relaxfriend | IC Inbox for soulgemmed

Uh.

[Wow, he had a thing all planned out for what he'd say when Gary showed up, but now he isn't sure how to segue into it.]

Do you remember when people said they were finding notes and shit? Back when this place first showed up.

[But since when has talking to Gary Smith ever been easy to plan for?]

Yeah, what about them?

Well that was back when this place was still acting up like a shoddily-programed computer simulation hastily scrounged together by an underpaid intern into the barest semblance of something actually functioning, yeah? Signposts glitching out of existence, people blending into the background like shitty video game NPCs, the works.

I figure now that none of that shit's acting up, maybe there'll be more stuff floating around to find; or, hell, we might bump into the guy who left all that shit here to begin with.

[A small pause.]

Anyway, when it comes to which place's the best place to start off with, I figure the place where people were finding all that weird shit last month-- [he gestures to the mall] --oughta be the best.

[Gary has actually made quite the bit of progress in sidestepping Dave's drawn out explanations when he feels like it. If he stopped to make fun of him every time he spieled they would never end a conversation. Sacrifices had to be made. Sometimes.

But what he said had some decent points, in a way. But...his gaze follows Dave's gesture to the mall as he comments:]

Haven't the others been hanging around there lately? You'd think if there was anything else to find someone would have.

[Oh... Hm.]

Have they. I don't really pay attention to what the others are doing.

[He kind of feels like every time he looks out his window, another metaphorical fire is being gleefully set by somebody.

He manages a nonchalant shrug.]

Anyway, you'd figure that, but I guess I don't have much faith in them.

[Gary snorts at the remark.]

Fair enough, Dave.

[He gestures to the mall and begins walking.]

Let's go then.

[Heck yeah.

For a few brief moments, Dave walks with a spring in his step. He's got this shit on lockdown; just look at how smooth he was just now.]

[Then, as he pushes the doors to the entrance open, a thought occurs to him.

What if there really is nothing to find? If they scoured the place up and down and ended up with absolutely nothing to show for it, Gary would probably be annoyed, wouldn't he?]

[Truth be told, he personally isn't sure he gives much of a fuck about investigating to begin with. That was always a pretext for hanging out with the dude, anyway, because Dave Strider was bored out of his mind.

But it would look bad to turn up empty.

Shit. Maybe they could just casually give the place a good once-over and, if it was a bust, Dave could suggest they do something else instead? What was there to even do here?]

[God, he can just see himself now.

"Hey, Gare, I know you came here to sleuth the place out, but that's pretty fuckin' lame, how about we just go catch a movie instead"?
"You know what we should investigate? Whether or not the stuff at that bakery's any good. Like maybe they're putting something weird into the food, and that's why everybody here acts like they stepped out of a fuckin' Stepford Wives remake. C'mon, let's go check it out"???

No. God, no. There was no option here that didn't make him come off like a tremendous fucking cock. Jesus Christ, abort mission.]

[Wait. No. He's getting ahead of himself.

There was a perfectly good chance that they'd find something after all; hell, weird shit practically falls out of the sky and into the laps of the denizens every other day when you're in Nyoi-cho. He could still do this, or... even if he was unlucky and ended up not being able to find anything, couldn't he still pull this off?

No. This isn't a matter of whether he could or not. He's already in the shit and there is no abort button, so he has to pull it off.

He's in the mall. It's do-or-die time. Say something, Strider.]

So, uh.

This place is pretty big. You got any preferences on where we oughta check out first?

[Gary's already going into this not expecting to find jack shit anyway. Once they step into the mall the first thing he does is turn to Dave, though his friend has already spoken up.

Gary raises his brow at him.]

It was your idea. What are your preferences? Don't tell me you came here this unprepared?

[He crosses his arms looking thoroughly unimpressed.]

[Well, fuck.]

What, no way. I was just seein' if you had any strong feelings on the subject, man.

I mean, I don't wanna end up just dragging you along, y'know?

I'm here, aren't I?

[Gary makes a grand gesture to the mall before them. Let's see what this is all about Dave. Impress him with your sleuthing skills.]

Go on - where to?

[Welp. Think fast, Strider.

Dave glances around, and the first things his eyes settle on happens to be the food stalls in the distance. Okay, he can work with that.]

Food court probably sees a lot of traffic, and I think there was somebody who mentioned finding something there before. We could check it out real quick, maybe grab a bite to eat while we're there.

[He shrugs nonchalantly, like he totally didn't just inwardly cringe at the idea that Gary could make a joke out of what he just said.]

[Gary was being very stingy with his incredulous looks up until now. It's a long moment, Gary contemplating if he should scoff at Dave or laugh. It was clear to him Dave was as serious about this as he was. But the roundabout nature of this whole thing is what actually pulls an annoyed expression to his face.

It disappears quickly though, once Gary snorts laughter.]

Oh, you're going buy me lunch, Dave?

[Here it comes, Dave thinks as soon as the laughter starts.

Then Gary actually talks, and it's... actually, that's not as bad as it could have been. It might be a legitimate question. Play it cool.]

I mean, I could? Unless you're gonna say you're not hungry.

How sweet of you. First chocolates now this.

[In case it wasn't obvious that the mock saccharine tone is totally sarcastic, Gary follows it up with a roll of his eyes.]

Do you actually want to look for these notes or do you find it funny to bring me out here for no real reason?

[Why Dave Strider insists on going through a weird song and dance for every little thing confounds him completely. That is, up until he realizes the reason is because he's Dave Strider. It's so frustrating.]

Whoa, okay, first off if you didn't want anything I would've taken a simple no, dude. I just figured, like.

[Wow. He definitely isn't going to hear the end of this if he doesn't manage to find anything today, is he?]

I mean, we're kinda already here so I thought I'd at least offer.

Whatever.

[He says, sounding like he actually intends to drop it. Seems strange, that he'd give up so easily. But he begins to walk towards the foodcourt, making a show of looking at the ground around them just in case.

But he quickly stops and spins around, snapping his fingers as if remembering something.]

...An atomic bomb.

[Huh, that wasn't so bad, thought one (1) Dave Strider, who was thus lulled into a false sense of security.

As a result, it takes him a moment to even register what Gary says.]

A wh--

[Oh. Oh.]

Dude.

Don't you ever get tired of that joke.

[As soon as the word "joke" leaves Dave's lips Gary lets out a boisterous laughter, turning back to walk towards the food court.]

Joke. What joke?

You're laughing pretty hard for a guy who's implying no joke took place.

[Not that he's bothered or anything. In fact, look at how unbothered he is, inspecting the bottoms of nearby chairs and tables for any notes that may have been taped or otherwise slid underneath.]

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