Eridan grimaced, his eye shifting from peacefully closed to a more struggled expression. His father was pulling on his scarf again, complaining about the other choosing to wear them on the voyage. He reached up, trying to pull the scarf back, but it only enraged his father who decided to pick him up by the scarf. Eridan began to cough, clawing at the scarf vainly.

Fef woke up to the sound of…something. She wasn't sure what, a child struggling? She looked over at Nepeta, sound asleep and curled up against the pillow. "I'm sorry Nep." she whispered, pushing hair out of her eyes. With that, she was out the door. "HELLO?" she called out. No answer, except now the sound was clearly coming from…Eridan's room? She knocked, no reply of course, before she let herself in. The sight before her was terrifying. Eridan, sprawled out on his bed, a terrified and pained look evident in his face. His hands wrapped around the ends of his scarf, pulling…pulling…He was choking himself! "ERIDAN STOP!" she cried out, running over to his side and clambering onto his. She tried to unwrap his hands from the scarf, but his grip tightened if any. So she climbed on top of him, trying to get space between his neck and the scarf. She felt raised skin under her hands, she was only allowed that one second before hands ripped hers from his neck.

The feel of someone's hands touching the raised skin shook him awake, his hands grabbing into her wrists, panic filling his eyes. He panted heavily, finally able to breathe again and it took him a long moment to realize that Feferi was sitting on him, let alone the fact that he was holding onto her wrists. "F…Fef…What are you doing in here?"

Fef wasn't exactly breathing evenly herself. "You…I heard you from my room…you…" she tugged her hands a bit form him and thankfully, he let his grip slacken and drop. "You were pulling on your scarf…You almost choked yourself Eri…" she trailed off. Climbing off of him, she sat a little ways form him, pulling her knees and curling up. "I…"she swallowed. "I didn't know what to do.."

Eridan swallowed hard, sitting up before rubbed his neck underneath his scarf. "Did you…Did you see?" he asked, his body shaking ever so slightly.

Fef looked up at him, dear cod he was shaking. And he looked so scared. Fef shook her head, "I didn't sea any fin….I felt, some fin though." she admitted. She looked down at her hands, afraid to see her reaction. This had been bugging her since she saw him wear it bed…He was hiding something. "Eridan…why do you wear your scarf all the time?"

He wasn't looking forward to this at all. But he was sure he couldn't hide it from her anymore. He moved his hands up to the scarf, noticing how badly he was trembling. He swallowed hard, unwinding the fabric from his neck, revealing the long scar on the side of his neck, just shy of his jugular vein. "This is why."

Her jaw slowly dropped, a gasp escaping. Among the marks his scarf made on his neck, the raised flesh she had felt was a scar along the right of his throat a little above his collar bone. She scooted closer to him, reaching her hand out. "May I?" she asked.

He didn't like the idea, but before his brain could tell his body so, he took her hand and pressed it over the scar, releasing it once he had. "This…this is why Gamzee is my Kismesis." he said softly, closing his eyes.

Trying to be feather-light, she traced over his scar a couple times. It was old, long since healed, shallow too. Eridan was lucky, so lucky given how close it was to the jugular. Her hand that was tracing the scar settled on top of it, covering it as she looked up at him. Gamzee did this? "What happened?"

"He…He was always prone to fits when he was growing up…they got worse as sweeps went by." he explained. "He befriended a troll who we later learned was a mutant blood. When my father found out, he cast the troll and his father form our kingdom. Gam…he lost it after that." he trailed off for a while.

This wasn't good at all. Why did his father have to- never mind that. He needed to find Gamzee and see if he was alright. Then he could try to think of the why's and the how's and the like. That nubby troll…of any of the people he knew, he was the last troll who deserved to be culled for his blood color. How did blood even mutate to a candy red color? Again, it wasn't important. He passed by the open kitchen doors and did a double take. "Gam?" the six sweep old male called out, stepping into the kitchen. Said male, half a sweep older than himself, had his back to Eridan as he slowly approached him.

