[OPEN]

[brohoof]

Who| Dirk Strider and YOU. Yes, you with the face.
What| Dirk's arrival.
Where| Out in the Capitol, then the roof.
When| After his briefing.
Warnings/Notes| None that I can think of!

Dirk was... angry, to say the absolute, very least. After the trickster debacle, everything had gone to hell. Or rather, it was already hell and had only gotten worse. He had no way of knowing if Jane or Roxy or Jake were alright, thanks to being teleported away.

And then he'd woken up here. Told he had to play some sick and twisted games. It was bullshit. He has no intention of doing what they say- but he's not stupid enough to actually make a move against them right now. They took his weapon, and the only remnants of his godtier are the clothes on his back, which he's currently wearing. So that cuts flying away out of his list of potential ways to get out of this shit.

Right now? He's roaming the capitol, taking it all in and trying to look for some way to leave, even if in his gut he feels like it's pointless to even try. At the same time, he's getting gross deja vu simply from observing the capitol people. It's like reliving trickster mode all over again, with the vibrant colors and the weird sense of fashion. The only thing missing is candy in people's hair. Even their personalities seemed weirdly enthusiastic, though he never stopped to converse with anyone. He would much rather watch from a distance instead of have to talk to any of them.

Eventually when he really starts to feel like there's absolutely no way he's going to find a way back home, he stops at a nearby bench and just kind of... lays down on it. He's done. This is all bullshit, and he's just done with it all. So he's just going to lie there and stare at the sky for a while. His mind is racing though, wondering how the fuck he's going to get out of this shit and get back to his friends.

[OPTION B: Roof of the training center.]

It's hours later when the sun's finally setting and casting an orangey glow over the Capitol that Dirk makes his way back to the training center. He doesn't stop at his room though, and just decides to go up to the roof to watch the sunset. He's feeling frustratingly hollow, as if he's used up every ounce of his ability to give a fuck trying to find a way to get out of the city. Or maybe it's just that he's tired, and it's not really sunk in completely yet.

Either way, he feels simultaneously nothing, and like complete shit. So when he's on the roof, he sits down and stares out at the Capitol, the way the dying sunlight reflects over the buildings. He'd be lying if he said the place wasn't gorgeous. Absolutely so. But it wasn't for him. It was too fancy, too... foreign. He'd rather be back in the Medium than be here.

After a while, he lets out a sigh and runs a shakes his head. "Son of a dick, this is stupid," he murmurs to himself. He's angry- mostly right now, at himself. For all of his intelligence, he should be able to find a way back home. Instead, he's resigned himself to the roof watching a goddamn sunset. It felt too much like giving up. But what else was he supposed to do? It would be suicide to do anything else at this point. All he could really do is... wait, and hope an opportunity presented itself.

Comments

[victorofhope]

Eridan isn't expecting to find anyone on the roof - but, really, with these ninety-some odd tributes running around it shouldn't surprise him as much as it does.

He sighs to himself, staring at the other boy glumly. He's not any of the tributes he recognizes, but that doesn't really mean much. He barely recognizes the tributes he's supposed to be mentoring, much less sorry saps assigned to other districts. (Which is something he really, really doesn't understand - but it's not something he can question.)

Oh well. He's not going to let this new loser ruin his plans for the night. He gathers his bag, looking around for a place to sit that's not an awkward position when he hears...something. He can't make out the words, but he knows somebody said something. "What was that?"

[brohoof]

At the voice behind him, Dirk whips around and is on his feet as fast as possible- which isn't nearly as fast as he's used to moving. Everything feels sluggish right now, and it's going to take some adjusting to get used to the fact he can't move at the speed of light like he could back home. He takes a defensive position though, as months in the medium have taught him to be on guard, even if he doesn't have a weapon.

He looks the boy up and down critically, taking in everything he can about him. "I said, and I quote, "Son of a dick, this is stupid." Dirk says after a moment, relaxing slightly when he feels like he's not about to get attacked. "Who're you?"

