Chapter Text
Your name is Karkat Vantas, and last month you turned ten sweeps old. Your eyes started filling in about a week before that so now all that's left is a fading ring of grey encircling the red. You'd freaked out at first, but after spending a few days with your vision obscured behind Dave's shades you'd realized just how stupid you were being.
Everybody and their lusus knows you're a mutant, this was just visible proof of that fact.
You'd returned the shades. Dave seemed really glad to get them back.
"Well, yeah." He'd said with a shrug, sliding them back into place. "Honestly, this whole situation sucks major ass. It's like...I know nothing terrible's happened since we joined the KOB and you came out as a mutant, but I know that you still don't always feel completely safe and I don't know what to do about that. I don't know how to help."
You'd hugged him tight, feeling the steady pump of his bloodpusher in his chest. "This is enough." You'd said, feeling safer than ever before as he returned your embrace. "You being here is enough."
"Thanks." He'd replied, resting his chin on your head. He didn't sound convinced.
"It's probably a good thing I returned those to you today, anyway." You'd said. "They would have made me the universe's biggest fucking hypocrite if I went to give my speech tomorrow on lowblood pride and I couldn't even be brave enough to expose my ugly gander bulbs to anyone."
"Okay, first of all, shut the fuck up, your bulbs are gorgeous. I could stare at them forever if I didn't have this useless need to blink all the time. Second, you're plenty brave. I don't know why I have to keep trying to convince you of that, but it's true. You're leading a fight against a social hierarchy that's older than this entire motherfucking solar system and, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you're winning. I don't think anyone would think any less of you or your accomplishments just because you needed some time to adjust to your blood color being literally written on your face."
You'd smiled at that. "Thanks, Dave."
"You bring up a good point about it being good you returned them, though." He'd admitted, his face in your hair. "I don't think Rose and Kanaya would be cool with both their best men wearing sunglasses."
He turned out to be right about that. As a matter of fact, they almost weren't cool with Dave wearing his shades, either. Eventually, everything was sorted out when Dave finally gave in and wore his shades on his head.
The ceremony occurred earlier in the day near the beach on an island you'd all had to fly in to. The sun was high in the sky, but the salt-tinged breeze from the sea kept the weather nice as you'd all stood and listened with rapt attention as Rose and Kanaya exchanged their vows.
It was the most beautiful thing in the world.
At the reception, you and Dave were supposed to give your best man speeches. That should have been fine, since you've been doing a fuck ton of public speaking the last few years and Dave's been known to not shut up. You both spent days writing the best, most perfect speeches you could and practicing them to each other over and over again so even the delivery was flawless.
You cried halfway through your speech.
You were such an emotional wreck about it that you couldn't even form an intelligible sentence, you'd had to have Dave finish your speech for you. It was really fucking embarrassing, but Kanaya said she thought it was sweet that you were that happy for her and Rose.
But really, how could you not be? Two of your best friends just got married! Your moirail and your boyfriend's sister! Your moirail and- assuming everything goes according to plan- your future sister-in-law.
You're not sure everything's going according to plan.
You and Dave are strolling along the beach, shoes tossed off somewhere near the grassy shore. You're walking arm in arm with him, the breeze ruffling your hair and the sound of the crashing waves loud in your ears. It's so soothing you feel like you could just lay down in the warm sand and take a nice, long nap.
"Hey," Dave says, it's the first thing he's said in awhile, "the sun's going down."
Dave points towards the water, where the sun is lowering and dying both the sky and the water a warm orange. "You're right." Your hand slips into your pocket and closes around the thing inside. You're more than a little nervous. "It is."
"You know what we could do when it goes all the way down?" He asks, grinning mischievously and giving you a sideways glance.
"I don't know." You reply, leaning your head on his shoulder and returning the glance with interest. "What?"
"We could go skinny dipping!" Dave says excitedly.
"What?" You laugh. "Why the hell would we do that?"
"Think about it!" He continues animatedly, tugging you towards the water. "Today's been so awesome! I mean, look where we are! Some fucking beautiful island in the middle of Davey Jones unbelievably salty ass crack. Do you know the likelihood of us being anywhere near someplace this gorgeous again? Not anytime soon, what with both of us only working part time and having to pay rent and my tuition and shit. It could be forever before we have another opportunity like this!"
