When you wake up, you sort of expect to wake up in the back of a taxi or an ambulance, maybe even just the backroom of Derse. You didn't really expect to wake up in your own bed, in your and John's dorm room, with him sleeping against the foot of your bed in some sort of cocoon. Is this legal? You just don't know. Any second, the kawaii police (it's probably just your brother) will burst through the door and try to take him to cute jail. You would defend him in court, of course.
And of course, your headache has not gone away. In fact it is worse than before. So you just sort of lay there for a while, going between "I need to move" and "what the fuck is movement? Moving is for losers." But apparently you are a loser, because you sigh and sit up regardless. Looking to your right, you see, holy hell, a glass of water and painkillers. John must have left them out, especially considering there is a post it note on the glass and box of pills. One saying "DRINK ME :B" and the other "EAT ME ;)" referring to Alice in Wonderland. A movie reference and a cocoon de Egbert at the foot of your bed tells you John brought you home and laid these out for you, and apparently didn't make it to his own bed, or, the much better-in your opinion- option, he was so worried about you he wanted to stay by your side. Yep, you like that better. "John cares about me" beats "drunk asshole couldn't find his bed" any day.
You do as his (too bright a blue, though everything is too bright) notes tell you. You drink the water, and take the pills. Of course you managed to pop two out no problem, and didn't spend a whole minute or so trying to pierce the foil with your nails because you couldn't get it to push out. Nope. You got it in one. Yep. (It's a filthy lie. You almost cry out in frustration at the foil and plastic packaging.)
After ten or twenty minutes of you laying on your back trying to make the pain go away, it actually recedes a lot. Enough so for your powers to be back in action. Though with their use comes a bit of the pain, coming back as if to say "Bet you thought you saw the last of ME!" and infuriation finds its way to you. You decide to see if John is dreaming. You haven't done that in a while, not since the wet dream incident. You've tried to respect your bounds and his privacy but it is in your nature to be a nosy prick apparently.
He isn't dreaming about anything too bad, so you allow it to play though your own mind. It's an intriguing and abstract dream, and Rose would love to pick out the many deep meanings and symbolisms that even you can see.
John is sitting on a cloud. Playing chess. His opponent is rather terrifying. Green skin, golden fangs and eyes a much more feral red than your own. His mouth is set in a constant grin, not to say he's happy, at least not in the sense you would enjoy. His clothes are torn and bloody, so you would guess that he is the type of guy to kill and man with a grin on his face, in fact it looks like he has. John is looking worried. He himself is in blue PJ's, with a strange long hood billowing behind him on the cloud. He chews his lip in nervousness, you know this to be a habit you have but John doesn't. At least, not to the same extent. When you get to look closer, you realise the chess pieces aren't normal chess pieces.
They're people.
At least, Johns are. Most of his opponents are demonic creatures of darkness and fear, you also spot Vriska on his side of the board. On John's side, you see yourself, a knight piece close to the king, John. Rose and Jade are also on the board, and Johns mind also clearly sees Aradia, Feferi, Sollux and Kanaya. The rest just blur together. As this game follows dream logic, and John apparently knows fuck-all about the way chess works, the players are just moving their pieces where they like, and taking them if they're close enough.
John loses Aradia first.
He moves her to try and take one of his opponents pieces, a strange man with a cue ball for a head, and this piece, and you cannot fucking believe this bullshit, moves and engages in combat with the Aradia piece, which has also come to life. Unfortunately she loses, and her piece is taken. Disturbingly, when she arrives at John's opponent's side, beside the board itself, her piece is bloody and well and truly dead, despite this being a chess game and her not shedding blood on the board. John makes a worried noise in the back of his throat, and despite this being a dream, you hope his opponent didn't hear.
Said opponent moves Vriska from her place and towards the middle of the board. You suppose this game has rules dictated by John's subconscious that were not explained to himself and therefore you, he just knows how to play because it's his dream.
In response, you notice John's hand linger over your piece a little longer than necessary. His opponent very clearly sees and laughs at him. you were about to go and give him a piece of your mind, but then remembered you're lying on your bed, tuning in to John's dream as he dreams it. Gotta keep yourself grounded, Strider.
John makes a decision, or rather, dream John does. He moves your piece in front of his, and you take out your sword in preparation for any chess piece that challenges you. You seem to be decked out in actual Knightly attire, and you gotta say you look damn fine. And terrifying. So determined and focused, a well jaded warrior in comparison with reality.
Vriska is now entering your side of the board, and it makes you nervous even though you can feel your body drifting in rest in your dorm, and not on this cloudy world. The game reminds you of "Wizarding chess" from the first Harry Potter movie, where the pieces fight and die and live just to play again.
Someone stop this guy's movie intake. First Alice in Wonderland, now this?
The Vriska piece is grinning at John, and you know it must have come from his memories. How he wanted to date someone with a grin that terrifying is beyond you. Your piece holds his ground at her approach, and you see John move Jade closer to Rose on the board, as if he just wanted to waste a turn.
