couch with a bowl of alchemised popcorn, munching on it slowly as the movie turned on. Everyone else had gone to sleep by the time it hit the one hour mark, and the two of them, through occasional and natural shiftings, no longer sat on complete opposite ends of the couch. There was about a cushion and a half between them on the three cushioned couch.

"See, Strider? This isn't so bad! It's cute!" Karkat said and threw some of the remaining popcorn at Dave.

"I told you I've already seen it and I don't care for it much. I'm only doing this because I lost your little bet." Dave groaned and leaned back further on the couch, eating what was thrown at him.

"Whatever, you're still awake so you must be watching it." Karkat said and finished off the last of the bowl, setting it on the coffee table.

"I'm just not tired." Dave said and waved it off.

"Sure, sure."

As the next hour of the movie played on there was barely a cushion space between the two as the movie started to become more hectic. Karkat doned a sort of fangirling face in the beginning. Dave had the opposite look, being more so unamused by this. However, when the iceberg hit, Karkat gained a worried look and continuously scooted himself closer to Dave, accidentally brushing against him and bringing the closeness of the two to both their attentions. "Uh...when the fuck did we get so close..?" Karkat asked, feeling his cheek flush a bit.

Dave just shrugged. "No idea. I didn't even notice."

"...Well ma-AAAHHH!" Karkat suddenly shouted as the movie progressed and the ship started sinking. He started freaking out when the characters were all cast into the water and the ship slowly disappeared under it.

Dave rolled his eyes at the now shaking troll. He knew what was going to happen and figured that when that famous line came around, Karkat would probably be bawling his eyes out like the fangirl he was.

But before that happened, Karkat was almost yelling at the T.V. "Why aren't they taking turns or something?! They should! I mean, come on! They have to get rescued right?! THEY BETTER FUCKING GET RESCUED PLEASE TELL ME THEY DO STRIDER!" He started shaking the human by his arm as little red tears brimmed in his eyes.

'And thus starts the water works...' Dave thought. "Just watch the movie and find out. I'm not telling you anything."

Karkat sniffled and cuddled Dave's arm, shaking as he turned his attention back to the movie. The tears soon started to fall as time passed and the inevitable happened. "Is he...he's..." Karkat barely choked out as Rose said her classic line and set Jack free to sink to the bottom of the ocean.

This however made Dave laugh and Karkat sat up from his curled up position next to him to smack his arm. "That isn't funny! She just lost the person she cared the most about AND YOU'RE FUCKING LAUGHING!?"

"If you really think about it, it's hilarious! Look, she just said 'I'll never let go' and then she pries him off the raft to sink down into the abyss like 'See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya! I'm getting the fuck outta here!' and gets rescued." Dave said, using hand motions to emphasize his explanation.

"It's because she couldn't hold onto him forever and it was her way of saying that she accepts that he's gone but she will remember him forever! So she won't let him go from her heart!" Karkat said and shook from his sobs, looking back to the movie.

Dave groaned at the blubbering troll and sighed heavily after he turned back to the movie. After another second, Dave wrapped an arm around Karkat, causing the young troll to flush brightly. "S-Strider wha-"

"Just accept it. I know you need this comfort Karks, so just go with it."

"O-...okay..." Karkat said and turned his attention back to the movie. As it progressed to the near end, when the main story was finished being told by the old lady, Karkat had nuzzled himself against Dave, resting his head on the boy's chest as a sort of pillow.

Dave let out a yawn when the movie was at a near end while Karkat was thrown into tears again. "Sh-she died! And now she can be with Jack! Its so sad, yet so happy!"

"Yeah...I'm really tired now Karks..." Dave said as he turned the TV off when the credits were rolling through. "I paid my debt now leave me to sleep." He then gently pushed the troll to his feet. This action, however, caused the boy's shades to fall off while the lights were still on, showing off his abnormally red eyes. "Shit!"

It didn't matter how fast he had closed his eyes, Karkat still saw. Those red eyes that struck something in him. "Dave...?"

"...you saw didn't you?"

"Yeah...they're red."

"Now you know.."

"But why did yu-"

"Red isn't a normal eye color for humans to have. I'm a freak...can you get me my shades..?"

Karkat nodded and picked up the round shades from the floor, handing them to Dave's outstretched hand. He slipped them on and sighed heavily. "I'll see you in the morning Karks..." Dave said as he laid on the couch, facing towards the back. "Turn out the light for me will you?"

Karkat nodded again and turned off the light, though he didn't leave. He rubbed his arm nervously and just stared at the still Dave. He had more reasons that one to stay, but he couldn't say them. He couldn't say that he didn't want to sleep alone or that Dave made him feel better about the sad movie, so instead he laid down on the couch next to the albino boy, wrapping his arms around the boy's middle, feeling he also needed to help comfort the mutant like him. Dave was confused by this and looked over his shoulder. "Karkat..? Wha-"

"Just accept it. I know you need this comfort Dave...so just go with it.." Karkat repeated softly, actually using his first name.

Dave was still a bit confused, but the situation sank in and his cheeks heated up. He turned over and wrapped his arms around Karkat, pulling him closer. Karkat pushed him away at first, but it was just so he could take off the shades and put them elsewhere. "You and I have a lot more in common than you might think...we both have a candy red mutation that we hide from the world."

Dave looked at the troll with a shocked expression before it softened and he pulled Karkat closer. "Thank you Karkat..."

"You're welcome Strider.." Karkat said and nuzzled the boy softly, purring contently as the two fell into a deep sleep in each other's arms.