First thread!

[dirk]

---~+Dirk Strider+~---

***

Dirk blinked and wrapped his hands more tightly around the strap of his pack, continuing to stare at the kid in the sunglasses as more and more trolls and people gathered around him. Dirk wasn't much for crowds. He tended to keep himself locked up in his apartment working on gadgets for Trainers and small toy robot Pokemon. Every day, he would force himself through the streets to the park, but that was only to let Dash out to play. Here, he could avoid crowds if he wanted and as much as the kid in the sunglasses intrigued him, he took a step back, continuing to stare.

He seemed to have a lot of friends and carried himself with a confidence that Dirk hadn't really expected. If he really was his brother, Dirk was proud of him for being so open. He, himself, had barely a handful of friends and, regardless of how close they were, he still felt envy for the sheer numbers that swarmed "Dave". There were so many and they were all so colorful. They all looked so happy and comfortable with each other. Feeling a little left out, Dirk forced himself to push though his shyness and do something about that feeling of loneliness for once! Hesitantly, he reached up and removed his own glasses, taking a step forward. He was doing it. He was making this happen!

As he moved, a troll girl with the ram horns approached and said the exact words he was waiting to hear. And the the name that had been swimming through his mind all day escaped from the boy's lips.

"Sup Aradia? And yeah, Dave Strider."

Dirk's eyes widened and he couldn't help the grin that ripped over his features. Jogging forward he placed a gentle hand on the troll girl's shoulder, whispering an "excuse me" before stepping passed her.

"DAVE!"

***

[turntablegod]

Dave looked at Dirk, frowning at his face. This guy looked exactly like him, that's not creepy. Was this kid his brother? His mom never told him he had siblings, but she never really talked to him and he never cared. But she had mentioned something about other family besides dad... Dave started at Dirk, thinking he looked exactly the same, besides a different hair style and slightly more orange eyes.

He took off his shades as well, staring in confusion at Dirk, his unnaturally bright red eyes staring into Dirk's red orange ones.

"...Bro?" his attention suddenly became only centered around his brother

[dirk]

---~+Dirk Strider+~---

***

He couldn't help the warm smile that spread slowly over his features, much less the tears that pricked at the corners of his eyes. Finally, after all of these years, he was with his brother. He was certain that he'd never recognize him in a million years and yet, they looked just alike. Fate had pushed them together and as far as Dirk was concerned, they would never be separated again.

Voice cracking and expression breaking he nodded, still willing the tears back. With a resolute sniff he wiped the tears away with his thumb and nodded as if to assure himself that no, he was not going to cry, he was too much of a badass for that.

"Yeah, dude. It's me, Dirk. I never thought I'd find you."

He wanted nothing more than to hug him, to embrace the brother that was ripped form his grip so many years ago by a scornful mother. However, he could see something in Dave's eyes that didn't fully comprehend. Had his mother kept Dirk's existence a secret from Dave? Did he not know that he had a twin brother in a city far, far away that had been looking for him?

It's not like his father had been particularly sensitive when it came to the issue. Dirk had asked and asked and yet the only responses he ever got out of his father were the same heavy sighs and shakes of the head as always, punctuated by words like "it isn't important" and "why do you care". In fact, Dirk had only gotten the information he had from sneaking his father's mail and child support checks. There, typed in small font was the name of the child he was sworn to support: Dave Strider.

If his mother were anything like his father and Dave wasn't as curious as Dirk, there was the chance that he was completely unaware that he had a sibling at all, much less a twin brother. So instead of embracing him, instead of screaming all of the details and overwhelming him, all Dirk could do was wait until his brother showed either comprehension or curiosity.

***

[Kat]

John glanced from side to side, taking in all the people who had arrived. Geez, the place was getting really chaotic! Maybe he should think about getting in line sometime. He thought he saw Rose, and beamed at her. They’d met a couple of times, her not living particularly far away, and they were pretty close friends, he liked to think.

He had approached her and was just saying hello when he caught sight of Karkat joining the throng of people. Karkat didn’t look particularly thrilled to see John, choosing to go and approach Gamzee instead, and John watched with some interest as Karkat seemed to get involved in… whatever the hell it was Gamzee and Dave were doing. Hell if he knew. Seeing Dave distracted by first Aradia, then somebody similar looking to him who he didn’t recognise, John went to go investigate what was going on, sneaking up behind Karkat ‘stealthily’. There was so much happening all at once!

