Week 4

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. A new day is dawning.

Sunday arrives ahead of schedule again, bringing with it the creeping dread that this is just how this is going to go. Welcome to the murdergame cycle.

At least there's another section of the city available to you! This one even has some things to do without you having to make your own fun. Which also means there's more to find about this place.

There's still over 20 of you alive... maybe that's something to celebrate? It could be worse! But... at least one of you is an attempted killer, apparently. Either way, better keep talking if you want regains!



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the fourth week of Unknown Seas Round 3! Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, post your ac, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

Comments

[bootyhunter]

Yeah! It's a delicacy. Sometimes it's expensive, and sometimes it's not! It's delicious either way.

[Dandy watches Jonathan squirm, smirking slightly. He feels so confident! That this is gonna be about Obi and Jon and how they were rainbow-confetti-ing all over the place! He thinks he knows!!!!

Oh boy, is he about to get his shit got.]

Nah!

I'm good. 'Fess up, Jonny-boy.

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan nods, taking a deep breath to stabilize himself before he starts.]

Mina and I... we never had quite the most standard relationship. We adore each other and every day I am apart from here hurts me to my core, but... we also always knew there was something different about us. We have reached an understanding that we can love others as we love each other. So I ask you not to call my current relationship into question after what I am about to say.

[His collar feels tight, his mouth feels dry, he wanted nothing more than to run out of this situation and never speak to Dandy again.

He runs a hand through his hair in frustration.]

I... I am terribly sorry, Dandy. I hope this does not ruin our friendship. But after my Obi died, I realized that I cannot leave things unsaid anymore. Time is too precious now.

[He's dancing around the point, stalling for as much time as possible. A part of him hopes that Dandy would just get uncomfortable and leave, while another part was silently begging for Dandy to encourage him on this.]

[bootyhunter]

Hah?!

[He truly has no fucking clue, but he looks freaked out! Mostly because he's worried for Jonathan's safety.]

So you two're swingers? Aaaah. Not the first time in history that's happened, buddy, hate to break it to ya.

You're gonna have to try a little harder if you wanna rock worlds the Dandy way, baby.

[In his mind he is wondering "then how tf has this bitch not gotten laid yet" but Dandy at least has the grace not to say it!!!]

What else have you got on your mind?

1/2

[hotpaprika]

I, uh, I suppose?

[He wasn't sure what he was getting at, but he supposed it wasn't a bad start?

He inhales, trying to keep himself from panicking too much. Okay, he can do this.]

D... Dandy, I... I need to tell you that I...

2/2

[hotpaprika]

... I love you.

[He looks away from Dandy, too scared to see his reaction.]

1/?????

[bootyhunter]

2/?????

[bootyhunter]

3/????

[bootyhunter]

4/4

[bootyhunter]

[ALSKJFLKAJDSFKLAJSLDFK ALDKFJ LAKJDFLAKJSFKLAJSD FKLJ>!?!??!?!LJDLF L JKSALJDF


LKASJDF AJLLA >?!LASKJFLAJ O( @#RJQLKJ FEaSFADFSLKJ. ??!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!]

That's not British for "You loathe me," right?

I'm j-just...

[He takes a winded breath.]

Checkin'.

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan face freezes, staring at Dandy in worry.]

N-no? Of course it isn't! I...

[He looks away again, staring hard at the floor.]

I... apologize. Forget what I just told you, I did not mean to make you uncomfortable.

[bootyhunter]

No, no! I...

[He shakes his head in dismay, edging himself a little closer. Graceful isn't an adjective anyone would ever use to describe Dandy, but he is most certainly trying.

Dandy raises one of his hands as a truce. Not a trace of anger extends itself into his angular features. He only appears incredibly confused.]

I'm not eeked out, or anythin'! It's just...

[Don't do it.

Don't say stupid bullshit and break more glass. More timelines, more relationships.

No more fractures.

Fuck.]

I mean, the "L word?" Like... For real?

Are you sure you don't just think I'm... U-uh.

[His voice gets very quiet.]

D-dandy?

[He means cute, he's lost his train of thought.]

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan relaxes, just barely. He can't quite look at Dandy as he listens, mentally preparing himself for his response.]

Dandy you have been nothing but sweet to me, you are so caring, and Lord! Your beauty rivals Greek gods! I adore you and your company and it's a blessing every time I see you.

[There is a quiet pause.]

It... it is a similar feeling that I had with Obi when... when he was still with us.

spoilers for space dandy s2

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy tries not to flinch.

"I adore you-"

He can't help but shake the feeling that this will not end well. If he's being honest with himself, the only relationship that worked out for him in recent history had ended with him dying. In that context, it was fine. An incarnation of death had told him that he had her love, and he willingly went back to her, accepting his demise.

And therefore accepting the nature of all living things.

Here, however, it's different. People don't perceive the streams of time in quite the same way. He will have to be gentle.]

Damn, baby.

I didn't realize you were such a flatterer. I should've.

You always talk so fancy.

Love's a pretty strong word, though.

[The next line of dialogue is whispered with a quiet, languishing intensity. Dandy bullshits so often it might as well be his middle name,]

And an even stronger feeling.

I'm sorry you're hurtin' so bad, Jonny.

I just wish there was a helluva lot more that I could do about it.

[hotpaprika]

[He smiles faintly, but concern grows as Dandy continues.

"Love is a strong word"

"I'm sorry you're hurting"

"I wish there was more I could do about it"

He... he was being turned down, wasn't he? No, this was fine, it was a long shot and he knew it. The fact that he didn't immediately laugh in his face or worse was a good thing. He got it out and that's all that matters.

