Homestuck x reader

Angry vs calm love (Karkat x reader)

"Wait, you've never been ice skating?"

"No! And I don't know why you're so fucking surprised about it either!" Karkat growled as he tied his laces.

"I'm just thinking that you might not be accustomed to sliding around in blades on ice."

"My balance is almost as good as Nepeta."

You raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not nearly as good as her. She can do some amazing shit, but don't get me wrong, I can hold my own!"

"I don't doubt it. Just brace yourself. It's not easy at first."

You stood up and took a minute to steady yourself. Then let go and, with wobbly steps, made your way to the rink door.

Karkat tried to follow your lead, but quickly had to grab the bench. He held on and took tiny steps towards you. It took a long time, but he finally managed to stand beside you.

"Ready?"

He nodded. You opened the heavy door and you were both blasted by cold. Under the scratch of skates on ice, the shouts and chatter and the air conditioning whirring, you could hear music playing. You had no clue what song it was though.

"It feels like that douchefucking winter nookbite frost spirit had a doltish party with pungent soporifics made of icicles in here!"

"It's not as steady as you might think. You don't get-!" You were cut off when you slid a little on the ice with your first steps and almost went down, but grabbed the wall and caught yourself.

"You okay?" Karkat asked.

"Yeah," you smiled brightly. "Come on!"

You held out a hand. Karkat took it and made a tentative step onto the ice. When nothing happened, he brought his other foot onto the ice. He smiled confidently.

"This isn't so- WAGH!" Karkat almost fell, but you pulled him up at the last second. He slid closer to you and clung onto you.

"I was wrong! So fucking wrong!" He was tense and had a steel grip on your coat.

"It's alright, K. It just takes a little practice."

"Really? And you don't think about the possibility that you could fall and some fuming fuckup could zoom by and slice off your fucking fingers?!"

"... I try not to. Just hold on to me. We'll do one lap around the rink. If you're still uncomfortable, we can go take off our skates. Sound good?"

"Fuck yes."

So you turned around and slowly glided around the rink. Karkat held onto you tightly. You circumnavigated the rink and when you reached your starting point, you could feel that Karkat's grip had loosened.

"Feeling better?"

"... I guess so."

You turned around and saw that Karkat gripped the wall instead of you now. You held out your hand.

"Ready for open ice?"

"... Alright. But if I get kicked in the face by some thinkpanless fucking asspress of an ice dancer or some shit, we're getting the fuck out of here."

He gripped your hand and you gently pushed off, pulling Karkat along behind you. Every now and then, you glanced back to see how he was doing. He seemed fine, and occasionally would attempt to copy your glide.

"You alright back there?"

"Yeah. Yeah! I think I'm getting the hang of it!"

"Alright. Hold on, I'm gonna steer us towards the wall."

You reached the wall and turned to Karkat.

"How about you get in front of me and try some stuff on your own? I'll be right behind you to make sure you don't die."

"Okay. You better not pull a bulge move and deliberately not catch me."

Karkat coasted along in front of you, hands still on the wall, and you began another lap around the rink. Halfway around, Karkat let go and pushed off.

"(Name), look! I'm doing it!" he said excitedly.

"That's great! Careful, though!"

Karkat laughed triumphantly and pushed off, farther ahead of you. You yourself let go of the wall and chased after him.

"WOOHOO!" Karkat hollered. He twisted around and reached out for you. You grabbed his hand and you both happily glissaded around the rink. You even made it to the middle at one point.

As time went by, the other skaters began to gradually exit the rink until it was just you, Karkat and a couple of other people. You could actually hear the music a little bit better now. It was a Frank Sinatra song and he was singing something about flying.

Suddenly the AC turned off and a PA system buzzed to life.

"Attention. The rink will be closing in 15 minutes. Please exit the rink and return your skates. Thank you." It clicked off.

Karkat glared at the ceiling.

"I know a good hot chocolate place. Come on!"

Karkat took your hand and you both skimmed over to solid floor. You stepped off and could feel the uneasy change from ice to ground. Karkat stepped off after you and yelped as he tottered precariously.

"Dear fuck, it's like trying to stand up in a moving 4 wheel device!"

You both held on to each other as you walked unsteadily towards the door. Once inside, you sat and unlaced your skates. When you retrieved your shoes from the counter, you exited the rink.

"This feels weird as shit!" Karkat said when you went outside. "It's like, everything feels all fucking lurchy!" He stumbled and zigzagged like he was drunk. Finally, you led him to your car. You helped him climb in the passenger, then you went around to the drivers side.

"Please, for the love of fuck, tell me it's not nooksmoking Starbucks."

"It's not."

"Thank gog."

You fired up the heat, drove out and sped down the highway. You glanced over at Karkat. He was staring out the window with a dreamy expression on his face. As you drove, different colored lights from various bars and nightclubs passed over his face. You even espied a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. It was rare that he looked this relaxed. He sighed contentedly.

"Feelin' alright?" you asked.

"Mm-hm." He replied. "This is nothing like Alternia. It's actually peaceful at night here. Sure, there are your nightly frequented bulgescratcher intoxication areas and your buildings designated to blasting borderline deafening crotchblistering music and color-changing lights while prickish dumbasses flail around, but there's this somnolent feeling everywhere else that's moderately calming."

Karkat yawned.

"Hey, if you're tired, we can head back to the neighborhood."

"... Okay."

You had to wait a minute to find a spot for a U-turn, then began heading back down the road.

You and Karkat lived in the same neighborhood since you were 13 (well, in Karkat's case 6 sweeps) when he decided to build his hive right next to your house. Your parents were extremely uncomfortable around foul-mouthed Karkat and asked you multiple times to stop being friends with him. After the 100th pleading session (you kept track), they accepted, with a great deal of reluctance, that Karkat was your friend no matter what. When you turned 18, your parents left the house to you and moved out to their dream location... which was rather far away. They kept in contact, but you still ran your own life.

20 minutes later, you pulled into your driveway. Karkat was half-asleep beside you and was barely keeping his eyes open. You stepped out of the car and watched as Karkat stumbled out of the other side.

"You need help?"

"No, nooksuck. I'm fine." He came around to your side and faced you. "... Thanks for the rink... thing. Night."

He shuffled to his hive and you made sure he went in before heading to your own house. It was tiny, but it was a nice little house. When you closed the door, you shivered and took off your coat, your hat, your gloves, pretty much everything, then you went to your bedroom. You flopped down on the bed and smiled. Nothing but peace and-

There was knocking at the door. You groaned and hauled yourself up off the bed and trudged to the door. It was Karkat.

"What's up?"

"My batshitting fucksack of a heat unit is broken. Can I stay here tonight?"

"Sure. Come on in."