The real party has begun.

Every troll of every color is hanging out inside and around the lobby of the highblood's tent. They talk and laugh together, drink and sing. They tell tales of their past and have piles and piles of feels jams just ALL over the place.

Feferi sits in a seat of honor. She insisted that it shouldn't be anything spectacular, just a regular chair. Maybe a cushion… But Atori went all out got her a very nice pink chair that rocks back and forward. People come up to her and ask questions and sit around her just to be near her. She spots Gamzee come in through the red and yellow stripped flaps and walk over to his large horned red quadrant.

The large troll attempts to sneak up to Tavros, but the people Tavros is talking to look just behind Tav's shoulder and ruin the element of surprise. Tavros turns around and smiles.

"gAMZEE THERE YOU ARE! i WAS LOOKING FOR YOU. i… i SAW YOUR HAND GET HURT ON THE TV AND I WANTED TO CHECK ON IT." Tavros quickly looks down and carefully takes Gamzee's left hand and looks at it closely. "yOU SHOULD GET HIS WRAPPED UP, YOU'RE GONNA GET BLOOD ALL OVER THE PLACE gAMZEE!"

"Oh right, that shit. Yeah, stings like a motherfucker too."

"jEEZ gAMZEE, ALWAYS WORRYING ME LIKE THIS."

"Heh. Sorry Tav. But a little stab in the hand ain't nothing. It woulda hit Fef in the face."

Tavros sighs a little and shifts Gam's hand around to get a better look.

"yEAH… I KNOW IT'S BEST THAT IT DIDN'T HIT HER BUT STILL. lET'S GO GET IT WRAPPED UP. eRIDAN AND aRADIA ARE GETTING THEIR CUTS AND STABS FIXED OVER THERE." He leads Gamzee with his good hand over to the "booboo repair station" and sits his big doofus troll lover down.

"Aw Tav, you don't gotta fix me up."

"i WANT TO THOUGH. tHAT'S THE ONLY WAY I KNOW IT'LL GET DONE RIGHT." He smiles up at Gamzee with beautiful rusty orange eyes and the indigo blood just mirrors the smile and nods.

"Alright if you really want to." Tavros begins to expertly clean and dress the wound while Gam just stares. God DAMN he loves this motherfucker.

After the wound is wrapped up, Tavros stands up and leans over Gamzee. He wraps his arms around the larger troll's neck and kisses him.

"You feelin' mushy my main motherfucker?" Gamzee rests his arms around Tav's waist and looks up at him, getting another kiss.

"yEAH. i'M FEELING MUSHY."

()

About ten feet away, Equius and Aradia are sitting together while Aradia's minor scratches are inspected and patched.

"Aw Equius, l00k at th0se tw0. I'm s0 glad they really g0t t0gether."

Equius looks down at Aradia with a rare skeptical gaze. "Did you think otherwise? Those two have been pining for each other for sweeps. I remember making fun of Gamzee for feeling flushed for a lowblood."

"And here y0u are with me. Hehe.~ H0w d0 y0u feel n0w?" The maroon blood looks up at him with a sly but happy grin. Equius only shakes his head with the smallest hint of a smile .

"I gave up the spectrum system a long time ago. Although not soon enough. It was foolish for me to tease him so, when I already felt flushed for you sweeps ago… I guess I didn't want to admit to myself that I was breaking the 'rules." The blue blood does air quotes, which Aradia slap away.

"Now, obviously, I feel alright about everything. It was difficult at first to admit exactly who I was. But now I know. And I know that I'd do anything to protect the innocent, regardless of blood ranking."

Aradia smiles widely and hugs Equius around his waist from the side. "I l0ve y0u Equius.~" She says happily.

Off a few more feet is Eridan and Kanaya. Eridan's getting his thigh wrapped up by a medical troll while Kanaya sits next to him. The two stay quiet and think about what happened between them. It was quick and they're still figuring out exactly what this relationship is going to be like or if it's even official. Kanaya looks at Eridan's leg getting wrapped up and can't help but think about it. He got hurt saving her. It's been a very long road but Eridan has been working hard to get rid of that old self of his. As a kid she didn't really understand how he felt and she didn't WANT to know how he felt. It was already confusing enough dealing with the meteor, and then the highblood killing her and the dead troll planet and everything else. That and he made himself look like a traitor because he knew that'd help get everyone out of this terrible cycle. He purposely played the bad guy even though he knew it'd upset everyone and give them cause to abandon him. He literally died so the cycle could break…. She can't imagine having to go through all of that by herself.

