Karma Is Baby

2: Seepy Time

"I thought you were sleeping?" Sigma looked up to see Fyodor entering the dining room. He and Karma had been playing various card games.
Fyodor looked around absently, "I got distracted..."
"Have you taken your medicine?" Sigma asked.
Fyodor nodded as he walked into the kitchen.
Karma whispered over the table, "is he a vampire?"
Sigma laughed, "no way. He does kind of look like one, doesn't he?"
Karma nodded, "he looks so..."
"Dead?" Sigma smiled, "he's been through more we can imagine. And to top it all off he's got anemia. I cant imagine how he keeps himself alive."
Karma nodded in agreement, "he's lucky to have someone like you."
Sigma faltered and his cheeks grew rosy, "oh, no... I-"
"You really care about him," Karma said slowly as he attempted to shuffle the cards, "I wish I had someone like that..."
Sigma gently took the cards from his hands with a smile, "well you do now."
Karma's eyes lingered on the table. But how long would that last?...
Sigma expertly shuffled the deck, "I don't know if you had parents before and I'm sure Dostoyevsky has no experience raising children, but I have a feeling it will be good for the both of you."
Karma blinked. Sigma made it sound permanent... but what did Dostoyevsky think?... Did he really have the intention of adopting him?...
"Does that mean I'm a dad now?!" Nikolai exclaimed, suddenly in the room.
Karma almost fell out of his seat. Sigma looked over at him, "when did you..."
"No, Gogol," Fyodor leaned against the doorframe a mug of steaming liquid in his white hands, "that wouldn't make you a dad."
"But if Karma's your son, then he'd be my son, too!"
Karma froze. Dostoyevsky was married to this crazy guy?!
"No, it wouldn't," Fyodor continued calmly, "how would that make him your son?"
Nikolai folded his arms and puffed out his cheeks, "you're smart. You should know."
Fyodor stared at everyone in the room in turn, "is there some joke I don't know about?"
Nikolai gasped in the most outrageously offended way possible, "had I only dreamed it?!"
Fyodor gave him a confused look.
"You can't possibly raise him on your own anyways!" He waved his hand, dismissing his own shock, "you should be happy to have my help as your partner."
Fyodor's brows knit together, "Gogol... you had a dream about marrying me?"
"And what if I did?" His voice went up a few octaves and his face grew red as he folded his arms defiantly.
Fyodor's lips cracked into a small smile as he chuckled. He didn't say anything as he took a sip of his drink.
So... they weren't together? Karma was very confused.
"It doesn't matter. Karma will be my son if I want him to be," he put his hands on the back of Karma's chair.
Fyodor shrugged, "that would be 'our son' and it isn't up to you. Plus, I'm sure you would more likely traumatize him than teach him anything valuable."
Nikolai frowned, "you're no fun."
Fyodor lifted his mug in a goodbye and left back into the kitchen.
"Did you really have a dream about marrying Dostoyevsky?" Sigma asked as he started dealing out the cards.
Nikolai smiled widely as he sat down at the table, "what do you think?"
"Well... I don't think it's unlikely... You always seem rather infatuated with him..."
Nikolai faltered, but only for a second, "I do not..."
"Do too," Sigma nodded to himself, "you always stare at him whenever you're in the same room. And I can tell you like it when he looks you in the eyes. Er, eye?"
"That..." Nikolai seemed to struggle, "Eye contact is an important part of having a conversation..."
Sigma rolled his eyes, "okay, but can you explain why you stare at him so much?"
Nikolai did not speak for a moment. "Because he's just nice to look at," he folded his arms uncomfortably.
Sigma nodded, "mhm, alright." He sent Karma a knowing look.
Karma smiled a little bit, it was rather obvious. Though, it was a bit worrying that such a scary person liked Fyodor... He wondered if Fyodor was ever going to do anything about it. Probably not, he seemed like the kind of person to use Nikolai's feelings for his own gain...
That made Karma feel a little bad for the cooky guy.
"Sooo what are we playing?"
"The game of Mao may now commence," Sigma smiled deviously.
Nikolai opened his mouth in offense, "oh, you-"
"Card for talking," Sigma slid a card across the table, smiling innocently.
Karma giggled to himself. At least Sigma was pretty normal.

