Karkat breathed in the warm smell of another human being as soon as his mind was brought to consciousness. He had a large pillow gripped firmly and snuggly to his chest and pressed to his cheeks. It smelled like Dave. He reached around the pillow, his eyes still closed. His hand felt around the space next to him on the bed. It fell into empty air and landed on the sheets.

Karkat's eyes flew open and he sat up in a panic. Dave wasn't there. A chilly sweat was beginning to break out down his back. He threw the comforter off and jumped out of bed. Haphazardly, he quickly grabbed his boxers and a t-shirt from the floor and dressed himself as he walked to the door.

Where could he have gone? He was just there. He wouldn't have left yet. Right? Where was Dave? Karkat's mind wandered endlessly down a train of thought leading nowhere.

Upon exiting the hallway he froze. John was sitting on his couch in the living room to his left, the newspaper in his hands as he skimmed the comics section. In the kitchen, to his right, Dave sat, his back to him, on a stool at the island, a cup of coffee in his hand. Karkat let out a shaky breath. He was still here. Just seeing him lifted a giant weight from Karkat's chest. He felt like crying again, but he didn't want to. Not in front of John.

Dave took notice of him first, turning in his seat. His shades were off. His eyes widened in both surprise and worry. In an instant he was out of his chair and making his way across the kitchen tile, scooping him up in a hug and burying Karkat's face in his chest.

Karkat could hear John placing the paper down. "What's wrong? What's up with him?" He sounded more curious than concerned.

Dave's head whipped around and Karkat could tell he was probably glaring at him. "John, could you shut up for a sec? K thanks."

John huffed but didn't say a word more. Dave lifted Karkat up and carried him into the kitchen. He sat down in his chair with Karkat settled on his lap.

"You doin okay today?" Dave's voice quietly drifted down into his ear.

Karkat nodded. He peered up at Dave's face. "I thought you left me again."

Dave looked at him pained. "Oh no, no. You don't have to worry about that happening ever again, okay? Remember how I was telling you about the plans I got set up? They're all gonna be put in motion real soon. You don't have to worry about me disappearing on you anymore. Jesus, Kat. I'm always gonna be here."

John groaned in the living room before calling out an extended, "Gaaaaaaaaaay!"

Dave stiffened. "Hey, John, buddy ol' pal of mine."

"Yes, Dave?"

"You're gonna wanna wash your sheets when we leave."

Karkat and Dave waited in the stunned silence before what he said had finally registered with John. "Gross! Are you fucking serious?" Karkat looked over Dave's shoulder. John was bright red, getting up from his spot on the couch and exiting the room. "I cannot fucking believe you right now!"

Dave chuckled as they heard John stomp down the hall and slam him bedroom door shut. "He's not actually that mad. He's being dramatic. He could stand to be a little more open minded though."

Karkat leaned into him. Dave picked up his coffee mug and was bringing it to his mouth. Karkat placed his hand over Dave's and drew the cup to his mouth instead, intercepting the bitter drink. He needed to wake up. He didn't need this much hysteria in the morning. He also had to be clear headed when they went over Dave's plan again.

Dave let him down the entire thing, instead opting to cuddle his face into the crook of Karkat's neck. He trailed a few kisses up to his jawline.

"Y-You can tell me about the plan now," Karkat was trying to stay calm but the memories of last night kept coming back in rapid hot flashes.

Dave helped him place the coffee back down before winding a hand up his shirt and feeling up his sides. "We don't have to do that right now."

"Dave, we are not going to do this in John's kitchen. He will never let either of us be guests here again. I'd never be able to make eye contact with him."

Dave sighed, his warm coffee breath heating up the back of Karkat's neck. "Alright, I'll tone it down for Egbert. We did just get R-rated in his guest bedroom after all.

Karkat maneuvered himself in Dave's lap, turning so that his legs were spread out and on either side of Dave's torso. He felt like he needed to face him when they discussed the plan. "So what's going down?"

Dave rested his hands on Karkat's back and right hip to keep him steady. "The plan to usurp Caliborn is officially in motion. I got a call from my bro and he, Jake, and Roxy are in New Jersey. They landed last night and stayed with Rose until this morning." Dave smiled. "Dirk is also bitchin cause Jersey isn't anything like Texas. Says he misses all of the homophobic bigots and biblehumpers."

"I think you mean 'biblethumpers'."

"Yeah, no. I'm pretty sure it's humpers. Anyway, Dirk is gathering our numbers, contactin everybody and settin up a meeting place for when shit hits the fan. You are not going to be attending these meetings. You will be far away from them, safe and sound. I've already talked to Rose, and although she is pretty pissed at me for involving her girlfriend in my 'shenanigans' as she eloquently phrases it and doesn't like that I haven't been in touch with her, she is willing to let you stay the night with her and Kanaya. That should keep you out of the drama zone long enough to execute our invasion of The Felt mansion and take out the head honcho and all of his lackeys."

Karkat hummed. "I don't think you have to take all of them out. There's a room, branching off from the ballroom. It's got a pool table in there. I think that's where he keeps track of everybody. Crowbar and Itchy's numbers were on the other side. I'm pretty sure others are gonna be next to them now too. Keep an eye out for any in the middle. You might be able to just walk in and convince some guys to drop their posts and follow you."

