Your nerves were completely shot, there was no way you could deny it. Sat there, wringing your hands and tugging your sleeves down further over your hands, as Dave tells you for the fifth time to settle down and relax already. You're sat together on the back of a bench outside the bus station, feet tapping nervously on the seat and completely contrasting the guy sat beside you casually scrolling through pesters on his phone.
You bite your lip a little too violently and wince as the hot sting alerts you to the fact you've cut into skin. You suppose you wouldn't be panicking so much is Dave wasn't sat so far away you could fit Vriska and her ego between you and still have room for Tavros. Remembering old friends hurts but you can't help but laugh a little at the fat joke and consider telling Dave what you just thought.
But you don't get time to, because there's a crowd exiting the station, a glint of sun-on-glasses and a tall, familiar boy in a blue hoodie walks out the doors, looking around nervously before spotting the two of you and waving.
You both stand on the seat, jumping off and landing - in Dave's case elegantly and effortlessly, but you have to hide a stumble - on the floor, walking up to meet John. You are very aware when you feel Dave grab your hand lazily and loosely, using his other to wave to his best friend. You wave, too, trying your best to smile as you feel your pusher beat faster.
John reaches you and doesn't seem to know who to hug first, so pulls you both towards him as you and Dave put your free arms around his back, your joined hands crushed against your legs. John's laughing about some bullshit you can't hear through the fabric covering your ears, but you know Dave's laughing back and you smile for real this time, because this is just the beginning.
Despite that, you're still a little glad when John pulls away.
"You guys have no clue how lucky this was!" John exclaims, straightening out his pullover hoodie, "I was just sat there like 'oh I should check pesterchum I haven't been on it in ages' and there you were! It was like..."
He trails off as Dave swings your joined hands casually, not showing off or causing unnecessary attention at all. You dig your claws into the side of his hand a little.
"I can see I've missed a few things..." John says, raising his eyebrow at Dave, who just smirks and shrugs, "When did this happen? If this did happen? Or is this just a platonic troll thing I don't understand because I never really got to sit down and learn all about things like that?"
You can't see 70% of Dave's face but you know he's glaring.
"Why are you so bothered about time, man? That's my area. I sure hope this isn't platonic in the trollverse otherwise I'm gonna need some lessons." Dave looks at you in question and you just glare at him evenly.
"No, it's not platonic in 'trollverse' you egotistical shit." You grit out, keeping the glare even as Dave squeezes your hand that little bit tighter.
Dave and John laugh about how your anger transcends universes and you just roll your eyes and zone out, people-watching. You wish you weren't so angry, but you are. You're mad at John mainly, for existing and coming back and being a loyal friend and so fucking happy to see you both. You have no right to hate him for that, but you go ahead and do it anyway because fuck don't want his questions and his prying; you don't want to have to explain this to anyone else. You were so scared of never seeing anyone again, but it feels like since Dave's been here it would be easier if that was it for you. You could have dealt with years of you and Dave searching and not finding anyone, but this is hard.
You feel horrible for thinking any of this, and you know it's selfish and bratty to want Dave all to yourself for a little longer. They're his friends that he's lost, too, and he probably wants to find everyone just as much. You care about that, of course you do, but what you have with him isn't even defined in your vocabulary and that makes you really fucking nervous, because that means it's fragile. You have a tendency to break fragile things.
You've barely even started on your self-hate fuelled tirade when you feel yourself being tugged forwards and you're walking, following John down the road. You find yourself a few feet behind, feel a squeeze on your hand and look up to see Dave looking at you.
"You alright?" He mouths, and you force yourself to nod and look indifferent instead of angry. It's surprisingly hard to alter your default expression. He leans over and bumps his lips on the side of your head, the momentum making it uncomfortable as your horn bumps into his shades and knocks them slightly off centre.
You're soon walking towards a small coffee shop, hidden down familiar back alleys and amongst a huge mess of other little self-owned stores, both human and troll. You barely ever come to this part of town, so you're actually glad you're with people who know the way out.
You don't pay much attention to their conversation in the coffee shop - staring out the window as you sip at your too-hot drink and think about how only a few months ago you were waking up in hospital in a panicked frenzy. Dave tries to include you in the conversation a couple of times before giving up - you don't have any input towards the topic they discuss and you're just fine with that; listening to them talk gives you an opportunity to actually get to know John properly without having to interact directly and let him realise you're going to be the shittest friend he ever had.
You've been practising listening all your life, though. You're good at that. If he ever has any romantic issues you could probably help with that too. Probably. You look towards Dave and fight back any emotional responses you might have, biting your lip even harder and probably drawing blood in an effort to keep a straight face. You don't know how he does it.
You make it through the whole interaction without much more trouble, and soon find yourself walking along the street back towards Dave's apartment at about 7pm. It's getting darker alot earlier these days, the streetlights illuminating the sidewalk. You're holding his hand as you walk, John the other side of him examining the surroundings as he goes; he's staying at Dave's tonight and heading back home tomorrow.
