The voice rang in Dave's ears. Slowly his eyes went from a shocked and open state to a half lidded and serene glimmer. "Mhm. Thank you. I understand. Thank you. Good bye." With a relieved sigh, Dave ended the call and rested his phone on the night stand next to his legs. Jade sat behind him, curiously analyzing his body movements. Was it good news? Bad? What happened to this 'Karkat' guy?
"Dave?" Her voice cracked. Coughing, she covered her mouth with her forearm and silently blamed the embarrassing voice change on the fact she had just woken up and had somewhat of a cotton mouth. "Huh? Oh. Look, I have something I need to take care of. There's towels in the bathroom and some shampoo in the shower. I'm sure I could dig you up a tooth brush before I leave..." Dave stood and began to fidget in his dresser drawer, looking for a new tooth brush for her.
Standing up, Jade made her way quietly behind him and raised her hand slowly to the side of his shirt, tugging softly at the bottom hem. "Is he ok...?" A sigh escaped Dave's lips as he grabbed a packaged tooth brush from the drawer and then slowly closed it. "Dunno. Whatever he rushed off to do last night must have been important. It's nothing to worry about. I'll be back soon." His hand slid down to hers and gently pried it from his shirt. Pulling her hand up to his chest, he placed the tooth brush in her hand and released her, heading towards the closet.
Jade wouldn't take that as answer. She felt as if this might have been her problem. After all, it did seem like that guy lived here after all. If his black and red sweater that hung from the closet handle wasn't enough, it was the shoes by the door that OBVIOUSLY weren't Daves size. She at least owed that person an apology. She chunked the tooth brush on the bed and reached for her clothes and scampered towards the bathroom. Maybe if she got dressed quickly enough and beat him to the living room, he wouldn't have a choice but to let her go.
Her hands reached for the bottom of his shirt that she adorned on her body. For some reason, she paused as she gripped the bottom. Her breath got slower and she smiled. He took the time to care for her last night. Bathing her, clothing her, and putting her to sleep. If that wasn't chivalrous, she didn't know what was. KNOCK KNOCK.
"Ah, yes?!" Her voice chimed unnecessarily loud through the bathroom as she jumped, the knock startling out of her romantic haze. Daves voice traveled through the closed door. "There's some eggs and milk in the fridge. Can't guarantee the milk is any good...but hey, go ahead and eat something while I'm gone." Oh crap. That means he's about to leave.
Without looking in the mirror to check her hair or clothing, she switched as quickly as she could and grabbed the door handle, darting to the living room to grab her shoes. Dave's hand grasped the handle and began to turn it so he could exit the apartment, but as he heard the patter of her feet down the hallway, he stopped and tilted his shades down just in time to catch the panorama of Jade tripping on the rug that rested on the ground right as she entered the living room.
Her fall was sort of...comical. A small squeak escaped her lips as she tumbled to the ground, hands hitting the ground moments before her face tapped the rug and she rested there face down. Dave coughed and as much as he tried to hold it in, he chuckled out loud as he went to her side and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Seems like you're kinda clumsy? Well..kind of is an understatement."
Jade scoffed from the rug and pushed herself up to a position where she could at least rest on her knees. It was then that she realized her glasses had been resting on the floor right where her face made its home just minutes ago. Reaching for them, she took notice to the fact that one side was heavier than the other. Oh no...
Dangling them in front of her face, she sighed and realized that one ear piece had snapped off. Dave looked at her hands and reassured her it was alright. "Look, we can go get that fixed at Wal-Mart." Groaning, Jade shook her head and gave Dave a scowl. "No, we can't. I have no money and I can't see without these. Dave, I'm almost legally blind." Without knowing the severity of her situation, Dave had jumped to conclusions. Of course she had no money. She missed her flight. She couldn't get anything while she was here. Fuck.
For a minute, Dave thought she might have just been out of luck but then he remembered he had a particular neighbor who was just perfect for this situation.
Dave rose to his feet and held out his hand. "Can you at least see to gra-" without finishing, Jade grabbed his hand. "Shut up." Her retort shouldn't have been as funny as it was, but it made Dave laugh under his breath. For some reason, she didn't ever seem this stubborn when they talked online years ago.
