Chapter Text

You are four sweeps old and your name is VRISKA SERKET. That is your name now, and you pretend it always has been.

She calls you another name when She pushes into your mind, and this gives you just one more reason to ignore Her venomous words, however right She may be. You don’t care! You don’t!!!!!!!! She’s just a 8ig dum8 spider, you’re the one who has all the power over Her, you could very well let Her st-

[SPIDERMOM]:You amuse me for now ██████, but I am sure you know that I require more to sustain me than just the delusions of a wriggler too weak to fight by himself. I do try to help you, but if you insist upon ignoring my teachings then do not be surprised when you are culled for your incompetence. Really, that would just be embarrassing for me. Though for you I suppose it would be a fitting end.

You know better than to finish that thought. Really, what were you thinking? She’s just trying to help, not that you make her job any easier with all your stubbornness. You really should listen to Her….

All your anger fades away into contentment, everything is smooth and floating and your thoughts slip through your fingers like silk, it’s so hard to move- stop struggling- it’s suffocating- everything is so easy now, yes, just listen to me-

You snatch your jacket hanging off your chair and scramble to sheath your dagger.

[VRISKA]: Thanks so much mom, but I’ve really got to get used to doing this on my own! This camp8gn is gonna bring me up so many levels, and I want to practice getting some clean kills on my own! I’ll pro8a8bly need the loot to buy fabric for a new costume soon too, these bloodstains really don’t wash out!

You hear Her grumble and chitter in your mind, but you aren’t listening as you race down the stairs and out the door. In fact, you are very far away from your hive now, ears ringing and head pounding. Your hands tremble and your breath comes in short gasps, but you don’t know why. You would worry about finding your way back if you actually wanted to go back you mean if your mother wasn’t so diligent to guide you back home! You couldn’t ignore Her sharp pulling of your mind if you wanted to. Which you don’t, you loooooooove listening to Her voice in your head all the time. But she won’t be there forever. Which is why you have to get stronger! One day you’ll master your cerulean mind powers, you’ll surpass even Mindfang!

You close your eyes and concentrate, trying to reach out with your powers. You can’t sense anything near you, so you stretch your range until you can feel the familiar presence of your usual goldblooded teammate, vibrating with nervous energy. You open your eyes and you can see her approaching, maybe 8 yards away. She’s a bit slow though, pausing to look over her shoulder every few steps and jumping when she spots her shadow. It'll be a while before she arrives.

An idea strikes you.

You reach out again, guiding your powers in the goldblood’s direction. Her mind is jittery and hyper, but it is simple enough to gain control of her mind once you ignore all of her thoughts swirling. Directing her to you is the challenge. Her mind is easy to control but her reflexes are so ingrained that her body jerks and spasms violently as you puppet her, and you can feel all the resistance of her muscles in your own body. You release her from your control with a gasp, and the pain lingers for a moment before fading.

When you turn to look at her, she is much closer to you though she has resumed her slow pace. She’s probably a bit disoriented, more than usual anyways, but she will likely not notice your exploits.

By the time she arrives, the both of you have mostly recovered

??????:uh,.hey.vriska,.um,.are.there.maybe.any.strategies.you.have.for.this.battle?
??????:the.team.we’re.up.against.is,.uh..Pretty.high.ranking.on.the.leaderboard,.and.Vitani.was.uh,.recently.culled.so.i.don’t.know,.what.to.do?

Who was that? Vitani........ Oh, right. Vitani was some oliveblood, you think she was maybe Nibeko's- oh that’s her name- Nibeko’s moirail? Maybe auspistice? You don’t really care actually.

VRISKA: Hah, we can t8ke them on easily! We’ll force them together, you herd them into the open, then I strike the final 8low.
NIBEKO: Um,.well,.Vitani.was.the.one.who.did.that,.since.they.used.spearkind,.but.i.can’t.get.that.kind.of.distance.with.knifekind?.I.was.thinking.I.could.maybe,.uh,.throw.it.but.i.don’t.know.how.i.could.get.it.back?
VRISKA: Do you have a 8etter plan? No???????? Quit whining then! I don’t care what you do as long as we win!
NIBEKO: uh,.well,.okay,

The other team is here. You don’t get what the big deal is. There’s a gold, teal, and cerulean. Big whoop. You can tell this other cerulean doesn’t have mind powers; he doesn’t guard his mind when you probe it. He’s thinking about his plan, wow that’s a shitty strategy- he’s hoping the goldblood won’t ditch, and he’s- He’s scared of the tealblood? Ha, what a loser!

You evaluate the other members. The goldblood is definitely at least a sweep or two older than you, and he’s tapping away on his palmhusk. The tealblood is short and is paging through a huge FLARP rulebook, and you can only make out her pointed horns with her face buried in the tome. You don’t have time to read their thoughts before the game is afoot, but they are clearly inexperienced newbies.

Looks like you’ll be going home sooner than you’d hoped……..

[........][........][........][........][........][........][........][........]

