Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kara had had a full day: sim time with a couple of fourth-year students who’d asked for her help, monthly quals in her Viper, and a rough-and-ready pickup pyramid game on her way back from hangar. She was exhausted, but worse, she was ripe. She could smell herself, and it wasn’t pleasant. She swung by the office for her spare kit and hit the nearest showers.

She leaned lazily against the wall. The water was scalding her skin and relaxing her muscles, and she almost felt like just sinking to the floor and showering sitting down. This might have been a mistake. She’d never make it home at this rate; no way was she driving in this condition.

She groaned as she reached for her kit - it was just beyond her reach, and stretching like this hurt. She gave up for the moment and stepped back under the water, letting it stream over her from the top of her head to the tops of her toes. She leaned into the wall again, headfirst this time, trying to work up the energy to get her kit and actually take her shower. She made a mental note not to over-extend herself like this again.

The air behind her changed. She’d known there’d be students in the showers when she walked over here, and didn’t really think anything of it. It was getting toward the end of the day, and many of them would shower at night to get a few more minutes of sleep in before morning reveille.

Then there were hands on her shoulders, slick with soap, and she moaned gratefully without bothering to turn around. They finished with her back and washed her hair, pulling her away from the wall enough to work the shampoo in and then to rinse it out. She turned under their hands, and when they didn’t start soaping her front right away, she opened her eyes. “What the frak are you staring at, Adama?”

Zak Adama pulled his eyes to her face and went to work washing the rest of her, his face only coloring a little when he washed between her legs. He left the water running while he went to grab a towel, and had the towel waiting when she yanked the water in the ‘off’ direction and stepped out of the stall to let him dry her off.

“What was this for?”

“You looked exhausted. Figured you could use a hand.” His hands kept the towel moving briskly on her skin.

“You know this isn’t going to help your grade?”

“Never imagined it would. You want me to drive you home?”

“Under any other circumstances, Adama, I’d say no, but I’m not sure I’d make it to the front gate on my own, much less to my apartment. Keys are in my pants pocket.”

When she woke the next morning, still a little sore, but much refreshed, she stumbled to the head to pee and brush her teeth. She walked back into her bedroom, and the sight of Adama lying there on top of the covers, fully clothed, brought the night before into sharp focus. She wasn’t sure if her excuse later was going to be “he was there” or “I needed to thank him” but she woke him up with a kiss and her hand down his pants.

Chapter Text

She sat and watched Kacey sleep, Kacey’s fist around her fingers relaxing as she fell deeper into slumber. Kara didn’t want to think about what might have happened if Kacey had died because of her selfishness. Kacey’s hand fell away from hers, and she caressed her forehead with a kiss, then brushed her silky blonde hair with her fingers. She was a beautiful child, and knowing that half of her was cylon didn’t change that.

She rose from the bed, not letting herself think about what she was going to do. She walked up the stairs to see him sitting on the couch reading. He looked up at her and smiled; no matter what she did, it never stopped the smiles.

She kept her eyes on his as she pulled her shirt off and started to unbutton her pants. He quirked an eyebrow, and his smile slipped just a tiny bit, but he didn't stop looking at her as she walked toward him, dropping her bra and panties on the way. He tossed the book down beside him as she climbed onto his lap.

“Kara?”

She didn’t want to answer questions, or have time to ask herself what the frak she was doing. So she said, “Thank you for saving our daughter,” and kissed him, shutting out everything else.

Chapter Text

“What’s the worst thing you ever fantasized about?”

Felix looked at Louis, not sure what he was after. “The worst?”

“Yeah, the one you’d never tell anybody else, except you’re going to tell me.” Louis smiled as he stroked down Felix’s side.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had any fantasies that weren’t perfectly normal.” Even as he said the last word, the image of Kara Thrace sucking her thumb popped into his head and he groaned softly.

Louis caught it. “What? You’ve thought of something, haven’t you?”

Felix nodded. “I can’t tell you while I’m looking at you.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Gods. “I was in the mess one day, and Starbuck was sitting there doing some paperwork.” Louis didn’t say anything, so he cracked open an eye. “Kara Thrace,” he clarified.

“Oh. Right.”

