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The meteor floor was cold in the evenings and Dave hated that so much. He was the only one who really knew when it was "evening" and when it wasn’t, because he was still following Earth time, even if it didn’t make sense anymore and even if he lost track of what it was far too many times, so the idea was sorta hopeless now. Still, he insisted on trying, and the others thought it was very dumb but admittedly helpful. Having someone keep track of time in a place where the sun didn’t rise and clocks didn’t really work was a very good idea, in order for them to count down those three years they had to wait for.
They would thank Dave, but even in that second year of being on the meteor, that topic never really came up in conversation. It was more of a thing that everyone knew he did but never really mentioned.
Still, Dave hated that floor. He hated the cold so much and he hated how cold it could become in the evenings. The warmest place beside all their bedrooms was Can Town, that room in which he liked to hang out with Karkat and the Mayor, and so he was there, with them. For some reason which he wouldn’t admit was probably him paying too much attention, the floor was cold there too on that evening, and so he was complaining as he’d usually do.
— It definitely wasn’t this cold last time we were here. Why wouldn’t I remember it being this cold last time if this is so cold?
— Dave, it’s the fucking same temperature that it's always been.
— No it’s not! Why wouldn’t I remember it if it was? This is like, the coldest it has ever been in this fucking meteor. I can barely stand in his room, what the fuck!
Karkat rolled his eyes and the Mayor kept switching his from Dave to Karkat, not sure of what to do. Dave yelled dramatically and finally stood up to avoid kneeling on the floor, rubbing his legs over his red pants so he could, dramatically, let the other two know how cold he was.
— Shit! Don’t we have a heater or something like that? Or did Rose steal that too? Why does she keep stealing shit? Are she and Gamzee planning something behind our backs that I can’t know about? She does disappear sometimes, but I thought that was mostly when she’s with Kanaya — Karkat stared Dave right in the eyes, from the floor. His eyebrows were frowned. — Oh my God. Is Kanaya in it too???
And then he started being Dave again. Karkat rolled his eyes and his head at the same time and stood up from the floor too, looking at the Mayor as he did the same. He walked towards him while Dave was talking and talking and gave him the can that he was holding.
— I know for a fact that I wouldn’t know that if it was going on, but- what is it? What are you two doing?
— Nothing? — Karkat said, looking at Dave.
— Why are you standing up? Did you feel the cold too? It sucks, doesn’t it? Fuck, if only Rose hadn’t stolen the heater.
— She didn’t steal the fucking heater, Dave — he looked at the Mayor again. — Can you get it for us so that he’ll fucking stop complaining? Rose grabbed it for her “daily reading” with Kanaya and they’d kill me if I interrupted them again but I don’t think they’d do anything to you.
The Mayor nodded and walked towards the door before Dave said:
— Hey, hey! Are you putting the Mayor in danger?
— I’m not putting him in fucking danger, Strider. He’s just going to grab a heater from a fucking stupid meeting your human sister is having.
— But why say they would kill you if you went? That can scare the Mayor. Mayor, are you scared? Are you okay? I’m sure they’re not going to do anything, who could possibly hurt someone like you?
— Dave, he’s not a fucking wriggler? — Karkat’s voice rose a little bit, and the Mayor was so confused over what to do, with his hand on the doorknob and eyes switching between the boys in the scene. — Why do you treat him like one so much? Go ahead, it’s fine, he knows he’s being dumb.
And the Mayor left through the door, but not before seeing Dave widely smile at him, as he did sometimes. God, no one understood why he loved that guy so much, but it was so clear. Karkat sighed as he finally left and kneeled again to fix one can that was out of place.
— Did you really get the Mayor to work for you? — Dave asked, spinning around in place because he could never stand still. — That’s really low, Vantas. Reeeeally low.
— Shut the fuck up. Are you gonna help me or not?
Dave walked back and kneeled again, not without complaining again. He made a funny face like the cold was bothering his knees through his pants, but Karkat didn’t care. They would have heat in a minute if Rose and Kanaya and who knows who else accepted giving it away.
