As we sift through the hour glass

[knightime]

Characters: Dave Strider and Open to anyone
Setting: Around the Tower
Format: Either
Summary: It's been forty years from Dave's point of view.
Warnings: Possible mentions of death. Mention of injuries. Dave not being able to talk. Time problems. Replies being made with rememberstime.


[Dorm Levels]
A young man stands in his dorm room.

Hahaha. Except he's been doing this for forty years, so it's not all that surprising. Dave was more mystified over the fact that his Ninetales looks much too young. Hell, he's pretty sure she's in the exact condition she was when he first got her when he turned fourteen. She seems rather confused too, almost not recognizing him for who he is. It's only a brief moment before she's approached Dave and is licking at his hands and headbutting him affectionately.

Dave kneel down to inspect her thoroughly. He felt the strange pause in time. Of course he did. It's impossible not to have felt it at his level. Dave has basically mastered what he can of his aspect. Like a real knight of time.

This? This makes absolutely no sense, not that time ever really did. He inspects her for a minute longer before trying to check the time on the terminals.

Welp. That was a useless endeavor.

Dave beckons her to follow him, intent on leaving the Dorm and out to the other floors. Perhaps you're in the room or perhaps you were looking for Dave right as he's about to head out.

[Floor 38: Lounge]
Dave was sprawled out on one of the beanbags letting Missy run about the room. He usually chooses this floor over floor four, being farther away and making it a little more quiet.

He's got a pad of paper at hand and he's lazily sketching things out. Mainly, Missy, although it's hard when she was all over the place. Not having a camera lead to being out of a hobby. He's picked up drawing again to make up for the inability to take photos. It was a good way to pass time and it was something he could do quietly.

[Floor 3: Library]
He's used the library a lot more since he's gotten older, burying himself in as many books as he can and reading them. Right now? He's seeing if maybe there's anyway to gather information on the current predicament. He highly doubts it, but it's also nice to touch up on things like this anyways.

Maybe he'll just read a really shitty, raunchy, romance novel while he's here.

Comments

Floor 3

[tohko_amano]

As Tohko moved a few books to their correct place in the shelves, she noticed a man moving through the shelves. Not one to just leave a patron alone if they needed help, Tohko approached him with a smile.

"Good morning! Need help finding anything?"

[rememberstime]

He studies her for a moment before giving a shake of his head. he points at the shelves in a dismissive manner to try and indicate that he's just browsing about and wasn't particularly looking for anything. He's got a good idea with how the books are shelved anyways.

Dave does give a nod in thanks though because he appreciates the gesture at the very least.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko wasn't quite sure what to make of that point..but maybe it meant that he wanted the book he was pointing to. The nod he gave only helped him solidify this idea. Quickly, she pulled out the book he pointed to and held it out to him.

"Here you are! This is what you wanted, right? And..I'm sorry..but are you having trouble speaking?"

Dorm Levels

[reddeadvirtuoso]

"Dave--!"

Dave wasn't the only one that had felt the temporal anomaly-- and the strange ripple had set off Jade more than anything had in-- two years? or was it two hundred? Maybe it was only two weeks-- minutes? No. She couldn't really be sure if the number 'two' was even relevant, but it seemed like a good place to start.

Needless to say, she hadn't done quite as well at mastering her aspect as Dave had over the years, and all the crap that the Tower had started was certainly not helping. Besides, there were only two people she could possibly even start to talk to (er, sort of) about this, and Dave was the first one she could find.

"God please non-verbally relay to me that you realize as much as I am that some fucked up shit is happening-- just happened? What the fuck was that, you gotta know what I"m talking about--!"

[rememberstime]

Dave gently places both his hands on Jade's shoulders. Jade. Jade, please. This is Dave' silent way of saying that you need to calm down. Take a chill pill. Shh. It's alright, Jade. He felt it too. Of course he did.

He gives her a nod.

Yes, he's aware of what's going on. But he indicates maybe sitting down. Maybe to give her some time to calm down (does Jade even know how to calm down?) so maybe they can discern what's happening. Or what may be happening. It would also give Dave a chance to check the network. he only checked for the time, but didn't really stick to seeing what people were saying.

[reddeadvirtuoso]

It was very very unlikely that she actually knew how to calm down anymore. And while she wasn't bordering on completely neurotic thanks to Dave's hands on her shoulders, it wasn't quite enough to make her simmer down. So, calm down a bit yes, but she didn't look that eager to actually sit down. And she had to do some work interpreting what he was thinking exactly.

She missed Dave still talked. Maybe it was just yesterday when she last heard him, but she still missed it.

"The fuck are we supposed to do? Are we actually supposed to do anything or--?" They were still the Alpha timeline, right...?

Lounge.

[chronomancer]

Whatcha drawin', Sunshine?

[Have an Eridan slumping onto your back, Dave, with little to no care about your personal space.]

[rememberstime]

[Dave jabs his pencil in the direction of Missy, who's stopped to stare at Eridan curiously. To Missy, this is probably the first time she's seen Eridan before.

