Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 - John: Peak into studio ==>

It all started with a text message from Dave.

“Hey my car shit the bed and there’s no way I’m asking bro to pick me and rezi up. use that car you just got and get us from hip hop at 8:30.”

And now John was awkwardly sitting in the parking lot of the dance studio. Should he go in? I mean, he’d gone in before with Rose to visit Kanaya so surely it wouldn’t be weird if he went in right? He could just say he was visiting friends in the studio after all, which technically wasn’t wrong.

So John mustered up the courage and turned off his car. He opened up the car door and closed it behind him, locking it as he headed inside. As he headed to the front door, he could see Kanaya at the desk working on a costume. He exhaled in relief, it would make going in to see his friends a lot less awkward.

John opened the door and Kanaya’s head perked up. She smiled softly at John. “Here to see Dave and Terezi?”

“Well actually more like here to pick them up, Dave’s car is busted.”

“Ah yes, he mentioned that earlier. Well they’re not hard to find. Straight down the hall and to the right, if you get lost just follow the loud rap music.” She motioned her head in the general direction of the hallway.

“Thank you Kanaya. Those Swan Lake outfits are coming along nicely.”

“Anytime John. Tell Rose I said hello.” Kanaya resumed sewing.

John could faintly hear the loud booming of the rap music as he made his way down the hall. However, he was caught off guard by the sound of classical music coming from a nearby studio, one little peak couldn’t hurt right?

What started as a little peak into a dimly lit studio turned into John having a front row seat to a mesmerizing performance. Inside was a ballerina dancing to the final act of Swan Lake. He knew it was Swan Lake because Kanaya had put it on for movie night recently. She was incredible, everything from the gentle movements of her arms to the pointed kicks, it synced perfectly to the sombre violin. It was incredible the meticulous way she controlled her body, the way she stayed on her toes as though she was as light as a feather. When she wrapped her arms around her body and turned, it was like watching the ballerinas in one of his Nanna’s music boxes twirl about to the music. She never once faltered in her movements.

When the performance ended John quickly moved out of sight, not wanting to be caught watching the ballerina like a creep. He quickly made his way down the hall to the hip hop class, they had just started wrapping up. Terezi waved at John, Dave turned around and followed suit. They collected their belongings and made their way over to John.

“Ugh you just missed our performance man it was so cool, you should have seen Rezi tearing it up out there.” Dave said as he took a swig of his water bottle.

“Sorry I missed it, maybe I’ll catch it next time.” John said sheepishly as he rubbed his arm.

“Nope no next time, next time I’m going to choke because I know you’re watching me.” Dave said.

“Dave are you implying I’ll never be able to do a headspin as good as that one?” Terezi asked, elbowing Dave.

“Nah you’ll be able to pull it off again, just not when John is looking, obviously.” The blonde scoffed as they exited the studio. They made their way back up the hallway, John looking around to see if the ballerina was still about.

Terezi stopped and looked inside the studio the ballerina was in, even though she was mostly blind. “Ugh man she’s not in here. I was hoping to tell her to flex her feet more. Oh well.” She licked the studio door. “Well at least she’ll know I visited.”

Dave and John cringed in disgust. While Dave loved his girlfriend and thought she was the hottest babe he could ever land, she did have some very disgusting habits.

“Rezi you’re going to make me lose my appetite, and I need that because I’m starving. John, can you drive us to McDonald's?” Dave wasn’t really asking, he was expecting John to take them out for fast food.

“Alright but you guys at least owe me a sundae for driving you guys around, maybe a burger too.” John said as they left the dance studio. They waved at Kanaya as they passed the desk and headed out the doors.

The group piled into John’s car and he started the engine. As he pulled out of the parking lot he noticed the Ballerina in his side view mirror, she had quickly disappeared around the corner of the studio just as John had caught a glimpse of her.

“John, there’s like, no one in the parking lot. You’re such a paranoid driver. You’re like bro with all the cameras in his car.” Dave said. John snapped out of his thoughts, and put the car into drive.

“Sorry just, I’m nervous about driving at night. I thought I saw something while I was pulling out.” John shook the thoughts of the ballerina out of his head. He needed to focus on driving now.

“Well just don’t panic in the McDonald’s drive thru.” Dave said casually as he wound down the window for some cool crisp air.

“Can’t have you stuffing up Dave’s happy meal order now can we?” Terezi teased.

“Man they don’t even have good toys nowadays in happy meals, and they try to give you apple slices and shit. I’m at McDonald's. I want childhood obesity with my Chinese plastic toy.”

“Maybe someday you’ll appreciate the appeal of a Big Mac and 10pc chicken nugget.”

John smiled as he watched the two bickered in the back seat through the rear view mirror. He was happy Dave had found someone who seemed to be a perfect match for him. John knew she was the one when she convinced Dave “too cool and ironic for you” Strider to take dance classes. Sure they were Hip hop classes, but it was still surreal to see the kid who leaned cross-armed and unamused on the sidelines of the school dance showing up to the dance studio every week for the girl he loved.

John was once again so deep in thought he hadn’t realized he was already at McDonald's. He pulled up to the drive thru speaker, and the drive thru attendant asked what they would like to order. Before John could even open his mouth, Dave took his seatbelt off and leaned over John’s shoulder and out the driver side window.

“Can I get a medium cheese burger meal with fries and an apple juice? Yes I said apple juice, I don’t want coke or sprite I want apple juice. Add an extra cheeseburger too.”

Without a beat Terezi leaned over the centre console and yelled out the window to the speaker. “I want a Big Mac with 10pc chicken nuggets and a large cherry coke? Oh, spicy buffalo sauce for the nuggets please.”