"Does It Hurt?" She asks quietly.

"Yeah. But luckily it didn't hit anything important. I can still wwalk wwithout lookin' wweird." Kanaya hums a little in response, silence returning.

It takes a few more minutes after the medic leaves them alone for Eridan to speak.

"You don't have to pretend you knoww."

"Hm?" Eridan stares forward while Kanaya looks at him questioningly.

"I wwas standing outside of the room this morning, listenin'. I didn't mean to, I just happened to wwalk up wwhen you wwere all talking. I already knoww Fef is tryin' to push us together so I stop thinking about her. Funny howw little she actually knowws." Kanaya hardens her gaze.

"If You Heard What We Were Saying Then You Must Have Heard What I Said As Well." Eridan sorta looks at Kanaya from the side of his eye.

"I Thought So. You Left Before You Heard Me Then. I Told Feferi And The Others That I Would Be The Only One To Make The Decision To Pursue A Red Relationship With You, Not Them. Feferi Did Mention She Wanted You To Be Happy Too Though You Know."

"I'vve heard as much. Evven wwhen I try to movve on wwith my life, she insists on bringin' up the past and it just fucks me up. Doesn't she fuckin' understand that I don't wwanna feel like shit either?"

Kanaya looks up at Eridan a little more. She puts her hand lightly on top of his and then faces forward as well.

"I Understand. She's Different Than Us Eridan. She'll Take Forever To Really Get On The Maturity Level Of Some. She'll Live Longer So She Has All The Time In The World To Act Childish. Unlike Us Lower Bloods Who Have To Learn Quickly Before We Die."

"I'm a seadwweller too ya knoww…."

"I Know, But You Know What I Mean. Either Way, I Can See How Much You've Matured. I Agree, The Past Should Remain The Past. You've Changed A Lot, It's Clear. And… I Happen To Like It. AND Before You Find A Reason To Whine, I Don't Think You've Changed So Much That You're No Longer YOU. We've All Grown Up And Learned So Much And Found Ourselves. Mostly Anyway."

Eridan is a little bit wary of Kanaya's hand on top of his… This isn't to say he doesn't like it, but he's trying to keep himself closed…

"I Suppose What I'm Trying To Get At Is… Hmm…. You're The Best You. Everyone Has Stages In Their Life That They Look Back On And Regret. They'd Change Anything Or Maybe EVERYTHING. But That's Not How It Works. The Past Helps Us Become A Better Version Of Ourselves In The Present, And For The Future. You've Learned What Not To Do And Became Better For The Mistake. I Learned That I Needed To Keep My Rage In Check And Now I'm A Better Me Than I Was When I Was 3 Sweeps Old. I Think You're Being Way Too Hard On Yourself For A Very Easy To Make Mistake Is All. See What I'm Saying?"

She looks up at Eridan again and sees him staring at her. Eridan smiles a little then looks at his knees… He thumbs at Kanaya's fingers lightly.

"Yeah. I see wwhat you're sayin'. No one's evver really explained it that wway before. Or evven taken the time. You knoww, you'vve alwways been good at cheerin' me up somehoww…. Thanks for talkin' to me like a normal person." He looks down and to the side at Kanaya and smiles. It's a rare, true smile that Kanaya doesn't remember seeing before… An Eridan that's actually happy.

"Y…You're Welcome." She nods and shifts her hand with Eridan's so they interlock fingers.

"So… Wwhat do you wwanna do about… this?"

"This? Hm… Well I Noticed That I May Have Overstepped My Boundaries Earlier By Kissing You, But…. It Really Just Felt Right To Me. I Think What I'd Like To Do Is Pursue A Red Relationship With You."

"Are you SURE?" The purple blooded troll asks. "I REALLY don't wwant you to regret sayin' somethin' like that."

"No No I'm Sure. I Don't Think You'll-….. Rather I Think You're Smart Enough—Hmmm. I Trust You. Is What I Want To Say. And I Know This Is Probably Not Necessary To Say, But I'm Not Like Feferi. You Don't Need To Treat Me Like Glass. If You Take A Misstep I'll Let You Know But Not Be An Asshole About It. If You're Ever Confused About Anything I Want You To Straight Up Talk To Me About It. Neither Of Us Will Take Anything Personally, Since It's Unlikely That We'll Speak To Each Other Like That. But Even If It Happens, Let's Just TALK About It."

