[ john that's depressing knock it off. dave will set the pile on john's bed, though, and then separate it. there's a boring-ish section of clothes there for jake in. john sizes since dave knows not a lot about jake? ]
Dirk came over to ask me to draw him clothes and then we just went through everyone else, too. [ SINCE. WHY NOT? ] Maybe you'll get to do your laundry less if there's more of it?
[ relevant 2 john: "john is similarly easy, although dave has to actually think about the sizes more here. the same onslaught of pants and shirts but john wears shorts so he gets some of those too. they're mostly dumb movies tees and the ghost tee he remembers, but some bowties and nicer shirts and pants too. the usual practicalities are added on. he patterns those as stupidly as possible (there is no point to a pair of socks with nic cage's face on them but okay) but also adds some plain things." & "coats. he forgot coats. jesus. okay. he just color assigns people based on what he knows (rose is purple john is blue dave is red) or what is easy (dirk is his godtier maroon, and dark blue is for jade's grandpa) and then does sweatshirts also. it's warm here but it might not be elsewhere." ]
[He's fine??? Let him live. He's hovering for a moment as he watches the clothing be separated into piles, easily able to tell what belongs to whom.]
Oh. That's cool. [Whether he means about Dave drawing clothes or him doing less laundry he doesn't say, but he's also immediately looking at his pile. There's definitely a look of appreciation because yes okay he likes bowties and fancier shit, but what really gets his attention is the dumb ghost shirt.]
Dude. [Okay well. Bye. He's going to dart forward and pick it up, shaking it out and noticing it's actually his size? And without thinking he's also moving to pull off his own shirt and swap to the ghost tee. Let him live.] I'm already afraid to ask what this looked like before Dirk fixed it, but sweet. Thanks. [There's a pause though before. Yeah. He picks up one of the Nic Cage socks.] ...really?
[ ok cool john's just changing in front of him that's happening. dave doesn't even bother to go "dude" because pretty much the first thing he wanted to do once he had his old shirt (...several copies of it) was flip into it. and john probably has acquired less scars over the course of his life, so he minds less probably -
stop looking, strider. dave is just self-aware enough to rolls his eyes and finish the sorting instead of being weird. ]
Did your mancrush on him die down or somethin'? There's also boxers with Matther whatever the fuck on them.
[ why. ]
Also fuck you I'm gettin' better at drawin'. [ THIS IS A BLATANT LIE ]
[Considering that John's seen wearing the stupid ghost tee in later versions of the comic, it's probably safe to say that nothing can get between him and what he likes. And also, yeah, he's definitely not even thinking about it because it's just a shirt and Dave is Dave and he doesn't have nearly as many scars. He also goes completely unaware of anything Dave's thinking or doing since he's fiddling with his shirt and now everything is right in the universe. However, now is the time to defend Cage's honor.]
Well no. He is still basically like my hero but sometimes even your heroes star in really shitty movies. [An eyeroll.] The day that you get better at drawing is the day I will wear the McConaughey boxers. Wait, did you really...? [Let's just dig through the pile of clothes again.] ...this is a lot though. It'll be good for whenever we leave.
I figure you can give Jake's stuff to him whenever? Since, like, yeah. [ he felt weird considering asking dirk to do it after john said they were in awkwardsville. john at least is not awkward as an option. ] Also yeah. Genette said the caravan can fit a bunch of shit, so I don't think takin' our stuff along should be a problem. I should probably draw us up suitcases though.
[ now that john's universe is Right and more importantly clothed, dave decides to just sit down on john's bed next to the clothes piles. ]
Sure. If I know how to find him, since I'm not sure what tree he might be living in. I'll send him a message later. [Later, as in not right now. He gets it. He doesn't mind being the buffer, doesn't mind trying to smooth things over.] But suitcases and backpacks might not be a bad idea. Stuff to keep our stuff separated from everybody else's if we are all going together.
[He doesn't care that Dave's sitting on the bed because he's also sorting all of Jake's shit to move it to the stool in the room. It's compulsive, maybe, to organize stuff in their small space. Or it gives John something to do. That's more likely.]
