towerofanimus | Time to Unwind (closed)

Entry tags:

Time to Unwind (closed)

Characters: Aradia Megido (

verymuchalive) and Sollux Captor (

thekidsare0kay)
Setting: Floor 25 (the meadow)
Format: Starts in prose, feel free to change to action spam
Summary: After a fraught few weeks, these matesprits need some time to just be together and relax.
Warnings: Nothing major. Potentially an overload of cute.

It had been a crazy couple of weeks, even by Aradia's standards. Between almost getting culled by Dualscar and then the constant assault by the monsters, it seemed the tower was very much intent on testing her determination to remain alive. As a result, for all she and Sollux had immediately agreed to become matesprits when she arrived, they had barely had much time to just be together without worrying that one or other of them were about to die. Not to say that fighting side by side with him again hadn't been fun, but it didn't really constitute quality time.

As it turned out, the tower had made her decision to instigate this date all the easier for the new, meadow-like floor it had revealled at the new top of the tower. She'd squirrelled away some food from the canteen, having read up on human dates and decided that this picnicing thing seemed like fun. Now, as she led Sollux up to the appropriate floor, she could barely contain her giddy joy.

"This is going to be fun!"

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Sollux was intrigued, though he rolled his eyes at her question. "I guethh I don't mind, tho long at the human ideath aren't lame."

He still didn't have much use for humans, though he had met a few, now. He cocked his head at her. "What did you have in mind?"

The eye-rolling, she'd been expecting. She knew he never had cared for humans, and had made a point of ignoring them while they were all in the Veil. But so long as he didn't mind appropriating a few of their ideas then her plan should still hold.

"Well, it's called a picnic. They gather up food they like and then find somewhere nice to sit and eat it...usually outside but the actual outside floors aren't as nice as this one. This seems more like the pictures I saw."

"Well, that thoundth pretty good," Sollux said, just a bit hesitant. He wasn't usually an outside person, but this was indoors, just with grass. He glanced around and gestured towards a little rise. "Maybe that'd be a nithe plathe to thit and eat?"

Aradia grinned, obviously pleased that he seemed okay with it. Hesitant, of course, which she had expected, but okay with it all the same.

"I think that looks like the perfect place!"

And she reaches to grab his hand so she can lead him there, her excitement apparent in her stride.

He took her hand eagerly, squeezing as she lead him over to the spot he had pointed out. He smiled, pleased to see her so happy and excited about anything, and especially about a somewhat romantic date with him.

When they reached the spot, he plunked down on his ass in the grass, tugging on her hand lightly. "Tho now we're thuppothed to eat?"

Aradia allowed him to pull her down to sit beside him, already moving to pull out the various items she'd brought with her - a blanket, and the food she'd been squirrelling away.

"Yes. We set it out on this blanket - I couldn't find the nice check pattern ones they seem to use in the books so I hope this one will do - and set out the food. Then we can just eat whatever we want and just spend time together. Hopefully without something trying to kill us this time."

"Wow, there'th a human cuthtom that ith thomewhat htenthible and doethn't thuck," Sollux joked, grabbing the blanket and attempting to spread it out on the grass. "Athhuming there aren't monthterth on thith level."

Aradia giggled, helping Sollux with the blanket before laying out the food. "Well, I've never seen any up here. Which is good, because I've seen about enough of those to last me several sweeps."

Food laid out, she reaches for his hand. "So. How have you been, crazy monster attacks aside."

He grabbed her hand and scooted a little closer. "I dunno, I've been the thame ath alwayth, I guethh. Monthter attackth are no big deal, either. I've been talking to Tee-Thee a lot, which ith different. How have you been?"

She smiles as he mentions the monster attacks being no big deal. "No, I imagine there's very little that can be thrown at us that we can't figure a way around. At least, not that the tower can throw at us. I'm glad you're talking to Terezi more, though. Sometimes I wish things hadn't had to end the way they did when it came to us hanging out."

Because ultimately, none of it had been Terezi's fault, at least no more than it had been her own. But perhaps the tower would allow things to change there too.

She glanced away a little at his question on how she'd been. She'd been trying to avoid bringing up the altercation with Dualscar but really, Sollux deserved to know. Particularly if there was a risk he could get hurt as a result.

"I've been good, for the most part. It's been strange having so many versions of myself here that I didn't bring here myself. Though, um...I did sort-of run into one of the high-blood adults. It didn't go well."

Sollux stiffened at that, and looked at her sharply, his eyes flicking protectively in a search for injuries. "Who wath it, and what happened?" he asked.

Aradia sighed. "It was a while ago, before the monsters came...I guess there just never seemed to be a good time to tell you. But...I was in the library, the one further up, and I ran into...well, he was an adult sea dweller, that much I can say. A lot like Eridan only worse. Anyway, he seemed to think he "owed" me an attempt to kill me, though I'm not sure how he figured that, exactly." She glanced up at that. "I don't suppose you know why he'd think that, obvious hemospectrum issues aside?"

