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[softquietsteadylove]

Masterlist

By popular demand, I have done my best to compile things here for you! I will keep it as updated as I can, and I will still use my same tagging system. Chronologically, you can start at the bottom and work your way up!

Thenamesh 18+ List

Part 2 List

Part 3 List

Without further ado:

Thenamesh Tomb Raider AU

(Thena is a freelancer who retrieves historical artifacts outside of the usual archaeological duties, although sometimes this conflicts with fellow freelancer - but in no way ally - Gilgamesh) 

Second // First

Thenamesh Vow AU

(Thena suffers an episode which makes her forget the last five years of her life, including her marriage to and even meeting her very sweet husband Gilgamesh)

Elephant in the Room // For Better or Worse // Second First Date // Reminiscing // In Sickness and In Health

Thenamesh Addams Family AU

(Thena meets Gilgamesh, the son of a respected and affluent family, but at least he seems much more pleasant company than their equally dry parents)

Love Stories // Beautiful Weather // The Lee Family

Thenamesh Hamptons AU

(Gil is the private chef for Thena, a reclusive heiress of old money who lives in the Hamptons, and seems really sweet even if she’s only ever said a few words)

Monster’s Ball // Worth its Weight in Gold

Thenamesh Reverse AU

(In a reversal of roles, Gilgamesh is cold and frightening to most, but for the quiet but beloved Warrior Eternal, he’s nothing but soft and warm)

Sunshine // Reversed

Thenamesh Inmate AU

(Thena is an inmate in a women’s correctional facility, where Gil works as a guard and is quite sure there’s more to her than meets the eye)

Safe and Sound // Fair Trade

Thenamesh Cook and Critic AU

(Gil is in the cooking track at a culinary institute which also offers studies such as molecular gastronomy and review for critique, which is how he meets Thena, the critique student with a perfect palette and no personal skills)

The Main Course // Amuse Bouche

Thenamesh 10 Things (I Hate About You) AU

(Sersi is forbidden from dating unless her shrewish sister Thena accompanies her, which Dane accepts with the help of reputational bad-boy Gilgamesh)

Out of the Shadows // Young Love(18+) // To Have and to Hold(18+) // A House Divided // Wherefore Art Thou // Star Crossed // Much Ado // A Midsummer Night

Thenamesh Hunger Games AU

(Gil volunteers for his brother Phastos back home in District 4, and meets Thena, a frighteningly competent but oddly helpful girl from District 2 who volunteered for her younger brother Druig)

In The Wild // In Preparation

Olympia AU

(Sersi uses the unimind energy to bring Gilgamesh back to life, and this ends up with Thena becoming pregnant, but the two aren’t alone in raising their young Eternal)

New Star // Olympia

Thenamesh President AU

(Thena has come into office of the presidency following Ikari’s deposition, with the most key support of her personal assistant, Gilgamesh)

Long Distance Relations // Diplomacy // In Private // Protection Detail // Small Reprieve // Behind Closed Doors

Thenamesh Wildfire AU

(based on Those Who Wish Me Dead, Thena is a wildfire fighter who used to do search and rescue, but has sequestered herself to perimeter patrol, where she runs into fellow forest fire fighter Gil)

[Coup de Foudre] // Enclosed // Key // Safe // Slip Up // Sanctuary // Sparks

Thenamesh Circus AU

(based on Water for Elephants, Thena is a star trapeze artist for a travelling circus, married to ring leader Kro, but undeniably fond of the new veterinarian, Gilgamesh)

Snapped // Out of Sight // Just Out of Reach // Just Us // From Afar // [Just Us]

Thenamesh Gladiator AU

(Gil is a gladiator who fights for Queen Ajak and Princess Thena, who - against all odds - has actually spoken to, and maybe even become fond of, him)

Peace // The War // The Battle // Declaration of War // Tournament Rules // [Declaration of War]

Thenamesh Human AU

(Gil gets weakened to a human status by a Deviant attack, leaving the rest of the Eternals - especially Thena - to protect the Strongest Eternal)

Shattered // Paper Skin // Glass Bones

Thenamesh Dressage AU

(Thena is a champion equestrian and competitive rider of Olympia, whose new caretaker Gilgamesh gets along with the stubborn mare surprisingly well)

Guy Talk // Friends...? // Stallion // High and Mighty // Bales // [Friends...?] // Escaped // Hanging Out // Too Nice

Thenamesh Photographer AU

(Gil is a freelance photographer who has come to work with Thena on various modelling contracts--enough that she’s come to maybe like his company)

Comfy // Three is a Crowd // Natural

Thenamesh Mermaid AU

(Thena is a mermaid who one day saves Gil the fisherman after falling into the water, and they only become closer from there)

Not Today Poseidon // Yearning(18+) // The Morning After // Feeling pt 2(18+) // Expressing pt 1(18+) // Green Around the Gills // Touching(18+) // Not Sharing // Sharing // Forbidden Treasure pt 3 // Forbidden Treasure pt 2 // Forbidden Treasure pt 1 // Home // Protective // Safe // Cuddlefish // Catch and Release // More Human // A Gift // Beautiful

Teach Me to Love AU

(based in this work from Ao3 called Teach Me to Love, in which Thena is a single mother to Druig, whose teacher is Gilgamesh; this has become popular to ask for drabbles on this platform, and thus gets its own section)

Butterflies // Consequences // Tiny Terror // Team Effort // Personal Space // Quiet Night In(18+) // Parent Day // [Personal Space] // Overheard // Bad Dreams // Mister Dad //  Teach Me to Love Again(18+) // Home Sick // Visitation Rights

Thenamesh Hanahaki AU

(Hanahaki is a disease in which love will form in the body as flowers, which can worsen until fatal if gone unrequited or even unspoken)

First Bud // Dying Roses // [First Bud]

Thenamesh Doctor AU

(Thena is a doctor who runs the ER, and is the unofficially official work-wife of Gil, one of the best and certainly the most popular paramedic there)

The Little Things // On Break(18+) // Up Close and Personal(18+) // Search and Rescue // Too Little Too Late // Thanks for the Save // [Up Close and Personal] // 5+1 This Time // Grieving Spouses // Revisiting(18+) // Interrupted(18+) // Red Roses for Love // Dreams // Love // Late Lunch // Ongoing Treatment // Wife Talk // Dropped // If You What // Trapped // A Doctor In the Making // Jealous // Hovering // Threat // Dozing Off // Adrenaline // Dream Team // If Only

Thenamesh Special Forces AU

(Thena is the head of a team of agents, although Kingo is keenly aware that she and Gil feel more strongly about each other than commander and agent)

A Little Help // After the Fight // Fighting for Love pt 4 // Fighting for Love pt 3 // Fighting for Love pt 2 // Fighting for Love pt 1 // Transfer // Guard Dog // First Impressions // Cover Blown // Fall Back // Staying Late // And He Did // Come Back // [A Little Help] //  [First Impressions]

Thenamesh Runaway Bride AU

(Thena is a princess who has run away from her arranged marriage to Prince Eros and found Gil, the very sweet and kind lumberjack who takes her in)

New(18+) // Anniversary Night(18+) // Ruined Celebration // Returning to the Scene // Bedridden // Budding Love // Blueberries // Ran

Thenamesh Bodyguard AU

(Gil is the private bodyguard for the very famous and popular singer, Thena)

Dreams // Cuts the Deepest // Silent Admiration // Sounds of Comfort // Where Is He // Trust Goes Both Ways // Caught in 4K // 5+1 Protection // Duet // Date // Slipped // Contract Negotiation // Sounds of Breakfast // Altercation // Trust // Recovery // Stage Rush // Live // Ambush // Cover // [Live]

Thenamesh Pokemon AU

(Thena is a professional Ace Trainer who works in Victory Road for the League; one day Gil - her best friend and a Pokemon Ranger - rescues a Teddiursa in need of a home)

Antidote // [PSN Heal] // Joining the Flock // [Antidote] // Gil Was Hurt by Poison // First Encounter // Take your Kid to Work Day // 5+1 Interruptions (18+) // Rich Boy Eros Wants to Battle // Just Ask // A Great Fall // Something In the Water // Paldea // Calling In Sick // Accident // Rescue // Poachers // First Checkup // Teddiursa // [First Encounter]

Thenamesh Beauty and the Beast AU

(Gil gets dragged into going up the mountain to look for the cursed beast said to roam around the abandoned castle grounds, unrelated to the missing Princess)

The Eye of the Storm // Search and Rescue // Searching for More // Something in the Mountains

Thenamesh Goalie AU

(Gil is a goalie on the high school hockey team who meets Thena the figure skater in between their practices)

No Practice // Rough Practice

Thenamesh Ghost Files AU

(Gil is an amateur ghost hunter, and an avid believer despite his fear, while Thena joins him whether she believes in ghosts or not; conceived with Taran)

Lying // Forward // Be Still, My Beating Heart

Thenamesh Maleficent AU

(Thena and her brothers Ikaris and Druig visit a larger nest from some southern islands; Gil is a nest guard entrusted with guiding and protecting the visitors)

Lookalike // Nesting // Preening // Healing // Trinket // Rescue // Morning // Exchange

Thenamesh Rus AU

(I headcanon that the Eternals were in Kievan-Rus for a time, during which Thena was the war advisor to Saint Olga)

Doomed to Fail // Yours // Warming Comfort // If It Were You // Wounded Pride // She’ll Live // [Warming Comfort] // Soft Water // Warming Up // [Yours] // [She’ll Live]

Thenamesh Ballerina/Boxer AU

(Thena is a ballerina who teaches classes with Sersi across the hall from Gil and his boxing studio)

Fallen // Holding Back(18+) // Life Imitates Art(18+) // Morning Stretching(18+) // Same Territory Different Angle // Territory // Swan Fight // Night Out // Locker Room(18+) // Friendly Match // [Wandering Eyes] // Friendly Fire // Kiss // Performance // The Swan

Ice Queen/Tyrant King AU

(Thena and Gil are rival mob bosses in the same city; Gil is a gangster who runs Koreatown and everything therein, while Thena controls the diamond industry)

Retaliation // Matching // Lovers’ Quarrel(18+) // 5+1 The Little Things // Meetings // Boyfriend Stuff // Family Visit // Engaged(18+) // Proposal pt 3 // Proposal pt 2 // Proposal pt 1 // Frisky(18+) // Rings // Home Again // [Neglected] // Tell Me // Physiotherapy // [Tell Me] // Shots Fired pt 2 // Shots Fired pt 1 // Standing Up // Lying Down // Tied(18+) // Skating // Lost // [Boyfriend Stuff] // Target Practice // Lunch // Reconciliation(18+) // Committed pt 3 // Committed pt 2 // Committed pt 1 // [Meetings] // Targets // [Target Practice] // Poisoned // [Pillow Talk] // [Office Talk] // Dates // It’s Fine // [Business Casual] // Resolution(18+) // Tension

Thenamesh Life Interrupted AU

(based on the prompt of Girl Interrupted, Thena is a patient in a psych ward, where Gil works in the cafeteria)

New Perspective // Unfamiliar Territory // Getting Better // Bad Day // Outside // Hiding

Thenamesh Receptionist AU

(Thena works as the personal receptionist for Gil, who runs a ‘shipping’ business, but is actually a mafia leader)

Best Served Cold(18+) // Above the Table(18+) // Under the Table(18+) // Free(18+) // Cells // Sundubu Jjigae // Meeting Gone Violent // Shopping // Party // Meeting Gone Wrong // Back in the Office(18+) // Wounded // Sick Day // London(18+) // [Shopping] // Kidnapped // [Sundubu Jjigae]

Thenamesh Actors AU

(Thena and Gil are both professional actors; Gil is famous for doing his own stunts, Thena’s sister Sprite is a big fan of his)

Falling Harder // Sexiest Man Alive // Rubbing It In // Old Wounds // The Big Speech // Too Early for This // (No) Competition // Bewitched // Encouragement // Working Up a Sweat // Never Again // Late Dinner // Red Carpet // He and She // On His Arm // He’s Done // High Score // The Skittles Diet // Salad // Eros’ Panel // Rehearsal // Conference // Movie Night // Sling // Stunt Fall // Paparazzi // Interview // Finally Meeting

Thenamesh Proposal AU

(Thena and Gil have worked together for some time, but when Gil wants trick his father into thinking he’s engaged, he asks Thena for help, and things only get more out of hand from there)

Just Five More Minutes // Just the Dishes // Just One Dance // Just a Snack // The Decaffeinated One // The Beach One // One Bed // The One // Dress Fitting // [One Bed]

Thenamesh Zombie AU

(Thena finds Gil at the end of the world and they decide to stick together)

Candlelit // If Anything Happens // More Than Just Us // Good In the World // 5+1 Injuries // Later // Safe to Sleep // Shed Tears // A Little Help // First Leaving // Train // [First Leaving]

Thenamesh College AU

(Gil and Thena meet through Kingo)

Halloween // First Sight

Thenamesh Spy AU

(all agents have partners, although Thena and Gil might be closer than most)

