Theaterstuck

"Welcome to Skaia High's wonderful theater program!
It may not be the most popular or well funded program at Skaia, but we work hard and create amazing plays and special effects.
When it comes to joining the theater program, we highly encourage you to try your hand at the Skaia Actors Guild! There you will learn to improv lines and entire scenes as well as memorize and develop ones you've already read. It's a fun environment filled with humor and entertainment. Props are provided, and costumes are made suited for the actors or actresses in mind.
If acting isn't quite your style, feel free to join the Stage Crew. There you will tamper with lights and sound. You can take pride in sending the whole project in motion!
Join today!"

"Pft," A soft noise emerged from the blond's throat as he looked at the new paper on the bulletin board.

Here's the real rundown.

Skaia High has an incredible Actor's Guild. Brilliant kids with talent perform four times a year. Once in October, a musical in December, March, and an end of year showcase in May. They also put on assemblies in the meantime. The high school theatre department was actually a pretty good deal for those involved. It was a deep void that consumed any free time a student could possibly have. Actors were expected to practice at least two hours a week on top of rehearsals and readings, audition for two or more roles per play, and join a summer acting program either offered by the school or city. This kind of commitment was why there were only around twenty actors involved in productions. 

Even less in Stage Crew.

When one is involved with stage crew, they get used to eating on set. Not only do you work on staging for hours, building platforms with luan and masonite, and creating the entire scene for the play; you find the costumes, the props, the Statement. As a tech, you run the actual show. Sure, two people could do a one act play on a blank stage with only a couple props they acquired themselves, but that wasn't what plays were about. That wasn't what theatre was about. Setting the stage, fixing the lights, and providing depth to a script is what technicians do. With all the work that goes into it, they don't have time. Eating on set, staying late, and running off of caffeine is just part of the job.

Of course, it gets worse when it's run by just you and your brother.

Dave was a great kid to have around, but it was hard not cursing at having to do beyond heavy lifting on your own or barely being able to do it together. There were a lot of swears thrown around, the younger Strider getting creative as time went on. 

It was cathartic in its own right, though. The two of you didn't have to worry about being called the wrong name or having to talk to either of your twins or acknowledge the fucked up Strider household at all. No Hal or Davesprite, no younger siblings clinging to you, no older siblings refusing to look at the obvious sexual tension. There was work and more work where that came from. Building, moving, tearing down: all of it was covered by the Strider boys.

That was for the brutal work.

As for the artsy, fun stuff, there were a small team. Mostly just Actors coming in almost every other show to get their required hours in before peacing out. Jade and Nepeta worked together on costumes, that happening to be just a calling of theirs. John was an apprentice to Dave with lights after confessing that he wanted to join Stage Crew even if he didn't feel comfortable doing the hard work. When asked what to do with him, Dirk handed him over to Dave and said to find a side job, not small job, for him to learn. Dave, during productions, ran lighting and sound. This would certainly take a load off of his hands.

Dirk, as official Stage Manager under a rather absentee Technical Director, was fucked.

He ran props, cues, rehearsal schedules, and got the Actors in gear. It was a lot harder than it looked, getting the wild spirits to usher or help out. Most of them would rather avoid it, wanting to work the easier jobs. Dave always joked, saying it was because of the muscles the two Striders got from it. They were intimidated by the sheer strength of the boys. Dirk calls it bullshit.

Which it was, the teen thought as he began to walk towards his next class.

Even during the beginning of the year, he had this school mapped out like the back of his hand. Dirk was a senior who used to cart wood from the workshop into the auditorium daily, needing to find his way through crowds of students going home. Despite stares, Dirk focused on his work, seeing as it was all he had.

He was Stage Manager, one of the best roles you could claim if you were interested in pursuing it as a career; which he was, more because he didn't know what else he could really do with his life. The blond was only seventeen, taking advanced courses, and working any free time he had. It wasn't like he had time to sit and ponder like a great philosopher about what kind of life he wanted to lead or what he wanted to do. Besides, even the thought of considering that was overwhelming. With a play not even a month away, he didn't want to focus on anything else.

