So Many Striders - Now With Illustrations!

TT: Just don't ask me to do it again any time soon, yeah? I'm all honested out or some shit.

TT: That was a joke, you can totally ask me to be honest if you need to.

TT: Yeah glad I'm alive and scared of me dying is a great improvement on how things have been in the past, and I've been enjoying it.

TT: Dirk's sleeping right now. He was horrifically dizzy at first, less so by the time I let him sleep. He got a bit panicked whenever I left the room, so I tried to do that as little as possible, and let him know I hadn't died while away from him or anything. He got pretty weepy now and then, which was strange to experience, and really I'd like to avoid having him cry again if at all possible.

 

DP: B33 < w33py you say

DP: B33 < are you that bad at kissing then?? BPP

DP: B33 < emotions and dizziness are ind33d things that happen with a concussion

DP: B33 < that sounds purretty bad if he couldnt control it though

DP: B33 < again dirk... crying isnt actually something i can picture

DP: B33 < at least not without getting really sad B<<

DP: B33 < far be it for me to suggest a hospital but

DP: B33 < if hes not improved by the time he wakes up it might be a good idea

 

TT: Wow, sib, rude. By the way other parts of him were replying, I'd say I'm more like too good at kissing.

TT: He's been kind of panicky when he can't see me, like I said, so I don't think going off to the hospital on his own would be a positive experience. I was definitely planning on calling the hospital to get advice on what to do for him, though, at the very least.

TT: Think you'd be able to help pile him into an ambulance if need be?

 

DP: B33 < yo bud im happy fur you and imma let you finish but

DP: B33 < that is the grossest tmi of all time BPP

DP: B33 < also im not piling dirk into or out of anything you kinky fuck

DP: B33 < i will not pap him here or there i will not pile him anywhere

DP: B33 < anyway fur serious

DP: B33 < the billion boonbuck question is are these furrankly alarming emotions completely out of the blue or are they just things he has and normally wouldnt be expurressing??? B//

DP: B33 < s33 i would assume the furmer and check him into the hospital immediately

DP: B33 < i have your big bros number up on my phone right now its weirding my shit out that badly

DP: B33 < again i am not the person to suggest guardian intervention

DP: B33 < adults are doubly not my jam if were being purfectly honest

DP: B33 < but he s33ms like the person to claw if anyones getting hospitalized

DP: B33 < howefur if all this bs has a base in reality and his brain has simply b33n rattled enough that hes f33ling his usual stuff but stronger and strangely unable to hide it thats not anything like as big a deal

DP: B33 < but ye i will absolutely be there if you n33d help taking care of him

DP: B33 < hes kind of made our welfare his full time job since the game spat us out like this!!

DP: B33 < its the fucking lease i could do BOO

DP: B33 < (that emoticon does not work lol)

 

TT: Oh shit, okay, so backtrack a second, I messed up chronologically.

TT: A while ago, basically almost as soon as I'd worked out I have feelings for Dirk myself, I told him too. I've been, well, I want to say courting him but more like flirting obnoxiously with his prior consent, which was apparently weird to him because he "is used to being the seducer" or whatever, like Roxy didn't totally try to put the moves on him, but hey. The most reaction I'd managed to get was intense flusterment though.

TT: That's not a word, but it should be.

TT: Anyway, yeah, so the sudden smooching wasn't as sudden as it probably seemed from how I explained it, I don't think there's anything knocked loose or whatever in his head it was more like "oh shit, Hal nearly died, better kiss those gorgeous lips before the opportunity disappears forever like it just nearly did."

TT: No need to involve Big D.

TT: Like, not that I want to keep it from him, but I think we can handle this without adult intervention.

 

DP: B33 < cool story bro but i was more refurring to the crying

DP: B33 < since when does dirk panic????

DP: B33 < like yeah i purrsonally would be weirded out by dirks face on my face

DP: B33 < but i dont think anyone has s33n him lose his proverbial shit like what you are describing

 

TT: Oh yeah, okay, the crying was definitely strange.

TT: But I mean he does experience emotions such as sadness and fear and panic, even if he likes to look like he doesn't. I'm pretty sure the concussion just fucked up the ability to hide what he's feeling, as well as intensifying said feelings, but now I kind of feel like I'm trying to convince you too much, so that's a thing.

TT: How about I let you know how he is tomorrow, when he wakes up, and we can make a decision on hospitalization then?

 

DP: B33 < nya dude i f33l you

DP: B33 < your explanation does not s33m suspect

DP: B33 < i was just checking that him having these emotions wasnt as wildly out of character as it felt when you furst told me

DP: B33 < my impurression of him as a purrson is starting to f33l incorrect

 

TT: Yeah, he's not so great at letting people in under the shell. I have an advantage in getting through it in that I used to be him, obviously, but you've got to be pretty insistent to get in.

TT: He is, basically, a good person who hates himself an awful lot, and sometimes that has a bad effect on the people close to him. I'd say it's worth it though.

