Heartbeat [DaveKat]

Morning

DAVE

I woke up in an instant to a high-pitched screech from the being next to me. I blinked, jumping into a sitting position as I turned to face the other figure in my bed. Karkat was clutching the sides of his head, his knees curled up to his chest. The once ear-piercing yell was now variations of loud mumbles and groans, and he rocked back and forth.

"Hey- dude hey, what happened?" I tried to talk over him in a groggy, tired voice. Hesitantly, I placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to take in a sharp breath and stop rocking. I watched him take a few deep breaths and slowly lower his hand to rest it on my other one, which I leaned on the bed between us.

I looked down at our hands as he turned his head slowly towards me. His legs were still tight up to his chest and his chin rested on his knees. His other arm wrapped around the top of his legs and the lower half of his face was covered by it. My eyes flickered back up to him and I frowned back at his steady gaze.

"It was... really loud." He mumbled into his elbow, his eyes shifting so he was looking at the rustled pillows behind us.

I stared at him. "Are you okay, though?" I asked after a pause. He nodded a little, and his hand slowly curled around mine. He seemed kind of out of it. I didn't bother to ask any more, as I assumed the sudden wakening hearts had woken him up. I glanced over to the bed stand, taking note of the time. It was a little past 11:00.

"Hey, um, do you wanna shower first? That might calm you down a little. Maybe the water could block out the noise a little, or something." I suggested it with a weary voice, unsure if it was a stupid assumption or not.

Karkat nodded again, breathing deeply as he lifted his head. He ran his free hand through his deep, auburn hair, then rested it on the other side of him. "Yeah. Yeah, okay." He hesitantly let go of my hand, wincing a little and grabbing onto my wrist after a moment. I watched his hand and his expressions.

"Sorry, it's just. Still kind of hard to get used to." He hadn't looked at me again.

"That's alright, I get it. I don't want you to be so uncomfortable, so you're fine, man."

He nodded again. Taking another breath, he let go of me, and squinted as he slid himself off the bed. He rubbed his temples, slowly walking over to the bathroom door, stopping in front of it with his hand on the doorknob.

"You do know how to work a shower, right, Woods Boy?" I raised an eyebrow as I slid myself to the edge of the bed and hung my legs over.

"Yeah, moron, I'm not from Mars." He turned his head, glaring back at me.

"Well, considering where we are now, it wouldn't be too shocking if you were." I tilted my head and pressed my lips into my shoulder, both eyebrows raised but both eyes only half open.

He rolled his eyes and turned the knob, stepping inside. I saw him step quickly onto the bath mat after walking on the cold tile. I looked at him, and he looked at me through the door before he closed it. I looked at the door, and he probably didn't.

I heard the shower start up after what seemed like a while, but I hadn't yet moved from my position on the bed. I stood up, then, and stepped over my jeans that were on the floor next to the bed. I approached the mirror that hung on the back of the bathroom door and glared at myself through squinted eyes. I ruffled my hair and shook out my shirt a little as I turned back to the bed. I saw the dispersed pillows and astray blanket on Karkat's side of the bed. I sighed, louder than I planned.

There was a bad taste in my mouth. I stuck my tongue out, making a dumb face into the mirror. I then jumped back quickly as the door suddenly swung back open, forcing me back onto the second bed with a quiet yell. Karkat peered out, and I could only see his head.

"Hey, could you-" he cut himself off when he saw me up on the bed with my hand on my chest. "What are you doing?"

I stared at him for a second before chuckling a little, slowly standing back up and brushing off my shirt. "Nothing, nothing you just scared me. Uh, what did you need?" He glared at me for a moment before shaking his head. "Uhm, just a towel, from my bag."

"Oh, right." I turned to see his suitcase behind me on the bed, and stepped closer to it.

"The front pocket, there." He nodded as my hand skimmed across the top of the case, and I unzipped the pocket, pulling out a large, dark grey towel. I tossed it to him, without thinking, and it hit him in the face before landing in a heap on the floor. I chuckled a little. "Pfft, sorry."

He glared up at me with a frown. "Yeah, nice shot." He disappeared behind the door and I saw his arm reach out and pull the towel in before the door closed. I sighed deeply and ran my hands through my hair again. I walked back over to my side of the room, picking up my jeans off the floor and stuffing them in the bottom drawn of my dresser, simultaneously pulling out a different pair. I slipped them on, hopping a little as I did, and then pulled off my shirt and stuffed it into the dresser as well. It was nearly summer, and was fairly warm, so I didn't care to put on another.

The weather suddenly made me realize the strange time that Karkat had showed up at this school. He would only be here for a few weeks before it was summer and he could leave again. I wondered why they bothered bringing him here this year anyway. I shrugged off the thought and sat down on the bed, grabbing my phone from the bedside table. I flipped through the usual social media, bored, and waited patiently for the bathroom door to open again.

When it did, I looked up to see Karkat step out with wet hair that stuck out in more places than it did when dry. My eyes followed him across the room to his bed, where he flipped open his suit case and stuffed in the clothes he'd been wearing. His skin kind of shone in the sun that poured through the blinds, and I payed too close attention to how he moved. He stopped and looked over at me, and I noticed I was sort of just staring at him.

"Um, what?" He squinted at me. "You can, like, get in now."

I blinked, and my gaze shifted to the open bathroom. "Right, yeah, sorry." I hopped up, leaving my phone on the bed, and strutted into the bathroom.

The mirror was steamed over and the air felt damp when I stepped in. I reached into the shower to turn on the water, getting my hand wet in the process. I shook it off before turning to the mirror across the room, looking at myself. I ran my hands through my messy hair and shook my head a little, making a stupid face in the mirror. I set my hands down on the counter and sighed a little before quickly turning back around to face the shower. I slipped off the jeans I had only just put on, along with my boxers, and stepped into the water that was already warm.

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( This is sort of just a space filler as I try to sort out some more plot stuff, so I apologize for such little content in this chapter lmao

aLSO I HAVENT WRITTEN IN LIKE A YEAR MY BAD GUYS )