Chapter Text
Bracing, cool air found its way into your room through the cracked window as you paced, and you couldn't help but admit that it did have a sort of calming affect on you, which you most certainly needed. You were fairly certain that what you actually needed resided in San Diego, California, with a constantly, almost febrile warmth that could pull you close and squeeze you tight and whisper sweet nothings in your ear that would fight away your worries like a verbal knight in shining armor. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be made possible until you had already moved, which was the source of your discomfort.
A long, sharp inhale provided you with the familiar scent of crystalline snow and pine trees, the scent of Minnesota, and of Russia, and of home. You closed your eyes tightly as you tried to take in the warmth, or rather the slicing cold, that the scent brought with it, and sighed longingly through your nose as you could almost, almost see it, feel the pine needles against your skin and the frigid snow landing on your face and entangling itself with your hair like a dying man reuniting with his long-lost love one final time before his last, rattling breath. And as you felt this, you felt your father's strong arms embracing you, and your imaginary scenario was ripped away from you, instead replaced with bitter tears making trails down your cheeks at the memory of a man long dead.
The taunting voices of other kids your age echoed in your head as you're sure your mother's scornful co-workers' voices still haunted her, muttering about how her husband had left. That was the downside to disappearing for a long time, only to come back with no explanation, a refusal to say what had happened, only saying your husband was gone.
No, there was no sympathy for the Pyrope family, not for your amiable mother, who was raising two daughters with no help not because her husband had divorced her, but because he had become deceased; not for your intrepid sister, who somehow managed to keep her smile intact even just a week after her dad, your dad's, passing; not for you, who squirmed under the gaze of anyone who looked at you for weeks, excepting only Karkat.
A sharp knock echoed through the room that you recognized as your mom's.
"Terezi, have you got those stuffed dragons packed yet? The moving van will be here in an hour to pick up the furniture and I am not waiting another hour because you forgot to pack something!"
"Mom, no matter how much time has elapsed, my scalemates won't stop being the first things I packed." A small huff forced its way out from between your lips as she cracked the door (if the familiar squeak of its hinges was any sign, that is) to peer in at you, making you flush. "...Sorry. You've just asked so many times."
"It's alright. Just..." She sighed, seeming almost as uncomfortable as you felt, which meant that she was probably internally screaming or squirming or doing something else underneath her confident aura. You could feel her eyes settle on you, a tingling sensation that was, at this point, almost painful, making connection with the side of your face, and you were almost thankful that your mother was just as blind as you were, unless the difference in reasons to be blind (hers being birth, you guessed, and yours being an accident) counted as different levels of blindness. You supposed that would make sense, being that you had seen the sun as opposed to just felt it on your skin; you'd seen your sister's face, and your father's smile, and the way that Vriska's lips twitched before she smiled (more of a smirk, really), as if she considered it, every single time, and then you had just lost it all, ripped away from you by the burning sun in the sky. In an ironic twist, the time you actually went blind from staring at the sun happened to be a solar eclipse. "Try to be ready by the time the moving van is here; Latula is just finishing up with packing all of her electronics and then she's doing her clothes, and she'll probably stop in here after, so be prepared for your sister."
You inhaled deeply and nodded, and she closed the door behind her, so you sighed and wiped at your face. There wasn’t a lot left to pack, anymore. Your laptop and its charger, some clothes maybe, then you just had to crate the dogs, stuff your phone in your pocket, and get in the car.
So you figured it couldn’t have hurt your schedule too much if you were to stop packing for a minute to message Karkat and/or Vriska.
You stretched before you took a few cautious steps toward the wall. You remembered that your desk had been moved, and that your phone was lying somewhere on the floor, but you couldn’t exactly remember where either were. When the corner of the cherry wood desk then connected with your hip bone and shot waves of pain through your entire hip, you wanted to slur out a stream of profanities, but instead just dug your teeth into your lower lip and clutched your hand to the newly-forming bruise as if to stifle a stream of blood, to spare yourself the lecture from your mother about swearing (not that she cared, she just felt like a bad parent if she didn’t get on to you somehow).
