Archive of Our Own ^beta

Karl came rushing into the room, slamming the door open and effectively startling the other two boys in the room. Quackity’s soul appeared to have left his body, and while Sapnap didn’t have quite the same reaction, he had certainly jumped a bit more than he’d like to admit.

"Guys! Guys!" Karl hopped from foot to foot in excitement, shaking the small box in his hands. "Guess what?!"

"You got a box?" Sapnap asked, eyeing the package with suspicion.

"No! Well yes- but guess what's in the box!" He walked in, settling on the edge of the bed.

Quackity sat up from his position laying down and swung his legs over the side of the bed, sitting next to Karl. "Is it drugs?"

"Ah nice man! I've been craving a good high-" Sapnap plopped down on the other side of Karl, making them all bounce up slightly.

"It's not drugs," Karl laughed, grabbing the scissors from the desk, "It's nail polish!"

He cut the tape and lifted the flaps, returning the scissors to the spot he grabbed them from. The box contained twelve nail polish colors, six neon and the other six soft pastels. Sapnap and Quackity both leaned over to get a better look, nearly bumping heads. Tucked into the side of the box was a small piece of paper, advertisement for other collections. Karl bounced his leg and pulled them out, looking at them one by one and replacing them.

Standing up, he set the box in the spot he was just sitting in and walked over to their shared closet. Quackity and Sapnap turned to each other before turning back to Karl, who was currently rummaging through the space above their clothing racks. They mostly store spare sheets and blankets up there, but sometimes they, specifically Karl, being able to reach it the easiest, will hide presents or snacks.

“Ok- so I got this a little bit ago,” Karl struggled to pull down another package, a similar size to the box the nail polish sat in, and stuffed the while comforter spilling over the edge messily back into its spot, “But I was waiting for the nail polish to come.”

“Well… what is it?” Sapnap eyed him suspiciously as Karl returned to his spot. He placed the box of nail polish on his lap so Karl could sit back down without having to carry both boxes.

He sat the same way he did with the other box, this one already being open. He held the flaps down to showcase the contents of the small box. It had a few different sized containers, two tubes, one large and one small, a medium sized jar, what looked to be in a container reminiscent of a bottle of eye drops, a bottle, and a few plastic packages underneath it all.

“I don’t get it.” Karl laughed at Quackity’s rather blunt response, pulling out the larger tube to show him the label a bit closer.

“Skin care!”

Sure enough the baby blue tube had, printed in a cream shade, ‘Hydrating Facial Cleanser’, and ‘Normal to Dry Skin’ in smaller font just below it. “Well why’s there so much of it?”

“They all do different things,” Karl put the face cleanser back into its respective spot as he explained, “Your skin is a delicacy, you need to take care of it.”

“So… why did you need to save it until you got the nail polish?” Sapnap looked through the colors as he spoke, Quackity leaning over to look inside the box on Karls lap.

“It’s more fun this way!” Karl laughed.

“What does that mean?” Quackity looked up from the box skeptically, not trusting the way Karl worded his response.

Karl just laughed in response, standing up with the box of skin care in his hands. He took the nail polish from Sapnap and set it on the bed beside him. “We’re gonna try this out together, ‘kay?”

“Hold on- I never agreed to this.”

“What could go wrong?” Quackity shrugged and stood up with Karl, who offered his hand to Sapnap, “It’s just a little self-care, no?”

Sapnap sighed as his boyfriends stared at him in anticipation, Karl pouting and fluttering his eyelashes dramatically. “Fine, whatever.”

Sapnap let him pull him up and didn’t try to hide the smile on his face or the twinge of love in his tone as Karl hugged him close and kissed his cheek. “Yes! Let’s go!”

Karl pulled him to the bathroom, Quackity following closely behind. He let go of Sapnaps hand in favor of setting everything up on the counter. He cleared a small space on the right hand side of their sink, moving miscellaneous hygiene products to the other side. Karl pushed the box back so it was flush against the wall and pulled out the products in order of how they were meant to be used. He read the labels as he set them up.

