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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It wwasn't a good or pure thing when the Sufferer livved," Eridan explained, waving a hand dismissively. "He talked about all this demonstrably fake stuff about peace and the hemospectrum bein' wwrong, and they killed him for it, and probably because they figured his blood wwas mutated."

He grimaced. "But then a few hundred swweeps later, the Summoner got inspired, I guess, and ovverthreww the sea dwwellers. Now the Sufferer is revvered."

Kanaya's eyes almost seemed to light up as he went on with his tale. She wasn't entirely sure who these "Sufferer" and "Summoner" people were -- she'd never bothered herself much with the lore of Alternia, and she didn't recall any of those titles from things she'd read -- but she just logged away the information as one of the many things about the alpha timeline she wasn't aware of.

"That's amazing," she eventually said, with a note of awe and a touch of a smile. So it wasn't her timeline, but somewhere out there, someone else thought that every blood caste deserved equal rights. Even irregularities like her.

As a realization sunk in, though, her smile began to fade. That meant...that meant this Eridan was in the position the Terezi of her world had been in. Being the lowest of the low herself, she wouldn't wish that on anyone. "...I am sorry for the position you are in because of that," apologized Kanaya quietly. "No one deserves that kind of treatment because of something they can not control."

Yeah, of course she'd be excited about this idea. He was all ready to get good and indignant about it, maybe brood a little, but then her attitude changed and she started apologizing.

"Yeah, wwell, that's obvvious to evveryone here, apparently, but no one in my wworld seems to havve an issue wwith oppressin' me an' my people," he said grumpily. "An' as I'vve explained to a feww people already, it's wworse than it wwas before, because at least the red bloods were land dwwellers, they wweren't looked dowwn on evven by the bronze an' golds. Sea dwwellers are oppressed evven by the other lowwbloods, because they're different."

She frowned, tucking in the last of her fresh bandages to give Eridan her full attention. Sure, it was great that lowbloods (or, former lowbloods, she guessed) were finally given the opportunity to achieve greatness, but...making other people suffer for it wasn't right either.

"You do not have to deal with that here," she reminded softly. "There are many other things to worry about in this place, but being oppressed for being a sea dweller is not one of them. Most of the trolls in this tower are used to your kind leading them."

She shifted a little in her position on the edge of the bed. "For what it is worth, I do not think any less of you," added the candyblood sincerely. Kanaya was no sea dweller, but she was certainly different -- different enough for the likes of even a yellowblood like Equius to give her shit for her blood.

Eridan toyed with the end of his scarf, which he was wearing even though he was otherwise dressed in hospital whites. It was like a security blanket.

"Wwell, there's no reason wwhy you should think less a me," he said archly, then sighed. "I knoww I'vve got nothin' to really wworry about because a that, but I'm not used to bein' thought of as a highblood. I don't knoww howw to act properly. Anywway, Sol is here, and he's not exactly inclined to let me get too far out a line and abovve my station. That fuckin' asshole wwill wwant me kept loww, evven if he's the only yelloww-blood wwho's puttin' on airs." He grimaced. "If wwe go back to my wworld, it'll matter howw I treat him noww."

Eridan's mention of going back to his world struck a strange chord in Kanaya. She pretty much had zero hope for returning to her universe, and the same amount of desire to. Rightfully, returning to her timeline would mean being erased in the Scratch. And, despite being resigned to her removal from existence previously, this second chance has restored her aversion to dying. This tower wasn't exactly savory, but at least she was alive.

"Then I suppose my best advice to you is for you to be yourself," she suggested distantly, preoccupied with the musings on her doomed universe. "Exercise caution around your Sollux, but begin a clean slate for all of the new people you meet. Simply having purple blood is enough for some people, regardless of behavioral expectations."

Kanaya gave a sigh after that, tugging the sheets up so she could replace her legs on the bed and lay back again. "I apologize. I don't really know what else to say."

"No, yeah, you'vve got somethin' there. I think that's good advvice." He shrugged his shoulders. "Evven if I'm not exactly like they expect, there's no reason they should assume I'm a lowwblood. Unless I go around tellin' people...wwhich is basically what I'vve been doin', so I guess I should stop," he finished with a wry grimace.