[Listen, he might've taken advantage of one or two of those 8 hour dead to the world sessions to get himself killed. The motive behind that was voluntary, but the death... well, yeah, that was pretty involuntary. But he wanted to find out more about the dilemma they were in. He wanted to rebel against the whims of fate- push something in order to break it from going the direction it was always meant to go forward from. If he could find one... just one way to change the events, that meant progress, right?
Ryuji is a little more educated about the bullshit of time mechanics than other people are, considering who he's dating, and they've had talks about it at highly crucial points in their relationship. That also doesn't stop him from abandoning his sense of self-preservation in open defiance of it.
And that's where his head is at when he feels Dave wake up. He's excited; it means that he won't have to go through a loop without catching really... much more than a glimpse of him. These spots of time between two goalposts reminds him of how much he can't really stand being away from Dave that long any more. An entire loop is like an entire life, and he's not around for it... Yeah, it goes in a dark place, at least a little bit. But it's still true.
When 2pm hits, and the other slides into the seat next to him as easily as Dave slides into his DM's with the most random shit, Ryuji has to take a double take for a second. Up until now, he's always felt Dave approaching with a sort of true north feeling inside him as he draws near. This time is a little different, a little less weighed down by everything that's going on, and Ryuji flashes a warm, and slightly goofy smile.]
Hey good lookin'. [He brightens up even more-] Question. You ever think we developed morning wood as a part of evolution to stop us from rollin' off cliffs?
[— yeah, okay, despite himself, and despite the weird off-kilter zen thing Dave's got going on at the moment, he just. dissolves into laughter. if there's one thing he can always count on with Ryuji, it's his uncanny ability to make things weird.]
[that's just another point on the list of reasons why Dave loves him.]
[The sound of that laughter alone is one of Ryuji's many reasons, and despite the fact that they're in time hell right now, Ryuji finds himself smirking, all too proud of himself for something that he shouldn't even kind of be proud about.]
I'm diggin' this, uh. Whatever you have goin' on right now. Did you shave or something?
[Ah, the unfortunate reality that Ryuji will never be able to grow a majestic beard.
Not sure if Dave can either, depending on how full on twink he's doomed to be for the rest of eternity.
[that entirely depends on how you feel like headcanoning the actual grown man Dave Strider — who, in many interpretations, was capable of growing some stubble.]
[he thinks he gets where Ryuji's going with that question that wanders off to the subject of facial hair, then rounds back to presumably the general mood of the connection between them.]
[he leans forward, chin rested on his arms. see the icon.]
Yeah. [perfectly smooth chin over here, dude.]
[but also.]
Somethin' else, too. I finally figured out how to find what's-her-time-goddess.
[As Dave leans in like that to look at him, sure, it might be over a year of them dating and it might be that Ryuji is head over heels for this boy but it doesn't stop him from feeling his face rush to red as he covers his mouth and looks away.
And it's understandable that Dave wants to talk about something really important, but it's so fucking easy to fluster him without even trying very hard, and he literally...
[bro, he didn't even do the back pocket thing this time! also sorry, but he can't help but preen over this power he has, and otherwise be a cocky little shit about that reaction. like throwing stones in a glass house, like he wouldn't be doing the same thing if the roles were reversed.]
Yeah, again. [lol. he won't tease Ryuji forever, though; he does actually want to talk.]
You good to rap a bit about it, or you need a minute?
He couldn't complain about being egged on at this point, because he's pretty sure if any of that landed on his face there'd be an omelet, so give him a moment to compose himself. You know, there was definitely a time where showing this side of himself would've been met with frustration and yelling abrasively, but whatever. He's happy with who he is now.
That doesn't mean that Dave isn't an asshole, Ryuji's just opting to take the high road, here.
Or something like that, sure.]
I... uhhh. [Open mouth and all.
No, wait, he was prepared to move on, but shit.]
Can't rap that well but y'know if you ever need'ta have a backup beatboxer I'm here. What happened? You found your time lady?
[how badly would he derail this train of thought if he scooted over and leaned against Ryuji, exactly? there's a pause, as he ponders that, then consciously shovels more coal in the engine, while unconsciously entertaining that first idea. with the smallest, most subtle of scoots.]
