♈ Aradia: Crash at your friends' place. [backdated]

[psych0p0mps]

Date & Time: waaaaaaaaaay back at the start of June ;u;
Location: Sollux and Feferi's hive, wherever that is
Characters: Aradia Megido, Sollux Captor
Summary: Tu casa es mi casa! >:3
Warnings: sollux

[It took her a little while to find it in such an unfamiliar setting - seriously, why would you put this many buildings so close together? - but Feferi's directions were good, and soon enough Aradia finds herself outside the place she described. Not really remarkable, but it matches.

It doesn't even occur to her to knock on the door, though. Why do that when you can fly up and peek through the windows like a creeper? When she finds one with a Sollux-shaped lump inside, she'll just go ahead and knock on the glass a few times, keeping the rain off her with a black umbrella she bought at the market. HEY DUDE YOU ALIVE IN THERE?]

Comments

[biwinning]

[Sollux has been having more than just a regular amount of shitty days. He's been having an overall shitty month, and his depression is in full swing during this time. So he's not really all that enthused at the sound of something at his window. He doesn't know who it'd be, but he does know a few people who can fly- either way, he doesn't dare turn around to face them, if there really is a person there and he's not just hearing things. Instead his reply is for a thin grey arm to emerge from the blankets and to flip the bird at whoever might be there.]

[psych0p0mps]

[Pfft. Aradia has to giggle at that, because as responses go you don't get more Classic Sollux than that. She fiddles telekinetically with the latch on the window until she can get the window to slide open, and then pokes her top half inside. Of course, her clothes and hair never magically got dry from when she got soaked before, so she's sort of dripping anyway, but.]

What are you doing, making a fort?

[biwinning]

...

[That's...

That can't be-

Sollux (not out of excitement, of course not) flings off the blankets over his head and whips around to look at the window. Yes. That's Aradia. That's Aradia Megido, just as much of a magical godtier fairy as when he last saw her, over half a sweep again. He just sits there in bed, in awe.]

...AA...

[...And, he's... still kind of in a depressed mood, so... tears are kind of... welling up in his eyes. Gurl do you have any idea how many times this kid has cried over you?]

[psych0p0mps]

[Unfortunately, Aradia has no idea whatsoever. She instantly goes from grinning to obviously concerned. He looks like he hasn't seen her in ages - although to be fair, he's been blind for ages from her perspective, so of course he hasn't, but you get the idea - and speaking of which he hasn't worn those glasses in forever either, and he actually looks really strange with his huge teeth back in, and -

wow, what even is going on in this world 0_0

She pulls herself the rest of the way through the window and flutters over to the sleep square, landing next to him.]

Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?

[biwinning]

[He's trying not to actually cry this time, okay!! His eyes are just a little watery from... being under the covers for so long. Huh!!

However the tsun act can't last forever, and when she sits next to him on the bed, he wraps his arms around her shoulders and hugs her.]

I haven't theen you in... it feelsth like a thweep.

[psych0p0mps]

[She's a little surprised by this. Of course, by this point she's already concluded it's time shenanigans at work again, but she was for sure not expecting a big hug. After a second, though, she hugs him back earnestly.]

I'm sorry. It's only been about an hour for me.

[biwinning]

[He sighs deeply while hugging her, pretty sure he'd be okay just doing this for an hour, but... Aradia probably wants to let go. So he does it first, and pulls his blankets back over himself.]

You just got here?

[psych0p0mps]

[Actually she'd be okay with continuing that! But she lets go when he does, anyway, and nods.]

That's right. I ran into Feferi right away, and she told me you were here, so... [light shrug. of course she'd come to see him, why wouldn't she?]

[biwinning]

[Well, it's not like he knows that. He kind of just assumes everyone barely tolerates him.]

Right.

[He sighs, and hugs himself together tighter.]

I'm a shitty host right now. Do you...

[He sighs again, sounding like even trying to talk like a normal person is a struggle-]

Want anything? I have sodas. And water... Maybe a towel to dry off with.

[psych0p0mps]

[It does look like he's feeling really low, like... lower than she's seen him in literally sweeps. Did something happen? Well, she can wait till he's ready to talk about it.]

I've got plenty of water already, haha. A towel would be nice, though, yes! We'd better get one for you while we're at it. [since he went and hugged her while she was soaking wet! good job sollux good job]

[biwinning]

I'm fine.

[However he doesn't get up to get her a towel. He psionically opens the door to a room at least twenty feet away, and a towel, fluffy and white, levitates it's way into the room the two are in. It stops and hovers in front of Aradia.]

There.

