Thunderstorm [Human!Karkat x Reader]

==> Be the scared male.

Thunder clapped outside and you flinched, glaring at the glass sliding door to your balcony. The drapes were wide open, framing the glass nicely in its red beauty. You would have taken a moment to admire your wise choice in drapery (though you had help from your best friend), but you were more focused on the situation at hand. Or rather, the emotion.

It was that of fear.

You typically refused to let your fear show through, the defencelessness it held with it was humiliating, but this was an exception. A very good one, at that, you had to admit.

A storm was raging outside and the curtains were wide open, fully displaying the hell that was the outdoors.

The angry, dark gray clouds outside were distorted, brooding as they dumped sheets of rain down on the city you lived in. Thankfully you didn't have anything on your balcony; otherwise, it would surely be ruined.

[f/n], your best friend, had somehow convinced you to move closer to her recently, insisting that you live in the same apartment because of you could split rent. Of course, genius you denied it and got your own (you'd claimed that independence was great, no matter how nice her offers were), and you desperately regretted that decision now that this monstrous storm had rolled on in and taken its place.

She warned you that it may happen, fuckass, but you didn't want to listen.

Having her right now would be great... [f/n] could calm you down pretty easily.

Word from your buddies, was that the thunderstorm was going to be sticking around for awhile, and that meant flooding, that was for sure.

Thankfully your apartment was pretty high up, but still, you couldn't help but worry. About your stupid friends; Lisp King the hacker, or that stupid clown, or even the blind girl. And the artist, she who could make a coffee stain on paper into something beautiful.

You found a blush rising on your cheeks and you tried to divert your thoughts. Looking up at your ceiling painted by said girl didn't help though. It was black twisted branches, warped around a focal point (that would be the ceiling fan, whose blades were also tastefully painted might you add) on an orange background. Towards the edges, it faded into red, which reached about a third down the wall, then faded into black.

Honestly, you had no idea why [f/n] insisted upon it, or why the manager allowed it. She came in, moving all of your shit around just after you had settled in, to paint almost every room in the place.

Hey, at least you weren't thinking about... the storm outside...

Good going, assmunch, now you're thinking about it again.

Shaking your head, you ran a hand through your scruffly black hair and continued glaring at the door. You grumbled and whined as thunder rolled and lightening struck through the sky. A chill rippled down your spine as you simply watched the glass panel, hoping to god that it wouldn't shatter from something blowing by in the gales.

You could see leaves and various little things fly by once in awhile, a few palm tree fronds here and there. It was fucking madness. You questioned why you didn't leave the city when you finished high school. Your dad surely would have let you go; you could have even gotten emancipated if you had really wanted to.

You were incredibly reluctant to get up, you really didn't want to. Your Nightmare Before Christmas blanket was very cosy, and even coming remotely close to the glass door was enough to make you shake. Hell, even being across the room from it frightened you; storms were not your thing, by far. Hearing, let alone seeing, them made you rigid and unable to sleep at night.

There was this constant fear in you, and you didn't even know where it came from. It had established itself in you years ago, far before you can even really remember.

Suddenly, you looked to the remote on the coffee table. You snatched it up and quickly turned on the device that sat across the room with a decent stack of romcoms askew beside it. You flicked through the channels and tried to ignore the nagging chance of the power going out, trying to keep your eyes from venturing back to that damn door...

"Karkat!" came a voice from the opposite side of your front door. You jumped and felt your face heat out of embarrassment. It was just [f/n]. Man, this storm was making you pretty frazzled for you to jump because of her.

With a sigh, you jeered at the door. "What?"

==> Be the soaked artist girl.

Your name is [f/n] [l/n], and you're currently standing outside of your best friend's apartment. He hadn't been answering the phone, and you had no choice but to walk over to his place to see if he hadn't died from a heart attack in this nasty storm. Much to your inconvenience, you lived in a different apartment complex.

At least you guys were within walking distance, though.

A cigarette, nearly completely burnt up, hung from your lips. You only really smoked when you were stressed, and this was one of those cases. The entire week was, actually. But the storm added to it. You had a deadline for an acrylic you were working on, and it was coming up soon. Unfortunately, you loved to procrastinate, and an opportunity for some extra dough was at risk. It was something you definitely needed.

You had a job. It didn't really pay much, so you took advantage of your art skill for extra money. You were a bartender at a local night club, and occasionally backed up for the stage crew, moving things on and off stage for various performers that would come through.

That was actually how you met Karkat.

You rapped on the door before you, flicking the cigarette to one side. "Karkat!" you called, hunching slightly. You were chilled to the fucking bone, and it would be a surprise if you didn't catch a cold from this. Even stepping outside for a cigarette was a risk in this brisk weather.

