Guess who only gets three hours of sleep tonight because I'm updating this every night until November 1? MEEEEE! (I hope you're happy.)

Many thanks to Rand0mAn0nym0u2, can we not, Bitblondetoday, SilverEnderwolf, pendaly, and CatastrophicAquarius for your reviews to the last act!


They ended up at Rubio's for dinner. Considering what had happened the last time they were there, Sollux wasn't so sure Eridan had made the right call, but again, it wasn't on his dime, so he wasn't going to complain. Much.

"You have an interesting sense of humor," he said, glancing at Eridan as he parked.

Eridan grinned at him (which was preferable to the alternative, a blank or bewildered look). "I liked the symmetry a' it."

Opening up his car door, Sollux grumbled, "I fail to comprehend the symmetry, unless you're planning on breaking up with me."

This time, Eridan did actually look confused. "A' course not." He suddenly smirked. "I had somethin' else in mind, though."

Sollux sensed an impending prank. He wasn't sure what Eridan could have possibly thrown together in a few hours (they hadn't even made plans to hang out until this afternoon) and, moreover, what he could be planning here, but he went inside the restaurant with Eridan anyway, glancing around suspiciously for any sign of whatever Eridan might be about to pull.

Meanwhile, his boyfriend went to the counter and ordered the same thing he'd gotten last time: a vegan burrito with the works. "Whatever he wants, too," Eridan added, motioning back toward Sollux.

Sollux eyed the counter carefully before stepping up, too. "Street tacos. The plate."

"Sure thing, hon," the cashier said with a smile. "Steak or chicken?"

"Chicken."

"Anything to drink?"

"Dr Pepper."

"Large?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Anything else, hon?" she asked, still smiling. It was actually a little unnerving. Something's screwy here.

"I'm good."

"Okay. Fourteen eighty-seven," she said, now addressing Eridan.

Eridan was practically glaring at her as he handed over his debit card. She didn't seem to notice—in fact, she smiled quite pleasantly as she handed them their drink cups and receipt. Eridan pocketed the receipt and grabbed the cups in one hand and Sollux's with the other and dragged him away.

"Um, you okay there?" Sollux asked once they were at the soda dispenser.

"Just fine," Eridan muttered.

Sollux raised an eyebrow and took one of the cups from Eridan. "You sure? You seem a bit... livid."

Eridan ground his teeth. "You didn't even notice, did you?"

"Um." Sollux glanced back at the counter for a moment. What had he missed? Was there a prank? Something significant about $14.87? Oh, shit, was Eridan giving him shit for eating chicken? No, that couldn't be it, he'd never done it before. "No? What happened?"

"She was flirting with you!" Eridan hissed.

Sollux couldn't help it. He started laughing, doubling over and holding his sides. "No, she wasn't," he choked out when he could finally speak without wheezing.

"She called you 'hon'," he growled.

"She was just being friendly. It's her job."

"She didn't call me 'hon.'"

That made him stop laughing. "She didn't?"

"No, an' she certainly wasn't smilin' like that before you showed up."

"That's... really weird." After all, Eridan did appear at first glance to be a douche, but he was a pretty hot douche. Sollux considered Eridan to be way more attractive than him—he never would have figured the cashier was flirting with him. It wasn't something he was used to happening. "I wasn't flirting back."

"I know," Eridan said, practically whining, "but... it's still annoyin'."

Sollux had to fight to hide his smile. "Are you jealous?"

Eridan went red and ducked his head to hide his face behind the collar of his pea coat. "No," he muttered unconvincingly.

"Why are you jealous?"

Eridan didn't look up as he spoke—it was more of a mumble, actually. "I... I don't know-w, I guess I just... thought it w-was obv-vious that w-we w-were... y'know-w, together."

As neurotic as Eridan was being right now, Sollux had to admit that it was also kind of cute. "Hey. It's okay. I know and you know, right?"

"Yeah, but..." Eridan finally looked up. "I still thought people could tell."

