towerofanimus

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Characters: John Harley and YOU
Setting: Dormitory hallways
Format: Starting with prose, but happy with either!
Summary: John has just woken up on the second dorm level and wanders around confused.
Warnings: None yet!

John was confused. He was pretty sure this wasn't the medium - it didn't look anything like what he'd seen following Jade on his computer, nor like anything in the clouds.

After the dreams he'd been having, waking up in a dark, cold room was making it hard for him to maintain his usual cheerfulness. He wandered around, investigating the other rooms, but they all looked the same; dark and empty. It was creepy and kind of reminded him of that book Dave was always going on about. That, in turn, reminded him of the scary as hell post-dreamself-death dreams. Maybe he was still asleep?

Eventually, he found the stairs and made his way down.

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Sorry, Jade, but he doesn't even notice you. He walked by without even noticing the half-open door, and he certainly doesn't hear the soft footsteps from behind him. He just keeps moving on.

Okay, then. It's time to try actually talking to him -- though his hair's weird, she's still reasonably certain it's John.

"John--?" Her voice is hoarse. Goddammit, this is no time to fail her, voice! Her call is barely more than some sort of raspy whisper, and so she goes for option B. She flings herself down the hall, wrapping John in a hug from behind, burying her head in his shoulder.

He stops at the sound of his name, glancing around, and then BAM someone is hugging him!

He will never say no to hugs, but he's kind of confused and scared and he'd rather see who's hugging him. He tries peeking around his shoulder, but only sees messy black hair. Still, he doesn't pull away. Whoever this is, it feels like they really need a hug.

"Uh... hi?"

This is the first person she's hugged since she was a child, or at least the first alive person since Grandpa died. Jade honestly thought she'd never see them again, her friends from back home. But she realizes that this is kind of awkward and oh wow, being social probably means that she should let go. So she steps away, putting her hands behind her back.

"You're John, right? I mean, you look like him. But your hair's long." Oops, she's rambling in her whispery voice, and talking hurts. Jade coughs, and then smiles at him. "Sorry."

He turns to face her and his jaw drops. "Jade!"

And then he's pulling her into a crushing hug. "Oh my god, it's so awesome to see you, sis!" But then he actually hears what she's saying and blinks in confusion. "Of course it's me, and you're the one whose hair is too long! And..."

He pulls back slightly, taking in her appearance. His smile turns into a worried frown. "What happened to you, Jade?"

Oh, more hugs. Jade returns the hug as hard as she can, though his own crushing one kind of hurts. But god, it feels so good to see her friends again. Only...

She frowns and looks down. It's not as if she took care of herself particularly well; she's all angles and too small, practically holding her skirt up with her hands. Not that there's much of a proper outfit left; Jade's walking around barefoot, her shirtsleeves torn off.

"Oh, um. It's kind of a long story. I..." a pause. She doesn't want to talk about it. The people in heaven are nosy. "My hair is just fine..."

"Is it time shenanigans? I told you time travel isn't a thing to be taken lightly!"

"No...um."

What is John even talking about? She's super confused. This has got to be a dream, because in her world (when she had a world, she thinks) John actually makes sense and has a proper haircut.

"Dave. Is the time person."

"What?"

John leans closer, inspecting Jade's head. It's hard to see anything with all that hair, and she's acting so weird... Maybe she's hit her head?

"Jade, do you have amnesia?

A small laugh escapes her, though it's strange and a little stilted, like she hasn't laughed in awhile.

"No, I don't think so..." She shakes her head, watching him warily. Does he not like her? She knows that they're meeting in person for the first time, but she hopes that he thinks she's nice, even though she doesn't look presentable.

"I remember, um. The meteor. And the earth being gone."

There's something strange about Jade, but John can't quite put his finger on it. What he can tell, though, is that something is wrong, which is why he pulls her in for another hug, this one more careful.

"Are you okay?"

She smiles despite herself, carefully returning the favor. John isn't exactly the same, either. But she wonders if that's what heaven does to people, is change them. Thinking about the question for a moment, she sighs.

"I dunno."

He's getting a little worried now. Jade is never this subdued. She's always cool and ironic and totally badass!

Not that this amnesiac Jade isn't cool, too. Just... not the normal kind of cool.

"Well, you remember me, right? So your memory can't be completely gone!"

John is pretty much the same, so she's not quite as worried. Jade smiles, nodding. "John Egbert. I wouldn't forget you, you sent me stuff a long time ago."

Oh man. Oh man oh god oh man oh god oh man oh god.

"Jade, I think you really do have amnesia!!"

She just looks confused. "But...why?"

"Because my last name isn't Egbert, that's Rose!"

"No...Rose is Rose Lalonde. And John Egbert, and Dave Strider, and me."

John suddenly understands fuck all.

"But... that doesn't make any sense!"

"But it's what you told me, when I was ten..." Jade is entirely confused. She steps back just a bit, suddenly wary. Did she drop into a place where no one knows her, not even her friends? That's not heaven at all, or even a dream. That's just cruel.

"No, I..." John stares at her, confused and dismayed. Does she not like him now that things are weird?

"Okay, this is really weird, but you're still Jade, right? Maybe that's the important thing." He smiles carefully. "And since we're both Harleys, it's kind of like we're twins!"

Oh no, she's upset him. She's not even sure what she did but she probably deserves it -- her face falls slightly, and she idly chews on her nonexistent thumbnail. He's free to notice the torn state of her hands in the meantime.

"You still act like John...you're my best friend." The last part makes her pause, and she looks up from her studious study of her own shoes to smile at him. "I'd like to be twins."

He grins, completely failing to notice her hands, and pulls her into another hug.

"Awesome!"

O-oh hugs, she can do these. Her return hug is tentative, mostly because she thinks that he might get mad at her. Or worse, that he might disappear.

"Y-yeah. This is pretty cool."

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