#Ikaris and Thena looking around for shells

[softquietsteadylove]

The mermaid au is amazing! Let’s do something funny and sweet

One day Ikaris follows Thena and finds out about Gil! Imagine if he is so protective that he grabs Gil and pulls him into the water to wrestle with him and almost drowns him. Ohhhh imagine how angry Thena would be! 😂

"Gil!"

Gil grinned, his chest swelling at the sight of Thena waiting at the end of the dock to greet him. She was wearing one of his henley shirts with a belt around her hips. Sersi had bought her dresses and brought them over, but Thena insisted that she preferred his shirts to wear.

Thena knelt down as soon as he killed the motor of his little dingy, letting it drift closer to the edge of the dock until he could secure a rope around the post. "How was work?"

"It was good," he chuckled as he pulled himself in, already tying a knot to secure himself. "Still no word about them catching anyone else. If anything, people are talking about Kro's escaped catch less and less."

"That's good, right?" Thena tilted her head as he pulled himself up the ladder and onto the dock. She stood smoothly; she was really getting the hang of her knees.

"It's very good," he confirmed, happy to linger close to her after his long day. Although he had been letting himself call it a day earlier and earlier. The sun was barely beginning to set, but he had been in such a hurry to get home to Thena he had barely remembered to store his equipment properly.

Thena placed her hand on his shoulder, scratching the material of his waterproof backpack. "I know I should be inside. But...I wanted to come out to see you. And I made sure you were the only boat around the island."

"It's okay, Angelfish," Gil grinned, pressing a kiss to her forehead, which clearly and obviously delighted her. "I know you know to be careful. I'm happy to see you too."

Thena tilted her head at the boat behind and below him. "You should get your equipment out. The box said there would be heavy rain."

He hadn't quite gotten around to explaining to her how tv worked. "Good idea; I'll be right in."

Thena gave him a soft smile she had started having more and more often. She looked up at him, swaying herself with her hands behind her back. She was asking for something, in not so many words.

Gil gifted her with another kiss, which may or may not have been what she was looking for. "I'll show you what I brought you inside."

Thena happily bounded up the deck and back up to the house ahead of him, bringing his backpack with her.

Gil dropped back down into the boat to pull out anything left in it. He would tarp it over, of course, but the humidity wasn't something his poor, rusty old toolbox needed more of.

Two arms exploded out of the water and constricted around him.

Gil tried to get his bearings as he was dragged under. He pried his eyes open, able to see the pink and red sky getting further away. The little dock he had wasn't exactly in deep dark waters, but he was travelling at an alarming rate. He thrashed and turned.

He was terrifying.

He had striking features, for sure--pale skin, sharp bones, intense eyes that were almost a little familiar. His tail was long, with peppery scales and strong looking fins. He had fangs, and he certainly looked like he did whatever the underwater equivalent of crossfit was.

"You!"

Gil didn't think about how he could understand what he was saying bizarrely well for being underwater. Air--he needed air. He tried to swim up to the surface but his assailant was infinitely stronger and faster than him in this element.

The Fangtooth gripped Gil again, very clearly uncaring that he needed oxygen.

"You're why she's been missing for weeks?!"

Ikaris. He couldn't begin to think of why, but the name popped into Gil's head in that instant. It made a lot of sense, between the words he said and the resemblance between them (Thena would hate knowing he had thought that).

Gil kicked as best he could, but he was easy prey for Fangtooth here. He let out his last breath, watching the bubbles float upward. His vision started to blur as a spot of glowing light hit the water.

Thena swam to him in the blink of an eye, swishing her tail between herself and her brother. She pulled Gil up to the surface with her, holding him with a hand on his chest so he could worry less about keeping himself afloat and more about breathing. "It's okay, Gil, just breathe."

Ikaris surfaced a second later, snarling at his sister, "what are you doing?!"

"What are you doing?!" she snapped right back at him, not moving a hair further away from Gil as he gasped for breath. "I didn't realise you were in the habit of drowning innocent humans!"

"Innocent?!" Ikaris roared at her, crossing the distance with his shoulders above the water. He pointed a finger in her face, splashing water at her as he did. "This human abducted you!"