After about ten seconds of silence and fixing the cans, Dave was already bored and in need of talking.
— Karkat. What are we even doing? Are the cans infinite?
— What do you mean?
— I mean, is this Can Town supposed to grow and grow forever and never end? Because I’m pretty sure empty cans can be eternal if we keep letting them be, and if that’s what makes the Mayor happy, then let that be it! But you know, how much longer are we going to be building this? The houses are already so fucking cool, or… whatever they are. You know what I mean?
— Yeah I do — he answered, not taking his eyes off the cans he was using. — Are you getting bored of Can Town?
— No! — Dave yelled, as if that was the most offensive idea he had ever been presented. — No, no way! How can I get bored of it, it fucking rules!
— Then what is it?
Dave held a can in his hand, looking directly at it. Karkat couldn’t help but notice how interesting it was that he didn’t seem to be dying of hypothermia anymore.
— I don’t know. It feels kinda. Dumb.
— Does it?
— Yeah. You know — he began. — I know it’s a distraction. Like, yeah, of course, it’s the Mayor’s favorite thing to do and we like it too and we have a fuckton of fun here but yeah, deep down I know, that it’s mostly a distraction…
Karkat stayed silent, and maybe he looked at Dave once or twice. But mostly he stayed silent while doing his own thing with one side of that town made of empty cans.
— It’s a distraction from the fact that we are just in this really strange stage before a weird thing that is going to happen and I just don’t know how to explain it? — and he frowned his eyebrows in confusion and stared at Karkat, who stared back this time. — Do you know what I mean?
— I think so — his raspy voice said.
— Yeah, I don’t know how to explain it — he continued. — It’s like… maybe shit like this is not really that cool? And maybe we just think it’s cool ‘cause our minds or something wants us to be thinking that it’s cool, because otherwise we would be thinking only of our past and future, which are both weird and kinda fucked up?
Karkat nodded, looking down again.
— Let’s be real, our undefined future probably fucking sucks! I’m sure I’m not the only one who lies in bed sometimes just dreading the war that we don’t even know the meaning of. Do you also do that? It might be just a trick of our brain.
The troll looked at Dave again, his expression was unreadable, because it didn’t really have any particular details to be noticed. He just looked at him.
— I don’t know. Maybe the bottom line is that… distractions kinda stop working when you notice that they’re just distractions.
He nodded.
— And that sucks.
Karkat took the can Dave was holding from his hand, nodding his head. And then he placed it on top of the other ones that he had been moving. Dave looked at him, and eventually, the two of them were looking at one another, with their own thoughts in their head, each controlling their own movements.
Karkat smiled. It looked like a worried smile.
— Are you thinking about John again?
— What, no — he said, quickly. — Not John, no. I’m just. Thinking of everything. As I do.
— You do that a lot — he giggled. — So the second year on the meteor is the year in which Dave is the one to be emotionally eaten up. Who do you think it’s gonna be next year?
— Hopefully not the Mayor — Dave answered seriously after laughing. — But I’m sure the little guy is going to be fine.
Karkat kept smiling, and as he fixed the last can that he could, he stayed smiling. He looked back at Dave, who was just kneeling and sitting on his ankles, not really doing any progress on that neverending town of cans.
— But seriously, do you want to talk about it?
— Nah — Dave looked down, smiling. — I mean, we already talk a lot. Don’t want to start a feeling jam in Can Town, you know? Not the place for that.
— Yeah, it does look very emotionless... all grey and cold.
— TOO cold.
They stayed in silence for some time, before Karkat proposed once again:
— But if you do want to talk, you can. Just reminding you — Dave nodded. — I know I’m not the best guy at giving emotional advice, but I can listen. I really worry about you.
— I worry about you too — Dave replied. — I just… I really just want all of this to be over sometimes Because it sucks to know that we’re just waiting for certain death to come. What the fuck, we have no chance to survive! Isn’t the guy ten feet tall and like the strongest thing in the universe? What are we, small humans and trolls full of hormones and a lot of thoughts?
