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 Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 6:12 pm
 John raised an eyebrow at the muffled words coming out of Karkat's mouth. After running the garbled syllables through his mind a couple of quick times, he was able to decipher what the intended phrase was meant to be. The words mixed with the tone in which they were delivered caused John Egbert to chuckle a bit.
"Hehehe...You expect me to believe that? It takes a lot more skills than that to trick a trickster...There's no way that you aren't in the least bit pleased..." He stated, a bit smugly. There really was something about that purr in Karkat's voice that got to John, and not in a bad way. He couldn't explain it if he was asked to other than the fact that he wanted to keep hearing Karkat's vocal chords murmur like that. An added bonus was: he knew exactly how to do so. So, why would he want to stop?
John lowered his hand a little, making it's way back to Karkat's horn before he was taken by surprise. Karkat managed to lift his head, his sky blue meeting Karkat's dark orange and slightly red tinted eyes (He had been told that their blood color became evident in a troll's eyes as they matured). That made him stop, withdrawing his hand a bit. It wasn't due to the fact that the look he was receiving was particularly menacing, but he could tell that was somewhat of the effect his friend was going for. Instantly, John's face softened into an apologetic face, and he opened his mouth to apologize.
That, however, was exactly when Karkat had mustered up the will to grab him by the shoulders and bring himself up closer to John's face. Before the trickster knew it, Karkat's lips were on his. His first reaction was shock. His eyes widened as if he'd just been electrocuted, and similarly, his feet stumbled backwards until his back hit some sort of hard surface, tugging Karkat with him, since his arm was still wrapped around the shorter troll.
He didn't know exactly how to process this. Was Karkat pranking him back? Was he just trying to distract him? Was it something else? John didn't pause and take the time to think deeply on any of those. His body took the liberty to override his brain, and he was now on autopilot. Slowly, his eyelids closed and he began to kiss Karkat back, in an unexpected turn of developments. Karkat was, needless to say, a bit alarmed when rather than pulling away as soon as their lips made contact with each other, John instead stumbled back against the wall in his shock, dragging him along as he did. This sense of something feeling off with the Heir's reaction time was truly nothing in comparison to the panic Karkat was soon thrown into thereafter, namely the exact point in time in which he felt John's lips move coyly back against his.
Oh my God.
Christ, what the ******** was going on this wasn't what was supposed to happen, no, he should have been disgusted, shrieking to the heavens that he was not attracted to those of the male association but seriously how the hell was that a thing human customs were all kinds of weird and s**t he forgot how to breathe how do you ******** forget it's a natural body function dumbass the very concept doesn't get erased from your think pan just because the star of your daydreams is <******** kissing you back holy s**t, that's not a thing that happens.
He couldn't even remember what had possessed him to initiate this unintentional turn of events in the first place, instead focusing on keeping himself upright as he all but melted against John, letting up on the pressure he'd initially applied to his lips as he took to a softer and, dare he say it, sweeter approach with light, clumsy kisses, a barely audible purr rising from the back of his throat before his fingers found themselves entwined in the prankster's hair. At any other given moment, he would have been embarrassed out of his think pan from the things John was doing to him, but in this particular instance he found himself unable to care.
That was, of course, until he'd abruptly been brought back to soul-crushing reality. He - unwillingly - broke himself away and unwound his hands from his hair, taking a considerable step back in order to put some distance between them as he looked up at him, an array of emotions flashing through his eyes before they narrowed into a distrustful scowl.
"So, should I prepare myself for the sudden outburst of 'Oh man, I got you so good Karkat! You should have seen your stupid ******** face, you totally fell for it!' as well as the devastation that accompanies such a proclamation now or later? Because, you see, I am a man of dignity and class, and I enjoy being taken out to dinner and maybe even a movie before I get ********, Egbert." he seethed, unable to bring himself to look at him anymore.
"I distinctly recall advising you to not pull this kind of ********, and yet here we are! You are truly something. I bet you think I wouldn't send you out on your a** right back to your hive this very second, and you'd be right." his tirade gradually grew softer and more dejected, ending with a heavy sigh.
"Whatever," he muttered, grabbing one of the movies and putting the disc into his DVD player, shuffling to the couch with the remote. While John's body was on autopilot, his mind was jumping from one rapidly moving train of thought to another. His thoughts were moving so quickly that it was all a blur. The only thing he'd remember about the current experience was that he and Karkat were kissing, and he wasn't objecting to it, at all.
Judging by Karkat's actions, John kissing him back was the least thing he expected, but John didn't pay no mind to that. He wasn't thinking of chalking it up to his prankster skills. No, he was far too engrossed in the situation, the feel of Karkat's lips kissing his gently. Definitely a change from the kiss that brought on this predicament. It was sweet, and made John quirk the side of his lips up in a small smile, a faint blush on his cheeks. He tried to mimic the gesture as he planted delicate kisses on Karkat's lips in return, wrapping his arms loosely around him.
That blush grew when one of Karkat's hands made their way into his hair, he sighed quietly as a response. To be honest, he hadn't been expecting that, and he was a bit embarassed. That probably was not what Karkat wanted. And his assumption only seemed confirmed when moments later, the slightly shorter troll pulled away. John looked at him innocently for a moment, red plastered all over his face, before Karkat began raging at him.
At the tone of the words, he bit his lip and looked down at the ground. His arms wound behind his back, just like a kid would when his hand was found in the cookie jar just before dinner. His hands locked and he began fiddling with his fingers in a nervous habit. It was all he could do to muster up the will to say something after Karkat went off on him.
"I..." His voice came out normal with that word, but, it dropped in volume significantly and he mumbled the rest "...I wasn't trying to trick you...Sorry..." The dejected tone evident in his voice, that is, if Karkat could even make out what he had said. John was just glad that he wasn't being kicked out, though he did feel a bit uncomfortable staying.
He looked up from the ground slightly to see the lower half of Karkat walking around and putting one of the movies in. Only after his friend had situated himself on the couch did he make his way over to sit down himself. John sat down on the opposite side, lest he upset Karkat more, and kicked his shoes off quickly before pulling his legs up onto the couch with him. He was sitting with his legs curled up to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs, and his chin resting on his knees.
John didn't even bother with trying to watch the movie. He'd already seen it, and his brain was too busy analyzing what just transpired, and it was asking him the tough questions. One's he wasn't sure he could answer yet. Karkat held a throw pillow from his sofa - Kanaya claimed that they added a certain charm to even the most mundane, threadbare of couches but he just liked them because they were really ******** soft, not to mention an excellent substitute for tissues - to his chest, curling himself around it. His haughty scowl had disintegrated into a weary frown, hardly even able to make the effort of keeping his eyes glued to the television screen rather than shutting them for what would hopefully be for the rest of eternity. He was just so, so tired - sweeps of unrequited pity and, God help him, maybe even this foreign concept of love he'd heard so much about coming back and punching you square in the face over and over again until you're just a bloody ******** pulp on the pavement no one's willing to clean up could do that to a guy, he supposed. Even self-depreciating himself was exhausting. Yeah. You are the biggest jackass to ever roam the universe. We get it. Do you want an award or something.
He barely registered the credits rolling by in his stupor, blinking away any further traces of haziness woven around his think pan, looking over at John for the first time in what must have been nearly two hours, his eyebrows knitting together slightly. He didn't seem much better off - he didn't even seem to acknowledge the fact that the credits had completed their upwards trek, the menu screen having taken their place.
"John," he piped up hesitantly after a moment. "I, uh. I want to apologize for jumping the metaphorical bullet dispelling device and um...you know. Being me, I guess. You didn't deserve it and...yeah. Sorry." he murmured in as gentle a manner he was capable of in order to establish how serious he was, despite how he fumbled and floundered for words, looking away awkwardly as he fought down the flush threatening to spread over his cheeks. John didn't move at all during the movie except when he was breathing and blinking. He was way too wrapped up in his thoughts to even think of using energy to move. Moving wasn't important, nope, not at all, he could sit there forever until he finally pondered the questions out of his head. No matter how much they demanded to be answered, he just couldn't bring himself to attempt to do so.
The questions were all along the lines of 'do I like Karkat like that? What does that make me if I do?' .And that's all that was consuming his thoughts. Never ending questions about who he was. He was kind of afraid to know the answers. Thus, he shifted from one to another with either a halfhearted bullshit answer, or none at all. He couldn't allow himself to break down any more in front of his friend, that might cause him to ruin things even more.
Therefore, it took a moment for his brain to register hearing his name. John blinked a couple of times before slowly turning his head towards Karkat. His expression was somewhat vacant and occupied. He vaguely understood the fact that Karkat was apologizing for something, but John didn't see why. As a result,one of his eyebrows raised ever so slightly, as if confused.After that minuscule facial expression, he turned his head back into it's place, still not noticing that the movie was over, before sighing.
"Don't apologize, Karkat...it was all my fault..." He stated softly, but with a resolute tone. It was his fault, after all. If he hadn't done the stupid windy thing, they'd be chilling like bros and enjoying some lame movie or something like that. Having said his peace, he burrowed his head into his knees, curled up in a ball on the couch, all he saw was the inside of the little cocoon he had made for himself.
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Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:56 pm
==>Relive John's 14th Birthday John was leading his three friends (one of which was his ecto-sis) back from the void to his house. Of course, Rose and Dave hadn't been there before, and they were spending the night, so, they had bags of overnight stuff with them. Jade lived with the Egbert's now, so she didn't have to worry about lugging her slumber party things over to the void where they had a huge 'wriggling' day party thrown for John. Vriska and Karkat, along with Jade, had put their brains together to set everything up. There wasn't a single Betty Crocker cake to be found. For that, he was thankful.
So, he was naturally excited for the second round of partying. His dad had given permission for him to have a spend the night party. The kids were commandeering the basement for their party shenanigans. The once lonely and desolate basement had been converted to a den, the old one having become Jade's room. His piano, Jade's bass, and a home entertainment center resided down there, along with a karaoke machine, game stations, and a small kitchenette. There was also a bathroom downstairs, so, basically, once they got the party started, there was no need to come back upstairs.
Of course, his dad had been worried about the boy/girl sleep over thing, but Jade was in charge of making sure that John behaved and vice versa. It was all good. Naturally, John was explaining all of this to his guests as he led them excitedly to their designated party spot.
"So..guys, we're gonna have so much fun! Thanks for this birthday stuff...It's all been way better than last year..exponentially better!" He said enthusiastically as he led them into his house. "Welcome to la casa de el Egbert!" He stated, gesturing to the hall space which was immiediately out side the linen closet they clambered out of. Jade giggled at her brother's excitement. It was only fitting after all, it was his birthday, and she had done her best to make sure it was one of the best birthdays he'd ever had. Plus, it was going to be so much fun having a sleep over! She'd never been to a sleep over before, much less helped host one. It was a new experience she was looking forward to.
"Uhh...John? How can they see our house if you're blocking the way out of the closet?" She asked, a small giggle following after as she watched her brother scramble out of the way. "Egbert, what the hell do you think you're doing," Dave drawled in exasperation, a pale eyebrow quirking in his best bro's direction, readjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder. "Get the ******** out of the way before I go into a claustrophobia induced shock from all these bitches refusing to hop off my d**k, I mean goddamn,"
He shoved John forward in an attempt to get his a** in gear, having failed to take into consideration the collateral damage that could, and did, result due to his impatience. Egbert grabbed his sleeve in a futile effort to keep himself from falling over, and Harley, realizing what deliriously brutal plans gravity had in store for them, thought it would be a great ******** idea to latch onto Dave's other arm, John pulling them down to their mediated doom. They all crashed to the ground in an unceremonious heap of limbs tilted at questionable angles, save for Rose who had anticipated such a lapse in her dear, insufferable p***k of a sibling's judgement, a thin smirk creasing her lips as she stepped over the jumble of her fallen comrades, setting her bag next to the couch before turning back to face them, hand on her hip.
"I would certainly hope that this quaint celebration would far surpass your last, seeing as how I'm here for the occasion. In fact, I would be deeply wounded if you were to say anything contrary to this, John, as both you and I know that I am, indeed, the life of the party." "For the love of God, Lalonde, could you keep your perfumey trap shut for two minutes? Dave mumbled irritably as he lifted his head from where it had been pressed to John's back, cringing in pain as he tried to free his arms, to no avail. To make matters worse, it appeared as though his shades had gotten knocked off on the trio's descent, if the sudden influx of light filtering into his bleary vision was any indication, which he confirmed after fixing his sights upon the square of carpet they had landed on, a string of curses leaving his lips under his breath.
"Harley. I can't ******** breathe. If you could kindly get off, that'd be great," he scoffed in as nonchalant a manner as he could manage, deciding bending his neck at an awkward angle in order to hide his face between Egbert's shoulder blades would be better than chancing anyone seeing him without his shades on. "Yo...you ca...can't bre...breathe?"John was struggling with inhaling. After all, there was the weight of two others pressing down on his back. You'd think the heir of breath wouldn't have any issues with such things. However, he was not immune to silly mishaps due to impatience. . "I....sorry, Dave..."Jade blushed a deep red. It's not like she planned on falling atop Mr. Cookid and her brother. As quickly as she could, she detangled herself from the heap. It wasn't a difficult thing to do, but it was awkward to step over the two splayed out figures in her way. Doing her best to keep balanced, she managed to hop over, avoiding any further mishaps while also snatching up a particular pair of shades that usually adorned Dave's face. She headed over towards her fellow female by the couch, holding the shades delicately in one hand, surely Rose would notice.
