Work Text:
Karl never really thought much about piercings until he met his boyfriends. In his mind they were unattainable due to his fear of needles, but that didn't mean he didn't want any. He loved the way Sapnap's snake bites, septum, nostrils, bridge and eyebrow piercings suited him. Same with Dream's plain lobe piercings and George's double lobes, Conch, and Helix piercings. They all suited his boyfriends, added to their aesthetics, leveled up their style. Karl wanted that, he was proud of his style but he felt like something was missing. He knew what it was but he also knew there was no way he'd be able to do it.
Even the kids at the centre told Karl he'd look good with a simple septum ring. Of course they encouraged it, many of them decorated with stick 'n pokes done by their friends or at home piercings. They knew it'd level up his style but they also knew he was deathly afraid of needles like, look away when they show them on tv, get nauseous when people talk about them in detail kind of afraid. Which is why they were compassionate. They gave him so many tips and tricks to make the pain less and knew that Karl was just on the edge and needed a final push. And that push was George.
Sapnap should not have underestimated George as much as he did. He knew the brit was competitive but he thought it would fade away, the annoyance of having to take care of such a tedious plant outweighing the prize. He didn't realize every time George looked at the orchid it was just a reminder of the sweet victory he would have. Now he owed his boyfriend a free Helix piercing and that worked perfectly for Karl.
Karl would just get his done with George and force Dream to come along too so he could have the support of all his boyfriends while he did it. Sapnap was the only person he'd trust to pierce him anyways. The idea was great but Karl still had to figure out a way to bring it up. He knew George would be fine with it but, the moment he asked it would be real and he couldn't back out. Not after making them all baby him and accommodate him to make it work. Karl was sure but he needed to be sure he was sure and it was obvious. All his boyfriends could tell something was up from the moment they woke up.
"What're you doing up so early?" George asked as he rubbed his bleary eyes, his voice still deep with sleep. He moved to Karl lazily, wrapping his arms around the brunette's stomach.
Karl welcomed George's embrace with open arms, kissing the top of the Brits head as he pulled him in even tighter. "I was up and couldn't fall back asleep so I started some breakfast for us." He answered into George's hair.
"That's very sweet babe, thank you." George tilted his head back to look up at Karl. "I'll get Dream and Sapnap and then we can all eat together."
"Good luck, Sapnap is a menace in the mornings." Karl giggled and sent George off with a kiss.
A few minutes later the Brit returned with Dream following behind him being dragged down by Sapnap hanging off his back practically boneless. His eyes were still closed and he had his face shoved between Dream's shoulder blades, his arms basically choking Dream where they hung over his shoulder. Eventually Dream passed him off to George who was sitting on a stool with his elbows resting on their island. He spun around and opened his legs for Sapnap to stand between, the shaggy hair ravenette dropping against him like a dead weight with his face shoved against George's shoulder.
"Thank you for breakfast baby." Dream walked over and grabbed a plate, he pulled Karl in with one arm for a side hug, smooshing the brunette against his side.
Karl just smiled and Kissed Dream sweetly, he then grabbed a plate for himself and George, making his way over to his other boyfriends. Karl settled against the other side of the island, placing George's plate on the higher platform and sliding it over before digging into his own.
"Sapnap you gotta move so I can eat." George tried shifting their boyfriend off his lap so he could reach his plate. "Sapnap, come on you have your own plate to eat too."
"Mmm food." Sapnap finally pulled away from George. He sat beside the brunette who was watching him with an amused smile, Dream doing the same beside Karl. Sapnap settled and grabbed his fork, his spare hand shooting out towards Karl to be held. When the brunette didn't immediately take his hand so he wiggled his fingers and whined looking up to him with a pout.
"Good morning to you too." Karl finally took Sapnap's hand, giggling at the satisfied smile that grazed Sapnap's face before he began shoveling his eggs in his mouth like a starved caveman.
"Thank you Karl." He spoke around a mouth full of eggs, smiling up at Karl more awake. He swallowed his eggs and puckered his lips making loud wet kissy noises at Karl 'till he caved in and leaned over the island giving him a peck.
"You're such a baby in the mornings." George joked while running a gentle hand through Sapnap's shag of hair camly.
"And you're a baby when we go to bed so whatever." Sapnap turned to George and stuck his tongue out like an actual toddler.
"Don't be bitter because you have to give George his Helix tonight Sap," Dream scolded with a kiss to Sapnap's head as he passed by him on the way to their bedroom.
"About that." Karl spoke up, he could feel his stomach drop when all 3 of them turned to him with their full attention. "Can I uh come? Like to the shop with you guys?"
"Of course." Sapnap agreed instantly. "Dream and Gog will pick you up on their way and I can drop you off at work this morning."
