#standbywarrior

[chlorophasmic]

==> [S] ???: Shift. (@standbywarrior)

Waking up is strange. First, the awareness of darkness. You can't distinguish where it came from, or when it started. Only that there was something, and then there was nothing, and it culminates when you can feel the weight of your eyelids, shut where there was once intangible purgatory. That sensation spreads, little by little, until you can feel the rest of your body- your, your, your, yours, your-

And, as that field of perception expands, the gentle rise and fall of a body lain still beside you, picked up from the slightest brush of a limb sending signals up yours; Hello, arm here! It's enough to finally land you at your core, fully connected and buzzing, low but conscious, the stretch of every cell that makes up 'you'. Limitless potential energy, waiting only for you to shake the heaviness of sleep from each loglike extremity.

It'd probably help to open your eyes. So that's what you do.

..Grey hands, tucked beside your cheek and twisted among strands of woven fabric, both recognizable yet unfamiliar. They register as your own, though a part of you is also aware.. that you've never worn some of them. It's set dressing. A character design you know, but can't claim. You're still remembering your personality. Still puzzling out what parameters you fit under, today, in this mind that's so often blurred between hues.

You don't know who you are, yet.

A slow, still-waking blink carries your attention to the person you're sharing the space with.

He makes more sense than the rest.

[dothemindything]

standbywarrior replied to your post: "THE ONLY SOURCE OF COMEDY I HAD IS RUINED. I HOPE..."

ARE YOU OKAY? IS SOMETHING WRONG?

HOW CUTE.. SO SOON BACK, AND YOU'RE ALREADY WORRYING OVER ME? I KNEW YOU WERE MY FAVORITE.

NOTHING'S WRONG THAT CAN'T BE REMEDIED. IN FACT, IT SEEMS LIKE A LOT HAS GONE RIGHT, WHEN SLEEPING BEAUTY'S COME TO CALL. THOUGH I CAN'T SAY I PREFER THE CROWDING.. A DASH FULL OF CAPS IS AN EYESORE. BUT I'LL MAKE AN EXCEPTION TO MY USUAL AVERSION, SINCE YOU'VE PROVEN THIS EAGER TO PRESENT YOURSELF. MAYBE THIS WILL BE INTERESTING AFTER ALL.

DO YOU REMEMBER WHO I AM?

[ifthetreefalls]

oh

karkat

..no

...

i know you remember

…ME?

[ask-futurekat]

==> Futurekat: After sending your younger alternate a quick text to ask for permission to enter, you step into the woods, and begin to walk. As you walk, you ponder the benefits of assisting Angelkat. It'll definitely look good to Jake. Maybe even Balit? You don't know, but people will think you're nicer than you are, and that's what's important. You don't exactly know where Karkat is, but you know you're got to be careful. Treekat's got eyes everywhere, and if he knew what you'd returned for, he'd probably lose it.

[hinatakickflips]

ay yo for a certain s omebody i got some smaller i cons sorry for the treekat one ill work on a replacement soon

them closeup icons

[guardianinablizzard]

==> Snowkat: stumble through the forest, trying to get as far away from the destruction as you can. Soleil is clinging to your chest as you hold him tight, and Ahrina is curled in your hood and clinging to your back, crying softly. You call out for your matesprit, voice hoarse from it's lack of usage.

[chlorophasmic]

The slow sink into misery is cut short by the quick shift of positioning, your legs finally freed where they stay splayed out, awkward and gangly in spite of your relatively stunted height. No worse than Karkat, who doesn't exactly tower even where he's tripped and fumbled to his feet. You stare up, caught between another dumbfounded gape and the alarmed distress burning a hole in your throat.

You make to swallow it down, but the lump doesn't go away. So.. looks like you'll have to stand on your own two feet. Which you get to with considerably more grace than your counterpart, only snagging your cape once beneath a knee in the process. From there, it's only a few steps to.. advance? Not even entirely sure why.

Maybe it's just how frightened he looks. It was better when he'd been yelling.

"Hey." Cautious hands went reaching to bridge the gap, now on equal footing. They found themselves on his lower sleeves, requesting attention as you.. do what you do. Regardless of what's no longer an option. "..Calm down?"

Phrased like a question, the way you're not sure you're allowed to even ask of him.. but you give a little rub up his forearms, mindful of the scabbed wrist on your way. You're hurt, but.. so is he.

The amount of time he takes to respond is... Long. It feels like a lifetime based on how many beats of your anxious heart goes by before you hear his voice, but even in the real world, you know it's too long. His dull tone and clipped response only further drive home that you somehow fucked this up, even though you don't know how. What did you do wrong, and more importantly, how are you going to fix this now?

"Or... Not friends?"

In a panic, you let go of his hand and scramble to get off of him. Your first planted foot comes down unevenly and you fall down on your knee, then use both hands to push off the floor and nearly spring backwards to stay a few steps away from him. You can't escape the dam breaking that had been holding back (almost) all of your anxieties though, and a torrent of words suddenly comes flowing out.

"I'm sorry, I just- I shouldn't have assumed you'd want to be friends with me, but you said you didn't hate me so I figured- I didn't know how else to describe it, so I just went with- I'm sorry."

Cutting yourself off with a final apology, you shut your mouth before it can continue to ruin everything. Following that, you shove your hands into your pants pockets before they can pull at a hangnail, or a loose thread on your sweater, or anything else that you'd only end up making worse right now out of your own anxious need to prod.

