Happy Halloween! This is a special one-shot I felt compelled to do and managed to finish before the spooky day. Okay usual stuff: I don't own Homestuck or it's characters. That's Hussie's job. This heavily features Dave and John and mature themes. If you do not like that combo, don't read. This story is set in an AU with no Sburb and w/o Dave and John knowing each other (yet). And trolls are human though you don't actually get to see them. I just needed their names. This is also my first attempt at second person. Please let me know if I've slipped up somewhere or if I've done something else terribly wrong. I will do my best to correct it. Hope you all enjoy, leave feedback if you feel compelled.

You have no idea why you agreed to this. Halloween is an excuse for little kids to get dressed up and gorge themselves on candy for a night. You dropped the habit as you graduated from elementary school to middle school and helped your brother make all the little kiddies of the neighborhood piss their pants by jumping out at them in the dark. And then you graduated from that when you went into high school because it definitely wasn't cool. You still look back to those years with an ashamed shake of your head. Bro of course still goes out but you just chalk it up to him wanting to be obnoxious rather than him partaking in it as something cool or ironic. You've long resigned yourself to the idea that your Bro is neither as cool nor as ironic as you grew up thinking. He's just a middle aged weirdo. Which is why when you went to college, you went as far away from Houston, Texas as you could manage.

Which explains how you ended up at the University of Washington working on a music degree that may or may not help you get those DJ gigs that you so desperately want. Wait, rephrase that. Striders aren't desperate for anything. Those DJ gigs that may or may not matter to you. It's their loss if they don't see your music mixing genius.

It does not explain why you are currently wandering the nearest Halloween costume store that mysteriously took over one of the old department stores that has been closed for a year or two. Obviously you are looking for a costume. There is no other conceivable reason to be in this store. You don't understand the reason that you have agreed to spend your hard earned money on a costume for a party that is nearly guaranteed to be lame. You still don't understand how Rose got a hold of those photos but apparently this was the only way to get them back.

You walk up and down the aisles of the store with your stone cold poker face that does not reveal all of the gagging you are doing internally at the cheesy, stupid, terribly made outfits. All of the women's look more like scraps of cloth barely pinned together and all of the men's look like you would pass out from heat exhaustion by the time the night was over. Just for shits and giggles you duck into the room with the full foam suits that are guaranteed to suffocate even the most stalwart and enthusiastic Halloween participant. Moments later you bolt out of that room, barely repressing the urge to vomit. You cannot believe this establishment would sell something of that caliber. Holy fucking shit. It's not possible. No no no. You did not need to know that a full smuppet suit existed. Extra plush rump and elongated proboscis nose included. Fuck.

In order to get the most distance between you and that... thing, you end up on the far side of the store in a very medieval section. All of the suits of armor look obnoxious and all of these swords are so very fake. It's like they didn't even try. You are about to give up this hopeless search and just bullshit a costume out of your closet when something red catches your attention. Your hand reaches out to grab the sleeve before you even realize what you are looking at. After a quick inspection you pull it off the rack, grab a claymore replica that someone has broken in the store, and head up front. The costume wasn't too expensive and the cashier let you take the broken sword for free. Sweet.

Maybe you'll be lucky and the place will have burned down before you get there.

No such luck as you pull up to the place and music and laughter is already pouring out of the place. Well at least it's not going to be dead. You find a nearby parking spot and climb out. Using your window as a mirror you readjust your cape after sitting on it. The outfit that you picked up fits you eerily well but it's too late to question it now. You know just enough about fashion to know what to wear and what not to wear, but even you have to admit that this makes you look good.

It was a deceptively simple outfit but the accessories made it pop. The base of the outfit looked like red pajamas made out of light cotton that wouldn't get too hot tonight. The shirt was just loose enough for movement but wasn't hanging off of your skinny frame like a lot of shirts do because you have to go up in size to get them long enough for your tall torso. Fuck genetics. The pants did similarly, making your ass look good even in the bright red. Okay, it wasn't bright red; it was a nicely muted bright red that didn't go mauve or pink. The outfit was belted at the waist by a black leather belt and gold clasp that had some pretty sweet design work on it for a cheap plastic trinket. The scabbard hooked easily onto the belt and the broken toy sword actually stayed in when you jumped around in the privacy of your apartment.