“Is that all for you today?” The attendant asked.

John sighed. “Can I please have a small hot fudge sundae with a chocolate chip cookie please?” He asked at a regular and non-eardrum-destroying volume.

“Okay just drive through to the next window.” John pulled up to the next window before looking back at Dave and Terezi. They immediately knew what their driver was asking for.

Terezi huffed and pulled out her card. She passed it over the centre console to John and he handed it to the attendant. The card was run and then a receipt was handed over back with the card. John handed the card back with a thank you and then the food was passed through the window.

The car pulled forward into the closest parking and before John could even park the car, Terezi was already fishing through the bag on the passenger side seat for her food. She tossed Dave his cheeseburgers before ripping open her Big Mac.

“Jeez Terezi you act like you haven’t eaten in days.” Dave said as he began to unwrap his cheeseburger.

“Give me a break I haven’t eaten since like three and I’ve done two hours of dancing on top of that.” She said, mouth full of food as she spoke.

John rolled his eyes as he began eating his sundae. He thought back to the ballerina in the studio. Clearly Terezi knew something about her. “Hey Terezi. Who was the ballerina dancing to Swan Lake?”

“Ballerina? You mean Vriska?” There was a tone of disgust in her voice. There was definitely some history between the two of them.

“Vriska, is that her name?” John trailed off. Despite being an unusual name, it was very pretty. It seemed to suit her well.

“Why do you ask? Did she get pissed off with you for no reason?” Terezi asked as she sipped her cherry coke.

“No I, I just happened to catch her dancing and she…she looked so beautiful, like a ballerina in a music box.” John said dreamily as he remembered her performance. He would give anything to watch her just one more time.

“Well that’s as close as you should be getting to her. There’s a reason she’s confined to her own studio.” Terezi mumbled as she put her drink in the centre console. Almost as if she was signalling for John to drop the topic.

“How do you know she doesn’t just like practicing by herself outside of her lessons?” It felt weird to defend this ballerina he hadn’t even really met, but it feels like Terezi was being too harsh on her. She was just a young adult who danced at the end of the day, right?

“I know she’s confined to the room for the safety of others because I used to dance with her.” Terezi stated bluntly. “Tavros, Aradia and I all danced with her until about three years ago when she turned on all of us to become prima ballerina of the studio. It’s why I turn up the music extra loud in hip hop class, so she’s forced to listen every time she comes in to practice while I’m there.”

“Maybe it wasn’t anything personal. What if she just wanted to focus on ballet?”

“It was absolutely personal. Tavros can’t dance anymore and Aradia hasn’t been seen at the studio ever since. I make sure she’s constantly reminded that I’m still dancing at the studio despite what she did.”

“Well what if-”

Dave put a firm hand on John’s shoulder. “John, I have heard nothing but bad things about that girl. Especially from Tavros and Karkat. I know you have a way with the ladies, but I don’t think even you could fix this girl.”

John sighed. He clearly wasn’t going to get anything more (well at least anything positive) out of Dave and Terezi about Vriska at this point.

After finishing up their food and playing scissors, paper, rock to determine who had to run out and toss the trash (it was Dave). John began the drive back to Dave’s apartment, the ride back home definitely had a different feel to it. While it wasn’t awkward by any means, John was a lot more quiet as he couldn’t shake the thought of Vriska out of his head. Even if she was bad news, surely John could watch her perform at least one more time, right?

Terezi shattered those hopes too, Vriska didn’t perform with the dance studio at the end of the year, not anymore. She exclusively performed at a high end theater that only the most wealthy and high class were invited to. The only person who had seen her perform at this theater from their studio was Kanaya. Even then she was forbidden to talk about the performance.

Once parked in the apartment’s parking lot, Dave and Terezi gave John a pat on the back, telling him it’s not all doom and gloom and there’s other people out there who aren’t psychotic stuck up ballerinas. He put on a half-hearted smile and told an obvious lie about how they were right and he’ll probably forget about her tomorrow morning.

When they left the car and waved goodbye, John watched on as the two lovebirds held hands and rambled about whatever silly things were on their minds. Even as they made their way to the elevator, he could see how much Dave adored this girl. He yearned for that type of connection, especially since it felt like all his friends had been getting into relationships as of recently.

When John got home he fell asleep to the Swan Lake soundtrack, hoping to dream of Vriska’s performance. And maybe in that dream, just maybe, he would find himself in the foyer post-performance presenting her a bouquet of beautiful white flowers.

Chapter Text

Dave remembers the night he first met Terezi.

He had been asked (more like begged) by Tavros to DJ at his boyfriend Gamzee’s birthday. He hesitated initially because he knew at best he might get paid in free weed and whatever booze people bought. Sure it was better than getting paid nothing, but he knew it was going to be a pain in the fucking ass to lug his turn tables out to a house on the coast to play for maybe ten people max. In the middle of winter no less.

But Dave ultimately found himself DJ’ing on his turn tables at Gamzee’s house, after much help from Sollux and a whole lot of yelling from Karkat of course. He was set up in the very spacious living room, which he found odd. He thought it was just to make room for the turn tables, but even then almost all the seating had been pushed up against the walls. It looked kinda like a dance floor, but who would make room for a dance floor at a party where only a handful of people showed up and most were just there to smoke weed and drink?

That answer came in the form of Terezi, at first she dragged some of the girls onto the floor with her and they would dance in the way most girls would at a party. Small shimmy like movements of their arms and swaying side to side to the beat, sometimes they would twirl each around or Terezi would dip them to the ground playfully. At one point she was able to get Karkat of all people to dance to her, but only for a couple of songs.

