This was the night that Sollux Captor carried Eridan Ampora home.
Once the swing of a door and jangling bells released them from the din of the coffee shop, the night air broke over them like a cool wave. It washed away all light and sound until there was only the soft chirp of crickets and the hazy orange glow of the street lights.
Sollux continued to hold Eridan against him as they trudged along the sidewalk, their shoes scuffing on the cement. Every once in a while a car would pass on the road beside them, breaking the silence with a flash of headlights and growl of an engine. Then it would be gone, the smell of exhaust giving way to the dense scent of dewy grass. And Sollux would wonder if it wouldn't have been better to wait for Karkat to take his car. Then some nip in the wind or the weight of Eridan in his arms would tell him no, and he would continue on.
They went at a shuffling pace, and only made about a block's worth of headway before Eridan gripped the front of Sollux's shirt and planted his wingtips on the ground.
"What is it?" Sollux asked, ducking his head a bit to try and establish eye contact.
"I just don't feel so good," Eridan said. His voice was no more than a wavering whisper.
Sollux gripped him tighter, his mouth suddenly growing dry. "Do you want to stop for a second?"
Eridan nodded. "But not out here."
Sollux looked around. He could see Eridan's point. They were still within sight of the Core, and he figured it wouldn't be long before the coffee shop closed and turned all its solicitors out onto the sidewalk with them. He cast his gaze ahead of them to see the old roller rink. He pulled Eridan close.
"There's a place behind that building that we can sit. It's not that far. Are you going to be able to handle it?"
Eridan fisted both hands in Sollux's shirt and gave a small nod. Sollux couldn't see his face, but the splotches of blood dappling the front of his pink shirt waxed bright crimson under the street lights as they hobbled their way behind the big brick building. There were two rusted dumpsters sitting against a wall, and Sollux picked his way over the cracked asphalt until they were standing between them. He eased Eridan down onto the ground before sitting beside him. Over their heads a single white light cast a pale glow, a lone moth pinging against it.
Eridan's face was obscured in shadows as he stared down, hugging his knees to his chest. Sollux pushed himself off the wall a bit, trying to peer at him.
"Are you okay?"
Eridan shook his head.
Sollux ran his fingers through his hair before dropping his hand. He then edged it around Eridan's waist. Sollux drew him in close, ducking down to gaze at his face.
"Can you talk to me at least? Should I call someone? Do you need to see a doctor? Just tell me what's going on so I can do something instead of sitting on my hands like an asshole." He tried to keep his voice even, but he felt it beginning to crumble as he pushed out the last syllables. He closed his mouth.
In the dimness, he could see Eridan's eyebrows knit together. "I don't… I don't fuckin' know. I don't know if the cramp in my chest has to do with my heart or the fact that I just fuckin' shattered all credibility as a musician before a room full a my peers." He hugged his knees closer, and ducked his bloodied face into them. "That was probably the only chance I'm ever gonna get and I fuckin' blew it."
Sollux shifted his gaze toward the ground, watching an ant clamber over a chunk of asphalt as the sound of sniffling came from beside him. He squeezed the back of Eridan's neck. The gesture was half one of comfort and half of castigation.
"I told you to just let Vriska do whatever she was going to do. If you would've kept your stupid ass out of it—"
"That's not even the point. They hated my shit before I ever opened my mouth. It was fuckin' horrible, and every fuckin' fingering I could possibly fuck up is exactly the number a fingerings that were fucked upwards, and fuckin'…fuckin' Gam what the fuck was even wrong with him, Sol, what was fuckin' wrong with him?"
His words dissolved into squelches of sound, punctuated by heaving gasps. Sollux put his other arm around him and drew him close. Eridan's hand leapt to his shirt, fisting in the faded gray fabric. He choked and wheezed, shaking hard enough that Sollux thought his own teeth might start rattling.
"I was so fuckin' scared," he whispered. Sollux could feel the thick frames of his glasses digging into his chest. His insides shriveled. He ran a hand through the perfect sculpture of Eridan's hair, stroking it into disarray.
"So was I," he whispered.
"I told you he was crazy," Eridan choked. "I told you he was fuckin' crazy and nobody believed me."
"He's not crazy," Sollux replied. His tone was less certain than he'd meant it to sound.
"Then how do you explain that?" Eridan burst out, pushing away from Sollux and looking up at him. The light filtering down above them cast a milky gleam on his pallid face, the blood under his nose brightening to a glistening scarlet.
