You can't fight against Bec and expect to win. Striders have to learn that the hard way.
Also in this chapter:
* Jealous Jake
* Boys with gills
* Killer seagot
* Possibly a mermaid
"What could be taking them so bloody long?" the lone figure pacing a stretch of beach asked the open air.
His answer was the normal calls from the jungle, the wind blowing up dry sand that hit his calves, the sound of small waves breaking against the beach. The sun was starting to set now, and with it came the cool breeze of night. In the sweltering jungle that would have been refreshing, satisfying. On the beach, it was just nippy.
Jake English stopped his frantic back and forth path on the sand to glare at the ship still too far a distance for his liking. He couldn't believe that blasted dog hadn't brought them in closer than that. It was still another good fifty or seventyfive yards before they'd even have to start worrying about shallow waters. Ugh, there was no talking reason with that beast, though. He was lucky enough that he got this much of what he wanted at all.
Still, knowing his friends were there just beyond his reach was just as maddening as it had been realizing that they were on their way here without so much as telling him and without considering how he'd feel to be left out of the bonding experience they would have shared days out at sea. They would have gotten here and they would all have been that much closer for the experience, and he would have been the outsider. He already felt like an outsider to begin with, did they have to widen the gap?
And why weren't they at least signaling their arrival? Getting after him for warping them there without notice? His Pesterchum app was much too silent. Were they stalling out there at sea now just to punish him for his petulant and rash action?
It was a possibility.
Jake had known that he was being unreasonable, and maybe even irrational, or at least that the others would see his actions as unreasonable and irrational. But how could they have expected him to not react when they talk about a bonding experience, all of them together where everyone else would get a head start on him?
Not to mention this whole Dirk and John situation, which he knew was more than just his wild imagination! Jade had almost convinced him that he was being jealous and seeing something where there was nothing. But… he trusted his gut instinct! Jade was right, he knew Dirk better than most, and he knew that he wasn't imagining this infatuation!
And Jake knew there was little he could do to compete against a submissive, that instinct itself would make Dirk like John more than him… And the thing was, he knew he couldn't blame the boy for it, either. John didn't choose to be this way, it was all… fated, predetermined. Submissives were important to trolls, hybrids and otherwise. Jake knew that. He knew that a submissive was supposed to be a precious gift, one they should all do their best to protect... But that didn't mean that he would step back and let one woo his beau away from him!
And it was no reason to make him wait out here on the cold beach, either! In fact, they should thank him for cutting their trip short by days! That's right! And he'd be sure to let them know as much! Just as soon as they got to shore...
Any minute now...
Jake glanced out towards the ship again. Maybe he was being impatient, but it didn't seem to be much closer at all.
But that was silly; of course it had to be closer. He just had to wait and be patient.
Be patient...
...
Oh that was it! He didn't care if the water was cold, or whether or not it was safe to swim in, he kicked off his shoes and rolled off his socks, tossing them aside, ready and willing to swim out to them. This was ridiculous and he had no idea why he was being shunned from all this hoopla, but he had every intention of finding out!
It was a just the smallest bits gratifying for John to know that he wasn't the only one queasy in the aftermath of space displacement travel. Mostly it was just awful. And he wasn't the only one to feel it. The only ones fully on their feet were Jade and Dirk, and the latter looked like he was only standing through sheer force of will. His steps up the stairs were looking unsteady, and he was grabbing onto the hand rails securely. John was up on his feet next, knees knobby, feeling even worse than he had just merely been seasick.
"Ow geez, did somebody get the number of that bus?" Roxy groaned as she and Rose helped each other up to their feet. "Man, I think next time I'll opt out of hyper drive space travel, thanks anyways."
"It does seem rather excessive, doesn't it?" Rose added with a soft groan.
"I don't get it," said John, on his feet now, "If Jade could have warped us all here in the first place, then how come she didn't do that in the first place?" he asked, slowly tottering his way upstairs. "It would have been easier just zapping all of us there instead of moving an entire ship."
"That wasn't Jade just now," Rose corrected as she and Roxy followed John up, "It was actually-"
"My dog, Bec," Jade finished, smiling sheepishly from the top of the stairs, looking over her shoulder. The Amazonian girl was completely nausea free, but then she was use to this sort of travel.
"Your... your dog? The one you always talk about, the over protective one?" John asked skeptically.
"Yes, that's him," Jade nodded, her gaze wandering around the deck in search of said dog. He had to be nearby, she just knew it
"Your dog space warped us here?" John asked again. Jade couldn't have understood him right, there was just no way.
"Yeah, I'm actually surprised myself. He's usually much too fickle to be this precise, especially when it comes to moving so much at once," Jade confirmed.
"Your... dog...?" John was just barely wrapping his head around the fact that apparently he and Jade had super powers, but now Jade's dog, too? What? Was he the Krypto to Jade's Superman?
Jade sighed, "Well, Bec isn't a normal dog, you see," she tried to explain.
"Yeah, I can see that," John said in a small voice.
"The dog is her lusus," Dirk stated like it should have been the most obvious thing in the world.
