Right at 7pm - Open to allstrideonstriderOctober 17 2011, 12:27:08 UTC
[Dave had taken his time on the walk to the Cathedral. He's watched the rift from behind his shades with the look of someone who knew exactly what it was.
It wasn't like that wasn't ahead of him at home. The trolls had talked about it endlessly and everything had been leading up to it like a runaway train. Who knew what came after that.
His attention shifted, as it always did, focusing on the servants. He didn't like how they were treated or even the battered things that wouldn't hold against an unbroken weapon. Or a broken one if you looked at the legendary sword tucked into his Sylladex.
It was difficult to act like he didn't give a damn when he wanted to rip the armor off of them and tell them to go and be free. Like that kid telling Willy to jump to freedom. He chose to ball his hands into fists as he strode between them.
Because there wasn't much of a choice. If he wanted to see what was going on, he had to go. And he had to behave which was going to be difficult. But, Dave was a Strider and they specialized in watching things while being cool. They also were impressive assholes but that was beside the point.
He stepped inside without bothering to hide his presence. This wasn't a time loop. He didn't have to consider the implications of another timeline. For the occasion, he'd put on the only suit he had left. It was a formal black suit with a broken record stitched on the right side of the chest.
He didn't make for the food laid out. No, he stepped back, out of everyone's way and watched from behind his shades.]
[She'd come by herself, truthfully unaware of where Kaito and Zero might have been to drag them along (in fact, she was beginning to suspect-beginning to worry-that they'd gone home without her.
But, she promised herself that she wouldn't dwell, would play her part as any Kuran would at a setting like this: noble, polite, and by the books. An affair like this was one to be taken seriously which was probably why she was dressed formally as well, in an off-white dress as she cautiously approached Dave. She'd never seen him before, but she was pretty sure they must have spoken on the network at least once.
The girl gaves a small smile, hands settled behind her back. He looked really serious, more like someone on guard waiting for trouble than one here to enjoy a party (perhaps, she was the only one who really took it for what it was, here. But, she trusted Dai enough even if those servants of his caused more than enough suspicion and speculation to possible truer motives.]
[Dave has noted people as they entered the room. One of the perks of shades was no one knew where you were looking. His eyes were on the girl when she approached him but his hand never strayed to the sylladex in his coat pocket. He didn’t think she was trouble.
The person he didn’t trust was Dai. No one good treated people like they were things like that. To be fair, he’d robbed the people of his land of their life savings. Dave would argue his cause for that was just and it wasn’t like he was using them as cannon fodder.
He shrugged at the girl’s question.] Depends on who shows up or what goes down tonight. You never know what’s ahead.
[The response is a familiar one to her. She nods before turning to look over the area herself, a bit suspicious but mostly trying to hide it behind her smile.
After all, you always received more with honey than vinegar. Or some saying like that her father had preached every so often when in one of his moods.]
I don't think we've ever had a peaceful event without it being interrupted, to be honest.
[Dave and trust tend to throw it down when it comes to things like this. He was a cool kid, they didn't do sweet. But he could act like he wasn't suspicious. When really he's boiling with all the feelings ever. Most of it not even about this place.]
I'm not surprised. They're still at war, aren't they? Nothing's peaceful about that.
And, hmm... [She seems to give it some honest thought and try to be positive about it, but--!] may-no, probably not. Nothing in this place ever seems to go smoothly.
[ dai could only count himself lucky, holding enough answers to dangle as a lure over the heads of others, giving him such freedom and privilege. it certainly made his parties and his company more inviting than they'd otherwise be, he knew; he'd always had a little trouble keeping friends, and even the ones he did have had a tendency to leave, sooner or later. he preferred to think it wasn’t because of him, specifically, but it was rather disheartening.
at least some small part of his goal did somewhat rely on those sorts of niceties.
... but that was why dave's arrival was so especially welcome to him, specifically. he was new, rather less jaded - and even if he'd formulated a judgement against him already, well, dai didn't mind so much. it was that sort of resistance that made life more interesting, that encouraged a bit of social strategy. (... though, maybe he'd just gotten used to being far more popular with children. he couldn't quite shake the desire to make dave like him, in the purest meaning of the word.)
he wasn’t that difficult to spot on arrival, with having made something of an effort in formality and smartness. dai didn't want anything too flashy from his guests (though perhaps only because he knew better than to expect it...), but it really was nice not to be the only one in a suit. he slid up quietly, shifting to rest against the wall beside him, observing him in a none-too-subtle sort of way. ]
... Ah, the first of what's likely to be a lot of wallflowers. But I hope that doesn’t mean you aren’t enjoying yourself, Dave?
[ or as much as he could, considering he had rather a lot of burdens waiting for him at home. did they chew at him, still? on further reflection, it did normally take humans a while to recover from that sort of knowledge. ]
[If Dai only knew how utterly wrong he was about Dave. From day one, he was raised to be a warrior and hammered into the high speed, sword fighter that he became. Then came the game Sburb where he watched everything fall to ruin and no amount of running through time could stop it.
He'd seen manipulations, puppetry, and double dealing under the table before his death came in the form of an ironic warp of space so he'd take several rounds of bullets. Instead of the unkillable Bec Noir. Dave Strider is a fatalistic cynic that knew time was unforgivable and people often had some agenda besides being friendly. Except for John and Jade. They were just derps.
He's been psychoanalyzed by his sister quite a bit too. And he planned to learn everything he could by the means he was used to. Dave kept his expression perfectly blank and raised an eyebrow at Dai. Yet, he shifted his head so the eyes he was hiding were still hidden.]
