I've actually put this chapter up early, because I felt so bad about how sad you guys got reading the last chapter!
I'm putting my usual comments at the end of this chapter, instead of the beginning.
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Sollux continued screaming as the world came back into focus, he was being held close by someone, and could barely move. He was staring over the person's shoulder at Karkat, who was still stood in the doorway with wide, fearful eyes. Sollux clawed frantically at the person hugging him tightly, and despite the fact he was making noise, he was completely unable to string a sentence together. He needed to get outside, he needed to get to Eridan, he needed to-
His legs gave way beneath him, and he felt his body sag against the person restraining him. It took him a moment to notice the gentle shushing noise being whispered against his hair; Sollux's voice rasped before he gave up, and finally stopped screaming.
Sollux couldn't fight against the arms that held him close, he couldn't even pull himself away from their tight embrace to look at them, and he was dragged back over to the bed. The tears that streaked down his cheeks were hot, and his breathing hitched. He tried to focus on the soft, calming noises being whispered to him, but he felt like fighting the person away; how dare they try and calm him down when Eridan was outside, who the fuck did they think they were?
Acting almost on instinct, Sollux reached under the person's shirt, and raked his nails down their back, desperate to get them to let go, he needed to get outside. He felt the person flinch, and heard them gasp in pain, but they quickly resumed their gentle shushing, and stroked his hair.
It wasn't fair, Sollux's body was too conflicted; he was desperate to get away from this person, and yet he wanted nothing more than to hug them back, and to pretend like everything was okay. Finally his body gave up, and he pressed his face into his restrainer's shoulder, weeping loudly, because there was nothing else he could do.
Karkat stepped closer, his voice was so quiet, "Sollux?"
"What's all the screaming about? I was having a motherfucking mirthful dream and- oh shit, is Solbro having another one of his things?" Gamzee stepped into the room, and stood next to Karkat, watching the spectacle.
Sollux continued to sob, and tried to think of anything to get his mind off the smell of copper, the smell of metal, the smell of...
Coconut?
That wasn't right. When did the cloying stench of blood become the gentle scent of coconut? Sollux breathed it in deeply, and gratefully. It eased the knot in his stomach ever so slightly, and he felt conscious thought start to return.
His chest heaved, and his breath caught in his throat, but he forced himself to pull his face away from the shoulder to look at Karkat. He didn't want to see the blood, but he had to ask him to go out and check on Eridan, please, someone go out with him, someone sit with him, don't leave him alone.
Karkat was stood with Gamzee, his eyes were less fearful now, and his expression showed nothing but concern, "Sollux, are you okay now?" He reached out, and Sollux's eyes widened.
The blood was gone.
The hands were clean, and there was no blood on the shirt. Karkat's shirt wasn't even blue, it was white.
Sollux's mind whirled, but he couldn't speak; his voice croaked quietly, but he couldn't do much other than make a pathetic noise. He held a hand out towards Karkat, and saw the fresh blood on the tips of his own fingers, he saw Karkat flinch at the sight of this, but he still clasped Sollux's hand in his own.
Karkat's lips moved, and Sollux had to focus intently to understand him, "was it the dream with your mum again?" He asked gently.
This made Sollux flinch, and he squeezed Karkat's hand tightly, hoping that it hurt him. How dare he ask about something as stupid as that when Eridan was outside? Sollux's voice grated as he spoke, and he was reminded of shoes scraping across gravel, "fuck off, Karkat! Do me a favour, and fucking help Eridan!" he felt a lump in his throat grow, and he bit his lip, "pleathe, fuck off and help him. Pleathe? Pleathe!" His voice creaked and nearly gave way.
"What?" Karkat pulled a face.
The person who had been clutching Sollux so tightly, eased up his grip, and pulled away a little, but before they could speak, Sollux continued his rant; struggling to get the words out before he lost his voice.
"Pleathe, pleathe, he'th outthide, he'th hurt, he'th not dead, he can't be dead, he needth me, he needth thomeone, help him, help him! Pleathe! Thave him, I'll do anything, jutht thave him!" Sollux begged shamelessly.
"Sol, I'm right here." Eridan answered quietly, pulling away enough that Sollux could see that he was the one holding him.
