Work Text:
GT: Hey, sexy
TT: English, what the hell?
GT: I'm just, you know, having a fun time.
TT: You're not making any sense. Are you drunk again?
GT: Psht. No.
TT: English.
TT: English?
TT: Dammit English. I'm coming over.
~
Dirk sat there for a moment, staring at the computer screen. This was the forth time this week that Jake had drank himself drunk. Except tonight, instead of not doing anything about it, the blonde was going to try to stop him. To be honest, it was starting to worry him. It was not like Jake had never been drunk before, he was once or twice in the past, but that was nothing. It was just that this time it was consistent. Every night this was happening.
Then something clicked in his head and before he noticed what he was doing, his fingers were flying across the keyboard.
~
TT: Lalonde. This is your fault.
TG: what
TG: what is my falt
TG: *fault
TT: The reason why English is all drunk out of his mind right now.
TG: it wsa his choce
TG: *was
TG: choice
TT: Doubt it.
TG: how could it be my fault
TT: You probably taunted him about it. Saying things like, "It will soothe you" while you waved the bottle in his face.
TG: watever
TG: I wouldnt do that to him
TT: Liar.
TG: it is nto
TG: not
~
Strider stared at the screen with a small sigh. Why was he trying to blame Jake's actions on Lalonde. It wasn't her fault. He just needed to blame someone.
~
TT: Sorry Lalonde. I didn't mean to automatically blame you.
TG: its okay
TG: i am the one who supplied hum
TG: *him
TG: I know where he is though
TG: after all I know youre probably concerned about him
TG: because of how you feel you towards him
TT: Thanks and I don't know what you mean by "I know how you feel about him" I'm just concerned for him like a bro is concerned for a bro.
TG: watever dick
TG *dirk
TG: anyway hes at janeys house to talk to her about something
TT: Alright. Thanks again. Talk to you later.
~
Dirk sat there for a moment. Jane's house? Why? He sighed and shook his head. If he was at Jane's then he was fine. HE leaned back in his chair and laid his head back as well.
Bling
He looked at the screen through his pointy shades. He recognized that cyan text.
GG: Dirk?
GG: Dirk?!
TT: What's wrong?
GG: It's Jake.
GG: A few minutes ago he came over, hammered out of his mind. He started to talk kind of weirdly.
TT: He already does that.
GG: No. I mean, weirder than Jake English weird.
TT: How so?
GG: It's hard to explain. Just come over here now.
TT: Why?
GG: He's passed out on the couch and muttering in his sleep. He keeps saying your name over and over in a weird voice.
TT: Fine. I'll be there in a few.
Dirk grabbed his jacket and headed outside. Since his car wasn't working and he hadn't gotten around to fix it, he was going to have to walk.
As he was walking he glanced down at his watch. It was just a little after nine-thirty. He let out a small chuckle. English was already passed out and it wasn't even ten. How lame.
When he arrived at Jane's house, he knocked on the door. From inside he heard a crash. "Jane?" No answer. "Jane!" Another crash happened before the door finally opened.. Jane was standing there looking a bit pissed about something. "Are you okay?" Dirk asked her. She just nodded. "Jake isn't though. He woke up and just everywhere." The blonde walked in and spotted Jake leaned against the wall for support. There were broken remains of various vases around him. "Great. Way to go English," he muttered as he walked over to him. "You look like shit." Jake just glared at him. "S'up Sstrider," he slurred. "I'll get him out of your hair, Jane," Dirk stated. Jane nodded. "Please." The blonde took Jake by the wrist and ignored Jake's complaints, throwing the drunken man over his shoulder. He was lighter than he thought he was. Jake laid there limply with a frown on his face. "Pu' me dow'," English slurred. The blonde ignored his pleas and headed for the door. "See you later, Jane." Then he headed towards Jake's house.
"Strider?" The sober one didn't reply mostly because he didn't want to end up snapping at Jake. English continued anyway. "Do you think I'm a bad person?" Silence. "Dirk?" More silence. "Strider!" The blonde sighed in frustration. "What do you want?"
"Am I a bad person?"