It wasn't. "Wow, that explains exactly nothing, but thanks," John remarked, apparently always able to find the time to snark with the older Strider.
Rose sighed, "We're really going to have to have a long talk with you, John. But for now: a lusus is an Alternians's guardian, an above average intelligence creature that raises a troll instead of traditional parents. They're very rare. And even rarer still is that a lusus would pick a hybrid to raise. But Jade and Jake are special exceptions to that rule."
John's lips pursed, turning around just to stare doubtfully at Rose. He was about to tell her how ridiculous that sounded when a flash if green blocked his view of the girl.
"Bec!" Jade exclaimed happily, whirling around towards the source of the energy flash, "Oh," she added quickly with far less enthusiasm, "John, just stand perfectly still." She herself was taking slow, measured steps towards the boy, and more importantly to the large white dog that was staring John down.
Although 'staring down' might not be the right word for it. It didn't really seem to have any eyes to speak of, but the approximation of where it's eyes should have been was facing John head on unerringly. And the shiver down the boy's spine let him know instinctively that this was not a creature to be messed with.
"Bec, come here to me, boy," Jade coaxed, reaching out her hand to touch the beast's head. It didn't react, keeping its nonexistent eyes firmly on the boy it had set its attention on. "Bec," she tried again, this time stepping between the dog and John.
In a flash of green light Jade was behind Bec, facing Rose and Roxy who looked like they were perfecting their impressions of living statues, momentarily disoriented. "Oh! You stubborn dog!" She whirled around, took a step back, and then found herself on the other end of the ship. "BECQUEREL!"
John stood as still as he possibly could, afraid to move, afraid to breathe too deeply. Why was it so focused on him? Had he done something wrong? Did something about him just scream 'PREY'? Was this how he was going to die? Attacked by a space manipulating super dog? Would he be made fun size for easy consuming or maybe he'd just be space warped to the middle of the ocean where he would surely drown…
"Kid, don't move," a low voice spoke behind him.
John had forgotten that Dirk had been behind him. Apparently Bec hadn't been aware of him until then, too because those white ears swiveled up at attention, then lowered slowly, as did it's stance, coiling itself up ready for attack.
"Shit," Dirk muttered so softly that John was almost sure he might have imagined it. The blond was in front of him a split second after, a sword in hand, and who even knew where that had come from!
He herded John back with a sweep of his arm, the smaller boy too startled to do more than silently obey. Bec growled in answer not liking that something had gotten between him and his target. It's lip pulled back in a snarl, displaying a row of sharp, unnaturally white teeth. It was the signal the blond man was waiting for, charging forward into an attack, sword sweeping in an arc, whistling through the air, moving so fast it was nothing more than a blur
"Dirk, no! Stop!" Jade yelled as she bolted back around the ship.
"Di-Stri, whatta you doin?!" Roxy cried out.
It was too late of course. Blade scant millimeters from Bec's face, Dirk disappeared in a flash of green.
"Dirk!" John cried out in alarm. "Where did he go?!"
This was it, no turning back now! He had committed himself to this endeavor and he wasn't going to chicken out now. He wasn't afraid of possible (definite) monsters in the water! Jake wasn't afraid. And he wasn't hesitating! That wasn't it at all.
Right! No more hesitation. Not that there was any!
Here goes!
One foot into the water and Jake found himself staring down a blade pointed right to his navel, the sharp point stopped short on a dime by pure luck and skill.
Forest green eyes widened in shock, staring back at themselves from the reflective surface of triangular shades, glinting with the evening sunlight.
"D-dirk?" Jake managed to breathe out with just the smallest cracks in his voice.
"Jake?" the blond breathed back softly, breathlessly.
Jake swallowed hard, suppressing a shiver. There he was... the one person he had been looking forward to seeing the most. And Dirk had said his name with such soft reference, a touch of surprise, but mostly such a carefully guarded heat that Jake found himself only able to say his name once again, a touch more heat in his own voice, " Dirk..."
The blond straightened his posture, and Jake took a step towards him, arms opening to pull the usually stoic man into his arms.
"God dammit, no," Dirk cursed, his attention leaving the bronzed man before him, back to the ship at a distance.
"I... I beg your pardon?" But Dirk wasn't paying attention to him anymore.
"How do I get back?" Dirk asked, his gaze never wavering from far ahead, away from Jake.
All warmth left his pit, leaving only a large lump of ice cold anger. Had he... just imagined the fire in his voice? That Dirk was at all happy to see him? He sighed, his voice tinging with the ice freezing his stomach now, "Well it's nice to see you, too Strider..."
It was clear that whatever Bec was trying to do, he wasn't going to let anyone get between him and the submissive. Not only that, but he clearly had the power to stop anyone who tried. Dirk was gone, and there was no way of knowing where he was and whether or not he was okay.
"Dirk's okay!" Jade said suddenly, as if she had been reading John's thoughts. "I feel him on the island with Jake!"
Well that was a relief at least, John thought. But that was all the relief he was alloted to feel. The strange dog took a step forward, and with a small panicked noise, John took a step back.