There was an hour or so where she disappeared from the dance floor, Dave figured she probably went to grab a drink or have a smoke. But it was unusual when she was nowhere to be found when Tavros asked for the mic.

“It’s uh, time for the birthday boy to uh, take his seat on his throne.” Tavros announced, clearly trying to not stumble over his words and build some sort of suspense.

Everyone cheered in their own way as Gamzee took his seat on a folding chair. There were some loud whoops, excited fast claps and eyerolls. This was Dave’s cue to play the special birthday mix that Tavros had requested. Considering the mix that was primarily composed of hip hop songs about plush rumps and shaking them, Dave inferred they probably hired a stripper.

“Performing for the first time in two, maybe three years- jeez I can’t remember. Give it up for Rez-Dawg!” Tavros announced with excitement pointing towards the back of the room. The circle parted as Terezi made an entrance.

She wasted no time strutting up Gamzee on the chair and immediately dropping herself onto his lap. She took a hold of his shoulders before starting to move herself sensually to the music. Some of the crowd started whopping and cheering while others (namely the stuck up asshole who attached himself to Feferi) looked on with disgust.

She soon pulled herself off his lap and proceeded to dance her way around his chair. It was intoxicating the way she danced, the way she could move to the music so freely while making herself look unbelievably hot. Dave had seen many hotties drop it low and dance all sexy in rap music videos, but none of them had anything on Terezi. Especially when she was able to pull out those crazy breakdancing moves where people spin about the floor, earning more cheers from the crowd. Even Karkat and Sollux started changing their tune to the performance, joining in with the cheering and clapping. Terezi then made her way back to Gamzee, once again resuming her sort of lap dance on him before the music faded out and finished.

There was a lot of whooping and cheering, namely from Nepeta, Feferi and Tavros. Terezi held Gamzee’s face in her hands before giving him a kiss on the forehead.

“Happy birthday you crazy clown, you finally got that performance you always asked for.” She ruffled his messy hair affectionately.

“Your dancing, it's a motherfucking miracle." Gamzee slurred. She couldn’t tell if it’s because he was still in awe or because he was high as fuck. But she appreciated the sentiment none the less.

“I’ll leave you to enjoy your birthday cake, that is, if you aren’t already full from mine.” Terezi said with a wink as she got off the lanky stoner.

“Birthday pie Terezi, birthday pie.” Gamzee corrected as he took her hand to get off the chair. Terezi rolled her eyes with a smile before leading him to the kitchen.

Dave could’ve sworn she winked at him through her glasses as the two of them left the room.

Karkat and Sollux helped with the pack up efforts of Dave’s turn tables, the night was winding down and people were either too drunk, high or horny to care about the music playing. Dave at the very least made a playlist of songs for this time of night, just to ensure the vibe wasn’t ruined by someone else’s shitty music taste.

“So are you going to make a move on Terezi after this?” Sollux asked as he slid the box of cables in the back of the van.

“What?” Dave was taken off guard. Sure he thought Terezi was hot, but how did Sollux know that Dave thought Terezi was hot?

“Dude we all saw the way you were watching her during her performance.” Sollux rebutted.

“She’s a girl doing cool fucking headspins and shit, how could I not look?” Dave couldn’t deny he spent most of the night watching her, even when she wasn’t doing headspins or performing.

“You were drooling over her Dave, I’m surprised we didn’t have to get a bucket to catch it falling out of your mouth.” Karkat said as he loaded the turn table stand into the van.

Did he really gawk at her like a fucking moron? Jesus Christ. Not even his sunglasses were enough to cover up the fact he has a massive fucking hard on for Terezi Pyrope. And worst of all, everyone at the party knew he was into her.

After the turntables and all associated gear was loaded into the van, the trio trudged through the snow back into the house. Dave made a beeline for the kitchen, he had been dying to drink most of the night but couldn’t due to not wanting people to fuck with his gear. That and he had been so intoxicated watching Terezi dance he had long forgotten about the want to get buzzed.

Dave cracked the can of cider open and started guzzling, god he was really thirsty. After chugging the can like his life depended on it, he got another one. This one was just for sipping while he stood on the wall, not at all interested in dancing or the girl who had spent her entire night on the dance floor. Nope. He was just so cool like that.

The sight of the living room was pretty sparse. It was only Terezi and Nepeta dancing together on the dance floor. Even though the two had been high energy throughout the night, the constant dancing and excitement was taking its toll. They were still playful with each other, sliding their arms over each other before Terezi dropped to the floor on one knee and Nepeta strutted around her with a giggle. Gamzee and Tavros were sitting on a singular chair, feeding each other Gamzee’s birthday pie, it was cute until they started swapping spit. Dave averted his eyes and scanned the room for anyone else. Karkat was on the wall by the staircase, Sollux must’ve gone upstairs for a smoke on the balcony or something.

Dave made his way over to the wall by Karkat, he could see him watching Nepeta and Terezi sorta slow dance to the music. There was a somewhat somber look on his face, but it was also an expression of acceptance.

“You should take your shot.” Karkat mumbled out.

“Huh?” Dave knew what he meant but it felt like there was more Karkat wanted to say.

“I liked Terezi for a while when we were in highschool, hell I liked her even after we graduated. She’s trouble, but she’s a fun kind of trouble. Can’t tell you how many times I ended up in detention because of her.” There was a small smile that crept its way onto Karkat’s face as he reminisced.

