Dressed Up As Life (Theo/Davy)

[OSRIC YOUNG]

During his first year of college, Osric met a boy named Theodore Tweed, who was at the time a sophomore in high school. It’s sometimes said that when men find a person too much like them, a natural, self-derogative or vain part of them has a considerable chance of automatically disliking them. But in the case of Osric and Theo, that wasn’t it. Theo was quite like Osric, very cheerful and tried to be optimistic no matter what; they had met as a result of the café they were in not having enough tables to seat groups separately, and had clicked as friends easily.

Osric had noticed Theo around after that, and they’d become close friends. It didn’t take overly long for someone as ridiculously curious as Osric to discover the existence of Theo’s second personality – David – but Osric rarely saw “David” himself, only had talked to him once or twice for a few before Theo had taken back control because Osric understood as well as he could: Osric was friends with Theo and David was not. Osric didn’t mind so much, but the times he had seen David, well, he had to admit. They made him slightly sad, uncomfortable. Because the person in front of him was physically his friend, just not mentally.

Still, Osric made sure not to dwell too much on that topic, and it rarely affected him personally, really. High school had been bad for Theo so sometimes, when Theo simply needed to get away for a while, he’d snuck away from home and into Osric’s dorm for a night, and Osric would send him back home early in the morning before anyone noticed. It would happen every few months, and continued until Osric dropped out; afterwards, Theo would sneak into the little flat where Osric and his three band mates had lived together. Theo would use Osric to vent and fill loneliness and Osric would use Theo to test new songs on. Wilson, Hank and Carl had liked Theo too, but it was with Osric that Theo had kept to mostly. During Theo’s first year of college was TheAccident, and Theo was kept especially close then, because Osric had needed comfort then. The two were friends to lean on each other, and it worked well. But right now, life wasn’t so bad for either of them; for Osric, life was just dandy, really. Now, Osric sometimes even climbed in through Theo’s dorm window, just for fun.

Naturally, Osric was happy to meet Theo whenever, so when he saw the back of his friend’s head, he had to run up and say hello. He was at the beach, his first time this year, and it was simply gorgeous outside; Osric was thrilled. He really liked making sandcastles and swimming. The only thing was, hanging around the beach all alone looked a bit odd; not that Osric minded all that much, but he had hoped he would see someone there that he knew. He hadn’t been in the water yet, and he was wearing swimming trunks and a band-shirt. He had been content to just watch people having fun at the beach, enjoyed doing that, but he was very happy when he saw Theo.

Running over to see his friend, Osric grinned widely, and called when he got closer. “Theo! Hey, Theo! What’s up man?”

[THEODORE/DAVID TWEED]

Theodore wasn't having a good day. He woke up, only to end up having a panic attack. Usually a person nearby or his pills came to the rescue, but not today. His roommates were already out and about, and his hands were trembling too much and his vision too blurred to get to his pills. It was not a good way to wake up. Because of the sudden shock of it all, David came around.

David didn't want to stick around an empty dorm for an anxiety attack to get the best him either. And thus, David went to the beach. He went there alone, but there were already people there. A great relief for him. Just being there with others around him was enough to avoid a panic. He hoped he would run into somebody who knew him, or make acquaintances with someone. It was always nice to spend a day with someone you could talk to. After all it was a nice day, and what kind of person didn't want to go to the beach?

He'd been there a while, sitting in the sand with his legs crossed and making shapes out of it. The waves and the giggles of children around him was pleasant. From behind he heard someone calling for Theo. The voice seemed familiar, like he'd heard it a lot. Before he turned around to see who it was his goofy smile spread. He didn't know why, but it seemed fit.

He faced a man, looking close to the same age as him, maybe older. His face was just as familiar as his voice. Then it hit him. It was Osric. They've met before, but for very brief moments, and the two of them still hadn't really clicked as friends. "Hi! Sorry, but I'm not Theo..." He began to trail off.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

Theo was sitting in the sand with his head down. Once Osric got close enough to see his friend perfectly clearly, he saw Theo had been drawing random little patterns in the sand. He'd always liked to do that himself. Theo looked up at Osric's beaming face, but instead of returning the smile, he looked... odd. Confused. And tired, he looked tired.

It took a second for the confusion to disappear from his friend's face (though not the tired) before Theo finally gave him a cheerful"Hi!" and then, a second after, "Sorry, but I'm not Theo..."

