Work Text:
===> Jade: Open the window
DAVE: jade
DAVE: jaaaaaade
DAVE: psst JADE
JADE: im coming, im coming, jeez
JADE: grandma was outside sorry it took so long :PP
JADE: you can come in now
DAVE: thanks
DAVE: fuck...
JADE: dave?
JADE: are you okay??
JADE: oh god
DAVE: yeah, i look like crap, i know
DAVE: hurts like crap too
DAVE: haha
DAVE: hey, girlfriend, how ya doin...
JADE: dave
JADE: what happened?
DAVE: you know, the use
DAVE: bro went a lil overboard with the training a couple of days ago and i'm prettyyy sure my ribs are bruised
DAVE: i don't think i broke any this time but
DAVE: could you check?
JADE: yes, yes i can
JADE: :((
DAVE: sorry
DAVE: i'm always... making you worry, aren't i?
JADE: yes
JADE: but its not your fault, dear, i think itd be worried regardless, just
JADE: does he always have to be so harsh with you?
JADE: is there really no other way to... train you??
DAVE: not really, not if you want me to survive what's out there, babe
DAVE: ya know what he said, all strider men are expected to defend the citadel with our lives if we have to, and i went ahead and decided to become a man so
DAVE: this is my lot in life now, hah
DAVE: at least i'm good at this
DAVE: can you imagine just how shitty it'd be if i was even half bad at all the fighting?
DAVE: i don't think i'd have survived the first WEEK
JADE: :((
JADE: you know that saying that doesnt actually make me less worried, right?
JADE: i just
JADE: i understand that having hunters that help keep the rest of us safe is necessary but i dont know why it was to be YOU specifically
JADE: why does bro expect you and you alone to fix everything??
JADE: ive been reading as many ancient texts as i can find but
JADE: but its USELESS!!!
JADE: im not helping half as much as i should be helping, and every fortnight youre expected to go out there to put yourself in harms way and your freaking GUARDIAN keeps beating you up and and
DAVE: hey
DAVE: hey, babe, it's okay
DAVE: you do help
DAVE: a lot
DAVE: jade
DAVE: jade, honey, look at me, come on, baby, there's no need to cry
JADE: youre injured! again!!
JADE: and i cant even be seen with you because my grandparents think you and your brother are the DEVIL or something
JADE: this sucks! and it sucks ESPECIALLY for you and i cant do NOTHING to make it suck less!!
JADE: ...
DAVE: ...
DAVE: i know
DAVE: this isn't optimal
DAVE: but once my probatory period has passed and the council determines that i've completed my training, the amount of times i'll be crawling in through your window beaten and bleeding should be significantly lessened
DAVE: i hope at least
DAVE: i don't actually like getting beat up, ya know
DAVE: it hurts when i breath
DAVE: and not just because of the dang binder
JADE: youre taking it off, right?
JADE: youre not just leaving it on even when you sleep anymore, are you?
DAVE: ...
JADE: dave
DAVE: i know, i know
DAVE: i did... keep it on, last night
DAVE: and the night before that
DAVE: but i'm getting better with that, i swear!
DAVE: it's just
DAVE: having it on gives me some control, sorta
DAVE: i'm a little bit more me when i have it on, and i'm a little bit less... whatever bro thinks i am
DAVE: i think the reason he keeps being particularly vicious with me, more so than dirk, is because he thinks that if he just kicks my ass enough times i'll give up on this being a boy business and i'll go back at being his little sister or whatever
DAVE: as if
DAVE: i don't think there's anything anyone could do to me that would make me want to go back to THAT
DAVE: no offense to girls anywhere, it's just that being one wasn't for me
DAVE: you get it, right? the fact that i'm not lying about this or making it up for attention or whatever the other people in the citadel think i am doing
JADE: of course i believe you, dave
JADE: ive known you my entire life
JADE: i always knew you were different
JADE: and i love you for it, the fact that youre brave enough to unapologetically be yourself
JADE: i just
JADE: i wish everyone gave you less of a hard time for it!!
JADE: you know what theyre saying about bro because hes "going along with this" or whatever ://
DAVE: boy do i do
DAVE: keep saying all of this is nonsense and that we're spitting at the face of the gods and centuries of tradition because god forbid the local tomboy choses to properly crossdress or whatever
DAVE: really, i'm lucky that bro at least allows me to BE called dave, even if dave has to jump through a lot of hoops that include dave getting beat up constantly to prove himself a man
DAVE: it's not optimal, as i said
DAVE: but i know a lot of other boys in my position wouldn't have it as easy
DAVE: you know, the last girl who voiced something like this was married off by their family
DAVE: they were never seen again
DAVE: the thought of that happening to me... that hurts
DAVE: not even because i'm scared of some sleazy fucker twice my age getting his hands or me or whatever, gods know i'd have his head on a spike before he even got close enough to touch me, but
DAVE: well, because if i am forced to leave, that means you'd be left all alone, baby
JADE: ...
