orange crush adventure

[shippingmath]

Who: Dirk and anyone!
Where: around the bubble, between the Plaza and the Heartvoid house!
When: Backdated to Thursday of the curse week!
Status: open
Style: Starting prose, but I'll follow you.

The effects of this curse, thanks to some rather unfortunate network posts, have been obvious from very early on. It's irritating to say the least. Dirk isn't a pathological liar, but he's usually in possession of a brain-to-mouth filter. The lack of it hasn't led to any spectacularly horrible conversations, which is his only consolation. Then again, there aren't any embarrassing secrets he could blurt out to ruin everything with his friends. That ship has sailed, after breaking up with Jake.

That isn't to say the curse hasn't had unfortunate effects. Dirk has checked the network a few times too many, and ended up in some unfortunate conversations, so it isn't long before he just sets his SFC aside and does his best to ignore that the curse is happening. A lot of the time he spends doing what he does best, making robots.

Being a hermit for the entire week just isn't possible, though, because some things can't be avoided, and grocery shopping is one of them. So, on Thursday, Dirk can be found headed back toward his house, arms full of orange soda. (One of the inconveniences to his modus's storage system- he can only have one row of each kind of thing. The rest of the groceries fit, but not the soda.) To everyone else, it probably looks like he's just really bad at eating healthy, though they're probably not wrong.

Comments

[fourleafed]

Do you know who else likes unhealthy foods? Small children do.

So at some point along his way from the store, Dirk will pick up a tiny shadow. She's not sneaky at all, though, so it is very obvious that she is following him. But she won't speak to him, not until he addresses her presence in some way. She will just keep following him until then.

[shippingmath]

She is not sneaky, particularly to someone who considers himself a ninja and has at least some of the skills necessary for it. But he doesn't turn around immediately when he notices, either. Instead, he keeps going for a little while, just to check that she's one, actually following, and two, how long she'll keep at it.

When it's obvious that she's not going to stop, he isn't sure what to do, at first. He's never really dealt with a kid this young before. Maybe they're around Vatheon, but he's never quite paid attention to that, and he certainly never got the chance before coming to the city.

So what does he do next? He slows his steps for a moment, as if he's deciding which way he turns. Then he flashsteps- so quickly it almost seems like he teleported- until he's standing behind Yotsuba. "Boo."

[fourleafed]

When Dirk slows, Yotsuba does as well, not wanting to bump into him. But then he's gone so fast that it looks like magic, and Yotsuba can't believe her eyes. She blinks a couple times, then runs forward a few steps, up to where Dirk had just been. She looks left, then right, then left again, and she's absolutely dumbfounded.

Then there's a voice behind her and Yotsuba lets out a yelp of surprise as she jumps forward. She stumbles and nearly falls over, but she regains her balance, and she turns to look at who's behind her.

For a moment, she looks startled. But it only lasts a moment, because the startled look quickly changes to a teary-eyed one, right on the verge of actual crying.

It's probably not a good idea to scare a small child like that, Dirk.

[shippingmath]

It's definitely not a good idea, but he's realizing this belatedly, now that he can see the look on her face. Now he just kind of feels like an ass. Sure, he wanted to startle her, but... he didn't actually mean to make her cry.

"Shit, don't cry," he blurts out on automatic. "Jesus tits, it was supposed to be a prank. Look, if I share this with you, will you not cry?" He holds out one of the small bottles of soda. Apparently, Dirk Strider has met his match, and it comes in the form of a small child's puppy dog face.

[fourleafed]

Fortunately being startled is something that quickly passes, especially with the promise of soda. So she sniffs a bit and nods as she moves to take the bottle of soda from Dirk. She won't be able to open it but that is secondary here.

She has also not realized just how powerful her tears can be, which is probably a good thing for Dirk.

[shippingmath]

Crisis averted. He almost sighs in relief. This is probably why it's a good idea that he told Roxy he wasn't interested in having kids. He'd end up traumatizing them, or something.

When it comes to it, he'll probably offer to open the bottle for her. For now, he just crouches over his heels and watches her from behind his shades. "So why were you following me, kid?" he asks finally.

[fourleafed]

At that, Yotsuba gives Dirk the five-year-old equivalent of a shrug, which is a shrug but her shoulders stay up for a few seconds longer than they should.

She really doesn't have much of a reason, besides the temptation of soda. But hey, she can say that, right? "I'm hungry."

[helmetdoesnothing]

Whether or not Mituna had been affected by the curse at all was up for debate. He was (mostly) unfalteringly honest anyway, even if his honesty was often perverted and sometimes difficult to understand even if you knew him well.

Not that much of a hermit, he'd been enjoying being back in the bubble. The number of old friends he had here had dwindled, but the number of new ones was growing and he was finding himself happy with that. Easily pleased, this yellowblood.

He was running, heading... somewhere, who knew, it could be nowhere, when he skidded around a corner and barrelled straight into a certain pointy-shaded Strider, sending himself straight to the floor. His future location went straight out of his head and instead he swore loudly, letting out an agitated little hiss.

[shippingmath]

The impact wasn't enough to knock Dirk down, but it was enough to send him staggering back a few steps under the force of it, and almost made him drop his armful of soda (and what a disaster that would have been.)

As soon as he's regained his balance, he looks down at the person- troll- in front of him. It's easy to see the similarity to Sollux, and also that it isn't, so. Dancestor. That isn't about to spare Mituna a reaction, though, especially not with the truth curse.

"Jesus, dude, do you always throw yourself bodily around corners? It's like you're trying to get yourself hurt."

[helmetdoesnothing]

A foamy disaster of Biblical proportions, and one which may well have sent Mituna into a bit of a panic, so it was good for both of them that it didn't happen. He let out another sound that was more a grumble of irritation than a hiss, then he paused and blatantly stared as he finally looked up at Dirk.

"... I've theen a bigger human who lookth like you."

Priorities. He has them.

[shippingmath]

There's still likely to be one once the bottles are opened up, but for now, everyone is safe from becoming covered in soda.

When Mituna looked up at him, Dirk raised one eyebrow. "That's because he might as well be me. In case you forgot, there's a bigger troll running around here who looks like you, too."

[helmetdoesnothing]

"Thure, but he'th not me." The yellowblood troll frowned, and drew his tall, lanky frame back to its feet. At the human equivalent of nineteen and a half years of age he was verging on 5'11", though the way he hunched over and held his shoulders oddly made it seem less.

"He jutht lookth like me." Granted, Mituna hadn't really had enough contact with the Psiioniic to say one way or the other that they were alike in anything more than appearance. Were he more consistently self-aware, he might have wanted to rectify that, but as it was he hadn't really thought about it.

[shippingmath]

"And it's the same deal with me and him." Dirk wasn't nearly as tall as Mituna, but he carried himself more confidently, and that made all the difference sometimes.

Of course, his statement probably wasn't entirely accurate. There were plenty of things about him and Bro that are eerily similar, to the point of making them seem like the same person. But if there's anything Dirk dislikes, it's being compared to different versions of himself, so he was more likely to focus on the differences than anyone else.

"What's your name?" Dirk asked. He knew of Sollux and the Psiioniic, after all, but he'd never heard about a third Captor.

[stridercentric]

[Speaking of unhealthy foods, guess who's finishing a box of nachos virtually drowning in cheese? That's right, it's Dirk's alternate self. And where's he at? His favorite place to chill; the edge of a rooftop. Bro just can't help himself. There's something to be said for looking down on a city and watching the people bustle about without actually having to interact with them. The roofs around Vatheon aren't as high as his apartment building back home, but it'll do. The few citizens who do notice him up there just give him an odd look and keep walking.

There's a good chance Dirk falls into the category of people who do notice him, but just in case his presence isn't noted by conventional means, Bro will flick a nacho his way.]

