Eridan was awakened from his nap by an incessant banging on his hive door. He groggily sat up from his place on the couch and looked around the living room. It was dark and he was alone. He grumbled and threw the blankets off of himself. Faintly, he could hear the sound of typing coming from down the hall. The banging continued.

"Sol!" the sea dweller shouted irritably in the direction of the hallway. "Answer the fuckin' door!"

"I'm buthy," Sollux's voice floated out to the living room, his typing didn't waver.

"God damn it, Sol!" Eridan growled in frustration. "Why did we have to tell everyone where we live?"

"Becauthe they would've kicked our atheth if we didn't," the yellow blood called. Eridan rolled his eyes and struggled to stand from the couch, one hand splayed out behind him and the other on his stomach for balance.

"Calm the fuck down out there," he hollered at the front door. The sea dweller finally made it over to the source of the noise and quickly undid the locks. He opened the door just wide enough to greet Karkat on the other side with his scowling face.

"What the fuck do you want, peasant?" Eridan asked in irritation. The shorter troll remained impassive.

"Wow, does your matesprit let you kiss him with that elitist mouth?" Karkat snapped back. Eridan appeared unamused. "It's about damn time one of you came to the door."

"Again, what the fuck do you want?" the sea dweller asked impatiently.

"Who the hell pissed in your First Meal flakes today?" the shorter troll retorted. "What did I fucking do to you?"

"Besides bein' hatched way too far down the hemospectrum for me to care?" Eridan replied nastily. He felt a little bad for being so offensive but there was no way he was going to apologize. Apologizing just was not something that he did. Karkat just stared wide-eyed at the violet blood for a moment, temporarily stunned by the below the belt insult. Eventually he recovered and narrowed his eyes at the troll on the other side of the door.

"Just get Sollux," Karkat growled.

"Oh too bad for you," Eridan said in false disappointment, "he's busy. Guess you'll have to come back some other time." He started to shut the door on the other troll but was stopped when Karkat quickly grabbed the door and tried to force it open.

"I don't think so," the Cancer said as he strained to wrench the door away from the high blood.

"Don't you fuckin' open this door!" Eridan shouted near panic. "I'm indecent!" he lied. Karkat let go of the door immediately with a muttered curse. There was a moment where both trolls tried to catch their breath.

"Fine," Eridan finally relented. "I'll go get Sol for you. Stay right here," he instructed before slamming the door shut and marching off to retrieve his matesprit.

"Sol," he announced his presence as he entered the office. "Kar's at the door so get off your ass and go let him in because I can't fuckin' do it. He wants to see you anyways." Sollux rolled his eyes and saved his work. He could already tell that Eridan was in one of those mood swings he was prone to lately.

"Alright, you got me," he said as he held up his hands in defeat. "I'm going." The psionic stood from his computer chair.

"Try not to make it too long because I'm goin' to be stuck back here until he leaves so that he doesn't see me," Eridan reminded him.

"That'th fine, I'm not really looking forward to thith anywath. It'th the 'what elthe have you been hiding from me' converthation that I already had to have with AA. What maketh it tho shitty ith that I have to thit there and convinthe two clothe friendth that I won't lie to them anymore while thtill not mentioning the fact that I'm going to be a luthuth." He sighed and kissed Eridan on the forehead. "Let me know if you need anything," he added before heading to the front door. The first thing he noticed was that Karkat looked way angrier than usual.

"Hey KK," the yellow blood greeted casually as he let his fuming friend in.

"How the fuck can you be matesprits with someone that is constantly belittling your blood color? Do you just let him abuse you like that?" Karkat ranted. Sollux looked genuinely confused.

"He almotht never thayth anything about my blood color. Why? Did he thay thomething about yourth?"

"Yeah he was being a fucking prick!" the Cancer shouted before throwing himself down onto the couch. Sollux quirked a brow at that before taking a seat himself.

"Thorry about that. He'th just having one of hith mood thwingth," the Gemini apologized.

"Mood swings?"

"It'th a uh- thea dweller thing," Sollux fabricated. Karkat scoffed.

"Whatever. I didn't come here to tell you how to run your life or anything. I just want some answers and to make sure you know what in the hell you're getting yourself into," he explained as he looked pointedly at his friend.

"KK I am fully aware of what I have 'gotten mythelf into'," Sollux groaned and used air quotes over the words that Karkat used.