"I don't know..." You say doubtfully. The water is splashing over your feet and making you shiver. It's pleasantly cold, and you do wonder if it would feel just as good on the rest of your skin, but you can't risk losing the thing in your pocket.
"Come on, it'll be fun! My sister and your moirail just got married! This is a day for celebration! I say we should strip out of these suits, jump our naked asses into the ocean, and end this kickass day with a bang. What do you think?"
You're having a really difficult time refusing. His argument and his grin are both pretty persuasive. Still, you have to resist. "That's tempting."
"Damn right, it is." Dave throws off his suit jacket and tosses it aside.
"Dave, wait, stop." You grab his hand with one of yours to stop him from unbuttoning his shirt, the other hand is an awkward fist as you slide it out of your pocket. "I said it was tempting. That doesn't mean I'm going to nude up on a public beach and fuck you in the ocean."
Dave lowers his hands from his shirt, and you leave yours on his chest. "Why not?" He whines.
"This is a public beach," you argue, "anybody could come by and see us. Fuck, our friends are all here. They could come by and see us."
"What's so wrong with that? They know we're together, they'll get over it."
"Have you met our friends? They'd probably steal our clothes as a prank for their fucking trickster's gambit or whatever."
"That's...a good point." He admits, sighing. "I guess we don't have to skinny dip right now. We could probably wait until everybody's out for the night and then sneak out of our room and do it. That cool?"
Dave takes your hands in his and holds them between the both of you. You can't help but relax at the contact. "Yeah, that's cool. So what do you want to do now?"
"I guess we could toss our jackets on the ground and make out on top of them for awhile."
"Sure," you shrug, smiling, "we could do that."
You start to unbutton your own jacket when you feel something slip out of your grasp.
"Shit!"
There it goes, tumbling down to the sand.
Before you can so much as react, Dave's already diving down on both knees to catch it before it hits the ground.
"Damn," he grins up at you, readjusting so only one of his knees is buried in the damp sand, "did you see how quick I fucking flashnatched that bitch? I think I just set a new personal record."
You just nod. Your mouth is too dry for speech right now.
"Anyway," Dave says, holding it out for you to take, "you probably shouldn't drop-"
He's holding it out to you, and it hits the fading sunlight and glitters in his hand. You watch the casual smile drift from his face and transform into something unreadable.
He knows now. He hasn't processed it yet, but he knows.
Well, you guess it's now or never. You take a deep breath.
"Karkat, what's-"
"Dave, will you marry me?"
Dave's face is still terrifyingly expressionless. You honestly can't tell what he's thinking or what the hell happened to all the oxygen on the island. Breathing is too hard right now for there not to be an oxygen shortage.
Dave proves you wrong about the oxygen shortage by giving your question a beautifully eloquent reply.
"Um-"
It slips from his fingers.
There it goes again, tumbling down to the sand.
You scramble down to catch it in a moment of panic driven haste, but alas, you've never been very good at the whole flashsnatch thing. It bounces off of your palm and plops onto the ground. You scoop it back up and brush the sand off of it.
You're eye to eye with Dave now, both of you kneeling on the damp sand while the sun sets to your right and burns the sky and reflects off the water in deep reds and pinks. It's exactly how you always pictured it would be when you finally did it. Now that you've done it, though, you don't really notice or care about what color the sky is or what position the sun is in. No, what you care about is Dave.
You care about the way the encroaching darkness is making his hair look almost incandescent in the lack of light.
You care about the way the sunset matches the red of his eyes almost perfectly.
You care about the way his face is still fucking blank as a brick.
The fact that you can't read him right now is eating you up inside.
You take a deep breath. You can't believe you're about to do this again.
"Dave?" You take his hand in yours, you can't seem to speak above a soft whisper as you place the ring in his palm and close his hand around it. "Marry me?"
You manage to gather enough courage to look him in the eyes.
He doesn't look any different.
You continue to hold his hand as you wait for a reaction, any reaction. The only sound is the crashing of distant waves.
Dave opens his mouth, and you can't help but hold your breath in anticipation.
"Could you...give me a minute?"
You nod and drop your hands to your sides.
Maybe this was a mistake.
You continue to hold your breath.
What if Dave doesn't want to get married? You've talked about it, sure, but it was always in terms of hypotheticals. What if you just ruined your relationship by proposing too early? What if you ruined your relationship by proposing at all?
