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Rose was draped over Kanaya as one would drape themselves over a couch at the end of a long day. Kanaya continued picking at the appetizers as though this was entirely normal. Which it probably was. Every now and then, Rose would lift her hand and lazily stroke Kanaya's hair and received a soft kiss on her cheek or fingertips in return.
Dave and Karkat merely sat next to each other, only their knees touching under the table.
This is what was normal for Dave, and he wouldn't have thought twice about it, except he caught Karkat staring out the corner of his eye. When Dave turned to look at him questioningly, he looked away, stretched, and said "THIS IS NOTHING LIKE THE GRUB WE HAD BACK HOME, BUT I GUESS THAT'S THE BEST WE'RE GOING TO GET SINCE WE LEFT EVERYONE FOR, WHAT, HUNDREDS OF YEARS WITHOUT TELLING THEM HOW TO COOK SOME PROPER FUCKING FOOD??" while picking at the appetizers with Kanaya. To Dave he sounded a bit louder than usual, but if the girls noticed, they didn't show it.
Karkat and Kanaya talked about their home planet's food, with Rose chiming in on occasion as though she was just as well informed on Alternian cuisine (and maybe she was, what the fuck did he know?), but Dave couldn't pay focus on the conversation. Instead, his hands, resting on his lap, twitched, clenched and unclenched, rubbed his pants leg, and, finally, tentatively, reached out and rested on Karkat's knee. Karkat paused, glanced at Dave quickly, a faint blush rising on his cheeks, then relaxed back in his chair just a little bit more and continued talking. Kanaya's poker face remained as impenetrable as usual, but Rose caught his eye and smiled.