#Gil and Druig are in there constantly

[softquietsteadylove]

01 - Modern AU

"Druig, you'll be fine-"

But Druig uses both hands to catch Gil by the - massive - arm before he can try to walk off yet again. "Oh, no'y'don't. You said you'd help and you're damn well gonna."

Gilgamesh rolls his eyes as Druig continues to drag him towards the bookshop. It's a cute little place, just a shop in a building that's clearly just an old house. It's so picturesque it's cliche. "Do you really need my help just talking to this girl? And what am I supposed to do?--just stand off to the side and give you the thumbs up?"

"No, what you're going to do is linger so you can get me outta there if I get carried away."

"I'm sure you're not that bad."

"I was in on tuesday and I almost told her she's brighter than the sun itself."

Maybe he does need the help.

Gil pushes the door open gently and heads right into the depths of the shelves. They've really crammed as much as they can into the minimal little space. It adds to the feel of it, though, he thinks. He wanders around a corner, just enough to catch sight of Druig slinking up the front counter and talking to a petite but bouncy woman who must be his 'beautiful, beautiful Makkari'.

"Can I help you?"

Gil startles so completely he nearly trips into the shelf. They're not a chain store, and they're just regular wooden shelves, not exactly bolted into the floor. It starts to tip and he rushes to plant it to the floor again. "S-Sorry, sorry!"

He knows that everyone must be looking at him. But he can only see the woman staring at him. She looks thoroughly unamused, but he has a sneaking suspicion that she had that look on before he almost destroyed half the store.

"Do you need help finding something?" she asks again for the sake of it, in case her first question got lost in him making an idiot of himself.

"Uh, no, I'm okay," he makes an attempt to smile at her. She continues to stare at him with eyes that look like some kind of gem or jewel he doesn't know the name of. They're mesmerising.

"If you insist." She speaks like she's from the 19th century. But that also kinds of adds to the feel of it, Gil thinks. And, like a man possessed, he drifts out of the section with her as she leaves him to his fumbling.

"I'm Gil," he says quietly, feeling as if he's chasing a ghost around as he tries to get just one more look at her. "I'm, uh, here with a friend."

She comes to a halt and turns to him sharply. Her hair sways around her, and the words 'brighter than the sun' echo in Gil's head. Maybe Druig was right: it is dangerous to come in here. "You're here with Druig."

"Uh," Gil glances over his shoulder again. Druig is chatting with his favourite shop clerk, both of them smiling and hands flying quickly. "You know him?"

The ghostly woman finally cracks a smile, and Gil realises that her lips have a unique bend to them, and also that he is staring far too intently. She looks at him and he tries to seem less taken with her. "I have been trying to watch their interactions subtly."

"You're spying on them too?" Gil beams, and her smile only grows. That's it, he thinks; he's done for. He steps in closer, lowering his voice to a complete whisper, "Druig asked me to come with him for the confidence. He really likes her, and he has a habit of letting his mouth get ahead of his thoughts."

She laughs faintly at the description of him. "Yes, I was here when he first met her and told her she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen."

Gil can't even blame him, now. He's looking at the very same problem, himself.

"It's charming, though," she tilts her head to glimpse at them again. Her fondness soaks through her, helping the rigid edges she carries around. When she turns back to him she lets out a breath. "I'm Thena."

"Thena," he repeats to himself, feeling himself smile as he says it. This is exactly the kind of thing he would like to avoid, but she doesn't seem put off by it.

"I'm sorry I startled you," she offers a smaller smile and a faint purse of her lips. "I can't neglect a customer just because I'm trying to keep my eye on them."

"Ah, that's okay. Druig didn't mention anyone else works here."

"I believe he only has eyes for Kari," Thena smiles, leading them around another corner and looking over at them with those eyes of hers. "She has been looking forward to him coming in again."

"Yeah?" Gil can't help but smile as he follows Thena into the back of the room.

Thena nods, positioning herself just so to keep an eye on the target. Gil tucks himself beside her, trying not to look conspicuous. "Told me all about this very nice guy who came in three days in a row for poetry editions. I asked if it was the dour one who looked like he was in a band."

Gil lets out a laugh that is definitely too loud for the confined space, let alone a sleepy little bookstore. He slaps a hand over his mouth to contain himself. He looks at Thena, ready to apologise, but she's trying to contain her own laughter. He lifts his hand just a little. "Sorry."

Thena shakes her head, lips pinched together as she tries to keep quiet. "It's a nice laugh."

Gil turns as red as the hoodie Makkari has tied around her waist.

"It's far too quiet in here anyway," Thena continues, maybe rushes out. She brushes something off her soft white cardigan.

"Oi, Gil!"

He's never been more mad at Druig in his life, he thinks. He sighs, not hiding his frustration at all. Thena smiles at him and follows as he drags himself up to the front counter. He looks between the two lovebirds, smiling and practically giggling at each other. "You manage?"

