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With all of the Eternals back on Earth safe and sound, being in contact with each other again, and having free use of the Domo, there was no reason for them not to get together more often. They started making the effort to see each other, eventually getting into a habit of everyone meeting up at least once a month. It was nice. They wished it hadn’t taken the end of the world or the kidnapping and rescue of their friends for them to realize how much they had all missed each other.
Makkari enjoyed her solitude. But she had missed her family even more. She was always eager to see them again, even when she could simply run around the world in a few minutes to see them again. It was the fact that they were all together, making an effort to see each other. Every time their get-together weekends neared, Makkari vibrated with so much excited energy she had to run around the earth a couple times before she shook so hard she shattered every fragile thing on the ship just by being in proximity to it.
Often she would run and meet up with one of them before it was time to pick them up. She liked a little one-on-one time before the inevitable chaos of all of them being together. Often she went to go see Druig and affectionately pester him about how excited he clearly was, despite him trying to hide it. Just as often she’d go see Kingo and they’d spend a night catching up on his many, many movies while Sprite provided snarky commentary (despite being semi-reluctantly sucked in) and Karun excited praise for Kingo’s work.
This time, though, she decided to go see Sersi. She liked snooping around Sersi’s apartment, seeing what new knick-knacks and trinkets she had collected. She was hoping Sersi would avoid moving into Dane’s apartment a little while longer just so she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally sneaking off with one of his things instead of Sersi’s. (Sersi was free to steal from, after all. They were family. Besides, Makkari almost always brought it back or replaced it with something else Sersi would like.)
As Makkari slid into London and slowed to a light jog (or, her version of a jog, which others would call sprinting) towards Sersi’s apartment, it was getting dark out. Maybe she’d spend the night. Sersi hadn’t yet turned Sprite’s room into a guest room despite her plans to, but she also didn’t mind Makkari or friends spending the night in there.
She ran up the stairs to Sersi’s apartment for good measure, just to make sure all that excited energy was gone and she wouldn’t break Sersi’s home, but still bounced on her feet as she waited for Sersi to answer the door. She knew Sersi was home. She could feel her heartbeat.
Makkari could feel Sersi moving around and walking towards the door. She tilted her head. Sersi sounded slower than usual. Odd. Sersi usually was eager to answer her door and see who was there.
Odder was in the split second between Sersi opening the door and Sersi seeing Makkari on the other side, Makkari saw how tired Sersi looked. Even when Sersi smiled at the sight of her, Makkari could see shadows under her eyes. She didn’t look like she’d slept in days.
“Makkari!” Sersi signed to her. “It’s so good to see you.”
Makkari grinned and all but dove into Sersi’s arms to hug her tight. Sersi hugged her back just as warmly, even pressing a little kiss to her temple. She was certainly acting like herself - why didn’t she look like herself?
When they pulled apart Makkari stepped around her and walked right into the apartment. The lights were dim, she observed. Not strange, since Sersi enjoyed softer lighting, but rather than the murky but soothing green from the single light in Sersi’s kitchen, she’d turned on a single lamp by her couch.
Makkari leapt over the back of said couch and settled down, Sersi joining her a moment later, still a little slower than normal. Makkari tried not to frown. Instead she just grabbed a blanket and tossed it over both of their legs. “How are you doing?”
“Alright,” Sersi signed. “It was a long week, I’ve got a bit of a headache.”
There it was - a small twinge in Sersi’s face, just for a second. Makkari felt the vibrations of it before it even happened. So that’s what was wrong…
“You sure you’re up for us?” Makkari asked. “No shame in taking a break if you need one. We’ll understand.”
Sersi shook her head. “No, not at all. The week is over. I just want to relax with my family. That’s all I need.”
Makkari nodded, not sure if she believed Sersi or not. She’d try to keep an eye out for her. “Just tell us if you need to fuck off for a bit.”
“Of course.” Sersi laughed. Makkari loved Sersi’s laugh, how it lit up Sersi’s whole face, the vibrations of it rippling across Makkari’s skin in a soothing sensation. “Now, can I get you anything?”
Makkari waved off all of Sersi’s attempts at being a good hostess and insisted on just snuggling down on the couch with her, talking about Sersi’s long week and irritating colleagues and exhausting students (“Lively,” Sersi insisted, but Makkari could read between the lines). By the time she was snuggling up in Sprite’s old bed for the night she had almost forgotten Sersi’s headache.
Yet, when the next morning came and Makkari ran all the way back to the Domo to fly around the world and collect everyone for their long weekend away in a rented vacation house in Malta (courtesy of Kingo), it lingered in the back of her mind. She kept a careful eye on Sersi, who looked like she was fine and acted like she was fine. There was nothing irregular about her heartbeat, her laugh, or her walk, but Makkari kept an eye out anyway.
It turned out to be a good thing. The longer the day went on, filled with everyone’s normal enthusiasm and chatter, chaos reigning over the house, the more Makkari could see - could feel - Sersi’s energy draining. She saw it in the way Sersi’s laugh felt more forced, her smile not reaching her eyes. She could feel Sersi flinching at sudden loud noises from across the room. She could see how Sersi only joined the conversations sparingly, otherwise staying quiet and listening, or at least looking like she was listening, because Makkari also saw how distant her eyes would go until she had to pay attention.