Eridan just stares at her with a smile, glad to see that she's really seriously thinking about being red with him. Something he thought NO ONE would ever do.

"You'vve changed a lot too you knoww. But into the best vversion of yourself. I think evven a feww swweeps ago I had an inkling of red feelin's for you… And recently it occurred to me that maybe it wwasn't just a faze or wwhatevver." A pause.

"Let's be the best vversions of ourselvves together then. Slowwly though. I knoww you aren't glass, but I ain't fuckin' up this time. Especially if you say you trust me."

"I Trust You."

The two squeeze their hands together and then sit in comfortable quietness and content smiles.

()

The night of partying goes on well into the next day and the day after that.

Finally when things settle down, the rainbow trolls begin to get a lot of questions about the actual fight. Or how they fight now.

"Mister Karkat!" A young wiggler says. "It's been sweeps since the fight happened, but I wanna know what your fighting skills are like now!" Karkat looks down at her earnest eyes and holds up his hands in surrender.

"I HAVEN'T FOUGHT REALLY SINCE THAT LAST TIME. I'M NOT SURE I'D BE A WHOLE LOT OF HELP WITH THE REQUEST." Nepeta takes his hand and swings it around with a big smile!

"I'd LOVE to have a little spurring match Karkat! Let's ask the others!"

Karkat's eyes go big and he shakes his head. "WHAT NO THIS ISN'T EVEN OUR CITY AND WHY SHOULD WE WHAT'S THE POINT EVEN?"

"Fur FUNZIES obviously Karkat. Come on aren't you curious about how the others have developed?" Nepeta wiggles Karkat's hands around a little and she only gets a bored look in return.

"NOT REALLY ACTUALLY. I'M PRETTY SURE I COULDN'T CARE LESS—"

"Great let's go get them!" Nepeta drags Karkat of with many protests leaving the young wiggler to watch the two walk off without actually answering her question. But if they DO have a sparring match then she's excited to have been the one to initiate it!

()

Vriska sits quite bored at a table and watches everyone go about their life, shakings hands with some trolls now and again who didn't get to meet her at the party. She spots Karkat being dragged by Nepeta with the happiest face. Her eyebrow raises. Before she can wave the two over, Nepeta seems to be doing a beeline towards her and Sollux who is sitting by her.

"Purriska! Someone just gave me a purreat idea!" Nepeta shouts still several feet away.

"Oh yeah? Tell me what the idea is Nep."

"Don't sound so uninpurrested! Karkat come on tell them!" Karkat stands up straight and brushes himself off.

"SOME WIGGLER CAME UP TO US AND BASICALLY SAID SHE WANTED TO SEE US ALL FIGHT."

"Aw Karkat jeez don't ruin it like that!" Nepeta sighs loudly and folds her arms. "They wanted to see us spar so we can show off our skills and stuff that we've learned over the last sweeps! And I wanna spar too! I wanna see how all my furrends have grown and see how strong they've all gotten!"

Sollux looks over at Karkat and Nepeta and smirks a little.

"A 2parriing match huh? 2ound2 iintere2tiing iif you a2k me. Remiind2 me of the old day2 when we'd practiice untiil super late."

"The cat puns are in excess today. She MUST 8e excited. Well I think it'll 8e fun! Let's go ask the others then."

"And Feferi two."

Karkat and Nepeta nod. Probably a good idea…

()

Feferi is relaxing after a long night. But she hears Atori talking to someone at the front of the tent.

"Let them in Atori." Atori opens the front flaps of the gate and the 11 trolls file in.

"Hey guys! What's up?" Feferi sits up excitedly in her seat and Terezi comes up to her.

"SOM3 K1D W4NTS TO S33 US SP4R. 4ND W3 4LL K1ND4 W4NN4. SO W3 W3R3 COM1NG TO S33 1F YOU W4NT3D TO JO1N US."

"Ooooh that sounds fun! Where could we even do that without hurting anyone or destroying anything?" The queen scratches her cheek a little when Gamzee waves his hand lazily.

"We can go into the field outside the gates yo. And whoever wants to watch can fuckin' watch from a ways off. How much destruction are we fuckin' talk about here?" Gamzee laughs a little while Atori takes a step forward.

