Eight Beat | Head Under Water and They Tell Me

[knightime]

Characters: Dave Strider and Rose Lalonde
Format: EVERY FORMAT POSSIBLE?! Idk man
This log is: Closed
Location: Somewhere in the town. Park? Lmfao I'm terrible at this
Summary: There's something relieving about having your Derse sibling here, despite being in the opposite school. Dave finally tells someone else what happened on Saturday.
Warnings: Talk about death and drowning, Derse siblings being Derse siblings, trying to talk to someone who's blind when you're mute, these warnings need its own warning, Kim warnings, SRS BZNS

Dave needed to talk to Rose. It was a selfish need. He knew he could talk to Jade or John or even John from Conquest. But he wanted to talk to Rose about it. At least before he mentioned it to anyone else.

He just felt less pressured talking to Rose for some reason. Which was dumb, since she was the sarcastic one and tended to do things that annoyed him. Nonetheless, she was someone he actually confided on several occasions about his fears. This was just one of those times. And seeing as he hadn't had her around for so long, it was slightly relieving.

He was waiting near the gates of Conquest. Dave wasn't sure how well Rose was going to get around the place, so he wanted to be around to at least help her to get to town. He knew he couldn't touch her, but if they were lucky, they would have some sort of object to work as a middleman between them.

Comments

[overthroen]

The voice from her PDA was stiff and halting, with a tangible metallic edge. The speech patterns, on the other hand, were unmistakably Dave. She paused along the gate and responded in turn. After years on the internet, she'd already memorized where the keys are. Except for SHIFT and CAPSLOCK. For some reason she'd forgotten those even exist.

why, strider, what will i use for sensory stimulation, then
stiff post-storm air is a poor substitute for a choice bouquet of tulips and daffodils
perhaps if the park is more adequately stocked for my olfactory cravings, i will ditch you in favor of it
and pursue an amorous relationship with landscaping.

She popped the PDA back into her pocket and continued along the wall, rounding the corner a few minutes later. There she stopped, and leaned on her makeshift cane, and waited for Dave to make his presence known.

[knightime]

It's kind of weird seeing Rose's text without the usual perfect syntax. But he disregarded it since the usual Rose quirk still shined through obnoxiously.

He tapped her cane lightly with his foot. He couldn't touch her. He was a Player and she was a Weapon who was vowed to. And maybe that bothered him a little, but he'll just deal with it. There wasn't much he can do about it.

Maybe it was lucky that Dave had the tendency to drag his feet or at least made a suitable amount of noise while he walked. It made following him easier since he had no voice to talk with. Or maybe he's compensating his lack of talking with making extra noise. Either way, when he walked, you could hear his shoes scuff the ground and there's always the familiar clicks and clacks of his PDA as he types into it.

you guys missed a lot after i went to work
shit was pretty crazy
and by crazy i mean it sucked
like big time

[overthroen]

She followed him, using her cane to discern bumps and slopes in the path. She tapped Dave's feet every so often with her cane, just to make sure she was on the right track. She could have responded with text, but there seemed to be no need while they were together in person, and it left hands free for her cane.

But Dave seemed distraught - not that she could see him, but he seemed eager to speak, and unironically. So she dropped all sarcasm herself.

"What happened, Dave?"

[knightime]

He didn't really mind when Rose taps against his feet. It was unspoken that Rose needed to make sure she was following him, but he knew making sure she was on the right track wouldn't go well with her. This was basically the middleground they could establish where Dave could help, but still give Rose enough space to get around herself.

i told harley and egbert
but
i couldnt tell them any of the details
i wanted to but
i just couldnt???
i died
can we sit somewhere before i explain though???

[overthroen]

So they can die here, too. And she's gotten a very distinct sense before that dying is one of Dave's least favorite things to do - and he, or his duplicates, have to do it a lot.

"Of course. There's no rush, unless someone's found a way off the island and I haven't been notified."

[knightime]

Dave gently leads Rose along using her cane or stick as a middleman. He walks through the park until he finds a place to sit. There's an empty bench and he helps her sit on one end while he sits on the other end.

none
ive been told swimming doesnt really work or something
but i doubt anyone tries at this point
i havent
really
...
talked to anyone about this yet

[overthroen]

"Too bad, although I doubt we're even in the same universe." It's breezy but pleasant. Dave shows her the bench and she sits down carefully. She feels like she's doing everything slower to compensate.

She wishes she could touch him, to give him some sort of reassurance. She can't even look at him to give him a look, snarky or otherwise. So she sets down her walking stick and speaks softly.