"Uhh...Rose..let's get your stuff downstairs...And don't make the joke about stairs, Dave.." she stated, as if she knew it was coming. She picked up Lalonde's overnight bag and slinging it over her own shoulder. Surely the boys could make their way into the basement just fine on their own. "I got stuff for us to bake cookies!" She stated enthusiastically as she motioned for her friend to follow her. It was only a matter of time before the coolkid noticed what was missing.John sighed. It was clear that Jade had gotten embarrassed. It's not like it was her fault in the first place. He, himself, did his best to get out from underneath Dave, for it was uncomfortable not being able to breathe fully. "Dave..you know Jade didn't mean to squish us..." He said softly, not wanting his sister to hear. She wouldn't take too kindly to John defending her when she could 'clearly do it for myself' .
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Queen of the Brainless Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:42 pm
Dave snorted, rolling off John and flopped down on the ground next to him, raising his arm to shield his eyes from both the offending florescent light hanging above them that rivaled the rays of the Green Sun and any wandering gazes that may happen upon him. He groped about blindly for his glasses in the general area he had seen them land in, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips after arriving at the only possible logical conclusion as to why they'd suddenly been spirited away.
Harley.
"Did you hear that, Egbert? That was the last ******** I gave flying out the window, screaming bloody ******** murder before being abruptly cut off via crashing against the cold, unforgiving concrete below. It's dead, Egbert, ******** gone, nothing more than an unsightly stain on the sidewalk no one's willing to clean up." he scoffed as he got up, arranging his bangs so they obscured his eyes from view should his hand not serve such purpose properly.
In as composed a manner as he was able, he stomped off in the direction Lalonde and The One He Held Great Contempt For At The Given Moment had gone in, fighting to keep the muscles of his face from contorting into a scowl. He was not loosing his cool over their ridiculous shenanigans - Bro hadn't spent fourteen years raising him to be a God among chumps just for him to bring shame to the Strider name from a stupid slip up because of stupid kids and their stupid antics.
"Harley," he drawled, grabbing her by the wrist. "Give them back." Jade had expected Dave to be hunting her down, but she didn't expect him to grab her wrist. She had been minding her own business, explaining to Rose that there was an icecream cake in the freezer for after dinner, another cake for John's birthday, when Strider swooped in and derailed that conversation.
She raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her wrist, his pale hand a contrast to her tan skin. A moment later, she looked up the usually shaded face. It was different, seeing him without his ironic shades. If he hadn't been hiding his eyes from view, he would have seen the sunglasses in her other hand. Luckily for her, he chose the wrong hand.
"Whatcha gonna do about it, Strider?" She asked, a bounce in her voice, wondering what his response would be.Dave let out a huff of annoyance to announce his disdain for her psychological warfare, seeing as he was unable to look up at her to do so. "Look, as much as I love these goddamn mind games you insist on playing with me, we both know you want me to do some vexing task in order to appease you, so ********' spit it out already." Jade pretended to think on it for a moment, when, in all reality, she already knew what she was going to ask him to do. He probably thought she was going to ask him to apologize for earlier or something, but what she had in mind was a little more meaningful. "Dave, look me in the eyes...." She stated, simply and softly, with a serious tone. The only thing left to do was wait for the refusal to do so.Dave fell silent once the words slipped from her lips and he directed his gaze to the ground, taking his bottom lip between his teeth as he considered how much more appealing the idea of simply going out and buying another pair of shades was as opposed to her offer. He knew that obviously wasn't an option though, since the particular pair ensnared within her grasp were pretty ******** important to him.
"...Do I have to?" he mumbled, his grip on her wrist slackening. Jade was actually genuinely surprised to see..well, hear Dave the way he was.Her grip tightened a bit on the glasses she held behind her back. She looked down at her wrist, the grip around it loosened up. Had she gotten to him? "Only if you want your ironic Ben Stiller glasses back to shade your eyes from the rest of the world..."
After a few moments of silence, she looked up at him as he pondered. How could it be so difficult for him to decide? It was just a quick look, really. However, she doubted Dave let his defenses down that much for anyone. If he kept being stubborn about it, she'd probably just give them to him, but she wasn't going down without a fight.
"Oh, comeon...It can't be that bad! My eyes aren't that horrible to look at!" She stated with a small laugh, trying to lighten the mood a bit. ."Yeah, well, you don't exactly have ********' demon spawn eyes, so you don't really have any room to talk about how they aren't that horrible to look at, like there's some kind of comparison," Dave scoffed, an edge seeping into his voice despite his best efforts to keep it monotonous, releasing her wrist from his hold.
"Jesus d**k, Harley, you are tearing me apart," he murmured as he reached up to brush his bangs to the side, casting a fleeting glance into her eyes before his gaze darted back to the ground. "Are you ******** happy now?" Jade's brow furrowed. Demon spawn eyes? What was he talking about. She severely doubted Dave's eyes would remind her of such a thing. She intended to make her opinion known. "You know, you might think that. Which, if you do, it's not a very good thing, cause it just dampens self esteem...anyways, what you may find to be 'demon spawn' eyes might very well be cool, awesome, or beautiful to someone else. You'd never know any different cause you hide behind those shades all the time..refusing to let people in..."
Her voice trailed off as he reached his hand up to his face after letting her hand go. She looked up at him curiously, watching as he shifted his bangs out of the way. Dave made eye contact with her, and she held his gaze, keeping any infliction out of her expression as she documented the sight in her mind. She could see why he'd jump to the 'demon spawn' statement, but it wasn't anything like that to her. The bright red color of his iris' was actually pretty amazing to her.
As he quickly brought his gaze back to the floor, the hand behind her back pulled out the shades, unfolded the temples of the glasses (in other words, those arm thingies that hook around the ears) and slid them expertly back on to his head, once again masking his eyes from the world. "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?" She said before turning and making her way back over to Rose, noting that she and John were whispering. .Dave blinked as she made to slip his shades back on, looking up at her before the lenses returned to their rightful place. Who the hell did she think she was anyway - he wasn't ******** hiding from the world like some kind of goddamn p***y who enjoyed writing flowery poetry about their feelings in the dark because it made them feel deep or some s**t. No, he was Dave ******** Strider, and okay who was he trying to kid, not even Nitram was so insecure that he needed to cover up his hideous flaws to function properly.
"Yeah. Right," he sighed and looked to the side, rubbing his forearm uncomfortably. "So. Uh. Sorry about acting like a total tool earlier, I didn't mean - or walk away, that's cool too I guess." he frowned as he looked up mid-apology only to see her back turned to him. Yeah. Okay. Here he was pouring out his ******** heart and soul and she just completely dissed him in favor of Lalonde and Egbert. Alright. Cool. He was all kinds of ******** chill with it. Jade had caught a glimpse of his eyes before she had finished putting the shades on, but she had figured that he had had enough of her silly shenanigans for the day, So, that's why she had turned to leave. Come to find out, Dave started speaking to her. Hmm...She heard the apology and turned to face him.
Great, nice way to make her feel bad, Strider. She frowned, clearly upset with herself for assuming that the conversation was over. If only she could robo slap herself now. "Dave...I..I didn't mean to be rude..honest. I thought you'd had enough of my antics for the time being...." She said a bit nervously. "I was going to let you resume being your macho cool self without interruption..." She explained, an apologitic smile on her face.
"Anyways, no need for you to apologize. I'm pretty sure even the coolest of coolkids looses their cool every now and then..." Her smile brightened at that, excusing him from any further apologies about his alleged douchebaggery. Her keen sense of hearing picked up some dialogue between Lalonde and Egbert, and it seemed appropriate to make sure Dave didn't hear them. Suddenly, a brilliant idea sparked into her mind.
The next thing anybody knew, Jade was gone. Not like, she ran away gone, not like she darted past them, but more like she physically vanished into thin air. What happened next was so sudden, you wouldn't have even seen it if you had forced your eyes to stay open. Jade rematerialized and glomped Dave from the other side, catching him off guard.
"Hehehe..." She laughed light heartedly, extremely sure that her antics would keep Dave none the wiser to their siblings current conversation. "So, brighten up! Well, as much as a stoic cool kid like yourself can. We're here to party, and by golly, we're gonna have a good time. Kapeesh?" Dave snorted and rolled his eyes, the corner of his lips quirking upwards in the beginnings of a smirk. "What, no, whatever would give you the idea that I find your antics annoying as s**t. They are my drug, Harley. I am like a strung out meth head who has sold everything he's ever known and loved in order to feed his crippling addiction, and your ludicrous shenanigans are like the heroin running through my veins, and I just can't stop because it feels so ******** good. So, don't worry your pretty little head over it."
He was admittedly glad that she took it upon herself to relieve him of his obligatory apologizing duties, as he wasn't very eloquent when it came to owning up to his wrong-doings. However, this grateful indebtedness was short-lived as she disappeared into thin air, not even given enough time for his expression to change into that of befuddlement before she crashed into him from behind in a sign of affection, nearly knocking him over.
Oh hell no.
Everything went eerily still as he froze time, bringing the world and all its inhabitants to a halt. He slipped from Jade's embrace and readjusted her until she was standing with her arms held a considerable distance from her sides for easy access and moved behind her, putting himself in position for the stage he set, resting his hands on her waist and his chin on her shoulder, murmuring "Kapeesh," into her ear as time began to flow again before initiating what was possibly the best tickle fight in paradox space.
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Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2011 3:04 pm
John rolled his eyes at the snort offered by his friend. Really, it wasn't Jade's fault that she landed on Dave, everyone knew that, but he'd let it go, listening to Strider rant and rave cause, apparently, his shades were gone. Jade must have taken them. Good girl! Serves him right for snapping at her like that. It was a fortunate thing that Dave wasn't looking at him, cause he was having a hard time restraining a smirk.
He, too, made his way down the stairs after Dave, partially to catch up with the rest of the group, partially to see what Strider was going to do. John's eye twitched as he saw Dave snatch up Jade's wrist, but he didn't say anything to them, knowing that if he did, he'd get an earful from both Harley and Strider. He wasn't up for getting fussed out on his birthday. So, instead, he made his way over to Rose.
"Uhh...So, how do you think this is gonna play out?" He asked softly, wondering what Rose thought of the whole situation. .Rose's lips turned up in a faint smirk, her eyes shining with amusement as he looked on at the scene Strider was causing. Naturally, she had taken note of the precise moment his precious shades had hit the ground from their collision that had, of course, been the cause of her brother's doing, and the moment they had been collected by one Miss Jade Harley. Dave had predictably remained oblivious to her devious hi-jinks until the two of them retreated to the basement, at which point he was distinctly aware of their disappearance, thus resulting in him stalking in barely restrained outrage to the culprit.
She hardly even minded the fact that he was intruding on her and Jade's conversation, for, as she loved making small talk with her dear friend, she enjoyed spectating the none too infrequent event of Strider making an a** of himself far more.
She shifted her gaze to John briefly, a flicker of a smile playing on her lips before she returned her attention to the display of what may be the most emotional outburst she'd seen of Dave yet.
"I believe we are going to witness a rare and heartwarming instance of Dave Strider revealing there is much more to him than his ridiculous coolkid facade in a moment of weakness." John was proud when he heard Jade's reaction to Dave's demand. Good for her. He knew Jade wasn't one to be pushed around, but he had to force his brotherly instincts aside to focus on the more interesting aspect of the event: Dave's actions. The usually composed Knight of Time was losing his cool, no matter how slightly, to the Witch of Space. It was an event to witness and document and put in the history books.
"Yeah, it does seem that way, doesn't it? Weird, though...I don't see why he'd break down for Jade, but not with you...you are his sister after all...Then again, he does seem to keep his deeper emotions locked up..." . Rose merely released a short, breathy laugh in response to John's impeccable observation skills, deciding against revealing events that her brother would surely rather keep as repressed memories to the Heir. It certainly wasn't her place to rehash wounds better left to be forgotten - what happens in SBURB stays in SBURB. Or, well, that would be what Mister Vantas would like them to believe, what with his endless spouting on the matter in countless memos the kids had been forced to subscribe to.
"I can not say I am too terribly broken up about the lack of emotional depth our relationship entails. He will come to trust me in due time, and given any sign of his defenses faltering, I will not hesitate to entrap him in my sisterly love. The procedure will be swift and neat, and there will be no escape, I can assure you that." she smirked. "However, Jade is the one he has set his sights on, thus making him more emotionally susceptible in her presence. Or it could just be on account of the witchcraft she is undoubtedly using." John watched the two continue their antics while he listened to Rose. He was about to address her statements when the requirement had for Dave reached his ears. His eyes would have bugged out of his head if they could have. She wanted to see his eyes? Good luck ecto-sis. Like that's ever gonna happen. He couldn't ever recall seeing Dave's eyes in the past year, heck, he doubted that Bro had seen Dave's eyes since the kid was old enough to keep them on his face on his own.