Relief(18+) // Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing // Rescue Mission // Eyes Elsewhere(18+) // Eyes on Her // Eyes on Target // Extrication

Jack and Thenamesh

(I would consider this somewhere within their canon but not strictly adhering to the rules of the film)

Family Valentines // Day Off // Multigenerational // Confused // Fathers’ Day // Party Guests of Honour // Home Alone // Dog Park // Family Christmas // Bake Sale // Talent Show // Trick or Treating // Prizes // Episode pt 2 // Episode pt 1 // Pick Up // Soccer // Natural

Thenamesh

(I consider these close enough to what we know of the canon to be part of that particular timeline - although not necessarily connected to each other - and dynamic, including Babylon, Australia, Tenochtitlan, etc. I will include things during and close enough to the movie’s timeline, and not things potentially taking place much further from that)

Sleeprunning // Promise of Paradise // Stars // Healing // Warmth // The Sun in Babylon // Three Days Later // Instinct // Be Mine // Out of the House // Comfort // You, Here, This // Aftermath // Hurt // First and Harder // The Bath Halls // Gil’s Nightmare // Woken Up // Nightmare // On the Beach // Drunk // Unwelcome Advances // Sleepwalking // Overly Affectionate // By the River

Thenamesh AU

(every au has this tag, although as soon as it gains a second installment it loses it and becomes part of that running au; anything from slightly outside of the movie’s canon to completely separate ideas)

My Kingdom for a Heart AU // Far Out in the Australian Desert // Bittersweet // Enemies to Lovers // Human and Eternal // The Last of Us Remaining // Academic Tension // Unbearable Love // Last Christmas (This Year) // Curve the Bullet // Sorry to Keep You Waiting // The Tourist // Jujutsu Kaisen AU // Cake // Unspoken // Runaway Love // Camp Counselling // Scream // My First and Only AU // The Tube // Young Babylon // Mind Control // Onions // Only the Mahdness // Socrates // Isn’t it? // This is Him // Mr. And Mrs. Lee 2.0 AU // His Recipe // Passing Notes AU // Intervening // Dane Meets History // Hit a Nerve // Given Enough // Family Bonding // Wedding Reception // Inevitable // Reunion // Total Erasure // A Running Leap AU // Something New // Christmas Cookies // Lifeguard AU // Panic // Pet Store // Sculptor AU // That Time // Lawyer/Client AU // Arthur // Amnesia AU // Family Dinner // Believe in Love // Flirting // Mr. and Mrs. Lee 1.0 AU // Public Episode // The Australia Chronicles AU // Mid Fight // Mafia AU // [Wedding Reception] // Wedding Gift // Birthday // Interfering // Territorial

Thenamesh Week 2022

(stand alone entries from pre-selected prompts)

08 - Reunion // 07 - Chaotic Family // Spicy 07 - First Time // 06 - Hurt/Comfort // 05 - Soulmates // 04 - Canon AU // Spicy 04 - Outside // 03 - Remember // Spicy 03 - Sweet and Slow // 02 - First Kiss // Spicy 02 - Shower // 01 - Modern AU // Spicy 01 - Wedding Night

[softquietsteadylove]

Hiii bestie, may i ask for the aftermath of the spicy one from the arranged marriage pretty please, it was so good. 🙂‍↕️

Fuck. Gilgamesh pried his eyes open, staring up at his ceiling. He felt...incredible--lighter than he had in months. He knew this feeling, too. Rejuvenated from a good rest, sleeping ass naked in fresh sheets, empty balls.

Fuck.

He was weighed down, Thena half thrown over him, sleeping so deeply her mouth was hanging open a little. It was honestly a little cute. Her hair looked wild, but then his mind flashed to the way he had laid over her, skin to skin, hips pounding...

Fuck, it was so good, too.

Gil sighed. No matter how good it was, it was a lapse in judgement. He had always told himself he wouldn't give into this. It wasn't fair to Thena, it was taking advantage of his position of power, any number of reasons.

But then she had cocked her hip, and she had been a little bit of a stubborn brat, and she kept eyeing him like she wanted him to grab her and kiss her.

Fuck.

He groaned faintly, but Thena groaned in response. She pressed her face into his chest, her hand on his other pec balled up into a fist. Her other hand...well, her other hand moved from somewhere around his thigh up to her face.

"What...?"

He squeezed his eyes shut. What was he supposed to say? They both knocked right out after finishing last night. He shouldn't have stayed. Or he should have taken her back to her room.

"Gil?"

He inhaled, getting his elbows up so he could see her better. He did his best to prepare himself mentally for those wide green eyes. Would they be teary, angry, resentful? Would she consider this a huge breach of the trust they had fought to establish, slowly and surely?

He was a mob boss and a murderer, but he wasn't a monster, and he considered himself to be a pretty good lover. How had he gone from just barely kissing his wife to having a rough fuck on a weeknight without so much as a proper date in between?

God she was beautiful.

"Hey," he sighed. Before he could even stop himself his hand reached up, pushing some of her hair out of her face and behind her ear. This was not helping.

But Thena didn't burst into tears or demand to know what happened. She took in her surroundings, looked at him. She picked herself and the sheet up, preserving some modesty in the light of day. "Bloody hell."

Gil tried not to chuckle; her little 'Londonisms' as he called them, could come out when she let her guard down.

She rubbed her face a little, flipped her mussed - extra fluffy - blonde locks out of her face and over her shoulder again. She eyed him, "morning."

"Are you okay?" Gil asked outright. No use dancing around it now that they were up, and naked.

"Are you?" she asked, and his surprise was obvious enough that she picked up on it right away. "Are you worried you've sullied my innocence?"

He made a face. That was his wife that he knew. "You were surprisingly bratty."

Got her back; Thena seemed flustered for maybe a fraction of a second before recovering. "You're usually a very good listener, but last night I couldn't get through to you. I thought it required a more forceful approach."

He raised his brow at that, but he could accept it. He had kind of liked her stubbornness rising up to challenge his. Added to how hot things were.

Thena inhaled and then sighed, "don't you have work?"

He let out a loud groan, which made her laugh. "They can call me if they need me."

"That doesn't sound very boss-ly, Gilgamesh," Thena grinned, and he could hear it in her words. She leaned over him, putting her hand on his chest. "At least make a lady breakfast."

Flirting aside, he looked at her again. His beautiful wife, like a dear wandered into a dangerous part of the woods. He brought her hand to his lips. "I should be doing a lot more than that."

Thena leaned in to kiss him properly, no hand needed. The hand in question moved to cup the side of his neck. He tried not to flinch (he had a cut there that he hadn't told her about from a few weeks ago). "Don't go soft on me, Gilgamesh. You still need to be the big, scary mob boss your minions need you to be."

He smiled, and not even a smirk or a grin, just a genuine smile at the woman in his arms. "You're a good kisser."

"Speak for yourself," she smiled right into another kiss. "Kissed the hell out of me last night."

Did a lot, last night.

Gil ran his hands up her back, although he managed some of his usual restraint when he grasped the sheet around her. "We gotta find you some clothes, before I lose all ability to cook something."

He could feel Thena looking at him from the bed as he got up to do the same for himself. He didn't bother covering what she had already seen. Maybe he did take a quick peek to see if she was looking, but she seemed busy arranging her sheet around her as he walked into his closet.

"Shirt."

He snorted to himself as he found some sweatpants for himself. He liked her demanding side. "Of course, dear."

She accepted it as he tossed it at her. If anything, she held it up, examined the front and back. "I didn't pick this for you."

He tugged at the t-shirt he threw on, "it's old."

She looked at him from around the shirt. "I don't think it's the right cut for you. The sleeves look too long."

What would he do without her? He chuckled, coming over to the bed again. His palms gripped the edge of the mattress as he kissed her again. "You can take me shopping again."

Thena muttered to herself as she pulled it on, something about the fabric and the buttons and how the collar was too high. But no matter what she had to say about it, once she stood with it falling around her thighs, god it looked a million times better.

So much so that when Gil let her go ahead of him to the kitchen he couldn't take his eyes off her.

Thena went right to the coffee machine. She seemed awfully collected, and Gil felt a twinge of fear that last night hadn't been nearly as good for her as it had been for him. "Cup?"

He nodded, "uh, please."

He moved to the stove. He could get called into work. It had been a long time since he last showed up late anyway. But he pulled out eggs, bread, tomatoes, enough for a full feast. He needed the fuel.

Thena blew on her coffee and took a delicate sip. She seemed so...unfazed.

Gil turned on the burner, shifting between watching Thena and cooking. "I'm starving."

"Hm."

His coy little princess. He reached for the coffee she made for him. "You hungry?"

"Quite."

Gil cracked the eggs with one hand, almost completely filling the pan with the exception of enough room for some thick bacon. He needed the protein. Thena was perched on a stool across from him, looking down into her coffee cup like it had the same contents as her phone.

His shirt was hanging off her loosely, exposing her clavicle, a good amount of cleavage for his viewing pleasure. Didn't she know he was exercising restraint to not kiss her and throw her onto the table right now?

"Are you good?"

Thena looked up, and it made him realise he was the one who asked it in the first place. But he put his hands on the counter while the eggs started sizzling. "Are you?"

He might as well go for broke, bet it all. "I'm fuckin' fantastic, sweetie, and I wanna know if you are. Because last night is the best fuck I've had in ages but I have to know if it was good for you. Because if it wasn't, I need to - I don't know - join a fucking monastery or-"

Thena set her mug down on the counter. She gave him a look that he wouldn't say was amused, by any means. It looked a little like the way she had looked last night.

Gil tried not to grit his teeth as she slipped off her stool to walk around the kitchen island. It was too tall and too wide for her to just reach across it, after all. But he sagged faintly as she sidled right up to him, all sexy in his shirt, messy blonde hair. And he leaned in as she looped her arms around the back of his neck to kiss him again.

She pressed her nose into his black t-shirt. "Last night was amazing, Gil, thank you. It was probably the best night I've had."

Well, he would try not to let that get to his head.

Thena tilted her head at him, arms still wrapped around his neck. "I don't really know where this leaves us. But I've no regrets about last night, if that's your concern."

Well, that was the answer he was looking for. Of course last night hadn't made his wife the kind of coy creature to beat around the bush.

"Perhaps it'll even happen again."

His brows rose again, and he vaguely thought that the eggs would get more done than Thena usually liked. But he looked at her, unwilling to leave that proposal hanging between them.

Thena toyed with his shirt in the center of his chest. "If you need to...blow off some steam, again."

Maybe he should go right to work, Gil thought. The more he did, the more steam to...blow off.

[softquietsteadylove]

recommending you the k-drama "twelve" for a very nice surprise on ep 3🤭

Our boi!!!! I never knew he did a K-Drama, I can't believe it. He was born to play a mean mug

[softquietsteadylove]

Thank you to everyone still reading! I don't think anyone even knows this, but I used to try and post according to a certain schedule. But now that my work schedule has changed and I've moved, my life is a little different. I still like writing Thenamesh and I'll still be posting, but I think not adhering to any particular time line will help take a little pressure off. And I'm so happy people have sent me asks all this time, and while I have less than I used to, I do still get writer's block from time to time. So I promise I will still try to write the best I can, and if I ever don't publish something I've received, I promise I really did try. But I might start publishing stuff that isn't asks and just things I think happen within the timeline of a certain AU. But if you've ever liked or commented, or even just enjoyed reading despite never interacting with my stuff, truly thank you for the support and encouragement I get from that.

[softquietsteadylove]

Bestieee hii, how are you? I have a little request for the proposal au if thats okay.

So we know that thena is an orphan and that kro is her evil ex, so i was thinking with all the stress from the wedding and the secret + the memories from the past, thena gets super overwhelmed and hides somewhere. Ajak finds her, calms her down and assures her everything will be okay. ( secretly ajak kinda knows they are hiding something but either way she adopted thena as her new daughter and no one is taking her away from her). And then thena has a cute little moment with gil.

As always thank you for your works, i love them. 🩷🤍

Thena startled faintly as the closet door whipped open.

Ajak just smiled, closing it behind her as she came to take a seat next to her daughter-in-law (to be). "Gil's looking for you."

The blonde woman dropped her head into the circle of her arms atop her knees.

"I was looking for you, too," Ajak continued as she settled next to her, outstretching her legs while Thena remained curled into an upright ball. "I had a feeling I'd find you in here."

"I'm sorry," Thena choked out, trying to get herself together. She was holding her knees to her chest and trying to breathe evenly. She felt like a child.

Ajak just smiled, though, siting beside her and stretching her legs out. "My girls used to hide in their closets when they were trying to think."

Thena wasn't sure if she could believe that. She couldn't picture this amazing woman, or the women she raised, ever resorting to cowering in exactly this way. "I didn't think it would be this hard to be around them."

"My ex-husband?" Ajak asked, still in a light tone, keeping the heavy mood at bay as best she could. "Unfortunately I do know what it's like to be around him like this. At least he's not staying here."

