PoV: Dave


Fuck.

Fuck no.

Dave barely even thought about it as he pulled up pesterchum on his shades, immediately scanning his contacts. For some reason…the trolls were missing. What…why…

He shook his head, fuck no, no, no time to think about this, later, he'd deal later. The only person on right now was Jade anyways.

— turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]—

TG: jade

TG: something is fucked up

TG: like extremely fucked up

TG: like its groundhog day except instead of reliving the same day over and over suddenly youre reliving the same year over and over or something

TG: except apparently you keep aging or something

TG: i dont fucking know i dont remember that movie at all

TG: you probably dont know about groundhog day

TG: do you even know what a groundhog looks like

TG: now that i think about it they look pretty stupid

TG: all this weird thick fur and tiny little eyes

TG: brb changing my fursona

TG: why do you think groundhogs control the seasons

TG: jade

TG: in all seriousness jade

TG: shit is fucked up

GG: hi dave!

GG: sorry about the wait

GG: whats wrong?

TG: fuck

TG: uh

TG: how do i explain this

TG: do you know like

TG: sburb

GG: ?

TG: the game

TG: whats your aspect

TG: classpect

TG: whatever it is

GG: what?

GG: dave…i am sooooo confused!

GG: what are you talking about?

GG: what game?

TG: fuck

TG: nm

GG: no i want to understand!

GG: what are you talking about dave?

TG: its nothing dont worry about it

TG: ill talk to you later

GG: dave?

— turntechGodhead [TG] is now an idle chum!—

GG: dave?

So apparently Jade didn't know anything at all. He could've asked her a little more thoroughly, but if she knew what he was talking about she would've just answered. There's no way she would've forgotten the game, right? What was happening?

Damn, he should've asked her how old she was. She looked sixteen in some of the pictures, but maybe he was thinking that just because he was used to seeing her at sixteen. The only difference was, well. The lack of dog ears. Which she should have, but didn't.

Could he even ask how old she was without signifying that something was up? Not that he didn't just already do that, but it would be hard to write off such a specific question. The Sburb stuff he could just say was a joke or something or just. Never talk about it again. Such a weird specific question though would be really weird to ask. He had to…had to figure out what exactly was going on here.

His eyes drifted back towards his relatively empty chumroll. Why were the trolls missing? He pulled up the 'add chum' window and typed out 'carcinoGeneticist', clicked 'Add' and…nothing. Nothing happened.

Okay. Breathe.

He clicked 'add chum' again. 'gallowsCalibrator'.

Nothing.

'grimAuxiliatrix'

Nothing.

His breath caught in his throat and he stood there, frozen in his room. Every second clicked like an eternity that he felt passing, but he still couldn't make himself move. He just…stood there.

What…what the fuck was he supposed to do? He hadn't…where was Karkat?! And the other trolls?! Where was Karkat?! And where was Dave?! And—oh fuck, oh fuck, he had forgotten where he was.

He swallowed, quickly turning himself around, taking a quick look around his room. His heart was beating in his ears as he examined every nook and cranny with careful eyes. His fingers curled into fists that trembled ever-so-slightly. (No, they didn't—he was fine)

Okay. The room was clear, his door was closed. But, that still didn't mean he was one-hundred percent out of the shit yet. He started towards his closet with slow and faltering steps, wary, already mentally reaching into his strife specibus for Caledfwlch. He reached out and opened the door and…nothing. No sudden attack. His eyes flicked up and down, but—he wasn't there. Not even a flash of a puppet or anything.

He turned back towards the entrance of his room, and that door was still closed too, so…okay. He should be in the clear. For now. Fuck. Okay. Everything was fine. He just didn't know when he was, didn't understand why Jade didn't remember anything, didn't know where the fuck the trolls were, didn't know where Karkat was, and, Bro was somewhere, probably, and—

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

Okay. Okay. Breathe. Fucking breathe.

He couldn't just…freaking out wasn't going to help. He just…had to do something. Survive. He should just treat this like it was the past, even though it wasn't, he could feel that it wasn't, but just. He should get his bearings. Figure out what the fuck is going on. Maybe someone else would be as weirdly displaced as him.

He shifted, looking back to the closet that was still open, not really seeing, just blinking at it as he thought, tick.

Okay. So his only points of real evidence on what was going on was, in order: Time feeling weird, being on Earth, his room clearly being different, the pictures on the wall, and the conversation with Jade. He was somehow in the past, but it wasn't the past. Even if he hadn't asked, he was pretty sure Jade was sixteen. He was definitely still sixteen (sixteen years four months thirteen days— no), and the pictures looked like the rest of his friends were too, so…they were all sixteen, somehow. And their guardians all looked young too, aside from John's dad who looked like he always did (guy probably was born looking like a dad). …Was he sure that this wasn't a dream bubble?

He just…he had no idea. Nothing fit together right, unless this whole universe was…different? Like a different timeline?

That didn't make sense either though, if this wasn't the new universe, and it wasn't his universe, how did he even get here? And if it was a different timeline, didn't that mean he was doomed? He would know if he was doomed, he was used to always following the thread of the alpha timeline. But…he didn't have any sense of foreboding, no internal clock telling him that he was losing time, nothing. Just…clicking.

So, he wasn't in a doomed timeline, and he couldn't be placed anywhere within his own timeline, but how could he have travelled between universes? He didn't even know that travelling between anything like that could be a thing—

He blinked, tock, suddenly placing himself back in the moment where he stood in the middle of his room, staring into his closet for no discernable reason. Or…wait.

