hey s0llux!
are y0u 0n the way t0 the bus st0p yet 0r sh0uld i c0me get y0u?
iim almo2t there aa je2u2.
be2iid2e2 that would mean goiing pa2t the 2top two get two me.
0kay i will see y0u s00n!
is it 0kay if we g0 back t0 that place y0u t00k me t0 last time?
ugh that fuckiing giirly place.
can ii drop dead before enteriing?
as l0ng as y0u get 0ff the bus first as i am n0t certain i can drag y0ur c0rpse 0ff first and it is rude t0 leave a deceased pers0n 0n public transit
bluh well 2iince you put iit liike that fiine. you're payiing then.
i t0ld y0u i was g0ing t0 anyway!
there is celebrating t0 be d0ne after all!
oh riight ii forgot.
Aradia looked up from her phone to see the lanky young curmudgeon typing furiously on his phone with a placid expression, bundled up in his coat and familiar yellow scarf as he walked towards the bus stop. She called out to him, bouncing up and down where she stood and waving her black-mittened hands, "Hey Sollux! Hey!"
He lifted his head and shoved his phone back in his pocket, waving back at the loud girl. "Somebody's excited. You must've missed me bad," he grinned, ambling over at a lazy pace.
She bounded over and hugged him, causing him to stagger back. "Well, yeah! I haven't seen you in a week, I've been worried about you. Guess you've been busy, huh?"
"Oh yes," he nodded in agreement, giving her a couple of pats to the head, "Been busy beyond a belief astounding professors and classmates alike."
Aradia grinned and took his arm, walking with him the last few paces to the bus stop, "No doubt. Someone has to show those professors of yours how it's done." A chill November wind kicked up and she tugged her coat closer around her.
"Yep, I'll be a downright fucking revolutionary like in every other college movie." Sollux shivered with his hands thrust in his pockets as he attempted to warm the underside of his nose with his upper lip. "Did I mention I hate fall? Seriously, the cold can just eat my ass out."
"That sounds exceptionally uncomfortable," Aradia said, looking to see if the bus was coming yet. The bus, naturally, was stubbornly resolute not to come early, but a girl could hope. Disappointed, she looked back up to Sollux, wrapping an arm around him. "Do you really mind if we go to Maggie's again? Those pecan rolls were so good!"
Sollux rolled his head back and shrugged, "Whatever, it's your money. As long as I don't get a table manners and etiquette tutorial from you too, I think we're solid."
Aradia laughed, "Like that'd even work. If I tried, you'd probably just sit on the floor and quack like a duck to spite me." She glanced around for the bus again, "Anyway, we've got a deal, and I plan to live up to it."
Soon-though not soon enough for their poor cold noses-the bus did come, Sollux making low quacking noises as he waddled over to the opening doors. Aradia laughed and followed him, sitting beside him on the bus and watching the others file on, chatting idly with Sollux, who responded with quacks of agreement.
After a short ride and a shorter wait, the two were seated comfortably in a cozy booth at Maggie's, looking over the menu. "Now, I think I promised you celebratory pancakes, but I guess whatever you want is fine. What do you recommend here besides the souffle?"
Sollux hunkered down to look at the menu, "I dunno. Last time I was here without you I didn't even get to see the menu."
Aradia scanned the menu, tempted by the strawberry waffles, and casually asked, "And are you at all curious about why we're celebrating?"
"I figured you'd let me in on the big secret eventually." Sollux yawned.
Ignoring her friend's disinterest, she beamed, "I got laid! And, as promised, I have invited you to celebratory got-laid pancakes!"
Sollux balked, genuinely surprised. "No shit? Wait, how long's it even been? Isn't there some Catholic no-fucking rule or some shit?"
"Yeah, but there's no agnostic no-fucking rule," she shrugged, turning the page of her menu, "It's been...five weeks, I think, since we started officially dating, but the sexy part started last week."
Sollux gave a reluctant slow clap, "I'm not exactly surprised, more like fucking puzzled about how you let that happen."
