unknownseas | but even if the stars and moon collide [afterparty]

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round 3

but even if the stars and moon collide [afterparty]

[Well, that sucked!

After about an hour, invitations written in colorful ink appear under everyone's doors.]

Understandable if you're not up to it, but we're having a memorial and "don't wanna be alone" hang-out in the restaurant again.

[The restaurant has very much been decorated with the most rainbow fabric she could find in the department store. Jonathan got roped in, mainly so she could make sure he was doing okay, but also because she assumed that he knew how to put a tablecloth on a table. He seemed like the type, anyway.

After consulting with Undertaker, most of the food that's been set out is more traditional Chinese funeral food than Victorian—you can get a whole roast duck in the restaurant—but she tried for a mix of things. There is fruit, the aforementioned roast duck, and several vegetarian dishes along with potatoes for some reason and... cookies? Okay then.

Joy's trying, because that was way less terrible for her than it was for basically anyone else.

Happy ~~Pride~~ Wrath, New Rapture!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Dandy, in the privacy of his own room and the company of someone he feels entirely comfortable with, doesn't come off nearly as haughty and boisterous as he does on the outside world. He spends much of his time with a catty pervert (who is also literally a cat) and a Robot who is too good for this world... He loves them dearly, despite the absolute dogshit way that he treats them, and Hagakure's presence has reminded Dandy that he misses them.

It's just that they don't know a lot of things about his past for a variety of reasons, and much of that has been oddly intentional.]

You wanna talk about it?

[He sounds so deeply sorry for that.

Moreso than any worded apologies can convey.

Dandy takes the glass from Hagakure, swirling it around first. Finally, he takes a surprisingly conservative sip.]

There's almost nothin' I hate more than being trapped.

[Ah...

Hagakure hadn't intended to steer this into a downer of a conversation—he was pretty casual when he mentioned the windows—but when he reflects on it...yeah, that was incredibly fucked up, wasn't it? For as much as he's talked about his experiences in his previous killing game to help give the others some idea of what to expect, he hasn't really talked about it yet. About the despair, the anxiety, the brushes with death...

His own sip is far less conservative.]

Resty [Forrest] offered that too. I just...haven't really known where to start. Haven't had time to think about it, really, 'cause it all just bled right into this.

[It's like the killing game never ended even though he had "won".]

You don't have to, if you don't wanna. I'm just lettin' ya know that I don't mind, not one bit.

Or we could just talk about girls! Whichever you'd prefer.

[He dead-eyes the glass of liquor, then wrinkling his nose.]

You're right, this tastes like shit.

Right?

[And yet after holding back a displeased gag, he takes another sip.

And after that, he kind of just...lets it spill out for a bit. He starts talking about the events of Hope's Peak. His arrival at the school and how things got weird from the get-go, which he later learned was due to his memories being messed with. Meeting his classmates, noticing how much the school looked like a prison...Monokuma's arrival, and the announcement of the killing game.

He didn't believe it at first- he thought it was all one sick joke, no matter how realistic that first motive seemed. But then people started dying- one right in front of his eyes. And the trials followed, along with the attempts to establish a routine, and trust within those who remained. It all sounds so familiar, doesn't it? It just kept going from there- one of the murders he was framed for, and another he almost killed someone in self defense. He'd never been so scared for his life.

They did defeat Junko Enoshima in the end, but it came at the cost of so many lives, and if the mastermind was to be believed, there wasn't much of a world for them to return to.]

...I mean, I did leave all that hopeful, y'know. No matter what waited for us on the outside, I was gonna meet it head-on with the others.

But now I'm...here. I'm just back in the same trap again with a different coat of paint.

[It's hard not to sound just a little broken about that.]

[The whole way through, Dandy listens without saying a word. Any silences that pass between them are so severe you could hear a pin drop. He doesn't speak, but his dark, almond-colored eyes are full of an intense sadness, restrained and locked within his chest, but wildly apparent in the stiffness of his body. Sure, this place has been Dandy's least favorite destination by a longshot, with its cruel circumstances and lack of available women to oogle openly...

And yet, what really rips Dandy a new one, more than all the overlapping memories and slowly building paranoia, is the paralysis.

The fact that he couldn't keep anyone from dying, and that he's isn't openly trustworthy enough to carry the emotional weight of the others on his back, no matter how much he'd like to. Dandy is not a delicate speaker, so perhaps that's not a role he can fill, for most.

Suddenly, he rises from the bed.]

[THEN GRIPPING HAGAKURE'S SHOULDERS WITH ALL THE FURY OF A THOUSAND SUNS... HE PUSHES THE TIPPY TOPS OF THEIR GIANT HAIRDOS TOGETHER!!!! It's like frotting, but with hair! Just the tips.]

No! Hakagooby.

You're gonna make it outta here.

[Spoken with even more passion than the aforementioned statements:]

Alive and well.

SO YOU CAN SEE YOUR FIRST PAIR OF BOOBIES, BABY!

