Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The door opens with a small thud, which successfully rouses one Dave Strider from his cat nap on the loveseat, grumbling under his breath and covering his head with a pillow to try and hold onto his sleep. He hears a small laugh before there's rustling in the kitchen, and Dave just takes a few more deep breaths before he knows he isn't going to be getting back to sleep. So he rolls himself off the seat of love, smoothing out the front of his shirt before he starts shuffling towards the kitchen, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He'd say he's been out for about three hours, which means it's 5:14. He can work with that.

As he trudges through the doorway, he leans against the fridge, pressing his cheek against the cool surface of stainless steel as he idly watches John put away groceries into their cabinets. He offers a small smile, to which John turns and gives a wide grin and a small wave before he goes back to what he was doing. Dave is tempted to offer to help, but John is better at putting this shit away anyways. Whenever Dave does it, neither of them really find it again until like, two months later. John just kind of adopted the responsibility when his breakfast cereal went missing one time too many. It takes two more yawns and three more minutes before Dave speaks up.

"How was your day?" Simple enough, he was curious. John shrugs, his smile not fading just yet. "It was pretty good. Picked up some sorbet for you, by the way."

"Is it raspberry?"

"Of course."

"Sweet."

"How was yours?" John asks in return a few moments later, nudging Dave out of the way of the fridge so he could put some vegetables and juice away. "You looked pretty comfy over there."

Dave moves obediently out of his way, migrating to the counter on the other side of the kitchen, leaning back against it. "Yeah, my day was fine. Finished that book I got, The Steady Running of the Hour. It was good."

"Oh right, that guy whose last name is Go, right? What a cool last name."

"Not as cool as mine."

"Whatever dude, at least the book was good."

Dave just snickers, crossing his arms over his chest as John finishes up, closing the cupboards with a hum of accomplishment and leaning back against the counter across from Dave, hands braced on the edge of the counter top. They just kind of stand there for a moment, smiling idly at one another, before John pushes himself up, walking over to Dave and wrapping his arms around his torso, hugging him tight. Dave returns the gesture instinctively, leaning down a little to rest his chin comfortably on John's shoulder while his arms come around the other's middle. He hums in content as John rests his head against his own, barely nuzzling.

And then Dave starts swaying. Just from side to side, simple motions while John starts laughing, giving him a squeeze. Dave smiles into his shoulder, but doesn't stop, shifting his weight to guide them blindly around the kitchen in their half-assed waltz of swaying to no music, dragging John along with him. It's ten minutes later, and by that point John has been humming a tune that Dave vaguely recognizes, and he just shuts his eyes and listens.

"Are you falling asleep on me, Dave?" It's a legitimate question, and he's not sure how to answer. He just muffles a groan into his shoulder, at least letting him know he's still awake. Their swaying has continued throughout, but it has slowed down quite a bit, just gentle movements and Dave leaning a little heavier on John than he remembers having been initially. John doesn't seem to mind, rubbing his back gently.

"Oh, so you are alive!"

"Mnn."

John just laughs, patting his back a few times before he leans away, bringing his hands up to tilt Dave's head up, and gives a slow, sweet kiss to his lips, which Dave returns with a happy laziness. It last a little while longer, before they both lean back with small smiles on their faces, and Dave yawns once again. "..Can we take a nap," he murmurs, eyelids already drooping again. John just laughs at him, shaking his head. "Dave, you like, just got up." Dave frowns pitifully back at him, and his head tilts back with a dramatic whine. "But I don't caaaare. Come take a nap with me- FUCK." His whining has been effectively cut off when John leans forwards and blows a raspberry on his exposed neck, making Dave shudder and move away from him, rubbing at the skin with a slightly disgruntled look on his face. "That was so low," he mutters, but John just laughs at him."You were practically begging for that!" he manages to say through his giggles. Dave just glares tiredly before he grabs John's hand and starts to drag his giggling boyfriend to the bedroom. All he wants is sleep, is that so much to ask?

Apparently it is, seeing as John just can't stop laughing at him, occasionally making that god forsaken noise as if he's going to attack again, and Dave flinches every fucking time and he just grumbles under his breath as he practically has to undress John all by himself, since John is a little preoccupied with bugging him. Once his work is finished with John's clothes, he moves across the room to grab a pair of sweat pants and tosses them at John's chest, mumbling a "You can at least put those on yourself, right?" before he starts getting himself undressed, just leaving himself in his underwear before sliding into bed, waiting for the other to join him.

