First Entrance (As Seen from Milliways)

[death_fangirl]

As many people know, time travel tends to bork one's personal chronology. While this is the first time Milliways has seen a certain curly-horned Alternian young lady in the bar, it would appear that Aradia is already quite familiar with the place; she doesn't look the least bit confused or uncertain as she walks through the door.

"This place again! It's been a while!"

There's also the fact that she's a flesh-and-blood troll instead of a robot, wearing a mostly-red outfit with the emblem of Time on her chest, and sporting red butterfly wings. Fellow Sgrub and Sburb players might find this worthy of note; otherwise it pretty much blends in with the Milliways crowd.

[tinytag: Aradia Megido]

Comments

[bloodyvirgo]

There is, what should be a familiar face amongst the bar's patrons. The glowing may or may not be new, though, as Kanaya sits curled in a char while reading.

[death_fangirl]

Upon spotting her friend, Aradia heads over immediately. "Kanaya! Hello!"

"So I see you're a rainbow drinker now!"

[bloodyvirgo]

Aradia's voice makes her jump a little, and she looks up sharply.

"Aradia? When Did You Get Here?"

So far the trolls have been good at waylaying their own before unleashing them on the public.

[death_fangirl]

"Just now. What about you?"

Aradia has been busy being an exploding robot, and then flying up to the Green Sun. It's a thing.

[bloodyvirgo]

"I've Been Here For A While Now. Both Karkat And I Are Trapped Here For The Moment."

She closes her book, setting it aside.

"Right, I Suppose I Should Tell You The Rules, Then"

[death_fangirl]

"No, I already know." She looks up and to the side, squinting slightly, as she recalls. "'No violence in the Bar, no outside business in the Bar, and no nudity in the Bar.' That's it, right?"

[bloodyvirgo]

She blinks again.

"...Aradia, Have You Been Here Before?"

Because she's pretty sure she would have noticed.

[death_fangirl]

"Yes I have! It was a while ago, though. The last time I was here, we were still playing the game."

Wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey.

[bloodyvirgo]

"Well, That Does Clear Some Things Up," she says, rubbing her forehead slightly. "You Have Not Been Here Yet, From My Perspective."

Stupid Time shenanigans.

[death_fangirl]

"Really? I'm pretty sure you were there last time I came to the bar. So I guess our timelines aren't in sync, then."

Weird Time Shit is inescapable!

[bloodyvirgo]

And Kanaya has no head for it, sadly.

"Apparently So. When Are You From In The Timeline, Then?"

[death_fangirl]

"Well, I just came back to life, and the demon tried to kill me again but I stopped him with my amazing new time fairy powers!" Aradia grins. "Then I flew away to the Furthest Ring. I was about to step into a dream bubble when I arrived here."

[bloodyvirgo]

She frowns thoughtfully.

"What Were You Going To Do When You Entered The Dream Bubble? Apologies, I'm Just Trying To Understand When You're From On My Timeline."

[death_fangirl]

"I'm not sure yet. It's the first one I've visited, and I know it's going to be an important conversation."

[bloodyvirgo]

"If It Is The Dream Bubble I Think It Is, Then It Will Be Quite Interesting."

[04_after]

Quatre glances up when she comes in, and smiles. He's seen others of her race before, around bar, though he's never met them. No butterfly wings before, either, but there's weirder. (He himself is a human in his early 20s, pale-complected and of middling-tall height. No wings.)

He's near enough to the door (sitting at the Bar, mug of coffee and a piece of biscotti at hand) that he raises his voice just a bit to say "Welcome back," sincerely.

[death_fangirl]

"Thank you!" Aradia smiles back at him. "It's nice to be back."

[04_after]

"Were you gone long?" he asks, amiably. He gestures to a seat, if she wants to take it.

His tone and body language are treating her like she's an early teenager (so: respectful, but a touch gentle), though he has no idea if her people age similarly. "I'm Quatre, by the way."

[death_fangirl]

She takes the seat. "A week and a bit, I guess. Seems like longer. My name's Aradia!"

And she pretty much is the equivalent of thirteen years old. Trolls might count their age differently than humans, but they grow at the same speed. (At least when they're young.) Mind you, their expectations for young people don't line up very well with those of humans.

[04_after]

"Yeah, depending on the week they can stretch on forever."

Quatre has no idea. He has the experience of being in battle for a week but -- he has no idea.

"Good to meet you, Aradia."

[death_fangirl]

"Also there was a lot of time travel involved, so I suppose it really was longer for me."

"Good to meet you too, Quatre."

[crabbycustomer]

"WHAT

IN THE COMPREHENSIVE NAME OF ALL MANNER OF UNFEASIBLE IDIOTIC SHENANIGANS IS THIS?"

"YOU FUCKING EXPLODED, HOW DO YOU NOT HAVE THE DECENCY TO EVEN STAY EXPLODED WITHOUT TURNING INTO A GOD? DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I EXPLODED? I DIED."

"WHAT THE SHIT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF?"

[death_fangirl]

"Hi Karkat!" And a grin. "I'm done with dying. Besides, it'll come in handy for us later."

