#Gil is like please don't tell Thena I said that

[softquietsteadylove]

How about jealous Thena in the Doctor au?

Let’s say a small group of 4 doctors 2 females 2 males in different expertises are visiting the ER to gather some information on something medical. And these 2 females would not stop flirting with Gil

"I have to say, I'm really quite impressed."

Thena offers a genial smile. Making nice with other people has never been a forte of hers, but the visiting doctors from a nearby hospital have been perfectly civil. "Our staff is quite impressive."

"You run a tight ship, Doctor," the other male doctor comments, also making light talk as they tour through the hospital. The ER is the last stop on their trip, releasing them back on the ground floor after touring through the rest of the hospital.

Thena gives Ajak a wink on their way to the main door, "believe me, it's all her."

Ajak winks right back at her and then nods at the visitors, "she's my favourite kid here."

Ajak is an odd handful of years older than Thena at most.

"We've heard such wonderful things about your triage centre," one of the female doctors offers a bright and lovely smile. She's a pediatric specialist, if Thena remembers correctly. "It doesn't surprise me--wow."

The other female doctor also cranes her neck to look down the hall. "Wow is right--those are...?"

Thena's eyes bounce between the women, a strange and uncomfortable feeling welling up in her chest. "Those are two of our paramedics, Gil and Kingo."

The visiting women grasp at each other, not even attempting to hide their interest as the muscle of the ER make their way over to them. They grin at each other before looking back at Thena, "who's the one waving at us?"

Thena bristles. "Gil."

"Hey," he greets them with a smile, because of course he does. Kingo doesn't even bother to say anything, continuing on to the nurse's station without him (as is a regular thing, with Gil).

"Gil, these are the visiting doctors here to look at our facilities," Thena introduces (somewhat). "Ortho, Cardiovascular, Peds and Neuro."

The doctors might be a little surprised at her choice to list their specialties and not their actual names. But Gil isn't surprised in the least, giving them a friendly smile and a tilt of his head. "Thena's been showing you around, huh? Well, you won't find a better run ER."

"Yes, we were just remarking upon that."

"Are you just getting back?"

Thena watches as Pediatrics drifts closer to Gil, her hand raising up as if to touch his arm before drifting down again. She instead clasps her hands in front of her, batting her eyelashes at him.

"Yep," Gil answers blithely, totally unaware that he's being ogled.

"The paramedics at our hospital are never in on time after a run," Neuro sighs, landing herself at Gil's other side, even closer than Pediatrics did.

Gil skips over both of them, though, looking at Thena, "I try not to stay out too long. Just in case I'm needed here, y'know?"

She smiles at him, able to forget about the intruding doctors for this one, tender, fraction of a second.

"You help out here, too?" Pediatrics gasps, now actually laying her hand on Gil's arm. "A real jack of all trades, aren't you?"

Thena taps her toe on the floor, although it's silent, given they're all wearing running shoes.

"Well, Thena and Ajak are the real captains of the ship, down here," Gil shrugs. The only awareness he even has of the hand on his arm is his confusion over it. "If we're not out on a run I just kind of float around. Some of our interns are real airheads."

Both women let out a loud and exaggerated laugh. Neuro takes the opportunity to pat the back of her hand against Gil's shoulder, although it's a little too close to his chest.

"You're funny!"

Gil is funny--everyone knows that. Thena crosses her arms. "It might be funny if it weren't such a headache."

The Orthopaedic specialist at least gives her a sympathetic smile, "some of ours are terrible too."

"Wait you just got in!" Pediatrics gasps and beams at Gil, "so you can show us one of the ambulances!"

Thena rolls her eyes, muttering just to herself, "it's an ambulance, it should look just like yours."

"Uh, yeah, I guess," Gil shrugs, though. He looks at Thena, asking her to come with them so he's not stuck hosting three strangers by himself.

If it were anyone but him; Thena sighs but follows behind them. Ortho and Cardio are talking to each other from either side of her but she's not listening. She can't possibly; Neuro is walking so close her elbow keeps knocking together with Gil's, while Pediatrics is all but hanging off his arm as they walk.

Not that it bothers her, but they could have a little professionalism. A modicum, even--one fluid ounce of professional integrity!

"Here we are," Gil announces as they exit into the ambulance bay, his particular bus parked right outside. "We have the usual stock of stuff. Although Thena had the idea for us to add an inventory specifically of fast working anaesthetics."

"Really?"

Gil is beaming with pride. "Well, we're always advised to be so stingy with them. But patients can describe what they're feeling better when they can think straight. Plus, women in particular are used to downplaying their pain, even when it's really serious. So we always try to give them just a little bit more than the recommended amount."

"That's so forward thinking!" Pediatrics gasps up at him.

Gil seems like he's barely heard her, "it was all Thena's idea."

"And Ajak," she mutters, not that anyone is listening to her. Pediatrics and Neuro are still chattering away at Gil's sides while Ortho and Cardio have climbed into the bus to examine the extra supply Gil was describing. She looks down at her hip. She's being paged, "Gil."

He leaves the sides of the visitors in a second, pulling his hands out of his hoodie pockets to touch his palm to her elbow. All she does is look at him to tell him that it's not something she can ignore. He nods, "you go."

She nods back at him, offering a smile before trotting back inside, her ponytail swinging behind her.

Thena's ass looks great even in the unflattering scrub pants. The two male doctors have obviously noticed this over the course of their tour, leaning out of the ambulance just for the privilege and indulgence of watching her go.

Gil clears his throat loudly.

The two doctors scramble out of the back of the ambulance - Gil's ambulance - and tug at their white coats. "I-It's quite a fine piece of equipment you're running."

"Hm," Gil glares at them as he tosses the massive doors closed with one hand. His hands are back in his hoodie pockets, mostly so they won't see the fists he's making. He leans down slightly to the shorter men, "I know my wife is beautiful, but do you mind keeping your eyes to yourselves, Doctor Dumb and Doctor Dumber?"

"Y-Your-"

"We didn't-"

Gil just shrugs, heading back into the ER without waiting for their distinguished and invited guests. "Honest mistake. Just don't let it happen again."

[taran-chan]

Okay, I saw it!!! So I freaked out when you said you want to take some SPICY request. I don't know, but can you try to use all that???😭🤣 Them being dirty to each other...but of course with love, a lot of teasing (but I see Gil doing this a lot), and sweetness🙈🙊

As much as I want to, I only have a few days before going back to my regular schedule (and my other WIPs). I might get back to it at some point (?) but for now I hope you don’t mind if I just choose one from the list and try to make it dirty but with love, a lot of teasing and sweetness 😂

10. "Spread your legs wider"

[Modern AU/Cafe AU]

He steps into the bathroom while she’s drying her hair, engulfing her from behind. 

“Good morning,” she leans back, putting her head on his shoulder. She hears the rumbling from his chest as he responds. The scent of his sweat still lingers on his skin reminds her of the night before, and the way his hands sneak inside her shirt makes the images become even clearer. He kisses her temple, then her cheek, one of his hands wanders up to undo the buttons, the other caresses her soft belly. 

“Is it weird when my shirt turns me on this much?” He sighs on the top of her head. 

Her laugh soon transforms into a gasp as her nipples are exposed to the cool morning air, hardened in an instant. She pulls his head down to capture his lips, sliding her tongue against his but before she can be satisfied, he parts and gently turns her face back toward the mirror.   

“Look at us,” he groans, “Look at you. Fucking gorgeous.” 

She looks at their reflections, from Gil fondling her to herself, blushing and dazed because of his touches. And there’s something about the way their skin contrasts with each other in the daylight that quickens her breaths. She palms him through his shorts, pulling a deep moan out of him. 

“Still hungry, are you?”

“For you? Always,” his answer feels like butterfly kisses on her neck. She presses her ass against him harder, her head is dangerously close to the mirror as he rubs her labia, coating his fingers with her arousal before slipping inside. They lock eyes through the mirror and her knees almost buckle, she can just come from seeing the lust in his eyes alone. But she wants more. 

“Please tell me you have a condom in here,” she says.

“Shit, I almost forgot,” he grunts. 

He temporarily lets her go and hurriedly opens the cabinet. It only takes a few seconds but she nearly weeps from the emptiness. 

“Sorry, baby,” he murmurs between kisses when he’s back, pulling his shirt off Thena more to reveal her shoulders and collarbone but keeps it on her. He enters her in one swift move, their moans echoing around his bathroom. She grips the edge of the counter tightly as he sets a steady pace. His eyes dart from where they’re joined to her face, paying attention to her pleasure. She’s so wet she can hear the obscene sound they make while he moves in and out of her. She can no longer control her voice when he presses a hand on her abdomen to increase the pressure, the other rubbing and rolling her nipples. 

“Gil, your voice,” she whines, “Talk to me.”

“Then spread your legs wider, love,” he drapes himself over her, positioning her in a way so that they still maintain eye contact in the mirror, “Watch how wet you are for me, watch how sexy you are, taking all of my cock.” 

“Fuck!” She cries, knocked forward by the force of her orgasm.  

“So good,” he moans, hooking an arm under her right knee to lift her leg up, pumping hard and then follows her with a muffle shout against the back of her neck, letting her walls massage and milk his cock as they come down. 

He helps her up, holding her against him as she catches her breath and cleans herself. Eventually, she returns his embrace, enjoying the soft and quiet moment, but suddenly desperate for a plate of scrambled egg and French toast. As if sensing her thought, he nuzzles at her hair before sweeping her off her feet entirely. 

“Up you go, let’s get some breakfast,” he chuckles, carrying her bridal style out of the bathroom and into the kitchen. She plants a kiss on his lips, hiding her smile in the crook of his neck. He’s going to cook breakfast for her, maybe feed her as they lay around on his bed because it’s Saturday and they have nowhere else to be (and neither of them prefers to be anywhere else). He’ll say how amazing she was back in the bathroom and last night. She’ll kiss him sweetly and maybe they’ll do it all over again.

[softquietsteadylove]

Helloo, how are you?

So its halloween and i have a little request for something scary. Maybe the eternals somehow end up in this very old and problaby haunted house, and then the ghost in said house take a liking for Thena, so they start to hide her and make the others see her when she is not there. And poor Gil is more scared that he would like.

(Also thank you for answering to my asks🩷😭)

"This place really is massive," Gil commented mildly as he moved the flashlight around the walls. It was just the sound of their steps and their breathing. The halls of this old asylum were oppressively quiet.

"It's easily the largest space we've ever been in," Thena agreed as she too moved moved her light to examine their surroundings. "Its a good thing the others agreed to come with us to man the equipment."

Their friends were being good sports about it, whether or not they were present as true believers or because if half of their group was already in, they might as well all come.

"I hope they don't hate me for dragging them out here all Halloween night," he gulped as they turned a corner down - what a surprise - another pitch black hallway.

Thena scoffed at the idea, though, allowing him to walk even closer to her, all but clinging to her arm. "Please, all they would be doing is loitering at Phastos' anyway. He and Ben would be watching something, Makkari and Druig would be pretending not to make out in the corner and Ikaris would be trying - and failing - to hold Sersi's hand during the whole movie."

Gil snickered beside her. Thena's observations could seem cutting at times, but they were never all that inaccurate. And they could be pretty funny, in that way. "I'm sure he'd get there eventually."

"I have yet to see it," she drawled about their mutual friend, more frenemy when it came to her and Ikaris in particular. "Speaking of, when did they last check in?"

Gil pulled pulled out his walkie-talkie. "Ground floor, do you copy?"

"Ugh, Gil--aye, we're still 'ere. You don't have to go all air traffic control for it."

Well, if he was going to be such a stick in the mud. Gil huffed, "roger that, Party-Pooper."

"Oi!"

Thena took his hand and pulled the walkie closer to her. "Sersi, tell us if he holds onto you too tight and we'll switch floors."

"Watch it!"

The constant radio static of the channel clicked again and Sersi laughed. "He's really quite all right, you two. Anything up there?"

"Nothing, so far," Thena sighed before remembering to add, "over and out."

Gil smiled as he put the walkie back in his pocket. Thena probably thought it was silly too, but she would never actually say anything. It was one of the many ways in which she indulged him on these ghost hunts. "Hey."

She looked at him, wondering what had caught his attention. Once she saw him wiggling his hand at her, her smiled turned a little bit shy as she slipped her hand into his. "Do you think they'll know what to look for?"

"I told them about what all the equipment does, they should be able to tell if they get any activity," Gil murmured as they turned down a hall into a more residential looking area. "Whoa, this looks like an actual house."

"This must have been an area for those in a palliative sort of care, like a true hospice," she muttered, pressing closer to him. It was still old floors and concrete walls, but there were now rooms with more than nothing, some even still had an old metal bed frame in them. There was a dresser or two, even a mirror.

Gil winced as their flashlights both hit it head on. He lowered his, but he blinked and rubbed his eyes after the fact. "Can't believe something like that is still standing in a place like this in one piece."

Thena had no comment on it, apparently.

"Kinda freaky, right?" he sighed as he rubbed at his eyes again before shaking it off. "Thena?"

He looked around.

"Thena?" he called out with a little more urgency. He moved the flashlight around, plenty of the room doors were open, but he would have heard her. He would have felt her, wouldn't he? "Thena?!"

He rushed to check each of the rooms, forgetting how creepy everything was. His stomping feet were echoing all over the place, but that didn't matter. "Thena, where are you?!"

All that came back was his own voice bouncing around. He was starting to panic.

"Thena, please, answer me!" he panted, even moving the creaky, old doors to make sure she wasn't hiding somewhere. How could she have just vanished into this air?

He shouldn't have let go of her hand.

"Thena, please!" he shouted, retracing their steps, shining his flashlight down every hall he passed. He knew most of them led to dead ends. Where could she have gone? His hand pulled out the walkie-talkie again, fumbling with it a little. "G-Guys?!"

"Gil, what's wrong?"

"Th-Thena!" he gulped, knowing they needed more information than that. "She was right next to me and-and now-"

"Whoa, Gil, slow down. Nothing's happened to Thena, I'm sure she just went to look at something that caught her eye," Sersi attempted to diffuse his worry.

"Why the hell weren't you keeping an eye on her?" Ikaris snapped at him in sharp contrast.

"Oi," Druig chimed in on his set. "You all need to calm down, I just saw 'er."

"What?" Gil frowned. Druig and Makkari were on the second level, although most of it was sectioned off thanks to a fire from the last century. He rushed to the stairs, "you're sure?"

"Yeah, I saw her walk clear through that light grid you put up, actually," Druig narrated. He paused and then continued, "Kari saw'er goin' down the far stairwell."

"You mean the one to your left?" Gil asked, rushing down the main stairs so quickly he almost tripped at the very bottom. But he took off, full on sprinting.

"Yeah?"

Based on where they had set up, there was no way Thena could be on the stairwell to their left, because it led to absolutely nowhere, just a collapsed hallway downstairs and a boarded up room at the top. Whatever they had seen wasn't Thena.

"Keep your nightvision cam on, okay? And you two stay there--and stay close together!"

"Gil, man, you okay?" Ikaris asked a little more sympathetically, obviously hearing the urgency in his voice over the loud and static-y walkies. "Like Sersi said, I'm sure Thena's just fine."

