Entry tags:
Daughters
Takes place after... a bunch of stuff involving Cynara locking Eriko in a hawthorn cell that ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aldersprig wrote, and then Leo talking to Eriko and letting her out.
Leofric had taken it upon himself to familiarize Eriko with the city. He showed her a tour of the stores – nearby grocery stores, then furniture stores the next day, then clothing stores the day after, before expanding out to other categories in the rest of the city. In addition, as part of the tours and his personal mission to convince her to feel comfortable living there (a goal which was proving more difficult than he had anticipated), he started taking her to lunch once a week. There weren't a whole lot of places that served food yet; he expected to get through the lot of them in a couple of months, at most. This one had Mexican-style food, or at least what would pass for it this far north.
“It's strange to live in a city again,” Eriko said.
“I'm kind of enjoying living here – in the city, I mean,” Leofric replied cheerfully. “My kids already moved away before Cya started building, though, or I'd probably miss them more.”
Eriko shrugged. “People drift apart. It'd happen eventually.”
Leofric looked surprised and shook his head. “No, I mean, it's not like I never see them anymore. Ruki stops in when she's in the area and Viddie and I take turns visiting each other, but we don't live in the same place anymore.”
Now it was Eriko's turn to look surprised. “You still keep in touch with your children?”
“Of course.” He looked at her curiously. “They're my kids.”
“They haven't been children for decades.”
“And my grandkids,” he countered with a grin. “And now great-grandkids. Which is weird, really. I don't feel old enough to be a great-granddad, you know?”
“...I suppose.” Eriko was looking at him oddly. Leofric figured she just hadn't met many Addergoole fathers who were much interested in their “grad requirements”. But, he realized, she just might not like the reminder that she was in her... seventies?
“Anyway.” He shrugged, dismissing the age-related tangent. “I was pretty lucky, all things considered. Cya lived near me and we were crew so of course I was around for Viddie, but if Aelgifu had kept Sigruko, I wouldn't have seen much of her at all. Especially after the world ended...” He trailed off, noticing that Eriko had switched from looking at him oddly to staring down at her food, not eating. “What's wrong?”
She didn't speak for at least a minute longer. “I had three children,” she said finally. “Cyan, Alphaeus, and Tethys—”
“Tethys?” Leofric exclaimed reflexively, reining in a knee-jerk reaction just a moment too late.
Eriko looked up, startled. “You know her?”
“I... know of her,” he said carefully. “She Kept Cynara's oldest son. It... didn't go well.” It went about as well as when Eriko had Kept him, from what little he knew and remembered.
“...Oh...” Eriko said weakly.
Leofric inhaled deeply and forced a smile. It wasn't-- well, okay, it was partly Eriko's fault, if Eriko was her mother, but he wasn't going to blame her for it. “He came out from it mostly okay, at least.”
“...Oh,” she said again.
The silence at the table stretched out uncomfortably long, Eriko still staring at her plate. Leofric cleared his throat. “I'm s—”
“Tethys is your daughter,” Eriko said.
Leofric stopped mid-word, his mouth hanging open. “...What?”
“I didn't think you would care and I had already graduated and moved on,” she continued, the words rushing out as though she wanted to be rid of them as quickly as possible. “Why would I try to track you down to tell you about a child you wouldn't want? I assumed the school would tell you and since you never tried to contact me, I thought... well, why would you care about her or me?”
Leofric sat there, feeling oddly like she was speaking a language that he didn't understand. Like Swahili or something. “Are you saying,” he asked carefully, as though the words might fall and shatter into tiny pieces, “that I am the... her...”
“I should have told you, I know,” Eriko said. “I should have let you name her but you weren't even mine anymore when I found out.”
It was like the entire world was trying to turn itself wrong-side out. He wanted to say no, she was wrong, he only had two daughters – but he recognized that thought pattern and struggled to ignore it, the thoughts and the feeling together. “Tethys is my daughter?”
