Chapter Text
You really didn’t mean to have this happen. It just kind of… did. But you’re not going to say you wish it didn’t happen. Let’s rewind a bit to set the scene.
Your name is Eridan Ampora, and earlier this night you were hunting lusii for Gl’bgolyb, to make sure it doesn’t release the Vast Glub, a terrifying sound that holds the potential to kill all trolls with blood lower than fuchsia. It’s your duty as the Orphaner, a title passed down to you by your ancestor, to basically save the entire race from a threat they barely even know about. It is also your duty as the moirail of the heiress, who prefers to see as little bloodshed as possible.
You were engaged in a fierce battle with a Batsh, a type of lusus that resembles a night flap-beast, although much larger and white, as is the norm with most lusii. It was giving you quite the run for your currency, as it had landed a few blows on your trusty Skyhorse and yourself. You had also injured it a bit, mainly on its underside. You readied Ahab's for another blast, power surging to its barrel, as your lusus dodged the blows the Batsh threw at it. Once your weapon was charged, you fired, landing a hit on its wing and forcing it to the ground. You instructed the Skyhorse to follow it, charging Ahab's yet again to deliver what would hopefully be the final blow.
The lusus was trying to escape into the lush jungle nearby, leaving sand stained with olive in its wake. You watched it struggle and cry out, before firing the fatal blow. It fell with a screech that grated your auditory clots, before hitting the ground, unmoving. You dismounted to inspect it. It would make a satisfactory meal for Gl’bgolyb, and would be the last one for today. As you attempted to drag it to the Skyhorse, a small cry, almost like a mewl, froze you in your tracks. You glanced around, trying to find the source, when yet another cry, much weaker than the one before, is heard. You stared at the dead lusus, before putting it down and inspecting it.
And that’s when you saw it. A small grub, barely larger than your fist, drenched in blood, clinging onto the lusii’s neck. It has an olive body, unsurprisingly since the lusus had the same blood color, and two small nubs which reminded you a lot of Karkat. A small mess of slick black hair covered its eyes, making it impossible for it to see. You gingerly picked it up, the sudden contact with your cold skin making it jolt. Now, this isn’t anything you haven’t seen before; many grubs were attached to the lusii you’ve killed. Most died with them, or fell into the sea, but there have been a few cases where one was on its guardian’s carcass. Whenever this had happened, you’d removed it from the lusus and sent it away, or gave it to Vriska to feed Spidermom. But this was the first time one cried out, and the sound made your expanding and collapsing bladder based aquatic vascular system practically melt .
Now, you could’ve let it flee into the jungle, or given it to Vriska. If you had done either of these, you most likely would’ve forgotten about after a few hours. But in the moment, you did what you felt you had to do, instincts controlling your pan. You might’ve also had a bit of a say in the decision, not that you’d tell anyone such. You placed the grub in your scarf, before instructing your lusus to grab the Batsh. You mounted on him, and another cry rang out, this one more like a whimper. You panicked for a brief second before doing the first thing your thinkpan told you to do. You shoosh it. Not in a pale sense, but in a guardian sense. You remember your lusus doing it when you got too fussy as a wriggler. And surprisingly, it worked. The grub quieted down, and you went off to dispose of the corpse.
And now we’re in the present. You’re wiping the blood off of the grub with a white rag, which is quickly getting stained olive. Your scarf also has some blood on it, which will be hell to get out later, but you’ll deal with it. You try to be as gentle as possible, trying not to cause any discomfort to it. It’s hair starts to fluff up, and you move on to its body. You’re getting sick of calling the grub it though. It’s not some fucking object! It’s a living creature! It , at the very least has a gender. You’ll find it out after you get the little guy fed and dried. It squeaks as you rub its stomach with the cloth, it’s tiny legs scrabbling around. Must be sensitive or somethin’.
After getting the grub dried, you try to locate something for it to eat. What do grubs eat anyways? Probably small stuff, considering they’re, well, small. You find some grubloaf hiding in the back of your cabinet and grab a slice, cutting it into little pieces with a knife. You make sure to keep an eye on your guest while you do so, to make sure it doesn’t fall off the counter. Once you have fifteen or so squares of the loaf, you put it on a plate and offer it to the grub. It sniffs it for a bit before taking a tentative bite. It chews it slowly, before going after yet another piece, then another. By the time it’s finished with the ‘feast’, there are only four squares left. You pick it up and place it on a pillow on the loungeplank, where it curls up and dozes off. It happened surprisingly quickly, although you aren’t sure how a grubs sleep cycle works. Time to stop calling the grub it, and maybe, maybe, give it a name.
You make your way to your respiteblock, where you told your lusus to stay until you walk in. You pet his snout a few times before speaking.
“Dad, I need you to help me wwith somethin’.” He looks at you as if saying ‘Go on’. “Y’see, I wwanna knoww the grubs gender.” He gives a snort, and you sigh in response. “Yes, the one that I brought back. Hey, don’t givve me that look! I just wwanna stop callin’ it ‘it’ in my thinkpan.” The Skyhorse rolls his eyes before making his way to where the grub resides. You stumble along, not expecting him to actually help out. Once he reached the grub, he sniffs it a few times, which draws a questioning glance from you, before carefully turning it over to reveal its underside. He gently rubs his snout across it, barely even touching the underbelly, before stopping and turning to you. A small gurgly sound leaves his snout, which you understand perfectly.
A female. The grub is no longer ‘it’, she’s now a ‘she’. You smile a bit and whisper a thanks to your lusus, then make your way to the mealblock. You open up the thermal hull and pull out a large amount of kelp. You call him into the block, then promptly feed the kelp to him. While he munches on the flora, you go back into the livingblock, before slouching into a splaysac. While you could get much comfier furniture, no chair can compare to a nice splaysac.
You jolt awake. Wait, you were asleep? Shit, you were supposed to watch the grub. A quick glance shows that she’s still asleep. You couldn’t have slept long in that case, maybe an hour or so. A soft ping echoes from your respiteblock, signalling someone is trolling you. You rise off of the soft object, and make your way towards the sound, becoming increasingly irritated at the repeated noise.
You quickly sign in, your fingers not missing a beat, and scroll down through your contacts to see who exactly is attempting to communicate with you. You don’t find out until you reach the very bottom. Feferi. You can do this, just have to act like you didn’t bring a grub into your home. This is fine, it’s going to be fine. There’s no way you’ll succumb to your moirail and confess your crime. Oh yeah, did you mention that yet? Trolls aren’t allowed to be in possession of grubs. Only jadebloods and lusii can fill that role. And for the few that actually knew of the word ‘kindness’ and took one in, they were culled by Her Imperious Condescension, also known as the empress of Alternia, and the most feared troll in all discovered planets.
You take a deep breath in and let it out, then click to open the conversation. As you said, you can do this. Just don’t tell her. Even though you’re obligated to tell her everything and she is obligated to tell you everything due to the bonds of your moirallegiance, you will make this work. Maybe...
Oh cod, what have you gotten yourself into...