"I'm on my way to you, just sit tight," Gil huffed. His chest felt tight, like it was on fire. He looked around, only now on the second floor. This place was such a massive hell hole, who knew what kind of malevolent spirits were in here. "Guys?!"

"Hold yer bloody horses, man, hell," Druig flashed his light at him from within the main hallway of the floor. As soon as Gil rounded the corner, though, Druig was already on his feet. Despite his words, his face was dead serious, "she really not with you?"

Gil gulped. Tears sprang to his eyes, although he knew this wasn't the time. He shook his head, trying to catch his breath. The light grid they had set up to pick up any kind of movement was still shining into the closed off areas ahead.

He jumped, but Makkari rubbed his back with a reassuring smile. Druig shone the light a little closer to them to illuminate her words. This place is like a maze, I'm sure she's looking for you too.

That was actually what worried him. He had screamed for her, at the very top of his lungs. And not only had he not heard anything back, but apparently none of their friends had heard him either, which seemed impossible.

And if he couldn't hear Thena, then how would he know if she needed his help?

"Where did you see her?" he asked, shining his own light closer to his face for Kari to read his lips.

She pointed. I swear I saw her walk through the grid. I thought she saw something in the window.

Thena would never walk through the light grid herself; it would compromise any evidence they got of a spectral figure. Still, Gil moved closer to it. He shone the flashlight into the corridor, through the propped open door. It was hard to tell with the light in the window reflection, but he was pretty sure it was just a boarded up, empty room through there.

Druig took the liberty of packing up the light grid and putting it back in his bag. "Take a look."

Gil slid closer to the darkened hallway. Despite never having been on one of these hunts before, all their friends were far less scared than he was. Maybe because they definitely didn't believe in ghosts. His heart hammered as he entered the suffocating dark of the hallway. He pressed his flashlight to the window of the door that was boarded closed. If something jumped up at him he might have a heart attack.

It was just a closed up room, full of evidence of fire damage. He angled the light around as best he could without giving himself nothing but reflection to look at. He jumped as some kind of movement caught his eye. He tried to follow it but it was gone as soon as he saw it. But he knew it moved towards the other door to the room.

And it looked blonde.

Druig and Makkari made room for him as he started running towards the main stairs again. "Come on!"

"If she's messin' with us she's makin' us go through a hell of a workout," Druig felt the need to chime in, following him down the stairs.

But Gil knew that wasn't the case. Maybe - maybe - she might mess with Ikaris a little, possibly Druig, all in good fun. But she would never make him worry about her like this, she just wouldn't. She would never scare him like this, not when it was always her calming him down on these hunts.

It really was like a labyrinth in this place. Gil leapt down the last two stairs and whipped open the doors to the main floor. "Did you see her?!"

Ikaris and Sersi both jumped off the bench of the entrance hallway. They looked at each other and then at him. They still had most of the equipment set up around them, and a floodlight pointed at the ceiling for a little more illumination of the area.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ikaris growled at him for storming in the way he did. "Didn't you see her on your level?"

Druig shrugged, "thought we did."

But Gil rushed past all of them, taking a right and pulling open the doors. This place was so massive, it was hard to keep track. But if the figure he had seen in the other room had been Thena, or worse, something else, it would have ended up in here. "Thena!"

Still, nothing but his own voice. It didn't echo like it did upstairs, though. He moved his flashlight around, seeing all the junk that was pushed into this empty but undamaged area of the building. He moved more slowly.

His heart was still hammering, but he made himself take each next step. He couldn't stop until Thena's hand was in his again. "Thena, are you in here?"

He could have sworn a voice whispered back to him. It would have been great potential evidence if he had any equipment or was recording anything. But for now, he took the potential whisper of 'she's mine' and scowled. "No, she's not."

Whatever whispered at him didn't have another reply to that.

Gil slid around a corner constructed of old office furniture, flashing his light in every nook and cranny. "She's my girlfriend! Whatever you are, find someone on your own plain of existence!"

Something rattled in a far corner. He really was going to have a heart attack in here. But he gulped, re-grasping his flashlight in his sweaty palm. No ghost was getting his precious Thena--not tonight.

He moved closer to the rattling. It was a doorknob turning. Okay, so he might die in here tonight. He hoped his friends would escape, at least. But if he did die, then maybe he could be with Thena. If she had died alone in here, he would never forgive himself.

There was a door, and the doorknob was turning.

Gil let out a breath and steeled his resolve again. He could do this. He would do this! He could do anything if it was for Thena. Thena, he repeated to himself as he reached for the doorknob, Thena, Thena, Thena.

As soon as he touched the doorknob, it was no longer locked, and flew open. Thena tumbled into the room, straight into his chest as he caught her. Both of their flashlights fell and rattled on the ground as they held onto each other.

"Gil!" Thena gasped into his shirt, burying her face in it as soon as she knew it was him. "I-I-I didn't--I-I thought-!"

"It's okay, it's okay," he gulped, holding her as tight as he could without hurting her. It was really Thena in his arms, small and warm, blonde hair under his chin. His tears came again, and he didn't force them away, "you're really here."

Thena held onto him just as tightly, clawing at the back of his shirt so she could hold fistfuls of it. "I-I turned around and you were gone--just gone! And I tried shouting for you but I couldn't hear anything around me but silence. And then I thought I saw this--th-this thing-!"

"It's okay, I'm here," he whispered. He couldn't process any of what she was saying right now. All he could think about was the comfort of having his Thena in his arms again.

Slowly, they released one another. Thena sniffled, laughing as she put her hands on his cheeks. "I'm supposed to be the one here for you."

He laughed as well, just as watery and tearful. He put his hands on her cheeks as well, "I can be here for you, just this once."

She leaned into him again as he kissed her.

"You two okay?!"

Thena pulled back and picked her flashlight up first. She shone it around the room, "where are we?"

Gil frowned as she handed him his flashlight as well. "We're on the ground floor, in that side room we checked out first thing tonight."

"The ground floor?" she repeated, looking completely baffled. "We were on the third floor. I-I felt something pull me and I thought it was you, then I was in this completely other room. I was trying to find my way back to you in the hall."

Nice try, ghost creep; Gil took her hand, weaving their fingers together. He could carry his flashlight in his mouth if he had to.

"Gil," Thena continued to frown as he guided them back towards the entrance, "I didn't go down any stairs. We can't possibly be downstairs again."

"It's okay, Thena," he reassured her blindly. It didn't matter. None of it mattered, now that his fear was lifting. He waved as a flashlight circled from where the door was. "I got her!"

Collective sighs of relief were had. Ikaris was the first to bark at them, "what the hell, Thena?! You nearly scared the big guy half to death--that's not funny!"

"Shush," Sersi soothed the beast beside her, as she always did. "We're just glad you're both okay."

Druig and Makkari gave them both more curious looks, "where the hell were did you go?"

"I-" Thena looked at each of them, seeming completely stunned. "I don't know."

"Doesn't matter," Gil spoke up, more sure of this now than he had been about anything all night. "We're getting out of here--now."

He pushed through them, pulling Thena to the door to the outside, hand in hand. He could hear their friends packing up all the equipment behind them.

"Yappin' orders at us now, is he?" he could hear Ikaris gripe behind them.

"Stop it, they've been through enough." How did Sersi put up with him?

Finally outside, Gil took a deep breath. He put his hands on Thena's cheek again, urging her to do the same. She did, but she looked up at him. "Really Gil, I thought I was making my way back to you. I didn't even see any stairs, there's no way I could have-"

"We'll figure it out later," he resolved. They could do that in a safe place, where there was overhead lighting, and a warm mug of her favourite tea. Maybe he'd even have a blanket around her shoulders and massage her feet. "All that matters is you're safe."

Thena's face shifted to something like guilt. She looked down at their joined hands. "I thought I saw you."

"What?"

"What lured me away," she admitted quietly, and maybe with the first bit of true fear he had heard her voice all night. "I thought I saw you in one of those other rooms. That was what made me follow...whatever it was in there."

It had lured him the same way. But, again, that could wait until they were in a brightly lit space with firmly locked doors.

Gil kissed her forehead and pulled her into his arms. "I found you again, so it doesn't really matter."

"Hm," she sighed, nuzzling her face into his chest again. "I knew I'd find you, I guess you finding me is okay, too."

Ah, his invincible Thena. She was the truly unshaken of the two of them. But he had to admit, he was assured by tonight that he had what it took to square up if he really needed to. If it was for the woman he loved, at least.

[softquietsteadylove]

I have another idea (sorry if this is too spammy, please tell me if it's too much) also sorry if this one is a bit dark, my life long love of true crime is showing. so human au, Thena and Gil have been married for years, Thena has a history of mental health problems but specially seeing/hearing things that aren't there so when she starts talking about someone following her that nobody eles can see people are skeptical, until one day she goes missing, the police don't do much at first because she's a grown woman but then letters start showing up from someone who claims to have her, Gil is frantic trying to find his wife and he feels like he's slowly losing his mind, maybe a hopeful yet open ended end with potential to be expanded. Damm this one is long, sorry

Gil crouched down behind the shrubs as another car passed. He knew very well he could get in a lot of trouble for this. Technically, the cops were supposed to be doing this.

Well, the cops were supposed to be investigating his wife's disappearance. What he thought they were doing was instead standing around with their dicks in their hands talking about how 'wives leave their husbands all the time without explanation'. They didn't know Thena. And they didn't know him either.

And he was damn sure they didn't know Kro. He had mentioned that Thena had an abusive ex-boyfriend who was obsessed with her, but they didn't care. All they saw was that Thena had a diagnosis of schizophrenic episodes. It was more than enough for them to write off her reports of being followed as paranoia.

Gil moved closer to the house. He had been watching for days.

If this bastard was going to stalk Thena then he could do the same. He had watched Kro, watched when he left the house--seldom. Watched what he did when he did go places--always for basic needs like food, never anywhere else. If he had a job, it was remote, or he had quit it to become a full time freak and kidnapping felon.

It started with Thena saying she was being followed. And he had tried to catch a glimpse, but he had never managed to get a look at what she had seen. But she said it wasn't a vision, that she knew what those felt like and this was different. She said it was tall, and that it was watching her.

It certainly sounded like Kro at the time, and the letters confirmed it was him, as far as Gil was concerned. They were printed computer paper, generic and untraceable. They said things like 'I have her' and 'she's mine now'. Cops didn't have proof it was from him, or even about Thena.

Gil knew better. It was the way someone obsessive and possessive would talk about someone. It felt like Kro, saying to her now-husband that she was his, her ex-boyfriend's, again. According to the cops, Kro had an alibi which eliminated him as a suspect. They hadn't even held him for 24 hours.

Gil stuck his finger into the crack of the window being left open. He had found a day when they were left open and stuck a twig in the slider to keep it from latching. It sounded insane, he knew. He was behaving criminally. But he didn't care what he had to do to get Thena back.

He pushed the window up, slipping through slowly. He had done his research. He knew that there was no alarm system because he had a creepy looking dog walking around. The dog would trip any motion sensor that was active.

Said dog lifted its head. It looked like a malnourished, mangy thing. Gil pulled the chicken out of his pocket. If this thing was supposed to be a guard dog, it wasn't very well trained. It hadn't even barked before he tossed the dog toy full of chicken at it. It was some kind of special puzzle, supposedly it would keep a dog busy for hours.

He moved slowly and carefully. The house had a basement, there were little barred windows on the front at the base and the rest of the houses on the street did too. If Thena was anywhere, he had to assume she was there.

"Thena?" he whispered. He was pretty damn sure Kro was upstairs doing his remote work in a home office at the far end of the house.

It was almost foolhardy: man kidnapped a woman and was arrogant enough to leave her two floors down from him all day and night?

"Thena," Gil whispered again as gently twisted the basement door handle. It wasn't even locked. He glanced down, it was pitch black, depriving Thena completely of any comfort. His steps were careful, he didn't want to make the stairs creak too much.

He walked down carefully. He had no proof Kro wasn't just sitting down here, lying in wait for him. And worse yet, he had to be ready for what he might find. He didn't think Kro would hurt Thena, but he didn't have proof that he wouldn't.

"Thena," Gil whispered again. He looked around, hoping his eyes would adjust. Those little windows must have been blacked out as well as barred.

"Gil?"

His heart leapt. He reached in his pocket for his phone. Pulling it out he swung it around with the flashlight on. The basement was actually not so bad, at least more than a dirt floor cellar. His gut twisted, "Thena."

She squinted, although he moved the light away from her, just lighting the corner of the basement that was hers. She was handcuffed to a support post, seated on what seemed to be an old mattress. It looked like the blanket she had been given was one for the dog, and the pillow was somehow worse than that.

"Okay, sweetheart, it's okay, I'm here," Gil rushed, kneeling down and immediately reaching for the handcuff. He had looked this up too, purchasing a cheap pair with keys online just in case.

Thena lurched forward, barely able to hold herself up enough to bury her sobs into his chest.

"I'm here, I'm here," he repeated, stroking her hair. She was in the same clothes she had been wearing friday. It was 37 hours later. He must have gotten her right as she was coming out of her office and before Gil had pulled up to the curb. It was such a slim window.

"Gil," she whispered into his hoodie. She dug her fingers into it, but her nails were bloody. She had tried getting the nail to which her cuffs were attached out of the wooden column. "He told me he would let me go if I promised to leave you."

"It's okay, honey, I've got you," he whispered. Of course this psycho wanted to play some sick game like that. He probably would have let her go, too. Nothing had been proven to link back to him yet, and he knew very well that no one would believe Thena about it.

He didn't have to have her. He just needed no one else to.

Gil rubbed her wrist, which was red and raw from her struggling. He pressed his nose to her hair, "sweetie, did he hurt you?"

"No," she whimpered, to at least some of his relief. "He hasn't touched me. He said he would let me out of here if I told him I never loved you."

Gil had read up on that. Kro was a narcissist, he needed to feel in possession and control. He wanted to know that Thena couldn't be with anyone else the way she had been with him. But they had been married for five years by now, in comparison to the year and a half she had been with Kro, including courtship and the lengthy process of Thena changing all her contacts and moving as far away from him as possible. Only for him to follow her here.

There was no use wondering about it. Gil pulled his hoodie off and wrapped it around her. "Have you been down here since friday?"

She nodded, barely conscious as he threaded her arms through the sleeves. "After work..."

"Did he give you any food or water?"

She shook her head again as he zipped it all the way up. "He would only come down every few hours to check if I was ready to give up."

Gil held her cheeks. He did his best to smile at her instead of crying. "And you never broke. That's my Thena."

She sighed as he kissed her forehead. "Take me home."

"Okay," he whispered. He pulled out a mini bottle of water, just enough to keep her conscious. He also pulled out a baggy with two pills. "Here y'go."

It wasn't an immediate concern, but it couldn't hurt to get her medication into her as soon as possible. Thena took them instinctively.

"Can you walk?" Gil whispered to her. This was the next step he had prepared for. There were a few different actions to take depending on her answer.

She shook her head. Even if he could have gotten her on her feet, she was weak, hadn't eaten or slept, and Kro had taken her shoes.

"Okay," he resolved. He buttoned the cargo pockets of his pants again and crouched down to get Thena in his arms. It was ideal to be ready to fight if he had to, but he wasn't about to sling his wife over his shoulder like old laundry.

