To the anon: Why yes, I believe Eridan/Feferi will fit right in here! MUAHAHAHA EVIL LAUGHTER but no seriously I love that ship.
It turns out there are some wild parties at Skaia Tech.
You stumble back to your dorm, all kinds of high and drunk, and knock on the wall (though, in your defense, you were aiming for the door). Of course Kanaya is still awake at four in the morning, waiting up for you. She yanks you inside by the arm and shuts the door.
She wants to know what in God's name you did, but before you can laugh and say you don't believe in God, you feel vomit rising in your throat. You kick the bathroom door shut behind you and throw up until you feel empty. This is not a hugely pleasant experience, and when it's done, you are curled up on the bathroom floor with your flushed cheek on the cold tile.
Kanaya peeks in and sighs at the sight of you. This would have earned her a middle finger, but you're so drained you can only blink at her. You mumble in protest when she half-carries you to your bed and dumps you there, none too gently, you might add.
"Please go to sleep," she says, exasperated. You are happy to oblige.
At least, you want to sleep. Your body has other ideas.
You sort of wiggle around for a while, and when that doesn't work you punch your pillow into submission. Then there's the matter of the still-bare mattress, which you keep rolling around on and clawing at. After a while your covers mysteriously end up strangling your legs. Weird.
A groan floats over from the other side of the room. This is a warning, but you're a very restless sleeper, even if you are totally wasted. There's a squeak from her bed springs as she stands up. Trapped by your covers and defenseless, you only grumble some swear words when she grabs your forearm.
Of course, you don't expect her to casually toss you on the ground and climb back into her bed like nothing.
"What the fuck," you whisper against the carpet. You are to weak and tired to drag yourself back to your bed, and admittedly, this is more comfortable. Don't ask why. You really don't know.
Grudgingly, you hiss "Thanks," not sure if she's even awake, and drift off into rocky, but still satisfying, sleep.
/~|~\
Apparently you have lost all cognitive abilities.
Why, oh why, did you decide to go to a party two days before a huge fucking test? You will never know. Now you have one day to study obsessively.
Problem? Every time you so much as glance at a text book, your head sets to pounding. Your first attempt to actually read from one ended in you physically being sick. Currently, you are nursing some of Kanaya's coffee (you take it black, two sugars, and burn-your-tongue hot) and sitting on the window sill.
"It's almost three," Kanaya informs you. She has no problem studying, writing by the sunlight that manages to slip past you. "You should at least review the chapters."
You make a sound close to a hiss and draw your knees up to your chest, shoulders down, hands in a vise around your styrofoam cup. She shakes her head at you and goes back to actually getting some work done. You figure you can procrastinate for a while longer, or at least until your headache dulls down. The pain behind your eyebrows is too powerful to be ignored in its current state.
Your phone ringing is like a jackhammer to the head. "Shit." The noise is hellish. You fumble around your side of the room, retrieve it from your drawer, and pick up without checking the caller I.D.
"What."
The person on the line pauses at your borderline-demonic tone. "Wwhat the fuck Vvris? No, that's not important. I need your help."
"Why would I want to help you," you whisper, your voice dangerously low, "when you can't even pronounce my first name?"
"Oh, come on. It's about Fef."
You rub your temple and exhale sharply. "Eridan, I'm dealing with the worst hangover of my life right now. What do you need? Make it quick, my brain is imploding as we speak."
"Look, she's been gettin' kinda . . . distant, I guess? And really closed off. Wwhat the hell am I supposed to do about this?"
"Nothing, dumbass," you laugh. "You can't make her be friends with you. Or anything more than that."
He huffs at you. "Thanks for the help, bitch. Talk about useless."
"Great. We're in agreement, then." You move to hang up the phone.
"Wwait! I'm sorry, please help. No one else wwill give me the time a' day."
"Okaaaaaaaay," you drawl. "How about this: Stop smothering her! You're always in the middle of her business. Just, cool off for a few days."
"Then wwhat do I do?"
"Bring her coffee or something small like that. I don't know. Nothing flashy, no one really likes that."
He sighs in relief. "Thanks, Vvris. You're a life savver."
"I know. I'm a saint."
He says goodbye and hangs up. You wonder how you went from his hate-crush to his romantic counselor, then remember that your headache has not gone away, and you really need to study, and you're out of coffee. Jesus, college is the worst.
You open the window, even though your room is on the third floor and you can easily fall to your death from here. You hug the sill between your thighs and pat your pockets for your lighter.
"What are you doing?" Her voice is calm as ever, but her eyes betray her panic. "Close the window before you kill yourself."
"Oh, shoosh," you murmur around a cigarette. You find the red Bic and light up. "I just thought I'd be nice and blow smoke out there instead of in here. Jeez."
She purses her lips. Even she can't deny that you were being thoughtful, and she must be glad that you're keeping the room clean. "Well, you don't have to sit there."
"Uh-huh." You're preoccupied by the people walking the grounds below. You figure they don't have anything to study for, or else they wouldn't be milling around down there.
She fusses at you until you slide to the floor, turning your head at an awkward angle every time you need to exhale. The cigarette is helping a little. You hope that within the hour you'll be able to force feed information to your brain, no matter how painful it will be. The price you pay for knowledge, you think, sighing.
An hour and two cigarettes later, you drag yourself to your desk and unearth your notes. You can already tell this will be a long day. You try to convince yourself that it will be worth it, when one day you're this really successful surgeon, and you'll look back and be glad that you struggled through and passed your classes. But your head still hurts and you really don't feel like it.
Kanaya finishes her work at half past five, which is understandable, considering she's been at it since ten in the morning. By those calculations you'll be done by about midnight. Wonderful. What a fabulous day you've been having.
