#Gil and Sersi are teachers

[softquietsteadylove]

Well I saw the post from @eternalowl and I challenge you to do a Modern Thenamesh AU with Gil being the mall Santa!

I specifically ask you because I really love all of your works and your tags :D thank you for everything ❤️

"Okay, kids, Santa has to take a short break," Sersi offered a gentle smile as she closed the gates to the area. There were a few whines and a few glares from parents, but she waved. "I know you all understand how hard he's working. He'll be back in half an hour!"

Gil let out a gasping breath as soon as he was inside the little shed that was decorated for him to change inside. Really, all he had to do was pull off the hot-ass Santa pants and coat from over his t-shirt and jeans. And tear off the uncomfortable beard.

"Just one more shift for the day," Sersi promised as she also pulled off her elf ears once away from prying eyes.

"I can't wait until this stall closes," Gil sighed deeply as he aired out his shirt.

"You volunteered," Sersi laughed, although, so had she, and she also couldn't wait until they were off-duty. "And look at all the kids you're making happy with this."

"Yeah, you're right," he sighed as he pulled on his light bomber jacket. "Coast clear?"

Sersi peeked out to make sure no families were loitering around, or at least checking to make sure that those who were wouldn't be pointing out that Santa went into his 'workshop' and some dude was coming out. "We're clear."

Gil stretched as soon as they were out of the cramped little tool shed. "I'm starving."

"I'm sure Thena's already on her way," Sersi laughed to herself, although Gil looked as excited as the kids who had waited in line for them all morning.

"It sure was sweet of her to suggest making cookies while we're working," Gil mused as he took a seat behind the photoshoot area on a normal mall bench.

Yes, it was very sweet, and they hadn't had much choice in the matter. Since Gil had volunteered to cover the weekend mall-Santa shifts, Thena had been there for every break they'd had.

As Makkari recounted, Thena had ordered the making of cookies for their hard working friends, but Thena was the only one with the time to actually bring them every few hours.

"Just 'cause it's you," Sersi murmured as she scrolled through her phone. "If it were anyone else, she wouldn't have cared."

"That's not true," Gil easily waved off in Thena's defense.

It was true, though. She had wished Sersi luck, of course, dealing with all those kids even though her winter break as a teacher was also in effect. But hearing that Gil had volunteered as well?--that had made the blonde spring into action.

Thena hated the mall--too many people, too little space between her and them. And yet...

"Gil!"

"Thena!" he practically jumped to his feet as he saw her, grinning as her blonde ponytail swung side to side with her long legged steps.

"Another round done?" she smiled as she deposited yet another bag into his hands.

"Yep," he mumbled as he tore into her care package. There were cookies, a few more substantial snacks, and a bottle of sports drink to keep his energy up. "One more round to go before we're free."

"I don't know how you're doing it," she shook her head at him, watching as he took a long gulp of his drink. "Are you sure a half hour break for every four is enough?"

"It was one for every three, leading up to today," Sersi smiled in sympathy as Gil started wolfing down his food. She nodded her gratitude as Thena presented her with a bundle of cookies as well. Although, Sersi couldn't help but notice that hers both had fewer in it, and didn't have a ribbon around it. "But today's the last day for it. Then he's off a few hours before the mall closes."

"Don't you get enough of them at your real job?" Thena snarked lightly at Sersi as Gil went to dispose of his litter.

Sersi grinned at Thena, "don't you have better things to do than schedule your whole day around when Gil goes on break?"

Thena crossed her arms at her, "I live one block away--it's not like it's any trouble."

Sersi wasn't intimidated by the Goddess of War, though, bumping their shoulders together affectionately. "He's all yours after tonight."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," Thena glared at her, although it melted away when she turned her attention back to Gil upon his return. "Tell me no one else has peed on your leg, at least."

"No, no one after that poor little guy on the first day," Gil sighed, of course being a good sport about something that would have most people quitting on the spot. "And today a few people got pictures of their pets with me, so that was cute."

"Although that cat in a knapsack was utterly terrified of him," Sersi mused as she unwrapped her cookies and took a bite.

Everyone had made different ones. Makkari had chosen gingerbread, Druig making something with dried berries in them. Thena and Ikaris, the much less baking-inclined of them, had both made cookies from instant mix. Sersi had helped Ikaris make his own chocolate chip cookies herself (although she had protested that they weren't in the spirit of the season, which he had ignored).

Thena made the sugar cookies that Gil currently had a full bag of.

"Hey, what're you up to?" Gil asked Thena more softly, taking a bite of the sugary star and then holding up a bite for her. "We've got 20 minutes--grab a coffee with us?"

Sersi watched Thena bite off a point of the star still in Gil's hand and shot to her feet. "Oh, uhm, Ikaris is calling me! You two go and--Gil, I'll meet you back here!"

Gil shrugged, watching Sersi all but sprint off into a crowd of shoppers. He turned back to Thena, who had left him the last star point generously. "Okay, just you and me, then--you in?"

Thena nodded, smiling at him as she chewed her cookie bite.

"These turned out really good," he smiled as he pulled out another one, walking towards the unique hellscape that was the mall starbucks. "You took my advice about making the butter room temperature, didn't you?"

"And what you said about the second round not taking as long because the pan is already hot," she smiled, leaning in as he held out another star for her.

"Thanks," he smiled at her more softly than before, despite the chaos around them. "These really kept me sane between the screaming and the crying and complaining parents."

Thena brushed a few crumbs off his coat, "you love doing this kind of stuff--especially if it's for kids."

"Yeah, that's true," he conceded easily. A few teenagers ran past them, bumping him closer to her. Neither said anything. "But I'd still rather be hanging out with you on my time off."

"Well," Thena pulled out the last cookie she'd packed for him this round, holding it up for him this time. "Three more hours, and then you're free."

"Three more hours," he sighed, leaning in to steal a bite of the cookies she had made just for him. He held her eyes as she brushed a crumb off the corner of his lips, "I can do that."

"Um," the nervous young barista coughed, watching the couple canoodling in the middle of the line, "do you wanna order? Or..."

[dalhia28]

Ikaris: why what did you guys do for all this year's?

Kingo : I'm an actor

Sersi: I'm a teacher

Sprite: writter

Ajak: Doctor

Phastos : engineer

Makkari: a bored person

Druig : I don't need to answer you

Ikaris ignore druig

Ikaris: how bout you thena? Can't imagine goddess of was being a house wife

Ikaris tease

Thena: i wish it suits me but that's Gilgamesh job

Gil nod in approving proudly

Gilgamesh: I'm a house husband and thena is still a goddess.

[themculibrary]

Gilgamesh Masterlist

25 days of thena and gilgamesh (ao3) - Bright_Boisterous_Bananas gilgamesh/thena M, 5k

Summary: A collection of Drabbles for Thena and Gilgamesh!

Countdown to Christmas with 25 little snippets of pure love, pure fluff, pure pining and more!

academy babylon (ao3) - wiigs gilgamesh/thena N/R, 42k

Summary: welcome to academy babylon where everything is very alternate universe, but essentially ajak is headmaster, all the eternals are professors/teachers, and thena has ptsd but gilgamesh is there for her.

even when it all becomes too much (ao3) - funnefatale gilgamesh/thena G, 7k

Summary: “Are you a Valkyrie?” the child – Thor, she recalls someone saying – asks. He doesn’t wait for her response before he proudly informs her, “When I grow up I’m going to be a Valkyrie.”

.

alternatively: Thena and Gilgamesh accidentally pseudo-adopt a little god child.

five times everyone assumed thena and gilgamesh were a couple (ao3) - INMH gilgamesh/thena T, 2k

Summary: And one time they definitely were.

Gilgamesh and Makkari's no good, very bad week (ao3) - IIIIFANDOMiii druig/makkari G, 13k

Summary: "Please don't drop me" Gil hadn't really put two and two together when he asked Makkari to take him to the Bazaar. Yes, she's the fastest being in the universe, yes she can definitely carry him no problem but no, he's not sure if he can survive being carried around while she casually breaks the sound barrier.

or A three day shopping trip turned into a race against time for Gilgamesh, after a Deviant attack left Makkari deathly injured miles away from home.

A quick fic I wrote for my own needs since I wanted to write a relationship between Gilgamesh and Makkari since they barely interacted during the movie :')

i’ll spend forever wonderin’ if you knew (i was enchanted to meet you) (ao3) - notquitegucci (AllieKitaguchi) druig/makkari, gilgamesh/thena, ikaris/sersi N/R, 7k

Summary: How the Eternals discovered that Druig and Makkari were in love.

Some of them were a little slower than others.

i remember (ao3) - nitrogenoxygen T, 9k

Summary: She will remember to keep calm and stay put when the Mahd Wy'ry claims her, yes, but she will also remember him. Gilgamesh, her Gilgamesh, who was strong and fierce in battle but a gentle giant outside of it, who wielded his golden-armoured fist like a batting ram but held her hand like she was something precious, who was loud in his booming laughter and cheerful exclamations but spoke quiet words of worship to her in the dead of night when no one else was there to hear them.

Gilgamesh, who had loved her on every planet, in every life.

life in the margins (ao3) - Jupiter77 druig/makkari, gilgamesh/thena, ikaris/sersi T, 98k

Summary: In one of the reviews of Eternals, the film critic commented that Makkari and Druig had a romance in the margins of the movie. This story explores the margins.

on a wednesday, in a cafe (ao3) - TaraLy gilgamesh/thena T, 111k

Summary: Thenamesh Coffee Shop AU. No angst, no plot, only love (and food).

shattered (ao3) - dramaticfangirl1881 gilgamesh/thena G, 2k

Summary: “I’m sorry,” she whispers, the words thick in her throat.

“I hurt you.”

~in which thena and gilgamesh both feel guilty for hurting each other and they just have a lot of feelings about it

Soulmates across time and space (ao3) - jcmilys gilgamesh/thena T, 5k

Summary: A study on the life of Thena and Gilgamesh: who they were, who they are, and what made them them.

teach me to love (ao3) - iamjustabird gilgamesh/thena, phastos/ben G, 49k

Summary: Thena has just moved next door to her old friend Phastos with her young son Druig in tow. She’s worried about how he’s going to adjust to the move and to his new school, but Phastos assures her that his friend and neighbour Gilgamesh is the best teacher a kid could ask for. She’ll see about that.

the blues and then purple pink skies (ao3) - TaraLy gilgamesh/thena G, 4k

Summary: It’s been a month since their first conversation on the bus, how are Thena and Gilgamesh doing?

Visiting Rites (ao3) - qodarkness gilgamesh/thena, ikaris/sersi, druig/makkari T, 4k

Summary: How Druig knows all the gossip about what's going on with the Eternals despite living in the Peruvian Amazon with no phone reception for five hundred years.

when i come home (i'm gonna be the man who comes back home to you) (ao3) - dornish_sphinx gilgamesh/thena G, 3k

Summary: When Thena sends Gilgamesh traveling around the world for a year, it is supposed to be a gift to express her gratitude towards him. Learning more about herself and their bond is not part of the deal.

[taran-chan]

on a Wednesday, in a cafe (chapter 27)

Read on AO3

sunday lunchbox: croquettes, bingsu & fruit tarts

“I told you so,” Gil grins smugly.

“I didn’t think the rain would actually stop,” Thena admits.

“Ye of little faith,” he teases, rubbing his morning stubble against her cheek. Thena pays back by pinching his round cheeks, narrowing her eyes at the three sunny dolls swinging back and forth to the wind on his balcony.

