Lulu:...this took way too long to be excusable. I'm sorry...but, at least the theme fits with current events. Lots of people (not me yet) are going back to school soon, so I wrote a first day of school chapter :3 *Didn't actually realize the connection till I was done writing it. Enjoy~
NOTICE: IF YOU HAVE ANY PROBLEMS WITH THIS FANFICTION, PLEASE DON'T REPORT ME; JUST TELL ME YOUR ISSUES WITH THE PARTICULAR FANFICTION, AND I WILL DO MY BEST TO FIX THEM. I REALLY DON'T LIKE HAVING TO LOSE FANFICTIONS AND REUPLOAD THEM ALL OVER AGAIN. THANK YOU
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HOMESTUCK, FOR THAT IS OWNED BY ANDREW HUSSIE, WHO IS REALLY ENJOYING HIS NEW POTENTIAL SHIP (aka JohnRoxy). I ALSO DO NOT OWN LOONEY TUNES, POKEMON, AND/OR MY LITTLE PONY. THOSE ARE ALL OWNED BY SOME OTHER PEOPLE. I ONLY OWN MY 4 OCS (one of them is mentioned a couple of times). ENJOY.
Your name is Sollux Strider, and you are getting ready for your first day of troll school. That's right, thanks to several riots from people who believe that trolls should be treated like humans (you have mixed feelings about these people; you like not being a pet, yet at the same time they're always trying to come over to see if Dave is raising you right…and yeah, it's probably good for the poorly treated trolls who need to find new parents, but you like having Dave as a guardian, and you don't want to have to find another home) there are actually schools for trolls, and only for trolls.
It might seem like racism (like, the kind between two completely different species, not whatever other kind of racism that humans have seemingly invented in order to fuck themselves over), but in truth, you're glad that you don't have to go to school with human kids; they'd probably try to pull at your horns and your tail, or maybe they'd steal your glasses and eat them or something. You don't know what 5 year old human children are capable of, and you do not want to find out.
You struggle with your shoe laces as Equius is once again running around in circles like a chicken with its head cut off. Just like with every formal occasion (the first day of school is probably the most formal event we'll go to this year), Equius is struggling to find an outfit that he'll impress people in, and he annoys you constantly because you've already gotten ready early and you have to wait for him to do the same…also, you have to wait for Dave and Dirk, but they at least know what they're wearing to work (or at least you hope so, you do not want to be late).
After about a half-hour, you couldn't take it anymore, and you decided to force Equius into a pair of blue jeans, a black male tank top (it's so much more fun to say that instead of "wife-beater") with a blue Sagittarius symbol on it, black socks, and black boots that you had to help tie (last time he tried to tie shoes, he ended up ripping the laces in half on accident…you should really advise Dirk to get him some more shoes without laces…or at least, shoes with steel laces). You were wearing something similar; blue jeans, a yellow and black striped with a cute bee on it (you love bees), black socks, and your traditional mismatched red and blue sneakers whose laces you could actually tie (this somehow made you feel superior to Equius, especially since you're older than him by like…6 human months? That's at least how much it was. Human months are complicated).
After waking Dirk and Dave up with your psionics (they'd yell at you for that later…but it'd still be worth it), time seemed to speed up as you and your troll bro (You and Equius are apparently troll bros) watched morning cartoons while waiting for your guardians (you don't like calling Dave your lusus because it doesn't feel right) to get their asses moving (why didn't you think of this 3 hours ago?). Just as the intelligent rabbit Bugs Bunny once again outsmarted his rival, the dimwitted hunter Elmer Fudd, Dave tapped your shoulder, his hair still wet as he barely just got out of the shoulder, and tells you that you have to get going.
Another 30 minutes pass by, and you are standing in front of your new school, with Equius beside you and Dave and Dirk behind you as they try to usher you both in. You barely payed attention to the exterior of the red brick school building as you took a deep breath and slowly turned the silver handle of the front door of the school. Human and troll parents alike are pushing their little troll into their classrooms, though you know there are only two specific classes for kindergartener trolls like you; there was the Low-blood class, and the High-blood class.