It’s past midnight now, and you’re still on the hunt. As soon as the rules were set and boundaries decided, the other cerulean charged towards you and your teammate! The two of you had been caught off guard, and he gave you a few good gashes with his axe. But ultimately you were able to push back against him, meeting his heavy swings with your quick parries and dodges. Nibeko had gotten a few good jabs in, but a flash of light came from the forest and he had absconded! Probably some sort of team signal, ugh! Why didn’t you think of that!

You aren’t sure where his other teammates went, so you and Nibeko split up to find whoever you could. They obviously aren’t in the open so you had been forced to wander the woods while Nibeko scoured the upper levels of the trees. It’s fucking dark here and you keep tripping over roots, and sometimes you hear giggling and leaves crunching, sometimes there are bright flashes, and you aren’t actually sure if Nibeko’s still up there, the branches rustle even with just a breeze. This 8lows!

You grumble as your try to dislodge your foot from yet another tangle of tree roots, and

Suddenly you are upside down and there is light above you, now it’s next to you, AUGH IT’S IN YOUR EYES!!!!!!!!

You screw your eyes shut and hiss in a way that you hope is menacing, swinging and flailing your dagger. You hear mumbling above you and the light does disappear, but you continue to thrash about.

??????: *k we did y*ur stupid plan can we cull her and m*ve *n >>
??????: TH1S 1S PH4S3 TWO OF MY STUP1D PL4N, WH1CH YOU 4GR33D TO!
??????: TH3R3 1S TO B3 NO 3X3CUT1ON W1THOUT TR14L, 1N 4CCORD4NC3 W1TH CH4PT3R–
??????: c**l great ill g* cull the *ther *ne then s* we can get this *ver with bye >>
??????: W3LL UNL3SS YOU 4R3 SUDD3NLY 4N 3XP3RT 1N COURTROOM PROC33D1NGS 1 4DV1S3 TH4T YOU L34V3 TH3 TR14LS 4ND 3X3CUT1ONS TO M3!

But much of the weight on the branch has already lifted, and the breeze of what you assume to be the goldblood flying away with his psionics shudders through the trees and leaves fall and great they are in your hair now, that’s going to take forever to get out. You carefully blink your eyes open, and try to reorient yourself.

The light of the moons hardly reaches through the thick canopy of the forest, but you can see the tealblood from earlier sitting on the branch above you, just looking at you. It’s kind of unsettling, actually.

You decide to ignore her and turn your attention to the rope secured around your ankle, binding you to the tree. The knot has only tightened itself around you while you were too busy freaking out, and you are losing feeling in your foot, and you feel yourself beginning to freak out again before you remember that you have a dagger and can literally just cut the rope off.

??????: 1 WOULDN’T DO TH4T 1F 1 W3R3 YOU

She smirks at you from above, you can glimpse her sharp teeth and she’s poised like a laughassassin ready to strike, and okay you are starting to understand why the other ceruleanblood was afraid of this girl!!!!!!!!

??????: OH MY GOG, STOP FR34K1NG OUT
??????: 1M NOT GO1NG TO CULL YOU
??????: PROB4BLY
??????: W3LL NOT R1GHT NOW 4NYW4YS

You continue to freak out because this is a stupid way to die, and your foot is starting to hurt now, you’ve been hanging here long enough for the feeling to come back and it feels like your foot is being pulled from your body, which it kind of is, and–

??????: 1 W4S JUST T3LL1NG YOU NOT TO CUT TH3 ROP3 BUT 1F YOU WOULD R4TH3R F4LL TO YOUR D34TH TH3N B3 MY GU3ST

You look up. Down. You look in the direction the floor is in. the floor is very very far away from your body or more accurately you are suspended very high off the ground, and if you fell from this height you probably wouldn’t die, but you would break a few bones. And then you would die because the empire does not take kindly to cripples. She’s right and it pisses you off. You grip your dagger tighter.

VRISKA: Well may8e I would rather fall and die quickly than hang here and starve! If you’re gonna cull me you’d 8etter do it 8efore i do it myself!

Something in her face changes, but you can’t identify what. You don’t like it though.

??????: H3R3S WH4TS GO1NG TO H4PP3N
??????: 1M GO1NG TO PULL YOU UP TO TH1S BR4NCH, 4ND YOU 4R3 NOT GO1NG TO F1GHT M3 ON TH1S UNL3SS YOU 4CTU4LLY W4NT TO LOS3 4 L1MB
??????: FROM TH3R3 W3 W1LL CL1MB DOWN TH1S TR33 US1NG MY ROP3
??????: 4ND ONC3 W3 4R3 ON TH3 GROUND W3 4R3 GO1NG TO R3CONV3N3 W1TH MY T34M M3MB3RS
??????: 4LSO MY N4M3 1S T3R3Z1, YOU C4N STOP C4LL1NG M3 "??????"
VRISKA: what????????
TEREZI: 4R3 YOU GO1NG TO COOP3R4T3 W1TH M3 OR 4R3 YOU LOOK1NG TO LOS3 4 S1GN1F1C4NT 4MOUNT OF BLOOD 1N TH3 N3XT F3W M1NUT3S
TEREZI: TH1S 1S 4LSO TH3 P4RT WH3R3 YOU T3LL M3 YOUR N4M3
VRISKA: the plan is fine. I guess! Whatever.
VRISKA: my name's Vriska.