“You dark wizard,” she mutters.

It rained heavily last night and didn’t let up long after they went to bed. Everyone thinks the Sports Event is tanked. In a last desperate effort, Gil tried to make a new sunny doll. Thena took interest in that so she put her book down and joined him. They made two dolls, and Gil brought his old one out as well and hung them all outside. When they wake up in the morning, it’s like the rain never happened.

“Do they only pray for sunny weather? Can they make it rain?”

“Sure, just hang them upside down. Why? You’re planning on praying for rain at some point?”

“Just asking,” she shrugs, locking her eyes with his, “Maybe I’ll use them when I want to share an umbrella with you.”

She bets her face is as red as his right now, but she couldn’t care less because this is the second time in three days that words escape him. It’s usually the other way around. She holds his face with both hands, rewarding herself by kissing him in a way that makes him moan and press her against the balcony, but his caring nature doesn’t forget to squeeze an arm between the railing and her lower back. When they pull back at the same time to catch their breaths, a silver string connects their lips.

After breakfast, Gil uses the shop’s kitchen to make their lunchboxes. Thena sits across from him at the kitchen counter and impatiently waits for her ride. She wants to lend Gil her car so he won’t have to take the crowded bus, and Ajak and Makkari have already gone with Sprite to school since early to support her, so naturally Thena will stick with Sersi, who’s nowhere to be seen.

15 minutes after their scheduled time, she hears a car horn from the backyard and spots Sersi waving at her over the fence.

“Wait, wait,” Gil calls out when she’s about to run outside, “Bring this with you. It’s hot out there.”

He gives her a bottle of iced pomegranate juice.

“When did you make this?” She asks in surprise. How does he find time to make a juice bottle between cooking breakfast AND lunch, she has no idea. He shrugs like it’s nothing.

“I always have time for you, Thena. Now go, I’ll be there before the relay race.”

“This is not fair, I was in the lead this morning,” she grumbles, shoving the bottle into her bag.

“What?”

“Nothing,” she huffs, kissing his cheek goodbye.

★

“Sorry I’m late!” Sersi exclaims and gives Thena a big hug when she comes close enough, “My car is broken so we had to go back to Steven’s house to get his car.”

“Where’s Ikaris? And Kingo?”

“Ikaris went to Kingo’s to try some of his new games, apparently they played all night and now they’re beaten. Just me and Steven.”

From the driver seat, the curly-haired guy nods at Thena shyly.

“That’s fine, let’s get going,” she nods back, “Ajak is nagging in our groupchat.”

Sersi gets into the passenger seat and Thena slides into the back seat. The first thing she notices is a blue hippopotamus plushie sitting next to her. It wears something like a golden tiara. As if Steven sees the way she’s looking at it funny, he starts to explain.

“It’s a present from one of my students.”

Thena just raises an eyebrow, still her fingers subtly playing with the hippo’s ears.

“You’re going to the Sport Events as well?” She asks.

“More like I’m there for the play. Hadestown?”

“He loves everything about history and mythology,” Sersi says, “He’s a history teacher.”

“You would get along with Sprite,” Thena observes.

“Nah, I’ve met her a few times and she has that intimidating aura, I’m afraid I might get bullied by a sophomore student,” Steven’s answer makes the two women chuckle.

He pulls over at the school entrance and Sersi immediately leans out the window to wave at someone. A few seconds later, Makkari runs to their car. She nearly stomps her feet in annoyance as she madly signs at them.

The second half of the game has already started! Do you know what time it is?

“Car problems,” Thena replies while Sersi hugs Makkari to apologize like she did with Thena.

Anyways, glad you guys made it. Let’s go! The competition takes place in the gymnasiums so we’ve got to run.

“I’ll go and park my car, see you in there,” Steven says.

Do you know the way?

“Yeah, no worries,” he signs back, “But save me a seat!” He shouts after Sersi. She’s been dragged away like a kite by Makkari.

“Alright,” Thena replies on behalf of her friends and follows them.

Ajak is sitting on the nearest bench to the floor, anxiously checking her watch and looking over to Sprite, who’s discussing strategies with her teammates. She competes in singles with a senior student and has won the first round, but she’s terribly distracted in the second. She’s losing and Ajak can’t help but think that telling Makkari to wait for the others outside is a mistake. It’s likely that Sprite’s spirit is down because they haven’t shown up yet, so the woman exhales a big sigh in relief when Sersi got dragged into the room by Makkari, and Thena is right behind them. She gets Sprite’s attention and points at the doorway. Her eyes follow the direction of her finger and widen. She practically throws herself at them, thankfully Sersi opens her arms to catch her just in time.

“I thought you weren’t going to come.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Thena snorts, still the blonde woman hugs her hello and rubs her head affectionately, “Sersi’s car is broken and we had to ask Mr. Grant for a ride. And Gilgamesh will be here later for your relay race.”

How’s the game? Makkari asks.

“The senior team is ahead now, 14-10,” she grumbles.

“That doesn’t sound like you,” Thena states.

“Yeah, I wasn’t myself in the last 15 minutes, thanks to some people,” Sprite narrows her eyes at them, and puts her racket on her shoulder, “But keep your eyes open and watch me win.”

That’s our girl! Makkari signs, then gives the girl her fiercest thumbs up, But if you lose, we’re still very proud of you.

“Thanks, but if I lost this round, I’d have to go for a third round. And I’m not going to let that happen.”

“Break a leg,” Sersi high-fives with her, but hastily calls after her as she turns away and runs back to her teammates, “And I didn’t mean breaking bones literally!”

They slide across the bench to where Ajak is sitting. She has saved their seats by spreading Sprite’s stuff and Makkari’s tart basket on the bench. There aren’t that many people watching anyway, most of them are on the football field to see the obstacle race for the freshmen.

The game continues. They nervously observe Sprite swinging her racket time and time again. Ajak shouts her encouragement while Sersi and Makkari are raising a banner they borrowed from Sprite’s classmates. Thena records the game with her phone so she can show Gil later, however Steven comes forward and offers to take over if she wants to join and cheer for Sprite, which of course she does. This time, the girl is able to pull up her scores to a tie. But what decides the final result happens when she’s waiting for her component to serve, Sersi yells louder than everyone else, “Com on, Sprite! If you lose, there will be a third round!”

Right after that, her attack moves become more aggressive and she scores exactly 5 seconds before the timeout bell buzzes. Ajak is so happy she has tears in her eyes, and Steven forgets his recording mission, jumping up and down frantically, his arms (still holding Thena’s phone) waving around in the air.

Sprite is drowned in a group hug from her teammates. She notices Ajak and the others are approaching and detaches herself. Thena smiles when she catches her words, telling her friends, “My family is over there,” and runs towards them.

They have half an hour to rest and get Sprite ready for the relay race, and after that is the 100 meters race for the parents, also the final competition of the event. They move to the football field. There are many students on the field already, wearing sports uniforms and gathering in large groups. The cheerleaders are doing cartwheels on the grass, despite the heat.

Sprite leads them into a temporary tent, which is already occupied by some other parents. There’s a table with water bottles and plastic hand fans with the school’s mascot. She quickly falls into a selfie spree with Makkari at a corner of the tent, while Sersi convinces Steven to stick with the group and join them for lunch.

“Is it really no trouble?” He keeps asking, “Gilgamesh gave us so many coupons, and you guys have been great customers to our family’s restaurant.”

“It’s all a fair trade, Steven,” Ajak smiles softly, “Besides, Gil always cooks a look, if you don’t join us, there will be leftovers.”

Thena listens to their conversation, wondering what Gil is cooking for today’s lunch. Back at the shop, she saw him preparing pork and scallops, with a lot of potatoes but she forgot to ask. She looks over to the football field’s entrance, her eyes scan the crowd and her lips quirk after a few seconds, “Finally.”

Gil is carrying a large icebox on his shoulder, looking up and down the area. She steps out of the shade and raises her arm. She can see his smile when he spots her and speeds up. She’s so busy staring at him that she almost misses Druig, who’s walking behind the chef with a picnic basket similar to Makkari’s, on his back is a black backpack. Druig is frowning all the way under the sun but his scowl fades the moment he reaches the tent, just because Makkari is waving at him.

“Take off your jacket, Druig, you’ll boil yourself with that black leather,” Ajak reminds him but he ignores her. He pulls Makkari into a big, long hug then signs at her.

“How's my beautiful, beautiful Makkari?”

Thena rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to her partner instead. He puts the icebox down and wipes his forehead with the back of his hand. Sprite is sniffing the basket on the table, “This smells good. What’s in here? Some kind of fried food?”

Her hand is about to lift the lid but Gil quickly blocks it.

“Not so fast, you’ll earn it by winning first place,” he says sternly.

“Hey, don’t put pressure on my daughter!” Ajak scolds.

“It’s fine, I’ll show him,” Sprite says confidently, but then her eyes narrow, “By the way, I won first place in the badminton game. Medals and everything.”

“Then you can take a cup,” Gil grins proudly at the girl.

“A cup of what?”

He squats down to open the icebox, and they gasp excitedly. Among blocks of ice are a dozen colourful bingsu cups the size of a large drink. There are at least 3 different flavours. Sprite shoves her arm into the box and grabs a cup with strawberry sauce and big slices of bright red strawberries. Thena picks her beloved chocolate-flavour cup and Gil hands her a plastic spoon. She scoops up a spoon that has everything: shaved ice, chocolate sauce and chocolate chips. The smooth shaved ice turns out isn’t water, it’s iced milk, bringing a light creamy and sweet taste, so cold that several of them got brain freeze. Thick chocolate sauce enhances the sweetness, balancing with the bittersweet chocolate chips. In each of their cups, Gil has put a couple of pirouette cookies on top.

“You made all of this alone?” Thena asks. He’s holding a mango bingsu cup, it has both mango jam and fresh mango. He’s shaking his head, to answer her but also to chase away his brain freeze.

“I got a little help,” he says eventually, nodding at Druig. Makkari is teasing him by pretending to feed him bingsu from her cup, only to turn her spoon around and into her mouth at the last second, smiling smugly.

“What’s in here though?”

“Why? Are you hungry?”

She shrugs, “Just wondering if it’s what I think it is.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“If I remember correctly,” her forefinger draws circles on the back of his hand teasingly, “A few days ago I mentioned that I’d been craving for a fried dish, which you can make with potatoes, meat, and seafood.”

“Something that would make Kingo regret so, so much for not coming here today?” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively.

“Exactly,” she laughs.

Just then, the president of the student council announces that the relay race is about to begin. Sprite pushes her half-eaten bingsu into Gil’s hand, “Hold this!” before dashing to her team’s gathering spot. She’s the fourth runner, also the last one.

“The mushroom is the finishing one?” Druig walks up to them, “That’s ought to be fun.”

Don’t underestimate her, she’s been practicing with me every morning, Makkari warns.

“Really? She didn’t work this hard last year,” Gil says, “It’s not that she needs to anyway.”

“She said she had to secure her victory, because Thena would be there to watch her,” Ajak smiles, touching Thena’s arm, “She really admires you.”

“It’s hard to imagine I’m someone’s role model,” she shakes her head, but a smile threatens to bloom on her lips as she looks at Sprite from across the football field. She can’t help it.

“Oh, I beg to differ,” Gil snorts, tucking a few strands behind her ear, “You’re one big important part of us.”

