It had been a month. Surprisingly, Sollux had enjoyed himself.
He'd have been lying if he said he didn't look forward to the morning routine of bickering about what to eat for breakfast. He liked arguing about whether or not honey should be included with tea. He liked making Eridan drink tea instead of the horrid coffee the hipster guzzled down every morning.
"C'mon, ED, you can't pretend thith ith not the betht tea you've ever had."
"It's pretty shitty, Sol. An' frankly, I don't knoww howw you can stomach stuff this gross."
"You're such an uncultured aththhole."
He'd be lying if he said he didn't love watching Eridan yell and become over-emotional when he forced Sollux to watch "What Not To Wear" every Friday. He found it utterly hilarious when Eridan would shout at the screen and demand he be hired onto the show. It was even funnier whenever Eridan became so frustrated he would sniffle and eat a tub of icecream as a means of making himself feel better.
"Her sense a fashion is just horrid, Sol. You havve no idea. She makes you look like some kind a model."
"What, tho you're thaying I'm not the thexietht and motht good-looking guy in the world? Maybe you really are blind, theriouthly."
"You'vve got a cute face, but once you open your mouth forget it, Sol."
"You're thuch a thaththy thathth-mathter."
"Wwhat did you just call me?"
"Thaththy."
"Sassy? Oh cod, Sol, please don't say that evver again."
He'd belying is said he hated having someone to play Mario Kart with at three in the morning. He was a natural insomniac, and often nights he'd stay up coding. However, he now had someone to wake up and ask to play a video game with him.
At first, it had been difficult. He really didn't want to bother Eridan at three in the morning, because he definitely knew the frustration of being woken up.
"Hey, ED?"
A groan and the ridiculously purple sheets on the guest bed shifted. "Wwhat the fuck do you wwant."
"Want to play thome Mario Kart?"
"Wwhy the fuck wwould I play Mario Kart at three a.m.?"
"Why not?"
And then the two of them had ended up playing Mario Kart until it was time for Sollux to go to work. Both of them argued, and pushed each other, and sometimes they would try and insult the other in an attempt to win; but each time Sollux came out successful. However, Eridan never decided he'd had enough, even when his butt was always kicked after every race.
Sollux wouldn't be lying if he said he was surprised how easily they got along. Their schedules seemed to wrap perfectly around each other. Sollux would come home from work, and he'd finish coding for his side jobs for a while. Shortly after, Eridan would arrive home from the job he had picked up at the local library.
They would take turns complaining about the day's events; Sollux's usually revolving around the serial killers on the third floors, and Eridan's revolving around an annoying blond girl with knitting needles that refused to leave the library until closing time.
"An' Kan nevver tells her to leavve because I'm pretty sure she's got the biggest crush on the girl!" Eridan had wailed.
"I think you jutht don't get along with Kanaya and that'th why you have thuch in iththue with the blonde chick," Sollux had pointed out.
"Oh yeah? Wwell at least I havve a reason to dislike her, unlike you! You just havve these wweird theories about some guy you don't evven knoww!"
"I thwear GZ ith thome kind of therial killer, and when he'th after you it'th not gonna be my problem."
Despite how well they got along, Sollux couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. His chances at a relationship with Eridan seemed to be at a moot point. They hadn't gone on any dates, hadn't done anything close to romantic within a month of living together.
Not that I actually care, Sollux thought bitingly.
To an extent, he really didn't care. He was fine with where they stood, but a part of him couldn't help but wish for more. He was fine with being friends, but he was even more fine with being more than friends. Regardless, Sollux had decided he definitely wasn't going to press on the matter.
It was when his phone began blaring through the apartment on Saturday that reality crashed on him.
He had been sleeping, strewn across the floor underneath the coffee table. Blankets pooled around him, and a playstation controller was clutched halfheartedly in his hand. He jerked into an upright position, and hissed out a string of curse words when his head made contact with the cool glass the table.
He stumbled across the room, muttering under his breath about the ways he was going to tell off whoever was calling him this early. He snatched the phone off of the island and shoved the ice cold device to his ear.
"What?" he snapped.
"Geez, Solly, someone hasn't changed a bit when it comes to being a morning person." The bright voice warbled through the speakers. It held a slight teasing tone, and was just barely covered by the clang of dishes in the background.
