Sollux returned to the living room to find Karkat perusing his video game collection. "Jutht make yourthelf at home KK," the yellow blood said sarcastically. Karkat turned to roll his eyes at his friend but continued rummaging through the storage cubes of games stashed under the entertainment center.
"Whatever. You left me alone to bring water to His Royal Pain in the Ass so I had to find something to keep me entertained," the nubby horned troll extracted a game from one of the cubes and waved it around. "Since when do you keep your games in these things? I thought you just left them laying wherever the fell." Sollux stared at his friend for a moment before deciding to finally answer.
"ED thaid it looked tacky keeping the gameth where everyone can thee them," he explained with a tinge of embarrassment.
"Wow. Just fucking wow," Karkat responded. He stood from where he had been seated on the floor and handed the other troll the game he had been holding. "You need to play this with me," he commanded. Sollux took the game and hesitated. He knew Eridan had to stay in the back rooms of the hive while Karkat was over which wasn't exactly favorable. On the other hand, Eridan had seemed pretty engrossed in discussing nursery plans with Kanaya so perhaps he wouldn't notice if Sollux played just a couple of levels with Karkat.
"Alright, but jutht a few levelth. I've got thome thtuff I have to get done today," he relented before popping in the disk and tossing Karkat a controller.
"What? Like the princess will need dinner served in the respite block?" the mutant blood teased.
"Oh shut up," Sollux groaned and playfully pushed the other troll's shoulder as he set up his player on the screen.
"Where is he anyways? Was he so repulsed by my blood color that he refuses to be in the same room as me?" the Cancer inquired sarcastically.
"Come on KK he doethn't give a shit what color your blood ith. He'th jutht not feeling good today tho he'th probably lying down," Sollux tried to cover for his matesprit's lack of presence. Karkat seemed to accept that excuse and didn't ask any further questions on the matter. The two began their game with a steady flow of banter between them.
They were midway into level three when Sollux's phone buzzed again. He immediately paused the game which earned him an exasperated groan from Karkat. The yellow blood ignored his friend and unlocked his phone to reveal that the text was indeed from Eridan. He opened the message and felt his breath hitch in his throat.
CA: I need you here NOW
No typing quirk. Eridan would only abandon his typing quirk in extreme cases because it meant 'I'm not fuckin' playin' around this is serious business'.
"Oh shit," Sollux whispered before jumping up from the couch. "Jutht thtay right here KK I'll be right back! Jutht- keep playing or thomething," he instructed frantically before rushing off down the hall. When he reached the office he threw the door open to find Eridan laid out in the middle of the floor on his back wearing nothing but his boxer briefs.
"Eridan!" Sollux nearly shouted before running over to his matesprit and crouching down beside him. "What'th wrong? What'th going on?" The Gemini grabbed the violet blood's hand and immediately realized what had seemed off about him earlier when he had brought him the glass of water. The sea dweller didn't feel icy cold to the touch like he normally did. It was still quite cold in comparison to Sollux's much lower blooded warmth but it was definitely missing the stinging chill that the psionic had grown accustomed to.
"Shit! Fuck!" Sollux hissed.
"Everything alright back there?" Karkat's voice drifted back to them from the living room.
"Yeah it'th good!" Sollux answered back distractedly as he took in the uncomfortable expression on Eridan's face and the rise and fall of his exposed pregnant belly as he breathed. "Should I call Kanaya or thomething?" he finally asked.
"Already told her. She's on the way," Eridan breathed out before gripping Sollux's hand. "Make this stop, Sol. It's too hot. Why is it so hot?" The yellow blood moved the damp purple bangs away from the sea dweller's brow. Eridan was indeed covered in a light sheen of sweat. Sollux didn't even know Eridan could sweat.
"It'll be okay. Don't worry. Kanaya'th going to get here and we'll make it all better," Sollux brushed his fingers along the other troll's face and tried to hide the fact that inside he was absolutely terrified.
When Kanaya arrived she let herself in the front door and was surprised to find Karkat sitting on the couch.