[victorofhope]

Eridan can't say he's that thrown by Dirk's reaction - he's known lots of kids who were skittish as hell. He can be pretty jumpy himself...It's just how kids tend to be, when they know that one day they can be chosen to fight to the death to maybe make their lives easier for one year.

Though now they don't have to worry about that.

"Interestin' phrase." Eridan scoots forward, nudging at the ground before sitting down heavily. "Name's Eridan. I'm one a' the mentors here."

[brohoof]

Dirk just kind of watches as he sits down. When it becomes clear that Eridan isn't going to attack, he relaxes fully, though he doesn't sit back down himself. Not yet. He can't help but quirk an eyebrow though, at the last bit. "A mentor?" he asks, his tone skeptical, and for a variety of reasons. For one, why the fuck does this place need mentors? And two... "Aren't you too young to be a mentor? You look fifteen."

HI DIRK I HOPE YOU LIKE TROLLS STARING AT YOU (LOL NO)

[sleeplessinalternia]

Karkat almost walks right past the guy on the bench, except the symbol on his chest catches his eye and Karkat has fucking seen that symbol before. He creeps up to get a better look at it.

A heart, one side hollow and the other side filled in. That's... that's the Heart symbol, Nepeta's Heart symbol. From Sgrub. He'd seen it once or twice over the course of the game, on the rare occasion when all their symbols had been assembled in some puzzle or code or whatever. And what Karkat initially thought was just a stupid capitol outfit looks a fucking lot like godtier pajamas.

What the fuck is a human doing wearing Sgrub godtier pajamas? And if he's godtier then where the fuck are his wings?

His dream has come true!

[brohoof]

Dirk can feel the eyes on him. It's not the first time he's been stared at today, but he sort of expects them to pass by after a second or two of their nosy gawking. Except... They don't. And he hears Karkat approaching. Still, he just stares up at the sky without acknowledging that he knows Karkat is looking. It's not until a few seconds pass and he's still being stared at that he finally decides to actually say something.

Without looking towards Karkat, he says, "If you took a picture, it'd last longer. But hey, feel free to keep making me out to be a circus animal. I'm far from the main attraction in this city."

Re: His dream has come true!

[sleeplessinalternia]

Karkat rolls his eyes. "Bite me. You have no fucking idea what it's like to have these Capitol humans see you as an animal and if you think I'm circus you have another fucking think coming." Seriously, what the hell? How does he even come across as a clown cultist?

Still. It's bugging the hell out of him. "Since when did humans play Sgrub?"

[brohoof]

"Relax, dude. I never said I thought you were circus." Dirk hasn't even looked at him. "I was talking about everyone else, so take it down a goddamn notch."

But when Karkat mentions 'Sgrub', is when Dirk finally decides to look over at him, pulling himself into a sitting position as he does so. He's a bit surprised to see that he's a troll, but whatever. He's just gonna roll with it, because why should he be surprised when everything else is fucked up as it is? "If you mean Sburb, then since a while ago."

i had to review act six act three just for you, i hope you're happy :p

[pythianjudgment]

Prowling the city has become a daily occurrence for Terezi, if only for a few hours. The colors and sounds are too amazing to pass up, even if they eventually result in a numbing sensory overload. It's really difficult to resist.

On this day, she hasn't been out for very long before stumbling across a relatively familiar figure lying on a bench. She doesn't even know his name, just that she recognizes him from that dream bubble clusterfuck as Dave's older brother... or at least his alternate self.

She approaches from behind the bench, leaning against the backrest with her forearms and "peering" down at him. She sniffs lightly, partly because those godtier jammies smell amazing and partly because it agitated him so much last time.

"Hey Mr Brain Phantom. I didn't know they let hallucinations play here, too."

completely and totally happy 8D

[brohoof]

Of all the people Dirk expected to see here, he has to say that this troll is not one of them. And yet, he can't even bring himself to be surprised when he opens his eyes from blinking and she's just there, staring at him. The universe just loves screwing with him, it's the only actual explanation for this. Their brief encounter in that dream bubble had been... interesting, to say the least. It's not that he dislikes her, but damn she has no concept of personal space at all, and it's a bit grating.