And Karkat laughed, in the way that he usually did, with his teeth in front, mouth closed, and smiling. Dave loved that sort of laugh that he did, even if he tried not to notice it the most he could. It was hard not to, when it was such a fun laugh to see.
— Well. At least with you, and him, and the others, of course, we can enjoy this last bit of life that we have — he finished. — And it’s pretty fun if you don’t think about it too hard.
— Come on, Dave — Karkat started, in a more serious voice than in usual conversation. — Maybe we won’t die. You don’t know that. You couldn’t possibly know that.
Dave thought about it for a moment. Couldn’t he know that? Couldn’t anyone know that? He remembered his sister talking about all sorts of things about their upcoming fight and he promised that he was listening, but sometimes it was too much for him to think about, to the point in which his mind would start wandering without him wanting it to. Did he want to truly know if they would die or not once they arrived where they were meant to?
Probably, if he was being honest. If it was inevitable, why burden his mind with questions of yes or no?
— You’re right. But we don’t even know anything about this guy.
— I mean, we do know some things… I don’t know how much attention you pay to the stuff Rose says but she says some shit you maybe should have been listening to.
Dave laughed forcedly and remembered one of the times in which Rose tried talking to him and the rest of the crew about the whole fight thing. She probably was accompanied by Vriska but he couldn’t care about the memory enough to actually remember it clearly. All he focused on was the fact that Karkat was there, and that he was next to Terezi, or someone else, he couldn’t remember. Dave lost track of how long it had been since his thoughts started wandering to Karkat sometimes, without him wanting them to, but it only increased once they started spending more time together. He knew Karkat was right there and that they were talking about something that was actually important but his mind once again couldn’t stop wandering. He thought about the thoughts and about why he was having the thoughts, and it reached a level that was hard to come back from, but at least he could hear Karkat speaking some words.
He didn’t even know what he was thinking of anymore, but it definitely had to be broken before he would think too much about mortality again. So he tried to pull his head back and stopped staring at the cans in front of him, and actually drove his eyes to Karkat’s eyes, so he could maybe start the act of coming back to reality.
When Karkat finished speaking, he looked down at the cans in front of him in a way that showed to Dave that whatever he said probably didn’t need an answer. He was thankful for that, because his head wasn’t there when it was supposed to, for those short seconds.
Dave thanked him in his mind regardless. Karkat didn’t have to spend so much time keeping up with what Dave would refer to as his “emotional bullshit” but he did it anyway. Dave had never felt so comfortable with anyone before, and their friendship was as amazing as it was surprising to both of them, and he was really happy about that. They would spend the whole day together sometimes, starting early with maybe a cup or two of coffee, and Karkat still being very angry from being woken up, and ending really late, sometimes with the two of them having deep conversations on the floor of a really dark and cold living room. Dave’s favorite activities had to be the ones in which the Mayor was involved, but he wouldn’t lie and say that he didn’t feel like a completely different and better person whenever he could just sit down and talk with someone like that. Karkat had the voice of someone who actually cared, someone who was actually there. Dave never really expected anything of anyone but he was just so sure that nothing would ever happen to them that he just had nothing to worry about with Karkat. He knew they would absolutely be best friends for the rest of their existence. He knew that all Karkat’s worries about John and even his own worries about John wouldn’t ever matter, because nothing would be able to pull them away from each other. It was like they were written to be together, it was like they were made to be the really unpredictable duo that everyone would just look at and say: “hey, that makes sense!”
And Dave was really happy to have a best friend like him. It could be overwhelming but in that second year of being with the guy, he was pretty sure his head didn’t mind it anymore.
And it was all better.
— Well, despite all that — he could now hear Karkat say. — What do you think of this one?
Dave looked at what Karkat was pointing, and he pulled his head back enough to be able to reply. He smiled and said “super cool, dude”, and Karkat stood up.
— I think that can be it for now. We can wait for him to come back.
— Yeah, I think Can Town can wait — and Dave was thankful that his speaking was going back to normal, and that he was apparently back to reality. — You know, as in “Can Town”, “Can Wait”. No, that’s a fucking terrible joke, why the fuck did I say that.
