Authors note: Hey I'm back! I'm still not sure about the schedule but I'll try my best to upload on saturday. Also, I'm only doing one story at a time! All the others can wait. Really, with all this shit happening I've got more than enough on my plate without those two others. Whatever, new chapter!
Chapter thirteen: of suspicions, celebrations, and surprises.
Your name is Bethany Bosteder. You are a troll-human hybrid, called an Omega. It's been three months since you came to the human world. It's been about two months since the humans local leader decided to accept you and the other two into his village. It's been one month and two weeks since you started your job as a night patrol. It's been a month since John asked you for dating advice. It's been three weeks since some girl named Jane became the Miss Piexes matesprit. It's been two weeks since the band of trolls who were trying to kill you decided to live in the human world as well. Its been two weeks since you started avoiding them. It's been one week since you started getting restless. It's been three months, and you haven't seen hide nor hair of a new human being in all that time. It's been nagging at you for a while now. Sure you and the others are scary to them, but in every group there is at least one dumbass that just loves a good scare. Most of the time it's you. But not even one of those people have turned up yet. Somethings not right here. An outside influence mayhaps? You're Bethany Bosteder and, for possibly the first time in your life, you're very worried.
You round the tree and gaze upon the small village. What could it be? You keep walking when you see someone out and about. No sense in scaring random people tonight. Call it odd, but when you have a job to do you have a tendency to do it. Even of this job is just walking around and looking at stuff. Even if your mind is running in circles with possibilities. Even if you're practically asleep while doing it. Okay so you're not really doing your job. You just need to keep busy. Even if it's just walking around, you have to be doing something! Probably just restlessness due to your afore mentioned worries, unfounded worries at that. But then you've always had a touch of paranoia.
You hear movement not too far off. You turn and see Jake walking up to you. To irritate, or to not irritate? That is the question. Unfortunately for you the decision is taken out of your hands entirely, because that Jane chick is pushing Jake towards you. You wait by the tree you're standing by, you don't want to be rude.
"Hello Bethany!" Jane says. You politely nod to her.
"Jane what, may I ask, am I doing here at this ungodly hour?" Jake says.
You roll your eyes. "Hello to you to James." You say. Once you called him the wrong name, cause your memory is horrible, and it pissed him of so it stuck.
"It's Jake." He says. Rather rudely in your opinion.
"Jake, you're here to keep an eye on Bethany until someone else can." Jane says.
"What?! But-" Jake stutters out.
"It was already decided Jake. No buts." She says and pushes him forward.
You sidestep and he falls into the tree trunk. "Can I ask why I need someone to watch over me?" You ask Jane.
"It's because you can't seem to do a damn thing right on your lonesome." Jake says picking himself up off the ground and onto all fours.
You nonchalantly kick him in the stomach. "I wasn't asking you now was I." You ask. More of a statement than a question though.
"You can ask. But I'm not supposed to tell you." Jane supplies, looking worriedly at Jake.
You shrug as Jake glares daggers at you. You bid her farewell, and walk off without a single thought concerning Jake. Predictably, he gets up and follows you. No words are exchanged. You both know that neither should die at the hands of the other. Well, that's how you would have liked it to play out. Unfortunately for you, Jake is an idiot.
"What the dickens was that for?!" He says grabbing your shoulder and halting your progress.
"For being an ass." You say bluntly. You don't have patience for morons.
"Well that's the pot calling the kettle black if I've ever heard it, Ms. Bosteder." He says.
You hang your head and chuckle. "I know I'm a foreigner, but there is so much wrong with what you just said, James." You say and jerk your shoulder away from him and start walking again.
"What the devil are you talking about?" He asks.
You sigh. Poor moron. "When you used that phrase, you were trying to say that I'm an ass and you aren't, right?" You ask rhetorically.
"Of course! What else would I be saying?" He says.
"Well James, in case you didn't know, pot and kettles are /both/ black. So instead of saying you weren't one, you only confirmed it and said that I was one as well. Also, that way you phrased it makes it seem like you have actually heard a pot talking to a kettle. Which, by the by, only enforces my belief that you're more insane than most humans." You say.