She set down her menu and started to gesture, "Well, first a lot of foreplay, then you go slow at first. Plenty of stretching, and it doesn't hurt at all!"
"Oh god I'm not hearing this from you." Sollux slid his fingers in his hair, palms over his ears and eyes scrunched shut, "Dadadada don't need sex ed from my childhood friend!"
Aradia leaned forward, lacing her fingers together and resting her chin on the backs of her hands with a satisfied grin, "Then what did you mean? Is it so weird I'd want to sleep with my boyfriend?"
Sollux dropped his hands, hair now rather disheveled from his fingers, "No, it's not that, it's just... well don't girls usually want to wait for that kind of thing?"
"Many do, but I felt the time was right. And why not? Equius and I have a good relationship, we enjoy each other's company, we have fun together...so now we have sex, too. And it's great! A+, would recommend!" Aradia giggled and wiggled in her seat.
Sollux nodded his head slightly and rubbed his temples, looking clearly tired.
Aradia tilted her head, waiting and leaving room for him to agree, to deny, react at all. Granted, she hadn't expected the kind of giddy congratulation that Nepeta had offered, but she had expected more reaction than he'd shown. She cleared her throat and began to speak, only to be cut off by the arrival of the waitress with two glasses of water.
"What can I get for you folks today?" asked the chipper woman.
Aradia ordered herself a coffee and glanced over, "Do you know what you want?"
"You got Mountain Dew here, right?" Sollux asked, peeking up at her.
The woman nodded, undeterred in her demeanor.
"Strawberry pancakes for me, and pecan rolls to share, please! And a coffee," sang Aradia, handing over the menu with a bright smile. The waitress jotted down the order and looked to Sollux expectantly.
Sollux in turn took a few moments to peruse the menu, "Um, I'll have a ham and cheddar panini."
The waitress nodded and bustled off, and Aradia wiggled a little in her seat, "So how are classes going? Is it midterms that kept you holed up for a week, or what?"
Sollux nodded, "My english comp professor is a sack of shit who won't give me a fucking break. I'm not a fucking english major and I don't give a shit about writing essays about bullshit."
"If you need a proofreader I can always ask Nepeta. She does a lot of writing, maybe she can give you some advice?" Aradia offered, recalling her roommate's occasional forays into fanfiction and speculative essays.
He sighed in exhaustion, "I don't even give a shit, I mean, why should I even have to care about this 'well-rounded education' crap? I do computer shit because it's what I'm good at, throwing this english shit at me is just a waste of my money."
She shrugged, "I guess it's all part of the experience. We're here to experience things and get fitted out for some mythical 'real world' and discover ourselves-or, at the very least, that's a very convincing argument for charging us for another two semesters' worth of classes, don't you think?"
Sollux's glower stung sourly before he shrugged heavily, "It's a terrible fucking system."
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. But even if it's a rigged game, we have to play it; unless people are hiring back-alley programmers and picking archaeologists and curators off of street corners, we've got to get a degree if we want jobs in our fields."
Thinking on his recent exploits, all those hours spent on 'special projects' for his employer, Sollux couldn' help but chuckle. "I'd have more luck than you on that account."
Aradia giggled, "Well, maybe, but you want to be a high-class programmer. Not some dime-a-dozen street-coder who'll defrag for a buck."
Sollux faked a smoker's cough, "C'mon baby just gimme another frag, you know I can fuckin' give you what you need..."
"I don't know, show me that big brain of yours so I know what I'm paying for," she grinned, pulling out her wallet, "Does it cost extra to get you to talk nerdy to me?"
"Maybe I should, it's a talent and it comes just so naturally to me." Sollux made his eyebrows dance just before the waitress came back with their food and drinks. He had briefly forgotten how quick the service was at the small cafe. No wonder the prissy fuckhead likes it so much, he thought. He then took a sip of his soda nonchalantly.
Aradia thanked the waitress, bouncing excitedly, and shoved her wallet back in her purse. She wasted no time in sawing off the first slice of strawberry pancake and popped it in her mouth, followed shortly with a pleased purr and a roll of her eyes. "I need their recipe. Who do I bribe for it?"
