Work Text:
Dave was playing a time-wasting game on his phone when he heard a knock on his door. He looked up, shouting “who is it” and reaching for his shades, even though it was almost definitely–
“Karkat, who fucking else knocks on your door when any rational being would be asleep?” The knob turned. Both boys knew this ritual by heart, right up until Karkat declared, “I kind of want to show you something, okay? Just, don’t laugh?”
“Shit, man, what is it?” Dave scooted to the side of his bed, and Karkat went to sit next to him, pulling out a small stack of papers. Dave pulled Karkat a bit closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek before pushing his shades up and taking a look at the papers. He blinked, remembering the last time Karkat wanted him to look at a stack of papers. “Whoa, is this, like–”
“Oh my god don’t say it–”
“Is this gonna be another–”
“Dave for the love of god stop grinning right the fuck now–”
“Is this, like, Summerteen Romance Two: The Gayening?”
“Oh my god, Dave, I was six, we don’t talk about those times. And you can’t ‘gayen’ people with no fucking concept of sexuality, how many times do I have to tell you that?” Karkat had crossed his arms, so Dave put an arm around him and leaned his head on the troll’s shoulder.
“Seriously, though, is it?” Dave looked at Karkat, but was met only with a deadpan glare. He gave his boyfriend a shit-eating grin and poked his nose, getting a small laugh and a smile.
“Okay, so maybe it is some of my writing. I just... wanted to know what you’d think of it, okay? It doesn’t have anything to do with Summerteen Romance, and it’s just a short story, not a script.” Karkat looked away.
“Alright, let’s do this, it can’t be too bad.” Karkat scoffed a bit, but Dave just kissed his cheek again before taking the papers from his hands, grinning. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
He flipped to the cover page and was met by a long, long name that he did not want to read through, because, hello, spoilers? He noticed the word “alien” and “quadrant” in a few spots before he could turn to the first page of the actual story. It was basically about a troll that got stuck in a ship with no power beyond life support with an alien, and at first they hated each other, but they end up overcoming some emotional bullshit and falling in love. They had fancy space names that Dave would probably never be able to pronounce, and the species of the alien wasn’t stated, but the storyline felt more than a bit familiar.
“Karkat, is this–”
“Shoosh, okay, there’s a few pages left, and the question’s probably answered, so...”
“Right, okay.” Dave sighed a bit and went back to the story. The ship crashed back on Alternia somehow, but the alien ran away with the troll and they ended up living in the woods, like the lost boys or something. There was a very clear “THE END” at the bottom of the page.
“Karkat, this is adorable. And your writing is getting better, I know you won’t believe me, but you actually almost wrote believable characters, okay? And, you know, it did remind me of something...” He kissed Karkat’s jaw, smiling in an embarrassingly genuine way. Karkat honest-to-god giggled, and threaded his fingers between Dave’s. He reached over with his other hand and picked up what Dave had thought was the last page. There was another page beneath it, one written like a letter. “Ooh, love letters, so fancy. And here I was thinking about asking for nudes.”
Karkat pulled his hand away from Dave’s, eyes narrowed, even as he grinned. “On second thought, I am not holding your hand. Shut up and just read, okay?”
Dave just laughed before he turned his eyes back on the paper in front of him.
DEAR DAVE,
THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH AN AMAZING MATESPRIT OR BOYFRIEND OR MOIRAIL OR WHATEVER WE’RE FUCKING CALLING IT TODAY. I CAN’T REMEMBER EVER FEELING SO SAFE WITH SOMEONE, OR SO LOVED. IT TOOK ME THREE WEEKS TO GET TO A POINT WHERE I WAS BRAVE ENOUGH TO SHOW YOU THIS, BUT, A SWEEP AGO, I WOULDN’T HAVE EVER SHOWN SOMEONE SOMETHING THIS PERSONAL.
(THE FUCKING SCREENPLAYS WERE A DIFFERENT STORY, BUT WE DON’T TALK ABOUT THAT. I KNOW YOU’RE GOING TO MENTION SUMMERTEEN ROMANCE, AND I HAVE JUST ONE THING TO SAY: FUCK. YOU.)
YOU’VE MADE A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN MY RIDICULOUS, SHORT LIFE, AND, SINCE I’M PROBABLY GONNA DIE IN A FEW MONTHS, I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW. I WROTE THIS DOWN SO YOU CAN KEEP IT, IF YOU MANAGE NOT TO GO JUMPING IN FRONT OF SWORDS OR DOING SOME OTHER HEROIC SHIT. I’M GLAD I’VE GOT THE CHANCE TO LOVE SOMEONE LIKE YOU.
ALWAYS YOURS,
KARKAT
Dave felt himself tearing up. He put the letter to the side and pulled Karkat into the softest kiss he could manage. When they pulled apart, Karkat laughed. “Is that the only way you know how to communicate, dumbass?” Dave just kissed him again.
“This is the sappiest thing I’ve read in my life. I’m keeping it. Forever.”
“I’m glad you like that steaming pile of bullshit.”
“I love you too, Karkat.”
Karkat started to stand up, but Dave caught his wrist. “I was gonna go to bed soon anyways, but, uh... Stay with me?” His boyfriend smiled and nodded mutely, crawling onto the bed in a position that put his body parallel to Dave’s. Dave captchalogued his shades and pulled the covers over them, resting an arm over Karkat’s torso.
“You’re a nerd, Dave.”
“You gonna show your story to the book club?”
Karkat laughed, and a bit of hair got in Dave’s mouth. “That’s pushing it, Dave.”
“I know.” Dave sighed and pressed a last kiss to Karkat’s neck before letting himself drift to sleep, content with just the boy he loved and a few more months to love him in before everything changed.