Work Text:
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A twenty-something-year-old, blonde man stands at a crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. He is wearing some headphones, tapping along to the beat of the song currently filling his ears. He was also trying to find some way and someplace to kill time, as his significant other had started out their morning by kissing him on the lips, then immediately insisting that he get the hell out for the rest of the day.
Pretty eventful start, and it's not even 10 yet.
Dirk watched as the orange hand flip to the white man and followed the crowd of people to the other side, diverting his pathway to the left.
Stepping to the beat, he was thinking about all the things he could do. He could go to his favorite cafe, maybe go shopping for a few things he's been meaning to get, or maybe he could even go to the local library and catch up on some reading. The possibilities are endless as long as they involve, you know, not going to his house for the next 12 hours-
Not realizing what was in front of him, he ran directly into a random person who also wasn't watching. Each dropped their respective electronics: Dirk's headphones flew off his head and the new person's phone went crashing to the ground. Both men felt bad, so they each reached for the opposite device. Unfortunately, they both share one brain cell, so the first thing they did was crash foreheads.
Flinging back with a groan, Dirk grabbed his forehead while the newcomer did the same. Rubbing it for a moment, Dirk finally realized, 'hey, maybe I should look at this person', "Hey, sorry, dude, I wasn't looking at what was in front of me and made you drop your phone- is it broken? I'm really sorry-"
"Nah man, don't worry, I should be apologizing, cuz I wasn't watching the shit in front of me as well and probably messed your business and what not-"
That's when they connected eyes and stood back up quickly.
"Dave?"
"Dirk?"
The two blonde men were staring at each other before they realized their expensive shit was still on the ground. This time, they went for their own things. Standing back up, Dave checked that his phone wasn't broken and put it in his pocket while Dirk checked to see if his headphones still played. They did, and so Dirk shut off the music and moved the headphones down to his neck.
Looking back at each other, neither dude knew what to say to start the conversation. A lot of things need to be said, especially after Sburb and their messed up pasts and all that fucking bullshit, but they also relate in the fact that neither wanted to even remotely bring it up. Great for the tension that surrounds them every time they look at each other, am I right?
Oh well, if they don't want to talk about that, Dirk figures they should at least start talking about something, "So, Dave, what brings you out to the great wide world today?"
Dave registered the question for a second before scratching the back of his head, "Eh, troll things that only trolls can do. Karkat mentioned Kanaya was coming over and left Rose at home for the same reasons. He basically looked at me and went 'skeedadle skeedoodle get out of our house' and well now I'm here." Dave took his hand from the back of his head and shoved it in his pockets, "What about you?"
Dirk snorted before answering with a straight face, "Uh, similar, more human-y reasons? Jake told me he had an idea that required him and himself only. I was then almost literally shoved out of my own living quarters by him so I decided it would be easier if I just left myself."
Dave raised his eyebrows at the absurdity of the scenario, but then started to laugh quietly.
Dirk titled his head, "What's so funny about that?"
Dave waved his hand, "Nothing, nothing, it's just," Dave put his hands on his knees, "Boyfriend Troubles: The Life of a Strider, would make a good hour special, am I right?"
Alright, Dirk had to chuckle at that, "I guess you're right. Maybe someone will watch us and submit one of us to Queer Eye, even."
Dave let out a big laugh at that, "Are you kidding? Queer Eye will take one look at our sorry asses and think, 'Ew, there's no saving this.'"
The two men broke out into laughter that lasted a few seconds, both calming down by putting their hands in their pockets and letting silence take over, neither looking at one another. Awkward silence was just about their second best weapon they could use, swords being their first, of course.
Dave broke the silence got serious for a split second, "So, uh, what are you planning on doing, since anything in your place isn't an option?"
Dirk looked at Dave and just shrugged, "I don't know, I was thinking about it when I literally ran into you, I got no idea."
It was a few moments of pure silence before Dave gasped and had Dirk focus on him.
Dave waved his hands around for dramatic effect, "Well well well if that's all you needed, you should have come to me from the start, homie! Dave Strider is the best place in town if you want to find ways to mindlessly windle away your lifespan! I'm an expert on it!"
Dirk smirked at Dave's antics, "Well, okay then, Mr. Professional, what should we do?"
Dave rubbed his hands together, almost maliciously, "Hoo boy! Have you been to Cardinal's Arcade? It's pretty freaking sweet, and if you haven't I'm legally allowed to kill you for your crimes against humanity."
