Work Text:
At first, the messages were little more than tests. It all started with a hopeful “CAN YOU READ THIS?” here, an annoyed “FUCK YOU FOR LAUNCHING A BUCKET INTO MY FACE, WHO THE FUCK EVEN *DOES* THAT” there, and a despondent “FUCK.” when you realized you’d spent a good twenty minutes ranting about that second thing without so much as a hint of green text. Still, you kept trying, logging onto Trollian every day in the vain hope that you’d hear that infuriating beep from the program, ready and willing to accept it like an old friend. Every once in a while you’d shoot off another message, wishing that it’d be the day when the damn things would actually go through. After a while though, weeks and months, you more or less gave up on that, until you found yourself sending what was practically an entire essay about how nervous you were about the realization that your eyes were going to start filling in. After all, by the time you had stopped being an asshole to her (or at least an actively malicious one) and the two of you wandered deep into that disgusting territory known as friendship, she had proven to be a pretty good confidant. There was something about her that just made it insanely easy to open up. By now, it was a full-blown routine, something you did without even really thinking about it, if you were upset you’d sit with your computer and vent to someone who would never see it. It was weirdly heartbreaking, to be honest, but it sure beat the hell out of ranting to your past or future selves. The messages weren’t going anywhere, after all, and you doubted they would.
You can’t help but get a little giddy when you hear that John, the living, actual John, has been showing up in the dream bubbles, because it means they’re getting closer. All of a sudden, you’re hopeful again, telling yourself that maybe whatever it is finally weakening, and you find yourself sending messages daily again, this time with a decidedly more optimistic bent. Talking about how much you miss the two of them, and how much you’re looking forward to talking to them again, and how much you’ve missed her and her stupid dorky looking smile and her ridiculous laugh and how much fun it was to talk to her even when you were being an unmitigated douchenozzle. But you still don’t get a response, and after another few months you give up again. It isn’t until you’re nearing the end of your three year journey, watching another surprisingly not-shitty Earth movie, when you hear Trollian bleep, and you actually knock over your crabtop when you flail in surprise. You check the screen and sure enough, it’s her. It’s Jade, and she’s sent you a message. You aren’t really sure why you run a hand through your hair to flatten it a little before you click to see what it is, but you do anyway and you mentally kick yourself for it. But that’s okay, because this right here? This was it. This was the first thing you’ve heard from her in years, and the start of the rekindling of a beautiful friendship, and you can barely contain your excitement. You wonder what she sent.
gardenGnostic’s [GG’S] computer exploded.
CG:…
CG: WHAT.
It suddenly hits you that maybe human chat clients weren’t built to handle three years worth of rants from someone as verbose as you, at the same time as it hits you that you’ve sent a LOT of messages.
Fuck.
When you finally meet up with them, they can’t contain their laughter when they see you. Jade doesn’t even stop laughing when she tacklehugs you. You sputter indignantly, and you’re entirely red in the face when you start to complain, but she just calls you a dork and shuts you up in a way you didn’t even realize you wanted until right then.
Still, not-so-surprising flushed relationships aside, it’s months before you’re able to so much as look at a computer again without feeling embarrassed. You think it’s worth it though.