One Plus One Equals Three (Erisol fanfic)

Chapter 4

An hour or so later Sollux found Eridan seated at his desk in their shared office pouring over one of his books. He couldn't help but smile at the sea troll's intense concentration. "You wanted to tell me thomething?" the Gemini asked as he made his presence known. Eridan jumped slightly at the unexpected sound.

"Um, yeah. I do," the violet blood answered nervously while shutting the book in front of him. Sollux moved closer to stand next to him.

"Alright, shoot," he said casually. Eridan snuck a glance into his matesprit's curious red and blue eyes before averting his gaze to his own lap.

"Maybe it would be best if you sat down," the high blood said quietly.

"Okay?" Eridan could hear the concern in Sollux's voice as he grabbed his roller chair from his desk and pushed it to the other side of the room to sit in front of him. "ED what'th wrong?" the psionic asked once he had taken his seat. The Aquarius was still keeping his gaze lowered to his lap and was visibly trembling. Sollux reached out a clawed hand and gently lifted the other troll's chin. "Eridan?" he was shocked to see tears sliding down his matesprit's face.

"I've been meanin' to tell you this for awhile," Eridan moved his face away from Sollux's hand and focused on playing with the rings on his fingers. He couldn't look his lover in the eye. Not when this could possibly be the end.

"You're thcaring me, Eridan," Sollux whispered urgently.

"I promise I've been meanin' to tell you, Sol," Eridan continued despite how shaky his voice had become and the tears in his eyes. "I just didn't know how and then you said you didn't want extra responsibility. I've just been afraid that you will leave me and I-,"

"I will never leave you!" Sollux interjected harshly, cutting off the sobbing troll. Eridan's eyes snapped up to meet the red and blue ones in front of him. Watery violet eyes searched the heterochromatic ones in front of them. Sollux looked genuinely offended.

"I'm pregnant," Eridan breathed. The two trolls continued to stare into each other's eyes to gauge their reactions and emotions. Sollux's eyes widened a bit.

"How ith that even pothible?" the Gemini nearly shouted in irritation.

"I don't know! It's a sea dweller thing, Kan explained it all!" Eridan shouted back, his emotions running wild and feeding off of the pace Sollux had set by his initial outburst.

"Kanaya knowth about thith?" the yellow blood yelled in shock.

"She's the one who told me I was fuckin' pregnant in the first place! I had no fuckin' idea!" Eridan shrieked. He honestly wasn't sure if they were having an argument or not at the moment. All he knew was that he certainly wasn't angry. He was only raising his voice because Sollux was and he would be damned if he was the only one being yelled at. The only things he felt at the moment were fear and uncertainty.

Sollux and Eridan sat in silence. The yellow blood's eyebrows were furrowed and the only sound in the room was Eridan's ragged breathing.

"Thith ith probably why we tharted out in thpades. You can be tho fucking thupid thometimes," Sollux finally spoke.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Eridan snapped.

"You haven't figured out by now that I'm not going anywhere," the Gemini shook his head. "Fuck!" He stood from his chair with Eridan watching him intently and went over to his desk to rummage through a drawer. He returned to his seat which gave a pathetic squeak when he sat down. "I've wanted to give you thith for awhile now but I wath alwayth too nervouth which theemth pretty fucking thupid now." The low blood handed the troll in front of him the small black box he had retrieved from his desk.

Eridan held the box in his trembling hand and gave Sollux a questioning look. The double horned troll sighed. "Open it ath hole," he commanded. Eridan narrowed his eyes at the insult but turned his attention back to the box. The sea troll finally opened it with his fumbling fingers and he gasped at what he found inside. An ornate ring sat nestled in the velvet cushion of the box's interior. It had a gold band much like his other rings but the sparkling stone set in the middle was a beautiful mix of purple and yellow.

"Sollux," Eridan whispered. He couldn't think of anything else to say. He was speechless.

"It's ametrine," Sollux informed him taking the box back from Eridan's hand and removing the ring from it. He gently pulled one of the sea troll's hands toward him and slipped the ring onto a bare finger whose ring had been lost long ago. He kept the hand in his grasp.

"I'm goin' to be havin' grubs," Eridan insisted, still testing the waters to be sure he understood what was going on. He continued to look Sollux in the eye. The yellow blood kept his gaze steady and tightened his grip on the other's hand slightly.

"I'm thtill not going anywhere," he responded evenly. The weight that lifted off of Eridan's blood pusher made it feel like it was flying. The two sat in silence again for a moment. Sollux eventually released the other's hand and leaned back in his chair a bit. "Tho how long exactly have you been meaning to tell me thith?" he asked in curiosity. Eridan noticed Sollux's eyes kept darting down to his stomach. The sea troll smirked at his matesprit's attempt at hiding his glances.

"I'm about a month and a half along," he answered feeling almost guilty. He had really kept this from the other troll for a long time. As expected Sollux appeared surprised.

"How long doeth it latht?"

"Kan said I will be carryin' the eggs for about five months then I lay 'em and they hatch four months after that," Eridan explained.

"How many?" Sollux asked somewhat hesitantly. Eridan shook his head.

"Don't know for sure," the sea troll answered. "Kan said maybe five at the most." Both were silent again as they tried to fathom the thought of having five grubs to take care of.

"Kanaya theemth to really know a lot about thith thtuff," Sollux observed. Eridan shrugged.

"Even she admits that she doesn't know everythin' about it but she knows way fuckin' more than most trolls, that's for damn sure."

"Thorry about earlier," Sollux grinned sheepishly. "You know, the thing about you thmelling like her." Eridan felt a bit of heat rise to his cheeks as he thought about their impromptu pailing from a few hours ago.

"Well I can't say I didn't enjoy it," the violet blood teased. "That's actually another thing Kan told me about. Apparently me bein' pregnant releases some kind of pheromones that are supposed to fuck with everyone's natural instincts an' shit." Sollux let out a thoughtful 'hm'. Silence fell over the two yet again as Eridan watched his matesprit mull over all of the new information. After a few moments a thought finally occurred to the psionic.

"Can I-," he hesitated and ran his tongue over his dry lips nervously. "Can I thee it?" he asked. Eridan felt himself blush and awkwardly stood up from his desk. Sollux quickly jumped up from his chair as well and watched anxiously as the high blood in front of him lifted the hem of his shirt to just below his ribcage exposing his entire abdominal area. The Gemini felt himself inhale sharply as he laid his eyes on the small protrusion that was once his matesprit's flat lower stomach. He slowly reached his hand out and cupped it over the solid roundness of Eridan's cool skin. The violet blood jumped slightly at the contact and the feeling of the warm hand over his egg bump. Up until that moment he had been the only one to ever place a hand there. Everything suddenly felt so real.

Much later that night the two trolls were curled up together in the comfort of their recuperacoon. Eridan told Sollux everything he knew so far about being pregnant while wrapped tightly in the lower blooded troll's warm embrace. Sollux listened sleepily to everything Eridan had to say until the early hours of dawn with his head tucked into the sea troll's shoulder and his hands resting over the other's stomach.