This was the day that Sollux Captor took a break from Minecraft.

After the pool incident, Eridan had been a bit quieter in his constructional endeavors with Sollux on Alternia. He still swore colorfully whenever he was ambushed by a Creeper (which was more often than what Sollux suspected was normal), but otherwise he kept his comments mostly to himself. Even when Sollux decided that, yes, they were indeed going to tear down their castle completely in order to rebuild it on a moon, Eridan's protests were minimal. The only comment he really made with regard to the whole ordeal was something along the lines of "Yeah, I was pretty sure you were gonna want to do that."

Rather than bring Sollux the relief and peace that he expected, he found that Eridan's reticent behavior had snipped his short fuse even shorter.

"God fucking dammit, Eridan, I told you to look at the grid before you start building. I swear, if I see one more row of brick where the windows don't mach up because you didn't follow my plans, I am going to do some kind of somersault off the deep end."

Eridan's avatar stood beside him on the scaffolding they'd created, holding his diamond pickaxe and surveying his mistake in silence.

"Fine, whatever," his voice sounded in Sollux's ears after a long pause. His purple-caped character began to chip away at the blocks he'd just laid so that he could start over.

Sollux sighed so forcefully into his microphone that it came out sounding more like a growl. "No, it's not fine. This is the fifth fucking time you've done this today. You're wasting more time by helping me than you are saving it. This shit should have been done by now."

Eridan didn't reply. He just continued to tear down his work and recollect the blocks. "I said I'll fuckin' look at your plans all right?"

"No, you don't need to just look at them, you anus-licking moron. You need to find a tube of superglue and paste that shit to your eyeballs. I swear to god, your idiocy should be documented in a record book or something."

"Sure, Sol, whatever you fuckin' say I guess," Eridan said flatly over the microphone.

Sollux wasn't sure why the man's lack of response was making him feel as if a swarm of angry hornets was buzzing in his skull, but he found his hands shaking and his entire head growing hot with the rage. He watched Eridan break up the last of his blocks before he began laying them down again. That was when Sollux withdrew his sword and delivered a vicious downward slice to Eridan's avatar.

"What the fuck are you doin'?" Eridan shrieked as his character flashed red with damage.

"Get out of here. I don't want you or your stupidity anywhere near this area."

"Fuck you, Sol, I'm like co-owner a this server and I'll be wherever I want to be," Eridan snapped, beginning to lay green bricks along the wall again.

Sollux delivered another downward slash.

"Fuck!" Eridan's avatar recoiled, flashing red again, before a diamond sword appeared in his own blocky hands. "Fuck you, Sol, this isn't fuckin' funny."

"Right, because this is definitely something I'm joking about. I've got a bag so full of jokes about how shitty it is to work with your dumb ass that I feel like Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. So get out your stocking, ass hat, because here comes a knee-slapper."

He sent his sword lashing out at Eridan once again. The purple-clad avatar did its best to flail around in some kind of feeble attempt to defend itself, but Sollux was relentless in his assault. Soon he had Eridan teetering on the edge of the scaffolding, and with a few more hits to the avatar's legs, Sollux managed to push the asshole off the scaffolding. He adjusted his camera to watch as Eridan fell the equivalent of twenty stories before hitting the turf below and disappearing as he died and was respawned in the little house they'd built about one biome over.

"What the fuck, Sol!" Eridan shouted into Sollux's ears. Sollux listened to it in heated satisfaction as he turned back to the wall that Eridan had been working on and began to build it up himself.

"I'm gettin' off then, you fuckin' jackass," Eridan raved, and Sollux could hear him slamming things around angrily in the background. "I can tell when I'm not wanted. You can work on your shitty green bullshit castle by yourself."

Sollux felt as if a hook had caught at the bottom of his stomach and been yanked up, tearing his guts inside out. It left a hot bile of angry regret seeping into his bloodstream. He sighed exasperatedly into the microphone.

"Okay, I don't actually give a shit if you decide to rage-quit like a three-year-old, but let me just say right now that your moping drama queen schtick is getting really old and I'm pretty tired of dealing with it. Especially if you're not even going to try and tell me what the fuck's going on. Because if you're pissed at me for some reason, fine, but at least have the balls to tell me."