“Hey, Karkat!” he greeted him, giving him a sharp prod in the back, “how’s it going? You finally decide to wake your ass up? You do realise you’re totally late, I hope.” He stuck his tounge out, the picture of maturity, “that’s one point to John Egbert, and no points to you and your oh-so-great example.” He leaned in and lowered his voice a little, “and hey look, there’s some new guy moving in. I bet it’s that blogger guy from yesterday! Although, I guess it doesn’t matter if he’s our new neighbour, since we’re leaving anyway?” The thought was a little saddening. “Still, we should say hi when we get the chance. It’s the neighbourly thing to do!”

He looked back at Jade and Rose, having more comments to make, and addressed his human friends. “So, what’s the deal with that guy Dave’s talking to? Does he have some kind of twin brother he never told us about?” He was honestly a little confused; Dave had always said he was an only child. But those two looked unmistakably alike. Why would his friend lie about something like that?

[ellie [ex-everything]]

That had been much more of a hassle than she'd ever would have expected.
In fact, it had been downright horrible -- she wouldn't even have wished filling out "customary coordinator registration" upon her worst enemy. And that was saying a whole heck of a lot, if she was being honest with herself.
Who was one of the few people who could handle her form of frank honesty, therefore, she was always truthful with herself.

That aside, the entire procedure had been borderline obnoxious. Standing at the counter, awkwardly filling out a five page packet that asked her to describe who she was, her social security number (her mother had received a frantically but clearly worded message, asking to dig into the "personal box" and read it off to her -- which had been humiliating and people had stared), her age (during which they realized they had given her the wrong form -- somehow -- so she had had to start all over again), her prospective occupation, last place of schooling, references from people in her town, favorite book, blood color, fingerprints, horn shape -- oh the list just went on, and on, and on.
And once she'd finished the preliminaries, she'd had to get her picture taken -- an ID, they said, but she knew it was more of a dogtag issue -- sign more papers, and a release form on top of all of that.
She'd read the release form thoroughly.

It was nothing short than a deal with Faunus.
Signing her life away for the chance at a golden clarinet, which would have been implausibly stupid on a good day -- much more for the fact that she couldn't even play the clarinet.

...Where had she been going with this.

Whatever, minor trauma aside, Kanaya was now a fully registered coordinator, ready to do... whatever it was that coordinators traditionally do.
She wasn't one hundred percent sure on the details, besides the fact that it could very easily land her some kind of fashion line down the road. Which was enough exposure for her, she supposed, and a good enough reason as any.
Though, you'd think that with how big that stupid "welcome" packet had been, they would have at least explained what you were going to do with the next five or so years your life.
Rude.

Well, whatever. Kanaya was nothing less than a quick study. She'd figure it out.

...Even with her mind still reeling a little from what she had just signed herself away to. She'd never thought anything would have meant so much to her, but apparently her future prospects trumped common sense in a grand and righteous battle of wits between leopards of the same stripes -- wait.
Did leopards have stripes?
Maybe they were... goodness what would make leopards grow artificial markings upon their fur (or was it engraved within their skins -- on that note, could one use the word "engraved" when talking about organic lifeforms?).
Whatever. Analogy discarded. She was getting absolutely nowhere with this.
As usual.

Let's get off of this. Reflection was being as beneficial as she'd expected it to be -- which was to say, it was completely useless and she was kind of hating herself more and more for it.

Presently, she was just walking out the door -- a little disgruntled and very much wishing that that had gone a little better. She adjusted the strap to her bag, which was cutting diagonally across her chest and no, that wasn't the effect she was looking for and why didn't she just put it on her shoulder like a regular person?
Oh, right. Because then she'd be drawing attention to it -- which was the exact opposite of what she'd wanted to do.
Well.

In any case, she was just about to consider what exactly she wanted to do at this junction -- what with the entire "being alone" and "coordinators kind of relied on themselves" thing. She was doing a good job at procrastinating it on her own time an--
OOF.

Kanaya's hands went up, exposing her palms as she took a step back.
"Oh do excuse m-- Rose.

[/color]"
Oh.
Oh.
Well, someone could pay to be a little more attentive.

Kanaya looked down at her a little, before saying, "Fancy bumping into you here. And by 'bumping into you' I do not mean it in the metaphorical sense that one has when meeting a long-lost friend in a coffee shop while waiting in line, but the literal interpretation of 'you bumped into me.' Which is fine really I mean I'd rather be sure to see you and such.[/color]"
She offered a hand, as if she might need it (she probably didn't), and was just going to go off on another tangent when.

Oh, hello John.
Oh, yeah she was standing there.
Yeah, take your time.

Well.
Whatever.

The sooner she got out of here, the better.