Kind of like this? [There's a short grin.] I started reading the alien comics again and I hung out on the beach for a while...thought about going to the forest but didn't get that far. [There's a shake of his head. That's about all he's willing to say on that.] I'm kind of excited that we are leaving tomorrow, wherever we're really going. Not that I don't appreciate the time off, but it will be nice. [He's bored, sort of. He doesn't have things to constantly keep him busy and though he's content to be with his friends and spend breakfasts together and train in the evening, learn to use his new magic and make new friends...he's ready to keep going.] What about you? Besides arts and crafts with Dirk.
Listened to music. [ PROBABLY ROSE AND JOHN HELPED HIM MAKE A MAGIC IPOD CHARGING COZY OR SOMETHING OK ] Wrote some raps. Mostly hung out, honestly. But you sound bored.
[ at least, by john egbert standards. dave eyes him speculatively. ]
D'you wanna have a slumber party? We can have Rose paint our nails and gossip about all the dumb shit you're gonna find to do on the new planet.
[There's another shrug and he's turning so he can keep putting stuff away. Some of his clothes are going on the one shelf in his room.]
I don't know. I think it reminds me a lot of being on the ship. [He hasn't said much about his time on the ship, really, but the general impression was that it drove him crazy after a while. But he doesn't elaborate and instead there's a smile over his shoulder.]
Only if mine get to be blue. [He's not serious, but.] It'd be fun, sure. Especially since we don't know what's happening tomorrow. Also you say that like Rose wouldn't be thrilled to actually paint our nails. [Because Rose Lalonde does not mind making the boys do dumb shit.]
Yeah, I know. [There's another lopsided smile because this is how things are. Dave Strider does whatever Rose Lalonde asks of her. This is how friendship works.] Red, probably.
[But that's a question he has to think on. He doesn't really want to ignore it, but he doesn't know how to describe it that well either. So he focuses on organizing his clothing pile.]
It was...quiet, I guess? It wasn't that bad at first because Jade and I were hanging out and just goofing off. We had all of the consorts and the chess people around, too, plus Jaspers and Nanna and Davesprite. We passed through dream bubbles sometimes, but those were not always that exciting either. It's how I finally met Vriska and when I saw Meenah and Roxy for the first time.
[He's folding his t-shirts to stack them up.] Anyway, as you know Jade and Davesprite started dating, so they would be off doing whatever on their own time on the ship. Nanna was baking. Jaspers would chase Davesprite because an idiot cat princess is still an idiot cat, Jade chased Jaspers because she is part dog now...but with her cool witch powers Jade could shrink us down to hang out in my house on LOWAS. But any time I wanted to do that I would have to ask her which got to be kind of a pain in the ass to bother her with. Sometimes we watched movies. Sometimes we played games. But the chess people and the consorts were all really bad at them and they weren't great for conversation either. Plus I never really saw anyone in the dream bubbles I wanted to see? They were sort of a disappointment.
[It was lonely, mostly, especially in the time Jade was with Davesprite. When he didn't have contact with Dave and Rose at all. He eventually stop putting away his clothes and shrugs again.] This place at least has interesting people and my friends, so in a way it is better than that. I don't mind as much.
[ dave just watches john put away his clothes, not interfering or helping. it's "davesprite" but just nanna and jaspers, and he wonders if it's because john's talking to him or not. dave doesn't think so; it isn't like john doesn't care about hurting others, but more that dave isn't certain the nuance of calling someone else dave to dave's face would occur to john off the bat. so probably that was the norm.
it sounds sad, and lonely, and he immediately gets the same feeling he did when jade kept talking about how he (davesprite) broke her heart. these are things he doesn't think he would do.
but he would, wouldn't he? if circumstances were just right. and it's not a thought he likes to have, but it is one that the time player has to acknowledge and accept. ]
I was really jealous Rose got to see you that one time. All I got was, uh, seein' you skewered by Meenah the one time? What the fuck was up with that, by the way.
[ but john offered him the ship and dave feels like he should do the same. ]
Did I mention I get on with Vantas these days? I mean, I guess you may've figured from when we popped the fuck out of nowhere on you for a bit there and like, we didn't yell at one another - not that I yell, I just talk and he yells - but like. It took the better part of two goddamn years, and a bit of the third. And the thing is, it was kind of a pair the spares sort of situation platonically? Like...