"No."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"You sure?"
"Yes."
The blonde refrained from using more than one word. He was still being cautious. After a few moments of silence the adventurer finally spoke, "Do you like me?" he asked. Dirk blushed lightly. What was this? A seventh grade girls' sleep over? "Well. Yeah. Of course." Jake sighed. "Not like the bro things you keep talking about. I mean...more than that." Dirk's blush darkened a bit. "English. You're drunk and have no idea what you are talking about. Just shut up." And everything went silent.
When they finally arrived at Jake's place, Jake was finally set down. "Keys," Dirk said bluntly. Jake fumbled around with his multiple pockets on his cargo shorts. After a few minutes, he gave up. The blonde sighed and reached over to the other's shirt, pulling the keys out of that pocket. "Look! You found them! Yay!" Jake cheered. "Yeah, yeah," the other muttered as he unlocked the keys and guided Jake inside.
The stairs were a bitch to climb with a drunken idiot on your shoulder stumbling nearly every two steps. He nearly fell back once, but Dirk caught him before he could get anywhere.
The duo eventually made it to Jake's room. Dirk set Jake in his bed and laid him on his side. He was starting to look a little green. He retrieved the trash can from the corner of the room and placed in next to his bed. Then he grabbed a chair and set it next to Jake's bed. Before he had a chance to sit down, the other was hunched over, making ungodly noises into the trashcan. The sobered one sat next to him and rubbed his back, muttering soothing words as Jake cleaned out his liver. After a few moments, the room fell silent. A few more moments, he heard soft snoring coming from the other one. Dirk set the other on his side and covered him in a light blanket.
Dirk sat in the chair, pondering on whether or not he should leave. He eventually decided that he should stay, not trusting the other one alone with himself. The rest of the night went by at snail speed. Every couple of hours Jake would clean out his liver once more.
* * * * * * * *
Jake woke up the next morning with the most horrible feeling in the world. He planned on not drinking ever again...or anytime soon at least. He nearly jumped out of his skin as he heard a sigh next to him. He looked over seeing Dirk passed out in a chair next to his bed. Jake tried to remember what happened, but couldn't. He blushed at the possibilities. He stared for a moment and then realized what Dirk was missing. His shades weren't on his face. Now if only he was awake and his eyes were open. Now that would be a sight to see.
The brunette slowly climbed out of bed, not wanting to become dizzy or nauseous, and headed downstairs to the kitchen. He decided to make some breakfast for himself and his guest whenever he happened to wake up. Jake gathered some ingredients and began to cook.
* * * * * * * *
The aroma of pancakes filled the room, waking Dirk from his slumber. He looked over to see Jake's bed empty. He thought that Jake would've been too hungover to even move. He reached over to the night stand to retrieve his shades. Then he realized they weren't there.
"ENGLISH!"
Jake couldn't help but smirk as he made pancakes downstairs. He had spotted Dirk's shades earlier and decided to hide them, wanting to maybe make a game out of it.
When he heard stomping down the stairs, he hid his smirk and acted like he did nothing. But the next thing he noticed was Dirk standing in front of him with a ball cap on his head, covering his eyes. Damn! It was worth a try.
"English, where are they?"
"Where's what?"
"My shades."
"I don't have a clue."
"Bullshit. Where are my damn shades?"
Jake didn't answer and just kept cooking. Dirk, on the other hand, was getting impatient. "English. I'm serious. Where in the hell are they?" he demanded in a deadly tone. Jake shrugged. "Strider, I really have no idea where they are. Stop blaming me. Maybe you just misplaced them." Dirk glared at him. "No. A Strider never does that. I always know where they are. Now where are they?" he demanded. "I thought you just said you always knew where they are." Jake commented. "English," he warned. The more the time passed, the more that he felt vulnerable. "Listen, Strider. Believe what you want, but I don't have them. Nor do I know where they are." Dirk frowned in frustration. Jake thrusted a plate of pancakes into his torso. "Now eat." The blonde took it and sat down at the table and began to eat. Jake did the same.
