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hso2012_collabs4Summary: It was suppose to be just a simple drive home. Same old same old, the only difference was that Dave offered his dormmate a ride. A missed turn, however, would change all of that.
Characters: Dave Strider, Sollux Captor
Ships:
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Later on, if you asked them what had happened, both of them could argue, for hours, that the entire thing had been the other’s fault. It would spark a rather vicious round of bickering between them, not that that was anything new.
Technically speaking, of course, it was Dave who’d made the first move. He’d found out that his roommate had an apartment in Texas, and actually lived in Texas, and had offered to drive them home. Of course nothing was ever that simple with Sollux Captor, because Sollux Captor didn’t seem to like things that were simple. Dave had had to convince him that no, he wasn’t kidding, and yes, he really did mean it, and finally just rolled his eyes and told the far-too-in-denial-about-everything troll that he really did enjoy Sollux’s company and he could use the gas money.
Even then, Sollux had been reluctant until the nubby horned best friend just rolled his eyes and bullied him into it anyways, and that had been that. Now, they were heading out, and Dave was waiting, casually leaning up against the side of his bright red truck.
==>
He wasn’t really worried about his roommate not showing up, but he was wondering where Sollux was. Finally, he catches sight of those four horns bobbing through the slight crowd in front of their hall. Even with his computer-nerd permanent slouch, Sollux was easily towering over the mix of students and what parents had showed up, and he was irritatingly enough taller than Dave, too.
Sollux shuffled his way over, looking up at Dave with those mismatched eyes of his.
“Hey, Thtrider.”
“Hey, Captor,” Dave said easily in response, nodding at the simple backpack and computer bag his roommate was carrying. “Travelin’ light, there.”
Sollux shrugged. “I usually take the buth. I’ve gotten uthed to traveling light.”
Dave just gave a grunt, and he’s putting the backpack into the bed of his truck, strapping it down with the rest of his own stuff that seemed to eat the poor pack right up. Sollux hopped into the passenger seat, stuffing his computer at his feet and slouching down.
“Come on, don’t look so down, Captor, it’s vacation time!” Dave said as he cracked a grin. “Sure, it’s only two weeks, but that’s two weeks of no homework, no psycho teachers, none of those unbelievably drunk people tearing through the complex trying to sing Ke$ha at two o’ fucking clock in the morning.”
“I’m alwayth up at two in the morning anywayth—“
“But you get the point!” Dave continued on doggedly. “It’s time for fun!”
Sollux didn’t answer right away, but there’s a tugging at the edges of his mouth that told Dave quite a lot more than Sollux probably intended to convey.
“No fun?” Dave asked, frowning. “Captor, come on, it’s vacation. Even a workaholic like you has to have fun every once in a while.”
Sollux just shrugged, but didn’t say anything.
“Come on. What do you do for fun?”
There was a moment of hesitation, and then Sollux scrunched up his nose, still not saying anything.
Dave groaned, thunking his head against the seat. “Bro, you have to learn how to lighten up sometime. Getting dragged around by Vant-ass for the rest of your life isn’t a healthy way to do things. Come on, short-stack isn’t exactly the epitome of fun.”
“In cathe you haven’t notithed, Thtrider, neither am I.”
Dave smacked the steering wheel, exasperated. “You’re missing the point, Captor!”
“Well then you should jutht tell me what point you’re trying to make!”
“You need to have more fun,” Dave said patiently, rolling his eyes and starting up Ol’ Bessie, navigating the maze of students and cars with practiced ease. “It’s really as simple as that.”
“And how do you propothe I do that?” Sollux countered, the scathing tone not going unnoticed. “Should I go and get drunk all the time and thleep with people and—“
To his credit, the troll did make himself stop talking, but that didn’t stop the scowl from his roommate.
“Thanks, man, nice to hear you think so highly of me.”
It was awkward in the car after that, and both of them were silently cursing themselves for it while blaming the other. It was easy enough for them, after all.
The ride continues in silence as they finally get on the road, carving their way through the busy streets of San Francisco. Their school could have been a pretentious school, or a party school, but somehow managed both with relative ease.
Finally, Dave sighed. “Look, it’s not like I went out and partied all the time, right? Just those weird-ass people I happen to call my friends. I kept inviting you along, after all.”
“With the only perthon in the entire world who hero-worshipth Nicolath Cage? Not likely.”
Dave chuckled. “All right, fair enough.”
“Bethideth, you theem to have fun with them all on your own, and you know damn well if I went you’d thpend half the time ignoring me and half the time making sure I wath all right and being nithe to people.”
“That’s because half the time you sit in the corner like some skinny geek ghost, and the other half of the time you’re shredding people’s self esteem like rice paper.”
That, at least, got a laugh from Sollux as he shook his head. “There’th alwayth that,” he said with a half-shrug, and Dave rolled his eyes.
“Pretty sure you made a couple people cry.”
“They probably detherved it.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“They go to our pretentiouth ath fuck thchool, for one thing.”
“We go to that school.”
“And we probably detherve to get our own thelf-ethteem taken down a few pegth, too,” Sollux said with no small amount of smugness in his tone.
“Fair enough.”
The ride continued in comfortable silence.
==>
The yawning had started to irritate him.
Sollux had fallen asleep pretty fast, and while normally Dave would get mad about that (really, passenger etiquette dictated you stay awake, and make sure the driver didn’t kill them both, or was at least moderately entertained), but he was all too familiar with trolls and their more nocturnal habits.
But now, Dave was tired. He’d yawned far too many times in one minute than was probably healthy, while Sollux was irritatingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and his eyes glowed in the dark cabin of the truck. The exit sign came up, and Dave pulled off with a sigh.
Pumping gas was depressing, right up until you were using someone else’s card. Sollux punched in the number, and the tank began to fill. Dave yawned again, shaking his head, looking over at the troll.
“Hey. Captor.”
He got a grunt. Good enough.
“Can you take over driving? I really don’t think I can stay awake much longer, twelve hundred cups of coffee or no, and I’d rather just conk out now and wake up when we’re home. I mean, it’s only a couple hours.”
Dave yawned, missing the panicked look on Sollux’s face.
“Anyways, I would keep driving. But I totally don’t want to, so hopefully you’ll drive Ol’ Bessie well.”
He plopped the keys into Sollux’s hand, ignoring the protests because of course he woudn’t want to, it was a jackass-y thing to do but Dave curled up in the passenger seat, mindful of the computer bag.
Vaguely, he heard the door closing in the truck’s driver seat, and it adjusted, the click of a seat belt…and then nothing.
“Helps if you turn the car on,” Dave muttered sleepily, not opening his eyes.
“Shut the fuck up, Thtrider.”
Dave ignored it, because the nervousness was in the troll’s voice. Not really surprising, everyone knew how protective Dave was of his truck. But soon enough, it roars to life, followed by a moment or two of fumbling, and then a jerk.
“Slow down there, cowboy…” came the sleepy mumble, but Sollux didn’t even bother to respond, and Dave let out another sleepy mumble that came out completely unintelligible, and soon he was deep asleep.
==>
The sunlight hit Dave’s eyes first, and he blinked slowly, the hum of the truck finally filtering in, and he slowly blinked away the spots in his eyes. He lifted his head, yawned, and then blinked. Again. And again. And then it hit him, and he sat straight up, eyes wide.
He looked over at Sollux, who was looking back and completely panicked to boot.
“You wouldn’t wake up!” he said, obviously mildly scared. “I tried but you wouldn’t wake up and I didn’t know what to do!”
Five minutes later and Dave was slamming his door shut, the roasting heat and climbing humidity kicking in but he gave it no notice. “What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped. “Come on, Captor, it’s home, how do you NOT know what exit it is!”
“I don’t have a car, Thtrider, why the hell would I ever learn what fucking exit it ith? I take the damn buth, I don’t give a shit!”
“Do you have any idea where we even ARE?!”
“Yeth!”
“We’re in Mexico!”
“I know!”
“We are in Mexico!”
“I know!”
“You drove us all the goddamn way to Mexico!”
“I know, Dave, I get it, but you were the one who dethided it would be a great time for a nap without letting me thay anything and not waking up when I needed thome damn directionth!”
Dave wrenched open the door, fuming, clambering into the driver’s seat.