She returns his smile fully and he lowers his head to kiss her on the cheek as if to prove it further. Only seconds before the starting shot rings out and the field erupts in cheers, she catches Druig’s eyes. His expression is almost apologetic and at that moment, her heart sinks. She has a bad feeling about it.

★

Druig is waiting for her when she’s heading out of the restroom. The race is over and Sprite has preserved her championship. The parent’s race will take place at 2 pm, one hour from now, and the play will start at 5 pm. The rest of them are gathering on the ground behind the gymnasiums, where there are a lot of trees and shade to hide from the sun. They’re about to have lunch.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” He asks. There it is. There’s that apologetic look again. Uneasy feelings plague her, but she nods nonetheless. They walk to a secluded corner of the equipment storage. Druig opens his backpack and takes out a folder. Its size looks like a bad omen, and he confirms that with his following words.

“I wish there was another way, but I really need your help.”

He passes the folder of the case to her and starts to explain. It takes a few moments before she can understand what he’s saying. The more she stares and those words, the harder it becomes for her to breathe. Same circumstances, same type of victims.

“No!” She almost screams when Druig mentions “consultant” and “go back to the city”.

“Thena, please consider it,” Druig raises his hands up in an effort to calm her, pleading, “You won’t have to stand on court, I’ll take care of that. All you have to do is research and work this case with me.”

“Why me?” She demands, her voice low because of her repressed anger.

“You’re the only one who’s qualified enough for this,” he says, and at her bitter scoff, he adds, “The only one that I trust. Plus, despite what happened after that, you won the last case.”

She feels her panic rise up to her throat, choking her. Goddess of War. Victory after victory. She was too confident, nearly arrogant, and it was her downfall.

“Yes, a pathetic win,” she grits her teeth, “You weren’t there. You don’t know how chaotic that day truly was.”

“That’s why I need you! We can learn from it and work together so that it won’t repeat.”

At her deathly silence, he sighs, rubbing his face and avoiding her eyes.

“You know, I’ve always wondered, what would have happened if I had reached out that time and asked my boss to let us work together on that one,” he confesses, “It could have been different if I had carried some of the burdens for you. I understand that you don’t want to have anything to do with it. But at least consider it for a few days before you answer, okay? As a favor for me?”

Thena closes her eyes, her shoulders slump.

“If you had asked to be my partner at the time, my damn pride would have refused. I don’t blame you, honest. If you did anything differently, I might never be able to come back here and meet him,” her voice softens as she tries to breathe deeply, imagining the sound of Gil’s breathing. What happened cannot be undone. But if she refused, would she regret it later? What if this time will be different?

“How long do you think this is going to take?”

“A few weeks, a few months at most,” Drugs says quickly. He doesn’t dare to hope but is still glad because Thena wants to know more.

“I still have my current job.”

“We’re going to get in touch with your superiors and make arrangements. When the case is over, you can come back and continue to work.”

He tries to reassure her that everything would be exactly the same when she returns, but deep down he knows that’s not the biggest obstacle to overcome. Not even close. He isn’t blind, of course he’s seen how Thena and Gilgamesh are inseparable in the time he knows them, from the day he first found her in his shop, to the day they officially…together, till now. Forcing Thena to part from Gil, maybe for months, feels like stepping over the line, and wrong. He pretends he didn’t see her wipe away a frustrated tear on her face. She’s probably thinking about it too.

“When is the deadline to respond?” She asks.

“The end of next week, at most,” he swallows, “We have some paperwork to deal with so the arraignment will take place in the second week of July.”

She balls her hands into fists. Too soon.

“Look, I’ll sleep on it and get back to you soon,” she puts on her steadiest voice, “I promise. But you can’t say anything to everyone else. Especially Gil. If I decided to go, at least let me tell him.”

Druig nods, “Alright. I won’t tell anyone until you make your decision.”

Thena gives back the folder and they go in search of the others.

★

“There they are!” Sersi exclaims. All of them, including Steven, is standing under a large tree.

Hurry up, you two! We’re starving! Makkari’s exaggerated gestures can be seen from far away.

“Sorry,” Druig calls out as they climb up the small slope, “The school is too big, I was lost and Thena found me.”

“Are you okay?” Gil asks worriedly, his eyes fixed on her, “ You look pale.”

“I’m fine,” she swallows the big lump in her throat, “It’s so hot, I got a bit dizzy.”

“Come here,” Gil steps closer, taking off his cap and putting it over her head, “I’ll get you a drink. Then we should eat the croquettes before they become soggy.”

“Good idea,” she clings to his arm. She doesn’t want to think about Druig’s offer just yet, at least not now.

Thena picks one in more than two dozen croquettes. From the outside, it’s impossible to see which ones have pork and potato filling and which ones are scallops and mushroom, like Gil said there are. All are shaped into thick oval pieces, with a crispy yellow breadcrumbs coat. Only one way to find out. She takes a bite. The potato layer cools down enough but the ground pork stir-fried with caramel onions inside releases steam when it’s revealed. It’s perfectly seasoned and tasty as is without any sauce, but Gil made his famous tartar sauce and brought a bottle of salsa so she can’t say no to them either. The scallop and mushroom croquettes are creamy and melt right on the tip of her tongue. For some reason, it keeps the heat inside better than potatoes, so their mouths are burning up from taking a bite too big. However, Gil has the coleslaw ready. Just shredded cabbages and carrots, with some sweet pickle and corn, all mixed with mayonnaise and some other seasonings, but when served on a hot summer day, it’s addicting.

They have Makkari’s colourful tarts and Gil’s last bingsu cups for dessert. While the others are fighting for berries tarts or mango tarts, Steven just adores the lemon tarts. He looks so happy eating them that everyone gives him all of the sweet-and-sour tarts.

When they’re cleaning up the trash, they hear the announcement of the school’s speaker that the 100 meters race for parents is about to begin in 10 minutes, and the contestants should move to the starting line.

You’re going to win! Makkari is giving Ajak a pep talk, You’ve been running every morning with me and Sprite.

“Come on, you can do this,” Sprite adds, “You even purchased a new pair of shoes for the occasion.”

Ajak still looks pretty nervous, until Gil steps in front of her, patting her shoulders and says, “Just keep calm, no pressure, third place is good enough.”

Ajak pokes a finger at his chest, “I'll shove that 3rd place of yours where the sun don't shine. Let’s go, Sprite, Makkari!”

She leads the group toward the football field, ignoring how Sersi is patting Thena’s back, who’s having a coughing fit because she’s choked on water at Ajak’s reply. Druig only stares at Gil, he looks almost impressed. The chef rubs his hands together, picking up the icebox and the picnic baskets, his shit-eating grin never leaves his face.

“Works like a charm.”

They regroup at the tent. Sprite is pleading with Ajak while the older woman is tying her shoelaces.

“Do me a favor. If you win first place, please don’t embarrass me?”

Ajak straightens and puts her arm around Sprite's shoulders, her daughter is almost taller than she is but she pulls her close and stands on her tiptoes to kiss the top of her head.

“My dear girl, I will definitely embarrass you,” she smiles her warmest smile before taking her position. And embarrass her she does, with a gold medal no less. Well, it’s not like Sprite is expecting something else.

★

After the race, they watch the ending performance by the cheerleaders, and the head of the student council announces which year won the most competitions, then they’re going to release balloons with that year’s colour to the sky. Freshman year has blue balloons, sophomore year: yellow and senior year is red. It’s obvious that Sprite’s medals help the sky above the football field filled with yellow balloons. The whole time, Thena’s like a sleepwalker. Everything around her seems unreal and blurry. It’s not until they all enter the packed hall, sending words of encouragement to Sprite before taking their seats, that she is able to ground herself and everything stills again. That’s when Gilgamesh laces their fingers together in the dark.

She also realizes that she’s been subconsciously reviewing what she has done the last time, and what could be changed. If she has to be honest with herself, she’s already known what her choice will be all along, since Druig gave her that offer; she just doesn’t want to accept the fact that she has to leave her home and go back to where she has picked up what’s left of her and ran away. She thinks about Ajak’s words, how Sprite admires her. That 16-year-old girl, who not only won two sports competitions today, but also standing nervously backstage when her family watches the musical that she directs, what would she think if she found out the person she admires so much refuses to help a friend of theirs because she’s afraid that she might fail?

She squeezes Gil’s hand and he puts his head on her shoulder. His breaths are even, she doesn’t have to look to know that he’s nodding off, despite the loud and upbeat music. His hand is so warm, fitting with hers like two perfect pieces of a puzzle. Something twists in her chest; This is what she has to leave behind? She drops a kiss on his hair, then leans her cheek against his head, feeling all the more broken when it occurs to her that he’s the only one in this room who would see that she’s not okay, even if he just woke up, even when they’re in the dark. How is she going to tell him?

[geminirum]

doing sersi next because gemma chan, my love

for all intentional purposes, sersi and ikaris are friends but she’s with dane my underrated king

*for my makkari ig post CLICK HERE*

let me know if you have any requests/ideas!

———

liked by simplymakkari, officiallyikaris, spriteintoaction and 178 others

lovesersi: art is freedom

simplymakkari: the fit is a serve! 🖤

spriteintoaction: is this why you were late to your job this morning, hMmMmM? 🤨

lovesersi: what were you doing up that late

liked by heyimphastos, officalkingo, officiallyikaris, and 600 others

lovesersi: dude we’re getting the band back together! happy birthday phastos 🎉

officialkingo: i love that for us

heyimphastos: tell me you were actually surprised about your party, without telling me you were surprised about your party… i’ll go first, look at my reaction lol

officiallyikaris: where was i lol?

lovesersi: it was pretty early on, so you were betting if druig would actually show up or not

liked by guidingajak, itsdruig, missthena and 90 others

lovesersi: perks of being a professor: you get to design your classroom however you want

guidingajak: it looks beautiful sersi! your students are so lucky to have an empathetic teacher like yourself! ❤️

lovesersi: thank you ajak! miss you ♥️

itsdruig: how long did this take you?

lovesersi: too long lmao 😵‍💫

liked by cookingwithgil, missthena and simplymakkari and 367 others

lovesersi: capturing myself before i go to gil and thena’s and eat a bomb meal 🌻

cookingwithgil: looking fabulous as always! was this the dress thena designed?

lovesersi: yes!! she did a phenomenal job

missthena: don’t make me blush <3

spriteintoaction: save me some leftovers 👀

liked by guidingajak, cookingwithgil, and officialkingo and 67 others

lovesersi: gil outdid himself, as usual!

cookingwithgil: you’re my biggest fan 😌

lovesersi: me 🤝 dane: being your biggest supporters

officalkingo: brb coming over to grab a plate

spriteintoaction: come get me too

liked by danewhitman, therealeros, and officiallyikaris and 268 others

lovesersi: long time no see! 👋🏻

officiallyikaris: okay alright

itsdruig: for once i agree with you

therealeros: i know you all love me 😍

missthena: lets play 2 truths and a lie

simplymakkari: THE WOMAN WAS TOO STUNNED TO SPEAK 😭

liked by officalkingo, guidingajak, spriteintoaction and 322 others

lovesersi: honestly, i think sprite took this as a joke but it turned out really cute 🥰

spriteintoaction: crap i wanted it to be blackmail i guess my plan turned on me

guidingajak: you two are so sweet! sending you all my love! ❤️❤️❤️

lovesersi: hi its dane! i’m replying through sersi’s phone; i can’t wait to meet you! :)

officalkingo: stop when he’s respectful

simplymakkari: you guys are too cute 🥺

liked by simplymakkari, missthena, heyimphastos, and 67 others

lovesersi: what is done with love is done well

comments have been turned off

[ejcoolgirl]

Hi. Today I saw a really talented writer on ao3 and they inspired this fic (under the cut). I might write more but I'm not sure yet. (side note: the name ‘maddy’ is used as a placeholder. It basically means y/n)

🎭Kingo✨ had added 💚sersi✨, 💙ikaris✨, 🃏sprite✨, 💛thena✨, 🖤druig✨, ❤️makkari✨, 💜phastos✨, 🧡gilgamesh✨, 🔮maddy✨ & ❤️‍🩹ajak✨ to the chat

Kingo: Yo!