TT: He's not the him from the other timeline.

 

DP: B33 < woah nyaow!

DP: B33 < why would you say that??

DP: B33 < i wouldnt know about him hating himself or about it having bad effects he hasnt done shit to me

DP: B33 < i would nefur think he was that guy theyre two totally different people

DP: B33 < he hasnt used me for puppet porn or hit me at all its great!!!!

DP: B33 < i dont think hes a bad person i dont understand where this is coming furom

 

TT: From what little I know about douche-Dirk the eldest, he was constantly poker-faced, right?

TT: You not imagining Dirk as being capable of panic reminded me of that.

TT: If I misinterpreted, then I apologise. It wasn't my intention to put words in your mouth.

 

DP: B33 < *hissst* im not comfortable with you calling him that i didnt know him as "dirk" thats not him

DP: B33 < what am i saying i didnt know him at all im not dave this isnt

DP: B33 < i dont

DP: B33 < ...

DP: B33 < dirk is just a stoic kind of guy i didnt think

DP: B33 < lots of people dont panic about things right its not like

DP: B33 < listen im sorry please dont be mad i honestly dont understand did i do something wrong

 

TT: I'm not mad, brosis. Not sure why you think I am mad, honestly, I just got finished apologizing to you.

TT: You wanna finish any of those sentences or try something different? Either's cool.

TT: Dirk is definitely a stoic kind of a guy.

 

DP: B33 < none of them follow through as good reasons why dirk wouldnt be capable of f33ling panic

DP: B33 < i dont know why i assumed that it was unkind and inaccurate B<<

DP: B33 < anger seems like the appropurriate response to having the guy youre crushing on equated with all that mess

DP: B33 < is there a reason you thought i was...

DP: B33 < i like him just fine you know have i done anything to give you a diffurent impression?

 

TT: Unkind only really applies if it was deliberate, which from the sounds of it it wasn't.

TT: And I mean, I'm not exactly keen on the idea of Dirk being equated with that guy, but by nature of starting out the same baby they do look pretty similar, and not every comparison a person makes is a deliberate one.

TT: This might be a trolls vs humans thing, but as far as I'm aware liking him "just fine" basically means you're tolerant of his existence around you, not that you think of him as a friend. Which is fair enough I guess, but it seems like you're thinking of it as a larger sign of trust than I am.

TT: If that makes sense.

TT: I'm not sure that makes sense.

 

DP: B33 < shit

DP: B33 < i meant that i like him!! hes great!

DP: B33 < like i said he helps us all the time and hasnt injured or badtouched anyone at all

DP: B33 < he cant help that he happens to look like some other person

DP: B33 < we all look nearly identical except for various troll halves and style choices

DP: B33 < that im struggling to understand isnt because youre not making sense im just having a hard time purrocessing what i did wrong

DP: B33 < that you felt the n33d to defend dirk from being treated like my bro means something has gone awry

DP: B33 < you are a purretty precise kind of guy hal

DP: B33 < i know i got hissy with you but

DP: B33 < you wouldnt have brought it up unless it was definitely an issue

 

TT: Okay, but "he hasn't injured or badtouched anyone" is pretty much the same as "I like him just fine"?

TT: What I mean is, if I were to say for example that I like Roxy, I would talk about how funny and kind she is, I wouldn't start talking about how she's never punched me in the face.

TT: Or, to be more relevant, I like Dirk because he's smart, we share interests, and he genuinely enjoys helping people.

TT: So it's not really anything you did wrong, more that there's a lack of something positive there, and that's concerning me.

 

DP: B33 < *huffs* well those seem pretty positive to me?!

DP: B33 < i dont know i guess i hadnt thought about it

DP: B33 < those things by themself already felt like a ringing endorsement!

DP: B33 < i dunno about what kind of silver spoon world youre used to but where im from having your bro be neither violent nor cr33py is like heaven

DP: B33 < like what more could i possibly even... expect...

DP: B33 < ... wow

DP: B33 < huh

DP: B33 < jesus christ

DP: B33 < *huddles*



DP: does dirk know?

 

Hal types out "How would I know what Dirk knows?" then deletes it character by character because his hangups on being asked Dirk's thoughts and opinions on things aren't relevant to this conversation.

TT: I don't know. I hope not. If he does know, then I'm sure he's also aware that it's not intentional.

TT: You might want to talk to the other Daves about it, though? Because thinking about it now I've noticed, it's definitely not just you.

TT: *Offers my open arms to the huddling catbird.*

 

DP: B33 < i dont knyow what to say

DP: B33 < to anyone

DP: B33 < about any of this

DP: B33 < *huddles against like were in the hole in the vacant lot out back the ralphs*

DP: B33 < but i do like dirk hal i purromise i do B<<

DP: B33 < i like the way he talks quietly but at length

DP: B33 < hes reliable and always asks fur purrmission befure touching any of us even for small things

DP: B33 < i like that you like him