"He has his sights set on Jade? What? You don't mean that he like-likes her, do you?" He asked, doubts in mind. However, Dave would be lucky if Jade did like him. But his brotherly role forced him to want the best for Jade. It was weird to him, since he was an only child a mere year ago, but he wouldn't change it.
"So, do you actually think that Dave will actually let Jade see his eyes?" He asked curiously, since the silence between the other two was growing. . "No, John, of course I'm not insinuating that your darling sister may be growing ever more lovely with each passing day and may even be the least bit appealing to my brother. Really, what kind of girl do you take me for?" she jeered lightheartedly, lapsing into a momentary silence as she determined the likelihood of Dave following through with her request, tapping her finger against her cheek thoughtfully.
"Well," she began, studying his uncharacteristically hesitant movements, "It's certainly plausible. After all, he does have a fondness for those glasses, and I doubt he'd let his disturbing insecurity complex stand in his way of getting them back." John rolled his eyes at Rose's first response, cheerfully of course. It wasn't like he was suggesting that his sister wasn't 'attractive', it's just that he didn't tend to think of Jade that way. So, naturally, it wouldn't come to his mind. Still, he thought it was kind of adorable that Dave possibly had the hots for Jade, all big brotherly-ness aside.
"It's not like I'm saying that, Rose...It's just that I thought I'd never see the day that someone could make Strider act that way. Let alone it being Jade who causes him to do so. It's just....unexpected." He stated, crossing his arms in thought as he leaned against the nearby wall. The exchange between Dave and Jade continued, except it actually seemed as if Strider might give in. It kind of made him pleased that Dave liked his ironic gift so much.
"Hehe..He sure does seem to like those glasses. I just hope he doesn't realize that, inadvertently, this whole event is my fault...I gave him the shades in the first place..I am the unintentional mastermind behind this...it is me..." He laughed quietly to himself before continuing. "So, how long do you think that Karkat's shipping diagram is gonna come true for the two of them?" "Honestly, John, you should have been anticipating the cracking of Dave's composure. Surely I am not the only one who's picked up on the fact that he's spent the entirety of his life up until last year interacting almost entirely with our father - or, Bro, as he would put it - and a computer screen. Now that he has been faced with the challenge of interacting with someone face to face that is not constantly telling him to remain cool at all times, it is understandable that he is slipping up." Rose smiled knowingly at her brother.
"It's not an easy transition for him, and will frankly be extremely awkward for all of us during his beginnings of actually forming a personality for himself that is not constructed by Bro. While we're at it, I should also tell you that you should expect for him to one day drop the ridiculous coolkid act entirely, save for when he's joking around. While it's been embedded into him throughout his entire life, he will inevitably fail to put his life's teachings to any use with us. But, one day, Strider is going to find himself, and we will be there every step of the way."
Rose looked at John, the smile creasing her lips widening a bit. "Of course he likes them, they mean the world to him, considering they came from his best friend. I'm sure the thought of you indirectly being behind all of this won't even cross his mind."
She giggled at his next inquiry, settling her sights back upon Dave and Jade. Karkat may have hit the nail on the head with that one, she had to admit. Though he couldn't have possibly been more wrong with the other half of his diagram, as much as she liked John. He just wasn't her type.
"Three years," she murmured after a moment's deliberation. "No more, no less. Neither will confess before then, and will dance around each other in a manner that could be considered clumsy the entire time."
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Posted: Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:20 pm
However, next thing she knew, Dave was behind her with his chin on his shoulder and his hands on her waist. She blushed as she noted that her arms were away from her sides, and she could have sworn that Strider uttered 'Kapeesh' in return before she started getting tickled. The laughter that escaped her lips was instantaneous and infectious. A stream of he hee's arranged in no particular order. No fair!
Jade squirmed as Dave's hands continued tickling her sides, trying to escape and retaliate. So, this was a god tier fueled tickle fight? Bring it on! She used her spacey witch powers to turn herself around to face Dave in a flash of dematerialization. As she reappeared, one hand was starting to tickle Dave's neck, the other was working on an armpit. She was not going down with a fight, despite the continued giggles issuing from her, she was determined. Dave bit his lip in a desperate attempt to restrain himself from bursting out into a fit of laughter, but much to his dismay he failed miserably, unable to gain enough control over himself to turn the tables back in his favor.
"Hahahaholy shehit, Jahade," he managed to squeak out between painful - that was, painful for Dave - giggles and snorts and god this was so ******** uncool he was going to die then and there from sheer embarrassment. May the irony gods strike him down where he stood.
Dave's shame from such an outrageous slip in his composure spurred him on to remove himself from Jade's clutches as soon as he possibly could, bringing time to a stand still once again. He fell to his knees for an unpassing moment, catching his breath, his cheeks flushed from exertion.
Goddammit, Harley had certainly gotten him where she wanted him this time. He sent a glare at her motionless figure, her face frozen in a goofy grin. He just couldn't win - at least it was cute when Jade was sent into uncontrollable laughter, but for him it was just weird and more than likely uncomfortable for those who had fallen victim to witnessing it.
What the ******** ever, let them judge him harshly as they may, today wasn't even about him, it was about John. This was no time to fall into a self-loathing episode. Rising from his knees, he made his way over to John and Rose, effectively cutting off whatever conversation they may have been having by shoving them over towards Jade as he prepared for an ambush. Time began to flow again after he tackled them all on to the ground in one fell swoop, hands maneuvering expertly between various tickle spots.
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Posted: Sat Oct 29, 2011 11:41 pm
Well, this was turning into quite the the disturbing development. John's behavior did not sit well with Karkat whatsoever, and he was the only one that could be blamed for making him feel this way. The guilt that had begun to fester with this knowledge in mind twisted his stomach into knots that would put a decorated Boy Scout to shame, biting his lip in hopes of subsiding the pain it was starting to cause him. He'd never seen John like this in his entire lifespan, and he definitely never wanted to see him in such a state again, especially if it was of his own doing.
OPERATION: RETURN EGBERT TO HIS ENDEARINGLY OBNOXIOUS SELF was a-go.
Karkat cautiously shifted in his seat, sliding next to John. His lips drew into a frown as he raised his arms, faltering for a moment before wrapping them around his waist, leaning his head on his shoulder.
"John, you and I both know you didn't mean to cause any harm. I'm the one who did an acrobatic ******** pirouette off the handle. It's not your fault in any way, shape, or form so uh. Please don't think it is." he looked up at him from the corner of his eyes, unable to keep down the blush proclaiming his shame despite his best efforts. John stiffened as he felt the couch move due to Karkat making his way closer to him. Why would he want to do that? Obviously that was part of the problem in the first place. Instead of focusing on Karkat's approach, John concentrated on his breathing, making sure he filled up his lungs before exhaling slowly. Honestly, when Karkat stopped, his actions was the least possible thing John thought he'd do.
The feeling of arms being wrapped around his torso made him look out of his little hidey hole, a curious and confused look on his face. His gaze shifted to Karkat's face, since the troll's head was indeed resting on his shoulder. Why would Karkat want to hug him?
Though, as his friend spoke, his own expression softened to the likeness of the one he usually wore. A happier one. And a small smile even cracked his lips as he saw the blush on Karkat's cheeks. Without much thinking, he reached one hand out to touch the color that was usually void from his friend's face, his hand caressing Karkat's face softly.
A moment later, he realized his folly and withdrew his hand quickly, instead choosing to return the hug, flinging both of his arms around Karkat. He was desperately trying to ignore the blush of his own all the while. He laughed nervously, resting his own head on Karkat's shoulder, mimicking the troll.
"Yeah, you might have blown up...but I shouldn't have messed with you like I did...I got it..from now on, your horns are off limits....So, we can both take the blame...that way we don't continue arguing..." Karkat's cheeks flushed further as John gingerly swept his fingers along the side of his face, though this time it was not on account of the mortification he felt due to his 'express your contempt for any plans against you that are clearly a product of your delusional self-centered think pan set first, ask questions later' mentality. One of his arms unwrapped from its placement around John's waist, reaching his freed hand up to hold John's.
This course of action was soon out of the question, though, for before he could take the Heir's hand within his, John pulled his away and then promptly ensued in flinging himself at Karkat, placing his head on the troll's shoulder in much the same manner as he'd previously done moments prior. Karkat felt his lips twitching into an oddly upturned angle at the boy's antics, settling his forehead atop John's messy locks as his arms once again enveloped him in an embrace.
Mission accomplished.
"Yeah, alright. I can live with that." John had hardly realized that Karkat was reaching up for his hand, far too embarrassed by his mess up. Well, what he perceived as a mistake. He was just glad as Karkat hugged him in return. He hugged him tighter as he felt Karkat's head rest on his, possibly blushing further.
Surprisingly, he seemed to be completely okay with the length of their hug, not attempting to pull away in the least. He just stayed there, inhaling the smell of Karkat's shirt. The rhythmic breathing between the two helped lul him into a light dose, causing him to pull himself closer to Karkat and readjust himself comfortably. He was using Karkat's shoulder as a pillow as his eyes slid shut. His body relaxed and, basically, he was resting on Karkat with all his weight. Being sad sure pulled a lot of energy out of him. The strange curve of Karkat's lips merely grew as John nestled against him, threatening to wage war with his other assorted facial features in order to claim more space than it was warranted at the cost of the overwhelming affection he felt for the boy in his arms. It seemed that it had been able to make a compromise though, much to his relief, instead settling in a slightly uncomfortable positioning in what he supposed would be classified as a smile; it looked so effortless on John, not to mention really ******** adorable, and taking into consideration that he was not very well versed in the trade of such a pleasant expression, he wasn't even completely certain he was doing it correctly. It was the thought that counted, he supposed.
He leaned back to situate himself against the armrest of the couch, careful not to rouse John from the exhaustion he'd fallen victim to from the emotional roller coaster Karkat had sent him barreling down since the moment he arrived, his smile falling a bit in remembrance, though it still remained despite the guilt that had returned with a vengeance to consume him. He was just too silently ecstatic about the leaps and bounds of progress he'd managed to make even with his faulty accusations and his tendency to jump to conclusions to let it put a damper on his mood. He hadn't felt this content in a long, long time, and he had every intention to savor the moment before it all came back to bite him in the a**, of which he had no doubt would occur.
Karkat cast his gaze down to John's face, his smile softening into what felt more appropriate for the occasion of tracing every detail of his sleeping flush crush's features with his eyes - the way his lashes cast shadows on his pale cheeks, how his mouth fell open to reveal his slight overbite, though he didn't snore, and the way his glasses fell forward on the bridge of his nose. Idiot.
He removed the offending spectacles, placing them down on the end table behind him before replacing his arm around his waist, threading his fingers together as he rested his head upon John's.
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Queen of the Brainless Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:13 pm
  caligulasAquarium began trolling grimAuxilatrix CG: kan
CG: come on kan
CG: answwer me please GA: Yes Eridan
GA: What Is It That You Need Me For
GA: Im Sort Of Preoccupied At The Present TimeCG: wwhat is so ******** important that you cant evven bother wwith your moirail
CG: that is wwhat youre supposed to do remember
CG: help me out and vvice vversa
CG: oh cod its that human isnt it
CG: i shoulda knowwn GA: Your Perception Is Impeccable
GA: Yes Rose Is Here
GA: But That Is No Reason To Gripe
GA: I Suggest You Change Your Disposition If You Wish For Me To Consider Taking More Time Away From My Task At HandCG: fine
CG: i'll change my glubbin attitude if thatll finally get you to pay attention
GA: Good Choice
GA: However It Will Be Best If You Make Your Way To Me In Person
GA: My Hands Are Needed For Other Things Than Typing At This Moment
CG: wwow really kan
CG: i really didnt need to knoww that bit of information there
CG: im not that desperate GA: Shut Your Mouth Already Ampora
GA: I Dont Know Precisely What Type Of Lewd Things Just Ran Through Your Aquatic Mind
GA: But To Put A Stop To Them
GA: I Am Merely Altering Clothes
GA: I Need My Hands Ready With Needles And Thread
GA: Get Your Depraved Mind Out Of The Gully
GA: Now I Suggest That If You Wish To Speak With Me With Little Interruption Or Wait
GA: That You Make Your Way To My Lodgings In The Void
grimAuxilatrix ceased trolling caligulasAquarium Eridan couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the screen after Kanaya abruptly ended their conversation. Well, wasn't she being miss fussy fangs at the moment. He had been teasin after all. But her reaction was all worth it. Anyways, enough distraction from the matter at hand. Eridan closed his husktop and made his way to his closet, now full of various fashions due to his pale moirail, for which he was thankful for.
That was one of the best things he got out of his new moirail. At least they helped each other out, unlike Fef . No, that little empress just wanted to make sure her cod damn lusus didn't kill everyone. He went out on campains with the spider b***h (who wasn't that much a b***h in his mind anymore, that was over too) she'd kill trolls for her 'mom', and he'd cull the lusi for Fef's. And what did he get outta that arrangement? Unrequited red rom, that's what.He shoulda known better, but he was young and stupid at the time. Past him was truly a tool.
