Chapter Text
When John Egbert thought of coming up to Texas to see Dave, his mind was filled with images of the two of them playing video-games, having movie marathons, wrestling and staying up all night: normal things that kids did at sleepovers all the time. He expected he would have a blast being with Dave in person, doing all the things that computers didn’t allow.
And he hadn't been wrong. The first few Days after he got off the plane were absolute heaven. He and Dave were practically inseparable; you could almost never find one without the other.
What John DIDN'T expect, however, was the presence of Dave's bro. He had heard about Dirk many times from Dave, who recounted almost everything that he could about his brother. From all the awesome stuff he did, to all the times that he didn't come back till the morning, and John stayed up with Dave (no matter how many times Dave said he was being dumb and that he was a big boy who could handle himself). John had assumed that the older man would probably just stay out of their hair, and didn't think much about it outside of that. Dave had always said that Striders like their space.
He was wrong. For the first few days, he had left them alone, letting them spend the time together. They were best bros, after all, and Dirk knew how important John was to Dave. But after that, Dirk spent and almost incredible amount of time with the boys. Joining them for most of the activities in the house if he wasn't busy with work or other things.
At first John found this a little bit creepy; he was Dave's guardian and kind of old and kind of weird. This attitude didn't last long though, John quickly found that Dirk was pretty cool. Obviously not in the way that Dave always described (well maybe a little but John would never admit that) but he had his own personality -equal parts smart and stupid- that made him really fucking awesome.
The first time, John as sure he wasn't actually meant to see. He had only been up to get a drink and had planned to get straight back into bed.
That, however, didn't end up happening.
He was tired and a little bit disoriented when he walked into the kitchen, padding quietly so he didn't wake Dirk, who slept on the futon not too far away. When he heard Dave and Dirk whispering back and forth in the living-room, he paused. He didn't want to be caught up; it might make things awkward. He didn't particularly want to go to bed either, because he was fucking thirsty (and maybe his curiosity was getting the better of him).
He stopped breathing, trying to listen to the whispers. They were muffled, but he could catch his name being said more than once. He stood completely still, focusing all his attention on the sound but no matter how much he tried he couldn't quite make anything out. It was frustrating, and eventually John decided to peek around the corner to see if he could spot them.
And spot them he did. Dirk was leaning against the counter, both hands behind him for balance. Dave was standing in front of him, pressing against his chest with one hand, and the other was tangled in Dirks hair.
The two brothers were kissing.
John let out a surprised noise, and both Striders whipped their heads around to look at him. They all stood there for about three seconds before John apologized and practically ran as fast as he could back to Dave's room.
His heart was beating in his chest and his cheeks burned with embarrassment. He had seen them...kissing. They were boys, and they were kissing. They were BROTHERS, and they were kissing. He was breathing fast and couldn't quite tell if it was from the dash back to his sleeping bag or from what he had just witnessed.
It didn't take long before John heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and he heard the door creak open. He didn't turn around to greet whoever walked in, opting instead to face the wall and hide the fact that he was practically mortified. This didn't stop whoever was at the door however. They merely walked up the John's sleeping bag and poked him in the shoulder, whispering a "John you're being fucking stupid, turn around."
So he did, and he was faced with the gaze of one Dave Strider, sunglasses off and eyes looking mighty concerned. John had never seen him look like that before, and his first instinct was to reach over and comfort him, but he stopped himself.
"You, uh..." He trailed off, and John couldn't really help him with what he was about to say, so he struggled on. "You saw."
It was a statement, and it had John nodding his head.
"Okay that was a dumb thing to say of course you did. I mean, you saw and like... are you okay?"
was he... okay? John was a little bit confused and it must have been evident on his face because Dave tried one more time with a wave of his hands.
"I mean like you're not goign to like, freak out and call CPS or go home and tell your dad are you?" Dave had meant for that to be sarcastic, but John could see the genuine distress in his words even though it was almost invisible. Seeing Dave worried was one of the things that really got to John, and John wasn't even thinking before he got out his answer.
"Of course I'm not going to do that, I'm not a dick." He could clearly see Dave's shoulders drop from the tension leaking out of him, and even though John wasn't sure he could be suppotive of this, he was willing to go along with it if it would help out his best bro.
"It isn't like this horrible sinful thing man, it's not even bad. Everything that you've been taught about ...incest," He hesitates on the word, and you almost wince. "It doesn't apply here. It isn't abusive or unhealthy or anything, I just... love him." Dave suddenly got really quiet and John reached forward with his hand as comfort, resting it on his friends shoulder. The action surprised both of the kids, but Dave took it as a 'it's okay bro you can keep going, I'm not going to vomit or anything.'
"I just don't want you to be... weirded out or anything. I mean we won't do anything in front of you I promise. This won't happen again." Dave tried his best to assure John, and John nodded, a small reassuring smile on his lips.
"It's okay, I get it. I mean, alright obviously I don't get it, but I'm not going to be a jerk about this. I'm fine, just tired." The two of them looked at each other in the dark, Dave trying to figure out if he was being serious and John trying to convey that yes, of course he was serious Dave you idiot.
Eventually Dave got into his bed and settled down, muttering a "Goodnight" to John, who returned it and fell asleep quickly.