#Thenamesh Eternal/Human AU

[softquietsteadylove]

Hiii!!

Can I request another part for the human Thena/eternal Gil Au but this time Thena sees Gil’s in action? You described his powers briefly yet so beautifully in the last part!

Thank you so much and please keep going I love to read your work!

The walk was quiet.

They had gathered at Sersi's flat to discuss what would have to happen from this point forward. Sersi and Gil - the Eternals - had whispered between themselves in the kitchen. Occasionally, they would glance out at their humans--herself and Mister Whitman.

Dane was still there, talking with Sersi. He lived close, and would also return when the rest of their plan was in motion. For now, all they could do was wait for the rest of the Eternals to arrive, and aside from one, that would take very real time to make happen.

Apparently, the only one who could fly was Ikaris.

Thena looked beside her. Gil had insisted that if she wasn't going to stay safely inside at Sersi's for an indeterminate amount of time, then he had to walk her home personally. And probably escort her back, now that she thought of it.

Gil's hand was warm around hers.

The first time he'd held her hand was after he had helped her out of a taxi she had taken to get to their second dinner date after work. In all her eagerness not to be late she had opted not to walk instead of just letting Gil know she would have to be ten minutes late at most. Because those ten minutes had seemed irrevocably important, at the time.

He had stood outside the restaurant, waiting for her like a gentleman. He paid her fare before she could protest and by the time she had the door open he was grasping her hand and helping her out. She had worn somewhat less comfortable shoes to work to have ones for their date. Gil had kissed her hand and complimented her.

He'd held her hand the rest of the way to their table, too. They talked all through dinner, then through the multiple desserts Gil had ordered so as to try as many as possible. They talked through coffee and then it eventually became clear that the restaurant was attempting to close, and they were the last patrons taking up their space. He'd held her hand when they walked home, too.

Gil felt her staring at him and turned his head. "You okay?"

It was a loaded question. She had survived her first real Deviant attack. It was possibly the first of many, if she intended on sticking around. Even if she didn't, that thing had known her name. It was doubtful she could be rid of the experience even if she did decide to abandon ship and try to forget she ever knew Gilgamesh.

And how could she do that? It would be simply impossible for her to forget the whirlwind love she had met not even a few months ago.

"Thena?"

She managed a smile for him, although it didn't seem to comfort him any. It was an unconvincing as she thought it was. She gave his hand a squeeze though, "I should be asking you that."

He scoffed, waving his other hand in front of him dismissively. "We've been fighting these things for ages."

She looked towards the river on the other side of the street. She might never look at it the same way again, she realised. "Not that one, though."

She heard Gil sigh through his nose before looking at him again. "No, I guess not."

Thena slowed their pace until they were stopped. It was late enough, plus all the chaos downtown left them the street to themselves. She faced Gil head on, taking both his hands in hers. "I realise you can't get nearly as hurt as I can. But I don't think anyone would be unaffected by facing a monster like that."

Gil's face turned somber. Melancholy didn't suit his cheerful features, but he stroked her hand with his thumb again. "I really am sorry, Thena."

"It's not your fault."

"But-" he argued and nearly tripped over his words to do so. "That-that...thing!--it knew you because of me. If I had known-"

"Gil-"

"I never would have let it live." His tone grew dark, and she really believed the anger behind it. She hadn't seen him mad much either, but his words were fierce as he grasped her hands. "I would have hunted it down and made sure it was dead."

"Gil," she attempted to soothe him. The concern was for her, but all she could think was that it didn't suit him to seem so unhappy. She liked seeing him smile and hearing him laugh more. She raised her hand to his cheek, "you may not get that luxury, you realise."

He put his hand over hers, turning his head so he could kiss her palm. "I've got nothing but time, Thena."

Her stomach twisted as the massive - truly infinite - gap between them was brought to the forefront of her mind again. It felt almost trivial; she had no business fretting over the status of her relationship while that beast still walked the earth. But she leaned closer. "Well, I don't."

Gil looked startled by what she said, but he leaned down to accept her kiss. She had seen his strength earlier tonight, but he was so incredibly gentle with her.

She tilted her head at him, his fingertips in her hair from holding her cheeks. "I want more time with you, Gil. So, we'll figure out a way to make that happen."

His eyes flickered for a moment, and she could almost swear she could see those little glowing specs of gold within his eyes. He leaned in and kissed her again. "I want eternity with you, Thena."

It was the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to her, and on probably the worst night of her life, too. But she grasped the edges of his brown leather jacket as they parted. If golden energy lived in his eyes then surely a painfully obvious love lived in hers. "Gil-"

"Thena!"

Gil pulled her behind him instantly. The spray from the river didn't quite reach them, but that thing landed heavily. Gil raised his fist. That funny compression of air happened, her ears felt the change and a sound like the air caving in on itself fell over them.

Gil didn't wait for that creature to come over to them. He didn't leave it room to escape, either. He held the vines emerging from its neck and landed his hit. It was like canon fire--if not by sound, then by impact.

Thena looked away, wind rushing purely from the force being exerted and traded through kinetic energy. Those gold flecks that looked like sparks floated by her again. She forced herself to look as Gil landed another two hits. "Gil!"

"You're not getting away this time!" he roared at his enemy, holding it with one hand. He didn't need both to do the damage he could. Sometimes his fist would raise and hold for just a second before coming down again, heavier than before.

Thena watched, seeing lines of gold tracing through the air as Gil moved. It was like a constellation moving, it was mesmerising, in a terrifying way. His fist would fly, sometimes double and triple layered with that energy. Then it would come down and that vacuum of sound would pop again.

The creature wrestled itself free from him, holding its disgusting claw hand over its own injuries.

Gil held his ground, not pursuing too far away from her but not retreating either. "I see what you are."

"Ay...jack...A-Jax...Ajak..." it was haunting to hear the thing speak. It sounded out words like it was learning them in real time. The maw of teeth it had shuffled around as it adapted to speech instead of primitive growls. "Ajak...pow...er...Ajak's...power!"

"Move!"

Gil could move quickly if he propelled himself with his own powers. He destroyed the cobblestones under his feet again as he launched himself at her. He scooped her up, narrowly avoiding the thing launching itself at them.

Thena shuddered, although it was Gil's body that made impact with the side of the building. She heard a crack, and she hoped it was the concrete and plaster instead of anything in Gil's body.

Gil held up his arm, keeping the thing at bay like a dog that was latching onto his forearm. He held it out as far as he could, but the thing's teeth were right there, its breath rustling her hair while she was tucked between Gil's defending arm and the safety of burying herself in his chest.

There wasn't much that he could do in this position. He was doing his best to protect her, but he couldn't make any advancement either.

Thena forced herself to look. That nightmare was right there, gnashing its teeth around the illusion of Gil's arm. His powers were absorbing the blow, but she had to wonder if there was a limit to his stamina.

"Thena?" Gil blinked as her hands moved.

She didn't know what she was doing. Maybe she was just making things harder for him. But she pushed Gil's arm with everything she had in her. Gil was the strong one, but maybe even he could use what little support her human arms could offer.

It was fascinating. It really felt like Gil's arm, but she could see the outline of his powers layered around him. It was humbling to witness something so powerful - so ageless - so close.

Gil wrapped his other arm around her waist. He leaned his shoulders forward and dug his feet in. "Hold onto me, sweetheart."

She squeezed her eyes shut as Gil spun them all. He had the strength, and it didn't take much to build momentum. They all moved as one, and on the second turn he threw the thing away.

Its massive, wiry body demolished the car it hit, sounding the alarm.

"Shit," he cursed, although his hold on her remained. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, although already upstairs lights in flats were being turned on. People would be out here and on their phones any second. "Gil, we should go."

"But that thing is-"

"You can kill it later," she hissed at him, already trying to usher him away from the street and down a darker alley. "You'll get another chance. But not if people see you and plaster your face everywhere!"

"I'm not letting that thing live," he growled through his teeth. But ultimately, he let her lead him away and into the shadows. "I can't let it find you again."

"Gil-"

Maybe all Eternals' powers had a sound to them. A high pitched rumbling sounded as a beam of light fired directly into the thing. Whichever Eternal that was, they certainly had no problems being found out by the modern age.

"Gil," Thena attempted to urge him away again, tugging at his jacket. But she also looked as the laser cut straight through the thing's neck. She moved closer to Gil as a figure floated down directly in view of their alley. It turned towards them.

"I'm surprised Gil," the man chuckled, "thought that thing would be easy pickin's for you."

"I was distracted," Gil scowled in his direction, keeping his hold on her all the while. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help."

"I doubt that."

Thena looked between the two of them. She could only guess, but by context clues alone, she already knew the man was an Eternal, could fly, had laser eyes like some sort of comic book hero, and the accent was more anecdotal than anything. But still, she felt reasonably confident when she asked, "Ikaris?"

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi love!! How are you?

May i ask for another part of the human Thena/eternal Gil Au pretty please?, it's a very interesting concept. Thank you 🤍🩷

Thena froze. She completely froze. What the hell was that thing? It rose up out of the water like it was a demon, its skin and flesh crawling around on its wiry body. She squeaked, "G-Gil?"

The creature floated over to her, examining her curiously. It had a maw of teeth like she had never seen before. "Th...ee...na."

Why did it know her name? What kind of nightmare was this? She tried to run but her knees trembled as she scraped her boot back on the cobblestones. "G-Gil-"

The beast lurched closer, something like vines growing from its neck. "Gil...ga...mesh."

A new chill flooded through her. This thing--it couldn't possibly be the one Gil fought on the news, could it? Sure, they weren't going to parade around the corpse of a monster like that, but surely it would have been reported of something like this was still alive.

"Find," its breath puffed from its jaws like smoke, "Gilgamesh."

"Gil!" Thena got out before turning her face away from the beast. She didn't know why that was the only thing coming to mind, but she was prepared for his name to be her last breath.

"Don't move!"

Well, it wasn't Gil. But rather, Sersi leapt over the railing of the bridge above. She held out her hand--her completely empty, open palm. The thing took a swipe at her but she used her other hand to swipe back. As her finger left the stone cobbles below their feet, shards of glass left her fingertips.

The thing retreated, hissing at the glass in its eyes.