"I'm sure he can drive himself Sapnap don't baby him." George cut in sending a curious glance to Karl.
"No I- I don't mind, I'd like to ride with you guys." Karl cleared his throat.
"It's no problem babe," Dream assured Karl, he gave his boyfriend a quick pat on the ass then disappeared into their bedroom to get ready for work.
"I'm still taking shotgun l." George rose up to his tippy toes and gave Karl a peck before following after Dream. Sapnap went over and gave him a proper hug, pulling him in for a sweet kiss and getting cheeky grabbing a handful of his ass before scurrying down the hallway to avoid getting scolded.
***
Karl was distracted all day. He had gone over the same building permits about 5 times that morning then forgot the papers for when the city employee came to check their water meter and he forgot to set the food out for the staff to make the kids lunch in the afternoon. It got to the point where even the kids were noticing.
"Karl...Karl?" Hannah, his staff member, waved a hand in front of his face.
"What?, sorry can you repeat yourself." He smiled sheepishly, his face going red.
"I said the kids are asking where you are, you were supposed to set up the N64 that got donated to us last week like 20 minutes ago?" Her eyebrows were raised.
"Right." Karl stood from his chair. "Sorry I've been distracted today, I've had to re-read this month's budgeting Excel sheet like 3 times already." He shook his head as he walked along beside her as they went down the hall to the stairwell.
"I've noticed, is everything alright with Sapnap, Dream, and George?" She asked politely, her eyes glancing over at her boss quickly as they descended the stairs.
"No, yeah they're good, they're great actually." Karl smiled thinking about this morning and how sleepy and clingy Sapnap was and how patient George was with him and how grounded Dream was. He liked their mornings together, he liked them a lot.
"Okay well, whatever it is I hope it gets better." She nodded as they parted ways and Karl went into the rec room.
Most of the kids were either sitting in the bean bag chairs he splurged on last month or huddled around the donated N64 and old Tv Karl had gotten from a goodwill at the beginning of the year. He stood in the doorway and watched them for a moment before walking in, an apologetic smile on his face.
"Hey guys sorry I'm late." He walked over to the teens.
"Karl, are you okay? You've been off today." Ashley spoke up, getting a nudge in the arm from her girlfriend Naomi who was sitting next to her.
"I'm all good, don't worry about me, let's worry about getting this set up for you guys." Karl gave her a tense smile trying his best not to give away the stress that had been mounting on his shoulders all day. He hadn't even asked them yet but they all knew something was up when he asked to come along. He didn't want to stress them out unnecessarily but he wasn't sure how he was supposed to ask without coming in the way and making things complicated.
"Karl, you always make us tell you how we're feeling and say bottling things up makes it worse." Nate pointed out with a smug smile on their face. They watched Karl with raised eyebrows a few of the other teens joining in.
"You're all too smart for your own good, spinning my counselling back onto me." Karl sighed. He flopped down onto the floor and focused on tinkering with the N64 as he spoke. "I want to get my Septum pierced by Sapnap tonight-"
"Really that's so cool Karl!"
"Fuck yea Karl! I knew you'd do it."
They interrupted him.
"I haven't even asked him to do it for me yet. He's giving George a second Helix tonight and I asked to come so they know something is up but I just don't know how to ask without making it all about me and being a burden." He sighed.
"That's stupid." Ashley spoke up.
"I-" Karl looked up at her, shocked.
“What Ashley meant to say was that it's silly to think they would mind." Naomi cut in sending her girlfriend a glare for her bluntness. "We all know how much they love you since you blab about them all the time so, we all know Sapnap wouldn't say no to giving you one and George and Dream won't mind supporting you."
"Yeah! They're your boyfriends Karl, they want to support and take care of you!" Nate added.
"You always tell us that voicing our needs and wants doesn't make us a burden remember." Toby spoke up.
"Alright alright I'll ask 'em I'll ask 'em." Karl shook his head. "Now rot your brains with video games.'' He hooked the console up to the tv and watched as the Nintendo logo popped up, holding the controllers out to the teens.
***
Karl Smiled where he stood on the curb when he saw Dream's grey truck pull up. He did a little mini jog over to the vehicle and threw himself in, placing a kiss on Dream's lips then George's.
"Okay Sap called and his client is running late so we're gonna pick up some McDonalds first then head to the shop." Dream looked back at Karl through his rearview mirror as he spoke. He pulled away from the curb and back into the flow of traffic, heading towards the mcDonalds without a GPS. It always amazed Karl how well he knew the city and never needed guidance to get anywhere, he just somehow knew where everything was and how to get there.
"How was work Karl?" George asked from the front seat." He reached a hand back for Karl to hold as they rode along. Sapnap was clingy in the mornings but Karl was clingy always.