Anyways, he pushed through the fabric, snagging a rather snazzy coat with a high collar and throwing it on before he continued through his secret walkway to the void. His feet knew the path well, and before too long, he was standin outside of Kan's room. He didn't knock, for she was expectin him, so he just strolled on in as if he owned the place. It was bound to get a sarcastic look from at least one of the girls.
"Kan, nice to see that you're doin what you do best....Well, probably one of the things you do best..." He added with a smirk, knowing full well that she'd get what he was referring to. Kanaya raised her eyebrows at the sudden intrusion, casting a bit of a perturbed look his way. It wasn't as if she didn't foresee his arrival, but it was the manner in which he made his presence known. Eridan was a bit of a drama queen. All eyes did have to be on him. Luckily Kanaya managed to keep him out of most of the trouble he could get himself in, and in return for her contributions to his wardrobe, he brought her fine cloths whenever possible. It was a win-win situation.
"Eridan, I suggest you behave yourself. It wouldn't be best to get Rose and I upset. You know what kind of work I can do with a chainsaw. " She stated with a small smirk in her moirail's direction. He paled a little at that, but he knew she wouldn't do such a thing again as long as he didn't try and go on a killing spree. Some of the royal color in Eridan's face washed out at Kan's words. He was not too keen on the idea of bein sawed in half once again. Besides, it's not like she'd actually get to do so. He'd had to promise to Kar that he wouldn't go killin no one, lest he get killed himself. Vris and Gamz had to do the same.
"You know I was only kiddin..." His attention was caught by the other female in the room. "My apologies, Rose, It's nice to see you..." He added. Eri wasn't going to try to irritate the Rose Human at all, he knew what she was capable of as well. All that grimdark magic crap, and the god tier seer of light. He knew when to tread lightly. Rose's eyebrow raised delicately at Eridan's typical over exaggerated entrance, beckoning her undivided attention as he waltzed in through the door. Her slate painted lips twisted into a sly smile at the sea dweller's positively lewd implications, her eyes glinting mischievously.
"Why, Mr. Ampora, what a pleasure it is to have you gracing us with your presence on this fine afternoon. Perhaps you should learn the common courtesy of which my human culture is accustomed to, and of which I am a bit sensitive about, which is to say knocking. I realize that with your upbringing such modest habits may be a foreign concept to you, however I feel that if you were to invest even a few moments in rapping your knuckles against the door to alert us that you intend to infringe on what may be a tender moment between Kanaya and I, it would spare you a potential life-long scarring should you manage to stumble into such a scenario. For, as you may be able to gather, when things begin to get heavy, locking the door is the least of our priorities."
Of course this was completely fabricated bullshit. Really, what kind of lady would she be able to claim herself to be if she didn't take measures to keep private matters under wraps - or, as the case may be, entangled in sheets. Naturally the door would be secured so as to keep any pestering moirails out should her intentions for being in Kanaya's room incline her to do so. But he didn't need to know that.
However, the smug lilt faded from her voice at the utterance of his apology, which suited her just fine as she returned her sights to a half completed seam on the dress she was currently occupied with, her smile softening.
"It is quite alright, Eridan. I find your mannerisms mildly amusing, actually. Now please, settle yourself in, you are making the atmosphere strained, what with you awkwardly standing there as though you are floundering for what to do next." As he listened to Rose speak, the smirk on his face grew. The flighty broad actually thought he didn't know what knocking was. Well, she probably did think so, she was just going around in her psychobabling way to try and get him to see the importance of it, or reasons why he should do so. While she might have had a vaild point, Eridan found it amusing that she was alluding to the same things he was, and he noted that Kan's face began to flush a deep shade of Jade against her pale skin. Well, if her matesprit could get away with that sort of banter, he could too.
"For your information, Rose, I know full well the custom of knockin on a door. However, Kan was the one to invite me over, hence she knew I was comin and that eliminated a reason to do so. Why would I make her leave her important work on your clothes just to open the door for me when I'm fully capable of doin so myself? And as for bein scarred for life by what I coulda seen, let's just say I'd take my chances, and deal with the results...After all, it wouldn't be scarrin in the least..." A smug look present on his face. That bein said, he pulled up one of the nearest empty chairs and sat himself down on it gently, makin sure not to wrinkle up anythin he was wearin by sittin on it wrong. Kanaya's face was a bright jade color as the two of them bantered back and forth. To be honest, she was a bit of a prude, and talking about such things tended to make her a bit flustered. So, it was no surprise to her when she accidentally pricked her finger with the needle she was using, causing her green blood to come to the surface. (Which, for a rainbow drinker, wasn't always the best thing).
"Would you two please cease with this inappropriate discourse? It's quite distracting.." She stated as she tended to the p***k on her finger. She didn't want it to stain the delicate fabric she was working with, it would ruin all she had worked for, and she didn't want to have to start from scratch.
"I mean, I am pleased that you two can get along so well. I just prefer if the banter stays away from that particular topic." "You make no ******** sense, Kan..I swear...You can be totally badass one moment with your stupid chainsaw-disguised-as-a-tube-of-lipstick, but the hinting of any sexual behavior and you shy away like a little grub about to get culled....It's the strangest thing.." "I do apologize, Kanaya darling, for making you uncomfortable. We'll be sure to refrain from broaching upon such matters, won't we, Eridan?" Rose shot a look at him from the corner of her eyes in a way that suggested that it would not be in his best interest to answer otherwise, continuing to skillfully thread the remainder of the hem of the dress despite her gaze being directed elsewhere.
She took a moment to examine her handiwork, decidedly pleased with it. She carefully removed the dress from the mannequin it had been ornamenting as she worked and stowed it away in Kanaya's closet, picking a flowing skirt from the pile of clothing that needed to be readjusted on her way back to her make shift work station.
"By the way," she begun casually, "whatever are you doing here in the first place?"
Rose glanced at Eridan in a far less menacing manner this time around as she fitted the skirt she'd chosen on to the mannequin, readying her needle as she awaited his reasoning for his presence.
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Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:57 pm
ectoBiologist has started a group chat with tentacleTherapist, turntechGodhead, gardenGnostic, and arachnidsGrip EB: uh you guys
EB: i kinda need an emergency feelings jam or whatever right now
EB: like as soon as possible now
EB: can you guys get over hereGG: sure bro..since i'm already home!AG: Sure Joooooooohn! This sounds pretty import8nt.
AG: 8e there reaaaaaaaal soon!TG: im on my way manTT: Yes, John, you can expect me momentarily. EB: thanks you guysectoBiologist has logged off John found himself pacing back and forth in his room as he waited for his closest friends to assemble. He would have invited Karkat as well, except for the whole conversation had something to do with him in particular. Over the past few weeks John had done his best not to be left alone with Karkat. Not because he was upset with the troll or anything, but merely because he didn't know how to act around him anymore. He also didn't know if he could trust himself around him either. The last thing he wanted to do was end up hurting one of his closest friends.
So, things had been a bit awkward since the day they kissed, and both of them knew it. But, whenever he visited the void, he made sure that he and Karkat were within the sights of any of the other trolls, and he had stopped being all clingy and huggy around him as well. And he felt awkward as hell the whole time. There was always a tension in the air, one he wasn't willing to break, but it had become unbearable. Which, incidentally, ended up resulting in him calling together this little pow wow of close friends to see if they could help him figure a few things out. It didn't take Jade any time moving away from her computer desk, research paper quickly forgotten, to go down the hall to John's bedroom. Something must have been bugging him really badly for him to call together the four of them. Though, he had been seeming off over the past couple of weeks. Sure, he still kept up the mask of pure oblivious happiness, but she and Mr. Egbert could tell that something was up. Heck, everyone could. John couldn't hide his emotions very well like Dave could. Everyone knew when the Heir of Breath was off kilter.
So, she knocked softly on John's door before he called out for her to come in. Instantly she engulfed him in a big hug while they waited for the others to get there. After a few moments, she loosened her grip on her brother, instead just having an arm around his waist and resting her head on his shoulder, letting him know that everything was gonna be alright. Vriska had been re-watching John's copy of 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' for the eighth time. Once that was done, she could return it to him with no worry. She just had to watch it that many times, soaking up all the Nic Cage she could. However, her movie time was interrupted by trollian. Apparently John had started a group chat, and he was callin for an emergency feelings jam. It sounded lame, but he was her moirail after all, she had to go and fix things. So, with little hesitation, she stopped the movie and creeped out of her room, winding through the various passageways to get to the transportalizer, which would lead her to the room that contained the door that would lead her through to the Egbert Hive on Earth.
As she stepped off the transportalizer, she nearly collided with a short, nubby horned troll. The near mishap caused a wicked grin to appear on her face. "Watch where you're goin, Karcrab...John's called me in for an emergency feelings jam, and you're gonna make me unfashionably late..." Karkat had been making his way to the transportalizer for matters pertaining to the troubling amount of sopor that had been left in Gamzee's makeshift medicine cabinet - he couldn't quite recall the last time he'd peeked in to check up on his dosages because he supposed that he wouldn't have to, but as ******** always he was wrong - before Vriska stepped off, jostling him in a less than pleasant manner as she passed by. He glowered up at her, but otherwise would have let it go easily enough. He was a busy guy, he had s**t to do. No, as a matter of fact, his schedule did not include glaring at his computer screen for extended periods of time or moping in his recuperacoon. Really.
And then she opened her mouth.
"Yes, it is definitely me who has to be more aware of their surroundings, God help me if someone were to suddenly make their entrance on the very device I am about to exit with. Your logic is completely irrefutable, Vriskaaaaaaaa." he sneered, "And as you may be able to perceive, by that I mean please go kindly jump into a fire along with all your ******** irons that, ********>, no one actually gives a s**t about! While you're at it, why don't you go tell that indecisive, avoiding a*****e to suck my bulge - which, oh wait, he won't consent to because he's not a ******** homosexual, whatever that is."
With that, he turned on his heel and stepped onto the transportalizer, flipping her off as he evaporated into the air. Rose was out the door as soon as her fingertips had left the keyboard, shouting downstairs to her mother that she was making an impromptu visit to one of her 'girlfriends' as they were currently going through a messy break up, and it was entirely possible she wouldn't be back until well into the next day. Her mother merely raised a martini glass in acknowledgement, throwing her an offhanded comment about not serving this fine young lady as a rebound, to which she promptly received an exaggerated roll of the eyes as Rose continued on her way. She slipped through the linen closet door, which surely her mother must have found odd, but the entrance to the void was for her utilization only - the only thing her mother would come to find would be old quilts and dusty comforters adorning the shelves of what could not possibly be a means of exit.
She nearly sprinted the rest of the expanse of the void to the Egbert household in order to get there in a substantially reduced amount of time, fumbling the knob a bit in her worried state before practically flinging it open and stepping out into the hallway of the upstairs portion of John's home, shutting it behind her as she collected herself, eyeing the surrounding area in search of anyone that may have had the misfortune to bear witness to such an undignified moment before slinking off to John's room.
She tapped her knuckles against the wooden frame of his door before opening it, peering up at both John and Jade as she allowed herself in, settling her gaze upon the younger of the two. She scrutinized him for a moment, determining what could have possibly been bothering him for the past few weeks that would bring him to resort to calling a meeting between them. One look into his eyes told her more than enough, and she offered a small, understanding smile before wrapping her arms around his middle, opposite of Jade. Dave all but burst in through the door a few moments later, appearing distraught despite his eyes being shielded behind his shades, his giving up of his trademark coolkid shtick for the present moment made appallingly obvious as he threw himself at Egbert, knocking all three of them upon the awaiting mattress behind them. He wound his arms loosely around John's neck and rested his head on his shoulder, sending him a flash of a grin as he made himself comfortable, swinging his legs over Harley's lap.
"The snugglebro entourage has arrived."Vriska's gaze narrowed as Karkat began to mock her speech. She liked drawing out syllables, thank you very muuuuuuuuch! Pft, he was probably irked at the fact that John just wanted her attention instead of his. The flush crush was completely obvious now, had been for a bit, and the fact that John had been sketchy with Karkat lately frustrated the troll leader immensely. Something Vriska savored. But, she really was worried about John. He hadn't been himself as of late, and she was really glad he was wanting to talk about his issues, even if it was with a bunch of other humans as well. She could manage.
"Karkat, look, I'm sorry, I'm just worried about John..And you and I both know he's been off lately. I wanna get to the bottom of this.." That was all she managed to get out before the shorter troll flipped her off and disappeared through the transportalizer. Good ******** riddance. Sheeeeeeeesh, she was just trying to be a good moirail! With a huff she turned and headed to the door in the computer lab that would connect her to the human world, leading to John's house. In her haste to get to her friend, she forgot about the human persona she could adapt to so she wouldn't stand out, not like John wouldn't recognize her or anything. She'd just have to make sure not to leave his house. No big deal. She waltzed through the linen closet like she owned the place and strode down to John's room, pushing the door the rest of the way open to enter, then closing it behind her.
