Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/546165.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Homestuck
  Relationship:
      John_Egbert/Dave_Strider
  Character:
      John_Egbert, Dave_Strider, Bro_Strider
  Additional Tags:
      Voyeurism, Masturbation, Nudity
  Stats:
      Published: 2012-10-26 Words: 2710
****** Shy Observations ******
by TheMockingCrows
Summary
     From a suggestion on tumblr. John is too shy to ask Dave out, and
     it's wrecking his life. He's desperate to feel close to the blonde,
     wants nothing more than to be with him, but feels he isn't worth it.
     When the simple habit of taking pictures of his crush gets a step up
     by Bro offering him illicit photos for a small fee, he worries he's
     in over his head.
Notes
See the end of the work for notes
Dave was going to fucking kill him. There was no denying it, no sugar coating
it. Hell, most people would probably kill John for what he had been doing the
last few months. Steadily, he had been building up a collection of sorts, a
photo album. Videos. A DVD in one case. Some of the pictures he had taken
himself, others he had begged for. Still others, shamefully, he had purchased.
In John’s closet lay a box filled with nothing but the object of his interest,
the shoebox stuffed high atop his other stored items. It’s normal to have
pictures of your crush, little candid camera shots next to snapshots they’d
posed for. It’s not so normal to pay your crushes brother for these items.
In fact, it’s sick. Depraved, some of the things he has pictures of.
Dave sleeping. Dave groggy, eating cereal. Dave in a towel after a shower. Dave
in sweatpants, shirtless, playing a videogame on the futon. They were pretty
domestic, normal. Mostly. The deeper in the box however, the more John’s shame
was hidden. Dave sleeping nude on a hot summer afternoon, skinny legs hiked up
to his chest. Dave leisurely laying back, eyes closed, blissful as his hand
clasped his dick. That one was the prize of his collection, apparently nigh
impossible to get, and if it weren’t what it was he would have gotten it
framed.
The light was absolutely perfect, the posture, the pressure as he bit his
bottom lip, pale cheeks flushed a ruddy pink. He was happy there, pleasing
himself. John would have given the world to be there with him in that warm
light, being the reason he looked so satisfied, broad hands touching secret
crevices.
Maybe even doing.. more? Kissing him, as he did that? Yeah, that was good. Oh,
God, what about tasting him? He’d always wondered what his friends skin tasted
like, strangely enough. Especially because whenever they were very near each
other, John could detect a very distinct scent. Dave always smelled like a
combination of his shampoo and soap, a dab of some kind of weird cologne he
liked since he didn’t need aftershave yet. He smelled like coffee and dust, a
barely there tang of sweat that wouldn’t leave his clothes with their off brand
laundry detergent.
If he was going to taste him, why not get braver with the touching? Oh man, he
might really like it. What if he tried giving him a blowjob, and like, started
touching everywhere else? John was shuffling in his seat now, wrenching his
thoughts away just as they started to swerve towards taking the blonde on the
sofa as solidly as he was capable of. No. Let’s not shove even more salt in the
wound today.
As if he’d ever be able to ask his friend out, even be capable of working up
the nerve to say those simple words. Dave was so far out of his league it had a
different zip code, Loserville population: 1 admiring the glitzy glimmer of
Stridertown.
He was absolutely perfect.
Accord to his brother, Dirk, however, he was also a huge nerd. He mumbled,
could barely string together a paragraph to someone without lowering his voice
afterwards to mumble the rest of what he wanted to say. Shy, though he fought
to hide it. Grade A dork.
Not to John. God no. He was fucking perfect.
The only thing that would make him more perfect in his eyes would be for him to
be John’s boyfriend. Maybe make him forgiving if he ever found out his dirty
little secret tucked away out of sight.
No. Because this is real life, and Dave will murder him and hate him forever if
he ever knew and oh GOD why couldn’t he just stop? He wanted to throw away the
pictures, clean his slate, pretend it had never accumulated, but there was no
way to do that. The photos offered him a frozen moment in time to view him,
instead of trying to piece together fragments of his memory from visits and
hanging out. In the other cases, they showed a side of him nobody else ever
saw.
A secret, private side that should never be seen by anyone. CHRIST he was
fucked up. Yet he knew what he would be doing this afternoon when he went to
hang out. He’d wait for Dave to go take his shower in the evening, and then
slip back to Dirk’s room with money in hand for another few shots to stuff into
his bag and sneak home when he left.
Maybe he’d managed to catch a few more of Dave touching himself..
No, fuck, STOP. Maybe he had nothing and everything could finally end and he
could stop acting like a creep. Maybe he’d ask for a few shots of whiskey or
something from Dirk’s stash to get the courage up to ask Dave out.