He sputters. "How dare you twist my words in such a way, you silver tongued she-devil!" He shouts.
"Why thank you, dear James. I always have been told that I have a way with words." You say, overly sweetly.
"My name is Jake!" He shouts back.
You turn and look him dead in the eye, showing a boat-load of fake concern. "Is that what they've been telling you? You really shouldn't trust people you barely know, James." You say, then turn and keep walking.
Silence. Finally.
"My apologies Jane, but bugger all!" Not two fucking seconds of silence.
A punch cracks you in the back of your head, which being unprepared snaps forward rather painfully. You turn and grin. "Bugger all indeed, dear James." You say and throw a punch of your own.
It just devolves from there. Him being stronger gives him a considerable advantage. But then you've been in many more fights, and he doesn't think about anything. That puts you two on a roughly level playing field.
You two only break apart when Fredrick gets in your face and threatens you. Then Jake runs off with his tail between his legs. Good riddance, that bastard. Fredrick wraps around you, as per usual, and settles his head by your right shoulder. You're glad he's here, to help keep you under control. Yeah, you're gonna be one big bruise soon. In all truthfulness, Fredrick gotten pretty big since you first found him. You wonder about what kind of snake he is sometimes. Cat said it was odd to see such a big venomous snake. Maybe he's a cross-breed of some sort? You don't really care though, you say he's awesome and just leave it at that.
"You think that there's something weird going on too, right Fredrick?" You ask him. Hey, you talk to yourself all the time! Why not talk to animals?
He coils up the uppermost part of his body. You get the impression thy he's trying to shrug.
"Oh come on! The evidence is all around us!" You say to his blatant disregard of the facts at hand.
He puts his head in front of your face and just looks at you. You get the feeling he's trying to give you the snake equivalent of a deadpan look, but he's a snake so it doesn't really work out.
"Oh don't you give me that look! Okay so it's more of a hunch than anything. But believe it or not my hunches are usually spot on!" You say.
He smiles, as much as a snake can, and does the coil-shrug thing again. How dare he mock you in such a way!
"I'm not crazy!" You say rather passionately.
"Says the girl arguing with a snake." You hear Dirk say from your left. You face him and idly wonder just how long he's been walking next to you. You obviously don't jump out of your skin a little bit.
Either way, time for a snark! "Hey, just because he doesn't agree with me doesn't mean that /I'm/ the crazy one!" You say. You hope that was at least mildly funny. You've found out that You actually like making people happy. Whether it be doing something ridiculous, telling a joke, or just being there, you're willing to so it if it makes them happy. If it makes them not feel what you do.
"- route?" Dirk says.
Wait, what? Oh shit, you just missed what he said. "Sorry, I spaced out for a second there, what were you saying?" You say. You hope that doesn't sound as rude as you think it does.
Did he just smirk? "I was asking what could be so important that it distracts you to the point of walking onto my route." He says.
"Oh. Well I think that there's something weird going on in the village." You say. You hear a series of choppy hisses and glare at Fredrick.
"... Is he laughing?" Dirk asks.
"Yes. He doesn't think that something weird is going on. But I know that I'm right. And I have limbs to boot!" You say and stick out your tongue at the overgrown worm. "Wait I'm on your route? Hmm, I wonder when that happened... Mind if I linger here for a bit? It's better than wandering on my own." You say.
A shrug. "Stay if you want to. So what do you propose is going on that's "weird"?" He asks.
Another shrug, but from you this time. "Not too sure, really. Just... Don't you think it's odd how no one has approached any of us newcomers yet? Well other than Jade, Jane, and Jake. But they were kind of forced into it." You say.
"Not really. We did say that your society is much more violent than ours. They're probably scared of you." He says.
"Well, yeah. But what about the idiots, or the egotistical ones, or the people that want us killed? What about the drunk ones?!" You ask with exaggerated hand gestures.
