[Dave makes a small noise when he'd held, but even as he does, he unfolds his arms, holds onto Karkat's with faintly trembling hands. Not to remove them. Just to hold on.]

You don't even know what he was like, you're just saying stuff.

[But the hug is working. Dave's still upset, but his voice has dropped back to normal mumbling volume. He doesn't unfurl any further, but he loosens, leans into Karkat. The face in his shoulder is grounding, the arms around him are safety. They're the reminder of Karkat's promise. We'll help each other. Even if the whole world gets yanked out from under him, Karkat's already, already there to catch him.

There is no situation, apparently, in which Dave won't melt at a caring touch.

Karkat cares. Karkat cares. Karkat cares. Dave's throat feels cloggy and he thinks he might be shaking again, a little, but he turns his head and breathes in, finds the air. He tries to pull back from that rooftop under the sun like a skipping disc, stuttering in and out of time.]

I-I guess he wouldn't have eaten me. Or anybody else's parents. Unless, I don't know, it was ironic somehow. I'm being facetious. That's not a thing humans do.