Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Dave, where the fuck are you going?"

"Out."

"You know what I fucking meant."

"Well, Karkles, since you're so concerned, and have to know, I'm going on a walk to none of your business, and I might stop by leave me the fuck alone on the way there."

Karkat sunk in his seat at the kitchen table, narrowing his red eyes at his so called friend who was staring back at him from behind his shades. It was safe to say the albino was less than amused by Dave's response, but decided to drop it, not in the mood to drag this stupid conversation out. He flipped him off as he turned and left. Karkat didn't know why he moved in with this dick other than he didn't want to have to stay alone and pay rent by himself in some shitty apartment. Don't get the wrong idea; it wasn't just him and Dave here. Fuck no, he would lose his mind. No, they had decided to bunk with a couple collage buddies so they could all split the rent and afford a nice place. Mind you, when Karkat agreed to this, he had no idea how many people where going to be crammed into one house. As if Dave wasn't enough, he was also roommates with Eridan, Nepeta, Feferi, John, and Rose. Yup, just one big happy fucking bunch.

Even though Karkat wasn't entirely happy with his so called roommates, he couldn't complain about the living arrangement. With their entire income combine, they had settled on buying a nice house in a nice neighborhood. The home was rather large, and just big enough for all of them to live comfortably. There were 3 stories to the house. The third floor was just a couple bathrooms and bedrooms, where the boys slept. The ground floor had a bathroom, the kitchen and dining, a living room, and bedrooms for the girls. The cellar was just as you think a cellar would be. Dark, dingy, dirty, and cold. The floor was still concrete with no carpeting or other flooring put in, and the walls were the same. A couple dangling light bulbs was all there was to light the room. They had planned on cleaning it up and maybe making a lounge, or a game room, and Eridan and Feferi were pretty intent on convincing everyone to make the basement have a secret swimming pool. In the end, fear of the eerie basement, and pure laziness rendered the cellar into being their storage room, which was now flooded with boxes and knick-knacks, and things nobody would need ever.

All in all, it wasn't bad. Everyone did their share of cleaning and cooking, they didn't have too much trouble with stealing each other's stuff, or invading personal space. Okay, no that was lie. But it was bearable at least. It was also in a calm area, nice and away from too many roads, or people, and behind the house, was just plain forest for miles. It was nice.

But still, Karkat couldn't help but be extremely annoyed by his roommates all. The. Time.

-…-

Dave shoved one hand into the pocket of his black jeans and used his free hand to brush back his light hair before it fell back into place. Dave sighed quietly. He was a bit down. He didn't know how to explain it, it's not like anything bad happened, and he wasn't having some sort of man-period mood swings. He was…well, just plain bored. He thought that after he got out of school, the do-the-same-exact-thing-every-day way of life would be in his past, but he felt like it was happening all over again. He wanted freedom to stretch his arms, and hang out. And maybe some time to clear his head without John placing whoopee cushions on his seat or Karkat screeching in his ear, or his sister trying to dissect his brain. Just to clear his head. He began to walk, to the woods out back. He didn't know why, it's not like he's ever walked there before. He had no interest in the wilderness, or nature walks, or squirrels throwing nuts at his head. He grew up in the busy city, it just wasn't his thing. But somehow, he found himself surround by trees with twigs and dried leaves withering underneath his sneakers. He gave another gruff sigh to himself but instead of turning back he pushed forward, every now and then getting his pants snagged on a thorn bush or have a branch stick out and tap at his shades.

"Goddamn, why don't we have a path or some shit?"

He muttered to himself, pushing further. He didn't know how long or far he walked, and didn't care. At least it was quiet and at least it was new. He did, however, snap from his thoughts when he noticed it was beginning to get dark. He muttered a curse to himself and turned around on his heels. He couldn't see the house through the thick trees and he knew that it would probably be a while before he did. So he began to walk back where he assumed the house was. It wasn't until another hour passed that he realized he was lost. He pushed his hand behind his shades and scrubbed at his eyes in irritation. He knew this wasn't right, he heard water. A stream probably, and he sure as fuck didn't pass any stream. He decided to sit down, and try and figure out where the hell he was before he got himself eaten by a pack of rabid deer or something like that. He wandered over to the nearby stream and sat on the hill a little ways a way, glancing down as the water passed. It was getting pretty dark by now, and he could hear the crickets chirping.

*SNAP*

He flinched at the sound. It definiatly sounded like a person stepping on a twig and breaking it. Or something. He tensed up and glanced over to where he thought he heard the noise from, which was difficult to determine from the way the sound bounced off the trees. It was all silent for a minute, only the rustling of leaves and the insects around to comfort/annoy him. He relaxed.

*SPLASH*

"Holyshitwhathehell!?"

With that, Dave hopped up, scrambling back, and had to stop himself from tripping over a couple twigs and rocks jutting out from their place on the ground. His entire body went ridged. It had sounded like something had jumped in the river, something big, much bigger than an innocent squirrel taking a midnight dip. He wanted to run, but then it occurred to him that this was probably a prank by Egbert, trying to scare him again, and he'll be damned if he'll give that kid the satisfaction of scaring a Strider. He snapped his head over to where the splash came from.

It was not John standing in the water.

In fact, what Dave saw nearly made him piss himself, not that he'd ever admit it. Or rather, who he saw. Whoever this guy was. He stared at the other through his shades with wide eyes.

Standing knee deep in the water was a tall, gangly male, his limbs littered with scratches and scars. He was extremely thin, unhealthily so. It was easy to tell seeing as he was only wearing a loin cloth. His skin clung tightly to his ribs, and the ridges of his spin were prominent. It looked like he hadn't been well fed in a long time. There was a thick layer of dirt and grime coating his skin from top to bottom, the water in the stream doing nothing to clean it off. His jet black hair was long, and tangled like he had never had a haircut before, reaching past his butt and ghosting the water bellow.
The one thing on Dave's mind was not 'what is he doing here' or 'what is he', but was the fact that he found this filthy stranger fascinating. He should be scared, or maybe pissed off that somebody was trespassing. But he wasn't. He was just interested in who he was, why he was here, and what his story was. So instead of running away, he watched him, relieved he wasn't noticed yet.

The man sloshed around in the stream, trudging forward, and cupping the water with his hands, and pouring it onto his side. Upon closer inspection, Dave noticed a gash on the others side, still oozing with thick crimson blood. The other male grunted in pain, but repeated, until he was satisfied that the wound was clean. He sighed, and then sunk chest deep into the water, going silent. He must be cold, it was late September. But he stayed there. He just sat there in the water for at least 10 minutes. Dave almost went down to check and see if he was still alive, to see if he had fallen asleep or something.

*SNARL* *SPLASH*

Dave jumped and watched as the other growled and slashed his hand into the water, only to pull it out with a dead fish resting in his palm, a slash going through its throat, probably from skilled fingers ripping his jagged nails through its skin and scales. And then he put his mouth and bit it. He…He just fucking bit it. It took him a moment to finish off the fish, having its blood stain his lips and chins from lack of cooking it. He even ate like an animal, gnashing his teeth, making slurping noises, and chewing with his mouth open, showing off his sharp, bloodstained not so pearly whites. When he had finished, he got up, out of the stream, dripping, smearing the blood around his mouth with the back of his hand.

Staring at him through his shades, which would be a bit difficult at this time of night if he wasn't used to it, Dave watched as the beastlike man trudged his way over the hill on the opposite side. Dave stood there for a moment, pondering on what he should do next. He turned in the opposite direction. And ran.

He didn't know how fast or how long he ran, and he knew he tripped a couple times, scrapping his pale skin and ripping his jeans, but he didn't stop, not until he spotted his home, ran inside, and then finally slammed and locked the door behind him.

"Whew…I'm outta shape…"

He wheezed, leaning against the door, trying to catch his breath when he noticed skeptical violet eyes staring at him. He did what any guy in his position would do and stared back, finally calming his wheezes.

"Hey Rose. Aren't you up past your bedtime?"

"Yes, if I had one, that is. I decided to delay my slumber this fine night because a certain brother of mine had left without telling anyone his destination, or if he even had one, and then disappeared for four hours."

Ah, good old Rose. He loved when she let him know she cared in the way that can make him feel the shittiest. She closed the thick, old looking book she had in her lap, running her thin, milky white fingers delicately over the title, pretending that she was far more interested in the book than Dave.

"Well? I am expecting an explanation, you know." The thin, fragile looking girl spoke impatiently, her words leaving her place lips with obvious frustration and worry.

Dave walked over to the couch his sister was sitting on, stepping behind it so he was directly behind her, and leaned over the edge of the couch, his hand gripping it so he didn't fall forward.

"What're you reading?"

"Where were you?"

His attempt to change the topic to something more comfortable did not work. And Dave knew there was no convincing Rose to change her mind once it was made up, she wanted to know why he was gone for so long. He couldn't blame her. It wasn't like him to run off like he did anyways.

"Alright fine, you got me. I just took a walk in the woods, which is why I'm dirty and smell like nature."

"For four hours?" She arched a thin brow, clearly skeptical.

"I got lost. But hey, I'm sorry I worried my baby sister." He cooed out the last words sarcastically and then ruffled Rose's hair, having her blonde locks fall in her eyes and her headband slip. She hated that, and he knew it. She huffed; dropping her novel onto her lap and reaching up to fix her hair, fiddling with the headband for a moment and then gave up, taking it off and placing it with her book.

"You can hardly call me a baby considering we're the same age, and I am vastly more mature than you." She reminded him. Only siblings like Rose and Dave could have such a healthy relationship with such teasing and snark.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to bed. I suggest you do too." Dave left Rose where she was in the family room and walked up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. The Strider trudged over the dirty clothes on the floor, and then simply dropped onto his messy bed, not changing out of his clothes or taking off his shoes. He already knew he wasn't going to get any sleep. He couldn't get that man in the woods out of his head. He would have to see him again.

Chapter Text

Dave didn't sleep well that night at all. His thoughts were cluttered with the image of the wild man he saw in the woods. He just…he had to see him again; he had to know about him. The nameless man had totally captured all of the Strider's attention without even trying, and it just made Dave even more curious about him.

Reluctantly, he had pulled himself out of bed, untangling himself from the sheets and blankets he had been wrestling with all night, pulled off his clothes, showered, and then got dressed in something that didn't reek. The same bland routine he followed every morning. He's was beginning to hate it but then again, it was absolutely necessary. Then, he trudged down the stairs, to meet up with some of his other roommates, most of them tired and sluggish and in no mood to talk to him. By process of elimination, he found out it was Rose's turn to cook breakfast, which kind of made him feel bad for having her stay up late to wait on him.

Eridan was groggily sitting on the couch, yawning every now and then, and scratching at his morning stubble, while Feferi had fallen back asleep leaning on this shoulder. Nepeta was sprawled across the top of the couch, much like a lazy cat would do, her dangling leg swaying back and forth against the back of the couch. Karkat sat in a single chair not too far away, his arms crossed over his chest and earphones blasting some song Dave didn't know. Judging by the dark circles still ever so present under his eyes, Dave assumed Karkat hadn't gotten any sleep. Again.

