Potential entry v.1???

[eyeslikestarlight]

Er, so I wrote a thing? Could be my entry? I might still write something else. I gave in and just went with the siren/merman Eridan thing, cause I just really wanted to give it a shot.

***ALSO*** If anyone would like to collab with art, that's why I (and cherie as well) am posting this now, so perhaps someone could draw something to one of these? I feel that a fic+art combo is a stronger entry, so I'd love if we could try for that!

IMPORTANT: Trigger warning, suicide.

I guess this needs a title? I'll tentatively give it one for now (which I might change):
Take Me Home.


Your name is Sollux Captor, and you have thought about this for a very long time.

The water laps up against the rocks, occasionally splashing up and running over your bare feet. You know that the water must be freezing, but you barely feel a thing.

You’re done with feeling.

You have felt enough to fill an entire lifetime, and you are done with it. That’s the reason you’re here, standing on the edge of this slippery train of rocks that leads into the wide-open ocean.

It’s not for want of trying. The lines on your arms are proof of that. But before long, even those left you with nothing. Nothing but the sensation that your body has become an empty shell, the husk of a boy who once lived and breathed and loved, but who no longer exists.

Memories suppressed behind layers of walls in your brain come pouring out, inevitably. Aradia, dead in your arms. Her blood on your hands. Witnesses proved your innocence, identified the man who killed for the money in her pockets, but it didn’t matter. Her blood would always be on your hands.

Everything was a blur. You remember screaming yourself hoarse. You remember them trying to sedate you. You remember waking up strapped to a bed, covered in scratches, and realize you gave them to yourself. You remember the pills that didn’t work.

You remember the years passing. You remember everyone telling you that it was time to move on, to let go. But it wasn’t letting go that was the problem.

You could never find the man you used to be before it all happened. Before you lost her. Before you even met her. You tried, you really did, for a while. But that man is long gone.

The idea of walking around as a mere shade of the person you used to be is as pointless as it is depressing, so you think you’ll do the world a favor and put the illusion to rest for good.

You stare out at the crashing waves ahead, and let your eyes drift close as you simply breathe, letting the sea breeze have its way with your hair. It is unclear what you are waiting for. Perhaps a small piece of you hopes that there’s something left inside, some tiny sliver of life that will fight its way out, here at the end of it all.

This thought is interrupted by a voice unlike any you’ve heard before.

“Are you gonna do it?”

Your eyes blink open, and you look around you in confusion. There is nobody here. And then you look down.

There is a boy in the water, mere feet from you. Most of his body is submerged, but his arms are crossed and leaning against the rock you’re standing on, and he’s looking up at you.

To say he’s a boy is…well, questionable.

The first thing you notice is his eyes. They shouldn’t be the first thing you notice, but they are, because of the way they’re staring so earnestly at you. They are the biggest and brightest eyes you’ve ever seen, and such an intense shade of violet that you can’t help but marvel at them. Colorful markings on his face serve to highlight his strikingly sharp cheekbones, and the markings travel outward, where strange fin-like protrusions extend from the sides of his face. You might have described his smooth, still dripping skin to be dolphin gray, if it wasn’t for the heavy shading of purple blended in.

“You havven’t answwered my question,” he says after a moment. His voice sounds strange, almost garbled, and there’s some sort of wavy accent to it that just isn’t human.

“What was the question?” you ask slowly, kneeling down so you can get a closer look. His eyes are burning a hole through your skull, but you can’t look away. You think there’s something in them that’s almost…sad? Perhaps it’s longing.

“I said, are you gonna do it? Are you gonna jump?”

The answer, of course, is yes. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it? But it’s not so easy to just come out and say it. Saying it makes it final.

He takes note of your hesitation and smiles. His lips part to display teeth like a shark, each one sharp and gleamingly white. It’s more than a bit unsettling, but you don’t back away. You do flinch, however, when he reaches forward and takes your wrists in his hands. They’re wet, of course, and cool to the touch, but not slimy, like you almost expected.

