Dedicated to THE Tippy. Glorious Bastard was a nice touch.
The first thing Sollux registered was that his back was sore and all he could see was an unpleasant close-up of the fibers in his carpet. Standing turned out to be a surprising challenge, his body unhelpfully reminding him he wasn't a teenager anymore. Rubbing at his spine he glanced over at his couch, no sign of his friend but blankets he used were folded into a haphazard pile. He glanced around blearily, trying to shake the remainders of sleep. He glanced over towards the dvd player, the number ten flashing merrily to him.
"How'd you thleep KK?" He called. No reply came and he shuffled into the kitchen, the scent of strong coffee giving an immediate need to fulfill. He poured a cup before continuing his search.
"KK?" There was no sign of shouty life within the apartment, and only his pair of shoes occupied the entryway. Tiredly he drifted to his room and sat on the edge of his bed, sipping from his coffee as he glanced around. "He could have thaid thankth at leatht. 'Gee thankth Thollukth, I really apprethiate you letting me thtay inthtead of flipping a tit at the thcary thtorm all by mythelf in my thtupid thtilt houthe.' Thuck on thith hothpitality KK becauthe I'm never inviting you again."
It was a lie, Sollux knew, but it made him feel less lonely and more vindicated in thinking so. He drained his coffee and walked back to the kitchen. He browsed through his mostly bare cupboards before opening his refrigerator. Sitting atop a wrapped plate of bacon and fried eggs was a note, and Sollux reluctantly acknowledged he was an asshole.
Good morning sleeping ugly. I waited fucking hours for you to
wake your lazy ass up, but I have shit to do and waiting on you isn't a
part of that. I'm going home since I'm sure as shit there's some infuriating
cleaning activities I'm going to need to do. So, yeah, I made you coffee and
breakfast because I appreciate you letting me stay.
Later - Karkat
"What a goddamn adorable jack-ath." He tried not to smile, he really did.
Two hours later found Sollux sitting in his jeep outside the house he grew up in, debating whether to knock on the front door or chickening out while he could. The house was the most interesting on the street. Three stories tall and painted a red so bright it was like fire trucks in parades, with the accents as solid teal. It was an eye sore but Red-mom had never been especially talented at color theory. That wasn't a necessary skill for a judge anyway, and Sollux would never be brave enough to attempt telling her how terrible it looked.
"You don't need to go in." He spoke to his windshield. "He'th not going to remember you vithited anywayth and you'll jutht get a headache." He smashed his forehead against the steering column once, and then again for good measure. "But I'm the only family he hath left, and Dad wouldn't have wanted me to thkip out jutht becauthe I wath uncomfortable and he'th inthane. He would thay that would be cowardly and dithpicable."
Reluctantly he emerged from his car and walked to the front door. To what little credit he could claim, he had only hesitated for a moment before raising his hand and giving two sharp knocks. Music could be heard inside, something with a heavy bass line and indiscernible yelling. The place was always loud, as if silence wasn't allowed to exist there.
If he was honest he would admit it was a reason why he liked Karkat so much, with that much volume there was no way he could focus on darker things. He shuffled his feet impatiently as he waited for permission to enter, jumping in place to dispel his anxiety before knocking twice more.
"Coming, coming! Jeeze bro hold your horses. I know it's you, Sollux." The door opened and he was greeted by Latula's hand raised into the air. He left her hanging with a grin on his face and she engulfed him into a hug as retaliation. "Sup baby bro? It's been a while since you came by, was starting to miss you some."
"Some?" Sollux groaned, trying to wrench himself free from the overbearing grip. Finally he maneuvered his head from her serpents vice and stumbled to the side. "Fuck, Latula have you been lifting weighths again? You're leth woman and more gorilla at thith point."
"Hahaha, take that back you little shit." she punched him in the arm which Sollux believed proved his point thoroughly. "But nah, I'm back in training for the 'extreme boarding extravaganz,' you should go it's coming up in like a month."
"Fuck that thit. That thing you jutht thaid? That thing thoundth terrible. Nothing would be more contemptible to me right now then doing that thing you jutht thuggethted."
"Then why are you wearing the Skate-o-rama t-shirt I gave you after the last competition?"
"It'th the only one that pathed the thniff tetht."
"I totally believe you bro." Latula shrugged. "So what you here for? You don't really make it a habit to come and see us."
"Well," Sollux shifted his weight, "I'm here to thee MT, actually."
