Despite the fact that the sun had risen a long time ago, Eridan was still awake; he had been working on completing a beautifully detailed map, and was completely lost in his work. It had been hours since he had closed the thick, heavy curtains, and the warm glow from the candles he had lit provided him with more than enough light; although he had a desk lamp, Eridan much preferred to work by candle-light, as the orange glow seemed so much more natural, and the way the light flickered made Eridan's ink lines almost seem to come alive.
He was labelling a new cave that he had discovered the previous night, when a knock at the door to his respite-block snapped him out of his concentration. Eridan frowned, and bit his lip with his shark-like teeth, hoping that his visitor would think him sleeping, and leave, but there was no such luck. Once again, the person on the other side of the door made themselves heard with a gentle knock, and Eridan set down his quill, and stoppered his ink-pot.
It wasn't until Eridan stood up that he realised that not moving in so long had actually made his back seize up a little, and he grumbled at himself for being so involved with his work. He opened the door, and glared at his visitor.
Oh.
It was Sollux Captor. They had once been some kind of acquaintances, thanks to a mutual circle of friends, though they constantly fought whenever they had spoken. Eridan remembered the night when he had been told that Sollux's home had been destroyed, thanks to a mind-honey incident, and Feferi had asked that he house the ochre-blood for just a little while until somewhere more suitable became available. Of course, this little while had gone on for longer than Eridan had anticipated, and though he and Sollux were barely in the same room as each other or longer than a passing minute, the ship-hive always seemed to lack the complete silence that it had once been filled with.
Eridan didn't know whether this was a good or bad thing. True, the silence had once been maddeningly lonely, and true, he actually did enjoy the little quarrels that he and Sollux partook in on the rare occasion that they both inhabited the same room, but the lowblood knew nothing of showing proper feudal spirit, and Eridan didn't know whether or not he liked that.
After a moment, Eridan folded his arms, and looked the lanky troll up and down, before asking in a polite, yet cool voice, "what do you want? This had better be good. I happen to be in the middle a doin' some very important work, not that you'd ever understand that."
Sollux let himself into Eridan's block, much to the seadweller's annoyance, and strolled over to the desk. He snorted when he saw the quill, "holy shit, do you actually use this?" He asked, his words lisping slightly, "you take pretentiousness to a whole new level."
"Captor, you need to either explain what it is that you want, or get the fuck out a my block." Eridan's patience with the troll had barely existed in the first place, but what little patience he had was quickly wearing thin, "I want to finish my map while the memory is fresh in my pan, now state your business." He put his hands on his own hips, and tried to look as regal as possible.
In Sollux's opinion, Eridan would likely never be able to pull off any kind of intimidating pose, so he smirked, "I'm bored." He stated simply with a shrug, "there's fuck-all to do in this hive, and I was hoping you'd be able to think of something in your half-rotted, barely working pan to entertain me with, I am your guest, remember?" The smirk widened to a cocky grin.
He was obviously taking the piss, and Eridan didn't have time to mess around with some kind of stupid argument that wouldn't even lead to a duel, and would serve only to leave him in a foul mood, so he shook his head, and barged past him, "go fuck yourself, Sollux. My graciousness has gone so far as to offer you a greater hospitality than you deserve, so no, I don't think that it's my duty to find you some fuckin' entertainment, you ignorant pissblood." He dropped himself back into his high-backed chair, and reached for his quill, "now remove yourself from my private quarters before I slit you open over my next meal."
Sollux offered no response, and Eridan almost thought that the troll was about to leave, but his hand suddenly froze in place. No matter what he did, Eridan couldn't reach any further for the quill. After a moment, he noticed the tiny flickers of blue and red around his wrist.
"If you're tryin' to be funny, it ain't workin'." Eridan stood up, but his hand stayed in exactly the same position. He tried to wrench it out of the grip of the crackling energy, but he couldn't do it, "Sol, let me go! What the hell do you think you're playin' at?"
Behind him, Sollux shifted; he moved a little closer, and spoke on a low voice, "Ampora, have you been avoiding me?"