[/blockquote][/size][/blockquote]

[turntablegod]

Dave stared at Dirk in confusion, his expression starting to soften. He looked away, looking at the ground then back up at Dirk. He seemed so confused, staring at his twin brother. Why had his mother never said anything? Why wouldn't having a brother, a twin nonetheless, have been something important to know? It's true, he hadn't asked or pried much. He remember asking if he had any siblings, and his mother gave the simple reply "you used to." He assumed his sibling was probably dead or didn't want anything to do with Dave.

He started to tear up, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his palm, sniffling quietly. His shoulders shook lightly as he started to get upset, his speech broken from trying not to cry. He shook his head, still wiping his eyes off.

"dude, our parents are complete fucking tools."

He wiped off his wet eyes, sniffling again, staring up at his brother with less confusion. He stared at Dirk's face blankly for a few minutes, just looking at his face, before cracking a somewhat sad sort of smile at his brother.

"always wanted a Bro."

[dirk]

---~+Dirk Strider+~---

***

What? His mom seriously hadn't mentioned him at all? The tears he had been holding back finally broke through and he could do little more than quake with sobs, trying not to be too loud or too obvious. Instead he simply wiped his eyes against the constant stream of tears and sniffed, willing them away. More than feeling bad for Dave for being kept in the closet, Dirk was hurt that his mother wouldn't even bother mentioning him. Did she hate him that much? How could she, she only knew him for two years of his life. What kind of mother could cast aside her love for her own son? Especially while staring into a face that mirrored his day after day? Perhaps more than upset he was angry, frustrated by the idea that the woman he had been trying to contact all of this time was twice as maleficent than the man he had been trying to avoid all this time. His anger was only punctuated by the sting of his pointed glasses digging into the white knuckled grip of his hand.

Staring up into his brother's red eyes he simply reached forward and pulled him into a tight embrace, at a complete loss for what to say. He sniffed again, reassuring his grip on his brother and taking in a shaking breath. Voice cracked and wavering he tried to speak, but at first, nothing more than a series of short, exasperated laughs escaped him. This whole situation... how beautifully and inexplicably ironic. Sure, he had dreamed about this and prayed for it to be true-- that he would meet his brother at the start of this journey, but the prospect of it actually happening had never occurred to him. Much less did he expect the painful blow of his mother's scorn, and yet, here he was, arms around the boy he never expected to find and mind reeling at the shear number of unexpected twists in his perfect vision.

Finally he whispered, just hardly audible against the rabble of people, "Well, you've got one, I guess."

He sniffed and pulled back, chuckling a little as he wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, "And yeah... I guess mom is a douche, huh? Dad at least mentioned you."

***

[gamzeemakara]

Dave had left, Aradia had entered, and Gamzee was left extremely confused.

That is, for the five seconds before he had decided to just go with the flow, like normal. A huge grin broke out on his face, knowing that Aradia signified the start of their adventure. He held out a hand for Aradia, signally the universal want for the most epid of high-fives.

"WeLlL If iT IsN'T My sPeCtRaL SiStEr!! wHaT'S AlL Up aNd dOwN WiTh yOu? WhAt kInD Of eNlIgHtEnEd aNd aNnOuNcEd sHiT ArE YoU SlInGiN' aGaInSt tHeSe wAlLs oF MoThErFuCkIn' LiFe?"

"HeHe"

"HoNk"

")"

[pol]

Karkat was still glaring at Dave when his look-alike strode up, both of them awash with brotherly feelings that he did not understand. He opened his mouth to say something snarky, but noticed Gamzee take a few steps away from his side, and instead was about to direct a snarky comment at him-- he was talking to presumably, Aradia, and Tavros, that disabled kid-- when there was a poke at his back. He looked over his shoulder, scowling, to see perky John Egbert. "Like hell if I'm going to go be neighborly," he said sourly, but followed John's gaze to see the other guy propped up against the wall. That must be Eridumbfuck, who was hateflirting with Vriska an unpleasant shitload last night. He crossed his arms after scrutinizing him for a few moments and turned back, but John was already chittering to Rose and Jade. Karkat didn't even say hello, and just commented, "Damn it, if there turns out to be a Dave Strider 2 that I was lucky enough not to know about until this very unfuckingfortunate moment, I think I've just lost all faith in the evolutionary patterns of the world that were supposed to keep the gene pool functioning and untainted with that kind of h..." But then he realized no one was actually listening, so he cut his tirade short. When he looked up, he noticed the troll girl standing by Rose was actually Kanaya, and swiftly moved his hand in a arc formation above his chest, by way of greeting. It was an unenthusiastic gesture, and the scowl seemed etched into his face during it, but the message was polite enough for someone tolerable like Kanaya. But if he remembered right, she was a coordinator, not a trainer. That was a shame, but it was fitting.

