November came for Sollux with a bifurcated sleep punctuated by a panicked awakening to finish his program before its deadline. The second time he awoke, he realized that he had five minutes to get to class.

Digital Theory. The thought made him want to laugh. He had already performed above and beyond the purpose of THAT class in a manner of hours back in September. He idly wondered if he could just do a demonstration of some of his work and just get the credit and get it over with. Seeing as though it was a pre-requisite course and every smarmy, spectacled fuck with a caffeine addicted who grew up on Brainscan and Hackers thought they could beat the system, it was unlikely the professors would listen...

Meh, he could skip a day. He was sure they'd understand. Actually, fuck it, whether they understood or not, he didn't care, he wasn't going to go spraining anything to make it to a class he didn't need, didn't like, couldn't contribute to, and had perfect attendance before now. Fuck understanding, fuck digital theory, and fuck punctuality right in its hypothetical face.

A few moments of sluggishness passed as he rolled out of bed and to his feet…only to step in something sticky and wet in the wad of underwear on his floor.

A second of confusion came and went before Sollux recalled his visitor from the night before. iFucking hell, ED…/i he thought. He limped over to the bathroom and banged on the door.

"Ngh...Come on in, just doin' my hair" came a tired voice on the other side of the door. Inside, a bleary-eyed and still-moist Eridan was preening with a shower-damp towel draped over his bare shoulders. He waved weakly, not looking over, "Unless you need to piss or somethin', I'm goin' to stay put; shit ain't behavin' today. Christ Almighty, my head is poundin'..." He looked over, blinking, "What's your problem?"

Sollux stood there silently looking him over for a moment before responding, "Uh, did you realize that... um, how much of last night do you remember?"

"Last night...?" Eridan's eyes unfocused and he fiddled with his comb for a moment, before a smirk pulled at his lips. "I seem to recall you sayin' I was pretty." He ran his thumbnail over the tines of his comb, "Why? Don't tell me I managed to go offendin' your oh-so delicate sensibilities."

"You came right next to my bed on the floor, dipshit" Sollux barked as he angled his foot in the sink and washed his foot clean.

"Tch, watch your volume, will you?" Eridan spat, rubbing his temple, "Fuckin' acoustics in here are a godforsaken blight on a poor beleaguered brainstem…"

Sollux grabbed a washcloth from the middle of both sinks, knowing very well it was Eridan's and wet it, walking back into his room.

Eridan eyed him and followed after, deciding his hair was good enough for now. "Look, you're makin' a bigger deal a this than needs be made, but I'll be the bigger man here an' apologize. Sorry I got your floor an' not your fuckin' face. Now can we please get over ourselves an' go get some breakfast? I need hangover eggs, an' you're comin' with."

Sollux dropped the washcloth into the hamper and turned his head back toward the door, "Mind telling me why?"

"'Cause if I don't drag you along, you don't eat. Look, I'll fuckin' buy, I got no shits to give on the matter, but you're comin' along an' gettin' some manner a nourishment into your system, so put on your big boy britches an' let's go already."

It occurred to Sollux that moment that he actually was broke for at least another week. The idea of slightly better than cafeteria food was incredibly tempting. He also had nowhere he needed to be immediately. The reasons were entirely too stacked up for him to look away from. He grit his teeth and pulled his jeans off the floor and slid into them.

Eridan watched him, one eyebrow quirked incredulously as he put one hand on his hip and pinched the bridge of his nose with the other. "Sol. Are those the pants that was 'round your ankles last night? Tell me you ain't re-equippin' the selfsame unwashed trousers that happened to serve as cream-catcher."

Sollux looked at the other pair of jeans that were on the floor and groaned, "Jesus ED and you keep bitching about how gross I am?" He grabbed the pants and threw them into the hamper, crossing back to the other side of the room to grab a pair of socks.

"Fine, I'll wait outside, but shake a leg, Sol," Eridan said, throwing his hands up and turning to exit Sollux's room with a dramatic sigh. "Christ's missin' foreskin, the shit I put up with..."

