Wait...Humans Need Air, Right? (Merstuck! DirkJake Fanfic)

11. A Bigger Meeting

The next morning, Jake woke up in his bed, sprawled across the mattress. He clenched his eyes shut and turned away from the sunlight shining through his window, groaning in aggravation.

Eyes half opened, he glanced at the clock on his bedside table. The green digital numbers read 11:34. He tried to remember what had happened the night before. He remembered the meeting and trying to kill Karkat, but everything after that was a blur.

And then it hit him.

"Gah!!"

A small plush puppy flew across his room from his doorway. When he turned to see who threw it, he saw none other than Jade, standing impatiently in the doorway, already dressed.

"Get dressed," She barked, "We're going to meet Karkat and the others at the cave."

Oh, so THAT'S what happened, Jake thought as Jade left his room, closing the door on the way out. Tiredly, he walked over to his dresser, pulled a skull tee-shirt and some short shorts out of a drawer, and went to the bathroom for a quick shower.

As he stepped into the shower and turned the faucet on, he began to think about Dirk.

Dirk could be a little obnoxious at times, but he was an overall cool dude. He had proven himself to be very smart, figuring out how human things that washed into the ocean worked. Last time the two met, he told Jake he was trying to develop a cell phone that would work under water using parts of phones that fell off boats or were pulled into the sea when owners forgot them. He planned on calling it the Shell Phone, not so much for the pun, but more for the fact that that was what he thought they were called at first.

Yes, Dirk Strider was a genius, and pretty good looking in Jake's opinion.

Wait, what?

Jake shook his head, trying to remove the odd thought from his head. He stepped out of the shower, dried himself off with a towel, and changed into his clothes. Remembering the surprise he had planned on the way home from the beach last night, he slid back into his room and grabbed his backpack, the surprise as well as some snacks already packed inside. Then, with the bag slung over one shoulder, he ran down the stairs to grab something for breakfast before heading out with Jade.

As he reached the kitchen, he found his sister eating breakfast at the table, occasionally sliding a piece of whole-grain cereal to Bec. Smiling at the cuteness of the event, Jake grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, filled it with milk, poured some whole-grain cereal from a box on the counter, took a spoon from a drawer, and walked to the table to sit next to Jade.

The moment he sat down, he began scarfing down the cereal while Jade rolled her eyes at her brother's animal-like behavior.

Before long, the Harley-Englishs had finished their breakfast and were about to head out the door.

"Wanna bring Bec?" Jade asked.

Jake's eyes squinted suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well, we haven't really taken him on an actual walk since we came here, and he could use the exercise."

He thought for a moment. Bringing Bec DID sound like a good idea. But then he remembered he surprise he had planned.

"We can take him later; we're gonna be late for the others."

"Right." The siblings then left the house, locking it on the way out, and began heading for the cave via the beach. Suddenly, an idea came to Jake's mind.

"Hey, Jade?"

"Yeah?"

"What if Dirk and Dave are waiting for us in the cave and don't know about Karkat and the others?"