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.

Comments

[evapples]

I definitely like this version better! It was more entertaining and flowed better. c:

I did notice a few small things though!

"Things might had gotten bad iif Eridan had not gotten very sick." Double i in the word 'if'.

And one quick transition thing that I felt was a little awkward is this one in the beginning;

"The feeling of appreciation for that and the fact that even though they argued, the two started to enjoy each others company, lead to the two starting a relationship.

But yes, back to the dragon egg. They had managed to slip in silently."

I think it could be tied in a bit better by maybe mentioning how their relationship was why Sollux found himself in the hatchery etc etc or something like that. Unless the sudden transition is what you were going for! In which case ignore me. xD

Very good job though, I liked it a lot. c:

[rawrimamidget]

Adorable! You did a great job on this!