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[ Meanwhile John's been spending all his time around consorts, so over time as he's quickly been growing, he's also been getting used to being the tallest guy around. At first Davesprite tended to float over him, and Jade, but they still stood taller than the consorts, then one day around the age of fourteen John realized he could look Davesprite in the eye and was looking down at Jade when he was talking to her. A year later he was looking down at everyone and it had stayed that way for the rest of the ride over.

So now here he is, staring down at Dave, and nothing about this seems all that weird to John at all! He's all grins and enthusiasm about meeting his friend for the first time in person. ]

Hi Dave!

[He is a lot less than enthusiastic. Somehow, in his little dream bubble that totally never happened, he imagined everything going on much like their online life. Dave would be super cool, and seem as larger than life as he did on the internet, in every definition. John would be the same adorable dork he always was, and still kind of need Dave to get him out of jams.

He doesn't like the way this leaves him a little floundering. At least he's sure John wasn't expecting a smile and some kind of best friendship hug, so he just gestures for him to join him. Words are his thing, and right now he just doesn't have any clue how to use them]

[ John's noticing that, and sort of wondering what is up with it. It doesn't occur to him that his height might bug Dave at all. Davesprite makes fun of John a lot (jolly blue giant comments galore) but he doesn't seem shocked by it. Then again, Davesprite grew up right next to John, so he was used to it.

John shifts his weight from one foot to another, frowning down at Dave. This is... not how he expected it to go either! Maybe... maybe a little light teasing? Forcing the smile back on his face. ]

Wow, man. I have to say, I thought you'd be a lot cooler in person!

[It's not just the height, it's everything. How confident and sure of himself John seems, how...he already knew he was the hero. Meeting him like this, there's the sting of jealousy he can't help behind everything else, as well. The stupid unfairness. He's worked hard every day of his life to build up this image of lies, and buys into it himself, and John and his stupid too big teeth shouldn't be reminding him just how much of it isn't true.

He is not insecure, really. Still, the sting of honesty, gets a response John was probably expecting. His voice is rather neutral, and it remains even, the slight southern twang he's never been able to entirely get rid of clinging to his syllables]

Fuck you, Egbert. In the arena of cool, I'm leagues ahead. I'm winning fucking gold in the Olympics, and you're still learning to paddle in your dad's kiddie pool, so give up now and pull up some pile.

[At least he actually wants to pay attention to you now?]

[ Okay! That actually earns a real laugh from John. He was expecting that kind of response from the get go from Dave, so getting it now is kind of a relief, like a weird guarantee that things won't be weird between them after all for whatever reason Dave was being weird in the first place. ]

Suuuuuure. Whatever you need to tell yourself! But man, it's so been so long since we last spoke, what have you guys been up to this entire time?

[There's the distinct feeling of something settling into place at that laugh, and Dave freezes his face muscles from trying to quirk his mouth a little in response. Whatever else is going on with the rest of this, they still work. Meeting in person wasn't exactly the hurdle he'd assume it would be. And hey, a meeting so far where he hasn't ended up dead, it's improvement]

Buckets, dude. Buckets and corpses, it's been a real party. 24/7 and you should be frothing in jealousy that you missed this shit.

[aka absolute fuck all]

[ John makes a face at that thought. He's not sure what's up with trolls and buckets still, just that they think they're impolite and John still tossed one through Jade's portal thing at them. He kind of wonders what happened there, but feels maybe it's better not to ask? Either way, the corpses thing is kind of weird. ]

Wow, corpses? What were you guys even doing that caused that?

[ A sudden thought occurs to him. ]

Or were they the ones before when the trolls were getting kind of... stabby with each other?

[He's sitting up a little straighter at that, and suddenly this borrowed pile of shit is a lot less comfortable. He's keeping his voice even, but the pure Strider focus all on you John, should definitely be sending some alarm bells ringing]

Shit, yeah. No one told you?

[Well, he kind of expected the Karkat thing, even understood the reason, once he'd heard it, but for Jade in the entire three years not to say anything?]

A lot of trolls got axed, the clown freak couldn't hack the stress.

[Or well, Dave has been on strict instructions to stay far from him as possible, even if he's not quite aware why. Not exactly hard to do]

[ There's a sick feeling in the pit of John's stomach, but he's sure it's not so bad... He already knew about some of this, maybe Dave just didn't realize that Karkat had already told him. He nods once. ]

Karkat told me that he kind of went crazy and killed a bunch of their friends. I think even before that though they were getting a little worked up. Vriska told me she killed one of them, and...

