[closed]

[worldswillburn]

Date & Time: August 16, a few hours past midnight
Location: One of the Hold's training rooms
Characters: Kerrigan & Sollux
Summary: Two psychics meet and one of them picks up on more that they bargained for.
Warnings: These two aren't exactly the nicest around...

[Kerrigan would often have trouble getting a full night's sleep.

When you've been through as much as she has, knowing what she still harbors deep inside, any semblance of peace and relaxation is pretty hard to come by. Some nights are more restful than others, but even with Jim around, there's just too much to keep her awake. Dreams of what she did in the past continued to haunt her. There was regret, guilt, and an unwavering desire for vengeance. Even so, in effort to distract herself, and maybe tire out to the point where she could get some rest, Kerrigan opted for a very late-night night trip to one of the training rooms in the Hold.

Power was still so very familiar to her, so she gravitated towards that. It was quiet enough, making it easy for her to focus and lift the heavy training weight. No problem, Kerrigan thought to herself. It was hard to really be able to push oneself when she was as strong as she was. At the very least, it kept her busy.

It kept her from thinking too much.]

Comments

[biwinning]

[Unfortunately for Sollux, he had gone specifically at this time of night- a time when most humans are asleep and don't enjoy working out- to the training room. At least, he thought most humans didn't enjoy working out at this time. And boy does he despise dealing with people like this.

Moments before Kerrigan enters the room, Sollux had been singing to himself, loudly, while he did pull ups. He hates doing this kind of physical stuff, he'd much prefer just doing some psychic and psionic training, since the only effort there just made him want to take a nap and not leave him sore all over his body.

Sollux grunts to himself as he pulls himself up, already having done a whopping ten, and finishing up to fourteen before he has to stop himself and try to breath normally.

And then someone steps into his training hold.]

What the hell, lady. Can't you see this one's occupied?

[It's also the only one with the very heavy training weights...]

[worldswillburn]

[So much for getting some private training in. Kerrigan stops her exercise as she takes notice of... Oh. She remembered this one, the other psychic. Kind of hard to forget a face like his.]

Relax. It's just you and...

[Something was wrong. As a psychic herself, she was already unintentionally listening to Sollux's mind. It was loud and honestly, kind of painful.]

Do you mind?

[She said, grimacing as she brought a hand to her head.]

Whoever's screaming in your head, tell them to stop.

[biwinning]

[He's still breathing heavily, but this time his mouth hangs opens in awe. Bad awe. "How-dare-you" awe.]

Ex-fucking-cuse me?

[And he's on his feet, gross and sweaty and not really actually on his feet but more like levitating a few inches off the ground because he doesn't feel like using his legs right now.]

How about you try not invading my personal space and mind? I can't believe you have the arrogance to ask me that, when it's your own fucking fault for not being an invasive twat!

[The voices coming from Sollux's mind get notably louder with his anger.]

[worldswillburn]

First of, don't think it's something I did on purpose. [She didn't expect him to believe her, but it was the truth as far as her abilities went. Being "gifted" to the point where she was unable to keep herself from reading other people's thoughts... Sure was the good life.]

Second, I'd love to, but it's a little difficult to concentrate when I have all these random voices yelling at me.

Which, by the way, they're getting louder.

[Come on, Kerrigan, get a grip already. Compared to everything else you've been through, this is nothing.]

There, I'm out. [For now. And not a moment too soon.] Thanks for that, by the way. I really wanted a splitting headache in the middle of the night.

[biwinning]

Good! I hope they're getting louder! In fact, I hope you hear yourself screaming among them! Because wow, surprise, I'm not doing it on purpose either! Do you think I asked for this sort of thing in my head??

[He calms down a little, knowing she's out of his head, but still pissed.]

And really. You have a headache from that? Gosh, I'm tho thorry. I only have to deal with having thith constant migraine every waking moment of my life! But oh noooo, you have a headache!

[worldswillburn]

[It appears that Sollux is none to pleased with her right now. Well, on a scale of how much she cares... Yeah, she doesn't really care. At all.]

You can stop with the dramatics anytime, kid. [Yeah, that's pretty much all you're getting.] Who'd you piss off to be stuck with that kind of treatment?

[Sounded like it'd be one heck of a story.]

[biwinning]

[It's true. He is a bit of a drama queen. But-]

Life. I wath hatched this way. I don't have a fucking choice in the matter, and it's been like this since as long as I can remember.

And don't. Fucking. Call me. Kid.

[worldswillburn]

Alright already, Sollux. [There, happy? Just calm the fuck down. It's not the end of world.

Oh. Wait.]

So just to get my story straight, you've had all those voices in your head since the day you were born.

[Wow it sucks to be you.]

Who are they?

[biwinning]

The voicesth of the soon-be-deceased. Bathically, the imminently damned. I hear their last words. It's almost always screams, and completely indecipherable.

