With the information he had learnt from his little faceless shadow, Phobetor had wasted no time obtaining what he believed to be the perfect gift for his little puppy. Sure, he might be able to think of something better if he thought for longer, but given that the holiday was apparently today, time wasn’t really on his side for that. Regardless, he had a feeling that Nick would enjoy the gift.
With a flurry of black feathers, the god flew into Nick’s room, swift wings carrying him so quickly that he seemed to just suddenly appear in the room. Allowing his wings to dissolve, Phobetor softly landed on the ground and took a few hops forward to get closer to Nick. “Puuuuppyyyyy~! Guess what a little shadow told me. Apparently it’s a holiday today in the mortal world. Something that starts with V, I didn’t care to remember the actual name. Though you probably know about it though, since you live here and all that. But the shadow also suggested something reaaaaally interesting.”
While Phobetor had seemed to be nothing but a flurry of activity in the few seconds that he had already been there, it was quite easy to notice that his hands were not joining in that rush of movement. In fact, both of his hands were hidden behind his back, though they were soon brought forward to reveal an object wrapped up in white linen. “They told me that couples give each other stuff like chocolate, flowers and jewelry on this day. I figured that getting a cute puppy like yourself chocolate wasn’t the best idea, and I already got you flowers…. technically. And just giving jewelry is boring, so I decided to do something better.”
Tail waving in excitement, the god held out the present for Nick to take, waiting for the hound to unwrap the linen. His gift wasn’t one that would even normally be considered as a present for any occasion—let alone as a show of his apparent love—but something told him that Nick would still be quite surprised to see a beautifully decorated metal scabbard and dagger when he opened the last fold.
“It’s kind of ancient, back from waaaaay before you were created, but it’s still in good condition. I figured it might be more useful as a stabbing weapon than your scissors.”
Nick was trying to focus on reading through the file for his latest assignment, but on this particular day, he was finding himself too distracted by other thoughts to focus properly on his work.
Immortality typically didn’t allow for lasting relationships, but in spite of this, it was the first Valentine’s Day in a very long time that Nick felt a little…lonely. He’d never really been bothered by the day, as it was often easy to find someone he could spend his evening with. Humans had commercialized the holiday to such a degree that he rarely gave it a thought other than that, but this year was different. This year, he couldn’t just pick someone to have dinner with or to tempt into bed. Loyal as he was, he didn’t want to find anyone else to be his partner for the day, and he was beginning to think he would need to call out to a certain god to get a visit.
…Granted, Valentine’s Day wasn’t a typical holiday he would expect the god to know about, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to spend time with Phobetor on what most mortals considered to be a special day. He was being selfish, perhaps, but he hardly cared.
Just as he was about to give up on concentrating on his work, the fastest rustle of feathers he’d ever heard—followed by an all-too familiar voice—had him whirling around in his chair to face the sounds. Eyes wide with shock, he stared at the other male in his room, slowly processing the fact that Phobetor was here and he hadn’t even needed to ask. He’d heard of prayers being answered before, but this was on a whole other level.
He was equally shocked that the god knew about Valentine’s Day, and not only that, had made the extra effort to bring him a gift! Open-mouthed, he stared down at the bundle of white linen for a moment before accepting it, and the unexpected weight of it in his hands quickly transformed his surprise into excited curiosity. One hand worked to unfold the cloth while the other held onto it, and as he lifted up the final fold to reveal the dagger in its scabbard, his eyes lit up with wonder and glee.
It was gorgeous.
The detailed metalwork was unlike any he could ever hope to find on a typical dagger in modern times, and he reverently ran a few fingers down the side of the scabbard before carefully drawing out the dagger. The blade itself took his breath away for a moment, the gasp easily audible from anywhere in his room. Even the blade was beautiful—and it looked exceedingly deadly, which made it even more perfect. Moving as quickly has he trusted himself to do while still being careful, he sat the scabbard and linen cloth down on his desk. One hand now free, he gingerly ran a finger down the side of the sharp metal and shivered with excitement and anticipation, already imagining it in use by his hand.
“I have no idea how you got your hands on this, but I won’t ask. It’s perfect, not to mention beautiful. My scissors are custom-made, so they’re still better than most…but I guess I can admit that dagger will be far better for stabbing than they are. Thank you.” His smile wide, he carefully returned the dagger to its sheath, if only to give himself two free hands for showing his gratitude. His arms looped around the god’s waist, and he leaned in closer, bringing their lips together. He may not have asked for permission this time, but it should be allowed without complaint, he thought, since it was one way of saying ‘thank you’ for his present.
“Ah—I didn’t get you anything since this isn’t a day you would normally celebrate. I didn’t even think you knew about the holiday. But…if you’re not too tired, we can go on a date if you want.”
After accepting such an exquisite gift, his pride wouldn’t rest if he didn’t try to offer something he considered valuable in return. An idea of what he could do that might count as a gift—besides a date, that is—occurred to him, but he was reluctant to say it. He was a creature made from pride. It would go directly against the larger part of his nature to even offer it, yet he was also an immortal naturally loyal and—to an extent—subservient to those he deemed worthy, and Phobetor certainly fell into that category.
It was a matter of which he was willing to cope with more—accepting the gift and giving nothing in return, or his little idea. Since this was for Phobetor and the day was supposed to be about spending time with and giving to someone he loved… Perhaps he’d been living with humans for too long, but he knew what his heart wanted him to do.
Sighing softly, he pulled away, but only so that he could move down onto one knee. He reached for one of Phobetor’s hands with his own, placing a gentle, affectionate kiss on the back of it, then looked up to lock eyes with the god. “I wouldn’t offer this to just anyone, but for you and for today only, I’ll be nothing but obedient. I’ll do whatever you want without complaining about it, and you can say or do whatever you want and I won’t complain or talk back. Don’t get used to it, but just for today… If you want to take advantage of it, enjoy it. I won’t go back on this offer, I swear.”