"Oh! Karkat what are you doing here?"
"I came over to talk to Sollux and we were playing a game," the mutant blood answered hesitantly. "What are you doing here?" he asked, just as surprised to see her as she was him.
"I was summoned because Eridan is very unwell and my medical knowledge could be of use," the jade blood informed smoothly.
"Jeez I didn't realize the douche canoe was that sick," Karkat replied taking on a semi serious tone, eyeing the large bag the other troll had on her shoulder.
"Yes I am afraid it is quite serious," Kanaya confirmed. "In fact, it may be best if you went back to your hive now. I have not gotten a good look at him yet to know whether it is contagious or not." This seemed to light a fire under the short troll as he stood from the couch immediately and made his way towards the door.
"Shit, Terezi will kill me if I bring home some unknown illness. I'll see you later Kanaya," Karkat waved as he rapidly exited the hive to make his way home. Finally Kanaya could get to Eridan and assess the situation.
"Sollux?" she called out into the hive.
"We're back here!" he answered back immediately. The panic in his voice was evident. The Virgo reached the room where the other two trolls were located and dropped to her knees by Eridan's side across from Sollux where she began digging through her bag.
"What the hell ith going on?" Sollux demanded frantically. Kanaya extracted a thermometer from her bag and placed it in Eridan's mouth before feeling his forehead with the back of her hand.
"I am not sure. He did keep mentioning periodically throughout our conversation that it was rather warm. The last thing he said was 'Kan, I just can't. Please help.' Did you remove his clothing or-"
"No I found him like thith when I came in here," Sollux shook his head. The thermometer beeped and Kanaya removed it from the royal blooded troll's mouth. A look of concern spread across her face as she studied the results of the device.
"This is much too high for someone of his blood caste," she said before placing her hands on his stomach and feeling around.
"Tho what doeth that mean?" Sollux asked in distress.
"It feels like my body is on fire," Eridan murmured weakly. Sollux glanced down at his matesprit. The violet blood's eyelids were fluttering shut and his hair was damp with sweat.
"What do we do to fix thith?" he demanded. "Kanaya, you have to know what to do!" The jade blood finished examining Eridan's belly and shot the Gemini a severe look.
"Give me just a moment to think! It's not like there are piles of recorded accounts of sea trolls reproducing with land trolls in a way that is exclusively used by the former," she snapped.
"Sol," Eridan called faintly. Both Kanaya and Sollux's attention instantly turned to him.
"I'm right here Eridan," Sollux assured and brought their joined hands up to his lips to kiss the sea troll's knuckles.
"Sol," Eridan repeated even softer than before. His eyelids fluttered again before he suddenly went completely limp.
"Eridan!" Sollux shouted in alarm and began shaking the other troll's body lightly. Kanaya placed her hand over his and shook her head.
"He most likely blacked out from the heat," she informed. The yellow blood remained silent but looked on anxiously. "He's only about a month away from laying the eggs right? There are four by the way, I just felt them."
"Four? Theriously?" Sollux asked incredulously. Kanaya nodded with the ghost of a smile on her lips. "Uh, yeah, he'th got about a month left." The Virgo appeared pensive for a few moments before gasping suddenly.
"I think I have come up with something. You are much lower on the hemospectrum than Eridan therefore your body temperature is normally much higher than his. Some of the developing grubs must be low bloods and they are forcing his body temperature to rise in order for them to be able to survive," she explained.
"Well what do we do?" Sollux asked worriedly.
"We need to lower his body temperature back into a normal range," Kanaya answered gravely.
"Okay let'th do it. What do we need? An ice bath?" the yellow blood suggested anxiously, ready to jump into action.
"Yes, but… Sollux I just want to be sure you fully realize what this would mean," the Virgo stated carefully.
"We'd be making Eridan better wouldn't we?" he asked.