On the upside, Dave makes no attempt to pry Eridan off, so Missy doesn't see the other as a potential threat. He's gotten way too used to this.]

[chronomancer]

...interesting choice.

[Eridan seems a little skeptical, but he shrugs.]

Honestly, if you need models you just need to ask. I'd love to let you draw me like your french girls, Dave.

[Is he wiggling his eyebrows at you? Of course he's wiggling his eyebrows at you. When is he not?]

Lounge

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro was tired. He hadn't been sleeping all that much lately. It was hard to do when he had so much to fucking do, and then at the end of the day he had to retire to a room with a fucking giant clown troll. It wasn't so much that Bro was freaked out by him and more the fact he didn't trust him at fucking all. It made it hard to sleep at night and when he did, it was a very light sleep. This had been going on a while, and he just hadn't said much. Why should he bother anyone with it, when it was really not that big a deal? There was shittier things to deal with anyway, lack of sleep wasn't high up on the list.

So the biggest reason Bro decided to go to the lounge was for some relaxation. Maybe it meant he was slacking off, but that was alright. He could afford to slack off for a little while, especially because everything seemed calm for the most part. No death or destruction going on right now. He could just sit around for a bit and no harm would be done.

Entering the lounge, nothing seemed entirely off. A guy he wasn't familiar with at first glance, and Dave's Pokemon who he totally wasn't jealous of. It came up to him and he bent down to give it a pat on the head. "So you're here, but where the hell's Dave?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Why did he talk to Pokemon, anyway? It wasn't like it could talk back. That was dumb.

[rememberstime]

Believe it or not, sleeping gets a little easier after the first couple of years. Or maybe that's because Dave is at the point where nightmares are just a constant that they aren't so much as nightmares as just replays of previous experiences. There's a bittersweetness to that.

Missy tilts her head before bounding over to Dave, expecting Bro to follow. She also looks like she's expecting Bro to give her a pat on the head for answering his question so well! Look. Look, this is Dave! Now give her pets because she took you to him.

Meanwhile, Dave reaches out to give her that pat on the head. He sits up properly, turning his gaze to Bro.

...Oh. Well. That...that's really jarring. And weird. He slips his shades to the top of his head, as though that will make his vision clearer or somehow change everything. Those are probably some pretty familiar eyes. You can't really mistake them for anyone else.

[plushaeusrumpified]

Bro watches as Missy heads over to the person he'd originally brushed off as someone unfamiliar. He arches an eyebrow when Missy stops in front of him, and that look on it's face clearly says that she expects to be rewarded. Rewarded for being completely wrong, apparently, because that's not Dave and the Pokemon is apparently stupid. Which is weird, he always thought Ninetails was intelligent. Guess he's wrong on that one. It's kinda disappointing, really.

"Dude, that's not-"

But then the person turns around, and Bro is caught off guard, because he looks really fucking familiar. And then he lifts his shades, and he gets a look at those eyes. There's no mistaking it, he's looking at Dave and he can't believe it. How? How the fuck is this actually a thing? Because last he checked, Dave was 14. Not... however the fuck old this guy is. So his first thoughts are that this is a new Dave, an alternate Dave. Not... his Dave. But why would Missy be treating him like regular Dave if he weren't?

"Are you... mine?" he finally manages to get out, his voice more hesitant than he wishes it were. The phrasing might be weird, but it's the only way he can think to ask it.

Dorm

[ceasetoexist]

[Well. Alright. This he wasn't expecting so much.

Pokey just stares at the older Dave, and then at the Ninetails. He's...he's pretty sure the older guy is his roommate, though when Dave got so much older he has no idea. The Pokemon is kind of a surprise too; Pokey knows about Pokemon thanks to all the trainers who had been running around in Mayfield, but even then he isn't sure the Ninetails is one since he'll be damned if he ever saw a Ninetails, let alone the Dave he knew having had one.

For someone who'd kind of specialized for years in fucking around with time and space, the amount of differences and alternate universes that seem to exist out there are beginning to give him a headache. The fact that Dave has magically aged, too, is weirding him out a little. ...Maybe it's a different Dave, or someone who just looks like Dave but older. Who the hell knows in places like this.

He's not sure how to even approach this, though he guesses he might as well. Whether or not this person is someone who had previously been his roommate or some new one, he's probably going to have to talk to him sometime or another. But it's not like he can just go and ask if he's Dave. If he is, it makes him seem stupid. If the guy isn't, then Pokey comes off as creepy as hell.

So he'll walk over to Dave and the Ninetails, still keeping a healthy distance, and ask.]

So. Not to sound like a jerkface, but what is that?

[He jerks a thumb at the Ninetails, as if the question wasn't obvious.]

[rememberstime]

[Dave stares back kind of blankly for a moment. The most jarring part of this entire thing is people are seeing older people who shouldn't be older or they're older and seeing people who should be older. Either way, both sides are really confused and neither know how to go about this.

But Dave recognizes Pokey. He's just...wow yeah, he's not gonna think too hard on this. The Tower is fucking with them. What's new. It's basically the same thing each month. Can't even be bothered. Whatever.

