Work Text:
-->Be Jane, a couple hours from present time
Have you ever heard a callin'
But you don't know where the sound is coming from
Sometimes love, is talking in a whisper
You huffed, the song filtering out of your laptop’s speakers as you slumped onto the hotel bed. What were you supposed to wear? You had packed this bag with quite a bit of confidence, and you can feel that very confidence shrink away as you stare at the selections you laid out.
Roxy had gotten both of you into the “biggest party eva”, according to her. You weren’t really one for parties, but Roxy definitely was. You would humor her, if it meant seeing her again. The last time you had even seen her in person had been your sophomore year of high school, just before she moved to New York. Shucks, it had been about five years! Despite keeping in touch via text message and facebook, you missed seeing her everyday.
This party she’d gotten tickets to was some sort of crazy summer music festival in Houston, Texas. You were surprised that you were even able to convince your dad to let you go! Dad rarely ever let you go anywhere, let alone to the other side of the country...geez, you were 21! He needn’t be so protective of you. You are an adult now, after all…
An adult who couldn’t even pick out her own clothes. Shoot.
“Janey!” Roxy called from the mirror in the bathroom, where she was setting out various kinds of makeup. “Are you dressed?”
“...I may or may not be having some second thoughts on what to wear.” And with that, Roxy came bursting into the room, her hair half curled, and a silly scrunched up expression on her face.
She took one look at the clothes laid out on the bed, before snapping her head back to you, curls flying into her face. “Wear the button up sleeveless shirt with the teal skirt. And the sweater you’re wearing now. That orange looks nice on you,” she directed, pointing at each article of clothing. “Then you can wear those adorable little oxford shoes.” Walking over to the bed, she pushed everything else to the side set the desired ensemble close to you. “Get dressed girly, then bring your pretty little butt in here so we can make you look smexy!”
You laughed at that, and also at the way she slid on the tile in the small hallway to get back to the bathroom. Her head popped out once more, startling you.
“Not that you aren’t smexy already,” she said, giving you an exaggerated wink before disappearing once more.
You rolled your eyes.
As you got up to start getting ready, you caught a glimpse of the bright orange text on your wrist. It had been hastily scrawled, almost like the writing you would find on blueprints. When it had first appeared, it had taken no more than ten seconds for it to write itself out. Dirk. He had a very silly name, you would admit. When you meet him, you’ll be sure to tell him that at some point.
Well, if you ever did meet him. Poor dad hadn’t even met his, and it had been a good thirty years (compared to your measly three months, that seemed unbearable). Although it was an unsettling thought, you wouldn’t let it phase you, no sir. You’d cross that bridge when you got to it. Right now, you had to focus on other matters.
Like getting ready for this gosh darn party!
--> Be Dirk, at the exact same time
Bro clapped you on the back as you packed your equipment into your car. The force of it nearly sent the amp in your arms tumbling to your feet, or even worse, on top of them. (To be honest, you’d care more for the amp than your feet. Broken bones would heal in time, but the amplifier in your arms would have needed more extensive-and expensive- repairs).
“I’m proud of you, ‘lil bro,” Broderick said, his genuine pride just barely masked with a joking tone. “First big gig. It’s gonna be a good one.” You rolled your eyes, knowing that he couldn’t see it behind your shades.
“Thanks, Bro,” you responded, using the same tone of voice. Dave would often tell the both of you how similar you are to each other. Same hair, same shades, same wild orange eyes. Even your personalities mirrored each other from time to time. Of course, both of you shrug it off (usually simultaneously, which simply reinforced Dave’s statement). But now, as you finally shut the trunk of your car and turn to face your older brother, you can see the excitement that you were feeling deep down play on his face. You grinned.
“You sure you don’t want me to go? Y’know, just in case something breaks and you need a quick fix?” He asked. Your smile dropped a bit. You were nervous as hell, and him being there would probably throw you off just as much as breaking something in the middle of a gig. You had already told him you would be fine on your own. Of course, you knew that wasn’t particularly fair to him. He was the one that taught you how to mix and rap in the first place. Bro really did care for you, and all he wanted to do was support you. But that was just too much for you right now. This was a big deal, and you didn’t want to mess it up.
You’d make it up to him, somehow.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” you replied with a shrug. “I’ll record what I can and bring it back for you. Plus, Dave needs some company.”
Bro chuckled heartily. “Yeah, I should make sure he doesn’t go crazy. He’s still having a fit ‘cause of all the homework he’s got. ‘Should probably make sure he doesn’t break anything, the little shit.”
