Wow, has it really been this long since my last update? I am so sorry. Here's the scoop for those of you who don't follow me on Tumblr; I have been in a shitty place these past couple of months. Through work, a horrible ex, and the fact that the holidays are never easy for me, I've been an absolute mess.
But that's not important anymore, I'm sorry that this has taken so long. Holy shit, 50 chapters? Wow, I cannot thank you all enough for sticking with me this long, and for reading so much. You're all incredible, and I appreciate it more than I can say.
Thank you all for the kind words, and the reviews. I really hope that this chapter makes up for how bloody long you were all waiting. Once again, I'm sorry and I love you all. Please enjoy!

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Eridan placed the steaming mug on the kitchen table, then sat down, "you've got five minutes." He muttered.

Aradia lifted up the mug with a smile, "thank you for inviting me in. Now, seeing as our last encounter was somewhat more civil, I assume that Sollux told you about what happened between us?" She took a sip of tea, then set the cup down again.

"I found out, if that's what you mean." Bitterness laced every syllable, and Eridan tapped his fingers against the table as an annoyed habit. He briefly wondered what had gotten into him; he should have slammed the door in Aradia's face and moped around for a few hours, but instead, he had allowed her to come inside. Mostly because she said that she wanted to discuss Sollux, and to be honest, he was worried that it would be something important.

"I figured as much, but that's not why I'm here." She crossed her arms, "regardless of whether or not you knew about me trying to kiss Sollux, I wanted to come clean about it. I didn't think that it was right for you to possibly be kept in the dark about it. So here I am."

Eridan narrowed his eyes, "you came here to tell me about you tryin' to kiss Sol?"

There was a tiny hesitation that allowed Aradia the chance to sigh, "yes, Eridan." She ran her index finger around the rim of the cup, wiping away the trace of maroon lipstick that her lips had left on it, "here's the deal. I didn't know that he was in a relationship, and though I'm not trying to drop Sollux in any kind of mess with you, if he had told me about you earlier, I wouldn't have even thought of trying anything with him. Anyway, I took our little meetings the wrong way, and I thought that they were more romantic than platonic, and I tried to kiss him." Her words were honest, as was her gaze, and it was currently fixed on him in an unwavering manner, "nothing happened between us, and my actions shouldn't be blamed on Sollux."

"How do you know that I may have blamed Sollux for anything that you did?" Eridan interjected, suppressing the anger with will alone. At that moment he wondered whether or not Sollux had told Aradia about their argument behind his back, "maybe I haven't even taken it to heart, in the slightest. Did you ever think about that?"

Aradia shrugged, "we both know what you're like, and don't try and pretend as though you don't suffer with a dramatic personality, and an angry temperament." She sipped her tea again with a slightly amused expression, "so, did you have a screaming fit or did you settle on the silent treatment?" Her smirk faltered just slightly as Eridan glowered at her.

"Actually, we broke up." He stated.

This made any traces of a smile fall from Aradia's lips, and she shook her head, "but it wasn't his fault! Didn't he apologise?"

"Aradia. Stop." Eridan's voice was a little sterner, he was quickly growing tired of Aradia's rambling.

"I know he can be stubborn, and he never likes to admit he's wrong, but did you give him a chance to say sorry? Or at least to explain himself? This isn't right!"

"Aradia, that's enough!" Eridan shouted. It was hard enough that he had argued these things with himself, but to hear someone else saying them really did hurt.

"No!" Aradia matched Eridan for volume, and she glared at him, seething with impatience, "you didn't hear the way he spoke about you! You didn't see the look in his eyes! For God's sakes, he seemed happier with you than he ever did in the entirety of our relationship, and I don't believe for a moment that it was only because you two were enjoying novelty of a fresh and new relationship. Eridan, nothing happened between us, hasn't he explained that to you?"

Eridan's voice was a little calmer, though he could feel the storm building under his skin, "I could not physically give less of a shit about his side a the story. He lied to me, an he kept it from me. I came home to see him, an Sol fucked me only minutes after he must a seen you, and not once did he stop an try to tell me what had happened." He spat the words like venom, hating the way they seemed to cling to his tongue, "I would a forgiven him, an understood a hell of a lot better if he had just told me there an then what had happened. I would a been pissed, an I would a hated him, yeah, but I would a been able to look past it. But he wasn't honest, an he kept it a secret because he thought he could get away with it, an I can't trust him again." As almost an afterthought, Eridan looked down his nose at the woman in front of him and added, "considerin' what happened to him, I would a thought he'd never pull that crap on someone else."

This comment made Aradia's lips purse in distaste, "ah." She murmured, "I see that Sollux has told you about how, and why, we broke up." She rested her elbows on the table, and leant on her hands, "I did something that I'm not proud of. But at that point, we had drifted apart. Let me tell you something, Eridan," Aradia actually looked a little ashamed, though she did not allow herself to turn away. To her credit she held Eridan's critical gaze, and managed to keep her voice level, "during the course of mine and Sollux's relationship, he told me countless times that he loved me. But, some days he would also wake up, and look at me as if I was a stranger. There were even days when Sollux would admit that he didn't love me anymore, and that his feelings were purely platonic, and you know what? Having someone saying that they're not in love with you anymore hurts a lot, especially when you know that they might feel differently the next day! So I held on, waiting for his brain to stop screwing him over, and after having him fall in and out of love with me so often, I started to feel like he didn't love me at all anymore because there was something wrong with me. So yes, when someone else admitted that they were madly in love with me, I clung to that feeling, and held onto it with everything I had. I should have broken it off with Sollux before he got hurt, but I just couldn't, I still adored him and I was waiting for the day when he would love me without changing his mind again! And yes, I was being selfish and greedy, and I know that this isn't an excuse for how I hurt him, but for fucks sake, Eridan, I deserved to have someone love me!" Moisture collected at the corners of her dark eyes, but she did not cry.

