Chapter Text
"C’mon! Hurry!"
"Where are we going? It’s like three am!"
"It’ll be fun! Just follow me.”
Her messy, black hair was the only thing he could see as she eagerly dragged him through the thick trees surrounding a nearby park. Not a children’s park, it wasn’t filled with jungle bars or slides, but a park nonetheless. Barely anyone visited it, especially this late at night. During the days it was mildly busy, old folks walking their dog or rich teenagers studying on the grass near the small pond in the center. These two had no business being here. Well, Vriska didn’t. John lived in the neighborhood near by and she was out visiting him. Usually Vriska hung out in the slums of town, at skate parks or downtown. Never up here. Lately they started hanging out and, no matter how much trouble she got him into, he’d stick around. She appreciated him for that.
"You’re so sloooooooow!" She whined, nearly running through the trees. They were almost there and she was too impatient. For what? She didn’t know. Maybe she was excited to be able to run around in such a secure part of town so late, without the underlying threat of violence, or maybe she was just excited to be alone with him. Nonetheless, John could feel her excitement in his now sore left hand. They emerged from the trees, she let go of him and nearly sprinted to the pond in the middle. He stopped to rub his left hand and looked up, seeing his company quickly abscond. "Hey…! Wait!" The raven haired boy started, quickly taking off after her. The other quickly stopped, spun and flopped to the ground near the pond. He nearly sprinted past her, until she reached out and grabbed his ankle, bringing his momentum to a screeching halt. John tumbled to the ground with a confused outburst and rolled to her side,rubbing his arm. "What was that for?" Her first response was a chuckle. "I dunno, I just thought you we’re gonna run past me. Had to be careful, right?" John smiled and put his hands on the back of his head, propping himself up slightly. "I wouldn’t call that careful, but sure."
Vriska chuckled and draped he arms on her abdomen, looking up at the stars. “You see that?” She pointed at the sky, above them and to their right. “That’s my constellation.” John chuckled and followed her finger, not seeing much out of the ordinary. “Nope, I don’t see a thing! I didn’t know you had a constellation, though.” He grinned at his joke, but his grin faltered as he felt Vriska’s sharp elbow hit his side. “It’s the Scorpio constellation, dingus! I’m a Scorpio!” She said, pointing to her necklace that had nearly fallen into the depths of her hair. He nodded, understanding, even though he couldn’t actually see the necklace. John trusted her judgement. “Describe it, I can’t tell which stars you’re referring to.” His cheeky grin returned to his face as he watched Vriska point out each star and describe their relationship to the others in the constellation.
His smile grew as she attempted to describe the stories behind each star. She couldn’t exactly do them justice but he got what she was trying to say. How did this even happen? The two of them, that is. Maybe it’s because they had to sit by each other in math class, or maybe it was just what they went through together. Which, well, wasn’t much but it sure was worth something. Like the day Vriska was getting harassed by a group of boys and John stepped in. He didn’t know her well at the time; she was just the girl who sat beside him in first period and occasionally showed up. But when he saw her being backed into a corner by a group of guys he couldn’t help but step in. He got the shit beaten out of him, she was the one who ended up doing the real stepping in and punching the guy who was doing the most damage in the face. Maybe that’s how they got here. After all, John and Vriska are both from very different backgrounds. He’s a suburban raised middle class kid and she’s from the slums of town. There was a part in her life where she had to steal to get expensive things like the computer she had at home. It took her a couple of expensive necklaces and few visits to the pawn shop to get it, whereas John could just ask for a new computer from his dad. Sure he’d have to wait a little while but not as long as Vriska would have to wait. Surprisingly she didn’t despise him for that but her pride usually kept her from mentioning her family’s current financial situation.
Vriska nudging John in the side pulled him back to reality. “Did you catch that?” She asked. “Mmmm, yeah. The important bits.” Vriska laughed and looked back at the stars. “So what’s yours?”
"My what?" He responded. "Zodiac sign! Duh!" He laughed. "Oh yeah, that. I’m an Aries I think. April fourteenth would make me an Aries, right?" She nodded her head in agreement. "I dunno anything about the constellation for that one but I’ll make sure to look it up." She turned to him and grinned. He smiled back, she sure did look nice when she smiled, really smiled. Not the bitter sarcastic sneers she liked to give basically anyone else. It’s not that she’s not pretty like that, she’s always pretty, it’s more like he was seeing more of her. The part of her he wasn’t sure much other people actually got to see. The dorky side that got excited about watching stars at obscure hours in the morning. What was it now, three am? John made a mental note to check his phone the next time he got the chance. Right now could be a chance, but he didn’t want to ruin the moment. It was nice like this, laying in silence with Vriska. He was comfortable near her. That wasn’t saying much seeing as he could get comfortable near mostly anyone but he was even comfortable with the silence between them.
The same could be said for her. Though she was the most comfortable when she was around him. Her family didn’t give her the warmth or acceptance he gave her. Vriska’s older sister is a book worm, studying to get a scholarship into a university she wouldn’t be able to ever go to otherwise. Sure Vriska was happy for her but it got annoying. Maybe it was because Aranea’s studying reminded her that she still didn’t know what to do with herself and that she was pretty sure there was no way she’d make it to college.
"John?" She asked. "Yeah?" He asked in response. "What do you want to do when you get out of school?" Vriska wondered openly. She wasn’t sure exactly why she was asking this, after all they did have this year and the next left in school. "I don’t really know. I’ve never thought if it. I mean, I’m not super good at school. I’ve thought of opening up a jokes shop a bit though." Vriska smiled, that was so like him. She should have expected that. "I could see you running one of those perfectly." John grinned and looked down at her. "Thanks Vriska!" She smiled back in response and turned her head back to the stars. She brought her hand up to cover a yawn that had finally forced its way out. John smirked, glad that he wasn’t the only tired one. "Wanna go back to my house? I don’t think my dad will mind if you sleep over. He knows your house is far away and he wouldn’t want you walking home this late. We don’t have a spare room but my beds a double bed I’m sure we’ll fit! I snore though…" Vriska chuckled at his innocence. Surely he knew the implications of a girl sleeping at his house and in his bed, right? Either way she wasn’t going to deny this offer, it was a good chance to sleep and maybe even cuddle with the Egbert boy. Vriska got up and helped John up and he took her hand to lead her back to his house. ‘Damn he’s forward. Does he even realize what he’s doing?’ She thought to herself, locking their fingers together the way she was comfortable with.