Everything seemed to explode into a mess of emotions, and for a moment, Sollux couldn't even respond. His mind was in complete chaos, and he frowned; he stared intently at Eridan's face, studying every single feature, trying to find a flaw that would show that he was somehow a fake, or even something that his mind had created, because his Eridan was outside, bleeding on the pavement, obscured by the fog, illuminated by the red and blue lights, he was gone, he was-
"Eridan?" Sollux barely allowed himself to believe that he was real.
"I'm here, Sol."
Sollux crumpled, and he leant forwards quickly; his hands scrabbled for purchase in Eridan's shirt, he pressed his face against the crook of his neck, and breathed in the familiar smell of coconut. He reached up and ran a hand through Eridan's hair, relishing in the feel of him, and pulling him close, because Eridan was alive, and warm, and normal, and he wasn't dead, and everything would be okay, everything would be fine, the world was right. He wept loudly, and felt Eridan stroke his back soothingly, once again starting up the gentle shushing noise. Sollux wrapped himself around Eridan, because there was no way in hell he was ever letting the hipster out of his arms again. Eridan was the calming anchor in the thrashing storm of Sollux's mind.
With a little difficulty, Eridan moved them both back to the pillows, "Sol, I ain't goin' anywhere, come on, I'm just tryin' to get comfortable." He dragged Sollux along, and pulled the quilt over them both, "there, see?"
Gamzee watched them, then nodded lazily, "looks like those motherfuckers are going to be just fine, sounds like our good friend Sollux just up and had himself another case of the night terrors and shit, I think I'm going to head off back to my room, to try and catch some more of those motherfucking Z's." He stumbled over and patted Sollux's head with a large hand, "you'll be cool, bro, we all get ourselves down and worried about these kinds of things, but it'll be alright. Go back to sleep, brother, and shit'll be miraculous again, you'll see." He smiled, then turned and retreated to his own room.
Karkat closed the bedroom door, and settled himself down on the bed next to Sollux. He sighed, and watched his best friend with a sad expression, "so Sollux, I'm afraid I don't have any more stories about Gamzee and his stoned escapades, so you'll just have to put up with me talking about other bullshit until you either fall asleep, or you tell me to fuck off, okay?"
There was a second's hesitation before Sollux nodded silently against Eridan's chest.
"Good." Karkat sighed, and laced his fingers behind his own head in an attempt to get comfortable. He knew he had to come up with something to distract Sollux, this was the way that they had dealt with his bad dreams for years now, and Karkat saw it as something that was required of him. "Work's been pissing me off, you know? I swear, any time I bring a needle over to anyone, they flip their shit. It's like they came in for a blood test thinking that they'd piss the blood out or something, Jesus Christ, I fucking hate people." He looked down at Sollux, and then up at Eridan before continuing his little rant.
Sollux didn't respond to the words. His head was still resting against Eridan's chest, and he was listening to his heart, counting the beats, because it was proof that Eridan was alive, it was proof that he would be okay. The rest of the world seemed so meaningless to him, and even though this one heartbeat was an insignificant pulse, at that moment there was no doubt in Sollux's head that it was actually one of the most important sounds that would ever exist; Eridan's heart was a candle in a storm, and Sollux wanted nothing more than to shield and protect it, because if his heart's flame was extinguished, it would mean losing him again.
The words were getting further and further away, and Sollux felt his body almost melt against Eridan; he was just so warm, and the way his chest was rising and falling so slowly was just so relaxing. He tried valiantly to stay conscious, but every fibre in his being was fighting him, tempting him with warm whispers to just allow himself to slip away, because everything was fine, and Eridan was fine, and he was fine, all fine, all-
Exhaustion finally took it's toll on Sollux, and he drifted off. Although it didn't seem long to him, Karkat had actually been speaking for nearly an hour, and even though Eridan was acting as the diligent boyfriend, he was also starting to doze off.
It was only when Sollux began making a quiet whistling sound as he breathed that anyone realised that he had fallen asleep.
Karkat trailed off, and looked down at Sollux, lowering his voice, "is he asleep?"
Eridan nodded, listening intently to the slow, deep breathing, "I think so. Thanks for helpin' him calm down, I honestly... Fuck, I didn't know what to do, Kar."
"Don't worry about it, I've had to deal with it enough to know how to get him off to sleep." Karkat rubbed his eyes, and looked thoroughly exhausted, "so what happened? Why the hell was he stood up?"
