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Karkat blushing is probably your absolute favorite thing. You remember the first time you saw it happen. You can’t say you didn’t do it back because you absolutely did. You also can’t say seeing it was the most refreshing thing ever. You’re not here to talk shit about how aliens look, but a guy can only handle seeing an alien blush green at his sister for so long.
It was during one of your many movie nights. You remember when movie nights consisted of the whole meter- not the purple guy, you guys don’t count him -but other than that the whole meteor. After several movie nights there were only so many films you could all watch as a group without debate.
Vriska was the first to leave, claiming she was bored with it all. Terezi went at the same time as Vriska did because why wouldn’t she. At the time, that got to you much more than it should have. Rose and Kanaya also left as a pair, Kanaya had admitted she never really liked the violence the movies displayed, and Rose intellectually agreed, and that was the last you ever saw of them at movie night.
At the first night with just you and Karkat, you wondered if he would even bother showing up. Why wouldn’t he, right? He can finally watch his shitty alien romance films undisturbed. Except you can’t just sit here and allow a Karkat to go unannoyed, of course you can’t, so you go.
As expected he was hunched over a stack of discs, looking for The Perfect romcom to watch. He didn’t hear you come in the room, so when you had casually asked if you could join, he jumped several feet in the air and proceeded to yell at you.
“You could’ve knocked first!” You remember him screaming.
“Knock? To enter a public room? Welcome to all?” The very shit-eating-grin you made at him that night resurfaces on your face as you reminisce.
“Fuck you, sure, why not?”
“‘Sure, why not?’ I should knock or ‘Sure, why not?’ you’d fuck me?”
It was a joke, clearly. You hadn’t even considered your bisexuality at this point. But god. The frustrated fluster of his face as it went red for more than one reason really stuck with you. Not in a romantic way, not yet.
“You know what I meant,” he had told you. You did. You just liked getting reactions out of him.
“Haha, yeah,” god. Why did you say ‘haha’ out loud?
You had flopped down on the sofa and thanked god himself for it just being the two of you, so no one had to fight over who got couch and who got floor that night. The two of you just shared it comfortably.
At least, at first it was comfortable. As the movie dragged on you had a harder and harder time following the plot. The characters, vaguely, but god that plot. When you asked Karkat for help he gladly explained the road so far.
“So, she,” he had said, pointing at the greenblooded girl troll on screen, “is super against the blueblooded asshole she’s forced to hang out with, and-”
“-but why is she being forced to hang out with him?”
“Oh that?” He had said it like it was nothing. “A half of her fleet of rebellion trolls got wiped out in battle, which made the other half ditch and drop afterwards, finding the rest of the rebellion pointless once they were down half a fleet.”
“That sounds like really shitt writi-”
“-shut the fuck up. Anyways, all she has left is this blueblood who drives her absolutely insane. But they’re the only two left who know each other enough to trust one another. The movie is about them slowly getting along and eventually...falling in love.”
At the time that had sounded like the dumbest and cheesiest plot of all time. Now looking back on it it’s really ironic of you for thinking so.
You do, however, remember a smile form on your face every time he stopped to explain a confusing part without you asking to for the rest of the movie. You also remember how intensely focused he was during the confession scene. His knees pulled to his chest, arms wrapping tightly around them as if if he let go the entire romance plot of the movie would fall apart. You remember the way his breath hitched in excitement when they kissed. And that’s when it happened.
You had caught him in his little gasp, the two of you had made awkward eye contact. You were staring at him and he had looked over briefly to make sure you didn’t hear his little breath of excitement. The weird tension on top of being caught gasping at two characters kiss was just enough to make him blush a soft red.
You remember the way your lips curled into a small smile. You remember how a teasingly affectionate laugh escaping you. You remember the way he flipped you off but continued to blush for a good five minutes after you catching him.
You also remember not being able to focus for the rest of the movie. It wasn’t often anyone- you especially- could catch the Karkat Vantas showing any emotion other than frustration. That was the start of his soft downfall. In public, that was. You knew that boy was gentle from romance since the beginning, but usually when he dealt with it in front of people, it involved him yelling at people over how ‘superior’ his movies were.
So this? This was a gold mine. It was also the start of it all. After that night the two of you exclusively hung out together a lot.
Terezi stopped going to Can Town not even a full two weeks after the two of you got close. You’d teasingly throw cans at each other like teen boys. You both were teen boys, but jesus.
Movie night would soon find itself moved from the main room and to your bedroom. The two of you would press close to each other on your bed, fully engaged in whatever bullshit movie you’d both be watching that night. You remember watching Karkat more than the actual movie. Fully engaged in watching him watch the movies- every gasp, breath hitch, eye widen was a Karkat Gold Mine to you.
