#when did Thena and Gil get married?

[softquietsteadylove]

I've got some request for Doctors AU, I've watched this scene on Grey's Anatomy. Thena's doing a surgery and Gil reminding her that it's time to take her meds, he's also holding some food. Thena walks through him and grumble while being fed by him.

Some cute, soft, quiet moment for them pls plus the interns being confused if they're married or not.

Thank you!!!

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS8PCpH8B/

"Okay, and one...two...three!"

Thena and Ikaris both bear down on the patient, Ikaris using his weight to reset the bone in question, Thena holding down the body to minimise the aftershock damage to the socket. It's a sickening sound, but they both laugh a little at the good sign.

One of the interns gags quietly.

"Please," Thena rolls her eyes at them, the last person interested in sparing their feelings. "You're training to be doctors and you're going to flinch at the sound of a hip joint?"

Ikaris looks at Thena as if the little pack of pups isn't even present, "you really do get the worst of the whelps down here."

Thena shrugs at him, "they come here to make cash, not learn."

A hand shoots up, "I wanna learn!"

"Lesson one, don't kiss ass," Ikaris barks at them. "Now, does one of you runts want to help me with the shoulder?"

They look between them, but Thena snaps her gloves off her hands, "you are here to learn. It's almost as if it's part of your jobs here--to learn to practise medicine?"

She tosses the gloves at them, and the one who catches them instead of letting them fall to the floor, she points to, "you."

The intern sighs, visibly tucking their tail between their legs as both Thena and Ikaris glare at them. They take Thena's position at the opposite side of the bed from Ikaris.

"Just hold 'im down. I'm doin' the hard part anyway."

Thena turns as the door cracks open, revealing a certain paramedic, "Gil?"

"Sorry to interrupt," he whispers, slipping into the room. The interns make room for him by Thena's side. "How's it going?"

"Car crash, some of the other guys picked him up pretty far out of the city," Thena narrates as the intern tries not to cry as Ikaris barks at them to hold the patient steady. "He's lucky it's not worse, but bones got pretty messed up from-"

"Having his feet on the dash," both of them finish simultaneously, laughing a little as they do.

The interns look at them funny for laughing at the severity of the injuries, but their backs go straight as Thena looks at them sharply again.

"Any of you ever done that?"

They all shake their heads, and immediately she can tell at least two of them are lying. She narrows her eyes, "tell me what this guy's recovery is going to look like."

They look between themselves, although they're learning that the longer they take doing so the more they get yelled at. "Uh, six to eight weeks minimum in a full cast-"

"And that's after his post-ops are done," Ikaris interjects as he resets the shoulder with another loud and sickening crack of bone on bone. "You don't just reset a hip and then put 'em in a plaster diaper for two months."

"He's lucky the bone didn't break clear through his pelvis," Thena says, not sugarcoating it at all for the young minds in the room. They shudder, but she looks up at Gil, "you back from a run?"

"Yep," he grins at her, "and it's that time."

Thena frowns, turning over her wrist to look at her watch and then back up at him, "I can't just leave the whelps."

Gil shrugs, though, "we can do it here."

The interns begin to trade looks between themselves, a few of them seeming vaguely flustered.

"No, we can't," Thena huffs at Gil, tucked right into her personal bubble. She puts her hands on her hips, "we're in the middle of a case."

"Ikaris has it under control," Gil waves vaguely in the direction of their colleague with his hoodie pocket. "And you're not going to avoid me all day, so you might as well just let me get it over with."

A few of the interns blush.

"Gil," Thena sighs, almost seeming sheepish herself. She knows better than to try and fight him on this, "you don't have to do this, you know."

"Maybe," he neither admits nor denies, instead just sidestepping her protests, as weak as they are. "But I want to, and that's all that matters."

Even Ikaris is eyeing them occasionally while he checks over the rest of the patient's crumbled tinfoil ball of a body.

Thena sighs and rolls her eyes as loudly as possible. Gil lets her, reaching into his pockets and pulling out a pill bottle, a bundle of wax wrap, and a bottle of vitamin water.

The interns watch in shock - and maybe a little horror - as Gilgamesh first presses the pill between Thena's lips, then tips up the water for her to take a sip. Her hands remain planted on her hips, so she technically isn't handling any contamination for herself.

"And," Gil smiles as he unwraps the wax wrap, holding up a rice ball.

Thena eyes the onigiri. "Tuna?"

