Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Be Karkat Vantas ===>

Fine, whatever, you can be you, it's not that much of a chore. You look around the room at all of the idiots you're going to be stuck with for the next three years, and you're appalled. Why did it have to be this sorry bunch of jackasses? 

Rose and Kanaya are sitting alone in a corner, deep in conversation, they seem completely in their own world. Terezi and Vriska are giggling about something, you honestly don't what to know what it might be. Gamzee is off somewhere, probably plotting to kill someone, you don't even what to think about how you fucked shit up with him.

And then there's Dave. Of course you had to be stuck on a meteor with him of all people. You see that smug asshole over there hanging out with the mayor, and you fight the urge to sneer at him.

Dave looks up as if he knows that you're watching him, he has no emotion on his face and those dumb shades that he wears are making it hard to read his emotions. You wonder if he even has any. He approaches you.

"Hey dude, guess we're gonna be spending a lot of time together huh? Well I was wondering if you wanted to help me and the mayor build this thing called can town..." You look around the room to see if someone can save you from this conversation, but everyone else seems to be preoccupied, this is a time that you kind of wish Sollux or Gamzee were here.

Apparently you didn't answer soon enough because Dave clears his throat, "Well I only ask because it seems that everyone else is off doing their own thing..." he says as he nervously rubs the back of his neck.

Hmm that's weird, you never took him for the nervous type, it kind of makes you feel better about talking to him; a little more confident.

"I guess I could spare a few hours of my day for whatever the mayor wants to do," you reply. 

You follow Dave out of the room along with the mayor and as you walk out you swear you feel someone watching you.

Chapter Text

Be Dave Strider ===>

Alright that's cool with you, you're pretty good at being yourself. Karkat is trailing behind you and the mayor. You're not sure why you asked him to hangout with you, but everyone else really was busy, and there Karkat was, just standing in the middle of the room, alone. You know what it's like to be alone and you guess at that moment you kind of...pitied him? Yeah that sounds about right, at least you think? You don't really know what it's like to pity other people.

"So what fun plans do you have in store for this shitty day Strider," Karkat asks in a very grumpy, scratchy voice. You wonder if that's the only voice he can make, you also wonder if his face has a permanent frown on it, he seems like that type of person.

"Well the mayor wants someone to help him build Can Town, and I thought you might wanna join in on our fun."

"Sounds better than nothing I guess, well then lead the way."

You can’t believe that you just asked Karkat to come hangout with you, and why the hell did you feel so awkward doing it? You’re a Strider, and Striders don’t get awkward. If your Bro were here he would make you Strife for this terrible unironic behaviour; but he isn’t… And he won’t ever be. You’re still not sure how you feel about that. You’re still not sure how you feel about a lot of things.

“Well you’re awfully quiet over there Strider. That’s really fucking weird for you, did you finally understand that rambling is a super shitty thing to do?” Karkat snickers at you. Oh fuck, you almost forgot that he was with you.

The mayor looks up at your quizzically and you shrug in response to his look, “Nah Karkles, I’m just thinking about stuff ya know?”

“Dave have I ever told you that I hate being called Karkles, because I really fucking do,” he screeches at you. Said screeches are followed by a growling noise and a few clicking sounds. For some odd reason you find that… cute. Hold up, what the actual fuck are you thinking?

“Earth to Dave! Hello, is there anyone home in your almost nonexistent think pan?” Karkat pokes you on the shoulder to get your attention. You turn around and look at him; he’s the same stupid Karkat that he was five minutes ago, so what were you thinking?

“Oh, um yeah I’m here…”

“Ya know Strider I would have thought that you would be more, oh I don’t know, stoic and ironic and whatnot. You’re much more different in person. It’s really fucking weird, but strangely nice? I thought you would be the most annoying asshole in the room, bouncing off the walls and rapping about stuff, but you weren’t? And you’re hanging out with the mayor.”

“Um, thanks I guess?” You respond. You, the mayor, and Karkat finally make it to the room that the mayor wants to use for can town and there are already some cans waiting for you to work with. You all sit down and start arranging in mildly comfortable silence.

~~

You spent a few hours doing this with Karkat before the silence started to mess with you.

“Hey Kitkat-“

“Dave, what the fuck did I tell you about the names?!”

“My bad, your reactions are just so funny,” you say as you look at the pouting troll sitting in front of you.

“Fuck you.”

“I don’t know Karkat, the mayor is here, and that’s a bit-“

“You’re so insufferable!” He cuts you off with a growl.

“Why thank you,” you deadpan.

He rakes his hands through his hair, “I think I can only deal with so much of you in one day.” He stands up and goes for the door.

Before you can tell your vocal chords to shut up you say, “So same time tomorrow?”

There is a pause in his walking away, “Whatever,” her responds before he leaves the room.

~~

The next day after you grab something to eat you head to the can town room and are surprised and a bit happy to find that Karkat is sitting on the floor, reading a book.

“Whatcha reading Karkles,” you casually ask as you sit down next to him.

He jumps a little, he must a have been engrossed in the book, and then puts a small bookmark in it and hands it over to you.

“It’s a beautiful redrom love story between these two trolls who have no idea that they pity each other because they don’t understand the notion of pitying since they’ve never felt it before. Kanaya gave it to me this morning at breakfast; she said that Rose suggested it. It’s a good read so far.”

You look over the strange text on the cover, “What’s it called?”