"He saved me from being caught!" Thena matched her brother's energy easily, both of them baring their fangs in full at each other.

Ikaris leaned back slightly, his stature clear even just bobbing in the water. "Makkari told me about that, Thena. But you've been gone for weeks before now."

Gil looked at Thena, finally getting some semblance of a healthy breathing pattern. "You went home between visits, didn't you?"

"Of course," Thena looked at him tenderly, running her thumb over his cheek. "He's just being a clownfish."

"I am right here!"

Gil laughed as much as he could after nearly drowning, "because he's always poking his head into anemones that aren't his?"

"Oi!" Ikaris belted at them. He swam a little closer again but Thena didn't hesitate to thrash her tail and even swipe at him with her hand. He swatted her away. "Thena, he's dangerous!"

"You don't know anything about him!"

Gil could have argued that technically, they were both correct. But Thena was already swimming him back to the dock, helping him up the ladder and then following him.

"Y-You-!" Ikaris' jaw dropped as his sister not only climbed the ladder like a pro, but also tugged at the human clothes she was wearing. "Wait a barnacled minute!"

Gil really liked a lot of the expressions they had.

Ikaris 'backed up' as it were, before speeding forward and launching himself right out of the water and onto the dock. He gripped the posts to secure himself and help his tail slither up the last bit.

Gil just stared at him before looking at Thena, "can you do that too?"

Ikaris growled at him, "of course she can, human. Anyone with a tail could."

Gil looked at Thena again, who didn't seem concerned with looking at him in return. "Anyone with--so you-"

"What do you want, Ikaris?" she barked at her brother, walking closer to where he was 'seated' on the dock.

"What do I want?" he balked, shaking his head in exasperation. He looked at Thena with a slightly different expression, though. His anger, having boiled over, lowered to a simmer. "I want to know my sister is unharmed."

"I told Makkari-"

"To see it with my own eyes, Thena," he corrected her, firmer but not back to yelling. His hardened expression did something, though, because Thena sat down in front of him, even folding her legs beside her somewhat like she would her tail. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You were caught in a net," he rushed, practically cutting off her assurance. He leaned forward, partly gripping her for balance and partly squeezing his sister's shoulders to assure himself she was there. "You were caught by the bounty hunter. You are not fine, Guppy."

Thena gave her brother's ear a tug for what Gil had to assume was a childhood nickname. "I am not a hatchling, Ikaris. As you said, I met Gil a number of moons ago. And did you not see me regularly in that time?"

"See you reg-" Ikaris cut himself off, baring his fangs again. "You say that as if the water is not your home, Thena. This is home!"

Ikaris gestured to the water below and behind them, but Thena looked behind her, up to the cabin. "Don't."

"Ikaris-"

"Don't!" he jabbed his finger in her face again. He knew from experience to snap it away before Thena could bite it. And with such force that her teeth clicked. "Why are you up here, Thena?"

She looked from the cabin to Gil, lingering a small but respectful ways away from their conversation. She waved him over.

He had misgivings about that, but he reluctantly came to his Angelfish's side. "Uh, hi."

"Human."

"Ikaris," Thena said more firmly, making her brother roll his eyes. She put her hand over Gil's, "this is Gil--Gilgamesh, actually."

Ikaris tilted his head at Gil one way and then once in the other direction. It was much cuter when Thena did it. "I didn't know humans could be named Gills."

"Just Gil," Thena shook her head, holding up a finger, "just one."

Ikaris eyed the finger with disdain all over his face before looking at Gil again. "Fine...Gil."

He said it the way Gil thought the name Kro.

"Perhaps you can tell me why my sister is spending all her time on the surface since meeting you?" Ikaris fixed him with a look that Gil recognised as the look any brother could get when he was worried. He could hide it behind his aggression all he liked, but it was clear that he was afraid for his sister's safety. "With legs?!"

Gil cleared his throat, his eyes darting down to Thena's pale thighs. "Look, the legs were a surprise to me too."

"What?"

"But Thena came and found me on her own," Gil shrugged, speaking as honestly as he could from one man to another. "I was glad she did, though. I first met her after she saved me from falling overboard."

Ikaris looked disappointed that he hadn't drowned.

