recollé ic inbox 4.0;

[parodeity]

DAVE STRIDER

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

VOICE | TEXT | VIDEO | ACTION

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[windeity]

[Lmao no. He kind of forgot and so he looks a little embarrassed as he slowly releases Dave’s hand. ] My bad.

[parodeity]

[ cool i'm glad i correctly gauged how stupid john was being!! dave pulls his right hand back and slides the camera over that hand instead, having to fuck with the strap for a second.

...then he pauses, eyeing john curiously, and holds out his left hand towards john instead.

that...was where john was going with this, right? ]

[windeity]

[He skates around in a semi-circle so that he can grab Dave’s left hand, yes. Good job idiots.]

Okay, do you like anything about winter?

[parodeity]

How happy you get about it. [ instantly, like that's not super embarrassing. ] Hot chocolate. Christmas music. Caroling. The holidays, sometimes. New Years. I like wearing sweaters. Christmas lights. Peppermint flavored everything. Gingerbread houses. I like -

[ cold mornings, but having someone around and not having to be cold. having an excuse to hold someone's hand. john continually sticking out his tongue to catch snowflakes. it's a too long pause that lasts only a few seconds, but he continues: ]

- hot apple cider and vegetable soup. The way trees look when they're frozen.

[windeity]

[It's a good thing it's cold and he can just downplay the light flush of his cheeks for being a little chilly himself. But okay, he's listening and taking note and somehow none of this surprises him.]

I love Christmas lights. Most of those things, actually. I bet we could figure out a way to make soup in the dorm, too. Maybe another day we can head out to the woods.

[Frozen trees...]

[parodeity]

...I was not clear, maybe. I enjoy frozen trees aesthetically, from like, way the fuck far away.

[ spare him hikes through the woods. ]

And I've never made soup.

[windeity]

Then I'm going and I will enjoy the real life frozen trees without you. [Rude.] Making soup actually isn't too hard, I could probably teach you. Nanna and Dad used to make pots of it during the winter to share with our neighbors any time the snow got really bad or if the power went out.

[parodeity]

Don't? [ go without him into the woods. it's not quite pouting but it kind of is, a little petulant frown that - which one of them is a kid again? yeah.

typically of dave, he promptly circles back to an entirely different part of the conversation: ]

Snow isn't a weather pattern I find magical. That's never where that feeling of "magic" comes from, for me.

[windeity]

Then are you going to come with me? [He's mostly teasing. The pouting is...cute, though, and his free hand comes up to poke Dave's mouth up into a smile.]

I like snowglobes a lot. So if it is not the snow, what is it?

[parodeity]

What about if you just stay inside with me? And I will watch however many bad movies you want. [ john earns an aggravated look for the poking. ]

I mean, if it's weather, which isn't a thing I normally associate with that feeling you mean, it's probably closer to rain.

[windeity]

[Hehe. But yeah, okay, he considers that.] I would do that anyway, so. Sure.

We have a lot of that back home, too. Rain's weirdly soothing sometimes but it can also be boring. It's colder and wetter than snow.

[parodeity]

It's not cold if you're not out in it, dumbass. And I've only like briefly considering being out in it, and that was always stupid as fuck, so I never have been by choice.

[ he doesn't clarify why he would consider that, though? ]

But by magic, I think, you mean that quiet sense of wonder that certain things cause. Right? Like...wow, I'm alive. And not minding the revelation.

[windeity]

Maybe you have a point. [...] You do remember we met in the rain in this life, don't you?

[But there's a nod as there's another slow circle.] Yeah, that. I never mind the revelation of being alive but I think I understand what you mean. Mortality's a weird thing.

[parodeity]

Of course I remember that.

[ ...no response to the revelation thing because 1) sometimes dave minds it and 2) mortality sure is fucking weird!! ]

You're worth getting wet over, one, and two, that was a dream and I didn't control where I was.

[windeity]

[Hm.]

