months later

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Isis loves family dinners at home. She, at least, has come to think of this place as a home.

"Pass the wine, would you?" Gilgamesh nudges her with his elbow, and she obliges. 

In fact, the whole dinner table — if that's what you can call a wooden slab propped up by rocks — is a well-orchestrated passing of food, drinks, and warm feelings. Between the various hand-offs, Isis glances to each of her family members. She likes to think of herself as an observer, and over the past months she has come to notice quite a few things about her companions.

She starts with Gilgamesh to her right who is more or less an open book — easy to understand, if you will. He also happens to share good advice at unexpected times.

Beside him at the dinner table and most of the time ever sits Thena, as stately as could be. She's more or less a closed book, but she might just give you the time of day — also when you least expect it.

Next to Thena is Sersi, serving bread to those seated around her. Sersi sees the best in Eternals and humans alike, and Isis admires that about her.

Ikaris sits at the foot of the table — Ikaris, who treats their purpose with a seriousness that the majority of them can hardly compete with.

At Ikaris' right hand sits Kingo. Although he usually seeks excitement and antics, Kingo will occasionally entertain Isis with a slow and thoughtful conversation.

Kingo looks to his right at Sprite who stares past him, her gaze fixated on the foot of the table. As a natural storyteller, Sprite can sometimes have a perspective like no other Eternal.

Beside Sprite, Phastos takes his seat. He is very passionate about his work which Isis has quickly come to understand, and she enjoys learning something new each time she speaks with him.

At the head of the table, Ajak oversees them all. Isis can't quite recall what her mother from Olympia is like (though, it is a strange thing to forget), but she hopes that her mother is just like Ajak.

Finally, Druig eats enthusiastically to her left. Somehow, he is all of them and none of them all at once. He can be light-hearted like Kingo and Gilgamesh, and he can be confident in himself like Thena. He's analytical like Phastos, yet imaginative like Sprite. He cares deeply for the other Eternals as Ajak does, and he cares deeply for humanity as Sersi does. Like Ikaris, he is strong-willed. He's wonderfully interesting to Isis, and she can't quite package him into one coherent thought like she can with the others. He is always eating, though.

"My family," Ajak calls their attention. "You have done a remarkable job here. In fact, the Deviants have begun to flee from this coast. As it is our duty to pursue them, we must say goodbye to this place tomorrow."

Isis glances around the table once more. Most of them continue eating without a second thought, except for Sersi who looks ever so sad.

"We must leave?" she asks.

"Yes. You may say your goodbyes tonight," Ajak answers, however part of her shares Sersi's melancholic feelings. "But first, we will enjoy this meal as a family, in the name of Arishem. I know that He would be grateful for what you have accomplished so far on this planet."

And so they sit in the same order that they always sit, continuing to pass food and stories around the table. There is always something new for Isis to observe — today, she observes Druig glancing many times throughout the night between Ajak and the rest of the settlement in the distance. She's painfully curious about it — so much so that she thinks about him until she falls asleep that night. And it won't be the first time in which that happens to her.

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