#with occasional interludes of Oh Yeah Bros Still On The Loose

[blatherkatt]

Title: The Calm Is Terrifying When The Storm Is All You Know [Homestuck]

Chapter 8: Negotiations 

Summary: There were two kinds of trolls who went to Earth: rich shitheads with too much money and free time, and desperate assholes who couldn’t survive on Alternia, even with the best efforts of the young Condesce. Karkat hated the planet almost immediately, but with his home planet too dangerous for mutants, he really didn’t have any choice but to hide out on this weird little diurnal planet. At least he’d be safe. Or so he thought, right before blundering his way into an accidental friendship with the son of an anti-troll terrorist.

Rating: M

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of neglect and abuse, mentions of terrorism, actions of highly questionable legality 

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Terezi’s apartment was a disaster of impressively clashing colors, but the horrendous color scheme aside, it had a definite comfortable feel to it. Pyralspite immediately pushed inside and curled herself up in a bed tucked into a small indent in the wall and looked in Terezi’s direction expectantly. Terezi chattered at the dragon in Alternian, and while Dirk couldn’t parse the words at all, he easily recognized the tone; it was the same way his mother spoke when fussing at Rose’s cat.  Terezi left her cane against the wall by the door, apparently not needing it in her own home, and fetched a jar of…something Dirk couldn’t identify and didn’t want to. She took out a couple pieces of whatever was inside and fed them to Pyralspite.

She looked up at Karkat and Dirk as she did this. “I’d say you two will have to figure out who gets the couch and who sleeps on the floor,” she said, “But Karkat basically never sleeps, so that’s a pretty easy call to make.”

“Fuck off,” said Karkat. Terezi waved a hand at him dismissively.

“Anyway,” she said, “Ablution block’s just over that-away, Karkat. You haven’t been able to change your clothes for, what, a week? And I doubt you’ve had a chance to get cleaned up in that time, either, so you go right ahead, you got first dibs.” Karkat shot her a grateful look (not that she would know, but, well.) and scuttled off. “As for me,” Terezi said, heading for what Dirk assumed was her bedroom, “I’m gonna get the fuck out of my uniform.”

“Before you do,” Dirk said, “Could you maybe give me the Wifi password? Promised Mom and Rose I’d Skype them soon as I could.”

“It’s on the side of the fridge,” Terezi said, disappearing into her room.

A few minutes later saw Dirk on Terezi’s balcony (the view from which was hilariously terrible, but the air was clearer than in most parts of the city, at least).  Settling himself into a chair with his laptop settled on his legs, Dirk sent the call out to both his sister and his cousin. Roxy answered the Skype call almost immediately, which wasn’t exceptionally surprising. Her face popped up on Dirk’s laptop screen, and she held up a hand to him, tapping away at her phone.

“Hold on a sec,” she said. “I’ve been filling in Rose and Aunt Ray about what you told me, they’re up to date, Rose is getting her computer out.”

“That’s fine, there’s no hurry,” Dirk said. Roxy looked up from her phone at the sound of his voice.

“Holy shit, are you okay?” she said. “You sound even more fuckin’ exhausted than you did earlier!”

“Yeah,” Dirk sighed. “Been a hell of a day, Rox.”

Roxy made a sympathetic (if overexagerated) frown, just as the second Skype window clicked open. Dirk could see Rose still rushing to set up her laptop, and hear his mother’s frantic voice. Soon as the laptop was stabilized and both women were in view, Mom nudged Rose slightly out of the way, her hands shaking.

“Dave, where’s Dave? Roxy — Roxy said he was safe, is he —??” Mom said, her words slurred together despite her clear agitation. Rose flicked her a disdainful look, but centered her eyes on Dirk as well.

“Dave isn’t here, I’m at Terezi’s place, but Dave is in police custody. He is safe, yeah,” Dirk said. Mom let out a sob, earning another brief glare from Rose, who then leaned in closer to the screen.

“Well, gee, don’t get too excited,” Rose said, staring Dirk down hard. “You don’t sound too happy about it.”

“No, I’m glad, I am,” Dirk said. “I mean, fuck, at least he’s away from…It’s just.” He sighed, rested his face in a hand for a moment. “Kid won’t fuckin’ talk to us,” he said. “And some of Terezi’s superiors are making a big fuckin’ fuss over it. Kid thinks we’re gonna let the old man take him back. He just…completely shut down on me when I tried to convince him otherwise.”

“So Derek’s still loose?” Mom whined.

“…Yeah,” said Dirk. “Plan completely fucking failed. He was onto us from the start. Only reason we got Dave at all is because Terezi found him, somehow. I still don’t have the details on it, but I think some old friend of hers is involved? Sounded like she didn’t even realize it was Dave until she’d already caught him.”

“Hm,” said Rose, just a bit too smugly for Dirk’s liking. He let it slide. Too tired to deal with her right now. “I’m still not sure why you thought to call Roxy before Mom and I,” Rose continued. “Especially after I asked you to call us as soon as you could?”

Dirk groaned.  “I was a little caught off guard when I first saw Dave, okay?” he said. “I didn’t have a lot of warning beforehand. You can’t just show a guy his baby brother after ten years and expect him to be completely composed. Called Roxy to help collect my thoughts before trying to talk to him, is all.”

“How is he?” Roxy and Mom said in unison.

“Hes…Ugh,” Dirk groaned. “Not good. He looks fucking awful, God.” Mom put her hands over her mouth, the waterworks threatening to start up in full force. No point in sugar coating things, though, she’d see him herself soon enough. “He’s…probably pretty underweight, had a black eye and an awful looking scar on his cheek. Probably hasn’t had a proper night’s rest in ages, judging by the circles under his eyes, and…He’s gotta be half out of his mind with anxiety. Kept acting like the old man was gonna spontaneously appear right behind him.”