Felix continued. “She was chewing on her thumb, sucking on it sometimes, completely oblivious to everything around her, or so I thought. I got this image of her on her knees, sucking my cock, and even though I never wanted her that way, something about it worked for me.” Louis’ hands had gotten lighter, almost not there anymore, but still enough to make Felix shiver a little.

“Just as I realized that I had a horrifying hard-on in the mess hall, Starbuck looked up, right at me, and sucked her thumb into her mouth, pretending to be giving a blow job, until she gave an ‘O’ face, like she was coming.”

“That’s it?”

Felix shook his head. “Nope. I ran out of the mess hall, leaving my tray there, her laughter chasing me down the corridor, and made for the nearest head. I had to rub one off, thinking about Kara Thrace, and it was the best orgasm I’d had in months. Then I woke up from a wet dream later that night, and it had been about her.”

“She do anything special?” Louis picked up Felix’s hand and kissed his fingertips. Felix shook his head.

“So, she just sucked her thumb, and it made you hot?”

“Gods. When you say it like that, it sounds even worse. I mean, if I had to fantasize about someone, I’d really rather it be anybody except Starbuck.”

“Maybe it wasn’t so much about her as it was about having her on her knees for you, having control of someone you don’t like.” He sucked in a finger and alternated between hard suction and wrapping his tongue around it.

Felix groaned softly. “Maybe.”

“Well, it won’t be the same, because you like me, but I could do that. You stand up, and I suck you off while I’m on my knees in front of you.”

Felix decided Louis must’ve been right about it, because the idea of Louis on his knees sucking him off gave him an instant hard-on. “Gods.”

Louis laughed. “That works for you, does it?”

“It shouldn’t, because I don’t want to have that kind of relationship with you, but…”

“But it does.”

Felix nodded.

“Stand up, then. I’ll give you something new to fantasize about whenever you think of that.”

Felix was embarrassed by how quickly he got out of the rack.

Chapter Text

Karl’s pocket vibrated. He pulled his phone out and flipped it open.

You got anything planned tonight?

He texted back. No. Why?

My room. 45 mins. Take a shower.

What are we doing, Kara?

She hadn’t answered him by the time he got back to his own room, so he shrugged, stripped down to skivvies and went to take a shower. Whatever Kara had in mind, he knew it wouldn’t be boring, at least.

Not even forty-five minutes later, he knocked on her door, and she yanked it open. Her eyes glittered feverishly as she looked him up and down, then fisted the front of his tanks and pulled him into her room. She slammed the door behind them and pushed him toward her rack, stripping off what little clothing she was wearing on the way.

“Kara, what’s going on?”

“Had my first viper flight today, Helo.”

“How’d it go?”

“Get naked, Helo. I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Not that he objected to getting naked with Kara, but this was unusually aggressive of her. “That bad, huh?” He pulled his tanks over his head, tossing them toward her desk.

“Not bad. Good.”

“Wow, Kara. So many words. I don’t know if I can keep up.” He laughed when her face clouded over.

“Fine. Since you want words. Actually being in a viper did two things to me, Karl Agathon. It made me higher than I’ve ever been, and hornier. If you don’t want to help me with that, I can probably find somebody on this floor who will just shut up and frak me senseless.”

He dropped his pants where he stood and spread his hands. “Hey, you had me at ‘get naked, Helo.’ You know I love helping out a friend.” He backed up to the rack and flopped in gracefully.

Kara snickered and climbed on. “Since you’re being so giving and all, maybe I’ll even let you be on top sometime today.”

Karl pulled Kara toward him by her hair. “Ah, shut up and kiss me, Kara.” He made a mental note that she liked having her hair pulled.

Chapter Text

Kara made her way to the bar, where the only open spot was next to Ellen Tigh. She raised her hand for the bartender to bring her something, and her eyes slid over Ellen as she turned her back to the bar to watch the crowd. She turned to grab her drink and heard Ellen snicker. She followed Ellen’s line of sight to the dance floor, but couldn’t figure out what she was watching. “What’s so funny?”

Ellen’s gaze flicked over her, then back out to the crowd. “Just remembering something in a supply closet.”

“Which one?” Kara had some interesting supply closet memories herself.

“Which closet, or which person?” Ellen grinned, and Kara had to grin back.

“Either.” This might not be boring, after all.

“Trade ya stories.”

