As a general rule, you don't mess with many of the dream bubbles. Bilocation is one thing, but splitting yourself much more is a fast track to a mental breakdown, which is something you cannot afford. When you "sleep" in Karkat's arms, you're fully awake with your ancestor, learning whatever he is willing to teach you at the time. When you're "awake" on the meteor, you're still there on the far side of the universe, but in a less active roll. You can actively be in both places, but there's a couple logistical things, like moving the correct arm and finishing sentences to the correct people, that tend to get in the way of doing so on a more permanent basis. It's mostly a practice thing and you've got plenty of time for that…so long as you observe your limits

Like all things, though, there are exceptions. Aradia is the major case. You can still hear the dead, which in and of itself almost negates any reason you'd have to travel into a dream bubble, and that alerts you when she's close. The little side-step in reality to see her is relatively easy because she's a God Tier and therefore she can meet you halfway. You usually end up somewhere between both your memories, taking in sights that no longer exist, talking until the distance becomes too great to remain together anymore. She tells you about all the ghost war effort that's going on while combing her fingers through your hair and you give her the update on the group shenanigans while brushing out her's. That mostly consists of "and then KK did this" type monologues that she takes in gracious stride. It embarrasses you to no end when you catch yourself doing it, but she only laughs and smiles and kisses you on the forehead, telling you your flush is supposed to make you stupidly happy.

Sometimes, you get called to a bubble. You know from KK that the majority of interactions in these things are done with the group of trolls who came before your session, from the ever aptly named Beforus (and you agree with your mate, that makes your brain hurt in a special little spot just above your left temple). That means you know their group has a psionic as well as the fact that something dramatic happened to him. What happened exactly is horribly vague, but considering the level of screwed up the transmissions are like, you can rather guess. This semi-ancestor has called to you several times, but you don't actually get a chance to go through until later, until you've got enough control to take a full step out of yourself and into the bubble. It helps that you're with Karkat at the time, which gives you someone to ground yourself to during the transition. The unfortunate result is that you drag him along with you to the meeting.

If meeting the original Psiionic was supposed to be scary, meeting Mituna should have been sobering. But like then, what you manage to feel first is instead a deep respect for what he's accomplished and no small amount of awe for still standing as tall as he does.

You of all people shouldn't be able to see it the way you do, but you do, how things are burned out, inflamed and hurting, still scaring over in his mind. He's a wreck mentally, like someone reached into his think-pan and dumped everything he'd ever known or thought into a single pile he now has to sort through in order to get anywhere. He's a hell of a lot better off now than he probably was initially. There are little pieces he was able to save—his flush for his matesprit, his skills with games and puzzles, other miscellanea you purposefully don't look closely at despite his rather blatant invitation to do as such. He's making some inroads into reorganizing; you can see the shaky structures he's building off the more stable ones. There's still too much he's trying to deal with all at once and no filter between any of it, leaving him to the whims of his own stream of consciousness.

That's when the sober feelings kick in, while Mituna is struggling to talk to Karkat, to thank your mate for something he himself isn't certain about, can barely remember or identify for that matter. The need is strong enough in him that he struggles forward anyway, but the deeper he digs into that pile of knowledge, the less he seems to remember what he's looking for and why he should find it. You start a bit when KK touches you, a soft gesture he's developed so that you can keep that possessive streak of yours in check, and then he reaches for Mituna. It's a simple thing, really, one hand resting on another in a gesture of comfort; words that express more than the simple gratitude they spell out. They're things that you've seen KK do a hundred thousand times over, silly, simple things that completely change everything about the way Mituna is responding. His mental state clears and for just a second, you can see how it all could have turned out differently. The thing that made your session a success where your semi-ancestor's failed is all because of Karkat and that never-ending empathy of his.

That clarity doesn't last long, crumbling back in on itself almost as soon as it appears. In fact, Mituna seems to degrade even faster for having come so close to true lucidity. He gets enough words out to make it close to what he actually wants to express before it all comes crashing down, dragging down some of those loose structures he's been creating as well. It's not all destruction, though. There's a new, bright shining point located in some of that burned area that will become a solid anchor in time. It's from there that you receive your final message, loud and clear and with all the power that he once wielded.

Do not let him go. Protect him with everything you have. Let nothing stand in your way.

You are Sollux Captor, and you don't need anyone else to tell you that you made the right choice in coming back, but it's nice to have the confirmation anyway.


To be continued.