Again, an outsider looking in would probably think that this was some form of racism based on the hemo-spectrum humans seem to hate with a passion…but in reality, this was just a way of protecting you. High-blooded trolls, no matter what age they are, tend to be violent…like really, really violent, especially towards trolls that were a blood color lower than theirs; by separating the violent high-bloods from the weaker, more docile low-bloods, the teachers were not only saving themselves from future scratches from fights, but they'd also be saving several lives from the soon-to-be-if-not-already psychopaths. It was a shame that you and Equius had to separate though…it killed you to say this, but you were actually nervous about the fact that you'd be separated from him all day.
You feel yourself being led by Dave to your classroom, and you're surprised by not one, not two, but three familiar faces in your new classroom. Because there are only twelve different sections of the hemo-spectrum (eleven if you don't count the few lime-bloods that are being driven to near extinction), Green-bloods like a certain pair of trolls you know are allowed into the Low-blood classroom…and you suddenly become a lot happier when you realize that both Nepeta and Kanaya are in your class, along with…with…Aradia. Your face immediately becomes a bright yellow, and you unconsciously cover your cheeks with your hands. You also see Tavros and Karkat, and though you haven't seen them in a long time (the last time they'd seen each other was the last meeting the Midnight Crew had before they had to give all of you up), it felt like only yesterday that the four of you (that included Aradia) were quietly playing go fish (or Pokémon…it all depended on if Tavros brought enough cards for all of you to play with) in the corner while the adults talked about things you didn't dare to comprehend.
Dave seems to smile (which he'd deny in any court) as you left his side to join your friends in playing with some interesting blocks that were many different shapes. You feel like you're forgetting something as Dave slides your backpack into your cubby (it has your name on it…suddenly you feel special), waves goodbye, and leaves you to have fun with your friends.
BE THE SWEATY STRIDER
Your name is Equius Strider, and you are extremely uncomfortable. You are in a situation where you don't know anyone…seriously, not even Kanaya or Nepeta is here to reassure you. You feel lonely as you play with one of the My Little Pony toys that Dirk was generous enough to allow you to bring. No one has looked at you, despite your high blood color, because everyone is just as high on the hemo-spectrum, most of them even higher.
Your brother was currently in the other room, probably having fun with the friends you both shared, and you doubt that anyone you know online actually comes here…I mean, probably everyone you know said they did, but some of them you really couldn't believe about much of anything. You knew at least 2 trolls that claimed they were pirates…and at one point, you actually believed them until Dirk told you that piracy stopped becoming a popular career choice in the 18th century…that, along with many other things (vampires, lionesses, lawyers…) caused you to be very untrustworthy of most of the stuff your allies said.
And yet…there were a few trolls that seemed familiar to you. A teal-blood with bright red shades was currently licking a few of the other trolls, who recoiled in disgust. She reminded you of gallowsCalibrator, the troll who claimed that she stared into the sun for a long period of time, causing her to go blind (troll eyes are very sensitive to the sun, and she hadn't been wearing any eye protection). Because blind trolls mostly rely on their sense of smell and taste, it would make sense if that was her…but it probably wasn't. It was probably a different blind troll, and you were probably just as alone as you thought…or at least, that's what you expected until someone tapped you on the shoulder. For a second you thought it was Dirk, but then you remembered that your guardian had already left…
Standing directly behind you was a smiling purple blood, truly a sight to behold. Those with purple blood were usually angry trolls that could at any time snap someone else's neck without hesitation…but this troll seemed different. This purple-blood, with his hair a mess and his face covered in a white paint that you've never seen anyone wear before, was smiling with no malice, his eyes displaying complete calm…this somehow comforted you and freaked you out at the same time. Now that you like about it, he sort of reminds you of…of…
"terminallyCapricious?" you hope that you remembered the correct friend this time (Kanaya had been severely angry the one time you had gotten hers wrong at your first meeting), though it's probably not even him…
"Nice to finally meet you in person, CT bro" you smile widely back at him, he remembered you! Though he didn't actually know your name, he still knew who you were. This makes you at least 413% happier.
"E-Equius…My n-name is Equius Strider" you hold out your hand for him to shake, but instead he fist-bumps you.
"Gamzee Makara…though technically, it's Gamzee Smith. My human lusus allows me to use my old last name though. Can I call you Equibro?"
