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7.9 KiB
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146 lines
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<title>The Homestuck Epilogues: Meat - Chapter 33</title>
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<div id='s33'></div>
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<div>
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<h1>Chapter 33</h1>
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<div class="o-story_text o_epilogue type-rg type-sm line-caption line-copy pad-x-0 pad-x-lg pad-b-lg">
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<p class="no-indent dirk"><span class="opener type-hs-opener-rg type-hs-opener-sm">S</span>peaking of
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meat, holy shit. You just look more fucked up every time we come
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back to you, don’t you, John?</p>
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<p class="dirk">You’re a disgraceful mess right now. Covered in
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blood, mysteriously sticky, bruised all over your arms, legs, and
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neck. Terezi practically raked rows into your back. You catch sight
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of yourself in the rearview mirror. You’re kind of embarrassed by
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what a postcoital train wreck you look like when all she’s got is
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mussed hair. And you should be embarrassed. Seriously, it’s like
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you were mauled by a wild animal. Jesus, don’t either of you have
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any shame?</p>
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<p class="dirk">I’m kidding, of course. I’m the last person to
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criticize a little power play in the bedroom. I just didn’t expect
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you to be the kind of person who was into that sort of thing.</p>
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<p class="dirk">You <em>were</em> into it, right?</p>
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<p class="dirk">You’re not sure. You feel weird. Shaky and numb,
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exposed like a grape with the skin peeled off. You pull your hoodie
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over your bandaged chest, and rub the side of your face where she
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backhanded you during the backseat fracas. Just once. That’s a
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blackrom thing, right? This, all this, it was a blackrom thing,
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right? You’re like a broken cup glued back together, wondering if
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Terezi actually like-likes you, or if you’ve just infinitely cucked
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yourself into the one quadrant you like the least.</p>
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<p class="dirk">You’re feeling something for her too, but it’s on a
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whole other planet from where she is.</p>
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<p class="dirk">Terezi doesn’t make eye contact with you when she
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slithers back into her shirt. She rolls down the window and floats
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outside.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="john">JOHN: um.</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: W3LL? COM3 ON</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">You sit together on the hatch, like when
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you first met up days ago. Terezi crawls into your arms, and
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nuzzles right up against your chest so you have no choice but to
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hold on to her. You would have done it anyway if she asked, because
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you’re a total sap. The kind of guy who no doubt thinks banging a
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girl in a car is some deep, soul-shattering experience that bonds
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you for life. Yeah, John, you do think that. You think that you and
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Terezi are basically married now.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 G1V3 UP</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: oh. don’t do that.</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: like, i’m not suddenly going to be ok with
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you dying here alone just because of, uh... what we just did.</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">She elbows you gently, and snorts into
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your neck. You think that’s one of the most amazing sounds you’ve
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ever heard. Objectively though, it’s a horrendous sound. Like a
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sound a pig makes when you’re not looking, so you can’t quite tell
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if it was snorting or farting. But for some reason, the little
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noise gives you palpitations. Holy shit, dude, you’ve got it
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bad.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: NO 1D1OT</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 G1V3 UP ON VR1SK4</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">Terezi says this like someone announcing
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they’ve lost their faith in God. And comparing Vriska to God sounds
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about right to me, since by now they’re both approximately just as
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fake, seeing as I replaced the latter, and the former fucked off
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into that black hole a little earlier, never to be seen again.
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Can’t say I feel too broken up about it.</p>
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<p class="dirk">But <em>you</em>, John, feel extremely sad. Not for
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Vriska, but for Terezi. You run a comforting hand up and down her
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arm.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="john">JOHN: terezi.</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: come home with me.</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: C4N W3 3V3N GO HOM3?</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: uh...</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">Can you? You’re so, <em>so</em>
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tired.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="john">JOHN: um, i don’t know actually.</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: >:?</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: WH4T</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: i mean... i don’t know if i can use my retcon
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powers right now.</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: i’m so...</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">You feel the same way you did at the end
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of your battle with Lord English. One foot out of reality already.
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Like you could close your eyes and sleep forever.</p>
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<p class="dirk">But you can’t yet, John. Try a little harder to
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stay awake. You can rest soon.</p>
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<p class="dirk">You wake up, with your back flat on the car trunk,
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Terezi shaking you and looking genuinely frantic. You didn’t even
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realize you fell asleep.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: JOHN!</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: JOHN!!!</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: hey.</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: let me take a nap, ok?</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: then...</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: then i’ll take us home.</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: 1 DONT TH1NK TH4TS 4 GOOD 1D34 JOHN</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">She used your first name three whole
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times in a row. Wow. It’s truly pathetic how happy that makes you.
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But it gives you the energy to push yourself into a sitting
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position. You rub your face and realize that you’ve lost your
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glasses. You feel so awful that you didn’t even notice how blurry
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everything looks without them. You grope for Terezi’s hand and get
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her thigh instead.</p>
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<div class="chat type-rg type-hs-small">
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<p class="john">JOHN: hold on to me, ok.</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: no matter what happens... don’t let go.</p>
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<p class="terezi">TEREZI: 4R3 YOU SUR3 YOU C4N DO 1T</p>
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<p class="john">JOHN: no, but...</p>
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</div>
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<p class="no-indent dirk">You won’t know if you don’t try. So you
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give it everything you’ve got.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</body>
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