This made Eridan frown, "what do you mean? Hasn't he done that before?" He glanced down at Sollux nervously, "he was fussin' in his sleep, an it woke me up, so I asked him what he was doin', but he was just mumblin' to himself. Then he stood up an walked over to the window, an he kind a yanked the curtain a bit, then he started screamin' like a fuckin' banshee." He stroked Sollux's cheek with his thumb, wanting nothing more than to soothe him, and prevent any other horrific dreams.
"Fuck, in all the years I've known him, and lived with him, he's never gone sleepwalking before." Karkat shook his head and stifled a yawn, "the fucker's bad enough when he's just lying there screaming, like some kind of pissed off, beached whale." Karkat edged himself off the bed slowly, trying to sneak away without waking Sollux up. Once he was off, Karkat strolled back to the bedroom door and hesitated, watching the pair, and wondering whether he was making a mistake in leaving. After deciding to leave them to it, he added, "look after him, Eridan. Seriously, he might be up all night having those fucking dreams, and he'll need you to stay calm and to have his back. Try not to fuck up."
Eridan knew that in his own way, Karkat was asking him to look out for his best friend, and he smiled, "don't worry, I'll stay with him for as long as he needs, I'm not goin' anywhere, he'll be fine." He looked down at his sleeping boyfriend, and stroked his fringe away from his forehead, feeling the devotion blooming in his chest.
Karkat nodded, "I appreciate it, bro." He tapped his fingers against the door, hesitating again, "night, Eridan."
"Goodnight, Kar." Eridan watched the shorter man leave, feeling a hell of a lot better knowing that Sollux had such a relentlessly caring friend just down the hall.
Sollux made a soft snuffling sound as Eridan shifted, and he whispered something incoherent.
There was a voice that whispered inside the dark recesses of Sollux's mind, reminding him that this could just as easily be a dream; the warm body lying next to him and holding him so sweetly, could be a figment of his imagination, and the faint scent of coconut could just be a remnant of Eridan, a ghost left behind on a pillow or something. Sollux pushed these thoughts away, and pulled Eridan closer, pressing their bodies together, relishing in the way they fit together so perfectly.
"I don't want to wake up." He mumbled against Eridan's collarbone.
-.-.-
It took a moment for the mugginess to clear from Sollux's mind, and he frowned against the pillows, groaning softly. It was a little difficult for him to wake up properly, but he managed to sit up successfully before noticing that he was alone.
He felt his mouth go dry as he stared at the empty half of the bed. This couldn't be happening, the voices were right, Eridan being okay had been a dream, and Sollux had slept right through the fucking night. He whimpered as he stood up on shaky legs, and they nearly gave way when he started walking. As he reached for the door handle and saw the blood crusted on the tips of fingers and under his nails, "no, pleathe no." He whispered, ready to run all the way to the hospital if he needed to.
The bedroom door opened and Eridan walked in carrying a tray, "mornin' Sol, how are you feelin'?" He asked kindly, stepping over to place the tray on top of the bedside table, "I got you some hot blackcurrant squash for your throat, an a bowl a milk for you to have some Honey Loops, but if you want somethin' else, I an go back downstairs an-" His words were cut short as Sollux wrapped his arms around him, and squeezed him tightly.
"Fuck, ED, I thought you'd... I..." Sollux sighed quietly and ran a hand up Eridan's back, but he pulled away as Eridan flinched and gasped through gritted teeth, "what'th wrong?"
Eridan grimaced a little, "well you wasn't exactly gentle last night when you was flippin' out, an you scratched me pretty badly." He shrugged and turned back to the tray, "don't worry about it though, let's just have our breakfast, okay?" He froze as he felt his shirt being lifted up.
Sollux frowned as he gently pulled the shirt out of the way, and he felt his stomach drop as he saw the scratches on Eridan's back. "Shit..." There were five hideous, bloody gashes arching downwards from Eridan's left shoulder to his right hip; the surrounding skin was pink and incredibly sore looking. He pushed at the shirt a little more, until Eridan got the silent hint and pulled it off completely.
Without hesitating, he dragged Eridan out of the bedroom, and into the bathroom, making him straddle the edge of the bath. He grabbed a washcloth, and ran it under hot water, quickly taking the opportunity to wash the blood off his own hands. Once the washcloth was wet, he wrung it out, and moved to sit behind Eridan.
