The nights seemed to drag by agonizingly slow. Eridan was growing bored of being cooped up in the ablution trap by himself. He was tired of only being able to see Sollux by having him camp out in the ablution block for a few hours or whenever the yellow blood came into the room to use it for its intended purpose. He missed sleeping against the other troll in their recuperacoon. He was able to convince the psionic to sleep with him in the ablution trap one day but that was about all he could do was one day.

Sollux was never too far way from Eridan. His instincts told him to stay close and protect his matesprit while he was at his most vulnerable. He ended up having to send Kanaya to the store to get groceries for their hive because his overwhelming need to stay by Eridan's side prevented him from doing the task himself. Even though he knew that Kanaya was providing them with more help and support than he thought was possible, he still couldn't control the slight crackling of his psionics or the low growl that escaped his throat whenever she came around.

"It will probably get worse once the eggs have been laid you know," the jade blood commented as she helped him put food away.

"What?" he asked in confusion.

"Your protective instincts," she smiled. "It is one thing when they are inside Eridan but it is entirely different when they are sitting there out in the open all on their own." She placed the last can on the shelf and turned her attention back to him. "You most likely will not be able to have anyone over to the hive nor is it likely you will be leaving until they hatch."

"That'th four month'th!" Sollux exclaimed in surprise. "How am I going to exthplain thuddenly dropping off the radar for four month'th?" Kanaya gathered the bags of things she had gotten for herself.

"That is entirely up to you." She reached the door and turned around. "Who knows? Maybe you will be able to handle it," she waved good bye and let herself out the door. Sollux groaned in frustration and stormed off to the office to try to get some work done.

"What's wrong?" Eridan's voice echoed off the tiles as the Gemini stomped passed the ablution block.

"Fucking inthtincth are hoof beatht shit!" he growled in response before making it to his destination and throwing himself into his computer chair.

"Tell me about it" Eridan grumbled sinking a bit lower in the water to rest his head on his arms on the side of the tub. The violet blood was bored out of his mind. He started trying to find shapes in the tiles for the second time that night and before he knew it he had drifted off to sleep.

Eridan was awakened from his nap by a sharp, shooting pain in his lower abdomen. His eyes snapped open and he frantically took in his surroundings. He was still in the tub in the ablution block and it was still dark outside. He winced as the pain dulled and attempted to shift his body away from the edge of the tub only to bring on a new wave of pain. He gripped the edge of the tub so hard his knuckles went several shades lighter. The Aquarius whimpered slightly as he waited for this new wave of pain to pass. He chanced a glace down at his large stomach and nearly forgot to breathe when he noticed the water in the tub now had a slight violet tint to it.

"Sollux!" he choked out as another gut wrenching wave washed over him. He nearly screamed out loud but instead tightened his grip on the tub. "Sollux!"

The yellow blood paused his typing when he heard his name being called. Something about Eridan's voice didn't seem quite right so he hurriedly jumped up from his computer chair and rushed to the ablution block. The scene he was met with had him immediately pulling out his phone and sending the fastest text to Kanaya that he could manage telling her to get over to their hive as quickly as possible. Eridan looked pale and his face was screwed up in pain as he held onto the edge of the ablution trap like his life depended on it. The water itself looked like it was clouded with his blood.

"Sollux!" the sea troll was near tears. "It fuckin' hurts!" The psionic rushed to his matesprit's side and pulled the other troll close to him. He ran his fingers through the other's hair in an attempt to soothe him.

"I don't know what I can do for you to make it better, but GA ith on her way over and hopefully she knowth what to do." Another shockwave flooded Eridan's body and he hissed harshly.

"What are you feeling right now?" Sollux asked in concern and curiosity.

"Feels like someone's twistin' a fuckin' knife up my nook an' proddin' at my organs," the violet blood panted. "I just want it to sto- ahh!" his sentence was cut off by another sharp stab of pain. Sollux looked on wishing there was something more he could do to comfort his quadrantmante. He thought about offering his hand for the high blood to squeeze but he had no doubts that his hand would be broken in a matter of seconds. He suddenly noticed Eridan's eyes were shut tight and his face was turning a light shade of violet.

