[ As the seconds tick by, Aradia barely considers questioning why he knew he wasn't alone. Karkat Is A Normal Human is a fact that she's known for years, immutable and unshakable amongst the assorted craziness they all fell into, and therefore he shouldn't be able to see her - but there's whole lists of cheesy horror movies where people sense spirits on some level, right? Maybe she really is getting the hang of the whole poltergeist shtick.
And then the rest of it sinks in, and the loophole gets shoved away in favour of panicking over remembering that now he knows she's un-alive again. The lights continue to flicker unhelpfully in tune with her distress. ]
I... [ Logically, she should lie. He offered the hallucination excuse already, taking it would make sense, they'd both move on with their respective lives and nobody would have to mourn her twice. It'd be safer for everybody involved, and cleaner too. No loose ends when she finally moves on.
...But.
But now that she's actually face-to-face with someone she knew, the idea feels so much more distant and she doesn't quite want to let go again. She missed them all so much and this is the worst idea. ]
I'm. Not a homeless lunatic or anything, unfortunately. Just me. [ There's no polite way to explain 'sorry I wasn't completely dead', and she still refuses to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole if she has any other choice, so all Karkat gets is a well-meaning cringe and Aradia's infamously blank monotone. It's the worlds shittiest consolation prize. ] And I guess that would make me a ghost. Surprise?
one day i wont fall ass-backwards off the hiatus train, whoops
And then the rest of it sinks in, and the loophole gets shoved away in favour of panicking over remembering that now he knows she's un-alive again. The lights continue to flicker unhelpfully in tune with her distress. ]
I... [ Logically, she should lie. He offered the hallucination excuse already, taking it would make sense, they'd both move on with their respective lives and nobody would have to mourn her twice. It'd be safer for everybody involved, and cleaner too. No loose ends when she finally moves on.
...But.
But now that she's actually face-to-face with someone she knew, the idea feels so much more distant and she doesn't quite want to let go again. She missed them all so much and this is the worst idea. ]
I'm. Not a homeless lunatic or anything, unfortunately. Just me. [ There's no polite way to explain 'sorry I wasn't completely dead', and she still refuses to touch that topic with a ten-foot pole if she has any other choice, so all Karkat gets is a well-meaning cringe and Aradia's infamously blank monotone. It's the worlds shittiest consolation prize. ] And I guess that would make me a ghost. Surprise?