WEEK ZERO: FRIDAY, 10PM, THE POOL

[parodeity]

[ should dirk choose to take dave up on the haphazard offer, he'll find the fourteen-year-old knight of time sitting crosslegged by the pool shed, his back leaning up against it. he has a monogrammed innsmouth motel paper pad and a red pen he got somewhere and is doodling to keep himself from freaking the fuck out. just shitty comics and random asides. he's kind of hunched over it, but.

dave also apparently found a wristwatch somewhere, though it looks like it's from the 1950s, so that's new.

he will pause in his mindless doodling when he hears anyone, eyes flicking up (he has not taken the shades off), and speaks in a much more measured manner than he ended the last conversation: ]

Sup. [ like he didn't snap at dirk or spend the rest of the day dreading a thing he legitimately offered. no big deal. ]

Comments

[splinten]

[Dirk doesn't agree, he has read the lines between what Dave has said to get some small idea of what Dave expected and he doesn't think any of it is good.

But Dave makes his comment, and Dirk's eyes flicker up. There's a moment of surprise, but his hands have already moved half-up to his shades to comply when he stops to look at Dave in confusion, trying to understand what's happening.

Then he pulls them off like Dave asked, and looks at him. It's been a while since he's been without shades but it doesn't really bother him. What bothers him more is not having access to his tech through his shades, frankly.]

Is this what you wanted?

[It's more obvious now, the puppy dog desperation. And the frown, too, the lingering self-hatred that came to the surface as he confessed to how terrible he is.]

[parodeity]

[ that's never happened before, ever. except it kind of did, didn't it? he told bro to show up at a specific time and place and bro did, and he didn't fucking dog dave around the place, and he took off the shades. it's the twilight zone officially and dave can't tell who's in charge, if anyone even is.

the pen breaks through the paper and dave looks down, then abandons his drawings to look back up at dirk.

he sounds very much fourteen and lost when he says: ]

I don't know. [ he doesn't have a clue. ] Rose only explained who you all were a few hours ago.

[ the new session, whatever, he'd known they were going there but even though he's the time player dave hadn't bothered to understand what was different - or maybe he'd deliberately tried not to know. ]

I was supposed to have like two years before I decided that. [ what he wanted. if what he wanted even mattered. ] You're...

[ ... ]

You're freakin' me the fuck out because I have no idea who you are. [ because this very distinctly isn't bro, but he looks so much like him and dave knows it's the same source, just...flipped to a different time. ] I didn't like you much, and you died, and that was supposedly the end of it except no one ever stays dead.

[splinten]

[It doesn't even hurt, really, that confession, it's just a confirmation of what he thought. It just makes Dirk feel worse for existing and he's been there for a while already.]

Sorry. That... must be a metric fuckton to get a handle on all at once.

[He isn't sure what to do. Like he admitted, he messes up so much. He doesn't want to mess up Dave worse. He tries, carefully, to make an offer.]

If you want space, and I guess time, I can try to give you that. It's a small area and we're trapped in it but I won't... initiate conversations, or anythin', until you give me the okay. If you ever give me the okay. If that'd help.

[parodeity]

You don't have to pretend to care.

[ like. dave holds up a hand to forestall an answer before he's done. ]

You're not...him, I get that, it's obvious. [ there's actual remorse over god knows what. at least whoever he's talking about hurting will get that: some sense of closure, someone who actually legitimately gave a fuck. ] But you don't have to pretend to give a fuck about me. I'm used to dealin' with shit on my own, you don't have to...bother.

[ wanting to meet him is one thing. actually caring and being someone he can depend on is another thing entirely.

there is simply no way that's going to be something he's allowed to have. rose and john and jade are people he can rely on. terezi, when it suits her. the mayor. other people are nebulous and hard, even when he likes them. it's better to rely on himself, only, and to just...expect to be thrown to the side before it happens. ]

[splinten]

[It's good Dave forestalls that response because Dirk was going to argue, but Dave makes his point and Dirk understands a little more what he means. There's no point arguing if Dirk is or isn't Dave's Bro or other nebulous elements, it's too complicated. The other thing, though, is more relevant to the immediate situation. His breathing is careful, but with his shades off he's an open book to anyone who can read fine print. It's a mess of emotions going on there, and he's trying select to hurt Dave the least.]

I... would like to. If you'd let me. I want to... [He breaks off, swallowing again, the frown coming in harder and more transparent without his sunglasses.] I don't know you, but I've wanted to for a really long time. I respect if you don't want to know me, though, and I'll back off if that's what you decide. I know that's a lot to shove on you right now so you can consider it a standing offer to cut me off whenever you want.

[parodeity]

I get the feelin' you're not gonna want to after whatever this is starts up. [ because it's easier, dave thinks, to not pretend he's going to have an ally here. not an ally he doesn't make himself, and fight for, and even still there's a good chance he'll be betrayed for...

whatever nebulous picture is forming here, that he doesn't like. it's lovecraftian horror, and he desperately wishes rose were here with him. ] You'll be more focused on, presumably - I forget the name already. Jade's grandpa. She never said.