[ a shrug. ]
The first year, right, we couldn't stand one another. Rose and Kan were always researchin' shit and I talked to them and all, but it started to feel a little like intrudin' eventually and I didn't always. I spent most of my time with the mayor. Terezi hung out with us back then, too, so it was mostly the three of us. Gamzee, uh, I saw him once in a hallway? Like, over the course of that entire fuckin' trip. So he was useless. But like, by year two it was...
[ ...well, by year two rose had started to drink a little. ]
It was a thing. Rose and I still hung out but for certain reasons, we didn't really talk as much as we used to, or not in the same, like...way. And she and Kan started actually datin', so. And also by then Terezi went full on, uh, she and Gamzee started a kismespades thing which is the hate date quadrant for the record and that was a complete fuckin' trainwreck but anyway I told her we were like, friends and all, but I didn't want to touch that with a ten foot pole. And so by year three I mostly hung out with the Mayor still and also Karkat? And like, everyone else was...not so much.
[ he had never been certain how to handle rose's drinking. he's glad she hasn't touched a drop, here. ]
Mostly we worked on can town. Which is like, exactly what it sounds like. It took up a few rooms by the time the trip was done? I worked on music, too, and uh, we watched movies sometimes...but it was...I dunno. It was a pain in the ass.
[It's not something he wants to dwell on much, so he shakes his head a little.] Everything about that whole period of time was a little weird. I didn't know Rose told you she showed up in one of the bubbles. And Meenah...[A shake of his head again.
This time though he shuts up and turns to lean against the wall, listening to Dave explain about life on the meteor. His expression doesn't give away any tells, relaxed and calm though occasionally his eyebrows furrow together or he chews on his bottom lip in thought.
It wasn't a good situation for any of them, was it?]
I had wondered about that. If you and Karkat would become friends at the end of things. I think I get it though. After a while it felt like intruding on Jade and Dave Sprite, too, and it was just kind of awkward. It was still awkward even when they broke up. Didn't know anything about Terezi and Gamzee, but that explains some things I think? Please don't even start talking about quadrants again. But I get it.
[Not quite fitting where you want to fit. Feeling unbalanced and unsure of what to do with yourself. People being different than you remember.] It was a really long three years, wasn't it? [He's glad it's over. He's glad they're here.] I don't even remember how many times I asked Jade if she could make the ship go faster, but they she would start talking physics at me and that was just annoying, too.
Well. For three years or so before the past three years, we talked pretty much every fuckin' day, dude. So yeah, it was a long three years. There were a million little things that it was like, "wow John would find this funny" or "Jade might like this" and neither of you were there to say those things to, you know? So they were words and conversations that went nowhere. There should be a word for that. For the conversations you never have, but that you would have had, if you'd been able to have them?
[ and the thing is, he'd never even fallen out of the habit. it'd been three years and still his first thought about certain things was john would or jade would. it had never gotten any better or any less there. ]
[...that seems to do it. He laughs suddenly and finds himself moving to sit on the ground instead, looking at Dave from across the room and full-on pleased with that answer.]
Jade didn't get it at all. Even when I explained it. [He loves Jade though, the same way he loves all of them.] There were a lot of times I thought about you guys, too, and what you were doing and knowing that there were just things you guys would get that Jade wouldn't and vice versa. It was...off. Everything.
[A beat.] I think the word you are thinking, then, is "the future." [Because really, what's stopping them from making up for lost time now?]
Shut up, it was not! [It totally was.] I am just saying that is a thing that I would consider the future. We're having these conversations now, right? [SEE???]
Losing my phone was not always my fault, you can't blame me for everything. [But he gets it seeing how he's having a hard time even looking that annoyed.] Telepathy is still weird, but I think I am getting more used to it now. So yeah. I guess we're constant.
That was definitely not my fault? My stupid sylladex launched it out the window. [A beat.] I mean I maybe threw it into an ocean of oil on LOWAS but that's different.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
when will someone free you from this hell
Dirk came over to ask me to draw him clothes and then we just went through everyone else, too. [ SINCE. WHY NOT? ] Maybe you'll get to do your laundry less if there's more of it?