He glanced around for Sollux a little, not moving from his spot, just observing everyone from an outsider's point of view. He did not want to seem eager-- he wasn't, so that was relatively simple-- and nor did he want to interrupt anyone, because he hated to be interrupted himself. He mostly just watched John titter with his friends and made a few sighs and eyerolls and such to communicate with Kanaya from the other side of the group of humans. The area felt packed and crowded, and Karkat was just waiting for the line to go down so he could register and go. His hopes of stringing along a bearable team had been dashed by Sollux's choice of Aradia over him-- oh, he glared at Aradia when he remembered that one, petty as usual.

[Jade Harley]

Jade was confused for a moment by John greeting, tilting her head slightly to the side, but laughed it off.
"it's only your birthday silly! remember? mine is all the way in december" She said with an airy giggle.

She watched as John stepped away for a moment to "pounce" on the unsuspecting Karkat with a smile. It was so nice to see her internet friends in person! Not to mention they all seem to be so nice and silly in real life as well!

Jade looked over to where Dave was, confused as well.
"huh, that's weird! i don't remember him ever saying anything about a brother... soooo not cooooool!" She joked.

[grubloaf]

<sub>Hiccuping and having thrown up a mere total of twice, Roxy had somehow managed it from Goldenrod City to Pallet Town, a feat worthy of being dubbed a miracle. She preferred, in her hungover and near-delirious state, not to think about how exactly it had happened, nor the incomprehensible number of miles she'd travelled: surely it was in the hundreds, but, she thought with a groan, it wasn't far off the number of shots she'd done last night. In any case, her pounding headache and blurred vision prevented her of recalling anything more than the incredibly sudden way her mother had thrown her out. She'd been forced to leave the house and had to try to make her way as a coordinator with nothing but her handbag and her Skitty.

What kind of woman did that? was the main question on her mind as she managed to open the door of the registration office. Startled by the harsh sunlight, Roxy stumbled out, clutching her papers and trying to fight gravity's attempt to sabotage her impression of a sober person's walk. She failed.
She clumsily fell forward after several steps with a short exclamation of “oomph fuck” straight into a group of people, knocking a couple of people as she made her way to the ground. Looking up, she saw a familiar pair of pointed shades. Disoriented, she smiled, before she realised* that the shades were attached to a person. Someone important, she was sure. Someone she had wanted to meet for a while. Sitting up ungracefully, she opened her mouth to shriek an appropriately flirtatious greeting for her first time meeting The Dirk Strider. Instead, with a look of dawning horror on her face, an “dirk omg are you CRYING” squirmed its way out. This was not how she had pictured her first meeting with the kid with the pokerface she'd known for years. Then again, she hadn't pictured herself awkwardly balanced on her arms and trying not to throw up at this meeting, either.

((*ihavenoregrets))</sub>
USER WAS BANNED; POSTS REDACTED

[paranormalships]

Today was the day the nepeta had made is from Oreburgh City to the smaller Pallet Town, with out managing to get lost on the long travel there. I mean this was her first trip alone to somewhere, but she managed it. She did have the companly of her trustly shinx, which did help though. though besides that she only had a bag with her.

after making her way to meet the group of people, " :33 < *the swift huntress aproctches the group of friendly looking people. " she says before meeting with the group of people.

[coolkidapocalypse]

Aradia giggled at Gamzee's ridiculous greeting, returning the high-five cheerfully. "hi there Gamzee! im feeling 0kay, c0nsidering im being surr0unded by all my friends!" Quietly, she motioned toward the lot of arguers, the crying Striders, and Sollux and Tavros. "0f c0urse, it certainly isnt much, but..." She remembered what she said about needing new friends. That still stood true to her. Regardless, she turned toward the registration building and motioned for her little group to come in as she led the way. "cm0n! we still haven't registered yet!"

[gamzeemakara]

The blatant, never-fading grin returned to his face as he followed Aradia inside. She waved for it to happen, so it must be important.

Mime Jr. kept on dancing around his and his groups feet as he shuffled inside.

[turntablegod]

Dave stiffened when his brother hugged him, then relaxed and hugged his brother back. He wrapped his arms around his brother tightly and squeezed him, balling up his hands in his brother's shirt. He kept sniffling, letting go of Dirk when he let go, wiping off his face.

He frowned when Dirk said 'mom', "man, she said i 'used to have a sibling'. shit i thought. i thought you mightve been dead, or you fucking hated me or something... she never fucking cared about me, shit she hated even looking at me. all she did was complain about me and dad...glad i dont have to be around her anymore."

He looked down at Roxy when she stumbled over, staring down at her "'the hell."