Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/221007.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Homestuck
  Relationship:
      Eridan_Ampora/Sollux_Captor
  Character:
      Eridan_Ampora, Sollux_Captor, Kanaya_Maryam, Feferi_Peixes, Karkat
      Vantas, Gamzee_Makara
  Series:
      Part 4 of Collared_Visions_Arc
  Stats:
      Published: 2011-07-09 Words: 6348
****** Mage of Hope ******
by Chichirinoda
Summary
     Sollux wants out of the collar. Is Eridan out of luck for yet another
     quadrant, or can he force or somehow persuade Sollux to stay after
     all?
Notes
     Written for kink_bingo, for the prompt "Held Down"
Sollux woke from a dream of horrorterrors to the murmur of voices that he knew
was entirely inside his own skull. A skull that, thankfully, didn't hurt nearly
as much as it had when he went to sleep, though he knew the swollen bump on the
back of his head would take a few days to go down.
He pushed himself up, looking around warily for Eridan. At first, he didn't see
him at all, and his relief at being alone on the sleeping rectangle gave way
quickly to a fear that he had been abandoned in the room again, unable to leave
until Eridan deigned to let him out.
Then a soft splash brought his eyes around to the pool, and he saw a flash of
shiny wet grey skin as Eridan dove deeply under the water once more.
Well, sulking in the pool was better than menacing Sollux, so the smaller troll
got up from the bed and went in search of his clothes, keeping a close eye on
the pool. He didn't know what to expect from the rejected royal, and it was
entirely possible that Eridan would still do something rash.
Strangely, he found his clothing after only a quick search, damp but clean of
blood. Sollux frowned and began to dress, wondering if Eridan had really
cleaned his clothing, and why.
Eridan surfaced and watched him, only his eyes visible above the water.
"I want out," Sollux said, loudly enough that Eridan couldn't pretend not to
hear him even though his ears were under the water except for the fin-shaped
tips. "We should go after gz before he killth anyone elthe. If he hathn't
already." He pulled his shirt over his head and slipped his glasses onto his
face, then turned to face Eridan squarely, lifting his chin stubbornly.
The aquatic troll moved towards the rim of the pool, barely creating a ripple
in the water. He looked like a shark or something, gliding towards Sollux so
smoothly, though Sollux was far enough away that he didn't feel intimidated.
His eyes flicked to the lengths of fabric nailed to the wall, and narrowed as
he remembered the hours he'd spent hanging there, helpless to Eridan's whims.
Eridan reached the edge and lifted himself out, moving with grace that looked
unconscious, especially considering the nervous expression on his face. He was
nude, and gorgeous, as usual. It made Sollux angry. "I wwant to talk," Eridan
said, water sheeting off of his skin onto the floor. "Come on, Sol. Wwe need to
talk about this."
"Didn't you hear what I thaid?" Sollux demanded. "I thaid I wanted out. I don't
want to talk, and we need to go help our friendth. Or I need to. You can fuck
off and die for all I care."
The taller troll's eyes narrowed and he strode towards Sollux quickly. Sollux
felt his heart skip a beat and he took two steps back, gathering himself, but
Eridan only pulled his own clothes off of the table where Sollux had been
standing - the same table where Sollux's clothes had been - and began to pull
them on.
"Look," Eridan said, his voice taking on an imperious tone. "I get that you
feel you'vve been wwronged, and I fuckin' understand. Maybe I wwent too far
wwith our little powwer struggle, and I upright screwwed up by lettin' you go
out there wwithout your powwers and lettin' you get fucking hurt wwhen I wwas
supposed to be protectin' you. I'vve been thinkin' this up and dowwn and I see
wwhat I did wwrong. All I'm askin' for is another chance. I think you owwe me
that much, Sol, since I'm practically prostratin' myself here and noww, wwhich
is a position that I ain't much used to and don't much like."
Sollux was just mildly irritated by the speech until Eridan said something
about Sollux owing him a second chance. The taller troll was working his shirt
on over his head, making sure his horns didn't tangle, and the instant that his
face popped out of the fabric, Sollux punched him square in the jaw.
Eridan buckled with a howl of pain, clutching at his mouth, from which spurted
purple blood. It looked as though he might have bitten his tongue, though
unfortunately probably not badly enough to bleed to death.
Sollux punched him in the gut, and Eridan doubled over, gagging. Then he picked
him up with his powers, and threw him against the far wall.