[ Stopping, glancing around them now. Speaking of Vriska, where was she? He hadn't seen her this entire time. ]

[Oh god, why did it fall to Dave to illuminate John to the situation, the things he just wasn't grasping? If he knew his friends as well as he liked to think he did, her name was met with awkward silences, and if John was as confused over her as he'd claimed...

Well, that was a hell of a lot of silence. How had he just not put this together?]

Yeah, that happened. And then she got killed in a twist of karmic payback, from one of the others.

[He's going to leave throwing TZ under the bus to someone else]

[ That happy look on his face that was there when he first ran into Dave? It's gone. He's staring down at Dave with a look of shocked disbelief. He can't quite conceive the idea that Vriska is dead. She's god tier, wasn't she? She's supposed to be immortal unless her death is heroic or just, and even if she killed one of the other trolls, she felt bad about it so there was nothing just about killing her.

But... Dave had said by one of the others. The other trolls? So it wasn't Jack that had killed her... it wasn't even a heroic death? ]

What?

[Oh hell to the fucking no. YOU JUST SAID YOU KNEW, MAN. You knew so much of the story he'd had the slightest niggling of doubt that they'd really gone that long without telling him. Apparently not.

He shifts a little in his pile of shit, the only real sign of discomfort he shows, other than the slight dragged out silence]

She was gonna fight Jack, and get everyone else killed. Sounds just, right?

[A beat, and this is really the best he can do. It's a shame sure, but most of the upset he feels is on John's behalf and, it's not much] Sorry, man, I know you liked her.

[ He can't process this. He can't even begin to think about Vriska being dead. The good news is it doesn't occur to him to ask which troll did it right now as he tries to process the fact itself. ]

She's...

[ He can't even say it, but the way his expression crumbles says it all.

[He's not sure that John knowing would alter much of the situation here. There's a lot of people stopping him, if he opts to get a little cold revenge, and it's really not something Dave thinks he's capable of doing]

...Yeah.

[He has the niggling suspicion he should have let Rose handle this, before he drops a hand onto John's shoulder and looks away, fingers squeezing the tiniest fraction. Why is he so...Awkward at this? Comforting your best friend should be the most natural thing in the world, and there's no way he's doing the right things, and the things he is doing he can't do with any conviction. He is the worst :[]

[ John is trying ot look at Dave's face, even as Dave won't look at him, searching as though hoping to get some "haha just kidding, god you're fucking gullible, Egbert." But it's not happening. It's this weird, tense moment of silence and Dave is barely saying anything, and none of the trolls told him. Why did anyone say anything? He asked where Vriska was and everyone just got quiet. John thought it was weird, but he'd let it slide but...

The arm not on the side that Dave is squeezing reflexes reaches up, trying to rub under his glasses at the tears forming. This wasn't how he wanted his first meeting with Dave to go... ]

[Even if Dave was facing him, he wouldn't get it. And if John could derive enough of his tells through text alone, to on their first meeting to read something in his impassive expression, the kid would deserve a medal. He knows that too, but he can't bring himself to look. Not yet, not when he knows he put that expression there. He might not have killed her, but the callous addressing of he issue wasn't much better.

He doesn't say anything else. This isn't exactly how he wanted their first meeting to go, or any meeting at all, rather, and his fingers squeeze a little more ineffectually]

John.

[ It's not that John can't appreciate that Dave is trying. He can! He really can, because he knows that Dave didn't have any part of this if it was a troll thing, and he knows that even if Dave has time powers at this point it's not something he can just go back and fix. He gets it, but it doesn't make this easier to swallow.

He's shaking his head now. He wants to say something back, but he really doesn't know how well he can talk for a minute here. He's scrubbing his eyes, taking deep, slow breaths trying to reign it in. It's sort of working, he's not bawling his eyes out here but he's still crying. ]

[It's not something he would change, even if he could. Not if it means sacrificing everyone else. They need the numbers, even if he had been able to defeat Jack, they're still down some, and he's not their only concern. More likely, he'd have wiped them all out and it would be just them. Not exactly something he's about to volunteer, though.