"Ma?"
"Who else?"
Sollux tightened his grip on the phone. The sleep had vanished from his eyes, and the fog in his mind had finally cleared. "How've you been?"
It was then he felt like the biggest jerk in the world. He had forgotten all about his mother and brother at home. He'd forgotten to send the checks he usually sent every two weeks. He'd forgotten his responsibilities.
He suddenly felt like the biggest piece of trash in the world.
"Ma, I'm real thorry about forgetting to thend the checkth for the patht few weeks," he blurted. He knew his mother had been talking, but he didn't have the patience for small talk. "I'll thend it thoon, I promithe."
There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Sollux held his breath, waiting patiently for his mother to lay into him.
Instead, he was given something entirely different. "Oh really, Solly, no need to rush. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?" As usual, his mother's voice was warm and accepting.
He was tempted to say yes. He hadn't seen his brother or his mother for a while now, and he did miss them. Mituna was most likely going stir crazy over not seeing him in so long, and Mom was probably equally as stir crazy. Mituna could give someone a hard time when he wanted something.
However, there was still Eridan. He knew he couldn't leave Eridan here alone. He knew Eridan would whine and complain about not having anything to do on their day off. Both of them had worked all week, and last night had been the Lord of the Rings marathon Sollux had decided they'd needed to watch.
Eridan had poor taste in movies, anyway. He would've chosen Lifetime movies all night, and Sollux had wanted to keep his Chinese food in his stomache.
"Ma, can I bring thomeone?" Sollux asked.
His mother's voice rang sharp and clear with an unmistakable tone of excitement. "Of course! Is it a girlfriend? Boyfriend? How long have you known them?"
Sollux had never had much of a problem when the subject of sexuality was brought up with his mother. She was always generally accepting of everyone, and it was no problem for her to accept Sollux. He had never outright told her his preferences; he had always figured if he liked someone enough, it wouldn't matter what gender he was interested in. He had never labeled himself in those terms, and his mother was rather understanding of that fact.
He didn't know what to tell her. He and Eridan obviously were not, by any means, together. They had gone out once, but that didn't constitute as a boyfriend. They lived together, but only as friends.
"He'th jutht a friend, ma."
A huff echoed through the speakers. "Well, friend or not, let him know that dinner starts in exactly two hours. You two better be on time!" she said indignantly.
Sollux fought the urge to roll his eyes. "It'th like, five in the morning. What do you mean-"
"Solly, have you been sleeping all day?" she squawked angrily. "You know it's almost three thirty!"
He paused. They had definitely slept a lot longer than he had suspected. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, mulling over that thought in his head. "We'll be on time," he promised.
It took a few more minutes of cajoling and extra promising before his mother finally let him off the hook. With a sigh, Sollux set the phone back into its place on the island. He shuffled his way over to the living room to wake up Eridan.
Eridan was a sleeping mass of blankets on top of the couch. His glasses were tossed haphazardly onto the ground, and it was a surprise they had survived the night. Sollux tugged back the blankets and had to fight back a laugh at the sight of Eridan. His hair stuck up in tufts of purple and dark brown hair. His mouth hung open slightly, and Sollux could swear there was a slight line of drool across his cheek.
"ED, get the hell up," Sollux demanded.
No response. Eridan continued to be strewn across the couch as if his sole purpose was taking up all the space on the couch.
"ED, theriouthly. I'm not kidding. Rithe and shine."
Sollux leaned down and hook his fists into Eridan's shirt. He tugged harshly, shaking Eridan's whole frame.
Eridan's eyes flew open. His gaze was hazy and unfocused, although his irritation didn't fail to show through. "Wwhat the hell, Sol? I'm tryin' to sleep!" he slurred. His voice was thick, and his words scratched over Sollux's ears.
"You need to get dreththed and make yourthelf thomewhat attractive. It'th almotht four," Sollux snapped irritably.
Eridan turned his face into the pillows and let out a huff of annoyance. "It's Saturday, Sol. Wwe don't havve anywwhere to go an' I can sleep for howwevver long I wwant."
Sollux paused. He tried to keep the guilty expression from sitting on his face. "Uh, funny thing," he began. "We're going to dinner."
It took less than a millisecond for Sollux to realize what his words had just implied. He noticed the hopeful, yet shocked, look in Eridan's eyes, and he noticed the way Eridan almost leapt from the couch and to the shower.
