After breakfast, Eridan and Sollux found themselves sprawled on the couch in the living room, Eridan's head resting on Sollux's stomach. For the first time in a long time, Sollux felt healthy, albeit slightly overfull.

"Eridan, I had no idea you could cook," he gushed.

"Well, you never asked."

Sollux stretched out lazily, arching his spine, then flopping back down onto the single long, soft, purple cushion and draping one arm over Eridan's back. "Glad I did now, though. Do you know what it's like living off of shitty takeout, TV dinners, and microwaveable mashed potatoes?"

"What would you ever do without me?" Eridan teased, walking his index and middle fingers up Sollux's torso. Eridan's head rose and fell slightly as Sollux breathed peacefully. His long-nailed fingers— holy hell, did Eridan have a fucking manicure— tickled Sollux's skin beneath his borrowed shirt and he smiled, running his own hand along a short distance up and down Eridan's back.

"Same thing I've done the past eight years."

"Oh, you mean nothin'?"

"N-no!" Sollux hesitated. "Yes."

Eridan chuckled, earning himself a playful jab in the back.

"Ow! Rude."

"Whoops, my hand slipped."

"I detest you."

"No, you don't."

"I really don't. You are annoying though."

"Oh, please, baby, you know you couldn't live without me."

Eridan just ran his index finger along Sollux chest in a spiral shape, a lazy smile on his face. "You jerk, I had shit to do today."

"Get up, then."

"T'ch, nope."

Sollux paused. "Put on the TV, Ed."

"Say please."

"Fuck you."

"Say it or the remote is mine."

"Fine. Please," Sollux whined, purposefully dragging out the word.

Eridan propped his chin on Sollux's stomach and smiled at him. "I've got a better idea. How 'bout we go to the beach, Sol?"

"Ed, I don't feel like moving right now." It was true; Sollux was incredibly comfortable on Eridan's couch, the beautiful man laying on top of him, smiling up at him. "We'll go later, hmm?"

Eridan moved up Sollux's body and rested his head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as he handed him the remote.

"Hey, Ed?"

"Yeah?"

Sollux pressed his lips to Eridan's silken, black hair. "Thanks."

"For what, though?"

"Mmn, everything. Being so beautiful. Not doing anything stupid the nights I came and got you. Saying yes. Everything."

Eridan didn't say anything in response, but he sighed contentedly, snuggling against Sollux and pulling a light blanket over them.

A while later, during a commercial, Sollux gently prodded Eridan's back to get his attention. The violetblood looked groggily up into his golden eyes.

"Were you sleeping?"

"'S a catnap," he muttered, pressing his ear back against Sollux's chest. He chuckled and kissed his hair once more before turning his head to watch the sci-fi movie on TV.

"Sweet dreams, babe."

—-

Once Sollux's movie was over and his ass was sufficiently numb, he shook Eridan awake and turned off the TV.

"No," Eridan whined softly, burying his face into Sollux's shirt and sleepily taking in his scent.

"C'mon, rise and shine, princess. You wanted to go to the beach, right?"

He kneaded Sollux's torso with his fingertips as he stretched out, causing him to grunt.

"Ach, easy!"

"Mmm, sorry," Eridan muttered, moving up and pressing a gentle kiss to his lips in apology. Sollux accepted by returning it with a smile.

"It's fine, you lazy bastard."

"M'not lazy."

"Are too."

"Nuh-uh."

Sollux laughed at Eridan's groggy protesting. "Eridan, you're ten, not two. Stop acting like a wriggler."

Eridan rolled from on top of Sollux to the floor, crying out in surprise at the impact, and Sollux snorted in response.

—-

Eridan browsed the selection of wines he owned, looking for something romantic to take on what was technically their second date. He settled for a nice honey wine. Hopefully Sollux would like that.

Sollux couldn't refrain from wandering into the kitchen when he smelled Eridan's cooking, but it merely earned him being shooed out of the room and sent upstairs to find a blanket and a cooler. He decided a bit of snooping couldn't hurt while he looked. He rooted through the small drawer on one of the nightstands by Eridan's bed and found some papers with fancy script on them. He pocketed a few of them and stuffed the blanket into the cooler. He'd read them later.

"Sol, come taste this," Eridan called from the stove. He jogged down the stairs to see Eridan with a fork in his right hand, left one cupped beneath it.

"What is it?" Sollux asked, drawing closer. He opened his mouth and Eridan eased the fork in, the various tastes of honey, chicken, various spices, a little mayonnaise, celery, and apples flooding his senses. He closed his mouth around it and felt the fork being slowly taken from his mouth, leaving that delightful concoction on his tongue. "Oh my g—"

"Swallow first, then talk."

Sollux obliged, cheeks burning at the realization that he had forgotten his manners. "That's so fucking good!"

"Glad you like it," Eridan responded, a proud smile on his face.