Phastos: It's 10 pm man

Phastos: Maddy and Sprite

should be sleeping

Sprite: I'm not and I don't think Maddy is either

Sersi: Guys, what is this?

Kingo: group chat babyyyyyyyyy!

Sersi: I gathered that but why?

Kingo: it was boring without one

Ikaris: Hi Sers :)

Sersi: Hi :)

Spite: *gags*

Kingo: nicknames and smilies?! What am I witnessing?!

Druig: other people are here too u know?!

Phastos: it's not like u and makkari are any better

Gilgamesh: My BeAuTiFuL BeAutIfUL MaKkArI 🙄

Maddy: WUZZUP?!

Sprite: told u guys she's awake

Maddy: nice! We have a group chat now! :D

Kingo: thank you! At least SOMEONE has enthusiasm!

Maddy: :)

Thena: Hey Gil, why r u up?

Gilgamesh: I'm testing a new recipe

Maddy: :)))))

Thena: :)))))

Gilgamesh: five smilies means...oh. Sure u guys can be the first ones to try it

Maddy: YES

Ikaris: hey guys can anyone help me with my history test?

Phastos: u have to do it by yourself man!

Sprite: and EVERYONE knows u only do history to spend more time with Sersi 😏

Ikaris: uhhhhh

Sersi: no comment

Maddy: Hey guys, fun fact. The plastic tube at the end of a shoelace is called an aglet :)

Kingo: there's no way that's true

Maddy: wanna make a bet?

Kingo: gladly! 20 bucks!

Maddy: you're on!

Phastos: esh. Sorry Kingo but u just lost 20 bucks. Maddy's right, I searched it up

Kingo: NO WAY

Maddy: LEZ GO!

Ajak: why are u guys being so loud?

Maddy: technically it's the phone, its programming and components being loud. TECHNICALLY

Ajak: that's enough ‘being the teacher’ for one day Maddy

Maddy: awwwww

Thena: hey Maddy...

Maddy: ye?

Thena: u have a lightsaber collection right?

Maddy: to show off and to whack annoying people with, yea. Why?

Thena: are they strong enough to practice fencing with?

Maddy: course! I use them all the time!

Kingo: u do fencing?

Maddy: DOI

Maddy: GET . WITH. THE. TIMES.

Thena: could I practice with them this week plz? I lost my equipment

Maddy: sure thing!

Thena: thx!

Makkari: geez guys

Kingo: ?

Makkari: I open my phone to check the time and I have 56 new messages

Kingo: that's not much

Maddy: yea. I once got over 400 in 5 seconds

Ikaris: yeesh

Sersi: that was the Avengers group chat wasn't it?

Maddy: yea it was.

[softquietsteadylove]

Thena and Gilgamesh at beach party, you choose the AU

"Princess?"

Gil chuckled into his beer bottle. He looked over his shoulder, although Thena stepped over the log he was sitting on of her own volition anyway. "You takin' my lines, now?"

Thena settled herself on the log in front of his small little beach fire. She looked behind them, at the main - huge and roaring - bonfire most of the party was seated around. "Not a marshmallow person?"

He snorted, setting down his beer to give her ladyship his undivided attention. "Do I look like a marshmallow guy?"

"Hm," she smirked at him and his little challenge, resting her chin in her palm, "you are surprisingly soft on the inside."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, sweetheart," Gil balked at the suggestion that he was soft. He gave her his meanest look, "I give you my sweater one time, which I want back, by the way!"

Thena raised her brows at him and then looked down at that exact hoodie she was currently wearing over her sweater dress.

"Doesn't make me soft," he scoffed freely. He gave her a curious look, the fire in front of them offering a soft glow while the larger fire behind them illuminated the back of him. "So, what are you doing here anyway?"

Thena tugged her skirt over her knees, "well, Sersi wanted to come and see Dane."

"Oh," Gil gave her that stupid smug smile, "that so?"

"It is," she huffed, holding her chin high. "I let her loose into the gaggle of people over there, just so long as she doesn't reek of alcohol when I take her home."

Gil nodded, sitting up a little straighter. "And you decided to keep me company?--I'm honoured."

"Okay," Thena scoffed, pulling the hoodie around her tighter. "Get over yourself, please, for the sake of your own dignity. I don't want to be over there any more than you do."

"No, really?" Gil gasped loudly, leaning into her personal space. "Her Highness doesn't like a bunch of drunk idiots trying to convince her go skinny dipping?"

"Don't forget that they stink of cheap beer," she pointed out, even indulging in a laugh that drifted up into the air like the tiny fire's smoke. She looked at him, "what about you?"

"What about me?" Gil repeated, still not having picked up his beer since she sat down.

Thena peeked behind them again, "even if they're not your favourite people in the world, there is at least free food and beer over there."

Gil leaned back only slightly, looking up at the stars. "I mean, I mostly came because I like the beach at night anyway. I looked at what they had over there but there's nothing really good. Me and my six pack are just fine over here."

Thena tilted her head at him, her hair slipping over her shoulder. "You're much more popular than you think, given your willingness to deny the public your mysterious charms."

Gil grinned at her, "you think I'm charming?"

She froze, blinking at him, just for a second. Then she looked back at the fire, clearing her throat, "it is a figure of speech, actually. I can explain it to you, if you like."

Gil didn't mind her prickly response. If anything, he seemed excited by it. "Will you wear a sexy teacher outfit?"

"Are alcohol and sex truly the only interests you have room for in that head of yours?"

"As a matter of fact, no," he countered proudly, leaning into her space again. He even slid over closer again, this time meeting her hip with his. "I have a more recent interest I'm pursuing."

Thena shivered, although it was a funny contrast of feelings. She wasn't any colder--maybe half of her felt chilly, in comparison with the half Gil was leaning against now.

"What about you, Thena?" he asked in that softer voice he could have sometimes. "Any...interests?"

She wasn't entirely sure what he was asking, but it didn't seem like something she wanted to answer entirely honestly. She cleared her throat again. "If I do have interests, what exactly makes them your business?"

"I guess nothing," he shrugged, and the movement that left a gap between their shoulders let in the cold again. "Just asking."

Thena looked at the fire again, rendered quiet by the whirlwind of conversation, in addition to its rather abrupt end.

"Just that if you were interested in any-" Gil shimmied his shoulders, jostling her faintly, "thing...then you should follow through."

She fidgeted, left with the distinct impression that she both didn't know what he meant and knew exactly what he meant. She shifted on the log, his hoodie tucked under her posterior. "You think so?"

Gil looked at her, and despite his lazy kind of facial expression, his eyes were warm and intense, like they always were. He tucked some hair out of her view and behind her ear. "Yeah, I do. You're too kick-ass not to pursue anything you want, Thena."

She blushed. Her eyes drifted back down to the fire, unable to bear the weight of his undivided attention. She toyed with the strings of the hood. "Can I...hold onto this?--just for tonight!"

Gil chuckled, finally picking up his beer again, although it was further away than even he had thought it would be. He groaned as he stretched for it, "tell you what, Princess. You keep it for as long as you need. And when you have anything you wanna tell me - or ask me - then you can bring it back."

"Well," she squirmed, but Gil stood and dusted his butt off (from which she averted her eyes).

"Not that I'm not enjoying this," Gil chuckled, "but I think Sersi might need to be rescued."

"Oh?" Thena stood as well, looking over at where Sersi was being her ever popular self. "I thought she would have found Dane by now."

"Dane's not here, Thena."

"What?" she turned, but Gil had that look on his face that told her that he had known that this whole time.

"He's on house arrest since he was late getting home from that party last weekend," he smirked, tossing his now empty beer to the sand at their feet. Of course he would say 'house arrest' instead of calling it being grounded. "And he told me that he told Sersi that already."

"Wh-" Thena bit her tongue. It had been she who had suggested to Sersi that perhaps Dane would be at this little gathering. And now both Sersi and Gil had let her walk right into an ensnarement. "You-!"

"I'm flattered you wanted to come see me though," he grinned right in her face, showing off his teeth as the v-neck of his t-shirt billowed in the wind.

"That is not-!" Thena smacked him on the chest (which was unpleasantly hard). "I came to return your sweater! Although, since you said I could keep it, then I suppose I'll be off!"

Thena wasted no time in stepping over the log and back towards the crowd. If she looked back, Gilgamesh would just be wearing that stupid smug smirk of his. He thought he looked so good doing that. "Sersi!"

"Thena!" her younger sister jumped, startled by her war cry. She stood, unminding of the boys on either side of her.

"Come on," Thena grumbled, grabbing her by the hand and not even pausing in her step for Sersi to arrange her willow legs under her. She wanted to get out of here as fast as possible. "We're going home."

"But," Sersi sputtered, barely able to toss away the beer she wasn't allowed to have. "You still have-"

"I know I still have it, let's go!"

[softquietsteadylove]

Thenamesh Boxer/Ballerina Au, Thena watches Gil (out of his sight to not distract him) as he trains (let it be a good and serious match) with Ikaris (who is also good) and is pretty impressed how fast, strong and agile he really is.

"He's good."

"Hm," Thena agreed quietly, her eyes glued to the ring as Ikaris and Gil moved around each other. Her hands had been clasped together anxiously since the two of them stepped into the ring.

This was just a friendly match for charity--a friendly match for old time's sake, as they said. Gil was happy to participate for a good cause, and had even cut back on his class hours to train for it in preparation.

She had watched him train a few times; she knew how good he was. But she also couldn't help but wince every time Ikaris got a hit in, the sound of the gloves on their headgear like a ball being slammed against a gym floor at full force.

"I thought you wanted to see this," Sersi smiled, nudging Thena from beside her. The sweet assistant teacher was much more invested in the fight than Thena.

"I said I wanted to support Gil," Thena muttered, shrivelling as Ikaris landed two hits on either side of Gil's head.

"He'll be fine," Sersi attempted to soothe her unusually nervous companion. "You said they were both professionals, and Ikaris isn't here to fight too intensely."

Thena kept in mind the day she had walked in on Gil absolutely wailing on Ikaris for whatever reasons they'd had. She let out a breath as the bell dinged, signalling the end of this and the break before the last round.

Sersi gasped as Gil smiled at them, waving on his way back to his corner.

Thena offered a softer smile, wiggling her fingers in a wave back to him. Her heart leapt as he shook his head, the sweat from his fight making his hair look a special combination of unkempt and cool. She had seen him practice, and she knew his strategy, too.

"I just have to wait for him to get tired out," he had told her with a laugh, as if it didn't mean letting Ikaris lay into him until that point. "He gets real sloppy once he runs out of steam, and that's when to really get him on the ropes--literally!"

Thena sat up even straighter - practically hovering on the edge of the bench - as they stood for their last round. "You can do it, Gil."