"Of course," he grins, holding it up for her to take a bite. She licks her lips, and he takes the liberty of grabbing a grain of rice she missed for himself.

Thena sighs, unable to keep herself from smiling, "how do you find the time to be such a good cook?"

"Just for you, dear," he chuckles, offering another bite. "How is it?"

He's not talking about the onigiri he has lovingly made and now fed to her. He's not talking about how her day is going or even how this specific patient is going for her.

Thena looks down at the leg of hers that had been impaled an increasing number of weeks ago. She's on the last week of her antibiotic and nerve suppressant medications for it, which Gil is hand feeding her for the sake of keeping her timing consistent.

Gil tucks some of her stray hair behind her ear as he offers another sip of lemonade flavoured water. The interns - and Ikaris - are still being forced to witness every sickening moment of it.

"It's okay," Thena tells Gil honestly as she's chewing. "It's still a little sore some mornings, but once I get going, it's fine."

"And you're still-"

"I'm still doing the stretches," she drones out like a teenager being asked something tedious. Gil has been more strict about her regiment than her physiotherapist, which she has told him multiple times. He only seems proud of that, though.

"Good," he grins as she finishes off the light snack. He swipes his thumb at the corners of her lips again before taking the rest of the water for himself. "Kingo and I are headed out. I'll see you tonight?"

Thena just nods, waving at him to wish him luck on his next run into the field.

Ikaris sighs roughly through his teeth, snapping off his gloves as well. "That's all we can do at the moment. From here, we get him prepped for surgery so we can look at his nerve damage and see just how hard rehabilitation is going to be."

The intern who helped him reset the bone is white as a ghost, paler than the Phantom of the ER herself.

"Go inform Ajak," Thena orders the pups, who walk out talking amongst themselves.

"I didn't know her husband could cook."

"Dude, I didn't even know he was her husband!"

"Really?--all you have to do is see them together once and you know."

Ikaris walks out behind them alongside Thena, who is rubbing sanitiser into her hands. She doesn't seem to be aware of the interns gossiping about her, or maybe she's just used to it. Ikaris has to admit that even he hadn't thought they were together. Although Sersi is always telling him he's a bit thick about this stuff.

He didn't think they were public about it, at least. But it doesn't get much more public than letting your husband hand feed you a home cooked lunch in front of the interns.

[zafirosreverie]

The M word (Ajak x F!Reader) part 3

part 1

_________________________

"Fuck off! Sersi is mine!" you yelled, smiling as you ran down the halls.

Ajak's laughter followed you, and you knew the woman was hot on your heels, so you quickened your pace. You knew you were being childish, and the other would probably complain later that you made her lose her straightness, but at that moment you decided to enjoy seeing her so free and happy. Plus, giving Thena a little blackmail material never hurt.

"You already have Makkari and Druig!" she protested but you could hear the amusement in her tone

"And I'm going for Phastos and Kingo!" you yelled back

"We agreed to leave Kingo last!"

"Then I'm going for Ikaris!"

You laughed again as you took a sharp turn down a hallway. You turned your head so you could stick your tongue out at Ajak, not noticing that a door opened, causing you to enter the meeting room and crash directly into Gilgamesh. At least the man didn't seem affected by it.

"Are you alright?" he asked you, helping you to your feet

"Yes" you laughed "thank you"

"She touched him, does that count as having him on our team?"

You looked around to realize that the rest of the Eternals were also in the room, most of them looking at you in confusion as Druig and Makkari smiled knowingly at you. You returned the gesture and hugged one of Gilgamesh's arms just in time for Ajak to enter the room. She tried to look serious and demure as always, but you knew that everyone had heard her laughter in the halls, and the beads of sweat and her heavy breathing gave her away.

"I just took Gil away from you" you told the woman with a grin

The prime eternal simply rolled her eyes fondly and crossed her arms, smiling at you in amusement. You stuck your tongue out at her again and pressed a little closer against Gilgamesh, you could hear Druig giggling and you didn't have to look to know Thena was smiling too.

"Well that leaves Phastos for me then" your girlfriend said

"Over my dead body!" you said, letting go of the man and pressing an accusing finger into the woman's chest.

"Uh, did I miss something?" Kingo said "what's going on here?"

You looked at your family, feeling truly lucky to belong to such a special group and to be seen as an equal by them despite everything. It had been years since you had felt anything like it and you could no longer imagine a life without them.

"Oh, don't you know?" you asked mockingly

"Know what?"