Kara looked Ellen up and down. “I’m going to need a lot more to drink for that conversation.”

Ellen’s delighted laugh rang out, and she turned to the bartender. “Bring us the whole bottle.” She turned back to Kara. “Wanna make it even more fun?”

Kara hardly considered that for a second. “I’m always up for more fun.”

“I’ve heard that about you, Kara Thrace.”

“It’s not exactly a stranger to you, Ellen Tigh. What do you have in mind?”

“Pick a person. I’ll tell you my story, you tell me yours. When we can’t tell a story, we drink. No, we won’t get much drinking that way. How about, if I’ve got a story and you don’t, I drink, and if you’ve got a story and I don’t, you drink. If both of us have a story, we both drink double.”

Kara mulled it over for a moment or two, then raised her glass. “I’ll drink to that.” She turned toward the crowd and picked someone at random. “Lieutenant there,” she pointed, “dancing with the blonde.”

Ellen told her story. Over the course of the evening, Ellen drank a lot more than Kara, because despite her reputation, Kara hadn’t slept with that many men, and only one or two women. Kara listened to story after story - it seemed like no matter who she picked, male or female, Ellen had a story about them. Then Kara picked four people in a row Ellen hadn’t frakked, and those four shots turned off her mouth filter.

“You makin’ these stories up, Ellen Tigh? Are you really that good in bed?” she asked belligerently.

Ellen arched her eyebrow and leaned forward, alcohol strong on her breath. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Kara was just drunk enough to take her up on it. She waffled over where to go, though.

Finally Ellen said, “Saul’s in CIC all night. We can use our quarters.”

They stalked the corridors, laughing drunkenly on the way, and finally made it to the XO’s hatch. Kara looked both ways just to be sure no one was watching, and followed Ellen in. Ellen dogged the hatch deftly and staggered toward the rack, dropping her clothes as she went. Kara tossed her own clothes on the floor and climbed in.

Either Ellen really was that good, or there’d been something in the alcohol, because Kara hadn’t come that many times in one night, ever. She finally fell asleep mid-orgasm, and slept soundly for hours.

When she woke up, her vision was foggy, her brain was foggier, and her mouth tasted foul. She looked around enough to recognize Ellen Tigh, realize she was in the XO’s bed, and dropped her head back onto the pillow. She winced at the pain that caused, and asked no one in particular, “Gods, how much did we drink?”

She sat straight up in horror when Saul Tigh answered, “According to Ellen, it was at least three bottles.”

Oh, frak!

Chapter Text

Kara walked into Kendra’s office and dropped her paperwork on Kendra’s desk. She heard the shriek of the water turning off and wondered why Kendra was showering so early. She dogged the hatch to Kendra’s office and stepped through to the quarters just as Kendra stepped out of the head clad in her towel, water dripping down her face. “Rough day?”

Kendra’s “Mmm,” was noncommittal. She grimaced as she raised the towel to dry her back.

“Look like you could use a massage. I’ve got good hands.”

“Don’t you still have work to do?” Kendra bent at the waist, and couldn’t suppress a groan as she tried to twirl the towel around her hair, and straightened without accomplishing it.

“Paperwork’s all done, babe. It’s on your desk.” She walked over to where Kendra was standing. “Why are you hurting?”

“Rough workout. I was trying to demonstrate a move, and the guy was trying to prove that ‘the little woman’ couldn’t take him down. He pinned me a couple of times.”

“You discipline him?”

“For what, Kara? Being a chauvinist?”

“I don’t know, but you probably coulda thought of something. If I’d done that to Saul Tigh, I’d have been in the brig by now.”

Kendra pulled a drawer open and found panties. She handed her towel off to Kara and stooped to put her panties on. She ended up leaning against the bulkhead to keep her balance.

“Come on, Kendra. Let me help. I’m not just trying to get you into bed. I’ve done this for people I wasn’t frakking, too, you know.” She put a hand under Kendra’s chin and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. “It’ll help you feel better, I promise.”

Kendra groaned and gave in. She went to the rack and got in face down. Kara dug around in her drawer and pulled out two bottles. She put a tiny drop on two different fingers and let Kendra sniff. “Which one?” Kendra made her choice and Kara put the other one away. She dropped the bottle on the bed, went to wash her hands, and stripped down to skivvies. Frakking or not, it was easier to do this as close to naked as possible.