Logically he knows John wasn't going to just stop crying because Dave was willfully wishing him to, or because he put his hand on his fucking shoulder. The whole way his body shifts is stiff, arm falling away so he can turn and scoot towards him more carefully. There's a second where he hesitates, before he puts one hand on the back of John's head, and the other loops stiffly around his shoulders and he tugs him forward, patting lightly.

He is the worst at hugs okay, it's not like he sat around three years practising ]

[ He's... pretty damn awful! But it's not like John doesn't appreciate it, and the closeness here is sort of a go ahead, a sign that Dave is trying to comfort him. So John doesn't think twice about wrapping his arms around Dave's chest and burying his face into his shoulder. And normally even for a guy like John this sort of behavior wouldn't exactly be acceptable but... maybe just this once he can be allowed an exception. After everyone he's lost, and everything he's had to go through, this was not a blow he was expecting to receive. ]

[Just this once, sure dude. Dave is even willing (going to prefer) to pretend this never happened. While it's not something he'd do, or do where anyone could see if he'd been pushed to it, he's not going to look down on John for reacting this way, or feeling it.

Even if glasses are the most uncomfortable thing digging into his shoulder right now, he's just going keep him in close, hand doing less of that idiotic patting and moving to rub circles on his upper back instead, fully intending to do this for as long as John needs him to]

[ It's not like John really has long grieving periods. In fact, this might be the first time in a long while he's really let out a good cry after all the shit that's happened to him, but he's... well! He's not really sure how to deal with this news. Because with Rose, he was able to bring her back, and with his dad he will hopefully be able to see him again now that they're on this new world, but he doesn't get to do that with Vriska.

If it helps though, at least John doesn't cry for crazy long amount of times, it doesn't take long for him to lift his head up and go back to trying to rub the tears away. He lets out a really forced laugh. ]

Wow, this is really uncool, isn't it?

[In ways, it surprises him that John hasn't cracked under the strain sooner. And it brings into stark relief, just one more way that John is more of a hero, a stronger, better person than he is. But he swallows that down, because it's not something he'd ever voice, and it's not the kind of thing that is important, in the face of everything else.

When he pulls back a little to rub at his tears, Dave will drop his hands to sit on his shoulders properly, adopting the slight smug air John is accustomed to, and burying the discomfort deep]

There's not much to expect out of you Egbert, when the train wings haven't even come off, and you're still attempting to doggy paddle across the pool and just going in circles.

[ Jeez, Dave can be a real douche sometimes! But oddly enough, that's okay. The fact that he's trying to act like everything is normal is... probably really good right now. It makes pretending easier for John too.

A few more swipes at this eye and a deep breath and he's forcing a smile back into place. It still hurts for sure! He's not happy right now, but... but they've got a lot to get accomplished soon, and he can't really think about all of this right now. ]

No way, I've definitely been doing laps.

[When John jumps on the distraction, Dave is relieved. If he's going to break down over this again, something that's inevitable, he's sure, especially if anyone else opts to bring it up once they find out he knows, at least it will be with someone more equipped.

Putting the goal, and pretending everything is normal first, is a much better move. So he pulls back his hands and resettles himself, amused]

Do we need to find the definition of laps in a dictionary for you?

[ It's not exactly easy right now, but it's easier than the alternative. IE standing here sobbing over something he can't fix. He wants to know what happens, but... but maybe after he's had some time to calm down so when he hears the story he doesn't have a breakdown or something. ]

I know what laps are, dude! I swim them around you all the time.

[ ... Burn? ]

[...He'll give him that. That was a pretty good comeback and it throws him off his feet for a second. There was a time, when John would never have been able to do it, not without a pause in the typing of his conversation.

But then, he's had his own Dave to play with for three years, to grow up with. And like Davesprite had likely felt before, now Dave's the one who feels on the outs]

Man, it doesn't count if you wake up at the end. But I'll give you half points for having enough dream swag to pull it off.

[ It's mostly because John just takes longer to type than Dave! Also taking a moment or two to actually type out punctuation probably makes a differences as well. Either way, John likes to think that he was always a witty rhetorician. Whether he actually was or not is another matter completely.

The constant banter with Dave hasn't hurt his quipping abilities, though he's probably rusty when it comes to the passive aggressive Rose-esk banter. ]

It counts extra if I pull it off like that! That's style and speed points.