There was nothing that Eridan could think to say. He didn't believe that this was an adequate excuse for her behaviour, but at the same time, he could understand it just a little more.

They sat in silence for a long moment, and Eridan was the first to speak, "Sollux never told me that he loved me just as a friend, before." He traced the grain of the wooden table with a finger, "but I guess, even though he thought a you as a friend half the time, at least he didn't cheat on you. He'd been seein' you behind my back, an then the kiss happened… So maybe cheatin' is somethin' he just doesn't do to friends."

"He didn't cheat on you, either." Aradia reminded him patiently. She held up her hand as he started to argue again, and she kept her voice calm and collected, "no, really, Eridan. What Sollux did was wrong, he should have told you about hanging out with me, but he stopped the kiss. He put his hand in front of his mouth and stopped me, like this." She mimed the way that Sollux had prevented their lips from meeting, then shrugged, "you and he should talk again, even just to clear the air. I haven't spoken to Sollux since the night I tried to kiss him, but I know that he's probably pretty beaten up about this. Even if you decide to stay separated, it'd probably be beneficial to both of you to come to some kind of understanding with one another, even if it's just leaving the relationship with a more positive outlook."

Eridan actually paid attention to what Aradia was saying, and he nodded; it did make sense to at least try to clear the air with Sollux. He wrapped his hands around his own mug, and tried to gain some kind of comfort from the warmth, "it's been a pretty rocky breakup, Ara. I don't know if it'll be possible to have a civil conversation without it turnin' into a fight." He admitted.

"And how have you been coping with that?" Aradia asked, showing genuine concern for her old friend.

"Badly." There was no real use lying, and Eridan simply shrugged, "it was the start of a shit-sundae to be honest, an I really could a done without it." He stared into the rich brown of the coffee in front of him, and almost found it funny that he was opening up to the woman who had effectively broken him and Sollux up, "Because a work I've been exhaustin' myself to the point that I'm passin' out, an it's getting' harder to sleep, not to mention the fact that I've been dealin' with the fact that Barbossa is… Look, these past couple a weeks have been rough an I really could a used havin' Sollux here for me. I just, I wish I hadn't invested myself into the relationship more than Sollux had, okay? I wish that I had just treated it like a fling, an kept emotions out a the whole thing. It would a saved me a lot of energy." This was pretty much just a recap of the things he had told Feferi, but he really wanted to make sure that Aradia knew just how much he had been fucked over by hers and Sollux's actions.

Aradia nodded, and to her credit, did look sympathetic, "I'm sorry that you've had so much crap go on with your life, really I am, but you're wrong about Sollux not being as invested in the relationship as you." She took a sip of her drink, and smiled wistfully, "he told me all about you after the attempted kiss, you know, and the way he spoke about you was just… He had this look about him, and he was so cute, it was like you were a new computer with all the gadgets he loves, and you had actually shot past the expectations that the manufacturer had given him. It was like you had double the memory space, and an unreleased graphics card that turned out to be better than anything that could be bought or built… I apologise for having to make that kind of analogy, but I honestly think that it was the most suitable way of talking about Sollux's reaction." Her smile turned warmer, and upon hearing her words, Eridan felt something flutter in his chest, "when we spoke, he honestly sounded as if he was completely and utterly besotted with you. I don't doubt for even a moment that this breakup has affected him more than he'd be willing to admit, maybe even to himself."

There was truth in the statement, and Eridan stared with a hopeful expression; he needed to hear that Sollux missed him, and that the nerd was hurting too. It was selfish, but he didn't care.

After a moment, Aradia set down her coffee mug, "in my opinion, you can make a choice right now. Either you take what I said into account, and admit that Sollux was a dick for not telling you about hanging out with me, but admit that the rest the blame for the kiss rests solely on my shoulders, which is where it belongs," she folded her arms, and leant back in her chair, "or you pretend as though this whole conversation never happened, and wallow in the loathing of both yourself and the man that you've admitted you was completely in love with."

The choice seemed easy, but Eridan couldn't deny the pain he had been through, and the pain he still felt. He watched Aradia, hoping that she would give him an answer to her own ultimation.

But instead, she stood up, and pushed her chair back into its place at the table, "Eridan, if you love him, you have to put your injured pride aside and come to terms with it. Trust me, hating him for a kiss that didn't even happen will haunt you, especially if you're still harbouring those kinds of feelings for him." She picked up her shoulder bag, and pulled it on while she spoke, "but if you've managed to move on, and you don't love him anymore, then at least clear the air with him, and allow this all to end on a better note than this!"

Aradia rested a hand on Eridan's shoulder, and her voice was sincere as she spoke, "I wish I could turn back time and stop myself from doing what I did, and I wish that I could have prevented this all from happening, but I can't. The past has happened, and it's never going to change, but you're the one with the ability to shape your own future, and while I can't tell you what to do, I feel as though I should at least push you towards trying to do the right thing and just clear the air."

Eridan nodded, ever so slightly, though it was more of a reflex than anything else, "I'll think about it." He said, and honestly meant it.

This seemed to satisfy Aradia, and she flashed him a relieved grin, "thank you, Eridan. And thanks for the coffee." She gave his shoulder the briefest of squeezes before stepping away, "I'll show myself out, and maybe I'll see you at the next larping session?" Without waiting for a response, Aradia turned and left.

The gentle thump of the front door was barely noticed by the bewildered Ampora, and it took him more than a few minutes to mull over what Aradia had said.

To be honest, Eridan was struggling, because there was always the chance that she had been lying about it being her fault, or even about whether or not Sollux had gone through with the kiss. He groaned quietly as he continued to think about it, but eventually decided that he needed to discuss this with someone.

