Sorry another shitty act but I can't stay up late since I have my advancement exam tomorrow AND FUCK THIS SHIT. Better one tomorrow I hope unless my brain is too scrambled from the test.

Many thanks to CatastrophicAquarius, obsessed01616, LinkinPark X, crimsonkoteto, Bitblondetoday, and SmileyFacesSmile for your reviews to the last act.


Nepeta let out a squeak and covered her mouth with her hand, staring at her phone. Aradia couldn't tell if it was horror or excitement on her face, but even Equius paused in the middle of typing something on his laptop to peer at her over the screen.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Nepeta flung her phone out at arm's length and pointed to the screen.

"That's probably a 'no'," Aradia said. "Nepeta, calm down. What's the problem?"

Nepeta opened and closed her mouth several times but seemed otherwise incapable of communication.

"Um. Do you mind?" Aradia asked, gesturing to Nepeta's phone. After she got no response, she reached over and gently tugged at it, and Nepeta released it. "Oh-kay, then..." The screen had gone dark by then, so she had to hit the power button to wake it up again. As soon as the screen lit up again, the text message Nepeta had been reading popped up.

From: Feferi P.

O)(H MY COD N-EP-ETA, -ERIDAN JUST TOLD M-E. )(E AND SOLLUX AR-E OFFICIALLY BOYFRONDS!

Aradia let out a squeak and covered her mouth with her hand, staring at Nepeta's phone. After a second, she managed to tear her eyes away and lock gazes with Nepeta, who nodded at her furiously, eyes still wide.

"What? What happened?" Equius asked, looking from Nepeta to Aradia and back.

Aradia finally slid Nepeta's phone back across the table and pulled out her own phone. "So apparently, my so-called best friend deigned not to tell me that he suddenly has a boyfriend and I had to find out through third-hand information—dear Lord." She sent a caps-lock-filled message to Sollux. S0, TELL ME, ANYTHING EXCITING HAPPEN THAT I NEED T0 KN0W AB0UT?

"Sollux has a boyfriend?"

"This is brand-new information!" Nepeta screeched. "I need to update my shipping wall!"

"Who is he dating now?"

Aradia and Nepeta exchanged half-frustrated, half-amused glances. "Remember who he was macking on basically all weekend?" Aradia asked.

"Eridan? I thought he was straight."

Nepeta gave him a sympathetic look, covering her mouth for a second. "Oh, hon. No," she said, shaking her head.

"Okay. Well, that's good then, right? Why the... freaking out?" Equius asked, as if grappling for a better term.

"Beclaws! Beclaws... Aradia, help me out here."

"Beclaws—I mean, because Nepeta needs to update her shipping wall?" she guessed helplessly.

"Beclaws this is a big step for Eridan—he thought he was straight for a long time! And now he has a boyfuriend! This is very good!"

"Right, that too. Although why Sollux didn't see fit to tell me..."

"Maybe he wants to keep it downplayed right now?" Nepeta suggested. "He isn't sure how okay Eridan is with all of it. He doesn't want to make a big thing of it if Eridan is going to drop him in a week or something."

"Do you think that's going to happen, though?"

Nepeta thought about it and shook her head. "He told Feferi about it. He's serious enough about it to tell her at least. If he's having second thoughts, they're probably very minor."

"Well, I hope so," Aradia murmured. She looked at her phone, as if she could magically see Sollux on the screen. She was happy for them, but she hoped Eridan didn't end up breaking Sollux's heart. She'd already seen it once, and witnessing it again would be even worse.


S0, TELL ME, ANYTHING EXCITING HAPPEN THAT I NEED T0 KN0W AB0UT?

Sollux sighed at the text message and put his phone away. He had no idea how, but Aradia had found out—most likely. The message had been purposefully vague. Whether Aradia actually knew or not remained to be seen.

But either way, he wanted to tell her in person. This was big news—just a few weeks ago, Sollux had basically hated Eridan's guts, and now he was dating the guy. If that wasn't a wild flip, he didn't know what was.

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, trying to pay attention, but his thoughts kept wandering. For one thing, his classmates kept looking at him as if they'd never seen him before—sure, he typically just wore loose jeans and game-related T-shirts, but you'd think with a button-down shirt, he'd suddenly been transformed into a completely different person. He wasn't sure how he felt about all the attention. Surely other people had better things to do with their time than ogle him, right? Like listening to the lecture, for one. But apparently his appearance was so distracting that barely a minute went by without at least one classmate visibly turning to look at him.

He desperately craved a distraction, so he pulled out his phone and tried to figure out who to text. Aradia was out—he would talk to her later. Dave was a possibility—if all else failed, he might shoot him a text. Eridan? As much as Sollux wanted to talk to him, he also didn't want to seem clingy. Equius... the guy wasn't bad, but aside from the prank he'd helped Sollux pull, they didn't have much to talk about. Feferi was another possibility if he wanted to get bombarded with fish puns. Gamzee—oh, Hell no. John? Probably not. Kanaya—maybe. He'd see. Karkat wasn't even in the running, not right now. Mituna would be a huge mistake, too, plus the very thought of trying to decipher his garbled leet-speak gave him a headache. Nepeta would probably cat-pun him to death or beat him for information—he had no doubt that she somehow knew that he and Eridan had a date. Tavros—again, not a bad guy, but Sollux didn't have much (if anything) in common with him. Terezi... yeah, he had a whole conversation planned out for her, but it was another one he'd have to have in person—probably tomorrow during their computer class.