"I…don't know," he replied. He drew Eridan back into his chest, more to avoid meeting his terrified eyes than with the purpose of providing comfort. Sollux drew in a shuddering breath. "I've never seen Gamzee act that way before."
"I thought I was gonna die."
Sollux buried his head in Eridan's shoulder and didn't say anything. Because the last thing he wanted to do was encourage the melodramatic and paranoid line of thinking that Eridan seemed determined to constantly maintain. But for a moment, standing in that coffee shop, just out of reach as Eridan had been slammed up against that wall, the same fear had struck his own heart cold.
They clung to each other until dew began to settle on their clothes, and the sounds of laughter as the bars emptied out had come and gone. At last Sollux pulled his face out of Eridan's shoulder, settling his chin on the top of his thoroughly disheveled hair instead. He sighed into it before pulling away.
"We should get you home."
Eridan shook his head. "I don't even know if I can make it, Sol, I feel like fuckin' shit."
"Okay, are you sure I shouldn't be calling someone right now? Because if this is actually serious, I don't want to be passing it off like it's nothing. I know I give you a ton of shit for being dramatic, but if this actually needs seeing to—"
He cut off as Eridan shook his head again. "Can this for once not be about you freakin' out over my health? I'm fuckin' tired and scared and pissed off and humiliated and I just don't want to fuckin' move and all a that has absolutely nothing to do with the state a my chest cavity, all right?"
He drew away from Sollux and pulled off his glasses, dabbing at his eyes with the sleeve of his blazer as he muttered, "You fuckin' jackass," under his breath.
Sollux stared down at his hands. They both looked so pale in the lonely white light. Like ghosts.
Perhaps he had let his fear run away with him.
He got to his feet then, dusting off his pants and extending a hand to Eridan. He was met with a baleful blue gaze.
"Don't give me that bullshit," Sollux replied, though his tone was not unkind. "Come on. Get up. You don't want to move, you don't have to. But we're going home because I am starting to freeze my ass off out here. Not all of us are wearing fucking Gucci, okay?"
"This is not Gucci, Sol, like you would even know what that was just by lookin'. You'd never fool anyone with your casual designer name droppin'." He ran a hand under his nose and slid his glasses back into place.
"I'm not trying to fool people, asshole, my use of a specific brand was purely for ironic purposes because I could give less of an actual shit about what designer decided to slap their one-thousand dollar name on your clothes."
"And maybe I fuckin' knew that and made my reply with equal amounts a irony because I know you don't give a flippin' fuck about fashion so ha, fuckin' deal with it, Sol, I win this round of verbal repartee."
He slapped his hand into Sollux's and Sollux heaved him off the ground. It was only once they were at eye level again that they could both see the smiles tugging at each other's lips.
Sollux turned around before Eridan could feel too pleased with himself. "Here. Hop on."
"What?"
"Get on my back. I'll carry you."
There was silence. Sollux looked over his shoulder and Eridan jumped.
"What, you're bein' serious?" he asked, his voice cracked and small.
"No, I am just standing here like a jackass for my own amusement. Yes, I'm being serious, now get on before I change my mind."
He bent his knees and braced an arm against one of the dumpsters as Eridan heaved himself onto his back. Sollux then hooked his hands behind Eridan's knees as a pair of arms looped around his neck. Once they'd made the appropriate adjustments to avoid both loss of balance and accidental strangulation, Sollux traipsed out of the abandoned parking lot and back onto the sidewalk.
Eridan was an oddly comfortable weight against him. Even though Sollux's wiry, unpracticed muscles began to strain within minutes under Eridan's slender figure, he found the burning in his arms and back to be almost calming. It stood as a warm contrast to the coolness of the black night air around them, and the scuff of his sneakers kept time as he went.
They never spoke. But they never needed to. Eridan's chest was warm against his back, and through pressed pink cotton and faded gray fabric came the faint patter of his heart. It beat so close against Sollux's skin that for a time he thought the rhythm was coming from inside his own chest. The breath caught in his lungs. His muscles quivered. And he ground to a halt in the middle of the sidewalk, staring into the fog. Filling up with Eridan's pulse. His rhythm. And no words were needed. Eridan shifted his head. Put his lips against the back of Sollux's neck. But they didn't speak.
And then he was plodding off again, swallowing despite the dryness of his mouth. His limbs were shaken, but the fatigue had withered from them, and he made the last leg of the trek home with a quick ease that he wouldn't have guessed he had in him. As he made his way up the driveway of Eridan's house, he felt the breath on his neck get hotter.