Instead of waiting like a zombie with the rest of the drowsy group, he decided to check on Rose, maybe be a decent person for once and offer her some help with breakfast. He wasn't prepared for the sight he walked in on though. When the Strider set foot in the kitchen, he saw his sister standing at the stove, as he had expected, flipping golden flapjacks back and forth on a skillet. John stood behind her, his arms lazily resting around her waist, pulling her to him, his head resting against hers ever so gently, quietly yawning against her hair. Rose didn't seem to mind.

Dave really should be used to this now. Rose and John have been dating for 8 months now. They hadn't even told him, Dave had found out by an unfortunate series of events, involving him walking in on the two with their lips locked. It didn't upset the cool kid, just, made things awkward for a while. It was difficult to become comfortable with his best friend dating his sister. He still wasn't sure if he had fully come to terms with it.

Deciding not to disturb the two and simple sat at the cluttered kitchen table instead, his chair squeaking against the floor as he did. John glanced over his shoulder at the shaded male, and released the Lalonde, joining the other boy at the table, pushing a couple magazines and empty cups to the side to give him room to rest his arms on the table. He greeted the other with a wide smile, showing off his buck teeth proudly.

"Hey, Dave! 'Morning!"

"Morning."

"You disappeared for a while yesterday, huh?" The black haired boy questioned, a curious twinkle in his blue eyes. Dave stared back unimpressed, but soon smirked back at him.

"Oh, haha, yeah, funny thing happened."

"Yeah?" John responded a bit too quickly.

"Yeah, I fell off the face of the earth for a couple hours. How about that?"

The other sensed his sarcasm and luckily for Dave, his friend has a good sense of humor, and chuckled a bit. "Aw, Dave, again?"

"What can I say? This world just isn't ready for all this irony, so it keeps trying to get rid of me."

"Wow, the worlds a jerk."

"I hear you, man"

They're conversation was cut short when Rose placed a plate stacked high with pancakes on the table in front of them, sneaking a peck from John as she leaned over, and then she went over to the doorway to inform the still yet to fully wake up others that the food was ready. Shortly after, they filled in, taking a seat at the table, and filling their plates. Rose soon joined them.

"Will someone pass the syrup, please?" Feferi chirped, eyeing Eridan as she asked, who soon handed her the sticky bottle of syrup with a sleepy grunt. He wasn't much of a morning person.

"Rose, these are really, really good!" Nepeta complimented, munching on one of the bare pancakes, and Rose smiled, thanking her, and Karkat soon joined the conversation by telling Nepeta to use a fork.

It droned on like this for a while, Dave not really engaging in the conversations, his mind elsewhere. He couldn't take his mind off of that man. He was just, consuming his mind, and he knew if he didn't find him again soon, he would hate himself. Every now and then he got the worrying thought that he might have just spotted a hobo bathing in a river, but he kept finding a way to reassure himself. He just knew this guy was something different, something astonishing.

"Dave, dear, you're drooling into your food." Rose snapped the other out of his daze.

"Yeah, you haven't said one word to us all morning, Dave." Feferi piped up, leaning over the table a bit to shoot Dave a concerned look.

"I'm fine, just…Tired, you know?" He fibbed, going quiet.

"About what?" Nepeta soon joined in with a smile, a mischievous look on her face, as if imaging all the things he could be thinking of.

"Probably nothing important." Karkat quipped in soon after, before showing his true interest. "What is it, some shitty rap song, what shades look best with your shirt?"

"Christ, leawe the poor guy alone, let him eat his pancakes." Eridan grumpily spoke up, the morning seeming to still put him in a bad mood. The others backed off at that, going back to picking at their food and poking fun at each other. In the moment of peace, a thought occurred to Dave.

"Hey, Eridan. Do you still have that hunting rifle your dad gave you?"

"Yeah, wwhy?"

-…-

"Dawe, this is fuckin' ridiculous, I hawen't gone huntin' in ages, and more importantly, I don't really feel like doin' this." Eridan had finished getting ready for the day, with a shower, shave, and a handful of hair gel. It must be a bit disappointing for one to get themself to look so florid, to just end up trudging after a person they barely consider a friend, through mud, twigs, and other nature-y shit.

"For the last goddamn time, It's not hunting." Dave replied sounding a bit irritated from the complaining.

"Then wwhy are wwe ewen out here?"

"I'll tell you, okay? Relax."

A bit more trudging and a couple times getting lost, they finally made it to their destination. Dave and Eridan stood onto of the grassy hill, looking down at the rushing stream, which was empty and dull. The blonde then promptly took a seat on the ground, and then motioned for Eridan to join him, which soon, he did. But after a few moments of silence, the Ampora began to feel reasonably irritated.

"Dawe."

"Yeah?"

"Wwhat are wwe-"

"Keep your voice down."

"…Wwhat are wwe doin'?" He tried again, a bit quieter.

"Waiting."

"…Okay…? For?"

"Eridan, just fucking relax okay, I know what I'm do-!" He shut up quickly, when he heard a familiar splash, both turning to look at the once empty stream, the expected visitor now wading in the water.

The skinny male splashed into the water, gazing at the clear stream and feeling its current against his fingertips with these surprisingly graceful movements. Everything was silent for a moment, except for the sound of the water, which was soon joined by the sound of leaves tousling together in the breeze, making the scene seem all the more breath-taking.

"Dawe?"

"Yeah?"

"Wwho the hell is that?"

"I have no clue."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…I'm going to go talk to him."

Eridan shuffled stiffly in his spot, seeming to not want to be noticed, which was reasonable. His green eyes stared at the other in disbelief, shock, maybe thinking he was idiotic for even suggesting such a thing. "Are you fuckin' crazy? That guy looks mentally unstable, wwhy wwould you ewen wwant to-" He didn't even bother trying to finish his sentence. Dave was already getting up and walked toward the other who was still enjoying the freezing cold water.

Dave walked toward the dirt caked wild-child with mock bravery, being constant with his steps, he could feel his heart pounding hard against his ribs with each step that got him closer. He took his chance to examine him a bit closer, noticing more scars standing out against his sun-tanned skin, taking in his sharp features, and the reopened wound on his side, yet again smeared with his own dried blood. Dave stopped a few feet away from the water. The man still hadn't noticed him yet, and he nervously thought of what to do next. He didn't think he would get this far. He shifted his weight back and forth on his feet, waiting for the other to notice that he was standing there, and then realized he wouldn't. He thought of what to say to the nameless man. …Nothing seemed good enough, so he took a chance.

"Hey."

That got the others attention. He snapped his head in the Strider's direction, staring at him wide eyed, as if he had never seen anything like Dave before. Quite honestly, this should be reversed. Dave should be the surprised one, but no, the nameless person stood frozen in his spot, staring at Dave. He wasn't saying anything, and Dave decided to try again.

"Yeah, you." He spoke a bit shakily, trying to not sound nervous. "You're on private property. What are you doing here?"

"…" The man remained silently, taking a few steps back.

"…" Dave took a few steps forward. "Its cool man, you're not in trouble, just tell me why you're here."

The man looked from side to side, glancing behind him as if ready to run, and then back at Dave.

"Yes, yes, you." Dave said again, patience growing thin.

"...Ejsy str upi rbrm dsuomh…?"

Okay, Dave was sure that wasn't English, or any language he ever heard.

"What?"

"O fpmy imfrtdysmf upi."

"… the hell does that even mean?"

Then the guy started to look at Dave like HE was the crazy one! The nerve. Getting irritated, Dave snapped at him, walked closer.

"Are you just fucking with me? Because this is getting really-"

He ran. The man scrambled out of the water, stumbling and catching himself on his hands and feet before darting up the hill and away, leaving Dave stunned. He couldn't let him get away, that was the first thought that came to mind. He glanced at the ice cold water hesitantly, before splashing through the stream himself, and darting after him. Luckily he was still in sight, but damn was he fast. He seemed to know exactly how to weave around trees, rocks, and bushes, making it extremely hard for Dave to catch up to him. Luckily, years of ridiculous battles with his bro had taught him how to be fast and nimble. He tripped a couple times, tearing his jeans and skin, making his knees bleed, but he quickly jumped to his feet, over and over again, keeping his eye on the tangled mess of hair ahead of him. He felt himself getting tired, but the curiosity and frustration pushed him forward. Finally, he was catching up, and he took his chance, throwing himself forward and tackling the other to the ground.

They both tumbled and Dave rolled to stop, practically sitting on top of the stunned man. Just when Dave was about to stop and take a breath, the man pretty much snarled at him, pushing the Strider over, and off him. Once free, the black haired boy, jumped back into a clear fighting stance, crouching and baring grotesquely jagged teeth. Dave got on his feet, stepping back as well, not sure how to handle the situation.

"…Listen man, it's not like that. I don't want to fight you." Dave held his hands in front of him to show he meant no harm.

"Yslr smpyjrt dyrq smf o eoaa loaa upi!" The man hissed at the blonde through bared teeth.

"Yeah, right, totally. Listen, I'm just gonna…go. Okay? Calm down." Dave spoke calmly. He had to admit, this was kind of scary. Maybe this was a bad idea. He took a step back, and that's when he got tackled to the ground. He landed hard on his back, his shades falling off and landing somewhere away. He squinted at the brighter light, and opened his eyes to see a filthy hand flying toward his face. He hissed, the long haired mans overgrown nails slashing across his face, breaking skin. Dave yelped and grabbed the other by the shoulders, trying to push him off, but couldn't. For a staving dude, this guy sure was strong. Again, the nails clawed at his skin, ripping past the other side of his face. All Dave could do was cover his face with his arms and struggle to get away, but he was straddled. He felt him claw at his arms, and then a blow to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Dave hissed, holding his stomach and opening an eye to see the man hold back a fist, preparing a punch that looked sure to promise pain. Dave closed his eyes and waited for the blow, but it never came. Instead he heard a 'thunk' and then felt a weight lay on top of him. He opened his eyes to see the man lying limply on top of him, and then Eridan standing next to him with an unimpressed look on his face, hunting rifle in hand.

"…Eridan, what did you do?"

"Wwoww, um, you're wwelcome Dawe. Don't wworry, I didn't shoot him, just hit him in the head with the butt of gun, seein' how you wwere gettin' your ass handed to you. You so fuckin' owe me, Strider."

Dave sat up while pushing the other off him and to the side as he did. "Yeah…Yeah, I really fucking do." He placed a hand on his face and hissed at the sting, and pulled his hand away to see crimson staining his pale hand. Fucker got him good. Both Eridan and Dave looked at the unconscious male, and then back at each other.

"Wwe can't leawe him,…can wwe?" He asked hopefully.

"No, dude." The shaded one sighed, standing and dusting himself off, looking down at the unconscious wild child. "I think I can pick him up. He doesn't look heavy." He pulled the limp body so he was lying on his back instead of his stomach, and pushed his hands under him, grunting as he lifted him off the ground. He was heavier than he looked, but nothing Dave couldn't handle.

"Dawe, you're not going to take him to our house, are you? …You are."

"Well I know you think it'd be just hunky-dory to leave him out here to get eaten by birds or something, but that's kind of a terrible fucking idea." He shifted so he didn't drop the tall boy. "Just. Trust me okay. For once."

