What Thing? • Homestuck

[igrab]

Dave/Jane • Dirk/Jake • John/Karkat • just roll w it

Movie night was their version of boys' night, for the most part.

The most part being that Jane had somehow found herself here, every friday night like clockwork. Even if it meant watching Dirk and Jake suck face - which they didn't, mostly, because Jake was too enthralled with the movie and Dirk would just sit there watching the back of Jake's head like an enormous goober (those dumb nerds deserved each other, Jane had decided) - or John getting inappropriately close to Karkat's horns and pretending he had no idea what he was doing, even though he totally did.

Jane loved her family so much it hurt, sometimes.

Dave was there too, of course, lounging somewhere near Dirk like it was a complete accident that he just happened to be sitting so close. Dirk would wait until they dimmed the lights before he reached over, gave his ecto-kid an affectionate hair ruffle. Then John would turn and invade his personal space like it was no big deal, and Jane could see the pinched look in Karkat's face, in the light from the screen, halfway between jealousy and disdain.

This night, though, was different. This night was the first movie night since the epic Just Kiss Already, You Guys! moment that, finally, had gotten through to John and Karkat's thick little skulls. And now they were snuggled together, a painfully happy look on Karkat's face.

Which left Dave, sitting between the couples and manfully trying to pretend it didn't mean anything.

This night, when the lights went down and John and Jake started their usual friendly arguments on what, exactly, made a movie 'good' - with occasional interjection from Karkat and Dave, of course, about how everything they liked was actually terrible - Jane leaned forward, pulled her blanket cocoon up enough so that she could wriggle closer.

"Uh," Dave said.

"We're going to snuggle," Jane informed him, in a tone that brooked absolutely no arguments.

"Welp," Dave said, and without any further complaints, placed his arm around her shoulders - delicately, as if he wasn't quite sure he was doing it right.

"Yes, there," Jane murmured, and just like that, they fit together, her curves tucked in under his arm and her head pillowed on his chest.

"Is this gonna be a thing now," he muttered, and he did seem to do that a lot so she wasn't quite sure if he was actually talking to her, if he actually meant to say it. But then, between her and her three best friends, they had about enough social skill to fill a very small teaspoon.

Jane swallowed. "Do you want it to be a thing?" And, good lord, what were they even talking about?? Do you ever think before you open that mouth, Miss Crocker?

"Uh." The great Dave Strider, tongue-tied for the second time in one night, and Jane felt a little bit fiercely proud. "I. Sure."

Sure? Sure. Sure, what did that even mean?? "...I don't actually have any idea what we're talking about here," Jane admitted, and she could feel the way his chest contracted as he blew out a breath.

"Yeah, me either. Snuggling's cool, though, I mean, obviously that's what we were talking about. Snuggling. Not anything else."

Jane grinned to herself, heart skipping a beat. "Of course."