Okay, firstly I'd like to start with yet another apology for uploading chapters so sporadically! D: ugh, I am just the worst person, I apologise!
I've been absolutely fucked with work and life in general, and sleeping is becoming impossible. But I shouldn't have left you all in the dark, without any clue of what the hell was happening, so I'm really sorry to anyone who has been waiting for an update.
Thank you all for continuing to read, return, favourite, and review this story! It is because of all of you, that I want to write a second and third fanfiction, so thank you all c:
Despite the fact I could apologise for days, I'll just leave you all to read this chapter! (It'll be a long one!) Thank you all once again, you all mean the fucking world to me.
((Props to my best friend, who I dedicate this chapter to. They are the one who I shared the Honey Loops discussion with, in all of the honey-loopy glory!))
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-. -.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sollux yawned as he waited on Eridan's doorstep. The sun was criminally bright, and his old sunglasses didn't block the hideous light very effectively. He could hear Eridan making an arse of himself trying to unlock the door, and he smirked.
The door swung open and the smirk was wiped clean off Sollux's face.
Eridan stood tall, looking slightly disheveled but still the very image of perfection. Sollux drank in every detail of him; the faded denim skinny jeans, the short-sleeved fitted mauve shirt with it's shiny buttons, the lack of any rings on his hands, and the black socks. Sollux held back a laugh, he expected Eridan to sleep in a pair of perfect little shoes.
"Are you comin' in, or are you enjoyin' my shitty garden?" Eridan asked, one of his eyebrows arching upwards.
"Why aren't you wearing any shoeth?" Sollux laughed as he climbed the steps, wiping his own feet on the doormat before stepping over the threshold.
Eridan scoffed as he stood aside for him, "well, that would be because nobody is allowed to wear shoes in my house. So take yours off." After closing the door, his hands went firmly on his hips. Sollux noticed that the fingers were covered in colourful smudges.
Sollux rolled his eyes and kicked his shoes off in the general direction of the shoe rack, which earned him a small shriek from Eridan, "there, happy? Now, where are my fu-" Sollux's words caught in his throat as he looked at Eridan. He pulled his sunglasses down a little and tilted his head downwards to get a better look at Eridan's face. "Holy fuck."
"What? What the fuck are you lookin' at?" Eridan huffed defensively, subconsciously bringing a hand up to his own face.
"Your eyeth, ED." Sollux pushed his glasses back into position, "they're blue."
"Oh." Eridan blinked a few times, not knowing how to react, "well you didn't think they were naturally fuckin' purple did you? I mean, I'm glad you did, but... You didn't ever question it?"
Sollux didn't reply, he stared into the bright blue eyes that had lied to him for so long. "They've alwayth been purple, I jutht never gave enough of a shit to athk." He muttered; now that he thought about it, violet eyes did seem a little farfetched, but he couldn't believe that he never thought about it.
Eridan looked around nervously, "wwell wwhy don't wwe get you those sunglasses, an then maybe I can get you a cup of tea or somethin'?" He quickly spun on his heel and strode into living room, with Sollux following closely behind.
"Why are they blue now?" Sollux inquired, obviously unhappy to let the subject drop. He heard Eridan make an exasperated noise, but he ignored it in favour of glancing around the immaculate room.
The three-seater and two-seater sofas were made of plush chocolatey brown leather, as was the armchair. There was a small glass coffee table, currently peppered in Eridan's gold rings, and a gigantic glass tank that covered half of one wall. Sollux looked at Eridan, and was about to repeat the question when he noticed that Eridan was staring intently at a large box of perfectly organised pencils on the table, lifting two almost indistinguishable blue pencils up. After about fifteen seconds, he finally slid them into their correct places in the box, sighing contently, before replacing the lid. "Sorry about that, Sollux, I had to make sure they were in the proper place. Now, you asked me about my eyes being blue?" He stood up again and smiled, "they've always been blue, I just... Wear contacts to make them look purple. I've done it ever since I was about fourteen." He waved a hand as if this was completely normal.