"Run!"

Now her legs worked. Thena followed Sersi down the canal, looking over her shoulder only once. "What is that thing?!"

"It's a long story!"

Maybe all Eternals were bad at communication. Thena followed up the ramp and back to the surface street, although she could barely hear over her heart in her ears. "Where's Gil?"

"He'll be here," Sersi breathed heavily, hands still held out. "He's on his way."

"Sersi," Thena pressed, moving closer to the woman who had her back to her (in an attempt to protect her). "Why did that thing know my name?"

"What?" the other woman fully turned around.

"It spoke, it knew my name, and Gil's," she scowled, more and more tired of being left in the dark.

"Thena," Sersi shook her head, "Deviants can't speak."

"This one can," she corrected, although it didn't last. Sersi took her hand, yanking her away again in a fell blown run. "What is it?"

"I don't know!" It was at least an honest answer. "Dane!"

Dane, undeniably human, was trying to direct the general populace away from the danger. He turned back to them, "Sersi, it's-!"

Thena stumbled as Sersi was picked up by that thing. Its body was already huge to begin with, but it was elevated up on its tentacle-like appendages. She picked herself up as Dane charged at it. "Wait!"

The beast opened its mouth. Just like its eyes, whatever comprised its insides had a sickly, ominous glow to it. It held Sersi by the neck, as if inhaling her air could rob her of her life.

"Let her go!"

Thena's ears popped as charging sound hit the air, followed by sheer impact. The thing went flying back into the water below. Gold particles floated in the air like dust. A second, lighter impact sounded, feet meeting concrete heavily. "Gil?"

"You okay?" he asked Sersi as they landed. She nodded, leaning on his shoulder as she rubbed her neck under her scarf.

"I'll be fine," Sersi assured him. If the powers weren't enough evidence, no human would be able to breathe, let alone speak after the way that thing had handled her. She gasped as Dane plowed into her, hugging her tight despite her brother's presence. She didn't mind it either, happily embracing him in return, "I'm okay, Dane."

Thena watched from a few paces away. Part of her imagined running to Gil the same way, but they hadn't actually spoken since their tense discussion at the museum two weeks ago. She had told him she needed time, and he had respected that, only checking on her well being after the attack, as he had asked to do.

Part of her was glad he had respected her boundary. The other part had been waiting for him to call or text all week.

Gil moved away from his sister and her boyfriend, happy not to watch their affections. He jogged over to her, his hands floating around but never actually landing. "Are you okay?"

She just nodded, her throat completely stiff and dry. That thing never emerged from the water, but she hardly thought that meant it was dead down there. "Gil, what-"

"I don't know," he answered immediately, also looking for the thing or any trace of it. But, not immediately seeing any signs, he focused on her again. And he did manage to bridge the gap and pull her into his arms. His hand rested on her hair, "I don't know, sweetheart."

She could just demand answer--real, proper answers. This was not only not the first time something like this had come up from his past life, but now it was involving her more directly. That thing had spoken her name like a walking nightmare.

Gil tightened his hold on her as she buried her face in his chest. "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner."

She could remember how she had screamed his name as if it were synonymous with 'help'. All she had thought in that moment was that surely he would come to save her. As if she were some cliched damsel in a work of fiction. It was laughable.

But Gil buried his nose in her hair, pressed his lips to her temple. "Are you hurt?"

She pulled away from him, shaking her head. "It said my name."

Gil wasn't nearly as shocked or appalled as Sersi had been. His face was grim. "It's the same one I fought before. It's different from the other ones we've faced in the past. It learns differently. They've never been able to speak before."

That had all kinds of horrific implications for the biology and evolution of such a creature. "It's the same one?"

He sighed heavily, guiding her away from the damage of everything as crowds started reemerging. He wrapped his arm around her. "It got away from me that time. But it stuck one of those vines in me--I think it got in my head."

That would explain its learning pattern with speech, and unfortunately, why it had known her name. It even seemed to have hunted her down out of recognition. She shivered.

"It's okay," Gil whispered to her, even pulling off his jacket and putting it around her shoulders, despite her having her own. "Nothing is going to happen to you, Thena."

As strong and inhuman as he was, it still sounded somewhat empty as a promise. She let him pull her off the main streets and aside, in front of an old, dimly lit laundromat.

She took him in, watching as he checked that no one was lingering or looking, able to catch them saying something incriminating. "Gil."

He knew what she was asking. He gave her his full attention, taking her hands in his. "Anything you wanna know--go for it."

There was a myriad of things. She looked down at their joined hands. "Why didn't you tell me it wasn't dead?"

"I wasn't sure either," he professed, and she believed it was honesty. "Even if I had my suspicions, I thought it was just scare you if you knew."

She frowned, "I may be human, but I'm not going to cower at the idea of some story."

Maybe that was putting on a brave face of sorts, though. Looking that thing in the eye had been the single worst experience of her life.

"I know," Gil conceded, though. He ran his thumb against the outer edge of hers. "I should give you more credit than that. But I honestly didn't know how to tell you--or anyone. Not even Sersi knew."

That was clear, at least. Sersi had looked completely aghast at the idea that the thing had spoken.

"I don't know if the rest of us know either," he leapt into the next leg of his honesty. "We don't exactly talk much."

She supposed she could understand that. Humans didn't necessarily excel at keeping in touch with their families either. "Perhaps you should try to talk, at least now that you've seen it again?"

He sighed heavily, but nodded.

She huffed more impatiently; she wasn't his mother, or some nagging girlfriend. She wouldn't be the sidelined love interest urging him to go do what he needed to while she waited indefinitely for him. "Gil, whatever that thing is-"

"It's a Deviant, the things we killed--we thought! The last one I fought was in the 17th century," he grumbled, although as soon as he gave her hands a squeeze he relaxed himself again. Did it take practice for him to learn not to squeeze too hard with humans, she wondered. "But that thing...I think maybe it has something to do with Ikaris."

She frowned, "Sersi's ex-husband?"

He glanced around, as if Sersi would catch him talking about it and give him hell for it (they really were siblings). "We haven't heard anything from him or Ajak, not even after the blip."

So, they were aware of the blip! And by the sounds of it, none of them had blipped. Now, she shad even more questions (she had blipped, mercifully, it sounded like).

She gulped. "What does that mean for you?"

He shook his head. He didn't know either. But he was still holding her hands. "I-I don't know. But, Thena-"

She leaned in, tilting her head up to kiss him. It wasn't their first kiss, by any means, but it felt just as significant.

When she leaned back, Gil had the most grave look she had ever seen on his face. "Tell me that wasn't a goodbye kiss."

She wasn't entirely sure, in the moment. But it was not, at the very least, a petty breakup kiss. She gave his hands a squeeze of her own before stepping back. "It's a 'I-trust-you'll-tell-me-more-when-you-know-more' kiss."

That made him brighten considerably, and she was frustratingly happy to see his smile return.

"Gil?" Sersi's voice floated over to them from around the corner. "I guess we need to talk."

He made a face, as if his sister needing him was more trivial than the impending doom they had just faced. He looked away from the corner and back at her with those big brown eyes of his. But she gave him a look. He rolled his eyes, "fine."

Sersi was waiting with Dane, also hand in hand with her human. "You know what we have to do."

"Unfortunately," he grumbled. Thena nudged him; her hand was also still clasped in his. "Let's get home first, try to catch our breath, okay?"

"Not a bad idea, I think," Dane spoke up surprisingly firmly. Gil had described him as someone rather nervous, but perhaps he had an underlying confidence to him when needed.

Thena smiled at the way he kept Sersi close to him. It didn't bother him in the least that his partner was immeasurably strong and fast in comparison, perhaps not even that she was immortal. Watching them walk ahead, they were just a couple whose date had been ruined.

Her last date with Gil had been dinner after work, talking about her day, asking him about the food and what he thought. He had mentioned her meeting his sister, and his sister's new boyfriend he wasn't totally sure about. It was unfortunate that these were the circumstances under which they were actually doing so.

"Hey," he whispered, leaning close to her as they walked a few paces behind. He averted his eyes as Sersi laid her head on Dane's shoulder. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she let out a breath. It looked inviting, although she wasn't sure if she and Gil were in that same place in their relationship. She wasn't sure what their relationship was anymore, entirely of her own doing.

Gil was the one to decide. He pulled his hand from hers, only so he could wrap his arm around her waist. She stumbled into him but he used the opportunity to press his lips to her forehead. "Whatever is about to come our way, I'm glad you're here with me, Thena."

She closed her eyes, relishing the small window of affection. She wasn't sure what was coming their way either. But she was here for it--she was probably a little too willing to face whatever was to come, all things considered. For someone who had told him she needed time, she had come very close to professing her love on what she had thought was her deathbed mere moments ago.

But she should probably decide if she was his girlfriend or not first. "I'm with you, Gil."

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! Can you please do the eternal/human au but with thena being human and gil as the eternal this time, please? Your stories are so good!

Thena somewhat glanced to her right as someone else also sat down at the museum bench. She was looking up at one of her favourite relics--an old tablet potentially depicting one of the earliest examples of The Epic of Gilgamesh. She sighed. "Is this really about you?"

He sighed, his hands in the pockets of his black bomber jacket. "It's not the real story. Just something Sprite made up to make me sound like a jerk."

Thena looked up at the tablet again. "The Tyrant King in one of humanity's earliest tales, but you go by Gil?"

He shrugged his massive shoulders. "It's easier than Gilgamesh."

Thena looked at him more properly. She was very familiar with the face of the apparently immortal man next to her. Of course, she had thought he was a very mortal, very human person, just like herself. She had thought he was sweet, if a little shy, and that he just had a special interest in the history of the ancient world.

A very human man who had asked her out, and she had said yes.

"Were you okay?" Gilgamesh asked her more quietly, even given the echously silent exhibit. "Did anything happen close to here?"

"No," she admitted just as secretively. She looked at her hands on her lap over her pencil skirt. "We felt some tremors, but I suppose you took care of things at the epicentre."

Gilgamesh squirmed in his seat.

She had been watching the news, knowing that he was closer to the centre of the city at the farmer's market. The footage was shaky, and the world was acclimating to strange and wild events more and more rapidly. But still, seeing some deviant beast running around London was certainly a shock.