"I think you’d be a good match for her. I thought that for a while now.” If there was anything Dave had learnt about Karkat through John and Jade, is that he was infinitely more invested in the love lives of others than himself. Even if that meant admitting his long term sort of crush was probably better suited for another guy.

Dave went to respond but was interrupted by a shrill squeal. “Karkitty! I have to tell you aaaaallll about this new K-Drama I watched!” And before either of them could say anything, Karkat had been whisked away by Nepeta to somewhere else in the house.

That just left Dave looking dumbfounded as Terezi stood in front of him, hand on her hip. He looked over at her, seeing that mischievous glint in her eye peeking over her red glasses. Dave knew exactly what she was going to ask, so he put his drink down.

“How about a dance? Mr cool guy.” She asked, but they both knew she wasn’t really asking as much as she expected Dave to dance with her.

“I don’t dance, two left feet and all that jazz.” Dave crossed his arms and tried to play it cool. But it failed miserably as Terezi put her arms on his shoulders, looping her fingers together behind his neck. Before Dave could protest he found himself walking onto the dance floor as Terezi walked backward, rolling her hips as she did.

“Are you sure? Your music taste has the flavor of someone who has a good sense of rhythm and beat.” She licked her lips.

“I’ll take that as a poorly worded compliment.” Dave said as he uncrossed his arms. It wasn’t until he did so he realised he had no where to put them. He wanted to put them on Terezi but was nervous he’d put them in the wrong place.

Almost as if she read his mind, she trailed her fingers down his arms and held his hands. The way she drummed her fingers down his arms made him shiver a little. Terezi then lifted his arm so she could start walking around him. It made Dave a little uneasy, almost as if she was sizing him up.

Once she returned to the front of him she placed Dave’s hands on her hips and she resumed her previous arm position of having her fingers threaded behind his neck. Dave was starting to get nervous, it was the first time a girl had been so forward with him. But Terezi was a pretty touchy person, he’d seen the way she had danced with people throughout the night. He figured some uncomfortable attempts at small talks were in order.

“So, uh, how do you know the birthday boy?” That was a good place to start, especially considering she was comfortable enough to give him a well choreographed lap dance.

“We went to the same high school, we both have a love of keeping Karkat on his toes.” She said casually with a small giggle.

“So his boyfriend was okay with you dancing all over him like that?” If Dave was going to take his shot he wanted to make sure she wasn’t involved with another guy, or several guys. It would make things especially awkward considering they had so many mutual friends.

“Who do you think I practiced on?” She raised an eyebrow before looking over at Tavros and Gamzee, cuddled up together on one of the couches.

“Yeah right. Tavros would probably be creaming all over himself and blushing into his hands the moment you sat down on him.” Dave chuckled a little. There was no way Tavros of all people could handle Terezi. He was barely handling dancing with Terezi without feeling nervous.

“You’d be surprised. We used to be part of a dance troupe together with two other girls from Alternia high.” Terezi unthreaded her fingers from Dave’s neck again.

Dave panicked that he had played it too cool and Terezi was bored from the small talk. In a moment of drunken courage he grabbed her hand and spun her around. Once she had completed her spin he held her in a ballroom hold, one arm raised and the other holding the small of her back. Smooth Dave. “Tavros danced?”

“Yeah, well he did before our bitch of a ballerina injured him two or so years ago.” There was a bite in Terezi’s voice as she recounted the memory. Dave pondered if this was the reason she hadn’t performed in years.

“I didn’t think he used to dance. But I guess I’ve only ever known him as a frail kid in crutches and a wheelchair, so I never thought of him dancing.” Now that Terezi put the imagery in his head, he could see Tavros prancing around in a leotard.

“Well he did, and he was very good at it.” Terezi let go of Dave's left hand and did a half spin out. Before Dave could comprehend what move she was going for or if he should try and do something she spun herself into him and pressed her back against his chest. “But if you’re interested in another performance from me, I’m available for bookings.” She stroked his face with her spare hand.

Dave was beat red at this point, if she couldn’t see his face burning bright red, she could definitely feel it. “Uh, my birthday was just a month ago.” Way to fucking go Dave.

“Doesn’t have to be a special occasion, it can just be casual.” She then leaned over, taking Dave with her. He was fucking praying he didn’t pop a boner in the 5 seconds her plush ass was pressed flush against the crotch of his skinny jeans.

“C-Cool.” Dave mumbled out. He was speechless at this point, and burning up like no tomorrow. Terezi didn’t make it any easier by snaking her hand behind his head. Dave wasn’t sure if he wanted to make his move and kiss her. As he went to lean in she grinned widely before spinning herself out of his hold.

“You know what they say. A good performer always leaves the audience wanting more.” She said playfully as her hand slipped away from his grasp.

That was the last thing Dave remembered before waking up the next morning on top of a bed, with the sunlight streaming through gaps in the blinds. He also noticed he was somewhat cuddled up to someone soft and very warm, was it Terezi? Did he score last night? Upon feeling for a pair of boobs to cup, he realised there were none. It was Karkat, he was feeling up Karkat. Dace must have wandered in at some point and decided that the room with the least amount of garbage and relatively untouched bed was the best option for sleeping the morning away in. Apparently Karkat and Sollux thought the same.

“Sorry Karkat. No homo dude.” Dave said as began untangling his hands from under and around Karkat.

“You’re acting like the first person to ever give me a blowjob wasn’t a guy,” Karkat groaned as he rolled into Sollux’s chest.

This wasn’t the first time Karkat had confessed to something embarrassing while half asleep. He’ll never forget when Jade tried to wake him up once and he said he dreamt of her making out with herself.

