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[parodeity]

DAVE STRIDER

consider this your warning about stairs. itll just keep happening bro. im telling you man

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[windeity]

[He raises his eyebrows a little and finally looks at him.]

Fireflies? Why?

[parodeity]

If we have to go somewhere, that place ain’t the worst. Trust me - I’ll walk you through picturing it. Or do you remember enough?

[windeity]

[...???]

My planet? [Yes, thank you for joining the conversation, John.] I only remember a little of it. Including the time it was on fire.

[parodeity]

Maybe don’t think about that part. Just...when it was calmer. Wind and shade and fireflies. Not the universe crumbling. Try?

[ maybe john will flicker less if he can talk them into being anywhere else. ]

[windeity]

No, that part was fine. [Uh.] I did the windy thing and it was like a huge tornado and blew everything out. That was how I learned that I could.

[He remembered that only a few days ago. He never bothered telling Dave that.]

[parodeity]

Hm. [ before he entered the game himself or after? it doesn’t matter. ] Okay, flyboy, think about the part after the fire, then. Let’s go somewhere a little more...something. Can we?

[windeity]

Yeah. [He's still not entirely connected to what's going on, but he at least recognizes that Dave's there. Maybe Dave's a dream again. It wouldn't be the first time and he's not sure.

But he shuts his eyes and leans his head back.]

...when were you on my planet anyway? [He doesn't even remember the name yet.]

[parodeity]

The when varies. It’s how the game worked: you’ve been on everyone else’s, too. Your first gate should have taken you to the land of eye searing colors.

[ lolar. ]

Just picture your planet for me. Dark and cool. Those weird blue mushrooms. Whatever dopey consorts you got saddled with. Fireflies in the sky. The breeze.

[windeity]

[He doesn't respond, but there's another flicker-glitch bouncing between 16 and 18 which might be a little hard to tell.]

What was it called anyway? You had the land of heat and clockwork but mine was what? Land of Fireflies and 'Shrooms?

[parodeity]

[ a heartbeat of silence. then: ]

Take us to the Land of Wind and Shade, John.

[windeity]

[There's another stretch of silence.

He doesn't say anything and for all intents and purposes he looks like he's asleep sitting up. He looks more like the John Dave's seen in his memories this way and the treehouse doesn't move but the outside world does. It wavers a little, he thinks about what he told Ayano about changing the scenery of dreams, and it takes a lot of time before space clears up.

It's immediately cooler and darker. Fireflies are scarce since he isn't quite remembering the planet right and the mushrooms are a little off in color. There are no consorts because he doesn't know what they are. The breeze is almost minimal.

It's LOWAS but only glimpses and shimmers of it from what he remembers of it. He doesn't say anything as he stays against the wall of the treehouse with his eyes shut though.]

[parodeity]

[ somewhere out there is bro’s body, dave thinks. he remembers lowas most strongly because of that. but he relaxes a hair even if there’s something sad about the way he holds himself. he doesn’t know what to do with remembered john, who still doesn’t remember. but he tugs at john’s hand. ]

Want to go outside?

[windeity]

[He doesn't have an answer and he seems to be a little wary of going anywhere. It's a dream. He knows it's a dream and yet he remains fairly nonverbal. He doesn't let go of Dave's hand and he doesn't try to pull away, but he glances out the window and eventually nods.

Dave seems to want to go outside, so they can go outside.

It's weird knowing this is his and his nightmares are shaped by things he remembers and things he doesn't remember just yet. Is this even a nightmare anymore? Things changed because someone showed up. But he's not remembering fast enough. He has no idea if he ever will remember fast enough for this.

It doesn't really dawn on him that he's still holding Dave's hand because he's more curious and unsure of the world outside of the treehouse door, but in the same form of reckless abandon he's taken lately, he heads for the door and pulls them both out, temporarily falling toward the ground before the breeze sweeps through and they fly to a safe touchdown.]

[parodeity]

You still can’t fly. [ dave has automatically started to slow his own descent, but he lets the breeze take over. he doesn’t drop john’s hand even though he thinks maybe he should. it’s weird but not weird to him to look out at the half-remembered lowas. ]

My first memory of this place was when Terezi called me up while I was here. You weren’t around.

[windeity]

Because I was on the planet of eye-searing colors? What'd she want? [It's small and conversational but he's getting a better look at his half-remembered planet.]

[parodeity]

...To check in on me, mostly. It wasn't a huge thing. She just thought things that weren't true.

[windeity]

She must have talked to you a lot, huh? Kind of like how Vriska talked to me.

[He's a little more verbal now that they're outside. As they begin to walk he's keeping a hold of Dave's hand because he knows what'll happen if he lets go. For now he seems to be mostly flickering but staying the same age at least.

Dave will notice that more details slowly begin to fill in the longer they're here. Rivers of oil begin to crop up along with a few paths and hills. The mushrooms change to the neon turquoise color and trees grow taller and remain leafless. Rocky mountains appear, too, and more fireflies flicker above their heads, trapped under the clouds.]

...the main salamander village is that way.

[parodeity]

I couldn’t remember what your consorts were.

[ quietly. maybe it was a bad idea because the fireflies make him sad when he remembers a million lights in the sky and whatnot had to be the first godtier death out of all of them. but John is flickering less.

dave laces their fingers together and tries to pretend he isn’t terrified. ]

They had a thing...about us. We ignored it I think.

[windeity]

Huge, yellow salamanders. [He remembers them now. He doesn't know what happened with the fireflies, doesn't know what Dave remembers at all but he flickers less even if he's still trying to float away.

He doesn't pull back either and allows their hands to stay joined together for the time being.]

What kind of thing do you mean?

[parodeity]

Competition. Who was stronger? They didn’t get that you always were. Not at first.

[ a shrug. ]

And I never wanted to beat you anyway. I just wanted to keep pace enough I could help.

[windeity]

...the salamanders? [He looks genuinely confused and not picking up that Dave means something else entirely.] I don't get it, why would that matter? And...it doesn't count since I use hammerkind. Of course I'm going to be a little stronger but that sort of means jackshit at this point. You're a way better fighter than I am.

[parodeity]

[ - he laughs, actually. ]

You're the hero, Egbert.

[windeity]

[A flicker.]

Uh. No, not really. [There's an awkward smile.] I think a hero is a lot more than whatever I am, dude.

[parodeity]

[ he sounds sixteen or thirteen or maybe eighteen when he says: ]

You're everythin' I always wanted a hero to actually be.

[ not a hero like bro was, but the kind that didn't make him hate the concept. ]

[windeity]

[There's something he doesn't quite know how to grasp in that sentence, and he takes a small breath to try and process that.]

I...have no idea what that really means, Dave. [And somehow it makes him grip Dave's hand tighter.] You're confusing me with the me that I was, and I have no idea if I can be something like that.