Even more so when the news footage seemed to capture the blurry image of an incredibly strong looking man, literally punching said monster straight through the skull. His face was still a mystery, but he didn't have the average build, certainly. And Thena had known right away that it was Gil.

"Are you a wizard?"

"Pfft, no," he scoffed, waving his hand in the air to dismiss it. "We've seen those guys pop up all over the place, but I wouldn't call what we do 'magic' in any way."

"Then what do you call it?"

Her sharp question landed as intended, and he sighed again. He turned somewhat on the opposite side of the bench from her. She eyed him. "Cosmic Energy."

"So you're an alien?"

"Uh, I guess I don't have a better word for it," he made a face, finally pulling his hands out of his pockets to fidget. He scratched at the hair on his chin. "Eternals is what we're called, uh, officially--I guess. We've been on earth for..."

They both looked up at the tablet again, describing the strength and might of 'Gilgamesh' the tyrant.

He rolled his eyes, "I guess you know, give or take a thousand years."

Thena did look at him more now, as opposed to glaring at him from the corner of her eye. He looked truly contrite, and she knew that he wasn't particularly comfortable with little white lies. Apparently larger ones were more necessary though. "So when you said you could 'really picture yourself' in the battle of Troy, or the siege of Alexandria-"

"I mean we couldn't be everywhere at once," he excused for himself, his smile convincing neither of them. He gave it up rather quickly, sagging again. "But, uh, yeah."

They fell into silence, Gil in particular struggling for what to say next. Thena looked around the museum. She had always been so entrenched in history from all over the globe. The museum felt more like home than her cold and neglected one bedroom flat ever did. And when she had first thought Gil was quite like a walking historic encyclopedia - like a walking piece of history - perhaps she hadn't been so far off.

"So," she started in what she hoped wasn't too bitter a tone of voice, "why talk to me?"

Maybe it didn't work, because Gilgamesh certainly looked like she had screamed and slapped him across the face.

"Or do you make a habit of chatting up humans?" she added, and that part was more acerbic. This wasn't even about their relationship, or the lie of who he was at his core, or even his species.

"Thena," he pleaded, sounding like she had stabbed him through the heart. Would that even kill him?

But she did feel bad. Against her better judgement, she regretted that she had hurt his feelings. She huffed, mostly at herself, "I would think befriending humans would be dangerous for you."

"It can be."

She looked at the honest confession in time to see the sad slouch in his posture.

"We outlive basically everything, and we have to move pretty often, especially with wifi and phones and stuff, now. We don't usually get to really meet or get to know people anymore."

Gil had said Eternals, plural, and she had heard him discuss a few names like 'Sprite' or 'Kingo' before, implying he had some kind of kin or at least some of his own as friends. She didn't know these other Eternals, but knowing what of Gilgamesh she did, she had to imagine that it was hard for him.

Gil was sweet, and charismatic and gentle. And he seemed to genuinely love getting to hold the door open for people, or helping someone elderly with their bags or petting stray cats. He seemed to thrive most when he was surrounded by life, no matter how fragile or temporary it was--how mortal it was.

"I ended up here to keep my sister some company after," Gil slipped his hands back into his pockets, a sign of uncomfortability in both mortals and immortals, evidently. "She and her husband had a split, I guess you could say. I didn't want her to be alone, so I moved here a few years ago. It was just going to be for a decade or so, then maybe we'd go our separate ways again or maybe we'd move on somewhere else together."

Just a decade or so, he said.

"But then," he looked at her with a soft smile, and unfortunately it still made her heart skip. "I met you."

She forced herself to frown at that.

"I didn't mean to," he confessed, and she wasn't sure if that made it better or worse. "Sersi told me all about the museum here, and to see all the stuff people have gotten right or wrong over the years. She met some human, which I told her not to. I guess I can't really say anything about it now, though."

He truly did sound like a brother disapproving of his sister's boyfriend. And he truly didn't have any leg to stand on now, either. "Was it because of Sersi-"

"No, no," he shook his head and looked at her all soft eyed again. "It's not because of anything. It was...it was because of your eyes."

"My eyes?" she felt the need to repeat aloud. It sounded like a cheesy pickup line, or something from a tawdry romance novel. But she supposed that if Gilgamesh had heightened senses, perhaps he would be able to discern her eye colour from an unreasonable distance.

"I used to look out over the water all the time," he recounted, even turning to look at a painting on another wall. "My favourites were always really calm and green and sparkly."

Damn this man and his charming words.

He tilted his head back in her direction. "I was just gonna ask you some dumb question to chat a little and then leave. But then you got so passionate when I asked you the wrong thing on purpose."

She pursed her lips faintly. He had - deliberately? - asked her about the 'Minerva' statue they had, and where in Greece it had been made. It had immediately irked her that he had gotten the Roman name for her right, then the location also right, but in direct conflict with the other half of his question. Surely if he knew the name Minerva, he knew that was not what they called her in Greece--Athens, of all places!

Then he had asked her name, and she had to explain that Thena was not some nickname but her actual, legal name. The thought had charmed him and...and they kept talking from there.

He had picked just the right topic to get her to unload her entire master's degree of knowledge upon him, and he had eagerly listened to all of it. Most would flee partway through, but he had happily followed her around basically the whole floor as she recounted the many details and secrets and misinformation about her expertise.

And he had come back the next day for more.

"I loved hearing you talk about it," he whispered, moving a little closer now that he felt he could. "You were so passionate about it. I could really remember some of those times, and what I couldn't remember, I felt like I could imagine with how you described it."

"Thena, I just loved talking with you. I loved asking you silly questions, I loved you correcting me about stuff. I especially loved when we got interrupted that one time for your real job, and you offered me your card in case I had more questions."

He had pretended to have more questions. And they did actually end up texting that way. And then making plans that weren't just him showing up at her workplace. And then those plans became dates. They'd had five dinner dates and two lunches, and two coffees, although one of those had still been under the guise of their shared love of history.

"I wanted to get to know you more."

Even if he knew he would inevitably have to leave her life in a matter of months, if not years. It was a petty and bitter reaction, but maybe that was the truest way she felt about it; that he would have had to abandon her sooner than later. He thought those consequences were worth the risk, and she wasn't sure how to feel about it.

Because she didn't want to lose him, thinking about it now. And the fact that she now knew that she would have to no matter the future was a slap in the face of her own.

"No matter how soon you would have had to leave London for a small lifetime?" she accused, using the adrenaline in her system to drown out the pain she was feeling.

But Gil didn't turn away from her scathing demand. He looked at her with those eyes that she had always seen as holding more than he ever said within. He clasped his hands in front of him, resting on his knees. "After meeting you, I didn't know if I could."

Thena looked down at her lap again as well. It had been a few months since she'd met Gil. And if what he said was true, he hadn't intended on staying in London long, let alone permanently. She wasn't sure how long he had been here before meeting her, either. But Sersi's relationship with Dane was no more than a year old, by now.

"Sersi asked me," he laughed dryly. "She asked if I knew what I was getting myself into, which was rich, coming from her."

He sounded exactly like a protective brother.

"I said I totally had it under control," he laughed at himself, which was something she - foolishly - found so charming about him. "No worries, y'know, so I made a friend, so what? It would be good for me. Next thing I know, I bought my first phone just so I could text you."

She stared. "You didn't have a phone before?"

He waved his hand dismissively again, and maybe she could see why a few of his mannerisms really seemed more like that of an old man than a gentleman in his late forties at most. "Sersi's been trying to convince me. She's so addicted to hers it's ridiculous. She even made an instagram! I told her she would just have to delete it in a few years but-!"

Thena held back a laugh as he cut himself off. "Should I feel honoured, or even more betrayed?"

It had been half joking and half serious, but Gil took on that sad, wounded expression again. "You have every right to feel that way. But Thena, I swear on all the time I have left: I chose to stay, so I could be close to you. I wanted to spend whatever time we could have together...with you."

It was a humbling admission. She didn't quite want to imagine the heavier implications of that. The idea of Gil never aging while she slowly became an old woman beside him. Or did he have some kind of magic, or Cosmic Energy rather, that would help with that? It sounded like Sersi had accepted the consequences of her dalliance with a human.

Gil had asked her if she would want to go to dinner with Sersi and Dane as a couple. Although now all she could think of was the two Eternals smiling on as their humans chatted away about trivial human things.

"Thena, please," Gil slid closer again, taking her hand in his. "I know I sound insane, and I don't blame you if you say you want nothing to do with me after this. But I never lied when I told you liked you, or that I wanted to spend the rest of my days listening to you talk about South American architecture, or Grecian olive harvesting, or the Guptan Empire."

Thena squeezed her eyes shut, feeling tears in them. Gil swooped forward pulling her closer to him, always eager to comfort. He pressed his lips to her temple.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I never meant for you to get hurt."

She believed that. Because Gil would never be capable of wishing harm on her. He probably wasn't capable of really wishing it on anyone, except maybe Sersi's ex-husband. She wouldn't have believed him capable of causing harm either, until the news today.

"If I could trade the rest of my forever for one more day with you, I would."

Maybe that was easy to say for someone who really did have a forever. She looked at him, wild in the eyes.

"Sorry," he whispered, looking away from her. He gave her cheek another kiss before releasing her slowly. "I'll give you time to think. If...if you don't want to talk anymore, I'll understand. But if I don't hear from you in a few days, can I at least come check if you're okay?"

She nodded, completely without the words to ask him to stay. He took it though, nodding back and then walking towards the far exit of the museum floor. She could hear his steps the whole way, although her heart felt like it was pounding at the inside of her skull.

She had a lot to think about. Aliens and monsters and immortal Eternals who had been on Earth for thousands of years. Did this have anything to do with how half of the earth's population vanished in the blink of an eye those years ago? Did they also blip? Could they?

She had so much to think about, so much to worry about. And the only person she wanted to talk to about it all just left.

[softquietsteadylove]

Here is an idea.

For the human AU a new deviant appears. But it’s not that kind of deviant we know. It has some special abilities and Gil is in danger. How about some horror for this one? 👀

"Gil!"

