[action] the lobby near the dormitories.

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Since arriving and being interviewed, Sollux had spent the entirely of his stay at Balamb Garden curled up in his room. He couldn't sleep - not when he was so wound up and distinctively lacking a recuperacoon. But the outward world was a scary place, and he didn't have very high hopes for it. Despite the fact that his hosts had yet to actually do something terrible to him, it was nigh impossible to put the possibility out of mind.]

[But eventually he goes out, if only to prove to himself that he can and that he's allowed to. He's almost surprised when nobody stops him from leaving the dorms, and once he's to the lobby he's officially out of ideas of what to do with himself. Everyone he's seen is the same, pink skinned alien race he saw in Timber, and he doesn't feel comfortable talking to them. At least not of his own accord.]

[So he finds a slightly concealed area of the lobby and perches himself on it, watching people pass by, and trying to coax himself down from persistent idea that he should be trying to escape. It's not like he actually has anywhere to go.]

Comments

[hindsight2fold.livejournal.com]

]

...Hello?

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Sollux has just sort of faded out for the moment, staring into nothing, though the sound of a weirdly familiar voice is enough to snap him out of it. Weird familiar because it's his own, but higher pitched and minus a lisp. Sollux's eyes hazily settle on the younger troll, and it's a few moments before the gravity of the situation sinks in.]

[He abruptly slips down off of his perch, bracing the ground with his feet like he's getting read to run on a moments notice.]

...What...what are...

[Slowly slinking away now.]

[hindsight2fold.livejournal.com]

]

I hate to break it to you but "what are" actually isn't a complete sentence.

[bentbowarcher.livejournal.com]

[Having met the other Sollux earlier in the day, Equius had originally intended to take his homework and go straight to his room. But the faint glow of his red and blue eyes caught his attention, especially since the other one didn't have any eyes at all.]

[he stops to stare at him, looming over Sollux if only because the other troll is seated. He wonders if he can somehow pop that blue eye out of his skull and take it back to his room without getting in trouble. Or even if he did, if there were some way of preserving it without losing any of its optic potency until he could figure out how to stick it into his own face.]

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Oh holy shit it's another troll. Sollux slinks away a few feet, before pushing himself to his feet, looking kind of defensive. Thankfully, it turns out when he sit up Sollux is over six feet tall, so some of the intimidation factor vanishes.]

[He snaps:] What do you want?

[bentbowarcher.livejournal.com]

[....Oh goodness gracious, it's an adult. And thought he's confident in his STRENGTH being more than enough should he be attacked, he's still only six and the instinctive fear of adults flashes through his mind.]

[He takes a step back before squaring his shoulders defiantly, scowling up at Sollux]

Nothing. It's not any of your business, I should think. This is a school, you do not belong here.

[ragesnake.livejournal.com]

[Almost completely passes him by-- weirdly dressed taller-than-he-should-be-Sollux, nothing to see here.]

[...Wait.]

[He stops, backpedals, and frowns irritably at him.]

...Did you get taller in the span of a few days or am I seeing shit again?

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Sollux is just about ready to give in and call it a day. Everyone he's talked to out here thus far has just made things more confusing and horrible, and he doesn't know how much more he can deal with. He misses Aradia terribly...and Karkat, too. God, just thinking back to what he'd left behind was-]

[was oh fuck wow it was Karkat.]

[...except not.]

K-Karkat, uh-

[He scrambles away a bit, though his gaze doesn't leave the other troll. He can't look away, even. It's like how things had been before everything had gotten so fucked up.]

You're. [From a different timeline, he knows how this works now, but it doesn't stop it from hurting.] ...I'm not the one you're looking for.

[ragesnake.livejournal.com]

[Sollux behaving like a frightened, cornered animal: among the list of Stranger Things Karkat Has Seen. He raises an eyebrow slowly.]

Obviously. You can still see, for one. [Sets a hand on his hip, and just sort of looks at him expectantly. Well? Are you gonna explain to him what your deal is, Agent Doubletap?]

[worthyheir]

[Sorry buddy, dark places are second homes for bats, you'll have to try harder if you don't want to be found. Damian just sort of stares at him (he's in civvies ignore the mask in the icon).] ...Are you on drugs or something? What are you doing?

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Oh shit it's one of the aliens. Sollux looks put off, but based on the things Damien actually says he just starts looking bitter instead.]

No. I'm just like this all the time, actually.

[worthyheir]

So you can normally be found hiding in dark corners, looking like a spooked rabbit?

You should have said "yes" to being high, it would have made more sense.