What if Dave thinks you're going too fast? What if he really evaluates his relationship with you and decides you're more trouble than you're worth?
He could definitely do better than a part time bartender who gives speeches about political reform on his days off.
You feel light headed.
"Holy shit. Karkat? Karkat, breathe." Dave sounds really worried as he claps his hands onto your shoulders. "I'm not saying no."
There goes everything that was left in your lungs. "What?"
"I'm not saying no." He repeats more firmly this time. "I just wanted a minute to take everything in, absorb all this, you know? I mean, it's not every day your boyfriend proposes to you on the beach. At fucking sunset. Shit, you couldn't have picked a more romantic cliche if you tried. Point is, my answer is yes. Hell fucking yes. Obviously yes."
You still feel kind of light headed, but you can officially breathe again.
Dave said yes.
Dave said yes!
Dave pulls you forward and kisses you softly, his hands are tangled in your hair. You respond in turn by pressing against him. Your hands are curled into fists around the open part of his shirt.
He pulls away before anything can start to heat up too quickly. You protest by tightening your grip on his shirt and glaring at him. Dave laughs and presses his forehead against yours, his mouth just inches away but refusing to close the distance.
"Sorry." He whispers. His breath is warm on your face. "You were having such a hard time breathing, I thought you might need mouth to mouth."
"I wouldn't have needed mouth to mouth if someone would have just answered my fucking question like a normal person." You rebuke, slapping his cheek lightly.
"No," he disagrees, catching your hand and keeping it on his cheek, "I think you still would have needed it. Maybe not right now, but at some point. You would have been craving my breath in your lungs like a heroin addict craves their next hit off of that sweet, sweet crack pipe."
"Crack and heroin are two different drugs, Dave."
"What? No, they're not."
"Yes, they are. And I'm not addicted to you." You use your free hand to drag him closer to you, his lips are just barely touching yours. "I can stop any time I want to."
You can feel his grin on your mouth more than you see it. “That’s what they all say.”
You’re not sure which of you finally gives in and surges forward first, but you do know which of you is applying the most passion and pressure as your lips meet.
Dave’s kissing you with such a ferocious intensity that you almost feel like you’re being engulfed in ardor. Both of your hands are on Dave's face, cupping his cheeks and keeping him close as you mirror his motions and enthusiasm. Dave's heart is beating loud against your chest as you continue, your pace quickening with every intake of breath.
You notice then that you are just exchanging oxygen, and you're only craving more of him with each heady inhalation. You can feel your body physically demanding more contact with Dave. More of his touch sending sparks through your blood like fireworks in July. More of the soft pressure of his mouth coaxing you into a euphoric state of calm. Dave emanates a kind of warm, beautiful feeling you don't think you'll ever get used to.
You just...
You need him.
You need more.
You open your mouth tentatively and dart your tongue lazily over his lower lip. There's a hitch in his breathing as your tongue sneaks further inside. He's beginning to slow down to a sweet, leisurely pace as you explore the already familiar terrain of his mouth.
You bite his lip, and that's when Dave loses it.
He pushes forward, but the momentum from the sudden addition of his weight fully against you causes you both to tilt backwards. Your mouth is still connected with Dave's when your head slams the sand, causing his teeth to break painfully through your lip. You land with your back in the sand with Dave on top of you.
He rolls off you and props himself up on his elbows, staring down at you with concern. "Are you okay? That was totally an accident, I'm sorry. You alright?"
"I'm fine." You nod, licking the blood off your lip. It stings, but not enough to draw attention to it.
"Are you sure?" He asks again doubtfully as he stands up, brushing the sand off of himself.
"Yeah, I'm sure." You reply as he helps you back up to your feet. The dampness of the ground effectively put out any fires of passion you'd been burning. "I think I'm done with the sloppy makeouts for now, though. That shit's dangerous."
"I'd argue something like 'practice makes perfect' or 'there's no danger because Daves never bite twice in the same location' or some shit like that," he says as he leads you away from the water's edge, "but I feel like it's way too early for us to be having our first fight as an engaged couple."
Engaged couple.
Engaged couple.
That's you. That's you and Dave. You're engaged now.
Holy shit.
"Karkat?" Dave calls you out of your reverie. You hadn't even noticed you'd stopped moving, he's a full arm's length away now. He looks worried.
"We're engaged." Saying it out loud seems to make it so much more real. This isn't just you dreaming about the future anymore. This isn't best case scenario speculation. This is real. This is happening. "We're actually engaged. I...I can't believe it."