"With my mom," Sollux blurted. Trying to fight off a blush, he sent a nervous gaze toward Eridan. "She invited me over, and it'th been forever thinthe I went to thee them."
Eridan's face had morphed from hope to one of unreadable emotion. Sollux was sure that whatever Eridan was feeling he was definitely hiding it. "Alright I guess," he conceded. "Do wwe get to eat something besides ramen and honey?"
Sollux scoffed at Eridan. "Yeah, she cookth shitty theafood jutht for you, ED. Becauthe that ith tho deliciouth."
"Glad you see it my wway, Sol. Maybe you're not as hopeless as I thought you wwere."
"You're tho full of it, I thwear."
It took a few more minutes of banter before Sollux was able to coax Eridan into getting off the couch completely. After he had finished shoving Eridan into the bathroom, Sollux made his way back to the living room. He began picking up the various blankets scattered about the room. There were multiple bottles of Mountain Dew and Cheetos bags strewn around, and he had to wonder just what they'd been doing last night.
He remembered watching Lord of the Rings. He remembered telling Eridan to shut up and that he would suffocate Eridan with his scarf if he didn't. He could remember Eridan throwing a Cheeto at him, and he could definitely remember having a contest to see whom could catch more Cheetos in their mouth than the other.
He didn't, however, remember chugging that many liters of Mountain Dew.
He didn't even drink Mountain Dew.
It didn't take long for he and Eridan to both grab showers. Sollux had finished getting dressed rather quickly. Unfortunately, Eridan was not that quick. He was still in the bathroom, most likely doing his hair, and singing obnoxiously.
"ED, c'mon!" Sollux called through the door. "We have to leave."
"Just one minute, Sol. I swwear, just because you don't try an' look attractive doesn't mean I can let myself go," Eridan's reply was muffled from the door.
"I don't have to work to be thith thexy and you know it," Sollux retorted. He paused a moment, letting his words sink in. "Now hurry up, I want dinner."
"I wwonder wwhy you're alwways actin' like you havve a stick up your ass," Eridan snipped.
Sollux huffed in frustration and flopped against the door. He crossed his arms, fixing a scowl onto the potted plant sitting next to the couch. "Jutht hurry up already. I'm going to grow a beard thoon."
The door was abruptly yanked open, and Sollux went sprawling backwards. He was cut off mid-shout as he collided into Eridan's unsuspecting figure, and the two of them went spiraling backwards. Thankfully, Eridan latched onto the door in an attempt to keep himself upright, stopping themselves from hitting the ground.
Sollux glanced up at Eridan, eyes wide. He pushed himself off of the other and attempted to straighten himself again. "The heck, ED?" Sollux snapped.
He knew it wasn't Eridan's fault. He knew that blaming Eridan could seriously piss the other off. He wasn't stupid. However, he'd rather be dead than be seen as an idiot in anyone's eyes. He hated when things were his fault, it was that simple.
Eridan simply rolled his eyes. He knew he was being blamed when he wasn't at fault; it was one of Sollux's favorite things to do. "Geez, Sol, I thought evven you wwould remember that your door opens inwward," he taunted.
Sollux fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Whatever, aththhole."
It wasn't long before the two of them were walking down the main street and towards Sollux's mother's house. They walked in silence, and Sollux found it all quite comfortable.
However, he wasn't able to rid himself of a feeling of dread that settled deep inside of him. He hated to admit it, but he was afraid. He had no idea how Eridan would react to meeting his family. He didn't know if Eridan would be accepting toward his mother and older brother; the subject of a family was still a bit sore for Eridan on account of his father.
He had no idea how Eridan would feel about the onslaught of questions that were sure to be directed toward him. He didn't know, and he hated not knowing.
"Hey, ED," Sollux began slowly. "If you get thick of them, jutht let me know and we can leave."
Eridan sent Sollux an amused glance. "Look, Sol, I'm sure it wwon't be that bad," he chided.
Sollux raised a suspicious eyebrow towards Eridan. "And why do you thay that?"
"No one is a bigger asshole than you are, I mean really."
Sollux rolled his eyes, but he was unable to keep the small smile from slipping onto his face. "If it helpth, no one ith a bigger douchebag than you are either," he pointed out helpfully.