The two of you take about an hour to get back down. Well, it takes you an hour. She gets down in minutes and fiddles with her palmhusk while she waits for you. You are too stubborn to ask for help, and she seems fully absorbed in whatever she’s doing to notice your struggle. When you (finally) reach the ground you’re about to sneak off but she turns around and pulls out a dagger. Wait a minute, that’s YOUR dagger!

VRISKA: hey, give that 8ack!!!!!!!!

You know you are in no position to be making demands here, and from the smirk she gives you Terezi knows it too.

TEREZI: 1 W1LL
TEREZI: 3V3NTU4LLY
TEREZI: 1N 4N UNFORTUN4T3 TURN OF 3V3NTS MY T34MM4T3S H4V3 4LR34DY 4BSCOND3D, 4ND PR3SUM4BLY CULL3D YOUR T34MM4T3
TEREZI: MY 4POLOG13S FOR TH31R 1NCOMP3T3NC3, 4ND FOR YOUR T34MM4T3 >:[

She glances up at the sky through the foliage, and fidgets with your blade.

TEREZI: TH3 SUN W1LL B3 COM1NG OUT SOON
TEREZI: 1’D S4Y W3 H4V3 4BOUT 2 HOURS B3FOR3 1T DO3S

She tosses your blade back to you and decaptchalouges her own sword, only for her to sheathe it in her belt and start walking away.

TEREZI: 1T W4S N1C3 TO M33T YOU BUT 1 SHOULD PROB4BLY L34V3 NOW 1F 1 W4NT TO G3T B4CK TO MY H1V3 4T 4 R34SON4BL3 HOUR

That’s it? She’s just leaving? You’re begrudgingly grateful to her for not culling you even though she totally could have, why is she letting you live anyways?

That’s not important! This has been such a fucking waste of time, you spent practically the whole night FLARPing and you have nothing to show for it except the rope burn on your ankle. You should leave too, but you can’t go back empty-handed, not to Her. But this girl– Terezi, she let you live, she showed you mercy when she should have slit your throat.

Well, she shouldn’t have shown you mercy, that’s her mistake! Weaklings like her don’t deserve to live, and she’ll probably get herself culled in a perigee anyways. You tell yourself this, but it does not make you feel any better about what you are going to do.

VRISKA: hey, no worries a8out any of your loser teamm8s! Sucks that they ditched though.
VRISKA: wanna come over to my hive? It’s not that far from here, and we can m8ke it there with time to spare 8efore day8reak.

She turns around and looks at you, incredulous. This is a stupid plan, but you’re too tired to make the trek back home carrying a corpse and your head still hurts from your psychic experimentation earlier. You could probably stab her now, but you know she’s faster than you. It’s better to wait until you can corner her in your hive than chase now and lose her in the depths of the forest. The hell, no reasonable troll is going to fall for this shit. Maybe you’ll just stay here until daybreak! You don’t know if you would be able to endure Her anger if you return empty-handed, you promised you would never do that again, you can’t–

TEREZI: Y34H SOUNDS GOOD >:]

Okay. This girl is even stupider than you thought.

VRISKA Awesome! ::::D
VRISKA: Come on, it’s this way!

You begin to walk towards your hive, hoping she will follow. She smiles and grabs your hand, hers just a bit warmer than your own.

You don’t think about how her hand is going to be crushed by Her mandibles, you don’t think about the sound her bones will make as they crack, you don’t think about the teal that will soon join the bloodstains on your floor, and you most definitely do not think about how she is trusting you, and you are going to betray her soon.

You don’t think.

It’s easier to keep her hand in yours as you walk, it’s easier to lose yourself in her explanation of hive construction and maintenance protocols, it’s easier to laugh with her when she makes a joke, it is so much easier to just talk to her and pretend that the world is a wonderful place for just the two of you.

It doesn’t last.

You dramatically open the door to your hive, gesturing as if you were one of those butlers your neighbor loves so much. She giggles and you feel as though you have finally done something right..

[SPIDERMOM]: Whatever happened to procuring a ‘clean kill’ independently?
[VRISKA]: sorry, the other players ditched and I can't exactly track down the gold8lood since he pro8a8ly just flew away or whatever! If I had gone after him I wouldn't be here, 8ut this scrawny tealb8ood is stupid enough to trust me, so here we are.
[SPIDERMOM]: Evidently. Bring her to me.

You fight the urge to puke and turn to look at Terezi. She’s looking at your FLARP-sona drawings you taped to the walls, and you feel kind of embarrassed before you remember that her opinion of you doesn’t matter because she’ll be dead in a few minutes.

The pain in your head from earlier is still a dull throbbing, but it is otherwise easy enough to reach Terezi with your powers.

