One Plus One Equals Three (Erisol fanfic)

Chapter 11

Sollux completely lost track of whatever it was he had planned on telling his matesprit when he entered the ablution block. The sharp scent of salt water permeated the air and assaulted his nostrils like a slap to the face. Upon hearing the psionic enter the room Eridan brought his head above the water and reclined against the angled side of the large tub. When the two had chosen to move in together they made sure both of their needs would be met within the same space. For Sollux that had meant plenty of space to store various computer parts and for his apiculture networks to function properly. Eridan had chosen to install a rather large tub in the ablution block which had plumbing that allowed for it to either be filled with regular tap water or water directly routed from the ocean.

"Thalt water, huh," Sollux more or less stated because it was pretty obvious by the smell and the vaguely cloudy look of the water that it was. Eridan only filled the tub up with salt water when he planned on being in there for a while.

"Did you need anythin' Sol?" Eridan asked curiously as he wiped his hands on a nearby towel and picked up one of the books that he had stacked on the side of the tub. Sollux had to admit he was a bit disappointed by this development as he had hoped the two of them would have been able to pick up where they left off before Aradia had come storming in. He supposed they still could but that would involve him sloshing around in a tub full of seawater and he'd rather just sit at his husktop and stay dry.

"Jutht wanted to let you know that my inthane moirail hath left tho you can come out whenever you're ready. I gueth that'll be awhile." Eridan flipped through his book until he found where he had left off.

"Yeah sorry about that. I just really felt like I needed to get in the water an' I figured I could catch up on my readin' while I'm at it," the sea troll explained.

"That'th fine. I've got thome work to catch up on anywayth," said Sollux. Eridan nodded his head in acknowledgment before diving back into his book and shutting the rest of the world out.

Sollux had been so focused on his projects that he hadn't glanced at a clock in hours. He was surprised at how early it was getting. The sun would be rising in only a couple more hours. He saved his work and leaned back in his chair to stretch his arms over his head. He heard a few satisfying pops before he stood up to make his way to his and Eridan's coon. As he passed by the ablution block he heard the unmistakable sounds of water droplets hitting still water. He paused by the door and thought there was no way Eridan wouldn't be in the recuperacoon by now.

Sollux pushed the door the rest of the way open and peered inside. The room still smelled heavily of sea salt but it was completely silent and still. The ceiling held a rippling light of reflected water from the tub. The yellow blood approached the tub as quietly as he could and peered down into it. Eridan lay curled up at the bottom of the tub fast asleep. Sollux had to suppress a sigh before he left the room to go climb into the recuperacoon. Eridan had slept in the tub before but it happened very rarely and Sollux had grown to hate sleeping alone.

The next evening the Gemini was awakened by the buzzing of his phone. He reached out a sopor drenched arm to grope for it on the edge of the coon. He somehow managed to not drop the device into the slime and brought it close to his face as he tried to squint through his sleepy haze to make sense of the message on his screen.

CA: can you bring me some breakfast im hungry

TA: where the fuck are you?

CA: in the ablution block

Sollux was now very awake. He was very awake, very confused, and also slightly irritated. The double horned troll pulled himself out of the recuperacoon and toweled off quickly before grabbing a pair of boxers and jamming them on. He stomped to the ablution block where sure enough Eridan was still in the tub although he was now awake and flipping through a different book.