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[callbacks]

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Please note the date and time of day for me!

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[callbacks]

[He wasn't, but when he sees who's texting him Dave sure wakes up in a hurry.]

yeah of course kiddo
cool never sleeps
whats up isnt it pretty late for mere mortals

[gainedlove]

i couldnt sleep
im sorry

[For a moment Frisk considers just closing the Gear, but they swallow hard and plow forward.]

did u hav some one with u at home? that helped and knew stuff after it went back too?

[callbacks]

[It takes a moment for Dave to work out what exactly Frisk is asking, and then another to figure out how to answer.]

the way it worked for me was kind of different
but
yeah
i had someone like that who kept an eye on me
or well a nose anyway
you?

[gainedlove]

yeah
we were always together before
no one else knew they were there with me
it was
they were dead before i fell

[callbacks]

like a ghost?

[gainedlove]

not really
i mean maybe
i dont know
they were in my soul and they couldnt leave
but they knew about monsters from before
they wanted to help everyone
but it didnt work
and they blamed themself for it

[callbacks]

that sounds really hard
for both of you

[Actually, it sounds horrifying. There was a ghost in Frisk's soul? What the fuck.]

but they helped you?

[gainedlove]

yeah
they were kind of mean some times but they did their best
we could talk and figure things out together
but theyre not here anymore
im so scared
i keep hoping ill wake up and ill hear them but i cant
its been since summer
i want them back so much

[callbacks]

[Dave thinks about how badly he missed Terezi. How awfully he misses Rose.]

yeah
i get you little buddy
what were they like

[gainedlove]

theyre kind of rude
in a real way but also not kind of
they didnt want to be close to people because they thought it would hurt
but really theyre so nice
they care so much
they tried to give up everything for monsters
theyre smart too so smart
they know a ton of things
and they joke a lot
they always made silly jokes and we would laugh
i think they
they wanted to protect me too
they could take over sometimes
not a lot but they could
they tried really hard to keep me safe

[callbacks]

did
you want them to take over?

[He'll get back to the rest, maybe, but that--Dave can't just brush past that.]

[gainedlove]

[Frisk frowns a little, their brow furrowing. Why would be be worried about that?]

yeah
i guess we kinda fought a little sometimes
but not really
were partners we work together

[callbacks]

ok i see
so really
theyre a really important friend


i understand

its like theres a hole where part of your life should be
and even though theyre sharp and bright and tough as anything you worry about them because you know
they need you too
right

[gainedlove]

[There's a clenched, tight feeling where their SOUL should be. An ache, a horrible pain that curls in upon itself and leaves Frisk cold and shivering. Strange, how much seeing someone else put it into words makes it feel even more real.]

yeah
wer supposed to be
its supposed to be us together
always
we take care of eachother
or i tried to help them too

i dont know
i dont know if theyre even still anywhere
without me
they werent awake before i fell
and they couldnt go anywhere but with me
we
im scared
what if theyre gone forever
i cant
i dont know what to do if theyre gone

[callbacks]

i
frisk
theres nothing we can do to find out whats going on with the people we left behind
if theyre ok or
theres the people who come in from later or a better timeline or have "gone" and come back and i mean their reassurances are great and all
but its so hard to believe right
not without seeing it for ourselves
so i dont think theres anything i can say to magically make either of us not afraid anymore except



sometimes i just
imagine shes here
imagine all the things i could catch her up on if she were
what pokemon shed like
how
she could be happier


it could help

[gainedlove]

im sorry dave



whats she like?

[callbacks]

smart
shes the smartest person i know
she lords it over people sometimes but thats just her thing like mines being cool and unaffected
its how we do
people like me and her
shes really sweet though as much as she pretends to be kind of machiavellian and calculating shed do pretty much anything for the people she cares about
and if she couldnt do things for them
it hurt her
it hurt her a lot and none of us ever really knew how to help

her names rose

[gainedlove]

rose sounds really nice
shes a hero too right?
like you are at home?
what kind of pokemon would she get?

[callbacks]

anything purple
and or with tentacles
especially if it would ebony darkness dementia raven way nightmares for a solid decade
also cats
what about your friend

[gainedlove]

all the sharp ones
i know theres some bugs that have knifes on their hands
and the plant ones too maybe?
they wouldn't catch those though
theyd get all really strong ones
i know theyd like battling a lot
they wanted to fight all the time even for dumb stuff

[callbacks]

i dunno that id say rose really liked fighting
but man she loved winning
maybe theyd get along
her and your friend

[gainedlove]

maybe
they dont really like humans
i think im the only one theyre okay with
theyre mad at a lot of monsters too
not the same way but
theyre really grumpy :(
it was a lot of resets before they really liked me either
but i kept
i know why they didnt like me
i dont think they really forgave me for it

[callbacks]

?





do you want to talk about it?

[gainedlove]

i









i killed monsters
a lot of times


i killed mom

[callbacks]

[Dave gives that the pause it deserves, going over the words until they really mean something, until they accumulate a fraction of the weight they must hold for Frisk.

Dave's killed lots of monsters.

He's never killed something who took a name for him.]

you were scared

[Not a question.

Not an excuse, either.]