#post-sburb

[Image: exactly the same drawing, but with a couple wrinkles in the forehead. If anything, it makes him look older and a little less composed. End image description.]

More or less successfully, from what you can tell – everyone you’ve talked to so far (which is to say, John and Karkat) just has more memories than they did before. Doomed timeline selves, dream bubbles, and all that crap. You have yourself some extra memories, too – quite a fucking lot of them, actually, considering the number of dead Daves that ended up happening. Davesprite is the main offender, of course – not only is there the months he spent as a doomed timeline Dave, but there’s also two entire versions of him that spent a fair chunk of time on a Prospitian battleship, even if one of them got blown up with pre-retcon John on LOWAS pretty early on.

You return your attention to your God Tier gift of gab thing. In the absence of all the awesome shit that once graced your Sylladex, it’s pretty much the only means of communication currently available. It’s slightly freaky, in that it sounds like speech if you speak it, but you can also kind of compose your words just by thinking about them as well, and it comes through like speech on the other side.

Dave: what about your mom, does she remember being Nannasprite John: yeah, she does! All the years on the ship and everything! It’s really cool. John: Do you remember being Davesprite? Dave: yeah Dave: both versions Dave: feathery identity crisis and all Dave: you have my respect for putting up with that guy for three years, Egbert, is all im saying John: hehehehe :B John: Davesprite was cool! He just got a bit pissy sometimes Dave: understatement of the fucking century, but whatever Dave: so, your mom nanna Dave: has she developed any sudden hankerings for pie wars Dave: because i had more than enough of that when i was Davesprite Dave: there are only so many fucking pies you can take to the face and stay sane John: Er. She didn’t say? I hope she doesn’t start that thing again! John: considering the whole batterwitch brainwashing thing, I think we should probably stage an intervention if she tries to bake anything ever again, so hopefully it won’t come to that? John: …Dave! Oh my god. What if the Batterwitch exists in this universe as well? John: that would be the worst thing John: the worst! John: I don’t know if I could deal with that! Dave: calm your tits Egbert, we dont even know if Earth is still a thing yet let alone the batterwitch Dave: but considering this is meant to be a reward universe or something she might not exist John: if this reward universe has the Batterwitch in it I’ll have to take it up with the frog, because that’s not okay! Dave: well she was basically troll hitler right? have you asked any of the trolls if they know whats going down? John: Kanaya is with Jade, trying to figure out what’s outside of the Medium John: mostly all the god tiers are arguing John: it’s probably a good thing we’re all stuck on our lands because we don’t know if we can die yet and trolls are kinda violent and I think some people might be dead by now if they were all in the same room Dave: no kidding Dave: and its all of them, right? Not just the ones who were actually alive, but the dream bubble ghosts and all the ancestors and shit, im pretty sure Karkat said that that was a thing John: yeah that’s totally a thing! They’re not all god tier though so not sure how that works John: I mean, have you even looked at the sky? There are so many planets crammed around Skaia that you can actually see them John: vriska is trying to fly to the planet closest to hers actually. I hope she doesn’t suffocate. I know we could fly in space before and not die but that might not be true any more. Dave: it would tell us if our god tiers still count for anything Dave: if it still has to be just/heroic or if it can just be random stupidity too Dave: look bro. have you heard anything from nepeta John: um, no? John: she never got a god tier! John: I think some of the troll god tiers contacted her but I haven’t heard anything John: why? Dave: its like this Dave: i remember being Davesprite and I also remember turning into Davepetasprite^2 Dave: i dont feel like Davepetasprite^2, but she might, and its just a bit weird to think that there might be a cat troll with bird dave tendencies out there Dave: i dont feel like i have any cat troll tendencies so probably not but you never know John: I didn’t think of that! Maybe you should try contacting her to ask? Dave: nah, its cool. Dave: i can just ask Dirk if he remembers being his auto responder equius sprite thing Dave: i honestly have trouble keeping track of the sprite bullshit that went down towards the end Dave: shit, Rosesprite was a thing as well, wasnt she John: yeah, she was totally a thing! :P She was part Jaspers. I wonder if she’s like Jade now John: you know, kind of part cat John: ...wait, dave John: if you were Davesprite, are you part bird now? Dave: Rose is gabbing me, talk later John: you totally are aren’t y-

You stop gabbing at John and his voice cuts off mid-sentence. Rose wasn’t actually gabbing at you, but you think it might be a good idea to rectify that. You start gabbing at Rose. Or you try to, but she beats you to it. Rose: So, brother dear. How are you finding your new feathers? Dave: oh my god Lalonde Dave: where do you even get this shit Dave: and also hello, by the way, welcome to the new universe and all, im fine, thanks for asking Rose: You do actually have feathers, then? Dave: fuck you Rose: So vulgar. I do apologise for not contacting you sooner, though. I have been coordinating universal search efforts between our two space players. My Seer abilities could stand to be more developed, but I seem to be effective in narrowing their search. Rose: They seem to have found some promising star systems to search now, though, so they should be fine for a while. Rose: So, to business: I assume I’m not the only one with some spritely new features? Dave: so you’re a catgirl now, or what Rose: More or less. The changes are similar to what Jade experienced, I suppose. I have the cat ears and fur, as well as a tail, though I’m not certain that Jade has her own tail. Being so feline is something of a novel experience. Rose: yourself?

