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He was back on the roof, Texas sun burning down from above. He could see himself reflected in his Bro's shades, sword on the ground in front of him. His brother was waiting for him to pick up his sword, to make a move, but he was frozen in fear.
Dave sat upright, reaching for his shades the second he knew he wasn't dreaming anymore. The only thing reflected in them was himself. He could still see a couple of faint scars, rubbing his thumb against them and being reminded of how his partners would do that sometimes.
Fuck. He needed them. Any of them. There was no way he was going back to sleep anytime soon. Dave opened his door, creeping down to the kitchen. As he walked, he heard someone clinking dishes, wondering who the hell was up at this hour. Besides him, of course.
Nepeta's tail swished as she reached for a cup that was on a tall shelf. "Need help?" Dave asked, making the troll jump like a startled cat. "Oh. Hi Dave. ...Yeah." They looked up at the cabinet in disappointment. Dave dragged a chair over, stepping on it and grabbing the green mug for her. He wasn't exactly vertically gifted either, Jade easily topped all of them in height. "What're you making?"
"Tea. Want some?" Nepeta pulled over the kettle, along with the tea bags and sugar cubes. Dave pondered over it, he would rather have apple juice, but Nepeta had a gift for making tea taste good. "Sure." He grabbed his own mug, an alchemization of a normal mug and a SBaHJ comic resulting in a sick customized mug, and handed it to the cattroll. He didn't bother to move the chair away, sitting cross-legged on it.
"What kind is it?" He questioned.
"Raspberry. I don't have apple, but fruit tea is close enough. As long as I add enough sugar, right?" Nepeta turned to him with a playful smile, pouring the boiling water into their respective mugs.
"You got it." He finger-gunned at them. Nepeta laughed, putting plenty of sugar cubes in both of their teas and stirring well. They slid the mug across the counter towards Dave, who waited for it to cool before he took a sip. The mug warmed his hands. It got pretty cold some nights.
"Ooh, hang on." Nepeta danced over to the freezer, taking out an ice cube tray that was filled with definitely not normal ice cubes. "I made tea cubes. For tea. So it doesn't get watered down!" Their tail swished excitedly.
"Smart." Dave held out his cup, and they dropped a couple ice cubes in. He stirred with his spoon again, listening to the ice clink against it. Nepeta did the same. "Cheers?" They asked, holding up their mug. "Cheers." He agreed, clinking their cups together.
The tea was warm, but not too hot. The ice helped, keeping the flavor intact while cooling down the tea. It was pretty sweet, Nepeta's sweet tooth wasn't as strong as Dave's but they knew that it would take plenty of sugar to get him to drink anything. He looked up from his drink for a moment to see Nepeta dipping their tongue in like a cat, giggling slightly.
"It's gonna take forever if you do that." He teased.
"Shush, or I'll never make you tea again." They warned, although it was an empty threat, and they both knew that. Dave chugged his tea anyway, like it might get taken away at any moment.
"Oh man, now I get why warm milk makes you sleepy." He mumbled, disposing of the tea bag and putting his cup in the sink. Someone would do the dishes later.
"My room?" Nepeta asked. Dave nodded, grateful that he didn't have to talk about his nightmares right now. He could get comfort without "earning" it. The cat finished their own tea, leading Dave back to their room. The trolls didn't have recuperacoons anymore, so Nepeta had opted for a hammock. Thankfully, it was big enough for the two of them. Dave set his shades down on their side table, letting Nepeta hold him like a stuffed animal. Their purring was like white noise, rumbling against his chest until they both fell asleep again.
----
She was alone, traversing down the stairs to the lower floors of her island mansion. The rooms got darker and darker, the oddities inside seemed to be leering at her. She was alone, so so alone-
Jade blinked open her eyes, ears folding down. It was the kind of nightmare that, although it seemed fairly alright while she was dreaming, made her feel uneasy for a while afterwards. She needed to talk to someone, staying cooped up in her room right now wouldn't help keep the lonely thoughts away.
Her dog hearing caught the sound of clicking as she made her way towards the living room. Dave was on the couch, button-smashing on a controller. The television light was the only thing illuminating the room. "Oh, hey." He said, not taking his eyes off the screen. Or at least, Jade assumed he was focused on his game, it was hard to tell where he was looking with his sunglasses on.
"Can I join you?" She asked, grabbing one of the spare controllers. Dave nodded, leaving his own game to start up their multiplayer one. At least the game he was playing was pretty relaxing, Jade didn't have the energy to play something that required more skill.
"You good?" He turned towards her, his expression hard to read.
"I'm good now." Her tail wagged a bit when he patted her on the head, right between her ears. A couple of scratches made her tail go even faster. Oh yeah, that's the stuff.
Admittedly, Jade was more focused on Dave than the game. He stuck out his tongue when concentrating, barely taking his eyes off of the screen. A dedicated gamer. Her tail kept thumping against the couch. He's so cute. I'm so lucky.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." He teased, feeling her eyes on him. Jade giggled, pulling him into her lap. Being the tallest of the four, it wasn't uncommon for one of the others to sit in her lap while she rested her head on top of theirs. Exactly what she was doing now with Dave, her controller held just below his.