Eridan lay on the floor, gasping and moaning, his arms thrown up to protect his
head and his whole body shaking.
"You getting thith?" Sollux snarled, advancing on the other troll. Eridan
looked up, eyes wide, and his claws scrabbled on the wall as he tried to pull
himself to his feet. "You hearing me now? You thtill want to talk, or do you
want to do ath I thay and let me out of thith fucking room?"
"I hear you, fuck, I hear you," Eridan whined, managing to push himself to one
knee, though it was clear that he was dizzy. He swayed a little, then scrambled
up the rest of the way, backing away from Sollux with hands raised. "I'll let
you out! I wwas alwways gonna do that, Sol!"
Sollux stopped his advance and watched Eridan scurry around him, back to where
his clothes were. The purple-blood pulled on his shoes and then wrapped his
scarf around himself, not looking at Sollux. He looked a little weary, now.
Resigned.
Thank goodness. Maybe now he'd give up on all this bullshit. Sollux couldn't
really understand why he was so insistent on 'talking' anyway. If Eridan wanted
to, he could probably get someone else to fuck.
Though Sollux wasn't sure who.
But in any case, however lonely Eridan might be, he couldn't be too crushed at
not being able to fuck an ugly, mutated freak like Sollux, anymore. This whole
stupid adventure had to have been just because Eridan was desperate, and
enjoyed the power trip. But in the end, Sollux was sure he meant nothing to
Eridan other than a convenient target. Someone with a weakness Eridan had
figured out a way to exploit.
Well, Sollux wasn't going to be weak in front of Eridan, anymore.
"I'm not tryin' to stop you from leavvin. Just don't knoww wwhy you're this
fuckin' pissed off," Eridan said sulkily, wringing his scarf between his hands.
He stuck it in his mouth as if to stop more words from coming out, looking at
Sollux from under brows that were drawn down unhappily.
Sollux glared at him. "Oh, you don't know why I'd be pithed at you keeping me
prithoner? Raping me? Forthing me to do anything you wanted, no matter how
humiliating? Fuck, ed, are you thith fucking denthe or are you jutht thaying
that to thave fathe?"
"Wwhat?" Eridan pulled the scarf from his mouth and stared at him with what
looked almost like honest shock. "I nevver raped you, Sol! Don't givve me that
kind a upright ridiculous nonsense. You wwere wwith me all the wway and you're
just sore noww and sayin' that shit to get up my gills, and it's not gonna
wwork!"
Sollux clenched his fists, energy beginning to crackle around him again. "You
think I wathn't raped jutht becauthe I didn't fight you? Ith that the bullshit
I'm hearing right now?"
"Wwell, a course," Eridan glared at him. "You nevver once said no, so get offa
your high seahorse, Sol. You're just bein' stupid noww."
"You dumbshit," Sollux snarled, and picked Eridan up with his telekinetic
power, the invisible force wrapping itself around Eridan and lifting him a foot
into the air. "You think it'th fun hanging around, jutht waiting for thomeone
to dethide they want to uthe you? You think thith wath the thame kind of game
to me ath it wath for you!?"
Eridan made a strangled sound, struggling against the force which was obviously
constricting his airway.
"You don't have a fucking clue," Sollux went on, advancing on the other troll
with hand outstretched towards him, maintaining the force. "You don't know what
ith like to jutht try to get along with thomeone you dethpithe because
otherwithe he'll hurt you."
He was shaking with the force of his emotions and his head was pounding, but
looking at Eridan hanging there, completely helpless, pushed buttons he didn't
even know he had. He wanted to make Eridan hurt. Make him pay. Make him
understand what Sollux had been going through at his hands.
With a growl, he flipped Eridan onto his back and then lowered him to lie on
the floor. Sollux stood over him, the telekinetic power holding him pressed
down, unable to move a muscle. Eridan looked up at him with eyes wide with
abject terror, his lips slightly parted as he gasped for breath.
"Thith ith better," Sollux murmured, putting a foot on Eridan's stomach and
leaning on it. Eridan groaned. "You at my feet. Theemth like good payback."
"S-Sol... let me up," Eridan gritted, his voice half whine, half frustration.
"Come on. This is fuckin' stupid. Aren't wwe wwastin' time? Our fronds--"
"Oh, now you give a shit about our friendth?" Sollux sneered. "I'll let you up
when I'm good and ready, you get it?"
