Work Text:
TG: dude i swear it is possibly THE most iconic movie in all of human history
TG: well except barbie but thats not a fair comparison thats fucking barbie
TG: i am in fact a barbie girl
CG: I D9 N9T 6ELIEVE Y9U ARE, AS Y9U CLAIM, A “6AR6IE GIRL”.
TG: how the dare you fuck
TG: im literally in a barbie world
CG: I D9N’T KN9W WHAT THAT MEANS, DAVE.
TG: unimportant
TG: look, the point is the movie fucks and youre gonna love it
TG: its all about overcoming adversity and recognising the issues of other people
TG: and banding together with your fellow person to push through and rebuild a sense of community in the common man
CG: 9KAY THAT D9ES S9UND PRETTY INTERESTING.
TG: so were agreed?
TG: next time the bubbles cross?
CG: NEXT TIME THE 6U66LES CROSS.
cholericGuardian [CG] ceased trolling timewornGladiator [TG] at ??:??.
Dave Strider was a busy man.
At least, as far as the press was concerned. As far as the press was concerned, he was near enough a recluse when he wasn’t out working on a project, and he was almost unreachable unless he approached you on the street to start the interview himself.
But as far as Dave Strider was concerned, his schedule had been wide open for months. Dave was not dissatisfied with his life, nor his choices, but he did find that he had made a few things quite inconvenient for himself. Firstly, in becoming aware of the dreaming plane, he had opened himself up to a whole host of existential questions that he wasn’t sure he’d ever be truly ready to answer. Running into your thirteen year old self from an alternate timeline night after night will do that to you. More far more importantly, in letting himself onto the dreaming plane, Dave had made… a friend. He preferred to think of him as a friend. Less mental unpacking to do.
The dream bubbles, as the Signless called them, were passing through reality, as Dave called it, pretty much all the time. But, unless you were extremely special, you could only see them while asleep. Dave was pretty special, in his opinion, but clearly not special enough. Still, he was just special enough to get his tech working alongside dream bubble tech, with only a huge amount of help from his suspiciously anonymous friend. He spent more time asleep than he’d like to admit these days, and most of his time awake was spent tracking bubble patterns.
It wasn’t all for gay reasons, he argued, to absolutely no one. Talking to the trolls helped figure out the game plan. Rose was talking to trolls just as much, for equally not-gay reasons, he was sure. It was research. It was all part of the plan. (He wasn’t sure how to argue showing him Cars as “part of the plan”, but he was sure he could figure it out. Not that anyone ever asked.)
If he was doing his calculations correctly, which he was only ever sort of sure he was when it came to dream bubbles, Signless passed by Earth’s dreams every forty days. Every fourteen, he’d be reachable by text for five. Usually, the bubbles only stayed for one night, but a few times now they’d gotten lucky and had a few days of cross-over. Dave had been falling asleep with the DVD clutched in his hand for a week now, just in case. Dreaming is not an exact science, no matter how much he pretends it can be. Far fewer things are than he would like.
As it turned out, his preparation was essentially useless.
Dave was mid-way through definitely not losing an argument with Rose when the all too familiar deja vu hit, and he felt reality slip from under him. The veil slipped and the bubble revealed itself; and along with it, the troll waiting patiently in his doorway.
“How long have you been watching me?”
“Long enough to be embarrassed for you.”
“Uncalled for, man.” Dave pushed himself back from the desk, letting the rug tangle under the wheels. “Ready to have your mind blown?”
“By ‘Cars’? Looking forward to it.” Signless’ thick brow arched as Dave produced the DVD. “Earth titles are so undescriptive. How am I supposed to know what to expect?”
“My good troll, it is about cars. What more do you want?”
Letting the bubble shift them a little quicker than would have been natural, Dave lead the way to the living room and popped the disc into the player. Signless stayed towards the back of the room, following Dave’s movement with piercingly red eyes.. Dave fought the shake in his leg as he clicked the case closed and walked back to the couch. He patted the cushion beside him, and Signless settled in.
Dave had seen Cars many times in his life. Enough times that he was able to keep his focus squarely on the troll beside him, with his head carefully tilted so his glasses kept his gaze hidden. Signless, however, was firmly focused on the film in front of him. Dave found himself unable to read his expression most of the time, but his interest here was undeniable. And, unfortunately for Dave’s denial, very endearing. As Lightning McQueen went about his adventures for the hundredth time, Dave muttered along to the script under his breath, watching Signless’ reactions so closely he didn’t notice his head dipping lower, lower, until…
Route 66 is a pretty good song to wake up to, Dave thinks. Especially when it’s accompanied by the feeling of gentle hands carding through your hair, putting a gentle pressure on your scalp, and making you more calm than you think you’ve ever felt. It was peaceful. The failing logic of sleeping in your sleep didn’t escape him, but he couldn’t find it in his mind to care. A mystery for solving later.
Signless’ hand carefully hooked around his chin and turned his head to theirs. Dave wasn’t sure how he had known he was awake through the shades–he didn’t think he had moved too much or anything like that–but being able to look into Signless’ eyes more than put the thought out of his head.
“You know,” Signless said softly, “I believe you mislead me about the contents of that film.”
“Bullshit. I told you the exact moral and everything. You couldn’t have been more prepared.” He wished he was surprised by how hoarse his voice was.
“You claimed it was about ‘overcoming adversity’ and ‘rebuilding a sense of community’.”
“It was!”
“It was about relationships being more important than success.”
“They literally rebuilt a community. And anyway. that’s so the same thing.”
“It so is not.” Signless shifted slightly, and Dave suddenly became very aware of their position. The last threads of exhaustion gave way to realisation, and he just had to hope his cheeks weren’t turning too red as he raised his head from Signless’ lap.
A hand landed squarely on his chest.
“Stay there. Please.”
Dave’s heart hammered in his throat. “Okay.”
Signless returned to toying with his hair, leaving the other hand on his chest and gently thumbing over his collarbone every so often.
“Can I choose the film next time?”
Dave cleared his throat to cover his smile at the suggestion of a ‘next time’. “If it’s not Troll Cars, I don’t want it.”
Signless laughed, driving a flutter of feelings through Dave’s chest. “It’s better than Troll Cars.”
“Troll Barbie?”
“Maybe. You’ll just have to see.”
“Next time the bubbles cross?”
“Next time the bubbles cross.”