Eventually you moved your hand to feel along the top of the desk, the smooth, cool wood a comforting feeling until you found your laptop, before you moved the other hand and picked it up with both. You turned and plopped down in the spinny chair in the corner where your desk used to be, and sat still for a couple of moments grinning as it spun before it settled down and you opened your laptop.
It took a moment for it to boot up and for you to type in your password, and you thanked the Lord you didn’t believe in that the satanic ritual you were forced to participate in known as updates was not currently required. Trollian took another minute to open before you finally managed to type in your password and see who was online (or more accurately have your computer tell you who was online through screen reader). By some miracle, you’d managed to catch Vriska, and of course it was just after one in the afternoon, so Karkat was likely still sleeping, it being a Saturday and 11:11 AM out there.
Oh well. You’d catch him next time.
gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] at 13:12.
GC: L34V1NG 1N 4N HOUR
GC: 1 4M NOT R34DY FOR TH1S
AG: Calm doooooooown, it’s not that 8ad!
AG: You’re going to 8e a lot closer to me, we can finally hang out again. ::::D
GC: Y34H, BUT 1 M34N
GC: 1 DUNNO, 1TS W31RD, BUT 1 GU3SS 1M SORT OF 4TT4CH3D TO H3R3?
GC: L1K3, 1TS B33N N1N3 Y34RS, TH1S 1S HOM3 NOW
GC: 1V3 B33N H3R3 FOR MOST OF MY L1F3
AG: Relaaaaaaaax, that’s normal!
AG: You aren’t some freak 8ecause you don’t want to leave your childhood home. Do you know how grumpy Karkat was when he first moved here?
AG: This may come as a shock to you, 8ut it was even more than usual!
GC: 1 4M L1K3 90% SUR3 YOUR3 M4K1NG TH4T UP
AG: Nope!
AG: So don’t worry a8out it.
AG: You’re going to move down here and 8e with us, and it’ll 8e awesome!
GC: 1F 1T 1SNT, DO 1 G3T TO H1T YOU?
AG: That sounds fair.
GC: >:D
AG: There, and now you have something to look forward to for when you move down here. ::::)
GC: TH4NKS VR1SK4
GC: FOR ONC3 YOU W3R3 4CTU4LLY SORT OF H3LPFUL
GC: SORT OF
GC: BUT 1 GOTT4 F1N1SH P4CK1NG NOW, SO L4T3R
gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling arachnidsGrip [AG] at 13:18.
Your laptop sounded the obnoxious notification that it was at 10% as you logged out of Trollian, so you decided to shut down after that and let it charge for the next couple of minutes while you packed up the leftover clothes in a box and waited for Latula to come to your room and help you move the boxes currently piled up downstairs. Then the moving truck would get here and you would all move the boxes there, before climbing in the car and driving to a hotel in Casper, Wyoming. You weren’t excited to be going to San Diego, despite the fact that you were down the street from one of your best friends or that you were going to be in the same city as almost all of your friends, because even though it meant that you were going to have new experiences and be able to hang out with everyone you cared about, it meant that you had to leave behind pretty much everything you knew.
It only took you a couple of minutes to gather up all of the clothes that were strewn about the floor and toss them in a box (as opposed to folding them neatly like your mother probably would have wanted you to), and you then folded up the top and taped it down. Getting on your hands and knees and scrambling around on the floor for a minute to find your phone wasn’t too hard, and then you just had to get your laptop and charger and you were ready to go.
Despite your mother’s previous warning, and your own expectation, you still flinched when Latula kicked open the door to your room. You were actually somewhat shocked she didn’t skateboard in, with that dramatic entrance and all.
“Yo, sis! Ready to get these boxes all gathered up to move ‘em downstairs?” Despite her excited tone, she was talking to you like you might talk to a six-year-old, which she should have known was not commonly appreciated.