“The Idiotic Folly of Two Hopelessly Oblivious and Moronic Trolls,” he reads out to you.

“Wow that’s a long-ass title, are all troll books like this?”

“Pretty much, I’ve seen some of your human books, Rose showed me one and it had such a short title, I have no idea why the hell you humans do that though, don’t you want to know what the book is about in the title? Is that not the point of a title?” Karkat asks with complete sincerity.

“Man I have no idea, I was never big on books growing up, it was mostly just me strifing with my Bro and dodging all of his weird-ass puppets. I used to think they were cool, but man was I wrong.”

“What the fuck are puppets?”

You raise your eyebrow at him, “Really, you don’t have those on your planet? Well lucky you, you really don’t need to be put through the torture of knowing what they are.” You feel a shiver go down your spin just thinking about all of the puppets and smuppets back at whatever is left of your apartment.

The mayor comes up and interrupts your conversation, he hands you and Karkat each a can and points to the beginnings of can town.

You smile at him, “Awww man you think we forgot about you! Never. Come on Karkat, we got an obligation to this little dude right here.”

You and Karkat both get to work helping the mayor with his glorious creation.

~~

You basically spend the whole day with Karkat, which really surprises you. You honestly didn’t think you’d be spending this much time with him, you were anticipating spending a lot of time with Terezi, but she was off doing her own thing with Vriska. It’s weird to admit this, but you like spending time with Karkat, he’s interesting to be around and he’s a really big help with can town.

At first your were kind of peeved to be spending three years on a meteor with a bunch of assholes, but these past few days haven’t been so bad. As you’re getting ready for bed you think about tomorrow and how weird it is that you’re actually looking forward to it. Holy hell, what the fuck is happening to you? 

Chapter Text

Be Karkat Vantas ===>

You spend the next whole week just hanging out with Dave and the mayor, you find yourself actually liking spending time with Dave, the guy who you thought was an absolute prick. It's not like you really have a choice in the matter of who to hangout with anyways because Vriska has monopolized all of Terezi's time, and you've come to notice that their favourite thing to do is watch you and Dave hangout; which is really weird and you have no idea why they do this. They do a similar thing to Rose and Kanaya, who are both always in their own little bubble it seems. And you literally have no idea what in the ever loving hell Gamzee is up to because you haven't seen him in a very long time. 

So that just leaves you Dave.

It's not that you're really complaining though, because Dave is actually decent company, shocking as it is. Since you both spent the first two weeks helping the mayor Dave decides to give in and watch some movies with you because you've been pestering him about it for the past few days. The only way you can get him to agree is if you promise to watch some human movies as well your troll ones.

Now you find yourself in a very awkward situation, Dave has chosen an action movie with some very interesting characters that become the main love interest, but you're confused about what quadrant the characters are even in, they didn't establish one! And, then for some reason they end up having sex. Yes you are watching an awkward human sex scene in a stupid action movie with Dave fucking Strider. 

"Dave what is this?" You motion to whatever the hell is happening on the screen. You look over to him, he's sitting next to you on the couch, you have no idea where he's looking with those stupid shades on.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what quadrant are those two in? They didn't even establish one and they're being...intimate? What does that even mean? And why was the mother of the one female so upset when her child said she was a 'lesbian'? Dave what's a 'lesbian', and why is it not accepted?"

Dave pauses the movie and turns to face you. "Seriously dude, you don't know anything about human romance?" 

"Why yes Dave, to the contrary, I have a complete knowledge to your human romance, I have so much knowledge in fact that I'm asking you just for fun!" You screech at him and glare at his stupid shades. You hope his almost non-existant think pan can comprehend the fact that you're using sarcasm.

"Ok, far enough," he answers and scratches the back of his neck, "I guess you wouldn't know all that much about human romance, it's no different from me barely knowing anything about how troll romance works; like this whole quadrant business, what's even up with that? I hear you guys talk about it all the time, but I have no idea what it entails. How about this, you explain to me what quadrants are and I'll tell you about human romance and what a lesbian is. Deal?"

You sigh, "Fine, whatever. I guess if you want someone to educate you're dense think pan on troll romance I would be the best choice out of all the options on this shitty rock. How about we start with this, do you know anything about it at all?"

"Um, that it's weird?"

You facepalm, "Besides that Dave."

"Okay," he tries again,"That it's way different from human romance?"

"Oh really~ I would have never guessed!" You throw your arms up in exasperation, "Alright, since you clearly are completely clueless I have a challenge in front of me, and this is going to take a while so lets get started shall we?"

Dave responds by giving you his full attention, or so you assume that's what he's doing. You can't really tell with the stupid shades in the way.

"So to start off, there are four quadrants, pale, red, black, and ashen. Pale is you're human equivalent to 'best friends' I guess you could think of it that way, those are morails in trollian terminology," he quirks any eyebrow at you so you elaborate, "Like you and John for instance, you're best friends right?" He nods, "Okay then, you guys could easily be morails! Now on to the next one," you pause and think of which to explain next, might as well go in order so you don't make his fragile mind explode.

"Next is red, the flushed quadrant. These are matesprits, like Rose and Kanaya, yeah that's a good example! Those two are definitely matesprits. Matesprits are basically a troll version of a serious relationship where two people pity each other very strongly, like your human love and romance. I think that one is the easiest to grasp since it's the closest to normal for you?