You shared a look with Ajak, almost as if you were silently asking her permission, to which she nodded, her smile never leaving her lips. You turned to the Eternals, ready to drop a bombshell that only Makkari, Druig, and Thena knew about.

"We're getting married" you smiled.

The following seconds were deathly silent, where everyone seemed to try to register your words as if they were foreign to them. Kingo was the first to react and from there it was all screaming and chaos. Warm and familiar chaos.

"What?!"

"FUCKING FINALLY!"

"AND WHY DID I NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?!"

"We found out this morning"

"No, no hold on, why did they know before ME?!"

"Because Ajak loves me more"

"No, no, I get you, Thena, I was talking about Druig"

You and Ajak looked at each other for a moment before sharing a laugh as Druig and Kingo got into a little argument. Sometimes it was hard to remember that these people were in charge of watching over and protecting humanity, especially when they behaved like kindergartners.

"Congratulations" Gilgamesh smiled at you.

"Thank you" you replied

"And who asked who?" Phastos asked, approaching you.

"Oh, none have" Ajak replied.

The room went completely silent again and you had to bite your lower lip to keep from laughing at everyone's faces. You really wished you had the camera that Phastos had given you at that moment.

"Excuse me, what?"

"Well, we talked about it some time ago and we both agreed that we'd like to take that step" you said, blushing when Ajak linked her fingers with yours "But there hasn't been a formal proposal."

"And that's where we come in" Thena smiled.

"What do you mean?" Ikaris intervened

"Ajak asked me this morning if I could help her plan something to propose to Y/N" the blonde replied.

"And Y/N heard it, so she asked Makkari and me to help make her proposal to Ajak better" Druig added.

"So here we are" you said "recruiting you all to help us"

"Oh, proposals war! I like it" Kingo smiled "what's the prize?"

"The winner chooses where we spend our honeymoon and the names of our future children"

You laughed as Ajak choked next to you and blushed so deeply that even her dark skin couldn't hide it. She looked at you with wide eyes and you had to place a quick kiss on her lips to prevent her from scolding you. You knew that was not part of what you had agreed to, but it occurred to you at the moment. You weren't even sure you could (or that she wanted) have kids, and it was definitely something you had to talk about later, but for now, you pretended it was all part of the plan. It worked if the way everyone was looking at you with interest was any indication.

"Oh, I'm so into it!" Kingo said loudly "which team I’m in?"

"Mine" Ajak said, taking the man's hand before you could react.

"Hey! That's not fair, we said we'd leave Kingo last" you complained with a pout

"What? And why me last?!" he asked indignantly

"Because you're the one who already has the entire wedding planned" you said "and we both want that wit on our team"

That seemed to calm the man, who stood a little taller with pride, not noticing the sarcasm in your voice, Ajak's eye roll, or Thena's wicked grin. Always go for the ego.

"So what about the rest of us?" Sprite asked

"I want Ikaris" you said

"No, we don't want Ikaris" Druig protested.

"Yes we do" you replied

"No, we don't want him, we want Phastos"

"Phastos belongs to me" Ajak said

"Why?!"

"Because Y/N already took Gilgamesh"

"Sorry, weren't you fighting over Sersi?" Thena asked smiling

“We weren’t fighting” your girlfriend frowned

"Yes we were, and she's mine" you said, taking Sersi's arm

"No, no, if I'm going to be on Ajak's team, I need Sersi too" Kingo said, taking her other arm.

"Then I want Ikaris!"

"We don't want Ikaris!"

"ENOUGH!"

They all jumped up and looked at Ajak with a bit of embarrassment. You had to hide your smile and squeeze your legs a bit to calm the growing heat between them (that woman was fucking sexy when she got bossy, ok?!) while the prime eternal looked at them all with amusement.

"Obviously we need a peaceful solution to this. I don't want wars in my marriage proposal" she said, sounding a little too proud about the last words.

"Okay, okay, I have an idea" you said "Since it's evident that hunting them down one by one didn't work...how about you have the thinkers and I have the fighters?"

"I like it, except for one problem" your girlfriend said

"Which is?"

"I want Thena"

"Yes, as her best friend, I'm going with Ajak" Thena said

"Okay, then I'll trade her for Phastos" you said.

"You talk about us as if we were trading cards" the inventor said amused

"And I want Gilgamesh" the blonde said

"Give me Sersi" you crossed your arms, making the young woman smile at you, probably grateful for not only being taken into account but apparently being one of the most coveted.