Sollux scowled and yelled back, "Remind me to piss in your shoes make us even then, shitstain!" He then proceeded to wrap the yellow scarf he'd gotten from Aradia around his neck. True to her word, it was warm enough to fight the New Jersey autumn chill. Once his jacket and dual-colored sunglasses were on, he stepped outside of the door.

Eridan exited his own room only a split-second after him, in a well-tailored coat and deep indigo scarf, and began to draw sleek black gloves over his ringed fingers as he led towards the elevator. "Lucky you're a good fuck, Sol; sometimes I ain't too clear on why I stand for your abuse. C'mon, we're goin' to Maggie's Cafe."

Sollux's eyebrows furrowed, as the name wasn't familiar to him, "Is it far? Are we walking or taking the bus?"

"Plebian. We can take my car...trust me, the place is worth the ride." Eridan walked down the hall and pressed the button for the elevator. "Though if you so much as set two neurons onto makin' good on your threats to piss on my property, I'm goin' to pull out your toenails."

"Are you even capable of driving right now?" Sollux asked with an dubious stare, "Last I checked you were only at half health."

Eridan shot him a glare, exiting the elevator, "You're castin' doubts on my ability to comport myself behind the wheel? I'm hungover, not drunk, you mistrustin' wretch."

"Hey, you're the one dragging me out of my room to go to your fancy little girly cafe, the least you can do is not fucking kill me on the way over." Sollux sneered.

Eridan fell quiet for a moment before conceding. "...The bus'll do the job. Thinkin' on it, public transport is said to be good for the environment an' all that." He walked along briskly toward where he thought the bus stop was.

Sollux tugged on Eridan's scarf, "Hey dumbass, the bus stop is the other way."

"You have the sincerest a invitations to kiss my ass," Eridan snorted, following Sollux.

Sollux led the way, arriving at the sign post moments later, "Spoiler alert, you're not always right just because you stick your nose up far enough into the atmosphere."

"You open your mouth, but all I can hear is you RSVP-in' to said ass-kissin'," Eridan spat, rubbing his temple.

The bus ride was silent; Eridan winced as the bus took a pothole, his head not thanking him for the jostle, and Sollux made no particular move to improve the mood until the doors opened out into a part of town he didn't recognize. Eridan exited the bus with Sollux behind him into an obviously nice part of town; boutiques and coffee shops lined the street, and Eridan headed off towards one on the corner with the "Maggie's" sign in bright yellow letters.

Sollux lifted his glasses to look at the cute little shop, contorting his face slightly before following Eridan inside. He shoved his hands in his back pockets and looked around, choosing to not make a scene at the sheer oddness he had gotten into.

Eridan nodded to the hostess and the two were ushered to a booth; the atmosphere was nice. Homey. There was something quaint and comforting, and the whole building smelled like fresh-baked cinnamon rolls, hot sausage gravy, and just-squeezed orange juice. Eridan didn't even look at the menu; "I'm havin' a souflee; best damned way to get your hangover eggs. You?"

Sollux's jaw dropped, expression contorting further in frustration as he exclaimed, "How the hell should I know I haven't even looked at the menu yet, dickhead!"

Eridan gestured towards the menu, "S'cuse me for makin' a roundabout suggestion. Please, princess, by all means, take your time."

Sollux pushed the menu back towards Eridan and grumbled to the young waitress, "Just whatever he said he's having, I'll have it too."

Eridan gave a long-suffering look to the waitress and ordered two gruyere and speck souflees, two coffees, and two glasses of water, with an order of small pecan rolls on the side to share. As she bustled off, he cradled his head in his hand.

"Shit, you couldn't just let me look at the menu for a couple minutes before she showed up? Seriously?" Sollux leaned forward in an effort to be intimidating.

Waving dismissively, Eridan leaned back and draped an arm across the back of the bench seat. "You're goin' to be thankin' me, Captor; this place got the best fuckin' souflees to be found in this hemisphere, so just hush up an' await a n egg dish that God himself would weep over."

