great strides

"i guess i just figured it out as i went along"

> Slowly he turns a knob counter-clockwise, and as it turns the sample is gradually stretched, Nepeta’s voice becoming deeper, the beat becoming slower. He keeps turning the knob until the voice is at half speed, a full octave lower. Despite being so much deeper and slower, her voice retains its inherent vibrance.

> Apparently satisfied with the sample, Dave flips two switches then begins pressing pressing buttons in time with the vocal beat. Synthetic drums reinforce the sample: kick-snare-snare-kick kick-snare-snare-kick… He begins to build more elaborate drum patterns on top of the loop, then suddenly pierces the atonal rhythms with a loud, deep bass note that slowly rings through the apartment floor and away into the void. Dave’s neighbors probably hated him.

> After a short time the bass note is struck again, but this time it is partnered with another copy of the “kerfuffle” sample, this one closer to the original pitch but the syllables tuned into a driving, pulsing melodic fragment. Dave’s hands seem to be everywhere at once now. The bass note swells up into a massive chord, the kerfuffles rising like the run leading into the final trill of a brilliant cadenza, held for a moment that is unbearably long and yet all too short –

> And then, with the flip of a particularly large switch, the chord drops and the slowed “kerfuffle” sample that formed the rhythm is suddenly doubled an octave, two octaves lower. Distorted now almost beyond recognition, Nepeta’s voice shakes the entire apartment as the tension held deep within the bass bursts open and the original recording soars out over the shimmering harmonies, that one word now indescribably melodic even without being pitched. Every layer of every movement of this symphony comes together in one blinding flash of sound, and then it all fades into the most perfect and satisfying silence.

> Despite going to great lengths to keep quiet fur once, she gets extremely tickled when he lowers her voice. She slaps a hand over her mouth to stifle the laugh that escapes her, immediately feeling bad fur having pawsibly disturbed him. So she softly murmurs an apology and chews on the inside of her lip to keep herself silent from then on.

> Due to her sensitive ears, she recoils a bit at that purrticularly piercing note, but after a moment she regains her stability. Though, she does put herself a bit behind Dave, as if that will protect her. She prepares herself fur it to come around a second time, and at the most blaring part of the mix, she’s not nearly as phased. That’s how it had always worked fur her - Only sudden loud sounds really got under her skin. If she was prepared fur them, she’d be fine.

> When it’s over, she lets silence engulf the apartment fur a solid few moments before grabbing Dave’s arm and bouncing up and down on her heels.

> He walks over to the equipment set up beside the front door.

"say something"

> Truthfully, she was never very well educated on the subject of technology, despite its advances on Alternia. Her tablet was the only gadget she had ever owned (well, besides her tail, of course.) Even then, she rarely used it fur anything besides chatting with her friends or doodling. So, she’s quite curious about this contraption.

> When he tells her to speak, she says the first thing that comes to her mind.

"Kerfuffle!"

> Slowly he turns a knob counter-clockwise, and as it turns the sample is gradually stretched, Nepeta's voice becoming deeper, the beat becoming slower. He keeps turning the knob until the voice is at half speed, a full octave lower. Despite being so much deeper and slower, her voice retains its inherent vibrance.

> Apparently satisfied with the sample, Dave flips two switches then begins pressing pressing buttons in time with the vocal beat. Synthetic drums reinforce the sample: kick-snare-snare-kick kick-snare-snare-kick… He begins to build more elaborate drum patterns on top of the loop, then suddenly pierces the atonal rhythms with a loud, deep bass note that slowly rings through the apartment floor and away into the void. Dave's neighbors probably hated him.

> After a short time the bass note is struck again, but this time it is partnered with another copy of the "kerfuffle" sample, this one closer to the original pitch but the syllables tuned into a driving, pulsing melodic fragment. Dave's hands seem to be everywhere at once now. The bass note swells up into a massive chord, the kerfuffles rising like the run leading into the final trill of a brilliant cadenza, held for a moment that is unbearably long and yet all too short –

> And then, with the flip of a particularly large switch, the chord drops and the slowed "kerfuffle" sample that formed the rhythm is suddenly doubled an octave, two octaves lower. Distorted now almost beyond recognition, Nepeta's voice shakes the entire apartment as the tension held deep within the bass bursts open and the original recording soars out over the shimmering harmonies, that one word now indescribably melodic even without being pitched. Every layer of every movement of this symphony comes together in one blinding flash of sound, and then it all fades into the most perfect and satisfying silence.

"No hot tea? At all?"

> The girl raises her eyebrows in slight alarm. She couldn’t imagine her life without hot tea. The drink was a familiar and soothing part of her childhood. One of the things she and Pounce had bonded over when she was young.