Soon enough the mattress shifts as John scooches under the covers with him, and Dave curls up to him almost instantly, wrapping his arms around John's waist just as John's wrap around his. Their legs tangle, and Dave nuzzles into John's shoulder, while the other presses kisses to his temple and what he can reach of his forehead, to which Dave can only give a pleased hum.

"Wanna go to the park tomorrow? I've got the day off," John mumbles into his hair soon after, and Dave thinks for a moment before he nods, humming his acknowledgement. "Mm. Yeah, sounds good. Can I bring my camera? Need some new stuff, been dying to get my finger on the shutter button again," he whispers back, and John nods. Dave can't help but smile gently in anticipation, practically melting into the other's chest as fingertips trail up and down over the curve of his spine, leaving surprisingly cozy goosebumps trailing in their wake. It doesn't take much more than this for a few more minutes before both of them have fallen asleep, nestled against each other with the sun starting to hang low in the sky outside their window, casting lines of light over the blankets through the blinds as they sleep on.

Chapter Text

Dave wakes up earlier than he usually does the next morning, earlier than even John was up, if the shallow breathing he can still feel slightly ruffling through his hair is anything to go by. He refrains from moving too much just yet, except to lean away just a little, gazing at John, ruffled hair and steady breathing and all in the pale light beginning to stream in through the window as the sun just starts to peek through between the highrise buildings surrounding their own. Neither of them were morning people, but at least one of them usually woke up before the other, so when the late riser got out of bed, one of them was capable to function enough and have coffee already made. It seems to be Dave's turn today.

He yawns a little, gently prying himself away from John's arms and rolling onto his back, giving himself few more moments to actually wake up while rubbing sleep from his eyes and eventually shifting out of the blankets. He slips his feet into the bunny slippers that John gave him for a Christmas present two years back that were waiting patiently beside the bed, before working his way as silently as possible out of the room, casting one more glance at his boyfriend's sleeping figure, chuckling under his breath as he sees him pull a stray pillow to his chest to replace where Dave had just been before Dave is slipping out of the room.

Shuffling into the kitchen, his stomach growls, to which he frowns as he realizes he'd slept through dinner yesterday after John got home. Which is fine, he guesses he wasn't all that hungry at the time anyways, but he definitely is now. He pulls a bowl down from the cupboard along with a box of frosted flakes, dumping some into the bowl a little haphazardly, trying not to make a mess. He generally succeeds, only a few ending up on the floor that he quietly pushes into a small pile that he'll either actually remember to pick up later or step in and then pick up, whichever comes first. He grabs a spoon before shoving a bite of cereal into his mouth, neglecting to put any milk in it because soggy cereal is the absolute worst thing ever, and John wasn't here to bug him about it so he could do whatever he damn well pleased with his breakfast. Spoon still dangling from between his lips, he manages to start a pot of coffee. Morning miracles.

Once Dave is down to his second cup of coffee and his last few bites of cereal, John stumbles into the kitchen, wrinkled sweatpants and bedhead like you wouldn't believe, and Dave can't help but smile at him, offering the cup of coffee that had been waiting for him, which he takes gratefully. Dave finishes his cereal and migrates toward the small kitchen table while John pours his own bowl, deliberately staring right at Dave while he pours milk into it, to which Dave just frowns in distaste until it breaks into laughter when John starts missing the bowl in his preoccupation of staring at him. John whines before hurrying to clean it up, and plopping down into the seat across from Dave, munching away.

They sit in comfortable silence, Dave slouching forwards in his seat as he sips at his coffee, John mirroring his posture, until reaching over to place his hand over Dave's on the table, tracing little patterns over the back of his hand and over his wrist. Dave barely flinches, though that doesn't stop him from enjoying the intimate, early morning gesture, and turns his hand over to brush his fingers over the inside of John's wrist in return while hiding his smile behind his mug. John doesn't bother, not that he minds.

Eventually they both finish their respective morning routines, and as they stand in the bedroom with Dave rummaging through his closet while John rubs a towel through his hair after his shower, he remembers their plans from the night before. "Still wanna go to the park today?" he asks as he pulls a sweater on over his head, shimmying into a pair of jeans next as he waits for an answer. "Yeah! Of course I do," is the enthusiastic reply he gets, and Dave nods before he goes to pick up his camera case from near his bedside table.

He fishes the device out as he sits on the edge of the bed, settling the strap securely around his neck and turns it on, scrolling through some old pictures still left on his memory card, deleting a few that were blurry or something to free up some space for their little escapade while John gets dressed. He feels John climb onto the matress behind him soon enough, and rests his chin onto Dave's shoulder to watch. He points out a few of his favourites, most of them consisting of just the two of them, or the odd one of them with the girls, and some of when they went to visit John's dad two months back. Dave hums his agreement multiple times before he shuts off the camera, and turns his head to look at John.

