Kanaya and Eridan were sitting in the communal room. Which was really just the troll version of the living room. There was a big tv, some power outlets for their laptops, and some game grub consoles. There was a big, comfortable red couch that had a bunch of stains from Sollux spilling energy drinks on it. In reality, they were on the shittiest mission ever. They were assigned to floating around looking for any human ships, island, whatever. Just looking to see if there were any rebels hiding out in the expanse that was fuckin' nowhere. This ship was not battle approved. If they ever ran into anything they would have to call backup and hope ahab's crosshairs and Kanaya's chainsaw was enough fire power. If anything, this was more like a purgatory. All six of them were stuck on a ship for what was likely to be years, doing nothing every single day. It was punishment for everyone involved.

"Sup," Dave said, sitting on the couch. Kanaya was doing some embroidery work. Eridan was reading a thick book. They weren't talking, but rather sharing a communal space and using various distractions as a means of pretending the other wasn't there.

"How is Rose doing?" Kanaya asked.

"She's fine. Doesn't look sick at all. She's in her room probably writing more wizard fiction," Dave said. He pulled out his smartphone and began texting Rose. She wasn't replying. She was definitely writing wizard fiction.

"Wizard fiction?" Eridan asked. He was trying to hide his enthusiasm, but it had been quite some time since he had read a new wizard novel. The boat's library was primarily stocked with books on history and war, Eridan's favorite type of literature, but he liked to mix it up every now and then with some fantasy. His stock of wizard fiction was lacking.

"Yeah. Rose loves wizards," Dave said casually. He wasn't looking up from his phone. He was now text messaging Sollux in the helm block. Kanaya was peering at Eridan with a smirk on her face as she stitched peacefully. Clearly she was in the mood for meddling.

"I know someone who also has an interest in wizards..." Kanaya said.

"I ain't got no interest in magic. Stuff is fake as hell."

"Eridan you are reading a book about wizards, right now."

"What? Seriously?" Dave asked.

"I don't have any w-wizard books. Sure not here."

"Let me translate the cover of the book Eridan is currently reading into english," Kanaya said and cleared her throat, "Young limeblooded troll discovers that they have magical powers and-"

"Alright fine, it's a fuckin' wizard book," Eridan said.

"Damn, who would've thought trolls had wizards. Who know, maybe if you ask nicely, Rose will let you have the link to her writing. It's somewhere on the human internet," Dave suggested.

CA: hello
TT: Good evening.
CA: davve was saying that you wwrite wwizard fiction
TT: I know nothing of this so-called "wwizard fiction".

CA: do you think I was hatched last sweep

TT: Sometimes, yes.

CA: damn it nevvermind

"Rose said she doesn't know about any wizard fiction," Eridan told Dave. Who just laughed. Then Rose's custom ring tone (a single, somber piano note) sounded from his phone.

TT: Did you tell Eridan about Complacency of the Learned?

"Damn it," Dave cursed. Eridan looked over at him.

TG: no

TT: Yes you did. I know you did.
TG: why did you ignore me until mr whats his cape started trolling you

TT: I assumed it would be something important.
TT: Instead, I received messages about my novel writing hobby, which I would have preferred you to not tell anyone about. Yet, here I am. Being questioned all about my wizard novels.

TG: maybe the guy likes wizard novels

TT: Fascinating.
TG: really rose really
TT: Not one bit. Now if you do not mind, I think I will live it up on my day off in the realm of magic and epic battles.

"Rose is pretty selfconscious about her writing but her userhandle everywhere is tentacletherapist, so I don't know, you could just human google it, on whatever is left of the human internet" Dave suggested. He was bored enough to start reading Rose's wizard fiction himself. He stretched out on the floor and started playing some pointless little app game.

"And what kind of books does she write again? They're not... erotic? Are they?" Kanaya asked. She was flushing a shade of jade green.

"What?" Dave asked.

"Well, with a handle like tentacletherapist, it just sounds a bit, perverse," Kanaya said.

"Uh no, she's just really into eldritch abominations, like Fthulhu and shit, like stuff with all kinda of tentacles and monstery bits," Dave explained. He set his phone on his lap and wiggled his finger enthusiastically to bring the point home. He wasn't sure if troll HP Lovecraft was a thing.

"Sounds pretty kinky, if you're askin me," Eridan said.

"I don't even want to know why you think it's kinky but whatever," Dave said.

"He knows nothing because Eridan is a v-"

"Very high blooded prince who is on a different level than landwellers," Eridan interjected. He glared at Kanaya. It was a very shitty lie. Kanaya guessed she could preserve what very little was left of his dignity. Eridan was lucky that Sollux wasn't in the vicinity or he'd be getting a very hefty amount of mocking coming his way.