Indeed, Arishem was not allowed to occupy one of the many, many guest rooms in the vacation home. Gil had threatened to burn the whole place down before he slept under the same roof as his father again.

"Do you want to tell me about this ex-fiance business?"

Thena pulled herself out of her upright fetal position as best she could, desperate not to let Ajak think she was deceiving her--at least, not about this. "That isn't-"

"I know, honey." Ajak's voice was soft and lilting, her accent making it particularly musical. Her hand ran over her hair in a distinctly motherly way. "It's easy to see that he isn't exactly an ex-boyfriend. But then, what is he?"

Thena wilted again, resuming her position of curling up. Ajak moved closer, leaning against her, rooting her in the present instead of letting her drown in the past again. "I...my family wasn't close, even when they were alive."

"After my parents passed, the family business mostly transferred to surrounding relatives. But I was still aware of it before I moved away from home. That was how I met Kro. His family knew mine, and there was maybe even a time when I had thought that would warrant some camaraderie."

"He didn't think so?" Ajak prompted her gently.

Thena rolled her eyes. "It was naive of me, I suppose. Kro's family was whispering in his ear about what a good match we would make, while I was constantly planning how to get as far away from my family and its business as possible. I managed to find out what they were planning and... "

Ajak hung on her every word eagerly, and Thena had to admit that the story felt something akin to Kingo's soap dramas.

"They were going to throw a huge party for us both, to celebrate something I can't even remember anymore," Thena laughed faintly at the absurdity of it. She looked up at the closet ceiling, "they had convinced Kro that was the night he should ask me to marry him. So I left that night with anything I could pack into a single bag. I've never looked back."

Ajak nodded, blinking her huge brown eyes as she absorbed the story as a whole. "That's quite something."

Thena pressed the heel of her palm to her forehead. What she wouldn't give for some caffeine. But she was avoiding everyone and everything downstairs as much as possible. "It's unbelievable really, which is why I don't bother telling people about it."

"Does Gil know?"

She winced. There were so many lies overlapping she had to wonder if she would start losing track of them. "He does now. I never told him before because I didn't think it would ever be necessary for him to know."

Ajak gave her a look, "I think your current fiance should know about it, sweetheart, fake or not."

Thena blinked; which engagement was she referring to?

Ajak put her hand on her knee, though. "I know."

"You," Thena's eyes dashed down to the hand, "know?"

"I know," Ajak pressed, even wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "I know something, at least. I know you and Gil aren't really engaged. You weren't even together, at least not before coming here."

Thena's mind started like an engine. All the small details, the things she had to remember to get right. She went through the timeline, wondering at what point Ajak had seen through their facade. "That's--I-I mean, of course, w-we-"

"Honey, it's okay," Ajak shushed her floundering attempts at denial. "You gave it a good shot. And if I weren't Gil's mother, you might have pulled it off."

Thena shrank at the idea. She didn't like lying to the angel of a woman next to her either, and she knew Gil was positively torn up about it. Who wouldn't be?

"But I can see how different you are now from when you arrived," Ajak looked up at her with a grin. Thena could see where Makkari got her mischievous nature from, and even Gil to some extent. "I thought, well, maybe she's nervous. She's meeting her mother-in-law for the first time, I didn't blame you. But the more I saw, the less I could deny it."

Thena squirmed.

"Now, did you care for each other?--certainly," Ajak continued her own narration now, gesturing with her free hand liberally. "I knew you were friends already. But engaged?! I asked my other kids if they knew what this was about."

Thena tried to remember, but she actually wasn't sure how Gil had 'announced' their nuptials. Something using social media, of which she had none. At the time it was convenient expressly because his family couldn't find her and ask questions she wouldn't be able to answer.

"None of them knew," Ajak shrugged for show. Kingo's flare for the dramatic didn't come out of nowhere either. "Kingo did some digging. There were a few traces--a head of blonde in the background of a photo. The reflection of someone with him in the ice cream section."

Thena made a face; she did share Gil's weakness for the stuff. And she did know that Gil only ever took pictures of food.

"And then when you were here, trying on dresses, letting me drag you to boutique after boutique," Ajak continued. Indeed, the beginning of the trip here had been a whirlwind of nailing down the basics for the wedding. And she had to admit, Ajak had superb taste, especially for all the little things Thena had never even known a wedding would need.

"I know my boy," Ajak pointed, still smiling. "Gil's sweet, considerate of others, and he's been a worrywart from the very day I told him he'd be a big brother."

Thena had to smile. That certainly was Gil. He was so gentle in nature, despite his looks. And protective to a fault.

"And you two are," Ajak paused, giving her a different kind of grin, "obviously comfortable around each other."

Thena tried not to seem unnerved by that. Of course they would be comfortable around each other, and reacting that obvious statement wouldn't help her attempts at appearing to be the man's long-term girlfriend.

"But a couple, you were not," Ajak said definitively. She even put her hand up as soon as Thena opened her mouth to deny it. "I'm sorry, love. You were just too jumpy--everything was too new. And I tried to chalk it up to being nervous to meet us, or being around all of us at once. I know we're not always easy company to keep."

"That's not true," Thena blurted out, finally able to collect herself enough to contribute. "I admit I was somewhat overwhelmed at first. But being here with your family has been lively, in quite a positive way."

Ajak smiled at her so warmly she could really see the little resemblances between her and Gil. "You're sweet. And that's why Gil loves you."

Thena's insides squirmed again, although she tried not to let it show.

"He's too sensitive not to have someone who's good at observing others. You might not wear your heart on your sleeve, but I could see from the start that you've got a lot of love to give." Ajak took Thena's hand in hers, "just for the right person, hm?"

Thena tried to look her mother-in-law in the eye. "Hm."

"Although I suppose a wedding isn't a great third date."

Thena tried to sew their story together again, but Ajak already knew what she needed to. And maybe Thena had always known that the woman wasn't totally convinced of things.

"Was it that morning I interrupted?" Ajak whispered.

Thena blushed, remembering not only the morning in question but the night after as well. "It really isn't what you think."

Ajak closed her eyes and turned her head slightly, although her amusement was still showing all over her face. "No need. All my kids are adults, I didn't exactly ask you take a vow when I set up your room here."

Thena wasn't sure if it was more or less embarrassing for Ajak to believe she had interrupted her and Gil in the midst of an intimate moment. In some ways, that was exactly what it was. "Ajak-"

"No matter," Ajak patted her hand to put the topic to bed (the irony). "The point is that you're here, for whatever reasons. I know it was something to do with Gil sticking up for Sersi. And embarrassing his father publically."

Thena bobbed her head. She wasn't sure which of the two reasons it was about moreso.

"And you're going through with this," Ajak stated, although the way she slid her eyes up to her definitely implied it ending with a question.

Thena nodded, though. "We're going through with this. I assume we'll sort the details when we're back home."

"What details?"

She gulped, going back to looking up at the ceiling, and the light she'd left off. "Marriage is no small thing, no matter how brief. But the small amount of time may help us get an annulment. I wouldn't want to have to hire a lawyer for a divorce after 36 hours of marriage."

"You wouldn't stay married?"

The question scared her, she had to admit. She didn't expect it, at the very least. "W-Well, we couldn't. Gil should-"

"Gil should what?" Ajak eyed her. "You think he's the one who would be wriggling to get out of this?"

Thena looked at her knees knocking together, she tugged at the hem of her skirt just past them. "Even if he was willing to go through with this right to signing the certificate, it was only ever intended to call his father's bluff. He wouldn't actually-"

"Why not?" It was a simple question, and Ajak asked it like it wasn't the least bit complicated, even with everything going on.

Thena huffed faintly. "He can't stay married to me just to spite his father."

"Have you told him that?" Ajak released her hold on Thena, relaxing back against one of the cabinet doors behind them. "Because I'm sure Gil isn't exactly drawing up the paperwork as we speak."

Thena tried to sort out the argument in her head. But everything ended up leading back to Gil, and she wasn't thinking as clearly as she needed to be where he was involved. She could argue that getting married for what was essentially a prank was certifiably insane. But Gil had proposed it, and she had agreed to it, and neither had even attempted to pull back on it as things unfolded.

"Gil is a romantic," Thena managed to summon as a defense. "I'm sure he imagined meeting someone sweet, like him, and dating in a normal fashion. This-"

"I may not know how you've dated," Ajak interrupted, and Thena was beginning to think it was deliberate. "But I would agree Gil is a romantic at heart. And I would say he did find someone sweet."

Thena would disagree. She could be nice, she could be kind, but she thought of Gil as something completely different. Gil's heart was something rare, to be treasured. "I'm not-"

"Someone who understands him?" Ajak nudged her. "Who knows why he does what he does, is the way he is? And supports him, and encourages him, even when he's being as stubborn as I am."

Thena kept her mouth shut.

"Thena," Ajak half turned towards her, taking her hand again. "I know you are the right person for my son. I don't care how you came together, and I trust you to figure out what comes next. But don't let the insanity of this place beat you. I would never forgive myself for upsetting the love of Gil's life."

Thena startled again, "Ajak, I'm not-"

"Ah, dios mio, how he adores you," Ajak began on another tangent again, doing that thing she would do, pretending she wasn't listening but saying all the right things at all the right intervals. "He brings you here and I remember thinking what a looker!"

"Ajak," Thena groaned, and was ignored.

"My boy can be shy, but the way he lit up," Ajak gushed, even turning Thena's chin towards her. "He says you'll love her, she's amazing, she's perfect, she's brilliant and she's funny."

Thena squirmed again, trying to get out of Ajak's wiggling her chin like a child. "I don't know about that."

"You'll fit right in, he says," Ajak continued narrating. Even as Thena got her hand away from her face, she moved to petting her hair again. "Sersi and Makkari will love her. And don't let Kingo charm her."

Thena raised a brow as Ajak leaned in to whisper again.

"Gil can be a little jealous," she all but giggled, sharing the information that was already clear for all to see. "Never liked it when someone wanted to share something that's his favourite. And clearly he's never had a favourite like you."

Thena had found it silly at one point, for Gil to hover around his own cousin, whom he knew didn't have any interest in her in that way. But the way Ajak described it both made more and less sense.

Ajak finished her monologue, looking at her with frighteningly honest eyes. "I don't know how you ended up coming together, but I'm glad you did, Thena. You're good for Gil, and I think maybe he's good for you, too."

Thena sighed. Everything going on was still waiting outside the closet doors. She hadn't frozen time in her need to escape the chaos. "I think so too, Ajak."

"And I'll try not to interrupt you two anymore."

Thena felt warmth spread through her face again. "Ajak, really-"

But Ajak was already standing, brushing off her tight fitted blue dress. "It's okay, sweetheart, I get it. I was young once."

"Really," Thena tried to insist.

"Gil did tell me you could be a little shy," Ajak patted Thena's higher up shoulder as she also stood. "He knows I can be a little much. But he said it's cute!"

That only made it worse! "Ajak-"

Ajak whipped the closet door open, but Gil was already standing there. "Hi honey, we-"

"Mom, what did you say?" he asked immediately, reaching around his mother to pull Thena closer to him, even bothering to separate their hands. "I told you not to overwhelm her."

"Gil, it's fine," Thena attempted to assure him, but between him and Ajak, sometimes she got the sense her words were simply too quiet to break the barrier.

Ajak put her hands on her little hips, looking up at her much taller eldest. "I was trying to speak with my new daughter, Gilgamesh. Since someone is so clingy I have to corner her in a closet."

Gil's jaw dropped in offense. "I am not clingy!"

Thena blinked as Ajak switched to Spanish, which Gil was able to transition into flawlessly. She could pick up what they were saying, but the speed was blistering. "I-"

Ajak put her hands up to bring the whole thing to an end. "It's done, mijo. Thena and I had a nice girls talk, she's all yours now."

The petite brunette hurried away, stately in all her miniscule stature.

Gil ruffled his hair, looking at her with a bit of a grimace. "She didn't, uh, stress you out, did she?"

Thena smiled, though. "Quite the opposite."

"Good," he sighed. "I know there's a lot going on. Are you okay?"

Thena accepted his outstretched hand, letting him tangle their fingers and bring the back of hers to his lips. It still had some sense of strangeness, but the increasing familiarity of the action was even more strange. "I'm fine."

Gil didn't take the simple answer, but he did pull her closer and press his lips to her forehead. "You can tell me later."

He knew her a little too well also, she had to admit.

Thena sighed out her earlier tension, relaxing into the firmness of Gil's chest. The anarchy of downstairs that had sent her up here in the first place at least felt a little further away at times like these. "What's going on down there?"

Gil made a face, starting to sway them on the spot a little. "Kingo is lettin' the old man have it for not watching any of his stuff. I owe him one--I asked him to create a distraction so I could come and look for you."

"Sorry," she managed a real smile, smaller and more tired than a fake one, but genuine. "I should have invited you to come and hide with me."

Gil leaned down, kissing her properly. Her toes curled faintly; she was getting a little too used to this. "I'll forgive you if you come out in the hammock with me."

That made her smile. "We can't sleep in there."

