Inbox;

[flaredo]

"Heeey, you've reached Yang! Well, actually, you didn't reach far enough, 'cause I'm not here right now! But don't yang up! Just leave a message on this baby, and I'll get back to you soon enough, okay?"

[ Please specify VOICEMAIL, TEXT or CALL. ]

Comments

[flaredo]

pick your toppings and gimme an address then

[cryptologic]

Pepperoni
And potato chips
Like on the pizza not on the side

[ And then he types out the address of his apartment. ]

[flaredo]

...
well everyones diff
see you soon

[cryptologic]

see you

[ ...this is a bad idea.

Still, Dipper waits in the living room for a knock at the door. What he said was true: he can't say no to pizza. ]

[flaredo]

[ And it's delicious pizza, dammit. Also, it's less of a knock and more of a...

... Knocking song, what, she's bored. ]

[cryptologic]

[ Knocking song. Yep, he knows that's going to definitely be Yang at the door even before he answer it.

When he opens the door, he greets her with an attempted half-smile. ]

...Hey. Come in. [ He steps aside so she can make her way in with that definitely delicious-smelling pizza. ]

[flaredo]

And I won't even ask for a tip.

[ As she saunters on it and places the pizza box on the nearest flat service. ]

You're gonna have to tell me what's gotten you so down as payment, though. Eventually.

[cryptologic]

[ Dipper heads into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of plates out of the cupboard. He's not great at playing host, but he can try! ]

Want a soda? We've got a little bit of everything. [ He pulls a can of Pitt Cola out of the fridge.

The question also helps him stall from answering about his due payment. ]

[flaredo]

Just grab me whatever looks exciting!

[ ... It's soda, Yang. ]

[cryptologic]

There's this mango-flavored one that's pretty good...

[ About as exciting as it gets. He tosses her the can. GO LONG. Or short, because he doesn't toss it very well. ]

[flaredo]

[ sure, she'll do an elaborate lunge to keep the floor from catching it instead. ]

You can't really go wrong with mango!

[cryptologic]

[ ...Nice. ]

...Er, yeah, I guess not.

We can go...sit at the table. Or living room. Or...wherever.

[flaredo]

Living room's fine! C'mon, take a seat.

[ TELL HER YOUR WOES OVER PIZZA. ]

[cryptologic]

[ He loads his plate with a slice of pizza before settling into a seat in the living room.

He doesn't start talking. Not yet. He may need a little nudge. ]

[flaredo]

[ AN ACTUAL NUDGE-- ]

So the actual reason for skipping...?

[cryptologic]

[ He swallows a bite of pizza, glancing down at his plate instead of meeting her eyes. ]

...One of my...friends went missing yesterday.

[flaredo]

... A good friend, huh?

[ Well, she's been there before. ]

[cryptologic]

Yeah. [ A beat. ] I guess she was...kind of...more than a friend to me. Not that it...really matters now.

[flaredo]

Sure it does.

[ REACHING OUT TO PLANT A HAND ON HIS HEAD. ]

We're going to see them all again anyway.

[cryptologic]

[ Aw man, the head pat... ]

How can you be so sure? She's not even from the same world as me.

[flaredo]

Neither is my boyfriend. But right now, your friend's probably in that weird... code-y place, and all we have to do is bust her out of there, like everyone else.

[cryptologic]

If it were really that simple, wouldn't someone have done it already?

[ Even Hiro hadn't figured it out, though he'd said he would try. ]

[flaredo]

No one said it'd be simple. But I don't think it's impossible, either.

[cryptologic]

...I don't know. I mean, maybe it is possible, but...what then? Whenever we get our home worlds back, we still have to say goodbye to everyone we met here.

[flaredo]

So would you rather not have met her at all?