"Weeeeeeeell, I got here as fast as I could, John. Karkat was being a huge grump..." she managed to say before noting the odd arrangement in which the four humans were arranged in. Instead of joining in on the squealbeast pile, she took a seat in John's vacant computer chair and turned it to face the group. "Let's get down to business! What do you need to talk about?" She directed the question at her Moirail as she picked up her feet and set them on the bed, lounging.
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Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:23 pm
 Jade growled in frustration as her a** landed rather sharply on the ground for what must have been the seventeenth time in a row, more or less, she could have been exaggerating. It was just so frustrating! You had to have a certain type of grace to wield a sword, albeit a shitty one.The hilt felt all awkward in her hand, she had to move with it, have a certain balance. It was so different from gunslinging. It was a different art in itself.
She eyed the hand that Dave offered her, taking it after a second. Just wait, they had to get to the guns at some point. She dusted off her clothes in a habit, just in case something was there, as Dave began to speak. Alright, alright, she knew she sucked royally at this point, no need to rub it in or emphasize or whatever. Her face was flushed, partially due to irritation, partially due to embarassment. However, a few seconds later, those reasons would change entirely.
After Dave's little rant, he moved behind her, unexpectedly. At first, Jade thought this was going to be a part of his antics as teacher, thus leading to her landing on her rear once again. However, she was wrong. His arms made their way across hers, holding the sword with her. The red to her face increased due to the sudden contact. She was careful not to turn her head, due to the fact that his chin was resting on her shoulder, and she did her best to focus on the tutorial. Her muscles relaxed from their tense state as he began to help her move with a rhythm that was productive to using a sword, her body was trying to grind the movement into her muscles, making them a habit, while her mind was racing.
It would have been wonderful for him to just hold her like that, but silly Jade, it's not like Mr. Coolkid would just stay and do that. She'd just have to remember the feel for later. She sighed faintly as he let her loose, continuing the fluid motions without hesitation. She'd get this right, at some point, and if she had issues, well, she'd just ask Dave to show her how to maneuver again.
After a couple of minutes, she stopped and turned to him, looking at the shades as they reflected the bright sunlight. It was time for a break. Jade wiped the sweat from her brow as she smiled at him. 'Dude, time for a snack...and some water or something...." She stated, not giving him time to argue before she grabbed his hand in hers, lacing their fingers together again, and transporting them into the house she once called home.
It was cooler inside, without a doubt, and there would be no issue with food or drink. All she had to do was use her witch of space powers if they couldn't find something suitable for Dave. Inside the kitchen she found her little portable refrigerator, pulling out an orange before hauling herself up on the counter, her hand now disconnected from Dave's before she began peeling the fruit.
"It's my turn to school you once we're done in here...And that may be a little bit...cause once I'm done snacking, I'm gonna head upstairs to my room and change into more comfortable clothing..Don't worry, it won't take me long.." she stated with a bright smile as she continued taking the fruit apart, her feet kicking back and forth in a tempo to fit a metronome, as they hung off the counter in midair . Dave nodded in agreement as Jade declared it was break time. Watching her fail time and time again had seriously wore him out, and he could go for some apple juice right about now.
As they reappeared in the kitchen, he set about to obtain a bottle of apple juice from Jade's portable refrigerator thingymabob, twisting the cap open with a flick of his wrist. He brought the bottle up to his lips to take a sip, looking over at Jade as he leaned against the counter she sat herself upon.
"Okay," he shrugged. He wasn't worried about getting schooled by Harley - honestly, how hard could shooting a gun be? He'd played all the shooting games at the arcade and was pretty much a ******** master at it, so he couldn't imagine handling a real gun rather than one molded out of pink plastic would be much different.
"I hope you mean 'changing into something more comfortable' like they do in bad pornos," he smirked at her, a hint of his teeth flashing.
He was joking, of course.
Maybe.
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Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 7:55 pm
John appreciated that all his friends had agreed to come. It meant a lot, and quickly they began filing into his bedroom. First was Jade, of course, there was no reason she wouldn't be. She cared for him a lot, and she did live in the same house. Even if that wasn't the case, with her witch of space powers, she'd still manage to get there faster than any of the others. He had smiled a little as she rushed in and wrapped her arms around him. Yes, hugs were a good kind of medicine right now. He hugged her back briefly before she loosened her grip, so she wouldn't be suffocating him (seriously, Jade had a mean bear hug).
Next was Rose. No more than a minute could have passed before Lalonde had made her way, all ladylike, into his room. He could have been wrong, he was no knight of time. Anyways, she joined in the group hug, making it grow, and it was appreciated. She probably had figured out every thing that was bugging him at the moment, but he did appreciate the fact she hadn't tried to nag it out of him or anything. She'd make one hell of a psychologist. He hugged her back promptly, he wasn't one to leave his friends hanging.
BAM! Strider was there, sending them all toppling to his bed in a massive pig pile of friendship. To be honest, he kinda wasn't expecting Dave to wrap his arms around his neck and rest his head on his shoulders. Kinda a challenging task if they were standing up, considering that Dave was now a giant, basically, over six feet tall. He caught the flash of a grin exuding from the coolkid, and returned the gesture with a greatful smile as he made himself comfortable.
Last, but certainly not least, Vriska came stalking in, clearly determined to get things taken care of. She probably thought this iron had been in the fire long enough, it was time to take it out and examine it and figure out what to do with it. Still, he was kinda glad that she decided to take up a chairman of the board demeanor as she sat down in his computer chair. He really wanted to stop feeling down, and he knew that the four of his friends that rushed to his aide would be able to help him hammer things out.
"Well....." He trailed off, trying to figure out how to word things the best. "I..umm...I think I might..." He had a hard time saying the words aloud. It was odd, to him, but, he knew he needed to spit them out. "I think I haveathingforKarkat....ButIdon'tgetthiscauseIdidn't thinkthatIwasahomosexual..." He spat out, several words mangling themselves together in the rush of verbal diarrhea that spewed out of his mouth. "SoIwaswondering if you guys wouldhelpme withthis little experiment Icameupwiththat might helpmefigure thisthingout for good...." His face was completely red at this point, but there was no turning back now. He had to resolve this, he knew it, and he had been running long enough. "But if you don't want to, I understand..."
Rose peered up at John curiously as he stumbled over an avalanche of hastily strung together syllables, able to decipher a sizable portion of what he was trying to get across based solely on her assumption of what had perturbed him so greatly in the first place. He was clearly struggling with coming to terms with what he perceived to be his ******** flaming homosexuality, considering his painfully apparent attraction to his friendleader counterpart.
While his worrying over such trivial matters was by no means necessary, she would keep her commentary to herself until she deemed it a proper moment to assure him that there was no need for concern. For now, however, she would gladly humor whatever harebrained scheme he had managed to come up with this time.
"Well, if you think it will assist you in figuring things out, then please feel free to to 'experiment' as need be," she said as she sat up, a half teasing raise to her lips.
John gave Rose a grateful smile. The fact that she was willing to help meant a lot to him, plus it also made him think that the others would be just as willing, if not more so now because of her statement. He ran a hand (as best as he could while trapped beneath a pile of friends) through his hair before speaking.
"Uhh, thanks Rose, for all your support. I was thinking, and you guys totally don't have to go along with this if you don't want to, that, umm..." He trailed off, needing to muster up that courage he knew he had in him. It only took a few seconds for it to reveal itself. "I kinda need each of you guys to kiss me....in a non platonic kind of way, just to see something. Except for you, Jade, cause you're my sister. But, yeah, that does include you too, Dave..." He trailed off at that last bit, looking at Strider in a 'please don't kill me' kind of way, but less dire.
Vriska was relieved when John finally spit out what was troubling him, and honestly, in her opinion, she didn't quite see why he was freaking out. Well, that was coming from her culture, at least. But, he had taught her about his, and she could understand why he was spazzing out about the issue. However, it was kind of those 'about damn time' things.
Sure, she had figured that John and Karkat were flushed for each other for a while, but things like this had to be handled delicately. These particular irons had to be watched in the fire, stoked just right, heated to the perfect temperature, before you took them out. See! She was a good moirail! Even if her methods were a bit unethical at times.
"Well, let's get down to business!" She stated before moving over to her moirailslashexboyfriend. She pulled John easily from the pile of his friends before she started to kiss him like she had when they were dating. The routine was familiar, albeit a bit rusty, her having to be delicate due to his human factor, but, he was doing his best to get back in the habit, wanting to fully experiment and make sure he was right about his assumptions.
Personally, she believed he was filling as much heat from the kiss as she was, which, was to say (with no offense intended) none. Her flushed ambitions for John had long since died, and they weren't coming back. It didn't take long for the two of them to separate, wiping their lips as they stepped back from each other. "There, my bit is done........move on to the next test subject, Egbert." She stated with a supportive smile, taking her place back in the throne of professionalism she had converted his computer chair to.
John hadn't been expecting Vriska to snatch him up as she had, but it wasn't out of the norm for her. Well, the easiest bit was over, at least. He had kissed Vriska plenty of times before when they were dating, so it was easy to slip back into that mind frame. However, there was no spark like there once was. No flame to kindle the 'irons' or anything like that. So their kiss lasted fairly shortly, even if it was a bit sloppy. He wiped his lips on his sleeve as he tried to compose himself, like he hadn't just made out in a room full of his friends.
"Um...Rose, would you mind being next?" He still had to try and work up the nerve for the kiss with her ectobro. Sure, he'd already kissed a guy, Karkat, but he had to examine each angle of the possibilities floating in his mind. An alien female: Vriska. A human female: Rose. And a male human: Dave. All of them vs an alien male: Karkat.
"Of course, John, I'd be happy to." she complied with little hesitation. Quite frankly, she thought that he was blowing this a bit out of proportion when it wasn't a big deal at all, but then again she was secure in her sexuality while his was obviously far from as stable as he once thought it to be. She and Kanaya would probably have a good laugh about this tomorrow over a couple mugs of hot chocolate from the neighboring Starbucks, rather than cause a big fuss over who's lips had been upon hers and why they weren't her Alternian girlfriend's. Such signs of intimate affection did not seem to affect trolls as perhaps they would a human - after all, trolls were concerned with up to four quadrants at a time, making them more romantically inclined and more difficult to make them jealous as opposed to a typical human's single courtship.
So, with that logic in mind, it would be easy to see her uncertainty with having Jade in the room for when it was Strider's turn. Color her suspicious, but she was not entirely sure how Jade would handle witnessing the object of her possibly longer than four year infatuation swapping spit with her own brother. However, she respected John's need for moral support right now and trusted his decision of bringing her in here, and though she doubted he had thought out the consequences this may bring, she would not point out the flaws in his logic and would instead allow what may come.
Rose gently brushed John's bangs away from his eyes, sweeping them to the side of his face, gazing up at him as she mentally readied herself for her next course of action. She wasn't really sure of what he was expecting or what method she should go about doing this, and wow ok Lalonde, no need to over think this. Surely your best friend who is irrevocably in love with someone of the male persuasion and hasn't realized it yet won't mind too terribly much if his lesbian of a best friend is a horrific kisser. Yes, she supposed that thought was comforting enough to spur her on to play her part in John's experimentation.
She lifted her head just enough for their lips to meet, her eyes slipping shut and her arms coiling around his neck. As much as she loved John, this simply wasn't doing anything for her and she was willing to wager it wasn't doing much for him either, though despite this she still glided her tongue rather brazenly along his lower lip, not wanting to deprive him of any 'data'. She pulled away from him after a prolonged moment, determining it would be sufficient for his documentation and offered him an encouraging smile of her own.
John was glad that she agreed, though somewhat slowly. He figured she, of all people, would know exactly what his mind and emotions were doing to him, and the fact that he had been utterly confused as of late. She was the psycho analyzer of the bunch. He gave her a tentative smile as he watched her brush the hair away from his face. Wow, well, this was it. He was going to kiss Rose. The girl that Karkat ended up shipping him with back in the game.
To be honest, he had thought of the two of them together a couple of times, all due to Karkat's notions, of course. However, it never seemed right when he did. He was actually kind of relieved when Rose and Kanaya had gotten together. They really were a good match for each other. If anything, he did envy, at this point in time, Rose's security about her orientation. Maybe, just maybe, all this 'research' will help him figure out for good what his was.
So, when their lips finally met, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, he was actually a bit shocked that he felt nothing, not even when her tongue ran across his lower lip, just, nada. It also seemed as if they had the same reaction, and they pulled away from each other simultaneously.
"I, umm...yeah, there was nothin...Sorry, Rose, but I guess that's good for you too, I mean, not like in a negative way, just in a 'we don't find each other attractive in the least like that' kind of way. Which, is helping me figure out this mess." He rambled on, trying his best to postpone what he knew what was going to happen next, as per his request. His glance darted over to Dave for a moment before dropping to the ground.
Dave raised an eyebrow at John as he went off on a tangent to stall for time about how he didn't dig Rose in that way, but that was pretty much ******** gravy seeing as she was into chicks anyway.
"Dude. Chill. If you're intimidated by the sheer charm and sex appeal that is only natural for someone bearing the Strider name to ooze, I completely understand, and I really can't blame you. It's a lot to take in, and it must be difficult just being within my presence-"
"You can certainly say that again."