The joviality dropped from the others face as Latula leveled him a look, a frown attempting to pull down the corner of her mouth. Sollux shrugged his shoulders and she sighed before stepping back, clearing the doorway.
"Are you sure you want to spend the day like this, kid? It may be better for both you and 'Tuna to just forget about it. I mean, it's hard on the both of you."
"No." Sollux said firmly. "No it'th not what dad would have wanted, uth being tho theparated like thith. I can," he took a breath, "thith, I can do thith much at leatht, jutht for today. I can thtop avoiding thith thubject for one day of my year."
"If you're sure..." Latula looked at him doubtfully and he held himself straighter. She smiled at, patting the top of his head for emotional support. She had to reach up to do so, so Sollux leaned over to make it easier for her. "He's in his game room working right now, if you can get him to speak to you I'll be impressed. He seems like he just doesn't want to talk to us of late, especially if he doesn't have to."
"Thankth for the warning, thith. I'll at leatht try to communicate, if he doethn't rethpond I'll call it a year." She followed him down the hall and towards the room where the music blared from, ushering him inside. He looked back at her and she planted her hip firmly against the door frame. He was on his own.
It had once been the family room, Sollux knew. There had been some bookcases and comfortable chairs when he had still been a kid, but now the books were gone and the room was encumbered with junk. Game systems and cartridges were piled everywhere covering the shelves, furniture, and floor. Sollux had to step around snack wrappers and discarded soda bottles. In the epicenter of the chaos was his older brother.
"MT!" Sollux yelled over the music. It was coming from a stereo stashed in a corner, and with some difficulty turned the volume to a more manageable level. He turned and was greeted by Mituna glaring at him from beneath his hair. Before he could say anything the other returned his attention to the television. Latula gave him an unhelpful thumbs up from the doorway, and he took a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose before approaching his brother.
"Hey MT." Sollux greeted as he took a seat beside the other. "It'th been a while, how've you been?" He waited before speaking again. "LT tellth me you work ath a game tethter now, it'th cool that you were able to find thome work."
He was studiously ignored once again and Sollux groaned in frustration.
"Fuck'th thake Mituna, what'th with the thilent treatment?" Out of the corner of his eye he saw Latula motion him back but he shook his head, mouthing back he wasn't done.
On the screen was a indie-like side scroller, a sixty-four bit stylized disaster. The image moved so quickly the player could barely keep up. At first he assumed it was meant to be an extra challenge, but when the whole thing glitched the player right out of the screen he knew it was just really shitty coding. Mituna threw down the control snarling as 'game over' flashed in front of him.
"Fucking piethe of thit! Where doth developerth get thethe abtholute thit ideath? Retro flathback thtopped being cool forever ago, thothe douthenovel fuckwifferth. Keep to the timeth you goddamn fathe fuckerth!"
"Maybe it'th jutht too much for you to handle." Sollux said in response to the outburst. Mituna swiveled violently and fell over, the shock on his face making it evident that he hadn't realized Sollux had even been standing there.
"The fuck you doing here ath-licker?"
Sollux flinched from the others lisp. Unlike himself who'd always had the impediment from his overbite, Mituna had only developed one after the incident. Sollux was reminded how much it made him dislike speaking to his brother, but pressed on anyway.
"Nithe to thee you too bro." He picked up the games case and studied it. "Tho what thort of perthon maketh thuch a broken thide thcroller? The graphicth are terrible."
"Thom thtupid noob. Look at their company, independent. A bunch of grown ath lotherth thitting in their momth bathementh jacking off inthtead of acthually thinking about what they're doing."
Sollux eyed the room around them and decided not to point out that Mituna was also a grown man residing in his other-mothers family room.
"It looked like the coding wath done with a hand down their panth, yeth." Sollux instead conceded. "A glitch that immenth taketh a conthiderable level of thtupid to achieve."
"You thought that wath bad you thould try the retht, like how can thith level of incompetenth be natural?" Mituna handed Sollux the control and reset the system. As the screen loaded Mituna actually grinned at him, and Sollux found himself grinning in return. "Good luck dumb ath."
The first thing he was introduced to was a character creation page. From what he had briefly observed before, this was the only place the creator had taken any real time on. Sollux selected a lanky demonic figure with pale skin and a set of double horns. The shirt he selected was yellow and striped like a bee, and for embellishment he added an electric field around it. When he tried to move forward the game insisted he select a sweets theme, so he selected a honey-like goo that dripped from its hair. Finally, it switched him from the intro screen before launching straight into the game, not giving him any time to select start on his own.
