Yay, new chapter! (I wrote this all today, so be proud of me!)
Many thanks to thepeopleofthecrysis, Janetissherlocked, obsessed01616, BlOo KiSsEs, and Bear for your reviews to last chapter! I appreciate them all, and most of you reassured me that my characterizations of Nepeta and Equius were spot-on, so thanks for the feedback! (It has been brought to my attention that Equius uses horse and cow puns, but the wiki page for him says "sparingly" and I trawled through about ten pages of chat logs and didn't see one, so I may sneak one or two in if the situation arises, but the conversation in the previous chapter didn't allow it.) Also, someone guessed that the character I meant to introduce based on last chapter was Tavros but... Tav appeared in Chapter Act 1! He and Gamzee are boyfriends already. ("Get Your Smile On," the Gamtav oneshot I wrote ages ago, was kind of a precursor to this. You can take that as canon for this story, though.
So, anyway, it was a different character I meant, but the boy who was confined to a wheelchair was, in fact, Tavros.
Eridan woke well before his alarm on Tuesday morning, so he allowed himself a few lazy minutes to close his eyes and not think about anything.
Naturally, the first thought that floated to the surface of his mind related to Sollux Captor, and he made a face. Now that he'd slept on it, though, the idea of revenge seemed less appealing. It was frankly childish, if he was going to admit it. Still, he almost felt honor-bound to do something, especially after the incident in the library.
He'd dropped Feferi off at her apartment building, he backtracked to campus for a book he'd been meaning to check out of the library. His Photography instructor had recommended it a few weeks back, so he'd hoped the clamor for it would have died down and he wouldn't be fighting nineteen other people for the same book.
As it turned out, he'd made the smart decision. He located it quickly in the back room of the library and flipped it open, pleased to see that the book had been checked back in that very day. Perfect. Nose already buried between the pages, his feet somehow found their way out of the back room and to the main area of the library, and he scurried to the first table he could find.
It was only ten minutes later that he saw a flash of color at the peripherals of his vision—a mustard yellow, the exact color of the shirt Sollux Captor had been wearing that day—and he looked up. Sure enough, the taller boy was slinking past him, his slim frame hunched and his head bowed low as if to avoid attracting attention. Unbidden, he heard himself call, "Hey!" although what he would have said had Sollux actually acknowledged him, he didn't know. Maybe he just wanted another look at his sworn enemy's dark brown eyes—one seemed slightly darker than the other, but he couldn't tell if it was just his imagination or an actual thing. But it didn't matter, because Captor ignored him, gliding right out of the sliding doors as though purposefully avoiding him.
There was no way he didn't see or hear him. Sollux's slight had been deliberate, and he felt a muscle in his jaw twitch at the memory. He wasn't sure why Sollux Captor annoyed him so much—all he knew was that he did. It didn't matter, he supposed. Captor had insulted his honor. That deserved retribution.
The thought spurred Eridan out of bed, and he untangled himself from his sheets. The clock on his bedside table read 6:14. Half of him wanted to flop back into bed and sleep for another hour, but the other half of him knew if he did, he wouldn't be able to get back up. Reluctantly, he stripped his sheets and tossed them in his laundry basket, making a mental note to head to the apartment's laundry room as soon as he got home from school that day. He sure as Hell didn't trust Cronus to do his laundry—he wasn't even sure when his brother even did laundry.
He grabbed his towel, shampoo, and conditioner, and headed to the bathroom for an extra-long shower. His hair didn't need scrubbing but he did it anyway—he'd probably be dyeing his hair come Friday anyway, so it didn't matter how much it faded over the next four days. He'd have to tell Fef, though. She always had to help him out with the purple streak. It was a commitment to have multicolored hair, one he could have easily discarded by dyeing over the purple with black (black covered everything, as he knew with relief from that one ill-fated attempt to dye the whole right half of his hair purple), but he liked the streak. He would feel strange without it.
