"What the fuck is Valentines Day?" John jumped a mile, turning to find annoyed red eyes watching him. It always struck him as funny that Karkat and Dave shared an eye color now.
"What? Why?" Karkat rolled his eyes, leaning backwards against the wall and huffing.
"Lalonde mentioned it as an Earth holiday. She seemed to think I should get you red flowers and chocolates, or something. And Strider keeps saying that I should find mistletoe. So, I'll repeat: what the fuck is this Valentines Day, and what does it have to do with various plants and candy?" John stared at him for a moment, not really comprehending.
"They said you should do… those things? Why would-" A hand covered his mouth, claws barely scratching his cheek.
"Look, just tell me, or I'll go find Jade." He was abruptly struck by how much he did not want his sister to hear this conversation.
"Erm… it's a holiday dedicated to love, I guess. Couples exchange gifts and stuff. Flowers and candy are popular cause it's mostly for girls… Mistletoe isn't involved, that's a Christmas thing where you kiss underneath it. Why did they tell you that?" Karkat, whose eyes had grown steadily wider as he spoke, blinked and coughed a bit awkwardly.
"Well…" He floundered for a second, biting his lip, before seeming to draw up his courage and speaking again.
"I may have developed red feeling for you, and asked for advice in human romance. How you made one quadrant so fucking complicated, I'll never know." John stared at him, finally blurting out,
"But I'm not a homosexual!" Karkat rolled his eyes.
"I still don't get that, but I know, alright? I wanted to get it off my chest, I wasn't expecting anything involving success." John opened his mouth to speak, but Karkat waved a hand to ward off his words.
"Look, just forget it, alright? I'm just gonna leave now, go keep Gamzee from killing Strider. See ya." He walked back out of the room, shoulders straight and proud. You'd never know he had just been rejected.
John sat down, hard, onto the floor, rubbing his eyes under his glasses and staring at nothing.
Karkat still liked him? Or, he stopped hating him and now liked him? He wasn't sure how the quadrants worked yet, but was fairly sure that 'like' and the hate he'd proposed with during the game were in separate quadrants.
Not the point! Karkat liked him, as in more than just friends or pal honchos. He wanted to do couple-y things like romantic walks and dinner and sloppy makeouts and-
Okay, he was having trouble getting his head past that last thought.
But he was straight, wasn't he? John didn't feel any different than he had before, and he'd always been straight, right? He certainly had a major crush on Liv Taylor, and she was no man.
Besides, he was supposed to marry Rose! Not that he'd ever felt anything but friendship for her, but… well, it mattered, didn't it?
Wait… Rose liked one of the other trolls… Kanaya? He was fairly sure that was right.
He liked Vriska, though! But he didn't think that was romantic, either. She didn't seem interested in much beyond friendship, despite what Dave and Karkat had both told him was flirting.
Karkat had also said to be careful, as Vriska was unstable at best, and not great at pity emotions. He'd said it quietly, glancing at Kanaya and Tavros as he spoke. John was fairly sure he didn't want to know.
Why would Karkat tell him, anyway? He even said he didn't expect it to change anything, so what was the point?
He was so busy puzzling over this he missed when Dave entered the room. Dave seemed to have missed him as well, as he nearly tripped over his extended legs.
"Jeez, what the- John? Dude, sitting on the floor is a great way to catch a cold. Not cool, getting covered in snot and sweat." He paused, peering at him through the thick shades.
"What's up? You're not your normal derpy self." he settled onto the floor next to him, wincing at the chill. John noticed now how cold it was, but didn't move.
"Um… Karkat said he liked me." Dave didn't seem to react, but it was hard to tell. John wished he wasn't so obsessed with the shades, though it was nice that he appreciated his gift.
"And what? He didn't do it well? You broke his alien heart? Or pump organ, whatever they call it." John stared at him.
"You knew, didn't you? He said you mentioned mistletoe for some reason…" He was met by a grin.
"Yeah. He didn't do that, did he?" John shook his head.
"Egbert, if the grumpiest asshole in the universe asks me and Lalonde for advice, dude's seriously fucked up. So yeah, I helped a bit. Doesn't seem to have helped, unless sitting on the floor is some troll mating ritual." He stopped, looking a bit thoughtful.
"No! I mean, yeah, I turned him down. He said he'd been expecting it, cause I already said I'm not a homosexual… but I don't understand why?" He saw the blank stare from Dave and winced.
"If you're fishing for some kind of compliment, just tell me. I'm full of them. It'll be praise city up in here." John chuckled a bit; he couldn't help it, Dave could just be so funny!
"Not that! I don't get why he would say it. If he already knew the answer, why bother?" Dave leaned back a bit, frowning.
"Keeping secrets ain't fun, John. He's probably tired of 'em, if the blood thing is true. Or, he could've been hoping you'll change your mind someday."
"But that doesn't happen! Sexuality doesn't change… does it?" Dave shrugged, standing back up.
"Who knows? Never mind, I'll bet Lalonde would. And besides, how sure are you about being gay?" John blinked at him. Dave grinned a bit.
"Think on it. I'm gonna go annoy Gamzee." Dave wandered back out, and John stayed on the floor.
He didn't move again for a long time.