It would have been nice to have the option to call Karkat, as the short man knew Sollux so well and would probably be able to give pretty sound advice, but there was always the possibility that he would give biased advice. Wasn't there?

Eridan grumbled to himself as he stood up; regardless of who he was going to call, he wanted to curl up in bed while he did so, and that meant dragging his ass up to his bedroom. Thoughts still plagued his mind as he trudged along, but he managed to make it all the way upstairs without having to sit down on a step in a morose fashion. He would have considered that some kind of pathetic victory given his recent moods, but the sight of his room actually made his mouth drop open; it was as if someone had finally pulled back the curtains and forced him to see the state of squalor he had been living in.

The bed had been transformed into a nest of quilts; the blankets were bundled into a pile on the mattress, and there were clothes scattered all over the floor and furniture. Eridan hadn't bothered to pick up anything, and it was an absolute mess; as he stared at the state of his room, he finally saw why Feferi had been so reluctant to sleep in there with him after he and Sollux had just broken up. Eridan stepped over a set of spilled pencils, and carefully chose his footsteps as not to tread on the things he had recently trampled over so many times.

It was strange, but Eridan realised that for the first time in so long, he actually felt uncomfortable seeing so much mess. He rolled up his sleeves, and looked around himself.

After pulling a shirt off his bedside table, he scrolled through his contacts, and pressed the call button. He then chose the speakerphone setting, and set the phone down on the bedside table. The ringing only lasted a few seconds before Feferi answered, "Hey Eridan! What's up?"

"Hey Fef, are you still with Kar an…" Eridan shuffled uncertainly, and tried to distract himself with picking up his loose pens and pencils.

Feferi snorted softly, "I've dropped them both home, don't worry. Anyway, water you calling for?"

"Fef, I think I'm goin' to come out with you Friday." Eridan said, picking up a scarf and a shirt, and dumping them into the laundry basket.

"That's fintastic news! Shell yes, let's do this!" Feferi sounded ecstatic, "but what made you change your mind?"

While Eridan explained what he and Aradia had spoken about, he began tidying all the mess and clutter away; it was strangely difficult to do, but he finally picked up all of the shredded pieces of artwork that had littered the floor, and he threw them in the bin. It was therapeutic in a bittersweet way, and Eridan felt as though a weight was being lifted from his chest.

"So do you think you'll talk to Sollux about all of this?" Feferi asked, sounding ever so slightly hopeful at the prospect of a reconciliation between the two stubborn idiots.

Eridan hesitated, "I don't know, Fef, I mean, yeah Ara sounded like she was tellin' the truth when she said Sollux stopped her, but I don't think me an Sollux will ever become friends or anythin' again." He tightly screwed up a few chunks of paper together, and tossed the makeshift ball across the room; he felt a little too proud of himself when it landed in the wastepaper basket, "it's over between us, an I don't think we're goin' to get in a situation when we'll talk again."

Feferi tutted quietly "never say never, Eridan. Aradia was right, you and Sollux really should clear the air with each other. It'd be good for the both of you, and it's not like you have to be fronds afterwards, but it'd be nice to hear that you're both going to end this civilly."

This was just a repetition of the same shit Eridan had already heard, and thought himself, so he just made a 'mhm' noise, and bundled up dirty clothes, "either way, Fef, I'm fed up a livin' this way, so I think I'm just ready to get my fuckin' life in order. First thing's first, I need some new suits for work because I need to look the part a the head a the Ampora household, don't I?" He caught sight of himself in his vanity-table mirror. He paused, and brought a hand up to stroke his beloved strip of violet hair, "I need to look the part." He repeated softly, trying to move the dark hair around it to cover all traces of the colour.

"Alright, well, we can get new clothes in town whenever you want, Eridan! But…" Feferi sounded slightly uncertain, "you don't have to try and shoulder everyfin. I know your dad wants you to take on the business and stuff, but you can say no."

"Fef, this is what I have to do."

"Yeah, I get that you're too proud to ask for help, but you're working so hard you're collapsing, and you're still not eating properly," she huffed quietly, "you're not your father, and you're being thrown in at the deep end, it's ocray to be a little overwhelmed and you can always ask people to give you a hand."

Eridan dumped his armful of laundry into the wicker basket, and grimaced, "I'm not lettin' Father down by grovellin' for help. If he can run this shit on his own, then so can I."

There was silence for a little while, and when Feferi spoke again she sounded a both hesitant and tired, "I just don't want you to get hurt, Eridan. I don't want you to be in hospital because you've had a heart attack by the time you're twenty-five." Her voice sounded as though it was straining, "You need to either get one of the higher-ups to help you, or hire someone new. Please, don't let this job kill you."

As Feferi spoke, Eridan had changed the covers on his bed, and had made it as neatly as he could; he felt both guilty and frustrated from his sister's words, but his pride seemed to dominate every other emotion. He felt the weariness crawling over his body and mind, and he climbed onto the bed, "Fef, I'm fine. I'm not goin' to die, I'm just tired is all." He pulled the quilt over himself, and shuffled to pull his jeans off under it, "as soon as I get used to the workload, I won't be exhausted all the time, an I'll be back to my usual self, don't worry so much about me okay?"

"Of course I'm going to worry about you. You're my idiot brother." She sounded as if she was smiling, "but now I'm afraid I'm going to have to demand that you take a nap before you start on any work, mister!"

"Way ahead a you, I'm already in bed." Eridan closed his eyes, and snuggled down against the pillows; the new cotton covers felt cold, and smelled of lilies and ylang-ylang flowers, "I tidied up a little, so you should come round soon."

Whatever Feferi had said next was lost as the muggy sleep overtook Eridan in a wave, and for once, the heavy and dreamless darkness was welcomed.

