Chapter Text
Karkat hated texas, he hated it with a passion burning almost as bright as their shitty texan sun. He hated it for a multitude of reasons, for the old white humans who gave him strange looks, For the infernal “tex-mex”,for all those cacti, whats up with that. but today he hated it for being the center of the strilonde reunion. It all started because his cousin Kanaya mentioned how she would be going with Rose. Then his “buddy” John would be going with dirk. He liked Rose and Dirk, don't get it twisted. However, he did not like texas. It was the worst fucking state. But it was summer vacation and as the 5 shared a house together (alongside roxy) karkat was not about to be in that big ass house alone for 2 weeks while they were gone. So he came with. He’d known all the 3 family members that came to be his roommates for a while. He met Rose when she and Kanaya began dating, and he met Dirk and Roxy in college. The one he’d never met, but only heard faint mentions of: was dave. Dave Strider was a mystery to him, the young strider set off from his family and went to a different college. Somewhere in New York, if he remembered correctly. He never came to visit, so Karkat had simply never seen him. I guess that would end today.
Kanaya drove the car as Rose sat in the front next to her. Dirk and roxy sat in the next row of seats leaving Karkat and John in the back. John turned to karkat with a smile and began to ramble,”mee-maw strider makes the best pork balls, and Dave might bring the cold pressed apple juice again”, he trailed off in thought.
“So is the mysterious strider a damn apple farmer?”, Karkat pondered with a raised brow. “Who,dave?”John laughed. “No he’s an art student or something, the dude makes the best fresh juice though”. Karkat nodded, wondering what this ‘dave’ looked like. Probably shared the same traits as the rest of his siblings. Blonde hair, freckled face, eyes a strange colour. They were all eccentric in a way. The car ride was long, filled with mixtapes and switching out drivers every couple of hours. In the last few minutes, Dirk pulled the car into an already crowded parking lot. It was mid-afternoon and the sun shone down in it's rays. Kanaya thought to bring a comically large hat but karkat had no such luck. Troll skin was very sensitive to bright exposure. Alternia isn't exactly sunshine city.
They walked like ducks in a row to the front door and simply walked right in. it was a myriad of folks. Faces turned to the door and yelled out greetings to the group. The 3 exchanged hugs with family and friends while Kanaya and John said polite greetings to them. Karkat stood in the doorway, staring down at his shoes. He was introduced by someone, as kanaya's cousin and the 6th roommate of their house. He waved sheepishly and tried to put on what looked like a friendly smile. As his friends moved throughout the house, he found a nice seat by the snack table and grabbed a can of Tab. It seems like everyone going 3 generations down was there, he saw a couple of trolls which was good so Kanaya wouldn't feel left out. However, in a way, he felt left out. He took steady sips from the tab and glanced around,basic family party. Dancing,drinking, hogtieing. Whatever it is they do in texas. What the fuck was a ‘hogtie’ what are they doing to the pigs, gross fucks. at some point the door opened again. It was a tall guy,tan skin, freckled face, curly blonde hair, and eyes a deep red. He had sunglasses sat on his forehead and headphones around his neck.”yall really just started the wicked moves without me, i feel offended”,he smiled. There was no mistake about it, that was Dave strider.