No one had really stepped forward to take care of Dave, so he ended up getting adopted.
For the first year, there was a lot of discord between the coolkid and the couple that so picked him on a whim. It was expected that there wouldn't be any more rooftop strifes, but was it so bad to have a sword or a pile of puppets around? Dave found it obvious quickly that he wasn't going to have any form of emotional connection with either adoptive parent he had found himself with, and so turned to the internet once again. He wondered how hard it had to be to find a guardian that could actually be warmed up to.
And yet, it was not a shitty upbringing. Adoptive Mom handed Dave a fairly decent hoodie for Christmas one year, and neither parent could be called abusive. Plus, they were in the Washington area and somehow ended up sending him to the school Nanna sent John to. Rose and Jade were quick to discover the conditions of their internet friends, the two providing support during days where the screeching metal still sounded and there was no such thing as reality. It was good support, even if it was pointed and snarky like with the former.
-tentacleTherapist [TT]began pestering turntechGodhead [TG]-
TT: Dave, could you spare me a moment of your time?
TT: I have something to ask you.
TG: ok no
TG: slow your roll
TG: is this about august 15 again
TT: In more conservative western cultures, it is considered rude to interrupt a woman while she is speaking, or in this case typing.
TG: wow no
TG: rose cant you see ive got a lot on my plate right now
TG: i dont have time for more of your snarky flighty broad shit
TT: My vision is 20/20, but thank you for your concern over my eyesight.
TT: And as for your inquiry, yes. Unfortunately enough for you, that is.
TT: Look, I know you're not comfortable with me psychoanalyzing your behavior or dreams, but if you will divulge anything to me I ask that it is this.
TG: rose are you begging me for information now
TG: is the grandiose sarcasm shtick not working out for you
TT: It works fine, thank you very much.
TT: But this isn't the time for our usual battles of snark and irony.
TT: There is a true necessity for knowledge in this.
TT: First you and John mysteriously come back from the dead, now six new Pesterchum users show up, asking about eye colors? This is likely to concern your lives and safety.
TG: you know what rose
TG: fine
TG: i give in
TG: im sticking my last shitty katana in the dirt where it will rust for all of fucking eternity
TG: load your question cannons and fire away
TT: I'm glad you understand, Dave.
TT: Now, I've been talking to our butchered English- using friends over Pesterchum, and I would like to know:
TT: Do you think you display any supernatural powers? Odd phenomena that happen around you and only around you, perhaps?
TG: odd phenomena
TT: Yes, Dave. Please answer.
TG: ok i said id answer and now i am
TG: the response i have typed out for you with the gentle finesse of a ballerina
TG: up in her pointe shoes and spinning away on the beautiful stage that is my keyboard
TG: is yes
TG: yes i am now a fucking teen superhero with magical superpowers in some yet to be released comic book in which i am the star
TG: its me
TT: Interesting.
TT: And what would you say happens during these abnormal happenings?
TG: everyones perception of time including my own
TG: gets fucked up
TG: take a step down the hallway before the blue doors close on you
TG: and im at the other end
TG: other people keep telling me to slow my roll but how am i supposed to do that when i dont even know my roll is at mach 7
TT: So you've gained the ability to pchoo.
TG: no youve got it wrong rose theres no pchoo
TG: some kids in like the previous grade or something tell me i get blurry as hell though
TT: In other words, you've gained the ability to...
TT: Flashstep? Like you said your brother used to?
TG: not really
TG: ok yeah it is flashstepping basically but not bros flashstepping
TG: his was a well orchestrated optical illusion i couldnt ever copy if i tried never mind figure out beyond the fact its an optical illusion
TG: im pretty sure those dont fool the person whos making them
TT: I see.
TT: Any remarks by people on your eye color or pupil shape?
TT: Wait.
TT: Don't answer that. I know your sick shades obscure your eyes. But if you could do me a favor, Dave?
TG: rose i said you could ask me questions not favors
TT: Maybe you did.
TT: But I'll tell you what to do anyways.
TT: Sometime at school, stop wearing your shades. Take them off, and look in a mirror.
TT: See what happens.
TT: And if you're wondering, this is the only favor I will ask you. In return, I will never psychoanalyze your dreams again.
TT: Deal?
TG: fine
TG: deal
TG: and thats my cue to leave
TG: later rose
-turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]-
As the rest of the boys in the locker room were chatting and locking up their tote boxes, Dave was standing still in front of a mirror. He lifted his hands up to the temples of his shades, took them in three fingers and slid them off. Two circles of dark red stared Dave back in the mirror for the first time in a long while, sharp in colour and form compared to the shades he was so used to wearing. He continued to make eye contact. Rose said to wait for something to happen, right? So, what would happen?
Oh and there it was again. A familiar drowsiness took hold of Dave's mind, quickly giving way to a brisk head shake. Even so, his form continued to lose its clarity in the glass, where eye contact was maintained all the while. But wait. Were his pupils supposed to be so narrow? Dave was certain now that it was a trick of the light, but it couldn't be. The black shapes in the center of his eyes – now a more vivid shade of crimson than they used to be – looked like they belonged to some fictional monster, photoshopped onto a human body. This, Dave was not used to. Losing his composed façade for a moment, he stepped backwards…
…And promptly crashed back-first into a kid tying his shoelaces. Mumbling some quick apology, Dave stepped up, beginning to normal abscond from the scene. But from below him, a voice shouted "the hell is wrong with your eyes?!"
Now everyone was staring. Absconding was impossible. Murmurs began to spring from even the backs of the fairly large locker room, as the boys back there stepped ever closer to see what happened. Dave put a foot in the direction of the mirror where he had left his shades, automatically arriving as expected, and with the other foot had left the scene. There was only a squeaking door to signify that a flashstepping, weird-eyed student was ever there.
He swore that would be the last time he ever did any favours for Rose.