He couldn't possibly have heard her whispered encouragement, but he did turn and wave at her again before getting back to it.

Ikaris was panting, having properly tired himself over the course of the first rounds. He had a lithe, wiry figure. A little taller but a little more lean than Gilgamesh. He was all about wide, powerful strikes.

But Gil was a champion of endurance. He could take a few hits to the arms, the shoulders, even his sides. So long as he tempered what headshots came his way, he could outlast most anyone, and that included his old buddy from the pro circuit.

Ikaris made a few swings at Gil, his momentum dragging him around the floor. Gil let him, easily sidestepping and dodging him until his shoulders were sagging.

Gil tossed away Ikaris' strikes easily, the swing of them having decreased in power by at least half. Gil got in close, pulling his elbows in to get in fast but strong lightning shots.

Ikaris stumbled back as Gil bombarded his torso with stingers. He blocked one for every three, maybe, ending up against the ropes of the ring by the time Gil came in with the gut shot.

Gil stood back as Ikaris slumped down onto the floor of the ring. The count was had and his fist was raised in the air.

"And the king takes it!"

The crowd erupted in cheers, some jumping to their feet, everyone clapping at least. Thena clapped as well, leaning against Sersi's shoulder. "Thank goodness."

"I'd hate to see what you'd be like if he'd lost," Sersi giggled. She had known about Thena fancying Gilgamesh for longer than even Thena had, but it was sweet to see the reserved teacher so open about it now.

Thena kept her eyes on Gil as he pulled his headgear off, letting his gloves be taken for him. Those in his corner came over, swarming him with water and buckets and towels. She looked at Sersi, "you should attend to your beau."

Sersi blushed faintly, although her purse was already on her shoulder again. "Are you sure?"

"You go ahead," Thena smiled as Sersi started to rise before her sentence was even over. "Treat him to dinner for his loss."

"Oh, hush," Sersi snickered at her, "you tend to your boyfriend."

Thena smiled, waving again as she finally caught Gil's eyes unobstructed. He gave her that smile of his and she stood, ready to go over to him. She intended to do just that.

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello!

Read the prompt with the teacher request wich was pretty similar to your amazing fic „A running Leap“ and wanted to ask if you still would do the prompt request but like a special prompt to your fic? Like a bonus chapter?

I hope you can understand how I mean it, I’m sorry English is not my native language! :)

The idea sounds pretty fun but if you don’t want to do it it’s alright too!

"They're really goin' at it," Druig noted as he joined his wife on the bleachers.

It was the beginning of the season, and as usual, the team captains were demonstrating some basics before the first game between the boys and girls volleyball teams began. It was a friendly competition, meant to be a teaching moment and help inspire the kids.

Supposed to be friendly, at least.

"Mine went farther!"

"You had a better angle!"

"Yeah, because I can jump higher than you!"

The familiar squabbling of the two team captains filled the gym, even with the teams warming up around them.

"Kids, please," Kingo sighed, holding a hand out between his own captain and the captain of the girls' team. "Is this not about the children?"

"No, it's about Ikaris eating his words about being able to beat every single person here," Thena growled back, obviously having taken the statement personally.

"Just a fact, T," he grinned at his fellow history teacher (and friend, despite what they both would say about that). "I'm the strongest of us, the fastest-"

"Thena's faster," Sersi informed him without an ounce of remorse. "And obviously Makkari is faster than all of us."

She was the gym teacher and track and field coach, as well as cross-country coach.

"Okay, fine," Ikaris shrugged, "but I'm stronger than everyone here, including Gil."

All eyes went to Thena. It was no secret that she and Gil were inseparable. And surely the overly-competitive teacher would not take any remark about him lying down. "What?"

"I said," Ikaris repeated, even grinning as Gil came into the gym, "I'm stronger than Gil, and I bet I can prove it."

The newly arrived English teacher just laughed, though. "He's been saying that since college."

They had even been on their college volleyball team together, after all. It was how Ikaris had met Sersi.

"Sersi," Thena handed over the ball she had been practising her serves with earlier, "do you have a life insurance policy on him?"

"Okay, okay, easy there, T," Kingo attempted to calm the blonde firecracker. He looked at Ikaris with a snort, "there's no way you're stronger than Gil."

"What?" Ikaris balked at his friend's disbelief in him.

"Look at him!" Kingo pointed freely, making poor Gil blush.

"Stop it," Thena smacked Kingo's hand out of the air. "He's right, though, Gil could beat you any day of the week."

"Well," he murmured, wandering over to them as Thena jumped to his defense. "I don't know about that."

"Yeah," Ikaris chuckled, looking over Thena's head at Gil (much to the blonde's frustration). "Maybe all those muscles are just for show."

"Thena, really, I don't care," Gil attempted to soothe her temper, which he knew was probably just about at a boiling point now. He put a hand on her shoulder, "he's always like this."

"His muscles are not just for show!" Thena argued in Ikaris' face, grabbing a handful just to illustrate her point. "I bet he could blow any serve of yours out of the water."

Gil's blush had only gotten worse as Thena gripped his bicep. Although, his friends noticed, he was no longer arguing his way out of it.

"Oh, really?" Ikaris growled right back in his fellow coach's face. It was one thing to argue like they always did. It was another thing entirely to drag their beloved volleyball into things. "What are you willing to bet?"

"Gil is going to win," Thena proclaimed, still holding onto Gil, "so ask whatever you want."

Ikaris crossed his arms at her, "you do my bus duty for all of december."

"Deal."

"Thena, are you sure?" Gil asked with a frown, mostly because he hated the thought of her out in the cold any more than necessary. As if he wouldn't be out there with her, offering her hot chai lattes everyday.

But Thena yanked his face down closer to hers by the arm. She had that look in her eye, and nothing was going to stop her now, "you can do this, Gil."

The two coaches walked to the end line, glaring at each other all the while. Gil sighed, unbuttoning his vest and handing it to a grinning Sersi, "I guess I can do this?"

Sersi just winked at her old friend, "y'know, I'm sure Thena would be extra impressed if you showed off a little. Just...as a side note."

Gil blushed, but he was already doing this on a silly whim. He was already letting himself get dragged into this little competition, and why?

Oh, right, because Thena had grabbed onto his arm and looked at him with those eyes of hers.

It was the same reason he would stand out in the cold with her to watch kids get off buses and bring her chai lattes in the morning. It was a reason everyone but Thena was aware of.

"Kingo, you better measure impartially!" Thena yelled down the court at him.

"I'm watching, I'm watching!" he yelled back, although they all knew he had the best eyes for the job.

Ikaris freely elbowed Thena out of his way as he tossed up the ball and took a running leap. He really did have decent form for it, hitting the ball so hard it was basically a spike.

"Man, Coach Ikaris is so cool!"

"Coach Thena can spike better than that!"

"No way!"

"What's Mister G doing playing volleyball?"

"Not bad!" Kingo waved from where Ikaris' ball had hit just on the side line.

"That's borderline out," Thena declared needlessly (just to piss of Ikaris). Sersi was already dragging him back with her when Thena handed Gil the ball.

"You know, jump serves were never a specialty of mine," he admitted sheepishly with all his nerves showing.

"You'll be fine," she smiled at him, letting her hand brush over his arm gently as she stepped out of his way. She kept her eyes on him as bounced the ball a few times. He always wore a vest to teach; it was rare to see him in just a t-shirt.

Gil tossed the ball up, his back muscles moving under the tightness of his shirt. He ran up to the line and jumped, curling back to let his dorsal muscles pick up some slack. He had beautiful form.

Thena stared as his arms flexed before hitting the ball. Even just his palm meeting the ball was loud, and it rocketed to the other side of the court with the sound of canon fire. It even bounced off the back wall hard enough to come back to their side of the net.

Gil sighed, stretching out his back and arms after the first serve he'd made in more than a decade. "Man, that rust is real."

"Gil that was insane!" Kingo laughed, rushing back over to them.

"Measure the dam thing!" Ikaris complained at his assistant coach.

"Oh, he blew you away," Kingo patted his buddy's shoulder without a hint of remorse, already poking Gil in the arm. "You, though!--where've you been hiding skills like this? Why aren't you the assistant coach instead of me?"

Gil shrugged sheepishly, though, "I've coached before, but I don't really know if it's for me."

"I shouldn't be surprised, I mean," Kingo shook his head, holding up Gil's arm, "look at the gun show, here!"

Sersi bumped her hip against Thena's, "you seem to be way ahead of him on that."

"Stop it," Thena grumbled at her, although her eyes inevitably drifted to Gil as Kingo poked and prodded at those arms of his. "Everyone knows Gil is strong. It's no...it's no...no..."

Sersi raised a brow at Thena's uncharacteristic mumbling. But then she looked over.

Gil pulled up the bottom of his shirt, swiping off his forehead with it.

Thena turned around completely, blushing red at the sight of Gil's unclothed torso, a perfect mix of muscle and fat, tapering down to plump hips. She had even caught a hint of dark hair leading down from his bellybutton.

Sersi rolled her eyes at her poor, flustered coach. "You started this."

"Shut up," Thena grumbled, toying with the whistle around her neck in nervous habit. She turned, hoping her smile seemed natural, "I knew you could win!"

"Oh," Gil blinked at her enthusiasm, tugging his shirt down again with a shy smile, "thanks for the faith in me. And now you don't have to do bus duty in december!"

"What?!" Ikaris squawked.

"That was the deal," Sersi patted her husband's shoulders.

"That was if I won!"

"And Gil did, so he gets to decide," Thena stood resolute, offering Gil a towel (because her silly little heart couldn't take him flashing his happy trail again).

They all knew what the verdict would be: Gil wouldn't ask Ikaris to cover his own duties, but he would have him cover Thena's.

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello! I wanted to ask if you can write Thenas and Gils first kiss in the boxer and dancer au! They are so cute!

She was magnificent, as always. Gil treasured the time he got to spend watching her dance, even from across the hall. He was hungry for it, having started ending class earlier and earlier, little by little. If anyone had noticed, no one felt like calling him out on it.

Just as well, Gil figured. He wasn't totally ready to admit that it was so he could watch the beautiful dance teacher across the hall.

Her class had already been dismissed, and given how she was dancing alone, he assumed that even Sersi had already left. Thena always took a little extra time to herself after her classes were done to practice by herself.

And sometimes, he would feel brave enough to 'interrupt'.

"Excuse me," he grinned as he pushed the door open gently. "I was looking for a cute ballerina with blonde hair?"

"Gil," she sounded like she was admonishing him, but he was rewarded with a very fond eye-roll and a stunning smile.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile as she stopped in the middle of her routine to walk over to him. She had the same grace as always, even setting her feet down from toe to heel. He guessed it must be quite a habit for her to walk like that. "How were classes today?"

"Nice and simple," she smiled, happy to sway in front of him while her music played in the background. "Although it's quite hard to wrangle the morning class when you interrupt."

"Sorry," he chuckled, recalling quite well the ruckus he'd caused.

The girls had all excitedly informed Miss Thena that her 'boyfriend' had arrived. The seasoned teacher had done her best to ignore her class' teasing with her dignity in tact.

Gil thought it was cute that she got flustered when her students called him that.

"You seemed like you wanted that coffee, though," he pointed out, and he knew damn well he was right about it.

Thena pursed her lips at him, unwilling to hand his victory to him on a silver platter. "For all you knew, I'd already had plenty--or had brought my own with me!"