You smirked at that. Dave was a drama queen. Bro was, too, but the youngest Strider was one more often than the oldest. Whilst Bro and you were similar, Dave’s personality was complementary to yours. And somehow Bro was a combination of both. In the oddest way possible. Together, you made a beautiful color wheel of irony and bullshit.
Bro moved to pat you on the back again, but you moved in for a hug instead. “Thanks for everything, Bro. I’ll see you on the other side.”
Your older brother hugged back, and as you pulled away to get into the car, he gave you a thumbs up before heading back to the apartment. You put the keys in the ignition with shaky hands and began the drive to the venue, your radio playing an upbeat tune as you slowly neared your destination. At some point along the way, you glanced at the inside of your wrist, where a name in deep turquoise was neatly written. For some reason, that name gave you comfort.
Do you ever feel like falling
For someone you never thought of falling for?
But without him
Though you move, you're getting nowhere
--> Be Jane, present time
You look yourself over in the bathroom mirror one more time, just to be sure you look alright. Roxy certainly did a number on you! Although she had wanted to “make you look smexy”, you opted to keep your makeup minimal and in natural tones, save the red rouge on your lips. Despite this, you still felt fairly gussied up. With one final silly face directed toward the mirror, you rolled your sleeves up to your elbows (a bad habit you had picked up from your baking antics) and walk out of the restroom.
Little do you know, Roxy was leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door, and she ambushes you as soon as you walk out, dragging you to the dance floor. As much as you try to dig your heels into the soft ground, she is relentless. It doesn’t take long for her to get you in the middle of everything with her. As soon as you both stopped moving, Roxy is dancing. She turns to you, waggling an eyebrow. You laugh a lot at that, letting her move you along the dance floor.
It isn’t very long until there’s a lull in the music, and DJs are switched around. You notice the difference in their music styles almost immediately (and you must say, you enjoy the electro-swing and techno that is flowing through the crowds much better than the dubstep that had been playing earlier). You look up towards the set up that is the source of the music, and find an interesting sight behind the turntables.
He looks...familiar, almost. You can’t place the feeling that it gave you to look at him. He is tall, but sort of lanky, with spiked blonde hair (it was styled, no doubt). You wish you could see his eyes, but they’re concealed by the triangle shades resting on his face. He was dressed very nicely for a party like this one. You can tell his favorite color was orange, considering that every accessory he is wearing has some shade of orange on it, save for a few turquoise accents you spot on his vest. At a first glance, he looked very nervous. But as the music went on, he began to get more comfortable and move to the beat of the music he played.
Hmm.
He looked over in your direction, and boy do you hope he didn’t see you staring at him. You turn your eyes away from him, only to find Roxy’s eyes on you. Her eyebrows are wagging again. You stuck your tongue out at her before dancing along with her. You catch her giving somebody behind you a smirk and a wink. You don’t bother asking who it is.
→ Be Dirk
Jane.
That’s her. Out on the dance floor.
She isn’t what you were expecting…
But somehow, you’re alright with that.
You saw her out of the corner of your eye, and was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of familiarity. However, when you turned to get a better look at her, she moved her head away from you hastily. Had she been staring? If this were any other situation, you honestly wouldn’t give it a second thought. But the fact that this was your soulmate staring at you made your stomach fill with butterflies. You sent a good natured smirk her way, despite the fact that she probably didn’t see it. Her friend, however, did see it and sent it back to you, accompanied by a wink.
Well, shit.
In the time that you had been watching the two, the music had gotten too smooth. You hasten to add more flavor to it immediately. A new drum beat, more volume on the bass. That’ll bring the energy back before the track ends.
And you were absolutely right. When the track is over, people are cheering and wanting more. You look over to Jane again, who is looking back again. This time, she doesn’t look away. You smile a bit more genuinely, waving at her. She blushes when she realizes that you knew she was looking at you. You’re afraid you might of scared her and withdraw your hand.
She waves back at you shyly, a tiny smile on her face.
You have to fight back the urge to jump over your turntables and introduce yourself to her properly right then and there.
You’ll put up a prerecorded track up after this next one, then you’ll find her and properly meet her. For now, you’ll just show off a little more.
→ Be Jane
You most definitely could not keep the color creeping on your cheeks at bay. Woah nelly, you are very flustered! Part of you was screaming not to get too enamored with the stranger. You had a soulmate to look for, didn’t you? And poor Dirk didn’t deserve to be abandoned so quickly.
But what if this was Dirk? You had tried to get a look at his wrist, but he kept his soulmate’s name covered (it was a sensible thing to do, really. Not everyone wants those names out there for all to see. You roll your sweater sleeves down sheepishly). You’d never know. That is, unless you went up and talked to him.
