Chapter Text
You wake to the door of your room slamming, followed by loud footsteps pounding down the stairs. The only thoughts in your head are comprised of the word what repeated over and over again, because there aren’t any stairs in your room and there shouldn’t be a girl in your house. It all begins to make a bit more sense when you realize that no, you're not at home, but where the fuck are you, then? As something warm shifts and mumbles into your chest, you realize oh. You had sex with Fef last night.
It wasn't the first time you'd done so—you've been sleeping with her for an amazing month, most of the activity taking place at your house, since it was usually just you living there with your dad up at the base and Cronus wherever the fuck he goes. However, Meenah and Glenys had decided to go to their cabin up in the Blue Ridge Mountains for a couple of nights, and Fef couldn't go because of AP testing. They'd offered to postpone a week or two, but Fef said that she wouldn't really want to go anyway, so for the past two nights you've been staying over, making each other food, cuddling while watching movies on Netflix, and having lots of sex everywhere—in her bed, on a blanket in the backyard under the stars, in the shower. Shower sex, while not the most comfortable, is the best.
But now, you hear someone coming up the stairs when no one is supposed to be home and Fef is pushing herself into a sitting position when you realize oh fuck they came home a day early.
There's rapid knocking on the door, and at least Fef is lucid enough to call out sleepily, "Just a minute!" She raises a hand to wipe sleep out of her eyes and all you can do is stare with what your sure is a dopey smile on your face as you take in all of her: wide hips and perky breasts, freckled shoulders, wiry muscle. She catches you staring and giggles, sweeping some hair behind her ear and saying, "Look while you still can, because we're about to be murdered." She throws the covers off of both of you, and you groan at the sudden cold. "Grab my waist."
You slide over to her and do as she instructed, still not sitting up. Your face is pressed against her spine, right on top of one of her surgery scars as she bends over and grabs clothes off of the floor. Snuggling in closer, you start placing slow kisses on her back until she squirms and asserts that while she appreciates the gesture, now is not the time. "Look, I know you're both in there," Glenys calls from the hallway, and you can't tell if she's angry or disappointed. You're not sure which you'd rather have her be. "Get dressed and come down to the kitchen, now."
Fef tosses you your shirt first, and your boxer briefs follow soon after. You pull both on, only realizing that you have it on backwards when you look down and don't see a Water Tribe emblem. After fixing it, you look over at Fef, seeing that she's wearing her tank top from last night (sans bra), lace panties, and is currently pulling on a pair of workout shorts. There are no other articles of clothing to be found, but you’re sure there's something missing...
That's when Fef turns to you, deathly calm, and asks, "Eridan, where are your pants?"
It takes you a minute to remember where you shed them because you have to retrace your steps. Let's see: yesterday morning, you woke up at around 11:00am because it's a Saturday, and for once Fef slept in with you. You woke her up in a very pleasant manner, then carried her into the bathroom so you both could shower. After the water ran cold, you got dressed and went downstairs to fry up some bacon and eggs while Fef did a crossword at the table, reading out every other clue to you while you cooked. At one point, she'd made a comment about you looking like a perfect little househusband except without the bathrobe and slippers, so you'd wanted to mix things up a little, leading you to...
You'd shed your pants and tossed them over one of the chairs, where they still are.
Fuck.
Fef looks at you like she'd been patiently waiting for you to come to the conclusion that your pants are downfuckingstairs with her family, and all you can do is stare at her sheepishly. "I think I have swim trunks in the bathroom?"
She sighs and slides off the bed into her wheelchair before heading off to the bathroom to retrieve them, trying her best to be stealthy. You could've gone yourself but she said that if her grandma or sister were still upstairs, you might be tied to a stake and burned. In the mean time, you force yourself out of bed—which is practically the comfiest thing money can buy, and though you don't have back issues like Fef does, you've gotten the best nights of sleep you can have (insomnia is one of the prevalent symptoms of your depression, and Prozac isn't really helping you there; you'll probably have to switch again soon, even though you’re getting really fucking sick of medication hopping). However, perhaps only a part of sleeping better can be contributed to the bed, and the rest to the person there with you.
After you fetch your glasses from the nightstand, you come to stand in front of the long mirror that stretches from the floor by her closet to the top of the door and try to fix your hair. The unkemptness of it practically defines "fell asleep after sex" so you steal Fef's hairbrush to try to get it in some amount of order, which makes it look less styled than usual and, honestly, sort of ridiculous. You’d put some gel in it, but your bottle is in the bathroom too, and you really doubt immaculately fixing your hair is going to help with the situation. As you shake your head to try and make it look semi-normal, Fef comes back into the room, tossing your bathing suit at your face and saying, "They're both down stairs. I’d hurry if I were you."
Gulping, you slide on your swim trunks and head down with her. The short elevator ride down is all the time you need to stop feeling so lethargic and start panicking— you’re terrified they’ll hate you, embarrassed that Meenah came in (though you were both pretty covered up; just think what would’ve happened if she found you guys while you were fucking), and even more terror that stems from the fear you’ll never be allowed to come back and lose the only family you have left. It’s like an anxiety filled negative emotion sandwich.
