They were done. Almost.

Vriska had suddenly fucked off and started doing some Vriska things and now here you are, sobbing and teary and gross, holding tight onto Equius.

It wasn't... he wasn't Equius anymore, but it was still a part of him, and you missed him so much.

ARQUIUSPRITE: B--> Nepeta, you've been doing this for about three minutes now

ARQUIUSPRITE: D--> You have no idea how hard it is for me not to fle% on you right now

NEPETA: :((< EQQQUUUIIIISSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!

NEPETA: :((< *sob sob*

NEPETA: :((< i missed youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu

ARQUIUSPRITE: B--> And so have I. Or half of me, at least

ARQUIUSPRITE: B--> Hey would you like to see something cool

You nod and untagle yourself from him, and are suddenly beholden to STRENGHT unlike any other.

VRISKA: Hey, quit flexing and go fix Jane's tiaratop!

VRISKA: We don't need her going 8atshit on us!

ARQUIUSPRITE: B--> Aw man

NEPETA: :((< :((

ARQUIUSPRITE: B--> ...

ARQUIUSPRITE: B--> :(

With the biggest sigh you've ever had, you saunter over to Dave and Karkat, who are talking to Vriska.

DAVE: hey pets

You snuggle up next to him and feel his weight go over you as he relaxes into you.

NEPETA: :((< hey dave

NEPETA: :((< equius is busy with fixing the tiara thingy

DAVE: damn man that shit sucks straight ass

DAVE: but you can get out of the dumps soon since everythings gonna be like

DAVE: the games gonna be done in t minus fuck you yknow

VRISKA: Speaking of! Here they are now!

You look up, and right as rain, there they are:

...Some dude you don't know and a girl you don't know.

This is probably much better from Dave and Rose's point of views (and Jake? But you haven't spoken to him yet. You should... get on that).

DAVE: (oh holy shit its john)

JOHN: hi dave, hi karkat!

You don't really listen, instead focusing on squeezing Dave's hand to let him know that this is real.

Suddenly, the girl next to him is pounced on Rose, making you flinch back at the sudden movement, but the d'awwwwing you hear assures you that she's fine.

NEPETA: :33< (is this normal for humans???)

DAVE: (dude i dont think any of us are a good metric for normal)

NEPETA: :33< (ok???)

Now John's coming close to you guys, and you can see the joy he has seeing Dave again.

JOHN: hi dave!

JOHN: you're alive!

JOHN: and so is everyone else.

DAVE: yeah man shits awesome

The two of them then do an epic bro fist bump, and you can swear you can see the shitty jpeg crust

JOHN: so how have you been?

DAVE: yeah its been rocking

DAVE: weve watched way too fucking many nic cage movies

DAVE: thank you vriska

VRISKA: No pro8lem.

DAVE: and uh

He's suddenly blushing, and darting his eyes about with slight beads of sweat starting to form.

DAVE: me and pets are

DAVE: you know

Taking over, you squeeze his shoulder and giggle a bit as you look up at John.

NEPETA: :33< im nepeta!

NEPETA: >:33< i make out with him like crazyy

You laugh as both human boys blush as you say that, even as Karkat rages.

KARKAT: BULLSHIT. I SAW THIS RELATIONSHIP HAPPEN IN REAL TIME AS THE GRAVITATION PULLS OF BOTH OF YOUR STUPIDITIES CAUSED A BLACK HOLE OF DUMBASSERY.

KARKAT: THERE HAVE BEEN ABOUT THREE MAK SESSIONS, FUCKING TOPS.

NEPETA: :33< youve b33n k33ping count? cr33py!

KARKAT: SAY THE ONE WITH A FUCKING SHIP GRID OBSESSION.

JOHN: ok, ok, wait.

JOHN: nepeta, you're dave's girlfriend?

You nod a yes.

NEPETA: :33< yep! were not on the quadrants but were into eachother

DAVE: well id fucking hope so man

DAVE: itd be really shitty for you to do all that just to not be into me

DAVE: fucking anime betrayal

You stick you tongue out at him as John looks on with a confused look on his face.

JOHN: ok, but also...

JOHN: what did karkat mean by "ship grid"?

NEPETA: :33< oh well

NEPETA: :33< there are a lot of different combinations!!!

JOHN: i get that part, but isn't the point of shipping to find the best possible combo?

JOHN: not just to list out everything you can think of.

You roll your eyes, remembering how you had this exact same conversation with Meulin.

NEPETA: :33< thats what efurrybody says!!! i dont get why people are so up in arms about it!

KARKAT: THEY'RE UP IN ARMS BECAUSE IT'S FUCKING WEIRD.

After that, John and him have psuedo bro bump that was almost entirely devised by Dave, and then John goes around to talk to people.

You decide to do the same

NEPETA: :33< so i have a question about the scratch

ROSE: Uh. Sure.

She's still hugging with her mother (Roxy?) and you stare for a moment before continuing.

NEPETA: :33< what happens if we fuck up again? wouldnt the scratch just...

NEPETA: :33< make it like how it was back before you guys played at all?

ROSE: I don't think we can scratch, to be honest.

ROSE: And we won't need to scratch.

ROSE: You don't need to worry, Nepeta.

You let out a sigh, and clean a smudge on your shades.

JOHN: hey, i just realised you also have shades on!

JOHN: that plus dave's bro coming by soon, we're gonna have it up to out asses in lame shades.

You honestly hadn't even registered that. Lame ass shades.

You go sit back down by Dave, and take the time to have a little nap-

KANAYA: Are Your Hands Going To Be Alright?

Aw, man.

NEPETA: :33< theyre always kinda achey but its ok

NEPETA: :33< we wont n33d to be surgeons to beat lord english so

KANAYA: Yes Yes I Know

KANAYA: I Just Tend To Worry

ROXY: woahh i had no idea

KANAYA: Yes It Is A Bad Habit Of Mine

ROXY: oh uh

ROXY: i was tryna be sarcastic

ROXY: sorry

KANAYA: No No Its Alright

NEPETA: :33< anyways im gonna take a nap

You DO! Finally.

You get a bit of sleep in until Vriska rudely awakes you, and then you, Dave, Terezi, and Dave's bro Dirk are off to beat up some of the Jacks/Spades/whatever.

You're. You're scared.

NEPETA: :33< i dont wanna die

DAVE: you wont

TEREZI: 1F YOU DO 1'LL C4RRY ON YOUR L3G4CY AND ST4RT TO M4K3 SH1PP1NG GR1DS

NEPETA: :33< why are we all so obsessed with the shipping grids!?

DIRK: Call me a moron, but that's not how shipping works.

DIRK: Like, fundamentally speaking.

OH COME ON!!!