Sollux shrugged, "I'm not sure. Guess you could ask our waitress or whoever's mom or uncle in the back made them."
"Mission accepted." She sliced off a forkful and put it on Sollux's plate, before taking a pecan roll.
Sollux stared at the offering of strawberry pancake and gingerly slipped it back onto Aradia's plate, "The mission no one even gave you."
After a few more bites of pancake, she sipped her coffee, carefully considering the best way to approach the subject. Failing to find a good way, she settled for, "So, Eridan seems really nice!"
Sollux's nose wrinkled as he looked at her, "Really? ugh, either he took his midol or he was eyeing you up like a pile of unscrupulously tasty pancakes."
"Well, he was a flirt, that's for sure," she admitted, waving idly with her fork, "But he was pretty much a gentleman. A foul-mouthed, highly flirtatious gentleman with a weird accent and a wandering eye, but a gentleman nonetheless. Where's he from, anyway?"
"Texas I think, and Ireland's somehow involved. First time I heard him talk I thought he had a stroke." Sollux explained as he disassembled his sandwich, tucking into the ham portion.
"I dunno, I think it's sort of sexy," she angled, hoping he'd take the bait. "And he's not at all bad-looking, either."
The bait, however, metaphorically dunked underwater and sank. "What's your point?"
Aradia casually ate another bite of pancake, considering. It would probably be wiser to back off, but she couldn't help but be curious about what would happen if she pushed the point. "I'm just curious about him. I mean, how exactly did you two get into this big fight of yours that keeps on going for some reason? He asked about you, by the way."
Sollux looked genuinely surprised, "We're not fighting, he just gets on my bad side a lot."
"With particular skill, apparently," she said, sitting back and smirking. "He asked for blackmail, so maybe you get on his bad side just as much."
Sollux raised a hand, palm up, and shrugged. "See? It's totally even so nobody's losing an eye or anything."
"As long as you're happy with your relationship." She giggled and reached for another bun, "I only told him the good stuff, you know. You wet the bed until you were seventeen, your first kiss was a lake trout, and you have a fetish for Ewoks."
"You're a psychotic bitch, you know that?" Sollux glared flatly, "I'm telling your boyfriend you like it up the butt."
Aradia blanked, color draining from her face, and she stared at him, "Sollux, I was just joking! Was this not a thing we do? Teasing back and forth? I thought that was what we did. You joke about being a program-prostitute, I joke about telling your roommate obvious lies, you follow up with something lighthearted and snarky, probably perverted enough to make even me blush, and we argue about who's getting the tip. Probably with a joke about that, too." She set down her coffee, genuinely concerned, "Did I go too far?"
Sollux's eyes then widened, lifting his hands defensively, "Jesus AA, I was joking too! Fuck, should've asked ED for some spare tampons if you're this sensitive."
"You scared me there, Sollux!" she sighed, slumping back on the bench. "And you're one to talk about being sensitive about stuff!" She sat back up, gesturing with her hands, "And thank god, because I don't think I could survive going butt-wise with Equius. He's like this big!"
Sollux tried to not to think of how big a pain in the ass that would be in a very real sense, cringing and clenching unconsciously, "That's just fucking terrifying."
"Yes, but fantastic when applied elsewhere." She picked up the last of her pancake with her fork, "Wonder when you'll be treating to got-laid pancakes?"
"When I get around to it." He shrugged, unease building up in his stomach as he tried to eat his ham peacefully.
Aradia sighed and finished her ham in quiet as Sollux finished his meal, more than a little upset at his evasiveness. She felt hurt, too; the two of them were supposed to be thick as thieves, right? Sollux and Aradia, snarking at the world, telling each other their deepest and closest secrets, the things no one else must know, and he couldn't open up to her? Even though she trusted him with her most personal issues, her joys and defeats and secrets?
What, I'm not good enough anymore? Repeated through her head as she paid the bill and slipped back into her coat.
Sollux made his way towards the door, hands in his pockets, "Jesus, what's got you all quiet and moody? That's my job. Not the quiet part, but at least the dark cloud of 'fuck you' that shades me enough to keep me emo white."
Aradia stood at the bus-stop, mercifully empty, and turned on Sollux, brows knotted in irritation, "You! I know you're hiding something from me, yeah, we all get it, you're a big recluse. Fine! But I thought I wasn't just people to you! I want to know why you don't trust me!"
Sollux blanched, eyes going wide behind his glasses before they knit together in an annoyed glower, "Jesus titfucking Christ AA what the fuck did ED tell you!?"
Shaking her head, Aradia held up her hands to wave him off, "This has nothing to do with him, but no, he didn't say anything." She sighed, "Once or twice I remember you looking at guys in high school, that same look you get when there's something you want. You're defensive about guys. You're defensive about Eridan, and if I am not too mistaken there's something fond in your voice when you talk about him, and in how you mess with him."
His expression grew more and more like a possum's about thirty seconds before becoming roadkill before he reigned it back into a snarl, "You don't know what you're fucking talking about!"
"Maybe not! Maybe I'm completely backwards, but you're hiding from me, and I deserve to know what I did to you to make you stop trusting me!" Aradia deflated, her whole posture sinking, and she reached for his hand, "I thought you and I were open with each other. I thought we were close, Sollux."
Completely avoiding her feelings, Sollux roared, making Aradia flinch and recoil, "This isn't fucking about you AA! Did that even occur to you? Maybe I just want to have my own thoughts and not just advertise everything on my mind like you do!? I'm not an open book and I'm not a fucking faggot, ok!?" He then turned on his heel and began walking back in the direction of the school in spite of the distance, the yellow scarf she had crocheted serving as a chiding, gentle reminder that he fucked up big time.
Watching him go, Aradia felt more alone and empty than she ever had, as if all the warmth in her veins had been blasted out of her. She stood still as a statue, tears beginning to dribble from her eyes, and watched her best friend storm away.
The bus came and she boarded alone. She wiped her eyes, sniffling, and decided to go home, cry to Nepeta, and apologize first thing in the morning. She leaned forward and began to thump her head lightly on the seat in front of her when her phone began to chime.
fiine ii'm iinto ed ok? you satiisfiied?
Aradia paused before replying; she was just glad to hear from him.
i am s0 s0rry s0llux i did n0t mean t0 be a jerk
iit's fiine
She breathed out a heavy sigh and typed out thank you sollux i will see you tomorrow and make it up to you with lunch before slumping against the seat back.
Back on campus, Eridan sat in a cloud of steam and mouth-watering aromas outside of the biological sciences building, bundled up in thick scarf and coat, irritably checking his watch. He leaned against the lamp post, the evening creeping in, perking up when he noted that people were beginning to stream out of the building.
Kanaya, purse and tote bag in hand, came out of the building without noticing Eridan immediately. Once she did, she turned her dark rimmed eyes to him and began to walk over, "Eridan, what are you doing here?"
He flashed her a bright shark's smile and shrugged, and held up the large take-away bag in his left hand. "Figured it's been too long since you an' I had a li'l bondin' time, an' suitin' word with deed I picked up a li'l somethin' for us both at Punjab Palace. Unless you got other plans already?"
"Oh my goodness, you went all the way there just for take-out?" Kanaya closed the distance between them more swiftly, noticing the recognizable gold and violet bag, "You really shouldn't have."
"Anythin' for one a my longest-standin', longest-sufferin' compatriots, Kan. Now, where shall we find ourselves a li'l place to eat an' talk in peace an' quiet?"
"We can either go to my dorm room or the common room, just to get out of the cold." Kanaya began to lead Eridan back toward her dormitory building.
Eridan hesitated, rubbing his arms from the cold. "Think we can find somethin' nice an' quiet, without riskin' bein' overheard by Fef or anythin'?" he asked.
Kanaya walked back to him, eyebrows piqued. Clearly there was an ulterior motive at play. Regardless, she played along, "We could try the greenhouse, but I'm hoping you don't mind the smell of stagnating flora clinging to life up there."
He waved her off, seeming to relax, "Lead on, you're the bio-botanist, an' let's get our picnic goin'." He offered her his arm and a cheesy grin, "After all, I am a gentleman."
She ignored the offered arm, leading him back into the building she had just come from. When the both of them stood before the elevator, she pressed the UP button and waited, "So what was so urgent that Feferi could not overhear us?"
"Oh, it ain't anythin' agin Fef, but I'd be thankful if you don't go mentionin' it to anybody." He chewed the inside of his cheek, watching the elevator numbers, avoiding Kanaya's all-seeing eyes. "I just happened to a been stood up for yet another dinner with That Guy again an' I decided that I'd be much better spendin' my time with an ol' friend than devotin' much grief to his raggedy ass for one evenin'."
Kanaya's expression soured briefly as the elevator came, "So I'm just supposed to pretend that this visit isn't out of spite or revenge?"
He looked affronted, and straightened, "You wound me, Kan! Here I come, bringin' you goat curry an' paneer-which as I recall happens to be your favorite flavor a sacrificial goat-on account a I realized I'd been horrendously negligent in my duties as your friend an' comrade, an' you lay dispersions upon both my motives an' my very person on account a I happen to mention he's bein' an ass?" He snorted, paused, and added, "Besides, revenge an' spite don't count in the slightest when the asshole you're layin' such against doesn't give a shit."
Kanaya let him ramble, keeping her eyes on the buttons as they lit up with their ascent. When they were on the top floor, the fourth floor, of the building, she walked out into the small hallway that led to the outside.
Kanaya flipped the lights on, the illumination bringing color and life to the already lush, green plants in the warm building. The greenhouse covered the expanse of the roof, an ever-standing haze of condensation on the roof obscuring stars or clouds in the sky. She led the way towards a few picnic tables that sat on the edge of the other side of the roof, "Somebody's dramatically verbose."
Eridan sat down beside her and loosened his coat before unpacking their meal and accoutrements. "It ain't that I'm bein' dramatic, I just don't see as I can't spend some time with a close friend for an evenin'." He set a box of rice and a foil-wrapped packet of naan between them, and handed her a round plastic tub of goat curry. "Though, long as we got the rest a the evenin' just you an' me, I suppose I might as well vent a li'l an' get your advice on a couple a matters," he admitted, spooning out some saag onto his own plate.
Kanaya sat, dumbfounded for a moment, too tired from her day to deal with yet another of Eridan's self-martyring monologues, "Are you serious, Eridan? Did not occur to you that maybe I might have some more pleasant things I'd like to talk about that don't involve your sordid comedy of errors?"
Eridan threw his hands up in surrender, nearly toppling the plate balanced in his lap, "A course! I'm askin' here Kan, I ain't demandin'!" He gestured animatedly, sincerity in his wide eyes, "I'm only sayin' that, if the evenin's conversation happened to wind its merry way in that direction, I'd be even more grateful to you than I'd be for you merely warmin' a chill evenin' with pleasant chatter an' good cheer, is all." He threw his open palm towards rest of the meal, "Look, if you'd rather, I can take up no more a your time than what it takes for you to scarfle what's on your plate an' take the rest back home, but I'm honestly not tryin' to be an asshole here."
Kanaya finally surrendered and served herself an ample portion of the goat curry and paneer with a long sigh, "All right. Well my day went pleasantly, it was one of my longer days complete with math and dimensions."
Eridan nodded, serving himself some rice and beginning to pick at his dinner, "That guy in math still givin' you stink eye? Ever figure out what his deal was?"
She shrugged noncommittally, "I have my theories, but my insight can only go so far. Despite what you and Karkat may think to the contrary, I'm no mind-reader."
"Long as he ain't givin' you any actual trouble, I don't give a shit," he said with a nod of finality. "Anyway, I didn't say you was a mind-reader, I said you was eerily intuitive, an' possibly a walkin' polygraph 'cause fuck all if I can ever get anythin' past your perceptive peepers, Miss Maryam."
"That's a rather just assessment, isn't it? Seems like I'm the only one who ever knows anything." Kanaya helped herself to some naan with her bare hands.
"Yeah well, can it really be any wonder I'm always harkenin' to you for advice? When you got Julia Child on your doorstep, you don't settle for fuckin' Burger King." He pulled a bottle of water out of the bag and uncapped it, taking a drink, before picking up his fork and gesturing with it, "I keep botherin' you on account a you're simply the best."
Kanaya nodded with a demure smile, "You flatter me. Almost a little too much. Almost as though you're asking for something without asking."
"Wellllll..." He shrugged, picking at his saag, "Now as you mention it, I suppose there are a couple a things I'd like your thoughts on, if you don't mind." Without waiting for her to agree or deny, he launched into half-rehearsed exposition. "Okay so, you know that guy I been fuckin' ain't exactly been forthcomin' with his presence as a late; scarcely seen the bastard all week. Every hour he ain't in class he's in that room a his bangin' away at his laptop an' occasionally yellin', an' I just KNOW he ain't workin' classwork all that time. Guy gives no fucks whatsoever, so I'm feelin' a li'l put out. I mean, a whole fuckin' week without surfacin'? Ain't healthy. He ain't comin' out for meals or anythin'...Tuesday I done the respectable thing an' left a tribute a vendin' machine victuals an' energy drinks just so I could gauge whether or not he's still eatin' human food or he joined the ranks a the livin' dead."
Kanaya had tuned out once the ranting began, having no intention of being taken for a ride, "I'm beginning to suspect this relationship is merely fodder for your melodramatic tendencies."
Eridan put his hand to his chest, looking to her with plaintive eyes, "MY melodramatic tendencies? MINE? Yesterday I invited the shithead for a decent dinner out a the goodness a my generous heart, an' you know what I got for my trouble? Dead silence an' nary a peep through the door, but this slid under the bathroom door." He pulled out his wallet and handed her a folded-over index card. "Sol's just a straight-up asshole an' some times I don't even know why I bother tryin'."
"We are no longer even keeping up the pretense of keeping the mystery, are we?" Kanaya replied, accepting the card. She unfolded it to find "ro2e2 are red, viiolet2 are blue, fuck off, go away, nobody liike2 you" written in sloppy penmanship. Smirking, she mused out loud, "He does have the strangest writing quirk, doesn't he? Is that because of his lisp or does he just have a proclivity to write his dominant letters facing the left?"
"Dunno, think he's ambidextrous so maybe," Eridan shrugged, "Anyway, that ain't the point. So, today, despite me spendin' the last week tryin' to be a supportive friend like the generous manner a fucker I am, I do a photoshoot with his li'l ladyfriend-class dame, by the way, you'd like her-an' turns out he ain't said one word to her!" He drooped visibly, poking his fork weakly into his rice, "Sex aside, he ain't said one kind word a me to his oldest an' dearest; it's like I don't even matter."
"Do you want to matter?" Kanaya asked simply, fiddling with one of the edges of the card with her thumb as she ate her curry.
"Doesn't everybody?" he shrugged, and thoughtfully chewed a mouthful, finally going quiet.
The two ate in silence for a moment before Kanaya spoke. "Not many people who are 'just fucking' somebody want to be more than just that. Sometimes people just aren't compatible outside of the bedroom, sometimes people just get on each other's nerves due to their personalities clashing or maybe they just don't regard the other's feelings."
She paused and looked towards Eridan, "Not that there's anything wrong with that, it happens." She looked back down and shrugged, "So you've been in this situation before; the whole 'one night only shagfest' so to speak, this is clearly something different if you're so intent on making sure everyone knows about you and he."
Eridan leaned back, one palm flat against the bench, and swirled his water bottle, "It ain't that exactly. There's a difference between wantin' everyone knowin' which I don't, an' just not wantin' to feel like he's ashamed a me." He leaned his head back, staring at the greenhouse ceiling, looking every bit the pensive artist, "I dunno, Kan. Is it too much to want to be on pleasant terms with someone you're fuckin'? Maybe I ain't exactly the courtin' type but I don't think I'm out a line here."