Mm. [the cockiness, at least that particular flavor, fades. it's back to that odd sort of calm, the sort where he can't quite place how he's supposed to be feeling.]
Thinkin' back on it, I'm not sure if found's the right word. More like ... I dunno. Maybe I blurted out something relateable in the mess of complaints I was busy itemizing in front of her shrine.
She threw a ball of cosmic yarn in my face. [.......] But she told me some other shit, too.
[Oh wait... he didn't actually think that Dave had really talked to a goddess, which kind of calls back to the entirety of their bird-human relation they had going on by the gravesite that was passing itself off as some sort of shrine.
Even as Dave starts to stoke the fires a little bit more, the fact that this seems... really goddamn important overrides the usual teenage hormones that are constantly affronting his better sense of judgment. So he'll casually drape an arm where he can and invite him right on in in their usual gait of intimacy.]
You totally muttered your way into meeting god, huh.
[He's not that surprised!]
Wait, like literal ball of yarn or like.
[He has to stretch his memory a bit, and suddenly it makes sense.]
[and just like that, Ryuji's given him an opening, and Dave has near instantly jumped on it, scooting into the one spot where he feels genuinely safe amid all the time bubble, Groundhog Day, Majora's Mask, and who knows what else, bullshit.]
[you give a stealth affectionate guy an inch, he's guaranteed to take a marathon. comfortably, he tucks himself into a familiar spot. it's hard to imagine that nearly a year and a half ago on another universe, this exact same gesture was enough to send Dave into confused and flustered rambling at himself, once he was alone, until he eventually just acknowledged his feelings for Ryuji.]
[and his feelings for this spot.]
Yeah. I didn't even think about it that way 'til you just said it, but I do kinda have a history with taking craft projects to the face, huh?
[he's kind of curious now. is he just. going to pass out every time someone yeets a yarn in his direction? Dave reaches into his BIAS kit and pulls out a bright red sample of the stuff, and sets that hypothesis right there on the table. like he's almost wondering if they should try it. just pull out the science fair board and get that experiment going.]
But it was pretty much a ball of yarn — she was using it to knit together our fates. All of Faerun's. [a bit anxious now, he prods at the yarn, slowly unrolling it.]
She said a bunch of time philosophy we've hashed out before. Y'know, we're on this track because it's where we were always meant to be, we exist and are able to make something of ourselves, which is a gift in itself, Jesus cheats at poker — [that's not what Istus said, Dave.]
Something else she said's been bugging me, though. She said ... yeah, Dave, you've got stuff and people you can't stand to lose, but isn't that what makes them special? Like, how would you know they mean anything to you if losing them wasn't part of the design?
I mean, I get it. The way she put all this stuff was the most sense anybody's made out of what I can only boil down as "dumb fucking time god bullshit," and I think I'm ultimately better off for hearing it.
That's just. The one thing I don't know if I'll ever fully accept, you know?
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no subject
Ryuji is a little more educated about the bullshit of time mechanics than other people are, considering who he's dating, and they've had talks about it at highly crucial points in their relationship. That also doesn't stop him from abandoning his sense of self-preservation in open defiance of it.
And that's where his head is at when he feels Dave wake up. He's excited; it means that he won't have to go through a loop without catching really... much more than a glimpse of him. These spots of time between two goalposts reminds him of how much he can't really stand being away from Dave that long any more. An entire loop is like an entire life, and he's not around for it... Yeah, it goes in a dark place, at least a little bit. But it's still true.
When 2pm hits, and the other slides into the seat next to him as easily as Dave slides into his DM's with the most random shit, Ryuji has to take a double take for a second. Up until now, he's always felt Dave approaching with a sort of true north feeling inside him as he draws near. This time is a little different, a little less weighed down by everything that's going on, and Ryuji flashes a warm, and slightly goofy smile.]
Hey good lookin'. [He brightens up even more-] Question. You ever think we developed morning wood as a part of evolution to stop us from rollin' off cliffs?
[
....
yeah.]
no subject
Dude, have you been bonin' up on the solved grand mysteries of life books over at Hogwarts? [Dave!!!]
no subject
Shit, man, when you only got pictures in these tame ass books to go by, you do what you gotta do.
["Porntube should have a Dewey decimal system"
-Ryuji Sakamoto, 1511.]
no subject
[that's just another point on the list of reasons why Dave loves him.]
no subject
I'm diggin' this, uh. Whatever you have goin' on right now. Did you shave or something?