As Dave sat up and looked around the room he spotted his shades with a note inside. He took the note and unfolded it, finding the contents written in a bright teal pen along with a couple of drawings.

“Hey Cool Kid. Sorry I couldn’t stick around until the morning. I have work at midday so Nepeta and Equis dropped me home. If you still want to book me, just hit me up at xxx-xxxx-xxxx.

-TZ”

Dave looked at the time, it was 10:30 in the morning. Before putting on his shades, he punched the number into his phone. He then put on his shades as he braced himself to write out the perfect “this is Dave, you gave me your number last night” text.

“Yo, this is TZ right? It’s DJ Cool Kid Dave.”

Chapter Text

Desperate times called for desperate measures.

And in this situation, desperate measures involved pleading with Rose Lalonde at job, while she was on the clock.

“So if I’m understanding correctly,” Rose started as put her fingers to her forehead and closed her eyes. “You are in love with a ballerina you have only ever watched dance and never spoken to.”

“Yes,” John mumbled affirmatively.

“And every single person you have either spoken to about her, or have tried to ask for her contact details have told you she is nothing but trouble, correct?” Rose opened her eyes and stared down at John through her bangs.

“That’s correct.”

“And despite all the many warnings given to you by your concerned and loving friends, you are still insistent on getting me to help you pursue her. Am I recounting this correctly Egbert?” Rose crossed her arms, hoping that reciting the situation aloud would help John reconsider his feelings towards this ballerina.

“Well technically I want you to ask Kanaya if she could help me. But yes, that is correct!” John confirmed with that signature goofy smile. He wasn’t going to give up that easily.

“You know people give advice for a reason, right? That reason is usually to stop people from making bad decisions.” Rose picked up a stack of books and resumed shelving.

“I know but I can’t stop thinking about her. I think about her so much that I dream about her, surely that has to mean something right?” John hoped that bringing up dreaming about this ballerina would persuade Rose to help him. If this didn’t work he could always say she owed him one for helping her get with Kanaya.

“So why exactly can’t you ask Kanaya yourself? I don’t know why you need me to ask for you.” She rolled her eyes and scoffed.

“Kanaya’s always busy with the dance studio, it seems that the only free time she ever has she spends with you.” John whined. “Also I don’t think she’d appreciate me constantly hanging around the studio unless I was taking classes.

Rose sighed. John was not going to drop this until he got what he wanted. Despite finding it annoying at times, his perseverance and optimism were his best attributes. “I’ll ask.”

“Really?” John’s face lit up brightly.

Rose brought him back down to earth by grabbing the collar of his shirt. “But you must never come to my work and grovel at me to be your wingman again. Got it?”

John swallowed. “P-promise.” Rose let go of his shirt and John took it as his cue to leave the bookstore as promised.

He turned around and made his way towards the exit. But was stopped by Rose calling his name.

“Oh and John?”

“Hmm?”

“Remember to use that classic Egbert charm to sweep that ballerina off her feet.” Rose said with a playful wink. He knew she would be on his side. Even if it was just an excuse to psychoanalyse him via his romantic pursuits.

Karkat: Dissuade John from dating Vriska ==>

“Do not date Vriska Serket.” Karkat said sternly as he slid a fresh coffee order on the counter.

“What?” John tried to play dumb; but knowing all the people John asked about Vriska, it was sure to get back to Karkat.

“You heard me. Do. Not. Date. Vriska Serket. Don’t pursue her, don’t look at her, don’t even think about her. There’s a reason she is exiled from the friend group.” Karkat emphasized. He did not want to lose yet another friend to the spider’s web of deception.

“But what about-”

“If you thought getting tricked by Terezi into taking hallucinogenics was terrifying, Vriska will trick you into successfully injuring yourself and ensuring the rest of your living days are miserable.” Karkat could speak from experience.

He watched as both Tavros and Terezi continued to get tormented by her to this day. Mostly Tavros, Terezi seemed to find a way to torment Vriska back by staying at the studio and continuing to dance. And Aradia…Karkat never forgot the night Vriska took her revenge on Aradia. He watched Aradia die that night, that girl who loved to tumble and contort herself was gone. He watched as the girl who once performed on stage with a sense of gusto and pride had become a shell of her former self, barely ever leaving her house. Her passion for dance had flatline, unable to be resuscitated.

John went quiet and continued putting the pastries in the dessert display. As he was finishing up, he was startled by a face pawing at the window of the dessert display. Karkat looked over to see what the commotion was about.

It was Nepeta, she had been waiting for at least an hour for the cat macarons to come in and was staring down the fresh batch that had just been delivered. He sighed, while she was a friend and was one of his more tolerable regulars; she did have a bad habit of getting her hand prints all over the dessert cabinet because she (quite literally) looked with her hands and not her eyes.

“Sorry for scaring you Eggpurr, I’m just so excited when the cat macarons come in on Meownsday.” She said while still staring at the sweet cat confections.

“It’s fine, I’m just glad to hear they’re a well liked item. My dad was nervous they were a little too novel to keep in rotation, but they seem to be doing well at most cafes and coffee shops.” John mused. Nepeta’s eyes went wide.

“I’m so glad so meowny people love them, they’re the best catfectionary out there! And it’s even better that they look just like my kitty Pounce De Leon.” She cooed, thinking about her white cat and how much she looked like the white macarons.

“Nepeta, if I give you one of these cat macarons will you please stop putting your grubby mitts all over the display glass? I have to wipe it down constantly because of you.”