He was rewarded with an indignant snort from the other beside him. "Howw am I a douchebag?"
"Your thcarf practically thcreamth douche-canoe. C'mon, ED," Sollux taunted. He was unable to hide the teasing grin that slipped over his lips as they walked.
Eventually, they had made it to his mother's house without killing each other. Sollux knocked on the door lightly, pretending to be casual. He pretended not to notice the way Eridan shifted uncomfortably, and the way Eridan's hands quickly brushed over his hair in a last attempt at looking presentable.
Sollux didn't have time to tell Eridan that he looked fine and having one hair out of place wouldn't kill him. The door had flown open, and his mother stood in all of her 5'2'' glory. She smiled brightly up at the two of them and quickly ushered them inside.
She continued talking, and talking, and talking, as they were led into the kitchen. Sollux slipped off his jacket, and snatched Eridan's before the other could protest to hang on the hooks in the hallway. He could hear his mother talking about the latest events, and he could hear Eridan sliding one of the chairs out to sit on.
He felt his stomache tighten with nerves. He was almost positive by now that Eridan would deem his family crazy and leave. Eridan would be frightened, and as soon as they'd return home he would demand to move out and never see Sollux again.
It took every ounce of courage to walk back into the kitchen to where his mother and Eridan were. However, he forced himself to do it, forced himself to take each step forward, because he knew there was no going back.
Despite his worst fears, Sollux was mildly surprised at the sight before him. Eridan was sitting at the island, chin propped in hand, and a small smile flitted across his face as he stared at Sollux's mother. His mother was laughing, simultaneously drying a few plates that had been sitting in the dish drainer. They seemed to be getting along.
Eridan didn't look like he was going to flee the country.
Sollux made his way inside of the kitchen and took a seat next to Eridan. He pretended not to notice the warm smile that Eridan sent him when he sat down. "Hey, Ma," Sollux greeted.
His mother turned to gaze at him, a wide smile set permanently on her face. "Eridan is just precious, Solly! Why haven't you brought him around before?" she boasted. She set down a cup of steaming hot tea in front of Sollux, and moved towards the coffee maker. "Eri, your coffee will done in a few. If I had known you liked coffee I'd have had some ready."
She liked him. She'd already given Eridan a nickname.
Sollux snickered slightly to himself. "Eri?" he quoted quietly.
Eridan smirked and shoved Sollux's shoulder. "Don't be so mean, Solly."
Sollux rolled his eyes but averted his gaze as a blush rose to his cheeks. He had been hoping Eridan wouldn't pick up on that.
It wasn't as bad as Sollux had thought it would be. He was glad he'd brought Eridan to dinner with him. His mother seemed to think Eridan was God's gift to the world, and he was glad when Eridan had mentioned how kind his mother was.
The feeling of dead in his stomache had now been replaced with a feeling of insatiable warmth.
"Oh gosh, it's getting late. You two stay here, I'm going to go out back and see if Tuna and his girlfriend are done playing," his mother announced. She wiped her hands on the edge of her apron and briskly walked out of the kitchen.
It was quite for a moment. "Wwho's Tuna?" Eridan asked confusedly.
Sollux sent a wavering smile towards Eridan. "My older brother."
Eridan gave him a questioning glance, but didn't say any more on the matter. His eyes skidded over the contents of the kitchen; the mismatching appliances, the painted cupboards, and the little trinkets in the shape of bees. It was obvious that Sollux and his family were anything but rich, and Eridan found himself wishing for a childhood a lot like this.
He loved the idea of a warm home and a loving mother that he could tell everything to. He loved the idea of sitting around the kitchen table and eating dinner together every night. He loved the thought of sharing the day's events and knowing that his mother would be there to help him with any problems he encountered.
It was at times like these that Eridan really missed his mother.
He decided not to think about what he could have had at the moment, and he instead opted to push away those thoughts. His gaze traveled to the refrigerator. It was decorated with many badly drawn pictures of skateboards and video games- things he'd expect from a home of two boys. However, the front of the refrigerator was what caught his eye.
There seemed to be multiple report cards hanging haphazardly down the front of it. All of them were hanging onto the white surface just barely with magnets and tape. He stared at the slips of paper, counting which ones he knew belonged to Sollux and which ones seemed to belong to the mysterious older brother.
