Children of the Gods

Feferi sat heavily on her bed, head in her hands.

He stayed near the fireplace, jut messing with the flames.

Feferi flopped back, throwing her phone towards the pillow. It was still occasionally buzzing with missed messages and calls.

"Someone's famous."

"Eridan gets very paranoid and nervous when I hang up for no discernible reason. He thinks I'm going to disappear or something."

"And are you?"

A few days had passed since Feferi and Pietro agreed to try for a baby and he had managed to hide that fact from his father but not from his cousin Sestia, and the two were in the library, Sestia lying on a sofa listening to her cousin play a soft song for her on his fathers piano.

"You've got your centre of gravity all wrong for spear-fighting," Feferi muttered, leaning on her own wooden practice staff as she watched Eridan fumble with his own practice spear. "Plus, you chose the same weighted staff as me, and I'm both shorter and lighter than you, you need one you can throw about with your weight. Spears might not be for you."

"I want them to be for me," Eridan replied stubbornly, pushing sweaty hair back from his forehead. "Because that way I get to spend time with you. Mother wants me to learn a weapon, I want to spend time with you. It's a Win-Win."

"She knows more weapons than spears." Sestia told them as she walked over.

"You weren't supposed to let him know that. I was trying to get rid of him."

Eridan dropped the staff and wrinkled his nose, looking at Feferi with a look of distrust.

"Why, so you can give my cousin his welcome home fuck?" She asked, for being blind Sestia had seen more than she ever let on.

Feferi bared her teeth in a smile that was anything but cheerful. "No, actually. Because I'm expecting visitors, and I can't be expected to babysit Eridan even when he's eighteen years old."

"Visitors?" Eridan asked suspiciously.

"I take it my cousin doesn't know about it." Sestia smiled.

"Of course not. Visitors can't actually come down here, so I have to pop out and I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell him."

"Where are you going?" Eridan asked suspiciously.

Feferi visibly hesitated and then muttered, "Found my birth mom, Eri. Gonna see how she is. Didn't want anyone to know in case it went shit, thanks for that."

"Why wouldn't you want him to know that?"'Sestia asked.

"It's still...not entirely safe for me to leave here and he's not a big fan of me actually leaving." Feferi shrugged. "But if I leave it alone, I'll never forgive myself, so I have to go for it."

"You could just ask him, and of course he doesn't like you leaving because you always come back hurt but he still lets you go."

"Yeah, but I don't like worrying or disappointing him." Feferi shrugged. "It's just my mom. I doubt she's gonna do anything worse than creatively swear at me."

"I could go with you," Eridan said firmly and Feferi laughed.

"That really wouldn't help my case, Eri."

Sestia nodded. "At least let him know that you're going and when you think you will be back."

"It's literally a day trip. With how busy he's been recently, I was hoping to pop up and be back before he realised."

"Well it's up to you."

"Then, if you're not going to rat me out, I'm going pretty much now."

"Fine." She shrugged.

"Thank you. Please make sure Eridan doesn't kill himself while I'm gone, Atropus will not hesitate to use my skin as a decorative feature."

"Hey, I don't need to be looked after," Eridan complained, but Feferi had already quickly ducked out of the room.

"Fancy sparring with your step sister?" She asked him.