You remember him blushing during a kiss scene and it was your turn for your eyes to widen. Up until that point, blushing at the movie was never something he had done. So why then?
It kept happening after that. Movie after movie you’d see him blush at anything vaguely romantic. When the two of you hung out he would space out- which usually ended up with you snapping him back in and him blushing and leaving.
You remember being confused. Then you remember thoughts you’d have after a while of catching him blushing.
The first time the word ‘cute’ came to mind you wanted to nope-the-fuck out of your own skin. Karkat is not cute because Karkat is a boy and you don’t think boys are cute. You’d tell yourself that a lot. It didn’t work.
You remember watching his movie reactions more intently, those were cute. You remember the way his face would light up every time you walked into Can Town, how he’d call you over to help after you greeted the mayor. That was cute. You remember just how hard he blushed the time the two of you accidentally pressed your legs together while watching a movie. That was super cute.
You remember the first time you thought about wanting to kiss him. The way Rose told you there was nothing wrong with that, and that you should look at who you were talking to about ‘how weird the thought of kissing a same gender troll was’ You remember feeling like an idiot your own sister had to remind you she was a lesbian. You had been so wrapped up in your own crisis you had completely forgotten.
The first kiss you and Karkat shared was a sort-of-accident. Sort of accident in the sense that it was no accident you wanted to kiss him that night, rather the timing.
Your overthinking ass had planned the whole thing out. The two of you were to routinely watch your Saturday(?) night movie together, you had planned to talk about the movie for just a little bit, and then you would talk about each other, and if all things went right, you were going to kiss him.
It didn’t go the way you thought it would.
For one thing, you got to pick the movie that night, and you had put on his favorite movie. That in itself was apparently enough to get him suspicious. Halfway through the movie he had had enough of your light commentary and paused the film.
“What is this about?” He asked you.
You tried to play dumb. “What do you mean?”
He had rolled his eyes. “Dave, you don’t even want to watch this movie when it’s my pick. So why now?”
“What? I can’t do something nice for my best friend?” He didn’t react to that the way you expected him to. He looked liked someone brought up his dead lusus. He wasn’t saying anything either.
“Karkat?”
“I just...things are so different between us now.” You remember the anxiety that rose in your chest when he said that. Thinking maybe he doesn’t want to be friends with you anymore. “You’re being so nice to me and-” He looked you in the eyes, for the most part, since your shades were on.
You remember staring into his as well. He looked scared, as if your protective shield was a wall where he knew what wasn’t on the other side, but not what was.
And then your plan to kiss him failed. Not that he left. It was just that he kissed you .
He had leaned in and kissed you and for a brief second of shock you didn’t kiss back, it had taken you a second to realize what was happening. But god, when you did, you were all over that boy.
His lips were so soft. You remember the way his hands felt nearly just as soft as they came up to your face and pushed your shades up and off the bridge of your nose. You remember the sound he made when you softly sucked on his bottom lip. You remember his sharp teeth gently digging into his own lips when you pulled back, the way he seemed like he wasn’t just ready to stop kissing.
You remember the breathy ‘wow’ you let out, as well as his equally breathy ‘yeah’ in response.
You remember how it only got better from there. The affectionate smiles. The way one of the two of you would surprise each other by walking up and hugging from behind. How close you’d lay next to each other during movies. Not to mention actually sleeping. The day you both moved into the same room. How comfortable and right everything felt when the two of you were curled up into each other in nothing but tee shirts and boxers. The day you realized you were in love with him.
All of it led up to this moment. The two of you laying in your shared bed on new earth, or Earth C as the group of you have generally called it. Kanaya insists it’s a placeholder, but you know the lot of you are too lazy to sit down and actually think of something legitimate.
But besides that, this moment in bed. You looking down at your newly wed husband. The two of you got married exactly one year, three months, and sixteen days after Rose and Kanaya. Kanaya cried. Rose did too, but not as much. Jake was practically wailing. Dirks fond smile was enough to encourage you through your vows. You noted how close he was sitting next to Jake. You need to tease him about that later. John looked so damn happy for the both of you, he and Jade were smiling like absolute fools and you love them both so much. You remember Roxy bawling through her bright smile and how Calliope was gently rubbing up and down her girlfriend’s arm to soothe her. The whole thing was everything you dreamed about and more.
He is everything you dreamed of and more. You plant a small kiss into Karkat’s hair and curl your face in so it’s pressed against the top of his head. He of course showered for the wedding, so you can still smell the fresh fruitiness of his shampoo. He’s such a dork and you love him for it. The thought you want to love him forever is weird, as you remind yourself you will and are going to love him forever, and that the two of you have matching bands to prove so makes you smile so damn hard.
Tomorrow you’re going to wake up with your newly wedded husband in your arms, and it’s the best last thing you’ve ever thought of before falling asleep.