Grabbing his keys, Dave swung open the door to the apartment and held it for her so she could exit. "Dave, what part of 'I'm BLIND' didn't you get?" As soon as she stepped over the threshold, he slid out next to her and grabbed her hand and began to lead her down the narrow hallway. "Unless you manage to trip on the air in the next 100 feet, you'll be fine."
101, 102, 103, ah. 104. Stopping, Dave lifted his hand and proceeded to knock on the door. Of course when he put his ear to the door he heard whirring and buzzing noises coming from inside the apartment. "Yes? Who is it?" A low and almost monotone voice rumbled through the door and shocked Dave enough to make him bolt back to Jade's side. "Yo, it's Strider. I got a situation." Momentary silence. Click. "...Come in."
The door slowly swung open to reveal an apartment that had nearly the same layout as Dave's, but only it was adorned with Blue and Red decor. The air smelled of metal and cherries. "What is it..that I can help you with?" Jade looked around and tried to find the source of the voice but saw no one until a tall and muscular man stepped out from behind the door as it shut. "We had a crash landing this morning and we need these bad boys fixed or else Harley here is gonna have to turn into a bat and start using echolocation."
Raising his hand, he opened his fingers and revealed her broken glasses to the tall male. "Hm. I see." Turning his back to him, he made his way down the hallway and vanished momentarily. Jade swallowed her nervousness as she murmured up to Dave. "Who is that?" Looking down, Dave pointed over to the work bench by the window. "Think of him as a fixer upper. His name's Equius and he works on stuff that's broken in the complex." Blinking, Jade responded. "Oh, so he's the maintenance man?" Dave put a finger to her lips quickly and whispered. "Shush. In a way, he finds that disrespectful of his position in this place. Does way too much work for a shitty title."
As quickly as the conversation began, it came to a hault as Equius entered the room again. This time, a short and chubby ginger girl made her way behind him, smiling as she bounced over to Jade. "Woah, you're quite tall." Well...maybe to her. "Uh..-" before Jade could reply, the short girl wiggled her way over to the work bench. "So, small job huh? I'm going to take a wild guess and say that she broke those off at at least an 80 degree angle and I'm also going to guess she tripped and fell."
Instead of being insulted, which she should have been, Jade stood there with her mouth gaping. Looking up, Dave didn't seem to be fazed at the females conclusion. As Dave exchanged words with the girl and Equius, Jade took a moment to gander and gawk at the room the stood in. It was adorned with Plaques and trophies as well as metal scraps and what seemed to be small robotic inventions. Without a doubt, she put together that the loud mouthed girl was the owner of the 'Student of the Year' and 'Nation Wide Math Champion' plaques and the robotic items belonged to the burly Equius . "Alright Einstein, the damage report is in but can you fix them?" The metal work chair slid across the carpet as Equius stood with her glasses in hand. "Strider there is no need for impatience. And yes. Of course I can." And by can, he meant did. As he approached Jade, she stood absolutely still. It was as if the hands of a giant where hovering over her face. But soon, a familiar feeling rushed over her. Ah. She could see! "Ah, thank you!"
With her vision restored, Jade tapped the frames and smiled. "Yeah, thanks man." Again, the girl made her appearance and popped in front of Equius. "Of course, Dave. Bust make sure clumsy here doesn't fall flat again. We don't do work for free around here." Groaning, Dave shook his head. "I know. Thanks. I owe you one Aradia. " That was her name? Seemed kinda fitting for the short girl. If she was any shorter, Jade could have sworn she was a yordle.
"Well, thanks again. We gotta bounce. See ya later." Without haste, Dave grabbed the handle and dismissed both of them , closing the door behind them. As much as he would have loved to have a hot cup of milk with the two of them, he did take into account that he did have business to attend to. Besides, the last time he was there Equius tried to challenge him to a milk drinking contest in which Dave promptly lost and ended up throwing up later that night.
The silence of the hallway caught up to them as they walked hand in hand towards the exit. Breaking the silence, Jade whispered up to Dave from his shoulder. "You know, I can see." "Of course I know that. I was just there when you got those things fixed." "I know. I mean, you're holding my hand still like when I couldn't see." Pausing for a moment to catch his cool, Dave still couldn't hide the fact that his cheeks grew flushed from the realization of her comment. The silence completely took over him this time, and instead of releasing her hand, he clasped down a tad tighter. Karkat better be dead or damn near it to ruin his day with her.