His head whipped around. He was helping clean up some of the ruins of the outer city, since that was all he was good for, now. The moon was high, providing a good amount of light.

The others were reluctant to let him outside Babylon temple--they were reluctant to let him do anything. He had to all but sneak out to even do this much, especially without worrying Thena.

"Gilgamesh!"

That was definitely her voice, though. Gil dropped the rocks he was moving and looked around again. He couldn't sense anything, but his senses were diminished at the moment. He tried to listen for the slightest sound, but he couldn't pick up anything.

He cursed his human condition, not for the first time.

"Gil, help me!"

That was definitely Thena screaming. It was her voice, at least. Gilgamesh started walking, looking around the corners of crumbled homes and around the deep shadows of the rubble. His cautious steps turned to a light jog.

"Gil, please!"

"Thena?" he called out, but he swore it was just the open air to hear him. What was happening? He jogged closer to the edges of the walls. The wall was still technically under construction, Phastos working as fast as he could. But Gil was the main source of their work efforts, and Babylon wall was huge.

"Gil?" it sounded like a whisper, now. But it was still her voice, thin and high, as if she had been crying. He had never really heard her like that before. But it was his Thena. It was her voice.

"Thena," he repeated, whispering for her as he crept around in the dark. "Thena, if you-"

"Gilgamesh," the voice changed. This sounded less like her. He knew it was off.

He froze. He didn't have Eternal strength or senses anymore, but humans had the best survival instinct. His was screaming. Something wasn't right. It wasn't before and it really wasn't now. He crouched lower, looking around but slowing his breathing as much as he could. His heart was pounding.

"Gilgamesh, help me," the voice cooed, but it was closer. He could better hear what was wrong with it--the wiry echo trailing after it. It sounded almost mechanical, like the grind of Phastos' gears.

Gil lowered to one knee, trying to peek around one of the corners of a building's remains. He hadn't heard it at all, but he saw the massive foot come down. It was wiry, thickly muscled, a terrible colour.

"Gil, help!" it repeated, in the same tone and intonation as last time. It could only conjure so much.

He held his breath, and when he did need to breathe, he pressed his palm over his mouth and nose. This was like the one that had rendered him all but human. They were evolving, and not just new appendages or wings or even that gas. This one was luring them into a trap.

"Gilgamesh, help me!" it repeated, louder this time. It prowled around the house. It was assuring that these things still had some weaknesses to account for.

He watched as the thing rounded the corner. Its head looked like it was a bare skull in comparison to the rest of its body. Perhaps it didn't have a sense of smell, and that was why it was depending on using the sounds it was producing to lure its prey.

Its horrible maw opened again, its paws hitting the ground. "Gil, please."

He didn't like that it could make it sound so convincing. It really sounded like Thena--it sounded like her voice crying for him. How would this walking nightmare know what that sounded like? And how did it know exactly whose voice to use to lure him out here?

"Gil," the beast repeated in his sweet Thena's voice. Its teeth clicked against themselves as its jaw swayed back and forth on its head. "Gilgamesh, please."

He could hear it now. The way it chopped up the words, not sounding totally fluid. But he had to get this close to hear that? If he weren't careful, he would already be fighting this thing.

And that wasn't an option for him now. He was in no condition to fight a Deviant, let alone an evolved one. And it had lured him out here, in the dark, alone.

Fear: humans felt fear. They had incredible instincts for self-preservation, protection, survival. But every cell in his body - whatever body it was - was feeling fear. And he had never felt fear quite like this.

He could die out here.

The Deviant drew closer to him. It repeated the sounds of Thena's distress, switching to screams of terror and agony. What a terrible monster these things could be. They really were here for a reason; humans couldn't fight these things.

He couldn't fight this thing. He couldn't fight at all, anymore. Pure instinct had brought him out here--a need to protect Thena. But she was the one protecting him. She was the Fighter of them now.

He had never had to consider life without Thena. She probably hadn't considered it either. Would he be leaving her alone if he died out here? What if she fought this thing? Would it use his voice to lure her out alone like it did with him?

She could fight it. She was stronger than this thing. He was still glad that it wasn't her that had been turned human. He hated being this vulnerable--this useless. But he hated the thought of it being Thena even more.

"Gilgamesh," that thing whispered. It was right on top of him.

He breathed into his palm. He couldn't control his heart, he couldn't control his lungs. His body was crumbling under the pressure. Thousands of years of fighting and it was lost on the human adrenal system. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Maybe he could manage to see Thena one last time before he died.

"Gil!"

That time sounded different. He kept his eyes shut, although he heard footsteps somewhere in the distance. Then, nothing, then, impact.

"Run!" Thena landed with force, cratering the ground between the Deviant and him. She already had her swords ready, slashing at the thing.

It roared at her, first with her own voice, then its usual, beastly cry.

Thena stood her ground, swinging her staff around, keeping her back to him and her arms raised. "Are you hurt?"

His stomach lurched. She had come running to his aid, just like any weak, defenseless human. "N-No."

The Deviant swiped at her but she raised her shield, swiping at it in return. These evolved ones were smart, guarded, it knew she was a threat, and it wasn't pursuing her needlessly. It was watching her.

He couldn't see her face, but he saw her body locking up.

The Deviant opened its mouth again. "Thena!"

"What in all the stars?" she asked rhetorically.

"That was how it got me down here," he admitted. The thing's jaw clicked and its teeth rattled around again.

"Thena, help!"

"Celestial demons," she cursed it as she shifted her spear into a different shape. She directed the point at it, tri-tipped and wide. It was a weapon not for slicing but for inflicting an irreparable wound. The great warriors of Greece copied this very weapon. "Try it."

The beast chose not to. It gave her another half-swipe, only for show before retreating. Its long, wiry body slithered away from them and through the crumbling cracks in the wall.

Gil let out a breath as its form disappeared into the shadows. He dragged himself up the wall behind him and to his feet, not liking the state of his knees. "We gotta get that fixed."

Thena didn't say anything.

He frowned, fidgeting with his sweaty palms. "You okay?"

"You shouldn't have been out here."

He was tempted to wince at the cold tone of her voice. She was right, he shouldn't have let that thing lure him away, especially knowing he was in no condition to fight.

"What were you thinking?" she asked him. It was worse than her yelling and shouting at him, her voice was barely above a whisper. She turned to him, her powers fading into the air like sparks. Her hair picked up in the wind. "What were you thinking, Gilgamesh?"

He was feeling properly chastised now. "I-I just..."

She waited for him to finish rather than prompt him.

He sighed. "It was your voice, Thena. You were calling for my help."

She didn't argue. She didn't chastise him further, she accepted his answer. She even moved closer, wrapping her arms around him. Her cheek was cold against his warmer one. "Don't ever scare me like this again."

"Sorry," he patted her shoulder before moving his hand to the cutout of her armour that allowed him the relief of her soft waist.

She huffed at him, but her hold on him didn't loosen. "I'll have more to say about this later."

"Yes, ma'am," he chuckled despite her anger. He let out another breath, relaxing his body more. His limbs felt heavy as Thena began leading him back to the temple.

She gave him a nudge, "I should tell Sersi about this--she'll be livid."

He laughed, giving her a nudge in return.

She stumbled.

They both stared. He blinked, looking at the hand he used to nudge her arm. "Uh, s-sorry."

Thena just stared, at the hand and then at him. She had been expecting a gentle nudge--a human one. He had given her a push that an Eternal would give.

He blinked, surprised by first her kiss and then by her laughter. He wrapped his arms around her, lifting her off her feet. It was easy, but it wasn't that easy--whatever it was had been a freak accident. But it was a promising sign.

[softquietsteadylove]

Vc poderia fazer uma história onde Thena e Gil tem um bebê? Obrigada.

(hello love! I asked a friend for help and she said that your ask is in Portuguese? I hope it's okay the reply is in English! @dalhia28 has a story about them actually having a baby on Ao3 which I always recommend to people looking for a biological child story)

"Gilgamesh, I have--oh."

Gil looked up at her with a sheepish little smile and whispered, "sorry."

The Warrior Eternal shook her head to dismiss his apology. She came into the gathering hall - one of many in Babylon Temple - and sat on one of the benches next to him. "Should I be concerned?"

He chuckled, bouncing the bundle in his arms lightly as it stirred. "Her mother is with Sersi and Ajak. She's the healer among the humans, and she pretty much jumped at the chance to learn a thing or two from them. They said they were taking her to look at some herbs that were maybe not the safest and next thing I know I'm-"

"With child," Thena murmured, eyeing the infantile human in Gil's arms.

"Babysitting," he clarified and corrected. He looked up at her, both of them still somewhat hovered over their tiny guest. "What were you saying?"

"Hm," Thena mused, tilting her head and examining the child. "Oh, just that my turn of watch is completed. I am free."

"Ah," Gil grinned and nudged her gently with his elbow, their armour meeting with a dull and metallic thud. "All mine now--is that it?"

Thena smiled, indulging him and his humour silently. She changed the angle of her head again, "it seems comfortable with you."

Gil shrugged, though, although he made sure that the slight movement that it was didn't disturb the baby. "Got me--maybe it thinks I'm like a big soft bed."

His arms were firm, but they did have a certain softness to them as well. Thena knew that very well, first hand. The baby was snuggled properly into the crook of his elbow, her head supported, her body enclosed in its soft cloth.

"Oh," Gil uttered completely softly. The baby stirred before blinking wide brown eyes at them. "Well hello."

Thena looked at the baby, who seemed caught off-guard at best (terrified at worst). She tensed to stand from her seat, "I am frightening it."

"You are not," he chuckled, catching the edge of the gauzy material attached to her armour and creating a 'skirt' of sorts between her legs. "Just look at her."

She was doing that. Thena was looking at the baby, who was looking at her in turn. Humans were already so soft and fragile; their young were infinitely more so.

"She's not gonna break from you looking at her," Gilgamesh advised her. He had possessed the very same fear she did when he had first encountered human children and their smallness.

But he had surmounted his fear. Children adored him--his playfulness, his humour, his eagerness to bend a rule or two. That and Sersi and Ajak had showed him personally how to handle human babies.

"I do not think her fondness for you extends to me," Thena muttered, although she had to admit that the baby's massive eyes had a certain transfixing quality to them.

