vatheon | New Arrival

Entry tags:

New Arrival

Who: Sollux Captor and ANYONE!
Where: By the coral
When: Today
Format: Starting in prose but I'm happy to follow your lead
Status: Open as Sollux' gaping ocular sockets

He was killing himself. He could feel it in the intense pain that exploded across his think pan like someone was jabbing two culling forks through his eye sockets and then wiggling them around inside his brain.

He was sure he had killed himself. He sort of hoped he had killed himself, because living with that kind of damage was going to suck serious hoofbeast testicles.

And then he'd expected to hopefully find himself safe and sound in the bubbles, where he could spend eternity reliving the few good moments he'd had in his short life and leave the universe-saving and misery to someone else. What he hadn't expected was a whole lot of water, and confusion and a lot of voices, none of which were familiar. It sounded like he'd suddenly landed himself in the middle of a city.

Frightened and confused, he pushed himself up, coughing up a lungful of sea water and yellow blood, and felt around helplessly, searching for something, anything familiar. "Hello?" he called out, but not too loud. Karkat, Kanaya, Terezi and Gamzee had been right there. Why wasn't anyone saying anything to him?

"What happened?"

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Nepeta slipped beneath his arm as well as she could, intending to take as much of his weight on her shoulders as was necessary. She was too short to actually attempt to carry him, and anyway she didn't know if he'd let her even if she tried.

"Then the nap can come furst! And then a snack, and then contacting the others. Okay, so I'm going to go slowly and you just lean on me, all right?"

He was okay with leaning on her. Being carried was probably far too embarrassing, though it was shocking that he had any dignity left at all, considering his current state.

"I'm okay, let's just go..."

Other conversations set aside for now, Nepeta concentrated on leading him carefully through the city, pointing out steps and pavements and potholes, anything that might make him stumble, describing the surroundings so that he'd have at least a vague idea of the places they were going through. It still seemed a long time until they finally got to the hive, and Nepeta was rather relieved once she shouldered the door open and had him safely inside.

"Here we are! Oops, careful..." Yes, just let her lead you around this random pile of plushies in the hallway, Sollux. "Do you want to use the ablution trap? You're a bit messy." When the water-hating kitty troll asks if you want a bath, you know that a serious mess has to be involved.

It was even longer to Sollux, and he was so grateful when they finally reached the hive. He was so tired. But at the offer, he nodded quickly. "Yes, yes please. Ablution trap, then sleep."

"It's just here...a few more steps...okay, here we are. You can sit down if you want and I'll go get you some more towels and some of Tavros' clothes, they should fit you. We'll try and clean yours later." She nodded to herself, trying to think of what else she needed to do.

"And I'll get the spare human recuperacoon ready for you," since currently it was doubling as the scene where Tiger Beetle saved Pupa Pan from the pirates, or the one where Pupa Pan saved Tiger Beetle from the pirates, depending on whether Tavros or Nepeta was in charge of the story. "Do you need me to mix the water in the trap for you? Or..." Wait. Oh dear. Was he going to need help with taking a bath too? Nepeta hadn't thought that far ahead.

Sollux sank down onto the load gaper and pulled off Feferi's goggles, setting them aside gently on the counter. He glanced in Nepeta's general direction and grimaced.

"Okay, thanks. I'll just...handle the ablution by myself while you do that. And you can just leave the spare clothes inside the door."

Getting naked in front of Nepeta? Hell no.

So. Relieved. He had no idea. She didn't even see her matesprit naked, and considering Tavros had a robotic lower half there wasn't even anything for her to see there!

Nope, this sounded like an excellent plan to her. She just hoped he didn't slip and hurt himself worse than he already was, because she'd never stop blaming herself if he did.

"Okay! Purrfect! I'll be back soon." Hightailing it out of there, but true to her word she was back soon with clothes, leaving them just inside the door and then waiting outside until it sounded like he was done.

Painfully, Sollux stripped off his soiled clothing and threw it into the corner, then climbed into the ablution trap. He didn't have much energy for taking long showers, but he was still finishing up when he heard the door open and close.

