Chapter 2: Karkat, Take Care Of The Psion. ===
Karkat rolled his eyes as he looked over the shopping list Sollux had given him. It was written sloppily, a few stains were on the paper, and it looked like it hand been crumpled up at one point. It was difficult to read, but Karkat could make educated guesses.
Milk; easily found, coffee; why, salad stuff; thanks for the specificity, honey; dumbass, ice cream; two flavors, instant noodles; not anymore, and a few other things that either annoyed Karkat, or he refused to buy and bought other things instead. The only thing that confused him greatly was the fact Sollux had a lot of seafood on his list. Clams, shrimp, halibut, cod, spoonbill, oysters, and various other things of that nature that made Karkat hesitate in getting any of them. It was just...cravings. Yeah.
Feferi smiled widely waving Eridan over to her table. He returned the smile, fins flickering just slightly, making his way towards her. It had been so long. He wish it had not been this long, it had been. Eridan sat down across from her, glancing over a menu, as they started speaking.
"I'm so happy we can glub together again! You have no idea how much I've missed having someone else to glub with." Eridan raised an eyebrow at her statement.
"What about Captor? I thought you two were still close." Feferi gave small shrug frowning slightly.
"He's...He's been difficult lately. I asked Aradia about him, but he hasn't been glubbing with her either. When I tried asking Karpfish, he told me to stay out of it!" She huffed before smiling at the waiter who was setting down a large slice of cake in front of her with a small cup of chai tea. Eridan rambled off an order to the waiter before turning his attention back to Feferi.
"Maybe Sol did somethin' stupid and Kar is coverin' for him." Eridan explained with a wave of his hand. "Maybe a code turned on him and bit him in the ass finally." Feferi didn't respond. She just took a sip of her tea with a hum of annoyance. "If it were really serious, Kar would have told us." Feferi stabbed at her cake.
"Would he?" Eridan sighed.
"Of course he would. He called everyone the second he found out Ara was missin' and then again when Gam was shipped off to the battlefront. If it were serious, Kar would tell us." Feferi just took another stab at her cake eating it with a bitter expression.
"He's four months along." Porrim said idly looking over papers in her hand. "Although, it appears he was stuffed about two months ago." Kanaya frowned slightly at this information and at Porrim's wording.
"Humans have a word for this you know." Porrim rolled her eyes at the younger Maryam.
"I'm aware that they do, but he's not female." Kanaya snorted at her acting as if it was ridiculous excuse. "But if it makes you less uptight; he's only been pregnant for two months. The eggs however show development as far as four months. This could present a problem."
"What kind of problem exactly?" Kanaya shifted closer reading notes over the other Maryam's shoulder.
"He should be larger. Far larger than these notes say he is. I would suggest that we have him come in every other week or possibly twice a week. You might want to instruct his partner to keep him well fed. He should be eating at least every two hours, even something little." Porrim held the notes back out to Kanaya who slowly took them.
"How many eggs should he have?" Porrim gave a small shrug.
"That depends largely on who is partner is and how much his body thinks it can take. We are dealing with a Captor so take into account the double quirk. Which means already two to four. If he was foolish enough to have a high-blood as a partner, it could mean up to eight, possibly ten." Kanaya's eyes went wide.
"Eight to ten! That seems like a jump from two to four." Porrim just sighed.
"High-bloods are in the smaller percentile. They have it within them to create a large brood. Low-blood have far larger numbers therefore the need to have large broods is unnecessary. This is in theory though since what I have to go off of is the amount of eggs the mother grub would lay." The older Maryam leaned back against a counter looking bored. "But the number won't matter in the slightest since as far as he is concerned at the current moment. He's underweight, moving far too little, and should be with his partner."
"Sollux doesn't know who his partner is."
Vriska laid back on the couch with a smirk. It would seem Captor is having a few complications as of late. Eridan was hanging back around the fishy princess. She chuckled to herself. This could end in a number of ways. After all, Eridan is bound to find out what he caused. Maybe Sollux would even destroy the whole city! That would be a sight.
"Hey, Vriska!" Vriska sat up and looked over the back of the couch. John Egbert now stood in her doorway with a dorky grin. A blush took over her face for a moment.
"Hey, Egderp." She covered standing up quickly. John crossed the room with a wide smile holding up what appeared to be a large case of Nic Cage movies.
"Ready for the best kind of marathon?" She smiled back at the buck toothed boy.
"I was hatched ready, John."
"I have to start walking?" Sollux growled glaring at Kanaya. "I also have to eat like a fucking pig!" His psionics hummed softly but never appeared visibly. "That's bullshit, Maryam! I've been just fine! I don't need to change shit!" Karkat was already next to the psion ready to calm him down if things became too heated.
"Sollux, I'd appreciate you not yelling at me." Kanya responded with a voice full of distaste. "I'm simply trying to ensure your health. From what Porrim has explained you are underweight as well as looking at a possibility of two to ten eggs." Sollux's eyes widened.
"Two to ten! How the hell did you figure that?" Kanaya pursed her lips at the gemini before her eyes shifted to Karkat.
