dave strider (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
oculusriffs) wrote2018-04-28 11:13 am
oculusriffs) wrote2018-04-28 11:13 am
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TG: this is going to be fucking stupid isnt it
[want to get in touch with Dave? you can leave a TEXT, VOICE, or VIDEO message — or alternatively, he shouldn't be too hard to track down in person. it's a hunk of junk space house. in space. he's around here somewhere.]
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Yeah. I dunno if pissing off Shadows is part of the strategy in dealing with 'em, but if it is, then you figured what to do in one go.
[.......]
I tried them on, by the way. [it was bad. in an entertaining way for Dave, maybe, but bad for basically everybody else.]
But nah, not really. My bro was always wearing shades, and so I always wore 'em, too. And, all of us had different aspects that were like our thing. Mine's time. John's is breath, which meant he could wave his arms and hero up the wind or whatever. Last time I saw him he was zapping around everywhere and dissolving into the air like a total blustery goofball.
[he figures Ryuji would probably ask, so he goes ahead and just continues. sorry ... about Homestuck.]
Rose's was light. For her, anyway, it meant she could look at the situation and figure out the best path forward using some kind of mental magic crystal ball, or, uh. I never really got what the hell she was on about, just that she knew where we were, and where we needed to go.
My other best friend's thing was space. Which is fucking overpowered to begin with, but due to shenanigans she got merged with her invincible pet god dog. I'm sure there was a whole fuckload of other insane dog powers she had, but she mostly just teleported both people and other shit around.
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Did you see the world through young Dave's eyes? [No, he has a guess what happens when you put them on, but that's a level of bullshit that he's far, far removed from.] Anything you steal from there is like... a copy of the original. But sometimes you can like... put a copy in a Cerox machine and it'll still kinda get messed up.
[Oh... John's a wind type?
That's one surefire way to kick Ryuji's ass. One good swirl of it and he's down on his ass. But good catch, since he was going to follow up with the other questions about the rest of his team, and preempted by Dave's explanation, he sits there, eating this cronch ball of knowledge like it's an hors d'oeuvre. Sounds cool though, being able to see here and the future- and then, what the fuck?]
Merged... with her invincible pet god dog.
[Homestuck is so fucking weird.]
Like. God. Not guard? Guard dog. No, god dog. [He heard Dave right the first time, he's just... slowly putting it together what someone would look like if they got infused with ole yeller.] Floppy ears 'n all?
Kinda sounds like your brand of bullshit though. [He doesn't mean it nearly as offensively as it comes off-] How'd you guys even get those powers, anyway? Was there like... a Rocky training montage scene and suddenly you could bend time and space, reek havoc with your breath and uh, become a fortune teller? We had to pull off our masks and it was kinda bloody as shit, but then we could start summonin' our personas.
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[Dave, for his part, isn't actually as offended as that might sound. having a brand of straight up bizarre bullshit to begin with is probably a Sburb prerequisite — at least, he hasn't met anybody who's been able to prove otherwise. so he just continues on.]
God dog. Pointy ears, though, and powered by this giant fuckoff green sun me'n'Rose tried to blow up, but wound up creating on accident instead, because of course we did.
[they argued the entire way there, with no parents to yell at them to sit as far away from each other as possible in the back seat of the car. that's the Strilonde brand of bullshit!]
[Dave will keep on answering, as long as Ryuji keeps on asking. he can't dish out the motivation like Ryuji can, or at least he doesn't think he's capable of it, or nearly as good at it. if this is helping at all, he'll do it as long as needed.]
You can mess around with your aspect once you enter the game, and there's definitely leveling to do and fraymotifs to buy. There's a quest, too, if you feel like actually playing the stupid thing correctly.
But I guess if there was a catalyst, like a major event like ripping off your own bloody mask — that sounds painful as shit, by the way — it'd be reaching god tier.
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Because really, it's not a bad thing that Ren isn't in a place that can literally turn him into a ghost or force him to be cracked out on days without sleep, or put wires in his cheek. Maybe he's home now, and he doesn't have to live with the reminder of this place every goddamn day.]
