Sollux had called in to work the following morning to let his boss know that he wasn't going to be going into work that day, promising to make up the hours that he was going to miss. Granted, it had been a bit more complicated than that, but what mattered was that the blond had managed to get the day off just to spend time with me. I couldn't help but feel guilty since he had done it for me, but he assured me that it was alright, that there were plenty of people going into work that day. "My pre'thenth'e wouldn't be mith'ed too much," he had told me when I said anything about it.

So the start of our day began. Neither of us wanted to really get up from his bed, but hunger was a thing that we needed to sate, so, relunctantly, we got up and out of bed. Sollux got dressed in a black 'n' yellow striped long sleeved shirt and blue jeans as I stole his large, black sweater and threw it on over my small frame, noticing how it engulfed my frail frame, the sleeves three inches longer than it should be and the bottom hem nearly reached my knees. I didn't bother grabbing pants. Unless we were going to go out, I wasn't going to bother. My plan was simply to relax with Sollux, after all.

Due to my continuing trouble with the stairs, Sollux took my hand and helped me down the stairs, not minding my slow pace at all. Once we were down the stairs and in the living room, we went rummaging through the kitchen for something to eat. All we found that didn't require us to actually cook was a box of sausage, egg 'n' biscuits that required a few minutes in the microwave and some fruit. We went for the microwavable food over the fruit, popping in the biscuits one at a time. Once we ate, we went into the living room and turned on the television, mindlessly watching That 70's Show, not really focusing on it.

I snuggled up against Sollux on the couch, my head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around my sweater clad body, the both of us relaxing with a full belly to each of us. The day wasn't unbearably hot, but rather, it was felt comfortable enough that I actually felt nice and cozy in Solluz's sweater. The thought of a long walk had crossed my mind, but I dismissed it due to the looming thunder clouds. I didn't want the two of us to be on a walk and rain suddenly come pouring down.

So we chose to relax on the couch together, thinking of what the two of us could do with our day together. We tossed ideas back and forth, going from card games to board games, so far. I was about to suggest drinking and maybe playing a video game, but I heard my phone go off before I could get two words out of my mouth. Frowning some to myself, I grabbed my phone from beside me. The name displayed both relieved and irritated me.

Answering, I grumbled out, "Yes, Kankri?" I was quick to pull the phone from my ear to avoid the usual sermon he gave me when I actually picked up the phone. Even though I was holding the phone an arm's length away, I could still hear his gog awful preaching about how I never called or normally answered my phone and about how I put him in a constant of worry over me because of how little I talked to him. He did this every fucking time he called during his college years, or to be more accurate, since he moved out of our childhood home. He stopped when I had moved in with him for my own college years (best four years of my gog damn life, I swear). This was the first time he had called me since I moved in with Sollux.

The sound of his voice was welcome, but damn it, did he have a fucking mute button? If he did, I had yet to find it, and I highly doubted that I ever would find it.

After a moment of hearing him bitch and moan (as I occassionally called it), I returned the phone to my ear and growled out, "Okay, okay, I get it. You're my big brother and you worry too damn much, so you flip your shit when I don't answer my phone or bother to answer any text message you send me, blah, blah, fuckity blah. Can you shut your mouth now and explain the exact reason why you called me? And don't give me that, 'As your older brother, I have the right to use the priviledges that come with that title,' bullshit. You never call unless you want something from me. And even then, it always involves awkward social encounters with your uber crush because you insist on dragging me out of the house." I took a calming breath before continuing. "So what do you want?"

There was a brief moment of silence on the other end of the line before I heard Kankri sigh. I had called him out on his bullshit and he knew it. He then said, "I wanted to take some time to come out there and visit you. I have today and tomorrow off." I looked at Sollux, knowing that he could hear what was being said over the phone.

Sollux whispered, "You th'hould let him, KK. Th'inth'e you had the nightmare again, it might do you th'ome good."

"Pardon?" Kankri exclaimed through the phone. Sollux and I both cursed. My brother had heard him. Fffff-… "Karkat, you had the nightmare again and you didn't say anything about it?!"

Shooting my housemate an agitated glare, I answered, "Yes, you bulge shaper, I did. I wasn't going to bring it up because I fucking hate it when you start to baby me. I'm not thirteen anymore, okay?"

"No, you're twenty three years old," Kankri acknowledged, "but you are still my litle brother. It's been ten years, Karkat. That event obviously has triggered you to the point of post traumatic stress disorder!"

My eye twitched. "I'm not some war veteran, Kankri," I ground out. I forced myself to take a deep breath. "You want to come over? Fine. But you are bringing food. Got it? And we are not going out anywhere. I'm not wearing pants, and I'm not going up the stairs to grab a pair just to out. I'm too comfortable, damn it." After that, we talked for a few more minutes. I hung up before too long and sighed heavily, sprawling myself out along my blond housemate. Red eyes closed, I grumbled out, "We have three hours. What do you want in terms of food?"

"You were th'eriou'th about that?" Sollux asked me with some amusement. I felt his fingers go through my hair and a soft trill of a purr escaped me. "What reth'taurant?"

"Burger King."

"A Whopper with a large onion rings and a large Mountain Dew or Mello Yellow."

Nodding some, I cracked open my eyes and lifted my phone above my face, texting out the order to my brother.

KARKAT: SOLLUX WANTS A WHOPPER, LARGE ONION RINGS, AND EITHER A MOUNTAIN DEW OR MELLO YELLOW, WHICH EVER BURGER KING HAS.

Kankri: And what a69ut y9u?

KARKAT: TWO TEN PIECE CHICKEN NUGGETS. EACH ONE IS LESS THAN TWO BUCKS. NO SAUCE. LARGE FRIES… AND ARE YOU GOING TO GO IN AND ORDER OR GO THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU?

Kankri: I plan 9n g9ing thr9ugh the drive thru. Why?

KARKAT: I WAS WANTING A SUICIDE DRINK, BUT SINCE YOU'RE GOING THROUGH THE DRIVE THRU, I WANT A COKE.

Kankri: I d9n't mind g9ing in, y9u kn9w. I've 6een meaning t9 try a 'suicide' drink, as y9u call it.

KARKAT: FOUR SECONDS COKE, FOUR SECONDS SPRITE, FOUR SECONDS DR. PEPPER, THEN ONE SECOND TO EACH UNTIL THE CUP IS FULL. THANKS.

Kankri: N9 pr96lem. I'll make tw9 9f them, 9ne f9r y9u and 9ne f9r me.

I looked at the messages once more and nodded some to myself. I felt content with the choices made in terms of food and drink, so I put my phone away and closed my eyes again, relaxing in Sollux's lap. "Food has been ordered… Should we set up some board games to play?"

"What do you have in mind?"