“Well, that is officially the last time I ever let you drive, I hope you’re happy about that!”
“I never athked to drive!”
“You could have told me you didn’t know how to get back!”
“Would it help if I altho told you I don’t have a driver’th lithenthe?”
The truck jolted to a stop two feet from where they’d pulled over to swap seats, and Dave whipped around and his glare almost had the potential to light Sollux’s hair on fire.
“Tell me you’re fuckin’ joking.”
Sollux frowned. “No. I’m not joking. Why would I get my lithenthe if I don’t have a car, and no one I know other than TZ hath a car? I don’t have one to practithe in, or tetht in. I borrowed a car a few timeth from my neighbor, tho at leatht I thort of know how to drive.”
Dave’s head made a very loud noise as he leaned it against the steering wheel. “Fuck. Okay, you know what? We’re done. Let’s just go, and next time you have a bigass secret like that, you let me in on it.”
“What, planning on making a litht?”
Sollux’s bitchy retort just made Dave grind his teeth. “You know what? Good idea. It’ll be the “Shit Captor Should Have Fucking Told Me” list, and right up at the top, number one, is “No Driver’s License.” There. Happy?”
“Abtholutely. Want to know who I lotht my virginity to?”
“I already know and it’s your fucking hand, you pathetic geek.”
Sollux’s look became ever so slightly smug, and that just infuriated Dave even more. “I swear to God if you tell me I’ll boot you out and make you walk your fucking nonexistent ass back to Texas.”
“I can fly.”
Dave ground his teeth together even harder. “Then I’ll tie you the fuck up!”
“I can thtill fly.”
“Then I will knock you out and leave you in the damn desert!”
“And when I wake up, I’ll fly home.”
It took every ounce of self-control Dave had left to keep from reaching over and doing unpleasant things to this troll. “Just shut the fuck up, and let’s drive the fuck home. I can vegetate on the couch and have fun, and you can go to your pathetic little cave all alone, that sound good to you? Sounds fucking rad to me, and who knows, maybe I’ll find it in my heart to give you a call and see how my totally wonderful roommate is doing, maybe that’ll liven up the tedium of being miserable in your stupid damn hive, programming or whatever the fuck it is you’re—“ it hit him then that Sollux had fallen silent, and all it took was one glance over to realize he should have shut up a long time ago.
Sollux just sat there, and he’d riveted his gaze on the horizon they were driving towards, mouth set in a hard line. It was obvious he wasn’t about to say anything else, slouched down in the seat.
Dave just sighed, and he’s going back to driving. He has to, otherwise… It hits him. If he just turned around, right now…they’d still be in Mexico. He sneaked a look over at Sollux, and then made up his mind.
Sollux glanced over with a frown when they roll back into the dirt, and then sat up when Dave turned around.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m just curious about something.”
“Yeah? And what’th that.” The flat tone tells Dave that no, he’s not forgiven.
“How far it is to the Yucatan, actually.”
Sollux’s brow furrowed at that. “The Yucatan? What the hell ith in the Yucatan?”
“No idea. That’s why we’re going.”
“Yeah? What happened to you being a lathy bum and me being thad and mitherable and alone for the retht of my life?”
“Didn’t suit my style.”
“Oh, that’th a fuckin’ relief…and why are you dragging me along?”
“Because why the fuck not?”
Moments pass before Sollux can finally get his response ready for that one. “Becauthe you theem to be a bit bothered by thith shit, and we have no planth, no idea of where we’re going—“
“We’re going to the Yucatan—“
“You theemed to be upthet that I got uth into Mexico and I, for one, don’t really have the fundth for a romp around the country.”
“Don’t worry. I can pay.”
Sollux balked at that. “Wh—no! Come on, Dave, ath much ath you like to thwagger around, you’re not really made of money, either!”
“I’m not, but my bro’s fucking loaded.”
Sollux groaned. “Come on. Dave, get theriouth.”
Dave cut him off before he could get anything else out. “Look, let’s just have a good time. Because as much as I made fun of you, my vacation plans were just lie around for two weeks, mix music, and wish that my friends lived in Texas, too, chat when I felt like it, and lie around in my boxers. Why not do this? Why not just take this opportunity and just…go. We’re already here—I have no idea how, they usually have borders for this shit, but whatever—and I want to go. Do you want to go?’
There was a moment of silence, and then Sollux sighed. “Fine. Fine, let’th go. If you theriouthly want to be thtuck with me for however long, then…whatever, that’th your funeral.”
There’s a bit of a moment, and then Dave sighs. “You’re my roommate, Captor, if I didn’t want to be stuck with you I would’ve found a new damn room.” Not to mention he didn’t mind Sollux. At all. It was more than that, even. He…was sort of fond of this skinny hacker. He’d been there when Sollux was drunk, when he’d been pissed off, when he’d been laid back and confident, when he’d just had a mood swing and thought dog turds had a better chance at everything than he did…Well, he’d been there, and he was still living, and he still…oh, that was verging on painfully honest right there, those emotions would have to be pocketed for later.
Sollux wasn’t aware of Dave’s little crisis, and he slumped down again. “Whatever,” he repeated.
==>
It got even muggier somehow, and by the time they were there (Sollux actually was allowed to drive, and now had the knowledge on how to wake Dave up by yelling out “Strife!” or some variation thereof), both of them were beginning to overhead.
Dave groaned as he finally shut the door, shaking his head. “It is hot as hell,” he
said, fanning himself with his wallet.
“Yeth.”
“We should probably change into cooler clothes or something when we get to the hotel room.”
“Yeth.”
Well, at least there wasn’t much argument. Dave spared a glance over and Sollux looked just as hot as he did. Well, at least it was pretty.
Finding a hotel was not difficult, and they slammed the door behind them, Sollux collapsing on the bed with an overly loud groan.
“It’th hot…”
“So get into your shorts and whatever.”
“Don’t have any.”
At that, Dave had to do a double-take. “You don’t have shorts.”
“Why would I have shortth?”
“Oh, god, that’s going on the list,” Dave groans. “You live in Texas, Captor, that’s why you would have shorts. Even man-capris, do you have those?”
“What the fuck are man caprith?”
Dave sighed. “Come on, Sollux,” he said, shaking his head and throwing one pair of shorts. “We’re going shopping.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t have shorts, and you need shorts. You’ll overheat if you don’t, come on.”
It took a few minutes of groaning and bitching, but Sollux finally grumped out the door, walking in his long pants and black shirt and getting more and more cranky while they walked.
It took even longer to convince Sollux to actually walk out the door in his new purchases, a long list of “I look thtupid” and “You’re inthane” leaving him, but somehow, Dave managed, and Sollux was slouching along in his bright green shirt and it’s bright yellow sleeves, the happy parrot on the front exclaiming “Viva Mexico!” in blindingly yellow text. His shorts were only slightly better, but the bright red fish on the blue fabric were a little on the obnoxious side. But Dave wasn’t about to let Sollux run around and overheat.
“I look thtupid,” Sollux said for the millionth time.
“You look fine,” Dave responded for the millionth time.
It didn’t take very long for Dave to get distracted, and he’s yanking on Sollux’s bright sleeve. “Sollux. Sollux, Sollux look!”
“It’th a man, Dave.”
“It’s a man with a SNAKE, Sollux!”
“Yeth, it’th…a man with a thnake.”
“And a macaw!”
“Yeth, Dave, I thee.”
“Go get a camera.”
“What?” Sollux looked appalled at that, but Dave didn’t even care.
“Go get a camera, here’s twenty bucks, they have to have something, come on! You can do it, Sollux, really, I believe in you!”
Sollux stared at the money in his hands, then back at the human. He sighed, shaking his head, going over to a stand with various goods. He wasn't exactly one to pick up a simple disposable. Dave would be absolutely appalled if it weren't for how excited he was. The troll made his way back, placing the cheap piece of plastic into a pale hand.
“Here you go.” Sollux said, instantly taking note of the offended look on Dave's face.
Dave didn't get time to say anything, though, his excitement pulling him back in. He would have to put “Sollux knows nothing about a good camera” on his list of things Captor Should Have Told Me later, but for right then, there was a snake... and a macaw. He pulled Sollux in, arm wrapped around thin shoulders, with a quick “Say cheese!” as he raised the camera in the air and snapped the photos. Sollux just watched as the reptile curled around his shoulders as the man place the creature onto them.
