"Seren, you cheater!" Leo snapped.
The exclamation broke the lazy, peaceful atmosphere in an instant.
Edge didn't get startled, but he did glance up from reading an overly wordy letter Rydia was holding up for both of them.
They weren't kids anymore, but he recognized the tone of voice as one that was about to start a round of sibling bickering.
Seren giggled, "What? Who, me? Cheat? Leo, that hurts. Why would you say something like that about your darling little sister!"
He stared at her flatly, pointing to the pile of cards between them. "Because it's true, little star!" he chided, using her childhood nickname. "How come you somehow have two aces of diamonds?" Leo finished with a frown.
Seren scanned over the cards. She smirked. "So weird!"
He rolled his eyes.
Titania giggled next to him and glanced between the two siblings. As was often the case when she was with people she trusted, the redhead was in her natural form. Golden eyes, luminescent skin and translucent, layered wings.
She often mentioned that holding onto a fully human disguise was distracting and awkward. She told them how much she enjoyed being able to stay in her more Eidolon appearance.
The half-Eidolon girl was practically family already. Everyone was fully expecting Leo and her to get married as soon as they were both old enough.
"Seren, if you keep cheating, Leo is going to as well and then I'll never have a chance to win." Titania said, peering over the rim of her own cards. Her voice was, as always, soft, but this time with a hint of wicked humor.
Seren waved a hand at the redhead. "Pish-posh, Leo can't cheat very well, anyway."
"Ugh!" Leo said, throwing down the rest of his cards. "You are the worst!"
Seren feigned hurt and called over her shoulder, "Cuore! Leo is being mean!"
"I am not!" Leo instantly retorted.
And there it was. Full blown sibling argument.
Rydia sighed and set the letter down in her lap, obviously realizing it would be a few minutes before she could actually finish reading the note from their friends overseas.
Cuore paused in her conversation with Bryn to frown at them both. "Is he? Or are you just upset you were, once again, caught cheating?"
Seren flashed her brilliant smile, "Well…there is that, yes."
Cuore rolled her eyes and Leo sighed, shaking his head.
"Leo," Kieran said, patient. "I told you I would show you how to keep cards up your sleeves,"
Cuore wheeled around to frown at her husband, who resolutely ignored her.
"I don't want to stoop to her level," Leo shot back, glaring at his sister.
Seren grinned back at him. "You aren't clever enough to pull it off, you mean?"
"You are such a delinquent!" he complained.
Aysel tugged on her father's jacket. "I want to learn to cheat at cards,"
"Me too," Evren added, nodding.
"No!" Cuore said, holding up her hands. "Neither of you is learning to do anything criminal,"
"Pickpocketing is fun," Bryn said, shrugging. He winced when Cuore turned her steely look to him.
Kieran just chuckled. "Ignore your mother," he told the three kids. "She's just mad she never learned to lockpick very well." he finished, smirking at her.
Cuore heaved a sighed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought learning more valuable skills was more important."
"Those are all valuable skills," Seren said smartly. "I use them all on a daily basis."
"Because you are a delinquent," Leo repeated.
He no longer sounded mad. Now he just looked mildly irritated.
"Roguish," his sister corrected, winking.
Leo sighed and turned to the redhead next to him. Titania was hiding a laugh in a hand.
"This is my family. This is what I have to put up with." he told her, looking serious.
"Yes, you do, because we are related by blood," Izayoi teased, finally getting involved in the shenanigans. "Like everyone here. We're all stuck with this family."
"Titania, Bryn and I aren't." Kain said, looking like he one hundred percent did not want to be present.
"I'm not related," Kieran pointed out.
Kain shook his head. "You married in. It's too late for you."
Kieran smirked, a look that heralded a snarky remark and Edge wondered how, after all these years, Kain still walked himself into such things.
"At least I had the courage to actually ask,"
Kain glared at his former apprentice, obviously vexed by the comment.
Izayoi burst out laughing and popped a chocolate in her mouth. "Oh, snap…"
Cuore kicked her husband lightly when he started laughing.
"Come on Cuore, it was funny." Izayoi chided, waving a hand. "It's never not funny making fun of Kain."
"That is true," Kieran agreed.
The teal haired woman rolled her eyes and turned back to her children. "Ignore them."
"How come-" Evren started.
His twin sister finished the thought; "they aren't married?"
Kieran grinned and joined in; "Yeah, how come?"
Not to be outdone in the irritation department, Seren looked over, "I'd love to go to a wedding!"
Kain had his eyes closed. "I hate visiting here."
"No you don't," Izayoi chuckled. "You love it here."
"I really don't," he corrected.
Cuore sighed, "Ignore all of them Kain."
"Thank you," he said, looking relieved.
Her lips twitched and she leaned back in her chair. "You have a seventeen-year delay gap in maturation. It's perfectly logical that you would be a bit slow."
