1 ♐ Text/Action ♐ This Is Somehow Mindfang's Fault. Somehow.
[At around five in the afternoon or so, an anonymous message will go around the network.]
Hello.
I appear to be stranded on an unknown planet with alien lifeforms.
If I could have the name of this place along with further information on its inhabitants and its relation to the Alternian Empire, that would be most helpful.
Thank you.[It's best ( Read more... )
Hello.
I appear to be stranded on an unknown planet with alien lifeforms.
If I could have the name of this place along with further information on its inhabitants and its relation to the Alternian Empire, that would be most helpful.
Thank you.[It's best ( Read more... )
D--> No one knows where it is in relation to Alternia
D--> Uh
D--> If you're from Alternia, I'm going to assume you're a troll
D--> We're the minority here
D--> Everyone will think you're the alien
D--> Just fair warning
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[Okay, honestly? Equius never paid much attention to what Karkat and Kanaya were getting up to in the lab in the Veil; he was too busy making legs, and a robopile, and hanging out with Nepeta and just generally being creepy. So while he was aware of the wigglers they made, he never really believed that they were able to send them backwards through time. He always wanted to believe Darkleer was real, but never truly did.]
[Until now.]
I... I can't believe it! You're... you're me, except...
[except better]
Except older and bigger and you're probably STRONGER too...
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Yes on all accounts. [There's a beat of silence as Darkleer expects the state of his young look-alike.] I assume you still have trouble with your own STRENGTH?
[He's at that age and all.]
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[Equius visibly wilts a little, his enthusiasm bleeding away.]
Yes... I'm working at it, but it still gives me problems.
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I suspected as much. [It's kind of really obvious. The broken horn, the glasses... ] As I am here until further notice, I may as well assist you with that difficulty.
[...He's kind of a softy like that. Ssshhhh.]
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[And suddenly, all the enthusiasm is back. For some reason, Equius is finding it very, very hard to keep up the Stoic Highblood act around Darkleer.]
That would be amazing. Because you went through it too, right? You used to be like me--you kind of are me--and it gets better? You can... you can touch things?
[An idea!]
Do you have a place to stay yet?
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...Yeah, he's probably never going to tell Equius about his rather shameful exile. Ever.]
I do not. I have only been in this city for a short while. I found it more imperative to tend to my personal items and find more information before looking for a temporary hive.
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[Thing is, Equius would probably understand why Darkleer did what he did... if he did it for his moirail. He would get that, he would.]
Do you want to stay at my hive? We have extra room and it's already, er, STRENGTH-proofed, mostly, and it would give you a chance to get your head together and everything, I know it's difficult when you first get here, and...
[Stop for a breath, Zahhak, honestly!]
Please?
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I hardly see reason to decline. It is a situation that would work to the advantage of both of us, after all.
[Translation: I am kind of maybe fond of you, not-son, and would like to know more about you, so living together is a good way to do that.]
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Where are you? I'll come and find you and then I can take you back to the hive!
[Boundless enthusiasm here.]
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I will wait for you
[And so he will! He's kind of hard to miss, Equius, since he'll move to stand by the coral, all freakin' 7 feet of him in armor.]
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[And Equius hurries off. He's not exactly running, but that is definitely a very brisk walk, the briskest walk possible while still maintaining his dignity. He wants to appear dignified and stoic for his ancestor, after it slowly dawned on him how googly-eyed fanboy he was acting earlier.]
[So he hurries, and arrives at the coral shortly after his last message, and... and oh holy god, there's Darkleer. Equius is not used to having to look up to see people's faces, but he has to crane his neck back to see Darkleer's face, and it's like looking into a mirror, except it isn't. The lines of Darkleer's face are stronger, harder than his own, the jawline looking like it's chiseled from stone; his horns are longer, and beautifully unbroken; and the Stoic Highblood mask that Equius has worked so hard to perfect... his isn't perfect, because Darkleer is the master. His face gives absolutely nothing away.]
[For the first time in a long time, Equius feels very small.]
Whoah.
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[If looking at Equius is like a window to the past for Darkleer, the reverse is like an eerie glimpse of the future for Equius, so he'll have to be forgiven if he stares a little bit here. It occurs to him that he should probably be afraid of Darkleer--he could defend himself against the Dolorosa, but he's pretty sure Darkleer could snap him like a twig--but for some reason, he's not. It could be the whole ancestor-descendant thing, it could be that what the Dolorosa told him was pretty reassuring and convincing... or it could be that Equius recognizes a certain sadness in Darkleer, one that he himself shares.]
Darkleer.
So, um... my hive is this way.
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[The strides he needs to stand besides Equius are long and few. In no time at all, he's towering besides the younger troll. Goodness, to think he was so small once.]
By all means, lead the way.
[This thing really is a gesture of trust. Trolls are raised to not easily give their trust to one another with how backstabbing their society is. But Equius is too open in his admiration, and there are bonds that bind them in place. Any proper blue blood- even if he doubts his own place now after all that has happened- knows how to treat such a situation like this, descendent and ancestor meeting, even if it is rather unprecedented.]
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