-.-.-.-

"Roxthy, no." Sollux pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed in an extremely frustrated manner. He had been dragged out to find a costume to wear to the party he had not yet definitely agreed to attend, and right now Roxy was holding up a Where's Wally outfit.

"Roxy, yes!" She grinned, "come on, it'll look hella sweet next to my Wizard Whitebeard I'm planning, and you can hide in the crowd, it'll be fun." She spun the round glasses around and around as she spoke, not seeming to care about the way that the sales assistant was frowning nearby.

Sollux closed his eyes behind his glasses, and just continued to groan, "I want to hide away at thith damn party, and drething up in that outfit theemth a little counter intuitive, don't you think? People are going to be coming up to me all night thaying shit like 'found you!' And then they'll want to make converthation." He glared at Roxy as she slipped the bobble hat onto his head.

"But you look totes adorbz in it," she grinned, and flicked the bobble, "but alright, how about you dress up as Odlaw then? I mean, you like wearing yellow and black together, don't you? And I dunno, maybe you'll find out that you like dressing up. If you don't want to go in a cute duo with me, then maybe you can dress up as someone from Lord of the Rings?"

It was hard to take clothing advice from a woman wearing a white beard that reached her knees, and Sollux folded his arms, "I want to put in ath little effort ath I pothibly can. Theriothly, if I could get away with thimply wearing a hat, I would jutht do that."

Roxy shook her head, not seeming to notice that her floppy blue wizard hat was dangerously close to falling off, "I'm shaking my head at you right now. You're letting the side down, Solluxander. I hope you feel guilty." She picked up the end of her beard, and inspected it with a hmm, "this needs to be longer." She mumbled, before turning her attention back to Sollux, "listen here, Captor, we're finding you a costume and it's going to be funky fresh, and you're going to love it, now come on!"

She disappeared behind one of the clothing racks, and Sollux groaned, "Can we not? I'll jutht wear a nithe shirt or thomething inthtead."

"How about this?"

Somehow Roxy has gotten behind him, and when Sollux turned round, the girl was wearing a blue cap, and was holding a pair of shorts in front of her skirt, "what? I don't…"

"I like shorts! They're comfy and easy to wear!" Roxy said proudly, "see? You can be an NPC, and just say that kind of stuff to people until they walk away."

"No, thee, then I'd look like I have thomething wrong with me, and people would jutht quethtion why the hell I wath at your houthe, pluth loadth of people aren't going to get the referenthe." He pinched the bridge of his nose as Roxy slowly lifted up the Where's Wally outfit again, "God damn it, I'm never going to ethcape without choothing thomething from thith shop, am I?" He grumbled.

"Not a chance in hell, my friend." Roxy cheerfully replied.

Sollux groaned quietly, and made a half-assed attempt at pushing outfits on the rail in front of him this aside to look at them a little more closely.

After huffing and groaning dramatically for a while, Sollux glanced over at Roxy hoping that she would just give up on trying to get him to dress up, but unfortunately, she looked as though she wasn't going to deal with any of his shit.

"Christ, Sollux, I'm not asking you to build a fully-functioning Jaeger, I just want you to wear something to get you in a partying frame of mind." With a sly smile, Roxy lifted up a red tie, and held it out towards Sollux, "besides, you said you'd come to my party, and to do so, you need a hella costume, so let's get you something you won't mind wearing."

Sollux pulled a face, but took the tie, "I have no idea what you're planning, but I know I'm going to hate it." He muttered.

"Oh, I doubt that, now come on, and let's pay for this piece of shit." For good measure, Roxy scoured the shelves as they finally made their way over to the cash register, picking up little plastic bottles of fake blood, "you'll be thanking me for this idea, and you won't even need to put up with the attention you'd get from dressing as Wally. I believe that is what the happening-peeps call a win-win sitch."

It didn't sound much like a win-win sitch to Sollux, but he held his tongue, slightly interested to see what Roxy was planning.

-.-.-.-.-

The party was in full swing. It had started with a few people from class turning up, but each person seemed to bring at least one friend with them so the number of guests was growing exponentially as time ticked on. This hadn't seemed to phase Roxy though, and she seemed to radiate charisma and excitement, which appeared to be contagious as hell.

Sollux shuffled on the couch, and thanked fuck that Karkat had come with him.

When they had first arrived, the party was in a state where the music wasn't loud enough to drown out people's words, and there wasn't enough guests that every room seemed to be occupied. Roxy had seen Sollux arrive, and had jumped off the kitchen counter with a wide grin plastered across her face, "Solluxander!"

Sollux had given a wave, and looked around, hoping that there wouldn't be more people arriving than the amount already there, "Thup. Nithe beard."

Roxy's beard was so long that she had thrown it over her shoulder, and wrapped it around her waist like a belt, and yet it was still able to rest against her ankles, "thanks! I gotta say, these peeps have no idea who I am, because they keep calling me Dumbledore." She tilted her head, and regarded Karkat, "and what are you supposed to be?"

Karkat smirked, "I've come as my own unbridled rage, parked squarely in the not giving a fuck zone, ready to explode with molten hatred and effervescing loathing." He shrugged, "I'm also wearing a shirt to match Sollux's costume." With that, Karkat removed his jacket, and revealed an 'I got wood' shirt.

Roxy laughed loudly, and brought her phone up to snap a picture of Sollux and Karkat, "oh my god, you came as a Shaun and Ed duo! I knew I was onto a good thing when I came up with the Shaun of the Dead costume for you, Sollux!" She grinned proudly, and nudged the Gemini playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sollux grumbled, though he was actually quite pleased with the fact that Roxy had come up with such a simple costume, and she had even helped him splatter one of his white shirts with red. Though he hadn't appreciated the fact that the excited girl had tried to get him to get a haircut, and dye his hair orange. Sollux had drawn the line at that.

