recollé ic inbox 4.0;

[parodeity]

DAVE STRIDER

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

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[parodeity]

No, I mean...I like it when you tell me things.

[ the dumb family anecdotes. random thoughts. he's said it before, he thinks, but he just...likes that.

it makes it feel like they're best friends. ]

[windeity]

I could tell you pretty much whatever you wanted. It would just...be rambling sometimes, I think? [But he's comfortable enough to do that and he doesn't mind at all.]

[parodeity]

It just...gives me the illusion of feeling special. It's nice. [ since john is john and makes friends as easy as breathing, and dave is perfectly well aware of that. ] And I seriously doubt I can really judge anyone for rambling. So, which is your favorite so far?

[ light displays. ]

[windeity]

The one with the giant polar bear. [He points toward a house with lots of lights and a huge inflatable polar bear.] And that one with the multicolored twinkling lights in the branches. It looks cool.

[But.] ...you do know that you are, don't you?

[parodeity]

Cool? Yes, I do, it's like my thing. [ lmao what if we don't. dave gestures towards a different house with his cider. ] Personally I like the penguin parade. Santa fell off the roof, which I do not think was a deliberate choice though it should have been?

[windeity]

[Then John will just take note of that and verbally back off a little.] I always worry about Santa up on icy rooftops. I feel like that is really dangerous for someone so old. [He drifts to the next house with Dave in tow.] Anya and I tried to teach the penguins at the zoo how to sing.

[parodeity]

[ good because they don't need to have an argument about how special dave is or is not ]

I guess Santa is kind of like Tony Hawk? And I assume the try means you failed.

[windeity]

[Thanks Dave.]

How exactly is Santa like Tony Hawk? And not quite but some of the penguins were way too easy to convince.

[parodeity]

Both of them are old and into potentially dangerous shit still?

[windeity]

Tony Hawk is not that old, come on. He's like...in his fifties probably? Which is still way too old to be on a skateboard but who am I to judge? I was watching some old Ninja Warrior courses when we were still training and there was this eighty-year-old guy doing the course. I want to be that cool when I get old.

[So here they are on their walking tour, holding hands, gazing at Christmas lights, and comfortable with the background noise of some Christmas music probably and the occasional hoot of an owl or a bark of a dog. As far as John's concerned this is perfect.]

[parodeity]

Oh, yeah? And what else do you picture eighth year old John doing?

[windeity]

Traveling. Exploring the world, maybe. And apparently trying my hand at stand-up in at least one lifetime.

[parodeity]

You were apparently very successful.

[windeity]

[A shrug.] Maybe someday, but that won't be for a while. I have other things to think about before then. [...] This girl at your birthday party was talking to me about this life compared to our old lives. I kind of agreed and kind of didn't.

[parodeity]

Since I wasn't there for the conversation, I'll need a little more explanation than that if you want me to know what you're talkin' about, dude.

[windeity]

I don't know if the specifics are important but it was just...a lot of people are in agreement that the people we were back then aren't the people we are now. I'm still not sure I fully believe it since who I was has definitely helped me figure out who I am now, but at the same time the stuff I do in this life is really the most important part.

[parodeity]

[ there’s just. a smile that’s a little off somehow.

dave misses thinking it wasn’t him. ]

I’m the same person with a few extra chronological experiences at this point. But it depends on the person.

[windeity]

I am the same person but I like the person I am right now. Kind of like how I like the person you are, or Rose, or Eleanor or Yukiko or Karkat or any of our other friends. I'm not going to tell someone that they are wrong for thinking this way though.

[parodeity]

Its easy to see you in you. [ a shrug. ] I try not to tell people they’re wrong about that kind of shit. I think there are people who aren’t?

[windeity]

Who aren't the same? Or who aren't wrong? [The conversation's a little deeper than he meant but he's still keeping his hand firm around Dave's as they start on the second block, laughing a little at a display featuring an upside Santa kicking his legs out of the top of a snowbank.]

[parodeity]

Take your pick. [ dave shrugs, uncertain how to frame what he means in words. Instead he sips at cider that doesn’t taste like anything at all. ] Do you believe in mundane magic?

[windeity]

Like card tricks and stuff? Or something else?

[parodeity]

Like, the answer is undoubtedly yes, but the stupid things that make the world seem a little different than it really is. Christmas lights or gingerbread rockets made really badly with a friend.

[windeity]

I see it every time I hang out with you. [It's out there before he can bother filtering it but he doesn't quite fumble the way he normally does. Instead, he pauses to consider that and continues.] But yes, I believe in it. I think the mundane things are the ones that stick with you more than you realize and it just makes you feel more like a person. Christmas lights and carols and snowball fights and just seeing people enjoy the company of other people. Stuff like that is so important.

[parodeity]

[ oh my god john what the fuck. dave. laughs like he does when he doesn't know what to say? ]

Holy shit, you are a heartbreaker. [ who says things like that. ] And I notice that you have brought up snowball fights again. Exactly how long do I have before I wake up to something city wide and you with the world's worst grin on your face?