"Anything that's easily repairable Gamzee Makara..." Atori gives Gam a sardonic look while folding his arms. The bigger troll only laughs and waves the statement off.

"So you up to it sis?"

Feferi jumps to her feet and flexes her arms.

"Hell yeah I'm up to it!" She smiles widely, showing off her many sharp teeth.

The group of trolls all rush outside the city into the field of flowers and brandish their weapons. The city people begin to crowd by the entrance and cheer. All twelve trolls stand in a circle with excited grins on their faces.

Karkat occasionally spins his crab claw looking hand scythes while Tavros stabs the end of his lance into the ground with an air of confidence that surprises everyone. Aradia simply grabs out her spiked whip and waits for the rush of battle to begin. Sollux just glances at his friends and decides that he'll have to go easy on them all. He wouldn't want to fry everyone to ash now would he? Nepeta bounces in place with her large claws out, her pupils tightening to a thin slit. She looks over at Kanaya whose hand is on her hip fiddling with the lipstick in her other hand, then over to Terezi who's in a sort of samurai stance, a hand on her dragon head cane.

"You guys better not go easy on me!" Feferi says, trident in both hands with a tall posture. Eridan stays quiet, thumbing at his wand that he'd kept hidden. He figures the wand is a better option for not destroying things compared to his rifle which would indeed make some dents.

"You ain't gotta worry about that sis. Ya'll are gonna be lucky to keep fuckin' standin' when I'm done with you." Gamzee slouches as usual with two white dangerously pointed clubs. He swings them back and forward lazily in each hand. Equius stands tall, fists at his sides as if he weren't ready to fight at all. Vriska guffaws.

"You say that like you're actually going to win or something." Vriska's pointed grin is a tell-tale sign that she's got something up her sleeves.

"Is every0ne ready then?" Aradia rolls her neck a bit, cracking it in several places and then straightens her posture.

"I HONESTLY DON'T EVEN KNOW WHY WE'RE TALKING."

With those words, Karkat jumps forward and swings his arms so hard he spins like a deadly slashing top. Nepeta screams and laughs as she jumps backwards. Two giant clubs swing around, giving Gamzee some room while those around him jump away. Eridan had jumped back and he points his wand at the indigo troll. White magic pours out of it in a sort of beam, but it's blocked by red and black eyebeams. Sollux grins as he floats up into the air and goes to zap Vriska who rolls away and swings her sword at Equius' back. The blue troll easily grabs her sword much to Vriska's surprise, and he yanks it from her hands and kicks her in the stomach. She slams into Eridan who's firing another shot, but at Sollux this time. For old time's sake of course. Kanaya clicks her lipstick and it turns into a giant spear. She swings up from the ground, causing dust to fly around her dangerously and catches Feferi's arm when the queen dives from the air. Feferi swings her trident up and her and Kanaya clash evenly. The tyrant blooded troll grins ferociously and stares hard into Kanaya's eyes. The two seem to have a quick and quiet conversation. But Kanaya will have none of this. She pushes hard on Feferi's trident and knocks her away, swinging her whole body around 360 degrees and switches her spear to a fat broadsword.

The swing is blocked though by Karkat's claw scythe. He can't stop a small grin from forming as he looks up at Kanaya. The Jade blood just looks down her nose at Karkat and manages her own smile.

"You Always Did Want To Be A Theshcutioner Didn't You Karkat?" Kanaya says while jumping back a few feet. Karkat just stands up and dodges a stab from Feferi's trident.

"YEAH WELL I'M STARTING TO THINK I COULDA BEEN A LAUGHSASSIN INSTEAD." Feferi laughs at Karkat and then cartwheels to the side, avoiding a spiked club.

"Bro you're WAY too fuckin' loud to be a laughsassin." Gamzee grins until he feels a spikey rope around his feet, which are pulled from under him.

"Talking just may get y0u killed! Pay attenti0n!" Aradia is yanking her whip tightly, and even though she manages to get Gamzee off his feet, the big troll lands on his back and quickly swings his legs upward, tearing Aradia from the ground and flinging her into the air. She just laughs and pulls her legs to her chest into a ball and just as she's about to land she unfolds herself and stabs into the ground two large machete knifes of either side of Gamzee's head.

"When the hell did you get those sis?"