The sample picture showed some cheap black slipper shoes which were totally uncool. You traded those out with a pair of boots that you happened to pick up when you went through your biker phase. They were fairly simple black leather boots that went up to your calf, not decorated with extraneous straps or zippers that you've seen elsewhere. Whatever the style and whatever the reason you owned them, they worked with the outfit. The bottoms of the pants were tucked into the top which actually added to the medieval look instead of looking silly. Again, you are not one to question the Halloween costume gods.

The other accessories were also made with the same level of detail as the belt buckle. The outfit came with two pieces of armor, a pair of vambraces and a pair of spaulders (yes you looked up the official terms on wikipedia). The gold vambraces fit comfortably over your forearms without restricting any movement and simply snapped together. The best part of the outfit was the mantle that came with it. The two gold spaulders were strapped together across the chest and back (not that difficult to put on by yourself actually), and then the straps were covered by a cowl like piece that came across the middle of your chest and similarly across your back with the hem being that stereotypical square wave pattern. You left the hood down because it was the only part of the outfit that didn't fit. It was too small and made you look like you were wearing a condom on your head. Not sexy at all.

And then there was the cape. It attached underneath one spaulder so that it wrapped almost entirely around the outside of one arm. It was just enough to add some flair without being too pretentious about being a cape. Plus it made for some pretty nice dramatic swirls. Not that you practiced in the mirror in the privacy of your apartment. That would be uncool.

Overall the effect was cool enough for you to be seen in public as a medieval knight even if your sunglasses were anachronistic, but it's not like you could go without those. And you were glad that you had them even at night from the way that smoke and flashing light filled the house that you just entered. You still have to restrain yourself when one of the strobe lights sweeps directly into your face. Stupid fucking sensitive eyes.

You take a moment to survey the crowd. It really wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be. Maybe Rose blackmailed most of these people to come to help support her friends. The hosts of this party weren't the most well-connected or most well-loved people and definitely not this popular on their own. Whatever the reason though, the Vantas' house was packed full.

Conversations could be barely heard over the thumping music but that didn't stop people from gathering along the edges of the room, nursing on drinks served in red solo cups. The uniformity makes you think that they might have a bar somewhere that you'll hit up before the end of the night. The middle of the room is taken up with people attempting to dance but you don't recognize anyone here so you move on to the next room which has a several long tables laid out with several games of beer pong in various states of completion. You navigate through the crowds, barely avoiding a spilled drink or two as people throw their hands with said drinks up in the air in congratulations over a nice shot. Again no one of interest in this room. Moving on.

The kitchen is where you find the bar that's been thrown together across the countertops and islands with extra pieces of plywood and a table cloth. The amount and variety of bottles on display is impressive. You think that they might be part of the reason that this place is so crowded. Good free alcohol is always a great draw. You make your way up to the bartender and order a quick vodka and coke. The guy tries to reach for the rum but you correct him. Rum gets you drunk in all the worst of ways. Two drinks of that and you are hungover. Do not pass fun and pleasantly buzzed; go straight to headache and puking your guts up in the bushes. As long as you stay away from the cane sugar, you can drink all night long and then sleep the good happy fun off in the morning without any of the nasty stuff that tries to tag along with the mornings after.

You get your drink (sans rum) and head outside to try to find someone that you recognize. The backyard is set up a little better for a dance party than the living room was. The music isn't quite as deafening and the smoke has somewhere to go. The lack of strobe lights is also appreciated. You take a sip of your drink on the small patio and scan the crowd over the top of the rim. Your shades hide the quick frown as you catch sight of a bright orange outfit and then recognize the owner of such an outfit. You quickly made your way through and around the crowd to where your friend has perched on top of the closed hot tub lid.

"I was totally expecting you to have chosen something grim and dark, grimdark even, instead of going with traffic cone orange. What are you supposed to be anyways?"

