[Text/Action for Cianwood] 12th Page

[hoperaider]

[Jake makes a habit out of cooking breakfast for anyone interested in their travel party. Mostly because he wants to make sure they get at least one good meal before accidentally skipping out on lunch or having dinner at odd hours of the night. It's why he's entering Dirk's room, now, without preamble.]

Dirk! Are you going...to....

[He trails off, frowning. Dirk's not in his room anymore. However, there is something on Dirk's bed and he walks over to investigate.

A strange numbness takes over when Jake sees that it's his boyfriend's sunglasses. Dirk would never leave those here, unless....

He checks his Gear. No. No no no no no. Jake double--no, triple checks it.

Nothing. Only Bro Strider and Dave Strider.

Jake's not sure when or how he got to a secluded part of the island, but he's not caring. The shock wears off when he reaches there, and he can't help feeling angry and bitter and guilty and heartbreaking sorrow crash over him in an unrelentless flood. First it was Roxy. Then it was Jade. Now....

His anger is quickest to run out as he takes it out on the boulders and rock walls until his knuckles are bloody and he can't feel his feet. He sits down and leans against the rock wall, not caring about his injuries, and just gives in to weeping.

Some hours later, he returns to Dirk's old room and takes out his Pokegear. Jake can't stand video or voice at the moment, so text is the best choice.]

Dirk has gone home.
I suppose now i understand what they meant by these things coming in threes.

Im getting contacts in olivine i believe.
I kind of promised dirk i would and at least i wont have to worry about breaking my contacts as much as my glasses.
Er this saying olivine *has* an optometrist i could go to?
Ive not been there since we went straight to cianwood after prom.

[God, don't think about prom, don't think about prom.]

Whomever received dirks pokemon...
Please take good care of them.

Comments

[moveslikestrider]

[Dave just shuts his eyes for a second after he reads those words. It feels like months ago he'd said to Jane; He's not alone anymore. He's got all of us.

Sigh. It's an hour later before he answers this. He checked his pc and found example what he hoped not too. Diva is let out to hang out with Lady B while he figures out some form of an address.]

i have no idea if theres a optometrist there
just the directory in the centers or ask the nurses there
they tend to know and be way too cheery about it



diva made it here
thought you would want to know

[hoperaider]

Haha theres nothing wrong with cheeriness!
But thank you dave ill certainly ask when we get there.

[It's a few seconds before Jake answers the next part. He's trying really hard to pull a Strider and ignore his feelings, or at least shelve them for the moment.]

Thank you.
Hes in good hands in my opinion.
Um.
How are you doing?

[moveslikestrider]

theres everything wrong with cheeriness at eight am

[You have no idea how many tables Dave is flipping his head. There's explosions and shit, it's like an action film. Done with this month holy shit.]

course he is
im the most capable of handling divas and flaming ponies
also bleating goats apparently


[How is he doing. That's a loaded question full of issues that would make Rose swoon at the thesis she'd get out of it.]

just remind yourself youll see him again
hes not dead

text; | so private you don't even know

[doitrockapella]

[For you, and for this, she will resurface, Jake.

Mostly because she knows exactly how you're feeling right now.]

Jake.

text; | the privatest

[hoperaider]

[Aw, Carmen. He's actually really happy to see her text, despite the situation.]

Hello carmen!
I should really expect the unexpected from you but i think youll catch me by surprise even then.

text; | the privatest

[doitrockapella]

If you expect the unexpected, can you really call it the unexpected anymore?

[The remark rings familiar because it reminds her of an old exchange she and Cooper oft repeated — "there's an exception to every rule" / "which means there are rules without exceptions". It usually ended with her baiting him into calling her exceptional...]

Olivine is a beautiful city. You'll like it there.

action;

[timelymaid]

[ Aradia's usually been interested in breakfast. Sometimes she's been interested in watching breakfast being cooked, for no other reason than learning new things and/or getting it faster (hey, it's a good strategy!) and it's become habitual to wait for Jake to collect everyone who cares to eat in the mornings.

So when he doesn't show up she ends up going looking. It's disconcerting not to be able to find Jake, but his gear is still listed...good lord, they lost Jake. He wandered off when they weren't looking, and he was going to show back up with another concussion or something, wasn't he?

That line of thought led to maybe I should call Dirk, maybe he knows if we lost Jake (because really, Sollux and Kanaya didn't actually make keeping tabs on Jake English a priority in all liklihood) which led to oh no which led to oh.

Finding Jake wasn't a thing that happened for a while, although she did look around. No, the only thing she found was Gauss the Metang (another nail in the well drat coffin of realization), whom she collected to continue searching, although in this case two heads didn't make much more progress than one did. Until Aradia checked her gear for the umpteenth time. Jake was posting, so...

Try his room again? ...Wait, no. Try Dirk's room, this time. She'll just rap on the door, perfectly prepared to bury him in texts if there wasn't an answer and he was, in fact, lost once again. ]

Jake? Are you there? [ A beat. Before she spoke to her companions - Dirk's Metang and her own Gengar. ] Indy, perhaps...?