Mom sniffled. Yep, there it was, the infamous Rachel Lalonde Booze-Fueled Waterpark is now open for business, complete with an extra set of Rose Lalonde’s patented Generalized Annoyance. Roxy, at least, wasn’t crying, but she certainly looked worried.

“It’s a good thing we’re getting him home, then,” Rose said, patting Mom’s arm. “We’ll be able to give him some rest and some peace of mind, for once.”

Dirk sighed again. “Well, there’s where the bad news comes in.”

“Fuck,” muttered Roxy.

“Like I said, Terezi’s higher ups are being a bunch of obstinate jackasses about Dave acting as a witness, and he’s refusing to talk to anyone. I mean. He talks, sure, it’s still Dave. But he won’t say anything about the old man, or anything vaguely related to him. He doesn’t want to come to New York, either. Got no idea why, there’s nothing for him here in Texas, but he’s determined to be difficult.”

“What — what does that mean for us, then?” Mom whimpered.

“He’s still coming home,” Dirk said. “I—we put too much fucking work into finding him to not bring him home. One way or another, he’s coming back with me, I can promise that much. But it might be a few more days. On top of that, too, Terezi mentioned that he might be basically under house arrest for a while.”

“Oh, noooooo,” said Roxy. “Does that mean I’m not gonna be able to come and hug on him? Fuck!”

“Probably not right away,” Dirk said. “Sorry, Rox. I’ll try and see if we can’t get something in place so you can come and see him ASAP, but. Yeah. He’s too much of a flight risk, right now. Old man’s got him brainwashed, or something. The kid thinks he has to stay with him.”

“My poor baby,” Mom whispered, “Oh, ohhh, my poor baby —”

“I’m sure he’ll get better once he’s settled back in here,” Rose said. “We’ll just have to help him unlearn whatever Father’s forced onto him, give him some time to adjust. I’m sure he’ll come around.”

“Yeah,” Dirk said, softly. “Anyway, um, that’s the situation out here. Can you two clean his room out? Get the house ready for him? I’ll let you know as soon as I do when he’s gonna be back, and how this is going to play out.”

Mom nodded emphatically, and Rose responded with a quiet “of course.”

“God, you better keep me updated, too, okay Dirk?” said Roxy. “I wanna know when I can come and love on the poor kid! God damn, sounds like he needs it.”

“Sure thing, Rox.”

“And get some sleep, you big dummy, you look like a wreck.”

Dirk snorted. “You’re not my real mom,” he said, earning a laugh from, well, his real mom. “Alright, I gotta eat and take a shower, I’ll talk to you all same time tomorrow,” he promised. He could hear Terezi scuffling about in the kitchenette again, and he hoped that she had something in it suitable for human consumption. Goodbyes and goodnights were shared, and the webcams clicked off. Dirk groaned softly, rubbed his eyes with both hands, and stared out at what little of the horizon was visible from Terezi’s balcony.

“What do you want with Dave,” said a scratchy voice to Dirk’s side. He looked up. Karkat was standing there, arms folded, a towel draped over the top of his head.

“Not sure I get what you mean,” Dirk said. “There’s nothing we particularly want him to do, if that’s what you’re asking. Just want him back home where he belongs.”

The troll scowled. “Yeah, because he’s family, right?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Fuck off,” Karkat spat. “I’ve had enough of this human ‘family’ bullshit. If you think I’m just going to stand idly by and let you ship him off to another torment-center he’s somehow obligated to stay in due to your weird human bullshit, then you’re the most pan-addled sack of shit I’ve ever met.”

“While I wouldn’t exactly describe ours as the ideal home environment,” Dirk said, “It’s only a ‘torment-center’ when Rose has to bathe the cat, I assure you. That sound could get an entire legion of war prisoners talking in a hurry. Outside of that rare occurrence, though, I fail to see what you’re so worked up about.”

“Worked up? Oh, I haven’t even gotten started, don’t you fucking worry,” Karkat said. “Dave’s had more than enough Striderian bullshit for one lifetime - hell, I’ve had more than enough of that shit for one lifetime, and I was only there a few fucking days! I’m not about to let him get dragged back into that fucking hellscape, and I’ll fight anyone who fucking tries, including you.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Karkat,” Terezi’s voice said, floating onto the balcony from inside.

“I’m who to the what, now?”

“It means ‘you’re trying to have an argument with someone who already agrees with you,’” Dirk said.

“I heard what you said before,” Karkat hissed. “Dave doesn’t want to go with you! I trust him way fucking more than I trust you —”

“That’s cool and all,” came Terezi’s voice again, “But Dave’s judgement is not exceptionally trustworthy right now.”

“Terezi, this is a private conversation, and I would appreciate it if you would —”

“Private? Karkat, Rose can hear you in New York.” Terezi strolled onto the balcony and leaned against the railing, some sort of microwave dinner in hand. “Speaking of which, Dave’s only against going to New York because he’s got it in his head that doing so is somehow going to get him in trouble with Strider. Which is a stupid reason, so he’s going. Plus, legally, he does have to go.”

“Wh-why?!” Karkat said.

“He’s a minor,” Terezi said. “Which means, legally, he’s still a kid, and that an adult has to be taking care of him. And that adult is his legal guardian. Dave’s legal guardian is his mother, and she lives in New York.”

“So…so he’s —”

“We can arrange a visit if you’re worried about not seeing your pale crush again,” Terezi said with a devious grin.

