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They reached the house in South Dakota in the late evening.
“South Dakota, really?” Phastos had said as he learned where Ajak had been living all these years. “Wasn’t she the one to tell us to be a part of society? And she decided to live here of all places.”
It was an old house, isolated from everything and everyone. The wood under their feet cracked as they walked and it was so badly lit they had to squint at times to truly see what was ahead, and yet, they couldn’t wish for anything more. They gathered awkwardly in the living room, circling each other, they didn’t know what to do, what was next?
“I haven’t been here in years.” Phastos said as he started looking around, a hint of regret in his voice. Ajak had made this house a home, somehow, there were no pictures on the walls, but if you knew her, you’d see her influence everywhere around the house. His chest tightened, he hadn’t seen her in years and he’d never see her again.
Unsurprisingly, Druig was the first one to find a place in the sofa, basically launching himself on it- earning himself a stern look from Phastos.
“You’re such a dad,” Druig joked and he felt a small amount of pride bubbling in his chest when he heard the chuckles of the people around him, when he saw the roll of Makkari eyes but especially because of the tiniest of smiles it put on Sersi’s face. She hadn’t said much on the whole journey, she was barely present at times. They all knew she'd bounce back, she always did. Until then, they’ll be there, this time.
Sersi sat on the armchair, Thena joined Druig on the sofa.
“Do we think Ajak had a landline?” Phastos asked, knowing full well the answer to that question. “I need to call home and tell them I’m okay.”
“Here.” Sersi spoke up for the first time in forever, mindlessly handing him her phone. He took it, thanking her with a small nod and was about to leave the room when Makkari stopped him.
“Tell them to come here,” she signed, an eager smile on her face. “I want to meet your family.”
He didn’t know if Ben would accept it, but he knew Jack always asked about his family and maybe it was time he learned a little more about his father. (Just a little though, because even the emergence wasn’t quite as terrifying as the idea that Jack might start being influenced by this very group of people, especially Druig.)
“I’ll see what I can do.” And it seemed to be a good enough answer for Makkari as she let him go make his phone call this time.
She looked around the room, the way Druig already looked like he was at home, so comfortable on this sofa he was probably second away from falling asleep and the contrast with the two women besides him was striking. Thena was staring into the void, lost in thoughts and exhausted from their battle with Ikaris and Sersi, poor Sersi, Ikaris’ betrayal obviously hitting her the hardest.
Oh hell, the sight of Sersi might just break her heart, she needed to do something, anything .
“I’ll be back.” She made sure someone had seen her and acknowledged what she said before leaving.
“Where did Makkari go?” Sersi heard Phastos’s voice, pulling her away from her own thoughts. Get a hold of yourself, girl. She hadn’t even noticed Makkari had left.
“She didn’t say,” Thena shrugged, “Just left a few minutes ago. You know her, she’ll be back before we know it.”
Twenty minutes later, Makkari arrived in the living room, making Sersi jump at the sound of all the bags she let fall on the floor.
“What the hell?” She said before she could restrain herself.
They all watched as Makkari started throwing them bags around the room, Sersi opened hers, seeing the pyjamas she knew she kept under her pillow at home at the top of it. She looked back to Makkari in question.
“Went to each of your houses and made a bag of clothes,” she signed at their confusion, “Just enough for a couple weeks.” She looked at Druig before continuing, ”And for you and I, I just went shopping.”
“Right.” It seemed to only just hit him that they didn’t exactly have houses anymore. “Thank you.” He smiled at her, a smile that was so uniquely reserved for her she beamed, and she knew he was grateful for what she had just done.
“And me?” Phastos asked her, and she grinned. She hadn’t given him a bag. “I don’t like that face.” He said in reference to the grin that was plastered on her face.
“Yes you do.”
“What did you do?” He said and Makkari’s smile just widened (as if that was possible, that girl had the brightest, most heart-warming smile.) And she nodded at the front door behind him.
Getting the hint, he opened it quickly, revealing Jack and Ben behind it.
“I am never doing that again,” Ben said breathlessly.
“That was awesome.” Jack yelled.
Makkari was quite proud of herself as she watched the family reunite. If there was nothing that she wanted more than to spend time with her family, she was sure it was the same for Phastos, so she brought his family to him. It didn’t take much convincing, Ben wanted (needed really) to see his husband, and Jack was excited at the idea of missing school. She watched Ben hugging his husband so tight and kissing him so soundly it made Makkari want to turn her head away (Druig actually did). Jack hugged his dad, happy to see him back, not at all phased by what he was wearing.
“Can we do it again?” He signed to her. The fact that he knew how to sign had shocked her at first before Ben told her that it was one thing Phastos had insisted on before having Jack.
“Sure, where do you want to go?” Jack seemed pensive for a second before he answered.