"Mm," the baby pressed her little lips together, shimmying in her cocoon of blankets.

"Sh, little one."

Gil looked at her as Thena whispered and shushed the girl, even letting her capture her wiggling finger for comfort. Such small hands, they had. He smiled at her, "see?--you're a natural."

"I would not make any such claim," Thena discouraged, but didn't pull her finger away from the baby. If anything, she pursed her lips at her, encouraging the infant to do the same.

The baby giggled.

Thena smiled reflexively, as if the sound could physically stimulate her own muscles.

"Hard to resist, huh?" Gilgamesh asked gently as she entertained their new ally.

"Indeed," Thena lamented, although she couldn't claim to be too upset by it. The baby waved her arms - still grasping Thena's finger in her little hand - and earned another smile from the Warrior Eternal.

"It's a good look for you."

"Hm?" she looked at him, but he had that expression on that implied that he had been looking at nothing but her since she arrived.

"This," he nodded, still charmed by the exchange between her and the little human. "I daresay you could be fond of human kids."

Thena tilted her head at the young one, who almost mimicked it back to the best of her tiny abilities. "Perhaps...some."

"I think the feeling is mutual," he smiled, now even adjusting the baby to engage her more with their interaction.

"Do not speak for her, Gilgamesh."

He chuckled again, "yes, dear."

She looked at him, also making soft eyes at the young life in his hands. He was so soft at heart, despite having the toughest shell in this and probably any other galaxy. "And you."

He looked at her this time.

She eyed the young girl and then her partner next to her. She tried to articulate the thoughts she had with the words - usually not bountiful - she could muster. "This life--it suits you."

"What, this?" he blinked, bouncing the baby again. He made a face and shook his head, "it's not that--it's not for any of us."

Thena shook her head gently, letting the baby bring her hand closer to her chubby little cheeks. She was so, so soft--even softer than the typical human. "I think Ajak and Sersi would excel in the raising of young."

"Well, when you put it like that."

But she smiled. "Their caring, their nurturing, their gentle natures; I think if they could, they would desire it."

He raised his brow at her, "do you think I do?"

She paused. Perhaps she couldn't picture what Gilgamesh would be like fathering a young one. Something about those two concepts just didn't meet in her mind. But looking at him with the young one in his arms now did warm something within her heart. It was intangible and distant, but she desired to feel more of it. "I think you would make a wonderful father."

Gilgamesh blushed, as Gilgamesh was wont to do. He was sweet, like that.

Thena went back to admiring the guest of honour, whose eyes were drooping despite waking mere moments ago. "Sh, little thing. Rest and grow."

Gil gave her one of his more indecipherable looks, "maybe I could...with the right partner."

Thena looked up at him, their eyes meeting.

"Ada!"

Thena rose, her finger still entrapped by the baby's hand. "Excuse my intrusion."

The mother all but ignored Thena's attempt at formality, giving her a wide and warm smile. "Warrior, please, I would entrust you with this one here as much as I trust the Strong one."

Thena and Gil traded a look before Gil leaned to hand over the woman's child to her. Thena's finger left Ada's grasp, feeling colder for it. She drew her hand back slowly.

"I hope I have not burdened you too greatly, great Gilgamesh."

"No, no, really," he waved his hands in defense of her apology. "I don't mind at all. Thena doesn't either, right?"

The mother looked at her, and she caught a hint of Sersi and Ajak hovering just outside the room. Thena smiled down at the human woman, "she's beautiful."

The woman began to glow with pride, smiling at Thena with all of her teeth, "thank you, Warrior. I must agree."

[softquietsteadylove]

Masterlist

By popular demand, I have done my best to compile things here for you! I will keep it as updated as I can, and I will still use my same tagging system. Chronologically, you can start at the bottom and work your way up!

Thenamesh 18+ List

Part 2 List

Without further ado:

Thenamesh Tomb Raider AU

(Thena is a freelancer who retrieves historical artifacts outside of the usual archaeological duties, although sometimes this conflicts with fellow freelancer - but in no way ally - Gilgamesh) 

Second // First

Thenamesh Vow AU

(Thena suffers an episode which makes her forget the last five years of her life, including her marriage to and even meeting her very sweet husband Gilgamesh)

Elephant in the Room // For Better or Worse // Second First Date // Reminiscing // In Sickness and In Health

Thenamesh Addams Family AU

(Thena meets Gilgamesh, the son of a respected and affluent family, but at least he seems much more pleasant company than their equally dry parents)

Love Stories // Beautiful Weather // The Lee Family

Thenamesh Hamptons AU

(Gil is the private chef for Thena, a reclusive heiress of old money who lives in the Hamptons, and seems really sweet even if she’s only ever said a few words)

Monster’s Ball // Worth its Weight in Gold

Thenamesh Reverse AU

(In a reversal of roles, Gilgamesh is cold and frightening to most, but for the quiet but beloved Warrior Eternal, he’s nothing but soft and warm)

Sunshine // Reversed

Thenamesh Inmate AU

(Thena is an inmate in a women’s correctional facility, where Gil works as a guard and is quite sure there’s more to her than meets the eye)

Safe and Sound // Fair Trade

Thenamesh Cook and Critic AU

(Gil is in the cooking track at a culinary institute which also offers studies such as molecular gastronomy and review for critique, which is how he meets Thena, the critique student with a perfect palette and no personal skills)

The Main Course // Amuse Bouche

Thenamesh 10 Things (I Hate About You) AU

(Sersi is forbidden from dating unless her shrewish sister Thena accompanies her, which Dane accepts with the help of reputational bad-boy Gilgamesh)

Out of the Shadows // Young Love(18+) // To Have and to Hold(18+) // A House Divided // Wherefore Art Thou // Star Crossed // Much Ado // A Midsummer Night

Thenamesh Hunger Games AU

(Gil volunteers for his brother Phastos back home in District 4, and meets Thena, a frighteningly competent but oddly helpful girl from District 2 who volunteered for her younger brother Druig)

In The Wild // In Preparation

Olympia AU

(Sersi uses the unimind energy to bring Gilgamesh back to life, and this ends up with Thena becoming pregnant, but the two aren’t alone in raising their young Eternal)

New Star // Olympia

Thenamesh President AU

(Thena has come into office of the presidency following Ikari’s deposition, with the most key support of her personal assistant, Gilgamesh)

Long Distance Relations // Diplomacy // In Private // Protection Detail // Small Reprieve // Behind Closed Doors

Thenamesh Wildfire AU

(based on Those Who Want Me Dead, Thena is a wildfire fighter who used to do search and rescue, but has sequestered herself to perimeter patrol, where she runs into fellow forest fire fighter Gil)

Enclosed // Key // Safe // Slip Up // Sanctuary // Sparks

Thenamesh Circus AU

(based on Water for Elephants, Thena is a star trapeze artist for a travelling circus, married to ring leader Kro, but undeniably fond of the new veterinarian, Gilgamesh)

Snapped // Out of Sight // Just Out of Reach // Just Us // From Afar // [Just Us]

Thenamesh Gladiator AU

(Gil is a gladiator who fights for Queen Ajak and Princess Thena, who - against all odds - has actually spoken to, and maybe even become fond of, him)

Peace // The War // The Battle // Declaration of War // Tournament Rules // [Declaration of War]

Thenamesh Human AU

(Gil gets weakened to a human status by a Deviant attack, leaving the rest of the Eternals - especially Thena - to protect the Strongest Eternal)

Shattered // Paper Skin // Glass Bones

Thenamesh Dressage AU

(Thena is a champion equestrian and competitive rider of Olympia, whose new caretaker Gilgamesh gets along with the stubborn mare surprisingly well)

Guy Talk // Friends...? // Stallion // High and Mighty // Bales // [Friends...?] // Escaped // Hanging Out // Too Nice

Thenamesh Photographer AU

(Gil is a freelance photographer who has come to work with Thena on various modelling contracts--enough that she’s come to maybe like his company)

Comfy // Three is a Crowd // Natural

Thenamesh Mermaid AU

(Thena is a mermaid who one day saves Gil the fisherman after falling into the water, and they only become closer from there)

Not Today Poseidon // Yearning(18+) // The Morning After // Feeling pt 2(18+) // Expressing pt 1(18+) // Green Around the Gills // Touching(18+) // Not Sharing // Sharing // Forbidden Treasure pt 3 // Forbidden Treasure pt 2 // Forbidden Treasure pt 1 // Home // Protective // Safe // Cuddlefish // Catch and Release // More Human // A Gift // Beautiful

Teach Me to Love AU

(based in this work from Ao3 called Teach Me to Love, in which Thena is a single mother to Druig, whose teacher is Gilgamesh; this has become popular to ask for drabbles on this platform, and thus gets its own section)

Butterflies // Consequences // Tiny Terror // Team Effort // Personal Space // Quiet Night In(18+) // Parent Day // [Personal Space] // Overheard // Bad Dreams // Mister Dad //  Teach Me to Love Again(18+) // Home Sick // Visitation Rights

Thenamesh Hanahaki AU

(Hanahaki is a disease in which love will form in the body as flowers, which can worsen until fatal if gone unrequited or even unspoken)

First Bud // Dying Roses // [First Bud]

Thenamesh Doctor AU

(Thena is a doctor who runs the ER, and is the unofficially official work-wife of Gil, one of the best and certainly the most popular paramedic there)

The Little Things // On Break(18+) // Up Close and Personal(18+) // Search and Rescue // Too Little Too Late // Thanks for the Save // [Up Close and Personal] // 5+1 This Time // Grieving Spouses // Revisiting(18+) // Interrupted(18+) // Red Roses for Love // Dreams // Love // Late Lunch // Ongoing Treatment // Wife Talk // Dropped // If You What // Trapped // A Doctor In the Making // Jealous // Hovering // Threat // Dozing Off // Adrenaline // Dream Team // If Only

Thenamesh Special Forces AU

(Thena is the head of a team of agents, although Kingo is keenly aware that she and Gil feel more strongly about each other than commander and agent)

A Little Help // After the Fight // Fighting for Love pt 4 // Fighting for Love pt 3 // Fighting for Love pt 2 // Fighting for Love pt 1 // Transfer // Guard Dog // First Impressions // Cover Blown // Fall Back // Staying Late // And He Did // Come Back // [A Little Help] //  [First Impressions]

