I made this chapter a bit shorter, in order to balance out that almost 3000 word chapter. But, hey, it's all good!
I'm sorry this took a bit. Cory Monteith died, and so I got a little upset. And by that I mean I cried for like two days straight but we're not going to talk about that. Instead, I want you guys to enjoy this next chapter! I hope you all enjoy it, and I'd love to hear what you guys think, so drop me a review or something! Enjoy!
Late morning was always a nice time because everyone was either at work or at home, and not many people ever really came out a lot on Saturday. Walking down the sidewalk with Eridan towards his house was awkward at first, but then Eridan started talking, and Sollux felt a lot calmer about the situation. It was a walk down the road. It wasn't like they were a couple or anything, and Sollux wasn't sure if he wanted them to be. His head was still in a whirl.
"Sol?"
"What?"
"I asked a question," Eridan said. "I asked how-w you w-were doing since the break-up with Aradia."
"Oh," Sollux said. "I'm fine, I gueth. It'th a little irritating that AA didn't have the gutth to break up with me herthelf, and then when I break up with her, thhe jutht playth it off ath her breaking up with me. If thhe wanted that to be her thtatuth, then thhe thhould've done it herthelf."
He shrugged. "Girls are ridiculous sometimes, Sollux. Ev-ven just hav-ving them as friends."
"Hey, don't complain, Ampora. You've got Kanaya, Nepeta and Feferi. You can hardly complain about how hard it ith to be friendth with them."
"You may think it's all sunshine and daisies ov-ver there, but it's not. I guess Equius keeps Nepeta in check, and I don't know-w exactly w-what to think of that relationship so I'm not goin' to say anythin'. Kanaya seems to enjoy asking a lot of questions, but I'm sure you already know-w that. And I think Feferi likes me more than she should."
Sollux smirked. "Thhe doeth."
"She shouldn't get her hopes up," Eridan said, putting his hands in his pockets and sighing. "I don't think any girl has show-wn any interest in me since Rose left North Ireland, but I can't say I'm surprised."
"Why?"
Eridan laughed. "Please, you must'v-ve heard w-what V-Vris has been saying about me."
"Uh, no."
"Oh, w-wow-w. I thought the secret w-was out thanks to her. W-Well, I guess there's no hidin' it now-w." Eridan paused to take a deep breath, then he confidently said, "I'm gay."
Sollux nodded. "Alright."
Eridan stopped in his tracks. Turning to see him, Sollux could see the confusion in the boy's eyes. Eridan said, "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just used to a much harsher response."
"Don't be thorry becauthe people in thith town don't take to gayth and thhit ath well ath thome placeth," Sollux said with a shrug. "In my opinion, it doethn't matter. Thtill a perthon, you know?"
Eridan smiled wide and nodded. "Absolutely." The two boys headed back down the street, and Sollux's mind was churning. What was he going to do? He had never been in this situation before. Did he say, "Hey, I think we should go make out on your couch!" or did he just forget it all and never make contact? How do you even flirt? He never had to do that with Aradia or Feferi to get their attention. They both asked him out. Asking another person out was so much more difficult than Sollux thought, and he started to feel a bit sick in the stomach.
"Tho," Sollux started. "Do you have your eyeth thet on anyone at thchool?" That was a really retarded question. Sollux mentally scolded himself and groaned.
Eridan smiled a bit and hummed, thinking. "Not really. The only kids I know-w w-who are gay have boyfriends, so it's not like I could date anyone I liked anyw-ways."
"W-Well, thome people are bi," Sollux said slowly. Yeah, that was really stupid too. Smooth move, Sollux. He wanted to slam his head against a wall. What was going on with him today? He guessed that was what happened when you actually listened to emotions by the force of a certain Maryam.
"Like w-who?"
"KK is bi," Sollux said.
"Kar? Really?"
Sollux nodded. "He had a guy-cruthh on John for a really long time. I think he'th over it now, though."
Eridan chuckled. "W-Well, thanks for the information, but Kar's a little too angry and bitter in my opinion. But then again, I'm not exactly lookin' for anyone. I figured I'd focus on my school w-work."
Sollux's head picked up a bit. "That remindth me, did you ever prove our teacher wrong?"
