#dltm

Dave had spent a good amount of time in his room on the laptop Rose let him barrow. They were all plenty rich, but being rich didn’t help him if he couldn’t fix his voice. It was a lost cause but every once in awhile he’d find himself whistling, one of the very few things he could do to get people’s attention. Yes they always gave him a funny look but he didn’t mind. He could call a taxi cab if he needed to, but then he’d have to write the address down, always a downfall to everything. Despite the fact whistling got their attention quicker he avoided it for he liked to keep it a little secret. He had plenty of secrets, being unable to even talk it made things fifty times easier.

As he popped open pesterchum he noticed Rose was already logged on, she hardly cared if he hacked into it in the first place. With a smirk he pushed his sunglasses on the top of his head with a quick flourish of his hand he began to scroll through her contacts. There were always a couple he didn’t recognize, so he generally left them be. Not knowing the relationship meant things could end worse than usual. John was on. Biting down on his lip he realized that he must be home from church already.

Running his tongue across his lips to quickly wet them he stared at the chumhandle of his best bro for a good long minute. It couldn’t hurt to play it up that he was Rose. He wasn’t exactly the best at pretending to be his cousin, of sorts, but no matter it would be fun.  An idea struck him and let him crack a broad grin. This would be fun.

Before he could message John a little box popped up from Jade. Well, he didn’t care he’d just change targets. Glancing between the two handles he shrugged. He could always bother John another time. Considering the fact he’d already pestered him earlier this morning it would seem too soon, well it wouldn’t but he believed it would.

“rose rose rose :)” The message was soon accompanied by another. “listen to this!! you wont even believe what I just found out” Dave paused, almost feeling like he was intruding on something important here. Then again, if it was something Rose wanted to keep secret than she would have signed off. “dont even bother guessing either!! because youll never be able to guess XD” She certainly seemed to be in a good mood, her use of emoticons was emphasizing that enough as it was.

“Jade, I do implore you to tell me before your emoticons cover your entire speech.” That was something Rose would say, right? Of course. There didn’t seem too weird, yeah. He had this under control. He’d pick up the latest scoop from Jade and find out what little things Rose even talked about. There had to be some reason Jade was so excited.

“remember how i mentioned that johns dad and daves bro seem to know each other???” Dave’s stomach did a somersault, even he didn’t know that. How did Jade and Rose know and not him? The very thought made him twist inwardly. “well well apparently john said that bro wanted to plan something with his dad and coming to visit :) :D” Dave had to keep his cool, he couldn’t let loose that he wasn’t Rose. How would she respond to this? He couldn’t figure it out at all. He stared at the screen before he realized she was waiting for a response. “rosey! whats the big hold up?? D:” Without much of a pause to let him respond as Rose she continued. “umm well johns dad said i could come along with them!! 8D”

Yet again just as he was about to answer something prevented him from doing so. However, it wasn’t Jade. No. Rose had just walked in the room, a wide smirk on her face to show that she knew already. “So! Finally found out? I’m surprised John never told you to be honest, thought he’d tell you as soon as he could.” She sat on the edge of the desk and set her book down with a sigh of contentment. “They’ll find out sooner or later Dave,” she uttered in a more serious tone. “I don’t know as if waiting would be wise at this point.”

As soon as the door opened a pair of arms came swooping around his neck and a large fat kiss was planted on his cheek. “Well helo lil’ Davey,” cooed the completely drunken lady. Dave kept his stoic expression, with the shades he could just keep up his act and everything would be fine. Sometimes people though he was blind and deaf as well. No fun, but it was cool for pranks. “Gotcher bags all t’gether bud?” Lalonde asked as she stood to talk another drink from her glass.

How the hell had she managed to bring that without spilling a single drop? Sometimes he was amazed by what dumbass shenanigans his Bro and Aunt did. With a swift nod and turn of his heels he fetched his bags from his room. He wasn’t sure if he was happy to be leaving this lonely apartment or not, it was home after all. When Dave was younger he’d get so lonely he’d set off traps on purpose just so Bro would come home for a quick strife.

With a tiny smile to his aunt to say he was ready to get going. With a pat on the head Roxy turned and waved for Dave to come with. The trip down those flights of stairs was like any other day, long and sweaty. The halls did not have air conditioning at all and he was lugging a bag with him. Bro would just flash step down them like it was no big deal but Dave wasn’t too well versed in flash stepping. Well, at least not just yet.  There would come a day he’d learn, or he’d make his brother teach him.