A hoarse 'what' came from the other side. You took that as initiative to find the spare key in the awning above, after a bit of a struggle and some jumping. You bet you really looked like an idiot, jumping around to get who knows what, clad in a [f/c] soaked, off-one-shoulder sweater, black skinny jeans, and suede boots.

Oh yes, you were classy, so very classy. Sweaters in the rain. You had left in a rush, though, so who could blame you?

Finally, you got the key and jammed it into the lock, quickly shuffling into the toasty apartment with a disgruntled sigh.

"What's with the intrusion, [l/n]?" Karkat snapped from the livingroom – you craned your neck around the wall that partly cut off your vision into the other room. You gave a somewhat concerned look as you slipped off your boots and disgustingly soaked socks and placed the key next to the ring of keys on a table.

"Well, you weren't answering your phone. I was just being a concerned friend." you explained lightly, wishing you cold peel out of the cold sweater you wore. "I know how you can get with storms, Karkat."

You heard a grunt and saw something thrown miserably towards you – what even was that?

"Fuck off, I'm fine."

You strode into view of the raven and glared, crossing your arms over your chest – you cringed for a moment. Yay, even more cold water. You couldn't help but wonder if you were dripping, considering the ridiculous look Karkat was giving you. "I just walked a block in the rain, man." you sniffed, firmly standing your ground as you pointed out the sliding glass door at the sheets of rain that poured in the city and blanketed it in gray.

"Are you crazy? You know you could easily get fucking sick out there, [f/n]." he snapped, throwing his blanket aside. He stood and walked over to you, yanking the curtains shut on his way – there went that fear of his – he took you by the arm and spun you.

"I guess I am." you muttered as you were urged forward lightly, shrugging. He'd almost immediately lost that fearful look as he walked over and ushered you down the small hall to his room. You sat down on the edge of the unmade bed, waiting as Karkat pushed through his dresser and picked through the discarded clothes on the floor.

"You know I can fit any of your clothes, KK." you muttered. You two were about the same height, which he kind of seemed thankful about. Seriously every one of you friends were taller than you and him, and it was kind of unnerving. But you guys were short buddies, even if you weren't all that short in reality (your friends, though, were simply giants).

Once, you got bored and stole some of his clothes, and dressed like him for a day. It was after one of your guys' cinema nights where you ended up crashing with him for the remainder of the night, so you were already right there. He raged at you for it and turned into a yelling, blushing mess when he saw you at work the following evening.

A lot of your co-workers questioned your choice in attire – skinny jeans (that slid halfway down your ass because you neglected to grab a belt) and black shirt that had 'STAGE' across the back that was just a little bit too big, with a beanie pulled over the top of your messy, but cute, [h/c] locks. Some of the guys with security at the night club identified right away and actually had to point it out to Karkat when he arrived. That was certainly amusing.

You smiled as you reminisced on the memories, snapping out of it when a pair of jeans and a t shirt were thrown onto your head. You grumbled and pulled the articles off of yourself, glaring up at your friend for a moment, before rising.

"Thanks, Karkat. You know I love you."

The raven ran a hand through his hair and grumbled, blushing slightly and rolling his eyes as you walked off to the bathroom. "Love you too." he grumbled, barely audible. "If only you knew."

As quickly as you could, trying to avoid falling on your rear, you peeled out of your damp clothes and shuddered at how cold it was. Without thinking about it, you snatched up a towel from the floor and briefly dried yourself off, before dressing in the given clothes. After hanging up the damp ones, you walked back to Karkat's room, to find it empty.

Making a face, you returned to the living room, to see Karkat huddled up on the couch again. You could just catch the smell of coffee, and guessed he started a pot of it considering how chilly it was.

"You... want me to handle the coffee making?" you raised your eyebrows. "Since I kind of invaded your space and took your clothes... again... I figure I can be of at least some assistance." He was your best friend, and you could count more than one occasion when he had done the same to you, and he made up for it by helping you, whether it be mixing acrylic with medium, or putting away dishes.

Besides, you made a wicked cup of coffee, and every one of your friends knew that well.

Just as he stood, Karkat looked to you. "If you want to, sure. My coffee usually turns out like shit anyway." he said, walking to his Xbox. He turned it on, and looked to you once more, as you made a face.

"Don't be ridiculous." you sighed, walking to the coffee maker. You flipped the top open and dumped two more scoops of dark roast into it, then flipped it back shut. "You just need practice at it, although there isn't much to putting grounds into this thing with water."

"Compared to yours, mine is complete shit, and you know it. Hell, you just fixed what I started!"

"Oh bother, " you laughed, giving a lopsided smile to the upset boy across the room from you. "mine used to be so sucky, it was painful. But I improved, and it's good now. That's more or less because I run on coffee. It's what I do, and now I'm trying to help you out. No need to get worked up."

