The prince stood on the edge of life

and then they wwere there, the monsters. the old ones

he'd fallen a long time ago but noww he literally fell to them

they curled him close and taught him about colours fadin

colours no matter howw high wwere arranged in front of him and they all faded to wwhite and black

they said there was a princess wwho had been ripped from their arms by a thief in the night wwho wwore the crowwn of royalty

and they taught him to sing to them

and deep deep dowwn he could feel himself drowwnin as they sang

'tears are happiness' they tell him

'lovve is all wwe givve an ask for' they tell the prince an he loses wwhat he wwas

because lovve has always been doomed for him

he wwas arrogant an lost

they havve found him and remade him

they tell him as much

an he remembers wwhat the others did

an her

the one with the teeth and anger in her eyes the one he killed

he doesn't wwant to be left alone with his deep colour paintin the floor again

time an again he had been found and bitten apart by her

left alone an then

she looks at him wwith no remorse

like it was a mercy he has been allowwed to die

an he wwas alone after that

he remembers fingers scraping his gills raww and open

blue tinted gloww in his brain that makes him givve up

he remembers nails digging into him

an he remembers wwhat they all wwere like

they promise he wwill nevver be alone an then

he wwakes up on his old place an they are gone

he looks evverywwhere for them

theyre gone

an he drifts

an then he is found again

Rose closed her husktop, shivering as she sits there, and Kanaya looked across and the feeling of the fear makes Rose flinch a little. Kanaya stared at her and then moved across to stand by her matesprit, hands folded and eyes wide with concern.

"What's wrong?" she asked gently, and Rose shook her head, trying not to tell her. She wasn't silly enough to think that telling everyone was the best thing to do.

"I…I'm sorry, Kanaya. I can't tell you yet." She felt long graceful arms wrap around her in a familiar hug and relaxed into it, letting Kanaya hug her close as she shivered again. "I'm afraid of what might have been caused by not looking out for everyone…"

She felt Kanaya freeze. "We know where everyone is except for one person, Rose…" she said slowly. "Do you mean what I think you're saying?"

Rose looked up at her. "We….found him, Kanaya. I mean…"

Kanaya looked down. "I knew he couldn't be alright. I apologise, Rose, I should have gone looking for him—"

Rose shook her head. "He is at Karkat's now…But it was worse than we thought, Kanaya." She pulled the other girl gently to sit on her lap, burying her nose for comfort in her shoulder blade. "He…fell through the bubbles somehow. They…the horrorterrors took him in. They took 'care' of him." She let Kanaya move so she was more comfortable and opened the husktop again, watching Kanaya's face go pale as she read through the little bit of writing.

"That….that's me….he…he's scared of me. He…." A translucent jade tear slid down her cheek. "Oh, oh no. No. I knew that he didn't cut those on a hunting mission!" She traced the words on-screen with a finger, and growled, wriggling from Rose's arms.

"I have something to talk to someone about, dearest. Be back soonest."

Vriska fell to the ground as Kanaya rubbed her stinging knuckles. "What the hell?" she shouted, eyes glaring up at the jadeblood stood over her with bared teeth and a growl rumbling in her throat.

"You deserved that!" she howled. "I knew it, when you two began to include me less often! You….how dare you? We all know he was stuck up and all the stuff he pulled even before the game, but his gills? The things he needs to fucking breathe?!"

She didn't care that the cerulean was gaping at her swearing, and simply glared until Vriska began to brush herself down.

"Soooooooo, you found Eridork? Why's he been snivelling to you when we're over?" Vriska stood up, glaring at Kanaya. "Tell him—"

"He hasn't. I just figured it out. Rose has been reading me some books about Earth, and the most recent had a section on abusive relationships-"

"Oh, bluh bluh. You and your sappy, soft little human. Give it a rest." Vriska sneered up at her. "So you haven't found him? He's probably crawling around the ocean and wallowing in his self-inflicted misery." She laughed, and Kanaya resisted the urge to punch her again.

Vriska began to walk off. Seriously, what a joke! Anyone would have realised it was her back in that time who'd left the marks on Eridan's gills. It was such a deliciously pitch thing in her eyes to do. Every time he wanted to go swimming, he couldn't, and she was the cause.

What the hell had she even meant by 'abusive'? The term twisted something in Vriska's stomach, and she gulped as she walked away. It was something she had heard sometimes when Terezi had been diligently following off-world court cases. Usually cases of…

Of caliginous romances taken too far. But Kanaya hadn't really even ever had a crush in spades. She didn't even know what she was talking about! Besides, it was hardly like Eridan was running away from her. He always came slithering back like the despicable worm he was when they were together. It was more pathetic than hateable, so she'd dropped him. Except for those fun few times in the dreambubbles, where it didn't really matter anyway.