Sollux slumped back in his seat with a low growl, scowling at the undoubtedly nonconfrontational kitten painting directly across from their booth, "How the fuck did you find this place anyway? It just reeks of what I suspect you and the girls do after your mall trips."

"You know what manner a shit they serve at the school commissary, Sol. Sure, it's edible, but livin' on that no-star swill will drain a man a his will t'live. Man craves the finer things in life, Sol, an' so he seeks 'em out."

The waitress brought their drinks, and Eridan downed half of his glass of water in one go. "Lord a mercy, I drank too much last night..."

"Huh. Couldn't tell, pwnstar." Sollux deadpanned as he bobbed the ice in his water with his straw, "Have you learned any lessons from the experience?"

"The same lesson I keep meanin' to learn. Stop drinkin' three shots earlier, an' skip the cheap stuff." He slipped off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes and the bridge of his nose. "God willin' I'll learn it proper this time."

Sollux's eyes darted quickly over Eridan's face, scanning the finer little details before going back to his water glass. If this was how Eridan looked when he 'felt like shit', then Sollux couldn't tell a lick of difference to be honest. Maybe a little more whiny, yes, but this was iEridan/i after all, a shitton of whining was to be expected; otherwise he was still as easy on the eyes as ever. Sollux inched the glasses over to his side of the table nonchalantly, examining the frames, "Spoilers, you don't. Then bitch at me more. Maybe you won't blow your load on my floor."

"If you'd wanted it on your face, you should a just said so an' I'd a obliged," Eridan grumbled, not bothering to look at Sollux as the waitress approached. Only when the scent of pecan rolls and hot cheesy eggy goodness graced his senses did he bother to take his hand from his face, "Finally...Oi! Set your kleptomaniac sighs elsewhere, he said indignantly as he snatched his glasses back. He drew the napkin over his lap and cut his souflee with his fork, watching steam rise from the soft, pale deliciousness.

Sollux cackled nasally before reaching for his pecan roll, picking the nuts from the top of it and eating them, "How is it kleptomania if I just willingly did it without compulsion? Plus they didn't even leave the table."

Eridan rolled his eyes and shook his head, choosing instead to put his attention on his souflee, deciding that the meal itself was a better conversation partner than the douche in the opposite seat. He couldn't help but smile at the first bite, however, his mood improving instantaneously.

Sollux had no such civility in table manners, instead choosing to hork down his pastry in large bites. While not crass enough to chew with his mouth open, it was a wonder he did not choke.

The fork fell from Eridan's hands, clattering to the plate as he spluttered, "Good God, Sol! I seen chimps with better table manners'n you! Are you even fuckin' itastin'/i it?"

Sollux stared quizzically at Eridan's obvious overreaction, "Um, yes? That's why I'm still eating it instead of leaving it on the plate, idiot."

Eridan smacked Sollux's hand, making him drop the last bite of pecan roll onto the plate, "Use your cutlery, philistine! Treat your food with a li'l goddamn respect before it chokes you in indignant retaliation." He picked up Sollux's fork, "See? This is a fork. Eff Oh Arr Kay. Fooorrrk. Human bein's use this when we're eatin', though I confess that stabbin' you in your fool face with it might render it a respectable multtasker."

Sollux spitefully picked up the last bit of his roll with his fingers and popped it into his mouth with an evil smirk. His arms then rose in what might be considered a challenge, "What now?"

Eridan rapped Sollux's knuckles with the back of his own fork and cast it down to the plate, before moving the basket of pecan rolls over to his side of the table, out of convenient reach of Sollux.

"Ow, fuck!" Sollux shook his abused hand and glared, before shrugging and approaching the souflee he'd neglected before. He picked up the fork and mindlessly cut into its side with the flat end of the flatware while resting his jaw on his free hand.

Shaking his head, Eridan turned back to his meal, choosing to willfully ignore Sollux's elbow on the table. Or, well, trying to. "Who taught you manners, anyway?" he grumbled, more under his breath than anything else.

