𝙇𝙀𝙈𝙊𝙉 𝘿𝙊𝙑𝙀 | karlnapity

Chapter Nine.

Of all the people, Sapnap thinks, unsure of whether or not Karl counts as an enemy at all. He will lay a finger on Quackity, their last interaction made that clear enough, but that finger wears a ring that Sapnap put there.

Then in a sudden change of heart he dislikes his thoughts, because this is Karl. This is the man who tied his bandana every morning and regularly flopped onto him with a giggle and a new story. This is the man Sapnap has loved and adored for years, who he's woken up next to countless times and who soothed his cries more than Dream ever did.

He doesn't want to choose. He really, really doesn't want to choose.

Karl breathes out, eyes conflicted. "Sapn-"

"Sapnap!" A familiar (beautiful) voice calls from inside, "who is it?" Oh Prime.

Both Karl and Sapnap turn toward the noise, and then back to each other slowly. Karl's eyes have become daring in the few moments Sapnap wasn't studying them, and he can't tell exactly what it means, but he can guess nothing good. The eyes are the window to the soul after all, and Dream's soul was dangerous when his eyes were daring.

"Karl-"

But the brunette is already shoving past him and into the dragon's den. He rushes after him, door falling shut with a quiet "click" as he lets it go, but it's too late. His two fiance's are already staring at each other with unreadable expressions in the kitchen.

Quackity is standing exactly where he left him, his plate still full in front of him. His shoulders are tense and lips barely parted as he stares at Karl. Gone is the confident smirk and adoring eyes. Quackity looks cold and dated; like a hot, relaxing bath turned freezing with time.

Karl is standing only a meter or so from Sapnap in the doorway. He looks defensive—legs apart and shaking hands clenched in fists—but his face is a cross between despaired and awed. Like the sight of Quackity single-handedly makes him want to throw himself over the ship and into the deadly waves: both out of guilt and adoration.

Surprisingly, Quackity is the one who breaks the ice. "Come for your fiance have you?"

Sapnap holds back his flinch, Karl does not. The eldest tucks his legs together and bows his head, making him look like a soldier surrendering—or bowing.

"No!" Karl says quickly. "No, I didn't even know he was here."

Ouch.

Quackity watches Sapnap's hurt reaction carefully, and then scoffs and turns from the two to drop both his and the ravenette's half empty plates in the sink. It's a shame, Sapnap thinks, he had wanted to finish that. Although, knowing his fiance's, he doubts he'll get the chance. Quackity probably knows that too.

Karl turns to Sapnap with a wide-eyed, apologetic expression. "Wait! I didn't- no, I just... I haven't been home, so..." He trails off and turns back to Quackity. "I came here for you."

The noirette clearly isn't as swayed by these words as Sapnap is. (Karl is here, for Quackity, and he doesn't even look murderous. He remembers the many, long nights he had cried into Karl's lap, begging him to remember him, to remember their love. He grimaces as he remembers, he's such a simp.)

Quackity raises an unconvinced eyebrow, seemingly making up his mind about something, and faces them while shuffling on his feet. "Why?"

Karl opens his mouth. "I-"

But Quackity interrupts him, beginning to walk around the dining table. "To accuse me of being a fiance-stealer as well as a murderer?" He walks past Karl with a head held high and grabs Sapnap's arm to drape it over his shoulders, causing Sapnap to drop his sword to the hard-wood with a loud clang. Oh. "Here to spit vicious words at me again, Karl? Here to break my heart again, Karl?"

Karl's stubborn expression buffers, and he stares at where the two touch with an almost heartbroken expression. Sapnap wants to step forward, to envelope the man he loves so much in a hug; hold him and, god forbid, kiss him.

But Karl has been gone. Sapnap can't remember the last hug from him, the last kiss, the last sweet word. Sapnap isn't sure what's going on with him but he knows whatever it is left him behind, and Karl didn't even seem to care.

But Quackity... Sapnap can't name one thing Quackity has done irrationally in their relationship. So while staying here feels more like relaxing on a battlefield than Karl's solace. At least this battlefield is secure, at least he knows it won't up and leave in the middle of the night. Maybe, Sapnap thinks, you can find comfort in the eye of the hurricane.

So when Karl's eyes flick to Sapnap questioningly, he doesn't speak up, doesn't deny Quackity's implication. Because the truth is he doesn't know, he can't choose between them. But at least Quackity is here, rubbing a soothing thumb over his hand on his shoulder like Sapnap was only moments before.

He is conflicted.

836 words.

ooh drama.