The goal of the game seemed to be the collection of points through destroying objects with a giant lollipop, which his character wielded with the electricity. Apparently it wasn't purely an embellishment but a fighting method, which impressed him slightly. The neon candy colored coated vomit landscape left much to be desired, though.
"Thith ith tho thtupid." Sollux commented. "What drug were they on when they dethided thith wath a conthept they thould purthue?"
Mituna snickered beside him before grabbing the second controller.
"I know, right? Thith ith the wortht thing I have ever played." He joined in as a random second player, and the game mechanics seemed to shift from destroying everything to making other sprites like the avatar. Cherubs - of all things - flew around them in nonsensical patterns, and only after smashing them with the lolli-sword several times would they transform.
"Hey MT, pretty thure I can thlam your ath at thith pith poor game."
"You're pith poor Tholluckth." Mituna countered. "Your thkillth are ath lame ath your perthnality. Thuck my dick pother."
They played together for nearly an hour, alternatively harassing and cheering each other on. Sollux found himself genuinely enjoying his time with Mituna, the first in years, and he felt genuine disappointment as the game glitched out worse than the last time. The same image kept recycling continuously as the character moved in unnerving fragments across the screen.
"Thith game lookth pothethed." Sollux commented, standing up and cracking his back. The soreness from that morning had intensified. Mituna stood up after him, unbothered from sitting on the floor for long periods. "You're like thixth yearth older than me. How the fuck can you thtand thitting on the floor tho long? What wath the name of that game anywath?"
"Cauth you're a genetic weakling that'th why." Mituna countered. "And it'th called Trickthter Party."
"Thtupid name."
"Thmartetht thing you've thaid all day."
"Tho," Sollux was reluctant to mention his next thought, Mituna wouldn't like it, he never did. He only hoped his brother wouldn't have another fit. "Tho do you know what day it ith?"
"Why the fuck thould I? That'th knowledge that plebth like you need." Sollux ignored the insult and pressed on.
"It'th the theventeenth of May. Doeth that hold any thignificanth to you?" This was the tricky part, Sollux knew. If his brother got angry they would have to sedate him, and he didn't want to have to do that again.
"What'th the theventeenth again? It'th important right? It theemth important..." Mituna looked at Sollux quizzically before narrowing his eyes.
"MT jutht wait a thecond..."
"That'th when... Tholluckth that'th when Dad..." Sollux was not prepared for Mituna to move so quickly, and was alarmed to find himself shoved in a corner as his brother began pacing and yanking at his hair. "How could I forget? Thith'th ith terrible I need to, I need to do thoming! Tholluckth we need to get a boat, right now. We need to get to the othean!"
"You need to calm down." Sollux said in a way he hoped was soothing. "You're getting too exthited right now. What would do we need to do? I can't underthtand what you are thaying."
Mituna twisted his body violently to face Sollux, the look of desperation in his face made Sollux twitch back. The other advanced on him in quick strides before fisting hands in his tee.
"The fucking fith, you moron. We need to go find the fucking fith! They know where he ith and we've jutht left him there to rot!"
"We've been over thith before, there are no thuch thingth ath talking fith..." Mituna slammed Sollux against the wall hard enough to knock the wind from his lungs.
"You're not lithenining cock thucker!" Mituna bellowed. "We need to go athk them tho we can thave him like he would have for uth!"
Sollux braced himself for another encounter with the wall when Mituna's grip slackened and he swayed on his feet. A hand stroked his face unsteadily as his eyes began to droop.
"You need to lithen, you need to believe me..." His eyes fell shut and his weight tilted him forward, Sollux leaping forward to catch him before he could impact the floor. Latula was standing a short ways back with an empty syringe in her hand. She was frowning at the pair with strange detachment.
"I came when I heard the shouting." she explained, tossing the syringe onto an overflowing trash can.
"I'm glad you did. Thould we take him to hith room?"
Together they lifted Mituna, supporting him on both sides and half dragged him into the hallway. They swung right, stopping in front of his door. Latula left Sollux to support his brother as she pulled out some keys and unlocked it. They dragged Mituna to the bed, settling in him before she motioned for them to leave. Behind him she relocked the door and they made their way to the living room. Sollux dropped onto the nearest couch and attempted to calm his nerves.
"Tho," he said, taking a deep breath, "the lock thing ith new."