Gently, he turns your wrists over, so your palms are facing up. His fingers are webbed just slightly in the spaces where they come together, and his nails are closer to what you would call claws, but they don’t come near your skin. Instead, he lightly drags the pads of his fingers up your arms, tracing the marks you’ve left upon yourself. Maybe it’s just a trick of the light, but you watch in fascination as they seem to melt away. There’s a strange tingling sensation left behind where his fingers roam.

Your eyes meet his once more, and you’re startled to find that your faces are much closer. Perhaps he pulled you in without even noticing. Perhaps you leaned in of your own will. Either way, you can feel his strangely cool breath on your face, and the scent of salt and something sweet like taffy has taken over your senses.

He smiles at you now, and it’s a much softer, gentler smile. “Come wwith me,” he whispers, gripping at your arms. You’re not sure what to say, how to think, so you just stare, a little breathless. You notice faintly, in the background, that you’re shaking. You don’t notice the way that the harsh rock is digging into your knees, or the way that he’s pulling you ever closer, leaning you over the edge of the boulder in the direction of the water.

His hands make their way to your face, his palms laying flat on either side, almost as if he were holding you together. Slowly, so slowly, he pulls you down until your face breaches the frigid water. You don’t feel the cold, however, because all you can feel is his hands pouring sudden warmth into your skin, and his lips on yours—and now you are gone, so gone, miles and miles beyond gone.

If you’d had time to think about it, you might’ve imagined that his lips would be clammy, cold. You never could have imagined the way they would capture you entirely, how they would brush soft, smooth, and insistent. Full of desire, and a satisfaction you couldn’t even begin to describe; they left you wanting something you never could have dreamed about.

He pulls back suddenly, and your face is still submerged, but your hands are gripping at the edge of the rock, holding you up, keeping you from falling under. He smiles again, a smile so sweet that it makes you want to cry, and he speaks to you again: “Just let go.” Under here, his voice is goddamn musical, the most gorgeous sound you’ve ever heard, and you realize that you never want to hear another sound, you want that to be the last thing that fills your ears.

You were going to jump anyway, weren’t you? You have nothing to lose. You have no one to go back to. This is all that is left for you: those violet eyes, the softest lips you’ve ever felt, the music of angels swimming in your ears.

“I’m taking you home,” he promises, reaching for one of your hands.

You pull your face back out above the surface. Remove your hands from the rock. Unfold your knees. Slip your legs into the water.

Take the last breath of air your lungs will ever feel.

“Take me home,” you tell him, and grab his hand.

He just smiles as he pulls you under. You smile as well, because for the first time in what seems like forever, you feel something.

potential entry as well

[musekicker]

 Just posting mine up to. No triggers I can think of.... would like a honest opinion on this though.

Today was the day. Sollux had kept track of the date. He wasn’t very good at remembering most events but this one was different. Eridan had been talking and talking about the event for a month. Enough to keep it drilled into Sollux’s mind so that it be impossible to forget. Today was special.

This was the day Eridan would get his dragon. Well, technically he would get the dragon egg. But that was a step closer. Having a dragon was a mark of nobility. Of which Eridan was one. How exactly Sollux ended up with a noble when he himself wasn’t one was too complicated for either to figure out how exactly it happened.

Perhaps they would figure it out one day. Right now what mattered was getting to the dragon hatchery on time for the ceremony. That turned out to be more of a chore then expected as neither knew the area where the hatchery was well.

So five minutes to the beginning of the ceremony they creeped in silently, Sollux making his way to the spectators area as Eridan joined the other dragon receivers. The Dragon council chairwoman, Kanya, glanced Eridan’s way to let him know that she had seen him sneak in.

“Thank you dragon receivers for being so... punctual. We will not begin the egg receiving ceremony.” she said.

For the most part the ceremony was nothing but a bunch of long and boring speeches. Mainly on how it was a sacred honor for them to care for their dragon allies young. Nothing no one had heard during childhood teachings. But finally the moment everyone was waiting for arrived. Dragon Master Terezi stepped forward.

