On the tough guy style I'm not too keen. [OPEN]

[shenunigans]

Who| Dave Strider and OPEN (plus a mingle prompt)
What| Various escapades of a Texan ass deep in the cold powder of anti-Satan.
Where| Through the forests, around the caves
When| Week 3
Warnings/Notes| Naughty words


A. Valentines Rewards:
Of all the commercialized affection days Dave has lived through, he's never gotten gifts quite like this. Or any gifts, really, but that's all in the past. His requests hadn't precisely been sincere, so he isn't disappointed when two parachutes drop down in front of him. One contains a themed scarf that he doesn't remember asking for, but he enthusiastically clucks to himself as he winds it around his neck. If Caesar Flickerman is watching, he doesn't want him to think he doesn't want his face wrapped snug around his body. The day only increases in hella-ness when Dave is also presented with what can only be described as a gargantuan bag of doritos.

For a while, he walks around under his five layers of jackets, blankets and scarfs with the bag tucked under his coats, open and kept in place against his chest with sheer force of will. Every so often he'll reach into his shirt, pull out an orange chip and eat it in a way he imagines to be inconspicuous.

Eventually, his travels take him upward and he uses a knife and sheer force of will to haul himself up onto one of the higher branches so he can pull the bag out and eat from it as much as he likes. He could say he's surveying the surroundings while he does this, but he'd be lying.

B. Snow Trekking Acrosstheuniverse:
Generally, Dave hates snow. Snow is overrated, Winter Wonderland is a barren wasteland of death and misery. Currently, Dave loathes snow. It's precisely crotch height and he is literally balls deep in shaved and flaked misery. It's a bad day to be 5'9, but he's thankful not to be any shorter than that right now. Maybe it would be easier to walk if he weren't wearing everything wearable, but then he would be cold.

The snow is making it damn near impossible to see anyone and he deeply regrets stepping off for some personal time. The isolation had been good. Briefly. Now he's surrounded by nothing but white as far as the eye can see, like he's in the middle of a suspiciously crowded Nickelback concert. One would imagine that the fact that he's entirely alone would be a relief, but he can't help thinking someone might spring out at him at any minute.

After a few minutes of aimless trudging, he gives in to temptation and starts to haphazardly sculpt what may be the world's ugliest snowman. Ugly stick arms, ugly rock nose and yet, he seems so empty. Dave stares into the white abyss of his snow friend's eyes before he very carefully pulls his own shades off his face and places them onto the snowman. He puts his hands on his hips, stroking his chin as he ponders.

"It's like looking in a mirror." He murmurs, then he takes a long step back before springing himself forward to violently and inelegantly pummel the snowman like a dog with a balloon. He stands up slowly and plucks his shades out of the snow, dusting them off before sliding them back on like nothing happened.


Snowball Fight: (feel free to do open prompts with this one)
It's a long walk back, but Dave finally feels like his numb legs have begun to lead him to a slightly more populated area. It's not necessarily a good thing, but it's leading him back to the meeting place he and Karkat had agreed upon. In retrospect, there wasn't much about that particular tree that differentiated it from the rest of them. Dave is in a constant state of sniffling, his nose is pink and his legs are damp and cold from trudging through snow all day.

There is no sense of Christmas cheer in him, but when he sees someone ahead of him struggling through the snow, he feels an overwhelming urge to pelt them with some snow. This is partly because he thinks it's someone he knows and entirely because he is near delirious from being cold and exhausted.

He scoops himself a sizable handful and with an exclamation of hup that is louder than he intended it to be, Dave starts a snowball fight mid-Arena.

Comments

[shenunigans]

Dave might comply with hugs, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to let out a loud and long groan of annoyance when she mentions Bro. Actually, it's really long. The sound probably overstays it's welcome, but he'd like to see her shut up.

"Please. It took her like a month and a bit to get used to me, and I live in her District. And I'm much more friendly and relatable, like seriously. It's crazy." He would gesture to himself, but they are locked in a nice, warm embrace. Normally he'd pull away, but this is too nice. "Does she even know you like. Like him?" He is presently unaware of the whole official relationship thing.

[rediscover]

Finally, Anna pulls away, feeling a little bit less cold and raw from having leeched off of Dave's body heat. "I guess so," she replies with a shrug. Best to keep this conversation lighthearted, right? Maybe that will make it less painfully awkward.

Which he immediately ruins with his question. "U-uhhh. Probably? I mean, she does, but. Dave, well, there's something I need to tell you." Please, let her be struck by lightning. Heck, she'd even be willing to lay down right here and let him bury her in snow.

