Unrepentant fluff at the end. Tired as shit.

Many thanks to BlOo KiSsEs, region-discontinued, SlytherinUnicorns, LinkinPark X, Rand0mAn0nym0u2, Nintentoony, Wolfen Artist of Hetalia, Bitblondetoday, crimsonkoteto, and two guests for your reviews to the last act! (And to the guest who reviewed in Serbian, Google Translate said it was Croatian, which is why I said it.)


Eridan took thirty seconds to rinse with mouthwash—he didn't want to risk brushing his teeth lest he arouse his brother's suspicion. He didn't doubt that Cronus at least suspected what they might have been up to, but he didn't want to confirm anything.

Part of him was still reeling—he'd just given his first blowjob. It certainly hadn't been something he'd anticipated doing. He hadn't woken up that morning and said to himself, "Hmm, I think I'll suck off my boyfriend today," mostly because he hadn't even had a boyfriend when he woke up that morning. The impulse to go down on Sol had come out of nowhere, taking him completely by surprise—but the look on the other boy's face when he realized what Eridan was doing had convinced him to keep going. He'd almost said, "Sorry if I'm not good at this," but Sol knew it was his first time. He wouldn't judge too harshly—although, based on Sol's reactions, he hadn't done too badly for a first time.

Even more surprising to him, though, was the face that he'd actually enjoyed it. He hadn't expected to hate it or anything, but between the feel of Sol's dick in his mouth, against his tongue, and the sound of Sol's moaning in his ears, Eridan had almost shoved his own hand down his jeans to jerk himself off. Even thinking about it now was enough to get him fully hard again, and for a second, he thought about beating off right there in the bathroom, but Sol had promised to take care of him later. He could wait.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Sol and Cronus were sitting on the couch. Sol looked slightly uncomfortable about being left alone next to the elder Ampora, but Cronus grinned like he knew everything. As it turned out, though, he didn't know everything, but he knew something. "So I hear you guys are goin' out trick-or-treatin' on Halloween."

"Sorry," Sol mumbled, slouching down.

"No, we are not too old, an' no, you can't come."

"I wasn't gonna say anythin'," Cronus said, holding his hands up defensively, but he was still grinning. "Besides, I gotta work on Thursday anyway, so you little monsters have fun.

"You guys ready to eat?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Sol?"

Sol's stomach growled at that instant and Cronus almost split his sides laughing. "I'll take that as a yes. Okay." He fished a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and handed it to Eridan, who gave it a puzzled look. "It's money. You buy stuff with it. We have tons a' it, remember?"

"I know what it is, jackass. I'm tryin' to figure out what you expect me to do with it."

"Go pick up burritos. It's right down the street but it turns out they don't deliver. That should be enough for all a' us unless one a' you gets somethin' completely crazy or just a lot." He playfully elbowed Sol. "You look like you don't eat much."

"It's a clever disguise," Eridan said. "What do you want?"

"California burrito, extra fries, with a Coke. Be gone, monsters."

Eridan rolled his eyes, grabbed Sol's hand, and tugged him off the sofa. Flipping Cronus off as he went, he and Sol left the apartment.

"He kind of wormed it out of me," Sol started apologetically as soon as the door closed behind them.

"He does that. He was bound to find out anyway." Eridan sighed. "Oh, well, at least he's workin' on Halloween. He won't be able to bother us then."

"Yeah, well, maybe next time, we should just go to my apartment."

"An' have Ara breathin' down our necks? That could be worse."

Sol blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Why would she be there?"

"She lives with you... doesn't she?"

"Hell, no. She lives like three blocks away from me. I don't have a roommate."

Eridan grinned. "Well. That's information I could a' done with knowin' a long fuckin' time ago."

Sol threw up his hands. "I thought you already knew."

"Well, then, tomorrow—ah, fuck."

"What?"

"I was gonna say, tomorrow we could hang out at your apartment, but I'm supposed to pick up my fish tomorrow an' I still gotta bond with them. The first twenty-four hours are the most crucial," he added with a grin.

"I sense a fucking lie."

Eridan laughed and the elevator doors opened, and the two of them crossed through the lobby. "Maybe a little bit. But I do gotta feed them an' I wanna make sure they don't try to kill each other."

"Right. So maybe Thursday then. Which is fine—I'm going to need a night to just decompress and I'll probably get a lot of homework tomorrow."

"You're not comin' over tomorrow?"

Sollux almost laughed. "I was here last night and I'm probably going to be here tonight. There's probably leftovers in my fridge that have started their own ecosystem in the two days I've been gone. Those ecosystems must be destroyed, and I'm the only one who can do battle with them." He actually did like the idea of spending the night at Eridan's apartment and in his bed every night, but he did have an apartment of his own and besides, practically moving in would definitely be moving too fast. The last thing he wanted to do was rush this, not after the progress they'd already made after less than a day of officially dating.

"Alright, alright, I get your point." Eridan scratched the back of his neck. "Still, I wish Cro had gone out to get food instead a' sendin' us."

This time, Sollux actually did laugh. "You just want me to suck your dick without the threat of him walking in, don't you?" He totally ignored the two or three people who stared at him.

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"Thought so. I hope you know where this place is, 'cause I have no idea."

"Yeah, it's..." Eridan looked left, right, and across the street. "That way."

"Your confidence is an inspiration."

"I know exactly where I'm goin'," he shot back, marching across the crosswalk with the flashing orange hand.