"Are we back already?" Eridan's voice was thick.
"If by 'already' you mean 'Gee, thanks for carrying my sorry ass for seven blocks,' then yeah. We are," Sollux said as he climbed up to the porch.
Eridan's lips pressed against his neck, and his next words were so muffled as to be nearly inaudible. "Well, yeah, I figured my gratitude sorta went without sayin' at this point since I've racked up enough moral debt for the bank a karma to start repossessin' my fuckin' life."
Sollux gave a small smile as he jammed Eridan's key into the front door before pushing it open. "As one of the many people filing claims against you, I demand first access to your MacBook."
"Why, I thought you hated that thing," Eridan remarked as Sollux groped along the wall for a switch. When he flicked it on, the house flooded with yellow light.
"I do," Sollux replied as he made his way down the hall toward the bathroom. "I want it so I can make sure it gets doused with kerosene and burned properly."
"Wow, you're a fuckin' asshole," Eridan replied before grunting as Sollux rolled him off his back and laid him against the shower. He groaned, tipping his head back against the plastic door.
"Yeah, looks like the shittiness of your current appearance hasn't changed much in seven blocks," Sollux sighed as he straightened up to survey him. His left cheek and bridge of his nose were already beginning to darken with a purple bruise and his lips and chin were smeared with blood. Sollux moved to the sink, grabbing one of the washcloths crumpled by the tap and wetting it with warm water.
"I don't even want to look at myself, I can already tell that I'm goin' to be permanently disfigured, I may as well just accept it and try to live as best I can behind closed doors so that I don't assail innocent eyes with my deformit—Ouch! Jesus!"
Eridan yanked his head away as Sollux tried to dab at his nose. He cupped his hands around it and gave his assailant a wounded look.
"Be careful with that," he snapped through his fingers.
Sollux rolled his eyes. "I barely touched you."
"Yeah, well, it's fuckin' tender, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to find that it was broken. Obviously I can't rely on you to set it properly, so I'm just goin' to have to deal with a crooked nose throwin' off the delicate harmony a my features for the rest a my life."
Sollux feinted around Eridan's hands to give his bloodied nose a sharp squeeze. Eridan helped and jerked against the shower door before knocking Sollux's hands away.
"Fuck!" he screeched. "What the fuck, why would you even do that?"
"Because you deserve it," Sollux snapped. "I know Gamzee flipping his shit like that was unsettling, but stop acting like you're some blameless bystander in all of this."
"Well I was," Eridan replied petulantly. He might have continued, but Sollux threw the washcloth in his face.
"You are fucking incredible. Do you even know what you interrupted because you were so hell-bent on being a selfish asswipe?"
Eridan ripped the wet cloth from his face and threw it aside. "No, Sol, I don't, because no matter how many fuckin' times I ask about Vris or Tav or any a that bullshit, I get the same answer a how it's none a my fuckin' business. And I guess it still isn't despite the fact that I took a fist to the face over all of it. I am just fine sittin' in the dark for all eternity, I guess, considerin' I obviously handle myself so flippin' admirably here." He ripped his glasses off his face and rubbed at his eyes. "And just for the record, I don't think wantin' to perform something I wrote for the guy I love necessarily qualifies as selfish, but what the fuck do I know, since I seem to be the authority on misinterpretin' shit."
He folded his arms and threw his gaze to the ground, fuming. Sollux sighed, sitting back on his heels and putting a hand to his face. After a time, he got to his feet and wet a fresh washcloth before crouching beside Eridan once again. He reached forward to dab the blood away, but his hand was shouldered aside. Sollux withdrew, sighing as he surveyed Eridan, who refused to look at him. At last he balanced the cloth on his knee and put an up-turned palm on Eridan's lap.
"Look, I would've told you by now, but like I said before, I don't think it's my place to say. I just wish you could be okay with not knowing and still treat Vriska like a human being with feelings."
Eridan regarded the hand on his thigh resentfully. "Yeah, well, I guess I'm sorry I'm a nosy, ignorant speck a dick slime that is nothing but a permanent inconvenience to you."