He pushed his keyboard away from him so hard as he finished that it clattered up against his monitor and flipped onto its face. He then slouched back in his desk chair, glaring at the monitor with his one good eye as only the mild buzz of white noise stood as a reply on Eridan's end. As they sat there silence, the server's sun began to set, and night slowly settled over Alternia. Sollux stared up at the moon as it rose.

"Mobs will be out now. Make sure you're inside," he announced blandly, flipping his keyboard back over so he could adjust his position.

"I am. I just got back from gettin' all my shit before it despawned," Eridan replied.

"That was surprisingly efficient of you," Sollux remarked, a small smirk playing at the edges of his lips as he turned to the wall and began to place blocks down.

"I've been killed enough times now to know how to fuckin' handle myself. And none a that's thanks to you, either."

"It's all thanks to me. I've made you into a strong warrior worthy of being a part of our shitty two-person troll clan," Sollux said, unable to keep a small snicker from bubbling up out of his mouth.

"Actually, I was thinkin' about the trolls a little bit and how I guess they're supposed to be like, hyper-violent or whatever?"

"Yeah?" Sollux said as he continued to slap bricks down.

"Well, what if they were nocturnal or some shit? If they were forced to deal with all the mobs that came out at night just to scrape a decent livin' off a the land, then that'd get them pretty used to fightin' to survive." Eridan's tone was lighter now, and Sollux could here him tapping keys in the background.

"Hm. I guess. I'll think about it."

He put down a few more blocks as they shared another silence. After Sollux finished his second row, he paused in his key-tapping to sit back in his chair. "So are we good? You're done being a whiny fairy princess and all that shit?"

"I suppose so," Eridan sighed. His tone was exaggerated enough for Sollux to be sure that he really was feeling better. Sollux might have been shit at social situations, but Eridan was about as easy to read as a thirty foot flashing neon sign. And one of the first things the gangly computer nerd had picked up on was that the more melodramatic Eridan was acting, the better mood he tended to be in.

"Good," Sollux returned.

"But I am gettin' pretty sick a this game, Sol, we've been at it for nearly eight hours now and your food rule has made it so that I'm fuckin' starvin' over here."

"Fine. You go take a break to stuff your face. I'll finish up this wall."

"No, I'm sayin' that I'm not gonna come back after I leave to eat because I'm tired and my eyes are botherin' me," Eridan rebuked.

Sollux watched as a message flashed at the corner of his screen alerting him to the fact that Eridan had just disconnected from the server. He frowned at his monitor.

"Are you serious? I thought we were planning on getting at least the lower level of the castle done today. I can't believe you're actually going to wuss out on me like this."

"Wow, Sol, I don't think quittin' after eight hours is really grounds for bein' qualified as 'wussin' out' but whatever you say, I guess. I really don't give a shit anymore and I'm tired."

Sollux felt the needles of anger pricking at the back of his stomach once again, making acid leak over his insides. "God, could you for one second not make a fucking Oscar-worthy drama out of everything and just tell me why it is you're still so fucking pissy?"

"This has nothing to do with me bein' pissy, Sol, and more like I'm just really fuckin' tired so why don't you just deal with it, okay?"

"Do you want to play something else, is that it? Is this just some kind of passive-aggressive stint to get me to switch games?" Sollux snapped, taking one of the empty energy drink cans sitting on his desk and crushing it in his fist.

"This is a passive aggressive stint to get on real friendly terms with some Chinese takeout and then pass out on my futon," Eridan replied. His tone had lost most of its edge, making him sound just about as tired as he professed.

But Sollux wouldn't have any of it. Eridan's bullshit was making him mad enough to spit.

"What if you got some Chinese takeout and just brought it over here? Would that make you feel less like being a tremendous ass?"

There was a pause on the other end of the connection. At last, Eridan replied, "Are you…invitin' me over or something? Is that what this is?"

Sollux crushed another can between his hands. "Sure. Why the fuck not? If it gets you to stop being some melodramatic shithead, then I'll do what I have to."

"Well, don't fuckin' bother if you're just goin' to continue bein' condescendin' toward me, Sol, I get enough a that over this fuckin' headset, let alone subjectin' myself to it in person."

Sollux pressed his thumbs to his temples so hard he thought he might crack his skull. After a moment of listening to the angry, desperate pounding in his head, he sighed and replied evenly. "Fine. I'll shut up. Just…go get some food and come over here, all right? We can play Castlevania or something."

Eridan was silent for a long time, and Sollux hated the way that the lengthened pause made his insides twist. As if he fucking gave a shit if the moron responded in the affirmative or not.

"Okay, but do you want anything, Sol?"

His intestines untwisted themselves just in time to let the hot bile creeping up Sollux's throat slide back down. He coughed and replied, "Just get me some honey chicken. I'll get the shit in my room cleaned up while you're doing that. See you in a couple minutes."

He hung up and signed out of Skype before Eridan could make a proper reply. He then ripped off his headset and threw it against the back of his desk, staring at it as it came to rest on the pile of cords sitting behind his monitor.

What the hell was he doing?

He slowly swiveled around to observe his room. Or rather, what he could make out of his room beneath the thick layer of garbage coating every surface. Empty pizza boxes and fast food wrappers littered the floor. His trash can was overflowing with used tissues and plastic forks. Every flat surface had its own collection of energy drink cans. And his bed was piled with clean laundry, the dirty counterparts all scattered across the floor or hanging off the back of his chair.

There was no way he could get his room presentable in the time it took Eridan to get Chinese.

Not to mention he hadn't showered in about three days. He ducked his head under his armpit and sniffed.

He yanked his nose away, his eyes watering.

Okay. Maybe it had been four days.

He got to his feet, his legs watery from disuse. He stumbled his way toward the door and slowly pushed it open, squinting as his eye was assaulted with the bright light of the hallway outside. As he did, he saw Karkat walk into view, a toothbrush in his mouth and a towel draped over his bare shoulders. As he reached for the door handle to his room, he must have caught Sollux's gaunt face peering out at him, for he paused in his movements and turned his gaze toward his roommate.

"Well look who finally decided to step out into the daylight," Karkat said around a mouth full of toothpaste. "Or moonlight, I guess, since it's 9 o'clock at night. What brings you into the world of the living? Crawling out to shove some sandwich meat down your throat before making your way back to the cave of fucking wonders over there?"

Sollux blinked a few more times, still not used to the blinding yellow light of the hallway. "I need to use your room," he said, his voice no more than an urgent hiss.

"What?" Karkat asked, his thick brows lowering over his eyes as he gave his teeth another few scrubs. "Did one of the mold colonies on your underwear finally gain sentience and claim your room as the motherland of their race of the divinely foul-odored?"

"No." Sollux said. That was all he could manage to force out. He could feel the bile rising up his throat again.

Karkat shifted his toothbrush over to the opposite side of his mouth and deepened his frown. "Okay, ignoring the likely existence of self-aware mold growing in your boxers for a minute, do you want to clue me in to why exactly you want my room? You look even clammier than usual. Which is a fucking feat, for you."

Sollux licked his lips. "I sort of just invited somebody over."

Karkat's furrowed brow shot up so high that it was in danger of disappearing beneath his hairline. "Like, for sexual services?" the short boy spluttered.

"No, KK, what the fuck kind of desperate shit do you think I am?"

"I don't know, dude, but you could use a fucking sexual service or two." He gave his teeth a few more scrubs before continuing. "Who are you having over, then? One of your gamer buddies?"

"Yeah, sort of," Sollux said, his voice twisted with uneasiness.

"Okay, feel like giving me some clues, here? Or is this like Jeopardy where you're Alex Trebek and you just sort of stare at me with this smug asshole expression while I sweat over whether or not to hit my fucking buzzer to give some bullshit answer in the form of a question."

Sollux's brow knit together slightly. "Uh…"

Karkat slapped his doorknob. "Bzzt! Who is Vriska Serket?"

"What? No. Two-hundred point deduction, jackass."

"Really? Okay, whatever, shake it off, Karkat, shake it off." He jogged in place a bit, tipping his head from side to side as if stretching out his neck. He then smacked his doorknob again. "Bzzt! Who is Terezi Pyrope?"

"Another two hundred points. You don't have enough points to survive this, bro." A smirk began to play around Sollux's lips.

"Fuck you, Sollux Trebek, you smug bastard. Is it someone I know?"

"…Yeah."

"You hesitated. It's someone I hate, isn't it?"

"Pretty much."

"Fucking christ, it's not Dave, is it? Sollux, I will tear off your testicles and feed them to you if you willingly invited that jackass into our home."

"What if John was coming with him?" Sollux inquired.

Karkat's furious expression dissolved into one of surprised hope as quickly as if Sollux had changed the channel on his face. "Wait, really?"