“Cleanser…” The large tube first, the facial cleaner. Then, the clear bottle, with a white label reading ‘Water Toner’ in light pink text, showcased a translucent pink hue. “Toner,” The eyedrop looking bottle was placed beside it, a yellow bottle with a silver lid and white dropper. “Serum,” The smaller tube, a tea green, with ‘Eye Cream’ in white lettering. “Eye cream,”He placed the jar down with slightly more enthusiasm than the rest, the yellow and purple swirls on the lid being the most probable reason. “Moisturizer-”

“And… the face masks!” Karl laid them out in front of the line of products. Three individual face masks, one packaged in orange, one yellow, and the last a dull pink. ‘Refreshing’, ‘Brightening’ and ‘Soothing’.

“Oh, we should pull our hair back.” Karl pointed out. They all had fairly long hair, long enough to get in the way. Sapnap left for their room, producing a large hair clip and two headbands from their bedside table. When he re-emerged he had the wire headband pushing his own hair off his forehead and handed the clip to Quackity as Karl grabbed the other headband.

“Here.” Karl pulled off Quackity’s beanie and helped him clip his hair back, a persistent strand seemingly refusing to stay put, so he settled for tucking it behind his ear as Sapnap chuckled. He replaced the beanie in its respectful spot on top of the shorter’s head and tapped his nose. Karl turned around to face the products he set up just a few moments ago.

“Alright, so how does this work?” Quackity snaked his arms around Karl’s waist and rested his head on his shoulder. Sapnap stood beside them, picking up the face mask closest to him to read to label closer.

“Instantly soothes and relieves skin from discomfort…” He hummed, dropping it to sit with the rest, “Just what I needed.”

Karl laughed and picked up the facial cleanser, reading the directions and using the other hand to wave Sapnap off, “Shut up! Can you grab three towels?”

“Yeah, yeah.” Sapnap opened the closet just beside the bathroom, retrieving three small towels. He set them on the counter and Karl released himself from Quackity's hold and flipped the cap of the blue tube.

“So… we use this first,” He squeezed a dime-sized portion onto two of his fingers and passed the tube to Quackity, “And we just use it like a face wash… oh whoops-”

He turned on the tap and wet his face, being careful to keep the product on his fingers out of the running water's reach. Karl stepped out of the way for Quackity to wet his own face as he began to lather it in. Quackity accidentally put too much on his own hand and wiped half of it on Sapnaps face when he rose from his spot leaning over the sink. “Ack- what the fuck?”

“Chill out, I put too much on my hand!” Quackity laughed as he began rubbing in his own cleanser. Sapnap scoffed and set down the tube he had picked up, using what Quackity’s leftovers had provided.

“I’m pretty sure this will also help with your acne, Sapnap.” Karl said, turning to face him.

Sapnap hummed and Quackity chimed in, bumping their hips together and asking, “Why is your acne so bad?”

“Testosterone.” Sapnap straightened his shoulders and stood a bit taller, a proud grin shamelessly displayed on his face. He loved using that word in reference to himself.

Giggling, Karl rinsed his face with warm water and dabbed it dry with one of the towels Sapnap had provided. Quackity followed suit with Sapnap close behind. After all three towels were thrown into the hamper Karl sat on the edge of the counter and picked up the toner.

“Can you grab the cotton pads from the cabinet?” Karl gestured to the cabinet beside his head as he continued reading the directions.

“Why don’t you do it?” Sapnap asked, “You’re literally right there.”

“I don’t want to!” Karl smiled innocently. Quackity huffed and stood between Karls legs, reaching behind him to access the cabinet. He grabbed the bag of cotton pads and closed the cabinet, leaning up to peck Karl on the lips as he opened the bag.

Karl laughed into the kiss, popping open the toner as they broke apart. He held out his hand for Quackity to give him a cotton pad and squirted a little onto it upon receiving one. He hummed and made a little motion for Sapnap to come over, grabbing his chin and gently wiping the toner-dampened pad across the curves of his face.

When Karl finished, he leaned down and kissed his nose, laughing as Sapnaps face scrunched up. Sapnap rolled his eyes with a smile and grabbed a pad from the bag, turning to Quackity. “Quackity- let me do yours.”

