> You’d think it’d be a relief to see some light in this near pitch-black place, but no. The light peeking periodically from the door didn’t give you that feeling. It made you anxious - it didn’t belong here after all - and whenever its pale white light pulsed through the darkness, it felt like it cut through everything in its wake.
> The pulses gave you a headache.
> The lack of the inky creature that emptied your Inventory of food only made the light feel even more oppressive.
“...Welp. Whatever. Time to get this over with.”
> You pull out the other Fragment of Epitaph from your Inventory, space rippling. Without fanfare, you click the two pieces together.
> The dead crystal slowly came to life, glowing with a pale white light. And before you could even think to catch it, it leapt right out of your hands, sinking right into the door.
> Click.
> The door slowly creaked open. You only now notice there’s not even a handle to pull on. The light hinted from the edges of the door is nowhere to be seen - the door only leads into unsurprisingly deeper dark.
> It’s why these parts of the Subway Dungeon is called Black Space after all.
“Pathfinder.”
> A faint beam of light, visible only to you, emerges from your feet and tracks onto the floor, only to stop at the entrance of the door.
“Great. I barely have any food. I can’t cheat. There’s probably something in there that wants to kill me. This quest is not turning out the way I want it to be.”
> Of course, you’re really just bitching for the sake of doing it. Jack’s suggestion probably helped you bypass a fight that you had little chance of winning - you still aren’t convinced that Silhouette is as benign as it seemed. Sacrificing all that food to prevent a premature end to your quest was most definitely worth it. And you already knew it’s probably going to come down to a fight.
> It wouldn’t be a quest otherwise.
“Into the Dark we go.”
> Having stalled enough, you take a step through the Door.
(( @sacbrolege my muse is like. idek whats goin on w him hes so easily affected apparently and im not gonna drop names but hes still like ‘they didnt actually do anything to me? so i have no right to feel like this......’ but they inadvertently(?) made him heavily dependant on them and then made him feel like he didnt deserve it and was kinda gross abt stuff and like completely broke him down hes still not,,,, right))
Footsteps echo down the hall, you padding behind, smaller, silent. It’s just another routine meeting, why Kain needed both of you here you don’t know, next to her you look non-threatening. You suppose he’s forgiven you about the ears. He hasn’t made any comments on them since the last time you saw him. The Margrave seems to feel the need to comment on them all the time, often grabbing at your tail. In one instance, you swipe at her hand with your claws, and she looks completely offended when you break skin. She goes to touch you but Kain steps in. She’s not allowed to touch you.
When you get to the usual meeting room, though, there’s no one in there. You wonder if they’re late, or if something else is going on.
It is.
Kain gestures for you to sit, and you do, walking around the desk because your ‘floating around’, ‘annoys’ him.
The Margrave seats herself on the stool beside the big chair, in which Kain already sits. You look to him like a puppy who knows its about to scolded but doesn’t know what its done. That’s apparently a theme lately.
“Where have you been staying?” His voice isn’t harsh like when he’s interrogating, nor biting like when you’re trying to piss him off and succeeding. It almost sounds genuine.
One of your ears flicks. “With a friend.”
He doesn’t miss a beat with his reply. “I thought I didn’t allow you to have friends.”
Both of your ears droop, and you huddle down slightly. “Well, no. But it’s not like-”
“I don’t allow you to have friends for a reason, Sollux.” You hate when he uses your name. It sounds sharp and not you. “You’ll just bring unnecessary victims into this rebellion. What if they decided to get caught up in all this?”
You fidget, twirling some of the hairs of your tail between your fingers. “It’s not my fight. I’m not a part of this. So they wouldn’t. I don’t talk to anyone about any of this.”
This time it’s The Margrave that speaks up. She sounds angry, but you know it’s all for show. She just wants to look better than you. But she has no idea what dirt you have on her that could make her whole reputation crumble if she ever crosses you. “You’re as much a part of this as I am, lovely.”
You snicker and glance off to the side. “Nah I’m not just in it for the money don’t worry.”
She scoffs. Folds her arms. Kain looks between the two of you and sends you a pointed glare. “I want you to collect all your things from this ‘friend’s’ place, and burn them.” He pauses, seeming to be considering something. Your ears shoot up. “And the other place you’ve been keeping things.”
“What?” You speak before you can think. “What did I do?” He always allowed you to keep some things at Rox’s at least. On the pretense that they weren’t exactly yours. The coffee maker and the xbox and similar things. Things you told him belonged to Rox, but that she let you borrow. In truth you earned them by yourself, but just kept them there for safe keeping. Since you weren’t allowed a place of your own.
Kain just sighs and looks at you like you’re the one being unreasonable. “You don’t have friends. You don’t have personal possessions.” He leans his elbows on the table, making direct eye contact with you and you get a chill run right up your spine. You can’t look away. “Unless you stay with me. You don’t have friends.”
He gestures at you like you’re supposed to know what he wants from you, but you’re speaking before you can process anything. “I don’t have. Possessions.” You’re dizzy. “I don’t have. Friends?” There’s suddenly a heavy cloud in your mind and a pain behind your eyes. You press the heels of your hands into your eyes. “I don’t. Have possessions.” You would have no idea what was happening, and your memories of this incident would fade within an hour. But the effect would remain. You’re still resisting his full effects for now. And he hates it.
You do suddenly have the inexplicable urge to go and burn all of the things you’ve collected over the last month or so, however.
You’d better leave Ko a note thanking them for letting you stay here for this long.
(drawwww drawing is the only way to get better also screw expectations and have fun)
(( omg thank,,, i always get way too ambitious bc its always like. ok vat. just smth small. but then. i might not actually draw again ever. so lets make the most of it obviously.... c’: ))
+ how do you feel about ariia? spill all the beans.
anon if i spilt all the beans there would be so many beans all over the place would absolutely flood this entire website and i dont think anyone wants that but if you insist you asked for it
i care about her more than i care about anyone else thats about it i cant explain something i dont understand myself sorry to dissapoint lmao