Gil shrugged, "it's not supposed to rain tonight."

"What about dinner?"

"Mom will come looking for us eventually."

Thena wrapped her arms around her fiance, for once without the guise of saying it was to convince people of their engagement. "She certainly will."

[p3anut47]

id like to interact with my mutuals more but i get scared pls forgive me

[softquietsteadylove]

I’ve gotten an idea:

Gil is a 600 years old vampire trapped in a mirror and Thena is living in this little castle where the mirror is. 😌

"Hello?"

Thena sighed. She stopped flipping through her mail, pausing a step or two ahead of the massive mirror in the foyer.

"You can't even spare me a word?"

The 'previous home owner', as she had started calling him in her head, sure could be demanding. Always had something to say now that he was free to talk.

"Thena? You could remove the drape at least."

A pang in her heart made her turn around. It was true, she had the freedom of leaving this massive, crumbling edifice. She was staying here while its restoration work was being done, but she could still walk into the small town below, or board the ferry to the nearest city if she really needed to.

The figure in the mirror crossed his arms as she removed the sheet from in front of the glass. "Welcome back."

"Thank you," she murmured politely. He had exceptional manners, she had to admit. Surely aided by being hundreds of years old (possibly thousands, not that she had asked for a particular number).

"What was it like out there?"

Thena looked at the mail in her hands, mostly updates about the property or mail for her to cancel. "They'll start gutting the west wing next week."

"Gutting," Gilgamesh's eyes bulged. He put a finger to his chin, stroking his facial hair. "In my day the only things gutted were fish, and one's enemies on the battlefield."

Thena offered a dry expression. "Well, today, we can talk about gutting a house or property. Restorative work is tricky, but the west wing is the most degraded of the whole property. The original architecture will remain as in tact as possible, bu the wood, the stone, it needs to-"

"The west wing was never my favourite."

Thena pulled back on her description of the plans. She constantly had to remind herself that this was not just a historical building in her care, but was once this man's home. Trying not to seem like a chastised child, she toyed with the envelopes in her hand. "What did you use it for?"

"The west wing was mostly for visitors, which was seldom," Gilgamesh remarked, crossing his arms again. The armour in which he appeared clanked faintly, although she could see the width of his arms straining. "I think I had a room in which to withdraw, but my memory may be lacking after centuries stuck in this thing."

She had found the mirror almost as soon as she had arrived. It had been draped over, just like everything else. She had taken her time getting settled into the most sustainable room in the place, a modest little bed chamber at the top of one of the towers. Her architectural plans were organised in one of the drawing rooms, and of course everything was digitally archived for all involved.

The mirror she had uncovered accidentally one day. The sheet thrown over it had slipped continually in her rushing around to get moved in. The mirror was a beautiful, ornate thing, bigger than her whole body and she was guessing heavy, from the size of glass needed and the surely solid gold body.

Then Gilgamesh appeared.

Cursed to exist only in this mirror, day and night passing in one continuous stream. He couldn't remember why, and he had been in it so long surely a human mind would have deteriorated completely. She had once asked him what it was like in there. As he described it, it was just kind of...nothing. Just darkness, both far off and infinite, but also right on top of him. And when it was covered, it wasn't that he ceased to exist, but perhaps it was somewhat like going to sleep, for him. Thena had likened it to covering a pet's cage with a blanket to simulate nighttime, but she spared him the indignity of that explanation.

Thus her promise to only cover it when she was out. No risk of anyone else happening upon it and trying to move it. And she had told all the builders and demo crew that if she wasn't home then they weren't to disturb anything in the main foyer just yet.

If anything happened to the mirror, neither knew what would happen to Gilgamesh. It was possible it might free him, but it was also possible that he would simply cease to exist in any way.

"What is that one?"

"Hm?" Thena blinked. She had flicked through her mail until a small one emerged, previously tucked between larger ones. She flipped it a few times, "there's no return address."

"Address?"

"Where we are now," she muttered, frowning at the blank paper. "Every building or plot of land is an address, so governments can keep track of things."

Gilgamesh pursed his lips, "in the past we were capable of reigning over our land without this need for address-ment."

She made a face but opened the envelope anyway. "Anyone who knows me would just email or text, there wouldn't be any need to mail something here."

Gilgamesh had a growing understanding of the modern world. She had showed him what emails and texts were--little letters created without the need to waste paper and ink, for lack of better terms. He knew she left the house often, whether to convene with people for work on the estate or for humanly supplies from the town.

He had been particularly captivated by her pictures of the outside world, few as they were.

"Angle yourself."

She looked up from the letter just to frown at him. Perhaps the blunt and formal way he spoke reminded her a little too much of herself. Perhaps this was why no one exactly threw her a going away party at the firm when she took this remote - undetermined number of years long - job at an abandoned mansion.

And yet she did. She turned so Gilgamesh could see over her shoulder, in a sense of the word. He would move around inside the mirror to do so, too. She had seen him do it before to test if he would show up in her phone camera, which he didn't. It was a cute idea, though.

"Who is this person writing to you?" Gilgamesh asked seconds after looking at the letter. It was brief, and he stood to his full height again. "Thena?"

Her hands crinkled the paper of it. "It's my ex."

"What is this?--ex?" he repeated. She drifted away from the mirror a step, but his voice got louder, "hey!"

She shook her head, turning to face him again. "It's...complicated."

Gilgamesh's expression changed. He could be a hardheaded thing of the past, but she couldn't say he was as pigheaded as even most men in town. "Explain it to me."

Thena's sigh returned, and she let her shoulders sag a bit. "I...took this job to get away from someone. A man."

"A man?" Gilgamesh asked, and at least seemed to get the essence of what was making her so uncomfortable with the news. "Were you engaged to be married?"

She scoffed, looking down at the letter again. "Far from it. An ex is someone you were with...romantically."

The blank way he could stare at her sometimes could truly make her forget there was a pane of glass separating her from his very existence.

"But when it doesn't work for whatever reasons, you can go your separate ways. They become your ex--an ex-girlfriend, boyfriend, partner, even spouses can divorce, now."

"Huh," Gilgamesh remarked on her information. "Such advancements. But I suppose it's better than being stuck in an unsavory situation for the rest of your little lives."

She rolled her eyes at the idea of a human lifespan being so 'little' to him.

"If any of my people were unhappy in such a position, I would simply kill the guilty party."

He was nothing if not loyal, she had learned over time. Maybe it was a vampire thing, or maybe just a Gilgamesh thing.

"Thena," he said more softly, leaning closer to the nothing that separated them. "Would you wish me to kill this man for you?"

She had to smile, no matter how thinly. "It's nice of you to offer, Gil."

She had called him Gil a few times. He used to insist that only his full name and title (Gilgamesh, King Eternal of the Celestial Estates) was suitable. But what could he do?--reach out of that mirror and stop her?

"He has distressed you."

He had gotten better at reading her, too. She supposed she couldn't blame him; she was his only interaction in an eternity spent in a dark room, from what it seemed. It had to be lonely in that mirror.

"I don't know how he found out I was here," she admitted to him more solemnly. She kept staring at the words, as if she had missed something the first time that would change things. "I moved here as quickly as possible, the only people who know the address are people at the firm, and some of the associates here. Not even the friends I told I was moving know the actual address of this place."

"How would he find it?"

Gilgamesh had a point. It wasn't impossible that Kro could find it out somehow. She wasn't a forthcoming person, and people didn't really care to ask at work, either. They had no idea her breakup had been so bad as to send her literal countries away all but overnight. Maybe he had gone looking for her and the firm had given him the address of the estate.

Which had to be against some kind of HR code, but she would have to find that out later.

"Thena."

She inhaled, looking up at Gilgamesh in the mirror again. As much as she could feel annoyed by his constant need for attention, any presence at all was admittedly a relief. Even as solitary a creature as she was, no one could be completely alone all the time. It was like having a roommate, who she couldn't kick out even if she wanted to.

Gil's eyes followed her as she leaned her shoulder against the mirror itself. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, even resting her head against the glass. She wondered for a second what it would be like for him if she cleaned it. "I just didn't think I would have to deal with this."

Gilgamesh positioned himself as if it were possible for him to be supporting her physically. "Perhaps if he comes here I can suck his life force out through this mirror."

She laughed a little, more at the idea of Gilgamesh trying to feed on someone through a cursed mirror than the thought of her ex's demise. "No, then I'd have to deal with the body, and they'd probably just think I killed him."

"In my prime, a woman would be justified in killing a man causing her this level of dismay."

She looked up at him, in the only way she could. It really did feel like they could make eye contact at times like this. "Truly?"

He nodded, and she really did feel comforted, peeking around the bulk of his shoulder to the warmth of his brown eyes. "Vampires admire strength, no matter whose it is, and I believe we and humans alike used to wage wars to stop a woman's tears."

Thena groaned, angling herself to lean against the mirror more comfortably. "Not anymore."

"No?"

She shook her head against the edge where the glass met the frame. "They would rather be the prize, and women should consider themselves grateful, even if they turn out to be some beast."

"I am a beast," Gilgamesh interjected into her pity party. "How despicable can modern men be?"

Thena kept looking towards the front door, a healthy jog away from them. "I suppose there are ones worse than Kro. But the reason I couldn't stay with him was more about him wanting a certain kind of life for us--me, rather."

"I never considered getting married, and he had said the same, once upon a time," she continued without any real reason to, but without any real reason to stop either. "But the more contracts I took at the firm, the more he started to ask if he was going to play second fiddle to my job for the rest of our lives."

"He can play the fiddle?"

She smiled. "No, he meant that he felt I treated my architectural work more importantly than him, and our relationship. He started making comments about how I was dragging my feet about moving in together, even mentioned that marrying a workaholic didn't work for him. When I reminded him that we had both agreed we weren't looking for marriage--he didn't take it well, I suppose."

Gilgamesh took a long enough pause to make her look at him again. His expression reminded her that no matter how civil he could be, he was right, he wasn't human. "Did he ever harm you?"

It was sweet of him to ask, beast or not. She smiled again, "no, Gil. Modern men don't--well, maybe they do think like that, but they can get in more trouble for it, now. And I knew already to get as far away from him as possible."

"Are all exes so abhorrent?" Gilgamesh asked cut and dry, in an unwittingly funny way.

"Not all," she allowed, although Sersi certainly had her stories. "But Kro doesn't let things go. And I guess I should have known better than to think moving would solve this for me."

Gilgamesh crossed his arms again, angling himself in her line of sight as much as he could, "do invite him, actually. I want to test if my abilities could extend beyond the mirror."

The thought did bring her some levity. "You can't suck his blood through a mirror, Gilgamesh."

"We don't know that," he argued just as lightly. "We haven't tested it."

She pursed her lips, "why didn't you?"

He blinked at her.

"Test it," she tilted her head at him. "Once I uncovered you, you never even tried."

Gilgamesh adjusted his posture, and in some ways, seemed to lean on the edge of the mirror from within his prison. "I don't feed on frightened maidens. I am a beast, but I am not that kind of monster."

"You are not a beast," she chided him. Not to mention that she was not some innocent maiden, either. "And I was not frightened."

He grinned at her crossing her arms right back at him. "I do seem to recall you were aghast when you discovered me. Stumbled back in those clacky shoes of yours."

She pursed her lips. He always asked if she was going to wear 'clacky' or 'silent' shoes if she was going out. Supposedly that said something about her reason for leaving the house. "Anyone would be aghast to discover a man trapped in a mirror, human or not."

He chuckled, "think nothing of it. It was cute, considering who I know you to be, now."

Thena bristled, her spine straightening. "I should cover you up for the rest of the day."

For all their light banter, every time she even joked about it, he looked truly distressed at the idea. "You can't!"

In a way, he was right, she couldn't. It felt too cruel to just cover him up and go about her day, like leaving an innocent animal in a cage while she soaked up her freedom. "Fine, but the builders are coming tomorrow, you'll have to be covered up while they're here."

He pouted--the immortal vampire inside the cursed mirror pouted at her. "We don't even know if they can see me."

"Gil," she raised her brows, and he knew he wasn't exactly in the position to argue with her. "It's just while they're here. I'll take your sheet off as soon as I'm home alone."

He sighed heavily, "it's not 'my' sheet."

Yes, it was. She even kept it hung up on the corner of the vines decorating the top.

"But fine," he relented, waving off the offense of being covered like a dusty candelabra. "Put me out of sight, although if any of these 'builders' become a nuisance, you could always uncover me just to give them a scare."

She laughed, "I might take you up on that."

Gilgamesh extended his hand, in a way. He angled himself down to meet her eye, "deal."

She eyed the hand, pressing the back of her fingers to the glass, "deal."

"Hm."

"Hm?" she looked at him, her fingers still touching the pane.

Gilgamesh smiled at where their hands could somewhat appear to meet. "Maybe I'm finally losing it in here, but I could swear your hand is warm."

Thena looked at their hands with him. She wasn't sure if she could say she was feeling what he was feeling. But it was a nice idea. She pressed the back of her hand to the glass. "You can feel that?"

