Chapter Text
Dirk Strider was quite a lot of things. First off he was fifteen years old. Second, he was the brother to some hot shot film producer who had more money than time for him but at the very least kept the pair of them comfortably afloat. That fact leads on nicely to number three. Dirk Strider was and had been in fact, for many years, well adept at taking care of himself. He spent the majority of his time in what was technically his and his brothers' apartment on his own. Number four. Dirk Strider was a bit of a loner. Honestly if it hadn't been for the fact that, number five, Dirk Strider was blessed with some manner of genetically inherited swagger, charm, and downright good looks he would probably have had the crap kicked out of him at school for being a nerdy loser. Number Six. Dirk Strider was not a loser. But he was definitely a nerd.
As far as his hobbies went he had an unfortunate fascination with puppetry of all kinds, probably due to an over exposure to The Muppet Show when he was far, far younger or something like that at any rate. This strange fascination was coupled with an equally intense liking for tinkering with circuits, machinery and mechanics in general. Specifically this mechanical meddling took the form of an interest in robotics which had started when he was about eight or nine years old and realised he could take apart his remote controlled cars. It had been a few years before he'd really mastered the art of getting the pieces which he removed from his mechanised toys to actually take the shape of anything else, but by thirteen he was really beginning to prove what a little whiz he was at this sort of thing. If he'd paid half as much attention to his school work as he did to his chosen pass times he'd have easily been at the very top of all his classes. As it was his grades were easily high enough that he was never in any risk of failing anything, but never high enough to really get him noticed. Number seven. Dirk Strider really didn't want to be the centre of attention, but in reality, Number eight. Dirk Strider was really a bit of a prodigy.
At a glance he could have been just any normal teenager. He'd been blessed by a naturally broad shouldered physique and a chest that promised to fill out a little as he grew up. At 15 however he was a little on the lean and lanky side. He could probably have done with a few home cooked meals and more sleep, but he was doing okay. His skin was pretty pale which went nicely with his blonde hair, highly gelled into some manner of outlandish style. He liked it. It went well with the equally outlandish sunglasses that he favoured wearing, heck. He never took the darn things off out of choice. Would you if you had the eyes of a weirdo-freak? Seriously. Orange eyes. Who the fuck had orange eyes? Him apparently. So there it was. There was the cool-kid look broken down and neatly allowed to slide into number nine. Dirk Strider had some freaky ass orange eyes, and said orange eyes were currently locked on his computer screen, currently free from behind the quirky eyewear that usually covered them as Dirk Strider was forced to realise something. Number ten. Dirk Strider, in a way he found genuinely rather surprising, had a freaky homo crush on his 'best' friend, who he'd just seen a picture of for the first time.
Dirk and Jake had only ever conversed over the internet. They'd voice chatted on occasion, in more recent times, but honestly, what interest did young boys really have in seeing one another? Even if they had been curious it would have seemed weird and probably out of line to ask to have such wonderings sated. At thirteen, the age they'd been when they'd first met, Dirk quite honestly only really cared that when it came to teaming up in the strategy game they both played, Jake had been able to follow his orders when it mattered, while thinking on his feet when necessary. Basically all that mattered to the juvenile gamers was that the other could help their team win. They'd hit it off well due to a similar level of addiction to the pass time for a while, before of course, like all things, it got old. By then though they'd exchanged contact information and were readily able to chatter away on the Pesterchum chat client.
Dirk had always found his decidedly foreign friend more than a little unusual, but frankly he didn't judge him too hard for it. The kid grew up with his Grandma in the arse sodding end of who even knew where. Pretty slim pickings as far as role models and social guidance went, so he figure it was no wonder that Jake English, as he soon found out his name was, was a little higher than normal on the quirky as hell scale. Who was he to talk really? He played with puppets. They spoke once or twice a week at first, during the first few months after they'd stopped gaming together, but gradually, over time, as they started to get to know more and more about one another their conversations grew in frequency.
They were pretty non consequential conversations really, just aimless chatter between friends, but Dirk grew to honestly look forward to seeing his friends chum-handle flash up with a message for him. Jake it seemed either had very little understanding of what timezones were, and just how rarely Dirk turned off his computer, or he genuinely had no qualms what so ever about pestering his friends morning noon or night. In all honestly, Dirk had his suspicions it was probably the latter, but it could be a right pain in his damn ass as frankly he didn't sleep a whole lot at the best of times, and he was pretty fine tuned to wake up when his computer went off. Or any noise really. He was something of a jumpy individual.