"Didn't you want Druig?" Sprite asked 

"I don't want to be on the same team as Ikaris" Druig replied

"I'm not even going to pretend that it hurt me" the flyer smiled

"Give me Sersi and you have Gilgamesh" you said

"Done" your girlfriend smiled

"But we are 5 and you are 6" Sprite intervened

"Ikaris and Sersi are on the same team, they'll probably get lost in each other's eyes, and Kingo and Y/N are a mess together, we're really only up against Phastos and Makkari" Druig sneered.

"Pfff, that's because you haven't seen Kingo, Makkari, and me drunk and wanting to embarrass Ajak" you smirked

"We have this won!" Kingo said, giving you a high five

"No one is going to get drunk!" the prime eternal said, a little worried and blushing

"I don't tell you what strategies to use with your team!"

She tried to give you a serious look as she crossed her arms as well, but it only lasted a few seconds before she laughed and shook her head affectionately.

"So, is it agreed?" Sprite asked, oddly enough, she looked quite invested in this.

"No, wait, how much time do we have?" Phastos asked

You and Ajak looked at each other, you hadn't thought of that. If you were being honest, you really didn't even expect your girlfriend to go along with the silly game, or that the others (besides Kingo, Makkari, and Thena) would actually want to participate, so you hadn't bothered to think of a date.

"Well...in two months it's the anniversary of having met you" Ajak smiled at you

You smiled back and took her hand to kiss her knuckles gently. The heat that she aroused in you (and not just the sexual kind) was immense and despite all the games and jokes, you really looked forward to marrying her.

"Okay, before you get too cutesy and I get diabetes" Thena scoffed "we're all in agreement, we have two months to plan the best proposal"

"And the winner has honeymoon rights and future baby names" Kingo smiled

"Yeah, it's a deal" you said

"Will you ever tell us how you met?" Sprite suddenly asked

You looked at Ajak and wrapped one of your arms around her waist, pulling her close to you as she placed a hand on your shoulder and gazed at you lovingly.

"Nope" you both said at the same time

The other Eternals complained and you and your girlfriend laughed. You put a lock behind her ear and caressed her cheek softly before giving her a sweet kiss. 

[annamarielabeau]

MCU Phase 4 ships I hope to see have some outcome.

Druig/Makkari-My favorite Marvel ship EVER!!! Like, seriously I want someone to love me the way Druig loves Makkari. Barry Keoghan and Lauren Ridloff just have amazing chemistry, need I say more. Whether it’s in a movie sequel or prequel series I just hope to see more of them being a power couple, working together more, I just want them to have more screen time than they did in the first movie, they’re so sweet! 

Sersi/Ikaris and Thena/Gilgamesh-If there’s ever more Eternals content, I would like to have a prequel series about the Eternals time on Earth to better understand the characters and the relationships. Ikaris and Sersi included. I was moved by their little moment at the end of the movie but I just want more of them to understand the severity of the scene a bit more. Thena and Gilgamesh, I tbh only see as a purely platonic friendship, but if it wasn’t that works just as well. Again with a prequel series of some kind we could see more of them together and understand the reason why Gil chose to take care of Thena. (Plus Don Lee did say he signed up for more than one Marvel project so.....)

Sersi/Dane-They were very cute together, whatever is in store for them I’m on board 100%!! 

Xu Xialing/Katy Chen-I don’t really ship these two but I can see it work. One’s the love-able dork and the other is just a bad-ass. Friends to lovers, yes! 100%

Maya Lopez/Kazi Kazimierczak-Like Gil and Thena this could very well be a platonic friendship or a romantic relationship. (The scene when Kazi is patching up her wounds tho and how Maya dressed up when she went to fight him like?!) Either way they definitely have a history together. As shown in the deleted scene for Hawkeye, I’m not sure if he’s actually dead. (95% sure he is) Whether or not he is blah blah I want to see maybe one flashback scene of them in the Echo series or how his death affects or affected Maya. 

Thor/Mighty Thor (Jane Foster)-Love and Thunder wasn’t one of my absolute favorite phase 4 movies ever but I liked this “remedy” of their relationship. The “Our Last Summer” monologue was so funny and served as a great way for the audience to understand the importance of their love etc. Jane is obviously dead, died a warrior’s death, she’s now in Vahalla. I don’t know how but at some point I just want Jane and Thor to reunite, even if it’s just for a moment. 

