Welcome to Exposition Interlude of sorts, Part 1!

Next chapter is coming next Tuesday because of extenuating circumstances.

Kanaya looks more gaunt, and her hands are callused, but other than that, she doesn't look much different than she did when (Vriska) left. She always did look older than she was. (Vriska) wonders if any of it has anything to do with her rainbow drinker physiology.

The three of them - her, Kanaya, and Rose - are sitting at a card table in a niche aboard one of La Resistance's warships. Every once in a while, a troll runs past holding something dangerous-looking. The setting feels strangely homey, and yet not.

Kanaya leans forward, resting her hands on the table. "So How Did You Get Here"

"I walked here."

Kanaya sighs. "That Is Not What I Meant And You Know It"

(Vriska) shrugs. "Well, I don't honestly know how I got to this planet, if that's what you mean. All I know is that I pulled out the juju to wield against Lord English, and then I got hit in the head 8y a shard of the fa8ric of reality. Then I fell up, and I got pulled into a massive 8lack hole."

"Where did the black hole come from?" asks Rose.

"I have no forking clue." She pauses as an idea comes to mind. "Waaaaaaaait….. Actually, it might have 8een formed from the Green Sun."

Rose's eyes widen. "Really?"

"Yeah, at least, that might make sense. I remem8er seeing the Green Sun as per normal, and then, the next time I looked up, it had gotten 8ent out of shape, like it was 8eing stretched out 8y something."

"A black hole could do something to that effect. I just didn't know it was capable of doing so to the Green Sun, notorious as it is."

(Vriska) nods, deep in contemplation. "I mean, after all, it's only a sun."

"By Definition It Is A Sun" comments Kanaya. "Though It Has A Number Of Highly Unique Properties It Was Still Formed By A Fusion Reaction"

(Vriska) shrugs. "I wouldn't know. I wasn't there." She glances at Rose.

"Then what happened?" asks Rose. "How long did it take you to escape the black hole, and under what circumstances did it occur?"

(Vriska) ponders on her time in the black hole. It was, needless to say, confusing. She doesn't know how to describe it, so she just decides to talk about what she can recall and piece things together as she goes.

"I got knocked unconscious 8efore entering the 8lack hole. When I woke up, I was in it already, and had 8een there for God knows how long. Time travels differently in the Furthest Ring, you know. I 8et it did the same in the 8lack hole 8ecause it was also in the Furthest Ring, 8ut-"

Rose interrupts her. "I beg your pardon, but I know a thing or two regarding black holes and time distortion caused by them. Black holes, even in regions in which spacetime is not as forked up as it is in the Furthest Ring, are gravitational wells from which nothing can escape, not even light."

(Vriska) rests her chin in her hand, looking bored. "I know that."

"It remains an integral piece of exposition, which is what I'm providing. The thing is, anything within the black hole's gravitational well accelerates to the speed of light. Due to general relativity, this causes the body to experience time at a significantly faster rate, sped up more the closer it gets to the event horizon. To a viewer outside the gravitational well, it appears to slow down. Once the body crosses the event horizon, the point of no return so to speak, its perception of events outside the black hole essentially ends because time outside the black hole to it has sped up to such an extent. Nobody knows how time flows inside a black hole. Since you were unconscious when you crossed the event horizon, you wouldn't know, either."

Rose pauses. (Vriska) interjects, "Are you done?"

"Yes, for now."

"That was 8ooooooooriiiiiiiing."

Rose shrugs, not denying (Vriska's) statement.

"I Found It Interesting" comments Kanaya.

"You would."

Rose sets her mouth in a thin line. "What happened next?"

(Vriska) just shrugs. "I don't really know. I don't know where I was going, only that I was headed somewhere. I wasn't acceler8ing, I was just going forward. It was pitch 8lack. I couldn't even see my hands in front of my face. The only reason I knew I was moving was 8ecause I could feel my hair 8rushing against my horns, even when my head was still."

"Under a constant velocity, that shouldn't be possible."

"Yeah, 8ut a 8reeze in a 8lack hole? Can you 8elieve it?"

Kanaya's expression is deadpan. "Given That Weve Already Broken Enough Laws Of Physics To Incite Terezi To Give Us A Restraining Order Whats One More"

(Vriska) smirks. "True enough. I'm glad I'm a god-tier, cuz I don't know if I would have 8een a8le to 8reathe otherwise. I didn't do much more than that, though. I mostly slept. In a darkness that a8solute, what else would you expect from me?"

Rose smiles. "I don't blame you. How long did you spend in there, do you think?"

"Dunno. O8viously long enough that my irises filled in. I remem8er they were mostly 8lack 8eforehand, and now they're pure co8alt." (Vriska) leans over the table and opens her eyes wide so Rose and Kanaya can see. "So I must have aged 8y at least a sweep."

"Interesting" remarks Kanaya.

"It definitely didn't feel like that long, though. I know I'm a deep sleeper, 8ut I'm not THAT deep of one.