Thena pressed her head to his chest as he lifted her.

"Let's get you home, sweetheart."

"You're not going anywhere!"

Gil froze. Thena was in his arms. His phone in his shirt pocket was still the only source of light. Kro was at the top of the stairs. He didn't seem armed, but Kro was 6'5" and decently muscled in his own right. He didn't think he needed a weapon. "It's over."

"It's not," the monster growled at him. He didn't even sound human. "Put her down."

Gil held her tighter as Thena buried her face in his neck. "She's my wife, Kro."

"She's a liar!" he bellowed at them and charged down the stairs to the bottom. "She said she would never get married and she lied!"

Who would want to marry a beast like this? Gil backed up just a step. "That's enough."

"Put her down!"

He really did match the description. Thena had said that a figure had started following her. That it was massive, way higher than six feet, shadowy and lurking around corners to follow her. And none of her visions had ever looked as monstrous as this man did now.

Gil did, but only so he could keep her away from him. He set her down on the mattress again, as much as she tried to cling to him. But he turned around, swinging his fist wide in the hopes of getting him in the face.

Kro did stumble back, but he was far from done.

Gil charged at him. If this was really going to be a fist fight to the death, then he was prepared for that, so long as Thena didn't get hurt in the meantime.

Kro snarled at him as they back into one of a few shelves scattered around the room. Junk and a few loose tools clattered to the ground. Kro clawed at his back but Gil slammed him into the shelf again.

He heard Thena cry out behind him as Kro tossed him away. He tried to stand but Kro sent him into another shelf, this one with paint cans. "I'll kill you!"

"Go to hell!" Gil yelled back at him. He grabbed whichever paint can he could swing, even an empty one. It did the job at least. He scrambled past Kro to Thena. "Go, run, I'm right behind you, go!"

"Gil, no!"

Gil hissed as Kro found his dropped phone and shined the light in his eyes. Next thing he knew, something that felt an awful lot like an empty paint can was colliding with his head. "Shit!"

Kro landed one hell of a punch to his jaw.

"Gil!"

He tried to stay on his feet. He couldn't see and his head was screaming at him. But he came here for a reason: for his wife. "Thena, run!"

His vision was just barely starting to bleed back to him. He could see Kro's massive silhouette. He got his hands up, ready to fight, when a flash of silver arched through his vision.

Thena connected the hammer with Kro's skull so solidly it was audible. She was breathing heavily, probably lightheaded. She looked at Kro's body, watching to see if it moved at all. Then she looked at him.

Gil eyed Kro as well, but he was out like a light. A hammer to the head was hard to beat, he honestly wasn't even sure if he was still alive. He looked at Thean, "sweetie, it's okay."

Thena stumbled back, dropping the hammer. She looked at him, "a-are you okay?"

Gil dragged himself to his feet. He wobbled a little, his knees being worse for wear (he wasn't young anymore). "I'm okay, are you?"

Thena moved numbly, stumbling into his embrace again, still looking at Kro. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know," Gil stared, even as he pressed his lips to her forehead again. "Let's get you outta here first, okay?"

Thena nodded, letting him herd her towards the stairs. "What do we do now?"

He had committed a crime, breaking and entering to get his wife back like this. Although maybe they could get lucky considering Thena was just defending herself against a certified psycho. Either way, he was leaving with his wife. "I don't know. You don't have to worry about that. We're just going to get you home."

[softquietsteadylove]

hello birdie 🖤✨

If you still take requests: I just saw a new Instagram post from Don Lee with an Hello Kitty umbrella.

So can I ask for some cute Gilgamesh? Maybe with mentioned umbrella.

🖤✨ Hugs and Love ✨🖤

Gil let out a satisfied 'ah!' as he finished his ramyun. He didn't miss Korea when he wasn't here, and he didn't look forward to visiting when they did. But he had to admit that convenience stores back home just couldn't compare to the ones here.

He didn't have to be biding time in a random convenience store. He was still someone of business here. He could have been at a bar, at a restaurant, enjoying a reserved booth at the races. But in truth, he didn't want anything to do with the business here. He didn't want to be associated with his family name.

And he was on vacation.

Thena and Imo were at some spa, enjoying some ladies bonding time. He was happy to leave them to it. He had strolled through some markets, watched tv from the window of a shop like the cranky old men in the neighbourhood. And when it started raining, he came in here.

There were magazines and comics to read, snacks, and eventually he had sat down with a whole cup of noodles--even melted some cheese on it. Thena had limited his home stash of it out of fear for his sodium levels. Men here wouldn't believe it--that a man of business was letting someone control what he ate.

But he liked that his wife wanted him to be in healthy condition.

Gil looked out the window again. It still wasn't letting up. Thena had said she would call him when she and Imo were leaving the place and on their way to pick him up. And it had only been an hour--for all he knew, that kind of thing could take two or three.

"Please!"

Gil turned and looked with wide eyes. The outburst was noticeable in the small store with no one else inside. It was the middle of the day; what was such a tiny voice doing alone?

The cashier shook his head, though. "It's not enough."

There was a little girl standing in front of the counter. She had an umbrella tucked into her elbow, counting out every won she had. "But it's all I have."

Gil got up from the counter, tossing his ramen cup in the trash and straightening his suit jacket. The cashier saw him coming from a mile away and braced himself. He obviously still looked like he was in the business, even with his tattoos as covered as possible. He pointed, "come on, man, isn't it close enough?"

The cashier shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir, it's not nearly enough for the umbrella."

Gil leaned over and peeked. He was right, she had barely enough for a musubi and some candy. He looked down at the kid, who looked up at him without an ounce of fear in her eyes. "Is this the one you want?"

She paused for a second, considering what she should tell him. Ultimately, she pointed to the stand with other umbrellas, for kids and adults. "I want that one."

"Which one? Show me," Gil nodded. The kid had no fear of him, though, waddling back to the stand with her current pick. She put that plain pink one back and reached for a hello kitty one.

"This one," she declared, waving it around. It was a little big for her, at her age. Or maybe she was just small, even for a child.

"Yeah?" Gil mumbled. He reached to look at the price of it. He looked down at the kid. "Pretty expensive."

Her little cheeks puffed up indignantly. "But eonni promised if I did her housework while she went out with her friends that she would give me the money for it."

"She did, did she?" Gil chuckled. The girl's sister was a scammer, plain and simple. She'd given her innocent kid sister a few bucks to shut her up and keep her dirty secrets. He pulled the umbrella out of the kid's grasp.

"Hey!"

"Oi, listen," he directed in his best stern Ajushi voice. "First: you're never gonna do anything for your sister again--I don't care what she promises."

"But she has to go shopping every-"

"Ah!" he cut the little girl off. Still, she showed no fear of him. Some annoyance, for sure, but no nerves. He crouched down, pointing his finger in her face. "She doesn't have to do any of that shit. She's lying."

The little girl gasped, hand to her mouth and everything. Probably at both his language and the revelation about her sister.

"No doing anything for her, unless you get the goods, got it?" he smirked. "That means she takes you there and she buys you the thing you want herself. Puts it in your hands, got it?"

The girl let him press the umbrella into both her hands, even shaking her into a little laughter. She nodded sharply, "yes!"

"Second: tell her that just because you have this now, doesn't mean her secrets are safe," Gil continued to advise as he reached into his jacket to pull out his wallet. He never carried cash around at home, but the kid was in luck. "You have what's called leverage: that means you have the advantage. If anything, she should be doing stuff for you."

The cashier watched the exchange nervously. He had his confirmation that Gil wasn't just some well meaning - well dressed - man enjoying a snack.

"And thirdly," Gilgamesh stood but leaned down to hand the kid the money, "tell him you want a receipt."

The girl took his instruction deeply seriously. She stood on her toes to hand the cashier the money (in a denomination she had never seen before). "I'd like a receipt, please."

The cashier nodded, hands shaking as he accepted the bill. He looked at Gilgamesh, silently pleading for help.

Gil narrowed his eyes at the guy. "Give her the change, man."

The girl held out her little hands, accepting the remaining money with starry eyes. "It's so much."

"Keep it," Gil excused easily as he took the umbrella and unwrapped it. "And don't tell your sister--or your parents. That's just for you."

"Thanks Mister!"

"Yeah, yeah," he held his hand to guide the girl out as she shoved the money into the little hello kitty coin purse she had. The automatic doors slid open and he looked back at the cashier, "just take care of her next time she's in here."

The cashier nodded, pale as a ghost.

Gil opened the umbrella over them both. "You like this cat, huh?"

"She's my favourite!"

Gil chuckled. Kids had it so easy. But he liked the idea that the hardest thing in this kid's life was an annoying older sister. He focused on holding the umbrella over his short companion, letting his left side get thoroughly rained on. "You in school?"

"Yeah."

"You good?"

"Hm," the little girl twisted her mouth.

"Yeah, me too," Gil laughed. The girl seemed relieved she wouldn't get a scolding for not being studious. "I wasn't good at math, or science."

She nodded, wide eyed that someone else shared her weakness.

"But that's okay," he shrugged down at her. "Just make a friend who's good at those things who can help you."

"A friend?"

What, did this kid not have friends? Maybe she was too nice and always letting others walk all over her. Gil bent slightly and smiled. "I've got a friend who's super good at math, and science. We work together, and she does way better than I do."

"Really?"

"Really," he confirmed. "We're a great team. And wanna know something?"

The girl nodded, making her pigtails move.

Gil grinned from ear to ear, "she's my wife, now."

"Really?" the kid gasped, her eyes going starry again.

Gil crouched down again, pulling out his phone. "She looks like a princess and everything."

The kid leaned over his phone, her mouth wide open. "She's so pretty!"

"She sure is," Gil huffed with pride in his chest. "She's the prettiest in the whole world. She's coming to pick me up."

"Don't you have your own car?"

What a rude question--he loved it. He stood again, groaning as his knees cracked. "We're here visiting my family. I have a car back home where we live together."

"Ah," the girl nodded, although he kind of felt like she didn't believe him. "Eonni!"

Gil looked up. Indeed, a persnickety looking teenager was walking over to them. He had no intention of beefing with another, only slightly older kid, but he didn't exactly smile at her.

"What are you doing talking to creepy old men?!" her sister barked at her from a distance.

"He's a nice ajushi," the girl defended from her position next to him. "He got me the umbrella. You told me it was enough but it wasn't!"

Actually, the sister had definitely sent this kid - without umbrella - in the rain to the store just to get her own umbrella, knowing she had set her up for failure? Man, business was business but that was low.

"Whatever, let's go," the teenager waved to hurry her.

Gil gave the teen another look before bending down and putting the umbrella in the kid's hand. "Remember everything I told you."

"Yes, sir!" she gave him her most respectful bow before tottering over to her sister, who immediately turned around and started heading home now that her attache was acquired.

Gil shook his head. He hoped the kid enjoyed her hundreds and kept them to herself. And if her parents did find out they wouldn't believe her anyway. Or rather, if they did, he wasn't going to be around for them to complain about it.

He pulled out his phone again. He hadn't needed to pull up a picture--Thena was already his background. She was in a pretty dress with fur around her shoulders and red lipstick. She said the colour was champagne or something like that; he had boldly claimed that only she could be beautiful enough to call plain old 'beige' champagne and make it look good.

They had been in Russia for an event, although he was pretty sure she had sneakily introduced him to some associates - maybe even family - of hers. He was trying to learn, but the Russian alphabet was really kicking his ass.

"You're good with kids."

He slipped his phone away with a grin. "You think so?"

Thena walked towards him, her own umbrella in hand, faintly white, casting an angelic glow down on her hair.

Gil received her, kissing her cheek and putting his hand at her back. "You look all sparkly."

"You think so?" she laughed, although she lavished in his affection as opposed to pulling away. She had missed him too. "Imo told me I had to try all these skin treatments they had. I'm starting to think I"m aging poorly."

"You're stunning," he pressed his lips to her cheek again. She felt all smooth and cool to the touch, too. "In fact, I told a little girl I was married to a princess. She seemed pretty starstruck."

"Lying to the youth," Thena shook her head at him with a grin. "Although the umbrella did suit you."

"I know it did." He liked things that contrasted his looks. It emphasized just how cool and tough he really was.

"Come on," she tugged at his blazer, avoiding the side of it that was now wet. "Let's get you home. You know Imo will scold you for this."

He sighed, following Thena under her umbrella to the car service. "What doesn't she scold me for? She'll probably tell me I should have gone to the spa just so I could hold your towel for you."

"She would not."

She would so. But Gil put his hand on Thena's waist. "I'm glad you had a good time."

"Hey."

Gil leaned in by reflex, pressing his lips to hers. He felt pretty neutral about Korea, he liked seeing Imo, and he liked visiting his mom. He hated having to do business with his dad. And the convenience stores were okay. And maybe he liked getting called Ajushi by a nice kid in a convenience store.

Thena pulled away, putting her fingers on his chin. She got that cat eyed look as she stared straight into his soul. "Hm."

"What?" This wouldn't be good.

"You had ramen--I can taste it on you."

[softquietsteadylove]

The arranged marrige au looks very interesting 👀, may i ask for another part. Also i wanted to thank you so much for posting your work, without your work i'll be bored and sad they make my days better, also you write so good, you write Thena and Gil and their relationship so beautifully. 🤍

Thena sighed. There was just no way around this. She wished it hadn't come to this, but she didn't have another choice. With great reluctance, she cracked the door to the dressing room open. "Gil?"

Even with only one eye to peek at him, she could see him sitting on a chaise just outside her door. He was being reflected in the multiple mirrors lining the walls of the enclosed fitting area. She couldn't see his screen but she could tell he was doing something work related.

She cleared her throat and swallowed her pride, trying a little louder, "Gil!"

He blinked, immediately slipping his phone in his inside pocket. He put on the perfect smile as he looked up at her. "How's it feel, sweetheart?"

It was the finest material she'd ever put on her body, it felt like a dream. That wasn't the problem. "Gil, I can't wear this."

He looked appalled, basically pouting. "Why not?"

Thena rolled her eyes, opening the door just a little more. The dress was beautiful, and it fit her well. But that wasn't the point! "When I said I needed some things to wear, I meant something casual, for running errands, or seeing some friends."

"So?" he stood, grinning and oblivious. "This looks perfect on you!"

Thena huffed, pulling the door open completely and crossing her arms at him. "This dress is for formal events, and I think it costs more than a year of my old rent."

She could just tell he wanted to comment on the fact that she didn't have to worry about rent anymore, now did she? But he held his tongue in a rare moment of restraint. "Thena-"

"Gil," she relented. She knew he meant well--she meant for it to be a sweet gesture, and the fact that he was here instead of just sending a bodyguard with his wallet was testament enough that he was trying to sweet about it. "It's too much. I can't wear this."

He was still borderline pouting, holding her modest white peacoat under his arm with his hands in his pockets. "I got you other stuff like this and you didn't say anything."

She squirmed on the spot. "Well, I don't wear any of those things either."

Gil's jaw dropped.