Sollux snorted with a grin, "ED, manners can't matter ithat/i much to you. It's not like I'm sitting on the floor squawking in a cockney accent about the dingoes or the coal babies."

Eridan set his fork down and cradled his face in his palm. "Christ, you're goin' to do that now just to spite me, aren't you? I swear to God, you pull that shit, an' I'm callin' in an exorcist on your ass."

Sollux was halfway through his souffle, having eaten it in a similar manner as his pecan roll only with a fork involved in the elaborate mechanism that was Sollux's feeding habits, "I'm rude, not malicious-" He thought on that a moment before recanting, "I'm not completely merciless. I won't embarrass you in public, sweetcheeks.""

"Like you ain't been doin' so...I'm guessin' you ain't been through an exorcism, though, seein' as you don' seem too phased by the threat." He prodded his souflee with his fork, his appetite waning for the moment.

Sollux's expression dropped, eyes widening slightly as he looked back at Eridan, "What- really? You-?"

"There's reasons I'm a recoverin' Catholic." Eridan sighed and leaned back, draping his arm over the seat next to him and gesturing vaguely, "Was an altar boy when I was just a fry, in fact. Catholic school up through sixth grade, knew my rites, all a that...high school, I fell out a it somewhat, but seein' as most a my siblin's done much the same at that age, that wasn' exactly out a the norm an' my Mam didn' care too much. Me an' one a my sisters was visitin' Mam's sister the summer a tenth grade, though, an' the aforementioned auntie-craziest, snoopin'est, most zealous an' vindictive bitch ever did set foot on God's Green-got ahold a one a my letters from Fef an' found out about me dressin'. So she got it in her head that she'd set to savin' my soul an' called in a priest, an' Sol, some a that shit goes agin' the fuckin' Geneva Conventions, I tell you. I ain't stepped foot in the house a God nor Aunt Clarice since."

Sollux sat silently, only blinking, expression mostly unchanged before quietly responding in his usual tone, "No squawking it is then."

Eridan gave a short snort and a nod of understanding, and contemplated his coffee quietly for a moment.

Sollux allowed a grin to grow across his face, "Does she have fucked up speech too?"

Eridan gave him a look that could kill over his thick black frames. "Really. I pour out my pain an' the anguish a my speckled past, tales a abuse an' loss a faith the like a which'd break a man, an' that's all you can fuckin' say?"

Sollux replied with a question of his own, "Does your lack of faith make you wake up at night in a cold sweat?"

"Not as such, exactly," Eridan shrugged, no less annoyed.

"Do you regret who you are?" Sollux asked.

"Only in as much as I'm related to that batshit biddy," eridan replied, idly inspecting his nails. "Not a whole lot about me what ain't pretty fuckin' ace, elsewise. You tryin' to make a point here, Sol?"

"That religion is generally shitty if you do it the wrong way, so don't even bother with it unless it's really that important to you. You probably would've grown out of the Catholic fairy tale at some point anyway."

"You," Eridan began, taking up his fork and stabbing towards Sollux in accusation, before stabbing a pecan roll, taking it to his plate, cutting it, "Have not one fuckin' ounce a empathy in your hollow, soulless husk."

"Looking at things pragmatically doesn't mean I don't have any empathy." Sollux glared before letting his gaze fall back to his plate. iI wouldn't be trying to make you laugh if I wasn't,/i he thought bitterly.

Eridan only answered with a derisive snort through a mouthful of pecans and cinnamon. A quiet moment passed as the two ate, the silence only broken when Eridan gestured to Sollux's plate, "Pretty good, though, eh? You don' find victuals like this just anywhere."

"Victawhat?"

"Victuals. Vittles. Sustenance. Nourishment. I know you eat less chow than the average fieldmouse, but come ion/i Sol, you got to at least know the words for 'food'."