When you dad caught Cronus having sex with a girl, the punishment was harsh, since there is an explicit “no girls in the house with the door closed” rule, and it was obviously violated. After the girl left, the first thing he did was sit Cronus down in front of a computer and made him watch a graphic video of someone giving birth. Restricted privileges were next—since he could actually enforce them because he was on a two-month leave—which included putting parental controls on the Internet and television and taking away his truck. He was firm but not angry, as his disappointment in your brother was the most prevalent of his emotions. He hasn’t been trusted since, though you think a guy like him shouldn’t be.
You won’t be able to handle it if Glenys changes her mind about you and you end up a Cronus in her head. This family is all you have.
“Calm down,” Fef murmurs to you, catching your hand and rubbing her thumb over your knuckles. “She can smell fear.”
Oh, like that helped.
Meenah is nowhere to be found when you enter the kitchen. Glenys, however, is sitting at the table, hands folded in front of her and mouth sculpted into a frown. Your pants are still hung over the chair to her right and you try really hard not to look at them, because maybe she hasn’t noticed, though perhaps you turning bright red to the tips of your ears is a clue. After sliding in the chair directly across from her, you feel Fef settle in to your left, and then silence reigns.
Tension builds, and you keep trying to make eye contact but the second you do, the lump in your throat gets bigger and you have to look away. You fold your arms on the table, which is an awkward movement when your shoulders are so hunched, and mess with the one ring you never take off, on the middle finger of your left hand. If you could say something, it wouldn’t be a good idea because both you and Fef know that in situations like this, you always let her grandma speak first. Minutes tick by, dread building in you since you know that for every second of silence, the consequences are going to be even worse. By the ten-minute mark, you have to bite your lip to keep it from trembling.
Finally, she sighs, putting her head in her hands and saying, “Eridan, stop looking like you’re gonna cry, it’s making me less angry.”
You swallow about ten times before you can speak. “Sorry.”
It gets quiet again, but before the clock on the oven can tick to 8:04am, Fef bursts out, “We’re being safe!”
Years of self-control are the only thing that keeps you from banging your head into the table. Glenys, however, cracks a smile, clasping her hands together in front of her and drawling, “Well that’s good to know, one less conversation we have to have. Are you relying on your birth control, Feferi, or are you using condoms?”
“Condoms, too,” she answers, relaxing noticeably while you remain apprehensive and twitchy. “There’s no such thing as being too careful!” The lightness of her voice is forced, but only someone who knows her as well as you do would be able to tell.
“How long has this been going on?” Glenys questions. “I’m not even sure how long you two have been dating! There wasn’t a clear transition.”
You decide to answer this one, though your voice is a bit shaky. “W-well, when you’re as close as Fef and I have been all these years, there’s not a lot that can change in our dynamic. We were already intimate—emotionally, I mean, n-not physically just yet—and not a lot really changed except now we…” You trail off, shrugging. She should know where this is going. You can feel the tips of your ears getting red again.
Glenys sighs, the corner of her mouth tugging up in an almost bitter movement. “I don’t really have a right to be mad because the ‘no boys in your room’ rule has always exempted Eridan. I should’ve seen this coming. Just…” she closes her eyes and huffs out a breath through her nose, resting her head on her folded hands, “please don’t do anything when someone’s home. No one wants to see or hear anything, and please, keep being safe. I remember what I was like as a teenager, and—”
“I don’t need to hear anymore,” Fef breaks in quickly. She sighs in obvious relief and says, “Thank you for not killing us.”
Smirking, Glenys points a finger at the both of you and says, “Now if I catch you two again, there are going to be consequences. Feferi, you now have to keep your door open if Eridan’s over when we’re home. When I’m not here, keep all activities to your room, and if you get pregnant, I will skin both of you. Understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” you respond as Feferi says, “yeah.”
“I’m glad we had this talk,” Glenys nods, getting up from that table. “Eridan, please take your pants and never remove them in my kitchen again.”
Fuck, you think, standing up and grabbing them. Glenys ponders aloud, “I think he’s gonna turn into a tomato if he keeps blushing that much.”
“Don’t worry about anything we may have done in here,” Feferi asserts, looking up at you and smiling devilishly. “He only took them off because he was cooking and wanted to feel like less of a weenie.”
You stick your tongue out at her. Glenys seems to have an idea, so she turns to you and says, “Eridan, I’m punishing you. Do you know how to make omelets?”
Half an hour later, Meenah is coming downstairs, hair wrapped in a towel from her shower. Glenys had just left to go take her luggage upstairs, so the oldest Peixes sibling takes the opportunity to grin at the two of you and deliver high fives. “Look at my little guppies, all grown up and getting laid,” she says, reaching up to ruffle your hair. Though you usually loathe it when she does it, you’re so relieved that nobody’s mad at you that you forget to care. “It feels kind of like incest, but hey, the Targaryens did that so I can dig it. That doesn’t mean that I want to see you two naked the second I get back from a long fucking trip though; we had to leave in the middle of the night because it started pouring and apparently the roof has tons of fucking leaks, and we didn’t want to deal with that shit. I do not need more fuel for my nightmares.”
“Sorry if we scarred you for life,” Feferi laughs.
You snort, turning over Meenah’s bacon and cheese omelet. Hers is the last one, and you’re keeping the others warm by popping them in the oven at a low heat. “I’m not.”
She flips you the bird, and you send her an innocuous grin as she grumbles, “At least you’re finally wearing your fucking pants.”