― mcyt one-shots

Happily Ever After [Karlnap]

→ happily ever after, a karlnap oneshot

↳ for the writta block discord competition, 1/15/21

↳ cw: none; plot provided by Dream#1924; written by mintyfrxsh

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"-and they lived happily ever after."

Sapnap glanced upwards from the book he was reading, letting his reading glasses slip down the bridge of his nose. Meeting his gaze as equals, rather than following the hierarchy they resided in, was his friend since childhood. The way Sapnap felt about the loyal, and yet somewhat oblivious, Karl was a manner he didn't hide very well, that being he would do anything in his power to make sure he was happy, no matter what that may be.

Karl sat up in his chair, his fluffy brown hair falling into his eyes, combing over his forehead in a childish way, as he beamed right back at the king.

It was weird, and marginally unheard of, to acknowledge the fact the king of all of Koland was reading to his head guard, but to those within the castle, it was a normal occurrence.

They had been friends for ages, sticking together through thick and thin, facing the loss of the previous king together and climbing to the top of the ranks. It was no wonder Sapnap always could spare time for Karl, whose entire life was dedicated to defending Sapnap's.

So, nights like these were pretty common. Both of them in a comfortable eased silence, sitting by an open fire, with a storybook on Sapnap's lap. Other times they would draw, and sometimes they would chart out maps. It depended on how they were feeling, what they were in the mood for. No matter what they did, it was the highlight of their days.

The king closed the book, and leaned his elbow on the armrest of the chair, imploring for Karl's reaction. "I liked it," he finally responded, although Karl would admit the story wasn't as near as intriguing as Sapnap and his mannerisms were.

The way the fire danced across his features and toned his skin, bringing out the deep indigo locked away in the dungeons of his eyes. This was the only time Sapnap felt as himself, not the shell of the king he thought he was, and Karl found that Sapnap's contentment was so important to him. While his life may be dedicated to serving his best friend, he was far from bitter about it. Rather, it was the best median for them, as they saw each other constantly.

Sapnap was barely the crisp age of eighteen, as was Karl. Both of them were young to have such important duties, but they handled it with as much precision as one could.

This also meant they were able to find their soulmates.

Karl tried to pry his wandering thoughts away from that particular revelation. Accepting the fact Sapnap would find someone more worthwhile to him, a true half to his soul, was simply breaking Karl in half.

Having just turned old enough to find his own soulmate a mere week ago, Karl looked into it more with each passing day, but without the ability to read, it made it hard to process any information he found. So he had Sapnap read it outloud to him.

In their timeline, soulmates found each other by touch. Just brushing by your soulmate would leave a brilliant neon mark where they contacted you, and it would fade within a few seconds. Older soulmates, or ones with established relationships, had a fainter glow as to not be so obvious.

People could attribute how bright the glow was to as bright as the longing was. If someone didn't want their soulmate, then any marks left on them could be completely invisible. Karl didn't really want his soulmate.