It...seemed like a good idea at the time.

[splinterself]

[So after getting the "Where is this, who are you, what is going on?" out of his system, Dirk Strider was purposefully and boldly exploring Mac Anu and was...kind of bemused by the fact that the city wasn't done up in purple and black.

...just saying.

He had ended up at the harbor and there he paused in his wan- purposeful exploring, as...you know what's incredibly distracting? Actually only having one self (at least for the time being) that he was aware of. Also the clothes. Also the fact that he still had no idea what the hell was going on, and, more importantly, what was happening with Roxy.

There was a certain irony in him spacing out just as badly as he did when he had multiple selves to juggle, one which was lost on the guy as he was spacing out, brooding.]

...

[Yeah, this was getting him nowhere. (And shit, the lack of purple really was throwing him off.) That was when he shook his head slightly, turned to the nearest person, and said:]

Hey.

[So verbose.]

Comments

[splinterself]

[And he's done! He turns to-

...what the hell, English. How is that being 'fine and dandy'?

He'll be hurrying over to attempt to keep this adventure from ending in a TKO or having him mourn over Jake's dead body. Sword in hand, ready to slash and skewer, all that sort of stuff. Just...

...

It can wait. Attempting to launch a heroic rescue now.]

[hoperaider]

[It worked in that it kept Dirk from being more distracted than usual! Flighty blonds, gawd.

He's certainly very grateful that his friend is coming over to give him a bit of a break. Though he's sure to get...something after this is done.

Well, whoever kills it, when its dead he's going to go over and rest his bayonet against a wall to give himself a proper look at. To be fair, the wounds don't look too deep, so he got lucky on that score.]

[splinterself]

[And he stared at Jake for a long moment. His gaze shifted to the arm in question and he looked at that for a long moment.

Finally, he asked, in a tone which was deadpan for even him,]

How bad is it?

[hoperaider]

I can't tell with my shoulder, but it doesn't look like it'll be lasting damage. The cuts aren't terribly deep, so I doubt there'll be any sort of scaring.

[He feels bad for lying earlier, but he really thought it was better that Dirk didn't know until after the fight.]

Maybe one of the breakables are hiding a healing potion?

[Jake can't imagine why else they would be in a dungeon.]

[splinterself]

Maybe. I'll check.

[And he starts methodically breaking the...er, breakables. The first two were rather mechanical, cursory. At the third he pauses, and then lunges, sweeping his sword upward with both more technique and more force than was probably strictly necessary.

So far nada.]

[hoperaider]

[Okay Jake can't help a wince at that display. He's not sure if he should say something.]

I saw some others in the other room, if you think we should try those, too.

[splinterself]

[He's cool. He pauses before the fourth.]

Alright. I'll try those next if these don't have any, English. [Two more to go. #4 goes the same as #3.]

[hoperaider]

[Jake is getting the feeling that if there were any goblins around, they would know the fear of Dirk Strider when he's not in his chill mood.]

Dirk? Not to ruin your fun, but are you alright?

[Okay, yes, he'll bite. Getting this over with now!]

[splinterself]

Yeah, I'm fine. [Down goes the fifth. And he hit paydirt, in the form of a medical drink which he picked up and nearly tossed to Jake, before remembering-...yeah, given his arm? Instead he'll walk over and hand it over.]

...

[Pause.]

You mentioned breakables in the other room. I'll check them before we get any further. [And unless Jake does anything to stop him he'll be going to do just that.]

[hoperaider]

[Jake appreciates the thoughtfulness, and takes it from him. He simply nods and doesn't try to stop him.

He so doesn't believe Dirk saying he's fine. Looks, yes he's definitely fine

At any rate, he chugs the drink as fast as he can, making a face at the disgusting taste. Horrid stuff. The wounds are closing up, at least, he just needs to wash the blood off. Still, he makes his way to the other room to check on Dirk.]

[splinterself]

[Wow, he managed to clear out that room really fast, Jake's just in time to see him break the last of them. It's almost as if without an audience he just let rip quickly and efficiently.]

I found two more. [One was for Jake, obviously, and was tossed to him. As for the other...while he too had gotten nicked and scratched it was hardly anything that would necessitate using a potion...yet. That Dirk pocketed.]

[hoperaider]

[He catches it and puts it in his own pocket.]