Sollux chuckled and rubbed his forehead. "Alright, I got an idea. Just, first, how comfortable are you with PDA?"

Eridan shrugged. "Fine, I guess."

"Alright. My idea is, I wait until she's looking and then I kiss you. Okay?"

Eridan thought it over for a minute. "I got a better idea. We do exactly that, but first..." He got down on one knee, sliding one of the rings off his right hand. "Will you wear my ring?"

This is a prank. It can't be a prank—she was flirting with me and there was no way she could be in on it, that makes no sense. No, she wasn't in on it, he's just taking advantage of the opportunity. But what purpose could that serve since he's the one on goddamn bended knee right now? Is this actually happening? But Sollux was grinning like an idiot and sure, his face was heating up, but he nodded and Eridan was grinning, too, and sliding the ring he'd just taken off onto the ring finger of Sollux's left hand and for some stupid reason it fit perfectly and he suddenly realized that if you weren't really listening, will you wear my ring sounded a Hell of a lot like will you marry me. He grabbed Eridan by the collar of his pea coat and pulled him to his feet to kiss him, and Eridan wrapped his arms tightly around Sollux's waist until someone behind the counter called, "311!"

"Whoops, that's ours," Eridan murmured. He gave Sollux one last, quick kiss before heading up to the counter to get their food. Sollux felt his chest tighten and he glanced behind the counter to see that their cashier had turned away, looking sulky.

He grabbed Eridan's empty cup—he couldn't remember what Eridan wanted, let alone what he wanted and sat down at the closest table, pulling out his phone. AA WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

"Hey, what were you gettin'?" Eridan asked, setting down the tray and picking up the cups.

"Um... whatever's fine."

Eridan shot him a mildly concerned look but nodded. "Okay."

0kay whats the pr0blem

ii thiink iim iin love wiith eriidan

0000h y0u must be seri0us, y0u spelled 0ut his name and everything. but again, whats the pr0blem

"Here, I got you Coke," Eridan said. He set down Sollux's cup before sitting down. "'Bout time it was ready, though—I'm starvin'."

"Yeah, me, too." hello ii ju2t told you the problem iim iin love wiith eriidan

The tacos were good, but his mind was racing. He'd never even thought he was in love before. That thing with Karkat hadn't been love—it had been trust than ended in a lot of pain, but Sollux had never been in love with him. And now this... He wasn't used to it. He was terrified because there was no way Eridan felt the same—absolutely none. He'll just get tired of me and leave, and I'll just fucking let him.

um h0ney i think y0u g0t "pr0blem" and "g00d news" mixed up

no AA thii2 ii2 a problem becau2e what iif he doe2nt feel the 2ame

"Now you're the one actin' weird," Eridan said, poking lightly at Sollux's hand.

"Sorry, just... distracted."

"You sure? Ever since I... Oh," he said, a look of dawning comprehension coming across his face.

"What?"

"I'm sorry, I guess I should a' asked first. I didn't really get a chance, though," he added sheepishly. "I... wow, sorry, the thing with the ring—was that weird? You don't have to keep wearin' it after we leave if you don't want. I just kind a' had an idea an' went with it."

Sollux's phone buzzed, but he ignored it. "It wasn't weird, exactly—it was just a surprise. And... well, what if I want to keep wearing your ring? It fits," he added quietly, as if it were the deciding factor.

Eridan smiled but hid it behind his hand. "Well," he said, and there was a definite note of teasing in his voice, "if you wanna keep wearin' it, I guess that's okay. Really, if I was any kind a' proper boyfriend, I would a' given it to you on Monday."

Sollux almost laughed at the double entrendre but he managed to keep his face straight. "AA probably would have lost her mind if you did, though. Not to mention the 'cat-niption' Nepeta would have had."

Eridan blinked, looking horrified. "You did not."

"I blame AA for that one—she said it first."

"Bad enough I gotta deal with Fef's fish puns—I shouldn't have to hear cat puns when the crazy cat lady isn't even around."