That still doesn't stop the hurt from coming through in his voice.]

Oh... oh no, that... that's quite alright. I just... I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything left unsaid in case one of us...

[He can't look at Dandy. He doesn't want to see how he's surely pitying him right now.]

[bootyhunter]

Goes to the great big surfin' shore in the sky?

[He chuckles. Making light of death is easier for him, and probably wildly inappropriate, but he's doing his best to diffuse the obvious tension.]

There's a whole bunch of em, y'know! Andromeda has a couple that're just amaze-balls. If we end up makin' it outta here alive, maybe I'll take ya one day.

[Dandy reaches out to gently touch the side of Jonathan's face, and slowly works his way to resting a knuckle beneath the other man's chin. There's a voice in the back of the alien hunter's head, screaming not to do it, cosmically loud.

Like always, Dandy ignores it, and attempts to guid Jonathan's cheek so that their eyes are forced to meet each other.]

Hey! You look at me when I'm talkin' to you.

[hotpaprika]

[It takes too much willpower to not immediately relax into the touch, making his gentle nudging towards Dandy stiff and uncomfortable. He stares at Dandy's eyes for a second too long, suddenly realizing that he's been gazing into them.

A part of Jonathan want to cry out at Dandy, demanding to know why he insists on teasing him like this if he didn't share his feelings.

He can't, he cares about Dandy too much to say so, but he swallows the words down before he speaks.]

I... I'm terribly sorry Dandy.

I... yes, we could all use a nice holiday after this. But...I am unsure if I will be able to stand to be near the ocean for awhile after this.

[A part of him hopes that Dandy will just forget all about this conversation if they talk about something else enough.]

[bootyhunter]

Quit sayin' you're sorry! It makes you look stupid. You've got nothin' to be sorry for.

[Don't worry Jonathan! He is fully aware that he is being an ass right now.

It's not to say that the flirty, boorish imbecile routine is a facade of any sort, but it is not the whole truth, not the entire picture, as Jonathan is probably aware. Dandy is trying to use this to make their conversation less painful and to signal that he is not angry or upset in the slightest.

Perhaps it's shitty of him to feel this way, and thankfully he has enough tact not to utter it aloud, but it's good to know that Space Dandy's still got it, baby.]

Can't say I'd blame ya.

[The smile on his face stays plastered on.

You'd never know that wading through the next portion of this conversation feels like pulling a shard of glass out of his own thigh.]

I never told you about my ex, huh?

Well, the last one.

[He despises talking about her. The past is the past, it's fucking over.]

For your old-timey butt, that means my the last girl that I "snorted."

[DANDY-]

Err, "courted!" My bad, Jonny-baby, you guys've got a lotta weird lingo.

[SAYS YOU?????

also he is still holding jon's face SORRY JONATHAN]

[hotpaprika]

S-so-

[He bites his lip to stop himself, and his eye darts away from Dandy.

He remains stiff as Dandy continues, barely even looking confused at the "snorted" comment.]

No... I don't believe you have told me about her.

[bootyhunter]

She and I had been together for a minute, but at the end of it all, the relationship got a little too crowded for my tastes.

[He’s just gonna withdraw his hand now so poor Jonathan can recover from that emotional gobsmack… ]

Soon it was more of her and him than her n’ me! And then it was just those two.

[She left him for another man, is what he’s getting at. Someone they both knew.]

I don’t share good.

I never have.

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan gently touches his face where Dandy's hand once was.

So that explains it. It was really foolish to ever fancy the idea that Dandy would ever have mutual feelings for him. If the fact that he was a man didn't stop him, the fact that he has a fiancée would certainly turn Dandy off from ever even considering...]

I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I... suppose if I ever get to reunite with Mina, it would make things far too uncomfortable.

[bootyhunter]

Yeah.

[Dandy shrugs all too casually. I am ashamed, so all I will say is that this is when the hickey becomes visible. For a short smidgeon of time.]

It’s not like I’ve got a problem with it!

It’s just not for me, baby.

[hotpaprika]

[His eye catches Dandy's hickey and his depression turns to downright horror. He had a few once upon a time from private evenings with Mina, and he remembers the marks he would have to cover up afterwards.

He confessed to a man who was taken.

He told a man who was taken his dark secrets about his relationships, and dear lord that included Mina.

He jumps up, absolutely panicked. He wants to just run out and never look back but this was his room, there was nowhere to hide.]

I am so sorry! I had no idea you were taken! If I had known, I wouldn't have... I would have just...

[He stumbles completely over his words, unsure how to complete that thought.]

nsfw implications ig but i feel like that is all dandy threads

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy, who has maintained his composure for the most part until now, immediately contorts his face into an almost cartoonishly alarmed expression. His cheeks flush bright red, and hastily, he yanks that bit of fabric right over the "injury."

Instead of saying anything intelligent, or relevant, or you know something vaguely helpful, he yells (loudly enough for Nandor to hear):]

LIKE THE MOVIE?!?!??!?!?!

[hotpaprika]

[Jonathan flinches noticeably at the shouting, eyes still open in terror. He had no idea what he meant by that, all he gets is the shouting, and a new fear sprouts up of someone taking notice.]

P... please be quiet. I... I don't want anyone to know about how I...

[He doesn't finish it his tone is quiet, timid.

Like he's convinced that Dandy is going to announce his secret to everyone the moment someone comes knocking on his door.]

just cameoing to yell through the walls

[fuckingguy]

GUYS, IF YOU COULD PLEASE KEEP IT DOWN--