rhapsodeity | 🌟INBOX

Nope! Sorry, Dave.

[ "alive" is not that bad of an answer, though, he can pinpoint certain letters well enough. maybe this wasn't the best idea? jade can't pass up a chance to play a game, though, and it sounded fun and unique enough. kind of like the mixtape? a mixtape was very dave. a game is very jade.

she'll be merciful. ]

It's three words.

[ jade's nearly running out of room on his back, so she opts to finish up. two lines that meet and one the drips from them: "Y", another "O" and "U". ]

I'll give you two more guesses, one bonus round, just for you!

[ LMAO SHIT.

alive...tov.

er. not alive. all right come on strider you've got this there's a v, there's at least two vs. ]

All vet...lives. Are you gettin' a dog?

[ there's strike two ]

[ oh

oh my god? that's not even relatively close. she should have known, dave strider has been oblivious for almost ten years? ]

Whyyyyy do you think I would answer your mixtape with a "all vet lives"?

Edited 2017-02-12 09:09 (UTC)

[ okay shit this was a mixtape answer. he hadn't been sure? he had wondered, but then suddenly they were playing a game jade has insisted on playing since they were like eight and he got very confused? also he has never been able to tell what she wrote on his skin and that never bothered him until right this second when the answer actually started to matter.

he feels a little like choking on air but instead dave stops staring at his wall and turns around to face jade.

it takes a second to get his jaw to work. ]

You didn't give me a category.

[ when she asked for his first two guesses.

...

having a category does not help him at all here. ]

So you listened to the tape?

[ ob...viosuly she did she just said so basically ]

[ it's so good that this marker is washable because jade is just burying her face in her hands to laugh because oh my god. this is so stupid? this is stupid and she can't stop laughing. ]

Of course I did!

[ she listens to everything dave sends her. she watches all the vines? every youtube video, every meme, every dumb picture he sends her. she can't not look at them, can't bring herself to not listen when he hands her a cassette or cd or sends her a download link over whatever chat client they're using. (rip aim)

jade removes her hands from her face, and her face is probably red? but she's literally written "i love you" on dave's back. she is staring at it, even as he turns to look at her over his shoulder. it's there and she really doesn't want to get rid of it, now. ]

I... I don't know what category this would even go under!!!

[ she just assumed he'd be able to tell? and now she feels silly, but it's a nice kind of silly. they both have to feel dumb, she thinks. ] I don't even know how you're going to figure this out, now. Jeez... this was a dumb idea, I'm sorry. Let me see your arm.

[ yes she's going to write it on his arm instead? brilliant. ]

"Answering the question"?

[ he's flustered and he turns around fully, not just looking over his shoulder, and holds out his left arm. he still isn't sure what she's trying to write. dave doesn't want to let himself hope it's one thing or another because what if he's wrong?

he just -

well, he just wants to know. ]

Do you want me to close my eyes until you're finished?

[ he will if she says yes. otherwise he'll. get to see it in slow motion oh god maybe he'll just close his eyes anyway? ]

You can if you want to, but we're not playing the game anymore! So it is completely up to you, banana freckles.

[ this is

nerve wracking. to put it lightly. but she's done it before and it got easier to say i love you to dave without any kind of actual romantic intention the more she did it. this isn't any different and now the idea of writing her answer wherever she can on him sounds like a lot of fun to jade, but she has to take it one step at a time.

so instead of drawing all over dave, jade grips his offered arm, and writes her answer on him for the second time tonight.

jade's handwriting has always looked more like vines (regretfully, the floral kind), and she can't help but add exclamation points to everything. hearts? sunflowers? little puppies with their tongues lolling out of their mouths? all of those are good.

for now, though, her answer is quick and simple.

"i love you!!! ♡♡" and the hearts stretch as far up his arm as she can manage. ]

[ HIS EYES IMMEDIATELY SHUT AFTER HE SUGGESTED IT HONESTLY HE CAN'T TAKE THE NERVES. although there's a twist of a scowl on his face it's not a serious one, but the put-upon look he gets when his family or close friends start to tease him and he's annoyed and amused and affectionate all at once, and doesn't care enough to put a stop to things.

dave prefers "tex". or anything not "banana freckles", wtf jade. ]

Jade. [ he's not opening his eyes yet even as she doodles up his arm. ] Just so we're clear, you - uh, you got the point. Of the mix?

[ he should say the words. he was too much of a trainwreck to manage that without the music, but she's listened to it - ]

That the question is "will you go out with me?" Like, I figure at least the last song was like, you know, really obvious, Dirk suggested the first one on the second side and uh, some of the others, but that's - the question you're answerin' here. Right?

