CA: i don't knoww if i like this guy.
CA: he might steal your affections before you evven knoww it and then wwhere wwill i be?
TA: that'2 not goiing two happen. ever.
TA: there ii2 no po22iibiiliity he and ii wiill ever date.
CA: okay, wwhatevver you say.
CA: howw hot are wwe talking here though?
CA: do you havve any pictures?
TA: why and how would ii have piicture2 when ii ju2t met hiim twoday?
CA: i dunno. just wwonderin...
TA: two an2wer your other que2tiion though, really hot.
TA: liike a 9 probably.
CA: damn, and you havve good taste, so he probably really is a 9.
TA: uh, thank2.
CA: i saww a pretty hot guy today too though.
CA: he wwasn't a 9, but maybe an 8?
CA: also wway too young for me, but still incredibly tempting.
CA: skinny jeans suit him vvery wwell.
TA: how young ii2 way two young for you?
CA: this guy wwas 16, maybe 17.
TA: 2candalou2.
And so went Sollux's conversation with CA after school. Not too out of the ordinary, but now he knew for sure that there was an age gap between them, since Sollux was 16. Apparently he was way too young for CA, not that the other knew that.
In addition to his complicated romantic entanglements with the author of the purple text filling his screen, Sollux couldn't stop thinking about that first moment when he walked into the classroom and saw Eridan. It wasn't just about finding his young teacher attractive either. There was a feeling that he could only describe as a mental tugging at something. Like a familiarity that for the life of him, he couldn't figure out the origins of. It was clear that Eridan had felt it too, even if only for a moment.
"And her name is Latula and she's a senior and she's really nice and she skateboards..." Mituna had been going on and on about some girl he'd met at school for the past five minutes, most of which Sollux had been unintentionally tuning out. It was hard to focus on anything other than the way Eridan had smiled at him. Clearly even Vriska had noticed the romantic vibes or she wouldn't have made that comment.
"She plays video games too, and I thought maybe she could come over sometime and...are you even listening to me, douchebag?" Mituna scowled, clearly making a valiant effort to glare at his twin through his bangs. Sollux felt a twinge of guilt, taking a sip of his soda.
"Yeah, of course I'm listening, bro. She sounds nice."
That seemed to satisfy Mituna enough to keep him rambling, with more than a few sex jokes thrown into his commentary on Latula, who was apparently the most beautiful and perfect girl in the entire world.
After about twenty minutes of this, Sollux got up and walked out to the kitchen, knowing his brother would follow him. There was no reason to just sit on the couch and listen to a blow by blow account of Mituna's entire day when he could be making dinner. Their father had left a hastily scribbled note on the counter saying that he'd be out late with coworkers, therefore leaving Sollux in charge of everything. He had to wonder when the phrase 'at the bar' started becoming acceptably interchangeable with 'with coworkers,' but it didn't really matter when either way, he was standing in front of the stove making mac and cheese.
He finished making dinner and dished it up, slumping down at their already cluttered kitchen table. Mituna, rather than actually sitting with him, immediately wandered off with his bowl.
"I'm gonna go Skype my friends now." Sollux wondered what friends Mituna could possibly be Skyping, since he didn't have more than one back home, but bit back that comment. If he got too mean, he'd only upset Mituna, and that would make the night even worse. So he sat at the table alone, surrounded by cardboard boxes, and ate his dinner.
arachnidsGrip [AG] accepted your friend request.
gallowsCalibrator [GC] accepted your friend request.
Neither of the girls appeared to be online now, which was good. Sollux didn't particularly want to have that kind of conversation right now. He wasn't even sure what 'that kind' of conversation was, really, but he knew he didn't want to have it yet. Vriska would make it about Eridan, and he had no idea what Terezi would do.
The rest of the night was lonely, as was becoming normal. He heard the slammed door that indicated his father was home at 1:00 AM, and felt Mituna crawl into bed with him a few minutes later. Sighing softly, Sollux wrapped one tired arm around him and ran his fingers through his brother's hair.
"Do you think it's my fault that Dad's so sad now?" Even half-asleep, Sollux could hear the waver in Mituna's voice.
"No," he whispered back, trying to sound convincing. "It's not your fault."
"Promise?"
"Promise. Now try to go to sleep."
Rather than following his own advice, Sollux didn't let himself drift off until he felt the warmth of Mituna's slowed, steady breathing against his neck. His bed was barely big enough for both of them, but they both needed the comfort, so he wouldn't even think of forcing the other to go back to his own room. Before he knew it, Sollux had fallen asleep too.
