Ch.5
She fidgeted uncomfortably in her dwellings, she had come to Earth to rid herself of the pressures of being ruler of Alternia, but, since landing on the blue planet, this vacation seemed to only cause her more mental distress.
What if my subjects think of me as neglectful because of this trip? Will they think any less of me for taking care of a personal need this early on? Have I lost all respect from my people, or do I even have it yet? What if I'm overthrown, or assassinated, who would take the thrown? What if, WHAT IF-
*knock* *knock* "Hello, Fef, are you there?"
Eridan, without permission, entered the small room.
Feferi stood their awkwardly without focusing on anything in the room in particular, the two fins on the side of her head quivered in quick successive shudders.
A sign of nervousness in seadwellers.
Eridan moved toward his friend slowly with purposeful steps, he was well aware that Feferi hadn't planned on coming to Earth to start becoming friends with some foreign people, but her true intentions had been obscured from his view until this moment; bottom-line, she was scared.
Feferi as well as himself were considered noble blood, and as such they were both raised with the intention that one day they would rule or at least command on high. Eridan had grown up with the fullest idea in mind that he would rule, but Feferi, growing up as the heiress apparent, had never once thought the idea of commanding an empire appealing.
Truth be told, she had always wanted to change the way Alternian government handled things, and had spent many sweeps talking about how she would rule, but she was in control of an empire. An empire that had destroyed good relations with many worlds, and although none of it had been her doing, it was now her responsibility to fix it.
And that was a lot of pressure to put on a troll that was just barely over seven sweeps old.
Whether she was an heiress or not.
Eridan had came out of thoughts to find the distraught sea princess looking right at him.
The two fins one the sides of his head flattened, he had been startled by the her appearance; Feferi had sucked in her bottom lip and was teething on the skin below it, her hands kept clenching and unclenching, she was staring straight forward, and even though she was wearing one of the most fitting, and aspiring dresses he had ever seen, however, she had never before seemed anymore out of place than she was at that moment.
Feferi eyes found his own and desperately pleaded for some form of comforting, a way to ease her inner distress.
Without a second thought Eridan walked toward his oldest friend and captured her in a tight hug. She clutched onto him tightly and shook violently while her tears fell. They weren't great sobs where she would gasp for breath, but silent quakes that rocked her system.
This was much worse than he thought, she wasn't just nervous, she was a wreck, and certainly not in the state a ruler should ever be in, Eridan thought.
The seadweller cooed soft words to soothe her, and wondered briefly if this was the same way she used to keep her lusus in line. He stroked her hair and held her securely in his grasp.
For a few seconds Eridan's thoughts lingered on his long past infatuation with the troll in his arms. A sweep ago he would have been thrilled to do something like this, but now he wished he didn't have to. A sweep ago he was a little more conceited, selfish, but he was improving. A sweep ago he was obsessed with ridding Alternia of all landwellers, but now he had one for a morail!...A sweep ago Feferi was so completely full of life, nothing could ruin the day, but today it seemed that even tomorrow was hopeless...
It's amazing what the end of the world can do to a person.
But if he learned nothing else from that accursed game, he learned that staying with someone in their moment of weakness can be worth a thousand times more than any amount of picnics, or jokes, or even good natured meetings you've ever had with them.
And Feferi understood that just as much as he did.
She left her friend's arms slowly, gracing him with a slightly embarrassed smile.
"Thank you, Eridan" Feferi said quietly, before walking past him and leaving the room.
Eridan stood still for a moment or two before leaving the small space.
This low down in the tower-like hive was suffocating; torches lit the stair case path, and every twenty steps or so going up or down would lead to a small room, almost like a checkpoint where many unusual stuff often lied, and the space would remain small and tight until you had reached the main upper part of the tower. Which was currently the living space his other companions were now occupying.
Feferi hated anything tight and small, so for her to come down this far in the tower to find refuge was troubling.
Eridan sighed as he started his ascent up the tower, she needs a morail, he thought. It was true, she could always come to him of course whenever she needed assistance, but when he wasn't around she would need someone to stabilize her, and someone that could do it well.
However, he was no matchmaker, and there was no one close enough to her that would fit the appropriate the requirements essential for having a healthy morailegiance. He could, of course, introduce someone new, but that was risky considering her current position of power, and he knew most highbloods would use this relationship for their own...advantage. The rumor about highbloods going insane because of old age was faulty, the reason why many did was because many highbloods often had lowbloods for morails. It wasn't a coincidence in the older days of Alternia that many highblood figures were often depicted with their favorite 'slave'. Eight times out of ten, that slave was actually their greatest confidant.