[ If you don't answer, she'll just have Indy phase in and check personally, Jake. ]

action;

[hoperaider]

[He hears the knock on the door and Aradia's voice, and he's not at all surprised that she's come to find him. At first, Jake doesn't want her to come in and see what a wreck he is. He's supposed to be strong, come what may!

But he's only sixteen, and, if he's honest with himself, he honestly wouldn't mind the company. Being alone just hurts more.]

I'm here. C'mon in, Aradia.

[Jake is sitting with his back against the wall to the side of Dirk's bed, cradling those damnable shades like they're something unfathomably precious. His eyes are bloodshot and a little puffy from crying earlier, but at least his voice sounds strong.]

action;

[timelymaid]

[ There's a brief flash of relief - Jake isn't lying in a ditch somewhere! (of course not, Aradia, he just posted and what is your estimation of his ability) - before she opens the door, allowing her little party to enter before closing it again.

She'll just take a moment to eye him, sitting there with his red eyes and holding the sunglasses, before she goes over to sit next to him, cross-legged. ]

I found someone when I was looking for you. [ She's not about to ask are you all right, because that would be silly. ]

[text]

[thevveribest]

[Oh. Aradia mentioned this guy before and said they were on good terms?]

howw shitty for you

[Wow you are no help at all, Eridan.]

[text]

[hoperaider]

[oh hi Eridan that's not nice to say]

Is it possible we could talk about something else?
Im well aware that its pretty shitty at the moment.

[He's not trying to be snappish, but he's tired. This has drained him emotionally speaking and he's not sure if Eridan is being genuine or sarcastic or what.]

[text]

[thevveribest]

[It's always better to assume that Eridan isn't being genuine.]

vvery wwell it aint exactly a outlandish request seein as i can assume he meant somethin to you
anywway ara said you kneww me before and wwe got along
so i think its only fair you offer me the courtesy a enlightenin me about this supposed friendliness wwe had betwween us
i seem to havve gotten myself a feww friends i dont fuckin remember at all so im sure youll understand my general curiosity

[text; filtered]

[timelymaid]

eridan
i am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were attempting sympathy
and if you were we need to have a talk about your word choice at some point
but if you werent i am going to have you
as politely as possible
to can it!

[ JAKE IS HER FAVORITE HUMAN, even when he gives himself concussions. ]

[text; filtered]

[thevveribest]

ara back off i dont need you breathin dowwn my fuckin neck cuz i dont sugarcoat things the wway you do
i aint tryin to make things wworse for him im actually talkin to him because you mentioned him and i got along
so kindly fuck off if youre gonna be comin at me all bellicoselike and shit

text + video

[healium]

I
Oh Jake...

[On top of that entire wake up experience, and now Dirk is.. gone? She just saw him a few days ago, just smiled again at that birthday wish in her voicemail, and it was too soon. It would always be too soon though, wouldn't it?

Jane dials him after a few minutes; this requires interacting with more than words, and she can't just go to him and hug him and tell him things will be okay.]

I wondered why Huggy Bear and Repel showed up, so I suppose that answers that question. Um, are you.. No, that's a dumb question. Jake, I.. I don't know what to say really. I'm sorry, is all I can come up with.

video | private

[hoperaider]

[Jane and Aradia are probably the only ones his age he'd talk to via video or in-person at the moment. Still, it takes him a moment to pluck up the courage to answer back.

Jake doesn't look too great, understandably enough. He's hoping she'll not worry about it, but....]

I'll be alright. It just...got a little too much. Losing Jade and Dirk at roughly the same time, I mean.

[Gods, gods, if he loses Jane, too...he won't know what to do if that happens. And with Dirk's disappearance, that has become a highly terrifying prospect. He doesn't want to be alone without his three best friends like he was when he first came to Johto.]

I'm...sorry, too. That I had to deliver the bad news.

video | private

[healium]

[It yanks her heart to see him looking like that; Jake is probably the most optimistic of her friends, right up with Roxy, so it's really difficult to see him looking so sad. She just wants to reach through and hold him, and for the first time in a while, she hates the distance she went and put between them.]

No, don't be sorry. It's alright; I'd rather you told me anyway. It's.. [Jane bites her lip, lowering her eyes before closing them to gather her thoughts.] I am just so sorry. Here I've gone and put myself so far away that I can't even.. it's like talking through the computers again. All I can do is tell you to put your arms around yourself and squeeze as tight as possible and say that it's me.

[ghostytrainer]

here's to hoping it stops at three.

i'm really sorry, jake. usually people from our world are...pretty quick about coming back.
i am sure you won't be waiting for him long.
i don't have any of his pokemon, but hopefully they have found their way to good people.

idk about an optometrist though, i can't say i was particularly looking for one when i was in olivine.
though now that you bring it up, i should probably get my eyes checked once we get to cerulean.
i honestly haven't had them checked once since i wound up here.

[...oops.]

[hoperaider]

Cheers.

So far it seems like it.
Aradias got one. Daves got another. Janes got two of his.
As it is i dont think i have to worry overly much!

[He's...not touching on the possibility of Dirk coming back. He hopes the guy comes back, of course he does. It's just that their relationship won't be the same, and that's a certainty. Jake's not sure how he'll deal with that, but he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it.]

