Work Text:
There’s the soft sound of two people quietly bickering in the meal block while the rest of the meteor is quiet. Two boys, under the soft light of a single light bulb, are playfully arguing over the logistics of making the perfect s’more. Dave and Karkat stand over the communal stove in their pajamas holding two metal rods over an open flame on the gas burner to roast marshmallows.
“I don’t get it, why don’t we just put it in the… the spinney cooker thing?” Karkat gestured randomly towards the microwave in the opposing corner. Dave just chuckled to himself, “look man, this is the best way to get it toasted. Didn’t you guys make s’mores on Alternia? Or I guess you guys would probably be making it with bugs or something. Man, I’m probably not even far off. Y’all probably roasting those poor bugs on a spit-” Karkat covered Dave’s mouth with his hand and retracted it a second later with a shriek after his hand was promptly licked. “Fucking gross, Dave! Seriously, where did you learn that? Terezi? God,” he huffed, wiping his hand off on the side of Dave’s pants, “and for your information we did have s’mores, Dave.” Dave looked at him with that one expression he knew all too well, the one where he smirked slightly and raised his eyebrows above his sunglasses. Sometimes Rose gives people the same look. Karkat shrunk a little in his shirt. “OK, there was bugs in it sometimes, but they tasted good!”
In the few minutes of them ever so not subtly trying to catch each other's gaze from a side eye, Dave’s marshmallow catches on fire. He quickly blows it out, but Karkat had already pushed himself against an opposite counter top, his pupils slit. Dave laughed audibly at the sight. Karkat made his way back to where he had previously stood before, smoothing out his long sleeve shirt. It was a dark grey one Kanaya had made him start wearing because the meteor had started getting warmer and, truthfully, he didn’t want to die of heat stroke. Dave petted his hair and he shot only a faux angry glare at him. “Why do you want your marshmallow burnt, anyway?” Dave’s eyes moved between Karkat and the marshmallow he was now holding with two hands. “Oh, this one’s not for me. It’s for you.” Karkat sneered at him, “real fucking nice, Strider. Of course you’ll give me the shitty one.” Dave snicked under his breath and shook his head, “that’s not why I burnt it. I burnt it because you told me the bug ones were tastier and I always see you snackin’ on those chocolate covered beetle things so I figured you might like it burnt.”
Karkat stared at the marshmallow in Dave’s hand for second- contemplating whether to feel strangely warm he recognized one of your many habits or weirded out for the fact he was watching him eat. He avoided his (general) gaze, “just give it here.” Dave handed him the marshmallow and turned the opposite way to grab another marshmallow to roast for himself. Karkat took one small bite of the burnt s’more and decided, unfortunately, that Dave was very right and he did think it was really good. Before Dave could have even gotten a second one ready to toast he’d already eaten the whole thing.
Karkat sat on the counter top watching him finish making the last s’more. There’s plenty of habits he’d noticed about Dave, too. For one, depending on the food it can take him way too long to finish food. When Karkat first noticed, he pointed out how slow he ate and told him that if he, quote, “wasn’t hungry then he shouldn't be wasting food that could be feeding literally anyone on this meteor.” Admittedly, not the best thing he could have said at the time. In fact Dave didn’t come out of his room for a week and a half after that. They had made up, obviously. It’d be pretty difficult to separate them fully. Karkat learned to be more patient with his eating patterns and Dave learned to not lock his door for a full 13 ½ days surviving off of saltine crackers and actually to talk about how he feels. Crazy, I know. Currently, Karkat is rattling off to Dave about the movie they had just finished watching. At some point near the end Dave had mentioned s’mores which spiraled into sneaking into the meal block and making it themselves. Dave’s scrubbing off the residue from the rods and plates, nodding and humming occasionally in response to his friend’s tangent. Karkat didn’t really seem to notice when Dave had fully stopped responding and was just standing in front of the sink, shaking slightly.
“Dave?” He didn’t get a response so he pushed off of the counter top and stood carefully next to him, looking into the sink where his gaze was focused. There was a small trickle of blood running down his palm. Not a bad cut, just a small poke if anything. Karkat also stiffened at first but realized even more quickly that Dave was still not responding. He held Dave’s forearm lightly so as to not provoke him. “Dave.” He repeated again. Again, there was no response. His body twitched occasionally while he slowly trailed his hand down to his wrist to feel his pulse subtly. He counted under his breath for a few seconds before Dave suddenly collapsed. Karkat barely caught him in time but still managed to maneuver him on the floor slightly.
