Homestuck One-shots

Stopping The Roses (humanstuck) (davekat)

Karkat's P.O.V

I awoke in the morning and attempted to pull back my covers only to find they were stuck to my wrists. I was afraid to look at what I knew would be there. I looked down at my wrists and sure enough, the covers were caught on the thorns of roses growing from my wrists. They had done it again. I frowned as I slowly removed the covers from the flowers. The flowers that grew when my soulmate was hurt. Or hurt themselves. I sighed. Why did they continue to do this to themselves? I wanted to help but I had no idea how. I didn't know who or where they were. I got out of bed and got ready, careful not to pull on the roses. They were still connected to nerves and didn't come out. I put on a sweater and hid the roses in the sleeves. They would die and fall out once their respective wound healed. I decided to go out for breakfast. There was a restaurant within walking distance of my house. I headed out and arrived shortly. It was almost completely empty and I got seated quickly. I looked over the menu as I waited for the waiter. It wasn't too long before a guy wearing sunglasses and a waiter uniform over a t-shirt and jeans came up. His face was neutral but something told me he wasn't happy with his life at all. His wrists had bandages covering them. Covering something on them. "Names Dave and I'll be your waiter today. Can I get you anything to drink?" "JUST SOME WATER." He nodded and walked off. I watched him go. Something about him drew my attention. That and I was curious about the bandages on his arms. I eventually tore my eyes away and back to the menu. He still took up my thoughts, however. I waited for him to return and soon he did with my water. "Are you ready to order sir?" He asked in a monotone voice, devoid of joy, after placing the glass down. I nodded. "YEAH. I'LL HAVE THE WAFFLES AND EGGS." He nodded and turned to leave but I stopped him. "IF YOU DON'T MIND ME ASKING, WHY ARE YOUR WRISTS COVERED IN BANDAGES?" His stoic expression changed to a frown for a split second before returning to neutral. "Work accident." He said after a brief pause. I nodded but could tell that wasn't the reason. He left and I let him this time. All signs pointed to something I knew well. Something I had done research on. I put a hand to where the roses still hid under my sweater. Dave was self-harming. I didn't know him but I felt a connection to him. I wasn't going to let Dave continue to hurt himself. We didn't talk when he brought me my food or my bill but once I had the bill I used the pen provided and a napkin to write him a note. It read, 'I can tell you aren't happy. I can tell your injuries weren't an accident. I want to help. If you ever need someone to talk to contact me.' I then gave my pesterchum handle. I left the note along with $5 as his actual tip. I left and headed home afterward. I spent the rest of the day with my laptop by my side no matter where I went in my house. Mostly I watched rom-coms but even they couldn't distract me from thoughts of Dave. Finally, around 7:00, I got a message. "You're the one who questioned me at work today right?" "YEAH." "Ok. I just got off work and figured I'd see if you were serious about the whole talking to me thing." "I AM. I WANT TO HELP YOU. I'M FREE MOST OF THE TIME SO FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME WHENEVER." "Cool." We continued to talk and I learned a lot about Dave. I learned he often cut because he felt worthless when compared to his brothers. I knew how it felt to be less than your family. My brother and father were perfect and I was the opposite. We chatted almost all night. Eventually, we both decided it was time to sleep. "Thanks for your help dude." "NO PROBLEM. CONTACT ME WHENEVER." "Sure." He logged off and I did the same. The next day, I woke up to see no roses had grown on my wrists. I let out a breath of relief before checking my computer. Dave had messaged me again. We continued chatting a lot over that month and became good friends. He also informed me I had helped him stop cutting. That made me happy. I also noticed the roses stopped showing up on my wrists. I had watched enough rom-coms to connect what that meant and it made me even happier. It meant Dave was my soulmate. I loved him. I just wondered if he knew about this as well. I hadn't ever told him about the roses. I didn't hurt myself often either. I decided I needed to tell him. "HEY DAVE, CAN I TELL YOU SOMETHING?" "Sute dude. What's up?" I took a deep breath. My hands were shaking with nervousness and excitement. I typed slowly. "I'VE SEEN SIGNS AND I... I THINK YOU ARE MY SOULMATE..." There was a long pause. "Oh. Well... I guess that's good because I really like you Karkles." I smiled. "I REALLY LIKE YOU TOO DAVE." There was another pause but this time it was filled with happiness rather than anxitey. Eventually he sent another message. "You want to go to a movie or something sometime?" "LIKE A DATE? SURE."  "Great. Love you Karkat." "Love you too Dave. Love you too."