Dirk just rolled his eyes, "No I haven't, and how about, instead of committing second-degree murder, you just take me there and show me around?"
Dave inhaled like he was about to retort, but then snapped his mouth shut, "Yeah, that's fair." Dave turned around and pointed towards the air, "Okay! If that's the plan then we have no time to lose! Tally ho!"
He watched as Dave quickly walked away for a moment before following just as fast from a few feet away. He hopes thinks this would be a good time killer, as well as an excuse to get closer to Dave and learn more about him because lord knows he needs to do that last thing.
Take the stone and kill two birds with it, or however that works.
---
To start out: the place was loud.
Not god-awful, but there was certainly a lot more screaming children than Dirk's brain would've liked.
Right as they got in, Dave noticed Dirk's discomfort, "Hey, sorry dude, I forgot you don't like loud shit. Wanna go someplace else that's kinder on your anti-social brain?"
Dirk blinked at Dave's proposition before responding, "No! No, I'm good, I swear. Just... it'll take a few moments to get used to it."
Dave raised an eyebrow, but relented anyway and turned around to the counter to buy their tokens, "Whatever, just let me know, alright?"
Dave gave Dirk a thumbs up and finally turned fully around and got in line.
Dirk, in return, looked around at the place. Its cleanliness was somewhere between unkempt and 'a neat-freak is in charge of tidying up the place after hours'. Most of the machines Dirk could see looked interesting, albeit a little worn down, but the few others were things Dirk has never even heard of. All in all, the place was pretty decent.
Not enough to quench the feeling that these people were hiding a dead body in the back, but the spirit is still there.
"Earth to Dirk, give me one of your palms." At the voice, Dirk did just that and promptly felt coins be deposited there. Oh, so Dave came back with about 50 tokens for him. Dave probably had the same amount as well. Dave put his tokens in his pocket, and Dirk took that cue to do the same thing.
After a moment, Dave pointed in a direction and started walking in it. Dirk followed right behind him obediently, putting his hands in his pockets, "So, Dave, what's the first stop in this adventure? Some wacky magical game that blows your mind away?"
Dave turned his head back so Dirk could only see the right side of his face, "Oh, trust me, Dirk, there may not be real magic in these two games I want to show you, but they sure as hell make you feel like there is. You shall not be disappointed." Dave looked back in front of him and continued walking.
Dirk was both filled with anticipation and fear at that statement. It was Dave after all.
---
A little bit after they ate lunch, Dirk was following Dave to the first event of the day and walked into directly Dave's back unexpectedly. The dude just stopped walking all of a sudden and started pointing at a random machine. Oh, so that was the first event.
"Featuring your one-stop shop for all things bloody and gory: Dead Living Mob 3: The Hospital's Revenge!"
Dirk was... a little invested, not going to lie. The game was one of those giant machines with a huge screen and two guns attached by cords you'd think would break if you pulled too hard. The machine was a dark red, and the art at the top was as generic as possible. There were two zombies on the left, one with a stethoscope around its neck, the other with that weird headband thing with the reflective circle attached to it around its head. That was about the only thing that signified they were doctors. On the right was only one zombie, but this time it was female, wearing an entire nurse outfit. The title was in big, bold, rotting letters at the center.
It was an uncanny valley of both good and terrible, and Dirk couldn't help but love it. Dirk also watched as Dave walked up and put three tokens in so he could start the game. Dirk also came up to the machine but stopped before putting in the tokens to look at Dave and clarify something, "Uh, you sure you trust me? I've, like, never picked up a gun, and if I have it never left a lasting impression. You think I'll be good?"
Dave let out a scoff, "Please, Dirk, if you can use a sword you can use a gun, now c' mon." Dave grabbed the gun on the left and shoved into Dirk's hands.
Dirk took it and stared at it, "... I don't think that's how that works, dude-"
"Yes it is, now shut up, put your tokens in and start shooting."
Which is exactly what they did for the next couple of hours or so. Turns out, Dave was right: Dirk was really good, and Dave was even better. The game was also ridiculously fun, also just like Dave said, even cathartic almost. They were doing really well too, surpassing the highest score only halfway through their endeavor. It was getting so intense they eventually had an audience watching them, some even quietly cheering them on.
The audience reaction was quite spectacular when Dave went, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but so does this big freaking gun!" Dirk just groaned, secretly finding it funny along with everyone else.
