towerofanimus | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

Characters: Bro and Dave Strider (AU)
Setting: media room
Format: action
Summary: Dave comes to find Bro
Warnings: Nothing for the moment

[Bro still hasn't been sleeping that well lately, though he did manage one good night recently, which helped a little overall. Worse than that though, he hasn't been eating much lately either, not since February began and all the pink shit made it's way into everyone's diet. He doesn't trust it not to fuck with him somehow, and you know what? He just hates the pink, cutesy shit. V-day was never his favorite holiday in the least, not even ironically. Maybe it was because he always made himself a loner in the love department- sleeping with people was easier than falling in love, after all.

Either way, though, he's in the media room. It's one of his favorite places to hang out. It's one of the only places he tends to feel relaxed in, other than on the meadow floor where it's warmer. This is the one floor he feels like he can doze off safely in for a little while, which is exactly what he's currently doing. Dozing off. He's still on his guard though, and is prepared to defend himself at the slightest sign of trouble.

For now though? Dozing.]

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[Bro saying sorry is a scary thing. It's right up there with the scared tone Rose used, or the tired way the other Dave carried himself. But, he isn't a kid anymore. He needs to be back on par with things.

Dave exhales slowly, and shrugs.] Not like we can help that. Only thing I can do is get back on par with a sword. Pokeland made it illegal to have a weapon and took it from us.

Which is stupid. Some of these things are literally made of steel themselves or spikes.

[The thing is? You can't be on par with this place. It's just physically impossible. No matter how hard you try, it just fucks with you harder. That's Bro's problem with it. With the whole thing. He prepared Dave for SBURB. Not... this. Nothing could prepare anyone for this.]

I'll train you again, then. [With... certain precautions. He's not going to do anything nearly as hardcore as before. Not when the tower is going to hurt him enough.] We'll find you a sword and you can get your skills back up. But... I'd almost say it's pointless, given this place. I can't really prepare you for the shit it puts you through... It's just not fucking possible.

[And the fact that he feels guilty for that shows in his voice. This place has done a number on him. He just wants to protect every goddamn body but he can't, and he hates himself for it.]

[The guilt is what gets to him. It reminds him of kneeling at Bro's corpse and wondering what he could have done to stop it. Over and over racing through time only to find out he couldn't stop the events that were coming. His nightmares are a burst of scarlet spray and searing green fire. Being reduced to nothing and powerless to stop anything, so he bitterly rolled with it.

He wonders if dying early in Sburb is a blessing. Seconds after that his memory supplies shattered space and the dying screams of thousands. He shuts his eyes against it. He'd had time to settle these things. Time to realize that sometimes you could do nothing but wait.

So.] I'm not asking you to prepare me for shit that's ahead, just to help me get back up to speed. But, [He lifts his head up to meet his brother (Father, his mind reminded him)'s eyes without wincing or dropping his gaze.]

nothing is pointless. [He wouldn't be cowed or beaten to the edge. Not like Sburb had. Because he couldn't afford to be like that. He had people to get back to and people to defend.]

[Maybe it's a sign of just how much this place has gotten to him, but because when Dave says that, he doesn't really believe it. This place has a way of making you feel like it's pointless. Not being able to protect yourself, your loved ones from dying near daily makes it really hard to believe that there's a point to anything. But just because he doesn't believe there's a point, doesn't mean he's going to turn Dave down. No, he has every intention of following through and getting Dave back up to par.]

Hold on to that optimism, because it'll get you far.

[He's lost his for the most part, so it's good that Dave has some. Who knows, maybe he'll end up rubbing off on Bro and give him some. One could only hope, anyway. And just because Bro was losing his optimism didn't mean that he wouldn't still try and protect Dave as best he could. Both Daves. With everything he has.]

Regardless of what happens, I hope you at least know I'm here for you. No matter what. You got that?

Got me this far. Course you'll be here, and I'll be here for you. It's how we work. [It isn't optimism, not really. It's a kind of cynical knowledge that the universe has a plan and every piece of it will fall as it is supposed to. Time has a rigid system and it murders any one who dares go against it.

He would know, he's had to haul away his own corpse more than once. But, that doesn't absolve him of his responsibility to the timeline and how it functions. It puts ten times more pressure on and laughs as he is forced to circle back to ensure he doesn't die an awful death.

Feeling helpless isn't new. The sense that everyone could die and if they were meant too, he couldn't stop it...all familiar. God there is something wrong with him in how calm he feels.] Ok, we've exhausted our sap quota. Want to see a dragon?

[Hahaha. Sap quota. The idea of that is quite honestly funny. In a way, being in Animus has really opened him up to being a sap more often, because... Well, when you fucking die all the time, you really don't have time to beat around the bush with feelings. He feels the need to say what he's feeling more often as a result of being here. Just so that it's said, so that Dave can't doubt his feelings. Maybe it's stupid, when you just end up coming back, but... If it somehow makes dying easier, then that has to count for something, right?

So no... He doesn't really have a sap quota, but he isn't going to argue on it. That would be stupid, after all. He's more than fine to move on, now that he's made sure Dave knows he's there to watch his back.]

A dragon? Sure. Why the hell not.

[Dave takes a pokeball off his belt and drops it to the floor. It clicks open and Snoop stretches her wings as she emerges. Her first order of business is to butt Dave with her head before she regards Bro.

There is little he can do to ease Bro's mind and he knows that. But he can distract him. Dave pats his dragonite's nose and nods to him.] This is Snoop.

