Becoming Truly Happy :Erisol:

Chapter 4

When Eridan knocked on the Captors door, he was anticipating his maybe-boyfriend, but instead was met with a helmeted maniac wearing a huge, crooked grin.

"Tholluxthsth boyfriend!" Mituna crowed triumphantly, and Eridan felt himself flushing, looking down at his feet. There was the sound of movement from inside the house, and then the quick thump of someone sprinting down the hall, until Sollux stood by the door, looking dishevelled.

"Out the way, Tuna," he said, but there was no venom in his voice, even as he nudged Tuna out of the way with his hip and elbow. The older Captor stood firm, hands on hips, presumably glaring at Sollux through the visor and mass of hair obscuring his eyes.

"W-why thshould I movthe?" he demanded, and Sollux sighed, grimacing apologetically at Eridan, who giggled awkwardly. "I want to meet him!"

"You're not Dad, now go play Mario or thomething," Sollux shot back, irritably, turning back to Eridan and signalling that the conversation was over. "Thorry. He'th in a weird mo-"

The hacker was cut off by a hand being brought down rough on his skull, and Eridans eyes widened as he watched Mituna start to hit and smack Sollux's head, muttering incoherently. His voice rose until he was almost yelling, but the words themselves weren't any more audible, just garbage spilling out of his mouth. Sollux yelled back, mainly choice curse words, and Eridan could do nothing but watch as they settled into a brotherly dispute that featured quite a bit of violence, mostly from Mituna, raining wrath on Sollux's head with each hit.

In the midst of the chaos, Eridan felt like an outsider, and for a moment wondered just what Sollux's relationship with his brother was really like. When he had first seen the elder Captor sibling, he had assumed they had a loving relationship, close and affectionate, but watching them now, anyone would think they were the very worst of enemies.

"Get the fuck off me!" Sollux eventually shouted with a decisive hit, enough that something seemed to snap in Mituna, pulling him out of his rage. He suddenly looked much smaller, almost shrinking into himself.

"Thsorry," he said quietly, staring at his own hands, and with jerking movements and a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob he turned tail and fled down the hall, leaving Eridan and Sollux to stare after him, the former in disbelief, and the latter in resignation. After Mituna had disappeared from sight, Sollux turned back around to Eridan, running a hand through his mop of hair and smiling nervously.

"Thorry you had to thee that," said Sollux sheepishly, and Eridan smiled and shuffled his feet. He was no stranger to domestic dispute, and he knew that Sollux knew that, but the apology was appreciated nevertheless. He tried to not appear fazed as he stepped inside and kicked his shoes off.

"It's alright," Eridan said, measured, careful, and hes sure Sol picked up on the change in his tone, because there was a sigh and before he knew it there were arms around his waist and a face buried in the back of his neck. "Sol?" he asked cautiously, hyperaware of every inch their bodies touched, hyperaware of Sollux pressed right up against his back, honey breath ruffling the hairs on Eridans neck.

"Tuna'th normally much better," Sollux said miserably, and it took Eridan a second to get over the sensation of Sollux's voice rumbling through both their bodies and heating the back of his neck, and he was sure the shells of his ears turned red. "He'th in an awful mood. Thorry. I didnt realithe he wath tho bad, or I'd have thuggethted thomething elthe."

"Sol," Eridan interrupted, before Sol could go on a self-deprecating rant. "It's fine. But w-whats w-with the hug? I'm not complainin, but..."

Feeling lips press to the back of his neck before Sollux was gone, Eridan just knew his face was crimson, and steadfastedly kept it down. "Jutht felt like the right thing to do. Where'd you wanna go?"