Okay so I got some chapters down and I should be set for a minute. Anyways, I guess I should probably reword my question from the last chapter. *ahem* The Faygover is supposed to represent what Juju that sends a person into what Mode? Hint: It was probably one of the most psychedelic panels in Homestuck and they all ended up with hangover like symptoms.

I'm never going to let Vriska goad me into going out to party ever again. I can pretty much remember practically every cringe worthy moment after I drank that abomination of a drink. I was too giggly and not full enough of wrath. I mean, I was trying to flirt with Dave. What. In. The. Everloving. Fuck?! And of all the things I went for I talked about his eyes? I mean, yeah actually they are kinda gorgeous but that's beside the point! Why me? Why?

Yes. I can remember something like that even through a migraine the size of China being attacked by a weed whacker, a chainsaw, and a light saber. I vow right here and now to never take a drink that will make me sound like Barbie got high ever again. I will also probably never be able to show my face around Dave, as he will no doubt use this as blackmail somehow. Ugh and I just let him drink my blood like I was doing him a very enjoyable service. I'm never gonna get used to the feeling of blood being sucked out of me or the fact that I was such a ditz.

I could really use a mermaid drowning me right about now.

"Salem, are you going to get ready for school or what?" Aunt Jojo opens my door and pokes her frizzy head through it. I wince at the volume of her voice. No alcohol in that drink my ass. There had to be some in it or I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be acting like some poor sap on Untold Stories of the ER!

"I've got a whopping headache, do me a favor and put me out of my misery," I mumble, burrowing under my blankets.

Aunt Jojo snickers a little. "You've been getting sick a lot girly. You gonna make it to the end of the school year?"

It's not like anyone's gonna miss me at school anyways.

Well...maybe Jade and Jake...And possibly John whenever it is the consequences of his bet with them are rescinded.

"It's Dave I'm telling you," I cough. "I think I'm allergic to him."

And his bullshit.

It's definitely his bullshit I'm allergic to.

"That's what your mother always said about your father," I peek out of my blankets a little and see Aunt Jojo entering the room some more. She eases herself onto the bed and pats a random lump of me.

"My sister was truly a fiery woman, and as much as your father brought that out in her, he seemed to be the only one who also knew how to hold her back when she was about to go bloody someone up," She chuckles lightly. "The way you and Dave are acting now I seriously cannot help but see Sally and Niall when I look at you guys. I see so much of your mother in you that it's almost a little scary. Although I have to admit you learned the sarcasm from your father."

She's lets that hang for a bit and I wait a little in anticipation for her to continue. It's so nice hearing her talk about Mom and Dad, even if she is bringing Dave into the comparisons as well.

Quietly she says, "I think it's a good thing you and Dave found each other. And I know that right now you're definitely not used to the kind of attention he gives you-"

Boy does she have that right.

"-But you of all the people I know deserve someone to love the most"

My blankets suddenly becomes a sauna that I have unwittingly trapped myself in. I'm so very close to to denying our relationship status as a couple right then and there and spilling the beans on his vampireness, but I'm just so tongue tied right now! Aunt Jojo is taking the sentimentality a little too far.

She slaps her knees and stiffly gets up. "Well, get better soon Lemon. It's just no fun when someone you love is sick."

I jerk awake and fall off the couch when someone practically pounds the door down. Groaning, I pick myself up and rub my head. The credits to 'Treasure Planet' play on the softest volume I could stand at the time. Damn, I think I slept through most of the movie.

The knocking sounds again, but suddenly stops. What the hell?

"Good morning my sleeping beauty," Dave materializes leaning over my couch to look at me still on the floor. "Why hast thou not answered my summons when I came a knocking?"

"You answered your question before you even asked it you moron," I groan again and heave myself back onto the couch. My head has yet to cease pounding while in my waking moments. Why is it whenever parties and Dave collide I usually end up with headaches?

