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As a general rule winters in Houston, Texas weren’t particularly cold. On average it gets down to a cool 40 degrees with only maybe 18 really cold days a year. However, the only season on deserted islands in the Pacific Ocean is hot, so as Dave Strider was wearing a hoodie and jeans, Jade Harley wore a sweater, a scarf, and green hand-knit mittens.
“Holy crap, Dave” she shivered as her dog pair of ears flattened against her head, clinging to his arm “I am s-so cooold.”
He smiled at her. He almost never smiled, but when Jade was around, it was grin-city. Something about the way she dragged her words out for emphasis, and the way she gripped his bicep when they walked together.
It had been 3 years since the end of Sburbs. It was strange, living life normally again even still. To not constantly have to worry about dying or watching your friends die or get hurt. Dave often wondered if they were immortal, or if that perk of being God Tier had passed at the end of the game. The only ways for a God-Tiered person to die was either heroically or justly, and he didn’t think a heart attack or getting hit by a car would be particularly just. His mind came back to earth, the girl on his arm, to the streets they were walking on together.
“It’s only 45 degrees” he finally replied.
JADE: well, yeahhh, but im really not used to this weather…
DAVE: what happened to all that shit on lofaf? (Land of Frost and Frogs)
DAVE: it was like 15 effing degrees all the time
DAVE: and we had to chase frogs in it for like hours
DAVE: and didnt you wear a dress or something to do that?
JADE: that was years ago! i haven’t really been exposed to cold since then.
JADE: you try spending every day in 97 degree weather and then plunge yourself into “just 45” degrees, cool guy!
DAVE: i have
DAVE: its called living in fucking houston
Jade punched his arm playfully and he laughed, holding her gloved hand. His ectobiological sister Rose had made them for her and a similar pair for him. He thought they were ‘cool or whatever’ but not his style. They looked good on Jade, though. Everything did.
God he loved her. They had been dating since the end of the game, only able to physically be near each other every couple of months for holidays. He missed her when she left, more than he was comfortable thinking about since his whole life prior to her had been spent repressing his emotions and churning them out into irony fueled sarcasm. He really did love her, but hadn’t the slightest idea how to tell her. It isn’t in the Strider nature to be particularly affectionate. Passion, however, is different from affection; and Dave had a lot of passion. Especially for his music and his girl.
They walked down the quiet morning streets under an overcast sky and a sighing breeze, talking about everything and nothing, from comics to mortality to lunch. They settled on this street-side burger joint that had great coffee and Dave ordered a cup black. Honestly, he hated the stuff, but it looked cool and sometimes you just have to suffer for your art. Jade drew pictures in her cup with her cream, making the shape of a dog. He knew she missed Becquerel, and even though he couldn’t stand the mutt he understood. She smiled up from her mug at him, and he averted her gaze. How long had he been staring? Probably hours, he thought, though they’d only been there 10 minutes. Things ran differently for the Knight of Time, however. As he zoned out, seconds felt like minutes and minutes felt like days. Just completely alone with his thoughts, usually; right then it was with Jade.
Her green eyes are smiling at him and he felt like he should speak, but no words came to him. Instead, he lowered his shades and let his eyes smile back. She blushed lightly, like she did every time she saw his eyes.
“I never get to see your eyes enough.” She smiled and held his hand across the table.
‘Do it now Strider’ he thought to himself ‘Tell this girl you love her or I will kick your—‘
A familiar voice drew Dave out of his thoughts as he turned in his seat to look at him. It was his best friend John. They had all known each other for almost 10 years, but he and John hit it off almost immediately, becoming best bros very fast. Since Jade was his girl and Rose was his ectobiological sister, Dave decided it was fair game to say that he could be designated the official best friend of a Strider, which is apparently a huge flipping deal. John, however, was also Jade’s ectobiological brother, and the biggest cock-block east or west of the Mississippi river.
“DAVE! JADE!” he shouted, waving with one hand and holding Casey’s hand with the other. Casey Viceroy Bubbles Von Salamancer Lalonde-Egbert was John’s adopted daughter that he had taken in on Land of Wind and Shade, and even though she was technically just a too-big salamander, he loved her like she was a real child. She was almost 9 now, and he wondered what the lifespan of a consort was. It disturbed Dave, playing uncle to a lizard, but he could get past it for his bro. He could get past a lot of things. On the other side of Casey was Rose, holding her other hand and smiling. John and Rose had started dating a little while before he and Jade did, still in-game at the time. His protective brother senses were iffy about it, but his cool bro senses still wanted his best friend to ‘get some.’ They approached their table and Casey climbed into the seat next to Jade, hugging her side. Dave figured that right then wouldn’t be time to drop the L-Bomb, too many casualties around to catch the shrapnel.
JOHN: hey guys! mind if we join you?
DAVE: i guess not if you already showed up unannounced and uninvited you dicks
JOHN: you’ve got no room to even start calling people dicks you asshole : B
ROSE: We saw you checked in on your FourSquare, and figured it wouldn’t hurt to say hello at an outdoor café… unless, of course, we’re interrupting something David. Pardon my wriggling eyebrows they’re out of control.
JADE: hehehe its fine! i missed you guys so much!
ROSE: The feeling is mutual, dear. You should really come visit us in New York some time, it could use your enthusiasm.
DAVE: yo rose if youre trying to flirt with my girlfriend thats hot and all but shes mine back off
ROSE: I’m sorry, Dave, I just cannot control my raging lady boner for Jade any more. In fact I think I’m just going to have to propose to her right here at the table right now in some sort of extravagant way straight out of one of Karkats rom-coms.
JADE: ooh rose!
