towerofanimus | [CLOSED] because nobody knows that's how i nearly fell

Entry tags:

[CLOSED] because nobody knows that's how i nearly fell

Characters: Eridan & Jade, and Eridan & Equius
Setting: Media room, room 1-20.
Format: Action! Occasionally tl;dr action.
Summary: Eridan freaks out to Jade about Equius, then freaks out to Equius about Equius. Basically, teenagers failing horribly at romance. And worse, troll romance. (It's all Karkat's fault.)
Warnings: Troll romance. Purring trolls. Adorable-awkward shenanigans. And just plain awkward. Oh my god, so much awkward. Approach with caution.

Media room.

[Eridan fidgets. This is a constant law of the universe. He fidgets with his scarf, the hem of his shirt, the sleeves of his jacket. Unless he's intensely focused on something, like when he's shooting something, Eridan Ampora is always, always fidgeting. Recently, this has unfortunately translated to an urge to kind of maybe skin himself alive. But that was besides the point.

Eridan fidgets and shifts around the couch, trying to find a comfortable posture to wait for Jade to arrive. Oh god. Jade. Is he ready to do this? He's not sure he's ready to do this. He's not really sure if this whole crazy idea is going to work or not, but he kind of needs to talk to someone about this, and he might as well doing with his... moirail.

Oh god.

Don't mind Eridan, he'll just sit there. And fidget.]

Room 1-20.

[Eridan stares at the door for a long, long moment, fidgeting some more before he works up the nerve to knock. He really doesn't want to do this, at all, but it'll be worse if he doesn't.

He's not about to let Equius deal with Karkat just because Karkat is a meddling bitch that suddenly rediscovered his aspect and his willingness to fuck with people's quadrants and okay, gonna stop that train of thought before he gets angry. That's not conductive to the monumental fuck up he's about to commit.]

Eq?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So on a scale of one to ten, how tweaked are you and how readily should i have the paramedics on hand so they can pump all the dope outta your veins when you hit critical?

[Yep, there she was, just on the back of the couch, with her arms folded on it, next to Eri and not at all being helpful about this whole "calm the fuck down" thing.]

Eleven.

[Eridan muttered, startling at her voice and then sinking into the couch as if he could convince it to suck him out of existence all together.]

Sit with me?

Damn. Guess the ambulance should've been here five minutes ago.

[Teasing aside, she did oblige his request and jumped up onto the back of the couch, before setting her legs forward and sliding down into the cushion next to Eridan.]

'Sup?

Probably got lost in the maze floor or something.

[Eridan hooked his arms on the back of the couch after she settled in, then tilted his head back on the backrest and let out a quiet, warble-y groan as he stretched his legs a little.]

Karkat Vantas is a douchebag, news at eleven.

Any preschooler with eyes could see that. [Hell, she could see it and she's talked to him like. Twice.]

What great atrocity has he committed this time? Try and paint all your clothes blue?

I wish.

[Eridan sighed, pressing his hands to his face and sneaking his fingers under his shades so he can rub his eyelids and be suitably miserable.]

He's still trying to run my quadrant grid, that's what.

What'd he do, propose to you?

[She's mostly joking. We swear.]

[Dryly.]

If he's trying to get me to hate him, he's doing a fantastic job of it.

[And a snort.]

...but no. I. Er. Might have. These... thing. Just. A thing. For a friend.

[Totally not blushing what are you talking about, not that you'd see it, since he's very firmly doing face in hands right now.]

So of course Kar has to go and be his dastardly "either you tell them or I will" and I swear to god I'm going to jump off the tower one of these days.

[You can try and hide your face all you want dude, but she's still gonna stare at you.]

You mean ~feelings~?

[The jazzhands were for emphasis.] Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if someone did. But besides the fact that Karkat can go fuck himself, what d'ya think?

Edited 2012-09-04 03:32 (UTC)

...can we not?

[He mutters in despair, folding his legs up so that his feet are resting at the edge of the couch and he's essentially curling up defensively again.]

I think Karkat can go fuck himself on something rusty and sharp, but I don't want him putting... ideas on his head as it is. Shit be awkward enough.

Aw, you're no fun.

[It's the slightest of grins, but she does. You know. Actually get serious. As serious as a Strider can be at least.]

He's probably into that sorta thing. [OK now we're being serious we swear.]

I meant about your friend, though.

I don't think anyone's really into Karkat putting weird ideas in their heads, hon.

[Eridan offers a wry, wry grin.]

But Equius least of... all.

[Oh, he hadn't meant to say that name out loud. Crap.]

You got a crush on Eq?

[She's kind of amused but don't worry that's not a condescending grin on her face. She's not legitimately capable of condescension.]