Eridan hissed quietly as the cloth was pressed against his back, but he didn't protest. He knew that Sollux was trying to show that he was sorry , and it felt good to finally get clean, but it stung like a bitch.
Once the dried blood had been meticulously cleaned away, Sollux pressed apologetic kisses against Eridan's back, next to the scratches."I'm thorry." He whispered.
"I know you are," Eridan turned his head, and smiled softly, "I don't blame you though."
Sollux nodded numbly, his eyes remaining on the wounds that he had caused, "I wath tho thcared." He admitted, hating the way that his voice rasped weakly.
Eridan stood up and placed a hand on Sollux's cheek, "I can only imagine. I mean, you was screamin' in your sleep an I shouldn't a grabbed you like I did, so it was my own bloody fault. Come on, they're only scratches, I'll be fine." He tilted his boyfriend's face upwards, and leant down to brush their lips together gently.
The dark guilt in Sollux's stomach felt as though it was growing, and he stared into his boyfriend's eyes, wracking his brain for the words to convey how sorry he was, while at the same time trying not to shout at Eridan for blaming himself. He swallowed, in an attempt to soothe his sore throat before speaking again, but it didn't help, "ED, it wath my fault. I thought you wath outthide, and I couldn't get to you, and I thought I'd fucking lotht you, I felt tho fucking helpleth, I'm tho thorry," Sollux pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes angrily, hating how much of an effect the memory was having on him, "it fucking killed me, ED, having to go through lothing you like that."
"Sol." Eridan murmured, stroking Sollux's hands in a comforting way, "your throat's givin' out, come on, you need to stop talkin' before you do yourself some damage."
"ED, I need to thay thith, okay? Thith ith the only time I've had the ballth to," Sollux lowered his hands, and hesitantly made eye contact again, trying to draw confidence from the fear that if he didn't say it now, he might not get another chance to. The only problem was that it was something he hadn't said to anyone in so long, and truth be told, he couldn't stop thinking about what the last person he said it to, did to him. But there was no doubt in his mind about how he felt for Eridan, because the tightness in his chest and the way his heart quickened at the sight of him pointed towards only one thing... The way he wanted to stay in and cuddle and play pokemon just as much as he wanted to push him down and kiss him, mark him, make him cry out his name, could only mean that... the way he felt on top of the world in his presence meant, it meant...
"Eridan, I wath tho thcared, I never want to lothe you, becauthe... Shit. Becauthe, I'm pretty sure that even though my head'th a meth and I probably thound like I'm talking shit, but I thwear I'm not, okay? Fuck." Sollux's eyes darted away for a second, and his mind screamed at him to stop being a pussy, but also that maybe this was a bad idea, what if Eridan didn't say it back? What if he didn't feel the same way? What if he laughed? What if- Fuck it, just say it already!
"I thought I'd never get the chanthe to thay thith, I thought you'd never hear it, and I thought I'd never get to thee your reaction, tho I'm fed up with waiting, I'm fed up of putting it off, becauthe... Eridan, I'm pretty fucking sure that I lo-"
The bathroom door was flung open, and Sollux made a sharp wheezing sound, then fell backwards into the bathtub. Karkat frowned from the doorway, "Oh shit, sorry guys, I didn't realise you were in here, I need a piss, so get out." He whistled slowly at the sight of Eridan's back, "holy mother of fuck, that looks bad! I think we might have something in the cupboards to help that, I'll have a look later." He stepped over to the toilet, and glared at them expectantly, "...Are you two going to get out, or is this going to get weird? Because either way, I'm voiding my bladder."
Sollux clambered out of the bathtub, glaring. "You bathtard." He croaked, grabbing Eridan's hand, and dragging him out of the bathroom.
"Wwait, Sol, wwhat wwas you sayin' before Kar interrupted?" Eridan asked, following closely behind Sollux.
The moment was gone, and Sollux shook his head, "nothing, ED."
Eridan pouted a little, and cursed Karkat for bursting in. It was so close to being a perfect moment, and now it was all for nothing. He knew what Sollux had been so close to saying, and he had actually gotten butterflies, but now he was more than a little pissed off.