[ relevant 2 john: "john is similarly easy, although dave has to actually think about the sizes more here. the same onslaught of pants and shirts but john wears shorts so he gets some of those too. they're mostly dumb movies tees and the ghost tee he remembers, but some bowties and nicer shirts and pants too. the usual practicalities are added on. he patterns those as stupidly as possible (there is no point to a pair of socks with nic cage's face on them but okay) but also adds some plain things." & "coats. he forgot coats. jesus. okay. he just color assigns people based on what he knows (rose is purple john is blue dave is red) or what is easy (dirk is his godtier maroon, and dark blue is for jade's grandpa) and then does sweatshirts also. it's warm here but it might not be elsewhere." ]
never, probably
Oh. That's cool. [Whether he means about Dave drawing clothes or him doing less laundry he doesn't say, but he's also immediately looking at his pile. There's definitely a look of appreciation because yes okay he likes bowties and fancier shit, but what really gets his attention is the dumb ghost shirt.]
Dude. [Okay well. Bye. He's going to dart forward and pick it up, shaking it out and noticing it's actually his size? And without thinking he's also moving to pull off his own shirt and swap to the ghost tee. Let him live.] I'm already afraid to ask what this looked like before Dirk fixed it, but sweet. Thanks. [There's a pause though before. Yeah. He picks up one of the Nic Cage socks.] ...really?
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stop looking, strider. dave is just self-aware enough to rolls his eyes and finish the sorting instead of being weird. ]
Did your mancrush on him die down or somethin'? There's also boxers with Matther whatever the fuck on them.
[ why. ]
Also fuck you I'm gettin' better at drawin'. [ THIS IS A BLATANT LIE ]
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Well no. He is still basically like my hero but sometimes even your heroes star in really shitty movies. [An eyeroll.] The day that you get better at drawing is the day I will wear the McConaughey boxers. Wait, did you really...? [Let's just dig through the pile of clothes again.] ...this is a lot though. It'll be good for whenever we leave.
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[ now that john's universe is Right and more importantly clothed, dave decides to just sit down on john's bed next to the clothes piles. ]
How'd you spend your day?
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[He doesn't care that Dave's sitting on the bed because he's also sorting all of Jake's shit to move it to the stool in the room. It's compulsive, maybe, to organize stuff in their small space. Or it gives John something to do. That's more likely.]
Kind of like this? [There's a short grin.] I started reading the alien comics again and I hung out on the beach for a while...thought about going to the forest but didn't get that far. [There's a shake of his head. That's about all he's willing to say on that.] I'm kind of excited that we are leaving tomorrow, wherever we're really going. Not that I don't appreciate the time off, but it will be nice. [He's bored, sort of. He doesn't have things to constantly keep him busy and though he's content to be with his friends and spend breakfasts together and train in the evening, learn to use his new magic and make new friends...he's ready to keep going.] What about you? Besides arts and crafts with Dirk.
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[ at least, by john egbert standards. dave eyes him speculatively. ]
D'you wanna have a slumber party? We can have Rose paint our nails and gossip about all the dumb shit you're gonna find to do on the new planet.
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I don't know. I think it reminds me a lot of being on the ship. [He hasn't said much about his time on the ship, really, but the general impression was that it drove him crazy after a while. But he doesn't elaborate and instead there's a smile over his shoulder.]
Only if mine get to be blue. [He's not serious, but.] It'd be fun, sure. Especially since we don't know what's happening tomorrow. Also you say that like Rose wouldn't be thrilled to actually paint our nails. [Because Rose Lalonde does not mind making the boys do dumb shit.]
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dave eyes john, and asks: ]
What was bein' on the ship like? You can ignore the question if you want.
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[But that's a question he has to think on. He doesn't really want to ignore it, but he doesn't know how to describe it that well either. So he focuses on organizing his clothing pile.]
It was...quiet, I guess? It wasn't that bad at first because Jade and I were hanging out and just goofing off. We had all of the consorts and the chess people around, too, plus Jaspers and Nanna and Davesprite. We passed through dream bubbles sometimes, but those were not always that exciting either. It's how I finally met Vriska and when I saw Meenah and Roxy for the first time.
[He's folding his t-shirts to stack them up.] Anyway, as you know Jade and Davesprite started dating, so they would be off doing whatever on their own time on the ship. Nanna was baking. Jaspers would chase Davesprite because an idiot cat princess is still an idiot cat, Jade chased Jaspers because she is part dog now...but with her cool witch powers Jade could shrink us down to hang out in my house on LOWAS. But any time I wanted to do that I would have to ask her which got to be kind of a pain in the ass to bother her with. Sometimes we watched movies. Sometimes we played games. But the chess people and the consorts were all really bad at them and they weren't great for conversation either. Plus I never really saw anyone in the dream bubbles I wanted to see? They were sort of a disappointment.
