I sat beside Sollux, furiously trying to defeat him in the game the two of us were playing. "Jutht because you try hitting me with the controller doethn't mean you'll actually hit the character, Dani," he said with a chuckle. "Shut up, Sol," I replied, swinging the controller toward him to piss him off. It only made him laugh, so I punched him in the shoulder. "Geeth, you've got almotht ath thtrong a punch ath Equiuth." I grinned, and told him, "It helps that I've got a brother like Dave to fight with." He smiled, and we both focused on the video games. About an hour later, me and Sollux ended up switching to single player, and were soon wrestling for the controller. At one point, I managed to pin Sollux to the floor, and was sitting on his waist, grinning triumphantly. "Looks like I win," I said, smirking down at him. "Yeah, yeah, now why don't you let me up tho I can watch you die in the game? Thith'll be fun to thee," he replied. Just as I opened my mouth to reply, I saw the top of a very familiar white-blonde head below the windowsill, and sighed at my brother's lack of tact. "If you're gonna spy, do it somewhere we can't see you, Dave," I called. "Shit," I heard, which made both me and Sollux chuckle. Dave walked in through the back door, and I immediately got off of Sollux. I didn't want my brother jumping to conclusions that would haunt me forever, so I smoothed my yellow sleeved shirt and pretended to study the sunglasses on it. Sollux shook his head at Dave. "What were you hoping to find, thpying on uth, Thrider? We're only playing Black Opth. There'th nothing for you to hear, exthept for your thithter occathionally trying to maul me with the controller." This ending statement made me slightly blush, and Dave smiled knowingly. "If that's all you're doing, I guess I'll stay." I groaned, rolling my yellow eyes, and plopped on the couch with the XBox controller in my hand. Sollux sat beside me and watched me play the game, while Dave tried to hide his grin.
Just then, Karkat walked in, and raised his eyebrows. "The fuck are you doing here, Strider?" he asked. Me and my brother both looked up, and Karkat pointed at Dave. "You. Why are you here?" Dave grinned and shrugged. "Had to spy on Dani. You guys can't have all the fun without me." I shook my head at him, and Karkat grabbed his arm. "Well quit spying on her because Rose wants you to see something." He dragged Dave outside, and must have made an excuse to come back in, because he reappeared a moment later and said, "Next time there's foreplay going on, make sure that fuckass isn't around." He walked out without another word, and I sat silently beside Sollux, trying not to make things awkward. "Well, that wath thtrange. Well, thtrange for around here, at leatht." I nodded in agreement, and he chuckled. "Well, I gueth we thould finith the game or find thomething elthe to do." We finished the game, and decided to go get some lunch. I drove to Phil Sandoval's, and we went to a table inside. Sollux and I both ignored the weird looks that were aimed at us. People weren't used to seeing someone dressed the way he was - dual-colored glasses, one black and one white shoe, and a shirt with his zodiac symbol on it, or for that matter, someone dressed the way I was. We ordered our food and had stressed, polite conversation. It was hard to talk to Sollux in public, because I was afraid to slip up and say something that would let him know the feelings I'd hidden for two years. Once we finished eating, I took him by the hand, and instead of going to my truck, we walked down to the park.