"More than that. We would be saving his life," she explained. "As a sea dweller, Eridan's body is not equipped to handle high temperatures. If it continues to rise his organs could become damaged and he could die. Not to mention that if any of the grubs are high bloods it would kill them too. There is no way of knowing how many grubs are low blooded. It could just be one or it could be all of them. If we lower Eridan's body temperature we will save him from the devastating effects the heat could have on him, but we would also surely be killing the low blood grubs. Are you prepared to do this?" Sollux felt sickened but glanced down at his unconscious matesprit.
"Let'th get him in the bath," Sollux stated resolutely. "We can alwayth try again for grubth later but nothing ith worth lothing Eridan." Kanaya nodded in understanding and pushed herself up from the floor.
"I will begin drawing the bath. You stay with him just in case anything changes. I will let you know when I am ready for him." The jade blood left to begin filling up the tub with cold water. Sollux remained by Eridan's side stroking his hair comfortingly. Before he knew it, Kanaya was calling for him from the ablution block. He scooped Eridan up bridal style and carried him to the tub with a bit of difficulty. The sea troll was much heavier now that he was carrying eggs.
"Go ahead and get him settled in there while the ablution trap finishes filling up," Kanaya instructed. "I was not aware the two of you had such a large one. This could take awhile. I will go ahead and fetch some ice." Sollux gently lowered his unconscious matesprit into the chilly water, deciding to keep the other troll's undergarments on. Kanaya returned a moment later with a large bowl full of ice.
"You go ahead and start filling something else up with ice while I add these to the bath. We will take turns until we have enough," the Virgo strategized.
"Alright," Sollux agreed then left for the meal block. It took several trips but eventually the two managed to get the tub more full with ice than water.
"What do we do now?" Sollux asked as he stared at the strange sight of his pregnant matesprit unconscious in a tub full of ice.
"There is not much we can do other than wait and hope that the fever will break," the female troll sighed.
"Thith is jutht tho crazy," the yellow blood let out a hollow laugh as he sat on the edge of the tub. "I never thought that I wath going to be rethponthible for raithing grubth. Me of all trollth! Thith whole thing wath jutht a thtupid mithtake." Kanaya sat silently listening to the Gemini's voice echoing off the tiled walls from her perch on the seat of the toilet. "I never thought that I would be tho exthited about thuch a thtupid mithtake," he said sadly then turned to finally face Kanaya. "I hope they don't all die." It pained Kanaya to see such a look of anguish on her friend's face. "I jutht want Eridan to wake up and be okay again."
The two lost track of how many hours they spent in the ablution block keeping the tub full of fresh ice. Twice they had to partially drain the tub because all the melted ice water nearly made it overflow. Eventually Eridan came to and found himself very disoriented. He blinked several times in an attempt to focus his vision before realizing that he wasn't wearing his glasses so his chances of seeing anything in focus were slim. What he could tell was that he was in a bathtub full of water and ice with his underwear on. Before he could begin to panic he realized that he could smell Sollux nearby.
"Sol?" he questioned out loud and immediately heard a startled intake of breath. Had he been sleeping? Where were they? "Sol what's goin' on? Where are my fuckin' glasses?" Sollux scrambled up from the floor beside the tub where he had fallen asleep and grabbed Eridan's glasses off the counter. He handed the glasses over and sat on the edge of the tub studying the violet blood's every move carefully.
"How are you feeling?" Sollux asked anxiously. Eridan placed his glasses on his face and took the opportunity to look around the room. He recognized it as his own ablution block. There were bowls of varying sizes scattered throughout the room. There was also a large black bag sitting on the floor near the wall.
"Honestly I feel like I just received a rather vigorous handshake from your lusus," he answered before turning his attention to the troll seated on the edge of the tub. "Now would you mind tellin' me what in the fuck I'm doin' in here?" Sollux smiled, glad that Eridan seemed to be feeling like himself. It was then that Kanaya re-entered the ablution block.
"I heard voices so I came to see if everything is- oh good, you are awake!" she beamed at the sea troll and went to grab the thermometer from her bag. "I just need to take your temperature to be sure everything is as it should be." The look of pure irritation written on Eridan's face was enough for make Sollux giddy. Before the sea troll could voice his frustrations a thermometer was shoved into his mouth.