/~|~\
Your name is Eridan Ampora, and you can do this, goddammit.
But it's hard. You're trying to utilize Vriska's advice, but staying away from Feferi is like asking the sun to stay away from the sky. Fuckin' impossible. You take a deep breath and roll over. You don't care if it's late afternoon; your bed is quite comfortable.
Your roommate Equius is gone, so you take it upon yourself to mope your little heart out. Your eyes keep hopping to your phone. Half of you wants her to call, and the other half wants her to ignore you. It's very confusing and you hate your emotions.
God, you should be on a crappy TV show. Boy is in love with best friend, who doesn't feel the same. Boy hides feelings and is friend-zoned forever. Boy dies alone and miserable. You can't believe this is how your life is right now.
When the phone rings, you dive for it, reading the caller I.D. hesitantly. You don't know what to think as you hold the phone to your ear.
"Hey, Eridan!"
"Hey, Fef." You wince. Vriska's plan is falling through the cracks.
"Are you okay? You sound like you're in pain."
You silently curse yourself and answer, "No, I'm fine."
"Well, that's great to hear! I'm going out to dinner with my parents tonight, and we really want you to come."
"Um." Shit, shit, this is not what you'd expected. But this is what you want, right? For her to be your friend? Well, maybe you want something more than friendship, but this will have to do. You clear your throat. "Alright. Sounds good."
"Great! See you at my house, seven sharp."
"Great," you repeat. You are incredibly conflicted as you hang up and change into dressier clothes. Feferi's mother and father are the pinnacle of high society in your town, and should always be impressed. No jeans and a T-shirt in front of them, no sir.
What have you gotten yourself into?
/~|~\
Despite your worries, dinner goes over well, and Mr. and Mrs. Peixes are as welcoming as ever. They are practically your second parents, after all. This makes it a bit awkward for you, since you harbor romantic feelings for their daughter, but so far they have no idea. You hope.
You step out onto the lawn in front of the Peixes' immaculate home, Feferi at your side. Your car is parked on the circular drive.
"Thanks for coming over," Fef says gratefully. "When you're around they don't fight with me as much. They don't get that I don't want to run the company one day, no matter what I say."
"No problem." You lean against the hood of the car, towering over her. You don't remember when you gained so much height on her.
"Will you give me a ride back to campus?" she asks suddenly, surprising you. "My car is still there."
"Sure."
"Thanks! I just need to go change. Be right back."
She hurries back inside, and you retreat into your car with a sigh. You don't know how much more of this you can take. Friend-zone is the worst zone.
You ease the car forward as she comes into view, stopping to allow her to buckle herself in, then accelerating. The streets are as quiet and empty as ever. Your town is never exactly jumping. You don't mind all that much, especially when you're trying to think. Like now.
You're both silent. These silences are comfortable to her, but to you, they are absolutely despicable. You want to say something but don't know what to say, so you keep your eyes focused on the dark road and wait for her to speak. She doesn't. You drive all the way to S.T.U. in complete wordlessness.
You cut the engine in front of her dorm building. She has one hand on the door, but doesn't leave.
"Hey, Eridan." She glances at you shyly. "I just want to thank you for being here. I mean, I haven't been the best friend ever recently, and I'm sorry, it's just that -"
You cut her off because your lips have suddenly found their way onto hers, and wow, you can't believe it's taken you this long to do this, this is probably the greatest feeling in the world. She makes a startled noise against your mouth. Then, miraculously, she reciprocates, leaning closer to you. You almost make a startled noise of your own. Jesus christ, why haven't you been doing this all the time, it's heavenly-
She throws open the passenger door and flees to her dorm. Just like that. No words, not even eye contact. This makes you think you have royally fucked up. Your forehead presses against the steering wheel, and you stay parked there for a while. When her room's window goes black, you swallow and head for the east side of campus. It's about time you curl into a self-loathing ball under your sheets.
/~|~\
You are Vriska Serket again. You are running on about twelve minutes of sleep, but dammit, you got your studying done and you are sitting in class, ready for that test. There's a wealth of gossip today. The main piece is that Feferi is completely ignoring Eridan, which leads you to believe he didn't follow your directions. Jerk. You say nothing as he sits down in the back with you, since without Feferi on his side, there's really no one else for him to sit with.
"I tried to take your advice," he says, not looking at you. "But I fucked everythin' up."
"I can see that." You're not coddling him. He should learn to come to terms with his own failure.
"Thanks for the support," he mutters, resting his chin on his arms. "I can't believve I kissed her."
"Ooh, saucy." You nudge him with your elbow. "No wonder she's avoiding you."
He buries his face in his arms and groans incoherently. You would mess with him some more, but the professor has entered, and the test is beginning. You steel yourself. The hours of preparation you have spent had better pay off, because you still feel the ghost of that headache.
The test is by no means a breeze, but you think you'll pass well enough. Which is good. You're really glad you have the next three days without class. As you're leaving the room, feeling almost good for the first time in a while, you groan and remember you have work tonight. This revelation reminds you that you had work yesterday, too.
Fuck.
There's a missed call when you get back to your dorm, and a voicemail to go with it. The number is your boss's. Panicked now, you listen to the message with growing anxiety.
Some of it is hard to hear, but you get the gist: You've missed a lot of work recently. They have to let you go. You drop the phone on your bed. Some of your best swear words, the kind you reserve for your mother, slip out. Well, fuck. So much for your college career. The scholarship you have makes up for a lot of the expenses, but some things it can't cover, which is where your job came into play.
The job that you no longer have.
You repeat: Fuck.