Thunder roared outside, louder than it had all day, and you noticed Karkat flinch. The lightning's flash barely got past the curtains, but it was still noticeable. Keeping up the slight smile, you walked over and hugged him tightly around the waist, swaying back and forth slightly.

For a moment, he didn't respond. His eyes were wide, but he soon reciprocated and wrapped his arms around you, pressing his hands flat against your shoulder blades. You rested your head on his shoulder for a little bit, breathing, "You need to calm down, Kitty." A grin twitched at the corners of your lips at the groan of protest at the nickname. "Get to whatever you were doing, and I'll make coffee and bring it over. How about that?"

"Sure, but can you not call me that?" he snapped, tone raising as thunder bellowed outside yet again. His arms tightened around you and a giggle bubbled out of you. You could just see a flicker of light from the lightning, flashing across the sky.

You pouted, then your lips curled into a smile again as you pulled away from the embrace. "I don't get why you're so sensitive about it..." you trailed off with a shrug, turning to the still-brewing pot of coffee. It would be done in a bit, but you might as well see what Karkat has around to put into coffee.

Said boy snorted and returned to what he was doing before. He picked up an Xbox controller and flicked it over to the Netflix app. Hopefully the wifi wouldn't go out on you guys.

"Hey, [f/n], what's your Netflix password again?" he asked without looking back at you.

You pursed your lips and spelled out your password slow enough for him to enter it with the controller. You were a bit reluctant to do so, but still did it nonetheless. You would have to change it as soon as you got home, though.

After that, as you shoved through the scarce amount of things in the cabinets, pantry, and fridge, you heard Karkat grumbling about the various romance movies that he had or hadn't seen on the list of ones Netflix had. You rolled your eyes and proceeded to gather a few sweet things from the fridge; chocolate syrup, milk, and hazelnut coffee creamer.

You knew Karkat had a surprising sweet tooth, so you put milk and a lot – and I mean a lot – of chocolate syrup into a mug with his coffee and stirred it in. You moved on to yours and, after some contemplation, did the same with it. Then you walked into the living room and placed one of the mugs down for your friend, before taking a seat on the couch.

Eyeing the Nightmare Before Christmas blanket, you slowly grabbed it. He was too preoccupied with finding a movie, that he didn't notice. As you threw the blanket over your lap, pulling your legs up, you watched him.

He made faces at the screen, and his piercings moved with each one he made. He mouthed things and paused to push up the sleeves of his long sleeve thermal, to just below the elbow. That revealed the tattoos – they were incomplete sleeves, just past the mid forearm with various things. He had a somewhat new one, the only one straying down to his wrist, that was no longer puffy and red.

It was kind of a softie thing, but it was a thorned vine, extending down from a red rose higher up on his forearm. You didn't need any confirmation for it, but it's how you really knew he was a true sap for things like that. It gave you an idea for a gift for the upcoming holiday, or maybe his birthday.

"Are you alright with The– hey! Blanket thief." he called you out, to which you stuck your tongue out at him. "I'll bite that next time you put it out there." Karkat stuck out his own tongue and pointed at it, glaring down at you.

"Is that a threat?" you asked, faking fear as you sipped your coffee happily. You flashed a smirk over the rim of your mug.

"Maybe it is." was his retort as he turned away, to look back at the screen with what seemed like a twitch of a smile. "Anyway, are you okay with watching The Proposal?" Again, he looked back at you. You gave a dorky smile at his cinema of choice and nodded, shifting as he pressed play and walked back to the couch.

You lifted the corner of the blanket and shot him a hopeful look as he sat down next to you and picked up his cup of coffee. He briefly smelled it, then took a drink, before placing it back on the table as he scooted closer to you.

Much to your surprise, he pulled you even closer and picked up his mug again, settling beneath the blanket, with your legs across his lap. You rested your head on his shoulder as the introduction began to roll.

A few minutes into the cinematic, thunder bellowed yet again, moving closer, and lightening flashed very soon after. Karkat visibly flinched again and you gave a sympathetic smile. "Don't be such a baby, Karkat." you sighed. Before he could retort, you leaned up and kissed his cheek, your smile widening because of your nervousness.

He resembled a fish out of water for a moment, opening and closing his mouth as he looked at you in disbelief, flustered. A red tint came to his cheeks, and you simply smiled and put your finger under his chin. With a small push up, his mouth shut and you, too, flushed. You kissed his cheek again, feeling the heat on both of your cheeks increase, before resting your head on his shoulder.

An arm snaked around you and held you close, as the cinematic began.

Relaxation found you for the first time in at least a week, and you had to admit... it was very nice.