Work Text:
gift giving was a commonality for human wriggling days.. birthdays.. whatever the fuck. of course, you are also stuck with one of the very few people who have their birthdays just one day apart. this would be annoying, having to go and buy gifts and spend money on two different people. stuck on a meteor with no money and no need for it, different story.
having no perception of time could be an easy excuse for missing these events of your peers. however, you seem to exclusively hang out with the only person who understands time. nice going, you!
its my birthday tomorrow
was all he said. out of the blue, completely randomly! in the middle of showing you one of his newly made, (quote) “sick beats.” (end quote). you paused the track and took off your headphones, which were only covering one of your ears. he glanced at you, taking your actions for confusion he quickly followed it up with:
like your hatching day
aliveness day
WRIGGLING DAY.
wriggling day
yeah that one
I KNOW WHAT YOU MEANT BY BIRTHDAY, DAVE. I AM NOT A COMPLETE IDIOT.
I’M JUST- WHY WOULD YOU NOT MENTION THIS SOONER?
IT’S TRADITION TO GIFT SOMETHING BUT THIS IS A BIT SHORT NOTICE!
damn.. what were you gonna get him!? as much as you hate it, you are annoying over considerate when trying to gift someone, especially on wriggling days. coming up with a gift in less than a day, though? not something you’d say you’re heavily experienced with.
what no
dude you dont need to get me anything
what do i even need
I DON’T KNOW, I HAVEN’T HAD MUCH TIME TO THINK!!!
i just wanted to mention it
i never really wanted anything special
sure i would get things from john and rose and jade but
BUT..??
he must’ve brought this up for some reason, right? yeah, okay, he’s talking about not wanting anything, but he is telling you about it now?
my bro
it was never really a big thing for us
maybe like a thumbs up or whatever
OH.
YOU DEFINITELY DON’T WANT ANYTHING?
NOBODY HERE HAS MUCH EXPERIENCE BAKING CAKES OR WHATEVER BUT IT COULDN’T BE THAT HARD.
that might be too sweet for you, but might as well cover all bases! just- it feels weird to not celebrate or do anything..
OR IT COULD BE AND I COULD MAKE THE MOST VILE AND HORRIFIC CAKE EVER.
its fine
i really dont care
THEN WHY DID YOU MENTION IT?
it just
i dont know
i probably care more than i think i do
but its not like im gonna be sobbing to myself if nothing happens
RIGHT, YEAH. IT JUST FEELS WEIRD IF WE DON’T DO ANYTHING FOR IT..?
i get it but im used to it
i promise i do not mind
you think it’s better to end the conversation here, and place the headphones back on and continue listening to the track.
you liked to have focus on the track that dave had put time and effort in to making but your mind can't stop thinking about getting a gift for dave tomorrow. he’s made it very abundantly clear he does not want anything, so you probably should not fucking care and should stop thinking about it right now, but you can’t.
you don't want to give him food poisoning so making any sort of food, wether it be a cake or cupcakes, is out of the equation. where are you supposed to get gifts from? it’s not like you can just pop down to your nearest shop and pick up some random shit to buy and give. no, you're on a fucking meteor, remember!!??
hey
you’re snapped from your thoughts, the track has ended now and you’re just vacantly staring at the desktop.
RIGHT, HI.
so what do you think of it
ill be honest i think i rushed near the ending and started adding all kinds of shit
cymbals were a weird choice
YEAH, FUCKING CYMBALS, MAN?
ok i lied i didnt add cymbals in
what were you thinking about instead
FUCK YOU.
I WAS STILL KINDA THINKING ABOUT YOUR BIRTHDAY.
BUT IT’S NOTHING, I’LL FORGET ABOUT IT. LET ME LISTEN AGAIN.
you then try your best to push out any thoughts of celebrating another year of dave being alive. annoyingly harder than you expected but you manage to do it and put your focus on listening to his track.
---
you both continued on your day as normal, at least, as normal as it gets now. just, talking ‘till you both got tired and gone back to your room for the night. then, you’d text for another 10 or so minutes while half asleep until one of you actually did fall asleep.
dave fell asleep first tonight, and even though you said you would be going to sleep as well, you didn't. no, of course not! your brain decided to begin thinking about dave’s birthday again! for no fucking reason!
well, that’s a lie. you knew why you were thinking of it again. of course you did. you were definitely, absolutely, 100%, certified, flushed for him. why? you had no fucking clue, but you were. there was no other way to say it! you were horns over heels for dave fucking strider, and you hated it.
