== Be John Egbert
You are now John Egbert. Years ago you and your friends won a game concerning the universe through several shenanigans. After winning, the game your world was "rebooted" and false memories implanted into everyone who hadn't been a part of the game. You still chat with your troll buddies every once and a while, though you can't see them because of the different universes and whatnot, and you still have some of your god-tier power. Rose, Jade, and Dave all have some residual god tier power as well, but really its nothing compared to your old abilities. You were all 17 when you returned to earth, and it has been two years since. You all had to go your separate ways when you returned of course, but you all kept in close contact.
Readjusting had been difficult, not to say you were completely adjusted. You weren't. In class you would occasionally have gotten doze off or been startled, and every instinct in your body told you that it was Jack Noir or the Black Queen or some other monster from the game come to kill you. And the nightmares. You couldn't stand them. Every night it was faces of Dave, Jade, and Rose as they died while you were unable to help. Or it was you being killed again and again. You would always jerk awake and instantly get on your computer, praying that someone was on pesterchum. The nights where they weren't you stayed awake, curled up on your bed, trying to let the memories pass you by. When Dave was on (he was usually the only one) he talked about how once you both were done with senior years you would go to collage together to calm you down. He would tell you about how he would take a graphic design as his major and how you would take your "derptastic film studies class for people without taste". You two would spend an hour talking about how great it would be to be able to see each other every day, and somehow you ended up calm. Then you would say your goodnights and sign off. After one of those conversations you usually slept dreamlessly, which all things considered was a blessing. On weekends the two of you would spend hours going over colleges and writing essays together via chat (though half the time you just ended up goofing off).
But all of that was behind you now because you were on a plane to Texas and your new school.
You and Dave had both somehow managed to get into the same liberal arts college in Texas and were luckily roommates. (Pfft luck had nothing to do with it. You had asked Rose to use her seer ability to tell you how to get chosen as roommates. She couldn't see all roads in the future anymore, but could tell you how the college was going to choose who to pair up.) Rose had gone to an all girls college in Maine as, of course, a psych major and Jade had gone to Pennsylvania to study biology (also to be more safe about her ears and tail, which she had retained from the game and had a tendency to pop out when she got too exited, which was often). Both girls had been extremely upset to hear that you two would be so far away from them, but had adamantly promised that if you ever needed anything they would be on the first plane over. But moving on.
You were currently staring out of the window of the plane, observing the reddening terrain below. The speaker came on abruptly, and the captain announced that the plane would be arriving in Huston in approximately 15 minutes. Your palms became sweaty. Even though you and Dave had seen each other in the Game, this felt different. Not only were you going to be seeing each other for the first time in a non-life threating situation, but also it had been two years since then. He might look different, and you know you did. In the past two years your hair had become even messier than before, and you had gotten braces on and off. Your teeth were aligned better, though you still had your stupid buckteeth. Ugh. You still had your glasses and your ghost slime shirts, but you had gotten taller. You had no idea what could have changed with Dave since you two last saw each other.
You watched as a city became clear beneath the plane. People became visible, first looking like ants, and then slowly becoming more distinct. Then finally the plane reached the airport. The first thing you noticed about Texas was the HEAT. You had come prepared in a t-shirt and cargo shorts, but you realized as you stepped into the terminal that it was going to take a lot of getting used to. You hefted your carryon bag up over one of your shoulders, and made your way down to baggage claim. Your dad had sent you with plenty of money for school supplies and food and whatnot, so you only had a few bags. That didn't stop them from being ridiculously heavy. You somehow managed to lug two of them off of the conveyer belt without incident, but on the third and final bag you somehow managed to trip over your shoes. You lost your balance and toppled back, knocking into your other two bags, which fell over. You landed with a thump on your back, painfully jabbed in the spine by a corner of one of your bags, and the one you had been trying to carry crashed on top of you. Your breath was instantly knocked out of you, and you felt one of your ribs crack in protest. Your mind went blank with embarrassment, pain, and fear. You probably would have ended up squashed beneath the pile, but suddenly the bag was lifted off of you. You sucked in a well-needed breath, wincing at the pain in your ribs.
"Damn bro. And here I foolishly thought you might have grown out of being a derp in our time apart."
If you had dog-ears like Jade, they would have perked up. You knew that voice, even if you hadn't heard it in two years. You frantically looked around to try to find the source.
"Haha do I really look THAT different? Should I go put on some pajamas so you can recognize me?"
Your head snapped up, and you saw him standing above you with your bag tossed over his shoulder like it weighed nothing. He HAD changed. He was at least a foot taller now, and wearing a red hoodie mangled with scissor cuts. The sleeves were cut off to the shoulders, and the collar had been cut down to let in air. You assumed this was to make up for the fact that he was wearing black skinny jeans and red converse in this awful weather. And of course the shades were on his face.
Dave Strider was true to his habits.
"Dave!"
You jumped up, ignoring your bruises, and tackled him with a hug. You heard the bag thump as it hit the ground beside you, and then felt Dave's annoyingly strong arms return the hug.
"And here I thought you had forgotten me." He said, and you noted that his voice had only barely gotten deeper in the two years. It almost made up for his stupid amount of new muscle. Almost.
You let him out of the bear hug.
"Of course not! How could I forget my best friend?" you replied giddily.
"True, true. How could you forget someone as awesome as me right?"
You slugged him in the shoulder.
"Daaaaavee."
He laughed.
"Damn Egbert, already with the domestic violence? We haven't even moved in together yet!" he said faking hurt and raising his voice at the end so that the people around you two could hear, and give you odd stares or glares.
You could feel your cheeks burning.
"DAVE! OHMYGODSTOPPIT!" you shrieked, banging your fists on his arm (not enough to actually hurt him mind you).
"Fine fine. Don't get your panties in a twist Egderp." He said smirking.
You fumed silently as your face continued to burn.
"Oh come on stop being like that. Lets get your shit in the car. Or would you rather fall over it a few more times first?"
You opened your mouth to protest, but Dave was already throwing your duffle over his shoulder again, and grabbing the handle of one of your other bags. You shut your mouth with a scowl at Dave, who just smirked at you, and grabbed your last bag, chasing him out the door.