Even as he took his seat, Dirk had his phone out to see what the Theatre Director sent it. The new list of actors that would be getting their hours out of the way earlier on in the year. As his math teacher droned on and got them started, he followed along half-heartedly and read through his list.

Roxy, an awesome babe who pulled more hours a year than anyone. She was one of Dirk's favorites, considering she didn't care about getting down to business or helping the boys with their heavy work load. It wasn't completely out of pity, but the feeling was still there. Two boys running a whole theatre crew? God help us all. That, and she was the only one who had the balls to correct Dirk or tell him to chill the fuck out.

Rose, Roxy's little sister. She was quiet and more than covered Dave's job, which allowed Dirk to put him to work. They got along with each other, but it's not like they knew each other well. Dirk wasn't going to mind having her for the shop.

Kanaya Maryam. That was Rose's girlfriend... Right? The name was pretty unfamiliar, and there were some more names like it on the rest of the list.

Sollux Captor

Tavros Nitram

Calibron. Oh, shit. Why did the gods hate him? This was one actor he could live without.

Jane, a sweet girl who helped out wherever she could. Even if it wasn't her turn or she had met her hours, she would bring the Crew food and whatever they may need. The beautiful girl was definitely one of Dirk's favorites, being an absolute joy to work with. Even as just an actress, she was kind and understanding. Never once did she act like a diva, and Dirk was grateful for that. After the whole Aranea incident, he'd been worried.

And, Jake English.

"Fuck."

Welcome to the yearly showing of Dirk's Sexual Frustration.

The production where he receives more than enough help from a borderline divine being with a hypnotic accent and beautiful face. It's not like he actually even talks to the kid or really interacts with him aside from giving him work or instructions. That may or may not be out of his own shyness or just a severe dislike for admitting he had feelings. Which he did, at least, for this kid. 

There was just something about Jake that tripped him up, had him tongue-tied on how to be a normal person. Something about him just turned Dirk's brain to mush.

Even thinking about him, now being a perfect example, he already found himself daydreaming about that strange boy.

"Mr. Strider, do you have something you'd like to share with the class?' The teacher cleared her throat as she looked to the boy. Had to come up with something.. Quick.

"Ah, yeah. I was looking ahead a few problems. 'round number 19 or 20, and It's confusing," He guided her towards looking at her book. "You had just said that the answer was one number, but with the way the problem is set up, wouldn't there be two possible answers? One being negative and the other being positive? Or did you mean that we are supposed to put them in a bracket with a plus minus sign in front?"

That froze the whole class. Yeah, Dirk had gone ahead ten problems, but that was just out of himself being frantic. And the teacher had just given the answer to number nineteen, saying it was positive three. But she was wrong, Dirk watched the muscles of her face clench and strain while his own stayed lax and stoic. Clearing her throat, she nodded, "You are to put a bracket with plus minus sign, like so."

She moved on to demonstrate it for the class, but Dirk just continued on with both his work and thoughts.

He could never have a full crush on Jake, but he wasn't denying the fact that he might have a small crush on him. Mostly for the fact that he didn't know a lot about Jake English.

Except for the fact that he heard a lot from Roxy, the utter vixen she was for being able to call Dirk out on his shit and sniff out the silly feelings he had.

Therefore, he knew that Jake loved action movies, and that his favorite was Avatar. Jake hated when people kept quiet about things, thinking that it was definitely rude of them to deprive anyone from important information. He also disliked when people called out his name during performances or messed with his focus in any right. He spent most of his time helping other actors and playing improv games. Or like how he was in the hall, joking around and hanging out with the main actress, Ms. Roxy Lalonde.

Fuck. He had a crush on Jake English.

Though, after his long internal crisis, class was over.

Due to his blur of mental organization regarding the production, boys, and school subjects; three more classes were soon passed, as well. The blond didn't really notice anything interesting with school today. Nothing really happened. Small interaction with his teachers, making fun of his brother at lunch, and working on the sketches for the new set were really all that went on for his day. It was just him and Dave in the set room after school, and John was working with the new equipment that they'd gotten this year. Jade was busy doing something with her grandmother, and Nepeta had taken the day off.

"Ugh," Dirk groaned, leaning back in his seat.