not in the sense of you hated dave, you hated being in love with him. you hated that every night you would excitedly wait for him to message you and smile at your laptop until you fell asleep. you hated how dave would always end up laying on your shoulder whenever he would fall asleep during one of your movies, and you’d hate how you’d also end up putting your arm around him.
you wanted the feelings to go away, desperately. so desperately, but it’s surprising hard to fall out of love with someone you spend every waking hour with, what a shocker, right?
a night like this one especially, when there’s something actually important for dave happening tomorrow, it just made you think of him all the more. even if you wanted the feelings to go away they wouldn't be leaving for a good while, you knew that. they’d probably stick around even after you’d get off the meteor. you’d try to ignore them.. but when they come up with good ideas like ‘give him something handmade as a present.’ you couldn't ignore it.
a handmade present. it was stupidly sweet, but you were stupidly flushed for him. so there you were. an idiot, making an idiotic handmade card for dave striders birthday. how stupid.
it’s not like dave wants anything, that was clear. you really couldn't help yourself, though, could you? even if dave claimed to be a better artist than you, you still included a drawing of him on it, looking as stupid as ever, in that stupid way you liked so much. (albeit, you were very tired, so it definitely wasn’t your best work. you can admit that.. not to dave though.)
what you wrote inside was so sickeningly nice to dave that you had to scribble it out and just write “happy stupid human year.” instead. i mean, don’t wanna make him think we’re flushed, do we? as if this present being handcrafted isn’t telltale enough.
you originally told yourself it would just be some shitty 5 minute craft, then you’d go to sleep.. and tear it up in the morning, because this is stupid and your stupid flushed feelings convinced you to make it, and dave doesn't even want anything so there's no point gifting him anything and if you do give him it, it’ll looked rushed and shitty and he hopefully won’t take it seriously..
you actually ended up working on it for at least 45 minutes. it ended with you passing out at your desk, nice job, you sentimental fuck!
you weren't sure what time you woke up at, then again, you never really are. what you were sure about is that the sight you woke up to (the card you hand made, of course.) was definitely one of the stupidest ideas you’d come up with. typically, when you’d wake up, you’d grab something to eat then go find dave or put on some movie and let dave find you. today you stared at the card for a prolonged period of time. it must've been more time than you’d expected though, as during your spacing out, you hear a knock at your door.
opening it shows, well, do we really need to take a guess here? dave is here! of course, for some fucking reason!
hey man
whats up
WHAT? I-!? HOW LONG HAVE I BEEN IN HERE?
i dont know how long youve been up
but ive been up for about six hours
and i thought i got up kinda late
and you are normally awake before me so
what have you been up to
IT’S STUPID.
IT’S NOTHING, ACTUALLY. NEVERMIND.
no cmon i wanna know now
he begins making a motion as if he wants to enter your room. well, you’ve put some amount of effort in to the card. there’s not much room to get out of this situation either, is there? so, a little hesitantly, you move aside and let dave into your room.
you close the door, an almost anxious like scowl on your face. you spin 180° and hope dave hasn’t seen the card yet, well, instead, he is facing you. probably less than a foot away from you.
UHH?? HI??
he reaches for something from his pocket and holds it out to you.
figured you might be hungry
just whatever i grabbed first in the kitchen
it’s some bar of food. now that he mentioned it, you were feeling pretty hungry. you took the bar and opened it. watching dave as he turned to look around your room.
so what is it
you squeeze past him and began rambling.
OK. SO.
I KNOW LAST NIGHT YOU SAI-
is it something to do with my birthday
YES. LET ME TALK.
I KNOW YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T WANT ANYTHING, AND FAIR ENOUGH.
NOT ANYTHING GREAT ON THIS METEOR TO GIVE AWAY.
BUT I JUST-
IT WAS STUPID. IT IS STUPID. AND I WAS TIRED WHEN I CAME UP WITH THE IDEA SO SHUT UP.
you reach your desk, and while half taking a bite from the bar, you grab the card and turn again to face dave. holding the card out - just like he’d done a minute prior with the bar.
WHATEVER. HAVE IT.
I SURE AS HELL DON’T WANT IT.
dude this is kinda sweet
you feeling okay
I’M FINE.
no fevers or high temp
NOPE.
just checking
might have to call for a second opinion on that one though
GOG, DON’T SHOW THAT SHIT TO ANYONE, PLEASE.
oh damn so its like our own little secret
top secret high class info
karkat makes oddly nice birthday presents
you sigh, very loudly. dramatically kinda loud. you sit down at your desk and cover your face with your hands.
OH FUCK, JUST SHUT UP.
THIS ALREADY SEEMS MORE FLUSHED THAN I’D LIKE TO ADMIT.
gayer than i’d like to admit also
but i do like it dude
i dont look like this though
you look up to him, with a small pressed frown, holding the drawing you did at you.