Thenamesh Runaway Bride AU

(Thena is a princess who has run away from her arranged marriage to Prince Eros and found Gil, the very sweet and kind lumberjack who takes her in)

New(18+) // Anniversary Night(18+) // Ruined Celebration // Returning to the Scene // Bedridden // Budding Love // Blueberries // Ran

Thenamesh Bodyguard AU

(Gil is the private bodyguard for the very famous and popular singer, Thena)

Dreams // Cuts the Deepest // Silent Admiration // Sounds of Comfort // Where Is He // Trust Goes Both Ways // Caught in 4K // 5+1 Protection // Duet // Date // Slipped // Contract Negotiation // Sounds of Breakfast // Altercation // Trust // Recovery // Stage Rush // Live // Ambush // Cover // [Live]

Thenamesh Pokemon AU

(Thena is a professional Ace Trainer who works in Victory Road for the League; one day Gil - her best friend and a Pokemon Ranger - rescues a Teddiursa in need of a home)

Antidote // [PSN Heal] // Joining the Flock // [Antidote] // Gil Was Hurt by Poison // First Encounter // Take your Kid to Work Day // 5+1 Interruptions (18+) // Rich Boy Eros Wants to Battle // Just Ask // A Great Fall // Something In the Water // Paldea // Calling In Sick // Accident // Rescue // Poachers // First Checkup // Teddiursa // [First Encounter]

Thenamesh Beauty and the Beast AU

(Gil gets dragged into going up the mountain to look for the cursed beast said to roam around the abandoned castle grounds, unrelated to the missing Princess)

The Eye of the Storm // Search and Rescue // Searching for More // Something in the Mountains

Thenamesh Goalie AU

(Gil is a goalie on the high school hockey team who meets Thena the figure skater in between their practices)

No Practice // Rough Practice

Thenamesh Ghost Files AU

(Gil is an amateur ghost hunter, and an avid believer despite his fear, while Thena joins him whether she believes in ghosts or not; conceived with Taran)

Lying // Forward // Be Still, My Beating Heart

Thenamesh Maleficent AU

(Thena and her brothers Ikaris and Druig visit a larger nest from some southern islands; Gil is a nest guard entrusted with guiding and protecting the visitors)

Lookalike // Nesting // Preening // Healing // Trinket // Rescue // Morning // Exchange

Thenamesh Rus AU

(I headcanon that the Eternals were in Kievan-Rus for a time, during which Thena was the war advisor to Saint Olga)

Doomed to Fail // Yours // Warming Comfort // If It Were You // Wounded Pride // She’ll Live // [Warming Comfort] // Soft Water // Warming Up // [Yours] // [She’ll Live]

Thenamesh Ballerina/Boxer AU

(Thena is a ballerina who teaches classes with Sersi across the hall from Gil and his boxing studio)

Fallen // Holding Back(18+) // Life Imitates Art(18+) // Morning Stretching(18+) // Same Territory Different Angle // Territory // Swan Fight // Night Out // Locker Room(18+) // Friendly Match // Friendly Fire // Kiss // Performance // The Swan

Ice Queen/Tyrant King AU

(Thena and Gil are rival mob bosses in the same city; Gil is a gangster who runs Koreatown and everything therein, while Thena controls the diamond industry)

Retaliation // Matching // Lovers’ Quarrel(18+) // 5+1 The Little Things // Meetings // Boyfriend Stuff // Family Visit // Engaged(18+) // Proposal pt 3 // Proposal pt 2 // Proposal pt 1 // Frisky(18+) // Rings // Home Again // Tell Me // Physiotherapy // [Tell Me] // Shots Fired pt 2 // Shots Fired pt 1 // Standing Up // Lying Down // Tied(18+) // Skating // Lost // [Boyfriend Stuff] // Target Practice // Lunch // Reconciliation(18+) // Committed pt 3 // Committed pt 2 // Committed pt 1 // [Meetings] // Targets // [Target Practice] // Poisoned // Dates // It’s Fine // [Business Casual] // Resolution(18+) // Tension

Thenamesh Life Interrupted AU

(based on the prompt of Girl Interrupted, Thena is a patient in a psych ward, where Gil works in the cafeteria)

New Perspective // Unfamiliar Territory // Getting Better // Bad Day // Outside // Hiding

Thenamesh Receptionist AU

(Thena works as the personal receptionist for Gil, who runs a ‘shipping’ business, but is actually a mafia leader)

Best Served Cold(18+) // Above the Table(18+) // Under the Table(18+) // Free(18+) // Cells // Sundubu Jjigae // Meeting Gone Violent // Shopping // Party // Meeting Gone Wrong // Back in the Office(18+) // Wounded // Sick Day // London(18+) // [Shopping] // Kidnapped // [Sundubu Jjigae]

Thenamesh Actors AU

(Thena and Gil are both professional actors; Gil is famous for doing his own stunts, Thena’s sister Sprite is a big fan of his)

Falling Harder // Sexiest Man Alive // Rubbing It In // Old Wounds // The Big Speech // Too Early for This // (No) Competition // Bewitched // Encouragement // Working Up a Sweat // Never Again // Late Dinner // Red Carpet // He and She // On His Arm // He’s Done // High Score // The Skittles Diet // Salad // Eros’ Panel // Rehearsal // Conference // Movie Night // Sling // Stunt Fall // Paparazzi // Interview // Finally Meeting

Thenamesh Proposal AU

(Thena and Gil have worked together for some time, but when Gil wants trick his father into thinking he’s engaged, he asks Thena for help, and things only get more out of hand from there)

Just Five More Minutes // Just the Dishes // Just One Dance // Just a Snack // The Decaffeinated One // The Beach One // One Bed // The One // Dress Fitting // [One Bed]

Thenamesh Zombie AU

(Thena finds Gil at the end of the world and they decide to stick together)

Candlelit // If Anything Happens // More Than Just Us // Good In the World // 5+1 Injuries // Later // Safe to Sleep // Shed Tears // A Little Help // First Leaving // Train // [First Leaving]

Thenamesh College AU

(Gil and Thena meet through Kingo)

Halloween // First Sight

Thenamesh Spy AU

(all agents have partners, although Thena and Gil might be closer than most)

Relief(18+) // Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing // Rescue Mission // Eyes Elsewhere(18+) // Eyes on Her // Eyes on Target // Extrication

Jack and Thenamesh

(I would consider this somewhere within their canon but not strictly adhering to the rules of the film)

Family Valentines // Day Off // Multigenerational // Confused // Fathers’ Day // Party Guests of Honour // Home Alone // Dog Park // Family Christmas // Bake Sale // Talent Show // Trick or Treating // Prizes // Episode pt 2 // Episode pt 1 // Pick Up // Soccer // Natural

Thenamesh

(I consider these close enough to what we know of the canon to be part of that particular timeline - although not necessarily connected to each other - and dynamic, including Babylon, Australia, Tenochtitlan, etc. I will include things during and close enough to the movie’s timeline, and not things potentially taking place much further from that)

Sleeprunning // Promise of Paradise // Stars // Healing // Warmth // The Sun in Babylon // Three Days Later // Instinct // Be Mine // Out of the House // Comfort // You, Here, This // Aftermath // Hurt // First and Harder // The Bath Halls // Gil’s Nightmare // Woken Up // Nightmare // On the Beach // Drunk // Unwelcome Advances // Sleepwalking // Overly Affectionate // By the River

Thenamesh AU

(every au has this tag, although as soon as it gains a second installment it loses it and becomes part of that running au; anything from slightly outside of the movie’s canon to completely separate ideas)

My Kingdom for a Heart AU // Far Out in the Australian Desert // Bittersweet // Enemies to Lovers // Human and Eternal // The Last of Us Remaining // Academic Tension // Unbearable Love // Last Christmas (This Year) // Curve the Bullet // Sorry to Keep You Waiting // The Tourist // Jujutsu Kaisen AU // Cake // Unspoken // Runaway Love // Camp Counselling // Scream // My First and Only AU // The Tube // Young Babylon // Mind Control // Onions // Only the Mahdness // Socrates // Isn’t it? // This is Him // Mr. And Mrs. Lee AU // His Recipe // Passing Notes AU // Intervening // Dane Meets History // Hit a Nerve // Given Enough // Family Bonding // Wedding Reception // Inevitable // Reunion // Total Erasure // A Running Leap AU // Something New // Christmas Cookies // Lifeguard AU // Panic // Pet Store // Sculptor AU // That Time // Lawyer/Client AU // Arthur // Amnesia AU // Family Dinner // Believe in Love // Flirting // Mr. and Mrs. Lee AU // Public Episode // The Australia Chronicles AU // Mid Fight // Mafia AU // [Wedding Reception] // Wedding Gift // Birthday // Interfering // Territorial

Thenamesh Week 2022

(stand alone entries from pre-selected prompts)

08 - Reunion // 07 - Chaotic Family // Spicy 07 - First Time // 06 - Hurt/Comfort // 05 - Soulmates // 04 - Canon AU // Spicy 04 - Outside // 03 - Remember // Spicy 03 - Sweet and Slow // 02 - First Kiss // Spicy 02 - Shower // 01 - Modern AU // Spicy 01 - Wedding Night

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello! Wanted to ask you if you could write another Thenamesh AU in Kievan-Rus?

Maybe some interaction with Olga and Thena?

"A word?"

All of the Eternals turned, but the Queen's eyes were on the Warrior Eternal. Thena raised her brows. They were always to respect the rule of the humans of the land. Not that she was always the best at that.

"Please," the Queen offered more humbly, imploring Thena closer, "Warrior Eternal."

Thena looked at the others, who gave the Queen varying degrees of bows before taking their leave. Thena remained on the carpet rolled out over the frigid stone floors of the throne room.

Olga's eyes flicked to the far corner of the room before returning to Thena, "I understand you are no subject of mine."

Thena let her continue. She knew why her eyes had drifted; she could feel Gilgamesh lingering in the room. If she focused she could hear all of his little movements; the shuffling of his feet, his hands fidgeting, even his breathing.