A guy doesn't have to mingle to enjoy something. First rule of a party is you have to be there. That's also the only rule.
[His burdens were placed like they always were, down deep so they could pile up.]
[ he suppressed it well, anything that might give dai reason to worry about his amicability. still, that was part of the pleasure of new people, wasn't it? getting into their heads. learning about them, and their strengths. and their weaknesses.
he met dave's invisible gaze. the problem with shades was always fighting the temptation not to take them off of someone. really, one could only wonder what he had to hide. ]
I do hope to, since you've all given your time and come here for me. [ he slid a bit closer, giving him a chummy little elbow-nudge. kids love that, right. ] You don't mind, do you? I wouldn't wish to enforce unwilling mingling.
It wasn't like that wasn't ahead of him at home. The trolls had talked about it endlessly and everything had been leading up to it like a runaway train. Who knew what came after that.
His attention shifted, as it always did, focusing on the servants. He didn't like how they were treated or even the battered things that wouldn't hold against an unbroken weapon. Or a broken one if you looked at the legendary sword tucked into his Sylladex.
It was difficult to act like he didn't give a damn when he wanted to rip the armor off of them and tell them to go and be free. Like that kid telling Willy to jump to freedom. He chose to ball his hands into fists as he strode between them.
Because there wasn't much of a choice. If he wanted to see what was going on, he had to go. And he had to behave which was going to be difficult. But, Dave was a Strider and they specialized in watching things while being cool. They also were impressive assholes but that was beside the point.
He stepped inside without bothering to hide his presence. This wasn't a time loop. He didn't have to consider the implications of another timeline. For the occasion, he'd put on the only suit he had left. It was a formal black suit with a broken record stitched on the right side of the chest.
He didn't make for the food laid out. No, he stepped back, out of everyone's way and watched from behind his shades.]
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But, she promised herself that she wouldn't dwell, would play her part as any Kuran would at a setting like this: noble, polite, and by the books. An affair like this was one to be taken seriously which was probably why she was dressed formally as well, in an off-white dress as she cautiously approached Dave. She'd never seen him before, but she was pretty sure they must have spoken on the network at least once.
The girl gaves a small smile, hands settled behind her back. He looked really serious, more like someone on guard waiting for trouble than one here to enjoy a party (perhaps, she was the only one who really took it for what it was, here. But, she trusted Dai enough even if those servants of his caused more than enough suspicion and speculation to possible truer motives.]
Are you planning to stand there all night...?
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The person he didn’t trust was Dai. No one good treated people like they were things like that. To be fair, he’d robbed the people of his land of their life savings. Dave would argue his cause for that was just and it wasn’t like he was using them as cannon fodder.
He shrugged at the girl’s question.] Depends on who shows up or what goes down tonight. You never know what’s ahead.
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After all, you always received more with honey than vinegar. Or some saying like that her father had preached every so often when in one of his moods.]
I don't think we've ever had a peaceful event without it being interrupted, to be honest.
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I'm not surprised. They're still at war, aren't they? Nothing's peaceful about that.
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[Her gaze stops on Caim before floating over to Dai.]
They try, though.
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It's just how it is. You roll with it when it comes and hope your best judgment doesn't screw anything up.
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Mind if I ask you your name?
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Yuuki Kuran. It's nice to meet you.
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And, hmm... [She seems to give it some honest thought and try to be positive about it, but--!] may-no, probably not. Nothing in this place ever seems to go smoothly.
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at least some small part of his goal did somewhat rely on those sorts of niceties.
... but that was why dave's arrival was so especially welcome to him, specifically. he was new, rather less jaded - and even if he'd formulated a judgement against him already, well, dai didn't mind so much. it was that sort of resistance that made life more interesting, that encouraged a bit of social strategy. (... though, maybe he'd just gotten used to being far more popular with children. he couldn't quite shake the desire to make dave like him, in the purest meaning of the word.)
he wasn’t that difficult to spot on arrival, with having made something of an effort in formality and smartness. dai didn't want anything too flashy from his guests (though perhaps only because he knew better than to expect it...), but it really was nice not to be the only one in a suit. he slid up quietly, shifting to rest against the wall beside him, observing him in a none-too-subtle sort of way. ]
... Ah, the first of what's likely to be a lot of wallflowers. But I hope that doesn’t mean you aren’t enjoying yourself, Dave?
[ or as much as he could, considering he had rather a lot of burdens waiting for him at home. did they chew at him, still? on further reflection, it did normally take humans a while to recover from that sort of knowledge. ]
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He'd seen manipulations, puppetry, and double dealing under the table before his death came in the form of an ironic warp of space so he'd take several rounds of bullets. Instead of the unkillable Bec Noir. Dave Strider is a fatalistic cynic that knew time was unforgivable and people often had some agenda besides being friendly. Except for John and Jade. They were just derps.
He's been psychoanalyzed by his sister quite a bit too. And he planned to learn everything he could by the means he was used to. Dave kept his expression perfectly blank and raised an eyebrow at Dai. Yet, he shifted his head so the eyes he was hiding were still hidden.]
A guy doesn't have to mingle to enjoy something. First rule of a party is you have to be there. That's also the only rule.
[His burdens were placed like they always were, down deep so they could pile up.]
Taking it upon yourself to greet all of us?
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he met dave's invisible gaze. the problem with shades was always fighting the temptation not to take them off of someone. really, one could only wonder what he had to hide. ]
I do hope to, since you've all given your time and come here for me. [ he slid a bit closer, giving him a chummy little elbow-nudge. kids love that, right. ] You don't mind, do you? I wouldn't wish to enforce unwilling mingling.
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