Quackity let Sapnap hold the side of his jaw as he wiped the damp pad over his face, “Aw fuck, dude, you didn’t tell me it’d be cold-”

He squirmed and Sapnap tightened his grip slightly to hold him in place as he laughed, “It’s not, you’re just a pussy!”

“Fuck you, man!” Quackity laughed despite the very hostile comment and pushed Sapnap’s hand away as soon as he finished. Sapnap, in turn, grabbed his jaw again, kissing him with an over-dramatized “Mwah!”

Quackity shrieked as he pushed him off, mockingly wiping his lips and sarcastically fake-gagging. Karl laughed as Sapnap sulked, only looking up when Quackity kissed his forehead before immediately turning his attention to Karl, who was still sitting on the counter. “Lemme do yours now.”

“Mh-hmm.” Karl hummed as Quackity wet another cotton pad. He brushed it against Karls cheek, laughing when he flinched slightly at the contact.

“Told you it was cold, asshole.” He turned to look at Sapnap while grinning, continuing to drag the pad across Karls skin.

“Whatever,” Sapnap picked up the serum, “This things next, yeah?”

Karl turned to look at him, nodding as he hummed again. Quackity groaned as he tossed the cotton pad into the trash. “Why’s there so much?”

“Pretty sure Karl already explained why,” Sapnap unscrewed the top, setting the bottle beside the sink and pulling Quackity over to him by the hips, “Something about delicacies.”

Sapnap squeezed the serum over his cheeks as Quackity mumbled, “Still think it’s pretty stupid.”

He replaced the top and removed his other hand from Quackity’s hips to rub the liquid into his skin. “It’s not stupid! It’s self care.”

“Of course, sorry.” Quackity rolled his eyes with a teasing smile as Karl began applying his own serum with a huff. Sapnap pulled his hands back only after wiping them on Quackity’s sweater, who gaped theatrically with his arms held away from it for a good five seconds.

“Dude-” Sapnap choked through his fit of laughter, “Chill out.”

Karl’s hand covered his mouth, a sad attempt to hide the poorly concealed giggles bubbling up. “Not you too! Are you kidding me!”

“Calm down babe,” Karl hopped down from the counter and picked up the serum to use on Sapnap, “It’s not a big deal, really.”

“Tch, whatever.” Quackity said as Karl dropped a little bit of product onto Sapnap’s face. He rescrewed the cap, setting it back onto the counter and raising his hands to gently rub it into Sapnap’s skin.

“Is this something we’re supposed to do every night?” Sapnap whispered and Karl brushed his fingers softly over his boyfriend's features, lingering for a moment longer than necessary.

“Some people do,” Karl pecked the side of his mouth, “But I think it’d be a little much for us.”

Sapnap hummed as Karl turned to grab the eye cream. The little green tube opened with a pop, and he squeezed a little bit onto his index finger. Karl gently dabbed some under Sapnap’s eyes, using his thumb to rub it in before doing the same to Quackity and then himself.

“This moisturizer is on brand, huh?” Quackity had picked up the jar, observing the top as Karl closed the eye cream and set it back on the counter. “Be honest with me, is this lid the only reason you bought all of this?”

“No!” Karl said, rather defensively, but he withered under both Quackity and Sapnap’s unconvinced looks, “Maybe… but it looks cool, so I don’t care.”

Sapnap scoffed, a toothy grin plastered on his face. He was about to say something but before he could Quackity was already putting a, rather large, glob of moisturizer on his nose. “Eh-”

Karl laughed at Sapnap’s lack of words but was assaulted with a similarly sized spot of product spread on his forehead. “Simbaaa”

There was a moment of silence as Quackity stood with his thumb, clearly spread with moisturizer, extended and the jar in his other hand. Sapnap broke the silence with a small snort, causing all three of them to burst into laughter.

The glob of moisturizer was dripping off of his nose, and he quickly brought his hand up to catch it in his hand. Quackity was still laughing, but he stopped pretty abruptly when Sapnap wiped the excess on his cheek. “Pftt-”

“Well, I mean,” Sapnap began rubbing in the moisturizer still on his nose, “Now I have the perfect amount.”

“And I still have too little-” Quackity was cut off by Karl smearing some of his own on his opposite cheek, “..thanks.”

Karl massaged his own into his skin, smiling like an idiot. “No problem!”

Quackity set the jar down next to the lid still sitting on the counter. He rubbed the moisturizer into his skin and as soon as he removed his hands from his face Sapnap kissed his temple. “We should watch a movie.”

“That's a good idea,” Karl looked up from reading the directions on one of the face masks, “We can start it while we wait for our face masks.”

“Why do we need to wait for our face masks?” Quackity asked as Sapnap looped his arms around his shoulders, holding him in the equivalent of a passive headlock.

“Dunno,” Karl shrugged, he held up the three plastic bags containing the face masks and asked, “Which do you guys want?”

Quackity spoke first, immediately reaching for the yellow one in the middle, “Brightening. I want to shine like a star.”

“I’ll take the orange one.” Sapnap said. He was almost dozing, resting his chin on Quackity’s shoulder. He was startled to attention when the orange face mask hit him. “Oh- okay.”

Sapnap buried his face further into Quackity’s shoulder and Karl scoffed, “Pick it up idiot.”

Groaning, Sapnap removed himself from Quackity and grabbed the orange package from the tile floor. He considered sitting down on the floor for just a moment. Or maybe two moments.

“Okay, so,” Karl tore the corner off of his face mask, the pink plastic ripping easily, “We’re supposed to leave these on for about 15-20 minutes.”

Quackity tore open his own, “Oh, it’s like a cream.”

Sapnap snorted as he opened his own. Quackity turned to him, amused, “What? Did I say something funny?”

“Nope.” Sapnap giggled as Karl, who was already putting on his own face mask, rolled his eyes. Quackity followed suit as he began applying his own, Sapnap put on his own as Karl rinsed his hands.

“I’m gonna find something to watch,” Karl announced, throwing the empty plastic away as he walked out of the bathroom, “Can you put the stuff back into the box?”

“Yep, don’t worry about it.” Quackity called out as he tossed his and Sapnap’s trash. He rinsed his own hands and left the water on for Sapnap to do the same.

Sapnap packed away the various products and Quackity returned the cotton pads to their original spot in the cabinet. “What do you think he’s gonna pick out?”

“Not sure, hopefully something good,” Quackity shut the light off and closed the door behind them as they made their way to their shared bedroom. The light was still on and the door left open, Karl was in the kitchen, the smell of popcorn wafting through the air being a dead giveaway as to what he was doing.

Sapnap and Quackity sat on the bed, settling and moving the box of nail polish to the end of the bed so as not to spill it. The TV was on and ‘Adventure Time’ was brought up on Hulu, ready to be played. Sapnap laughed, “I’m not surprised.”

“Not surprised about what?” Karl walked back into the room, struggling slightly to carry a bowl of popcorn and three unopened cans of monster.

“The show,” Quackity gestured to the television screen, “I thought we were going to watch a movie?”

“Do you want to watch a movie? I can put on a movie.” He kicked the door shut behind him and gently set the bowl of popcorn on the bed and the drinks on the nightstand.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind.” Quackity pats the space in between him and Sapnap, sitting on his feet.

Karl moved to the spot offered, grabbing the remote from the bedside table. He started the show and dropped the remote a few inches in front of him. It nudged the box of nail polish, which Karl grabbed and set right in front of him. “What colors do you guys want?”

“Yellow,” Sapnap answered immediately, he grabbed a handful of popcorn before retracting his statement, “No, neon orange!”

“I want yellow. And blue. Both neon.” Quackity replied as the short intro started playing. It was the first episode, ‘Slumber Party Panic’.

Karl pulled out the requested colors plus his own choice of neon purple. He left them in a pile on the bed and got up to set the box of remaining nail polish on the desk. While he was up he also grabbed a nail file.

“Okay, who wants to go first?” Karl sat back down on the bed, criss-cross applesauce with the nail polishes in his lap and a smile wider than you would have thought possible. Well, you wouldn’t think it possible before meeting Karl, that is.

