The Prince and the Heir

====== Confront, the Worried Maid

Jane sighed to herself as she walked through the house in search of John. After a rather tiresome conversation with Jake earlier that morning, the last thing she wanted to do was talk to another hardheaded boy. Unfortunately, what Jake mentioned had been troubling her since the end of their talk and she knew the only way to put her mind at ease was to find her (son or grandpa or whatever he was).

After what felt like hours, she finally found him sitting on the second-lowest of the back steps, staring up at the sky.

"John?" She gently asked to get his attention. "Could we talk?"

He looked down from the sky and gave her a dazzling smile. "Of course! What about?"

Jane breathed in deeply as she took a seat next to him, steeling herself for an uncomfortable conversation. It wasn't often that the two of them talked and even then it was always silly or fun things like movies or jokes. "About you and Dirk."

John ducked his head almost shyly. "I, um, I guess we're pretty obvious, huh? Jade and Rose both teased me about dating him the other day."

"I think it's rather sweet," Jane admitted. "And I've certainly never seen Dirk so happy. But…" She hesitated, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. The last thing she wanted to do was stir up drama between the two of them, but there was something John deserved to know about, if he didn't already. "You know he and Jake dated for a while, right?"

"Yeah, of course. He told me. So did Roxy," John said with a shrug.

Jane relaxed, both relieved and surprised to hear him say that.

"It was back around when we were getting used to this world and, well, living together," John continued. "You know, when he was avoiding being around me and everyone else for more than the few minutes it took to get food. Up until he got caught in that totally sweet prank I was laying for Dave."

Jane giggled at the memory. "I remember that. You started a war that I don't think anyone in this house will ever forget. To be honest, if he hadn't retaliated then I was going to enlist Roxy to get you back for all of those dumb jokes. Dirk sort of beat me to it."

"Well that was what got us to start talking. Or at least, what got him to finally talk to me for more than two seconds," John explained. "And once we called a truce, I asked him why he avoided me so long and he told me. Pretty bluntly too. It took me off guard. Guess I was so used to Dave skirting around questions or typing up really strange metaphors that I expected Dirk to do the same." He laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Turns out we kind of were doing the same thing; me comparing him to Dave and him comparing me to Jake. So yeah."

"And then the two of you became friends?" Jane asked.

John nodded. "Yeah! It took a while, obviously. We said some pretty dumb things to each other in the beginning and then we'd apologize and try again after not talking for a day or two. And then… I dunno. We started up this movie night and Dirk kept intentionally picking really, really horrible B-rated movies for us to watch and he fell asleep on my shoulder one night and I - oh, it's really cheesy. Like one of Karkat's dumb movies."

Jane shook her head vigorously, wanting to hear more. "No, it's not! Don't stop there!"

John blushed darkly, but continued his story. "I, um, well I couldn't move him. He looked so peaceful. So I just, sort of, wrapped my arm around him so he wouldn't fall over or anything and then maybe I fell asleep too? It was a really bad movie," he finished lamely.

"So that's how you got together!" Jane exclaimed happily.

"Nope," John replied with a shake of his head. "That's an even worse story, if you'll believe that. The whole shoulder sleeping thing was just the start of 'oh hey, so Dirk's kind of cute'."

"You're pretty fucking cute yourself."

John and Jane turned at the same time, craning their heads up to see Dirk standing on the top step with a smirk on his face. John hopped to his feet and bounded up the few steps in order to properly greet his boyfriend with a tight hug. Jane stood up in a more reserved manner and offered up a smile in 'hello'.

"Not trying to steal him away, are you?" Dirk asked with a teasing quality to his voice, lips still curved upwards to show he wasn't at all serious.

Jane laughed in response. "Don't be silly, Dirk! We were just having a lovely mother-son chat is all. Have to make sure you aren't doing anything untoward to my poor baby."

John groaned and muttered a despairing "Not you too!" and something that sounded suspiciously like Rose's name.

Dirk, on the other hand, chuckled before assuring Jane that he was being the utmost gentleman and that he was just about to accompany John on a lovely stroll though the backyard where they would, at most, hold hands.

"Well then, I'll leave you to it," Jane promised as she ambled up the stairs past them. She paused at the top, her smile fading as her brows furrowed. There was one last thing she needed to at least attempt to settle. "Dirk. You need to talk to Jake. Maybe not today, but soon."

Dirk nodded stiffly and directly John down the steps.

Jane let the topic go. She'd said what she needed to. It was up to them.

End Chapter