Sollux' expression starts off angry, but then moves to pure horror. "Fuck. Fuck. I'm thorry, aa. Thith ith my fault."

He moved to touch her, then drew away, curling in on himself a little. "I got mouthy to Dualthcar, Eridan'th anthethtor, and he caught me flat-footed. Then you rethcued me. That mutht be why he hurt you. I'm the wortht matethprit ever."

Aradia squeezes his hand, trying to get him to look at her. "Sollux, no. Don't say that. It's my own fault for not walking away the second I saw him. I let myself get drawn into talking to him and if he wants to hold a grudge for something past me did then there's not a lot either of us could do about it."

"No! It'th my fault for antagonithing a highblood adult and then not being thmart enough to protect mythelf. I'm a thtupid fuckup, and you shouldn't have had to protect me in the firtht plathe." Bipolar emotional theatrics are definitely a go.

Aradia sighs. This is why she avoided telling him; much as she knows this is common for him anyway it doesn't make it any easier to know that she'd prompted this.

"Sollux, listen to me. Do you really think it would have mattered how you acted towards him? You could have been the most polite and reverent possible to him and if he was in that sort of mood he'd have attacked you anyway. Besides, isn't part of being matesprits that we protect each other?"

He isn't very logical when he's in the throes of a depressive attack, but he nods reluctantly, then shrugs. "I killed my anthethtor, too. It'th jutht... I hate knowing that thomeone I care about died becauthe of me. You don't know, maybe he wouldn't have attacked me if I hadn't been tho rude."

"I think we can safely say he would have done whatever he wanted and justified it however he felt like. You know how some highbloods can be." She shifts closer, leaning into him a little. "Besides, if we're not talking about you killing your ancestor here, I'd like to know who died because it certainly wasn't me."

He wraps his arm around her and turned to nuzzle her hair in apology. "What do you mean?"

She smiles, bringing up her own arm to stop him from letting go. "He tried to kill me. He didn't succeed. He gave it a good shot but I'm not ashamed to abscond when I need to and wings make for a pretty good escape plan."

"Oh." The word is filled with relief, and he hugs her suddenly. "Fuck, I thought you thaid he'd killed you..."

She wraps her arms around him, holding him as close as she can. "I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. I could probably have been a little clearer about that. But the alpha Aradia death count is exactly where it was before I got here."

Possibly it's a little soon to be joking about that but she's so accustomed to death that she doesn't see it as a big deal. She's alive, that was what mattered, and she has a wonderful matesprit who worried too much but that's okay because it just means he's the same old Sollux.

He was okay with the joking. If she was joking, that meant that she wasn't upset, nor did she hate him. He nuzzled into her cheek and gave her a light kiss, then sighed.

"Thorry, I'm being a wiggler, and we haven't even eaten, yet."

"You're not being a wiggler. You're being a considerate matesprit. Frankly I'd be a little more worried if you didn't care."

She smiles, stealing another quick kiss before pulling back a little.

"Besides. The food part's secondary in this anyway."

"Of courthe I care," he said, huffing. Then he grinned sheepishly and reached for a container. "But you took the time to bring uth the food and thtuff, tho we should probably...do thomething...about that."

Aradia simply grinned at his huff - of course she knew that but it didn't hurt to remind him - before reaching for a container herself.

"Well yes. I just meant...well, we don't have to rush. I mean, unless you had other things you needed to do, we can take our time."

"I don't have anything to do," Sollux assured her. "Definitely nothing more important than thith. But I'm hungry. And thinking about food ith way more fun than thinking about athhhole highbloodth."

"That I can definitely agree with."

Aradia opened a few more containers, all filled with whatever she could get from the cafeteria. It was an odd mix and probably not what one would expect of a typical picnic but then it wasn't as though the tower gave them a huge amount of choice.

"I guess this is where we just help ourselves."

"Well, no one'th going to therve uth." He grinned, putting the earlier conversation aside as he began putting different foods on plates. "Tho other than highblood athhholeth, how hath life been?"

Aradia grabs some food for herself, taking a little of everything. "Oh, pretty good. Monsters and highbloods aside, it's a lot nicer here than it was in the Veil."

She pauses a moment, digging out the juices she picked up before asking, "How about you?"

"No complaintth, I guethh." He chews for a moment, thoughtfully. "Though I wish we had internet. I get bored, thometimeth."

She nods. "I guess there's not a lot to do here once everywhere's been explored. Though maybe that just means I'll have to bring you with me more often when I do my own exploring."

"That'd be okay," he says, smiling faintly. "Are there any ruinth to ekthplore?"

She shakes her head. "At least, not that I've found. If there are any, they're incredibly well-hidden. I guess maybe the tower just doesn't have a use for them."

"Maybe thome will come later, and then you can ekthplore them." He poked her in the side. "And bug me until I come help you."

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Time to Unwind (closed)

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