#but then Dane texts him and says that he's pretty sure Sersi said that she would be there

[softquietsteadylove]

Helloo, the 10 things about you Au was soo cute, i loved it. Could you do a part 2, pretty please 😁🩷.

"Princess?"

Thena bristled as soon as she heard it, as much as she tried to pretend she hadn't.

"Thena," Gilgamesh frowned, leaning over her shoulder while she tried to remain inconspicuous on the stairs. He nudged her, "Thena, what are you doing here?"

She pursed her lips, "I'm so sorry that my mere presence has interfered with your evening."

"Hey," Gil barked in protest, moving to sit with her despite the other party goers loitering around them. He crouched down one step below her, looking up at that scowl-y face of hers. "Really, Thena, I thought this wasn't really your scene, so what're you doing here?--at Ikaris'?"

She huffed, looking around them and so visibly uncomfortable she might as well have been hissing at him. "Sersi."

Gil tilted his head, awaiting further explanation. Thena squished herself even closer to the banisters as some guy came trudging down the stairs, practically kneeing her in the face.

Gil tripped him, sending him tumbling the rest of the way down.

She glared at him, "Gilgamesh!"

"Come on," he grumbled, pulling her up and out the front door by the hand.

"What are you doing?" she sniped at him, fighting him the few steps it took them to get out of the overcrowded and deafening house party.

"Getting some air," he frowned, pulling her with him until they could have some semblance of peace and quiet. "My question remains: what are you doing?"

Thena pulled herself out of his grasp, but she didn't sprint back to the house, or even down the front walkway. She leaned on the railing of the massive wrap-around deck. "Sersi wanted to come. She was hoping Dane would be here, but-"

"I mean," Gil pulled out his phone, "I'm pretty sure he was hoping for the same. At least last he texted me."

Thena looked back at the house forlornly. "I was afraid Ikaris would spot her and make his move."

"Ikaris?" Gil couldn't help but look at her with a frown. Ikaris was their age, and he couldn't imagine young Sersi even having an opportunity to get close to the infamous flirt that was Ikaris. "And Sersi?"

Thena pulled her cardigan tighter around herself as a summer breeze came along. "He tried to date me at one time."

Gil felt as if his eyebrows would rise clean off his face. For all the reasons Thena had to viscerally despise Ikaris, he wouldn't have guessed that one. Although he supposed that was just one more reason to hate the guy's guts.

Thena shrugged it off as best she could, "there was nothing serious about it, just a hunter looking for his prize. But after he figured out I wasn't interested in what he was offering...he turned his attentions to Sersi."

Gil nodded, trying to wrap his head around the tangled web encircling the sisters seemingly trying to mind their own business. He stepped closer to her, "that so?"

Thena either didn't notice him getting closer to her, or didn't mind it. His guess was the former. "I understand why she fell for his charms--the attentions of an older boy, someone everyone thinks is so cool. It's not as if I am immune to flattery. I once thought... "

Fuck this guy.

Thena shook her head, deciding she was done with that train of thought. She put her more steely expression back on, covering up the vulnerability that had started surfacing within her. "He is unfortunately proficient in seduction. And I would hate for my sister to fall victim to his false promises."

Seriously, fuck this guy. Gil agreed, pulling his hands out of his jeans pockets, "y'know, people do say that I was in juvie all of last year. If you want I'm sure I could, uh, teach him a thing or two."

Thena laughed--actually, fully laughed. But it was hard to feel laughed at when it was such a nice one. "Careful, Gilgamesh, or I'll ask you to follow through on that."

"Well," he shrugged, "maybe I would."

Thena looked at him, although it was just in time to find his arms reaching around her. "What're you-?!"

"Relax, Princess, relax," he soothed as he settled his hoodie on her bony little shoulders. "And don't even try to pretend you're not fuckin' freezing."

She looked pretty ready to do just that until another breeze passed by. She clamped her lips shut, although the slight purse to them told him that she wasn't happy about it. But she did look awfully cute, swallowed up by his massive hoodie around her lithe little frame.

Gil stayed relatively close, but also a safe distance away. Enough that she could give him a good hard shove if she wanted to. And knowing what he knew of Princess so far, he was sure she would have no problem doing so if she wanted.

"You said people 'say' you were in juvie."

He looked at her, unable to hide that he was intrigued by her striking up a conversation for herself. "Yeah?"

"So," she looked up at him, the moonlight bouncing off those stupid green eyes of hers. "Where were you really?"

He looked around, rubbing the back of his neck. He almost wished he had found some of those beers which had drawn him here in the first place. Why hadn't he?

Oh, right--so that if he ended up running into Princess here, he could prove he was sober enough to drive her home.

"I have an uncle who lives in the next state over," Gil nodded his head vaguely, tugging at the sleeves of his t-shirt. It was a lightly chilly summer night, but her bird-boned-ladyship obviously needed his sweater more than him. "He messed up his leg and needed help around the house. So I went and stayed with him all last year."

Thena looked genuinely surprised, drifting closer with her arms wrapped around herself. "Why do you let people make you out to be this terrible horror, then?"

He raised his chin up at her, "why do you let people think you're a bitter harpy?"

Thena didn't even blink, and while he didn't feel good about the remark, he had unfortunately heard much worse to describe her. "I am."

"You are not."

"And you would know?"

"I think I know you better than you want me to," Gil rose to her challenge, as well as physically stepped in closer again. He could tell that she had used some sweet smelling shampoo before coming to the party. Or maybe it was perfume? He grinned, "Princess."

She glared at him for the pet name again, but they were a lot closer than they were a second ago. Her eyes bounced around his face, "are you really going to keep calling me that?"

His eyes drifted down to her lips and stayed there, "what should I call you?"

"You..." she paused, her eyes dashing away as the front door opened behind him. "Sersi!"

Gil turned as well, although he had to admit he was more annoyed at the interruption than he was happy to see the two stumbling through the door mid-makeout. He rolled his eyes, "really, dude?"

"Th-Thena!" Sersi gasped, parting from Dane with her lip colour all over his paler skin. "I was-!"

"Coming home," Thena finished, grabbing her sister and prying her away from her lover-boy, "before Father has us both deported to a nunnery."

"Bye Dane!" Sersi at least managed to wave as Thena dragged her away, presumably in the direction of her car. "Bye Gil!"

Gil returned the friendlier sister's wave. He saw Thena's head twitch in his direction but refuse to bridge the gap to look back at him. He sighed.

Dane cleared his throat, sheepishly shuffling over to him as he swiped Sersi's evidence off his cheeks and lips. "S-Sorry, Gil, I didn't-"

"Don't worry about it," Gil chuckled, although he may have slapped the back of Dane's shoulder harder than he really needed to. "I owe you one."

"Owe me?" Dane blinked, watching Gil watch the sisters until they were completely out of sight. "For...?"

Gil slipped his hands back into his jeans pockets with a smirk, "I gotta get my sweater back somehow."