[shenunigans]

The hesitation is hurtful, but it's alright. Dave knows he's way more friendly and relatable than Bro, it's why so many people smother him and leave Bro to his own devices. This of course has nothing to do with the fact that Bro is a grown man and Dave is, what people believe to be, an impressionable young lad.

Like Anna.

This is gross. He doesn't much like the way she's pussyfooting around and he's pretty sure she's making heavy implications already. His brows furrow suspiciously at her and, with some difficulty, he folds his arms over his chest.

"Spill."

[rediscover]

Anna's fingers clench and unclench, restless, wishing she could go back in time and make this conversation not happen. Or go forward in time so she doesn't have to deal with the repercussions. She'd grab for his hand, but he's already got them hidden away between layers of down.

"Alright, alright! Well, you see, me and Bro--we, we had kind of a talk, the first day here. And we're...well, I guess you could say we're a thing now." She cringes. Totally smooth, Anna. "Please don't be mad, Dave, please. I can't take you being mad at me." She really can't. It's never really happened before and she loves Dave to death, and him being mad at her would make her feel worse than she already does.

[shenunigans]

Dave doesn't know why he lets something in him get hopeful when Anna says they talked, because he hopes to hell they talked about the fact that this is wrong and weird and a terribly awkward place to put bro-son into. Of course, not. Of course they didn't. He can feel petulance building in him and he's mad, so fucking mad.

He's not sure why this needles him so badly, but it feels like the real life equivalent of having a banana cream pie slowly pressed into his face while he just stands there and fucking takes it. Then she's guilting him, whether she means to or not, so it makes any reaction he wants to have feel totally irrational.

"Okay." He says, curtly and colder than all the snow they're entrenched in. He knows it's the world's most passive aggressive nail in the coffin here, but it's either that or he has another word vomit about the levels of discomfort he has here. And they don't care, because they have their titanic romance and he's just a fat iceberg in the way of success.

"So should I call you mom or are you my aunt now?"

You couldn't fucking help yourself.

[rediscover]

Okay.

That's all he says, okay, just that one word that feels like Elsa's ice invading her heart all over again. Anna's shoulders fall, and it hurts, to see him close off like that. To know that her happiness can't coincide with Dave's happiness, or Elsa's. No matter what she does here, she's hurting someone she loves. And that realization hits her like a ton of bricks, just as Dave's words meet her ears. She's not trying to guilt him, she's really not, but tears well up in her eyes.

"Dave--" Where normally she'd be stubborn and petulant, she's just sad and tired. Arguing, being angry, that takes a kind of energy she doesn't have right now. She tries again, tries to clear her throat of the quaver her voice has developed with no luck. "Dave, please, d-don't say that, that---isn't fair."

[shenunigans]

It's all he can really stand to say at this point, because on top of being stubborn he is a reputably mouthy shit. It's hard to have an opinion and express it in words that are softer than he feels are necessary. It's the same for him, because he doesn't think he'll ever be comfortable with this but the idea of both of them growing tired and fed up with him because he's so obstinately against their happiness.

He's about ready to stamp a big, red "done" sticker on this and file it under things he's started to pretend aren't happening, but her tone of voice catches his attention and forces him to make eye contact with her.

Oh god. Nope. Tears. He needs to make that stop, that needs to stop right now.

"Stop that." He says, raising his hands in surrender and expressing his clear understanding of emotional displays. "I don't know what to do with that. Or this. If you want accolades of approval you're gonna have to find someone who isn't the hand raised relation of that guy." That was not the kind words he was angling for. "I'm not gonna be okay with it overnight. Or ever. So if we just don't talk about it, we're peachy." Because things are that simple, of course.

[rediscover]

Anna cuts off like he's snatched her voice out of her throat when he tells her to stop. And that stings, too, and she can't but look a little reproachful. It seems like Dave's just going to pretend that none of this has happened, and try as he might, Anna just can't deal with that. She deflates a little further, letting out a deep breath.

"Oh--okay," she says in a small voice. "If that's...if that's what I have to do to keep you as my friend, then I guess we just--won't talk about it."

This hurts way more than she'd anticipated. She'd expected him to wig out a little, but this? This comes out of left field. It hurts that neither he nor Elsa are being supportive, and it makes her feel a little driftless.

[shenunigans]

This conversation is going so badly, Dave can almost feel himself float out of his own body and watch as he single-handedly destroys his friendships from the skies above. But fuck, what's a guy meant to do? It's not like him to lie and say he's okay with something, even if it is like him to lie and pretend he's fine. It feels contrary to everything he's ever been told to just roll over and pretend it isn't happening, and it doesn't feel any better than vocally objecting.