Thank you! [Jake gives him a concerned look.] Are you alright to go on?

[splinterself]

Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? Me, give up? Not happening.

[He matches the concerned look with a long, measuring one.]

Do you want to go on?

[hoperaider]

Just the way you've been breaking them. I may need spectacles, but that doesn't mean I'm blind.

[Jake sighs softly]

I think we should. I don't like leaving things half finished. [He manages a smile.]

[splinterself]

Ok.

[Can you tell what statement he just completely ignored?]

Man, how deep is this dungeon supposed to be, anyway? [He proceeds to get back to the dungeon spelunking, heading towards from whence they came with the intent of going deeper. Like, unless Jake tackles him and stops him or something.]

[hoperaider]

[Jake can take a stab in the dark on which one it was. He follows along.]

Honestly, I'm not sure. It appears to be random.

[The corridor going north in the room they just cleared of the goblins leads to the next part of the dungeon. I hand the torch over to you for the layout and encounters of this floor.]

[splinterself]

[Fuck you now I'm going to actually draw this map out.

They head north. The next corridor is long, almost long enough to cause them to react to the length of it, but at the precise moment before one of them might've asked what was up with that they encountered the next room. Finally.

There's only two goblins visible. After a glance to make sure Jake hadn't passed out or anything and was paying attention and generally cognizant and all that good stuff, Dirk doesn't hesitate in pulling out his sword and you can guess what happens next. It starts with S, is the last name of a certain Final Fantasy character named Cloud, rhymes with knife.]

[hoperaider]

[HA HA HA

Jake is being more careful, at least. He gets his bayonet ready, and now it's time for a STRIFE!]

[splinterself]

[That's good, because the perceptive might notice that he was fighting ever so slightly differently compared to the last few fights. Not that he didn't take them seriously: he did and would continue to do so. It was the difference between fighting Squarewave or Sawtooth versus fending off an army of the Batterwitch's drones. Subtle, but...there was a certain economy to his movements which was previously absent.]

[hoperaider]

[Well, Jake's not terribly perceptive consciously speaking. So his subconscious is picking it up and it bothers him a little.

Still, at this point he knows better than to push. Dirk will keep denying and avoiding it until he's ready to share, if ever. Maybe one more question after the fight, and if it doesn't supply anything...well, he'll let the matter drop in that case.

For now, it's time to kill a couple goblins. As usual, he's going to shoot at them. Jake is definitely moving if they switch from Dirk to him, of course.]

[splinterself]

[And they fought.

It was a pretty epic battle, bro. Goddamn heroic. All sorts of crazy shit happened. Like, they should pose at some point as shit got real. Hell, they could invite Rose along later to be their surrogate Rikku later, be all JRD...except not really as that's stupid and that acronym is stupid and if they actually articulated real emotion they wouldn't have so many problems.

In fact, that description is so stupid that? That we're gonna skip the rest of it and cut to the finish. Strife over.

Dirk, having taken enough accumulated damage that he was feeling it (though not enough that his entrails were about to fall upon the floor) took a look at the drink and then, eh, knocked it back. And then regretted it.]

Man, what the fuck. That was nastier than I expected.

[hoperaider]

I haven't known a medicine to taste decent, but I think those health drinks take the cake as far as nasty goes.

[See, if Dirk had stayed in the room when Jake took his, he'd have at least a head's up that it was way biz nasty. But no, he just goes all Hulk Hogan on the breakables.

Jake hesitates for a moment before he gets it off his chest.]

Dirk? Are you...mm...still upset with me over the small fib earlier?

[splinterself]

[...god damn. It's a lot easier to brush off his concern when they're not in real time, FYI. He's going to parry with a question of his own]

Why would I be?

[hoperaider]

[Well, you know what? Jake is going to pull a Dirk and ignore his question.]

I thought it would have caused too much of a distraction for you. The last thing I wanted was for you to get hurt because of my carelessness and mistakes. I apologize for lying like that.

[He really is sorry.]

[splinterself]

...it's no big deal. [And here he pauses, because this is really hard to do in real time.] Come on, dude, really, I'm fine. Now. We should probably get back to adventuring. [Was that 'I'm fine now' or 'Now we should'? ~It's a mystery.~

On that note, the exit is...west or north, why not. Pick a direction.]