"Yep, got what I need," Druig smiles with his teeth, holding up a tiny little edition, although Gil can clearly see the receipt sticking out of it with part of a name, a phone number and an address on it. "Although, if you wanna stay-"

"Great," Gil rushes, feeling heat creep up the back of his neck again. He offers a smile at Makkari, who waves. He looks back at Thena, who's stepped behind the counter next to her. "It was nice talking with you."

"And you," she smiles back at him. "Come back any time."

"Yeah?" he asks, and feels like a dumbass for it. But he can't help but look forward to the next time he gets to see her.

Geez, Thena, Makkari grins up at her, inviting him to come again? Just ask him to marry you, why don't'cha?

Thena glares at the shorter woman, her cheeks colouring ever so faintly.

Gil doesn't know what she said, or why Druig is also grinning like a maniac. But he just knows that he's willing to buy every book in here one by one if it means he can see her again.

He's even worse than Druig.

[siempre-bucky]

Not me thinking that is time to watch "It" as a family with Druig and Orla

Dad!Druig x Reader

Summary: You and Druig reluctantly let your 8-year old watch IT

LISTTEENNNNNN. I will never pass up an opportunity to write about dad!Druig. a lil hurt/comfort for you

Orla was 8 when she first approached you and Druig about watching the movie

she insisted that she watched it because Kingo told her it was one of the greatest movies ever made and he would know, he's an actor.

"Should we let her watch it?" you ask your husband that night after she went to sleep

Druig was the one who Googled it

of course, Orla insisted on the 2017 remake

"I can easily make this whole thing go away, she won't remember it," Druig offered as he looked at the poster

you grimaced as you looked at the costumed clown

"We agreed on no mind control."

"That's before she wanted to watch a movie about a killer clown," he grumbles

the next morning over one of Gil's famous breakfasts you both sat down with her

Orla adjusts her pink headband and fixes her gaze on her parents

"So...can I watch it?" she asks hopefully

"Baby, we just don't want you to get scared," you say softly, pushing around the berries on your French toast

Orla lowers her eyebrows, "A Deviant attacked our home and you're worried about a movie, Mom?"

and that's how the child ended up sitting in between you and Druig on the couch

"Do you think she'll be ok?" Druig thinks, opening up a connection into your mind

"Well, she was right about the Deviant, my love."

Druig frowns and roughly presses a few buttons on the remote to start the movie

Druig would constantly look down at her to make sure she was ok

noticing every twitch, every sound, and expression she made

"Jesus Christ," you groan, looking away as you see Pennywise wave a bloody arm

Orla just laughed at you

by the end of the movie, Druig had a face of stone, an unreadable expression

you had a strong grimace, your lips in a deep frown

Orla on the other hand was grinning from ear to ear

"That was so good!" she sighed happily, her head colliding with the back of the couch

"Alright time for bed," you managed, tapping her on the thigh

3am rolled around and Druig was still wide awake, waiting for the moment Orla walked into your room, the fear of the movie finally catching up to her

and when he didn't he quietly left the room

he gently opened the door to her bedroom

his ears were met with sniffles and muffled cries

Orla hanging off the side of her bed to check underneath it

"Orla," he whispers

the girl yelps and jumps at the sound of his deep voice

Druig rushes over and scoops her up in his arms, one of his and cradling the back of her head "What happened?" he asks as he sits on the side of the bed

"I-I had a bad dream," she cried, "you and mom were right."

Druig closes his eyes and exhales deeply, his fingers scratching her head, "It's ok, it's ok," he coos. "It's not real."

"But the Deviants are! Daddy, they're going to come back and take you."

Druig's heart stopped for a moment

his head dipping lower to see her bury her head in the crook of his neck, her hands grasping at his white t-shirt

Pennywise was just a catalyst to her real feelings

it had been 2 years since the Deviants returned

it was the first time she saw her parents fight in combat

the first time she thought they could die

"Look at me, my dear," he tells her softly, peeling her off his chest

she looks up at him with teary eyes "Nothing can take me away from you."

she wipes her eyes and reluctantly nods, "Are you sure?"

"Very sure."

Orla leans in to hug him tightly, " I don't think I can sleep again, Daddy."

he whispers a quick 'sorry' as he thinks of you and your agreement

Druig let his eyes turn gold

the girl becomes slack in his arms, her eyes closed shut

Druig laid her down and covered her up with her soft blanket, placing her favorite stuffed animal in her arms

[geminirum]

hot take: druig is a plant dad 🪴

*also, this edit contains some innuendos so heads up. i have no idea where it came from but yeah*

———

liked by simplymakkari, heyimphastos, spriteintoaction and 826 others

itsdruig: plant dad by day, dog dad by night 🪴🐶💚

simplymakkari: don’t be shy… move the dog

itsdruig: oh you’d love that, wouldn’t you beautiful? ;)

heyimphastos: um- are we witnessing your sexual tension over instagram comments… i-

spriteintoaction: oh to see without my eyes

officialkingo: me googling how to delete someone else’s comment

therealeros: i think its sweet

missthena: of course YOU would, your name is literally eros

liked by missthena, cookingwithgil, therealeros and 78 others

itsdruig: me & gil 🤝 appreciating the fine food in life

spriteintoaction: how cute, our brother in law finally teaching you how to cook

missthena: yes because all you were good at was eating the food we made

itsdruig: i have a refined pallet

simplymakkari: can you make me some pasta the next time i come over?