Once they were in the bedroom again, Sollux kicked the door closed, and went to his shirt drawers, pulling out his beloved Gengar shirt and throwing it at Eridan, "you can wear one of my shirtth theeing ath yourth hath blood on it." He muttered, then flopped onto the bed.
There was a very brief pause as Eridan thought about telling Sollux that he had actually brought a clean change of clothes with him, but he decided against it seeing as it was a nice gesture on Sollux's part, besides, the shirt was a gorgeous shade of purple. Eridan carefully pulled the shirt on, then sat down beside Sollux, "how do I look?" He asked, knowing that the answer could only be 'perfect'.
Sollux leant over, and pulled an open box of Honey Loops out from it's hiding place, "you look alright, I thuppothe. Now path me my bowl, I'm fucking thtarved."
"You're a bastard, Sol, I look perfect an you know it." Eridan handed Sollux the bowl of milk, and a spoon, "an make sure you drink your hot blackcurrant squash while it's still warm okay? I made sure to stir in a spoonful a honey too, so your throat'll be good as new in no time." He leant close and rested his head against Sollux's shoulder. He didn't know how to put it into words, but he wanted to reassure Sollux, and make him feel better about the dream. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to sound right or good enough in his head.
Once Sollux was about half-way through his bowl of cereal, he glanced down at Eridan, "aren't you going to have thome?" He was a little concerned that Eridan hadn't eaten since their meal the night before, and he didn't want him getting ill.
Eridan shook his head, "nah, I had some toast when I was waitin' for the kettle to boil, don't worry about me, you just focus on feelin' better." After trailing his fingers over Sollux's wrist, he added, "let's just have a completely lazy day today, an just stay in bed playin' Pokemon. I'll even order us a takeaway tonight, an we can get Kar to bring it up to us, how does that sound?"
"Like a thlice of fried gold, ED." Sollux pressed his lips against Eridan's violet tuft, then resumed eating his ever-so nutritious breakfast.
Although the memory of the night before was still playing on both their minds, neither really wanted to spoil the mood by bringing it up, but Eridan swore to himself that he'd ask about it before they went to sleep, as he wanted to know just what the hell happened to him to scare Sollux so badly. Once the bowl was put to one side, Sollux leant back against the pillows and grabbed his DS, "right, let'th get to it, we have a whole day to fuck around, and I want to thee how your team growth."
Eridan picked up his DS too, and cuddled up to Sollux, thinking that the contact would probably make the Gemini feel better, "I bet I'm doin' better than you did when you first played yours."
"ED, I've been playing thethe gameth for fucking yearth, I'm a Pokemon mathter."
"Oh yeah? Well colour me fuckin' impressed." Eridan elbowed Sollux gently, "well, we'll have to see about who's the fuckin' master once I get my killer team functionin', you just wait." He smiled as his little character appeared on the screen, and set himself to grinding, eager to show Sollux how strong he could get.
Neither of them paid much attention to the television, even though Sollux had made sure to put on something they both liked, so it ended up just being background noise. At one point in the day, Karkat stuck his head round the door, but he was only checking up on them before he left for work.
Eventually it became impossible to ignore Eridan's stomach, as it was growling with the ferocity of a wild dog.
"Shit, ED, do you want to get thome lunch?" Sollux laughed, glancing down at the head leant against his shoulder, he picked up his phone, "I think I could go for a thandwich or thomething too, to be honetht."
Eridan didn't even look embarrassed, he just stretched lazily, "fuck yeah, lunch sounds like a magnificent idea, Sol, what are you in the mood for?" He jumped as the phone was suddenly thrust in front of his nose. He was about to scold Sollux, when he saw the time, "holy shit! It's FIVE?"
"Yep, thith ith what happenth when you get into gameth, you lothe whole dayth without realithing it." Sollux tapped Eridan's screen to piss him off, "tho what do you want to eat? I've probably got pathta, chipth, chicken nuggetth... Maybe thome cuthtard creamth..." The fact that he didn't make his own food frequently enough to know what was in the cupboards and freezer suddenly dawned on him, and it was a little embarrassing, but then again, he lived with someone who didn't mind cooking, and another whose only talent besides counting bathroom tiles while stoned, was baking.