You reach Dave's apartment, your brain and body exhausted from being awake during daylight hours and confused that you'd want to sleep now that it should be awake. Fucking John and his normal sleeping patterns, seriously. The three of you settle in on the couches, the humans deciding that talking for the rest of the evening is a good idea instead of letting you nap. You sigh inwardly as you shift in your place, next to Dave on the longer of the two red couches.
You excuse yourself after about half an hour, telling them you're just going to go lay down because you're pretty much exhausted. Dave grabs your arm on your way past him and pulls you down to kiss your cheek and tell you he'll be in in a little while and you tell him to stop acting like a shitbag. He laughs and lets you go, John waves you goodnight and you shut the door of the bedroom as quietly as you can.
You slump down on the bed a bit heavily, still fully dressed and too lazy to rectify that unfortunate detail. You can hear them talking from in here, and you honestly don't mean to eavesdrop but you heard your name, and that justifies sneaking over towards the door and casually leaning against the hard wood.
You just catch the end of John's sentence, voices heavily muffled but easily distinguishable "-it like, anyway?"
"What do you mean what's it like, man? It's like it is." Dave says, amusement in his voice.
"Yeah but you're in a irelationship/i. With iKarkat!/i"
"Man don't overstate it, he'd hate that." He's right, but that still hurts, "So what if we're a thing it's not like that's gonna stop us finding everyone is it?"
"...No, but still, it's weird!" John says. His voice isn't accusing or disgusted, but childish and confused. You don't blame him, you didn't see this coming either.
"It's not weird. Tell me why it's weird." Dave sounds tired but calm as he asks.
"How do you, like..." He trails off. You imagine he's doing some obscene hand gestures.
"Go on...?"
"What's the sex like?" John blurts out, and Dave groans in frustration.
"None of your business is what's it's like, but if you wait about ten minutes for me to go in there and get him undressed you can hear for yourself."
You grin to yourself, but wince back a little at Dave's phrasing and how he's talking about you. You know he'd never be that posessive to your face, so it's fine. You know he respects you more than that... right? John splutters at Dave's wording, however; chanting "no no no" over and over until the two of them dissolve into laughter.
Dave is the first one to quieten down, as John just gets louder, "Shh man come on he's probably sleeping. Don't wake him up with your lunatic cackling."
You move away from the door, heading back to the bed and undressing silently, hoping that when you wake up you'll have Dave wrapped around you and oh god when did you start thinking like such a soppy asshole this isn't even kind of okay.
You decide to go to bed hoping you wake up and have to fight off a gang of monsters, instead, defeating them and saving a jean-clad damsel in distress from the monsters, because his shades got all misty from crying your name too much. That's better.
When you do wake up, you recieve neither of those things. All you are greeted by is a cold other-side-of-the-bed and a still-warm bacon sandwich on the nightstand. There's a note on it, but you'll openly admit you're already halfway through the sandwich before bothering to read Dave's half-cursive-but-messy handwriting.
"hey babe
gone to the shops real quick with john
back by like 11 and then we gotta take him back to the station
plus side is hes texting jade to come meet us there
asshole decided to hide her whereabouts from us until this morning apparently
nice to know he looked for her but not us am i right
oh well
see you in a while"
You toss the note aside. One more human on the "people who we know where they are" list, which is shit grammar but you don't really care because nobody knows you even have that mental list. Still no more trolls. Maybe Jade will have found someone? You doubt it.
You finish off your breakfast and get changed, opting for your grey jeans and one of Dave's old red button-up shirts because it's the easiest thing to put on within sight that's even moderately clean. You take your plate out into the kitchen and make yourself useful, washing everything up and putting it all away; you decide that seeing as it's only just ten in the morning you might as well just tidy up for the remaining hour of solitude. You wipe down the surfaces, tidy the cushions on the couches, you even change the fucking bedsheets for the hell of it. You find yourself really bored once that's done and it's only twenty past, so you get the vacuum cleaner out of the closet and do the whole damn apartment, couches and all.
It's ten to eleven when you finish up, so you just put the vacuum away and sit on the couch, reaching under it for where you left your book (straining to reach it, as you pushed it further back with the vacuum, fuck sake). You're about two pages in when you hear the door opening; loud conversation and the rustle of plastic bags fills the apartment. The conversation is cut short when Dave is within sight and he looks around.
"Karkat man did you tidy up in here?"
"Yeah. Got bored, and it wasn't like you were gonna clean up any time soon was it?" You reply, turning to the next page and tucking your legs futher back on the couch, your feet rubbing the material the wrong way and giving you that awful velvety static feeling you hate.
"Shit babe and I only bought you this..." Dave complains, leaning over the back of the couch with a bag in his hand. He swings it slightly so it hits you in the shoulder and you have to look up from your book.
"What's this?" You ask, but he just swings it again and you sigh and take it, looking into the bag and smiling slightly. It's a big red toy crab, with silly eyes and a smiling face. It's about the size of a small pillow. You know it's a pisstake but still, you hate the fact you love it.
"You're welcome, asshole." He says, kissing the back of your head before shoving you lightly and heading into the kitchen.
