No Place Like Home | Closed to Eridan

[lunaquatic]

Going home to an empty house felt like a poor idea, especially given that Feferi remained low on blood and high on tension. Her first thought was the Striders, whose domain was very much her domain as well, but they had chosen to keep their wholly inadequate couch... And would probably not be particularly receptive to her bursting in and nesting in their apartment for however long she stayed.

That left Eridan.

She didn't particularly want to have to explain about Kanaya's accident, but between a tense conversation and going home to her empty house was no contest.

The route to his house was nearly as familiar as the way home and she parked her car where she usually did here it wouldn't block he or his family's vehicles.

With less than her usual chipperness Feferi made her way up to the front door, unlocking it and going inside without bothering to knock. She practically lived here sometimes and the Amporas were well used to her ways. It didn't occur to her to text or call and her knees felt too wobbly to look around for Eridan so she made a beeline for his room.

She dug around in his dresser for one of his shirts when she found his room empty and shucked out of the bits of her clothing that weren't good to sleep in, as ever choosing comfort over propriety. In their place she pulled on his longer shirt.

Fef hesitated, then carefully unwrapped Kanaya's scarf from around her throat, gingerly touching the sore area. A shudder worked its way through her and Fef grimaced before burrowing into Eridan's bed, shoving his blankets and pillows around into a comfortable nest and curling up. Between the anemia and the exhaustion from stress she was out like a light, her cheeks unusually pale and the bandage a patch of white against her dark skin.

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[capesandvvapes]

He sat, absorbing her tale, anger and fear and worry churning in his gut to froth that would make even the most turbulent of oceans jealous. There was no part of him that was expecting both of his close friends to have been injured as badly as they had, and no less that one of them had caused injury to the other because of scissor accidents and mystical vampire bullshit. It was… a lot to process and he wasn’t going to react on his gut impulse when that wasn’t what Fef needed right now.

So he kept his mouth shut until he could straighten out his own thoughts on those matters and focused on her more immediate request.

“If you want me to get a proper look at your neck, you’re goin’ to have to unpack a bit.” He says as he places his hand on hers and guides her arms away from where they clung. “You’re sitting tight as an anemone in low tide.”

He brushes her thick loose hair from her neck, gathering it and twisting it to rest upon her opposite shoulder and tilts her head up from its sunken position with the curled knuckles of his other hand.
“I’m glad, that Kan is okay, though I ain’t gonna pretend I’m happy about the why.” He says hushed as he peels up the edge of the bandage, slowly pulling until it’s free of her skin. He turns away only briefly to drop it down on the table beside him before truly assessing the damage with a frown. ”And if at all possible, it would be best to mitigate the likelihood a this happenin’ again.”

He tries to ignore the way his hands are shaking as he examines her neck. Though the wound was violently coloured and the bite marks deep, the holes from fangs had scabbed over a dark brown and the bleeding was unlikely to resume, so long as it remained undisturbed. It was a relief to say the least, to be able to avoid strange hospital trips for a little longer.

“Bet you saved some a that healin’ power for yourself, with the way it’s patchin’ itself right up Hardly a consolation, but shark-like as she seemed, Kan is needlessly tidy, even in her frenzies. Not so much chewin’ as a nip or two.” A gash or two, more like. “ Aside from scabs and bruises and obvious blood loss, you ought to be alright.”

If Fef wasn’t used to helplessness, well Eridan was far too friendly with it. All this shit about magic powers and his friends turning into supernatural freaks of nature, that was all well and good when they’re fighting whatever odd thing pops up to terrorize the city. It was another thing entirely when his friends start using their powers on each other.

[lunaquatic]

Feferi did as requested, breathing slowly and relaxing her defensive position. If Eridan wasn't safe, nowhere was. She didn't comment on his shaking hands, just relaxed further as he assessed the damage. She let out a sigh of relief and slumped across his lap, laughing giddily. "I fin I'm going to renovate a place downtown to be our superhero lair," she said. "Kanaya needs more space and it'd be nice to have somewhere to practice without old people bubbling at us..."

She shifted carefully until just her head was in his lap, her dark hair spilling across his legs as she looked up at him, eyes more than half closed but lips still curved into a sleepy smile. "Have you found any powers spilling out of you Erifin?" she asked, wiggling to get comfier and tuck her feet under blankets again. "What kind of powers would you want to have? Water manipulating is nice and all but I wish I had mermaid powers instead... How am I ever supposed to meet a giant squid without being a mermaid??"

Feferi yawned and closed her eyes properly, her breathing slowing as she began to drift off. "Maybe you can get bat powers like Batman!!" she said fuzzily. "He wore a cape and had... wait... what powers did Batman have? Was it super hearing? Bats have good hearing..."

Her arm flopped across her stomach as the last of the tension drained out of her and she fell asleep again, her heavy head and long hair resting in his lap.