“STOP SAYING I HAVE A FUCKING PALE CRUSH,” Karkat barked.

“Um,” said Dirk. He had no idea how a crush could be ‘pale,’ but it was still his brother they were talking about, and, well.

“I don’t!” Karkat said, as Terezi started cackling. “I’m just — He went out of his way to protect me from his monster of a guardian, and I — I get it, okay? Terezi, shut the fuck up, oh my God, shut up!”

“Get what, exactly?” Dirk asked, resting his chin on one hand.

“I get — I get why he’s scared,” Karkat said.

“Because you’re super fucking pale for him —”

“No,” said Karkat, “because he’s a scared fucking kid in over his head, and you’re asking to drag him away from everything he’s ever known, and even though things have been bad for him now, at least he sort of…new what to expect? Whereas now, he’s got nothing! You’re forcing him, against his will, to go to some place that’s completely fucking different from all he’s ever known, and he has no choice, no say in the matter, and it’s fucking scary! Sound a little familiar, Terezi?!”

Terezi laughed again. “Whatever, Karkat,” she said.

“He’s exactly the same as —”

“Yes, Karkat, I got that,” said Terezi. “It’s super adorable that you care so much, but, hey, guess what else is the same about your situations?” Dirk raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. So, Terezi’s friend was an Alternian refugee, then? It certainly sounded like that’s what he was implying. Dirk wondered why he’d had to leave, but figured it wasn’t really his business.  

“What,” said Karkat.

“The place that the people who fucking care about you are dragging you off to is objectively better than the one you’ve been in.”

“Oh, sure,” Karkat said, rolling his eyes. “Earth’s so safe, I got abducted by a fucking terrorist in my first month here. And I just love how we have to be awake when the fucking sun is up, beating down on us like the ugliest lightbulb the universe ever spat out. Yeah, this place is sooo much better than Alternia.”

“Karkat, do you have to be so melodramatic all the time?” Terezi said. “I didn’t say it was perfect, just better. You’re still alive, aren’t you? The answer is yes, close your fucking mouth, smartass. And, likewise, the Lalonde family is pretty much a chaotic whirlwind of clashing personalities and is barely functional as a unit —”

Dirk snorted. He wasn’t even going to attempt to deny that.

“—But it’s still a fucking better place to be than wherever Strider is,” Terezi continued. “It’s quiet, and the people who live there all really fucking love Dave.”

“Why do you want him back so badly?!” Karkat said, turning on Dirk. “Just answer that question for me, okay? Why. What’s so important about him.”

Dirk wasn’t sure he could put it into words, but he could feel about a million and one answers for that question. It was in every memory of an infectious six-year-old’s laugh; it was in every recollection of scared red eyes asking to crawl into bed with Dirk after a nightmare, when Mom wouldn’t wake up from one of her infamous booze snoozes; it was in every fossil or drawing Dave had once excitedly babbled at Dirk over.

Most especially, though, there was the great empty hole in the house without him there. The rift that had opened up in all of them the night Dave was taken, and had never stopped aching since. The great abyss that had driven them apart and forced them together, had tormented Dirk late at night with insomnia and the darkest of whispering thoughts, had pushed Rose to pick fights with her classmates and her brother, had given Mom one more thing to constantly be miserable about in her undeservedly shitty life.  

“He’s my brother,” Dirk said.

Karkat snorted. “‘He’s family,’” he said, his voice mocking. “You sound just fucking like him, you know that? Like it’s your fucking excuse for everything.”

“It’s not the same,” Dirk said, feeling tension creep into his voice and trying to will it away. Stay cool, stay calm.

“Woah, hey,” Terezi said, “Karkat, you need to calm the fuck down.”

“What’s so different about it, then?” Karkat said, ignoring her. “Fucking enlighten me! Why should I be okay with him being shipped off with you? How do I know you’re not just going to put him through the same bullshit with a different coat of paint?”

Dirk narrowed his eyes and tried to swallow the fury and self-loathing that sprang up. He knew, of course; he was hyper aware that, of the three siblings, he took off after his father the most. In his lowest moments, he worried that he had the potential to wind up just like the old man. Didn’t mean he was going to stand by and let a total stranger accuse him of being anything like the bastard.

“I don’t owe you an explanation,” he said, as calmly as he could. “He’s my little brother, and it’s none of your fucking business.”

“Oooookay,” Terezi said, physically putting herself between the two, “Calm down, here, holy shit. If you start a fight up here my landlord’s gonna pitch a fit. Karkat, I promise you, Dirk’s kind of awful at showing it, but he does actually care about Dave’s wellbeing at least as much as you do. Dirk, you need to chill the fuck out, too. You both want what’s best for Dave, so for fuck’s sakes, stop fighting.”

Karkat scowled, and stomped back into Terezi’s apartment, muttering darkly. Dirk flicked his eyes toward Terezi.

“Nice friend you got there,” Dirk deadpanned.

Terezi groaned. “He does this sort of thing all the time,” she said. “He cares a lot about pretty much everything he cares about at all, and he makes everything so fucking personal.”

“Speaking of,” Dirk said. “Should I be concerned about that ‘pale crush’ thing, or…?”

“I’m mostly just teasing him about that,” Terezi said. “Karkat gets a little pale with everyone he cares about, whether he means to or not. Comes with the whole he-cares-about-things-a-lot deal. I dunno if it’s an actual pale crush, but with how Karkat’s acting it actually might be this time. Granted, Dave’s kinda pitybait anyway, but, still, this is getting ridiculous, even for Karkat.”

