A/N: aaahhh, sorry this took so long! I've been ridiculously busy lately, and I've barely had enough time to eat and sleep, much less write fanfiction.
Sorry if this chapter is a little weak. It all basically leads up to a certain event, where things will pick up.
Your name is Dirk Strider and you don't like this.
You've been stuck in the hospital for about two weeks now, and you're about to go batshit insane. Sure it was pretty fucking awesome hanging out with Jane most of the time, but you really missed the ability to walk around, to actually do shit. Your hands ached for the familiar cold feel of your mechanic's tools, the steady grip of your wrench, and the cool feel of nuts and bolts skating over your fingers.
You sigh, staring at the wall across from your bed, envisioning your workbench. You plot out your next project in your head, mentally assembling all the metal and wires so that they created a tangible moving robot that had your likeness, as well as its own artificially intelligent mind.
Suddenly, the door bursts open and snaps you out of your daydreams.
"HEEEY DIRKY GUESS WHAT WE GOT YA'?" you hear Jane's exuberant friend yell. You chuckle slightly as Roxy makes her way over to the bed, a box of pizza in her arms, and Jane hot at her heels. Roxy puts down the pizza, and opens it, ready to take a bite. Suddenly, her eyes widen and she runs towards the door.
"SHIT I FORGOT SOMETHIN'. I'LL BE RIGHT BACK JANEY!"
"Roxy, you really need to work on not driving people deaf," Jane grumbles, setting the box of pizza in her own arms down. She winces when she bends over, the raw skin on her back pulling slightly, and you feel yourself grimace.
"You really shouldn't do that," you say, leaning forward on your bed, letting out a small gasp when a slicing pain hits your torso in the front. You immediately go back to reclining position. Damn this injury. You could sit, lay down, and even walk for short periods of time, but you couldn't fucking bend forward lest hell sets fire to your guts.
Jane walks over to your side, pushing on your shoulder slightly, pushing you back into your pillows. She smoothes your hair back gently, and plucks off your glasses.
"You really shouldn't do that either," she says, laying a gentle hand on your bicep, and you feel yourself relax under her touch. You scoot aside, careful not to mess up the gauze wrapped around your middle, and pat the spot next to you.
"C'mere," you say, looking straight at her. Her blue eyes hold your gaze, beautiful and mesmerizing, making you feel vulnerable without your shades. You're suddenly aware of the close proximity, seeing her face creeping closer and closer, until her forehead is pressed against yours. You bring a hand up to her cheek, watching her eyelashes flutter closed at your touch.
"Jane," you say, your voice hitching slightly. She turns her head sideways, slowly leaning towards you.
You crane your head forward and crash your lips into hers. They're soft, wet, cotton candy flavored, and absolute bliss on your mouth. You feel her small hands bury themselves in your hair, pulling your head towards her even more. You bring your tongue out, licking her lips slightly, and she responds with surprising ferocity, biting your bottom lip, eliciting a small groan from your throat.
Your tongues battle for dominance, each of your mouths slightly open, sloppily kissing the other. Finally, you break for air, panting slightly.
You look at Jane, and instantly, you can feel your face flush slightly. Her hair is a mess, sticking up on end, and her glasses are off, lost during the make out session the two of you had just taken part in. Her shirt is crumpled, sliding off one shoulder, and her lips are pink and puffy. She looks incredibly….sexy.
She brings her lips to your jaw, kissing it and working her way down your neck. You shudder as her soft lips hit your collarbone, sucking on it slightly. Your mind turns to mush, and your senses are heightened so that you can feel every single touch on your skin.
You don't even care that your wound is still sore, you simply pull her over until she's straddling your lap. Her pink lips crush against yours once more, driving all thoughts out of your mind and turning it into a haze.
Suddenly, you hear someone clear their throat from across the room.
Your eyes snap open as you look at the door. Standing there is Roxy, stifling her laughter with her fist, and Jake, looking slightly embarrassed and flustered, yet amused. You tense up, and Jane notices, prompting her to break away and look up at you. You nod your head towards the door, watching her eyes widen as muffled laughter hits her ears.
Quick as a flash, she springs off of you, and straightens her clothing furiously. A bright red flush has spread across her cheeks as she turns around to see the company there.
"I….uh…," She manages to stammer, right before Roxy bursts out laughing.