Eridan bristled at the closeness of the landdweller, and he puffed out his chest, "what I do in my own hive is my own business, an if I want to avoid you, then that's my prerogative." God, the lowblood was so damn close, "But for your information, no, I haven't been avoidin' you, I've been busy. Now let go a my hand before I…" Eridan didn't get to finish his threat. Both of his hands slammed down against the flat surface of the desk, and a tendril of electrical energy rolled down his back, causing him to be momentarily silent.
"Shut your fucking mouth." Sollux muttered, his voice dripping with pure loathing, "I asked a simple question, I didn't need you to start a speech."
This made Eridan furious, but before he could turn his head and call Sollux an obviously superior insult, the Gemini suddenly wrapped an arm around his chest, and placed his other hand on his hip. The Aquarius' voice was a little shaky when he spoke, but he managed to hold it together pretty well, "what the hell do you think you're doin'?" He asked, dreading the fact that Sollux might have picked up on the hopeful lilt in his voice.
Sollux pressed himself against Eridan as his hand moved downwards a little from the seadweller's hip, "I hate you." He muttered, leaning close to Eridan's finned ear, and speaking low, "you demand respect an you actually think you deserve it, but you have no fuckin idea how pathetic you are. Not even the lowest of the low should ever have to bow to you. Hell, you don't even deserve to kneel at my feet, you're below dirt."
This blatant disrespect had Eridan's cheeks heating up, and he bared his sharp fangs, "how dare you, you insolent piece a shit, I should rip one a your scrawny arms off an beat you to death with it! I am your superior! I am a seadweller! I am-" As Eridan turned round as best he could to scream at Sollux, his eyes widened, as the landdweller leant forwards, and kissed him furiously.
The best way to explain what Eridan was feeling at that moment would be a warped mix of both excitement and unbridled rage. He undoubtedly would have hissed at the audacity of the lowblood, but he found himself unable to, as the lips crashing down against his own were preventing him from doing anything but retaliating with quick bites.
If their position had been any better, the kiss would have lasted longer, but Eridan's neck protested at the angle it was in, and he had to turn away. "You disgust me." He muttered darkly, hoping that his cheeks wouldn't give away the fact that he had been enjoying himself for a moment there.
"Don't give me that shit, this is more attention that you've ever been given in your whole miserable life."
Eridan grit his teeth, "excuse you, but I happened to have had a kismessitude with Vris, an we weren't exactly a pair a shrinkin' violets. In fact, I'd say that at this moment you wouldn't even be able to hold a candle to her caliginous advances." He wanted to make sure that Sollux hated him, and he was sure he'd pressed the right button there as the psionics around his wrists tightened, and the energy flared for a moment. Eridan smirked to himself, and cast a glance back at the gold-blood stood perilously close to him, "it's such a shame that you're such a pathetic replacement."
Sollux's top lip quirked upwards, and from what Eridan could see, the troll was far from impressed with his words, "go fuck yourself, Ampora. You're the pathetic one here, not me." It was a shame, in Eridan's opinion, that Sollux was still wearing those damn glasses, as he was sure the lowblood's eyes must have been burning with hatred.
"You must not a gotten the memo about how I'm better than you just by birth-right alone, but allow me to give you a biology lesson, pissblood." It felt good to be able to speak to Sollux like this, and Eridan relished in the way that Sollux's eyebrows began knitting together in an obvious sign of irritation, "you were pathetic an worthless from the very moment you hatched, whereas I am far above you in both caste an personality. Surely you must know how detestable the sludge that crawls through your veins is? Maybe when you're done doin' whatever it is that this is, I'll give Vris a call an tell her how she was better than you at this shit."
He would have continued, but his breath was stolen as the sudden feeling of electric-like pressure rolling down his chest; it headed lower, and Eridan could scarcely believe that this was happening as the psionics dipped below the waistband of his boxers. Without a second thought, Eridan leant back and sighed quietly; it was an unbelievably strange feeling, as it was warm, and the pressure seemed to flicker slightly.
