God only knows what I'd be without you―
I many not always love you,
but long as there are stars above you,
you never need to doubt it,
I'll make you so sure about it.

Blood spills onto the stone beneath your feet. It's an eerie scene. Everything is doused in green, there's a maniacal killer on the loose. And Bro's not there to help you anymore.

You two did everything together. Built forts out of turntables and cinder blocks, shopped around for shades, and pigged out on junk food, to name a few things. He was practically your dad, though you taught him just as much as he taught you. You can't imagine what he didn't know already, though. You always looked up to him. He was like some sort of party god― he could keep taking care of you and teaching you how to strife and restocking the kitchen for days on end without any sleep. You always thought he was immortal, that he'd always be there.

You look over his body, stoic as ever. He knew this was coming. He prepared the fuck out of you for this. You almost knew this was coming. Hell, you knew it was coming, but you never expected it to go down like this or happen so soon. This only makes you wonder how he knew, and if something like this happened before, and if it will happen again.

A memory stirs. You see a kid, in his room. He looks like Bro, down to the shades at least. No hat. Black shirt with an orange hat on it. A sweet tattoo on his right arm. You're suddenly there with him. You glance around the room. Something that looks like a microwave. No turntables. It looks like your room, but... different.

The kid turns around and the memory shatters. You start to think of simpler times, before Bro started to teach you not to be so attached. You can faintly remember learning to walk, and running after him around the apartment after you got the hang of it. He'd always pick you up and carry you under his shoulder, going about his business. He'd put you down in the crib in his room and tuck you in for nap time, then sit at the computer for a while. You'd close your eyes, then he'd be back, picking you up and making sure you ate a snack or something, then you'd play with him some more.

He teared up when you recognized him by name. He told you once. You followed him around the place for days, calling his name whenever he'd do something, or whenever you wanted his attention, or whenever you were bored.

He never forced anything on you. He let you explore, and didn't restrict you from anything when you were crawling around, either. He let you play with the stereo, the computer, the turntables... any damage you did he could fix in a day's worth of work, anyway. He was ecstatic when you started taking a liking to the turntables, and always bought your music, even though you could give it to him for free and often insisted. You could never get him to accept it.

The memory stirs again. You see that kid, and now he's holding the microwave. He's looking at it intently. He's... putting his head inside? He falls over and it takes you a second to realize what's happened. Holy fuck, you think. If that was Bro, then... he'd know that death is no obstacle when it comes to doing your duty.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see Davesprite. He's in shambles, sobbing at Bro's feet. Suddenly, your legs give out and you're on the ground next to the both of them, trying to breathe. The colors are making your head spin, and it's all too much all at once. Your mind spirals into the void. Alternate timelines spin out of control in front of your eyes. Everything that you and your bro were, everything that you weren't, everything you could have been... it's all right there. And those timelines are as infinite as the stars.

You begin to wonder if this is what Jadesprite saw after she was prototyped with Bec. No doubt it was similar. There's a whole eternity staring back at you, watching you, almost. And you're watching back. With less force, no doubt, but you're so overpowered that you can't possibly see everything all at once, and you're no Becquerel. This is no walk in the park for you. This is draining. When you see it, you welcome the darkness.

You hear a faint pinging in the darkness. Slowly, it gets louder, until you come to.

Pesterchum. Figures.

It's Terezi. You reply to her. Before long, she begins to ask.

GC: D1D YOU LOV3 HIM, D4VE?

You think about this one. In a way, yes. He was your brother, and in that is a bond that cannot be broken or shared by any other in any of your timelines. In other ways, yes. He was your guardian. He kept you out of trouble, made sure you grew up right. And, if you do say so yourself, you turned out pretty rad. But he taught you not to love him. He was merely a tool in helping you grow and learn. He taught you that he was not a guardian. He taught you that he was not your brother. He taught you how to survive and function without him.

TG: no