She pretended to swoon for a moment before giggling madly and pulling Casey into her lap. They talked about Christmas, about Roses new internship with a famous author, about Johns gig as an online movie reviewer (His first piece was on Con Air, and he had and Rose had a mini debate about whether his high opinion of it gave the movie too much credit or not enough.), and Dave’s current position as a regular DJ at a popular Houston club courtesy of his bro Dirk’s connections. Jade was the only one without a regular job of the group; though she did occasionally send some samples of the flora and fauna from her island to scientists for research, which brought in a considerable amount of money that she spent almost exclusively on visiting Dave. She had been hesitant of dating him at first, worried about ruining their friendship. She loved him though, and she knew he loved her too. He just wouldn’t say it. It had been three years and he still hadn’t said it, nine if you count the time before and in-game they spent awkwardly repressing their emotions. She knew he did, though, and would let him confess when he was ready. She just hoped that she wouldn’t be waiting forever.
John and Rose left them after about a half hour, Dave giving them the keys to his apartment so they could go ahead in as long as they don’t touch anything. They promised nothing and left, Casey in tow. He and Jade were finally alone again, and he was desperate to regain the mood.
“Do you want to go to the park?” he asked, “We can take a walk through to get home the long way. Let those two losers be alone for a while”
“Sure, babe.” she smiled, leaving the tip and once again taking hold of his arm.
The park seemed unusually empty for a Saturday until they realized that it was 3 days before Christmas, and people were doing things with their families.
“Family time at my place involves smuppets and ironic party hats,” said Dave with a straight face, “Well ok not always the hats but always something with smuppets. I can’t see how I ever thought they were cool, how Bro thinks they’re cool.”
She shrugged, “You only liked them ironically, though. And I think they’re kind of cool! Especially since he built an empire out of them.”
DAVE: you only think theyre cool because your father figure was a dog and you were raised like thousands of miles from civilization
DAVE: i mean id probably think creepy sex puppets were cool too.
DAVE: i guess they look kind of like chew toys to animals
DAVE: woof woof yiff yiff right jade
JADE: dont make fun of my eaaaars!! i cant help but have them assbutt
DAVE: nah im not i think theyre really cute
JADE: really?
DAVE: well yeah jade i mean everything is really cute about you
DAVE: jesus christ on a pogo-stick how could you go through life without knowing what a babe you are
DAVE: i guess i have to know for you huh
DAVE: just call me dave; noticer of choice babes with fluffy dog ears
DAVE: i mean theyre just the fluffiest fucking things ever
DAVE: like when i pet them its like
DAVE: woah i didn’t know that they were made of clouds or some shit
DAVE: so soft they would make great pillows
DAVE: not that id make pillows out of your ears though
DAVE: yeah ok im rambling arent i
Jade: hehehe! just a little bit
DAVE: oh
DAVE: well im not sorry because everything i said was like ten thousand percent fucking true
He held her close around her waist, and she leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked through the crisp winter air past the leafless trees of the park. They stopped for a minute on a bridge across the creek, and Dave knew that was it. It was time; now or never. Oh god he was nervous, he hoped it didn’t show. Jade replied to his thought.
“You ok, Dave? You look pale.” She giggled quietly “Well, paler than usual.”
He smiled and held her hand. “Brace yourself, babe I’m about to start rambling again. I’ll be going on like two trains headed towards each other on the same track due to some assholes bad scheduling and the only way to derail it is by clicking a convenient ass lever in the middle of the train intersection that’s just barely out of reach to anyone who isn’t like a giant person.” She rolled her eyes and giggled. Here we go again.
DAVE: ok so its like this
DAVE: whenever i think about you all of my thoughts become music
DAVE: like youre some beat im trying to master but just cant really figure out
DAVE: its like no matter how much i practice or how nice my turn-tables are
DAVE: and we both know that my tables are fine as hell
DAVE: im still too mediocre a dj to play the most amazing mix in the world
DAVE: and i wont deserve you until i can figure it out
DAVE: which i never will because no ones fuckin good enough for you
DAVE: least of all me
DAVE: but basically what im going for here is that since youve already decided to settle for me and i dont plan on going anywhere anytime soon
DAVE: that its time for me to tell you that
DAVE: well
DAVE: just fuck it im in love with you harley
His face flushed redder than his signature type-color, and he looked out over the still creek. Jade smiled and kissed him softly. Though slightly caught off guard, he kissed back, holding her close to him. She released his lips and caressed his cheek lovingly with her mittened hand.
“I never thought I’d hear you say it.” she smiled. “I’ve always felt that way,” he half whispered and squeezed her tighter “I’m just a huge wimp is all.”
“I know” she giggled and kissed him again, and they didn’t say another word until it was time to leave. There’s something to be said about finding someone who you can be perfectly content with without saying a single word, without needing to fill the silence. The buzz of Daves phone interrupted them, and he finally had to let her go. He flipped it open.
2 new Messages:
From egderp: its getting really uncomfortable here with just me rose and bro. he’s trying to show us his smuppet videos and i just don’t think those are appropriate for my little casey! get your butts to the apartment soon!
From ecto-sis: There really is no need for you to hurry home, John is simply overreacting. I find the smuppet videos rather funny, in fact. Tell John that if he doesn’t want to join the adults that he can watch Ghost Busters with Viceroy in the other room. Take your time <3
He smirked and put his phone back in his pocket “Alright, babe I guess we’re going back to my place now. Bro and Rose are tag-team torturing John and I don’t want to miss a god damn second of it.” She held his hand tight and they left for home, wondering how hard it would be to get some more time and space alone this Christmas.