"Ready to go?" The other gives him something almost akin to a smirk. "Born ready, Dave," and it sounds like Dave asked him if he was ready to go skydiving for the first time or something, not just a twenty minute walk through town to get to the park, but whatever. John gets off of him, and they both stand to walk through the apartment, Dave pausing to pull on a jacket over his sweater because it's still early spring, damnit, and it's ten in the morning and he doesn't like being cold. John's just fine with his hoodie apparently, damn him.

"You're cool with being my model, right?" Dave ventures to ask while sliding on his shades, though he knows he doesn't really have to. He always gets the same answer.

"I'm cool with that. But don't expect much. I'm not really the best at modeling y'know," he says, and Dave gets it.

John smiles a lot, and Dave loves it, but sometimes John finds it hard to do something or look a certain way when he's feeling something different. That's another thing Dave loves about him, though. John is so unbelievably expressive, his emotions shown bright and clear in the things he does, the way he does them, words, actions, everything. Dave could take as many pictures as he wants and still not be able to gather every single one of John's intricate feelings. But at least it gives him an excuse to take more pictures.

Dave grabs his hand once they've pulled on some shoes and promptly starts dragging the other out of the apartment and down the numerous flights of stairs until they break out past the doors and into the city streets. John is the first to take initiative to entwine their fingers, their joined hands swinging idly between them as Dave sticks his free hand into his coat pocket to stay warm. The walk is quiet between them, letting the louder bustle of the city occupy the silence.

Eventually the high rise buildings give way to a more rustic landscape, the park just across the street from them now. Dave checks the street before rushing across, John yelping his protest as he's dragged along, until his feet are safely on the grass, still only a little damp from the dew that had settled that morning. He takes a deep breath, only the faintest of mists streaming from his mouth as the chill still lingers in the air. "That's better.." he murmurs, and don't get him wrong, he loves the city, but sometimes it was nice to breath a little easier in the open, too. Refreshing. He's been a city boy all his life, he needed to get out sooner or later. Even if the city is just behind them. But in front of him is an expanse of trees and grass and benches and paths, and it's nice.

John is watching him, he comes to realize, and he feels his thumb brushing over his knuckles before John raises their hands between them. "Should I let you loose, Strider?"

His gaze wanders to their hands as John holds them up, but his expression morphs into a slight smirk before he tightens his grip a little, shaking his head. "Nah man, you're comin' with me. Adult life and responsibilities be damned, I'm going to town on that swingset," he answers with an almost childish determination.

And with that, he brings John with him through the grass, stopping every so often to take a picture or four. The lamp post with the spiderweb, a brown rabbit beneath a tree, a quick word with an old man sitting on a bench who had the craziest beard before he was able to take a picture of him, too. There was a murder of crows sitting in a small expanse of grass that Dave got a few good shots of before they took off, a couple of the more ignorant ones opting to chase Dave when he got too close, much to his chagrin while John just laughed from his safe distance back on the hill. That little adventure didn't last much longer as he quickly moves on from the area, taking a shot of a cluster of early spring daisies beside a bench, one of which he carefully picks and hands it to John with a small, sheepish smile. John accepts it with a smile and a fluttering in his chest. It's too cold for butterflies just yet.

They sit themselves down on the bench, making sure it was dry first because getting their pants wet wasn't on the to do list currently, and Dave wraps one arm around John's waist to have him closer against his side. John nestles into him, hands in his lap and twirling the stem of the flower between his fingers.

"This is really nice, Dave," John murmurs, watching the flower in his fingers.

"Yeah.." he can't help but agree, rubbing John's side gently. "Mind if I get a picture of the two of us?"

He's already bringing his arm back to pull the camera off from around his neck, flicking the switch back on and fiddling with a couple details before glancing over at John when he gets a nod. As the artistic master of selfies that he is, Dave turns the caera around and holds it out. "This is as good a place as any, right?" he asks, finger on the shutter button as he steadies the device in his hands. "Gimme your best smile, boy wonder," he murmurs, a soft smile on his own lips before the camera clicks as he takes the shot, bringing the camera back down and pulling up the picture on the screen for inspection. He hums his approval, turning the camera a little to show John.