Sollux's voice hissed against the delicate membrane of Eridan's fin, "You're the one who's worthless." He pressed himself against Eridan, and grinned, "Admit it, I'm the only one you hate more than you hate yourself."
Eridan made a weak noise of indignation, but he couldn't help but clench his eyes shut as the energy that had been lingering just below his waistband suddenly travelled lower to rove over his already-hard bulge. He gasped, and struggled to stay still. It took monumental effort, but Eridan finally managed to form a sentence that was able to drip from his thinkpan, and off his tongue, "you really think a pissblood like yourself is worthy a touchin' the likes a me?" His voice quavered ever so slightly, "You'd do good to beg for my forgiveness, an hope that I don't hold this ridiculous hate-charade against you."
There was no way that he wanted the Gemini to stop, but it wouldn't be fun if he didn't stoke the dark fires of pure hatred a little more.
This comment made Sollux halt for a moment, but he quickly regained his focus, and he moved his hand upwards to grab at one of Eridan's horns. He cruelly twisted, and snorted as he forced Eridan to turn his head at the lowblood's whim, "there's one thing that I will never do, Ampora, and that's beg for your forgiveness." Sollux grinned, and dipped his head towards the freshly exposed neck. He paused momentarily to allow the tension to build, before alternating between dragging his forked tongue, and teeth, along the soft skin. There was a sharp intake of breath that came from the seadweller as Sollux trailed his tongue against the delicate gill-slits at the side of Eridan's throat.
When the ridiculously sharp canines came to a halt on Eridan's pulse, the seadweller froze; he didn't believe that Sollux would actually kill him, but at the same time, fear swelled in his chest, and flooded his veins, making him feel chilled to his core. The bifurcated tongue slipped past the razor-teeth, and dragged across the fragile spot, causing Eridan to shudder involuntarily; he clenched his eyes shut, and tried not to imagine how it would feel if Sollux actually decided to rip out his throat. Instead, he forced himself to tilt his head even more, to allow the landdweller to have better access.
It was a simple sign of both respect, and trust.
Sollux paused, before biting down enough to hurt, but not enough to break the skin, and was surprised to hear the small gasp coming from the seadweller that didn't sound the least bit fearful. He closed his mouth, and pressed his lips to the pulse, then moved his hand to the front of Eridan's trousers, palming him roughly through the thick fabric; the heartbeat beneath his lips quickened, and he flicked his tongue against it once more.
Eridan's eyes fluttered open as his wrists were pulled up, and he found himself being spun around so that his ass was pressed against the wooden desk; his hands slammed back down next to his map, and Eridan watched as Sollux stepped between his legs. He didn't even bother hoping that his face wasn't currently a deep shade of violet, as he knew that the burning sensation he felt in his cheeks couldn't be anything else. His fins dipped slightly when he saw that Sollux's glasses had slipped down a little, and their eyes met.
Violet irises surrounded by burning gold met molten red and sapphire blue; both pairs of eyes held rivalry and caliginous intentions, but there was something more to it than that. Eridan noted that there was a delicate chartreuse flush across Sollux's face too, and he puffed out his chest a little, "is that all you got, Captor?" He challenged, sincerely hoping that it was not.
The lowblood pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, and Eridan found himself feeling more than a little disappointed. Sollux's tongue flicked out over his bottom lip, and he frowned, "what was that, Ampora? I didn't quite hear you."
"I said, is that all you fuckin' go-oh!" Eridan pressed his forehead against Sollux's shoulder and gulped down air. His entire face burned with embarrassment as the psionic energy stroked his already-hard bulge suddenly and without warning; the tendrils felt like hot coals, and had an insistent pressure that left the seadweller seeing stars. It didn't help that the Gemini had also decided to yank one of Eridan's legs up a little, and grind his hips forwards.
The sound of smug snickering above him was infuriating.
"What's wrong? Meowbeast got your tongue?" Sollux chided, holding back a laugh as the seadweller finally pulled his face bright violet away from his shoulder to glare at him.