Once they had gotten themselves a drink, Sollux and Karkat had settled down in the lounge, and had watched as the party had become a ridiculously busy affair. The house was heaving with people, and it was almost uncomfortably busy, but Sollux stayed with Karkat, which thankfully meant that he didn't have to interact with anyone he didn't know.

Unfortunately, Karkat had left to get them both drinks about ten minutes ago, and Sollux was vaguely aware that the shorter man may have been distracted by something, as he was already a little drunk. Sollux looked around himself, so far he had been able to keep Karkat's place on the sofa free, but a girl had just sat herself down in the spot, and was smiling sweetly at him, "hey! What are you supposed to be? A murderous business-guy, or something?"

Sollux blinked behind his dark glasses, and felt his mouth go dry. He glanced around quickly, to see if Karkat had managed to find his way back, but couldn't locate him in the crowd, so he turned back to the girl wearing a tight dress and bunny ears, "uhh, no, I'm Shaun of the Dead." He replied, moving backwards on the sofa cushion as the girl shuffled closer.

"Never seen it, is it a film or something?" She asked, still smiling cutely.

"Yeah, a pretty good one, too." Sollux was beginning to feel a little anxious, and he could barely string a sentence together that would allow him to avoid lisping, so he nervously stood up, "I have to find my friend, great outfit, by the way." He stood up, and offered the confused looking girl what must have been an incredibly awkward grin, then turned and left her.

There were people everywhere, and Sollux's guts knotted uncomfortably as he weaved in between, and around, groups of friends. He thought that the best plan of action would be to look for Karkat in the kitchen, seeing as that was where he would have been getting drinks from. As he stepped through the doorway, he saw something that made him grin.

There was a small crowd of people, some of whom he recognised, stood at one end of the room, near the fridge. Karkat was stood beside Feferi, who was waving her arms wildly as she told some kind of exciting tale, and the people around her laughed; Sollux was impressed at the obvious effort that had been put into her empress-like costume, as there was intricate embroidery and beading all over the fabric, and she was covered in thin looping gold jewellery.

Just as Sollux finally felt the relief wash over him, and began making his way over to the familiar faces, his heart dropped. A young man hefted himself onto the kitchen counter, obviously fed up with standing; he was dressed in a finely-fitting violet waist-coat over a long-sleeved back button-up shirt, ridiculously tight black trousers, and shiny aubergine shoes. There was a very long, and heavy looking violet cape flowing behind him like a waterfall, its collar rose high enough to reach the young man's ears, and there was a delicate gold crown glimmering from its place on his head; its purple gems complimented the violet slice of hair it rested atop, quite nicely.

Sollux stood and stared, with his teeth biting into the soft flesh of his bottom lip. Eridan looked sublime, and the ridiculous amount of splendid rings that adorned his fingers glittered in the bright light of the kitchen as he moved.

It was the first time he had seen Eridan since the hipster's little outburst in the college room, and Sollux wanted to drag him off the counter and into a room to speak to him, but at that moment, Sollux felt shockingly nervous, and also overwhelmed. He didn't want to stick around and have everyone witness him trying to speak to Eridan, and being told to fuck off; maybe it was better that they just kept to themselves, and didn't speak again, just to save the bullshit of having more arguments, and humiliation.

Sollux felt his chest clench, and he chocked down a breath as the anxiety tried to shut him down. As quickly as he could, he turned, and charged back the way he had come, unfortunately this hurried movement came to a halt as he barged straight into another person.

The guy was wearing a cheap, store-bought Dracula costume, and it was now sporting a nice amount of beer down the front, "dude, you made me spill my drink! What the fuck?"

Typical. Sollux hadn't even managed to leave the kitchen. He looked down at the wet costume, and whistled, "Did I do that?" He asked, "Or didn't you get to the toilet in time, and now you're looking for a poor guy to blame it on?"

This surprised Sollux; he had expected himself to quietly apologise, and hurry past to start making his way to the front door to leave, but instead he had appeared to land himself in even more shit.

Of course, the store-bought Dracula hadn't seen the funny side to this little comment, and he frowned, "I didn't piss myself, you just spilled my drink on me, you asshole."

Sollux didn't dare glance back over to where Karkat, Feferi and Eridan were, he couldn't deal with that shit right now, so he mirrored the frown that was being directed at him, "whatever, dude." He tried to push forwards past the guy, but unfortunately, the Dracula seemed to have friends with him, and they all stood against him, blocking him in. "Fucking hell." Sollux muttered, and he whirled round to storm off towards the sliding doors in the kitchen that would take him out to the garden. Hopefully there would be a gate or something he could leave through, because he really wasn't in the mood to deal with an asshole with backup, especially not with his anxieties coiling inside of him.

"Don't fucking walk away from me!"

Sollux ignored him, and pushed the door to one side and let himself into the garden, and slid it shut behind himself. The cool air was a welcome relief on his skin, and as he stepped onto the patio, he looked around himself to find a gate in the tall garden fence, but he couldn't see anything in the darkness; the light streaming from the windows just weren't illuminating enough of the garden for him to find one. Panic pricked at his heart as he heard the soft swish of the kitchen door being opened.

"I didn't say you could leave." The guy muttered darkly, his words slurred just slightly, giving Sollux the impression that the larger male was drunk.

"I didn't thay you could fucking follow." The nerd spat back, refusing to allow his nerves to get the better of him.

The guy made his way over, and held his fists at his side, "you think you're real funny, don't you?" His voice was loud, and he was on the verge of shouting, and Sollux wondered if the man even realised this.