"John don't!" Jade warned, standing by Rose and Roxy now, "don't run away, that'll only trigger his instinct to chase you down!"
"What am I suppose to do, then?" John asked, the words muffled, not even letting his lips move if he could help it.
"Just stand still and see what he's going to do. I'm pretty sure he's not going to hurt you," Jade could only hope she sounded more sure about that then she actually was.
"Oh, well, if you're pretty sure," John couldn't help himself, sarcasm was his defense mechanism when he was scared.
"And keep your gaze down, John. Don't look him in the eye, it's a challenge to him if you do," Rose added.
"He doesn't have eyes!" John whined.
"Lay down on your back and show 'im yer belly!" Roxy threw in, wanting to be helpful as well.
"No, don't move, that's a bad idea," Jade rushed to correct.
"Oh, oops," Roxy smiled sheepishly, "My bad. Don't move, Johnny!"
"Not moving," John confirmed with a mutter, "Now what?"
"Now just... stay still until Bec shows us what he wants to do. And if it'll hurt you I'll take care of it, don't worry," Jade said reassuringly.
"Okay... okay, I can do that," John breathed, staying very still, keeping his eyes low, because while he wasn't sure if Bec had eyes anywhere on his body, he was pretty sure they wouldn't be on his legs. "I'm doing it... I'm being very still, and... and he's not moving, and... and now what?"
"John, shoosh!" Jade reprimanded, "Just wait."
And he waited... and waited... and waited... it felt like forever, it was probably just over a minute. It was after another eternal minute before those legs stepped forward again, and John felt his heartbeat increase at least three fold. It took his all to keep from backing away again. His breath caught in his throat and he closed his eyes, tremors racking his frame. He felt more than heard the dog sniff at him, snuffling hot breath against his arm, up to his face.
He chanced opening his eyes and he was meeting Bec's gaze head on, or he could only assume he was from where his eyes should have been. Time stood still, John too afraid to even breathe in case that was the wrong thing to do.
"Bec..." Jade called out again, probably hoping that now that Bec had gotten John's scent, it would be satisfied. "Come here, boy..."
It looked like it might actually work. The white dog's head turned towards the girls, and John felt the tension in his gut start to ease a little.
"John, get back!" a voice roared from overhead. Dave dropped down from high above, sword in hand, and where were those coming from anyways?!
"DAVE!" Jade cried out in alarm just as Rose gasped, "Oh Dave, no!"
Bec snarled, his attention back on John, or rather who had gotten between him and John, baring those sharp fangs again, dripping bright green that had John skittering back more than the fact that Dave could possibly land on top of him. The beast coiled back, Dave landing nimbly in the small space between it and John.
It was the second time a Strider had stepped between Bec and John, sword in hand.
"Dave, don't," John breathed shakily.
"Don't worry, I got this," Dave replied, taking stance, but John noticed the tremor in his voice.
Dave knew more about Bec than John did, knew what there was to fear. More than just the dog's special powers, it was fast, it was deadly, and it could kill Dave with little provocation. Especially due to that red fling he and Jade had had when they were fourteen... that hadn't ended well, as hard as they had tried to part ways on good terms. It had been over a year before things had gotten into some semblence of normal between them again. But Bec never got over it. Bec didn't like Dave, probably never would. But if it meant protecting John, he'd leap into the line of fire. Or into the line of sharp, jagged teeth to the throat as situation called for.
"C'mon, hell beast. You and me, let's go. You know you've wanted to tear into this grade a rib roast, let's do this," Dave taunted, then pushed forward into a sprint.
"NO, DAVE!"
John shot forward fast, but not fast enough, just managing to snag onto the blonde's elbow before green light blinded him.
The last thing he heard was Jade's voice, panicked and desperate, "OH GOD, JOHN!" and then the world deafened all around a loud rushing against his ears, a hard smash against his back, and the sudden sensation of thousands of cold needles stabbing every last available inch of his body at once, it stole his breathe away, filling it with more cold instead, flooding his insides with it, salty and sharp. The world was a strange mixture of heavy and weightless, like floating in pool of half set pudding, and everything was oddly blue.
The ocean, that was the first thing that occurred to John once his mind was able to think around the chilling cold again. John was adrift in it, Bec must have sent them there. But where? How far? Was he still close enough to swim back to the ship? He couldn't tell, he couldn't make out anything. He wasn't even able to tell up from down, legs and arms kicking, flailing, twisting around, trying to find some light, a sign that would point him in the right way to go.
And where was Dave?
Dave!
John stilled for a moment, looking around himself. It was hard to move, and his chest was starting to burn, but if he was this bad, what condition was the blonde in? Had they even been sent to the same place?
But... they had to be! Because Bec had sent Dave away, John had just been stupid enough to go along for the ride. Maybe brave enough, but no. It wasn't brave. What Dave had done was brave, John was just hoping that maybe getting between the two of them would stop the super dog from sending Dave away, but he hadn't moved anywhere near fast enough.
