threnodeity | ic inbox;

That's a useless question, Dave. I believe in plutocracies, not monarchies.

well then why are you going on about king qualifications
anyway the thing i had for you was a daydream slash hallucination
i know we normally focus on my night dreams or nightmares
but this one was so absurdly what the fuck i figure youd like to get into like
whatever the fuck my subconcious was trying to tell me
since its literally the weirdest fucking thing ever and youre always on that shit like a soccer mom on free mimosas
tipsily taking as many as your hands can hold
the mimosas in this metaphor are like other peoples issues
that wasnt clear was it
i should scrap that metaphor and come up with a new one but you know what no
youre the soccer mom its you
but anyway
are you busy

For you and your deep-rooted psychological issues, Dave, I always have the time. Shall I bring Ghatanothoa over?

im not sure why cthulhus firstborn would help me in this scenario but
yes?
sure
you should definitely bring your horrorterror doll to my room
or we can like talk about this here if you dont want to come over i mean either is fine

Cthulu's firstborn is trained in active listening. In the instance where you find speaking to me directly to be a struggle, you may use Ghatanothoa as a proxy.

Just a moment.

[A moment later Dave will hear a knock knock on his door!]

[ oh my god rose he isn't even answering that, but he will go over to open the door for her. ]

Sup. [ choose the desk chair or the lower bunk of the bunk beds or wherever to sit? there's beanbag chairs, obviously. the room is...neater than his canon room because dirk doesn't abide messy computer cords or anything, but dave also never makes his bed. ever. that would be silly. ]

Sup.

[In her grasp is a cute lil horror which she offers to Dave. Ghata is for him, not for her! If he accepts it, she will happily take her place on the bunk bed, legs delicately crossed at the ankles.]

Take as much time as you need.

[ WHY? that said, dave has had like. 17 years of rose. so he accepts the thing and then will go and sit on the bunk bed with her, actually. ]

Ok, but like, full disclaimer: me tellin' you about my hallucinations may cause a hallucination. Maybe. We're not fully sure yet. But like. So, earlier today Jade and I got donuts, right? Of which she ate like, all of them, too fast. But while we were sitting there I started - it wasn't thinkin' really, it just kind of...happened.

[ descriptive. ]

A real-time daydream, a deja vu without the original vu to deja.

[That's... a strange way to start the conversation. Given what Jade messaged her earlier, Rose anticipated their talk to be about hurt feelings or something along those lines. "Hallucinations" weren't exactly on her top 10 of expected topics. The way Dave is approaching this changes her demeanor. She's not worried -- okay, maybe she is a little. But. She'll withhold judgment until Dave fully explains himself.]

What do you mean by that?

[ the jade argument is So A Few Days Ago thankfully, although it was less an argument and more dave fucking up and apologizing a lot? so. today he's more concerned about, you know, the crazy shit. ]

I...saw something. Two somethings. One with Jade, the other while Bro and I were talkin' about bullshit he saw that was freaky. And his freaky hallucination explanation made me hallucinate again, so I might make you do it.

[ he's asking, mostly, if she's okay with that possibility. ]

It's...we think it's like the whole "hey remember horses? well we don't" thing.

[Rose understands his hesitation. He doesn't want to cause her undue grief, but she's always been the more reckless between the two. Regardless of what pain it may cause, Rose wants to know. So she presses.]

Dave. You don't need to worry about me. Tell me what you saw.

The first thing I saw, on the bench? I'm not sure "saw" is the right word. I...felt stuff. Like, not just emotions, though I felt emotions too. But it was hot.

[ lava not so far below, heat in the air, the water wasn't that cold, either - ]

There were, uh, crocodiles. All around me? Puttin' veggies and shit in a soup pot. Which I was in. The onions were makin' me cry.

[ ... ]

Does that have any homoerotic undertones or have we hit like uncharted territory here, sis.

[... what? Rose stares at him.]

Crocodiles.

[Enunciated slowly. How do you expect her to pick that apart, Dave??]

Yeah. In like. A place with lots of lava?

[ said very highly reluctantly, but. he wanted her to know because it's rose.

PICK IT APART, ROSE. ]

Told you it was a big one. I've never given you this much to hack into, right? Are you not up to the challenge, Rose? 'Cause I'm sure I can make up some bullshit to equals signs it into dicks somehow, since that is mostly how things end up when you discuss my deepest darkest dreams or whatever. Also, the other thing I hallucinated involved you and it's even weirder.

[Dave's always had strange dreams, but this just might take the cake. Usually they follow a pattern. This sounds more like someone having a bad trip. Rose isn't sure how to approach it, especially with the hallucination bit.]

You keep saying "hallucinate," and that Dirk experienced it as well. What do you mean by that? Are you referring to a maladaptive daydream?

I don't think so?? It felt...

[ he doesn't really know how to describe it. ]

I know it sounds crazy, but it felt real. Like it really happened. Not like it was happenin', exactly, but like it did once? Like... [ jesus. ] It just felt real. But also, it was fuckin' insane, so. "Hallucinate" felt accurate. Especially for trip two, which was like...again, you were there, and Dirk was too, and I told him about it and then he tripped out on it.

[ he's asking a second time for the all-clear. does rose really want to risk this. does she really. ]

[Dave wants to protect her from the effects of whatever it is. He's worried that she'll experience something just as strange or maybe something worse. It's understandable. Why would you willingly subject your siblings to an unknown phenomenon? What if it's worse than either of them anticipate it to be--?

