#Thena *thinking to herself*: hello yes please delicious I'll take 12

[softquietsteadylove]

Hii love, may i ask for more of the Proposal Au, maybe Thena telling Gil about her family when they are in bed cuddling and having a soft moment.

Gil inhaled as he woke, dragging the morning air into his lungs. Sometimes he cursed his early rising nature, wondering if it really could be handed down through genetics like his mother liked to joke that it was. He got a whiff of Thena's shampoo.

She was cuddled right up with him, which was nothing new by now. He nuzzled the top of her head. If he couldn't sleep in on his vacation then he could at least be comfortable.

If anything, maybe they were a little too comfortable this way. But he didn't think that was a bad thing. They were getting married...kind of. It was a good thing to comfortable enough with each other to cuddle, be close, maybe share a kiss or two.

Thena pushed her head further into his chest, which meant she was also waking up.

Gil chuckled; how did he never know before how cute she was? He tapped her bare shoulder, fixing the strap of her night dress, "hey."

She made a sound of protest, especially as he rolled onto his side with his arms still around her, shifting her position of practically lying right on top of him.

Gil settled on his side, gazing at the beautiful woman next to him. He was reminded of a time when he had first met her, and it had seemed impossible to fathom how a woman as beautiful as she was had as normal a job like he did.

Thena blinked her bleary eyes open, glaring at him as soon as she could focus, "this better be good."

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you," he more or less whispered. It was just them and the rising sun and the breeze in his mother's perfectly landscaped yard.

"Liar," she grumbled, but still clung to the warmth he offered. "Will your mother come barging in here looking for help with another wedding activity?"

"Not today," he promised, although it wasn't really up to him if that happened. But he rubbed her back through the light material. "Even she sleeps in a little bit on sundays."

"Sunday already," Thena mused, yawning as she did.

"Yeah," Gil agreed, although the closer they got to concluding their trip here, he had to admit it made him a little sad. He would miss not seeing his close-knit family again. His sisters--even Kingo!

Thena began lazily running her fingers over his back in the t-shirt he was wearing. It felt nice to get his back scratched a little, and her hands were so small and light. Maybe he would miss things like this too.

"What?"

"Hm?" he blinked, having been happy to lose himself in her touch. But he opened his eyes again and found her staring at him, even in their close proximity.

"There's something on your mind," she clarified, moving one of her hands from his back, trailing it around his shoulder and arm to his chest. "Just ask."

He chuckled; she was quite good at reading him. Not that he professed to be a closed book in any way. "Well, I was thinking about Kari and Sersi and Mom, how I'll miss them--and I guess Kingo too."

Thena laughed quietly (cutely). She continued her little morning massage, getting all the right spots and relieving even imaginary soreness. "He would be so offended if he heard that."

"Well, I'll put it in one of my speeches, so he will," Gil resolved, and Thena laughed even more, although she tried to hide it. Kingo was still like his brother, and thus, not his favourite sibling with whom he had grown up.

And he was still a little too friendly with his fiance, but whatever.

"But," he hesitated, and that was all Thena needed to see to encourage him. "I was wondering...about your family, I guess."

"What would you like to know?"

His eyebrows shot up. He hadn't expected her to be so...willing. He adjusted himself in the bed so he could tilt his head differently. "Uh, you sure?"

He had definitely heard her tell someone at work asking about her family to go to hell (in corporate speak, which entailed asking them to keep their correspondence with her professional).

Thena settled her face in the bend of his shoulder again, letting him play with the ends of her hair. "I wouldn't say we were particularly close, even when they were alive."

"Uh-" he opened his mouth immediately, to either offer his apologies or tell her she didn't have to tell him this, or both. But she reached up just to tap his lips and keep him from interrupting further.

"I was brought up in quite a strict household," she sighed, although it didn't seem like that sad a story to her. Or maybe it sounded like she was detached from it, telling it about someone else. "My mother was a retired ballerina, very beautiful. She tried to teach me to dance but I had no natural talent--which she told me at every opportunity."

This story was getting worse and worse.

"My father was a businessman of some sort. It was never my place to ask, even as I got older. All I knew was that he supported our lifestyle. The expectations for me were high, they needed me to be a good representation of their own rigid upbringing."

"I was still quite young when they died," she continued, starting to sound more connected to the words she was saying. "They went on a trip together and simply never returned. All I was told that the ship they were taking back to mainland had experienced a problem and supposedly no one made it back."

Gil stayed silent, as she wished, but he held her tighter.

"All I had known was boarding school and tepid approval from them. If anything, I wasn't sad enough when they died--my distant relatives told me to be ashamed when I was at the funeral," she laughed again, although he could hear the dry, sardonic edge in it. "I even went to the bathroom to try and wet my eyes and appear more tearful."

He kissed her forehead, at a loss for what else to do.

"My elderly caretaker at the time was the only one really with me," she did smile again, at least. "She sat with me through it all, helped me talk to all the lawyers."

So, that was why she knew so much about contracts and settlements, even when they were both just starting in the office.

"She used to let me help her make pastries and set the table for just the two of us," Thena recounted more fondly this time, and her body also relaxed again, slowly. "She was the one who really raised me."

Gil sighed through his nose, pressing his cheek to her hair, "I'm sorry I didn't know."

