*A/N* Hello! I should really be writing other stories or doing GISHWHES but here I am instead (swaggity fuck blame it on the homestuck). This chapter contains death, Arasol and Davekat. Nothing too graphic or nsfw I hope I'm bad at estimating these things.
Karkat shakes Dave's shoulder, more roughly than it was necessary, and motions for him to get into the tent. Aradia and Sollux crawl out, hair sleep-tousled, rubbing at their eyes.
"Morning." You smirk at them, and Sollux frowns.
"Morning to you too, asshole."
His lisp is more pronounced in the mornings. You stifle a chuckle.
"I'm off to bed." You say, nudging past them. "See you."
"Hopefully." Aradia mutters as she lets you pass, but you are too tired for reality right now. Karkat is already inside, having a heated whispering argument with Terezi.
"Problem?" You ask, biting back a yawn.
"She wants to explore." Karkat hisses. Terezi groans.
"Terezi, no offence, but you're blind at wounded." You try a calmer approach. "You really shouldn't push it."
"He said, stay put for a day." She snaps. "A day has passed."
"Your wound hasn't." Karkat is fuming. You place a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.
"Take Aradia with you and come back in thirty minutes." You finally say. Karkat gapes at you. Terezi grins.
"Thanks, Dave."
She tries to shuffle past, but you grab her forearm.
"You both come back, unharmed." You whisper, and she nods, before finally existing the tent.
Karkat stares at you for a second, before exploding.
"Are you out of your fucking mind?"
"We can't keep her locked in here." You state, voice controlled. "She's a good fighter, for what I've seen."
"She can't use her shoulder!" He screams. You flinch.
"She obviously can." She has been handling heavy backpacks and food containers without so much as a grimace.
"Yeah, but-"
"Karkat, go to bed."
He knows any further arguments would be futile, and is probably pretty exhausted too, so he lies down and curls up, and in the small tent you can feel his body warmth radiate. You almost shuffle closer, but hold yourself back- Karkat has been handling your shameless, ironic flirting pretty well, but now that you're in the tent, and there are no cameras around, he'd be stupid to not suspect there was something more going on than friendly teasing and profile up-keeping (You're a Strider flirting is what you do Dirk did it you do it- and you do it better, mind you- and it's nothing more it can't be).
You sigh, taking off your shades and placing them carefully next to you. Karkat's breathing is even, and every now and then he lets out a small, barely audible snore. You grin at him, and with a yawn, spread your arms, very subtly, and tips of your fingers brush against his spine, and he- oh god he actually moves towards them, and before you know it, his sleeping face is facing yours, and he is snuggling your arm.
You smile a little. He'll blush in the morning, make an angry remark and dash out, and you'll have plenty of teasing material to go on. But right now, you close your eyes, take in a deep breath, and, listening to Karkat's breathing, fall asleep.
***ooo***
Terezi says she's sick of being sweaty, and you unwillingly agree, and that's how, somehow, you are coaxed out of your clothes and into the river.
You quickly wash the dirt and sweat out of your clothes, and then leave them to dry, sitting in the shallow creak, Terezi feeling the ground as you play the guard, whip in hand.
"Aradia?" Terezi asks after a while, now out of the water.
"Your clothes are a bit to your left." You say, and she scowls.
"I know." She is putting them on without even a hint of a struggle, and you are unwillingly impressed. "I just wanted to ask if you are still naked."
You blush a little, but fuck- the Capitol is probably going to see you die, this is really not a time for modesty.
"Maybe."
She chuckles. "With a whip?"
You see where she's getting at. "Shut up and get dressed."
You wait until you're sure she's dressed before handing the weapon over and starting to pull your clothes on.
"Aradia, turn around." Terezi says, shoving the whip back into your hand, and there is an urgency in her voice that makes you comply without question- and you are met with a wide eyed stare of the district Two tribute. His eyes fly to your still uncovered breasts, and then to the whip, and he actually stutters- fucking stutters- before you fling the weapon at him, and it collides with his cheek, and he stumbles backwards.
"Run!" You scream at him, and he seems to be at a loss of words, before his district partner launches out of the forest, and Terezi pulls at your forearm, and you're running towards the camp.
"We're under attack!" You scream, and Sollux jumps to his feet, and you dive straight for the tent, and land on top of the Strider, who is, well look at that, stroking Karkat's hair, and he bolts awake, eyes landing on your breasts before looking up and smirking-
"Why, hello-"
"We are under attack." You breathe out, and he is wide awake the same instant, making a grab for his Katana, and then Karkat is awake too and you are all stumbling out.
Terezi hands over your shirt, and you pull it on, not bothering with the buttoning- it makes little difference now- and you assume a fighting stand, and the two tributes emerge from the trees.