She is unfazed by your angry rant!

[crabbycustomer]

"OKAY WELL OBVIOUSLY HAVING A GOD ON OUR SIDE IS GOOD, NO ONE IS RETARDED ENOUGH TO DISPUTE THAT, AND I AM NOT GOING TO TRY AND CONSTRUCT ANY KIND OF FALSIFIED EDIFICE CLAIMING THAT IT DOES NOT ENRICH THE SENTIMENT RESERVOIRS OF MY FRIENDSHIP ORGANS TO HEAR YOUR VOWELS ALL FAT AND SASSY INSTEAD OF THE USUAL HOLLOWED-OUT DEADPAN SPOOKY ROBOT NONSENSE, BUT... I MEAN... I AM ANGRY ABOUT THIS FOR SOME REASON, AND IF I KEEP GROUSING I AM SURE IT WILL RE-OCCUR TO ME."

"I..."

Karkat had promised her that if they lived through Jack's attack, he would find a way to bring her back to life. And then she exploded.

"WHAT IS MY FACE DOING, THIS IS INCREDIBLY PAINFUL."

[death_fangirl]

"That's called a smile, Karkat." She's teasing him, of course. In a nice way. Or what passes for it with trolls. "It's what your face does when you're happy."

Aradia's smiling back, but she has barely stopped doing that since she arrived!

[crabbycustomer]

"RIGHT, ONE OF THOSE DUMB CRESCENTY LOOKING HOLES WHERE LAUGHS COME OUT OF. IT'S DISGUSTING. I NEED TO MAKE A NOTE OF THIS, LET ME DEPLOY MY MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICE THAT RUNS ON PURE LIQUIFIED MISERY AND SLAM MY FRONDS AGAINST THESE KEYS SO HARD THAT THE LITERACY GLYPHS ARE PRINTED UPSIDE DOWN AND BACKWARDS ACROSS MY FLESH."

He frowns as he looks through his sylladex--formerly Sollux's sylladex, before they switched--for the computer, and immediately looks less alarming. "ACTUALLY I SHOULD PROBABLY OPEN A MEMO ABOUT THIS, I GAVE EVERYONE A GENEROUS MEASURE OF SHIT WHEN THEY DIDN'T TELL ME TEREZI WAS HERE. I AM JUST SO FUCKING RELIEVED TO HAVE SOMEONE HERE WHO HAS ANY KIND OF A GRASP OF THE TIMELINE SITUATION, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE THE KIND OF SHITHIVE IDIOCY I HAVE BEEN UP TO MY NOOK IN, FROM NIMROD INADVARTANT TEMPORAL SABOTEURS ON EVERY SIDE."




"...ACTUALLY YOU PROBABLY WOULD." Alas, Karkat appears to have slipped back into the throes of bitching about all of his friends. "YOU OF ALL PEOPLE KNOW THE ETERNAL PERSECUTION OF UNREMITTING IDIOCY AND SELF-CENTERED ARROGANCE AS APPLIED TO ATTEMPTS TO BY MORONS MANIPULATE THE FUTURE AND PAST WITHOUT DISCRIMINATION." They are stubborn throes.

[death_fangirl]

"Yes, I'm familiar with that sort of thing." It didn't really bother Aradia during the game, but she was a dead frog robot, so not too many things did. She disregards the general coating of vitriol, as one has to do with Karkat.

"What can I do to help?" She peers over his shoulder.

[crabbycustomer]

"NOTHING, IT IS JUST A PERFUNCTORY NOTIFICATION THAT YET ANOTHER DEAD FRIEND HAS POPPED UP IN THE DEAD FRIEND PATCH THIS PLACE CONSTANTLY THREATENS TO BECOME. SERIOUSLY, NEARLY HALF OF US ARE HERE NOW, PLUS THE ROSE HUMAN."

"I SHOULD ADD YOU TO THIS INCREASINGLY MIS-NAMED MEMO BOARD, THOUGH. ALTHOUGH DO YOU EVEN HAVE A COMPUTER? OR... ANYTHING? I HAVEN'T ASKED HOW YOU GOT AROUND TO BECOMING A GOD BECAUSE I ASSUME THE ANSWER IS, AS EVER, SHENANIGANS, BUT THE LAST TIME I SAW YOUR INVENTORY IT HAD BEEN DRENCHED IN STINKING BLUE BLOOD AND LAUNCHED AROUND THE ROOM AS SHRAPNEL. .

...WOW, SORRY, THAT WAS A GRAPHIC WAY TO TALK ABOUT YOUR CYBERNETIC CORPSE POPPING LIKE A STEEL BALLOON.

....SORRY."

As he talks Karkat types up a memo, in his traditional style, using his entire arms.

[nepetaleijon]

Something is lurking in the rafters.

Something in a blue hoodie and a green longcoat.

Something that abruptly POUNCEGREETS FROM ABOVE.



"Aradia!"

[death_fangirl]

POUNCEGREET'D

"Nepeta! Hi!"

[nepetaleijon]

"It's so meowrvelous to s33 you! When did you get here?"