Careful what you say, Strider. You might give a guy the wrong idea. [Openly flirting? Sure, we can try that. But he immediately feels awkward about it anyway.] Dreams aren't all that bad then, I guess.

[parodeity]

[ lmao what the fuck. dave laughs, because that's what he. does. and jokes back because he assumes john is openly joking, here. it's not like it isn't a topic they haven't joked about.

in another life, but. ]

Shouldn't you be careful? What if it's the right idea, and you're the one stringin' me along? [ but that aside: ] It depends on the dream, and you are still as always missing the point I was tryin' to make before it like, fell to the roadside and we ran over it conversationally a few times to make sure it was dead and also that we didn't see it. My point was, I think, that I find other situations that are not weather-related more magical than I like, find snow. Which is cold, and frozen, and people try to put it down your shirt sometimes and fuck those people.

[windeity]

[Well. They can play along, can't they? It's just screwing around, teasing each other and even with the video camera in Dave's hand John's twirling him on the ice until they're practically nose to nose.]

Sure about that? [Did he? He doesn't move for a moment, blue eyes peering at Dave inquisitively before he rotates again to skate to his side.] Anyway I get your point. And if I had to guess I would guess that those specific instances and situations are more like...art. Which snow can be, but I will leave the point alone and probably not shove snow down your shirt.

[parodeity]

[ john what the actual fuck. this would be so much easier if his eyes were not so blue or if dave didn't feel his pulse in his throat, but he's good at poker faces and instead of allowing john egbert to freak him out (which present past and future dave all agree is a pathetic idea) he just peers at john over the tops of his shades instead which is the closest he's gotten to removing the damn things in over a month and refuses to lean backwards, lowering the camera enough so his clear skepticism is visible. whatever. they can engage in really close talking, that's fine. ]

I heard the "probably". And yes, I am pretty sure you are a heartbreaker. I should warn people, but that would be, like...effort. And I am really fuckin' lazy sometimes. So how about instead I just watch you wreak havoc and stand off to the side once you're done with mine, too? I'll take, like, an early lunch after the inevitable betrayal. I'm not certain if in this scenario you breaking my heart by stringing me along is the betrayal or if it is the snow down my shirt thing, but I am leaning towards the second because fuck you, "probably" is not encouraging and I know how you operate.

[ at least half of that made no sense, but it's delivered with a calm demeanor so that's fine. ]

Art isn't a bad guess, but no, that wasn't it. Or it is, but only sideways. Want to try again?

[windeity]

[Sadly, it's the presence of Dave's eyes that gets John to tone it down and he blinks stupidly for a moment before he stands up a little straighter. He doesn't back away otherwise, but he gives a small, sly grin despite that. It's when Dave stops rambling that he begins to move again.]

Hey, a probably is way more promising than a maybe! Just remember that. [But hmmmm...] My first guess was the photography thing. Like hand-held time capsules and stuff. Music otherwise?

[parodeity]

[ dave wins!! ]

I think I am actually just not gonna tell you?

[windeity]

Oh come on! I'm kidding...don't be like that.

[parodeity]

Tell you what, buttercup, you figure it out on your own sometime and I'll give you a prize. [ although as usual it's a confused mess of ideas rather than a crystal clear explanation, so how could anyone guess it...? ] For now, do you want to give it a go?

[ "it" isn't helpful. ]

[windeity]

[Dave stop calling him buttercup, it's eventually going to be embarrassing.]

I keep forgetting friendship with you means a lot of thinking. [But.] Sure. I'll take a crack at it.

[So hey, what the fuck is "it"?]

[parodeity]

[ how is it not already embarrassing??? ]

If you drop it I'll be super mad. [ he holds out the camera to john, raising an eyebrow. ]

[windeity]

[Because John's good at suppressing everything possible. Still, he looks at the camera and he laughs under his breath, taking the device in his hand and adjusting the strap to make sure it stays on while turning the camera to Dave instead.]

I cannot tell if I am supposed to be offended or understanding that you're worried about me dropping it.