She rubbed her hands together to warm them up, then poured a generous portion into one palm. She pressed her palms together to distribute the lotion, then started by just smoothing her hands from Kendra’s neck to her arms. She worked all the way to Kendra’s waist that way, just touching without much pressure. Kendra was zoned out - not asleep, but not far from it, probably. Kara renewed the lotion in her hands again and started back at the top, using her thumbs to press into Kendra’s muscles this time. Kendra groaned a few times, and Kara was careful to note where those places were so she could focus on them later.

When Kendra started snoring, Kara smiled to herself and smoothed her hands over Kendra again. I can work those rough spots later. She moved to get off the bed and cover Kendra up.

Kendra grumbled sleepily, “Where you goin’? Come back to bed.”

She sat back down and teased, “That an order, sir?”

“I’ll put you in the brig if you don’t get your ass back in here now.” Her voice was stronger and more commanding.

“What if I like brig time?” She liked riling Kendra up a little, so she’d use her XO voice on her. It backfired this time.

“For gods’ sake, Kara. Just get back in bed, please?”

Kara was immediately contrite. She pulled her sports bra over her head and tossed it across the room, then crawled under the covers and wrapped herself around Kendra. “I’m here. Sleep now.” Kendra murmured something and was asleep again moments later.

Chapter Text

Into the Woods I

On one of his trips down to New Caprica, Lee happened to see Kara sneaking off into the trees, her hand out in front of her holding onto someone else’s. His actual task forgotten, he strode in that direction, taking care to keep his steps quieter as he entered the treeline. About ten minutes in, he began to hear moans, and fearing something had happened to Kara, he moved faster.

As he was about to burst through the foliage at the edge of the clearing, he realized his mistake. He should have remembered how Kara sounded when she was turned on - he’d heard it enough when he’d had to listen to her and Zak. He knew this was wrong, but he was arrested by the sight of Kara, topless, her pants hanging open, writhing on Laura Roslin’s hand. He spared a moment to wonder if Zak had ever mentioned that Kara was into girls, too, then told himself to just shut up and watch.

His pants became uncomfortably tight as the minutes went on, Kara coming twice before she and Laura kissed each other hungrily and Kara laid her jacket out for Laura to lie down. The look of love on her face was so open and uncomplicated, and he wondered why they were hiding. Kara had mustered out and Laura wasn’t the President anymore - there was nothing wrong with them having a relationship, no regs being broken.

When Kara unbuttoned Laura’s shirt and fumbled her bra above her breasts, Lee considered looking away out of respect for the older woman, or leaving entirely, but he couldn’t make himself do it. Laura was even more attractive without her clothes, and he was just plain fascinated by the careful, considerate way Kara made love to her. He’d never seen her so quietly focused on anything.

When he realized that they were winding down, more kissing and cuddling now than getting off, he turned to make his way out of the trees, walking slowly to give his erection time to subside before he ran into anybody. He was so busy mulling over what he’d observed that he didn’t notice the noise of Kara and Laura making their way out of the trees, and he had no idea that Kara recognized his back or that she figured out he’d been near the clearing.

Into the Woods II

He was on the communications Raptor dropping off a package of fuses when Kara stepped on and closed the hatch behind her.

“Ya have fun, Lee?” Her voice was acerbic.

“Dropping off supplies? Is that supposed to be fun?”

Kara got right up next to him, grabbed his pants at his zipper, and said, “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.”

“I don’t know -”

“Don’t give me that.” She looked down at her hand. “I know what you saw. You know what you saw. Did you enjoy it?” She enunciated each word of that last sentence precisely.

He didn’t see the point in trying to lie - the remembered visuals coupled with Kara’s hand on his dick had given him another erection, and there was no graceful way out of this. “Yeah. I enjoyed it.”

His eyes widened as she said, “Good. It’ll be easy to take care of me, then.”

“Take care...of you?” He hesitated, unsure of what she was asking.

“Come on, Lee. Don’t be an idiot! Laura and I have a good time, and she’s pretty good for a broad.” Lee wondered why she was intentionally being coarse - he’d been able to see that she cared about Laura. “But fingers aren’t cocks, are they? I need a good hard frak now. And I need to know that you’ll keep your mouth shut.” With that, her motives were clear. She was protecting Laura by pretending not to care.