* * * * * * * *
After breakfast, Dirk would've left, but since SOMEONE had his shades, he couldn't do anything about it. Since Jake was swearing up and down that he didn't have it, he wasn't going to get them any time soon. The blonde knew that Jake had them. He didn't just misplace them. That never happened and he didn't think that was going to ever start.
The blonde was sitting on the couch, thinking about where Jake might've hidden them. He heard the other enter, but he didn't look up from his thinking. "Oh Strider~" Jake said in a sing-song voice. Dirk sighed and looked up. A small smirk spread across his face. "I knew it."
There was Jake, standing there, wearing Dirk's shades. Dirk wouldn't admit it, but he thought he looked really good in them. "Now give them here, English." Jake shook his head. "Nope."
"Come on. Don't make me come over there."
"You wouldn't do anything."
"Wanna bet?"
"Yep."
Next think Jake knew, Dirk hopped over the couch and tackled him to the ground. Even with the position Jake still couldn't see the other's eyes. Dirk reached to take off the shades, but before that happened Jake removed Dirk's hat quickly.
Everything went still.
Jake looked into Dirk's tangerine eyes. He thought they were absolutely beautiful. Why would he want to hide something with such beauty? Jake seemed transfixed by his eyes. They were just so...he couldn't describe it. He was just speechless. Dirk, on the other hand, was just sitting there, looking back at English in complete shock. He so didn't see this coming. What English did was too fast for him to register. He wouldn't admit it, but it was a smooth move, but he was still sort of pissed at him for doing something like that.
After a moment of registering everything, the blonde snapped his shades from Jake's face, putting them on his own. He stood and muttered, "See you later, Jake." Then he headed for the door, ignoring Jake's pleas to stay and talk to him. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have let this happen? If his brother were to know, he'd be disappointed in him as he was himself.
* * * * * * * *
Dirk ignored all the messages that appeared on his laptop. They came in so much, so quickly, he just shut off the computer completely. He didn't want to talk to anyone. For all he knew, they just wanted to tease him for his oddly colored eyes. He was pretty sure Jake would've spread the news by now. Telling everyone he had found out the great Dirk Strider's secret. Whoop-dee-fucking-do. He just wanted to go curl up in a corner and die. That wasn't something that Strider's did though. That was for pussies and he wasn't one. Stupid. That's what he was. Stupid. He was just SO stupid for letting someone, especially Jake, see his eyes. That was like law. Don't let anyone see them. That's why he always had his shades in the first place. Why couldn't anyone see that? What was he even thinking...?
He heard a knock at the door and just stared at it, debating whether or not he should answer it. "Dirk!" Jane? What could see possibly want. He hesitated. "Dirk! Please open up!" The blonde sighed, giving in. He opened the door to wide blue eyes staring at him. "Oh thank god you are okay!" she said with relief as she threw her arms around him in a bear hug. Dirk just stood there, baffled. She pulled away, blushing a bit. She shook her head and began to speak, "Anywho. Jake came by earlier. Looking for you. He asked and sounded disappointed when I told him that I had no idea. He sounded super concerned. Dirk. What is going on?" she pleaded. "This is confusing me. I just want to know if everything is alright." Dirk didn't answer, just stood there. Jane gasped. "Are you in trouble with the mafia?" She put a hand over her mouth in shock. Dirk shook his head. "No. Nothing like that."
"Then what happened?" she asked. Dirk sighed, mulling over the question. He tried to come up with a reasonable answer. "Uh. Nothing. I just pulled a prank on him, that's all. Hid his pistols. Y'know." He shrugged like it was no big deal. Jane looked at him. She obviously wasn't buying it. "Really Dirk?" He nodded. "Yes. I swear." Jane sighed ans shook her head. "I don't believe you, but I guess it really isn't my business anyway. I guess I'll catch you later. Just make sure you talk to English. He just sounded so worried." The male nodded. "Will do, ma'am." Jane rolled her eyes and left.