[tortileghostwriter]

[Another Sollux. Also not the one he knows. God damn it. Whatever, it's Sollux. EVEN IF HE HAS NO IDEA WHO YOU ARE, COME ON DAVID, IT'S SOLLUX okay not really but B|a whatever help him out man.

Sollux, a human kid with a shadow that keeps on moving approaches.]

... Sollux? What seems to be the problem?

[yeah he's not going to bother trying to sift through space shenanigans first. OOPS]

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Oh this isn't going to help with his brain problems at all.]

[He jerks away, now actively threatened. Something about this kid is triggering his instincts badly, and he can't even place what it is. How the hell does he know his name?]

What...how do you... [He starts glowing slightly.] How do you know my name?

[tortileghostwriter]

[Okay. That gets him to jerk back, putting his hands up slowly. He doesn't know what Sollux is doing, but it's a warning sign, and he doesn't want that.]

Calm down. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting, but I'm a friend of an alternate version of yourself. Not the younger one who's here, a different one.

I'm genuinely asking if you're well or not.

[moirailcompass]

[Even after seeing Kanaya, seeing Sollux was a shock. Especially given she had just seen his younger self moments before. It was strange how Vriska had been here along for so long, and suddenly so many others were being dragged in here.

There's definitely something off about him though, Nepeta can tell from this distant--mood wise that is. That is why when she approaches him she does so cautiously and with a hopefully comforting smile on her face.]

Hello Sollux. Did you just arrive here today?

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[He's a little surprised when he sees her, but based on all the others, he's kind of running out of ammunition when it comes to being surprised at seeing a younger version of one of his friends.]

[He nods a bit vaguely. He remembers her name, at least.]

Yeah. Nepeta...right?

[moirailcompass]

[The need for confirmation catches her a little off guard, but she doesn't press on it. Who knows how different things are where he is from---for all she knows he may only know her name because of word of mouth.]

That's right. You holding up okay? You seem purrty down.

[betwixttocks.livejournal.com]

[Striding through the lobby with a brown paper bag in her arms. It's full to the brim with red apples and at the very bottom are... snack cakes.

But someone bumps into her and one of the apples at the top falls out, rolling off to the side. She snaps at the poor cadet before brushing past him to grab at the wayward apple, but not before stopping to notice the tall and strangely familiar figure hiding in the shadows.]

What the- Captor?

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[Sollux had just been admiring the floor again, musing over a number of disturbing issues with his new situation, when an oddly timing appropriate voice gets his attention.]

[He blinks, caught between confusing feelings of relief and wariness.]

Vriska.

[But not his Vriska - at least he doesn't think it is. But god, she even looks older than the others.]

[betwixttocks.livejournal.com]

[Why was everyone older than her? First Bro, then Kanaya, now Captor? Bluh! Another fucked up time line, most likely. Damn this place.]

What are you doing over there? Hiding?

sorry this is late ladkjffd

[supbroski.livejournal.com]

[ She spies him. Of course she spies him -- she's a ninja in training, after all, no matter how horrible she is at it. But what she finds weird is that this troll seems pretty depressed. The other ones, though they were definitely a little off from their real selves, talked too much for their own good.

Which is why Jade finds herself in front of him, staring him down. ]

So you look like you're trying to run away from a cage. Dude, you chill?

no worries <3

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[He looks up at her. There's less shock this time, as compared to the rest of them. People here have been weirdly concerned about checking in on him, and it's not something he really knows how to interpret, but either way it's ceased to be a surprise when someone approached.]

[He folds his knees in a bit defensively, and lets his head rest against the railing.]

What makes you think that?

next day [action]

[hindsight2fold.livejournal.com]

]

Um.. Sollux?

[agt-doubletap.livejournal.com]

[His stamina for this is low. Despite his attempts to explore and search for others, he can really only put up with talking to people for so long before everything starts feeling overwhelming and lost. It's because of this that he's spending the majority of his time curled up in his room, trying to get his head straight.]

[It doesn't always help much, but it's the only thing he can do. He can't let himself freak out here. They seem nice, but he has no way of knowing they won't get rid of him the moment he makes himself a true burden.]

[At the moment of his younger self knocking, Sollux is curled up in a nest of blankets on his bed. They don't have recuperacoons, so it's the closest thing he can get, but as of yet all he's experience is shallow sleep and fragmented, horrible dreams.]

[When he wakes up to the sound he's wet with perspiration and shaking uncontrollably. And in the haze he isn't even sure why.]

[But someone's knocking at the door, and his mind assumes that he's intended to let the visitor in. So the outer door click open with a tiny first of red and blue psionic energy, pushing open to show who's there as he wearily looks over his shoulder to see.]

[He doesn't say anything. He doesn't really think about it.]