[he'd promised he'd wait — so, that's what he's been doing.]
[as hard as it's actually been to do that, standing around in silence and unseen, watching the rest of the (still visible) people of the space station suffer through the pain of waiting, too, running the time loops he'd planned out in his head over and over again, wondering which door he'd try to break down first to get some goddamn answers — maybe confirm if the virus had taken the crew before them, too.]
[and there's a moment where he can't take it anymore, promises or not, because Dave isn't the sort of person who can stand around and not do something if he has some path forward. and there's a moment where he's about to do something that, on board this space station, has no outcome but a terrible one — but then, suddenly, it happens. he can see his hands again. his body comes back in patches, seemingly running down major arteries to the tips of his fingers then back again through the veins.]
[he finds the strength to wait a little while longer, to see if he really is recovering. he waits to see if the people in his immediate vicinity are, too. and then he's moving, checking Ryuji's usual haunts to see if he can find him. where the hell are you, bro?]
[because, he'd promised he'd wait. and it's sort of looking like he no longer has to.]
after the infection
[as hard as it's actually been to do that, standing around in silence and unseen, watching the rest of the (still visible) people of the space station suffer through the pain of waiting, too, running the time loops he'd planned out in his head over and over again, wondering which door he'd try to break down first to get some goddamn answers — maybe confirm if the virus had taken the crew before them, too.]
[and there's a moment where he can't take it anymore, promises or not, because Dave isn't the sort of person who can stand around and not do something if he has some path forward. and there's a moment where he's about to do something that, on board this space station, has no outcome but a terrible one — but then, suddenly, it happens. he can see his hands again. his body comes back in patches, seemingly running down major arteries to the tips of his fingers then back again through the veins.]
[he finds the strength to wait a little while longer, to see if he really is recovering. he waits to see if the people in his immediate vicinity are, too. and then he's moving, checking Ryuji's usual haunts to see if he can find him. where the hell are you, bro?]
[because, he'd promised he'd wait. and it's sort of looking like he no longer has to.]