"I don't like it." Latula admitted, tossing the keys away and collapsing onto a chair. "But we needed to implement something after he disappeared from the house. We didn't find him until we got a call from the port master, who claimed he caught him attempting to steal a boat."
"Why didn't I hear about thith thooner?"
"We knew you were busy with work and you couldn't afford the extra stress." She gave him an apologetic wince. "We knew that you would drop everything to come over here and completely freak out."
"I wouldn't have... no yeth, yeth I would." He ran his hands through his hair. "Anything elth I thhould know about?"
"Not really? For the most part he just plays games and I write reports to send in for him, then he sleeps and repeats the same cycle. He hadn't had a single fit until today, but it had to be coming by the way he was withdrawing."
"I thee."
"If anything you shouldn't blame yourself kid. He'll wake up in a few hours, demand a snack and go off to play video games again."
Latula departed to call her mother to inform her of what happened, and Sollux decided it was time to finally head home. He was just closing the front door behind him when the gate screeched.
He looked up and frowned as he came face to face with his other not sister Terezi. They stood awkwardly facing each other before Terezi tried to open some dialogue.
" Sollux, it's been a long time since we've seen each other." She forced a grin. "How've you been doing? Left your cave to hang out with anyone lately?"
"Look, I'm going to thay thith right off the bat, quit it with the blind joketh." Sollux snapped. "I'm not buying and it thtopped being funny when you became a huge bitch. Thecondly, I am not going to give you any information about Karkat, don't even pretend that ithn't what you were after. If you want to know how he'th doing get off your ath and athk him yourthelf."
"He doesn't answer my messages." she countered. "I just want to know if he's doing okay. He lives out there by himself so it's not like I can just drop by and claim I happened to be in the neighborhood."
"Well he hath a very good reathon for not wanting to talk to you. Bethideth it'th not really any of your buthineth anymore ith it? After all you were the one who told KK you never wanted to thee him again and then thlept with hith boyfriend!"
"There's nothing I could regret more than that decision!" she snapped, and Sollux at her. "It was a terrible thing to do to him. I don't even know what I was thinking! If I hadn't decided to tell him about it..."
"You thouldn't have done it in the firtht plathe!"
"I know!" Terezi's voice barely cracked and Sollux felt intense satisfaction at how much this was affecting her. "I know that! Do you think that I don't live with the fact that it was my actions that drove him out on the water that day? I live with that and I just want to know if he's okay!"
Terezi puffed before him, maintaining her poker face even as her shoulders heaved. Sollux couldn't hold back a single disbelieving giggle from passing his lips.
"If you feel tho bad go apologithe to him. Tell him how much what happened hurt you. It'th only hith life that wath ruined."
"Sleeping with Gamzee was the worst thing I could have done to him-"
"Don't you even fucking thay that! He wath already devethtated when you dethided from nowhere he wath no longer worthy of your prethenthe. You can't thay a thingle thing until you talk to him, and you need to thtop being thuch a coward about it TZ!"
Sollux stormed past her, shouldering her aside as he opened the gate. He heard her turn before he felt the hand on his shoulder, and he reached back to shove her off.
"Gamzee is getting released soon." Sollux froze at those words, a chill so deep that froze his bones. He forced himself to turn back and look at her, and the deep frown in her face made his stomach drop.
"What did you jutht thay?"
"I said, Gamzee is getting released soon. He's being let out for exemplary behavior. I filed an appeal but it was rejected."
"When doth thith happen?"
"I'm not sure. An exact date hasn't been scheduled, it could be a few weeks to a few months. Mom is trying to see if there's something we can do, at the most we made certain the elder Makara would not be receiving the same treatment. Karkat... hasn't been notified yet. I wanted to tell him in person since a letter would be too impersonal."
"No." Sollux squared his shoulders.
"No what?"
"You aren't going to thtick your fingerth in thith anymore. I'll tell him, and you can relegate everything to me. He thould hear it from thomeone he can trutht."
"Your bedroom is still upstairs." Terezi said quickly. "It hasn't been touched. Mom makes sure it is cleaned every week. I miss you Sollux, we used to be so close."
Sollux regarded her a moment before sighing. He turned his body in preparation to walk away, but decided to leave some parting words.
"That wath before I knew how terrible a perthon you could be. Don't expect my rethpect to thuddenly return without proof that you earned it." That said he left Terezi standing inside the gate. He had someone he needed to go see.