“I will!” Quackity raised his hand like he was still in school, matching Karl’s excited energy.

“Got it,” Quackity offered his right hand which Karl took in his own, making quick work of filing his nails to a curve, “How do you want the pattern?”

“Whatever you want.” He smiled as Karl continued, dropping his right hand and grabbing his left when he finished filing every nail. Quackity used whichever hand Karl wasn’t working with to grab popcorn, occasionally offering some to Karl, who opened his mouth. Quackity stopped when Karl bit him.

They sat together, Sapnap peering over Karls shoulder occasionally, though most of his attention was turned to the cartoon playing in the background. Karl opened the blue first, unscrewing it with little trouble. He wiped a bit off on the edge of the bottle, which he adjusted to hold between his feet while he worked. He dragged the bright blue paint delicately over Quackity’s blank nails, fully focused on his current job.

While he leaned over slightly so as to not mess up, Sapnap kissed his back, exposed slightly by the large sweater adorning his figure. It fell just low enough for him to access right below his neck. Karl giggled as he rescrewed the blue paint. It was vibrant, and luckily only needed one coat. Every other nail was painted blue, starting on his left pinky and the pattern continuing over both nails, ending on his right ring finger.

Karl opened the yellow after setting the blue aside, wiping it on the side of the top, the same way he did with the blue. “Oh, looks like this one will need multiple coats.”

He applied the polish the same way he did with the blue, thin coats and gentle hands. When he finished the first layer of yellow Quackity asked, “How long did you say we were supposed to leave the face masks on?”

“About fifteen to twenty minutes, why?” Karl tilted his head at Quackity, checking to see if his nails were dry with a soft tap to the nails.

Quackity hummed, “Just checking, it’s been about eleven so far.”

Karl, after confirming his nails were dry and it was safe to add a second coat without messing up the first one, continued the repetitive movements of covering the nail in a bright yellow. The second coat seemed to do the trick, making the color just as vivid as the blue.

He did the same to Quackity’s other nails, the blue and yellow pattern popped, the neon shades seemingly glowing. When he finished, Karl kissed Quackity’s knuckles, careful not to mess up the still wet polish, earning a giggle from the shorter.

“Sappy, your turn.” Karl placed the two nail polishes he used for Quackity on the bed side table. In doing so, he was reminded of the monsters he got, two were left untouched but one was already opened. He didn’t even notice Sapnap leaning behind him.

Karl grabbed his own and pulled the tab, opening it with a crack. He took a long sip before setting it back down and turning to Sapnap, who was already facing him. He had his head resting on Quackity’s shoulder, who was facing the opposite direction to watch the cartoon Karl picked out. It was already partially through the second episode, but Karl figured he’d have enough time to finish Sapnap’s nails.

Sapnap’s nails were a bit harder to do because of his fidgeting. He had a hard time sitting still, all of them did, but Sapnap was especially bad at it. Karl had to keep stopping to wipe nail polish from around Sapnap’s nail so it wouldn’t dry like that. He didn’t say anything about it, didn’t complain, or sigh, or make an annoyed face. He just wiped it with his thumb and continued on.

Much like the yellow it would clearly need a second coat, but he didn’t get the chance as right when he capped the nail polish he heard ‘Come Along with Me’ playing from the TV.

“Oh, shoot!” Karl dropped the nail polish and hopped off the bed, his boyfriends following suit, “We have to wash the face masks off!”

Karl flicked the bathroom light on, another episode of Adventure Time could be heard starting in the other room seeing as they hadn’t paused before leaving for the bathroom. Sapnap stopped to grab three towels for them, as he did before.

Karl was already washing off Quackity’s face mask, he didn’t need to, Quackity could manage just fine by himself, but he loved being helpful. Either way, Sapnap had to refrain from cooing when he saw them. Karl gently rubbed the mask of his face, removing the bright yellow from Quackity’s skin. When Karl finished he held out his hand for the towel but Sapnap already took the initiative and began patting Quackity’s face dry, being careful with his nails.

“You didn’t need to do that,” Quackity laughed, taking the towel and tossing it in the hamper, “I can dry my face myself.”