-- golgothasTerror [GT] began pestering timaeusTestified [TT] --
GT: Good day my old chum glad to see youre online as i have to say i fancy a good old chin wag like you wouldnt believe!
GT: How the devil are you?
GT: Strider?
GT: You there old bean youre being silent as the proverbial grave over there.
TT: Silent. Yes English, that would be because I was sleeping. It's approximately half two in the morning here.
GT: Oh great scot i do believe you are right!
TT: Of course I'm right, Jake. I'm right here. I can see the clock on my screen.
TT: It's telling me that under no uncertain terms it's exactly two thirty one in the morning.
GT: Well thats a blast fucking bastard of a time to be awake strider!
TT: Yeah. I'm inclined to agree with you. Was there anything you needed in particular? Or was this merely some spur of the moment decision to harass me with your unabashedly eccentric vernacular at a peculiar time of the morning for no other reason that you had little else to fix your focus on?
TT: In short. What the fuck do you want English?
GT: Oh nothing that wont just as easily wait until youre rested and quite vigourously revitalised from your daily trials you really should try sleeping more my fine fellow!
TT: You make it sound like I chose to wake up. And hell. You sure must think I do a lot.
GT: Well dont you?
GT: Ive been up and about since four this morning i took a run had a bit of a swim and even tidied up a bit!
GT: Then i helped grandma in the garden for a while the vines really were getting a little unruly and we had to have a bit of a bonfire to get rid of some of the dead leaf matter it was really quite splendid!
TT: I will never understand quite how you maintain your energy levels English. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to get my serious nap on. My beautiful Strider brain needs to chill after the bout of wicked harsh nasty freak beats I've been handing out all day.
GT: Haha whatever you say old boy!
GT: Pleasant dreams and all that malarkey!
GT: Im going to nip off outside for a bit!
-- timaeusTestified [TT] ceased pestering golgothasTerror [GT] --
Honestly over the years Dirk had been woken up that way more than once, he had more or less gotten used to it, and had eventually gotten better at ignoring the trilling of Pesterchum to the point he could often just roll straight over and go straight back to sleep. Except for those nights where the curiosity overwhelmed him. If he'd been having issues sleeping anyway, or at the very least staying asleep he would roll over, shift himself over to his computer and at least see what his foreign friend had to say at such an unpleasant time of the morning. Sometimes he regretted getting up to do so though.
-- golgothasTerror [GT] began pestering timaeusTestified [TT] --
GT: So it appears i have gotten myself caught up in some truly involved wondering upon a topic that i wish to put to you my distant texan comrade.
GT: I find myself wrapped up in the swirling maelstrom of quite the dilemma!
GT: Nay i would even dare to reach so far as to call this matter a crisis!
GT: Do you have an opinion on the currently despicably foxing conundrum of whether i should allow my eyes to feast upon the cinematic delight that is avatar? *knowing wink*
GT: Or whether i would perhaps get more enjoyment out of a spell of watching my way through the currently existing spiderman films?
GT: Im simply at a loss for what to do!
GT: Ive been debating this matter for almost twenty minutes now and i can simply come up with too many viable reasons why either one would be the positively most appropriate choice and is in fact more resoundingly superior than the other!
GT: You really are being quite the patient listener today strider more silent than the bottom of a bottle neck shaft sunk lord only knows how many tens of meters into the ground i should dare say!
GT: Fuck.
GT: Its four in the god be damned morning there isnt it?
GT: I'm dashed fucking sorry old boy!
-- golgothasTerror [GT] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] --
Messages like that Dirk just tended to ignore. It would have been exceptionally easy for him to become irritated by such a string of absurdly unnecessary interruptions to his sleep schedule, such as it was, but frankly he found himself feeling rather compassionate towards his long distance internet friend. If what Jake told him was true after all he lived with no one but his grandma, and she was often busy with the garden. It had to be one hell of a lonely existence for the poor guy, so frankly, if sending a few messages at stupid oh clock in the fucking morning kept him sane, well, frankly Dirk found that he could be okay with that. It wasn't that hard to just roll over and smother your head with a pillow. Sure, okay, he could have turned off the sounds, but frankly he'd gotten to almost like knowing when his quirky friend decided to harass him.