"I think this is the first time I've seen you two chatting it up and not getting your hate faces on," Dave said. He slouched and felt rather relaxed and lazy.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kanaya asked. Eridan stuck his head back in the book like he was trying to escape from this conversation.

"I don't know, this always this tension between you guys whenever wizard fish over there is around, this is the first time I've seen you drop your guard around him."

"Yes, well, there is a reason for that, despite what you humans might believe, life hasn't exactly been like one of your human walks in the park for us and there is plenty of nasty history that we brought here from Alternia."

"Like what?" Dave asked. He tapped the screen of his phone.

"Like, none of your motherfuckin' business," Eridan snapped. His voice was barely below a shout, and he had this tone, not unlike a growl. His fins were all flared up and moving up and down. Dave had to flinch at the tone of his voice. Even if he was pathetic, there was no denying that when he wanted to, Eridan could appear to be intimidating. There was something about the way he moved when he was pissed that set up the 'flight' part of Dave's limbic system.

"Jeeze, if you react that way to questions so wonder why nobody likes you," Dave said.

Eridan got up in a hurry and left his wizard book on the couch. He did not look back to glare at Dave. He walked away in whatever direction he could think first, as fast as he could. Kanaya looked over at Dave, she tried to hide her expression but she was obviously filled with sorrow. To think that they might have actually been, perhaps, chatting and being friendly. It wasn't painful to spend time with them joking about wizards, and now, the tension was pervasive. Kanaya sighed, looked at Dave for a second, picked up her embroidery and politely, and carefully walked out of the room. She moved like a shadow that had simply vanished. When Eridan had stormed out of there in a bluster, Kanaya had hidden it in a smoke screen of grace and careful footing. Now, a decent time had been ruined and it was all Dave's fault and he didn't even understand why.

"Et tu, Kanaya?" Dave asked. He was now alone on the couch playing apps.

Eridan retreated back to the kitchen. His shoulders and his entire body were shaking and he was breathing out too deeply. Thankfully he was all by himself. On a normal day, he would have asked someone to make him dinner but he didn't want to talk to anyone now. He wanted to be alone. He stripped down to wearing just his long sleeve shirt and rolled the sleeves up with his shaking hands.

Eridan took a fish out of the refrigerator and got a meat cleaver from the cabinets. He set the dead animal on the wooden chopping block and hacked it's head off with a brute force that ended with the cleaver being stuck in the wooden block. The fish head went flying off of the counter top. It felt good. It felt like release. Eridan could feel his lips curling back with a sinister smile, as he delighted in cutting the fish apart. Rose was standing in the kitchen with a concerned expression on her face. She picked up the fish head, put it in the trash and then washed her hands at the sink before walking out of the room.

When Eridan lifted the knife, the wooden block, and the fish sitting on it was raised with it. He jiggled it back and forth and the wooden block plopped back on the counter with a bang. He put the cleaver in the trash, it was ruined now, anyways. He took a filleting knife out of the drawer and filleted the fish with precision. He then plucked out each bone from the flesh using his claws with rough, jerking motion. He then sliced up a lemon and some fresh herbs from the garden and wrapped it up in some paper. He put in the oven, standing by and looking bored waiting for his meal to cook. Lucky for him, it cooked fast and it when that was done, he had a pretty tasty looking meal before him. Cooking had calmed some of the hurricane of regret in his heart, but most of it remained even as he stood at the counter and ate it with his bare hands, in the least noble of ways. He felt a bit like a monster. It felt pretty good. He sighed, and washed his hands before leaving the kitchen. Part of him mentally noted this his claws were need on a serious trimming.

He wanted to go somewhere, but he wasn't sure where. He put his jacket back on and rolled down the sleeves of his shirt. He needed to clear his mind. Thoughts were racing back in forth in his mind like angry currents. He was being filled to the very top with this anxiety, this regret, this horrible, horrible feeling. It overwhelmed him. He was drowning in his own mind and he could get out of it. He left like there was a disconnect between his mind and his body. His thoughts were becoming untethered from his brain. He needed an ice cold shower to put them back in. His fins were still waving around involuntarily. Stupid fins, calm the fuck down. Rose was walking down the hallway towards the kitchen again.

"Are you feeling well?" Eridan asked. His mind was elsewhere. He was running on a script because some rational part of him deep down in his mind was telling him that he better ask this question.

"I have recuperated well, thank you. I apologize for intruding on you earlier," Rose said. She was so polite. Polite like she wasn't stupid enough to start saying stupid shit like the other human. Eridan knew she was doing for her own good. She wasn't dumb enough to truly get sucked into the slave mind, but she wasn't so prideful that she did not follow order, if only to save her own skin.