Wong/Sara-Not too many people know about this one I’m sure and Sara for those who don’t know Sara is the one who destroyed the Darkhold, then sacrificing herself. Again with the platonic or romantic relationship question. I think it can be seen as either of them. They might have had some history together. But the moment they had together before Sara sacrificed herself and how she touched Wong’s cheek, so sweet!

Doctor Strange/Clea-I don’t know anything about them in the comics other than at some point they get married and Clea is Dormammu’s niece. But if they get together, I’m down, I kind of just want Stephen to be happy. 

Peter Parker/MJ Waston-These two are so cute!! They deserve the world. I don’t think they’ll ever be together again which is probably for best since for the moment, they seemed to have set up a Tobey Maguire Spiderman self discovery arc for Peter. But somehow I’d love to see MJ and Peter reunite. 

Kamala Khan/Bruno Carrelli-Now Kamala Khan has a few potential love interests as she does in the comics. I’m not getting ahead of myself, there’s only been one season so far, (season 2! season 2!!!) I’m team Bruno. But if they ever get together, I’d rather see more of their backstory and more of them together. 

King Valkyrie/Captain Marvel-This ship has been around for a while and I know there has been a rumor of Valkyrie being in The Marvels because of the deleted Insta post, posted by Zenobia Shroff. I’d wouldn’t mind this at all. Kevin Feige said “Every King needs a Queen” I want to see more of Valkyrie’s bisexuality expressed.

Loki/Sylvie-I mean I don’t care either way if they end up together, I’m not uncomfortable that they’re their both Loki’s, they’re from different universes so, not that bad? When it comes to their future, I don’t see them actually end up together, for Loki season 2, they’re probably just going to ignore their history and work together, maybe flirt a bit a little on the way. 

Jack Russell/Elsa Bloodstone-I sensed a bit of romantic vibes between them, I have no idea when or if we’ll ever see them again but I kind of just want Jack to show up and see Elsa again while she’s basically creating a new legacy of her family’s name and stopping monster hunting etc. 

Jennifer Walters/(She-Hulk)Matthew Murdock(Daredevil)-Whatever happens for these two crime fighting lawyers, I’m down. They had amazing chemistry in the show and I liked it because Jen met someone who made her happy. 

Ayo/Aneka-I didn’t know this but they are a couple in the comics, this is briefly represented in the movie. Like Ayo saying “I told you not to bring the daggers” and then Aneka kissing her head towards the end of the movie. I just want to see more of these beautiful warrior women enjoying their lives in their lakefront house. Make it happen Disney Plus!!!

Shuri/M’Baku-There’s not a lot of hype around this ship, some fanfics. After seeing Wakanda Forever I just felt some romantic vibes between them. I don’t see them becoming anything. But I just liked throughout this movie Shuri and M’Baku are just these two leaders doing what’s best by their people, Shuri is struggling and receives some council from M’Baku. Even if there’s nothing romantic between them I still appreciate the respect they have for each other. 

[themculibrary]

Fic Titles W/ Character Names Masterlist

5 times adam felt something for peter + 1 time peter felt something for adam… (ao3) - JustSomeFanGirling peter/adam N/R, 3k

Summary: As Adam Warlock adjust to his new life on Knowhere and as a member of the Guardians other new feelings out discovered and for a certain team’s captain.

5 times peter slept where he shouldn’t (ao3) - punkybunny T, 13k

Summary: (+ 1 time Tony did!)

Peter has a tendency to fall sleep in places that he probably shouldn’t be sleeping in, whether he means to or not. Cue Tony, who is becoming increasing distressed as he tries to keep his kid safe and get him to finally sleep in an actual bed.

25 days of thena and gilgamesh (ao3) - Bright_Boisterous_Bananas gilgamesh/thena M, 5k

Summary: A collection of Drabbles for Thena and Gilgamesh!

Countdown to Christmas with 25 little snippets of pure love, pure fluff, pure pining and more!

a barton surprise (ao3) - Delena_Stark clint/laura, pepper/tony G, 5k

Summary: Requested by Droth “Maybe one where Peter is Tony’s 12 year old biological son. Peter has to go with Tony to the Barton farm, and he ends up hanging out with the older Barton kids.”

barnes family motors, inc. (ao3) - phlintandsteel bucky/tony E, 68k

Summary: In a world where alphas legally own omegas, Bucky is just a small time mechanic from Brooklyn who gets lucky in a poker game. Tony is an omega whose life is fraught with abuse, until his luck suddenly takes a turn for the better.