Oh god, where was Dave? Had the impact or the cold knocked him out? John couldn't see him anywhere!
Dave!
He had to find him, but it was getting harder to see, spots dancing in his vision.
Dave...
Black seeped around the edges of his sight, it hurt to move, but instinct told him to move and move fast. He had to find... h-had to...
D-da...
The burning became too much... John couldn't hold it back any longer, what little breath he had left him in a stream of bubbles and the water rushed in, warm and light, replenishing his aching lungs, and so... so... good... it... wait, what? It... That... That wasn't water, it was... air...! Air filled his lungs, sweet, life giving oxygen, and the burning ebbed enough that John's fought his way back to the blue from the black.
The first thing he noticed were pale wisps in the water, then the more solid presence of another body against his own, warm, firm, breathing oxygen back into his lungs. Like those stories of mermaids saving sailors by sharing air with them. Was this a mermaid? Were mermaids a thing that were real, too? John was willing to believe, clung onto his life saver tight, greedily accepting every ounce of oxygen being given to him, feeling lightheaded, but in a good way now as those soft lips moved against his own. Like it was more than just mouth to mouth between them, like it was a kiss. An actual, factual kiss of life.
Fuzzy blackness faded from the edges of his vision, taking a good deal of John's panic along with it. He happily and eagerly kissed his mermaid if this was, in fact, a kiss. It felt like one, a really nice one. Not that John had a lot to compare it to. It didn't feel forced or hard like the way Roxy had kissed him. It was warm and soft, giving and taking.
He could feel himself moving, or rather, feel the water stream along his body as he was moved. He was being lifted back up to the surface, he was sure of it. One more lungful of air and his savoir's mouth pulled away from his own, it was all he could do not to cling on to those soft lips petulantly and continue the soft and sweet lip lock. But John couldn't pass up the chance to get a good look at his rescuer. If it was really a mermaid.
It took a few moments for his eyes to focus properly in the water, but they focused on the figure next to him right away. Pale hair, long limbs, and a perfect profile view of kiss plumped lips and long pale lashes.
It was... it was...
It was Dave!
Dave pressed to his side, holding firmly to John's hand where he had slung his arm over his shoulders, strong legs kicking their way up, back to the surface. Dave had saved his life. Dave had breathed oxygen back into his starving lungs. Dave who he had been... k-kissing...
With a jolt, John's body jerk back and away before he even realized he was moving. Free floating again, he could clearly see Dave now, the confused furrow in the blond's brows as he tried to reach towards him again, his lips pursing into a thin line. Those lips that had been on John's just moments ago, moving together in a way that was far more than simply life giving.
John jerked away from his touch instinctively, then flinched guiltily. He hadn't meant to do that, and the look on Dave's face was so betrayed. But then a fluttering caught John's attention, eyes roving down. Down to where Dave's gills were fluttering back and forth lightly with each breath that the Srider took. Each... breath...
Dave was breathing underwater...
Dave was breathing underwater through his gills...
Dave had gills...
John's eyes shot back up to Dave's face, where he belatedly realized that Dave wasn't wearing his shades. They must have fallen off in their crash landing into the ocean. It was the first time John had seen all of his face, and his eyes drank in the rare sight like a man in a desert who had just found an oasis.
Dave had thick brows and deep set eyes whose color John couldn't really determine. They looked blue-ish purple, but then everything looked blue-ish right now. And why was this suddenly more important than the fact that Dave had fucking gills?! Focus, John!
He did, taking in Dave's face as a whole, his furrowed brows, the downward tick to his lips, his narrowed eyes, wow was Dave a whole lot more expressive without his shades.
No! Stop that! Focus!
John's lips parted to speak, a steam of bubbles rising out of his mouth, quickly clapping his hand over the idiot move. Oh my god, had he actually forgotten for a moment there that he was underwater? He could feel a blush threatening to dust over his cheeks. He bit his lip, they had to get out of the water, back to the surface, and then they could talk.
John tried to fix his face to express that thought wordlessly to the blond, then stopped, eyes widening in shock. Something was in the water. Something far away, but long and large, and coming in fast! He tried he tried to warn the blond, but his expression had been more than enough. Blade in hand again (where had it come from?!), Dave pushed John back, whirling around to face his new opponent as it quickly approached, long, winding, emitting a deafening screech and reverberated in the water.
John could only stare in shock as it got closer, it's features becoming clearer in the dark water. It's body was massive, long, almost like a snake's, but it had a fish finned tail, strange, hooved forelegs, and a head of a goat. It reared back, hooved legs kicking, baring long rows of needle like teeth. It shot past Dave and went straight for him instead, emitting another deafening screech.
It as upon him, and John couldn't move, wouldn't have gotten far even if he tried. All he could do was cry out a flurry up bubbles and curl into a ball as it lunged for him, maw open wide, needle teeth glinting even in the darkness of the ocean. This was it... this was the end. A single smear of blue, darker than the water, escaped the corner of John's eye as he awaited his death. A loud screeched deafened him and he knew he was seconds away from the end, from pain and then... nothing...
