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Dave's brow is furrowed as, with a single-minded focus he could only find in rare circumstances, he chips away at the chunk of obsidian he'd traded for shells the last time they'd run across the group from the south. He watches as flake after flake fall from the stone, starting to form the shape that he had made time and time again, discarded at the side of camp because he could never make one good enough.
Everyone knows that the only way to win the heart of another person is to present them with a carved axe like this. It's the perfect proof that you would make for a good partner; it shows dedication, patience, and a creative spirit. When he was a kid, Dave always thought they were kind of silly, and his own guardian seemed to only have interest in using them as weapons, not gifts. While others in their group would spend hours of their free time whittling away at axes, trying to make the most balanced ones to present to their loved ones, Dave's guardian preferred to patrol the edges of camp, keeping an eye out for predators or other groups who might wish them harm.
Dave had always figured he might be like that some day. He'd be a protector, strong and watchful, with a dedicated focus towards keeping their group safe.
Then Jade had come along.
Jade is the last survivor of her former group, and the way she tells it, she'd been living on her own for several cycles of the moon before they happened across her. Looking at her feels like looking at the sun; she's gorgeous, smart, and vibrant. She's also quite the survivalist, and she shared what she knew about best places to forage for foods that Dave had never considered might be edible before. She had even befriended a wolf with white fur who now lingers around the edges of camp; at first it made some people nervous, especially those with small children, but the animal seems satisfied with the scraps he's given, and he soon turned out to be a boon on hunts. His name is Bec.
Dave is pretty sure everybody in their group wants to court her. They'd be crazy not to. So, Dave is faced with a problem; standing stoically at the edge of their camps is not going to win over the most desirable woman in the group.
It does give him the chance to talk to her sometimes. When he takes up watch, Jade often comes to sit with him, and they'll chat in low voices for hours and hours. She'll laugh at some of his observations, and he'll listen to her talk about her time alone, how she met Bec, how she thought that maybe there was something to the idea of humans and wolves forming up in one big group rather than staying separate like they are now.
"I think it would be so nice to be a wolf," she added once, in the middle of the night, while the rest of the group slept. "To get to run on all fours and howl and find your friends. Don't you think?"
Dave had never thought of that before, but he did think (and still thinks) that it would be nice to be a wolf with her. He'd do anything for her.
Including learning how to carve a handaxe.
It's been several cycles of the moon since he first started learning how to do this, and he's pretty sure that he's fucked. There are others in their camp who have perfected the art of making these and have it down to a science, where they're perfectly symmetrical every time. The only hope that Dave has, really, is that his axe is made of something rare. It's something that he hopes nobody else has thought to use in their attempts to woo Jade, but it's not as though he had exclusive access to the traders. Right now, anybody else could be whittling away at their own obsidian axe, hoping to present it to Jade, and theirs will be even more beautiful and symmetrical than he could ever hope to make it.
He chips off another flake and swears under his breath. That was too big of a chunk; now it's kind of lopsided.
Dave looks up and takes a quick scan of the camp. Jade is currently sat next to the fire, chatting amicably with Rose and John as she works something over with her hands; Dave can't make out what it is, but Jade is crafty. She could be making just about anything. John, at least, seems to have no interest in wooing Jade... but Dave catches a glimpse of Karkat sitting near the opposite edge of camp, his brow furrowed as he's absorbed in a task as well.
Shit. It looks like a handaxe too, and Dave knows for a fact that Karkat is good at carving these things. He's been pretty single-mindedly focused on being able to fashion the best handaxe since they were kids, since he's always so caught up in all of the fireside stories where two people come together and fall in love.
Dave has to be fast, then. He has no hope of making a better handaxe than Karkat, but maybe if he can get his out first, Jade will be impressed by the speed, and she'll stick around out of a sense of loyalty and his excellent choice in material.
Dave works over the axe even more quickly, even though the faster he goes, the more lopsided it gets. Faster motions cause larger, more inconsistent flecks to be cast off, and by the time he's given up on fixing the issue, he's got an axe that bends towards one side, looking kind of sad and droopy. Dave grimaces. It's kind of a waste of the material, but he can't undo it, and this is going to be the only shot that he gets, so he'd better take it.