"-much less mackin' on me. But you're my best friend, okay, and as outrageously sappy and heartfelt as it is, I love you man. Our bromance transcends whatever shitty quadrants trolls have, so don't sweat a little tonsil hockey because it doesn't change anything between us, alright?"
After his tirade, Dave took his shades off, sliding one of its arms into the collar of his shirt before setting his sights on John. While the action was done in order to avoid their eye wear from nudging and clanking awkwardly together (something he'd picked up on more than one occasion with Terezi) he figured that the added sentimentality that was derived simply of exactly who was taking them off was a bonus. While he still preferred to sport his sweet Stiller shades, he did not completely abhor the concept of being seen without them as much as he did a few years ago. You can bet your a** bitches knew it was a special occasion though, it is like ******** Christmas when the shades come off.
Dave promptly dragged John into his lap, knowing full well that as the last and only male test subject he'd have to make damn sure that John had no doubts about himself after this. Heavy is the crown of being a totally suave mackin' king.
He dipped his head to catch John's lips with his own as he shut his eyes, one arm snaking around his bro's waist while his other hand cupped John's cheek. Dave started with soft, feather light kisses, soon after switching it up with firmer, hotter, more tongue involved snogging, though he was unable to help but notice the distinct lack of anything but platonic affection for him. s**t was pure and true.
It wasn't long before he broke away from John, placing him back down on the bed as he reached for his shades, regarding their palhoncho with a grin that practically radiated 'oh my god why the ******** are we still here egbert for the love of christ please go run off to your ornery romeo already' before slipping his shades back on.
John flushed a bright red when Dave started rambling on. He knew he was just trying to lighten up the mood, but his stomach was already contorting into knots. This was it, this was going to help him figure out everything, right? He sure ******** hoped so.
Since he really didn't know how to approach the situation, he let Dave take the lead, pulling him into the taller guy's lap. He had finally registered that the shades were absent from his dude-bro's face as he bit his lip. Good, it wasn't going to change things between them, thank God.
He really appreciated the fact that Dave was going to go all out for this, make sure that every aspect was covered, so to speak. Before he knew it, lips had met, and Dave's hand was on his cheek, the other arm wrapped around his torso, starting the kisses out small. It wasn't hard for John to follow Dave's lead, but, once again, he wasn't feeling it. But, he just had to go through the motions, he had to try, else this would be for nothing. So, as Dave turned up the intensity, John followed suit, keeping pace, but still not sensing any difference. He even let his hand wrap around Dave's neck and into his fair hair.
It was literally just about no time before they broke apart, Dave setting him down on the bed while he made to replace his shades. John sat there for a moment, chewing on his lip, staring at the floor, lost in thought. He was piecing all of the bits of information together, the gears in his brain were turning. He could make things all better.
Instantaneously his mood brightened a thousand watts. His smile shone as he looked around at the others in the room. He knew what his next course of action was going to be, sure as he knew he needed air to live. Without a word, he got up and hugged each and everyone there, quickly but tightly, definitely stirring up the air in the room, before disappearing down the hall and into the void. He had someone he needed to find.
Jade was all up for helping John return to his normal self and be happy. He'd been in too much of a slump lately and it worried her. However, at his idea to get things 'sorted out', she immediately tensed up. It's not like she had a real problem with the plan. Well, she had one: That John was going to be kissing Dave. Not only that, but it'd be in front of her.
Ohkay, she could do this, it was for John. First one up was Vriska. That one was no big deal. He'd dated Vriska. Jade had absolutely no feelings for Vriska. Everyone was happy. Breathe in, breathe out. She could do this, she could be there for John. He needed this.
Rose was next. Apparently Rose herself was a bit hesitant, but, if Rose thought this was what John needed, it couldn't be that bad, could it? No, definitely not. Almost instantaneously, it seemed, they had finished kissing. Now it was time for Dave. She'd hardly noticed that Bec had showed up and that she had been working her fingers into his fur, wanting comfort, while her other hand gripped John's comforter in a death vise. She didn't even notice that she had started to shake.
She watched the next events unfold with a sort of mixed emotions. One, was concern, she hoped this was helping John. She didn't like to see him sad. The other, which was far more evident and overpowering than the other, was jealousy. Yes, if it were possible, she'd be as green as her eyes, all over. Green as Jadesprite had been. Hell, possibly greener than the damn green sun. As she watched, her eyes narrowed slowly and she bit the inside of her cheek enough to begin to draw blood.
An eye twitched as she watched them at it. She couldn't, almost, believe how angry she could be at John while simultaneously she wanted to be in his position. Breathe, Jade, don't forget. Finally, the scene had come to a close. At that point, everything had a red tint to it, or so it seemed. Her emotions boiled within her, enough to make Bec nuzzle at her, hoping to distract her from her fuming. John's hug was basically the breaking point. She was as stiff as a board as he tightened his arms around her quickly before making his way out of his own room. Yes, she had been the last one he hugged.
A moment later, when she was sure he was gone (for she knew deep down that he hadn't meant to put her through something that would make her feel that way) she almost literally exploded. Bec yelped in a bit of a warning to the others, and a plea to Jade before she moved herself through space, taking Strider with her, before slamming him up against the wall of John's room, knocking several dvd's off their shelf.
"I see how it ******** is, Strider. You can kiss John to help him out, make him certain that he is indeed ******** head over heels for Karkat, but heaven ******** forbid that you actually kiss me because you want to. Or, was that just me misreading all that's gone on between us during the past month or so?" She stated, seething. Her voice shaking with rage. "No, don't you answer that, you ********. It was rhetorical, I don't wanna hear excuses, I don't wanna hear 'but he's my best bro' I don't ******** care. Nope, not one ounce." She stated, cutting off any retort he might have. No, she didn't want him to start trying to weasel out of this, she couldn't stop the ranting now. Even if she wanted to, which, of course, she didn't.
"You could have at least asked if you had to kiss him in front of me. John is so god damn oblivious he didn't have a ******** clue that I actually felt anything for you, but I would have thought that you, the master of the emotionless mask, would have at least had a small inkling of a hint of the fact that I've had a crush on you for a pretty goddamn ******** long time." She admitted, without a care. Nope, it didn't bug her that Rose and Vriska were most likely still in the room. Let them have an audience.
"Then again, maybe it didn't ******** matter to your a**. Maybe it was a way of lettin me know 'Hey, Jade, I'm a player, and, you know, I'd rather kiss your ecto-slime brother than you, so take a ******** hint and get over me you stupid b***h." A few tears had escaped the corners of her eyes by that point, but she didn't bother with them, they didn't matter. "You know, it would have been a ******** million times better if you had just said something, that way I could have at least begun to kill the feelings before you snogged my brother like he was giving the very air you needed to live. Well, I guess that'd be chalked up to another reason why he's the goddamn heir of breath. I'd think a knight would have a bit more manners than that." With that said, she let him go before disappearing off into thin air.
There was no ******** way she was going to stay in that house, in that room, in front of him. She had to go home, the place she had called home most of her life. One place he shouldn't be able to follow her to. As soon as her feet hit the sand of the beach, she kicked off her shoes and began to run. Running til her chest ached from strain, til her feet didn't want to go any further, all while the tears fell from her eyes. Or, was that just the rain that had began to fall? (it actually was both.)
When she was thoroughly soaked, she made her way to her grandfathers manmade cave, perched off the cliffside. It connected to the basement of her island home, and it had a spectacular view that overlooked the jungle and the beach beyond it, and at last, the ocean. It was there she stayed as she calmed herself enough to stop the burning in her chest, what had been caused by running and sobbing combined.
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Posted: Wed Nov 23, 2011 5:37 pm
Met my old lover in the grocery store
Well, you couldn't really call her an old lover. More like you two ended up having a drunken one night stand, and, quite frankly, you think that's what scared her off. It was great, really, as far as being inebriated while having sex can be. But, she wasn't mentally wanting that. You wish you wouldn't have let yourself get as intoxicated as you did. Maybe you could have prevented the whole 'misfortune'.
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
Yes, another Christmas Eve had snuck up on you. You had decided to make your way up north and spend the holiday with your best bro and his dad. Well, at his dad's for a bit. Then you two would partake in manbro Christmas, not waking up til noon, burning the toast, and unwrapping the presents you got for eachother in the attempt to outdo the last year's loot.
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
He almost didn't believe it was her. He hadn't seen her since they all had a massive graduation party. Things were still awkward between the pair at that time. It was hard to even try to smooth things over. The two of them couldn't get over the inelegant greetings to have that much of a conversation, though he did try, he really did.
And I touched her on the sleeve
It was more of an impulse, to be honest. He could hardly believe she was there, in front of him, in the flesh, after all those years. He just had to confirm that she was tangible, that she was real. He honestly thought it was just a dream at that point. The feel of her wool coat was enough to tell him he wasn't hallucinating. Wow, wait, maybe that wasn't the best thing to do. She probably didn't want to see him. Maybe he could just disappear down an aisle before...
She didn't recognize the face at first
Well, he couldn't blame her, the puzzled look was to be expected. After all, it had been, what, five, maybe six, years since they last saw eachother. Well, to be exact, five years, six months, twenty seven days, seventeen hours, twenty two minutes, and forty seven seconds. Yeah, he was still good with time these days. Still could control it like back in the game. Same as the rest of their group of four. It came in handy from time to time, but he liked to refrain unless absolutely necessary.
But then her eyes flew open wide
The recognition flashed quickly over her bright orbs, she knew exactly who he was, how could she forget. A bright smile flooded her face as well as a slight blush before...
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried.
To be honest, he wasn't going to laugh, he was only going to help her pick up her things. However, when that laugher bubbled up and escaped her lips, he couldn't help but join in. It was always infectious, worse than the flu, and it was always a pleasure to come down with that sickness. Before the both of them knew it, their eyes were watering and their sides ached. But, it was in a good way, a happy way. They finally got all her stuff collected and back in the massive purse of hers.
We took her groceries to the checkout stand
It was interesting to see what she had picked out. It wasn't much of a shock to see her going for organic foods, having raised most of what she ate when she was younger, but the quantity seemed to be too much for just one person. He, too, paid for what Egbert had sent him there for. Some rolls for their Christmas dinner with his dad.
The food was totalled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged.
Besides, it's not like you wanted to catch up on five years worth of personal history in front of complete strangers. So, as soon as possible, he snatched up the bags like the southern gentleman he was and toted them outside to her car. He loaded them gently into the trunk before she asked him if he wanted to have a quick drink, when really he knew it was an excuse to hang around a bit and chat.
We went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldn't find an open bar
Seriously, you'd think that at least one bar would be open, I mean, wasn't Christmas the time that sad folk drank their sorrows away? Anyways, there were always alternate solutions. He wasn't getting away without her talking his ear off.
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car.
Problem solved.
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.
Personally, after that night, years ago, he would have thought that she would have avoided the stuff all together. She didn't even grimace as the beer slid down her throat. Apparently she had aquired a taste for it.
She said she'd married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
Lucky b*****d. Anyways, she did say that he hadn't built her the biggest house she'd ever lived in. There was only one master behind that building, and she was lookin at 'em. Apparently she was referring to back in the game, when he had to build up her island abode to touch the sky. He cracked a small smirk at that. That's right, he was the master builder. Suck it, fancy schmancy architect dude. He had nothin on the great Dave Strider, well, other than the girl of his dreams.
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didn't like to lie.
That, in itself, was a tied between a hearbreaker and a relief. Seriously, he wanted her to be happy, even if it wasn't with him (though he preferred that it was). But, he was sort of appeased that she didn't love somebody that wasn't him. Selfish, yes, but, that kinda thing happened sometimes.
I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
Green, dumbass. Her eyes are green. They were a green that could rival the vibrance of a Christmas Tree. And, to you, yours were the complimenting red. A perfect match. However, fate didn't seem to want that to be truth.
But in those eyes I wasn't sure if I saw
Doubt or gratitude.
Maybe it was a mix of both?
She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
To be honest, he'd been surprised that she'd found out. Not like he was all that popular, yet. He was working on it though. David Guetta, look out. But, then again, he knew that she probably kept an eye out on Rose, John, and himself. Just as he did the same.
I said the audience was heavenly
But the traveling was hell.
Speaking of traveling, she was up in Washington to visit her dear brother, John, just like he had been. Regretfully, she was on her way out of town. Her husband was at a convention of sorts in Oregon. She wasn't able to spend much time, but she pointed at the cake that her adoptive father, Mr. Egbert, had loaded her down with. She didn't think she'd run into him, honestly, but she did admit that she was glad to have seen him. John didn't tell her that he was also headed up to his house. 'Must've slipped his mind!' She stated, quick to her 'brother's' defense.
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how.
To be honest, they both probably would have tried to avoid the trip if they had known that, too afraid to run into the other, afraid of the awkwardness that would ensue. However, it went better than they could have expected. Lady Fate must have wanted them to see eachother again.
We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence
Another 'auld lang syne'...
They rambled on and on about anything and everything that came to mind. The pair didn't want to seperate yet. They wanted to memorize the other's voice, for it had been far too long since they had last heard it, let alone seen writing over the old pesterchum client.