Eridan snarled in a fierce defiance, and his fins twitched. This seemed to catch Sollux's attention, and he pressed two fingers to Eridan's lips before he could speak, "shhh." He whispered, and leant closer with narrowed eyes; the fins froze as he did, and the seadweller hissed in a warning behind his fingers.
Sollux smirked a little, and he murmured gently, "stop with the sass, I know you're secretly loving this." He ground his hips forwards, and watched the fins twitch again, "but I didn't realise that you was so sensitive, Ampora."
"Go fuck yourself." Eridan spat out the words as if they were venom, but his cheeks were flushed, and his legs opened a little more almost of their own accord.
This only made Sollux grin, and he nipped the Aquarius' ear; when he heard a soft gasp, he bit down on the thin membrane a little more viciously.
Eridan flinched, and swore beneath his breath, but refused to pull away. He dug his fingers into the landdweller's shoulders, and hoped that his claws were causing more than just a little pain; the highblood swallowed his pride, though he firmly believed that only a very small amount still remained at this point, and moved his body in response to Sollux's.
Their lips crashed down on one another's, and their kisses lingered. Through his foggy mind, Eridan thought he heard someone moaning heatedly, and hoped that it wasn't himself, but of course he had no such luck as his ears picked up the faint sound of Sollux's snickering.
When thin fingers trailed up the tented fabric of his jeans, and deftly unfastened the gold button, Eridan's fins fluttered with anticipation. Thankfully he didn't have to wait for any kind of stimulation as his trousers were quickly wrenched down, and Sollux stepped away to pull them off completely before moving back into his previous position to plunge his hand inside Eridan's boxers.
Eridan's entire body went rigid for a moment; he couldn't understand how someone's hand could be so warm, so soft, so wonderful. He arched against the touch and his fins fluttered, his world dissolved into a mess of deliciously warm fingers and kisses, and the ever-present danger of Sollux's fangs filled him with the almost electrical adrenaline.
A sharp breath tore its way through Eridan's throat as his bulge was stroked, and Sollux nipped at Eridan's fin again, "pathetic." He whispered, but he blinked in surprise as Eridan was unable to prevent a heated moan from leaving his lips.
In Sollux's surprise at the reaction, he momentarily let down his guard as the psionic energy holding Eridan's wrists waned slightly. This did not go unnoticed by Eridan, and even in his lust-muddled mind he wrenched his hands away from the desk, and grabbed the waistband of Sollux's trousers; in his haste to get rid of the damn piece of clothing, he ripped the metal clasp right off the coarse grey denim, surprising them both. This surprise barely crossed either of their minds though, as Eridan hastily pushed the jeans down, and wrapped his arms around Sollux to pull him close until their clothed bulges were pressed together.
With Eridan's nails firmly dug into his back, Sollux took it upon himself to free their straining erections; the seadweller's underwear was tight, and there was a handy opening in them that allowed Sollux to shift the fabric to one side to get at the bulge, but his own were baggy and loose-fitting with tiny buttons, so he opted to just pull them down.
He was shocked as he ground his hips forwards; Eridan's body held such a chill, but it felt so good against his own burning skin, and he pressed his forehead against Eridan's neck as he rocked their bodies together.
Beneath him, Eridan seemed far too quiet, but Sollux smirked as he realised that this was because the stubborn seadweller was trying not to make a single noise in response to what they were doing. It was very nearly endearing. He gripped Eridan's thighs, and pulled his legs up further in order to gain more control, and Eridan hissed quietly before dragging his nails down beneath Sollux's shirt.
Eridan flinched and gasped loudly as Sollux lowered a hand to hold their bulges together firmly, and began stroking them in time with their movements. He swallowed a small noise, but as his eyes fluttered closed, he turned towards Sollux's neck and began laying kisses against any patch of skin he could reach; as another moan slipped out, Eridan flushed with embarrassment and locked his lips against the Gemini's throat, and bit down whilst sucking, hoping that by focusing on bruising the lowblood, he might prevent himself from making any more noise.
