Your name is JOHN EGBERT. You have a variety of INTERESTS, or at least, you used to. You’ve spent the last five years growing INCREASINGLY INTROVERTED, preferring to spend your time alone at home. “Preferring” is a bit of a loaded word, actually, but it’s the one you prefer to use. It’s easier than trying to explain the reason you really spend so much of your time alone at home. This assumes of course that you can even remember why anymore.
You check your MOBILE DEVICE and notice a number of unread messages. It seems you’re a POPULAR GUY and a COOL KID. Until you check them and notice the most recent messages are from at least 24 hours ago. You scroll back up to the top and start with the most recent. It seems your friend Dave was trying to reach you yesterday.
Jeez. If you didn't know any better you'd say he was INTERESTED IN YOU. You flip through a few of the other messages, skimming through them, paying even less attention than you did to the first. Dave, Jane, Roxy, Jade, wow even Karkat? You almost wonder what Karkat would have to say to you, but you figure it's probably nothing important. Nothing is ever really that important anymore.
What bothers you is that you can't remember why you didn't acknowledge any of these yesterday. Or much of anything else that happened yesterday. Really, you can't even seem to remember much of anything anymore. It's been five years since you and your friends "BEAT THE GAME" you were playing and CREATED a new UNIVERSE. Because that's what playing video games is all about. The last three of those years have been unusually blurry for you though, and the only thing you can really recall is how much of that time you spent COMPLETELY ALONE.
Wait. Five years?
Fuck, that's right.
Today is April the 10th, and your DAY OF BIRTH CELEBRATIONS, which most would call your BIRTHDAY, is only three days away. How did you forget your own birthday?
You return to your favorite INSTANT MESSAGING CLIENT, the one you and your friends prefer to use over text messaging for sentimental and somewhat practical reasons, and continue checking and ignoring your friends' messages. Though, you figure you should maybe let some of them know you read them. It might be nice to let them know you're actually still alive. Assuming you are, of course. You decide to check your pulse just to make sure, until you realize that you most likely are and didn't actually need to check. Boy, do you feel like an idiot sometimes.
Roxy's nice. But you're not sure you want to do any hanging out right now. Thankfully they're not currently online, so you can let them know you're still alive without having to actually talk to anyone. Success. You decide to keep skimming through, making sure to appear as if you're offline, so you don't have to talk to anybody who does happen to be online.
Excuse you?
How does she know about your nightmare? How does she know about you having nightmares at all? You don't have nightmares.
Well. Apart from that one you had last night. You don't remember much of it, but you remember seeing your sister Jade. Or, someone who looked like her. She had GREY HAIR and looked much older. She seemed to be threatening someone who looked familiar. You couldn't recognize her, but she looked almost like somebody you used to know, especially with her ARM missing. Actually, you swear you recognize her GLASSES from somewhere. They almost looked like yours.
But they couldn't be yours, and she couldn't be you, for you currently have your GLASSES, and you have both of your ARMS currently intact. Not to mention you're definitely not a girl.
You still don't really know how she knew about you having nightmares, or how she could see them four days in advance. You just assume it's some kind of Seer stuff.
No, wait. She didn't see it four days in advance. You had another one four days ago. That one was even more worrying. Maybe you should talk to her. She does seem to be online.
Oh boy. You have a DATE. You are extremely excited for the DATE.
No, it's not a DATE, you tell yourself. It's just two friends getting coffee and discussing their nightmares. You know. As Friends Do.
Of course, you will need to prepare for this TOTALLY NOT A DATE. You search your closet, only to find it empty. Of course it's empty, why did you check it in the first place? Ever since you reached god tier, your wardrobe has existed entirely in your mind. You need only think of an OUTFIT you have previously worn and it will be worn once again. You really can't believe how poor your memory has gotten lately.
After a quick shower, you don your typical casualwear - a blue hoodie with your aspect on it, paired with your old jeans. They are somewhat baggy, as is your hoodie. You prefer this to wearing clothes that might look "cooler", like a certain someone you knew once convinced you to wear. While those clothes might look "cooler" indeed, they don't hide certain aspects of your appearance as well. You don't think very highly of your appearance. Not that it's particularly bad, you merely don't think it suits you. It just feels "wrong" sometimes.
Just like that, you managed to lose track of time. You're starting to run late for your TOTALLY NOT A DATE.
Excuse me?
John, who's the narrator here? And who's the character in a story?
Fine.
You're starting to run late for your DEFINITELY NOT A DATE coffee time with Rose. You should probably get going.
You begin to wonder to yourself why Rose had to pick somewhere in the Carapace Kingdom. Not that it's particularly a long trip. You do have the windy thing after all. That thing you're currently doing. It feels quite nice sometimes, just being the wind. It's kind of relaxing. You don’t have to worry about direction. You don’t have to worry about speed. Getting lost. None of these things particularly matter when you’re the wind.
Which is good because you are currently lost. It may not be a particularly long trip to the Carapace Kingdom when doing the windy thing, but it sure is a confusing one. You feel like you should be more familiar with this place. Why aren’t you? It’s nice, there’s things to do, places to go, you have friends here, you should get to know this place better.
But then again, doing so requires leaving the house, and you really don’t do that very much anymore.
