I fell down a lot of stairs. On my arm. And my sword. Shut up.

[clockspinner]

WHO: Dave, John, Wilbur, and Karkat
TONE: dark-ish and worried?
RATING: PG-13 because Dave and Karkat
WHEN: 14 May, 9pm
WHERE: Gryffindor 3rd year boys' dorm
WHAT: Dave comes back to Gryffindor Tower after getting the shit kicked out of him by Bro, carrying a shattered sword. The sleeve of his robe is bloody and torn, his hair is messed up, and it looks like he's been crying. His roommates react.
STATUS: Ongoing!

When he left Bro and crawled through the portrait hole, all Dave could think of was getting into bed, pulling the curtains, and spending the rest of the night fixing his robe so that he could go to classes without getting into trouble. Even though Bro had made sure that it wasn't bleeding anymore, Dave's arm still hurt like a bitch, a dull throbbing that lanced all the way up to his shoulder.

The common room was oddly deserted, and Dave sincerely hoped as he dragged himself up the stairs to the 3rd year boys dorm that his roommates would already have their curtains drawn. The door creaked as he pushed it open and peered inside.

No such luck. Fuck.

Comments

[fuckmackandme]

"Oh give me that!" John said with a roll of his eyes as he quickly pulled the needle and thread from Dave's hands and started do it himself. Sure, the actual would have to be done by Dave himself, given that John didn't know how to sow, but he could do that much for his best friend, anyway.

Once the thread was secured in the eye of the needle, he held them up for Dave to take. "Here."

[clockspinner]

Dave had to fight to keep from smiling a little as John rolled his eyes and took the needle and thread from him. He was also glad he had his shades on, because he found himself staring at John's hands - fucking piano fingers - as John threaded the needle for him. He took it back and nodded.

"Thanks, man." He unwound some thread from the needle and then bit through it. His hand was still shaking a little as he tied a knot at the end of the string, but then he gripped the needle between his teeth and shook his robe sleeve inside out. He wasn't as good with a needle as Bro was, but Bro had taught him how to sew when he was younger. "You okay?" he asked, once he took the needle back out of his mouth so he could start sewing.

[fuckmackandme]

John shrugged. "I'm not the one with the sword wound on his arm," he said with the smallest hint of a smile. It was probably not the best time for jokes, but he knew Dave would do the same thing for him. So as far as John was concerned, he was simply a favour that had yet to really be done.

Shut up, it totally made sense in his head.

[clockspinner]

"...Listen. You won't tell anyone, right? I don't want Bro to get in trouble over something stupid like this. He's got enough shit to deal with." It was the first that Dave had actually mentioned Bro's name, even though he wasn't going to pretend like John didn't know who'd done it. "So this has to stay between you and me, John."

He sewed the sleeve together as carefully as he could, but it was still a little uneven. Solidly mended, but uneven.

[fuckmackandme]

John started fidgeting with the bit of covers from before, not saying anything for a moment. What could he do? If he told anyone, Bro would be punished and Dave would be taken away. Given how defensive Dave could get whenever someone pointed out even how weird Bro was, that much would ruin their friendship. As much as John didn't want to worry about Dave again, how much he wanted him to be safe... He didn't want to lose his friendship more than anything.

It hurt. He didn't want to be in this position, of having to choose between his best friend's safety and his friendship. And it made him feel really selfish that he was inclined to choose his friendship, as a myriad of justifications came out in his head.

But if he was going to put his friend's well being with his bro- no, father, even if Dave would never refer to him as such- in second place, he had to have something to make sure Dave would be ok.

"I won't..." he said, his voice a little weak before he looked Dave in the eyes, shades be damned. "But promise me. Promise I won't have to worry about you again."

John meant "Don't do whatever you did that made Bro snap your sword", of course. Whether or not Dave would take like that was up to him.

But he was going to trust Dave to take it as it was meant. If he could pick up that John knew Bro had done it, he could pick this up.

[clockspinner]

Dave could tell that John was really conflicted about his request. He almost felt bad for asking him to keep something like this a secret, but...The alternative was too shitty to even comprehend. Dave needed Bro. Besides, it wasn't like Bro was just all about abusing him all the time. Fuck, Dave wasn't the child called It or anything. He was fed and clothed and taken care of. He'd just...pushed Bro too far this time, was all. Bro wasn't abusive. This was Dave's fault.