He searched Eridan's face for any sign that the other troll was taking some
perverse pleasure from this, and saw nothing but terror and burgeoning anger.
Well, good. He wanted Eridan scared and angry. He wasn't about to satisfy any
more of Eridan's sick fantasies, not even by accident.
Let's see how he deals with being powerless, he thought grimly, dropping to one
knee next to the prone troll. Might be a good lesson for him.
"I care, I alwways cared," Eridan whimpered, shivering as he tried to shy away
from Sollux, but he still couldn't move. "I don't wwant Fef or Kar or fuck,
Vvris or anyone else to get fuckin' hurt. You knoww that!"
"No, jutht me. You jutht wanted to hurt me," Sollux said. Eridan was succeeding
in making him feel a little guilty, but he pushed it aside for now. It had been
hours already, he was sure, and a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. He hoped.
Anyway, this was a lesson Eridan needed, or so he told himself.
Eridan shook his head quickly, but Sollux increased the pressure to make him
stop, and the highblood grunted in pain.
Sollux grabbed the hem of Eridan's shirt and pulled it up. Eridan's eyes went
wide again, this time with startlement instead of fear. His gills were
expanding and shutting, little lipless mouths with purple fanlike structures
deep inside. They looked tender and sensitive.
He reached for the gills and Eridan made a loud, frightened sound of negation
through his clenched teeth.
"You telling me no, ed?" Sollux asked, eyes narrowed. "But thee, you are
completely at my merthy, tho I don't have to lithten to you if I don't feel
like it."
Eridan squeezed his eyes shut with a whimper.
Wow, that sound was actually sort of hot. Sollux blinked at his own rather
visceral reaction, biting his lip a little as he closed the remaining distance
between his fingers and that gasping mouth between two of Eridan's ribs. He
didn't really like the idea that he might be turned on by Eridan's fear, just
the same way Eridan had been turned on by his own helplessness.
They weren't in a kismesisitude anymore, damnit. All he wanted to do was teach
Eridan a lesson, and then this was over.
Gritting his teeth, he ran his finger along the rim of one of the gills. Eridan
jumped, a loud noise in his throat. That time, it didn't sound like fear, but
Sollux didn't care. It was a little heady, to be able to hurt Eridan if he
wanted, or to give him pleasure, and for Eridan not to know which it was going
to be.
The throbbing behind his eyes was quickly spreading and growing sharper, a
stabbing agony that pulsed with the beating of his heart, but he maintained the
telekinetic pressure. He slid a finger into the gill, feeling it flutter
weirdly against his fingers. Eridan let out another sound, this one sounding
far more nervous.
"I bet if I used my clawth in here, you'd be in a lot of pain," Sollux said
conversationally, trying to control the way his voice wanted to shake.
Eridan whimpered again, and swallowed visibly.
Experimentally, Sollux eased up on the pressure around Eridan's head, allowing
him to open his mouth to speak. He didn't waste time.
"Fuck, fuck, I'm sorry, Sol. I didn't...fuckin' mean it like that. I wwas just
playin', I swwear," Eridan stammered. "Let me go, okay? I'll make it up to ya,
any wwhich wway you wwant."
"Make it up to me?" Sollux rolled his eyes, drawing his fingers out of Eridan's
gill and running the fingertips along the rim again. Eridan bucked against his
bonds, his eyes rolling up in his head as he gave a shuddering gasp. "There'th
no way you can make it up to me, got it?"
"Y-yeah, sure, wwhatevver you say," Eridan gasped, opening his eyes. He fixed a
burning, needy expression on Sollux, and at that moment the smaller troll knew
he was done. If he went any further, he'd wind up doing something he'd regret -
which would probably involve having sex with Eridan again. And that would
definitely not send the right message.
Even if it would be really fun.
Fuck. His. Life.
He got to his feet and released Eridan, then walked towards the teleportalizer,
trying to ignore the arousal between his legs.
Eridan lay motionless for a few seconds, looking a little dazed and a lot
confused. "Wwhat... Sol?"
"Did you forget?" Sollux snarled, hopping up onto the pad and turning back
towards Eridan. "We've got trollth to thave."
"Oh...oh yeah," Eridan's disappointment was palpable. Sollux decided it was
definitely a good thing he had stopped when he did. The last thing he was in
the mood to do was make Eridan think he was forgiven.
