A near decade of untangling wires had prepared Sollux's fingers for the sheer amount of yarn that Aradia expected him to untangle for her, "What the hell do you have so much yarn for here in your dorm anyway?"

"Knitting. Crochet. Throwing at Nepeta. It's always good to have a soft projectile around," Aradia said, picking through her bin of yarn scraps. Larger balls and hanks were stored separately with some level of organization, but the remnant bin was a perpetually tangled heap of loose strands and smallish balls of every kind of yarn; from brightly dyed wool from her family's livestock and soft and muted cotton and bamboo, to recycled silk and reclaimed yarn unraveled from old tacky thrift-store sweaters; from thick bulky ropes of synthetic fibers to strands nearly as fine as thread.

She picked out a rainbow string and started to wind it around her fingers, forming the seed of a ball. "I don't need much for this, but I want a good color."

"Good color for what? You making your new epic-level boyfriend something?" He stubbornly picked at a few tight knots, glaring before hunkering down and staring it down. He'd long since removed his sunglasses just to get through the chore more easily.

"Emma's birthday's coming up and I asked her if she wanted anything. She's a pretty good boss, after all! Anyway, she asked me for a doll to scare people with; I think I'm getting a reputation..." Aradia untangled a knot, freeing the rainbow strand, and she finished off the ball at only about two inches in diameter. She picked at another string.

"Happy goth girl inexplicably full of sunshine and is good with children and animals? That's what springs to mind for me." He groaned and dropped the pile he was working on, picking up another one instead. He leaned over once again with a scowl at the stupid pile of soft.

Aradia patiently worked a short blue yarn out of the pile, hardly long enough to even roll into a ball. "Mostly about spooky stuff. Lauren keeps asking me to do readings about her girlfriend, and-did I tell you that last night Connor brought in a ouija board? He insisted on spelling out his order with it. You want to come in for coffee on your day off, fine, but there's no need to be a dick!"

His head cocked slightly as he tried to listen and untangle at the same time, "Pfft. That's stupid, what the hell did he do that for? Was he drinking for the ghosts or some shit?"

"He only did it to make fun of me since I told him I take that stuff seriously. That, and Emma likes me more, but hey, not my fault he comes in late so often!" She picked out a tan-colored yarn, "How about this one? It's kind of coffee-colored."

Without looking up, he pointed at her, "Make it look like that Connor dick and shove a bunch of pins in it."

"I totally should!" she laughed, setting the ball aside and picking through the bin, "Maybe not the pins, but I can make a mini-effigy. I need something lighter though…see anything really pale? I need some black, too. Emo black."

"Venom black. Batman black. Emo Peter Parker in Spiderman 3 black. Sollux dug around looking for a black, loose end, and naturally it was all stuck together with the white yarn in an angry yin-yang snarl, "Fuck! Dammit Aradia, why can't you just keep this stuff organized or something?"

Aradia pointed to her dresser. "Bottom drawer. Take a look."

Sollux inched over and opened the drawer. Inside, next to a few finished projects were dozens of small balls and hanks of bundled yarn, as well as a wide selection of knitting needles and crochet hooks.

"See? Organized-ish."

"If you got so much of this stuff in here why am I- oh fuck it." He dropped his pile and laid out on his back, "You've beaten me."

"Why would I want to use up a neat ball when I could just use scrap yarn? Waste not, want not." She tossed a ball of purple eyelash yarn to Sollux. "Can you hold onto the untangled ones, at least?"

"Sure." Sollux felt around blindly beside him to see if he could find one of his neatly wound piles without getting up.

Aradia leaned over and pulled at a cream-colored yarn from Sollux's pile, beginning to make a ball of it. "Thanks. So how's things with you?"

"Classes are fine except for Writing," Sollux remained on his back, "Still hate that whole 'well-rounded' bullshit this place tries to enforce on your schedule. Everything would be so easy without that fucking class."

"How about your bathroom buddy? You haven't complained about him all day," she said, delicately working her fingers through a particularly stubborn knot.

"We've reached an impasse." Sollux tried to sound casual and for the most part pulled it off, if he did say so himself.

Aradia looked up, eyebrow quirked, "Don't tell me you're peeing out the window."

"No!" Sollux sat up, trying to think for a second, "We, uh... leave sticky notes." Smooth.

She breathed a little sigh of relief, "Hey, as long as it's resolved, right?"

Sollux thought back to what Eridan had said; about how he should tell someone. Who better than Aradia? It wasn't like she would judge or anything but- no. That would require acknowledgment or at least intent and he wasn't sure- no. Dammit Sollux say something, he thought angrily.

"Um, Aradia, mind if I ask you something?"