"Yes, I know words we use here in the USA that come from modern shitfucking vernacular, not whatever crazy larping nerd bullshit you like to blab out to sound isooo/i worldly." Sollux gestured with his fork, eyebrows arching and descending appropriately in his retort.

Eridan finished his meal and wiped his mouth with his napkin, before pushing his glasses higher up on his nose with his middle finger, "Just for that, I'm jizzin' in your eye tonight."

Sollux leaned forward and hissed, "Fat chance, I'm gonna nail you so hard you get pregnant, princess Ariel."

Eridan sneered as he pulled out his credit card for the tab, "Did you always have this much spunk in you, Sol, or is it just 'cause I keep leavin' gobs a it in your mouth?"

"Wow, congratulations, you're officially too disgusting to even retort to. I bet you mom's proud. I'm out of here." Sollux pushed himself up from his seat and stood by the door impatiently.

After paying, Eridan met up with him. "Wow, an' that's Captor gratitude for you, bitin' back when I'm payin' your meal. Here," he said, thrusting a bag of leftover pecan rolls into Sollux's hands. "Enjoy, you fuckin' ingrate."

"Thanks, I'm sure this'll be just enough to get the taste of your spunk out of my mouth, and I'm eating them WITH NO FORKS." Sollux retorted with a wide grin.

"Shove 'em so far up your arse you belch pecans for all I fuckin' care, so long as you don't do that shit in polite company," Eridan shrugged, stalking off towards the bus stop.

Sollux followed after Eridan, standing beside him close enough to bump his side if he felt like. He turned his head slightly, still with that toothy grin, "And I'll have you to thank for your generosity. By the way, how's that hangover treating you?"

"Better'n it was," Eridan sighed, "Still lingerin' though. An' you're welcome, though, promise me if you do end up with pecan rolls in your bum, you'll never breathe a word a it to me."

"Just for shoving that image to the forefront of my brain I'll be sure to email you the colonoscopy proofs that I'll scrimp and save for just for the pleasure of hearing your reaction." The bus then mercifully rolled to a stop before the two students.

Eridan shook his head, muttering under his breath as he paid both their fare, "...Right in your goddamn eye."

A few hours later, Sollux sat at a table on the balcony overlooking the cafeteria, his attention focused on his laptop as he waited for Aradia.

Shortly after one, the strong scent of marigolds and cinnamon surrounded him, just as arms draped over his shoulders and breasts and belly pressed against his back and head.

"Hey Sollux! Were you waiting long?" Aradia smiled down at him through long red false eyelashes, her hair braided thickly with marigolds and her dress all black.

Sollux grinned with a snort, "It's just fucking Christmas up in here for you isn't it?"

"Different holiday. Happy Dia de los Muertos!" She gave him a quick hug before sitting down opposite him, peering over the ridge of his laptop screen. "How was class?"

"Didn't go, Was up all night finishing a project and couldn't even move this morning," he shrugged, not exactly lying.

Aradia pouted, "Aw...if I had known you were skipping, I'd have called you to come to the cemetery with me. We could've had a picnic! They have some lovely graves around here!"

"I didn't really plan on it, besides, ED kidnapped me and decided we needed to go to some fucking girly-ass cafe in town and bitched about my table manners. Well pardon fucking me if his stupid spoiled little rich girl mannerisms don't rub off on me like osmosis because we share the same tap water." Sollux rattled off, growling at his computer screen as he typed.

"Mmm. Which cafe? Was it worth checking out?"

"Some pink and purple place up in the main stretch of town, lots of flowers." Sollux made a spastic hand gesture towards her hair topiary. "You'd like it, though. I'll take you sometime."

"Neat." Aradia pulled a marigold from her hair and leaned over the table to tuck it behind Sollux's ear, half-shutting his screen on the way. "Still wish you'd have come. The graves were pretty but it's more fun with someone with me."

Sollux raised an eyebrow and removed the flower, looking down at it in his hands and fiddling with its leaves, "If you're heading back later I'll join you. You know how I love a good graveyard."