In the grand scheme of things they may only be able to make little differences in the lives of those around them, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth making them. After all, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

bucky barnes got married (ao3) - 27dragons, monobuu, tisfan bucky/tony M, 90k

Summary: Bucky married Tony when they were both teenagers. Tony had just lost his parents and Bucky had just lost his arm, and they thought sticking together was the best choice they could make. Now, twenty years later, Bucky fears that he’s lost Tony’s love and is wondering if they made the wrong choice, after all. More than anything, he wishes that he could go back in time and try again, but that’s just a fantasy… or is it?

Don't Bet With Nick Fury (ao3) - Westgate (Harkpad) clint/phil T, 1k

Summary: Phil loses a bit to Nick, and the payoff is more than annoying than a Duran Duran song from the 80s. He and Clint have to go to his High School reunion. It's a little bit Grosse Pointe Blank, it's a little bit badass Phil. Clint thinks the whole night is a success.

five times pepper potts took care of tony stark (and one time tony stark took care of her) (ao3) - zauberer_sirin pepper/tony T, 5k

Summary: In Pepper’s defense she really did try to keep things professional.

Four (Or Five) Reasons for Kidnapping Tony Stark (ao3) - scifigrl47 steve/tony, clint/phil T, 78k

Summary: There are four reasons for kidnapping Tony Stark. Tony's sick of all of them. Well, there's potentially a fifth, but it's highly unlikely that Captain America will suddenly fulfill THAT fantasy. Tony's deeply disappointed about that.

Steve Rogers, as always, is oblivious. At least, that is, until someone who isn't him kidnaps Tony. Then he's just pissed.

gamora, you’re a fine girl (ao3) - Meraki_fics gamora/peter G, 4k

Summary: Gamora has never been good at emotions, being raised by a genocidal maniac does that to a person. Emotions are a weakness, at least that’s how Thanos raised his borrowed children. Emotions were not something she ever spent time on or paid any attention to. However, in her new home with her new family, emotions were something to be aware of.

Gilgamesh and Makkari's no good, very bad week (ao3) - IIIIFANDOMiii druig/makkari G, 13k

Summary: "Please don't drop me" Gil hadn't really put two and two together when he asked Makkari to take him to the Bazaar. Yes, she's the fastest being in the universe, yes she can definitely carry him no problem but no, he's not sure if he can survive being carried around while she casually breaks the sound barrier.

or A three day shopping trip turned into a race against time for Gilgamesh, after a Deviant attack left Makkari deathly injured miles away from home.

A quick fic I wrote for my own needs since I wanted to write a relationship between Gilgamesh and Makkari since they barely interacted during the movie :')

peggy carter is a howling commando (ao3) - The_Marauders_Daughter steve/peggy M, 19k

Summary: It’s 1944, and Hydra is giving the SSR a very hard time. Sometimes Captain America isn’t enough for a mission. Sometimes what the mission needs is Peggy Carter.

peter’s stars (ao3) - IronPengu, parkrstark steve/tony T, 175k

Summary: Steve and Peter lose their apartment and are kicked out on the streets. Steve has to juggle between jobs to earn whatever money he can, take care of his son while resfusing to let him realize how much they’re trouble in, and keep them warm and safe on the city streets in winter.

So, he really doesn’t have time to date the billionaire that flirts with him everyday as he buys his cup of coffee. Even if he did, he can’t let himself fall for the man. Because if he knew that he lived from a backpack and showered in a public bathroom there’s no way he’d still want him…right?

The First Time Phil Stayed (ao3) - AdamantSteve clint/phil M, 2k

Summary: Phil finally stays the night. Clint is determined to make it worth his while.

The Immortal Hawkeye (ao3) - copperbadge clint/bucky, background steve/tony T, 8k

Summary: Clint's a little older than he looks, and his DNA has a few surprises in store, too.

the one where clint is wanda’s weakness (ao3) - JinxQuickfoot T, 5k

Summary: Agatha dragged her hostage around in front of her, yanking the strings so he was forced up onto his knees. “Told you I had a very special surprise for you. Now—standdown, dear.”

Slowly, still not quite believing this was real, Wanda lowered her hands, trying to find her voice again. “Clint?” ————————————– So that’s where Clint was during WandaVision

the one with natasha and wanda’s agreement (ao3) - kenscarquin wanda/natasha E, 45k

Summary: “What kind of agreement,” she’s whispering her words now, Natasha’s mouth just inches from her own.

