vatheon | (no subject)

Who: Dirk Strider and anyone.
Where: In the Park
When: Night
Status: Open

[The appearance of the fairy at the beginning of the week had been surprising and suspicious, and it had made him resolve to keep an eye on things. When it dissolved that first night, he'd been admittedly alarmed, even more so at the sudden appearance of the Miles.

It hadn't taken long to realize that the fairy's gruesome demise and the sudden appearance of a universe-destroying force were related. It didn't take long to realize that it couldn't be real, either, and not just because of everyone else's notices on the SFC. The lack of property damage was a telling sign. So was the lack of deaths.

So, being his usual stoic self, he'd continued on as usual and had done his best to ignore it. It had mostly worked, but he kept flinching when he saw red out of the corner of his eyes. And then bodies had started appearing too...

He'd left the house to try and get some space from everything, but the images only followed him. Finally, he reaches the conclusion that wandering just isn't helping, and slumps into a park bench. Pushes up his shades, and runs his hands over his face.

He wants Cal. Maybe it's just a stupid puppet, but he still wishes he had Cal.]

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[Dirk isn't the only one who has taken to wandering the streets at night, trying to get away from the visions in his head. Equius is out and about too, slouching through the mists like a wraith, his shirt and arms still splashed with blood that isn't there. He's a little calmer now, having realized this is a curse and talked to his moirail about it, but he's still on edge and stands several feet away.]

Hey.

[It's not that Dirk didn't notice Equius getting close, really. It's just that he's getting stuck in his head right now, and hearing someone talk to him isn't what he expected.

He moves his hand away from his face to let his shades fall back over his eyes. Some days the only reason he's wearing them is the irony of it. Today isn't one of those days.

Equius might not want to come closer, but Dirk moves down the bench so that there's room.]

Hey. Fun week, yeah?

Not really.

[Equius doesn't sit on the bench, but walks up to stand next to it. That's as close as he's willing to let himself get.]

I think I liked it better when I had a mustache.

No shit.

I liked it better when this shit was actually happening, as fucking creepy as that sounds.

[ . . . . ]

What are you seeing?

[I'll show you mine if you show me yours.]

End of the world. End of two worlds, I guess, if we want to be technical. Everybody dying.

[Sure, why not. He'll gesture Equius closer, point to the trailing red tendrils forming all around him.]

[Uh, no thanks. Equius steps back, holding up his hands apologetically.]

I'm sorry, but I'd rather not see that.

[Pause.]

I'm sorry you have to, though.

Sure, fine. What about you?

My friends... hurt. Dying. Because I'm too STRONG and can't control myself around them.

[Dirk tilts his head.]

So you haven't been touching anyone?

No.

[He doesn't touch people most of the time, but right now he's being extra careful.]

Not that I don't agree with the concept of personal space, but you're not going to challenge that?

Not if it means my friends could end up hurt or dead because I can't control myself.

They could end up hurt or dead because of plenty of things. But they don't let those stop them. Why should that stop them from dealing with you?

I know that.

[His moirail is deeeeeeeead because of him!]

I let them touch me, if they want to. I just can't touch them back.

[He is also dead because of him. And somehow his STRENGTH didn't do any of that! How curious.]

That sounds like a shitty week.

Yes.

[Equius has relaxed a little by now, and sits on the edge of the bench, across from Dirk.]

Sounds like it's been that kind of week for everyone.

I can't imagine anyone appreciates having this shit paraded around in front of them. The analytical value tends to be lost when it doesn't turn off.

You've been trying to analyze yours?

[Equius has mostly just been running around terrified of his.]

Well, yeah. Why not?

Hadn't thought of it, myself.

What have you found out?

I found out that I learned more about the Miles from a brief encounter with it than I ever wanted to, considering I remember pretty much exactly how it moves and grows. I also remember a fuckton about the way it killed my friends. Notably, it isn't coming after me. There's plenty of conclusions that can be drawn about those facts.

Why would it leave you alone while going after your friends? Aren't you a target as well?

In actual fact, they're just as dangerous to me as they are to everyone else. But this isn't based on reality, it's based on a nightmare. I'm not seeing them come after me for the same reason you're not seeing yourself break doors or tools, even though you'd be just as likely to destroy those if you lost control of your strength.

Oh.

[Equius feels dumb for not realizing that on his own.]

So then really, both our fears are more about losing those we care about than anything else.

[His head is full of dead friends, he can be pardoned.]

Ding ding ding.

It's particularly irksome when I've spent the past three years trying to prevent this kind of outcome.

... yeah.

[Equius sighs.]

I hope you were more successful than I was. In the end, there wasn't anything I could do.

It depends on your definition of success. We're all down to one self, either original body or Dreamself. And this was only to get into Sburb. But everyone's alive and accounted for.

That happened to us, too. We survived Sgrub and almost won before getting thrown to the Veil. Then Derse and Prospit got destroyed, so we all only had our actual bodies left.

[He shudders, wrapping his arms around himself as the stains on his shirt start to grow again.]

And then things got bad.

Well, at least you made it most of the way through the game. All signs point to our session being unable to manage even that.

I'll admit to being curious about what you mean. [Tact. Look, Dirk has it! It's an invitation for Equius to talk, if he wants. Or they could just chat about robots.]