"That would be highly inappropriate…though I suppose I could allow it" Gamzee seemed content with your reply as you and he began to discuss your other online friends. Apparently you were wrong about being alone; other than yourself and Gamzee, you'd been alerted that Terezi, Vriska, Eridan, and Feferi were also here (you knew Vriska's real name from listening to the Dave human chat with the John human…but the other names were given to you by your friend, who pretty much knows almost everyone's names by now…surprising, since he barely remembered yours from your chats together).
By the time that afternoon had strolled around, you didn't want to leave; Terezi had in fact been the blind girl you'd seen earlier, and though she seemed only mildly interesting in your "blueberry blood", you still enjoyed listening to her talk about the "candy red" troll that you could only identify as Karkat Vantas…another troll you hadn't met in person, but the only one of your friends that used gray test. Huh, so that was what his blood color was…you try not to grimace at the mention of what you believe to be an awful color.
Vriska and Eridan allowed you and the rest of your group to play pirates with them. You were on Vriska's "ship"…and even if you were only given the job of "steering the ship" (you thought you looked really dumb doing that), the fact that you'd been given a part in the little game somehow filled you with pride (because seriously, without someone driving the ship, it would crash into an iceberg or something! Those things were massive hazards, as proven by Titanic).
Gamzee's childlike innocence made you want to do two things; firstly, it made you want to lecture him about the fact that because he's a high-blood, he really should know better than to try licking the electrical socket…you thank whatever higher power there is that the socket has been troll proofed (or at least Gamzee-proof…everyone else seemed to already know how to remove the protector on it). Secondly, his behavior also made you want to mother him…he was constantly not looking where he was going, running into walls and bookshelves and sometimes he even tripped over his own feet (you'd tie his shoes if you weren't able to snap shoelaces…). Judging by the way other trolls look at him, you don't think you're the only one that feels that latter opinion either.
And then…there was Feferi. She was a fuchsia blood, truly the highest of the high, and yet she acted as though she was just as normal as everyone else. She wore a black t-shirt with the pink sign of Pisces adorning it's center, a skirt of bright green, blue, and pink (a strange color combination that surprisingly suited her well), and shoes whose color matched her blood perfectly. She was…perfect, in the sense of a word, and your feelings for her might even rival your feelings for Aradia…and you are overjoyed by the fact that she enjoys chatting with you over silly little things that you wouldn't notice otherwise.
Your group mildly payed attention to what you were taught by your troll teacher (you somehow learned all of this already from television and your general backgrounds…all except for Gamzee, who was mesmerized by the concept of learning two different alphabets at once…Human English and Troll), and before you even realized it, school was over, you had grabbed your backpack from your cubby, and you were waiting for Dave to pick you up (Dirk was currently still at work, but he let Dave have the car today in order to pick you and Sollux up…your troll bro said that their guardians were probably going to set something up with one of the other human adults soon enough).
You watched as, one by one, your friends were picked up by their respective human guardians. Feferi, the sweet, adorable troll (you would deny saying this in any courtroom…because that's how Striders do things), along with Vriska, was picked up first by a young black-haired woman wearing a fedora (you could only assume that this was the Jane human that Dirk chatted with on Pesterchum). Not too long afterwards, a strange man (seriously, who is this person?) came and picked up Eridan, Gamzee, and Terezi, all of whom gave you a fond farewell before they departed.
When Dave finally came to pick you up, he'd already grabbed Sollux and was now waiting for you to put away what you were playing with (what? He took a long time) so that you could leave. You politely waved goodbye to your teacher, who smiled as you left while she picked up some of the toys the other troll children left on the floor. After you were buckled into the car (you could buckle yourself in, but you didn't want to break anything), you watched the world go by as you were driven home, your backpack sitting comfortably in your lap. Today was your first day of troll school…and it was, in a word, perfect. Frightening at the start, but still indeed perfect...and by the immense amount of chatter that Sollux seems to be creating (he's usually the quiet one, wow), he had a perfect day as well. You like this school thing and you can't wait to back tomorrow.
Lulu: End~ Someone suggested that in the love triangle Sollux x Aradia x Equius, Sollux x Aradia would prevail...so I made a new shipping chart and brought in one of the other Equius pairings that I deeply enjoy; Equius x Feferi. I don't know why, but somehow watching Equius freak out over a high-blood girl is so adorable to me that I couldn't let that opportunity be passed up. PM me if you have any chapter ideas, or leave a review to tell me your opinion of this so far...or both. I love reviews and PMs :3 thank you~