"But I have watched you fight those demonic creatures," Olga held her head high. "Nightmares I thought only existed in legends."

Thena merely nodded. Deviants were getting harder and harder to explain to humans in that sense. But all the better that they became legends and myths and stories used to scare children.

"You are one of the fighters of Lady Ajak's," Olga surmised. Thena never considered a Fighter for Ajak. Although she wasn't even sure she considered herself a Fighter for Arishem. She simply...fought. "The best, in my view."

Thena needed no lavish praise. She had gotten plenty of it over the centuries. Still she bowed her head.

"I would like your counsel," Olga proposed, sitting taller in the massive throne, second only for the one meant for the King. "If you see fit."

"Counsel?" Thena raised a sleek eyebrow. For all she had been revered as a Goddess of War and Wisdom, she had grown rather tired of it.

"On matters of battle," Olga confirmed, now rising from the throne and walking closer to Thena below her. She descended the platform and steps keeping the thrones separate from the rest of the room. Her guards tensed but she dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "Matters of war, if you prefer."

Thena merely looked at the woman, far, far younger than she. And even then, Olga was still young in many ways. "No one prefers war, your majesty."

"It would not be wise to," Olga agreed in not so many words. The two women - equally guarded - stared at each other. "But I think your views on the subject align with mine."

"Do they?"

Olga smiled, and it seemed rather unlike she did when she was sitting on that throne. Olga actually managed much of her husband's ruling, he rather focusing on territory and its expansion. Their partnership was a fine match.

Olga twitched her head, gesturing to the man floating around listlessly, pretending to admire the tapestries hung around the room. "He is yours?"

Thena looked back at Gilgamesh with permission to do so. She smiled; he was very obviously listening in on them. "He is."

"I have seen you two fight," Olga said more gently, speaking less like a queen and more the way one friend might speak to another. "The way you protect each other. I find it rather admirable. Our way of combat is...more brutal."

Yes, the human warriors of this region were some of the most intense and brutal they had come across. They had Thena's full support and admiration for that.

"But of all our current war advisors," Olga slid her eyes in a way that made Thena think she maybe wanted to roll them. "Their views do not...align."

Thena tilted her head, asking for elaboration.

Olga openly admired Thena's hair sitting loosely around her shoulders. "Ferocity need not come from a place of malice, I believe. I much prefer to think of it as a byproduct of love."

Thena smiled. This human woman understood the necessity of force--that sometimes there was no better way to ensure the protection of certain things. Certain people.

"Some think our methods of expansion are aggressive," Olga resumed her more royal demeanour, "but I consider it necessary to keep our enemies mindful of who we are--of what we are capable."

"Yes," Thena murmured.

"To possess more is to lose more," Olga tipped her chin up at Thena, "and I do not intend to lose what I hold dear."

"I understand," Thena agreed.

"I believe you do," Olga's smile grew. She looked over at Gilgamesh again, catching him looking at them this time. His head snapped away. "It's quite all right."

Gil made a face like a child in trouble as he turned again. "Sorry, your majesty."

Olga eyed them as he drifted closer slowly until he was within reach of Thena again. "You are the Warrior Eternal's partner."

"Uh," Gil blushed, as if shyness suited a being of his size and stature, "I guess you could say that."

Thena ran her finger down his arm (she liked flustering him), "in more ways than one."

"You are a fine match," Olga complimented, regarding them as softly as she would her own family. "You, perhaps, remind me of myself and my dear husband."

Gil slipped his hand to the small of Thena's back, gathering that no one was going to gasp in horror or try to order him to remove it. Not that he would listen to that. "Then he's a lucky man."

Olga smiled more fully, looking more like the young woman she truly was. "I certainly like to think so."

Thena leaned into Gil, as if the few minutes spent half a room apart had taxed her.

"I hope I can count on your counsel in the future, Warrior Eternal," Olga nodded, which Thena returned. She wasn't much for bowing. "As a royal War Advisor, you have certain liberties. The royal grounds are open to you, and should you need anything, no one is to deny you."

"We'll keep that in mind, your majesty," Gil did bow to her, much more adept at the manners of any time period.

"Very well," Olga picked up her skirts, ready to return to her massive golden throne.

"Oh!"

She turned partway in her journey, truly a sign of respect and fondness that she would let anyone but the King call out to her in such a way. "Yes?"

"Uh," Gil shrank back, offering a sheepish smile. He held Thena's hand. "Maybe some extra blankets or something?--for her, I mean."

Thena looked at him with love radiating from her. So sweet, her Strongest Eternal.

"She gets cold easily," Gil concluded shyly, remembering to dip at the waist, "your majesty."

"I shall see to it," Olga nodded before settling herself in her throne again. "You will find all you need in your chambers by nightfall."

"Thank you," Thena offered to Olga before turning to Gil. She slid their fingers together, "you didn't have to."

"Of course I did," he countered immediately, pulling their joined hands up so he could kiss each tip of her fingers as they left. "I can't have my poor Thena walking around shivering."

"I am getting better," she argued, pursing her lips at him.

He just grinned at her (like it was so cute or something). He moved his head closer, touching the tip of his nose to hers, "hm, still feels cold to me."

She burst into a laugh.

He pulled her to the side of the corridor, not that there was anyone to witness their affections. He held her by the waist, "I just don't want you to be cold if you don't have to be."

"That's what I have you for, no?" she purred, letting herself melt into him.

"Sure," he chuckled, running a hand over her hair as he held her, "but the trip from your room to my room can be chilly."

[softquietsteadylove]

Masterlist Pt. 2

Please use this link for updates as of May 08, 2024.

Thenamesh Human AU

Nightmare Walking

Thenamesh Life Interrupted AU

Sanctuary (18+)

Thenamesh Ballerina/Boxer AU

Asserting Dominance(18+)

Thenamesh Heracles AU

(Gilgamesh finds himself the subject of a young boy's admiration while they're in Athens, as does Thena, although she claims to have no affections for the child)

// Refuge of the Gods

Thenamesh Rus AU

Spring

Thenamesh Runaway Bride AU

Home Again pt2(18+) // The Chase pt 1

Thenamesh Hamptons AU

Fresh Picked

Thenamesh Eternal/Human AU

(Gil has lived as an Eternal on Earth for thousands of years, but now he has started dating Thena, a human who works at the museum, unaware she's found herself with a piece of history)

Defense // Attack // Eternal and Human

Thenamesh Mermaid AU

Slippery Slope // Mate Troubles

Thenamesh Breakup AU

(Gil and Thena broke up, fully expecting to never regret moving out of their shared apartment, only to run into each other and discover that maybe their feelings are more than what they thought)

Love Again // Mamma Mia

Thenamesh Dressage AU

Leaping Hurdles

Thenamesh Gladiator AU

Moonlit

Thenamesh Tomb Raider AU

Escape

Thenamesh pokemon AU

PSN Heal

Thenamesh Wildfire AU

Comfort pt 2 // Cleared pt 1

Thenamesh Zombie AU

Lucky

Thenamesh 10 Things (I Hate About You) AU

Mine(18+) // Like and Love(18+)

Ice Queen/Tyrant King AU

Hard Deals(18+) // Muzh // Posession(18+) // Business Casual // Good(18+) // [Business Casual]

Thenamesh Family Law AU

(Thena has custody of her younger sisters after their parents' deaths, which she is determined to handle completely alone, although Gil - who works at the same law firm - is even more determined to help)

Surprise Witness // Approaching the Bench // Competence // Family Dinner // Supporting Arguments

Thenamesh Circus AU

And Tears pt 2 // Blood, Sweat pt // Stolen

Thenamesh Addams Family AU

Romance(18+)

Thenamesh AU

Placid // Fairy Tales // A Quiet Place AU

Jack and Thenamesh

Fireworks

Thenamesh

Vigil // Revelry

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi! I have a request about the Thenamesh AU :)

After the first shock when Gil lost his powers and Ajak healed his arm Gil is very much human for a short duration.

How about a little accident when someone (it can be Thena or someone else. you choose) hurts him accidentally like grabbing his arm too hard or giving him a hard pat on his back. Normally it would be nothing but being a human it’s impact would be 5 times more painful. Thena takes care of him and they share a soft moment?

I think it would be interesting since they have to be careful around the strongest eternal!

"It was an accident."

"Hm," Thena let out in acknowledgement, although it was hardly accepting of it. She wrung out the cool cloth and raised it again.

Gilgamesh sighed as she pressed the cold linen to his arm. His skin was dotted and flushed with red, where his blood vessels had burst under the skin after an impact.

He wasn't allowed outside of Babylon Temple at all in the wake of his 'injury'. Not even just in reference to his still-healing hand, but to his still-human physiology. He hadn't woken up cured, or even improved. Ajak could not heal it out of him and Phastos could find no cause, let alone a cure. He was human until further notice.

Thena hadn't left his side unless absolutely necessary. And even when it was, she would finish the fight as quickly as possible and rush back to him, daring anyone to stand in her way.

Gilgamesh let Thena move gently, trying to reduce his swelling and redness with the cool water. He got human injuries now, which received human treatments. Thena didn't trust Ajak to know what Gil's new pain threshold was after the gruesome scene of her healing his broken hand.

Ajak had stated that she knew very well how to heal humans. Thena had argued that if that was how she healed humans, then maybe they weren't the brave protectors they thought they were.

Thena was stressed, to say the least.

"Hey," Gilgamesh whispered, hoping to pull her out of her mulling. She pulled the cloth away and ran the back of her fingers over his arm. He raised his other hand, injury be damned, and placed it over hers, "hey."

Thena finally looked at him, her eyes so muddled with thoughts they almost seemed to be a different colour than normal. She sighed, "hey."

Gil smiled, although getting Thena to follow it was hard. He knew she had been nothing short of hypervigilant since his condition arose. "I'm okay."

"Are you?" she whispered in return, her eyes flicking away from his and to his hand and now his arm, too.

"Sure," he smiled, even laughed quietly. He gave her hand a squeeze with his, "I'm with you."

Thena shook her head at him, but her smile did emerge. She stood from her kneeling to sit beside him on her bed. Not even his own quarters were safe enough for him, as far as she was concerned. "You are in pain."

"Not much," he shrugged.