Dragon master Terezi was very good at her job. It was said her blindness was a gift for her for picking out the right dragon egg for the right person. Kind of creepy sometimes how accurate she was. Neither Eridan or Sollux were thinking of that as Terezi made her way between the rows of dragons eggs to search for the perfect one.

“Hmm... no. Too timid... too weak...” she paused at one pale tan egg.

She seemed to consider the egg a bit before picking it up and licking it. A ripple of sounds of slight disgust came from the egg receivers. Including one of them asking “Is she going to lick all of them?”

“Yes I am.” Terezi said before  she turned in Eridan’s direction.

“Eridan Ampora, I’ve found your perfect dragon.”


Eridan had talked a lot about the egg choosing. But that paled in comparison to how much he talked about his dragon. He talked about how he hoped the dragon would be one of the rarest colors. Like Indigo. That would be nice.

He already had the supplies needed for the upcoming hatchling. And Sollux couldn’t even count up to the times Eridan had left the bed in the middle of the night to check on the egg. Once his worry for the egg on a cold night ruined the mood. Despite all that, Sollux couldn’t bring himself to feel annoyance at all this.

It was nice to see Eridan so committed to something so publicly. Normally the noble put on a slightly guarded persona. So everyone else getting to see in Eridan what Sollux knew was there all along was refreshing.

Then came the day the egg started to hatch.

“Sol! Sol it’s hatching!”

Eridan grabbed Sollux by the arm and pulled him over to the egg. It did appear that the egg was hatching and Sollux had to admit interest in this too. He couldn’t be nearly as interested as Eridan was though. He was clutching Sollux’s wrist now as he watched the egg.

Sollux smiled lightly and went to give Eridan’s hand a supportive squeeze. Eridan squeezed back. Sollux made sure to keep holding Eridan’s hand until the dragon made a hole big enough for it to crawl out of. Then it crawled out peeping.

A brown and green dragon. Often called garden dragons as this coloring was as common as weeds in a garden. Not at all the rare coloring Eridan was hoping for. So Eridan’s instant reaction shocked Sollux.

“She’s adorable!”

Eridan picked up the hatchling which reacted rather calmly to being snatched up like that. Once sure he had the dragon supported in his arms right he looked to Sollux.

“She is adorable. Right Sol?”

“Yeah.” Sollux agreed, stepping over to get a better look.

The hatchling hissed at Sollux., making him take a step back.

“I’m going to name her Duchess.”



Two weeks later Sollux came to realise something about Duchess. She did not like him. Sollux suspected it was because of the fact that Sollux took away some of Eridan’s time and attention. Time and attention she could be having.

“You’re spoiling her. You know that?” Sollux asked as Duchess climbed up onto Eridan’s lap.

“Oh I am not.”

“Uh huh. And it’s normal to feed chocolate to dragons. Is that even good for them?”

Duchess fixed Sollux with a glare and blew a puff of smoke at Sollux’s direction. Sollux coughed, just glad she couldn’t breathe fire yet. If dragons could smirk, Duchess would be doing so now.

For weeks after Duchess kept showing her displeasure at Sollux. Nipping at him, leaving little “gifts” in his shoes. And yet Eridan didn’t seem to see it. It was frustrating and a big fight was brewing. And it might had happened if Eridan had not gotten very sick.

So that cold, winter night found Sollux by Eridan’s bedside as a blizzard raged outside.

“Think I’m dying, Sol.” Eridan said, those words obviously taking some effort.

“Stop being a drama queen, ED.” Sollux replied, though not in his usual snark. “Now shut up and rest.”

He wasn’t sure it was a bad or good thing that Eridan obeyed. There was no sound but the sound of Eridan’s labored breathing now. So when the door to the bedroom creaked open Sollux heard it. Duchess came slinking in. The dragon had a grave expression on her face as she looked up at her guardian.

“Don’t bother him.” Sollux whispered to the dragon.

Duchess gave Sollux a dirty look. Knowing that the dragon could fully understand him Sollux continued to speak.