"No, I have class later..." She sighed and rested her chin on her folded arms on the table. "Tavros offered to visit, but that was before he found out he had to work, Nepeta was busy, something about one of her friends telling her about a costume game...and Equius, I think he was creeped out? I don't understand what the big deal is; graveyards are great! They're where you go when the worst is over!"

Sollux tossed the flower back at her in a graceful arch that hit her in the cheek, "I guess not a lot of people see it that way."

"Guess not..." She sat up and picked up the flower, pondering it for a moment, before feeling for a place to put it back in her hair. Finding no free space, she slipped the stem into her cleavage. "Wait...ED? Isn't that your bathroom guy?"

"Yep. He was hungover and wanted eggs and demanded I come with, hence why I went to princess lil's cupcake palace and got bitched out over how I eat."

"I thought he hated you? Or you hated him? Why are you spending time with him?"

"Huh?" He had to actually think about that for a moment before he shook his head, "He whines when I don't spend time with him, I mean ok, he's not as awful as I thought he was and oh yeah, I was definitely right about him being a cross-dresser, just FYI. He seems to think I need a fairy godmother but I already have you for that, yet he still goes around scratching at my door insisting I need to get out and do things like get sunlight. What is he, my mom?"

"Have you tried just telling him no?" Aradia asked, looking confused.

"Welll..." No. "Yeah, but then it's all lecture lecture lecture whine at me," he complained, not meeting her eyes as he twirled his wrist in the air.

Aradia knew that look; he was being evasive. Things started to fall into place in her mind, and a little smile tugged at her wine-red lips. "Do you want him to stop?"

Sollux froze again, "I mean, letting me have an opinion would be nice!"

"Rabid wolves couldn't stop you from voicing your opinions, Sollux. Do you want him to stop, or do you just like having a..." Aradia searched for the right word. If her hunch was right, she wouldn't want to scare him out of talking to her, "...an argument partner?"

Seemingly oblivious to the prodding, he continued, " Could be worse, I guess. He just turns into such a fucking priss over everything and he's never right either. He'll just bitch about shit and then expect that he's right just because he has the most to nitpick about. Ugh… And he wanted to drive hungover too."

"Sounds like you have quite a relationship with him," she grinned, rubbing a fallen marigold petal between her thumb and forefinger.

His blood froze briefly before he glared, "Relationship my ass! It's a parasitic coexistence of him feeding on my patience and wi-fi, and what the hell is just so interesting about it anyway?"

"No, no! I mean, you have someone you can argue with!" she backpedaled, hands up in surrender. Clearly he wasn't ready to talk about any feelings she was sensing from him about his suitemate. "I'm just curious…be…cause...I'm looking for a photographer!" Good thinking, girl. "This ED guy takes photos, right? I was thinking of getting a portrait done, Equius's birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I wasn't sure just baking him a cake would be enough, so maybe he'd like a photo of me in a nice frame?" She fidgeted nervously with the flower in her blouse, hoping this spontaneous excuse seemed plausible and that she wasn't just digging herself in deeper. "Or is that too narcissistic?"

Sollux nodded, looking relieved, and even afforded her a little smile, "That sounds just kawaii as fuck AA. You sure want him to do it though? Can't you just ask NP?"

"I was looking for something more professional, and she really only takes digital photos, you know? I don't know if there's a difference, but I'd like to have a few sizes, maybe a wallet-sized one he can keep with him..." she said, wiggling a little in her seat. "Do you know what he charges?"

He shrugged, "I dunno, either you can go to my dorm and wait for him to get back to his or I'll just give you FF's number so she can get to him or something"

"You don't have his? Well, give me hers and I'll call her!"

Sollux opened his phone and slid it over to her, "Go nuts."

She peered through his contact list, pulling out her own phone as she noticed a single name under the E list. "Eridan? Is that him?"

Sollux gave a quick nod—utterly failing to notice that he had himself never told her his suitemate's full name-while he typed on his computer; just a quick, but important email correspondence.

