ty wants to see dave put his foot in his mouth

[parodeity]

[ today in alternate reincarnation aus i guess: what if instead of john egbert walking into his college room, his Destined Roomie (tm) it happened instead like this?

dave and rose don't really go to parties that often. it's not that they're opposed to socializing or anything, it's just not their Thing. dave is more likely to spend his free time dicking around on the internet or bothering his siblings and friends. the only changes memories have caused is an occasional interest in being alone. rose - well, rose tends to have her own things, and like dave she seems to be perfectly fine without the College Experience of parties. dave's pretty sure roxy is the only one who really actively seeks that kind of thing out, and that suits him fine.

so he's not really sure why he and rose agree to go to this party, except it's being thrown by a bunch of rose's more nerdy friends, people she's met in classes that dave doesn't take. and, well, if rose grabs dave's arm and tells him he has plans, dave is more likely than not to go "yeah, okay" or at least to let himself be dragged along as he protests and argues the entire way there.

he expects to try to stick to juice (he will go into people's fridges without worrying, whatever) and to chat with people randomly, and maybe if he's lucky there'll be fireworks, since this is supposedly a fourth of july thing?

he does not expect to recognize someone and he does not expect to need the mouth-to-brain filter that only sometimes functions periodically and so he kind of freezes up, points at his best friend and says ]

Dibs. [ louder than expected, although at least some people are drunk enough to just kind of snort and move on.

...rose laughs, pats his arm, and ABANDONS HIM, the lousiest excuse for a twin sister in the world (he would kill and die for her) and dave flounders. ] I mean - shit. Shit, I can't save that one, oh my god. Is there a convenient balcony to fling myself off of.

Comments

[windeity]

That's encouraging. [Joking. Brushing it off. Even as he's just staring at the phone before he realizes he's staring and he looks up with an awkward grin, handing it back off to Dave.]

I think I do. I don't know, I've seen her before. Maybe around campus or something? She goes here, right?

[parodeity]

Yeah, though we don't actually share any classes. [ but that's not where he knows jade from, is it? ] And she's been holed up workin' on somethin'. I'm not too clear on the deets, ngl, but it sounds...science-y.

[windeity]

[A shrug] Jade Harley sounds like a scientist name, so. Maybe I'll see her around when she's not caught up in her work. [Never mind that Dave didn't give Jade's last name. Or that that isn't it.] I'd hate to interrupt anything too science-y.

[parodeity]

[ dave freezes, peering at john over the tops of his shades for a second (his eyes are too red even in the dim lighting). ]

Except her last name ain't Harley, any more than Rose's last name is Lalonde.

[windeity]

Whoa! [The eye color startles him and he steps back a bit, knocking into a display case but it's bolted to the floor so at least it doesn't go anywhere.] Uh...Dave, your eyes aren't looking so great. Should we maybe go to the hospital or...?

[parodeity]

Wow, rude much? Like, holy shit, could you be ruder, you could at least fake a declaration that my eyes are stunnin' and took your breath away.

[ he readjusts his shades so they're more solidly on his nose. ]

M'fine, this is just my eye color, Egbert. Does it actually surprise you, or...

[windeity]

Shut up, whatever, your eyes are gorgeous but seriously what the fuck. [It's hard to be giving someone shit when you're freaking out? Apparently? He ends up just sort of waving his hands a little.] Of course it surprises me? They're, like, red. Solid red. Nobody has solid red eyes, what kind of question is that...

[But by the time he's finished with his rant his voice has taken on that more matter-of-fact tone again like no, okay, this doesn't surprise him in the least but. What.]

[parodeity]

Thank you, I know they are. Gorgeous, I mean. [ "yes, it is understandable because you are really attractive. i am attracted to you." "thank you" "jk" ]

You say that, but you don't sound surprised. Also, people clearly do so have solid red eyes 'cause I do. My sibs have orange and pink respectively. Rose's eyes ought to be purple.

[windeity]

[He rolls his eyes, a hand coming to shove Dave's glasses further up his nose even if he doesn't look amused.]

"Ought to be" as in they aren't...why? [He shakes his head again...before...] If you want to wear red contacts to freak people out at parties, fine, but it's still sort of stupid. [Nope. He remembers this completely and it's why he's also breaking eye contact.] A+ on the wow factor though.

[parodeity]

They're not contacts. [ 3 years and jade harley and salamanders and a dozen other little tells - ] D'you really think they are, Egbert?

[ because he doesn't think john does. and anyway - ]

How long've you been thinkin' about shit like this? Little things that don't make sense?

[windeity]

[There's a very long period of silence before he officially turns and starts to walk away. He's entering another room even further away, not speaking up for the time being.

"How long have you been thinking about shit like this?" What a complicated question with an even more complicated answer. Even before this, there were little blips in his memory. Hanging out with Dave, for some reason, seems to have struck up even more. It's unsettling. He doesn't like it and he knows it's crazy, but...Dave is asking. For a reason? That's the part he doesn't know.]