"You're in a matespritship with someone that used to be your kismesis," Karkat stated flatly. "And that former kismesis isn't just anyone, it's Eridan."

"What'th wrong with it being Eridan?" Sollux asked defensively.

"Come on, Sollux! You and I both know he hasn't exactly been the most stable individual," the Cancer pointed out with an eye roll as though his answer should have been obvious.

"None of uth are perfect," Sollux responded evenly.

"Look- Sollux, all I know is that when we were all younger out of all of us Eridan was a pretty fucked up guy. He was alone on an island most of the time doing fuck knows what, he was massively racist against land dwellers, massively casteist, and when things didn't go his way with Feferi he flipped the fuck out. You two couldn't stand each other and honestly when the two of you became official as kismesises I was surprised. I thought it was pure, platonic, out-for-each-other's-blood hate. But now," Karkat motioned around the living room they were seated in, "I find out that sweeps after you two called it quits you are living together, in a hive that was clearly a joint decision, as matesprits. Pardon the fuck out of me for being just a little bit baffled." He crossed his arms in a huff, clearly having said his peace.

"All I can tell you ith that people change," Sollux began quietly, carefully choosing his words. "Me and ED never actually broke up, we jutht flipped red. If I'm going to be honetht with you, we are actually in both quadranth with each other. Tho yeah, he'th unthtable but tho am I." Sollux took a moment to fiddle with one of the blankets that Eridan insisted they keep on the couch.

"You know that him wanting to wipe out all of the land dwellerth wath jutht a phase he went through. I'm not thaying he'th not an ath hole becauthe he really can be, but I'm thaying I really care about him and he ith who I want ath a matethprit." He stared at the blanket in his hand to avoid eye contact with the other troll. He wasn't exactly comfortable talking about his feelings outside of his own head. He felt that simply saying he "really cared" about Eridan was a gross understatement. He could probably elaborate further on how Eridan was his matesprit of choice but the thought of telling Karkat that he wanted to be with Eridan until the day he died or that he would kill for the violet blood was rather unsettling so he remained silent. In fact, both trolls sat in awkward silence as the weight of their conversation sank in until Sollux's phone vibrated on the table in front of them. He reached forward to grab it and checked his new message.

"I'll be right back," the yellow blood told his guest as he slid off the couch. "ED needth thome water."

"Tell him to get off his lazy ass and get it himself," Karkat sputtered indignantly. Sollux shrugged.

"It'th alright I'll get it," he said nonchalantly. Karkat was staring at him in horror.

"What has he done to you?' he demanded. Sollux laughed and went to the meal block to fix a glass of ice water before taking it down the hall to the office.

"Hey babe, you doing okay?" he asked as he set the glass down on Eridan's desk. He noticed that Eridan was no longer wearing his scarf and had changed out of his long sleeved shirt in favor of a short sleeved one. The violet blood turned in his seat toward his matesprit to scowl at him before making a show of picking up the glass and setting it back down on a coaster.

"Yes I'm fine," he said finally. "I'm just talkin' to Kan on Trollian. She brought up somethin' I hadn't even thought of," he stated before taking a sip of his water.

"What'th that?" the Gemini asked curiously.

"We're goin' to have to set up a nursery," Eridan informed him as he sipped his water again.

"A nurthery," Sollux repeated the word as if he was speaking a foreign language. Eridan caught onto what he was doing and rolled his eyes.

"Oh for cod sakes, Sol!" he shouted in exasperation. "A room to put the eggs in until they hatch and then the grubs can sleep an' play in there. You know, a room just for them?"

"Oh," Sollux said when he realized. It was true; neither of them had even talked about what they were going to do with the eggs until they hatched and then the grubs that would come after. With Eridan only being roughly a month away from laying the eggs Sollux quickly figured that he was going to be the one setting this nursery up.

"We'll talk about it later," Eridan told him as he waved his hand dismissively and went back to his conversation with Kanaya. He had already finished the entire glass of water and was working on sucking on the ice cubes. "Go back to Kar," he said around an ice cube in his mouth.

"Alright," Sollux sighed. He kissed Eridan on the cheek and paused. Something seemed a bit off but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Let me know if you need anything elthe," he finally said before going back to the living room and leaving Eridan to his nursery planning with Kanaya.