The next morning Dave was eating toast and eggs made for him by his bro before he disappeared like usual. He took a sip of his apple juice, cleaning the plate off and returning to his room. His computer alerted him to a message.

gallowsCalibrator started trolling turntechGodhead!

GC: H3Y COOLK1D :]

TG: hey

GC: 1 H4V3 4NOTH3R P1CTUR3 FOR YOU

GC sent

TG: haha that is so lame

TG: it doesnt even begin to look like me

TG: here this is more like me

TG sent

GC: OH 1 S33

GC:W3LL 1 C4N'T 4CTU4LLY S33 1T BUT 1T SM3LLS R34ALLY COLORFUL! :]

TG: it is

TG: its got the most ironically cool colors ever

GC: HMM

GC: 1 W1SH 1 COULD B3 4S COOL 4S YOU :[

TG: hey youre pretty cool

TG: i mean you are talking to a strider after all and to do that youd have to be worthy and cool

TG: but anyway i gotta get going i told john id meet up with him today

GC: OH OK4Y

GC: SM3LL Y4 L4T3R TH3N ;]

TG: aight

TG: later

turntechGodhead ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator

Dave pushed the chair back and finished off his juice. Getting out of his pink Derse pajamas (AN: Probably something I should mention... Obviously the trolls live nearer the humans, and as such there is no Sgrub or Sburb for that matter. But I'm just going to refer to the pajamas as Derse or Prospit pajamas every so often because I can.) He took a quick shower and slipped into the white shirt with the cracked record he always wore. A knock at the door got his attention. It was John, of course.

"Why are you here? I was just on my way."

John grinned. "I just couldn't help myself, I had to come over and get you! I'm really excited about meeting someone who's related to me and I never even knew!"

"Yeah, it's a bit spontaneous, though," Dave muttered and followed him out. "Where are they?"

"We're all going to this park, I guess."

"A park? Wow, you'd think they would want to hold some kind of big fancy family reunion. What a bummer."

"Aw, come on, Dave, it'll be great!"

Dave shrugged, and in a moment they were at the park. Rose and Jade were waiting patiently, and soon two girls (probably the relatives in question) and two guys approached. A girl who resembled Rose was slightly stumbling, and the other appeared to be a shorter haired Jade. The one who looked most like John gave a smile, and the one like Dave nodded in acknowledgement.

Dave looked at his relative. "You look like my bro."

"I guess cousins can look a lot like each other, huh?" he replied. "I'm Dirk."

"Dave."

"Well, hello there, cousin! Such a pleasure to meet you. The name is Jake."

"I'm John," John said happily.

"Heeey there, cuz. Woah, holy shit! You look like a lot like my mom..." Rose's cousin slurred.

"Roxy, I can't believe you would come to a family reunion drunk," Jade's cousin scolded. "This is Roxy, and I'm Jane."

"I'm only a lil bit drunk..." Roxy whined.

"Wow, you guys are really cool," Jade cheered. "Especially you, Dirk." Dave rolled his eyes behind his shades, smirking. Harley sure loved the Striders.

Rose smiled. "Indeed, you all certainly do have interesting personalities."

"Why, thank you," Jake laughed.

"Can't ever turn off the Strider charm," Dirk stated.

They started to have nice, long conversations with their cousins, and Dave came to really like his. The anime shades were a nice, ironic touch, and he was as charming as Dave could have hoped. Jake was confident, if not something of a charmer himself. Jane seemed quiet and kind. Roxy... Well, she was cool, he guessed.

As the day wore on and eventually they all left, Dave heard Jade say something about the trolls and how they had met some relatives too. Of course, none of them really understood how family ties worked with the trolls, but Dave decided maybe he'd have to ask Karkat about his. Something gave him the feeling Karkat would absolutely hate his...