[spidersmen-archive]

taken via Tinychat

hey, chinlets-of-doom, look what i figured out, now that I'm on PC

also standbywarrior, you are formally invited to the cloud of awesomeness

[kkisnotmyname]

@STANDBYWARRIOR

This is it.  And by it, you mean probably a trap.  But fuck if you care.  You are obligated to do this, so you're going to fucking do it.  Then maybe all this dumb ass drama will end.

You close your eyes, and let your blood powers take over.  Yep, there's the angel, and, hm, an aura that might be familiar. You need to get closer to see.  So you start warping the bubbles.  Soon, your hive fades away, and your standing next to Angelkat.

"HEY."

[cheliform-glee]

dazedplayer

standbywarrior

OOPS, I FORGOT TO GREET YOU TWO EARLIER. I'M SORRY!

[mooncakeshaper]

standbywarrior started following you theogoniccacaesthesia started following you cancerouslycontagious started following you enslavedmother started following you residentofspookytown started following you

What's up, nerds?

[chlorophasmic]

==> [S] Treekat: Prepare a welcome. (@standbywarrior)

Words on your phone that mean nothing. Couldn't. But you take them as seriously as you would any other threat, the way it coincides with.. the feeling of disruption. In your wing of the hive, the forest can't view all. The walls, for better or worse, confine its contents. Which means that if someone is in your home..

You need to figure that out. Right the fuck now, if it was enough to frighten Balit.

It doesn't take long. You have a big place, and it's only gotten bigger in your years past.. but you make the valid assumption that whatever's happened, it's got to do with your main landing. There's one long corridor, from where you are, to the entry block. The place you welcome guests, but more recently, the place you put the cat when you need to haul work around without fear of stepping on her.

That same accommodation won't be given, here. Playing it wary, you let the handles of your sickles manifest from your strifedeck.. and slide your steps along the floorboards, muffling potential sound. A low shuffle, but you trust the wind howling through the branches to amend that..

..Until you're at the mouth of the other side, waiting to be spat onto an unexpected visitor. Unafraid, but resolved to get this fixed.

Hopefully, this is all just one big misunderstanding.

...........

One step out, boldness mustered.

And.

Freeze.

[dothemindything]

ANGELKAT IF YOU ARE OUT THERE ANYWHERE I NEED HELP AND YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP ME

I NEED TWO PEOPLE KEPT APART AND I NEED IT DONE NOW

[ifthetreefalls]

standbywarrior replied to your post: "I WISH YOU'D JUST STOP."

...SORRY.

WHAT?

[chlorophasmic]

You think you've got it figured out, in the moment you're finally able to put it all on the table. But apparently, you didn't. Not really. Because you're stumbling back a step, recoiling to the safety of spiky foliage, and growling low in turn.

"You know what? Fine."

You're sick of this, by now. Breaking free just to try and save his ass, only to get spat on for so much as bothering to make this work. He doesn't answer you properly, but it's enough of a conclusion. If he can't connect the dots, they must not even be on the radar. The only chips at the table are painted dark and brooding and entirely unplayed, because he doesn't want them, and he doesn't properly want you. Not enough for every part of you that would entail.

Years and years ago, you would've broken down begging for him to stay. You would've done anything to keep someone around, even if it meant sacrificing your own dignity. Giving up what little independence you had left to guarantee that presence by your side, to keep the collar around your throat.

But you're not that guy, right now. And even if he were here, you don't think he'd do the same shit, either. It's like you told Balit; You have new ways to be happy without being ashamed of yourselves.

"I hope you're proud of yourself for stomping on mine."

And with the build of anger straining your vocal chords, knotting a lump in your throat that doesn't go away even having said your final admission, you redirect that chaos into displacement.

The breeze picks up, and you turn into the whisk of his your cape, heading off. Let him have the whole damn house; You'll handle the eviction when you're good and ready.

In his few steps forward, you spot it: The bendy-shaped branch you saw that female cardinal on the other day. You know where you are now, which means you know where the house is. Now if only Talbern would just leave you the fuck alone! But no, he's continuing to shout at you. The tension is building, and you dig your fingers in harder to try to stay sane... Even if it doesn't seem to work.

"So what, now you're telling me I must solve your riddles three? That's fucking bullshit. He rejected me twice, and I don't really have the mind-reading skills to avoid going for a third."

He's so close- too close- and all that frustration bubbling inside you finally comes bursting out. You reach both arms out and shove him just hard enough to get him away from you, and you take a few quick steps to be out of his immediate vicinity. You need this to be over now, but you also need him not to chase after you again like he did last time.

"If one of you wants something, then come ask for it yourself instead of stomping all over my feelings all over again just for the sin of not knowing what the hell I even supposedly did wrong. Otherwise, I'm going back inside."

Whether you're barricading yourself somewhere or taking your few possessions and fleeing to the city for the day is still up in the air, but you're leaning more towards the second option if Talbern's going to continue berating you for, as far as you can tell, existing wrong. Better to get far away while you let him fume.

[ask-futurekat]

standbywarrior replied to your post: standbywarrior replied to...

im initimaly famililiaer wiht a good majoirty of hte cops

WELL, I JUST REPORTED YOU, SO THERE.