At this point, they had used up a total of 39 tickets each, which equaled 13 extra lives for both of them. On Dave's last life, he let out a loud "FU-rick!" when a random zombie jumped through a door and ripped both his arms off, ending it. Dirk continued on as he watched Dave sigh and set his gun down while people behind them made noises of disappointment. Some were even walking away to go to their own games.
Dirk was confused, yet stayed focused on the game, "Uh, you're leaving me in the dust?"
Dave chuckled, "I would continue, I swear it, but the last thing I want us to do requires 10 tokens, and I don't have any money to get more so I have to save these, and no, nobody else needs to give me more. I'm done for now." The little audience that was left groaned and followed the other 70% of the audience to do their own thing. Too bad, cause they missed Dirk's amazing death.
It was very dramatic. Dirk was searching the shelves of a bookshelf in an office on one of the highest floors of the building. Before either brother could blink, a zombie ran in the doorway and shoved Dirk over the desk and through the goddamn window. After the countdown where Dirk was allowed to put more tokens in to keep going, their score showed up on the screen, and holy shit! Are they sure that wasn't the phone number of the dude who made this game and wanted to personally talk to them?
Dirk looked back at Dave who was just chilling and smiling at their work. Dave felt eyes on him and just said, "What? You lived the longest, you get to pick the name."
Dirk's grin was from ear-to-ear. He looked back at the screen and aimed the gun. Dave watched as he picked only two letters to type. Dave just tilted his head.
HIGH SCORE: 129,641,507...........DDS
As Dirk set down the gun, Dave pulled one of his hands out of his pockets to point at the screen, "'DDS'? What does that mean?"
Dirk turned around and looked Dave in the eyes, "It's not obvious?" Dave's blank stare answered him, "Oh, well, it means 'Dirk and Dave Strider'. I was going to go with two D's and an 'and' symbol in between them, but that's already used for something more popular."
Dave just looked at Dirk. Dirk was going to ask what's wrong before Dave just went, "Okay, really? You put your name first? D&D popular? I'm wounded."
Dirk sputtered in retaliation, "H-Hey! Dungeons and Dragons is a good game! You've probably just had bad DMs, don't take it out on the entire thing!"
Before Dirk could continue, Dave threw his head back and laughed. Dirk stopped arguing and felt his chest light up. He felt a brief smile come over his face.
Dave stopped laughing and clapped his hands together, "Okay! Time for the real entertainment." Dave started walking away again.
This time, Dirk walked alongside him instead of behind him, "You better hope whatever it is will top that, which is going to be pretty dang hard."
Dave rolled his eyes, "Pssh, when have I been wrong today."
Dirk was going to agree that he has been pretty spot on, but Dave grabbed Dirk's hand and started pulling him along quicker.
Dirk had no way to respond, so he just let it happen.
---
"... No, no way in hell-"
"Aww, come on, Dirk! This'll be fun!"
"Yeah, for most people, but as we've established, we are not normal people-"
Dave grabbed the back of his shirt, "Puhlease! If anything, we'll be the best at this. I could even freeze time if it makes you feel better!"
Getting yanked back to stand in front of the next and last machine, Dirk let out a genuine groan. Yep, he was looking at none other than fucking Dance Dance Revolution, and it was making him sick. Oh, the game is fine, great even, but goddamn is Dirk not in the mood for this bullshit. Yet Dave was making him. Dirk let out a sigh in a preemptive response.
Dave went over to the machine and plugged 10 of his remaining tokens into it, turned around and waited for Dirk to do the same. Dirk was still glaring at Dave but ultimately relented as he walked over and did the same. He shoved the last token deep into his pocket.
They both got onto the platform at the same time, Dirk on the left and Dave on the right, just like Dead Living Mob. Dirk kept his hands in his pockets while Dave scrolled through the songs. It vaguely occurred to Dirk that people behind them were watching, some even commenting that these were the guys who set the new record on that zombie game.
Dave stopped briefly for a moment to comfort Dirk, "C' mon, man, Jake told me you were, like, religiously into this game as a kid."
Dirk rubbed the bridge of his nose, "Yeah, when I was ten and had nobody watching me do it! I haven't touched this in years, and now we even have an audience."
Dave kept arguing, "We had an audience for Dead Living Mob, what's different about this?"
Dirk pointing at the audience, "Shooting things in a game has infinitely less moments to make an absolute buffon of yourself."