You can’t make any sense of her thoughts, they don’t spin or bounce like Nibeko’s, they seem to pulse and glow and swirl in some sort of haze inside her mind. It’s almost like the forest you just left, everything inside her mind connects itself through these weird root-like structures, branching into each other and it would be amazing if it wasn’t also preventing you from controlling her mind and givng you the worst headache of your life!

You quickly retreat your psychic powers before her mind entangles you, and you distantly think that such an environment would make a beautiful planet, as you gasp for air and your vision swims.

[SPIDERMOM]: you really can’t do anything on your own can you?

Your mother’s powers are far more dangerous than your own.

You know this as well as you know that pleading and hitting and screaming and crying cannot bring anyone out of Her trance until She has devoured them.

You can’t move.

She immobilized you as well, likely having already anticipated the tears that spill from your eyes now. You can’t do anything as Terezi turns around, you close your eyes and hope that the screams won’t be too loud this time.

TEREZI: 1 R34LLY L1K3 YOUR P1R4T3 DR4W1NGS! H3R3, 1 H4V3 SOM3 SK3TCH3S 1N MY POCK3T FROM TH1S 3V3N1NG,
TEREZI: WHY 4R3 YOU CRY1NG?
TEREZI: D1D 1 DO SOM3TH1NG WRONG?
TEREZI: WH4T TH3 H3LL 1S WRONG W1TH YOU WHY 4R3 YOU L4UGH1NG NOW?

You laugh even harder, gasping for air for an entirely different reason this time.

You can’t help it, you’re so inexplicably relieved, it doesn’t even matter that Her voice is screaming at you to kill the girl in front of you, you finally have something She can’t take away from you.

VRISKA: yeah i’m okay, haha, *so8*, i think i’m just gonna–

You pass out rather dramatically, and the last thing you see is Terezi’s shocked face as she reaches to try and catch you.

[........][........][........][........][........][........][........][........]

When you wake up the next evening you feel like shit. You blearily stumble yourself awake, and.

Everything is quiet. You can faintly hear the shuffling movement of the giant spider in your basement, but She isn’t in your head. Fuck, your head hurts!

You start walking to go get some water, but then you notice a paper taped to your shirt.

VR1SK4,
TH4NKS FOR L3TT1NG M3 ST4Y OV3R FOR TH3 D4Y 4ND SORRY TH4T L4ST N1GHT’S C4MP41GN SUCK3D >:[
1 TR13D TO W4K3 YOU UP BUT 1T OBV1OUSLY D1D NOT WORK! YOU SHOULD PROB4BLY NOT M4K3 4 H4B1T OF P4SS1NG OUT, H4 H4 H4! 1 GR4BB3D SOM3 OF YOUR GRUBLO4F 4S 4 SN4CK FOR TH3 TR1P B4CK TO MY H1V3, M3SS4G3 M3 ON TROLL14N SO 1 C4N P4Y YOU B4CK L4T3R >:]
-T3R3Z1 (TROLLT4G 1S @G4LLOWSC4L1BR4TOR)

Her handwriting is surprisingly neat, and you thumb over the corners of the paper before carefully folding and captchalouging it. Your quest for water forgotten, you rush up your stairs in record time and fumble with the keys on your husktop until

arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC]

AG: Hey!!!!!!!!

GC: H3Y >:]

Chapter Text

After perigees of chatting on Trollian and occasionally seeing her on the FLARP leaderboard forums, you ask Terezi to meet up with you for another campaign. She agrees(!!!!!!!!), and you begin to plan out teams. Two players won’t be enough for the kind of challenge she’s planning, and you begrudgingly tell her that you could totally find more teammates and yes, of course she could suggest members for the team. You are nothing if not an excellent host. You are filled with a kind of nervousness you aren’t familiar with. It’s different from the sick feeling you get when you confront spidermom, obviously, because hahahahahahaha you aren’t nervous around the giant troll-eating spider in your basement. And it’s different from the dizzying rush of adrenaline you get when someone manages to corner you in a strife. The campaign isn’t for a few more nights, but it’s all you can think about in between feeding your lusus.

You’ve begun to start guardian your thoughts around her more, not that it matters since she can poke into your head anytime she wants, but still. You don’t want to give her any reason to suspect that you maybe aren’t as enthusiastic about killing as you should be. If she knew that you were feeling. Whatever it is you’re feeling, she would probably get rid of Terezi. Though, she tried that before and– No, it’s best not to push your luck. You intend to keep Terezi far, far, away from spidermom, but the thought of never seeing her again makes you want to punch something.

You feel slightly better after punching the nearest wall a few times, even if your hands feel worse. When you look down at yourself, a fresh wave of panic hits you. Your hair is ratty and still too short for your liking, and your clothes are the right size even if they are covered in blood and dirt, but they don’t fit right. The cerulean claw polish on your hand makes you feel somewhat better, but punching the wall has chipped it somewhat. Yeah, you’re cool and awesome but Terezi doesn’t know that, and how could you expect her to, when you look like. This. Ugh.

You have a hatefriend who loves to bug and meddle and fuss, and while she’s annoying, she understands. She’s like you, and her eye for fashion certainly doesn’t hurt.

– arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling grimAuxiliatrix [GA] –
AG: Remem8er that awesome drawing of mindfangs dress I sent you?
GA: I Recall Many Drawings Of Mindfang And Her Various Garments That You Have Shown Me
GA: You Will Have To Be More Specific
AG: Its the really awesome one!!!!!!!!
AG: Like, it’s the one with the 8illowing overcoat and all the fancy pir8te 8uttons
AG: Oh and the hat! The hat is import8nt!!!!!!!!
GA: That Doesnt Really Narrow It Down
GA: sent file “Mindfangs_Outfits.zip” [8 GB]
GA: Which One Of These Is It
AG: I was o8viously talking a8out this one lol
AG: sent file “mindfang_journal_appdendix_8.png” [88 KB]
GA: Yes I Do Remember This Particular Drawing
GA: Why
AG: on a scale of 1 to 8 how hard would this 8e to sew
AG: if it were scaled approprim8tley to the size of a juvenile troll
AG: hypothetically
GA: It Depends On How Faithful To The Original Design You Wish To Remain
GA: Much Of The Detail Is Embroidered Though It Could Be Adequately Replicated With Fabric Paint
GA: The Layering Of The Dress However Would Require Specific Fabric And Possibly Something More Solid To Support The Petticoats
GA: The Original Design Appears To Use Bones But The Cleaning And Preservation Process Alone Would Be Arduous
GA: I Suppose Someone Else Could Do That Bit I Do Have A Friend Quite Skilled In Matters Of The Deceased And Buried
AG: snoooooooore
AG: i asked for a num8er not a gogdamned lecture
GA: Again The Number Depends
AG: ok what if it had to 8e made in a week
AG: cutting corners is fine
GA: Well Hypothetically Speaking That Would Be Difficult But Doable
GA: Of Course If We Are Hypothetically Speaking Then The Bigger Issue Would Be Acquiring Measurements For The Intended Wearer As Well As Materials And Fabric To Sew With
GA: As Well As Finding Fabric Paint Cerulean Enough To Effectively Contrast From The Darker Fabric
GA: Since We Are Hypothetically Speaking
AG: I can get the m8terials and measurements no pro8lem!
GA: Oh I Thought We Were Hypothetically Speaking
AG: Ughhhhhhhh
AG: okay, not hypothetically speaking!
AG: I have a campaign planned in a8out a week and I want to have a proper costume 8y then
GA: That Is Somewhat Of A Tight Schedule
GA: If I Recall You Have Been Participating In Flarp For Sweeps Now Without Such A Costume
GA: Not That I Would Ever Deny You My Skills In Costuming But I Suppose My Question Is
GA: What Changed
AG: nothing, i just want one of your awesome costumes
GA: The Deadline For The Next Campaign Raises Questions
GA: Trying To Impress Someone Perhaps
AG: may8e
AG: it isnt any of your 8uisness
GA: I Would Threaten To Withhold My Services Without Acquiring My Desired Information
GA: But I Am Not So Underhanded As Some
GA: Besides Your Response Says More Than Enough
AG: okay yeah gr8 thanks for all the meddling again are you going to help me out or not
GA: Of Course
GA: I Would Like To Meet This Mysterious Troll Who Has Charmed Someone With As High Standards As You Have Proclaimed
GA: I Will Expect Their Trollian Handle As Payment
GA: Along With Payment In Actual Currency To Cover The Costs Of The Fabric
GA: As Per Usual
AG: fiiiiiiiine
AG: 8ut only after the dress is 4/8ths done
GA: That Seems Agreeable
– grimAutrilatrix [GA] ceased trolling arachindsGrip [AG] –

Always fussing and meddling! So maybe you’re trying to impress Terezi on your next campaign, it doesn’t matter! You’re more worried about what Kanaya would say to Terezi once you gave her the handle you promised, not that it matters because you’re awesome and it doesn’t matter what other people think of you except oh my gog what if Terezi thinks you’re a loser.

Well, she won’t think that because you are NOT a loser and you are going to show her how awesome you are.

You aren’t a loser, but it couldn’t hurt to bring someone along to make your awesomeness stand out. Like that contrast thing Kanaya was blathering about. Or something.

– arachnidsGrip [AG] began trolling adiosToreador [AT] –
AG: Taaaaaaaavroooooooos
AT: yES,, tHAT IS MY NAME,,
AT: wITH A LOT OF,,, aDDITIONAL LETTERS,
AG: :::: l
AT: hI VRISKA,
AG: >::::o
AG: that’s Mindf8ng to you pupa!!!!!!!!
AT: sORRY,, i THOUGHT WE WERE USING REAL NAMES,, nOT FLARP NAMES,
AG: what8ver! Were going to 8e using FLARP names a lot in the near future
AT: wE ARE,,,,,,
AG: Yes!!!!!!!! Me and a friend are planning an awesome camp8gn and we need players
AT: }:0
AT: aRE YOU,, iNVITING ME, tO YOUR CAMPAIGN ,
AG: Duuuuhhhh
AT: }:D
AG: 8ut you have got to 8e cool a8out it!
AG: you can wear your silly costume 8ut dont 8ring any of your dum8 stuffed toys
AT: bUT,,, tINKERBULL SAYS THEY,, aRE VERY COOL,,,,,
AG: do you want to particip8 or not?!?!?!?!
AT: ,,oKAY,, i WILL, nOT BRING THE VERY COOL,, sTUFFED TOYS,,
AT: }:(
AG: Gr8! See you then!
– arachnidsGrip [AG] ceased trolling adiosToreador [AT] –