“In here?”

“No. Somebody’ll need the Raptor before long. My tent. Boots outside the flap work, so no one will bother us.” She hit the switch to open the hatch, and he followed her, a few paces behind, as if he weren’t on his way to what amounted to a nooner. Kara grabbed a pair of boots and dropped them outside the flap of her tent, clearly not caring if anyone had seen Lee entering the tent, then tied the flaps closed. She turned around and when she saw him still standing there, she said, “Gods, Lee. Strip. Can’t frak with our clothes on.” She wasted no time getting undressed herself, then sat on the edge of her cot.

She laid on her side and watched him finish stripping, clearly pleased by what she was seeing. He wondered why they hadn’t done this before. They’d both wanted to. When he was naked, she patted the cot beside her. He stretched out beside her.

“It doesn’t have to be wham-bam, Lee, but I don’t need a buncha foreplay, either.”

He was a bit put off by her almost clinical attitude, but he wanted Kara, so he stuffed that down and kissed her. She took his hand and slid it down her side, over her hip, onto her ass. He squeezed and pulled her leg over his own hip, and let his fingers glide back down her thigh to between her legs. She’s so frakkin’ wet!

She tightened the arm she had around his back and bit his lip gently. “Come on, Lee. Just frak me.”

He pushed her to her back and entered her. Her legs were tight around his hips, but she closed her eyes and turned her face away, biting her lip. Her lukewarm response made him wonder what the hell Zak had seen in her. This was nothing like what he’d watched her do with Laura.

She reached a hand between them to get herself off, her eyes locked with his now. When she came, she didn’t make a sound, and he tried to follow her example, knowing that tent walls were thin. She let him cuddle for a few minutes, then pushed him off and stood to get dressed. Lee reluctantly got up and did the same.

He hugged Kara before he left, saying, “Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me.”

Into the Woods III

Laura made sure to find out when Lee was going to be on-planet next. Kara’s answers had been less than satisfactory, so she wanted to ask Lee directly. She watched his face as she walked up - it went from openly happy to see her to embarrassment that he’d seen her naked to worry - that she'd pitch a fit, probably.

“Commander Apollo.”

Lee was clearly relieved by the greeting. “Madame President.”

“All things considered, I think you can call me Laura now, don’t you?”

Lee blushed.

“I’ve been wondering something, and Kara couldn’t, or wouldn’t, answer my questions.”

“Okay,” he said warily.

“While you were watching us, did it get you hot?”

Lee choked and looked around. “I’m sorry?”

“You heard me, young man. Did watching us frak get you off? It’s a yes or no question, really.”

“Yes.”

She took his arm and started leisurely strolling down the main path through the tents. “How long did Kara wait after we frakked before she came and found you?” His arm tensed under her hand, so she continued. “I’m just curious, Lee. If I’m not doing enough for her, I’d like to know.”

He rushed to reassure her. “Oh, no. It wasn’t like that. She was irritated that I’d watched, and she told me she needed to know that I’d keep my mouth shut about the two of you. I still don’t get why it has to be a secret, but she got what she wanted.”

“She frakked you to blackmail you into keeping quiet. Do you know how ridiculous that sounds, Lee?”

He hung his head. “Well, it made sense at the time.”

“Probably because you were thinking with your little head.” She nearly laughed out loud at the expression on his face when she spoke so crassly. “Well, you have a chance to make it up to me.”

He kept his eyes on the path as he asked, “Do I want to know what you mean by that?”

“Oh, I doubt it. But you’re going to do it anyway.” She stepped off the path toward the trees where the two women had disappeared the other day.

Lee stopped short. “What is it exactly that you want, Laura?”

“You’re going to frak me, of course. And Kara’s going to watch. It’s only fair.”

Lee shook his head. “I’m going to - wait. It’s fair that I frak you, or it’s fair that Kara watches?”

“Both. She got to frak you, and I had to watch it. I didn’t have to, but I went to her tent to ask her for a favor, and when I peeked through the tent flaps to figure out why she had them tied shut, I saw the two of you.”

“Oh, gods. Can I just go back up to Pegasus and pretend like none of this ever happened?”

