Chapter Text
“I’ll be back in a month’s time. Goodbye, Dave. Goodbye, Sis.”
“Farewell, Jack. I know we’ll see each other again soon.”
“Bye, Sportsy! Don’t leave me alone with her for more than a month, or she’ll start getting ideas! Violent, depraved ideas!”
“Comin’ from the kiddie strangler? That’s rich.”
“Oh, please! If I had one foot long noodle limbs, I’d use em’!”
“Goodbye, bro. Be back soon.”
– – – –
As soon as Jack had left, the tension between Dave and Dee immediately returned. The only real sound besides the creepy ambience that played eternally in the Flipside was Dave’s anxious foot tapping. He adamantly refused to look anywhere even near Dee. Dee, meanwhile, silently stared where Jack was just a few moments ago. She felt tense. Even though Jack had reassured her that Dave was good, she still was uncertain. Actually, scratch that, uncertain was an understatement. She was just supposed to trust that the man who had killed her, as well as at least a few dozen other kids, had just casually turned over a new leaf? Or, as Dave had said, had his sanity tucked away here all this time as his body committed atrocities? She still stood by what she said earlier. Anytime Jack and Dave were paired together, a trail of bodies followed them.
“So,” Dave starts, eyes fixed on some particularly intriguing stains on the floor, “you and sportsty are…?”
Dee sighs, “Yes, Dave, me and Jack are siblings. Is it really that hard to believe?”
“Well, he never mentioned having any family. If I ever brought the topic up, he’d do everything he could to avoid giving a straight answer.”
From the corner of his eye, he could see something flicker across Dee’s eyes. Her face remained stagnant, but there was sadness in her eyes. Dave wrings his hand together, shaking his head slightly.
v
“The most he ever said was one night when we were in Vegas. It was after we burnt the Colorado location to the ground. We got our hands on some pretty strong stuff, and after a lot of partying we retired up to a room we stole the key for.”
Dave bites his lower lip, raising his head to meet Dee’s stare. His shoulders tensed as Dee silently waited for him to continue.
“While he was sleeping, he was mumbling things. Saying, ‘I’m sorry, Dee. I couldn’t do it. I’m sorry.’ It freaked me the fuck out, so I woke him up and asked who Dee was. Jack just laughed, said I must’ve been hearing things in my stupor. And for the longest time, I shrugged it off and accepted what he said. Now though, he was obviously talking about you.”
Dave chuckles, though it lacked any humor. “Guess hindsight is really twenty-twenty, ey?”
Blinking slowly, Dee slowly covers her mouth. Slowly, she crouches down, hugging her long puppet limbs to her chest. Her eyes were distant, staring through Dave rather than at him. If she were human, Dave was sure she would be crying. He starts to reach out to comfort her, but stops. The last thing Dee needed was more apologies from him, especially ones where he wasn’t sure exactly what he was apologizing for. He knew that Henry had done some messed up shit, but he didn’t really know what any of it had to do with him. So he just stands, quietly, letting the weird ambience hang in the air between them both. After a couple of minutes, Dave slowly sits beside Dee. He figures she just needs some time to herself. That was fine, they had a whole month after all before Jack returned. Though time worked differently in the Flipside. He hoped Jack was ok. Knowing his physical self had found him was terrifying. Dave had said he would keep an eye out, but what good would that do really? It's not like he’d be able to let him know even if he did see or hear anything. All he could really do was act as a vessel for him and Dee to travel farther into the Flipside, and as a squishy meat shield for when they got into battles. Outside of that though, he was just… kind of here?
Dee shifts, sticking her legs out with a sigh.
“Why do you care so much about my bro anyways? Like, both of you? Here and in reality. You’d both do anything for him. I can practically hear you stewing with how much you’re obsessing over there.”
“Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
If Dee had eyebrows, they would be raised. “Frankly, I’m more offended that you think I’m stupid enough to not notice.” She lets out a heavy sigh, standing back to her feet, “What you see in each other, I haven’t a clue. I suppose it’s nice knowing you care about him in your own, weird, twisted way.”
Dave shrugs, “Thank you?”
Reaching out, Dee offers Dave a limb. “I can’t forgive you for what you’ve done. Frankly, I don’t think you deserve mine or my brother’s kindness.”
“But?”
“But,” Dee continues, “he clearly trusts you. He cares enough about you that he’s willing to save your crusty aubergine soul. So let’s call a truce, and put it all behind us. We can work out our differences after all of this is over.”
Dave looks up at Dee, hovering his hand over her limb. He stares for a brief moment before looking back up at her.
“You mean it?”
Dee rolls her eyes, “Yes, I mean it. I won’t promise I won’t make any comments or punch your face if it's smug looking enough, but I’ll leave the deep cuts to the afterlife.”
Softly, Dave takes her arm, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. He smiles, and it's soft and genuine, nothing like Dee had seen before. At that moment, she briefly saw the Dave that Jack saw. And a flash of hurt ripples through her. She pushes it to the side, however. She promised, after all.
“Now, let's talk about the soul we’re gonna save next.”