"I've always had these. N0 0ne ever n0ticed th0ugh.. W00PS!" Aradia ducks her head quickly just before a lance pierces the side of her head.

"Hey, are y0u actually trying t0 kill me?" The maroon woman asks rather lax. Tavros just pulls his lance back and swings it behind him, to push away some red and blue beams.

"nAH, i KNEW YOU'D DODGE." The long horned troll spins around and catches Nepeta in the face as she jumps to tackle him.

"Gah dang!" Nepeta holds her now bleeding nose and then laughs.

"wHOOPS, SORRY NEPETA. i GUESS THAT'S WHAT YOU GET FOR TRYING TO SNEAK UP ON ME! i KNEW THESE HORNS WOULD BE GOOD FOR FIGHTING SOMEDAY."

Eridan sends a beam of magic in the center of that group and the ground explodes, sending all of them flying. Petals from the flowers at their feet explode all over the place too. From the petals and smoke flies Feferi. She throws her trident at Eridan with all her might, but the wand wielding troll grabs that shit right outta the air and throws it back. Vriska tackles Feferi the old fashioned way before the trident hits her, but it does catch Sollux's leg and cuts it. They psionic hardly notices though since he's dealing with Equius. The blue muscly troll gets a running start and with all his strength breaks the ground so hard a large chunk of the ground lifts up and sends Sollux flying. Kakrat gets caught up in the quake but he's able to roll away. Terezi thrusts her cane sword forward just missing Karkat's head.

"YOU KNOW IF YOU COULDN'T SMELL ME I'M PRETTY SURE I WOULDA LOST AN EYE JUST NOW."

"4W 1 TH1NK YOU'D LOOK OK4Y W1TH JUST ON3 3Y3." Terezi smirks and swings her sword at Karkat who blocks with his scythe and uses his free crab claw to swipe at her. She jumps away, but quickly darts forward again. Karkat rushes forward and the two slam into each other with their weapons grinding and sparking.

"YOU KNOW, THIS IS SORTA FUN."

"GL4D YOU'R3 H4V1NG FUN C4NDY BOY. WHO DO YOU TH1NK 1S GONN4 W1N?"

"WIN?" Karkat chuckles and swings his supporting leg forward and kicks Terezi's back leg, forcing her to one knee. He pushes his weapons down on her sword but she still manages to hold him off even though Karkat's got leverage now.

"I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT /WINNING/ REALLY. EVERYONE HERE IS SO FUCKING STUBBORN THAT I THINK IT'LL END IN A DRAW OR SOME SHIT. EITHER THAT OR GAMZEE OR FEFERI WILL LOSE THEIR MINDS AND GO ALL HIGH BLOOD ON OUR ASSES."

Terezi laughs and manages to push herself up to her feet. Karkat grunts, having not realized how god damn strong Terezi was. Underestimating her strength is something he regrets immediately. For she head butts him and then knees him in the stomach. Karkat chokes on his own air and doubles over, nearly to his knees.

"YOU'D B3TT3R NOT B3 HOLD1NG B4CK K4RK4T V4NT4S." She says with a serious tone. Karkat just coughs a little and spits to the side.

"YEAH RIGHT. YOU JUST CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD IS ALL."

"W3LL DON'T L3T 1T H4PP3N 4G41N. N3XT T1M3 1T M1GHT NOT B3 M3 YOU F1GHT 4G41NST."

"I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME THAT." Karkat runs forward an just as Terezi thrusts her sword forward, he uses his shortness and ducks quickly and then smashes his head into the teal bloods ribs. He knocks her back onto the ground and she hacks. Karkat chuckles a little.

"IT MIGHT NOT BE ME YOU FIGHT AGAINST NEXT TIME. BETTER PAY ATTENTION HUH?" Terezi can hear the sneer in his voice. Before either can say another word though, Gamzee smashes into the ground between them breaking the earth. Karkat gasps a little, and looks up to see who could possibly throw—

"i WAS WONDERING WHERE YOU TWO DISAPPEARED TO!" Tavros is falling out of the air and lands hard on his boots. Terezi and Karkat both look at him (or at least in his general direction) with surprise.

Gamzee rolls over onto his side with a groan. But he slips out a chuckle and gets to his feet. "That fuckin' hurt Tav."

"aRE YOU GONNA CRY ABOUT IT?"

"Nah, I'm just gonna kick your ass."

