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He couldn’t believe it. He was actually here, Sapnap was here, and a real human being and he didn’t even freak out too much when Karl basically jumped on him at the airport. He gave really fucking good hugs too, even though he was clearly exhausted based on the bags under his eyes.
Karl went back and forth trying to figure out how much he should plan to do with Sapnap while he was in town, because he knew they’d be busy with Mr. Beast shoots. But the minute he saw him, Karl decided that even if they spent all their time together sitting on the couch on their phones, it would still be worth it.
The trip back from the airport went well enough, filled with chatter as if they weren’t texting each other six hours ago. Sapnap was a bit quieter in person, but Karl had a feeling it was mostly just because he was tired. There were no stiff pauses or awkward moments- it just felt right. Even when Sapnap nearly drifted off in the car, the exhaustion of the flight catching up to him, Karl couldn’t imagine their meeting going any better.
When they finally got home, Karl found himself giving a short tour of the house before they promptly collapsed onto the couch downstairs.
(Only after Sapnap refused to let Karl bring his bags in for him for some unknown reason. It was a little endearing, how he stubbornly held onto his stuff and dragged it upstairs to the guest room mumbling a small ‘I got it, I got it’. But mostly just stupid, Karl thought.)
It wasn’t quite late enough for either of them to justify going to bed, so they decided to order in.
“Karl, come on, you know Panda is classic takeout comfort food.”
“Sap,” Karl dramatically turned his head to look at him on the couch. “I’m telling you, this local place is better okay. Just trust me.”
“Ugh, fine. You’re paying my medical bills if you poison me,” Sapnap groaned, but Karl could tell from the small smile on his face he was just being stubborn.
“Great!” Karl grabbed his phone and jumped up to order for both of them before Sapnap could protest any further.
The rest of the night was spent with Karl showing no mercy in Mario Kart, Sapnap blaming his poor performance on being tired, and eating way too much Chinese food.
“Okay, that’s it. You’re going to bed,” Karl said, standing up to turn off the console.
“No, Karl come on, I was-” Sapnap interrupted himself with a yawn, “-about to beat you there.”
“Sap, you’re literally about to pass out on my couch right now.”
Sapnap had leaned back from when he was bent forward, eyes on the TV, so that now he was pressed back into the couch like it was going to swallow him whole.
Sapnap yawned again. “Okay maybe it’s time for bed. Even if I was totally going to beat you there,” he mumbled out in a sleepy voice.
His tired smile was back- the one that made his eyes wrinkle at the corners- and Karl couldn’t help but feel like it was something special, just for him to see.
Karl was met with little resistance when he dragged the controller out of his hands, and then even less when he took both of Sapnap’s hands and hauled him upright.
Sapnap might not have noticed their sudden closeness, but Karl sure did, especially when Sap dropped his forehead onto his shoulder and let out a sigh. Karl stood there for a second, frozen, as Sapnap’s breath tickled his neck.
Karl let out a little laugh and grabbed his hands again.
“Come on, you big doofus,” Karl led him to the stairs, walking backwards for a second before letting go of one of Sapnap’s hands to turn around.
They both stumbled their way up the stairs before making it to Sapnap’s room and stopping outside his door.
“There’s already, um, clean sheets and stuff in there, and there should be soap and towels and everything in the bathroom down the hall.” Karl coughed, running a hand through his hair, not quite sure what to say all of a sudden. Sapnap was looking at him with a soft smile on his face again and Karl couldn’t find it in him to head down the hallway to his room.
Sapnap hummed and brought a hand up to sit at the back of Karl’s neck and play with the hair that laid there. Karl’s mouth dropped open slightly as he stood there, frozen again.
Another low hum came from Sapnap, “Goodnight Jacobs.” And then he brought his arm down and closed the door, leaving Karl still frozen in the hallway.
Karl took a breath, shook his head to bring him back to himself, and went to his room. Karl was so used to affection, usually the one giving it out himself. But something about being around Sapnap felt different. It felt more real for some reason, like something with purpose and intention rather than an afterthought. He didn’t know why he was caught off guard when Sapnap pressed himself into Karl’s space to tease him on the couch or reached over to steal some of Karl’s food.