At last they reached the car, a fancy pink Corolla. The Lalondes were quite rich and his aunt did have a thing for pink, Rose for purple. Dave tossed his luggage in the bag and climbed into the front seat. Funny thing about the shotgun position, he always lost it when they were playing the game. The pure thought of reminding himself about his little problem caused Dave to curl his hand into a tight fist. Realizing what he was doing, he lightly chewed at his lip and let the tightness melt away.

The ride was far from quiet, not that he’d ever expected it to be. As soon as they were on the road Aunt Roxy turned on the radio and cranked it. Screeching, mind you it was not singing, ensued to the horrible pop music. How this was music was a wonder and how anyone could even survive her screeching was another miracle. Yet every time he managed, at least Rose could sympathize.

The only thing Dave had to distract him was the scenery and his shades, rather than playing with the bottom of his shirt like a fool. Watching the cityscape slowly turn to the countryside was not exactly the most captivating thing, especially when he had seen it a million times before.  This meant, he’d have to suffer through with the screeching until they arrived at the Lalonde Mansion.

To his dismay the time passed slower than seemed possible, but Dave wasn’t one to complain. Rose was sitting on the steps to greet them, nose stuck in a book about wizards. It would be nice to see her again, usually was. With no more than a glance from her book she waved and stood to open the door. Dave hauled his luggage inside the spacious manner. “Take whichever room you want, as usual,” murmured Rose from her book.

With no more than a nod Dave was on the quest to find a room to occupy. On his way down the hall he noted Rose had said more than usual while stuck in her bookworm mode. There was hardly anything that could get her out of a book once she was a few pages in. As soon as she was there the most you could do was sit by and wait.

Finding some decent clothes from a pile on his floor that didn't smell of that laundry funk. Just some jeans and his plain white shirt that had red long sleeves and a cracked record on the front. Frowning he dug through the pile for some socks but he only found mismatched pairs. Pursing his lips in annoyance he sat on the floor to sort through some more of the pile. Much to his chagrin he could not find a matching pair and had to go with a red and white. With that he ran his hand through his hair a couple times to make it smooth before deeming to himself that he looked half decent enough for public. 

Rolling back his shoulder as he entered the kitchen he glanced around the room for any obvious traps. His Bro liked to test him with setting up millions of these tricks and traps everywhere. If he failed to avoid all of them it would result in a strife. Somehow he always knew even though he was always at work. It was a bit strange as lately Bro hadn't even bothered with a single competition. Even if he was working he'd manage to fit in a little brawl. It'd been a whole month since their last one and it was making Dave more on edge than usual.

Opening a cupboard after deeming it safe he scowled. There was hardly any food in their apartment at the moment. They really needed to do some shopping. Rubbing his stomach slightly he closed the cupboard and stepped into the living room. Glancing around from behind his shades he pinched his lips together. Smuppets were piled everywhere. It was a bit ridiculous just how many of them damned things there were. Honestly he wanted to ask his Bro where these douchebag puppets even came from. On occasion he'd have to sew a few up if they got caught up in their strife. At least those strife matches usually happened on the roof where nothing would happen.

Dave settled onto the couch and let out a slow exhale of relief that it wasn't bugged. He really did not want to deal with a fight today. Then again having his own ass handed to him in a goodie bag was never a fun thing for anyone. Especially not a Strider. Whipping out his cell phone he glanced at the time. Bro was definitely at work by now. Soon enough his Aunt Roxy, who he sometimes would write as Ms. Lalonde, would drop by and pick him up. Although she took her sweet time climbing up all those stairs to get to their apartment. Once in a blue moon she would just send him a text saying he should just come down. He couldn't blame her they did live on the topmost floor with no elevator. 

Flipping the cell phone closed he leaned back to stare up at the ceiling. Dave really did not want to go visit the Lalonde's place today. They lived an hour away and that mansion of theirs was just so out of place. Waterfall and all. What really got on his nerves was that Aunt Roxy was constantly drinking something and would never shut her trap about anything. It was always gossip and drinking with her. This was why Rose was a little better. It was true that she was usually stoic and liked to poke and prod at him but she had those moments where she could even be a bit vulgar. Then again it was probably more the fact that they were the same age.