Vaguely, he heard the main entrance door open. His fingers ventured under his shades to rub at his eyes, and he bit back a yawn as he pushed himself up. "Dave, what'd you order for us today?"

"I got us some subs. The one place next to the laundromat? Fuck, they have a hot cashier," Dave breathed as he brought out the two bags. He handed one to Dirk with a small huff of a laugh. "I even got 'is number, too."
The smaller Strider showed him the side of his cup, where a scribbled phone number could be seen.

"And you can read that?'

"Wha- Of course, I can read that. Don't you know? I'm like, the most professional reader in the world. Bitches get their kicks off at hearing me read," Hearing his brother boast about his epic reading strategies brought out a small grin of Dirk's own.

"Oh, yeah?" He couldn't help but egg him on a little.

"Oh, Yea-"

"Ah, pardon me," A well accented voice called out as a head poked in. Dirk's back straightened discretely at the sound, not just for the fact of 'Hey, someone else is in the fucking theatre" but because he found himself easily recognizing it.

The Stage Manager's throat fell dry, but he was attentive, raising a brow to prompt the boy into speaking. A green eyed being who made his way towards the set room where the boys sat.

Jake smiled, charmingly, and took a moment to look around. His eyes landed back on Dirk before he spoke again, "Huh. Well, I was rather hoping Jade would be in here. Would you happen to know where she may have tuckered off to?'

Dave scoffed with a laugh, shaking his head at the lingo. Dirk looked to him, staying silent. He motioned for his brother to answer, and he went back to work while the other boy had done so. Anything to keep his eyes and mind off of Jake. With a grunt, Dave started, "She had to go do something with her grandma today. She should be back tomorrow."

"Oh," Jake looked shocked by that, but it split into a look of joy. "Thank you very much! I shall leave you to your work, my fine fellows."

"Uh, yeah. Shall, you may," Dave grimaced, trying not to smile or laugh at this guy's words.

"Have a fine day!" And with that, Jake was gone. Dave practically burst out laughing.

The aviator wearing boy stood up, walking with grand steps around their workspace, "I'm the dapper gentleman, Jake. You may call me Mr. English. Oh~! No, /Lord/ English sounds a lot better. Perfect for a royal like m'self~! Oh, dear peasant boy, kiss my hand. Kiss my hand, I say."

It was enough to make Dirk chuckle, lightly kissing his brother's hand. Dave fake swooned at the 'tenderness' and fell across Dirk's lap, "Oh my~! How ever shall I recover from such a gentle kiss? It was too much! Too much, I say! Bollocks!"

"Get up," Dirk laughed, shoving his brother off of him. He couldn't help but bite at his thumb to keep from cracking up at the startled squeak Dave released when his body hit the ground.

They didn't get much more work done at the school that day. Dave had run around doing a cockney accent until John joined in, who played as Roxy. Then it turned into Dave flirting with John, who had put a skirt on in order to play as Roxy. Eventually, Doc came in on the scene and recommended the boys take the day off. Doc also made sure to give Dirk a special thanks for coming in early this semester to work on the fall play. As head of Stage Crew, this seemed pretty standard, but Dirk was grateful for the compliment. Hardly anyone compliments the Stage Crew.

Driving John home was fun, Dave running in to get some sweets for them to take home. Dirk pulled up a little bit, making Dave fluster since he thought his brother would drive away without him. It was a nice little laugh that they shared on the way home. Well, that good moon was nice while it lasted. By the time they got in the door, they were greeted with boxes. Boxes that had rather familiar handwriting on it. They didn't look like gift boxes, though, easily setting Dave off. The younger Strider stalked into the house, calling for their older brother in a stressed tone.

"Bro?! What the hell is this?' Dave's loud mouth brought their brother out of his room to talk to the boys.

"What?" Dirk had asked, looking into a box with scribbled red handwriting on it: "Hal".

It was clothes. Which meant...

"What the fuck do you mean, they're moving in?! We don't want them here!"

"Don't you curse at me, kid. D said they're movin' in. So they're movin' in."

"Is he?" Dirk had to intervene, concerned in general and lowkey scared. Having all of them under one roof? That was asking for a disaster.