Aradia snickered as she saved Eridan's number into her contacts and looked over at Sollux, "Actually, you seem kind of busy, I'll go call him now. Or...is he in class? Should I text instead?" Sollux grunted noncommittally, and she stood and kissed him on the cheek. "Good luck with your whatevers, and Happy Mortality Reminders Day." She turned on her heal and wandered off in a vaguely class-wards direction, texting Eridan as she went, quietly certain that there were reasons for Sollux to have kept the number of someone he could literally talk to daily in person.

That evening, Aradia had a little while to relax before Nepeta would return from class. She sat on the bed and pulled out her laptop, and signed on, smiling as she spied an old familiar name requesting her attention

aRADIA, hEY, hOW'S IT GOING, iF THIS IS AN OKAY TIME, tO TALK,

0f c0urse it is tavr0s

happy dia de l0s muert0s!

h0w are y0u?

aND TO YOU }:)

i'M DOING, pRETTY WELL, tHANKS, aLTHOUGH, i WISH THAT WE COULD TOUR, iN WARM CLIMATES, dURING THE WINTER THIS YEAR, wHAT WITH THE PINS, aND ALL,

aLTHOUGH, i DON'T KNOW IF, wE WILL EVER BE THAT POPULAR,

the pins are bugging y0u already?

nOT YET, bUT i'M PRETTY SURE THEY WILL,

Tavros Nitram, Aradia's oldest friend (next to Sollux) and very probably the sweetest and kindest drummer ever, had been in a car accident when he was thirteen. After various surgeries and considerable physical therapy, he could walk and dance and run, but the stabilizing pins in his shin and the artificial hip always ached during cold weather, particularly just before it would snow. Every winter brought him months of pain and long daily soaks in hot baths.

In the winter after the accident, both extended families pooled money together to buy a hot tub so that Tavros and Aradia could play together in their swimsuits; even after finding a sympathetic insurance adjuster to mark it as a medically necessary purchase and therefore partially covered, it had nearly broken both sets of parents for a while, but nobody minded too much at the time.

Well, not counting how Tavros's mother would tease Aradia about all the long black hairs she found around the tub. Dry them out and weave them into a hair net, she'd joke; it was a welcome thing to everyone involved the day Aradia discovered the power of banana clips.

Aradia, for her part, would deny all allegations that she had any part in what doctors considered "unfathomable progress" in Tavros's recovery.

Tavros, for his part, would fight her on this.

i WISH THAT, wE COULD BE IN FLORIDA, dURING HONEYBELL SEASON,

bECAUSE, rEALLY, fLORIDA IN jANUARY IS NICE,

arent y0u a little y0ung t0 be a fl0rida retiree?

}:P

bUT, iT IS POSSIBLE, mAYBE, tHAT i WILL BE VISITING lITTA AND uNCLE rUFUS FOR nEW yEARS, iN mIAMI,

sO, tHERE IS THAT,

s0 I w0nt see y0u 0ver break?

nO, nO, i'LL ONLY BE GONE A WEEK,

sO i WILL STILL SEE YOU, aND sOLLUX, wHEN YOU GUYS COME BACK,

bUT, tHE REASON WHY, uH, i INITIALLY MESSAGED, iS TO LET YOU KNOW, nEPETA SENT ME THE PICTURES, fROM YOUR PARTY LAST NIGHT, aND, yOU BOTH LOOK, rEALLY FANTASTIC,

aND, iT'S SO CUTE HOW YOU TWO, cOORDINATED YOUR COSTUMES,

i TOLD nEPETA, tHAT SHE LOOKED JUST LIKE tINKERBELL, bUT, bEING A RED FAIRY, sUITS YOU REALLY WELL, aND, yOU LOOKED REALLY GOOD,

thank y0u tavr0s!

we had a l0t 0f fun dressing up t0gether

aND, uH, i GUESS THAT GUY, iS, wELL, tHE GUY?

bY WHICH i MEAN TO SAY, tHE GUY IN THE PHOTO DRESSED AS zORRO, iS THE eQUIUS GUY, tHAT i HAVE HEARD SO MUCH ABOUT?

