The boys had been able to keep up their sleeping arrangements for almost a month and a half. However, some of the others were starting to notice. Rose had been making insinuations about Dave's feelings for Karkat being more than just bromance inclinations. Not in a teasing way, more in her irritating psychoanalytic way. Like she knew more about Dave's feelings than Dave himself. And maybe she did, but this was something he wanted to discover on his own.

Questions were asked by the others about why, when there are so many, many, rooms on the meteor were they sharing a room? Neither wanted to reveal their anxieties to so many people. It was private. The two had an understanding, nothing romantic was going on, just bros protecting each other's feels, that was it. Nothing romantic about it, nope. Well, okay, according to Karkat they were apparently in something called a "moirallegiance"? Whatever, they were bros that's all that needed to be known.

Still, they realized they spent about 2/3 of their time either sleeping or staying next to the other so they could sleep. Kind of an inefficient use of time. So, Dave took it upon himself to work on the damn keypads that he discovered underneath panels, next to the doors, but for some reason were incredibly stubborn. There was a door that bridged Dave's room to Karkat's that refused to open and the doors for each other boy's rooms to the hallway refused to lock. Thankfully, Dave was pretty good with technology…well, okay, obstinately persistent was more like it.

A few days later he finally managed to get his door to lock, the bridging door to open and he greeted Karkat and showed him how to lock his door. "Now we can both rest easy."

Karkat did like that he could lock his door, but it still didn't save him from Gamzee. He pointed this out to Dave. "Didn't you weld the grate?"

"No, how the fuck would I do that?"

Dave left coming back with a torch and a welder's mask. "Look away dude, this shit will burn your retinas."

Karkat did as he was told, he didn't like being told what to do, but he valued his sight too much not to obey.

Dave finished shortly. "There." He then went back to his room, only to return moments later is a thin black cloth. "If Mcbat-shit the crazy clown tries to spy on you or anything, this should make it harder to see."

"Dipshit, won't that keep air from getting into the room?"

"No, it's thin, dumbass; air should pass through it fine."

Despite the derogatory names used towards each other, the two had become quite close. Karkat was actually a little sad. Dave doing all of this must mean that he was tired of sleeping in the same room as him. Karkat wasn't about to say anything, he wasn't a fucking wriggler, but he liked having Dave by his side.

It was getting late and Karkat was getting ready to turn in. He really wished Dave was here. It was just comforting having someone else near him. Someone who understood his paranoia, even if it stemmed from a different place. Dave and Karkat were on a wavelength none of the others could understand.

Just then, Dave came through the door that bridged the two rooms together. "Het, ready for bed?"

"Yeah, your ass going to stay up? I'm fucking exhausted."

"Dude that's what the locked doors and the fabric on the vent are for. I'm tired of people sticking their noses into our fucking business. And I'm tired of the inefficient use of time. Now, we can both sleep and still feel safe and shit."

"Then why share a fucking bed? Why not sleep in our own rooms?"

"…" Dave couldn't answer that. Truth was, he liked sleeping next to Karkat, it was reassuring in a different way than just safety. It's like, for the first time, Dave didn't feel quite so alone. He was always alone when he lived with Bro, always alone and on edge. Even at school he was alone. He didn't really have a way to relate to the other kids. None of their parents made them strife, or had smuppets strewn across the house, or had a fucking demonic puppet that hauted their fucking dreams. Granted, Karkat didn't have this either, but still there was a feeling of like-mindedness with Karkat, the feeling of isolation that was forced onto you by someone else or circumstances out of your control. They just handled it differently. Karkat was loud and pushy so he didn't look so afraid, so he could convince himself he was strong enough to defend himself. Dave was reticent so he could fade into the background, so people would forget he was there and not target him; another piece of wisdom that Bro had taught him.

"Look, I just figured it would give us some privacy, I got the feeling that you liked having someone else in the room, since that's not case I'll just go back to my room." Dave was disappointed and a little hurt, but he'd be damned if he was going to show more vulnerability.

"Fuck, would you calm the fuck down?! I was just wondering why YOU still wanted to sleep in the same bed. I don't believe for one fucking second that you are doing it purely for my sake. Tell me the fucking truth."

"Fine, truth time, here it is. Get ready for a god damned picture show filled with the best fucking veracity money can buy. Only no money, because that shit is worthless now and boonbucks are fucking stupid. In fact, let me go draw up a few comics on the candor of which I'm about to disseminate the shit out of to you."

"OH MY GOG! WOULD YOU STOP FUCKING RAMBLING AND JUST FUCKING SAY IT!"

"…Fine…truth is…I like sleeping in the same room with you. I hated everyone asking fucking questions and wanted them to leave me alone about my shit. Fuck telling them anything, including Rose. She my sister and I appreciate her advice when warranted, but it's not needed for this. This is my thing that I can figure it out on my own. I can deal with my own issues in my own fucking way and right now I just want to keep things as they are without getting the third fucking degree every time I leave this room."

Karkat could feel like there was more to this. Less about their sleeping arrangements and more about something Dave was going through personally. What issues was he talking about? This had to be more than just dealing with their nosey meteor mates. He wouldn't push it though, he would let Dave handle it in his own time. "Alright, get over here bulgemuncher."

Dave was relieved, no more than relieved, thankful. He suddenly felt like he was in debt to Karkat for doing this, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He climbed into bed with Karkat, both on their sides facing each other. "So…how do we do this? Normally one of us is sitting up and keeping a fucking look out."

"Um…" Dave hadn't really thought about this aspect of their sharing a sleeping space. They could turn their backs to each other, but he wanted contact right now. They could spoon, but that seemed really intimate. Or…"Let's try this." Dave reached his arm across Karkat, pulling the troll closer to him. His head under Dave's chin, Dave careful to avoid the horns. It was awkward at first, the boys ended up shifting a couple of times until Karkat had his arms around Dave's waist, face against his chest. Karkat's head far enough down that Dave didn't have to worry about being stabbed with the nubby horns. Although he was curious what was with those horns. He carefully reached up and softly brushed one; feeling Karkat's body tense at the contact. "Sorry, should I not do that?"

"No, it's fine."

"What does it feel like anyway?"

"It depends on whose touching them and when. Moirails touching each other's horns typically is done for a calming effect. It sort of forces us to calm down. If someone touches them and they are not in a quadrant it can cause a feeling of violation or anger. Mine are a bit more sensitive because they're so small; so the feeling created is a bit more intense at first."

Dave thought about what he said for a moment and had to ask. "Karkat, what do you consider me in your quadrant thingy."

"I already told you dipshit, Moirails, what we're doing right now has fucking pale feelings all over it."

"Good." Dave reached up and gently rubbed the nubby horns. Karkat tensed again, but quickly relaxed, falling into a trance like state, he stated purring. "Whoa, you fucking purr?"

Karkat was a little out of it from the stimulation of his horns. Unable to even get irritated with Dave. Dave was still rubbing them and it was creating a peaceful tranquility within Karkat, it was taking everything the troll had not to fall asleep and answer the question. "…It's a …bonding mechanism…creates…feeling…o…f…tru…st…" And he's out; but his purring was only getting louder…Dave had to admit, it had a soothing effect, his eye were getting heavier and he felt a thread in the back of his mind tug him down into the depth of a dream filled abyss.