— Think before you speak, asshole — Karkat laughed. Dave stood up too, awkwardly, as he forced a short giggle. It was alright, his brain would start working if he was standing up.
About two seconds passed and he could feel that he was back and that he could pay attention again. He smiled and tried to act like nothing had happened, and Karkat didn’t seem to care. He looked pretty in the clouds, like he was thinking of something specific.
Dave never asked what it was.
— Can Town looks fucking rad, doesn’t it? — Karkat shook his head yes and closed his eyes with an “obviously?” look on his face. — Well, when he’s back we can show your new dumb pile to him. And maybe talk to him about all this anxiety shit we have going on in our heads, if we want to be fucking monsters.
— Dumb pile? You said you liked it, asshole! — Dave rose his eyebrows.
— That doesn’t mean necessarily bad! — he argued. — It just means that… ah, shit, I don’t know, Karkat. Maybe I do need to talk.
The troll canceled the angry face he seemed to be making, and stared at Dave from afar like he was really worried. Karkat just had this ability to show a lot of emotion on his face, and to be easily read by even the least empathetic people in the entire universe. He just had the capacity to move every single inch of his eyes, mouth, nose… and make everything just show exactly what he was feeling inside. Dave was thankful that his face wasn’t that easy to read, or at least he didn’t think it was.
— Are you alright? Right now? — Karkat asked.
— Right now? — Dave asked again. — I don’t know? I think so.
— So you don’t want to talk right now. You want to talk later.
Dave suddenly became very lost.
— W- Was that a question, or an affirmation?
— This is getting confusing — Karkat shook his head, laughing. Dave laughed along even if nothing made sense, and before he could process anything, he saw the other boy walk towards him, going for a tight hug.
When Karkat held Dave, it spoke more words than his actual voice did. What Dave understood from the hug on that evening, and on a lot of the ones before that, was that Karkat wasn’t sure of what to do, or what to say, but that he knew how much Dave needed to understand that he wasn’t alone. And that was his objective, and it would be so hard to understand the meaning of their embrace from an outside perspective but between them, it meant everything. It meant they were together and that no matter what happened, they would fight side by side. And it sounded fucking dramatic and they wouldn’t say that out loud but deep down, they both knew.
— Thanks, Dave — said Karkat. — Thanks for not being as fucked up as all my other friends.
— Hey, no problem — he laughed, and separated the hug. — Thanks for being my best troll bro. It really means a lot.
Karkat smiled, without showing his teeth. It was a difficult smile to crack but he quickly got his face back to his normal concentrated one and separated their bodies fully. Dave didn’t know what he was thinking about, and he would become very startled if he did, and he looked down as Karkat turned around again, to walk back to where he was.
Karkat stared at the piles of cans on his side as he heard Dave’s feet start to walk in place again, as he always did. He tried to not stand awkwardly, and he hoped Dave wouldn’t notice what he had been thinking about.
He turned around again, looking at his friend. Dave smiled at him.
And so he walked towards him one more time, and he hugged him again, with no warning this time. Dave widened his eyes but closed them straight after, taking his hands to Karkat’s back too. It was hard not to notice how much their second hug lingered, how much they didn’t seem to want to let go. Dave just wanted to be able to break the silence because he didn’t understand why the silence felt so nice with him. He wanted to say words but his mouth wouldn’t make any and he just, stayed there. Karkat took one hand to Dave’s hair close to the end of their hug, and he just maintained it there. As he put his hand down again, back to Dave’s back, he separated their bodies.
Karkat looked at Dave’s face. He didn’t care about whatever was going on around them, or whether Wayward Vagabond would be able to get them that heater. He just wanted to keep looking at Dave. It was something he wished he could do more often, but that he never really got the chance to. The thing that bothered him about Dave’s stupid shades was that he could never see his eyes behind them, and so he could never tell in which direction Dave was looking. It wasn’t until he stared at him from a closer angle that he found out that they weren’t dark enough to hide his eyes from any distance.
