rhapsodeity | 🌟INBOX

[ what the fuck. did i not just say stop sending mixed signals, dave.

this is the ultimate mixed signal. jade loves carly because carly is the best, but she hits a certain niche of jade's with sounding old school yet modern enough that it sounds a little vintage. it's the elizabeth in her. and it's only natural that dave knows the entirety of carly's discography at this point, because jade will play entire albums through to the end when they're in the car together, when she gets the aux cord. he has to suffer pop music. at least it's not hilary duff.

jade picks up immediately because she's not really mad at dave, anymore, and because he asked her to. there was a question mark at the end and dave's lazy enough about his texting that the fact he used a question mark shows that it is a request above all else. so yes, she answers, and she listens, and my god is she charmed. taylor swift would blush. she can't write a love story this good.

by the time dave finishes, her face is buried in her pillow and she's got him on speaker phone toe ensure she can still hear him. oh my god?? she knows dave doesn't sing often, it's like, one of those things he's quiet about. he's musically inclined but... ]

...I thought you wanted a balcony scene!

[ he can probably hear her giggling and the rustle from her pillow as she lifts her head up. oops ]

[ be real, jade, this signal isn't mixed at all. jade said she was tired and stressed out and dave's not sure he's like, good enough at advice to help with that really. he wants to be, but he isn't always, and just letting her vent will do something but what he wants, generally, is for jade to be happy again. so he'd asked for her favorite song with exactly one intent because no matter what he's feeling when jade starts singing at him? by the end - by the end of the first few notes, even - he's smiling.

maybe it goes both ways.

so he sings her a song that makes him feel pretty ridiculous and maybe a little sad - a story about a girl who won't be more than a friend to someone she loves. he didn't bother to pitch his voice high, and he didn't change any of the words, so. just dave. singing about how he's a girl and stuff. yep.

it is a good thing dirk moved out because he's lying on his bunk and no one else needed to witness this, ever. dave's phone is between his shoulder and his ear and he huffs a laugh at the sound of jade's laughter. ]

Eh. It occurs to me your dad would maybe interrupt a little more than my parents do. But if you want me to break out the boombox and come wait to get growled at as I sing to you, I totally will.

[ the point of a mixed signal is you yourself don't know it's mixed, but the other person does. ten minutes ago, she was furious and hurt, and now she's laughing into her pillow because if there's anyone who knows how to cheer her up, it's dave. it's been nearly a decade, why is she ever surprised at how easily and quickly he can coax a smile out of her?

he's not wrong, but bigby's also not home. jade's face is bright red and she's already sore from grinning, though, and she's not sure she wants to set herself up for a "babe come over" meme.

instead, she reaches over, and her ukulele is resting on the wall by her bed. there's a soft twang from the strings as she picks it up and then her phone is on her pillow so she can shift, move her body and sit up. ]

Let's meet half way, then!!

[ give her a minute to tune it and then, once she's sure the call's still on, jade starts up with the first few chords of somethin' stupid by frank and nancy sinatra. she's pretty positive dave's probably heard it thanks to her mother, because jade knows it for the same reason. still: ]

Do you know this one?

[ yeah, he recognizes the tune immediately. and oh my god jade who's playing mixed signals now? what are these song choices? this song literally has the words i love you in it and it makes it sound like it'd be a mistake to say and does that mean she knows or that she doesn't? logically dave knows this isn't as high-stakes as it feels like it is, but shit. it feels like he's trying to decide whether or not to jump out of an airplane.

he flips his phone to speaker and drags his hands down his face. maybe it's a seventeen years old thing, but right now dave feels like he's experiencing torture along right alongside a very sweet sort of happiness. he can't decide if it's great or terrible. it's possibly both at once.

hearing her sing the actual lyrics at him will be horrible. and wonderful? he should maybe not do this to himself, dancing along the edge of how much can you take, dave, before you crack.

but he can't say no to jade? ]

Of course I do.

[ and his voice is maybe a little too full of affection and amusement despite everything. but ignore that. he crosses his arms over his chest rather than being ridiculous and dramatic, for a bit.

he'll start to sing when she hits the notes where he should, you know, do that. ]

[ you're acting like jade has never told you she loves you, dave. it's rare and not something that comes up often, but jade's not embarrassed to admit it. it's just fact, and she's sure it's just fact for dave, too. they don't say it, but they are best friends, they both know that. they have to love each other, that's the number one rule of being best friends.

jade picks somethin' stupid because she feels a little stupid, and she feels a little foolish, but it feels a little right, too. dave has a way of making things feel okay, even if they're not, and it's that feeling that she thinks got her dad to propose to her mom. (six years after jade was born.) but jade's also pretty sure that all the flirtatious comments and just vaguely questionable signal are nothing in the end, for dave - he says things even more scandalous to rose. if he actually felt anything for her, she thinks he'd probably act on it, so picking a song that paints a story about someone who just can't help themselves despite the other party being disinterested feels a little too true to life. she realizes this in the middle of the second chorus, and it's a little heavy on heart.

but dave's still on the line, so she carries the tune as well as she can.

jade's not a particularly accomplished vocalist, but she tries and it's fun in a strange way; singing i love you to someone you know you've loved for years now feels exciting, like she's doing something special.

it's just a song, though, and belatedly, she remembers she lives with other people. ]

...It's not a balcony duet, but it wasn't that bad, right?