He waited...
Waited...
It never came. Instead something smacked into him hard, forcing what little air he had left in his lungs out, bypassing the burning of drowning to cold calm as blackness started to eat away at his vision again, threatened to consume him whole.
He fought against it desperately.
John's eyes opened, and purple stung at his eyes, it was all over the water, making it opaque in places, just cloudy in others.
He tried to make sense of it all, to wave the purple away so he could see something, anything.
What he saw, or at least what he thought he saw, was Dave in the water, back straight, his sword at his side, smoking with the purple fog underwater. He was standing down (so to speak) against the beast coiled around itself and screeching bloody murder, the sound echoey, but ear drum shattering.
More purple fog rose off of it in thick plumes and John realized it was blood. The monster's blood. And it was on Dave's sword... Dave had saved his life... again.
What was concerning were the lines going down the length of the blonde's back, they looked like claws had gouged their way in, but it could have just as easily been tears from barely dodged fangs. Dave had gotten hurt because of him! Dave who was facing down the monster, his back to John, tall and unafraid, ready to fight, ready to defend... him...
Dave who was risking his life for him.
Dave who was always there for him...
It was the last thought that floated in John's mind before blackness rose up to consume him whole. It was cold, but oddly peaceful, gently falling, floating, down... down... down...
Quiet...
Dave didn't think he'd ever get used to breathing through his gills. Above ground he had to make a conscious effort sometimes just to keep them closed, because without water to filter, straight up pure air through those fuckers hurt like a bitch! But right now, it was saving his life... and more importantly, it was saving John's.
A fucking seagoat, just what he needed! Welcome to the fucking island, John! Where half the things in it will want to eat you so much as look at you.
He didn't have time to mentally rant right now, he had a monster to dispatch. He had delivered a pretty good blow a moment ago, gotten it's attention away from Egbert, now all he had to do was deliver the finishing blow and soon or there was a good chance neither of them would survive.
It was fast, but Dave was faster, appearing and disappearing in flashes and he manipulated time to slow the thing down, giving him an unfair advantage, but this wasn't a spar, this was a fight for his life. For John's life. It came at him, and the blond flashed out of the trajectory of it's teeth. Dave was beside it, then he was under it. His blade slit it's underbelly all the way up to it's throat like it was made of warm butter, spilling it's guts into the water with so much purple, and then for good measure he lopped off it's head. Those fuckers were hard to kill, and overkill was better than underkill.
The ocean was purple, it was almost impossible to see in it, but Dave knew he had to grab John and get away fast. It was only a matter of time before the scent of blood attracted more predators, and as interesting and practicing his aquatic swordplay was, he'd rather get the hell out of dodge.
Now where... was... John...?
Dave turned in a circle. He... he wasn't... anywhere in sight...
The younger Strider felt his heart slam against his rib cage, searching frantically, looking up to see if maybe John had made a break for the surface on his own, and then, not finding trace of the boy up above, with a leaden heart, he looked down.
There... in the distance... a small, slowly sinking figure. Dave couldn't make out it's shape, but he wasn't going to waste time trying to determine whether it was John or not for sure. Legs kicking hard, gills flaring wide, breathing deep, he shot straight down in the water like an arrow, forcing time to stop seconds here and there to get there faster.
The closer he got, the further away he seemed, and his lungs burned from the exertion, but he kept pushing forward, down, deeper until the water grew darker, colder, the pressure in his ears painful. He reached down, desperate fingers outstretched, brushing against thin, cold limbs, and grabbing hold, pulling up hard as his body veered straight up, legs kicking double time, breathing in deep, exhaling fast. John was cold in his arms, but then he had thought that since the smaller boy's change. Their core blood temperature's were different now after all. But this was too much, too cold, and he had to get John to land fast, to where the sun could warm him, to where he could build a fire, before John's heart refused to start again.
NO! He couldn't let himself think that. Time stopped and he pushed through it until it gave out again. Why...? WHy hadn't he practiced more with his powers?! Why did everything he chose to do end up coming back to bite him in the ass?! To cost him what was most dear...
A stitch stabbed sharply at Dave's side, but he ignored it, pushed past it, kicking upwards, hard, desperate, but the surface was too far away, and what if he couldn't make it in time? Then all this would be for nothing... and John would... he would...
No! NOOO!
He had to make it! There were no other options. He held time again and again, for as long as he could, until his own vision started to fuzz from exertion. But it felt like no matter how hard he tried, the distant light wasn't getting any closer. No... John, no!
He squeezed the boy tight to him, reassuring himself of John's presence, and what he was trying to save. He had to make it, he had to-!
A flash of green, the world spun, and then he was choking, gills and lungs burning, grit clinging to his side and heat gently stroking his back even as a chill wind robbed away the warmth he gained and more.
"Jake, don't do this right now," Dirk spoke in what he hoped were calm, even tones.
They were, but that only infuriated the taller boy more. How could he be so calm and collected at a time like this?! "Whatever it is you think I'm doing, if not now, then when, Strider?"