“Sex. Friends with benefits. No strings attached. That kind of thing,” Wanda’s knees weaken as Natasha speaks, the words sounding so out of place but at the same time, so fitting coming out of the red head’s mouth. “Are you interested?”

Wanda Enchanted (ao3) - percyjacksonfan9261 wanda/vision, steve/natasha G, 52k

Summary: When Wanda was a baby, her fairy godmother, Agatha, decided to give her the so called "gift" of obedience. By the time that Wanda becomes a teenager, sick of her step family bullying her, she decides to go on a quest to find out where she can find her fairy godmother and convince her to remove to "gift". Joining Wanda is one of her few friends, an elf who wants to be an inventor in a world that doesn't allow it, and a prince who's uncle just so happens to be plotting to kill him for a bid to take over the throne. When Wanda slowly starts falling for the prince and uncovers the plot of his assassination, she has to figure out what's more important in her life: following her heart or getting rid of her obedience once and for all.

wanda’s reward (ao3) - Spagheddje wanda/vision G, 3k

Summary: Wanda, when confronted with Death herself, must make a choice. Lady Death isn’t prepared to take her soul. Not today, at least. Instead, she wants to strike a deal with the Witch to end this war once and for all.

when (brock) falls in love (ao3) - winter_angst jack/brock M, 10k

Summary: Jack needs to set the record straight on the untimely passing of his husband, disgraced actor Brock Rumlow.

[eternalowl]

Eternals incorrect quotes part four: Thenamesh Edition because I love these two

Gilgamesh: What would you do if you were being robbed?

Thena, without hesitation: Blast them into the atmosphere.

Gilgamesh: Wow, great work on the Halloween decorations. Where did you get the fake skeletons?

Thena: …

Thena: …Fake…?

Thena: How are you going to carve that gigantic pumpkin?

Gilgamesh: The same way I make onion rings.

Gilgamesh: *Grabs a chainsaw*

Thena: …

Thena: I can’t argue with that. You make amazing onion rings.

Thena: YOU MEAN A LOT TO ME!

Gilgamesh: Wha-

Thena: YOU'RE ESSENTIAL TO MY EXISTENCE!

Gilgamesh: Why are you screaming?!

Thena: I HAVE DIFFICULTY EXPRESSING MYSELF, IT HELPS TO SAY SENTIMENTAL THINGS IN AN AGGRESSIVE TONE!

Gilgamesh:

Thena: I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Thena: Hey, Gil, can you do the thing?

Gilgamesh: What thing?

Thena: The thing that makes me happy.

Gilgamesh: Oh. *Smiles*

Thena: Thank you.

Gilgamesh: *Mindlessly flirting with Thena*

Thena: *Actually flirts back*

Gilgamesh:

Thena:

Thena: You're not going to say anything?

Gilgamesh, panicking: I don't know. I didn't think I'd get this far.

Thena: I don't need to go to bed. I'm not tired, I'll be fine.

Gilgamesh: But, darling, I'll be so lonely without you. Come curl up in my arms so I can feel whole again.

Thena: O-oh. Well. Are you trying to seduce me into healthy sleeping patterns??

Gilgamesh: Is it working?

Thena, pointing: May I sit there?

Gilgamesh: But that’s… my lap?

Thena: That doesn’t answer my question.

Gilgamesh: *Yawns*

Thena: I guess being pretty is tiring.

Gilgamesh: You must be exhausted, then.

Thena: *Gets overwhelmed*

Gilgamesh: Is something burning?

Thena: Just my love for you.

Gilgamesh: Thena, the toaster is oN FIRE-

Gilgamesh: Why does everyone assume we’re a couple?

Thena: *Sitting on Gilgamesh’s lap, playing with his hair*

Thena: Beats me.

Thena: Come to dinner tonight. I can’t cook, but I’ll brink plenty of free wine.

Gilgamesh: Marry me.

Gilgamesh: Are you trying to seduce me?

Thena: Why, are you seducible?

Thena, to the Eternals: Alright, listen up you little shits.

Thena: Not you Gil. You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

Gilgamesh: Wait a minute, how did this happen? We're smarter than this!

Thena: Apparently, we're not.

Gilgamesh: What is the one thing I told you not to do?

Thena: Burn the house down.

Gilgamesh: And what did you do?

Thena: I made dinner.