Straightening up, Dave brushes off his hands and legs of any remaining shards or small flecks of stone, and then he starts to casually walk over to the spot that Jade is sitting with their other friends. He really wishes she were alone right now, but Karkat is still feverishly working on the other side of the camp, so Dave will just have to risk the embarrassment. Jade's worth it.
He feels justified in thinking that she's worth it when her face lights up on him walking over, and he's met with the most beautiful smile he's ever seen. He keeps the axe curled up against his hand so that it's not immediately obvious, though he's pretty sure he can already see Rose raising a curious, nosy eyebrow.
"Dave!" Jade greets. "I was hoping you'd come by. I have something I wanted to give you!"
"Woah, what a coincidence. I have something I wanted to give you too."
Dave takes some solace in the way that Jade's face immediately lights up at that. Maybe he does have a chance. Though maybe he's about to blow his chance with this fuckass handaxe he's got tucked into his palm.
"Oh! You go first!" Jade pulls her hands behind her back, clearly concealing her own gift until its time to show him what she's made. He can't help but wonder what it is; Jade is prone to making interesting little contraptions that she likes to show to him, so it's probably one of those. He hopes that even if she doesn't want his shitty handaxe, he at least still gets to see what it is.
Dave takes in a deep breath and looks over the faces of John and Rose, who are both looking back at him with little grins on their faces. They definitely know what he's up to, and the fact that they look so smug about it doesn't fill him with confidence. It's the kind of look that screams that they're going to turn and gossip about this to everybody else in the camp as soon as it crashes and burns in his face. That doesn't give him a lot of confidence in how this is going to go down, but with Jade looking so excited, he can't exactly back down.
"So- this isn't usually my thing. You know me, I'm more of the strong, silent, warrior type. Well maybe not so much on the silent, and we haven't had to fight much, but you know, I tend to be on watch duty and stuff. But I wanted to make you this, so..."
Dave holds out the axe for her, and he watches her face go through a whole host of emotions - confusion, then recognition, then a bit of amusement, and then... excitement? He thinks that's excitement. He really hopes it's excitement.
"Oh! Dave!" Jade keeps one hand behind her back as she reaches out to take the handaxe. "This is beautiful! The stone is so pretty- it's like the night sky!"
She likes it? She likes it! Dave stands a little straighter, puffing his chest out. "Yeah. There isn't a lot of this stone out here; I had to trade for it the last time we met up with the southern group."
"It's incredible!" Jade holds it up to look at it, grinning. "And the shape is so... unique too! I like how it curves to the side here. I haven't seen an axe like it!"
Dave squints a little. It sounds like the kind of thing that might be said as a joke, but Jade's tone sounds... genuine? "Yeah, well. It's one of a kind. Just like you."
Jade beams at him. "You're so sweet! Here- I made this for you too!" She finally pulls her hand away from behind her and presents Dave with the most beautiful handaxe he thinks he's ever seen in his life. It's perfectly symmetrical, carved out of flint, and when Dave sees the middle, his heart nearly leaps into his throat. Sitting there is a small fossil shell, perfectly centered within the flint axe. She must have carved around it. "I know you like those shells that end up in the stone sometimes, and I thought it would make a perfect handaxe for you!"
Dave looks up at her. His own obsidian axe seems so janky by comparison now, but that doesn't change the fact that she gave him an axe. She didn't know he was going to give her one; it's not like she would have just so happened to have this on hand.
"You made this for me?" he asks.
"Yeah, silly! I like you!" Jade beams at him, then looks down at the handaxe in her own hands, like it's something just as precious and perfect as the axe that she gave to him. "And you made this for me?"
"Well. Yeah. I like you too." It feels so obvious to say it. Everybody likes Jade. She could have anybody in the camp that she wanted. But she wants him? Even with his shitass axe? "Do you accept the axe?
Jade steps forward, and with her free hand, she reaches out to squeeze his. "I definitely accept it! Do you accept mine?"
"Yeah. I accept it."
Jade beams, and she leans in to kiss him. Dave kisses her back, and though he's sure that Rose and John are making smug faces at the two of them, he blocks them out.
They're just jealous that he wooed the most beautiful girl in the camp with his sexy handaxe.