"You're being angry and unreasonable about not having the whole of my attention when there are more important things at hand to deal with right now," the Strider explained.
"More important things like that Egbert boy?" Jake asked coldly.
"Yes," the blond agreed.
The simple confirmation stung, "You fancy him, don't you?"
"What?" now Dirk's attention was on him at last, "That's ridiculous. Are you jealous of John?"
"It's not friggin flipping ridiculous, Strider!" Jake said angrily. "Even from far away I can see the way you get all moon eyed over that boy, taunting and teasing him like a hooligan in the schoolyard with a crush. Pushing over the girl he's sweet on to get her attention. I know you!"
Dirk didn't know what to say to that, mostly because... well it was partly true, but not at all in the way Jake thought, "J, I..."
A flash of green caught his attention, as well as Jake's, both boy's turning around as one just in time to see two bodies hit the sand a few meters off. One of them got up right away, dripping wet, their movements stiff, pained. Even at a distance, Dirk knew that blond head of hair anywhere. And the older Strider was moving before he knew it.
"Dave!"
Dave rolled off of John, onto his hands and knees as his body convulsed, once twice, then water was gushing out of Dave's mouth, burning out his nose as his lungs emptied themselves of sea water and became useful again, breathing in burning lungfuls of air.
"Dave!" He heard a voice call out to him, but he ignored it, ignored the way his body was shaking violently, crawled back over to the small boy who was too still in the sand, far too still.
"John..." he wheezed, voice shaking as he tipped John's head back pinched the boy's nose closed and sealed their lips together for a second time, breathing into him, for him.
He pulled back, moving to start chest compressions, but his brother was already there, pumping his cupped hands over John's chest, not asking what happened, or why they were both wet and dripping purple. It was that unspoken understanding between them again, details could wait, they ahd to, there was a life to save. Periphally Dave noticed that English was there now, too. Standing awkward as usualy. Never sure what to do with himself. That didn't matter right now, either. Only John mattered right now.
Dave just nodded and he timed Dirk's chest compressions to his own mouth to mouth. It took three times before John's body shook and he coughed up water. Dirk was quick to roll the boy onto his side to empty out his lungs, refill them with air.
"D-dave...?" it was the first coherent thing out of John's mouth, and those bleary eyes focused on him, and it shouldn't have made his heart do a loop de loop, but there it was.
"Y-yeah... I'm right here, bro," Dave wheezed with his own raspy voice, taking John's hand in his own and giving it a light squeeze.
John smiled softly, tiredly, and nodded his head once, "G-good..." he managed to gasp out, then he was out again.
"He does that a lot, doesn't he?" Dirk asked beside him. Dave found the wherewithal to shove his brother. Hard.
"We should get you boy's inside," Jake said softly, posture subdued. But it him that scooped John into his arms, saving Dave from trying to, and Dirk from stopping him.
Dave tried to argue it anyways, but Dirk just clapped his brother on the shoulder, nearly sending the younger Strider down to his knees again.
"John's gonna be fine. Worry about yourself a little," Dirk chastised quietly, then hoisted Dave's arm around his shoulders, supporting his little brother's weight as he helped him up the long, winding trek back to Jake and Jade's house.
"Oh god, kill me now," Dave moaned, head tipping back, eyes landing on the towering home built on top of a small mountain peak.
"Nah," Dirk smirked softly, "That'd save you too much suffering"
John was getting tired of waking up without remembering going to sleep, much less where he fell asleep. But here he was again, tucked under a soft, warm blanket on a large bed, in a room he didn't recognize.
It wasn't Dave's room. The bed was too large, situatated centrally instead of at a corner, and the room itself was much to tidy, to bare to ever belong to Dave. The walls were white, bare save for a tapestry of... John wasn't even sure what that was supposed to be, something with gray creatures, a large green monster, and some knights? His head hurt way too much to really put a lot of effort into deciphering it. There was a dresser, a trunk at the foot of the bed, and a head of blond hair slumped against the bed beside him.
"Dave...?" John said softly, but didn't even recognize his own voice. It as too scratchy and hoarse to be his own voice, and yet when he tried again, it sounded just the same. "Dave..."
"Nngh..." the head of blonde, disheveled hair slowly lifted itself up from it's faceplant on the mattress, a hand coming up to rub at tired eyes. Those eyes fluttered opened, "John?"
Red... that's all John saw. Vibrant, bewitching, lustrous red framed by long, pale lashes. They looked fever bright and haggard, but they were still one of the most captivating things he had ever seen. They were warm, a heat that promised to always keep him from the cold, burning him with soft licking flames that would only make him want to fall in deeper.
"-hn... John?"
John's breath caught in his throat. He was doing it again, fallin away into exotic eye colors until reality was a far away place he had to struggle his way back into.
"Ah... umm..." he flushed, and he just knew his cheeks were blue. He tried to clear his throat, but that just proved to be painful, "W-where... where are we?"
If Dave noticed his odd staring, or his blushing, he didn't say anything on it, but there was the smallest upward ticks to his lips. Those lips that had been on his own before, soft, and warm, and life giving.
