For the record, you didn’t exactly mean to hurt Aradia that bad! She used to FLARP with you guys! You forgot that lowbloods are so damn fragile, and it was Vriska’s idea anyway. Doesn’t matter whose idea it was though, you remind yourself, Aradia still got hurt, which is why you’re on your way to the troll hospital right now, with a couple creamsicles as an apology. You hope she forgives you, these games wouldn’t be nearly as fun with Vriska on your side and only Tavros as competition.
When you get to the hospital they send you to room 612, and tell you that Aradia’s probably awake by now, and also that she’s going to be fine, which is a relief, you’re kind of sick of the whole “killing” business now that you’re out of the game, and Aradia's cool. The place is pretty empty because humans are still more fragile than trolls, but they insisted on having separate hospitals, so this one barely gets any use, it’s kinda creepy in there, but you like it, smells like dust and blood and crime scenes. You figure Aradia likes it too, she loves creepy stuff. None of your other friends are really with you guys on that.
You arrive at Aradia’s room, and walk in to find that she is, in fact, awake, and even sitting up in bed. She grins at you when you walk in, which would make you nervous if she hadn’t been grinning constantly since she stopped being a robot, ghost, or sprite. You grin back at her and hold up the creamsicles in an unspoken apology. The room doesn’t smell too much like wine, so there hadn’t been that much blood after all.
“Terezi! You brought ice cream! Come, sit, why are you still standing in the doorway?” She doesn’t sound upset with you, which is good, so you make your way over to the chair by the bed and put the ice cream next to her on the blankets.
“Yeah….hey Medigo, sorry things got a little, ya know….outta hand back there. We didn’t mean for that to happen.” You rub the back of your neck awkwardly, and hope she doesn’t notice you blush, you don’t exactly apologize often.
“Oh I’m sure Vriska did, but that’s alright! She’s still learning to be less awful, and hey, I survived this one!”
For a moment you can only stare, and try to convince your brain that that cannot have possibly happened. No fucking way. And then your brain catches up with your face and you burst into hysterical laughter until you’re doubled over on the chair, tears streaming down your face, and you can hear Aradia cackling above you. Wiping away the tears, you sit up, saying, “Yeah at least you survived this one, but I’m still blind, where’s the justice in that?” She laughs again.
“Well you are all about the justice, aren’t you Redglare?”
“You know I am Medigo, luckily for you though, I work better blind, so I’ll let this infraction slide.”
Aradia gasps, “The great Neophyte Redglare would let something slide? For a lowly rustblood like me? What would Mindfang say?”
You laugh, this is fun, you’ve missed playing these games with Aradia. “Ha! It doesn’t matter what that scoundrel thinks, I’ll catch her one day! And then she'll have the Empress herself to answer to!”
By now you’re both laughing, and you’re remembering how much fun you guys had when you were just kids and everything was a game, and you’re more grateful than you thought you’d be that she’s one of the trolls that survived, and that this is something you can still have. The two of you were good friends until The Incident, and you barely saw each other during the Game, and even in the dream bubbles you’d hardly run into her. You’re glad there’s no hard feelings after that last prank went badly too, you’ve only just gotten Aradia back! It would suck to lose her again.
It’s about now that you both stop laughing and you suddenly notice how close your faces have gotten. Aradia’s blood may run red, but it smells nothing like the cherry and candies of Karkat and Dave. Instead, the smells of wine and apples and autumn leaves assault your senses, and for the second time in an hour, you feel yourself blushing, and hope she can’t see it. You can’t see, but you can practically feel Aradia’s gaze boring into your face, and then your lips, and you blush even harder, before you both lean forward slightly, and you tilt your head, and then….
“OH my GOD Medigo!!!” and the girl is laughing hysterically, up out of bed and already running out the door, while you sit in the chair with ice cream dripping down your face and onto your shirt. “It is SO ON!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!” and you can hear her laugh, cackling down the hall, and you hear her yell back, only the echo reaching you, “KARMA!”