With an exasperated sigh, Dirk reaches up and pushes at her head. "Personal. Space." He says slowly. "You have no idea how it works, do you?"

[pythianjudgment]

Bad move, Dirk. Terezi has zero qualms about licking the hand that's pushing her face away from him. And she does so gleefully. Her tongue plants a nice wet trail of saliva, right along the crease of his palm.

"Says the guy who touched me first," she counters, adding an eyebrow waggle in afterwards for kicks. "Maybe you should be following your own advice, Mr. Strider!"

[brohoof]

Dirk is quick to move his hand once he feels the wetness of her tongue, and his face scrunches up into a look of disgust as he holds his hand out daintily. He looks at it as if it's going to fall off at any moment, and then he shoots her a dirty look. "You were the one gettin' all up in my grill and staring at me." He sits up and the reaches out, wiping the palm of his hand on her shirt, because fuck wiping it on his own.

[whoseesbynight]

Sunset is, by all rights, really far too early for Nepeta to want to be up. True, there hadn't really been anything like a proper day/night cycle on the meteor, but even so it was hard to get used to the fact that almost everyone here seems to prefer being diurnal. Perhaps in the days to come she'd get the hang of it, but for now, she doesn't see any real reason to not stick with the schedule she knows best. It's not like it's actually hurting anything, after all.

All the same, she hadn't exactly expected anyone else to be up on the roof. It's early by troll standards and she doesn't really know a whole lot about what sort of schedules humans like to keep. But even the surprise of finding someone else on the roof pales in comparison to what he's wearing. She recognizes that symbol, and the colors that go with it. Why he doesn't have the wings to go with what is clearly a godtier outfit is another question entirely, but she figures she can ask about that later.

"I didn't know there was human Heart player."

[brohoof]

Dirk, meanwhile, is used to just... being up. He never slept much back home and in the Medium, and he doesn't expect he'll sleep much here, either. There's too damn much on his mind and insomnia can be a bitch like that. Right now, he's both tired and wide awake at the same time. It's a frustrating contradiction at the best of times, but right now with everything that's been thrust upon him, it's even more frustrating.

He tenses when he hears the voice, but by now he's gotten used to the fact he's not really going to get attacked. Still, he gets to his feet and turns towards the voice. Another troll. By now, he isn't surprised about that, either. This place seems to be full of them. He quirks an eyebrow slightly. "Well, now you do. Dirk Strider, Prince of Heart."

After a short pause, he adds, "You a Heart player or something, too?" It's really the only explanation, unless she happens to know of it from one of her other allies in the game.

[whoseesbynight]

Not sleeping much is a pretty decent reaction to the Medium. Or at least, it is once there isn't an available dreamself to spend your time in, but this is a fact that is unlikely to mention. It's perfectly normal - as is the jumpiness Dirk displays at the sound of an unfamiliar voice - and so there isn't really anything to say about it.

Still, the rest is something that she's more than willing to talk about, even if her time spent in the Medium is pretty much behind her now. After all, it's something they've shared, even if they might have wanted to have the experience in the first place (and really, she can't think of many people who would have wanted to play Sgrub, if they'd heard of what the game actually does.)

"I was - am, I supawse - the Rogue of Heart," she answers with a nod. Like everything else, not being in Sgrub anymore has made things a little weird, but she's pretty sure they all still have the abilities the game had given them, even if she hasn't really asked about it.

[brohoof]

Dirk has to take a moment to go over what she said, simply because he has to make sure he really heard correctly- and yeah, he realizes he definitely heard correctly. She made some kind of weird cat pun just then. Ah, trolls. Trolls and their weirdness. He shakes his head gently, wondering what he ever did to deserve any of this.

"Was seems like an accurate statement," he says after a few seconds. "I can't tap into any of my powers, so I'm nothing but Prince of Heart in appearance."

