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It's Dave's belated birthday party after the whole three days festivities fiasco. And by party, he means his sort of kind of maybe pale boyfriend dude is inviting him over.
Dave brings pizza from the best joint in Derse. It might be another midnight crew front like Meenah's Cafe, but it's sure as hell good enough to run on its own.
Sure the pizza's a little cold by the time you reach the tower, but the Captor apartment has gadgets, and some dude with lightning powers.
Mituna's the one to open the door. “Aw, you brought me pizza? You shouldn't have.’
“It's for me and Sol.”
“Big brother tax?”
“Not how it works. I paid for this. It's my birthday pizza. I'm a little birthday boy. You wouldn't steal from a birthday boy?”
“Happy birthday. Also I'll pour maple syrup in Kankersore's sock drawer if you give me a slice.”
Dave immediately gives him two.
Sollux walks in. “Dave, did you give my pieces to Tuna?”
“Sorry, bro.” Dave grins. There's plenty of pizza for at least four people, truth be told.
“Damn you.”
“Sorry, Sol. I'm stealing your hoes now.’
Sollux shoves his brother lightly. “You know the pale quadrant isn't a hoes thing!”
“Oh shit, really?” Dave puts on a sad face. “I thought we were special.”
“We are not.” Sollux takes two slices of pizza and puts them together like a sandwich to eat.
“You can still break up with him.’ Mituna supplies. “Karkat will probably take you in multiple quadrants.’
Sollux scoffs. “KK would be terrible at the pale quadrant. Yell at my sadness, sure.”
“The healing powers might make him a hot commodity, if we're talking about the time of the gods where everyone wants a little shooshity-pap.” Dave waggles his eyebrows.
“There is no universe where KK isn't a chronically single, shouty mess who bases all his advice on romcoms.’
“He’s my matesprit.”
Sollux rolls his eyes. “This universe is an outlier. KK is fundamentally bitchless.”
“I'm a bastard, not a bitch.” Dave says.
“Bastardless, too.”
Mituna says, “Are you two pity-birds gonna go do gay shit, or just sit here.”
“Get out of here and stop third wheeling.” Sollux snaps back.
Mituna snickers, and leaves the room with an extra pizza slice. And a container of maple syrup.
They sit down in Sollux's room. It's a mess of electricity and wires, but Sollux did clear a corner for them, back when he first asked Dave to be Moirails. It's got beanbag chairs, some handheld gaming systems, and a few boxes of canned drinks and cup ramen. Perfect for chilling.
Dave's been slowly adding his own touches: old stuffed toys, a crow he taxidermied that's surprisingly soft, and a record player on a low table to the side.
He puts on a calmer song for today. They don't usually play games with the volume on when they chill together.
“I can't believe the gods actually just. Chilled in piles of stuff.” Dave says. “Like little gremlin people.”
Sollux laughs. “Yeah, it's why I stopped worshipping them. Little weirdos.’
Both of them know it's deeper than that. Sollux hasn't confided, but Dave can take a guess.
He considers bringing up Nepeta, and her story of how they used to be friends, before Sollux ended up in the tower. He doesn't entirely understand this pale romance thing, but he wants Sollux to just. Let the feelings out.
But it's his birthday, and Sollux is pulling up Tony Hawk Pro Skater on the TV.
“You hate this game.” Dave says.
Sollux rolls his eyes. “It's your birthday, and you like this thing for some stupid reason. Moirails are supposed to sacrifice small things.”
“Jeez, did Karkles get to you?”
“No, this idea was mine.” Sollux looks almost offended. “KK would throw a fit if he had to play this.”
Dave starts the game, and immediately starts doing whatever he can to clip through things.
“This game is broken as hell.” Sollux is smiling a little.
Dave can bring up the bad shit later. He reaches for the snacks, and pulls out a bottle of vanilla cream soda.
“You have the tastes of an old man.”
“You don't have taste at all. Seriously, monster?”
Sollux opens up his energy drink. “Name a better caffeine source.”
“You're talking to the guy whose big brother wastes money on ceremonial grade matcha.”
“Matcha tastes like grass and barely fuels you through the night. I know you stay up late, those shades don't hide your dark circles. What's your poison? Your actual poison.”
Dave sighs. “Fine. The hero Tower branded Comet’s Greenhouse Energy Drinks were on sale once, and I've been addicted to them ever since. They're nowhere near the flavor of decent matcha, but they still kind of taste like it and it's good.”
“You aren't even drinking my sponsored flavor?” Sollux actually looks offended.
“Sorry, dude. Jade's is better.”
“My flavor is Twoberry. There's raspberry and blueberry in there. Actual blueberry flavor. They grow them in Lobaf. It literally supports an agrarian Dersite economy.” Sollux sounds a little like Jane. “You're betraying our home, all for Jade's gmo matcha that she forgot about the second the brand deal was done.”
“And it's good fucking matcha.”
Sollux rolls his eyes. “It's practically artificial.’
“That's rich, coming from you. And I can't help but notice, you're not drinking your flavor, either.” says Dave.
He deflates. “...I like the classics.”
“And now we're both old men.” Dave kicks back. “Hell yeah.”
“Hell no.”
“Hell yeah!”
“Hell no.’
“Hell yeah.”
“If I'm old now, get off my lawn.”
“You don't have a lawn. You've never touched grass in your life.”
“Fuck off.”
“Love you, too.’
Sollux's ears look a little redder than usual.
“Dude?”
“I'm fine. It's just. Weird that's the first time you said it to me.” Sollux is quieter.
“I…well. It's true.” Dave looks away. “It kinda slipped out, but I do mean it. We've been friends for around a year and five months and two days now, Moirails for about three months and five days. So, uh. It's not too soon to say it for something that's not shits and giggles.”
Sollux says, “Yeah…” He slumps back. He plays a little of the game, even though it's not really his thing.
“I can shout it from a random rooftop.”
“If you fall off I'm not catching you.”
“I never fall.”
Sollux rolls his eyes. He pushes his shoulder against Dave's. Dave feels a small bit of the static that follows his powers. It's a familiar one, someone in the Tower he doesn't really have to be on guard with, despite it all.
He pushes back against Sollux.
“I love you two.” he says.
“No shits or giggles.”
“Not right now.”
The skater on screen crashes into a concrete pillar.