Over the next few nights, you spend every free moment you have reviewing the campaign, rereading your FLARP manual, and punching the wall. Kanaya sends you the dress she finished, and you send over enough treasure to cover the costs of the dress and then some. The dress fits you a bit big, but it makes you look just like a mini-Mindfang, minus the hat. It makes your horns look smaller and you could hardly get it on over your tangle of hair. You begrudgingly give Kanaya Terezi’s trollian handle, and she messages you the night before you are scheduled to meet.

– gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] –
GC: DO YOU KNOW S0M3ON3 N4M3D GR1M4UX1L14TR1X
GC: 1 H4V3 M3SS4G3S FROM TH3M S4Y1NG YOU G4V3 TH3M MY H4NDL3 >:[
AG: yeah that’s Kanaya. She’s alw8ys fussing and meddling ::::P
GC: HOW D1D SH3 G3T MY H4NDL3 FROM YOU
GC: D1D SH3 1NT3RROG4T3 YOU
GC: SH3 MUST B3 R34LLY GOOD
GC: OR YOU 4R3 JUST W34K
GC: H3H3H3H3
AG: no it's not like th8t!!!!!!!!
AG: she always fusses and asks a8out how my FLARP camp8ns go
AG: to m8ke sure i'm not dead or wh8tever, as if THAT would ever happen. Lol
AG: and i told her a8out this really cool girl I met while playing ::::)
GC: OH >:?
AG: and she was soooooooo impressed that she 8asically 8egged me to introduce her to you
AG: I was going to tell you earlier 8ut you know how it is
AG: there’s just too many irons in the fire!
GC: HMMM
GC: TH3 R34SON1NG S33MS TO M4TCH TH3 3V1D3NC3
GC: BUT FURTH3R 1NV3ST1G4T1ON 1S R3QU1R3D
GC: 1 W1LL 1NT3RROG4T3 TH1S “K4N4Y4” P3RSON
– gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] –

You stare at the screen until your husktop turns itself off. You don’t want to go offline immediately after talking to her, then she would think your irons weren’t in the fire! The reflection on the black screen shows you just how messy you look, and you run your fingers through your hair until it is somewhat more orderly. Your claws get stuck in a particularly nasty tangle and you end up having to cut off a chunk of hair to free yourself.

After more wall punching, you take a shower and try to smooth out your hair by washing it. You think that is what you are doing, but really you are just getting soap in your eyes. How did you fuck this up that badly. What are you even doing? This is so dumb!

Looking in your ablution block mirror, your hair looks…. Somewhat clean. And you don’t smell as bad either! You smell a bit like laundry, but that might be because you just used detergent as hair soap. It’s probably fine.

(Author’s Note: detergent is not meant for hair and you should not put it in your hair. I feel like this is obvious, but I don’t know since y’all seem to be fine eating Tide Pods.)

The detergent smells pretty good, actually. You look at the package. It has a picture of a smiling troll washing out bloodstains from his clothes.

(Author’s Note: What the hell)

You turn it over and read the ingredients list, and wonder what the hell a “phosphate” is. Sounds like a fancy seadweller meal. It smells good too. Kind of floral. Like the harmless kind of flowers, not the giant carnivorous kind. No one who ever smells those comes back alive. You probably shouldn’t eat soap. That’s like, a bad thing to do. You can feel a voice urging you not to eat soap.

You decide to ignore that voice. What the hell, your mom eats children, soap is probably fine to eat. You can think of zero consequences to your actions.

(Author’s Note: No, eating soap is how you get poisoned. There are consequences to your actions. Like getting your stomach pumped. Wait, does Alternia have poison control? Or Hospitals? Okay, probably not. Point is, don’t eat soap.)

You dip your finger in the detergent and lick it off your finger.

(Author’s Note: It’s almost like she can’t hear me or perceive anything I’m saying! Don’t fucking eat soap! It is not that complicated!)

8LUH!!!!!!!!

The soap does not taste good. It tastes bad, actually. You are very shocked by this revelation.

(Author’s Note: Why do I bother?)

You eat some actual edible food before setting everything up for tomorrow night, and you hop into your recuperacoon and try to calm yourself down enough to get some rest before the meet up that you have only been anticipating for weeks now. Only hours away now. Everything is set up. Everything will go smoothly, there is no chance of anything going amiss. You’ve made sure of that! You fall asleep mumbling to yourself as the glow of the sun peeks through your blackout curtains.

Chapter Text

That evening, you scramble to make it out of your hive in time to meet Terezi and her teammate. And Tavros. (You almost forget you invited him until you see him standing there in his dorky boy-skylark outfit.) The four of you stand under the night sky in an open field, and you feel unusually nervous for a FLARP gathering.