But still, the way she's talking is starting to grate on him a little. He feels guilty, he doesn't want to feel guilty. He doesn't want to feel irrational for his feelings, either, but he's terrible at expressing them as it is.

"You're making it sound like I'm holding you hostage." He admits with a dejected sort of mumble, scuffing snow with his feet. "Things are already weird enough between me and him, alright? I duuno. I don't know how to deal with it." He shrugs, continuing despite having said he doesn't want to talk about it. "It's not like you and Elsa. Things are different. It's how we are."

[rediscover]

Anna forces herself to take a breath, trying to bolster herself. Trying not to be a weakling who cries over every little word. It's clear that they're both hurting, right now, even if he doesn't want to admit it, and she needs to remember that for Dave, this hasn't exactly been a long time coming, the way it was for her. To Anna, it always felt inevitable, in some way, even when they were dancing around it. This is all probably hitting Dave like a freight train of weirdness.

She sighs, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder again. "I'm sorry. I--I wasn't thinking about that," she admits. "This is all new for me, too, remember? But I'll try not to make it too weird for you, Dave. I promise." She's determined, suddenly, to do this right. To do right by all her loved ones, not just herself. She's not going to let this Bro thing burn any bridges, especially not with Dave or Elsa.

[shenunigans]

It absolutely is out of nowhere for Dave, because it's not like Bro has told him anything. He certainly keeps an eye on him when he can, snoops even. He's the younger sibling, after all, glorious rivalry dictates a need to be invasive. It just so happens that being here means his attention is split between several people and not focused entirely on Bro.

He resists the urge to pull back from the hand, letting her touch it on the off-chance it makes her feel better somehow. "Nope." Is his response to her admission, because he isn't going to deny that she probably didn't think about it.

"Okay. Cool. Fine." He adds more words this time, so it doesn't sound as standoffish and passive aggressive as it did before. There's a sort of surrender in his tone and his stance, but he's ready to drop this. "We can talk about something else now if you want." God he hopes she has something else to talk about.

[rediscover]

Anna's mouth is drawn into a rather miserable line at how short Dave is being with her; she doesn't like it, not one bit. Normally she takes it with a grain of sand, but in this context it's much more worrisome.

"Okay. Sure. Fine." She echoes his words right back at him. "How about all that snow, huh? So cold. So wet. Normally I'd blame Elsa but for once it's not her making the weather do crazy things."

[shenunigans]

"Snow is second only to math as far as useless and abhorrent natural torture methods go." At least she got him to be verbose again, right? Even if he does feel a little bad since snow is Elsa's thing. Elsa. Let's focus on her.

"How is she, by the way? Fanning her face? Asking why everyone is shivering?" He can only hope and assume she's Not Dead given Anna's approach to the conversation.

[rediscover]

"Ugh, no, you're right, math is the worst. But snow is pretty terrible." See, this is better, this is more normal for them. This, she can do. Anything is better than that trainwreck of an attempt to talk about feelings.

Anna shrugs at Dave's mention of Elsa. "I'm not sure. I haven't found her yet. But I haven't seen her face in the sky yet, so I assume she's okay...wait, have you seen her?"

[shenunigans]

He can't help the way his mouth pulls into an expression of concern, but he tries not to let it get to him too much. "Yeah, I saw her in the first few weeks. She caught me hunting, scared my bird." His brows furrow. "Guess we can't be too worried about her. I kind of heard about the whole Miss Independence deal where she thought running off into the forest alone to build a castle was a swell idea."

[rediscover]

Anna snorts. "She did, yeah. I'm sure she'll be fine. I'll--I should try to find her, though. Gotta talk some stuff over with her, and make sure she's alright. I--I wonder if she's worried about me, too."

Mostly, Anna's scared that she won't be. It's irrational, but what if she doesn't care?

[shenunigans]

"Did you want me to help find her? I'm not doing anything- or is it, ah, like that?" Like that being that Anna hasn't told Elsa about any of this. Of course his own self imposed censorship of that situation makes it hard to be specific, but he's pretty sure she'll get what he means.

[rediscover]

"No, no, that's alright. Really." She chews her lip. "I gotta think of a good way to, uh--tell her. To apologize, really. Her and I didn't really leave off on the best of terms last arena as it is."

Anna manages a smile. "I'll see you again, though. Maybe all three of us can join up."