"You seem very stressed. Would you like to talk about it?"

"What?"

"Perhaps if talking about your feelings would alleviate their pressure on your mind... talking about one's feelings to another is something of a human coping mechanism when dealing with stress."

"You only tell me that because you have to."

"If we're going to talk about talking, I will have you know that such an occupation, when human society existed, was considered a very important therapy. One which I wanted to go to college for, and become licensed in, in order to help people. To put it simply- talking is something that I am not only interested in, but truly believe in the importance of," Rose said. Her tone was harsh. He had struck a nerve.

"Thank you," Eridan said curtly, before continuing his not so merry way down the hall.

He went to his respiteblock and filled the bath tub with cold water. The bath tub was massive, enough for him to fully sink down to the bottom and submerge himself completely. He dropped one of his custom bath bombs into the water, which increased the salinity of the water so he could breathe easier. He stripped down to nothing and laid in the ice cold water and let himself sink to the bottom of the tub. It felt good, it felt like relaxation. He let himself breathe in the water through his gills. It reminded him of the cold, briny waters of alternia. He thought about her purple colored eyes. Dragging him farther down beneath the waves of his dark thoughts. He thought about Rose's creamy white skin that was dotted with freckles at her shoulders and on her cheeks. He thought about her thick, white thighs clamped down around his waist like a vice, her arms gripping his neck. Her cheeks turned pale pink. Those royal purple eyes staring back at him.

Alright, so he was thinking about some pretty perverted things. It wouldn't be the only time. He's a man, a captain. Out at sea. Doing nothin'. Out at sea. A whole lot of boredom. Out at sea. Not anyone to talk to. Out at sea. Lots of sexual frustration. Lots of spare time to think about sex. After awhile it got boring, after awhile, sometimes having no friends and bunch of people who hate you gets lonely. Sometimes a man has to resort to his own hand, and so what of it? Eridan had tried, okay so he didn't try at all to not masturbate to Rose. Honestly, she was the best fantasy option. Everyone else reminded him of something painful from his past, especially Dave with his bright red eyes. Rose was safe. She was new. That and she was beautiful, if not in a bit severe way. Her bobbed hair was angular in cut, which complemented her softer features. As a normal human she was rather inactive, leading her body to become softer than a troll's would have been. It was exotic.

He had been surfing the human internet a little bit too much. Eridan was starting to roll up a fantasy scenario in his head that made little sense. He imagined that Rose was idly writing in a notebook in the library. It was dark, only a dim reading light was illuminating the room. Her face was without modification, her lips were a human pale pink instead of black. She bit into the tip of the pen, crushing the thin plastic tip between her dull, white teeth. Eridan was just walking in there to grab a book, but the way Rose's purple eyes looked up at him from under her blonde lashes made him want to stay by her side. This was so cliche, but it was doing the trick. It was distracting him. Eridan could feel himself get all riled up underneath the water. He was lost in this fantasy, his thin fingers were wrapped around his bulge. In his fantasy, Rose set the pen down and closed the book.

"Master, what are you doing in here?" she asked. Her soft voice weighed lightly on the thick atmosphere of them room. Eridan could feel his cheeks flush violet.

"Nothin', I was just... needin some company thats all..." he said. He sat in the chair next to her in a way that was smooth, so unlike his actual self. He rubbed her shoulder gently. Rose was wearing a thin straped tanktop, a bit of lace on her bra was peaking out from underneath it. She didn't notice. Eridan gazed at the cute freckles on her shoulders, and the little tan line from her shirt.

"You don't mind me bein' here do you?" he asked.

"Not at all, in fact, I was feeling rather lonely myself," Rose said. She rubbed his thigh and looked at up at him with those eyes that practically made him melt. Eridan could feel his heart pumping faster. It was a hot day. He was wearing a muscle tee and some black denim pants. Rose was wearing some cut off shorts.

"It's so hot outside, even in the ship it's too warm," Eridan said.

"Maybe we could cool off by going for a swim," Rose suggested, and with that suggestion, the topic and setting of his fantasy now drifted into Eridan's respite block. Rose followed him back to his cold room with the marble marble tiles and followed him to the bath tub. It was more than big enough to fit them both in there, with room to spare.

Rose bent over the side of the tub to fill it with cold water. Her shorts showed off most of the backs of her thighs. Eridan walked over behind her and grabbed her ample bosom. Rose turned around to face him. She looked up at him with her purple eyes and a pleading expression. Because this was Eridan's ridiculous fantasy, he derobed her like like a pirate in a bodice ripper. His claw made quick work of her thin tank top. Underneath he saw the black and purple striped bra that had just the thinnest line of black lace going around the top. For this, he actually unhooked it and managed to do so without fumbling. An impossible task for real life virgin Eridan- flawless execution by fantasy Eridan. Rose's breasts gave a little bounce and she smirked up at him. Rose gave him a playful wink as she unbuttoned her shorts and took them off while wiggling her hips. She looked up at him with a pout and bit her lower lip and Eridan was totally fuckin' done for. He was getting naked as fast as he possibly could. Rose was reclining in the tub.

