#faiswriting

[wizardsymmetry]

i've had brain worms about this au for weeks sorry if someone's already said it i truly cant remember seeing anything about it but:

cletho. gorgon!cleo and living-statue/weeping-angel!etho. HEAR ME OUT ‼️

cleo stumbles upon their ruins when they're a younger gorgon and she finds a few statues already there. a few are generic statues of nobles, some are works of art, but none compare to the masked angel. he stands, imposing over all the others in a pose with his sword to the sky. he looks the most detailed and lifelike of all, a true wonder. cleo stares at him for hours at a time, memorizes his every chip and swoop. what they don't know is, when they settle down for the night, their valiant angel awakens, feeling no eyes on him, and studies her as well. protects her from the monsters who would attempt to enter the ruins cleo has claimed, studies her facial features, is mesmerized by their hair. how long before cleo notices her lovely winged soldier isn't always in the same position down to the millimeter, or before our rogue man slips up?

[wizardsymmetry]

THERE they sat, on the snow covered steps of her home. well, as much as abandoned ruins could be a home. the chill of the winter had been getting to her recently, reminding them of the bone-deep loneliness that comes with being a gorgon.

gently wiping the frost off their snakes, she made her way back to the only solace to her cold and stormy mind. the smallest ray of sunshine and company, but it was enough for them. tucked away where nobody could hurt him, they had hidden their knight in valiant stone.

oh, how could she tire of that face? whether he be a man who met a fate similar to the souls who stumbled upon their ruins, or a piece of art sculpted with the finest tools and the steadiest hand, she would thank every god in the universe that he is with her now. in the bleakness of the empty wilds around the ruins, his grey complexion mesmerized them and made them dream of happier days.

...

HE watched as she came back, as she always does, to the nook he had come to know as his home. he knows they didn't hide him out of fear or shame, but out of possessiveness. his poor gorgon, always worried something or someone would lay harm to him.

how he wishes he could reach out a hand and reassure them. to say 'look here, nothing could hurt me as long as i can look into your beautiful eyes. as long as i can see your gorgeous smile, feels your skin beneath my stone for just a moment.' alas, it would be dangerous.

to do so would break the very oath he had taken to guard these lands. but oh, maybe it would be worth it. would he truly regret being struck down by the gods, if he could hold them for just a moment? feel the softness of her lips against his? feel the warmth of their skin, heated with the blood that pumps through her?

he lets himself dream of days with her. of protecting them, of the rare feeling of being protected by someone back. of watching over them while they slept, caressing her head and pressing gentle, stone-cold kisses to her eyelids to wish them a peaceful sleep. if only...