John felt the heat of his blushing spread up to the tips of his ears.
"You okay there, buddy?" Dave's voice was smug, so he did notice, and he knew what his flustering was about. That bastard!
"I'm... I'm fine," John quickly lied, "Where are we again?"
Dave rolled his eyes, and wow, he really was so expressive without his shades covering half his face, "Right. Well, like I was saying. We're on Jade's island. Or what Dirk and Jake call Hell Murder Island. This is one of Jade's guest rooms. The one I'm assuming you've been assigned to during you stay."
"Oh..." John said simply, looking around the room again, finding a window this time that overlooked... a high view of the entire island, "Holy fuck, are we a mountain or something?"
"Or something," Dave snorted softly. "You wanna brave getting up? Everyone's here already. I can show you around. Meet the others for a pow wow on what our next move is."
"Yeah, I think I can manage that with my frail body made out of broken porcelain and wet glue," John said with a roll of his eyes.
Dave's brows furrowed into a frown, "Maybe you don't remember much of what happened out there Egbert, but you almost drowned. And I mean literally stopped breathing, almost didn't restart type of drowning. No shame in being a little weak after something like that."
John flinched, dropping his gaze, "You... you saved me..." he said instead of apologizing like he meant to.
Dave pulled back, surprised, "Ah... umm... yeah, I... I guess...?"
John shook his head a little, "No... you don't guess.. You did... twice... or maybe three times now...? So I... Thanks for that... and I'm sorry for being a turd right now."
Dave's cheeks flushed a light red and John smiled, glad he got that small bit of payback, "Don't even worry about it, man."
But how unfair was it that Dave got to keep his normal blood color? Well... actually, judging from the color of his eyes, his blood was probably a few shades brighter than a normal human's blood. But wow, that was still remarkably close.
"So give me the grand tour," John changed the subject, carefully sitting up in case his body refused to comply. It protested int he form of sore muscles, but nothing he hadn't been dealing with the past couple of days. He turned to the side of the bed opposite Dave, feet slipping down to the floor soft, carpted floor, letting himself luxuriate in that for a moment, then he carefully got up, stretching tired, aching muscles, "Nnnngh! Man, how long do you think it'll take for me to be able to wake up without feeling sore all over?"
Dave choked, his face bright red now, looking up at the ceiling, "You'll... you'll get used to it and it'll stop feeling sore," he stumbled over his own words, the coloring reaching up to the tips of his pointed ears. John hadn't noticed that they were pointed before, but then if his own were, why wouldn't Dave's be?
"I hope so," he muttered petulantly.
"Uh... Egbert... you might wanna... umm... get back in bed or..." Dave mentally cursed himself for his stuttering, floundering around for anything he could say, one smooth thing, anything. But it was all he could do not to look back down.
"What..? Why would I want to get back into bed? I just got out." John inquired, brow quirking up, "And what are you looking at?"
"Ah... well, not much, just trying to be a decent guy is all. Trying not to catch an eyeful," though if he were honest, he already had.
"An eyefull of wha-"John glanced down at himself, naked as the day he was born, if a lot bigger and further developed than he had been when he was born. With a yelp, he dove back under the covers, "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY ANYTHING?!"
"I thought I did," Dave muttered, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, a nervous habit, since his shades clearly weren't bothering him right now.
"Why am I naked?!" John asked instead of conceding the point.
"Well..." Dave glanced back down slowly, making absolutely sure he wasn't about to start an incident with his best friend, mildly disappointed when he didn't, "after we were warped out of the ocean, and you started breathing again, we were both covered in sea water and seagoat blood, so we both needed to wash up and so did our clothes."
"Wait," John glanced at his perfectly clean arms, and completely untacky with blood hair, "Someone washed me while I was unconscious?! They saw me naked?!" Oh god! Oh god, someone saw him naked! The way he looked! With his extra bits and... and things he didn't want to think about!
"Don't worry about it, Jade took care of you," Dave shrugged his shoulders.
"JADE SAW ME NAKED?!" John screeched.
Dave winced, "Well... yeah, but you're making it sound a lot worse than it is."
"How can it be not worse than it is?! She... she saw me naked! She saw me... and... and she... oh my god!" John ducked under the covers, curling into a ball, hugging his knees to his chest.
Dave sighed, patting the best friend lump under the covers, "C'mon man, it's not like you've got something she hasn't seen before."
John tensed at that. Did... Dave know...? About his changes? Well... yeah, he was the one that was compltely clueless about this whole troll heritage, dominant/submissive thing. Of course Dave had to know more than he did. But... wait... John had both, did Dave think that he had lost his... or did that mean...
"How do you know what Jade's seen before?" he asked accusingly, peeking the top of his head out of the covers.
Dave blinked a few times, quirking a brow, "Because she's got what you got, too," he said like it was a clear cut case.
John's spluttered indignantly, cheeks coloring blue all over again, "I'll have you know I still have what I had before! It didn't go away!"
Dave coughed a little, "Yeah, I saw."
