DIRK: *Dirk's already outside of the door system thing, so he chooses to go for the other Lalonde first. Once he figures out the right dial, he knocks on Rose's door with a few pretty loud knocks, hoping that she is in fact in her room at the moment and not sleeping.*
ROSE: *She had actually just been lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling for hours since she last woke up, and looks up at the sound of knocking. Despite her curiosity, it doesn't take long for her to answer the door.*
DIRK: *I hope you ordered a tall glass of Strider.* Hey, you're not sleeping, good.
DIRK: Come on, we're doing a thing.
ROSE: *raises an eyebrow at him* How do I know you aren't leading me to my untimely demise?
DIRK: Because I always have perfect timing. *He gestures for her to come out, stepping back from the door.* Roxy is talking to Karkat so we can actually try out on playing one of the games.
DIRK: Because apparently we require permission from him first.
ROSE: *She's tempted to say something sarcastic in response, but knows where that landed her the last time and steps out of the room* Fine.
DIRK: *Hey good, someone who actually listens to him. He gives her an appreciative nod and then moves to get the door closed in order to change the dial thing, probably.*
DIRK: *Okay, Dave's room is up next. Dirk knocks maybe twice before just trying to open the door, since that counts as fair warning, right.*
ROSE: *kind of shuffles to stand behind Dirk*
DIRK: Dave, are you naked? If you are, please let us know before our corneas are burned.
DAVE: *he jumps up at the knock and shuts his laptop quickly.*
DAVE: im not naked
DAVE: your corneas are safe
DIRK: Okay good. *The doors opened, success. Dirk doesn't really try getting inside very much.* We're doing one of those family bonding things.
DIRK: Except this time, with games.
DAVE: okay lets roll
DIRK: *Nods and turns, Rose c'mon let's go you're in front of me now*
DAVE: *dave has been prepping himself for this all day. he rubs his hands together and joins dirk at the door.*
ROXY: *and once the door closes, that's about when Roxy emerges from her room*
ROXY: *almost bumps into dave*
ROXY: whoa we havin a conga line
DAVE: looks like
DAVE: you in the mood for a dance
ROSE: *Don't do this to me, Dirk, I don't know where to go*
DIRK: Pass. *Dirk flashsteps out of the way for that. Now he's in front and leading the way, it's okay Rose*
ROXY: was that rly necessary
DIRK: Yes.
DIRK: *Out to... the general waiting room thing I guess??*
ROXY: *we already in it*
ROXY: ok dirk so last time all u did was put in ur info and it gave u a door ???
DIRK: *Oh ok good.* Yeah, there are a few portal-departureways that are given. The one we went towards was the only one with a board and scanner kind of object, if I remember correctly.
ROXY: oh oh oh ok good *wobbly scurrying to the terminal, overlooking the keyboard* who wants to go first
[The terminal screen merely says: "All first stage games - Unlocked. Players 1-4, proceed."]
ROXY: o:
DIRK: *moves over to see the terminal screen for himself, then nods a little and whoop, to the escalator we go because that IS happening I think.* This leads to the whole start-up area.
ROXY: *in a row like ducks, childrens*
[The escalator behaves just the same as before, loading message and all. Here, have another fun stretch of time in which to do some family bonding.]
[You're welcome.]
ROXY: *purses her lips* welp
ROSE: ...
DIRK: *Just kinda silent. Wow, would you look at that beautiful emptiness up there. Huh.*
DAVE: *hums the jeopardy tune.*
ROXY: i was just about to do that *wags finger at dave like you got me bro*
DAVE: *finger guns at roxy*
[When you do finally haul your blonde keisters to the game area you will find it much the same as before, only this time every portal has a keypad and scanner. Pick your poison!]
ROXY: *grins at dave, before looking around at the portals once they reach them* humm
ROXY: which one was mushroom land??
DIRK: *Sweet release of slow escalator time, thank any gods out there. Dirk is quick to stroll over to look around, frowning lightly when he sees all the new keypad-scanner combos.* Uh. The one on the left, maybe.