"Yeah, I did, but he's still in denial about it. It's a bit ridiculous, but I'v-ve done the research. Germany was technically an absolute monarchy after Russia w-was. It's something I can explore once I get my history major," Eridan said.
"You want to major in hithtory?"
"It's one of my few-w interests," Eridan said with a shrug. The two were silent for the rest of the walk, and soon they were both on the doorstep of the Ampora-Serket home. Sollux felt a lump growing in his throat. Did he ask him out for coffee? Isn't that what hipsters liked? Did Eridan even qualify as a hipster? Should he just skip the coffee and go for a stereotypical movie date? Did Eridan even like movies? What would he even say?
"Tho," Sollux said slowly, thinking. "Do you want to go…"
Eridan chuckled, and Sollux panicked. Oh god, I've fucked up, he thought. Eridan only smiled and asked, "Are you tryin' to ask me out on a date, Sol?"
"If I thay yeth are you going to hate me?"
"Not at all," Eridan said, his smile only widening. "I'd say yes. How-w does a mov-vie sound?"
Sollux felt a weight come off his thin shoulders as he nodded and said, "That thoundth fun, ED. What movie?"
"How-w about a stay-in mov-vie night? You bring your fav-vorite mov-vies, and I'll get mine, and w-we can alternate betw-ween them."
"Thaturday?"
"Saturday," Eridan confirmed, smiling. Sollux grinned said goodbye before jumping off the porch and turning to see Eridan leaning on the railing, smiling wider as he said, "I'll see you tomorrow at school, Sol." He gave a little wave and went inside before Sollux could respond, and as soon as Sollux was sure Eridan was gone, he ran through town to his street. He stopped eventually and leaned against the wall of one of the little Chinese places, his heart pounding. He had a date with Eridan Ampora, and what was he doing? He was running. Going over it in his head, he realized this was all extremely stupid, so he went inside the Chinese restaurant and ordered some food for lunch. Taking his food, he walked down the rest of the street and into his home.
"Mituna," he called. "I got Chinethe food!"
He heard the fumbling footsteps and soon Mituna was at the table, his hair smooth thanks to a case of helmet-hair. The two twins sat at the table and ate, Mituna babbling about something he saw on television and Sollux barely paying attention as he focused on his General Tso's chicken. Eventually, Sollux locked himself away in his room before logging onto Minecraft to spend a few hours playing. He saw that Kanaya had been on, and that she had built herself a home on his server. He debated blowing it up, but just as he was about to, she logged on.
"So, I take it you asked out a certain Ampora," she said calmly after the Skype call was set up.
"Yeah, I did, actually," he said. "How'd you know?"
"He told me," she said, chopping at a few blocks. "He seemed quite excited. Did you know when he types he doubles his W's and V's just like he stutters?"
"I didn't know that, but thankth I gueth," Sollux said, a bit confused. He just began heading towards his own house and ended up working on his underground mine. "Tho he'th excited?"
"He said he convinced you to do a nice little movie night with him. I think it's kind of cute, though he asked me for advice on movies. Apparently, if it's not a history documentary or Harry Potter, he doesn't watch it. I told him to talk to Karkat and John."
"Oh yeah, thothe two have really thhitty movieth. Thankth, KN," Sollux said.
"Would you rather watch a documentary?"
"No," he said after a pause. "Thankth."
"You're welcome," she said. "So, how do you feel about it?"
Sollux shrugged to himself. "I don't know. I'm really happy I did it, but I gueth I'm just nervouth. I've never had to do that before."
"I thought you asked out Aradia."
"No, AA athked me out," Sollux said. "But it doethn't matter, becauthe I thomehow did it, and now that it'th done, I jutht have to make thure I don't do anything stupid."
He could hear the smirk in his voice. "I'm pretty sure even if you did do something stupid, he'd still like you, considering he likes you now and all you do is stupid stuff."
"Wow, thankth, KN," he muttered. The night progressed in a similar fashion. There were lots of questions on Kanaya's end, but Sollux was mainly paying attention to his new cave. Soon enough, Kanaya signed off, and Sollux ate dinner and went to sleep, anticipating the day the seemed to rush towards him like a freight train.