itsdruig: i would literally buy you a restaurant if you asked me to

liked by lovesersi, officiallyikaris, officialkingo and 100 others

itsdruig: makkari being obsessed with my hands for 100 decades straight

simplymakkari: hands are the most attractive part of the body and i can tell you why

officiallyikaris: for the sake of everyone, please do it privately. we don’t need to know

lovesersi: lets talk about how talented druig is! brilliant work, love how everything you own is black

officialkingo: do you own any colourful stuff?

itsdruig: no.

liked by guidingajak, simplymakkari, heyimphastos and 89 others

itsdruig: broke people should never laugh 😔

guidingajak: would you look at that. potential in-laws hanging out together, how sweet

spriteintoaction: UM- did ajak just- !!!?!?!??!

spriteintoaction: potential drukkari wedding confirmed ✅

itsdruig: if we were to get married, we’d elope

simplymakkari: easy and efficient ^

cookingwithgil: does no one want to mention the fact that now they BOTH indirectly confirmed it

liked by simplymakkari, lovesersi, missthena and 2k others

itsdruig: its time to talk about the greatest image that’s ever been posted on the internet… EVER. the first time i saw it, it altered my brain chemistry, and i’ve never quite been the same person

simplymakkari: not me blushing over a caption

itsdruig: do you need anything my queen? kisses, hugs, cuddles? i love you, my moon, my stars, my everything ☝🏻❤️

therealeros: just a girlboss and her malewife

officialkingo: y’know… whenever someone in your family gets a partner, you hope that they’ll be good to them. you’re too much, man… i do NOT need to constantly see the pda you have with my sister

lovesersi: oh so you two are in LOVE, love… 👀

itsdruig: no actually, we’re just good friends

liked by spriteintoaction, officiallyikaris, danewhitman and 67 others

itsdruig: before you all ask, yeah i do boxing it helps me let me aggression out

itsdruig: @/officiallyikaris you’re the number one cause of this aggression

cookingwithgil: alright i’ll admit, that was good ^

danewhitman: sersi is next to me and the laugh she let out was the funniest thing i’ve ever heard

itsdruig: thank you, finally appreciating my comedic talents

liked by missthena, officialkingo, heyimphastos and 1k others

itsdruig: happy bday kid (tagged: spriteintoaction)

spriteintoaction: hey everyone, today my brother pissed me off so i’m starting a kickstarter to put him down. the benefits of killing him would be i’d be pissed off way less :)

officiallyikaris: 💳💥💳💥💳💥💳💥💳💥

missthena: i don’t understand how we all haven’t murdered one another yet. happy birthday kiddo!

officialkingo: did sprite receive my gift?

spriteintoaction: yes thank you so much kingo for your gift. i always wanted an entire boxed set of every movie you’ve ever been in

heyimphastos: kids man, they’re interesting

itsdruig: i know. being an animal parent is hard

heyimphastos: raising a human and animal are two very different things

simplymakkari: idk, but he’d still be a dilf regardless

itsdruig: oh yes, honey ;)

[softquietsteadylove]

Who do you think is Ajaks favorite child?

So, Ajak would say that she loves all her children equally. She would never have favourites!

But yes she does and it's Sersi--hear me out!

It's not just the picking her to take over as Prime, because that's obvious. But I'm talking about how I think Sersi is the most human of all the Eternals.

Ajak loves all her kids. They function all together, as a family, even the cantankerous Druig and stubborn Ikaris and prickly Thena. Ajak wouldn't change anything about them.

But Sersi is different. From the moment they first awaken Ajak knows Sersi has insatiable curiosity, and passion, and love for all she does. Ajak sees how much Sersi loves life in all its forms and admires it, maybe even envies how much more freely Sersi can love without the burden of the truth weighing on her.

Ikaris is her secondhand, and he knows all that she does (mostly). He becomes a confidante to her in a way none of her other children are. And yet this ultimately dooms them both to never actually being able to depend on each other in an emotionally healthy way. Both are a pillar of the irrevocable truth and fear how it will crush their family if they move from that.

But that's why I think Thena's role in this is so fascinating (my bias is showing, I'm well aware). Because Thena also knows the truth, on some level, even from the beginning. It can be argued even before then--maybe she always gets Mahd Wy'ry, maybe she always remembers the horrors that they facilitate in their missions.

Ajak knows this. That's why she suggests erasing Thena, because she really does love her, and she knows firsthand the burden of knowledge. Thena already had wisdom, it's the knowledge that really endangered her.

I also think that's why Druig's relationship to Thena is so much deeper than what we got in the movie. He speaks up for her--he speaks up for her against Ajak, and Ikaris, and Arishem himself. He believes that Thena has a right not to want to forget their lives, and he obviously doesn't trust the answers he gets from Ikaris or their Prime.

