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To be honest, it was like watching a comet rain down from the sky.
Dave watches as a beautiful red ball of feathers plummets to the earth- feathers even brighter red than his, if that was even possible. They shed in clumps as the figure fell the hundreds of feet to the earth, breaking branches that slowed his fall as he did so. It was like it was raining red- and he wasn’t sure all the red was just feathers.
Dave hesitates for barely a moment before tucking his wings in and diving after the figure, shooting expertly through the branches. As having the wings of a peregrine falcon, he was the fastest flyer of anyone he knew. Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite fast enough to catch the figure before he hits the ground, collapsing in a heap. Shit.
He pulls up just before hitting the ground, digging in his heels and flaring out his wings to stop himself, hissing at the strain it put on his shoulders. He stumbles to a stop and pulls his wings back in before running to the figure and kneeling behind him.
He’s barely touched the figure before his hand is slapped away. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me or I will rip your arm right out of the socket and use it to bash your own head in,” a voice snaps.
Dave raises an eyebrow, and a smirk plays at his lips. Looks like the figure wasn’t as hurt as he had been worried, miraculously enough. “You can’t even walk, dude. There’s no way that you’re going to be able to rip my arm out. I wouldn’t let you, anyway.” He frowns a little, studying the curled up figure in front of him, hidden by torn up and bleeding wings. “Who are you?” he asks.
“Karkat,” the voice says, suddenly soft. The wings shift, pulling aside to reveal a tan face with red irises, and Dave exhales slowly. “And you?”
“Dave,” he says, the shakes his head. “What even happened to you? You look like you got mauled by a wild animal.”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Karkat sneers, and then suddenly seems to withdraw into himself, shielding his face with his wing again. “I lost a fight. For my nest. I don’t have anywhere to live anymore. So I guess I’m stuck down here anyway.”
Dave frowns- he would be dead by the time the night was up. By beasts or hunger or something, he’s sure of it. He leans down and wraps an arm around Karkat’s waist, then guides the male’s arm around his neck. He grunts slightly as he lifts the two of them up, taking a second to balance both of their weights. “Like hell you are. Come on, we’re going to my place. You can stay there until you’re strong enough to start hunting for another nest.”
Karkat seems to sputter for a bit, eyes wide, until he finally takes in what he’s being offered. “Aren’t you afraid that I’m going to try to take your nest while you’re asleep?” he finally manages, and Dave laughs and shakes his head.
“Nah, I think I’ll be fine. And I trust you. You look like too small and cute of a guy to actually hurt me,” he snickers, which makes Karkat growl slightly in defense.
Dave frowns as he looks over the boy in front of him. “Do you think you could fly?” he asks carefully. Karkat waits for a second, stretching out one wing slowly, then the other. He winces and curses- can’t even get the left wing fully spread.
“I think it’s sprained,” he says, growling. “Fucking shit, I’m as defenseless as a kitten about to be mauled and eaten alive by an eagle. I can’t do shit to defend myself.”
Dave is about to laugh before he catches himself. It’s a moment later before he gets an idea and smirks, then leans down and scoops up Karkat bridal-style, careful of his wings. “Well then, come on, princess; wrap your arms around my neck. It’s time for us to hop aboard the Strider express to La Casa de Dave, where you can make yourself at home.”
Karkat yelps the moment he’s picked up, and then does exactly what Dave had suggested and wraps his arms tightly around Dave’s neck. Dave chuckles before kneeling down, then shooting off the ground, wings snapping open and flapping hard to support both of their weights. It’s hard, being a peregrine falcon, but the flight is quick and it’s mere minutes before they tumble into Dave’s nest, head over heels and landing with Karkat resting safely on Dave’s chest. Dave just lays there laughing as Karkat scowls at him in anger.
“You fucking idiot, did you not pick up from that steaming shitpile that was me on the ground of the forest floor that I may not want to fly?!”
Of course, this only makes Dave laugh harder. Karkat is about to try to punch his smug ass face in the nose to wipe that smirk off of it when he realizes the position they’re in. He blushes brightly before scrambling off of Dave, then hissing at the pain.
“Woah, woah, woah,” Dave says, rolling to his knees and holding his hands up. “Look, it’s gonna be okay.” He sighs before standing up and going to a cabinet he has in one side of his nest- large and spacious- and pulls out some herbs. He offers them to Karkat. “Painkillers,” He explains. “They’re bitter as fuck but they work wonders. I broke an arm before, so I would know.”
Karkat hesitates, eying the herbs dubiously as if they’ll poison him if he takes them. He only does it for a moment though- the pain is too great to keep from taking them for too long. He snatches them from Dave’s hand, then stuffs them in his mouth. He promptly gags. “Holy fuck that stuff tastes nasty,” he snarls, fighting down the urge to spit them out right back in the smug little face Dave is giving him.
“Yeah, it sucks,” Dave says and shrugs unsympathetically. He frowns a little bit as he studies Karkat. “You can take the bed,” he says, already making plans to curl up on the plush chair that he keeps in his main living area.
Karkat frowns, immediately having a problem with this idea. “I can’t take that from you. I’m well acquainted with the ground by now, so I’ll be fine there,” he mutters, to which Dave rolls his eyes.
“If you don’t get your ass in that bed and get some rest, I will drag it there myself and strap you down so that you are forced to sleep and heal,” Dave says flatly.
Karkat groans and goes to get his ass in that bed. It’s comfortable- plush with stray feathers that Dave must have found caught in trees and the forest floor. The blankets are soft and really anything would have been better than the uncomfortable nest he had been used to but /this/. This was pure heaven. He makes a soft noise as he burrows under the covers.
Dave watches over him, a small smile sneaking onto his face as he does so. “You’re cute,” he says. When Karkat’s head pops out from under the pillows to glare at him, he shrugs. “I say that unabashedly. Mind if I hop in there too?”
Karkat immediately starts to sputter, and he pulls the blankets up around himself. Dave slaps a hand to his face to keep from laughing. “I meant to sleep, Karkat. Calm down. You look completely cuddleable and I would love to take advantage of that.” He pulls off his shades and sets them on the bedside table, then offers Karkat a little wink.
Karkat stares, then finds himself nodding. He curls up a little bit as Dave crawls in bed behind him, then slowly wraps an arm around his waist. “This okay?” Dave breathes against his neck, making Karkat shiver. But he nods again, and burrows back into Dave’s warmth, careful not to let any of their movements hurt him further.
“Sleep well, Karkat,” Dave breathes, then presses a light kiss to the top of Karkat’s head, snickering as he goes completely red and sputtery all over again. Yep, absolutely flipping adorable, no doubt about it.
“Thanks,” Karkat mutters. “Hope you don’t get any horrorterrors either.” He attempts to keep convincing himself that he’s just cold and lonely and is only holding onto Dave for warmth, though he’s quickly losing the battle to convince himself of this.
Maybe these next weeks in Dave’s nest wouldn’t be so bad after all.