Bzzzt. Bzt. Bzzzzzzzt.
Dave rolled over, glancing past Dirk's sleeping form to where their phones were charging on the table by the bed. His screen was lit up, indicating he'd received a message. He groaned and began to reach for it, then paused. There's a chance it could be...Welp, fuck that, then. He'd check it later. But his mood was already ruined. He nudged Dirk's arm, who was still asleep, but woke up just enough to lift his arm, inviting Dave to come closer. Dave slipped his arm across Dirk's chest, feeling his warmth, which comforted him, helped blank out his mind, and he drifted back to sweet unconsciousness.
The alarm started going off, exactly six minutes before it was supposed to. Dave and Dirk slowly sat up, and glared at the pair of shades sitting on the desk.
"Hal. You little shit," Dirk mumbled, crossing the room and donning said shades. "YES. SIX MINUTES MAKES A DIFFERENCE. Of course you wouldn't know that, you don't have a body," pause, "Oh come ON you know I didn't mean it like that. Hal. Hal... Hal. Hal, SHUT UP FOR TWO SECONDS HAL FOR FUCKSAKE I AM GODDAMN TIRED WHY CAN'T YOU GIVE ME MY LAST SIX FUCKING MINUTES?"
By now Dave was chuckling at the scene before him. He knew Dirk had been hella stressed to say the least, but come on, this shit was funny as hell.
While Dirk continued his argument with Lil Hal (bless his devious soul), Dave remembered his phone going off earlier. He groaned internally and decided, fuck it, might as well check now. Picking up his phone, he (not nervously, Striders don't get nervous) unlocked it, and opened his messaging app, Pesterchum. Oh, good. A fucking PARAGRAPH of text from the one and only grumpy-ass nubby-horned troll with a short stature and even shorter temper who had somehow managed to capture Dave's heart attention. Well, fuck it. Let's read.
CG: BLAH BLAH BLAH FUCK BLAH FUCKING BLAH BLAH TALK ABOUT THIS BLAH BLEH BLAHHHHHBLAH BLAH FUCK FUCKIN FUCK BLEH FUCK BLAH BLAH MEET UP BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH AND DON'T JUST SKIM OVER BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH FUCK BLAH IF YOU ACTUALLY READ IT ALL BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BECUASE IM FUCKING SERIOUS YOU'RE BEING BLAH BLAH FUCKING BLAHBITTY BLAH BLAH BLAH DIDN'T READ MOST OF THIS SHIT WHAT THE FUCK EVER STRIDER JUST MESSAGE ME THE FUCK BACK OKAY?
Ah he's so cute when he's pissy. Which really pissed Dave off at this moment. Okay, he knew he was being unreasonable. He and Karkat were just friends. They had nothing going on. He knew that and was stupid as shit to think Karkat would be into him like that. Karkat and John were perfectly entitled to feel however they wanted towards each other and leave Dave in the fucking dust, besides why should Dave even care he was hot he knew it he could probably get anyone he wanted!
Except...the one he wanted, wanted John.
You know what? He was being dumb about this. He really didn't give a shit. No really. He fucking didn't. And why should he?
...
OKAY FINE HE WAS TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH KARKAT. But Karkat wanted John. Everyone knew that already. He knew that already. He shouldn't have gotten so angry with them about this.
CONVENIENT FLASHBACK
Dave was headed up to Karkat's apartment for their weekly movie night with John. Karkat always picked the movie, and always picked a romcom featuring one of the actors John liked. Of course, Dave didn't give a shit what they watched, so long as he got to be around Karkat. Half the time, Karkat would end up sobbing into Dave's shoulder, which, again, Dave didn't mind whatsoever.
He got to the door and knocked, but got no answer. He heard movement inside, including a yelp, and panicked, slamming the door open. There on the floor in front of him, Karkat was straddling John, both panting and red-faced. You could hear a fucking pin drop in the silence that ensued.
If Dave hadn't been wearing shades, he could swear in that moment, the pure fire in his glare would have burned both of them to death. He slammed the door and stormed away, ignoring his friends when the called and chased after him. He flashstepped the whole way back to his and Dirk's room.
That's where we found him in chapter 10, bouncing a ball and annoying Dirk.
Okay, he'd overreacted to the situation. He texted Karkat back, agreeing to meet up at the bridge. Dirk had finally stopped arguing with Hal, and was watching Dave. Dirk was the only one who could read past Dave's poker face, and knew something was up. But of course, couldn't actually flat out say anything about it. Dave cleared his throat, and got out of bed, rummaging around the room, grabbing his black skinny jeans, his favourite baseball tee with the record on it and red sleeves, boxers, socks, and his shades, and headed to the bathroom to change. "Gonna go meet up with Karkat," he muttered as he left the room.
Once he left, Dirk hesitated, and crept over to the table where their phones were. He picked up Dave's and read over the messages. Ah, so something happened with Karkat and John? Weird, he thought John was straight. But Karkat was clearly at least a little pitch for the blue-eyed dork. He was pretty sure Dave and Karkat had something red going on, so that shouldn't matter...oh wait, Dave was clueless when it came to troll romance and quadrants. Well, that certainly would explain quite a bit about this. He set the phone back down and gathered his own clothes. Dave left the bathroom, and Dirk went in, to changed and style his hair.