“Of course Karkitty! I apurrologize for making your job harder for you.” Nepeta had a look of guilt on her face. She knew how hard Karkat’s job could be at times, fulfilling coffee orders by himself during rush hour and dealing with difficult customers.

“It’s fine, just please look with your eyes and not your hands okay?” Karkat squatted down with a pair of pastry tongs and grabbed them before promptly sliding the macaron into a paper bag. He folded the top neatly and tightly before handing it to Nepeta. While he knew she would eat it straight away, he had been at the job for so long that the process of bagging pastries and confectioneries had become an unconscious procedure for him.

Nepeta went to fish out her cat face coin purse from her green jacket but Karkat put his hand up to signal she didn’t have to. “Thank you Karkitty! I purrmise not to get the cabinet messy again.” As soon as he handed over the paper bag, Nepeta wasted no time opening it to admire the cat treat. She took a photo of it to send to her older sister.

“Is it true you want to date Serkitty, Eggpurr?” Nepeta asked as she took a bite from the macaron, crumbs on her face.

“Oh, uh, well-” John awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

“No he is not dating Vriska, isn’t that right John?” Karkat interrupted him by shooting daggers his way. He was going to stop any thoughts John may have about dating Vriska if he could help it.

“Awww that’s a shame. I think Vriskitty would like you, John.” Nepeta looked bummed out, she was always excited to hear about people’s budding relationships.

“Really? I haven’t even met her yet so I’m not sure if she’d like a guy like me.” The comment gave John a little hope. If someone who knew Vriska personally thought they would get along, then maybe he wasn’t totally out of his league.

“She would! She needs someone to balance her out, someone mellow but passionate! Just like you, Eggpurr.”

“She does like the clueless pushover type, so you’d be right up her alley.” Karkat chimed in, entertaining the hypothetical in hopes that John would realise that Vriska would walk all over him.

“Yeah! And she likes those Nicholas Catage movies too!” Nepeta chirped.

“Yeah if you watch those awful movies with her, you won’t have to subject the rest of us to them.” Even they only went on one date, he would at least get a month's break from John forcing them to watch Con-Air or Face/off for the twentieth time.

“Hmmm. Well. I know that Con-Air has a rerelease screening in about a month, so maybe I could take her to that?

“That’s a great idea!” Nepeta chirped

“That’s a terrible date idea.” Karkat said bluntly in unison.

John smiled before catching a glance at the clock, “I’d love to stay and chat, but I have to keep pushing with these deliveries. Thanks for the date idea guys!” He gave a little wave before heading out through the employee back door.

“Go get ‘em tiger!” Nepeta called after him.

“DO NOT DATE VRISKA SERKET SHE WILL RUIN YOUR LIFE!” Karkat yelled out the back door.

He turned around to see Nepeta looking delighted with herself as she happily ate her cat macaron. How could she not be? She had convinced yet another one of her friends to get into a relationship and got a free cat macaron!

Karkat sighed as he put his face in his hands “God damn it, Nepeta. Not only did you trick me into thinking John and Vriska would make a good couple, you also gave him a date idea. On second thought, you owe me for that cat macaron.”

“Awww.” Nepeta pouted as she took out her wallet.

Kanaya: Aid John in his romantic pursuits ==>

Kanaya watched the clock anxiously. She had asked John to meet her at precisely 11:45am in hopes she could brief him before attempting to introduce him to Vriska. Unfortunately, Vriska had decided to take her lunch break early. It wasn’t as much of a lunch break as it was a cigarette and black coffee break.

She had once again failed to convince Vriska that eating during her lunch break was important. It often worried her that one day she would find Vriska collapsed in the studio due to her insistence of skipping proper meals, even small meals such as a sandwich or a piece of fruit. Unfortunately Vriska was stubborn, even when she knew Kanaya only had her best interest at heart.

Kanaya sighed and looked over at the fabric on her desk, she would need to order more white fabric for the Swan Lake costumes. She had to hope that the supplier still had this specific version in stock, especially since she wanted all the costumes to be uniform. As she typed in the address of the manufacturer into the computer, she heard the door burst open accompanied by panting.

It was John, he had tried his best to make it by the appointed time but had fallen short by ten minutes. He tried to pant out a sentence between gulps of air and heaving, Kanaya waited until he got to the desk to tell him that he had missed her by twenty five minutes as she took her break early.

“Is, is she, in her, in her studio?” John heaved as he held onto the desk and keeled over.

“No, she unfortunately took her break early today. She might still be around but I wouldn’t advise disrupting her breaks, she gets upset if someone occupies her break time. After all she practices for six to eight hours a day,” Kanaya said with a sigh. Even though she wanted to help John with his romantic pursuits, he also didn’t want him to interfere with Vriska’s ballet training. She needed adequate time away from the studio and breaks (preferably proper meal breaks, but Kanaya would take what she could get) in order to perform her best.

“Ugh, that sucks! All those blown red lights and rushing for nothing.” John whined.

“You could always come bac-AH!” Kanaya jumped out of her chair as a spider crawled out from underneath the white fabric. Without a second thought, she grabbed her broom and prepared to hit it before being stopped by John.

“Wait! Don’t hurt the little guy!” John pleaded as he stopped the broom from hitting the spider.

“But he’s crawling all over my costume fabric!”

“Here, how about I take him outside for you?” John said as he slowly lowered the broom away from the spider.

“Fine, but make sure he goes right into the trees and not the plants outside the doors. If I see it again I will not hesitate to kill him.” Kanaya relented, putting the broom down.

John coaxed the spider into his hands before scooping it off the desk. “There we go buddy, how about we get you to a nice empty tree where you can spin your web and eat flies in peace, hm?”