"To be honest, I'd love to cook a nice curry, or a spaghetti bolognese, or somethin', but I really can't be bothered." Eridan hesitated for a minute, looking a little sheepish, "I know we've been eatin' out a lot recently, but I wouldn't mind seein' what takeaway menus you got, I think you deserve a treat, an I'm just a greedy bastard, besides that's what we agreed to do earlier."
Sollux rolled off the bed, and made sure he was out of Eridan's kicking-range before saying, "ED, let'th be completely honetht here, you've never actually eaten out in your entire life." Once he received a pillow to the face, he turned and ran out of the room, unable to run far enough not to hear Eridan screaming about how 'disgusting and low-brow' he was.
The take-out menus were stuck to the fridge in a little bundle, and Sollux began rifling through them as he walked up the stairs, half-shouting up to Eridan, "what kind of food are you in the mood for? We'd have to drive out to get the chinethe, but pretty much everything elthe ith within the range to deliver thtraight to uth." He closed the door behind himself, and felt his words catch in his throat as he found himself actually looking at his boyfriend for the first time that day.
Eridan was sat cross-legged on the bed, wearing the gengar shirt, a pair of black boxers and dark red socks; his hair hadn't been styled, he wasn't wearing his coloured contact lenses, his cheeks were a little pink, there was a tiny crease between his eyebrows, and the tip of his tongue was being bitten in concentration.
Sollux thought that he had never seen anyone look so perfect.
The silence that had descended caught Eridan's attention, and he turned to Sollux, "you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm... You look nithe." Sollux fumbled with his words, and cursed himself for sounding like a shy twelve-year old, not that he was usually some sort of eloquent Casanova or anything, but this was just embarrassing.
Eridan tried to disguise the snort by quickly clearing his throat afterwards, but he doubted that Sollux fell for it, "thanks, you look pretty good too, Sol." He patted the mattress next to him, "now why don't you sit down with me an choose what you want to eat, I'm starvin'."
Food had never really been something to cause arguments between them, but every time Sollux tried to put his foot down about them both getting a doner kebab, Eridan felt like screaming. Trying something like McDonalds was a massive step up from sinking low enough to eat a kebab, which Eridan grimaced at and referred to as the 'arsehole of the food industry'.
It took another half an hour before the growling sound being produced by Eridan's stomach became unbearable for the hipster, and he finally snapped, "fine! Just get whatever the hell you want, Sol, just fuckin' hurry up, because my stomach is about to digest itself." Despite what he just said, he flicked the kebab-house menu onto the floor, hoping that Sollux would be too lazy to bend down and pick it up.
"Okay, one, I know their number and my usual order off by heart, tho that wath jutht thtupid, and two, I wathn't going to order from there, you idiot." Sollux rolled his eyes, and playfully tried to nudge Eridan off the bed with his foot, "I wath actually kind of hoping that we could get Dominoth, but could you thort it out tho I can have the thame thing you got me on Tuethday?" He tried to look as hopeful as possible, and continued nudging Eridan.
"Oh thank fuck, hell yeah we can do that, pass me your laptop and I'll show you what I got you," Eridan held out his hands expectantly, "I had to customise it specially because I wanted to make it disgustingly meaty for you, because I'm just the greatest boyfriend ever."
Sollux leant over the bed and grabbed his laptop off his beanbag, then shifted to sit next to Eridan, instead of opposite him. He put the laptop on his own lap, and shrugged at Eridan, "no one utheth my laptop exthcept me, tho you'll have to tell me what you chothe, and I'll thort it out, okay?" This wasn't an act of disrespect or anything, it was just that Sollux's electronics were both his passion and his livelihood, and as much as he trusted Eridan, he just wouldn't be comfortable with him using it.
This didn't seem to bother Eridan too much, he leant his head on Sollux's shoulder and watched the laptop boot up. Once the website was up, Eridan quickly began listing off all the things that he had added to the already meat-covered pizza.
When it was Eridan's turn to choose what he wanted, he hesitated, then pointed at the plain margherita, "I want a large one a those, but order extra cheese an some chicken on it too, an let's get some wings an garlic bread, because I think we deserve it."
Sollux smiled as he added everything Eridan had asked for, " exthtra cheethe, and thome chicken? Thomeone'th feeling adventurouth."
As soon as they finished ordering, Eridan insisted on watching the pizza tracker, acting as though this would somehow make their food come quicker.