His closet was different too. There were some clothes and some various junk, electronics and other stuff, but…there was a distinct lack of…

Food. There wasn't any food in here.

Not even a single bottle of apple juice. No wrappers or anything either, his whole stash was just…gone.

That…Bro hadn't done that before, not in Dave's own time.

He froze again, jaw clenching, the pressure of it making his teeth hurt with a dull ache, but it was the only way he could afford to outwardly project his thoughts. If he did anything else, said anything that could be noticed—he was probably watching, somewhere. Waiting for him to react. Or, he'd know how he reacted, so he couldn't.

His façade had started to crack during the three years on the meteor, where he had been safe and had slowly been able to learn how to project himself more. But, now he was slamming it all shut again, steeling his face into what was still an all too familiar mask. He pressed his lips together, physically forcing his fingers to uncurl and his stance to relax. Yet, at the same time, he had to be ready to respond to anything, his heart thumbing in his chest and thoughts running a mile a minute. But he couldn't look like that was the case.

Fuck this, fuck this, he fucking hated this.

He wanted to run away, wanted to fly right out the window, wanted to pull out his timetables and just time travel to get out of here, fuck making sure a loop went right, fuck the fact that he didn't want to use time travel ever again—fuck everything. But no. No, he wasn't going to do that. He couldn't do that. He had to learn what was actually going on, despite his misgivings. Despite the stone that sat heavy in his gut, hot with resentment and fear.

Fuck no. He was fine. This was fine. He could handle some weird shenanigans. This was nothing compared to the other shit the game put them through. All he had to do for now was continue gathering knowledge, maybe face a certain person he'd rather not see.

First step, actually leave his room. He wasn't going to learn anything else by hanging out in here. So…hold on. He probably shouldn't be wearing the god-tier stuff. If he was going to be seen by. Yeah. He should probably pull out some of his normal clothes. This outfit would look really weird if the game hadn't happened. Or. Something.

It was really strange to wear a normal t-shirt and pants again after so long. Strange to fold up the god-tier stuff and shove it under his pillow. He hadn't worn anything else in three years two months—gah. Okay though. He was changed. Time to get out there. Leave his room.

He wasn't sure how long he stood in front of his door before he finally opened it, stepping beyond the threshold towards the rest of the apartment.

It…was different.

Neater. For the most part, things seemed to be put in places where they belonged. Wires all taped up and against walls, just like how they were in his room. There was some actual furniture around too, not a single cinderblock in sight. The posters were different, just normal cool things, some weird robot stuff but also just some rappers. There was even a small one of Sweet Jeff and Hella Bro. And…

Wait.

…Where were the puppets?

Where the fuck were the puppets?!

There wasn't a single plush rump in sight. Not even a tip of one of their awful elongated noses. It was just…normal. They probably were all hoarded up somewhere, waiting to burst out of some container and rain him with puppet ass but, still, this…this was another thing that had never happened before. They had always been everywhere.

Dave kept walking, light on his feet, ready to jump or dodge in an instant when he finally reached the kitchen. And. Bro was in there. Just, standing there, a bowl of cereal sitting near him on the counter, a spoon in one hand and a book in the other. He didn't look up at Dave, but Dave knew that he knew he was there. There was no way he didn't.

Dave just. Stood there. He couldn't…he couldn't move.

Bro didn't do anything for several minutes. He just leaned on the counter, flipping the pages of his book as he occasionally shoveled cereal into his mouth. Then, once he had reached the bottom of the bowl and his spoon clattered against the glass (Dave winced), he closed his book. And then he saw Dave.

"Morning," he greeted, his voice…much more…pleasant than usual. He put the book down and gave Dave a little wave with that hand, "You don't usually sleep in."

That's because Bro usually woke him up if he did. 'Woke' being a nice way to say it. Dave didn't say anything.

Bro waited, and he could feel his eyes from behind the shades, focused on him. He forgot how this made him feel. Like he was an insect under a magnifying glass, slowly having his legs burned off, leaving him laying on concrete, just waiting for the fire to consume the rest of him.

"You okay?" Bro asked, frowning. Asking like he gave a shit.

Dave didn't trust his voice not to shake. So he just nodded, slowly, before stepping backwards, returning to his room. He didn't take his eyes off of Bro as he moved, didn't want to show him his back. Bro just kept frowning at him.

And he just…kept going. Back, back, and finally he reached his room again. He closed the door immediately behind him and just. Kinda. Stood there.

He wasn't sure how long it had been when a notification lit up from pesterchum on his shades.

— tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] —

TT: You gave Jade quite a scare, Strider.

TT: What exactly is going on with you?

TG: uhoh the doctor is in

TG: here to get your psychoanalysis on lalonde?

TG: welp

TT: Your diversion tactics through your usage of quips against my personal proclivity for the psychological field will not deter me, Strider.

TT: Seriously, Dave, Jade was really worried about whatever you were saying.

TT: As a friend, I am concerned as well. Please elucidate.

TG: nah its cool

TG: im fine rose

TT: Are you sure?

TG: yes

TT: Alright. If you change your mind, I'm always here. I'll even refrain from any Freudian-based comments.

TG: no way

TG: you are physically incapable of doing that

TT: Perhaps.

TT: I really just want to make sure you're alright, Dave.

TG: im *great*

TG: seriously im good

TG: gotta go lalonde

— turntechGodhead [TG] has ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] —


— tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG] —

TT: You are absolutely right.

TT: Something is very wrong.