She attempted to reason with him again, taking his hands in hers so he could really hear her (which he did better through the sensation of touch, for whatever reason). "Gil, I know it's just part of your lifestyle. But you've seen the clothes I brought with me--what I wear at home. I need...that. I need some normal clothes. I was just going to go myself when-"

"No." He was firm about that. He was very firm, actually; under no circumstances was she to go wandering around alone. Her first instinct was to act defensive about his need to keep an eye on her. But she couldn't act childish; his work was dangerous, and there was a reason he'd hired a car for them, had tinted windows, and never left her side this entire afternoon.

She gave his hands a squeeze, "please, Gil?"

He really did have a soft heart, and he wore it on his sleeve, completely out in the open. How did anyone take him seriously as a gangster when he was clearly just a big, soft teddy bear walking around in a pinstripe suit.

"Okay, sweetheart," he conceded to her, as he always did. He raised her hands to his lips. "Whatever you need--I promised that. You get changed and we'll find some things that suit your tastes."

"Sir, Madam, do you need any--oh!"

Thena drew her shoulders up. She had no reason to feel flustered, or embarrassed. Gil had thrown the doors open and asked that his 'wife' be assisted by their best and brightest. That was probably more embarrassing than them being seen by the staff holding hands in her changing room.

There was no need for her to blush.

"It's all right," Gil chuckled, letting her close the door to get changed again. She heard his shoes on the fancy marble floors as he walked back out into the store. "Everything's great, but I think we're going to try some other places."

"Very good, sir."

This was the most posh place she had ever come into. She did tell Gil she usually shopped off the rack sales for generic corporate casual clothes. If she weren't a mobster's wife, maybe she would even peruse the shops or malls like a normal person.

But she got changed and hung up the gown that was so expensive she was afraid to touch it. It was beautiful, and she had to admit that it had fit her like it was made for her. Gil had seen it on display and insisted she try it on.

He was right, it had been perfect for her, but that didn't make a good enough reason to buy a dress like that.

She exited the room, holding her purse and going to find Gil. This time last year, she never would have come into a store like this. She would sooner assume she would be laughed out of the shop all together.

"Yeah, someone will pick it up later."

"Gil?"

"Hey, princess," he turned, raising her hand and kissing it again. He released her coat and held it out for her to put on. "Ready to go?"

"I suppose so," she murmured, looking at the staff all waving goodbye to them. Maybe all fancy shops were like this, but she had a bad feeling about it. "What was that about?"

"Oh, I just told them that we'll definitely come again some time, we're just looking for a different vibe today."

He was lying. But Thena let him hold her hand as they exited the name brand store, massive and towering and shiny enough to reflect a blinding amount of sun this time of day. It was nice out, though. It was a large part of the reason she had proposed going shopping for herself.

And from the moment she mentioned it, everyone who worked with or for Gilgamesh in any way had panicked. Every time she wanted anything or wanted to go anywhere, it was a unanimous sentiment; the boss's wife could want for nothing. Either they had to handle it, or Gilgamesh would.

"You okay, Thena?"

She blinked, coming out of her thoughts. "Hm?"

Gil sighed; he almost looked contrite. "I know this probably isn't the kind of day out you're used to. But...I wish I didn't have to go this far. But if anything happened to you-"

A big, soft teddy bear, who liked to pretend he was all grizzly and growl-y. When, in actuality, he had the softest heart around. She slipped her hand into the bend of his elbow. "I know you're just trying to protect me, Gil. It's nice."

He wasn't entirely convinced. But they kept walking, taking their time moving away from the luxury branded buildings towards a more regular collection of shops. "I'll try to make arrangements so you can go out on your own--with security, obviously."

"Obviously," she humored him. She was walking arm and arm with her husband, but more than that, she had to admit it was nice to talk with someone like a friend.

"What else?"

"What?" she blinked, alarmed by the grave change in his tone.

"What else do you want to do?" he asked more gently, moving them off to the side. "I don't want to hold you back, Thena. If you want to explore this part of the city, see more of downtown, call up any old friends--anything."

She didn't have much in the way of 'old friends'. Dealing with her father was such a dominating and isolating aspect of her life. She was quite sure none of her old coworkers would even notice her absence. Even if that weren't the case, she wasn't exactly yearning to explore weekend markets or clubs, either.

"Unless it's an old flame," Gil added hastily, holding up his finger with a heavy gold ring on it. "Then maybe, but you have to say it's just as friends, because you're married now."

Oh, she certainly had no such thing. But she grinned at him, as he often did with her. "Oh, well, I didn't think my husband was the jealous type. What if I tell him we're married in name only? What if he offers to whisk me away from this life?"

She was laughing, but Gil had that look on his face whenever he was watching sports and the team he owned was losing. It wasn't murderous, but it was decidedly pissed off.

"He can offer." Maybe she had taken this joke too far. But Gil moved her hand so he could hold it again, locking their fingers together. "But I'm gonna introduce myself as your husband, so he knows what he's dealing with."

Even in this fictional, joke world, that would paint an intimidating picture. She leaned against him faintly--to calm his temper, she told herself. "Wasn't it part of my contract that I not be in any relationship?"

Gil looked away, pretending he was examining his suit. He could get somewhat sheepish from time to time, which she had to admit was quite adorable. "Our contract--and that doesn't mean you don't have some ex-boyfriend or something pining for you at this very moment."

She definitely had no such thing. And even if she did, it would be far from her mind as she leaned against her husband, their arms sealed together, his massive bicep against her slim one. She looked down at the strap of her purse, fiddling with its latch. "Well, I don't."

"Good."

"Good."

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! I have a request about Zombi au👀 how about when they settled into the new place they meet up with druig and Makkari and they we're just all getting along in the instant and one time they having lunch conversation Makkari suddenly tell how Ikaris roughly handled thena on the supply run when Gil is still pass out and then Gil is not happy about it that thena needed to calm him down before he could kill the guy and assure him she already handled it. Thankyou ❣️❣️❣️

"Hey, you."

"Hey," Thena looked up as Gil circled behind her, his hand drifting over her shoulder as he sat down with a tray of food. "How's cooking duty?"

"Getting there," Gil answered simply. "I don't have the best inventory yet, but there haven't been any complaints."

"I'll say, this shite is better 'an anythin' we've had yet!"

"Gil, this is Druig," Thena introduced, only after Druig had taken the liberty of complimenting the food and then loudly shovelling in another bite. "He also worked here under Ajak in the beginning of things. He worked in psychiatry apparently, but he also is quite good with agriculture."

Gil smiled at the man eating like he had been famished for days, and then at the woman who gave him a cheeky kind of wave and smirk. "Uh, hey."

"Makkari," Thena smiled, putting down her fork and raising her hands. "She's deaf, but she's their top runner. She can cross the entire city in two hours, apparently."

"Whoa, that seems," Gil furrowed his brows, but Makkari grinned, signing something back to Thena. He would have to ask her to teach him during their off hours.

"She was a track champion, she says," Thena smiled, translating in real time as Makkari's hands flew at lightning speed. "She could have gone national if she hadn't been disqualified."

"Disqualified," Gil looked at them both, but Makkari didn't seem particularly bitter about it. She lifted her arms and made bunny ears with her opposite hands, a few times even.

Thena laughed, shaking her head as well as she lifted her fork for another bite, "stealing."

Makkari practically rolled right out of the cafeteria seat in her laughter at Gil's face.

"Extra food," Druig clarified, relieving Thena of translation duty. "Don't worry, she won't nick any of your valuables."

Makkari gave him a wink and a shrug.

"She won't," Thena raised her eyes at the woman across from her (across from Druig, really, but in her eye line). "Because she likes you."

Gil smiled sheepishly, picking at the meal he himself had prepared. "That's what everyone says when they're hungry."

Thena nudged him gently, under the table and away from the eyes of their new comrades. "You know very well that's not true."

He finally took a bite of food, looking around at those whom Thena had befriended in her short time here and without him. She didn't usually end up talking to people, let alone liking them. "How was the run today?"

"It was okay," she smiled, eyes searching him for a deeper worry under his light tone. "Makkari and I went into some higher hotel rooms close by--I told them about the mini-fridge trick."

"I can't believe we never considered 'em," Druig said with only half a mouth full this time, "all this time."

"Thena's smart like that," Gil praised freely and openly, looking at the woman beside him instead of eating his bean salad. Not that she noticed.

It could have gone better.

Thena did look up at Makkari but didn't bother speaking up, resuming eating instead.

Gil frowned at her, "what?"

"It's nothing," she shrugged, reaching for her bottle of water.

Makkari looked at Gil, it did go well, until a certain someone started arguing with Thena over whether to take the stairwells or use a dumbwaiter system in the elevator shafts to get the supplies down.

Gil leaned behind Thena, asking Druig with his eyes to please translate for him.

Druig looked at Makkari, and then at Thena, who must have given him a hell of an expression. He swallowed his massive bite slowly. "Uh, well, it was mostly smooth sailin', apparently. Nothin' to worry about, big fella."

Gil frowned, though. He put his fork down and slid his tray away from him, only so he could slide Thena's tray away from her. She stared at the table, as if trying to figure out what had happened to her meal. She turned and looked at him the way she would look at the devil himself. "Thena?"

She just glared at him, lips pursed (cutely). "It was nothing."

He slid her tray even further away from her. He knew there wasn't much that could break the iron will of the Goddess of War. But withholding her food - so long as it was made by him, which was kind of sweet - was the one way. "Thena, what happened?"

She eyed the tray, knowing he would not make getting it back easy. A faint huff escaped her as she tossed her fork down, "Ikaris and I got into it, nothing worth dragging up again."

"What do you mean," Gil said quietly and evenly, his hands already tightening around the edges of her tray, "got into it?"

"Blondie here is cocky, that's what she means."

"Ikaris, not now," she turned in her seat, all too prepared to bark at him about minding his own business. "It's water under the bridge."

He glared her down, though, crossing his leanly muscled arms at her in his navy t-shirt. "I said we should use a dumbwaiter to get the food up and down. But GI Jane here said it would be better to carry the shit all 'emselves down seventeen fuckin' flights of stairs."

"You can't rely on the cables in elevator shafts anymore!"

"Okay, okay," Kingo patted Ikaris' shoulder beside him, "don't wanna go starting this again."

Gil stood. "What happened?"

"Uh," Kingo looked around, as if he would find a glowing door that would help him escape another scuffle.

"What," Gil repeated, having no problem standing nose to nose with the obstinate guard, "happened?"

Ikaris looked down at Thena, who was still seated, determined not to rise to his bait (as Gil was). He scoffed, "she's savvy out there, but she's got wee arms to be doin' heavy liftin', no? I got my hand around her whole bicep."

Gil tilted his head faintly, trying to absorb what Ikaris was saying. He had held Thena's arm? He had held her by the arm? He had gripped her by the arm? He had fit his entire hand around Thena's slim upper arm?

"If she bruises it's only 'cause she has as much meat on those bones as a pigeon."

Gil grabbed Ikaris by the front of his shirt, backing him up into the seats behind them. Ikaris' knees bent, making him grab the edge of the table behind him. Gil leaned over him heavier. "Don't you ever touch her!"

"Gil!" Thena rose, eager to intervene as others in the cafeteria started gasping and whispering.

"Don't ever put your hands on her!" Gil roared in the guy's face. He didn't care. He didn't care that he was making a scene or making a powerful enemy. He didn't care if he got kicked out for this. "If anything - anything - ever happens to her out there I will kill you!"

"Easy!" Kingo yelled, trying to pry the much larger, much stronger Gil away.

"Come on!" Druig growled, also trying to drag Gil away from Ikaris.

"I mean it!" Gil barked at him, "if anything ever happens to her it's your head!"

"Gilgamesh!" Thena moved between them, pushing against his chest as Kingo and Druig attempted to pull him by the arms. She pressed her fingers into the divet between his pectoral muscles. "Stop it!"

He was out of steam, anyway. But he was still glaring at Ikaris as he picked himself up, huffing and glaring, obviously ready to go on if he was let go. Gil was all but panting, light headed from the adrenaline rushing through him. He couldn't help it. All he felt was rage looking at this bastard.

"Gil," Thena attempted, raising her hand to his cheek and forcing him to look at her, "hey."

He blinked, the edges of his vision expanding again.

"Look at me," she whispered, her thumb against his cheek, "I'm right here."

She was right here, unharmed.

"I'm fine," she assured him, making him look at her instead of over her head at the man he was frankly ready to beat to death.

Gil carefully raised his hands. He knew everyone was watching him. They had seen him lose it twice now, if not more, considering how long he was out of it during his recovery. They probably thought he was some monster of a man.

But he ran his hands over Thena's arms gently, as if just touching her would make the bruising that asshole was talking about appear before his very eyes. Her skin was so soft. "Y-Yeah?"

She nodded, still holding him, grounding his senses in her instead of his rapid heartbeat and boiling blood. "Yeah."

Gil let go of a long breath, letting the rest of his energy leave him. He was exhausted, and he was still on dinner and cleanup duty for the night. "Okay."

Thena smiled, satisfied that he was feeling calmer about the whole thing. She let him pull her closer until she was tucked against his chest, which he would argue was the safest place in the world for her. She pressed her cheek against his clavicle and the collar of his t-shirt under his unbuttoned flannel. "It's okay, Gil."

Druig stepped away from him tentatively, hands still at the ready, "all right, then."

"Come on," Kingo patted Ikaris as he picked himself up. He looked at Thena and Gil, neither apologising nor condemning them. "Let's go."

Ikaris did give them one last glare before storming off.

Gil watched him go. He didn't like that guy, no matter how nice Sersi was. But once he was far away enough, he resumed burying his nose in Thena's hair. "Sorry."

She rubbed his back, as if soothing him after a nightmare, "you're okay."

"What is going on in here?!"

Thena pulled away, looking up at Gil with wide eyes. He was not to say a word.

"S-Sorry," Druig stood as Ajak made her way over. "Me'n Ikaris...y'know."

Ajak gave him a look, but the fact that she so readily believed him really spoke to how well the guard got along with most here in the hospital colony. "How many times, Druig?"

"Aye aye," he nodded, like a teenager getting scolded after curfew. He sat himself back down, "won't make a peep, mother dearest."

Ajak just rolled her eyes at him, despite what she claimed to be a very strict rule about in-fighting. She looked at Gil, leaning against Thena's shoulders. "Everything okay?"

She most definitely knew that it was Gilgamesh involved in the fight, not Druig.

Gil smiled, hiding his fists in his armpits, "great!"

"Hm," she pinched her lips together, at him and then at Thena, "I trust the matter was resolved?"

Thena just nodded, but Ajak seemed to accept the silent promise to her that the fighting was at least done for now.

"Right," the doctor sighed before rushing away to her next fire that needed squashing, her white coat flaring behind her.

Thena looked up at him. "That was too close for comfort, wouldn't you say?"

Speak for yourself, that was the most fun I've had all week!

Thena just glared at the petty thief and friend across from her.

He sighed, sitting down with her and trying to ignore the stares focused on them. He slide their trays over again, half pushing his into her space for her to take what she liked from him. "Sorry."

Thena nudged Druig's shoulder faintly as she picked up her fork again, neither looking at each other, "thanks."

"Nothin'," Druig shrugged, also not looking as he resumed eating his corn (while Makkari resumed stealing bites of his canned fruit).

"You sure I can't come with you?" Gil asked her gently, no longer having any appetite. He hovered closer to her than necessary, even running the back of his knuckles up and down her bare arm. "I'm no 'you', but I'd be better than that guy."