Vriska looks somewhat worse for wear- her eye-patch is gone and you can all see the empty, scarred socket- and her hair is dirty and tousled, and her face is bearing many scratches, but her remaining eye sparkles with excitement, and the grin is in place, and she is holding a long, heavy-looking sword, and she looks like she knows how to use it. Equius' skin is shiny with fresh sweat, and he has a bruise on his jaw, but other than that he looks unharmed. He is sporting a bow, and a couple of smaller knifes are hooked to his waistband, but doesn't look like he'll be using them - you remember the Training, and how he preferred fist-to-fist combat.
"Hello." Vriska practically purrs. Terezi cackles.
"We meet again."
"Ah, Pyrope." The district Two tribute grins wider. "It is nice to see you once more."
"Careful now, wouldn't want to lose the other eye." Sollux growls. She chuckles.
"Not that this chit-chat thing isn't amazing or anything," Karkat growls. "But is there a chance we get this thing over with?"
"I agree with the short man." Equius supplies. Vriska sighs.
"If you insist-"
And just like that, the fight is on- Terezi is quickly pushed into the back, with Sollux to guide her, while Dave launches himself at Vriska. You use your whip to snap the bow out of Equius' hands, but he doesn't seem to mind, for he meets Karkat's attack with wide arms, gripping the sickle and, ignoring the dark blue blood dripping of it's handle, wrestles it out of your district's partners notably weaker arms. He has him by his throat in no time- does he even feel pain for fuck's sake- and Karkat is just turning blue when your whip collides with Equius' shoulder blades- he spins around just as you launch yourself at him, and you both fall to the ground, and you remember his stares and within a second thought slam your lips to his, and he lets out a surprised yelp, and then you have your hands under his belt, and around a finely carved handle, and then you're pulling away, and his face is flushed red, and you hesitate for a second, and mumble an apology, and then-
Blood is everywhere, and the canon is deafening. He goes limp under you, and you slowly release your grasp of the knife handle, and stare at the spot where it emerges from his chest, and then you're stumbling away, and share a look with Karkat.
"You okay?" He asks. You nod.
That's when Vriska screams.
She is angry- well, you did just kill her partner- and is now attacking Dave with animal-ish ferocity, and you study the exchange with almost hypnotised wonder. She is almost bigger than him, and her attacks are heavier, but his light sword makes him faster, and he dodges her attacks, and they are both already panting heavily, but neither seems to be giving up.
That's when a shuriken flies to her direction- it is heading for her eye, but she dodges. Another one hits her shoulder blade. She hisses, and pulls it out- holding out the bloodied object in surprise, before turning in its direction.
Sollux gives her a smirk. She snarls, but then looks around herself, and realises just how outnumbered she is-
You let her run. You're in no fighting state either.
***ooo***
Karkat is angry, and he decides to blame Strider. He is also the only one even remotely injured, so Dave has to deal with it, and he keeps his lips pressed tightly together and his head hung low as he makes Karkat's dinner.
"They'd have attacked either way." Terezi reminds him. "This way, at least everyone got to see Aradia's breasts- well, everyone but me, eh."
"Thank you for that." Dave whispers. You roll your eyes. The radiation messed with your reproductive tendencies as well, and now pretty much everyone is bisexual- but Dave is pure, unaffected human, and you are pretty sure he's not even remotely into breasts, human nor 'troll'.
"Still." Karkat is persistent. There is a ring of finger-shaped bruises on his throat. "You could have gotten hurt."
"KK, stop that bullshit and eat your soup." She snarls. Karkat rolls his eyes.
The Panem seemed to enjoy your little combat, because you've got a huge pot of warm chicken soup, more crackers, some fruits, and more apple juice. Now you're all inside the tent, because it's raining, and even though you've shifted from their little clearing to a higher rock, you're all still scared you'll drown if you fall asleep.
The clouds were so thick Equius' face was barely visible. It still made your stomach clench uncomfortably.
Terezi is the first to fall asleep, and Dave is fussing over Karkat, who is silently brooding- and then Sollux is tugging at your sleeve, and gesturing towards the outside.
You walk out- little rain has never killed anyone- and you give him a questioning look. He looks nervous, and you frown.
"Aradia-" He begins, and you cock your head to the side.
"Today I've come to realise," he stops, choking on his own words. "I've come to realise I could lose you any day and you'd never know."
You feel your cheeks flush. "Sollux?" He doesn't meet your eyes. "Know what?"
"Other thing I've realised," His voice is shaky, but he still cups both sides of your face, and leans dangerously close. "I don't ever want to see you kiss another guy again."
The kiss isn't unexpected, and still is, and you both taste like apple juice, and the rain has turned into a downpour, and even though it's all very sweet you are still forced to get back in.
Dave is spoon-feeding Karkat. You decide not to ask.
"Well, that was intelligent." Karkat groans when he notices the state you're both in, and then his lips flicker to your overly red lips, and the realisation dawns in his eyes.