Sollux lifted the offered hand and tugged gently on Eridan's shirt. "That's not what I meant. This isn't your fault either, fuck, I know better than anyone how much of a bitch VK can be. I just mean…that I don't know anymore. Maybe this is my fault for handling shit really badly. I don't know." He withdrew his arm before plucking up the washcloth and scooting between Eridan and the corner of the room he was so intent on staring at. He was met with no resistance as he reached out and put his hand on Eridan's jaw, tipping his head up towards the light. Their gazes met then, and though those blue eyes beheld him bitterly, Sollux proceeded to lift his cloth and press it gently to Eridan's bloodied lips.
"Vriska's always had it pretty shitty. She grew up in the leaking asshole of the town, and her house was the fucking bedpan. Her mom was a bad addict. With drugs, I mean. And I don't know which kind they were, but it doesn't matter because the story's the same regardless."
He rotated the cloth in his hands and dabbed under Eridan's nose. "Vriska's been working to keep her mom's habit fed all her life. Against her will when she was younger. Five or six maybe. That was when her mom would force her to do some really shady shit. I never got the details. Probably because I never wanted or really needed to. But that's probably why she started looking for work on her own once she was old enough. Beat anything her mom forced her to do."
He fell silent then, and Eridan didn't reply. He simply continued to stare as the cloth passed under his chin. After a time, Sollux continued. "Anyway, long story short, she's been on her feet and through at least an armful of jobs already, most of it being to help keep a person alive who doesn't give two fucks about her. So when she ran into Tavros, I guess he sort of pissed her off, but in a way that made her want to help him."
"Why?" Eridan's voice was small as it passed over his damp lips.
Sollux paused for a moment, blinking at him, before continuing on, "I guess he's had some trouble too. He lived with his grandmother or something until she died. Then he was just sort of…existing. Not working or anything. Just living in his house even after they'd shut off the electricity and shit and also sometimes going to the Core to play with cat puzzles I guess? VK seemed really irritated about the cat puzzles when she told me about this. Again, just another instance of her getting pissed off at weird shit, because she does that. Anyway, she eventually got the story out of him, and I didn't ask how because I frankly do not want to know, and then she pretty much handled him the way she handles everyone. Told him to grow a spine and start working to make his life better."
He paused to get to his feet and rinse out the cloth in the sink. Eridan never said a word, even as Sollux crouched back down and began wiping gently at his nose. "That's when she gave him Rufio. Her reasoning was that if he had something to look after, then he would have more incentive to actually get up and do something about his situation. But it turns out he ran into Gamzee about two days later. So he's just been living over there ever since, and never contacted Vriska once in the interim. Understandably, seeing as she was about as pleased to hear about what happened as a tickled wasp. But I guess Kanaya had a few words with her, since that woman acts as her standing counselor or something, and convinced VK that it would be a good idea to just sort of…set up a meeting with Tavros. Just to get in contact with him again and ask how he was."
Eridan was silent as the cloth passed over his lips. As Sollux withdrew, however, he finally spoke. "So that meetin' she set up…"
"Was your concert, yeah." Sollux ran a thumb under Eridan's darkening left eye. "The fact that I'm giving you all these details now is about as useful as appending an extra closing tag to an html script, though. So honestly the real fuck-up here is me. I should've said something earlier. And maybe, you know, given you more support, since that's a thing people in relationships do."
He withdrew his hand and stared at the bloodied cloth in his palm before curling his fingers around it. His voice was cracked and soft as he whispered, "I'm sorry."
Eridan said nothing at first, but by the time his voice finally found its way onto the air, it didn't sound any sturdier than Sollux's. "Well, I was sort of an asshole on account a bein' a nervous wreck, so I know that didn't act as any kind a help to anyone either."
Sollux gave the bloodied fabric in his fist a rueful smile. "Yeah. But I've basically been about as good at handling people and their personal information as a monkey gaming with amputated thumbs. So I figured, with my astounding interpersonal talent, that withholding all this shit was the optimal course of action. And then you got punched in the face."
Eridan licked a droplet of blood from the corner of his mouth before casting his gaze down at his palms. "Well, if it's any consolation, I'm pretty sure I hold an equally shitty affinity for dealin' with people. And to be honest, even though all this information is helpful for the purposes of enlightenment, I probably wouldn't have bothered listenin' to you before. I let Vris get under my skin because she made me feel like just about the most inadequate piece a trash to ever get kicked under her disapprovin' nose. The end result was me not even wantin' to hear her side a things to start with. So maybe it is good that you told me this now that I've been walloped into some serious fuckin' humility on the issue." He flexed his fingers before reaching up to feel at his face. "Also, I don't think my nose is actually broken, so I'm feelin' like my hope in the world has been restored a little."
