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

[sixthnonsense]

N-No, I'm fine!

[He does his best to protest that, but Dandy speaking to him so softly like that easily makes his blatant lie all the more apparent as tears begin to well up in his eyes. Even he hadn't realized how strongly he would feel about this.]

'M fine. I just... [He lets out a small, shrill sigh.] I just didn't realize we were on different wavelengths is all.

[He is doing Dandy no favors in figuring out what exactly is wrong here. Truly a disaster in miscommunication.

He should...probably leave, right? Go somewhere and cool off before he embarrasses himself further? So...he'll try to back out of this embrace.]

[bootyhunter]

[Shit, shit, shit!

Dandy lets him go, although the action is reluctant. He does reach out, tempted to take care of those tears for him, but Dandy's long fingers soon drop to his own side, paralyzed.

It is from this point onwards that things begin to go very wrong. If anyone were to put their finger on Dandy's pulse, they'd discover that it would be firing at a wildly rapid rate. The kind that would absolutely kill a normal human being.]

...We are? O-oh, sorry, hehe... Must've got my wires crossed. My bad! Aha...

[He is swimming in a whirlpool of time, bleak and black, containing a sea of shining stars. The pull of it is so terrifying, he almost gets sucked i by it.]

Ha.

Shit.

[Maybe this is why Catherine left. It's his idiot mouth, of course!]

Now I've gone and made two sweethearts cry in one day.

I feel so rotten.

[He's still suspended. Stuck.]

Do you want me to be honest? With you.

About how I really feel?

It's gonna sound crazy.

[sixthnonsense]

[Two? Two sweethearts?

He...

Even Hagakure's not sure what to say when the two of them separate. His first instinct is to run from this, his latest problem, like he's done all his fucking life. What's once more, right? Maybe he really will always be a coward, so easily falling into despair...

But even now that Dandy has let him go, he finds that he can't move. As much as his brain screams at him to flee, his heart keeps him rooted in place. He can't run, not when there are things still left unsaid.

He takes a shaky breath.]

Yeah. That's all I ever wanted.

[He holds onto that shred of hope twinkling in the dark.]

screams

[bootyhunter]

[It's Dandy's turn to feel cornered now, so his gaze immediately shifts to the pavement. His chest rises and falls with the worry that he may ruin this connection the way he probably has all others.

But maybe it would help to try it out, while his memory is actually working, for once.

Just a little experiment.

Perhaps he can discover why his lovelife has felt so... Dreary, for the past however long.]

You said I made you feel special, right?

[He is going to paw at the ground with his foot. Yes, he is still in Joy's blobfish kigu.]

Well, you made me feel... I dunno! Alive? Human? Somethin' like that.

[he's so embarrassed rn lmfao]

Whenever you pull the sad mopey shit outta your ass, I...

Wanna swoop in and save ya.

It's stupid, I know.

[sixthnonsense]

[Hagakure listens with his gaze fixed firmly on Dandy, probably not really helping relieve that cornered feeling. But the more Dandy explains, the wider Hagakure's eyes get.

That tiny, twinkling light steadily grows.

He...really did that for Dandy?]

Dee...

[There's something broken in the way he calls out Dandy's name. He feels like a complete fucking idiot for jumping to the conclusion that he had. He had it all wrong!

The light becomes blinding.]

I- I'm sorry. I thought- [He desperately rubs at his eyes like it's going to stop the tears from spilling over.] I thought we were seein' things differently. I thought m-maybe you didn't think it was that deep!

I was stupid, not any of this. So wrong 'n' stupid.

[He's immediately closing the distance between them again--]

You don't know how badly I've wanted to be saved for a long time.

[There was no hope of rescue in Hope's Peak. For the longest time, he and his classmates were truly on their own. And just when he thought he'd escaped that, well. The nightmare began anew! Only this time he was so far away from home that the thought of being rescued was hopeless beyond imagine.

So just hearing Dandy say that... Call it cliche, but it's almost too much to bear.]

[bootyhunter]

[That's really sweet.

There's something so heartwarming about seeing this earnest young man feel appreciated for what seems to be the first time in a while. Dandy finally thinks he may have gotten something right since he arrived in this miserable place.

The alien hunter's tense shoulders relax immediately, and now that it seems like he's got some sort of verbal confirmation that touch is alright, he will be welcoming the physical contact with ease.]

Yeaaah, well! I've got a pretty bad habit of crackin' jokes when I shouldn't. So don't freak out, okay? Here.