[ yeah, these songs sure do have a theme, don't they. and yeah, jade's said the words before, but it's always been because they're best friends, and it's been rare even when it wasn't at all dampened or held back or small. the last few times it's come up dave has been embarrassed (ok, maybe he has always been embarrassed) and it's been just shy of what he wants to hear.

rose had told him earlier that his goal was perfectly well within reach and she'd meant asking jade out. dirk keeps just telling him to do it. roxy, too.

still, the idea of potentially losing ten years of friendship or making it awkward when it's usually as easy as breathing is terrifying enough that his throat closes up every time he tries. ]

How would it be? I always like it when you sing, I've told you.

[ accompished vocalist or not, he just likes jade's voice. talking or singing or whatever. shit. that thought was too sappy to even think. ]

[ that is true. he does. if he didn't like it, she wouldn't make it a near nightly thing to show up outside his window, ukulele in hand, and sing to him. they both know this, but dave assumes jade's comments on her singing, and. she'll take it. it's conversation. ]

You have! But I'm not as good as you. [ and she probably says that too often, but there are things about dave that jade things are just too great - his musical talents are one of them.

but she shifts again, flopping back down onto her pillow so that when he talks, it sounds like he's laying next to her. ] I meant because we're not on a balcony, though.

Sure we are. It's just a metaphorical balcony. Which is obviously the best kind, Wolf. My callin' you up? The ringtone was the pebbles at the window. This was me singin' at you and you lettin' yourself be sung at. Until you joined in, I mean.

[ maybe it's a stretch of a metaphor, but. it was so a balcony scene, jade. because dave says so. and he can ramble it into being one, maybe? ]

[ metaphorical balcony is a concept that gets her to laugh so hard she snorts unattractively, and jade slaps a hand over her mouth to try and muffle it it. too late, though, there's no way he didn't hear that. he probably doesn't need to hear her say it; she'll take a balcony scene over the phone. if dave meant it that way, then that's what it is. ]

Duuuuuuh, Dave! It's always a duet at the balcony, even if they part in the middle of the song.

Ok, you're right, it usually is. It'd be kind of lame to be like Snow White's duo? Where he didn't really totally join in, did he?

[ the prince, dave means. he doesn't remember. it barely matters. ]

Hey, Jade?

[ jade hasn't consumed a fairy tale in a while, and even then, she can't remember the last time she watched. any snow white adaption. her response is a thoughtful hum; she really has to think about that.

dave saves her from diving into embarrassing childhood memories, though. ]

Yeah? [ ... ] Bro?

[ jade doesn't use slang a lot - neither of her parents do, but sometimes jade tries to meet dave in his vernacular. sometimes. ]

[ there's another soft laugh. ]

Just...I know it's really stressful right now? But I will always be here when you need me. Even if I fuck up lettin' you know it sometimes. So...if you ever want me to sing you somethin' or just listen, please tell me?

[ there have been a lot of moments tonight where jade has sort of wondered what kind of game dave's playing here. that's not to say that she hasn't wondered the same before, but tonight has been a series of mental "holy shit"s. this would have been a milion dollar hour spent together if she'd said any of those "holy shit"s out loud.

this is one of those moments. jade doesn't know how to take this because it's sweet. it is incredibly sweet and she immediately wants to repay the favor. even putting aside her feelings, dave is her best friend and she never wants their relationship to be take and take. there's got to be a steady flow of giving and receiving on both ends.

she knows, though, that she gets a headache when she's upset. a lot of that is because jade takes frustrations out on herself by bottling it up until she wants to explode. she'd said she had a headache earlier and it probably would have turned into a migraine if she hadn't tried to talk it out with dave.

it's kind of impossible to be upset when he's talking, though.

it just makes her zone in on him and everything feels a lot more - it's better, and grounded and not so hard. ]

...Thank you, Dave. [ she means it, even though it takes her a while to answer. ] I may take you up on that. [ probably - old habits die hard, but jade will try, at least. she'll get better about it as time goes on, she hopes. ] I want to do the same for you! Maybe I'm not a fancypants pianist with a bunch of musical talent, but I'll do my best!

[ the joke is that dave isn't playing any sort of game. he barely ever is, when he's talking to jade or anyone else he loves: he's being entirely sincerely genuine, as best he can be.

maybe that's it's own sort of game, though. ]

Talkin' to you always helps. [ like, there. there we go. another genuine statement. ] So don't sweat it so much. And you may not be a fancypants pianist, but you are a brainiac scientist. It evens out?

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