A New Strider (Striders x Reader)

Chapter 21

"No, I don't think that's how it works."

"Shut up!" Karkat angrily snaps, ditching another ball at the hoop.

"Here, you moron." You sigh, shoving Karkat aside.

You pick up one of the basketballs and toss it into the basket. You look over at Karkat with a grin, picking up another one and tossing it in.

"Well shit then."

"See, you just get too angry." You laugh.

"Get fucked you little shit."

You roll your eyes, leaning your elbow on Karkat's shoulder. He shrugs you off and ruffles your hair.

"Alright, my turn to pick a game." You hum, looking around.

You look around the arcade, which was oddly quite empty.

"Let's have a go at this!"

You grab Karkat's hand and drag him towards the Dance Dance Revolution.

"Hell no!"

"Nope, not allowed to back out."

You jump up onto one side, him on the other. You slip in the money and select the song 'Angelus'.

"Get ready to meet your maker."

The song begins and you tap along on the arrows, you glance over at Karkat to see he wasn't doing too badly for himself.

"Wow, I thought you'd suck at this, I must admit." You laugh, keeping up the pace.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said."

Your eyes were concentrated on the screen. You let out a whoop of happiness when you finish, you coming first. You grin, turning to Karkat, doing a ridiculous victory dance.

"You look like an idiot."

"Aww, don't be so mean." You coo jokingly.

"Alright, come on," Karkat sighs, "it'll be dark soon, we should head home."

You nod, slipping your bag back on and heading out of the arcade with Karkat. You were tired and sweaty from the dancing and really didn't want to walk.

When you exit the warm complex into the cool outside air, you let out a sigh of relief. That is until a leaf hits you in the face. You hear Karkat let out a snort and look over at him, glaring, and the leaf still resting on your forehead. Karkat covers his mouth with one hand, reaching up and removing the leaf.

"Don't laugh at me." You whine, leaning against Karkat.

Karkat just continues covering his mouth; he wasn't laughing, but definitely grinning. You smile as you remove Karkat's hand from his face.

"Aww, is Karkat smiling." You coo, pinching his cheek.

"(Y/n)." he whines, pulling your hand from her face.

"Alright, alright," you chuckle, "let's get going."

You pull away from Karkat, beginning to walk towards your place. You look around to see that there weren't many people out.

"Hey Karkat." You get his attention.

"Yeah."

"If you could a have a magical creature as a pet, what would you have?"

Karkat looks over at you questioningly, "where the hell did that come from?"

"Just trying to make a conversation, geez." You pout.

"... I'd have a hippogriff."

"Ooh, hippogriffs are cool," you hum, "I'd so have a hydra."

"Hmm, that sounds like a good choice."

"It would be awesome," you grin, "so many heads to pet."

"Of course that's why." Karkat rolls his eyes.

"Why else would I want one?" you tilt your head in question.

"Power?"

"Uh huh." You roll your eyes.

Before you knew it you were already at the front of your apartment building. You turn to Karkat with a smile.

"Thanks for this afternoon, Karkat," you thank him, "I had fun."

"Yeah, no problem."

The both of you stand there awkwardly for only a moment.

"Well, guess I'll see you tomorrow." You tell him.

"Alright, bye."

And with that you head into the apartments. You let out a yawn as you check your phone. You don't notice any messages or anything so you just shove it back into your pocket. Once you get to your apartment you knock on the door.

After a minute the door swings opens to reveal a half asleep Dave.

"Oh, hey," he greets, stepping aside to allow you in, "so, how'd the date go?"

"Date?"

"Yeah, with Karkat." Dave glancing over at you as you both walk down the hallway.

"That wasn't a date." You shrug.

"Pretty sure it was."

"Dave, don't start."

Dave holds his hands up in mock surrender. Dave turns to walk in his room and you continue towards your room.

"Hey, you coming in?"

You turn around to see Dave looking at you.

"Oh, sure."

You follow Dave in and take a seat on his bed. Dave plops down on his desk chair, a leg resting up on his desk. You pull out your phone and Dave begins to mess around on his computer.

"Hey (y/n), come have a look at this shit."

You hum and glance over at him, noticing something obnoxiously bright on his screen. You get to your feet and shuffle over to him. You now see that there was a poorly drawn comic on his screen.

"What's this?"

"Well, my dear sibling," Dave speaks up, "this is Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff."