davejade + the floor is lava
They play as if they were children again, hopping gracelessly from chair to table to whatever that little footrest cushion is called. Is it an ottoman? Maybe. Bro never stressed the vocabulary of interior decorating, but Dave is pretty sure that is what footrest cushion he is standing on is called.
"wait you are telling me you never played this game as a kid?"
Jade shakes her head at him as she leaps to the couch, her red flats squeaking against the the wood of the coffee table. Dave watches, ready to leap if she loses her balance. He's always ready to catch her, even if she isn't ready to fall.
"well, I didn't really have anyone to play with. Bec wasn't really into most games unless it was fetch. And besides the volcano next to my house was very active so I had to deal with real lava sometimes!"
"that is really sad, Harley."
She remains rooted on the couch, hands on her hips. "Well, I'm sure playing this game in the Strider house was loads of fun. were shitty swords mandatory or were they optional?"
Dave doesn't even miss a step. "... games with Bro were never quite as fun as they could have been but they were excellent training for my time spent on Lohac."
She hops to the arm of the couch, perching herself high above him. "well then, stop complaining about your shitty childhood and try to push me into this hot boiling lava!"
"you got it, Jade" he says, taking the leap from his chair to the couch. One foot plants firmly onto a cushion, but the other slips off the edge and he is falling into lava.
As he falls, Dave is almost happy that he lost, knowing that Jade will have effectively won her first game of "the floor is lava", but he doesn't hit the floor. He feels a strong tug on his arm and suddenly he is falling forward instead of back, into Jade instead of to the floor.
He steadies himself above her, shifting his weight so that he doesn't rest on her.
"You saved me, Harley."
She is grinning beneath him, and she pushes his sunglasses up away from his eyes. They both take a moment to breath and suddenly they are no longer children at play. He leans down to kiss her and she laughs. Her hands wrap around his waist and she pulls him into her.
"I had to. It wouldn't be very cool of me to let you fall into lava."
Dave kisses her again, lips tracing down her chin to her neck. Jade tilts her head back to give him access to the skin there but instead jumps out of her skin.
"the fuck?!"
Karkat stands at the entrance of the living room, already flustered and fuming.
She hides her head in the nook of Dave's neck, trying to stifle a laugh. Dave looks up, staring straight back into Karkat's pupil-less eyes, his sunglasses falling back onto his face.
"Karkat, I hate to be the one to break it to you but you might want to find another place to stand... the floor is lava and I wouldn't want you to-"
Before he can finish Karkat is yelling several colorfully phrased insults that probably ring into the next dream bubble.
Jade clings to Dave, still trying to quiet her laughter. She knows Karkat won't cease his tirade if he hears one giggle out of her and so she holds onto Dave, knowing at some point Karkat would get tired and leave or decided to join them. Not on the couch with the human makeouts, but in the game. Although if she's completely honest with herself she wouldn't protest if he decided to join them on the former. Not even a little.
