(no subject)

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Characters: 2nd_dii2ciiple & benigncancer for now - if one of their roommates would like to join, please start a new root comment so we can assume they had a chance to finish their conversation first!
Setting: Room 2-08, backdated to immediately after Ψiioniic's intro post thread with Mao
Format: Prose please, I suck at action tags
Summary: Signless is going to have a long, tough job to put his friend back together - AGAIN.
Warnings: probably lots of swearing, and mention of torture & abuse



Ψiioniic was still half doubled over in shock and pain as Signless hustled him into the room with their names on the door. 'Overlord' Mao was left out in the hall, and part of Ψiioniic's freak-out had a lot to do with the thought of potential punishments he might be suffering the next time he met the strange alien.


The rest of the freak-out was very much focused on the troll right in front of him. "You're dead," he gasped, choking on his tears. "You're dead, I thaw you die."

Comments

[benigncancer]

"I'm not fucking dead," Signless growled. The reactions his friend was having were totally out of proportion, and a part of him wished he'd had a chance to completely thrash Mao to within an inch of his life, but protecting his friend was more important.

He dragged Psiioniic to the bed he'd woken up in and sat down, pulling his friend tightly against him with both arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"And you are completely screwed up. What happened? What the fuck did he do to convince you that he was your master?"

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

Screwed up... yeah, that was one word for it. Ψiioniic huddled against his friend, clutching at his jacket and trying to convince himself that the warm, solid body against his was real. Really there, really Signless, just real.

"He wath... I..." Thinking back over the conversation, Ψiioniic tried to remember at what point Mao had said he was Ψiioniic's owner. He couldn't think of any particular moment or thing that Mao had done. "Nothing?" he finally concluded hesitantly. "I think... maybe... he just took advantage because I was already panicking, and he acted like someone in authority. Fuck I fucking hate this conditioning, I hate it," he yelled the last words directly into Signless' shoulder.

[benigncancer]

Signless wasn't good at comforting people, but as Psiioniic clung to him, he started to calm down himself. He stroked the other troll's hair awkwardly, not sure what to do or how to help him.

"Well, now you know," he muttered, tightening his grip to give Psiioniic more support. "Anyway, no panicking, all right? It makes your mind go all fuzzy, and then you make silly decisions, like bowing down to some random fuckass."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

"I can't help it," Ψiioniic said miserably. "Half my mind ith just shouting at me that I have to get back to the ship, that I need to return to my potht or she's gonna kill me. And then I thaw your name on the door and freaked out, I couldn't help it, because I wanted to see you tho bad but I'm not even allowed to say your name or think about you at all..."

He was babbling and he knew it, but it was all he could do to get the words out and he was afraid if he stopped, even for breath, he would never be able to start again.

[benigncancer]

"Ship? Ship?" Signless exclaimed, breathless with rage and confusion. "Fucking hell, Psi. You haven't talked like this in ages. What's gotten into you? Is it the collar?"

He caught Psiioniic's chin and turned it up to look at him, meeting his gaze. "Calm down, Psi, okay? You're safe, and you're not making sense. Just take a fucking breath and remember who you are."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

"I'm thorry," Ψiioniic whispered, shivering against him. It took everything he had to make himself meet Signless' eyes, even though it was obvious that was exactly what Signless wanted. And this was his friend, his beloved companion. Signless was right, it had been a long time since Ψiioniic had acted this way before him.

He took a deep breath as ordered (not an order, damn it, Signless would never order him) and struggled for coherency. "I am the Helmsman. I am the Ψiioniic. I don't even fucking know anymore, god. She's breaking me, and there'th nothing I can do. And you're dead."

[benigncancer]

Oh god oh god oh god Signless keep it together you have to keep it together for him.

"You are not the Helmsman," Signless said in as measured a voice as he could manage. "You're my best fucking friend. I'm not dead. I'm right here, and there are timeline shenanigans going on here, okay? I already met some wrigglers from like a thousand years in the future, so if you remember me being dead, that's fine. Because I'm alive now."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

"You're here now, but you died, and they made me watch," Ψiioniic told him miserably. "They made us all watch and then they took Dolorotha and sold her, and they took me... they took me..."

He shuddered, trying not to actually think about the events of that day. Just the memory was enough to make him scream into the darkness of his control room sometimes, consumed by the horrible thoughts. And then he would scream for a different reason entirely, as his own brain punished him for thinking heretical, rebellious thoughts.

It was threatening to do so now, but he clung to sanity by a thin thread, holding off the panic attack by using Signless' presence like a shield. "She made me her Helmsman. And she ith never, ever going to let me go. I don't, I don't... some dayth I don't even fight back, anymore," he admitted in a wretched whisper, his greatest shame. "It hurtth too much, SS."

[benigncancer]

Signless just held Psiioniic, hoping he wasn't going to completely flip out, giving him a chance to get it all out of his system. It seemed like he needed comfort, but also that he needed to tell someone, to purge that poison, at least a little bit, through words.

"Well fuck," he murmured, stroking the other troll's hair. "Of course you fucking don't. You bide your time, wait for an opportunity, just like you did before. Those fuckasses want to use you, but you're not a tool, and you got out, Psi. You got out. See? You're not on that fucking ship, but here, with me."

is it alright if someone who isnt a roommate responds? i'd like her to meet them C:

[bubbleglub.livejournal.com]

They might notice a pair of tyrian purple eyes peering into their room, wide and curious.
Feferi lived on the first floor, and had never really taken the time to inspect the other living areas. So, she had been going along when she heard talking from one of the rooms-- lisping, even. Her initial reaction was to perk up at thought of Sollux-- it sounded just like him! Until she remembered what had transpired the other day.
She had gotten preemptively dumped.
So she sighed, shaking her head and smoothing her hair back out of her face. A small peek couldn't hurt, right? Maybe it wasn't him at all, and it was someone new. New friends never hurt.