"…Fine. But I hope you knoww wwhat you're doin', Dawe."

Chapter Text

"Eridan, what were you and Dave doing out in the woods all day? I certainly hope you weren't hunting with that gun." Feferi asked as she sat next to Eridan on the couch and brushed her long wavy hair over her shoulder.

"No, Fef. " Eridan answered blandly, his mind elsewhere. "No huntin' wwas done."

"Well, I'm also curious about what you two were doing!" Nepeta chirped, as she sat on the arm of the couch. "If not hunting, then what?"

The Ampora huffed in annoyance. "If you really wwant to knoww, wwhy don't you go and ask Dawe?" He snapped.

"We would." Feferi started."But neither of us have seen him since you got home."

"Yes, so you have to tell us!" Nepeta joined.

Giving up, Eridan flopped against the couch and growled out his response. "Fine! He didn't wwant me sayin' anythin' but wwe basically stalked this strange wwolf man or somethin' and then Dawe kidnapped him, wwhich makes me his accomplice I guess, so wwe're both goin' to jail."

"Well that's great! But what actually happened?" The feline-like female asked.

"Fuckin'-"
---
Dave stared at the strange man who was currently still unconscious in front of him, slouching against one of the support beams in the basement. He has decided to handcuff the mans hands behind the beam, to avoid any more claws digging into his face, the handcuffs having been a "funny" gift from his bro. 'Just in case you need them.' He had said. Who would have thought that they'd actually come in handy?

Dave continued to stare at the man who sat in the dim lighting. He was filthy, absolutely caked from head to toe in dirt and grim and grass stains, and Dave could tell because that loin cloth didn't cover up much. He was skinny, so so skinny, unhealthily skinny. Dave could count each one of his ribs and his spine appeared through tight skin, making him appear like all dirt and sharp edges. His hair was also long, long ebony tangles left in wild, tangled knots. Dave suspected something was living in there. The hands that were cuffed together possessed sharpened nails, just as sharp as the chiseled shark week going on in his mouth.
He truly was more beast than man.

Curiousity got the best of the Stider, and Dave found himself scooting closer to the knocked out man. With caution, and a bit of hesitance, Dave reached over, brushing the mans hair out of his face. Oh no. He was incredibly handsome. Even with all that dirt, Dave was able to take in all the mans attractive features. Just who the fuck was this guy?
Trailing his hand down and letting the mans hair fall back in his eyes, Dave put his finger to the mans mouth and pulled back his lips to reveal ridiculously sharp teeth.

He hadn't expected those teeth to clamp down on his finger so suddenly.

"AHH-!" Dave bit down on his lip, silencing his howl of pain (mostly) so he wouldn't alert the whole damn house. Tearing his hand back, which was a bad idea, Dave ripped his hand from the insane mans mouth, along with some skin.

"Fuck, FUCK!" He cried, holding his gushing hand to his chest, almost afraid to access the damage and see no finger. Luckily, he still had all 10 digits, and in his haze of pain, Dave snapped his head in the mans direction.

He's smirking. He was awake and smirking at him, and...and chewing, what was he chewing? Oh. His flesh. Blood dribbled down his chin, and onto his chest and he swallowed, like it was nothing. And he smirked. He smirked at Dave, with this terrifying sneer that was nearly cleavering his face in half. As if saying he was in charge here.

And how dare he, Dave thought. How dare he bite him, and stare him down like that, when clearly he was the one in control. "Fucker!" The Strider ground out, slamming his fist into the side of the mans head, causing his head to snap to the side. Slowly, the stranger looked back toward, grinning at him. And enraged, Dave struck him again. And again, and again until the man stopped grinning, and he was no longer so mad, he could claw this guys throat out.

Heaving, Dave clenched and unclenched his fist a few times before crouching in front of the discombobulated man, and pointed at him with his good hand.

"That is not. Civilized behavior." And then he straightened out and left, muttering a swear under his as he held his hurt hand.

---
"Whoa, Dave, what happened to your hand? That's a lot of bandages!"

"Don't worry about it, John."

"Were you playing with your katanas again?"

"Sure, Rose."

"Dave, you sure have been acting weird lately."

"Yeah. I wwonder w-why?"

"...What, is this, interrogate the cool kid day, seriously?"

"It's called being concerned, asshole. The last thing we need is to hitch a ride on the screwed over train to I-fucked-up town."

"Whoa, Karkat lives."

"Dawe, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Get the fuck up and followw me, already."

With that being said and after heaving a heavy sigh, Dave left the living room area to follow Eridan into the hall, who after a moment, stopped and turned to face Dave, speaking in a harsh whisper.

"Wwhat the hell are you doin'?!"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you dare play dumb wwith me, Stider."

"I'm just getting him settled in. He's still adjusting."

"You mean that freak wwe-- !! ...You kidnapped from the wwoods? And wwhat do you mean, gettin' him settled in? You can't honestly be thinkin' about hawein' him stay here! He's clearly mentally unsound!"

"Dude, fucking trust me okay? I know what I'm doing."

"No you don't. No you fuckin' don't, Dawe, you're goin' to get us all arrested or killed wwith this. Wwhat is ewen goin' through your head right noww?"

"I'm thinking he needs some help and guidance. If I don't, then fucking who?"

"I don't knoww...but I don't wwant to be part of this."

"Listen, 'w-we' can talk about this later, alright? I'm totally cool with having this conversation, just not now."

"Fine...alright. But tell me the truth. Wwhat happened to your finger? He hurt you, didn't he?"

"It's fine."

"He's dangerous."

"Alright, see you later, fish breath." Dave sighed in annoyance, turning to walk away.

"You knoww this ain't ower, Strider."

"Yeah, yeah, see you at dinner."

---
This was something Dave liked. They all ate their meals together, as often as they could. Like a family would. Dave and Bro never really got to do that. So it's something he really appreciates now that he's older. It was Karkat's turn to cook dinner, and naturally Nepeta jumped to help him. Poor girl. It was painfully obvious that she had a crush on the albino boy, and either he chose to ignore it or was incredibly dense. At least she's persistent.

Eventually, the simple dish of spaghetti(neither Nepeta or Karkat were all that good at cooking) was set in the table, and those who weren't already hovering around the kitchen at the smell of food soon joined them when Karkat shouted,"Hey assholes, eat now or go hungry!"

Once again, Dave avoided all conversations at dinner as he picked at his food and tried to think of what he needed to do about...you know. Finally, had run one plan through his head over and over again and decided that he'd go for it.

"Hey everyone? After dinner, I have something to show you guys."

