(no subject)

[fearofpiggies]

It hadn't even been two months in his new apartment when Sollux pointed out that the rumor mill had been running about who he was, and what he could do. Word had gotten around that he was the one who'd upgraded Vriska's prosthetic arm, and despite really keeping to himself for the most part, Dib had been getting calls from around the country about if he could help fine-tune their equipment as well. He was surprised to see that so many people were looking for that kind of work, and it felt as if he was one of the only ones in the industry with the know how and expertise to really do a good job of it.

He'd been taking work as a private eye besides doing the occasional tune-up on cybernetic parts that, from what he'd noticed, all came from the same maker - someone with whom his boyfriend (?) and friend Vriska were both acquainted - yet he never bothered calling the guy. He figured if word got around as fast as it had been, he'd be getting a phone call from the maker himself, instead of the other way around.

Sollux had offered to introduce him to his friends, but schedules seemed to interfere with social time, and every time he put aside a few hours, things didn't pan out, so he pretty much called it a wash.

What Dib was currently doing, however, was something involving, surprisingly, not the inside of his house, or any house for that matter, but the animal shelter in a town nearby. He'd been told that there was something spooking the animals beyond the usual nervousness that animals taken into shelters had. He hadn't recognized the voice on the other end of the phone, but he certainly recognized its owner when he came to the shelter to have a look around.

"You're still an enormous douchebag, Cass, thanks for reminding me that you exist."
"Hey, no worries, mate. Hey, since you're here, I've just gotten off work, would you like to go have some supper with the guys and me? I've a feeling you'd get along with at least one of them." Cass grinned up at his prodigal friend, and waved him to follow him back.

"Oi, Tavros, you about ready to call it a night? I'm dragging everybody out for dinner. S'on me." He said into the back office, grinning wide as a wolf as Dib followed quietly along, clearly unsure how to hold himself in this situation. Cass looked over his shoulder at the bespectacled man in the trenchcoat, then at Tavros. "Oh, and this is Dib, he's comin' along. New arrival, as it were, though we've known each other a few years back."

Dib managed a slight wave and a nervous smile as he said, "Hey."
 

Comments

[fearofpiggies]

Dib handed over the money for the pizzas, happy to help out in any way, and curled around his soda and pizza as he listened and ate, watching the group quietly. They had decided to take a break to eat, and while they did, they discussed their favorite shows, and while Gamzee was content to settle and listen as he ate, draping himself around Tavros after he sat down, Dib got into the discussion as well, once they started talking about a show he'd recently gotten into as well.

Once the game got underway again, Dib followed along with renewed interest, asking one of the nearby guys for a piece of paper and a pencil, sketching out what their surrounding area would look like, with a fairly accurate rendering of where they'd been already had looked like during their session. It was more technical than artistic, more or less a blueprint of the dungeon, before he considered the logical possibilities of what would be ahead, and laid some lighter lines down for those before handing them off to Tavros with a slight shrug.

[adiostorero]

Tavros had resumed the game before the pizza had been completely decimated and sat with a slice on his knee, a paper towel in hand that he wiped his fingers on and took the sketch from Dib, looking it over with interest. He started to work out in his head how things were going in comparison to the story framework they were laying down, on top of the pseudo-blueprint, nodding to himself then at Dib with a rather impressed little smile. He continued on with the campaign until someone finally mentioned that they had things to do in the morning, the game having run on well into the evening. They cleaned up the area while making general small talk, then started out until all that was left was Gamzee, Dib and Tavros, who was still writing for a minute until he too could put his things away with everything accounted for. It all had a place there in Gamzee's apartment just as it did in his own.

"So, think you'll wanna play next time?" he asked Dib as he settled down at Gamzee's side. He didn't know if Dib had anything to do the next day, but he didn't want to ask and seem as if he was trying to hustle him on out the door.

[fearofpiggies]

In fact, his day was just about to start; Dib had a case involving a night owl whose girlfriend was convinced he was cheating, and had to get to Denver to go various nightclubs and tail the guy. He smiled to the offer. "I can come early next time and we can set up a character and all that for me. I've got to dash, it's about the time that nightclubs open up and I have to go pretend to be a barfly for a little bit, for a case." He smiled a bit as he watched Gamzee continue to drape himself over Tavros and drift off to sleep. "I'll leave the two of you to your own devices."

[adiostorero]

"Have fun with that. I can't imagine it'd be all that fun. Especially if you're not going to actually drink while you're out," Tavros shrugged, leaning back into Gamzee and easing just enough to one side to let his matesprit lean more heavily into the back of the couch. He added after a moment, "Maybe next time you have the time available you can actually get a look at my legs. Since you were all interested in them before, and all."

[fearofpiggies]

"Oh! Right, I forgot completely about that," Dib said with a grin as he made his way to the door. "I definitely would love to see those as soon as I'm able," he added, "Take care, Tavros. Goodnight, Gamzee!" He waved over his shoulder as he left, considering for a moment that he had made a fairly hasty retreat, and wondered if he sounded rushed or aloof, and that really wasn't his intent.

[adiostorero]

Tavros let him go without comment, waving him off then closing the door behind him and returning to Gamzee's side to curl up against him and finish off the last of his soda before finally deciding that it was time for the two of them to retire for the night. It had been a good day and promised a good night's sleep.

The next game night was held at Gamzee's place once more, and everyone had chipped in money the night before to order a large amount of chinese from one of the delivery places. The food was supposed to arrive maybe half an hour after everyone else had come and settled in, giving them ample time to sit and wait as Tavros assisted in setting up Dib's character. He'd printed out fresh sheets to start from, and was busily explaining the basic stats and what they meant in the game itself, giving a better layman's perspective on what Dib had already read in the books.