driftfleet | And We Danced (Masquerade Overflow!)

It was either sit and be hungry and try to read your text tidal wave, or just come down here to eat and talk to you myself. So.

[ He shrugs, walking behind him into the museum, using his elbow to keep the door propped until he's inside. ] Whoa. I mean, the ship was pretty quiet, too. Like, pin-drop quiet. Figured some change of scenery might be good. For you, too. Those messages were weird, man.

[ He was getting too antsy, and what better excuse to move than to check on his friend. ]

They were?

[Davesprite doesn't...actually remember what he said anymore. Just that there were a lot of words, but that's normal for him. Right?]

Uh, sorry. I think Jade got sick of me fucking around on my communicator instead of having fun, and you just start to think a lot when you're by yourself. Or. Something. I dunno.

It was a lot, and I don't read that fast. I almost failed English once.

[ He shrugs, looking around the room. This place is so odd, and for once he's looking forward to being back on the ship and away from a planet or moon for a while. ]

But yeah, it's cool, I get it. I wasn't saying it was bad. Just that I was kind of feeling the same way. [ He absently offers his plate out to Davesprite, he has a variety of foods on there. He talks with his mouth half-full. ] Did Jade think you were actually gonna dance or something?

[A party representative pleasantly tells them to watch their feet, Davesprite checks for any wayward bugs, and Isaac has to suffer him wearing sunglasses in a dimly lit space.]

I don't know. [Technically, Jade could have convinced him; it's not exactly hard. But WHO KNOWS, Davesprite filches a couple fruit slices off the plate instead. They taste like apples.] I think she just wanted company. We played pinball for a while.

[ Isaac doesn't bother to check for bugs. Honestly, he's likely already stepped on one at this rate. He is hardly bothered. ]

They have pinball here? Why couldn't they have that out in the streets instead of weird games and fist fights? Come on. [ He tries one of the fruits, grimacing at its bitter taste. It's like a gross between a lemon and a grape. It's not good. ] At least the food is edible and dead. Mostly.

[ Awkward parties were always better if there was free food involved. ] I think most people from our ship are here. Pretty sure half of them don't actually live there, but that could just be that I'm sleeping too much.

[Isaac, you are gonna get them in trouble.]

You're always sleeping too much. [It's critical.] I dunno, though. It's pretty crowded. Easy to miss people.

[He follows one path of lights, looking through the trees at the metal bars.]

But for real. You smashed the blender?

[ He's trying to watch for the bugs, too, but his mind is going a lot of places. Sensory overload is hard, okay. ]

Yeah, well, this place makes me tired, alright?

[ It almost gives the illusion that they're outside in clean air, but the bars, and the weird humming of filtration systems and things he can hear minutely under the crowd really doesn't help. ] I didn't mean to. [ He actually colors a little, mildly embarrassed. ] I couldn't get the lid on. I started it without the lid at first and I just -- yeah well I pushed a little too hard. Sort of.

"Sort of."

[He looks over at Isaac. Both of his eyebrows have arched way over the top of his sunglasses.]

So what I'm getting out of this is you got pissed and made the kitchen appliance pay. I dunno if I should take your claims of feeling fine and dandy to heart.

That gel got everywhere, okay? It was really annoying. I just moved too quickly.

[ And he doesn't really have control over himself sometimes. Like when he's mad and might be slamming the lid onto the blender. No big deal. ]

I'm feeling fine, okay? [ But even he doesn't sound confident. ] I have real food now anyway. So it's fine.

[Oh yeah, Davesprite hears that lack of confidence.]

The room could be burning down around your ears and you'd say it's fine. You're a biased source.

Edited 2016-05-16 11:22 (UTC)

Well yeah because I'm the only one who knows how me -- I am feeling. I've been worse.

[ He shrugs, finishing off his plate of food and throwing it away. No more apple-y things for you, Davesprite. ]

What about you though. Those were some weird messages, dude. Like you talk a lot but that was excessive.

[How dare Isaac pull that one on Davesprite. He makes a face, but doesn't argue with him.]

Come on, it couldn't have been that bad. You were texting really slow; I figured you just fell asleep.

You would have started rapping or asking me if I was awake. I've seen those messages before. This wasn't that.

[ He shrugs and walks along, looking at one of the vines of space ivy in the place that has covered an entire wall. ]

You interrupted me before I could get that far. I had a specific train of thought going; you know how it is.

[Or. Maybe he doesn't?]

Right?

[Right?]

Where you get going on a topic and gotta stick to it until you've run its bullshit course.

Uh, well. Pretty sure you went from bringing me food to like, dances, to being around people, to ghost butts. That's about all I got out of that. So sure, one train of thought.

[ He doesn't believe you, Davesprite. ]

Did you fall and hit your head or something?

No.

[He doesn't like being put on the spot, especially when he's not sure what to say.]

I don't know, man. I didn't mean to make it weird.

Oh, okay, cool.

[ Isaac shrugs, like that's all he was worried about. Davesprite cracking his head and losing it a little bit? He's safe? Oh, cool. Even though that's not really why he came at all. He shrugs. ]

Thought you tried to bust a move or something and failed. Really badly.

[He just looks malcontent at that.]

Thanks for having so much faith in me.

[He's quiet for a couple minutes after that, as they wander into the next room of the conservatory. Some manner of alien critter walks across their path and he stops to to let it pass, watching it.]

Hey, so.

[He rubs at one side of his nose with a thumb. Wow, great topic opening.]

How normal was your life before all of this.

[ Isaac doesn't like the closeness of this place, even with all of its fauna and 'fresh' air. There are a lot of people, a lot of plants, and the ceilings feel a little closer in every room they go into. He's beginning to regret coming down, really, but Davesprite seemed like he needed a little help. And as of late, it'd be pretty shitty if he didn't show up.

The question, though, blindsides him. ]

What? Uh, I mean, what do you call 'normal', cause in case you forgot, I'm a teenage werewolf. [ He shrugs. ] So life's pretty messed up sometimes.

I know. But I mean you went to school and stuff. Did like. Normal teenager shit.

[If Davesprite has a point to this line of questioning, it doesn't readily present itself. (To be perfectly honest, he's not sure there is a point.)]

And you weren't always a werewolf.

I dunno if it was normal. Before the werewolf stuff, I guess. I went to high school, played on a sports team. I had to work at my dad's graveyard overnight though. Dig new graves or fill in other ones, you know.

[ He shrugs a little. That seems like such a long time ago, really. It makes his lips tick down in a tiny frown. ] Had to get good grades and do all of my homework or I'd get punished, so I guess that was normal. Except the freezer part.

[Hold up. Davesprite blinks and turns to Isaac.]

Your dad owned a graveyard?

[How has this never come up before.]

Well, he ran it anyway. Didn't own it I guess but it felt like it.

[ Isaac shrugs like it's nothing. It's not weird to him, since he had to work there so often for his dad. It was an easy way to make money, but it wasn't his favorite job in the world. ]

Kept me busy anyway. Got to use the tractors and stuff.

Shit. I never even got my driver's license.

[He frowns a little, hands jammed in his pockets and shoulders drawn up.]

It just...gets to me sometimes, I guess. Kinda sick of it, if you want to be real.

Yeah, I guess that would suck. What did you do instead of... well, the normal stuff?

[ He knows some of it, of course, a little about his brother and some of the things in passing -- like in those frantic texts. ]

I guess just sitting around here makes it even worse then. It's a little like normal here, sort of.

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