"Good, The teens used my own counselling against me." He chuckled thinking back to the way they all ganged up on him in the rec room.
"Oh?" Dream spoke up.
Karl began to get nervous again as he tried to steer the conversation towards asking. "They told me not to bottle things up and that asking for what I want doesn't make me a burden blah blah."
"Which is all true." George squeezed his hand to assure his words.
"And what are you bottling up and feeling like a burden about?" Dream twisted in his seat to face him since they were at a stop light.
"I want a septum piercing but I know it's going to be an annoying process because I'm terrified of needles and I don't want to put you all through that. Plus this is about George winning the bet over that Stupid Orchid and I don't wanna take away from your prize." Karl looked at George and squeezed his hand.
"Oh Karl its fine!" George twisted in his seat as Dream started driving again. "I'm happy you want one and have no problem with you doing it with me, it's actually probably better. Now Dream and I can hold your hands and Sapnap can take his time with it and the shop won't be loud and busy." George went into all the details and plans and pulled out his phone to text sapnap who gave a very supportive yes to no one's surprise.
"You're not a burden because you need extra support for this Karl, we're your boyfriends, it's our jobs." Dream offered his support as they rode along.
"Okay thank you guys." Karl smiled shyly and kept his grip on George's hand for the rest of the car ride.
***
George went first. He sat on Sapnap's chair and closed his eyes, listening to the rustle of plastic as Sapnap prepared the needles, going through his spiel out of habit even though this was off the books and he didn't need to. He marked George's ear and lined the needle up pushing it through. George hardly flinched, his eyes scrunching a bit and his mouth twisting up slightly. The discomfort didn't last long though and George's face relaxed again.
Karl on the other hand was tucked against Dream's chest, his head being cradled by the blonde's large calloused hands. He kissed the top of Karl's head and made sure he didn't move until it was safe and he wouldn't see anything.
"Okay Karl you're next." Sapnap rolled back towards his supplies on his small stool, pulling his gloves off to grab a new pair.
"You got this baby, me and Georgie will hold your hands." Dream walked with Karl over to the chair. Once the brunette was settled he was grasping onto his hand tightly practically leaning on his thighs. George joined and did the same, smiling up at his boyfriend reassuringly.
"This is one of the least painful ones I promise, baby, like a 2 out of 10." Sapnap assured as he pulled a new circular barbell out of the pack as well as a new needle, he tried not to wince when he heard Karl whimper at the sight of it. "If you ever see anyone else to get a piercing and they do this you leave, but because it's me and you and we're off the books I can." Sapnap walked over to Karl. He climbed onto the chair and settled in his boyfriend’s lap, his full weight resting on the brunette's thighs.
"Okay." Karl almost whispered, his head a little light from how shallow he was breathing already. He felt a bit spaced out but pushed through it.
"You got it Karl." George squeezed his hand when he flinched when Sapnap's guiding clamp was placed in his nose. He took a deep breath and squeezed back, trying to focus on the way Dream's hand was rubbing up and down his shin comfortingly.
"Okay I'll count you in." Sapnap made sure Karl's eyes were closed before he brought the needle up to his nose. "1, 2-" He already had it halfway in and Karl hadn't even noticed yet. "3." He pushed it all the way through. That's when he got a small whine from his boyfriend. He smiled at him encouragingly, unable to give him a hug or squeeze because of his gloves.
"You did amazing babe, it's already halfway over!" George encouraged for Sapnap who was busy leaning over to pick up the barbell off his tray.
Sapnap sent a look to Dream as he began screwing the barbell onto the needle to pull it through prompting him to speak up. "It's almost over babe." He kissed Karl's knuckles.
"Okay this is the uncomfortable part but I'll be gentle okay." Sapnap warned as he pulled the needle through farther, eventually dragging the curved barbell through the new piercing. "Perfect all done I just gotta put the bead on the other end and take the needle off." Sapnap went to retrieve the bead.
"Hurry, I can feel it on my lip." Karl whispered. He was correct, the piercing needle was hanging off the end of the curved barbell just resting against his lip.
"I got you babe." Sapnap lifted it lightly as he worked to unscrew it. He pulled it off quickly and spun the final bead around the threading off the barbell finishing the piercing off. "All done." He crawled off Karl. "Just sit there and I'm going to lean you back okay, you look a bit pale." Sapnap reclined the chair and left Karl to sit as he pulled his gloves off and washed his hands, giving George the extra after care supplies to stuff in his bag.
"How are you feeling Karl?" Dream peered at the pale brunette with concern. He shot a look over to George who just shook his head and squeezed Karl's hand again.
"M'okay." Karl mumbled. The dizziness from before was even worse, his head felt like it was filled with air, trying to lift off his neck and shoulder into the air but it couldn't, it left him with a dull ache between his eyes.