Rose rests her hand upon his. She lets the weight of it rest there.]

I'll be fine.

[Her voice brooks no argument. Regardless of how strange it may be, she's confident that she won't freak out. Even if it happened, Dave won't be to blame. She's stubborn about that.]

How many times did this happen to you? How quickly did each hallucination come?

[ dave turns his hand over under rose's, lacing their fingers together on automatic. he's not as touchy-feely as, say, roxy? but he's more than comfortable with his siblings being in his space and sharing it. and maybe the offered comfort is necessary. ]

Twice. [ unless i go drop in a request WHICH I WILL SHORTLY MAYBE. ] With Jade, we were just sitting there. And we both independently had a little moment with our brains havin' an acrobatic pirouette off the handle of sanity? Then Bro and I were just talkin' and he had a moment like that, followed by tellin' me about it, which...led to me havin' a moment, and then I told him about that and then he had another moment.

[ ... ]

It was really fuckin' stupid and those ones happened all one after the other really quick. But that was hours after Jade and I had our whatever. [ he's stalling and he knows he is and maybe he understands the part where dirk might try to protect him from this in the future. still, he'll answer rose, because she asked and he trusts her more than anyone else and she's the strongest person he knows: ]

The second thing, the one you were at. It was...weird as fuck. It was like, all rainbows and hyperactive bullshit. Everyone looked weird? Except you. You looked nice, you were in a tuxedo. But Bro's hair was like bright orange and he looked - ok he looked really calm and stoic but everyone else looked like they were high on life, and by life I mean drugs, and Rox had like teal hair and everyone was wearing candy as accessories and they all had maniacal grins - except Bro, he was chill - and we were liftin' you up on like, a chair? I think it was a wedding. Your wedding? You were in a tuxedo??

[ he's not sure if this is better or worse than the crocodiles. it feels worse, if only because hallucinating your sister's hypothetical drugged out wedding is possibly really fucking sappy and that might make it Worse on automatic. maybe dave is sappy, maybe that's true, but having to doxx himself on it will never not be terrible? ]

I think it's possible I'm goin' crazy, except Jade and Dirk are too so I'm not sure that's exactly it. Are mass hallucinations that happen all at different times a thing?

[Neither of them are really touchy-feely when it comes to affection. They're siblings but they're not the sort to exchange frequent hugs or to the like. But Rose knows when to offer it. Dave is talking about some messed up stuff -- and who knows? It may happen to her soon, judging by how quickly it spreads.]

... my wedding?

[Something is niggling at the back of her mind. She can't quite place the feeling, but--

Her grip on Dave's hand tightens, but her voice remains steady.]

Is there anything else you remember about that-- hallucination?

[ dave squeezes rose's hand, not sure what she's thinking but offering the dubious comfort of the fact he's right there. he tries to think back to the maybe-memory and probably-drugs, sifting through for any details he didn't get across. ]

Oh, Jake was there, too. And a few other people I didn't recognize. A girl with gray skin and horns in a dress.

[ but after a second, he has to shrug. ]

That's basically it. It was pretty short - I mean, I remember being really stupid happy, like weirdly so, but that's about it.

[This is what Rose is thinking: it's too fantastical, too otherworldly to buy into. But she believes him 100%. There's no reason for Dave to make these things up yet she can't piece together what it possibly means. If Dirk had a vision she has to grill him about what he saw. And--

That's as far as her thoughts get. She can hear Dave, but she isn't listening to him anymore. The air tastes heavy with rain, with the promise of a storm. The color of Dave's room fades, giving way to an ashen landscape -- there's the scent of alcohol and perfume and pine. The ground is wet.

There is a cat. It is wearing a suit. It looks incredibly expensive -- more expensive than anything she's ever worn.

Dave, of course, can't see what she's seeing. Rose isn't even aware of what she's doing. Her eyes are distant, as if she's zoning out.]

[ he can't see what she's seeing, but he's seen it happen to two people. jade and dirk. it's happened to him more than once - although it hasn't yet in this conversation - and he doesn't let go of her hand. there's worry on his face, muted in the same way a lot of things are expression-wise for him, but - ]

Rose?

[She hears him saying her name distantly, but the sound of his voice is warped. It morphs into an older woman's timbre, one that sounds strange yet awfully familiar for reasons she can't place--

And then it's over. One blink and the dreary landscape is swept away, vanished as if it were a wayward thought. The sensation of rain still fills her nostrils as does a heavy ache in the back of her throat. It feels like she almost wanted to cry, for some reason? Rose looks down at their hands, then back up at Dave.]

So.

[She's trying to string together a coherent and intelligent sentence.]

That's what you were talking about.

[NAILED IT]

Oh, shit.

[ like, he figured? but the confirmation sure is a thing. dave...proceeds not to let go of rose's hand. he will kind of awkwardly knock his shoulder into hers? this is step two of the sibling comfort echeladder, maybe. ]

Did you see the whole...sugar disaster, or somethin' else?

[this social bond is deepening to great heights. it's going up. it's soaring. it's gone. not even light itself can catch this motherfucker's empathy levels.

Jokes aside, Rose appreciates the gesture. It's not much, but at least it's something. She leans a little against his shoulder.]

It appears animals are a theme between us.

[...]

I saw a cat having a fancier funeral than I could ever hope to have.

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