dave karofsky

OUT OF CHARACTER:

Hiya, curious ‘non! Short answer: no, definitely not. The group is not dead at all. With one of our main admins on holiday (lucky git), and many of us feeling completely knackered - either by personal reasons, laziness or staying up to 2am watching Riverdale - right now, the group is on a somewhat hiatus, I’d say. We’ll be back raring to go as soon as we can, though, my lovely! 

“It’s a two way street Dave.” Jesse said with sincerity as he leaned in closer to him, his mouth hovering a few inches away. Adjusting to being back home wasn’t the easiest thing for Jesse and he had started to lose himself in the mess of hook-up’s and revenge plots he stumbled into. Yet Dave was a genuine good thing in his life and his presence had started to center Jesse a bit more. “So what are your big plans with your folks gone? Movies and popcorn or something else?”

Dave leaned in even closer as Jesse did, their sides now pressed together. Dave thought for a thought before responding. “Not sure. I’m happy with whatever you want to do.” Dave murmured, glancing up at Jesse with a smile, resting his chin on the other man’s shoulder. “I’ll leave it up to you, Mr. Director.” He chuckled. 

To say Jesse was optimistic and excited at spending some quality time with Dave was a bit of an understatement. Things had been progressing well between them and Jesse had been supporting Dave’s transition out of the closet as best he could. But being here with him was more than enough now. “I saved the best seat in the house just for you.” Jesse said with a return smile, dropping his hand to the other’s thigh. “I’ll be discreet about what I mean when I say my special guest too.”

Dave blushed lightly as he felt Jesse’s hand drop to his thigh. He smiled over at Jesse, biting his lip and covering the man’s hand with his own. “I really appreciate you. I don’t know if I’ve really expressed that, but I appreciate everything you’ve done for me and I’m really happy with us and how everything is going.” Dave murmured, scooting a little closer and leaning into Jesse. 

His eyebrows skyrocketed, shocked at the sudden change in the guy across from him. What was the problem with being gay? “Dude, I only mentioned that cause…y’know, we literally had a guy having the leave the school ‘cause of being gay.” He shrugged, noticing with slight suspicion just how defensive Dave seemed to be now. The cool exterior had crumbled. It was weird, and made no sense at all to Finn.

“Ha. Let me be the judge of that.” Finn replied with a grin, “I ‘gotta be honest, though. I never pegged you as the dancing ‘kinda guy. Maybe singing, though. I ‘dunno.” There was still an element of apprehension in the atmosphere, yet Finn tried to ignore that.

Relief washed over Finn’s expression at Karofsky’s words. “Awesome, man. And whatever you try and do and stuff, I totally get it. I’ve got your back.”

Dave answered slowly, a defensive tone still in his voice. “Whatever, dude. I’m just saying.. not everything is about being gay. That wasn’t even what I was talking about, but you brought it up.” Dave crossed his arms, sitting back against the couch. He face turned slightly more red than before and he willed the blush to go away. He realized in the moment just how defensive he was being and knew that would give him away. 

Understatement, Finn thought bitterly, before quickly nodding. “Yeah, totally. It’s ‘kinda annoying…since the rest of the world seems cool with gay people, or performers, or people - I dunno, with glasses or whatever - yet this school in Lima has a huge problem with it.” It almost felt like their school was moving backwards, rather than with the tide. Being gay wasn’t an issue anymore. At least, it was to lame people like Trump, but otherwise? It was fine. It was more than fine.

With a laugh, and quick shake of head, Finn replied, “Don’t worry, man. I’m totally kidding. Lets just take stuff one step at a time, y’know?” Even the thought of Karofsky joining the Glee Club felt surreal; the reaction would be intense. He inwardly shuddered at the thought. “Maybe wait a few months or something before you start embracing your inner Jay Z.” He teased, grinning.

Finn glanced down at his right hand, contemplating offering a bro fist - wrong time, perhaps? Perhaps not. He outstretched his fist, giving out a sign of - well, bromance, was that the word? - to Karofsky. “Awesome, dude.”

“I’m not talking about being gay.” Dave spoke quickly, the words spilling out of his mouth before he could stop him. There goes the defensive side, his walls building right back up again. “Nobody said anything about being gay, Finn. I’m just talking about McKinley in general.” The more Dave tried to defend himself, the more he became on edge. He took a moment to calm his nerves, wringing his fingers together. 

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” He sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not planning on joining the glee club. I’m not the most musically gifted and that would probably just end in disaster.” Dave allowed himself to chuckle but the laugh came out sounding more nervous than like a laugh. 

The admission was a shock, to say at the least. Finn was expecting a bluff, a laugh, a snide comment…he was expecting any but what he got.

After a second of numbed silence, Finn nodded, and gave a grin, “Thanks, dude. And I totally get it. The guys can be jerks, and at a place like McKinley, it’s harsh.” He paused. “But, thank you. I’m not expecting you to join the Club or anything -” With a small, teasing grin, he added, “I mean, unless you’re into singing and stuff. ‘Cause we’d totally welcome you if you wanted.”

He gave a glance around the room, before his eyes landed on Karofsky once again. “You’re a really cool guy, you know that? - I know, uh…We haven’t ever been bros or anything, but I’d be totally down with that, if you wanted.”

“McKinley’s not exactly the most... open-minded place, to say the least.” Dave wasn’t ready to fully admit anything to Finn. The other guy was nice, but tended to talk about things he probably shouldn’t and Dave wasn’t about to risk anything. That didn’t mean, however, that he didn’t want to be a little more open about himself. He was so tired of fighting everything and after talking with Kurt and Blaine, he realized he had the ability to stop. 

“Um, dude, no offense, but I just don’t think that’s my thing. I mean, I’m a football player, not a dancer. I’m definitely not the most graceful guy on the field, you know?” Dave chuckled, shaking his head. “I just don’t think that’d be the right fit. Plus, if I jump straight from trying to lay off you guys and then join the club, I really don’t want to take that backlash right now.” Dave knew that if he joined, he would be in a position to admit everything and then he’d really be screwed over with the team. 

His nod of greeting was short, with a small smile as he stepped inside, slightly apprehensive. It was weird that this was the first time to have ever stepped into Dave Karofsky’s house, especially since they’d known each other for years now. “Honestly, it’s ‘kinda weird.” He said, swallowing, noticing for the first time just how anxious Karofsky seemed to be…the news wasn’t that bad, was it? What was going on with him?

This wasn’t the kind of thing you could just…come right out with. Not with Karofsky, at least. “And I totally get if you refuse, ‘cause…y’know, I’d probably refuse too.” He gave a small laugh, before continuing, “We’re teammates, right? And we’re also teammates with Mike, and Sam, and Artie, and Puck. That makes six of us.” He paused, glancing at Karofsky’s expression warily before he continued. “I think we should try and stop this whole “hating on glee club” thing, and I’m coming to you ‘cause I think that minus the whole asshole Jock thing you have going on, you’re a cool dude.”

Finn would be lying if he said that he wasn’t a little…apprehensive, about this meetup. Even before the whole “Karofsky’s a jerk” fiasco, the two had never been exactly close, despite both being on the football team and having multiple things in common. Perhaps it was due to Finn’s reluctance to bullying people, or saying bad stuff, that was the cause. The contrast was huge. In spite of this, Finn’s…well, badly thought out plan could go two ways. It could either bring about a merge between the Titans and the Glee Club, or the total opposite. As he arrived at Karofsky’s house, he firmly knocked on the front door, swallowing the lump at the back of his throat. Suck it up, dude.

“What’s up, man?”