“Aw, man, this is so damn awesome!” Dave exclaimed, watching as the snake looked up, tongue flitting against a gray cheek. The human laughed, quick to get a picture of that as well, before the python was being pulled away, the scarlet macaw soon settling on Dave's shoulders.
“Dave, I thwear. You're plotting thomething nefariouth.” Sollux pointed out, but he found himself blinking as that flash goes off, Dave taking as many photos as he possibly could.
Sollux watched as Dave grinned, that bird flapping away and squawking away.
“Here, hold this.” Dave said quickly, shoving the camera into Sollux's hands. Sollux didn't have time to object as the human reached over to scratch between the brilliant wings. Sollux couldn't help it. He could see how happy Dave was.
He took a moment to reach that camera outward, finger pressing the button, Dave completely oblivious to the candid shot.
It all happened so fast, but soon they were walking away from the man with the animals, Dave beaming.
“That was awesome.” he stated again, arm around thin shoulders. “Coming to Mexico was a great idea.”
“You weren't tho keen on it when you woke up in Mexico.” Sollux pointed out bluntly as they walked down that busy street, Dave sneaking in photos here and there as they moved along.
“Where did you get that idea Captor? That's a silly idea.”
Before Sollux even had the chance to open his mouth to counter, he suddenly found his wrist in Dave's hand, the human pulling him along to the side as something caught the human's attention.
“What the hell, D Eth?” Sollux nearly yelped, completely caught off guard.
“Oh hell, is that what I think it is?” Dave said as he neared some jeeps, people standing off to the side as other tourists talked to them, getting into vehicles as they paid.
“What ith what?”
“It's... Oh hell yes, trip to the motherfucking ruins. This is more real than Kraft Mayo.”
The two of them walked over to a man standing off to the side, standing near his Jeep as he waited for a customer.
“Hey, I would like to take a ride to the ruins.” Dave said with a grin, the man just kind of staring at him like Dave had spoken another language.
Because to him, this tourist had.
Sollux could see that, though, see that the poor man hadn't quite understood Dave.
Before Dave could say anything about it, Sollux was quickly stepping in, taking hold of the situation as fast as possible.
“Noth guthtaría dar un patheo a las ruinath,” He said, wincing slightly at each time he lisped. He ignored the wide eyed stare coming from Dave.
“Eso será de treinta y cinco dólares,” was the quick response, and Sollux was already pulling out the money and handing it over, the man gladly taking it and opening his doors for the two tourists. Dave just continued to stare at Sollux as they got in.
“Since when the hell did you speak Spanish?” the human demanded to know, the fact just so lost on him.
“For theveral yearth now.” Sollux shrugged. “Thinth clatheth from high thcool.”
“You seriously can not remember everything from your classes in highschool, dude.” Dave states.
“Why not?”
“Because you can't.”
“Why?”
Dave just snorted, rolling his eyes. “I bet you remember your middle school French classes.”
“Oui.”
“Shut up.”
Sollux couldn't help but to smirk.
“Pourquoi, ne pas vous thouvenir de vos cours de franthais?”
“No, seriously, Captor... Just... Shut up.”
There was a while of waiting as other tourists filtered in, settling into the three jeeps set up, and then they were off, the man in front having yelled at them in Spanish, and Dave glanced at Sollux but the troll didn’t seem to want to translate.
Of course, Dave got his revenge, because the road was dirt, very bumpy with unexpected dips and holes, and the lead driver…well, he apparently didn’t believe in a speed limit.
One minute in, and Sollux was already screeching, holding onto the roll bar with a death grip as Dave whooped happily. The jeep bounded and bounced over the dirt road, all three of them kicking up a huge trail of dust as they went along.
“Oh, fuck, Dave, Dave DAVE WE’RE GOING TO DIE!”
Dave just couldn’t stop giggling, and he reached over, patting Sollux’s knee as they both lifted into midair, an unexpected hill on the road.
“We’ll b-b-be fine!” Dave cackled.
“Nooo no no I thwear to FUCK Dave, if you kill uth I will NEVER thtop haunting youOH GOD!”
Another large hill had Sollux’s forehead smacking straight into the overhead ceiling bar, and he yelps as they fall back. Dave’s forehead had brushed against it for a brief moment, and for the first time he’s glad he’s not as tall as his companion.
“You a-all right there Sollux?”
“I-I will k-kill you…”
It took another fifteen minutes of breakneck jungle driving until they arrived, and Sollux was out of the jeep before it even stopped moving, rubbing at his forehead with a grumpy expression.
“Come on, Sollux, it wasn’t that—“
“Don’t even thtart.”
Dave decided to listen, and he lapsed into silence, patting Sollux on the shoulder. Still, the guide’s walking through the trees, and Dave’s wondering where the hell they have ruins, there’s nothing here that he can see, and then they sort of turn and bam, there it is.
“It’s huge,” Dave muttered, staring up at the sandy-gold stone, wide-eyed. “Oh, man, this frickin’ thing is massive…”
Sollux even dropped his head to check it out, too, just as wide-eyed as Dave was, blinking.
“Wow…”
Dave nodded. “Wow is right, no kidding…come on, there are people climbing it, we should, too…”
Sollux didn’t argue, for once, just nodded and followed along. The stairs were massive, both of them tripping three steps up, but they continued on doggedly, stopping to look around, or pretending they were looking around to hide the fact they were beginning to get tired. But it was worth it, and they stood at the top of the ancient temple, staring out over the vast expanse of jungle in front of them, panting and tired but so, so happy to be there.
“Wow,” Sollux said again, quietly.
“Yeah,” Dave said, nodding. “Wow is right.”
They stood there for a few minutes, just looking out, and Sollux let out a long sigh.
“Thankth.”
Well. That wasn’t something Dave had been expecting, and he blurted out a “What?” before he could stop himself.
Sollux just shrugged. “Thankth for thith. I…I couldn’t have done thith by mythelf, I’m…not the type to jutht run around like thith. And I never would have been able to thee thith.” There was a twitch of a smile. “Tho, thank you for thith.”
Dave smiled at that, and he’s patting Sollux’s shoulder again. “No worries, Captor. I probably wouldn’t have done this either if not for you.”
They grinned at each other awkwardly for a moment, before looking back out at the forest. How long they stayed like that, neither one could say, but in that moment, it didn’t really matter. At least, not until Dave’s quiet “I am way too pooped to walk back down…”
Sollux laughed, and his eyes glow as energy curls around both of them. “Probably a good thing you brought me along, then.”
==>
The next week was unbelievable for the both of them, and it was sort of unexpected. They toured a few more ruins, amazed at how different and how massive they all were, the carved stone and the patterns that were almost irritatingly perfect.
They went to plenty of museums, too, and ‘irritatingly perfect’ didn’t even begin to describe some of those ancient artifacts. They were informative and wonderful little places scattered here and there, though a lot of them required some very extensive translating on Sollux’s part, not that he really minded. It was fun, and Dave got so excited about it. His coolkid mask was gone for now. It was hard to hide his enthusiasm, and there was no point in trying to restore his cred with someone he’d puked in front of after one of those college parties. More than once.
They went diving, and Dave got to add a few more things to the list. The fact that Sollux didn’t have a bathing suit was one of them, and then the fact that he was a surprisingly good swimmer despite having the physique of a bunch of rulers in a bag. Hundreds of little tiny fish were everywhere, the water clear and warm and perfect, and Sollux had a bit of an underwater freakout when he saw a pufferfish, gesturing excitedly as bubbles streamed from his mouth. There were so many fish of all colors and shapes and sizes and Dave hadn’t even been aware this many fish even existed in one place.
They even toured the gift shops, Dave picking up a shirt for John that, according to Sollux, said some rather rude things on it in bright blue font, and a hand-carved figurine from one of the vendors in the forests. Sollux picked up a copper and shell necklace for Aradia, and a shot glass from a restaurant they went to. On it was a dancing crab in a sarape with castanets, and text that Sollux said, with a grin, translated to The Happy Crab.