In all their blazing, boob-tiful [jesus fucking christ] glory.

Edited 2022-07-03 07:23 (UTC)

[Well that's one way to snap him out of his funk jesus christ???]

D-Dee?!

[Hagakure yelps and nearly drops his drink as Dandy basically fucking bodies him. He...doesn't even know what to say to any of this at first- he's still just trying to register that Dandy is right up in his face and yelling something about boobies.]

I-

[Okay. Okay, his brain is catching up. Despite how utterly absurd Dandy's response to all of that was, the emotion behind it isn't lost on him. Honestly, it's...exactly what he didn't even realize he needed to hear so badly.]

[And again, even though Dandy is literally cheering him on to see his first boobie after hearing about the trauma of Hope's Peak...tears begin to well up in Hagakure's eyes. He does his best to blink them back as he musters a shaky grin.]

Yeah. [sniff] Hey, if we're even in the same 'verse, maybe you could take me to those giant ladies, huh?

Abso-friggin'-lutely, my guy! Me and them don't speak the same language, but that's what translator bracelets are for.

[He jingles the Sonic-ass gold plated wristlet on his... Uh. Wrist.]

I also figured out another foolproof way to flirt with the ladies if this gem of a device ever breaks.

[He blinks one eye in... All that can be described as a series of more blinks, just quickly, but at different paces... And then does something similar with the other eye.]

It's like Morse Code, only with winkin'! Yeah, I know.

[WHAT??? WHAT IS IT... THAT YOU KNOW!!!]

I'm a genius.

[Hagakure literally has no reason not to believe any of this, so he is instead hella impressed.]

Seriously? That works? What were you saying just now?

[He knows...a little morse code. But his brain is in no position to parse any of it right now.]

Of course! You really think I would share one of my personal tips of the trade without testin' it out first?

[HE WOULD! HE ABSOLUTELY WOULD AND IT IS UNDENIABLE!

ALSO HIS MEMORY IS VERY VERY BAD!]

[Hagakure continues to not know any better. Clearly, this is a work of pure genius.

...also, the image of this conversation continuing with Dandy still just right up against him.]

Can you teach me sometime? Then we'd have a secret code only we can speak!

For sure, buddy!

[It absolutely is! Dandy blinks once with his right eye, then once with his left, and then with his right eye once more!]

That's code for a thumbs' up!

[Okay! Okay he is finally taking a step back and taking a more daring sip of that shitty alcohol now, and-]

Edited 2022-07-04 00:22 (UTC)

[...Touch.

It burns, it burns, it burns. Both the liquor in his throat and the notion that it never lasts, and that no connection of the physical sort is permanent. This is something that Dandy has always known, both about himself and the nature of the universe.

The sensation of someone's skin against your own is what reminds you that you are, indeed, alive. Or at least feeling that way.

Oh that glass is gonna be empty now son!]

Huh.

My head feels funny.

[Hagakure begins to practice the wink-code for a thumbs up, not even realizing that a thumbs up is just something you can do quietly anyway--]

Huh?

[He stops his blinking and focuses his gaze on Dandy. With a laugh, he moves to take a sip of his own drink.]

That'd be the booze kickin' in if I had to guess. I toldja this stuff is strong.

[It knocked him on his ass last week. Tonight, he's...well, he's been feeling the buzz but it's coming on a little less intensely. ]

[Oh, it's strong alright.

It's here, again, that repeating string of smiles. All the women looking over their shoulder at him, their lips curling into a smile, only their hair changes and the dark silhouettes of their faces don't quite look the same each time. None of the grins match.

God, there were so many. But did any of them actually love him? That he certainly can't remember.

Hagakure may notice that Dandy is staring at a spot right above the younger man's shoulder.]

...Do you do this a lot?

Or did you?

[A clue that he's out of it.

The fortune teller just mentioned it moments before, that his classmates were too young for this sort of thing.]

Back in there?

[It's a little peculiar to be sure, but Hagakure doesn't find it something to worry about just yet. Alcohol does make your brain fuzzy.]

Y'mean drink? Yeah, booze is honestly the only drink I really like. But there wasn't any of it in the school. I'm kinda surprised I didn't get a lot of withdrawals, honestly...

[Then again, it was far longer ago that he last drank than he remembered.]

With someone like this? [He tips his head back to down the rest of the bitter liquid. It never tastes any better, and it's hell going down, but at least he feels good.] Never.

[...he could probably feel better.]

[Shit! Fuck. That's sad.

That's mad depressing, actually. It kind of snaps him out of it.

The girls disappear.]

Whaaaaaa-?! Whoa, dude!

[Dandy is going to attempt to lean on Hagakure's shoulder, though he might be a little closer than usual. He's definitely wobbling a little.]

Rule number one of downin' drinks- Do not try to throw 'em all back by yourself!

I mean, then who's gonna be holdin' all that of hair back for ya if you've gotta hurl? And you've got a lot of hair.