"Fuck, fuck, hey, wake up man. Dave? Dave get up, please." He wiped the hot tears pricking the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, "oh God, Dave please get up. Oh God, oh fuck, Dave?" He shook him slightly with no answer. Muttering more swears under his breath, he picked Dave up from under his armpit and simultaneously dragged him to a safe place while wiping whatever was streaking his face. Karkat knocked wildly on the door, not caring if he woke anybody else up. The door creaked open to reveal a very tired Kanaya staring back at one teary-faced Karkat and an unconscious Dave. She sighed and opened the door to let them in. Or rather, to let Karkat drag his best friend onto the pile in the corner of Kanaya’s room. He was still out cold, and in any other scenario this may even be a sweet sight. Karkat attempted to say something to Kanaya but he kept hiccuping over his words. She handed him some tissues and a water bottle and sent him to make himself comfortable next to the pile. He sniffled loudly, not covering up his worried glances to the boy next to him.
“OK, what happened here?” Kanaya crouched in front of Dave’s body, checking his temperature by pressing the back of her hand to his forehead. Karkat sniffled again and explained between even more tears. The whole time Kanaya moved silently throughout her room, giving Dave a blanket and propping him up in a way that won’t hurt when he wakes up. She sighed, “well, the good news is that nothing’s wrong with him. He probably just passed out from the blood.” Karkat balled his fists together, "you think I don't fucking know that? It's not my fault he was acting like a wriggler at the sight of a prick of blood!" Kanaya turned to him with an expression that felt like a 'mother scolding you,' as Dave had put it once. Karkat pulled his knees to his chest, "I'm sorry. You're right I don't really..." His voice trailed off and Kanaya set herself next to him, rubbing along is shoulders. "I know.
She continued rubbing along his shoulders and down his back until he finally started talking, "I just... I don't know." He shrugged and wiped at his eyes again, "I feel like shit even though I didn't do anything, and even that's part of the issue! It's like I feel like I supposed to make him, I don't know, not be stabbed on accidentally, but I didn't because I was too busy rattling on about some stupid movie! And then I guess that just boils down to how would someone else have done it and if they could have prevented it." Kanaya yawned next to him and nodded while he continued. "It feels like literally anyone else could have stopped it and just... fuck, OK, y'know the dream bubbles?" She sat up against his side, "yes?" Karkat gestured around with his hands, a very Dave mannerism if anyone's ever seen it, "I've met so many dead Karkats. So many, godtier or not. And you know how many have a Dave? Barely any! The only other one I met that had a Dave wasn't even as close as we are!" He paused to catch his breath, "and if I did mention him, they either didn't ever meet him, didn't like him, or hadn't even heard of him! How crazy is that!" Kanaya observed him quietly but let him continue. "And don't you wonder what's next? What if we finally get off this meteor and they all decide to be done with us? Because I know that you know that everyone else on this fucking meteor knows Dave only hangs out with me because I'm just replacing John-" Kanaya stared at him incredulously, "What?" Karkat rolled and wiped his eyes again, setting his chin on top of his arms- still holding his knees to his chest. "Oh, please. Don't lie to me." She frowned. "Do you seriously, seriously, think that any other person could understand Dave as much as you? Not even John does as much as you." Karkat avoided her gaze but the tips of his ears were burning red. "How does he like his eggs, hm? Tell me." Karkat mumbled something and ducked his head further under his knees. "No, tell me. Because you know that everyone here would ask you first if they couldn't find him. You aren't a replacement- if anything, you'll probably end up staying together after the game. Though I doubt you'd leave your hive considering you two barely ever leave the couch-"
"Sunny side up." Karkat muttered, "but he needs the yolk to be broken, too. He won't touch it if its scrambled, either-" Dave shivered a little in his sleep and mumbled something, causing Karkat to almost instinctively adjust it over his shoulder more. Kanaya shot him a look she definitely got from Rose. She stood up, helping Karkat to his feet as well. They stood there awkwardly for a second before he hugged around her waist tightly. Kanaya tentatively patted his back before he let go. "Anyway, as much as I usually enjoy your company, Karkat, I will not be sleeping with you two in my room. So, you can take him to his room for the night. He should wake up normally." Karkat nodded and attempted this time to pick him normally. He somehow managed to princess carry him- though the second Dave was blanket-less he whined quietly and huddled closer to whatever the cloest heat source was. Karkat flushed and said a quiet goodnight to Kanaya as to not wake the boy in his arms. The walk was quiet considering nobody else was (probably) awake. But... Karkat's room was closer to Kanaya's than Dave's was... It wouldn't hurt.
The artificial light filtered under the door through to the dark room where two boys kept close for comfort. One stirred, than the next.
"Kar..? What happened last night?" Dave tucked his head further under Karkat's chin and he yawned quietly, stretching his legs under the blankets, "you, uh, fell asleep while doing the dishes last night. Kinda funny, actually. Though my room was closer so I just... brought... you... here..." Dave looked skeptically at him before returning to his previous position. "An' this is why you're my best bro."