Dave even picked something up for Sollux, a necklace made of wood so dark it was almost a reddish black. On it, it had long spikes throughout, and it fit nicely around Sollux’s neck.
Sollux responded by getting Dave a carved wooden ring with a silver-embellished eagle on it.
They ate enough amazing food to make them dread going back to the land of fast food chains and dorm food, but Dave promised to cook more often and their fears were put to rest. Sort of. One of the chefs even came out to present the dish, and finished the preparation and lit it on fire right in front of them. It was incredible, and the hot chocolate was to die for.
The iguanas and geckos and massive toads wandering around made them look twice before they put their feet down too fast, and Sollux messed up once and shrieked as the blob he’d nearly stepped on croaked and hopped into the bushes.
The entire week was amazing, and it was one of those whirlwind times where they did as much as they could, and then relaxing when they just couldn’t move anymore, where they would lie on their beds and stare at the ceiling and talk and laugh, remembering other tourists acting like idiots, of themselves acting like idiots, and it was relaxed and peaceful and they talked until they fell asleep, sprawling in the heat and their boxers.
It was full of bickering and happiness and ridiculousness, and Sollux even got to take a picture with a sea turtle and Dave was fairly certain the troll would explode with happiness before he managed to get a picture of it.
And finally, Dave made his way back to the hotel, laden with bags and a grin. Sollux looked up as he came in, where he was setting out his shorts to dry from a quick run to the beach.
“What ith it?” the troll asked, unsure.
“Well,” Dave said easily, setting the bag down on the table. “I was just thinking, we’ve done loads of stuff here, and it’s been great, but we’re forgetting one important detail.”
“What’th that..?”
Dave proffered a bottle, far too happy. “Drinking limit’s not 21.”
Thirty minutes later, they’re both laid out on the beach, relaxing with the bottle stuck deep in the sand between them, waves tickling their bare toes. The sunset reflected off of the water, and everything was turning gold and red.
“Thith really hath been fucking thpectacular.”
“Yeah…”
Sollux turned to him with a slight frown, both of them a little on the tipsy side. “No, theriouthly. It’th been amathing.”
Dave smiled, and he’s nodding his head. “I know. And I agree, it really, really has been incredible and this is incredible and you’re incredible…everything’s damn incredible and I will do a goddamn rage-flip if anyone says anything otherwise.”
“How doeth one do a rage flip, exactly?”
“You flip, propelled by pure rage.”
“I should have known.”
“You really should have.”
They lapsed into another comfortable silence, both of them taking swigs before they’re snuggling the bottle back into the cool sand, staring out over the water.
“Been a long time since I’ve gone on a vacation,” Dave said quietly after a while of silence. “Like…a longass while. I think…man, it was middle school for me. Got to go up to Ontario, see Niagara Falls.” He turned to look at Sollux, frowning. “What about you?”
“I’ve…never really been on vacation before,” he finally managed to get out. Dave sighed.
“Should’ve known…sorry, didn’t mean to be rude. You really are a workaholic, huh?”
“Guethh I am,” Sollux said with a shrug. “I mean…not that I don’t want to get out…I guethh I jutht feel like I should be doing other thingth.”
“Like…work.”
“Yeth.”
There was a low chuckle, and Dave patted Sollux on the top of the head. “I wish I knew how your mind worked, Captor.”
“I wish I knew how it worked, too,” Sollux said, and he gave Dave another sidelong glance, and then looked donw. “I mean…thometimeth, I think I love you. But that would be crathy.”
That was followed by a long silence, and Sollux hummed lightly under his breath, foot bouncing lightly to the tune in his head.
“Do you mean that?”
Sollux turned with a “Hmm?” and his eyes were lidded, a slight smile on his face. He blinked, and then he nodded. “Oh, right. That. Well…yeth. I mean, why not?”
“Why not?” Dave echoed. “What’s that supposed to—“
“I don’t know if you notithed, Dave Thtrider, but you happen to be Dave Thtrider. Everyone loveth you. How could I rethitht the charmth?”
“I puked on your bed.”
Sollux laughed at that. “Okay, tho maybe you lotht thome of the glamour. But I guethh that made me love you even more.”
“So I should puke on your bed more often?”
Sollux nodded again. “Yep. It’ll be the greatetht love thtory ever written.” He chuckled again, but sat back with another low hum. “I don’t know, I guethh…you put up with me. And that’th more than I could’ve athked for.”
“Oh…” Dave said quietly, and he nodded slightly. “Well, I guess my head’s a bit messed up, too. “
“Why?”
“Because sometimes…” Dave said, looking over at this troll, a slightly wibbly smile on his face. “I think I love you, too.”
There was that deep moment between them, red eyes looking right into heterochromatic ones. It was the moment when the music in one of Karkat’s shitty romcoms would have gotten louder, swelling dramatically, as waves crashed in the backgroud and birds flew overhead and all of their differences were put aside. But this was so much better, because it wasn’t stupid.
It was odd, because neither one of them was really sure who initiated the kiss. It was sort of like they both took a breath, and then they both marveled at the fact that soft lips were pressing against their own gently. They lean over the forgotten bottle of tequila, and Dave pulled Sollux closer gently, making that kiss just a little deeper as the waves crashed and thrummed in the background.
==>
Waking up cuddled on a beach, wrapped around each other with their tequila bottle nestled between them, was definitely one of the more odd experiences of the week. It took both of them a couple of seconds, and Sollux looked ready to panic right up until Dave smiled.
Neither of them really wanted this vacation to end, not really. They knew that it had to, but that didn’t mean anything when they just really didn’t want it to. At least this way, they got a couple of days of shy smiles, of happy laughs and stolen kisses and hand-holding when they didn’t think anyone was around. Suddenly, that necklace and that ring means something, and both of them caught themselves stroking them without thinking.
But they were packing up their bags, Sollux somehow managing to collect enough stuff to require the purchase of another little suitcase. Sollux floated all of them out of the truck at the same time, requiring one trip, placing them in the truck as Dave strapped all of them down.
They were both smiling, even if Dave was red on near-lobster levels. They’re both laughing, even if there’s a bandage around Sollux’s hand where a curious iguana bit him to see if he was real.
Sollux hopped into the passenger seat again, already buckled by the time Dave slid into the driver’s seat. Ol’ Bessie started up with a roar, and soon enough they were on the road. It was comfortable, the forests and cities passing around them.
“Thankth.”
“You said that already, babe. Like, a million and a half times.”
“Yeah, but I mean it.”
“You always say that, too.”
Sollux sighed in a bit of a huff, rolling his eyes. “Yeth, Dave, but…all right, all right, I’ll thtop.” He fiddles his hands in his lap, until Dave finally just reached over and grabbed one of them.
“Calm down, Sollux, it’s not like—“
“We can…keep thith up at thchool, right?” Sollux blurted out. “I mean, thith vacation theemed like your time to unwind, and if dating your roommate’th about to dethtroy your cred—“
“You stop that sentence right there and don’t you dare think about continuing,” Dave said insistently, frowning. “Look…look, I do have some sort of weird rep. But it’s not one that I really even chose. Come on, Sollux, you should know me a little better than that.”
Sollux smiled, nodding. “All right, all right,” he said as he ducked his head in slight embarrassment.
“I mean it. I might get miserably drunk with them, but I only ever act like a dumbass in front of you.”
“Th…thankth?”
Dave rolled his eyes. “Okay, how’s this: I would never in a million years go to Mexico with those people.”
That got a laugh again. “All right, all right. Well, I’d never go to Mexico with anyone elthe, either.”
“Yeah…you wouldn’t go by yourself, either, though.”
“Have you met me? I’d never go to Mexico with that douchebag, it’d be thucky ath hell.”
They laughed, the sound filling the cabin, and Dave leans over, sneaking a quick kiss. “Well, whatever you say about you…I really enjoyed myself, and I’m glad you didn’t yell at me for being crazy and marched us back to Texas.”
“Me, too,” Sollux admitted, nodding. “I’m really glad I came. Thith…thith hath been amathing, and my thtupid head wath right.”
“Right?”
Sollux looked over, and he smiled. “Yeah. I think I thtill love you.”
Dave can’t help the broad smile that covered his face, and he nodded. “Good to hear,” he said, grinning. “Because guess what?”
