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[parodeity]

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[splinten]

See me before you go.

[a brief pause]

Please.

[parodeity]

why before

[splinten]

Because I can't give you a goodbye hug and wish you a safe trip after you come back.

[parodeity]

you dont always give me either of those things

[ admittedly because he simply does not always update dirk on his time travel shenanigans now that he's more or less decided the possibility of ever having dirk involved in them again is Zero, but. ]

ill be around this evening before i go i guess
or if i dont leave until tomorrow
really depends on rose
though shes remarkably willing to ditch whatever and let me drag her off to see aliens so
i figure probably well leave sometime tonight
she was always the more adventurous one out of the two of us

[splinten]

You don't always tell me when you're going to do things.
Ok, thanks.

[And if Dave doesn't show up Dirk will just. Have to lure him out with a shitpost.]

[parodeity]

i dont do it alone generally so dont worry
i still havent not taken rose with me
and shes not sick of spending weeks with me as of yet
ill burn that bridge down whenever i come to it

[ he'll. eventually show up probably. he didn't really give a solid timeframe on when "this evening" he'd be around home. but he won't take rose and bolt without adhering to the request he drop by, probably. ]

go to sleep bro

[splinten]

I love you.

[another pause]

If you decide you do, in fact, need me, I'll be there instantly. Just ask.

Ok, goodnight.

[parodeity]

i love you too
but ive got this
seriously dont sweat it and just relax
im completely fine

[splinten]

[Ugh. He really hates being lied to. Call it out or don't call it out?

Breathe first. Count down. Then reply.]

Your time was up, so I have every right to call that out as the lie it is.
See you in a couple hours.

[parodeity]

[ he could argue he is completely fine but that will just keep dirk up forever. not that dave is sure dirk will even go the fuck to sleep, but. ]

im handling shit
nothings going down i cant take on without you
so please try to enjoy yourself or something for a bit longer
everything will keep or settle its not a big deal
later

[ "a couple hours" i mean he will show up back at the tower like around 10pm if left to his own devices SO THAT'S UP TO DIRK HOW LONG HE'LL WAIT. there will have been evidence he at least ate oatmeal (...well, part of a bowl of oatmeal) in the morning sometime and the animals all got fed, but otherwise there's pretty much not going to be much of an indication as to where dave went. which was to rose and john at different points, but also he was doing other things too. ]

[splinten]

[DIRK WILL. Actually wait the whole day. He knows Dave is hiding things from him but he can only do so much when he's being shut out. He just decides to spend most of the day working at his desk in their bedroom and listening to music.]

[parodeity]

It's the warpers.

[ there's no warning. dave's not there and then he is with only the flicker-displacement of flashstep, and only dirk's soul sense will help to catch on if dirk was even paying attention, as dave leans one hand on dirk's desk. he seems to actually kind of need the support for the time being. dave doesn't look his best, pale and drawn and sick to his stomach, and his shades are firmly in place. there's probably very little chance he bothered to sleep or eat beyond whatever the fuck he did at breakfast.

also: what the fuck is he talking about. ]

[splinten]

[Dave moves fast and Dirk responds quickly—stands up, grabs Dave. Steadies him.]

They attacked you?

[It is the first explanation he can come up with and he's looking Dave over, looking for any hint of injury. He is going to be dragging Dave to bed in about three seconds if not stopped.]

[parodeity]

What, no.

[ he's fine, really. or, well, there aren't any injuries. nothing not self-inflicted, since he has a stupid warper-induced headache again without any shadow of a doubt. and has otherwise just kind of run himself into the ground all day. longer than a day, actually, but whatever.

dave tugs away before he decides that was a stupid idea and he just stays there, still leaning against the desk. ]

I backtracked. Then I double-checked my work.

[ he'd maybe considered doing it vaguely at least once or twice before, but then john was back and didn't remember anything and dave had been upset enough to not second-guess himself. ]

Wanted to know how the fuck John got here.

