victory_road | ~=*FEELINGS*=~

Who: Jade Harley, Dave Strider, & Karkat Vantas

Where: Homestuck Haus in Goldenrod???

When: Mar 26 shortly after, uh, this.

Summary: Jade, Dave, and Karkat talk about feelings and shit, idefk, they're teenagers, it's hard and nobody understands.

Rating: PG-13 for probable swearing and SALACIOUS HAND-HOLDING.

[With how permanent a fixture the pile of pillows in Dave and Karkat's room has become, it doesn't take long to gather up an armful of the fluffy things and head over to Jade's, much as Karkat wishes there were a way he could senselessly delay. He doesn't dread the upcoming conversation, but god would it be nice to know what the hell he's supposed to say before barging in and initiating this overdue feelings jam. There's no sense in putting it off, though, nor is there any visible hesitation in him as he approaches her door, restlessly shifts the pillows around, and reaches out to knock. He's standing straight enough and facing forward, but whenever Jade does come over to answer, she may just notice his total inability to make eye contact.

He should have realized there was a problem sooner and done something about it. Some master of romance he is, especially after he and Jade had talked about this very issue (or something related to it). Yes, fine, they're doing something about it now, but that doesn't mean it'll be good enough. So.]

Hey, Jade? It's me. Are you, um... should I just come in or what?

[He totally isn't using the pillows as a shield against her imagined wrath and/or tears, haha, what, it's not like he's terrified of upsetting her or anything. Oh god, help.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Yeah...this is the part she really doesn't like, why she usually keeps her negative feelings to herself. Of course Jade feels guilty for kicking up a fuss on one hand, but on the other...she shouldn't feel like this around people she cares for, it's not right, and while part of her will still say it's nobody's fault but her own, it can't be like this forever. They have to talk, discuss what they want, what boundaries are to be set, how they're going forward.

(This sucks, we're just kids right?)

(Not forever, Harley. Fix it. Get it done right.)]

[Jade straightens herself up and opens the door...seeing a wall of pillows first instead of who's holding them.]

Hey. Come in.

[Like a trundling little cleaning robot, Dave and his own enormous stack of pillows and softness push Karkat gently but unstoppably into Jade's room. Bunp bunp bunp.

When the path is cleared, he dumps his armful into a likely spot on the floor, locates Jade, wraps his arm around her middle so he can tug her towards the beginnings of their pile, and carefully flops them both into it so Karkat can continue building around them, because as nice as building piles is, it's even nicer when someone else does it for you. 2 slow, Karkat.

Dave mumbles into her shoulder:]

You smell nice, too.

[It's a start. It's an ice-breaker. They're here to talk and to make her feel loved.]

[He would have gone in on his own sooner or later, what the fuck, Dave. Karkat scowls at him from behind Pillow Mountain but says nothing, his gaze flicking nervously over to Jade before he steels himself and carries on with that oh-so-important pile building Dave is apparently too good for. Jerk.

As ways of excluding himself from the conversation like a spooked wiggler go, though, it's fairly transparent, so it's not very long at all before he glances up at the two again, his mouth twisting. Shit, what's something helpful and sensitive he can say? Uh—]

I could have told you that.

[............. oh my god, someone put him out of his misery already.]

Hey, dumbass, the point here is I want you both to tell me that.

[Maybe not necessarily "you smell nice" but the sentiment should be (somewhat) clear as she extends her free arm out to Karkat. Join the pile, join it.]

I wimped out of telling you last time we talked about feelings, so...c'mere.

[Dave makes a grabby hand for Karkat--come here, dude, there are sandwiches (sandwitches?) to make, here--and then lets his arm flop back into place across Jade.]

So tell us now. [Or, 'smm tmm um nhhm,' into Jade's shirt. Okay, no, this is ridiculous. He lets his head pop up, rolls a little bit away so that Karkat can wind in, should he so choose.] There's no statute of limitations on feelings shit, Jade. Right?

[He addresses the last to Karkat, because, actually, Dave has no idea, maybe there is.]

[Karkat rolls his eyes at both of them but relents,settling in on Jade's other side and, purely because he can and she needs it, enveloping her in a hug. Sandwitch complete.]

Of course there isn't. All feelings shit is valid no matter when it happened.

[And the fact that Dave doesn't know this already probably means Karkat hasn't been doing his job with him, either, but whatever, that's what they're here for.]

Come on, Harley, spill already.

Okay, so...

[Man, where does she start?]

I think...I want to start off with saying I am sorry for the trouble I've caused by being cagey and other Harleyisms. What my theory is right now is, um, I've duped you both into thinking I'm some kind of super strong heroic lass and for some reason I'm untouchable? But I'm not, I'm really not. I want that connection you two have with each other just as much as anyone else.

[A pause, she sighs, eyes closing slowly.]

But because we have all been apart for so long, there's going to be a large gap there. I wasn't with you for three years. Maybe...that feels intimidating to me?

[Dave's quiet a moment before he closes his eyes, too.]

Fair. ...Probably doesn't help that we room together, and... I dunno. Pale hooked up first?

[That's definitely not the terminology.]

I probably just made shit worse, the way I treat you. I just... I had a lot of time to think about the life you were going through out there on that island, and I don't. I don't know how you did it and still managed to give a shit about me and Rose and John, running around like idiots not even comprehending how shitty you had it. ...And I guess I overcompensated for my thirteen-year-old self saying you probably needed protecting.

[Ugh. Fuck. Feelings suck, but--but Jade's the one who needs this the most, now. He can't keep being a child about it.]

[Feelings definitely suck, especially when Karkat's has him wincing with every word Jade says. Super strong heroic lass? Check. That's also part of her appeal, which he's, uh, not saying right now, but then with everything else she says about that three year gap, finding it intimidating... yeah, okay. Maybe he can address that.]

That makes me nervous too—not the three year thing, but the fact that you and Dave had so much history before I even entered the picture.

[He sneaks a glance at Dave, then focuses on Jade again.]

I had this moment—well, a lot of moments, back on the meteor, when I thought Dave would stop being friends with me when he met up with you guys because you'd known each other for so much longer. So, I get it. And, uh... you're still strong, you know. Maybe I've been building you up in my head, but I don't think it's all my imagination.

[He pauses for a moment before reluctantly continuing.]

I think we had a lot of misconceptions about each other. And I'm sorry I didn't do anything to fix that sooner.

~=FEELINGS=~

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