“What?” Sollux said dutifully.
“I’m pretty damn sure I love you, too.”
Characters: Dave Strider, Sollux Captor
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Later on, if you asked them what had happened, both of them could argue, for hours, that the entire thing had been the other’s fault. It would spark a rather vicious round of bickering between them, not that that was anything new.
Technically speaking, of course, it was Dave who’d made the first move. He’d found out that his roommate had an apartment in Texas, and actually lived in Texas, and had offered to drive them home. Of course nothing was ever that simple with Sollux Captor, because Sollux Captor didn’t seem to like things that were simple. Dave had had to convince him that no, he wasn’t kidding, and yes, he really did mean it, and finally just rolled his eyes and told the far-too-in-denial-about-everything troll that he really did enjoy Sollux’s company and he could use the gas money.
Even then, Sollux had been reluctant until the nubby horned best friend just rolled his eyes and bullied him into it anyways, and that had been that. Now, they were heading out, and Dave was waiting, casually leaning up against the side of his bright red truck.
==>
He wasn’t really worried about his roommate not showing up, but he was wondering where Sollux was. Finally, he catches sight of those four horns bobbing through the slight crowd in front of their hall. Even with his computer-nerd permanent slouch, Sollux was easily towering over the mix of students and what parents had showed up, and he was irritatingly enough taller than Dave, too.
Sollux shuffled his way over, looking up at Dave with those mismatched eyes of his.
“Hey, Thtrider.”
“Hey, Captor,” Dave said easily in response, nodding at the simple backpack and computer bag his roommate was carrying. “Travelin’ light, there.”
Sollux shrugged. “I usually take the buth. I’ve gotten uthed to traveling light.”
Dave just gave a grunt, and he’s putting the backpack into the bed of his truck, strapping it down with the rest of his own stuff that seemed to eat the poor pack right up. Sollux hopped into the passenger seat, stuffing his computer at his feet and slouching down.
“Come on, don’t look so down, Captor, it’s vacation time!” Dave said as he cracked a grin. “Sure, it’s only two weeks, but that’s two weeks of no homework, no psycho teachers, none of those unbelievably drunk people tearing through the complex trying to sing Ke$ha at two o’ fucking clock in the morning.”
“I’m alwayth up at two in the morning anywayth—“
“But you get the point!” Dave continued on doggedly. “It’s time for fun!”
Sollux didn’t answer right away, but there’s a tugging at the edges of his mouth that told Dave quite a lot more than Sollux probably intended to convey.
“No fun?” Dave asked, frowning. “Captor, come on, it’s vacation. Even a workaholic like you has to have fun every once in a while.”
Sollux just shrugged, but didn’t say anything.
“Come on. What do you do for fun?”
There was a moment of hesitation, and then Sollux scrunched up his nose, still not saying anything.
Dave groaned, thunking his head against the seat. “Bro, you have to learn how to lighten up sometime. Getting dragged around by Vant-ass for the rest of your life isn’t a healthy way to do things. Come on, short-stack isn’t exactly the epitome of fun.”
“In cathe you haven’t notithed, Thtrider, neither am I.”
Dave smacked the steering wheel, exasperated. “You’re missing the point, Captor!”
“Well then you should jutht tell me what point you’re trying to make!”
“You need to have more fun,” Dave said patiently, rolling his eyes and starting up Ol’ Bessie, navigating the maze of students and cars with practiced ease. “It’s really as simple as that.”
“And how do you propothe I do that?” Sollux countered, the scathing tone not going unnoticed. “Should I go and get drunk all the time and thleep with people and—“
To his credit, the troll did make himself stop talking, but that didn’t stop the scowl from his roommate.
“Thanks, man, nice to hear you think so highly of me.”
It was awkward in the car after that, and both of them were silently cursing themselves for it while blaming the other. It was easy enough for them, after all.
The ride continues in silence as they finally get on the road, carving their way through the busy streets of San Francisco. Their school could have been a pretentious school, or a party school, but somehow managed both with relative ease.
Finally, Dave sighed. “Look, it’s not like I went out and partied all the time, right? Just those weird-ass people I happen to call my friends. I kept inviting you along, after all.”
“With the only perthon in the entire world who hero-worshipth Nicolath Cage? Not likely.”
Dave chuckled. “All right, fair enough.”
“Bethideth, you theem to have fun with them all on your own, and you know damn well if I went you’d thpend half the time ignoring me and half the time making sure I wath all right and being nithe to people.”
“That’s because half the time you sit in the corner like some skinny geek ghost, and the other half of the time you’re shredding people’s self esteem like rice paper.”
That, at least, got a laugh from Sollux as he shook his head. “There’th alwayth that,” he said with a half-shrug, and Dave rolled his eyes.
“Pretty sure you made a couple people cry.”
“They probably detherved it.”
“How the hell would you know that?”
“They go to our pretentiouth ath fuck thchool, for one thing.”
“We go to that school.”
“And we probably detherve to get our own thelf-ethteem taken down a few pegth, too,” Sollux said with no small amount of smugness in his tone.
“Fair enough.”
The ride continued in comfortable silence.
==>
The yawning had started to irritate him.
Sollux had fallen asleep pretty fast, and while normally Dave would get mad about that (really, passenger etiquette dictated you stay awake, and make sure the driver didn’t kill them both, or was at least moderately entertained), but he was all too familiar with trolls and their more nocturnal habits.
But now, Dave was tired. He’d yawned far too many times in one minute than was probably healthy, while Sollux was irritatingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and his eyes glowed in the dark cabin of the truck. The exit sign came up, and Dave pulled off with a sigh.
Pumping gas was depressing, right up until you were using someone else’s card. Sollux punched in the number, and the tank began to fill. Dave yawned again, shaking his head, looking over at the troll.
“Hey. Captor.”
He got a grunt. Good enough.
“Can you take over driving? I really don’t think I can stay awake much longer, twelve hundred cups of coffee or no, and I’d rather just conk out now and wake up when we’re home. I mean, it’s only a couple hours.”
Dave yawned, missing the panicked look on Sollux’s face.
“Anyways, I would keep driving. But I totally don’t want to, so hopefully you’ll drive Ol’ Bessie well.”
He plopped the keys into Sollux’s hand, ignoring the protests because of course he woudn’t want to, it was a jackass-y thing to do but Dave curled up in the passenger seat, mindful of the computer bag.
Vaguely, he heard the door closing in the truck’s driver seat, and it adjusted, the click of a seat belt…and then nothing.
“Helps if you turn the car on,” Dave muttered sleepily, not opening his eyes.
“Shut the fuck up, Thtrider.”
Dave ignored it, because the nervousness was in the troll’s voice. Not really surprising, everyone knew how protective Dave was of his truck. But soon enough, it roars to life, followed by a moment or two of fumbling, and then a jerk.
“Slow down there, cowboy…” came the sleepy mumble, but Sollux didn’t even bother to respond, and Dave let out another sleepy mumble that came out completely unintelligible, and soon he was deep asleep.
==>
The sunlight hit Dave’s eyes first, and he blinked slowly, the hum of the truck finally filtering in, and he slowly blinked away the spots in his eyes. He lifted his head, yawned, and then blinked. Again. And again. And then it hit him, and he sat straight up, eyes wide.
He looked over at Sollux, who was looking back and completely panicked to boot.
“You wouldn’t wake up!” he said, obviously mildly scared. “I tried but you wouldn’t wake up and I didn’t know what to do!”
Five minutes later and Dave was slamming his door shut, the roasting heat and climbing humidity kicking in but he gave it no notice. “What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped. “Come on, Captor, it’s home, how do you NOT know what exit it is!”
“I don’t have a car, Thtrider, why the hell would I ever learn what fucking exit it ith? I take the damn buth, I don’t give a shit!”
“Do you have any idea where we even ARE?!”
“Yeth!”
“We’re in Mexico!”
“I know!”
“We are in Mexico!”
“I know!”
“You drove us all the goddamn way to Mexico!”
“I know, Dave, I get it, but you were the one who dethided it would be a great time for a nap without letting me thay anything and not waking up when I needed thome damn directionth!”
Dave wrenched open the door, fuming, clambering into the driver’s seat.
“Well, that is officially the last time I ever let you drive, I hope you’re happy about that!”
