Rose smoothed down the skirt of the dark dress that she had not worn in quite a while. It brought back haunting memories of the sweet song that cradled you like a lullaby. Shaking her head, she tapped lightly on the door, and listened, hearing footsteps, and the door opening to reveal an exhausted Karkat.

"Hello, Lalonde…." he said, wearily waving at her. She smiled at him, tilting her head to one side.

"Hello, Karkat. How is Eridan doing?" she asked, stepping past him, and uncovering the basket she had brought, containing a few blankets. "Kanaya was insistent I bring these to you as I was dropping by. She says that it's going to get colder." She handed him the basket and stepped into the other room, looking over at the sofa where Dirk had Eridan sat on his lap again, and Cronus could be heard from the nutrition block singing what sounded like a surprisingly good version of 'Devil In Disguise', although where he had heard it, she could only guess.

"Hey, Rosie," Dirk said softly, raising a finger to his lips, and she glanced down to see that Eridan was asleep, fins flicking as he slept.

"How often has he been falling asleep like that?" she asked, sitting next to Dirk as gently as she could. It was better to gain an idea of what Eridan was like, before trying to talk to him in the language he had obviously learned.

"He sleeps and wakes, but I thought it might be a better idea for him to be asleep at the moment. He just acts weird, but after Cronus arrived he got a lot calmer." Dirk sighed. "They started talking with that flicky fin thing, whatever the shit that is actually called, and then Cronus said that Eridan says he's finally found home again. He called it home, okay? No one should consider that home. No one. I don't even want to know how bad it got that he actually thought it was a good place to be."

Rose stared at the sleeping troll, noting how thin and worn he looked. "Dave was the one I talked to about what happened with me, and his term for it was rather concise. Headfuckery. They draw out the bad things in life you've been through, and the bad things you have done. They make you feel like you cannot be loved, and with me, they angered me so that I might seek revenge without a plan, and I believe that they fed off of my inner chaos. Although I had not done much considered bad, they soon convinced me that I had somehow been at fault, for not looking for her. With Eridan, they wished to keep him close, although for what reasons we may never know, and it looks like they convinced him of something. I don't know what, but I would guess it was something to do with how others perceive him - we both know how well that goes, after all."

She saw Eridan blinking a little, and began to sing the most soothing song she had learnt from the horrorterrors, the one that had lulled her into sleep now and then. Eridan crooned it back at her, much better at singing it than she was, and she could vaguely hear the higher notes of the song which a human would not be able to reach. Eridan soon fell asleep again, hand reaching out to hold Rose's sleeve as he did so.

"He seems to really care for the Elder Circle…" she whispered, and Dirk nodded.

"Good luck getting your sleeve back, by the way. He very much cares for them. He misses them, I think." He petted the purple streak gently, and Eridan chirped in his sleep. "So what's with the magical sleepy tune? If I didn't have an immunity to sleep sometimes…"

"If you didn't exist solely on energy drinks and snack foods, you mean. It's got a certain frequency that sends most humanoid life forms in a close vicinity to sleep, and besides that is laced usually with a little magic. Mine doesn't work with magic, but with Eridan's, I am unsure. Cronus seems unaffected, but that is probably due to him being in the kitchen."

The edge of Dirk's mouth quirked upwards. "Yes, lucky for him, although of course not for our ears. However…"

Rose looked over at Karkat, who had sat down to mess about with the computer and was now taking an impromptu nap on the keyboard. "Oh…" She began to smile. "Oh, dear. That was not my intent at all."

Dirk waved a hand. "Leave him. He could do with a nap after everything he's been through today. After all, imagine if this was Jade or John or even Dave who turned up to your house in this state, and you discovered everyone in your group might try and kill them if they saw them in this state. For them, I know it's unlikely…"

Rose felt a lump rise in her throat and a deep feeling of sadness as she looked down at the seatroll in Dirk's lap. "But for him, it isn't, is it? And they'd see it as justice for what he did anyway. Kanaya isn't as nasty as the others about it, seeing as she gets along with Gamzee, but…" She felt her eyes sting and looked away.