"Aw, is you a wittle tired?" he teases, casually brushing his cold ass hands over my forehead.

"Is you about to get smacked for talking to me like that?" I retort. He laughs and hops over the couch and lands with a light thump. I sigh and lean my head back against the arm of the couch, stretching my legs over him. He's in the way I might as well make use of him if he's just gonna go and make himself at home.

The silence carries on and I'm ready to fall asleep again when he asks, "How are you feeling, seriously?"

"Dave don't go shedding any tears for lil' ol' me now. I'm only mostly acting like I'm dying," I push against him with my feet, daring him to attack. His tone kinda has me worried. He doesn't take the bait like I was thinking he would (which actually kinda saves me from being tickled, phew!). Instead he lightly traces patterns on them. I decide it's time to take a peek and see what on earth is wrong with the guy that always has a comeback.

He's frowning with such intensity that's it's actually causing my concern to grow. For once, though, I can tell he isn't looking at me. His chi is dipped slightly lower than if it were upright, and the way his eyebrows are knit together tells me he's thinking rather than paying attention to his surroundings. He's just acting so damn odd right now. Was it because of that thing I said last night about his eyes?

Racking my sorry brain yields nadda. Something hazy clings to the edge of my thoughts though, but it's like trying to grasp at mist if I wanna view it or something.

"Yoohoo, Earth to Dave Strider come in," I wave my hand, pretending I have the energy to get up and shove it in his face. I only get so far as a slight push before I'm flopping pathetically back again. "Come in Dave Strider!"

"Yes dear?" He looks up, turning that frown upside down and trying real hard to make believe he hasn't just been zoning out.

"Oh good you're still functioning," I sigh in mock relief. "I can't have a broken vampire. I paid ten potatoes for you."

"I'm only worth ten potatoes?"

"Bitch that's pretty high according to my standards, you should feel like fucking royalty," I snicker tiredly, stifling a yawn in the process. Ah damn. I feel like even alking for a few minutes longer is gonna put me to sleep.

"When's your Aunt coming home?" he asks, suddenly running a red light in traffic and making it to a whole new street.

"What time is it?"

"Almost 5:30."

"In which case, soon," I can't stifle the yawn this time. Shifting around a bit I tuck the blanket I've been using around me better and struggle to keep my eyes open. Dave's got no problem in helping with that.

He stands up and my feet fall unmajestically to the ground. His grin is spelling trouble, and the words coming out of his mouth are only enhancing it.

"I'm gonna make you dinner!"

Suspicious. Very suspicious.

"Unsupervised? Sounds dangerous. You'll probably slip poison into my food only to find out it turns me into a llama," I say guardedly, throwing in a Disney reference cause why the hell not?

It's amazing how much a grin can grow even when I thought it couldn't grow anymore. It's also kind of scary just because it means he's got a plan that's going to be put into action. Unfortunately I'm so tired that all I can do is verbally protest so I guess I'll just leave myself to my doom.

He shuffles closer and pulls me up. And by up I mean he pulls me up and catches me so he's carrying me. Panicking, my automatic response is to wrap myself around him so I don't fall. He chuckles and says, "Well if you're so worried about supervision then I guess you'll just have to come and observe my mad skills. Also, how's the view from up here, Shorty?"

"Fuck off!" I squeak. His arms wrap around and holds me tightly so I don't fall. I'm still not gonna let go of my near death grip on him just because holy fuck what the hell is he doing?!

"Put me down!"

"Nah," He begins moving towards the kitchen. One hand releases my to perform the task of gathering ingredients and cook ware. "I think I like having you cling to me like this."

"Wipe that smug look off your face this instant! And put me down!" I hiss even though I have yet to turn and see said smugness on his face. But knowing him I don't have to. He laughs and continues with his project.

Dave's acting so fucking weird. I really do not get it. Something's gotten into him, and it's making him be creepily nice. If anyone's been possessed it's gotta be him.