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[Oh son of a—]

[Words could not accurately describe the sudden feeling of dread that washed over Equius in that moment. He had just been in the middle of doing some miscellaneous thing, with no apparent purpose except to take his mind off the fact that it was the final day. Dawn of the last day, twenty-four hours remain— oh god, brain, can you not throw in Legend of Zeldha references right now? Can you not? ...Actually, Zeldha references might not be such a bad idea, if only because guess what, mentally going through each dungeon was another really great way to stop his mind from running off. He had just gotten to the point where, if he didn't think about it, he could almost believe that Eridan had given up on the whole idea, that he had been left to Karkat; he couldn't decide whose hands he wanted his fate to be in, actually, but to be honest he was leaning heavilty towards the cerulean-blood. Just because Karkat was pretty sick of him, he knew. He had the appropriate response for a shitty yellowblood, and knew what to do about it.]

[It would be better than the alternative, which Equius was still not ready to think about. He was so not ready to think about it, as a matter of fact, that he didn't respond to the call at his door immediately — 'it could still be someone looking for England or Gentarou or the other guy' — and didn't respond to it after Eridan called his name, either.]

[Maybe, if he stayed completely silent, Eridan would give up and leeeeeeoh shit. That sure was the sound of a lot of mechanical parts falling to the floor that Eridan was hearing from outside the door. Welp. No way he's not coming in now. It's kind of sad how even Equius' redeeming qualities (that is, steady hands and coordination) could be ruined in circumstances like these.]

...well fuck.

[Eridan stares at the door, wincing at the crash. He rubs his elbow for a moment before clearing his throat.]

Er. Everything alright, Eq?

[You know how much he doesn't want to do this? There is no measuring how much he doesn't want to do this. But seriously, he won't put Equius through Karkat of all people. That'd suck. In horrible ways. Besides, Karkat doesn't... know. Entirely. Really. What's going on. He doesn't want him to go around telling Equius things that might be just... a misrepresentation of what's going on. Really.

Oh god, he's so screwed.]

Fine!

[Wow, that came out much too close to a shriek for his comfort. But it was true. Equius had miraculously managed to avoid the damage. ...His parts were a different story, but that didn't really matter at the time. What mattered was that Eridan now knew he was in there and that he was flipping his shit just as much as he was a few days ago, and there was really no way to avoid this anymore, was there.]

[So he just walked up to the door, leaned against the wall, and talked through it, like any responsible adult.]

Fine, fine, don't worry.

[Uh...]

What is it?

[Screwed. So screwed.]

[Oh wow, that didn't sound very convincing. But at least Equius didn't sound in pain. That's a good thing, right? Eridan fidgeted a little more, claws absently worrying the hem of his shirt.]

I just... thought I'd check up on you.

[Liaaaaar, lying liar who lies! But really, he's not... gonna spring that conversation on the poor guy unless he's calmed down. He's not that mean.]

You know. See if you're okay, 's all.

[Since when has Equius sounded convincing, seriously? But yeah, that was true, a convincing liar this yellowblood was not. Talented lie-spotter he was not either, for that matter — or maybe he's just trying to ignore the fact that Eridan on the other end still sounds half-choked. They both know what conversation was coming.]

[Equius laughed, loudly and nervously.]

No! No. Fine, I'm fine, thanks...

You sure?

[Eridan leans against the doorframe, losing his nerve with each passing moment.]

'cause. I haven't seen you around in the last few days, that's all. And I was wondering if you were fine after... you know.

[Last time you freaked the fuck out.]

Yes, I... know.

[They're never going to be able to talk about that comfortably. Or talk about anything comfortably, for that matter. Equius pretended he had no idea why that distressed him so much.]

No, I... really, I'm fine. Just. You know. Doing some things. Busy.

I, uh. Thanks, though. For. Coming.

Oh.

[Eridan sounds a bit deflated by that, but then he's quiet for a long moment.]

Only, I'd been hoping to talk to you for a bit, too. Do... do you think you'll be busy for a long time?

[Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit. It's happening. It's happening. Fuck. Abort, abort, abort—]

...No...

Then... er. Can I wait for you here? Or. You know. Should I come back later?

[He doesn't know if he sounds hopeful or terrified and his tone is a terrible mixture of both. Also, that hem is not going to survive his claws. Or this conversation.]

[There's a long pause here. Eridan can wait patiently or not so patiently, because it's becoming quickly obvious that this yellowblood's inability to remain calm under pressure is going to start making a lot more trouble sometime soon. For the moment, though, he gulps it down with everything else rising in his throat, and tries to steady himself to the greatest extent he can before opening the door.]

[Oh my god, this kid's a mess.]

No, uh... hello.

[Eridan looks up for a moment then drops his eyes again, busy making a little hole on his shirt with his claws. Though at least, the tears on the jacket have been fixed, by uneven, slightly too tight stitches Equius might be somewhat familiar with.]

Hi.