“I never athked to drive!”
“You could have told me you didn’t know how to get back!”
“Would it help if I altho told you I don’t have a driver’th lithenthe?”
The truck jolted to a stop two feet from where they’d pulled over to swap seats, and Dave whipped around and his glare almost had the potential to light Sollux’s hair on fire.
“Tell me you’re fuckin’ joking.”
Sollux frowned. “No. I’m not joking. Why would I get my lithenthe if I don’t have a car, and no one I know other than TZ hath a car? I don’t have one to practithe in, or tetht in. I borrowed a car a few timeth from my neighbor, tho at leatht I thort of know how to drive.”
Dave’s head made a very loud noise as he leaned it against the steering wheel. “Fuck. Okay, you know what? We’re done. Let’s just go, and next time you have a bigass secret like that, you let me in on it.”
“What, planning on making a litht?”
Sollux’s bitchy retort just made Dave grind his teeth. “You know what? Good idea. It’ll be the “Shit Captor Should Have Fucking Told Me” list, and right up at the top, number one, is “No Driver’s License.” There. Happy?”
“Abtholutely. Want to know who I lotht my virginity to?”
“I already know and it’s your fucking hand, you pathetic geek.”
Sollux’s look became ever so slightly smug, and that just infuriated Dave even more. “I swear to God if you tell me I’ll boot you out and make you walk your fucking nonexistent ass back to Texas.”
“I can fly.”
Dave ground his teeth together even harder. “Then I’ll tie you the fuck up!”
“I can thtill fly.”
“Then I will knock you out and leave you in the damn desert!”
“And when I wake up, I’ll fly home.”
It took every ounce of self-control Dave had left to keep from reaching over and doing unpleasant things to this troll. “Just shut the fuck up, and let’s drive the fuck home. I can vegetate on the couch and have fun, and you can go to your pathetic little cave all alone, that sound good to you? Sounds fucking rad to me, and who knows, maybe I’ll find it in my heart to give you a call and see how my totally wonderful roommate is doing, maybe that’ll liven up the tedium of being miserable in your stupid damn hive, programming or whatever the fuck it is you’re—“ it hit him then that Sollux had fallen silent, and all it took was one glance over to realize he should have shut up a long time ago.
Sollux just sat there, and he’d riveted his gaze on the horizon they were driving towards, mouth set in a hard line. It was obvious he wasn’t about to say anything else, slouched down in the seat.
Dave just sighed, and he’s going back to driving. He has to, otherwise… It hits him. If he just turned around, right now…they’d still be in Mexico. He sneaked a look over at Sollux, and then made up his mind.
Sollux glanced over with a frown when they roll back into the dirt, and then sat up when Dave turned around.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m just curious about something.”
“Yeah? And what’th that.” The flat tone tells Dave that no, he’s not forgiven.
“How far it is to the Yucatan, actually.”
Sollux’s brow furrowed at that. “The Yucatan? What the hell ith in the Yucatan?”
“No idea. That’s why we’re going.”
“Yeah? What happened to you being a lathy bum and me being thad and mitherable and alone for the retht of my life?”
“Didn’t suit my style.”
“Oh, that’th a fuckin’ relief…and why are you dragging me along?”
“Because why the fuck not?”
Moments pass before Sollux can finally get his response ready for that one. “Becauthe you theem to be a bit bothered by thith shit, and we have no planth, no idea of where we’re going—“
“We’re going to the Yucatan—“
“You theemed to be upthet that I got uth into Mexico and I, for one, don’t really have the fundth for a romp around the country.”
“Don’t worry. I can pay.”
Sollux balked at that. “Wh—no! Come on, Dave, ath much ath you like to thwagger around, you’re not really made of money, either!”
“I’m not, but my bro’s fucking loaded.”
Sollux groaned. “Come on. Dave, get theriouth.”
Dave cut him off before he could get anything else out. “Look, let’s just have a good time. Because as much as I made fun of you, my vacation plans were just lie around for two weeks, mix music, and wish that my friends lived in Texas, too, chat when I felt like it, and lie around in my boxers. Why not do this? Why not just take this opportunity and just…go. We’re already here—I have no idea how, they usually have borders for this shit, but whatever—and I want to go. Do you want to go?’
There was a moment of silence, and then Sollux sighed. “Fine. Fine, let’th go. If you theriouthly want to be thtuck with me for however long, then…whatever, that’th your funeral.”
There’s a bit of a moment, and then Dave sighs. “You’re my roommate, Captor, if I didn’t want to be stuck with you I would’ve found a new damn room.” Not to mention he didn’t mind Sollux. At all. It was more than that, even. He…was sort of fond of this skinny hacker. He’d been there when Sollux was drunk, when he’d been pissed off, when he’d been laid back and confident, when he’d just had a mood swing and thought dog turds had a better chance at everything than he did…Well, he’d been there, and he was still living, and he still…oh, that was verging on painfully honest right there, those emotions would have to be pocketed for later.
Sollux wasn’t aware of Dave’s little crisis, and he slumped down again. “Whatever,” he repeated.
==>
It got even muggier somehow, and by the time they were there (Sollux actually was allowed to drive, and now had the knowledge on how to wake Dave up by yelling out “Strife!” or some variation thereof), both of them were beginning to overhead.
Dave groaned as he finally shut the door, shaking his head. “It is hot as hell,” he
said, fanning himself with his wallet.
“Yeth.”
“We should probably change into cooler clothes or something when we get to the hotel room.”
“Yeth.”
Well, at least there wasn’t much argument. Dave spared a glance over and Sollux looked just as hot as he did. Well, at least it was pretty.
Finding a hotel was not difficult, and they slammed the door behind them, Sollux collapsing on the bed with an overly loud groan.
“It’th hot…”
“So get into your shorts and whatever.”
“Don’t have any.”
At that, Dave had to do a double-take. “You don’t have shorts.”
“Why would I have shortth?”
“Oh, god, that’s going on the list,” Dave groans. “You live in Texas, Captor, that’s why you would have shorts. Even man-capris, do you have those?”
“What the fuck are man caprith?”
Dave sighed. “Come on, Sollux,” he said, shaking his head and throwing one pair of shorts. “We’re going shopping.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t have shorts, and you need shorts. You’ll overheat if you don’t, come on.”
It took a few minutes of groaning and bitching, but Sollux finally grumped out the door, walking in his long pants and black shirt and getting more and more cranky while they walked.
It took even longer to convince Sollux to actually walk out the door in his new purchases, a long list of “I look thtupid” and “You’re inthane” leaving him, but somehow, Dave managed, and Sollux was slouching along in his bright green shirt and it’s bright yellow sleeves, the happy parrot on the front exclaiming “Viva Mexico!” in blindingly yellow text. His shorts were only slightly better, but the bright red fish on the blue fabric were a little on the obnoxious side. But Dave wasn’t about to let Sollux run around and overheat.
“I look thtupid,” Sollux said for the millionth time.
“You look fine,” Dave responded for the millionth time.
It didn’t take very long for Dave to get distracted, and he’s yanking on Sollux’s bright sleeve. “Sollux. Sollux, Sollux look!”
“It’th a man, Dave.”
“It’s a man with a SNAKE, Sollux!”
“Yeth, it’th…a man with a thnake.”
“And a macaw!”
“Yeth, Dave, I thee.”
“Go get a camera.”
“What?” Sollux looked appalled at that, but Dave didn’t even care.
“Go get a camera, here’s twenty bucks, they have to have something, come on! You can do it, Sollux, really, I believe in you!”
Sollux stared at the money in his hands, then back at the human. He sighed, shaking his head, going over to a stand with various goods. He wasn't exactly one to pick up a simple disposable. Dave would be absolutely appalled if it weren't for how excited he was. The troll made his way back, placing the cheap piece of plastic into a pale hand.
“Here you go.” Sollux said, instantly taking note of the offended look on Dave's face.
Dave didn't get time to say anything, though, his excitement pulling him back in. He would have to put “Sollux knows nothing about a good camera” on his list of things Captor Should Have Told Me later, but for right then, there was a snake... and a macaw. He pulled Sollux in, arm wrapped around thin shoulders, with a quick “Say cheese!” as he raised the camera in the air and snapped the photos. Sollux just watched as the reptile curled around his shoulders as the man place the creature onto them.