"They're probably being held back by all the reasonable ones that are terrified of you." Is his rebuttal to your awe inspiring argument.
"Oh... I didn't think of that." Is your elegant response.
"See there's nothing weird going on." He says.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm probably just imagining things again. My imagination just /loves/ to freak me out and make me worry for no reason." You say.
After that the talking stopped for a while. But the silence was a companionable one. This kind of thing is fairly common with you. You never were a very social person, and being thrown head long onto a world that revolves around social interaction isn't helping with your inexperience in the least. At one point or another Fredrick left and then the two of you left headed off of Dirks route, of course you were spaced out at that time and didn't really notice. You were thinking about something you haven't in a long while: Your possible flush-crush on Dirk. Looking back, you're not flushed for him. Not even slightly. Sure he's attractive, but you don't pity him in the least. If anything, you envy him. After a while your consciousness surfaces, you figure it out, and notice where you were. Or at least where you think you were. It was a part if the forest the you actually prohibited yourself from going anywhere near. See, this is where the sea-dwellers live. Well, where they live on the other world that is. You suppose that it's not all that dangerous anymore. Even if Miss Piexes is living there now it wouldn't be nearly as bad. But then she's usually on patrol like you're supposed to be at this time of night. Wait... The night patrol is made up of mainly trolls (and you), so why is Dirk on the night patrol?
"Hey Dirk?" You say, breaking the silence.
"I'm not telling you where we're going." He says.
"Okay, I kinda figured that. But... You're a human." You say.
"Yeah, last time I checked. That a problem?" He says
"Well, yes! Aren't humans supposed to be not-nocturnal? Whatever that word is?" You say
"It's called being diurnal and yes. What exactly are you going on about?" He asks.
"If you're diurnal then why are you doing the night patrol? Isn't that really fucking up your sleep schedule?!" You ask.
"No not significantly. I was on the night patrol before all this happened. If anything, I'm sleeping better now than I was before." He says. You see his shoulders relax a bit. He's been much more emotive than usual lately. Compared to your average person, it's still one hell of a poker-face, but for Dirk... It's pretty weird.
"So where exactly are you taking me anyway?" You ask.
"Gamzee's been looking for you." He says.
"Well that's an abrupt subject change if I ever heard one." You say.
"No it's not. You don't want to be found." He says.
"True, but what does that have to do with anything?" You ask.
"Your shift is almost over, and he's waiting for you." He says.
"So... Dirk, are you hiding me?" You ask.
"Yes." He says.
Well that's curious. "But why? You don't even know why I want to stay away from him!" You say.
"You can't have done anything too bad. I'll question your motives later. But I don't think you'll be sleeping in your house, come morning." He says.
"... You still haven't told me where you're taking me." You say.
"Yeah." He says
"... You're not going to tell me, are you?" You ask as more of a statement than a question.
"Blindfolding you would have taken it a step too far." He says.
"Why are you trying to surprise me?" You ask.
"Call it a gift." He says.
"Okay, why are you giving me a gift?" You rephrase.
"With all the shit you've been through because of me, you deserve much more than this." He says.
"Wait, because of you? How was any of this your fault?" You ask.
"Do you trust me?" He asks.
"... You're being pretty liberal with the subject changes today. But yes, I do." You say.
"How much?" He asks.
"I'd trust you with my life." You say without thinking. Wait. Aw shit.
"Good." Is all you hear before the world goes dark.
You panic momentarily. And then you feel his hands on you. "Dirk...?" You ask.
"Yes." You hear directly behind you and far too close for normal.
"Why are you covering my eyes? I need them to see." You say.
"So you won't know where we're going." He says and moves you forward.
You start walking and hope you don't fall off a cliff or something. He must have taken your glasses off, because you don't feel them anymore. "You didn't answer my question." You say.
"I didn't answer most of your questions. Which one did you want answered?" He asks.
"How is any of what happened your fault?" You ask.
"You know, human traditions must seem weird to you guys." He says.
"Not this time, Strider! I'm not dropping it without an answer this time!" You say.