That idea, bolstering his scant courage, flew out the window when Dirk
approached him that evening with a sealed envelope in his gloved hand. Oh, he
knew. That crooked smirk showed just how much he understood the desperation
John felt to possess the pictures, slipping the top open to reach inside.
“No, no, come on. I trust you, just… Just leave them in there, okay?” John
hissed and raised his hands up, pleading for him to just do the exchange. “Come
on, why hassle me now? I’ll look at them later. Please, I just… I need these.”
“Y’know, kid. He’s single.”
“Y-yeah, I know..”
“He’d prolly say yes. You little mutants are always all up in each other’s
business anyway.”
“He’d say yes to anyone but me.”
The quirked lips gave way to a frown, appraising the dark haired youth slowly
as he shut the envelope and accepted John’s crumpled ten dollar bill.
“He’d say yes to anyone who gave a damn enough about themselves to give a damn
about him.”
Tense, annoyed, a tan hand reached out to snatch the yellow business envelope
and clutch it to his chest. Dave would be getting out of the shower soon, was
probably just now rinsing the shampoo out and starting on the conditioner. The
soap to keep his skin from drying out or peeling too easily when it was exposed
to the elements. Extra protection being coated on as lotion when he dried out,
slicking his hands over his flesh an-
CHRIST, mind, get out of the gutter!
Trailing into Dave’s room to wait on him, John went to his backpack, wanting to
stuff the envelope safely out of view. Maybe shove it in the liner or
something, paranoid as he was about being discovered. It had been the plan to
do that, at least, until he spotted the closet door was ajar.
Surely it couldn’t hurt to .. just.. take a quick peek? He wanted to see what
all he hid in there, out of sight. Knew that he kept some of his older games
tucked away into boxes somewhere within. Maybe he could finally see about
borrowing a few to pass the time over the approaching three day weekend, asking
him about specific titles he found.
Digging through the few stuffed boxes was simple enough, till reaching for one
just out of reach made it fall on him, knocking the envelope away from his
hand. Delicate pictures fanned out along the floor, making John scrabble and
drop the box entirely in order to gather them up. Heart racing, bathroom door
popping open in the hallway, John tugged the door closed and plunged himself
into darkness. The only light was what came in from under the door, the solid
bar made patchy by wandering feet as Dave walked in front of it.
He held his breath, prayed. Bargained promises and eternity so long as the
closet door remained shut.
Prayer, for once, helped him. The light steps passed around the room before
heading back out into the hallway, a voice asking where he’d gone. The deeper
reply was that he had stepped out for some fresh air, would be back soon
enough. Normal bitching back and forth. Maybe he could sneak out and slip into
another room for a bit, walk casually into Dave’s room once more in about ten
minutes when he was back in it.
Yeah, that would work. It was genius, he decided, hand already turning the
closet door handle to slip it open an inch or two.
John’s heart just about stopped when the bedroom door popped open once more and
was quickly locked back into place. Ceased to breathe for fear of being caught
trespassing as he caught sight of the towel clad body flouncing back onto the
mattress with a creak. He forgot what breathing was when the towel fell open in
his line of sight, legs splaying just barely apart.
His motions were slow and easy, taking advantage of the few precious moments he
had while John was away doing whatever had come up so suddenly. Fingertips
along his own chest, rubbing his nipples for a moment, giving one a tweak
before a hand trailed southwards to his groin. Dave’s nails left thin, red
streaks along his inner thigh as he scratched at himself before cupping his
dick.
John crowded close to the door when he began to play with the foreskin, fingers
stroking down the ruddy underside to squeeze his balls for a moment. When he
bit his lip, light in the room perfect, John’s view from the closet ideal,
there was no way it could get better. His pictures had come to life before his
very eyes, hands stopping their attempts to pick the fallen images up.
No, it got better.
This vision had audio with the visual.
As he stroked, the sound of skin sliding on skin, he moaned quietly. The bed
creaked whenever he moved his legs or hips, intent on staying spread out in
plain view, sagging with his slight weight. Soft, breathy noises in the back of
his throat, head tossing to the side restlessly when he began to evenly stroke.
It was beautiful. He was beautiful. All of this was depraved.. He was crouched
in his friends closet surrounded by mostly nude pictures that had been secretly
taken of him, watching him jack off through a crack. John was actively peeping,
further ruining whatever trust his friend had in him by not looking away. Fuck.
The chance of this not being illegal was gone the second he eased down his own
zipper and shamefully slipped his hand around his own member, needing relief.