...Ah well, if you did decide to find him, you knew where he was.
You excuse yourself to get a drink (of water, of course. Mrs. Lalonde specifically told you both that if she received word that either of you had been even a little bit tipsy, you’d be under lockdown for the rest of the weekend). Once you get through the crowd and order yourself a glass of water, you look over at the turntables again, only to find nobody behind them. The music playing must have been recorded before hand. You thank the bartender once you have your drink and sip contently, listening to the upcoming tune.
Tell me, who's in your heart now?
When Leonard Cohen is singing "Hallelujah"
Who's in your heart now?
All your friends and foes, they thought they knew ya
But look who's in your heart now
You scared yourself, your all of a doo-dah
Oh, you gotta hold on to love
Oh you'd better hold on to love
You recognize the song almost instantly and smile. Downing your water, you spin around to rejoin Roxy on the dance floor before the song is over. Before you know it, you are stumbling into somebody and toppling to the floor.
→ Be Dirk
The wind was knocked right out of you. The back of your head hit the floor, but the impact wasn’t anything you couldn’t handle. You’d probably feel it in the morning, but honestly, it was nothing some pain killers wouldn’t fix.
The thing that you were mildly freaking out about right now was the girl on top of you.
“Oh my goodness...I am so sorry!” Jane says, scrambling herself upright. You stand up seamlessly, offering her a hand. This would’ve looked really cool, if it hadn’t been for the blush on your face and the stutter that you suddenly adopted when you tried to speak.
“It’s-it’s no problem. It was my fault, actually. I was walking up behind you. Shit, this is so cliché. Literally running into each other, I mean. Um,” You fumble as she accepts your hand and you pull her to her feet. Composing yourself, you try again. “Hey. I’m Di-Stri, the one who waved at you a couple songs ago.”
Jane looked up at you with curious blue eyes. “Di-Stri, hmm? Is that a stage name?”
“Well, you could say that. It’s a nickname. My bro made it up when I started mixing.”
“I like it. It wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your actual name, would it?” she inquired, rubbing at the arm that she would have her two names on.
Shit, you want to tell her. But that wouldn’t be any fun. If you were going to meet your soulmate tonight, you were going to make it memorable. So you simply grin in return.
“It might. Might not. Wouldn’t you like to know?”
A playful smile tugs at her lips as you say that. You offer your hand once again.
“Well, I came here on a mission and I intend to carry it out. Care to dance, Miss…?”
“Jane,” she answered confidently, although her face showed complete surprise instead.
“Alright, Jane,” you grin when she takes your hand once more. “Shall we?”
“I believe we shall, Mr. Di-Stri!”
Have you ever found something
That you didn't even know you were looking for?
An answer
Though you didn't hear the question
When the plane is shaking violently
You wonder will the sky change into Heaven
And if all fails
Who is in your last thought then?
Oh no, she isn’t what you expected at all.
She’s better.
After one more round of mixing, you were officially finished with your gig and spent the rest of the night with Jane, dancing and sharing little bits and pieces of your lives with each other. You gathered that Jane wasn’t from here, and that her friend Roxy had gotten them both tickets to this music festival. She loved the Studio Killers (which was a stroke of luck on your part, as you used their tracks frequently in your sets). Jane was in her third year of culinary school, and was currently on summer vacation. You tell her about Broderick and Dave, your interest in robotics, and Houston life in general. You make jokes with each other, and when you hear her laugh for the first time you stop and stare at her in wonder. Of course, that makes her embarrassed, but you don’t hesitate to tell her how great you think her laugh is. She tries on your shades and looks absolutely ridiculous. It’s adorable.
(As opposed to when you wore her glasses, and although she laughs until her cheeks are pink, she tells you that your eyes are beautiful afterwards.)
At the end of the night, you exchange numbers and PesterChum handles. You both agree to go out for coffee the next day at a cafe that’s only a block away from her hotel and has great smoothies (Broderick had recommended it numerous times).
You were bold enough to kiss her on the cheek before she left to find Roxy and get back to their hotel.
“See you tomorrow then, Jane.”
“I can hardly wait, Dirk.”
You didn’t register what she had called you until she was already out of sight.
A smile crept up onto your face for what seemed like the hundredth time that night. Turquoise would make a nice addition to your color wheel of bullshit and irony.
Tell me, who's in your heart now?
When Leonard Cohen is singing "Hallelujah"
Who's in your heart now?
All your friends and foes, they thought they knew ya
But look who's in your heart now
You scared yourself, your all of a doo-dah
Oh, you gotta hold on to love
Oh you'd better hold on to love