Gilgamesh moved his hand, gesturing for her to move it upward. Once it was at the level he wanted, he bent faintly, and she could see his lips pursing.

She snatched her hand away. It wasn't as if he could really kiss it. But she panicked, even just for a second. Something in her gut clenched and she pulled her eyes away from his. "Maybe you're right--about losing it."

He didn't take her barb for what it was, though. He stood to his full height again, although his smile had a hint of mischief to it. "I shall excuse the lady to take her leave, then."

She made a face, even flicking the sheet to tease/threaten him with it. "I don't need you to excuse me."

[uwontrememberme]

everything will probably be fine but i have to get really anxious just in case

[mysone]

Fuck everything. I want what they have

[softquietsteadylove]

Hiii bestie, how is it going?

Here in my country we are celebrating mothers day this weekend. In the spirit of that may i ask for something were baby heracles gives thena a gift or something to show her his appreciation and she just kinda melts, pretty please. 😃🩷🤍

"I can hear you."

"H-How?!" The child gave away his position far too easily. As soon as he popped up, his jaw bobbed. "Uh, I-I-I, uh, th-"

Thena raised a brow at the little rodent sniffing through her private temple. She tilted her head, setting down the brush she had been running through her hair. "Why did you sneak in here again?"

Heracles shuffled out into her view, his hands folded behind him contritely. "I didn't sneak in."

The Goddess of War sighed, easing her legs off the chaise upon its dais. Her dress fluttered behind her as she walked towards him. She still didn't like the worshipful behaviour of the humans here, and the godly treatment didn't suit her. But the least she could get for the trouble would be a room of her own, and this private temple constructed like a mini Parthenon would more than suffice.

Heracles shrank faintly as she came over to him.

Thena rolled her eyes at herself; how soft she was on this child. She knelt down, bringing her eyes closer to his. "It's not like you to hide. Why are you in here?"

He looked at her, those huge, ocean blue eyes whining at her before he had even opened his mouth. "I...I wanted to talk to you."

"About?"

His little mouth scrunched. But there was nothing she could do about asking for direct answers to questions. And she believed it would be good for him to stiffen his growing human spine. "Well... "

It really wasn't like him to be so squeamish. As intimidating as she was aware she could be, the boy had never had this much trouble voicing his thoughts to her before. If anything, she had a time or two wished he had more of the intimidation she usually saw in others.

"Heracles," she spoke more softly, asking him to speak to her instead of the floor under his fraying straw sandals. His head turned towards the outside, the sunbathed cobblestones and people chattering.

He was truly troubled.

Thena put her hand on his head of golden hair, the same colour as his footwear. His shoulders trembled faintly as she guided him to her chaise. When she had started coddling the little human she truly could not say. And yet when she picked him up to hold him in her lap he curled into her naturally. "Stop this."

The boy whined faintly, his tears pressing into her white linen robes.

Her hand rubbed his back just as naturally. "You are not the type to weep without reason. Were you hurt?"

Were the city guards picking on him for being an orphan? Were merchants berating him the way they would chase a stray dog from their scraps?

His head shook, still pressed into her shoulder.

Thena petted the boy's head, rustling his hair. "Then?"

The boy pulled his face up, summoning the usual bravery - no matter how baseless - he possessed. "It was collection day at the home."

Thena frowned. There were plenty of orphans from how many died from constant Deviant attacks. The humans believed it was the desire of the gods--a desire for charity for them to take care of the orphans. They lived in various homes, built largely to hold so many children.

Collection day sounded grim to Thena. Some would be collected by families seeking not a child to raise but a hand on the farm or apprentice to take over their practice. Regardless of the reason, being picked was better than being not.

And Heracles had been passed over yet again.

"Did you wish to be collected?" she asked outright. He always said no, but she could see the child's conflict. Perhaps his young mind was able to romanticise the idea of being adopted and given a new look on life.

Only one man had ever inquired about the boy. Heracles was beginning to show signs of becoming taller and stronger than others his age. Only time would tell, but they said they could see his potential. And this one travelling merchant wanted that for labour.

And if he didn't grow properly, he would sell him, the old man had commented. He was unaware the gods had hearing better than a dog's. He was also unaware of what exactly had cut loose his oxen and destroyed his cart and lit his goods aflame. He had attempted to seek refuge in the city while he rebuilt his stock, but everywhere he turned, he was denied help 'by condemnation of the gods of Athens', he was told.

"No," Heracles confessed with just a little reluctance. He settled himself on her lap, tugging a pocket in his trousers. "But everyone looks so happy when they're collected. And there are less and less of us."

Which was a good thing, in some ways. But Heracles already did not have many allies at the orphanage home. They saw his strength and ostracised him instead of fighting him, in her opinion.

He rubbed at a dirt stain in his tunic. "It feels lonely, going back there at night."

The boy would run through the city freely during the day. As children were wont to do, of course. If anything, he roamed even more than the average child, no one caring enough for him to receive education or be taught something that would help him as an adult in this world.

But sunset called all children home, and the orphans were no different. Even if Heracles lingered long enough to get a meal out of Gilgamesh, he was still expected to return, or have the doors locked on him. And he couldn't stay with them, they had watch, and jobs as 'gods' of Athens, of course a charade for the actual work they had to do as Eternals.

Thena put her palm to the top of his head again. "Do not fear silence, young one. You must befriend it if you are to survive."

For all she spoke personally with this human child, she did find his young mind capable of more than even some fully grown humans. Of course, he was still a child, and had his moments of childishness, such as now. His little lip jutted out and he mumbled out, "I don't want to."

She smiled. How funny these little creatures were. And perhaps, in her most private thoughts, she was fond of this one. One of billions before him, and trillions after. But she engulfed his small form within one of her arms. "You are a brave child, Heracles. Do not fear this life you have before you."

"How?"

Indeed how. He had no Eternal lifespan, nor strength, nor senses. But still, she assured him, "you will grow stronger. Of this, I am certain."

Heracless swiped his nose with his sleeve, dragging the unpleasant fluid over the already worn linen. "Will I be as strong as Champion?"

"Gilgamesh," she corrected the boy. "His name is not Champion, just as your name is not Orphan."

She did call him Orphan for some time, but that time was passed now.

Heracles turned his head towards the outside again. "Epaphrus was collected by the breadmaker."

Thena waited for the boy to continue at his own speed.

"He didn't have a son and so he came to the house. Epaphrus is tall. He said he'll be able to reach the ovens by next summer."

"I see," Thena said aloud for the sake of it. Perhaps she could see how one of the few boys left being chosen - and for a future with work, at that - would perturb the child.

Heracles made a grim little face. "He called him Papa."

Thena tilted her head to try and see the boy's face again. He dodged her gaze somewhat but she pushed his growing hair away from his forehead, forcing him to look at her, scrunched nose and all. "You envy him."

Her words struck his growing heart like an arrow, clearly. His eyes widened, "it's not fair!"

Thena closed her eyes. Why children felt the need to raise their volume to the enormous temple ceilings was beyond her. "Silence."

He listened well, her little stray. His lips tucked into themselves.

She looked at him squarely again. "Heracles, do not covet what is not yours. It changes nothing, fair or not."

He looked down again, thoroughly chastised.

She let her tiara press against his malleable little skull. "You are younger than you can even imagine. I have seen your lifespan a hundred times over. Remain strong, and brave, and you shall be rewarded for it."

She didn't know if that would prove true or not, and she wasn't usually one to tell lies. But what was she to say in the face of such young misery? In the face of his teary blue eyes and wobbly little lip?

His nibbled at his lip a bit more before pulling something out of his pocket. "I made this."

Thena observed the object passively. "Show me."

Encouraged, the boy revealed his bounty. "The nuns taught us to weave. I-It's just some twine-"

"This is skillful," Thena complimented. It was no master craft, but for a braided length of rope by a child, it was quite well done. "How did you learn to braid the strands like this."

Heracles' cheeks went ruddy. "I saw Papa braiding your hair before."

Thena blinked. The use of 'Papa' truly startled her, but the boy could only be speaking of Gilgamesh. And for the child to have learned purely through observation was a show of intelligence. And the more she looked at the simple bracelet the more her chest warmed.

"I-It's for you," he confessed in the smallest whisper yet. He leaned closer, whispering in her ear, "I wanted to give you something 'cause I don't have a Mama to give it to."

Thena tried to swallow, but her throat was clamped closed. She blinked, refusing to acknowledge the watery edges of her vision. She was the Warrior Eternal, and Athens was but a footnote in her long, everlasting life. She could not - would not - be this moved by a child's offering of a simple, handmade bracelet.

Heracles peeked up at her, "Ma...Thena?"

She cleared her throat. She would not weep. She had just told him not to. But her hand grasped the length of twine the way a human would grip pure gold in their hand. "Attach it for me."

The boy beamed. He excitedly wound it around her wrist, slim but larger than his. "You like it?"

Thena blinked, still refusing to feel such a deep well of emotion pushing at her facade. "Your knots are improving."

"Truly?" he asked, excited and distracted in equal parts.

Thena looked at the woven twine around her wrist. It was fraying, because no orphan had the finest flaxen string. But his slipknots really were improving, and perhaps it was time for her to start teaching the boy to hunt. More meat would help him outgrow the rest of the strays.

Heracles wound his arms around her neck as she pulled him against her. He didn't say anything, but his head turned faintly, nuzzling into her embrace the way a child yearned to do.

Thena sighed. She would not think of the future, ten, a hundred, a thousand years from now. She would pat the child's head today, teach him to hunt tomorrow, and hope that he lived the best life a human could live for as long as she was here.

"Thena?" he asked her to speak again, needing assurance that she was feeling positively.

"Thank you, Heracles," she managed in an even tone of voice. She clasped his tiny little hand in hers, and the swell of protectiveness in her heart over this one tiny human constricted her attempts to remain cold. "I will treasure this."

His eyes sparkled at the idea of the Goddess of War treasuring something so small. Or perhaps he didn't even think of her as the patron Goddess of Athens. He seemed to simply think of her as some...guardian, neither close nor far. The boy was old enough to understand that she was no mother, and yet he saw her as something as close to one as his life had ever known.

"Come," she stood, holding the child on her hip instead of making him walk. He was growing, and one day she would hold him no longer. She would teach him to stalk prey alongside her, then. "Let us show Gilgamesh."

"Will he be proud of me?" Heracles practically jumped up and down on the spot at the prospect.

Gil was liable to be so proud he would be the weepiest of all of them. "I'm sure he will."

"I'm hungry," Heracles declared, because children were incapable of keeping their thoughts contained at all times. His tears had tired him.

Thena felt the boy grow heavier against her shoulder. "Gil will make us something."

If he was in the forge then she would reach into the molten rocks him drag him out to feed this whiny little pup.

"Were you brushing your hair to go see him?"

Heracles blinked as his feet were set on the ground. His hand was still in Thena's but he looked up at her.

"You are old enough to walk. Let us find you some food."

[chillyfeetsteak]

this is what i mean when i type 👀 btw

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi, I've been reading your work for a long time, always a silent follower, and I just want to say that I love how you write, And on your page I found a safe place to swoon over Thenamesh. Thank you for what you do. ❤️‍🩹

I could also ask you for something spicy, I don't know, just two eternals who can't keep their hands off each other 😅😅

"The climate is nice," Sersi chattered next to her. "Maybe a little hot, but it certainly has its..."

Thena looked at her sister as her words trailed off with no hint of purpose. All she managed to see was Ikaris in the middle distance, letting his attention drift from what he was being told and sparing a small wave in their direction.

Sersi's fingers fluttered at him in a distinctly playful way. They certainly weren't subtle.

They never had been. Thena had known - she would say - early on about them. Sersi wasn't particularly adept at keeping secrets, and when it came to her own, she verged on transparent. The looks, the sighs, the way they would volunteer to scout the area and return far later than expected with no observations of use.

Sometimes they would simply disappear without even the attempt of explanation.

Thena turned her head away, only rolling her eyes when she was sure her infatuated sister wouldn't see. If Sersi was happy that was all that mattered, she would tell herself. It was coming to such a head that she had to wonder if this was the sub-continent on which they finally stopped trying to pretend they were a secret of any kind.

Everyone knew. Well, most of them knew. Phastos had yet to catch them, which meant he was ignoring his suspicions because he didn't want to imagine any of them in such a way. And Gilgamesh...

Thena smiled, watching some children clamor to see the gentle giant up close. He was laughing, entertaining their curiosities, letting them swing on his arms like tree branches or see the world from the height of his shoulders.

"Kids always love Gil."

"He is beloved the world over," Thena replied to the simple statement, now that Sersi was done flirting with a man already hers. "Everywhere we go, it seems."

"This place certainly is beautiful," Sersi remarked lightly, clasping her hands behind her back. She could pretend to be walking aimlessly all she liked, they were unmistakably headed for the walkway that would adjoin their path with the other. "Apparently this great hall hosts festivals, feasts, even weddings."

"Hm." That was all Thena could muster in response to it.

"Ikaris!"