[ he kind of desperately wants to die having said the words out loud why is he this way? a heart shouldn't beat quite this fast, even if dave's expression has gone back to mostly controlled and neutral. ]

[ it's a good thing dave's eyes are closed, because jade rolls her own. then, with a click of her tongue, she decides that he's forfeited his chest, so don't mind her as she scrawls "yes!" across it. ]

Duh! Oh my god, Dave, why else would I have ran all the way here in the middle of the night? I thought I was going to... I don't know, explode!

[ which is true.

she was too excited to sit still even standing outside his window. ]

Open your eyes and stop being so dumb. I drew hearts on your nipples.

[ no she did-- okay, yes, she is. ]

[ all right no he draws a line somewhere apparently for drawing on him and as soon as the marker go nears his nipples (jade!!! leave him alone!!!) his left hand snaps out to grab her wrist and stop her from doing that for more than like the barest brush of a line. it's a pretty loose grip and easy to get out of but he is protecting himself from being even more markered up okay.

his eyes open mostly so he can narrow them at her ]

Jade, c'mon, I already showered earlier and I don't want to get up early to do it again, I'm not Dirk -

[ it's not even a serious complaint. it rarely is. he's talking to talk and his eyes slide to his left arm and he just. freezes.

the thing is, dave's plan consisted entirely of like. giving jade the mix tape? and then, like. ...nothing. that was it. that was the plan. he didn't make a plan for what to do if she agreed to go out with him or if holy shit she wrote i love you on his arm he's not even bothering to see what his chest says he's staring at the little hearts and trying to figure out a step 2 on the fly here. he's supposed to be smooth? or well ok no one who knows him thinks that but he'd like it if he were smooth, that would be just. super great and cool?

he swallows and his eyes flick back up to jade. this is it this is the moment where he has to say something smooth and cool and like, semi-competent - ]

Can I kiss you?

[ or that what the fuck ever fine we can also go with that. dave immediately lets out a hissed breath of irritation at. himself. why did he say that first. ]

I mean, y'know, if that's chill - I love you too? Shit that's not a question that's a statement just pretend I didn't do the thing where I like, raised my voice ever so slightly indicating it might have been a question, as it is not. At all. The kiss thing was a question the other part was not a question that was a statement of fact. I love you, the sky is blue - yes I know it's not really blue because science - my twin potentially plans to take over the world, iguanas are rad. All true facts and not in fact in question.

[ that wasn't cool either. oh my god. kill him. ]

Oh my fuck can we erase most of what I just said from our collective memory?

[ dave.

dave.

he's doing the talking thing too much. not that this is new, because dave strider's ability to monologue is nearly legendary at this point. there is no one more comfortable with their own voice than dave, and it gets him into trouble like this. this time, dave can watch in full view as jade rolls her eyes. she was absolutely going to point out the sky isn't actually blue, though.

but they both have their vices, because jade's impatience wins out in the middle of his ramble. she gets as far as letting him finish the word "memory" before shaking her head and biting her lip before ripping free from the loose grip he's got on her wrist. both of jade's hands are on either side of his face, holding his head still - she can tilt her head and lean in while he's still fretting over how he definitely isn't cool.

it's not like jade has any experience with this, and there's very little you can figure out from daydreaming or watching movies. that said, she's mindful of her teeth and doesn't open her mouth against his - it's lip to lip but her jade wolf is actually, finally, literally kissing dave strider and that's actually pretty cool.

there was no way she was going to wait for him to nail that monologue? that could take till sunrise. ]

[ joke's on you it probably would have taken like a week. he will never get it down perfectly enough for his own standards. he's had years to try to draft it but every single note he'd ever made on the topic had faded away the second he'd needed them to come to mind. words fail him completely again when jade holds his head still and there's just barely enough time for dave's eyes to widen fractionally before she leans in and kisses him.

then jade is actually kissing him and dave's eyes shut as he tries to figure it out on the fly. this isn't a daydream or an actual dream but an actual real live thing and he distantly thinks he hopes she capped the marker before dropping it somewhere on his bed or laundry will have to happen sooner than usual and then he thinks maybe he should think about anything else. like the kiss that is in fact happening.

his left hand flies up to cover her right on his cheek, and dave angles his head a little more. his mouth is a little less firmly shut because she'd surprised him a bit, but dave doesn't really push any boundaries. he just kisses her back slow and gentle, his right hand dropping to her knee. ]

[ thank god he shuts the hell up and just lets it happen. jade's always been impatient at best - jade's the only baby in her family, and it shows. "spoiled rotten" might not apply to her, but she's definitely spoiled and if dave had insisted on trying to fix his monologue here, she might have actually smacked him. (lightly, on the shoulder again, because jade doesn't ever want to hurt dave so much as reprimand him for his stupidity. stupidity that is exceedingly endearing because it just shows what an honest person he is. it's a charm point.)

