"Motherfucker!"
Eridan awoke from his nap on the couch with a start and heard Psiion's frightened squeak at being awoken from where she had been dozing on his chest. He looked around to find out why he was hearing his matesprit's angry voice ringing out through the hive.
"Shit! Fuck!"
The Aquarius sat up in confusion as Psiion scampered down his chest and onto the couch cushions. "Sol?" he called out wondering what had gotten the other troll so upset. It clearly hadn't been him since he had been sleeping. He felt a slight prickle in the air that told him psionics were in use nearby.
"Jutht give me a fucking minute!" Sollux shouted from down the hall. "I'm too fucking pithed to leave thith room right now!"
"What happened? What's goin' on?" Eridan stood from the couch and picked up Psiion to carry her to the nursery figuring she would probably be hungry by this time. He set her down and she immediately took off after a nearby bug so he closed the door to the room and followed Sollux's angry noises into the office. "Sol?"
"Get out ED," Sollux warned as soon as he noticed Eridan had entered the room.
"Not until you tell me what in the bloody hell crawled up your ass an' died," Eridan demanded.
"I am going to end up doing thomething thtupid or hurting you if you don't jutht leave me alone until I can get calmed down," the Gemini said through gritted teeth as his psionics crackled around him.
"Well what-" Eridan paused when he finally saw what was around Sollux. The psionic had his computer pulled out from under his desk and his bees were buzzing around the room freely instead of busily working on powering the device. Nearly all of the wires to the computer lay in severed pieces under the desk. "Oh."
"Yeah, 'Oh'," Sollux snapped back sarcastically.
"How'd that happen?" Eridan asked apprehensively.
"Oh you mean how did all of the wireth get chewed through with a tiny thet of teeth? Gee, ED, I have no fucking clue!" Sollux raged. Eridan remained silent unsure of what to say next. "That'th why I jutht need to thtay in here until I calm down. I have to fix all this shit anywayth," he grumbled and turned back to his mess of a computer to set to work on it. Eridan sighed and left Sollux alone as he had requested. He returned to the nursery and found his grub playing in the shallow pool of water.
"Psiion," he called her name to get her attention. The tiny violet blood chirped and crawled up onto the ledge of the pool as he came to sit on the floor beside it. He cast a glance over at the two eggs that still sat motionless in the water and he felt his blood pusher clench.
"Psi," he began unsure of how to actually say what he wanted to say. "You've managed to really piss your other dad off. Let me just go ahead an' tell you right now that the rule of thumb is to never under any circumstances touch any a' Sol's computer stuff unless you are prepared to suffer the consequences. Do you understand?" he asked. Psiion furrowed her brow at his serious tone and squeaked. Eridan gave her a smile and petted her head, "I know you didn't know what you were doin'." The young grub squeaked again. Eridan thought he felt something on the grub's head when he patted her and felt around over her hair experimentally. Sollux entered the room looking exasperated.
"What are you doing?" Sollux asked when he noticed the Aquarius parting Psiion's hair and inspecting her scalp.
"I thought I felt somethin' on her head," Eridan muttered as he continued to inspect. Psiion kept trying to move away from her parent's ministrations. "I think she's got another set a' horns comin' in," Eridan finally said in surprise.
"What? Really?" Sollux asked as he approached the two to get a look for himself.
"I mean, that's what it looks like don't you think?" the sea troll asked and held Psiion's hair away from an area of her scalp. The little grub squirmed impatiently.
"Hold thtill," Sollux told her as he ran a finger over the small protrusion on her scalp. "Yeah it doeth feel like it," he agreed. "I gueth we'll jutht have to keep an eye on it to be sure."
"How are you doin'?" Eridan asked as he finally let the grub go free. Psiion hurried off to go hunt down a bug.
"Well I don't feel like blowing anything up anymore," Sollux shrugged.
"I had a talk with her," Eridan said. "I think she understood."
"Good. Now you watch her while I finish fixing my computer," Sollux said giving Eridan a smirk.
"Fine I will watch her and I bet we won't even have to buy another coffee maker afterwards like when some people are responsible for watchin' her," Eridan retorted.
"Yeah good luck with that ED," Sollux laughed and left the room to return to the office.