Chapter Text

"Hey Dave?"
"What's up, Karkles?"
"What in the ever loving fuck is that 'thing'?"
Everyone had flooded into the basement, were Dave led them after they finished their meals, and the joking and excitement present as they were walking down the stairs quickly vanished. Instead, they were all standing there, dumbfounded, shocked, or just plain unsure. There in front of them was the man from the woods, ever so covered in dirt and filth. He had a trail of dried blood that stuck to his chin, his face was swollen and sore looking from being punched. The strangers long black hair pooled around him in messy tangles of knots and twigs. He glared at the group silently, barely hiding the confusion and fear behind his eyes.
"Wow, rude, Karkat. I haven't gotten his name yet." Dave answered.
"Dave, that's not the point, why is there a man handcuffed in our basement? Is this supposed to be a joke? I don't think I get it." Rose quipped as John slightly hide behind her as he observed the stranger.
"This isn't some kinda weird prank. I'm not John." And he paused to let John say 'hey...' in a mockingly offended tone to continue. "I found him. He's been living in the woods for...fuck, who knows how long? So, I decided to invite him to stay for a while."
"What?? Is that what you and Eridan were doing? The poor thing, he's hurt, and...a bit smelly. Why is he all bound up? Is he here against his will?? Dave, this is not okay!" Feferi joined in, only taking her eyes off the stranger to glance over at Dave for a second.
Dave held up his hands like he meant no harm, and waited for the other to finish and let him respond. "He's in handcuffs because he attacked me. Yeah, maybe just a little freaked out, that's all. Eridan knocked him out, and what was I supposed to do, leave him in the woods--?"
"Yes!" Karkat decided to join the conversation, overcoming his shock. "Or I don't know, taken him to a hospital? Ugh, what were you thinking, you can't just do this to people, I don't care how weird or how much of a social fuck up they are. And--And, what if you're putting us in danger?? What if he's just some filthy foreign psycho that you invited into our house, OUR house, shit stain, not just yours, to saw off our faces in our sleep and then pin them to the wall as decorative fucking masks!"
"Okay, first off, dark. Also, I'm kinda disapointed that you'd think I'd make a mistake as stupid as that. So say I uncuff him and call some hospital. And then what? What do you think will happen then? They'll look him over, treat whatever wounds he has, and then kick him out on the cold streets. Or, they'd send the guy to some sort of nut house to rot. And what do you think is going to happen if we send him back into the woods. It's almost winter as he's clearly not taking care of himself! We'll just be helping him out, just until he's stable. Please, I want to do this. You guys can't honestly think that everythings gonna be just peachy again if I uncuff him and let him run off to play with bambi and his other forest friends." Dave finally finished.
An unnatural wave of silence washed over the room, as the group looked over at each other. Finally, Nepeta was the one to break the silence.
"Well. I trust Dave. This is pretty strange, and I kinda have some questions about the whole thing, but I wouldn't be able to live with myself if we found this guy and then let something bad happened to him when we could have stopped it. Uh...Heh, if that makes sense! But I think Dave has put a lot of thought into this! Maybe we should give it a chance...just for a little while. Until we can think of a better solution, it couldn't hurt to give this...guy a bath and some clothes?"
"Nepeta, you can't be serious. You're siding with him on this?" Karkat asked with a surprised and irritated look on his face.
"Alright, look." Rose spoke up. "I know this is crazy, and new, and really concerning, but, to give Dave a fair chance...I say we take a vote on what we do. All those who think the man from the woods should stay, go stand by Dave. All those who think the man should leave back into the woods, stay where you are."
After that there was a long moment of silence, everyone looking back and forth between each other before Nepeta was the first to move and stand at Dave's side. She leaned out from behind Dave, putting him between her and the handcuffed man, to offer the stranger a friendly grin and a wave. A greeting which was responded to with a cold glare.
John budged from his place behind Rose, and stood by her side. "I think Rose is right. And I think that I'm going to side with Dave on this. He's my best friend. He knows what he's doing. I mean, he better."
With that being said, John stood by Dave's side, Nepeta and Rose soon following him. Karkat, Eridan, and Feferi grew silent.
"...Oh, alright. I mean, he looks about ready to snap in two! It wouldn't hurt to give him some food to fill his empty belly. " Feferi practically grumbled, joining the others.
Karkat uncrossed his arms from the comfortable position of them being crossed over his chest to let them fall at his side dramatically.
"I don't believe this."
"Neither do I." Eridan said, taking his turn to cross his arms over his chest. "There is somethin' seriously wwrong wwith this individual. And I'm not talkin' about THAT." He said gesturing to the man still glaring at them in silence and then narrowed his eyes at Dave.
Dave frowned at Eridan, and narrowed his eyes behind his shades but said nothing.
"So..." John glanced around the room at the awkwardly quiet group before looking back over to the man on the floor. Casually, almost like he wasn't scared or nervous, he walked over to the man, a careful distance away, and crouched down in front of him.
"Careful, he bites." Dave commented with a wave of his bandaged hand.
"Does he know any English, Dave?" John asked, not taking his eyes away from the man who glared at him harder, a if trying to burn holes into his head with his stare.
"I don't think he knows anything. He only speaks this weird, clicky laungage. I've never heard anything like it, I'm pretty sure it's just gibberish." Answered Dave.
John was silent for a moment, and then placed a hand on his own chest and spoke slowly to the man. "John. Joooohn." He repeated a couple times before pointed at the man, and he was silent.
A low growl came from the back of the mans chest, causing John to scoot away a bit, and the others watched the two intently.
"...Dypq ytrsyomh yp zr aolr oz l gppa."
"Uhh?" John grimanced at the awkward noises this man was making. He couldn't understand a word of it.
"See?" Dave pointed out.
John's mouth formed a tight line and he stared at the man who stared back, this time with a bit less anger, and more like an understanding look.
"Gamzee."
Everyones head turned toward the man, and the group stared at him. The man simply bared his teeth before speaking again, putting empathise on each syllable, almost as if mocking John.
"Gggaammzzzeee."
"Gamzee? Wwhat does that ewen mean?" Eridan piped up, and grimanced as he spoke the unfamiliar word, as if it tasted funny on his tongue.
"Do you think that's his name?" Rose asked, looking toward Dave. Dave paused for a moment. They were turning to him like he had the answers, like he knew what he should be doing here, when really, he knew as much about this guy as the others did at this point. Trying to recover from his hesitation, he answered.
"No. I don't think he has a name. But I think Gamzee kinda suits him. And we do need to call him something."
"I think 'Tarzan' wwould suit him better."
"Shut up, we're going with Gamzee."
"Well, now we know his name." John said, standing back up and walking over to the others. "Kinda..."
"Well, Gamzee, is going to need something to eat, and definitetly a bath. Or three. And I was hoping, you know, since I won't be around, the rest of you could figure that out. Pretty sure Eridan can help you guys out with this. Because I really need to leave." Dave said. He had work in about an hour, DJing at some lame high school party.
"Okay, first off, no wway. I already told you, I don't wwant anythin' to do wwith this! And second, wwhat makes you think I'm not fuckin' busy?"
"We both know you have nothing better to do. And you kind of have no choice, seeing as you were outvoted and you know, as long as you're under this roof, you have to follow the roommate code. Help each other out."
"..."
"Or, you know, if you did have something important to do, you could tell me? What's so important that it calls for Ampora's immediate attention?"
"Ugh, alright, fine, just shut the hell up already." Eridan sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'll..." The Ampora paused, looking over at the man, Gamzee, who was leaning against the suppost beam he was stuck to, looking a bit bored. "I'll think of somethin'."
---
Dave finally left for work, a little later than usual due to the strange events. This left the rest to figure out what to do now. Most went through they're routines as normal, getting ready for late classes, or going to their current jobs. Everyone else who was free at the moment decided that now would be a great time to run some errands. John went to the grocery store. Rose needed to buy some new knitting material immediately. Of course, it was obvious they were just coming up with last minute excuses to prevent them from dealing with the houses new inhabitant.Which left Eridan and Feferi behind with their new...er, roomate? Gamzee.
Eridan and Feferi remained in the basement with Gamzee, staring at him and every now and the sparing each other a confused glance.
"So...are we just going to leave him all tied up like that?" Feferi ask cautiously.
"Even If I wanted to uncuff him, I couldn't. Dawe didn't tell us wwhere the keys are. Not that I wwould wwant to. This guy is dangerous. I'm pretty sure he tried to kill Dawe wwhen wwe first saww him."
"Right..." Feferi silently looked the new guy over, cringing at the sight of how stick thin he was. "I'll fix him some...oatmeal. Something easy for him to eat."
"Alright, I'll come with you."
"Eridan..." Feferi spoke, gesturing toward Gamzee.
"Look, I just don't wwant to be dowwn here with him alone. Wwhy do I ewen need to wwatch him? Wwhere is he goin' to go?!"
"Pleaaase, Eridan? He could hurt himself or something. I won't be long."
Eridan sighed with an irritated look all over his face, but he couldn't say no to Feferi, not with that sad look on her face.
"...You better be quick about it."
"I'll be fast." Feferi promised before disapearing up the stairs, leaving just Eridan and Gamzee. The silence between them was incredibly awkward and eridan tried to look everywhere except at the man glaring at him with this unadulterated rage hidden behind his eyes. But Eridan could feel him staring at him, and it was raising the little hairs on the back of his neck. Finally, he snapped at the man, returning the look with an unsure glare of his own.
"Wwould you stop lookin' at me like I'M the wweird one?! And don't get comfortable either, because if you think i'm livin' in a house with someone who is more of some savage beast than a person, you got another fuckin' thing comin', 'gam-zee'." Eridan finished with a huff and stared at the unmoving man, waiting for some kind of reaction. When he didn't get one he sighed in irritation, and his shoulders slumped and he walked over and crouched in front of their new house guest.
"You smell. You really stink. You smell like dirt, body oder, and shit. And I've never seen teeth that fuckin' yellow on anyone wwho wwasn't homeless. Wwell...you kind of are, right?" Again, no reaction from the other. Eridan shifted uncomfortably. Wwhere's Feferi?
"...Your face looks pretty banged up too. Though I hardly noticed under all that dirt. Was that from before...? Or did Dawe do that after you bit him? Can't really blame the guy. I'd probably kick your ass too." The Ampora looked over the others swollen, discolored face, and the dried trails of blood the clung to the others filthy chin.
"Do you understand anythin' that I'm sayin'? Anythin' at all?"
"...yjrdr yjomhd str jityomh zu etodyd."
"...I'll take that as a no."
Hearing the click of the basement door open, he glanced over to find Feferi making her way down the stairs carrying a bowl of what he assumed was oatmeal.
"Oh, finally Fef. It's about time you got here, you knoww. This guy was givin' me the cre--"
He was interupted by a loud snarl and the metalic sound of a handcuff chain bashing into something. He didn't even notice Feferi yell his name as he struggled to avoid the attack.
Eridan barely had a chance to scramble backwards and away when he saw Gamzee lundge toward him while his guard was down, mouth open and jagged teeth showing, no doubt aiming to bite him as well.
Luckily for Eridan, he missed, but only by mere inches, and Gamzee had pulled back, resting against the support beam again, lips pulled back into a snarl, and Eridans favorite scarf between his teeth.
"..." Eridan laid back, elbows supporting him, where he had thrown himself on the floor,eyes wide, and glasses slipping down his nose, as he stared at the snickering man that nearly had his throat between his fangs. "..."