"Okay, but that doesn't exthplain why they're blue now." Sollux asked, getting a little frustrated.
Eridan grinned a little peevishly, "I might've fallen asleep with my last pair in when I got home. And they may have kind of dried up a bit. I'll tell you what, I had to peel those fuckers off like you would'nt even believe." He shrugged, then added, "I'm waiting for some new ones to come in the post."
Sollux shook his head, he knew Eridan was vain, but to wear contacts every day to hide his naturally nice-looking eyes was just too much. He sat down on the two seater sofa, and looked at the closed sketchbook on the coffee table, "whatever. Hey can I have a look at your drawingth?" He asked lightly, curious to see what Eridan's work was like.
"No, you bloody can not!" Eridan huffed, his cheeks turning a little pink, "nothin' in here is worth lookin' at, well asides from some a the coloured pieces, but still! There's a lot a shit in there too!" He resisted the urge to throw the book out of the window to stop Sollux from seeing it, feeling very self-conscious.
"Alright, Jethuth tap-danthing Chritht Eridan, I wath only athking! I won't look!" Sollux quickly began formulating a plan of how to get Eridan to leave the room so he could look.
This sudden outburst seemed to satisfy Eridan and he nodded, "good. Yes, well, it's personal. You should be much more delicate when askin' to see someone's art. Anyway, come have a look at this." He offered, turning his attention to the fishtank with a smile.
Sollux's knees popped as he stood up; he joined Eridan at the fishtank, and bent a little to peer inside. The water was crystal-clear, and it appeared to house a plethora of amazingly colourful fishes, which all swam around energetically. He listened as Eridan began pointing them out and explaining their various Latin names, when he suddenly caught a glimpse of something small and white peeking out from some sort of plant.
"Oh! Look!" Eridan squeaked happily, "there he is, there's my little Barbossa!"
The little seahorse swam out, it was gorgeous and delicate looking, and even Sollux smiled a little at it's appearance, "he'th pretty cool."
"He's better than cool." Eridan sniffed indignantly, "he's my pride and joy, aren't you?" He ran a finger soundlessly down the glass, smiling.
They stood together for a few more minutes; Eridan spoke relentlessly about his beloved fish, and to his credit, Sollux listened the entire time. Finally Eridan stopped, "shit, I've been rude, can I get you a cup of tea? Coffee?"
Sollux straightened, and considered it for a moment, "yeah, I'll have a coffee, one sugar, tiny bit of milk. Cheerth." He smiled.
Eridan nodded, "alright, wait here, I'll be back in a minute." He left, whispering Sollux's coffee description under his breath.
This was the moment he had been waiting for; the second Eridan left and closed the door, Sollux grabbed the sketchbook and flopped onto the sofa, opening it gently to the first page. "Fuck." He whispered.
The woman on the first page glared out at him, her teeth bared in a wicked smile, he instantly recognised her as Vriska. Eridan had caught her expression perfectly; there was an unmistakably lifelike glint in those mean, blue eyes. He almost didn't want to turn the page, but he forced himself to, excited to see what else there was. He found himself unable to breathe as he pored over every picture, the pages held the most beautiful sketches he had ever seen, each one so flawless and realistic. He could only blink and occasionally swear, as he looked at every new page; not daring to touch anything more than the corner of the pages for fear of tainting the drawings.
It appeared as though humans; especially faces, expressions and poses were Eridan's strong points, as these were all coloured and some even inked. It became obvious that Eridan wasn't proficient at drawing everything though, as there were a few atrociously badly drawn animals hiding on a few pages. These had been crossed out angrily with thick, black pen lines. Sollux couldn't help but chuckle at them, it was quite comical to see something so badly executed after the perfection of the previous drawings.