Sollux shrugged, and grinned, though his stomach was churning enough that he was aware that he might vomit at any moment, "what can I thay? It jutht cometh naturally." He had already started digging his hole, so why stop now?

"You're a stupid cunt, you know that, right?" A few of the guy's friends had come out into the garden, whether to give him a hand, or to stop an altercation, Sollux didn't know. But either way, the numbers were not in Sollux's favour.

Unfortunately, Sollux's patience was non-existent, and he rolled his eyes, "oh my god, shut the fuck up! It wath a little bit of beer! Grow the hell up!" He shouted, feeling a little exasperated at the whole situation. This guy was acting as if he had somehow insulted his honour, but there couldn't have been more than half a cup of beer on his lap.

Roxy's voice was loud and clear from the kitchen door, "eyy, eyy! Cut it out, Rolal's orders!" Her arms were folded, and she looked as though she was about to storm right over.

Sollux held up a hand and motioned towards Roxy, "you heard her, Rolal'th orderth. Come on, let'th jutht forget it." He didn't even get the chance to look at the guy again, before his face snapped to one side and he stumbled with the force of the punch.

The world swayed for a second, and Sollux slumped over a little; he sucked in a mouthful of air between his gritted teeth, and could taste the blood that was running in rivets down his lips and chin; the pain blossomed over his entire face, and white and black dots danced in front of his eyes. He straightened up just a little as he brought his hands up to his nose, and saw that they came away covered in red.

He was about to shout a hideous remark, when a block of violet shot in front of him.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Sollux instantly recognised the icily calm voice, and he straightened up as the young man in front of him swung a punch back at his assailant. It connected, and the man was sent sprawling to the floor.

As Sollux tried to move around him, Eridan held out an arm protectively, "get up." He commanded, his voice still dripping with cold distaste; he was glaring at the man who was struggling to get his bearings, "if you want to fight someone then you're more than welcome to fuckin' try, but my patience was worn away to nothin' so you'll have to deal with fightin' me instead a my friend here. Now, either get up an try speakin' to me the way you spoke to my good friend, or fuck off. I don't have all night to waste waitin' around for you to stop rollin' on the floor. Get up."

The man sneered with blood-streaked teeth, and he shakily stood up before bringing his fists up in a poorly executed stance "you got just got lucky is all, come on then!" Without even giving himself enough time to properly get his bearings, the man threw a fist at Eridan.

Eridan didn't even hesitate; he grabbed the fist, and used the man's own momentum to his advantage. In one fluid motion, he stepped to the left, and pulled the man forwards, then punched him squarely in the jaw.

The man fell like a sack of shit.

"Oh. Did I get lucky again?" Eridan's voice was cool and collected, and he glared at the man as he addressed his acquaintances, "someone get this asshole away from me before he ends up doin' somethin' that he is most definitely goin' to regret. Take your friend here, an piss off."

There was a quiet murmur from the group, but they eventually moved forwards, and a person dressed as superman, and another that was wearing a cowboy outfit, hefted the heckler away. As they left, a few of them hastily admitted that he always picked fights with people when he was drunk, and others told Eridan and Sollux to fuck off.

While the people shambled away, Eridan did not move from his defensive position; he stood tall, with his chest puffed up, and his fists clenched. Sollux glanced at him, and saw that though he was wearing violet contact lenses, his eyes still burned with a visible, intense hatred. The thought 'if looks could kill, we'd be looking at a homicide,' crossed Sollux's mind fleetingly.

Once they were gone, Sollux sighed, and struggled to find his words, "uhh, thankth." He shrugged, and expected Eridan to just walk away, but he was surprised when the violet eyes turned towards him; they were suddenly devoid of any fury, as worry had taken its place.

"Oh my God." Eridan whispered, "come on, you need to get cleaned up." He placed a hand on Sollux's back, and led him away from the garden, and back into the house. People gave them worried glances as they walked past, but Eridan barely seemed to notice. After checking a few rooms here and there, Eridan finally found one of the bathrooms, and he hurried Sollux inside.

Sollux pulled the lid of the toilet down, and would have laughed at the ridiculous pattern of fish that adorned it, but a twinge of pain suddenly raced through his nose, and settled beneath his eyes, "fuck!" He whispered as he dropped himself onto the toilet; it was bullshit in Sollux's opinion, he hadn't deserved a bloody nose, and it was hurting like hell.

Over by the sink, Eridan was pottering around, he found a black washcloth in one of the drawers, and he soaked it in warm water before wringing it out and returning to Sollux, "this is goin' to suck." He said softly, cupping Sollux's jawline with one hand and tilting his head upwards; Eridan crouched between Sollux's legs, and stared intently at him as he dabbed the soft washcloth against the Gemini's lips and chin.

Every now and again, mostly when Eridan tried to clean Sollux's nose, Sollux would flinch and mumble an expletive, to which Eridan would whisper an apology. But, for the most part, they stayed quiet, each wrapped up in their own thoughts more than anything else.

When Eridan was finished, he looked up at Sollux, "how are you feelin'?" He asked, his voice full of genuine concern.

Sollux shrugged, "still hurtth, but it'th feeling better, I gueth." The pain had become a dull throbbing, but he could wiggle his nose without feeling any fresh pain, which meant that it was already getting better in his opinion. He noticed that Eridan hadn't stopped cupping his cheek, and he leant against the hand gratefully, "thankth, ED."

The use of the nickname seemed to have caught Eridan's attention, and he gave a half-smile as he smoothed his thumb against Sollux's cheek, "don't mention it." He shuffled a little on his knees, and the soles of his shoes squeaked against the tiled floor, "so what happened between you an that guy? Who was the one who tried pickin' the fight?"

