#anyway Thena has been avoiding it because she doesn't know if she's ready

[softquietsteadylove]

Could we get a little something something from My Kingdom for a Heart fic that’s on ao3? Idc if it’s fluff or angst I’ll literally take anything you give out bc it’s just that good!!

Sersi was spinning around the floor with Ikaris, her veil whirling around her, sparkling silver against her emerald green gown. She always had a certain joy to her, of course. But even Thena had not seen her beaming so fully in all their lives together. It was exactly the kind of free, unburdened smile she had always wished for her sister.

To marry without obligation was the best gift Thena could pass on to her sister, and that included abdicating the throne as the eldest and making Sersi the acting queen. Thena had some reservations about the marriage in question being to Ikaris, but she had to admit, he was not so villainous. Annoying, perhaps, but that was a lesser of evils.

He was her brother now, and while she felt she was truly understanding the petulance a brother could bring to her life, their families - and kingdoms - were becoming one. Unfortunately, he still liked to argue with some of the advice she had to offer (as the royal advisor). But Sersi was always quick to hear out her sister, and that usually managed to pull her new husband along with her.

"It is a beautiful ball, your Grace."

Much to her disappointment, it was not the one she was expecting, but rather some lord or another. She did not know why he was saying so to her. She had not planned it alone, nor was she truly participating in it, past being the one who had walked Sersi down the aisle to her groom. "It is."

"Congratulations, to you and to the happy couple."

"Indeed," she muttered. She was no longer the princess and regent, she was merely Sersi's second in line, and that came after her job as advisor, as far as Thena was concerned.

"You look splendid as well, of course."

He was wearing on her patience, of course.

"I should almost think it possible for you to steal the attention away from the bride herself."

"My Lord," Thena drawled, keeping her eyes on her sister, "I should think that you would rather not insult my dearest sister in the process of attempting to compliment me."

"I-I-" he stammered, "I would never-"

Thena moved away from him. She no longer held the power to send people away with the flick of her wrist--truly the only part of her position she truly mourned. The crowd cheered for the guests of honour, concluding another of many dances this evening. Thena smiled.

"Your Grace!"

Was tonight destined to be a gauntlet through which she was to battle?

"Congratulations on your sister's happy marriage, your Grace," another lord bowed to her formally at least. "The kingdom could not be happier for the Prince and his bride."

Sersi would make a wonderful queen. "I shall tell them."

"It does free you, does it not?" he continued, perhaps not catching onto her locked tight posture and cold eyes. "Without expectation to marry the Prince, you are more able to select a husband of your choosing. Perhaps even a love match?"

Thena looked at the brazen lord speaking to her without end. He was younger than she had expected, his hair sitting atop his head with as much arrogance as he exuded in his smile. "Do you have a matter that concerns you, my Lord?"

"Perhaps," he grinned at her, and it made her want to take a long step back from him. He held out his hand to her, "if you would do me the honour-"

"Forgive me, my Lord, but her Grace has other obligations."

Thena's eyes rose, and she failed to contain her pleasure at the sight of her rescuer. "Captain, if you would be so kind as to escort me."

"Of course, your Grace," he smiled back at her as a gentleman would. He even removed his leather glove before offering his hand to her. He stood between her and the man asking to dance with her, turning his back - unthinkably rude! - on him in the process.

"Thank you," Thena murmured as they made their escape, descending the steps closer to the thrones and skirting around the crowd. "I can no longer decline such invitations without good reason."

"I would think that not wanting to listen to him preen himself is reason enough."

Thena attempted to keep her laughter contained, but a faint puff of air escaped her. She held the skirt of her dress in the hand that was not perched in Gil's. "You have rescued me yet again, Captain."

"It is part of my job," he stated, although the royal advisor was not technically part of his obligations as royal guard. He winked at her, "Thena."

She smiled down at the lush carpet beneath their feet. If her hands were free they would be wringing around themselves again and again. The Captain continued to have such effect on her, and her poor, suffering heart. "I keep telling you, it is not."

"And I keep telling you: you will always be Princess, to me."