"What are you doing?" Sollux asked frantically.

"I'm pushin'."

"Already? Kanaya'th not even here yet are you sure-"

"My body is tellin' me to push so I'm pushin'," Eridan growled. He stopped trying to push and panted harshly as he tried to rest for a moment. Sollux's phone vibrated at the same time as Eridan's. The sea troll was too absorbed with trying to catch his breath while simultaneously dealing with the latest onslaught of pain to notice the odd phenomenon but Sollux took a moment to peek at his phone. A group chat invite from Feferi on Trollian flashed on the screen. The yellow blood heard the front door to the hive open followed by Kanaya calling to him to announce her presence and his phone was jammed back into his pocket. He saw Kanaya at the doorway out of his peripheral vision and a deep growl tore out of his throat. His body snapped towards her and the air became alive with static as he eyes became bright with the psionics crackling out of them. Eridan was back to pushing and the jade blood stood in the entryway with her arms up in surrender and a gentle look trained on the Gemini.

"Are you going to be able to let me work Mr. Captor?" she asked calmly.

"Fuck," Sollux groaned. "I don't mean to do that GA."

"I know you don't Sollux," she answered sincerely. She looked beyond the protective troll and appeared surprised. "He is pushing?"

"Yeah he thaid hith body wath telling him to."

"How long has he been in labor?" she asked as she cautiously entered the room to get closer to the sea troll.

"Probably about half an hour, Kan, maybe a little longer," Eridan panted answering for himself. Kanaya lifted a brow and placed her medical bag on the floor before getting on her knees in front of the tub.

"I need you to lean back and place your feet on the edge of the ablution trap so I can assess your progress," Kanaya instructed. Eridan grimaced and swallowed hard.

"It hurts to move," he groaned.

"I understand but you have to do this Eridan," she replied sternly. Slowly, Eridan leaned back and moved his legs in front of him. Once he began lifting his feet to the edge of the tub he cried out in pain and hesitated. Sollux chewed on his lip with his oversized fangs as he watched helplessly.

"Just a little more now, you can do it," Kanaya encouraged. Eridan nearly screamed as he lifted both legs slightly and pushed his feet onto the edge of the tub.

"Shit!" he moaned and shut his eyes tightly to ride out the pain that came from the whole endeavor.

"Very good, Eridan," Kanaya praised as she shifted closer to the violet blood's parted legs in order to get a visual on how his labor was progressing. His nook appeared to be open a bit wider than was standard for an average troll. In the books she had read, it diagramed how a troll's nook would expand when in labor to accommodate the size of the egg passing out of it. Eridan's nook certainly didn't look the size that had been shown in the diagram for ready to pass the egg. She reached her hand out between Eridan's legs but was met with resistance before she could reach his nook. She glanced at her hand only to find a glowing red and blue light encircling her wrist. She looked over to Sollux whose eyes were lit up again. After a moment the yellow blood collected himself and his psionic hold diminished.

"Thorry," he apologized again. The Virgo sighed before proceeding her reach for Eridan's nook. She pushed two fingers in causing the sea troll to groan in discomfort.

"What in the fuck are you doin' Kan?" The jade blood moved her fingers around to see if she could feel an egg or anything unusual.

"I am just trying to make sure an egg has not traveled too far down from you pushing." She removed her fingers and wiped them on a towel Sollux handed her. "I suggest you stop pushing for now because your nook does not look ready to pass any eggs yet." Eridan let out a scream as another jolt of pain coursed through him.

"Ith'nt there anything we can do for hith pain?" Sollux asked anxiously.

"Not anything that I am aware of. I am terribly sorry." Kanaya patted Eridan's leg sympathetically. "The pain he is feeling is most likely the nook muscles, along with a few others, contracting harshly to move the eggs along into and down the nook." Eridan took a deep breath and attempted to relax but couldn't seem to stop fidgeting. He took in another shuddering breath and let out a whine.