“Look, you don’t like me. That’s fine. But we both want the same thing here, right? We both just want to see Eridan get better. So he needs rest so he can do that. So for once listen to me.”

The dragon glanced at Eridan a moment before giving a little huff. She sat on her haunches next to the bed, just watching. At least she listened this time.

The terrible sickness lasted for three days. On the third night Eridan happened to wake in the middle of the night. Duchess was sleeping against Sollux’s leg as Sollux himself dozed. Eridan smiled slightly before closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

After that night Eridan’s fever broke and he started to get better. And though Sollux and Duchess never did truly get along after that, at least Eridan knew they could work together.

He kept reminding himself of that when Duchess learned to breathe fire. 

potential entry as well: edited!

[musekicker]

((Edited one last time, this time helped with my beta Robotwwizard. So a big thank you there. ))

The day Eridan Ampora had gotten his dragon egg had almost not happened. First Eridan had taken forever to get dressed. Then he had seen what Sollux was wearing, went into a mini fit over it, and forced him to dress in something more presentable. Then they had gotten lost on the way to the dragon hatchery as they were in a deep debate on whether Eridan’s fancy boots were actually a good idea in place frequented by dragons.

It was a wonderful debate full of sarcasm and exaggerated impressions of each other. And said argument had made them end up almost too late for the ceremony. Thankfully the hatchery doors had not been locked. Even if they had, Sollux knew a few tricks to help getting into locked buildings from his “before Eridan” days.

“Before Eridan” days consisted of Sollux using either his preferred method of begging for food or his less preferred method of posing as a psychic to con others. He had actually met Eridan through the con route. Granted Eridan had proven him a fake. Yet something had made the noble take pity on him and he helped Sollux get back on his feet. Even though they argued, the two started to enjoy each others company, leading to the blossoming of a relationship.

Back in the present, they had managed to slip in to the hatchery silently. Dragon Councilwoman Kanaya had spotted them and frowned. Thankfully she had said nothing. Instead the next hour had passed with long speeches and then finally the assigning of the eggs.

The moment Eridan had received the pale tan egg the size of a basketball a look of awe had came onto his face. And all the way home Eridan kept talking about how warm the egg was. Sollux had only smiled at that. With the way Eridan was acting maybe for once others would see the caring side of the normally emotionally guarded noble. The side Sollux saw.


“How much of a chance do you we got that the dragon is goin’ to be indigo colored?”

Okay, now the caring side was turning into obsessive. And it was driving Sollux up a wall. Eridan would not stop talking about what the dragon would possibly look like. And that egg came everywhere as long as the place they were going provided warmth. It was becoming almost scary.

“Eridan... please.” Sollux groaned as he turned over in the bed. “For the millionth time, can we just talk about this in the morning?”

“I can’t sleep.”

Sollux let out a slow sigh. He rubbed at his eyes a moment before a thought occurred to him.

“Well... considering neither of us is going to sleep...” Sollux started to say as he moved closer to Eridan with a grin.

Eridan got the hint and smiled back as he pulled Sollux closer.

“Mmm, that’s soundin’ like a wonderful idea.”

The pair had been locked in a deep kiss for only a few moments when a loud cracking noise interrupted them. Eridan immediately wrenched his head away to look in the direction of the sound.

“Sol! Sol it’s hatching!”

Of course it was. Stupid mood ruining dragon.

Eridan grabbed Sollux by the arm and pulled him out of bed and over to the egg. There was no doubt it was hatching and Sollux had to admit a bit of excitement on his part too. He couldn’t be nearly as excited as Eridan was though. He was clutching Sollux’s wrist now as he watched the egg.

Sollux smiled lightly and went to give Eridan’s hand a supportive squeeze. Eridan squeezed back. Sollux made sure to keep holding Eridan’s hand until the dragon made a hole big enough for it to crawl out of. Then it crawled out peeping.

A brown and green dragon. Often called garden dragons as this coloring was as common as weeds in a garden. Not at all the rare coloring Eridan was hoping for. So Eridan’s instant reaction shocked Sollux.

“She’s adorable!”

