A/N: So... Yeah. Another update. There's some DaveKat's in this... So... more... SolKat's next chapter... 'Promise... *face-desks*
I'm writing up the next chapter now, so it'll hopefully be up by tomorrow, but I also have school, so we'll see.
Ciao for now!
~Webs
BE THE GUILTY (BUT STILL PISSED) CAPTOR
You watch Karkat from the other side of the breakfast table as he picks at his eggs and bacon, entire form hunched over in exhaustion. He eyes his food with sleep-glazed eyes, definitely not lucid as to what's going on around him.
Gamzee and Crabdad act like nothing's different, talking to each other across the table and taking advantage of their day off, the CLOSED sign flipped forward in the window of the restaurant. You wonder why they're so... okay with Karkat looking like he's going to keel over, while you keep your eyes on him, worried he'll do just that.
The only good thing about this situation is the fact Dave left the night before after he'd been given dinner and taken some back to you and Karkat, as promised. You're glad he's gone, but you miss the euphoric air he brought with him that made Karkat smile like that, though you don't like that Dave was the one who brought that out in him.
You shake yourself a little to stop thinking about Dave, looking back at Karkat, who's nodding off over his plate a little. You frown, resisting the urge to reach over and shake his shoulder. After a long minute of debate and watching Karkat, you lean over and poke Gamzee. "Hey, Gamz." Crabdad and him turn to look at you; you get nervous, but still say, "I think Karkat needs to go back to bed."
Gamzee blinks and looks at Karkat, who's peeked up from his dozing, and shakes his head. Gamzee sighs, and shakes his head as well. "Nope, motherfucker. Karbro's fine, man."
"Bullshit," you say, grumbling. Before you can say anything else, however, Karkat gets to his feet abruptly, setting down his fork and sending you a small glare.
"I'm going for a walk. I might run into soldiers; who knows." He shrugs, heading for the door. Gamzee quickly gets to his feet as well, hurrying over to him and grabbing his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Karkat whisper-yells back, then shoves him off, leaving the restaurant and slamming the door.
You sit there in stunned silence, biting your lip and ignoring the glare you get from Gamzee, get to you feet as well. "I-I, um..."
"Might as well go after him." Your attention snaps to Crabdad, who's just continued eating as if stuff like this is a normal occurrence. "He'll probably do something stupid, and we can't have that." He wipes his mouth on a napkin and gets to his feet, starting to clear the table.
Taking a moment to comprehend what just happened, you quickly head out the door after Karkat.
BE THE PISSY TEEN FUCKING PISSED FOR NO FUCKING REASON
You kick the stones under your feet as you walk, each step leaving behind hints of the sand buried underneath, hands shoved as deep into your pockets as they can possibly go. You try to drown out the ferocious roaring in your head with the headphone strapped over your ears, yawning every few breaths.
Shit, you need to learn how to do help Sollux without completely draining yourself, but you're... Fuck, you're scared of hurting him. How could you not be? One slip up and you could lose the one kid your age who's putting up with all this shit.
Well, you guess there's Dave now, but he's... He's you don't know. You don't know what to think about Dave, and you honestly don't want to think about pretty much anything right now, so you shove that away, pausing your walking to look out at the water to your left. You watch the waves lap at the pebbles, staining the light stones dark.
You've toed out of your shoes before you realize, and have already shuffled out of your hoodie. You shrug, and go with it, stripping down to your tanktop and boxers, slipping off your headphones and putting those on the neatly folded clothes on the bank. You already miss the music, but you step into the ripples, not even minding the cold as you steadily stride out until the water hits your waist, closing your eyes and just standing there, inhaling deeply.
With your senses currently on overdrive, you cringe at all the sounds and smells and feels of the world around you, now sincerely wishing you'd kept your headphones. In an effort to block it out, you suddenly plunge under the waves, fingers locking in your hair as you keep your head under the water. You let your feet lift off the bottom of the river, and allow your body to be moved by the current, as slow as it may be. You almost instant feel better, curling up in a tight ball to remain under the surface and letting yourself drift.
You try to lose all sense of the world and direction, focusing instead on the subtle ripples on your skin, on the silky feel of algae when your skin brushes the rocks beneath you, and on the tight feeling in your chest as you slowly run out of breath. You almost contemplate staying under, but then you kick up and break the surface, gasping for air.