Gil continued anyway. "I was going to sail out and just talk to her again, but then a storm hit. I was a little worried about her, but she came and found me the next day."

"Right," Ikaris grumbled, crossing his arms and letting his eyes trail down to the necklace that was secured preciously around his sister's neck. She raised a hand to it, as if to protect it from Ikaris' harsh gaze. He flicked his eyes over Gil, "fisherman?"

"Y-Yes," Gil gulped. He had gotten so used to Thena's sweet smiles and warm, green eyes, he had forgotten that they could look truly terrifying if they wanted to.

"And you didn't even think to try and capture a creature of your myths and legends?" Ikaris raised a brow. He had every right to ask; they were cautious of human on principle for a reason.

"No," Gil professed in complete honesty. "I don't blame you for not believing me, but I would never...as soon as I saw her, I knew Thena was something else...something special."

Ikaris took one look at the look on Thena's face and stuck out his tongue, "hrrrghk!"

"Shut it!" Thena hissed at him, although he hissed right back at her. She pursed her lips, "I do not need your approval, Brother. All you need to know is that I am safer here from that monster than I am in the waters. And Gil is making sure of that."

Gil shivered; he hoped he could continue to make that statement true.

Ikaris ran his eyes over Gil again, just to make sure he knew that he was well and truly disgusted with and by him. "Watch your step, human. I will be watching from below the surface. And if you ever-"

"Ikaris, stop it!" Thena stood in a huff, kicking at him with her bare feet. "He doesn't need you seagulling at him!"

Ikaris swatted her away from him, although he did slowly and surely start leaning in the direction of the water again. "You're the gull!"

"You are!"

Gil did his best to contain his chuckling. They really were brother and sister. He caught Ikaris' eye before the merman fled. "I'll take care of her--I promise!"

Ikaris hissed at him, with longer fangs and angrier eyes than even Makkari had bared to him.

Gil sighed, "I guess I wouldn't expect them to like me."

Thena brushed off her shirt/dress and held out a hand to him, "they don't have to like you."

He supposed she was right. And he should be grateful Ikaris hadn't legitimately killed him for catching him getting cuddly with his sister, he supposed. He wilted against Thena, who offered her support silently and immediately.

"Where are you tools?"

Underwater.

"It's okay, I'll get new ones," Gil waved over his shoulder as they headed towards the cabin. "I just want to sit down, right now."

"Right now?"

"No, it's okay--it's just an expression."

"Expression?"

"Yeah, like when you say Ikaris is a clownfish because he's intrusive."

"He's also stupid," Thena felt was very necessary to add. She smiled as Gil shook with laughter against her shoulder.

[prince-septimus]

#10 for touching & #24 for hugs with drukkari?

spooning at night & hugging with height difference w/ druig & makkari

The idea of being alone had never occurred to you when you were first realized into existence. Being born into an Eternal meant you would literally never have to be alone.

And then Thena got sick, and everyone went away.

The same people you had spent thousands of years with had gone on to do their own thing, and like a loyal soldier, you followed their lead and made a life for yourself among the humans.

You ached, though, and missed them.

Them.

“Stop getting lost in your own thoughts,” Druig tells you quietly, and you frown.

“Stay out of my head.”

“I don’t need to be in your head to know you’re thinking too much.”

You look up at him. The room is dim, but his outline is clear where he stands at the side of the couch, his hand outstretched for you to grab.

“Come on, she’s already asleep.”

The ship had grown quiet a while ago, with only you, Druig, and Makkari lingering awake as you rediscovered each other.

Tiamut was dead, Ikaris was gone, and you should be happy.

You let out a grunt when Druig uses the hand you’ve placed in his to pull you up and into his arms, pulling you against his chest and placing his arms around you.

“You’ve got us back,” he tells you softly, leaning his head down to brush his lips against the shell of your ear. “No more worries.”

You knew you would still worry – about what might come next, about what might happen to the family you have left – but you know Druig is right, and you let him press a kiss to the top of your head before leading you towards the bedroom.

Makkari lays on one side of the bed, her chest moving up and down with the weight of her respiration. You smile at the sight, a small sign of innocence in your otherwise chaotic and messy world.