"I will forever be surprised that you can cook." Sollux paused, remember something he was going to ask hours ago. "That room we were in earlier… were those your paintings in it?"

"Wha— oh, those! Yeah, they're mine, but they ain't wonderful."

"You don't give yourself enough credit, Eridan! Those paintings were awesome!" In reality, it seemed like Eridan had gotten good at so much over the years.

"Did you find the cooler an' spare blanket okay?" Eridan asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah. Why are you suddenly so organized? Last I remember, you were someone who was notorious for having piles of everything everywhere."

"Shit got in the way," he replied matter-of-factly.

"Well, if you ever need to j— talk about how you're feeling, I'm here now."

"Same goes for you," Eridan responded; he wasn't even looking up from his cooking, so Sollux gently turned him around.

"And I mean anything."

"Relax, Sol. I will."

—-

Eridan always felt alive when the smell of salt air filled his noise. Even if his gills didn't function as well as they could have, it never stopped him from feeling at home in the water. He and Sollux spread out the blanket and stripped to their boxers.

"Ed, I'unno about thi—" Sollux was cut off by Eridan sprinting into the ocean and diving into a wave a little ways offshore. When he came back up, he shook his head, diamond droplets of water beading on his skin and flying off of his hair, shimmering in the sunlight.

"C'mon, Sol," he called, waving frantically from his location and jumping with an oncoming wave. Sollux tentatively waded to Eridan. "Relax, you ain't gonna drown."

"I'm not scared," Sollux protested. "I haven't been swimming in a long time, that's all."

Eridan ducked under the water, his gills fluttering out on both sides. They didn't take in all that much oxygen, but he still found the oceans of Novi Orbis overwhelming. The clean water and diverse life forms fascinated him to no end. He suddenly felt a pair of hands drag him up and his gills closed.

—-

After swimming for a few hours, they reclined on their blanket, fully dried off and dressed and smiling contentedly as they talked. Eridan sat up and took out their food and wine, carefully pouring two glasses and handing one to Sollux.

"Thank you, honey," Sollux chuckled, sipping the mead from the glass.

"You like it?"

Sollux nodded in response. "Mhm, it's good. Normally when I drink, it's just cheap-ass beer with Karkat, Strider, Terezi, and Egbert. I never get anything like this."

"Me either. Normally it's whiskey or gin or vodka for me, but I usually never get good wine. I save it for special occasions."

"Like this?" Sollux grinned over his wine glass, running his tongue over his protruding teeth that were the cause of the lisp Eridan had come to adore; he would never admit that, though.

"Yeah. Like this."

—-

The sun hung low in the sky as the two of them laid next to each other, the now-empty bottle and glasses spread haphazardly on the blanket and their heads clouded with alcohol. Their foreheads were pressed together and their faces were flushed. Soft chuckles bubbled up from them periodically as Sollux's hands traveled along Eridan's body, playing with his fly but not unzipping it.

"Do you want me, Eridan?" Sollux growled, lifting Eridan's shirt and running his fingertips along the scar across his midsection.

"I fuckin' want you bad, I want you bad, Sol," Eridan slurred.

Sollux kissed Eridan hard, taking in the alcohol-laced taste of his breath. Eridan pushed against him, rolling on top of him and clawing at his shirt. He was grinding his hips against Sollux and getting ready to thrust his tongue into his mouth when Sollux pulled away.

"Wait," he whispered, "someone's coming."

He took Eridan's falter as a cue to regain control, flipping Eridan over and engulfing his mouth with his own. Eridan made a small, needy noise and wrapped himself around Sollux, pressing up against him and feeling his forked tongue teasing his own. In his drunken bliss, the only two people in the universe were himself and Sollux, no one else existed, no one else mattered. He dug his nails into his back, pushing against him and staring directly into his clouded, golden eyes.

"I do enjoy being near the water. It makes me feel strong."

"Yes, I enjoy the ocean, too, Equius. Especially since there are lots of shells!"

Sollux barely heard the voices of Equius and Aradia; he was captivated by Eridan's mouth, his eyes, his noises, his taste. He just knew that their presence meant that they needed to keep themselves in control.

"Sol," Eridan murmured against his lips, panting heavily as they broke apart.

"Sollux?"

Oh man.

"Uh, hey, Aradia. Equius," Sollux greeted, shakily sitting up and face bright yellow, not only from exhilaration and alcohol, but embarrassment. Eridan rolled over and pouted, upset that he had to break apart from Sollux prematurely. He felt his hand touch his back and he sat up, leaning into Sollux's figure.

"Eridan?"

"Don't sound so fuckin' surprised."

Aradia looked back and forth at the both of them, a laugh bursting from her as she tried to comprehend the sight before her. This upset Eridan and he stood, swaying a bit, and stumbled off angrily.