Dirk stood there with a sigh and rubbed his temples. He felt a slight breeze, remembering he hadn't closed the door. He did so and turned around with a sigh. When he looked up, he saw a figure standing there. It took him a moment, but then he realized who it was. "English? What? How?" The blonde was speechless. How did he get in and why was he here? Nothing was making sense anymore. "What do you want?" he demanded. Jake sighed. "I just wanted to see if you were okay. You left rather fast and left me quite worried back there. I just wanted to know why," English said. Dirk stood there, just looking at him through his shades.
"It didn't bother you? Or even weird you out a little?"
"What?"
Dirk looked at him for a moment. Either Jake was hiding something, or it really didn't bother him. It was too soon to tell now. "Never mind," he muttered. HE headed towards the stairs. "Strider. What ever is the matter?" Jake asked. Dirk stood there, pondering on whether to tell him or not. He just stood there though. Not answering. He wasn't going to tell him. It was a silly thing anyway. He just wanted all of it to mull over soon. Jake sighed. "Guess I'm sticking around till you tell me."
Later that evening, Jake was in the kitchen cooking dinner while Dirk was passed out on the couch. The brunette wondered why his best friend was acting so strangely lately. Hopefully, Dirk would just knock off the whole "nothing-is-ever-wrong" act. He could tell the other was hiding something. It couldn't be the silly fact that he saw his eyes, right? That would be a little childish thing to be upset about. Although, Jake had a feeling it was more than that though.
When Jake finished dinner and set the table, he walked into the living room and looked at Dirk, who appeared to be sleeping away. He couldn't help but think it was kind of cute. The thought made him blush a slight tint of pink. Jake stood there, debating on whether or not to take his shades again. Just to play another small prank to lighten the mood.
The adventurer walked over to the sleeping one and slowly reached for the shades. He nearly jumped out of his skin when Dirk suddenly grabbed his wrist. "What are you doing, English?" Jake stood there, trying to find something to say. "I-Uh-Dinnder's done," he said quickly. He pulled from the other's grip and headed to the table.
They ate, but it was mostly silence.
* * * * * * * *
After dinner, Dirk disappeared before Jake could stop him. He sighed and started to clean up the dinner mess. When he finished, he collapsed on the couch. He was in mid-thought when his phone went off. He took it out and looked at it. Sighing, he began to answer:
TG: jakey
GT: What do you want, roxy?
TG: snappy snappy
TG: come over and have a drink
TG: *have
TG: im bored
GT: I'm sorry, im afraid I cant do that
TG: and why not
GT: I'm never getting that drunk again.
TG: you dont have to get THAT drunk
TG: jst have a few drink wit me
TG: *just
GT: No. sorry.
TG: cmon jakey
Jake didn't even bother to reply, just laid his head back with a loud sigh. Roxy was just going to keep prodding him anyway. He knew that if he repeated last night, Dirk would most likely murder him. The ridiculous thought of his best friend being a murderer made him laugh a little. Dirk wouldn't kill him, more or less at least.
His phone kept going off again and again. He knew for a fact that it was Roxy. He glanced at the clock. 8:00 pm. Okay...maybe he could have one drink. BUT JUST ONE. After all, his little issue was still bothersome.
He headed for the door when he heard footsteps and a voice behind him. "Where are you going?" Dirk. Geez, where has that boy been? He's been missing all evening. Jake turned and looked at him. There was no way he was going to tell him that he was going to Roxy's. "Just getting some things from the store. You're low on supplies." Jake nervously rubbed the back of his head. "Bullshit." Damn. So close. "Going to Roxy's aren't you?" Jake scoffed. "No." Dirk wasn't going to buy that load of shit. "Liar."
"I'm not lying."
"Yes you are."
"What do you care anyway?"
"I don't."
"Now it's my turn to call you a liar."
"I don't know what you are talking about."
Jake sighed. He wasn't making any progress with Dirk and it was frustrating. "Okay. Fine. I'm going to Roxy's, happy?"
"No."
"Well, I'm going anyway."
"Not advised."
"And why not?"
"You're going to get hammered!"
"That's not your problem anyway!"
"Yes it is!"
"How?"
"I'm going to have to be the one that drags your ass home and sit there all night while you're cleaning out your liver!"
