Just as Eridan was washing his hands and giving his hair a final check in the mirror, someone came sprinting into the restroom at full speed. He couldn't even tell who it was. Someone he didn't know, probably.
Must be a very serious emergency, he thought as he dried his hands with a couple flimsy paper towels and fished his rings out of his pockets to put them back on. It happens. But as he turned to leave, he heard a muffled sob. Maybe it wasn't a cafeteria lunch-fueled emergency like he'd suspected.
Ah, well. None of his business anyway. Still, he was very thankful that he avoided that sketchy looking meatloaf.
Fiddling with his rings, he once again started to leave. University students having mental breakdowns wasn't entirely uncommon, especially with midterms underway. Probably some poor stressed out bastard reaching his breaking point and diving into the nearest bathroom to hide for a while.
Bang!
A fist slammed into the stall wall, followed by the sound of a pair of glasses clattering on the tile. Cursing, a hand followed, but knocked the glasses across the floor and out of reach. This in turn produced more cursing.
Glancing back, Eridan debated whether or not he should bother helping whoever it was retrieve his glasses. Maybe he just wanted some space…
Wait a minute. He knows those stupid two-tone glasses.
"Sol..?"
No answer.
"Hey, you okay in there?"
Still no answer.
Eridan sighed, bending over to pick up the pair of glasses and hand them under the door. They were quickly snatched from his hand.
"Thanks," he heard after a moment. The familiar lisp confirmed his theory.
"Er… you're welcome. Are you okay..?"
"Do I fucking sound okay to you?" Sollux snapped, enough to make Eridan flinch.
"Well, no. That's why I asked. I know I'm probably the last troll you want to talk to right now, but I've got a few minutes before my next class."
"Why the fuck would you even care?"
He had to think a bit about that one. Why would he care? Why did he care about the emotional wellbeing of some pissblood, let alone the one who stole his moirail?
"I don't know…"
"Bullshit. I bet you just want to find out so you can make fun of me."
"We're not fuckin' wrigglers anymore," Eridan spat, standing up and stretching a little. His back had been acting up again.
"Yeah? So what?"
"So maybe I've actually bothered to grow up and start actin' like an adult."
Sollux laughed a little. What kind of ridiculous argument was that? Sure, Eridan had stopped wearing his stupid cape all the time, but that didn't mean he was any less of a stuck up prick.
"Go ahead, laugh all you want. At least I was tryin' to be nice!" Eridan snarled, storming out of the restroom and heading to class. Arriving a few minutes early wouldn't hurt. He could arrange his things neatly on his desk and play a game on his phone while he waited.
Instead of paying attention to the lecture on the capture, trial, and execution of Spinneret Mindfang by Neophyte Redglare, Eridan spent the next hour taking vague notes and angrily doodling little spades in his notebook. Yes, he knew it was childish and stupid, but angry scribbling is therapeutic sometimes. Besides, he'd read just about every book he could get his hands on about Mindfang back in middle school. Mostly for the parts about his own ancestor, but she was pretty cool too.