"I can't Kanaya! I just can't! I can feel it right there an' oh cod- oh cod I just can't!" he panted desperately before he succumbed to giving another hard push.

"Sollux, could you maybe bring Eridan a cup of tea? Perhaps it will help soothe him," Kanaya suggested. She was a bit alarmed by the pace of the labor. Sollux nodded before leaving the room to go to the meal block. Kanaya inserted her fingers into Eridan's nook again and as she strained to reach as far as she could she gasped when her fingers brushed against a smooth yet hard object. She removed her fingers quickly and watched the pained troll in front of her.

Sollux was just finishing up the final touches on the tea he was preparing when he heard his phone go off again. He pulled the device out of his pocket and looked at the screen to see that Karkat was messaging him. It actually looked like the angry troll had tried messaging him a few times already but he must've not heard it over the noise in the ablution trap. He set his phone on the counter and grabbed the mug of tea.

"Thorry KK you're jutht going to have to wait," Sollux muttered as he left to get back to his matesprit with the tea.

The sight that awaited the yellow blood left him awestruck standing in the doorway with the mug in his hand forgotten. Eridan sat naked in the water with his feet pushing against the side of the ablution trap. His hair was damp with a few loose strands hanging over his pain stricken face. His chest rose and fell with his rapid breathing as he strained to push the first egg out of his body which was now crowning in his nook. Sollux took in the entire scene and thought that Eridan had never looked more beautiful or pitiable than he did right in this moment.

"Hurry over here with that tea!" Kanaya snapped him out of his reverie and he rushed over to the side of the tub kneeling down next to her. The Virgo took the mug from him and set it off to the side. "He will not be able to drink that now but perhaps once this egg has been laid."

"Ith there anything elthe I can do?" Kanaya shook her head.

"It is all up to him to push these eggs out. We can only provide moral support as we can not push for him." Sollux reached out to brush a few stray hairs out of Eridan's face.

"I can thee the egg ED," he told the violet blood with a smile.

"What does it look like?" Eridan panted. Sollux looked down between his matesprit's legs to the small portion of the egg that was visible.

"I can't really tell yet but you're doing great," the Gemini encouraged. "Jutht keep pushing." Eridan groaned with effort and tossed his head back as he strained more. A small pinging noise was heard and Sollux turned to see Kanaya pulling her phone from her bag.

"Terribly sorry," she apologized as she silenced it and placed it back in her bag.

"No problem GA. I ended up jutht leaving mine in the meal block. I've got more important shit to deal with at the moment, you know?" Sollux said as he ran a hand over Eridan's leg soothingly.

"This is true," Kanaya agreed and turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

Bit by bit Eridan had managed to get the egg out up to the larger center portion of it. Progress was slow and exhausting.

"It hurts too fuckin' bad," Eridan moaned. "It feels like it's tearin' my nook apart!"

"That is just because you have reached the largest part of the egg, dear. Once you push just a little more you will pass that and it will get smaller again then you will be all done with that one," Kanaya attempted to placate the sea troll.

"Yeah then I just have to do it all over again three more fuckin' times!" he snapped as he dragged his hands down his face.

"You can do thith ED, I know you are thtrong enough for thith."

"Shut up Sol! You don't know what this fuckin' feels like!" Sollux was about to snap back a response when he felt Kanaya's hand on his arm. He directed his glare at her to see that she was shaking her head for him to let it go. He took a deep breath and held it for a moment before letting it out. The egg appeared to be at a stand still. It hadn't budged since getting to the widest part and Eridan's nook seemed to be stretched incredibly tightly over it.

"Once you have gotten the first egg out the others should come much easier," the jade blood assured. There was a soft vibrating noise from the counter across the room and Kanaya looked to Sollux questioningly.

"Eridan'th phone ith over there," he explained dismissively as he kept a close eye on the half laid egg. The color of the shell was a peculiar mix of greys and blues. It looked almost like a rock that would be found in an aquarium. This made sense, he figured, because if feral sea dwellers usually laid eggs like this they would be perfectly camouflaged among underwater rocks.