It was mid-afternoon by the time Makkari was about to pull Sersi aside and force her to go rest, but she was too late - in the middle of a conversation that had everyone raising their voices at each other, not quite yelling but getting close, Sersi abruptly stood up and scurried out of the room. When Kingo asked where she was going, she didn’t respond, but it was quickly forgotten in the Eternals' continued debate.
If she hadn’t been worried about drawing attention to Sersi’s state, which clearly Sersi didn’t want, Makkari would have simply sped after her. Instead she just got up and followed. Druig shot her a curious look as she passed and she responded with a reassuring smile. He nodded, perhaps understanding where she was going.
She followed Sersi’s path up to her room and didn’t knock before entering. The lights were off and the curtains had been drawn shut, leaving the room dark with only a bit of filtered sunlight shining through the cracks. Sersi was tucked into the darkest corner of the room, knees drawn to her chest and face hidden, her hands over her ears, rocking herself back and forth.
Makkari shut the door behind her as gently as possible. She felt a small vibration as the door clicked shut, but surely nothing loud enough to bother Sersi… though she didn’t know at this point.
She settled down on the floor next to Sersi, leaving about a foot of space between the two of them. She assumed the same position, legs pulled up, propping her chin up on her knees as she watched Sersi, waiting to see what Sersi would do. If she would do anything. Even if she didn’t, Makkari would be here for her.
They sat together for a while. Makkari could still feel the vibrations from the other’s conversations, certainly loud enough for Sersi to hear them. She wondered if Sersi had any noise canceling headphones. Surely they’d work better than her hands. She could get up and find her some, but she didn’t want to disturb Sersi’s space more than she had by just sitting with her.
After what felt like hours but was probably an hour tops, Sersi raised her head from her knees and looked at Makkari. Makkari’s heart stuttered painfully when she saw tears in Sersi’s eyes.
“I can take you home,” Makkari signed.
Sersi shook her head and removed her hands from her ears to sign back: “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
It took a moment before Sersi signed, her hands shaking just a little, “I have a migraine.”
Makkari grimaced. She had gotten a couple of those before. They were awful. Had humans come up with a cure for them? They must not have, if Sersi was still suffering like this.
“Why didn’t you say anything? You could have stayed home. Being with us can’t be helping.” Even she sometimes got annoyed by the constant chatter and would joke about going back into isolation to get away from them.
“I didn’t want to ruin the weekend.” Sersi looked so miserable, her eyes teary and her mouth trembling like she was about to start crying any second. The shadows Makkari had seen the day before were still there - had they gotten worse? She must not have been looking as closely as she thought. “Or be the first person to back out.”
“We all know that’s gonna be Phastos,” Makkari tried to joke. Sersi didn’t even crack a smile. Makkari sighed. “So what if you backed out? You’re in pain. We would have understood.”
“I wanted to see all of you.”
“We can facetime you when you’re better.” Makkari had been given a crash course in modern technology by the three Eternals best adapted to it. She could totally facetime Sersi. Or bully someone else, probably Kingo, into letting her use his phone to do it. “And you’d see us next month.”
Sersi started to sign something then stopped, her hands dropping. She looked like she was about to bury her face again but Makkari wouldn’t let her. Sersi needed to be prodded into talking about her feelings sometimes and Makkari was an expert in prodding.
“What is it?”
Sersi looked away from Makkari before she slowly signed out, looking embarrassed, “I don’t want to let centuries go by again.”
Makkari frowned, confused, before she understood.
They’d all slipped away from each other too easily before, and that was after spending centuries together. Now all they had was at most a couple days a month to spend together. A couple days that were cherished, absolutely, but so easy to lose. And losing one meeting would make losing every other meeting so easy.
“It won’t,” Makkari signed. “We won’t let that happen, not again.”
“You don’t know that. We did it before.”
“We know better now.” Makkari stared intently at Sersi, so she understood Makkari meant it. “And we can find each other more easily now. No more tracking letters and gossip.” There had been a few times where word of mouth was the only chance any of them had at finding one of their own - rumors of gods, demigods, spirits, heroes, demons jumping from person to person. Not anymore. “We want to stay in touch. So we’re staying in touch. We won’t separate like that again.”
Sersi bit her lip before she nodded. Makkari smiled and then asked, “Do you want to go home?”
Sersi shook her head a tiny bit, though she looked nauseous immediately afterward. “I want to stay… even though it’s-”
A particularly big vibration passed through the floorboards. Makkari recognized it as the sound of Thena throwing something. A different vibration followed shortly after - Phastos or Kingo shrieking, she couldn’t tell who. Sersi winced, rubbing her head.
“You can go hang out on the Domo. Peace and quiet,” Makkari signed. “I won’t tell.” She made an x-mark over her heart with a smile.
Sersi finally gave a small smile. Makkari internally cheered.
Makkari didn’t tell the others that Sersi had snuck out and was resting on the Domo, as promised. Mostly because she also ended up staying on the Domo, though away from Sersi to ensure she got her peace and quiet. If Sersi needed something, she would be right there to help her - and she promised herself she’d keep doing that even after the weekend was over.