"Fuck that guy. We bumped into each other, and he thpilled hith drink down himthelf. He got shitty, and I told him to shut up, and he wouldn't let it fucking go, I tried to leave and he followed me." After a second, Sollux added, "alright, yeah, I admit I kept giving him shit and I might have antagonithed him a bit, but not enough to detherve a punch in the fathe."

Eridan shook his head, "I partially overheard you an the guy tradin' words in the kitchen, an then I saw him follow you out into the garden, I'm just sorry that I didn't come out sooner."

They sat quietly, neither knowing what to say next. Sollux was a little lost in trying to find the words he wanted to say; apologies and gentle words slipped past his grasp, and he struggled to find anything better than, "I'm thorry for everything."

Eridan nodded, "I know you are, you fuckin' idiot." He finally moved his hand away from Sollux's cheek and stood up to clean the washcloth with hot water.

Sollux was a little unsure, but he felt as though Eridan had moved away because he had apologised, so he tried changing the subject, "tho, are you having fun at the party?"

"No offence, but this has been the most exciting shit that's happened to me all night. I came here to hang out with Fef, Kan, an her girlfriend Rose, but so far it's been a shitty night." He shrugged, and wrung the water out of the flannel before dropping it into the laundry-basket, "Fef's been pointin' out guys every now an again, tryin' to cheer me up, but so far it's not worked." He shook his head, and finally looked at Sollux, still a little concerned, "what about you? Have you been enjoyin' yourself here?"

"Oh yeah, I'm having a whale of a time." Sollux muttered sarcastically, "I jutht love being punched in the fathe, it'th my favourite path-time." He folded his arms, and continued to frown, but this eventually gave way to a more self-pitying expression, "to be honetht, I jutht want to go home now."

The concern had softened Eridan's features, and he nodded, "want me to find Kar so that he can take you back?"

Sollux paused; he really did want to go home, especially considering the fact that he felt like utter crap, and his face still felt ached like hell. He nodded, "I'd appreciate it. Thankth."

There was a tiny hesitation before Eridan moved, "I'll be back as soon as I can." He promised, before opening the bathroom door. He stepped through the doorway, allowing Roxy to take his place.

"Oh, hey Roxthy." Sollux said, a little surprised.

Roxy closed the door behind herself, and set herself down on the rim of the bathtub, "hey Solluxander." She tilted her head, "I chased that asshole and his crew out of the house, and I'm totally sorry that they hit you. I thought the pee joke was kind of funny, to be honest."

"Yep, I'm pretty hilariouth, aren't I?" Sollux groaned as he touched his nose gently, it was still sore, and he wondered if it would bruise at all. His train of thought was cut short when he noticed the way Roxy was smirking at him, "what'th that look for?"

"Eridan was pretty quick to jump to your aid, huh?" Roxy mused, wiggling her eyebrows.

"If you call coming out after the bullshit went down 'quick', then yeah. He wath Thpeedy fucking Gonzales." Sollux rolled his eyes, and folded his arms.

"What?" Roxy raised looked confused for a moment, "Eridan was the one who asked me if I could break up the argument. He said that you probably wouldn't have liked to have him shout at the guys, because things were totes awkward between the both of you two." She grinned at the shocked expression that Sollux was wearing, and continued, "but that shit went out the window the second he saw that assmunch was about to hit you. He told us all to stay back and was out the door like a caped crusader, ready to plough down anything in his path. Ehehe, I bet you'd like him to plough something else though, wonk-wonk."

Sollux snorted, "Oh my god, you-" He quickly shut his mouth as the door opened, and Eridan stepped through, "oh, shit, hey ED."

"Hey, am I interruptin' somethin'?" Eridan asked, as Roxy laughed uncontrollably. He raised an eyebrow, and put his hands on his hips, "anyway, I found Kar, an I don't know why but he asked me if I would be the one to walk you home. He was fuckin' fumin' about those guys, so I think that he's probably goin' to head back to yours soon, too." He looked a little uncertain, and his eyes flicked towards Roxy, probably not appreciating the fact that she was watching them both with a coy smile, "I don't mind escortin' you back, if you want, but if you'd prefer to wait for Kar to leave then I don't mind. Whatever's good for you, to be honest."

If there was any way for Eridan to appear any more hesitantly shy, Sollux couldn't imagine it, because at that moment the hipster just seemed like he was trying to be so helpful, and really did have his best interests at heart. Sollux stood up, "nah, fuck it, let'th go." He said, trying to seem as if it wasn't any kind of big deal to him, or anything, "thee you later, Roxthy, thankth for the invite."

The blonde girl winked, "ain't no thing, catch you later guys."

Though the house was still full to the brim with guests, Eridan didn't seem to have any problem getting through the sheer amount of people, and he strode through with his head held high. A few people glanced at him, and who could blame them? He was an imposing figure, and was clothed in a gloriously princely costume.

Sollux, however, was walking along with his head down, trying not to be noticed. He felt like a common pigeon walking in the shadow of a fabulous peacock, but he didn't mind too much, because it was nice to be able to fall under the radar of people's attention. Of course, the fact that the party was still in full-swing meant that people kept dipping in front of them, and between them, and Sollux was falling further behind. A small group of people stopped in front of Sollux to chat, and he tip-toed to try and keep sight of Eridan; he tried to excuse himself around the group, but he was so anxious about losing Eridan, and he just wanted to get out, and-

Eridan's hand was cool as it grasped Sollux's, and Sollux stared at him with thankful eyes. The Aquarius gently pulled him forwards, and kept their hands clasped as he led the nerd through the last few rooms until they were finally outside.

The night sky was quite clear, and enough stars were visible to catch Sollux's attention, and he looked upwards as they both walked along. As they left the house behind them, Sollux was grateful that he was finally away from the ridiculous amount of people, and the blaring music; it was so relaxing to be able to hear himself think again, and his chest was already feeling much better now that his anxiety was subsiding.

