inbox for balance_rpg

[oculusriffs]

TG: this is going to be fucking stupid isnt it


[want to get in touch with Dave? you can leave a TEXT, VOICE, or VIDEO message — or alternatively, he shouldn't be too hard to track down in person.]

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[ryuji]

[In what world did Ryuji even say that he wanted Dave to kick his ass all over again? He's expecting him to just give in and let him win, but then again, he should know better than to think that was going to happen in any and all universes. Which, as time starts to come to a near halt, there's a precipice point of veering out into a whole menagerie of them, all at once. It's like this brain sped up and all the synapses of nerves and connections inside just come alive all at once, just through the extension of a pair of conjoined hands. Only having been told about it before, related through his stories, Ryuji's experience of it- and only for a fraction of time that's small but divisible infinitely- comes alive in through the path of devotion that Dave sets forth between them.

It's not catching lightning in a bottle, but rather taming it, as the data structure of time and space come alive for a bright moment, and when you look at it from this angle, sure does feel like those two things are very near the same thing. Sort of. He can't possibly understand a lick of physics, but it's instincts. Probably similar to the way Dave's said that he knows when things can strayed off the path, and again, just an instant, but it's pretty much the most beautiful and complex thing he's ever felt to date.

And then, as if everything starts to pull itself together, their timelines are syncing up, and it's pretty wild to see this all as a chaotic band of asteroids shooting out in different directions or feel the convergence as the oath settles in on the both of them. What's to say that these really are something as nebulous as hunks of rock floating out in the great void and not just some sort of molecule bonding at the extreme other end- not that it matters either way, because in the blink of an eye, that infinity is just gone, and it's the two of them. No Houston, lava planets, or anything like that any longer, an entire panel of things Ryuji hasn't experienced but somehow just did, and he's looking down at his thumb pinned in place.

You know, he can't even be mad about that. That was some supremely wicked magic bullshit that just went down, and he's left wide eyed and humbled by how infinitely smaller he felt in a continuum of multiple branching paths that could've held a million different outcomes than the one leading up to this moment, here with Dave. But even then, he still thinks this is the right one.]

... I... uh.

[Because what else do you say after that happens?]

Yo, I think my brain just kinda had an orgasm or something because that was trippy as shit. [Yeah, sounds about right for someone who just experienced a small part of a time player's inner cogs.]

So I guess... it worked? You feel any different?

[oculusriffs]

[to be fair to Ryuji, even though that's how he sees timelines, watching two splinters converge into their own thing is an entirely new trippy as shit experience for Dave, too. splintered timelines are supposed to be doomed. their very existence implies that something went wrong enough that they can't continue. but, fuck the rules — that's pretty much their mantra, and the crux of the vision they'd just shared via paladin magic.]

[Dave turns Ryuji's hand over, to look at the inside of his wrist. it's small, but there is proof there that a paladin's oath was made: it's a small red gear. there's one on Dave's wrist, too.]

Looks like it worked. I can kinda tell how badly you need a nap, too. [it's not an injury, but the sense is there. not that one really needed magical insight to see how tired Ryuji is.]

[and, Dave is, too, honestly. throwing a lot of Faerun: The RPG mana at a spell when you're still trying to warm up is probably pretty exhausting.]

It'll probably be easier to see how it works once we get back down there.

[ryuji]

Oh, sweet. We got inked up. Yo, if we touch 'em you think that we get new outfits and super powers or something?

[Jokes aside, he thinks it's pretty cool looking. What a crazy night it's been- from realizing that Dave died, to getting ready to go to war over him, a mutual admittance to being in love with each others, magic paladins of time shenanigans, and now, matching tattoos. They don't do anything on the down low, do they?

He'll have to learn how to read the signs, too, put feelers out there to understand Dave's state of being, but that's... probably best served for another time and place, like he said.]

You... can tell if I'm tired? Dude, apologies in advance for how hungry you're gonna feel all the time.

[It's a fair warning, his appetite is a constant nuclear reactor needing shoveling into at frequent intervals. One day that metabolism is going to slow down, but until then, it's junk food and mini meals all day every day. Ryuji pulls a bit backward, nothing of a jerk, but a nudge, and indicates that he should come join him in bed. He has no idea how dead to the world Dave is going to be when he sleeps, but that'll become pretty apparent in the morning.

If he can guide Dave up back to his side and not in the supplicant's position he's in, he'll try to cover up the feeling of an oncoming yawn. There's barbarian armor to shed, especially if he's going to be living it in the luxury of his own bed tonight, and he figures... aw, well, what the hell.]

Want me to wear it tonight? Probably it'd help keep you like, extra warm... or something.

[One time offer, Dave. He's ready to let his inner shark roam free in the waters of his sheets.]

[oculusriffs]

[there is a lot happening here that could use some addressing. one of them is the fact that Dave, if secondhand hunger is a thing that he'll be able to sense, will just have to make sure there are always snacks on hand no matter where they are. like popcorn. popcorn that can't escape via Jedi mind tricks. perfectly normal caramel popcorn, even.]

[or, the fact that he's being gently tugged up somewhere warmer, to which he obliges, sitting down on the edge of the bed, finally ready to try to catch some measure of snoozes now that they've worked through something rather important — he doesn't really know it either, but he's going to completely zonk the split second he's in a horizontal position, and he's not actually going to realize what happened until the morning. but, he's fine. it'll be his new normal. this two-way connection thing they've got going now will be indicative enough of that.]

[for a split second there, he even entertains what the heck sort of super power uniforms they'd be stuck with if that scenario were actually plausible. more capes, probably. it's always capes.]

[but, of course, all those extremely important thoughts are pretty much shoved right to the side when Ryuji makes an offer that Dave is literally incapable of refusing.]

Hell yeah I do. [he doesn't even try to be coy about it, god dammit.]

[ryuji]

[He figures that his moral stance on the matter could be abated for... a moment, considering Dave's been through enough today, and they exchange locales for a few moments; as he's plopped up on the bed, Ryuji leaves it behind. He's too tired to care much about being all prim and proper about the order of event that are about to happen as he yanks upward to take the top part of his leather armor off, unbuckles the arm guards, and heads over to the closet to pull out the cursed pajamas.

Holding it in his hand, he sighs. Cute shit is never something that sits comfortable with him, but as he wiggles down into his smallclothes, one step, and then a second- arm, another arm, and a zip upwards. It's done. Even pulls the hood up over his head, and starts pooling together the pieces of his armor that he's left behind into a neat sort of fashion on top of his dresser.

If Dave's not already dead to the world by now, he comes back to the edge of his bed and shows himself off for a moment. Maybe if he had more energy in him, he'd hum the Maws theme song, an iconic ballad of his shark people, but that's not going to fly right now as he joins him.

He's got big plans to hold Dave all evening long, and it'll be a straight up race to see who actually ends up sleeping more out of the both of them. But one, honest to god statement (awake or not, again) before he can claim the sheets over the both of them.]

We gotta get better at fighting... and you need an actual weapon... if we're gonna end up having to defend ourselves, y'know? I don't... really I don't wanna hurt anyone, it ain't my style... but that doesn't mean someone or something out there ain't gonna try to hurt us.

[oculusriffs]

[this has been a hell of an emotional rollercoaster of 24 hours, but at least Dave gets to end it smiling, too tired to really mask how big of a kick he gets out of the shark pajamas. it's a big smile — because it's a big kick. he even reaches over to tug lightly on the shark hood.]

[and that's not ignoring the gravitas of what Ryuji's just said, either.]

I know.

[there's a lot more he wants to say on it honestly. like he knows now, more than ever, that he's going to have to fight, if they're going to make it through to the end. that he has to learn not to be afraid of fucking up — that there's a good chance that the next mission they go on, the roles they're in right now, curling up together, could very well be reversed.]

[lots of things to say, but he doesn't get the chance, because once he's lying down, an arm draped around Ryuji, he's just. out completely. cheek squished. shades askew.]

[moron.]

[ryuji]

[Not much else in the happs right about now, but it should be noted that Ryuji winds up falling asleep a little bit longer than he ought to. Even makes sure that Dave's shades are off his face so he doesn't roll over them in his sleep. It's like that moment of being too cracked out tired to actually fall into dead slumber right away, but for a while, he'll just idly stare up at the ceiling and rub whatever part of Dave's back he can reach. Yeah, he's going to do his damnedest to make sure this right here doesn't have to happen again. And then, like taking a deep inhale of breath before jumping into water, Ryuji's out like a lamp, too.]