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1- Don't dwell on things.
The void swallowed nearly every sound, lost in the wake miles or knots or lightyears long that trailed behind the meteor. Every one of Dave's senses were on high alert at any given moment to pick up on anything that might have otherwise been silenced. The scuff of a shoe, the whisper of blade against sheath, a disquieting laugh or growl or hiss of warning-
It was an exhausting way to live, but Dave knew no alternatives.
Vriska and Terezi had made it a point to sneak wherever they were, in some attempt at a game. Rose's steps were naturally light and catlike and she had a penchant for ghosting into rooms. Kanaya walked quickly and with a silent, thoughtful grace. The clown was erratic and eerily silent aside from his honking.
Dave wondered if there was a startle equivalent of a swear jar he should start, put in a boonbuck for every time he turned on his heel with his hands grasping for his sword before logic caught up and he stopped himself from pulling a weapon on his own sister.
In the distance, yelling. It bounced oddly through the high-ceilinged metal walls and carried into the room. Words formed eventually, a diatribe of no importance delivered righteous fire.
When Karkat walked in, Dave did not jump.
Dave, subconsciously perhaps, let his guard slip more and more as Karkat bumbled around, loud and obvious. It was only when Dave deviated from his normal schedule to ask Rose something in the common room in the middle of the night that it became apparent that Karkat announced his approach so far in advance for a particular reason.
Karkat stumbled to a sudden stop as his eyes met Dave's.
Dave didn't flinch at his sudden appearance.
2- Don't get caught up in fantasies.
The beginnings of a plan were formed. Reunite, fight, die, revive, win. Vriska talked a lot about things she knew nothing about, but Karkat could talk louder. He could barely help it, but at least his lack of volume control helped get his point across.
Halfway through the (useless, redundant, meandering) meeting, Karkat was interrupted. The sudden quiet after his rant was earsplitting. It took him a moment to realize it was Dave who cut him off, and in the time it took for Karkat to recover from his indignant shock, Dave kept talking. He didn't even seem to stop for a breath, just an endless tumble of words with no relevance to the conversation.
Karkat took a deep breath. Held it. Let it out in a huff that did nothing to deter Dave's ramble. He did, however, glance at Karkat, eyes hidden but gesturing hands subconsciously betraying his emotions.
He was nervous.
Karkat's mind raced. Was it the subject matter, the uncomfortable reminder of their inevitable battle they were racing towards? Karkat could relate. The thought was followed by an unwelcome pang of pity; he imagined walking across the common room, talking about anything else with Dave, maybe watching a movie together-
Karkat clenched his fists and fired back with a barrage of swears. Dave listened with barely an upturned quirk of his lips. Karkat let his rage- just his rage, he told himself- carry him, stomping and tearing, from the room.
That's one way to end a meeting.
3- Play it cool.
Can Town was a refuge from his own thoughts. He never had much experience playing pretend as a child, but Dave imagined it didn't hold a candle to hanging out with his best friend and best living being on the meteor, expanding their gleaming tin empire upwards and outwards through the large room. The day to day life and expansion of Can Town was handled with seriousness and care.
The best friend and the best being both meaning The Mayor, of course. Karkat was…
Karkat was there. He sat, carefully positioned between lines of chalk so he wouldn't smudge them. Dave was close by, hovering slightly above the concrete floor.
And maybe Karkat was also his best friend. People can have two best friends. He's gotten to know Karkat pretty well, they were bros at least. Pals. Comrades. Amigos. Karkat was a confidant, a fixture in Dave's life. Friends. Maybe a friend he wanted to cuddle with but that's fine and normal, toxic masculinity died with Earth. Kissing maybe also wasn't out of the question, but Dave couldn't figure out how to bring up kissing Karkat in a totally no homo bro way.
Karkat glanced at Dave, an unreadable expression on his face. Dave realized he had been staring silently for a minute. Thank the irony gods that his shades were completely opaque. He could have been staring anywhere, definitely not thinking about Karkat in any terms other than strictly platonic friendship.
Dave accidentally knocked over a wall of cans and The Mayor chattered at him animatedly. He was too distracted to feel chastened.
4- Be realistic.
Realistically, Karkat was a fucking dumbass. Dave could never be interested in him. So he went out of his way to involve and talk to and hang out with Karkat. There were limited options and Karkat highly doubted Dave would seek the company of either pair of know-it-alls or the deranged clown. So maybe he said some things that were pretty transparently flirtatious, Dave said so much bullshit on a daily basis that he was sure to hit flirty at some point. The fact that he got so flustered afterwards had to mean it was accidental.
So maybe Dave fell asleep on him a few times, and maybe some of those times were intentional, and maybe he was getting progressively more and more physical like a cold meowbeast trying to leech his body heat. That's just something friends do.
Friends cuddle and spend hours talking and write songs and embarrassing slam poetry for each other. Friends talk about sharing a hive together, crack jokes about domestic bliss that become long conversations, all the while sitting cocooned in blankets.
Fuck.
5- Be happy with what you have.
Dave was not used to caring.
No, Dave wasn't used to people knowing he cared.
But Karkat looked at him, an open book of emotion, and Dave knew that his pages were turning too.
He had years of oppression, more of denial, and so few of a confusing, reluctant acceptance that still felt raw and terrifying. He had feelings, undeniably. He had somewhere to belong and someone he could finally be entirely comfortable with.
He had… no idea what to do next.
The world they found themselves in was odd and overwhelming and different. Dave hardly had a home to compare too, but the skyline outside the window was alien and the building they lived in was far nicer than anything he grew up around.
Most jarringly at first, he lived without fear. No fear of surprise attacks, no fear of an uncertain future. The comfort he felt in living and feeling openly became normal.
He had Karkat. Reliable, passionate, infuriating, beautiful Karkat.
Maybe he didn't need to do anything next. He would exist, and exist comfortably.
With Karkat at his side, he realized, not for the first or last time, that he was truly happy.