John squeaked, ducking back down, "Y-you saw? A-all of it...?"
It was Dave's turn to sputter, "N-not..." He cleared his throat, "Not all of it. Just... what you had before..."
"You... you don't think it's weird that... that I have both now...?" There... he was... he was finally talking about it, but he didn't dare look out from the covers this time.
"No, not at all," Dave blurted out, then bit his lip, mulling over the rest of his answer. "I think it's..." hot as fuck, "pretty normal. I mean... You're still thinking in regular human terms, but we're more than that. We always have been."
John finally peeked out, "Well... I... I guess... but you guys... you always knew what you were, right? What we are?"
Dave nodded, letting John finish his train of thought without interruption.
"I... I didn't know at all. All this time, I grew up thinking I was just an ordinary guy, that I'd lead this normal, boring life, and just be another cog in the system, you know?"
"You grew up thinking you were going to be another drone? That's all you aspired to be?" Dave asked, brow quirked.
"NO!" John huffed, "I wanted to be a comedian when I was younger, but... I... I guess, I just... started becoming cyncial at some point... I don't know... THE POINT IS! I'm not that now, and I never will be, but I don't know... I'm way more different than I ever thought I could be. And... And now I'll never fit into any form of human society..."
"Says who?" Dave demanded.
"Dave," John sighed, "I have horns... and whenever I blush or maybe even when I get a fever or too hot, my skin turns blue. That's... that's not normal, and people would think I was a freak."
"So all that means is that you need to learn a bit of control. And you can start wearing funny hats or something," Dave shrugged, "You're only as limited as you let yourself be."
John worried his bottom lip between his teeth, "Maybe... But the funny hat thing, that won't work if I ever get a respectable job, or even when I just get older. Can you imagine a 50 year old version of me wearing a silly hat?"
"Yeah," Dave's lips pulled up in a smile, "I can... It'd be just like you. Who the fuck cares what other people think, man. The only people who should matter are the people who are the most important to you. And if they can't accept you the way you are, then they don't deserve a spot in your heart."
John was stunned silent, staring at Dave. He felt a funny flutter in his chest that made him smile shyly, "Heh... yeah. I guess you're right... No. You are right! I... I can do it, I just... have to be a bit creative is all," he suddenly grinned, his chest feeling a lot lighter, "Yeah!"
"There's the Egbert I know and love," Dave smirked lightly.
But it stopped John short. L-love...? No... wait. Calm down, you're thinking too much into it John. If Dave had said that even a week ago, John would have taken the statement in stride (haha, stride), and even told Dave he loved him right back, because he would have meant it as bros, just like he was sure Dave meant it now. But... his mind wandered back to their kiss back underwater. Because he was sure that Dave had been kissing him just as much as John had been.
Except... that hadn't been a kiss at all. That had been Dave saving his life when he could still breathe and John clearly couldn't! He was seeing too much where there was nothing. It didn't mean anything more than the fact that Dave would be willing to go pretty much any distance to save his life. Yeah... Yeah, that was all it really meant. Just like John was sure he would have done for Dave if the situation had been reversed. Right! It wasn't romantic or anything, it was life saving. Anyone with a heart would have done the same.
Especially best bros.
Yeah...
That's what they were. Best bros... Just... best bros.
John shook away those stray thoughts and the furrow in his brow, sitting up in the bed again, this time wrapping the blanket around himself and tying the end at his shoulder like a toga before he got to his feet, "Okay, so about that tour..."
Dave had watched a war wage itself on John's face, down to the end, whatever he had been fighting about. He didn't ask, though he was dying to know. Instead he stuffed his hands into his pocket and offered a customary Strider smirk, motioning with his head, "C'mon."
They both walked like old men with aching joints, something that made John giggle, when a thought occurred to him, "Hey Dave?"
"Yeah?"
"You said Jade has what I have..."
"Yeah."
"But you saw that I still have what I had before..."
"Mm-hmm..."
"Does... Does that mean Jade has a dick?!"
Dave laughed the way only John could ever get him to laugh, "We'll let Rose field that question man, I'm not talking about it."
"Awww, but Dave!" John whined.
I DID IT!
Okay, so I probably didn't mention this before, but this story was my unofficial NaNoWriMo. Completely unofficial, seeing as these clearly aren't my original characters. I remembered nanowrimo too late, and I just decided I'd write a long fic idea that I had and see if I could make it to 50,000 words by the end of the month with my work schedule. And I DID IT! YAY ME!
But now that the month is over what does that mean?
It means that chapters might come a bit slower and definitely shorter, and I'll probably be posting other story ideas I have at the same time. I'm not sure yet, but that seems like the most likely of outcomes.
But worry not! I have no intention of giving up on this story any time soon, or ever! :3
See you next time!
Oh! Also, I had promised the possibility of adult content for his chapter. I was going to... I had some nice Dirk/Jake planned, but then Dave and John had to nurture the seed that is their possible romance. It's all very Inu-Yasha-ish! Romantic development, then back track, back track, back track! I promise it won't be that way for long!