You're choking up.
"Babe," Dave sighs, holding his arms out to you, "come here."
You do as he says, and you're immediately enveloped in his warm embrace. He has one hand playing with your hair while the other one strokes your back. You blink fresh tears out of your eyes and beg yourself not to cry again today. You'd already cried during the wedding. That was embarrassing enough.
You manage to confine yourself to a sniffle. "I'm so happy."
"I know," he gives you a quick squeeze, "me too."
You nuzzle into the open part of his shirt, your face against his chest. "I love you."
"I love you more."
"That's not a thing, Dave, we've been over this. I'll fight you on that."
"Well, good luck mister, because I love you..." he lets go of you and takes a couple steps back so you can see him fully before throwing his arms wide, "this much."
"Oh, wow." You laugh. "You love me your entire arm span? That's so much!"
"I know." He agrees with a smug nod, arms still spread out wide.
"It's not enough, though." You say, shaking your head. "Not if you want to beat me. You see, Dave, the thing is, you might love me the span of your arms, but my love for you runs as deep as the ocean."
"Shit." Dave says, dropping his arms. "That was a good one."
"Thanks. Your turn."
"I love you like..." he looks around for something that can rival the ocean, finally he looks up and points at the sky, "space!"
You hadn't even noticed it had gotten so dark. "You love me like space?"
He nods. "Infinitely expanding."
Well, you can't top infinite expansion. You look up at the sky and are transfixed by the stars. You knew there would be more visible here than at home, but you didn't expect so many.
"Are you ready to admit defeat?"
"Yeah. Hey, do you want to look at the stars?"
"Sure, why not?" He shrugs.
Dave comes over and unbuttons your already half undone jacket, tossing it onto the ground in a heap.
"Dave, what the hell? I was wearing that."
"We said we were going to make out on top of our jackets, remember?" He says as he searches out his own discarded jacket in the dark. "Since we already did the make out part, I figured we could just lay on them and stare at the sky instead."
"That's not a bad idea. Do you want me to help you find yours?"
"Nah, it's fine, I got it. You just hang tight."
It takes him another two minutes to find it. You wonder how much time you're going to spend looking for your shoes when you're ready to leave.
The jackets are spread on the ground, and you both snuggle close together on top of them. Dave takes his hand in yours, and you can feel something unfamiliar on his finger.
He's wearing your ring.
Fuck, you're so happy right now.
You don't know how long you and Dave are out here, staring up at the stars and at each other. What you do know is that you've spent several hours examining pinpricks of light in the dark sky and that it's starting to get cold out.
"Hey, Dave?" You whisper.
"Yeah?"
"Are you ready to go back?"
"If you are."
You nod, and you both gather up your things and venture back to the hotel. You make it into the lobby and have to blink away the bright lights before Dave draws attention to both of your shabby appearances.
"It looks like we just had beach sex." He says as he rebuttons his shirt. "Which is too bad, because we didn't."
"I know, I was there, proposing to you." You say with a roll of your eyes, brushing sand out of your hair.
"Which reminds me, we still need to celebrate. Come on!" He grabs your hand and drags you to a less brightly lit portion of the hotel.
"Hey, barkeep," he says as he approaches the bar, still dragging you behind him, "is it still open bar for the Lalonde-Maryam wedding?"
The bartender nods.
"Awesome. We need a bottle of champagne over here stat." You both take a seat at the bar.
The place looks pretty dead, almost every seat is open.
"What time is it?" You ask the bartender when he delivers the champagne along with two glasses.
"About 4:15." He pops the cork.
"Shit, we were out there longer than I thought." You say as you take your now full glass.
"Time flies when you're having fun, I guess." Dave shrugs, picking up his own glass. "Should we toast?"
You tilt your head. "To what?"
"To us. To love and the future and shit like that. Man, I don't know. You give speeches a lot, why don't you give the toast?"
"I cried during my best man speech, Dave. I don't think me delivering a toast for our engagement is a good idea."
He nods solemnly. "Fair point. I guess we could toast to..." he groans, "fuck if I know."
"Just say whatever comes to mind first and we can toast to that." You advise.
"Okay, I got it." Dave swivels on the stool so he's facing you. "Thank you. Thank you for giving me that second chance five years ago, and thank you for wanting to spend the rest of your time with me. These past five years with you have been...fucking amazing, and I can't even imagine how great the future's gonna be for us. I love you."
