(no subject)

[stridersgonnastride]

Dave wanders through the front door. He's got headphones on, and is bopping along to something with a catchy beat. He does a double take when he spots the new decor. "whoa what the shit is this"

He prowls around for a while, clearly more than a little cautious about sudden and widespread changes to the general Milliways environment. He dismisses the vid screens entirely. Nope. No thank you. Not gonna happen.

A little while later he can be found at a table with snacks, idly hooking Legos together. Maybe he's building something specific. Maybe he isn't. Maybe it's a genius piece of abstract artwork.

Comments

[freedom_is_grey]

Ysalwen, with Liranan trotting ahead of her -- at least he is
until she clicks her tongue in a sharp reminder that most of the people from Dave's world don't like dogs all that much -- settles herself at Dave's table, leaning her staff against the side and picking up a few of the blocks.

"Do you think we might use these to start building something like Can Town?"

[stridersgonnastride]

Dave hangs his headphones around his neck so he can hear her better. The dulcet tones of Ice-T are still faintly audible.

"lay your city planning on me town councillor my body is ready

"tell me your thoughts"

[freedom_is_grey]

Ysalwen props her chin up with one upraised hand, nibbling on her lower lip thoughtfully.

"We could start with some sort of town center? A -- oh, what was it called -- city hall? And maybe a marketplace."

[stridersgonnastride]

He nods along to her suggestions. Or maybe that's the chorus. Hard to tell. "i like what you're throwing down here it's classic."

Dave pushes the plastic bucket full of Legos in her direction. "then we need some affordable housing units so the yuppies can't take all of the prime walkable inner city spaces and turn them into condos"

The Mayor has strong opinions about equality in urban centers.

[freedom_is_grey]

Ysalwen reaches into the bucket a little hesitantly, pulling out a handful of pieces and sorting them out by color. Then she starts building a corner for what may be a hexagonal-looking building.

"Yuppies? And condos? I think I caught most of the rest of that. Um."

[stridersgonnastride]

"a condo is a yuppie's natural habitat," says Dave. "people with rich families who buy up a shitload of property, went to ivy league colleges and take a lot of yoga classes."

Technically Dave's Bro was loaded, but it's not like they lived somewhere awesome, or that he ever saw any of that money. He's not sure where it went, to be honest.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Ah," Ysalwen says dryly.

"The nobility."

That much, at least, seems to make sense.

"So manor houses and the like? We could probably skip on building any of those, if you didn't mind?"

[stridersgonnastride]

"not like mad crazy rich with yachts and diamonds and shit," Dave clarifies. "rich enough to be obnoxious and shit on other people but not rich enough to be useful"

The word he's looking for is bourgeoisie, but the only way he'd be likely to hear it is in that Madonna song.

[freedom_is_grey]

"Minor nobility and landed gentry? Maybe they're all Orlesian, with a long historical memory but little practical use."

What?

[stridersgonnastride]

"sure let's go with that. what's Orlesian it sounds like it's French or something"

Dave is constructing the start of a high rise. It's acquiring a lot of unstable balconies and crooked floors. He's too free-wheeling and spontaneous for planning! Besides, it'll be funny when it falls over and squashes the unsuspecting fictional citizens.

[freedom_is_grey]

"I . . . suppose they might sound similar? Orlais is the Empire neighboring my country, Ferelden. They like to have elves as servants. They think we're pretty, and they enjoy making us dress in bright colors to accentuate the decor, or so I have been told."

She adds a few more bricks, leaving an opening that should function as a window, then turning the assembly over and starting to build a second wall.

"Plus they conquered my country for a time, not all that long ago, though certainly before I was born, and they were not kind. The scars linger. It's one reason Loghain went mad, I think. He was there, you see. And he couldn't handle the thought of them sending their Grey Wardens to aid us, at least in part. So."

[stridersgonnastride]

"jesus," Dave says, staring at her. "okay that is fucked up even for yuppies unless they are like racist yuppies

"which definitely exist so maybe not so far off?? uh"

[freedom_is_grey]

Ysalwen considers this for a bit, then shrugs.

"It sounds possible? It's why sometimes being surrounded by humans makes me uncomfortable, anyway. Not all the time, just -- occasionally."

(Maybe a little bit all the time.)

[feminine_menace]

"Yo Dave! 'Sup."

It's a talking pony. A talking pony with wings.

"It's YT. This is my Cubefall outfit."

[stridersgonnastride]

Dave stares at her. "holy fuck

"there are so many things wrong with this situation that i don't even know what to address first

"like oh my god karen i can't just ask you why you're a pony"

[feminine_menace]

"'Cause it was on my Cubefall list and it was the only shape that could fly."

Also YT is a big My Little Pony fan, or at least she was as a kid. Still has her whole collection at home. But if she told Dave that she'd have to kill him.

"Kinda sucks not to have hands though."

[stridersgonnastride]

It's okay, he'd just respawn. It's not just or heroic to get murdered over My Little Ponies. (Unless you are a Strider from an alternate universe. Long story, but he really likes Rainbow Dash.)

"yeah flying is pretty dope not gonna lie but i don't think i'd trade it for hands or opposable thumbs. feet on the other hand who needs those useless fuckers when you can fly bam sign me up"

[feminine_menace]

"But then you couldn't, like, ride a plank," YT says. She looks down at her hooves, which are no good for riding a plank either. "I get to miss that after a couple of days."

This shape is nice to vacation in, but YT wouldn't want to live in it.

[stridersgonnastride]

"how do those tiny little wings even get you off the ground," he says.

"i mean i can't really be mackin anyone's donalds about not following the laws of physics considering i am a walking fucking paradox myself

"wait

"i mean i'm a flying paradox. you get it"

[feminine_menace]

"I get it," YT says. She spreads one wing (carefully, so as not to hit anything). "I guess there's some magic going on or something. That's how I fly. 'Course I can talk too. That shit's pretty weird, now that I think about it."

[stridersgonnastride]

"shit that would really not be worth it if you couldn't talk. though i could probably understand you even if you just spoke horse because i've got even more bullshit magical powers"

He pauses.

"you want to go flying out back?"

[feminine_menace]

"Hell yeah. You want to race me?" YT flicks her tail.

[stridersgonnastride]

"you actually know how to use those stumpy wings of yours, painbow rash

"i'm basically a god you know i don't think you're actually ready for this jelly"

Dave is either really confident in his skills, or cruising for a bruising.

[feminine_menace]

"Bite me," YT says cheerfully. "Or, actually, bite my dust, which you will be eating in mass quantities." Pause. "I'm gonna leave you in charge of opening the back door, though. It's hard to do with no hands."

Not impossible, but challenging.

[stridersgonnastride]

"oh it's on," Dave says. He graciously opens the door and leads the way outside.

---

Some time later, both he and YT return from outside, looking worse for wear. Dave looks like someone dragged him backwards through a hedge, or maybe like he crash landed in a tree and hit every branch on the way down. The only reason his cape isn't in shreds is because it's fucking magical and self-repairing.

"i maintain that hitting the ground doesn't mean you lose if you get back up again," he says. "you ain't never gonna keep me down stop trying to question my self-expression"