As soon as he dried his hair, he got dressed in dark blue jeans (that hugged his ass rather nicely, if he said so himself), a purple T-shirt, and a black button-down shirt that he left half-unbuttoned, and went back to the bathroom to style it, noting that he still hadn't heard sounds from Cronus's room. That didn't exactly surprise him, since his brother was usually rolling out of bed as he was leaving for school, but it still unnerved him to feel alone but not actually be alone.
He made a face in the mirror as he set to work with the gel. Alone. He'd dreamed last night, but he couldn't remember of what. He had the feeling that alone had some part of it, so he mentally picked at it until nearly seven-thirty, when he went to the kitchen for his coffee. He still couldn't remember his dream, but the scalding-hot coffee shoved all other thoughts out of his head as he threw it back. He drained the first cup easily and poured most of the rest into a purple Thermos that he would most likely finish on his way to school. He eyeballed an apple in consideration and then dismissed it. He wasn't hungry first thing in the morning, and whatever emptiness he had in his stomach was filled by coffee.
He packed up his backpack, snatched his keys from the coffee table in the living room, and waved a hasty goodbye to his brother, who'd just emerged from his room with a bleary look on his face and a cigarette already in his mouth.
As always, he picked up Feferi on the way to school. She took a swig of his coffee and almost gagged. "Cod, Eridan! How can you drink that stuff?"
"Easy. Watch," he said calmly, lifting the Thermos to his lips. Used to the taste and no longer burned by the heat, he swallowed a mouthful and grinned. "It's nectar a' the 'cods,'" he quipped, using her own puns against her.
She pulled a face and shook her head. "Sometimes I just don't net you."
Eridan shook his head, too. "That was a bad one, Fef."
She giggled. "Yeah, it was, wasn't it?"
It was almost eight when they arrived at school, and over an hour until Eridan's first class started. Feferi's Sociology class began at eight-thirty, but she always kept him company in the cafeteria until she had to leave. This morning, however, he knew he wasn't very talkative.
He was distracted, making careful note of the brand of honey the school bought and keeping an eye out for Sollux Captor. The dark-skinned girl he'd been sitting with the day before was by herself today. He watched as she pulled out her phone to answer a text message and he wondered if it was from Sollux and where he was this morning. He'd always had the vague idea that he was here every morning, but today he was nowhere in sight.
"So, water we doing this weekend?" Feferi asked, grinning as she shook him out of his reverie.
"Oh. Um." He'd been taken by surprise, and for a second, his thoughts scattered like minnows. He collected himself, remembering what he'd intended to tell her. "This mess," he said, gesturing to his hair, "needs fixin'. I got roots comin' in that won't quit. I figure that's a job for Friday night an' you can decide for Saturday."
"Whale, we're going home this weekend, right? My parents missed me last weekend," she added plaintively.
Eridan nodded. "Yeah. We can leave after school on Friday."
"We should try to go to the beach on Saturday one last time, before it gets too cold," she said almost dreamily.
"I'll go with you, but I'm definitely not swimmin'." To his mind, it was already too cold for that, but she had a higher tolerance for temperature variations in the water. She would probably go swimming in December if the air wasn't too cold when she got out of the water.
She stuck her tongue out at him and turned to her phone, answering a text that had just come in.
Eridan glanced back at the girl that had been with Sollux. She'd pulled out a book that he couldn't read the title of from here, but she kept peeking up over the top of it to look around the room. Within two minutes, she was putting her book away and crossing the room to join two people he hadn't noticed before.
Where the Hell was Sollux? Eridan wondered if he was avoiding the building purposefully, knowing he'd be around. Smart move, he acknowledged, but it didn't help him. He wanted to actually see that scum, but apparently, it wasn't to happen this morning. One by one, people got up from their tables and drifted out of the cafeteria as their classes were set to begin, including Feferi, Sollux's friend, and the girl she was talking to. Only the boy remained, a tall and well-muscled boy Eridan didn't recognize.
He groaned and leaned back in his seat. There was nothing else he could do right now. He pulled out his phone and started playing a game.
