Red (Davekat)

Sweeter Than Sweet

<Be Karkat>

"so dave, how much d'you think is gonna be different this year?" I asked, moving my laptop off of my lap and onto my bed. We were on call, so I tried to adjust the screen as nicely as I could for him. Can't be showing off my double chin to Dave now.

He snorted and leaned back in his seat, his feet swinging up to rest on his desk, "Honestly, Karkles? We both know that jack shit is gonna be new. It's always the same thing. 'Oh you'll be in jail your whole life if you slack off in this class', like, c'mon bro. We all know that's a load of bull."

Rolling my eyes, I grabbed a pencil and a sketch pad so that it looked like I was doing something and not just staring at Dave, "well, i guess you're right. although, the one piece of advice i'd give you is to not let the principal catch you smoking pot with captor again."

I watched Dave's lips scrunch up and push to the side, "Hm.. I'll think about it," he chuckled at my heavy sigh and continued, "c'mon Karks, I don't fuck with that shit anymore. Bro nearly cut my damn head off when he found out," he pulled his shades down just enough to show me his eyes rolling, "fucking hypocrite."

Giving him a tiny smile, I put my things back onto my bed and rested my elbows on my knees, "I'm not ready for this to end."

Dave's head tilted to the side and his lips twitched slightly, "Oh?"

"this summer has been the most fun i'd ever had before. i'm not ready to just let it go now," I saw his hand twitch towards the camera, but he paused once he realized what he was doing.

"Hey, Karkles. It's not the end of the world. We'll still have each other..."

I smiled at him and looked at the keyboard, "yea, i suppose."

He opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it, his head bolting up to face behind him, "Shit. Kitten? I'm sorry, but I gotta go. Bro is here and, yea. See you in school tomorrow."

I saw him reach over to hang up, so I piped up quickly, "i-i love you."

He froze and gave me a smile, "I love you too, Karkat."

When the call disconnected, I sighed and shut my computer off, putting it away. I didn't want to hang up, but there wasn't really much of an option. With a yawn, I stretched out and flopped down onto my back. My head turned and I noticed the window. The curtains were still drawn over it, so I stood up and slowly walked over.

I pulled them to the side and peered outside. Smiling, I rested against the windowsill and watched the peach and violet hues of the sky slowly fade as the sun went down. The clouds were a faint grey color and I watched them until I couldn't see them anymore.

I hadn't seen Dave in person for a while. Not since he had dropped me off at home. It was only for a few days, but it felt like ages. I missed him. Talking to him over facetime wasn't the same.

Lying back down in bed, I stared at the ceiling. The glow-in-the-dark stars that I had stuck on it when I was younger were shining faintly. So much more lame than the real ones.

There was a knock on the door, but no one said anything, so I answered, "YEA, KANKRI?"

"Um," he paused, almost as if he weren't sure that he'd make it that far, "well, I just wanted t9 check in 9n y9u and, y'kn9w, make sure that y9u're alright."

"WELL, THE DOOR'S UNLOCKED," I stretched out and looked at him as he walked into the room.

"Are y9u 9kay?"

Shrugging, I scooted over towards the wall and let him sit down on the edge of the bed, "I'M FINE. JUST TIRED."

Kankri's eyes fluttered shut for a moment and he sighed, "Karkat, y9u've 6een 'just tired' f9r the past three days," he reopened his eyes to look at me again, "I d9 n9t wish t9 pressure y9u int9 anything, 6ut y9u're family and I w9rry. I want y9u t9 6e, well, c9mf9rta6le with me."

"ARE YOU SAYING I'M HIDING SOMETHING?"

"Well, t9 put it 6luntly, yes," his lips pursed together and he seemed to think for a moment, "listen, Karkat. I'm really n9t trying t9 6e 9ver6earing, 6ut I w9uld just really appreciate it if y9u'd talk t9 me."

I continued to stare at him blankly with wide eyes, so he took another breath and tried again, "I kn9w that I haven't 6een the 6est at taking care 9f y9u, 9r really just 6eing a decent pers9n in general... The p9int is, I realize that n9w and I w9uld really like t9 fix that. I figured that... trying with y9u w9uld 6e the 6est way t9 start."

"WHY?" I sounded more abrupt than I wanted to, but I couldn't help it.

He flinched and looked away, "6ecause... My relati9nship with y9u is m9st imp9rtant t9 me and I never really sh9wed it. A trait that y9u have, unf9rtunately, picked up. There are s9 many things that I c9uld have d9ne t9 6e.... 6etter with y9u. We c9uld have 6een cl9ser. May6e y9u c9uld have even liked me, f9r a change."

I looked over his face dubiously for a second, feeling a little odd, "WELL, I-um... it's not that i don't like you... i just figured that you didn't care. i mean, we've never really... talked about a lot of things, but i guess i understand, or something," fuck that was an awkward sentence.

Kankri didn't really do anything and just sat there, tapping his thumbs together, "6asically, what I'm trying t9 get acr9ss here is that... If y9u need anything, I w9uld l9ve t9 hear it. I've spent en9ugh 9f my life feeling s9rry f9r myself."

My brows raised and I laughed, "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE TO KANKRI?"

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes, shaking his head, "Y9u sh9uld rest s99n. Y9u have a 6ig day t9m9rr9w," he stood up, but I grabbed onto his sleeve.

"wait. kankri?"

"Hm?"

"could you maybe... stay with me for a little bit? just until i fall asleep. y'know, like you used to?"

With a smile, he sat back down and leaned his back against the wall, "I supp9se I c9uld."

I rested my head on a pillow and looked up at him as he unrolled the blankets from the bottom of the bed. He pulled them up and tucked me in a little too tightly, but it was comforting in a way. I sighed and felt him start to play with my hair gently. He was much more gentle than Dave was, oddly enough. However, it wasn't quite as satisfying because he avoided the tangles and knots instead of trying to undo them.

"G9d, h9w did y9u gr9w up s9 fast...?" he ruffled my hair a little and leaned his head back, "it feels like it was just last week that I was picking 6urs 9ut 9f your hair."

I smiled and started to feel the darkness creep in around me. After a while, I started to lose time. Eventually, the bed shifted, causing me to stir slightly. I took great care not to move, not wanting to wake myself up too much. A heavy sigh let me know that it was just Kankri leaving. He stood up and straightened out the blankets before brushing my hair back off of my forehead. There was a moment of hesitation before something warm pressed against my brow. My hair fell back over my face and I heard Kankri take a step back.

"G99dnight, Karkat. Sleep well," a few seconds later, I heard the door open and shut.

Yawning, I turned my head to the side and started to drift off. I hugged a bundle of blankets to my chest and purred quietly. A part of me couldn't help but to imagine that it was Dave with me and I managed to drift peacefully off to sleep.

This chapter was heavily focused on dialogue, but since I suck at that in real life, it might have been a little weird, but I dunno. Let me know if you wanna. Stay safe!