Eridan got to his feet, and Sollux noticed with satisfaction that the royal
troll seemed to be in quite a bit of discomfort. He pulled his shirt down and
walked towards him, a little bow-legged.
"You make me thick," Sollux told him, hoping that his own arousal wasn't quite
as obvious.
He had to have pulled it off all right, because Eridan said nothing, just
stepped up next to him on the platform with eyes downcast, and activated it.
                                     ====>
Eridan didn't know how to feel.
He knew he should be angry. The helplessness he had felt at the hands of the
pissblood who had rejected him should have sent him into an incandescent rage
powerful enough to blot out the sun.
And a part of him was angry. He watched Sollux' back as they walked down the
hall in search of the others, thinking about how it would feel to wrap his
hands around his neck and make him choke, how his blood would taste as he cut
furrows in his skin with his claws and then licked it off of Sollux' entire
body.
But mostly he was just miserable, and lonely, and frustrated. Ten times as much
as he was before he had offered Sollux the collar and he had actually accepted.
For a few hours he had tasted what it was like to have someone with him again,
to not be alone, and now he was even more alone than before. Not only had
Sollux rejected him utterly, but Karkat was mad at him, and it was inevitable
that Feferi would find out, eventually.
And he couldn't even blame Sollux. Though he tried, experimenting with telling
himself that Sollux was just being a jerk and stupid, and that it wasn't
Eridan's fault at all, in his heart he knew it was a lie. He couldn't even fool
himself about it, this time.
"Why don't you go thome other way?" Sollux snarled at Eridan as they plodded
along. "I don't want you with me."
Eridan swallowed hard and struggled to straighten his shoulders. His pride was
shattered and all he wanted to do was be alone, but he was afraid of what would
happen if he went back to his room, as Sollux evidently wanted him to do. He
wasn't sure what he'd do, other than sink into a black depth of misery he
wasn't sure he'd ever claw his way out of.
"Can't say I care wwhat you fuckin' wwant, any more than I did a feww hours
ago," Eridan said. It sounded pretty good in his head, but out loud it lacked
conviction.
Sollux glared at him over his shoulder. "I could make you leave me alone."
Eridan's stomach dropped. "I'm not fuckin' doing anythin wwrong right about
noww, so just leavve it, Sol," he muttered, meeting the glare with one of his
own. At least if Sollux pissed him off, it was easier to ignore the gaping, raw
wound in his soul. "If wwe split up and Gam showws up, or somethin', wwhat'll
wwe do then? Better wwe stick together just in case bad shit goes dowwn."
The other troll frowned and looked forward again, shrugging. "Fine, I gueth
that maketh thenthe."
Then Sollux stopped dead with a soft, strangled noise. Eridan's eyes widened
and an instant later the wand fell into his hand. He stared all around, then
trotted forward to see what Sollux was looking at.
It was a trail of brownish orange blood, leading down the hall. And not just a
few drips or smears, as if Tavros had been hurt and was bleeding. It was a wide
stain, as if he had been soaked in his blood and then dragged. Eridan could
scarcely believe there was so much blood left in Tavros' body, particularly
after he'd already had his legs cut off.
"Fuck... you think this is Gam?" Eridan asked, his throat half-closed with a
mixture of emotions. He didn't really care about the weak troll. He was even
lower than Sollux and about a thousand times more pathetic. But it was shocking
to think Gamzee might have killed Tavros, of all people.
"Who elthe could it be?" Sollux asked, his own cheeks looking a little pale.
"Come on, let'th follow it."
Sollux started down the hall at a quicker pace, and Eridan hesitated a bit
before trotting forward to catch up. "I don't knoww if this is a good fuckin'
idea, Sol," Eridan said.
"If you're thcared, you know the way back," Sollux growled, his eyes scanning
back and forth.
"I'm not scared, you shut the fuck up!" Eridan snapped with a flare of anger.
"Yeah, sure. Look, when we find gz, you can hide behind me, you fuckwit. Shoot
at him with your thtupid toy, if you want, but make room for my awethome
pthychic blathtth, or you might get burned," Sollux returned.
Eridan growled, eyes narrowing, and he drew himself up. "Funny, I wwas gonna
say the same thing. You can just cowwer wwhile I unleash the awwesome powwer of
my wwand. No pissblood crawwling wworm can possibly stand up to me, and if you
get in my wway, you'll just get mowwed dowwn."