She rolled her eyes. And Fussyfangs making such a big deal over it!

Dirk woke up, blinking, curled up uncomfortably on the sofa with a blanket pulled over him. Huddled against his side was a fast asleep Eridan, whose horns dug lightly into his shoulder and whose fins were wavering in his sleep. Someone had dabbed sopor on his face, and apparently it was helping him sleep, because he wasn't doing the twitching, maiming and whimpering actions Dirk had come to associate with daymares after Meenah fell asleep without a coon while visiting him and Dave.

"Good mornin', sleeping beauties!" Cronus whispered, sing-songing the words almost snarkily. A purple spatula-shaped bruise had bloomed overnight on his cheek, and Dirk couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Ah, go boil your head," Cronus said, lightheartedly. "Yeah, Vwantas Junior vwasn't exactly happy to vwake up all mallovwed. Eri vwoke up partvway through the night, an' I told him to go back to sleep until you vwoke up. Is he still asleep?"

Dirk rubbed his eyes with one hand. "How the hell are you this coherent this early?" he grumbled, and looked down when Eridan shifted, eyes sliding open and fins flattening as he yawned.

"Mornin'…" the smaller troll whispered, bleary eyed and blinking. Something about it reminded Dirk of a little kid, and this was what got him to manage a smile as he looked down.

"Mornin' right back at you. You sleep alright?" he asked, letting the pitch waver a little as a horrorterror might speak with a human vocal range. Eridan smiled at him and sat up, as Cronus waved from where he was.

"Aight. So. You doin' breakfast yet?"

Eridan went quiet, and looked up at Dirk as if asking for permission. Permission to go eat…Dirk nodded.

It still didn't strike him as fair that it had happened to this kid. What the hell even went through those monstrosities' brains to treat anyone like this? Eridan sloped into the nutrition block, keeping one hand on Cronus' arm as he did so, and a groaning followed by a 'fuckitall' alerted them to Karkat's finally waking up, followed by a shuffling of feet and Karkat appearing dressed in his usual attire.

"Gog. I hate you all. Why are you still here, Ampora Senior?"

Cronus turned around, frowning. "Man, you say that like I'm actually fuckin' old."

"You say that like you fucking aren't. Make me some coffee if you're using my kitchen." Karkat shuffled towards his husktop, opening it up. "I just hope nothing else goes wrong already…Well, fuck. I have Kanaya messages and Spiderbitch messages. Lucky me. Okay, so Rose got upset by whatever the fuck it was and Kanaya—"

Eridan was whimpering loudly, and Cronus had his hands over his dancestor's earfins. "Yo, Crabby, can you not mention the K vword? Eri's freakin'."

"Well, shit." Karkat turned around. "Calm him down, then. There's alchemized pop-tarts on top of the thermal hull."

A quiet munching a few minutes later indicated it would be safe to carry on.

"So, GA, let's say, has messaged saying she's sorry to hear what's happened to Eridan, and that it's probably best given the circumstances that she doesn't visit."

Dirk snorted. "Yeah, given the circumstances, I would say so. So what does Vriska say?"

"To check my phone. What the fuck, I don't even use the thing…" He turned to press a button on a little blinking machine with a purple plastic crab on the top of it. "What the fuck does she even want?"

"Heyyyyyyyy, Karcrabby! If you're done with whatever loser bullshit you're getting on with at the minute, I neeeeeeeed to talk to you about matters Dualoser!" The slightly whiny voice filled the apartment and a loud shriek filled the air, one that rose in pitch. The lights began flickering quickly as Vriska's voice filled the room, and then the darkness began to last longer.

Water. Water was everywhere, except not, and Karkat shouted in fear while Cronus looked around. Eridan clung to him, and still the noise left his mouth while Dirk stood where he was. They were….in a bubble. Underwater, with huge white lusii swimming around their (fragile-looking) bubble, snapping their teeth. And purple tears were sliding down Eridan's cheeks as he hid behind Cronus, who was trying to shush him and looking terrified. Dirk turned to Eridan.

"Take us back!"

Eridan shut his mouth, and like that, they were back in the living room, as the beep of the answering machine indicated the message had finished and the kettle boiled.

"WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?" Karkat screeched, and Eridan wailed, earfins flat against his neck as if to cover his gills as his shoulders heaves and the same purple tears trickled down his cheeks. Dirk moved over quickly to cradle him, to tell him it was all right – just as Cronus was doing- in soft, lilting tones, before turning to Karkat.

"Looks like you have a couple of questions to ask Spiderbitch."