Druig uses your hand to guide you to the opposite side, motioning for you to climb in first before he follows. You press yourself against Makkari’s back, putting an arm across her waist and pulling her against you. Even asleep, Makkari leans into your touch just as Druig does the same behind you, pressing himself against your back and holding you close.

Maybe the end of the world is inevitable and bound to happen no matter what you and the others do, but at least you have these two, right here, in this moment.

send me a touches ask!

[softquietsteadylove]

[Mermaid Thena/fishermen Gil AU]

Heyyyyy I just wanted to know if you could do one where thena splits her tail and spends a day with gil on land? I think it would be really cute to see thena trying to understand the humans strange ways! (Gil would find it cute too!🤭)

Btw I love for your thenamesh fanfics <3

Thena jumped as another bolt of lightning split the dark skies outside the window.

"What did you do on days like this before?" Gil asked as he tightened another screw behind her.

"Most don't do a lot of swimming," she shrugged, leaving her seat below the window and joining him on the floor again. "It's like walking on a windy day--not unmanageable, but far from pleasant."

Gil grinned, nudging her ever so slightly with his elbow against hers. "Look at you, talking about going for walks."

Thena smiled at his praise, tucking some hair behind her ear. She watched as he moved to a different screw, bringing the pieces of wood together. "What is this?"

Gil made the final twist of the screwdriver as she picked up the instruction booklet. "The store has fancy names for everything, but really, it's a regular shelf."

"Bookshelf?"

"Exactly," he confirmed, accepting another screw from Thena for the other side. "Although I want it for something other than books."

"What are we going to put on it?" she asked, and Gil got that funny smile on his face again. He got it sometimes when she asked what they were going to have for dinner, or what they were going to watch on the box.

"Well, I was thinking it could kind of," he made a shy kind of expression and shrugged his shoulders, "be yours. So you can put your stuff on it."

"My stuff?" She tilted her head as he stood the frame of it upright, making a wooden box with an open front and back.

"Yeah, like the things I bring you home from work, or just things you would want to keep here and look at."

Thena considered it. There were other shelves in the house, ranging from the shelves in the kitchen that held their food, to the shelves in Gil's office room, although he was moving around the things inside there an awful lot lately.

Some of the shelves in the living room had things Gil had found while fishing--shells and bottles and treasures of that sort. She lifted her hand to touch the necklace safe around her neck.

Gil looked out the window after another roll of thunder boomed outside. "Will Ikaris be worried about you in this weather?"

Thena rolled her eyes; she had not forgotten about her brother and his recent 'visit'. "He'll be fine. Makkari and I would often go current surfing in weather like this."

"That sounds--fuck."

Thena looked over at Gil and the sudden exclamation. She didn't really know what it meant but it only ever came out in times of frustration. "What's wrong?"

He sighed, examining one of the screws he had added. She had seen him use them before, when he had replaced the door hinge (which she had broken accidentally). "It's gone in crooked. I'll have to get it out."

"Hm," Thena mused as she scooched closer on her knees on the rug. Gil attempted to unscrew the thing but it seemed quite solidly driven in.

"Okay," he grumbled, leaning back on his heels as he looked around them. There were a few spare screws, another two shelves to add, and all the packaging spread out around them.

"I can try," she offered, leaning in to see what he had done, and how to undo it.

"It's okay, it's not--Angelfish!"

Thena gripped the screw in her teeth and pulled, dragging the metal right out of the pressed board. She dropped it into her hand and licked her lips with a frown; it tasted awful.

"A-Are you okay?"

She smiled; Gil could be panicky at times, but she knew it came from a very caring place. She held up the screw for him, "here."

He looked between her and the thing in his palm a few times. "Your teeth are pretty strong, huh?"

Thena tilted her head at him to the right, watching as he made another attempt at things. She moved it in the other direction to see what would change in her perspective. "Yours can't do that?"

"Nothing like that," he smiled as he adjusted it more to his liking this time. "Our teeth are pretty strong, but I think I'd chip a tooth if I tried what you just did."

"Hm," she mused as she resumed watching him work. She liked watching him use tools and do small tasks like this. He seemed so focused on them, and it was fascinating to watch his hands utilise the different kinds of tools he had for different things. "Sorry Ikaris drowned your toolbox."