The Warrior broke off from them as Sersi waved him over, eagerly telling him about the space that would be hosting them as they began development on yet another human settlement. He nodded, listened quietly. It was the least he could do.

"Coming to rescue me?"

She smiled as the children parted upon her arrival. They were more wary of her. Gilgamesh would sometimes try to make excuses for them but she paid no mind. They were smart to mind her presence. "You seemed to be enjoying it."

"Guess so," Gilgamesh chuckled, setting down the child that had been making a roost of his shoulders. He leaned closer to her. "Now that you've told me about those two, I can't unsee it."

Thena pressed her lips together. The others had made a sport of seeing how long it would take for Gil to notice Sersi and Ikaris' ongoing affair. Things of this nature were not always within his sight, as it were. She had decided to have some mercy and tell him about it.

When asked if everyone knew, she simply shrugged, saying she hadn't chosen to tell anyone else.

"They're not subtle," he mused, watching them stand close, Sersi's hand dancing around the action of landing upon Ikaris' arm. He was likewise standing resolute, but leaning in her direction in a way he usually didn't.

"I don't believe Ikaris' brain has the capacity for subtlety."

Gilgamesh let out a loud laugh at her remark. The two turned and looked at them just for a second. Gil was always laughing with full abandon, it was no indication of anything.

He leaned close to her ear again, "I think we're better than those two, right?"

Her lips twitched in the mere hint of a smile again. "I certainly like to think so."

She could still complete a sentence, even when laying eyes on her lover, at least.

Gilgamesh drifted off and she trailed somewhat behind, somewhat beside him. "You seen the inside yet?"

She nearly purred, "show me."

"Ajak says it'll be a good place for us," he shrugged, narrating to her just as he would any of the rest of their team. "Lots of room, the old guy here doesn't even know how many of them there are anymore."

The 'old guy' in question was local royalty.

He turned into the first room off a main corridor. "I think this-"

Thena pounced. But he received her, his hand at her waist, the other in her hair. Her lips found his, pursuing them like humans needed water. She too could feel thirst, and since abandoning the Domo, it was harder and harder to find time alone.

"Hey, slow down," he chuckled between kisses, because he always enjoyed when she was the eager of the two of them. "I'm not goin' anywhere."

"Careful," she advised him, sucking in breath more harshly as her heart rate and temperature climbed. "We could be interrupted any moment."

He nipped at the shell of her ear, "like the excitement doesn't tempt you?"

She let him switch their position. She didn't know what this room was, but there was a door that was closed, and she found her bottom resting on some kind of surface. "Do you know how long it's been?"

"I damn well do, sweetheart." She liked it when he cursed. She liked it when he called her silly little names. And she quite liked it when he kissed his way down her neck, as he was doing now. "But some of us have more decorum than dragging you out into the desert to fuck in the sand."

Thena's lips pulled into a smile as he started unravelling the white silk wrapped around her. She had told him about that, and his first remark had been that it was inconsiderate--sand made for a poor laying bed.

His lips passed her clavicle and found the swell of her breasts. "I will not be bedding a Goddess in the fucking dirt."

She gasped, her mind leaving the subject of their siblings and becoming engulfed by sensation. "Gil!"

His tongue treated her breasts like the most sumptuous fruit to ever pass his lips. They lavished her nipples with time and attention. While he did that, his elbow hooked under her knee, pulling it up until it was next to her chest.

Thena moaned between her pressed lips. Her back arched, her shoulders meeting the wall behind them. Gilgamesh put his hand at the bend of her neck meeting her shoulder, steadying her and letting his knuckles keep her skin from the limestone.

His other hand was already halfway to the knuckle.

"That's it," he whispered next to her ear, rolling his fingers to beckon her pleasure forward. He would capture her lips eagerly, but they both needed to breathe desperately.

Thena was familiar with the feeling of his fingers inside of her. There were brief windows of time during their travels when this was all the closeness they could afford. Secrecy was truly an expensive thing.

"We're just getting warmed up," he promised her. His voice helped her drown out the rest of the world, including the thoughts in her own head. "Get nice and wet for me."

She whimpered, her belly tightening. She wanted this, and she wanted more. Since getting a taste of him, she had become a greedy, covetous creature. And what she wanted was so within her reach it was maddening.

Sersi and Ikaris could wave and flirt and fuck in the sand all they liked. But Thena had, on more than one occasion, imagined letting one of the horses off its reins so she and Gilgamesh could have the excuse to go looking for it.

She was willing to fuck in the open air. Perhaps not in the dirt, but up against a tree was not so undignified, was it?

"That's it," Gilgamesh called her back to herself. He pushed his fingers deeper, angled them higher, let his knuckles scrape against her entrance firmly and almost clumsily. "You look delicious when you come."

Thena looked up at the ceiling, her vision blurring. Her breath came in sharp, hot gasps as she tightened around the feeling of his fingers. She was as worked up as she had feared, feeling the release of her frustrations on the insides of her thighs and now whatever it was they were fucking on.

Surely a table, or maybe a shelf of some kind.

"That's my girl," Gilgamesh purred for her, kissing her scalding hot cheek to soothe its burn. He would pull her up to that pinnacle, push her over the edge, and then take such delicate care of her afterward.

She hummed, turning her head into his affections as her body loosened. It was crucial it loosen, so she could be more free when they were truly joined at the hip. "You."

He breathed roughly in her ear again, pressing his hips forward, "I'm nice and ready."

Indeed he was; Thena bit her lip, feeling the firmness of pressure. The trousers here were all loose and billowing, but at complete hardness, there was no hiding arousal for her dear Gilgamesh. He had forbade her from teasing him for exactly this reason.

His hand drifted over the body of her dress, pulling up the silken skirt of it and moving her thighs around his back. "I like the clothes here."

"Hm?" she mused, pulling him in to kiss her again. She liked tasting him as he pushed into her.

He groaned as just his tip met her entrance. "Easy to fuck in."

Thena's moan joined his as he buried himself in her. It had been possibly a few months of travelling by human means, now. Aside from the odd hand wandering on a makeshift sleeping mat, she had not had any satisfaction. Now she understood how a single month could feel long to a human's tiny sense of time.

Gil guided her arm up around his shoulder, too, kissing the inside of her bicep up to her shoulder, where he could bury his nose against her neck once again. "I like seeing this much of you."

Local garb was less covering than their armour. "Is this truly - ah! - all you need to entice you?"

He grinned against her skin, letting her feel his amusement. "You're enticing all the time."

She let out another sound. His flattery entered her brain like words in a language she both did and did not know. She could never compute them. Especially not at times like this.

He grunted as his hips swung. "Fuck, Thena, I missed you."

She hadn't been absent. And yet she knew what he meant. She had missed this too--missed him. The feeling of being this close, of breathing the same air, feeling the same feelings. Her arms tightened around his neck, forcing his pull back to be shorter. His hips moved more urgently. "Yes."

His breathing picked up, their motion banging the table (or whatever it was) against the wall behind them. "Fuck."

"Yes," she repeated her urgency also rising to the surface. Her hips burned and her thighs were squeezing around his frame, as if to draw him even closer, even deeper into her. "Yes, yes, Gil!"

He liked it when she called him Gil. His hands moved, his arms encircling her completely. His palms pressed against the wall, and she definitely heard a small crack. But they were both so close, he could break the wall, secrecy be damned. "I'm so close, sweetheart."

"Yes, right there," she responded feverishly, her voice high and choked for air. She turned her face into the side of his neck too, feeling the hair there scratch her nose. She breathed in the scent of him, a distinct musk that belonged to only him. "Fuck!"

She came undone first. She often did. She always reached that edge when she was with him, and surpassed it, and fell freely. And she would drag him with her.

Gil threw his head back. He came with his whole body, his hips pumping, his chest huffing, his face scrunching as he released into her waiting warmth. If she had teased him, he might have even made the sound he made only when lifting something heavy even for him. She liked that sound. She thought it was charming.

Thena went limp in his arms. She always did this, too. No other creature in the galaxy would have such privilege. She was the Warrior Eternal, and vulnerability was not a natural trait of hers. Still, with Gilgamesh, she could let go of all her muscles and let him cushion her completely.

His arms dragged up her back, massaging her shoulders and kissing her neck again. He nuzzled her as he slipped from her, the evidence of their joining dripping at their feet. His hips leaned away from her.

She almost made a sound of complaint, but more than one round was too greedy even for her. They were lucky to get this one. She moaned though, softly. And he tipped her head up for her to kiss her, as she had asked without a single word.

They kissed like they were made for it. His lips were made for hers and vice versa. And she drank him up, free to be thirsty, and greedy, and covetous when it was just the two of them.

Gilgamesh did the duty of righting their clothing, smoothing his pants, pulling the white silk down around her legs again. "Hey."

She finally opened her eyes, which fluttered faintly, having been squeezed shut. He came into focus and she smiled with her teeth, "hey."

He granted her another kiss.

He helped her back to her feet wordlessly, although she could hear him holding back a chortle as her knees wavered slightly, sending her into his chest. Even he could have his moments of ego.

She righted herself, though, pushing against his chest to stand at her full height. "Let us return."

"Hm." He was picking up her habits. But he held her hand in his until the very second the door opened.

"Oh."

"Huh."

Gilgamesh and Ikaris met eyes first. Sersi was quicker though, meeting Thena's eyes and then immediately dashing them away. "W-We were just looking for-"

"Find another spot," Thena ordered, grasping Gilgamesh's hand in hers and walking their way past, heads held high.

She was done paying the price of secrecy. Living in close quarters again would not help, either. She had paid plenty already, the Warrior Eternal decided in this very moment. She looked over her shoulder.

Gilgamesh just blinked at her, asking if she was certain.

She smiled, pulling him to walk more beside her. She was.

Distantly, behind them, Ikaris muttered, "they weren't fooling anyone."

Sersi joined him, "they could stand to be more subtle."

Hypocrites.

[softquietsteadylove]

Gil needs to get in a mood and put thena through the mattres again, because that was HOT.

Thena startled as the door slammed both open and closed. It wasn't like Gil to be careless when he was at home, no matter how long or hard his day was. She looked up from her book on the couch. "Gil?"

He just barely managed a grunt, tugging off his tie and practically ripping the collar of his shirt open.

"Gil," Thena repeated, standing up with a frown. It really wasn't like him to ignore her. "What-"

"You don't wanna do that, hon."

That really wasn't like him.

Thena watched as he continued to stomp inside. He tossed his shoes aside, tossed off his jacket, continued unbuttoning his shirt until she was sure he was just going to pull that off, too. She almost wondered if he had a wound that was agitated but she could see the sweat on his skin. "What were you doing?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Gilgamesh," she insisted, even as he tried to walk past her to the stairs. This was more like the behaviour she was used to early into her stay with him. But she wouldn't let herself back down like she would have then. "Look at me."

He did so, but even the look on his face was tense, drawn, even aggravated. His mouth was mid-snarl. "Really, Thena. Drop it."

She drew her shoulders up. Maybe she was letting herself get used to being spoiled by him, but she wouldn't be brushed off. He was always telling her: this was her home too. "No!"

"No?" He turned around to her, half out of his shirt already. His brows were knotted together, "did you say no?"

She pursed her lips at him. She wasn't sure where this side of him had come from, but if he wanted her to assert herself more then why not now? "What's happening? Why are you covered in sweat?"

He huffed, almost growled, actually sliding his shirt off and onto the floor. "I told you not to ask."

"Well, I am," she insisted, even following him up the stairs towards his room. "Are you hurt?"

"No," he snapped, no longer attempting to look at her over his shoulder. "Go back downstairs."

"What was it you were doing that has you so pissed off?" she demanded. Sure, he was unlikely to actually tell her, but she had to try. She didn't let him close his bedroom door in her face either.

"Thena," Gil rumbled, whirling around on her as she shut the door behind her. "I'm telling you to leave it alone. I'll talk to you later, but you can't be here right now."

"Why?" she huffed right back at him. He had made her into a spoiled princess, so this was his just desserts as far as she was concerned.

"Because-!" He made a noise of frustration she had never heard him make before, dragging his hand down his face. "Not today!"

"Why!" she barked right back at him. She thought it was very (mob) wifely of her not to let him get away with it.

"Because I had a hell of a day, and I'm ready to fuckin' explode, that's why!"

She tilted her head. Gil made this face like he had said something completely unforgivable to her. His frustration was all over him, which was already uncharacteristic given how hard he worked to keep his work from her, including its effects.

"I'm sorry," he struggled to say more calmly, "I didn't meant to yell. Just...give me a few minutes to blow off some steam, will you?"

"How?" He looked at her like she'd asked something just as incomprehensible, but she crossed her arms at him. "How are you going to do that? Unless you have a home gym you're hiding up here."

He growled from somewhere within his chest again, "you know I don't."

"I don't really," she muttered, trailing behind him as he moved towards his closet. "There is still a lot I don't know, if you recall."

She heard the tap running and water splashing. "What happened to the days of you being too shy to follow me in here, eh?"