Eridan picked up the hatchling which reacted rather calmly to being snatched up like that. Once sure he had the dragon supported in his arms right he looked to Sollux.

“She is adorable, ain’t she Sol?”

“Yeah.” Sollux agreed, stepping over to get a better look.

The hatchling hissed at Sollux., making him take a step back.

“I’m goin’ to name her Duchess.”



Two weeks later Sollux came to realize something about Duchess. She did not like him. Sollux suspected it was because he took away some of Eridan’s time and attention. Time and attention she could be having.

Duchess showed her displeasure at Sollux often by nipping at him or tearing up anything he owned. He could deal with that. Then one day Duchess got slightly creative.

“Where is that dragon??” Sollux shouted as he stormed into the dining area, holding his shoes as far out from his body as possible.

Of course Duchess was by Eridan side at the table. And Sollux swore she was smirking.

“What’s wrong Sol? … and what is that god awful smell?”

“That would be my shoes. My shoes filled with the gift Duchess left me.” Sollux cried, thrusting the shoes at Eridan.

“Don’t go shovin’ ‘em in my face!”

“Do something about this! Now! It’s enough of a problem that she keeps trying to bite me and rip up my things. But this will not become a habit. You hear me?”

“Fine, fine. Just calm down Sol.” Eridan said before glancing down at Duchess. “Duchess, show Sol you’re sorry.”

Duchess looked to Eridan then to Sollux. Then back to Eridan again as if to ask if she really had to.

“Go on, get to tellin’ him you're sorry.”

“This should be good.” Sollux muttered.

Duchess moved slowly over to Sollux. She looked Sollux up and down and then slowly but surely reached her head over to Sollux’s hand before giving it a quick lick. Her reaction was instantaneous. She made a small retching noise and ran off towards her water bowl. Presumably to wash the Sollux taste off.

“There.” Eridan said. “I’m sure you can be forgivin’ her now.”

“It’s hard to be forgiving when I have dragon shit in my shoes!”

“Sol! Watch your language. She’s still a baby.”

It was very, very hard to not punch his lover in the face at that moment. And behavior like this continued on for weeks. Though the only thing that had been on par with the dragon poop in the shoes was the time Duchess dropped a live rat in his food.

Eridan had tried to turn the situation around by saying they would never have to worry about rats. Sollux countered back with the argument that there were no rats in the grand and well kept home and that Duchess had dragged that rat from the fields a mile away.

A big fight was brewing. All the stress from Duchess’s behavior and the fact Eridan seemed to either not notice or not do a thing about it bothered Sollux. Things might have gotten bad if Eridan had not gotten very sick.

So that cold, winter night found Sollux by Eridan’s bedside as a blizzard raged outside.

“Think I’m dyin’, Sol.” Eridan said, those words obviously taking some effort.

“Stop being a drama queen, ED.” Sollux replied, though not in his usual snark. “Now shut up and rest.”

He wasn’t sure it was a bad or good thing that Eridan obeyed. There was no sound but the sound of his labored breathing now. So when the door to the bedroom creaked open Sollux heard it. Duchess came slinking in. The dragon had a grave expression on her face as she looked up at her guardian.

“Don’t bother him.” Sollux whispered to the dragon.

Duchess gave Sollux a dirty look. Knowing that the dragon could fully understand him Sollux continued to speak.

“Look, you don’t like me. That’s fine. But we both want the same thing here, right? We both just want to see Eridan get better. So he needs rest so he can do that. So for once listen to me.”

The dragon glanced at Eridan a moment before giving a little huff. She sat on her haunches next to the bed, just watching. At least she listened this time.

The terrible sickness lasted for three days. On the third night Eridan happened to wake in the middle of the night. Duchess was sleeping against Sollux’s leg as Sollux himself dozed. Eridan smiled before closing his eyes to go back to sleep.

After that night Eridan’s fever broke and he started to get better. And though Sollux and Duchess never did truly get along after that, at least Eridan knew they could work together.

He kept reminding himself of that when Duchess learned to breathe fire.