Makkari nodded eagerly.

"That's for Ajak to decide," Thena said gently to dissuade him from his overprotective argument. "And besides, who would make these delicious meals then?"

He sighed. She was appealing to the chef in him, but he would rather crawl through filth with her than serve a hundred strangers his best three course meal. "Come on."

"Not to pick sides, but T's right, big guy," Druig piped up, again with his mouth full. T? "I ain't eaten like this in a dog's age, and I bet the rest of 'em here'll get how invaluable you are right quick."

No one else here talked like that.

"I can handle myself," Thena assured him more quietly. She even let him pull her knee so her thigh could rest against his. "You don't think I would let him grab me and not nail him right in the nuts, do you?"

Gil chuckled. No, of course she had gotten in a shot directly to his biggest weakness. That was the Goddess of War he knew (and loved). Thena leaned in gently as he pressed a kiss to her hair, "of course not."

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello! I enjoyed thenamesh photographer AU very much and wanted to ask you very friendly if you would continue that one?

We had the lingerie shooting so how about Thena having to shoot some aesthetic stuff because of a deal with a big brand? Gil is surely very stunned by her beauty! What if they look at the end results and Thena is amazed how good and naturally he captured her?

"Kitchen stuff, huh?"

She smiled as he walked into the 'set', lights already set up in the luxurious kitchen they were staging for the brand. "Lifestyle aesthetic, I think they're calling it."

Gil chuckled, not arguing against it at all as he set down his camera bag. "More comfortable than lingerie, at least?"

"Infinitely."

It was a nice kitchen, and Thena did seem at home in it. It was brightly lit, billowy white curtains at the windows, fine marble counters and stainless steel appliances. She looked like she fit right in, even though she once told him that the most she could use in her own kitchen was the microwave.

"What have you been doing?" she asked as he set his camera up on its tripod. She even had a mug clasped in her hands, although it was highly likely that it was empty.

"Hm, some wedding stuff, a couple clothing shoots," Gil murmured as he got his settings where he wanted them. He smiled at her; she looked gorgeous. "Hey, is this your own wardrobe?"

Thena laughed, which of course warranted snapping a picture. "Surprisingly, yes; I wore this here and they said it would be fine. I won't really be the focus of the shots anyway."

Gil cleared his throat; right, they weren't here to capture her anyway. That was something he would need to keep in mind. Otherwise he would be handing over piles and piles of proofs that were just of Thena again. Druig had given him a real earful about it come time for editing.

"Well, let's start with the ones that are with you," Gil chuckled, walking over to her and putting his hands on her shoulders. She rose into his touch and off the kitchen stool. He tilted his head faintly before looking down, "I didn't know they let models wear flat shoes."

"Sh," Thena smiled just for him, wiggling her toes in her sandals, "they told me they're looking for the barefoot kitchen type of look. I told them I'm not flexible enough to curl up in some windowsill."

"That's not true," Gil laughed it off, although he couldn't help but imagine just that. He guided her over to the window in question, "let's start with you standing, though."

"Gladly." Thena was still clasping the mug in her hands that helped with the soft summer-but-sweater-weather vibe. "I'm just glad this is a solo shoot."

Gil clicked a picture without even looking at it. Sometimes he could be very, very happy with the results of blind shooting like that. "Sick of the other models already?"

"That would not be such a statement if they were at all bearable company," Thena rolled her eyes, tugging at the loose turtleneck of her thin sweater.

Gil didn't have an argument to that either. They had been pretty insufferable when he had worked with them. And Thena had to deal with them undoubtedly more often than he did. "What did you have after the lingerie shoot?"

"The same company launched its swimwear, so we were all contracted for that."

He had seen the photos from that, actually. They didn't do Thena justice and he could tell that she was uncomfortable for them. He hadn't even looked at any of the other photos from it though.

"Then they did some other shoots while I did a few jewellery shoots," she shrugged, moving as Gil gave her tiny directions about turning slightly or angling her herself differently. "I haven't had to put up with them for a few weeks now. Although maybe I shouldn't say that."

Gil smirked, catching the photo in which her eyes found his. "Don't jinx yourself. Or you'll get stuck in an elevator or something with them."

"Please don't joke like that," she groaned, tipping her head back, although even while faking her agony she had a slight smile on her face.

Gil snapped another picture. "I mean, are they always so... "

"Unruly?" Thena raised her mug partially and then lowered it again. She was also forgetting it was completely empty.

"I was gonna say annoying." Thena burst into a full, real laugh, much to Gil's delight. Sure, they made great pictures, but she also just had a cute laugh. "But maybe unruly would be better for my career."

"I wouldn't think you would have any problems," Thena tilted her head. "Last I checked, you were so in demand I couldn't even get a request for you submitted."

"You put in a request for me?" His head shot up like a dog hearing about a walk, or a treat. Thena toyed with the ends of her hair, but he grinned. "I wish it had gone through, but I was Spain for a while for two weddings back to back. No wonder you couldn't get me."

"Indeed," Thena mumbled, a little more reticent after her accidental reveal to him.

"But hey, I'm back now," he shrugged.

"Hm," she moved from one side of the window to leaning against it directly back to front. "Do you like doing weddings?"

"Honestly," Gil set the camera on a timer and took a seat, "no."

She laughed again.

"It's long, I have to move around a lot," he grumbled, recalling the endless days in the hot Castilian sun. "Everyone's stressed, and tired, and cranky, even if they act like they aren't. And there's never enough time to set up."

Thena gave him a smile that seemed equally sympathetic and teasing, "doesn't your style need less set up than most?"

"Well, sure," he shrugged, practically pouting, "but I still have to check the lighting and choose my settings and my lens and stuff!"

"Right," she smiled and shook her head. That was a perfect one to snap.

"Anyway, we got through it, at least," he rolled his eyes. "The last one I had couldn't even save me a meal while I was shooting the reception! I had to go beg the catering guys for leftovers!"

"That does seem to be so neglectful it borders on cruel," Thena admitted, setting the mug down. "Do you have anything?"

Oh, he had gotten the money shot several minutes ago. Her smiling in the window, the sun on her shoulder, catching in her white-blonde hair. He just liked talking with her. "Yeah, I think so."

Thena abandoned the empty mug and came over to him. She wasn't that vain a creature for a model, but she did like seeing when he had something he personally quite liked. "Wow."

"It's good, right?" he smiled as she tucked herself around his shoulder to look at the picture that would probably be front and center for the store advertisements.

"I look-" she blinked, shaking her head as if in disbelief.

"Stunning," Gil supplied, and it broke whatever spell was over her, leaving some shyness in its place. He grinned, nudging her gently, "come on, you do!"

Thena cleared her throat, taking a step away from him and back under the lights, "it's a great picture, Gil."

That almost sounded like a challenge; he smirked, "there are more to come. Let's see if we can get you curled up on a windowsill."

"Oh, no, no, no," she shook her head adamantly.

"We can fake it," he suggested, but Thena stayed strong, laughing all the while. "You can sit on the table and I'll just edit you."

"I'm not sitting on the table!"

[softquietsteadylove]

I’d love to see some angst for the circus AU! Kro can’t be too happy that Thena keeps gravitating toward the lowly veterinarian 👀

Thena dismounted Angus, landing on one foot then the other. She hit her final pose, arms in the air, counting to three.

"Good!"

As soon as Kro's cane tapped the ground, Thena all but crumbled. At first she just hunched her shoulders, then she slowly sank to her knees, her chest heaving for breath in her tight, sparkling costume.

"Thena!"

He leaned over her, his hands hovering near but never on her. He bent, tilted his head, trying to see her and asses the damage. His worry was always evident, not that being a veterinarian qualified him to look after the health of the human performers.

Not that they had a proper physician in the company anyway.

"Thena, are you okay?" Gilgamesh asked gently, still hovering close but never making contact with her pale skin.

She nodded, although her gasping for breath was plain to see to everyone around the ring. She put her hand up to tell him she didn't need his assistance. Again, her hand drifted in the direction of his, but the two never met. "I-I'm okay, Gil."

Kro eyed them as he made his way down from the stands. "Run it again."

The vet looked up, glaring at him with a surprisingly intimidating expression, for someone always smiling. "Are you crazy? She can't do it again--look at her."

Thena only continued to get paler and paler.

"Are you telling me what my wife can and can't do?" Kro had no problem demanding, getting in Gil's face and using every inch of height he had on him.

"I'm saying that Thena is exhausted," Gilgamesh insisted, meeting his glare head on, like two dogs nearly locking heads as they bared their teeth.

"I'm fine," she huffed and puffed. She finally did pull her head up, indeed white as a sheet, "just...give me ten minutes."

"It's almost time for lunch anyway, boss," another stage hand suggested gently.

Thena remained on the ground as a few more came to her defense as subtly as possible. She looked up at her husband, "please?"

He all but snarled, picking up his cane in his hand.

Gilgamesh flinched, hunching closer to Thena, in front of her. He had thought Kro would pick up his cane and strike her in her defenseless position.

Kro looked at them both with as much disdain as he could afford to show so publically. "Half an hour--then I want tot see a run of the full show, front to back!"

The cast and crew held in their groans, all of them well beyond tired from their ruthless schedules. But Kro turned his back to exit the tent, leaving his staff - including his wife - to their work.

"Are you okay?" Gil whispered to Thena, kneeling down closer to her again. "You don't look so good."

Thena leaned into the press of the back of his hand to her cheek. Her eyes closed in pure bliss. "I just need to get off my feet, have some water."

Gil offered her his hand, letting her lean all of her weight on him as she stood. He wrapped his arm behind her and around her shoulder, holding it as gently as he would a bird in his palm. "Come on."

He helped her hobble over to the stands, even the old and unvarnished wood being better than being on her feet. Once they were both sitting, she continued to lean on him, seeming to fit right into his side like they were made for each other.

No one even batted an eye.

Thena reached for his cup of water eagerly, ready to gulp it down.

"Hey, easy," he spoke gently, like he did with his wounded animals. His hand tipped the cup up to her lips, letting her sip just a little at a time. "Don't make yourself sick."

He held the cup for her, letting her sip gently. Their hands met on the painted outside of the old tin, fingers brushing. She didn't even blink as he raised his palm to her forehead.

"I really think you should rest, Thena," he said just above a whisper. "You're probably coming down with something, you're so tired."

She didn't argue, just looked down at the water mug of his she held onto. "Kro won't have it. I haven't missed a single show since...well, since we were young."

The vet''s face hardened, "he's pushing you too hard."

Thena shrugged, "in sickness and in health."

The vet only looked angrier and angrier.

"Here y'go, Miss," one of the crew brought her a bowl of what they had cooked up for the cast meal that day.

She smiled at the extra piece of bread sitting along the side of it, "thank you."

Gilgamesh made no attempt to go get a serving for himself, sitting with her as she picked up a spoon and started poking at the meat stew. She took a small bite. "Not hungry?"

She shrugged again, poking around for smaller pieces of meat, or the beans they had used to fill out the body of the soup.

"Wait here," he put his hand on her knee before standing.

Thena watched him go, taking another sip of his water.

Kro kept quiet, despite the urge to demand what the hell all of that was. He knew that the vet had an obvious fondness for his wife. Plenty of men did--it was one of the many things that made him the man he was.

But this was more than a naive infatuation. More than a schoolboy crush on someone unattainable. Not only was his softness beyond want and desire, but it was not unrequited, which was the worst part.

Kro had never seen such an expression on Thena's face as when she was with that Gilgamesh.

Thena would light from within. Her eyes would become more green, her smile would lift, everything about her seemed to brighten. He knew what signs to look for. No matter what his relationship with her was, he undeniably knew his wife's behaviour. He wasn't a fool; he could see that whatever feelings the veterinarian had for her, she harboured them as well.

"Hey."

Kro remained as still as possible in his little spot in the tent's seam, where he could keep an eye on them.

Thena smiled as Gil came back with another bowl, he picked up hers and exchanged it with the one he brought back, making sure that she kept all three pieces of bread. "Gil-"

"You don't like meat."

That was ridiculous. When Kro had first found her, she was living on some remote, godforsaken little farm with her daft old father. She was used to living on animal meat.

And yet Thena looked...elated--and touched.

Gilgamesh started eating the bowl that had been brought to her. "But you need protein. I dug through it and got as much of the beans as I could. They'll keep you full. And eat the bread! You need the energy."

Kro scowled. He had no idea when eating meat had started bothering her. But he could bet it was because they had started using animals in the show. Blasted beasts were making her soft.

"Thank you."

Gilgamesh also laid his jacket over her bare, trembling legs as they ate. He scarfed down her bowl, with arguably less in it. He had given her his piece of bread, too.

Thena still ate slowly (it always infuriated Kro how long she took to eat a simple meal). But she ate more constantly, not breaking as she chewed the beans gently between each bite.

"I know you don't wanna say anything to him," Gilgamesh began. He was about to say something about Kro again. "But you're gonna get sick, Thena. Tell him you've sprained something, or I'll say that something's wrong with the equipment! But-"

"Gil," she said gently, her voice lulling him back into a sense of calm. She put her hand on his, "it won't do any good. I could fall off the tightrope and onto the ground before he would cancel a show willingly."

"I won't let that happen."

"I know," she smiled at him again. She had never smiled at Kro like that once in all their lives together. "Just don't let him catch you talking like this."

Don't let him see the way she loved him, she meant.

Gilgamesh put his hand over hers. "I'm starting to care less and less about what he catches me doing."

Those sounded like fighting words.

"Truly, Gil," she asserted, slipping her hand away and moving over on the bench, as if she had sensed Kro watching them. "Let me handle him."

"Handle what?"

Gilgamesh nearly jumped up from the bench in reflex, but Thena didn't move. As far as she was concerned, she had nothing to hide. She picked up her spoon again, "myself. I'll do the run through, but that's all I've got left for today."

Kro walked around the stands and over to her, shoving his cane against the chest of the defensive young veterinarian. He leaned closer to his wife's face. "You're done when I say we're done."

She glared right back at him, "I don't have anything left. Unless you want me to collapse during the show tomorrow."

She wouldn't be threatening it if it hadn't happened before. It was just once, and Angus - of all the beasts - had run to break her fall. But the crowd had been so scared that they had had to end the show early, even offer refunds.

Ever since then, if Thena said she was truly and deeply done, then she was done.

Kro leaned up and out of her face, although he looked at her no differently from how he looked at Angus or any of the other beasts. "Fine, one full dress rehearsal, then we break for the day. You better be ready for tomorrow."

"I always am."

Kro grabbed for his cane, only to find his hand holding onto it. That felt like a fighting gesture. "Problem?"

Gilgamesh let go of it, glaring at him without any trace of his usual nervous energy. "No, sir."

"Good," Kro snarled at him before turning to leave again. He really would leave this time. He could take his meal in their sleeper car (Thena never liked eating with him these days anyway).

By all means, the veterinarian could pine and yearn for his wife all he liked. She was still his, as far as Kro - and the sanctity of marriage - was concerned.

Whether she wanted him or not.

[softquietsteadylove]

For Thenamesh Beauty and the Beast AU!

Thena and Gil are living peacefully until one day her past life knocks on the door. And they have something planned for Thena!

