[mingle post!]

[cavedwellers]

Boy Valentine's Day was sure an adventure, wasn't it? Gosh, it's a good thing all that's over with.

Have a mingle post! If you're starting a new thread, mention where you are in the subject line. Tag each other, hang out, do whatevs.

Comments

[in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[bythehorns]

[you are feeling the urge to assemble a PILE. there have been a lot of FEELINGS lately and it sure would be nice to JAM THEM. too bad about that PALE QUADRANT FAILURE. you guess it's true that you CAN'T WIN THEM ALL.

you start removing VARIOUS ITEMS from your sylladex and piling them on top of each other on the cave floor. oogonibombs, fiduspawn plushies, bits of grist? how did that get in there?, whatever is handy.]

Re: [in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[pincerattack]

[speaking of pathetic quadrant failure, you're lurking around back in this part of the cave, too. it's a very... troll-like place to be? you don't know, it's just more comfortable than standing around outside or fighting those weird alotbeasts or whatever. besides, you need this dark to properly meditate on how much of a fucking horrible failure explosion Past Karkat is. your hatred for Past Karkat has reached a new level; it runs so deep that to reach the bottom will require a pressurized diving environment.

you're trying to hack open your own sylladex, which is slow going because your only reference book to the programming language is captchalogued inside the sylladex. you, uh, also feel like you are intruding from your corner here because that pile is one of the top ten most pathetic things you have ever seen. and you are moirails with Gamzee, which means your top ten is extremely mighty.

speaking of, where is your shambling horror of a moirail, anyway? you clear your throat and hope you're not being too much of a creeper.]

Have you seen Gamzee anywhere?

Re: [in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[bythehorns]

[you can't help wincing at mention of Gamzee, and you sort of duck your head a little as if you could hide behind your half-assembled pile or possibly behind your own shoulders. you have a terrible sinking feeling that he won't even be mad at you for having done that, um, thing, that you did. and that might just make it worse.]

Um, not, lately....

Re: [in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[faygoandpie]

[You're not sure what the fuck you missed but considering the motherfucking mopey faces littering the cave like feathery assholes litter the beach, you're considering yourself all up and fucking lucky as shit.]

Shit, there some motherfucking long faces around, it's like being surrounded by musclebeasts. If my bro Equius were here, he would need all the motherfucking towels.

[you eye your moirail and matesprit, looking all sad and shit. Makes your sponge squeeze itself motherfucking dry.]

What all up and happened, brothers?

Re: [in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[pincerattack]

[you stop hacking at your stupid fucking sylladex for a minute and wilt a little more. you'd really been hoping Tavros knew, because at least Gamzee doesn't judge your stupid kismesis of a past self the way you do.]

Oh. I. [you pause-- do you really want to admit this?] I was hoping he'd be willing to have one of his stupid feelings jams. For his own good. [right, his. that sounds believable, right? and not at all like 'oh gog so I pailed a human who wasn't in any of my quadrants and it was absolutely filthy and now I want to crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment.']

Re: [in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[sei_what]

You are really seriously trying to FIND SOME CLOTHES, because you're wearing your undershirt and pants and you still feel KINDA NAKED even if it's thirteen yards of fabric and oh god you're doing the second person thing again

Sei notices something that looks like the right color for one of her sleeves poking out from underneath the heap of other things to which Tavros has presumably at some point captchalogued applied that fascinating bit of eye-spraining meta-narrative shorthand.

She sneaks up, all hunched over and sort of hiding inside a hair-tent, and tugs on the sleeve. It stays put. There is a noisy cascade of VARIOUS ITEMS.

[bythehorns]

[you jump, startled, when your pile attempts to abscond. and then you notice the fancy lady from the other day and you remember that was her dress that you pulled out of your sylladex a minute ago and oh. oops.]

Oh, um, hello, uh, it is, good to see you, again?

[sei_what]

She looks just somehow completely guilty as hell.

"Oh! I, ah. I er."

He's a kid, there's no reason to be worried about this for crying out loud, it's just that she did sort of just, you know, hand those robes to him and it's not his fault he's a demon and doesn't know how human children play dress-up. Or manage their inventories.

"...my comb is in these," she says lamely.

Re: [in the cave, near Tav's recuperacoon]

[ice_and_steel]

[stomps her foot a couple of times in lieu of a knock] Tavros? Are you around?

[bythehorns]

...Um, sort of, except, maybe not if, you are mad at me?

[ice_and_steel]

I'm not mad. It's hard to knock when there's no door. I didn't want to startle you.

Why would I be mad?

[in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[prankster_gambit]

[Wow, you sure are a jerkass! You totally lost your virginity to someone who was not your boyfriend, right after you got a boyfriend. Who does that?!

You, apparently. You're the winner of the douchebag awards. It is you.]

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[oneeyedfish]

[Wandering into strange caves should be cause for concern, except that's pretty much normal by now. So is finding random people standing next to the sunlight that you've been heading towards like a beacon. Not bad. Maybe they have directions.]

Hi there. Sorry, I seem to be lost... do you live here?

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[prankster_gambit]

[Oh, look, a new guy! Hey, try not to sleep with him, Egbert.

....gosh, your conscious sure does sound like Dave right now! Which is weird since you know he'd totally be giving you high fives for sleeping with two people in one night.]

Uhm, not really, except I guess I kind of do for now! I just kind of showed up here.

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[oneeyedfish]

[That kind of answer actually makes you feel better, not worse -- so it's just one of those kinds of caves, which likes to collect people because it's lonely, or maybe just wants to eat them. Could be worse.]

[Come to think of it, this person might not be human either. Probably polite to tactfully put out the cigarette and not offend your hosts, if that's the case. A good smile might help too.]

Sounds familiar. I thought I was crossing a regular mountain path, but this place... doesn't look like anywhere I've been before. Have you been here for a while, or did it just happen?

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[e_regina]

WHAT, says the queen. PISS OFF

But she's not even mad, seriously, that ruff is all soothed-down like a postcoital peacock.

IT'S A NICE CAVE INNIT

BIT FANCY AREN'T YOU

WITH A BOX AND ALL

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[oneeyedfish]

Oh, this box?

[Meaning, the large medicine cabinet that once you lug it around for long enough, they say that you forget it's even there! It's like it's part of you! Builds muscle! Builds scar tissue!]

[They say a lot of things, don't they.]

There are some nicer ones around. This one fell off a hill last week... but I was right behind it, at least.

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[pincerattack]

[and you go stomping off to find John, because Gamzee is not going to shut the fuck up about how you're being self-defeating until you do. time to get your heart stomped on until it's little glittery pieces! and you won't even be able to cry it out on your stupid moirail's stupid shoulder because he doesn't know your blood color yet.]

...John?

Re: [in the cave, where sunlight filters down]

[prankster_gambit]

Karkat!

[and he already looks upset and you haven't even said anything to him yet! But he looks upset most of the time anyway so you're not sure if this is regular upset or 'rah rah you're a terrible boyfriend, we're breaking up!' upset!]

Uhm. Hey.

[on the fussin' overlook]

[ice_and_steel]

[sits perched on a rock, staring at the ground, wondering exactly how to handle what happened two weeks ago. She has been avoiding people since then, because really, what does one say to the people one fucked without getting to know them first?]

Re: [on the fussin' overlook]

[e_regina]

OI

Well how about that, it's the Virgin Queen. No fucking-related awkwardness here! She kinda hunkers down, maybe she's got a sofa under the skirt.

WHAT TROUBLES YOU, SUBJECT

Public relations, aw yeah.

Re: [on the fussin' overlook]

[ice_and_steel]

it's the queen from the forest! She stands up hastily and salutes, an embarrassed blush fighting its way up her face because not only is she being rude but she's being insubordinate, and she didn't hear the Queen coming. She is the worst soldier right now.

"Good afternoon, Your Majesty." It is definitely not appropriate to talk about awkward sexual encounters with royalty. She is certain on that point of etiquette. "I--er, well, I made some very uncharacteristic decisions and I am not entirely certain what I should do about it."

Re: [on the fussin' overlook]

[lifestudies]

[comes out onto the overlook and perches on a different rock, settling sketchpad in his lap and taking out charcoal pencils to start drawing]

Re: [on the fussin' overlook]

[prankster_gambit]

[You make your way towards the overlook and peer over it. Whoa. It's kind of high. You've got nothing to worry about but gosh, there should be like a fence or something built for people who can't fly!

You glance over at the teenager.]

"Hi! What are you drawing?"

Re: [on the fussin' overlook]

[ice_and_steel]

[oh. Well. this. how does one address this. things not covered in the Imperial Military Handbook sections 1545 to fucking 1547. She didn't actually mean that to sound as literal as it did.]

Good afternoon. [would it be rude to peek at the sketchbook? She's very curious but it is probably rude. Relm never liked her peeking until it was done.] How are you?