[worldswillburn]

[Wow, and Kerrigan thought she had it bad.] And that's it? There's no way at all that you can make them stay quiet?

[That sounds unbelievably shitty.]

[biwinning]

I'd have to be dead or blind.

[worldswillburn]

What does blindness have to do with it?

[biwinning]

Don't athk me man, I didn't make the rules.

[worldswillburn]

Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to change them.

[biwinning]

I can't change my genetics, lady.

[worldswillburn]

Maybe not here. I told you already, my hair wasn't always like this.

[biwinning]

Then explain.

[worldswillburn]

I don't suppose you've ever heard of the Zerg Swarm, and if you haven't, consider yourself the envy of everybody back where I'm from. In any case, the Zerg are known for assimilating most species they deem useful, all for the sake of their continued evolution.

That includes humans.

[biwinning]

That sounds like a pretty good idea.

[Were you expecting him to not think mass assimilation of species was a bad idea? Because his race is basically a more human-like Zerg.]

[worldswillburn]

[Trolls sure are weird...]

Most humans weren't exactly jumping for joy when they were infested.

And even then, most of them weren't fully compatible, which only left them alive for a few minutes, and that was before they were only good as suicide soldiers.

I was one of the lucky ones.

[biwinning]

If my race had their way, there wouldn't even be lucky ones.

You're saying your hair is because of your infestation. What the fuck kind of infestation are they doing, fashion checks?

[worldswillburn]

The Zerg may not be pretty to look at, but they're good at what they do. Making their numbers grow, conquest and evolution...

Can't help but wonder what's next for them now that their Queen's out of the picture.

[biwinning]

What, ith she dead? They'll probably just replace her. Or just fall to pieces. I wish our Queen was dead. Solve a lot of problems for everyone.

[worldswillburn]

She's still alive, just not in a position to give orders right now. [If only you knew.]

What sort of problems are talking about?

[biwinning]

Paralyzed then? That's messed up.

[Just... let him draw his own conclusions, Kerrigan. It's easier.]

Trolls society, ath enforced by the Empress, runs heavily on classism. Meaning my kind of troll and the types below me are bathically slaves to the higher class trolls.

[worldswillburn]

Classes? Didn't think there were places out that there still used a system like that. [especially when it almost never works out well.] Here's a question, how many of the lower classes are there compared to higher up?

[biwinning]

Of course there are. There will always be places that use that sort of system.

It's kind of segregated. The "low class" is like, three different shades of blood, like maroon, brown, and mustard yellow, plus any mutants. Which, lucky for me, I fall into the latter two. Middle class is like, shades of green. Lime, olive, jade, teal. Upper class are blues, indigos and violets. And then the seadwellers, are purple. Highest class. But pretty much unless you're a blueblood or higher, you're lower class.

[worldswillburn]

So the classes are set by the color of your blood? That's a first. [troll society sure is weird.] What about red blood? Don't you guys have any of that running around?

[biwinning]

[It sure is weird, indeed!]

Candy-ath red, like humans? No. We don't. Unless it's one of the mutants, like I mentioned. But they are usually culled instantly.

[worldswillburn]

You get rid of the mutations that quickly? What if it turns out they could've been of use?

[biwinning]

"Oh well" ith the general reaction. There's no such thing as "uniquely useful" in troll society. Chances are, anything special about you, at least fifty other trolls have. ...Except in really rare cases.

[Like him.]

[worldswillburn]

Doesn't really give much of a chance for your species to evolve. [you seem to focus a lot on that, Kerrigan.]

Guess your Queen doesn't want any threats she can't deal with.

[biwinning]

Pretty much.

She's a shit queen.

[worldswillburn]

No one around willing to overthrow her?

[biwinning]

You don't think attempts were made? Kind of hard to get a total victory when the enemy holds all the cards.

[worldswillburn]

Doesn't mean you should stop fighting.

[biwinning]

Wow, you're SOOOOOOOO right! The Lowbloods from the revolution totally should have kept fighting! You know, despite being all dead, maimed, and tortured into defeat! Talk about not trying hard enough, when your enemy is naturally genetically stronger and faster and has psychic powers that can mind control you into stabbing your friends in their sleep! Oh, and I forgot to mention can breathe underwater and live longer. OH, and have nicer health conditions because being a highblood entitles you to them. Yeah, fuck small victories like stopping slave labor from happening to trolls below the age of eight, why did those assholes who spent decades fighting just stop there?!

[worldswillburn]

[Kerrigan just stares and raises an eyebrow.]

Feel better now that you got that out of your system?

[biwinning]

I'll feel better when you stop suggesting stupid shit like it'th brand new fucking information.

[worldswillburn]

If it keeps you from going off like that? You might be on to something.