Rose smirks at you from under the loose orange hood that swoops down across her forehead to cover her eyes. The rest of the outfit was a lighter shade of orange, bordering on macaroni, which draped over her slim frame like a cross between a dress and robes. The top layer was slit up the thighs and pooled in her lap. Her long thin legs were otherwise covered with orange leggings that sorta conflict with the general consensus of how women should dress for Halloween, but then again you shouldn't be having those kinds of thoughts about someone who is more like a sister than any other friendly title.

"I am posing as the Oracle of Delphi. Do you wish to press questions about your fate?"

You quickly consult your brain to see if you know what she is talking about and lo and behold that was something actually covered in world history. "So you are a woman who thinks that a god is speaking through her because she is fucked up high from a gas leak?"

"I am emulating the mythos, not one possible truth behind the story."

"Oh. In that case, oh all-knowing and all-seeing Oracle I only have one question to lay at your feet on this All Hallow's Eve," you pause dramatically and see her dark painted lips twitch up in amusement, "am I going to get laid tonight?"

"Well, one of the two of us will most likely."

"What? What sort of answer is that? And how the hell can you know that? I mean, I am sexy and cool enough to get all the bitches hanging off of me by the end of the night. Bitches love capes." You give a dramatic swish of the highlighted object which makes Rose laugh politely into her hand.

"I am predicting this from the way that Jade's friend is staring hungrily over in this direction, but I can't quite tell out of the two of us, who he staring at exactly."

"Huh, we have an admirer, do we? I mean of course we do. The entire crowd should be staring at us as the two sexiest people at this joint."

"You're not going to take a look?"

"I'm not going to make it obvious, Rose. Now scoot over so I can join you and scope out this man of good tastes." She obliges and you pass her your drink as you hoist yourself up on the share lip of the hot tub. "Now you said he's Jade's friend?"

"I would assume so based on their interactions."

You know Jade from your photography and fine arts class. She's a spunky girl with too many smiles and no sense of personal space. She also doesn't recognize that you are the epitome of cool and treats you with absolutely no respect in that arena. It's actually refreshing. She's one of the few people that you can drop the coolkid act around.

From your new vantage point you scope out the crowd to find the figures in question. It doesn't take you long to pick up on Jade's laughter and it's only a second more before you catch sight of her mass of uncontrolled hair. You aren't sure if she's ever had a haircut. This theory is supported by the fact that she supposedly comes from a remote island in the middle of the pacific island. Her wild child origins actually explain a lot about her.

It doesn't take you long to find the guy that Rose was talking about. The first thought you have about him is blue. His outfit is a royal dark blue that goes along with its apparently princely theme. Around his shoulders is a large cape that is lined with white faux fur at the top. It is clasped at the neck over a fancy silk shirt also of the same blue that the rest of the cloak is. His silver belt buckle might be fancier than yours but it looks good between the blue of his shirt and the black of his loose almost poofy pants. The pants look poofier just below his knees from the way the hem is tucked into the top of tall smooth white socks that definitely show off the muscle tone. You can't quite see his shoes but who really cares about shoes? What almost makes you smile is the plastic silver crown sitting on top of wild curly dark hair that looks like a short match to Jade's uncontrollable locks. What almost makes your breath catch in your throat is the intensity of his blue eyes that are staring directly at you. Never have you ever been so grateful for your shades.

"He's definitely looking at me," you murmur into your drink as you sip out of it to hide your words from his gaze.

"And you obviously like what you see as much as he does."

You splutter into your drink a little. Stupid Rose, reading you like one of her books that she keeps strewn about her apartment so that there is always one right at her fingertips at any given point. You don't have time to make a witty comeback before she is shouting and waving to Jade to catch their attention. You manage to recover your composure before Jade is dashing over, dragging her friend along by his wrist.

"Rose! Dave! I didn't know you guys would be here!" Jade shouts as soon as she gets close enough.

Rose waits until she doesn't have to shout before replying. "Kanaya invited me since she is close to Karkat and Dave just tagged along." Your eye roll is hidden by your shades but you are sure that Rose still caught the gesture.