You look at yourself, and yeah, this shit probably isn’t going to change any time soon. Dave: ok Dave: well to be honest im a lot less feathery than Davesprite was Dave: but thats not saying much Dave: i have years of memory worth of being part bird though so its not exactly a new experience for me Rose: Of course. I imagine you and Jade will be the best accustomed to being part animal. Are you part troll now, though? I know quite well that one of the Davesprites became Davepetasprite^2. It thoroughly annoyed Rosesprite at the time. Dave: nah. Seems like the sprite bits that were actually people merged with the other versions of themselves. i remember being Davepetasprite^2 but not being Nepeta or Nepetasprite. Dave: and thank jegus for that Rose: Indeed. I’m sure that being part bird is more than enough, without being part female troll as well. Dave: word Rose: I notice that you haven’t mentioned precisely how avian your current appearance is. Dave: … Dave: yeah Dave: ill get back to you on that Dave: you go do your space player guiding shit, let me know if there are any actual life-supporting planets out there

You stop gabbing at Rose before she can get too pushy.

You sit listening to the mechanical hum of the clockwork that, being kind of your land’s thing, completely surrounds your abode. Then you bite the bullet and head for the bathroom, wherein can be found the only serviceable mirror in the house. And you stare a bit.

You are clad in your god tier pyjamas, which are just as red and stupidly comfortable as always. They seem fundamentally connected to powers, so it doesn’t surprise you that they made the trans-universe trip when nothing else did, not even your shades. The sight of your red eyes is almost as unfamiliar to you as it is to other people. You have the captchalogue code for the original aviators fucking memorised, though, so as long as alchemy is still a thing you should be fine.

The rest of the bullshit is simultaneously far more familiar than your eyes and far less. Because you got used to being a feathery bastard when you were Davesprite, but when you were Davesprite you also got used to being a sprite, and all that entails. Like being an eye searing, incandescent shade of orange. And not having anything except an ectoplasmic tail thing where your lower abdomen and legs should be. And not really that much physical sensation either, if you’re going to be completely honest with yourself.

You are no longer an eye searing, incandescent shade of orange. You have legs, and your junk seems to be intact. Your fingernails are pretty much talons now, all black and curved and pretty damn sharp. Your toe-talons put them to shame, but your magical god tier shoes seem to be dealing okay. You’re not completely covered in feathers the way Davesprite was, but they sort of sprout in your hair and fall around your neck a bit, maybe your shoulders, but you’d have to strip to be able to tell properly. Your cape seems to be very carefully arranged in that general region because, uh.

Wings, motherfuckers.

Fucking wings.

You stare at them in the mirror. They twitch slightly but pretty much stay the fuck where they are, folded neatly against your back. You think they’re probably not going anywhere, no more than the feathers or the freaky fingertalons are. You can actually feel them, when you focus on them. Like you can feel sensation in your feet or face or whatever, and as you realise this, you realise that the feathers near the left wing elbow thing are kind of itchy, and you have to restrain an alarmingly reflexive sort of preening motion.

As Davesprite, you spent more time than you care to remember secretly preening your many many feathers where John and Jade couldn’t see you. You knew they’d mock you relentlessly for your feathery asshole instincts.

But see, the thing is, you never really paid much attention to your wings when you were Davesprite. Sure, they were there, and you could fly faster than most sprites could because of them, but…they were just kind of there? They weren’t all heavy and itchy and sensitive like these bastards.

Nonetheless, it is the easiest thing in the world to abruptly stretch the wing out. It’s kind of alarming to watch in the mirror, actually. The thing is fucking huge and it runs out of bathroom space before it gets much more than half opened, alula feathers bumping on the shower cubicle.

You captchalogue the mirror and head to the roof. Seems like your place is pretty much in the state it was when you entered the game, way back when. After taking a moment to confirm the workings of the alchemiter and its many attachments, you slap your shades onto your face with relief, and then get down to business. You use the mirror code and make a fucking huge mirror with it, which you then captchalogue and then deploy sort of propped against the air conditioning unit.

You strip your cape off, which is easy enough even though it’s mostly bunched between your wingshoulders. The shirt is harder, because it has four limb holes now and you’re not used to wing-accommodating apparel. Finally, though, you captchalogue ½ Knight of Time Outfit and stand before the fucking huge mirror, flaunting your shirtlessness for any local nakkodiles that may be inclined to peep on you. Fuck the nakkodiles, though, you’re here to inspect the extent of your birdiness. So, you unfurl the wings, and it actually feels pretty good to stretch them properly.

You stare at the reflection of you and your unfurled wings for at least thirty seconds.

You know that American culture was always pretty fond of the whole wing thing, probably on account of all that religious history and angels and all, but you personally always found angel movies fucking hilarious. Or, pretty much any movie that tried to give someone some majestic feathery wings. If it was a demon or monster with twisted and unnatural looking wings, that could turn out fairly cool, but whenever someone came out with angelic white/gold/whatever feathery flappers? Shit was hilarious. You just could not take a guy with wings seriously. It was just so stupid.

You stare at your own large feathery flappers. They’re pretty imposing. They take up a lot of space. You reckon that your wingspan is at least twice your height. You reckon that they’re mostly white, but they could be sort of light blonde like your hair. It’s hard to tell, when the heated red of LOHAC’s atmosphere casts itself all over them. As far as wings go, they’re well-proportioned and pretty cool looking. But as awesome as wings are, when they’re attached to a dude, even an awesome dude such as yourself…

You continue to stare at yourself. You try to avoid snorting at yourself and fail. The sight of your reflection, displaying these huge maybe-white feathery flappers stretched out majestic as all fuck, is probably the gayest thing you’ve ever seen. You might struggle to take yourself seriously from now on, because wings, for god’s sake.