Instead of answering her question, of course, you just picked up one of the heavier boxes and practically shoved it into her arms. Latula stumbled for a moment before nodding and turning on her heels to take it downstairs, and you secured the recently-packed box of clothes in your arms before following her.
Upon arriving downstairs and putting the box down, of course, the tapping of claws against the floor was the only warning you got as your dogs bounded toward you, all but jumping on you. You still lost your footing briefly and almost fell over, but accepted your fate as Lemonsnout stood on his hind legs and rested his paws on your shoulders to lick at your face, and Pyralspite nuzzled her nose into your behind. You snorted and tried to get at least one of them off you, finally getting Pyralspite to back off as Latula came back downstairs with another box in her arms.
It was your sister who got the blond lab off, patting his head before laughing at you while you rubbed the saliva off of your face. You scowled at her in response and dashed up the stairs to get a fourth box, likely filled with scalemates. There was only one other box for Tula to get.
“Girls, the moving van is here!” Your mother somehow always managed to call when it was least convenient for you, so you had to rush yourself and almost tripped down the stairs. You skipped over the last two, and caught yourself on Pyralspite, who let out a quiet whine but quickly readjusted herself to support your weight. You stroked down her back a couple of times before helping Latula with the last box, which was a bit overstuffed and clearly heavy. Then, as a team of three, you hurriedly got all of the boxes from Tula’s room downstairs and started moving them to the van. When there were only three or four left, you summoned the dogs to follow you upstairs so you could crate them and get them into the car.
“Mom!” Her response was muffled but plainly heard, so you chose to assume she’d heard you call her and was ready to fulfill a request. “I need help with the crates!”
“Ask your sister!”
“Latula isn’t strong enough to carry them, either!” You could plainly hear her groan before your sister snickered, which you were certain would earn her a glare from mom. You tapped your foot impatiently as you waited for a response.
“I’ll be there in a minute!” You nodded and listened as her footsteps marked her progress up the stairs, and grinned as she finally arrived on your level. You gripped one side of Pyral’s crate as your mother went to lift the other, and you both groaned as you started to lift. You practically shuffled down the stairs, before putting the dog down and assuming Latula would push it out as your mother and yourself brought Lemonsnout down.
When you were finally outside, snowflakes got caught in your hair, and you didn’t even attempt to remove them by shaking your head. Closing your eyes and inhaling deeply, you were aware that this would be the last time you would smell home.
Pine was the first thing that reached your nose. The smell of the trees that surrounded your large home in Big Falls (which was, ironically, a ridiculously small town, where everyone knew everyone else) was just like the smell that surrounded your much smaller home back in Chita, though maybe slightly less fresh. The next thing that reached you was the snow, and then the sweat and Dark Temptation body spray of the moving truck driver, then your sister’s Blue Raspberry Kool-Aid scent, and the familiar key lime and sea salt of your mother.
The smell of cigarettes was so strong upon entering the room that you were pretty sure even Latula crinkled up her nose, and she was anosmic. You put down the bag containing your laptop and charger, pajamas, and clothes for tomorrow on one of the beds, and looked around, as if you could possibly take in your surroundings that way. Latula took the hint and sat down on the other one.
Sitting down next to your belongings, you found that, despite the smell of the room, it actually had quality furniture. Or at the very least, the bed was comfortable, and the pillows were soft, though the blanket was a bit over-tucked, so it was a struggle to crawl underneath it, if only for a moment to test the comfort of the bed without bedding in the way. You almost immediately sprang into a sitting position, and opened the bag before feeling around for a moment, until you had a good grip on your laptop and rescued it from it's Walmart-branded, plastic prison.
Being that it was now 2:37 AM in California, you were fairly certain that Karkat would be awake at this hour, so you of course had to message him on Trollian to alert him of your progress. After all, you were his best friend aside from maybe Sollux, so of course he would want to know where you were and how you were doing. And if you were being completely honest, you wanted to talk to him.
gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 3:38.