"Ohmygod, Janey, didn't know you could get that hot and heavy," she says in between laughs. You see Jake snicker at Jane's expression, pressing his lips together to hide his amusement. Jane buries her head in her hands, groaning.
You sit there, your hair a mess, your shades on the table beside you. You're breathing heavily, your skin tingling as if it was on fire. Your mind is still half-mush, unable to comprehend any thought that passes through it. Roxy comes up to you, smirking.
"Janey sure did a number on ya, didn't she? Ya' might wanna take care of that Dirky," she says, her eyes glancing at your crotch. You feel your face burn as you slowly get up, causing Roxy to succumb to fits of giggles.
"Goddamn it Rox," you say, walking to the bathroom. Right as you close the door, you hear her begin to howl with suppressed laughter.
You take care of yourself and walk back out, finding the rest of your friends sitting on the bed, watching the TV that was strategically place across from it. Jake is reclining on the pillows, Roxy draped across his legs, texting someone. Jane was sitting next to Jake, her eyes barely leaving the television, engrossed with something that was playing on Food Network.
You walk over to the bed and sit down, ignoring the throbbing sensation in your gut. You recline next to Jane, and put an arm around her, which she gladly accepts, snuggling into your side. You stroke her hair gently, playing with the curls.
"So what's with the cockblock maneuver you pulled there Lalonde? Jealous that you weren't getting any of this hot Strider ass?"
Roxy snorts, chuckling slightly. "I wouldn't want any of that ass even if it was handed to me on a silver platter. Not that you're not cute an' all, but I think Janey would probably rip my eyes out if I did mack on ya',"
"Damn right," Jane mumbles from where her head is buried in your shoulder. You feel yourself smile slightly at her reaction.
Your name is Terezi Pyrope and you feel unnerved.
Something was wrong, and you could sense it. Your sensitive ears twitch, and you sniff the air, trying to identify it, but to no avail.
You don't know how you knew that something was wrong. Maybe it was the tromping of multiple steps up the stairs, and how the footsteps stopped on your floor. Maybe it was the lingering scent of Karkat's tears on your skin, enveloping you in a candy red haze. Maybe it was the door opening and never clicking shut.
Whatever it was, you didn't like it. Your golden retriever, Lemonsnout, hops up onto your lap, nuzzling your face. You manage a small smile at his antics, your mind still mainly focused on Karkat and how distressed he had been.
You had never seen Karkat that messed up before. Sure he's gotten sad and emotional in the past, but it was usually the open type of sadness, the sadness that only penetrated through the top layer of skin. This type of sadness was deeper, more painful. It radiated out of his very body, prominent in the sag of his shoulders, the droopy redness of his eyes, the way his mouth wouldn't even quirk upward the slightest bit over the past few days, even to yell at someone. It was as if all the life had been sucked out of him, leaving a sad, empty shell behind.
You had been in this situation once. Five short years ago, your mother, the great lawyer Neophyte Redglare, had been murdered by one of the suspects of a crime. She was driving home one day when a group of men allegedly stopped her car, and took her over to the nearest tree, where a rope was waiting for her.
They hung her against her own will. She strained against the ropes as long as possible, clutching onto them and bringing them away from her neck, but it was to no avail. Her strength gave way after a while, and the force of the sudden slouch of her body snapped her neck. Her death was prolonged and painful, the worst type of death.
Ever since her passing, you've changed. You didn't act so upbeat and optimistic about everything. You started taking responsibility. You stopped talking in that ridiculous loud tone you've always used. You've grown closer to your older sister Latula, creating a bond that you promised yourself you would never break.
You sat on the couch, the TV turned on in front of you, going over recent arrests and court cases.
You're on your second arrest when you hear the scream.
It was deep and loud, full of fear and pain.
Most importantly, it belonged to Karkat.
Quick as a flash, you whip out your cane, and make your way to the door. Right before you open it, you hear a thud and the fast tromping of footsteps moving down the stairs. You slam the door open on its hinges, and rush over to the door across from yours, which is gaping open.
You inhale deeply, allowing your senses to kick in. Suddenly, the image of the room is superimposed in your mind in bright colors. Thank the gods that you were born with synthesia, or else you would have been helpless as a fucking baby.
Four unfamiliar colors were wafting through the air, settling in a path that led to Karkat's bedroom. You run inside, only to find the bed empty, devoid of life. A sick feeling settled in the pit of your stomach.
Quickly, you ran back to the stairwell outside the apartment, where Lemonsnout was faithfully waiting for you. A carefully and quickly as you could, you made your way down the steps, following the faint trails that the four people had left. You open the door to the building, and step outside.
Instantly, a sickeningly strong cherry scent hits your nostrils in full force, making you gag. You look around, trying to identify where it's coming from, when Lemonsnout starts nudging your leg, whining slightly.
"What is it boy?" you ask, petting his head slightly. He grabs your arm gently in his mouth, and starts to walk down the sidewalk a bit.
As you walk, the smell increases in intensity, and you start panicking internally. You take a deep breath, trying to figure out where you are, and nearly scream when your mind processes the image.
There's a body in front of you, and its gushing blood.
You drop down, feeling the face, trying to identify who it is. Blood is seeping from the head, into the cracks in the sidewalk. You trace the nose, lips, and eyes. Your fingers freeze as they skirt over the left eyebrow, finding a small, slightly raised line that misshaped the eyebrow slightly. Your heart nearly stops in your chest. You only know one person with that type of scar.
Karkat.
You reach into your pocket, grabbing your phone and dialing Sollux. He picks up, his voice heavy and gravelly from sleep.
"TZ, why the fuck are you calling me at ath o' clock in the morning?"
"Sollux...I need you to call Kanaya, and tell her to bring the ambulance to my apartment,"
"TZ, what?"
"Just call Kanaya,"
"TZ, did thomething happen?"
"Sollux…..just, call her as soon as you can. I'll meet you in the hospital," you respond, your voice cracking slightly. Your eyes were getting watery, panic settling in fully.
"I'll be there as soon as possible," he replies, his voice toned down and worried. You snap your cellphone shut, and shove it back in your pocket, focusing on the body in front of you. You cradle his head slowly, feeling his neck. You feel a protrusion, and swallow the bile that rises up your throat upon the realization that the bone in his neck was pretty close to being snapped in half.
Suddenly, you're worried. What if the people who hurt him came back? You needed to get him somewhere safe, and fast.
You attempt to lift him, and fail. He's taller and larger than you, as well as heavier. You look around, trying to see if there's anybody who can help you.
Suddenly, you remember the coffee shop down the street. A quick lick on your watch tells you that it's around 6 in the morning. He opened up by this hour on most days. As much as you despised going to that shop, you had no other choice. It was either asking him for help or increasing the chance of Karkat's death.
"Lemonsnout, I need you to guard Karkat. Can you do that boy?"
The dog wags its tail, barking slightly to indicate that it understood. It then assumed a defensive position next to Karkat, its head moving around, watching its surroundings. You nod and make your way to the coffee shop.
You look up at the name of the shop; 'LOWAA', a stupid and ridiculous name in your opinion. You enter, and make your way to the counter to ring the bell.
"Wwhats up Ter?" you hear him say, his ridiculous accent setting your teeth on edge.
"Eridan, I need your help, so cut the crap and follow me. I don't have the patience for your shit right now,"
"Aww, come on Ter, don't be like that," he says, his tone haughty and condescending. You feel anger bubbling up inside of you.
You begin to scream at him, not caring if anyone else hears. You tell him about Karkat's predicament, adding in a wide vocabulary of cuss words that would have left even Dave Strider dumbfounded. You can hear his dad tromping out from the back room, his heavy footsteps echoing in the room. You see the colors he makes when he enters the room, a mix of deep purplish-pink hues mixed in with a bluish hue that indicated annoyance and anger.
"Wvhat's all the commotion about?" he asks, looking at his son with one eyebrow cocked up. Eridan's face is stuck in a look of mortified concern, and his expression would be almost comical, if it wasn't for the situation at hand.
"Ter told me that one of our friends is hurt really bad. I'll be right back dad, please, this is important,"
His father's face softens slightly, and he gives a stern nod. "Bring em' back here, wve'll see wvhat we can do,"
"Thank's Pa," he says, throwing off his apron. He comes over to the other side of the counter, to where you're standing. You can smell him in front of you, the scent of grape flooding your nostrils. You nod and head outside, allowing him to follow you.
The two of you reach Karkat's body, and you can hear Eridan audibly gasp. Sirens blare in the distance as the two of you carefully transport him to the café, praying that he was okay.
Your name is Tavros Nitram and you're in pain.
On the other hand, you're always in pain nowadays. Ever since they kidnapped you, you've been in almost constant agony, every bit of your body beaten and bruised. You've learned to cherish the moment's you're left alone to your own devices.
