freedom_is_grey | Skipping stones, we know the price now

"uh hey"

There's a kid standing next to her. He is extremely pale, and lanky in an underfed runner sort of way. He's wearing an eye-searing green suit, and a pair of sunglasses.

He's also soaked with blood.

"sorry didn't know someone had already reserved this mountain dreamscape for their emo fest guess i'm gonna need to have a talk with my travel agent"

She turns, transparently startled, and lifts her hand to brush suddenly painfully-whipping hair out of her eyes.

"Dave? Is -- they said you were gone!"

Give it a moment for the blood to register. Or rather, what that much blood in that location means.

He tilts his head slightly to one side. Even that amount of movement makes the wound on his throat much more evident. It's not bleeding anymore.

"pretty sure we never met so who's telling you anything

"are you a fan of one of my blogs or something. a cosplaying fan on top of a fucking mountain. not that chicks throwing themselves at me is an uncommon occurrence they're constantly all up in my grill"

"No! No, I'm -- "

He's so small. She doesn't remember Dave being so small.

"We were friends. Will be friends? Or maybe we won't be, now. You're -- if you're dead already. Like this."

Um.

"Younger. Is that what happened?"

"oh you've got time shit huh no wonder you showed up

"well lay it on me the doctor is in i take care of ill rhymes sick beats and busted timelines"

He perches on a rock a few feet away, watching her from behind his shades.

"You made me a -- oh, what was it called? -- a mix tape."

She looks at him for a second, then looks beyond him. This makes it easier to ignore the blood.

"I'm still fond of Space Jam."

A pause.

"Speaking of sick beats."

He looks at her with more focused interest. "i guess whatever version of me was practicing some high level irony because damn girl

"but future daves know what's up they've got their shit locked down

"just tell me i didn't try to make you watch con air and we're good"

"I have no idea what that is, so we're probably safe."

She's just saying.

And the wind, at least for the moment, appears to be dying down.

"Is your timeline still -- busted, you said? Just now, I mean."

Dave shrugs. "not really my business anymore or so i'm told. that's alpha dave's lookout now i guess i'm just bouncing around the dream bubbles like a deflated basketball. can't dribble worth shit but you can still dunk

"but this looks a little different so i figured that was probably for a reason

"you got a busted timeline or something"

Her eyes are a little damp suddenly, but that's probably just from the wind.

"I don't -- I don't know? I think I tried to break it, but -- "

Well.

"I couldn't, not really. The Chantry's all right, and the people who were inside it, but everything else -- "

"sounds like you have a bad case of running face first into some inevitable event

"sucks but that's what happens when you're a time travel n00b. so how'd you die?"

"I killed, instead."

Her voice is quiet, and her left hand is curled into a fist.

"I'm good at that."

"so if you're not dead

"are you asleep"

She looks out across the mountains, eyes narrowing as she attempts to see past the glare of the sun off of all the surrounding snow.

And, very slowly --

"I -- I see the Black City. Over there, if you -- no, I don't know if you could see it. But it's there. So -- "

So . . .

"I suppose I am asleep. And this is the Fade."

Edited 2016-10-14 01:19 (UTC)

so what are you going to do"

"Stare at you for a while, if you don't mind?"

Her mouth quirks, but nothing like a smile reaches her eyes.

(They still sting.)

"I miss you. The other you. And I suppose this one, too, even though we've never met."

"whatever propels your submarine i guess

"but i'm gonna take these for a spin"

Dave stands and pulls his timetables out of his sylladex. They do indeed begin to spin.

A bright red gear flashes behind him, and Dave disappears.

"Oh, please. Don't -- !"

Before she even says 'go', he's vanished. Damn and double damn.

But since she's alone, now --

She sniffs, pressing the back of her hands to her mouth for a moment, attempting to control that ridiculously bloody dampness in her eyes. If she can do that, maybe she can work with the pit in her stomach, too. Then she'll wake up and everything will be fine, and --

Probably not, though. So she takes this moment to let herself leak a few tears. Just for a second.

While no one is watching.

Out of the corner of her eye, there's another flash of red. This one comes from a cape, flaring out in the wind.

"hey"

This Dave looks more like the one she remembers. His god tier outfit is bright against the snow. He's taller, with wider shoulders, and his shades fit better on his face. He's standing behind her, hands jammed in his pockets.

"didn't i say no mountains with snow i'm pretty sure that was one of my conditions"

"Dave!"

Ysalwen turns around, a smile breaking through her weepiness even as she scrubs at her eyes, wiping the residual tears away.

Or, you know. She tries.

"I didn't think you were coming back! Or, I -- "

She sniffles again.

"I didn't know. So you can't blame me for these mountains. They were manifested by someone's subconscious."

Hers, really. Because honestly these mountains are the farthest thing away from Kirkwall it's possible to have. Or be.

"jesus," he says when he gets a look at her face. "please tell me that little me wasn't enough of an asshole to make you cry

"okay who am i kidding i was probably exactly that bad sorry"

"What? Oh, no, I'm -- it was windy up here, before, and -- "

She scrubs at her eyes again.

"You were fine. Not you, but. Fine. I just -- it -- "

Ysalwen sniffs, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth one more time.

"It's been a very bad few days. At home. And I can't -- "

"they are all me is the thing. or i'm all them or whatever

"not a lot of victories but we brought enough fuck ups for the entire class and we've been practicing our sharing. gonna get 'most improved' on our report card and everything"

He pauses. "i'd uh, ask if you wanted a bro hug bump or something but i've got a little wardrobe malfunction it's pretty embarrassing. nsfw."

The color of his god tier uniform disguises it at first look, but this Dave is bloody as well.

Her eyes go wide, and she lets her arm fall back to her side, distracted. (Her eyes are still very damp.)

"I've been covered in worse things. If -- will it hurt? You, I mean. Since the blood is -- "

Well.

You know.

Blood.

"Does it go so poorly every time?"

Maybe she means time shenanigans.

"well considering i'm already dead and this is probably your dream i doubt it'll hurt unless you try and crush my ribcage with your massive strength."

Are you going to crush his ribcage with your massive strength, Ysa?

"another dead dave means i screwed the pooch somewhere along the line yeah. that was why i stopped using the time powers i was getting pretty sick of it not working out.

"look as far as i know if stuff is supposed to happen then it's going to fucking happen

"but you've got alternate timelines and shit, the sword guy and the dork who likes dogs are from other universes right and neither of them are doomed like all my shit is they're legit

"so maybe you can't mess with the big *world altering* bullshit no taking a u-turn and telling the timeline you're going to turn this car around and give it something to cry about

"but you might be able to poke around the edges a little bit. if someone tells you there's problems and shit's going down in the future you can still choose what your plan is and how you react to it get me"

He shakes his head. "or do i sound like i'm totally talking out of my ass giving pep talks isn't my usual gig i'm pretty shitty with anything except disaffected moral support"

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