Ajak is a very complicated character. She's not entirely right, she's not wrong either, and I do believe that she does the best with what she has. And that she loves her children. That, above all else, is what drives this person: love for her children and for people.

And that's Sersi's favourite thing: people. Sersi loves life and the people in it, and everything in between. Sersi is who Ajak could be if she didn't have the burden of their mission on her. And yes, she does impress that onto Sersi and burden her with that. It's hard to reconcile, and confusing, and it creates hardship for Sersi. But Ajak did so knowing Sersi was the right one to take this on.

Because this mother has high hopes for her daughter, and she knows what she can handle because she forged this child's soul from her own.

[softquietsteadylove]

For the Maleficent AU: Thena snuck away on her own to a village to watch the humans. Days after Gil noticed that her behavior is odd so he investigates and then Thena admits that she snuck away and got shot and that the iron bullet is still sticking in her body.

"Dammit!"

Gil frowned as he landed at the lower level of the mothernest interior. When he was checking that everything was okay, he didn't expect to see a figure huddled around the healing pools. It was far later in the day than anyone would usually be here. "Hello?"

The figure startled, and he could recognise those sparkling white wings anywhere. "G-Gil?"

"Thena," he frowned, stepping a little closer on the mossy ground around the pools. He was careful, but he could see the skirt of her dress pooled around her bent legs on the ground, even though she was holding her wings around herself protectively. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I-I'm fine," she smiled, although she was still letting her wings somewhat hide herself from him. "I just...got something on my dress. I thought I would try to use the cold salt water to remove it."

"Right," he murmured, trying to apprise himself of the situation. "The healing pools might not be as good as the shore waters for that."

"Right."

Gil stood a respectful distance away, crossing his arms as Thena made no move to leave the warm salt springs around them either. He sighed, settling his wings comfortably. "What happened, Thena?"

"Nothing," she tried to deny, but her breath was short and choppy, and those long, lithe shoulders of hers weren't moving right.

"Show me," he urged, stepping closer. She remained huddled over herself. "Let me help."

She stayed still for a little longer, her wings rustling against the mossy ground at their feet. "You can't tell anyone."

Gilgamesh wasn't sure how he felt about potentially keeping something that could very mean her being injured to himself, but he agreed. He moved closer, crouching down behind her, with her wings between them. "Please, Thena?"

She sighed, and slowly her shimmering feathers drew away from his view, revealing a splotch of red in the side of her white dress too large to ignore. She really had been trying to clean it.

"When did this happen?" Gil asked immediately, moving closer, ducking his head under her wing as he tried to see if it was still actively bleeding.

"I-" she began and hesitated for another second. "I was flying to the farms."

The farms were quite far inland, and they never went unless it was on a peace convoy with a full guard and protection detail.

"Someone must have seen me, and..." she trailed off, letting him move her hair over her shoulder. She winced as he moved her arm. "They didn't shoot me down but it-it just won't heal."

"Thena," Gil gulped, his hands on her delicate shoulders. Her skin was so soft, and so pale, like her feathers. "Can I, uh--just enough for me to see, okay?"

She had already accepted her defeat, it seemed. She nodded, letting him un-knot the strap of her dress at her shoulder and let the back of it come down around her side. Even her ribs were perfectly sculpted.

Gil frowned, too preoccupied with the iron burn along her side to worry about her state of undress. "Thena, it's still in you?"

"I-" she winced again as she attempted to turn and look at him. "I can't get it out."

"Okay, hey, it's all right," he shushed her, trying to get her breathing even again. He rushed to tie her dress properly again. Even the sight of her back half bare was too much for him. "Here."

Thena nearly whimpered as he helped her onto her feet and towards the caves. "I've been managing it thus far."

"I don't know how," he muttered, not at all pleased by the thought of her walking around with an injury to this degree. He let her lean on him as he walked her away from any prying eyes. "How have your brothers not found out?"

"Druig is with Makkari day and night, it seems," she sighed as the scent of the healing pools' deeper well reached her nose. "Ikaris, all I have to do is stand to his left."

Gil rolled his eyes. Druig was fine, but that other brother of hers...

"Gil," Thena attempted to plead with him, seeing what his intention was. "I don't think-"

"Thena," he frowned, steps away from lowering her into the healing spring himself. "You need to submerge it, and for more than a few minutes."

"I only came because Ikaris is hunting with Kingo," she argued with him, the warmth of the saltwater practically glowing at her from the ground. "I have to get back."

"You need to not walk around with an iron bullet in your ribcage!"

Thena blinked, completely surprised by the even marginal rise in his voice's volume. Her wings trembled on her back faintly, but she didn't wrench herself away from him. She tilted her head, "is that an order?"

He sighed; if she were part of his perimeter detail or guard team, then maybe. But he softened, running his hand down her arm until he could take her hand in his. "No, it's not. It's just something you can do to put my heart at ease."

