Chapter Text
“I love you.”
They were watching a movie again. Sitting in their pyjamas, in their living room. On the couch. Karl had his head in Quackity’s lap. Sapnap was leaning into Quackity, playing with his fiancé’s fingers for the moment. Pausing, Quackity looked over at Sapnap. Concern flashed across his face.
“Karl, why do you say that?” Quackity asked. Pausing, Karl turned to look at him. “Every once in a while, you just…randomly say that you love us. Not that I don’t love it. I love it, it’s so sweet. I’m just confused—what’s the reason?” As he spoke, he kept petting Karl’s hair delicately.
For a second, Karl paused. He seemed to just be thinking. Rolling to his side, he stared out across the floor. Reaching over, Sapnap paused the movie so they could talk. Blinking, Karl looked at the wood planks. He didn’t seem fully there. Not dissociative, just…like he was thinking. Somewhere in the past, if that made any sense.
Then, he swallowed. “Do you remember when I had that heart attack? At the party, when I collapsed and Dream had to do CPR?” Both of them exchanged glances, and Quackity ran his fingers through Karl’s hair gently.
“Yeah.”
“Sometimes my chest hurts.” Karl mumbled. Pulling his knees up to his chest, he inhaled and continued, “And I don’t want to—I don’t want you to think that I don’t love you if the last thing we said was like…an argument or something like that.”
Quackity looked at Sapnap, who looked like his entire heart had just broken in that moment.
“I-I don’t—I know you want me to stop time-traveling. But I don’t have a choice, I never have. But it gives me the chance to help you.” Karl whispered, tiredly. “And I know that it’s not fair to you to die but I don’t think I could live without you. And I think I can afford to be a little selfish sometimes.”
Gently, Sapnap stroked his hair. Quackity leaned in, kissed the side of his head. “I love you, Karl. You know that, right?” Sniffing, he pulled his knees up to his chest. Rubbed at his eyes. “Hey, hey, hold on. Ssh, it’s alright, it’s alright.”
“I can’t stop the time travelling.” He whispered, repeating himself. Shaking his head, he kept talking, “I can’t. I’m sorry, I can’t, I can’t stop they won’t let me they won’t let me .” He started crying. Glancing at Sapnap, Quackity winced. Then, he pulled Karl up into a hug, held onto him.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. I don’t blame you, I don’t blame you. It’s alright.” He whispered. Gesturing to Sapnap, he beckoned him over.
“Hey. Hey, come here.” Sapnap joined the hug. Between them, Karl shook. Buried his face into Quackity’s shirt and shook his head. “It’s alright, it’s alright. I love you.”
“We both do.” Quackity murmured. “We both love you, we’re not going to stop just because of your whole time travel thing. I’m sorry if we made you think that. I’m sorry if I made you think that. Can you forgive me?”
“Yeah. Yes.” Karl whispered, and Quackity looked nervously to Sapnap. Their fiancé just kept crying and he didn’t know what would help . Stroking his hair, Quackity kissed the top of Karl’s head. The whole while, Karl was just holding onto him. Holding onto them both , actually. “Yes, Quackity. Of course.”
“Can you forgive me?” Sapnap asked softly. Looking at him, grey eyes searching his for a moment, Karl nodded and smiled tightly. “Alright. Why don’t we all keep watching the movie, get some rest? Or you two can watch the movie, I’ll go get some food.”
“Sure.” Quackity said. Wrapping his wings around Karl as Sapnap pulled away, he ran his fingers into Karl’s hair and kissed his head. “You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, Karl. Do you understand that?”
“Yeah.” Ducking his head, Karl smiled lightly. “Yeah. I do.”