Dave looked uncomfortable. "You're being really optimistic about this. We might not have the time for that kind of thing. And I don't really want to take any chances with people I care about on the line. But, on the off-chance that anybody manages to find the room and assess the lordling's loyalty chart, I'll let everybody know beforehand that it exists. Everybody's gonna be in communication during the attack so they can just walkie in who we might be able to persuade."

Karkat threw his arms around Dave's neck. Someone most likely would die tonight. And there wasn't a doubt in Karkat's mind that it wasn't going to be someone he knew. "Thank you. I've just grown up with some of things guys, you know? I don't want to see them…"

Dave hugged him back. "I know. I get it."

"But even more so, you aren't allowed to die. If any of them hurt you, I don't know what I'd do."

Dave's grip tightened on him. It almost hurt but he let Dave keep squeezing him close. Life without Dave was a very real possibility. "Come back safe to me."

"I will."

"Oh my God."

Dave and Karkat looked up. John had reentered the room.

"Somehow this position is even more scandalous than before. Do you think that maybe you could, like, just pretend that you're self-conscious? Just for my sake? Please."

A fiendish grin spread across Dave's face. Karkat eyed him suspiciously. Uh oh. Dave stood up, Karkat in tow, and dipped him in the kitchen. "Oh! Mi amor!" He trailed his hand up Karkat's leg and pulled it up so that it was pointing straight and positioned near his head. He kissed the tip of his nose.

Karkat squealed in surprise, looking over at John's dumbstruck face before trying to put a stop to his boyfriend's antics. "Dave! I swear to God!" He started laughing as Dave began peppering his face with kisses. "Dave!"

"My blooming desert rose! My shimmering summer sun! And don't get me started on those legs. Like, hot damn."

John heaved a heavy sigh. "I'm just gonna phone Jade then and tell her to get her gun ready, I guess."

Karkat pushed Dave's face away. "Jade's gonna be involved in the raid?"

John shrugged. "Well, yeah. She's a great mark. I'm not gonna be at the rumpus because I'm not really that great at wielding weaponry but I'm sure she'll be fine."

Karkat looked up at Dave, biting his bottom lip. "Who else is going on the raid?"

"Aside from your dad and his crew, the ex-Felt members, Jade, and the StriLondes, nobody. I wouldn't put untrained civilians at risk, Kat."

"So Terezi wasn't aware of any of this either."

"Nah. I did call her this morning though. She's gonna drop a hint to the cops about some illicit activities going down nearby the mansion. They'll hear some strategically sounded off gunfire, come upon the scene, and we'll be out of there before they arrive and finish the raid for us." He rubbed the back of his head. "Or that's how it's supposed to go anyway."

Dave sounded so confident and the plan so carefully pieced together. Everything was really starting to fall into place. Karkat was beginning to find it difficult to feel as anxious as he originally was.

"I think you might want to head over to Kanaya's place now, though. John volunteered to drop you off and I've got to get going to our designated meeting place soon."

Karkat tugged at Dave's shirt and pulled him down into a kiss.

Dave had a goofy smile plastered to his face. What a lovable shmuck. "Was that for good luck?"

"No that was just for me. Why, did you want one of those too?" Karkat waggled his eyebrows. John pulled the back of his shirt collar.

"Okay! Okay! That's enough! Karkat has to get dressed and Dave has to get a move on. I have 'gagging at dorks in love' penned in for twelve-thirty today, guys, and I'd rather not have you throwing off my schedule."

John stopped his light blue Chevy van in Rose and Kanaya's parking lot. The ride over had been annoying. John apparently liked listening to audio recordings of his favorite comedians while he drove. Karkat hopped out of the passenger seat and walked to the driver's window. "I'll see you later, Karkat! I think you're a pretty funny dude and I can't wait until this whole thing blows over so we can actually hang out for real sometime."

Karkat actually flashed him a genuine smile. "Yeah, you aren't so bad either. I mean, you kind of make me want to gouge out my eyeballs with spoons and dangle them on a beaded necklace, but that's actually more tolerable than most people."

John snorted. "You know I was just being theatrical this morning when I was hemming and hawing about you and Dave being intimate in my kitchen, right? The truth is, I've never seen him that happy. He's my best friend and I like it when he's comfortable with himself and, jeez, I'm so bad at this, bluh! Anyway, I know I was giving you guys a hard time, but you're actually pretty cute together and basically… thank you?"

"That was the most awkward thing I've ever had to stand through." Karkat enjoyed watching John fidget in his seat. "But you're welcome."

Karkat waved as John pulled out of the lot, honking his horn. It blasted the Ecto-1 siren noise from Ghostbusters. He grimaced. Well, he wasn't going to be completely tolerable right off the bat, but at least he was warming up to him.

He made his way to the front of the building. It had been a while since he caught up with Kanaya. She was probably still upset with Terezi about the dinner date with the Doc.

A hand tapped Karkat on the shoulder before he got to the door, interrupting his train of thought. As soon as he turned around, another person approached him from his side, covering his mouth with a rag. He inhaled quickly, his breathing erratic with panic. He tried to lash out but his attackers grabbed his arms and legs respectively, picking him up and carrying him. Another person held the rag in place, as he tried to shake it off. His vision was blurring and he felt the energy drain from his tired limbs. Three bright green blotches swam in his eyes and he watched the world fade away into darkness.

The last thing he remembered was the smell and sound of burning rubber as he drifted off into a cold and silent sleep.