Later that night, Eridan found himself lying in bed, his face turned into a frown. He turned his head to look at the clock that was specifically put across the room so he'd have to get up to turn it off in the mornings, but then remembered he wouldn't be able to see it without his glasses, which were also on the other side of the room, right next to the clock. With a small groan, Eridan rolled over and reached for his phone, checking the time. Ten o'clock. It wasn't too late.

"Hello," said the tired and grumpy voice on the end of the phone. He heard her yawn and two pops, which he assumed to be her neck or back after a nice stretch considering her sigh of content afterwards.

"Sorry, Fef," he said. "Did I w-wake you up?"

"It's a good thing you did," Feferi said, the sound of papers shifting in the background. "I have to finish those biology notes. Why the late call?"

"Can't sleep," he said. "Too busy thinking."

"About what?"

"The party, and w-why my room seems messier than it was before," Eridan said. "I guess V-Vris messed it up w-when she w-was looking for my textbook."

"Eridan, are you sure she was just looking for your textbook?" Feferi asked. "Vriska is a manipulative girl. I wouldn't trust her!"

"She's my step-sister, Fef," Eridan said, a little on the defensive side. "I mean, I know-w she's mad at me for that one stupid time I pushed her in the pool still, but so w-what? So she can hold a grudge. She's my father's wife's daughter. I have to at least giv-ve her the benefit of the doubt."

"If you say so, Eridan," Feferi said. "Listen, I've got to get these notes done. I'll see you at your party this weekend, right?"

"W-Well, it is at my house," Eridan said.

"Shut up, Eridan," she giggled. "Alright, see you there."

"See you there," Eridan said, hanging up and scrolling through his contacts, looking for certain people he could call. He was told not to call Equius unless it was an emergency, so instead he shot the teen a text about the party and moved on. He didn't want to listen to Nepeta babble on and on about her latest television obsession, her shipping charts or her cat. Instead, he went all the way down to see Sollux's name. After a little debate with himself, Eridan called him.

"Hey, ED," said the lisping male on the other end of the line.

"Hey, Sol," Eridan said. "Hav-ve you heard about the party already?"

"Yeah, Dave told me about it. It thoundth like a lot of fun," Sollux said. "Ith that why you called me at ten thirty?"

"Oh, no," Eridan said. "I just can't sleep, in all honesty."

Sollux hummed. "Well, if you can't thleep, I'm normally up coding until about three. Call any time."

"Thanks, Sol," Eridan said, smiling to himself. "What're you coding?"

"A little program for Aradia to make up for what Egbert did," Sollux said. "I feel really bad about it."

"I had heard that John w-was a bit of a prankster, but that seemed a little rude in my opinion," Eridan said, sitting up. "I mean, if it w-was any old occasion, but on her birthday? Maybe it's just me, but I know-w I'd prefer to get a random gift and hav-ve it be rigged w-with confetti on any random day rather than on my own day of birth." He hadn't realized how he tone had changed from calm to slightly irritated.

"Calm your titth, ED," Sollux said. "Thhe'll forget about the whole thing after that party."

Eridan let out a little grunt, but eventually he said, "How-w did you and her end up together? It doesn't seem like much of a fit if you ask me."

"Well, firtht of all, I didn't athk you," Sollux said.

"I didn't mean to offend you," Eridan said quickly. "She just seems a lot peppier than you are."

"And now you're inthulting my happiness?"

"Pep and being happy are two different concepts," Eridan tried to explain. "I'm v-very happy, but I'm not bouncing all ov-ver the place. Peppy people are like those ov-ver enthusiastic cheerleaders you see at football games. Happy people can be like that, but just because you aren't doesn't mean you're not happy."

"Thtop talking," Sollux said. "I get it."

"Good," Eridan huffed. "You nev-ver answ-wered my question."

Sollux sighed. "Well, thhe, FF, and NE uthed to all be friendth, you know."