"That's okay, Angelfish." And he meant it, too, because he never seemed to tell lies. He looked at her as he twisted the screwdriver over and over. "Maybe it's time for a new one, anyway."

"Oh?"

"Actually," Gil muttered as he tested the sturdiness of the shelf before reaching for another. "Maybe I'm overdue for a run to the market."

Thena tilted her head at him, hoping he would keep going until he reached his point.

He gave her a wink, which made something in her stomach flip like a salmon in a waterfall, "wanna come with me?"

Thena leaned forward on her hands and knees, getting nice and close to him, "really?"

He nodded, setting down his tool and reaching for her hand. "I think it might be okay if I take you with me. We'll go on a weekday, to the far side of town, you can stretch those legs of yours. What do you think?"

Gil laughed as she threw herself against him, her arms around his shoulders like he did for her often. He was so sturdy he managed not to fall backwards even with all of her weight suddenly leaning on him. He rubbed her back through the soft shirt she was wearing (a hoodie, he called it; it was the comfiest of all of them yet).

She sighed, purring against his arm as the scent of him washed over her. There was plenty of his scent on his hoodie, too, but being close to him was like being over a steam vent, or lying in a sunbeam on an embankment. It made her brain feel foggy and her body feel relaxed.

Gil let her settle in his lap, his legs bending around her with his hand at her shoulder. "Maybe we can find something for your new shelf."

"I have to add the things I already have." She was referring to the little trinkets Gil had brought her already, from a marble to a uniquely coloured shard of seaglass, to a toy he got from buying lunch one day.

"There'll be plenty of room," he promised, sitting back and admiring their - his - work. "Hungry?"

She nodded.

"I'll put on some lunch. Do you want a snack?"

"Yes please," she smiled, although him cooking did mean she couldn't sit in his lap anymore (unfortunate). "Sardines?"

"Comin' right up!"

[softquietsteadylove]

Thenamesh Ballerina/Boxer AU with Gil protecting Thena.

I love protective Gil so it would be really cool :)

"You sure you wanna do this?" Gil couldn't help but ask as they walked into the loud, crowded pub.

"Oh, come on," Thena smiled at him, pulling his hand to go find where Sersi and Ikaris were waiting for them. "I'm not so opposed to rambunctiousness. I do teach teenagers, if you recall."

"Oh, I recall," he chuckled. The teenagers were the class who loved to 'ooh' and 'aw' when Miss Thena's boyfriend came in to bring her coffee.

"Besides," Thena sighed, half for fun and half in genuine exasperation. "Sersi is quite taken with your old buddy, Ikaris."

"I don't know if I'd use the term 'buddy'."

"I want her to know that we can all spend time together."

Gil grinned, pulling Thena back to him by the hand and securing her there by wrapping his arm around her waist. He pressed his lips to her temple, "you're a good friend, Gorgeous."

Thena lavished in the small affection, even in the middle of the horrifically loud establishment.

"I do owe him a beer anyway," Gil added a little more sheepishly, "after last time."

"Last time?" Thena blinked.

"Well, the time before that," Gil shrugged, referring to a misunderstanding between them that had led to Gil pulverising Ikaris way too intensely for a practice match.

Thena blushed as Gil nipped at the shell of her ear.

"How could I forget last time?"

Thena squirmed in his embrace, pushing on his chest, "we're already late."

"Where the hell are these two?" Gil muttered, looking around the room. Even with its darkened corners, he assumed he would have seen them by now. "You see 'em?"

"No, I--hey!"

"Whoops, sorry 'bout--hello there," the offending stranger shifted from frustrated to smiling at Thena in the blink of an eye. He took her in, visibly, running his eyes over her and tipping up his hat. "Sorry, little lady, didn't mean to jostle you like that."

"It's fine."

"Let me get'cha a drink-"

"She said it's fine, man," Gil grumbled, pulling Thena closer to him again as the walking ball cap and blue jeans refused to stop dragging his eyes over her.

The man turned to Gil, as if noticing him for the first time. "Oh, sorry man, I didn't realise she was with you."

Thena had to wonder how he had missed her literally being held by Gil. But they were on their way again before she could ask. "Gil?"