Sollux snickered. "I didn't invite Dave, but your reaction to your make-believe boyfriend is pretty adorable, KK."

Karkat turned a shade of red that Sollux never knew existed before wrenching his toothbrush from his mouth and pointing it furiously at his roommate. "You know what? You can go to hell. And no you can't use my room, you hard-drive-frotting cumstain." He wrenched open his door, disappearing behind it before slamming it shut again.

Sollux swore under his breath. Whatever. Karkat would get over it in the time it took him to shower, he was sure. He withdrew himself from his room before shuffling down the hallway toward the bathroom. The air inside was still moist from Karkat's recent shower. Sollux sighed, pulling off his clothes before sliding back the shower curtain.

"Hey best motherfuckin' friend."

Sollux jerked back so violently that his foot caught on one of the bathroom rugs and he was sent flying back into the toilet. He managed to grab the towel rack before he was sent crashing over the porcelain bowl, and he hung there, his thin chest heaving as he stared at the man sitting in the tub.

Gamzee was immersed a layer of bubbles so thick that Sollux couldn't be sure there was any water beneath them. On the edge of the tub sat a large bong and a plate of brownies.

"Jesus dicks, GZ, you scared the piss out of me," Sollux wheezed.

Gamzee smiled lazily. "Sorry, bro. I was just getting my relax on in this bubble blanket of serenity." He reached over and grabbed his lighter before ducking over his bong and inhaling deeply after a few clicks. He exhaled, leaning back and closing his eyes as a haze of smoke wafted about his head.

Sollux slowly lowered himself into a sitting position on the toilet. "So, uh…how long are you planning on being in there?"

"I don't like to think in terms of motherfuckin' time quantities, man, makes me feel all confined like what you do if you've got a pair of really fancy shoes on. I'm just getting my enjoy on of these tiny soap diamonds and discovering what sort of art I can get myself up to with them. Watch this. But don't get your eyes too close, my brother, because these little guys can sting like all bitchtits nasty."

Gamzee reached down and cupped his hands, bringing up a quivering mound of bubbles as he lifted them. He then smeared the entire soapy mass onto his chin.

"See, man? Fucking Christmas," Gamzee said as he looked up at Sollux and pointed to his newly created bubble beard. "I get the feeling now like I'm channeling all this wisdom and holiday joy. Wow, it's wicked motherfuckin' shit, like I'm telling you, my brother."

"Uh-huh. Yes. Just. Yes to all of those things. Can I use the tub now?" Sollux asked, beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable and cold sitting in front of Gamzee while occupying a status that was very decidedly naked.

"Sure, bro, climb on in," Gamzee replied, giving Sollux a lazy grin before pulling his knees up to his chest. "I can get all smallish for you and we can share some of this liquid happiness together like a couple of choice motherfuckers, you feel me?"

"Yeah, that would be really choice and stuff, but I kind of need the place to myself. I'm in a hurry."

Gamzee gave a lazy, honking laugh. "Yeah, I feel you. Gotta get your clean on for to be presentable in case a romantic situation all up and catches you by the ass." He lifted himself out of the tub. "Want me to leave my brownies in here for you, best friend?"

"Uh…" Sollux squinted. "No thanks. I don't think those will do very well in the shower. Which involves me turning on the water and letting it run over me in a constant stream. In case you forgot or some shit."

"I made these to be motherfuckin' water friendly man. They get to sucking up water like somebody gave two sponges a pair of straws, you know? I can show you as a demonstration of how much they love getting water all up in their chocolatey pores."

He picked up a brownie and leaned down to drop it in the tub.

"Whoa, shit, okay, yeah, I got it." Sollux burst out, the words tumbling forth like alphabet soup as he grabbed Gamzee by the shoulders and pulled him back. "I got it GZ, that's really great and I believe you. But I'm fine without brownies, I got someone getting me Chinese, so please keep your chocolate out of the place where I have to wash myself."

Gamzee smiled before stuffing the brownie in his own mouth. "All right, I got you, my brother. I got you." He patted Sollux on the head before he picked up his plate of brownies and made his way out of the bathroom, still naked and covered in bubbles.

Sollux shut the door and pressed his head against the chipped wood. Everything always had to be such a fucking production in this house. Sighing and figuring that he'd wasted enough time already, he approached the shower. After rinsing out the bubbles and setting Gamzee's bong on the sink, along with his lighter, Sollux stepped inside and pulled the curtain shut.