Dave let out a sigh, and a face like he watched a video about orphaned puppies, "Alright if you're that uncomfortable, we don't have to do it."
Dirk thinned his lips, silently thinking. Dave doesn't (usually) guilt trip, so his depressed reaction is quite genuine. It would be a reaction caused by Dirk no less. Dirk also heard the audience, again, whisper words of sadness. Seems like they wanted to see what they were still capable of...
Dirk sighed, "You know, I was really into Dynamite Rave when I did DDR as a hobby."
Dave took a moment before looking at Dirk with the widest smile of the night. He immediately went back to the screen and started looking for the song Dirk stated. It'll just be one song, right? Besides, Dave did have a point: Dirk played this so much as a kid it's probably like riding a bike at this point. His train of thought was interrupted when he heard Dave rush back to the four arrows and the machine yell "ARE YOU READY?"
Now or never. The music started, and they did too.
And they were absolutely killing it.
They weren't missing a beat at all. They were super into too, making it seem like DDR was has been their job for their entire life. Dirk couldn't believe it, partially because he was too ingrained in the moment, along with Dave. It was as if those years of pure video game hell never happened. It was so heated they completely forgot about the audience behind them, some now even recording. The audience especially screamed when they dropped down and hit the arrows with their hands, even more so when they crisscrossed each other to get to the other side.
Halfway through the song, Dirk heard Dave shout his name and get down into a little ball. Dirk took no time realizing what Dave wanted and leap-frogged over his brother to the other side. Dave stood back up and they kept dancing like it was no big deal, even though the audience certainly thought it was, screams even louder than before. It was only a few moments before the song was over, so Dirk decided to use it to the fullest.
He grabbed the railing behind him and shoved himself through the hole, winking at the audience as he stood back up. Dave watched in awe, yet still kept up his dancing, even grabbing the bar himself and jumping about 3-4 feet in the air, hitting a near perfect split. Right before it ended, the brothers crisscrossed one more time, hit a few more arrows, then turned around 180 degrees, facing the audience and shot both their arms straight up right as the last note hit.
The audience was losing it, probably annoying the other customers not interested in two dumb boys dancing. The song only lasted about two minutes, yet right here, right now, it felt like an eternity, one they wouldn't mind living in to be quite honest.
Panting heavily with their hands still in the air, Dave and Dirk flicked their vision back and forth between each other and the screaming audience. Both brothers had a ridiculous grin on their faces as sweat dripped so hard it formed into droplets that fell over their eyes. It was when the high came completely down did the two of them start to laugh in pure joy at the situation they were in.
Would you look at that: Dave was right once again today.
---
Sitting outside on the curb, Dirk was still vaguely panting while holding a giant stuffed penguin. Dave was sitting next to him, slurping cherry slushie out of a curly straw attached to a gigantic 64 oz. cup/jar. Dirk's honestly surprised they allowed him to fill it like that. All they did was dance, that certainly doesn't seem worthy of violating the arcade's rules.
Or maybe Dirk still has a small stick up his ass, who knows? They did eat dinner there, so maybe they let it slide due to the extra money they would get if Dave used it to buy a huge slushie.
Dirk listened as Dave's mouth made a popping noise as he stopped sipping to let out a tired sigh, "Do you need a way to get home?"
Dirk took a moment to register the question, "Oh, um, no, Jake texted me while you were picking out a flavor and filling up your cup to ask where I was. He should be here soon."
Dave nodded his head and looked back out at the street directly in front of him. With only the noise being a few cars driving past them, Dirk could tell Dave wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. Dirk was worried he was going to have to ask what they were, but Dave found them just in time.
"I don't know why it's so fricking hard to say this, really. It's a rather simple saying, everyone has said it at some point. You'd have to be the utmost jerkiest of jerks to have not said it at least once, like, a really hardcore douche-"
Dirk interrupted lightly, "Hey, you know me, residential Anxiety King, I don't mind. You take all the time you need."
Dave stared at Dirk like the dude held the button to the end of the entire universe. Dave closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened them and started talking, "I just wanted to say... thanks."
Dirk blinked in surprise, but Dave wasn't done.
"I mean, you vaguely know about my life before all this 'end-of-the-world' jazz, and from those little snippets you can tell it wasn't the best for at least, like, the last half of it. It didn't exactly help with all the death that surrounded us in that shithole of a 'game'. Also, I know I probably don't live up to the expectations of your Dave, so it might seem stupid when I say it, but I really do mean thank you. I didn't know I could, you know, live a life again, let alone one with a brother that gave two shits, so... yeah, thank you, Dirk, for being awesome."