The door creaks open after the sounds of unlocking occur and my Aunt shuffles in.

Oh no.

Oh shit.

Fuck she's gonna see me like this with Dave and she's going to have a total girl moment and be all like oh you are just the cutest couple ever! or some gag worthy thing like that. It's enough to provoke cringing, blushing hard, and hiding my face on Dave's shoulder all in one fell swoop.

"Now this is something I can definitely get used to," he whispers silkily in my ear. I can just picture that cheeky grin of his and it pisses me off!

"Fuck! You!" I mumble through his shoulder.

"Salem I'm ho-oh. Ooohhh," And there's Aunt Jojo. Kill me now.

"Hey Miss P," Dave calls in a near jovial tone. If I'm dying though he's gonna come with me. And I will make his playground become my torture field.

There's no response from Aunt Jojo and I look up warily to see that she's disappeared. A few seconds later though she comes back armed with a camera.

"Say cheese!" She hits the button without delay and takes a picture.

"Put that camera back where it came from or so help me!" I cry, struggling to get down and get it away from her as she continuously takes pictures. "Dave for the love of god put me down!"

"Hey can you send one of those to me?" Dave turns around slightly to make semi-eyecontact with Aunt Jojo. Fucking bastard I should have known he would never take my side on this! Aunt Jojo makes a giggly reply about how she can send him all the photos he wanted. Why infact, she can just show him all these scrapbooks she happens to have on hand right now if he wants.

"Fuck nooooo," This is it. The end. Who knew my death was going to be so cruel? Death by embarrassment because I don't want a fucking vampire to see some baby pictures. Oh woe is me!

"I'll be more than happy to accept that offer when I'm done cooking," Dave laughs. He sounds so at ease with it. I groan. Doomed I say!

Aunt Jojo mosies over, snapping a few more pictures with a smug grin. I go back to hiding behind Dave's shoulders. "Well what's on the menu tonight? It smells pretty good."

Now that she mentions it, it does smell pretty good. A slightly salty aroma with chicken interwoven with it. Like a broth or something.

"Old style chicken noodle soup made mostly from scratch," Dave answers proudly. I get the feeling this is the only thing he knows how to make besides toast.

"Well I'll just set the table and take a few more pictures then," Aunt Jojo says merrily and no doubt takes more pictures to prove her point.

Dave and Jojo burst into another round of incurable laughter and by now I'm practically dead of heat stroke because it's so fucking hot in here. Hell's Sauna of Embarrassment, an all paid expense curtious of my Aunt's needs to show my life to Dave and tell him every little backstory he could ever ask for to go with it.

Hell.

While yes admittedly Aunt Jojo can tell a scarily good and accurate story that's highly entertaining, I'm just not sure how comfortable I am with my loss of privacy.

"So you mean to tell me that she," Dave dramatically gestures to me and cracks up. "wasn't always so cynical and sarcastic?"

"Damn, looks like my secret is out. How on earth did you even find out?" I sigh somewhere between mock annoyance and actual annoyance.

"Yes, she was quite the adventurer all on her own. She wouldn't come home for hours at a time and then when she did she'd be absolutely filthy from head to toes! I don't think we ever actually got a full explanation out of her as to what she did," Jojo winks at me. Only once did the whole truth come out of me about what it was I would do, and that was just because Mom wouldn't let me go until I did. And after that I never would explain it again.

Dave flips the page and that's when it gets really quiet. The jovial atmosphere dissipates and I look away, having no desire to stare at a picture that I've memorized every depressing detail of.

A man in his late 20's with a military styled haircut, smart grey eyes, and a heart warming smile; his arms wrapped around a dark haired beauty who I earned most of my looks from. Their dates of birth to the dates of death. The words "In Loving Memory". All of it.

I can't stand it.

"If...If you don't mind my asking, how...?" Dave doesn't seem to have the heart to finish his question. I don't have the heart to answer it. It's left up to Jojo to pick up the slack.