You blink several times and shake your head to get your bangs out of your eyes, panting shallowly as you continue to refuse to let you stand on the bottom. The water's slightly deeper here, easily reaching your neck in your half-sitting position, but you relish in this fact, closing your eyes again.
"Hey. Fishboy." Your eyes shoot open at this, head whipping around to find the now-familiar head of blonde hair that belongs to one Dave Strider. He's dressed differently though, in black skinny jeans and a black button up under an equally black jacket, the only color on him the bright red bandanna around his neck, tied muffler-style.
"I am not a fish," you protest weakly, standing up and wading back to where the Strider's standing by your clothes. "What the fuck are you doing here anyway?"
"What the fuck are you doing half-naked in a river?" Your cheeks go slightly pink, dressing quickly into your jeans and sweater. You're about to pick up your headphones and iPod, but Dave stop's you with his foot, making you look up at him questioningly.
"What are you-?" He just shakes his head, making a shhing noise before saying,
"Spar me." You blink.
"What you?"
"Spar me. Bro made me do it whenever I was upset. Which was a lot."
"What does that have to do with me?" He sighs, making you stand straight before stripping you of your hoodie again. You again only protest weakly, severely confused as to what's going on.
"You're upset." He sheds his jacket, dropping it by yours and taking a couple steps back. "So spar me without using any of your mother's side." You make another sound of confusion as he takes a ready defense stance. "Don't think about it; just do it."
"Dave, I don't know if..." You look to him imploringly, and he just sighs again.
"I said don't think about it."
"How am I supposed to do th-" Without warning, he swings up his leg, and you barely manage to block it with your arm. You look from his foot to his face, but don't have any time to say anything before he's throwing his arm at you.
You squeak, jumping backwards and skidding to a stop several feet away from him. You realize he's not going to let up unless you fight back, so you prepare yourself, sliding into a ready position yourself.
"When an unarmed assailant is coming at you, and for some reason, you can't use your gift, what do you do?" You'd looked at Crabdad in the utmost of confusion.
"Why wouldn't I be able to use my powers?"
"Let's just say you run into someone else like you."
"But you said there's no one else like me." He sighed, kneeling down and putting a hand on your shoulder.
"Use your imagination, Karkat. Use your imagination, and come at me with all you've got."
You take a deep breath and open your eyes again, blinking in surprise to find Dave held against one of the old pier supports, your hand at the scruff of his shirt. His wide red eyes look back at yours in surprise, his shades thrown who knows the fuck where.
You immediately drop him back to his feet, taking a step back. You mumble an apology, looking away guiltily. "Sorry..."
"No, shit, man, that was awesome!" Dave's lips crack into a grin, dusting himself off and righting his shirt. "How did you do that?" You look down at your feet, scratching the back of your head.
"Um, actually, I have no idea..."
"I know you didn't use your mother's side."
"Yeah, whenever that happens, I tend to... I dunno, blackout. Crabdad doesn't know why."
"Oh." His grin slips into a frown. "Is that... safe for you?" You shrug a little.
"It hasn't affected me before. 'Not like it's going to start now." Dave sighs, shaking his head and starting to walk back towards your guy's jackets. You hesitate a moment before following, marveling how far down the beach the two of you had gotten; you really wish you could remember what happens while you're like that.
You bed down and put your hoodie back on, still not feeling the cold temperatures that have turned Dave's nose and ears red, and stuff you iPod in your pocket. You turn to Dave to invite him back to the restaurant, but as you do so, Dave flops down onto his butt on the rocks, before laying out flat with a huff of breath.
You blink, cocking your head. "What are you doing?"
"Resting. Care to join?" You stand there for a moment, then snort and lay out next to him, looking up at the slowly-lightening sky. You tuck your arms behind your head, closing your eyes and letting out a tired breath. You hear Dave shifting on the rocks next to you, but you don't bother to look, even when you feel him card his fingers into your hair.
You just kind of shrug it off and let him, letting yourself relax, and your body to calm down. You can't stay awake for very long once he starts playing with your hair, slipping easily into a light doze, as if you seriously has not a single care in the world.
A/N: Hmm... Yeah, I don't think I can put anything down here, actually.
Thank you guys so much for your support on this, it being my most complicated plot and such it's just... so fucking flattering and heartwarming to know you guys like this and read it and just... Thank you.
~Webs