And so he found his excuse to his own head.
It was strange for Karkat to find out he was falling for Dave, especially after what happened with John. His head had had plenty of conversations with itself about whether he should shut those feelings off or if he should just see what happens, and after his harrowing first year on that meteor, he decided to just say “fuck it” to both options. He didn’t know what that meant, of course, but he was willing to “not give a fuck about whatever fate the universe chooses”, and from what he had analyzed, both routes were heavily plausible.
He had already been educated on the differences between human and troll romance, and their apparently heavy connection with the idea of sexuality. Karkat was never going to completely understand a society he wasn’t raised in, but he could accept that Dave’s head would always work differently than his. He knew Dave probably was just like John, and just like most of the other human males, but it just seemed…
It seemed too strange that whenever Dave talked he just seemed to look at Karkat to search for his reactions to whatever it was that he said… It seemed so strange that Dave was able to listen to him, and that they both sat for hours and hours just talking about dumb shit and stupid fears and it just didn’t seem like the most platonic of relationships sometimes. Of course Karkat knew that a lot of things with Dave were “irony”. But from the way he started opening up, from the things he would share during the nights and from the looks he would give him and the voice that would tremble when speaking about his guardian and friends, it just gave Karkat some hope.
But he didn’t care much, as he had previously thought. If Dave wanted or was ever going to be more clear about a quadrantic relationship with Karkat, then that would be fine by him. And if Dave didn’t, and everything inevitably got platonic again, he’d accept it too. As long as that wouldn’t ruin their friendship.
But if he was going to be honest, nothing about his weirdly-not-seemingly-platonic relationship with a human spoke “quadrants” to him. Karkat was always so lost about what he and Dave would be, if anything, that he just decided not to care. After what happened with Terezi when he realized his perception of the romantic quadrants, he just accepted that he wasn’t going to ever love simply like he wished he could. He was not going to be like the other trolls that he knew, and maybe that was okay.
And that was what he hoped Dave knew too, about the whole strange sexuality thing that existed in Earth society.
But all those thoughts floated quickly through Karkat’s head. Maybe too quickly. It had been only a second since they separated their bodies, and he was already noticing something. He was looking at Dave’s lips without even wanting to and then back at his eyes. He stopped at once, staring at the shades indefinitely and completely letting go of his back, and noticed Dave was struggling with something.
He could see in his eyes behind the shades that he was staring at his lips too and then back to his eyes as if judging whether he should or not advance or if Karkat would do anything first. That is what Karkat thought he was thinking, and from the inside of Dave’s brain, it was more of a reflex from Karkat having looked at his lips first. But he was just frozen now.
That was the moment he noticed he wanted to be kissed by him.
Karkat thankfully decided not to wait for Dave’s impulses to attack again, because he wasn’t sure if they would. Karkat brought his face towards the blonde’s and hoped for the best, adjusting his body slightly so he could find the perfect position to kiss him in. Dave closed his eyes quickly, not noticing he didn’t shut them completely, and felt Karkat’s lips be pressed against his.
It was a very smooth beginning, and there was nothing rushed. It was mostly about the touch and the idea of “this is the start and I want to know if you want this too”. And he did. Dave wanted it more than anything at that moment. He knew why he was always thinking of Karkat, of course he knew. It was just strange to admit, it was strange to find out things about himself. He wouldn’t tell Karkat everything that he thought, but yeah, he had fantasized about that exact moment, maybe once or twice.
He just wasn’t expecting it to happen that soon.
Karkat took his right hand in the direction of Dave’s cheek, touching his face softly. After about one second he began to notice the other boy didn’t know what to do, and he seemed slightly uncomfortable, unsure of how to move. The two separated for an instant, so Karkat could stand a few inches apart and judge whether Dave wanted or not to continue kissing him. For that one instant, Dave opened his eyes too, slightly wider than usual, and when Karkat got close again, he accepted his lips one more time.