"Have this." Dave is suddenly pulling his shirt off and offering it to you. You thank him silently, turning around to change. "Not that I mind you shirtless, or anything-"
"Shut up." His shirt is baggy on you, but it's warm, so you don't mind. Sollux remains shirtless, because Karkat doesn't seem to eager to share, but he doesn't call you out on snuggling closer together, or falling asleep in each other's arms, so you don't mind.
***ooo***
"You okay?" Dave asks, fumbling with the soup. You scowl.
"You've asked me that for, like, a million times already."
He rolls his eyes before pushing another spoonful of the chicken soup into your unsuspecting mouth.
"I mean, about them." He gestures towards Sollux' and Aradia's sleeping forms. You rise an eyebrow.
"Should I be?"
Dave shrugs. "Dunno." Another spoonful. "Kinda thought you two were an item."
You choke on your soup, and Dave laughs.
"What the fuck?" You snarl. He laughs louder. Terezi releases a moan of complaint.
"Why would you think that?" You steal the bowl out of his hands, and continue feeding yourself.
"Just the way you were, I don't know." He shrugs again. "So, you're not."
"No!" You hiss. He grins.
"Overcompensating much?"
You shove him. He doesn't as much as budge.
"I was aware of Sollux' crush for a while now." He admits. "He wasn't very good at hiding."
He gives them a look. "It's sad."
"Yeah." You shove a spoon in his general direction, and he is so surprised he actually swallows. You grin.
"Dude." He almost moans. "It's good." He's been so into feeding you the entire night he hasn't eaten a thing.
"Fine, then feed yourself." You push the bowl into his lap, but he pushes it back.
"Oh, no." He smirks. "I went all mother hen on you, time to repay the favour."
"Are you shitting me?"
He shakes his head. You hate that stupid smirk.
"I'm not doing it."
"Sure you're not."
You groan. "Would you stop that?"
"Stop what?" His voice is still teasing, but once you shove him away he realises something's wrong- well, more wrong than the usual.
"There are no cameras in here." You snarl. "Rain is too loud for the microphones to detect shit. Can you stop your fucking commercial flirting for like one night and-"
You are stopped with a spoonful of soup shoved into your mouth. You shove it away.
"Sorry." He really does sound apologetic. "I just-" He takes off his shades and give you a look so intense you almost shiver. Almost.
"You think it's for the cameras?"
"Well-" You are genuinely confused now, and know it's written all over your face. "Yeah."
His eyes are almost sad, and you are now uncomfortably aware of his shirtlessness.
"It's not." He says, before averting his eyes and scooping up more soup.
You stare at him for a second. "Could you, like, I don't know, elaborate on that one?"
He doesn't reply.
"Dave." You nudge him. "Dave."
"Just let it go, Karkat." He mutters. Your next move takes you both off guard.
His lips are warm- very warm- and much softer than you've expected them to be. Your brain catches up with your body after a second and you pull away, eyes wide. He stares back at you.
"Uh." You mumble. And then he's kissing you again.
He has one of his hands wrapped in your hair, the other gripping the front of your shirt. Your arms settle on his, and you melt into the kiss, working out a rhythm. A tip of his finger brushes against one of your horns, and you let out an involuntary moan, and he smirks against your lips, leaning back a little to study your face.
"So it's true." He brushes his thumb against the smooth surface again, and you bite into your lip, stifling the sound of pleasure. "Oh my god."
"Shut up." You pant, pushing your face into his bare chest. He gets both of his hands into your hair now, thumbing your head lumps, and you moan again, louder.
"Hush now." He smirks, and then, there are lips on one of your horns, and oh god-
Your hips roll against his, and he moans against you, and you smirk because at least now it's mutual, and then he sucks on the nub and you are not prepared-
"Please tell me you're not giving him horn jobs while we're in the tent." Sollux' voice is still sleepy, and you quickly pull away to meet his groan.
"Oh my god." He groans. Even Dave is blushing.
"I will feed your genitalia to the juggalo, I swear to god this is not okay." He rolls over to the side, ranting more to himself than to the pair of you. You meet Dave's eyes, and he smirks.
"Sorry." He mutters, and Sollux snaps something back.
"If I wake up with anyone's genetic material over my possessions I will redeem you sterile for good." He finally groans. "Understood?"
"Understood." Both you and Dave mutter weakly. He smirks again.
Falling asleep is hard after that, especially with Dave's body warmth next to you- he still doesn't have a shirt on, bastard, and keeps teasingly touching your horns whenever you start dozing off.
"Stop that." You hiss after the fifth time. He grins wider.
"Make me."
You are about to make a stoic remark when Sollux gets up from his place, rolls you away, and places himself between the two of you.
"Touch my horns and you are losing both arms." He hisses at the Strider, who looks to amused to actually feel guilty, and then plops down on the floor and closes his eyes. You follow his example.