Sollux pulled Eridan's hands away from his face and stared at the bruises underneath. He brushed his lips against the one just beneath Eridan's eye before pulling away. His lips were stretched in a thin smile. "I told you it wasn't broken, you stupid jackass."
"Okay, well, I'm sorry, but I have to be mindful a the fuckin' gift I was bestowed in bein' born with this face." His tone was indignant, but he managed to turn his tattered lips up into a smile.
Sollux kissed them. "You're an idiot. Also, I'm pretty much finished here, so I am all for the idea of moving off the bathroom floor and into a more comfortable location."
"Bed?"
Sollux nodded. He offered Eridan his hand and it was taken immediately. Once they were both on their feet, Sollux supported Eridan down the hall and into the bedroom, where they both flopped immediately onto the purple comforter.
"Fuck, I never took off my shoes," Eridan mumbled into the plush fabric. Sollux grunted beside him and made no move to act until a foot landed in his lap. He picked his head up and frowned at it before shifting his eyes to Eridan.
"Are you serious?"
The corner of Eridan's mouth peeked up from the soft purple covers, and the one eye that was visible was closed in feigned sleep. Sollux sighed and sat up before tugging off the wingtips perched on his thighs and tossing them to the floor. He then kicked off his own shoes before falling back against the mattress.
"So I'm assumin' you don't have any insight about Gam to give me?" Eridan's voice came after a time.
Sollux's eyebrows knit together as he stared up at the ceiling. "Not really. I mean, as long as I've known GZ he's always just been…the way he usually is. I assumed from there that there really wasn't much else to learn."
He felt the mattress shift beneath him and turned his head to find Eridan lying on his side, his head propped on his hand. "And how long is it that you've known him?"
"Since college. I met him through KK since I guess they were childhood friends or something? I never really asked. Why the sudden interest?"
"Because I am pretty certain that he's got a homicide record and I'm goin' to sleuth the truth outta this before someone winds up dead."
Sollux snorted. "You're insane."
"It's him that's insane, Sol, and I am bein' dead serious about this, our lives are at fuckin' risk here."
"You just don't want to get punched in the face again."
"Well, can you blame me?" Eridan was indignant, but the expression melted as his mouth was covered by Sollux's lips.
Sollux grinned as he pulled away. "I don't know, ED. You look pretty rugged like this."
Eridan frowned and sat up to peer at the full length mirror across the room. He tilted his head to examine himself. "I don't know, Sol, I don't think I pull off rugged very well."
Sollux wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him back down to the mattress. "You also think that peanut butter sandwiches with pickles isn't a viable breakfast option, so it just shows what the fuck you know."
"Yeah, which is that I have a refined palate that cannot even begin to comprehend some a your atrocious fuckin' meal choices," Eridan replied, smiling as his head fell back beside Sollux's shoulder.
"All right then, Mr. Gourmet, what does your refined palate say about this?" He leaned over and caught Eridan's lips with his own, filling the mouth beneath him with his tongue. He felt Eridan rise to the touch, his chest filling with a sharp intake of air that he released in a soft groan. And then they parted, and Sollux grinned as Eridan's eyes fluttered open, his cheeks already beginning to warm to a bright pink.
"My refined palate says that it requires another sample before it can come to any sort a reliable conclusion," he remarked.
Sollux gave a soft chuckle before leaning back down and kissing him again. Eridan caught his shoulders that time, pulling him in before he could take his lips away. Sollux smiled into the kiss until he felt Eridan's tongue running behind his teeth, and something in his stomach flipped. He exhaled deeply through his nose, his fingers catching at Eridan's hips, pushing them into the mattress as Sollux crawled on top of him.