After that comes black, or kismesissitude. This is a love/hate style of relationship. Trolls in this quadrant harbor a mix of hatred and sexual attraction to each other that can sometimes lead to violence, I guess you could say that they despise each other equally, because though they have hatred for each other they also have a strong respect for the positive sides of each other," you pause, Dave has been very quiet for the past few minutes, "Are you grasping this so far Dave?"

"Umm, yeah. Yeah I'm cool, there's one more left right, go ahead and lay it on me."

"Okay then, the last one is ashen, this is the quadrant that is slightly more complex than the other three. In the ashen quadrant you have what could be referred to as a 'facilitator' of sorts, this person's job is to interfere with a bad relationship that has the potential to either get violent or lose its functionality. Some extreme cases of this quadrant not working out are if the facilitator is not able to keep the peace and it can lead to fatal consciences. Well that about sums it up for a short explanation, any questions?"

"Well fuck Karkles, you just told me a completely new concept that seems super weird to me, of course I have tons of questions!"

"Too bad, I believe the deal was that I tell you about troll romance and you tell me about human romance, any questions can be saved until the end of the conversation."

Dave tries to protest but you just glare at him.

"Fine, fine, you win," he gives up, "I'll tell you about human romance now."

Chapter Text

Be Dave Strider ===>

Your brain is currently full to the brim with new informant that you're having a hard time processing. Troll romance just seems so unnatural to you, but then again human romance kind of does too. This is why you're finding yourself in a weird position at the moment, trying to figure out just where to start this conversation with Karkat.

"Well Dave, I'm waiting," Karkat says impatiently. Damn you must have been lost in thought for a few minutes.

"Okay, how about we start this out the same way you did with your lesson, how much do you know about human romance?"

He scowls, "All that I know is that it is vastly different from troll romance, and you humans don't reproduce they same way trolls do. Rose told Kanaya a bit about it and therefore Kanaya told me."

You skip mentioning anything about the reproduction because that is not the conversation that you signed up for, and dive straight in. "So romance for humans generally starts off when two people fall in love. Usually it's a man and a woman, but in modern times there are gay relationships, like the two girls in the movie, but those relationships are frowned upon because they are seen as different. Which honestly I think is a load of bullshit because like who cares about what sex you are love is love and-"

"DAVE! You're rambling, please go on to tell me more about relationships for humans."

"Oh yeah, my bad. Well like it said two humans fall in love and I guess the best way to put it that you could understand is that they fill all the quadrants for each other. After hearing what you said human romance is a lot like pushing all the quadrants together in one big square. When you date someone and fall in love you become their lover, their best friend, their protector from bad situations, and sometimes there might be arguments, but in the end you always come to respect the other person despite their flaws... At least that's how a good and healthy relationship goes."

"That all seems kind of crazy, how can humans push all the quadrants together! How can you pity someone and hate them and be their best friend?!"

"I know it seems like a foreign concept to you, but so are quadrants to me. Why do you guys need to shove every emotion you feel for other people into quadrants, they never intermingle that way, it's kind of weird."

"Well so is yours! Look the main reason we have quadrants is so that there will be more pailing, because you can have a matesprit and a kissmesis at the same time. You are expected to fill pails that are collected by the imperial drones and given to the Mother Grub. Every adult member of troll society is expected to participate, or there could be... unfavourable consequences."

You look at him in shock, though he can't see your eyes so you emphasize this shock in your voice, "Karkat, that sounds... really fucked up." You honestly don't know how else to respond to such a crazy explanation.

"It's no different from what humans do to reproduce right? That's why you guys form relationships."

"That...Karkat-no, that's not the only reason to form a relationship..."

He looks up at you in confusion, "Oh... Our species are much more different than I thought..."

You clear your throat, "Yeah, we really are, aren't we."

He quickly notices the awkwardness in the air and changes the subject, "Thank you for that strange and confusing lesson on earthen relationships I guess Strider, now how about we get back to your human move so we can move on to a troll one." He grabs the remote from you and presses play.

Karkat tries to engross himself in the movie, but you can tell that he's still thinking about the conversation that you both just had, you don't blame him, this is going to be on your mind for a while as well. None the less you try and focus on the TV.

Chapter Text

Be Karkat Vantas ===>

It's been a week since your strange conversation with Dave, you and him haven't really talked much since then. You still help him with can town of course, but you honestly don't know what to say to him beyond a greeting in the morning. He seems to share the same disposition as you because he doesn't seem up to his normal ramblings that you've become accustomed to; and that you actually kind of miss in a weird way.

You wake up and make your way to the living area where you find Rose and Kanaya enjoying mugs of coffee on the couch. Vriska and Terezi don't seem to be in the room, and you'r assuming that Dave isn't even awake yet. 

"Hello Karkat," Rose greets you as she takes a sip of her coffee.

"Lolande," you acknowledge her in response as you walk past them to get to the eating area to pour yourself a cup of coffee. 

You're about to leave the room when Kanaya get's your attention, "Oh Karkat, won't you please come and join us? We actually have something to talk to you about." She motions for you to sit in the chair across from her and Rose.

You grumble, but you begrudgingly comply. 

"Now Karkat Rose has informed me that you have been spending quite a bit of time with Dave recently, is this true?"

"Well yeah, I guess. There really isn't anyone else to hangout with because everyone else on this crazy rock is either too engrossed in their own relationship, or trying to kill everyone!"

