#(i did write the scene also where audrey has the aha moment)

[citadelofswords]

for the writing prompt - the homestuck team shortmotherfuck AU and any shenaniangs they got up to with their powers?

(find context for this here)

al finds audrey and trish laying in the rubble of a half destroyed building, on the edge of a ruined city. for a long, heartstopping moment, he thinks they’re both dead. and then he gets close and realizes audrey’s giggling uncontrollably, and trish is breathing hard but also grinning with the exhilaration of a fight well won.

“you two okay down there?” he calls anyway.

trish shoots him a thumbs up, which for some reason gets audrey giggling again. “don’t do that, oh my god,” she says, wheezing. “my sides hurt. oh, man. hi al!”

relieved, al scrambles over a demolished wall. it’s been a long time since he’s seen audrey quite this happy; she’s been tense and unhappy basically ever since she went god-tier and realized it didn’t come with an immediate understanding of her aspect. seeing her grin like this makes him think everything will be okay again. “need a hand up anyway?”

trish waves him off, climbing to her feet. audrey does accept his hand, and then to his surprise follows through the motion by wrapping her arms around his neck in a brief hug.

“al,” she says, delighted. “i figured it out. i figured it out.”

“mind?” he asks, and audrey pulls away, grinning. “amazing! did you use it with trish?”

“oh yeah,” trish says smugly. “it was pretty cool. i didn’t even know spice girl could do that.”

audrey ducks her head, grinning bashfully. “it’s kind of weird feeling,” she says. “i don’t— i have to be careful with it because i could definitely see myself exploiting it for personal gain, but— it’s leverage, al.”

“how so?” al asks, because he’s been so curious about how it worked for months now, and he’s known that audrey was the only person who could explain it to him, and now that she gets it he can understand.

“trish did the thing, right,” audrey says, and does the thumbs up-thumbs down gesture that trish and shadow have started doing when they deem something is a threat. “and all of a sudden i could like, see the branches. i could see what would happen if i gave trish the thumbs up. it wouldn’t have doomed us, but it would have complicated things, and introduced pawns onto the board we weren’t ready for— and i could see where we could make decisions to influence that, but it felt— if i just gave trish the thumbs down, things would be way more straightforward. and of course that had its own branches, but i—,”

she glances at trish, who breezily says, “i let her influence spice girl a little. not me, of course. she could have, but she wanted to ask first so i told her no.”

“it’s all manipulation and leverage,” audrey says, and there’s a glint in her eyes that makes al shiver despite himself. “concentrating our effort on the path that gives us the best positioning. i don’t think i’m doing a good job of explaining it but— you were definitely right about me and trish.”

she reaches out to fistbump trish, who returns it with a little smile, and al can’t help but think— he’s very, very glad that audrey tends towards being more thoughtful and careful with her decisions before she acts. in the hands of someone rash and impulsive (like shadow, al can’t help but think) audrey’s mind powers would be very, very dangerous indeed.

after all. he’s pretty sure this city was still standing when they arrived on this planet.