-.-.-
They were both barely holding onto consciousness, but Eridan was training diligently, and Sollux was hatching eggs, so they didn't want to go to sleep just yet.
Sollux yawned as he watched yet another animation of an egg cracking, and his eyelids sagged heavily; he had been doing this for two days now, and he was considering just abandoning his quest. He was so sleepy he almost missed the way that his newly hatched pokemon was a dark turquoise colour, instead of it's usual light blue.
Almost.
Suddenly, Sollux sat up, and laughed, "finally!" He typed in a nickname, then clicked on Eridan's character face on the screen, requesting a trade.
Eridan accepted, and frowned a little, "finally? Finally, what? What do you want me to send you?" He asked, wondering why Sollux hadn't told him the reason for the sudden trade request.
"Thend me anything, theriouthly, I don't give a crap, but get ready for the betht thing you've ever theen in your life." Sollux looked ecstatic, all of those hours had finally paid off, and it felt incredible. He was grinning like a cheshire cat as he put his newly hatched Pokemon up, and waited to see Eridan's reaction.
It was almost instantaneous; the hipster's eyes went wide, and his mouth dropped open, "is that... Wait, it's turquoise! Oh my God, Sol, I love it!" Eridan looked at Sollux with wide eyes, before watching the little trading animation.
Sollux noted that Eridan's hands were shaking ever so slightly, and he looked so incredibly innocent and excited, it was completely adorable, "tho I take that ath a thign you like him? When he evolves into his final evolution, he turnth purple, you know."
"Oh my God, you called him Barbossa! My little baby Barbossa is a shiny Horsea! An he turns purple? That's amazin'!" Eridan pressed a number of quick kisses to Sollux's face, bringing a hand up to stop the laughing nerd from pulling away from the loving onslaught, "I absolutely fuckin' love it, Sol! Thank you!" He finally abandoned the kisses in favour of playing with his new team member in Pokemon Amie.
Sollux turned off his DS, feeling as if he deserved a good night's rest. He leant his head on his pile of pillows, and watched Eridan playing with a small smile on his face. The feeling of being content washed over him, and he wrapped an arm around Eridan's middle, drawing comfort from how warm his boyfriend was. He allowed his eyes to flutter closed for a moment, rationalising that they were aching and would feel better after he rested them, but they felt so heavy, and he didn't really want to open them, so he decided to keep them closed for just a minute longer, just until they stopped aching.
Sollux had been snoring quietly for a little while, and had turned away from Eridan in his sleep. Eridan switched his game off, feeling very happy with the fact that his little Barbossa was now level fifteen, then snuggled down behind Sollux, pulling him close, and spooning him. Even though the previous night was still fresh in his memory, and it had been an awful thing to experience, especially considering his back was still stinging, Eridan considered their gaming day to be one of the most enjoyable dates he'd ever had.
Eridan's mind took much longer to wind down than Sollux's had, as he was still on edge that Sollux would wake up and start screaming again, but eventually the drowsiness took over, and he felt his body start to relax.
When Sollux snorted and fussed a little, Eridan kissed the back of his head and began mumbling things to help calm him down, "shh, Sol, I'm here, I got you. I'm not leavvin' you, an I'm not goin' anywwhere." He was too tired to hold back on his stutter, or even feel any kind of pride when his attempt at soothing worked, and his boyfriend settled down.
His lips barely moved as he mumbled through his unconscious state, "g'night Sol, I lovve you."
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Okay! So I hope that anyone who felt sad about the last chapter feels a bit better! And before anyone asks, no, this wasn't a 'cop-out' because of the reviews. I've had every chapter planned out pretty much since I started this thing, so please have faith that this story is going somewhere, and has a strict plan! ;) So hold onto your butts.
But yeah, the whole red & blue, and fog shit carried on after Sollux "woke up", but I didn't want to be too obvious with it... I hope it was written well enough that at least a couple of people suspected that it was a dream, but I don't think I'm that good to be honest.
Thank you so much for the reviews, it means so much to me that I was able to invoke those kinds of emotions in you guys with my writing, and I'm sorry for any heartache, worry, and tears you've had to deal with because of it!
Seriously though, you guys are wonderful, thank you for returning and reading. It honestly means a fuck load to me. [Also, we broke 100,000 words! So thank you so much for reading, you're all absolutely brilliant!]