One friendly slap on the arm from Kingo - forgetting his strength - had sent him flying to the ground. The bruise was sure to be an ugly, angrily coloured thing. Kingo had rushed to apologise and help his brother up, of course.

Thena had rushed over, ready to snap the sharpshot's arm clean in two in return for the injury.

It had taken Makkari rushing between them as well as Sersi and Ajak both pulling at Thena to keep her from it. And ultimately, she had only left to tend to Gilgamesh.

Thena touched her forehead to his cheek, letting their breaths become one, "any pain at all is more than you deserve."

Gil smiled, leaning his head against hers. He snuck his hand away from hers, only so he could wrap his good arm around her from behind and hold her against him properly. "How could I be in pain when I have the Warrior Eternal to take care of me?"

"Gilgamesh."

"Thena, really," he insisted, pulling his head up and tilting it to pull her gaze up to his. "I'm okay."

She accepted his words, although they both knew she would still be hovering around him protectively until she had decided for herself that it was unnecessary. She took in his smile, touching her fingers ever so gently to his cheek.

Gil crossed the distance, pressing her palm flat against his cheek and leaning into it. "I won't break."

"You already have," she lamented, although she let him revel in her touch all he liked.

"Not from you," his smile grew as he happily nuzzled into her palm. "You're nice and gentle with me."

Thena tilted her head at him and his cuddling, allowing it without question. She watched him the way Sersi watched the sunrise. "I have learned from you."

"Hm?"

Thena moved, adjusting her position next to him and moving both her hands over his cheeks and to his chest. She tapped her finger against his chestplate, "you are the Gentlest Eternal. I know how to treat you softly because you are so very sweet with me."

Gilgamesh blushed, looking down at their brushing knees bashfully. "Like I could be anything else with you?"

Thena finally smiled genuinely, leaning in to kiss his cheek as firmly as they could afford. "No, nor I, you."

Gil's eyes closed, savouring the small but also immense touch of affection from her. He sighed, "maybe I should get injured more often."

"Gilgamesh."

"Okay, okay," he chuckled, returning to leaning against her. He sighed, "y'know, I'm getting really used to having you around so much."

"I am always around you."

"What if I don't want you to go on watch anymore?" he lifted his head and pouted at her, making her laugh. He wrapped both arms around her (despite the ache in his right one). "What if I just want you to stay here and cuddle me all the time, now?"

Thena indulged him, raising her hands to his cheeks again. Her thumbs brushed over the full apples of them, pushing up the tilt of his eyes, "you are deprived of my touch, are you?"

He sighed morosely and nodded, widening his eyes to give her the impression of a sad little stray.

Thena shook her head at him again. She leaned forward, needing no practice to leave the gentlest of kisses against his lips. He returned it, and perhaps in this way she could feel just a hint of his usual strength and fervour.

He leaned forward, wanting more.

"Gil," Thena pulled back, putting a hand on his chest as his tongue pursued hers. She held his eyes and shook her head.

He gave her a pout and those eyes again, "Thena."

"Gilgamesh," she pressed. "Not until you are well again."

He sighed genuinely, flopping backwards on her bed (her hand shot forward, keeping him from banging his head on the wall behind them). He chuckled, "now you really are depriving me."

She leaned over him, kissing him again even more softly than before. "Then concentrate your energy on healing, and you will be deprived of me no longer."

He leaned up again, kissing her as hard as he could. "You really know how to motivate a man."

[softquietsteadylove]

I have a Thenamesh AU request if it’s alright?:)

Let’s say they got Gil back and his memories too. But Thena has a hard time to accept him since she saw him die and can’t really believe that’s him. She keeps a distant to him and avoids him as good as she can on the domo. So what if Gil does something that really proofs that he is real and he really came back? Where Thena finally believes it?

Would be a very emotional request and a bit soft in the end :)

"Dinner is served!" He turned to them with a bright smile, "get it while it's hot!"

The rest of the Eternals clambered to get some of the delicious and lovingly made food for themselves. Especially those who had been held captive in the World Forge, adapted to human life and missing the small comforts.

He eyed the doorway, "there's more than enough-"

Thena left.

Gilgamesh sighed, looking down at his pot of stew. She hadn't spoken a single word to him since his return. It was so dire that even looking at him was an improvement in her acknowledgement of his presence.

"Hey," Kingo said gently as he came up for his serving. "Don't let it get to you. She's...well, you know."

He did know; he knew better than anyone, in this life or the next. He nodded, giving Kingo a smile. Once everyone had a helping, including a very different looking Sprite, he dished out two bowls and walked out with them.

She didn't make a sound, she didn't leave any trace. But he would always be able to feel that pull to her.

The door swished open for him, sensing its users presence. Perhaps it was kind of her to not lock him out of his old room. "Feeling nostalgic?"

"These are my quarters."

He smiled, walking in cautiously and placing down the two stew bowls. No matter her reluctance to be with him now, it still warmed his heart that his room had brought her more comfort than her own. She always did sleep better in here with him.

Or maybe all she had done was come in here and mourn him.

Gilgamesh frowned at her, sitting rigid and folded around herself on his bed. Her legs were crossed, her arms folded, just staring at the far wall. "Thena."

"What do you want?"

"I want to talk?"

"Anything else?"

He supposed he should be grateful to get this much out of her. If his Thena truly didn't want to talk, not a force in the universe could pry those perfect lips open.

Thena looked up at him as he pushed the bowl of stew into her line of sight. Unstoppable force met immovable object, and finally, she accepted it from it.

Gilgamesh sat down beside her, giving her enough space not to feel imposed upon. They took slow bites, listening to their breathing, their chewing, the clink of the spoons in the bowls.

Thena stirred hers around, taking it in as she swallowed.

He looked at her. "Is it how you remember?"

She didn't bother answering him.

Maybe questions about her memory weren't the best ice breaker. He shifted on the bed and cleared his throat. "It is a little different from our recipe at home."

At home; the words made her flinch, as if he'd lashed out and cut her.

He was slow and gentle, though, like the first times he'd had to lure her out of her room after an episode. "Can you tell what's different?"

She looked at him, finally, if only to express her annoyance. But she looked at her bowl again, her lips pursing faintly as she moved her tongue around in her mouth. "It's missing...something."

He was honestly impressed she could tell that much. "What have you been eating?--while I've...been away?"

That was a risky question to ask, but it would have to be asked sooner or later. Thena took her time answering, which was just fine with him. "Druig would make food."

But had she eaten it, was the question. It wasn't as if she could starve, and all she would need was a bite here or there to keep herself going. But it always made him sad to think of her letting herself go without the simple comforts of food for that long.

Gil set his half empty bowl aside, angling himself more toward her. "I'll give you a hint. It's-"

"Mushroom."

"Okay," Gil nodded as Thena stopped his little game dead in its tracks. She took another bite, though. "You've gotten better at that."

"You don't have bay leaf here on the ship so you used mushroom to make it more savoury," Thena murmured as if on autopilot. Another bite.

"I guess you would know if it was any different."

"It's his recipe."

"It's my recipe."

Her eyes shot to him, smooth and swift and lethal, just like the rest of her. He didn't startle from it, letting her eye him with annoyance and disdain and poorly veiled hope. Those eyes always told him everything he needed to know, whether she liked it or not.

"It's my recipe," he repeated softly. She let him pull the bowl away from her, his hands lingering against hers. If she didn't want him to, she could push him away. She could snap even his bones if she really wanted to.

He had never used his Cosmic Energy against her outside of an attack, and he never, ever would.

"Everything else was the same," he began, her hands - slim and light and delicate - resting in his.

"Beef, onion, carrot, flour, broth," Thena listed off, her eyes horrifically distant as she watched the process of it being made in her memory.

Gilgamesh chuckled, moving their hands slowly. She watched him do it, letting him slide their fingers together until his palm could meet hers. "What's the first ingredient?"

Her eyes hardened. She was fighting so hard to protect herself.

Just this once, he wouldn't let her. "What's the first ingredient of everything I make for you?"

"Love."

Gil reached forward, brushing away the deluge of tears suddenly flowing from those stunning eyes. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I've been gone for too long."

Any time would be too long apart from her.

"It's you," she whispered, every fibre of her being fighting not to come unwoven permanently.

"It's me," he promised, understanding of what she needed from him. He brought her palm up to his cheek. "I'm here."

She shook from head to toe, looking at him as if they were in that forest again--as if he had a hole in his neck and was breathing his last breaths. "I see this sometimes. And it's not real."

How cruel. How wretched and unfair Arishem was to make his beautiful Thena endure that. He turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand, "I'm real."

She shook her head again, even as she both pulled him closer and moved closer herself. "No."

"I'm real," he whispered as she climbed into his arms, the way she would at home. The way she would in Australia, wounds on both of them, her dress tattered and trailing behind her. She would settle herself into the safety of his arms and find there as much rest as she could.

"How do I know?" Whatever she had been through in his absence had shaken her to her core. He could ask her about it later, slowly, a little bit at a time. Or never, if she truly didn't want to tell him.

He tightened his hold on her, resting his cheek against her hair. "You'll just have to trust me."

She had nothing to say to that, at least not yet. But she remained in his embrace. She pressed her face into the side of his neck, feeling the pulse of his blood in his veins. "Gil?"

How he had longed to hear that. That one little sound, from her soft little voice. Just for him. "Hm?"

The rumble of his chest against her helped her unwind a little. His hand pressed flat over her back, offering warmth and the promise of his support. It helped her anchor herself to him.

In Australia, if she woke in the night, she would call to him like that. To check if he was there, if he was awake, if he was safe--if he was real. Any number of things. And he liked to believe that even in the depths of sleep, he would respond that same way.

Thena buried her face in his chest, undoing his vest and slipping her hands around him. The closer her hands could be the more sure she could be that he was within her reach.

He would combine the rest of their bowls later, make sure she got enough food in her. But for now, she needed this. He did too, to a degree. He would always need his Thena, and she needed time with just him like she needed air in her lungs.

"The others?"

"Who cares," he chuckled, lying back on the bed with her in his arms. The little pearls in her ears touched her cheeks, and her cardigan was soft to the touch. But this was undeniably what he had been missing in that state of suspended animation from which they had woken him.