Chapter Text

((What Gamzee says is not any language but there is a code. See if you can figure out the code to understand what Gamzee is trying to say.))
"Eridan! Are you alright??" Feferi had immediately rushed to Eridan' side, crouching next to him and worriedly looking him over for any wounds.
"..."
"Eridan?"
"..."
"Please, say something!" She demanded with a bit more irritation in her voice than worry.
"...D--...Did you fuckin' see that!? That--that beast tried to fuckin' eat me!" Eridan snapped out of his shocked and terrified state to point and accusing finger at the grinning Gamzee, Eridan's scarf still between his teeth as he smirked victoriously.
"Eridan--"
"No, Feferi! He was aimin' right for my neck! I know you saw-w, you can't pretend you didn't! And giwe me that back you little--" The Ampora growled out as he stood back on his feet and grabbed hold of his scarf, trying to rip it from the not so welcomed guest's mouth. Gamzee was not letting go. He growled right back at Eridan refusing to give up the accessory. With a yank and a particularly loud rip, most of the precious scarf was free, while the remainder of the striped cloth remained stuck between jagged teeth.
Eridan let out an almost offended gasp as he stared down at the abused scarf in his hands like a dead puppy, before glaring back over at the other. "How-w dare you! Do you know-w how-w hard it's goin' to be to find a replacement for this!" He paused, shaking his head at Gamzee as he cackled at the furious Ampora. "If Fef w-wasn't here, I w-would kick your sorry bony ass all the w-way back to w-where you came from."
"Eridan!" Feferi said in the most offended and scowling tone she could muster.
"I'm sorry Fef, but I'm not goin' to stay here and let him keep attackin' me w-when I don't even w-want to be here in the first place!" Without looking back at the man who was still snickering like some immature child, Eridan left the cellar, bounding up the wooden stairs.
"Wait! Wait, Eridan! Don't leave me here with him!"
"I'm w-waitin' on you Fef. If Dave wants to take care of that mess,-" Eridan seethed, gesturing to Gamzee, who in turn, snapped his jaw at him and replied with 'Imyor zr smf gohjy zr, vpestf'...whatever that means.
Eridan was right though. Feferi doesn't want to do this. I mean, sure, she wanted to help, but not while he was going to be hostile every chance he got. Looking around the room a bit frantically, Feferi spotted a bucket, and walked over to it, picking it up with one hand and still balancing the bowl of freshly made oatmeal in the other. She dragged the bucket over, before putting it upside down, and placing the bowl on top, using the pail as some sort of table. With a look of pitty directed at Gamzee, she pushed the bucket toward the handcuffed boy, so it was close enough where he could lean down and eat from the bowl, as apposed to spoon feeding him like she originally planned to.
"Sorry, Gamzee..." With that said, the Piexes jogged up the stairs, her long wavy hair bouncing behind her, and she stopped when she stood beside Eridan, where he was waiting for her at the top of the stairs, and spared Gamzee one last look. Gamzee stared back with wide, startling blue eyes mostly hidden behind dirty hair. Eridan place a hand on Feferi's back, lead her out of the cellar, and shut the door behind him, making the room even darker than before, the only light to comfort the room was the single dangling light bulb.
---
You are now Dave Strider.
You just got finished DJ-ing for a high school party. I know, a DJ right? This should be every dude's dream job, right? Well. It's not all that glamorous. Seeing all these kids probably no older than 16 getting drunk or high out of their minds is sort of depressing. Sometimes someone will offer you a drink or something but you always refuse. The last thing you want to do is get tipsy on the job. Anyways, you're home now, getting a not so satisfying amount of money for your services, but whatever, he'll make do.
You pull your key from your pocket, fumbling with them a bit as you go to unlock the door. The door clicks open and you shove your keys back into your pocket as you enter your home.
Something...Is not right.
It's way too quiet. I mean, really quiet. Usually, as soon as you walk in here, theres something stupid, exciting, or both happening. But no. Nobody yelling at John because he put a fake spider under their pillow again. No rerun of one of Karkat's romcoms on the T.V. Eridan and Rose aren't bickering back and forth about the magic she likes to write about so much. Nepeta's not voicing her feline related roleplay as she taps away at the keys on her laptop. Nothing. Everythings...quiet.
Did something bad happen?
That thought ran through your head and made his breath hitch. What could have happened? Did they uncuff Gamzee? What if he attacked them, or killed them even? You wouldn't be surprised if the wild child was capable of doing that, even with as out numbered as he was. Walking a bit quickly, you head straight toward the basement, and you pause, staring at the door for only a second, before you grab the handle and swing it open, stepping into the darkness. Your eyes scan around the room before you quickly spot Gamzee sitting where you left him, handcuffed, with an irritated expression on his face. He stares back over at you and immediately his eyes narrow into a glare, and his lips pull back into a snarl. He hisses loudly at you as you walk down that creaking stairs, not taking your eyes off him.
Your eyes fall to the untouched bowl of oatmeal sitting in front of him. Well. It looks like the others at least attempted to do as you asked. You crouch down in front of him, and you can't help the smug feeling that you feel when he leans away from you. Yeah, you doubt he'll bite you again.
"Stop hissing at me, you little shit." You told the other who, of course, ignores you, and continues to hiss like a cat who hates people. You pick up the spoon still sitting in the bowl of now room temperature oatmeal, and stir it around in the bowl, before holding out a spoonful of mush to the others snarling lips. "C'mon, eat. You're like a fucking twig."
Gamzee presses his lips together tightly and turned his head away.
"Are you fucking kidding me? What are you, a toddler? C'mon. Open your mouth." He turns his head the other way. "Open." He hissed. "Open." You try to sound a bit more assertive. It doesn't work.
You let out an aggravated sigh, and look around the room, wishing someone else was here to help you.
"Alright, fine. You don't have to eat now." You tell the other, and stand, picking up the bowl as you do. He growls at you when you stand but you ignore him and kick the bucket away, listening to it bounce away and then roll to a stop. You walk up the stairs, and drop the bowl on the kitchen counter, and sigh. You take this moment to think. How are you going to do this. How are you going to make this work? You know you can help him (whether he likes it or not), you just need to do it right. There's really no room for mistakes here.
"Hey Karkat!" ..."Karkles!" ..."Karkapocalypse!"
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?" The angry albino responds behind the closed the door of his room.
"I need your help."
---
"I really don't want to fucking do this." Karkat tells you as you both stare down at Gamzee, who glares back up at the both of you, obviously confused about your intentions.
"Well, he needs to be clean. Eventually he's going to get sick, and instead of some crazy raised-by-wolfs-kid or some shit like that, we're going to have a dead guy on our hands. Besides. Is it really that much to ask?"
"Noo, I WANTED to spend my Friday giving the dirtiest human being on the planet a bath. There is literally nothing better I could do with my time."
"If you don't help me with this, I'm going to let him sleep in your room tonight, filth and all."
"Fuck you!"
"Oh, Karkles, I'm flattered."
Karkat doesn't say anything but let's his middle finger do the talking for him. You turn your attention back toward the one sitting on the floor, and adjust your shades. Alright. If they did this quick, they should have no problem getting him into the bath tub upstairs. You reach into your pocket and turn the hand cuff key in your fingers. Alright.
"Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever fucking be." He seethed out.
You walk over, and crouch down in front of Gamzee, who's still glaring at you like he was hoping if he did so long enough, lasers would shoot from his eyes and blow your head off your shoulders. You move closer to him, until your chest are nearly touching, and you lean over to uncuff his wrists. You need to be in front of him for his, so you can catch him if he flips is wicked shit again. Before you can turn the key, you feel something slam into the side of your head, and hear a faint "fuck!" come from Karkat.
You move out of the way quickly before Gamzee can bash his head into yours again,and you narrow your eyes at him from behind your shades.
"Alright, fine, you wanna be difficult?" You grumble out, leaning into him with a bit more weight than necessary, smooshing him into the support beam behind you. He's hissing in your ear, but you don't care. You quickly undo the hand cuff, only one, freeing him from the support beam and having the other metal bracelet dangle from his wrists. As soon as his arms are free, he grabs your shoulders and tries to push you off of him. He's strong for a skinny guy, but you don't let him have his way.
Instead you shove your arms under his leg and back and lift him up. You stumble as you stand with the struggling person in your arms. He shrieks and kicks his feet, and flails his arms, and you almost drop him because of that, but with a bit of determination, you hold onto him, and he slips into the space between your arms that allows you to get a better grip on him. You tighten your arms around his wiggling form until you're almost sure you hear his bones pop. And slowly, he calms down. He doesn't stop fighting you, he's still trying to elbow you in the chest, and when he tries to punch you, you shift your arms and pin his twiggy arms at his sides. He stops thrashing and just pants, trying to regain his breathe. It take you a moment to realize that you are too. He looks up at you with eyes so blue, they're almost purple, and you don't see rage in his eyes anymore. Something else. You can't place your finger on it. It's not anger but it's also far from happy. You feel him slipping from your grip, and you hoist him up so you don't drop him, and then head toward the stairs. You hear Karkat follow after you.
You walk him into the bathroom, and Gamzee only starts to struggle against you again when you go to put him down in the tub. You place him down and you can hear his over grown nails tap and scrap against the acrylic as he scrambles to stand again. You're quick though and you catch his wrists when he goes to smack you. There is a very small, but thick enough pole that is built in with the bathtub, you suppose for hanging rags on or something, and you loop the hand cuffs still dangling from the others wrist around the small pole and fasten it again around his other wrist, restraining him again.
You pull back and watch him pull against the restrains, and then he turns to you and screams. No words, just a yell to let you know how unhappy he is with you. You roll your eyes at him, and turn the faucet on. You jump when he screams again, this time, a startled tone in his voice, as he stares wide eyes at the water, inching back in the tub as if trying to be as far away from it as possible.
You smirk at him, fighting the urge to chuckle. "You big baby."
He must have been able to understand the amusement in your voice, because he shoots you another one of those glares you're growing used to. You finally stand up, and turn to face Karkat.
"Alright, I got him in the tub, now you wash him." Not feeling in the mood to argue with the Vantas again, you push past him and leave the room.
---
You're name is Karkat Vantas and you really hate Dave Strider right now.
-----

Chapter Text

You're now Karkat Vantas, and you can't remember the last time you've been so angry at Dave.

The guy is a jackass in his own special way,but he's really starting to push Karkat to the point where you are about ready to slap his shit eating smirk off his shades clad face. Ever since this...he didn't even know what to call him at this point. He's not a welcome guest, that's for fucking sure. And Karkat knows his name isn't Gamzee, even though he was already starting to get used to the name itself. He's...not some mentally handicapped homeless kid, he could at least tell that, and he's not some foreign person either...It's just...had he really survived in the woods all on his own like this? Is that even a thing that's possible? Nobody has lived around here in a good while, not after the last owners of this house left and they never spoke about anyone living in the woods. In fact, the Cancer remember before the purchase of this (so he thought) dream house, being told that it's surrounded by nothing but miles and miles of untouched nature. So...this shouldn't make sense. How would someone get here? It even takes him a while by car to get to the actual roads. Nothing between his home and the roads other than some untrustworthy dirt road and thousands of trees.
---...---
Why is he still glaring at you? You suppose you can't blame him. If you were in his situation, you'd probably glare too. And you'd probably be a lot more verbal, haling on everyone around you with a shit storm of your most creative insults and colorful swears. But Gamzee. He's quiet. He just stares right at you with narrowed eyes. Maybe's he's given up on trying to speak to you. It's kind of discouraging when nobody can understand you.
You take a moment to look the other over. You understand he's dangerous, you've got that after seeing the scratches and bite marks on Dave, but other than looking kind of creepy,he seems like the type of person who couldn't hurt anyone. Mostly because of how skinny he is. It almost makes you cringe when you look at him. You feel like with just a bit of pressure, he'd shatter underneath your hand. He looks...almost fragile. Obviously that's not the case though. You know this now, that "Gamzee" won't hesitate to prove that he can defend himself.

You also take a chance too look at his hair. It didn't pool around his shoulders or fall gracefully in his face. No, they were long chaotic tangles full of dirt and twigs, and you can see some unintentional dreadlocks forming there too. And you thought your hair was a mess. Yeah, theres no saving that rats nest.
You stood, taking the scissors from the medicine cabinet , and snipping them at the air one. You're almost afraid the scissors won't stand up to the challenge!
Walking back over, you notice he's now directed his glare to the shiny scissors in your hand. After kneeling down next to him on the towels that you surronded the tub with, you shut off the water, and stare at him

"...So..."

"..."

"Look, you don't want to be here, I really don't want to be here, so let's just try to get this over with quickly, alright?"

"..."
"...Right. Dave, you owe me so fucking much for this."

He leans away from you, as far away as he can, smooshing his shoulder into the side of the tub when you reach for him. This makes you hesitant. He wasn't going to snap at you, right? The last thing you need is those terrible teeth digging into your shoulder or something. Behind black tangles, he's staring at you with wide, cautious eyes, and remains silent, watching your every move. With a sign, you roll up your sweater sleeves and reach over again, and instead on hissing or shifting away again, he just watches your hand, as it moves down and pulls up a lock of dirty hair.
snip
Nothing happens. He let you cut his hair and didn't bite you, or growl, or kick. You let out a breath you didn't know you were holding and try again, chopping away at the unsaveable locks.
---...---
You looked between Gamzee and the huge wad of gross hair laying in the trash can beside the toilet. Gamzee looked a lot different with shorter hair. It's not too short. In fact it's a bit long for a guy, shorter black hair resting harmlessly on tanned shoulders. It was mostly uneven and choppy, but it was that or shave his head bald. He seems a bit fond of it too. It's probably it's a lot of weight off of him, you imagine, and he continuously shakes his head back and forth, so his newly cut hair would brush against his shoulders.

"Alright...Now the fun part." You actually rolled your eyes at that.
You plucked a rag from the side of the tub, where you already had it ready, and dosed it in a generous amount of soup.

"Fuck...I'm not even sure if this is gonna work. You might just be a permanent dirt ball."

"...Y xlbr ybswearbs tiy lr laa."

"Yeah, a blee blah bloo right back at you, buddy. Look, please don't flip you fucking shit, alright? It's just soap, so no need to try and tear my throat out." You carefully held up the wash cloth, staring at him. The other stared back, before simply slumping against the side of the tub with a huff, going silent again.

"..."

Hesitantly, Karkat reached over and touched the rag to the Capricorn's arm. He didn't even spare Karkat a glance. Taking that as a go on, Karkat went ahead and tried to scrub away the dirt from the other, starting with his arms.
It was easier than he thought, and soon the dirt was rubbed away to reveal sun tanned skin. Slowly, a shoulder, an elbow, an arm appeared from under all that dirt. Karkat stopped when he got to the others hands, and stared at the sharp nails that were clicking against the side of the tub.

"...Holy shit. You could kill a guy with those."

"..."

"...I'm gonna need to clip them. I mean, I know Dave is a shithead, but I don't want to have to be stuck with his dead corpse AND you after you slice his throat out with those claws."

"..."

"Yeah, alright." Karkat stood up, walking over the the medicine cabinet, and pulling it open, brushing aside some items like dental floss and perfume that had all been carelessly shoved in the cabinet and then forgotten about. He finally found a pair of nail clippers, and sighed, slamming the cabient shut, and walking back over. He kneeled on the towel again which was already soaked with the water splashed out of the tub, and soaked through his jeans, but Karkat ignored it. Carefully, he reached over, taking the others hand gently, so not to startle the cautious person, placed the nail clippers around one of his finger nails, and clipped it, dulling it to a less deadly point.

Gamzee didn't like that at all.

He growled and jerked his hands as if to try and grab Karkat, but couldn't because of the handcuffs. It still scared the fuck out of Karkat, who scrambled back on his hands, before staggering to his feet.

"Whoa, take it easy!" Karkat put his hands in front of him, in the universal sign of 'I'm not going to hurt you'. It didn't seem to do much good. The other was still struggling, trying to get to his feet, but kept slipping, and couldn't stand up straight because of his binds.

---...---

He glared at the you with such anger, it seemed as though the other was ready to kill you that minute. You decided to keep your distance, let him ride out the little hissy fit until he was too exhausted to go on, like Dave had done. It works, for the most part, and eventually he's slumped up against the side of the tub, panting. The tub is now half empty, the rest of the water having left the tub from the others erratic flailing, leaving it dripping from the ceiling, walls, and pooling in a big puddle against the floor.

"...Fuck." You couldn't help but sound a bit taken aback but the sudden violent reaction when the whole time, he had been so quiet and so calm. Wonder what it is about his nails that set him off. Perhaps they were the only weapon he had. After all, they were probably sharpened to a deadly point for a reason, right? Cautiously, you put your hands in the air, and Gamzee snaps his head toward you at the sudden movement, glaring you down as if daring you to come any closer. You really didn't want to go any closer toward him. Instead you wave the hand that was holding the nail clipper, and made sure he saw you put then down on the bathroom sink, and then with your hands in the air, you carefully approached him again, only this time, he growled at you. You hesitated because of that, he obviously didn't want you any closer. For a moment, you consider just giving up and finding Dave, telling him to do this himself, but then, you don't really trust the guy anymore...not after he pulled this. What is this, kidnapping? Was he a kidnapper, now? Are you an accomplice or something? Whatever, you suppose you can mull over this kind of thing later. Right now, you have work to do. The moment you take another step forward, he growling at you again, muddy face looking angered, and dark blue eyes narrowed. Again, you hesitate, because how are you supposed to do this when you're sure he'll keep trying to attack you? Trying to come up with an idea was also pretty difficult with the way he's grumbling at you. As if he were a child, you put up a hand as if to silence him, and shush him. Surprisingly, he obliged. And it took you a minute to realize he was actually listening to you, and you glance over at him, surprised to see him staring back at you with a no longer anger expression, but curious. His dark bangs hanging in front of wide blue eyes. Slowly, you take your chance, and replace yourself by the side of the tub, his staring at you all the while. Once your kneeling in the puddle of bath water sitting on the bathroom floor, Gamzee did something that surprised you. He shushed you back. You highly doubt he knew what that meant, but was simply mimicking you, pursing his lips and making the soft sound.

"Shhhhhh..."

"...Yeah... that's right. Shoosh. You know, no more of that growling shit, alright?"

"...Sh-shhhhhhh."

"...'Shhh?'"

You watched the corner of Gamzee's mouth twitch upward in the smallest of smiles.

"...you like that, huh?"

He stayed silent this time, and was kinda of smiling towards you, without some mischievous content hidden behind the grin. Which was...strange. But better than him growling at you, you suppose. You're not sure what compelled you to do this, but you reached over and kind of awkwardly pat him on the head, and he seemed not to mind. Deciding it was safe to continue, you did. you gave up on clipping those killer claws of his, and instead, lathered up a washcloth with soap and carefully worked at cleaning the dirt and dried blood out from under his nails until your satisfied. Then, you got to work on the body, scrubbing down every inch of him with Feferi's pomegranate scented body wash. Every inch. Even the parts you didn't want to look at. Well, what else were you supposed to do?! Just leave his bottom half filthy? That'd be stupid. It's not like you asked to do this in the first place, anyways. At least he hadn't made any kind of big deal about it. He remained as silently and still as he had before the whole nail clipping incident. You also noticed a terrible looking gash right bellow his ribs. You took extra care with that and decided Dave could take care of that. It was basically impossible to tell what he was thinking at this moment. Next, you had to wash his hair. You reached over cautiously, being sure he wasn't going to bite you if you put your hands near his face, you tipped his head back, so he would risk getting any soap in his eyes and flip his wicked shit again. Taking a bottle of shampoo from the side of the tub, you squirt some into your hand, and then reach up, lathering it into his tangled hair, working it around his tangles, picking out twigs and dead blades of grass, the occasionally insect that decided to make his rats nest of hair their home. Every now and then, you'd rip your fingers through a knit in frustration, and then he'd grunt, and you'd mutter a meek apology. You did that about 5 times, until you were satisfied. Rinse and repeat, motherfucker. Gamzee hadn't struggled anymore after that. In fact, he seemed to be enjoying it, making a quiet humming noise, a calm look on his face. Of course, you also used some cream rinse on his black locks to make it more manageable and shiny, you're not some pig.

Finally, you washed off his face, which was still filthy, with a couple of streaks on his face through the lair of dirt. Taking a fresh rag, and dosing it in soap, you carefully touched it to Gamzee's cheek, but he hissed and recoiled from you, causing you to flinch right back, and retract your hand. Now what did you do? He was so calm before...Examining further, you notice how swollen his cheek is, as if someone had hit him in the face, hard.

"...Jesus Christ...did Dave do that? Holy shit."

"...Gyera..."

"Fuck, that looks like it hurts...damn, what the hell is wrong with that guy..." You find yourself mumbling, before you reach out again, more slowly, touching the rag to his face. He flinched once, but let you continue, and carefully, underneath all that dirt, was reveled several bruises from being punched, and three claw like scars going diagonally from the left side of his face, to the next. They seemed to be healed, and from long ago, but you can only imagine what it must have been like to receive those...

"Fuck...just when you were starting to look like a normal dude, too..."

You stand, moving from the side of the tub. By this point, your soaked from head to toe in water from the others excessive splashing, just like the rest of the bathroom, and the water in the tub is now a murky, cloudy brown from the blood and dirt. With a sigh, you reached into the revolting water and pulled the plug to let the water drain. Your pretty sure there's going to be a ring of filthy around the tub when this was over. Suddenly, you hear the gurgling sound of the drain being clogged, and you arched a brow, reaching back into the bath water, and pulling out a mysterious piece of brown fabric, heavy and dripping with water. It takes you a moment to realize that it was the loin cloth the other was wearing earlier. The /only/ thing he was wearing. With a shiver, you toss the wad of fabric in the trash bin where it lands on top of the wad of copious amounts of hair where the two things could rest in piece and be disgusting together. Gamzee was going to need some clothes. You look the other over one last time, where the stranger sat in the filth covered bathtub, hands bound together, hunched over as if he were expecting to get attacked at any moment, and staring at you with cold blue eyes that seem to stare right through your soul.

"...I...I'm Karkat...by the way. You know. Karkat. Car. Cat." You attempt, repeating your name a few times, hoping he gets it.

"Gwko nw." He says to you. "Fqr nw iyr id rgua oalxw."

"...Uhm...Yeah...sorry, I don't speak mountain man." You grumble back, a bit frustrated. He stared at you for a moment, before turning his attention away to stare at the water draining at his feet. You suppose he gave up on any type of communication. You don't blame him. You finally turn and leave the messy bathroom to get Dave.

---...---

So as for the code: you need to have a qwer keyboard. Whatever letter you read, move it one letter to the left(or sometimes right, I'm not perfect). For example. "Gwkki" would be "Hello". Get it?

Chapter Text

The Man in the Woods 6

Rose and John sat in the small black car Rose owned, driving back home from the store with several bags of groceries in the back seat.

And smother silence overtook the area, oddly enough, not a sound besides the car running, and the dull sound on the radio playing some generic song.

"..." John glanced over at Rose for the tenth time, and finally, spoke up.

"Rose...?"

"Hm."

"Is...is this really...okay?"

"What do you mean, John?"

"You're so smart, Rose, I really hate it when you play dumb."

Rose's pale hands tightened against the steering wheel ever so slightly, and the violet eyed girl sighed, staring ahead at the road for a long time, black lips parted ever so slightly as she calculated the right thing to say.

"...of course it's not, John. We can't just... We can't just force a stranger to stay in our home. You saw the handcuffs around his wrists."

Johns blue eyes widened, and he sent Rose a bewildered look.

"But you--! You were the one who decided to make everyone vote--you took his side, Rose!! What the fuck?!"

Rose sighed quietly, and peered over at John before turning her attention back to the road.

"John, I know you think Dave is just trying to do what's right, but I think this is more about him than...Gamzee." She started, eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"You've seen him lately, haven't you? So distant and not himself. Depressed even. I know for a fact that he's not happy with his life right now. And then. Then this weird, bizarre, totally exciting thing happens to him out of nowhere." Rose explained further. John stared with a befuddled look on his face, starting to click things together.

"He meets this totally unique individual, a person unlike anyone he's ever met before. He's different. He's totally untouched by society in any way, and doesn't have to do things like Dave does. I think...that Dave somehow finds him the solution to the mundane. He's trying to use this man to make his life unique and better for his own sake. Even if Gamzee wants no part in it at all." Rose frowned a bit, falling silent. John took this opportunity to speak up.

"But...you're not the only one who raised your hand, Rose...the others did too. So,what, do they all think this is a good idea."

"You raised your hand, too."

"That's..." He trailed off, kind of revolted by himself now. Did he seriously support this.

"Dave managed to convince you that this was the right thing to do, just like the others. But just like you, there will be doubts. Slowly, they'll begin to question why they ever believed Dave in the first place. I just hope to convince him to stop this before that happens. It won't help us if we gang up on him."

"So...what do we do, Rose? Do we just...wait?" John asked.

"Right now, yes. I'll work on slowly talking him down from this. In the meantime...well,all we can do is keep the others safe...Gamzee included."

-.-.-

Rose and John parked outside their large shared home, and headed to the front door, each carrying their own fair share of groceries. However, rose didn't even get the chance to unlock the door when a loud thump, and a scream was heard from inside.

Of course, Rose was hesitant to actually open the door, but brushed off the fear lingering there and finally tossed the door open. She kind of wished she hadn't, though.

The couple was greeted to a rather unusual sight. First, their living room was completely trashed. Karkat and Nepeta were cowering behind and overturned couch, and an insanely skinny man stared down at them, mouth pulled into a violent snarl, aggressive stance.

Gamzee's hair had been chopped off so it was shorter than before, and the handcuffs were now gone from his wrists, leaving behind a purple ring of bruises on both arms. There was also still a fair amount of swelling on his face, dark blue blooming on one side of his face, black eye on the other. He was scrubbed completely clean of dirt, and the only thing he wore at the moment was a pair of Dave's briefs, which showed off his skinny frame. There was thick gauze tapped to his side with medical tap, covering up the gash that once stood there.

The man let out another snarl, and grabbed the edge of a nearby end table, throwing it over, causing the lamp and anything else resting on top of it to crash to the ground.

