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Karkat found himself being nudged awake in the dark, his face pressed against the smooth wood of a table and drool forming a puddle under his mouth.
“Karkat, wake up you fucking log,” Dave whispered, sounding a bit groggy. “We fell asleep in the library and I think Rose locked us in.”
“She fucking did not,” Karkat said in disbelief, sitting up quickly and squinting into the darkness. He could barely make out the shelves around him; there were no windows in the library, no moonlight to illuminate the building. Even with eyes suited to darkness, Karkat still couldn't see past the shelves. “This doesn't happen, what the everloving fuck. Did you try the doors?”
“No, I just went ahead and assumed that the doors were locked without testing them first,” Dave said sarcastically.
“I don't need your fucking sass, Strider,” Karkat fired back.
“Where would you be without my sass? Do you really think your campaign would have stood without my signature snark as the backbone of your platform? My sass was essential to your rise to power.”
Karkat glared. “You helped me write one speech, Dave.”
“And it was the best goddamn speech you ever gave.”
Rolling his eyes, Karkat put his face in his hands, elbows resting on the table as he groaned into his palms. “Shit, I have a speech to give tomorrow. Why the fuck did I even decide to be an elected official? The Mayor was doing a perfect job of not fucking everything up, he could have been the leader forever. How am I supposed to give a fucking speech in the morning when I'm going to spend my night trapped in a library?”
“Kar, you and I both know you're going to kick that speech's ass. You're a great public speaker, people look up to you. And at least you're stuck in here with me,” said Dave as he threw his arm around Karkat's shoulders. “Also don't worry about sleeping arrangements, there are couches in here so you won't need to be snoring at the table anymore. Think of it like a sleepover.”
“Aren't we a little old for sleepovers?” Karkat said with a dubious look.
“No,” Dave scoffed. “You can never be too old for sleepovers.”
Karkat rolled his eyes again. “Look, just message Rose so she or Kanaya can come and get us out,” he said. “There is absolutely no fucking way that I'm sleeping in a library the night before I talk in front of hundreds of beings.”
Dave gave Karkat a sheepish look. “I, uh... I didn't charge my phone. It's completely dead,” he said, pulling it out and displaying the black screen. Karkat let his head fall to the table with a thunk.
“This fucking sucks,” he said.
“To be fair, there's nobody I'd rather spend my night locked in a library with than my husband,” Dave said. Karkat's blood-pusher did a flip, as it always did when Dave called him his husband. Even after sweeps, he was still so in awe of the fact that Dave had chosen him, had asked to spend his life with him. He looked up, his expression softer.
“Alright, yeah, this could be worse,” he conceded. Dave grinned, then pulled Karkat's hand until he was standing. The two walked hand-in-hand to the reading area, plush couches set in a square surrounded by shelves. The area was dark, and Karkat ended up leading Dave to one of the sofas before he could trip, his eyes now fully adjusted to the darkness. Dave couldn't see a thing, and he held onto Karkat's hand tightly, even as they both sat.
“I swear I'm going to add windows to this shitty tin can as soon as possible. I will saw through the metal myself if I have to. Or at the very least I'm forcing Rose to install some fucking nightlights or something, this shit is ridiculous,” Dave grumbled, leaning back on the couch. The pout on his face made him look like a petulant child, and Karkat snorted.
“It's not Rose's fault we're stuck here. If anything, it's mine. I was the asshole who insisted we go to the library so late in the evening,” Karkat said, leaning his head on Dave's shoulder.
“I'm not blaming anyone for this,” Dave said. “I'm just saying though, Lalonde should have planned for this sorta thing.”
“Yeah, because so many dumbasses get stuck in a library overnight,” Karkat said.
“Oh fuck, we are dumbasses, aren't we?” Dave said.
“Yep,” Karkat said. “Complete imbeciles who somehow both managed to fall asleep in a public place, and who managed to stay asleep long after every normal person went the fuck home.”
Dave laughed, and Karkat could feel it reverberate through Dave's chest. “At least we're dumbasses together.”
“I wouldn't have it any other way.”
A quiet moment passed before Dave wrapped his arms around Karkat, pulling him close to his chest as he laid down so Karkat was on top of him, almost face-to-face. Dave still couldn't see in the darkness, but Karkat witnessed the blush creep up Dave's face.
“Is this comfortable?” he asked quietly. Karkat rested his head on Dave's chest and listened to his heart beat, just a bit quicker than normal.
“This is perfect,” Karkat said. Dave's hands rubbed circles into Karkat's back and he sighed contentedly. The tiredness he carried through the day caught up with him again, and his eyes slipped closed, his breathing steadying at the same rate as Dave's as they both fell asleep.
Of course, Rose wasn't happy to see Dave and Karkat snoring in her library when she opened the next morning.
“This is an undignified way to find my brother and his elected official husband,” she said loudly, startling both men into waking up. They looked around with confused expressions before Rose cleared her throat.
“Care to explain the circumstances that led to you two sleeping in a public library overnight?” she asked, her raised eyebrows and annoyed tone making both Dave and Karkat feel like they were in trouble.
“We fell asleep,” Dave said, rubbing his eyes and letting Karkat scoot away before sitting up.
“Clearly,” Rose said dryly.
“We both ended up falling asleep at a table, and I guess nobody found us and you ended up closing,” Karkat explained, still muddled from sleep.
Rose stared at them both before bursting into laughter. It was Dave's turn to raise an eyebrow as Rose shook her head.
“Go home you two. Karkat, if I remember correctly you have an address to make this afternoon,” she said, still giggling a bit. “Frankly, you both look awful. Go get ready. From here on out, no more sleeping in the library, okay?”
“Look at that Karkat, we're the reason for a brand new rule,” Dave said, standing and stretching.
“I'm so glad our idiocy won't be repeated,” Karkat muttered as he followed Dave through the library, Rose watching them go with a shake of her head and a small smile.