DIRK: *Don't they have the name above them?*
[They aren't named, but they are numbered. Mushroom Kingdom was 5.]
DIRK: *Too bad Dirk didn't think to take note of the number at the time. Still, he's pretty sure it was the one on the left. He goes to it and taps at the keypad experimentally.*
[The screen for the portal you have chosen reads: "Kingdom of Mushroom: Enter again?"]
DIRK: *Oh shit lucky guess, good. Is there a Y-button on here for yes? Or does he type out "yes"? Either way, let's do that.*
[Well that didn't work. Now it just says "Urn Temple: Enter?" And hey look, a button that reads Enter. You know what to do.]
DIRK: ... *Irritation. He's frowning a little more now, but you know what, he doesn't really care at this point. Enter it is, and so he presses that button.*
ROXY: *just kind of lookin at him like u ok*
["Player number?" Press 4, yo. And then start scanning yourselves in. The portal is already slowly whirring into action before your eyes.]
DIRK: *Yeah, he presses four then does the scan-y thing and steps aside to let the others do the same, while simultaneously getting closer to the doorportal that's starting up.*
ROXY: *just following dirk's lead at this point, glancing at the other two before stepping to mimic him*
ROSE: *steps up behind her to follow suit*
DAVE: *watches the others curiously and then Player 4 scans himself in too.*
[Yes, you are all smart/fast/strong/durable enough for this game... Hopefully. Go on in that there portal. The blue light beckons.]
DIRK: *Ok cool. Dirk is the first to kinda. Hop on through with a wave of his hand for the others to follow.*
ROXY: *just awkwardly and quietly following along sob*
DAVE: *steps through after 'em.*
ROSE: *following again*
[In you go, and then down you fall through the dark and the strange lingering prickling sensation. When you emerge from the portal, you find this time that rather than being tossed into the sunshine you are instead simply heavily deposited into another almost pitch-black place. It is murky and dusty, and smells (for lack of a better description) old. At least you're not falling anymore! And good news: In the gloom you can just about make out the light of an exit ahead. Will you feel your way along the stone wall towards the way out?]
ROXY: *Well THAT was the last thing she expected. She gasped slightly at the sensation of falling and landing somewhere so vastly different from the place she had just been standing. She stumbles a bit and reaches out for (hopefully) Dirk's arm*
DIRK: *Oh yes, that lovely feeling again. Dirk's stomach drops a little less this time, he swears. The landing is a bit rougher for him than before thanks to the darkness, but he still manages to land foot-first.*
DIRK: *Yes hello that's a Dirk arm you're holding onto. He almost sways at the unexpected tug.*
ROXY: (what the fuckerooni is this shit is this normal)
DIRK: No, this is different.
DIRK: Or maybe it's normal for this game.
DAVE: *he lands hard and rocks back on his heels, squinting around in the gloom.*
DAVE: uh this place is gross
DAVE: lets go into the light
DIRK: *Cue Dirk reaching out to feel along for the side of the wall nearest to him.* Sounds good.
ROXY: *spooky voice* dont go into the liiiiiiiiiiight *fake crying* cept yeah lets
DIRK: *He can barely see. The one fatal downfall of wearing shades.*
ROSE: *barely manages to land on her feet and just blinks in confusion*
ROXY: *glances around* rose u with us????
ROSE: Yes.
ROXY: phew
DIRK: *Starts heading for that dim light that's probably there. Yeah, let's go towards the one thing Dirk can see I think.*
[Approaching the exit you begin to notice the way the walls and ceiling are intricately carved in designs you do not understand, and how humid it is out there. When you do finally step into the sunlight the heat descends over you like a fog. The view is spectacular; You appear to be at the entrance to a grand temple built of yellow sandstone high high up on pillars of stone above a tropical rainforest. Far out in front of you there is a pathway that seems to lead from this entrance for miles, zig-zagging to goodness knows where. You can see that occasionally the path is split asunder in jumpable chunks, and sometimes is obstructed by the branches of enormous trees that will need to be ducked under. You can also make out the occasional glint of some sort of treasure upon the path, more rings laid out neatly like a bread-crumb trail to follow. Then of all the things to hear you are gradually aware of the sound of animalistic hooting and shrieking coming from the direction you just left. It sounds like… monkeys? Some kind of ape. And boy do they sound angry. You've got about thirty seconds before they catch up with you and start getting all up in your grill, and something tells you you do not want to try and stick around to fight them. Maybe they'll be smelly monkeys and throw gross things at you if you stay? Whatever the case may be, running to live another non-smelly monkey day seems like the best option.]