The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
That was when they both decided that it couldn't be avoided any further. It was time for her to get on the road, back down towards Salem, Oregon. Though, she noted, that she'd probably just use her powers to get to where she was going once the coast was clear. With that she gave a small wink and a laugh before she paused in hesitation. With little warning, she quickly reached over and grabbed his jacket, pulling him closer.
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
It wasn't a quick one either, but, it wasn't hot and heavy. It seemed to say 'I've missed you, I've missed so much..." One of longing, of regret. It seemed as if it was over as soon as it had started. He reached over and kissed her forehead before getting out of the car. It was a short walk up to John's, the rolls would probably freeze on the way, but that's what the oven was for, right?
And I watched her drive away.
He wouldn't take his eyes off her car until it was out of sight.
Just for a moment I was back at school
Well, not school, really, just back to the days when they'd all get together, the days after that fateful night.
And felt that old familiar pain
The sting of regret and bad decisions, things you wish you could change, but you...
And as I turned to make my way back home
Wait a minute.
The snow turned into rain --
That was all the time it took for you to make up your mind. This was something you had to do. Write it off as a doomed timeline. Yes, for any timeline that didn't have him and her together was good as doomed, like, apocalypse doomed. And, he should know good and well about those. Before he could walk fifty feet, he began turning back the clock, taking himself back. Back to earlier that day. He knew exactly where sixteen year old him would be. He knew how to get him to listen. He'd give him the low down, then head back to his present time, and see how his past self did. After all, when you could control it, you had all the time in the world to get things right.
So, a small smile of hope adorned his face as he faded from that Christmas Eve, determined to make things right.
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Posted: Mon Nov 28, 2011 12:05 am
Karkat stomped to his respiteblock in one of his infamous fits of unconstrained rage, unable to deal with that blithering psychotic jackass of a moirail of his. ******** Gamzee and his stupid ******** miracles, ******** him for not actually taking his sopor when he had ******** trusted him to, ******** him for being a terrible liar, ******** him for trying to apologize, ******** him for trying to get him to calm down, ******** him for sounding so heartbroken when he wouldn't turn around, ******** him for trying to follow claiming he would make it up to him, <********. HIM.
Karkat flung his door open, turning his attention to a sticky note and a pen that sat upon a table adjacent to the doorway, writing <******** OFF AND DIE in scrawling letters on the square of adhesive paper before slapping it onto his door and slamming it behind him. After a moment's consideration, he scribbled another note, opening his door again to add DON'T ACTUALLY DIE s**t FOR BRAINS OK JUST GO AWAY, slamming it shut once again.
He collapsed on his couch, releasing a heavy sigh as he wiped the liquid leaking from his eyes. He grabbed a blanket off the back of the sofa that was intended for decoration purposes, but what the ******** was the point of that when it was just as capable of operating as a cocooning mechanism to make the world and all of its bothersome inhabitants go away. He wrapped himself in the cover, curling up in a ball, vehemently repeating to himself that he was definitely not moping, he just wanted to be by himself for the rest of forever, it was perfectly normal. John was quite literally speeding through the distance that separated him and Karkat. Well, the distance that he hoped separated them. His first stop to check and see where he was was, of course, the main room with all the computers in it. It was closest and, hopefully, Karkat was sitting there typing away angrily at somebody. However, when John rounded the corner and didn't see the familiar figure he had expected, his face set into a more determined look.
Alrighty, time to check the next spot on his list. Obviously, it would be Karkat's room, or Respiteblock in troll culture. It was nearly no time before he was in front of the door, having used a transportalizer to help get him there. The sticky notes that addorned the door in Karkat's angry handwriting made him pause and raise his eyebrows. Awe, he wasn't all that happy at the moment. Well maybe, just maybe, he could help with that.
Without further hesitation, he grabbed the door handle and nearly flung the door open before quickly closing it behind him, locking it. His search continued for Karkat, but it didn't last long. He didn't really enter all that quietly, and apparently Karkat thought he was someone else. But, once he spotted him in a bundle in a blanket on the couch, he instantly gravitated towards him.
"Karkat?" His voice came out quiet, but it would be enough for the troll to know who it was that had intruded his living space. Before waiting to hear the rant that was awaiting him, he sat down on the couch next to his cocooned friend and bit his lip. "I know I've been a shitty friend lately, but I didn't know what else to do....So, please don't go off telling me how much of a ******** I am, how much of an inconsiderate little grub I've been acting like or whatever, cause I already know. But, now, I have something more important to say."
After getting that out of the way, he began tugging at the blanket that his friend had wrapped himself in until he got enough leverage to pull Karkat completely into his lap. One arm was around his back for support, the other brushed the hair away from his forehead. "I " John started before kissing Karkat on the forehead. " want" He continued, planting a kiss on his right cheek. " to be " Left cheek. "with" Nose. ' you." After he had finished saying that, he looked Karkat briefly in the eyes before bringing their lips together. Sure, Karkat could completely reject him at any second, but, John just knew he had do do this. Things'd be okay if Karkat didn't want what he wanted, but, as long as he got one more kiss from him, he could be fine, right? In retrospect, Karkat supposed he should have spent his time locking the door rather than writing none too intimidating notes that would be simple enough to completely disregard, despite the fact that he typically kept his environment immaculate and two stray sticky notes should probably be a cause for concern. It would certainly have been more efficient at keeping out whatever unbelievable a*****e decided to make opening the door a ******** public event rather than knocking like they had some goddamn manners.
"I realize that maybe it was presumptuous of me to think that people around here could read, because clearly you are all incompetent ******** losers who can't distinguish your sniffnodes from your heinous seedflaps, and it is utterly pathetic. Words fail me in beginning to describe how unfathomable my rage is, I would rather jump off of this meteor right now, just spinning endlessly into the darkest reaches of space, screaming into oblivion instead of having to deal with whoever thinks they can just walk in here -" he paused abruptly, falling silent after he determined the source from whence his name had come from. He had no intentions of speaking to him, much less to try to catch a glimpse of his hideously beautiful face, though he knew it wasn't going to be as easy as pointing him back out the door.
"What. The ********. Do you want," he hissed, his voice and all of its harshness muffled by the blanket as he buried himself further under it while the intruder decided to take a seat next to him, immediately launching into a drawn out spiel that Karkat could not possibly care less about, waiting for him to shut his mouth so he could kindly tell him to go fall off a cliff. However, that train of thought was cut short when John dragged him into his lap, drawing a mortifying squeak from the troll. Karkat glared up at him, his teeth bared as he tried to wriggle out of John's grasp, which in turn only made John tighten his grip. It was just as well, however, because once John's lips made contact with his forehead, Karkat ceased his struggling, eyeing him warily as a faint blush made its presence known on his cheeks, which John then kissed soon after.
Karkat admittedly hadn't been too keen on listening to what he had to say and was fumbling for the phrase that John was trying to tell him, only catching 'to be with you'. What. What did he want to be with him, why was he doing this, why was he here, didn't he have an attractive Earth girl waiting for him back home, that's what not being a homosexual meant right, how was that even a thing why would they give a name to something as ludicrous as oh my god what the ******** did he think he was doing jesus christ.
He stiffened as John brought their lips together. He wasn't ready for this, he didn't need this bullshit, he didn't want this if it meant he would be blatantly ignored for weeks on end just for him to come running back with his coy antics, he wouldn't be able to take it. John's constant ******** with his thinkpan left him unsure of what to think anymore. He pulled away hesitantly, just far enough so their lips were no longer touching, unable to look John in the eye, clearly conflicted with himself.
"Why?" he murmured. "Why do you insist on ******** with me like this? Why now? Why couldn't you have pulled this s**t sweeps ago so I could have at least tried to stop pitying you rather than falling a** backwards into this human disease called love? Why me?" John felt a sharp pang in his chest when Karkat stiffened and pulled away from him. Well, it's not like he didn't deserve it. Also, he understood why Karkat would. After all, he had been kinda avoiding him like the plague. But, it wasn't because of Karkat, necessarily. It was more because he had to figure things out.
"Karkat, I. I know my recent actions haven't been all that considerate towards your feelings. It was never my intention to make you feel like I didn't care about you or that you had done something wrong, anything negative really. It was more like I had no idea what was going on inside me and I just wanted to stop feeling so confused. I didn't like not understanding part of me." He began, trying to form the words together as best as he could.
"When you go through life having a certain mentality for so long, deluding yourself into believing that that's part of who you are, and then for the rug to be pulled out from underneath you in one split second, changing everything, you really don't know exactly what to do." He continued on, biting his lip every so often. "The kiss we shared was the prankster that yanked the rug out from under my feet, leaving me dizzy and confused as to what I was, who I was attracted to. I stayed away from the prospect of us being alone out of fear that I'd end up clouding my mind further. I wanted to be able to find a way to make sense of things..." He looked at Karkat's eyes (despite the fact that the troll was avoiding his gaze, and leaned his forehead against his. His hand had begun rubbing Karkat's back in a comforting way as he spoke, letting him know in one way that he wasn't trying to mess with him.
"Now, that I have, I want you to know that it was never my intention to ******** with you. None of this added points to my pranksters gambit. Nor am I ******** with you now. It wouldn't have happened years ago, because the possibility was shut off by my thought processes while subconsciously I began falling for you. I didn't realize it until recently, but it's true. I don't know exactly why, but I do know that I don't want to be away from your cranky exterior that hides the hopeless romantic within you. And don't even try to deny it, why else would you love all those romcoms?" He stated, ending with a small smile, hoping Karkat would at least glimpse it and realize how sincere he was being.
"And Love isn't a disease, you adorable ********> He stated, coining a phrase made popular by Karkat himself. "So, does that explain everything, or do you want me to leave now? And, if you do want me to leave, can I at least get one more kiss from you?" He asked the last bit with a furious blush on his cheeks, surprised at how easily he managed to utter the words. Karkat cast his gaze towards his lap as John placed his forehead against his. He listened carefully to the words that tumbled from John's lips, a small smile creeping its way onto his face because God, John was such an idiot. Such a stupid, stupid, adorable idiot. He sighed wistfully as John began rubbing his back, gently taking his other hand between both of his as he continued.
"John," he begun seriously, his gaze shyly meeting John's, "...that was the worst ******** monologue I've ever heard. And I watch shitty romcoms as a living." he smirked teasingly, squeezing his hand.
"Despite how godawful it was, however, it has provided some helpful insight that is critical to my next decision."
With that, his arms promptly coiled around John's neck, his hands finding their way into his hair. Karkat brought their lips together without hesitation, fully intent on kissing the ******** out of one Mr. John Egbert. He poured all the feeling he could muster into that kiss - the pain he'd gone through in his assumed rejection, the bitterness he'd been left with afterward, the relief that he'd actually come back, that he wanted him, his overwhelming happiness that he would be unable to express in words, and the unconditional pity and maybe even love he would always have for John. He kissed John over and over and over again, smiling all the while.
"I want to be with you, too," he murmured almost dreamily against John's lips. All the tension had fled from his body, though the sleepiness induced from the stress he was under mere minutes ago still remained, though he was drawing blanks as to what could have possibly caused it. He leaned against John, sighing contentedly. "You can leave if you want, but I'd rather you stay with me." John was rather surprised that Karkat had actually listened to him, despite the fact that he did diss his monologue pretty bad. It wasn't like he had time to rehearse it or anything, it was off the top of his head, so it was truthful and more meaningful. Well, at least it was to him. He couldn't help but roll his eyes sarcastically as he was informed that it was quite terrible compared to the content Karkat's romcoms contained.
However, he was quite pleased to hear that he did get his message out loud and clear. Now Karkat had some comprehension to his side of the story. He had opened his mouth to inquire as to what decision Karkat had indeed made due to his little spiel, but he was promptly cut off by the sudden presence of arms around his neck and hands in his hair. Therefore, instead of discernible words coming out of his mouth, a noise of shock somewhat like a squeak was emitted, only to be blocked off a mere second or two later by Karkat's lips being crushed against his own.
Reacting rather quickly, his instincts took control. The one hand still resting on Karkat's back pulled the troll closer, grasping gently at the black fabric of his shirt. A smirk formed on John's face while his other hand reached up and caressed the side of Karkat's face gently, kissing him back without hesitation.Though, it seemed as if Karkat needed to be the one taking control, so John happily obliged. When he finally did speak, Karkat's words were soft on his ears, but he heard them nonetheless, and they elicited a deep chuckle from John.
"Karkat, I just told you I'd leave if you wanted me to...Not that I did want to...So that was kinda redundant." He stated before planting a kiss on the top of the mop of hair that was now resting on his chest. "However, I'll ignore that fact since you do seem a bit tired.." He smiled, wrapping both arms around Karkat in such a way where his next move would be easy. He stood up, Karkat in his arms, held tight with the help of his mangrit. He wasn't going to fall out of his arms unless he squirmed just too much, a fact he thought should be let known.
"Now, don't wiggle around so much, I'm just taking you to your bed..." He laughed softly, walking surefootedly across the room to the bed that was rarely used. Once the trip over was done, he sat Karkat gently down on one side of the bed before doing the 'windy thing' to lift himself up into the air and over Karkat to the other side of the bed.