After a minute, and once the house was well behind them, Sollux mumbled, "thankth." He turned his attention to the ground and watched his own feet move ahead of each other, and tried to focus on the hand still holding his own.

Eridan shrugged, "ain't nothin' to be thanked for." He seemed to finally notice their hands, and he pulled his own away with a murmured apology. Before Sollux could say anything, Eridan quickly said, "so me an Kar were talkin' earlier, an he asked if I wanted to come round to watch some films with him, but I thought I should check with you to see if that's goin' to be okay. I mean, if it isn't, I'll ask Kar if he wants to just watch films round mine."

"Why wouldn't it be okay with me?" Sollux inquired, but his answer came in the form of a sceptical expression that Eridan was making, "oh, right. Well, I'm not going to thtop you from coming round, tho fill your bootth, dude."

This seemed to please Eridan, and he nodded, "fair enough. Then I suppose you'll be seein' me every now an again."

They quietened down again, each wondering what they could say next, but neither knowing for certain what would be appropriate. In the end, they settled for simply staying silent until they reached the crossroads that would lead them both home in their separate directions, at which point, Eridan said, "right, let's get you home."

Sollux scoffed quietly, and shook his head, "no, ED, you don't have to walk me home, I'll walk you back to yourth."

"Why? It's not like I can't get home myself." Eridan replied, placing a hand on his now angled hip, and raising an eyebrow.

Because I'm afraid you won't make it again. The thought lingered in his mind, and though the words rose to his lips, he could not bear to give them voice. Sollux shook his head, "pleathe."

Eridan held up a hand, "Sollux, I'm not a child, now come on, either let me walk you home, or fuck off right now. I ain't havin' you comin' all the way to mine just for some kind a lingerin' goodbye. At least if I come to yours, I can walk away with my head held high, safe in the knowledge that you're home an that some asshole ain't goin' to jump you." His voice was stern, but it held within it a soft warmth, "now come on, let's get you home." With that, he turned, and began walking in the direction that would lead him to Sollux's.

The Gemini hesitated, and briefly considered storming off towards Eridan's house until the hipster would be forced to follow, but he somehow doubted whether or not he'd be the most stubborn in this situation. He sighed loudly, and quickly caught up with Eridan, almost instantly falling into stride with him, "fine. You win." He muttered, not bothering to mask the amusement in his voice.

They walked in near-silence, and once or twice their hands accidentally brushed against one another. Sollux wanted to grab Eridan's hand, and hold it once again, but he didn't want to piss the Aquarius off, so he sneakily held his hand a little closer, and hoped for more brief touches, wondering if the same thoughts were going through Eridan's mind too.

It took them no time at all to reach the apartment building, and Sollux wished that it could have taken longer. He pulled his keys out of his pocket, "here we are, then."

"Yep." Eridan watched him, and looked almost as awkward as Sollux was feeling, "I'll wait until I see you get inside, otherwise Kar'll bitch at me somethin' chronic." He pulled his cape around himself against the chill in the air, and smiled sadly.

Sollux nodded, and looked up to his front door, wishing he could say something, anything, to keep their meeting going for just a little longer. There was a hundred and one things that he wanted to say, but nothing seemed right, and everything he wanted to say wouldn't leave his lips, but it was now or never, he had to do it, he had to.

Fuck it.

Sollux turned back to the hipster, and brought his hands up to grab both of Eridan's. He took a deep breath, though it did nothing to calm his nerves even the slightest, and with a voice that shook just a little, he asked, "Do you want to maybe go on a date with me thome time?"

Eridan looked a little surprised; he glanced down at the hands clasping his own so tightly, and noted that they felt as though they were shaking, "Sol, I don't know…" He bit his lip, and hesitated, but before he could even think of how to answer the question, Sollux had quickly pulled away, looking sheepish.

"Forget it, it wath a thpur of the moment quethtion," he quickly said, shoving his own hands into his pockets to hide just how much they were shaking. Sollux cursed himself for being such a fool. How could he think that Eridan would ever be interested in willingly spending even another moment with him?

The nerd ascended the steps to his front door as fast as he could, and fumbled with his keys as humiliation burned his cheeks, "anyway, thankth for walking me home, get home thafe, and all that. I'll probably thee you again at thome point, becauthe of that movie thing you'll be doing with Kar, tho-"

"I don't have any conference calls or meetin's that I need to attend to on Tuesday."

Sollux whirled around, and saw that Eridan actually looked a little shy. He swallowed the lump in his throat, "wait, what? Doeth that mean you'll be free to go out with me?" He dared to ask.

Eridan gave a little nod as he held his arms behind his back, "I suppose it does."

"Yeth!" Sollux's face broke into a crooked grin, and he leapt down the steps to return to Eridan's side as quickly as he could; he desperately wanted to throw his arms around the hipster, and spin him around, but he daren't for fear of scaring him away, "Then put a thtar on your calendar, ED, becauthe I'm taking you out."

"Wwell, all I'm sayin' is that you had better hope that nothin' goes wwrong. This date has to be fuckin' perfect to evven slightly impress me." Eridan seemed to hesitate before speaking again, "I'm actually lookin' forwward to this, so don't fuck it up… I guess I'll see you Tuesday then, Sol." Though his stutter had been more pronounced and his cheeks were a bright red, he didn't seem to notice, and he flashed Sollux a shy smile before hurrying away in the direction of his own house.

"Bye, ED." Sollux continued to grin as an excited bout of laughter bubbled up from his chest; he hurried inside the building, and quickly began thinking of a hundred and one places that he could take Eridan. It needed to be perfect, and romantic, and he needed to wear something that would make him look sublime.

Afterall, it was most definitely a date.