Fortunately, Eridan turned out to be right—he did know where they were going—and within five minutes, they entered the burrito place and went straight to the counter. Eridan ordered Cronus's food and a tofu burrito with the works for himself, and Sollux opted for two carne asada burritos (Eridan hadn't been kidding—he did tend to eat quite a bit). The total came to eighteen dollars and change, and Eridan pocketed the rest.

By the time they got back to Eridan's apartment, Cronus had nearly fallen asleep. "Fuck, guys, what took you so long?"

"We walked," Eridan said, tossing Cronus's burrito to him.

"Hmm. Fair enough. Coke?"

"Here." He handed it over and made to disappear into his room with Sollux right behind him when Cronus called after him.

"Hey, why don't you guys eat out here?"

Eridan shot Sollux an "I really don't want to do this right now, do you?" look. "Um, we're cool in my room."

"Come on, I hardly ever see you anymore," Cronus wheedled. "Besides, I need to make sure this boyfriend a' yours is good enough for you."

"Jesus." Eridan turned around. "I never got to talk to Meenah an' make sure she's good enough for you—although to be honest, she's probably too good."

Cronus blew a raspberry. "She's Feferi's sister—you met her before. The first time I met you—" here, he addressed Sollux "—you were sittin' in his lap at a house party."

"Oh, my God, please stop talkin'," Eridan groaned, flushing red with embarrassment. "This is not happenin' right now."

"I actually don't mind," Sollux said, shrugging.

Eridan looked pained. "Alright, fine," he said to Cronus, "but I reserve the right to duct tape your mouth shut if you start gettin' out a' hand."

"Me? Never."


It actually wasn't so bad, just hanging out in the living room and watching TV. Cronus didn't ask any really embarrassing or deliberately prying questions—he just asked a little about Sollux's parents (divorced since he was two, raised by his mom) and siblings (one brother), and Sollux kept his answers as short as possible. He loved his mother but his family in general was a sensitive topic, one that he didn't like to think about too often. He supposed it would come up eventually, but for right now, he was content to pretend everything was fine.

Eridan, meanwhile, kept shooting glares at Cronus every time he asked a question. Sollux really didn't see what the big issue was—it wasn't like he was being intentionally rude or anything—but maybe he and Eridan didn't get along so well. But Cronus seemed nice enough, if a little eccentric. Eridan was probably overreacting.

By the time they finished eating, Sollux was hiding his yawns behind his hand, not that he actually managed to hide them from anyone.

"I'm gonna go switch over that laundry," Eridan said, checking the time on his phone. "I think it was ready like twenty minutes ago." He nudged Sollux with his foot. "You can go nap in my room if you want."

Sollux shook his head and lobbed his burrito wrappers into the trash. "Nah, I'll go with you. I'm not that tired."

Eridan shrugged nonchalantly but grinned anyway. "Alright, your choice. We'll be back in a few minutes," he called over his shoulder to Cronus as they left the apartment again.

"Yeah, behave yourselves," Cronus said. "I don't want neighbors callin' to complain about you guys."

"Yeah, trust me, the only one they'll wanna complain about is you," Eridan shot back, slamming the door closed to emphasize his point.

"So, he seems..."

"Obnoxious, yeah, I know."

"Eh, he's not that bad. He asks a lot of questions but I don't think he's trying to be rude or anything."

"Maybe."

Sollux debated pressing Eridan to elaborate but decided against it. Now probably wasn't the time.

"I didn't know you had a brother," Eridan said abruptly.

"Yeah. Older. You'll probably meet him at some point."

"Is he like Cronus?"

"Worse." Sollux felt a headache coming on just thinking about Mituna. Hopefully he wouldn't have to see him for awhile.

They switched over the laundry in relative silence, which suited Sollux just fine. When he got tired—which he was now, although nowhere near ready to sleep—he was less inclined to talk and more inclined to just glare at people.

Eridan seemed pretty okay with it, too—after they'd started up the dryers, he planted a quick, closed-mouth kiss on Sollux and the taller boy instinctively wrapped his arms around him.

"You, uh, brushed your teeth, right?" Sollux asked.

"Mouthwash."

"Hmm. Good enough," he said, figuring that the burritos they'd eaten would hide any other tastes anyway. He smiled faintly and kissed Eridan, leaving one arm around his waist while bringing his other hand up to cup his face.

It was definitely a slower-paced kiss than their previous makeouts. Sollux was grateful for that. This wasn't the time to rush or get too far into things. For one thing, they were still in the laundry room and Sollux was leaning up against the dryer. For another, he'd just missed the feeling of kissing Eridan and having their bodies pressed close together in the forty-five minutes or so it had been since the last time they were really alone. Eridan seemed to be okay with their light, unhurried kissing as well—he gave no hint that he wanted to push this faster.

Eridan slid his hands under Sollux's untucked shirt, keeping them against his back, and Sollux let out an involuntary giggle. "Ticklish?" Eridan asked, a playful smile on his face.

"Shut up," Sollux said, but Eridan read that as an invitation because a second later, he was tickling Sollux's back and sides, maneuvering to keep up with the taller boy's squirming. "Stop it, douche," Sollux laughed, but he didn't shove Eridan away.

"I didn't know you were so ticklish," Eridan said, finally letting up. "I would a' used that earlier if I'd known."

"Yeah, and I probably would have punched you in the face if you had," Sollux said, wrapping his arms back around Eridan.

"What about now?"

"Just as long as you don't abuse it."

Eridan grinned. "Wouldn't dream a' it."


Next act should be more...porny. (Sollux did promise to "take care" of Eridan, after all!)