The Peacekeeper

==> Sollux & Equius: Try Your Best

It's been a couple of weeks since Karkat had come back and Sollux ended up housing both Equius and Karkat. It wasn't an ideal living situation but Sollux wanted to help his long lost friend and, well, Equius was doing what he was asked to. Nepeta assured him she could handle living without him for a couple of weeks but Equius still managed to find time and go over to their shared home. Just in case. During this entire time both trolls attempted to help ease Karkat back into society. They hadn't had much luck, at best they knew he could be out and about in public without trying to kill everyone.

"What's your name?" Sollux asked in Alternian. He hasn't spoken it in forever but it seems to be the only way that Karkat is willing to communicate with him so whatever, he can kill two birds with one stone and brush up on his Alternian. Sollux eyed his friend, waiting for an answer. He was the most pathetic sight to behold. Something Sollux never wanted his ganderbulbs to have the displeasure of witnessing. But here it was, an adult troll who refused to take off his fucked up armor, refused to talk without a lot of persuasion, and refused to even look Sollux in the eyes. Seriously, what the fuck was this? This wasn't the Karkat that Sollux had known and loved (barf), this wasn't the very epitome of LOUD and STUPID. This was a broken man and Sollux would've been a goddamn liar if he said it didn't hurt his pump biscuit just a bit.

"The Peacekeeper." The Knight of Blood stated in his hoarse voice. His spoke monotonously and it was bugging Sollux to no extent. Sollux sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"No dude. What's your actual name?"

"The Peacekeeper." Sollux sighed loudly in frustration and flopped back on to his couch. He was getting absolutely nowhere with Karkat. He kept responding with "The Peacekeeper." What the fuck did that mean? What was a 'peacekeeper'? Why was he one? Where was he all this time? Why is he in armor and covered in blood? When were any of their burning questions going to be answered? His psionics were crackling around his eyes so much it was starting to irritate him. He took of his glasses and rubbed his eyes profusely. Karkat put a hand on Sollux's knee, making him look up.

"I'm sorry." Ah, fuck. Sollux shook his head and willed himself to calm down. He couldn't stress out now. Karkat was basically a fucking grub, an incredibly traumatized and insufferable grub, he couldn't get mad at a grub. Especially not one who was thrown across time and space doing who knows what.

"It's fine. You didn't do anything too agitating. Let's just continue. What's your name?" This time Karkat paused for a moment before speaking.

"Karkat Vantas." Karkat Vantas. Sollux smiled widely and sat up straight again. Good. This was good. This was progress. Karkat saw Sollux's smile and smiled as well, showing off his teeth. The gemini troll grimaced at the sight of his friends teeth. A good chunk of them were chipped and some were even missing. Sollux made a mental note to set up a dentist appointment.

"Good. Now what's my name?"

"The Architect." No. No. No. Sollux groaned and flopped back down. "...Sollux Captor. The Empress' personal Architect." Sollux shrugged and made the so-so hand motion with his hand.

"You got my name part right but I don't know what the fuck the rest of that junk is. Unless of course you're going to use this as an opportunity to say literally anything about the past three sweeps." The cancer troll frowned and stayed quiet, pulling his knees up to his chest. He hissed slightly in pain, the movement made the injuries underneath his tattered clothing to sting quite a bit. "Hey, we're getting there." Sollux reluctantly patted his friend's knee. He was determined to help Karkat remember something, anything. He didn't know what had happened but he was prepared to undo whatever they did to him.