Highkey Dodgy :Erisol:

Chapter 8: Friday (Act Two)

"And this is my room. It's.. not as nice as yours."

Eridan pushed open the door to his room, ready for the goddamn tour to be over already. Luckily, Cronus hadn't cared enough to accompany them on their tour, so it had just been Eridan and Sollux, looking around the house in which there were rooms not even Eridan himself really knew. And now Sol was stepping into the only place Eridan actually spent any time, looking around him with the same air of wonder and slight anger that he had carried since he started looking around the house.

Eridans room was certainly much bigger than Sollux's, but in Eridans eyes it was nowhere near as nice. Everything was white or violet, kept perfectly in order, books alphabetised and desk kept in a perfect state. Not a single thing was out of place, and Eridan looked at it probably even more critically than Sollux was.

"Are thethe bookth alphabetithed?" Sollux asked, walking to the bookshelf and running his fingers over the spines, scanning the titles and authors. Eridan flushed and twisted a ring around his finger.

"W-what can I say, I get bored," he answered awkwardly, eyes scanning for anything that Sollux could use to make fun of him. Luckily, the taller teen didnt really look at anything else, just turned around to see Eridan standing in the door twisting his rings and looking back nervously.

"You know, ED, your life theemth pretty great from what I've theen," Sol said with a toothy smile, pushing his glasses higher up his nose. "Your brother ith a piece of thhit, but you have all thith cool thtuff, and a huge houthe, and probably enough money to buy my houthe ten timeth over. Unleth thereth thomething I'm mithing?"

Eridan squeaked and turned redder. "No! No, hah, I guess I complain too much about somethin thats pretty great!"

He stared at the floor, and Sollux made an unidentifiable noise and walked toward him. Eridan resolutely didnt look up, even when he could see Sollux's mismatched shoes in front of him.

Before either of them could speak, a bell went off somewhere in the distance, and Eridan turned around half-gratefully, half-reluctantly. "Time for dinner," he supplied when he looked behind him and saw Sollux's confused expression. The taller nodded and began to follow Eridan back to the dining room, still looking around him like he was in the middle of a goddamn palace.

When they entered the dining room, Eridan felt his anxiety surface from where it had been slowly bubbling and stewing, sending a wave of nausea through him. His father sat at the end of the table, hands neatly folded and chin resting on them, cold eyes regarding Eridan and Sollux emotionlessly. Cronus sat beside him, wearing a smirk that spelled trouble. Their combined gazes served to turn Eridans legs to jelly, but he forced himself to remain strong and took Sollux's hand in his, leading him to the table and sitting down in the places that had been set.

"Good ewening, father." Eridan said stiffly, and his father inclined his head in response. From the corner of his eye, Eridan could see Sollux shifting uncomfortably and poking at the multiple forks laid out beside his plate. He swallowed thickly and prepared himself to say the words he wished were true. "This is my... boyfriend. Sollux Captor."

"Pleathure to make your acquaintance, Mr Ampora!" Sollux said, too cheerily, sticking out a hand in Dualscar's direction, who made an indistinct noise and reluctantly shook Sollux's hand.

"Hello there, Sollux. I trust you've met my son, Cronus." Dualscar said in response, gesturing at Cro, who grinned lazily and stopped spinning his cigarette in his fingers for long enough to hold his hand up in a silent greeting. Sols toothy grin turned to a scowl.

"I have," he growled, glaring in Cronus's direction, who only grinned wider and pushed his chair back on two legs. Eridan was just about ready to die. They hadn't even started eating. But at least Sollux was sort-of doing his job - both Dualscar and Cronus were having some sort of negative reaction to his presence, which is exactly what Eridan was after.