“Aw, man, this is so damn awesome!” Dave exclaimed, watching as the snake looked up, tongue flitting against a gray cheek. The human laughed, quick to get a picture of that as well, before the python was being pulled away, the scarlet macaw soon settling on Dave's shoulders.
“Dave, I thwear. You're plotting thomething nefariouth.” Sollux pointed out, but he found himself blinking as that flash goes off, Dave taking as many photos as he possibly could.
Sollux watched as Dave grinned, that bird flapping away and squawking away.
“Here, hold this.” Dave said quickly, shoving the camera into Sollux's hands. Sollux didn't have time to object as the human reached over to scratch between the brilliant wings. Sollux couldn't help it. He could see how happy Dave was.
He took a moment to reach that camera outward, finger pressing the button, Dave completely oblivious to the candid shot.
It all happened so fast, but soon they were walking away from the man with the animals, Dave beaming.
“That was awesome.” he stated again, arm around thin shoulders. “Coming to Mexico was a great idea.”
“You weren't tho keen on it when you woke up in Mexico.” Sollux pointed out bluntly as they walked down that busy street, Dave sneaking in photos here and there as they moved along.
“Where did you get that idea Captor? That's a silly idea.”
Before Sollux even had the chance to open his mouth to counter, he suddenly found his wrist in Dave's hand, the human pulling him along to the side as something caught the human's attention.
“What the hell, D Eth?” Sollux nearly yelped, completely caught off guard.
“Oh hell, is that what I think it is?” Dave said as he neared some jeeps, people standing off to the side as other tourists talked to them, getting into vehicles as they paid.
“What ith what?”
“It's... Oh hell yes, trip to the motherfucking ruins. This is more real than Kraft Mayo.”
The two of them walked over to a man standing off to the side, standing near his Jeep as he waited for a customer.
“Hey, I would like to take a ride to the ruins.” Dave said with a grin, the man just kind of staring at him like Dave had spoken another language.
Because to him, this tourist had.
Sollux could see that, though, see that the poor man hadn't quite understood Dave.
Before Dave could say anything about it, Sollux was quickly stepping in, taking hold of the situation as fast as possible.
“Noth guthtaría dar un patheo a las ruinath,” He said, wincing slightly at each time he lisped. He ignored the wide eyed stare coming from Dave.
“Eso será de treinta y cinco dólares,” was the quick response, and Sollux was already pulling out the money and handing it over, the man gladly taking it and opening his doors for the two tourists. Dave just continued to stare at Sollux as they got in.
“Since when the hell did you speak Spanish?” the human demanded to know, the fact just so lost on him.
“For theveral yearth now.” Sollux shrugged. “Thinth clatheth from high thcool.”
“You seriously can not remember everything from your classes in highschool, dude.” Dave states.
“Why not?”
“Because you can't.”
“Why?”
Dave just snorted, rolling his eyes. “I bet you remember your middle school French classes.”
“Oui.”
“Shut up.”
Sollux couldn't help but to smirk.
“Pourquoi, ne pas vous thouvenir de vos cours de franthais?”
“No, seriously, Captor... Just... Shut up.”
There was a while of waiting as other tourists filtered in, settling into the three jeeps set up, and then they were off, the man in front having yelled at them in Spanish, and Dave glanced at Sollux but the troll didn’t seem to want to translate.
Of course, Dave got his revenge, because the road was dirt, very bumpy with unexpected dips and holes, and the lead driver…well, he apparently didn’t believe in a speed limit.
One minute in, and Sollux was already screeching, holding onto the roll bar with a death grip as Dave whooped happily. The jeep bounded and bounced over the dirt road, all three of them kicking up a huge trail of dust as they went along.
“Oh, fuck, Dave, Dave DAVE WE’RE GOING TO DIE!”
Dave just couldn’t stop giggling, and he reached over, patting Sollux’s knee as they both lifted into midair, an unexpected hill on the road.
“We’ll b-b-be fine!” Dave cackled.
“Nooo no no I thwear to FUCK Dave, if you kill uth I will NEVER thtop haunting youOH GOD!”
Another large hill had Sollux’s forehead smacking straight into the overhead ceiling bar, and he yelps as they fall back. Dave’s forehead had brushed against it for a brief moment, and for the first time he’s glad he’s not as tall as his companion.
“You a-all right there Sollux?”
“I-I will k-kill you…”
It took another fifteen minutes of breakneck jungle driving until they arrived, and Sollux was out of the jeep before it even stopped moving, rubbing at his forehead with a grumpy expression.
“Come on, Sollux, it wasn’t that—“
“Don’t even thtart.”
Dave decided to listen, and he lapsed into silence, patting Sollux on the shoulder. Still, the guide’s walking through the trees, and Dave’s wondering where the hell they have ruins, there’s nothing here that he can see, and then they sort of turn and bam, there it is.
“It’s huge,” Dave muttered, staring up at the sandy-gold stone, wide-eyed. “Oh, man, this frickin’ thing is massive…”
Sollux even dropped his head to check it out, too, just as wide-eyed as Dave was, blinking.
“Wow…”
Dave nodded. “Wow is right, no kidding…come on, there are people climbing it, we should, too…”
Sollux didn’t argue, for once, just nodded and followed along. The stairs were massive, both of them tripping three steps up, but they continued on doggedly, stopping to look around, or pretending they were looking around to hide the fact they were beginning to get tired. But it was worth it, and they stood at the top of the ancient temple, staring out over the vast expanse of jungle in front of them, panting and tired but so, so happy to be there.
“Wow,” Sollux said again, quietly.
“Yeah,” Dave said, nodding. “Wow is right.”
They stood there for a few minutes, just looking out, and Sollux let out a long sigh.
“Thankth.”
Well. That wasn’t something Dave had been expecting, and he blurted out a “What?” before he could stop himself.
Sollux just shrugged. “Thankth for thith. I…I couldn’t have done thith by mythelf, I’m…not the type to jutht run around like thith. And I never would have been able to thee thith.” There was a twitch of a smile. “Tho, thank you for thith.”
Dave smiled at that, and he’s patting Sollux’s shoulder again. “No worries, Captor. I probably wouldn’t have done this either if not for you.”
They grinned at each other awkwardly for a moment, before looking back out at the forest. How long they stayed like that, neither one could say, but in that moment, it didn’t really matter. At least, not until Dave’s quiet “I am way too pooped to walk back down…”
Sollux laughed, and his eyes glow as energy curls around both of them. “Probably a good thing you brought me along, then.”
==>
The next week was unbelievable for the both of them, and it was sort of unexpected. They toured a few more ruins, amazed at how different and how massive they all were, the carved stone and the patterns that were almost irritatingly perfect.
They went to plenty of museums, too, and ‘irritatingly perfect’ didn’t even begin to describe some of those ancient artifacts. They were informative and wonderful little places scattered here and there, though a lot of them required some very extensive translating on Sollux’s part, not that he really minded. It was fun, and Dave got so excited about it. His coolkid mask was gone for now. It was hard to hide his enthusiasm, and there was no point in trying to restore his cred with someone he’d puked in front of after one of those college parties. More than once.
They went diving, and Dave got to add a few more things to the list. The fact that Sollux didn’t have a bathing suit was one of them, and then the fact that he was a surprisingly good swimmer despite having the physique of a bunch of rulers in a bag. Hundreds of little tiny fish were everywhere, the water clear and warm and perfect, and Sollux had a bit of an underwater freakout when he saw a pufferfish, gesturing excitedly as bubbles streamed from his mouth. There were so many fish of all colors and shapes and sizes and Dave hadn’t even been aware this many fish even existed in one place.
They even toured the gift shops, Dave picking up a shirt for John that, according to Sollux, said some rather rude things on it in bright blue font, and a hand-carved figurine from one of the vendors in the forests. Sollux picked up a copper and shell necklace for Aradia, and a shot glass from a restaurant they went to. On it was a dancing crab in a sarape with castanets, and text that Sollux said, with a grin, translated to The Happy Crab.
Dave even picked something up for Sollux, a necklace made of wood so dark it was almost a reddish black. On it, it had long spikes throughout, and it fit nicely around Sollux’s neck.