As time had gone on nothing served to impair or sever the friendship between the two distant correspondents. Dirk had continued on in Texas, going to school like a normal kid, messing about with puppets and robotic construction like a not so normal kid, and talking to Jake, who still lived off on some island in the middle of the pacific somewhere like anything but a normal kid. The friendship had blossomed however into something more than mere idle chat between two partial friends, no, it was much more than that. There was barely a thought that Jake didn't send Dirk's way, and in as much as he ever did, Dirk found himself opening up in return to the strange islander.
The first time they actually spoke was naturally the first proof that Dirk got that the way Jake spoke was irrefutably similar to the way he typed. At the same time Jake in return found that Dirk could be even more taciturn on a verbal level. What brought about the change in the nature of their conversation was the fact that Jake found out that his Grandmother was dying. He'd been utterly devastated. Of course he'd been reassured that she could have a great deal of time left, but that did little to dampen the fear in his heat. Dirk hadn't been able to do much to reassure him from so far away, especially via the medium of text alone when the restless island dweller could barely keep settled at his computer for more than two minutes together. So Dirk had insisted he download a programme that would allow for a voice call to take place. And so it had.
It hadn't been the most cheery of conversations, but hearing his friends voice had brought home to Jake that perhaps he didn't need to fear being quite as alone as he currently did, and honestly it had helped to calm him to hear the low, quiet tones of his remote friend. Not at once of course, but over time, half an hour, an hour, two. Three hours later they were joking lightly back and forth, teasing one another about their tastes in games, girls and all manner of things. It had felt so easy, honestly Dirk had never found anyone closer to home so easy to talk to. At the time he put that down to the distance though. There was no risk of Jake trying to get closer to him than he wanted, in the physical proximity sense of the term. He liked his personal space bubble, and he liked it large.
The growing closeness of their friendship however did bring about a certain level of knowledge about each other, though Dirk honestly liked to think he probably knew a darn site more what was going through Jakes head that Jake could ever claim to know about him. Then again as far as he could see Jake was pretty much an open book. He'd dish out any information about himself to anyone who cared to ask, it was... an endearing if potentially self destructive quality that Dirk was equal parts tempted and loathed to try and warn him against. Honestly, some people would take advantage of such frankness, Jake was merely lucky that Dirk wasn't one of them.
-- timaeusTestified [TT] began pestering golgothasTerror [GT] –
TT: Pretty quiet over there English, in fact it's been quiet all day. You dead?
TT: Seriously. It's not like you to go a whole day without harassing me with some menial jibberish. What's up?
GT: Oh hello there strider thank you for your quintessentially friendly concern but i can assure you there is nothing to be distressed or in any manner unsettled about i am merely of a distracted mind today.
TT: Oh yeah? What's distracting you then? Something big?
GT: Oh a mere trifling pass of fancy my good man nothing more serious than that.
TT: Do elaborate. Seriously. I'm quivering in my cowboy boots in true 'bro'therly anticipation of an explanation.
GT: Oh haha my good chap but it really is nothing worth mentioning. Ive merely spent the morning engrossed in a number of truly spectacular films and have allowed my mind to run down some previously unchartered routes.
TT: Such as?
GT: Well to be entirely frank and honest with you i was honestly contemplating the realms of romance and my currently slightly blue mood if you will merely comes from the rationalisation that while i reside in such an unfortunately remote location i am somewhat unlike to be able to find myself entangled in its supposedly downright pleasant snare!
TT: Oh right, I get where you're coming from. I see what your deal is. But don't let it get you bent out of shape. It's no big.
GT: Oh thats is such a simple thing for you to say strider i expect you have many a romantic interlude under your belt at this juncture!
TT: Nah.
GT: Oh? *Insanely curious as to why not now!*
TT: Just haven't I guess. Not that big a deal. I'm not the most sociable guy going, hell, I don't really get on with that many people. They tend to piss me off a whole lot. I could make more of an effort if I wanted to.
GT: Well then colour me surprised! I feel quite the fool for getting so worked up over such an apparently inconsequential sort of situation!