Sollux glanced up at him with a quicksilver, almost mischievous smile, and
Eridan found himself smiling in return. There was something familiar about
this, a back and forth banter that was easy and comfortable and black.
Energizing.
Not for the first time, Eridan wished that he could have been the one who went
through the game with Sollux, instead of Feferi. Not only would he have had
someone to spend time with, but it would have been someone who was interesting,
smart, and with whom he had an odd kind of pitch rapport.
Then Sollux seemed to remember himself and he scowled again, looking away and
quickening his pace. Instantly, the moment was gone, and Eridan felt that
energy he had had for a moment drain out of him like water through a sieve.
The drag marks led up a set of stairs and Sollux led the way upwards. The
silence was oppressive, and Eridan struggled to think of a way to break it, to
try to bring the energy between them back to that mood again. Sollux had to
have felt it, too.
"This goes up to the roof, huh?" he said cautiously. "Wwhat do ya think Gam is
doin' up there?"
"Chopping tv into little pietheth, from the blood," Sollux said, his tone
heavy.
Well. That hadn't worked.
Sollux opened the door and Eridan heard a honk, and then a roar like a chainsaw
motor.
It was happening again.
He didn't pause to think. With a snarl, he pushed Sollux aside and dove past
him, taking the blow that was meant for his kismesis.
He barely even felt the pain before blackness overwhelmed him. Which was
probably a mercy.
                                     ====>
Sollux scarcely had time to register the roar of the motor or the sight of
Gamzee darting towards him before he felt a blow from the side. Eridan slammed
into him and Sollux cursed as he caught himself on the wall.
For an instant the tall figure of the royal troll filled the doorway, and then
purple blood fountained. Eridan fell backwards, Gamzee on top of him.
Sollux yelled in shock as Eridan plunged past him down the stairs and the two
highbloods slid out of sight.
Kanaya stood in the doorway, her chainsaw coated liberally in purple blood.
"Sollux?" she said, blinking. "Are you quite unhurt?"
Sollux gaped at her, then turned and dashed headlong down the stairs.
His feet hit a patch of blood and slid out from under him once, but he managed
to catch himself with his powers. He flew the rest of the way.
Gamzee's legs from the waist down lay a short distance from the crumpled purple
heap at the bottom of the stairs, and his upper half lay on Eridan's chest. He
was definitely dead.
Eridan lay on his back, his eyes shut, gore coating him liberally from head to
toe.
Sollux shoved the corpse aside and dropped to his knees beside Eridan,
swearing. Sollux only now realized that he was also spattered with purple
blood, as he reached to touch the other troll, but that didn't matter.
"Fuck, fuck, don't be dead, you fucking lother," he exclaimed, feeling for a
pulse, but he couldn't tell if he could feel it or not beside the thunder of
his own heart.
"Check his gills."
Sollux started and looked up. He hadn't noticed that anyone else had followed
him, but Kanaya, Karkat, and Feferi stood gathered around him, looking solemn
and unhappy. It was Feferi who had spoken, and she knelt beside him, pulling
Eridan's shirt up and baring the gaping slits of his gills. They were still
moving in a regular rhythm.
"Oh thank gog," Sollux breathed, then immediately wondered why he had said it.
Didn't he hate Eridan, to the point of wanting him dead? It wasn't a rivalry,
it was loathing.
"I apologize," Kanaya said in a subdued manner. "Did I harm him, as well?
Gamzee tried to flee from us, but the door opened just as I reached him and
attacked."
"I don't think so," Feferi said cheerfully. She had pulled Eridan's shirt up
higher, baring his stomach and chest. "He doesn't look cut! I think he hit his
head on the way down."
"Thtupid dumbath," Sollux snarled, and to his own shock, he felt tears sting
his eyes. "He...he tried to thave me."
"He did?!" That was from Karkat, who was staring in shock. Then Karkat's jaw
dropped further. "Hey! You don't have, uh..."
"The collar!" Feferi said, glubbing in shock. "You don't have it on, Sollux.
Are you okay?"
"You do look somewhat worse for wear," Kanaya said. "But...collar?"
"Never mind that, Kanaya!" Karkat snarled. "Uh, but are you okay, Captor?" he
added in a more subdued tone. "Last we saw, you had lost a pretty harsh
argument with a wall."
Sollux drew in a breath, feeling overwhelmed by all the questions. "I'm okay,"
he said. "I jutht..."