It was a difficult situation for Dave to understand, he had never kissed anyone before. That one bit of attempted communication when Karkat stood back to make sure it was okay to continue somehow worked and somehow was being read by Dave, in his own way. It helped him realize and learn to act more naturally in that situation, so copying Karkat’s actions, he took his own hand to the other boy’s skin.
He was going for the neck, but since Karkat was already touching Dave in a close place, he assumed he had to pick another one, so he rapidly changed the direction his hand was going in and placed it on Karkat’s waist. He was so awkward and his hand was just so weak there but it was natural for him being the first time he was ever doing anything like that.
Karkat noticed.
He pulled back, completely separating Dave’s and his bodies, looking at the boy's open eyes, still wide, and watching his lips with a small distance between them. Dave was just… he was so attractive in Karkat's eyes. He just wanted to go back to kissing him straight away, without thinking about it much. But he had to make it a little better for Dave, he needed to make sure he was comfortable.
Before he could say anything, and as he came a little closer and moved Dave's hand to make them rest on his shoulders, Dave said, giggling nervously:
— I’m sorry.
— Hey, for what?
— I don’t know. I’m not sure what I’m doing — he giggled again, still weakened on Karkat’s hand, his own still against the skin on Karkat’s shoulders. — I nev-
And he didn’t want to end the sentence but it wasn’t that necessary either. He just kept smiling while staring at Karkat’s lips while the troll looked Dave in the eyes and waited for him to finish. He loved his weird smile so much, and Dave wouldn’t stop making it bigger and bigger, not even realizing it.
— No, hey, it’s ok? Why would that be a problem? — and there was so much going through Dave’s head that he just couldn’t begin to say a single word. He lowered his smile and rose his eyes up a bit but his expression was still as angelic as an average human boy could be, and God, his red eyes looked so much more beautiful than they had always been.
Karkat still didn’t know why they were always hidden. Why are they always hidden from me? Don’t I deserve to see your eyes?
— I don’t know, it’s just kinda dumb, I don’t — he kept smiling, feeling Karkat pull his shades away from his eyes, and place them on the closest surface next to them. — Nah, it’s just. Uh. You know.
Dave giggled once again and didn’t seem to be able to stop. He looked Karkat in the eyes, without his glasses this time, and shook his head nervously, not knowing what to do. Karkat smiled without his teeth and Dave's head was going too fast for him to be able to say anything. They just kept looking at each other in silence, for those strange short seconds, and it just made sense that their first-ever kiss would be impulsive and silent like that, although a little bit giggly. Dave was once again moving but in much more subtle ways, so Karkat could tell how nervous he was. He had both his hands resting on Karkat's shoulders now, and he moved his legs like there was music playing but it was just his hyperactivity. They kept staring.
Sometimes Dave would look away, and sometimes Karkat would bring his eyes back to the lips of the boy. Whenever they moved their eyes, time passed slower. Karkat thought it was enough time to wait, and started leaning in to continue kissing him.
— Can I? — and Dave, who was already leaning in too, nodded. — Close your eyes.
Their lips touched again and it was so much more natural than the first time. Dave already knew what the feeling of a kiss felt like, and Karkat already knew what side Dave turned his head to. Dave made a little noise against Karkat's lips but he was so focused on adapting to the situation that he didn't really seem to notice it much. He now had lowered both his hands to rest on Karkat's neck, his arms folded in between them, with his fingers close to Karkat's chin, as he let the other boy control the kiss completely. Karkat brought his hands to Dave's hips and waited for the moment in which he'd be able to pull him closer. The way Dave's head moved with his showed him that it wouldn't take too long for the kiss to become second nature. As he thought about that, he noticed the texture of Dave's lips.
His skin was so much softer than every skin he had ever touched before. His lips were so much more delicate than any troll’s he had kissed before, and he realized he could hurt Dave’s human skin with his fangs if he wasn't careful enough. When he opened his mouth wider, he did an amazingly careful job on making sure his sharp teeth wouldn't touch the other boy’s tongue, as he entered his own into Dave’s mouth.