[this is um gay

but dandy is gonna flip one of those locks back with his index finger]

Bo-yoi-yoing.

[Shoulder leaning? Totally fine. Cool, even. Bros do that! He's got Dandy's back if he needs some support.

In spite of the depressing nature of the topic, having Dandy there makes him smile. He lets out a light laugh at the point Dandy's trying to make.]

It would be nice to have it outta the way for that, I'm not gonna...

[Then Dandy plays with his hair, and--

Ba-bump.

Completely by surprise, his breath catches in his throat.]

...lie.

[What the hell was that? He looks down at his empty glass, then over to Dandy so he can make a completely overblown statement.]

Dee, I think I'm dyin'.

What?

[After everything that's happened today, Dandy's tan complexion turns a good deal paler. He's actually worried, despite the ever-thickening fog in his head, and in a way that emotion tethers him here.

In this timeline, in this place.

He reaches out instinctively, the reflex fast under the hazy veil of his own afflicted cognition, although much slower in reality. He's bumbles in the process of trying to feel for a pulse on Hagakure's neck, even going so far as to push too hard, probably...]

Your heart's still badunk-a-dunk-dunkin', bud. It's a little fast, but...

I think you're alright? So it's probably the booze.

You didn't eat or drink anything ya left lyin' around today, didja?

[There was that poisoning...]

[Hagakure makes a slight choking sound as Dandy checks his pulse.]

That's good...I think. It got all irregular for a sec. Really freaked me out.

[But Dandy's probably right. It's gotta be the booze. This malort stuff is gnarly. He wishes it wasn't their only alcoholic option.

When asked about what he's consumed recently, he slowly shakes his head as he thinks back.]

I ate some of the stuff at the gathering, 'n' Jason made me an ice cream float. But that was a while ago. I think I'd be feelin' any food poisoning by now.

[He hopes.]

Yeah, probably the booze.

Oh, great! Wonderful. Wunderbar, baby!

[He looks a good deal more relaxed at that. It's probably not Great for Dandy to let his guard down, but Jason doesn't seem like the type to poison anyone.

Oh, and... Um... He might be sloughing off Hagakure and leaning his back against the wall, for now. The alien hunter offers his friend a boozy thumbs up.]

If it weren't for the booze, I'd have chocked it up to my killer good looks makin' your heart stop for a split second.

[where is a physical stop sign, so we can rip it out of the ground and hit dandy with it?]

We really need to get you a date when all of this is over!

You're crazy shy. Why is that? 'S not like you've never been on one, right?

Edited 2022-07-04 03:12 (UTC)

["If it weren't for the booze, I'd have chocked it up to my killer good looks makin' your heart stop for a split second."

Dandy spelling it out like that? Unintentionally or not, a dot is suddenly connected and Hagakure feels his stomach lurch. And he can't even say, "actually this might be food poisoning after all". He can actually tell what caused that one.

Gods. That's really what it was, wasn't it? Is the booze doing this to him?? Maybe he needs to get out of here after all.

But he doesn't make any sort of move to leave. He just gives his empty glass a thousand-yard stare as Dandy's words filter through like static into his ears...

Oh. He should...probably answer, huh?]

I- I dunno? I guess the whole thing is kinda daunting to me, and I never know what to do or say 'round the subject. My mom's always tellin' me I gotta get better at the whole dating thing.

[thankfully dandy is not only an Idiot but also Drunk!!!! Which means that he's chortling a little too loudly and thwapping Hagakure on the back several times. He's handsy, gomen. Also, his face is a little flushed.]

To get better at the whole dating thing, you've gotta go out there and shoot your shot! Nobody has a hundred-percent success rate, not even the rich pretty-boy types. And if they say they do, they're lyin' to ya!

[Surprisingly sound advice from someone who may or may not have spent the past ten years pining in Thirsty Assfuck Tomfoolery Land!!! In all fairness, in the span of Dandy's life, and well, all his other lives...

Ten years really isn't that much time.]

Do me a favor, though, Gooby-baby. [gay] Next time you get the urge to start hittin' the bottle, give me a call, okay?

I don't wantcha drinkin' alone.

[Dandy's not alone in that. Hagakure's face is flushed too, although it's not all from the alcohol. Still, all of that advice? It's getting taken to heart. As best as it can at any rate, since his senses are all sorts of addled right now and he's not sure how much of this is going to stick in his foggy head.

In the moment, though, it means a lot to hear. It's reassuring. That...y'know, he's got a lot of great people here who are looking out for him. So for all of the muddled screaming going on in his head, he gives Dandy a lopsided grin.]

Thanks, Dee. You've got yourself a promise.

[He holds up his empty glass as if to mimic a toast.]

Here's hopin' we can find some better booze for the next time, though. Seriously, would it kill Fontaine to give us a little beer...?

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1/2

2/2 nsfw im disgusting lock me up

1/2 throwing away the key while i'm at it

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1/2 last two parter i swear

2/2

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just bros being bros, nothing 2 see here

guys being dudes right here

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