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Roxy Lalonde sat on her bed with her legs crossed, hunched over her laptop. She was idly playing Skyrim, not really paying much attention to what she was doing. Her mind was on Eridan Ampora, with whom she had shared a rather passionate kiss in this very spot just a few hours ago.
They had been hanging out, a pretty regular thing since they'd met and bonded over love of magic (even though it was really just science), wizards and video games in their freshmen year. This day in particular, he had come over to read the latest installment of her wizard fanfiction. She had watched him read, as usual, wanting to see his reaction to each event that unfolded in-story. He was really expressive, something she loved about him.
When he had finished reading, he had closed the notebook and straightened up, locking eyes with her briefly. And then it happened. One moment, he was complimenting the story and the characters and asking her questions about it and the next moment they were locked in a kiss. She couldn't really decide who had initiated it; they had both been moving closer and closer together as he spoke. She supposed Eridan had leaned forward first, but she met him halfway, as was proper.
With a heavy sigh, Roxy saved her game and shut off her computer. She threw herself dramatically back on her bed, staring at her ceiling. She had had a crush on Eridan for a while now. She had wanted to kiss him, and at the time, it seemed like he wanted to kiss her too. So why did he seem so frustrated when he left?
She rolled over onto her stomach and let out another deep sigh into her pillow. Had she done something wrong? Had she fucked up another potential relationship?
As she wallowed in a strange mixture of self-loathing and self-pity, the cell phone in her pocket vibrated. She sprang up and pulled it out as quickly as possible, hopeful. Maybe Eridan had decided to message her to talk about things.
She was mistaken, of course. The message was from Dave Strider, another friend from school.
DAVE: hey sup
DAVE: im over at karkats
DAVE: he told me what happened with you and that fish guy eridan or whatever
DAVE: apparently eridan was whining to him about it
DAVE: not that i particularly give a shit
DAVE: but anyway howre you doing
She read his messages and her heart fluttered. Eridan had been discussing her with Karkat. That was…good? Unless he was saying things that were not particularly flattering. Oh god she had to know what he had to say.
ROXY: hey sry it took a min for me to respond
ROXY: so
ROXY: not that i care or anythign but what did he have to say to karkat about me
ROXY: *anything
DAVE: dont worry about it
DAVE: its not like im emotionally invested in your weird interspecies love dude
DAVE: but anyway i dont know karkat wouldnt go into specifics
DAVE: you know how seriously he takes his role of romantic-advice-giver or what the fuck ever
DAVE: hes like their psychologist
ROXY: oh :(
ROXY: well shit
ROXY: i was really hoping youd have something to tell me
ROXY: bcuz i have no clue whats going on w me and him tbh
DAVE: well what happened
ROXY: well we kissed
ROXY: you know that part obvsly
ROXY: and like it was great imo
ROXY: u know ive had a little thing for him for a while now
ROXY: but he left pretty abruptly and he seemed upset abt it so im rly nervous :(
ROXY: he said we could go out together after school tomorrow
DAVE: oh
DAVE: well thats all really full of teenage angst
DAVE: sorry i guess
DAVE: what are you guys going to do tomorrow
DAVE: or are you just planning on letting it be especially awkward by not having anything planned
DAVE: because that would suck
ROXY: i dont have anything planned
ROXY: fuck
ROXY: is that rly going to make it worse?
DAVE: well yeah
DAVE: but lucky for you
DAVE: youve got great friends like me
ROXY: what do u mean
DAVE: well im hanging out with karkat again after school tomorrow
DAVE: and i just talked it over with him
DAVE: because im a fucking incredible friend
DAVE: and we thought itd be pretty alright if you and eridan came over here tomorrow
DAVE: both so we can be there to make sure shit doesnt get cripplingly awkward between you and the fish troll
DAVE: and so we can watch how awkward it already is and laugh about it later
DAVE: so what do you say you wanna come hang out with us
ROXY: that sounds great
ROXY: thanks dave
DAVE: dont mention it
And with that, Dave logged off, leaving Roxy a lot less anxious. She didn't have to worry about figuring out what she wanted to do anymore; she and Eridan would go hang out with a couple friends, play some video games, no pressure. If everything went well, she'd invite him to come back to her place or go for a walk or something so they could talk.
She messaged Eridan and told him to meet her at Karkat's after school tomorrow, and he almost immediately accepted the invitation. She smiled and bit her lower lip, suddenly looking forward to school tomorrow.