[It was lonely, mostly, especially in the time Jade was with Davesprite. When he didn't have contact with Dave and Rose at all. He eventually stop putting away his clothes and shrugs again.] This place at least has interesting people and my friends, so in a way it is better than that. I don't mind as much.
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it sounds sad, and lonely, and he immediately gets the same feeling he did when jade kept talking about how he (davesprite) broke her heart. these are things he doesn't think he would do.
but he would, wouldn't he? if circumstances were just right. and it's not a thought he likes to have, but it is one that the time player has to acknowledge and accept. ]
I was really jealous Rose got to see you that one time. All I got was, uh, seein' you skewered by Meenah the one time? What the fuck was up with that, by the way.
[ but john offered him the ship and dave feels like he should do the same. ]
Did I mention I get on with Vantas these days? I mean, I guess you may've figured from when we popped the fuck out of nowhere on you for a bit there and like, we didn't yell at one another - not that I yell, I just talk and he yells - but like. It took the better part of two goddamn years, and a bit of the third. And the thing is, it was kind of a pair the spares sort of situation platonically? Like...
[ a shrug. ]
The first year, right, we couldn't stand one another. Rose and Kan were always researchin' shit and I talked to them and all, but it started to feel a little like intrudin' eventually and I didn't always. I spent most of my time with the mayor. Terezi hung out with us back then, too, so it was mostly the three of us. Gamzee, uh, I saw him once in a hallway? Like, over the course of that entire fuckin' trip. So he was useless. But like, by year two it was...
[ ...well, by year two rose had started to drink a little. ]
It was a thing. Rose and I still hung out but for certain reasons, we didn't really talk as much as we used to, or not in the same, like...way. And she and Kan started actually datin', so. And also by then Terezi went full on, uh, she and Gamzee started a kismespades thing which is the hate date quadrant for the record and that was a complete fuckin' trainwreck but anyway I told her we were like, friends and all, but I didn't want to touch that with a ten foot pole. And so by year three I mostly hung out with the Mayor still and also Karkat? And like, everyone else was...not so much.
[ he had never been certain how to handle rose's drinking. he's glad she hasn't touched a drop, here. ]
Mostly we worked on can town. Which is like, exactly what it sounds like. It took up a few rooms by the time the trip was done? I worked on music, too, and uh, we watched movies sometimes...but it was...I dunno. It was a pain in the ass.
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This time though he shuts up and turns to lean against the wall, listening to Dave explain about life on the meteor. His expression doesn't give away any tells, relaxed and calm though occasionally his eyebrows furrow together or he chews on his bottom lip in thought.
It wasn't a good situation for any of them, was it?]
I had wondered about that. If you and Karkat would become friends at the end of things. I think I get it though. After a while it felt like intruding on Jade and Dave Sprite, too, and it was just kind of awkward. It was still awkward even when they broke up. Didn't know anything about Terezi and Gamzee, but that explains some things I think? Please don't even start talking about quadrants again. But I get it.
[Not quite fitting where you want to fit. Feeling unbalanced and unsure of what to do with yourself. People being different than you remember.] It was a really long three years, wasn't it? [He's glad it's over. He's glad they're here.] I don't even remember how many times I asked Jade if she could make the ship go faster, but they she would start talking physics at me and that was just annoying, too.
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[ and the thing is, he'd never even fallen out of the habit. it'd been three years and still his first thought about certain things was john would or jade would. it had never gotten any better or any less there. ]
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Why can't you cross the streams? [It's a test, maybe. He'll address the rest but. He has to ask that first.]
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[ why is he being tested on pop culture knowledge. ]
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Jade didn't get it at all. Even when I explained it. [He loves Jade though, the same way he loves all of them.] There were a lot of times I thought about you guys, too, and what you were doing and knowing that there were just things you guys would get that Jade wouldn't and vice versa. It was...off. Everything.
[A beat.] I think the word you are thinking, then, is "the future." [Because really, what's stopping them from making up for lost time now?]
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[ but he's maybe smiling, just a hair. ]
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[ he's teasing. ]
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[ SO WHO IS TELLING THE TRUTH ok she embellished maybe but ]
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