the thing about kissing him, though, is that dave's not that bad at it. she's pretty sure she's doing something wrong (not breathing through her nose for one, her breath probably smells like what she ate last - an orange, probably, her hands are planted firmly on his face like she's trying to keep his attention on her), but dave's fine. or maybe it just feels fine? kissing isn't uncomfortable but it's her first and jade's mind is wandering. she thinks about last summer and how she was at space camp and not in town and wonders if someone taught dave how to kiss, or if he's a natural at it.

she's probably the least qualified person here for it, and it's mostly because jade wants to come up for air, but she opens her mouth, parting from him for a moment and taking in air before pressing back against him, her left hand letting going of his cheek to sling over his shoulder and she's still not breathing through her nose because she's afraid of fucking it up. she's overachiever. it runs in her blood and it's the result of wanting to impress a boy she's spent at least seven years awkwardly pining after. sue her if you must.

to her credit, she's not brave enough to go beyond an open mouth kiss. her hands aren't kept to herself because one is holding his cheek, her thumb running back and forth lightly and the other is snaking around to--

okay no, she has to breathe and also marvel at the fact she's trying to turn this into a make out session? it takes a bit, but jade pulls away to take in air and say two words. ]

Hopy shit.

[ of course it's a sbahj quote??? ]

[ dave was leaning in slightly as jade pulled back slightly but then she quotes sbahj and he loses it, laughing right there in front of her. it's a kind of quiet huff of laughter, but his eyes are open and he can't stop it from happening.

unlike jade, dave kind of mastered the "breathe through your nose, numbnuts" level of kissing. his hands aren't wandering from where he'd put them because, well, he's definitely...not ready for them to do that? holy shit he took this long to confess in a sort of sideways manner, let him work on it.

but he is definitely interested in the whole kissing thing being resumed, like. ]

This time try breathin' through your nose, darlin'.

[ because yeah no he's going to. finish closing the distance once he stops chuckling to press his lips to hers again. apparently jade has not fucked it up, and dave's tone is more amused and fond than anything else. ]

[ jade kind of wants to blurt out "how do you know to breathe through your nose" because that was definitely not info she's got. breathing through your nose is not innate knowledge she had and the idea of breathing on dave's face seemed rude but, fine, okay. she'll try it out his way.

and like. fuck. okay. yeah that changes a lot and this is significantly easier. teen vogue did not tell her this? tiger beat did not tell her this. all of those dorky teen girl mags were holding out on her. (she didn't even put on cherry chapstick as once described in a pop song.)

it's not really glamorous - they're in dave's bedroom half past midnight and jade had to be told to breathe through her nose. he's topless with her scribbles all over his body and she's wearing mismatched socks under old sneakers. his sisters are down the hall and one of them is possibly acutely aware of what's going on because jade can't help but share nearly every detail of her life with rose strider.

but teen romcoms can go fuck themselves, a first kiss in her boyfriend's bedroom is plenty perfect enough for her.

even if it's technically the second because she broke the first.

even if he laughs because you're silly enough to quote his stupid webcomic at him.

it works. ]

[ when he pulls back this time dave actually isn't certain how much time has passed. not enough, or maybe too much, and he realizes that he actually needs to get jade to head home or her dad might have objections but he doesn't pull back too far, just kind of looking at his best friend (girlfriend!!!) with eyes that are still, at this point in time, hazel.

his lips quirk up into a smile. ]

So, [ so ] I think we might have to get you home, aggravatin' though that is, but. It's chill if I like, update people that we're datin'?

[ why does he keep double-checking this? possibly because it's still a little ways unbelievable. ]

[ jade's not so quick to pull away and while she's always been a little independent - that just means she knows when she doesn't want to be away from someone. so dave pulls away and jade leans in again, but it's not for a kiss; her forehead bumps against his and rests there. ]

Dad's still out and Mom's sleeping, I think. I texted her but - [ she pauses to bite her bottom lip. ] You can tell people, but if it's really aggravating, I don't have to go.

[ ...it's still probably taking a risk, admittedly, but when does jade not want to take a risk? as long as no one's hurt, the excitement is totally worth it. ]

I also need to maybe sleep? [ and PLAN A DATE, haha shit. dave leans into the weird forehead rest thing though. ]

Also I would prefer to save the risk-takin' for like, after day one of datin'. We gotta ease me and my delicate sensibilities into this all gentle like.

Mmmm.

[ she pauses, and then: ] One more! [ apparently kissing may actually be one of the best things jade has ever done if she's refusing to leave without a third. so yes, she kisses dave again, lingering for a moment before pulling away and bolting for the open window. ]

And teach me how to do it better some day! [ HAHA, oops, ]

[ DAVE DIES INSIDE AS HIS GIRLFRIEND (!!!!) DIVES OUT HIS WINDOW because holy shit kisses and asking to make out later god

he is not going to sleep much at all is he. ]

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