"wHY DON'T YOU KISS IT INSTEAD?" Gamzee reaches back and grabs Terezi by the arm and throws her at Tavros like a god damn spear. Which really wouldn't be too far off considering her horns are straight. Tavros just catches her and then throws her off somewhere else.

"1 4M /NOT/ 4 S4CK OF 34RTH SPUDS!" She yells as she disappears into another fighting group.

Off in the distance the town watches and they scream and cheer for their favorites, or for whoever may look like they're kicking the most ass as the moment. This is truly a sight for them to see! The slayers of the former queen are here showing off their skills! And most of the townfolk can clearly see that the twelve are not using 100% of their skills. Which makes this all the more impressive because some of these maneuvers look like contortionism and magic all at once. The people are also a bit surprised that they're all ACTUALLY hurting each other considering they're all friends. But perhaps it's BECAUSE they're friends that none of them really mind getting hurt. Everyone knows it isn't out of malice. This, in reality, is playtime to the twelve. And for some this is frightening and wonderful.

The fight rages on for nearly two hours before everyone gets tired. Well, everyone but Sollux. He just stands and puts his hands in his pockets, red and blue cuffs appearing on everyone's wrists and legs. The other eleven trolls are lifted into the air and suspended there.

"ii've notiiced that hangiing back 2eem2 two bee a good 2trategii. Tiire everyone out and then trap them."

"Who Are You Talking To Sollux?" Kanaya says through heavy breaths. Aradia on the other hand laughs and leans her head back.

"He's right y0u kn0w. L00ks like S0llux wins this 0ne."

"Awwww whaaa? I wanted to win!" Nepeta whines as she struggles fruitlessly in the psionic binding.

"You can't win them all Nepeta. We're gonna have to work harder if we want to win next time right?" Vriska sighs a little, a teeny bit glad the fight is over. Back in the day all of them trained really hard until the final fight. And she can't help but notice that Sollux did win most of those fights with his psionics. Damn him.

Sollux slowly sets everyone down and pretty much everyone collapses onto their rumps and breaths.

"I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU ASSHOLES, BUT I SUBMIT. TRUCE! UNCLE!" Karkat says and flops onto his back waving one arm in surrender. Eridan chuckles and sighs.

"2ay Eriidan, you kept a wand?"

"Hm? Oh no this is quite new. I thought I'd test it out. And it wworks wwonderfully I have to say."

"tEST IT OUT? yOU MEAN YOU DIDN'T KNOW WHAT IT WAS CAPABLE OF BEFORE YOU…"

Tavros squints at Eridan in slight disbelief but only gets a smirk and a shrug in return. "yOU ARE ACTUALLY UNBELIEVABLE ERIDAN."

"I knoww." Equius is ready to say that that wasn't a compliment, but he digresses and shushses his mouth. Off to the side he can hear cheering and yelling.

"I just noticed we never actually told anyone we were going to be fighting. We just came out and started." Equius says.

Feferi stares at the crowed… and groans, also flopping on her back. She stares at the sky and smiles. She never thought in her whole life that things would be this great.

"I had a lot of fun everyone. We should get together every few sweeps and do this so we don't get rusty!"

"We should TOTALLY make a tournament outta this." Vriska sits up quickly with her suddenly amazing idea. The others look at her and contemplate. That's… actually not a bad idea.

"That Could Be Interesting. I'm In If You All Are."

"Even Kanaya. I'm motherfuckin IN! Oh yeah Tav bro, I'll take you up on that ass kissing offer." Some trolls say ew and some laugh. Tavros blushes orange all the way to his pointed ears.

()

Later on after everyone gets RE-patched up (to the doctors irritation of course) Feferi sits on the tallest building and stares down at the town. She really takes it all in. Even though she's been queen for several sweeps now, it's still strange to think that she… RULES all of this. But is RULE even the right word?...

Behind her Eridan comes up from the stair well.

"Oh? Fef wwhat are ya doin' up here?" Feferi turns around at the sound of Eridan's voice. She smiles sweetly at him.

"Hey there Eridan. I was just thinking about stuff… How about you? Did you really walk all the way up those stairs instead of just jumping up here?"

"Hmph. Some of us don't havve wwater powwers. You didn't jump up here you liar." The two chuckle and Eridan walks over to her. He doesn't sit though. He stands next to her and puts his hands in his pockets.