He stared down at Eridan, struggling to figure out what he was feeling. Why had
Eridan gotten in front of him like that? The only explanation he could think of
was that he had thought Gamzee was attacking again and was trying to protect
Sollux.
But why? Sollux had been able to protect himself, and more importantly, Eridan
couldn't expect to get something out of it, this time. Sollux had made himself
pretty clear.
A hand rested on his shoulder and he looked up into Feferi's kind, smiling
face. "He is so hard to deal with, isn't he?" she asked, rolling her eyes a
little.
"Yeah," Sollux agreed, looking down again.
"Stupid douchenozzle probably hates himself almost as much as you do," Karkat
added. "You going to take him back?"
Sollux felt the tips of his ears burn. "I don't know."
Karkat thumped Sollux on the back of the head, causing a flare of pain. Sollux
swore and rubbed the bruise from his earlier injury, looking up at his friend
through watering eyes.
"He probably doesn't deserve it," Karkat growled, turning to stomp up the
stairs. "But if he makes you happy, do it."
"Or if you just want to," Feferi said with a little giggle. "He does need
someone to keep him in line."
"That is quite correct," Kanaya sighed.
Feferi wiped some of the blood tenderly from Sollux' face with her fingers.
"I'm sorry I couldn't do it, myself, but I think you'll do a better job than I
ever did. He never respected me, the way he respects you."
Sollux' mouth fell open. "What? Are you nutth?"
Feferi only giggled again, shaking her head, and got to her feet.
Then both of the girls turned to follow Karkat back up the stairs. Sollux
looked down at Eridan again, thinking, then stood and lifted the royal troll
with his powers. He started back down the hall once again.
Fuck, this was stupid.
                                     ====>
Eridan woke to a pounding headache and the gentle swish and glide of water
through his gills. He floated, weightless, and tried to remember what had
happened.
Abruptly, he realized the water tasted faintly of the coppery taste of land-
dweller blood, and that flavour brought it all flooding back. He grimaced and
tried to straighten himself up, thrashing against something that held him
tight.
"Fuck, thtop thquirming! You're thafe now, jeguth, ed!"
The voice was muffled, coming from above the surface of the water, and Eridan
stilled in shock. He opened his eyes and looked up, realizing that the tight
bonds around him were Sollux' arms and legs, and he was held just an inch or
two beneath the water, while Sollux' head was above water.
With a growl, Sollux let go of him and climbed out, while Eridan tentatively
poked his head up above the water.
He was back in his own room.
Sollux had brought him back to his own room. A place he couldn't escape without
Eridan's help. Though he supposed his own unconscious body was enough.
But why had Sollux bothered to bring him anywhere at all?
Eridan swam to the edge of the pool and stared up at Sollux, who had his back
to him as he walked away. He was nude, and water beaded and glistened on his
skin, instead of sheeting off quickly, like it did with Eridan. "Wwhat the fuck
happened?" Eridan asked tentatively.
"You don't remember?" Sollux asked, walking away from him. The smaller troll
sat on the edge of the bed, a good distance away from Eridan. He gazed at
Eridan, wearing an inscrutable expression behind his glasses.
"I remember Gam attackin' you," Eridan said, climbing out and then rubbing the
back of his head with a wince. "I thought I wwas gonna die."
"Gz wathn't attacking me," Sollux informed him. "He wath cut down by kn right
before he hit you, and you both went down the thtairth. But he wath already
dead when you fell."
"Oh," Eridan said, scowling a little with embarrassment. He searched Sollux'
expression for any sign of amusement or mockery, but couldn't find any. He
couldn't figure out what Sollux was thinking, at all.
He didn't know what else to do but wait, so he did, cautiously approaching the
other troll halfway and taking a seat in his chair. He tried not to feel, well,
naked. But Sollux was sitting there perfectly nude and not seeming to mind,
despite the freakish state of his body, so Eridan wasn't to be out-done.
"You tried to thave my life," Sollux said solemnly, after a long, uncomfortable
pause. "Why?"
Eridan squirmed, considering and discarding several possible replies. "It wwas
just a thing, okay? I don't expect ya to understand the vvagaries of my
wwhims."
Sollux rolled his eyes and said nothing.
"Wwhy'd you bring me here? And stick me under the wwater, too? That ain't
exactly your usual sort a behavviour, especially since you can't fucking
swwim," Eridan shot back, frowning at Sollux. He felt like if he could just
figure out what was going on here, he would be on firmer ground, but right now
everything was shifting under his feet.