"Whatever," Eridan grumbled. "Come on Psi let's go in the other room an' I'll read to you. How's that sound?" Psiion scrambled over at the sound of her name and looked up at Eridan with an insect wing sticking out of her mouth. "I really hope you aren't this uncouth after you've molted," he grimaced at the sight. The grub swiped her tongue out and licked the remains of her snack off her mouth. Eridan shuddered then picked her up to carry her the rest of the way into the living room. He brought her over to one of his bookshelves and began browsing the titles.
"What should I read to you?" he asked. "I guess I could start educatin' you on the history of Alternia's military. Or maybe you would just want to hear about the most notable heroes of war throughout history? What do you think?" he looked down at her to get an answer but only received a blank dual toned stare. "War heroes it is then," he decided and took the book from the shelf. He carried it and Psiion over to the couch to get comfortable. The tiny violet blood looked at the book in Eridan's ringed hands with interest. She sat still and listened until midway into the preface and then she started slowly crawling to the other side of the couch. It wasn't until he was about to begin reading chapter one that Eridan noticed Psiion was no longer beside him. He turned to see her on top of the back of the couch looking down between the couch and the wall.
"And just what do you think you're doin'?" Eridan questioned. "You're supposed to be learnin' valuable information from this book." Psiion looked back at Eridan then glanced at the book then looked back at him then turned her attention back to the space between the couch and the wall. She readied herself then jumped down into the crevice emitting an excited squeak on the way down.
"Psi?" Eridan asked in alarm and tried to look down where she had jumped but before he knew it she was crawling out from under the couch and scurrying off somewhere else.
"ED!" Sollux called from the office.
"What?" Eridan asked getting up from the couch and going to the office doorway to see what the lower blooded troll wanted.
"Kanaya called on your Trollian but I mithed it. Take the husktop and call her back from the other room," Sollux told him from underneath his desk.
"Yeah alright," Eridan said and stepped into the room to grab the husktop. He returned to the living room and set the husktop on the coffee table to turn it on. He had just logged into Trollian when he suddenly realized Psiion still wasn't in the room. "Psi?" he called out into the room while he walked around looking for her.
"Everything alright?" Sollux asked when Eridan walked by the open door to the office.
"Everythin' is fine, Sol," Eridan snapped. He peeked into the ablution block and found Psiion on top of the load gaper unrolling the entire roll of load gaper paper from where it was affixed on the wall. "Come here, you," Eridan said to her picking her up and attempting to roll the paper back up. Once he deemed it good enough he brought her back out into the living room and sat down with her on the couch.
"Let's see what Kan wants," he said to her while clicking the video call button. Psiion wiggled free from his grasp and climbed up his arm, around to his back, then up his neck onto his head. She perched herself comfortably between his horns and watched the husktop screen as Kanaya answered.
"Good evening, Eridan," the jade blood greeted. After a moment she noticed the little grub on top of Eridan's head and chuckled. "Hello to you too, Psiion," she added. The tiny violet blood squeaked happily.
"Sorry I missed your call, Kan," Eridan said.
"That is quite alright. I was merely checking up on how things are going with the little one," Kanaya said smiling up at the grub that seemed to be watching her with interest.
"She's a handful, that's for certain," Eridan sighed. "Um, actually Kan, I did need to ask you about somethin'," he said a bit nervously and reached up to grab Psiion off his head then set her down on the floor. "Stay out of trouble," he told her sternly. Psiion happily scurried off to find something to entertain herself with.
"Something the matter?" Kanaya inquired.
"I just didn't know if she should be hearin' the topic I'm bringin' up. It's about the other eggs," Eridan said biting his lip slightly.
"I see. I take it there have been no signs of hatching still?" the jade blood asked calmly.
"Nothin'. They've just been sittin' there completely still."
"Oh Eridan, I am so sorry," Kanaya told him gently. "Give them another night or two just to be sure but after that it may be best to just lay them to rest."
"Yeah, alright," Eridan agreed sadly.
"Anything else?" she asked.
"Uh," the sea troll took a moment to collect his thoughts before realizing he had another question. "What do grubs normally play with? I need to come up with somethin' to keep Psi outta trouble."
"Normally they play with other grubs up until the trials. After that they are chosen by lusii who provide everything they need. I will see if I can bring her a few things soon," she smiled warmly at the higher blooded troll. "It will be alright Eridan. You have a beautiful healthy grub running around that is part you and part Sollux."
"Thanks," Eridan offered his own small smile. "I'd better go track her down an' make sure she's not getting' into anythin'. Talk to you later."