"And before you ask 'was that necessary', I'm going to tell you: Yes, yes it was." He stated before curling up behind Karkat, wrapping an arm around his waist and kissing his neck. "Now, go ahead and take a nap...I think you deserve one."
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Queen of the Brainless Vice Captain
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Queen of the Brainless Vice Captain
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 7:48 pm
Rose looked on in concern as Jade shoved her brother against the wall in a flash of what could only be described as a flash of unadulterated rage that only Mr. Vantas would possibly be able to fathom the depths of - and, too, perhaps herself, all those years ago whilst she was in the throes of brooding grimdarkness after he had taken everything from her. Even now, long after they had put SBURB in their past, she would still catch glimpses in her nightmares of his bloodied sword plunging through John's chest, the very same weapon he had utilized in the murder of her mother whom she had no time to mourn, and the unbridled lust for Noir's slain corpse to lay askew on the palace's tiled floor, the spilled crimson intermingling with that of his victims. It always amounted to the same thing in the end, which is to say her rousing Kanaya and very well half of the goddamn Veil dwellers with her incessant shrieks of him to stop, god please just stop.
Needless to say, she did not help in the least with the matter of the troll kids who habitually resided on the meteor establishment being sorely deprived of sleep. Between her and Karkat, it was a miracle in itself that no one had toppled over from sheer exhaustion yet, or at the very least set out to embellish the walls with a soundproof barrier. Actually, she could vaguely recall Sollux mentioning that he and Zahhak were going to be collaborating on such an ambitious project in order to 'get thome ******** thleep around here, jethuth chrith', so perhaps there was hope for them yet.
She cringed a bit at Jade's harsh words, though she couldn't say she was surprised at her outburst; in fact, she'd been patiently awaiting the moment she would finally crack, which, of course, would be as soon as John had left for the void. Dave would just have to make due with being humbled by a raving Harley, as it was virtually impossible for Rose to intervene, nor would she feel inclined to do such. Rather, she would extend her assistance to her hopeless brother in another approach.
She cupped a hand under Bec's chin, offering a tentative smile as she stroked his head with the other, indulging him in a skritch behind the ear. "I am going to have to politely request that you deliver Dave to wherever Jade may run off to after she is done handing his a** to him, if you wouldn't mind terribly. I am afraid that while he is very talented with handling time, he is completely useless when it comes to travelling thousands of miles away into the middle of the ocean."
Dave was, as one would probably be able to gather, rather alarmed when he found himself suddenly pinned against the wall under a seething Harley, which was never really a position he'd imagined himself being in, nor was it one he particularly wanted to be in. s**t was ******** intense man, and he wasn't entirely sure on how to deal with it.
After it was made painfully clear that he wouldn't be able to get nary a snarky comment nor a genuine utterance of confusion in edgewise, he took to listening in silence, his lips set in a thin line and his eyebrows drawn in his befuddlement from her outrageous accusations. John being his best bro was a completely legit excuse, it's like in the Bible or some s**t. Thou shalt not put the interests of a totally bangin' babe before that of thy best ******** friend, Jesus the Lord and Savior said it himself, he could practically guarantee it - even though his credibility was questionable, considering he hadn't so much as cast a glance at the binding of holy parchment, but who the ******** even paid attention to such trivial details, immigrants?
As Jade's unrelenting tongue lashing drew on with no apparent intention to stop any time soon, Dave's internal demeanor sobered considerably, her words beginning to sink in; his expression faltered, confusion giving way to distress. "Jade you don't get it, it's not like that, I didn't - " he was, of course, cut off by her promptly going back to chewing his ******** head off after she'd admitted to having a goddamn crush on him seriously what the ******** how was he supposed to know that, he thought she was playing her weirdo mind games like every other ******** girl he'd ever known did, how was he supposed to know she legitimately liked him, how was this even his fault she hadn't dropped any ******** clues like maybe hey I'm kind of in love with you please acknowledge my feelings that you definitely know I have now because I so kindly stated them to your stupid ******** face instead of engaging you in psychological as well as hormonal warfare yeah that'd be really helpful and just - goddammit now she's crying, way to go Strider.
"Jade, wait I - s**t," he swore, his hand only grasping air as he reached for where she'd been standing only moments before. Great. She'd run off to Hellmurder Island. Just. ********. Great. He sighed in frustration, rubbing his forehead, catching a glimpse of Rose nudging Bec towards him from the corners of his eyes.
Bec had looked concerned as Jade had practically launched herself at the light haired boy. Even though he wasn't too fond of the individual, he knew that Jade cared for him. Also, he kind of didn't want Jade to be all upset. The first guardian was torn between feeling sympathy for the kid and believing he was getting what he deserved. However, as things progressed, it was easy to see that Dave was a bit confused as to Jade's whole blow up. So, Bec couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for him.
It seemed as if the dog raised an eyebrow at the sister of the boy as she turned to him and put a hand under his chin. In all, she was being quite nice, scratching him behind the ear and all. Of course, Bec understood what it was she was asking, though not necessarily the words that she said. He was able to interpret the intentions and images that would have gone through her thoughts. Personally, he knew that the girl was very bright and knew how to help make things right. His instincts also told him that it was what should be done. The boy needed to talk to Jade, she couldn't run away.
So, the dog nodded his head and nuzzled against Rose for a moment, licking her hand, before her returned his attention to the boy that Jade liked. Bec had always known that the kid had felt a bit standoffish whenever he was involved, and to be quite honest, the feeling was mutual. Despite that fact, Bec also knew that he hadn't intended any harm to come to Jade, and for that, and that alone, he could give Dave the benefit of the doubt and take Dave to her. In a few steps, he had closed the gap between himself and the coolkid, as Jade liked to call him, before he made his way onto his hind feet, reaching up and putting the other two on the kid's chest, looking him in the eyes, staring through the shades that shielded them. It was one equivalent to that of a parental figure telling the object of their offspring's affections that they'd better not ******** things up and hurt their baby. On top of that, Bec decided to transport himself and Dave to his island.
Now, the dog knew better than to appear where Jade could see him. No, that wouldn't be very productive to their current mission. So, he brought them to the corridor that led to the house from the cave where Jade was currently. Quickly, he went back to all fours and began walking towards Jade's location, the boy had better follow.
Dave looked to Rose with a questioning gaze, his suspicions confirmed as Bec slinked towards him and stood on his hind legs, firmly placing his paws on his chest. Dave was pretty much ******** terrified of this goddamn dog, and he had no doubt that the mutt was fully aware of this. However, if he was willing to help pull Dave out of the grave he'd dug for himself, Dave would gladly shove those particular feelings aside for the time being.
Dave was almost quite literally on Bec's heels after he'd transported them to Hellmurder Island, practically falling over himself out of his anticipation to set things right. Past Dave was a ******** idiot, and he should really go back and tell him exactly that, but that's how dead Dave's start piling up, and he really didn't need the added pressure of getting rid of clone corpses. There would be pretty much no ******** way to explain himself out of that one if he were ever caught, and he'd definitely be shuttled off to the Happy Farm if not thrown into a prison cell which was only occupied by hulking men with a penchant for his supple teenage body.
Bec led them swiftly to where Jade had hidden away, Dave's stomach constricting and his heart fluttering violently against his rib cage as they got closer. He'd been forced to shuck his shades, lest he be completely blind in the gaping darkness. Thankfully, the devilbeast lit up the dreary dimness with a green haze, though it still wouldn't be enough to see by with his shades on.
They eventually came across her, Dave only being able to make out a faint silhouette before Bec curled up next to her, lighting her up enough to where he could clearly see her features. She was soaked to the ******** bone and had obviously been sobbing only moments prior to their arrival, though she must have heard their footsteps (though that couldn't have been too difficult as Dave's feet had hammered the ground as hard as his heart was in his chest) because he hadn't heard her utter a sound.
Dave dropped to his knees in front of her, cupping her cheeks in his hands, his eyes frantic as he encouraged her to look at him.
"Jade, I - God, Jade, please, you have to believe me okay, please, please," he all but begged in his desperation to get her to listen to him instead of blowing him off like he knew she would if she wanted to, "Just hear me out, alright - I wouldn't ******** be here if any of that s**t you said back there was true. I know you're hurt, okay, and I'm sorry, so, so sorry, I didn't mean to do this to you. I didn't know...I didn't realize that you actually liked me alright, I figured that it was all in my hormonal teenage imagination because I just, I - ********, I've been in love with you for ******** years, okay?" he sighed, holding her gaze steadily as he stroked his thumb across her cheek, gently brushing away a stray tear. "I'm in love with you. Not John. You, Jade. And I would rather kiss you over Egbert any day, whether he needs help figuring out his sexuality that everyone knew but him all along or not, okay. So please don't get over me you beautiful girl," he smiled weakly, rewording her seething words from earlier, though he doubted she'd find it amusing in the least.
He let his hands drop from her face and he looked towards the ground, another sigh escaping from his lips, this one heavier than the last. He felt a drop of water fall into the palm of his hand and he was suddenly painfully aware that at some point he'd begun crying himself, and he hadn't even noticed. Jesus ******** Christ. He swiped his sleeve across his eyes, a frown settling on his lips.
"I understand if you want me to go. Okay. I get it. I am all kinds of chill with you never wanting to see my mug again or some other melodramatic horseshit, okay, no, I am definitely not any kinds of chill with that, because seriously ******** that notion, but. Whatever you want, Jade. I am willing to do."
Jade had paced back and forth inside the cave for minutes, the pattering of her bare, wet feet was accompanied only by the rolling of thunder and the sound of the rain (which could also count for the water slowly rolling off her soaked body). Her anger was working through her actions. Occasionally she'd scoop up a small rock or two and pelt them off into the distance, waiting to hear the pings they made from contact. However, before too long, that grew to be tiresome and a tad bit annoying. So, she brought herself to stop her loop of walking and sit down. After that, the cold slowly seeped into her skin with the assistance of the moisture she was covered in.
She didn't even care nor bother to change. As the sky outside darkened, she remained in her spot. Eyes growing accustomed to the dim light. It's not like even all that much time passed, really. But, to her, it sure seemed like a while. Jade had also given up on wiping her eyes, letting the salt water flow from them whenever her tear ducts seemed fit. All the while, in the solitude, she began to realize how pissed off she was at herself. Seriously, since when was Jade Harley afraid to do anything? Say anything? She really shouldn't have let her insecurities get a hold of her like that. It's not like she hadn't had ample opportunity to tell Strider that she liked him. The only thing that had stopped her was her fear that he wouldn't feel the same, that he already had someone else in mind, that he wouldn't want her. No biggie, really, Harley's were supposed to be fearless, right?
So much for that. Jade felt a prickle in the atmosphere, something only a player of space would feel, indicating that something, or someone, (most likely both) was teleported to her island. Well, so much for sulking in solitude. As her mind pondered her options, her body tensed up in anticipation. She knew that running would only last for so long with Bec helping Dave. Then again, it might just have been Bec that showed up. No, she knew that wasn't true. Being the Witch of Space allowed her to realize that there were two bodies of life moving towards her, after all. She could ignore him, pretend he wasn't there. Yeah, that could work.
Oh, who was she kidding. She couldn't really do that. She could act like she was, sure, but she always noticed what Dave did when he was around. She couldn't help it. So, as he came into seeing distance, notably without shades, though it took her a moment to tell in the dark. Also, his footfalls broke through the soundtrack that was the storm outside. Bec had curled up to her, also letting her know that she didn't need to run, cause he wasn't going to let her get out of this so easily, which she knew. So, her attention turned to Dave, watching with some shock as he knelt to the ground in front of her, bringing his hands up to her face.
Wow, she didn't realize how cold she was until his warm hands came in contact with her bare, wet skin. It was all she could do to stop herself from attempting to lean into his touch. No, that was definitely not what she should be doing at the moment. But, it was really hard not to when he wiped a sray tear away from her cheek. She listened intently, wearing a pokerface that could rival his own under normal circumstances. It took a while for it to sink in, really. Little by little, her brain realized what he was saying. Though, her expression didn't change. A minute or two after he stopped speaking, she reached out and returned the gesture of wiping a tear from his face, though she could barely see it in the dim light, before using her powers to bring them inside her old house.
The storm still raged outside, but it was considerably lighter in the house, especially after she casually turned on a lamp. It was then that she began to feel the warmth returning to her body, with it, her usual demeanor. It only took her thirty seconds at the most to turn around from putting the light on to crash into Strider, wrapping her arms around him tightly, letting him also help warm her up, her shivering evident by that point. It's only natural, cause Jade was a hot-blooded individual (even when it came to releasing her temper)
"I'm so sorry, Dave. So sorry....I shouldn't have exploded like that. It was my own fault for not saying anything sooner." She began, half of her words somewhat muffled from her face being buried in his chest, trying to absorb his body heat. "I just never....couldn't....I didn't think someone as cool as you would like someone like me....like, ever, in that way...." She trailed off, holding him closer to herself, not even realizing that she was probably getting him considerably wet due to her current state.
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