Children of the Gods

He kissed her deeply, his hand still moving below his waist.

Piatro was lying down on one of the couches by the fre back in his father's palace, and he had a book over his face, obviously sleeping or at least trying to sleep.

Feferi was in her bedroom, phone to ear as she spoke quietly to someone. Despite being sat on the edge of the bed and looking tense, she was smiling softly about something.

"If you don't leave me alone Blaze, I'm putting you back into the cage." Pietro warned the tiger who was sat on the floor next to him.

"Cool it master, I've only come to check on you."

"You don't have to sound so drastic, Eri. It's only a few weeks sweetheart, and then it'll be over, right?" She waited a few moments, listening to his response and laughed, adding, "So what's wrong with 'being one of them'? Don't be so ridiculous. You can still come and visit and we can still be best buddies."

"I'm fine." He told his tiger as he got up and he put the book back in the bookshelf.

"I don't care what those stuck up bitches say. You want to visit, you want to visit. They're your aunts, not prison wardens, christ, Eri. Live a little." Feferi wrinkled her nose. "No. No. Not like me. I am a bad example, a very bad example, your mother would kill me."

"She sounds troubled...." Blaze told him.

"I know." Pietro told him. "But she's best having space..."

"You haven't been home for weeks because of the troubl your father has started, does she even know that you're back?"

"I haven't seen ehr so I doubt it."

"I don't need you to visit before you leave Eri, I'll be fine. I was thinking of packing a bag and - no, no, sweetie, I'm not disappearing again its." Feferi clenched her hand around the phone, the plastic creaking. "It isn't you darling, I promise. I...Eri, sweetheart. Its the anniversary tomorrow. Its not you, I promise, I promise. I'm not running anywhere I just...if I stay here by myself any longer I'm going to go crazy." Her fingers slowly loosened. "Yeah, that anniversary. Hard to believe its almost been a year since I got free of that bastard huh? No, no you really don't have to come here darling. I'll be fine."

"Feferi, Pietro's home." Blaze told her as he appeared in the room. "Sorry, he didn't want to disturb your call."

Feferi dropped the phone and had knife pulled from somewhere on her person in less than a heartbeat, pointed at Blaze unwaveringly. It took her a good few moments to untense, clearly more wound up than she was letting on to Eridan and even as her muscles unlocked she couldn't lower the knife. She was breathing heavily, chest rising and falling quickly.

Eridan was shouting through the phone, but the phone had skidded to the corner and so his voice was distant and tinny.

"Calm yourself Feferi, it's me, Blaze." He told her, walking towards her. "Come on, talk to me, you've bene like this for days."

"You can't just sneak up on someone like that darlin'." Feferi said defensively. "Coulda hurt you." Her arm was trembling, but she lifted her free hand in order to force her arm down, the knife slipping free to clatter on the floor. "I've got to let Eridan know its okay."

"Now tell me why you're lik this."

Feferi picked up her phone, mumbling some quick platitudes to Eridan before hanging up and muting her phone as it began to ring again almost instantly.

"It's nothin' to worry about. Honest." Feferi compulsively wiped her mouth with her wrist and tugged her sleeve down to almost cover her hand.

"You either tell me or Pietro, and I think I'm a better listener."

"I heard that fluffball!" Pitro shouted from down the corridor.

Feferi clenched her fingers into a tight fist. "Its the anniversary," she said quietly. "The anniversary of when I got out of that twisted bastards control and hacked him to death. Not today, obviously, but tomorrow and...and I can't be left with memories with that. So." She gestured to the half packed backpack hanging on the hook on the door.

"But now Pietro's back, are you just going to up and leave? Surely he is good at distractions."

"Well, I just assumed he would still be gone," Feferi pointed out, unable to help herself as she reached to retrieve her knife, rolling the blade between her hands. "I was preparing for every contingency."

"So, are you at least going to go and see him, or should I ask him to stay clear?"

"Its up to him. He doesn't want to see me this time of year, I don't blame him. I'm just...antsy. Like I have excess energy and need to fucking break something." Feferi gripped the handle of her knife tightly. "But I don't want that. Because its what he wanted and I refuse to agree with it."

"Yep you definitely need to see him." Blaze decided. "He's on the other side of the door waiting for you to tell him. To come in."

"So long as he doesn't show up like you did, I won't accidentally stab him in the face," Feferi muttered, glancing down to where her phone was still buzzing.

"Then ask him to come in."

"He's free to come in whenever he wants. He's the one putting me up. It isn't my house."