For how filthy he was, washing himself did not take long. He emerged from the bathroom swathed in steam and a towel, making his way quickly to his room to pull on a fresh pair of clothes from the pile in his bed. He slipped on his sunglasses as well before he made his way back out into the hall. He approached Karkat's door and knocked on it.

"Hey, KK, you planning on letting me swipe your room yet?" he asked through the wood.

"No. Never. Suck my dick, shitwad."

Sollux sighed heavily before giving the door a good kick and turning toward Gamzee's room instead. He peeked into it slowly, afraid of what he'd see.

It was quite tidy, to his surprise. He really couldn't remember the last time he'd been in Gamzee's room, but it seemed bigger than he remembered it. Or perhaps it was just because Sollux wasn't used to seeing a room that wasn't drowning in its own refuse.

He approached the desk, double checking to make sure Gamzee wasn't present. Next to the computer was an assortment of drug paraphernalia and pie tins. Sollux quickly swept it all off the top of the desk and shoved it in Gamzee's closet. He then took the huge pile of dirty laundry stored in the corner of the room and pushed that in the closet too.

He dusted his hands on his pants and stood back to admire his stellar cleaning job. The room was presentable, at any rate. He nodded before he made his way out to the living room. Gamzee was sitting on the sofa, his arms resting on the back while his feet were kicked up on the coffee table. The gangly man offered Sollux a smile.

"Did you get all the dirt off yourself, bro?" he asked. His teeth were stained with chocolate.

"Yes. And I'm also stealing your room for the night." He tried to be as quick and blunt as possible, hoping to catch the man off guard. Because if Gamzee thought about what a shitty deal it was for even a few seconds and decided to refuse, Sollux knew he couldn't bring himself to start an argument with the man.

Luckily, Gamzee very rarely refused anything.

He grinned and nodded in a way that looked as though he were bobbing his head to the beat of some unheard music. "Yeah, bro, it's cool. I was getting the feeling for a motherfuckin' change in venue myself. It's like our desires are lining up on a higher plane, man. Miracles, you know? I think that's a miracle."

"Yeah. I'm going to be back setting up a console in your room. If anyone gets here, just send him back by me." Sollux then made his way from the room, hoping Gamzee would refrain from making any further inquiries. He did.

It took Sollux longer than he expected to set things up in his housemate's room. Mostly because Gamzee had somehow managed to make an unintelligible mess of the wires behind his TV. And so it was that Sollux found himself thoroughly confused when there was still no sign of Eridan even after he'd finished. He poked his head out into the hallway, trying to listen for voices in the living room. It was definitely possible for Gamzee to be holding the idiot up with his idle chatter. Sollux didn't hear anything but the soft beats of Gamzee's music, however. He pulled his head back in the room and sat down on the bed, digging out his phone from his pocket.

He found Eridan's number instantly. He was still the first name on his call history. Sollux let his thumb hover over the name for a few seconds before he tossed the phone onto Gamzee's desk and flopped back onto the bed.

What did he care if the dumbass decided to bail on him? It wasn't like he'd put any sort of emotional stock in this arrangement. He'd done it in an attempt to get Eridan to stop being a whiny asshole. Which he realized was a futile endeavor, but…

But?

But nothing.

He was a whiny asshole and it was a futile endeavor.

He had better things to do with his time.

Sollux got to his feet and was just about to retreat to his own room again when he heard the front door open. Eridan clambered through, looking winded and holding two plastic bags laden with takeout boxes.

Now sufficiently impatient and ornery, Sollux decided he didn't want Gamzee intercepting the idiot. He made his way into the living room as Eridan slipped out of his sandals, setting the bags down and wiping a trembling hand over his forehead.

"What the hell took you so long? It's fucking ten o'clock, we might as well save that shit for breakfast now. It's not even worth eating at this point," Sollux snapped.

"Are you even aware a how far away that fuckin' place is?" Eridan shot back, sweat beaded on his face. "I thought about stickin' out my thumb and hitchin' a ride back here but that part a the neighborhood is full of unsavory sorts."

Sollux frowned at him. "Which place did you go to?"

"Uh… Hunan's or something I think it was called," Eridan replied, shuffling over to the coffee table and setting the takeout bags down. Sollux snatched them up again instantly, not wanting Gamzee to get involved and hold them up for yet another hour.