They moved against one another, fingers playing at the hems of shirts and legs entwining. Sollux smoothed Eridan's hair back from his face with one hand, sucking gently on a bloodied lower lip as he did. He could smell Eridan's breath as it washed over his face in a wistful rush, and he was reminded inexplicably of saltwater taffy. He filled the sweet mouth with his own once more, his fingers sliding down Eridan's sides and under his shirt. The skin beneath was smooth. Soft. Pleasantly pink in a way his own flesh was not. It made his fingertips tingle, heat pooling deep in his core. He released Eridan's lips and slid down his chest, lifting his shirt just enough to expose a thin line of skin at his stomach. The gray jeans fit perfectly over his slender waist, the denim sitting low enough to expose a tantalizing groove just inside the raised bone of his hip. Sollux bent down and ran his tongue along it, his heart pulsing so loudly in his ears that he barely heard the groan he elicited from the man above him. But he did feel the way ten fingers tightened in his hair. He ran a line of kisses along the top of Eridan's pants, listening to the rustling of feet shifting against the comforter and soft gasps just above his head. He smiled into Eridan's hips before dipping lower, brushing his lips against the front of the gray jeans, letting them drift over the bulge forming beneath the denim. The shuddering sigh he earned was enough to make his stomach flip again, and the heat building there finally burst, leaking into his veins and settling in the tips of his fingers and toes. He groaned, catching the hem of Eridan's shirt in his teeth and pulling the fabric up until the thin, scarred chest was exposed beneath him. He dipped to kiss it.
"Sol… Fuck, take them off…"
A wavering command interrupted him as he let his tongue drift over a rib, and he sat up, straddling Eridan's waist. Beneath him, Eridan was flushed, his blazer rumpled under his back and the pink shirt bunched around his armpits. Sollux was supremely pleased to see how red he'd turned already, and ran his thumb over a stray lock of hair that had fallen loose over Eridan's brow.
"I need the pants off," the order came again.
Sollux offered him an expression that might have passed for confusion if not for the smile creeping up his lips. He hooked his fingers in the waistband of Eridan's jeans. "Awful forward of you."
He didn't think it was possible for Eridan to turn any redder. He was wrong. "They're tight enough as it is without you gettin' me all worked up," he rebuked.
Sollux smiled and bent down to kiss the pouting pair of lips. "Better get you disrobed then."
"Don't be an ass about it," Eridan replied before Sollux shifted down onto his thighs. Once Eridan had sat up, Sollux slid the blazer from his shoulders and unwound his scarf, kissing the pink skin of his neck as it was gradually exposed. Eridan clung to Sollux's waist, only releasing it for a breath of a moment as his shirt was removed. Then their lips joined again and they rocked together on the bed, letting their hips slide against one another. Sollux nearly lost himself in the sweet heat of that moment before his mouth was suddenly cold and empty, and he could feel Eridan's breath against his neck.
"Sol…"
His voice was still tightly wound, but carried a note of seriousness that made Sollux put his chin against Eridan's shoulder, holding him close. "Yeah?"
"I just want to say, all fuckin' around aside, that I'm really glad you were there tonight. Just…really fuckin' glad."
Sollux felt some of the wild heat in his veins give way to something more calm. Something warm spreading from the center of his chest. He closed his eyes and put his lips against Eridan's neck. "So am I."
"And like, more than just helpin' me out afterwards," Eridan continued, pulling away so that their eyes could meet. "I'm glad you even agreed to come with me to begin with. That you even want to spend time with me at all."
He trailed off then, his resolute gaze crumbling under the warm heat pulsing between them. He dropped his gaze. "I guess all I'm tryin' to say here is that I love you."
"Then that's all you need to say," Sollux murmured and he caught Eridan's lips again. When he pulled away and blinked open his eyes, his vision was hot and blurred. "And that's all I'm going to be able to get out right now too. I love you. God, I fucking love you."
He pressed back into those trembling lips so hard that Eridan made a tiny shocked noise before his mouth was completely covered. Sollux kissed him back down into the mattress, their bodies moving together, legs entwining, covers rumpling beneath them. Sollux's hands caught at Eridan's jeans and after a bit of fumbling, undid them, pulling them down off his thighs. As he did, Eridan's hands clung to the bottom of his shirt, and as Sollux moved down to completely remove the gray jeans, his shirt slid easily off his own body. Eridan's fingers were already fumbling at his own frayed blue jeans as Sollux slid back up for another kiss. His hands ran along the smooth skin of Eridan's thighs which had spread apart underneath him. As Sollux was finally freed of his own pants, kicking them down off his legs, he ground into Eridan, his fingers hooking in the waistband of his black briefs. It earned him a sharp gasp, and Eridan's knees jerked up, pressing into Sollux's thighs as they rolled together again, kissing and fumbling at each other's hips until they'd shed the last of their clothing.