"They were in San Francisco with my fiancee, Niall's brother, attending a convention. I was here, watching Salem, who was seven at the time," She sighs wearily and begins to tell the disheartening memory. "They were caught on the Golden Gate when it happened."

The Golden Gate Tragedy. The official start to the Monster Uprisings. What really happened still can't even be figured out, not even with all the footage that caught it. We just know that a weird title wave at the edge of the bay appeared and shot a beam at the bridge. The blast destroyed most of it, and even affected people about a mile inland all around the bay. So many died that day, my parents and uncle not being any exception.

A rise of confliction bubbles to the surface, that feeling of a faint memory returning. Disgustingly happy feelings fight against pain, shock, and grief. It tears at me on the inside, raking sharp claws along my chest trying to escape. My heart is in agony; it's heavy as a rock, yet floating on helium. Utter chaos.

"Salem? I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked!" Dave's panicking voice pulls me out of it. I look at him and see he's halfway out of his seat.

I'm suddenly away of the cause of his reaction. Slowly I reach up and touch wet cheeks. I wipe at my eyes furiously, but it just makes more tears come out. I stand up and walk quickly to the bathroom.

"I-I'm fine I swear," My voice cracks and even I have a hard time believing myself. I have to get out of here and get a hold of myself. It's been ten years for hell's sakes, I've moved on already!

I've moved on...

Dave:

He slumps back into his seat and rubs his face with a sigh. He went and did it again. He made her cry. What a freaking idiot! He should have just kept his mouth shut and moved on.

But the fragments were bothering him. And when he saw the obituary he couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth. And now with that story put into place, it's easier to know what they all meant.

And he feels horrible because of it. Last night, today, he fucked it all up in one fell swoop of immaculate Dave Strider stupidity. Something it seems he's always good at doing recently.

"Sally always did say that girl was too stubborn to admit she needs or wants help from somebody," Ms. Princeton murmurs softly. "So much like her mother, that girl."

"I'm really sorry, I should have just kept my mouth shut," he apologizes lamely again. A tender hand reaches over and pats his shoulder.

"You asked a question that resulted in a harsh truth, it's nothing you need to apologize for. My sister and her husband wouldn't be having any of this attitude if they were here. They just weren't those kind of people."

He stops to think for a minute as he realizes he's been addressing Ms. Princeton- er Jojo- wrong all along. If she's Salem's mom's sister then that doesn't make her a Princeton at all. And she never would have become one because her fiancee...Agh that's yet another idiotic thing he's screwed up on with his assumptions and shit it seems.

Jojo moves to flip the page of the scrap book so that it's no longer on the morbid photo of a non-morbid couple. The label above the picture says 1 month later in a messy slanted scrawl.

"I started taking pictures again to distract and escape the pain," A small sad sigh escapes from her. "We both lost so much of our world, and I thought I would never see myself or niece happy again. I never thought I'd see that cute little smile of hers for the longest time.

"Salem has almost always been a bullied victim because of how she saw the world. Did you know that when she was a kid, a five year old no less, she wanted to be either a Monster's Rights Activist, or even a medic for Monsters? It always caused her to stick out like a sore thumb. And after Sally and Niall passed away, her main defense, well...all her dreams were slapped back at her and...I couldn't help..."

He stares at the picture of the sullen seven year old. Any trace of pure child innocence is gone and replaced with the scary thing known as reality. She looked so time worn for her age.

He pitied her.

But he also reveled in wonder at her. She is a lot stronger than he has originally given her credit for. Even he couldn't have made it so far alone. His brother had been the only thing that kept him going when...

He shakes his head and clears his thoughts. You're not going there, he commands himself. It's not your pity party.

"How can I make it up to her?" he asks, daring to make eye contact with the silent woman. "For screwing up today, I mean."

And last night.