"There are rocks up ahead." He says.
"Dirk..." You say.
He doesn't say anything. Why is he trying to hide this? He's the one who brought it up!
You sigh. "You're going to give me a straight answer one of these days Dirk." You say and drop it. Yeah you lied. Kind of.
"Remember what I said about traditions?" He asks.
"Yes, and it's true." You say.
"One of our traditions are to celebrate our Wriggling days. Or as we call them, birthdays." He says.
"That's almost as absurd as your justice system." You say. So you're one sweep- you mean year (stupid human calendar) older, and one more closer to death. Who cares?
"Humans are insane." You say.
"I think you'll come to enjoy our traditions. Most of the trolls already do enjoy them." He says.
"Yeah, well most of the trolls here knew about them long before I did." You say.
"I'm sure you'll warm up to the idea of Birthday parties." He says.
... Why did that sound ominous? "Dirk." You say.
"I'm not going to tell you." He says.
No. "No. Please tell me that you're not-" You get cut off.
"Be quiet and walk. We're almost there and I'm not telling you anything." He says.
"You'd better not be dragging me to one of your insane celebrations." You say.
"Don't worry I'm not." He says.
Then was all that talk of human insanity just to throw you off? You are so preoccupied with trying to figure out just what the surprise is that you forget to focus on your footing. Less than a minuet later your foot finds a nice little home underneath a root. The rest of your body, however, doesn't like it's choice so much and retaliates by throwing itself towards the ground. Yeah. You tripped. Stupid foot. You are jerked to a stop and you open your eyes. Thorns. Thorns in mud. Less than a foot away from your face.
"Thanks." You say to Dirk.
"We're here anyway." He says.
You right yourself, with his help, and follow him to the forests edge. You see a lake. A gigantic fucking lake. And it's so beautiful! In the past few months, your attraction to water has only grown without deadly sea-dwellers keeping you away. It's frown to the point that you think there wad a mistake and you should have been one of them instead. You're so absorbed in the sight of it that you don't notice Dirk motioning to something. You hear some rustling, but don't think anything of it. It's probably just an animal anyway.
"SURPRISE!" Is yelled by many voices and you damn near jump our of your skin. You turn around, ready for battle, and see Cat and Jade holding a cake. Everyone else is standing behind the two, they're all holding gifts. Except for Karkat. He's just standing there looking awkward. Maybe he's still sore about you breaking up with him.
"Uh..." Is your extremely intelligent response. Needless to say, you look like an idiot right now.
"Happy Birthday Bethy! Er- Wrigglingday! Who cares, let's eat cake!" Cat says.
The next three minuets are spent giving everyone (except John) a piece of cake. You don't have that much of a sweet tooth, so you took a small one. You spent the next five to ten minuets trying to piece together what just happened. Dirk was in on it and gave you some background on it. Somehow they got both Jake and Karkat to show up and be nice. But what really confuses you is how they knew it was today. You never told anyone. That you can remember at least. You ask Cat about it.
"Oh that's an easy one. Gamzee told us." She says.
"I thought you were terrified of him?" You ask.
"Only when he's being creepy and scary." She says
You nod. Makes sense that he would tell them. Wait. That means he's here. Shit shit shit. You don't want to even look at that guy right know. Shit. Sure the whole "He's going to kill you" thing would have been forgotten about and you two would be friends again, if he hadn't tried to kill you. He actively hunted you down, and when he found you he attacked you like you were torturing Tavros! So no, that guy is dead to you. It would have been fine if he'd just half-heartfelt tried to off you! You don't want to talk to him right now. Or preferably ever. Maybe you can get through this thing without that.