Thena looked terribly torn. She had her own reasons for trying to keep this injury of hers contained. It was bad for the delegation, it was bad for human-fae relations, and it was bad for their reputation if people thought they could get shot out of the sky while flying.

It was bad if her brothers thought their only family in the world was hurt.

"Do you intend to undress me yourself?"

Gil huffed, turning around as his face became unbearably hot. He even spread his wings out, "very funny."

Thena's laughter was softer, but it echoed around the cave interior. "I am ruffling your feathers, Gil, nothing more. I know you would never."

He blocked out the sound of her light and breezy dress slipping off her body and onto the cave floor. He cleared his throat, "okay, okay, just get in the healing bath."

Thena hissed and then whimpered as she submerged herself properly, something she had probably avoided since she was first injured.

"You okay?" he asked, instinctively wanting to check on her but forbidding himself from even moving his head remotely in her direction.

"I'm fine," she uttered, but it did sound less strained than when she was huddled around the healing pools outside and trying to both bathe her wound and clean her dress at the same time.

"I wouldn't say you're fine," he growled, but tried not to start raging about how serious her injury really was, despite the way she was acting.

"Gil," she chided him before he had even said anything, "they were trying to protect themselves."

He snorted at her defense of the humans. "They can protect themselves with regular arrows. They don't need iron bullets the size of a walnut."

"What's done is done," she concluded, and he could hear the sound of her cupping her hands and letting the water run over herself. "There's no use imagining what could have happened differently."

Gil stayed quiet. He wouldn't win an argument with her about the humans. For how unsocial she was, she really was protective of those stupid walking fleshbags. "How did you fly home?"

"Slowly."

That made him even angrier--the thought of Thena hauling herself home, desperately using the air currents and the size of her wings to bring her injured body back to the nest. How had no one else noticed?!

"No one knows, Gil," she said quietly, going still in the water. "I wasn't intending on telling anyone."

He frowned to himself, letting himself turn his head faintly just to catch the sheer black of his wings in his periphery. He rustled them gently, "That's what bothers me the most."

Thena was quiet again, and he supposed he wouldn't expect her to have an answer to that. He continued to stand guard, although no one used the healing pools when it was late (they were too cold, then). But he was hardly going to let someone stumble upon something they shouldn't.

"I would have told you."

She sounded like a young faerie admitting to something only after the fact. Her contrition made her voice heavy. "I wanted to heal up just a little before I told you--so I could prove it wasn't dire and that there would be no need for action."

Gil made a face just for himself, "you mean so I wouldn't freak out and go track down the human that shot you?"

"You don't know it was a human."

"I don't know any other species that uses stuff like that."

Thena laughed, although it was still a little hollow and breathless. "I suppose you're right. But perhaps if we were as helpless as they are, we would be just as afraid."

Gil was not afraid of any human. Even if he had to take one of those iron monstrosities on for himself. He would face one down happily to look into the eye of the human that had done this to (his) Thena.

"Ah!"

Gil nearly leapt and flapped his wings in reaction to the noise. He still didn't want to look at her in any state of undress, but he stared hard into the opaque wall of his black feathers. "What happened!?"

"It's okay, it's okay," she panted faintly, but her voice was indeed stronger, "it's out. The saltspring is working."

Well, that was a relief. One of the best assets of this particular mothernest - home to so many biomes and nests within it - was its proximity to the healing springs. Ajak valued their medicinal properties greatly, after all.

"You were right," Thena conceded, which he got the feeling didn't happen often. "I should have just come here sooner, saved myself the trouble of secrecy."

"Well, yeah, I was right." She huffed, just loud enough for him to hear. He chuckled, "but I know you didn't want your brothers to freak out. Hard to slip away for too long with both of them around, right?"

"Dreadfully," she sighed much easier this time.

"Tell you what," Gil smiled, maybe a little too relieved now that Thena was actually on her way to better health. "I'll show up at your nest every morning this week to ask you to join me on 'convoys' inland. But you've gotta come down here and soak that wound of yours."

"Gil-"

"It's iron, Thena," he scowled straight ahead at the opening of the cave, "it's not going to be completely healed overnight. And you don't want them to know, so it's this or I bring you the spring water and tell them about it myself."

"Fine."

[softquietsteadylove]

Can I have your headcanon of Thenamesh in the movie pleaseee? 💌🫶 love yaaa😘

Original Thenamesh headcanons! I've got plenty, let's talk.

So...Arthur proposed. He had been in love with Thena for plenty long enough of course, and everyone just kind of thought...oh, that's...cute. Gilgamesh just laughed and laughed. He thought it was adorable, like when little kids say they'll get married when they grow up or something. Arthur did not like being laughed at in this situation.

Sprite did make up the Epic of Gilgamesh, but she added the bit about him being a tyrannical king and huge asshole after he ate some dessert she had been saving. Gil felt really bad that this would go down in history but he agreed to let it go. Thena did not; she threw Sprite into the ocean the next day. They can't drown, keep in mind, but Sprite doesn't like swimming.