[arachnoble]

The boy on the bench is on odd site. Not because of his clothing, which Sybille finds rather quaint, but because it's not what she usually sees sprawled on benches. He's not old or twitchy enough to be an addict like Sherlock, and even with his outfit he doesn't seem to hold himself like a Capitolite.

She's almost entirely certain that he's a new tribute.

Sybille doesn't bother to be subtle or stealthy as she makes her way over to Dirk. She looks down at him for a moment, before shaking her head. "You're new, aren't you?"

[brohoof]

If he's an odd sight, it's nothing compared to her, though. Then again, everyone from the Capitol is pretty fucking odd, so it's really not saying much. But even still, his gaze flicks toward her for a brief moment, peaking out the corner of his shades before he just casts his gaze back to the sky.

"Fuck, what gave it away?" he asks, "I thought I was blending in perfectly with this bench."

[arachnoble]

She's not as outrageous as some of the other Capitolites, but her dress definitely merges on something that's too fancy for typical wear. She laughs softly, shaking her head.

"Perhaps it's the fact you have a face I don't recognize, which wouldn't be that impressive but I know most of the tributes in the normal age range." Because, really, there's no other reason that Dirk would be anything but a tribute.

[amourtician]

Jay came up to the roof of the training centre to get away from the other Tributes and he's not too happy to see Dirk there. He really was hoping for solitude, if privacy is impossible in this place.

"Looking for something, darling?" he calls. "If it's down in the Capitol, you rather need a telescope."

[brohoof]

It was funny how the one place Dirk thought he would find the most empty would end up being the place everyone decided to come to. He would, in the future, have to find a better place to hide than on the roof. By now, Dirk doesn't even bother turning around.

"Not looking for anything, except some goddamn peace and quiet."

[amourtician]

Jay snorts and approaches Dirk, so he wouldn't have to shout. He's in a very sour mood, right now, and Dirk's immediate hostility is oddly amusing. It makes him want to be hostile back, as bitingly as possible.

"You're really in the wrong place, then, dearest," he drawls. "Peace and quiet are generally found in private places and the roof is, sadly, public. If you're that bothered by the presence of other sapients, you really should go hole up in your suite. Maybe under the bed, for extra protection?"

He raises an eyebrow.

"You're a new arrival, aren't you? At least, I assume you are. I've never seen you around before and I'd remember someone wandering around in mauve."

He sizes Dirk up, taking in the -- to him -- ridiculous clothes and the fact Dirk's clearly still a teenager. That puts a slight damper on his desire to needle -- he's very uncomfortable with how young some of the Tributes are. He wonders why the Capitol seems to have no concept of exempting children from the worse and more dangerous things in life.

Or maybe they do, he supposes, and that was the point of reaping children, before they started reaping off-worlders.

LAAATE

[andproper]

Why was the man lying down on the park bench? Didn't he have a house to sleep in? ...Maybe he needed money? Prim didn't really have any of that, though. Maybe she could find him some food? She could put some bread under his bench, and maybe he'd wake up to it.

Maybe she could ask him? But either he'd be a citizen, or a tribute, and either way she didn't think he'd respond quite right.

ALSO SORT OF LATE

[brohoof]

Dirk needed none of these things. He was just an irritable new tribute lying there hating everything and wishing he could just go the fuck back home so he could set things straight.

Instead, there he was getting stared at. By a little girl. What had his life become? He didn't quite know he was being stared at by a little girl at least, but he knew he was being stared at nonetheless, since he could feel her eyes on him.

"Continue staring at me like I'm a circus attraction, but I'm not going to do a trick."

Even later. ;; (I was in Israel. And then my Dad died.)

[andproper]

He was likely to find out, if he opened his eyes - because being rude wasn't the way to make Prim go away. She'd been talking to trolls. It had gotten her quite acclimated to being rudely talked to. ...Dirk actually reminded her of them a little bit, somehow.

"Are you hungry?" It was the first thought that came to mind. It was sort of like she was talking to a stray cat...