You did it! The party is over! They all gave you a bunch of useless junk though. Cat gave you a necklace. Dave gave you a pair of shades and you busted out laughing (you think he's stopped hating you). Kanaya gave you some amazing clothes (you didn't know she was a seamstress). Nepeta gave you a drawing of... Something. Rose and Jade said that they'd teach you how to dance. Roxy gave you a Yo-Yo. Jake and Karkat didn't get you anything but the fact they showed up and aren't trying to piss you off is a miracle in itself. Jane was the one that baked that delicious cake. Feferi didn't know what to get you so she said she'd show you some underwater caves. Aradia gave you some very sharp but thick needles and said you looked like you could use them. Gamzee gave you one of his horns (you left him before anything else could happen). And John told you to close your eyes then put some fake troll horns on a headband on your head. He said that it was so you could finally be a real troll. You told him to close his eyes, then you threw him in the lake. But he laughed, so you're not a bitch. You assume it was Dirk who set this all up, so it makes sense that he didn't give you anything.
Stupid games are played. Stupid songs are sung. The whole thing is a complete waste of time. The party is long over and it's about two or three hours till sunrise. You should be at home right now. You should be asleep right now. But for some reason you're still in the clearing, and what's even stranger is that you can't stop smiling. Then Gamzee came up to you.
"Ain't nothing better than a good party. Makes everyone all warm and happy." He says.
You scowl. "Cut to the chase, what do you want?" You snap at him. He looks hurt. You don't care.
"I wanna apologize. What I did was all kinds of wrong, and nothings gonna change that. But I hope you can for give me." He says.
"If you knew it was wrong them why did you do it?" You bitterly ask.
"I didn't have a choice! We were all supposed to kill you on sight." He says.
"Yeah, that's kind of a given. I figured you would. But the least you could have done is /act/ like you didn't want to!" You say.
"I know I hurt you. You probably hate me right now." You glare at him. "But I don't wanna be your enemy Beth. Can't we just put this behind us?" He asks.
You pause. Forgive and forget. A human concept. You don't want to. Condesce knows you don't want to. But then, he's too deadly for you to take on as an enemy. You'll never be able to trust him with anything. But you suppose he's a decent guy.
"I won't be your enemy. But there's no way in Hell I'll be your friend." You say.
He smiles and starts to say something else, but you glare at him again and you damn near ready to tackle him. "Leave, before I forget why I'm letting you live." You say. A wince. A pause. He leaves. You don't know whether to sigh or growl. So you somehow do both.
"Irritated?" Dirk asks from somewhere behind you. He does this sneaking up on you thing so much that you're not even surprised that much anymore.
"Are humans insane?" You rhetorically ask.
"What was it?" He asks.
You shrug like you couldn't care less. "He was my friend, he did something, now he's not." You say.
"And you're pissed." He says
"And I'm pissed." You repeat, a smile tugging at your lips.
You shake your head and start walking back to your cabin. It's still that previously old an abandoned one Rose found for you. It's a good long distance from both the human village and the trolls make-shift one. As you said before, you're not a very social person. You like your privacy. You a Dirk walk in silence to your house. At one point Fredrick comes back, and he gives you a present! It's a bark blue choker with a stunning obsidian stone in the center. Where and how he got it, you haven't the slightest clue. All you know is that you're smiling again. You thank Fredrick and try to start talking with Dirk. His replies are short and he seems distracted, so you eventually give up. You reach your house and are about to bid him goodday, when he decides to speak.
"You know, I never gave you a present. And I'm not about to be upstaged by a snake." He says.
You laugh. "Weren't you the one who decided to throw me a party in the first place?" You ask.
"Actually that was Feferi's idea. Now about that present. Close your eyes." He says.
You obey without a second thought. "You're not going to put fall horns on me are you?" You jokingly ask.
"No. Trust me, this is completely different." He says.
You wait. And wait. And wait. You wait for so long that you start to think he left. Then you wait some more. You think he might be pranking you. It's not that good of prank that's for sure. Then he kisses you. It's short. You don't even have time to react. You open you're eyes, only to find that he's left. You're stunned. You walk into your house and sit down on your bed. Dirk just kissed you. Fredrick comes up to you and looks slightly worried, for a snake. A person you don't have any red /or/ black feelings for just kissed you. You fall over in your bed and decide to sleep. Dirk just kissed you.
Shit.