She pursed her lips mostly to herself. She wouldn't say she was shy. Not that she was used to Gil in a state of undress either.

Gil did finally come back out. He had splashed some water on his face, maybe run his fingers through his hair. A few droplets ran down his bare chest. "Get it out of your system?"

"I still don't have a real answer," Thena argued. Her eye followed the water, navigating the valley between his pectoral muscles and then winding around the bubble of his abdominals. He really was as strong as he looked.

"Well," he glared at her. She had never challenged him to this extent. Or maybe he just wasn't finding it quite so cute this time. "I have to get it out of my system, so why don't you leave me to it."

Thena rolled her eyes as he disappeared again and she heard the clinking of his belt being undone. Not that she was hanging around hoping to spy on her own husband. But she had to admit that despite the beginnings of their relationship, he had never actually sent her away like this. And she didn't exactly like it.

"I could help if you just let me."

Gil sighed, long and drawn out. She resented the idea that she was exhausting him. He leaned against the closet threshold, "you wanna help?"

She shrugged, looking down at her feet on his bedroom flooring. "Surely I could do something if I just knew what you need."

Gil crossed his arms at her.

She pursed her lips again, not quite wanting to pout and stomp her feet about how he was the one being stubborn (not her). "I did stop you from bleeding out that one time, didn't I?"

"You did," he conceded, not that he sounded happy to do so. He moved closer to her, still with that drawn look on his face, "you really know what you're offering here, sweetheart?"

She looked up at him, ready to defy any possible expectation, "I will when you tell me why you're so worked up."

He sighed again, but rather than skulk away from her again he put his hands on her cheeks. It could almost be cute if she weren't still annoyed with him and feeling more patronised than anything. "My work can be frustrating, sometimes. Gets my blood pumping--especially when my prey escapes before I can...finish the job."

Thena refused to blink at him and his euphemisms. "Did you get injured during this...hunt?"

"No," he laughed off the question, but she felt more like he was laughing at the question itself. "I just need to blow off some steam."

"Well," she furrowed her brows. She couldn't exactly spar with him in the ring or anything, but she could at least hear him out, surely. Maybe it would do him some good to actually talk about what he had on his mind, for once. "I'm here."

"Yeah," he sighed again, "you are."

She didn't even try to hide her offense at how he said it, "sorry my presence interferes with that."

"Quite the opposite."

She just didn't understand what he meant by that. She didn't understand why he couldn't just talk to her, and she especially didn't understand why he couldn't just rely on her for once.

Thena blinked as Gil leaned down and kissed her. He really kissed her --she had maybe never been kissed quite like this in her life. Her eyes drifted closed before she could even think about it. She tried to take in a breath and all that really happened was their mouths moving together. She could almost blame his tongue for intruding in her mouth, until she realised her tongue had gone looking for his, too.

Gil pulled her right against him, sweaty, water dripping down his skin, muscles uncovered.

Thena moaned. She didn't mean to. But she had almost forgotten what it felt like to be embraced like this. She probably had never been held quite like this. This strong an arm at her waist, so strong a hand tangling in her hair at the back of her head.

Gil didn't moan back, but growled again. She had never heard him make that sound before today, and now she was getting a little too used to it. "See?"

"Wh-?" She didn't even get the whole word out. Her jaw dropped loosely as his lips moved to her neck. He moved with absolutely no question or hesitation. He moved like he already knew every inch of her, like her skin was his to kiss.

"See what you're doing to me?" he continued. Why did he have such clarity of thought when she could barely form a single question? "That you're driving me crazy just being this close?"

"I...I...I wasn't..." that thought was never getting completed. Thena moaned again as they started backing up. His hands weren't the only ones moving. Hers were even worse, travelling all over his skin, those muscles, feeling them flex against her touch.

"Fuck." Gil pulled away from her once they hit the bed. He leaned over her, looking like he was more in pain than that time he came home with a stab wound.

Thena stared up at him from sitting on his bed, her head foggy and her breath coming in short bursts.

Gil ran his hand over his face again, leaving it over his eyes this time. "You've gotta go, hon. Before I do something you don't want me to."

Such control. He really was a seasoned boss. But Thena looked from his face, his mouth also open from the need to breathe. His chest was also flexing from their flurry, his flanks were twitching. His trousers weren't far from slipping away without his belt, and there was a growing point of tension below his zipper.

"What if I do want that?"

Gil didn't remove his hand to look at her. But he startled as she leaned up to press her lips to his again. He rose to his full height, out of her reach.

She pulled back, wondering if she was pushing something she shouldn't. He had said that he didn't want to do anything she didn't want, but he could be uncomfortable with this, too. They were still roommates - contractor and contractee, really - and had barely breached the barrier of the odd kiss here and there.

"Thena," he whispered to her, leaning down to her ear. "I am gonna lose it, so I need you to be more sure about this than you've ever been about anything."

She gulped. The clenching feeling below her naval returned, which she had felt when he first came home in this mood. She had even felt it before, if she was being completely honest with herself. "I'm sure."

"You want this," he voiced, hovering around her ear and pulling her hair over her shoulders for her.

"I want this," she affirmed, her eyes drifting closed again as his hands started working on pulling her cardigan off her shoulders.

"You're ready," he prompted her, his hands arriving at the bottom of her blouse underneath. They just barely started pulling it up her waist, "to fuck?"

She bit her lip. She could say no--she really could. He was giving her that option, nothing had happened yet. That bridge wasn't crossed. But she was aching for his touch, and her hands reached for his belt loop. "Yes."

Gil grasped her legs under the knees and maneuvered her with frightening expertise. With a simple twist she was centered on the bed and he was climbing on with her. "I want this."

"I want this," she parroted before his lips were on hers again. He kissed so firmly, just like she would imagine a mob boss to kiss. Did she imagine he was a kisser during sex?

How much had she imagined what kind of lover he would be?

"Fuck, Thena," he snarled. He really allowed his rough and gruff side to come out when he let loose. His body stretched out over hers in the bed, and his cock finally pressed against her as he continued working her out of her clothes.

"Gil," she panted, already feeling more feverish than she wanted to admit just at the implication of having something inside of her. She wasn't without needs. She wouldn't consider them high on her list of needs, but she did have them!

She moaned as the weight of his muscles pressed against her. His bed was perfectly soft and firm, and his sheets were cool on her overheated skin. His hands did away with her shirt and bra cleanly. His hands were firm on her breasts--more firm than she had ever been with them herself, or anyone else in her memory. "Breast man?"

He snorted, apparently not appreciating the label. He made sure her nipples were both sufficiently appreciated before glaring at her. "Not quite."

That only left ass as the alternative, no? Thena didn't manage to think about it much as his mouth travelled down to her skirt. She thought that would get ripped off just as eagerly but he actually worked his way under it. Her hips lifted but he was able to keep her in position with just one of his hands. "Gil!"

He wasted not even a second. Her skirt was up over her hips and her panties were a non issue to his teeth. His mouth was on her just as firmly and borderline aggressive as the rest of his approach. But his technique wasn't ungraced. On the contrary, he was terrifyingly effective.

"Gil, w-wait, I-I-" Thena stammered, her hips rolling and writhing from his relentless attention. It would be too much if it weren't so pleasurable. This, she really hadn't experienced before. His tongue was so devoted to her clitoris that she couldn't be sure she had even exhaled once yet. "I'll-!"

He didn't relent. He licked and suckled and even nibbled a little until she was coming, smashing her hips against his mouth. He was more than strong enough to hold his ground against her whole lower body pushing against him. He seemed to like the challenge, if anything, his whole arm snaked around her to hold her down over the hips.

Thena stared up at the ceiling. She tried to focus her eyes but she wasn't even all that conscious of when they were open or not. It was the first orgasm she had experienced in ages. Even the few she had achieved in her own personal shower - or after the odd dream here and there - were nothing in comparison.

"Good girl," Gil sufficed, sounding like he was thankful for being served a good meal. He emerged, still doing away with her clothes and licking his lips. "I need you good and wet for me."

She hadn't thought that would be a problem from how he was kissing her, Thena thought. She could only imagine what was happening down there after what she had just experienced. But then Gil was lying on top of her again, and his kiss was more gentle and less frenzied.

"Ready for the real thing?"

That somehow implied that what had come already was simply foreplay for him. A means to an end, blowing off steam as he had put it. But he grasped her thigh, guiding it up to make room for him between her legs. She blinked as her eyes managed to focus on him.

"You still feel up to this?"

Thena just blinked. She could feel the stickiness on the insides of her thighs, the way his hand was holding her leg, the width of his hips against her flatter, wider pelvis. She managed to nod.

Gil held her eyes as he pushed into her. She moaned, even whimpered faintly. The way they were positioned, she hadn't exactly managed to get a good look at what he was working with, but it felt nothing short of overwhelming. "Fuck, you take me so well."

Thena tried to catch her breath, but the feeling of him inside of her occupied her with every breath she took. "Y-Y-You...you..."

She couldn't get a single word out.

Gil chuckled, which she could feel from the inside out, a slightly mortifying sensation. But he leaned forward to kiss her forehead, "s'okay, just try to breathe."

She wasn't sure why he was advising her as if she were about to fight for her life. Then he started moving, and her vision went completely white. "Gil!"

The man fucked like a wild animal. He moved like he was a starving man tasting food again. He had been right to ask if she was ready--if she knew what she was offering to do for him. His hips moved steadily, hard and fast, clapping against her flesh loudly.

He had a grin on that she had only glimpsed a taste of a few times. She almost wondered if this was what he looked like when he was working. He was a man in his prime, like this. "Fuck Thena, you're incredible."

"Gil, fuck, I-!" she panted. She couldn't speak, she could barely think. He felt like he was devouring her from the inside out. The movement of him left a trail of fire that reignited every second.

"You good?" he grunted, bringing himself closer to her again. He ran his fingers through her hair, pulling it out of her face just enough without pulling it at the roots. "Feel good?"

"Yes," she panted with her voice at such a high pitch she hadn't known it could do that. It would be embarrassing if she was aware of anything but the feeling of him pounding into her. "Yes!"

He rumbled from inside his chest again. He laid closer, pressing his chest against the bouncing of her breasts. His hair rubbed against her nipples. "That's my girl."

She whined faintly, feeling her body tighten, rounding the bend. She tried to keep her eyes open but it was too much. She dug her nails into his skin, dragged them down, and it didn't seem to affect him in the least. If anything, he seemed amused by it.

"That's it, enjoy yourself, makes it hotter."

Thena's jaw dropped open and her loudest moan yet escaped her. She had never experienced the act of sex quite like this. Was it because it was Gil, because it was her husband, because it was the roughest sex she'd ever had? Maybe the answer was all three. "S-So hard!"

He chuckled, which made both of their abdomens shudder. His voice come through next to her ear like a boom of thunder. "Sorry, sweetheart, but this is me going easy."

Thena's vision blurred as she imagined her pupils blowing so wide she really would see white. Her voice came out in a harried flurry of sounds as his hips moved even faster.

"Fuck," he gritted his teeth, finally reaching the point he'd pushed her too almost as soon as they were connected. "You're so good, so wet. You better come soon, honey, 'cause I'm gonna fuckin' explode in you."

She felt as if she were exploding already. "Yes, Gil, fuck, coming--coming so good."

He looked at her again, forcing her eyes back to him. He tilted her head, his thumb on her chin and even pulling her lower lip down faintly to nip at it. She didn't hear his words so much as swallow them. "Come for me like a good girl."

Thena's whole body contracted, as if every muscle she possessed could be pulled into her center like a black hole. Then it reversed, waves of warmth undoing that coil and releasing endorphins through every nerve ending right down to her toes. Her hips slammed against the bed, her core gripping Gil inside of her, greedily refusing to let go. She had never moaned like this, come like this, felt so thoroughly fucked like this before.

Gil moaned just as he came, his head next to her ear, his hand dragging through her hair spread out over the pillows around them. His hips rolled against hers, drawing out his own orgasm as he shot into her more times than she would have expected for a man his age (not that he would appreciate her thinking that).

Thena tried to close her mouth, but between moaning and gasping for air, she just couldn't, especially as she felt his cum spreading through her internally. Her hips quivered as he pulled himself out of her, already feeling the absence of his girth.

Gilgamesh groaned, sated and satisfied. Rather than collapse on top of her, he leaned up on his knees over her, his cock slowly settling to its normal state. It was the first she was really seeing it, and it wasn't anything to scoff at even after their fervor.

She blinked as Gil cleared his throat. She felt as if her eyes took their good, sweet time dragging up his body to his face again. His face came into focus as if she had lights blaring right into her eyes, but it was just her post-orgasm haze. Something else she had never really experience before.

"Hey," he whispered, and she now realised, repeated. He finally laid down again, moving her hair with more tenderness and less desperation. "You okay?"

"Hm," she just barely managed, not that she could blame him for not knowing how to receive that sound as a response. But she didn't have the words yet. And even if she did, would she really want to be telling him she had never been fucked so good, come so hard, been so satisfied? Didn't seem like something she would want to feed his ego.

