✓ | Supernova.

chapter eight

CHAPTER EIGHT: CONVINCING PHASTOS

Nova slowly walked down the sidewalk with Sersi and Ikaris by her side, Phastos' house coming into view. She could see a child throwing a football to a man in the distance, smiles on both of their faces.

"Daddy, Daddy, watch this!" The small boy exclaimed, looking towards the house.

When the three Eternals finally made it to the driveway, they could see Phastos looking at the boy with a smile. He was fixing the wheel on a bike as he did so.

Phastos glanced at the others as the boy frowned, "Dad..." he mumbled when he realized that Phastos was no longer looking at him. Phastos' smile slowly dropped as they walked towards him.

"Hi." Sersi greeted with a gentle smile, looking over to the man who they didn't know.

"Hello." He smiled back, "can we help you?" He furrowed his brows, turning away for a moment to throw the football towards the boy.

Phastos laughed awkwardly as he walked towards them, leaving the bike behind. "Hey, Jack, Ben..." he laughed again. Nova could easily see the emotions behind his fake smile. "Hey, guys." He smiled at the Eternals-it felt more genuine that time. "These are my friends... from college." Phastos turned to the man, who Nova assumed was Ben.

Ben furrowed his brows suspiciously, and tilted his head at Phastos. Phastos ignored him and made his way towards the others, "uh, this is Sylvia." He pointed towards Sersi, and Nova bit back a smile. "And, uh, Isaac. That's... Isaac. And..." he sucked in a breath while thinking of what Nova's name should've been, "this is Nicole." He put his hands on his hips as he nodded.

Ikaris turned to Sersi with a raised brow, "Isaac?" He whispered.

"Dad," the boy, Jack, tugged on Phastos' arm. "That's Superman!" He pointed towards Ikaris, who raised a brow. "Dad, that's Superman!"

"Jack- that's really funny, Jack-"

"No, no!"

"That is definitely not Superman."

"He is Superman." Jack argued. "I saw him on TV. He was in London fighting, uh, a monster!" He turned to face Ikaris once more. "And... you were with the cape and you were shooting laser beams out of your eyes!"

Ikaris smirked, "I don't wear a cape."

"Oh, sorry." Jack apologized, but his smile was still wide.

"Okay, well, we should just go inside, right?" Phastos pointed towards the house as he started to walk backwards. "Can I call you Clark?" He joked. "Is that what you go by now, because... you know-"

Ikaris began to make his way up the driveway, "you've called me worse."

"You got it, Jack?" Phastos was smiling at his son, while Sersi, Ikaris and Nova were peaking through the doorway. Nova held a smile on her face at the interaction. "Way to go!"

"Yes." Jack sighed.

"Right? Show me how it's done." Jack was brushing his teeth, while Phastos stood by his side. "Round and round and round and round and round." The two broke out into a fit of giggles, which made Nova's heart swell with happiness. Then, Phastos caught the three of them staring, which made her eyes widen.

Sersi quickly pulled Ikaris and Nova back, struggling more with Ikaris who didn't understand why they were leaving. Sersi quickly made her way to the table, picking up a book about Star Wars while Nova sat across from her.