[Ah, the unfortunate reality that Ryuji will never be able to grow a majestic beard.
Not sure if Dave can either, depending on how full on twink he's doomed to be for the rest of eternity.
Sorry for the dunk.]
no subject
[also, for your consideration..]
[he thinks he gets where Ryuji's going with that question that wanders off to the subject of facial hair, then rounds back to presumably the general mood of the connection between them.]
[he leans forward, chin rested on his arms. see the icon.]
Yeah. [perfectly smooth chin over here, dude.]
[but also.]
Somethin' else, too. I finally figured out how to find what's-her-time-goddess.
no subject
And it's understandable that Dave wants to talk about something really important, but it's so fucking easy to fluster him without even trying very hard, and he literally...
can't even look at him.
This is awful.]
Er.... ye...ah?
no subject
Yeah, again. [lol. he won't tease Ryuji forever, though; he does actually want to talk.]
You good to rap a bit about it, or you need a minute?
no subject
He couldn't complain about being egged on at this point, because he's pretty sure if any of that landed on his face there'd be an omelet, so give him a moment to compose himself. You know, there was definitely a time where showing this side of himself would've been met with frustration and yelling abrasively, but whatever. He's happy with who he is now.
That doesn't mean that Dave isn't an asshole, Ryuji's just opting to take the high road, here.
Or something like that, sure.]
I... uhhh. [Open mouth and all.
No, wait, he was prepared to move on, but shit.]
Can't rap that well but y'know if you ever need'ta have a backup beatboxer I'm here. What happened? You found your time lady?
no subject
Mm. [the cockiness, at least that particular flavor, fades. it's back to that odd sort of calm, the sort where he can't quite place how he's supposed to be feeling.]
Thinkin' back on it, I'm not sure if found's the right word. More like ... I dunno. Maybe I blurted out something relateable in the mess of complaints I was busy itemizing in front of her shrine.
She threw a ball of cosmic yarn in my face. [.......] But she told me some other shit, too.
no subject
Even as Dave starts to stoke the fires a little bit more, the fact that this seems... really goddamn important overrides the usual teenage hormones that are constantly affronting his better sense of judgment. So he'll casually drape an arm where he can and invite him right on in in their usual gait of intimacy.]
You totally muttered your way into meeting god, huh.
[He's not that surprised!]
Wait, like literal ball of yarn or like.
[He has to stretch his memory a bit, and suddenly it makes sense.]
That's why you were asleep for an entire loop.
[It becomes crystal clear, suddenly.]
What'd she tell ya?
no subject
[you give a stealth affectionate guy an inch, he's guaranteed to take a marathon. comfortably, he tucks himself into a familiar spot. it's hard to imagine that nearly a year and a half ago on another universe, this exact same gesture was enough to send Dave into confused and flustered rambling at himself, once he was alone, until he eventually just acknowledged his feelings for Ryuji.]
[and his feelings for this spot.]
Yeah. I didn't even think about it that way 'til you just said it, but I do kinda have a history with taking craft projects to the face, huh?
[he's kind of curious now. is he just. going to pass out every time someone yeets a yarn in his direction? Dave reaches into his BIAS kit and pulls out a bright red sample of the stuff, and sets that hypothesis right there on the table. like he's almost wondering if they should try it. just pull out the science fair board and get that experiment going.]
But it was pretty much a ball of yarn — she was using it to knit together our fates. All of Faerun's. [a bit anxious now, he prods at the yarn, slowly unrolling it.]
She said a bunch of time philosophy we've hashed out before. Y'know, we're on this track because it's where we were always meant to be, we exist and are able to make something of ourselves, which is a gift in itself, Jesus cheats at poker — [that's not what Istus said, Dave.]
Something else she said's been bugging me, though. She said ... yeah, Dave, you've got stuff and people you can't stand to lose, but isn't that what makes them special? Like, how would you know they mean anything to you if losing them wasn't part of the design?
I mean, I get it. The way she put all this stuff was the most sense anybody's made out of what I can only boil down as "dumb fucking time god bullshit," and I think I'm ultimately better off for hearing it.
That's just. The one thing I don't know if I'll ever fully accept, you know?