"Gil?"

"Yeah, hon?" he chuckled, standing from tending to the fire. But he came to a colder realisation as he saw what she did. "Who's this?"

"I thought you would know," she muttered back, also staring at the very short man at their door. She stepped back from it as the smaller figure charged right in, the tails of his very fine coat bouncing as he did.

"My name is Pip, good sir," he grinned at them. Thena gravitated back to Gil's side. "I have come in search of the Lady Thena."

Gil reached for Thena's hand. He had a terrible feeling about the well dressed little hairball addressing them. "And what exactly do you want with her?"

Pip barely gave him so much as a look. "Well, her family has been searching for her, sir."

Gil scoffed, finally getting the valet's attention. "How hard could they have been looking?--she was in the same place they left her for years."

"Decades," Thena added to her own circumstances for herself. She also eyed the small man with caution. "I believed that I was the last of our family."

"Well..."

Gil moved from holding Thena's hand to placing his hand on her back. She didn't seem particularly surprised to have - more or less - confirmation that she was the last of her family. He tilted his head at her. "You okay?"

"That is quite enough!"

Gil scowled at the little nuisance, now walking even further into his home without a care or so much as a welcome. "What?"

"You must unhand the lady!" Pip attempted to insert himself between them, only to find himself dodging Thena's swinging feet, like a horse shooing a pest.

She nearly kicked him right in the head. "I don't know you! You just came barging into Gil's home!"

He straightened his fine jacket, "my Lady, you are of noble birth. You cannot be left to associate with the likes of... "

Gil flushed faintly, half indignance, and half sheepishness. "I'm a, uh, a-a tailor."

"A tailor?!" the footman gasped in absolute horror.

Thena rolled her eyes at it. "I think you should leave."

He now looked even more aghast. "My Lady, please, I have been sent in search of you!"

"Sent?" Gil raised a brow at that. If Thena's family was all gone, then who had sent this little monstrosity to find her? He looked at Thena, who he could tell was resisting the urge to bare her teeth and growl at him.

"My Lord will be here shortly!"

"Huh?"

Gil had to laugh faintly. This little creep kept calling Thena her Ladyship, but the fact was that she had raised herself alone in a castle with wild ptarmigans and quails. She had even worse manners than he did.

"And then you shall be away to your wedding!"

The room came to a full stop, all the air standing still as the dust settled. Pip looked at both of them, seeming very happy to have delivered such shattering news. Thena looked at Gil, shaking her head.

"I-I don't-" she stuttered, looking truly afraid, as if storm clouds heavy with thunder were on the horizon. She took a step back in sheer reflex. "I can't-"

"Nonsense, my Lady," Pip laughed with what now seemed like a more threatening glee. "My Lord has been thinking of marrying you since he was but a boy. You shall be most happy with him!"

"They promised her when they were kids?" Gil said more sharply to the little butler staring at them. Thena anchored herself beside him again. Entirely subconsciously, he wrapped his arm around her.

"It is standard practice for noble families, sir."

Gil didn't take that tone lying down. "Eager to break that curse, huh?"

Pip bristled.

"Yeah, I know all about it," Gil tipped his chin up at him. Maybe he was saying too much, but he certainly wasn't going to let this little cretin drag Thena away, much less to some wedding (her wedding). "Generations of kids and they couldn't break it."

Pip straightened his posture, "we hope to be the remedy for that, sir."

"Indeed we do."

Yet another stranger let himself into the cabin, even more beautifully dressed than his valet. His hair was long and stood quite tall on his head. He certainly looked like a nobleman.

Thena tilted her head at him, visibly making a face as she tried to remember him.

"Thena," he smiled, not even glancing at Gil, "my love!"

Gil bristled. Thena moved to clinging to his arm.

"My beloved Thena, after all these years!" He continued to advance on them, unwelcome body language unheeded. He held his hands in front of him, a wide smile on his face.

"Decades," she added, although he looked so overjoyed to hear her voice that she clung to Gil even tighter.

"Look, I don't-" Gil held out his hand to keep him away, but the guy just grabbed and started shaking it.

"I am Lord Eros of Titan, good sir," he beamed at Gil. "And I thank you for keeping my bride safe for however long."

Gil was still digesting the 'bride' part. He looked at Thena as she nudged him. He secured his hand at the bend of her waist. "Like I said, I-"

"You are a tailor, are you not?" Eros plowed right through his attempts to speak. He was still smiling, still exuding a certain charm. This was the way of a nobleman, Gil supposed. "The people in town speak most highly of you. Why, you shall have to fashion Thena's wedding dress for us!"

"What?!"

Gil levelled the taller but more spindly man with a glare, "I won't be doing that."

"Speak properly to his Lorship!" Pip raged from below them.

"Eros," Thena spoke up from Gil's side. "I'm not going with you."

"My sweet?" he finally - finally! - looked at her. Maybe he did have an iota of self-awareness as he took in her unsettled expression. He angled himself away from Gil and to her, despite their close proximity. "No need to fear, my dearest."

"I'm not-" Thena startled as Eros moved swiftly to brush his hand against her cheek.

"We shall-!" His Lordship snapped his hand back as Thena turned her head to bite his outstretched hand. All she really sank her teeth into was glove, but it did the trick. "Are you mad?!"

Gil smiled to himself. No matter how nervous Thena could be around strangers, she wasn't just going to let this bastard get away with something like that.

"I'm not going," Thena said more firmly, returning to holding onto Gil's arm. "I live here, now."

"With..." Eros' eyes dragged away from Thena and to Gil's scowling face, "him?"

"The tailor?"

"Yes," Thena glowered at both strangers, pulling Gil further back from them. "He actually found me, unlike you. He actually helped me with the curse, unlike you."

"Does that mean-"

"And he actually knows me!" she continued, shouting just to spite their little interruption. "So you two can shove off!"

The Lord and his little squire had obviously never been cursed at.

"My Lord, we must tend to your hand," Pip turned, beginning to usher Eros out the door. "If she has been living here with the tailor then perhaps she is...well...no longer reserved."

Gil felt as if he could wretch. But he kept his protests quiet; a small price to pay for having them out of his damn house.

Eros did relent to Pip's pushing and waving, although he looked over his head to Thena again. "I will return, my beloved!"

Thena just watched as the door was pulled. She listened to the sound of a carriage being jostled before hoof beats finally filled the air. She sighed, "of all the visitors."

"Are you okay?" Gil asked before the hoof beats were even gone. He rubbed her back, letting her wilt against him after the excitement/fright of it all.

She nodded, turning her face in against his arm.

"Hey," He whispered, moving to fully embrace her as she tried to ignore the issue for the time being. He let her dig her nails into his chest, kissing the top of her head. "It's okay. You're not going anywhere."

"Hm," she sighed sweetly, and he could hear her smile in it. Her tail would be wagging, if it could.

[softquietsteadylove]

Alright Darling!

I need to ask you this because I need to see it happen! 👀

Would you write Gil proposing to Thena?

Pretty please?😁❤️

"You okay?"

Gil blinked, finding his Ice Queen looking up at him with a knot between her brows. He smiled, shaking his head slightly, "I'm fine. Just...surprised."

"Indeed," Thena murmured as she resumed sorting out her work that his aunt had interrupted. "I never imagined she would make the trip for herself."

Gil just nodded, mind turning over seeing his aunt for the first time in he had no idea how long. Thoughts of what she would tell the rest of his family--hoping it was over but knowing better than to think it was.

The living room at home was still littered with flower petals. He really had blurted out some of his intended speech during his little outburst and he still had the ring in his pocket. None of it had gone to plan and he had absolutely no clue how to proceed with any of it now.

Maybe he could suggest they go for food and order a cleaning service to dismantle what he had done at home. He would just have to try again later.

"Gil."

He blinked, once again needing to be pulled out of his thoughts. It was typically the other way around. He sighed, taking Thena's hand in his and raising it to his lips, "sorry, Princess. Guess I'm a little more stunned than I thought."

Thena brushed her thumb over his knuckles, "do you have regrets over what we told her?"

"No!" He really hadn't expected that. He held her hand tighter in his, "no, of course not. I meant every word, Thena. I'm here because you're here, and I don't want to be anywhere else."

Thena gave him a gentle look, some of her hair slipping over her shoulder as she tilted her head at him. But it seemed to suffice for her, and she leaned up to kiss his cheek. "Shall we?"

Gil pulled her back to him, though. He could figure out the speech and the proposal and the living room later. He leaned in, "hey."

Thena sighed as their lips met, gentle and tender and as familiar as saying each other's names. Her hand slipped into his suit jacket to find and claim its place over his heart.

Gil sighed, resting his forehead against hers. When he did finally manage to propose he would tell her all about his failed attempt today. Maybe they would have a pleasant laugh about it. "I love you, Thena."

It was faint, but he could hear the little hitch in her breath. He pulled her closer to him, his hand on her back, her hands on his chest. She tucked her head under his chin, "I love you, too."

"I-" he paused, letting out a little more of his tension - and disappointment and stress and yearning - in another sigh. "I saw this day going differently."

"These thing can't be helped, sometimes," she soothed.

"I meant it, though," he pulled back, holding his hand over her hand over his heart. He stared into those sparkling green eyes of hers, losing himself in them. "I meant every word. Thena, you are everything to me. Every morning starts with you, or it doesn't start. I only want to be with you."

"I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. Sometimes I can't believe we only knew each other through work, and now I go to bed early so I can watch you read beside me. I keep lilies on my desk so I can think of you and if I could spend every day just lying around watching you work, I would."

He released her hand, only so he could move his hands to cup her cheeks. "You are perfection. You are happiness, and joy, and pain, and love, and stress, and I would endure anything at all to spend five minutes with you."

"You're it, Thena. You're the only one--the love of my life. You already know you have me--mind, body, soul, anything. It's all yours."

He was speeding along, now, the words almost overlapping as his feelings became too much to bear. He was barrelling towards an end.

"I'm yours, and you said you're mine too," he gulped, his throat tightening. He felt some tears collect in his eyes, and she was already ahead of him. "And that's enough. It will always be enough, but...but I guess I wanted to be selfish. I wanted to ask if you would give me just a little bit more."

Thena nodded.

"Give me the mornings, and the nights, and every minute in between," he whispered, every breath they gasped out moving around them as she nodded to everything he said. "Give me your hand everyday and let me know that I never have to let go."

"Tell me you love me and never stop, tell me we can go home and ask me to make dinner every night. Say you'll stop reading in five more minutes just so I can look at you for a little longer."

"Say you're as much mine as I am yours." He held her eyes. "Say you'll marry me."

"Yes."

Thena leaned up, looping her arms around his neck and throwing herself into a kiss that echoed every word he had said back to him. He held her tight, letting her push against him with every move of their lips together.

"Say it again," she whispered--pleaded between kisses.

"Marry me," he repeated, as asked. Her lips rewarded his and he felt a kind of giddy squeeze in her chest against his. "Marry me."

"Yes," she gasped out again, her lips forming a smile against his.

Gil responded as he always did, because if Thena smiled, then he did too. "Marry me?"

"Yes!" she laughed, letting him pick her up and spin her around in the soft light of her office.

Gil stared up at her, her hair tumbling around her in a waterfall of blonde. It wasn't their home, with flower petals and candles, and a perfectly rehearsed speech and a romantic mood. But he supposed he fell the rest of the way in love with her in here ,more than a year ago. Maybe there was something poetic in that.

Thena leaned down to kiss him again, "did you plan this?"

"Yes and no," he sighed, setting her down again but keeping her close. "Some details are a little different, but-"

Thena cut him off with another kiss. She really was feeling giddy. "It was perfect."

Gilgamesh smiled, taking in the woman now his wife in more ways than one. He tilted his head at her, as she often did to him, which he found so utterly adorable. "Shall I?"

Thena laughed a little, brushing some of her tears from her eyelashes. She made room, letting him get down on one knee as he had intended. "You think you're so charming."

"I think you do too," he grinned at her as he reached into his pocket.

"Insufferable man."

"And yet here you are," he returned the very familiar words to her as he pulled up the ring box, "suffering me."

Her breath died in the air.

"Thena," he held up the ring, his hands shaking despite having already proposed, and then asked, and asked again. He took in a trembling breath, "will you marry me?"

"Yes!"

Gil caught her in his arms as she collapsed to the ground with him. He rubbed her back as she let out her joy--so much of it that she was weeping against him. He pressed his lips to her hair, "I love you."

She didn't have the words yet. She pressed herself closer to him, emerging only as he wrestled her hand away from his chest to slip her ring on her.

"I thought about getting it in your lace design," he murmured gently as he got it situated on her delicate little finger. It really looked half the size of the one of his that matched it. "But your tattoo is already. I wanted this to be different."

It was still bands of gold, delicate and woven intricately. At every intersection of gold sat a tiny but sparkling diamond, like snowflakes just big enough to catch the light.

Thena looked at his as he held it up. It looked less like a ring and more like a piece of stone carved out roughly in the shape of a ring.

He turned it, revealing its shining gold interior, with the same shape of Thena's ring carved out from it. "Yours is made of the interior of mine."

Her eyes sparkled.

Gil blushed, "so I can keep a piece of you with me, and vice versa...I guess."

Thena smiled, blinking away more tears at his bashful explanation of a deeply thoughtful concept. She reached forward, slipping his ring onto his finger as he had done for her. Their fingers laced together, right to left and left to right. Both tattoos and both rings matched perfectly. "This is...you are perfect."

[softquietsteadylove]

For the Thenamesh Proposal AU:

Thena finds the perfect dress and is suprised by Gil’s reaction!

"What about this one?"

No, this one!

"Girls, please," Ajak said gently over her arguing daughters, both holding veils in their clutches. She patted their hands, turning over her shoulder, "I think we might be starting to smother our guest."

Thena turned, raising her hands in protest, "no, please, it's-"

"Sorry, Thena," Sersi offered her a very sweet, very contrite smile. She brought her choice in veil closer to her chest. "She's right, we're having a little too much fun playing dress-up with you."

Sorry, Makkari also smiled and plopped herself on the bench at the foot of Ajak's luxurious king sized bed.

Don't be, Thena shook her head with a smile to both of them. She really did like Gil's sisters. They were both warm and sweet, just like him, and their mother. A whole family of sweethearts, they were--even Gil's cousin Kingo, who had just arrived yesterday.

Ajak set down the last of the pile they were working through at the moment. She came over to Thena, putting her hands slightly upwards on her shoulders, "we must be overwhelming."

Thena offered a sheepish smile. She had lied to Ajak enough already, and it would be another lie to say that she wasn't used to having so many family members around. Especially all so...genuinely fond of each other. "That doesn't mean I don't like it."

Ajak laughed at Thena's reluctantly honest answer. They were also a whole family of knockouts--each and every one of them, absurdly beautiful. She still hadn't met Gil's father, the supposed demon man. But Gil described him as monstrously tall and cold as ice.

She rather thought she was quite cold, but he always told her she was more like ice cream: cold, but sweet underneath it.

"Why don't you try these without all of us fussing over you?" Ajak suggested so gently as she ran a hand over Thena's hair. Her motherly touch was so natural, in a way Thena had never really encountered for herself before. "See which ones you like and then you can show us."