He let out a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding when John assured him, however weakly, that he wouldn't tell. Maybe he should have given the John the full story. His eyebrows shot up and he let his hands fall back to his lap, paused mid-stitch. Yeah, he understood what John meant.

And he felt guilty as hell.

"We're cool now. No big deal." He would keep telling John it was no big deal until John believed him, goddamn it. "I said some shit about Rose's mom I shouldn't have, that's all."

[fuckmackandme]

And as unsurprising as it was, that was the last thing John hoped Dave'd do. Knowing more would make it harder to just let it go. Knowing more would make it all the more real, and would make his justifications falter.

A part of him couldn't help but wonder how disappointed would his own father be right now.

No, he wouldn't think of that at the moment. It had been something said about his mother. Ok, he could work with that. If Dave kept his mouth shut about the subject, it wouldn't happen again. Good. Dave wasn't stupid, he'd know that he should avoid the subject, or at least watch his words.

"Still..." he said, his voice stronger, eyes unrelenting.

[clockspinner]

Dave's eyes widened when John didn't give up when he said things were cool. That 'still' made him pause, and his eyes searched John's. Finally, he sighed. "What do you want me to say?" he asked, and he sounded tired. He reached up and slid his shades off, setting them on the bed beside him. Why not, he'd already taken them off once that night.

"Bro's not a predator or a monster, and he's not going to hurt me. I don't need to watch myself around him. I just. What do you want me to say, John?" He didn't sound angry or accusing. Just. Resigned.

[fuckmackandme]

"I know, but..." But what? Dave had caught his meaning, all but complied too. What else did he want?

To not have to worry about Dave again. And despite what he was saying, there were clearly things where he had to watch himself around Bro, even if it was only where Dave and Rose's mother was concerned. Even if the subject was never brought up again, John would still worry.

He didn't want to lose Dave. "I just don't want to have to worry about you like this anymore..."

[clockspinner]

Dave hesitated. He wanted to reach out and touch John, reassure him that he wasn't going anywhere. That he wasn't in any real danger from Bro, that was stupid, it was like Dave being worried that John's dad was going to feed him too much cake and John was going to die of the 'beetus.

But he hesitated. Because John wasn't a homo. Because Dave had a girlfriend (who was also John's sister). And then he said fuck you to all of his reservations, and he set his robe carefully aside, scooting forward and cupping John's cheek in his hand, as he met his blue eyes.

"I promise, John. I won't make you worry about me like that ever again, okay?" He held up his other hand, pinky extended, and smiled. "Pinky swear."

[fuckmackandme]

John was surprised by Dave sudden touching his cheek. It was a touch more intimate, more... Something, than just about any other they had shared except maybe for John's hug earlier. But he didn't think of it too much, because Dave's promise was more reassuring than it probably should be. He could think of ways of how he could technically keep his promise without actually keeping it, but... He trusted Dave. He'd have faith in him.

The pinky swear was a small touch that actually made him smile. That and the promise helped him feel better, if anything. "Pinky swear," he said as he hooked his pinky with Dave's.

[clockspinner]

Yes. Good. John Egbert should always be smiling. It was pretty much a universal constant that him and Jade deserved to never have anything to frown about, and Dave was ready and willing to make it so. He curled his pinky around John's and shook their hands decisively. And then he awkwardly slid his hand down to John's neck, paused it there for a moment, until he slid further down to John's shoulder.

Then he just said fuckit and reached out to grab him into a hug again. "I wasn't looking to make you worry about me. Just so we're clear." He paused and sighed, before pressing his forehead into the crook of John's neck. "And I'll tell Jade soon. So we don't have to keep secrets from her."

[fuckmackandme]

John let Dave hug him with resistance, hugging back immediately. He was happy...er. He still wished they hadn't had to be in this mess, but... He was glad they had been able to work out their end of the deal. He'd prefer if Dave would go to the infirmary, but that had been more miracles for the night than he'd ever thought Dave would do. That Dave had shared what had happened was enough.

"Good," he whispered when Dave said he'd go tell Jade. That brought some extra relief to him. If Dave was willing to share that with Jade, then maybe he wouldn't hide if something like this happened again. That was good. Very good.