vatheon | There's a stranger in my bed

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There's a stranger in my bed

Who: Dave Strider, Roxy Lalonde, and Dirk Strider
Where: Coral Corral 6
When: Whenever Dave arrived and mosied on over to what he thought was his home.
Status: Closed
Style: Starting Prose but I'll follow.

There was things he missed about Vatheon. But arriving soaking wet in the cold is never one of those things he missed. It's been...holy shit it's been like two years, what? Which is to say, Dave knew time passed different and he honestly assumed that time hadn't passed that much since he left Vatheon. Even if he disappeared in April and it's kind of chilly for it to be May. Details.

Dave just wanted to get back to his place and change into dry clothes. Last time, he got sick because John pretty much shoved him into the snow. Right. John. Jade. He'll talk to them when he's back home.

Dave trudged through until he arrived at the familiar house the Beta kids once occupied. It didn't occur to him at all that someone else might live here now. He just threw the door open and came inside.

...

Why is there a smuppet? Why are there multiple smuppets? Why is the place filled with alcoho-oh god damn it, did Rose arrive here drunk? Not that it explains the smuppets, but it would explain the alcohol right? "Holy shit." Something is very wrong right now.

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It's still better than whatever a fifteen year old can probably do.

"It'll be more people than the company I've had for the passed two years." What does he say. Oh god he doesn't- "So about clothes I can borrow. As much as I love being a wet cat, I really think that cold weather should die in a fire and I'm basically making a tiny lake the longer I stand here talking." A break. It'll give them time to think of something! Or...more time to panic to themselves.

"The water's no problem." Seriously, they don't care that much about what water does to their house. They are not good homeowners at all. But, after a moment's consideration, Dirk flashsteps upstairs to grab some things, then flashsteps back down. When he gets back, a pair of pants is added to the pile of towels and shirt that Roxy already got and set down before she left.

"Here. They ought to fit reasonably, bathroom's that way, you can dry off and get changed." He won't comment on the fact that they're his clothes. The hat symbol on the shirt probably makes it obvious.

Dave just gives a nod and goes down the hallway and into the bathroom. He shuts the door and stands there for a moment.

Oh. My. God. That was like fifty shades of awkward and fifty shades of Dave-Strider-you-are-the-hugest-tool-and-biggest-loser-ever. Dave stares down at the shirt in his hands. This is most definitely and obviously Dirk's shirt. His face dropped a bit as he stared at the hat symbol. God damn it.

But Dave starts peeling off his wet clothes so he can dry himself off and change. He didn't want to take too long in the bathroom. That would make it seem like he's stalling or something. He can't let the other know he's totally trying to bide time to maybe pull his head out of his ass.

Dirk, in the meantime, isn't just standing around in the living room. Instead, he heads to the kitchen, carefully bypassing the immediate area of the bathroom door. He's not going to do something ridiculous like try to clean up the house. Dave's already seen it, and besides, there's nothing wrong with the mess. (Besides, Roxy would be sure to comment when she got back.)

Once in the kitchen, he grabs several unopened bottles of orange soda, the only safe drinks in the house, and brings them back to the living room with him, where he takes a seat on the couch.

What even comes next? Dave will probably want to find his friends once he's dried off. Dave seems reluctant to ask questions of him, and Dirk doesn't know what to ask himself. How much are you like the brother I never actually knew? Who knows if Dave even wants to keep in contact with someone who's not actually his Bro?

He opens one of the sodas, listens to it fizz as he takes a sip. He wishes he had Cal right now.

Dave slips on Dirk's pants. They were a little bigger on him than they probably were on Dirk, but he wasn't surprised. They fit well enough. The shirt was a little big on him too, but he wasn't going to care too much about it. Really, the size of it wasn't the problem. The face he was wearing Dirk's clothes was making him internally scream inside. Well, no. Striders don't freak out. He's just having a moment.

Dave glances into the mirror in the bathroom before glancing down at the hat symbol on the shirt. He doesn't know what to do. Was Dirk going to expect him to be like his alternate older self? Was he expecting Dirk to be anything like Bro?