Kain scowled at her. "Really? You too?"
She grinned with a nervous giggle. "I couldn't help it. You make it too easy."
Kieran flung an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Crystals, I love you."
She giggled again.
Leo sighed and turned back to Titania. "You see what I have to put up with?"
"Laughter?" she asked, smiling with a tilt of her head.
Leo shrugged and tossed his cards down with a chuckle. "Yes, laughter and cheaters at card games."
"I love you Leo," Seren sang, flipping her hand around to show she now somehow had three aces of diamonds.
"Despite my better judgement, I love you too sis." he said, rolling his eyes. "But I'm still not playing cards with you anymore."
She pouted.
"Our family is weird."
Edge hadn't realized he said the statement out loud until Rydia turned to give him a funny look.
"You say this as if it just now occurred to you."
He grinned, "Well, no, but it's been a long time since we've all been in one place. It makes the…weirdness more noticeable."
She nodded and glanced at the room. "True…clone, telepathic twins, half Eidolons…we are a strange bunch."
"Kain." Edge added.
She tossed him an exasperated look. "Don't start harassing him. Besides, he might be the most normal of this group."
"Kain is not normal." he argued. "No sane, normal person would continue to hang around all of this."
He waved his hand at the general disarray.
Leo and Seren still bickering, Titania sitting back and watching with a delighted look on her face. Cuore trying to distract her overly smart children while Bryn watched intently as Kieran explained the inner workings of some new piece of technology. Izayoi, meanwhile, was literally needling an irritated looking Kain by poking his arm repeatedly with a sadistic grin on her face.
Yes.
They were all insane.
But they were insane together, and somehow that worked. Blood relations or not, every single one of them filled a spot in the odd family tree perfectly.
"I feel old," Edge complained.
Rydia grinned, "You are old."
He glared at her.
Bryn wandered over to them, looking a little unsure.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to interrupt." he said, overly polite as always.
Rydia waved his concern away, "You aren't! What can we do for you?"
"Well, I was curious if you had some time to teach me the Sleep spell?" Bryn asked. He hesitated and added almost sheepishly; "I…those types of spells weren't ones we…I mean, I, was ever taught…before."
The fact that magical genius Bryn, who could cast Thunderaga in the blink of an eye needed help to learn something so mundane as Sleep was amusing.
But, Edge knew better then to tease him about even in good humor. Bryn's life was a bit rocky, and the fact that he had grown so much as to even ask for help with the spell was amazing.
Rydia tilted her head a bit in confusion. "Oh, of course I can help with that. I'm surprised you have any interest in that spell though,"
Bryn shrugged, "I don't, really, but Hope said she's learning it and I am not about to let her think there's a spell she knows that I don't."
Rydia blinked, "Hope?"
The name didn't sound familiar at all, but Edge was notorious among all their friends as being terrible at remembering people's names. But if Rydia also didn't know, then this person must be a real nobody.
Bryn nodded, "Yeah, Dalton's youngest daughter. She wants to be a red mage like him for some reason."
"Dalton Dahl?" Edge repeated dubiously.
Rydia blinked, "Oh. So, competition, then?"
Bryn's grin was quick and devious, "Not much of one, considering I'm way more advanced then she'll ever be. But, like I said, I'll be damned if she learns something I don't know. And, if I know how to cast it, then she'll have to ask me for help."
Rydia looked like maybe she was going to say something chastising, but thought better of it and smiled instead. "Well, I can teach it to you. Perhaps tomorrow?"
He looked genuinely happy. "Thank you Rydia!"
Edge wondered if he was ever going to break his weird habit of using their first names.
He trotted off, happy as could be and Rydia made a face.
There was a pause.
"Hope Dahl."
Edge grimaced and Rydia chuckled, picking up her discarded letter once more. "Well, I think our family might be getting weirder than ever in the next few years…"
"Ugh, don't start." he complained at a mutter. "Just finish that letter from the infinitely more boring family in Baron. I'm sure they need to tell us they got a new carpet or something…"
Rydia chuckled, "Curtains, actually, but close."
He rolled his eyes and tried to stop frowning.
He did feel old, and he was trying to pretend like it didn't bother him.
With one last sweeping look around the room at the odd gathering of people, he sighed and decided not to be mad about it.
They were a weird family, but it was nice all the same.
Hey everyone! Long time no "see", I know.
I've been working on non fanfiction writing projects, but I've been wanting to write some of these characters again. I thought this would be a fun, pointlessly fluffy little story to start. More might be on the way, who knows!
I think its funny that this family IS really strange, and yet they might actually be more normal then other characters.
And Kain. Izzy is right; it's never not fun to make fun of him, haha.
In terms of timeline wise, this would be the furthest story in the future I've written. Just in case anyone is keeping track.
I hope you all enjoyed! I enjoyed stepping back into this 'verse for a bit myself :)