A/N: Hello everyone, this story was written rather fast, inspiration just kind of struck and then BAM here it was. So I hope you enjoy and it's not too awful.
Warnings: Near character death, and use of homophobic slurs.
There was a reason Eridan liked the pool at this time of night; no one was there. Or almost no one, every once and a while another dedicated swimmer would show up and tread in on Eridan's personal swimming time, but usually he was so good at glaring at them until they left that it wasn't a problem.
He was lacing up his converse, ginger hair still damp and his skin smelling of chlorine, when he heard the main door to the pool open and swing closed with a bang. Instinctively his eyes narrowed, nose scrunching with annoyance, despite the fact that he was on his way out. It was the university's pool, but in his own head it would always be his pool, his escape. It always felt like other people were trespassing upon it. Heaving his duffle bag over his shoulder and adjusting his oversized glasses he tromped out of the locker room, head held high and nose in the air as he planned on strutting right past the intruder with a high possibility of a sideways glare of scrutiny.
However, as soon as the locker room door closed behind him, he found himself eye to eye, or rather eye to hairline, with Sollux Captor. He was glaring back up at Eridan behind his dual colored glasses, a few pieces of his hair escaping the confines of his bad haircut to obstruct his view. Oh God and he was wearing that hideous bee patterned sweater vest. Eridan really hoped that was a joke.
"Oh God, why?" The other man groaned, rubbing his forehead with his fingertips.
Eridan bit the inside of his cheek, holding in his annoyance. He looked down his nose at the other man. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Well, I thure ath hell didn't come to thee you." He stepped around Eridan, heading towards the girls locker room. "Ith there anyone in there?"
Eridan turned to watch him, mouth falling open a bit in confusion. "No, really, what the fuck are you doing?"
Sollux sighed, side eyeing the still and half lit pool, as if willing there to be absolutely anyone else here to help him. "Feferi left one of her bagth here. Thee athked me to come pick it up for her."
"Why couldn't she-" Eridan stopped himself mid question. She couldn't come get it herself because she thought he might be here. The realization of it made his face flush and stomach do an uncomfortable flip that made his throat tighten. "Oh."
Sollux wasn't even looking at him, still glaring off to the side, but Eridan felt like he was out right laughing at him. Eridan was at least five inches taller and twice as broad as Sollux, but right now he felt about half his size. He looked away as well, back to the silent pool. It looked almost like glass right now, not a single distortion on its smooth surface, the overhead lights reflecting back a perfect image.
"Well, if you get caught in the girl's locker room, don't tell anyone you know me," he bit out, turning away and heading out towards the door. Behind him he heard the locker room door open, Sollux's footsteps fading off. Shoulders hunched higher than normal Eridan tried to shake off the sudden dark feeling creeping up on him. So what if Feferi didn't want to see him anymore? So what if she was now sending other people to do things for her just to avoid him? Who needed her anyway?
His hand was splayed on the wooden door, leaning his weight against it when he changed his mind, turning to push against the other door to his left, leading to the stairs instead of the hallway. Fuck this he needed a candy bar or something. Chocolate couldn't make him forget about Feferi, but it might help a little. He was half way up the stairs when he heard Sollux cry out and then a splash. Eridan barked a laugh in the stairway, okay that made him feel a little better.
Dumbass.
He sped up his steps a little, taking them two at a time until he reached the lounge room over looking the pool on the floor below. Yep, there was hacker geek, floundering fully clothed in the pool. Somehow he had managed to toss himself away from the side and was currently trying to get back to it. Eridan snorted, pulling out his wallet as he turned his attention to the vending machine.
Did he want Twix or a Snickers? The Twix looked like it would be awfully helpful in getting Feferi off of his mind, but the Snickers seemed to be calling to him. Snickers it was. Impatiently, he punched in the numbers. He tapped his fingers against the glass, Feferi still swimming in his head. Also a soaking wet Sollux. He might need a picture of that to gloat with for the rest of his life.
He put his wallet away, taking a bite of the newly freed candy, and glanced back out at the pool below. The water was still rippling at the sides, the perfect mirror broken with one asshole's clumsiness. Loser wasn't even out of the pool yet. With all that extra limb Eridan would have thought he would have been able to just reach out and grab the side no matter where he was in the pool. In fact, he didn't seem to even be trying very hard. He was hardly even treading anymore. And then his head slipped beneath the surface.
Motherfucker.
He couldn't swim.