Haha well hopefully your eyes havent gotten worse in two years!
Im also hoping you didnt get eyes as bad as mine.
The lenses on my glasses are thick enough to probably cause some serious brain damage if they fell on your noggin!
Dave suggested asking one of the nurses so ill try my luck there.

action

[viiru2alert]

[Around the time Jake had concluded his "destroy-all-caves" sequence was when Sollux stumbled in on him.]

[Now, traveling around with a guy for God-knows-how long makes one kind of inclined to semi-somewhat like them a little bit, even when they're Jake English and you're Sollux Captor. So when Jake randomly waltzed into Dirk's room and... didn't come out, Sollux loked up from whatever he was doing on his laptop. And then stood up. And then walked over. Right as he was about to approach the doorknob was when Jake came sprinting out.]

Jesus! What the fuck, English--

[He didn't expect Jake to hear him. Jake probably didn't hear him. That was fine. Sollux didn't care. He definitely wasn't concerned at all about the stupid sunglasses lying on Dirk's bed, either. Nope. Ain't a problem at all. Sollux casually running out the door after him isn't really anything to be worried about, either.]

[Because Jake was obviously far superior to Sollux in terms of athletic ability, he had to slow down to a walk pretty damn fast. But eventually he did find a cave, and in that cave was sobbing and pebbles and Jake English with shit pouring down his cheeks and out his hands and mother of fuck. Sollux just kind of... stands there for a while, at the foot of the cave, not really sure what he's supposed to make of this whole development. What's he supposed to do, comfort him? Yeah right. He'd probably make the fucker kill himself.]

[Regardless of that fact, he loiters a while and then speaks.]

Hey.

action

[hoperaider]

[Jake looks up at Sollux when he hears him and hastily tries to wipe the tears off his face. They just keep coming, so it's a futile effort, but he tries. He tries to be cheerful, but even the smile feels utterly fake and fragile.]

Hey, Sollux. Sorry, were you going to train here or something? I can move....

[plushaeusrumpified]

[Oh.

This admittedly hits him harder than he wants to let on, and for a few different reasons. First and foremost, he liked Dirk, and the fact they were just starting to get along makes this even harder to swallow. Shit just feels... unfinished, and he doesn't like that Dirk had to disappear before they could really call themselves friends.

But beyond that, with everything going on lately, it's like a slap in the face. It makes him realize that you could disappear from here at any moment with no choice in the matter. Now more than ever, he's realizing he really fucking needs to learn how to talk to people so that he has the chance to express things that need to be expressed. Otherwise, what happens when HE fucking disappears? He doesn't want to leave things unfinished. Not when he feels like this in regards to Dirk.

And then there's just the feeling that he's lost a part of himself. Maybe he's overly sentimental in a way, but losing his younger, alternate self just really fucking sucked. Dirk was and is a part of him, even if not literally. A piece of himself somewhere out there in the universe now. He just hopes wherever he is, he's not alone. He knows how much it sucks to feel lonely. It hurts in a way nothing else does, and since Dirk is a piece of him, he can't help but worry for him.]

kirlia and onix here.
theyll be trained well and taken care of.
i can promise you that much.

[He hesitates as he goes to type more. He's... technically a version of Dirk. And he knows Jake is probably pretty fucking upset- who wouldn't be? So he's hesitant to talk to Jake in the event that it just makes him feel worse off than he is. As if he's a walking reminder that Dirk was here- is still here- just... Not the fucking same one, in the end. The least he can do though, is offer. If Jake doesn't want to talk, then he won't force him to.]

if you need to talk...
just saying im here.

[Private]

[hoperaider]

[Hearing from both Striders is truly something Jake appreciates. Not to mention they've lost just as much as Jake has with Dirk's leaving, if not more.

He's about to type up his own response when he sees the next part. He can't help hugging his knees to his chest as he types. Bro and Dirk are very similar, Jake can't deny that. However, he can still see the differences between them, enough of a difference that it doesn't hurt as much as it could've been. At least, not over text. Seeing Bro...that's an entirely different story. Jake doesn't think he could take seeing the extremely familiar face at the moment.]

Thank you bro.
Theyre certainly in capable hands!

Id.
Id like that.
If its not awkward or uncomfortable for you that is.

[usedshooshpap]

IT'S NOT A PERMANENT THING, ENGLISH.

[TEXT | PRIVATE]

[when_turks_fly]

[ Another loss? Valeria's fist hits the mattress as she clenches the Gear that much more tightly with her other hand and tries to straighten up, to reread the message. It's Jake's font. She's realized that. Would know that green font and particular way of typing anywhere, but the message itself... gods, of all the people to disappear, why Dirk? Why did it have to be Dirk? She steels herself almost immediately after asking herself that question. It's a blow, alright, one that will shake her the moment she lets up, but she's got to keep it together for Jake. She's got to keep it together in general. Today just --

It doesn't matter. Putting her fingers to the keys, she types. ]

I've got Sawtooth, Jake. You can rest assured he's in good hands. It's not him I'm worried about, though.