"That's the other thing about dives like this," Gil muttered, keeping her close as he found them a standing table underneath a light. "The prettier you are, the more of an animal you'll attract."

"I'm not sure if that's so foreign a concept to me."

"Maybe not," Gil conceded, kissing her cheek gently as he parted from her reluctantly, "but the kind of animal might be. I'm gonna see if the bartender knows if they're here and where they might be."

Thena nodded, watching him go as she stayed standing at the table. She swayed absently to whatever tune was playing far too loudly through the speakers. She put her hands on the edge of the table, only to discover there was something on it. Whether it was water or something else she wiped her fingers off on her jeans--the only pair she owned, and wore specifically with this venue in mind.

Sersi got out more than she did. Sersi knew how not to stand out in a pub--a bar, rather. This was for Sersi--who deserved to be happy, even if Thena thought Ikaris was a bit of a meathead for her.

"Buy you a drink?"

Thena stared down at the table, wondering if refusing to engage them at all would be a better route.

"Buy you a drink?!!"

No, they just thought she couldn't hear them. She sighed, turning with a frown, "my boyfriend is at the bar now."

"Then he's not here."

"That wasn't an invitation," she scowled, as the man - and more than one behind him - shifted from their table to hers. She eyed them cautiously, "I'm not here alone."

"Really?--'cause," the front one ran his eyes over her, just like the one from the crowd, "you seem pretty lonesome."

Alone and lonesome did not mean the same thing.

"We can just keep you company," another one suggested, "'till your, uh, boyfriend?--comes back."

"I don't think you want to do that," Thena advised, not that the interloping animals deserved the courtesy of a warning. "He won't like arriving to a scene like this."

"What? We're just talking."

Thena shuffled back from the table, desperate for every centimetre of distance from them she could get. "A discussion to which I never agreed."

"Now what's a flower like you doin' in a place like this?"

"Yeah, you're far too sweet to be roamin' around alone."

"I bet your boyfriend's just some dickhead, anyway."

Thena glared at him.

"Dude, you made her mad," the others slapped his shoulder, laughing between themselves, although clearly her anger was the cause for their amusement. "She's cute when she's angry, though."

"Then you're gonna think I'm adorable."

Thena looked over their shoulders, although the one closest to the back was already getting flipped over Gil's shoulder. His shoes hit the ceiling light dangling above them with a loud clang. "I did tell you."

The one who called Gil a 'dickhead' was next. He tried to make his escape but Gil grabbed him by the wrist, giving it it a good twist until everyone around them could hear the pop! of it.

"Hey, man, we were just-"

"Harassing my girlfriend," Gil finished for the other two, cracking his knuckles loudly and giving his hands a shake, like he did when he was getting ready for the last round of a fight. "Yeah, I heard."

Everyone but Thena winced as Gil landed a punch to each of their faces that looked quite lethal in force. And certainly they went down like a sack of bricks, completely unconscious after a hit like that.

"What the hell's going on, here?!"

"Sorry, sorry," Gil apologised, holding up his hands as the bar staff came rushing over. "I'm going, I'm going."

Thena shuffled around the men on the ground, hopping over one of the bodies to trot out beside Gil. "Are you okay?"

Gil just shrugged, shaking out his fist again. Sure, he was used to gloves, but his knuckles had been conditioned long before now. "I'll be fine. Are you okay?"

Thena offered a shrug of her own as they headed back out into the night. "I've certainly heard worse."

"I'm sorry, Sweetheart," he offered sheepishly, taking her hand in his. "I didn't mean to leave you alone to them, or to get us kicked out like that."

Thena just shook her head, stepping in closer to kiss him again. "I'd hardly consider that your fault."

Gil returned the kiss gleefully. "And for the record, you are cute when you're mad, but only I get to say it."

"Gil," she scolded, slipping her hand under his sports coat to give his side a pinch.

"What?" he laughed, leaving his heavy arm around her delicate little shoulders. "It's super cute when your little goslings tease you for having a boyfriend and you get all flustered."

"Gil!"

"Oi," Ikaris blinked as he arrived with his own arm slung over Sersi's shoulders, "what're you doin' out here?"

"What are we doing?" Gil snorted at his old friend, "you're late even by your standard."