"Yes, as a matter'a fact, he is," Bro stood, looking to Dave warily. Ever since they moved to a house, they couldn't strife on the roof. It lead to a lot of messes and disputes inside the house, which was never fun. It sort of ended Strider Strifing. Such a loss, Dirk scoffed at the thought. As well as the thought that D was coming to live with them.

"D is moving in.. with us? But do we-"

"Yes."

"But, why? I /hate/ Davesprite. He and his ugly mug-"

"You have the same face, shut it."

"He wears it worse."

"David Elizabeth."

"Derrick Brohime."

"Let's just go chill out. Maybe head to bed. It's been a pretty eventful day," Dirk interjected again, closing and locking the front door. Coming to Dave's side, he grabbed his younger brother by the hair and began to pull him towards their shared bedroom. That made a bit of sense now as to why Bro had shoved the two of them in a room and made a new guest room. There were four bedrooms in the house. One for Bro, one for Lil Seb, and one for Dirk and Dave. Then there was the guest room. Walking by, Dirk peeked in and noticed bunkbeds that looked identical to their own. "Wonderful."

Neither of them actually went to bed, seeing as it was only five in the afternoon. Though, they did spend an obnoxious amount of time in their room. Dave played games on his phone and aggressively texted their cousins about what was happening. Dirk laid silent, thinking through all of what was happening. Why it was happening.

Striders had this weird thing.
They were all born in a set of twins. Bro and D were the oldest, and they knew their parents the best, obviously. Then there was Dirk and Hal, who were similar and yet completely different all the same. Dave and Davesprite came a year after Dirk and Hal, and they were like polar opposites. The last set of twins were Seb and Cal, who were the only ones not to know their parents. A little while after the last set of twins were born, their mum had passed from physical problems. That tended to happen when you give birth to eight kids. Their father had gotten into a car accident the same night. Though, their father's death hurt the boys more. Because he died of brain damage, not in the accident. For months, Dave and Dirk spent the most time by the man's side, reminding him who they were. Davesprite and Hal were too busy trying to avoid the situation, and D and Bro were taking care of the twins.

Eventually, Dave hadn't been able to handle it anymore. He couldn't see their father without bursting into tears. Though, he regrets that now, because he'd left Dirk alone with him on the day he died. Dirk remembered it fondly, seeing their father passed looking at a picture of all his boys and his lovely wife. The smile that stretched across his wrinkled lips made Dirk smile even now.

"Damn, I know you hate Hal, but this is just freaky."

Opening his eyes quickly, Dirk glared at Dave, who had taken the pointed shades.

Unable to speak due to how his voice shook, Dirk just shook his head.

Dave didn't waver, frowning as his brows knitted together.

He built his voice and forced levelness into his spine. Before Dave could say any more comments, Dirk spat, "It's not about that, asshole. I was thinking about Dad."

Dave looked ready to apologize, eyes wide and mouth dropped as he watched Dirk viciously rub the tears off his face. The older boy hadn't even realized he'd been crying. Then again, being the only one to sit and watch your parent both lose every memory he had and die was pretty hard. Dave knew that. With a scoff, Dirk shook his head at him, "I'd never cry over that fucktard. That'd be giving him satisfaction."

One thing about Strider twins that is a must know. They either love each other- borderline creepy love- or they hated each other with a fiery passion. D and Bro were madly in love with each other, and if it were legal, they'd do something about it. For now, it was just flirting and odd closeness. Seb and Cal loved each other a lot. They cuddled every time they hung out, and there was a lot of things that they just did in sync with one another. Though, that could always change, seeing as they were only three years old. Dave and Davesprite utterly hated each other. Over stupid reasons, of course. Davesprite had hurt Jade- earning an ass-kicking from Dirk and Dave alike- and spent two years pretending to be Dave to impress some other chick Dirk couldn't remember.

As for himself and Hal. They never got along. They were always after the same things, and usually since Hal was their brother's favorite, he got whatever he wanted. Hal was also the kind of prick to think that he knew everything about everyone, and any change he got, he would try doing that to Dirk. Too bad it never worked. They may have been twins, but Hal was a lot cockier and reckless than Dirk. He was annoying.

Point of the matter is. Dirk hates Hal. Always has, plans on keeping it that way.