"Eventually, I opened my eyes and saw this weird pinprick sort of hole ahead of me, like the light at the end of the tunnel. It got 8igger and 8igger, and 8efore I knew it, I was hurtling into a grassy field like a heat-seeking missile. And John helped me get up, and all the hysteria that had 8een 8uilding up inside me for the past however long I had spent in that void just cracked wide the fork open. And, well, here I am." (Vriska) shrugs.

Rose and Kanaya sit quietly for a minute, lost in thought. Finally, Kanaya breaks the silence. "Im Confused About Something Relating To Temporal Shenanigans"

"What might that be?" asks Rose.

"You Claimed That Entities Inside A Black Hole Are Incapable Of Perceiving Ones Outside Of It And Vice Versa Yet John Has Been Able To Contact Terezi Via His Phone"

Rose grimaces. "That is indeed a confusing temporal shenanigan."

"Oh, that reminds me," (Vriska) adds. "I have John's phone right now." She pulls it out and puts it on the table for all to see.

"You… you stole John's phone?"

"I didn't do it. Vriska did."

Kanaya looks unamused. "So Shes Pickpocketing Again"

"Ye- w8. Again?"

Rose nods. "We've had to tell her off a number of times." Suddenly, she smiles. "I wonder if John's noticed that his phone is gone yet. I mean, it's already been a day and a half."

(Vriska) chuckles. "I give him a week."

"Id Contact Him To Verify It But..." Kanaya gestures towards the phone as a conclusion to her witty remark.

Rose snickers. "John hasn't changed much, if you can tell," she says to (Vriska).

"None of you guys have, to 8e frank. I guess people don't really change all that much over the years. I mean, why would you guys need to, when you're 8asically fine as you are?"

"I Dont Understand What You Mean By That"

(Vriska) takes a moment to collect her thoughts. "Well, you guys have gr8 personalities already, you're good people, all that schist. Why would you want to have that change with time? I mean, it can happen, good people can go 8ad, 8ut why would they want to?"

Kanaya shrugs. "People Are As A General Rule Not Logically Comprehensible"

"True that." (Vriska) grins. Typical Kanaya move, dishing out sage advice as always. It's just more proof that people really don't change, unless they set their minds to it.

Rose speaks up. "Speaking of people and the comprehending thereof, how are you enjoying your time on Earth C thus far?"

"Oh, so we're not going to discuss the ramific8ions of your planet possi8ly existing inside of a 8lack hole?"

"No, we're not. I'd like to conduct further research before continuing that discussion. Anyway, how do you like it here?"

(Vriska) hedges before continuing. "As, as much as I'm enjoying spending time with you guys, as good as you are to me despite all this 8attle schist, I'm….. I'm not really, I don't feel like I'm home."

Kanaya's face betrays nothing but sympathy. "Why Not"

"8ecause….. I'm not sure. It just feels a 8it off." (Vriska) furrows her brow and thinks. "May8e it's cuz you're all so much older than me now."

"That's understandable," comments Rose.

(Vriska) quickly shakes her head. "No, no, that's not it. It's… it's a piece that's missing. Like a varia8le in an equ8ion, you know?"

Rose and Kanaya nod. After a moment of silence, Kanaya asks, "Is It Terezi"

(Vriska) has been hesitant to admit it to herself, but now that Terezi has openly entered the equation, the more sure she becomes that yes, that's the issue.

"You know what, yeah. Yeah, you're right. That makes sense."

Kanaya smiles warmly. "You Miss Her"

(Vriska) nods. "More than an- a lot." She folds her arms over her chest and casts her gaze downward. She feels like she's said too much, even though she's said hardly anything at all.

Rose's gaze softens. "I'm sure she misses you too."

"I hope so."

"I remember how the two of you were back on the meteor. You were your own little gang. You were nigh inseparable."

"Yeah, like you two." (Vriska) gestures between the two older ladies. "Frankly, I'm shocked your m8spritship has lasted so long, seeing as you're rarely apart."

Rose shrugs. "Sometimes, the best way to spend time with someone is to ignore each other in the same room."

Kanaya adds, "Anyway I Could Say The Same For Your Relationship With Terezi Whatever Quadrant It May Reside In"

(Vriska) blinks. "What do you MEAN, whatever quadrant it's in? We were pale, you know that, if we're even IN a quadrant anymore."

Rose cocks her head to the side. "Do you know which quadrant you're in?"

(Vriska) shakes her head. "I haven't talked to Terezi since 8efore the final 8attle, remem8er?"

"Do you know which quadrant you'd like to be in?"

(Vriska) sits in silence for a moment, stunned by Rose's bluntness. She crosses her legs at the knees. "No," she replies, surprising herself.

She needs an excuse to get out of this conversation.

Serendipitously, (Vriska) feels John's phone buzz in her pocket. She pulls it out, a grin spreading onto her face as she sees who's calling. She looks up at Rose and Kanaya. "Excuse me, 8ut I have to take this."

The two older ladies exchange a knowing look.

"Why are you looking at each other like that?"

"No reason." Rose shoos her away. "Go take your call."