I don't know. A month, maybe? Thinking about shit like what? [It's a little too late to backtrack, but okay.] A lot of things don't make sense to me, I think that's the other part of being in college? [There's another joking grin to try and downplay everything.] Don't worry about it, I'm just messing around. It's a joke.

[parodeity]

[ there's a moment where dave's sure he's fucked it up entirely, because john's walking away, but he's not running so dave can follow him, shoulders hunching as he slouches further and keeps an eye on the kid he knew once upon a time. ]

You're not, though. [ joking. ] I mean, if you want to say you are, we can totally do that. Lord knows I've pulled that crap on people a million and one times over the course of this year, so I can't actually say "well wait no you gotta confront this right now". We can laugh it off and pretend you think my eyes are super freaky and not maddeningly attractive [ he can't keep the serious tone entirely. god help him. but it's a self-deprecating sort of self-compliment, in the tone he uses ] and that you didn't pull Jade's last name out of the ether when it ain't her last name here, and that you didn't recognize Rose'n'I to any degree. We can pretend Lowas ain't a thing. We can talk about some shitty apocalypse movie I know you're gonna have like ten dozen arguments in defense of, instead, or about how I'm pretty sure the Pizza Port has the best pizza anywhere in the world.

[ that's an option. dave shrugs. ]

I can roll with whichever option you wanna take here, man.

[windeity]

Okay! Okay, I got it. Jesus... [It's a low sort of disbelieving whisper and he brings a hand up to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose again. It's only when they're in a far back corner of another room, fake planets hanging from the ceiling and all, that he leans against a wall and folds his arms over his chest. He doesn't say anything immediately again as he thinks on that. The silence isn't for long though.]

...what the fuck is happening, Dave? How do you. [Okay, no. Wait.] What's happening to me? What happened to you? [What the fuck is all of this? John, though he has had the app for a month, definitely hasn't used it at all so. He's in the dark.]

[parodeity]

[ okay, so we're going with option "don't pretend that shit isn't a thing." ]

...Jesus, I forgot, but you were pretty terrible with technology, weren't you. [ it's more a mutter as he stands a few feet away, arms crossed and stance steady. ] What happened to me is that I...remembered another life. And yeah, that sounds crazy, but you said Harley and I have to keep remindin' myself not to call her that.

[windeity]

Hey! [Terrible is subjective but he's also not denying that. Instead, he listens and it doesn't surprise him at all that they're matching stances. John's trying to cave into the wall, Dave sort of looks like he's ready to defend himself if need-be and it's something John notices even if he can't parse what to do about it.]

Of course it sounds crazy. You're suggesting that, what, we're reincarnated from other people? And that past you and past me knew each other and the girls? [A beat.] What's Jade's last name now? Ugh never mind, that doesn't matter. So what are you saying? One day you woke up and remembered things you didn't remember before?

[parodeity]

[ yeah, that. sure is a stance dave could slide into a sword fight from, and it is entirely automatic and done without thinking, so. ]

Actually, what happened was I went to the Founder's Day Parade and saw a bunch of giant chickens, then remembered bein' on Lohac while I was sittin' around on a bench havin' snacks.

[windeity]

[He doesn't move at least so they're in a good place. He raises his eyebrows, unsure of what to say at first.]

What kind of snacks do they even have over there? [It's another almost rhetorical question before he closes his eyes.] So giant chickens caused all of this? Can't we just make them into nuggets and call it a day?

[parodeity]

I mean, I don't know if they were the cause so much as a symptom. I was expectin' to see horses, but that's the day they flipped.

[ IT WAS...a weird fucking day. ]

Then it all just kept happenin' and it didn't stop.

[windeity]

And that was how long ago? [This doesn't make sense to him. He doesn't think Dave is lying and he wants to trust it, but it's a lot to think about.] When was Founder's Day? I'm not going to ask why this hasn't stopped because I know why.

[parodeity]

February 3rd. It's the same day every year, you're new so you haven't had to live through one yet, but it's pretty cheesey and fun? You'd like it.

[ ...............IS THAT THE MAIN THING HERE, DAVE ]

[windeity]

...because it's cheesy and fun specifically or because of something else? [I MEAN. On the other hand at least it seems to distract John enough.]

[parodeity]

Because of the cheesy fun thing in specific. They even play all these movie marathons at Flix, historical videos on Founder's Day? Some of them are pretty bad.

[windeity]

If I'm still here by then, guess we should go check out and I can give you my rating on a scale from one to "so bad it's good." It's a pretty important scale.

[parodeity]

I'll def take you if you want, if you're around then.

[ ... ]

You doin' okay?

[windeity]

I'm...incredibly overwhelmed? But I feel like that's normal. Is that normal? That shouldn't be normal. [...] But I'm okay. Totally awesome.