How was she to think clearly when she had such poetry over her shoulder, no less whispering in her ear?

"Would you like to?"

"To what?" she looked up at him.

He nodded his head towards where Ikaris was claiming another dance with his bride, even wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off the ground in their shared glee. "Dance?"

Her hand flinched in his, while the one holding her dress began squeezing it for her life. Her throat dried. "I'm afraid I have not nearly the grace my sister does, Captain."

"Come on," he whispered to her, even coming to a stop at a small gap in the crowd's observation of the bride and groom. "I thought we had a deal."

Thena's eyes darted up to him and then forward again. Her heart flitted and fluttered in her chest as she sighed, "Gil."

He stood straight, his hand behind his back and the other holding hers aloft. "It is a celebration, y'know. No one would think twice about you having a little fun at your own sister's wedding."

She could feel how warm he was next to her, even with his light chest plate over his formal uniform. Her fingers trembled faintly, but he held her steadily. "I suppose your gallantry should not go unrewarded."

She winced at herself, and her need to make the simple act of a dance something obligatory. Why could she not simply say that she did wish to dance with him?

Because that would be far too damning an admission, and far too revealing for one simple dance.

But Gilgamesh just smiled at her as he always did. He moved slowly, grasping her hand as he took the first step out from the edge of the crowd, "I'm honoured."

Thena forced herself to look up at him as he swept her onto the dance floor. It wasn't that moving with him was unfamiliar, or even awkward. It felt like when he had helped her from the wagon by lifting her delicately by the waist.

If anything, it felt too familiar, and perhaps even too...nice. He was warm, and gentle, and if he were not wearing the pauldron of his armour, she had half a mind to slip her hand up to his shoulder. His hand grasped hers out from them, the other on her back in a proper and appropriate position.

"So, have you thought about it?"

"Hm?" she blinked, betrayed by her mind wandering away from her actions and instead meandering along the subject of her dance partner.

"Marriage."

The royal advisor's cheeks took on a lively rouge as he spun them around with ease. This was not the first time they had discussed such a topic, either. And remembering the last time they had never failed to send her heart into a frenzy.

Somewhere behind them, Sersi also spun past amidst her dance with her husband. Her sister's giggling reached her ears, worsening Thena's feeling of fluster. Sersi knew very well that the subject of marriage - when it involved the Captain - always left her feeling stymied.

"I," Thena started and then paused immediately. Her mastery of language was slipping from her mind. Her eyes slid down his chestplate to the crest of the kingdom sitting right in the centre. Her hand twitched in his again, "I have...considered it."

At her own insistence, her marriage simply had to wait. As soon as she had abdicated, there was little time until Sersi's coronation and the wedding happening right on top of each other. And she and Gilgamesh were at their busiest when Sersi and Ikaris were.

There was no time to consider Gilgamesh's proposal of a proposal, as it were. And a man of his word, he had not brought it up amidst all the chaos of things. But he was asking now. As she had told him, he was asking if he could ask her again.

"And?" he prompted her gently--sweetly. He ducked his head closer to hers, moving closer in their dance to a proximity one could consider salacious. "If I were to ask you, would you say yes?"

Thena tried to keep her breathing even. She felt as if she were drowning in him, and she did not fully want to emerge from it. But she forced herself to keep her face from burying itself against his neck. "Your timing could be improved, Captain."

"Oh?" he chuckled, still in good spirits as she dodged his approach to marrying her yet again. "And how is that?"

Thena closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, and unable to do so while she thought people might be observing them acting so improperly. All she needed do was turn her head for her lips to graze his cheek or perhaps even his ear (indecent!). She gulped. "It is my sister's wedding day, Gil. This is no time for you to be asking for my hand."

"I daresay she would approve."

Sersi would be the first to jump for joy. She would also point right at Thena and say that she had said so long beforehand.

"I will not become engaged on the day of my sister's wedding," Thena resolved with a bit of a huff. "Have you no sense of propriety?"