"That place is only five blocks away. I should know, I go there all the time."

"Fuck you, Sol, they're long blocks. And the way back was uphill. I'm not designed for walkin' on an incline, all right?"

Sollux rolled his eyes. "You're not designed for walking at all, obviously. Come on, I've got the PS1 hooked up in GZ's room."

He shuffled off down the hallway, Eridan taking only a brief moment to wave at Gamzee before he followed behind. As Sollux passed Karkat's door, he heard it creak open slightly. He stood back and motioned for Eridan to go ahead of him into Gamzee's room. It allowed him enough time to look back and see Karkat scowling at him through a crack in his door before he snapped it shut again. Sollux followed Eridan into the room then, sighing. Karkat was probably going to flip his shit about the ordeal.

"So I'm assumin' you didn't actually get any shit in your room cleaned up," Eridan said, lowering himself down onto Gamzee's bed.

Sollux shrugged. "Well, if I'd have known you were going to drag your ass for an hour, I might have attempted it." He opened one of the takeout containers and made a face. "Lo mein?" He snapped it shut again before tossing it to Eridan, whose eyes widened as he fumbled to catch it. He wasn't so quick to snag the chopsticks, which hit him in the face immediately afterwards.

"Wow thanks, you're so fuckin' considerate," Eridan snapped.

"It's what I do," Sollux replied, climbing up onto the bed and sitting against the headboard, his honey chicken and a pair of chopsticks in hand.

As he dug into the container and began shoving chunks of sugar-glazed, processed meat into his mouth, Eridan crawled over next to him, leaning against the headboard as well. Sollux tried to tuck in his arms to avoid bumping against Eridan, but as the moron began to unwrap his chopsticks and start eating as well, he found their elbows knocking on more than one occasion. Sollux shot the young man a look through his shades, a look that Eridan was oblivious to. His movements were lethargic and slow, and it seemed like it was all he could do to keep himself from falling asleep in his noodles. So Sollux sighed angrily and yanked a pillow out from behind himself, erecting it between the two of them as a sort of fluffy barricade.

Eridan flinched in surprise at the sudden movement, and then blinked a few times as he noticed the pillow. "What the fuck is that for?"

"You're invading my space," Sollux remarked evenly before shoving more chicken into his mouth. He was hungrier than he'd thought.

"What the fuck, Sol, I wasn't even touchin' you," Eridan rebuked.

"You touched me about five times. I've erected the necessary defenses to keep it from happening again."

"You're such a fuckin' jackass, Sol, and if I felt like it, I could draw up a whole fuckin' laundry list a the deplorable qualities that you possess. And to be honest, I think your behavior merits some kinda punishment. Like my character gettin' a free kill in on yours the next time we play in Alternia. Then you'll see how fun it is gettin' slaughtered by your comrades."

"It's troll rules on Alternia. I can kill you whenever I like."

"Well, I think your rules are fuckin' stupid, and you're fuckin' stupid for makin' them."

"I'm stupid, huh? Let me just find some ointment to slap on that hideous third degree burn while you bask in your verbal victory."

"Can it, Sol, I'm tryin' to focus on eatin' here, so I have limited intellectual resources to be wastin' on speakin' with you."

"I'll say."

"Shut it."

So he did. Just so that he could finish eating his honey chicken. And to avoid the smirk that was getting dangerously close to cracking over his lips. As he fished around in the bottom of his carton for the last of the honey chicken, he spoke once more.

"So, are we going to play Castlevania, since that's one of the only decent games the PS1 supports?"

He turned to Eridan to gauge his response, and shut his mouth in surprise. The man was slumped against the pillow, his carton of noodles only halfway gone, breathing softly in his sleep. Sollux stared at him for what seemed like forever, just trying to process it.

He hadn't really been planning for this. He shifted the pillow a bit, just trying to see if it would rouse the man and relieve Sollux of the awkward situation that had just been dumped in his lap. To his dismay, however, Eridan seemed well and truly out of it.

He must have been just as tired as he'd professed.

Sighing, Sollux plucked the container of lo mein from Eridan's hand and the young man sagged against the pillow. Sollux glared at his sleeping form for a long time, just watching him breathe. Eventually, Sollux's harsh expression began to melt. And finally he took the pillow out from between them and pulled Eridan close, resting the young man's head against his shoulder.