[ he wasn't paying attention earlier. but that's what he would have done if rose or john or jade were here: tighten in and focus on the ally who he could count on, and the people he cared about. ]

You can...do whatever you want, though. I'm fine. Someone cooked me dinner earlier, in the kitchen?

[ no one has ever done that before and he's still wigged out. ]

And I have, like, two hundred pens.

[ a good substitute for family. ]

[splinten]

[He doesn't think Dave will believe him, no matter what he says. It's okay, he thinks. He doesn't deserve that trust anyway, and he probably won't be that helpful. There's a quiet, pained resignation in his expression, but he's looking down because for Dirk even now it's hard to accept it.]

You have your reasons not to trust me, in terms of what I think about you and what I want, or how I'll act when the chips are down. Like you said, you don't even know who I am.

[It's fair and it's reasonable, and Dirk can't blame Dave for it a bit.

But.]

I still want to know you. Do you... would you want me to cook dinner for you some time? Or—whatever. If you can't trust what I'd make that's fine, I just—[He's talking nonsense again after he had tried so hard to make himself coherent and clear in expression, so he cuts himself off.]

[parodeity]

You know how to cook?

[ what the fuck ]

Like in a kitchen?

[ WHAT THE FUCK forget the other conversation or literally anything else he's just staring blankly again. like...presumably bro fed himself somehow? but god knows dave never saw him doing anything of the sort.

(what the fuck) ]

[splinten]

[....]

....Yes? No one else was gonna make food for me those sixteen years.

[parodeity]

But you cook in your kitchen? Or like...do you have some secret firepit somewhere where you do all your cookin'.

[ dave? ]

[splinten]

I. No? I cook in my kitchen mostly? Sometimes I do grills on the rooftop but it's a pain in the ass to get it set-up?

[THIS IS NOT THE LINE OF INQUIRY HE HAS EXPECTED HERE]

[parodeity]

So...like...what's in your fridge??

[ WHATEVER DIRK YOU CAN SHUT UP and by shut up i mean answer these questions while dave continues staring at dirk like he's a lunatic ]

[splinten]

Fish? Mostly fish. And, like, cephalopods and shellfish and kinda weird creatures that bred after the Condesce's invasion. Some kinds of kelp I can eat. I don't touch the seagulls and I like to keep the soda in the crawlspace or my sylladex.

[IS THIS WEIRD???]

[parodeity]

Where do you keep your swords?

[ ..........CLEARLY..............UNRELATED TO THE FRIDGE INTERROGATIOn no seriously what the fuck ]

[splinten]

[This... is baffling?] I keep my katana in my sylladex and the Sord in my room by the transportalizer. I don't have any other swords.

[parodeity]

What about your other weapons???

[ THERE IS LIKE AN ENTIRE GODDAMN ARMORY IN HIS KITCHEN, WHY IS THAT NOT UNIVERSAL? ]

[splinten]

[Uh.] I usually equip Cal to puppetkind but I lost him in the transfer to Sburb. I have a tacky Santa thing from Roxy's house that I equipped to fncysntakind. Sometimes I have a grenade in my sylladex?

[He's trying to think of other weapons. He is blanking because HE DOES NOT HAVE A FUCKING ARMORY IN HIS KITCHEN.]

I gave Sawtooth some grenades to use? He's a robot rapper I built.

[parodeity]

[ dave utterly freezes at the mention of cal but unfreezes at "lost him" so there's that. ]

Oh.

[ just "oh", okay, that. figures? is weird? holy shit. ]

So you're into puppets.

[ at least we are off the topic of kitchens, however: we have now hit the topic of puppets, and is that any better. ]

[splinten]

Yeah? [Based on the reaction to Cal, he has a feeling he shouldn't be.] I... think they're cool. I made some? Based on the ones you left behind for me.

[parodeity]

I left you puppets?

[ jesus christ. ]

That's cool.

[ said like he's saying "well there's a pool over there what if i go drown myself in it" ]

[splinten]

[He feels bad? Like. He made mistakes.] We can talk about something else? If you want. [Maybe he shouldn't say it was SBAHJ merch.]

[parodeity]

Yeah, fine, I don't really wanna get into this.

[ however he doesn't immediately suggest a new topic guess that's up to dirk??? ]

[splinten]

[Give him a second. A second of staring helplessly. He still hasn't put his shades on.

He tries,]

Do you wanna see my tattoo?

[parodeity]

You have a tattoo??

[ aren't you like sixteen. ]

[splinten]

Yeah, I did it myself.

[It's a little shy, but he does it. He pulls up his sleeve and shows Dave:

THE MOST TERRIBLE TATTOO. Sure, you know what it looks like, but you have to see it again just to remind yourself of the full horrible experience.

He is staring at Dave with wide eyes because he wants to know what he thinks.]