Nepeta screamed and clung to Karkat tighter.

Finally, Eridan came back into the picture, shot gun in hand, and Feferi in tow.

"Eridan, no, don't!!" She screamed as Eridan pointed the barrel at Gamzee with a snarl.

"Fuck. You." Eridan hissed out.

All at once, Gamzee turned to see Rose and John standing befuddled and shocked in front of an open door. The Capricorn charged toward them, or the door rather just as Eridan shot towards his head.

Miraculously, he missed by a hairline, the shot flying by his ear.

However, Gamzee shrieked anyways, and crumbled to the floor, holding his hands over his ears.

"Fuck...I...I think you actually hit him!!" Karkat piped up from behind the couch.

Dave came rushing into the living room, handcuffs in hand. "What the hell was that?? What did you do?" He shot a look toward Eridan's direction, before rushing over to Gamzee's side where the other was still squirming and hissing on the floor.

Dave kneeled next to him, and took the others head in his hands, while Gamzee still squirmed, panicked, spat. He checked for blood, any wounds, and found nothing new. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Christ...it's okay...I think the loud noise just hurt his ears."

Things went silent, and the others stared at Gamzee while he hissed quietly through rotten teeth, arching his back off the ground and smashing is palms against his ears to try and get rid of the piercing ringing.

"Dave...wha...what happened?" John was finally able to bite back his shock and manage.

"I had to take his cuffs off...so is could put some clothes on him." He spoke while doing just that, shoving the others lanky limbs though a baggy t-shirt, taking the chance while he was still stunned. He clasped the handcuffs back around the others wrists and then finally pulled a pair of pajama pants over the others legs. "He tackled me over and took off the second I did."

Gamzee laid his head against Dave's lap while he did so, shock over, and just exhausted, panting.

Dave leaned over, pulling the man to his feet, and kept his hands on his shoulder to keep him steady when he staggered.

Finally, the Strider noticed everyone in the room staring at him.
He paused.

"...what?"

--_...___

End of Chapter whatever.

Chapter Text

The Man in the Woods 8

A week has passed since Gamzee had arrived at the crowded house, and as the days went on, the more and more tense and suffocating the atmosphere was. The friendly conversations around the table in the mornings dimmed down to uncomfortable silence, only be broken by the sound of forks scraping against plates. Friendly teasing now tended to be replaced with vicious arguments, everyone feeling on edge, and frustrated.

Except for Dave, of course, who found nothing wrong.

The Strider was currently in the basement, with Gamzee, who has spent the majority of his stay trapped down there. The unwilling guest spent his time down there with the cuffs around his wrist, unable to move or stand. He only left on a couple occasions since the last incident, and it was only when absolutely necessary that he was un cuffed. Which, so far, nobody deemed any reason good enough to risk freeing the wild man. He was still wearing the same outfit from a week ago.

Dave stood crouched in front of the blue eyed man, a plate of pancakes balanced on one hand, the other holding a fork towards Gamzee's face.

"C'mon, open your mouth." Dave requested as the man stubbornly kept his mouth clamped shut, and glared at the other through his bangs.

"Uh, please?" He tried, wiggling the fork in font of the others mouth. "Here comes the choo choo train?"

Gamzee spat at him.

The blonde frowned and took off his shades, wiping them on his shirt, and had half a mind to get Gamzee back, but then, the bruises on his face had finally healed up.

"You need to eat /something/. You know, before you waste away to a complete skeleton."

Gamzee stared at him with disinterest, and blew his bangs from his face, all while glaring at Dave. The Strider sighed and placed the plate down, and stood, heading over to the stairs.

"Karkat!" He hollered. "Dude, get down here and feed Gamzee! He likes you better anyways!"

"Fuck you!" Came the muffled reply.

Dave rolled his red eyes and sighed. "Alright, fine, Gamzee can starve to death, because you're both stubborn assholes! Hope you can live with that, dude."

He got back to reply, but waited a moment, and soon a sweater clad Karkat was marching down the stairs, looking pissed off. He flipped Dave off as he passed by, and made his way over to the Capricorn, plucking the plate up off the ground, and then sat down in front of him. He paused, and glanced over at Dave who stares at the two of them.

"...well? Scram. You know he won't eat anything if you're just standing there." Karkat sent the other an annoyed look.

"Yeah...I know...kinda wished I knew /why/, but..."

"I think it's pretty obvious that he hates your guts." The cancer mumbled.

"Whatever, you're not the biggest ray of sunshine your fucking self." Dave responded.

Karkat stared at him, arching a brow at him, staring, and finally, Dave sighed, and headed up the stairs, leaving the two be.

The albino let out a sigh of relief and glanced over at Gamzee who stared at him blankly, without anger or happiness on his face. Karkat's face held an extreme amount of pity. He plucked at the pancakes with his fork, not looking at him.

"...I'm seriously sorry..." Karkat began.

"..." Gamzee blinked owlishly in his direction.

"I know sorry doesn't mean shit to you, mostly because you don't even understand me, but I really am..."

"Ejsy."

"Yeah, look...I don't...don't look at me like that! Do you think I wanted this?? You think I want you here? I honestly don't want anything to do with you! You know, no offense. I'm sure we'd both be a lot happier if you were still living your weird...wild person life in the woods...it's Dave, you know? None of us want this anymore...not that I ever wanted this in the first place."

"..."

"It's just... He's...starting to scare me, you know...? I don't remember him being like this. He was always a huge steaming sack of shit, sure, but I don't remember him being so...violent. And controlling, and who even does something like this??" He gestured towards Gamzee's bound form.

He stared.

"I'll... I'll figure out something...eventually. I'll get you out of here, and out of my house, and somewhere safe where you won't get hurt, and you won't hurt anyone...and it'll be like we never even met."

"..."

"...I'm talking to myself like an idiot here, huh?"

"Upi str apif, niy lomfrt yp zr yjsm yjr pyjrt pmrd."

"If communication wasn't an issue, this would be so much easier. Don't your remember anything the we've tried to teach you??"

Gamzee stared.

"...Karkat." He said.

The cancer resisted the urge to slap his palm against his forehead.

"Yes, I'm Karkat." He sighed, and held out a fork full of pancake towards Gamzee's face. There was hesitance, but eventually the other leaned over and took the bit in his mouth, and chewed on it slowly, not looking like he liked it entirely too much.

Karkat paused. "...what kind of weirdo doesn't like pancakes?" He muttered, feeding him another bite.

"Yjod od ypp zidju smf derry. O mrrf zrsy." The other mumbled through a mouthful of fried dough.

Karkat ignored him. "You know...maybe you'd eat more if you could actually feed yourself?" Karkat reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a pair of handcuff keys. He could tell by how Gamzee's face lit up that he knew exactly what it was.

"Only one hand. And if you tell Dave about this, I'll fucking kick your ass...not like you can, though."

"Hp jpzr?? Vsm o hp jpzr??"

"Hold still...and please don't hurt me." He reached over, to the handcuffs encircling Gamzee's purple wrists, and hesitated for a moment, eyeing the pipe in the wall behind him and hoped it was strong enough. With a click, one of the metal rings was one from the wild mans left wrist, and as quickly as he could, Karkat closed the newly freed cuff around the pipe. It left one of Gamzee's hands free and the other linked to the wall.

Karkat scooted back a reasonable distance as Gamzee began to realize his newfound freedom. He pulled his arm in front of, and blinked when the other didn't follow suit. He glanced over at the cuff still around his right wrist and frowned bitterly. Gamzee yanked on his arm hard, several times to test the bound, and Karkat's heart pounded as he prayed that it would hold.

It did. Gamzee huffed, realizing he wasn't free yet, and he instead, glanced down at his freed arm, inspecting the sore patch in circling his tanned wrist. He blinked, and brought his wrist to his mouth, dragging a long tongue over the purplish, bruised area, and Karkat cringed when he saw red on his tongue. Guess he rubbed his wrists raw.

"Don't do that. Pretty sure that'll just make the wound more...gross. I'll get you a band aid later." Karkat pushed the plate. Towards Gamzee.

Gamzee glanced down at the plate and paused, glancing over at Karkat, and then back at that plate. The black haired man let out a grumble.

Suddenly, he reached over and and grabbed a fistful of pancake. With a squish,he pulled the pancake from the plate, syrup dripping down his arm, and stuffed it in his mouth.

Karkat stared, stunned. Okay, that was a mistake.

"Dammit Gamzee, no, you don't use your hands! You use this, the fork!" He held out the fork to Gamzee, who stared at it, chewing slowly, syrup dripping down his chin, neck, and soaking the collar of his shirt.

"Like this." He stabbed a slice of pancake and held it out to Gamzee.

He stared, and paused, reaching out a sticky hand, taking the fork, and munching on the food that was there like a normal human being.

Karkat sighed, and sent the other a bit of a smile. "See? Not so hard, right? Even the dumbest of the dumb can figure out forks, huh?"

Gamzee blinked at Karkat, his face lighting up, for some reason.

The man reached over, taking a hold of Karkat's wrist in his sticky hand, and reached over, bringing it to rest of top of his head. Karkat struggled not to cringe at the wet, sticky squelch if the hand closing around his wrist, and syrup soaked his sleeve. He cringed very visibly.

Gamzee guided Karkat's hand to rest on top of his head, fingers buried in thick black locks. And Karkat got the message. He ran his hand through his hair, petting the top of Gamzee's head, and in turn, he nuzzled his palm.

He seemed to like that, for whatever reason. Just any physical touch, and he'd let you know when he felt that he deserved it. Karkat wondered if he did this for anybody else or was only comfortable when Karkat touched him. Karkat, however, wasn't entirely comfortable with it. Petting the guy on his head like a dog, it was bizarre and he didn't like it. It's not like he was a pet or something.

Sometimes Karkat wondered if Dave knew that.

"Yeah...aright...Alright! Time to let go now!"

Gamzee did, and Karkat pulled back his arm, looking at his sticky hand.

"Eww...is 'messy' even a concept to you?"

Gamzee blinked.

"Yeah, alright, just ruin one of my sweaters and don't even attempt to apologize in your weird wolf man language. That's totally cool." He grumbled as Gamzee stared, and dumb smile working it's way onto his face. "Yeah, you're totally not an asshole."

Gamzee finished shoveling his breakfast into his mouth, and Karkat took care to clean off his hand and face. Ugh. Did he have to be so sloppy about everything?

Karkat glanced at the free, clawed hand that rested in Gamzee's lap, and he chewed his lip. He doubted Dave would let that slide. He'd have to cuff him up again. But he seriously doubted Gamzee would let that slide either. Fuck everything.

Karkat took the key from his pocket once again, and showed it to Gamzee, who stared at it owlishly. Karkat held out his hand towards Gamzee, and the wild mans face fell entirely.

"...c'mon...don't give me that look. You know I don't want this. Just...just put up with it for a little while longer, until I figure something out." Karkat said in a voice softer than his usual one. He knew the thin man couldn't understand a word of it, but hesitantly, he held out his hand to Karkat, and in turn, he took hold of his chaffed wrist.

He leaned over, and recuffed him.

And then Gamzee really surprised him.