Kanaya's face turns a light green and Rose giggles.

"You do hold a valid point Karkat," Rose says, "Now I will have you know that I am a very observant person and through my observances I have noticed that you and David have grown fairly close to the point where you two seem to spend a majority of your days together. My only inquiry is, is there a specific reason for this recent development in your relationship?"

You don't really know how to respond to this, and you also really don't want Rose to read into anything, Dave tells you that she's good at doing that sort of stuff.

"Well, I guess I don't hate him as much as I thought? He's less of an insufferable prick then I first pegged him for?" That's all you can really think of, and it's basically the truth; you decide to leave out your weird conversation that you had with Dave last week.

Rose smirks slightly, just barely, but you catch it. "That's very nice to know Karkat. You see Dave has always been a very distant person, I have a feeling it has to do with his strange upbringing, and I've never truly felt like he's connected with anyone in his life before; not even his Guardian. The thing is, you seem different for some reason. I can't figure out why, but Dave has become almost attached to you in a way." She pauses to take a sip of her coffee.

You have no idea where this conversation is going so you just let her continue to talk.

"It makes me very happy to see this happening Karkat, you have no idea. I was never worried about John or Jades happiness like I was with Dave's, but now I think I can start to worry less." She actually smiles, you're pretty sure its a genuine one.

You actually feel kind of guilty right about now, does she know that you and Dave seem to be drifting? Should you tell her? She is Dave's family after all, so she should know these kinds of things, right?

"The thing is, Dave and I kind of had a fucked up conversation and now we aren't talking as much as we did before..." You look down at the floor in guilt, but then you hear Rose giggle.

"Oh Karkat, don't you think I can tell when he get's all moody and brooding about something? I figured that you two had done done something weird and didn't know how to act around each other. I just would like to give you a piece of advice so you can get whatever is going on between you and him back on track, just try spending time with him. If there's one thing I know that boy wants most of all, even though is ego will never let him admit to it, is to spend time with someone."

You look at her with a questioning look on your face, "What do you mean? That Dave wants attention from someone?"

"Yes, when he was growing up his Guardian was a bit... unreliable. To tell you the truth my Guardian was the same way and Jade was alone for a very long time. The only one of us kids who ever had a loving home was John, and now that is... regrettably gone. The best thing that you can do to get closer to Dave is just to spend time with him, maybe have a movie night that you seem to be so fond of. Just please don't let him slip back into his old habits, because for a while I was starting to see a new side of him; one that seemed a lot happier. I think that was all because of you."

Kanaya gives Rose a comforting hug as the continue to sip their coffee. You don't say anything in return, you just make your way out of the living area and over to Can Town.

~~

Dave shows up an hour after you and the mayor settle in to building the newest additions to Can Town.

"Sup," He asks as he sits down next to you and picks up a can to help build.

You stop what your doing, "Hey Dave, do you wanna have a movie night tonight?"

He stops what he's doing too and rubs the back of his neck with his free hand, "Um, sure I'm cool with that."

You almost smile when he says yes, it just makes you really happy for some reason; weird. "But I get to pick the movie this time, we are going to watch one of my favourite romcoms. And you better not still there the whole fucking time and complain about it."

He holds up his hand and says, "Scouts honor."

You're pleased with his answer and you both get back to work on Can Town.

~~

You get everything set up on the couch for movie night while Dave gets some snacks. 

He joins you on the couch as you mess with the settings on the husktop to get it to play the movie, this particular one is probably one of your favourites of all time, but you don't think Dave will care for it that much. Oh well, you're doing what Rose asked you to do and spending time with him.

You turn on the movie and the room fills with awkward silence as the screen lights up with the opening act.

~~

About thirty minutes into the movie and Dave hasn't complained about a single thing, you're shocked. You turn to face him only to see that the reason he hasn't said a word is because he's asleep; or at least you think he is, you really can't tell with the shades in the way. To tell the truth you're feeling kind of sleepy as well. You haven't been getting a lot of rest since you entered the game and it's been worse since the meteor. Dave has probably had it rough too, and you figured he wasn't getting much sleep either. 

As you pondered the thoughts of sleep Dave stirred in resting; you thought he was waking up, but nope, he was shifting. He sinks to the side, his head ending up on your shoulder. You're so stunned that you don't know what to do, you can't even move. The movie is long forgotten as you turn your head carefully to the side to look at him. You can hear him slowly inhale and exhale, he's so peaceful, nothing like the bouncing-off-the-walls Dave that your usually see during the day. You like this part of him you think to yourself as you absentmindedly brush a stray lock of his blond hair behind his ear, but then you catch yourself.

What the fuck are you doing! This is Dave Strider, one of the most annoying things to ever breathe in air around you, why are you becoming so attached to him?

As the movie plays on in the background you start to ponder this thought more until you start to feel tired as well..................

Chapter Text

Be Dave Strider ===>

"David, wake up." You feel someone shake you and it jolts you awake. You feel really groggy, and why are your shades still on? More importantly what's Rose doing in your room? Wait... this isn't your room.

You sit up fast, and man is that a mistake, your head spins and you rub the side of it. "Rose?"

"What are you doing out here Dave, and why are you sleeping on the couch with Karkat?"