Dirk's mouth was still agape as Dave grinned at him. That was... probably one of the few moments Dave has been that emotionally open about stuff in general. Outside of when they met, Dirk can't think of any other situation like this between them. It caught him... extremely off guard, making the sweat dripping down his back feel like bullets (that's how that saying goes, right?). Instead of saying any words like a normal person, Dirk closed his mouth, gulped, and nodded as his answer.
Dave looked away and lightly snorted: poor guy was nearly on the verge of passing out. Leave it to Dirk to have a very Dirk-like response. Don't worry, Dave got the sentiment 100% and was very much moved that Dirk didn't immediately run or some bullcrap like that, you just couldn't see the emotions physically on him. Dave looked back and stared at Dirk for a few moments while the other guy stared as well.
Eventually, Dave held out his fist for Dirk to finish the other half of the gesture. Dirk took a moment to realize what was happening before letting out a quiet "oh". Picking up his own, Dirk stopped for about 1.5 seconds to think of all the possible outcomes from this one moment and said fuck it. Closing the distance, the two brothers' fists connected in the smallest and calmest fist bump ever.
As light and uncool as the action had seemed, Dave and Dirk could tell it was a lot more heavy in the 'emotional' sense (neither of them said that last fact out loud, of course).
Still smiling at each other, they both jumped at the sound of a car honking at them.
A hand shot out of the driver side window and waved at Dirk. Ah, so Jake was finally here and done with whatever thing he needed the entire place for, sweet. Dirk also noticed while Dave was sipping his slushie, Dave was also texting Karkat. The troll was probably signaling that Dave was okay to come home. Both Strider brothers stood up and wiped off the back of their pants. Obviously, it was time to split apart and go their separate ways.
For now.
Dave shoved his hands in his pockets, "Thanks again. Hope you keep that extra token, maybe we can try and come back in the future. Beat our own record or some shit."
Dirk looked Dave directly in his eyes, "That would be somewhat pretentious..." Dirk readjusted his shades," I love it."
Dave grinned at Dirk's statement and gave his older brother one more thumbs up before walking away. Dirk gave his own as well this time, turning around at the same time Dave did. He got in the shotgun of the car being driven by Jake. Shutting the door and buckling in, he placed the big plush on his lap and waited for a response.
Jake was running a hand through his hair while the other stayed on the steering wheel, "Sorry again. I hope you had an okay day despite— what is that?"
Finally. Dirk smirked at his boyfriend's question, "I thought the name 'Poppy' fit him."
Jake wouldn't stop being dumbfounded as he pulled out into the street and started driving home, "Yeah, okay... but why?"
Dirk shrugged, "Dave said I should get it. I wasn't going to get anything, which prompted him telling me that 'not using any of the tickets I got, let alone that many when I had them, is criminal', so I chose this."
Jake's mouth still hung open, before closing it with a sigh. He took a left turn with his car, "That's fair, I guess. Those plushes are worth a ridiculous amount of tickets. How did you get them all anyway?"
Dirk leaned back the seat a little and smiled again, "Eh, I'll tell you tomorrow. I'm more interested in why you very aggressively shoved me out the door this morning."
Jake blinked as stopped at a stoplight and remembered why Dirk was at the arcade in the first place, "Oh, right! Well, when I was standing in the kitchen, I realized that there was a significant lack of plants at our place, so I decided..."
As Dirk's boyfriend continued on, Dirk's mind drifted back to his day with Dave and everything that had occurred, from meeting up, all the way to when they were sitting outside.
The phrase with a brother still rang faintly in the back of his head. It's weird, honestly, why he thinks it's such an accomplishment. It's not like he was some poor lonely kid who never had any friends or family and that Dave was the first taste of 'love' or whatever else those movies like to say in similar circumstances. He was never a single-child. He has friends, both new and old, as well as the fact that he very much had an older brother who talked with him and hung out with him.
The words 'older' and 'had' stick out to him more than the others in that last sentence.
Maybe... maybe that's it, the idea flashes over his mind, raising his eyebrows. That's why it's so important. He has a chance to be as great if not better than his own older brother, and hearing Dave tonight was proof of it. Dirk reached into his pocket and thumbed the remaining token that wasn't used.
Dirk's smile got wider and stayed that way the entire ride home.