"That's awesome!" Jade's volume doesn't lower at all. "Oh, I want you guys to meet my friend! John, these are my friends Rose and Dave!" She points to the two of you respectively. You notice his blue eyes are even more handsome without the distance of the backyard between you. He looks a bit sheepish which makes since as he is now being introduced to the guy he was mentally undressing. Not that you are opposed to that. Nor opposed to taking beyond just fantasy...

"OH! This song! I love this song! We should go dance. Come on! No more sitting around. This is a party!" You have barely any time to safely set your drink down before Jade is pulling you very forcibly off of your seat and into the crowd. You look back at the remaining pair to try to plead for help but you catch the new guy offering his hand out to Rose with a slight bow and her accepting.

Abandoning any hope of their assistance you turn back to your impromptu dance partner. She's dressed in this little black dress with a wide frilly skirt that reminds you of lolita fashion. You had caught a glimpse of black and white striped stocking and red slippers that make you think of Wizard of Oz. Your arms settle on her thin waist as the two of you find a comfortable spot in the crowd and find the rhythm of the song.

"What are you supposed to be anyways, Jade?"

"A witch!" She smiles brightly up at you. "Feferi helped me find the outfit. She has a similar one around here somewhere." As she twists around to try and look you maneuver the pair of you around so that you catch sight of John and Rose finding the same gap in the dancing crowd as you have found. With a pang that may or may not be jealousy, John starts dancing with Rose. You tamp that bizarre feeling down with the realization that you are already dancing with a cute girl and should be a gentleman and focus somewhat on her. Jade helps with that by giving up her search for her friend and throwing her arms around your neck with an enthusiasm that nearly knocks you off beat. Thankfully Jade is just a good friend with no romantic inclinations towards you so this bump and grind style of dance that is so popular isn't as awkward and uncomfortable as it could be. Stupid popular opinion.

As nice as dancing with Jade is, there is still another matter on your mind. A certain blue that has gotten stuck in your head. You use both Jade and your shades as cover to surreptitiously scope out the new guy. In return you find that he is not quite that subtle. If his eyes were lazers, your ass would be extra crispy. He's not even going to try to hide how he is looking over Rose's shoulder. He's barely moving with the beat. But those hips are on rhythm you notice.

You swing Jade back around to where your back is facing your admirer and Jade has a chance to see him. "Harley, do me a favor and tell me if I have a chance with the new guy."

"Huh?" She looks around your arm at the other dancing pair. "Oooh. Yea. I think you do. I didn't know he was interested in guys!"

"It's the Strider swag. Gets everybody interested."

"Sure thing, cool kid. Though with this example, I might be one step closer to actually believing that."

"We'll get you two steps closer if you help me."

She lets out a heavy sigh. "What do I have to do?"

"Simple really. Easy as a piece of cake made in a little girl's easy bake oven with the supervision of a very helpful but overprotective mother who's actually a professional baker and knows all of the hidden secrets to make cakes even easier."

"Oh my gosh!" She rolls her eyes at you. "Just tell me what I need to do if it really is that easy."

"Get Rose away from the big blue. I need him without a dance partner so that I can swoop in and snag the spot."

Jade tilts her head cutely as she thinks about it. "That does seem easy enough. Alright I'll do it. Good luck, coolkid!" She skirts past you and heads in their direction. You turn around to follow her as she grabs Rose's elbow and pulls her away from your target. You slip into the vacancy moving with him to the beat. He's slightly startled but his hips don't stop moving. You lean into his personal space and you can feel the heat coming off of him.

"You look a little... hot... under that cape. Why don't we find somewhere to hang it up?" you murmur next to his ear. You can hear him nervously swallow. You lean back a little and smirk at him. His bright blue eyes try to meet yours but can't find them behind your shades. Hesitantly he nods. Your smirk threatens to shift into a smile as you grab his wrist and guide him out of the crowd. There is a partition behind the speakers that is shadowed and fairly private.

