Dirk sat on the edge of the roof, arguing with his pointy anime shades yet again.

AR: Dude, you need to shower or something.

AR: You need to be ready as fuck for this.

TT: I will, alright? You're me, I have the same thoughts as you, dude.

TT: I know I need to impress this chick. Not only to keep up my charming skills, but to make sure I don't let Roxy down.

AR: Or your bro, don't forget about him.

TT: Yeah, thanks for reminding me of what I was trying not to think.

AR: You're welcome.

Rose ran her brush through her hair one last time before carefully placing her headband.

"Rose, if I know one think 'bout my bro, it's that you don't gotta try 'n impress 'im. Fuck, he's prob'ly flippin' his shit doin' this exact same thing."

"Dave, you might know Bro, but this is Dirk. He may technically be the same human being, but he is a completely different person in a completely different universe. Anyways, making a good first impression is extremely important to me."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not 'xactly as stupid as I look." Dave shook his hair out of his face, removing his glasses to clean them quickly before Rose could get a good look at his eyes.

"You don't look stupid; you simply act the part sometimes," she paused as he scoffed. "You should appreciate the effort I'm putting into this for you. You don't have to meet my mother, thus you have no need to worry about being a satisfactory guest to stay with."

"Fuck, Rose. If you keep up your OCD shit and ramblin', you're gonna be late. I can't just make another meteor appear outta nowhere!"

She looked one last time in the mirror, then turned, closing her lavender eyes and making herself smile. "I don't know if I'm ready, Dave. I hate to admit it, but I'm scared. I'm really, really afraid for the first time in quite a while."

Dave put a hand on her shoulder and smirked. "Don't worry 'bout it, you're gonna be great." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

tipsyGnostalgic [TG] started pestering timeausTestified [TT]

TG: do you see her? is she pretty? I thought she was pretty when I saw her!

TT: Yes, I can see her. From what I can tell, she's very pretty, but I can't see her very well since she's kinda destroying the little meteor she rose in on like a fuckin' expert and flyin' down here in her orange pajamas right in front of the sun. She's just a shadow.

TG: woa she destroyed a meteor? that's so COOL!

TT: Yep.

TG: shes close isnt she cuz u arent talkin like normal dirk

TT: …

TT: Yeah. Holy shit, gotta go.

timaeusTestified [TT] ceased being pestered by tipsyGnostalgic [TG]

Dirk raised a hand as the girl floated down gracefully, waving at him.

God Damn, he thought, how the fuck am I supposed to entertain a girl who's that in control and perfectly sophisticated? She's so elegant, man, she belongs at a fuckin' royal ball. I don't even-

His thoughts are interrupted when Rose coughs, reminding him of her presence.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Ma'am," he stutters, standing up straight and holding out a hand. "I'm sure you know, but I'm Dirk Strider, and you will be staying with me if you do so wish."

She laughed at his formality. "Jesus Christ, Strider, don't be so intimidated by me. All I'm going to do is hang around here. You won't even know I exist if you don't want to."

Oh, my, I'm probably freaking him out... she lowered herself to the ground, straightening her tunic.

"Sorry for the floating, by the way; it's become a second nature."

"No, I completely understand! And, uh, I'll try not to be intimidated by you, though I do hope you won't just disappear into your room or something because I'm totally ready for company."

"Alright, then. I suppose we should make way to wherever it is you are staying on this planet."

"Yeah, I've got a house. It's old and was pretty beat up, but I worked some magic with it and now it's a modern mansion. We're on Roxy's planet, actually, but LOTAK required some heavy-duty gas masking. It's safer here. Plus, I've been here for a while, while I try to avoid my land, so I'm much more comfortable with the geography here."

They made their way across the sand towards an out of place building, seemingly like a normal brick house.

"There it is, Miss Lalonde."

"Call me Rose, please."

"Alright then, Rose. Make yourself at home."