[Dandy, with no fear or hesitation, runs his thumbs and other fingers beneath the younger man's almond shaped eyes, doing his best to catch the tears.]

When I said ground rules, I meant expectations! Didn't wanna lead you on if I'm not the right type of man for ya, is all.

For example!

[He gestures to his ring finger after the tear cleaning, which is bare.]

I'm not a wedding ring type of guy. First of all, they're expensive! And I just don't have that kinda money lyin' around! Now, that doesn't mean I don't wanna be serious with somebody! It just means that I don't wanna be dating whoever I'm datin' along with the ISSP.

[A beat passes, and then he realizes-]

Oh, right! I should probably explain that part, since you're an old timey Earth guy- They're the Inter-Solar System Police.

Basically, what I'm tryin' to say is that it doesn't take much to make me jealous. I'm not keen on sharin' the apple of my eye with anybody, not even the government.

Does that sound fine and Dandy to you?

[sixthnonsense]

[When he returns to Dandy, his grip is embarrassingly desperate. Like if he lets go again that'll be it. He knows that's probably not true now the misconception is out of the way, but...he's not taking any chances.

He shudders underneath Dandy's touch, taking in every sensation of that tender gesture. For the first time, he feels so loved and appreciated by someone outside of his immediate family, and it feels...so, so good.]

Heh. [He can't help but let out a wobbly laugh as Dandy lays out what is apparently a big ground rule for him to mention first. The warmth in his face has rushed right back in, which honestly, Dandy might be able to feel.] You really don't beat 'round the bush. Talking about datin' and keepin' me all to yourself...

[Let alone bringing up marriage, even if it's not something that interests Dandy. Hardly a deal-breaker besides.

His smile returns- as goofy as ever.]

Totally Dandy, Dee.

[bootyhunter]

Yeah! About that... Subtle's not really my style, in case you haven't already noticed.

You've peeped the pompadour! You knew what you were signin' up for.

[Dandy maintains his seemingly bombastic ego, and while it's not a veneer per se, there is something he's hiding beneath that devil may care exterior. Truth be told, he's just as excited to be holding onto this tenuous thread of happiness as the Hope's Peak survivor, despite his confident grip on the taller young man's wobbly person.]

And it's startin' to sound like you wanted it bad.

Oh! And one other thing- I don't do that mousy, shyguy bullshit. If I ride for you, I'm ridin' from the bedroom all the way across the Milky Way and then some, baby!

[HATE THAT DOUBLE ENTENDRE]

Which means I plan on screamin' it from the Mountain Tops.

If you're good with that, then well... Maybe we should wash the stank of yesterday off our backs and get to know each other a little better.

[joy and rossiu will pay a hefty price for being cool with this

hefty]

Are you in or what?

[sixthnonsense]

[The fact that a conversation could go from so emotionally charged to so...sexually charged...that really is the Dandy way, isn't it. It takes all of Hagakure's willpower to not bury his face in Dandy's shoulder when he goes on about riding and yelling, but honestly? In the heat of the moment, what is there to be quiet about? It's pretty damn gratifying to have your lover let you know how much they're enjoying their time with you, right?

"Your lover"... Heh. Inwardly, Hagakure's tickled to even have the opportunity to think that way. Dandy's right- he really does want this.

He wants this and more.

Tears dried and nerves settled, he offers Dandy a confident nod.]

I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else.

[God, I am so sorry Joy and Rossiu.]

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy flips switches on and off with all the gusto of a child left alone in a control panel, in part because he is not comfortable being a tender, lumpy thing for extended periods of time. The fortune teller's bubbly eagerness and oddly timid sentimentality is refreshingly innocent.

Something that Dandy doesn't remember ever being or feeling, if he were to reminisce.

The alien hunter can't help but feel for the guy. If this is heaven for Hagakure, then all he's known is hell, and Dandy is happy to provide a refuge from that for however long they have together.

But is the same thing true for him? Space Dandy?

He can't say. Honestly, he doesn't even want to think about it. It'll ruin the fun.]

You better mean my arms and not this dump of an underwater chum-collector.

[Yes, Dandy! That IS what he means??? smh]

I'll lead.

[He takes the other man's hand, allowing the leaning to linger before doing so, and runs his own long, oddly slender fingers all over the lines that trace Hagakure's palms.]

Hey! I think I've got all the information I need to tell you your fortune, buddy.

I think there's a 69% chance that your back's gonna be hurtin' pretty badly tonight. But it's okay, baby~!

I'm great at massages.