"I just came up here to get some space I guess. Too many people if you ask me."

"Yeah there are a lot of people who want to talk to us and stuff. It's hard…. Hey Eridan? Can I talk to you?" Eridan normally would look down at her in surprise. But tonight he does it inwardly. Huh. She wants to talk to him.

"Sure, wwhat's up?" Many long seconds of silence permeate the air. The purple troll nearly says something when he sees Feferi's horns move downward. He looks down at her and sees a very old but still familiar look on her face. Sadness.

"I'm scared Eridan."

"Scared?"

"Yeah… Being a queen is really hard. I know I talked a big game a few days ago on the TV and radios and stuff… but I'm really really REALLY scared."

Eridan stares at her…. Then sighs and looks forward, sitting down and dangles his feet over the edge.

"Wwhat exactly are you scared about?" Another moment of silence.

"I'm… I'm scared that I'll end up not being good enough. That I'll fail in the end and everyone will hate me and…. I'm scared to end up an angry bitter sea bitch. I don't want to be her Eridan. It's in my blood and more than anything I don't want that."

Feferi pulls her legs to her chest and she rests her chin on her knees. This looks very familiar to Eridan…

"Hey, turn to the side." He says. Feferi remembers suddenly and she pulls a tiny smile. She gets her legs back onto the building and she folds them. Eridan does the same and he begins to run his fingers down her hair and starts braiding sections.

"So you're scared to fail and you're scared to become an old sea hag. Wwell why do you think either of those wwould happen?"

"Well…. I don't like talking about it much but…. I'm gonna live longer than everyone. And I'm scared of that too."

Eridan finishes one section of braiding and begins a next.

"Everyone I love is going to die and eventually I'm going to be all alone… Karkat, Tavros…. Sollux…. Oh Eridan I'm so scared of Sollux dying…. And I can picture what the Condesce did to the Psiioniic. She kept him alive for a long time, but only because he was powering her ship. And obviously I won't do that. But I'm so scared to lose him…"

"That is scary."

"And I wonder if maybe the Condesce went through something similar with all of her friends. Did she have friends at all? Were they friends for a long time and she finally started understanding when everyone began dying that she couldn't have friends? She couldn't open her heart up to anyone else because she knew it'd hurt, and because of that she became really mean?"

"Fef…. I knoww howw you feel… I mean, in reality I ain't gonna livve as long as you either. But I'm still gonna be here longer than the others wwill be. I'm scared of losin' evveryone too. But…. Even wwhen evveryone is gone, I knoww you wwon't end up like the Condesce."

"How can you know that though?"

"Because I'vve knowwn you forevver Fef and… I mean I like to think I knoww SOME things about you. The Condesce was a messed up bitch from the start Fef. And I guess in a way I pity her for it. And not pity in any quadrant way. Just in that she was a sad sight and all. She wwas raised different from you and I Fef. She was spoiled rotten and nevver evver had any strife or wwant for anything. Anything she wwanted she got THAT second. If she didn't get her wway then it'd be like her wworld wwas crashin' down. She lead a vvery different life than you. You aren't her. And you knoww wwhat? I think someday wwhen all of us are gone, you'll havve a new group of friends. And you'll look back on your first group fondly."

"You are super not helpful. I… I've never lost someone REALLY before. I thought I knew what it felt like when Aradia and Kanaya and Vriska were all killed when we were on the meteor and the grand highblood landed on it. And when towards the end there and Gamzee… I thought he was going to die too. God we were so young back then…. I thought that's what loss felt like. But then we saw them on the dead troll planet and it was like it was all better again. We met the ancestors and they were all very sweet and kind to us. I mean, mostly anyway. No offense."

"None taken." Four more sections have been braided

"But then they were also taken away right before our eyes. Seriously double death? I thought THEN that that's what loss felt like. But… I mean I liked them and all and we were friends. But it's not the same. Because now we've gone through the preparation of killing the sea hag. And we won. We did it. I thought I'd lose you guys THERE too. But everyone pulled through like a miracle. I've been spoiled too. None of my friends have really been taken from me permanently. Imagining my life without even one of our friends… It utterly terrifies me. What am I gonna do when Karkat dies? Sweet Karkat…. Or Gamzee. That big lovable 'brother' type who was actually a weird source of guidance for me will be gone, what do I do then? What do I do when I lose Sollux? What…. am I going to do when I lose YOU Eridan?" As Feferi speaks, she gets more and more upset and she can feel tears stinging her eyes. Every friend disappearing in her mind brings her tears out more and more until she's quietly sobbing. Imagining her friends getting old and dying…

"Well Fef…. I knoww you don't deal wwith tough lovve vvery wwell… but can I givve it anywway?"