John's opponent moves Vriska directly in front of your piece, but there is still space between your piece and hers, so she can't try to take you yet. You see Dream John panic at this, as if you are actually a valued piece of this chessboard. You suppose you are, as you are the only piece between John, the king, and Vriska, who has ample opportunity to take his piece and win if you are lost and John fails to defend himself. Your piece lifts his sword, it's quite heart-warming, seeing you set and determined to protect John, seeing you look so in your own element.
Now is the move. You wonder what Johns mind will decide to do.
You don't get to find out, as you're sudden sling-shot into your own head, blinking your eyes against the light from the windows of your dorm. John's awake.
"Dave? Where you peaking on my dreams again!" his words hold no actual malice, in fact, he's smiling at you. "Guilty as charged. Sorry." He shakes his head then, and finally unravels himself from his cocoon. "It's fine. I'd probably be the same. It was a pretty weird dream though. I wonder what I was going to play?" he says, stretching out his back and shoulder. You shrug at him when you know he can see you. "It's a mystery. It was a cool dream though. Kinda like wizarding chess," you tell him. It has you smiling before you think about it consciously with the way his eyes light up when you make this comparison.
"Yes! It was like that. It's probably where I got it from. We should watch those movies later, have a little marathon!" you respond passively and he grins, knowing you're used to the spontaneous movie marathons just as you are used to the many planned ones.
But you know as well as John that this marathon wouldn't start until later on. If your gay-ass is lucky, you'll be cuddled in a nest of blankets, pillows, and duvets, with a hot drink, maybe even some food. That's how your movie marathons usually go.
Anyway, back to reality rather than this hypothetical marathon of wizard movies. (You should invite Rose and Jade, Rose would be heartbroken if you watched wizard movies without her, you're sure.)
John has de-cocooned. He's going on about all of the amazing relaxation you're both going to do after you get some groceries and before (and during, John assures) this Harry Potter marathon he has decided to have with you and probably Rose and Jade. He also thanks you for everything on his birthday. This leads you to shoot from your bed, directly to your wardrobe where you skilfully hid things because yes, the cylindrical wrapped present is still there, because you had forgotten to give it to him.
Well, you passed out in the club but whatever.
You pull it out, and try to keep it behind your back, but it isn't very successful as he sees you and it snags on your clothes.
"What's this Dave?" he asks you, and you curse yourself in your embarrassment for trying to hide it in the first place. Curse Nicholas Cage and all of the printers that made posters of his face.
"I forgot to give this to you before I collapsed. Banter though, am I right? Collapsing in a club. Wow. Anyway. I got this for your birthday." You hand it to him, and he looks at you in a way that is simply "unamused." And says to you; "Dave it was not banter, I worried for your health and had to drag your ass home." You cough. "Fair enough."
He breaks out in a grin though, and you smile with him. "Thank you though," he finishes with, before opening the package. He sees it as a poster, and gets excited, as he begins unravelling it.
Your face contorts with shock and mild pain as John emits a piercing screech and launches himself in your general direction. A flooding of thank yous' coming your way. He squeezes you so hard it hurts, but you make no move other than returning the embrace. The poster brushes against your hair and back as it's unravelled. You don't begrudge yourself the smile on your face as you (uncomfortably, though you don't care) nuzzle your face into John's shoulder. Damn, this guy's broad as hell. Well, you knew that already, but now you're feeling it which sets your homo-heart a flutter.
You class it as a success.
Your name is Vriska Serket. Your target is seriously pissing you off. She keeps moving far too quickly, always a step ahead. You don't know how she manages to travel or sustain herself like this, considering how long she's been doing this, she is bound to be out of cash by now.
Your deep-seated hatred for your family members has not stopped you from trailing your target. It gives you something to do, after all. A place to start. You feel as if you have transcended rage. You're indifferent to them, now. It's been months of solitary travelling, reviewing the past, all your successes and failures during your many sleepless nights. The anger has simmered under the surface of your skin for weeks on end. You're done being angry. You're getting ready to win. Bursting at the seams for success and you don't give a shit what happens to your family by the end of it all. You plan to eradicate your target, the one Aranea failed to capture. But you feel yourself filling with frustration just thinking about her avoidance of capture. You've travelled across the country and still she evades you. You've travelled through Wyoming, Texas, North Carolina, Maine, Michigan, god you can't even remember. She seems to be preparing to go in a circle, but you can't be sure. From what you can tell, she's travelled back to campus a couple of times by plane, where she started, a couple of times with no rhyme or reason, so you can't meet her there because you are unsure if she plans to return. And you only know she did that because you manipulated a member of airport staff when you sensed her psychic energy moving far away from you, too far away to be sensed, but it was too late to catch up, and you had to turn around when you realised she'd gotten another plane somewhere eels entirely. If she does attempt to complete a circle back to John's campus, however, you may just go back to the campus to meet her.
You teeter on the edge of indecision and frustration.
You're getting really fucking sick of that.
And so. Another chapter. My laptops been broken, so ive been doing things that pink haired hooligans do, I got a nose piercing, actually tried to do my school work. Good times. But I am back now! And so we have another chapter. Also Idk what im doing with Vriska tbh like she's just so salty I can't stress that enough, seriously.