Sollux finally laughed, the tightness in his chest easing. Nothing had been said to indicate that Eridan was in love with him, too, but somehow, what had been said was enough to calm Sollux down. He'd started freaking out, but it was okay now. Eridan was okay with—no, seemed to want Sollux to keep wearing his ring, and that was an outward sign that there was something between them. Maybe Eridan felt it, too, and for him, it just hadn't gotten to falling in love or he just didn't realize it yet. But it was still something, and even though Eridan could be an obnoxious little shit, it was enough for him.

"But, yeah, sorry, still should a' asked before I went all Rent on you," Eridan added.

"All what on me?"

Eridan looked aghast. "You've never seen Rent? It's like the greatest musical ever!"

"How come it took you twenty years to realize you like dudes?"

"Shut up. Come on, I figured you'd have it on DVD and Blu-Ray!"

"Yeah, I don't even think I've seen it before."

Eridan smacked his forehead. "I can't believe this."

"We can watch it on Netflix, right?"

"No, we can't, actually, because it's only available on DVD for Netflix!"

"That's fucking stupid."

"I know, right?" Eridan groaned and finished the last bite of his burrito. "Alright, I'm ready to head back—what about you?"

Sollux still had half a taco left, so he folded it up and smashed it into his mouth. "Ready," he mumbled around his food.

Eridan was staring at him. "Oh, my God. Take me now."

"What?" Sollux struggled to finish chewing.

"It's a joke, Captor, chill." He picked up the tray, now littered with trash. "Let's go."

Sollux finally swallowed, drained the last of his Coke, and stood up. They were out the door as soon as they threw away the trash.


"So I don't have Rent and we can't watch it on Netflix. What is your alternate proposal? Going back to your place and getting it?"

Eridan scoffed, following Sollux into his apartment. "Hell, no. Cro an' Meenah'd never let me hear the end a' it. Nah, I'm sure we'll think a' somethin' else. Probably won't involve watchin' Rent, though."

"Such a tragedy," Sollux said with mock seriousness.

"I can tell how devastated you are," Eridan replied in the same tone. He wrapped his arms around Sollux's waist as they went back to his bedroom.

"So, again, what's the plan?"

"Again, somethin' that won't involve watchin' Rent."

"Harry Potter?"

Eridan laughed lightly against the back of Sollux's neck. "Mm, no. Somethin' that won't involve watchin' movies, actually."

Sollux had an idea he knew where this was going, but he felt like messing with him anyway. "I don't watch much TV and The Mighty Boosh isn't available for streaming on Netflix, so you're going to have to pick."

Eridan growled softly in annoyance. "The TV will be off."

"Sure you don't want cover noise?" Sollux joked. "You were kind of loud the last time I sucked you off."

"Shut up," he grumbled, scraping his teeth over the back of Sollux's neck. "But... well, what if I wanna do more than, like, blowjobs this time?"

Sollux turned in his arms. "Like what, sex?"

Eridan swallowed. "I don't know. Maybe. But like the whole warming up to it thing... Could we do that?"

"Let me just see if I get what you're saying, okay?"

He nodded.

"You want me to finger you?"

He waited a beat and then nodded again. His heart was racing against Sollux's chest, but Sollux's heart was picking up speed, too.

"Okay. We can do that."

"Um, do you have lube here?"

"Yeah. I just didn't bring it to your place Monday night since..."

"Since you didn't expect to need it?"

"Well, I was going to say that my backpack was full of toothpaste."

"Shit, I forgot all about that prank."

"It's still your turn. I actually thought you were pranking me by bringing me to Rubio's."

"Nah, I'll come up with somethin' way better than that," Eridan said, grinning. Sollux was glad he was relaxing—he'd seemed really tense moments ago, and it made him nervous.

"The bar's pretty high," he joked, tilting Eridan's head up to kiss him lightly.

"Trust me, you won't be disappointed." Eridan wrapped his arms around Sollux, meeting each kiss eagerly.

