Archive of Our Own ^beta

The dull chatter coming from the “Dream SMP News” channel on the TV turned into white noise as Quackity started to feel a familiar sharp pain in the roof of his mouth where his teeth used to be. His first thought was to find Karl, until he remembered that the boy was most likely busy running errands or keeping up with his duties at Party Park.

Quackity felt a tinge of embarrassment when he realized that his initial reaction to his facial scar bleeding was to ask Karl for help. He felt deflated.

If I can’t dress my wounds by myself, how am I supposed to fend for myself in future battles against the enemy? How am I going to defend my country?

Built up by annoyance and anger, Quackity peeled himself from the leather sofa, his arms and legs sticking to the furniture after almost an hour of sitting and staring blankly at the television screen, pondering his plans for the next time he is tasked to face Technoblade again.

Techno, that bastard. He’s the one who caused shit to go haywire in the SMP. He spawned the withers, blew up L’manberg with the aid of Wilbur, and slashed me in the face with his pick axe in our 1v1.

Quackity made his way to the bathroom that connected to his bedroom in Karl’s basement and cringed as the familiar metallic taste of blood coated his tongue.

Fuck.

It had been three weeks since Techno gave him the scar that ran from the bottom of his right eye down to his chin, and his bleeding hasn’t been as copious as it was the first week he got the scar. Defiantly, red liquid was spilling onto the floor of the hallway as his mouth was quickly overflowing with blood. He made it to the bathroom and instantly reached in front of him to open the cabinet behind the mirror, his mind set on grabbing gauze to obviate the bleeding. Tears started clouding his vision as the pain grew more intense from bleeding out profusely. The tears impaired his vision and he couldn’t see what was in front of him. Anxiety was building up in his chest as he started heaving, scared that he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t know what to do.

His body hunched over as he started coughing out clots of blood into the sink standing in front of him. Blood coated the walls of his mouth and throat and he couldn’t focus on anything but the stagnant pain and metallic tang. Broken sobs echoed through the bathroom as he struggled to breathe. The anxiety took control of his body as he collapsed on the floor, his beanie sliding off as he grasped at his hair searching for some kind of comfort-

The bathroom door flung open as Karl stepped in and his gaze landed on the trembling boy sprawled on the floor in front of him.

“Oh god, Alex.”

Karl immediately pulled Quackity up onto the toilet seat and reached for a washcloth and some gauze to stop the bleeding. He got to work right away by soaking up the mass of blood with the washcloth, then he placed the gauze between Quackity’s gums and lips to counteract the bleeding. Quackity’s breathing started to stabilize as Karl slid his fingertips along the bandages that covered his face and decided that he needed to change those as well. He heard Quackity wince and let out a quiet sob as he peeled the layers of yellow bandages off his skin.

“It’s gonna be over soon, okay?” Karl told him reassuringly and Quackity nodded. “Do you want the yellow again or can I choose a different colour this time?”

Quackity’s shifted his arms to cross in front of his chest, sniffled and mumbled a shaky “..do what you want.”

Karl smiled softly at him and picked up the bandages he bought from the store before he had come home and started carefully wrapping his best friend’s face in the purple starred covering. The air was thick with silence, but the kind of needed silence. The kind of comforting silence, where nothing had to be spoken for them to understand each other.

“I’m sorry”, Quackity broke that silence once Karl finished replacing his red tainted bandages. He was upset that he ended up in such a hopeless position, and that Karl had to see him like that.

“Sorry for what?” Karl’s nose scrunched in confusion at his friend’s out of the blue apology.

“I’m sorry that happened, you shouldn’t have to be there for me every time some stupid minor inconvenience happens to me.” Quackity’s head turned away, avoiding eye contact with his concerned friend.

Karl was shocked by Quackity’s confession. “How could you say that? Alex, I care about you more than you know and I will always be right here whenever you need me. I’ll be here even when you don’t need me. Your health and happiness is so important to me. Please, never hesitate to ask me for help. I know you may think otherwise, but asking for help is okay and I would never deny that to you.”

Quackity sat, blankly staring at Karl as he took in what he said. Tears pricked at his eyes as his pained grimace turned into a small smile, and he instantly jumped on the other boy to wrap him in a hug. They sat there in each other’s arms for what felt like hours, taking in each other’s warmth. Karl rubbed circles into Quackity’s back to help comfort him in this vulnerable state. A small “Thank you” was heard from Quackity as he wiped his eyes on the hood of Karl’s multicoloured sweater. Quackity always admired Karl’s fascination with colourful things even if it wasn’t exactly his thing.

“Let’s head to bed, okay?”

Quackity sniffled and pulled away from the embrace, nodding.

Wordlessly, Quackity made his way to his bed outside of the bathroom and Karl started walking up the stairs to go to his bedroom.

“Karl?”

Karl stopped his trek upstairs and answered his best friend, “Yes Alex?”

“I love you, and thank you for helping me.”

“I love you too Alex.”

And with that, Karl made his way back up to his bed and Quackity nodded off to sleep.