Terezi isn’t wearing anything too fancy, just her regular clothes; but you still think she looks amazing. She’s holding a white dragon plush in her left arm, and her right arm is holding hands with her teammate. You decide you hate her teammate. She’s clearly a rustblood from the sign on her shirt, but she seems almost otherworldly in her beauty with the curve of her horns and the dense curls of her hair that make her appear somewhat taller than she actually is. You think you could probably win against her in a fight. You really want to fight her right now, but decide against it because Terezi would probably get upset if you killed her teammate right in front of her.

TAVROS: uH, wE’RE ALL HERE NOW, i THINK
TEREZI: F1N4LLY W3LL FOR TON1GHT’S C4MP41GN 1 W4S TH1NK1NG-
??????: 0h terezi n0t t0 interrupt but i think there might be s0me m0re imp0rtant things t0 address at the m0ment
TEREZI: R34LLY L1K3 WH4T >:?
??????: intr0ducti0ns 0u0
TEREZI: OH Y34H W3LL 4S YOU 4LL KNOW 1 4M T3R3Z1 PYROP3 FUTUR3 L3G1CL4C3R4TOR 4ND CURR3NT FL4RP 3XTR4ORD1N41R3
TAVROS: uH, i DIDN’T KNOW THAT… IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU,, mY NAME IS, tAVROS
ARADIA: hell0 i’m aradia i am an adventurer and s0mewhat 0f an archeh0rr0r0l0gist as a h0bby th0ugh i h0pe t0 take my skills t0 the pr0fessi0nal level in the future is what i w0uld say if there was a future hehe
TAVROS: uM, oKAY, i, i AM JUST GOING TO IGNORE,, tHAT UNSETTLING STATEMENT,,,
VRISKA: My name is Vriska Serket, 8ut tonight you all can call me The Marquise! Coincidentally I am also a FLARP extraordinaire, though one might say I am THE FLARP extraordinaire! I am simply the 8est there is!
TEREZI: H4H4H4 W3’LL S33 4BOUT TH4T
VRISKA: Yeah we will! Come on, this campaign isn’t gonna 8eat itself!

Somehow you manage to make it through the whole campaign without brutally murdering Aradia. It helps that she has to let go of Terezi’s hand to play with you, and she’s surprisingly cool when you aren’t extremely jealous of her. You mean annoyed at her. She’s just kind of annoying, you aren’t jealous of her. That would be so dum8! Haha. ha ha ha ha ha…. Ha….

Okay, maybe you are just a little jealous of her. You can see why Terezi is friends with her, at least. Aradia is slightly unsettling with her psychic powers and comments about death, but she’s smart and kind and awfully witty. You don’t think she would survive Spidermom though, so you don’t get too invested. She isn’t afraid of you though, which is both strange and kind of nice.

Aradia seems to get along well with Tavros, which is good because it means you get to hang out more with Terezi. Unfortunately, Terezi also seems to get along with Tavros as well, which means you can’t talk to her by yourself. The four of you are sitting in a circle, making meaningless conversation.

ARADIA: s0 then i realized that they weren’t runes at all and were s0me kind 0f cave paintings
VRISKA: Really? Were they super old?
ARADIA: i d0n’t think they were exactly ancient but definitely a few sweeps 0ld it was kind 0f hard t0 tell what the painting was supp0sed t0 be but my interpretati0n is that it’s s0me kind 0f five-legged creature with h0rns 0r maybe just a really bad drawing 0f a tr0ll
TEREZI: OR M4YB3 4 R34LLY B4D DR4W1NG OF 4 DR4GON
ARADIA: yes that is als0 p0ssible
TAVROS: oH WOW,, … DRAGONS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE REALLY POWERFUL, aND LEGENDARY,,
VRISKA: And rare too! There haven’t 8een any sightings of dragons since the time of Mindfang!
TEREZI: YOU M34N N3OPHYT3 R3DGL4R3’S LUSUS
VRISKA: Yeah, 8ut Mindfang’s cooler!!!!!!!!
TEREZI: M1NDF4NG 1S 4 CR1M1N4L
VRISKA: Nuh uh! She’s a pir8!
TEREZI: P1R4CY 1S 4 CR1M3
VRISKA: Only if you get caught!
TEREZI: SH3 D1D G3T C4UGHT BY N3OPHYT3 R3DGL4R3
VRISKA: Yeah, 8ut only 8ecause Redglare had a dragon!
TEREZI: 4ND SW33PS OF L3G1SL4C3R4TOR TR41N1NG
ARADIA: well i think we can at least all agree that drag0ns are really c00l
TAVROS: i, aGREE WITH THIS
TEREZI: TH4T’S WHY 1 BROUGHT PYR4LSP1T3
TEREZI: DR4GONS 4R3 TH3 COOL3ST >:]

She grins and squeezes her dragon plush, and you begrudgingly agree with her. Tavros gives you a look, you might have to let him bring his plushies for the next campaign you organize. You’re thinking about maybe incorporating dragons into the next campaign somehow, though you aren’t sure how to actually do that. Maybe Aradia would know? You exchange Trollian handles with her before you head back to your hive, and promise to keep in touch. Aradia’s cool, you suppose, but you still don’t like her very much. But since Terezi likes her, you want to make an effort to be friendly. As you fall into your recuperacoon for the day, you dream of a giant white dragon emerging from the sea.