[shippingmath]

[People-watching, in Dirk's opinion, is a good way to get used to people without having to actually interact with them. He did it a lot, in the first few weeks after coming to Vatheon. Not being used to having something more "up" than his apartment, until the game, he pays attention to what's going on up there, as any good wannabe ninja should. Of course, the nacho kind of seals the deal.

He dodges easily enough. Nachos aren't the best of throwing weapons. Then he glances up and nods toward Bro, because a wave is difficult to accomplish when carrying soda.] 'Sup?

[stridercentric]

[It's a good thing the nacho was just an idle gesture of boredom. Granted, it would've been awesome to see that thing bounce off Dirk's head, but the chances of that happening were pretty damn slim. Que sera.

While Dirk finds himself unable to wave, Bro does raise a hand in greeting.]

Sup. You sure you got enough soda there?

[shippingmath]

[At least it was less likely to get stuck in his hair. That would have required retaliation.]

I dunno, I didn't buy out the store. What, you want some?

[Come to think of it, he doesn't actually know if his older self likes this soda as much as he does. Time to find out for science.]

[stridercentric]

[Now that he thinks about it, that soda would go great with his nachos. He'd get his own out from his sylladex, but why bother when it's basically being waved under his nose? Far, far under his nose.]

Who am I to decline that gracious offer? [He gestures for Dirk to join him up on the roof.]

[shippingmath]

[Even with his arms somewhat occupied, it doesn't take Dirk too long to join Bro up on the roof, and as soon as he's there, he hands over a bottle of Fanta.]

So, you eating those, or are you just bombarding unsuspecting passers-by?

[ohshellno]

Meenah feels disgustingly domestic in Vatheon, mostly because boredom has reduced her to either stealing or taking home increasing amounts of ingredients to bake with. She's whistling some strange troll tune as she heads back toward home, catching sight of Dirk a little ways ahead. Huh. She guesses even he needs to eat sometime.

She jogs forward a little, calling out to him as she does. "Yo, Shades!" She juggles the food in her arms so she can nudge at him. "That is a shell of a lot of orange fizz, yo." She gives him an incredulous look, as if questioning his life choices.

[shippingmath]

"Yo, Fishgirl," Dirk says back, leaning away from the nudge and not retaliating for the moment. "It lasts a while." Also he goes through it quickly, but with that look, it will probably start a ridiculous argument. Besides, there are better things to discuss.

"You headed anywhere important?" he asks instead.

[ohshellno]

"Whatever floats your boat." She shrugs. She sure as hell isn't judging his diet, considering she lives off tab and pastries. Also the occasional fish, but that's to be expected. Mostly she's enjoying the fact that he has an armful of orange and he types in orange, guess trolls aren't the only ones with colour things.

"Nah." She shrugs. "I was gonna scoot home, but I ain't doin' nofin." But she is wondering what his design is in asking her that. "Why?" She asks, quirking a pierced brow at him.

[shippingmath]

He's just rocking the color consistency. Except for the time he wears pink shirts because they're what Roxy's put in his closet, but today is not one of those days. He shrugs around his armful of soda. "I've got your robot done," he tells her. "If you're up for it we can stop by and I'll show you how badass it is."

[ohshellno]

Meenah can't imagine having any problem seeing Dirk in pink, even if it's not her shade. She's pretty sure he could rock most colours, even if he's a super nerd.

She very nearly drops what she has in her arms, depositing it into her sylladex finally so she can clap her hands excitedly. "I am so up for that shit, Shades. You don't even know, yo." She picks up the pace a little, even though she has no idea where she's going. "I wanna see, I wanna see."

[shippingmath]

(He protests classification as a super nerd. He is the coolest of the coolkids, and she should be honored to stand in his presence.)

"Whoa, calm your rumble spheres. You're gonna see, now let me show you the damn way." In a few quick strides, he's moving in front of her, to lead the way back toward the Coral Corral and the house where the robot is waiting. "Unless you've been stalking me and you already know where to go."