"Shoot." She did not bother to look up, working the tangle out inch by inch.

"So..." Heart pounding, fingers twitching, he slowly asked, "How are things with Mr. Epic?"

"Equius," She corrected, eyes remained fixed on her task but her lips spread into a huge smile, "I don't know if I can call him my boyfriend yet, but things are going really well! We've been talking every day for the last four days, either by text or in person, another date the day after tomorrow...I like him a lot! Don't know where we're going, though..."

Sollux didn't heard a word of what she said, his heart thudded with anxiety. Could he even actually say anything about this? This was a slippery slope of shit that he had no noseplugs for and he just couldn't-

"I... I think that's great, lambchop. Seriously. Keep up the good work." He gave a thumbs-up and a grin.

Aradia looked up, curious and slightly concerned; something was off, she knew it. Before could ask what was really on his mind, however, they both heard a key in the lock.

Nepeta opened the door, dragging her bag behind her; she was wearing her favorite hoodie, calico-spotted with ears stitched into the hood. She offered a weary greeting and left her bag by the door, stepping over the yarn tangle on the floor to flop face-first onto her bed.

This served as a good enough distraction to cause Sollux to clam up. He rolled over and sat up against Aradia's dresser, "Uh, yeah. So there's that." Good job, you dumbass, Sollux thought to himself.

"You okay, Neppers?" Aradia asked, ignoring the yarn in her hands for the moment.

"Yeah, just...Chemistry. Chemistry's a jerk." She rolled over and sat up, looking defeated. "Well, my Chemistry teacher's a jerk, anyway. Screw him."

Sollux cleared his throat, bearings suddenly back at full blast, "If he wasn't a smug shitstain, he'd be doing his school a disservice by not killing the spirit of the nonmajors. Although chemistry is really just a bunch of memorizing chains of reactions so if you don't get it, it's all on you."

Aradia set aside the yarn and crawled over to sit beside Nepeta, "What happened?"

Nepeta slid down to the floor and rested her head on Aradia's shoulder; "It's not like I'm not trying! I am! Really! Okay, so, I had trouble understanding something, right? I read the book, I take notes, I just...don't get Chemistry! So, I usually get help from the TA, but she wasn't in so I asked the teacher after class, and he laughed at me! He said that I shouldn't be paying for the course if I'm not willing to do the work, but I'm doing the work! I'm just not getting the material!"

"That's especially screwed up," Sollux sat up completely, "Set his car on fire. Or his office door."

Aradia pulled back Nepeta's hood and pet her hair, "Report him to the department. Do you want me to go with you?"

Nepeta shook her head, "I'll go tomorrow. I just don't want to think about it right now." She sighed and sat up; she saw the spread of yarn across the floor, and a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips, and she crawled over to bury her fingers into the soft pile.

Sollux pointed at her, "Hey, you like yarn right? Lambchop, you should get her to untangle it, she's probably better at it, right?"

Aradia scooted back over and took up the cream-colored strand again, as Nepeta rubbed her face against a handful of particularly soft yarn, making a pleased hum.

"I think Kitten here might be why my yarn bin is so tangled."

Sollux's eyebrows rose, "Seriously? An entire campus bustling with life and your own laptop with internet access and you're off playing with yarn?"

"Sometimes you have a really rough day, you know? And if Equius and Aradia are busy, the next best thing is talking to internet friends in the yarn pile."

Aradia shook her head, but smiled, "Okay, so help me get it sorted out. It'll give you something else to think about."

Nepeta sat up and started untangling some lightweight sock yarn.

Aradia worked out another tangle in the cream yarn, adding, "And if you see any black, I need that. I might need your sewing kit later, too, is that cool?"

"Sure. Making something in particular?" Nepeta asked, turning to the selfsame black and white snarl Sollux had given up on before.

Given how his duties had been pushed onto someone else for now, Sollux idled with his phone, "She's making a voodoo doll of a guy she hates for her boss who also hates him."

Nepeta looked over at Aradia, "Ohhh. Connor?"

"Yep. Emma wants a string doll, and it's no biggie to slap on some black hair and a frowny-face on it."

"Then once a keychain goes on its head or something the guy's going to lose his skull cap and die all because of your non-magic shit."

"That's not how doll magic works at all! In most cultures that use it, it's primarily for healing and-aagh, does nobody take the time to get their facts straight?" Aradia flopped backwards on the floor. She rolled up the freed yarn into a ball, thankfully the rest was easier going.

"I get my facts straight about things that are relevant to me. Like actual facts, not spooky crazy voodoo stuff." Sollux slid his glasses back on temporarily.