"This is so nice and refreshing, isn't it?" Rose asked and splashed him playfully. Eridan climber in the tub and placed a quick on her cheek.

"I can think one thing that would be a lot a fun," Eridan said. He was being uncharacteristically smooth and placed his arm around Rose's shoulder. She stepped closer to him.

"Tell me more, master Ampora," she whispered in his ear in a way that made him melt.

Her soft fingertips were running up his thigh. Then her fingers were inside his nook, moving in and out in a slow and steady rhythm. She treated as gently as she would have treated herself. Eridan leaned back and let out a low moan. He knew it was so wrong. In real life, Eridan wrapped a hand around his writhing, violet purple bulge. The water muffled his loud moans. The lust clouded his better judgment as he lost himself in this raunchy fantasy. He came at just the exact time he did in his little fantasy, he had gotten this whole sexual frustration down to a regular routine. The bath water was now stained a pale lavender color that reminded him of Rose's eyes. Eridan drained the spent bath water from the tub. He cleaned his hair and body before stepping out of the tub. He felt more clear and level headed after a nice, relaxing bath.

Actual, real life Rose was in the kitchen or food preparation block, or whatever it was called. She saw the cutting board where Eridan had left it. She felt the deep crack the meat cleaver had dug into the cutting board with her finger tips. She washed it off carefully, but the board was pretty much done for on that side. She put it back in it's place, flipped upside down as to not show the crack. She made herself breakfast for dinner, sometimes known as brinner. Other times known as 'mommy needs some good food for her 5pm hangover'. She had some bacon, some eggs, french toast. It was really only a matter of time before Rose heard someone walking pretty fast towards the kitchen. Rose knew this would happen, that's why she made more than she needed.

"Yo I smell bacon, better make some for me," Dave said.

"Baconn..." Terezi said. She got too close to Rose, leaning her head over Rose's shoulder and taking in a big whiff of the greasy, bacony aroma. Rose knew she didn't mean to make her feel uncomfortable, but that didn't change that it did.

"I made plenty for all three of us," Rose said. Dave and Terezi retreated to the little table that was in the kitchen while Rose served them some dinner.

"Yo Rose, have you seen the fish guy? He was super pissed off because I said something," Dave asked between bites of french toast and sips of boxed apple juice.

"What did you say?" Terezi asked.

"I just asked him why shits always so tense between him and the rest of you."

"And?" Rose asked. She was also curious. This would explain why Eridan was all ruffly and fin wiggly when she had approached him.

"Kanaya and him just got pissed and walked out. Do you know what happened?" Dave asked Terezi. She seemed sense. He took a few bites of her meal and stared at Dave with her empty, red eyes. She was stalling so she could think of something to say.

"Drop it, Dave. It's in the past. It's gone. It's done. Stop."

"No it ain't done. Not when all of you are just glaring at each other making thieving around here more tense than the damn civil war. Rose and I live here with the rest of you and we should be aware of whatever dumb little dram is going on between everyone the fuck else on the ship."

"Now I'm done," Terezi said. She stood up and left the kitchen. She had one piece of bacon still left on her plate. Dave grabbed it.

"I asked Eridan if he wanted to talk about it, and he seemed even more upset," Rose said.

"You offered him some therapy?" Dave asked.

"I don't know, it seems like he needs it."

"It's like all of them need it."

"At least I may live out my dream of being a therapist after all," Rose said with a wistful sigh.

It was really was not what she wanted. It was far less glamorous when the drama didn't end at the falsified diatribes she and Jaspers shared on her little red couch. Dave and Rose helped each other clean the dishes. Rose tried to comfort herself by noting that if she was a normal, free human woman living in a pre-alternian earth, she'd probably be washing dishes in her apartment anyways. Maybe it wasn't so bad, since all she really did was chores that she would have to do for herself anyways. It didn't help her at all. She might even have been friends with Dave Strider. Rose retreated back to her room, but the realm of fantasy wasn't so magical to her anymore. She wasn't sure what she would do. Probably stare blankly at the screen while trying to force herself to write. Eridan was standing near the door of her respite block. His hair was still kind of damp and wasn't styled back like it normally was. It just sort of hung in his face awkwardly. He was wearing baggy pajamas pants and a tank top with his symbol on it. He looked forlorn, but not as stressed as he was before.

"Is it okay to talk?" he asked her. Rose nodded.