The Apocalypse [Dreamnotfound AU]

Restless Energy

Some Karl backstory, y'all...

Enjoy <3<3

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Tw: swearing, weapons, angst, mention of smoking, mention of character death (this is NOT any of the main characters)

Sapnap doesn't know how to feel as he watches Dream and the others disappear through the caf doors.

Karl's arm is looped tightly around his waist like he's keeping both of them from running after their friends. Quackity looks like he wishes he'd just gone instead of listening to Montero's plan. And Sapnap's heart is pounding like it's gonna burst out of his chest.

Karl catches the look on his face and squeezes his waist gently. "They'll be fine, Nick. Don't even worry about it." Sapnap snorts. "What you should be worried about," Karl continues. "Is your injury. You should be lying down."

"I don't want to lie down," Sapnap mutters, even though he's a little dizzy. But he's also restless. He wants to grab his gun and rush into the halls to take down some zombies. Anything to keep his thoughts away from Dream and George and the others.

"I'll lie down with you," Karl announces, innocently, and Sapnap's mind is suddenly hyper-focused, his cheeks flooding with warmth. "At a respectable distance, of course."

"I'm leaving," Quackity mutters, and Sapnap huffs a laugh at how uncomfortable he looks. Quackity grabs Montero's arm and drags him to the doors. "We'll just be patrolling the halls. On the other side of the school. As far away from here as physically possible."

Karl giggles and waves. "Have fun," he calls as the caf doors close behind them. Leaving Sapnap alone with Karl in the suddenly silent caf. His heart is thundering in his chest, loud enough that he wonders if Karl can hear it.

Karl turns back to him, a smile on his face. But it fades when he meets Sapnap's eyes. "You're flushed," he says, placing a cool hand on his forehead. Sapnap closes his eyes at the touch. "And you're burning up. You really should be lying down."

"Fine," Sapnap says, and he lets Karl lead him toward a corner of the caf. Karl shrugs off his button up shirt and Sapnap's heart jolts... but Karl's wearing a thin turtleneck underneath. What's wrong with him, he wonders, as Karl bunches his shirt up and places it below Sapnap's head like a pillow.

"There, now you'll be comfortable," Karl says, meeting his gaze. But then, the look in his eyes changes a little, a gleam that Sapnap can't really figure out. A smile tugs at Karl's lips. "Are you sure you really have a fever? Or are you just using this as an excuse to make me take care of you?"

Sapnap blushes, stammering a reply. "Of course not, you nimrod. I'm injured, remember?"

"Yeah, of course," Karl agrees, lying down beside him on his side, so that he's facing him. "Doesn't mean you aren't being dramatic about it."

"You wish," Sapnap mumbles and Karl grins wildly.

"Well if that's the case," Karl says. He brings a hand to Sapnap's chest and starts tracing small, abstract patterns there that make every thought in Sapnap's brain disappear. "Then, maybe you should sleep."

The hand disappears and Sapnap starts at the sudden loss. "What do you mean, sleep?" he almost growls, wondering if Karl is doing this deliberately.

He can practically hear the shrug in Karl's voice. "You know, if you're so injured, then you should probably be sleeping. That's how you get better."

Of course he's doing it deliberately, Sapnap realizes, and the thought almost makes him snort. But he stops himself. Two can play this game.