Jake stood there, speechless. If he wasn't so angry, he would just apologize. Hell, he didn't even know why he was mad in the first place.
"Nobody asked you to do that for me..." Dirk folded his arms. "Well, who else is going to do it, English?" Jake glared at him. "I'm leaving." And he did.
* * * * * * * *
Jake arrived at Roxy's around 8:45 pm. He starting drinking immediately, wanting to forget the fight with Dirk. Not to mention the adrenaline in his system from the argument.
Now it was 10:30 pm and he was hammered, like the night before, but not as much.
Jake and Roxy were singing on the top of their lungs...well...more like screaming. They ran around the house screaming/singing. Next thing they knew, there were flashing red and blue lights outside the window.
"Hello?"
"This is the police department. Is a Mr. Dirk Strider around?"
"You're speaking to him."
"Well Mr. Strider, we have a Jake English here. He was taken in for underage drinking and disturbing the peace."
"I'll be right there."
"But Mr.-"
Dirk hung up the phone. Dammit. This is SO what he needed. Jake in jail. Perfect. He was beyond pissed at his friend at the moment. He warned him didn't he? It was going to be a repeat of last night...except, you just add cops into the mix. He grabbed his coat and headed out the door.
* * * * * * * *
When Dirk arrived at the police station, he saw Jane there talking to one of the officers. Dirk walked over and began to talk to the officer as well. They didn't seem like they wanted to let Jake or Roxy out. They wanted to keep them over night just in case, but the blonde smoothed things over and they agreed to let them go. Jane thanked Dirk and took the drunk female home.
"Strider!" Jake cheered from inside the cell. The blonde didn't say anything. Wasn't in the mood for it. When the officer opened the door to the cell, Jake nearly tackled his friend into a hug. Dirk didn't budge, just stood there. After a moment, he hoisted the other over his shoulder and headed out the door. Jake didn't do anything but yelp from the sudden movement.
On the way home, Jake was silently singing. It was slurred, almost a slur. "Dirk?" Silence. "Dirk~" More silence. He started to feel deja vu and decided to just let the topic to rest.
When they finally arrived at Dirk's, because it was closer, the blonde his Jake on the ground to retrieve his keys from the depths of his pocket and unlocked the door.
"Hey. Hey Dirk." The blonde sighed and looked at him. Jake stood there, swaying from side to side with a goofy grin on his face. He tried to do the whole "double pistol and a wink" thing. Dirk felt a prang in his chest, but ignored it. It was probably just chest pain or something, right? But, that didn't make Dirk stop being pissed at the boy.
When he opened the door, he guided the drunken teen inside. He gently laid him on the couch, taking note that the other wasn't as drunk as last night.
"Strider? I'm sorry. I didn' mean ta b snappy earlier," he slurred and mumbled. The blonde could tell by the yawn that Jake was going to be passed out before either of them new it. "It's fine. Just go to sleep." Jake grabbed the collar of Dirk's shirt and pulled him close. Giggling, he kissed the other on the cheek, then let go and fell asleep.
Dirk sat there, staring at Jake. No. No. Don't get carried away. It was just a kiss on the cheek. Nothing to special about that. Beside, he was drunk. He probably wouldn't even remember in the morning.
Jake woke up the next morning and glanced around. Where was he again? Last thing he remembered was that he was at Roxy's having a couple of drinks, then he was lost from there. Oh man. It was like a repeat of the night before before. Or however you say that. He was screwed. Strider was going to slaughter him.
Then he recognized where he was. "Strider?" he called. No answer. He slowly stood up, not wanting to become dizzy. Then he headed upstairs towards Dirk's room. Maybe he was up there doing whatever it is that Strider does. Glancing into his room, he saw the blond sitting at the computer typing furiously. "Strider?" he asked. No answer yet again. There was no doubt he was mad at him. But, he seemed angrier than necessary. What happened last night to make the other THAT pissed off? It couldn't be because of the silly little fight.
"Strider. What ever is the matter?"
"You're such a fucking idiot."
"What did I do?"
"You don't remember...do you?"
"Remember what? I don't really remember what happened last night."
