Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/346418.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Choose_Not_To_Use_Archive_Warnings, Underage
  Category:
      F/M, M/M, Multi
  Fandom:
      Homestuck
  Relationship:
      Eridan_Ampora/Sollux_Captor, Sollux_Captor/Feferi_Peixes, Eridan_Ampora/
      Sollux_Captor/Feferi_Peixes, Eridan_Ampora/Feferi_Peixes
  Additional Tags:
      Humanstuck
  Stats:
      Published: 2012-02-24 Updated: 2012-03-13 Chapters: 1/? Words: 1113
****** We Three Kings ******
by MischiefManaged_(orphan_account)
Summary
     When you had gotten into the car with them, you had expected to form
     some sort of bond. After all, the three of you would be travelling a
     fair distance together. This relationship wasn't what you had in
     mind. As you look up at the night sky and feel the warmth radiating
     from both of them in the back of the abandoned pickup truck, you
     can't bring yourself to care.
Your name is Sollux Captor and today is quite possibly one of the worst ones in
your lifetime. It's twelve degrees warmer than one hundred and the sun is
bearing down on you with the intensity of an angry bull. Your mismatched
converse are sticking to the bottom of your feet, even with the thin layer of
cotton that your socks provide. Sweat is making your shirt cling to your chest
and you feel gross. You're miserable, stuck on the side of a pretty deserted
highway with nothing but a backpack and laptop case. 
The thick strap is digging angry red lines into your shoulder and you grunt out
a curse as the second car in two hours speeds past as if you aren't even there.
Fine. You hitch the strap further up your shoulder and continue walking along
the road. Might as well try and get somewhere while you wait for someone to
take pity on you. 
Your feet feel heavy, your arms swing like lead pendulums beside you, and
everything aches. It could have been hours, really, since you left home. You
doubt if anyone's even noticed that you're gone. 
Finally, (two hours later, but still) mercifully, someone stops their car. It's
older, in pristine condition, and awful. One of those obscure foreign brands
that only the upperclass can afford and frat boys fantasize about. You think it
looks ugly, hideously purple and polished to blinding levels. It could pass for
black, but not in this lighting. The sun reflects off the side of it and blares
into your vision. You wince and shield your eyes with your free hand as the
driver rolls his window down. Fuck.
Thick rimmed glasses, hair pushed back with a purple streak in just the wrong
place, a fucking scarf even though it's a thousand degrees. You've just
encountered a hipster. His lips are curled into a sneer as he looks you over
and you fight back a snide remark. No need to lose the only ride that's
bothered to stop today. 
"Where are you headed?" His voices rises and falls in an accent you can't
place, liquid and wavering. Like high tide. You hate it already. 
You sniff and shift the strap, pushing your own thin glasses up on the bridge
of your nose. "Chicago."
He looks around you as if the land will magically become whatever landscape
he's picturing. He snorts a derisive and mocking laugh your way and you grit
your teeth. "Chicago's a long way from here, kid."
Kid. Kid.This douchebag hardly looks a year older than you and he's calling you
kid. You have never felt such a strong urge to punch someone in the mouth
repeatedly until this moment. Your next words are politely forced, lisp barely
under control. You had taken speech therapy as a kid to get rid of it, but it
tends to show up when you're stressed or annoyed.
"Then anywhere is fine. Just... Not here."
He nods as if you finally said something worth listening to and points to the
back seat. That pisses you off more than it should. What, are you not good
enough to ride passenger? You take a deep breath to keep from seething as you
carefully swing open the door behind his and climb inside ungracefully. 
You set your things down on the floor beside you and- Oh. You notice the woman
in the passenger seat. She's turned to face you, grin almost as bright as the
sun boring in the window behind her. You close the door, buckle yourself in,
and finally give her a small wave. Her smile doesn't even waver. 
"Hi there! I'm Feferi," she says, jutting a hand out for shaking. You lean over
to grasp it lightly shaking it twice before letting go. You note that her
accent is similar to his, but thicker. More like a surging ocean than his soft
waves. "And that grump over there is Erida-"
"Fef, I don't think it's a fuckin' good idea to just tell random strangers our
names," he cuts in with an annoyed huff, shifting gears and driving away.
She laughs like she's used to his attitude. She probably is. "Well, if we're
already taking him with us, I don't see the harm." He huffs again, but
otherwise remains silent and she takes that as an affirmation. "That grouchy
grump over there is Eridan."
You nod, but that's all. His eyes don't even go to the rear view to see if you
acknowledged him. God damn it. You turn attention to her. "I'm Th- Sollux."
If she noticed your slip up, she doesn't say anything. Though you're pretty
sure Eridan just snorted under his breath in mocking amusement. "Nice to meet
you, Sollux. I hope you like Washington, because that's where we're going. We'd
be glad to drop you off somewhere else along the way!"
You have to wonder at that. Washington is just as far from here as Illinois and
almost the exact opposite direction. Whatever. You can work around this.
Washington is bound to have some sort of technical job open for you, though
probably not as under the table as you'd like. You sniff once and get
completely comfortable.
"Washington is fine. If you don't mind me tagging along, that is."
Eridan mutters something, and you don't quite catch what he says.
It's guttural and annoyed, and possibly not English. That's confirmed
when Feferi hisses something back that seems lofty and beautiful in such a
cutting way.
You choose not to get involved as their conversation escalates into an
argument, looking out the window and watching the dried weeds on the side of
the road bend to the wind. You stare until the car grows silent and your head
begins to spin from the beginnings of carsickness you never quite outgrew.
It doesn't help that the car smells like leather and air freshener that
probably cost more than the prescription glasses you wear. You press the small
button to your left and roll down the windows. Almost instantly, Eridan barks
something at you in that ridiculous language of his. Your silence seems to snap
him out of his anger enough that he can address you correctly. "Hey! Don't you
see all that fuckin' dust out there? Close the damn window."
You take your good old time complying with his order, sneering at him in the
rear view because you know he can't hear you. When you turn your gaze to the
passenger seat, Feferi is twisted to give you an apologetic look. You simply
shrug and go back to watching the day burn away.
This is going to be an experience. 
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