That's a good question why are you sl- WAIT WHAT?! You quickly turn to the side and sure enough Karkat is curled up on the couch. You must have been sleeping next to him. You both must have fallen asleep during the movie last night. You look down at his sleeping face, it's so much different from what he looks like during the day, the constant scowl that he wears is gone; he looks so relaxed, almost angelic. 

"Dave? It's almost two in the afternoon. I know you guys are probably tired, but that is why we have beds. You've been hogging the couch all day and no one really had the heart to wake you guys up because you looked so cute. I could also tell that you needed a good nights rest and I'm pleased to see that you got one. If all it took was snuggling up to the grumpy troll boy you should have done it sooner." She smirks at you because she knows she's hit a nerve. Calling you and Karkat cute, you're sure that there is a hint of red on your cheeks because that's just damn embarrassing. 

"Yeah yeah, whatever Rose," You say trying to retain your coolkid demeanor as you stand up quietly and slowly, you don't want to wake Karkat up just yet, he really needs this sleep. You've noticed that Karkat doesn't get enough sleep, there are always bags under his eyes that are darker than his gray skin. You don't really know why he has trouble sleeping at night, but you assume it has to do with the game.

"Shouldn't we wake him up," Rose points to Karkat but you shake your head 'no'. 

"Nah I think he needs the extra sleep, I really don't have the heart to wake him up. Why don't you and Kanaya go find some other place to have your daily weird smart people conversation, this meteor is huge. Just leave Karkat alone." You exit the room at that before she can say anything about you being 'so sweat' or 'so kind' or any of the bullshit.

You really need to go check on the mayor, it's pretty late in the day and you hope he's faring well with Can Town in your absence.

Its exactly 7:43 at night when you walk into the living room to go to the kitchen and that must have finally woken up Karkat because he jumps in his sleep and cracks an eye open to see who's there. You pause and look back at him.

"Dave, what the fuck am I doing in here," he asks you with a grumpy tone, the scowl sets in on his face as he sits up on the couch. You already miss that angelic sleeping face of his. 

You rub the back of your neck and answer him, "Well um, ya see, we kinda fell asleep on the couch last night and when Rose woke me up earlier you just looked so peaceful that I didn't have the heart to wake you up too... It's just that you always look so tired and I figured you weren't getting enough sleep so I thought you might wanna sleep for a little longer. Don't worry, nothing happened while you were out, just some Can Town building with the mayor."

You look at his face for signs of anger, but all you see is a faint tinge of red on his cheeks, is he... blushing?

"Well thanks I fucking guess," he grumbles at you in response and then looks up at you and glares, "The fuck are you staring at me for Strider? Or at least I'm assuming you are, no one can really tell with those stupid shades in the way. I have no fucking clue why you insist upon wearing them all the time, I know you say it's part of your dumbass 'coolkid' routine I think that's absolute bullshit to be quite honest with you. They make you look like a stupid douche by the way, you should try not wearing them for once."

You don't know how to respond to this, these are the most words Karkat and you have exchanged since your awkward talk of relationships, you have no idea how to tell him that you wear the shades to hide your eyes because they're so different; and you have no idea why you think it's okay to tell him this at all. This is something only your Bro knows about. There are other reasons you wear the shads of course, but you don't know if you're ready to talk about those reasons just yet....

"Well I have lots of reasons that I wear them Karkles, but mostly because they make all the ladies and trolls swoon obviously," you say causally as you walk past him before he starts to get all flustered and mad at you. You hear him yell some choice words at you as you leave for the food you wanted from the kitchen.

The whole time trying to figure out why you actually wanted to tell him of all people such intimate things about yourself and your past, things you swore to yourself you would never tell anyone as long as you lived... but well, you are a God now, so you guess that living will be forever? Damn that's a long time to keep all your secrets.

Chapter Text

Be Karkat ===>

You never want to speak of what transpired yesterday in the living area so of course just to spite you the first thing that anyone says to you the next day just HAS to be about that. You live with a bunch of idiot assholes, have you ever mentioned that before? 

"Heyyyyy Karkat!" Terezi comes bounding up to you as you pour yourself a cup of scalding leaf fluid, you're not in the mood to find the coffee, besides you need something to calm your nerves and Rose has informed you that this is the best stuff.

You almost drop the cup as she glomps you from behind and licks you.

"TEREZI! What the fuck!" You screech at her and you carefully put the drink on the counter. You turn around and are greeted by the annoying faces of Terezi and Vriska. Great Vriska is here, you just know she is going to stir up some trouble. 

"Well aren't you just a ball of sunshine Karkat," Vriska comments as she walks up next to you and hops up onto the counter. She grins at you, "Soooooooo Karkat, you won't believe what I saw yesterday when I came in here," she pauses to giggle, "You and Dave looked so cute by the way, he had his arm slung over you; it was so adorable I wanted to gag."

"Shut the fuck up Serket, I don't wanna hear anything about this!" Vriska's grin only grows wider.

"Aww , but Karkat, there's nothing wrong with it. would it kill you to be a bit more relaxed for once?"

"Why yes, yes Vriska it would! I'm your Gogdamn leader and I need to act that way, I can't spend all of my time with that shade wearing douchebag! I need to be planning our next moves for when we get off this stupid fucking rock!"

Vriska sighs, "Geez Karkat, you're taking things way too seriously. We've only been her for like a few months I think? Look, when the time comes, then we can start talking about leaderly things and whatnot; but for now have you ever though about letting your walls down and actually getting to know people. You're free from the need to be a leader right now, it's not like anyone on this rock is going to do what you say, accept maybe Dave, I think he might be a pushover, but only for you."