“Okay,” said Dirk. “I’m gonna need you to start defining some terms, here, so I know how mad I should be about that ‘pitybait’ comment.”

“It means he’s kinda pathetic and really easy to feel sorry for,” Terezi said. “Which, he is.”

“So, the pale crush is…feeling bad for Dave?”

“It’s a little more complicated than that, but, basically, yeah,” she said. “It’s a troll thing, I’m too fucking tired to try and explain it right now, but I can promise you he does genuinely just want to make sure Dave’s safe.”

“Right,” said Dirk.

“Anyway, I am going the fuck to sleep,” Terezi announced. “It’s been a long day, and tomorrow’s not looking any shorter. There’s food in the fridge that you can heat up in the microwave, or if there’s nothing you want, there’s a corner store real close. Take Py with you if you go down, though, I still don’t want either of you fucks out without someone keeping an eye on you. Don’t kill each other overnight, or I swear to fuck I will prosecute whichever one of you survives into fucking oblivion.”

“Thanks,” said Dirk. He didn’t dare say as much to Terezi, but, despite how exhausted he felt, he didn’t expect that he’d be getting much sleep tonight, either.

Terezi had been right about being busy the next day, it turned out; Karkat was left pretty much to his own devices in that little room from the day before while she saw to whatever the fuck she was doing. Sollux came by whenever he was on a break and kept Karkat updated throughout the day, not that there was much to be updated on — no progress was being made today, either, apparently. Karkat tried to focus on the book he’d brought along to read, but…

Okay, so. He didn’t like the idea of Dave being shipped off against his will to some unknown place. But. It was apparently happening regardless, and…it would be for the best if Dave would say at least a little bit of what he knew, because anything resulting in Strider getting taken down could only be a net positive.

The next time Terezi came into the room, Karkat suggested going in and talking to Dave himself. It made sense, Dave had talked to him plenty while they were in the apartment, and maybe he’d be less hostile toward someone who wasn’t with the police. She’d very quickly shot him down, but about twenty minutes later, she stormed in again and said he was welcome to try.

“Be my fucking guest,” she said, tense and irritated, “You certainly can’t make it any worse, and we’re already bending a ton of fucking rules for this shit. Best of luck to you.” She’d given Karkat a sheet of paper with some questions on it, and guided him roughly over to a different part of the police station.

The room they had Dave was in was…intimidating as all hell. White, undecorated walls, a file cabinet shoved into the corner, a table in the middle with two chairs, and a big mirror up on the wall - worryingly boring and plain. Dave was fidgeting restlessly in one of the chairs, and Karkat could see that his hands were still cuffed together. Dave glanced up as Karkat entered, and blinked in surprise.

(Holy fuck, his eyes were bright red, Karkat had not been expecting that. The same red of Karkat’s own blood, shit, they really did have a weird amount in common.)

“They desperate enough to send you in, now?” Dave said.

“Well, someone’s gotta cut through the impenetrable wall of utter garbage that spills out of your mouth,” Karkat said, “and at this point, I’m pretty much the fucking expert.”

“Ha,” Dave said, staring at his hands. Karkat pulled out the chair across from Dave and sat down, dumping the paper he’d been given to the side carelessly.

“…What’s that?” Dave said, flicking his eyes at the page.

“A bunch of questions Terezi wanted me to ask. I wanted to just…talk for a bit, first, though.”

“I’m not answering any —”

“Yeah, I heard,” Karkat said. “I get it, though. I do. This whole thing is a huge fucking mess, and you really don’t deserve any of this, and I can’t say I like it much, either, but from the sound of things, you’re gonna wind up in this New York place one way or another.”

Dave huffed.

“And that fucking sucks,” Karkat continued. That earned a surprised look from Dave (he really was so much easier to read without the shades, holy shit). “And you don’t wanna go, and I get that, okay? It’s total hoofbeastshit, it sucks really fucking hard, and I’m sorry.”

“I…yeah,” said Dave. “Yeah, it really fuckin’ does.”

“Frankly, I’m not sure I like that they’re sending you there,” Karkat said. “I mean, they’re all so sure that it’s gonna be this great experience or what the fuck ever, but…ugh. Terezi says there’s legal shit involved, so.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Dave shrugged. “Bro’s not exactly on the law’s good side right now, so. And I mean, it’s not like I’m against the idea of seeing Rose again, I miss her like hell, but. New York’s a long goddamn way away, you know? And I barely remember it at all, and, fuck, Br — It’s a long damn way, I guess.”

Karkat decided to ignore what was no doubt another restatement of the general sentiment of ‘Bro will kill me,’ as that hoofbeast had not only died, but had been pounded so thoroughly as to now be naught but dust in the breeze.  “Yeah, well,” he said, ��Maybe it won’t be so bad? I mean, fuck, I can’t say I’m super fond of Earth, but having friends here has made it a lot less shitty. Maybe it’ll be alright, especially if there’s people there you’d like to see. And, fuck, maybe we’ll be able to keep in touch, or something.”

Dave snorted softly. “You wanna keep in touch? Dude, I fuckin’ kidnapped you.”

“It’s not my fault you’re weirdly easy to talk to, you endless blustering windbag,” Karkat said. “And, fuck, call me sentimental or whatever, but I…I do want to make sure you’re okay, in the long run. You did kind of risk your ass to keep me safe.”

“Shit, man, if anyone owes anyone, I owe you, dude, I’m the idiot who got seen.”

“Yeah, and guess what: I’m the idiot who saw you and decided to follow you into a dimly lit hallway right after learning a fucking terrorist had been seen in the area. How about we just agree that we were both equally idiotic on the day in question and cut this insipid argument short before it bores us both to tears, okay?”