Chapter Text

Terezi visits your hive fairly often now. It’s kind of weird to have another living person inside your house and even weirder to have someone leave your house in one piece. Everything feels less empty with her cackling in your ear and the grins she gives you sometimes. The two of you spend hours planning strategies and campaigns for FLARP, when you aren’t actively participating in campaigns. The majority of your planning time is spent drawing pictures of your FLARP-sonas and practicing being in character.

You play as the great Marquise Spinneret Mindfang, a seagrift pirate who may or may not be based on your ancestor and her journal. (Who can 8lame you? Mindfang is just so cool!!!!!!!!). Her journal is committed to your memory, and when you quote it for badass one-liners you make sure to emphasize every syllable as you think your ancestor would have. The Marquise was incredibly powerful and feared nothing, so when you drape the oversized coat on your wiry frame you hold your shoulders back and tilt your chin, and smirk so arrogantly that no one will suspect you practiced such an expression for hours in front of your ablution block mirror.

Terezi suspects it, but she doesn’t say anything because you know her to be guilty of the same offense.

When she delivers her “JUST1C3” monologues, she annunciates every word with a certain sharpness amplified by her habit of smiling like an aquatic bite-beast. Unlike you, she speaks at a reasonable volume if you exclude her giggling outbursts. She doesn’t need to yell over anyone to command the attention of a group; she can silence a crowd of rambunctious FLARPers just by clearing her throat. Sometimes, she speaks her threats and taunts softly, and relishes in the way trolls lean in to listen to her every word before unsheathing her blade and condemning them to an eternal silence.

You are really lucky she’s on your side.

Sometimes you join campaigns with other trolls, but she’s the only one you ever bring back to your hive. Alive.

(You are careful to captchalogue the bodies when she isn’t looking. When she asks, you tell her that they were eaten by a wild animal. This isn’t far from what will soon be the truth, but you can tell she doesn’t believe you. She doesn’t question further, though.)

When you jokingly suggested the name “Neophyte Redglare” for her character, you didn’t expect her to take you seriously. Instead of laughing at you she nodded sagely and described the legendary trial in which a neophyte legislacerator was strung up by her own jury, because of course she knows everything about Neophyte Redglare.

You’ve been meaning to show her your ancestor’s journal, but you still haven’t figured out how to deal with the more…. Illicit sections. You doubt she would settle for only reading a few chapters, she practically worships boring rulebooks written by historically significant trolls who died hundreds of sweeps ago. Though Mindfang’s journal isn’t boring at all, obviously.

But the thought that you could have her Redglare as a rival to your Mindfang, that your life could mirror your ancestor’s makes you smile even as you make the long walk down the stairs to where She waits. (Mindfang wouldn’t be scared, and you’re going to be just like Mindfang, so you can’t be scared, you aren’t scared)

[SPIDERMOM]: It makes no difference whether you are afraid or not so long as you 8ring enough to keep me satisfied.
AG: Yeah yeah, I got some good ones today so you 8etter not complain
[SPIDERMOM]: You can’t seriously expect your scrawny teal8lood acquaintance to serve as anything more than an appetizer for me.
AG: We talked a8out this, she’s off-limits!! Just gotta get these irons out of the fire real quick. So many irons.

Your voice only shakes a little when you speak. You decaptchalouge the bodies from this evening’s campaign, and drag the corpses as close to Her mandibles as you can without putting yourself in Her biting range, and back away before Her jaws snap shut. You had changed out of your FLARP costume, so now it's just your regular clothes covered in blood. It’ll wash out if you’re fast about it, but the fabric of your shirt is getting thin and worn.

Spidermom digs into her meal, and you turn to avoid having to watch the gruesome scene, when you see her.

She’s looking at you, but she isn’t moving, and you would think she was scared if you didn’t know that there was nothing to be afraid of. Terezi isn’t supposed to be here, she already left. Fuck, did spidermom thrall her???????? You had been so careful to keep in character even outside of your campaigns, that she might see you as someone worthy of her whether it be as a teammate or a rival. Your eyes are wild and your hands clammy and your body shakes uncontrollably. She isn’t supposed to see you like this.

Normally you make an effort to walk away casually, to embody the Marquise and show no fear as though that might bring you courage. All pretenses are forgotten as panic rips through you. The warmth of her hand is lessened somewhat by the gloves she wears, but it’s enough to assure you that she’s alive. You think she’s saying something, but you can’t hear anything with the beat of your bloodpusher drumming into your bones and the breaths that tear from you like waves crashing. You’re running and her hand is still in yours, and your legs burn, but you don’t stop until you can slam the door of your block between you and Her. You like to pretend that you are safe inside the walls of your hive.