"So you’d never been to a tea party before ours?"

actually

my bro and i did have a tea party once when i was younger but instead of tea it was just little flowery cups of red bull”

> He pauses for a moment, glancing down at the puppet Nepeta had been holding, then looks back up to make eye contact.

"so what do you want to do

i could show you my mixing equipment

or ive got a decent sized tv if you want to watch a movie or something

> It then occurs to her that she doesn’t really know all that much about Bro except some basic things. She contemplates asking Dave more about him. What he looked like. How he acted most of the time. But when Dave speaks again the idea evaporates and she writes it off as a topic fur another time.

"Mixing equipment?"

> Curiousity edges it’s way onto her face.

> He walks over to the equipment set up beside the front door.

"say something"

> She ambles about the room, surveying it’s furnishings and decor curiously, everything from the weapons strewn across the kitchen counter to the posters covering the walls. She comes upon one of those silly puppets every now and again, too, and eventually picks one of them up.

at least this way you can see them coming before they strike”

> He goes to the fridge and places a hand on its handle.

"phony dream science dont fail me now"

> He opens the fridge door; two entire shelves are filled with bottles of apple juice.

"jackpot"

> He grabs two bottles, opens one, and tosses the other to Nepeta. It spins gracefully in a high arc toward her.

"nectar of the gods

i should know

youll want plenty of that to beat the texas heat

"No hot tea? At all?"

> The girl raises her eyebrows in slight alarm. She couldn’t imagine her life without hot tea. The drink was a familiar and soothing part of her childhood. One of the things she and Pounce had bonded over when she was young.

"So you’d never been to a tea party before ours?"

actually

my bro and i did have a tea party once when i was younger but instead of tea it was just little flowery cups of red bull"

> He pauses for a moment, glancing down at the puppet Nepeta had been holding, then looks back up to make eye contact.

"so what do you want to do

i could show you my mixing equipment

or ive got a decent sized tv if you want to watch a movie or something

"You’re funny, Dave."

"might be easier if you close your eyes"

> Concentrating on the old, distant memory of his apartment, he places a guiding arm across her back, then takes a single purposeful step. It feels like a step down that you hadn’t realized was there, that disorienting falling sensation deep in your stomach.

> An apartment (entrance is the door in the top/right wall). It’s not overly large, but it would be quite comfortably spaced if not for all of the junk. As promised, there are puppets lying around all over everything, stove included. Dave habitually kicks one aside as he steps forward, leading Nepeta inside, then pushes the door closed with his foot.

> She ambles about the room, surveying it’s furnishings and decor curiously, everything from the weapons strewn across the kitchen counter to the posters covering the walls. She comes upon one of those silly puppets every now and again, too, and eventually picks one of them up.

at least this way you can see them coming before they strike"

He goes to the fridge and places a hand on its handle.

"phony dream science dont fail me now"

He opens the fridge door; two entire shelves are filled with bottles of apple juice.

"jackpot"

He grabs two bottles, opens one, and tosses the other to Nepeta. It spins gracefully in a high arc toward her.

"nectar of the gods

i should know

youll want plenty of that to beat the texas heat

"I don’t think there’s such a thing as dream time. I don’t even know if time exists here. Does it?"

"id say the time here is north by southeast with a hint of maroon

then again im not a cartoon character measuring the wind i mean seriously has anyone ever actually done that”

> He tilts his head toward the woods outside.

"You’re funny, Dave."

"might be easier if you close your eyes"

> Concentrating on the old, distant memory of his apartment, he places a guiding arm across her back, then takes a single purposeful step. It feels like a step down that you hadn't realized was there, that disorienting falling sensation deep in your stomach.

> An apartment (entrance is the door in the top/right wall). It's not overly large, but it would be quite comfortably spaced if not for all of the junk. As promised, there are puppets lying around all over everything, stove included. Dave habitually kicks one aside as he steps forward, leading Nepeta inside, then pushes the door closed with his foot.

"yo

hope it hasnt been too long in dream time

"I don’t think there’s such a thing as dream time. I don’t even know if time exists here. Does it?"

"id say the time here is north by southeast with a hint of maroon

then again im not a cartoon character measuring the wind i mean seriously has anyone ever actually done that"

> He tilts his head toward the woods outside.

"yo

hope it hasnt been too long in dream time

"i should be going

gotta check in every so often and make sure karkat hasnt crashed the meteor yet

its been hella meeting you nepeta

"Okay! That’ll be a lot of fun. S33 you later, Dave."

"maybe

maybe not”

> He crouches down beside her, pushing his chair away, and puts his free hand, tentatively, on her shoulder.

"funny thing about free will

we can do whatever we want

but we dont get to decide which timeline is the alpha

the multiverse punishes us until we make the right choice

if you had died with your species i would never have been born

"i should be going

gotta check in every so often and make sure karkat hasnt crashed the meteor yet

its been hella meeting you nepeta