towerofanimus | (no subject)

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.

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"The fuckin' threshecutioners!" Eridan hissed. "Right before they put the irons to me and fuckin' hung me from the Punishment Gibbet right...right...beside... my moirail."

And then the purple tears really got going again. With a broken wail, he wrapped his bandaged arms around Sollux and buried his face in his shirt. He hunched and cringed a little even as he sobbed, sure that Sollux would push him away or strike him, but Sollux was literally all he had left, and if that was pathetic, well so be it.

Sollux curled his arms around Eridan gently, making a shushing sound - though it sounded a bit silly with his lisp - to try and calm him. "It'th okay. I'm here, and the threthecutionerth aren't going to hurt you..."

That wasn't what he expected. Eridan shivered as Sollux' arms went around him, but he didn't hurt him. He was comforting him, and that broke him even further. Even his kismesis didn't hate him enough, and probably he'd abandon him now.

He curled his fingers in Sollux' coat and sniffled harder. "Th-they killed her Sol," he wailed. "She wwas my wwhole life, and they killed her because a her blood."

"That'th tho fucking thtupid..." Really? He could almost understand if they thought she had helped Eridan kill him but, just over her blood? It was starting to grate on his nerves a little.

"I'm thure it wath jutht the Tower fucking with you." Sollux didn't know that, but he felt really awkward feeling bad for his kismesis like this. "It'th okay, Ee-dee, she'th probably thtill alive really."

"Wwhy do you think I nevver told you about her?" Eridan sniffled. "Evven if they don't find her, evven if it wwas all a lie, she might be dead. She can't survvivve wwithout me."

A small voice at the back of his mind was frantically signalling that he was saying too much, and he fell silent, making a glubbing sound in his throat.

He hugged Eridan tighter. He could relate; he was starting to get more and more worried about KK the longer he was away from him. "I'm thorry. I wish I knew a way to help. You don't have to glub, I'm not pithhed you didn't mention her before if that was the thituation. She really needth you, huh?"

Eridan glubbed again, more softly. "Yeah," he whispered. "She does."

He swallowed hard. Sollux' comforting embrace was helping, but it was nerve-wracking, too. "You aren't gonna dump me, are you, Sol?" he asked unhappily. "I must be the most borin' kismesis in the entire wworld. But... I'm wworkin on doin' better. You'll see, so if you wwill just givve me a bit more time..."

The question caught Sollux off guard. Yeah, it was sort of true that this wasn't the most black behavior ever, but at the same time Eridan seemed to be in genuine distress over this. "No, thtupid, I'm not dumping you. Be a little lethh thelfish she'th the one you should be worried about."

Eridan scowled a bit at being called selfish. It wasn't like he could do anything about Feferi, that was why he was bawling like a grub right now! But he was relieved that Sollux wasn't dumping him, and nuzzled in closer, pressing a kiss to the underside of Sollux' jaw in thanks.

"Okay," he said in a watery manner. "An' I'm not bein' shellfish so go fuck yourself. I can't do anyfin about Feferi anywway, or I wwould. All I can do is wworry and I'm doin' enough of that already."