Sollux's grin fell as he turned to one of the last pages, his breath froze in his chest and his fingers tingled. He recognised the young man in the sketch; the awkward half-smile, the slightly messed up hair, the gorgeously coloured blue and brown eyes. Those mismatched eyes looked so beautiful on paper. It was obviously a quick memory drawing, but it was good. It was bloody good. It was so good that Sollux could hardly believe that it was drawn from memory. His breath escaped him in a sudden and loud 'whoosh', and he stared at the eyes that were looking off at something else slightly to the right. He finally felt the doubt ebb away; he had always thought that Eridan was humouring him when he complimented his eyes, but now he could finally believe that Eridan saw them as something worth drawing, something worth spending time over, something worth-
"Wwhat the fuck are you doin'?"
Sollux froze, he hadn't heard Eridan open the door. He turned his head to the side, but couldn't come up with an excuse.
Eridan was biting his own lip, a look of pure betrayal etched into his features. He slowly approached Sollux and placed the two mugs onto the table. "Wwell? Wwould you care to explain wwhy you're lookin' at that wwhen I told you not to?" He demanded, his voice quite and low.
Sollux placed the sketchbook gently on the empty seat next to him; he stood up quickly, grabbing Eridan into a rough hug, "shut up, dick-fathe." He muttered. Sollux felt Eridan straighten for a second, not quite understanding what was happening.
"S-Sollux, wwhat are you doin'?" Eridan enquired, as his hands hovered over Sollux's back. "Am I missin' somethin' here? This isn't gunna stop be from bein' any less bloody pissed at you, you knoww."
"I said shut up." Sollux laughed, pressing his face against the crook of Eridan's neck. "Thankth, ED."
Eridan finally slid his arms around Sollux's waist, "alright then, I guess wwe're huggin' noww?" He said, his voice full of confusion.
After awkwardly hugging for a minute or so, they finally pulled apart. "Thorry, I shouldn't have looked." Sollux tried making himself look as innocent as possible, "they're all really good though. The one of me ith amathing."
Eridan quickly pressed his hands over his ears, "lalala, I'm not fuckin' listenin'! Don't talk about my art, lalala, grab the mugs an come to the kitchen, lalafuckin'la!" He quickly left the room, still shouting noises all the way down the hall.
Sollux grabbed the mugs and used his foot to open the door. He followed the corridor, and stepped into the kitchen, where he saw Eridan pulling bowls from a cupboard. "Tho, what are you doing?" Sollux asked as he set the mugs down on the small kitchen table.
Eridan turned around carrying a bowl and spoon in each hand, "well I just realised I haven't eaten yet today, and I'm fuckin' starved." He paused, and looked at the bowls, "I probably shoulda asked you if you wanted somethin' before I got you a bowl down." Eridan looked at Sollux sheepishly, "well, would you like to eat some cereal with me?"
After the fiasco with the Honey Loops that morning, Sollux was hardly in the mood to have his heart broken again, but what else could possibly go wrong with the cereal world? The Coco Pop monkey being changed into a fucking cat? Not on his fucking watch. That being said, he was starved, "yeah sure, what kind do you eat?" Sollux narrowed his eyes, it was probably some sort of stupid, organic crap made out of parsnips and carrots.
"Oh, well I have quite literally everythin', come an look." Eridan pulled Sollux's wrist and led him to a double cupboard, opening one side to reveal shelves filled with vacuum-seal plastic tubs. "Those are all different types a cereal, I should probably label them, but Fef empties them so fuckin' quickly I never get a chance to. So, yeah, choose whatever you want." He left Sollux to have a look as he went to get the milk.
Sollux pulled the boxes out one-by-one, only opening the ones he didn't recognise, he grinned when he found one filled with granola. It wasn't even the kind with the chocolate bits in it, typical hipster. Eridan wasn't lying when he said he had everything though, there were more types than Sollux could even name, but one box caught his eye.
The clear container was filled with the treacherous Honey Loops; Sollux removed it from the shelf with a sneer, "hey ED, what did you think of the bee they put on the Honey Loop boxth?" He asked, shaking the tub angrily.
"What bee? Are you talkin' about some knock-off brand or somethin'?" Eridan replied, "because I only buy the real deal with cereals, me an Fef can taste the difference."