He started to cry.

It was abrupt and sudden, and it made Karkat flinch, thinking the other was about to try something, but a sudden loud sob shook the others thin frame.

Completely taken aback, the Cancer pulled away to see Gamzee's face twisted into a frown, eyebrows furrowed, and tears threatening to fall down his cheeks.

Another choked sob wracked his body, and Karkat had no idea what to do.

Fuck. Had he done something to make him cry??

...what is he saying. Of course he fucking did! He was assisting in holding the man hostage, it's no wonder the other is feeling crushed enough to cry. He doesn't know what he would do if he was in his situation.

Hesitantly, with a shaky sigh, Karkat reached over and placed a hand on top of his head, and shushed him.

"No...no,no,no, don't do that, shh, shh, shh. It's alright. I'm sorry, alright, I'm sorry." Karkat felt like literal shit. What was he doing to this poor guy? As he wiped a tear from his face, be felt the most overwhelming pity towards him.

"It'll be alright...I'm going to get you out of here, okay..?"

Gamzee choked on another sob, and pressed his face against Karkat's shoulder, and Karkat held him close.

"I'll get you out if here."

---

Dave stood at the top of the stairs, the door just cracked enough for him to hear what was going on down in the basement. And he had been there the entire time.

And he didn't like what he heard. Not one bit.

Chapter Text

the Man in the Woods

A month has passed since the pancake incident, and things were thankfully getting a little less tense around the household. A little.

Gamzee, who had spent the majority of his stay chained up in the basement, was now permitted to walk around the house during the day. It wasn't exactly easy, however. The first time Gamzee was brought upstairs without the handcuffs, the main attempted to break down the front door, before Dave subdued him and the wild man spent the next two days back where he started. There were multiple incidents like this, all of them boiling down to Gamzee stuck in the eyesore of the cellar. Finally, Gamzee learned, he figured out that he wasn't supposed to try and leave, and that was a huge milestone in Dave's opinion.

It was a satisfying moment, when Karkat took the wild child's hand, and lead him upstairs, Gamzee would squint at the change of lighting before his eyes grew used to it. Everyone would stand out of the way, not wanting to be run over by the Capricorn in his wild scramble to remove himself from these walls. Dave stood by, ready to tackle the walking twig if need be. Everyone stood back, held their breath, and waited for the inevitable freak out Gamzee would have...only for it to never come. Instead, to their surprise, Gamzee looked around, observing his surroundings, blew his bangs from his eyes, and then leaned down, to nuzzle Karkat's shoulder with his cheek.

That's when real progress started to be made.

Gamzee was allowed to walk around, but not unattended. No, not when he could hurt himself or somebody else so easily. Instead they made a system where everyone would take turn 'babysitting' Gamzee. They'd watch him out of the corner of their eyes, stop him if he attempted to eat something inedible (which he had a habit of doing, it seemed), make him 3 square meals throughout the day, and try and teach him something new and important.

It wasn't flawless, however. And for that reason, Dave kept in mind to punish the man when he did something wrong. There were very few incidents but they were there, such as the time Gamzee peed on their house plant, or when he nearly broke the window by hitting it with his fist just to see if he could break the mysterious force field.

When things like that happened, Dave would scoop Gamzee off his feet when he wasn't paying attention, and head towards the basement, handcuffs in tow.

He would hiss and snarl and squirm against the others hold, until he realized where they were headed. Then Gamzee's demeanor would do a complete 180. He would wither, and cry, and howl, and sob, and usually babble something frantically in his language.

Unfortunately it was all an act of gross noises and crocodile tears to try and throw Dave off guard. It worked, once. Dave was never falling for it again.

The times without incident, however, have proven to at least have the others grow more comfortable around Gamzee. He was somewhat endearing (if a bit pitiful) when he wasn't trying to scratch your eyes out.

They all had their own experiences while trying to watch over the wild man.

Feferi was already very bubbly and easy to get along with so she and Gamzee seemed to be the first to really start getting along with each other. Feferi would turn on the t.v. to some silent cartoons, which seemed to utterly fascinate and baffle Gamzee, and she would give him and hour or so of t.v. time which the wild man seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Once she took him into her room, and showed him her aquarium full of different types of fish she had adopted from the local pet store. Gamzee would tap the glass and lean in close to examine the fish. He would stare at them and repeat, 'Gppf.' over and over again, and nobody new what that meant until fish started to disappear. Gamzee isn't allowed in Feferi's room anymore.

Nepeta got along with Gamzee a lot easier as well after some time. The fear she held towards the wild man withered away, and when it was her turn to watch after him, she would comb out his tangled hair, Gamzee seemed to enjoy that, and even braid them against his head. But somehow, they always managed to come undone eventually. Nepeta talked to Gamzee the most, she would tell him about her ships, her overbearing friend in the military, he crushes, anything should wouldn't normally tell someone, and though it was very clear that he couldn't understand her, he seemed to like to pick up on some of the words that she would say. His favorite word so far seemed to be 'motherfucker'.

John spent the majority of time watching Gamzee making the guy something to eat. He was very concerned about the others weight. It looked as though he was about over to keel over from starvation any minute now. When he wasn't feeding Gamzee junk food, they were simply goofing off together. John would give Gamzee some crayons and paper, and though the dining room table was now significantly covered in the waxy substance, and Gamzee ate a few crayons, the wild man never seemed more at ease than when he was drawing. If it weren't so messy, he'd think about getting him some paint as well. At one point they had built a pillow fort together and spent the entire afternoon there.

Eridan was still bitter toward the whole thing and though he often was very vocal about how he wanted nothing to do with the man, the hipster was still roped into everything. He didn't talk to Gamzee much when he had to watch him, except to yell at him when he did something wrong, or to call him a name. Eridan had a tendency of calling him 'stupid' and Gamzee would always remind him, "Mp, Gamzee'. Gamzee had to correct him a lot. Eridan was quite bitter and harsh towards the man, but after Gamzee's attempt to flush his favorites scarf down the toilet, he began to make more of an effort to get in his good side.

The only one he had yet to grow remotely comfortable with was Dave. No matter how nice or cuddly the Strider attempted to be, Gamzee always greeted him with a glare and a hiss, and honestly it was starting to get on his nerves. If Gamzee should be appreciative and friendly towards anyone, it should be him! After all, he was the one who found him in the first place.

However, today was Rose's turn to watch Gamzee, and the two currently sat on the living room couch. The wild man and stretched across the couch, his legs dangling over the arm rest, and his head against Rose's lap. However, she didn't seem to mind, and in fact, encouraged it, threading his fingers through his hair, in her other hand a picture book. She read it out loud to him and the wild man got a clear view of the pictures, which he seemed to understand much better than the words.

"O aolr oy ejem upo trsf yp zr." He cooed, nuzzling her palm.

"Hmmm? Good?" Rose questioned with a gentle smile on her face.

"Good." Gamzee repeated.

"You're doing great, Gamzee." She spoke encouraging and the man smiled against her knee. Out of all the people there, Rose seemed to be doing the most when it came to reaching Gamzee English.

Karkat walked into the living room and plopped down into a chair not too far away, and Gamzee immediately perked up and greeted the other. "Karkat!" He chirped and Karkat responded by rolling his eyes yet sending a smile all the same.

Still, underneath that caring gaze, Karkat felt a suffocating wad of guilt growing inside of him. An entire month, and Gamzee was still here. He had tried to find places where he could take Gamzee. He googled similar cases, read one article where a girl behaved more like her pet dogs because of her neglecting parents leaving her in the dog house, watched a video documentary about children growing up behaving more like animals than human, but none of this gave him a solution, a place to go, he was at a loss as to what he should do, but he was pretty sure the answer was not to send Gamzee back into the woods where he can live out the rest of his life rolling around in dirt and eating squirrels.

So here Gamzee was, still not out of this place.

"Esmy yp drr ejsy o arstmrf, gtormf?" Gamzee asked, seeming to direct that towards Karkat, who arched a brow in return.

Gamzee straightened up. "Good." He repeated and then looked over at Rose who smiled and nodded in approval.

Karkat snorted and clapped his hands together sarcastically. "Congrats on learning a kindergarten level word."

Gamzee beamed.

That was, until Dave walked in.

"Hey. Lunch is ready." He told the three, gesturing to the kitchen with his thumb.

There was instantly a heavy, uncomfortable atmosphere in the room, and Gamzee's face twisted into a bitter scowl.

"...alright, thank you, Dave." Rose's smooth voice broke through the tense silence, and she then turned to Gamzee. "Hungry?" She asked him.

With a frown still on his face, Gamzee made a noise of approval, and stood from his spot, heading to the kitchen with Karkat and Rose.

The table was empty today except for the four, all the other housemates either not home or doing their own things, leaving for a small, rather tense meal.

Dave had fixed a meal of a simple chicken breast and the fries you get out of a bag and heat up in the oven. He fixed and placed a plate in front of Gamzee and stared at him for a moment.

" 'Thank you.' " he told him, expecting the other to repeat.

Of course, the wild man simply narrowed his eyes and grabbed the chicken from the plate in his hands and tore into it with his teeth.

There was a deep frown on Dave's face, and he reached over, taking hold of Gamzee's thin wrist, causing the other to jolt and nearly smack himself in the nose with the food he was holding. With a growl, Gamzee gave his wrist a sharp tug, but to his irritation, his arm was still caught in an iron grip.

" You heard me. Say 'thank you.' " Dave told the other in a voice that was noticeably growing lower, more intimidating.

"Dave--"

"No, Rose, I know he knows it! He can't keep spitting and growling at me, it's uncivilized!" He bite out, stunning his sister into silence.

Gamzee growled and tugged harder, the food that he had falling somewhere to the floor. "O jsye upi! O jsye upi! Sry hp upi dyiqof--"
Gamzee's blabbering was cut off when, with a swift and sudden movement, he was yanked out of his chair. His hip knocked against the table hard, silverware went clattering to the floor. Suddenly, Gamzee was yanked into Dave's arms and lifted off the ground by the others arms pinning his own to his sides. He as going back to the basement.

Gamzee's blue eyes widened in realization, and he instantly fought against the grip, squirming and kicking, and flailing. When that didn't work, he began to sob.

"No!!" He cried. "No, no! Esoy, esoy!! Oz dpttu, qarsdr! O fpzy esmy yp hp nsvl! Noo! No!" No was one of the first words he had picked up on, after hearing 'Gamzee, no!' so many times.

He withered and screamed, but Dave wasn't letting go, and the stumbling steps towards the basement continued.

"Wait! Dammit, Dave, leave him alone!" Karkat shot out of his seat and ran over, as if ready to push the two apart, but he never did.

Dave shot him an icy look from behind his shades and scowled. "I know you like him, I've seen him buddying up with him, but like hell I'm gonna let you baby him, or let the two of you team up against me." He tightened his grip around Gamzee. "Unless you want to join him, I'd suggest you back off." He quipped.

And he did. Karkat's gaze wavered and he went still, not making another move, or speaking another word. Convinced that there wasn't going to be anymore outbursts, Dave dragged the screaming and crying man to the basement.

Nobody had the appetite to finish their lunch. Except for Dave.