Dave wasn't expecting the tongue, so his body tensed up a tiny bit, but he only got pulled closer by Karkat. He ended up pushing his arms up and wrapping them around Karkat's neck, in a way that allowed their bodies to be so close together... Karkat accepted that as their final position and realized that Dave was comfortable now. He could feel the heat of the boy's skin against his face and he knew that he was probably very warm as well, and as he fixed his hands on Dave's waist, he worked his way around his stupid cape so he could touch him directly through his shirt.
And so there was a moment in which Dave didn't even notice but he literally threw himself in the hands of Karkat, still holding a bit of strength and hesitation in his body, but, for the most part, melting against his body as he let himself be held. Karkat noticed that and separated their mouths for one little moment, so he could say something.
— Is this okay? Do you want me to stop?
— No — Dave said, quickly. — Please. Please don't.
And their lips touched again in a very short peck. But Karkat pulled back again.
— Hey, I never gave you a chance to talk. You said you wanted to talk.
— No, forget it. Shut up, I'm cold.
And that didn't make any sense, but they both went back to kissing and giggled with their lips still touching one another. They trembled in a way that made Dave have to pull his head back slightly so he could let a breathy laugh out, and Karkat smiled wide as he took his right hand to grab Dave's face and pull it back to himself. Dave could barely even remember that they were literally in a room covered in empty cans, and that that was possibly the world place ever for them to share their first kiss in. He wasn't going to complain, though, because Karkat's strong hands holding his waist, and the way that he so carefully inserted his tongue into Dave's mouth, and pulled it back shortly after, it was just so much better than he was expecting everything to be. He bent his elbows so he could hold Karkat's hair with both of his hands and tried to get even closer to him, although it wasn't physically possible. Karkat felt the weight between their chests and he loved that particular feeling. He also pressed his body even more strongly against Dave just so he could feel that weight one more time, and Dave smiled through the kiss.
They both started separating their faces, but still giving each other short little kisses during the process. About five seconds later, they had both their foreheads touching, and their eyes closed as if appreciating that specific moment of lingering. Dave was the first to open his eyes, and he was quickly followed by Karkat, and they were both smiling as they saw one another and started slowly pulling away.
When their faces couldn't touch anymore, Dave laughed in the lowest volume that he could. Karkat placed a soft kiss on his nose in a way that was mostly involuntary, and Dave smiled in response. They could hear footsteps in the hallway but they didn't exactly care about them. All they wanted was for that moment to last for eternity.
— Yeah... — Dave said, as if answering something to himself in his own head. Karkat didn't ask anything about it. He simply stayed there, looking at him.
— Are you alright?
— Very — they smiled. — Much more alright now.
Dave's face became redder over how stupid he thought that sentence sounded, but Karkat didn't mind enough. His face was also blushing, in a way that was almost visible through his grey skin, but Dave couldn't see it. Before they separated their bodies, Dave ran his hand through Karkat's hair one more time, and Karkat's hand stroked his left cheek once more.
— Ok. We can talk about this later. Definitely.
— Yeah — Karkat laughed. — Are you still cold?
Dave thought about what to say.
— Do I want to be honest or annoying?
— Fuck you — and they both laughed together, and it was like music this time. They completely separated, Dave grabbing his shades back and putting them on again, and Karkat making sure that his hair wasn't more messed up than it usually was. The two boys tried acting as if that was just one normal scene, in which nothing special had happened, but looking into their eyes and analyzing their smiles, it was pretty obvious that it was not.
And honestly, the Mayor wouldn't exactly mind that if he noticed. Maybe he would even be happy with it.
But that was a story for another time.
As he arrived with the heater that he had been able to grab, Dave celebrated dramatically. He stared at Karkat while they both attempted to play with the settings on that thing, and their hands might have accidentally touched once or twice during their movements. Dave was not aware of how red his face got every time they touched in the next hour, but Karkat was. They involuntarily smiled a lot on that day, as they spent the rest of it running around the meteor like a pair of happy losers. The last thing Dave thought before leaving the room with his two best friends was something like "fuck, I need to kiss him again".