"It wath jutht a thing," Sollux said sarcastically. "I don't ekthpect you to
underthtand the vagarieth of my whimth."
Eridan's eyes narrowed. "Fuck off, Sol."
"You, too."
They fell silent for a moment, glaring at each other.
Then, finally, Eridan gave voice to the tiny bit of hope that was slowly
growing in his chest. "Are ya...thinkin' of taking me back, like, into a pitch-
type relationship, again?"
Sollux sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I gueth." Eridan surged up in his
chair, elation giving him a rush of energy, but Sollux raised one finger
warningly. "But I've got conditionth."
That wasn't totally unexpected, and Eridan settled back again, clenching his
hands together. "Wwhat conditions are those? You don't havve any expectations
of somethin' stupid like some kind a equality, like me not treatin' you like
the lowwblood scum you knoww ya are."
"Not really," Sollux said, shrugging. "I know you'll be a highblood athhole no
matter what I do."
"A royal troll wwho's so fuckin' high abovve you that you should be lookin' up
at me from your knees, you mean," Eridan corrected loftily. He was already
feeling a hell of a lot better, and his mind buzzed with plans and fantasies.
"Whatever," Sollux said, and got to his feet, picking up something from the
bed. He walked towards Eridan, who jumped up as well, frowning down at the
shorter troll until he realized what he was holding.
Two collars, and a ring.
Eridan recoiled nervously. "Is that your condition?"
"Yeth," Sollux said, holding one of the collars and the ring out to Eridan. "I
want that thilenthe back, you know that. But I'm not doing it tho long ath you
can jutht turn it off any time you like. You want to punish me with this ring?
You thuffer, too. If I'm not worth thith to you, you can jutht go thtraight to
hell."
"But, it's so much wworse for me," Eridan protested, though in his heart he
knew he really didn't have a leg to stand on. "And I don't havve your powwers,
either. It's not fuckin' fair, Sol!"
Sollux looked up at him, a slow, contemptuous smirk spreading across his face.
The expression made Eridan's blood boil. "You thaying you can't betht me in a
fair fight, ed?"
Eridan purpled and grabbed the collar and ring out of Sollux' hand. "I'll have
you on your kneeth in ten thecondth flat," he snarled, and slipped the collar
around his neck, fastening it, then putting on the ring.
Sollux nodded and put his own collar on. It glittered at his throat, and Eridan
reached out almost without meaning to, stroking his fingers down Sollux' neck
and along the rim of the collar. The smaller troll shivered and bared his
teeth, hissing a warning against the touch to such a vulnerable place.
It was the most beautiful sound.
Eridan caught the back of Sollux' neck and tried to drag him towards the water.
"No! Fuck you. We're doing thith on land, thith time, gog," Sollux snarled, and
the next thing Eridan knew, two fingers had plunged into one of his gills.
There was a stabbing explosion of pain that rippled right through him, and he
snarled, his own claws raking into Sollux' tender neck, where he gripped him.
"Let the fuck go," Eridan said, his voice thready from agony despite the rage.
Sollux looked up at him, startled, and withdrew the fingers, leaving a
throbbing ache behind. "You okay?"
Eridan kicked the smaller troll's feet out from under him and Sollux went down
hard on his backside with a yelp. Eridan followed him a second later, grabbing
Sollux' hands and pinning them above his head. "You don't fuckin' do that
again. Evver!"
Sollux struggled, and then Eridan felt an invisible hand pick him up and toss
him aside. He went sprawling, but picked himself up on hands and knees, holding
his side with one hand. A bit of blood leaked from the gill that Sollux had
lacerated. Sollux sat up.
The two trolls' eyes met and locked. Eridan grinned. So did Sollux.
A moment later, the two were tangled together on the floor, rolling over and
over, biting and clawing, their lips locked together in a harsh kiss. The pool
was forgotten, and the bed ignored. They humped and ground their groins
together, their bulges both split open and the tender flesh underneath flushed
with blood and hardening.
Somehow, Eridan got a hand around one of Sollux' shafts. He stroked it and
Sollux groaned and moaned, grinding himself down against the bigger troll, who
lay flat on his back, rocking up against the slighter weight.