[She'll probably think he's lazy, but he just... doesn't want to use his legs right now.]

[psych0p0mps]

[Heh, it's exceptional abuse of psionics even for him... She takes the towel, though, and starts drying her hair with it, shifting to make herself more comfortable.]

Thanks.

[Doop de doop just quietly dryin' off... she keeps looking over at him, though, seeing if he wants to say anything else.]

[biwinning]

[He does. He wants to say a lot of things really, but he's too mixed up and screwed up to say it cohesively. He wants to tell her about Roxy, and about Equius and Vriska and Feferi- but if he tried to say it all right now it'd end up like "I became moirails with Equius and am matesprits with Vriska and Feferi mindcontrolled me into jumping off a roof and I'm hatedating Roxy." Which would make things a lot worse.]

Uh.

[He shifts on the bed, to make more room for her.]

So... yeah. Here we are now.

[...]

How are you?

[psych0p0mps]

[That would be incredibly confusing! Troll everything is complicated.]

Oh, pretty good! Pretty good. How are you?

[biwinning]

... Well, I'm doing really shitty, in case that's not obviouth, AA.

[psych0p0mps]

[... she sighs. the temptation to whap him with the towel in a goodnatured manner is incredibly strong, but somehow she resists the urge, flopping it into her lap instead.]

Yes, Sollux, I had gathered that much. I was trying to ask what's wrong in a more subtle way than before.

[because as we all know she is exceptionally good at subtlety. subtlety is one of her middle names. aradia "subtlety smooth jones" megido. still smooth jones for short.]

[biwinning]

A lot of things are wrong.

[He sighs, rubbing his temples with his fingers.]

To start, you're here. I- I wanted you here, because you know a lot more about time travel than I do and I keep pretending I know what I'm talking about when these people ask me, but I'm just resaying the same things you do about... timey-wimey, whatever. But you're here now and I don't want you to be because it's so screwed up and wrong here and you'd probably be better off back in the Medium where we all should be. But I don't want to go back there- not when I know what happens, exactly the way it happens. I mean, fuck! I knew I had a crapshot at life and that I was going to go blind and die. I was ready for that. But there's just some things a guy can't deal with.

[He has 99 problems and this is only the first one.]

[psych0p0mps]

[Aradia listens quietly, although she can't say she fully understands what he's on about. She doesn't know that much about how this place operates, and it's a little confusing that he wouldn't want to go back - he's always seemed more or less content with being blind and half dead, or at least he seemed to think it was an improvement over his previous situation. So she kind of wonders what he's been told about his future, if he thinks it's going to be that bleak.

Granted, events are unlikely to go the same way if he goes back, since whatever timeline he returns to is by definition not the alpha. Otherwise, she'd have heard about all this already.

... But come to think of it, maybe that's what he's heard.]

What do you mean? [as for things a guy can't deal with, that is.]

[biwinning]

Things changed. For me. I was okay with it before, because I didn't have other choicesth. Here, I have friendsth, quadrantsth, the voicesth in my head are quieter, I have a job- I'm living a pretty normal life, outthide of a few thingsth. I mean... what ith my fate, after I die again? Dreambubblesth. Reliving the thame memoriesth over and over again, until the dreambubblesth thtop, and then who knows what.

I want to thtay here, and I know that meansth I'm beta, and I wanted you here, but now you're beta too. But I can't make mythelf care.

[psych0p0mps]

[Oh boy... that awkward moment when doomed timelines. It's been a long time since she's had to broach the subject with anybody, since everyone she knew was currently either alpha or dead. And for that matter, she can't be sure she's not alpha, just yet - but all it would take to disprove that is for someone to come from later on in the timeline. Even if she does go back, it's very possible that she's already doomed. And as for Sollux... well, he definitely is.

... Which really grinds her gears to think about, to be honest. It's not even just the two of them - all the Transports, however many there were, were being doomed left and right, all for the sake of a single iteration of Earth - and all because the Initiative apparently has no idea how time travel works.

But she's not going to die again, beta or no. That's a given.

Aradia lets out a deep breath with a long sigh, and rests a hand on Sollux's arm, trying to be reassuring.]

I'm not going to say I'm not worried about that. The timeline thing, I mean. But... if you don't want to go back, I don't see why you should have to. [and as long as they're in an alternate timeline anyway-] And the same if you don't want to die.

[biwinning]

Tho what, you're jutht thaying "if you don't want to die, you shouldn't do it"? I don't get a choice in the matter, and you know that. I'm either killed, or have to give up my life to save someone else. That's how being Doomed works.

[But it comes with a sigh as well, and the hand on his arm helps...]