Sollux groaned, and tilted his head; the sharp fangs hurt him more than he'd care to admit, but it did not yet cross into the territory of bad-pain; instead it just fuelled the fire inside him, and he wished he could mark the seadweller too. His hand squeezed and roved over the lengths he was holding together, and they became slightly slippery with pre-come, making both trolls shudder with pleasure. He was starting to see stars crossing his dark vision, and he barely registered the fact that he hadn't only groaned the once; instead, his voice was gradually growing in volume, and he was muttering various expletives at the seadweller beneath him.
It didn't take long before Eridan's voice began echoing Sollux's; he rocked his hips forwards, and rested his own hand on top of the landdweller's, and squeezed tightly, trying to apply a little more pressure to their bulges.
Their movements became much more fluid, and Sollux felt a burning pressure grow in the pit of his stomach, "oh, fuck, Eridan." He whispered, completely unable to open his eyes. A frantic string of oh's escaped with every ragged breath, and he was thankful when the Aquarius quickly pressed their lips together in an open-mouthed kiss to keep him quiet.
They both knew that they were approaching the brink, and they clung to each other in a shocking desperation; both wanting to keep the feeling going for as long as possible, while also wanting to push past that final moment, and release all the burning tension.
The caliginous hatred boiled in the pits of Eridan's stomach, and he wished that he could flip his rival over and take charge, but when a shock of pleasure tore through him he couldn't stop himself from arching his back and crying out loudly. He would have felt embarrassed if it wasn't for the fact that Sollux shivered above him and whispered the seadweller's name.
Eridan pulled away from the rushed kisses, and pressed his face against the join between Sollux's neck and shoulder; he didn't allow the landdweller to get too comfortable before biting down on the soft flesh hard enough to break skin, causing Sollux to hiss and moan softly. The claws lodged in Sollux's back were dragged downwards, and the Gemini clenched his eyes shut, "I fu- I fucking hate you!"
Their orgasms came together, suddenly and at once, and Eridan felt every muscle in his body grow rigid as he tensed; spurts of violet and sulphur yellow genetic material spattered both of their chests, ruining the signs that emblazoned their shirts. Eridan shook off the afterglow relatively quickly, and he huffed quietly at the mess they had gotten themselves into.
Sollux's thrusts became shallower as he finished, and he finally stopped in order to allow his full weight to rest on Eridan causing the seadweller to move a hand to rest on the desk to prevent them both from falling into a heap. Their chests heaved in tandem with one another, and Eridan was sure he could feel the landdweller's rapid heartbeat.
After regaining some of his composure, Sollux pushed himself away from Eridan; he looked down at his own ruined shirt, and frowned, before pulling it off carefully as not to get any of the genetic material on his face or hands. He dropped the fabric into a crumpled heap on the floor in front of Eridan with a smirk, "do me a favour and be a good boy and clean this up for me."
"Fuck off, Captor." Eridan's cheeks burned as he snarled, and he stood up to pull his cape off his chair. He kicked the shirt further away before adjusting his long violet cape around himself to hide his own stained clothing, "if you want somethin' cleaned you can damn well do it yourself, you lowblooded pustule-ridden sack a shit." He did not allow his eyes to wander from Sollux's. There was no way he'd give the land dweller the satisfaction.
This seemed to amuse Sollux, and he walked towards the door, stretching, "I'm going to get in the ablution-trap to wash any traces of you off me. I feel fucking disgusting right now." When he glanced back, Eridan was still glaring, and still covering himself with his cape, "I hate you, Eridan."
"Not half as much as I hate you, Sollux." Eridan replied, his eyes narrowed and fins flared warningly.
When the lowblood finally left his room, Eridan allowed himself to relax from his straight-backed position, and he released the shuddering breath he had been holding for so long. He dropped his cape, and began removing his clothes; once he was completely naked, he paused.
A cruel grin grew across his face. This was only the beginning, the Gemini was a fool if he thought that he could beat Eridan at this game, it was only a matter of time before their rivalry flared up into another encounter, and when that time came, Eridan knew he would be ready. After all, he was a master tactician, and his planning was second to none. It was all just a matter of time.
And Eridan was a very patient troll.