An Unspoken Thing [Davekat]

Two Hurting Boys

Two young men went into their respective first period classes. In those classes, they got stares, some murmers. They hid their injuries from others to not gain attention. Their skin stung, their insides ached. One was used to the pain, the other was not.

Two young men, one a human and one a troll, continued through two more classes. They hid their face in their hair, and wrote their notes in small writing. They made small doodles on their papers and smiled about the thought of seeing each other.

It is now lunch hour, and one of the boys is grinning so brightly. His name is Dave Strider. His laces are tied twice and his shades are glued to his face. With a red leather jacket set on his shoulders and a chain slung on his belt loops, he makes his way to his lunch table.

He sits down on the bench and rests his elbows on the surface. Terezi and Jade are there, eyeing him. Well, Jade was eyeing him, Terezi mostly just sniffed in his direction. "Hey, Mister Cool Dude, want my grubsauce?" Terezi interjects the silence.

Dave puts up a hand in dismiss. "No, TZ, I'd rather have human mayonnaise than that fuckin' abomination."

What they don't know, is that under Dave's jacket, his arms are thin and shaking from hunger. His stomach is in a knot.

It is now lunch hour, and one of the boys is scowling at the bright sun. He shades his eyes with his hand and looks around the food court. His name is Karkat Vantas. He forgets to tie his shoes and his pants are beyond high-waisted. With a thick gray sweater set on his shoulders, and his hands tied twice, he makes his way to another young man cautiously.

Dave feels a tap on his shoulder, and a warm breath next to his ear, making his skin gain moisture. "Hey, can we talk?" He hears Karkat ask him. Dave nods and excuses himself from the table. He follows Karkat and they go to the secluded area that Karkat once asked Dave to come over in.

Dave looked at Karkat, and Karkat looked at Dave.

"Dave." Karkat whimpered. He put a cautious hand on Dave's bruised neck. He also frowned at the cut on Dave's cheek. "Who did this."

Dave didn't want to answer, he felt so uncomfortable with saying his name in situations like these. It felt strange. "My bro." He said finally. His chest dropped to the floor when he saw Karkat's expression change for the worse.

"Did he find out that you came to my house?" Karkat asked.

Dave nodded, then grinned a toothy grin. "But I am not regretting a single thing." Dave then narrowed his gaze on Karkat's face that had a pretty deep bruise on it. Without asking, Dave pulled up Karkat's sweater to see his stomach that had scabs of blood and a pretty dark bruise also. "Who the hell did this to you?"

Karkat pushed his eyebrows together. "Doesn't matter, I haven't finished dealing with him."

"Tell me, damnit!" Dave demanded.

Karkat froze up in defense and held his hands up. "Okay, fine! It was Eridan, okay? I just want that fucker to stop messing with you."

Dave thought about reaching for Karkat's hand, but decided to only graze his fingertips with his. "Karkat..." Dave said quietly. "You don't need to do that, I can-"

"BUT HE HAS HURT YOU!" Karkat shrieked. Dave jumped at the change of tone and saw Karkat grip Dave's hand tightly. "A-AND HE IS THE ONLY ONE I CAN GET TO. HE IS THE ONLY ONE I CAN STAND UP TO, I CANT S-STAND UP TO YOUR BROTHER B-BECAUSE HE ISN'T AROUND. I WISH I COULD OH GOd I wish I could- I-... I wish I could fucking kill him! He has hurt you so much and- a-and You-!" Karkat ran out of words to express his anger, and tears started to well up in his eyes. "I c-cant!" He studdered. Tears streamed down his face and he angrily wiped the away as soon as the started to pour.

Dave has never seen Karkat cry, but he is glad he is seeing it happen right now. "Karka-"

Karkat's arms snatched Dave in like a trap, sending a wind of air to fan out between them. The gust of wind blew his bangs back, and Karkat's face nestled in his chest.  Karkat was shaking all over. "I fucking hate seeing you like this."

Dave didn't know. He didn't know how much those words meant; how much weight they carried. Dave didn't know until Karkat spoke it.

"I hate seeing you shake." Karkat mumbled. "I hate seeing you break. I hate feeling you and all I feel is your bones and the rough surface of your scabs. I hate feeling your scars, and looking at the clouds of bruises on your back and chest. I hate how you look so sly and happy, when your body is dying. I- I'm hearing your heartbeat and even that sounds like it's aching. I hate seeing Eridan look so smug, and his foul words saying 'Dave's mine' . I want to help you so much but I cant only do so little. I- I want to return you back to normal. W-where your skin has no scars a-and your eyes don't cry. I-"

Dave felt his chest bloom and wrap Karkat in it's velvet encasing just a little tighter. He felt his heart swell with strength and his muscles jump to action. Dave pulled Karkat off of him and looked down at him. "Then I will make sure that I don't get a single scratch on me anymore."

"But what if-"

Dave smiled. "Not a single one. I... I am strong. I will fight back, I will."

"You will?"

"Yeah."

"Can I help?"

"Yes."

Karkat smiled weakly and Dave held his small face in his hands. Dave looked at the details of Karkat's face. His thick eyebrows, his long lashes and bright eyes, his soft lips. Dave tilted his head and brought his lips to Karkat, who gratefully kissed him back.