The sounds of the asteroid were slowly diminishing as it went farther and farther away, taking everyone on it a one way pass to the fate that awaited them. The troll floating there wondered if he had made the right choice by staying behind. As a blind half ghost he figured that there would be no way he could be helpful to them anyhow.
"Sollux?" He heard the Maid of Time by him with some concern in her voice, a hand touched his shoulder and he guessed that she was closer than he first thought. Maybe he should have gone with them so Terezi could show him how to "see" with his nose and tongue. That would've been interesting to say the least.
Sollux turned to where he guessed her to be, "I'm fine, AA." He assured her, his face a normal, neutral expression. He felt that Aradia wasn't satisfied by the answer, but he was happy that she didn't press the issue any farther. They were there for what seemed like hours in an awkward silence. Even though he and Feferi were mateprits when the game began he never did forget what he felt for Aradia because it had never gone away.
Finally Aradia had moved, reaching out to hold his hand gently. Could they return to being matesprits? Even after all that happened? Even if…even if he had been the one to kill her? It was all so confusing and Sollux wondered if this was what human love was like. If so, then it was definably too complicated for trolls to handle. How did they even reproduce if redrom feelings were so complicated? But then again, humans just seemed to be strange anyway which was why he had never bothered to troll them.
Maybe they felt the same way about us all this time? He shook his head, this was making his brain ache.
Aradia's hand loosened and began to slip away before he realized his mistake. Sollux held on tightly and brought her close, pressing his lips against her forehead. She was so short…the robot had been too tall for him, but just right for the horse freak. He remembered then that this felt nice, just being with her like this. Just them connecting in silence and being close. He missed the times when she would drag him out of ridiculous adventures and excavations through ruins.
"That wasn't towards you…my head is hurting a little bit. That's all." He admitted, putting a little bit of distance between them once more. He couldn't see her reaction to it, was she blushing and smiling? Was she shocked? Confused? His jaw clenched in frustration. He wanted to see her so bad.
He felt a warm hand on his cheek, "Sollux…this brings back good memories." Were he eyes closed as she said this to him? He could hear that she was smiling, that she was feeling nostalgic and happy.
He allowed himself to show a goofy smile. Memories. He remembered what she looked like. He remembered her being alive, being dead, being a ghost talking to him, being a robot, and finally exploding after hugging him. He remembered how she looked and acted through those times. He could say for a fact that he enjoyed feeling her warmth than feeling the cold metal that Equius made for her spirit.
"It wasn't your fault, Sollux." She said as if she was reading his mind. "Vriska…she was angry at what Terezi and I did after she paralyzed Tavros. She was so angry and I guess I deserved revenge from her, and I really don't think she meant for me to die since she honestly seemed regretful about it later…" She paused, as if wondering if she was saying too much. She must have decided that it was time to tell him in the end since she continued. "I don't think she realized the power you possessed because we are lowbloods. Either way, what matters now is that I'm alive and I have no intention of dying again!" She said the last part strong and confident in what she was saying would be true.
Sollux smiled again after being caught off guard by this. He had suspected that Vriska had been the root of the cause for it, but his suspicions were never confirmed until now.
"Do you forgive her?" He asked, curious.
Aradia took a few moments to answer, possibly picking her words carefully. "I suppose I forgive her, if it hadn't been for her actions I wouldn't have been able to send them off to complete this game once and for all."
Sollux was quiet for a while; he had never really liked Vriska, especially when it came to her childish greetings. He disliked her even more now. However, Aradia was right, that much he couldn't deny.
"Enough of this subject! I'm sad that we couldn't have a corpse party!" She said, suddenly jerking away from him, if he could guess correctly, then he imagined that she was fuming in a childish manner. The idea of a corpse party didn't interest Sollux much…since his corpse would've been a part of it and he saw no reason to party about it. But…it was good to see her so lively again.
"Shouldn't we start off so we can meet up with them?" He asked, remembering that they were all supposed to meet. Aradia seemed to have forgotten about it.
"Oh! I forgot about that!" She must be sticking her tongue out in embarrassment right now. "Right, we'll arrive a bit later than them, but we best not be too late!" She giggled and grabbed his hand again. She must be smiling widely right now.
Without warning he leaned in and kissed her gently, "I never forgot." He said, holding her hand tightly back, afraid that she would slip away again.
"I missed you, Sollux." She replied simply before they headed off to meet up with the others.