Shit, that was beautiful. There you go again. "I love you, too."
"Cheers?"
"Cheers."
You clink glasses and drink.
"So," Dave swirls the remains of his champagne in the glass, and you can see him admiring his new ring as he does it, "should we talk about the wedding?"
"Sure, if you want to. I already have the guest list all figured out."
"Really?"
"Yeah, just give me a sec to write it down."
"You have it all memorized?" Dave's eyes widen incredulously.
"Pretty much. I just need a pen."
Dave finds one at the end of the bar and hands it to you, and you grab a cocktail napkin and start scribbling. You have to tell Dave to back the fuck off once or twice when he tries to read over your shoulder.
"Okay," you conclude after a solid three minutes, "done!"
You slide the napkin over to Dave. He picks it up carefully and reads it.
"Karkat," he says slowly, "this is a picture of Hella Jeff and Geromy making out."
You nod. "You're damn right it is."
"I don't understand. Is this your way of telling me you want to elope? Or are you saying you've finally come around to my costume idea for next Halloween?"
"Neither. I couldn't think of anyone to invite who wasn't already involved with the wedding."
"Really? No one?"
"No one. Not a single fucking person." You reply, pouring yourself another glass of champagne. "Rose and Kanaya are will be our maids of honor, obviously. Jade and Terezi would be there, too. I didn't want to leave out your brother, so I thought he could be your best man. Unless you want John instead, we can trade. I've already talked to Roxy about this and she said that she's down wth being ring bearer-"
"Whoa, whoa, wait. When did you talk to Roxy about this?"
"Half a perigee ago." You admit sheepishly.
"So you've been planning this for over a year?"
"Yeah..."
"Okay, continue."
"So, Roxy's down with being ring bearer, and I've also already discussed some things with Jane about the cake. Good news, she's willing to do it."
"Wow, that pretty much covers everybody we know." Dave says, sounding vaguely impressed. "Except Mr. Egbert. What about him? And what about all our pals at the KOB?"
"Who do you think is going to be helping Jane with the cake? As for the KOB, I love them, but I want to keep it small. Just close friends and family."
Just...close friends and family. There's something about the family aspect that you have to tell him.
"You also forgot Jake."
"I didn't forget Jake, he's gonna be Dirk's plus one!" You rebuke. "So like I was saying, about the friends and family-"
"Sorry to tell you this, but it's closing time." The bartender interrupts you.
"Can we take the bottle with us?" Dave asks. "We already paid for it."
"No, we didn't."
"Yeah, but we could."
"Go ahead, take it. Just get out of here." He waves the both of you away.
"Okay, we're going." Dave gets up off his stool and starts to take the bottle and his glass towards the door.
"Leave the flukes!" He calls out to Dave. "You can take the bottle, but leave those here. I gotta clean those."
"Yeah, sure, okay." Dave shuffles back in and puts the bottle back on the counter. He drains his glass. "Karkat, you better chug that. This guy told us to beat it."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm on it." You grumble. You'd just filled your glass.
You drink too fast and have trouble standing. Dave grabs the bottle by the neck and you by the elbow, leading you out of the bar and to the elevator. He presses up.
The elevator opens, and the both of you enter. You're alone, which makes sense because it's five in the morning and anyone with a pan is asleep.
"So," Dave says, clearing his throat, "how's your lip?"
"It's okay." You shrug. "It's a little tender, but that's to be expected. I'm open to making out again, if that's what you're asking."
"Funny that you mention it, because that's exactly what I was asking." He says, putting the bottle down carefully on the floor.
Dave dips you and starts kissing you along your neck. You have your hands in his hair again, messing it up as you drag your fingers carefully through it. He reaches your jaw and skips right over your mouth and kisses your nose. You can't help it when you start laughing.
You love him. You love him so much.
"I can't wait til we're married," he whispers, his breath is sweet from all the champagne, "I'm gonna pick you up and carry you across the threshold of our apartment and I'm just gonna...do shit to you like hardcore makeout on our couch and make you breakfast in bed and...fucking...I don't know, but point is it's gonna be awesome."
“What makes you think you’re going to be the one doing the carrying? I’m the one who proposed to you.”
“Yeah, but I can actually lift you.”