Eridan dropped his bag and everything he was holding, tearing off towards the door and hitting it with full force. He almost lost his footing on the stairs, grabbing the handrail to keep himself from falling head first down. In five bounds from the bottom of the stairs he was launching himself into the pool.
The extra weight of his clothes drug him down a bit faster than he expected as he hit the water, but he was an expert swimmer, it didn't slow him down for long. He hooked an arm around the slowly sinking Sollux, earning himself a few possibly bruising hits from his still desperately fighting bundle, and kicked his way back to the surface. Sollux's efforts redoubled as soon as his head broke free of the surface, his limbs flailing madly as Eridan fought to keep his hold on him. He was gasping, still swallowing mouthfuls of water in his panic. With ever ounce of energy Eridan had he drug Sollux to the side, not wasting his breath to try to calm him down until the half drowned man had something stable to hold onto. Sollux was a twiggy little thing, but all of fighting made it harder to drag him to the edge than Eridan had anticipated. Maybe he should have paid attention during that life guarding class he had to take.
Regardless, their fingers were eventually grasping at the indigo tiles that lined the side of the pool. As soon as he could pull himself closer Sollux was heaving his shoulders out of the water, coughing up the water in his lungs and gasping between fits. Eridan kept his own arm around Sollux's middle, fearing that if he let go Sollux would slip beneath the water again.
Eridan was panting as well, treading water easily and holding onto the side with his free hand. "What kind of dumbass can't swim?"
Sollux turned to look at him, eyes wide over the tops of his smeared glasses. "You thaved me." His voice was hoarse and thick.
Eridan ignored the accusation. "Really, I mean most people at least teach their kids how to get to the side if they fall in. How can you not know anything?" His own glasses were covered with droplets of water, causing the world to take on a distorted and alien look.
Sollux took a few more heaving breaths, still gaping at Eridan. For as long as he could Eridan resisted looking back at him, instead looking anywhere but. He glanced up at the second floor, to the large panes looking down on the pool. His stuff was still laying up there.
"You okay?" He finally asked, chancing a quick glance at Sollux. The other man was still panting with breath, water logged hair flat to his head. "You look like a cat someone threw in a bucket of water."
"You look like a faggot," Sollux shot back, arms still shaking as he leaned his forehead against the tile.
Eridan probably should have been trying to pull him out, or get to a ladder or something, but for the life of him he couldn't move. He didn't even have the energy to fight back.
They lapsed into another moment of silence, only broken by the sloshing of the water and Sollux's trembling breath. Eridan was becoming acutely more and more aware of how uncomfortably close they were. Sollux's shoulder blades were bumping against his chest with every breath he took, their arms brushing and hands only inches apart where they gripped the wall. Unable to stand a moment more of stillness and silence, Eridan withdrew his arm from around Sollux, bringing it to join his other on the wall.
Sollux's knuckles went white on the tile, clinging on even tighter than before. "What are you doing?"
Eridan didn't answer, instead pulling himself out of the water and sitting down on the edge with his legs still in the water, looking down at his pant legs, swirling around his legs. He was terrified to see what his shoes were going to look like. He glanced back at Sollux, still staring up at him from the water. "You coming out?"
"Yeah."
Another moment passed.
"Do you need help?"
"Fuck you, no."
Eridan counted to 60 in his head, eyes flicking between the record banners hanging from the ceiling, finding his own name on a handful. Feferi's name was on a few others. At the 60 second mark Eridan pulled his legs out of the water, kneeling by the side of the pool and hooking his hands beneath Sollux's arms, pulling him out. The noise he made really wasn't helping his 'not a drowned cat' campaign.
Sollux fell into another coughing fit, clutching his chest as he leaned over the floor, hair falling around him so Eridan couldn't see his face. Not that he was looking, he was back to reading the blue and white banners, trying to put faces to the names he read.
"I thought you left," Sollux finally whispered, the sound echoing quietly off of the high vaulted ceiling.
"I did." Roxy Lalonde. Was she related to that Rose girl? Probably not. "I decided to get a candy bar." He jerked his head in the direction of the observation lounge. Beside him Sollux gave a sort of half laugh.
They were both thinking the same thing. If Eridan had decided he hadn't needed that candy bar, Sollux would be dead. Eridan closed his eyes against the vertigo, trying to stop the sudden spinning. He felt like he had swallowed the whole pool in one gulp.
"Fat ath."
Eridan shook his head, letting himself fall back onto the slippery floor, taking a few deep breaths. "This coat is dry clean only you know. It's probably ruined now."