Sollux wrinkled his nose, "no, the real oneth have a fucking cartoony ball-bag of a bee on the front. You mutht be buying the knock-offth, ED."
Eridan stormed past the fridge and opened a narrow door, he stepped inside, and returned a few seconds later with a box of Honey Loops. "Where's the fucking bee, you prat?" He asked as he turned the box to show all of the sides, and Sollux nearly wept.
"Thothe, thothe are the old Honey Loopth!" He exclaimed, grabbing them out of Eridan's hands and cradling them to his chest along with the half-filled tub.
"I didn't realise they changed them, but I haven't bought any in weeks, I just stockpile whenever I'm runnin' low. Here, look." Eridan motioned for Sollux to look in his pantry.
The pantry was full of food, and Sollux's mouth dropped open as he peeked in. The shelves were covered in various cans and boxes, but cereal took up half of the stock, there had to be five or six boxes of each type. "Oh my fuck!" Sollux shouted as he saw four more boxes of his beloved Honey Loops on a low shelf; quickly gathering them in his arms as if they were his children, and hugging them protectively.
"You alright there?" Eridan asked, taking a step closer.
"Yeth I fucking am!" Sollux hunched over his loot and waddled out of the pantry, gently laying the boxes on the table, and staring breathlessly at them.
"Do they really mean that much to you? It's just Honey Loops." Eridan raised an eyebrow and smiled, thinking that Sollux's display was quite sweet.
Sollux sat down and lovingly stood each box up, "thith morning KK gave me thome Honey Loopth and they were dithguthting. They changed the rethipe, and they put a fucking wank-thtain of a bee on the boxth." He said bitterly, "but you have the old oneth, the good oneth. I'm having breakfatht here every day until they run out." Sollux turned to look at Eridan; an arm hooked around the boxes protectively.
"You can take them home with you, if you want to." Eridan smiled, "if they really mean that much to you, then take them." He shrugged, and turned to choose something for himself.
Eridan nearly screamed when he felt Sollux grab him, his mouth fell open and his eyebrows shot up as Sollux's arms wrapped themselves around his chest. "S-Sol, wwhat are you-"
Sollux's voice was quiet, his face was pressed against the back of Eridan's head, "I hate change, ED. I fucking hate change, and I hate not being able to prepare mythelf for thomething that'th going to dithappear forever. You can't underthtand what you've jutht done for me." He squeezed Eridan a little, their bodies pressed together, "thank you. Thith actually meanth a fuck-load."
Eridan's face turned pink, he struggled to find any words, and it took him a moment to compose himself, "you're wwelcome Sol, but you know that they'll run out too. You're goin' to have to face a Honey Loop-less world eventually."
"Yeah, but I know that it'th coming now, and thith way, I can deal with it in my own time." After a pause, Sollux added, "tho shut up." He finally let Eridan go, and sat down, pouring himself a bowl of Honey Loops from the open container.
Eridan cleared his throat before grabbing the granola, "yes wwell, I guess I can understand that." He sat at the table and poured himself some milk, smiling at Sollux.
Sollux's own smile disappeared as he grabbed the carton off Eridan, "what the fuck are you doing?" He poured milk on top of his Honey Loops, never taking his eyes off Eridan's bowl of milk.
"This is how I eat cereal." Eridan muttered, as he tipped a small amount of granola into the milk.
Sollux sighed a little with happiness when he ate the first spoonful. With a mouth full of food, he narrowed his eyes, "thith ith fucking deliciouth. And you're an idiot."
"It stops it from gettin' fuckin' soggy!" Eridan huffed, "i just add a little bit more to the bowl every time I finish what I eat!"
Sollux rolled his eyes, "what the fuck ith wrong with you? You're thuppothed to tilt the bowl tho you can control what'th in the milk. Then ath you eat the thereal, more fallth into the milk and shit. It'th all about phythicth my friend." Sollux turned his nose up, "what you're trying to do ith play God."