Terezi cackles, "Vriska's right Karkitty!" You cringe at the nickname, "You should let loose! Think of this rock as your vacation, your really long vacation!"

You glare at her, it's not like she can see it anyways, "You guys are the most annoying wrigglers ever, get a life and stop stalking other people." With that you grab your drink and make your way to can town.

About half way there you freeze in your tracks, should you really go and spend time with Dave? Would it be awkward to build can town with him and the mayor after what happened yesterday?

You finally decide, after two minutes of standing there, probably looking like an idiot, you swallow your worries and continue to make your way to can town.

~~

When you get there Dave is already helping the mayor with the newest residential district of can town, he looks up when you enter the room and the quickly looks back down at the floor, idly staring at the label on the can that he's holding.

"Um, hey Karkat."

"Hello Strider."

You set yourself on the floor across from Dave and take a sip of your drink, its now the perfect temperature. 

"So...um, well, about yesterday. I just wanted to-"

You cut him off, "Dave I'm going to stop you her before you ramble on into oblivion. We just both happened to fall asleep, we were tired. There was nothing to it."

You hear him exhale in relief, "Oh thank the fucking gods your not mad at me, I thought you were mad at me."

You take another sip of your beverage, "No Dave I'm not mad at you or some shit like that, why the hell would I be mad. Besides, it was nice to finally get some sleep for once, if you haven't noticed I haven't been getting the best sleep lately. I've never really slept well, but after the game started it got worse."

"Yeah same for me, I haven't really- wait, why didn't you sleep well before the game, and how did sleeping on the couch with me help you?"

You feel the blush creeping on your face a you will it down, let hell you're going to blush in front of Dave Strider. 

"Well Dave for your information, before the game started I didn't get a lot of sleep because every time I closed my eyes I had nightmares about-" You stop yourself before you can say anything else. What the hell is wrong with you, you were about to tell Dave of all people the secret that you've tried so hard to kept your whole life.

"Nightmares about what?" Damn, he's pressing.

"Fuck you, why should I even tell you?"

"Aw Karkat come on, you can talk about feelings and all that other bullshit with me if you want, there's no judgment here. Fine, to make you feel more comfortable, I didn't sleep well before the game either, I had nightmares too."

You look up at him in shock, "You did? You, the ever cool-kid facade, Dave Strider, had nightmares. You really expect me to believe that?"

"Yeah, Karkat I didn't really have the best upbringing..."

"What, was your lusus an asshole?"

"If by lusus you mean guardian, then yeah he kind of was..."

You cast your gaze down and see the Dave is fiddling with the label on the same can he was holding earlier, "Oh."

"Yeah, ok so I told you a bit about me, what about you. Tell me why you had nightmares."

"Why the fuck are you so interested," you ask him in complete curiosity. 

"Well we are spending a long time on this meteor, we might as well get to know each other a bit better, dontcha think?"

You can't find a way to argue with his logic, it makes sense that he would want to get to know that people that he would be spending a decent portion of his existence with.

"Okay Strider, you make a valid point, and I guess you did tell me a bit about you. Alright, I can't believe I'm gonna fucking say this, but lets make a deal. How about everyday we start the day off asking each other one question about ourselves. But before you say anything let my lay down some fucking ground rules so you don't ask me some stupid fucking juckass question that makes me want to knock your teeth out. If we don't want to answer the question then the other person has to pick a new question."

Dave looks way too eager for this for some reason, he's practically bouncing, it kind of freaks you out.

"I can live with that. Now that that's out of the way, wanna go a head and tell me why you had nightmares back then?"

"If you must know so badly I had nightmares because I was afraid to sleep and what might have happened to me if I let my guard down."

"That's kind of a weird reason."

"Not really Dave," you pause to sip your drink, "Back where I live things are a lot different than earth."

"What do you mean by different?"

You glare at him, "Only one question Dave, if you're so damn curious then try asking Kanaya or Terezi or Vriska; they can tell you the same things that I can, and in a much more civil manor too I bet."

Dave stays true to your agreement and doesn't ask you anymore questions about yourself for the rest of the time you and him work on can town. By the time lunch hour rolls around you take the mayor to the kitchen, you always walk with him and hold his hand; you're not taking any chances with Gamzee running around in the vents. You notice that Dave doesn't walk with you to the kitchen, instead he goes off in the other direction.

Chapter Text

Be Dave ===>

You really want to know more about Karkat, what is wrong with you? You feel the need to go find someone and ask them, you contemplate Vriska and Kanaya, but decide against those two because Vriska is a crazy bitch, and Kanaya will just tell Rose everything you ask her and you don't need Rose butting in on your life.

So Terezi it is.

Instead of following Karkat and the mayor to the Kitchen you go the other way in search of Terezi. This is the only time of day that you might find her alone if you're lucky. She likes to take time away from Vriska to draw with her chalk in her room. Honestly you hate going into her room because it is covered in chalk. The walls, the floors, the ceiling (you have no idea in hell how she pulled that shit off). To top it off she has a bunch of those 'scalemates', as she calls them, EVERYWHERE. They litter the floors, and hang from the ceiling on nooses, you don't even wanna know why she does that.

You brave it out and venture to her room on the far side of the meteor, right next to Vriska's room. You knock on her door that has some crazy words scrawled in chalk that you don't bother to read. The door swings wide open and she grins at you.