But Karl was pretty tired too, and before he could overthink too much, he felt sleep dragging him down.
It didn’t last long, though.
Karl woke up to the sound of feet stumbling down the hallway and a door opening roughly. He tried to blink the sleep out of his eyes and stared at his too-bright phone that told him it was just after 3 in the morning.
“What the fuck, Sap.” Karl grumbled into his pillow. Why on earth was this man using the bathroom at 3am, and could he at least try not to wake up the whole street?
Before he could fall back asleep, he heard what sounded like… a groan? No, that was definitely a groan. And then what sounded like a couple hacking coughs.
Karl was worried now, as he pulled on a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. When he opened his door, light was peeking out of the hallway bathroom, door cracked open slightly. The sound of gagging filled his ears next, and Karl sped up on his way to the bathroom.
“Sapnap? Are you okay man?” He knocked twice on the door, pushing it open slightly but not entering fully.
Another cough. “Fuck.” Sapnap’s voice sounded rough and ruined.
“Sap, can I come in?” Karl was very close to barging in even if Sapnap told him to leave.
Karl heard him spit and the sound of the toilet flushing, then a mumbled, “Yeah.”
Pushing open the door, he paused to take in the sight of Sapnap. He was leaning on the toilet seat, head facing Karl, but eyes shut tightly. The t-shirt he was wearing had sweat soaking through the back. He must have stumbled straight here, Karl thought, since he was still just in his briefs.
“Sap, are you feeling okay?” Karl went to sit next to him, bringing a hand to brush some of the hair off his forehead.
“Do I look okay Karl?” He was clearly trying to bring a small smile to his face, but only succeeding in grimacing before taking a shuddering breath and turning his head back to the toilet.
Karl brought his hand to his back, lightly brushing it up and down as the he tried to get his breathing back under control. Karl furrowed his brows; he was really worried now. Sapnap might be the type of person to hide when they’re sick, but he seemed fine to Karl the whole time they were together.
“Are you just nauseous? Does anything else hurt? You seemed fine earlier, was it something you ate?”
Sapnap sat up and scooted back to lay against the wall behind them, and Karl followed, their shoulders pressed together. Karl moved his hand on Sapnap’s back up to the nape of his neck, imitating Sapnap’s earlier touch.
“No, it’s not the food. I’ll be fine Karl. This just happens sometimes.” His eyes were still closed but he tilted his head slightly towards Karl like he was looking at him.
“What do you mean ‘this just happens sometimes’? You just sometimes get violently ill?”
Without thinking, Karl brought his hand up and lightly pushed Sapnap’s head down until it was resting on his shoulder.
“No, like, sometimes when I fly, it really upsets my stomach, and it doesn’t really go away until the next day. Used to happen all the time as a kid, I could never keep any food down. Hasn’t hit me this hard in a while though.”
“Well, how do you normally deal with it? Is there anything I can do, like bring you meds or something?”
Sapnap chuckled, and moved one of his hands from where it was resting in his lap to softly tap Karl’s leg a couple times, then let it rest there. “No thanks, Jacobs, you’ve done enough. I usually just sleep it off hones-.”
Sapnap cut himself off with a sharp inhale, and Karl could feel him tense up from where their sides were touching.
“Shit, uh- sorry. I didn’t mean to-”
“Nope, no apologizing allowed. you’re officially not allowed to say ‘sorry’ for being sick, Sapnap.”
Sapnap leaned away from Karl to face him.
“No, I mean. The, uh, sheets. The sheets are fucked.” Karl saw a slight blush appear on his cheeks, as Sapnap pointedly refused to make eye contact with him.
It was Karl’s turn to chuckle. “Sapnap, the sheets don’t matter, okay? I’ll just wash ‘em or throw ‘em out or whatever. I don’t care. Hey, seriously,” Karl tapped his leg and Sapnap finally met his gaze, “it’s fine. You’re still not allowed to apologize for being sick.”
