Part one of my Dirk/Jake fanfic. The setting is after the kids won the game and it's in a newer, similar universe. The characters of Homestuck belong to Andrew Hussie and I own nothing.

'No seagulls, huh?' 'Yup.' 'That's great man. Fucking birds were all over the place.'

He turns back to me, making his sharp glasses of sugoiness sparkle. 'I know', I say. Did the corner of his mouth just twitch? My hand tries to find one of his that are wrapped around my waist. When it finally meets his gloved hand, each finger folds with the other. It's amazing I didn't slap accidently slap him just now, because my eyes were paying full attention to the magnifying sight of the forest and all the living creatures in it.

It's an unusual warm day today, but guess I've known worse days. Going to the sea might not be a good idea, because you can burn easily under this bright sun and clear sky. Therefore we're taking it easy at a nice spot in the shadow under the trees. Dirk wiggles a bit underneath me to make himself sit comfortable again, making his warm chest accidently bump into my back. He tightens his grip of my hand. The back of my knees are sticky from sweat and pull vacuum on Dirl's upperleg, which make it kind of hard for me to move. I'm not complaining though. I can't help this day is so awfully hot. On top of that, I like sitting on his lap.

We sit like this for a while, until a large, much darker shadow appears above our heads. Dirk immediatly gets up, making me stumble forward, but he grabs my wrist just before I reach the ground. He's looking up and so am I. Why does he...? Oh. Of course, he's still not quite familiar with this. I turn back to my best bro and say 'You can lower your katana now.' 'You sure?' 'Yeah. It's only a flying whale', I reassure him. Which reminds me... there seem to be a lot of creatures from my old planet missing on this one. 'You know. I really miss the tinkerbulls. They were like family to me... I guess...' I blurt out. Where the hell did that come from? I suddenly feel a warm hand on my back. He's embracing me. Oh fuck, I must have sounded so pathetic. 'I'm not going to tell nothing happened or whatever. We all endured a crap load of obnoxious adventures, alright? Peace has restored and heck, this universe is a lot less aqueous. We just need to get used to the changes.' He gives me a small peck on the lips, which I softly return. 'A-alright.. I'm sorry for complaining.' 'It's all cool, bro.' Another swift peck. Oh nelly, my cheeks are burning.

It's getting slightly darker. We go back inside to discover it's already half past five. In the afternoon, of course. We're have been living together for a few months now, but so far we haven't eaten anything but alchemized food. I feel like something homemade would be nice, if just for a change of pace. So I look around and find a cookbook. 'Pumpkin... pumpkin...' I mumble as I bladder through the book of recipes. 'Ah. Here it is...' and I continue mumbling. From the corner of my left eye I see Dirk looking at me focused. I'm sure he heard what I just said, but as long as he pretends to not have heard it and as long as I pretend to not know he heard me, I don't mind a single bit. I order him to go elsewhere until dinner's ready and - surprisingly - he does as I say.

It took a lot of effort, but it's done. The dish doesn't look like the picture in the book in the slightest way, but as long as it's edible, I think this is a mission accomplished. I call him to come back while I prepare the table.

Wow. I did not expect to see... that. This very particular lad in front of me is covered in a turquoise colour. I am stunned and turned on at the same time. Oh for frig's sake, I'm sweating heavily. 'What?' he asks me slightly annoyed as I stare at his new blue hoodie. 'Uh, ehm, nothing', I reply. 'Sure. So what did you make for dinner?' he asks me. I remove the tea towel to reveal the dish and its neat oven baked smell of the pumpkin pie. 'You are so predictable.' Well that is rather rude. 'Hey, I do need to do something with all these pumpkins sometime, don't I? So I thought, why not make a pumpkin pie! Nothing wrong with that, Strider!' I shout. 'You should learn that my words aren't sincere when I say such things. You don't have to get flustered rapidly like a shoujo heroine.' 'O-oh.' An awkward silence fills the room.