Footsteps…the smell…that stinking, overpowering smell…It was Eridan. A high blood…blood…dripping from his fingers…little cuts on one hand…a knife in the other…when did it become so bloody? "hey Eridan. Everything going okay for you? Course, everything always does, you're a high blood. A MOTHERFUCKING HIGHBLOOD!" His vision started to spin and shift, he saw other colors of personally known blood appear on his hands and on the counter. Candy red, differing only slightly to show whose was Karkat's and whose was Jade's, some unfortunate low blood maids. Such pretty colors, he had to give them that. "you know Eridan, I've been getting my think on. I FINALLY GOT MY MOTHERFUCKING UNDERSTANDING ON TO WHAT MAKES THE MOTHERFUCKING WORLD GO ROUND." He turned around and swung the knife, getting his purple blood all over Eridan's face.

Eridan flinched, his eyes sliding shut as the liquid hit his face. His eyes opened back up carefully and he reached up, touching the blood that hit him. "Gam…why are you bleedin?" he asked, taking a hesitant step closer to the other. "Gam, I wanted to find you to help calm you down." Did Gamzee know that Karkat was said to be culled? Was that why he was like this?

Gamzee tilted his head, cracking it and jumping up on the counter. "calm me down? I AM MOTHERFUCKING CALM. Calmer than I've been in sweeps You hear Karbros no longer gonna walk this planet. I DID, I KNOW ALL ABOUT THAT MOTHERFUCKING PLAN. Know why? I'LL TELL YOU. Blood, all because of his blood. MOTHER FUCKING." He swung his blade in a circle, spraying blood all over the place. "our parents didn't like his blood, doesn't fit on the spectrum. KARBRO'S WASN'T INCLUDED IN CONDENSE'S MOTHER FUCKING STUPID SPECTRUM. Karbro's a supposed freak, because of the mutating in his veins. Know who else had his color? HIS CANDY RED BLOOD COLOR? Jade. Know what happened to her? COLLAPSED FROM SICKNESS." He was rocking back and forth now, holding the knife to his chest like a precious item. "You know she still had some years ahead of her? If she got treated correctly? BUT SHE DIDN'T. Know why? Bros 'bove us denied her troll medical care. MEDICAL CARE THAT COULD DONE HAVE SAVED HER. But she was a human and candy red, double whammy. WHAT DOES THE SPECTRUM HAVE AGAINST CANDY RED? I like that color. DO YOU LIKE THAT COLOR?" he jammed the knife into the wood and dragged it along, making a dent.

Eridan felt the need to run, but found himself unable to anything of the sort. "Gam…we need have to follow what they want. We can't oppose them, unless we want to get culled as well." he explained. How did Karkat manage to calm him down from these things? He didn't understand. He braved the last few steps closer to the other, daring to place a hand on his shoulder. "It's…it's going to be alright."

With fast reaction time, he pulled knife out of the counter and slashed Eridan's shirt, right across his heart. No blood drew, but Gamzee could see fain, faint veins in his swimming vision. Veins that carried blood. "Now that I think on it. I don't know your color. OF COURSE YOU'RE A HIGHBLOOD, YOU SPOILED MOTHERFUCKING BRAT. But how high is the color running through those veins. I WANT TO GET THAT MOTHERFUCKING KNOWING." he jumped off the counter and was toe to toe with the smaller troll, tracing the exposed veins with the tip of the knife.

Eridan took a staggering step back, grabbing the counter behind him to catch himself so he wouldn't fall. He was already vulnerable enough, he didn't need to make himself more so. "Gam, mine is Maroon-Purple. Not much higher than yours." he said, knife over his veins starting to cause panic to sink into his legs and weigh them down. "Now you know, and you can put the knife down."

Gamzee grinned, the point where his eyes twitched. "But knowing is half the battle. HALF OF THE MOTHERFUCKING BATTLE. Seeing is the other half. I NEED TO SEE IT. I want to see it. SEE IT SPILL ON THE FLOOR, SPLATTERED THE WALLS. Show me, show me. SHOW ME YOUR MOTHERFUCKING BLOOD." he screamed, holding the knife up to swing down.