"Kanaya thinkth that pothibly thome of our grubth were low bloodth and they made your body temperature go higher than you could handle," Sollux began explaining to Eridan as Kanaya waited for the device to finish determining his current temperature. The high blood's eyes widened in surprise and the thermometer finally beeped its end signal. Kanaya took it from his mouth and looked it over carefully
"That is much better," she said with a smile. Sollux felt like a weight had been lifted from his chest.
"You know, I remember gettin' uncomfortably hot," Eridan stared into the water trying to recall what had happened after that but drew a blank. "That's all I can remember."
"Well you were unconscious for quite a while," Kanaya supplied.
"I guess that explains why I don't remember gettin' into the tub," Eridan grumbled. He noticed the jade blood exchange a glance with his matesprit. "What? What's wrong?"
"It'th jutht…" Sollux hesitated for a moment and looked back over to Kanaya.
"We put you in the ablution trap in order to lower your body temperature into a safer range," the Virgo explained carefully. "Obviously we were successful in our endeavor, however that means that any grubs that were developing into low bloods have no chance for survival." The violet blood felt as if a shot had just been fired through his chest and he was rendered completely speechless.
"I have determined through palpation that there are four eggs. If I am correct with my theory as to why your temperature suddenly sky rocketed then we know that at least one was a low blooded grub."
"What if it was all of 'em?" Eridan choked out. He looked over to Sollux desperately. How could he have let this happen?
"I couldn't lothe you, ED," the yellow blood's voice was thin as paper. He looked defeated and run down. It had clearly been a long day for him and the decision to knowingly sacrifice his own offspring was weighing on him heavily. Deep down Eridan completely understood why Sollux had put him in that bath tub- he was not replaceable. An entirely different part of Eridan, his ancient instincts, told him to put his eggs before himself at all costs. It was this part of him that rose to the forefront of his mind and placed words on his tongue.
"I would like to be alone now."
Kanaya nodded sympathetically and shouldered her bag before leaving the room. Sollux just watched as Eridan stared blankly at the water in front of him. He looked so broken and all Sollux could think was that he needed to pick up the pieces and put him back together.
"Eridan, I-"
"Not now," he whispered before sliding down in the tub enough to completely submerge himself. Sollux chewed on his lip with his oversized fangs but left the prince alone. He found Kanaya in the living room. She looked as though she were ready to leave.
"What'th going to happen with him?" the Gemini asked quietly. "I wish I never had to choothe between him or my grubth. Ith he going to never forgive me?" Kanaya placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I am sure he understands, dear. He probably just needs to work through some of this on his own," she assured. "Just give him some time. I am going to get back to my hive now. Please call me if anything else happens, alright?" Sollux nodded.
"Thankth for helping out tho much GA."
"Not a problem. I will see you in about a month," she said warmly. Once she had left Sollux found himself standing in the living room alone. The silence and stillness of the atmosphere bore down on him heavily and seemed to make the voices in his head louder. He could feel a migraine coming on. Unsure of what else to do with himself, he went back into the office and threw himself into a rather complex coding project to provide a distraction until Eridan finally emerged from the ablution block.
The day gave way to the next night and it was already very dark out when Eridan finally appeared in the doorway of the office still damp. Sollux was fighting to keep his vision focused on the numbers in front of him when suddenly he felt the other troll's presence. There was no mistaking the smells that emanated from his matesprit either. He turned to see him standing at the doorway.
"I love you," Eridan told him softly. Sollux knew that Eridan loved him, but in those three words he also heard another three that he desperately wanted to hear: "I forgive you."
Sollux left his computer and strode across the room to close the gap between him and the royal blooded troll. Once he was in front of him he wrapped his arms around him and buried his face in the other's icy neck. After a moment of embracing, Eridan led them to their respite block where they climbed into their recuperacoon and fell asleep in each other's arms.