princeofmelodrama | Big whiny fishbabby

Entry tags:

asylum,
erigam

Big whiny fishbabby

It started with a slow dragging feeling that morning. Eridan knew what it meant, but chose to ignore the fact that his limbs were sore and heavy and that everything felt slightly off of center. He simply forewent drinking coffee, and instead chose to drink orange juice, hoping that would knock the beast at his proverbial doorstep back.

It didn't help.

By lunchtime, he knew he was in for some shit when his concentration was shot to hell and he couldn't do the simplest calculations necessary to function in the lab. He didn't touch anything that wasn't bound to be cleaned by the night cleaning crew, and told his workers that he'd likely not be in for another week or so. He knew what was bound to happen. It always fuckin' did. Every year, without fail, he had to use those days that he'd meticulously saved up the rest of the year for something other than leisure.

He came home, took some medicine, tugged out of his work clothes, put on some pajama pants, and then grumpily shuffled to the sofa.

That's where he intended to stay for the next day or two, minus trips to the bathroom and getting to his cocoon at night. Even that second one was optional. He didn't bother Gamzee when he came home, either. He knew that was likely to only result in some annoying pampering when he was perfectly fuckin' capable of handling his illness, himself.

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In the time that Eridan had been away at work, Gamzee had managed to feed himself and the grub, spend time in his flourishing garden, take a shower and swim laps in the pool with the grub at his side keeping pace. He'd just put her back in her tank and gone to retrieve lunch for himself when he noticed Eridan bundled up on the couch, looking as if he loathed the world a little more than usual. Rather than going about his planned sandwich, Gamzee slunk over to the couch and bent over the back of it, laying his chin on Eridan's shoulder.

"Got some motherfuckin' sniffles man?"

Great. Just the thing he intended to avoid. In lieu of a lecture on how damned annoying Gamzee sounded just then - it wasn't Gamzee's fault that his voice and every other sound in the universe made Eridan want to shoot things - Eridan simply groaned and slumped over further, fixing a glassy-eyed stare at his matesprit.

"If you don't mind terribly, I think I'd like to just wallow in my own fuckin' misery by myself, thanks," he said in a quiet, congested voice. He then tipped over to a horizontal position and brought his feet up onto the couch cushions, pouting petulantly. "I hate cold season. I hate everythin'. Gonna eradicate all viruses. Wage war on 'em an' win."

Gamzee simply arched a brow at him, then dipped down and pressed his lips to Eridan's slightly feverish temple then wandered off, only to return with a blanket to drape over the top of his matesprit. Then he went to the kitchen and started to rifle, modifying his lunch plans to include soup as well. He hummed quietly under his breath as he worked to pull together a cold soup, debating on putting it into a bread bowl then thinking better of it as Eridan was bound to ignore it for a little while before he finally did decide to eat.

When it was done he crouched down in front of the couch and held up the bowl so that Eridan could see it, giving him the same sparkly-eyed look he always did when he had something hat he wanted Eridan to do.

When Gamzee produced the blanket, he got a stuffy grump of thanks, and the thick blanket was immediately tugged around Eridan in something of a cocoon. He curled up against the corner of the couch, looking more tired and morose than usual - rather a feat, considering - and he scowled petulantly at the pages of his book. He listened as Gamzee set to work on lunch, and although he wanted desperately to complain about the noise, he kept himself quiet, because he was quite hungry.

When Gamzee came up to him, giving him that look, Eridan pouted right back at him, setting the book down, and sitting up. "A course you have to be too sweet to be mad at," he huffed, taking the bowl of soup. "Takes all the fun outta bein' sick if I can't be properly loathin' of literally everythin'," he muttered, before tipping the bowl to his lips, quietly drinking some of it down.

"Here, I'll just bounce so you can loathe all the germs ever," Gamzee replied and stood, fussing Eridan's blanket up around his shoulders the heading back to the pool and settling down beside it, starting to talk to the grub instead. It was starting to learn how to make at least word-like sounds from how often he did it. He started to explain that Eridan was sick so he wouldn't be in here to visit much in the next week but that he himself still would at least.

He pouted at that, not wanting to shove Gamzee away, but on the other hand, he didn't want to get his matesprit sick, as well, especially since one of them had to be healthy to keep an eye on their grub. It would've been so sad to not have either of them there, and Eridan could almost imagine its expression of sadness at knowing he wouldn't be able to be there with it for a while.

He finished his soup as he considered how sad it sounded. Dammit, why did he have to have the immune system of a fucking petri dish? He flumped back over onto the couch and curled up into the blanket, yanking it over his head while fumbling for his phone to complain to Kar. He knew he wouldn't get any sympathy from his moirail, but he didn't really want to be sympathized with. Not really.

Gamzee kept to himself to let Eridan loathe the world in peace, otherwise occupying himself with the grub and his art and eventually with dinner. Where he would normally carry her around with him and let her watch as he worked, he kept her in the tank so that she couldn't run the risk of catching Eridan's flu. She'd only just recovered from the parasitic infestation that had ended up setting back her growth and bleaching out most of her hair, and this soon after that debacle catching sick might end up ending even worse. He wasn't going to run that risk.

After a light dinner of a very nutrient-rich salad and more of the soup he'd made that afternoon, Gamzee sat at the opposite end of the immense couch from Eridan with his headphones in, just zoning out and leaving his matesprit to convalesce.

In the hours that Gamzee spent with the grub and his paints, Eridan had stayed tipped over and had napped fitfully. The dinner was helpful when he awoke, but it gave him the desire to be pouty in the same general area as someone. He didn't want to get Gamzee sick, but he needed contact. He looked over across the sofa to his matesprit, and then he huffed, murmuring to himself, "This is stupid," before standing and, with the blanket still over him, he walked up to Gamzee and then dropped back down beside him, wrapping his arms around the Highblood's waist.

"You're bein' so good to me," he muttered.

Gamzee shook his head and pressed his lips to the side of Eridan's head, fussing at his blankets. "You're all sick n' shit, better that you get better quick right?" He offered his usual soft smile then pulled one of the earbuds out and held it up so that Eridan could listen. He knew that he didn't really care for Gamzee's music much but he knew that listening to something usually made him feel better at least.

Eridan took the earbud and put it into his ear after a little having to find a good angle with his oddly shaped ear. He rested his head against Gamzee's shoulder, keeping his horns pointed away from him. "Since you got here, though, it's always this way. From day one, you've been goin' above and beyond what's expected a you and I..." He shook his head minutely. "You do things no matesprit would. An' I don't call you on it 'cause I would do the same for you. You say you're in love with me." He rubbed his nose as he thought about it.

"I've been thinkin' about this a lot. For a long time, really. What you mean by that. An' I think I've been bein' unkind, sayin' only that I'm flushed."

Guess had two thumbs, six gills and a high fever!

Shaking his head again, Gamzee just laid his hand against Eridan's cheek and looked him in the eye with a soft sigh. "Don't even sweat it, man. Concentrate on kickin' out all that motherfuckin' sick," he murmured then shooshed his matesprit. This wasn't exactly a topic that he wanted to pursue just then, not when Eridan was still feverish. He laid his hand against Eridan's forehead at that thought and frowned some. "You want anything? Some tea or more soup or somethin'? I know this little place that I can go pick up some good hot n' sour faster than I can make it if you want."

Eridan shushed for long enough to listen to Gamzee and then shook his head, stating quite clearly, "Gam, I love you." The gravity of his tone was enough to even make him feel a little taken aback by it, and then he smiled faintly, bowing his head.

"I mean it. I would mean it no matter what." He finally got back around to what Gamzee asked him, however, and thought it over. "Think I'm gonna go sit under the water for a while. Maybe it'll knock some a this fever out a me."

For a moment it didn't even look like what Eridan had said registered with him, but soon he stood and offered Eridan his head, intending to join him in the water, if he let him do so. "Sounds like a good idea," he replied quietly and led him out toward the pool. He looked over at the grub napping in the corner of her tank. She was starting to develop quickly, her tailfin just starting to shrink. He smiled faintly at her, then turned his attention back to Eridan and wrapped his arms around his matesprit's waist. He let him go after a couple of seconds and stripped down to climb into the water wordlessly.

Well, that was disheartening. Eridan pouted faintly, but followed along and smiled faintly once Gamzee had his arms around his waist again, the worry dissipating for the moment as he slipped out of his pajama pants and glasses to slip into the water and simply sink down, forcing the air from his lungs to breathe in the water instead, dunking down into the bottom. The water was so cold in comparison to his skin, although he knew, logically, it was the same temperature it always was. He figured letting it fill him and be around him would get his body back from the brink of delirium.

He watched the blur of his matesprit from his spot at the bottom of the pool. He wondered faintly why Gamzee wasn't wanting to talk about what he'd said. He wondered if he'd waited too long, or simply should have brought it up when he was healthy. Eridan just didn't know what was wrong about talking about it now. It wasn't as if it was a bad thing, really. Just something different. He had spent months trying to piece together how he'd felt, and how it didn't jive with quadrants. How if he tried to fill his other quadrants, it wouldn't have worked, because he knew, deep inside, they were already taken by Gamzee and Karkat. His pale relationship with Kar was still taken up in parts by Gamzee, and it made him feel as if he'd been fucking up with Kar.

He had to face the fact that he was just shit at romance in general.

Settling down in the water beside him, Gamzee took hold of his hand and held it in a steady grip. Even if he wasn't talking about this just then, it was clear that his feelings hadn't changed; he still felt just the same for Eridan as he had the first time he'd told him he loved him. Rubbing his thumb over the webbing between Eridan's thumb and forefinger, he leaned against his matesprit's shoulder and let his head settle against the side of the pool.

When he had to come up for air, he only did so briefly, otherwise sitting there in the bottom of the pool beside Eridan, offering what comfort he could without crawling directly into his space and turning over what Eridan said, trying not to let his mind twist it into anything but what it was. He succeeded for the most part but there was always that tiny nagging in the back of all of it that tried to excuse it as some miscalculation on his part, tried to blame it on Eridan's compromised mental state thanks to the fever.

After a while, he was feeling slightly better for the cooling water and its effects on his system. Eridan put his hand in Gamzee's, squeezing it as he rested his head on the Highblood's shoulder. He smiled faintly as he brought Gamzee's hand up and pressed a kiss to his matesprit's knuckles, before looking over at him, and into his eyes. He didn't dare try to find the words in Alternian, since the words in their language didn't really encompass the emotions he felt. Pity wasn't at all in play in this particular emotion. He just smiled and leaned in to press a gentle kiss on Gamzee's cheek.

In kind Gamzee laid his hand against the back of Eridan's head, pressing his lips to his matesprit's forehead then butting it gently. At least being in the water this close to him wouldn't run him nearly as much risk of catching sick as being in open air. They could actively discuss the situation regarding their relationship when Eridan didn't look like he was about to fall over needing a respirator. From where he was standing, though, it didn't really look like it needed to be actively discussed; Eridan was finally acknowledging and returning the sentiments that he poured all of himself into every day, and that felt like the best possible outcome he could have asked for.

It was until Gamzee needed air once more that he stayed at the bottom of the pool, and then pulled himself out of the water to effectively beach himself in a pool chair nearby, a large towel draped over himself. He felt physically exhausted, though he knew he hadn't done anything to get that way. Otherwise, however, he felt much better for having been in the pool. His breath was less labored, his temperature had finally gone down. Things were looking better for him. "Gam?" Eridan called quietly as he reached over to his glasses, putting them on as he looked around. "I'm gonna go lay back in the sopor, an' see if that'll clear out the rest of this contemptible illness." He pulled himself up, and rubbed his cheek as he looked up at the tank. He didn't want the grub to get ill. She stirred in her sleep and burrowed deeper into a pile she'd made of purloined paintbrushes from Gamzee's art supplies. He smiled fondly as he got up and walked away towards their block, to go curl up under the slime, knowing that if anything, it'd relieve the tension and soreness of his joints and muscles.

Gamzee hung onto the edge of the pool, watching Eridan then nodding at the suggestion, figuring that it was as good as anything he could think at that moment, which really didn't actually amount to much. Letting Eridan sleep off the sudden illness then being there when he needed something to help him cope with it seemed like the only thing he could really do at that point. He let Eridan go and sank back down to the bottom of the pool to think for a little while himself without the distractions of the rest of the world.

It was a couple days more until Eridan started to feel as if he was on the mend. He'd only gotten more and more snippy and grouchy over the fact that he was sick as it went on. However, the fever didn't return, luckily, and the worst of it was the inflammation of his nasal cavity and the mucus in his respiratory system.

Eridan was curled up on the sofa as he watched the TV, trying not to get his negativity all over Gamzee and the grub. The latter of which must have escaped her Highblood lusus' watchful gaze, as she sneaked silently up to the couch and climbed up onto it, and then under the blanket, squeaking and purring at Eridan as she settled up against his chest and stared at him with giant purple eyes. The seadweller ran his hand through her white hair and smiled. "Silly grub. Even if I'm not contagious anymore, I'm still not very good company. Why'd you sneak away from Gam, darlin'?"

He chuckled when she beeped in reply to Gamzee's name, and then burrowed against him. Once he heard Gamzee's approach, he spoke up. "She's over here with me, love."

She squeaked at him again and curled up in his lap under the blankets, only her horns and the tuft of her hair protruding. Gamzee peeked over the top of Eridan's head at her with his hands coming to rest against the top of Eridan's head under his horns, scratching gently at his scalp. "Long as she's makin' you feel better I don't see any motherfuckin' reason she shouldn't be all up in your space," he chuckled and put his chin down on Eridan's head, one hand dipping down to drag his nails through the mop of the grub's curls.

"No complaints on this end," Eridan said as he pressed a kiss to the grub's head, careful of the tips of her horns. "Just lettin' you know where we are for the moment. And perhaps that was a invite to come join us," he pointed out as he sat up just enough to lift an eyebrow to Gamzee. "Provided you aren't off to go do some more miracles a yours." He said it most sincerely; he had come to think that there was a very good chance that the things Gamzee did really didn't have much basis in rhyme, reason, logic, or even occasionally physics.

Gamzee just smiled at that and crawled over the back of the couch to settle down at Eridan's side, his shins crossed with his feet tucked up under his thighs. He leaned his arm on the other's shoulder and looked down at the slightly squirmy lump of blankets in his lap. "Dunno man, I'm pretty motherfuckin' occupied with all these miracles all up on this couch here." He grinned and scratched through Eridan's hair tenderly, most of his attention still focused on the grub. "Bet when she sheds her tail and starts walkin' around she ain't ever gonna stop motherfuckin' movin'."

"Possibly so," Eridan agreed, peeking under his blanket at the grub and getting an excited and surprised squeal from her as he waggled his brows before putting the blanket back down. "She'll likely stay still long enough for me to read to her," he added as he looked over to Gamzee with a smile. "Which reminds me that we've got to buy her some picture books. I'm not gonna be readin' Sun Tzu to her first thing." Though the thought had crossed his mind.

"Really, we shoulda already started on a nursery. The ladies at the office keep askin' if she's got one, an' I tell 'em nurseries are for human wrigglers. They seem quite adamant that we should have one regardless, if only for when she pupates an' must have a play room a her own." He sighed, his breath still a little wheezy from the mucus. "I don't even know where to begin with a project like that."

"I figured the whole motherfuckin' house is her play room," Gamzee shrugged then stretched out on the couch on his stomach with his legs curled up beside him. "Ain't like she's gonna be all up and motherfuckin' destroyin' shit when she gets old enough. Least not any worse than I did when I moved in."

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