One Plus One Equals Three (Erisol fanfic)

Chapter 20

Neither Sollux or Eridan got much sleep the first day after Psiion hatched, despite Kanaya having told them that under normal circumstances grubs were able to live perfectly fine on their own in the brooding caverns until they went through the trials. Even then, only the strongest grubs survived the trials to be chosen by a lusus. Eridan and Sollux knew very well that they themselves had been through exactly the same process when they were grubs, but they still fretted over leaving their grub alone in the nursery while they slept.

"This may actually pose a problem in the future," Kanaya had informed them. "All grubs hatched on Alternia must go through the trials to be certain that only the strongest live to contribute their genetics to the further progression of our species. Your grub has no trial to overcome and is being housed in a hive protected by two adult trolls. Do you see the paradox in your situation?"

When the sun finally set and the moons came out Eridan groggily pulled himself out of the recuperacoon and shuffled into the ablution block for a shower. Sollux got into the shower with him when he was halfway done and began rinsing the sopor slime from his body. The psionic looked barely awake and Eridan could have sworn he saw his matesprit fall asleep in the spray of the water a few times.

"Why don't you go back to sleep for a few hours?" Eridan suggested.

"Gotta thpend time with Thiion and check on the other eggth," the Gemini murmured. Eridan sighed and grabbed his towel then stepped out of the shower.

"I'm goin' to check on her as soon as I'm dressed. I guess you can meet me in there," the violet blood said receiving a grunt in response. He dried himself off and left the room with the towel wrapped around his waist. Once he had re entered the respite block he chose his outfit for the day and dressed absent mindedly. He ran a hand through his damp hair to push it out of his eyes decided not to style it for the night since he was just planning on essentially lounging around the hive.

Once dressed, Eridan made his way out of the respite block down the hall to the nursery and opened the door slowly. He almost didn't expect to find a living grub on the other side of the door because the hatching the night before almost felt like a dream. The Aquarius stepped inside the room carefully and quietly closed the door behind himself before looking around in the dim lighting to find his grub. He stepped closer to the shallow pool and heard a few splashes followed by tiny squeaks. Psiion clambered out of the water and scurried over to where Eridan was crouching down to greet her.

"Good evenin', Psi," Eridan said to her with a stupid grin on his face that he couldn't hold back. Psiion approached him and leaned her face out to sniff at one of his ringed hands before nuzzling her head against it. "Is that your way of sayin' hello?" Eridan asked. Psiion turned her head and began gnawing on one of Eridan's rings. "Hey now, don't chew on that," he reprimanded and pulled his hand away from her. "We can get you your own rings when you're older if you like 'em so much." He looked over at the other two eggs that remained in the water. "I suppose you wouldn't happen to know when those two plan on hatchin'," he asked the little grub. She looked up at him with her large red and blue eyes.

The door to the nursery opened again and Psiion looked over at it with interest as Sollux entered. The psionic approached where his matesprit was seated on the floor and saw their grub watching him from near one of Eridan's knees. "Hey Thiion," he said to her as he remained standing.

"You look like hell," Eridan remarked.

"Thankth ED," Sollux replied easily shrugging off the insult. "How about we bring her out into the retht of the hive for awhile?" Sollux suggested. "I've got thome work I need to get done."