"I seem to recall you saying that no amount of coffee in the world was enough for your first class of the day," he crossed his arms, smirking at her. Thena's eyes drifted over them just for a second before snapping back up to his face.

"Can you at least be earlier with it?--before we're in the middle of stretches?"

"Fine, I'll be nice and early with it next time," he promised.

They both knew that he had no such intention, probably planning to make an even bigger show of bringing her coffee next time.

"It's hard enough to get the young goslings in line," Thena sighed, unfolding her own arms to put her hands on her hips. The tension and stiffness was always slow to drain from her form at the end of the day. "You giving them something to giggle over doesn't help."

"Y'know, I looked it up, and young swans are called cygnets," he shrugged, unfolding his arms and reaching out to pull her closer in one - hopefully - smooth move.

"They start as goslings," Thena said firmly, even as she let him pull her close enough for his musk to intermingle with the scent of her perfume. Why did she wear perfume to class just to get all sweaty? "When they start to show some real promise, then they will become cygnets."

Gil chuckled, "your little ducklings?"

"I just told you they're goslings."

Gil let out a hearty laugh, pulling Thena into it with him. He did think it was funny, but he broke from the laughter first, tentatively walking his fingers up her back until he felt the edge of her leotard. He tapped the bare skin there, pale and silken. "Are we still on for friday?"

Thena just nodded, her smile stretching out as he rubbed small circles around her shoulder blades. She looked kind of delicate, but the muscles were strong, almost wiry with so little fat around them to soften the angles of the bone.

"Can't wait," he beamed back at her.

Thena's eyes drifted a little again, although Gil wasn't entirely sure where. But then she was reigning in her smile and taking a slight step back. Just enough that he wasn't really holding her anymore.

He pouted.

"Sorry," she offered quietly, pulling her formality around her again as if folding wings around herself protectively. "I should finish this routine."

"That's okay," he smiled, letting her hand slip out of his and drifting towards the door. "I'll see you friday?"

"Looking forward to it," she promised him, just as honestly and concisely as he had.

Gil paused at the door handle. He turned back, catching her eye with a determined set of his jaw. "Oh, one more thing?"

"Hm?" she blinked, genuinely waiting for him to bring up something he forgot or something about their date.

Gil strode over to her, dropping his bag on the floor with intention. He wrapped an arm around her, tilting his head down to kiss her. He didn't press further, waiting for her response to the simple but purposeful touch of his lips to hers.

She accepted.

Gil deepened the kiss, moving his lips against hers as her hands moved over his arms until her palms could press against his biceps. He knew he'd seen her looking, earlier.

Thena's eyes fluttered as Gil pulled away, leaving her with only the faintest tease of his tongue against her lips.

Gil could feel the blush in his cheeks, but he took some comfort in the bright red flushing Thena's even paler skin. He tucked back a few hairs that had escaped her tight up-do.

"Gil-"

"Y'know," he chuckled, unable to contain his smile after a kiss like that. "I can't remember what I was going to say."

Thena sputtered, her lips moving with no proper thoughts coming out.

"Anyway," he shrugged, going back for his bag as if he really had forgotten something. "See you friday?"

"Gil!"

"Looking forward to it!"

[themculibrary]

Gilgamesh/Thena Masterlist

25 Days of Thena and Gilgamesh (ao3) - Bright_Boisterous_Bananas M, 5k

Summary: A collection of Drabbles for Thena and Gilgamesh!

Countdown to Christmas with 25 little snippets of pure love, pure fluff, pure pining and more!

academy babylon (ao3) - wiigs N/R, 42k

Summary: welcome to academy babylon where everything is very alternate universe, but essentially ajak is headmaster, all the eternals are professors/teachers, and thena has ptsd but gilgamesh is there for her.

A Quiet Language, All Their Own (ao3) - Bright_Boisterous_Bananas T, 1k

Summary: Silence isn’t silent at all, not for Thena and Gilgamesh. They fill it with a special language, all their own; the language of flowers.

even when it all becomes too much (ao3) - funnefatale G, 7k

Summary: "Are you a Valkyrie?" the child – Thor, she recalls someone saying – asks. He doesn't wait for her response before he proudly informs her, "When I grow up I'm going to be a Valkyrie."

.

alternatively: Thena and Gilgamesh accidentally pseudo-adopt a little god child.

Five Times Everyone Assumed Thena and Gilgamesh Were a Couple (ao3) - INMH T, 2k

Summary: And one time they definitely were.

Home Is a Person (ao3) - Highclasstrash G, 1k

Summary: Australia, 1520 - 2023.

How to Build a House (ao3) - iamjustabird T, 19k

Summary: How Thena and Gil ended up in the outback and how their cozy little home for two came to be. It started with just the two of them under the stars after a long journey, and now they have to figure out who they are without the other Eternals, or Arishem, or their mission. Who do they get to be with just each other?

i remember . . . (ao3) - d0mesticbliss E, 4k

Summary: After the events of the Eternals, Thena spends some time to herself, taking in the consequences of their actions.

An unexpected visitor startles her.

Lay Your Hand Within My Hand (ao3) - Bright_Boisterous_Bananas E, 1k

Summary:

“Thena. I need to talk with you.” She stiffens, feeling the meaning of his words. “Not now Gil.” “Yes now.” He corrects, firm but so soft. “I don’t have my memories, and I need to know.”

When the other Eternals arrive with the news of the Emergence, it spurs something in Gilgamesh to have a long awaited heart-to-heart with his best friend, the one he loves above all others.

Life in the Margins (ao3) - Jupiter77 druig/makkari, gilgamesh/thena, ikaris/sersi T, 98k

Summary: In one of the reviews of Eternals, the film critic commented that Makkari and Druig had a romance in the margins of the movie. This story explores the margins.

Not a burden (ao3) - TheShipper47 G, 1k

Summary: What happens after Thena hurts Gilgamesh during an episode of Mahd wy'ry?

on a wednesday, in a cafe (ao3) - TaraLy T, 111k

Summary: Thenamesh Coffee Shop AU. No angst, no plot, only love (and food).

peace and quiet (ao3) - agentromanoff06 G, 1k

Summary: In the kitchen, Thena reflects on her time spent with Gilgamesh. She is safe, she is loved.

reasons are for people you're meant to lose (ao3) - funnefatale G, 8k

Summary: or the one in which Thena tries to move on but can't.

shattered (ao3) - dramaticfangirl1881 G, 2k

Summary: “I’m sorry,” she whispers, the words thick in her throat.

“I hurt you.”

~in which thena and gilgamesh both feel guilty for hurting each other and they just have a lot of feelings about it

Teach Me To Love (ao3) - iamjustabird G, 49k

Summary: Thena has just moved next door to her old friend Phastos with her young son Druig in tow. She's worried about how he's going to adjust to the move and to his new school, but Phastos assures her that his friend and neighbour Gilgamesh is the best teacher a kid could ask for. She'll see about that.

the blues and then purple pink skies (ao3) - TaraLy G, 4k

Summary: It’s been a month since their first conversation on the bus, how are Thena and Gilgamesh doing?

the secret ingredient is love (ao3) - funnefatale T, 1k

Summary: "I have never been less attracted to you than when you wear that," she says, taking a seat at the kitchen table as he puts on his apron.

He laughs, loud and deep, and something inside of her warms. "My dear, considering the mess we made last night, that might not be such a bad thing."

[taran-chan]

on a Wednesday, in a cafe (chapter 25)

Read on AO3

friday lunchbox: rolled omelette & octopus-shaped sausages

“Watch this,” Gil picks a piece of rolled omelette, cutting it diagonally into two halves. He flips one smaller piece over, putting them together again and creating a heart. Inside the roll are minced carrots, peas and sliced ham. He puts the heart on top of the omelette in Thena’s lunchbox with his buttery corn rice, squeezing some ketchup on it.

“Very creative,” Thena grins, pulling him close to give him a kiss before dropping her breakfast dish into the sink.

“Oh, leave it to me,” Gil says when she starts turning on the tap, “You go get ready for work.”

“Thank you,” she wipes her hands on his apron, then cups his cheeks. He manages to tilt his head and kiss the inside of her palm before she pulls away. His eyes silently ask her how she’s feeling. She holds back a smile, whispering so their guest can’t catch it.

“I’m feeling much better. Thanks for taking care of me last night.”

Gil nods, “I’ll do it again.”

She mouths "love you" and then heads to their bathroom, but Sersi stops her, “Hey, the nail polish we ordered has arrived yesterday.”

“Great timing,” Thena lifts one of her eyebrows, “Would you mind bringing it over to my house after work?”

“No problem,” Sersi replies, then nudges the boy next to her, “Jack, focus on your breakfast. We don't want to be late for the last day of school.”

The 10 years-old boy is examining his small lunchbox, containing the exact same food as Thena’s. Earlier this morning, Phastos and Ben dropped their kid at Gil's so that they could attend a funeral of a distant relative of Ben in the nearby city. Phastos doesn’t want to let him eat junk food and asks Gil to make him some lunch. They also ask Sersi to take him to school. The teacher skips her breakfast to drive to Eternal in fear of being late, but turns out she arrives just when Jack and Thena are having fluffy pancakes. And so Gil, generous as always, makes her some as well. (“Sersi, stop taking pictures, the pancakes will get cold,” Gil chides and Jack snickers, “Miss Sersi got scolded!”)

“Good boy,” Gil comments as Jack finishes his breakfast and cleans up his dishes, putting them into the sink before retrieving his precious lunchbox. The chef hurriedly grabs the set of keys on the table and runs after Sersi.

“You forgot something.”

“Oops,” she sticks her tongue out, taking her keys from him.

“Have a great last day of school,” he says, “By the way, are you going to the high school’s Sport Event on Sunday?”

“You know I can’t miss Sprite’s play. Last year’s The Jungle Book was a huge success.”

“Makkari said you were more excited to see Ajak run.”

“Let’s face it, who isn’t,” Sersi laughs, “We’re leaving now. Thanks for treating me to breakfast.”

“Thanks for the lunchbox, Gil,” Jack says.

“Eat well, don’t leave anything behind,” Gil ruffles his hair.

★

“Do you have a suit?” Thena asks, gripping his arm to slip into her stilettos. Gil smiles, slowly but confidently takes a hold of her waist.

“Maybe. Have you decided to attend the banquet tonight?”

“Sersi said the food would be good, and I think I’ll check out the bar.”

She really has changed. Back in the day, she wouldn't even consider going to such parties. But now? She finds herself entertaining the idea of Gil being her date at all those events.

“Would you at least give me a dance first?”

“We’ll get back to it later, I haven’t tried the chef’s lunchbox today.”

“Are you playing hard to get, miss Thena?” He teases, “I hope you like octopus-shaped sausages.”

He knows damn well she does, her smile and the glint in her eyes just proved it.

“Have a great day at work, my dear,” he kisses her and she sighs into their kiss, pressing herself against him like she can't get enough of him. When they part, she touches her lips to check on her lipstick but Gil shakes his head.

“It’s perfect,” he says, closing the door behind them. They walk together to the gate.

“See you tonight,” she breathes, but neither of them let go of their hands and they stand there for one or two more minutes, Gil twirls a lock of her hair around his forefinger, lowering his head to kiss it, then he keeps planting feather-light kisses up her neck, making her gasp between giggles. And after one, two, three final pecks on her lips, he steps back and pulls open the car door for her.

“Your place at 7?” He confirms and she nods, her legs still wobbly from the kisses. He helps her put the bag that has her lunch and iced vanilla latte inside on the passenger seat, then closes the door.