"Yeah…." Feferi wipes her eyes hard with her arms and hands.

"Wwhen wwe all die, you're going to get ovver it. You're not a child anymore. And you wwon't be a child forevver evven if it seems like it. You're going to experience loss, and it's going to hurt and it's going to be scary. But because you'll havve gone through it, you'll knoww howw to deal wwith it dowwn the line. That doesn't mean you'll become a huge raging bitch either. You wwon't be numb to the pain of loss but you'll knoww better howw to deal wwith it so it doesn't hurt you. Us elevven are not the only trolls in existence. I knoww you'll make a lot of neww friends. And you can't be scared of that."

"I don't want to REPLACE you guys though!"

"You wwon't be replacing us. Obvviously, no one can replace us. And evven your neww friends wwon't be just back up or fallback plans. They'll be neww friends that you'll learn new things from. You'll get attached to them and then in time they'll die too… I'm not sorry if I sound mean either. I'm telling you the truth. I don't like it any more than you do. I have to accept that someday Kanaya wwill die. I'm gonna be really sad wwhen she goes. I'm gonna be sad when Vvris dies. But I knoww that if I'm going to stay sane that I'll have to havve my mourning and grieving time, and then movve on."

Feferi stays quiet….

"Did I… psh. Of course I did."

"I learned a little too late to be honest. You wweren't interested and my stupid kid brain couldn't fuckin' grasp that I wwasn't wwanted by you. Evventually though I learned to movve on. I lost you a long long time ago and I had to learn to deal wwith it. I accept it and I don't blame you or resent you or anything. It's in the past. And wwe'll be in the past too. But maybe you can think this wway. Wwhen wwe all die, maybe wwe'll end up on another dead troll planet somewwhere. Or in a dream bubble or some other garbage."

A small breathy laugh from Feferi.

"Yeah… I think at least that. For now anyway. The planet of dead trolls…"

"You're a strong person Feferi. I knoww that no matter wwhat happens to us, you'll be a good person and stay a good person…. Aaaand if you end up being a crazy sea bitch, wwe'll just havve to haunt you somehoww and make you change your wways." Eridan finishes braiding her hair and then tickles her sides. She laughs and flops around onto her side to escape until she's finally out of reach. She looks up at Eridan who has a rather content smile on his face and finds that to be a new expression…

He's so much more mature than her…She knows it. She sees it and feels it. Eridan has gone through a lot more than she has. And most of it was her fault. Feferi is still immature enough that she has to create a sort of false hope that her dead friends will still BE in some form on a dead troll planet instead of just accepting that her friends will be dead. Because of her own immaturity she…. Feferi wonders who else she may have hurt that way.

The queen sits up and scoots to the edge of the building again next to Eridan.

"I'm sorry… about all of this. I'm… I'm such an idiot… I'm a big baby…"

"No you're not. It's normal to be scared and sad about the evventual loss and death of evveryone you care about. That's howw life wworks. It's totally normal to be sad and scared. Don't beat yourself up ovver havving natural thoughts. Wwhen the time comes you'll go through the stages just like evveryone else. I'm not entirely sure howw long you're going to livve, but I guess right noww you're still young."

"Makes me wonder if you're maturity level means you're an old man now. Dang I'm gonna lose you faster than I thought." She lets out a tiny giggle. Eridan looks at her from the corner of his eye.

"I guess… I just really wanted to get it off my chest. I had to talk about it and talk through it. Is it…. Is it okay for me to be selfish enough to ask you if we can have talks like this now and again?"

"I'm glad I havve the honor of being the Queen's counselor. Yes wwe can havve as many talks as you wwant. But don't expect me to be nice about them. Sollux may sugar coat things for you, but I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna put hot sauce on that shit." Feferi giggles again and nods.

"That's fine. I'm grateful that you let me vent at you in the first place… Anyway now that that's one iron out of the fire, tell me about you and Kanaya."

"Oh my god you are a gossip queen Feferi."

"Aw come on tell me!"

"Nope."

"Boooo!"

()

END.