"I never told you," she said much more lightly, but happily accepted the closer snuggling. "It doesn't bother me--not anymore, that is to say. But I suppose that's why being here is quite refreshing."

He blinked at her, not really making the connection between the two.

But Thena took the liberty of rolling him onto his back again, solely so she could lie half on top of him, like a lizard on a rock. She tapped his nose, then dragged it down over his lips and chin (he needed a shave). "Your family is so warm and kind. I admit it overwhelmed me at first, the sheer density of their presence."

Kingo alone would do that to anyone, Gil defended in his mind. He wrapped his arms around her, letting her rest her chin on his chest, cramping his neck to he could watch her draw little circles in his shirt.

"They're wonderful, Gil," she concluded, drawing her eyes up to him more tenderly. It was almost shy, in how gentle the admission was. "It's the kind of warmth I remember longing for as a child. So, next time you worry that your mother is being overbearing, I assure you, I have invited it."

He chuckled; of course Thena would meet the double barrelled energy canon that was his mother and say that she invited her exuberance. Ajak was bright and bouncy and extroverted, while Thena was quiet and subdued and borderline unsociable. It made it all the more charming how much they seemed to like each other. "Could be worse in-laws, I guess."

The marriage itself was becoming less taboo as a subject.

"Much worse," Thena smiled with her teeth. It really was a stunning smile. She gripped a piece of shirt between her fingers. "What is this?"

He chuckled again, unwrapping his arms from her slim little waist and running his hands over her bare arms. "My shirt?"

"I mean," she frowned at it, "why are you wearing it?"

"Well," he got out pathetically, turning pink as soon as she pursed her lips at him in suspicion. He looked up and away from her, "'cause...y'know."

"I don't, it's why I asked," she sat up now, legs curled up beside her while she was almost perpendicular with his upper body. She grabbed a larger fistful of the shirt--the offending white cotton. "I know you get too hot easily, I don't believe you wear this to sleep in the summer."

Gil huffed; she was a good detective. "I usually sleep shirtless, but I didn't want you to feel weird about it."

"Oh," she purred, finding amusement in it. She tugged at it, "to protect my maidenly virtues?"

"Okay, come on," he sighed, embarrassed enough and trying to get her to release the fabric of it. "Is being a gentleman to my fiance so bad?"

She released the material, flattening her palm against his chest again. "It's not anything I haven't seen, by now."

Between the beach and all the times he had generally taken off his shirt to do heavy lifting or gardening for his mother while here, she had gotten enough of a look at him.

"But this is," he did his best to look her right in the eye (despite her holding back her laughter at him). "It's different."

She raised her eyebrows at him.

He sighed, finally relinquishing the last of his drowsiness and sitting up against the pillows. He still had a hold of her arms, fixing that errant night dress strap again. "Does it always do that?"

"Don't avoid the question."

"You didn't ask a question."

Thena tugged at the bottom of the t-shirt, only to pull it up just slightly, as if she were threatening to pull it off of him herself. "Why is it different?"

He sighed; the Goddess of War didn't get her name for being flexible and knowing when to quit. He moved his hands from her bare shoulders to her waist again, somewhat pulling her with him as he leaned back against the headboard. "Because, sleeping with you was already new. I figured what's the harm in a little modesty?"

She shrugged one of those shoulders, delicate and dainty and pale. And that stupid strap fell again. He secured his thumb right in the bend of her clavicle to fix it yet again.

"Does this even fit?" he grumbled, toying with the flimsy little strap of satin. He eyed her, "do you always wear this to sleep?"

Something about the question ruffled her, and he watched as a blush brightened her morning complexion. She looked around the bed, as if her answer had been lost in the sheets somewhere. "That's-"

"Guys?"

"Mom!" Gil barked at the door, his hands on Thena, her threatening to tip his shirt off him.

"What?--you said to knock, and I did!"

She had a point.

"I just wanted to say we're going to go out for brunch, honey--give you a break from all the cooking."

If it was going to be brunch - breakfast/lunch - why was she still coming to tell them at the crack of dawn?

"You kids continue...take your...just come downstairs when you're ready--okay, I'm going!"

Gil thunked his head against the headboard, looking up at the ceiling. Only his mother. He looked at Thena, whose blush had somehow doubled. That was interesting. He tilted his head, trying to see more of her face, but she twisted herself to avoid looking at him. "You okay?"

"Hm," she answered in a total cop out. She released his t-shirt, attempting to pull herself away from him without further incriminating herself.

"Ah-" he held her steady, leaning forward again. She looked really cute all flustered. He kissed her cheek, and he wasn't sure if he felt her shiver or if she twitched. "If you hate it so much, then fine, I won't wear it anymore."

He was only somewhat serious about it, although if it really bothered her, he didn't want to offend his bride-to-be. And he was more joking than anything. Although, when he finally moved to get up and get ready for the day, Thena tugged at the collar of it one more time.

She was still avoiding looking right at him, but god she was beautiful. "I didn't say I hated it. But...I wouldn't say you need it, either."

He could have said the same about the silky little dress-thing she was wearing, the straps of which obviously weren't working for her. But she did release him, and he did have to get up and maybe have a shower (maybe on the cooler side).

She looked at him as, on his way, he hooked his finger in that stupid strap again. He twisted it in his finger before letting it fall back to where it seemed to think it belonged. "Same to you."