On the contrary, it was mortifyingly she who was breaths away from pressing her forehead under his jaw just to feel the warmth of his skin.

"Forgive me, your Grace." She knew he was smirking--she just knew it. "Shall I ask again tomorrow, then?"

Thena's heart pounded. He hadn't asked in the exact words, but her whole body felt flush with warmth and thrill all the same. The warmth did not drain from her cheeks as she gripped his hand purposefully with her fingers. "I will be at the garden pond at first light. I expect you will not keep me waiting."

As she had done to him.

His hand squeezed hers, and he even dared to weave their fingers together (the absolute audacity). He tilted his head, disguising the way he touched his cheek to the top of her head, no longer weighed down by a golden circlet. "I wouldn't dream of it, Thena."

[softquietsteadylove]

Idk if you'll do this but I've got this very very very silly request. I saw this video on my instagram, it's a man telling her wife that their child is crying because their child heared her Mom screaming and you know what it is! Everyone knows what's happening there😭😭😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Interrupted spice???😭😭🤣🤣

Maybe you could write in parent x teacher AU of Thenamesh with baby druig, thank you!!!!!

"Hey."

"Hey," Gil sighed as Thena came into the kitchen. Druig was in the living room drawing after a rather rough day at school. Gil had told her specifically that they should 'talk'.

"He seems fine with me," she began right away, obviously concerned about what would have caused such peculiar behaviour in her sweet boy. "Maybe a little sullen, but I can't find why that would be. And he won't say anything."

Gil sighed, setting down the spoon with which he had been stirring the pasta sauce. He blushed faintly, "well, he and Makkari decided that, uh, I'm not the best teacher in the world anymore. In fact, they don't even like me, right now."

"What?" Thena shook her head. They adored Gil! "Druig calls you Mister Dad."

"That still warms my heart," Gil chuckled, pulling Thena closer to him by the waist. She ran a hand over his chest, as if it could soothe whatever was troubling him. "But apparently...Druig is worried...about you."

"Me?" Thena frowned.

Gil gulped, trying to hurry himself along in what he was saying. "Well, yeah, he...he heard...something."

"What did he hear?"

Gil inhaled through his nose, leaning his head against hers and lowering his voice. "What do you think he heard, Angel?--in the middle of the night?"

"Hm?"

Gil pressed a kiss to her temple. "Apparently, he got up in the night and heard you 'crying'. He was worried I was...hurting you."

Thena quickly turned a shade of red similar to their dinner. "What?!"

Gil sighed, also embarrassed but not holding a candle in comparison to his partner at the moment. "I'm sorry, honey."

Thena groaned, pressing her face into Gil's sweater. This was exactly why she almost never initiated things if Druig was even home while Gil was staying the night. Half the time, they were both dead tired after getting Druig to bed anyway.

But of course the one time she had thought Druig would absolutely be sound asleep...

"You should talk to him," Gil suggested gently as he pulled Thena away from him.

She whimpered.

"I know," he sighed, pressing another kiss to her forehead.

"He's too young."

"You don't have to tell him everything if you're not ready," he continued to suggest a soft approach, letting Thena lean on him heavily in the wake of their terrible discovery. "But he has to know that you're not hurt, Thena. He's only gonna think up worse and worse things if he doesn't."

"You're right," she sighed, although she was still flushed quite brightly when she pulled away from him again. She rubbed her eyes with her fingers, "I don't want to talk to my baby about-"

"Personal space!"

Both adults pulled their heads up as Druig - poking his head around the corner - pointed his finger accusingly at them. More specifically, at Gilgamesh.

Thena sighed; this would not be avoidable any longer. She turned, scooping Druig up on her hip, "come with me, Darling."

Druig allowed it, although his lip was pouted out as far as possible. "You shouldn't kiss Mister Dad anymore."

"Darling," Thena began as she set him on a chair and knelt down in front of him. She hung her head, prepared for the most mortifying discussion of her life (thus far). "Did you hear...something scary?--last night?"

Druig shifted on the chair, visibly uncomfortable.

"What did you hear, Love?" Thena cooed, running her hand through his hair and then smoothing it down again.