“Can we go to Disney World?”
Well, that was disappointing. The whole planet earth and he wanted to go to Disney World?
The whole room erupted into laughter, she felt it so strongly and it filled her with so much happiness she almost forgot everything that had happened recently. She almost forgot about the centuries of loneliness and boredom, how they had lost so many people in such a short amount of time, how she had almost lost Druig.
Almost.
She shook herself, determined not to let this feeling settle. She so badly wanted to remain distracted. She felt a hand on her shoulder, Druig’s hand, and she relaxed to his touch.
Despite centuries spent apart and a few hundred lifetimes lived since they had last seen each other, it didn't take long for the two of them to fall back into their old ways, to find their rhythm back- they had danced to it for millennia, it was all down to instinct and second nature now. So, of course he knew something was wrong with her, that she didn’t quite feel okay.
“How did you know where they lived? Have you been keeping tabs on us?” He teased and she shoved him playfully, because of course she had kept an eye on them but she wasn’t about to admit that to him.
He turned a little, so his back was to the rest of the room so only she could see him say, “thank you for the clothes, I think I’ll look quite good in them.”
He had noticed quickly the change in her demeanor, and he knew quite well what emotional exhaustion looked like, he was always very prone to it. To see it in Makkari was different, she was always the most energetic of the group, but she also had a softness to her that he wasn't used to until he got to know her, and that he had lost her for centuries. It was crazy how he didn’t realize how much he craved her touch until he got to see her again.
He felt her arm wrap around his waist, casually bringing him back. They were always so aware of each other, it was uncanny.
“Maybe we should all go to bed.” Phastos advised, a small gesture to the sleeping child on the sofa. Jack was asleep, his feet on Ben and his head on Thena’s lap.
They all agreed, leaving Jack on the sofa. It looked comfortable enough. Thena and Sersi slept in Sprite‘s old room back when she lived with Ajak. Phastos was good enough at compartmentalizing to sleep with Ben in Ajak’s old bed.
(He couldn’t have done it, no matter how he felt about her.)
Which left the last room to:
Oh.
He turned to Makkari, he wanted to tell her I’ll wake up Jack, he’ll sleep in here with you and I’ll take the couch. Instead he signed, “ Do you mind?”
“Of course not.” She smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, her signs not as enthusiastic as she usually would.
They had known each other for millennia and yet, they had never shared a bed. It was a first they could’ve never had, after all it wouldn’t have been hard to find another solution- sleep somewhere else, hell the floor could have been a suggestion, but tonight, it was just a little too hard to let each other go.
They could’ve done it, if they had wanted to do it at all.
He didn’t want to let her go.
He disappeared into the bathroom, changing into the pyjamas Makkari had bought for him: it wasn't anything crazy, just grey sweatpants and a pullover. When he came back to the room, Makkari hadn’t moved from where he had left her, which was worrying on its own, but she didn’t even acknowledge that he was back. Instead, she kept looking through the window.
It wasn’t like the landscape was interesting, South Dakota was rather dry and boring in his opinion.
He sat on the edge of the bed, simply looking at her. He’d let her come to him, just like he knew she would if he were the one in this state.
“I don’t know what to do.”
There were unshed tears in her eyes, and he had to blink away his own in order to focus. He knew exactly what she meant, because after all they had learnt and all they had lost- what was next?
“C’mere.” He said, extending his hand which she took without a second thought. She remained standing though, with their hands still connected, she looked so reluctant to sit down and for a second he was worried
he
was the problem. He tried to drop her hand but she squeezed it harder. He realized that he wasn't the problem, resting was. Letting herself feel was the problem.
He watched her take a deep breath right before she sat next to him, as if bracing herself, but she quickly tucked herself on his side, a leg over his lap, her head in his neck. He froze for the tiniest of moments before his hand instinctively found the small of her back, hugging her right back. He started drawing patterns on her back like it was the most natural thing in the world. They stayed like this for a few minutes, breathing in each other and getting lost in the moment.
She raised her head from his shoulder, looking at him in the eyes. He could see now that she had cried, there was tears strains on her cheek which he brushed gently. He sniffled, quite emotional himself, he hadn't even realized he had been crying too.
“I think we will be alright.” He kissed her temple, his beautiful Makkari, forever the optimistic one.
Recent times had left them heartbroken, betrayed and lost, but they had found their way back to each other like they were always destined to do so. So, as they lay in bed, restless, tossing and turning, they tried to focus on each other. Because there was comfort in knowing that the one person who understood them the most was there, by their side. Ready to fight for each other more than ever.
It wasn’t embarrassment they felt when they woke up in each other’s embrace, and it was most definitely love that made them both feign sleep to be sure the moment could last just a little bit longer.