GT: I feel quite reassured that i am not merely going to be perceived by the world as some manner of OUTLANDISH FREAK of the most hideous nature for not having be involved in any overtly romantic happenings.
TT: Yeah well that's cool then, I guess.
GT: Without a doubt it is the coolest of cools so cool in fact that it might you could quite easily go as far as to claim it to be chilly!
TT: I think you possibly missed what I was going for there.
GT: Probably.
TT: Yeah well anyway I didn't really want anything.
GT: Just checking i was still chugging along were you now strider? Take it easy! That sort of behaviours devilishly flustering from a charming chap such as yourself!
TT: You'd know all about being charming, wouldn't you Jake?
GT: Well i suppose so old boy? Strange thing to say however!
TT: Never mind. I'll speak to you later.
GT: Cheerio old boy!
GT: Thanks for the pep talk and what not ill be sure to catch up with you shortly!
-- timaeusTestified [TT] ceased pestering golgothasTerror [GT] –
That conversation had taken place just a few weeks before they'd finally decided to exchange pictures. Dirk had sparked it all off. He'd been vaguely curious as to the identity of his friend, other than the name 'Jake English' he'd not really got much to go on. He had the tone of his voice of course, but frankly that could have been anyone. Well... anyone with a strange habit of affecting a rather old fashioned sounding dialect. If he was basing Jakes looks on that alone he'd have almost been expecting a neatly trimmed moustache and some kind of monocle. The image almost made him smirk. He could possibly have allowed himself to hope he was right, as weird as that would actually be.
A further part of his curiosity had come from the unexpected fact that he enjoyed conversing with his friend almost too much. There were moments when he would swear that he actually felt a weird... rush? Something like that from something or other Jake had said. He'd comment on it sometimes. He was 'charming' after all. Jake rarely seemed to see any implications in what he had said however. He was either merely playing about, Dirk decided, or that he was allowing himself to read too much into the situation. Irony was a good shield however. If he ever opened himself up too much, gave too much away only to have Jake laugh things off as a joke then well, that was just how he intended it. Feelings jams. They weren't terribly good at them. He was taciturn as fuck and Jake was oblivious as shit. Oh well. You couldn't have everything?
Jake hadn't seemed to mind the idea, in fact if anything to Dirk he sounded pretty elated by the prospect. Huh. At least it seemed that the curiosity over who they had actually been conversing with for years wasn't one sided. That would have been notably more embarrassing to deal with. For all his cool guy chillness, Dirk really didn't like feeling embarrassed. It was one of the things that honestly kept the rather monotone, almost robotic individual fully grounded in humanity.
GT: Well i think that sounds just fine and dandy.
GT: I admit i have been driven quite frankly round the bend with FRIGHTFUL CURIOSITY over what my long distance associate actually looks like!
GT: Our years of friendship have been long and enduring after all!
TT: Well then. Lets get this picture swap happening. Happening with some major speed and energy. Like an erupting 'bro'cano of image based file transfers.
GT: Brocano?
GT: Good lord strider i think you might be stretching it a little with that one!
GT: Haha!
TT: Maybe so. But I'm sticking with it.
GT: If you say so old boy do just hold your metaphorical horses for the shortest of moments the gosh darned camera is fucking about!
TT: Not a problem dude.
GT: Dang blast it ill be with you shortly strider.
TT: As I said, not a problem. I'll be right here. Sorting my own snap shot out.
That and heading off to the bathroom to restyle his hair. There was no way he was getting caught on film without the perfect Strider style being well and truly in place. He'd have been as honestly vain over anyone seeing him. There was literally nothing going through his mind that could in anyway predict how the conversation was going to end for him. He spent a few minutes fixing his hair, spiking it up just so, enough gel or wax, whichever he'd used, to keep it in place, but not too much. It didn't need to look like he fucking carved it the hell out of a block of stone in the morning or anything. Taking the picture had been no issue after that. One shot. Simple, blank expression, unusual eyes hidden behind unusual shades and there he was. Fifteen. A little too thin. Broad at the shoulders with an almost gaunt face, slim slightly hollow cheeks tapered up to high cheekbones. Pale blonde hair spiked to personal perfection, eyebrows to match, set in an almost stern manner. It was a normal look for him though, nothing was put on. It wouldn't really have occurred to him to pose.