"Whatdya think of that one?" he asks, and John's smile only widens. "It looks great, Dave! Can we take one more though?" Dave can't think of any reason not to comply with getting more pictures, and he nods, holding it out once again. This time John presses a kiss to his cheek as the picture's taken, and Dave has a hard time not laughing at the cliche gesture. Still sweet, though. Instead of pulling the camera back again, he simply turns his head and kisses him on the lips as he takes another picture. He leans away soon after, bringing up the two newest shots with a grin. "..Perfect." John agrees with him easily.

They're silent for a short while longer, ghosts of smiles on their lips before Dave stands, replacing the strap around his neck and turning to hold his hand out to John to help him up in return. "Alright, I'm getting on those swings if it's the last damn thing I do, John. Don't care how old I am."

"Dude, I'm totally with you on that. C'mon," John takes his hand and stands as well, before bringing Dave along towards the structure. They both sit, and John in his eagerness starts to swing right away, pumping his legs to get higher. Dave however, hangs low, more of an idle swaying of his weight as he pushes gently with his feet. He watches John, though, and he looks happy, and Dave can't help but find it contagious, a soft smile on his lips as he totally doesn't stare at the almost childish innocence in John's expression as he swings back and forth. After another moment of observing, Dave brings the camera up to eye-level, waiting for a moment before snapping a picture. He chuckles a little as he brings it up to look at, thankful it wasn't too blurry. He applauds his own timing, continuing to swing shallowly.

"..Finger slipped."

"Oh my god, Dave, you're such a brat!" John says back to him, though the smile still on his face is proof enough that he's not really upset. He slows down his swinging as well, distracted as he looks back at Dave. "Wish I had my own camera. You should see the look on your face." John obviously wouldn't take his camera without asking, and this one was pretty expensive, too. He wasn't the best photographer out there, but Dave would show him little tricks and teach him techniques and stuff.

Dave raises an eyebrow. "Something wrong with my face? Is there something in my teeth?" he asks in mock worry, before he just shakes his head as John rolls his eyes, taking the strap off from around his neck and holding the camera out to John. It was only fair, right? Dave got shots of John, and John got shots of him. Dave wasn't necessarily the best at standing for photos while other people took them, preferring to be behind the camera, or at least holding it, but he knew John had fun with it. "Consider your wish granted. Give it your best shot."

John perks up as the camera is held out, taking it eagerly and placing the strap secure around his neck, just in case. He brings the camera up as Dave just sits still, that adorable smile still on his face and he manages to get a few good shots.

"Mind taking your shades off for juuuust a second?" he asks, voice quiet as he's super focused on getting these angles right, hoping to catch that look in Dave's eyes to the best of his ability. Dave humours him, taking the shades off and folding them to hook them in the collar of his jacket and looking back to John, pulling a few faces at intervals as John scolds him to just let him get a good goddamn picture.

"I just feel a little ridiculous just sitting here smiling like a doofus, doofus," he retorts, and John only sighs before going back to his picture taking.

At one point, he tries to pull a pose for one of the pictures, but the swing just doesn't like that idea much, and the next thing he knows he's blearily looking up at the sky on his back, blinking a few times as his legs stay hooked over where his ass used to be on the seat. He sits in shock for a moment, and apparently so does John, until his loving boyfriend just breaks out into laughter.

Dave frowns, throwing a half-hearted glare at John as he goes about untangling his legs from the seat. "Looks like a severe case of deja-vu, huh John? Dunno if you remember that time in highschool, but I sure do."

This only makes John laugh harder, though trying to be a gentleman, he reaches his hand out for Dave to take.

"Holy shit. Holy. Oh man, Dave this is fantastic. Are you alright?" he manages to get out past his laughing, and Dave has half a mind to pull him down with him, but throws that idea away because man his ass hurts. He nods when he gets back on his own two feet, brushing the dirt off his pants, and attempting to get his back as well. At one point he just kind of gives up, sitting back down on the swing a little dejectedly. John punches his shoulder once his laughing dies down.

"Are you sure you're okay? Oh man. Sorry for laughing, that was just priceless. You should've seen your face!"

"I'm fine. You were distracting me," he lies, but John knows. "My tailbone is going to give me hell for that."

"I'll give you a massage to make up for it," John promises, before he breaks out into a small fit of giggles once more. "Gosh Dave, you just look like a disgruntled kitten!"

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up chuckles. D'you wanna stay here a bit longer or what? I think I've at least had enough of the swings for one day.."

John nods his agreement, getting up to walk with Dave back towards where they came. "Yeah, I'm fine with going home."