After his Calculus class was let out ten minutes before their scheduled ten-thirty dismissal time, Eridan headed back to the cafeteria. His Tuesday and Thursday classes had been scheduled so he only had one class in the morning, but his class after lunch started at noon. It was the price he paid for an easy morning. He was grateful to have an hour and a half off for lunch.
He was in the middle of sending a text message to Fef as he strode down the sidewalk when he felt someone shoulder-check him going the other way. He immediately whipped around to issue a scathing remark when he saw who it was and the words died in his throat.
Oh. Even though they only locked eyes for a second or two, it was enough. It was Sollux Captor, but looking decidedly different from the day before in one crucial detail: his left eye, the one Eridan had thought to be a shade or two darker brown than the other, was blue. He must have been wearing a contact lens the day before to hide it, but now... He felt his gaze move from one eye to the other, confirming what was obvious a huge difference in color. Somehow, though, those mismatched eyes seemed to fit him. They looked natural somehow.
Sollux's eyes widened as he noted where Eridan was looking and he quickly turned away. "Fuck," he heard the taller boy mutter as he hurried away.
For a long time, Eridan stared after Sollux, watching him retreat. He couldn't say what compelled him to look long after what could have been considered normal, but he felt some tug that tried to lead him wherever Captor was heading.
The thirst for revenge, he told himself, and he headed back to the cafeteria for lunch. The sooner he struck back, the better. That way, Sollux would be able to plan his own retaliation, and then... what? He expected that Sollux would respond in kind to Eridan's opening salvo. It was what he would do if their roles were reversed. But what if he didn't? What if Captor just let it go or ignored it?
That thought bothered him, too. He sincerely hoped he'd picked a worthy adversary in Sollux Captor. Judging by his little stunt from yesterday, he assumed he had the fortitude to continue their contest of wits, but... perhaps not. He knew he'd be disappointed if his retribution didn't earn a response of its own.
just ran into sol. dude's got one blue eye an one brown eye. He realized as soon as he sent the text to Feferi that he'd assigned Captor a nickname from his collective. Feferi was "Fef," Cronus was "Cro," Karkat was "Kar," and now, apparently, Sollux was "Sol." He scoffed to himself. Hell, he might as well just start calling Terezi "Ter" while he was at it. That's where this slippery slope was headed if he maintained this behavior.
And why do I care? I have a fishy feeling you're obsessed with him.
Eridan groaned. She didn't understand! Sollux had injured his pride! all a your feelins are fishy. an i am not obsessed with him!
You sure? 38D
yes i am sure! cod why are you actin so weird? It wasn't like him to slip a fish pun in, but he didn't like where this conversation was heading and figured it was a good way to distract her. He was beginning to wish he hadn't even brought it up.
I'm just joking, carp down. 38)
He didn't like the way that smiley mocked him. It hinted that she thought he really was obsessed with Sollux Captor, and that was just ridiculous.
Another text from Feferi came in. But seriously, I do think you hurt his feelings with your comment. 38(
Eridan gritted his teeth. well even if i had a mind to apologize, which i don't, he probably wouldn't listen now
Maybe you should, though.
He was definitely not about to apologize. Amporas never apologized. He didn't answer Fef, but she was used to his moods. It wouldn't faze her.
He was halfway done with his lunch when he noted with some disinterest that a girl with bleached-blond hair and black-painted lips was looking around the cafeteria, presumably for a place to sit. She looked around and located the emptiest table (besides his—he was sure to fix a glower on his face to warn off even the most friendly of people) that had one girl at it, one with bobbed black hair and a floor-length skirt.
He scowled at his pizza and continued to... well, not sulk, because Amporas didn't sulk, either. He glared at everyone and everything, though. He couldn't rest until his pride had been avenged. Captor would pay tomorrow morning.
Someone seems to be intimately familiar with a river in Egypt.
Also, yes, Sollux was so rushed this morning that he forgot to put in his brown contact lens. *nod nod* That was intentional on my part. (THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS.)