Wanting to experience this with the blonde, even if he never knew it was
happening. Maybe it would be easier to get over the hurt when Dave finally
started dating someone and left him behind so long as he had this one moment to
look back on.
It didn’t take long to shoot off, wincing when he realized some of the semen
had dribbled onto the photos, ruining them. …well. Maybe they could still be
saved, if he cleaned it just right. It’s not like they were going on display,
or had to be perfect, after all. So long as he could still see the handsome
face, maybe some of his body. That’s all he needed. Anything missing could be
filled in with this new memory.
Sticky, John tucked himself into his boxers, shoving his hands inside his shirt
to wipe them off. He’d need to wash up in the bathroom when he got the chance..
Dave just needed to get out of his room when he was done. Or he needed to pass
out or something so John could be sneak-
“John…”
He didn’t just do that, oh no, please no, don’t call the cops. Have mercy, he
could explain!
“Ah, fuck, yes.. Just like that, John..”
Still dizzy from his own frantic orgasm, the brunette shuffled close again to
observe what was happening, adjusting his glasses before they slipped too far
down his nose. Dave was apparently nearing his own end, hips lurching up off
the bedding into his own hand, muscles tense, back arched. He was writhing,
tossing his head before resting his chin on his chest and staring downward with
a set jaw, teeth clenched.
The eventual climax sent white spattering up his chest, nearly to his face
before the pressure died to a stop. His dick continued to twitch and pulse with
sensitivity as he came down, body falling limp, needing to relax. Likely, Dave
should have done this before he showered with how messy he’d gotten again, how
sweaty.
Maybe he’d pass out now, take a nap. John looked down to his hands and some of
the ruined photos, picking them up quietly again to shove into the envelope out
of sight. Safe.
“Was it good for you too, dude?”
John Egbert, it would be good to note, is capable of producing a number of
strange sounds depending on the situation. For example, sudden surprise and
terrible fear will result in him releasing a high pitched squeal akin to a
banshee. Normal people would likely laugh and make fun of him.
Dave only smirked, wobbly legged in a pair of dark boxers. John squawked and
panicked, trying to cover the pictures, throwing himself down on them, hiding
them with his body. Dave picked up a spare that had slid further away, lifting
it up to squint and appraise it.
“Mn.. I dunno why he’s scamming you for the fuckup pictures, dude. You got
ripped off. The other ones turned out much nicer.”
“You don’t understand, I am so sorry, it’s not what it looks like! I jus-! I’m
so sorry, I’ll leave, I’m fucked u-… You were posing?”
Those bright eyes rolled, fixing him with a look that said, ‘Seriously?’
“Of course I did, man. The first batch were candid shots. When he found it
harder to get new material for you, he asked me if I wanted to strike some
raunchy poses for my bucktoothed prince charming. I was kind of hoping you’d
realize that shit and ask me out.”
Mouth dry, still panicked, John slowly began to sit up empty handed. This had
to be a dream. He’d gotten caught, and he was killed, and this was limbo. It
had to be.
“…If.. If you knew I liked you, why didn’t you ask ME out?! I just.. I just
didn’t think you’d want to go out with someone like me! That’s why I never said
anything, never made any moves!”
“Dude. I liked you. You liked me. You never said anything and put yourself down
saying you weren’t worth it. I pose naked for you and you don’t notice. I think
just how far you’ve gone shows you’re interested, and the fact the raunchy shit
only happened with my consent and knowledge kind of says that we’re both
interested in seeing what happens with this shit.”
The slim figure crouched down and hugged his knees, making direct eye contact,
unblinking. Challenging.
“Though, I ain’t dating you till you ask me right and proper.”
“…Dave..”
“Oh, wait. Do I need to whip my dick out again? Should help.”
“DAAAVE! Shut up, holy fuck! This is bad enough as it is, oh my God..”
“Egbert, I’m swooning over your romantic argument right now, but seriously. I
just got off, and I’d like to cuddle with my boyfriend if I have one. Tick
tock, mother fucker.” The words were harsh, blunt, to the point. Though, there
was none of the expected sting. No malice or anger.
It was the same teasing words they were used to exchanging with each other, a
signal of what was to come. They would always be best friends, it seems.
Though, now, they had to added bonus of saying that the huge nerd beside them
was their boyfriend.
Dave forgave John for his misguided affections, and punished him regularly by
sending illicit photos on his phone at the worst possible times. John
apologized all around and gave the pictures to Dave, who put them together into
a show book of sorts, choosing only the best angles. Bro never gave John his
money back, and spent every possible moment tormenting the two teens. 
End Notes
     Original tumblr post- http://themockingcrows.tumblr.com/post/
     34338008178/shy-observations
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