Green sun... [Also, the more he talks about his life before coming here, the less Ryuji thinks he actually understood a whole lot of it to begin with. Just when he thought he was getting used to Dave's god tier powers, too. It's not horrible as much as it just leaves him wanting to try to fill in those pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that he thought he already had figured out until he realized that the edges were a whole lot bigger than he originally framed it to be.] Wait, you created a sun? Can we go back to that? You created a sun.
You're too OP, dude. You gotta be nerfed.
[He smiles shortly, turning over to look at him again. He doesn't want to say the corny, lame ass thing that he's thinking right now- about how Dave is great at brightening up his day, so it's not that far fetched. But then he catches himself; NO, THIS IS REALLY FUCKING FAR FETCHED. Flirt averted.
And try as he can to hold two conversations at the same time, he's kind of horrible at it, but gives a shot to try and explain how he came to acquire Captain Kidd to begin with.]
It was, kinda. I told you about that teacher, right? The one who broke my leg. Not only was he a major fucking scumbag in the real world, he was just as bad in the Metaverse. He was our first target, and I remember that goddamn... smug ass face of his when he had his foot on Mona's body, and Ren was down. He told me that I was trash and that... anyone that's with me, I'm gonna bring them down too. Said he was going to break my other leg and play it off like self defense again. Ren told me to stand up for myself, and then I heard this voice in my head, tellin' me to accept the rebellion in my heart. I forged a contract and then... I pulled the mask off. It was the most powerful I had ever felt in my life. Kinda like... I dunno, at that moment, I had purpose or somethin'. Somethin' to protect.
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[and it is a hell of an origin story. maybe he wasn't there to see it for himself, but there's absolutely something admirable in finding the guts to stand up to a piece of shit who'd already won once before, and was probably on track to win again. it's probably silly to mention how much Dave can relate to that, because they relate to each other on pretty much everything, honestly, but there it is. he and Ryuji just wear all those similar traits and experiences differently.]
[he ... isn't really sure how to express that, exactly, so he goes for asking his own questions, instead. because, he's realizing there's a lot he doesn't know about the sort of shit Ryuji faced back home, too, even if he never expected to have to face it here. maybe it doesn't hurt to sort it all out with each other, just in case something else like that happens again.]
[which, god. nobody aboard this space station deserves Homestuck mechanics.]
And you ... fought him. Uh. Stole his heart. Dunno if those two concepts are really interchangeable or not. You said it was in a palace, right?
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Kamoshida had taken something from him that he couldn't ever really get back, but expressing the hope that having nothing really gives you, is something that Ryuji can't really put to words. Even if his name was forsaken, the only thing he was good at laid to waste... giving into the idea of having nothing to lose makes everything within your grasp to take. Like a corrupt heart.
And, boy, talking about this sort of stuff is a tangential way of expressing how impacting not having his best friend around really is. So, it's cool, in a way. His fingers find the sheets below him and the edge of a pillow to fiddle with as he continues on. For someone that went by from his team's reassurances and his own hunches, it wasn't exactly easy trying to explain a palace, or how fucked up they really are. But then again, it's also... probably not easy to describe why in god's creation that you had to destroy an entire star, and by doing that, give birth to it at the same time. Actually, the latter is probably much worse to try and piecemeal the cause and effect of events. He should suck it up.]
People that are... that seriously screwed up to have a palace... there's like. One giant support beam that holds the entire place together. It's a treasure. Like, Xelda style, master key, open that thing up and claim your prize typa thing. But it doesn't exist until the person out in the real world feels that their secrets are gonna be exposed.
[Which is, a total existential kind of crisis that Ryuji has... no fucking clue how to explain properly.]
When you make them afraid that it's gonna happen, the treasure appears. If you can steal it, you make the person confess to all the horrible shit they did. So, yeah, we fought Kamoshida because he wanted to protect it, knowin' that if you took the support pillar down, everything would come crumblin' to pieces. Oh, man... it was straight up effin' weird. Dude turned into this four armed naked baby man with horns and the longest, grossest tongue that you ever seen, sittin' in front of a trophy with womens' legs stickin' outta it.
[He feels like he's talking an awful lot, and simmers down, not even realizing he had pulled Dave's pillow into his lap in the process since he was distracted. He sighs, pushes it back off, and tilts his head.]
What a pathetic bastard.
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[and maybe that's a fucked up concept, that there's a very specific end point you're supposed to be reaching all along, that there's only one "correct" path. but Sburb players, kids like Dave in particular, are constantly straddling the line between having free agency and having the choices you made ultimately be the ones you were always supposed to be making, which sort of comes with the notion that your choices don't matter. like a ship somehow reaching its final port without an actual course charted, then turning around and realizing that not only had it already been charted for you, but you somehow followed it to the letter. there wasn't really anything or anyone to blame for it, either. it just was.]
[that's not really a comforting thought. and he's learning with each passing minute just how supremely fucked up of a war Ryuji was fighting before coming here, and Dave's thinking he wants to come up with the words to undo the damage having to endure something like that must have done. he'll sure as hell try, but ultimately, he can't. because there's no undoing it. it just is.]
[he hesitates just briefly, unsure if he's doing the right thing or if he's fucking up somehow, before he has to shut down that line of thinking right quick. they've had a month and a half of doing this, of figuring out where exactly they were in being affectionate with each other, of finding that place and slowly inching further along down that line. Dave's leaned on him how many times now? and he's reached that place where he is more than willing to push past any silly anxieties he has and initiate.]
[so he scoots closer, turned very slightly, lifting his arm in a sort of inviting gesture, offering Ryuji a spot to lean on him if he wants it. and if he doesn't get the hint, Dave may eventually just be bold enough to pull him into his arms, like he'd briefly thought about doing what feels like a million years ago, when music was blaring and Ryuji was hallucinating.]
If I'm bein' honest, here. It sounds like you were dealing with some seriously heavy bullshit that you didn't deserve at all. I know me saying that isn't gonna undo any of it, or like ... anything that's happened here.
But, for what it's worth ... I mean, as defining as some of that can be for a person, it still seems pretty obvious to me that you're still fighting. Which I think is pretty damn admirable — and it's something that I like about you.
So. You know. [Dave will keep fighting if Ryuji does.]
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Ryuji raises an eyebrow at the gesture at first before it clicks, and he finds himself leaning up against Dave. Takes him a moment to get settled in, and maybe it's awkward at first? Ryuji's pretty awkward to begin with, but it's leagues better than just moving a pillow around from point A to point B mindlessly. He looks up from his vantage point and sees the outline of a chin, a nose, hair- it's new, but it feels good, something he might've wanted for a while without actually knowing he did to begin with.
And it's not like his weird mood is suddenly made a million times better or assuaged in a way that dulls it to the point of nonexistence, but it's comforting enough to think that it's cool if he is going through it, like there's something there for him to get wrapped up in for a bit and deal. He figures he'll be okay, and yeah, still fighting.]
Yeah, you know what I really didn't deserve? Like, at all? There's a shadow out there that's a literal giant dick, strummin' along on a chariot with reins attached to other little dicks that pull it along. I could take giant man babies, but that's. That's the line, right effin' there.
[He allows himself to put a little more weight up against Dave. He can handle it, right?]
But, uh... yeah. I get it... It's something I like about you, too. Dude, honestly... I really never thought that there'd be someone out there that could accept all this shit and still wanna... I dunno. Still be cool about it. [Not exactly, cool- he tries again.] That'd still wanna be with me. I guess we've both been through an actual shit-ton of crap, so maybe that's like, a cosmic tick in our favor. I know it's only been a few months since we met 'n all, but really... I dunno what I'd do without you.
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[hell, he'll even lean into it, too, resting his head on top of Ryuji's, his cheek smushed and everything. and he just. sort of blanks out trying to picture a dick chariot being pulled by a horde of other little dicks.]
[......]
Yeah, I. Shit, I don't have the slightest idea what say about a dick chariot. That's more material than I know what to do with.
[phrasing, Dave.]
But ... I know what you mean. I gotta admit, I never really expected to be talkin' about this, but since you kinda already saw it, uh. I figured anybody would have taken one look at all the pretty fucking out there baggage I'm lugging around and bailed. I'd been telling myself for a while that it'd be better that way. I didn't want to ... I dunno, make someone else carry that shit, too.
And I mean, I still really, really don't. But the fact that you didn't bail kinda makes me feel like maybe it's okay to not be okay. Y'know ... together, I guess? I dunno what I'd do without you, either — and all that kinda gives me this completely cornbally hope that there's a "real" okay out there that can be reached.
God, that's so lame.
[.....] And I'm okay with that, too, weirdly enough.
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And once that instinct is gone, Ryuji finds himself struggling not to interrupt with his thoughts on the matter, to make some attempt at reassurance over the whole thing. If he were in Dave's shoes, he knows he'd feel the same way. Making other people heavier on account of himself is something he's tried to avoid for a really, really long time. He doesn't know how many times he's said things like... not wanting to cause his mom any more problems, or downplayed the things that were getting to him with comedy so he could try to go through stuff on his own. And maybe it's really not all that healthy?]
It ain't that lame. I dunno about baggage or any of that shit, really. I just know me, and I know I'd feel the same way. And I'd be pretty pissed if someone came around and still tried to carry it stubbornly, 'cause I wouldn't wanna put that stress on anyone else when it was something I was causing to begin with. Pissed at them and pissed at myself. There's just stuff that happens and you can't control it, stuff that happened to you or maybe shit you've actually done that you ain't that proud of. But that's just how it is... that's just how life goes, and just having someone else carry it doesn't actually make it lighter, it's still the same weight. But I think... being there for someone does.
So... yeah, I wouldn't want you to be my bellhop. And... it is cool if things aren't okay, but I wasn't about to ghost you just for having to face that shit. [He buries his face into Dave's chest- it's a lot of emotions to get out there in the open, and he doesn't know if what he's saying hits the mark, just misses, or goes overboard, at all.]
There's no way in hell I'd give up on you.
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[but they're setting out into uncharted territory again here, trying out the closeness thing at a different angle, and every single time that happens it makes his heart rate jump about a thousand fold — Dave just hopes Ryuji can't tell from his current vantage point, because whatever nervousness he has aside, it's not like any of this is unwanted.]
[bottling it all up absolutely isn't healthy, on either of their ends. and Dave's about as equipped to speak candidly about himself as he is equipped to be physically comforting, which is to say ... he isn't, but he's trying really, really fucking hard, if not for his own sake, then for Ryuji's. patting his back seems a little too ... casual? is that the right word. why is he worrying about which gesture would equal most affection and comfort when there are a million other important things he could be focusing on?]
[but he hears things like "there's no way in hell I'd give up on you," and it's just like he's reloading Dave's desire to keep trying, to keep moving forward, to keep trying to show that he's not about to give up on Ryuji either, and maybe that's just part of the figuring shit out process, too? he tries something like an arm and shoulder rub instead, just running his fingers up and down Ryuji's arm lightly.]
I know. I don't think ... I'd want to be your bellhop either, dude. That kinda implies to me that you'd owe me for it, or that I want something in exchange, or — something. When all I really want is to just be right here. You know. Not givin' up on you, either. Regardless of whatever might get thrown your way, or whatever you might have to deal with.
[he has to bite back the instinct to dismiss his own feelings as lame again, because he's been built up to act that way for so long, and he's just had someone tell him that no, they're not lame, and that's sort of peeled back another layer, bore through with the point that they're his feelings and he's allowed to express them without that caveat, even if he's said he's okay with being lame.]
[that's just the sort of thing that Ryuji is doing to him.]
Maybe kickin' the bellhop to the side and pushing the cart ourselves would be a better metaphor.
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It kickstarts entire neural networks into overload, little forest fires all along the synapses, and even though that's happening, it's a controlled slash and burn straight to his heart. He's so calmed by it.]
Mn? Yeah.
[There should be more to be said after that really touching exchange, but Ryuji's so content to just be at the moment, that he's not buzzing around with a million words in his head all to come tumbling out within a moment's notice. It catches up to him, though, and it's a rare moment for Ryuji to feel like it's okay to be protected, or looked after. Even better when he hears Dave say that he wants to be there with him, side by side. Which isn't lame at all, actually. It's a really good feeling.]
You're gonna make that poor dude lose his job.
[The bellhop metaphor, right? He reaches across his own chest to find Dave's hand somewhere in mid touch of his own forearm, brushing his fingers against knuckles.]
I mean, if we're pushin' that cart to a vacation hotel room, count me in. Hell, I'll even tell the front desk that one bed's fine 'n all. I don't even care.
[Oh, wait. Ryuji's face burns again. He caught himself thinking about something he might've wanted here and now and intermixed it into their bantering metaphors that dance around each other in ways that keep the both of them safe from layers being peeled back. But pulling away from the comfort zone like flicking icicles off a rooftop, he kind of just... goes for it.]
Hey... Can I stay here tonight? It's... uh. I mean. Y'know. With you, maybe? [It'd be misdirecting if he said it was because he didn't want to sleep in an empty room, since that was a part of it, but honestly, it's less of a lack of dependence on Ryuji's side now and more of a... not wanting to leave Dave after they both just spilled pieces of their hearts out to each other. So he'll be honest about that, too.] You don't gotta say yes just 'cause I'm askin'. I just... uh, I know it might be too soon 'n all, but I really wanna stay with you a bit longer.
[It's his heart rate that's rising now, and shit, it's really, really forward of him. He holds his breath inwardly.]
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[he doesn't say anything at first. and he'd stopped the movement of his hand when Ryuji reached over, but after a minute he starts again, not absently, but not so hyperfocused on it either.]
[he's weighing how comfortable he is with the idea, of just ... designating a comfort zone and then sprinting out way past it anyway, prepared or not. what he does know is that the last thing he wants is to ignore that request, to leave Ryuji alone by himself with thoughts he might not have gotten around to sharing yet — he also knows that he found that his comfort zone expanded to include the last few moments pretty fucking quickly.]
[so ...]
Yeah, it's fine. Do, uh ... do you need anything from your room? I can go get it. [you know, so Ryuji doesn't have to go back in there if he doesn't want to right now. maybe more pillows and shitty space blankets, or hell, Dave can even captchalogue an entire fucking mattress if they wanted.]
[and there's something calming about that, too — about making the offer out loud. like even though neither of them really seem to know what they're doing, there's at least an idea of where to start walking next.]
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He doesn't really know, of course he doesn't- he's only ever really seen one relationship in actual practice in his entire life and that mold was so moldy and gross and abhorrently violent that he's constantly left trying to figure out what that's supposed to look like in its healthy shape to begin with. But then again, he knows Dave doesn't either, so when he asks to sleep over long before the steaming up the shit out of the car's back window, yeah, he's sprinting forward far beyond the confines of the track lane that he has set in front of him.
And it would've been completely okay if Dave said that it wasn't alright, that they needed to step back a little bit and slow it down. He doesn't always know how intense he can be, which is something he knows about himself well enough that it's gotten him into trouble plenty of times. But Dave doesn't say no out of all of this, and Ryuji is wordless at the reply. Almost like he didn't expect a green light to begin with.]
Oh, okay, shit.
[Eloquently put, he sits up and out of the grasp he gotten so comfortable in. Wait, asking Dave to go into his room and collecting his stuff for the night? Ryuji wants to be stubborn here and tell him that it's okay! Really, it's okay. He'll have to go back in there eventually anyway, and he can't have an anxiety attack every single time he looks at the place on the wall where the Rise Kujikawa poster used to be. Because that's what it was, right? Anxiety that Ren was gone.
And yet...]
You sure you don't mind? [About, well, everything.] I guess... like, my pillow and blanket would be cool or whatever else you see laying around. And if Lisa's in there, could you make sure she has water? I know I filled up her food bowl earlier and. Stuff. Shit, are you sure you don't want me to do it?
[He unlatches his smartwatch from his wrist, looking down at it before he holds a few more inches away from his own body, toward Dave.] And, like. I don't really ever need much anyway.
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[but that doesn’t feel right, either. Ryuji wouldn’t have asked if he didn’t want to stay here, he’s pretty fucking sure of it. and following the “appropriate” steps to date someone, to build up a relationship by the books perfectly ... that sounds an awful lot like playing a game. like living one of those goddamn romance novels. input experience, output corresponding level of boyfriend, right?]
[Dave is so, so sick of games ruling his life.]
It’s fine, dude. I mean, if it is with you. [and he means that for a lot of things, too. he knows Ryuji meant it when he asked, but he can’t help but confirm again, a little bit awkward. maybe a lot awkward.]
[he reaches over and takes the smartwatch.]
It’s ... not a big deal. I mean. Yeah, it is, in about a million different fucking ways, honestly, but. I dunno. Doing shit our own way’s kinda been our thing since day one.
[god, that probably doesn’t make any goddamn sense. but Dave isn’t really talking to his current task of fetching some extra bedding.]
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Dave, I'm like. Super fine with it. Like more than fine with it, really. I wanna sleep here, with you. It's just. Like. I dunno, old habits? [He feels kind of pathetic for mentioning it to him, like he's always this barreling steamroll of determination and confidence about most of what he wants or does, but then has these moments of self doubt that are pretty crippling. And it's not so much old habits as much as it learned habits, and even though he was the one who asked, he feels really stupidly vulnerable over it.
And what Dave says actually makes a ton of sense to Ryuji.]
I know. It is our thing. And if this is us, then I'm totally okay with it. Like, shit, it's... I mean, it's really exciting and a big deal, and I dunno what the hell I'm doing half the time, but. I just hope I'm doin' it right?
Which... yeah, okay, you said it's fine, but sometimes it's hard to think I really... I dunno. Deserve it. And it's dumb. I know it's dumb. Like, holy shit, Sakamoto, you have an amazing boyfriend who just said he'll go pick your shit up out of your room, and you're worried that you're asking too much already and that you should go grab it yourself.
[He breathes out a sigh, and now he's the one that feels like he's the most awkward thing on the entire station for a moment.]
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[so he’s not entirely sure what to do here. he lowers his head for a moment, thinking. it had been easy last time; he had just insisted that everything was cool and nudged at Ryuji until he finally took a nap, which, uh. well, honestly, that course of action would work here, too.]
[but Dave wants him to fall asleep with a better understanding of where he stood than that. he wants Ryuji to understand he can ask for this sort of thing without wondering if he’s asking for too much, because Dave will never try to be anything other than honest in his answers.]
[what’s the thing Dave would want to hear most right now?]
[he doesn’t mean to keep leaving them sitting there in painfully awkward silences. but maybe it’s happened often enough by now that it’s a bit more clear he’s trying to come up with something completely sincere.]
I think I get how you feel. I want to just say you’re wrong, and that you really don’t have to worry about it, but ... would that help? I’m not lying when I say it.
What if I promised to tell you? I mean. If you ever did ask for too much of me. Not that I actually think you would, I just ... I dunno, you deserve to have the freedom to ask knowing you’re gonna get an honest answer.
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He's figuring it out a little; but he's a slow learner. They just got done talking about baggage, and maybe this is some of the stuff he carries along with him, like that explanation of the house he's getting too big for, and in that case, he'd be a turtle and all that dumb shit from his childhood would be the shell he's itching to get out of. Ready, actually, to stop questioning himself and stop feeling like he's always going to be too much for people. Or drag them down.
And, yeah, he's gotten used to the quiet pauses in between conversations they have. He knows Dave is going through an internal process at the moment, and awkward or not, he just watches him until his lips part to start. Patience here has always gone well rewarded, and he doesn't... really have reason to believe otherwise.
It's kind of surprising to hear that he's wrong, and even a little more surprising at how much Ryuji's okay with being wrong to begin with.
If anything, too, Dave's never made a promise to Ryuji that he didn't keep. Told him that their timeline was wrong when he felt it, when they were both close to non-existence. A promise to tell each other if they start messing things up. And now, here, an offer to tell Ryuji if he's ever asking too much from him. His shoulders slump downward, and he nods.
Suddenly, it feels really dumb that he didn't just come here the second he saw Ren's name gone from the terminal at their shared room. And it feels like maybe he was thinking too much about not inconveniencing each other to just be fucking okay with the idea that... yeah, it'd be nice to sleep here. It'd be nice to drape an arm around his boyfriend until he passes out, giving him something to hold onto when anything could just be gone in the blink of an eye.]
Alright. [He bites down on his bottom lip, sucking it inward. Alright.] You haven't lied to me before and I don't, uh. Yeah I don't see you starting now. Promise accepted.
Thanks. I mean, y'know. I'll try to stop worrying too much, too. It helps! It definitely helps.
[Which, pretty much leaves-]
So, yeah. Let's kick this sleepover off. Sorry in advance... if I snore or anything. Or drool really unattractively. Probably better if you do get my pillow anyway, since at least that'll, uh. Be contained to a place only I gotta live with.
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I guess I could let you know if you start aiming to break a sound barrier, too. [speaking of noise citations, Dave should probably warn him that there’s a neighbor who sticks to a pretty strict cackling schedule.]
[.... eh. it probably won’t be an issue or come up at all.]
Hold tight. I’m gonna go grab your stuff.
[that is to say, he’s going to go stare blankly at a finger in a jar for about five minutes, get into an (out loud) argument with himself over whether or not he should captchalogue it, then grab the actual requested items and come back armed with questions. please hold.]
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[To be fair, he'd recognize those screeches that go KE KE KE in the night, but it wouldn't exactly make him any happier to hear them. He's not the type to let the law do its own thing either; a noise citation can only go so far, whereas a threat of a wedgie might get better results. Total vigilante.
Placed on hold with the bedding department, softly mellow music plays in the background as he waits for the next Dave representative to get on the line.
And with Dave gone, he's left to his own devices for a little bit. Nothing that interesting happens aside from Ryuji getting restless enough to re-make Dave's bed. Can take the Japanese kid out of Japan, but can't take... the anal retentiveness of out him, really. And he comes back just in time for Ryuji to finish off folding the top piece of blanket downward.
He shrugs-]
Eh, not my best work, but in my defense, it's been a pretty long effin' day.
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[Dave ... has probably never made a bed in his entire life. honestly, he likely does what he did back home, when he comes back with freshly washed bedding: he probably just tosses it all on the bed and burritos. this looks a lot more put together, right ... right up until he adds an extra blanket and pillow to the pile, too. uh. ok. he tries to straighten everything out a bit after they unceremoniously flop out of his Sylladex. he also may have debated bringing over the monkey pajamas, but ultimately, common sense won that argument.]
[and he still has those questions he wants to ask, most of them involving Ryuji’s taste in desk decorations, but. maybe they should get comfortable first? should he make the first move? he bites his lip, thinking it over.]
[.......... yeah. ok. he’s got this. he kicks off his boots and climbs on in. scoots over to the wall so there’s enough space for the both of them. which is kind of a wild thought? not sleeping alone for once.]
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He can't really be mad, he tried. And as much as he has the urge to try and go over to redo what's been undone, he's also stuck in a weird state of..... oh.... should I get in there first.... Something tells him that Dave should be closer to the wall though. He doesn't know why, but it feels right?
God, they could dance around who takes initiative all day, and thankfully Dave is the one who goes first and resolves all of it in one fell swoop. He sits on the edge of the bed, and takes his own boots off. Another thing that always felt weird- entering someone's room with them still on- but he's grown used to it over time so that it doesn't really matter so much any more.
And he did say that as long as he has a place at Dave's side, he'll return to him; it's kind of corny, yeah, but it's still there at the back of his mind, even as he gets in and under the sheets. He's comfortable with the way this goes- Dave reaching out a metagorical (god...) hand to him to catch up if there's a lag behind and vice versa, and when he's settled in enough and the space between them is diminished, he closes the gap a little more.
He's nervous, a little anxious, and he doesn't know what for, since it's not doing him any good at all right now, but he does muster up enough courage to drape an arm around him slightly above his hip.]
Hey. [A greeting of sorts, as if they've just met up in a new place for the first time.] Gonna wear those to sleep? [He's guessing it's a yes, so it's somewhere in between a tease and a soft way of not bringing a whole lot of attention to the fact that... yeah, he's sort of holding him? And that feels really, really amazing.]
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[and he kind of has a moment where he’s trying to figure out what he should be doing. reciprocating? should he stay quiet, maybe try to sleep like they’d set out to do here, or maybe he should start just sending out his aforementioned inquiries. or maybe...]
What? Oh — [or maybe he should ditch the shades so he can sleep. Dave, you big dummy! he’d been so nervous about getting some shuteye that he forgot to complete the basic step two of getting some shuteye. step one was getting in bed in the first place.]
[he pulls the shades off his face and, like magic, they sort of zip away into hammerspace. and, weirdly enough? so does most of the nervousness he was feeling. he already broke the ice and made an idiot of himself ... no reason why he can’t just blaze a trail here and get comfy.]
[so, he does. he slides his arm underneath Ryuji’s, setlling into a sort of half embrace, curling himself up slightly. he still wants to keep talking, just give him a few minutes to get used to this very bold move he just made — he probably won’t fall asleep.]
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Which, again, he catches himself thinking that he's cute? This happens so goddamn much, but at least he keeps mum about it this time.
They're so close as it is, and there's a really good chance that Ryuji's not going to be able to fall asleep right now anyway. If they're going to play the game of who stays up later than the other, Ryuji wouldn't actively try to compete, it's just that... there's a lot of feelings here to commit to memory and adjust to. All he knows is that he's wired to be a physical guy, that he conveys his intents and emotions better through things like holding Dave than he can with words or turns of phrases, or bumbling through the same thing with a million "like", "uhm," "uh," and "y'know"s. This is at least something he feels pretty decent at naturally, and when he curls a little bit, Ryuji faces the inevitable question of what to do with his legs, since kneecap on kneecap isn't very comfortable if he curls up too. So he makes another bold move, and moves his injured lower limb forward a little bit, allowing him to tilt slightly on his side more to angle his way into being between Dave's own legs.
There's something unspoken here, too, and Ryuji's too shy to acknowledge it, but he's especially aware of his bad leg being the one he moved forward due to their positioning. It's, weirdly in some way, a gesture of trust, and he looks at Dave to make sure that this is okay, too.]
Man... I never knew two blankets could make this much of a freaking difference. [It's a joke, he's completely aware of how much more warm a bed is with two people in it.]
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[or suddenly be hit with the thought of how barely even five months ago, being warmly and comfortably ensconced in another guy’s arms was ... not even a ghost of a blip on his radar. and maybe there’s a split second where he wonders if it would have been a blip much earlier, if he had been brave enough to let it.]
[that’s not really here or there, though. Dave (usually) can tell when a timeline is doomed, and when it’s chugging forward in the correct order of events. and since they’ve both lived to try something new and awfully intimate together? still sounds like the right timeline to him.]
[but he finds a sort of half smile at that remark.]
Yeah. Kinda defeats the purpose of the monkey pajamas, though. [Dave, apparently, is just going to ruin every tender moment they have by bringing up those goddamn pajamas.]
[he lowers his head, though, so he doesn’t just straight up yawn in Ryuji’s face.]
Hey ... can I ask you something? About the jar on your desk.
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