He seemed to draw his own conclusion anyway, chuckling from his belly. He moved around a bit, which Thena eventually came to understand was him pulling the covers out from under her and over them, the way blankets should be.

Thena sighed as she felt her cheek press against Gil's chest. Part of her wondered if she should try to find her clothes, return to her room downstairs so she didn't have to wake up in any kind of state.

But Gil wrapped his arms around her solidly, sighing much more happily than he had been before. "Man, that was good."

Wouldn't be her exact choice of words, but she did have to agree.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked her again, because through the haze of being a pent up mob boss, he was still Gilgamesh, her husband.

She really did want to express that she was satisfied, if surprised. She didn't have any regrets, and actually quite enjoyed it, even if she wasn't sure where this left them. But all that actually happened was her sighing just as contentedly.

Gil took that however he needed to, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Get some sleep."

She could ask him if he was going to be here with her when she woke. Would he get up and go to work as normal and leave her to show herself out? That was the kind of thing she might have imagined in the beginning.

Back in the beginning, when she would hate to admit to herself that she was imagining what kind of man her husband was. Imagining if he would be a firm but gentle lover, if he would throw her on the table and take her as he liked. Imagining if she would like that.

Now, she knew that she did like it, at least this, and at least for now. And that she didn't have to be so afraid to push back when Gilgamesh was trying to distance himself. Because apparently all that would happen would be them consummating their 'contract' like rabbits.

[zerozerozio]

bring back tumblr ask culture let me. bother you with questions and statements

[boimann]

reblog to let people know it's ok to bother you with questions and statements

[nsquaredzs]

I Remember

Thena's memory is gone, Gilgamesh helps her remember.

Based off the song Need 2 by Pinegrove

Thena stirred, her light blonde hair spewed across the pillow. Gilgamesh was still asleep in the chair next to the bed, his head resting against his arm. When he heard the soft rustle of sheets he immediately shot up, only to open his eyes to a certain weapon made of cosmic energy pointed at him. Gilgamesh immediately sat up straight, holding his hands up as to not alarm her.

"Woah, woah! Thena wait-" He was cut short by the weapon inching closer to him. Thena was breathing heavily, her pupils dilated as she held her defensive stance.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Thena demanded, still gripping her weapon, although she faltered when she caught a good glimpse of Gilgamesh. Why did her brain recognize him?

Gilgamesh said softly. "I'm not here to hurt you, Thena." He slowly approached her, causing her to back away.

"Stay back! I said stay back!" She snarled, the urge to use her weapon very high, but something was stopping her from doing so. Gilgamesh had successfully cornered her, slowly raising his hand towards her.

"Can you hold your hand up for me, Thena?" He spoke in that same soft tone, slowly convincing her to draw her weapon back. Something about his tone, his held out hand felt strangely familiar to Thena, making her falter once again. "Thena?" She tilted her head up to meet his, his hand still outstretched towards her. After a moment, she hesitantly lifted her hand to meet his, intertwining their fingers.

A warm feeling filled her stomach, though she could not explain why. Gilgamesh let out a soft chuckle, still keeping their hands connected.

"There you go, at least some of you is still here."

He guided her back to the bed, settling her onto it before sitting next to her. Thena was confused, to say the least. Who was this man, why did his touch make her feel this way? Seeing her confused expression, Gilgamesh found it appropriate to start explaining.

"You're probably wondering who I am, where you are, etcetera. Well, it's quite a long story but I'll try my best to explain it."

As he started to speak, Thena nodded her head along, half listening to him and half staring at their conjoined hands. His thumb was stroking her knuckles, sending tingles up her arm.

Gilgamesh let out a chuckle, "Hey, eyes up here, you listening?" Thena head suddenly jerked up, snapped out of whatever daze she was in before. Her face flushed a soft pink, earning another chuckle out of him.

"As I was saying... After your Mah'd Wy'ry had ended, Ajax thought it was best to wipe your memories to release the burden you were holding. After a group consensus, everybody agreed and Ajax had given you a clean slate."

Thena didn't know how to respond, mostly because she was still processing the information. A clean slate? Mah'd Wy'ry? Why did nobody fight against wiping her clean? As her brain reeled in the information, Gilgamesh could see she was getting overwhelmed.

"Eh- sorry, shouldn't have unloaded all that on you when you first woke up... Here, why don't I make you something to eat?" He stood to get off the bed, only for his hand to be tugged at by hers.

"No. Stay, please." Thena pleaded softly, pulling him back towards the bed. Gilgamesh, like putty in her hands, obviously complied. As he settled back against the bed, Thena squeezed his hand, moving closer to lay her head on his shoulder.

After a moment, Thena spoke up, "...I remember you."

His head perked up, looking at her incredulously. "Remember me? But Ajax had told us she wiped all of your memories-?"

Thena shook her head, her eyes staring into his. "Something about you triggers memories in me. I don't know how or why, but you help me remember things."

Gilgamesh paused before giving her a watery smile, pulling her into a loose hug.

"There's my Thena, I knew you were still in there." Thena paused before reciprocating the hug, engulfing herself in his warmth. They both didn't want this moment to end. Despite Thena's memories being gone and her being more dependent on Gilgamesh than ever, he was just happy to have her back. His Thena.

[softquietsteadylove]

Hii bestie, how are you?

Can i ask for one where gil is taking care of an exhausted thena, just some cutsey content ☺️.

Gil squinted, leaning out the window of the cafeteria kitchen. He knew the supply team would be back by now. Sometimes Thena skipped getting in line first to shower before she ate. Less chance of running into people, as she put it.

But she was at the end of the line, just kind of...standing there. She even seemed to be swaying a little. Gil watched as someone appeared to nudge her from behind and she, realising the line was moving, shuffled along.

"Sorry, I gotta go," he muttered to the others in the kitchen. He wasn't on clean up duty tonight, and he was mostly just waiting for Thena to get back to take his meal and eat with her.

He rushed out the side door, forgetting both their meals for the moment. He was more focused on the woman barely even on her feet as she again failed to realise the line was moving.

Thena barely even blinked as he took her hand and guided her gently out of line. Her eyes dragged up to his slowly, her lids heavy, hair damp from her shower. "Gil?"

"Hey," he whispered to her, pulling her away from the masses. The line didn't mind at all, bunching up to take up her absence. He looked down at her, brushing some hair away from her cheek. "You okay?"

She inhaled and nodded, but even just that spoke to how exhausted she was. Her hands were in the pockets of the cream colored cardigan she had secured for herself. "Are you done for the night?"

"Yeah," he muttered with a frown. Thena was swaying again. He put his hand at her back, "I think you should go to right to bed."

"I'm fine," she did her best to excuse, not that it was all that effective when she could barely keep her eyes open. She lifted one foot and tilted right into his chest.

"Okay, come on," he grunted, swinging her legs up into the crook of his arm. "You're getting off your feet right now."

"Gil," Thena whispered to him with a bit of a hiss to it. Sure, she would let him cling to her after a run all he wanted, but she got embarrassed when it came to the act of actually carrying her to and fro. Her knees knocked together. "You don't have to carry me!"

He tried to give her a stern look, although the more people noticed them the more abashed Thena became. She eventually pressed her face right into his shoulder to ignore the gaze of onlookers.

He continued to carry her right out of the cafeteria, making their way to their room. He could get some food into her later, or cook up an extra big breakfast for them in the morning. Part of him still believed that the runners should get extra food rations given all that they did, but they hit the road with standard lunches, sandwiches and trail mix.

If it were up to him, Thena would get first pick of whatever she wanted.

He smiled at an older couple on their way for their own dinner. He chuckled while Thena groaned, the couple muttering about how 'you used to be romantic like that' just loud enough to be heard.

By the time they reached their room, she was almost dead weight in his arms. Not that it was really any weight at all. But he couldn't take it for granted--knowing where their next meal was coming from. Even the sandwiches she got to take with her was better than them digging up worms to eat at the worst of times.

Gil pulled one of the curtains. They had moved their little hospital beds together, leaving the curtains to be more decorative. Everyone had covers in their windows anyway, but it was the feeling of privacy that really mattered.

A thunk startled him, but he turned to see Thena just barely managing to lazily get her boots untied. One had already fallen to the ground, and she was blinking at the other one, unable to process how to un-knot it.

He smiled. It wasn't often he saw the apex predator in this state. He knelt down, standing up her other boot properly and pulling her sock off to rest her foot on his shoulder.

Thena let him take over for her, untying her other shoe and pulling it off for her. Her ankles were so slim, her feet so delicate. She squirmed as he ran his palm up her leg.

He smiled against her skin. She said she didn't like him touching her 'peach fuzz', as he called it. He thought it was cute.

Gil pressed his lips to the inside of her knee.

She looked down at him, still hanging onto consciousness for all she was worth. "You're in a mood tonight."

He rested his cheek on her knee for just a second. It was almost enough to imagine something different for them. A world in which he could do this for her and not have it be because she was exhausted from mowing down zombies all day. Would she just be tired after a day at the office? Would she still let him carry her to bed and braid her hair?

Would they even know each other?

Thena leaned back as he rose to his feet again. She swayed a little too far, but he caught her hands in his, weaving their fingers together. Her head tilted and he kissed her cheek. "Gil, really-"

"Let's get you out of those clothes," he whispered to her, still maintaining the gentle atmosphere within their little world of a hospital room. He moved around the side of the bed, more hearing the drawers open than watching. He pulled his shirt over his head while he heard the rustling of Thena's clothes as well.

He had once offered to step outside the curtain, and Thena had outright laughed. She thought it was so precious of him to care about her privacy. But it wasn't just the gesture of it, or trying to be a gentleman or whatever else she thought.

Thena had such a rare beauty in this decaying world. He just wanted to protect it. She could lack shyness about changing around him all she wanted. It was always she who would insist it was perfectly safe to bathe in whatever lakes or rivers they found.

Even if she would wade in with some clothing still on, Gil always stood watch. If anyone had been around they would know they would have to get through him - and one hell of a fight - to get to her, he always reasoned.

"You good?" he asked, turning just his head a little over his shoulder at first. He tugged at his t-shirt and sweatpants. "Thena?"

She was nodding off again, her arms in her sleeping shirt while her own t-shirt was still on. She didn't even jerk awake so much as straighten slightly as he woke her again. "Hm?"

"I'm gonna help you, sweetheart." He moved behind her and pulled the sleep shirt away from her. His hands landed at her waist, "put your arms up."

She barely managed that, and they mostly swayed back and landed around his shoulders.

Gil pressed his nose to the back of her neck as he pulled her shirt up and off her. He kept his eyes closed as he snapped the back of her bra open. "Get this off for me."

She complained faintly at how much she had to move her arms to do so. But he ran his hands from her wrists to her elbows, encouraging her to wrap them around herself.

He just barely cracked his eyes open, only catching the pale expanse of her bare back in the candlelight. Unable to resist, he bent to press a kiss to the top of her spine. That did make her twitch, and there was no hiding how she gasped with no other noise in the room to mask it. He chuckled at how the back of her neck turned pink.

Gil didn't bother moving her arms again, basically pulling the new shirt over her head and popping her head through the neck. "There we go."

Thena arranged her arms into the sleeves as need be for herself. Now that she was in some softer clothes she was just barely hanging on.

Gil braided her damp hair over her shoulder, mostly for routine's sake. She didn't like it getting her back wet while she was sleeping, and if it was over her shoulder, then it wasn't in the way of him holding her.

He knelt on the bed, and she leaned back into him completely in the same movement. It was easy to slide them both onto their sides. Although rather than let him spoon her right away, Thena fought to twist herself at the waist to look at him.

She was ethereal, soft in the haze of sleep, cheeks flushed.

They both inhaled as their noses touched. He pressed a kiss to her cheek first. Her head moved, encouraging and asking but leaving it up to him to cross that bridge. He obliged, taking her lips in his as gently as possible.

"Get some sleep," he whispered, and his breath made her eyelashes flutter.

He turned her around again, grasping her shoulders, pressing her back to his chest. She always sighed when he did that, he liked to think in relief. Her frame was so slight compared to his. Maybe he imagined that feeling him right there with her could help her feel safe.

His mind always went back to the early days of travelling together. Facing the world in the state it was in, facing whatever remained of it together. And the nights of campfires or sleeping in the odd vehicle. Really, what he treasured was remembering her snuggling up to him, quietly, silently, hoping he was asleep and wouldn't even know.

The quiet shyness of her slipping into the side of his arm or shimmying up to the middle of his back--those were his favourite memories.

"I love you."

He wasn't sure if she would remember saying it. She seemed pretty far gone, more exhausted than he had ever really seen her before. But he pressed his lips to her shoulder, curling around her in every way he could, from letting her press her much colder feet against his, to his knee in the bend of hers to his arm around her waist.

The world would have to go through him, and one hell of a fight, to get to her. "I love you too, Thena."

She was already asleep by the time 'love' was out of his mouth.

[peachdoxie]

I love characters who are extremely hypercompetent and simultaneously massive losers