Osric tired not to let the excitement fall off his face too badly. It wasn't that he didn't like Theo's alternate personality or anything, or had anything against David, but he really didn't know the kid all that well. He had never been opposed to making better friends with someone though, even if it was the same face and voice and physical being he'd spent countless nights with before. Osric wasn't above admitting to himself that it really did unnerve him, and maybe even hurt his feelings ever so slightly, but he had never held it against Theo. How could he? That'd just be cruel, after all. He recognized that David truly was his own person, even if he didn't really understand how all that well.

Osric kept on smiling, though it was less of a smile you'd give a best friend and more of a polite one. He sat in the sand next to David, though just far enough away to be polite distance, and said apologetically, "Sorry David, didn't realize. How are ya? I haven't seen you in ages." It was true, he rarely talked with David. Most of the time Osric and Theo saw each other, Theo knew they were going to see each other beforehand, because he was usually the one coming over to Osric's place instead of vice verse (and Osric would call before he came over to Theo's), so it was a rare occurrence (treat?) to see David. He wouldn't tell David, not just yet, but he was honestly worried about Theo, too. It wasn't like David wasn't allowed to be in Theo's body in Osric's mind, but Theo had told him before that David sometimes came because he was couldn't handle being worried or panicked, and while Osric managed not to be too overprotective most of the time, he did worry easily.

[THEODORE/DAVID TWEED]

David watched Osric's smile fade slightly from excited to pleasant. He could see a trace of worry, and... disappointment? That he couldn't say for sure, but there was something. When ever he had met Osric, he always seemed worried. David never figured out why though. It was just one of those things that he never understood. Then again, there was a lot of things he couldn't make sense of.

When Osric sat down beside him, there was a serge of excitement in him. Theo's excitement. Neither could explain, but they'd been able to feel strong emotions of the other for a long time. Then an apology came, "Sorry David, didn't realize." Osric was keeping it polite. "How are ya? I haven't seen you in ages." David took a deep breath, and started thinking of when they last saw each other. It was Theo's senior year in high school. After Osric called that he was coming over, Theo had a panic attack, and David's side came out. It was one of those unexpected moments that caught everybody by surprise.

"It's quite alright, Osric." He responded with a sigh. His smile didn't go away; at least not yet. "I'm good, and it has been a while. How have you been?" David still didn't know Osric all that well, and by the looks of the situation, Theo wasn't coming around anytime soon. Maybe this was a good time for him to get to know him? He and Theo shared a good amount of friends, but he knew them all less than Theo did. David was also used to people knowing Theo, and not even realizing he exists. It's all thanks to Theo being 'dominant.' David's identity didn't come out all that often, but that wasn't going to stop him from meeting people. There were a handful of people who did know David better, but he didn't see them all that often.

[OSRIC YOUNG]

The first time Osric met David, he'd been terribly confused, because Theo had never told him that there was someone else who used his face on occasion. David didn't know who he was, and Osric didn't know anything except Theo didn't know him anymore, and he was scared that Theo had amnesia or hated him or something along those lines. Theo had soon come out and explained quite comfortingly afterwards, and that was that. Osric had never thought Theo was lying because he didn't think Theo was as a liar.

He'd since researched DID quite thoroughly in an attempt to sound a bit more educated during the times that he comforted a stressed out Theo, because the first time he'd said something like 'It'll go away,' and had hit himself afterwards. Still, the number of times he had actually met David in person were considerably less in number than the the times he had heard about the man; in fact, Osric felt a bit strange, like when you meet someone you hear a lot about but they don't really know you. Well, perhaps Theo told David about him too, he didn't know.

"It's quite alright, Osric," David sighed, and Osric wondered why. He also remembered how David had the tendency to talk somewhat more formally than Theo, in his opinion. Or maybe that was just something they both did with strangers, he wasn't sure. "I'm good, and it has been a while. How have you been?"

"Great," Osric replied warmly, smiling as friendly as he could towards David. For some reason, he'd always thought David might not like him as much as Theo did. He told himself it was probably just his imagination, some kind of psychological break-down that said if someone was your friend and then wasn't then they didn't like you, despite a rare logic that told otherwise. "Are you here with someone?" He asked curiously, glancing around David, but he didn't catch a glimpse of anyone who looked like they were with David, and David hadn't really been watching anyone else as far as Osric could have told from the distance.