Sollux wormed a hand between them, shoving Eridan's legs apart with telekinetic
force and pinning the troll to the floor as two fingers slid deep into Eridan's
nook. Eridan snarled and fought the bonds, but unlike before, he could breathe
and speak, and even move his arm to jerk Sollux off with ferocity.
"Fuck you, you loww-born piece of fuckin' trash," Eridan spat. "You are not
fuckin' doing that! You should be under me, you scum-sucking, slime licking
wwriggler!"
"I love you, too," Sollux said sweetly, and twisted his lower body. Eridan
still had one of his bulges in hand, but the other plunged into Eridan's nook,
sliding easily into the passage, slick with arousal and far larger than Sollux'
own mutated, split genitalia.
Eridan howled with rage and pleasure, jerking upwards against the telekinetic
pressure. He couldn't move, couldn't fight, and there was nothing he could do
but take what Sollux gave him.
He loved it.
Sollux gasped and writhed above him, his own movements completely unhampered as
he snapped his hips forward, driving himself through the circle of Eridan's
fingers and into his nook at the same time. The two trolls' breathing became
more and more laboured, the room filled with the sounds of their gasping cries.
Then Sollux lifted one hand and played it down Eridan's gills like he was
plucking the strings of a musical instrument. The first one, the one Sollux had
clawed, flared with pain, but that was immediately subsumed by intense pleasure
as his fingers brushed against sensitive organs that were flushed with blood
and gaping with Eridan's rapid breaths.
Eridan screamed, his mouth open wide and his head thrown back. His toes curled
and his climax swept him out to sea.
He vaguely heard Sollux give a groan and then cry out himself, and felt more
genetic material spatter his chest, even as more flowed into his nook in a
warm, pleasurable rush.
                                     ====>
carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]
CG: HEY, NOT THAT I REALLY CARE THAT MUCH, BUT I WAS SORT OF GENERALLY
WONDERING IF YOU WERE ALIVE IN THERE.
CG: AT LEAST, WE WERE ALL SORT OF WONDERING.
CG: NOT ME, SPECIFICALLY. I WAS JUST CHOSEN TO BE THE ONE TO TROLL YOU FOR SOME
UNFATHOMABLE REASON.
CG: PROBABLY MY SPARKLING PERSONALITY.
CA: oh hey, kk
CA: oop2, hang on
twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]
TA: wow, that'2 way better
TA: typiing iin that 2hiit colour made my 2tomach churn
CG: IF YOU'RE DONE FUCKING AROUND
CG: AT LEAST I ASSUME THERE WASN'T ANY FUCKING GOING ON, IN A LITERAL SENSE.
TA: 2orry yeah
TA: ed can't come two the hu2ktop riight now
TA: he'2 iindii2po2ed
TA: iif you know what ii mean
TA: but two an2wer your que2tiion, he'2 not dead
TA: and we may have been fuckiing around a liittle
CG: OH MY GOD
CG: I CAN'T EXPRESS THE DEPTHS OF MY HATRED FOR BOTH OF YOU SICK OVER-SHARING
NOOKSNIFFERS.
CG: ...
CG: I'M GLAD YOU WORKED IT OUT.
TA: thank2, kk
CG: THIS IS PROBABLY THE PART WHERE A CARING FRIEND WILL TELL YOU TO HAVE FUN
AND NOT DO ANYTHING EXCESSIVELY DANGEROUS OR STUPID.
CG: BUT I KNOW THAT THOSE EXPECTATIONS ARE SO FAR BEYOND WHAT YOU'RE CAPABLE
OF, IT WOULD BE A WASTE OF PRECIOUS PIXELS JUST TO TYPE THEM.
CG: SO I'M JUST GOING TO TELL YOU TO FUCK OFF AND THAT POSSIBLY YOU MIGHT WANT
TO COME UPSTAIRS AT SOME POINT.
CG: BUT THERE'S NO BIG RUSH. END OF THE UNIVERSE. SCRATCH COMING. NOTHING
REALLY IMPORTANT.
TA: you're the be2t
TA: really, ii'm teariing up
CG: GO FUCK YOURSELF.
CG: AND I MEAN THAT IN THE NICEST POSSIBLE WAY.
carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA]
caligulasAquarium [CA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]
CA: thanks kar
CA: for wwhatevver you did, if you did anythin i mean
CG: YEAH YEAH
CG: DON'T SCREW IT UP, THIS TIME.
carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling caligulasAquarium [CA]
CA: i wwont
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