Something in his voice made Eriko look at him again, and something in his expression made hers twist defensively. “I... yes, she is.”
aldersprig wrote, and then Leo talking to Eriko and letting her out.Leofric had taken it upon himself to familiarize Eriko with the city. He showed her a tour of the stores – nearby grocery stores, then furniture stores the next day, then clothing stores the day after, before expanding out to other categories in the rest of the city. In addition, as part of the tours and his personal mission to convince her to feel comfortable living there (a goal which was proving more difficult than he had anticipated), he started taking her to lunch once a week. There weren't a whole lot of places that served food yet; he expected to get through the lot of them in a couple of months, at most. This one had Mexican-style food, or at least what would pass for it this far north.
“It's strange to live in a city again,” Eriko said.
“I'm kind of enjoying living here – in the city, I mean,” Leofric replied cheerfully. “My kids already moved away before Cya started building, though, or I'd probably miss them more.”
Eriko shrugged. “People drift apart. It'd happen eventually.”
Leofric looked surprised and shook his head. “No, I mean, it's not like I never see them anymore. Ruki stops in when she's in the area and Viddie and I take turns visiting each other, but we don't live in the same place anymore.”
Now it was Eriko's turn to look surprised. “You still keep in touch with your children?”
“Of course.” He looked at her curiously. “They're my kids.”
“They haven't been children for decades.”
“And my grandkids,” he countered with a grin. “And now great-grandkids. Which is weird, really. I don't feel old enough to be a great-granddad, you know?”
“...I suppose.” Eriko was looking at him oddly. Leofric figured she just hadn't met many Addergoole fathers who were much interested in their “grad requirements”. But, he realized, she just might not like the reminder that she was in her... seventies?
“Anyway.” He shrugged, dismissing the age-related tangent. “I was pretty lucky, all things considered. Cya lived near me and we were crew so of course I was around for Viddie, but if Aelgifu had kept Sigruko, I wouldn't have seen much of her at all. Especially after the world ended...” He trailed off, noticing that Eriko had switched from looking at him oddly to staring down at her food, not eating. “What's wrong?”
She didn't speak for at least a minute longer. “I had three children,” she said finally. “Cyan, Alphaeus, and Tethys—”
“Tethys?” Leofric exclaimed reflexively, reining in a knee-jerk reaction just a moment too late.
Eriko looked up, startled. “You know her?”
“I... know of her,” he said carefully. “She Kept Cynara's oldest son. It... didn't go well.” It went about as well as when Eriko had Kept him, from what little he knew and remembered.
“...Oh...” Eriko said weakly.
Leofric inhaled deeply and forced a smile. It wasn't-- well, okay, it was partly Eriko's fault, if Eriko was her mother, but he wasn't going to blame her for it. “He came out from it mostly okay, at least.”
“...Oh,” she said again.
The silence at the table stretched out uncomfortably long, Eriko still staring at her plate. Leofric cleared his throat. “I'm s—”
“Tethys is your daughter,” Eriko said.
Leofric stopped mid-word, his mouth hanging open. “...What?”
“I didn't think you would care and I had already graduated and moved on,” she continued, the words rushing out as though she wanted to be rid of them as quickly as possible. “Why would I try to track you down to tell you about a child you wouldn't want? I assumed the school would tell you and since you never tried to contact me, I thought... well, why would you care about her or me?”
Leofric sat there, feeling oddly like she was speaking a language that he didn't understand. Like Swahili or something. “Are you saying,” he asked carefully, as though the words might fall and shatter into tiny pieces, “that I am the... her...”
“I should have told you, I know,” Eriko said. “I should have let you name her but you weren't even mine anymore when I found out.”
It was like the entire world was trying to turn itself wrong-side out. He wanted to say no, she was wrong, he only had two daughters – but he recognized that thought pattern and struggled to ignore it, the thoughts and the feeling together. “Tethys is my daughter?”
Something in his voice made Eriko look at him again, and something in his expression made hers twist defensively. “I... yes, she is.”
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject