Chapter Text
Around 3 am on the meteor----
Karkat jerks awake in a cold sweat, curled up in the mountain of blankets on his bed- he always wore sweaters and used blankets in every season because of how perpetually cold he was and because he found the weight comforting. But nothing, he thought, could comfort him after the nightmare he just had. It was a reoccurring one but all he could remember was the distinct sounds of honking and the cold dread he felt that day when his ex-moirail went ballistic and started murdering all of his friends. After laying in bed for around half an hour, Karkat gave up on trying to go back to sleep. He made his way to the bathroom in the corridor of his and Dave's respite blocks- the meteor was huge but he and Dave picked rooms pretty close to each other's since they were basically best friends by now and showed each other shitty movies from their respective cultures on a daily basis. He made his way to the bathroom and shut the door behind him before pressing his hands against the counter of the sink and sighing deeply. He figured he'd run his hands under the water to try and ground himself before going back to sleep but it didn't help at all. He grunted under his breath in frustration and turned the sink off, his hands still wet as he rested them against the counter again and hunched over the sink. He knew what he had to do to distract himself from *him*. He opened a small drawer under the counter and lifted the mat lining it to reveal a small razor blade, it was a bit difficult to work with but it was the only thing he was able to hide from the others. He took the blade between his thumb and forefinger and desperately slashed it against the skin of his left wrist, but the water still on his hands made it slip and make a way bigger cut than intended.
KARKAT: "SHIT."
He rushed to grab some paper towels and applied pressure but the bleeding wouldn't stop.
KARKAT: "FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK."
He panicked and tried to wet the paper towel to clean off the blood but when he took the paper towel off his skin and saw the blood flooding over his arm, all he could see was the pools of blood from that day of his friends. He started to shake violently and tear up, as he fell to the floor he started to sob uncontrollably. His head jerked in fear as he heard hurried footsteps approaching the door and he curled up on the floor, horrified.
DAVE: "karkat? are you okay in there?"
Karkat didn't respond, he could only hold his breathe and choke on the tears he held back as he stared at the door knob.
DAVE: "karkat?"
DAVE: "if you don't say anything im coming in there"
Karkat realized he had forgotten to lock the door earlier and froze, still crumpled up on the floor, holding his bloody arm. Dave swung open the door and saw Karkat on the floor- who failed to hold back his tears any longer. Dave crouched down slowly to put his arms around him.
DAVE: "hey its ok its just me"
Dave had become familiar with Karkat's reoccurring nightmares about Gamzee so he was used to comforting him like this.
DAVE: "shh hey its ok"
DAVE: "he isnt here"
DAVE: "he cant hurt you anymore"
Karkat's crying subsided a bit and he hugged Dave back, shoving his face against Dave's shoulder, some of the blood on his arm soaked into the back of Dave's shirt. Dave carefully moved his hands to Karkat's shoulder's to speak to him softly- their faces hardly 2 inches apart.
DAVE: "can i clean your arm for you?"
Karkat wasn't able to talk but he nodded affirmingly. Dave knelt down on the floor, gently taking Karkat's arm in his hands and resting it on his legs as he got another damp paper towel. He applied some pressure to make sure the wound wasn't bleeding out anymore and then properly cleaned it and applied some gauze. Karkat sat in silence during the entire process, looking down at the floor, a bit ashamed but grateful that Dave found him and was taking care of him.
DAVE: "do you wanna sleep in my room tonight?"
Karkat eyes watered as he nodded eagerly- as if he had been waiting for Dave to ask that the entire time. Dave helped Karkat off the floor and held his hand and he walked him to his room. Karkat promptly made his way to the left side of the bed -where his previous visits from other nights had claimed him the spot- and Dave pulled the covers over both of them. Karkat felt immediately at ease as he nestled himself against Dave's chest, Dave wrapping his arm around Karkat.
DAVE: "night kk"
KARKAT: "GOODNIGHT, DAVE.