You pull him behind the trellis and position him against the brick wall that surrounds the yard. This time when you get up close to him, you place yours hands on his waist. You can tell that he is a little freaked, but he isn't making any moves to leave or get away. The bass of the music is still pounding away even through the back of the speaker. You latch onto the rhythm and start swaying in time. He relaxes a bit more and you can feel his body try to twitch along under your hands. You encourage him with light presses of your palms until he gains confidence. Slowly, casually even, you step into his space until your hips are pressed against his. Still he doesn't resist. At this distance you notice that we are about the same height but you have the slight advantage. His shoulders are broader than yours even without the ruff of the cape.

His blue eyes look up at you, still trying to find your eyes behind the tinted glass of the shades. You suppose it might be dark enough back here that your sensitivity won't bother you. You take a hand from his waist and push your shades to the crown of your head. There is a small hitch in his breath as he takes in your bizarre coloration, but then he surprisingly smiles.

"Like what you see, your highness?" you counter, trying to gauge where he stands.

"Yea, I do." He leans up towards you, quickly closing the distance between the two of you, and then his lips are pressing against your. You marvel briefly at the slightly rough texture and the fullness of his lips as they slide against yours. The hand up at your shades lowers itself down to his shoulder and cups around the back of his neck. Pulling him towards you, you add pressure to the kiss which he rewards with a quick lick across the crease of your lips. You return the action and soon you are sharing a hot open mouth kiss. For all of the previous hesitation, you are having a hard time maintaining dominance over the course of this encounter. Not that you mind, especially with his enthusiasm.

When you finally pull back for breath, he is flushed and breathing just as heavy as you are. "Well, your majesty, it seems as you are quite agreeable to this rendezvous." You lean in again but bypass his lips, you lean against him fully as you whisper into his ear, "How may this low knight serve you, sire?" He moans lowly back against your neck. You pull away from him just enough to slip your hand around from his hip to the front of his pants. You palm his excitement, drawing another moan from him that goes straight to your own crotch. "Any requests at all, milord?" You take the lobe of his ear into your mouth and gently suck.

"Well..." he starts. You can hear a rumbling tone of lust as well as a little mischief. "A knight is suppose to kneel and swear fealty in service."

You grin against his cheek. "I like the way you think." And then you sink to your knees. Deftly your fingers undo the ornate belt buckle and undo the button of his pants before he has time to take stock of the situation. You look up at him as you slowly pull down his zipper, letting the heel of your hand slide teasingly along his length. His silver crown tips forward a little as he stares hungrily down at you. You push down the top of his boxers and let the waistband catch of his thighs. The looseness of the pants hid them previously but now you find them just as muscular as the rest of him.

Your attention returns to the main point of this exercise, the heavy cock hanging in front of your face. You hear his soft moans as you wrap a hand around his girth, feeling its heat against your palm. You stroke it a few times before lifting the dark red head to your mouth. Playfully you use your tongue to lap at the tip, making him muffle a groan. Then you swirl your tongue around the entire head. He gasps and his hips jerk reflexively. You pull back a little and look up at him with a raised eyebrow. He looks a little sheepish. You grin at him and then take him all the way into your mouth. You can hear the slap of skin of his hand across his mouth a second after the uncontrolled moan escapes. Thankfully you timed it with a loud section of the currently song.

Pleased with his reactions you continue your work, sliding him in and out of your mouth as far as your throat will let him go. You make sure to wrap your lips over your teeth as you make his length slicker with every pass. Your hand is still wrapped around the base of his cock and slides up and down in time with your bobbing. You let the music set your pace. You are definitely enjoying the feeling of him in your mouth and how he tastes as your tongue traces out every ridge and vein on the underside.

At the end of the song, you pull off a little and glance upwards. You laugh to yourself when you find that he is biting his fist to keep his sounds down. His blue eyes meet your red ones and you can feel his hips twitch. This time you don't admonish him. Instead you keep still, sucking lightly at the tip and pulling loosely on his hip with your free hand. His hips thrust again into your mouth and you suck a little harder in reward. It takes him a little bit but he gets the idea and starts moving on his own, fucking your face with short shallow strokes. You work your tongue over the head as much as you can in between thrusts until his free hand comes to a rest on the back of your head. With a little nudging on your part he finally gets aggressive and pulls you down onto his cock to the distance you were at before. He uses you to pump his cock as his hand and hips rock in rhythm. Bracing both hands on his upper thighs you relax your throat and he's able to slip in a little farther.