She sniffs the air, "Heyyy Davey! How's my favourite hipster cool-kid doing today?"

"Hey TZ, I'm cool, do ya mind if I come in? I have a few questions that I wanna run over with you."

"Sure~ come on in," she steps to the side to let you in and then slams the door behind you. 

You look around her room and are at lose for a place that you can sit, she has no bed; apparently trolls don't do beds, and she has no chairs or seats of any sort as far as you can see. There could possibly be something remotely resembling a seat across the room, but it is covered in stuff.

Terezi just sits down on the floor and pats the ground next to her, "Oh come on Dave, don't be a wuss, the floor will not eat you!"

She cackles as you sigh and sit yourself down near her.

"Alright then Dave, what can I help you with," Terezi asks as she picks up a piece of chalk and twists it in her hand. The chalk dust stains her fingers.

"So Karkat is being his usual grumpy and moody self and he won't answer a question for me and said that I should just go ask onna you ladies, and of course I picked the best lady on the meteor. So I was wondering if you could answer this question for me, but I like understand if you don't want to, it's totally cool. Like this question might be too personal, or it might be a secret, or you just might not know? It's just, I really wanna know, and I figured that you might be the best to ask because you're onna Karkat's closes friends and-"

"Hey cool-kid, you're doing that thing where you ramble about stuff." Terezi cuts you off before you can continue to ramble on like an idiot because words are hard for you apparently. 

You clear your throat, "Oh, um, yeah. My bad. So, Karkat kinda told me that he's always had really bad nightmares and it has something to do with your planet? I'm not really sure what it could be, but maybe you could clear that up for me?"

Terezi frowns slightly, "Karkles has some... personal issues with Alternia and how they treat trolls," Terezi takes a box of chalk and opens in, a bunch of colours spill out and she arranges them. 

"I'm sure that you've noticed that we all type in different colours when we pester you," she says, her voice is getting serious. Serious Terezi is a new concept to you.

"Yeah I've noticed,"

"Good. Maybe this won't be so hard to explain then," Terezi motions for you to look at her chalk, "Do you see how I've lined up this chalk Dave?"

"Yeah TZ, its a bunch of colours in a random order."

"It's not so random Dave. Each one of these colours represents one of us trolls. Trolls have different blood colours, and based on these colours they are placed into a class system; this is a hierarchy of sorts. This is our Hemospectrum. It's kind of like a rainbow of colour. There are twelve possible blood colours a troll can have, out of these twelve there are two separate groups, three if you wanna get technical, to distinguish where your blood ranks on the spectrum."

Terezi separates the the chalk into two groups, the purple colours and blue colours to one side and the greenish colours, yellow colour, and reddish colours to the other. 

"These are the highbloods," she points to the purples and blues, "And these are the lowbloods," she points to the others. 

"Okay, I'm following so far," you say.

"Awesome, cuz I've still got a lot more stuff to say! So in our society the highblooded trolls have more respect and better living arrangements, expeciall the sea dwellers, those are the two highest colours so they have the best of the best. I myself am considered a highblood," Terezi points to the bright blue chalk at the end of the row, "Now the other side is a bit different." 

Terezi takes the other row and moves it closer to you so you can see. 

"Lowblooded trolls have it a bit more rough, they aren't as respected or treated as well as highbloods. There is an exception with the Jadeblooded trolls because they are so rare, but that's a conversation that you can have with Kanaya if you wanna know more about it. Our focus is on something else though. I'm sure you've noticed that there are no grayblooded trolls by now."

"I was gonna ask you what was up with that," you say, "Karkat types in gray, and you said that everyone types with there bloodcolour, but I'm guessing he doesn't?"

"You would be correct cool-kid. This is because Karkat's bloodcolour isn't a lowblood or a highblood." Terezi opens another box of chalk and pulls out a bright red stick. She holds it up for you to see, "This is Karkat's blood colour, he would never admit to it though, but everyone knows. I can smell it on him, he smells like cherries Dave, cherries! Anyways, on our planet if they find out you're a 'Candy red' they will hunt you down and cull you. Mutant blood is highly frowned upon in our society. Karkat never slept well because he was always afraid that someone would find out what his bloodcolour was and cull him."

"Oh..." It's all you can say, you really have no other words. 

"Yeah, 'oh'. Wow I can't believe that mister cool-kid is basically speechless for once!" Terezi cackles. 

"Well it's a lot to take in... Hey TZ, ya know that your planet is kind of fucked up?"

Terezi full-on laughs at this, "Dave! I've known that for so long now. There's not justice there!" 

She grabs her chalk box and picks up all the sticks, then grabs the red one and starts doodling on the floor.

"Thanks for telling me all this stuff TZ," you thank her as you stand up and make your way to the door.

"Oh one more thing Dave," she stops you in your tracks, "I think it's cool and all that you wanna get to know more about Karkat, but please be careful because he's kinda fragile on the inside. I know that he's all grumpy and moody and shouty, but he hides a lot more than you could ever know." 

Before you can say anything else you see that she has gone back to her weird chalk drawings and its clear that she's done talking, so you leave with a mind full of things to ponder and a growling stomach because you skipped lunch.

Chapter Text

Be Karkat ===>

You're eating a quiet lunch with the mayor, he's quietly sitting in the chair next to you and watching you, when you hear voices coming from the other side of the room. Rose and Kanaya walk into the eating area and grab something to eat. They sit down and join you at the table. 