“What, you think I can’t lift you? You think I’m not strong enough?”
“That’s what I said, yeah.”
“Fuck that slanderous hoofbeast shit, let me back up and I’ll show you how a real man carries someone bridal style.”
“That a threat?”
“It’ll stop being a threat when you let me the fuck back up.”
“Sure thing, man. I’d love to see you try.” He pulls you back up to your feet and presses you into the wall, your back against a railing. He blocks you on both sides with his arms. “Especially at this angle.”
You’re about to protest when the door dings open again, which is strange because you’re nowhere near your floor. You and Dave both turn to see who’s going to be interrupting this awkwardly positioned part of your night.
In walks Jade Harley, a smile on her face and a plastic bucket swinging in hand.
“Hey, guys!” She greets as she presses the button for her floor and stands next to Dave. “Am I interrupting something?”
“You kind of were, yeah.” Dave says, shrugging. He has to look over his shoulder to address her. “It’s no biggie.”
“Do you need this?” She asks, holding out the bucket. “I can empty it out if you need to use it. Just give it back after you wash it.”
Your face is flushing before you even register the heat. You slowly shake your head no. The only way you could be more mortified is if your mom was here.
“It’s fine, we’ve got our own. Thanks, though.” Dave says it as casually as if she’d asked if he wanted to use her phone. “What the fuck are you doing with a bucket, anyway? I don’t recall hearing about you getting nasty with any of our troll friends.”
“Oh, I’m not.” She admits. “It’s not for me.”
“So you’re just playing errand girl? Someone sent you to the front desk for an extra mouthwash and a bucket?”
“Nope. This thing right here is for John and Terezi.”
Oh. Things were starting to take on some semblance of sense now. You finally manage to speak. “Did Terezi not bring one with her?”
Jade shakes her head. “No, she did.”
“Okay, I’m lost.” Dave says. “So you brought a bucket that isn’t for you, and it’s definitely not Terezi’s because she has shown me her bucket collection and that wasn’t one of the colors-”
“She showed you her bucket collection?”
“It’s not important. Anyway, if you aren’t bringing it to aid John in his Fifty Shades of Grey style hatemance sex then what the hell are you bringing it for?”
She grins deviously. “To interrupt his Fifty Shades of Grey style hatemance sex.”
And now you’re also lost. “But...aren’t you their auspistice?”
“Yes, yes I am.” She confirms before launching into an explanation. “See, what happened was, after you left, Terezi challenged John to a drinking contest. He accepted the challenge, and they got so stinking fucking drunk off of their asses that they got kicked out of the bar. After that, Roxy, Nepeta, and I all followed them to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves or each other too badly. They ended up being totally fine and went back to her room, since she, as previously stated, had a bucket handy. As their auspistice, I’m glad I didn’t have to go and separate the two of them by force, but as their friend and sister, I’m also kind of pissed that I had to waste my night following them. I kind of wanted to get drunk, too! Nepeta challenged me to drunk wrestling! But I didn’t get to do that because we were too busy following her girlfriend and my brother around!”
“Where the fuck were we for that?” Dave whines. “I wanted to see some drunk kismesis!”
“That still doesn’t explain the bucket.” You point out.
“Well, like I said, I was pissed. So I decided to practice my trickster’s gambit. I got this bucket from the front desk, filled it with glitter and confetti, and right now I’m going to Terezi’s room to wake both of their drunk asses up and I’m going to throw it on them as a token for wasting my night.” She ends with a shrug.
“Wow,” you comment, “you’re a terrible auspistice.”
“For you guys, maybe. For John and Terezi? I’m the best. They’ll never get that wasted in front of me again, I can tell you that much.”
The elevator door dings open again, and Jade’s about to disembark when she looks both you and Dave up and down. “Are you sure you don’t want this?”
Dave nods. “We’re sure. Hey, if you want, we have half a bottle of champagne left. You can take it.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
She grabs the bottle off the floor and exits the elevator. “Thanks!”
The door dings closed again, and then she’s gone. Dave turns his attention back to you. “So, where were we?”
You’re no longer in the mood to mess around trying to lift Dave anymore right now. Instead, you stare at your feet and lean against the railing.
“There’s...something I wanted to talk to you about.” You say quietly. “About the whole friends and family only thing.”
“Sure, what is it?” Dave’s arms drop from their blocking position, allowing you more space in case you need it.