"You need to make sure he's eating and actually moving around. Porrim suggested walks in the park or zoos. He needs three large meals and four or five smaller ones throughout the day." She handed a small bag to Karkat ignoring the fact Sollux continued glaring heatedly at her. "These are vitamins he needs to take well. One controls his psionics, two help with calcium, and the rest are mostly little things. Some sugar pills as well since its not uncommon, even for mother grubs, to have problems with blood sugar." Karkat opened his mouth to speak but was quickly cut off.
"You mean I can become diabetic?" Sollux hissed. "Anything else I should be aware of that you won't tell me directly?" Kanaya chewed the inside of her cheek to keep from snapping at Sollux.
"Porrim thinks it would be wise to find the other parent quickly. After about the six or seventh month mother grubs usually become very picky about who they allow near them. Usually the troll that gave them the slurry would be the only one to come close to her. Well, Porrim suspects you may also react hostile towards anyone not the other parent at this time." Sollux rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"So, I have a lot of time to worry about finding the jackass who knocked me up, great." Kanaya shook her head quickly.
"Actually, since you are already at four months and have been only two months pregnant, this could mean you need to find them within the next month. Porrim and I have projected you will lay around four and a half months." The gemini growled in annoyance finally giving time for Karkat to speak.
"So I need to make sure he eats and takes his pills, that's all. Nothing else?" Kanaya glanced over a list she had in her hand and shook her head.
"I don't believe so, if something comes up I will inform you of it."
There was a soft chirping sound in the back of Eridan's mind. He couldn't help but be drawn to it. It sounded desperate. Needy. Who needed him? He followed the noise and was shocked to see it was Sollux. Only...Sollux was bloated. The yellow-blood's stomach looked as if it was about to split. What did Sol do?
"Sol?" The Gemini's eyes darted to Eridan but instead of his eyes becoming hate filled they only shined with pain. It put Eridan off. Suddenly, through Eridan, Karkat came rushing over followed by both Maryams. Kanaya was calmly talking to Sollux, but Eridan was unable to hear what they were saying. Porrim said something to Karkat that caused tears to fill the Cancer's eyes, he quickly left. Eridan moved closer starting to feel worried.
"Just breathe, in and out. You can do this." Kanaya said softly. Sollux shook his head rapidly.
"I-I can't….I just…." Sollux gave a pained cry which shocked Eridan to no end. What...what was happening.
"I have six, I think there are at least two left." Porrim muttered making Sollux whine. Kanaya glanced over and Eridan could see the tears in her eyes. The jade-blood quickly recovered from what she saw and simply kept cooing sweetly at Sollux.
Eridan stepped closer before actually looking a lighter shade of gray. Blood. Blood and other fluids covered Sollux's lower half. In a tub with blankets were seven pale yellow and purple shelled eggs. The seadweller felt his heart speed up. Was Sollux…?
"Porrim! He's getting weaker." Kanaya had light jade colored tears sliding down her cheeks. Porrim was focused on the last egg coming out of the Gemini. Once it was out Porrim was quickly trying to save whatever fleeting amount of life was left within Sollux. Kanaya was forcing herself through her tears to help her friend. Sollux's breathing became shallow.
"KA…" Sollux said weakly trying to push himself up. Kanaya quickly pushed him back down.
"Just lay down, Porrim will fix you." Her tone was shaky as she looked over at Porrim who looked a little worse for wear. Slowly, the older withdrew herself shaking her head at the younger. Kanaya visibly choked on a sob turning back to Sollux with a weak smile. "It's okay." Sollux nodded.
"H-how many...w-what color?" His voice was soft, much different from his usual tone. Eridan felt pain bloom in his chest.
"Nine, you laid nine." Kanaya spoke just as softly before turning her head. Eridan glanced to where she was looking. Karkat stood in the doorway with tears streaming down his face. He looked worse than normal. Kanaya waved him over, and Karkat was quickly at his best friend's side.
"Sollux, you fucking bastard!" Karkat said in a broken tone hugging the dying troll tightly. "W-why didn't you find them!" Sollux gave a weak laugh at this.
"KK...they would never want me." Karkat growled at the answer he received.
"How can you say that! What color are the eggs?" Porrim cleared her throat.
"Two yellow and seven royal purple." The room was silent for a moment. Karkat started trembling rather violently.
"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! THAT SEADWELLING HIPSTER FUCK WILL DIE!" Karkat screamed only for Sollux to weakly grab the mutant.
"KK, I'm not mad. Please...let it go." Eridan felt the world start to shift. What...What was happening?!
Eridan jolted from his sleep with a gasp. He panted hard, running a hand through his hair while his eyes darted around. He groaned covering his face with his hands. That...that was a vision? The aquarius sighed loudly. He didn't have visions of death, that wasn't his thing in the slightest. He saw Sollux die. The two jade-bloods trying to help him. It was...hopeless. His body tensed.
"This isn't my fault, it was just a dream." He lied to himself. "Trolls can't have eggs. I'm just...overthinking things." He laid back down forcing a fake wave of calm. "It's fine."