Archive of Our Own ^beta

it was summertime again. karkat welcomed the change in seasons begrudgingly as usual, not breaking the habit that has stuck with him for the past few years. the heat heavy and thick, so palpable you could almost touch it, hung in the midday air. he and dave were staying at a secluded cabin in the asscrack of nowhere, along with all their other friends.

a stale and weak breeze blew through the sparse blades of green grass as the sun continued to blaze down onto the earthy ground. karkat sat beneath a pair of trees that happened to be conveniently placed on top of the hill overlooking the large lake sitting in front of their cabin, an old rope hammock connecting the two. more trees trailed back, growing more dense the further you went, encompassing said lake within a forest. the sunlight glinted on the water, glaring back into the eyes of karkat who sat in the somewhat cooler shade attempting to read his favorite alternian romance novel. he squinted and tried to focus on the text printed on the pages in front of him. why he was even awake at this time was beyond him, always having preferred being awake at night, seeing as trolls are literally fucking nocturnal.

karkat groaned and snapped his book shut, pinching the bridge of his nose as he set it down. this wasnt the first time that he found himself distracted from whatever activity it was he was trying to do. after recently coming to terms with being flushed for dave, the nubby horned troll had his thoughts filled with the blonde boy more and more. karkat had confided in kanaya, having plenty of feeling jams with her about the subject and letting out his anxieties about it. despite that fact, he had yet to make any move out of fear of dave not reciprocating those feelings. leave it to karkat to be too much of a fucking wriggler to prove hes the romance expert he claims to be.

“... fuck, ” karkat grumbled to himself. he ran his dull claws through his hair, head in between his knees as he continued to take out his frustrations in his scraggly hair. why dave of all people? that had been his mantra since realizing his feelings. the shades wearing, cool kid douchebag, who is starting to seem very much like the bane of his fucking existence. it just had to be him, didnt it? the troll threw his head back against the wide trunk of the tree in frustration, sliding down limply, not having the energy to care anymore. his eyes, just starting to show hints of his crimson blood color, slipped closed as he continued to ruminate on those thoughts of dave until he slowly slipped into the limbo of sleep.

a southern drawl and a persistent tapping brought the small troll out of his slumber.

“hey, kitkat. karkles, wake up bro. good morning? c’mon dude, its like fuckin, what, 5pm? waake uup dude, im bored. rose is doin’ lesbian alien shit with kanaya, john is off with whoever, i dunno where the fuck the mayor is. what the hell are you doin’ out here alone anyway, sunbathing? jesus christ, trolls sleep a shit ton…” the strider was mumbling, half to himself, half to karkat, trailing off as he got further into his ramble. he was hanging (floating?) upside-down from a tree branch extended above karkats head, his cape dropping down and surrounding his face. his hair hung loosely in waves and his shades drooped slightly down his forehead thanks to gravity, almost exposing his scarlet eyes, but not quite. one arm dangled by his side while the other prodded and poked at the mutant-blood with an extended hand.

a lightly tanned finger began tracing karkats features lightly. smoothing his eyebrows, drawing a line along his jawline and lips, before oh-so-gracefully stabbing him in the nose. a light grumble came out of karkat before he shifted and buried his face further into his arms which were wrapped around his knees.

“kaaarkaaaat,” he drew out, now fiddling with karkats horns. tiny noises were emitted from the troll, muffled by his sweater, before he shifted away again. dave began playing with his ears, which drew out a light purr and started to rouse karkat back into consciousness. “mmngh, fugoff strider, “ he grumbled, one clawed hand swatting at daves.

“nah, not until you wake up bro,” dave said as he persisted his poking and prodding. a very long and extensive groan was heard. karkat briefly buried his head into his sweater before lifting it back up and stretching out against the tree. how long had he slept? 2 hours? four? whatever, it didnt matter. what had he been doing before he passed out? oh, right, attempting to read his favorite novel (and failing). “good mornin’, sleepin’ beauty,” dave said next to him, startling the troll out of his thoughts.

“shut the fuck up, assmunch. and fuck you for interrupting my nap!” karkat grouched as he grabbed his book and began to relocate to the hammock. he got up, shaking himself lightly, almost like a dog much to daves amusement, and popped his joints. dave watched as karkat walked over and plopped into the hammock, almost falling out at first and flailing around to stay inside causing a light dusting of red to cover his cheeks and ears. he shifted around and settled himself in before picking his book back up and opening to the dog-eared page.
“oh, come on karkles, dont be so boring. its summer. come do shit with your bro. thats me, im your bro. come do shit with me.”

