Archive of Our Own ^beta

Hermes landed near his papa's house. He was finally old enough to make the journey from Stratos to Sanctuary on his own, so, once a week, he flew over the empires, admiring the views as he made his way from his temple in Thunderdad's empire to the house near the docks in Sanctuary.

Sausage still insisted on accompanying him on the journey back to Stratos, though.

"Hola, kiddo!" Eddie greeted him from where he was working in the front garden. His paws were covered in dirt. "I would hug you, but I wouldn't want to get your beautiful gown dirty." He smiled. "Your dad's inside, cooking dinner!"

"Thanks! Bye, Eddie, see you later!"

Eddie smiled at him as he walked through the yard, wiping his dirty paws on his fur.

"Hi, dad! I'm home!" Hermes called out as he pushed open the front door.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Sausage yelled. His face lit up when he saw Hermes. "There's my boy!" He put down the spatula to hug his son, and Hermes chuckled.

"It smells good!"

"Thanks! We're eating empanadas! Your favorite!"

Sausage pressed a kiss onto Hermes's head, before letting go to stir whatever was cooking in the pan while Hermes sat down at the dinner table.

"How were things at Stratos?"

"Still floating," Hermes said with a chuckle. "It was good! I played with Donkey Jeremy a lot. Thunderdad was quite busy being a god, but I had fun!"

Sausage smiled. "I'm glad!" He was silent for a moment as he cooked. "Dinner's almost ready, can you go get Sunny and Rocky?"

"Yeah!" Hermes said, jumping up and running outside, waving at his siblings when he spotted them playing. Sunny might be a machine, and Rocky was adopted from the Gobland Orphanage, but Hermes loved them, even though they were quite a bit younger than him. "Hi, Sunny! Hi, Rocky!"

"Hiya, Hermes," Sunny said, before beeping a few times.

 "Dad said dinner's ready."

"Yummy!" Rocky exclaimed, grabbing Hermes's hand and pulling him toward the house. Hermes laughed, turning around as they walked to make sure Sunny was following.

Eddie and Maria were already sitting at the table when they walked into the dining room.

Sausage attached Sunny to her power source and put Rocky in Hermes's old kiddie chair, before putting a big plate of empanadas in the middle of the table.

"Looks good!" Eddie said.

"Thank you for inviting us," Maria said as she sat down. "It looks delicious."

"Of course! You're family!"

"Dad, I'm hungry!"

"Yes, of course!" Sausage grabbed a spatula and scooped some empanadas onto Maria's plate. "But guests first, of course." He smiled as he moved around the table, giving everyone food, before cutting up Rocky's empanadas to let them cool down for the kid.

Hermes took a bite, grimacing at the heat.

"Careful, Hermes," Eddie laughed.

Hermes took another bite, but not before blowing on it first.

"Dad?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Hm?"

"Can I have your staff yet? I think I'm old enough now!"

Sausage frowned. "My boy, you're barely a teenager. What would you even use it for, anyway?"

"I wanna travel to Hermitcraft! You've told so many stories about how beautiful it was, and I wanna find Tiny Tom! He's my brother, and I've never even met him!"

"Traveling the multiverse is dangerous, kiddo," Eddie said.

"I'm allowed to fly back from Stratos on my own, how's it any different?"

Sausage laughed. "Because the multiverse can be broken if interacted with incorrectly." He paused for a few seconds. "Take me. Remember my evil doppelganger? He trapped me in an alternate reality, and I had to preform a ritual to get out of there. You're too young to be dealing with that."

Hermes pouted. "Fine… But one day I'll meet Tiny Tom and we'll become best friends!"

Sausage chuckled. "Of course you will." He fed Rocky another piece of empanada, before shoving an entire one into his own mouth. They had mostly cooled down.

Sunny beeped, signaling that she was fully charged, and Sausage stood up to unplug her.

Maria smiled at Hermes. "Your dad was just as curious as you when he was a kid," she told him. "Always exploring, never just believing what we told him without finding out himself."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Eddie said. "One time, when he was about your age, a few years after he moved in with me, I was cooking something for myself. I don't remember what it was, just that it was something only rabbits ate. I told him that he wouldn't like it, but he insisted on having a taste. He grimaced the second he took a bite, but tried to convince me he liked it because he didn't want to admit I was right. When I offered him another bite, he ran away." Eddie smiled at the memory.

"Moral of the story," Sausage said. "Always listen to your father." He smiled, ruffling Hermes's hair. "Anyway, who wants dessert!"

Hermes cheered, and so did Rocky. "Me!"