Ninth Beat in Text

[knightime]

kay
so
might be moving asl lessons around a bit
i guess this is a
what day do you think is best??? input
i considered saturday but like half of us work
hell
i work on saturdays
but theres no point in making this on a day where you guy cant make it
so i guess
suggestions???
for a day
and a time
inb4 after school
im not stupid numbnuts
also its just gonna be just me next meeting most likely
egbert seems to be taking an extensive all paid trip to the land of dreams and fuck you im not waking up
whoops sorry
mr nice guy is sleeping
you have to deal with my tyranny until hes back online

Comments

[knightime]

[The dorm is a little messier. It looks like Dave's dorm finally has filled up and Dave has pretty much settled into it, probably to his dormmates displeasure.

There's now an unused turntable sitting on his desk, the box it came still on his bed.

Dave is wearing Sis' anime shades, the usual Ben Stiller replicas nowhere to be found. That, and his face has a bunch of scratch marks. He waves at Jade before making his way over. He signs surely and very slowly so she can get all the letters in.]

<<'You didn't have to run.'>>

[greenspaces]

Dave, what happened?

[ She doesn't even bother responding to his statement -- her bandaged hand is reaching out, fingers tracing the scratches on his face. ] Where are your shades? Did someone hurt you?

[knightime]

[He switches to text for this one. He's sure if he explained, he'd start signing in a frenzy and while she's getting a lot better, it would just be stupid to do that.]

i pissed someone off
you know
since i kind of have no sass filter
or apparently know what foot in mouth means
and she broke them
and i guess i got really angry???
idk why i did but i guess i thought
think
theyre important

[Dave doesn't actually regret pissing Belarus off though. Or getting into a fight with her. She started it anyways, for breaking them.]

[greenspaces]

Oh, no... [ She runs her thumb softly over his cheek, sighing a little bit. ] They are really important--

[ wait ]

Dave, John gave them to you. They were your birthday present, from Ben Stiller's face...or, um. Something like that.

[knightime]

[Dave is legitimately surprised.

That's why they were important. John gave them to him. Shit. And John was sleeping and. Fuck. Fuck.]

...
he did???
oh fuck
fuck
sis took them
i think to fix them
but what if he wakes up and theyre still like
bam
broken
hell probably be pissed at me
worst
ill probably forget about this like
by tomorrow
if not
in a few hours
fuck this place and its memory bullshit
wow i just totally dropped on the echeladder for best bro
and rose on the echeladder for shittiest friend ever

[greenspaces]

[ thinking ]

Dave, you can buy things from home...I bet you could buy John's present. I know it's not the same, but it's just like a clone.

[ still thinking ]

Or I could fix them, I'm good at fixing things. And I don't think John will be mad. I think he'll understand.

[knightime]

i should tell him though
i mean
it seems kind of shitty
to not tell him
like
all these secrets and what not
im trying to quit them
but then i get these terribad withdrawals and
fuck
ok i dont know where im going with this

[Okay, he doesn't actually get withdrawals though, but he's rambling at this point. He just stops.]

yeah
hell probably call me a dork
for making a huge deal about it or something
but
ill figure something out
we should head over to the infirmary
and we can talk
or you can talk and i can assault your eyes with snazzy red text
i had something to ask anyways

[greenspaces]

I think you should tell him, but I think he'll be okay with it.

[ She leans in and rubs her nose against his. ]

What did you want to ask me? Or should it wait until we're there?

[knightime]

i know

[Oh my god, that was numbingly cute. Be right back, all shit has been lost and can't be found. He almost forgets what he was going to ask. Instead, he tries to at least type a reply that isn't horrendously assaulted with typoes. He is successful.]

naw
i can tell you now
also woah
harley
i wasnt ready for my virgin nose to lose it so suddenly
gotta warn a guy before initiating crazy eskimo kisses
how can i recover
okay
this has nothing to do with what i need to ask man
but i mean i am totally cool with it in the future
before you think that i wasnt totally okay with them
i totally am
and im rambling
and typing a mile a minute
so
uhm
you can swim right???
because
i kind of need
lessons

[greenspaces]

Oh, if you didn't like it then I don't have to-- [ oh he did like it. Her body relaxes and she smiles. ] Okay. You seem embarrassed.

[ Thinking about this. ] Duh. I can teach you today if you want, after we visit John. Or start.

[knightime]

crazy talk
im so chill
and not embarrassed
...
ill get back to you on some metaphor later


[He hooked arms with Jade and started to head out towards the infirmary.]

oh
...
uhm
maybe today might be too early
idk when too early is too early though
is there a certain amount of time you wait
before going up against the evil clutches
of whatever caused you to kick the bucket???

[greenspaces]

[ She giggled, leaning against him. ]

You should probably start right away. What if someone tried to do it to you again? [ Briefly, the smile fades -- she thinks about her own death, rather anticlimactic compared to his own. How long do you want to confront that?

But then she smiles again, hesitantly. ]

We can get food afterwards. It'll be fun and not scary at all, I promise.

[knightime]

i guess that depends
on how often i piss people off
considering the mess i got myself into today
thats pretty often
shit

[Maybe this is why he doesn't make frands. How do you deal with his sass?]

its kind of cold though
isnt it???

[And Dave really sucks at the whole deal with cold thing. He's too used to Texas and too used to LOHAC.]

[greenspaces]

If you do not learn to swim in cold water too, you won't be ready for it if you have to.

[knightime]

hnrghh
fine
i just
im not really looking forward to this at all

[The most childish pouts.]

i mean
im pretty sure i just went and asked the best person to help
hint
its you
but
ugh you know whatever
i will handle this like a boss

[greenspaces]

[ Reaching up to poke at his pouty face. ]

I believe you can do it. You will be the best swimmer ever!

[knightime]

im pretty sure thats a lie
how am i supposed to beat the quarky island girl at swimming???
thats like having a kid in a cardboard box on wheels race a guy in a racecar
but thanks