You spot a building with a few tables outside, and upon closer examination you notice your friend sitting at one. You thank Troll Jegus she’s wearing something fairly casual, so you don’t feel underdressed. You then question why you thanked Troll Jegus. Must be some kind of troll influence. You also contemplate why you’re thinking about things like Troll Jegus and whether you’re underdressed, before realizing you’re kind of just awkwardly floating about half a mile above the streets. Thankfully, there’s a CONVENIENT ALLEYWAY near the cafe you can land in, where hopefully some random carapacian won’t bother you. Not that you dislike them. You just don’t want to draw attention to yourself. You know. While wearing that inconceivably inconspicuous bright blue hoodie.
Turning the corner, you spot Rose, before also immediately spotting what looks like her home barely a block away. That’s convenient for her, but it’s deeply inconvenient for you. Why couldn’t she pick somewhere closer to your home? Not that you wanted to be closer to home particularly, just why somewhere close to hers and not yours? It sure doesn't seem fair to you, does it? Although, this does feel rather rude to bitch about, doesn't it? You decide that you won't say anything to her about it.
Rose looks up from her phone and notices you, a smile appearing on her face. She gets up from her table and makes her way towards you, bearing an early birthday gift in the form of a hug. As snarky as she may be sometimes, she’s still your best and oldest friend, and while it’s not particularly common, she does tend to show you how she truly feels more often than with others, even her own siblings.
Rose sits back down, and you go inside to order a drink. After an unusually difficult struggle with the overbearing menu options, you finally return and seat yourself across from her, holding your own warm, sugary, CAFFEINATED BEVERAGE. You hope it’s one you enjoy this time. The last time you ventured forth from your home for a CAFFEINATED BEVERAGE it was disgustingly sweet, though you don't recall what exactly it was.
She chuckles, swirling her drink around a bit.
That is a much more valid reason than you were expecting. Now you feel a little bad for assuming. Rose's smile assures you otherwise, though. You carefully sip your CAFFEINATED BEVERAGE, realizing you may have gotten one a bit too sugary for your tastes.
You casually glance around and notice almost none of the carapacians around you have even acknowledged your existence. Almost none, because of course there is always a child somewhere who is OBSESSED with her world's deific figures, as if they were characters in a PIECE OF CLASSIC MEDIA she was fixated on. Or perhaps not a child, but a young man somewhere who staunchly believes your story to be nothing more than myth, and believes you to be someone cosplaying as such a MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE. Though, why a human would be cosplaying a god in the middle of the Carapace Kingdom, especially one such as yourself who does not have the ties to it that your friend has, you don't know.
She looks at you, somewhat concerned, but...
Is that a giggle?
Is she laughing?
She can't help but burst out laughing after you call her out. You're not really sure why she found your nightmare so hilarious, though on second thought, you guess "are my fucking pantaloons ready" is a silly thing to hear in a nightmare.
You take another sip of the overly sugary CAFFEINATED BEVERAGE. You grimace at the overload of sugar, but acknowledge you probably need the caffeine right now. She moves her own drink out of the way, resting her arms on the table so she can lean in a little closer to you. You're not sure how this makes you feel.
Oh.
That's not what you were expecting.
You tense up a little bit.
She retreats back to her chair, as she was before, and takes another sip of her drink.
You both laugh, but something in your chest tightens, and you remember the last time you saw Rose near a mountain. Five years ago. Roxy holding her body as the life faded from her eyes and the blood poured out of her chest. Suddenly that's all you can see when you look at her.
And then it's gone. Barely a moment passes and you're back on Earth C. You are sitting at a cafe in the Carapace Kingdom holding a CAFFEINATED BEVERAGE and speaking to your oldest friend.
Seemingly sensing your sudden shift in demeanor, Rose gets up and walks around to your side of the table. You guess your INTERACTION WITH A FRIEND THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT A DATE is coming to a close, and follow her lead. She then reaches out to give you a hug, which you awkwardly accept, before growing more comfortable with it now that it's actually happening. This feels, nice? Is that how hugs are supposed to feel? You haven't really gotten any hugs in some time.
Yes, your other sister. The one you actually more frequently call your sister. You're not even sure why you said Jane, seeing as you two don't actually have that close of a relationship, and are more aptly described as FAMILIAL ACQUAINTANCES.
You hug one last time for good measure, and she begins to walk back to her loving hive and darling wife. You prepare to fade away into the wind and return to your own home, but the buzzing in your pocket is distracting. Why is your pocket buzzing?
Oh. That's right. Your MOBILE DEVICE is trying to let you know somebody is attempting to contact you. You pull it out with a moderately annoyed sigh, until you see the name that's been trying to reach you, at which point you frantically unlock your phone and check your favorite INSTANT MESSAGING CLIENT.
Well shit. That was sudden. Why didn't she have more time to talk? Oh well. You do as she says and check your text messages, only to be greeted by a blurry image of a jacket. What's so special about this? It's just a tattered, grey colored jacket with cerulean stains on it.
Cerulean stains.
On a tattered grey jacket.
It finally clicks in your head, and you suddenly feel worried.
You decide to just head back home, though. You're not really sure what all you could do to help, especially since your friend is somewhere far, far away right now.
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