He shook his head a bit. That would be unfair. As much as he'd desperately like that, it wasn't really going to bring Bro back. Bro has been dead for two years now. Dave scrubs at his eyes for a moment before bundling up his wet clothes and carrying it out with him. "Uh. Thanks. I'll bring your shit back when I get my own clothes."

Dave kind of just drags his feet as he heads back to the living room, shoulders slightly hunched. "Would it be cool if I left my clothes here? I can totally take it with me if it isn't okay. I mean, if it ain't cool, it ain't a problem. Just wet clothes. Not gonna kill me if I carry it around a bit or whatever."

Dirk looks up from where he's now sitting on the couch, seemingly impassive behind his shades. The short break was enough time to school his poker face back together, even if he isn't really any more calm than he was before. Appearances are everything.

"Sure, no problem. We can dry them out, and you can pick them up when you drop off my things. You just got dry, no point in keeping wet things with you." In fact, he can take those from Dave right now, and head to the laundry room that they actually have. Dirk may not be the best at general cleaning, but when it comes to personal hygiene, he is fastidious. And he made sure he knew what he was doing, after one load of shirts actually got turned pink early on in his time here.

As he stands, Dirk considers Dave. "You got any plans? Now that you're don't live here any more."

Thank god for their shades and their poker faces. This would be so much more awkward if they didn't have these things to hide behind.

Dirk, you never do your darks with your whites. Come on.

He kind of nods a bit when Dirk takes his clothes, shoving his hands into his pockets. Dave hadn't really thought about it. He was still stuck up on the fact that he was actually having a conversation with Dirk and now he was wearing the others' clothes. "I dunno. Just find a new place to crash, probably. There's a crapton of places around I can commandeer. Other than that, nothing. I guess the locals cleared out all my crap while I was gone. I get the feeling that the garage is empty now. I had a makeshift darkroom set up there." It also means acquiring a new camera and film while he's at it. "Why do you ask?"

Of course, maybe they would get around to emotional admissions sooner, but who needs those, right?

He can do his own laundry, he knows that! It was the curse's fault.

"Not empty. I have some robotics and shit in there. Takes up too much space in the house otherwise, and some of the things I use are prone to exploding. Better to be safe."

He's admittedly a bit taken aback to learn that Dave had specifically used that space too, but it won't change how he uses it. He's never been into photography, and learning that Dave is isn't a reason to start. Maybe he'll just study it.

Dirk adjusts his shades with a free hand. "Simple curiosity. Unfortunately, all the bedrooms here are accounted for or in reserve, or I'd give you an offer. You might try hunting people down, though. There are plenty of residents who have been here longer than a year, someone's sure to recognize you from here." He simply assumes Dave already knows that Jade, Rose, and John are here. Surely the first thing he did was check for them, even if he didn't contact them immediately.

What? Striders actually give into their emotions? How silly.

"At least it's put to use. Sorry 'bout the smell." Although it may have aired out by the time Dirk and Roxy had taken residence. He finds it painfully ironic that Dirk seems to have taken residence in his previous place and even used the garage for his own doing. "Let's go three for three. Did you snag my room too, while we're at it?

Well, Dirk could probably watch Dave. Dave had no intention of not picking the hobby back up, that's for sure. "Don't worry. This place has a crapton of free space. I can easily just take residence anywhere, and it wouldn't probably matter. If they show up, I'll bug them." Dave kind of gotten used to being around a limited amount of people.

Unfortunately, he actually has no idea who's still here or not. He was more determined to get warmed up before finding out, so...

"Depends. Did you have the room on the left closest to the bathroom?" It would be weird if that was true, but this day has been so weird that he can probably handle it without too much of an internal freakout. Depending on the answer.

He shrugs. "True enough. There haven't been enough new foreigners that we're running out of space for them, after all. Can't say how the general numbers compare to when you were here, though."

"Yeah. Because fuck everyone, bathroom is mine when I want it." This entire day is weird, so really, there's not much else that can make this even more weird.

Dave shrugs. "I guess I expect more now than before, but I never really paid too close attention to how many people were around."

"Guess fate has conspired to give us the same room, then. That's the one I'm using." Also because it's convenient to steal the shower early that way, and take his infamous insanely long ones.