Aradia looked over to Nepeta. "Throw something at him, will you?"

Nepeta clutched at the yarn balls near her, "Noooo, they are the precioussss." She worked the black yarn into a ball and worked on another tangle. "You gotta do something about Connor, though. He picks on you so much, oh geez! What if he's flirting with you?"

Sollux shut his phone with a click and stared, "Do you think everything's about relationships, NP?"

"But what if?" she protested.

Aradia sat up, "Doesn't matter, I'm not interested." She stood up and hopped over the yarn pile to Nepeta's dresser and pulled out her sewing kit from the bottom drawer. She went back to her spot on the floor and plopped down. "Hey, Sollux, mind passing me that bit of cardboard?" she asked, pointing to a small flattened box.

He looked around a moment, locating the cardboard and handing over to her, "What are you doing now?"

Aradia put five pins in the cardboard and started looping the cream yarn into a star, "Making the doll. First you make a frame where the little head and limbs go, then you wrap more yarn around, secure with thread or glue, and add details." She knotted the center and began to wind yarn around one of the limbs, "What do you think, Neppers, frowny face or angry eyebrows?"

"Angry brows." Nepeta rolled over a small finished black ball, and began to work on a second black snarl of yarn.

"You should go the other way, make it look stupidly retarded looking. Have the eyes looking different directions." Sollux gestured to his own eyes.

"Hmm, maybe," Aradia said, finishing a limb and moving on to the next. She sat quietly for a moment, thinking and winding, and spoke as she finished the body and began to build a ball for the head, "I wouldn't mind Connor if he'd just leave me alone. I wonder if Equius could scare him off? Nothing big, just get him to not be a schmuck, you know?"

Nepeta giggled, "No way! You should have Equius pick him up, throw him out of the shop, then toss you over his shoulder and carry you off into the sunset! We just need a film crew, a wind machine, a thoroughbred, and maybe a violinist. No, a whole band; no sense in cutting corners."

"Save it for her birthday. It'd literally make her life until she finds dinosaur bones behind her dorm."

Aradia rolled her eyes and snipped off the yarn, tucking in the ends. She picked up the black yarn and began to wind around the body, forming shirt and pants; "Ha ha ha, very droll. I'd ask if you're done having a laugh at my expense, but I know you aren't."

"It's not my fault that I'm hilarious and you're not appreciating it. I give you this material for free and you let it flutter asunder through the breeze and get stuck in a goddamn tree," His voice suddenly turned into his mom's, "Ungrateful as a Jewish boy who doesn't cawll his motha."

Aradia rolled her eyes, a begrudging smile on her lips, and Nepeta grinned, "He totally could scare anybody off, though." She turned to Sollux, "He's huge!"

"When am I meeting this guy anyway? It feels like you two keep coming up with crazy ways to describe him." Sollux flapped his right hand about as he spoke.

"You mean like in Mean Girls?" Aradia giggled.

Nepeta chimed in, "I heard his hair is insured for ten thousand dollars!"

Aradia pointed, "I heard he does car commercials."

Nepeta and her then spoke in unison, "In Japan!"

Both girls laughed at their joke as Sollux stared blankly, "Nope. Not even going to think on that one."

Aradia snickered as she threaded a needle and sewed the yarn end in place. "Seriously, though, if things go well I'll totally introduce you."

"I assure you, I'm waiting with bated breath."

Nepeta rolled her eyes, "Your excitement is palpable. Equius is a great guy, though! He's been my best friend since I was a kid; he used to seem scary and everything, even when he was a scrawny kid, you know? But get under that and he's really caring and pretty fun to hang around with."

"Him? Scrawny? You're kidding." Aradia fished a yarn needle out of Nepeta's sewing kit and threaded black yarn onto the doll's head.

"I'm serious!" Nepeta protested, no longer bothering to untangle yarn, instead working her fingers through a wad of yarn just for the plush feel of it. "When I met him he all was scrawny and sickly and all depressed; though, he still was kind of imposing and he didn't really know his own strength, you know? He started working out when I was maybe ten, so I guess he was thirteenish? After that he got a lot bulkier."

"So theoretically your kids would either be ridiculously built or a bunch of twigs. And they'd all yap in Spanish into oblivion."

"It's a bit early to start thinking about that, isn't it?" Aradia said, bemused, as she finished the doll's hair; little knots of close-cropped black yarn spiked up across the top and back of the doll's head. Two eyes, knots with the ends threaded into the doll's head, and she'd be done!

"You've got time! That's what the pill is for." Nepeta shrugged.

A fierce blush burst across Aradia's face, "NEPETA!"