Then they were completely unbound. The heat swam between them as if it had no sense for the separation of their bodies. And indeed, Sollux could feel none. He rocked between Eridan's thighs, sweat and breath and warmth the only things between them. And when they kissed it was like the room around them dissolved, and there was only skin and the feeling of Eridan's hips against his own. He caught every noise that slipped from Eridan's lips in his mouth, swallowing them down into his stomach, letting them vibrate there until he could feel Eridan in every inch of his body.
And then he was gripping Eridan's thighs, pressing against his entrance, quivering from every follicle, and Eridan was gasping, voice strained with heat and desperation, telling him to go to the drawer, the one on the left under the TV. Sollux nearly drowned him in a kiss before he finally clambered off the bed and staggered to the drawer. Only through pure luck did he manage to get his blurred vision to focus long enough to locate the blue tube amongst all the spare bottles of cologne. He grabbed it before stumbling back to the bed and practically falling on top of Eridan, smiling into another kiss as he ground into him again. Then he uncapped the lube and drizzled some over his fingers.
The groans Eridan made while Sollux traced slick circles around his entrance were nothing compared to the sharp, keening cry that came once a single digit slipped inside. Sollux shifted an arm just under Eridan's shoulders, holding him close as the man bucked against him. He had expected Eridan to be tight, but the way he clenched and moved around his finger was beyond Sollux's imaginings. He reached between them then, rubbing their lengths together as he worked, slipping a second finger inside to join the first. Eridan groaned against his chest, only pausing the sound to draw in a few shuddering gasps.
"Sol, please…" he whispered. And Sollux pulled away. Pulled away to look at the flushed face beneath him, and the glittering blue eyes. Then he kissed him, slipping his fingers out and giving himself a few long, slow strokes with his greased hand before positioning himself against Eridan's entrance. He nudged inside, just until his very tip was engulfed, and he felt Eridan tense beneath him. Sollux held the groan in his chest to lean down and kiss the nape of Eridan's neck, sucking another bruise into his soft skin. Eridan shuddered with his whole body, tipping his head back into the comforter and giving a wrenching moan. But as Sollux inched deeper, the moan jerked into a pained gasp. He quickly kissed Eridan's neck again, taking the other's length in his oiled hand and rubbing tight circles over the tip with his thumb.
It eased Eridan back into a more relaxed state, and he spread his legs a bit wider, toes curling in the sheets. Sollux let his eyes shut then, allowing himself to relish in the tight heat of Eridan's body. He could feel his frame trembling underneath him, sense every shiver and gasp and beat of his heart. He wanted to be completely engulfed by that heat. By Eridan. By them. He kissed Eridan's neck and let himself slip in further.
He was met with a strangled gasp. Sollux's eyes flew open and he pulled away from Eridan's neck to survey him. His eyes were squeezed shut and his teeth bared, both hands gripping the comforter at his sides until his knuckles turned white. Sollux felt his insides shrink, and he held his hips still, smoothing Eridan's hair away from his face.
"Are you okay?" his voice sounded oddly hoarse to his own ears.
Eridan pried one eye open before squeezing it back shut. He nodded.
Sollux felt his heart pounding painfully in his chest. He leaned down to kiss Eridan's forehead before whispering, "Are you sure?"
Another nod.
Sollux sucked his lower lip between his teeth before pressing his hips forward again. The further, he went, however, the tighter Eridan seemed to become. He let out a breath, trying to pull himself out a bit to relieve some of the pressure. Eridan gave a strangled gasp beneath him, and Sollux put his lips to his temple.
"Should I stop?" he asked softly.
"No, please…" Eridan whispered. His voice trembled nearly as much as his body.
Sollux put his head down against Eridan's shoulder and tried to push forward again. And again, Eridan tensed up beneath him, biting down painful gasps until Sollux pulled back. They attempted it three more times before Eridan pushed Sollux's hips away with trembling hands and moved as if to roll out from beneath him. But Sollux caught him before he could, settling his shoulders back onto the mattress.
Eridan's face was taught with pain and frustration, his eyes glistening. He stared off to the side as he mumbled, "It's obviously not workin'. Just forget it."
"It's fine," Sollux whispered, running a thumb over Eridan's bruised cheek. "We'll just try something else."
Eridan's eyes glistened. "Just once I want to do one fuckin' thing right for you—"
Sollux covered his mouth with his lips before Eridan's straining composure could completely crumble. When he pulled away he pressed his cheek to the side of Eridan's face. Sollux's voice was firm as he spoke.
"Stop."