“Well you certainly couldn’t get the mask off,” Sapnap tapped his shoulder, leaning in for a kiss, “How am I supposed to trust you can do something as difficult as drying your face?”

“Shut up!” Quackity laughed into the kiss, wrapping his hands around Sapnap’s waist.

When they pulled away, Quackity rested his head on Sapnaps shoulder, taking care to avoid the orange mask still on his face. Karl was already patting his own face dry, “Sappy Nappy~ It’s your turn!”

Sapnap hummed and tapped Quackity’s side where he had been resting his hand, his fingertips barely brushed against his side as Sapnap was being careful to not mess up the still wet nail polish.. Quackity turned slightly so he was hugging Sapnap’s right side while Karl stood to his left and began washing off the face mask. Sapnap’s hand remained glued to his waist the whole time.

“There you go!” Karl tossed the towel over Sapnap’s face, smiling like an idiot.

Sapanp mumbled something along the lines of ‘stupid boyfriends with their stupid smiles’ and used the towel to pat his own face dry with one hand, throwing it in the hamper with the others and kissing the top of Quackity’s head when he finished.

They returned to the bedroom after turning off the light and closing the door slightly, seeing Karl already sitting on the bed. He swallowed the popcorn he was chewing and took a sip of his monster, wiping his hand on his sweatpants. “Sit! Let me finish your nails.”

They both sat where they were before, Sapnap holding out his now-dry nails for Karl to finish. Quackity gently set his chin on Sapnaps shoulder, Karl didn't find their positioning to be the most ideal for painting his nails, but when Sapnap turned and kissed Quackity’s shoulder he discovered he really didn't care. Call him a simp but he loves seeing his boyfriends in love. Especially when he knows they're just as in love with him.

Karl painted another coat over Sapnap's index finger and found two coats to work perfectly. By the time he finished, they were already reaching the end of another episode. Sapnap seemed happy with his nails and Karl was happy with that. He began packing up the nail polishes he pulled out.

“Karl?” Sapnap tilted his head, his eyebrows furrowing slightly, “You didn't get to do your own.”

Karl sighed, a tired smile forming on his face, “I know, babe. I’ll do them tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Quackity turned around to join the conversation, having paused the show as another episode began.

“Yes, it’s late, and I wanna cuddle.” Karl closed the box, leaving it on their desk to be dealt with later. He picked up the unopened can of monster, “Do you want this?”

Quackity shook his head. He didn't open it earlier and there was no point now, he planned on going to sleep as soon as they all laid down. Karl took the now-empty bowl from Sapnap and Quackity, accepting a kiss on the cheek as he left.

As Karl walked out of the room, Quackity removed the clip from his hair and placed it back in their night stand. He laughed as Sapnap tried to use his palms to take off his headband. “Let me help you, baby.”

Quackity removed the headband, but not before kissing his exposed forehead. Sapnap huffed as his hair fell in his face. He sat back down on the bed, finishing the rest of his monster and throwing it in the trash can by their desk.

Well, throwing it at the trash can by their desk. He missed. Quackity walked right by it and sat by his side, teasing Sapnap without even saying anything. Sapnap rolled his eyes fondly at his boyfriend's antics and got up to throw it away. Properly this time.

Karl returned just as Sapnap was sitting down again. He turned off the light and joined his boyfriends on the bed, illuminated by the light from the TV, “Are your nails dry yet?”

“Yep!” Sapnap said while checking each nail with his thumb. Karl smiled as Quackity lifted the blankets and settled on the side of their bed closest to the wall. Sapnap joined him, holding the blankets up for Karl, who laid beside him. They held each other close as Quackity unpaused the cartoon again.

They spent the rest of the night laughing and cuddling closer. They whispered all throughout the show, none of them even paying attention. Quackity fell asleep first, his head buried in Sapnap’s chest.

Sapnap fell asleep shortly after, passing out after quietly saying, “I love you.”

Karl kissed his head and returned the gesture, “I love you too”, unsure as to whether or not it was heard. He smiled as he relished in the warmth of his lovely boyfriends and held them impossibly closer as he himself drifted off as well.