The streets were quiet, moths flocking to the glow of the streetlights. It was late, far later than she usually walked along this particular sidewalk, but tonight she had no choice. She'd tried Terezi's first, but the house was empty, and even though she was more than capable of breaking in without leaving a trace, she didn't especially want to be alone. The nightmares were tugging at the edges of her mind again, trying to coax her into looking for more. All the awful things in those dreams were caused by her, or that weird alien version of her. Dream-Vriska was a monster.

She kept walking as she thought, the toe of her scuffed sneaker kicking at a pebble every so often, sending it skittering ahead. He had the dreams too, he told her once, to try and calm her down. He said he was a monster too there.

Soon, Vriska was standing in the grass, eye level with the best window to get into. It was open a crack, so it was easy to push it up the rest of the way after popping out the screen. Once inside, she closed the window back up and ambled out into the living room, composed as ever.

"Hey, Eridan, I'm crashing here tonight," she said, not leaving room for argument. "Terezi's not home."

He was curled up on the couch under a plushy purple blanket, a stack of papers to be graded on the coffee table and a red pen in his hand.

"Damn it Vris, can't you call first? Or at least come to the front door instead of comin' in my window? I could've been...I dunno, jerkin' off or visitin' with my parents or something." His face was flushed slightly with exasperation, and he ran a hand through his hair. "I don't mind you spendin' the night on the couch, but honestly."

"There were no other cars in the driveway, and I doubt you usually whip your dick out in the middle of the living room. What's for dinner?" She leaned against the doorframe, raising an eyebrow.

"I already ate...Help yourself to whatever, I suppose. I got off the phone with Sol almost two hours ago, but I can't stop thinking about our conversation...I really need to finish gradin' these papers." Eridan returned his gaze to the stack of papers, twirling his pen between his fingers.

Vriska smirked, walking past him on her way to the kitchen. "What were you two lovebirds talking about, hmm? How much you wish you could be kissing him right now?"

"Something a bit more serious than that, I'm afraid," Eridan said, rolling his eyes. "He has the dreams too, Vris. One of his friends back home, too, apparently."

Vriska froze, staring blankly into the refrigerator, where she had been looking for food just a moment earlier. "The dreams?"

"Yeah. We were just talkin' and...I found out. I don't know all the details of his, but they're definitely the same ones. About the game an' all of that. He's had some of the exact same ones I have." Eridan sighed, burrowing further into his blanket. "I guess maybe they are more than just dreams."

She abandoned her search for food, suddenly no longer hungry. Instead, she sank down in the oversized armchair across from the couch and kicked off her dirt-stained shoes, motioning for Eridan to toss her a blanket. He did, and she was soon in a comfortable ball in the familiar chair, picking at a loose thread.

"Maybe he should come over," Vriska said out of the blue. "We could compare notes or something. Or if nothing else, at least one of us can have someone in bed with them. I still don't fucking know where Terezi is. Probably off on some sudden vacation, without even bothering to tell me."

"I'm sure Terezi's fine," Eridan said calmly, picking up his phone again. "But maybe I will have Sol come over."

Sollux was dozing off on Mituna's bed. His brother had stopped talking about his date awhile before, but Sollux just couldn't muster up the effort to walk back to his own room. So there he laid, Mituna absentmindedly rubbing his back. The moment his phone vibrated with a text from Eridan, though, he was awake again, fumbling for the device.

CA: do you wwant to come over

CA: wwe can talk more about the dreams, or not, wwhichevver you wwant.

CA: i just don't really want to sleep alone tonight.

TA: yeah, of cour2e.

TA: ii'll be there iin 20.

CA: thanks.

True to his word, exactly twenty minutes later, Sollux was knocking at Eridan's front door, wearing the oversized hoodie he'd still not returned. It smelled like lavender, vanilla, and smoke, an oddly intoxicating combination.

Eridan opened the door almost instantly, smiling at him and making Sollux remember how he'd said he loved him so sincerely on the phone earlier. How had he gotten so lucky, having such a deep romantic connection with someone? Without even saying anything first, Sollux stepped inside and hugged him tightly, leaning up to connect their lips in a kiss.

"Hi," he breathed as he pulled away, closing the door behind himself and not even noticing Vriska sitting on the couch yet.

"Hey Sol," Eridan replied. "Thanks for comin'. Hope you don't mind that Vris is here too."

"Wait, what?" Sollux pulled away from the comforting embrace to actually look around the room, quickly noticing the girl sprawled out on the sofa like she owned it. This was a little different from the romantic night alone he'd been expecting. "Oh...uh, why?"

"Just visiting a friend," Vriska said smoothly, sending a warning glare Eridan's way. "No big deal, you won't even know I'm here."

"Right," Eridan agreed, a beat too late. He'd clearly been hoping for the three of them to compare notes about the bizarre nightmares, but it didn't seem like Vriska was going to let him tell Sollux that she had them too. "C'mon, she's just gonna stay on the couch." Taking Sollux's hand, Eridan led him down the hallway to the bedroom.

Glancing over his shoulder at Vriska again, Sollux walked alongside him. As soon as he got into the room, he flopped back onto the bed, kicking off his shoes. Eridan was laying next to him a few moments later, after closing the door.

"So really, why is VK here?" He rested his head on Eridan's chest, taking his hand in his own.

"I'm not gonna tell you the whole story, because I know she doesn't want me to, but she has the dreams too, Sol." Eridan squeezed his hand lightly, lifting it up to kiss the back of it. "We don't have to talk about that tonight though. I really did just want you here with me."

"Damn...Okay," Sollux breathed. "Yeah, it's way too late for me to even think about that right now."

"I figured as much. Maybe they won't be as bad tonight, if we're together. We can put on a movie or something if you want, fall asleep to it."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Sollux sat up, taking off the heavy sweatshirt. Between Eridan's body heat and all the blankets, he was way too warm while wearing it. As an afterthought, he squirmed out of his jeans as well, crawling under the covers in just his t-shirt and boxers. Eridan tossed his own pants aside as well before getting under the blankets with him, turning on the TV.

"Anything in particular you wanna watch?" Eridan asked, an arm wrapped protectively around Sollux's waist.

"Nah, not really. Anything's fine."

"Mm, okay." Eridan flicked through the channels before finally stopping on something that looked funny, setting the remote aside and holding his boyfriend close.

"Flushed for you," Sollux murmured, kissing along Eridan's jawline. As soon as he realized what he'd said though, he froze. "Why'd I say that? What does that even mean?"

"I...don't know," Eridan said finally, worry obvious in his voice. "I feel like I knew for a second, though. It was weird."

"All of this is weird. I don't think there's a single thing in my life that's normal anymore." Sollux sighed heavily, curling closer to Eridan and trying to pay attention to the movie.

"This already feels kind of normal," Eridan said. "Just laying here like this with you. We might as well have been together for years."

"Maybe." Sollux wasn't convinced, still feeling an overpowering sensation that something was wrong, out of place.

"It'll be fine. We'll be fine."

"Yeah."

As he drifted off to sleep, the last thing he heard was Eridan murmuring "Flushed for you too," against his messy hair, kissing the top of his head.