“…Yeah, whatever,” Dave shrugged. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a long moment.

“…New York, huh,” he said quietly. Dave was silent another long moment. Then, “Ugh, okay, whatever, let’s just get this over with.”

“What?”

“The fuckin…questions, or whatever. I’m…I can’t answer everything, I’m not riskin’ my hide spillin’ everything, but…bare minimum, whatever it takes to get this show over with.” Dave groaned. “Fuck, if Bro ever finds out I —”

“You’re the one who keeps saying he’d never actually kill you, and anyway, the point is to get you far enough away that he can’t come after you. And before you start that ‘abandoning’ him bullshit, here’s a thought: shut the fuck up.”  Karkat picked up the paper and skimmed it. “I think Terezi pulled some sorta compromise out of her ass, too, because these mostly look like they’re just confirming your identity, so.”

He cleared his throat and glanced behind him at the mirror. “Wait, shit, do I need to write this down, or —”

“I’m pretty sure someone’s behind the mirror listening to this whole conversation, dude,” Dave said. “They’re probably recording everything we’re saying, or something.”

The whole conversation? Well, shit, that was embarrassing. “Fuck.”

An hour or so later, after Karkat had finished talking to Dave and had been herded back into the small meeting room, Kanaya arrived. She said that she would have come earlier, but had been stuck at work for a while. They’d barely had any time to catch up, though, when Karkat could hear Terezi yelling outside in the hall.

“I swear to FUCK, I will personally track down those assholes and —” the door clicked open, and Terezi was briefly silhouetted, her head turned toward some poor unseen soul, “No, I don’t give a fuck, this is an awful idea! Who the hell is in charge? What happened to the precious fucking protocol?!  No, I’m telling him, but you better fucking believe I don’t goddamn approve! This is horseshit!” She slammed the door closed behind her, and audibly groaned. “For fuck’s sake,” she said. “Times like this I really wish Earth worked more like Alternia. I would really love to be able to fucking kill the bastards in charge of this case, take their position and do this shit properly, but no, that would be ‘murder’ and is ‘frowned upon in all fifty states,’ blah blah fucking blah. Ugh!”

“Is there more trouble?” Kanaya asked.

“I thought everything was supposed to be fine now,” Karkat said. “He talked, it’s over with, he can go to fucking New York and everyone’s happy.”

“He talked to you, yeah,” Terezi said. “So now, the oh-so-wise powers that be have decided to ‘kill two featherbeasts with one stone,’ as it were, and send you up to New York, too. Since we need to put you somewhere safe, anyway, and you’re the one who got him to cooperate a little. Nevermind that it’s a fucking horrible idea, for a huge fucking number of reasons — Hey, Dirk, good timing,” she said, as the door briefly opened and closed again. “Did you hear what they’re fucking proposing?”

“Yeah,” said Dirk, staying farther away, his expression blank. “I mean. We’ve got two guest rooms, and some pretty damn comfortable couches on top of that, we could certainly house anyone who gets sent with us, but it’s more for Mom to prepare for, which isn’t entirely fair. My question is, though, is this plan even legal?” Dirk asked. “Pretty sure this is not at all the kind of solution written into the letter of the law. Sending a kidnapping victim to live with his fucking captor for a while sounds a bit sketchy.”

“We’re working a bit loose with the laws, here,” Terezi said. “Happens a lot with cases like this where there’s potential for an interplanetary incident, we play a bit more by Alternian rules. That’s besides the point, though, the point is that it’s fucking stupid!” Terezi shouted. “They wanted me to let you know it’s an option, Karkat, but, holy shit, I cannot believe they’d even consider this bullshit as a valid solution.”

“They want to…send me to New York?” Karkat said.

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Terezi grumbled.

“…With Dave?”

“You’d be staying at the Lalonde house, which is a fate I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy, quite frankly. No offense, Dirk, but your family is a fucking mess,” she said.

“None taken,” Dirk said. “I’m not gonna act like we’re a perfectly functional unit. Bringing Dave back is one thing, he belongs there,” he continued, shooting Karkat a biting look. Karkat narrowed his eyes and glared right back. “But it might be tricky for someone else to get used to, especially someone from a different planet.”

“I’ll go,” Karkat said.

“Alright, well — Karkat, holy fuck, no you won’t,” Terezi said. “No, you — Strider is not going to take all this laying down, first of all, he is definitely going to try something to get Dave back, and if you’re caught up in all that — it completely defeats the fucking purpose!”

Karkat gulped. “Well, if it’s not safe for me, then how can you claim it’s safe for Dave?” he said. “You’ve been saying this whole time, he’d be safe in New York, but now you’re saying he won’t be?”

“I can fucking assure you,” Dirk said, “he’ll be safe. I — we aren’t going to let the bastard take him again.”

“Then it should be safe for me, too,” Karkat said.

“Oh my God, Karkat, for once in your life stop being such a stubborn jackass about this!” Terezi said. Karkat folded his arms.

“I cannot say I particularly approve of this, either,” Kanaya said. “Karkat, are you sure you really want to do this? New York is very far away.”

“Earth’s a long way from Alternia,” Karkat said. In truth, the idea did make him nervous, but no more so than coming to Houston had. “Besides,” he continued, “It’s not like I’m doing a whole lot here. Even before getting captured I was just sitting at a fucking desk all day, and now I’m doing even less! I’m tired of being a fucking liability. At least this way I can, you know, feel like I’m actually doing some fucking good with my time.”

“Well, then, I suppose we had better both start packing,” Kanaya said with a sigh.

“What? Both?” Karkat said. Terezi and Dirk reacted with similar surprise.