It was after Eridan had attempted to give another hard push with little to no results that both Sollux and Kanaya heard a very different sound. It was a very faint, barely noticeable crunch. Both trolls whipped their heads toward each other with wide eyed expressions. Both of them clearly thinking 'did you hear that?' Eridan didn't seem to notice anything as he put his head back in an attempt to catch his breath. Sollux turned his scrutinizing gaze back to the egg to check it over for imperfections. Just as he was about to pass the noise off as nothing, his bicolored eyes locked onto a minute crack in the egg's shell near where Eridan's nook was stretched tightly around it. He brought up his hand and very gently placed his finger on it just to be sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. He could feel the fine line under his fingertip. He turned his shocked expression back to Kanaya who looked just as much at a loss.

"How is it feeling, dear? Do you think you will be able to get it moving soon?" she asked tentatively. Her plan was to not let Eridan know anything was amiss. They couldn't afford for him to get spooked and jeopardize the whole egg laying. She placed her finger over her lips when Sollux looked like he was about to say something. He shut his mouth begrudgingly.

"Well Kan it still hurts like a bitch an' I don't see how I'm goin' to be pushin' this thing out when it feels too big to fit," Eridan informed. Kanaya bit her lip. The only way they were going to be able to get this egg out without any further damage was going to have to be to get it out quickly with only a couple more pushes. Sollux looked about ready to have a heart attack. Kanaya took a deep breath to steel herself for what was to come.

"Alright Eridan," she did her best to keep the grave tone from her voice. "I need you to put everything you have got into this next push. We are going to get you over this hump. Do you think you can do that?"

"I guess so," he answered and readjusted his footing in anticipation of the next effort.

"Alright, go!"

Eridan took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut as he strained with all his might. The muscles that were still contracting within his nook flared up at his effort and sent pain rocketing through his body. He screamed out in pain as another crunch was heard and the small crack spread across more shell and deepened. Sollux looked frantically over at Kanaya but she just shook her head again. Tears prickled at the yellow blood's eyes and he turned back to the egg that was stuck in place.

"Fuck!" Eridan gasped as he shifted in discomfort slightly. His breathing was ragged. "Did that even do anything?" It was nearly all Kanaya could do to keep herself composed.

"You almost have it," she lied. "Any moment now and it will pop free." Sollux had to keep his jaw clenched tight to avoid saying anything. Eridan shifted again and that was it. The eggshell shattered. Sollux's hands shot out to catch the debris as tears rolled freely down his cheeks.

"Was that it?" Eridan asked once he felt the relief from the immense pressure that was on his nook.

"Yes that was it. The first one is out," Kanaya responded dabbing at her own eyes. She picked up the forgotten mug of tea and handed it to the violet blood. "Drink this now."

"Can I see it?" he asked eagerly.

"You can see them all when you are done laying them. Drink up and rest before the next one starts to come." He grumbled and took a sip from the mug. Kanaya looked over to Sollux who hadn't made any noise in a while. It didn't take long to notice why. In his hands he held the broken shell of his egg but his hands were also covered in a mess of blue. The egg had been a high blood.

"Sollux could you accompany me to the meal block for a moment?" she asked politely and gently guided Sollux to his feet. She ushered him out of the room quickly and led them to the meal block. He wouldn't stop staring at his hands.

"It wath a high blood," he murmured. "What if it wath the only high blood out of all of them? We already know the low bloodth didn't make it! What if thith wath the only one?" he asked hysterically as he shook his hands.

"There are still three other eggs. What if only one of them is a low blood?" she suggested. "There are still potentially two surviving grubs."

"Yeah but what are the chanthes thingth will actually work out in our favor like that?" he asked angrily. "They're probably all dead," he shrugged in defeat.

"You can not be so doom and gloom all the time, Sollux," Kanaya rolled her eyes at her friend's pessimism. "You can look at it that way or you can accept that there could still be one or even two that have survived." He shook his head and continued staring at his hands.