"You sounded like you were cryin'," he mumbled, kicking his feet nervously as he recounted it. "I thought you were havin' a bad dream, but you said 'Gil'."

Thena tried not to let it show that this was a nightmare. "Yes, I was...I wasn't having a bad dream, Darling."

"Then what?"

What a terribly difficult question. Thena counted each of his little toes in his triceratops socks...his tricerasocks. "We were...playing."

"Playing?" Druig frowned.

"Sometimes grownups," Thena paused. She had resolved she didn't want to lie to Druig, but this wasn't necessarily a blatant lie. It was more of a partial truth--for her own sanity. "Sometimes grownups like to play together, too. Things only grownups can play, that is--after kids have gone to bed."

"Oh," Druig blinked. He clearly wasn't ready to just accept it, but he didn't quite have any sound arguments against it, either.

"I'm sorry that hearing it upset you, Darling," Thena leaned forward, kissing her little boy's forehead. "I thought you were asleep. You know I never want you to feel scared."

"I know," Druig conceded, picking at his little hoodie pocket. He looked up at her again, "so you weren't crying?"

"No, Darling, I wasn't," she assured as confidently as she could. She brushed his hair back from his eyes again. "You know that Gil would never, ever hurt me - or you - right?"

"Yeah," Druig mumbled as guilt settled over him. "I know."

"It's okay," Thena whispered, standing up slowly (listening to her knees crack as she did). She paused partway up, kissing Druig's hair again before lifting him off the chair. "Darling?"

"Hm?" he looked up at her from his safe spot of hanging onto the edge of her cardigan.

"Next time you experience something like this, I want you to tell me, okay?" she gave his head by her knee a pat. "Even if you feel nervous to tell me, I want to know when you're unsure of something."

"Okay, Mum," he nodded, looking into the kitchen again as he actively thought over what to do with this new information.

Thena bent over again to whisper, "I think Gil is a little worried that you're angry with him, Darling."

Druig looked down at his feet. He had been angry at him, and he had thought it was justified.

"Why don't you help him serve dinner? I'm sure that will make him feel better," she suggested, which sent Druig stomping into the kitchen to do just that. She sighed.

"Dinner!"

"Well hi!" Gil laughed at Druig's declaration of his presence. He lifted the boy up to 'help' stir the spaghetti. "You lookin' for this?"

"Let me help!"

Thena walked in, sitting down as Gil finished dishing out servings for them. Hers was too big, as was always the case when Gil was making dinner. Druig's was on a sectioned plate with some green beans and a little extra meat sauce to make sure he was getting his nutrients.

Gil met her eyes and she nodded, assuring him that it was handled. He bounced Druig on his hip before depositing him into his chair. "Man, I'm starved."

Druig looked up in the middle of shoving as much pasta as he could possibly fit in his mouth, mumbling something in the middle of it.

"Not with your mouth full, Darling," Thena frowned, as well as reached over to wipe the excess sauce off his cheeks.

Druig whined at her fussing over him. Once his mouth was clean and he had swallowed his food he tried again. "Is it 'cause you were playing last night?"

Gil looked at Thena, who stared down intently at her pasta, picking up tiny little bites of it at a time so she wouldn't have to look at him while he answered that. "Uh, I guess so."

"What do you play?"

"Hm," Gil chuckled, caught between trying to think of what to tell the curious boy across from him and enjoying his girlfriend's fluster. "Grownup stuff, buddy--but sh!"

Druig's eyes went wide at the universal sign for something being a secret.

"We can't really talk about it," Gil whispered to him, "it's against the rules."

"Okay," Druig whispered back, although even that was loud.

"Eat the beans," Thena gave him a little poke, more focused on watching her son's eating habits than eating herself.

Gil cleared his throat, nodding to her plate, "and you?"

Thena gave him a defiant expression before taking a somewhat larger bite.

Gil grinned to himself, "you need your energy, after all."

Druig slurped up his spaghetti, unaware of his mother giving her boyfriend a friendly little kick under the table.