Hot for Strider (Karkat/Bro)

"You should tell him Jeff's being a dick and hitting on a minor."

Jeff ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek. "Well it looks like you're in a better mood."

"Yeah, a little bit" Karkat admitted.

'i really don't think i should do that'

"And why not? If anyone can make him behave, it's your dad."

Jeff looked at the clock, then took Karkat's controller. "You two need to get ready for bed. Tell Dave you're sleeping in his bed with him."

Karkat grimaced. "Do you think we'd both fit? I realize I'm a small guy, but its not exactly a big bed"

'because dad has some strong opinions on stuff like that and i don't think any of them are good'

"Trust me, you'll fit," Jeff had gotten up to turn off the xbox. "Him and John always share his bed when he stays over. And John is much bigger than you."

"THAT'S THE POINT," Dave wanted to rip his hair out. Or even better, rip out John's. "He needs to back the fuck off. And Dad can make him."

Karkat nodded, standing up. "If you say so I guess." he walked back to Dave's room and hovered in the doorway. "Um, your bro said its time for bed" he mumbled. "And that, um, we have to share your bed"

'dad may end up coming out there and none of us want that'

"I do and that's not sarcasm. I'm sick of him always doing this shit to me."

He sat up and nodded. "I'm going to change." He set his phone on his bed and went over to his dresser. "I'm going to take a shower. I'll be back in 15 minutes."

Karkat nodded, moving to the bed when Dave left. He curled up by the edge, pillowing his head on his arm.

Dave was back not long after, dressed in red pajama pants and a black t-shirt. He sat down on the bed next to Karkat and checked his phone.

'why don't you just ask him to back off?'

Karkat shifted at the dip in the bed, making a sleepy little noise. He had almost drifted right off without realizing it.

Dave snorted. John really was stupid sometimes. "You know that won't do again good. He'll just make things worse or laugh at me."

'it doesn't hurt to try'

Karkat shifted again, reaching his hand back to look for the blanket to protect himself from the chill of Dave's air conditioner.

"If anything less than positive happens I blame you." He turned his phone to silent and covered himself with his blanket.

Karkat turned over, rubbing an eye. "Is that the only blanket?" he asked in a mumble

"Yes," Dave huffed. "Deal with it and go to sleep."

Karkat flinched slightly at Dave's tone. "okay" he mumbled, curling up and moving back to the edge to give Dave all the room he could. He was going to ask if it was alright if he shared the blanket, but now he was a little scared to. He would just have to deal with being cold.

At 1 am Jeff was still awake. He was working on a few of his websites. He didn't work until the evening, so he was going to be up until about 3 or 4 am. Lil Cal was in pjs and on the futon. Dave had already been asleep for a few hours. He had taken up most of the blanket.

Karkat had been drifting between sleep and wakefulness since Dave snapped at him. He couldn't fully fall asleep, because as soon as he got close, he was hit with a case of the shivers that woke him back up. Just after one, he started to feel nauseous, so he carefully got up and made his way to the bathroom as quietly as he could. He didn't want to wake anyone, especially not Dave.

He felt Dizzy, his stomach knotting itself around the rest of his intestines in a tizzy. He had to brace himself on the doorway and the wall before he made it to the bathroom. By which to say, he made it to the bathroom before falling to his knees and crawling over to the toilet to puke the knots out of his insides. He retched loudly, his fingers clutching the rim of the bowl hard enough that his knuckles were almost the same ivory as the porcelain.

The only light in the living room was the light coming from the computer screen and the light on in the kitchen. Jeff had taken off his shades to see his monitor. He looked down the hallway when the bathroom light flicked on. He winced when he heard retching. Poor kid was probably sick. He got up and made his way to the bathroom.

Karkat was still hunched over the bowl, retching when he got there. He didn't say anything as he kneeled down and started to rub his back.

When Karkat didn't have anything left to heave up, he laid his head down on the rim and just sat there shivering as Bro rubbed his back. He closed his eyes, lacking the energy to keep them open. He could just fall asleep there on the bathroom floor.

Jeff shook his shoulder a bit. "Come on kid. You can't sleep in here. You don't want to either. Trust me." He picked up the smaller boy, bridal style this time, turned off the bathroom light, and was going to Dave's room.

Karkat let out a little whine, clinging to Bro and his warmth. He was nice and warm and comfortable, and Karkat didn't want to let go.

"Hmmmm?" He had just reached for the door handle. He looked down at Karkat. "What's up buttercup? The kid bein' a dick to you?"

"Cold" Karkat mumbled, nuzzling Bro's chest. "No blanket"

"Sooooo he's being a dick." He turned from the door and continued down the hallway. He placed Karkat down on the futon. Cal was on the edge and Karkat was closer to the middle. The computer has already gone to the screen saver and it's light dimmed. Jeff went over to the kitchen and turned the light off. He went back to the futon and layed down next to Karkat. He pulled the blanket up to cover all three of them. "Get some sleep kiddo."