ROXY: o__________________o
ROXY: nobody smuggled any bananas in here rite
DAVE: i think this happened in the hunger games
DIRK: Well fuck.
ROXY: *unhappy sound*
DIRK: Time to go the other way then.
ROXY: was there another option even?? *glancing wildly between the impending APES*
DAVE: *dave wastes no time and sprints in the opposite direction of the monkeys.*
DIRK: *scooping up some of those coins would be nice, but then there's those ape noises and NOPE. Dirk is fast in following his brother.*
ROSE: *run run runs as fast as she can*
[Good choice! Soon enough those crazy primates, at least fifteen of them, emerge from the temple behind you and they are simply going ~bananas~. Still screaming fit to burst they start after you, running on all fours at a pretty alarming speed. There's a break up ahead in the path you'll need to jump over - If you can clear it that might give you some time. Make sure you don't fall!]
DIRK: *RINGS. Rings. They're rings.*
ROXY: *the second they move, she turns to run with them, already wincing at her hardly-waning pains. Shit!*
ROXY: ohmygodohmygodohmygod
DIRK: *Well SHIT son, those are some apeshit monkeys. Dirk puts his speed to good use and crosses the gap pretty easily, assuming nothing reaches up to catch him mid-leap.*
DAVE: *adrenaline is lending dave wings. he jumps the gap a second after dirk and slows on the other side, peeking over his shoulder at the lalondes and the monkeys at their heels.*
ROSE: *jumps once she's at the gap and hopes for the best*
ROXY: *There's no time to be a wimp; she steels herself to let her sudden panic fuel her own gait, ignoring every instinct to stop as she attempts to leap across the gap. She's totally behind everyone though.*
[Success! You all just about make it. The simians screech to a halt before the gap, but they're not giving up by any stretch of the imagination. Initially looking as if they intend to form some kind of monkey-ladder before mercifully giving up on that plan, they hastily begin to climb down the pillar towards the ground. You probably have a minute or two to get a head-start while they make their way to the other side.]
DIRK: *skids a little in stopping some to look back, and then Dirk swears when he sees the monkeys doing that weird ladder thing.* Anyone think we can fight them, or should we keep going?
DAVE: not all of them
DAVE: better wait for some of them to trip and break their necks first
ROXY: *skids a bit, too, whipping around to look back* its fuckin temple run incarnate what do u think
DAVE: can you keep up though
ROXY: *she is panting, and looks vaguely distressed, but she waves a hand and nods* ill tell u if i cant
DIRK: *Looks over at Roxy with a frown.* It'd be better to fight them rather than let you get chomped by a fast one. *Nonetheless, he's starting to take a few steps towards the path that they were following.*
[Distant monkey screeching intensifies]
ROXY: somebody make a CALL
DAVE: lets go
ROSE: We need to keep moving.
DIRK: Okay, let's go.
DIRK: *With that, it's back to the running thing. Dirk's not running QUITE as fast though, to keep track of the whole group. He doesn't want anyone falling behind.*
ROXY: *wordlessly starts to jog again for now, until their established pace as a group takes root*
ROSE: *still running, she glances back to check on the monkeys*
[As you run, you notice the line of rings scattered along the ground. You'd have to stop to pick them up, and of course that's inadvisable when being pursued by a horde of angry apes. Decisions, decisions. Don't forget to dodge the occasional root or branch though - And oops yep, there's the monkeys again. They've reached the other side and they are in hot pursuit.]