YEAH, SURE.
he turns the card back to himself and opens it.
it was getting too sweet for you too
’happy stupid human year.’
inspiring.
cant help but notice the big crossed out chunk at the top
WELL IGNORE IT.
I DON’T EVEN WANT TO THINK ABOUT WHAT I WROTE THERE.
you sure youre okay
this is entering a new level of niceness
and it would also be a perfect time to maybe admit to yourself that you need to accept being flushed for dave. while also telling dave. right now. just, say anything.
IT’S SOMETHING RED.
what
yeah, what? is right. because what the fuck does that mean! no shit it’s red, anyone could see (or smell.. or taste.) that from a mile away! well. you’ve at least managed to start this conversation. go on.
I MEAN I DON’T THINK I SHOULD START THIS ON YOUR BIRTHDAY, OR WHATEVER.
BUT IT’S RED.
MY FEELINGS, I MEAN.
oh
well
theres the platonic red and the romantic one right
YEAH..
im gonna assume you mean the romantic one
unless admitting that you platonically like me more than anyone else on this meteor is this hard
NO, YOU’D BE RIGHT.
I DON’T KNOW WHY. IT’S BEEN LIKE THIS FOR A BIT THOUGH.
I’VE BEEN IGNORING IT AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BUT..
I DON’T KNOW!
THIS IS- I’LL JUST.
you aren't quite sure where to go from here. i mean the first time your acknowledging these feelings is when your admitting them to dave, so you hadn't prepared yourself or your words for this.
uh
cool
thats cool
THAT’S COOL?
yeah thats
is this my actual present
WHAT?
WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?
wow okay this feels surreal as shit
is this some sort of set up
or birthday prank
WHAT? ME ADMITTING I’M FLUSHED?
i mean
how the fuck did you know
KNOW WHAT??
HEY, DAVE, I’M KIND OF CONFUSED AS FUCK.
CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE THOUGHT PROCESS OR??
alright so
im gonna take a guess and say it was whenever i started kinda napping on your during movies
i mean duh at some point its like
this is romantic as hell what are we
and then the odd heartfelt card
and saying youre flushed
props to you for figuring it out i guess
DAVE.
WHAT EXACTLY HAVE I FIGURED OUT HERE?
I NEED WORDS.
SPECIFICS.
MAYBE A FULL DIAGRAM WITH THE WAY YOU AREN’T EXPLAINING OR ANSWERING ANY QUESTIONS!
well then howd you know i like you
like a good bit
what!!??!!?? you swear you heard your neck crack with the velocity it snapped up to look at dave, who was eyeing the floorboards through his shades.. not usual strider mannerisms. is.. he being sincere? wait- he. ok. wow!
HOLD ON. YOU WHAT?
i mean you mustve realised at some point right
oh shit you could probably see all those times i was staring at your lips behind the shades
DAVE.
I’M GONNA NEED YOU TO PAUSE A MINUTE.
NOT ONLY HAVE I JUST LEARNED YOU LIKE ME, ‘LIKE A GOOD BIT’ BUT ALSO WHEN HAVE YOU BEEN STARING AT MY LIPS??
FUCK..
you really didnt clock on
NOT A SINGLE CLUE.
well thats
YEAH..
this was awkward.. but, good awkward? right? you thought so, at least. good awkward enough to break the silence that you had both been neglecting to take awareness of.
THIS WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR PRESENT.
MY SHITTY CARD WAS SUPPOSED TO BE.
AND IT’S TOTAL COINCIDENCE THE WHOLE FEELINGS THING CAME OUT NOW..
BUT I GUESS YOU CAN TAKE THIS AS SOME SORT OF PRESENT.
IF YOU WANT! YOU JUST ASKED EARLIER IF THIS WAS SOME SORT OF GIFT.
SO, NO. IT WASN’T INTENDED TO BE THAT WAY BUT IF YOU WANT TO.
dude i dont care about the presents
but i do care about you
like an absurd amount
so do you wanna date
or kiss or something i really dont know
then ill teach you how to draw me
WHAT ARE YOU, MY ART TEACHER?
if i was would you wanna kiss your art teacher
UNFORTUNATELY.
alright then come here
okay, it was stupid. all stupid. but stupidly real. wow. you're dating dave strider. how stupid is that?
shit i just realised
roses birthday is tomorrow
i dont have anything for her
I’M SURE SHE’LL BE FINE.
BESIDES WE’RE A LITTLE BUSY TO BE THINKING OF GIFT IDEAS RIGHT NOW?
right