"It wath ruined when the dethigner had the idea for it." Sollux's insults were as void of emotion as Eridan's complaints.
"So says the man in the bee sweater vest."
Sollux let the comment go, pulling himself to his feet. Eridan followed suit with a sigh, brushing imaginary dirt off of his soaking wet pants and adjusting his dripping collar. He didn't have anything else to change into. He was just going to have to try to towel off and hope he didn't destroy everything else he touched until he got back to his room.
Beside him Sollux was trying to wring out his sweater vest, really only succeeding in managing to make it look even worse than before. Eridan ran a hand through his hair, trying to squeeze out what water he could, and regain what dignity he had. The entire world was still splotched and contorted with the water clinging to his glasses, and there was really nothing to do about that until he found a towel. He was in the process of trying to figure out where the closest one would be when he felt the prickling feeling of being watched.
"What?" He raised an eyebrow at Sollux, wishing the other boy would just leave, or at least say something. The social protocol on saving someone's life who you kind of can't stand in any sense of the word was nebulous to say the least.
Sollux was as distorted as the rest of the world behind Eridan's glasses, a smear of pale skin, pockmarks and brown hair. His expression was unreadable, eyes still wide and mouth slightly open. He moved so slowly that Eridan hadn't realized he was at all until their noses bumped and Sollux's mouth was on his.
Eridan went rigid as Sollux's hands grabbed his shoulders, holding him in place as he kissed him. It wasn't until Sollux was pulling back, hands sliding across his ruined shirt to move away that Eridan's brain seemed to catch up with the situation and his own hands shot out to grab Sollux by his sides, pressing their mouths together more forcefully. Sollux responded instantly, fingers taking hold in Eridan's hair to pull him down farther.
Water was pooling beneath them, their useless glasses clashing and their hands slipping on their purchase as they kissed. In reality it probably only lasted less than a minute, but it seemed like an eternity until they pulled apart, staring wide-eyed and half accusatory at each other. Their hands dropped in unison, each taking a step back, sneakers and Converse squishing in their water logged state.
"So…"
"Yeah."
"Um."
"I have to go," Sollux stated suddenly, voice still oddly thick and uncharacteristically subdued. He turned his attention to the ground, spinning in a half circle before spotting what he needed. Eridan followed his trail and saw Feferi's bag, lying on its side a few feet from the edge of the pool.
"How do you manage to toss yourself in the water, but save her stuff?"
"Talent," Sollux told him. "Unlike you, I am a gentleman who knowth how to keep a woman'th thingth thafe. That'th why I have all of the girlth and you are a faggot."
"You just kissed a guy."
"That doeth not make me a faggot. Being a faggot maketh you a faggot."
Eridan rolled his eyes, though he felt like someone had turned a dial, relieving the room of its pressure as they fell back into a normal routine. "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night when you're curled up against Kar."
Sollux gathered up Feferi's things, taking care to try not to get the bag too wet as he held it out in front of him, and started for the door.
"You're not going to towel off?" Eridan asked incredulously.
Sollux didn't slow down. "Nope."
"Freak."
Eridan turned his back to him, heading in the opposite direction, back to the locker rooms. Behind him he heard the main door open, and then stall.
"Hey, Eridan."
Eridan cast a glance over his shoulder, his own hand on the locker room door. "What?" He snapped.
Sollux stood in the doorway; shoulders a bit slumped, still dripping everywhere. For a moment he was silent, his mouth opening once before he closed it again. "Uh, thanks."
Eridan blinked at him, and lapsed into his own silence, glancing around the empty pool one more time, eyes coming to rest on the sign hanging by the empty lifeguards chair. 'No Life Guard on Duty: Swim At Your Own Risk'. Ha. "Yeah. Glad you're not dead." He pushed open the door, before stopping again. "And learn how to fucking swim! You're a fucking adult that's just embarrassing."
As the locker room door swung shut behind him he trudged over to the towels, but half way there he gave up, slumping down on one of the benches lining the lockers. In his soaking clothes he sat with another squish, ignoring the sound and the foreign feel of wet clothes. In the dark he just sat, pulling off his glasses and folding them neatly beside him. He rested his elbows on his knees, leaning forward until his hands caught his face, intending to just wipe away what moisture he could, but found he preferred staring at the inside of his palms rather than the silent locker room.
He sat like that until he could no longer hear the water dripping to the floor beneath him.