At lunchtime, he checks his phone and finds a new text from Thena from half an hour ago. She took a picture of her empty lunchbox, apart from the two halves of omelette that form a heart, along with two words: “One dance.” He almost dances around the kitchen, the joy he gets from that single text rushing through him makes it hard to sit still. He kisses the small screen, staring at it in utter bliss for a while longer, then texts back.

“I love you too.”

★

On the way to Thena’s, Gilgamesh can’t help but feel nervous and excited like a high school boy on his first school prom. It’s been a while since he last went to a fancy party. He’s got home and changed after his pottery class is over, and now he constantly adjusts his tie, hoping that the summer heat won’t make him sweat too much in his only suit.

He presses the doorbell and waits, hiding the bouquet behind his back. The door opens after a minute or so and he’s surprised when he finds Sersi is standing there in a dark green midi dress. Her thick raven hair is pulled up into a graceful bun with a glass green pin shaped like a rose.

“You’re here!” She smiles brightly, “Come on in, Thena will be down in a second.”

“You look great, Sersi,” he gives her a thumb up. He forgot Ikaris is Thena’s colleague, of course Sersi would be his date.

Her smile grows brighter, “Thank you! You’re not looking so bad yourself.”

“Really? I’m not used to dressing up like this,” Gil scratches his hair, “I don’t look weird or anything?”

“What are you talking about? Give yourself some credit. Don’t you always say that you’re more handsome than Ikaris?”

“Fat chance,” Ikaris’ voice echoes from the living room and Gil snorts.

“When did you come here?” He asks when they move towards the couch, where Ikaris is sitting.

“About an hour ago. Thena and I helped each other try on dresses and stuff, because neither of us usually goes to banquets.”

“We’ll just stay there for a little while then make some excuses to get out,” Ikaris shrugs, taking Sersi’s hand and tugging until she sits down next to him, “I’m lucky I have Sersi, she’s great with the small talks.”

But Gil has stopped listening, might as well have stopped thinking. Thena just walked into the room. She’s wearing a silk dress, its colour simmers from ivory to white depending on her movements and the way the lights shine on it. It has spaghetti straps and the hem only goes a little past her knees. Its front dips just enough to show her cleavage. The dress fits her perfectly, highlighting her curves and the sway of her hips when she walks. Gil has to put a hand on the wall to steady himself. Her hair cascaded down her back as usual, the rather wild locks have turned into perfect loose curls around her face. Not a single hair is out of place. Above her left ears are a couple of golden hair clips with a diamond bird wing on each.

“Thought I heard your voice,” she smiles, her eyes scanning him up and down in his navy blue suit, and he sees desire in them. The room suddenly becomes too hot and too hard to breathe. He’s just getting used to that predatory look these few months, and her appearance right now doesn’t do him any good.

“You look…” He croaks, but he can’t find any words that are worth describing her beauty. However, That earns him a toothy smile from her, she seems to be endlessly amused that she renders him speechless. Over her lips is a shade of dark red lipstick, stunning and dangerous. She moves just a tad closer to him and holds out her hand, and he closes the distance as if being hypnotised, meeting her halfway. He presents the poor, now dim-looking bouquet to her.

“For you,” he says, taking in her piercings, two on each of her ears, twinkling gold just like her pair of hair clips. She’s very aware of how her double-piercing affects him. In fact, he’s the one who asked her to wear those piercings some days ago so this is really on him. She holds the sunflowers and white daisies close, whispering a “thank you”, her ears redden. He touches the familiar spot on the small of her back, the spot that recently his mind starts to call “his spot” unconsciously. He feels his knees weaken when he realizes the dress is almost backless, only white straps crisscrossing each other from her waist to her shoulder blades.

“Wow,” his voice comes out shakily. He wants nothing more than to kiss her, but he fears he might not be able to stop and her perfect red lipstick would be smudged and they would be late and oh my god she’s taking off his tie– Her long, slender fingers skillfully pull the fabric all the way down and she adjusts the collar. Finally, she pops open the top button of his white shirt.

“This is more like you,” she says, her hand lingers, patting his chest once more. He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

“Ready?” She asks, sliding her arm through the crook of his. He nods, noticing her fingernails have the same shade of red as her lips, and so are her toenails. The colour is captivating on her pale skin.

“Shall we go?” Ikaris clears his throat to remind them that there are other people there, because the atmosphere surrounding them is getting quite alert.

“I called an Uber for us,” Sersi says, putting her phone into her purse. Thena also grabs hers.

“Let’s get this over with,” Ikaris stands up and stretches.

“You and Thena are so alike sometimes,” Sersi chuckles as she puts a tiepin on Ikaris, while Gil gestures for Thena to sit down on the couch’s armrest, then he gets on one knee and sticks two band-aids which he brought with him on her achilles heels so the new shoes won’t hurt her feet.

“We are not alike!” They both snap simultaneously, then glare at each other.

“Where the hell did that come from?” Thena mumbles with a frown, not particularly at anyone in the room. Gil only laughs, lifting one of her feet onto his right knee.

“Yeah, you two aren’t alike at all,” he agrees, “You, my dear, you can rock in a suit and I bet Ikaris could never look as gorgeous in a silk dress as you.”

“Hey! I have feelings too!” Ikaris gapes at him as Sersi and Thena laugh so hard they almost fall over.

★

They ride an Uber to a hotel downtown, stepping into the bright, crowded lobby and being led into a large hall, where the law firm’s anniversary party is held. Gilgamesh can’t take his eyes off Thena and she’s having a hard time not touching him. One of her hands clasped in his, the other either tugs at the lapels of his jacket, or brushes something off his shoulder. One time she reaches into his inside pockets for a tissue, her gardenia perfume clings to his jacket. He’s lucky he hasn’t tripped on anything.

There are tables arranged along the walls. The four of them are placed together at the same table. They have no idea where Kingo is seated because he keeps jumping from one table to another. He goes from greeting to flirting to dancing and drinking. He catches Thena and Gilgamesh at the bar, hyping up their outfits and forcing them to take some selfies with him, and then some junior lawyer calls out for him and he disappears in a blink of an eye. They see Sersi gleefully talking to Thena and Ikaris’ co-worker. She seems to remember everybody there from the few times she’s met them. You should never underestimate a teacher’s ability to memorize multiple faces.

When the party officially starts, they return to their table. Gilgamesh sits next to Thena, and some people recognize him because they have been to Eternal one day or another. Every time some woman makes small talk with him, he feels Thena’s hand on his thigh, and he tries to ignore the looks they’ve been getting ever since they arrived. Soon, the food is served and he gets to relax a bit. And because Thena somehow coaxed him into talking about the dishes that he can make with the vegetables in his garden, he doesn’t know that except for Sersi and Ikaris, almost everyone at the nearby tables is staring at them with curiosity. Their eyes widen as Gil, still talking, casually cuts the steak on her plate and brings a slice to her lips with his fork, and she happily takes it in one bite. She’s listening to him with a genuine interest, not-so-successful in hiding her small laugh into her glass of wine. Many people there never get to hear her let out so much of an amused chuckle.

Gil is smiling from ear to ear because his Thena is having a good time. Little does he know, she’s having a good time because of him.

“Everybody in this room, except our friends, is jealous of me,” he leans forward a bit and whispers into her ear. The music is pretty loud at the moment and Sersi just pulled Ikaris onto the dance floor. Kingo already made himself the center of the party, as usual.

“Nonsense,” she snorts.

“I’m serious!” He insists, “Have you looked at yourself tonight? Took my breath away.”

“So, have you got it back?” Thena puts her chin on her palm, “I think I owe someone a dance.”

“You just want me all to yourself, don’t you?”

“And you don’t want that?” Her left eyebrow forms a perfect arch.

The moment a slower song comes up, Gil immediately stands and takes her hand, pulling her to her feet. He leads them both to the dance floor, circling her waist. Perhaps it is he who eagerly wants her for himself. His hand covers hers on his chest, their gaze never leaving each other, despite those looks still glued to their backs. They dance to the song leisurely, shifting one foot to another, feeling each other’s breaths. He pulls her closer on the second song, which Kingo has requested to be another slow song, their hips touch like they always do whenever they dance together at home. He nuzzles her hair and she puts her head on his chest.

“What do you think if we get the hell out of here by the end of this song?” She asks, feeling the warmth from his hand on the exposed parts of her back, “I know a fine bar not so far from here. I could buy you a drink, for dressing up so nicely for me.”

“Then make out in a corner of that bar?” He thinks this time he can smudge her lipstick without any real consequences.

She grins into his jacket, “You always have the best ideas.”

“And you know I'm always down with everything you're up to,” he kisses the crown of her head.

“And I, you.”

[ejcoolgirl]

More chatfic!

Sorry I added less today I’ve been having loads of tests recently but I'll try to add more! Also, I've been thinking of making ‘Maddy’ appear in some other Marvel movies and intertwining her on the plot. I want to know if people would like that. Let me know! (Sidenote: I know not everyone ships the same ships as me but those people have my full respect, I don't hate on people)

Eternals

10:00

🎭Kingo✨ had added 💚sersi✨, 💙ikaris✨, 🃏sprite✨, 💛thena✨, 🖤druig✨, ❤️makkari✨, 💜phastos✨, 🧡gilgamesh✨, 🔮maddy✨ & ❤️‍🩹ajak✨ to the chat

Kingo: Yo!

Phastos: It's 10 pm man

Phastos: Maddy and Sprite

should be sleeping

Sprite: I'm not and I don't think Maddy is either

Sersi: Guys, what is this?

Kingo: group chat babyyyyyyyyy!

Sersi: I gathered that but why?

Kingo: it was boring without one

Ikaris: Hi Sers :)

Sersi: Hi :)

Spite: *gags*

Kingo: nicknames and smilies?! What am I witnessing?!

Druig: other people are here too u know?!

Phastos: it's not like u and makkari are any better

Gilgamesh: My BeAuTiFuL BeAutIfUL MaKkArI 🙄

Maddy: WUZZUP?!

Sprite: told u guys she's awake

Maddy: nice! We have a group chat now! :D

Kingo: thank you! At least SOMEONE has enthusiasm!

Maddy: :)

Thena: Hey Gil, why r u up?

Gilgamesh: I'm testing a new recipe

Maddy::)))))

Thena::)))))

Gilgamesh: five smilies means...oh. Sure u guys can be the first ones to try it

Maddy: YES

Ikaris: hey guys can anyone help me with my history test?

Phastos: u have to do it by yourself man!

Sprite: and EVERYONE knows u only do history to spend more time with Sersi 😏

Ikaris: uhhhhh

Sersi: no comment

Maddy: Hey guys, fun fact. The plastic tube at the end of a shoelace is called an aglet :)

Kingo: there's no way that's true

Maddy: wanna make a bet?

Kingo: gladly! 20 bucks!

Maddy: you're on!

Phastos: esh. Sorry Kingo but u just lost 20 bucks. Maddy's right, I searched it up

Kingo: NO WAY

Maddy: LEZ GO!

Ajak: why are u guys being so loud?

Maddy: technically it's the phone, its programming and components being loud. TECHNICALLY

Ajak: that's enough ‘being the teacher’ for one day Maddy

Maddy: awwwww

Thena: hey Maddy...

Maddy: ye?

Thena: u have a lightsaber collection right?

Maddy: to show off and to whack and or stab annoying people with, yea. Why?

