And I discovered that my castles stand upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

...

[There are so many promises she wants to make right now - But I'll never leave you, Eridan, it'd be so easy to say and if it were entirely her own choice it might even be true... but it isn't.]

...

[Dammit, she doesn't want to wait, but of course she can't just say this because he doesn't listen to her anymore DAMN IT ALL--]

I can't promise that our friendship would last... beyond... a departure.

But... [...damn... it...] You don't seem to accept or reject your other friendships on that account.

From:

At least if the likes a' Ros' or Rox' gone an' came back they wouldn't just go "oh fuck it's Eridan again I hate that guy I don't want nothin' to do with him, why ain't he still dead."

I at least got some hope a' tryin' again.

From:

[Ah yes an OPENING oh she's relieved he brought it up first--]

Do you think the other trolls would allow you to have that hope? Haven't you seen how they've already actually tried to turn Roxy against you? Wouldn't they be much more likely to succeed if she suddenly didn't know you and heard about everything that happened in the veil without any context?

[It'd take someone REALLY IN LOVE WITH HIM TO NOT CARE ABOUT THAT, just saying. Just. Saying.]

People have already told her that dating you is a mistake once. It's virtually guaranteed that they'd try to, as they saw it, "prevent her from making the same mistake again."

I'm sorry to say it, but dating her is hardly safer than being friends with me would be, if you're basing it on whether we disappear. The entire tragedy of termination is in its caprice. It could strike any one of us at any time. Even you, and then you wouldn't even be in a place to worry about whoever you'd left behind.

From:

[Wow Kanaya make him hate everyone else even more why don'tcha.

Still.

Fuck.

She's right. Just losing her as a friend right now would be pretty bad since the quadrant's still new so it wouldn't be AS big a deal as it could be. But given enough time and it could matter. It could matter even more than it does right now.

He's so used to thinking alongside him, Equius, Feferi and Sollux are the only ones here. Only one of them is really liable of trying to ruin any potential friendship he could have with a new Roxy and even then he figured he'd be as much a stranger to her as Eridan would be. He could talk her into giving him a chance if it's just one guy.

But two? Three? Every single troll but him, even.

There'd be absolutely no chance.

Yeah he doesn't......really say anything he's thinking this over. And it hurts to think about.]

From:

[It hurts to think about a lot. She knows this. She's looking at him intensively, thinking about this. She gives him a little while. Then she speaks up again, quietly.]

We shouldn't have to act like any of us could disappear. Then we'd need to act as if any of us could appear, and then we might as well act as if the demon is on our vestigial tails again.

You've really been avoiding the actual question of why you wouldn't want to have me be your friend. You've demonstrated already you would rather I continue doing you favors and services. I'd... offer to ply you with more clothing but even if you felt like you needed it you might have to finance it because the Masquerade approaching I've begun to run out of marques...

Edited Date: 2012-11-18 02:48 am (UTC)

From:

Cause I hate her, which ewen if you ain't you sorta got the exact same look a' her about you. You ewen sound exactly like her, for the most part act exactly like her aside obwiously wantin' my decapitated head on a nutrition plateau.

Is it really so hard to understand that lookin' at you really pisses me off cause a' what happened an' apparently I'm not allowed to feel that way, with you an' literally all the other trolls an' ewen my own matesprit tellin' me so.

An' that maybe it's just a really confusin' an' complicated situation that pisses me off I got no idea what to do with.

I mean if you hate someone an' you're not allowed to hate them cause they ain't them but they remind you of them in nearly ewery single way, what the fuck are you supposed to do.

Ewen if you were just, y'know, a regular troll it'd make it easier. But you're not.

From:

[There's a solid two seconds of icy silence after he says that.]

We've discussed this before. I think you even in fact criticized me for doing exactly what you're doing right now.

But if you l... [She almost said love. She really came this close. In all honesty, "lo" would be a more accurate rendering.]

If you like someone, and you're not allowed to be their friend even though they remind you of them in almost every single way, what are you supposed to do.

Edited Date: 2012-11-18 03:30 am (UTC)

From:

I don't know.

From:

[She touches the sheet of paper with the nicest drawing of the suit on it, "idly".]

From:

Okay, fine, you don't gotta hate me.

[...]

Ewen if it's totally inewitable. But I won't try an' force you. Happy now.

From:

[Continuing to cooooooly push the paper around until WAIT IS HE DOING THE THING WITH HIS FINGERS AND BLUSHING AND AND AND

HE SAID YES

SHE JUST PUSHES THE PAPER TOO MUCH AND PRACTICALLY FALLS OVER OH MY GOD

OKAY

OKAY GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER MARYAM JUST STAND UP AND]

Yes, Eridan. More than you know.

[In return, she will valiantly resist the urge to hug him.]

From:

Good, well. Uh.

[Hm.]

So we're done now right, unless you'd like to once again how I could wake up tomorrow an' all my friends are gone.

Or I could be dead.

[Yep bitter. Kinda. He just couldn't end this on a good note.]

From:

[Dammit Eridan NO SHE'S FORCING THIS TO END ON A GOOD NOTE]

And I'd be one of them.

Look at that, I'm gone right now.

[RAINBOW DRINKER DEPARTURE

YEAHHHHHH]

From:

What? Hey, wait, that doesn't mean we're--!!

[Fuck, she's gone.

Stupid lousy no good superfast undead not-friend. >8(]

From:

hey!
so
probs not seein as were livin in some gloomy future dump but
do you have anything planned for the 4th
which is in like 2 weeks

From:

not really
just a big fat load a nothin up until fuckall sometime in the future
wwhy

From:

because
its my wrigglin day and i wanna do something
not something big since the ball is comin up soon but
still
something

From:

so
wwhat like a getogether or somethin

From:

yeah!
just a few ppl or something

From:

small huh
so
wwho wwere you think of invvitin

[NOT SOLLUX NOT SOLLUX NOT SOLLUX...]

From:

well i havent asked anyone else yet just u so far
im not really sure exactly
maybe this cool girl i met
and a couple other trolls
if it was too many my roomie will bitch at me and im so done w/ listening to that rn

From:

trolls
wwhich trolls

[CAUSE...actually no he's thought it over and would want lit. none of them there, goddamn.]

From:

like kanaya and sollux maybe

[YEAH she knows whats coming]

From:

[omgggggggg]

do they really havve to come

From: