(no subject)

[wwaterboy]

Characters: AU Eridan Ampora and OPEN
Setting: Infirmary
Format: Either
Summary: Eridan was injured pretty badly in his nightmare world, and he's the Worst Patient Ever.
Warnings: Swearing and references to grievous injury likely. Otherwise, I'll edit it if necessary.

Someone bandaged his blistered wrists and put some kind of salve on his savaged back. The salves dulled the pain a lot, which was good, but Eridan knew it'd come back. He lay on his side, because lying on his back hurt too much, the blanket pulled up to his chin and his face buried miserably into the soft pillow.

He didn't know why the universe decided to dump all of the problems onto him. Why did he have to be the one sea dweller who was born into poverty, the only one from a world where sea dwellers were reviled instead of revered? Why did he have to be the one clapped in irons and whipped for something he never did? Why did Feferi have to be dead? The one light in his life, and she was gone.

Why did the universe always have to make him miserable?

Life was hard.

So hard.

And clearly no one understood.

Comments

[agoodoffen2e.livejournal.com]

He couldn't remember what he'd originally gone to the infirmary for, but the second he saw Eridan laying there in that miserable state, he completely forgot, rushing to his kismesis's side instead.

"Shit what the hell happened to you Ee-dee?" He was actually a little worried. That wasn't normal.

[wwaterboy]

Eridan looked up, startled at the question, especially in that voice. It could have been one of the other Solluxes, but he could tell immediately from the clothing that it was his own.

"So you really wwere still here the wwhole time," he said, blinking back the tears that had been soaking into the pillow a moment ago. "They said I wwas the one wwho must a killed you."

[agoodoffen2e.livejournal.com]

"What? Who the fuck thaid you killed me?" Sollux studied the slight purple streaks running down Eridan's face. He couldn't have been joking if he was actually crying over it.

[ocariness]

[ And then a Hylian wandered into the infirmary, concerned for those who had been trapped in worlds she did not find. Eridan seemed to be among them.

At first glance, the androgynous hero is wary--after all, Eridan resembled Dualscar, his ancestor and her roommate, quite a bit. On the other hand, he was hurt badly, and the part of her that simply cared too much wanted to help. That part eventually won out, and she quietly approached the troll, taking a small bottle out of her pouch, something small and glowing and pink with wings bumping around absently in it. Looks an awful lot like a fairy, huh? ]

... I couldn't help but notice you're injured very badly. Do you want help?

[ She offers, but only because she isn't... well, sure if he'd accept her help. She didn't want to do something to upset whomever they were, after all. ]

[wwaterboy]

[He looks up tiredly as she approaches, lifting a hand to wipe away the purple smears of tears on his cheeks and looking at her warily. He isn't sure what to make of her, but his eyes flick to the fairy and the wary expression turns to confusion]

Wwhat's that for?

[ocariness]

[ ... A pause. She thinks it's completely normal, but Bluekat's reaction... ]

It's for healing injuries and bringing back the unconscious.

[ She won't say "it's a fairy" because that'd sound weird, and she suspects he may react like Karkat did. ]

all the threads with you. all of them.

[guiltapalooza]

[Once she'd gotten back from saving Stein, it immediately occurred to Willow to go check on the other friends she'd made here, and at the top of the list was Eridan. It took her a while, and some worried, aimless wandering, before she ended up in the infirmary.

The second she saw him she sucked in a breath, fears confirmed, and rushed over.] Oh, Goddess. How hurt are you? What happened?

Yay! Gonna assume this is before Link's thread :|a

[wwaterboy]

[He looks up, blinking purple tears from his eyes as he hears her voice. Relief floods his expression - here's someone he likes and who he's sure means him no harm.

Then tears well up again]

They...they fuckin'... accused me a killin' Sol, only he wwas here all the time. And they killed Fef, Wwil. They killed her! And then they clapped me in irons and strung me up on the Punishment Gibbet and wwhipped me for a crime I didn't evven commit.

[All this was said pretty much in one breath, as he desperately held back the choking sobs]

sure thing bb!

[guiltapalooza]

Oh, honey. [Willow sat on the edge of the bed, and reached forward to envelope him in a hug if he'd let her, awkward as the position was. She couldn't have stopped herself if she'd wanted to.]

It's okay, it wasn't real-- just let it all out...

[megid0-maiden.livejournal.com]

For some reason, Aradia was feeling somewhat restless. Most within the tower appeared to have retired for the night, at least those who adhered to diurnal living, but there was still too much unknown about this tower and still too many she couldn't help but wonder about - those she had heard were here and those she had not.

There was a peacefulness to the tower as she wandered the corridors, both those she had explored and those she had yet to spend much time on. As normal, she intended to bypass the infirmary for more engaging areas but this time, something made her stop.

Venturing a little further into the room, she stopped as her eyes fell on Eridan. An Eridan, at least. By sight she had no means of knowing whether it was "her" Eridan or the one from a different timeline but either way she was both cautious and curious, and each battled with the other as she tried to work out the best thing to do.

Hesitantly, she took a few more steps forward, still silent for now save for the quiet flutter of her wings.

[wwaterboy]

Eridan sensed more than heard Aradia enter. He had fallen into an exhausted stupor after shedding buckets of tears all over both his kismesis and current best friend. Though Link had healed his wounds, the nurses had insisted he stay overnight for observation, just in case.

Since one of those nurses had crimson eyes and looked like the Sufferer, he had obeyed without objecting aloud, though all he really wanted to do was go back to his own respite block.

He stirred and opened his eyes as Aradia approached, purple irises focusing foggily on the figure.

Then his eyes widened and he quickly lowered his gaze, his collapsing and expanding aquatic vascular system going into overdrive. It couldn't be his Aradia - he knew that, for one thing she had FUCKING WINGS - but he cringed anyway, a little whimper issuing from his throat.

[megid0-maiden.livejournal.com]

That reaction was enough for Aradia to infer that there was a high likelyhood of this being the other Eridan. There was no way her timeline's Eridan would cower away from her like that, even if by some twist of virtue she was the deciding factor in his life or death. And she'd been told that in the other Eridan's world, the hemospectrum was reversed which meant that he was to his world's Aradia what she was to her world's Eridan.

She slowed her approach, knowing she had to say something. "I'm not going to hurt you, Eridan. It wouldn't be my place to."

[isnotagiraffe.livejournal.com]

Taiki hadn't left, but he hadn't done anything outside of sitting in the chair next to Eridan's bed, fighting dizzyness. He was being stubborn though, he knew it was close proximity to Eridan that was making him so ill but he would not leave. Even Sanshi whispering in his ear didn't make him budge, he just ignored her and sat curled up in the chair watching Eridan and his visitors.

He couldn't leave, Eridan was scared and hurt and Taiki couldn't just leave him. Anyways Gohran wouldn't stay with him if Taiki wasn't here, and if Gohran wasn't their someone might hurt Eridan. Again. Taiki couldn't let that happen so he could stay near him.

Anyways there was no where else to go, he didn't want to go back to their room because he would be alone. The world was such a dark place now Gyousou was gone. There was no light, not even on the edges of Taiki's mind. He was gone and dead and Taiki would never see him again.

He would have to find a new King, who would probably not even be born yet, and go to find him wherever in the Twelve Kingdoms he was, and then they would have to save Tai. Tai was getting ravaged by demons.

It was far too much for Taiki to cope with so he coped with what he could understand, Eridan was hurt and Taiki was going to stay until he got better. "D...do you need anything Eridan?" He whispered, the first words he had said in an hour.

[wwaterboy]

Eridan was vaguely aware that Taiki was here, but hadn't really paid attention to him in all of this time. He lifted his head and blinked at him slowly, wondering finally why he was still here.

"Not really," he said honestly. "Except maybe for all a this to be a fuckin' daymare and to be home in a wworld that makes sense."

He swallowed, dropping his head back down to the pillow, belatedly worrying about his roommate. "Wwhat are you doin' here, Taiki? All a this blood an' pain is just gonna fuck you up as usual."

[isnotagiraffe.livejournal.com]

"Sorry... I don't think it's a daymare, or a nightmare... it feels too real." He stared down at Eridan, worried about him. But there wasn't anything else he could do. He was too dizzy to do much but sit there anyways.

He shook his head, "I think... it already did it's damage I'll be alright," it was only half a lie. The amount of blood and pain that Taiki had been close to over the last few days was enough for him to be very very ill when he finally stopped fighting it and he did not want to leave Eridan.

He reached out his hand, clumsily grasping for Eridan's as if he wanted to convince himself his friend was there and alive.

/overloads you with tags

[reddeadvirgo.livejournal.com]

Eridan wasn't alone in the infirmary, following the voyages into the nightmare worlds. There was another troll resting a few beds down from him, slowly blinking herself to consciousness. She'd been there since coming back from her moirail's world, but she wasn't sure exactly how long it had been.

The sound of shifting in one of the other beds made Kanaya turn over onto her other side to look in the direction of the noise. From what she could see of the other patient, they were also a troll, but she couldn't tell which one. And besides, there were so many trolls here already that she didn't know -- even seeing the fins, Kanaya couldn't be sure it would be someone she recognized.

Stranger or not, though, they looked miserable, and potentially in need of company. She sat up, propping herself against the pillow, and made sure to adjust the sheets so that they covered any of the bandages that might still be showing mutant blood. Her gaze returned to the sea-dweller a few beds away from her. "...hello?" she tried tentatively in his (or her) direction.

Yay~

[wwaterboy]

Eridan stirred at the tentative call. He had had a small procession of visitors all evening and was pretty tired, but at the call he twisted around awkwardly to see a troll he thought he vaguely recognized a few bed down. He couldn't see her symbol, so couldn't know that she didn't wear jade, like the other Kanaya he had met.

"Hello," he called back, equally tentatively. "Howw'd you get hurt?"

[reddeadvirgo.livejournal.com]

She gave him a small smile when he responded. Alright, being injured wasn't really anything to smile about, but she was happy he was responding.

"I went into that door in the dining area to retrieve someone I know from the world he had been brought to," she answered, before asking gently, "What was the cause of your injuries, if you do not mind me asking?"

He looked so upset to be here that Kanaya thought the wounds might be a little personal. She didn't want to upset him, if that was the case.

[gam8lignants.livejournal.com]

Oh hey, you're that kid I almost made out with.

[AUFang says hi.]

[wwaterboy]

Wwhat? [AUEridan says wtf] Wwhy do you keep sayin' things like that? [He met Vriska before, and she referenced a black romance he also doesn't remember happening]

[cullionfish.livejournal.com]

Her Imperious Condescension looked much less menacing than usual. Regardless of Dualscar's assistance, she wasn't about to let him or anyone else claim she needed their help. Still, there was pride to think about and she wasn't entirely keen on letting everyone know what had happened to her.

So when Condesce came down to the infirmary, it would be during the morning, just early enough for most of the trolls to be asleep. Her wrists still bled that rich tyrian hue, just barely beginning to heal around the edges. She needed to close the burns before they got infected.

She made a point to change into her other robes to at least give the illusion that she had some bulk to her body, still. Close inspection would reveal her near starved state and sunbleached skin.

[wwaterboy]

Eridan was having a hard time sleeping. He had cried himself to sleep once during the night, and now he was awake, bored and considering going back to his respite block despite the fact that the staff had told him to stay put.

The sound of movement made him open his eyes and he blinked as he watched the troll enter and walk towards him.

He hadn't suffered nearly as long as she had, but he had been put to the irons as well, and had bandages around his wrists. He also had bandages on his back, covering terrible weals from the whipping he'd suffered, though all of this had been healed by Link, and no longer pained him.

His eyes flicked to her wrists and he let out a soft, choking sound as he saw the colour of the blood.

"F-Fef?"

[cullionfish.livejournal.com]

The voice set her on edge, sharklike teeth laid bare in Eridan's direction. Of course one of them would be awake. She wouldn't let her irritation show for long -- it was rather unbecoming and unimpressive, given her current state. So the Condesce let her lips fall, staring with narrowed tyrian hues at the other seadweller for a few long moments before ignoring him and going back to what she was doing.

Bandages, salve and guaze. She could take it all back to her respiteblock, but she didn't want to chance anyone else seeing her fumbling about like some common street rat.

As she worked, his words registered in her head. She had been mistaken for her descendant. Again, she glances back over to Eridan and takes in his appearance more readily.

Horns. Purple streak. That awkward, pitiful stare in her presence. It had to be Dualscar's descendant.

[allthefeelings.livejournal.com]

This was awkward. He'd just wanted to check if his doppleganger was alive, really. He hadn't expected him to be awake, and catch him checking in.

He stood there in frozen silence for a moment, before saying, "Your vversion a' reality sucks."

[wwaterboy]

Eridan stared back at his own doppleganger, rubbing one bandaged wrist with his palm.

"That's for fuckin' sure," he agreed, wondering what the other troll's point was.