Walking back through the streets side by side, they end up stopping at a pastry shop to get some muffins for lunch, raspberry for John and chocolate chip for Dave. Classic. They eat their snacks in relative content as they make their way home. Up the numerous flights of stairs, they reach their floor and try to squeeze past one another as they walk into the apartment, leading to the two of them nearly stuck in the doorframe. They make it mostly unscathed, and John almost falling flat on his face.

They recover, and the first thing Dave wants to do is get out of his dirt splotched jeans. John just flops onto the couch, and Dave tells him he'll join in a minute.

Entering the apartment is nice, a lot warmer than it had been out on the streets. Dave hangs up his coat and kicks his shoes to the side, snickering as he passes John laid out on the couch while Dave goes back to change his clothes. The comfier pants sat well with being home for the afternoon, and he brushes his fingers through his hair on his way back.

Keeping his word, Dave half-hops his way back down the hall towards the living room as he pulls on a pair of pyjama pants, smoothing out his sweater again as he nudges John's legs to get him to move over and give him room. John feints that he might actually do what Dave's asking to for a moment, but then promptly drags Dave down on top of him, and he only struggles for a moment before settling his head onto John's warm chest. They neglected to turn on any lights, the late afternoon light still seeping in through the windows, and Dave hadn't even realized how long they'd spent at the park. It was around 4:36 now, surprisingly.

John wraps his arms around Dave's torso, holding him close against himself, and Dave is comfortable. He rests his chin on John's sternum, looking up at him as best he can. John isn't looking at him though, instead looking at the ceiling, so Dave scooches a little to press a kiss to his chin and brings his hands up to rest on John's shoulders to try and get his attention. It works, and soon blue eyes are meeting red and Dave just grins.

"Your chin is digging into my chest."

"Shh, John, you're ruining the moment."

John snorts and moves his hand to Dave's back, rubbing it idly. "So did you hear about Jade and Karkat? They finally got together. According to Rose it was very... Interesting. They were arguing in the middle of Home Depot and then they just started like. Making out."

"Holy shit, really? I'm not sure what's worse, the fact that I can believe it or that I'm not even surprised. But man, it's about damn time, Karkat is like the definition of romantic tension."

"Right? Jeez, and that's coming from us, dude," he says with a laugh, because if they were going to be serious, they had romantic tension out the fucking whazoo before they got together. But they handled it. And look where they are.

John presses his lips to Dave's forehead before he speaks up again. "Hey. Have I ever told you how much I love you?" he asks softly. It's a dumb question. They both know the answer. Part of John hopes Dave answers with yes, so he has confirmation that the other knows, but he also kind of hopes that Dave answers with no, so that he can rant and rave about how wonderful and beautiful and everything else the blonde is without restraint.

"Maybe a few times," Dave mumbles, but a knowing glint in his eyes. He knows John loves him. But in all honesty, he wouldn't mind hearing it again. And maybe a few more times after that. Self-indulgence pays off sometimes.

"Oh yeah? Jeez." He takes a deep breath, running his free hand through Dave's hair. "I love you, Dave. I love you a whole lot. I love the way you frame those pictures of us, and the way you blush, and the way you sing in the shower. I love all your freckles, and how they come out in the summer. I love how you actually use those Strawberry Shortcake hair clips, and those bunny slippers, and those Spongebob bandaids. I love when you smile, and when you laugh, and your eyes," he says, trailing off a little with a soft, wistful sigh. "I love you."

By this point Dave is a ball of lovesick goo on top of John, and he tries to deal with this by pressing his face into John's chest, thumbs brushing over the skin of his neck idly. "I love you, too, John," he mumbles, "Ya fuckin' sap."

He knows he could be sappier, but he was soft enough as it was right now, and if there was going to be any stopping this battle of one-upping one another in who was better, it would be going on for years. So Dave lets John have this one win.

"I'm gonna make you some dinner. Don't move," and with that, Dave gets up and shuffles to the kitchen to make them something to eat before going to bed. He can hear John clapping behind him. When he makes it to the kitchen, he finds himself leaning against the fridge once again, pressing his warm cheeks to the cool metal to try and calm that shit down. He takes a deep breath, sticking one hand into his pocket and fiddling with a thin band of silver, fingertips warming, before he shakes his head, and goes about his cooking without a hitch.

A few hours later, they're both laying in bed, John is asleep, practically half sprawled on top of him, and Dave is awake, in his hand is the ring once again, and he just kind of turns it over a few more times before he takes John's left hand, and slips it onto his finger. Yeah. Looks nice there. He takes a few more steady breaths, before he presses a kiss to his knuckles, and ultimately slides the ring back off, putting it in it's box inside his bedside table drawer. Maybe not now. But soon.