Kanaya watched as John handled the spider carefully and made his way back outside. She was sure if Vriska saw what he just did, her cold bitter heart would melt a little.

Chapter Text

Vriska watched the clock as it moved closer to her lunch break. She was in desperate need of a cigarette or two, something to soothe her momentarily before resuming her day of monotonous practice. Despite that feeling of every day running together as a blur of waking up, practicing, smoking, bullying her old friends and heading home; every run through of the performance had small flaws. She could feel her mistakes the second they happened. When she had fallen out of a turn early, when her degage’s not sharp enough, when she let her upper body carry her arabesques. All those years of corrections being barked at her had engrained themselves into her mind and body.

The clock had struck 11:30, it was time for a much needed cigarette and maybe a hot black coffee. Vriska began changing out of her pointe shoes and into her comfortable red sneakers. She fished through her bag for her glasses case. Before leaving the studio, she checked that her trusty menthols and lighter were in her cardigan pocket before locking the studio behind her. She was not heading back for her smokes if she forgot them, she’d just buy a new carton.

She passed by Kanaya’s desk. A pile of white fabrics and a sewing kit placed neatly on the desk next to her while she was engrossed in her admin duties regarding the dance studio.

“I’m going on my lunch break, don’t expect me back until 12:30. Also, can you order me a black coffee, thanks.” Vriska said without making any eye contact.

As she skimmed her hand over the desk, her wrist was caught by a familiar hand . “Please try to eat something on your break. Even if it’s just a plain sandwich or a piece of fruit.” She looked back at Kanaya’s worried eyes, and there was a tinge of guilt. But she pushed down those feelings as she snatched her hand back.

“What I eat and don’t eat is none of your business. A protein shake and granola bars get me through practice just fine.” Vriska sneered, before storming out the front doors of the studio.

She’ll give Kanaya credit for not commenting on her smoking habit, but it would inevitably come up again. All it took was a parent or their child to catch her smoking in the parking lot or her regular hide away to warrant a complaint. But Vriska would take what she can get.

Once checking that the cost was clear, Vriska slinked down the side of the building and to a dry square of concrete that was sheltered by the studio's awnings. Fishing her reliable carton of menthols from her jacket, she popped one out and stuck it in her mouth. Without wasting a second more, she grabbed her lighter and ignited the tip before taking a nice long drag.

Fuck did that feel good. There was nothing quite like the cool minty taste of a menthol paired with the burn of a freshly lit smoke. She held the cigarette between her index and middle finger before exhaling. Vriska never forgot the first time she smoked one of her mother’s cigarettes. She always wanted to know why her mother needed them every day, despite the many health risks. While the taste was disgusting, she never forgot the calming relief it brought. It felt like for the first time in her life her thoughts were numbed and she was peacefully blissed out.

Her mother didn’t seem to care that Vriska smoked; it was a better vice than alcohol, which would bloat her figure and make her sluggish. Her mother couldn’t have that. Neither could Vriska. If she couldn’t control her body enough to not make mistakes while she performed; she could, at the very least, control her figure.

The sound of crunching leaves and sticks jolted her from her thoughts. She braced herself for another complaint from a parent who couldn’t keep a grip on their kid for five minutes. But instead, she watched as a young adult man made his way over to a nearby tree, something cupped in his hands.

“There you go little guy,” he said as he opened up his hands, a spider crawled off them and up the tree. Vriska was impressed by the bravery of this guy, to handle a spider with no container, or even a piece of paper and a cup.

“You got some balls of steel handling a spider with your bare hands.” Vriska commented before taking another drag from her cigarette.

She watched as the guy jumped and turned around. He had thick rimmed hipstery glasses and a dorky smile. He was wearing a ghost busters shirt and a pair of tanned khaki pants to match, along with some beat up converse. Shit, he was very cute. Vriska couldn’t even remember the last guy she actually found cute, a guy that wasn’t Nicholas Cage of course.

A blush smeared his cheeks a light pink “Oh, u-um. T-thank you? I just didn’t want the little guy to get killed. A-also I’m, uh, used to handling slimy and furry critters. I used to own a salamander named Casey.” He averted her gaze as he ran his hand through his spikey black hair.

He was stumbling over himself, trying to hide his nervousness around her, but Vriska could see right through him. Perhaps wearing her black leotard, skirt and stockings really did have that effect on men after all. She pretended not to notice, though. After all, he was one of the very few people willing to catch and release a spider, as opposed to killing it or hitting it with a broom.

“I have a spider at home. Her name is Spinneret Mindfang. She’s a wolf spider.” She watched as his eyes lit up. He struck her as one of those boys who probably loved catching insects and lizards when he was kid.

“That’s so cool! I’m glad I was able to save this little guy from Kanaya. You know, spiders only build webs in places they know people don’t frequent because they’re able to learn routine.” He recalled with enthusiasm.

Vriska raised an eyebrow at the fact. She knew a lot about spiders, but it was actually something she had never heard of before. But spider facts weren’t that interesting, not when this guy had called Kanaya by her first name. Not only that, but she swore she had seen him around before.

“Wait, how do you know Kanaya?” She blew out her smoke.

“Oh Kanaya? She’s dating my sorta ex-step sister Rose. Our parents dated for a little while when we were younger but we were friends before that.” He recounted.

“Huh,” Vriska tried to dig into her brain a little deeper. She had seen Rose about at the studio, but not often. The few times she had visited Karkat at the bookstore’s coffee shop, she’d noticed Rose in the aisles but never cared to talk to her. She wasn’t as interesting to talk to, or rile up for that matter. Vriska wondered if this was the pastry delivery boy Karkat was always complaining about. However, it seemed Karkat had befriended him over time.