None of them are great swimmers. The movie shows that they can, but really they should all sink like stones. Sprite, Druig and Phastos are the worst, but Thena isn't much better, just kind of claws and flails around.

Thena did manage to help Gil with the Deviant that found them all the way out in Australia. It was the first time she had fought in literal centuries but Gil got in somewhat of a tight spot and they pulled it off. So, when Sersi says "even Ikaris couldn't kill it" it really is funny. The old married couple handled it just fine.

Everyone thinks Thena was the one who sewed Gil's frilly cute apron, but Thena doesn't know how to sew. Gil sewed the initial 'kiss the chef' and the face. Thena told him he should add a personal touch to it, and then he added the flowers.

Thena is still a restless sleeper by nature, but if she's dealing with the aftermath of an episode, she's like a cat drugged up for a flight. She'll close her eyes and fall right asleep. Gil just picks her up and moves her when need be. She'll wake up eventually.

Thena loves tending to all the lizards she finds. She's like a princess in a fairy tale, except instead of cute little furry creatures they all have scales and cold blood. She doesn't get along with snakes, though.

Gil is always trying to discourage her but there's at least one or two scaly dudes hanging around the house. In fairness, she has let him take in a pet a few times throughout their hundreds of years together. It's not all the time, though. They die so quickly, and he gets sad about it, so she only says yes once every fifty years or so.

Ignoring certain events in the movie, Jack and Thena and Gil get along great together. Jack and Thena really do vibe. He thinks her powers are cool, and she doesn't dress up her words or keep things from him just because he's a kid. Likewise, Thena can tell pretty easily what Jack is thinking or feeling. The first time he calls her Aunt Thena is the first time she experiences cute aggression and wants to pinch his cheeks. She pinches Gil's instead.

They spend some time travelling after everything rather than rebuild the house right away. They do hit Fiji, and plenty of other places. Thena doesn't do well with cars or boats or anything but Gil gives her a little something for her nerves and lets her sleep. Dane freaks out when he sees her taking an entire bottle of benedryl but Sersi tells him it's fine, it's just for the train ride.

Thena and Dane get along surprisingly well. Dane grows more confident the more he can get used to her, and Sersi and Gil are just happy their partners are getting along. Thena thinks Dane is funny, and Dane actually kind of likes how direct and dry Thena can be.

The more they're out in the real world, the more Gil learns that men these days have the audacity. Thena is getting not just flirted with but harassed constantly, and he is not here for it. He's always been Gilgamesh "my wife" the Strongest Eternal, but it's time for him to truly enter his my wife era.

It takes a lot for him to get drunk, but also alcohol isn't the same as it was hundreds of years ago. Gil learns what shots are and starts challenging people to arm wrestling. Sersi tells him he can't because he'll kill them, or at best rip their arms off.

They travel the planet for quite some time, spending some with their family, maybe even a few years depending on the place. Then they're off again. Eventually they wonder if more of the galaxy is worth seeing too.

[softquietsteadylove]

Baby olympia stole my hearth, their little family is soo cute 🥹, if it's okay with you love, could you do one where Thena is doing something with baby olympia like feeding her or dressing her (in a super cute outfit 'cause thena is a fashion icon) and Gil is watching them, falling more in love with his girls, feeling grateful that he came back to Thena and that their little her was born. Just Gil being soft for his girls. 🩷

Gil keeps an eye on them - his girls - in the corner of the room.

Thena calls it 'feeding', which it is in some ways. She sits in the rocking chair Phastos constructed for them, and she holds Olympia, and both of them enter a dreamlike state as Cosmic Energy slowly leaves Thena and is absorbed by their little supernova.

Their little miracle--Gil still can't believe it.

He can't even believe that he's alive, for starters. His last memory is of him on his back on the amazon forest floor, looking up at Thena (much to her dismay). But he remembers she was smiling until the moment he closed his eyes.

Next thing he knows, he's alive again, Sersi has saved the world, there's a Celestial sticking out of the ocean and he and Thena have catching up to do. And then Thena is pregnant.

No one saw it coming, of course. No one could have. They all thought of Ajak often during the process of it all, but they were on their own for it. Thank all the stars in the sky for Sersi, and Phastos. All their siblings, of course.

Druig and Sprite are most wary of the baby, no matter how they love her. Sprite excels at entertaining young Olympia, if nothing else. She does seem amused by Druig, as if his constantly reading her young mind has established a somewhat two-way connection.

Kingo says he doesn't like that, because he should be her favourite. He and Phastos argue on that often. But, although Makkari bouncing and jogging her (gently!) around the Domo is fun for them both, Sersi is of course Thena's chosen second mother for their child.

And there could be no better, he agrees. Sersi has always been the most human, and the most connected to the ways of the heart. She's sweet, and warm, and has an awareness of the soul that none of the rest of them possess.

Gil admits this freely; he has only one soul to which his is linked.

It's strange to think that his wife has now lived part of her life without him, and yet to him he has spent not even a day without her. But he can see how she's worn out by what she's endured. He wishes he could take it on for her; it's not fair.