Eridan winced, having to stop there for a moment, the scar feeling like it was burning again. "Then he cut my neck., it was shallow because he had dulled it form jamming it into the counter," he said, trying to breathe evenly.

Feferi felt her heart just plummet down, a lump rising to her throat. She traced over the scar again. "Does it hurt?" she asked.

"When I think too much about it." he said. "But, it's a scar…so the pain is all in my head." he added.

She swallowed hard, "Is this…is this why you always wear this?" she asked, picking up the scarf and running a hand along it.

He nodded a bit. "Now anyway. I wore them before sometimes, but now.." he closed his eyes. "I can't even look at myself in the mirror without it."

"OH Eridan." That tore her, what in the glub ever possessed Gamzee to that to him? Something was seriously wrong with that troll. If he hadn't dulled the knife or…she shook her head, no use thinking about it now. She looked up from the scarf, but he was looking at his hands. He looked a lot…smaller without his scarf on. And he wasn't wearing his glasses. He looked so…exposed. She set the scarf aside and leaned in. "Tilt your head back?" she asked.

He gave her a wary look, but tilted his head back after a moment. "What…what are you going to do? He asked, his worry showing in his voice.

She answered by placing one hand on his shoulder and the other one on the back of his neck. She closed the distance and pressed her lips against his scar. She felt him tense up but didn't pull away. So she lifted her lips and pressed down again until she kissed every part of his scar. She pulled so she was eye to eye with him, her hands moving to lay on his chest. "The salt will kelp it heal. And." her cheeks warmed and she couldn't look at him now. "The scar. It doesn't take away from you at all. I still sink you're….reely nice looking." she murmured.

Eridan's eyes widen at that and he swallowed hard, purple-maroon flooding into his face once the panic faded. "I…thank you Fef." he said, looking away. "I don't know…how you could think that though..."

She shrugged, giggling a bit. Then she pulled him into a hug, nuzzling the scarred skin She noted that she had always nuzzled that spot before but there was always the scarf present but now it was on the bed away from his neck. "I don't know, I just do." she whispered against his skin.

He tried to hide the light cringe he gave at the nuzzling his now bare skin, managing not to panic this time. "I guess I should be grateful that you accept the scar," he murmured.

"Of coralse I do. You're still the same Eridan to me. Besides, girls have a weakness for scars." she giggled.

That surely threw him for a loop. "Really?" he asked, looking to her. Maybe that was why he hadn't been able to land a mate sprit…

"Well, at least I am. It's a sign you survived some fin big and you did. You were trying to kelp Gamzee but he attacked you." she explained. "It's…a little concerning to sink that if he had just…..hit the main vein or some fin…" her grip tightened on him.

Eridan nodded, pulling back form her to wrap his scarf around his neck. "That was all I could think about for a while after it happened.." he replied.

Fef stopped him before he could finish wrapping the scarf, holding onto his hand. "Um…Sink you could leave it off tonight? I don't want you to choke again/" she said. Wearing scarves to bed was not a good idea in the first place.

Eridan hesitated before sighing deeply, placing the scarf on his night stand. He couldn't manage to say no to her could he?

Fef smiled at him, the flopped on the bed. "Thank you~ Shell we sleep now?" she giggled, looking back up at him.

Eridan laid back down beside her. "If you would like, Fef." he offered. Perhaps if she fell asleep first, he could at least lay the scarf over his neck.

Fef snuggled up to him, placing a hand over his scar. "If you get anymore nightmares, it'll be okay. I'll hold you till the bad visions go away. The least I can do to pay back a fraction of the kindness you've showed me." she said, her face flushing and her hand moving up to cup her face.

Eridan felt his face flush and he nodded, closing his eyes and leaning into her touch.

Fef leaned in and pressed a kiss in the center of his throat before settling against his chest. "Goodnight Eridan." she yawned, closing her eyes.

He swallowed hard. "Good night Fef." he replied, closing his eyes.