Sure!

[benigncancer]

Psiioniic had only just closed his eyes when Signless heard the door creak a tiny bit as it opened. He reached out and pushed a blanket off of his face, only to see a small, sea dweller face peeking through the door.

His fingers tightened on his friend, though he struggled to keep his face smooth. He was very sure that Psiioniic was not ready to deal with the girl, but she was only a child. She may even be the Condesce as a child.

He couldn't afford to be rude to her.

"Is this your room?" he asked, not unkindly, though there was a thread of tension he couldn't eradicate.

The more the merrier!

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

The unexpected sound of Signless speaking again roused Ψiioniic from his drowsy slumber, but he was tired enough that it was a real effort to force himself to focus. When he did manage to make sense of the words, they still didn't make any sense. Of course this was his room, and Signless already knew that...

Wait, they had potentially two other roommates. He went stiff in Signless' arms, but didn't turn yet to see who was there. He really didn't want to deal with anyone right now, and maybe Signless would chase them off.

[bubbleglub.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no, I'm sorry. I thought I heard a frond of mine glubbing in here..."

She moves a little more into the doorway, blinking at the sight of the other adult troll. "Did I wake you two?"

Other adult trolls. Huh. It was like that lady she met not too long ago, the Disciple... They didn't quite seem keen to cull.

[benigncancer]

Signless wrapped his arm around Psiioniic's neck, gently pushing his head down in a silent command not to move. "Yeah, my friend was just going to sleep, but it's fine. He's just not feeling too well. I don't think he's the friend you were looking for."

He shifted up a little, though not releasing his hold on Psiioniic. "I'm Signless. Who're you?"

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

It was just as well that Signless commanded him not to look, because the sound of those too-familiar sea-puns set Ψiioniic trembling in shock. The voice of the sea-troll was too high, too juvenile... but despite that, she reminded him far too strongly of the Condesce.

Tiny crackles of red and blue electricity started to gather between his horns as the panic set in. Even if this wasn't some odd younger version of the Condesce, it was still a sea-dweller, and he was away from his post.

[bubbleglub.livejournal.com]

"Feferi Peixes, I was in line for Empress before Alternia was destroyed and I showed up here..."
She would have continued on, questioning who they were and if they knew the other adult troll she had met, but the reaction of the troll that reminded her so much of Sollux alarmed her.
"Are you okay?"

[benigncancer]

Shit. Signless had thought Psiioniic wasn't visible to the girl, but the pile was too thin to totally cover them. He looked down as he felt Psiioniic beginning to panic.

"No," he said, a little more harshly. "He's not okay. Tell him it's all right and he's not doing anything wrong." If she hesitated even an instant, he barked: "Now. Tell him."

I hope it's okay she's kind of just barging in, orz

[timegame.livejournal.com]

"Oh- I'm sorry, I..."

She blinked from her place in the doorway, torn between the urge to smile slightly at their position and the curiosity prodding her to question this adult who looked so much like Karkat. But then, it stood to reason if Sollux's ancestor was here, then Karkat's might be too. Perhaps her own might show up sometime...

"I came by to see how he was settling in- is something the matter?" She added, taking in the way the Ψiioniic was curled up, her features shifting into a slight frown and wings drooping a little behind her. "Is he alright?"

Always welcome!

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

The vaguely familiar voice roused Ψiioniic for the second time that day. This time the interruption was from a far more welcome source than an unknown sea-dweller identical to the Condesce.

"Aradia?" he murmured, looking up from where he was half-burrowed against Signless' chest. "Oh... hey. I-I'm okay." It mostly wasn't a lie... he'd calmed down a lot, especially since Feferi was so nice, and he was feeling a lot better than he had been earlier.

[benigncancer]

Signless looked up warily at the presence of another unexpected voice, but this time Psiioniic didn't seem frightened. His eyes flicked over her, widened a little at the wings, then checked the symbol on her chest before he smiled. "You know this wriggler, Psi?" he asked.

[timegame.livejournal.com]

"Are you sure?"

She stepped in at the recognition regardless, floating her way over without hesitating. She flashed another curious look at the Karkat look-alike, and then held her hand out to him as she neared, smiling gently.

"Oh um- I'm Aradia..! He and I met earlier."

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

A little embarrassed to be caught snuggling together like a pair of exhausted grubs, Ψiioniic pushed himself up a bit so he could sit a little better. "Yeah, AA'th okay," he assured his friend. "We talked for a while in thith really cool room that looks like you're floating among the stars."

He couldn't quite stop the flash of longing that crossed his face as he mentioned the level. He still missed the stars.

[benigncancer]

Signless blinked at her flying, amazed by her wings, but held a hand out readily enough. If she had reassured Psiioniic this well, she had to be all right.

"Good to meet you Aradia. I'm the Signless."

[timegame.livejournal.com]

"We can go again later, if you'd like?" She offered gently, even as she clasped Signless' hand with her own, eyes widening at the introduction.

...well. That was certainly a surprise. She beamed at him, crossing her legs so she could hover in front of them without just dive-bombing onto the bed like she was sorely tempted to, if only to get a reaction.

"It's very nice to meet you! I'll give this place this much: it certainly is making life here interesting!"

Her hands settled on her ankles and she gave a little bounce of her shoulders, smile turning mischievous.

"Have you met either of the Karkats yet?" It would be such a shame if she'd missed out on that.

[2nd-dii2ciiple.livejournal.com]

"No, though I met thomeone named Sollux who told me about them, and seems to be my Descendant," Ψiioniic admitted. "I really want to meet thith Karkat, though." He flashed a grin at Signless, then turned a shier version of it on Aradia. "We should definitely go again, I'd like that."