Missy's ears perk up and she bounds over to sniff at Pokey before licking at his hand and headbutting him affectionately. Missy had seen Pokey a bunch last month. It made sense that she kind of became background noise considering the flu epidemic that happened. But now? She whines at Pokey for attention. She's kind of spoiled.

Dave, on the other hand, was digging through his pocket for some paper. He scrawls something down and holds it out to Pokey. Yeah. Uhh. I hope you like being the only one who can speak in this conversation.]

pokémon
fuck if i know i got her for my birthday
how are you so young???

[ceasetoexist]

Pokemon huh.

[So it is one of them. Pokey just looks and frowns a little as the Ninetails licks at his hand and tries to get his attention. The thought goes through his mind of just pushing her away for the moment in annoyance, as affection still wasn't something Pokey was good at showing, be it to another person or even to a pet.

Still, he decides to be less of a jerk and places his hand on Missy's head, scratching behind her ears before looking up and frowning at Dave.]

What do you mean "how am I so young"? This is how I've been the last two months of been here idiot. You're the one who's way too old.

lounge

[ghostytrainer]

[After the strange and admittedly slightly awkward encounter he had upon waking, John really isn't as surprised to see Dave in this state as he could have been. After all, Rose was suddenly older too. Why not Dave too? Hell, he's willing to bet he'll run into an older Jade somewhere along the line too.]

[Man, he never gets to do anything cool.]

[He walks across the room, Chandel the Litwick following after him as always, and stops in front of Dave.]

You too, huh? [He attempts to peer at the pad of paper.] What'cha doodling? More dicks? It's dicks, isn't it?

[You're filling your notebook with penises, don't even lie Dave. He knows you. He knows.]

[rememberstime]

[You're probably better off being young, John. Shit has happened in those forty years for him. Shit has happened.

Missy bounds back over to the two of them, looking fairly excited to see John around. John, who is the age he should be!

While Missy tries to garner both their attentions, Dave holds the pad of paper out to John to show the drawing is actually Missy and not a penis. But then he flips back a few pages and yep. Those are penises. Definitely peens. Some are obviously crudely drawn. Some...probably shouldn't have had the amount of time put into them like he had. But hey, he can draw whatever the fuck he wants.

He doesn't utter a word the entire time.]

[ghostytrainer]

Pffttthaha!! You never change, do you? [He laughs a little more, scratching Missy behind the ears.]

Okay well, I guess technically your artistic skills changed. That first one of Missy was really good. And not a single pork chop mouth on her, color me impressed.

library

[gloomyapoplectic]

[Kanaya has always liked reading, but nothing in this place really compares to Prospit's libraries. Still, she's starting to run out of things she wants to sew and her chainsaw is due for maintenance before she uses it for more monster-killing.

She's kind of surprised to see Dave here, though!]

For some reason I have never taken Striders as the type to dwell in areas of learning. [Between Jade and Dave, at least...]

library

[rememberstime]

[Dave wasn't really a reader at first. It became more of a hobby when he lost his ability to speak and he needed much quieter activities to get through. It also had served as a good way to distract himself from that harsh reality until he felt a lot better about it.

Dave just smirked and tapped his finger on the cover. It's some generic, raunchy romance novel. Learning is definitely not a word you associate with these kind of books, Kanaya.]

[gloomyapoplectic]

[Kanaya squints a little to get a better look at the cover. When she makes it out, her mouth twists into a grimace -- it looks like it tries to be a smile, but it's too embarrassed. There's a hint of red in her cheeks.]

Consider my stance corrected. Are you really going to rot your pan reading that?

[heirterosexual]

John pretty much literally ran into Dave, except he was floating like he generally did so it was sort of a low-impact piff, and he bounced off and floated backward, scrunching his face up.

"...I think I'd like to formally request that you shrink, now," he offered dumbly.

[rememberstime]

Young Johns are so nice to see, even if it's really jarring. But he just smiles in response. Yep. Stoic Dave Strider just giving you a smile and he kind of...just kneels a bit.

Okay, Dave is being a smartass, but John did request him to shrink. It would be rude of him not to try and fill that request, right?

Lounge! And late as fuck oops.

[tentacletrainer]

She was already a little drunk, and shit spotting Dave only made her grab a drink to go. He was too old. Not that she wasn't too old too, but Dave had to be older than her. Though at least she was young and beautiful and a total vixen compared to someone in their group. Making her way over to him, she nudges her butt next to his on his seat, glancing at his drawing whilst keeping her drink away from it.

"So what'cha drawing Davey?"

<3

[rememberstime]

He doesn't want to hear anything about age. He's probably older than he actually is. That's what happens when you're a time traveler though. Oh dang, you're the worst drunk, Rose. Except not really. He actually finds her drunk nature kind of funny sometimes. Sometimes it makes him worried though.

He chuckles silently and points his finger to Missy, who's stopped her antics to stare at Rose. Missy is confused! She approaches them, curious as to who the stranger next to Dave was and why she looks a lot like Rose!