"Take care," Kanaya waved and the call was ended. Eridan stood from the couch and set off once again through the hive to find Psiion. He peeked in on Sollux to find him hard at work so he figured it would be best if he didn't disturb the Gemini. He checked the ablution block since that was where he she had been the last time she ran off but the room was empty. Finally he heard a thud coming from his and Sollux's respite block and rushed down the hall to enter the room.
"Psi?" he called out while looking around for the grub. At first he couldn't figure out what had been the source of the noise but then he noticed one of his books on the floor near the bookshelf. "Psiion?" he asked uncertainly. He heard a squeak and looked up at the very top of the shelf near the ceiling to see her looking down at him excitedly. "How in the hell did you get up there?" he asked in shock. "I don't even think I can get you down." He left the room to grab a chair then positioned it near the bookshelf to stand on and reached out for her. She happily approached him and allowed him to carry her down from the bookshelf.
"You are filthy," Eridan frowned when he saw all the cobwebs she had managed to get stuck to her body. "I'm goin' to have to give you a bath." Psiion squeaked in confusion as Eridan carried her into the ablution block and set her down on the floor after closing the door. He began to fill up the tub with freshwater and sat on the edge as he waited for it to be full enough. "After your bath I'll put you back in your room so you can eat then take a nap," Eridan told her then shut the water off.
The Aquarius picked the grub back up and brought her to the tub. "It's just like the little pool in your room," he said when she began squirming at the sight of the deeper water. "You won't drown in there," he tried to calm her as he brought her closer to the water. Psiion squeaked in distress and wiggled violently to escape being placed in the tub. "You need a bath Psi," Eridan said sternly. He held her over the water and she screeched when she felt him beginning to let go. As soon as his hands moved away, red and blue lights crackled around her body and she remained floating in place over the water. Eridan yelped in surprise and reached over to grab her from where she floated in place.
The second the grub was safely back in her parent's hands the red and blue lights fizzled out. She trembled slightly and looked back at the tub fearfully as Eridan held onto her. "Well, I'm sure Sol will be happy that you have more in common with him then he thinks," the sea troll muttered then placed Psiion on the counter. "If I get in there will it make you feel better?" he asked as he stripped down to his underwear.
Psiion squeaked apprehensively when he picked her back up and carried her over with him to the tub. She clung to him as he stepped in and lowered himself into the water. Once he was settled the water was only deep enough to submerge up to the lower part of his stomach. "See? We're fine," he told the grub and brought her closer to the water. He set her on one of his crossed knees that remained above the water's surface and she looked at the bottom of the tub with curiosity. She felt more secure with her parent being present in the water with her so she took a deep breath then jumped off Eridan's knee into the depths. He watched her swim around experimentally for a moment as he got the soap and a washcloth ready for her.
When she surfaced with a smile Eridan thought it looked like she had two larger fangs on either side where her canines were but her teeth were much too small to be certain. "Come on," he said bringing her closer so he could set her back on his knee. The cobwebs that had been wrapped around her clung to her body in a wet mess. Eridan brought the soapy washcloth to her and began scrubbing her gently.
"What did I mith?" Sollux asked from the doorway when he saw his matesprit sitting in the tub with their grub.
"Nothin' much. Just givin' Psi a bath," Eridan replied casually.
"And you dethided to take one too?" Sollux asked as he walked further into the ablution block.
"I think she was scared of how deep the tub was at first. In fact," Eridan grinned, "I made an interestin' discovery earlier."
"And what would that be?" the yellow blood asked. Eridan rinsed the young grub off then lifted her toward Sollux.
"Grab a towel and dry her off then you can see for yourself," Eridan smirked. Sollux raised an eyebrow at his matesprit's vague hints but found a towel to wrap Psiion up in and began drying her off.
"Do you feel better now that you're all clean?" Sollux asked her. He couldn't help but smile as she shook her little head to rid the water droplets from her hair. Sollux continued rubbing her down with the towel until she appeared dry enough. Eridan worked on draining the water and getting himself out of the tub.
"Tho are you ever going to tell me what it ith you found out?" Sollux asked impatiently. He lowered the towel from Psiion and watched as she closed her eyes and scrunched up her face. She let out a little sneeze and emitted a few sparks of psionics as well. Sollux broke into a full grin and ran a finger over her damp head. "That'th my grub."