"I could have done thomething to help," he said desperately. "Anything! I could've uthed my thionicth or thomething."

"No you could not," Kanaya said sternly. Sollux looked like he wanted to argue but the Virgo silenced him. "If you use your psionics anywhere near his nook in this condition it could cause him to tense up around the egg which is the last thing we want. Besides, how are we to know the effects of psionics on developing grubs."

"The next one is comin'!" they heard Eridan shout. Kanaya placed a hand on Sollux's shoulder.

"Pull yourself together and get cleaned up. Your matesprit needs you." Kanaya left for the ablution block to assist with the second egg and Sollux went to the sink to take deep breaths. He looked down at the mess in his hands and felt a surreal feeling take hold of him. The combination of his genetic material and Eridan's resulted in this blue that stuck all over his hands. He made this. An actual living grub would have formed from this to later become an actual living troll.

By the time Sollux made it back to the ablution block Eridan had already pushed the second egg out to the half way point. He was groaning in pain and looked exhausted. The Gemini took his place on his knees in front of the ablution trap to comfort the violet blood. He felt a bubbling of excitement laced with a twinge of hope, despite himself, at the sight of the second egg.

"You've almotht got it ED," Sollux coaxed. "Jutht a little bit more." Eridan strained and the double horned troll watched the egg carefully for any signs of damage. The egg suddenly slid forward and was caught by Kanaya before it could sink to the bottom of the tub. The jade blood placed the egg in a separate container of water before returning to the side of the tub.

"I am keeping them over there to ensure no harm will come of them while Eridan moves around in labor" she explained to Sollux when he looked at her questioningly. Sollux couldn't help staring at the perfectly intact rock colored egg that sat just a few feet away. Eridan lowered his feet from the side of the tub and moved his legs back underneath himself to sit up.

"Eridan, please rest yourself for-"

"There ain't no restin' for this one," he gasped as he sat up on his knees and leaned forward to grip the side of the tub. He spread his legs and hissed as the third egg began slowly emerging from his nook. From this position Sollux had better access to Eridan's face as he reached out and stroked his cheek. The sea troll leaned into the touch and whined as he pushed the egg further out of his body.

"You're more than half way there. You're tho amazing for doing thith ED," Sollux continued stroking his matesprit's cheek and lightly brushed over an ear fin as the third egg dropped from the high blooded troll's nook and was caught by Kanaya. Eridan laughed softly and leaned forward to brush his lips over Sollux's. "Doeth it thtill hurt?"

"Cod yes. All these muscles inside me won't stop contractin' to push these things out an' it hurts like hell." Eridan closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair to push the loose strands back. "Not to mention how stretched out my nook's been gettin'."

"We almotht have them all though," the yellow blood comforted. "Then all we do ith wait for them to hatch."

"You are really doing great Eridan," Kanaya chimed. The Aquarius smiled slightly before grimacing in pain.

"The last one's ready," he panted then began working on pushing it out. It didn't take very long at all before the last egg was in the water and Kanaya was scooping it out to put it with the others.

"That is it. They have all been laid," Kanaya congratulated.

"Fuck!" Eridan hissed as he collapsed into the violet stained water to relax. Sollux realized how much of Eridan's round stomach had come from just the eggs alone as now it just looked like he had gained a few extra pounds of chub around his belly.

"Do you want us to drain the water for you so you can finally return to your recuperacoon?" Kanaya asked politely.

"Yeah sure but I'm not fuckin' movin'" Eridan waved his hand dismissively.

"I'll carry you ED," Sollux offered. Kanaya pulled the plug to the drain and when enough water had drained away Sollux leaned down and lifted Eridan into his arms.

"I will just place these in the nursery for you," Kanaya suggested as she lifted the container that had the eggs in it.

"Sure," Sollux agreed but as he turned around with Eridan in his arms he felt the high blood's head lift off his shoulder to look in Kanaya's direction.

"Why are there only three?"