It's Cold Outside ||Human!stuck Karezi Au||

Hawkish Nightmare

After a while Karkat did eventually fall asleep. He was happy to at least get a few hours of rest. But that happiness soon faded once he had a hawkish nightmare.

                                                           ~

He pushed the stolen shopping cart full of necessities and Terezi's scalemates (which he doesn't count as a necessity.) Karkat finally had made his way to the back inn. Where the dumpster was located was where he put the cart. He drug a hand through his dark chocolate hair as he walked back to his and Terezi's "home." He felt a speck of water land on his shoulder. Karkat looked up as more raindrops fell onto his face. He gasped and he started to run. Once he arrived he started to grab any of the other things that did not fit in the shopping cart. "What's going, Karkles?!" Terezi asked frantically. "We have to go this place is gonna flood if we don't get out of here!" He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the exit. "But what about the mattress? We can't leave it here, it'll be too wet to sleep on or someone might steal it!" Terezi said. Karkat thought about it. They couldn't stay at that motel until they find a new mattress; they couldn't afford it!  "Fuck fine. But we have to be quick, if we don't get out of here we're gonna drown." He ran to the mattress and grabbed on of the edges and Terezi went to the opposite side and got the other. 

They both carried the mattress until Karkat suddenly stopped. "What is it?" She queried. They had reached a grate. In the tunnels there were these every few feet. He didn't know if they were supposed to filter the water or something but they were often an obstacle in getting in and out of the tunnels. But all of the ones in this tunnel, to his knowledge, had holes punctured in them by people them whom did not have a home and other people who would vandalize the walls. "Is it a grate?" Karkat heard Terezi behind him. "Y-yeah," he said a bit worried. It was hard to fit the mattress through the holes. He walked through the hole and told Terezi to walk forward. She did so and pushed the mattress as much as she could. "Terezi, keep pushing!" He shouted behind him. "I am...it won't...budge!" She kept pushing it. Then he heard it. The water. It was coming and it was coming fast. Still not aware it was a dream, he frantically pulled the mattress towards him.  

"Karkat," he heard her voice and it was oddly timid. He looked back at her. "I hear the water," Terezi's voice sounded small and frightened. "Come on we can still get out in time. Just keep pushing!" Karkat encouraged her. His heart was beating fast as he pulled the mattress with all his mite. He tried to move it side to side to see if it could possibly get it free. "Karkles!" She yelled at him. Her words were laced with fear. He faced her again, hoping not to see water engulfing her. She looked straight into his eyes and said one word that tore him apart.

"Go."

"What?" 

"You heard me, go!" 

"I'm not leaving you here; you're gonna drown!" 

"But you will too if you don't leave!"

Karkat felt a lump in his throat. He wasn't gonna leave her, he couldn't. If he did he would never forgive himself. "Fuck no. There's no way in hell I'm leaving you!" He yelled and tried to move the metal separating her from him. At this point Karkat didn't care about the mattress. She mattered so much more than that stinky, old mattress. The water became louder but it wasn't has loud as Terezi's shout. "GO!" She shrieked at him. He still was trying the get the mattress out of the way. He pushed towards her, maybe he could push it her way and grab her and go. "No, it's gonna work it has to!" He heard a ripping sound. The grate had torn some of the mattress open. He still wasn't going to leave her. Karkat tried to move the mattress aside to see if he could make space for Terezi squeeze through. The Vantas managed to et his arm through and grabbed the cloth belonging to her jacket. He pulled her arm through hole and then tried to open it up more to save her. "Karkat, it's not going to work. You're gonna have to leave me here," Terezi's voice sounded small. Karkat opened his mouth to protest when he felt her hand land in his chest. The hand pushed him away. "Go," the word slipped out of her mouth for a second time. And then a third, a forth, and a fifth. Every time she repeated the word the water grew louder. His heart raced unsure of what to do. If he were to continue trying to get her free he'd be risking his own life. The chances of saving both him and her were slim with the speed the water was going at. Or he could leave her here and stay alive. The downside to it was the heavy burden of her death on his shoulders. He knew if he were to do this he would be constantly telling himself that he could've done something to save her. But still...she didn't know. She didn't  how much he cared about her, she didn't know how much he loved her and she didn't know how much she meant to him. If he left her he won't know what to do with himself, he would have no means to go on.

Karkat continued to try to open the hole more. Still with all his effort the metal wouldn't budge. "I'm serious, you need to leave!" she pushed him away again. It hurt, it wasn't like a kick in the shin, it was a kick in the heart. "F-fuck," he studdered not knowing what to say or do. Karkat didn't want to argue with her on this. He just wanted to save her. "The water's coming, you have to go," Terezi said her voice lower in volume. The Vantas gulped. He had to make a decision. But before he could make in he felt another push, this time it had more force, and it had nearly knocked him over. He looked back at her only to a wave of water right behind her. Pupils growing wide he darted towards the exit. 

His heart was racing, his head hurt, his heart hurt, everything hurt. He kept running until he was out of the sewers and collapsed on a nearby sidewalk. His breathing was heavy and his throat was closing up. Face wet with tears, Karkat looked back to the tunnels. The water spilled out into the cement ditch filled with graffiti. There Karkat could see half of the mattress. The water must and the tear in it must have cut it in half. He felt the rain on his body and let out a shiver. "Oh, God..." Was the only words he could muster.

                                                           ~

Karkat awoke suddenly with tears streaming down his cheeks. He instantly sat up in bed. "Terezi?!" He frantically called her name. He had nothing to worry about though for she was sleeping next to him the whole time, untouched and safe. "Karkles? What are you going on about?" Terezi said groggily. "You woke me up..." She rubbed her tired, unseeing eyes. "Are you oka-" Terezi's words stopped spilling out of her mouth when she felt Karkat's arms wrap around her. Terezi heard him sniffle and she wrapped her arms around his waist. He was crying, she could smell the tears' saltiness on his gingerbread skin. She felt a lump in her throat and then asked him a question. "Another one?" Terezi put her face in the crook of his neck. She felt Karkat nod. He said that they were just stupid nightmares but she had always considered them as night terrors. He'd always say they weren't that bad but when he did have them he proved himself wrong when he'd wake up crying. They both sat like that for a while with no words said. She pressed her nose against his neck, but this time it wasn't an icicle, and she inhaled his cherry scent. Finally Terezi opened her mouth to speak. "Do you wanna go back to bed?" She asked and waited for a response. He paused before responding. "Y-yeah..." Karkat said still a little shaken up. He could still hear her telling him to leave. He shivered but she didn't question why. Terezi probably thought that he was cold. They both laid down and made themselves comfortable. 

"Do you wanna talk abo-"

"Fuck no."

She shrugged. He never liked to talk about his nightmares - or night terrors as she preferred - then why does she still ask? He actually never liked to talk about anything having to do with feelings or anything personal. Sighing, Terezi closed her eyes. Karkat spoke up though, this ausing her eyes to shoot open.

"Hey, Terezi?"

"Yeah?"

"I..."

Karkat fell quiet for a moment. Not knowing the reason why, Terezi felt as though Karkat was contemplating his choice of words.

"Thanks," 

Terezi let a smile pull on her lips. That was the first time he'd ever said anything like that. Admittedly, it felt a little off to know that he appreciated her. At times he acted like he just wanted to be alone and wanted nothing to do with her or anyone else. It made her happy to know that he was grateful to have her.

"You're welcome,"