Chapter Text
The sun shone high in the sky, shining through cheap, thin blue dorm curtains. Voices were heard outside, having eager conversations about who’s dating who, the latest party stories, and things of the like.
Ah, the perks of living on the 2nd floor. Not.
John rolled out of bed, yawning before stretching out his arms, and cracking his neck. It always takes him by surprise how loud those are. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked at his alarm clock, which read 10:47am. Fuck! He was going to be late for class if he didn't get going soon. He reached a lanky arm out, fumbling around on his desk for a minute before he finally found his glasses, putting them on. They were smudged to hell and back, but he was too tired to care.
He got up and stumbled to the closet, grabbing the first clean shirt he could find, and a pair of jeans from off his messy floor. While scarfing down his breakfast, he messed with his hair in the reflection of the microwave door, before running across the dorm to find a pair of shoes. At this point, his phone lit up. It was a text from his roommate, Dave.
TG: hey dude you better not be late for class
TG: its what you get for staying up all night watching netflix though
John ignored the message, too frazzled to respond. He only had 5 minutes until class started, and there’s no time to dick around.
His eyes darted around the room for a pair of socks, and once he landed on one, he quickly bent over to pick them up, bumping his head on his desk on the way up.
“Agh!” He exclaimed, falling down right on his ass, and fumbling to put on his socks. Once he got them on, he realized he’d left his shoes by the door. John groaned before running back across the dorm to the front door, and slipped his shoes on. Disregarding his untied shoelaces, he grabbed his backpack and rushed out the door at 10:58.
He rushed out of the dorm, just barely stopping at the elevator, where he decided that would take way too much time, so he sped past it and made a beeline for the stairs. He then ran down the steps, two at a time, thanking god he only lived on the second floor, before hitting the ground and throwing open the door. Standing right outside the door was his roommate and best friend, Dave, having a conversation with his brother, Dirk, and his roommate, Karkat. This scared the hell out of John for some reason, causing him to flinch and yelp a little in surprise. Dave gives him a small smirk, looking him up and down.
“Late for class again?” He asked simply.
“How’d you know?” John asked back, an awkward chuckle escaping him. Dave lowered his shades slightly, looking at him over the rim.
“Just a feeling. That, and it’s like…” He pauses to check the time on his iPhone. “11:04.”
John groans loudly. “Shit!”
“You know you don't have to show up, right? It’s English, you speak that.” Karkat chimes in, followed by a response from Dave.
“Just don’t go, you’re always late anyways. The 3 of us are going to IHOP in a few, you wanna come with?” He asks. John looks past Dave and Karkat, looking for another opinion from what is hopefully the only voice of reason in the group, but Dirk doesn't give one. He quirks a brow at him, stone faced.
He wonders if he always acts this way.
John takes a second, searching in his mind for a reason to not skip class. He’s already late, and getting later by the second. He decided to, just this once, throw caution to the wind.
“Fuck it, yeah. Yeah I do.” He concedes with a huff of air. “Can I actually run back up to shower though?”
Dave gives him a shrug, “If you’re quick dude. We’ll just come up with you, left my wallet up there anyway.” The 4 of them walk up the stairs back to the dorm, and right before opening the door, John realizes. Shit. He left a mess in the room in his rush to leave, intending to clean it up after class. He stops, turning to face the others.
“It’s uh.. Kind of a mess right now, I didn't expect to actually have anyone in here today.. Heh.” His face flushes, before Karkat pushes him out of the way.
“Jesus, John. Nobody cares what dorky bullshit you have out on display, we already know you’re a loser anyway.” He throws open the door and marches in, immediately making a beeline for the kitchen. As if he owns the place, he begins brewing himself a cup of coffee. Dave follows soon behind, strolling to his bedroom. The door closes hard, leaving John and Dirk alone in the hallway. John turns to look at Dirk, who is staring at him expectantly, the corner of his lip had turned up for a split second. He quickly whips his head back around before opening the door and allowing him to go in first.
“Uh.. sorry it’s a mess.” He says quietly, before trying to quickly tidy up a bit.
Dirk looks over his dark tinted shades.
“It’s fine. Not judging.” He walks over to sit on the couch. John stands there for a second before inching towards the direction of the bathroom.
“I’ll just. Take a shower.” He then flees, quickly locking himself in the bathroom. Dirk was always so intimidating! He knew him, of course, Dave’s cooler and slightly more mysterious older brother, but he didn't know him. This was the first time he was actually going to hang out with him, even though it was with Dave and Karkat. This was also his first time actually skipping class. He was late a lot, sure, but he always showed up. He quickly turned the shower on, before he started overthinking more than he already was.
