4th Time in Text

[knightime]

what do you while waiting for the sleep paralysis to wear off?
i mean it was kind of terrifying the first time
and maybe even the second time
but at this point its like the hugest fucking waste of time to be stuck lying on your bed waiting to get feeling to your fingers again
but now im curious
what is the longest you got stuck lying in bed for
like an approximate if you werent sure of the exact time

Comments

[knightime]

I'm not tall. You're just short. Looking forward to celebrating my birthday here. [No he isn't, but he doesn't have a choice.]

This...isn't the first time I've died.

[heirterosexual]

I'm perfectly average, you're just a giraffe. Right, how old are you anyway? [Hanging off his shoulders a bit.]

...yeah I didn't figure it was.

[knightime]

Still thirteen. I think I technically should be having my birthday soon, but I'm just going to wait until December to make it easier on myself.

It's cool. [No it isn't.]

[heirterosexual]

[John grins a little.] I'm older than you. I'm already fourteen. Crazy time shenanigans I guess.

[Squeezing your shoulders.] Not really.

[knightime]

You're either late for puberty or Egberts come in travel size. [Making fun of your height forever. Yolo.]

I'm fine.

[heirterosexual]

Hey, my dad is super-tall. Also. [He stands firmly on his heels and wraps his arms around Dave's chest, leaning backward and hoisting him slightly off the ground.] Size doesn't make a difference when you can do this.

Liar.

[knightime]

[Dave kind of flails a bit for second. Holy shit what are you doin-why are you picking him u-stop that.] Dude. Did you only have steroids while perusing space with Jade or something? [John probably is now acutely aware how skinny Dave has gotten. Also, how light he is.]

How would you know?

[heirterosexual]

[He laughs a little, but when he sets him back down he kind of rubs at Dave's arms like he's trying to make him warmer. He's skinny, John, not cold.] Uh, no? It's called mangrit, bro.

Educated guess.

[knightime]

[What are you doing, John? He's already warm. You can stop. No. Seriously.] Mangrit my fucking ass. Says the huge goober.

Your educated guess is wrong. [Stubborn.]

[heirterosexual]

[He does after a minute, quirking an eyebrow.]

Uh-huh.

[knightime]

[Your staring is uncomfortable. Please stop.]

What? Are you suddenly an expert on Strider secret code or something? Dave saying he's okay means he isn't okay or whatever? [Maybe if he stopped deflecting, John wouldn't be as suspicious.]

[heirterosexual]

Dave being really defensive usually means something's bothering him that he's not saying. Not to be Rose about it or anything.

[knightime]

I'm not being defensive. I'm not bothered by anything. [He's doing the denial thing again.]

[heirterosexual]

Uh-huh.

[knightime]

What do you want from me, dude?

[heirterosexual]

Nothing, really. Just... if something ever really is bugging you, you know you can talk to me, right? Comes with the best bro title.

[knightime]

Nothing is bugging me though. This conversation is like the hugest fucking circle. I think I've done ten laps with how many circles we just ran through.

[It's going to take a lot more to get Dave to talk, obviously. Unless John is willing to breach the fact that his shadow has said everything he's not willing to talk about.]

[heirterosexual]

[Huff.]

[He starts to, in a sort of roundabout way.]

So what exactly was that other you, anyway?

[knightime]

I didn't tell you? Some shadow version of me. [That was...descriptive. But Dave doesn't want to full on say that it was a version of him created from everything he's ever repressed.]

[heirterosexual]

You really only gave me vague answers, like you're doing now. He said a lot of stuff that sounded like you but was a lot more open, is the only reason I ask.

Like, he repeatedly told me that he was okay because I was here now. He had me up on some kind of crazy pedestal. I think I'm mostly making sure that you don't have me on that same pedestal, because wow, when I fall off of that thing it's gonna be ugly if you do.

[knightime]

[Oh my god. Just this face. What the fuck did his shadow say to John and why?

He hates everything right now and he wants to die. JUST LET HIM DIE RIGHT NOW.] What...

[heirterosexual]

[He casually hooks his thumbs on the waistband of his pants and splays his fingers out, rocking onto his toes and back to his heels a few times. When Dave just plays dumb he huffs and drops back to his flat feet and wipes a hand down his face, letting his arms swing limp at his sides when he's done.]

Dave, that thing told me a lot of shit and I can't even remember half of it because it was really weird. I need you to be honest with me for a minute here, because a lot of that stuff was weird or not okay or just kind of worrying? And you're my best friend, you're supposed to be honest with me anyway.

[knightime]

[Oh no. Why did it tell John of all people. He thought he would be okay as long as John didn't see that grotesque boss version. But it probably told him basically everything he hasn't said in the passed couple of months.]

What exactly did you want to know? [He's obviously not talking about any of these things unless John flat out asks.]

[heirterosexual]

[There's a part of him that's kind of bothered by Dave's secrecy, and a part of him that's happy about it. He didn't need or want to know half the things that shadow told him, but now that he did it left him with more questions than answers.]

[He shifted his weight.]

Well you definitely said something about me getting eaten alive by spiders. [He frowns, hesitating and trying to find a way to not bring up the next part.] Which, uh. Obviously wasn't actually me but also segued into you saying you got skinned alive and left to die?

[knightime]

[Dave isn't ever going to stop being secret about what happens to him. Get used to it John.]

Oh. The John that was here before told me. I guess he got caught. [Dave died before John did. Or at least, he didn't know about it until John had told him.] We were playing a game. [Dave was using the term very loosely. It wasn't really so much a game as one of the most terrifying moments of his life. It was like a horror movie come to life.] We were playing hide n' seek. I got caught and I wasn't going to let someone else take the fall. [Dave was aware he didn't actually talk about the part about dying. He was still being stubborn about it. He just...didn't want to think about it. He can honestly say that he can still remember how it feels.]