The pressure was building in his skull to almost impossible levels, to the point where it felt like his head was about to implode. The blood blurred his vision, then completely obscured it. He could feel it coming from his nose and mouth too, choking him. He had to get in, and fast.
All of a sudden, he felt cold floor beneath him, and someone was crying.
Sollux woke up, shirt sticking to his back with sweat. He'd hoped that maybe the dreams would stop after the move, but clearly they hadn't. He briefly considered calling Aradia even though it was the middle of the night, since she was the only one who knew about them. But any talking would wake up Mituna, and his phone was across the room anyway. So instead, he stared at the streetlight out the window and tried to forget the hyper-realistic feeling of choking to death on his own blood.
By the time his alarm went off, he could still nearly taste it.
"Come on MT, get up..." He sighed, shoving his brother lightly. They couldn't afford to be late on their second day at their new schools, and their father definitely wouldn't be happy about it. At least Mituna had gotten a decent amount of sleep, even if Sollux hadn't.
The other boy got up after a few more minutes of urging, allowing Sollux to get up and get ready himself. For the second day in a row, he took the risk of trying to pass off black skinny jeans as uniform pants, and he felt a twinge of jealousy as he remembered CA talking about the attractive skinny jean-clad teenager he'd apparently seen yesterday. Even though it was unrealistic to think he'd ever progress to a genuine romantic relationship with someone whose real name he didn't even know, something about him checking out other guys stung a bit.
The first person he saw when he walked into school was Vriska. He knew he really shouldn't have been surprised, since he was fairly certain he'd already seen everyone who attended the school in the halls the day before, but it was hard to get used to. At first, he thought he might be able to sneak past her, but she shot out a hand and caught his arm in a vise grip almost instantly.
"What, thought you could sneak away? This school isn't anywhere big enough for that. Besides, I wanted to talk." Her smirk was downright terrifying, but Sollux agreed and they started just walking laps around the halls as they talked.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"I can help you get with Eridan, if that's what you want," Vriska said, as lightly as if she was offering to buy him a coffee instead of hooking him up with their History teacher.
"Um...Wow. I mean, yeah, he's hot, but I..." Sollux felt his face heat up, and he glanced around their immediate vicinity anxiously, worried someone would hear what they were discussing.
"Just trust me. I know him really well, and I know you guys would make a good couple. I'll start working on it as soon as I can." Without so much as a 'see you later," she glided into the next restroom they passed, lipstick tube already out of her bag. Sollux just stood there for a moment, trying to figure out what exactly had happened.
And clearly the universe didn't want him to have a single peaceful moment, because the next person he saw was Eridan.
"You might want to consider following dress code in the future, Mr. Captor," Eridan said in lieu of a greeting. "I won't write you up today since you just started here, but some of the other teachers are a lot stricter."
"You might want to consider the fact that I know damn well you were just staring at my ass," Sollux retorted. It was really just a guess, but apparently a good one, since the other's face instantly flushed.
"That is a completely ridiculous accusation and you shouldn't believe anything that Vriska tells you."
"I didn't say anything about Vriska though...?" Now Sollux was just confused. Maybe Vriska was actually on to something if any implication that Sollux might think Eridan was attracted to him instantly made him think Vriska had something to do with it.
"I saw you talkin to her though. Just...follow dress code." Still blushing, Eridan pushed his glasses a bit higher on his nose and brushed past him, continuing down the hallway.
For some reason, out of all the things he could possibly be thinking about, Sollux wondered why the hell Eridan actually called him Mr. Captor. He'd noticed that he did that to other students too, but Vriska was very conspicuously Vris, not Miss Serket. They must really be friends then, if she was the one notable exception to his overly pretentious form of address.
All day, he thought about both CA and Eridan. How had he wound up with such poor judgment that he had crushes on not one but two older guys?
Eridan assigned a group project in History, so Sollux pretty much spent the entire class joking around with Terezi and watching Vriska tease Eridan. It was surprisingly nice, almost like he was back with Karkat and Aradia. When Eridan walked past, his hand brushed against Sollux's, seemingly on purpose, and both Vriska and Terezi had the least subtle grins on their faces ever. Yeah, he decided. It really was nice.
TA: ii thiink ii'm fliirtiing wiith one of my teacher2.
TA: and ii thiink he'2 fliirtiing back.
AA: what about ca?
TA: ii don't know, but part of iit ii2 that he'2 really 2iimiilar two CA.
TA: weiird, huh?
((A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, you really motivate me!))