The file was sent and Dirk merely sat and waiting in silence for a response. When it came along he really had to smile, though it was mostly an internal expression, his lips barely quirked.
GT: Good god youre a serious looking chap arent you?
GT: Makes me jolly glad we find ourselves friends!
GT: Id hate to find myself against you in opposite side of a scrum!
GT: Good to see you at last though old boy!
GT: Makes a nice change to put a serious face to your curt conversations.
TT: Not a problem, English.
And then he went quiet again, fiddling about, Dirk supposed, with the camera that appeared to be giving him hell. Still there was no hurry; it wasn't as if he had much to do. He passed the time tinkering with the arm of one of the little robotic creations that had done itself an injury. It happened when you started programming them to duke it out in your room. Whatever though, he could probably fix it with his eyes closed. Dirk was just debating the possibility of trying that out when he heard the chat client sounding again.
GT: Finally beat the gosh damn thing into submission!
GT: Ill be buggered though if the thing didnt give me a fucking run for my money over it.
GT: Still there you have it cant win every time.
GT: Though i suppose by the mere fact i now have a picture to send i did at least have some manner of victory on this occasion!
TT: Good job?
At that point Dirk had clicked to accept the sent file, and had opened it as soon as the transfer had completed. That was what had left him staring at his screen with a some surprise. They'd only ever known each other online, and now a few moments spent staring at the open, smiling face on the screen was enough to cause a strange tightness that pulled somewhere in the region of Dirks stomach, maybe a little lower. He was... attractive. Unnervingly so. Needless to say, this was not what Dirk had expected to happen. Jake was not in anyway the type of person Dirk had expected to find attractive. In fact, he was honestly quite the opposite.
From what he could tell Jake appeared to be fairly tall and of an almost gangly build which promised a great deal more growth with advancing age. His hair was a shock of messy black almost spikes which didn't seem to be following any order or style as far as he could tell. He was wearing white and green, a darker shirt over the lighter t-shirt, he had thick black glasses on his nose and possibly the goofiest smile Dirk had ever seen. It was like... nah. There was no way to even accurately describe and assess that smile. It was equal measures confident and dorky, and it almost made him chuckle to look at. Yeah... that face suited the overly polite conversation style, right down to the smears of mud on the self proclaimed adventure nut's arms, hands and cheek. He'd clearly been out and about previously in the day. Made sense. He certainly wasn't always online, it was clear he spent a lot of time outside. Jakes face and arms, at least from what he could tell under the smears of mud seemed pretty tanned. He wasn't anywhere near as weedy looking as Dirk had expected either. Now that he actually sat and thought it through, with how active Jake professed to be, why would he be scrawny? It still surprised him slightly however to see a pair of shoulders that looked... as broad as his on the screen in front of him. He wasn't willing to acknowledge that there was a chance Jake might have been broader than him.
TT: Nice to meet you Jake. You should take a shower.
GT: Haha thank you so much for that well mannered suggestion strider.
GT: I confess i had much the same thought myself however.
GT: Do excuse me while i head off to remove the evidence of the days exertions from my person!
TT: Sure thing bro. Shoot me a message when you get back or whatever.
-- golgothasTerror [GT] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] –
Dirk merely sat for a moment longer with his eyes fixed on the picture that was still smiling back at him. It was a very strange sensation, honestly. He wasn't sure how to feel about the realisation that if nothing else he actually found the combined appearance and at the very least the internet based persona of his good friend attractive. It wasn't as if it was the biggest deal in the world. He didn't have any desire to do anything about it, it was just. Unexpected. He didn't really like the unexpected. He was used to working with exacts. Strong predictions at the very least, and this had sort of blind sided him for the time being.
Without waiting for Jake to come back he signed out of the chat client and got to his feet. It was no big deal. He could handle the realisation, it wasn't like it was actually that huge a dent in his lifestyle. But he just wanted a bit of time with his own thoughts. Time to use to pull them together and think things over. Every new facet of his life needed to be pushed sensibly into line. It was the only way to keep things from getting out of hand. He made it his personal business to understand pretty well exactly what he was thinking and feeling at all times. How else could he possibly hope to maintain the Strider cool? For losing their cool was just one thing that Striders did not do.