"Go on, Dave. Take your time." She assumes a decent listening position and turns her head in the direction of the opposite end of the bench.

[knightime]

He pauses for a moment, looking down at his PDA. He's not sure whether to do this or not, but he really can't turn back now. It'll help, he's sure. Even if Rose might be snarky about it. She's always understood, despite her responses.

got in some trouble with the wrong prefect
she dragged me all the way to the lake
and decided
why the hell not
lets just shove this kid into the lake
i guess she didnt realize i
...
cant swim
but she kind of just watched me
and there was someone else there
they talked to me earlier
so
yeah
you are free to psychoanalyze the shit out of everything until you are thoroughly pleased at whatever findings you come upon
of dave striders wonderful mind

[overthroen]

The robotic voice that emulates from her PDA doesn't seem to fit the words at all. She wishes she could see Dave's face, though the pause and the wording is plenty indication of what he's going through. She listens to the birds of the park for a time after the PDA goes quiet.

"When you're ready - and I'm absolutely positive this won't be any time soon - we need to teach you how to swim so that that doesn't happen to you again. We are on an island, after all."

Her next words are potent with concealed rage. "And I'd like to know who the prefect was."

[knightime]

Dave might be more then glad that she can't see his face. Rose was basically immune to whatever poker face he could make, but it didn't mean he didn't try hiding behind it anyways.

Sigh. He was going to have to learn how to swim. He didn't want to, but it was going to be a thing. He hadn't told John or Jade, but he knew they'd help him out too.

what
oh hell naw
i can give you all the shitty nitty gritty details about drowning
but im not telling you who it was
shes seriously fucking nuts

[overthroen]

"Well, that narrows it down," she says drily. A lot of the people here seem to be pretty crazy. "I'll just look for the ones that are killing students. Or search in some other fashion, anyway."

[knightime]

You were expecting him to just flat out tell you? He's a little too stubborn for that still.

its a pretty stupid and lost cause you know
even if you found out who it was
what are you gonna do???
plus we apparently have other things to deal with
like apparently
someone is trying to start some rebellion
i didnt think wed have to deal with psycho terrorists too
but here we are

[overthroen]

Anything's worth a shot. But talk of rebellion drives thoughts of the erring prefect out of her head.

"A rebellion against what? The system appears uniquely unbreakable - there's no escaping the island, at least of one's own free will. Do they want to depose the officials?"

[knightime]

i doubt if you killed them
theyd stay dead
but i guess they think they can just go home if they do this

Which is kind of dumb, since all of them had repeated so many times they can leave once they beat this game or something.

i dont know much about the system
but if this is like any other system
theres got to be some glitches we can either exploit or find
im looking for those

[overthroen]

Rose purses her lips. "I don't know. I'd need to look farther into it to be sure. I haven't memorized the rulebook yet. But that makes sense. Does anybody know the names of the perpetrators?" She doesn't expect an affirmative response to this, if they haven't been caught, but one never knows.

[knightime]

Dave kind of has a guessing as to what he can do as far as money goes. But he hasn't tested it out yet to give an affirmation to it.

well
we assume its whoever this zero asshole is
but no one knows who they are apparently

[overthroen]

"An alias? Intriguing." Her eyes light up. Mysteries are exciting. "And they've wreaked anonymous havoc? The list of possibilities can't be very large. It's a small island."

And something occurs to her then - someone else might have seen Dave's death.

[knightime]

i think some people know about him
this place has a tendency to grab us in chunks
its like
welp
since we grabbed one
might as well grab five more

Oh my god. Shove off it. The dying thing is so done. No more about Dave's death.

since its obviously someone outside of this place
i mean theres only so many of us
and it gets smaller if you consider whos been here since he left the notes on the doors

[overthroen]

"That's something I'd like to see. Or, since that would be ineffective, be read." She feels a twinge of a smile at her own joke. She could get used to this existence of blackness. It just falls to her to be flippant about the whole thing.

"We should begin networking to find him. Anybody close to you, besides the people we know from home. Anyone close enough to witness secret things." Trying to tiptoe around the issue, but she's going to try to figure out who might have seen him drown now. No way is she giving this up until the person is paid back in full.

[knightime]

But it makes conversing with you so hard...

theyre probably from fortitude
at least
it seems we keep getting ridiculous shit happening over here

Rose. Please stop. You are blind and thirteen. He is mute and thirteen. They are thirteen and this is not SBURB.