Aradia/Sollux
He knows it's coming. He always does. He heard his neighbor's voice almost an entire perigree before she was killed in FLARP. He'd heard the voice of that green blood who preached on the street corner, too, and it was hardly even four nights before somebody culled him.
And now it's her.
"I'm okay with it."
Denial.
It's some other girl, it must be. Some other doomed girl that just happens to sound like her. Aradia's smart. She lives in the middle of nowhere. She has friends; she won't starve. It just doesn't make sense for her to die-
"I'm okay with a lot of things."
Anger.
-but of course it's her. He knows her better than anybody. He would never mistake her voice for anybody else's, and to think so is stupid. He's stupid. Her imminent doom is probably his own damn fault in the first place. Some sort of sick punishment for knowing him in the first place, for actually thinking he could be happy with somebody-
"But you like to talk to me."
Bargaining.
-but perhaps he can still save her. He blocks her on Trollian, but he still hears her, so he unblocks her and talks to her more, but he still hears her, so he starts telling her to be careful, but he still hears her, so he tells her to stock up on food and not leave the house, but he still hears her-
"Why do you like to talk to me?"
Depression.
-there's nothing he can do. He's going to lose her. He shouldn't have even bothered. He blocks her again because he can't stand seeing her username anymore, but then he realizes that he'll never see her username again and he spends three nights without talking to anybody-
"Sollux, I would actually like it if you were happy."
Acceptance.
It ends when he feels her hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her with bleary eyes, tired and strained from crying and lack of sleep. She looks the same as ever, covered with dust and sweat and smiling at him like he matters.
He realizes he spent so much time thinking about her dead that he had forgotten she was still alive. Still here.
"Sollux?" she asks. "Are you okay?"
He exhales his worry, and allows a though to cross his mind – enjoy the time you have left.
So he unfolds his limbs and kisses her. It tastes like grime and dust, but it's time to make the most of things.
And her voice chimes in his ears, even as her lips are occupied.
"Sorry about everything, and all the bad luck you've had. You didn't deserve it."
Homestuck is property of Andrew Hussie.