Sapnap smiled but turned his head forward, eyes focused on the floor in front of them, and mumbled out, “Doesn’t mean I don’t feel bad.”
They sat there for a minute before Karl stood up.
“Well, as much as I enjoy sitting on the cold bathroom floor, I want to get some sleep. You good to stand up?” Karl asked.
“Yeah, just a little dizzy. Think I got it all out though, so I should be fine for the night.” Sapnap smiled and lifted his hands up to Karl, who accepted them and pulled him up again. Karl brushed the hair off Sapnap’s face as he blinked around a little bit and got his bearings.
“Okay. I’ll go deal with the sheets, you clean up and go lay in my bed, yeah?” Karl found himself offering before he could really think about it.
“No Karl, you don’t have to-”
“Nope!” Karl interrupted, “new rule. No apologizing and no arguing when you’re sick etiher.”
Sapnap pouted and mumbled, “I’m not even really sick.”
“Shhhh, Sapnap, already breaking all the rules. Go lay down. Please?” He added, when Sapnap looked like he was about to argue again.
“Fine.”
Karl squeezed his arm as he moved past Sapnap and toward the guest room. The sheets were definitely salvageable (Sapnap was just being dramatic) and Karl bundled them up and threw them in a spare laundry bin for Tomorrow Karl deal with.
He headed back to his room to find Sapnap laying on his bed, on top of the covers.
“Don’t be dumb. You’re staying here tonight, get under the blankets.”
Sapnap obliged without much arguing and shimmied under the covers, slight blush back but still just in his sweaty t-shirt and briefs. Karl grabbed a t-shirt and threw it at him, before grabbing a pair of pajama pants for himself.
“Change before you get my own sheets sweaty and gross, nimrod.”
Karl turned around to give him a little privacy, which felt silly as he quickly swapped his heavy sweatpants for the lighter pj’s. Karl usually just slept in his boxers, but he didn’t want Sapnap to feel uncomfortable, especially since he basically forced Sapnap to sleep in his bed. And now Karl had basically stripped in front of him and- Oh shit, he thought. I didn’t even ask if this was okay.
Karl turned back to Sapnap to see him wearing Karl’s t-shirt. This really shouldn’t have been surprising, but he still was frozen, again. After some painfully long seconds, Karl cleared his throat.
“I mean, uh, you don’t have to sleep here if you don’t want. Well- but, you’re not taking the couch, so, uh, if you don’t want me here, I can go, but-“
“Karl, it’s fine. You can stay,” Sapnap said, with a smile on his face. He looked like he was about to tease him for his stuttering, and Karl was relieved when he didn’t.
Climbing into the bed, Karl laid on his side so he was facing Sapnap, who turned to do the same.
“Thanks Karl. For helping with, uh, everything. But also just for everything so far.” Sapnap’s voice came out just above a whisper. The only sound around them as they laid in the dark.
“Of course, Sap.”
They stared at each other for what felt like forever. Karl’s heart was pounding so loud he swore Sapnap could hear it, but he also felt- not quite relaxed, no- but more calm than he had in a while. Like pulling your favorite blanket around you after it’s clean and warm, or getting back to your house after a long drive. Like a deep sense of home enveloped around the both of them.
“Come ‘ere, Jacobs.” And it was Karl’s turn to be confused and pulled, pulled until Sapnap was laying on his back and Karl was wrapped around his front, head laying on his chest. Sapnap’s arms linked around his back.
“This okay?” Karl heard a soft voice ask, muffled from where it was pressed into his hair.
“Yeah.” Karl brought an arm across his waist, across the t-shirt that was his. “Yeah this is okay.”
“Good.”
It was quiet for a while, and Karl felt sleep rapidly approaching. It was still the middle of the night, and Karl felt warmer and softer and better than he had in a while. Karl felt himself press closer into Sapnap’s chest, and the arms around him tighten.
“I like being near you, Jacobs.” was whispered into his room.
Yeah, Karl thought, me too.