Strider's Stockholm//DaveKat(Homestuck)

Pilot

Stockholm syndrome. Not always used to describe some sort of sick romance between an abuser and his lover. It takes many forms, it's an owner and his dog, fighting for dominance. It's a mother and father every year when the Christmas budget gets tight. It was the 20' when prohibition was in order, and domestic abuse was at its peak. It's a father and his children as they fight against him for independence after years of breathing in his second-hand smoke. It doesn't always require some sort of sick love, it's the bruising on a man after his husband comes home from the bar. And for Dave Strider, Stockholm syndrome took the form of his Bro's verbal and physical beatings. Nearly every day, without fail.

"Meet me. On the roof."

A note demanded, placed in various locations where Bro knew Dave would find them. Sometimes they would come in forms of text messages. Dave's hands would shake when receiving the message every day. Although, Dave hadn't been called up to the roof recently. Bro probably realized that Dave had learned to shut his mouth when it came to his beatings. Instead, Dave could hardly make it to his room after school without being jumped by Bro. When Dave was young, he was told that Bro only did this to teach the kid self-defense. But after Dave hit the ripe age of nine, everything went downhill. There were no longer any tactics in their fighting. It was random and brutal, Dave was never able to keep up. And he felt as though Bro was making sure of that. As the years dragged on, the fighting became senseless beating. Bro, having originally encouraged Dave to defend himself, would now severely injure Dave if he tried fighting back. And once Dave started his transition, the fact Bro ever went easy on him was completely forgotten.

School was Dave's only safe haven, it was where he could chill with his closest friends

John, a high-spirited prankster, and Terezi, a half-blind justice seeker. And where he could forget that he ever thought he was a girl. Dave prided himself on his ability to pass easily, his voice was practiced and deep. His stature, the only thing he was thankful for when it came to his beatings. Over the years Dave had trained himself to be stronger, his strifes with Bro only increased his muscle and therefore helped fill out his frame and reduce breast tissue. No one at school knows that Dave hadn't always been just Dave. He had moved to this state during his freshman year of high school. No one knew him before the move, except John, who he had met online through his half-sister rose. And even then, Dave had never come out to John, in fact, he never planned to. There was one other person who knew Dave before he was Dave. And that was his older cousin, Dirk. Who happened to be Gay and all-too accepting of his new bro, Dirk lived with Dave and Bro after leaving his own father to move closer to his boyfriend. Currently, the two Striders walked beside one another on their way to school. Dirk was a Senior and Dave was a Sophomore this year. Which meant Dave had just turned fifteen that December. Which of course meant that he wasn't nearly old enough to be able to move out freely. Dave glanced at Dirk, who was taller than him by a few inches at least. Dirk was sort of, new. Meaning he had only recently moved in with Dave and his Bro. Dirk didn't know about the shit Bro pulled, Dave was scared to find out what Dirk would do or how he would react. Although, Dirk wasn't exactly an open book. And for all Dave knew, Dirk could join in with Bro and help him beat Dave senseless. This was unlikely, but you never knew.

"Where's Jake?" Asked Dave as he glanced around the school's courtyard. The buck-toothed, green-eyed kid with a British accent was usually waiting for Dirk at the school's entrance.

"He's home sick today." Dave nodded, scanning the courtyard for anyone familiar. He was soon bombarded from behind with wisps of Silly String. Dave turned toward his best friend, who laughed and bent over, holding his stomach.

"Hey knock it off, Egderp. Gotta be lookin' fine for the ladies and gentlemen." Dave ran a hand through his hair to shake out the tendrils of foamy string. John rolled his eyes and Dave and bumped his shoulder against Dave's.

"Psh, yeah right Strider. No one's even interested in you." Dave smirked and lifted an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? You don't think Terezi's got the hots for me?" John snorted and began walking towards the school.

"Definitely not." John shook his head and opened the school's doors for Dave. Giving an overdramatic bow as he gestured for Dave to enter. Dave rolled his eyes and moved to enter the building.

"Give me my fucking bag back cunt waffle!" Screamed a voice to John and Dave's left. They heard a small crowd's laughter and the sound of someone hitting the school's paved walkway. A dull thud came, followed by a grunt. Dave and John met eyes before quickly jogging towards the group.

"Yo! D Stri, come have some fun with us. Freak here is causing trouble and giving us pet names!" Spoke a tone-deaf pitchy voice to Dave's right. Dave, despite his height, couldn't see over everyone. The crowd parted as Dave and John shouldered their way past the crowd and breached the scene. No wonder Dave couldn't see past anyone, the commotion causer was absolutely tiny. Okay, he wasn't that small. But compared to his peers he looked like a bug.

"What are you idiots doing?" Dave asked as the crowd's laughter died down. Dave didn't know why, but for some reason, people in this school seemed to respect him.

"We're just having fun with the little freak." Spoke a bulky blonde guy who held the bag of the circle's victim, who was laid out on his ass and holding his nose.

"Give me that, you guys are gonna be late for class. Beat it." Dave pulled the backpack from the big guy's grasp, slowly. The crowd dispersed and the only three left were Dave, John, and the bully's victim. Dave walked over and held his hand out to the poor guy.

"I didn't need your fucking help, asshole." Grumbled the guy on the ground. Dave could finally get a good look at him. Although slightly taken aback by his gruff nature, Dave couldn't help but smirk. The kid was pretty small, but Dave could tell he was probably his age. His hair was snow-white, and his skin nearly matched. His eyes were so intensely saturated they were nearly bright red, Dave's stomach jumped a little at the thought. He had worried he had been alone when it came to the obscure eye colour. Instead of accepting Dave's hand, the stranger stood and grabbed his bag from Dave's grasp. Dave noticed the red, irritated, discolouration on the stranger's face around his nose.

"Hey, do you need to go see a nurse?" John asked as Dave studied the kid's stature. He was short for sure, and Dave couldn't tell what kind of body type he had due to his large sweater. The kid sent both of them menacing glares, he didn't reply before he walked off. Dave and John looked at one another, frowning. They felt like they needed to take some sort of action, but the kid seemed okay. He wasn't limping, Dave was worried he had had a bloody nose. But when his hands were pulled away, there was no trace of blood to be seen. Dave decided that he would try and go to the councilor's office, but, he didn't know this kid's name. Or anything about him, for all Dave knew this puny kid had been the one to start the fight. Dave decided to leave it alone and wait to take further action.

"Come on Dave! The bell just rang!" John rushed as he pushed Dave toward the doors the stranger had gone through. The two rushed to class, parting ways in the cafeteria to attend their separate classes, knowing they had the next three classes together anyway. And two with Terezi. Dave was late to his first period, he didn't feel like being in any sort of rush. He walked the hallway and contemplated what he should do about the obvious bullying taking place in the school. And why the Albino kid seemed to be taking such a beating. Dave shouldn't have cared, it wasn't his business. He had enough on his plate as it was, but for some reason. Dave wanted it to be his business. 

(Hey guys! Just a quick author's note, Chapter art is my own! Also, the Trigger Warnings in the description are not jokes and should be followed seriously, please take into account your own mental state before reading the rest of this story, thank you so much for reading this first chapter and hopefully you like and comment if you wish! Thanks!)