Sollux stared blankly at his phone, waiting for a text or a call that would never come. He couldn't get the thought of Eridan out of his mind; the way he smiled, the way he pouted, the way he laughed, the way his hips swayed when he walked. Sollux was a wreck and he knew it. He asked himself why he was so obsessed with that stupid violet-blooded troll, but he couldn't provide himself with an acceptable answer.

He just knew that he was beautiful and deserved to laugh more than he did. He thought about what he told Eridan yesterday, that he didn't believe they had ever truly hated one another, and it took until they had both mellowed considerably for them to see it. He had really only been speaking for himself, but when Eridan didn't protest, it was the only answer he needed.

And if he was being perfectly honest with himself, he had missed that haughty douche a lot.

He decided to try to get some more work done and attempted to force himself to think of nothing but coding.

The way Eridan looked in those leather pants, though. Did you see his ass? Holy fuck.

He shook his head hard.

Codes, Sollux. Focus on work.

His body could be your fucking playground, Captor.

What was work? Not important right now, that was for sure. He decided to shower to clear his head.

He turned the water on and ran his hands through his hair before undressing at a breakneck pace. He gasped when he got in the shower, feeling the hot water hit his skin like little bullets, then closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting the stream of water soak his hair. He tried keeping his mind blank, but it was a impossible feat; behind his eyes, he saw Eridan's sculpted body, dripping wet with hot water as well.

His fingers skirted gently over his heated skin and followed the water droplets down until his hands reached his thighs. His right hand moved inward to cup his dick and his purple tongue flicked out to catch the droplets of water on his lips as he teased and pulled, slowly at first. Small, low noises of pleasure escaped his throat.

Sollux mimicked the actions of the Eridan from his fantasy, low grunts forcing their way from his chest. His thumb teased the head of his cock and he began to pump faster, grunting louder as his fantasy's Eridan's cries got higher in pitch.

Eridan's hips jerked forward as he worked himself faster, swears spilling from his lips between the high-pitched moans he was letting out. Pre-cum slicked the tip of his dick, only to be washed away by the water. Eridan's curses became unintelligible noises, mingled with a few gasps and coherent words. His hand was working furiously and he leaned against the shower wall for support, climaxing with a gasp.

"S-Sol!"

"Eridan," Sollux growled at the same instance, gritting his teeth. A long, low moan resonated from deep within him as he came, yellow genetic material spilling over his hands and being swept down the drain with the hot water. He panted heavily as he rode out his orgasm, blissful euphoria overtaking him.

After finishing his shower, Sollux climbed into bed, spent as hell but feeling relatively good— until he realized just how hard he had fallen for Eridan. He hoped with everything he had that Eridan was considering what he asked, that he would say yes, that he had been thinking of him too.

Ultimately, he felt pretty stupid; he had proclaimed Eridan his platonic mortal enemy when they were kids, after all. But by talking to him, getting to know him after time had calmed him, saving his life twice— the twice was important— and kissing him, Sollux discovered that he was wrong about Eridan. He really wasn't so bad. At least, not anymore. He had to wonder if Eridan had felt the same spark he had felt when they kissed, even through his surprise.

He closed his eyes and hugged a spare pillow to his body tightly, envisioning Eridan by his side. It was dumb, he would admit that, but it made him miss him a little less.

—-

Friday was an agonizingly slow blur. Sollux finally finished what he had been working on and collected his pay— it was good not to be broke for once. He used some of his money to buy himself breakfast, as he hadn't eaten at all yesterday and was starving. When he was finished, he wondered if he should go to the park or something— he hadn't really left his apartment a lot before meeting Eridan again. Sure, he visited Karkat, but he lived literally a block away, so it didn't count. He threw the remains of his meal away, pocketing a few spare packets of honey.

At the park, he opened one of the saved packets and sucked out its contents idly as he strolled, not taking in his surroundings. Eridan had said he liked flowers, right?

"Shit, what kind," he muttered to himself. "Would he like roses? That's too forward, isn't it, shit. Wait, wasn't it irises, lilies, and orchids? Was there another one? Ah, fuck, what was—" He trailed off as he peered to his right, still holding the packed of honey to his lips. A small human boy was staring at him as if he had two heads.

Okay, I get it, humans still think the horns are weird.