JADE: its not so bad, being stuck here
JADE: i have my books and i have bec, and ill never be expected to marry or have children or any of that
JADE: id love to go outside and be able to see the planes beyond the citadel walls! but
JADE: but being here keeps me safe, or thats what grandma says
JADE: we have a duty us harley-crockers, and that is the preservation of the history of our people
JADE: its a worthy goal! heck, most of the time i LIKE being able to just dive in into my research and forget everything else about me
JADE: but
JADE: i dont know :(
JADE: i just wish i could catch a glimpse of the world beyond the walls, thats all
DAVE: yeah
DAVE: i wish i could take you there, man
DAVE: we've actually been leaving the citadel on the last few hunts
DAVE: we caught rumors of a direhound having jumped the fence and murdering a few sheep of the cattle herders at the borders, so bro took me and dirk outside to go take a look
DAVE: it was cold and raining, but we got to SEE outside,jade, holy shit it was a sight you never see
DAVE: no crowded buildings bleeding into one another and no families on top of families crowding each other
DAVE: just hills of green and the open skies
DAVE: it was wonderful
DAVE: i felt alive, the first time we went outside
JADE: :))
JADE: im glad theres things about being a hunter that you do like
JADE: you deserve that
JADE: especially when you go to such lengths to keep me company
JADE: parkouring through the city only to climb a giant tree to crawl in through my window, while injured!!
JADE: gosh darn, i havent even offered you some ointment
JADE: i made some the other day, arnica and calendula, it ought to help with the bruises
JADE: have you washed the cuts?? i saw some on your fingers and knuckles, i can get the basin and help clean them up if you want
DAVE: m okay
DAVE: right now... right now all i want is maybe to lay down a little and hold you, if
DAVE: if you'd be okay with that
JADE: dave
JADE: of course id be okay with that, youre my BOYFRIEND
DAVE: i know
DAVE: still can't believe a kind, beautiful wonderful girl like you would give the time of day to a weirdo like me
JADE: youre not a weirdo
JADE: weird, maybe, but not a weirdo
DAVE: i mainly say weirdo because i'm the one freak of our entire generation who actually WANTS to risk his life every two weeks by running around the wilderness outside the walls hunting a bunch of monsters
DAVE: not because of the wanting to be a boy thing
DAVE: also wait, ya think i'm weird? sad face :(
DAVE: my girlfriend thinks i'm weird... this is the worst day ever...
DAVE: she probably thinks i'm a dork too
JADE: dave
JADE: you ARE a dork
DAVE: woe me
JADE: hehe stop it
JADE: i dont mind that youre a dork, i dont know if youve noticed but im kind of unusual too
JADE: i keep forgetting things and i cant pay attention to my lessons even when i have no problems studying the texts when im by myself and people think im loud and off-putting with my mere presence
DAVE: who said that
DAVE: if anyone said that i have to go beat them up
DAVE: anyone who insults jade harley-crocker gets these hands
JADE: :))
JADE: thank you
JADE: and anyone who messes with DAVE strider catches MY hands
JADE: ...
DAVE: jade?
DAVE: babe?
JADE: i wish you didnt have to go back to bro
JADE: i know you have to because youre going to become a hunter but
JADE: but he HURTS you
JADE: i wish i could just keep you here, safe, with me
DAVE: i know
DAVE: i wish i could stay too
DAVE: i'd deadass stay forever...
JADE: :CC
JADE: dave
JADE: i know im the one always begging people to consider the diplomatic approach first, but
JADE: if bro ever hurt you so bad that i thought youd never recover... i think i would kill him
JADE: like actually kill him kill him
DAVE: oh
DAVE: ...
JADE: did
JADE: did i make you uncomfortable??
JADE: im sorry
JADE: its just
JADE: ive been patching you up and preparing everything to patch you up for months and months and sometimes when you dont come, i have this fear that youre not gonna come back at all and i
JADE: i
DAVE: it's okay
DAVE: jade... i'd always come back
DAVE: i'd do anything in my power to come back, you know that right?
JADE: yes
DAVE: i
DAVE: i love you, that's the truth
JADE: ...
DAVE: fuck
DAVE: did... did i make you uncomfortable?
DAVE: jade
DAVE: baby, don't cry, i'm sorry, i won't say it again, i swear
JADE: i love you too
JADE: so much
DAVE: ah
DAVE: ...
JADE: when do you have to leave tomorrow
DAVE: before the morning comes, same as always
DAVE: if morning comes and bro doesn't find me in my own bed, i don't know what he'll do to me
JADE: ...
DAVE: sorry
DAVE: there i go, lowkey ruining this again
JADE: you arent ruining anything
JADE: youre just
JADE: not lying to me, which i do appreciate, even if the reminder makes me want to break into tears
JADE: and i dont want to be the one to ruin anything because i cant stop crying again :((
DAVE: i hate that i make you cry so much
DAVE: anyone who makes you cry ought to be publicly shamed or something
JADE: i think we have enough shame to go around, no need to add more to the pile
JADE: but... you make me happy too, you know
JADE: just by being you
DAVE: thanks
DAVE: you make me happy also
DAVE: ha
DAVE: god
DAVE: it hurts. still
DAVE: it just hurts
JADE: i know
JADE: i love you
DAVE: love you too
JADE: stay then, boyfriend, till morning
DAVE: till morning then