“My name’s John Egbert by the way, should’ve introduced myself sooner. Might’ve made it easier to put a face to a name.” John remarked in slight embarrassment.

“John? You must be the friend of Terezi’s new boy toy. Dave, right?.” Vriska spat in disgust. The pieces were clicking into place.

“Yeah! I actually had to come pick them up a couple of weeks while Dave’s car was out of commission. Don’t get mad at me, but it was when I was picking them up I saw you dancing to Swan Lake.” There was a look of guilt on his face, but it was that kind of guilty look that said “I’m sorry but I just couldn’t help myself”.

“You watched me dance?” Vriska was fascinated, it was very rare that someone admitted they watched her dance. She assumed it’s because they were afraid of her response.

“I only wanted to have a glance, but when I saw you dancing I couldn’t look away. It reminded me so much of my Nana’s music box, where you’d wind the little key and the ballerina would twirl to music. I remember when I was little I would sit and watch it until it stopped turning.” John recounted.

Vriska was taken aback by the comment. Whenever someone praised her dancing, it always felt hollow. It was always the same “Amazing”, "Incredible”, “Breathtaking”, like a review quote on a DVD cover. Not even being compared to the dancers in professional ballet companies really moved her. But the childlike wonder of being compared to a music box ballerina warmed something in her cold, dead heart.

“Thank you. If you want, I can treat you to proper performance. It gets a little boring performing in front of a mirror all the time.” Vriska took another drag from her cigarette and exhaled. It seemed not even her smoking habit could stop John’s admiration of her.

“Really? Are you sure? You wouldn’t feel intimidated by having an audience of one?” John asked as he rubbed his neck. She could tell he didn’t want to impose himself on her.

“Nah. I don’t even get intimidated by audiences of thousands. Besides, I’d rather perform for an enthusiastic crowd of one than a boring crowd of rich assholes.” Vriska smiled as she flicked the ash from her cigarette, it would surely piss off the elites to find out she gave a private performance to a boy at her studio. But she didn’t care. For the elites, engaging with the arts was for status, not for a love or appreciation of it.

“Well, I have to get back to delivering pastries but I’ll see you around.” John gave a small wave as he turned around.

“Wait, don’t you want my number? Just so I can set up a time for you to watch me perform, that is.” It was always her doing the initiating, but in this case she didn’t mind.

“Oh yeah, I almost completely forgot.” John dug around in his many Khaki pockets and pulled out his phone. “Here you go.”

Vriska opened up contacts and punched her number in. as she did, she saw a text message from Karkat.

“I SWEAR TO FUCKING GOD EGBERT IF YOU ASK VRISKA OUT ON A MOVIE DATE, YOU ARE DEAD TO ME”

“ALSO CAN YOU GIVE ME BACK MY COPY OF TITANIC ON VHS”

Vriska had a sick urge to text “Too L8 >::::P” but she resisted. Karkat would find out inevitably and his reaction would still be just as good.

Vriska handed back the phone. “Thank you. I look forward to your performance Miss uh...”

“Vriska Serket. But I think you already knew that,” she said with a wink. She watched as John’s face went bright red again.

She smiled as John made his way back to the parking lot. Once she felt like he was out of earshot, she groaned loudly and threw her cigarette on the ground before grounding it out with her shoes. Then sunk down to sit on the concrete slab and buried her head in her knees.

Vriska wanted to avoid being in love. The last time she tried pursuing a relationship with someone was Tavros in high school. Her grandmother had fallen in love with her dance partner, so she figured she had to do the same. But she didn’t really like Tavros; she found him whiny and pathetic. Unwilling to work hard to ensure he wasn’t performing with sickled feet or training with ankle weights so that he could leap higher in his jumps.

Still, she never forgot that sharp pain in her chest when she found out Tavros was dating a rich lanky stoner. From what she had gathered, Tavros had started using cannabis after the accident for pain relief. And then did the one thing most people advise against, which was dating his dealer. But despite everything, it worked out for him in the end. Tavros seemed genuinely happy and his boyfriend seemed to be a nice guy. He didn’t mind watching Peter Pan once a week or playing Tavros’ silly children’s card games, no matter how complex the rules.

Perhaps the pain wasn’t from seeing Tavros with someone else. Not because she loved him, but from feeling as if she was lesser than. That despite being the top ballerina at the studio, despite giving her life to dance from the moment she could walk, despite her being the perfect ballerina body type, she wasn’t enough to be loved. She had been beaten out by a rich stoner who was barely capable of keeping the house clean enough to not be considered a biohazard. And Tavros was happier and better for it.

Before Vriska could dwell any more on the situation she found herself in, she glanced at her phone. Fuck, it was almost time to go back in for practice. She kicked her cigarette butt off the concrete slab, hoping the foliage would cover it.

She made her way back into the studio and over to Kanaya who had a cup of hot black coffee waiting for her. She took a sip and sighed, nothing quite like the rich flavor of a bitter black brew. Vriska made her way back to her studio, but stopped before opening the door.

“Kanaya?” She turned to face the aforementioned woman.

Kanaya lifted her head from the desk where she had been busy writing up a schedule for the dance company. “Hm?”

“If John comes by, send him to my practice room.” She stepped into her studio, this time with a smile and a feeling of determination. For the first time in forever, it felt like she wanted to practice for hours on end.

After all, the best performers always leave the audience wanting more, right?