"Hun, you've gotta learn you're not doing anything wrong until you start purposefully hurting her," Jojo chuckles lightly, quietly. "But if you're so insistent then go over there and pick a movie. Preferably a Disney one, since she's addicted to them and all."

She points to a movie shelf. Slowly he stands up and walks over to view a rather impressive combined collection of Disney and romcoms. He isn't sure how watching movie will fix anything, but if Jojo says it'll work then...

He grabs a random one and pops it into the dvd player.

I rinse cold water over my face, doing that weird sniffle-shudder thing in the process. I fucking hate crying. Crying when I'm sick is even worse because then everything just gets gross.

Grabbing a towel I dry off my face. My eyes are puffy and red, and my nose is already dressed up for the wrong holiday with it's Rudolph impersonation. Ugh I'm a mess.

I hope Dave isn't beating himself up because I can't control freaky weird hormones. That'd be somewhat depressing if he were. I mean, it's not like it's any of his fault for asking a question that was bound to get asked, if not by him then someone else. People have been trying to take an interest in my personal life as of late after all.

Sighing, I turn and open the door, throwing the towel back onto the counter and shutting off the light. I walk right into Dave as I leave. We stand there in awkward silence, both of us clearly wanting to say something but not unless the other speaks first.

"Um, your Aunt suggested I put on a movie. Hope you don't mind 'Aladdin'," he blurts. I cock an eyebrow, slightly worried with his apologetic mannerisms and nervous tone.

"Dave, stop apologizing," I say immediately. "You're kinda freaking me out by not a little shit right now. I just had an unexpected feels attack so just...don't."

"But-"

"No, zip it," I shush him and make a move to dart around him. "It's not like you intended for that reaction, right?"

He grabs my wrist and pulls me back. I fall into him and he traps me in a hug. Startled, I squirm around a lot. That Dave-a-phobic feeling creeps up on me.

"I'm still sorry okay?" he mumbles.

Holy fuck. He's...He's acting like he did that night he took me to the lake. That's how badly he's taking this. He's overthinking again, and blaming himself. I don't want him to go back through some sort of thought cycle that depresses him, not on my account!

"Dave, stop overthinking it," I command. "Say it with me: It's not my fault that Salem has personal issues."

"But-!"

"Dave! I'm fine now please just drop it. Don't bother yourself with lil' ol' me, okay?" I hesitate briefly before wrapping my arms around him too.

It's different from hugging my Aunt. Awkward? Certainly. Is it something I don't do often enough? Yeah. But does it feel wrong? Surprisingly...no.

I get this feeling that it's the right thing to do to help him. And I'm sure that as odd as it is for me the same is for him, but that he appreciates the gesture in some abysmal place that he keeps his heart.

However I'm only a touchy-feely person for so long, and this little session's gotta end.

I pull away and clear my throat. "So you said something about Aladdin?"

I can show you the world~

Shining, shimmering, splendid~

Tell me princess when did you last let your heart decide?~

I laugh sleepily. A great surprise had come my way when I found out that Dave is actually just as big of a nerd as I am and willingly sings along with Disney songs like they're national anthems or some shit. It turns the movie into an improvised karaoke game with possibly improvised lyrics to fit Dave's crude sense of humor. And also, Dave's not that bad at singing.

But the problem is that I'm running low on stamina. If there was a battery signal on me it would be beeping and red and telling me to charge myself or get knocked out. Already I've caught head drooping towards my chest more than once. And try as I might my eyes are going on a wildcat strike and trying to shut.

Dave continues singing and I lazily hum along while curling up next to him. Slowly I slip off and dream of trying to show a little boy a whole new world.

Dave:

He feels something hit his shoulder and he looks over to see Salem leaning her head on him. He pokes her cheek but she doesn't respond. She's definitely asleep.

She's actually cute in her curled up, docile, not biting his head off state. It's also a miracle. The level of trust has to be at an all time high if she's falling asleep like this with him around. Either that or else it's the Faygover sickness talking. He goes with the first option just because it is a more fun thought to entertain.