Now he shut off the water, dried off, and then groped his way over until he found Tavros' clothing.

They fit, sort of. Tavros was far more muscular and broad in the shoulders, and taller, but if he hitched up the pants they fit well enough to let him walk.

He opened the door. "Nepeta?"

"I'm here!" Was he done? She peeked out from where she was covering her eyes with both hands - yes, okay, perhaps she was going overboard now, but still - and then reached out to touch his arm again once she saw that he was clean and dressed.

"Sure you don't want anything to eat or drink before sleeping?"

He stiffened a little when she touched him, then groped and caught her hand. "Yeah, I'm sure. I think I can eat later. I'm really not hungry right now."

"Okay." She squeezed his hand reassuringly, and was relieved to see that he seemed slightly better at least by now. "I've made sure there's nothing in the way in case you get up and want to use the ablution block again. Just follow the wall and it's two doors down from where you'll be," she explained as she led him carefully down the corridor to the spare respite block. "Or else just call for me or Tavros," she added, but she'd wanted him to have the option of doing things on his own.

Once they got to the bed she reached out with his hand still in hers so that he could feel the edge of it, and then she let go though she stayed close just in case. "This is what people use as a recuperacoon here. There's no sopor I'm afraid but it's pretty comfortable. There are blankets and cushions, but I can get you some more things if you want to make a pile on top of it so you'll be more comfortable? I don't know what sort of things you like in your pile..." Plushies and yarn and teapots didn't sound like his kind of thing somehow.

As she led him down the hall, he touched the wall, trying to figure out how far it was, and what sorts of things he would feel, trying to count doors. This whole thing was a big pain in the ass, and he was only now starting to recognize just how different his life would be without sight.

When she let go, he felt about the bed some more before sitting down on the edge.

"I dunno, I usually just toss together a bunch of wires and computer parts," he said. "But I think cushions will do it for me today. I'm tired enough." His lips lifted in a faint, helpless smile. "Thanks... I've been enough trouble for you, already."

"I'll get some wires for you, I know we have some lying around! Just a few to make it more comfortable." She knew the value of having a few familiar objects to curl up on - it didn't just make falling asleep easier, but helped with those first few disorienting moments after waking up. Sollux would need that for a while at least.

"...you're not any trouble, Sollux! Really! I was lots worse trouble for everyone when I first got here." Though that was less because of the state she was in and more because her moirail up and broke up with her. Not something she wanted to remember though, and even though she'd been about to leave the room to grab those wires for him she hesitated, then made up her mind and gave him a quick hug, patting his back.

He stiffened in surprise at the hug and then patted her awkwardly, smiling. One thing you could say about Nepeta - she was good at making people feel better.

"I really doubt you were big trouble for anyone," he said wryly. "But thanks, anyway."

"Pfft, you didn't see me, I was awful. But I'm better now, so it's okay." She lingered just a few seconds longer and then let go. "You get comfortable and I'll go get you the rest of the things for your pile!"

"Okay," he agreed, shifting to stretch out on the rectangle and tried to get comfortable. It wasn't that hard. Even without a pile to lie on, he fluffed up the pillows and sprawled out and was ready to doze almost immediately.

She was quiet when she came in again, just in case he'd already fallen asleep, whispering "I brought your things, Sollux," so that he'd know it was her on the off-chance he wasn't, not wanting to scare him. She placed a large armful of tangled up wires and extra cushions and even a broken keyboard she'd found somewhere next to him, guessing that he'd rather fashion them into a proper pile himself.

He muttered as she entered, half waking but not really conscious. In a daze, he grabbed the tangle and pushed and prodded and rearranged by feel, then flopped over the new pile and fell instantly to sleep once more.

It was a relief to see him resting at last, and tactfully she tiptoed away as soon as she saw him building himself his pile. But she had every intention of remaining within earshot until he woke up again, as long as it may take. Just because they weren't the closest of friends didn't mean she wasn't going to do whatever she could to try and help him out.

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New Arrival

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