It's an hour and a half later when you're all headed towards the bus station. Jade was meant to be travelling from a seperate route to come and see you guys, then heading back to stay with John on another one. Human transport is useful but so fucking confusing. You see her as you approach, though, and Dave's speeding up his pace and yelling at her and you don't blame him in the slightest. You do, however, feel an unnecessary pang of jealousy as he lifts her up with ease and spins her into a hug. She's practically squealing as she clings to him.
John's laughing and grinning as the two of you jog to catch up with them, and Jade's chatting away about how amazing this is and how much she missed everyone and then she's hugging you, too, ridiculously tightly and she's back to laughing and you have to, too.
"Karkat oh my god!" Is all she can say as you hug her back. You're just a bit taller than her, but she's much thinner and you have to be careful hugging her - she's not as sturdy as Dave and can probably take much less pressure on her flimsy human ribs.
You don't have long to talk before the bus arrives, but Jade promises to be online that night and you and Dave promise you will be, too. You part ways with the two others and start walking back, pausing at the street that seperates your route home from Dave's. You sigh a little, going to hug him.
"I can't stay again." You mumble into his shoulder, and he laughs and hugs you back, squeezing the tension out of you.
"I know man, talk to you later though yeah?" You nod and he kisses the side of your head. You wish he'd stop doing that, it's getting ridiculous how childlike he's treating you. It isn't like him at all. "Text me when you get home alright."
"And what if I don't?" You challenge, pulling away and raising an eyebrow at him, "What if I decide I'm going to lay down in a ditch and die instead of returning to my hive? Do you not take into account my own wishes when you decide what I'm going to do when I get home? What if I want to go get a drink or something beforehand, maybe go see a film by myself? I'd be texting you at god knows what time and by then you might be panicking, wondering where oh where could your precious Karkat have gone, is he dead, you might wonder, and there's me living my life and getting on with shit without you aroun-"
He cuts you off by kissing you. This is a tactic which is unfortunately very effective.
"God, you're worse than me." He says, pulling you back for one more hug before letting you go.
"Not possible." You smile, shoving him away from you, "Talk to you later, try not to get yourself run over on your way back."
"Same to you, asshole." He calls out, already walking away. You smile the whole way home and pointedly don't text him when you arrive.
You get online after a well-deserved nap and shower to see Jade already online. You switch your status to online and she messages almost immediately.
gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 23:06:
GG: hey karkat!
GG: how are you? :D
CG: Christ, Harley.
CG: Calm the fuck down it's like 11pm.
GG: sorry karkat :(
GG: im just really excited to talk to you guys after so long!
GG: hey youre not talking in caps :o
CG: Yeah, it was kind of obnoxious.
CG: Figured this is a fuckload easier to read, too.
CG: Plus I don't really shout these days so it seems a bit redundant?
GG: this is true!
GG: you were really quiet earlier, are you alright? :(
CG: Yeah I'm fine
CG: Just a bit of a surprise to actually see people after so long.
GG: a nice surprise though i hope?
You roll your eyes, as if she can see.
CG: Fucking obviously
CG: Actually getting shit done and finding out where everyone is has kind of been my priority since I landed here.
GG: funny, dave said your priority was getting out of a coma! ;D
CG: Fuck sake, Strider.
CG: That too.
GG: oh! karkat! before i forget
GG: i know where kanaya is!
Your heart stops, then, and you're staring at the screen for too long and she isn't elaborating.
CG: What? Where is she?
GG: i cant go there myself because it's nowhere near me
GG: but i never realised where you and dave lived!
GG: she's working at a place in the next town over from you
GG: a place called "mystery maidens"
GG: i saw her in her work uniform in a store a couple weeks ago!
GG: but i didnt get a chance to go say hi because she was gone before i could say anything :(
CG: Jade thank you so fucking much!
CG: Seriously this is perfect you're amazing!
GG: :o youre welcome!
GG: you might want to take backup if you go, though
GG: i googled it and it seems like a really risky neighbourhood to be wandering around in!
CG: I'll be alright, especially if I find Kanaya there.
CG: I can't thank you enough.
GG: no worries! i have to go to bed now but ill talk to you soon! :)
GG: good luck with kanaya if you go before i next speak to you
GG: maybe she knows where rose is! :o
CG: I'll make sure to ask.
CG: Night, Jade.
GG: goodnight karkat :D x
gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 23:36.
You sit back in your chair, trying to fix your breathing before opening up the internet and searching the name of that place, looking for an address. Jade was right, it's just in the next town over; you're pretty sure there's a bus straight there, too. You smile, your features lit by the glowing husktop screen in your dark bedroom as you settle yourself in for a night of planning. Your sleep pattern's completely fucked - the people you're finding are much more used to the human sleeping routines than you and Dave were and it's making you even more tired than you usually are.
The place Kanaya works at is 24 hour, apparently, though you're not sure what shift she would work. There's a contact number you momentarily hover over, highlighting it slowly with your mouse and saving it into your phone for later use. You open up another chat window.
carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling turntechGodhead [TG] at 23:50:
CG: Strider.
CG: We've got work to do.
TG: well color me surprised
TG: just as im about to go to fucking bed
TG: this better be good