Caught her as a dratini in the Dragon Cave in Johto. My starter was a flaming pony and has since did a gallop up the ladder to flame unicorn that goes at mach fucking speeds.

[When Bro catches sight of the Dragonite, he's honestly a bit overwhelmed with the fact he's actually staring at a fucking. Dragonite. Yeah he's seen John and Rose's Pokemon, but those... Those are sort of lame in comparison to this and holy shit he's just. Staring at it. He barely registers what Dave says at first as he stares. And then it finally gets to him, and he snaps out of it.]

You have a Rapidash?

[He sounds... excited, to say the least. Just holy shit. This is kind of a really fucking awesome thing he's witnessing right now.]

What else?

I have Rapidash, Garchomp an earth Dragon, and, [He nods to Snoop and she carefully takes out the Bagon egg. Dave takes it from her to tuck his arms around it to keep it warm.] This is a bagon egg. It's getting close to hatching. Maybe, another four days?

Hard to tell sometimes. [He tucks it back away very gently. He really wants to fuss over it but, doing that would ruin his cool.]

[Man, he's impressed. Like... Christ. Pokemon, man. Pokemon. He's a total nerd at heart, so this is just the best thing ever. He's kind of jealous, if he's perfectly honest with himself. All these people from his universe showing up with Pokemon. He wants one, goddamn it.]

Damn, kid. That's some rad as fuck shit. I'm impressed.

[He thought he'd been over sucking up praise from Bro. Boy is he wrong. The comment just lifts his spirits up as he allows himself to relax a little. Only a little. Dave wasn't raised to permit his guard to come down.] Yeah, they're really badass. I've been specializing in fire, dark, and dragon types. The plan was to train and raise dragons. Master them and their sick moves and varied move pool.

[Soak it up, Dave. Positive encouragement is about the only good thing you're ever going to get in the tower, because everything else is just out to make you miserable.

He nods as Dave speaks, giving him a thumbs up.]

So basically all the best types. Dragons kick some fucking ass. They always have and always will.

And you can teach them a lot to knock out all types of pokemon including ice. Though in the event of that, fire unicorn can leap into the action. [He knows exactly what he's taking about. Months of working with his team has him thinking in terms of group tactics and how to down a single target with all speed.]

Binding and restricting moves plus agility make the battle go fast in our favor.

[Bro nods as Dave speaks, already pretty much engaging in nerd mode. Man it's been a while since he played the games, but he remembers it all so clearly that it doesn't even matter. The difference is though, Dave is obviously speaking from actual experience and he feels a bit inferior in comparison. Only a little, though. He's trying not to let it get to him that much though. Mostly he just feels kind of jealous, because goddamn he would love to be a Pokemon trainer. But alas, it clearly wasn't meant to be. And really, he's pretty goddamn proud that this Dave managed to do so well for himself in that world of Pokemon he was in.]

Man you really got the hang of that shit, didn't you? [There's a certain fond inflection in his voice, and he just grins lightly.] Type advantages and disadvantages are a bitch to figure out at first, but when you really get the hang of 'em, your team can kick all kinds of ass. Then again, I'm only speaking from game knowledge. You've got the real goddamn deal. So you probably know more than I do, at this rate.

Edited 2013-03-29 03:06 (UTC)

I only know more than you because I had a lot of people around to teach me. John knows this stuff ten times better than me. [It eases his mind to hear that fondness and his shoulders loosen up. He'd expected....well he didn't know what to expect. That has always been the thing about dealing with Bro, nothing is certain. The whole conversation could turn on an instant only he sees.]

Still so ridiculous though that they didn't allow weapons. when Team Rocket did whatever it wanted. Unlike the games and shit they're competent. Sometimes a bit too much. [He isn't from when Rose got hurt, so he can't say exactly how well they do. Not yet.]

Ahaha, yeah. I'd imagine it's a lot more in depth when you actually deal with it in real life.

[That has him raising eyebrows- the bit about Team Rocket. He's so used to them being comic relief that the idea of them being competent is kind of laughable. But Dave sounds pretty serious, and considering what he's dealing with here, he isn't putting it past other worlds to be just as dangerous.]

So much for comic relief, then. You ever crossed paths with 'em yourself?

A few times. People have gotten really hurt when they pull their shit. I tend to take offense when anyone sets fire to a tower and causes massive damage to a lot of people. Worse, it was the bellsprout tower. [Those poor plants. He can still hear Bro telling him he was fine. But all he could think about was green fire and a wind swept plateau. The coppery tang of blood is just a thought away.]

[Bro's eyebrows shoot into the air, and after a moment he just shakes his head. Jesus Christ, he can imagine how badly that must've gone, what with... Well, the Bellsprouts in the tower. And whatever else might've lived there. It's somewhat of a depressing thought, even for someone like Bro.]

That's fucked up. What the hell did they stand to gain by burning it down, anyway? Kill a few Bellsprout? What's the fucking point?

When I know what the point was, I'll tell you. I still don't fucking know. They did some genetics thing that had some of my friends mixed with pokemon before I got there. It sounds really pointless. [And dumb.]

I--

[He stops, as that sinks in. And... then he has to admit something that might not be entirely the best thing.]

Admittedly, a Pokemon/Human mix sounds kind of badass...

John couldn't talk for a while. He had fangs and shit. [Dave sees the practical bad sides to this from experience.]

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