Well, Dave it was.

apparently a wardrobe change ii2 enough two render otherwii2e-2en2iible people 2tupiid

His phone buzzed thirty seconds after he sent the message. Dave had already replied?

what are you talking about

ii may be dre22ed 2liightly diifferent from normal

different how

Sollux made a face and subtly snapped a picture. that2 how

i didnt even know you owned a shirt like that

ii dont iit2 ed2

excuse me

2orry iit2 eriidan2 2hiirt not miine

why are you wearing his shirt

ii may have 2pent the niight at hii2 place la2t niight

oh cool. well i can kind of understand but it sounds like people are just being overly dramatic losers

probably

Sollux didn't get a text back from Dave, which he expected, so he just put his head down and ignored the looks. Still, even as he felt himself recoiling from the attentions of his classmates, he couldn't help but smile as he remembered the long once-over Eridan had given him that morning or the sheer hotness of just wearing Eridan's clothes.

He ran his fingers through his hair. Like it or not, he had it bad for Eridan.


Rose shook out the scarf she was knitting. Admittedly, it didn't really get cold enough in southern California to warrant scarves, but her mother had a flair for the dramatic. Besides, her and her mother's petty game of mother-daughter one-upmanship hadn't quite died out.

The scarf was pink with a red heart knitted at either end. In the middle, she'd managed to work her knitting magic so the word MOM was spelled out in purple. It was easily seven feet long, and she figured that was good enough.

"You know, if I didn't know this was a pathetic gesture to infuriate your mother, I would say you actually cared about her," Kanaya observed, joking lightly.

She and Rose were at the campus coffee shop. Kanaya had drained her double-chocolate-chip frappucino ("I dislike the taste of coffee," she said upon seeing the look Rose gave her after she ordered), but Rose's venti caramel-flavored coffee had long since grown cold.

"I know. It's a very clever ruse, isn't it?" Rose set the scarf in her bag and went to the counter. She needed a new coffee. Fortunately, Roxy was behind the register today, looking (or at least acting) halfway sober for once.

"Hey, sis," Roxy said happily. "What'll it be?"

"The same thing I got last time."

Roxy squinted like Rose was telling a joke. "Which was what?"

Not that sober, then. Actually, Rose wasn't quite sure what Roxy was even like fully-sober. "Venti caramel Columbian."

"Big-ass cocaine! Shotta speed!" Roxy called to Jane, who waved in acknowledgment and set about preparing the coffee.

"I didn't ask for an espresso shot."

"Nah, but you need one. I can tell. Big sister is always watching," Roxy added, widening her eyes and tilting her head to the side.

Rose sighed. "Yes, you're probably right."

"What about your girlfriend? She want anything else?"

Rose turned and called to Kanaya, "Hey, you want another?"

Kanaya regarded her empty cup for a moment. "If you purchase it, I will consume it."

"Okay. Another one of those. Venti bouble-chocolate-chip frappucino," she added before Roxy could ask.

"Sure thing." Roxy looked over her shoulder again. "Chocolate overload with whip! Big as you got 'em! Ten-twelve," she added to Rose.

Rose handed her the cash and walked back to her seat. "I'm surprised my sister was cognizant enough to get our orders correct."

"She functions at a higher state than most people."

Rose almost choked on nothing. "Her? She's drunk eighty percent of the time."

"I'm aware. But if she wasn't, she'd be very brilliant."

"Are we talking about the same person?"

"Your sister, Roxy. You're the psychologist-in-training. What do you deduce about her alcoholic tendencies?"

Rose sighed. "I try not to, but okay. She followed our mother's example by beginning to drink shortly after the start of high school. It was never a problem because my mother always employed chauffeurs for us and my sister kept her drinking to after school hours. However, in the consequence-free environment that is our home, her alcohol addiction flourished and now she's here, working at the coffee shop of a college she once attended."

Kanaya nodded thoughtfully. "An astute observation, to be certain, but I believe that's a callous assessment. I do not doubt your version of your events, but I dispute the reasoning. Your sister to me seems like a brilliant person. Your mother as well."

"My mother was an astrophysicist until she retired."

"My point exactly. No doubt you and your sister have always been aware of your mother's intelligence."

"Of course."

"Orders for Rose and Kanaya!" Jane called. Kanaya and Rose both got up to retrieve their drinks.

"Listen to me," Kanaya said as they sat back down. You and your sister are both highly intelligent as well. Your sister is the older child, and so she desired to emulate your mother. She began drinking to follow your mother's example, this is true, but let me ask you this: before she began drinking, how were her grades and her social life?"

"Straight A's, few friends to my knowledge."

"And now?"

"College dropout with... well, actually, quite a few friends."

"Exactly. Her drinking in high school, while adversely affecting her grades, positively affected her popularity. After what was eight years of being the perfect child, she wanted something different—plus, I suspect, her intelligence is so high that she felt she was intimidating her new-found friends and drank to bring her down to their level. I'm not condoning her actions at all, but I believe them to be founded in something other than pure alcoholism.

"You, on the other hand, as the younger child, saw the way drinking affected both your mother and your sister, and decided not to follow their example."

"I didn't drink for the longest time, and now the only thing I drink is wine."

"Exactly. You've begun to realize yourself that alcohol isn't inherently bad. So. Does any of this make sense?"

Rose sipped from her coffee and thought it over. "It does, actually. A little. So what are you saying?"

"Understanding the root of the problem will help address it."

"But is it my place to intervene in my family's drinking problems?"

"That's for you to decide. Maybe try to find Roxy when she's sober—or as sober as she gets. Talk to her then. Maybe, right now, the addiction is all physical and not mental at all. It will make the helping easier—not much, but a little."

Rose looked over at Roxy, who was giggling at something Jane said. She had been worried about her sister for a long time...

"Yeah, I think I should. And maybe try to talk to my mom, too."

"That might also be a good start," Kanaya said, nodding.


In which I accidentally headcanon a bit.

So those of you who read/favorited/followed "When Blood Sings"... no one has reviewed so far and I'm very puzzled.