“Do you really think I’m going to let you get shipped off alone to some far corner of the world after everything that’s happened?” Kanaya said, a stern look in her eyes. “I’m coming with you.”

“God fucking dammit,” Terezi muttered.

“But — your job! Kanaya, you have a good thing going on here, you don’t have to leave, you can’t just give that up,” said Karkat.

“My job is primarily design work,” Kanaya said. “I can’t participate in sewing while away, no, but I can still provide sketches and work with measurements. I’m sure I will be able to work out some understanding with Porrim. She’d want to be sure that you are safe as well.”

“Holy shit, you’re both fucking serious,” Terezi hissed.

“And the human did say that they have two guest rooms,” Kanaya concluded with a smile. Karkat couldn’t help but return the expression. Fuck, Kanaya was a good friend, he didn’t deserve her at all, but he was glad as hell that she was here.

“Aaaugh,” Terezi groaned, “This is going to be such a clusterfuck.”

[clericbyers]

learning to heal (interlude: thanksgiving ‘85)

excerpt: Mike hummed as he squeezed his arms tighter around Will and let loose a wavering breath against the top of his head. Will memorized every second of this moment as best he could, the comforting sound of Mike’s breathing, the warmth oozing from his skin, the difference in height between them that still left Will short enough to tuck his head in under Mike’s chin if he dared. He didn’t want this moment to ever end, but of course it did.

length: 12.1K words

POV: Will Byers

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tag list: @vaugency, @lifeinvirtualreality, @princestanley, @lgbtqbyers, @smhbyler, @ticomat, @lightswriting, @lithhiums, @lullabyers, @byers-remorse, @cstlebyrs, @lomlbyers, @babybyuns, @mavencslore​ ♡

——————————————

“Will!” Joyce called from the front of the house. Will looked up from his drawings and turned toward the clock, perking when he noticed the time.

“I’ll be right there!”

The young boy scrambled for his jacket and some shoes, yanking his bedroom door open as he raced to the front door where his mom stood. Excitement bubbled in his chest even though it had only been a month since the move. School was weird—new kid stress wasn’t fun in any manner—and he and El were still struggling with how to fit together as housemates and siblings. It was weird having a sister, let alone having a sister with supernatural powers, though those powers had yet to return.

Will twisted the door handle and stepped out onto the porch, holding a hand over his eyes to block the sun shining above. His eyes grew used to the light and he turned toward the driveway where a familiar car was parked. He couldn’t help the smile that broke out on his lips and he ran toward the car as he heard the door click open.

“Mike!” Will shouted, laughing when the other kid quickly whipped around to find where the voice came from.

Mike didn’t look too different, it was only a month after all, but he also looked a little different than Will recalled. Will didn’t think a month apart would make him start forgetting details about Mike’s face—the benefit to his crush, which still made him a little flustered to think about, was that he watched Mike so much that he had the boy’s face memorized—but Mike seemed off. More in shadows, less in light. His hair seemed more black than brown even under the sunlight and the typical chocolate brown eyes Will sketched out in the privacy of his room looked darker than usual. More coffee brown than chocolate, which was fine, food analogies aside, but it wasn’t Mike’s eye color.

“Dude,” Mike started and Will still couldn’t understand why Mike had started referring to him using ‘dude’ or ‘bro’, “I made it like I said I would.”

Will knew his smile was getting wider but he couldn’t care to stop it. “Just in time, too. Well, I mean it’s the 25th so there was buffer room but I’m glad you’re here now.”

“Me too,” chuckled Mike as he brushed a loose strand of hair from his eyes. Will unconsciously followed the motion of the other boy’s fingers, mentally caught in a loop of affection for how beautiful and strong those very hands were, and turned pink at the edges when Mike noticed and cocked his head to the side with a question. “You good?”

“Me? Yeah.”

“Are you sure?”

“Mike, please, you just got here. I should be asking you how things are doing back home.”

The other boy huffed and broke eye contact to stare off toward the street. “Things are going.” He turned back to Will with bright eyes and a smile but Will knew Mike. He knew this boy better than he probably knew himself and Will knew the smile and excitement was honest but not real. “Enough about Hawkins, though; tell me about your new life out here!”

Will opened his mouth to reply but a squeal from behind him turned both him and Mike toward the front door and Will’s heard plummeted. He tried, he really tried not to hold anything against El for liking Mike, but jealousy had Will in it’s snare and wouldn’t let go. He stepped aside to allow El to run toward Mike, who brightened and held out his arms to take her in a hug with joyous laughter.

Will bit at his bottom lip. He wished he could do that, run up to Mike and spin in his arms, drop to his feet and pull him down by the collar of his shirt for a kiss. The fantastical nature of it all made Will a little dizzy whenever the want penetrated his deeply rooted denial of the reality of the situation ever occurring. Even if he tried to tell Mike that it was okay to like him, that it was okay for whatever was happening between them to happen, Will wasn’t sure he really believed anything would change. The evidence was in plain sight right in front of him—Mike wanted El that way, not Will—and he needed to get over it already. Get over Mike.

“But what if you want to join another party?”

“Not possible.”

Yeah, he thought to himself as Mike pulled from the hug and gripped El’s hand in his own, not possible.

“Will,” Mike called with a more genuine smile than before, “you wanna head inside and show me your new room?”

“Oh sure,” he said with a shrug, “but maybe you wanna check out El’s first?”

Mike was confused. “What for?”

“You two are,” Will crossed his two fingers together in lieu of stating the fact the two were a couple aloud. “I don’t mind really.”