Laura tugged on his arm, and he started walking again. “Are you saying that you don’t want to frak me? Am I too old for you?”

“Gods, no! Of course not!” He looked shocked at the suggestion.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“What isn’t? I accidentally stumble upon the two of you having a tryst in the woods, and somehow that ends up with me frakking the two of you, separately, to what? Get back at each other? Neither of you wants me.”

“Oh, quite the contrary, Lee. She’s wanted you for years. And if you never noticed that I watched you after you saved our asses in the initial attacks, I guess I’m a better actress than I thought.” While they’d been talking, she’d managed to get him to the clearing, and Kara was already leaning against a tree, the blanket spread on the ground waiting for them. Once he saw that, his will to resist seemed to evaporate. She stepped closer. “You can start by kissing me.”

Lee was a thorough and observant lover. He paid attention to everything and made sure she climaxed before he even took his pants off. Laura kept an eye on Kara, watching her face change from the mulish, angry expression she'd had when they’d gotten there to interest to arousal. There was a small part of her still angry at Kara, and she purposely moaned louder just to get back at her. She was sorry she’d done it when Kara’s eyes connected with hers and Laura could see the tears she was holding back.

Into the Woods IV

She held out her hand to Kara, and Kara came forward and dropped to her knees. Laura grabbed at her hand, and squeezed it as she rode out another orgasm, and Lee stuttered to his own climax. He rolled to the side, breathing heavily, and threw an arm over his face.

She tilted her chin at Kara, and Kara leaned down to kiss her. She whispered, “I’m sorry,” into Laura’s hair.

Laura noticed that Lee had uncovered his face, and was unabashedly watching them. “Kara has something to say to you, Lee.” Kara sat back on her heels and her posture turned stubborn. “Kara. We talked about this. Go on.”

Kara looked at Laura for another moment or two, anger shining in her eyes, then turned to Lee. “I’m sorry, Lee. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you that way. It won’t happen again.”

Lee’s mouth opened, as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.

“Now the two of you need to kiss and make up.”

Kara’s face whipped back to her. “What? No!”

Laura rarely lost her temper with Kara, even when she was trying to be irritating, but this looked like it might become one of those times. Still, she made an effort to keep her voice even. “Yes. You two are going to kiss and make up. Then we’re all going to kiss and make up.” Both of them looked at her then. She smiled serenely. “It’s a beautiful afternoon, for once, and we’re going to take advantage of it. It may never happen again.”

They apparently got the underlying message. Kara leaned forward again, and Lee rolled toward Laura, his hand on her belly. She pushed Kara’s hand down on top of Lee’s, looked at them both, and waited. They looked at each other, and she saw a glimmer of the way they used to communicate. It wasn’t what she’d intended, but maybe this would be a step toward healing their friendship, too.

Chapter Text

The scene morphed, and where Sam and Kara had been playing pyramid at the high school on Caprica, now they were dancing. She was beautiful - dress, hair, and she’d done something to her face. He pulled her closer, and she laughed up at him.

“Didn’t know you could dance, Sammy!”

He growled playfully at her. “Don’t call me Sammy.”

She tipped her face up and winked. “Sammy,” she whispered.

“That’s it!” He swung her up in his arms and carried her to a bed in the corner. Gods, it was huge. Soft, silky sheets and gigantic pillows, and Kara’s skin warm and golden under his mouth. He kissed his way across her bare shoulder to her neck and she sighed. He kissed her closed eyelids, the tip of her nose, her wide, smiling mouth, and she hummed her pleasure.

Her dress disappeared, and his fingers explored until Kara was wet and begging.

“Gods, Sammy, I love you so much.”

The words sounded foreign in his ears.

Something shattered, and he sat up, staring around him. The cot. The tent on New Caprica.

Kara sat up. “You okay, Sammy?”

“Yeah. Just had the weirdest dream.”

“Me, too. Seemed so real.” She pushed him back down and snuggled into him, asleep again almost immediately.

Sam went over every detail of that dream. He’d never had a dream like that one before. It was all still so vivid in his mind - the music they’d danced to, the ball smacking into the goal, the smell of Kara’s skin, the feel of the sheets. He slipped back into it without noticing, dancing with a laughing Kara until he fell asleep.