GC: K4RK4T!
GC: BL4RG, 1 KNOW YOUR3 4W4K3!
GC: 1TS ONLY L1K3 2:40 WH3R3 YOU L1V3, W4K3 TH3 FUCK UUUP!
GC: K4RK4T
GC: K4RK4T 1 SW34R
CG: OH MY GOD, WHAT DO YOU WANT?
CG: AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, IT IS 2:42.
GC: OH LOOK, SL33P1NG B34UTY H4S F1N4LLY 4WOK3N!
CG: UGH, SHUT UP.
GC: H3H3, YOU KNOW YOU LOV3 M3 <3
GC: BUT 4NYW4Y!
GC: GU3SS WH3R3 1 4M
CG: SOME HOTEL IN BUMFUCK NO WHERE?
GC: NO! 1 4M 4T TH3 SUP3R 8 1N C4SP3R, WYOM1NG
CG: SAME THING.
GC: 1T 1S NOT! >:[
CG: WHAT CULTURAL RELEVANCE DOES CASPER, WYOMING HAVE?
CG: AND IT ISN'T LIKE YOU'RE AT SOME SWEET FIVE STAR HOTEL, ARE YOU?
GC: W3LL, NO >:/
GC: BUT 1TS 3XC1T1NG!
CG: WHY?
GC: B3C4US3!
GC: 1 4M H4LFW4Y TH3R3 >:D
CG: WHAT, TO SAN DIEGO?
GC: Y3S!
CG: FUCK, 4LR34DY?
GC: Y3S!
GC: 1SNT 1T GR34T?
CG: I MEAN.
CG: IT'S EXCITING, I GUESS.
CG: YOU'RE ONE OF MY CLOSER FRIENDS AND YOU'LL ACTUALLY BE HERE, BUT I WOULDN'T GO AS FAR AS TO LABEL IT "GREAT."
CG: GREAT IS FOR.
CG: I DUNNO.
CG: WHEN YOU ACTUALLY GET HERE?
GC: 4W
GC: YOU B1G S4P
CG: WHAT?
GC: THAT WAS NOT SAPPY!
GC: TOT4LLY W4S
CG: NO IT WASN'T!
GC: W4S SO
CG: NO.
GC: Y3S!
GC: >;]
CG: NO.
CG: STOP THAT.
GC: >;] >;] >;]
CG: TEREZI, OH MY GOD.
GC: SO 4NYW4Y, WH4T H4V3 YOU B33N UP TO?
CG: AVOIDING MY SISTERS AND THEIR MAYHEMIC WAYS, MAKING SURE KANKRI DOESN'T CATCH ME UP THIS LATE SO THAT I DON'T GET AN EARFUL. YOU KNOW, THE USUAL.
GC: TH3 G1RLS 4R3 OUT?
CG: MOM, TOO, BUT IT'S ONE OF THOSE VISITS WHERE HER AND DAD ARE GETTING ALONG SO WE DON'T SEE MUCH OF EITHER OF THEM.
CG: WHICH I GUESS IS BETTER THAN THEM FIGHTING, BUT NOT BY A LOT.
GC: BL3CH, 1M SORRY
CG: DON'T BE.
CG: I TOLD YOU, IT'S NOT AS BAD AS IT COULD BE.
GC: W3LL, 1M ST1LL SORRY
GC: UGH, 1 W1SH TH4T 1 COULD K33P T4LK1NG, TRUST M3, BUT 1TS 3:57 OUT H3R3 4ND 1M T1R3D, SO 1M PROB4BLY GO1NG TO GO 4H34D 4ND C4TCH 4 SHOW3R B3FOR3 1 P4SS OUT
GC: N1GHT, K4RKL3S
CG: DON'T CALL ME THAT.
GC: UGH
GC: 1LL TRY 4G41N
GC: GOODN1GHT, K4RKL3S
CG: ...
CG: NIGHT, TEREZI.
GC: <3
gallowsCalibrator [GC] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 3:58.