Unspoken Attraction (Dave/Karkat)

John sat next to him silently.

"Hey, Church Mouse," Dave murmured, nudging John. "Want any?" He held up the pitcher.

John nodded, passing him his glass.

Dave filled it to the brim before passing it back to him, whispering into his ear as he set the glass by John's plate, "Relax."

Bro was back to using his poker face, and Robert was making small talk with him.

John shrugged, unsure if he could.

Dave gave John a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, wishing he could think of just what his friend needed to hear to help him settle down. He was still pretty shaken up himself, but he had been raised to stuff down emotions, so it was a little easier for him to act normal after traumatic events. Strider poker faces all around.

"Everything alright John?" Robert asked.

John quickly nodded.

"Don't worry about it, I just jinxed him. Can't say a word til someone says his name three times, right?" Dave asked, reaching over for the bowl of mashed potatoes.

John shrugged.

Robert smiled at them.

Dave cleared his throat, guilt seeping in from lying to someone as trusting as John's dad. "How's everything been lately, Mr. E?"

"Wonderful. I'm mostly grateful I'm finally home with my family" Robert smiled

"I bet," Dave chuckled, plopping some mashed potatoes onto his plate. God, he should have put his shades back on before he came downstairs, his eyes constantly darting towards his brother anxiously.

Bro didn't say anything, and he didn't act like he was going to.

John kept his gaze mostly on his plate, only eating a little.

This was worse than the time Bro found Dave's weed stash. No, actually, that hadn't been as bad as it could have been, considering that ever since then, they came to the agreement of only smoking a bowl if they were doing it together. Sure, Bro kicked his ass afterwards, but he was forgiven fairly quickly. Well, to anyone who had ever laid eyes on Dave's webcomic, the fact that he indulged in a blunt maybe once in a blue moon shouldn't be much of a surprise, much less his brother.

No, this was approximately just the right amount of uncomfortable and awkward as the situation called for. All it needed was a pinch of stare downs, cross-table glaring, nervous giggling, coughing fit cover ups, and a nice heaping pile of passive aggressive, under-the-table shin kicking.

Bro finished first, and waited patiently for everyone else.

Dave was done right after Bro, finding that he couldn't really handle that much food when his stomach was weighed down by this much guilt. "Need help with dishes?" Dave asked, rising from his seat with his plate in hand.

"No, you're fine" Robert smiled.

"Hate to eat and bounce, but Dave and I have to leave bright and early in the morning." Bro stated, standing up.

Dave walked into the kitchen and set his empty plate by the sink, heading back out only to turn his direction towards the stairs, mumbling something about retrieving his shades.

John mumbled an excuse before leaving the table as well.

Dave hurried up the stairs and into John's room, his shades already back to shielding his eyes in record time.

John was up a minute later. "Sorry" he mumbled

"Nothing to apologize for." Dave smiled softly at John, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm not ashamed."

"For getting you in trouble" John clarified.

"I can handle it," Dave murmured, pulling back to kiss John's forehead. "Besides," Dave gave him a cheeky smirk. "Having you do that was totally worth any penalty Bro can possibly throw at me."

John smiled softly. "Thanks Dave."