She could feel her eyes drooping, unable to focus on the screen. Dave was doing something with cats, he seemed to have a way with animals, both in games and in real life. Such a sweet guy. Her tail became slower, and Dave's head became a pillow as she fell asleep.
Later, she'd wake up on the couch with a blanket drooped over her, the TV turned off, and Dave in her arms.
----
The drones were after him. It didn't matter where he hid, they'd find him. His blood trailed behind him, a candy-red ocean spraying from all his wounds. One of the drones grabbed him by the foot, dangling him like he was a squeakbeast in a purrbeast's lair. He swore he saw the Empress's face, and all her sharp teeth, ready to chomp down on a mutant meal.
Karkat tumbled out of his not-recuperacoon, hitting the floor face first. The resulting nosebleed did little to ease his panic, and it took him a while to steady his breathing to the point where he wouldn't pass out again. His floor now sported a decorative puddle of red. He'd deal with that once he got the blood off of himself.
He dragged himself to the nearest bathroom, scraping his claws against the wall. They were getting long, he should probably trim them soon. Another problem for future him. That douche probably deserves it.
Karkat couldn't help but let out a frustrated growl when he saw that the restroom was in use, banging his forehead against the wall. The door opened, Jade peering her tilted head out. "Karkat? What happened?"
"The floor happened, fuckface." He growled. Jade giggled a little, gently pulling him inside.
"I can deal with it by myself-" Karkat insisted, but she was already sitting him down on the (thankfully closed) toilet seat while she grabbed a washcloth and ran it under the sink. One hand held his face, the other gently rubbed away the blood.
"Doesn't look like it's still bleeding." She hummed in satisfaction, washing out the cloth again once she'd cleaned him up. Karkat rubbed at his wet face with a sleeve, checking just in case. No more blood.
He sighed. He had no reason to hide his blood anymore. There were no more drones, no more culling. He was safe here. Jade scratched right next to his horns, and he couldn't help but purr. She laughed, kissing his forehead. "Come on. Let's head back to bed."
She tiptoed around the blood puddle in his room, promising to clean it up later, in the morning. Karkat only made a face when Jade silently became the big spoon, an improvement on previous growling and complaining. The dog-girl slotted her head on top of his, right between his horns.
----
Rock after rock, clawing through rubble to try and find even a hint of white fur. Their home was gone, their lusus was dead. But she couldn't be, she had to rescue her-
Nepeta woke up with a whine, letting out distressed meows. Their tail curled around themself as they reoriented themself. They were off of Alternia now, Pounce was gone and there was no point in feeling sad about it anymore.
But they missed her. Most of the trolls missed their lusii, even if they pretended not to.
They walked out on all fours, heading towards Karkat's room. It was the closest, and he had a bad habit of staying awake for too long anyways. The door wasn't locked, it was never locked, but they still knocked before going in. No response. A peek inside revealed he was sleeping, and Nepeta grappled with the idea of disturbing him. It was just a nightmare anyways, no reason to bother their matespirit about it.
"Nep?" He mumbled, eyes opening, glowing yellow in the dim light. "What are you doing?"
"Can we cuddle?" Their voice sounded a lot more pathetic than they expected, and they rubbed away tears with a paw. Karkat was silent for a moment or two, before reaching his arms out. Nepeta darted in, careful to close the door behind them.
"Not even gonna get under the blankets?" Karkat asked when they curled up right on his chest. The cat contemplated the idea, before deciding that yeah, Karkitty was right. They wiggled in when Karkat held up the blanket, getting right back to the spot on his chest. Their spot.
Karkat reached a hand up, scratching behind their ears gently. Clearly he was very tired, Nepeta didn't want to keep him up too much longer. They gave him a quick lick on the nose, giggling at the surprised noises he made. Their purring sounds combined together, Karkat's slower than Nepeta's, but both slowly fading out as the two got their much-needed rest.
----
A newly wide-awake Jade stepped into the living room, finding the commotion of her partners shuffling around the couch. Dave and Karkat were messing with the couch, while Nepeta seemed to be bringing over as many blankets and pillows as they could carry.
"Nightmare?" Dave asked.
"Nightmare." Jade confirmed.
"The couch converts into a- what's it called again?" Nepeta looked to Dave for an answer.
"A bed. I was gonna put on some movie and cuddle until we fell back asleep."
"Wanna join?" Karkat asked, before making a startled sound as the couch-bed snapped into position.
"Sure." Jade assisted Nepeta in grabbing the biggest and best blankets and pillows for them all. Dave grabbed the remote, turning on the TV and setting it close enough to grab if they needed it again. The volume was kept low, to avoid waking up anyone else. Jade ended up being in the middle of it all, surrounded by everyone else. Nepeta was laying on top of everyone, kneading at Karkat's legs. The aforementioned grump was holding Dave's hand over Jade, and Dave's shades were placed next to the remote.
Everyone was comfortable, and they wouldn't have it any other way.