Kanaya looked up toward the misty ceiling and sighed, "This might just be how he considers a content and casual situation. Maybe even a friendly one. He communicates with you, doesn't he?"
"With the exception a this past week, yeah. Fuck, I'd got to thinkin' we was even gettin' close! But the last seven days, the only communication I got out a him was that li'l note there," he reached over and took the index card back, placing it back in his wallet, "an' a muffled affirmative when I invited him to drink with us Sunday."
"It is conceivable that he is merely busy with schoolwork. He does his work, doesn't he? He gives you the bare minimum for communication and he's studious, that would explain a lot, wouldn't it?" Kanaya served herself more of her curry, "Look, why don't you just ask him yourself?"
"He'd think I was whiny an' clingy."
"You are being whiny and clingy. Also, redirecting your issues at your innocent friend with ulterior motives to whine and cling respectively."
He simply sulked and stabbed at his food, muttering. "...It ain't that I'm not genuinely concerned for his welfare, I mean you seen how he handles himself. Maybe I am a bit too attached for my own good but it ain't like I'm wholly self-servin' here..."
Kanaya sighed through her nose. "I can see you mean well, Eridan. I'm just not one hundred percent certain what to tell you to do at present. I'd suggest either give him space or knock down his door and demand an explanation, but I don't even know him well enough to presume which course of action would be best."
He gave a weak smile and patted her shoulder, warmly, "Just listenin' is somethin'. He was goin' out to dinner with Ar tonight, so I'm guessin' his sequester is over. If I can't wrangle him out a his room tomorrow, at the very least we'll see him over drinks on Sunday, an' we oughtta be able to check him for a pulse then, right?"
"Yes. Yes you will." Kanaya replied, scraping the sides of her plate for more sauce.
Eridan picked at a piece of naan, and sat up, giving her an apologetic look, "Sorry about that, Kan, I'm yammerin' your ears off. What's new in your quarter?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, "Oh nothing. I mean I have little in the way of romantic drama so therefore of little interest to those who also have no interest in botany."
"Well, soon as some pretty li'l lady gets caught in your crosshairs, she's goin' to be one lucky dame an' I'll be glad to see you finally gettin' some long overdue attentions." He served himself a little more saag, "I ain't heard a peep about any new designs in some time. Everythin' okay on that front?"
"I haven't been able to focus on much more than my schoolwork. Knowing my luck, I'll forget all my inspiration by the time I can actually cobble something together."
"Nah, that kind a brilliance don't stay down for long. Two weeks into winter vacation, you'll be callin' me up to photograph your latest masterpieces, I got no doubt a that."
"Now you are definitely flattering me." Kanaya shook her head with a humorless grin.
"I most certainly am not," he protested, "An' I halfways resent the insinuation. Why, not the other day I was wearin' one a those vests you done up for me, an' it looked as fantastic on me as it did the day you laid up the final stitch."
"That's good to hear, I trust you've been taking care of the stitches and being careful with the laundry." She then took out her phone and made a note of the time, "Do you mind if I get going soon? I still need to put my things away."
"What? Oh! Oh, sure, here, lemme pack this up for you." Eridan scooped some of the remaining rice into his own take-away box and began to pack the rest up in the bag for Kanaya. "Here, take the rest. It ain't like Sol's goin' to want any, an' anyway I got the lot for you."
"Which was an incredibly generous gesture on your part." Kanaya smiled as she accepted the remaining take-out.
He buttoned up his coat and picked up his box, and gave a gracious bow. "Fittin' that I bring a gift to see a guru. Hey, we're still on for Sunday, right? I don't think Kar's comin'."
Kanaya, who had not taken off her coat during the meal, stood and brushed herself off, "Yes, I'll be there as usual. Perhaps by then I'll have located a cookie I can properly deliver to you."
Eridan gave her a quizzical look as he held the door for her.
"A token that hopefully expresses that I truly believed you tried."
"The proof is in the pudding. Or the curry it would seem." Kanaya then walked out the door with a wry grin, pushing the elevator door.