"Jail. You went to jail."
Jake stood there in disbelief. He scoffed, "What? Impossible." Dirk swung around in his chair and glared at him."You. Went. To. Jail." Jake still didn't believe him. "For what?"
"Disturbance of peace and underage drinking."
"There's no way. I would've remembered something like that."
The blond rolled his eyes behind his shades. "Well, it happened."He wasn't going to mention the small cheek kiss.
The brunette STILL wouldn't believe him. Maybe he could ask someone else what REALLY happened instead of this lying scum. He retrieved his phone from his pocket and cursed, it was dead. "Strider, I need your charge-" He was cut off be nearly being kill by the force Dirk used to hurtle the charger at him. He muttered a small thanks and left the room, heading to the living room to plug it in.
Once plugged in and charging, he turned it on. Next thing he knew, it started to explode with texts from Jane and Roxy. Jane was lecturing him about jail. So it did happen and Strider wasn't a liar. Wow. He felt like a dick. The others were from Roxy. She seemed to be more flirty than usual. What in the HELL went on last night?
He decided to try to talk to his best friend again, so he headed upstairs to Dirk's room again. "Strider?" He asked once he entered. Of course, there was just silence. "Strider, I reeeeeeeeeally need to talk to you." He walked in the room. The blond was doing the exact same thing as he was when Jake previously entered. :"Aside from jail, what happened last night?"
"Trying to make babies with Lalonde is what it looked like."
Jake blushed deeply. "I-Uh..." he stuttered, trying to defend himself. Wait. Why would he need to do that? It's not like Dirk cared. Bros were congratulate each other about this stuff...right? Right? Talking about hot girls...he was so confused at the moment.
"Save it, English. I'm not in the mood."
"What on Earth is wrong with you lately?"
"Nothing."
The brunette sighed. Maybe he should just go to Jane's. He sighed and headed downstairs and right out the door.
* * * * * * * *
"Jake! How nice it is to see you!" Jane greeted happily. Jake just smiled and gave his friend a hug. "You too, Jane."
They sat in her living room, drinking tea and making small talk. Then Jane became serious all of a sudden. "So. Are you and Roxy a thing now?'
:"I-What? No!"
"That's not what she said. She said you two were a thing now."
"Well that is a load of baloney. Everything last night was a mishap. A mistake."
Jane sighed and muttered, "He'd be happy to hear that."
Jake looked confused. "What?"
"Nothing."
Jake narrowed his eyes. Who was 'he'? "Who's 'he'?" he asked. The female sighed. "If you would use your brain for once, you'd probably know. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to Roxy's to check on her."
The male nodded and stood/ "I should get going anyway." He left, thinking about what Jane had said. He still pondered about who 'he' was. And 'he' was glad to know? It seemed like some big secret was being kept from him.
As he walked, he thought and thought. Then it clicked. He began to run.
* * * * * * * *
As he ran, a million thoughts swam through his mind. He couldn't believe how stupid he was not to find this out earlier. How clueless he had been. How could he now have picked up the obvious hints what were laid before him? One thing was for sure. He was going to set things straight and make it up for his idiocy.
He nearly broke down the door, trying to get into the blond's house. "Dirk!" He called. Strider was on the couch and glanced at him. "What is it, English?"
"Dirk. I am SO sorry. I never meant to torture you like this," he said quickly and out of breath. "English. What are you talking about?"
"I never meant to hurt you like this." The brunette and walked over, sitting on the couch next to him. "I guess you can say I've been blind this whole time."
Dirk sat there in disbelief, but behind the shades, Jake couldn't tell anything. The blond took a deep breath to keep his cool. "Jake, you're not making any sense."
Jake sighed. "I'm trying to tell you that I feel the same way." He had the slightest tone of blush on his face.
The blonde only smirked. "Well, it's about damn time, Jake." The brunette blushed darker. "I didn't mean to I-" he was cut off by soft lips on his. The blond away and looked at him. "I know. You're clueless." Jake nodded, not knowing what to say. Dirk let out a low chuckle. "Come here you adorable idiot," he muttered, pulling English into another kiss.