"Yeah, well," Ikaris shrugged. That was the end of his excuse, it seemed. He took another step, "shall we?"

"Uh, we can't go in there," Gil caught Ikaris by the shoulder and turned him around.

"Huh?"

Thena took Sersi's elbow and turned her as well, allowing them to link arms with the men on their outside shoulders. "Gil caved in a gentleman's nose, in there."

"Oh my," Sersi underreacted, perfectly able to imagine him doing so, apparently. "Well, there are other places to get a pint."

"Places that aren't crawling with assholes," Gil muttered, slipping off his jacket and putting it over Thena's shoulders.

Ikaris rushed to do the same for his own girlfriend.

[softquietsteadylove]

So, I've got a prompt for you.

I love movies and tv series and they are all so different from each other but also have so much things in common. And there is one thing i can picture our beloved men from Eternals in.

I think at least one time in their whole time on earth, Ajak forced her children to spend time together, in groups. So while Ajak is dragging her daughters around, the group of men are forced to hang out with each other. And a full men group, hanging out, means normal conversations drifting to uncomfortable and awkward conversations (for at least one or two individuals.) So I'd like to ask you to write Kingo, Phastos, Druig, Ikaris and Gilgamesh (god i love him, malewife) in such a situation, maybe sparring together, drinking alcohol but the most important: talking about (their) girls! (or boys, or whatever preference our individuals have in a partner)

"This fuckin' sucks."

No one spoke up to agree with Druig, but certainly no one argued with him, either.

Ajak was with the other half of the Eternals, having brought Sersi, Makkari, Thena and Sprite with her to the beautiful natural springs just outside the palace grounds. India was so mild in climate, and they were still getting used to the place after arriving short of a month ago.

She had claimed it was mother-daughter bonding time, and encouraged they do the same. Gil and Kingo had certainly had their reservations, while Ikaris, Druig and Phastos had quickly asserted that they would rather let the villagers burn them on the pyre.

And yet here they were.

Kingo took a sip of his...whatever it was. He winced a little at it, staring into the fire they'd built simply for something to do and occupy their time. He was the most antsy, the rest of them having devolved into silence naturally. Which wasn't really Kingo's style. "Is anyone going to say anything, or...?"

"Just did," Druig barked at him from an entirely separate log bench all to himself, "sucks."

"Oi," Ikaris snarled at him, which did nothing to improve the atmosphere. He leaned on his knees, also sitting on a separate log bench.

Phastos was occupying himself with whatever, using his powers for something or other, ignoring them all deliberately. Also on his own log.

Gil sighed, staring up at the moon from where he had given upon talking and simply laid down on the ground.

Kingo turned around to look at Gil, lying down behind him, "what's with you?"

The Strongest Eternal shrugged, absently pulling up a bite of mango for himself. "I wonder what Thena's thinking about right now."

A round of loud groans hit the air, startling the birds in the trees.

"What?" Gil sat up with a frown at his band of brothers.

"Thena-this, and Thena-that," Phastos supplied readily, rolling his eyes the hardest at it.

"Oh, come on," Gil huffed, but he looked over as Druig barked out a sharp laugh at him.

"Gil, you ever heard yer own thoughts, mate?" the mind reader snickered, poking at his own temple as he said it. "Thena-this and Thena-that is exactly what you're thinkin'--always!"

Gil sighed, dusting himself off and sitting himself on Kingo's log properly. "I don't see the problem."

"You wouldn't," Ikaris snorted, and this time Gil took a little more offense to it. "You've got all that muscle and not a single one in your brain."

Gil picked up a rock and flicked it at the Soaring Eternal. For any mortal, it would have gone clean through their head like a bullet, but Ikaris snarled as it bounced off his forehead like a nut shell. "Aren't you supposed to be getting married soon? I'd expect you to have thoughts of nothing but your future wife."

Ikaris also soured at having his fiancee brought up. "Some of us can think of more than one thing at a time."

"Okay," Phastos held a hand in both of their directions, as if trying to soothe savage beasts. "No one has to talk about anyone's wives, y'animals."

"Let 'em have it out, Phastos," Druig laughed, picking up a pear for himself and biting into it with a disgusting amount of gusto. Chunks and juice flew from his mouth as he pointed, "I wanna shee what 'appensh!"