He showered quickly, feeling guilty that he had left Dirk out there on the couch alone, although Karkat was out there, he didn’t want to subject him to that either. He wondered how the two of them ended up roommates, Dirk and Karkat’s personalities were entirely different, but they made oddly good friends.
Once he stepped out of the shower, the cold, harsh breeze of the air conditioning hitting his skin, it hit him.
Shit. He forgot a towel.
His heart sunk in his chest when he realized that not only did he not have a towel, but the cool older brother of his roommate was right outside the door!! It’s times like this where he wished that he had his own bathroom.
He quickly gathered up his dirty clothes, clutching them close to his naked body in an attempt to dry himself off. This solved one problem, but a new one arose. The clothes were wet, he couldn’t go out there in soaked clothes. He began to panic as he searched his pockets, looking for his phone, before realizing that he was only farther screwed. His phone was on the counter in the kitchen.
He knew what he had to do. With a long sigh, he slowly cracked open the door of the bathroom.
“Hey, uh… hey Dirk?” He asked, peeking his head out of the door.
Dirk looks up from his phone, and nods his head in acknowledgement. “What’s up?” He asked, setting his phone one on the couch next to him.
“I know you’re our guest and all.. But could you look in the closet next to Dave’s room and toss me a towel? I’d owe you big time.” Dirk stood up and without a word, disappeared down the hall. A few seconds later, he felt something hit him in the face. Once it fell to the floor he realized the towel was what had hit him. He chuckled nervously, quickly snatching it up from the floor. A minute or so later he walked out of the bathroom, the towel wrapped around his waist. He hustled across the living room to his bedroom, avoiding eye contact. He threw on the first t-shirt and pair of jeans he laid eyes on, and went back out into the living room.
Dave and Karkat now stood in the kitchen, in what seemed to be deep conversation.
“So that’s how Sollux found out who his soulmate was?” Dave asked, taking a sip of the freshly brewed coffee.
“Yes!!” Karkat exclaimed, waving his hands frantically before picking up his coffee mug and taking an exasperated sip. “And what pisses me off even more is that he didn’t even try!! You know how many poor bastards I see walking around this school, covered with writing?? He didn’t even have to write to his!!”
Oh great, they’re talking about soulmates.
John personally didn't care at all for soulmate stuff. When he was younger, his father warned him that if he wrote on himself, his soulmate would see it. His soulmate could also do the same. For years he’d doodle on himself, and scan his body in the mirror every day for anything, even the tiniest mark to show that he did have a soulmate out there, but there never was one. He’d stopped trying years ago. Sure, it sucked to see his friends happy, their skin covered in scribbled writing and shitty doodles, but if he had to deal with it, that’s what he was going to do.
“Sollux found his soulmate? Him?” John asked, chuckling a bit at the thought.
“He gave himself a tattoo, and the next day Aradia was parading around looking for who matched. We all had a hunch though.” Dave took a long sip of his coffee, finishing it off and sitting the mug in the sink.
“I’d love to hear more about this soulmate bullshit, but I’m so hungry I could eat a goddamn horse.” Dirk’s sarcastic voice rang out from behind John’s head, causing him to flinch. How was he so sneaky?
- - -
The booth was a tight squeeze, and the restaurant was just shy of being too loud to hear anybody speak, even if they were at the same table. Dirk and Karkat seemed to be having an argument. Well, it was more like Karkat was having the argument, while Dirk stared him down, giving very little words in response.
“I don’t understand how many times I have to tell you this! I’m allergic to cinnamon, why would you bring home snickerdoodles? Are you trying to poison me or something??” He continued to ramble on, throwing his hands around, using words he probably didn't even understand.
Dirk shrugged, “Dude, you’re allergic. Just don't eat the cookies.”
John looked down at his phone, firing a quick text to Dave.
EB: dude, is he always like that?
TG: who
TG: dirk or karkat
EB: good question.
EB: both of them.
TG: oh yeah all the time
TG: dirk likes to act like nothing bothers him literally ever
TG: its hilarious
TG: he texts me constantly bitching about karkat
EB: and they haven't killed each other yet?
TG: nah
“I swear to god, if you bring home those devil cookies one more time I’ll wring your neck like a goose!!” Karkat clenched his fists tightly, his face beginning to turn red. Dirk showed no emotion, as always, looking at Karkat with an unreadable glare. John couldn't discern if he was angry, entertained, or unphased. To be fair, he doubted Karkat could either. Finally, a sentence left his lips.
“Sure you will.” Dirk’s voice was unwavering, which only made Karkat more upset. Pushing himself out of the booth with a huff, he stormed off in the direction of the bathroom.
“So anyway. Y’all want to hear more about Sollux’s soulmate story? It’s a whole ass can of worms.” Dave rested his elbows down onto the table.