“I...I want my dad there.” You admit, fidgeting nervously. You’d really love to have him there if you can, but you could understand if Dave said no.
“Doesn’t your dad have five years left on his sentence?”
You nod and wait for the refusal.
“Okay.” He replies, surprising you. You look up at him, the confusion clear on your face. “I don’t see a problem with it. Karkat, I know how much you love your parents. I can’t imagine marrying you without your family there almost as much as I can’t imagine it without mine.”
“So...you’re okay with it, then?” You ask. “You’re okay with waiting five years?”
“Karkat, whether we get married in five years or five decades makes no difference to me, as long as I get to spend every moment leading up to it with you.” He kisses you softly, and you’re gone.
All the strength leaves your body at once. You wrap your arms around his neck and hitch your legs up around his hips. “You win. You can carry me across the threshold.”
He gets his arms around you, helping you keep from slipping off him as the elevator finally dings your arrival. He laughs as he leaves the elevator, having to step awkwardly with the way you’re wrapped around him like a koala. “This wasn’t really what I had in mind when I said I wanted to carry you.”
Dave reaches the door and struggles with the key card, but eventually he manages to get it to work without making you move. He gets inside and stops at the foot of the bed, at which point you detach yourself from him and plop down onto the plush surface.
“So,” Dave says as he joins you on the bed, “what do you want to do now?”
“Sleep.” You groan. You’re exhausted. “Maybe eat something. I’m starving.”
“That makes sense.” He nods. “Neither of us has eaten anything since the wedding, and that was awhile ago. I’m kind of hungry, too.”
“Do they have room service here?” You ask hopefully.
“Karkat, they have room service everywhere.”
“I know, but can we get some?”
Dave thinks about it, chewing on his bottom lip before shrugging. “Sure. I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you take a shower? You still have sand in your hair.”
He brushes some out of your hair to illustrate his point.
“Okay,” you sigh, standing up and stretching on your way to the bathroom, “but you better get something good.”
“No worries, I’m on it.” He’s already got the phone and the menu in his hands by the time you close the door.
You’d planned on showering quickly, but the water felt so good against your skin that you couldn’t make yourself get out. All of today’s excitement had really taken a toll on you and wore you out. You were only able to force yourself out when the water turned cold.
You get out and towel dry your hair, only bothering to put your boxers back on when you leave the bathroom. You’re followed out by a trail of steam.
“Don’t bother showering for awhile,” you warn, “I used all the hot water.”
“That’s fine.” Dave shrugs. He’s sitting on the edge of the bed where you left him, but he’s also stripped down to his boxers and a t-shirt. “The food got here while you were in there, and you’re not gonna believe what I found while channel surfing.”
You spare a look at the tv as you plop down onto the bed, and what you see makes you do a double take.
“Holy shit, is this The Princess Bride?”
“Yeah!” Dave nods enthusiastically. “You only missed the first few minutes! Buttercup hasn’t even been kidnapped yet!”
“Seriously?” Talk about lucky timing. You snuggle up closer to Dave, and he hands you your plate. “You ordered burgers?”
“Yeah. Why, did you want something else?”
“No,” you shake your head, “this is perfect.”
“I also ordered another bottle of champagne.” He picks the bottle up and shows it to you. “And this one came with cups!”
You both sit around eating and drinking champagne while watching one of your favorite movies. This is almost exactly what you imagine a perfect day would be like. You feel so comfortable, snug against Dave like this. You’re so warm and full and sleepy that you can barely keep your eyes open. The movie’s not even over yet. You wonder if you’ll finish it.
Dave’s stroking your hair. “Maybe we should go to bed. You seem pretty tired.”
“But the movie.” You complain around a yawn.
“We can watch it when we get home. That cool with you?”
You nod. “That’s cool.”
You lie down, and Dave joins you. He has one leg thrown over you, and his hands around your stomach. You can feel the ring on his finger against your skin.
“Hey, Karkat.” He whispers into your hair. You can feel his breath breeze past one of your horns.
“Yeah?” You whisper back.
“Good night, my fiance.” He’s smiling, laughing breathily into your hair. “I love you.”
You’re slipping into sleep already, unsure if your words aren’t mumbled into incoherency. “I love you. Good night.”
You’re facing the window, the early morning light slicing through the blinds and warming your cheek.
You think you finally understand what Kanaya meant when she told you the sun was beautiful.