"Hello Karkat," Rose greets you as she pours herself a glass of water.

"Lalonde," you respond with a nod.

"How have you been doing Karkat? I haven't seen you in quite some time," Kanaya says with a smile on her face. Rose is full-on smirking at you.

"Oh Kanaya dear, Karkat has been a bit busy."

"Busy you say," Kanaya turns to you, "Why what have you been busy doing Karkat?"

"Oh please, you wouldn't have noticed that I existed Kanaya, you've been spending every second of your time sucking face and breathing the same air as that smug smartass sitting next to you. She's probably playing footsie with you under the table right now!" 

Kanaya giggles and blushes slightly. 

"Now, now Karkat, I know you're trying to redirect the conversation. So, what have you been so busy doing?"

As she asks you, the mayor decides at that moment to pick up your knife, you quickly take it back from him.

"No, no, you don't need that," You say and set it back on the table, farther away from him this time.

"Aww that's so cute Karkat, you act so motherly towards him," Rose exclaims.

"Yes Karkat, Rose is right, you absolutely do! I find it quite nice, I honestly never though to to be the 'motherly' type."

"The fuck does 'motherly' mean?"

"It means that you have the natural kindness towards children, or others, and the instincts to take care of them properly and care for them," Rose explains to you.

"Whatever."

"I suppose you've been spending the majority of your time taking care of the mayor," Kanaya asks.

"Oh no, Kanaya I think you are forgetting an important part, he's been spending time taking care of the mayor with Dave." Rose gives you another look, like she knows everything, and it just makes you want to shrink into your seat and disappear. 

"Why in the ever-loving fuck do you two care what I do or don't do in my free time," you hiss at them and then glare.

"Oh I'm just taking interest into Davids life of course, what's so wrong with that," Rose answers you with a question, you hate this. You hate all of this conversation now, and you wish someone would come and save you. Some one, anyone. You would sacrifice your soul right about now for someone to come and get you the fuck out of here.

Of course that someone had to be Dave.

"Hey guys," Dave walks in, he immediately senses the atmosphere in the room and looks at you then at Rose, "Rose why are you harassing Kit-Kat?"

"Dave what the fuck, stop calling me stupid names that I don't know the meaning of! How many times did I tell you that, did your lusus drop you on your think pan a lot when you were a wriggler?!"

"Well if you mean my Bro, then he threw swords and plush puppet rumps at me when I was a baby, that may or may not have contributed to my state of mental health." He shrugs at you and then grabs some of his favourite drink, something called apple juice, before taking the empty seat next to you.

"Oh dear Rose, I think we should be leaving these two to their own devices!"

"Kanaya I think you're absolutely right," she gives Kanaya a sly look and says, "Why don't we take these to my room and have a private lunch."

"Why that sounds delightful."

Before you can say anything to them they both ascend as quickly as possible leaving you alone with Dave and the mayor. 

The mayor pulls on your sleeve and points to the exit.

"Oh," you look down at him, "Are you gonna go work more on can town?" He nods. "Well alright then, just be careful and don't hurt yourself!" you call out to him as he leaves.

"You baby him so much Karkles," Dave comments as opens his container of apple juice.

"The fuck does that mean," you fume at him.

"Wooh, hey, chill out Karks. It just means that you treat him like a little kid, I guess in your case that would mean wriggler? Yeah, so you take care of him and whatnot and treat him delicately. I actually think it's kind of endearing or whatever... would have liked it if someone did that for me when I was a kid." He mumbles the last part, but you still hear it.

"Is that why you're so fucking damaged, can't seem to drop your worthless facade for one second. You know your not fooling me with it right? Acting like you are superior to emotions, you may be able to trick people with that, but that bullshit doesn't work on me Strider."

Dave appears to be shocked, stunned at least, by what you just said, you can't tell of he's shocked because you cannot see his facial expression through is stupid shades.

"Wow, way to cut in deep where it hurts Karkat, I'm wounded, so wounded," Dave clutches his fist to his heart. "But if you really must know, I didn't have the best childhood. And from what I've heard you didn't have a very spectacular one either."

You glare at him, "Who told you that?"

"Terezi, she was quite informative about everything that is fucked up with your planet, and pretty good with chalk for a blind girl."

You look down at whatever is left of your food, not sure how to respond to that. You know you told him to go ask someone else, but you never thought he would actually care enough to do it.

"Why do you care so fucking much, I didn't think that Striders were supposed to care..."

"Just because I'm the master of irony, and stoic as they fucking come, doesn't mean I don't give a shit about the people around me. What can I say, curiosity called my name. I mean who wouldn't wanna call my name, I'm a Strider." 

"Whatever asshole."

"Well if you're so curious about my past, I guess you can ask me about to tomorrow, one question a day, remember," he reminds you, then he finishes his juice and leaves the room. That's right, you can ask him one question a day, that was your deal with him after all. It' surprises you that you want to ask him more than one though. He was right, curiosity is calling your name. You never thought you'd be so interested in a guy like Dave Strider. He's one of the worse humans you've ever met, well that's not really anything to say because you've on;y met a handful of humans in your short existence, yet he's the most intriguing person on this shitty rock. Another thing that baffles you is, why is he so interested in you? No one ever has been this interested before; so why him and why now?