Sollux responded by getting Dave a carved wooden ring with a silver-embellished eagle on it.
They ate enough amazing food to make them dread going back to the land of fast food chains and dorm food, but Dave promised to cook more often and their fears were put to rest. Sort of. One of the chefs even came out to present the dish, and finished the preparation and lit it on fire right in front of them. It was incredible, and the hot chocolate was to die for.
The iguanas and geckos and massive toads wandering around made them look twice before they put their feet down too fast, and Sollux messed up once and shrieked as the blob he’d nearly stepped on croaked and hopped into the bushes.
The entire week was amazing, and it was one of those whirlwind times where they did as much as they could, and then relaxing when they just couldn’t move anymore, where they would lie on their beds and stare at the ceiling and talk and laugh, remembering other tourists acting like idiots, of themselves acting like idiots, and it was relaxed and peaceful and they talked until they fell asleep, sprawling in the heat and their boxers.
It was full of bickering and happiness and ridiculousness, and Sollux even got to take a picture with a sea turtle and Dave was fairly certain the troll would explode with happiness before he managed to get a picture of it.
And finally, Dave made his way back to the hotel, laden with bags and a grin. Sollux looked up as he came in, where he was setting out his shorts to dry from a quick run to the beach.
“What ith it?” the troll asked, unsure.
“Well,” Dave said easily, setting the bag down on the table. “I was just thinking, we’ve done loads of stuff here, and it’s been great, but we’re forgetting one important detail.”
“What’th that..?”
Dave proffered a bottle, far too happy. “Drinking limit’s not 21.”
Thirty minutes later, they’re both laid out on the beach, relaxing with the bottle stuck deep in the sand between them, waves tickling their bare toes. The sunset reflected off of the water, and everything was turning gold and red.
“Thith really hath been fucking thpectacular.”
“Yeah…”
Sollux turned to him with a slight frown, both of them a little on the tipsy side. “No, theriouthly. It’th been amathing.”
Dave smiled, and he’s nodding his head. “I know. And I agree, it really, really has been incredible and this is incredible and you’re incredible…everything’s damn incredible and I will do a goddamn rage-flip if anyone says anything otherwise.”
“How doeth one do a rage flip, exactly?”
“You flip, propelled by pure rage.”
“I should have known.”
“You really should have.”
They lapsed into another comfortable silence, both of them taking swigs before they’re snuggling the bottle back into the cool sand, staring out over the water.
“Been a long time since I’ve gone on a vacation,” Dave said quietly after a while of silence. “Like…a longass while. I think…man, it was middle school for me. Got to go up to Ontario, see Niagara Falls.” He turned to look at Sollux, frowning. “What about you?”
“I’ve…never really been on vacation before,” he finally managed to get out. Dave sighed.
“Should’ve known…sorry, didn’t mean to be rude. You really are a workaholic, huh?”
“Guethh I am,” Sollux said with a shrug. “I mean…not that I don’t want to get out…I guethh I jutht feel like I should be doing other thingth.”
“Like…work.”
“Yeth.”
There was a low chuckle, and Dave patted Sollux on the top of the head. “I wish I knew how your mind worked, Captor.”
“I wish I knew how it worked, too,” Sollux said, and he gave Dave another sidelong glance, and then looked donw. “I mean…thometimeth, I think I love you. But that would be crathy.”
That was followed by a long silence, and Sollux hummed lightly under his breath, foot bouncing lightly to the tune in his head.
“Do you mean that?”
Sollux turned with a “Hmm?” and his eyes were lidded, a slight smile on his face. He blinked, and then he nodded. “Oh, right. That. Well…yeth. I mean, why not?”
“Why not?” Dave echoed. “What’s that supposed to—“
“I don’t know if you notithed, Dave Thtrider, but you happen to be Dave Thtrider. Everyone loveth you. How could I rethitht the charmth?”
“I puked on your bed.”
Sollux laughed at that. “Okay, tho maybe you lotht thome of the glamour. But I guethh that made me love you even more.”
“So I should puke on your bed more often?”
Sollux nodded again. “Yep. It’ll be the greatetht love thtory ever written.” He chuckled again, but sat back with another low hum. “I don’t know, I guethh…you put up with me. And that’th more than I could’ve athked for.”
“Oh…” Dave said quietly, and he nodded slightly. “Well, I guess my head’s a bit messed up, too. “
“Why?”
“Because sometimes…” Dave said, looking over at this troll, a slightly wibbly smile on his face. “I think I love you, too.”
There was that deep moment between them, red eyes looking right into heterochromatic ones. It was the moment when the music in one of Karkat’s shitty romcoms would have gotten louder, swelling dramatically, as waves crashed in the backgroud and birds flew overhead and all of their differences were put aside. But this was so much better, because it wasn’t stupid.
It was odd, because neither one of them was really sure who initiated the kiss. It was sort of like they both took a breath, and then they both marveled at the fact that soft lips were pressing against their own gently. They lean over the forgotten bottle of tequila, and Dave pulled Sollux closer gently, making that kiss just a little deeper as the waves crashed and thrummed in the background.
==>
Waking up cuddled on a beach, wrapped around each other with their tequila bottle nestled between them, was definitely one of the more odd experiences of the week. It took both of them a couple of seconds, and Sollux looked ready to panic right up until Dave smiled.
Neither of them really wanted this vacation to end, not really. They knew that it had to, but that didn’t mean anything when they just really didn’t want it to. At least this way, they got a couple of days of shy smiles, of happy laughs and stolen kisses and hand-holding when they didn’t think anyone was around. Suddenly, that necklace and that ring means something, and both of them caught themselves stroking them without thinking.
But they were packing up their bags, Sollux somehow managing to collect enough stuff to require the purchase of another little suitcase. Sollux floated all of them out of the truck at the same time, requiring one trip, placing them in the truck as Dave strapped all of them down.
They were both smiling, even if Dave was red on near-lobster levels. They’re both laughing, even if there’s a bandage around Sollux’s hand where a curious iguana bit him to see if he was real.
Sollux hopped into the passenger seat again, already buckled by the time Dave slid into the driver’s seat. Ol’ Bessie started up with a roar, and soon enough they were on the road. It was comfortable, the forests and cities passing around them.
“Thankth.”
“You said that already, babe. Like, a million and a half times.”
“Yeah, but I mean it.”
“You always say that, too.”
Sollux sighed in a bit of a huff, rolling his eyes. “Yeth, Dave, but…all right, all right, I’ll thtop.” He fiddles his hands in his lap, until Dave finally just reached over and grabbed one of them.
“Calm down, Sollux, it’s not like—“
“We can…keep thith up at thchool, right?” Sollux blurted out. “I mean, thith vacation theemed like your time to unwind, and if dating your roommate’th about to dethtroy your cred—“
“You stop that sentence right there and don’t you dare think about continuing,” Dave said insistently, frowning. “Look…look, I do have some sort of weird rep. But it’s not one that I really even chose. Come on, Sollux, you should know me a little better than that.”
Sollux smiled, nodding. “All right, all right,” he said as he ducked his head in slight embarrassment.
“I mean it. I might get miserably drunk with them, but I only ever act like a dumbass in front of you.”
“Th…thankth?”
Dave rolled his eyes. “Okay, how’s this: I would never in a million years go to Mexico with those people.”
That got a laugh again. “All right, all right. Well, I’d never go to Mexico with anyone elthe, either.”
“Yeah…you wouldn’t go by yourself, either, though.”
“Have you met me? I’d never go to Mexico with that douchebag, it’d be thucky ath hell.”
They laughed, the sound filling the cabin, and Dave leans over, sneaking a quick kiss. “Well, whatever you say about you…I really enjoyed myself, and I’m glad you didn’t yell at me for being crazy and marched us back to Texas.”
“Me, too,” Sollux admitted, nodding. “I’m really glad I came. Thith…thith hath been amathing, and my thtupid head wath right.”
“Right?”
Sollux looked over, and he smiled. “Yeah. I think I thtill love you.”
Dave can’t help the broad smile that covered his face, and he nodded. “Good to hear,” he said, grinning. “Because guess what?”
“What?” Sollux said dutifully.
“I’m pretty damn sure I love you, too.”
