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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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[parodeity]

Can you? [ just or heroic and he waits to see if john says it, even though john flipped subjects.

dave looks up and shrugs, moonlight reflecting off his shades. he's never thought about going much further past the clouds than...

well, not that far. which is maybe strange, when he actually likes space. ]

As high as you want, though, John. I'll follow you wherever.

[windeity]

Yeah. [But he's still ignoring it because he doesn't want to think about dead Daves. Or dead anyones. Instead he floats higher as the wind settles around him and the temperature drops further.]

What if I end up leading you somewhere you don't want to go? Would you still follow me?

[parodeity]

Yes.

[ it's an instant answer, no thought required. ]

Where you are is where I want to be usually anyway. [ even though he's not exactly thrilled about the temperature dropping as they go higher, and his already pale skin is a little paler. ]

[windeity]

[And like earlier that morning at the waffle house, he's quiet as he looks at Dave again. He doesn't fly much higher, staying midair as he watches him carefully and contemplates to say. He won't make them stay up here long and he realizes this was a little rash, and Dave followed him without argument.]

...to the clouds and the stars, Strider. [But he doesn't move as he waits for Dave to catch up.]

[parodeity]

Did you know people are made of stardust? Like, it ain't just a cliche these days, they proved it with a study. Humans and the galaxy share about ninety-seven percent of the same kind of atoms. Like, the proportions are different. We're about sixty-five percent oxygen via mass but oxygen is like less than one percent what you find in space.

[ but yeah, he's catching up as he speaks, fairly quiet, rambling like he does to fill the silence. ]

Still. Stardust.

[windeity]

[He listens to Dave's voice draw closer and closer, taking in the words as he goes.

"You say very romantic things sometimes, Johnathan. I think without realizing it. Did you know that?"

He had said no because he didn't realize it. He wonders if this is what Ayano meant, words that were strangely sweet and poetic without trying. He wonders if, maybe, this was the same way she viewed him when he said stupid things.]

I never knew. I think that is pretty cool though. [Dave catches up and John waits, giving him another appraising look before he extends a hand.] So...in a way, it is sort of like being among other people. Being up here.

[parodeity]

[ oh. okay. dave stares for a second, expression unchanging, before he reaches out and puts his (cold) hand in john's. ]

Maybe. I always found the stars pretty comforting, even if some of 'em are already long gone. [ then, at random: ] What's your north star?

[windeity]

[It's partially to keep Dave close by in case he does suddenly lose control of his flight but also to get a gauge of Dave himself, where he's at mentally, how cold he is physically. John could go on forever, he thinks, but knowing Dave would follow means not doing that.

Up further toward the cloud they go. Almost there.]

Somehow I figured given the places you have gone. [A night on the roof of the observatory.] What do you mean though? About north stars.

[parodeity]

Polaris, [ dave answers. ] It's the brightest star in its constellation. It's a fixed point - well, not exactly but it will be for our lifetimes - and you can chart where you are from it. So, John Egbert, what's your north star? The one you navigate by.

[windeity]

[It feels weirdly like a test and he's unsure how to answer as he flies upward, pulling Dave along with him as always.]

Do you think there can only be one north star?

[parodeity]

No, but I think there's always one thing people use more than anythin' else.

[ ironically, this one isn't a test. ]

[windeity]

If we are talking real stars, I follow Sirius. But metaphorical stars...my north star is different.

[parodeity]

We're talkin' metaphorical. So what's your poison, Egbert?

[windeity]

...the people that need me, I guess.

[parodeity]

That's why you get yourself into trouble sometimes, y'know. [ "people who need me" is a large group that encompasses a lot of probably ill-advised north stars, bro.

but there's the same sort of exasperated fondness he felt trying to talk john out of fucking dying in another life in the statement. ]

[windeity]

[That only gets him to grip Dave's hand a little tighter.]

And that is also why I have people like you guys to bring me back if I get lost on my way back. [Since we're going with star metaphors. He stops then, floating just below a cloud as he looks up at the sky once more.] That is why I asked if people could have more than one. Because sometimes the people who need me might not be the same as the people I need.

[parodeity]

I think, [ dave says, voice slow and quiet and fingers cold, ] You can have as many as you like. I'm too used to navigating by inevitability and the alpha timeline or -

[ what people want from him. ]

- or other things.

[windeity]

Does it bother you? [He's looking at the clouds and not at Dave and the question's quiet as his fingers grip Dave's harder than before.] The idea of inevitability and navigating solely by that instead of anything else you could choose.

[parodeity]

No, I told you, that feels - [ wait. he hadn't told john that yet. it'd felt heretical, the idea of messing with that, but it had been john doing it so it'd been fine because whatever the fuck universe john made out of a mess was fine with dave.

so. ]

- it makes me uneasy when I'm not on the right path. Too ingrained to avoid dead Daves.

[windeity]

Trust me, I would like to avoid dead Daves, too. A lot. I guess I was just wondering since I think...you are more bound than I am sometimes.

...are those your metaphorical north stars then? Or is there something else?

[parodeity]

Time always is.

[ a north star. ever since he ascended - before, really. as soon as he entered the game. maybe before that, too. ]

...But I guess it depends on what I'm tryin' to navigate.

[windeity]

[There's a slow nod. He knows he doesn't understand these things nearly as well as Dave. He doesn't understand their ascension or time or paradox space, he doesn't understand aspects or inevitability or balance the way Dave does and for a few more long moments he's silent. He floats, capable of staying up at least ten thousand feet in the air.]

We don't need to find our way back yet. We're almost there. [He points up at the cloud above them.] We'll navigate together to get back home. Are you ready?

[parodeity]

Like we've established, [ and his grip on john's hand actually tightens. ] I'll follow you wherever.

[ so "ready" doesn't come into it. but cold or not, he doesn't look uncertain or ill at ease for the moment, so he's probably also ready. ]

[windeity]

[There's a nod and he soars up again, pulling Dave along as they pop through the clouds. It's cold and strange and possibly just a little like going through vapor but he can now say that he has which is way more than he ever expected in life. Clouds aren't solid enough to sit or anything and he doesn't let go of Dave's hand even as his other skims through the cloud itself.]

...this is awesome. [It's practically whispered because John's still filled with child-like wonder at the concept of being so high up. He's not afraid of plummeting thousands of feet for whatever reason even if his flight won't last forever until he gets better. But this is enough.]

[parodeity]

[ dave's not afraid solely because he's been doing this for a long time and he knows if john fucks up he can bail him out. oops.

he shivers and shifts closer and nods. ]

Best view of the stars in the world, too.