[splinten]

[Dirk tries to ignore that Dave pulling away from him hurts.]

Okay. So Warpers bring us here. That fits your earlier theory.

How many hours since you last ate or slept?

[parodeity]

[ it sucks that he can never honestly say "i don't know" to questions of time. ]

A while. I don't want to eat anything right now. [ it's less petulant and more resigned. sleep - he probably should, but he's not about to just yet.

shit, no, he hated the vague answers he kept getting about when, so - ]

Breakfast this morning. [ still too vague. he forces his way through specifics without waiting to be asked. ] Twenty-seven hours and change. Sleep's nearer thirty-two. I've gone way longer with way less without issue, that's not important right now.

[ so he's only at around half a day extra, maybe, given dirk talked to him at three am nineteen hours ago. ]

I tried to eat lunch? [ that's not the same thing as actually eating lunch, but dave feels belatedly guilty for failing. it just wasn't worth it. ]

[splinten]

Thanks for trying. Can we sit?

[Dirk is on his feet now so this is now a valid question. Dave can't sleep but he should rest.]

[parodeity]

Jesus.

[ he should have looped out more time to chill out or something, he's making things worse. it's not an uncommon feeling or thought - fucked it up again, made the wrong choice, can't actually fix it because whatever mistakes he makes are set in stone these days.

dave's not sure how that makes him feel on a day to day basis.

he ends up just boosting himself onto dirk's desk, slouching terribly. ]

I'm good, just stupid.

[splinten]

[Dave isn't resting, he's jittery like there's something to be done. But there isn't. It's definitely not anything Dave can do. Their best shot is talking to the planet but it has a Two-Face personality and a personal affection for the Warpers. He doesn't know it can help.]

Sorry. You're thinkin' you wanna act on this? At this point I'm not up on any ideas.

[parodeity]

No. What would we do? We're just as trapped as ever.

[ dave has never quite believed knowledge is power or anything so optimistic as that. knowing specifically the ways in which you're helpless doesn't really do anything to make you less helpless. it just means you're explicitly aware of the ways in which you suck. ]

Rose agreed to fuck off for two weeks with me. You're not sitting.

[splinten]

We can find ways to keep the Warpers away from us. It may not be perfect but it could help. Signal interference or that sort of thing. We could try talking to the planet again to see if it's doing this or if it's something else.

[Dirk sits when Dave tells him to. He doesn't touch him, worried about being shoved away again.]

Kharaa trip? Okay.

[parodeity]

Does it matter? [ what's doing it. probably it does matter. but he's not sure if they want to stop it or not, or anything. john's back, that's...sure a thing. jane will never be here if they fuck with the warpers, not that there's ever a guarantee she would be - ]

We'll leave eventually. Rose and I, not general us re warpers or what the fuck ever. [ he's not remotely willing to drag rose through time in his current state. even if dave doesn't think he'd make a mistake, it's not worth the risk. ] What's up?

[splinten]

It matters if it keeps people from being yanked unknown across spacetime. It also matters if we can learn to control it and decide when and where we come and go. We also still don't know why our memories get messed around sometimes and other times don't. You said none of us felt like we were from dead end timelines and it all matched up. That's something we can try to deal with.

[Dirk isn't optimistic but he's stubborn and persistent. He isn't giving up on Jane.]

Aside from you, nothing. I spent most of the day doing nothing.

[parodeity]

Maybe I'm wrong.

[ it's a useless avenue of thought but one he's been down too many times. maybe something is tricking him; maybe he's wrong.

maybe it doesn't fucking matter if everything they are can be undone as easily as has always been the case. ]

You never do nothing.

[splinten]

[He gestures at the desk they're sitting on: it's all computer chips.] They're what we need for basic processing in more computers. It's automatic work.

[So it's nothing.]

Nothing on this planet has messed with your time powers without you knowing about it. When it happened to Rose, she knew the second she came out of a trance. You aren't wrong.