You can't feel your legs anymore. On the second day of your imprisonment, they hit you on the base of your spine with a metal pole. You remember hearing a sickening crack, and then, excruciating pain for a single moment before you blacked out. When you woke up, you couldn't move or feel your feet.
You huddle in the corner of the room, drawing your useless legs close to you. You hear her screams echoing through the hallway, violent curse words bouncing off your eardrums. You cover your ears with your hands, unable to take the agony of listening to her suffer. Tears slip down your stinging cheeks, cutting paths through the dirt and blood that tinted them a much darker color than your original skin tone.
Suddenly, you hear footsteps approaching your door, accompanied by a few harsh yells. Suddenly, you're blinded as the light floods the small room, hitting your sensitive eyes. You squint, eyeing the door with suspicion and curling in on yourself.
He brings her in, lugging her over his shoulder. She hangs limply, not protesting, though, you can't make out more than silhouettes.
"That oughta teach you not to backtalk to us, you stupid whore," he says, dropping her on the ground. She lets out a cry of pain as her body hits the floor, but otherwise says absolutely nothing. You can feel something drop in your stomach at her unsettling behavior. Vriska was a spitfire, one who didn't go down without a fight. It was jarring to see her succumb like this.
The door slams shut, and you scramble over to where she's on her back. Her chest is rising up and down in shallow movements, and suddenly, you realize she's in her undergarments.
"Vriska?" you say, shaking her shoulder slightly. Her eyes snap open, and before you know it, one hand is clenched around your neck, ready to strangle you to death. You let out a small noise in fear, your eyes widening at the sight of her bruised and beaten face. She opens her eyes, her face contorted into a look of pure fury, and looks at you, ready to rip your face off.
Vriska's face softens when she realizes it's you, and her arm slumps to her side. You can see silent tears making their way down her cheeks, salty and glinting in the paltry light of the room. Her body begins to quake as she sobs, grabbing you around your waist and crying into your torso.
"I can't…fucking…take it anymore! I wanna go home Tavros, I wanna get away from this damn place!" she screams into your shirt, quavering. Her arms are bruised and bloody, and there are dark bruises on her stomach and thighs that strongly resemble hands. You bring her closer protectively, allowing yourself to cry too.
"We'll get out, I promise we will," you say, reassuring her and placing a kiss on the top of her head. She begins to cry harder.
"You're…a…fucking…LIAR! We'll never be okay, we're going to die here! You can't use your legs anymore, and I can hardly walk cause they're forcing themselves on me whenever they take me!"
Your eyes widen at this statement, and you can feel rage bubbling up inside you. They…raped her? They fucking forced themselves on your fiancé?
"I'm gonna fucking kill those bastards," you say, cussing under your breath. Vriska's eyes widen at your sudden outburst, but she doesn't comment.
The two of you somehow manage to make it back towards the far back wall, her limping and you dragging your useless lower body behind you. You lay down with her head nestled into your shoulder.
One day, you'll get out of here. You'll get out of here, and you're gonna make those bastards pay for what they did to you and Vriska.
And you're gonna start with the man you once held deep within your heart.
And there you go!
Sorry if my characterization of Terezi was a bit OOC. Basically, I made it so that she was older, wiser, and sadder.
I also realized I suck at characterizing Eridan. Thank god he's not too influential in this story.
The main focus of the story will switch back to Dirk and Jane sometime within the next few chapters, and will mainly stay focused on them after that.
My tumblr at present is 'magnificenthoofbeasts'. I often post sneak peeks to this story there, so check it out if you'd like.
I'll try to post up the next chapter as soon as possible, but I'm unable to guarantee any date. My finals for the school year are coming up, and all my classes are throwing ridiculously large projects at us at the last minute. For example, I have to memorize a reasonably large excerpt for a character in 'Midsummer Night's Dream' and act out that part with my group by next Tuesday, while staying totally in character and wearing reasonable clothing and outfits, which mean's I'll have to crossdress.
I have a huge amount of tasks on my plate, and fanfiction comes after homework, so it might take a while for the next chapter.
Please review if you can. Reviews are literally my creative essence, and they allow me to identify what I'm doing right, and what I might want to change.
Thanks to everyone who too the time to read this story. It offers a lot of support to know that there are actually people who enjoy reading what I write.
~Reaper