There was no reply. He hadn't wanted one. Instead, he pulled away and brushed their lips together again before straightening and picking up the bottle of lubricant. After applying a fresh coating to his fingers, he reached down between them and took Eridan's length in his hand. Eridan's pained expression melted against his palm, and soon he was pushing his hips up, moving into every stroke. Sollux bent to kiss his chest before sliding forward onto Eridan's stomach. It earned him a confused gaze before those blue eyes rolled back as Sollux eased Eridan inside of him.
It had been a while since Sollux had let anything enter him. It was more painful than he remembered, but the ache was quickly forgotten as he felt Eridan fill him up. Deeply. Completely. Felt him press against every inch of him. He let out a breath, his eyes shut against the rush of sensation. And then he felt two hands on his hips. And he rocked, pressing his lips together as Eridan moved inside him. Nudging into places long forgotten. Sending hot chills coursing from the pit of his stomach and shooting down his limbs like electric fire. He doubled over, panting heavily through his nose as he gripped the comforter. And he could hear Eridan breathing above him. Feel the motion of his chest as it fluttered frantically beneath him. And then the thin hips under Sollux's legs moved, and he could feel Eridan going deeper, pressing into him, hitting somewhere at his very core. And his entire body buckled under a wave of snapping white sparks, and it wrenched his lips apart and sent a cry tearing from his throat. And Eridan trembled beneath him.
"Oh fuck, Sol…" he whispered, his voice faint.
Sollux scrambled for his bearings, his brain still addled by the surge of deep heat. "There. Right there. Just like that."
Eridan nodded before gripping Sollux's hips and thrusting up again. Sollux was prepared this time, but being able to brace against the white waves did nothing to keep him from floundering beneath them. Another groan was ripped from his throat and he put his head down on Eridan's chest, his eyes squeezed shut. But Eridan did not relent. The sounds Sollux made seemed to spur him on, and soon his hips were rocking rhythmically beneath him, filling him up, pulsing deep in his body like a second heartbeat. And the waves rocking through him grew stronger, louder, his mind tumbling in the static surf until he thought he might drown.
"Sol, I'm… Oh god…" Eridan was bucking against him harder, his movements becoming more frantic. Erratic.
Sollux gripped his shoulders. "Stay inside. Don't leave. Please don't leave."
Eridan clawed at his hips, tipping his head back and giving a broken cry. And suddenly Sollux was full and hot and spiraling down, falling against Eridan's shoulder as everything tightened inside of him and then burst into lancing shards.
And then there was only panting and shivers. And kisses. Desperate and clumsy at first, but then long and languid and slow, the taste of each other easing them down from the brink. It wasn't until they parted for the last time, eyes lidded with contentment, that Sollux pulled himself off of Eridan and rolled onto his back beside him.
"Fuck…" he whispered.
"Yeah," came Eridan's breathless reply. Sollux felt fingers entwine with his own, and he smiled at the ceiling.
"ED…?"
"Hn?"
"That song that you wrote for us. You never finished it."
"Oh yeah. I guess not."
"It was beautiful."
There was no reply. Sollux let his head drop to the side, staring at the man beside him. The guy with the purple-streaked hair and bejeweled fingers that he'd hated so much the first time he'd seen them. The man who he'd dragged across the lawn because he'd been drunk off his ass. Whose pocket he'd stuck his number into, in the event of a most severe emergincical case.
He squeezed Eridan's hand tighter, his heart in his throat.
"Will you sing me the rest?"
Eridan turned to him. His eyes looked unsure. Ashamed.
Sollux drew his hand closer. "Please."
Eridan swallowed. And then his lips parted. And his voice was quiet and cracked. But he sang.
"I saw a boy with tired eyes
I said
Come with me and we can try
Try to search for a new life
Try to find a thing that's worth livin' for.
And he said
If it's all the same to you
I think I'm done livin' for two
I think there's not much left for me here.
But
If you want, then come with me
To a place where we can be
Whole again and with no one else
With no one else…
Because
We are two hearts here.
Broken and unclean.
But if you take them
And lay them side by side
The jagged edges just might align.
They just might align.
And this boy he took my hand
And he said,
I think I might understand
Understand what I've been missin' here
And he
Took his heart and pressed it close.
And in my chest a feelin' rose.
He filled a hole I never knew I had.
So I said
If you want please come with me
Come with me where we can be
Whole again and with no one else.
We need no one else.
Because
We are two hearts here.
Broken and unclean.
But if you take them
And lay them side by side
The jagged edges just might align.
They just might align.