He's not entirely certain of how comfortable it is to be sleeping like that though, so he carefully moves around until he's laying down with her. He scoots over so she's laying in a small pocket between him and the couch. His shoulder became her improvised pillow. He's rather pleased he managed all this without waking her up.

He pulls out his phone and holds it up after a moment of contemplating what to do next. What Salem doesn't know won't get him killed. Selecting the camera icon, he angles it to where it's just right and can capture them both in the frame. The special lens allows for his reflection to appear immediately and without any kind of delay so he can know if something is wrong with how it looks.

He clicks another button and snaps a picture. The first thing he can consider acknowledging something greater is happening between the two of them, and also potentially dangerous evidence, is now saved to his phone.

He sighs and puts his phone up. He doesn't really feel like continuing to watch Aladdin anymore. It's not nearly as fun as when Salem is awake. But that leaves him with nothing to do and also trapped because he decided to let her use him as a pillow. Not that he particularly minded at this point.

The Brilliant Dave Strider strikes again, he thinks to himself. Well...I guess I can sleep too...

Even though he doesn't need it.

Still...Aw what the hell I've got nothing better to do right now anyways. He takes off his shades and sets them down on the coffee table nearby. Closing his eyes he lets himself relax and enjoy the warmth of someone next to him.

Aunt Jojo:

She decides to emerge from her room to take a peek at the young couple and see how they are doing, maybe even sneak in a few snapshots to capture as well. That and it has gotten suspiciously quiet and she may or may not be hoping to catch them in the act of making out.

It makes her giggle to see that Salem has finally found someone who could keep up with her as well as no doubt relate to her. Dave also presented her niece with a challenge that makes her struggle in different ways, which makes her grow without realizing it. It made him the perfect match for Salem, in her opinion.

Indefinitely their start had been rocky, and she knew their differences had totally put a strain on their relationship, which almost resulted in a break up not even two week afterwards. But after his sincere apology the shift occurred in both of them. She can only assume that at some point they had talked further about the matter and came to an agreement. It has loosened them both up quite nicely.

She tiptoes into the living room, careful to make herself as scarce as possible. They aren't visible on the couch so she moves around wondering what she might see.

And bless her soul she finds something extremely adorable.

"This one is going in the book!" She whispers happily to herself. She snaps a photo of her niece asleep on the couch with Dave. Salem, ever the enthusiast of personal space, looks very comfortable snuggled up close to the pale young man.

She turns to leave, whilst examining her loot, but halts in the process of the great get away. Something's wrong with the picture.

Dave's not in it at all.

She shakes her head and deletes the photo. This is an old camera, perhaps it's just finally giving up the ghost or something to that effect. She returns to her spot and takes another picture. The same thing happens again.

"Drat, and they're just so cute too," she mutters as she tries in vain a couple more times. The result is a nill Dave in all of them. Which is weird that the camera isn't finding him, yet Salem is showing up just fine. And they're both right there.

She goes and deletes all the pictures again, except for the second one she took. For there in the picture is Dave. Less and less is she beginning to suspect that this is the camera's fault. A faint rumor comes to mind that she had once heard while at work.

They say that because taking a picture is like using a mirror, certain Monsters don't show up.

Yep, that's what her co-worker said. But she can't just go and accuse anyone or anything based off of an old camera and rumors. That'd be incredibly rude and stupid.

Yet it honestly would not surprise her if it does turn out that Salem is dating someone who were, say, to be a vampire perhaps. The child has been a strange one since birth after all. Still, the only way to find out would be a little research on this rumor and then to ask Salem herself.

She turns around and pads away into her room, engrossed in the endless possibilities.

And thus the plot thickens! I told ya this would be fluffy and angsty. Feeling pretty good cause the plot's gonna be picking up soon :3