But this wasn't old Alternia, this was Feferi's Alternia, and with the whole planet already wary of her rule, finding a worthy troll of any kind that would not only trust her, but except her for who she truly was, would be a significant challenge.
Eridan stopped his movement for a second, and then continued, I'll worry myself sick like she did if I continue on like this, he smirked cruelly to himself with the bitter irony.
I'm more of a morail to her now than I ever was before.
He made it finally to the main floors and located his temporary room.
He stepped in the doorway quickly and quietly before shutting the door and locking it, he wasn't sure what the human's policy was for the guest privacy, but until he was told otherwise he was locking the door. Someone would think the sea troll's manners were suspicious, however these habits were more cautionary than anything. Besides he was in a thinking mood and he didn't need any outside distractions.
The room was a good size, much like a temporary communal hive room, or 'hotel room' was the term on Earth. Through the door the bed laid out from the right wall to the middle of the room, the closet was directly across from it along the left wall, where his bags were sitting, and right across from the doorway on the other end of the room was a large window, that showed of the impressive wild life and landscape of the island.
Eridan supposed that since the subject of who got what rooms was a short and almost nonviolent affair, that most of the other rooms were similar to his arrangement.
As beautiful as the scenery was the brightness from the setting sun was distracting. He was about to close the curtains to the window when a boat on the horizon caught his eye.
"Another visitor?"
*Ping*
"GAAAHHH!"
John yelped at the notification sound that came from his phone, although he quickly composed himself the boy still heard many disgruntled moans, and displeasured grumbles from the people around him. He received an openly hostile glare from someone to the side of him; John gave an apologetic smile which he could only hope conveyed his message. He took out his phone to see that Dave had sent him a message.
TG: Hey, I'm pretty close to Jade's island
TG: It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be
TG: Ugh where am I going to go once I get off this boat
TG: It's not like the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy had a clear cut path that showed her where to go
TG: I wish life was that easy
TG: Like if you had a hard decision to make, and you're all like 'What should I do man?'
TG: 'I have like Cool Ranch Doritos and Nacho Cheese Doritos, which one should I choose?
TG: And then you're all like 'Oh wait I have the yellow brick road decision app'
TG: You tap on that and then magically your phone projects a holographic yellow brick road toward the best choice
EB: Dave..
TG: Which most obviously is the Nacho Cheese Doritos
EB: Dave
TG: But would that require me to look like Dorothy?
EB: Dave
TG: Because, not gonna lie bro...
EB: Dave please
TG: I'm not sure if I could pull of the little dress and pigtails
EB: Okay, Dave, I get it life isn't easy, but I'm pretty sure the person to solve this little issue would be Jade
TG: Well that's a no brainer Egderp
EB: Hey! :(
TG: But she hasn't been answering my messages
EB: Wait, Really?
TG: Yeah, I'm a little worried to be honest
EB: Don't be too worried I'm sure she's fine
TG: No, no man, not just her, but this whole trip
So I'm not the only one, John thought.
EB: Yeah, what about it, I thought you were excited about this whole thing
TG: I was, still am! But the fact is, this won't be a happy reunion get together
EB: What do you mean?
TG: Like, we aren't going to look at each other and reminisce about that times we all almost died
TG: I'm not going to be all like hey Terezi what's up, remember that time you talked to me about killing my other self
TG: And I just couldn't do it because I wasn't okay with killing myself
TG: Even though I was just going to die anyway, because a fucking demon dog was terrorizing the session
TG: Remember that, good times
TG: I can't do that John
EB: Dave...
TG: That's fucked up!
EB: DAVE! calm down okay, I'm pretty sure we won't be discussing happy times in hell, but despite all the stuff we went through
EB: We're all still here
EB: So chill out man
TG: ...
TG: Talking to Rose has rubbed off on you
EB: Yeah
EB: Yeah, I guess so
TG: I don't have to worry about my bro psycho analyzing me and shit do I?
EB: What?
EB: No man, we chill :B
TG: Please promise me you'll never try to be cool ever again
EB: Will do, I'll try and see if I can get Jade's attention, and if I can't I'll see if Rose can, alright? :)
TG: Alright
TG: Hey John
EB: Yeah
TG: Thanks
EB: No Prob
A/N: Trying to make these characters act like they would act in the real comic, I hope I portrayed them pretty okay, and let me know where I could use some improvement, okay?