The young Strider closed his eyes slowly an listened to the sound of the air conditioner's low hum in the background. It would probably be really hot out again today as the school year was coming to an end and Summer was soon to start. Summer was his least favorite time of the year. It was always so hot and at times the air conditioner or a few fans would stop working to make this place completely unbearable. Then there was always talk about going to drive all the way to the beach,  swimming in the pool, hanging out with friends at the mall, or just about anything. Dave had never done any of those things. Instead he knew that he couldn't because most likely it would require talking to others, right? Sadly the biggest downfall was that he had no fucking idea how to swim. As a kid he'd always really wanted to learn but it never happened. 

He found it was probably for the best that he give up trying to learn any fun activities. He knew he'd end up in a boring job that would leave him all alone to complete some dull task by such and such a time and nobody around to even check up on him. This was just another one of those things that made him feel useless. Not like being mute was enough.

Dave and John had video chatted, well sort of, until it was time for John to leave for church. Church, it was such a weird thing to even think about. He’d never been to church in the first place and had only heard about it from others. John was the only one who ever made it sound the least bit not scary or intimidating. Then again being mute in would make things a bit harder on him but that was no new news to him.

Being mute really was more of a curse than anything. All the raps he wish he could be doing himself instead end up piled up on his desk. All the words he wishes he could say to people end up lost before he could communicate them. Every time anyone found out he was mute they always treated him differently. There was not a single person who hadn’t made him feel like a lowlife needy child. One might treat him like he is actually deaf and not mute or they might make bigger gestures to try to get a point across like he had trouble understanding. Those fuckers didn’t seem to get that the only thing was that he couldn’t talk. There was no problem with anything else of him. None at fucking all. 

Gritting his teeth together at the mere thought of people pinching his cheeks informing him he is precious and way too cute made him sick to his stomach. It was today that he was pretty sure he was going to be forced to go sit and play games with his aunt, who never stopped cooing over him. Ms. Lalonde was quite the interesting lady in his opinion. Actually he really didn’t like her but he had no say because he couldn’t even say anything. Ever.

Dave was a pretty bitter guy but he blamed the fact that Bro hardly ever even paid much attention to him. Well there was also the communication barrier he faced every single day of his fucking life. It was frustrating to wish he could speak to somebody or tell them something but they continue on like it’s no big deal and he never had a say in anything. His opinion didn’t matter. All he was good for was being a listener. Right. He had mastered the poker face and being able to fall asleep sitting up or standing so that he wouldn’t have to listen. 

Looking in the mirror he took a deep breath. The pale pasty white skin, the bags under his eyes, his ribs showing through his shirt, bed head hair, shaking hands, and not to mention the crooked half smile plastered on his face that he’d kept up the entire chat with John. Well god fucking dammit Egbert was probably being polite by not telling him he looked like shit today. Aunt Roxy was going to have a ball. It wasn’t that bad right now. He had looked worse, but that included times after he’d gotten into fist fights. 

The fights were caused by a variety of things. One of them being his short temper. Yes he was good at making a poker face and pretending he didn’t care but honestly he snapped at some of the kids at school. Wait. Hell that’s right he’d been suspended recently. Again. He hadn’t even told Bro yet. A full week of pretending to go to school wouldn’t work either. Where was he supposed to go? Couldn’t ask anyone if they could hang out because they all went to school. Actually his cousin didn’t. She was home schooled. Many reasons for that, mainly her mom being batshit crazy but nonetheless she was stuck.

Rose was probably the only person who had bothered to pick up how to read sign language to make Dave feel less alone. She was one sick person. Only problem was she could read him like a book and never stopped analyzing everything he did. It was like she pierced his shades and stared right into his head to pick through each one individually. Even if she did that every time he went over there he still felt like she was the closest person he had. She was friends with John as well. There was also another girl, Jade. Harley was a quirky little chick from what he could tell. Having never actually spoken outside of chat he had no idea if she really was a bouncing bubble of energy. She was still what he considered to be a good friend. The best of friends. 

Not like he really had many. Nobody ever approached him as he was rather quiet, go figure. It wasn’t just that but he had trouble dealing with people at school. Hence why he was currently suspended. Yeah, Bro was going to have a ball of whooping his butt in another strife once he found out. Dave at least won all of his fights but not against his Bro. There was no way he’d ever beat him, plenty of scars to show for that.