“dave. do you ever fucking shut up? im clearly trying to read a book here!”

“fine, guess ill just have to read it with you” by now dave was back on his feet and walking to karkat.

“oh no you wont, do not fucking try to get into this hammock with me, do not fucking do it dave i swear to god,” dave began pulling himself up, jostling both himself and the shorter boy around. “if you make me fall off this i swear ,”

“chill out, karks, itll be fine” the blonde said as he attempted to sit next to karkat, only succeeding in face-planting on the grass when he fell off. “i warned you” karkat said smugly, turning his attention back to the novel. fully immersed in his story, karkat was none the wiser to dave,who was now floating up and about to land in the hammock next to him. the blonde boy positioned himself and flopped down next to karkat, squeezing in with the small troll, startling karkat and causing him to flail about wildly. karkat let out a ‘HFNG’ as he started slipping out of the long stretch of fabric, trying to simultaneously hold himself in and not drop his book after his initial scare was over.

“dude, chill, youre about to fall out,” dave said as he reached over and gently grabbed karkats shoulder and arm, tugging him back in next to him. daves touch felt like fire and karkat felt his face heat up with red from embarrassment at the current situation. after stabilizing himself and finding a comfortable position where he wasnt unbearably close and mashed into daves side he retrieved his book and skimmed through the pages, finding where he last left off before continuing.

after reading no more than, what, 3 pages, the troll became uncomfortably aware of dave reading (and breathing) over his shoulder. “is that necessary, dave?” he grouched, trying to shoulder him away gently. “hey, i told you i was gunna read that with you. too bad i cant read alien though, bet its some dope alien porn.” there was a slap from next to dave as karkat flopped back and let the book hit his face, hiding his flush.

“it is not fucking ‘alien porn’ dave. if you arent going to let me read alone, at least be quiet for fucks sake.”

“oh, im allowed to stay?” dave questioned, a hint of teasing in his voice.

“oh shut up, dont make me change my mind.”

a good three hours or so had passed since dave first interrupted karkat. the sun was getting close to setting, the air cooling down slowly to a more bearable temperature. it was essentially golden hour now, not quite sunset, but getting there. the sun cast a warm amber glow onto both of their faces. the past three hours had mostly consisted of karkat reading and dave scrolling through whatever various social media needed to be checked on his phone, stopping every now and then to nudge karkat and show him some shitty, stale meme (which karkat pretended to be annoyed by but, honestly, it was the cutest fucking thing ever). yawns escaped the trolls mouth every now and then, and he tried to stifle them but failed each time.

“yo dude, its getting late, should we go back to the cabin soon?” the blonde inquired.

“its only like, 8pm, its-” another yawn. “its fine. the fucking sun is still up, see?”

“alright, if you say so crabcakes. dont blame me if you wake up snuggled up against this sweet strider bod because its ass o’clock am and youre cold.”

“oh fuck off, i would not want to ‘snuggle up against this sweet strider bod’ you shit stain!” karkat spluttered.

conversation continued but slowly trailed off as the next hour progressed. karkat was dozing in and out of consciousness again, book long forgotten, until dave got his attention by shifting and setting down his phone.

grey-scarlet eyes blinked open as he slightly repositioned himself and turned to look at dave, who was currently watching the sun set. the sky was painted with vibrant oranges and pinks, swishing together with salmon and gold, sprinkled with hints of pale purples and peaches, a deep bright red painting just the edge of the horizon ahead. everything was basked in a warm rosy-tinted hue and looked like something out of a fairy-tale.

karkat glanced at dave. the light from the sunset outlining and illuminating his features. his skin was pale and milky, with an orange tint to it, highlighting the myriad of freckles scattered all over his cheeks and nose. the blonde hair seemed to glow in the sunlight, seeming almost ethereal. dave had propped his shades up on the top of his head, presumably to watch the sunset (and with the assumption karkat was asleep), and the rays of light hit his eyes just right, illuminating them and making his scarlet irises look like they were glowing embers and flames. all the while the blonde boy was still unaware of the troll watching him.

fuck it, karkat thought. if dave thinks hes asleep so be it. karkat turned, pretending to still be asleep, and scooted into daves side. he snuggled himself up against daves ‘sweet strider bod’ and rested his head next to his chest, faking a sleepy sigh as if he were just repositioning himself again. he felt dave almost jump at the movement, and then look over at him.

a warm arm wrapped gently around karkats shoulders and held him closer.

“‘night, karkat.” dave murmured, fingers absentmindedly playing with the deep black hair that was splayed out around karkats head.

oh god, karkat thought

im so in love