Red (Davekat)

God F***ing Dammit Dave

Hiya! So my school has finally reopened after being pushed back, like, twice and even though I am doing online schooling, I may not have as much time to write. I don't think that I will regress to my only posting once every three months, but if a chapter takes a little bit longer to be posted, that's why. Thank you so much for your patience and I hope that wherever you are, you're staying safe 💜

<Let's be spicy and switch to Dave>

I awoke the next day feeling odd. I could tell that the air was cold, however it seemed stifled and muggy as I took shallow breaths in. Despite the overall chill, I was still incredibly warm and comfortable and could feel that someone was with me. Turning my face towards the fabric underneath it, I sighed quietly and recognized the smell immediately as Karkat. I lifted my head to look at him.

He was still asleep, however he had put his shirt back on at some point in the night. I didn't blame him. It probably got cold. Thinking back on it, I was incredibly pushy the night before. It was amazing that he hadn't just forced me to drive him back home.

When I tried to sit up, I winced and clenched my teeth to stop myself from gasping. My back still felt like it was on fire and my activity the night before probably didn't help at all. Collapsing back onto Karkat, I closed my eyes and held him close. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to move at all. It hurt so much that my eyes were stinging, but I still refused to cry. I didn't need Karkat waking up to that.

After I had calmed my breathing, I tried to focus more on the pulsating stinging that ran in waves up and down my skin. It didn't feel infected, but I was pretty sure that I had reopened some of the deeper wounds. Shit.

Whatever. I didn't have to focus on it. I could just relax with Karkat for a while. At least until he woke up which, based on how he kept stirring and mumbling, it wouldn't have been too long.

Managing to finally sit up, I grabbed my shades and let Karkat keep my jacket. I got out of my car and looked around. There was still basically no one around. I checked my watch for the time and it was around 8:45AM. Well, we were already late for school.

I sighed and pulled a book of matches out of my pocket. They weren't really for anything. I just enjoyed lighting them. It made me feel cool. Well, not that I wasn't already cool. I was Dave Strider. Epitome of coolness. The matches were just entertaining, I suppose.

Lighting one, I watched it burn out, creating a thin trail of smoke as the fire slowly got smaller and smaller. It was no where near my fingers, yet I could still feel its heat. It wasn't as comforting as, let's say, being in the warm embrace of a certain short, angry, red-blooded troll, but it was still satisfying. With the tiny hint of a smile twitching on my lips, I flicked the match out and opened the driver's door of my car.

When I peered inside, I could see that Karkat was awake. He was still resting in the back seat where he was when I left him, but he had his phone out and was staring intently at the screen. As soon as he noticed me, he tried giving me a smile and a hesitant wave.

"h-hey," he yawned and sat up straight, "kankri... said he wanted to know where i was cuz i wasn't there when he checked on me... so i just said i got up early for school..."

I squealed internally like a schoolgirl when he rubbed his eyes and gave me a sleepy little smile, "Well, you're a little late, hon."

He nodded at me and reached forward to grab my hand, "i know... could you drive me?"

Chuckling, I squeezed his fingers, "You sure you don't just wanna ditch today?"

His head shook as he leaned his forehead against the back of the seat in front of him, "i can't do that..." he sounded so out of it as he spoke, "besides... i'm with you..."