Sollux's head jerked up, eyes widening as he looked to Aradia, "Really?"

She fidgeted with the doll, cheeks burning, "I...it just seemed like a good idea! I mean, it's better to be safe than sorry, right? Not that I plan to just yet...not, not that I'm against the idea! I mean, I just want to get to know someone before I sleep with them..." she rambled, staring intently at the yarn pile.

Sollux rose an eyebrow, "You know, you could've used the myriad of other fine excuses girls use for going on the pill like 'it regulates my period' or 'it helps with my acne'! Way to miss a viable opportunity to not look filthy, AA."

Aradia leaned forward, hiding her face in her hands and in her hair, and Nepeta threw a hank of yarn at him. "Way to be a jerk, Sollux." She crawled over and patted Aradia on the back.

Sollux shrugged, "Hey, no judgments here. What you do with your poontang is all your business."

"Darn right it is! And if she wants to jump him the next time she sees him, that's fine; and if she wants to wait for the third or even the fourth date, that's fine too!"

"Please, just…stop helping…" Aradia groaned.

"How is this NOT awkward for you to be talking about?" Sollux asked, pulling up his knees, spread, and resting his elbows on them.

Nepeta canted her head, "I don't follow."

"You've known that guy forever, right? And you have zero weridnesses about talking about him potentially getting Aradia's choice ass? No offense, lambchop."

Aradia parted her hair and peeked out, "None taken."

"Yeah, but, it's not like we're siblings. We're pals and confidants." Nepeta looped her arm over Aradia's shoulder, "Before I met Aradia, he was the one I told all my secrets to. Mind you, he always had things to say about how I'd 'comport' myself," she added air-quotes with her fingers, "But he always listened and sometimes gives good advice. We're close like that."

"So you're team leader for Team Equius then, I assume? If there's no possibilities of Ara-spawn running around and things capsize within two weeks, let it be known I'm on team Aradia and I'll be notifying the next of kin in the bloody aftermath."

Aradia flopped over onto her side, "You guys aren't helping! Sollux, do you have to be so pessimistic?"

"Eh, maybe you're right. Maybe you'll end up with like 5 kids and live in the countryside. He'll wear a sweater vest. Pipes and puppies might be involved as well."

"We've been dating a week!" Aradia groaned, kicking her legs in embarrassment and exasperation. "It doesn't have to end up the freaking Cleaver family to go well, but you don't really have to throw your doom-saying in everywhere either, do you?"

"Fine, whatever, I'll keep my mouth shut and you can go on with your voodoo dolls and yarn untangling. As though that isn't a page out of the book of Cleaver."

Aradia sat up and tossed the doll onto her nightstand. "Sollux, you know I love you like a brother, but sometimes I swear it seems like you're waiting for the good things in my life to get peed on." She stood up and stretched her back, and sat on the bed. "And I think I'm giving up on the yarn for today."

"All right, is that my cue to leave?" Sollux asked, making his way to his feet.

"It doesn't have to be, you know you're welcome to stay a while! But if you've got somewhere to be, I won't keep you," she said, as Nepeta took the opportunity to dive face-first into the yarn again.

Sollux gave the content girl in the pile a look, "I just might do that. I'll see you around lambchop, NP."

Nepeta rolled in the pile and waved, "See you next time!"

Aradia saw Sollux to the door, and walked a little ways with him down the hallway. She stopped, a few yards from the elevator, "Hey, Sollux?"

Sollux stopped and turned to her, "Yeah?"

She put a hand on his shoulder, "Before Nepeta came in, I kind of got a sense something's on your mind. You know you can always talk to me, right?"

I fooled around with my douchebag stripper-wannabe suitemate. I plan to do it again. Or, well, he plans to fuck me and I plan to let him, or…shit. Sollux said none of these things, but slipped his hands into his pockets and looked away slightly. "I know, just…I promise, if I have a problem, I'll let you know, 'kay?"

That was probably the best she could get out of him, and she knew it. Aradia nodded, and wrapped him up in a hug. "Okay, it's a promise."

He put his arms around her and gradually relaxed. After a moment, he chuckled, "In spite of anything I might have said for the sake of hilarity, I actually am kind of happy for you, you know."

Aradia gave him another squeeze and released him, smiling, "Yeah, thanks."

Sollux gave her a little pat on the head and turned, strolling down the hallway, "And hell, let me know when you do get laid, lambykins, we'll get celebratory pancakes and gossip, maybe go shopping, do each other's hair..."

Aradia balled up her fists and blew a raspberry after him, and he laughed as he stepped into the elevator. She turned, snickering and shaking her head, and went back to her own room to watch a catgirl frolic in the yarn pile.