Archive of Our Own

Captain Eridan Ampora sipped her champagne and surveyed the way the other trolls were mingling. Galas like this one could be fun for her, an opportunity to show off and impress the other highbloods. Their impressions of her were important, to an extent, though as Orphaner she outranked them all and therefore she didn’t have to worry too much about what any of them actually thought. It was a balancing game, but one she was exceedingly good at. She could show up, she could dress the part and perform better than the rest of them, and she could have her helmsman on her arm as her matesprit and aside from some judgemental looks she ignored, they couldn’t do anything to her.

It was the one good thing about being the Orphaner, and she was going to take advantage of it.

She knew this kind of thing wasn’t exactly Sollux’s favorite event, but by social custom, Eridan had to go. And if she was going to go, she wanted to bring Sollux with her. Sollux was the most beautiful troll here by a perigee, all dressed up in her gorgeous, floor length violet gown. Eridan’s eyes kept returning to her. Her own shimmery gold dress felt almost drab by comparison, though it had cost nearly as much.

Sollux looked nervous. The way her eyes darted around the block wouldn’t be obvious to anyone but Eridan. She set her glass down, taking her gorgeous copemate’s hand. “You’re too pretty to just be standin here,” she murmured, bowing to her with a kiss to her knuckles. Without even looking, she knew Sollux would be blushing, a pretty honey colored blush across her cheeks. At least her attention would be on Eridan now, instead of everyone else. Good. Her attention belonged on Eridan. “Wwill you dance wwith me? Please?”

As Eridan straightened up, she saw that pretty blush, as expected. “I don’t know how to dance,” Sollux whispered, allowing herself to be gently led out to the dance floor anyway.

“Wwe don’t havve to do anything fancy, just followw my lead,” Eridan promised, ignoring the way trolls parted for them. Her arm wrapped protectively around Sollux’s back, even though none of her ports were in any danger of being seen or touched by anyone else. The other, weaker trolls would likely be disgusted by the idea of even looking at those, let alone touching them. To Eridan, they were Sollux’s body, and therefore beautiful like the rest of her.

She would have kissed the one right at the base of her skull if it wouldn’t have embarrassed Sollux to have her do something like that in front of anyone, even through the fabric of her dress.

Instead, as soon as they were in a suitable position on the floor, she pulled Sollux against her so they were front to front. One arm around her waist, one on the back of her neck. Ignoring the tempo of the music and whatever dance everyone else was doing, she started swaying in place with her. Nothing else mattered but spending time with her mate and showing that she really did adore Sollux despite their massive hemogap and the type of work she performed for Eridan.

Sollux clung to her, hopefully not paying anyone else any mind. “You make that color look so lovely,” she told Eridan, and it looked like she was admiring the gold makeup Eridan had put on to coordinate with her dress. “I swear I never thought it could actually be pretty until I saw it on you.” Her eyes traced the golden quadmark above Eridan’s gills on her neck, visible tonight without anything covering them up, and Eridan flushed with pride.

“Thank you, treasure,” she said softly, gently guiding Sollux’s head to rest on her shoulder, right up against her quadmarked gills. This way they could talk without anyone else hearing them. “You’re extra beautiful tonight, an you’re doin so good wwith all a this.”

With their bodies so close, Eridan could feel when her breathing and pulse sped up just a little from the praise. Sollux nuzzled her face more against Eridan, presumably to hide her reaction from the rest of the party. “Tell me more.”

Pleased to see that her words were having the intended effect, she whispered “you’re bein a vvery good girl. I got to dress you up an showw you off like I’vve been dyin to do since I officially became a captain. I’m proud a you for bein so bravve an comin wwith me tonight.”

She swore she could feel the way Sollux’s face was heating up when her blush deepened, right against Eridan’s gills. Lips brushed against her quadmark, and she gasped softly. “I’m the second prettiest troll here tonight?” Sollux prompted.

“The prettiest,” Eridan promised. “Not evven I’m prettier than you are tonight. That dress is gorgeous, your hair an makeup are perfect, the wway you glare at evveryone makes my pusher flutter… I’m so glad you’re the troll on my arm for these kinds a things.”

The music stopped, and, focused as she was on Sollux and the way she was so shyly hiding her face, Eridan almost didn’t notice. When she did, she didn’t pull away immediately, but she did move back enough that she could steal a sweet, lingering kiss from her beautiful matesprit.

Sollux leaned into the kiss eagerly, her hands tightening on Eridan. A soft whine sounded from her when the kiss was broken, quiet enough that Eridan was sure only she could hear it, even though the area around them had gone silent. Everyone was probably staring at the spectacle of the Orphaner, a violetblood and one of the highest ranking trolls in the galaxy, kissing her helmsman in public.

Before any of that could start maxing Sollux anxious, Eridan squeezed her tight and flashed her a private, flirty grin. “Hey, Sol,” she whispered, “howw about wwe get outta here, hm? I can think of some things I’d rather be doin than mingling anymore wwith these losers.”

Sollux, still blushy, nodded coyly. Eridan could see the playful glint in her eyes as she was led out of the ballroom toward somewhere that was going to give them a lot more privacy.