"In that case, I should probably let you find out who remembers you. Unless you'd like to stick around to warm up a bit more."

"Because I didn't need more reasons to think this place was weird." Although, maybe it's nice that Dirk occupies the room he used to be in. That was kind of nice, even if it was kind of weird and unsettling.

"Uh..." Oh god. He...isn't sure how to respond to that. Honestly, he didn't really care to find out who remembers him right on the get go. On the other hand, this was getting awkward. But he didn't actually want to leave right this instance, despite the awkwardness.

It's certainly going to make Dirk look at the room differently for the next few days. It was empty of furniture when he and Roxy claimed it, so now he's going to wonder what kind of things Dave had there, how it was set up. Maybe Dirk will visit Dave when he finds a place to stay, so he can find out how Dave keeps his room. It's one of those things he never managed to learn about his Bro, despite tracking down basically everything the paparazzi had on him.

"I'm not trying to kick you out, or anything."

Unfortunately, Dave is probably sharing a room with the other Beta kids, so he'll only get a partial understanding. But hey, Dave is also commandeering a room to remake his dark room, and who knows how long it'll be before he starts hanging wire everywhere so he can hang his photos.

"I know." He shuffles from foot to foot. "Its just-" Dave kind of just steps forward and he kind of just starts hugging Dirk. Yeah. That's a thing he just did. If Dirk isn't gonna kick him out now, he probably will after this. He just...he really wanted to do this.

"Uh-"

Oh.

Of all the things that could have happened right now, Dirk somehow didn't expect this one at all. He stands still for a long moment, processing it. He'd hugged Roxy before, when they both had just arrived. He's had plenty of hugs from her since then. He hasn't ever wondered much what his Bro's hugs were like. But then, Dave isn't exactly his Bro, anyway, and he's not Dave's Bro, either... Unsure and hesitant, he returns the awkward hug.

Dave's grip tightens just a bit, and he has to resist all urge to bury his face against him. Because this isn't Bro. This is Dirk and he knows Bro will never come back. The man was dead and has been for years. But this was still comforting in some way. And it was probably really fucking unfair to Dirk for doing this, but he just really wanted (he'll never admit to needing something like a hug) this. He should probably let go. Get his emotions back under check.

At the very least, he can pat himself on the back. No embarrassing tears were shed in the making of this hug. That's something to be proud of. Hell yes.

Dirk isn't sure how to react to this. He can certainly suspect what this is about, but it's not a comparable experience for him. He's technically never lost his Bro, because he never had him in the first place. The hug itself is probably enough to make it obvious to Dave that this isn't his Bro. Aside from the physical differences, it's pretty obvious that this hug just doesn't have the same kind of meaning to him that it does to Dave.

He still doesn't pull back from the hug, though. He isn't sure what else to do.

Dave knows Dirk isn't Bro. He can't replace Bro and it would honestly be a dick move for him to try and force that kind of thing on Dirk to begin with. But there's something nice about hugging Dirk. Even if he's pulling away now and he looks kind of embarrassed for hugging the other in the first place. That probably was really awkward for Dirk. Whoops.

"Sorry. I...maybe I should head out now." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah, I guess." Dirk says. It's probably not the answer Dave's looking for, really, in that it's not a positive yes or a no, but he's not really sure how else to react right now. He just nods instead.

"You can come back whenever," he finally continues, just as awkward. "Not just to pick up your things, I mean."

Maybe next time they see each other it'll be a lot less awkward. He isn't sure what answer he was looking for in the first place.

"Yeah. I mean, yeah. I'll see you around. I guess. Thanks again. You know. For lending me clothes."

"No problem. It's a good thing they fit." He shrugs, and starts them on their way to the door- not that Dave can't find his way to it on his own, when he used to live here. It just feels even more awkward to stand around by the washer and dryer while Dave makes his own way out.

Dave walks alongside him, obviously still a little awkward about what just happened. "Thanks. Shit. I already said thanks again, my bad. I'm just. Yeah. I'll see you around."

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There's a stranger in my bed

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... I have no idea whose room is actually whose, so. :>

me neither 8D whatever

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