yes that is him!

hOW IS THAT GOING, iF YOU DON'T MIND, mY ASKING,

0hhh

where d0 I even start?

things are g0ing really great

he is a little bit 0f a jerk in s0me ways but hes als0 very sweet in 0thers

m0stly sweet

fun t0 sm00ch

0u0

we have been spending a l0t 0f time t0gether

yEAH, nEPETA MENTIONED THAT, sHE HAS BEEN SEEING LESS OF HIM, lATELY, wHILE WE WERE ROLEPLAYING, sO, i HAVE OPTED TO ASSUME, tHAT THAT MEANS THAT THINGS ARE GOING WELL,

bECAUSE SHE PROBABLY, wOULD HAVE MENTIONED THAT, iNSTEAD, rATHER THAN MENTIONING THE LACK OF, wHAT DID SHE CALL HIM?

"eQUIKITTY," i THINK SHE SAID?

yes she likes t0 call him that s0metimes

y0u kn0w h0w she is

mAYBE IF THINGS GO WELL, aND YOU INTRODUCE HIM TO YOUR PARENTS, i WILL MEET HIM, tHEN,

bECAUSE, iF HE IS THAT IMPORTANT TO YOU, tHEN, i WOULD LIKE TO GET TO KNOW HIM,

i d0nt kn0w if y0u w0uld get al0ng with him 0r n0t

i mean i think y0u w0uld because I cant imagine y0u n0t getting al0ng with any0ne but he can be really intimidating a l0t 0f the time

i d0nt think he even realizes he is d0ing it

hEY, aS LONG AS YOU'RE HAPPY, wITH HIM, aND, iT SOUNDS LIKE YOU ARE, sO FAR, tHEN, tHAT'S WHAT MATTERS, tO ME,

aLTHOUGH, iF HE EVER DOES HURT YOU, oR DISRESPECT YOU, hE WILL HAVE ME, aND ALSO sOLLUX, tO DEAL WITH,

aND, i WILL HAVE WORDS WITH HIM, vOICING MY OPINIONS ON THE MATTER, iN A DIRECT MANNER, iN HOPES THAT HE WILL TREAT YOU WITH THE RESPECT AND CONSIDERATION YOU DESERVE,

wHEREAS sOLLUX WILL, mOST LIKELY, pUNCTURE HIS TIRES,

my her0es!

but i d0nt see it being an issue

we just have t0 see h0w it g0es!

Aradia paused, then, smiling as she thought of Equius. Those gentle smiles that seemed to be saved and stockpiled and given only to her, the catch in his throat when he fumbled his words in a flustered fit, the way he often didn't know what to do with his hands and how he tensed up sometimes, like she was too precious to scare off. Like she mattered to him. Sometimes, like she was the only one who really mattered.

She thought of how his jaw would set and he would fall silent, reasonably often, as if he were fighting himself, as if he were struggling to keep himself reined in.

For her sake, Equius had been keeping himself contained, but Aradia knew his passions ran deep. She could observe well enough; she had learned the twitch at the corner of his mouth when he wanted to kiss her. When his sunglasses were set aside, she could see the way he looked at her, eyes lingering on her figure, her neck, and her lips, and how he would gaze into her eyes so intimately. She had seen the fresh sweat glisten on his brow when she pulled him for a surprise kiss, the little grunt he had made the last time she let her hand brush across his rump…

For her sake, he had kept himself on a leash, she supposed. Never had she asked, maybe this was even just his way, but she felt touched by it all the same.

Aradia could not help but wonder, what would he be like, then, when he figured out that she was no timid rabbit, so easily scared? How would he look at her when he realized she would not break so easily?

What would Equius do, how would he sound, what would he say when he finally let go of the reins and let himself run wild?

She shivered, an all-too familiar flush in her cheeks, and resumed typing:

alth0ugh between y0u and me

if we are being c0mpletely h0nest here

i think i may be falling in l0ve