Dave grabbed his phone and shoved it in his back pocket. He glanced in the mirror and nodded to his reflection, as if to reassure himself. He called out to Dirk that he was heading out, and left. He walked as slowly as he could, trying to figure out what he would say in response to whatever Karkat might say. He'd probably have to apologize. Hopefully the fact he liked Karkat wouldn't have to be mentioned, nor the fact that he got jealous. Of course, he wanted to be more than friends with Karkat, but he would absolutely be okay with being just friends. He wasn't sure what he'd do if Karkat decided to cut him off.
Ugh. Those thoughts weren't going to do any good. He'd just roll with the punches. That's what Striders do. Be prepared without preparing. Be ready for anything.
Karkat was waiting for him, pacing quickly, obviously anxious about something. What was he going to say? Was he angry? Goddamnit, Dave really didn't want to have this conversation. But he couldn't wimp out. Steadying himself mentally, he decided he may as well get it over with. He stepped up onto the bridge, and leaned against the bricks, face blank as ever, as Karkat looked up from his pacing and stopped immediately.
They just looked at each other for a while. Neither said a word for at least a full minute, each waiting for the other to speak. But of course, Karkat can't stand being quiet for long without literally holding his breath, and broke the silence.
"Dave. Um. Thanks for coming. You're late as shit though, what the hell took you so long?" His voice was trying to convey annoyance, but his face was so easy to read. He obviously thought Dave wasn't going to come once their appointed meeting time, 9:30am, came to pass. He was worried, and...afraid? Dave just shrugged, still not saying anything. Karkat gulped audibly, almost comically. Dave may have chuckled if not for the situation. The troll, figuring the human wouldn't give input just yet, pressed on, "I just. Okay. Yesterday, when you came in. I. Okay let me just," He took a breath and continued, "I was actually fighting with John. Not to hurt each other but he said something that made me want to hit him. I tried and, well, we wrestled a bit. You came in right when I won. And the only reason I can figure that you left like you did, not even listening when we told you to come back, is that you were fucking pissed. I get that, and I'm sorry for pissing you off. You can be mad at me all you want, I started it, just don't be mad at John, I know you two are...well...I don't wanna come between you two. I'm still trying to understand human romance and I-"
Wait what? "Wait, what?"
They stood in silence again, Dave's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What the fuck do you think is going on between me and John?" he demanded.
Karkat shifted on his feet, avoiding eye contact. "Well. I mean. You two act really pale but humans don't have that quadrant; if anything they just demolish the line between pale and red and call it love and i don't even know how the fuck you process blackrom but i guess i didn't think you two acted red enough to be like that i thought you were just good friends or something and I didn't mean to piss you off I don't even like John like that if anything I hate him but I know humans don't have that and I may have crossed a line I wasn't aware existed and I'm sorry about that but it wasn't John's fault. It was mine. And. I'm sorry."
Dave could only stare. Karkat thought he was jealous...because he was in love with John? What? He had prepared for many paths this conversation could take, but not this one.
"Dude. He's my bro. My best bro. We, uh. We aren't. Together. Besides, he's straight. I thought you knew that?" He managed, still utterly confused about. Well, life in general, but this conversation in particular. .
Karkat knit his brow together, and then growled and yelled in frustration, "FOR FUCK'S FUCKING SAKE, STRIDER, I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY YOU GOT SO FUCKING PISSED OFF IF YOU'RE NOT ATTRACTED TO JOHN LIKE THAT, WHY DO YOU ACT THE WAY YOU DO WITH HIM? I DON'T GET IT! WHY ARE HUMANS SO FUCKING STUPID WITH THEIR ROMANCE BULLSHIT! IF YOU'RE NOT JEALOUS THEN WHY WERE YOU SO PISSED OFF?" Karkat was screaming no, not even his usual yelling, but was legitimately wearing down his voice with the volume he was speaking at.
Dave crossed the distance between them before he could even think, pretty sure that was the fastest flashstep anyone had ever accomplished. Before Karkat was even aware he had moved, he gripped one hand lightly into the troll's hair on the back of his head. He waited a moment for the troll to register their current position, adoring the way his bright eyes widened, sparkling, before leaning down and pressing his lips to Karkat's softly, giving him plenty of room to shove away if he chose to. Instead, to Dave's absolute delight, he melted into it, sighing and wrapping his arms around Dave's broad shoulders. Dave wrapped his own arms around Karkat's waist, his fingers traveling to feel the tough skin covering hard, lean muscle. Damn, with how fit he was, Karkat really should have been a meister. His body was so perfect.
Karkat let out a small moan, just barely held back, as Dave's hands roamed his form, appreciating every bit of him. His hips, his waist, his back, arms, shoulders, Dave's hands explored everything. Fuck, if this wasn't absolutely perfect…
The human buried his fists into Karkat's thick black hair, and pulled, feeling the troll groan into his mouth. A hand appeared on his forearm, which caused Dave to pause, letting both himself and Karkat breathe. In that time, Karkat stared up at Dave, his eyes absolutely shimmering. He cupped Dave's cheek and muttered "So...it was me…? You…" he trailed off, but Dave smiled, not smirked this time, but actually smiled.
"Yeah. You. I was jealous," he paused. Striders didn't spill their hearts...but at that moment, fuck that shit, "I was jealous because. Fuck, Karkat. I fuckin love you," He kissed him again, and Karkat whined, pulling Dave closer, not wanting to ever separate.
When they finally did a few minutes later, both were flushed, and stared at each other. Karkat got the sudden urge to look into Dave's eyes, and raised a hand to the ever-present shades, but saw Dave flinch, and changed his mind. Too soon, if ever. If Dave didn't want to remove the shades, that was completely fine. So long as they could stay like this forever...