ROXY: *ARE THE RINGS EVEN WORTH IT AHHH*
DIRK: *Avoiding tripping stuff is pretty easy, and goddamn, Dirk still wants to pick up those rings. He takes a fraction of a second in a flashstep to pick at least ONE up for good measure before he's running again.*
DIRK: *THEY MIGHT BE??*
DAVE: *running, not at full speed but not slowly either. he glances down at the shinies and ignores them. rings have only been bad for them in the past.*
ROXY: *Roxy is having some trouble navigating, expending most of her effort to jump clean over as much as she can. Better to hurt later than BE EATEN BY MONKEYS NOW*
DIRK: *Excuse you, rings are great when they don't transform you into huge monsterdogs.*
DAVE: *i want to pay for my bling in cashmoney not my LIFE*
DIRK: *Bo-ring.*
DIRK: *Dirk's trying to keep an eye on Roxy, in the meantime. He's belatedly remembering that she's not at her best right now, and if she stumbles, he's going to defend her from those apes.*
ROSE: *notices the rings but ignores them as well as she keeps running*
DIRK: *You guys just don't know how to have fun ok.*
[Up ahead there is a tree literally growing up through the path. Someone many years ago carved out a thin gap of a passage through the center, and it looks like it might /just/ be big enough for you all to squeeze through. The apes not so much - Too many bananas. There's still quite a stretch of path to run between there and where you are, however.]
DAVE: oh my god is that the reason theyve only been feeding us fruit
ROXY: *The running is starting to wear on her -- why did it have to be running? -- and she turns her head to look back at their pursuants* probably yeah just so they can aACK-- *there she goes. tripped on a root. what a ballerina.*
DAVE: *skids to a stop, casting a frantic look back at roxy, and then at the apes. he dashes back to her and grabs her arm to pull her up.*
DAVE: we do not have time to nap
DIRK: *Dirk nearly stumbles himself at the loud "ack" and then flashsteps to her other side, sword flashing out into his hand while he tries to help Dave with getting Roxy on her feet.* No, we definitely don't.
DIRK: Rest later, okay Rox?
ROXY: *well, that hurt. While she's down, though, she reaches her hand out to snatch a few rings off the ground, getting a fistful of probably dirt too before she's yanked back to her feet* nobodys sleepin GO
DAVE: *he lets her go and runs off again, motioning at rose to hurry as though she needs any motivation besides the killer apes at her heels.*
DIRK: *Nods at Roxy's words and starts up on the jogging once more, slowed down a little to make sure the slightly injured Lalonde is able to keep up. He looks back at the apes. How close have they gotten by now?*
ROSE: *She had faltered when Roxy fell, but she's running at full speed again at Dave's gesture*
[The monkeys are close enough now that you can smell their charming monkey aroma, but they are not quite in attacking range. The tree is closer now too.]
DIRK: *Fuck, okay. He's just trying to push for getting Roxy to that tree right now.*
ROXY: *thank you, young whippersnapper*
DAVE: *thanks to roxy's accident, he reaches the tree first and bends down to peer inside with trepidation.*
[There's light on the other side, you can tell that much. Get wiggling, Davey.]
ROSE: Either go through that tree or get out of the way.
ROXY: *damn mama*
ROSE: We don't exactly have much time here.
DAVE: *he casts an annoyed glance back at rose and then gets down on his stomach and starts to crawl/wiggle through the tunnel, fighting claustrophobia the whole way until he pops out on the other side.*
DIRK: *Arrives after Rose and Dave, making a noise of mild irritation like "why are we stopped here." He's gonna let Rose go first though, Roxy too.*
ROXY: *Roxy's getting good at army crawling this is gonna be easy peasy*
ROSE: *She would have rolled her eyes if she had time. Instead, she just wiggles her way in and crawls after him*
ROXY: *And she heads in after Rose*
DAVE: *he stands up on the other side and fixes his hair.*
DIRK: *He doesn't wait long once Roxy's in, what with the horde of approaching angry primates. Dirk gets down and crawls through, biting his lip hard and ignoring the limited movement. Fuck claustrophobia, that's dumb.*
[You make it though, the peculiar and singular sound of chimps slamming into wood resounding behind you. One monkey arm reaches through the gap and takes a sad little swing at you all, but other than that the danger is passed. You have ape escaped. On the other side of the tree the path continues on and on without visible end. What you /can/ see is more rings, all laid out on the path.]
ROSE: *Once she's out, she moves away from the tree to give the others room*
DAVE: *dave starts picking up rings.*
ROSE: *also starts collecting rings*
ROXY: *Once she's on the other side, she scrambles to stand, dusting off the rings she'd grabbed before to just put them on before gathering more; she'd grabbed three.*
DAVE: *whispering....* my precious
DIRK: *Ah, sweet unrestricted air. Dirk's pretty quick on getting up, checking to make sure his hair is okay too. Then he dusts off the dirt on his clothes and hey, rings. He walks a bit down the path of rings and starts picking up quite a few.*
ROSE: *looks up* What was that, Dave?
DAVE: hm
DAVE: what
DAVE: nothing
ROSE: *gives him a skeptical look before sighing and returning to the ring collecting*
[As soon as you have sixteen coins total between you the sunlight flares brighter and brighter until even the shaded amongst you are forced to screw your eyes closed. And then as soon as /that'/s done the ground beneath you crumbles away, leaving you once more falling into nothingness.]
ROXY: *there is a small screech*
DIRK: *He's just collecting rings and then DAMN, bright. Oh yeah and then falling again. Isn't that spectacular.*
DAVE: aw not this alice in wonderland bullshit again
DIRK: Roxy are you okay?? *He tries to call out without sounding alarmed.*
ROSE: *holds on to her rings in a clenched fist, mostly at a loss for words*
ROXY: i am fallin into an abyss NOT constructed or conjured by my own reliable science after bein chased by frothy apes
ROXY: im fanTASTIC
[The impersonal robot voice boops out an echoing "Game complete." accompanied by a muted equally robotic trumpet fanfare, and then you find yourselves somehow running again, quite fast, forward and out in single file back through the portal. Whoah there.]
ROXY: gneeeeek
DIRK: *RUNNING okay fuck, let's try to control motor movement. Dirk manages to do the stop-skid thing again and does not collide into anything.*
DAVE: *slams into dirk's back.*
DAVE: whoops
ROXY: *bonk*
ROSE: *unfortunately is unable to do the stop-skid thing and runs into Dave*
DIRK: ...I think I speak for everyone when I say, what the f--*dAMMIT. He stumbles oh god this is the worst traffic jam*
ROXY: *yep she bonks into rose and just. slides like a loony toon*
DIRK: *THEY'RE ALL FALLING ON HIM THERE'S NOTHING HE CAN DO.*
ROXY: *WELL roxy is rolling to the side to clutch at her leg so its ok you have one less person on you dirk*
ROSE: *just kind of flops off of them to the other side*
DIRK: *Dirk probably makes an awkward squawking noise at being so very crushed on the fall. Then he flashsteps out from under Dave to be sitting at the side.*
DIRK: *I hope Dave falls face-first on the floor.*
ROSE: *sits up and looks over at Roxy* How's your leg?
DAVE: *dave would fall face first on the floor, but luckily catches himself on his forearms. he sits up and dusts himself off.*
DIRK: *Damn. Dirk's kinda busy leaning back and trying to catch his breath anyways, so he probably would have missed the moment.*
ROXY: *frowning massively, she sits up enough to rub at her shin, still having neglected to roll up her leggings at any point to check for a bruise beforehand ladies and gentlemen theres an idiot in the house* im fine im fine
ROXY: why did it have to be damn dirty apes
DAVE: do you have something against monkeys in particular
DIRK: *Upon hearing Rose, he looks over at the Lalondes. He mutters under his breath* Dirty stinkin' apes.
DAVE: like would damn dirty rhinos be better
DIRK: No, that's true.
ROXY: ok fine why did it have to be a running game
DAVE: because the universe hates you and life is hell
ROXY: okay
ROXY: *kind of curled up she doesn't feel so hot no mo*
DIRK: Although to be fair, anything that was not in the primate family would not have been able to chase us for so long.
DIRK: *After a bit of shifting, Dirk hauls himself to his feet only to squat down at Roxy's side.* How you holdin' up, Lalonde?
ROXY: *sturgeon fish face*
ROXY: ill be ok just gimmie a hand *juts out her elbow its time for the chicken dance*
ROXY: *cept not rly*
DIRK: *Eyeroll. He's kind of tempted to just pick her up, honestly. For now he takes the offered bony elbow and assists her in getting up, trying to guide her as gently as can be managed.*
ROXY: *my elbows aint BONY you tit*
ROXY: *Yeah, Grandma Rox in the house. The ruse had been going so well.*
DIRK: *Uh huh. Dirk's still watching you carefully.*
ROXY: *smiles tightly* well ok we gonna get a move on or what
ROXY: how are u guys
ROXY: *looks between the betas*
DIRK: *Snorts and looks at the other two.* Anyone break bones or skin?
ROXY: *i did NOT scrape myself dont look at me IM A CAPABLE ADULT I /SWEAR./*
DAVE: i dont think so but wheres the drycleaners because i am covered in mysterious temple grime that will probably end up infecting me with a voodoo curse
ROSE: *She hasn't taken a good look at herself yet, but nothing hurts enough to be bothered* I think I'm alright.
DIRK: I'm sure that a suitable replacement for your clothes can be found, bro. *he gives them both a look-over, then sighs a little.* Well, that game was a bitch but at least we beat it.
DIRK: How many rings did everyone manage to acquire?
ROXY: *looks at her hand* three
ROSE: *looks at her own hand* Also three.
DAVE: *he stiffens a bit and side-eyes dirk, but he supposes it should be natural for them to call each other that. he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a handful of rings.* four
ROSE: *notices the subtle change in Dave's posture and makes a mental note to talk to him later*
DIRK: *His own amount of ring-loot is pulled out, then counted pretty quickly.* I got six.
DIRK: So, sixteen total.
ROXY: ok now what do we do with em
DAVE: trick ourselves out in style
DIRK: Yes.
DIRK: Until we figure out what they do, at least.
ROSE: *fails to hide an amused snicker*
DAVE: so i guess we passed
ROXY: guess so
DIRK: Yeah, as bizarre as that was. *He casts a frown in the direction of the portaldoor they had left.*
DAVE: what was it not like the other one you played
DIRK: Well the one I played was basically like Mario Brothers but on the first level.
DIRK: Calling it easy would be an understatement.
DIRK: It's nice to see that the games will get harder, though.
DAVE: *looks into the camera like he's on the office*
ROXY: *looks to see what hes lookin at*
ROSE: *sighs and shakes her head in disbelief*
DIRK: *Scoffs quietly in dry amusement, then turns towards the exit.* Okay, well it was fun playing family games with y'all, but it's getting late and I should head off.
DIRK: *It's probably getting late. How do you judge time around here.*
DAVE: its getting late
DAVE: what are you talking about
ROSE: How would you know that?
DAVE: that was such a bad excuse
DAVE: just go
ROXY: dirk needs his beauty sleep
DIRK: *Dismissive hand-wave.* Yeah, whatever.
ROXY: *looks at him like im very serious go the fuck to sleep*
DIRK: Excuse you, I'm always the most beautiful.
DIRK: I will win all the beauty pageants. I am the star. It's me.
ROXY: ok sure
DIRK: *Yes he sees the look and chooses to ignore it but HE'S GOING TO SLEEP OK.*
ROXY: *stands there... kind of not willing to take a step... HRM.*
DIRK: *Looks over at Roxy* You comin' with, Lalonde?
ROXY: *gulps here we go* yeeeeeeep
ROXY: iiiiiiimma comin
ROXY: anydaynow
ROXY: *shuffs*
DIRK: ...
DIRK: Okay no.
DIRK: Just.
DAVE: *checks an imaginary watch*
ROXY: *dont make me stumble in front of my KIDS*
DIRK: *Moves pretty quickly to sweep Roxy up off her feet to carry her bridal style, he ain't takin' this shit, Lalonde.*
ROXY: *eep*
ROXY: ow
DIRK: Well at least you don't have to walk now.
ROXY: *mutters something like flibber flapjack frickernutter mumbo jumbo just a bunch of frustrated nonsense*
ROSE: *waves goodbye* Sleep well.
DIRK: *gives the other two blondies a nod and a bit of a wave with the hand that's on Roxy's knees.* See you two later. Don't get into trouble, don't stay up late, drink your juice, etcetera.
ROXY: *waves kind of sheepishly at Rose*
DAVE: i always drink my juice
DAVE: night
DAVE: i think
DAVE: lets say its night
DIRK: Yeah. *And with that, he turns to go for the exit thing and take Roxy with him.*
ROXY: *face in hands*
DIRK: *Such majestic.*
FTT, CTT ceased responding to memo.
ROSE: *decides it's probably time she gets off the floor* Well, that was quite the experience.
DAVE: yeah i guess thats one day to motivate a guy into daily exercise
DAVE: chase him with screaming murder onkeys
DAVE: *monkeys
ROSE: ...*offers a hand to help him up* Are you okay?
DAVE: *takes her hand and gets to his feet.* yeah are you
ROSE: *nods* I was asking more about your wellbeing than your physical condition, though.
DAVE: my sudden wealth has been really emotionally draining for me
DAVE: thanks for asking
DAVE: *he's bouncing his rings from palm to palm.*
ROSE: That's certainly an improvement.
ROSE: ...I'm sorry for bringing up the mayor last time.
ROSE: You've been through a lot recently, and that was an inconsiderate thing to say.
ROSE: *Please say something. I don't like this rambling business that you so often do*
DAVE: *nods slowly* thanks
DAVE: the mayor was a good guy which is probably why they chose not to deposit him here in the second circle of hell with us
DAVE: its fine probably
DAVE: whatever
ROSE: At least he was safe the last time we saw him.
DAVE: yeah but now hes alone and his people are dead and we dont even know if that universe exists anymore or if it just folded up like a fancy napkin and ate itself and disappeared
ROSE: *frowns* Could we at least try to convince ourselves he is okay?
DAVE: *purses his lips* ok sure
DAVE: youre right he has probably rounded up a bunch of johns salamander friends and is building a massive can town the likes of which the universe has never seen
ROSE: *smiles faintly* That's the spirit.
DAVE: so what do you think
ROSE: I think we should go take showers before our stench resembles that of the monkeys.
DAVE: ok good idea
DAVE: but i mean before that
DAVE: what do you think of them
ROSE: Being around Roxy feels like having the supportive sister I've never had. I like her already.
ROSE: I can't draw conclusions about Dirk, yet. He seems alright so far.
ROSE: What do you think?
DAVE: theyre not terrible
DAVE: i mean its weird
DAVE: i dont have beef with them its just weird
ROSE: *nods* I can definitely see what you mean.
DAVE: *he starts to walk towards the door, and then turns back to rose on a second thoughts.*
DAVE: hows kanaya
DAVE: i havent seen her around a lot
DAVE: i mean ive mostly stayed in my room
DAVE: no i dont want to talk about that
DAVE: but i havent seen her
ROSE: *stiffens a little and tries to will herself to relax* I actually haven't talked to her for a while.
DAVE: oh
DAVE: really?
ROSE: Really.
DAVE: okay
DAVE: *squints at her*
ROSE: *can't tell if he's squinting behind the shades*
DAVE: *tilts his head at her*
ROSE: *avoids looking up at him, mumbling more than speaking* I broke up with her.
ROSE: She...She doesn't deserve to put up with me the way she did for so long.
DAVE: wow
ROSE: I would appreciate it if you didn't bring that up often.
DAVE: ok
ROSE: Thanks.
DAVE: well thats enough conversation for the next few days
DAVE: lets go shower
ROSE: Agreed.