"Close your damn mouth when you're eating!" Phastos barked at the 'youngest' of them present.

"All that'll happen is Ajak getting mad at us," Kingo pointed out liberally. He patted Gil's shoulder, knowing that he was the more easily reasoned with between him and Ikaris. "Look Gil, I support you, and your gross, sappy romanticism."

"Thanks," Gil sneered at him and his 'support'. He turned his glare in Druig's direction, "I don't bring up you following Kari around, now do I?"

"Oi," Druig grumbled.

Phastos shared a look with Kingo, both of them entirely capable of disparaging their siblings in similar and opposite ways. Phastos wasn't opposed to the vessel, but needed the right soul. Kingo was proudly uninterested in everyone equally.

Ikaris also looked up at the moon and sighed. "What're they even doing?"

Kingo looked at Druig, "what did mother-daughter bonding mean?"

Druig snarled up one side of his nose and lips. "You think I'm in everyone's heads all the fuckin' time?"

"Kinda."

"Well, m'not," Druig shrugged, tossing away his pear seeds and reaching for a fresh one. "That'd be exhausting."

"Whose thoughts are the loudest?"

"Yours."

"I don't believe you," Kingo countered just as quickly as Druig had. He got a look for it but shrugged. "Maybe sometimes, sure. But it can't always be me."

Druig chuckled, bobbing his head in Gil's direction, "who'd you think? It's Mister Thena over 'ere."

"What do you mean they're loud?" Gil crossed his arms in his defense.

"Just what it sounds like, Gil," Druig offered at least slightly more amiable than he had been before. "S'not like shoutin', I guess. But they're...they're loud and clear. All the time."

"Like wh-"

"Thena," all four other Eternals answered for him simultaneously. Gil pursed his lips, feeling his cheeks warm. But at least the others were smiling and laughing (even if it was at his expense).

Druig slapped his knee in glee. "It's always 'where's Thena?', or 'wonder what Thena's up to', or 'I miss Thena' from you."

"Okay, okay," Gil sighed. It wasn't as if he had a correction to make, or even a defense to it. Those certainly sounded like his thoughts.

"Her too."

"Huh?" Gil blinked, hearing a much softer follow up from Druig.

The solitary Eternal was looking down at his pear, toying with it in his hands as the truth of his words made him quieter. He offered Gil a smile. "She's the same way--if you somehow didn't know."

"Thena?" Gil blinked.

"Yeah, Thena?" Kingo repeated from next to him. "I mean, I don't doubt it about Gil, but I figured T was...harder to read."

Druig grinned, shaking his head. He became a little more sheepish, but shrugged. "Most'a the time, yeah. But when it's about Gil here...she's clear as a bell."

Kingo just nodded, taking another sip of (whatever). "Wouldn't have guessed."

"First time I caught it I thought I was fucked," Druig shook his head. "T doesn't take kindly t'me pokin' around, 'course. But this thought just--it shot out like an arrow."

"What was it?" Gil asked, unable to resist.

Druig looked at him, offering a much more genuine smile, "Gil."

He just stared, "yeah--I'm asking."

"No, that's it," Druig chuckled, shaking his head again and ruffling his hair for good measure. "Just Gil--she walks around with your name in 'er head like the breath in 'er lungs. I had to learn to block it out--s'like a clock, tick-tick-tickin' away in the background."

Gil looked like he could burst with joy.

Ikaris cleared his throat faintly, already ruddy cheeked when the others looked at him. "Does, uh, Sersi-"

"Don't know, haven't checked."

"Okay!" Phastos stood, clapping his hands together before Ikaris could pick up Druig and throw him clear across the Ganges. "Why don't I reach out to Ajak and see what they're up to?"

Druig rolled his eyes as a loud and clear I want to see Thena floated into his mind. Gil was like an unchecked faucet--sometimes dripping, sometimes on full blast, but always leaking in some way.

"That's a good idea," Ikaris growled as he floated back down to his log, fists still clenched and eyes still glowing.

"Well," Kingo sighed as he set down his nondescript beverage. "What an unproductive discussion."

"Speak for yourself," Gil chuckled, nudging his most jovial brother's arm.