"Good." Sollux tried to come up with a witty add-on, but his brain was starting to melt as he and Eridan continued kissing, and it was becoming extremely difficult to focus on anything except that a few minutes from now, he'd be fingering Eridan. He certainly hadn't expected that twelve hours ago.

Eridan shrugged out of his pea coat, unwound his scarf from around his neck, and dropped it to the floor. Sollux was satisfied since it was easier to hold him with the coat gone, and he playfully ran his fingers under Eridan's black T-shirt and over his sides. Eridan squirmed and let out a giggle before grabbing the hem of his shirt (knocking his glasses askew in the process) and yanking it over his head and starting on Sollux's hoodie.

"Here," Sollux murmured, sliding off Eridan's glasses and pulling back just long enough to set them on his nightstand. Eridan definitely looked different without his glasses—his purple eyes seemed bigger even though the lenses magnified his eyes until it looked like you could pick up Cartoon Network on them, and his nose seemed smaller in proportion to the rest of his face, but Eridan was looking right at him and Sollux couldn't look away.

He kissed Eridan again and nudged him backward until he hit the bed and scooted back. Eridan kept one hand at the back of Sollux's head to keep their mouths together, and the taller boy crawled onto the bed, too, between his spread legs. Eridan was finally able to pull off Sollux's shirt, actually completely removing Sollux's glasses, so Sollux fumbled for them and set them next to Eridan's while the other boy just tossed his shirt aside.

Sollux liked kissing him like that—Eridan's back to the bed, their bare chests pressed against each other's, no glasses to catch on anything, and with their jeans still on, he could rut against Eridan and get a decent amount of friction. Eridan let out these tiny, breathless little moans whenever Sollux moved, and Sollux couldn't get enough of hearing them; he hitched up Eridan's leg, running his hand over Eridan's ass, and ground against him.

Eridan groaned louder and moved his hips to match Sollux's motion. "You can quit teasin' me now," he muttered, weaving his fingers through Sollux's hair.

"Yeah?" Sollux asked, grinning. "Ready for the next phase of my nefarious plot?"

Eridan both giggled and tried not to, and a choked sound escaped him. "Yeah, get goin'."

"If you insist." Sollux moved his mouth to Eridan's neck and started biting and sucking—those hickeys from before were fading—while his hands went to Eridan's jeans to unbutton and unzip them. They both shoved down his jeans as quickly as they could (Sollux was forced to move off him and Eridan had to shimmy his hips before he was able to kick them off) and Sollux went for the lube in his drawer while Eridan slid off his boxers.

"You sure you're ready?" Sollux asked. "It's going to feel weird. Kind of uncomfortable."

A flicker of uncertainty crossed Eridan's face for a moment, but he nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"And if you want me to stop, just tell me and I will, okay?"

"Okay."

"Promise me, okay?" Sollux said, leaning down and cupping Eridan's cheek. "I don't want to hurt you. As soon as you want to stop—"

Eridan caught his hand. "Captor. Stop talkin'. I promise, if I want you to stop, I'll tell you. I trust you," he added quietly.

Sollux nodded. "Okay." He flipped the top of the bottle and poured a palmful of lubricant. He made sure his first three fingers were covered and moved his hand in between Eridan's legs after lazily trailing his fingers over Eridan's stiff cock. "Knees up," he murmured, tapping one knee with the back of his left hand.

Eridan obligingly pulled his knees up and Sollux slowly circled his opening with his index finger. Eridan let out a shaky breath.

"Relax," Sollux breathed.

Eridan nodded, exhaling again, slower.

Sollux eased his first finger in, and Eridan inhaled sharply, eyes closing. "Keep breathing," Sollux murmured. "Just relax."

"Definitely feels weird," Eridan gasped.

"Want me to—"

"No, just give me a second, okay?"

Sollux nodded, waited a few moments, and then started giving small, shallow thrusts with his finger. Eridan moaned, one hand fisting in the sheets and the other drawn to his erection. "Mmm, God, Sol," he breathed. "Startin' to... mmm, feel good."