"I'm gonna grab you a coke from the front to get your blood sugar back up, kay?" Sapnap rushed out of the room to the kitchen in the back. He came back with a wet paper towel and cool coke to see George sharing his water bottle with Karl, he smiled appreciating the Brit's help.
Karl had kept his eyes closed since they started, only blinking them open when he felt a cold paper towel being placed on the front of his neck. He looked to see Sapnap handing him a coke and tried to grab it which is when he realised he couldn't feel his hands, or his forearms either. He had pins and needles in his arms from his elbows down, it felt like tv static was coursing through his veins as he tried to grip the can in his hands ultimately failing and spilling the sticky pop all over his sweater.
"Karl..you okay?" Sapnap asked as Dream picked up the fallen can. He scurried off to the back to find a mop.
"I can't feel my hands." Karl whispered, holding them out in front of himself.
"Okay, that's okay." Sapnap nodded and started moving quickly, he sat the chair back up as gently as possible, placing a guiding hand on Karl's shoulder. "You went into shock baby, can you put your head between your knees for me and let your hands rest on the floor?" Sapnap helped him down. "That's it just like that, stay like that." Sapnap spun the chair so it was facing the door. He walked over to it and started swinging it, fanning Karl off.
"It's okay Karl, take your time." George assured rubbing a hand up and down his back soothingly.
Karl wanted to nod but couldn't due to his position so he just hummed instead. He tracked the mop as Dream dragged it across the floor, cleaning up his sticky mess. He felt bad for causing a fuss, he really didn't mean to work himself up this much. "M'sorry" he mumbled to the floor.
"It's okay Karl." George assured him, seemingly the only one who heard him.
"It happens to people who are nervous all the time, Karl, don't feel bad. I had a girl faint on me when I pierced her belly button, I had to catch her because she almost slipped out of the chair." Sapnap joked, chuckling at the memory.
"I remember you telling us that." Karl giggiled.
"She was fine after, she felt really bad too because she tipped me like 30 bucks." Sapnap came over and raked his hands through Karl's head that was still tipped down between his knees.
"I feel better." Karl spoke after a moment. He let himself feel, trying to check if the airy feeling in his head was still there. He moved his fingers against his jeans and sighed in relief when he was able to feel the fabric.
"Okay let's sit you up." Sapnap and George guided him back up again. He sat for a few more minutes, allowing all the blood that rushed to his head to spread through him again. He followed Dream's breathing and held George's hand. "Your colour is pretty much back." Sapnap held a hand against his forehead. "Alright if you can walk around the chair we're good to go."
Karl nodded then pushed himself up slowly, his legs a bit shaky as he put all his weight on them. He eased himself up then slowly let go of the grip he had on the chair, he took a deep breath and forced himself to walk forwards, making his way around the chair slowly with only a few stumbles here and there. When he finished he plopped back down and looked to Sapnap expectantly. "Did I pass?" he giggled, feeling much better and more like himself.
"Good enough, Dream will help you walk that way if your legs give out he can catch ya." Sapnap winked at Dream who rolled his eyes then made his way over to Karl and offered him a hand.
Dream and Karl started heading out, knowing they'd be slower. George stayed behind with Sapnap as he finished cleaning up, checking to make sure they had both packets of salt and the info cards (not that they needed them, Sapnap was like a walking info card about piercings and healing care). The two of them walked out of the shop hand in hand and caught up with Dream and Karl who had just made it back to the truck.
"I call shotgun!" George shouted and rushed ahead, ripping the front passenger side door open.
"You only get it because I'm staying in the back to help Karl, it's always mine on the way home." Sapnap shot back as he slid in the back seat, helping Dream shove Karl in there as well.
"You two sound like children." Dream scoffed and shut the door on them, heading to the driver's seat.
"Vouch." Karl mumbled weakly, with a playful smile.
"I'll forgive you because you're in recovery." Sapnap kissed his forehead and they set on the road home.
“I’m gonna have such a good story to tell the kids at work tomorrow.” Karl giggled.
“Yes you will.” George agreed, reaching back to pat his leg.
“They’re all going to think I’m so cool.” Karl rolled his eyes at himself, he didn’t really care if the kids at work thought he was cool but it was nice to hear he was still doing good with keeping up with the trends.
“They already do nimrod.” Dream spoke up from the driver's seat.
“We all do.” Sapnap assured. “You took big boy steps, we're all proud of you.”
“Oh stop it.” Karl blushed and hid his face behind his hands, his eyes widening as he bumped his nose. It sent a tiny bolt up pain through his nose but was really nothing. He just shook his head and brushed it off.
Big steps, he reminded himself.