"I don't tell you how to live your life!" Eridan scolded. They continued to eat in silence, glaring at eachother with playful smirks.
Sollux tilted his head side to side happily and tapped his feet as he ate. He looked into Eridan's bowl, "what are you eating anyway?"
"Uhh, some sort of multigrain granola shit, it's pretty good."
Sollux's nostrils flared, "multigrain my ath!" He jumped as his phone buzzed in his pocket, he pulled it out and stared at the screen, "heh, lookth like KK hath thtarted to mith me. He'th athking if I've done my homework athignment. And wouldn't you know it, I have not."
Eridan rested his chin on of his hands, "I guess you'll be going then?" He couldn't hide the disappointment in his voice.
"I can come round again whenever you want," Sollux offered, finishing his bowl of Honey Loops with a very satisfied look. "I wouldn't mind coming over again thoon." He held Eridan's gaze and shrugged.
"Well, I'll be happy to have you over whenever, maybe next time I'll cook you something instead of just feedin' you this shit." Eridan grinned. He was about to start packing up when Sollux reached out a hand, and pulled him into a kiss.
Their lips met gently, and Eridan instantly melted, sighing as his chest fluttered. He had purposefully avoided the subject of the night before, just in case Sollux couldn't remember what they had done, but this settled his nerves.
They pulled apart, and Sollux grinned, "shit, lookth like we're thtuck with eachother." After a breif pause, he added, "maybe I should've athked you in latht night."
"Fuckin' hell Sol, I'm gunna give you cereal more often!" Eridan mumbled, his cheeks bright pink. "But what do you mean 'stuck with eachother'? You're fuckin' privileged to have me interested in you like this!"
Sollux snorted, "yeah, yeah, courthe I am, ED." He leant forwards and pressed his lips against Eridan's once again, "but I'm like a thtray cat, you've fed me, now I won't leave you." He laughed again, and Eridan couldn't help but laugh with him.
Eridan began tidying up while Sollux wrote a text to Karkat, he put the five boxes of Honey Loops into a carrier bag, and handed them over, "you can have all of them, but this one," he held up the airtight container, "will stay here, for the next time you come over."
"Deal. Hey, are you going to show me to the door like a gentleman?" Sollux stood and left the room with a grin to retreive his shoes. Eridan followed, afterall, he was a gentleman.
"Hey Sol, thanks for comin' over." Eridan said as he passed Sollux and grabbed a pair of sunglasses from top of the key-hook next to the front door. He stepped closer to Sollux and hooked a finger around the bulky glasses he was wearing and pulled them from his face. "Here, these ones are nicer anyway." Eridan pressed both pairs of sunglasses into Sollux's hands, and stared into his eyes.
Sollux held Eridan's gaze with a new confidence, he smiled and nodded, allowing Eridan to get a good look at his eyes before putting his newer glasses on, "you know, ED, your real eyeth look better than your contactth." He opened the front door, then turned back to Eridan. They shared one last kiss, that seemed to make the whole world crumble.
"Damn it Sol, what are you doin' to me?" Eridan muttered with fake annoyance when he pulled away.
"Nothing at all today, ED. But maybe I'll come back in the week..?" Sollux hid behind his bag as Eridan slapped his arm.
"Sollux, don't assume that shit about me! Fuck, you'll talk your wway outta evverythin' I'll evver be wwillin' to do!" Eridan scolded, trying to keep his expression as serious as possible. He frowned as Sollux kissed his forehead and left.
"I'll textht you later, and maybe we can arrange to hang out again?" He called from Eridan's gate.
"Fuck off, you bell-end." Eridan replied, smiling. He grinned like a child as he watched Sollux wave and walk away, then he closed the door and locked it, checking it three times, before running to his phone to give Feferi a call.
Sollux barely restrained himself from either skipping or screaming; his chest felt as though it would burst, and he felt happier than he had done in months. Nothing could drag him down from this high. Nothing.
When a familiar voice called out, he nearly broke. Within the space of a second his stomach sank and his body went numb.
"Sollux? Is that you?"