Mike waved a passing hand. “Nancy and El can entertain themselves with Jonathan; I wanna see how much different your room looks.”

“Oh. Alright then.”

Will was silent as the trio made it inside, trying his best to ignore Mike and El’s whispering behind him. By the time he got to his room, only Mike was trailing behind him and he was eerily silent for being the one the Party would always pester about shutting up. There was some sort of tension now, equally unpalatable and unfamiliar, and Will didn’t know what to do about it. He thought they had made up before he moved away, he thought they were close again, closer maybe, but at least not so distant for there to be unspeakable tension.

The door to his room creaked as he opened it and though a large part of him wanted to look back and watch Mike’s face as he peeped inside, Will kept his eyes facing forward and approached his bed. Mike didn’t make a sound as he followed him and the silence was starting to be more suffocating, especially when the other boy shut the door behind him. What was he supposed to say? Why were his palms getting sweaty? Why couldn’t he look at Mike?

“This room is pretty nice,” started Mike with a small shrug. It brought Will’s eyes up from the floor to Mike’s face and when they made eye contact, Mike looked away first with a cough. “It suits you.”

“I should hope so,” Will replied quietly. This wasn’t like Mike. This wasn’t like Will either. Whatever happened between their goodbyes and Mike’s arrival changed something and Will didn’t like it. “Are you...are you okay?”

“Me?” Mike whipped around to face Will from where he was inspecting a Beatles poster. His eyes were wide with surprise and then melted into soft laughter. “I’m fine, Will. Really. Don’t worry about me now.”

“You’re just really quiet.”

Mike shook his head with a huff. “Nah, just don’t know what to say anymore. It’s weird, right?” The taller boy turned back to the poster and rubbed at the back of his neck. “We used to see each other every day and talk for hours despite that but we spend a month apart and I don’t know where to begin.”

“Too much to talk about?”

“Not enough.”

“You know you can tell me anything. Even mundane shit, I really don’t care. I just like hearing you talk. I miss that.”

Will blushed once the words were out of his mouth and he quickly turned away from Mike toward his desk where his drawings were splayed out all over the surface. The drawings that were, in particular, sketches of Mike. Oh shit. He turned back to Mike and hoped he hadn’t followed his line of sight, but Mike was still staring up at the poster. His cheeks were pink though and that made Will curious.

“I miss that, too,” was his slow response. Mike tilted his head just enough for Will to get a good profile view of him and, Will’s heart leapt in his throat. Mike was unfairly gorgeous and Will wasn’t immune to his charms in any manner. “El and I are...we’re not together.”

Will tried not to sound excited; it wasn’t as if he had a chance either way. “Like for good?”

“I don’t know. I hope not. Things have just been really weird with us lately.”

“It looked like you two were together when you hugged.”

Mike shrugged. “It’s always great to see the people you care about again after a long time. I couldn’t not hug her.”

But you didn’t hug me.

“No, I didn’t.” Will sputtered as he realized he said that last thought aloud. Mike turned fully to face him and raised a bit of a smug eyebrow.  “Do you want a hug, too? Wanna run and jump for it? Pirouette, too?”

Will knew Mike didn’t know, Mike couldn’t know, but he hated how the other boy was unknowingly playing with him like this. “I’m fine,” he snorted back and if he sounded a little hurt with it, no one needed to know. “I don’t need a hug to affirm our friendship.”

“Well, that’s good for you but I think I do, so if you don’t mind,” Mike motioned for Will to stand up and then opened his arms wide. “Hug me, Will.”

This was strange. This was very strange and Will’s heart was beating so fast he thought he might pass out. Mike wasn’t one to shy away from physical affection but since he was with El, he had stopped being so proactive about it in general. Will still got the occasional hand to his arm in comfort, and sometimes they still sat pretty close together, but this? Opening his arms with a gentle smile and demanding a hug so blatantly without question? This was too much to handle.

Will fell into the hug anyway because he was weak-hearted and Mike was warm, familiar, homely, beautiful, everything Will wanted but couldn’t have in a single human being. If he couldn’t have Mike the way he wished for, he would definitely take advantage of whatever Mike was willing to offer him. Consider himself spoiled given Mike usually gave Will everything—everything but his heart apparently—but it was a type of spoiling he realized he missed most of all.

Mike hummed as he squeezed his arms tighter around Will and let loose a wavering breath against the top of his head. Will memorized every second of this moment as best he could, the comforting sound of Mike’s breathing, the warmth oozing from his skin, the difference in height between them that still left Will short enough to tuck his head in under Mike’s chin if he dared. He didn’t want this moment to ever end, but of course it did.

Will turned to hide his face so Mike couldn’t see his eyes, couldn’t read whatever emotion plastered itself onto his face. He only turned around when he heard Mike take in a shaky breath, worry taking over his mind as he watched Mike’s shoulders sink with a shuddering sigh.

“Mike,” he started hesitantly, “it’s okay if you’re not okay.”

“I’m fine,” he spat back, glaring at Will as he crossed his arms. His eyes were rimmed with tears and it broke Will’s heart to see his friend so hurt and unwilling to open up about it. “I’m perfectly fine.”

Will frowned. “Do you need another hug?”

“I, uh,” Mike laughed and shook his head. “Our friendship has been reaffirmed in full. We’re good.”

“Okay.” Will plopped onto his bed and kicked his legs through the air. “Do you know where you’re staying over while you’re in town?”

“I think my mom got a motel but I don’t mind staying overnight here since we’re only up here for, like, three days.” The lanky boy turned as he inspected the poster covered walls of the room. “You wouldn’t mind if I stayed over in your room, would you?”