Gil walks into their shared room. It's still just his personal quarters in the Domo--far from luxurious. Phastos did do them the kindness of engineering an expansion, just into the next room, but the extra space was still appreciated.

There is also a small crib for Olympia, mere steps away from the bed.

He chuckles, looking at the little mobile above it. It's a simple thing, but Thena did whittle and paint it herself. There are dinosaurs and pegasi and also regular birds. A whole history's worth of creatures.

They all guessed he would be the one who would be unable to bear being away from Olympia. And they are right, but it's Thena who has the most acute anxiety about it.

Only by his and Sersi's convincing did she allow them to install the crib at all. If it were up to Thena, she would be holding their child in her arms until the day she was Sprite's height.

Gil kneels down in front of his beautiful girls. Olympia is sleeping soundly, absorbing little dewdrops of Cosmic Energy from her mother like a meadow receives the rain. Sersi reasons that human children often need extra vitamins and nutrients besides in just their food; perhaps this is the same.

He brushes his fingers over his daughter's tiny head; she really does look like a tiny Thena, although he thinks her hair is getting a little darker just at the roots. He kisses her little forehead. She scrunches her face. "I'm sorry, my little sunburst."

"You're here."

He smiles up at his wife, her enchanting green eyes affixed to him. She looks even more stunning since bringing Olympia into the world. "I'm here."

It's become a kind of greeting for them. Thena will voice those words as if one day he won't affirm them. But he has no right to worry about that when it's very possible that she has experienced that in some form or another.

He leans up, capturing her lips against his tenderly.

Thena sighs as they part, her head tilting lazily as she relaxes that last little bit. Her eyes shine at him, "she's strong."

The connection between Warrior Eternal and her progeny is one that brings tears to his eyes. He moves the back of his knuckle against his daughter's cheek, "I know. Look who her mother is."

Thena lets him kiss her cheek with reverence. "To say nothing of her father. Two of the galaxy's deadliest--she will be a force to be reckoned with."

"She," Gilgamesh pats the soft of his palm against Olympia's head, "will never have to know battle, so long as we live."

"Yes," Thena sighs, letting herself believe his reassurance. She inhales, adjusting her arms, "here."

It's a simple thing, but it moves him that she trusts him so completely with their daughter. Of course she does, he is her father. But he knows Thena--knows the way she twitches and flinches and watches. She is made to be vigilant, after all, and even with their own family, she is always keenly aware of their daughter's whereabouts.

But with him, she hands her over. Thena has no question about his ability to prioritise and protect their child.

He makes room as she stands from the chair. She wobbles faintly and he moves so she can lean into his side. "Easy."

He isn't entirely sure what takes place during the 'feedings'. Because he also makes her regular old milk and feeds that to her. But Phastos and Druig alike cannot fathom what takes place between mother and child and their connection of energy.

Thena nuzzles her face into his shoulder.

"You're tired," he chuckles, holding their daughter in one arm and his wife in the other. "Nap with me."

Thena mumbles faintly. And while he doesn't hear it, he knows it's because she wants them to have Olympia in the bed in between them, instead of in the crib.

"We talked about this," he reminds her as he oh-so gently lays Olympia down on the little cot within the high walls. "You trust Sersi."

"Of course I trust Sersi," she grumbles, as if she is not grinding her teeth in her head to distract from her separation anxiety.

"She needs to learn to sleep on her own," he says gently, pulling Thena with him to the bed. "You can't hold her forever, sweetheart."

"We live forever."

He chuckles, careful not to be too loud with his little sunflower in the room. But he tucks some of Thena's hair away from her face and kisses the corner of her amazing lips. "As will she. And that's a long time for her to sleep in her own bedroom."

He can practically hear his wife's feelings about their infant daughter sleeping in a completely separate room. He presses his nose to the sculpted hollow of her cheek. "I will want you all to myself again someday, you know."

That makes her smile. She laughs faintly as he kisses her cheek and pulls them to lie down together. She settles into his chest, his arms wrapped around her, their daughter's tiny breaths reaching their inhuman ears. "You have your priorities I see."

"I do," he answers honestly, rubbing Thena's back and burying his nose in the hair at the top of her head. "It's my two girls, always. My new little star and the sun of my galaxy."

"Hm," Thena allows him to relish the contact with her. "I shall pretend that's sweet, instead of you being eager to bed me again."

"I can be a sweet and loving father, and also your husband, y'know."

[softquietsteadylove]

hello! can you write a shy thena creeping into bed with gil at night, because she feels cold and is not able to sleep?

love your fics!

Gil shivered, waking up for not nearly the first time that night. They had just settled in the north, as was necessary, since the top half of the continent was terribly vast. But it was freezing cold, and winter hadn't even truly set in yet.

He had even fruitlessly suggested they stay on the Domo for this part of their journey, but knew their days of getting stay on their much more comfortable homeship were behind them. Human societies were too advanced to write off the ship as something of godly design.

But he was worried about Thena.