Karma started nodding off and Sigma showed him to one of the empty rooms. Karma was in shock, "this... this whole room?"
Sigma nodded, "it's yours now."
Karma's eyes sparkled as he looked around, "seriously?"
"Seriously," Sigma smiled. He remembered how shocked he had felt when he got his own room as well.
Karma didn't want to get in trouble for exploring, but this place was just so... lonely. He decided to wait at least a half an hour before leaving his room to look around. Hopefully everyone would be asleep by then.
Karma wandered down the halls, creating a map in his mind. It was big, but it wasn't that big. He noticed that there weren't that many decorations or anything... Most of the hallways were empty and devoid of any color.
What was this place? Was it really only the three of them living here? Sigma had mentioned there used to be more...
Karma wondered what they had been like...
"Karma?"
It was Sigma's voice.
Karma felt frozen.
"You're still awake?" Sigma asked. "You seemed pretty tired earlier."
Karma slowly turned around, hardening his nerves and forcing his face to have the least amount of expression possible. He wasn't sure what excuse would work best here.
Sigma was smiling softly, looking quite tired, himself. "Was it too lonely?"
Karma blinked slowly. How had he known...?
Sigma's smile widened, "believe it or not, I used to be a slave as well."
Karma almost took a step back, "what? Really?"
He nodded, "it was pretty hard to get used to sleeping by myself... I can understand how suffocating it can feel."
Karma cast his eyes aside. He didn't want to talk about it.
"Why don't you come with me?" Sigma held out his hand.
Karma debated, eventually deciding that Sigma wasn't going to hurt him. He carefully took Sigma's outstretched hand.
Sigma held his hand tightly as he took him down a few hallways, "there aren't many rooms downstairs so we're all up here."
Karma realized they were headed back in the direction of Karma's new room. He didn't want to go back...
"Dostoyevsky's room is pretty far down. I've found out that he likes his corners. He's kind of like a cat," he chuckled.
Karma grew more tense as they approached the door that led to his room.
To his surprise - and relief - they walked right passed it.
"Gogol's is a few doors down from me, and I," he stopped just one door over from Karma's, "am almost your neighbor." He smiled over at Karma.
Karma blinked up at him.
Sigma pushed open his door. Unlike the rest of his house, his room was decorated, albeit not very much. Karma didn't have time to really look at what the decorations were because Sigma said something he didn't understand.
"I figure you don't want to be by yourself," he said, Karma's eyes widened with every word. "You can spend the night with me if you want."
Karma stared up at him with wide eyes. Why would Sigma offer that?...
Sigma closed his eyes and tilted his head with a smile, waiting patiently for Karma's answer.
Karma looked Sigma up and down. First, his smiling face. Then, at their hands. And finally, back up again.
Karma really didn't want to be in his room by himself all night... Staying with Sigma couldn't hurt, right?...
Sigma had let Karma borrow a pair of pajamas (though, they were incredibly big on him) and muttered something about having to go shopping again.
"I understand how you feel," Sigma sat down beside Karma, "how alone you feel. I just wish I had someone to help me..."
Karma looked up at him slowly.
"I guess that's why I want to help you so badly," he smiled.
Karma just stared. He didn't know what to say. Was there something he should say? Did Sigma really know how he felt?...
Sigma pat Karma on the head, "I think it's bedtime, no?"
Karma nodded. He needed a minute to just... process...
When Karma laid down he couldn't help but gasp. It was the softest thing he had ever felt... And people normally went to bed this comfortably?! And the blankets were so soft!
"Is my room like this, too?!" He exclaimed.
Sigma giggled, "yes. But I assume Dostoyevsky's room is the most comfortable, considering it's his house."
Karma nodded, "that makes sense."
"Oh!" Sigma grew excited, "I can have you try out some of my new recipes! I really enjoy cooking, but Gogol isn't around to eat anything I make most of the time. And Dostoyevsky doesn't eat much. He says his medication makes everything look gross."
He heaved a quiet sigh, "he really makes me worry about him... oh, I should probably tell you before it happens and scares you. It's not very often, but sometimes Dostoyevsky passes out for a few minutes."
Karma blinked, "... that does sound scary..."
Sigma nodded, "Gogol always obsesses over it when it happens. He likes to pretend he doesn't care about anyone, but he seems pretty upset whenever something happens to Dostoyevsky."
Karma laughed, "I don't know who he thinks he's fooling. I mean, come on! He had a dream about marrying him!"
Sigma joined in on his laughter, "he should really think twice about what he says."