Cronus wandered through with a plate of something that smelled rather nice and looked to be fishy, looking down at Eridan and shaking his shoulder gently. "Hey, Eri. Vwake up nowv, c'mon."

Eridan blinked awake, looking at the plate in front of him with confusion until Cronus started flicking his fins, holding a hand out, and Eridan slid from Dirk's lap, letting go of Rose after a moment's hesitation to hold on to Cronus' arm as the older troll led him to the table, sitting down and holding onto Cronus with one hand as he ate carefully with the other. Dirk kept watching, and nudged Rose, pointing to Eridan.

"Now he's decided that you're one, okay? He didn't really seem to recognise you, which I guess is good. But….well, earlier, me and Cronus found out he'll go with Cronus as long as I'm watching, but he'll come back and sit with me if I look away. I guess it's a trust thing, but it's a start. If you look away he'll come back and sit with you and try and make sure you aren't upset." Dirk kept looking at Eridan as he said this, and Rose turned her attention to the seatroll as well.

"That's rather fascinating. He's keeping contact with us as well as Cronus…It might mean that he was physically close to the Elders. Have you found anything else out from him?"

Dirk thought for a minute. "No, I don't think so…Oh, wait. He was writing something on my computer before, something about 'the darkness', some shit like that. Like a poem or something."

Rose narrowed her eyes, still looking at Eridan. "Could you mail me a copy? I'd like to analyse it when I get back home, and see if it matches up with my memories of what the Elders are like. It could be useful when diagnosing what happened."

Dirk nodded slowly. "Soon as he's done with this, I'll see if I can get him back to sleep and mail you the copy. Are you going to be back soon?"

Rose blinked for a minute. "Of course. I can't really talk to him properly in this state, and until he starts recovering properly, anything I say could make him worse or send him back to square one. The writing is more likely some subconscious impulse to tell people what happened, after all, but we need to focus on healing him first."

"Good. I'll message everyone later, because I'm staying here with the kid for the moment." Dirk lowered his shades slightly as he said it.

"Oh, I would have suggested you do so anyway. Even if Cronus stays here, he needs one of us here, and I need to be away to analyse my data. Besides, someone needs to keep him calm around Karkat, and from what you were saying you did manage to do so."

Dirk nodded, letting his arms fall to the side as Cronus led Eridan back over, and sat down with Eridan next to him. Eridan reached out to hold on to Dirk's arm, looking over at Rose.

Sighing softly, she leant over. "I will be back soon, alright?" she asked, dipping her voice up and down like the Elder Gods would, and his fins went flat against his head.

"Soon?"

Cronus looked down at Eridan, surprised the other had even spoke, but Rose nodded, cupping Eridan's cheek like she might do to a young child, or like a horrorterror would to someone in their grasp. The action itself brought memories of phantom tentacles at her own face, and she struggled not to shudder.

"Soon, little one. I will return, I promise you…" She stood up, and started to walk to the door, trying not to let herself shake until the door was shut behind her.

timaeusTestified [TT2] started pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

TT2 sent file 'Eridan's Writing' [doc]

TT2: Feast your eyes on that little snippet, Rosie.

TT: Did he only just fall asleep?

TT2: Yeah, it's like having a giant toddler on my lap. You alright?

TT: Yes. A little shaken, admittedly, but I assure you I will get over it.

TT2: Good to hear. Eridan was a little restless after you left. It didn't help that Karkat's light bulbs keep flickering like they're about to die. Cronus woke up Karkat after a little while of covering him in marshmallows, so at least I was amused by the sight of Karkat trying to hit him with a spatula.

TT: Were any marshmallows saved?

TT2: It was a massacre.

TT: I see. Thank you for attempting to cheer me up, Dirk.

TT2: No problem, Rosie.

timaeusTestified [TT2] stopped pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]