“It’s not a problem.” Will sent his friend a soft smile. “I’ll get my spare sleeping bag from the closet; you can take my bed and I’ll take the floor.”

“No, no, I’m the guest invading your privacy in your room. The floor is mine.”

Will snorted. “We are not about to fight over who takes the floor.”

“Of course not because I’m taking the floor.” Mike motioned to the ground near Will’s bed and clasped his hands together. “In fact, where is your frog plush? I’ll use it as a pillow so you don’t have to grab a new one for me.”

Will blinked a few times. “I, uh, it’s on the dresser.” He motioned toward it and then frowned. “It’s not very comfortable though. You know it’s really not a bother to get another pillow. You should at least be comfortable if you’re gonna be sleeping on the floor.”

“Don’t worry about it; it’s not worth the hassle. I’m here for three days, right?” Mike walked toward the door with a smile. “I’ll get my bags and tell my mom I’m staying over. See you in a bit.”

Will nodded but watched Mike leave with confusion in his gaze. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but Mike’s entire energy was so jittery. It was like he couldn’t settle on a single emotion and kept bouncing between excitement and this more maudlin aura that made Will’s heart clench a little desperately. He wondered if it was because Mike was still sad about him and El not quite being together. Will didn’t know what was going on between them; he never eavesdropped on their conversations and El didn’t talk much to him about her and Mike, but he had most definitely thought they got back together and were trying to be a long distance couple.

He sighed and grabbed the sleeping bag and a pillow despite Mike’s request for the froggie plush. He organized the papers on his desk so his doodles were hidden deep in a stack under the recent landscapes he’d been practicing recently. He wanted to be able to sketch the scenery he saw out here, the way the trees bend in the wind, the way the sun bleeds yellow into the blue of the sky and blends purple and orange out of it. After the move, Will bought new art supplies since many of his old ones were tossed out for the sake of compaction for moving. He wasn’t too upset about it, the new copic markers and graphite pencils in his collection taught him new ways to practice shading and line art. Will could spend hours on a single portrait, watching the way his pencil danced across the page in shy spurts shading the shadows that played against the curvature of bodies and sporadic yet oddly intentional messiness found in nature.

Art was the way Will could express himself the most and he took that seriously while struggling to fit into a new town. Usually he turned to D&D but El wasn’t interested in creating a character and D&D really wasn’t the same without listening to Mike narrate a campaign with his wild onomatopoeias and exaggeratedly elaborate prose. A sigh took Will’s chest and he released it gently with a hand passing over the top sketch of the first sunset he ever saw from the porch of this house.

Loud yelling tore Will from his thoughts and he rushed toward his door to open it and find Mike and El arguing in the front doorway as Mike held his overnight bag in hand. Mike looked way more haggard, more tense and extremely irritated by whatever El was saying. She had anger blazing in her eyes and was gesticulating wildly as she spoke. It was odd to see from someone who controlled her motions deliberately after years of being trained to do so. El’s emotions were always leaning toward the extremes, Will had quickly learned when sibling irritation took to the air and he and El sat on opposite ends of the couch pretending the other didn’t exist.

“What did you expect from me?” Mike asked belligerently. “I’m here for three days, El. You can manage.”

“That’s not the point I’m trying to make and you know it.” El snarled as she stepped into his space. “You need to decide.”

“I already did and just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean I’m changing it.” Mike barked before stepping back. “I’m dropping my shit off; when you’re done with this,” he waved toward El and she scoffed with a roll of the eyes, “I’ll be back to talk.”

With that final word, Mike stormed down the hallway past Will and haphazardly tossed his bag into the room. He didn’t give Will a single glance when he popped out the room and brushed his way by to head back outside. El stood by the front door watching him and then twitched her hand subconsciously when the door slammed shut behind him. Will didn’t know what to say and he most definitely did not want to intervene in on a spat between his friend and his not-girlfriend, but he didn’t like seeing either person upset.

“You okay?” He asked as he made his way to her side. She gave him a glance and then glared toward the door.

“Mike is being an asshole.”

“He does that sometimes.” El laughed and turned to fully face Will. He smiled and stuffed his hands in his pocket with a hum. “You wanna talk about it? Get it off your chest.”

El bit at her bottom lip. “He is...he is confused. I can tell but he won’t say and now he is avoiding me. Does he not trust me anymore?”

“No, he does. Trust you that is. Sometimes people can’t say what’s on their mind.” Will looked back at the door and felt a tightening in his chest. “It’s not because we don’t trust anyone, it’s mostly because we don’t trust ourselves.”

“That is,” she scrunched her nose as she scrounged for a word and her eyes went downcast once she settled on one, “sad.”

Will smiled self-deprecatingly. “Yeah. It kinda is. But don’t worry about it, Mike’ll come around. He always does.”

“Yes, he does,” she said dreamily and Will felt jealousy rise in his chest again and make him feel a little sick. “Do you want to watch a movie tonight?”

“All three of us?”

El nodded with a light smile Will was happy to see on her face. “Jonathan and Nancy too if she wants.” The girl turned toward the window where the aforementioned two were standing chatting together. “Nancy looks pretty today.”

Will raised an eyebrow as he followed her gaze. Nancy had sort of been a big sister presence in his life while being so close to Mike growing up. He never really saw her as pretty, but he could admit that she was kind-hearted and sweet and was always there for Will when he needed it, even if she was gruffer with Mike. Not seeing Nancy as pretty wasn’t saying much anyway since Will’s attraction toward girls was non-existent.

He shuddered at that thought and then gave El a nudge with his shoulder. “You can go on and ask them to join us. I’ll find a movie and talk to Mike.”

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