Sollux bit his lip and started going a little faster, a little deeper. Eridan's chest was heaving and his moaning was getting louder and he was starting to jerk himself off—he's getting off on this, he likes this—and his whole body was rocking a bit, trying to meet Sollux's finger, so he leaned over the shorter boy and breathed, "You want more?"

"Mm-hmm," Eridan nearly whimpered, eyes still closed.

So Sollux managed to slip another finger inside him and continued thrusting. Eridan let out a high whine and he started stroking himself faster while Sollux scissored his fingers, spreading them as he dragged them out, and Eridan twisted his hips but didn't tell him to stop. "You good?"

"Keep goin'," Eridan breathed. "Don't stop."

Sollux shoved his fingers in deeper to graze against Eridan's prostate. The first time he touched it, Eridan's entire body jolted in shock and his eyes flew open. "Jesus fuck, Sol, what was that?"

"What, this?" Sollux asked teasingly, rubbing against it more firmly now.

Eridan let out a long, low moan. "Oh, God, yes, that—Sol, please, don't stop..." He let go of his dick to fist the sheets with his other hand. "More, Sol," he pleaded.

Sollux obliged him, sliding a third finger in and just rubbing it. He couldn't believe how Eridan was reacting—it was like he'd been made for this. He rocked his hips against Sollux's fingers and moaned nearly nonstop and begged for more, and it was the hottest thing he'd ever seen. Part of him really wanted to fuck Eridan right now, but a stronger part of him was just glad that this was happening—proof right here in front of him that Eridan would more than likely enjoy having sex with him, Eridan liked guys, he was fingering Eridan—and besides, Eridan hadn't said anything just yet about wanting to have sex with him. He could wait, though. Eridan was so hot like this, and Sollux had a feeling it had been awhile since anyone treated him right.

"Fuck—Sol," Eridan gasped suddenly. "Just a little more, please, keep goin'—yes, yes, yes, fuck, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna come—Sol—!" Back arching off the bed, fists buried in the sheets, Eridan came, louder and hotter than ever. Sollux was glad he was still in his jeans—he was rock-hard and he didn't want that fact to be immediately obvious. At the same time, he was grateful his shirt was off since Eridan's come had hit his arm.

"Oh, God," Eridan laughed dizzily, and Sollux took that as a great opportunity to pull his fingers out. Eridan winced but otherwise didn't complain. "I wasn't expectin' that."

Sollux grinned, reaching for his shirt to wipe off his arm and hand. "Still bicurious or whatever?"

Eridan shook his head, still laughing softly. "I think I careened pretty far from 'bicurious.' Like, I liked that a lot."

"Yeah, got that when you started jerking off."

"Fuck off," Eridan said, grinning. "So I guess that makes me bisexual, huh?"

"I don't know. Do you wanna fuck guys?"

"Guys, no. One guy in particular, yeah."

Sollux grinned. "That's cute, but—"

"Leo," Eridan went on in a dreamy sort of voice.

"Leo? DiCaprio?" Sollux asked. "Fuck it, I can't compete with that guy. I'm leaving." He started to climb off the bed but Eridan grabbed his arm.

"I was just kiddin'. I guess I'm attracted to guys but... right now, you're the only person I'm interested in havin' sex with."

Sollux leaned over him and gave him a light kiss. "Good to know. I'm just glad you didn't think it was completely awful."

"Yeah, me too," Eridan laughed. He ran his fingers through Sollux's hair for a moment. "Thanks."

I love you. The words almost flew out of Sollux's mouth, but he caught them at the last second. Instead, he said, "Up for another movie now?"

Eridan laughed.


LONG ACT WAS LONG. I thought they were going to do the fondue, but they fondidn't. Oh, well, this needed to happen anyway. (Also, I really liked the idea of Sollux wearing one of Eridan's rings but I didn't know how it was going to happen until it happened.