She got cold so easily, not that she would admit to it any faster than she would admit to getting hurt in battle or that she was cranky because she was tired, or hungry. But he could tell that she felt sluggish and drained from the chill in the air.

It didn't surprise him, given how light boned she was. Sersi was also struggling with the harsh winds and snow, but she basically spent all her time either in Ikaris' coat with him or transmuting all the snow around her into dandelion seeds.

Makkari was her own source of warmth, every cell in her body moving at such a speed that even when dormant she was like an engine left idle. Druig was taking full advantage, constantly draping over her.

Thena likewise had become much more cuddly in the cold, and Gil had no complaints about that. She was like a lizard, he theorized; the cold made her energy slow to move through her veins, so she had to preserve her strength.

Every time they were done with a battle she would drag herself inside heavily, shoulders sagging, eyes tired. And he would receive her, letting her collapse onto him however she liked. She would say that she was just tired, but he would feel her trembling as she attempted burrow into his arms.

No one gave her too much of a hard time about it. Maybe at first, but once discovering she didn't even have it in her to bark at them about it they left her alone, genuinely worried about her well being.

Gil blinked up at the ceiling of his room. The accommodations were nice, and the humans were clearly versed in how to weather the wind and the snow. But it was going to take more than a month to get used to it.

His door opened.

There were no steps to be heard, and he immediately knew it was Thena, even with his eyes closed. She was silent and deadly--the Warrior Eternal. But he did hear a slight clattering. He laid still, focusing on what it could be. It got closer.

Her teeth were chattering inside her mouth.

His poor Thena was freezing. Why was she so cold? She had a luxurious room, same as the rest of them. It should have had a fireplace and plenty of blankets and thick furs to keep her warm. What had dragged her out of bed?

Thena stopped a few paces away from him. Now that she was here, she was hesitating. She paced on the thick rug a few times. Her fur robe was the only sound besides his breathing, which he was trying to keep even.

Usually she would be able to tell he was awake already. She really wasn't herself in the cold.

Thena inched closer to his bed, still shaking in just the chill of the night air. It wasn't as if she could fall ill, but she just seemed incapable of attaining warmth, let alone keeping it. Or rather, her methods when left alone were...lacking.

Gil feigned stretching in his sleep, lifting up an arm out from under the blanket and above his head. He even turned his head away slightly, at the cost of peeking at Thena while trying to pretend he was still asleep. But he'd used this trick before.

As he'd suspected, the temptation was too much for her. Slowly and tentatively, he felt her get closer. She really gave off no warmth with her mere presence, like a ghost appearing at his bedside. But he felt the bed shift as she tried to climb in beside him. She shimmied the blankets, trying both not to wake him and not to let out too much heat in the process.

This was taking too long.

Gil stretched for real this time, shifting the other way and pulling her into the bed and under the covers with him. He moved one of his legs and tucked both of hers under it for good measure, fully enveloping her slight frame.

Thena didn't struggle, only resituating herself as much as needed. Once her head was on the pillow and under his chin enough, she sighed. "Gil?"

Caught--of course, he expected nothing less from his Warrior. "Sh, Gil's sleeping."

She let out a tiny breath of a laugh, the puff of air hitting the hollow of his throat. "I'm sorry I woke you."

He pulled her closer, settling his arms around her and holding her to his chest. He had more than enough warmth to go around (if it was for her). "Wake me sooner, next time."

She was rolling her eyes, he just knew it. "I was trying not to wake you at all."

He smiled in the dark, against her plume of hair. He could feel her warming up already, her hands pressing against his chest. "Always come to me if you're cold."

Thena didn't say anything. But, eventually, he felt her shimmy closer to him, pressing her face into his shoulder. Her hand slowly dragged from resting over his heart to his back, clutching at his shirt. Whatever she was about to say she didn't want him to see her say it--she probably barely wanted him to hear it at all. "What if I'm not cold?"

He grinned, and she could probably feel it against the top of her head. She nuzzled in closer. Thena wasn't really one for shyness, but that didn't mean she didn't have her moments. And for all he was happy to offer her, it was always actually being the one to ask that made something bashful come over her. "Come to me anyway."

Thena was quiet for another few moments. "I just couldn't get warm in that bed. I even tried lying right next to the fire, but then my back was cold."

Of course she'd tried that. She'd probably gotten as close as she could without lying on top of the flames and cooking herself alive. He was always telling her not to get too close to dangerous things, like open flames, or snakes. Just because he could reach into flaming hot ovens didn't mean she could (no matter how competitive she felt about denying that).

Gil moved his face, nuzzling against her. Her nose was freezing cold too, because of course it was. He gave her a squeeze, "no need for that when you have me."

The hand that was still on his chest curled into a fist as well, bunching up his shirt and pulling it closer to her chin. She really was feeling shy about crawling into bed with him.

As much as he thought it was cute that she was feeling fidgety, he spared her the need to ask. "Just come to bed with me, next time, Then you won't waste time trying to get warm by yourself."

Thena pressed her forehead to to his collarbone. If only knew how warm he made her without even trying.