His pace falters a little bit so you take control again, holding his hips still as your bob on his cock, letting him slip into your throat every fourth beat. This continues on for the majority of the next song. Then you feel him weakly grasping at your head in warning. Normally you really wouldn't appreciate the hair pulling but you are pretty sure he couldn't manage words with the way his cock is lodged in your throat. You ignore his efforts to get your attention and simply double your efforts, sucking harder and bobbing quicker. You know he's coming when instead of pulling your hair, he's holding you tight onto his cock and all of his muscles under your hands tense up. Seconds later you are swallowing down streams of slightly salty and bitter cum. You pull off with a last cleaning suckle when he finally releases your head.

You carefully tuck him away as you pull up his boxers and redo his pants and belt. He simply leans back against the trellis panting to catch his breath. After getting him straightened out, you stand up and instantly stumble forward as he grabs you by the front of your shirt and pulls you down into a kiss. You hands automatically go out and catch yourself on either side of him. Usually you find guys are unwilling to kiss you after that but he doesn't seem to mind the taste as his tongue plunders your mouth. Stepping slightly to the side, you avoid aligning your hips with his to avoid knocking into his overly sensitive organ as you press your own against him. Just a little friction and you'll be just as satisfied as him. But as you start to grind up on him, he sidesteps away, finally breaking the kiss.

"Hold still," he murmurs to you, his body still slightly to the side but no longer in contact with your crotch. You grip the trellis tighter as his hand wanders down to exactly where you need it. The other hand undoes the belt and then pushes down the elastic of your pants and boxers at once. You bury your head into his shoulder to muffle the sounds you make as he starts stroking you. He grips you firmly as he slides his hand back and forth. The friction is just delicious as he works you. You mumble curses and praises into the edge of the ruff on his cape. You twitch as his thumb glides over the head. He also uses the beat of the song to guide his tempo but you know this song. It speeds up as it gets closer to the end.

It's not like it takes you more than a song to get off with how much you like sucking guys off and with how he is making you feel. You come with a silent yell, desperately holding back any noise that might alert the crowd beyond your shadowed alcove. He strokes you to the end, milking you out until you are dribbling onto his hand. You are panting like he was a few moments ago, holding onto the trellis because honestly it is the only thing keeping you vertical.

You have to muffle the moan when he lifts his hand and instead of just wiping it off, he fucking licks your cum off. Eventually you get the presence of mind to put yourself away. When you look up again, he is smiling wider than the Cheshire cat with a bowl full of cream.

"Do you have a number?" you ask.

"Do you have a bed?" he replies.

"Oh fuck yes." You pull him into another kiss. Eventually you pull away and sweep your arm towards the exit, "After you, my prince."

Bonus fact: Dave totally doesn't remember John's name.

Edit: Author's Notes: Okay Holiday is over so time for shameless plug! Go check out my other stories.

Castle of Glass: A story about Dave finding Bro's glasses that are a little too similar to Dirk's. Sadstuck/headcanon come to life. I apologize now. Complete but I like feedback.

When They Come For Me: Dirk/Jake, AU, mature, slightly OOC because of the setting. It's more fluffy than above and it was mostly a writing, point of view exercise.

Waiting for the End : Another Hammertime story, actually THE Hammertime story I wrote. Basically it's a really really long fluffy emotional relationship building story with sections of good smut (the above is an example) and actual development between two characters (aka not PWP). And by long I mean it's about 100k words on my computer. And it is complete!

In Between: A collection of side stories set in the WftE-verse. Multiple pairing and I am open for suggestions.

Okay that's all I got... oh if you want to stalk me or get further updates follow/fav me on FF OR find me by aeacustero on Tumblr or by Aeacus on AO3. Yea, okay... Thanks for reading this far!