Thena looked at the pile of dresses to get through before nodding. Perhaps this would expedite the process a little. Although she liked the way Sersi had described it; it was a little like playing dress-up, and it wasn't un-fun, as it were.

"Okay," Ajak clasped her hands around Thena's for a brief, tender moment before turning. She waved her hands, ushering her daughters towards the door as if she were herding lambs, or chickens. "Come on, you two, let's leave the bride to her fitting."

Thena sighed as the door closed behind them. She had never thought she would end up becoming a bride, let alone under the current...circumstances.

When Gil asked her to put on this charade with him, she was honestly surprised. He was such a sweet guy, she could barely imagining him telling anyone a lie ever in his life. But if it was for his sister's sake, he was more than willing, especially given the opportunity to embarrass his father.

And he was her best friend--not just work friend, but probably actually her best friend, all things considered.

He was apologising to her morning, noon and night, now that the charade was no longer a charade, and actually happening. He even offered to call the whole thing off, but she wanted to see it through. She liked Sersi, and she also wanted to help alleviate her burden, some.

When asked what having a marriage - annulled or divorced or whatever - would really do in her life, she had told him that it probably wouldn't make much of a difference, really. It wasn't like she had someone waiting for her back home.

Thena ran her hands over herself as she tried on the first one that had actually caught her eye. Sersi's taste was more flowery and plant based, and Ajak's was for lace and chiffon and tulle. Makkari's choices were a little...eclectic, but they tended to be a little shorter than Thena would choose for herself.

This one, though.

It was sleek, elegant without looking plain. The silk was shimmering white, tight where it needed to be but flowing off her nicely instead of being more of a mermaid fit. It sat around her shoulders in a way that felt somewhat alluring but with some of her usual penchant for coverage. It was a little more cleavage than she was used to in turtlenecks and cardigans, but she had to admit, it did look good on her.

She tilted her head at herself, running her hands over it. For as much as she had never given thought to what kind of wedding dress she would like, it certainly seemed to fit her perfectly. She had worn plenty of white dresses before - it was kind of her colour - but this one really did feel different. This really did feel like her wedding dress.

A knock.

"Come in," she smiled, expecting Ajak and her daughters to be pressing their ears to the door in anticipation. She examined some of the details of the dress a little closer. "I don't know who picked this one, but I think it's-"

"Wow."

Thena whirled around, her toes curling in the carpet as Gil smiled at her from the doorway. Ajak and his sisters were nowhere in sight. "Gil!"

"Sorry," he chuckled, stepping into the room more with his hands in his pockets. "I came looking for you because I just finished making lunch."

"Oh," she blinked, wringing her hands together. Ever since arriving, there was a nervousness cropping up here and there that she never used to experience with Gil before. Not consciously, anyway.

"You like it?"

"Hm?" she blinked, desperately trying to collect her thoughts as he walked even closer. His smile was probably the most relaxed she'd seen it since arriving.

"The dress." He looked at her in a funny way--like he had with plenty of other dresses already. She wasn't used to it. But the way he was looking at her now was like nothing she'd seen before. His eyes flicked over her and she felt an increasingly familiar wiggling under her rib cage. "It's...wow."

Thena felt herself start to blush. She wasn't used to that either. "Th-Thanks. I must admit, I think it suits me more than some of the other choices."

Gil's smile was still that one she couldn't quite identify. He stood close to her, his hand close enough to touch her arm but hovering in the air around her. "I think it's perfect."

His breath hit her ear, even moving the stray hair or two curling around it. She swallowed, which suddenly seemed suspiciously loud in her mind. "Good."

"Good," he agreed, stepping back with his smile turning into more of a grin. "I'm glad you found one you like."

"I-I suppose I am too," she mumbled, pressing her palms together again so they wouldn't seem shaky. She smiled at him, "I'll be right down."

"No rush," he shrugged, taking his good sweet time actually leaving. Every step backwards he took worsened her nerves. "That's worth the wait."

Once the door was closed again Thena let out a breath and pressed the back of her hand to her cheek. This was a far cry from herself at work, literally called the Goddess of War. She was getting a little too used to all this 'bride' stuff. She shook her head.

"Stop it," she spoke directly to herself in the mirror as she started pulling herself out of the dress. "None of this is real."

[softquietsteadylove]

2nd- Gil insisted for Thena to go back to her home because it's not safe anymore but she doesn't want too, she said that Gil's home is her home. So Gil instructed her on what to do when Kro and his men come to their house. But Thena doesn't know that Gil has another plan, he called Makkari (who also happened to bring Ikaris) so she could get Thena away, Thena was hurt, she felt betrayed (it's the first time she felt it). They both had an argument, Gil's trying to be gentle and calm while explaining why he had to do it. But Thena just couldn't get it (knowing that she's still adjusting with how humans thinks) and still felt betrayed by him. Before they left she just stared at him, still worried on what might happen to him. And can you add Ikaris hissing on Gil before following the two after seeing her sister with teary eyes.

"No!"

"Thena, please," Gil attempted again, but Thena crossed her arms at him. "Angelfish-"

"Don't!" she snapped at him, her fangs bared as she glared at him. "It's one incident, Gil! You said yourself that it sounded like a 'nut job' made it!"

"Yeah, one nut job with a lot of money, Thena," Gil argued. They had never argued before--not like this. He had maybe had to tell her not to do this or that, but they had never fought like this. "And money can convince even sane people to do just about anything!"

Thena sighed, leaning against the kitchen counter the way she had seen him do. "You said I would be safe here, with you."

"I thought you would be," Gil ran his hand through his hair. "I want you to be, Thena. But if you're not safe here, then-"

"No!"

"Thena!" he groaned. "I don't like it either! But this is the only way to protect you--at least for now!"

Thena looked at him with those sea green eyes of hers, tears making them glassy. "You want to send me away."

"I don't want this, Angelfish," he whispered, going over to her and reaching for her hands. She turned away from him, and he pulled back as if she'd hissed at him. He looked at the kitchen floor between them. "I don't want to let you go. But if Kro shows up here again, I don't think he'll take no for an answer."

Thena sniffled, possibly a little confused about the water running down her cheeks.

"Angelfish, please," Gil whispered, holding her cheeks in his hands and brushing her tears aside with his thumbs. "I couldn't bear it if something happened to you. And that monster...if he gets his hands on you-"

Thena's eyes flashed, catching something at the end of the dock through the window. "What?"

Gil sighed. "I called her."

Thena's eyes sparked again. She pushed against his chest, shoving him away from her and rushing out of the kitchen.

"Thena!"

She stormed out of the house and down the hill to the dock, where she could see not only Makkari, but her brother. "What are you doing here?!"

Ikaris wasted no time, launching himself onto the dock. "We're leaving, Thena."

She turned from her brother to Gil, who skidded to a halt behind her. "So it would seem."

"I called out for Makkari," Gil professed, his hand on his chest. "I didn't want you to swim off alone--just in case Kro is already monitoring the area."

Makkari looked up at her with pleading eyes, let's go.

"Thena!" Ikaris barked at her, much less delicate about the high running emotions surrounding the situation.

Thena's tears returned, her fists clenched as she looked at Gil. "You called her before you even talked to me?"

Gil flinched. She was right, but it felt even worse for her to say it like that. "Yeah, I did."

Thena huffed, "oh, tough Mister Human will handle it all? It's my life on the line, but so long as you're the one making the decisions-"

"Thena-"

"No!" She kicked off the shoes she had been wearing in his direction. "By your own insistence, let's go, then!"

Gil walked over as Thena threw herself into the water. He knelt down on the dock, although she threw his soaked shirt back up to his face.

Ikaris gave him a look that would make kelp wither and dry in an instant. He gave him a glare and a hiss before joining his sister in the water.

Gil clutched the wet mass of fabric to him, enduring the glares of all three mermaids looking at him. "Just for now, Angelfish."

"Don't," Ikaris glared at him, already ushering his sister away from the human causing her such strife. "You're lucky I'm not drowning you as we speak."

Yeah, he believed that Ikaris would if he ever got the chance again.

"Thena," Gil pleaded, kneeling down on the dock again. Even if she didn't want to hear it, and even if Ikaris wanted to try and drown him with his bare hands. "I promise I'll call for you, Angelfish. I promise-"

Makkari thrashed her tail in his direction, dousing him with water again. Let's go, Thena.

Makkari disappeared first, although clearly didn't go far. Ikaris put a hand on Thena's shoulder, ready to push her if necessary.

She gave Gil one last sad look (just to really drive a rusty dagger through his heart, it felt like). "Goodbye, Gil."

He gripped the post of the dock, leaning as far forward as he could, "just for now."

"Goodbye."

[softquietsteadylove]

I have to be honest tho I really loved it when Eros got punched by Gil. It was pretty satisfying ngl.

But what if Eros decides to sue Gil? To take his revenge on him? What if the agency decides to fire Gil? We all know Thena would not let that happen but they need proof and more witnesses.

Give us the angst and drama Darling!

"You what?!"

"Thena, the label can't sustain this kind of heat," one of the executive producers from the studio said a little too plainly. "Eros is demanding Gil be dropped from our services, in addition to a couple other stipulations of the lawsuit."

"I can't believe you're even entertaining it!" Thena fumed, gripping the edge of the table as she glared at them sitting across from her. "He put his hands on me--tried to force me to kiss him!"

"We know," the pressed, holding up their hands and eager to tell her to keep her voice down despite the privacy of the conference room.

"You don't seem to," she growled, looking from the board of morons to the end, where Gil was seated a very specific distance away from her. "Gil, you can't be thinking about agreeing to this."

He winced.

"Gil?"

He looked up at her, grimacing further at the wobble of her lower lip and the glittering of those viridian eyes of hers. He sighed, "Thena, Eros can sue us all into the ground if he wants."

"No, he can't!"

"Thena, be reasonable," the executives were back to talking (unfortunately). "Eros has unlimited resources, a terrible temper, a chokehold on the general populace--he hasn't left us much of a choice!"

"Except for countersuing him for literal harassment?" she turned back to them, this time slamming her hands onto the table as she shot to her feet.

The team of asswipes across from her looked between themselves, "we...we don't have the evidence."

"What do you mean you don't have the evidence?! Plenty of people were there!"

"All the video we've found thus far is of Eros after he was hit."

All eyes turned to Gil, who shrugged. He was quite literally only present to be fired but he offered a remorseless pursing of his lips. He had no 'sorry's to offer.

"Then ask for the security footage," Thena huffed, sitting down again but not by any means calmer about the whole affair.

"We did," asshat #3 leaned forward, "but there's no clear angle on you and him in the corner."

"Only of him flying off to the side-"

"After the hit," Gil finished for them with a roll of his eyes. "Look, I-"

"We suggest you be quiet."

Thena's eyes shot to them like lightning, "do not speak to him that way."

"Thena-"

"Just let me talk to her," Gil raised his voice at the people who were technically trying not to be his bosses any longer. He held out his hands on the conference table in her direction. His fingers flexed in subconsciously, "please."

"Gil," Thena uttered his name as a plea, moving over to him and gripping his jacket, also realising that it was his black water-resistant bomber jacket instead of a suit jacket. He wasn't dressed for work. She shook her head, "you're really going to let them fire you?"

"Thena," he sighed, rubbing her arms up and down as she held onto him. "This could really hurt the label--could hurt your reputation. It's better if we let him have his way on this one, I think."

"You can't be serious," Thena glared up at him.

But he only smiled at her, pushing some hair behind her ear (despite and maybe forgetting about their audience). "Hey, I'll be fine. You-"

"I'm not accepting anyone else as a bodyguard, Gil."

"Thena," he drawled out in the way he always did when she was being stubborn. "I'll find someone you'll like-"

"No," she insisted, uncaring of the executives rolling their eyes or muttering 'brat' under their breath. She held onto Gil tighter, "they won't be you."

"It doesn't have to be me-"

"Yes, it does!" Thena tugged at his jacket, pulling him closer and refusing to let go. "They let me hire you! I chose you because you were the only one I could trust! You're the only one I can have with me! I...I can't do this without you."

"Thena," he sighed, pulling her only as close as he could stand with their room of an audience present. He wasn't opposed to holding her, but it certainly wouldn't be for those pricks to witness. Her forehead collided with his collarbone as he rested his hand over her hair. "You'll be okay."

Thena sniffled, her tears dropping down between them and onto his white t-shirt. "Please, Gil...I don't want to do this without you."

"I know." And he did know--Thena wanted no part of the fame that came with her level of talent. If she could have had a body double lipsync for her she probably would have done that. She was just too beautiful to not make into an icon.

Thena pulled her head up, "you won't really leave me, will you?"

"Believe me," he pleaded, giving her fingers in his hand a gentle squeeze. It was just a few days ago he'd held this hand in her apartment, at her counter, kissing her fingers as he fed her breakfast. "I don't want to."

Thena looked at him--stared at him. Her eyes ran over his face over and over and over again, searching for something. She turned back to the board of executives, her hair flying out behind her and nearly whipping Gil in the face from the suddenness of her movement. "Fine--fire him."

"Wh-" Gil's jaw dropped.

"But," Thena glared at them, "I have every right to hire my own assistants. Personal assistants don't have to be approved by the label at all, they're mine to contract as needed."

"Thena, you can't be serious."

"Technically, Gil's main contractor isn't the label," Thena shrugged, as if it were just that simple. "It's me. So, really, if you want to fire him, you need to consult with me before you do."

All five dickheads across from her sighed loudly. "Why are you being so difficult about this?"

Thena looked down to her hands clasped in her lap. They were shaking terribly, but she held her ground. "Someone once told me that when you care about something, you protect it. It's the most natural thing in the world."

The executives were unmoved by her little anecdote, but Gil sat up in his chair straighter.

"So," she stared down their bosses - her bosses - as she straightened her posture, "you can pry Gil away from my cold, dead hands."

The executives resumed muttering to themselves again when the doors burst open.

"We got it!"

"Kingo?" Thena startled at his sudden entrance.

"We found the footage of Eros getting handsy," Kingo waved his phone around before sliding it across the conference table. "I already sent it to legal to review, by the way."

Thena looked up at her friend and manager as he leaned on the back of her chair. "How-"

"Makkari's little gremlin," Kingo chuckled, patting Thena's shoulder. For all his cavalier attitude and beaming smile portrayed, he knew how hard this would be on the both of them. "He was lurking around in the shadows and just happened to catch a glimpse of Eros before the hit happened."

The executives shook their heads at the footage, "this...this could ruin him."

"It could indeed," Kingo stood up again, straightening out his very fashionable purple blazer. "And, seeing as how you have the video evidence, I'm sure you wouldn't take it lightly that someone under the label was put in a vulnerable position and then almost forced into silence about it."

The executives bristled at all the right words being used to make their guilt feel palpable in the air of the room. "O-Of course, not."

"Of course." Kingo let his smile drop, putting his hand on Thena's shoulder again. "We want Thena to know that she's both supported and protected by the label, don't we?"

The executives knew that they were beat, clearly, squirming as they were. "We'll contact legal, find a way to proceed with Eros' team. I'm sure you're aware that a circumstance of the settlement will be that this footage never see the light of day."

Kingo held his hands up in surrender, "keep the phone--delete it for yourselves if you want."

The executive swiped up his phone, eager to do just that on their way out.

