Dear Anon is anonymous, whomever you are. Authors comments are here for a reason. Pretty sure I said 'this was written before he was named'. If I forgot, I'm sorry. Let me reiterate, then. Strider's Lullaby was written before Di Stri became Dirk Strider, and the general assumption was 'Di' was short for 'Dick' Because Dave is an ass. I'm not changing it. The jokes I've written for Lullaby wouldn't make any sense. :I I'm not changing it in Remix either. He's 'Dirk' for WYBS. He's 'Dick' for Lullaby.

This was also written before I had a beta.

That being said, let's move on.

Signlanguage key:
This is always Di Stri.
this is always da stri

Chapter 2: Believe in me.

The first day of school was a day of excitement, aprehension, and fear-and that was all on Bro's end. He knew what he was feeling, but he could also tell from the tension in Dave's shoulders that the boy was still scared of what was to come. Kids were cruel, and if Bro was honest with himself, he was afraid for his little bro.

Dave had been slathered with sunblock, given a long-sleeved shirt with a record on it ('it's a talking point, Dave. chicks will talk to you.' 'why would i want chicks to talk to me?' 'trust me. you'll write them little love notes and they'll be putty in your mute little hands.' 'ew gross bro ew') and a muppet lunch pail ('puppets seriously bro thats just all kinds of creepy')

Bro walked the kidnergardener to the school, making sure his cap was firmly in place. Hopefully with just the hat, he'd be able to avoid his eyes getting burned. Maybe.

He could tell Dave was afraid. It was in the way he gripped his hand and refused to make any signs at him. In the way his little cherry red eyes widened at the sight of the kids milling around the school yard.

Bro tried signing Dave's name, tapped his shoulder, then sighed in frustration.

"Dave, David Strider." he crouched, lifting his anime-pointed shades off his eyes, resting them ontop of Dave's hat. "Striders are strong. even if the other kids are assholes, you're a Strider, and they aren't. You're better than they are because they don't have a big bro to teach them all the things they need to know to be cool, got it? Not a single kid is as lucky as you, even if you can't talk, even if you have bad dreams. AND, not a single one of them can say they have rad as fuck red eyes. You keep that in mind, Dave. Kids can be assholes, but you make them damned aware of the fact that you don't take shit, ok?" he insisted, determined that his baby bro(baby boy, really, if he thought about it. ) would be prepared for everything, and face it with his head held high and chin tight aand firm.

The boy nodded and hugged his bro, and got a pat on the back and a last minute check.

Do you have your emergency key?

yes

Do you have your sunblock?

yes

You'll remember to put it on again when the little hand is on the nine?

yes

You have the phone I got you?

yes

And you have minutes on it?

yes bro it's all there

The emergency umbrella is in your backpack. If the cloud cover breaks, you drag that fucker out and you hide under it. You text me, and I'll come and get you, ok?
ok

And you have my shades.

yeah about that why?

Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Bro smirked. Believe in me, who believes in you!

your shitty anime references need to stop worming their way into our conversations bro seriously that stuff isn't even ironically cool

You just don't understand the brilliance of it, little man. You'll realize one day. Gurren Lagan is going to be a classic.

ill believe it when i see it. Dave felt marginally less scared, though, lifting his chin, his red eyes meeting his brothers red-orange.

"I believe in you, Dave. Being an anime reference doesn't make it any less true." he smiled, squeezing Dave's little shoulders affectionately. "Now get over there with the rest of the squirmy wrigglers."

Dave made a face at him and darted off to the other kids and Bro sighed, rubbing his forehead, watching dave join the lines of kids flowing into the classrooms, dave's jeans and long sleeves making the other kids stare. Seriously, sleeves and full length pants in the summer.

Well, it wasn't like it was the only disability the kid had. He'd turn it into Dave's strength, over time. There'd be no way he'd let the kid go through life unprepared for what was coming.
"Eight years to go. It's an uphill climb, little man." he said softly. He knew the storm was coming. He could smell it already, and so could she. They'd agreed a long time ago to prepare the kids in the way they needed to be trained. He'd have to start in on Dave soon. Maybe after he touched bases with Her. Yeah.

As Dave turned to wave, signing 'see you soon bro', the elder nodded, 'good luck', then disappeared down the street. Now wasn't time for mushy. It was time to write up lesson plans and get started on the training the little kid would need for the future. Start small, work up to big.

God he hoped he wasn't fucking the kid up.