He couldn't exactly place it, but something seemed entirely off to him.
"Hey, Sol," Eridan said absently. He never moved his gaze from the fridge. "Howw come there's only-"
"Sollux brought his friend over? How come I can't bring Tulip over then?"
Eridan's gaze was torn from the refrigerator and over to the tall boy standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His eyes quickly took in the dark mass of hair, the oversized striped shirt, and the troubled frown. If Eridan looked hard enough, he almost resembled Sollux. However, he seemed to give off a more child-like vibe, and Eridan was sure his personality was nothing like Sollux.
Sollux's mother smiled warmly in Eridan's direction. "Tuna, this is Eridan. He's Solly's new friend," she said.
Again, her voice seemed to throw Eridan off kilter. Her tone was different, something seemed off. Eridan believed he could almost detect a hint of sympathy, maybe worry.
He turned a questioning gaze to Sollux, and he was given no response from the other. Sollux's back was straight in the chair, and his hands clenched slightly from tension.
"Hith name ith Mituna. Not Tuna," Sollux ground out through clenched teeth.
Eridan offered a weak wave toward the boy, the smile never leaving his face. "Hello," he said politely. "I'm Eridan."
The smile that bloomed across Mituna's face seemed to light up the room. Eridan was sure that if he were to ever see Sollux smile, and he meant really and truly smile, it would have the almost same effect as Mituna's did.
Mituna waved back broadly and took his seat across from the two of them.
The rest of dinner passed by rather quickly. For the most part, Sollux was silent and said nothing. His face was drawn, and he was receding into himself at an increasing rate. He had forgotten about Eridan having to meet Mituna. He had forgotten about the fact that his older brother wasn't actually his older brother anymore, and he forgot that trying to explain something like that usually left him in tears. He forgot that Eridan would have to interact with Mituna and be offended that there was something wrong with him. He'd forgotten about all of it, and now everything was coming back to bite him.
Thankfully, though, Eridan and his mother continued talking about a variation of things. She pestered him constantly about where he'd gotten his hair done, what he liked to do, if he was friends with Karkat, why he was friends with Sollux in the first place, how they met, and what he wanted to do with his life. Surprisingly, Eridan answered all of these questions with ease.
Sollux noticed how Eridan carefully avoided talking about his career and his family. He noticed the small twitch of Eridan's hand when his mother brought up "possibly knowing your parents." He noticed the smooth lie that stumbled out of the other's lips that claimed they had moved here only recently, and that she probably wouldn't know them because of the country they were from.
All of this then preceded his mother gushing about her love for Eridan's accent. She pointed out that his voice was rare, and she was surprised to have never heard such an accent before.
Sollux couldn't tell if she was lying or not. He definitely knew Eridan's accent had to be fake; there was no such thing as an accent that had a weird quirk for w's.
Eridan seemed to take it all in stride, however. He smiled and laughed and conversed back and forth with Sollux's mother. It was almost a second nature to him, and Sollux couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Eridan's mother.
Eventually, they were walking back to their apartment. Eventually, it was all over, and Sollux could go back to pretending like he didn't have an older brother that didn't act like his older brother.
As they were about to cross the street, a cold hand wrapped itself around Sollux's hand and tugged him backwards. He glanced up at Eridan questioningly. "What?" he asked. His voice was harsh and bitter, like he knew what was coming.
Here it was. This was the moment Eridan would tell him his family was ridiculous and that he wanted no part in it. This was the moment he'd been waiting for all night.
Eridan shifted awkwardly, but he never loosened his grip on Sollux's hand. "Your brother," he began slowly.
Sollux could feel his heart in his throat. He was ready to puke, to cry, to do whatever it would take to make himself feel better.
"Wwhy is it you havve more report cards on the fridge than him?" Eridan asked. "I mean, sure, you wwere pretty good in science, but no offense, Sol, you sucked at evverythin' else."
Sollux swallowed the lump in his throat and glanced away from Eridan. "Thothe were the only report cardth he had."
"Wwhat do you mean?" Eridan tilted his head in confusion.
Sollux huffed, attempting to keep the stinging in his eyes to a minimum. "He never finished thchool," he said flatly.
"Wwhy?" Eridan's voiced seemed even more confused than before.
"He had a head injury when he wath twelve.