Kingo waited until they were out of the room before leaning against the table with a sigh, "someone has to teach those crusty old bastards what the cloud is."

"Kingo, how did you find it?" Thena shook her head at the sudden development. "How did Druig know?"

"Well," he pretended to examine his nails in a rare display of modesty. "I may have let it slip to Makkari that Eros was making a stink about 'something'. And that gremlin of hers has eyes everywhere. I knew if he didn't have footage of it then one of his followers would."

"Is that footage really never going to see the light of day?" Gil asked with a scowl, coming over to Thena's side again now that he was free to do so.

"We'll have to uphold our end of the deal," Kingo broke the news to them. "They'll probably reach out to Druig for the video originals, too. It's kind of out of our hands by then."

Gil squeezed Thena's shoulder silently, and her hand responded by coming up to give his a pat. Kingo pretended not to see any of it.

"But if someone else has a completely different angle of video, also capturing Eros being a creep," Kingo shrugged. "And they were never aware of the lawsuit because it was settled before it ever went public, and they were a completely uninvolved third party--well, then..."

Thena smiled up at Kingo, giving him a friendly little nudge, which was the most affectionate she could be (with exception to Gil).

Kingo leaned down, just barely pressing his cheek to Thena's hair, "he's not going to get away with this, T. Mark my words, that fucker's going to pay for what he did."

Gil sighed as Kingo straightened his immaculate suit again before heading out the way the executives did, no doubt to pursue - annoy - them about the matter.

Thena smiled as Gil finally managed to pull her into his arms comfortably. She inhaled, pressing her cheek to his chest. "I can't believe you were going to let them fire you."

"Sorry," he chuckled, combing his fingers through her silken hair. "I didn't think I had a choice in the matter."

Thena pulled back just to glare at him, "well, I do. And I choose you."

Gil's heart swelled in his chest, which also swelled against Thena's palm.

Thena blinked, seeming to absorb what exactly she had just said and scramble to take it back. "T-That is--not that-"

Gil just beamed at her as her fluster increased and the loveliest rouge rose in her pale cheeks. He didn't actually see her flustered much (she was pretty good at hiding it). "No, no, go on."

Thena gave up on her defense, knowing damn well she didn't have one anyway. She pressed her face into his chest again, "can we go home yet, or what?"

"Okay," he smiled down at his stubborn Goddess of War, snuggled into his arms. "Whatever you want."

Thena tightened her hold on him for another second, "just...you."

[softquietsteadylove]

For the mermaid AU:

After the capture situation Kro is angrily searching for Thena. Gil is taking care of Thena and one day Kro arrives at Gil’s doorstep.

Let’s do a little more angst and sweet moments :D

"Gil."

Oh fuck.

Gil nodded to the fellow fisherman. They were never exactly on super friendly terms anyway, so it wasn't exactly as if he would have been expecting them to start chatting lightly. "Kro--what are you doing here?"

"Well," the taller man began, stepping into Gil's home without so much as an invitation. He pulled his hands out of his rain coat pockets. "I was in the area."

Bullshit. It took a solid twenty minutes by motorboat - or ten minutes by ship - to get to the port from Gil's little island.

"I'm sure you heard that I had a..." Kro paused, looking around the kitchen, "rather large catch get away from me."

"Yeah, I heard," Gil managed to sound casual as he said it, closing the door behind Kro, resisting every urge of his to throw him out. "What was it, a swordfish?--shark?"

"Hm," Kro scoffed quietly, finally turning to Gil. "Bigger, actually--something quite...unique. It was a real treasure."

Gil nodded, as if to offer his sympathies to the monster in front of him. "Well, it happens to the best of us, y'know? Don't let it get to you."

"Well, the thing is, Gil," Kro walked back over to him with a menacing look on his face. "It didn't just get away. Someone snuck onboard and cut my net."

"Really?" Gil asked immediately, refusing to give Kro even a hint that he knew what he was talking about. "That doesn't sound like any of the guys here."

"No, I didn't think so either," Kro faked a sigh. The guy had a sense of drama, huh? "But then someone told me that your little dinghy was missing after my catch was taken."

Gil shrugged, putting his hands on his hips. "I had some dinner at the pub and headed home, man. I don't know what to tell you."

Kro looked out Gil's kitchen window to the end of his dock. "What's the box for?"

Gil held his breath. He had built it there so Thena could come and go as she pleased. It had clothes, and food, little trinkets he found that he thought she would like. Granted, he had built it for her long ebfore all this had happened. "Well, I'm always forgetting something before I head out, y'know? So I built that for some spare tarps and extra socks and shit."

"Smart," Kro outright laughed. He looked at Gil again. "I know she's here, Gil. Or if not here, then you have her close by."

"Who?" Gil scowled.

"Don't pull that shit with me, Gilgamesh," Kro snarled, happy to storm over to him. Gil was a mountain of a man but Kro had a freakishly tall frame and he wasn't exactly lacking strength himself either. "You stole that little nymph from me."

"You caught a nymph?" Gil continued to rile up the increasingly dangerous visitor. He managed to feign his disbelief only because Thena was upstairs having a refreshing little nap in the bathtub. "You feeling okay?"

"I will find her, mark my words," Kro growled right in Gil's face. "I will find my fortune and when I do, I will have you arrested for theft. Maybe I'll even rip out one of those little fangs of hers and send one to you on a necklace."

"Get out."

Kro leaned back, satisfied to have gotten any reaction out of Gil at all.

Gil was shocked he had held himself back from snapping the guy's neck. Kro would be deserving of it, just for making him imagine Thena getting her teeth pulled.

"I'll be back, Gilgamesh," Kro promised ominously, pulling the front door behind him on his way out.

Gil waited until Kro was all the way back to his main dock and heard the motor start up. He sat himself down - collapsed - into the seat at the table. He had known this would happen--had been expecting it since the night Kro caught Thena. And still he was shaken.

"Gil?"

He scrubbed his hands over his face before looking up. Thena leaned her head against the doorway, her hair completely dry despite her aquatic lounging. She was wearing a soft, pale blue denim shirt of his, the sleeves rolled up messily and unevenly to her elbows.

Thena came over to him, resting a hand on his knee and looking to him carefully. "You look frightened."

He nodded. He felt frightened. He took her hand in his, holding it to him. "He doesn't know you're here, but he knows it was me. And he's not going to rest until he finds you."

"So he won't find me."

"Thena-"

"Gil," she soothed, her voice as smooth and iridescent as a seashell. She knelt down next to him, letting him keep her hand in his for comfort. "The safest I can be is with you. Even if he combed the ocean for me...I would still come back to see you."

Gil sighed, taking in the beautiful Angelfish before him. He knew she was telling the truth, and he probably wouldn't have been able to resist her either. He liked to believe he would, but if he was being totally honest, he would probably be out there looking for her too.

"We're safe here," Thena nearly whispered.

Gil let out a shuddering breath. He pressed a kiss to her hands. "No more swims for a little while, okay, Angelfish? Not even around the dock."

Thena nodded, fully understanding the restriction and the need for it. "What about you?"

He shook his head. "It'll only be even more suspicious if I take time off work now."

He had only taken the day immediately after the rescue off for himself. And even that was potentially suspicious. He just couldn't bring himself to leave Thena alone.

"I'll be fine here," she smiled at him, as if her life weren't hanging in the balance of something out of their control. "You go and work. I'll read the books Sersi brought."

Gil nodded, trying to take in a single steady breath for her sake. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand, "want anything when I go out tomorrow?"

Thena pulled his hand to her cheek and leaned into his touch. "Just...come home soon."

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! I'm obsessed with your rival mob bosses AU. It's so exciting and sexy!! After I read your last fic, I can't get this scenario out of my head: Kro made a move to have his revenge after threats he got from Thena and Gil. He figured it out that these two have feelings for each other and managed to coordinate an attack that critically injured Thena (it can also be Gil as well, up to you). When Gil heard that she got injured, he just completely lost it and then proceed to leverage all of his resources to hunt Kro down. After that, he went to see Thena and went all soft and gentle with her, totally the opposite of Tyrant King persona he was. I am a sucker for hurt/comfort fics, and I just need this to happen between these scary and yet adorable rival mob bosses. Can you write it, please? Thank you so much! Love love love all of your writings!

Thena woke as she felt the bed dip. She'd been in Sersi's recovery ward for what really felt like months, at this point. It certainly was more than six weeks, and enough time that she'd had to delegate much of her business to Kingo and Karun during her time away.

The bastard had poisoned her.

Somehow, Kro had managed to intercept food she'd ordered and slip in just the right poison. Had she been alone - or with anyone but Sersi - she could have suffered much worse consequences. The Princess of Poisons just happened to have an antidote to the most poisonous options.

Then Gilgamesh had heard about what happened.

All he'd told her was that he'd 'taken care of it'. How very Tyrant King of him.

But, over the course of their treatments, Ajak and Sersi had given her at least what they'd been able to hear from their own informative channels.

According to various sources, Kro gets word that his attempt is unsuccessful, and wisely tries to flee before he's captured. It's never wise to try and turn on someone in the business when you're in the business yourself. So, Kro immediately tries to secure a flight out. But Gilgamesh reaches out an iron fist and grounds the plane he's booked. Kro is pulled out of airport security for a 'private examination'. Gilgamesh is waiting for him.

Kro leaves the airport via ambulance.

"The only reason he's alive is because I want Thena to have the chance to finish him off herself, if she wants."

And she did want to finish him off herself. Ajak was holding him in her own recovery ward until she was well enough to do so, too. But until then, Thena was still in Sersi's care.

Gilgamesh had spent every night by her side.

"Are you up?"

Thena sighed as his more-and-more familiar palm brushed over her forehead and then her hair. He could already tell she was, she knew. He'd only gotten better at reading every little thing off of her since resigning himself to her side.

Despite Sersi and her workers' around the clock care, he spent every possible minute with her.

"C'mere," he whispered, gathering her in his arms to roll her over and prop her up against her pillows. "How're you doing, Princess?"

She puffed through her nose. Despite his new obsession with doting on her like a worrisome goose, he hadn't lost all his mannerisms. "What did you do with your day?"

"Business as usual," he chuckled, reaching under his chair and rifling through his bag. "Think you can eat a little something?"

"I suppose," she sighed, pulling her arms out from under the covers.

"I made chazuke," he said and smiled as soft as the white robe pulled around her. He untwisted a thermos and pulled out the bowl and other containers he'd brought with him.

"Gil, you don't have t-"

"Come on," he grinned, gathering up some rice, tea broth and poached salmon all in one spoonful. "Say 'ahhhhh'!"

Thena huffed at him. She hadn't had much of a choice in the very beginning when her fine motor skills were still recovering. But ever since she'd regained the ability to raise a fork, she'd insisted he didn't have to feed her--literally.

Gilgamesh continued to smile, scooching his chair forward and holding the spoon out. "Open up, Princess."

Thena blushed. But, reluctantly, she accepted the bite, letting out a sigh as soon as it hit her tongue. Everything he cooked was so good. Sersi's cooks weren't novices either, but everything Gil brought her was absolutely oozing with care.

"What did Ajak say while she was here?" he asked her between spoonfuls, as if they always shared meals like this.

"She said that progress is being made at an acceptable rate." Thena took another bite, leaning less and less each time until she was settled against her pillows and Gil was bringing each bite directly to her lips for her. "My recovery might come sooner than expected."

"I hope so."

Somewhere along the way, all fronts and charades had faded away. From the moment Gilgamesh had stepped into her private room in the recovery wing, he'd been as soft as a lily petal. He'd whispered soft, loving words to her, brushed her hair, carried her as needed.

Sersi had only ever thought of objecting when he volunteered to carry out Thena's daily sponge bath. But Thena, once awake - as brief as it was - had no objections. Sersi had kept quiet about it. She'd had her suspicions about them, just like many in their business.

"Are you sure business is doing well with you here all the time?"

"Don't care," he admitted freely, bringing another bite up for her. He tipped the oval shaped spoon up for her to get the broth. "You think I'd be anywhere else?"

"Gilgamesh-"

"The woman I love is hurt."

Thena turned her head, staring at him with her whole body cushioned by the plush pillows provided for her. All she had thought since regaining her senses was that it was a poor substitute for the sensation of resting against Gil's chest.

"Where else could I be while you're here?" he tilted his head to meet her eyes properly. She blinked. He lowered the spoon, leaning forward to kiss her.

Just a press of lips to lips. Thena accepted just as gently. Her lips tasted like the delicate green tea in which he'd submerged equally delicate jasmine rice. She couldn't taste coffee on him. Supposedly he'd given it up after learning she couldn't have any system stimulants while she was recovering.

"You're exposing your weakness."

"I don't think it was much of a secret," he lamented to her, brushing some hair away from her cheek. "That my weakness is right out in the open."

Thena remained quiet, and he obviously didn't expect her to say anything, either. She accepted the last bite, watching as Gil packed everything up afterwards. It wasn't like he was going anywhere, anyway.

"Gil?"

He leaned forward, eager to carry out whatever she was about to ask. He sprang forward even more when she strained all her muscles just to lean up off her pillows. "Hey, take it easy, Ice. I know you're tired of being laid up here, but-"

"Lie down with me?" Thena stared up at him, her green eyes glassy with frustration. She gripped a fistful of his shirt as he held her. "Please?"

He hadn't said no to her yet (except for her attempt at bribing him to bring paperwork from her office). "Anything for you, your Majesty."

She let the name slide, just this once. He handled her gently, climbing into the bed and propping her up against his side , nestling her between his thick arm and his even thicker chest. It offered a familiar sturdiness and warmth she'd been craving.

Gil bent his knees under the blankets, positioning his sock feet around her bare ones. "You okay, Sweetness?"

"Hm," Thena sighed, relaxing against the warmth of him. She had never understood the idea that a cat's purring was healing for human beings. But the feeling lying beside Gil certainly made her feel like she was healing twice as quickly.

Gil settled his arms around her, cradling her against him both firmly and gently. He had no intention of letting her go--of letting anything harmful come anywhere near her again. But that was their business. They were fighters--their businesses and the world around them demanded vigilance and strength from them. And yet just this once, his life had made room for softness and gentleness and love. Real, genuine love, for the woman who held his heart in her palms.

So he exercised that gentility. He took advantage of the rare opportunity to hold the woman he loved, and call her sweet things and run his fingers through her hair.

Thena nearly had something on the tip of her tongue, but let it vanish. There would always be more time for cold reminders about the world awaiting them. But she had also enabled herself to revel in their afforded moments together.

Gil blinked as he felt her undo a few shirt buttons, but he smiled as she pressed her forehead against his chest, over his heartbeat. He ran a hand over her hair. "What do you want for breakfast tomorrow?"

"Surprise me," she whispered, still making small adjustments to get closer and closer to him. Her reply was a kiss to her forehead, promising the fulfillment of her request.

"Anything you need," he whispered against the top of her head.

"I need," she started and paused. She couldn't remember the last time she'd uttered these words. Maybe she had never truly said them in her life. One word, really. Just one little stupid word she had been trying to spit out for months.

Gil waited.

"I need," she sighed, dropping her head against his heart again, "the man I love to shut up and let me sleep."

Gil's arms tightened around her, his smile buried in her sunshine hair. "Yes, dear."