"I would if I know who FF and NE are," Eridan said.

"Feferi and Nepeta," Sollux explained. "Anywayth, KK, uh, Karkat, began dating NE for a while, then I got into FF. Dave and Aradia had a thing, but I think after a while they realithed that their relationthhip would go no farther than their mutual love of dead thingth."

"Dead things?"

"Dave hath a lot of stuff in amber at hith houthe. I don't know how he doethn't find it creepy," Sollux said. "Ath for Aradia, her family owns a morgue."

Eridan paused. "W-Well then."

"I know," Sollux said. "Thhe'th not ath creepy ath thhe theemth, I thwear."

"I'll take your w-word for it, Sol."

"Well, when Dave and AA were going through their thing, AA and I got pretty clothe. I mean, Dave is my betht friend, but AA is cool. Eventually, after Dave and her ended, I got to liking AA a lot more. One thing led to another, and-"

"You cheated on Fef," Eridan said, eyes wide.

"Yeth," Sollux said with a defeated sigh.

Eridan kept quiet a while, but Sollux broke the silence. "ED, are you thtill there?"

Again, he kept quiet. He went back and forth between wanting to talk or just pretend he was asleep. He went with the latter. Eventually, Sollux sighed and hung up, leaving a steaming Ampora to soak in his irritation like it was a hot spring sauna. Eventually, Eridan got tired, and he rolled over to attempt to get some rest before the next day.

Waking up the next morning, Eridan shuffled to turn off his alarm clock and grabbed his glasses. He quickly got dressed in a black tee shirt and jeans before grabbing his favorite purple plaid shirt and leaving it unbuttoned over his shirt. He quickly pulled most of his waves back so they weren't in his face before he slipped on his Converse and ran downstairs, where Aranea was already chatting with Darren, who seemed content with listening to her drone on and on about what Eridan overheard as something about PTSD and whatever else she was studying in her psychology class.

Darren turned to see his son and asked, "Rough night, Eridan?" He reached over and ruffled his son's hair affectionately.

"A little," Eridan said.

"Eridan, do you have a habit of irregular sleep cycles?" Aranea asked.

Melisa walked in, a few plates of food in hand. "Stop right there, Aranea. No evaluating the mental state of the family at the table." She set them down on the nice placemats. "Your father made breakfast this morning, Eridan. Doesn't it look good?"

"Yeah. I guess it's a good thing you're around to teach him," Eridan said, offering her a smile. Melisa only grinned as she went back into the kitchen to grab the remainder of the plates. Eridan offered to help, but she told him to eat, and so he did. Vriska stumbled into the kitchen, mumbling about how she didn't sleep well.

"Vriska, do you have-"

"No," Darren and Eridan said at the same time, both looking at Aranea. The two men looked at each other, straight faces intact, before Darren erupted into laughs, the youngest Ampora and Aranea joining in.

"Did I miss somethin'? Sounds like I did," Cronus said, walking in and standing next to Vriska before ruffling his already messy auburn locks. "Hey squirt."

"I'm not that much shorter than you," Vriska growled, still not fully awake.

"And v-when you grow another seven or eight inches, I'll stop calling you squirt!" Cronus said with a grin before sitting down next to Aranea. Mornings were normally a nice time in the Serket-Ampora household. Cronus always woke up in good spirits, and Aranea managed to keep conversation going. Vriska may have been grumpy, but it wasn't like it was a change from her normal crude behavior. Darren was like Cronus when it came to the mornings, and Melisa was the first one up every morning simply because she liked being up early. As for Eridan, he was a lot better after he got some caffeine in his system.

After downing two cups of tea and eating his toast and eggs, Eridan took his plate to the kitchen and headed upstairs to pack his bag for school before running out the door. He had a bus to catch.

"Hey, Eridan," Vriska said. "You're riding with me today."

"Really?" Eridan asked, eyes lighting up.

Vriska smirked. "Really."