He waved awkwardly at the child before completely draining the packet of honey and jogging off to the florist's.

Once there, he slammed his money on the counter to get the ebony-haired florist's attention. He had wasted the whole day doing pointless shit and needed to beat Eridan to the café.

"Hey, mister, you know, the flowers have feelings too," a light, slightly miffed female voice answered, her back still turned toward him. "Maybe if you properly introduced yourself, I could help you."

Sollux took a deep breath; he didn't have time for games. "Forgive me, ma'am. I'm Sollux Captor, and I'd like to see what flowers you're selling."

"Oh, hey, Sollux!" The woman turned around to give him a bucktoothed grin, her long hair whirling behind her and her wire-framed glasses glinting in the sunlight.

"Harley?"

"Jade, Sollux. We're on first-name basis, okay?"

"Right. Anyway, I want to buy some flowers for someone."

Wow, he sucked at this.

"Well, you've come to the right place! Whatcha looking for?"

"Uh, orchids, lilies, and irises," Sollux listed, counting them off on his fingers.

Jade quickly gathered them and arranged them into a stylish bouquet wrapped in paper. She tied the stems with a ribbon and grabbed a pen and a little white card. Sollux stopped her.

"Wait. Do you have purple?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Now then, who's this for?" Jade leaned over the counter as she pressed the pen to the new purple card.

"Um… Eridan," he answered a little louder than he intended. Feferi came out from a room in the back and set a pink vase on a shelf as Sollux awkwardly yelled his name, and turned to look at him with an expression of confusion and shock on her face.

"Oh, um, hey, Sollux," she murmured awkwardly, stepping behind Jade. "Did you say you were buying those for Eridan?" She said his name a little more quietly than the rest of the question, and Sollux realized that it was probably difficult for her to say his name after the fiasco between them about a month ago. "You got all his favorites… except for one." She disappeared into the room she came from for a few moments, then came back with an armful of purple tulips. She tucked them into the bouquet in Jade's hand— which Sollux just now realized was covered with colorful bands— with a smile. "Flowers are really nice, and Eridan loves them a whole lot. I'm sure he'll be happy to see these."

Jade tied the card with a custom message on it to the ribbon around the bouquet and tucked the ends of the stems into a tube of nutrient-rich liquid. She handed the flowers to Sollux, collected the money, and wrapped an arm absently around Feferi as she counted it. "You have a nice day, now," she called jovially to Sollux as he walked out.

"Thanks, same to you."

—-

Sollux watched the sun sink lower on the horizon, holding the bouquet in one hand and adjusting his shirt with the other. He sat on a table outside, one leg propped on a chair and the other dangling, kicking slowly back and forth. He retrieved another packet of honey from his pocket and tore it open with his teeth, eating the contents nervously as he watched the road. Even though the honey's taste helped to calm his nerves a little, his hands still trembled as he watched for Eridan's motorcycle and rehearsed what he would say in his head. He had one shot at making this perfect.

Maybe this wasn't the right thing to wear…

As he tossed the empty packet in the garbage, he heard the roar of a motorcycle in the distance. He jumped up and hid the flowers behind his back, taking short, shallow breaths. The motorcycle pulled into the parking lot and the rider stepped off, shaking his head when he took off his helmet.

"Eridan!"

His head turned and he ran to Sollux, colliding into him and wrapping his arms around him tightly.

"Hey, I missed you too. I've got something for you."

Eridan stepped back, putting his arms back down at his sides. "Do ya?" He sounded a little tired.

"Close your eyes," Sollux ordered. Eridan obliged with a groan as Sollux pulled the bouquet of flowers in front of him. Luckily there was still enough light to see colors. "Okay, open!"

Eridan looked at the flowers in front of his face and gasped loudly, grasping them with both hands. "Sol," he whispered, burying his nose into them, "they're beautiful!"

"I dunno if you saw the card," Sollux murmured.

Eridan grabbed it and read it aloud. "'To Princess Eridan.'" Sollux heard his voice crack as he read the card. He became nervous until he heard the soft chuckle that followed. "God, Sol, I love them."

"So, what do you say, Ed? Are we a thing now, or what?"

Eridan pulled the slightly taller troll in for another tight hug. "Yes, you determined doofus, we're a thing now."