Thena: are they strong enough to practice fencing with?

Maddy: Of course! I use them all the time!

Kingo: are we just going to casually pass by the fact Maddy stabs people?

Thena: What? It's normal. Bob's are quite annoying sometimes

Gilgamesh: Man am I glad I'm safe from them!

Kingo: I'm safe right?

Kingo: RIGHT?!

Kingo: also Maddy, u do fencing?

Maddy: DOI

Maddy: GET . WITH. THE. TIMES.

Thena: could I practice with them this week plz? I lost my equipment

Maddy: sure thing!

Thena: thx!

Makkari: geez guys

Kingo:?

Makkari: I open my phone to check the time and I have 56 new messages

Kingo: that's not much

Maddy: yea. I once got over 400 in 5 seconds

Ikaris: yeesh

Sersi: that was the Avengers group chat wasn't it?

Maddy: yea it was.

Next day at 7:45

Kingo: Ooooooo. Someone's in the big leagues!

Maddy: Shut up

Maddy: At least I wasn't a coward and ran away when we faced Tiamut

Kingo: I was hungry! I stop functioning if I don't have AT LEAST 20 tuna casseroles a day u know!

Phastos: can someone check on Kingo plz. I'm not sure he's ok

Kingo: no need, I'm perfectly ok

Maddy: if u say so Mr Casserole

Kingo: I am SO close to coming over to your dorm and kicking down your door!

Maddy: I wouldn't do that if I were u. Sersi is still sleeping and if u wake her up Ikaris will be very mad.

Kingo: fair point

Maddy: Shit

Kingo: what?

Maddy: I gotta make Sersi up, it's almost class time

Maddy: Is anyone else at class already?

Ajak: yep

Phastos: ah huh

Druig: I think everyone is

Maddy: SHIT

In class

Sprite: do u guys have big tests too?

Thena: I'm pretty sure everyone does

Maddy: history isn't that hard. We're only looking at the medieval era. That's like the most boring era.

Sersi: tell me about it. The only hard thing will be enduring the boredom.

Ikaris: what are you guys talking about?! That practise test already killed my brain!

Maddy: ?

Sersi: it was 10 questions

Ikaris: YEAH! 10 really hard questions!

Maddy: if u say so

Maddy: Hey gilg, how's food tech going? Can I and Thena be your test tasters?

Gilgamesh: of course! Always :)

Thena: YES!

Ajak: I see Thena is pumped

Thena: pumped is an understatement. Have u tasted Gilg’s food? He's a culinary genius!

Gilgamesh: ok I wouldn't go that far now.

Thena: ok:(

Ikaris: how about u Makkari?

Makkari: I think I may be TOO good at PE. My teachers told me to quit

Druig: ?

Makkari: because I'm better than them.

Kingo: LOL 😂

Phastos: SHIT

Sprite: what is it?

Phastos: I'm late for my date with Ben!

Maddy: so your idea is texting the DEEPLY not helpful group chat? Seems kind of counterintuitive to me.

Phastos: true and don't use big words when I'm stressed out

Maddy: what? counterintuitive?

Phastos: STOP

Maddy: ok, ok geez. Well good luck

Ajak: we need a name for this chat

Thena: I know!

Ajak: what is it?

Thena: the fuckers

Gilgamesh: no. I don't want to be classified as ‘a fucker’

Thena: awwwww :(

Ajak: any other ideas?

Kingo: Kingo and his MILDLY tolerable sidekicks! :D

Sersi: absolutely not

Maddy: Druig u better not say The Hot Messes. I don't want to be thought of as a hot mess.

Druig: fine 😠

Makkari: Druig right now: >:(

Maddy: that is comedy gold

Maddy has renamed the chat: Druig right now: >:(

Ajak: works for me and it does seem to be highly accurate

Gilgamesh: it works as long as we're not the fuckers

Makkari: dang. Good job Maddy!

Maddy: just doing my job!

Druig right now: >:( after an award ceremony

Sprite: OMG! THAT WAS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!

Druig: What happened? I was in detention

Ajak: why?

Druig: punched someone who picked on Makkari for being deaf

Sersi: oh yeah. I think I saw that

Makkari: u didn't have to do that u know. I don't want u to get into trouble for me :(

Maddy: to be honest tho, I would've done the same

Sprite: Nah ur a good kid

Maddy: u haven't seen me when I'm hungry tho

Gilgamesh: oh yeah. She's a TOTALLY different person

Druig: what happened today? I want to know

Ikaris: Kingo tripped when we got his award!

Sprite: IT WAS HILARIOUS!

Kingo: hey! At least I got an award! No one else did!

Sersi: umm

Gilgamesh: is no one gonna mention Maddy?

Maddy: what? Did I do something wrong?

Makkari: u won like every award you could have won

Maddy: I tend to look at awards like milestones and not, well awards

Phastos: this is just proving our point

Druig: HANG ON

Thena: what is it?

Druig: I MISS KINGO’S MOST HUMILIATING MOMENT AND NO ONE GOT IT ON TAPE FOR ME?!

Thena: I DID

Thena: here!

Thena sent a video

Druig: AND IT WAS IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL!

Druig: I wish I owned this video because if I did I would be $100 richer!

Gilgamesh: does anyone want to go to a restaurant on the weekend? I know a good one in town!

Thena: I do!

Maddy: I do!

Makkari: I do!

Phastos: I do

Druig: sure

Sersi: in short, we all do

Sprite: OH NO

Ikaris: what is it?

Sprite: u and Sersi are bound to make it a date for yourselves!

[ejcoolgirl]

Hi again. I have continued my chatfic of the Eternals (under the cut). I hope you like this and all that stuff. :)

10:00

🎭Kingo✨ had added 💚sersi✨, 💙ikaris✨, 🃏sprite✨, 💛thena✨, 🖤druig✨, ❤️makkari✨, 💜phastos✨, 🧡gilgamesh✨, 🔮maddy✨ & ❤️‍🩹ajak✨ to the chat

Kingo: Yo!

Phastos: It's 10 pm man

Phastos: Maddy and Sprite

should be sleeping

Sprite: I'm not and I don't think Maddy is either

Sersi: Guys, what is this?

Kingo: group chat babyyyyyyyyy!

Sersi: I gathered that but why?

Kingo: it was boring without one

Ikaris: Hi Sers :)

Sersi: Hi :)

Spite: *gags*

Kingo: nicknames and smilies?! What am I witnessing?!

Druig: other people are here too u know?!

Phastos: it's not like u and makkari are any better

Gilgamesh: My BeAuTiFuL BeAutIfUL MaKkArI 🙄

Maddy: WUZZUP?!

Sprite: told u guys she's awake

Maddy: nice! We have a group chat now! :D

Kingo: thank you! At least SOMEONE has enthusiasm!

Maddy: :)

Thena: Hey Gil, why r u up?

Gilgamesh: I'm testing a new recipe

Maddy::)))))

Thena::)))))

Gilgamesh: five smilies means...oh. Sure u guys can be the first ones to try it

Maddy: YES

Ikaris: hey guys can anyone help me with my history test?

Phastos: u have to do it by yourself man!

Sprite: and EVERYONE knows u only do history to spend more time with Sersi 😏

Ikaris: uhhhhh

Sersi: no comment

Maddy: Hey guys, fun fact. The plastic tube at the end of a shoelace is called an aglet :)

Kingo: there's no way that's true

Maddy: wanna make a bet?

Kingo: gladly! 20 bucks!

Maddy: you're on!

Phastos: esh. Sorry Kingo but u just lost 20 bucks. Maddy's right, I searched it up

Kingo: NO WAY

Maddy: LEZ GO!

Ajak: why are u guys being so loud?

Maddy: technically it's the phone, its programming and components being loud. TECHNICALLY

Ajak: that's enough ‘being the teacher’ for one day Maddy

Maddy: awwwww

Thena: hey Maddy...

Maddy: ye?

Thena: u have a lightsaber collection right?

Maddy: to show off and to whack annoying people with, yea. Why?

Thena: are they strong enough to practice fencing with?

Maddy: Of course! I use them all the time!

Kingo: u do fencing?

Maddy: DOI

Maddy: GET . WITH. THE. TIMES.

Thena: could I practice with them this week plz? I lost my equipment

Maddy: sure thing!

Thena: thx!

Makkari: geez guys

Kingo:?

Makkari: I open my phone to check the time and I have 56 new messages

Kingo: that's not much

Maddy: yea. I once got over 400 in 5 seconds

Ikaris: yeesh

Sersi: that was the Avengers group chat wasn't it?

Maddy: yea it was.

Next day at 7:45

Kingo: Ooooooo. Someone's in the big leagues!

Maddy: Shut up

Maddy: At least I wasn't a coward and ran away when we faced Tiamut

Kingo: I was hungry! I stop functioning if I don't have AT LEAST 20 tuna casseroles a day u know!

Phastos: can someone check on Kingo plz. I'm not sure he's ok

Kingo: no need, I'm perfectly ok

Maddy: if u say so Mr Casserole

Kingo: I am SO close to coming over to your dorm and kicking down your door!

Maddy: I wouldn't do that if I were u. Sersi is still sleeping and if u wake her up Ikaris will be very mad.

Kingo: fair point

Maddy: Shit

Kingo: what?

Maddy: I gotta make Sersi up, it's almost class time

Maddy: Is anyone else at class already?

Ajak: yep

Phastos: ah huh

Druig: I think everyone is

Maddy: SHIT

In class

Sprite: do u guys have big tests too?

Thena: I'm pretty sure everyone does

Maddy: history isn't that hard. We're only looking at the medieval era. That's like the most boring era.

Sersi: tell me about it. The only hard thing will be enduring the boredom.

Ikaris: what are you guys talking about?! That practise test already killed my brain!

Maddy: ?

Sersi: it was 10 questions

Ikaris: YEAH! 10 really hard questions!

Maddy: if u say so

Maddy: Hey gilg, how's food tech going? Can I and Thena be your test tasters?

Gilgamesh: of course! Always :)

Thena: YES!

Ajak: I see Thena is pumped

Thena: pumped is an understatement. Have u tasted Gilg’s food? He's a culinary genius!

Gilgamesh: ok I wouldn't go that far now.

Thena: ok:(

Ikaris: how about u Makkari?

Makkari: I think I may be TOO good at PE. My teachers told me to quit

Druig: ?

Makkari: because I'm better than them.

Kingo: LOL 😂

Phastos: SHIT

Sprite: what is it?

Phastos: I'm late for my date with Ben!

Maddy: so your idea is texting the DEEPLY not helpful group chat? Seems kind of counterintuitive to me.

Phastos: true and don't use big words when I'm stressed out

Maddy: what? counterintuitive?

Phastos: STOP

Maddy: ok, ok geez. Well good luck

Ajak: we need a name for this chat

Thena: I know!

Ajak: what is it?

Thena: the fuckers

Gilgamesh: no. I don't want to be classified as ‘a fucker’

Thena: awwwww :(

Ajak: any other ideas?

Kingo: Kingo and his MILDLY tolerable sidekicks! :D

Sersi: absolutely not

Maddy: Druig u better not say The Hot Messes. I don't want to be thought of as a hot mess.

Druig: fine 😠

Makkari: Druig right now: >:(

Maddy: that is comedy gold

Maddy has renamed the chat: Druig right now: >:(

Ajak: works for me

Gilgamesh: it works as long as we're not the fuckers

Makkari: dang. Good job Maddy!

Maddy: just doing my job!