Gilgamesh:

Thena:

Gilgamesh:

Thena: And burnt the house down.

Thena: Gilgamesh taught me to think before I act.

Thena: ...So if I smack the shit out of you, rest assured that I thought about it and am confident in my decision.

Thena: I wasn’t that drunk.

Gilgamesh: You colored my face with a highlighter because you said I was important.

Thena: BECAUSE YOU ARE!

Gilgamesh: Everything’s fine, Thena.

Thena: Gil, I know your relationship with the English language is strictly casual but you- I- *deeply inhales* ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU WHAT’S NOT FINE-

Gilgamesh, to Thena: How do you tell someone politely you want to hit them with a brick?

Thena: One wishes to acquaint your facial features with a fundamental item in building walls.

Thena: Repeatedly.

Gilgamesh, tearing up: That was beautiful.

Gilgamesh: Are you mad?

Thena: No.

Gilgamesh: So sharpening your knives at 3 in the morning is just a hobby?

Gilgamesh: Nobody can be THAT bad at cooking.

Thena, walking into the room: So um…

Thena: I stabbed a knife with a toaster…

Gilgamesh: That’s not physically possible…

Thena: Who hurt you?

Gilgamesh: *Snorting* What, do you want a list?

Thena: ...Yes, actually.

Thena: My assistance will be an act of beneviolence.

Gilgamesh: ...Don’t you mean benevolence?

Thena: No.

Gilgamesh: When's the last time you slept?

Thena: Uh... a few days ago, I think.

Gilgamesh: A few- how many?!

Thena: Uh... *Starts counting on fingers* I need more fingers...

Gilgamesh: What you need is sleep!

Thena: Sleep is the body’s best safety mechanism.

Gilgamesh: How so?

Thena: It keeps you from fucking up for 8 hours.

*At a zoo*

Thena: What are they in for?

Gilgamesh: Thena, this isn't prison.

Thena: So they can leave?

Gilgamesh: No, but-

Thena, pointing at a meerkat: I bet that one murdered someone.

Gilgamesh: Why aren’t you asleep yet?

Thena: I’m too busy plotting a murder to sleep.

Gilgamesh: …

Thena: …The nightmares…

Gilgamesh, wrapping his arms around her: Awww, sweetheart-

Gilgamesh: I made tea.

Thena: I don't want tea.

Gilgamesh: I didn't make you tea. This is my tea.

Thena: Then why did you tell me?

Gilgamesh: It's a conversation starter.

Thena, laughing: It's a horrible conversation starter.

Gilgamesh: Oh, is it? We're conversing. Checkmate.

Gilgamesh: That’s the key slice of truth we need to complete the entire truth pie.

Thena: Ooh, can we get some actual pie?

Gilgamesh: I like the way you think.

Gilgamesh: Hey Thena, I’ve got an idea for how to solve this.

Thena, materializing a spear: Yeah?

Gilgamesh: Wh- No! That’s not the idea, Thena!

Gilgamesh: I made this necklace for you.

Thena: Thanks, but you know I’m not really a jewelry person.

Gilgamesh: You don’t need to wear it…

Thena: No. I’m going to wear it forever. Back off.

Kidnapper: We have your wife.

Gilgamesh: Why are you informing me of your death?

Kidnapper: …

Gilgamesh: You fell into her trap.

Gilgamesh: Thena… You’ve been cuddling me for over an hour now…

Thena: *muffled* Mm hmm :D

Gilgamesh: …

Gilgamesh: Fuck, I should be annoyed but you can’t annoy me.

Thena: Valentine’s day is just a consumerist holiday that holds no real value other than drive people insane buying heart shaped chocolates for their significant others and pos-

Gilgamesh: I wrote you a poem.

Thena, already crying: You did?

[taylorkellyreporting]

i hope no one minds if i liveblog this bitch: eternals

BEAUTIFUL MAKKARI

oh shit ikaris and sersi got married??? i thought they just dated and then broke up

druig’s just like me 🫂 (always eating)

thena ☹️

i get where druig’s coming from but obviously mind controlling people is not the answer

“my friends from college are here!” 😭

sooo ikaris definitely killed ajak right?

“one time i turned a rock into air! :D” oh i love her

tony stark you will always be famous

“ajak didn’t even choose you to lead us.” 🗣GET HIM

gil is so funny i love him

“druig sucks!” “he does sir.” pls

I’D DO IT AGAIN ON ANY PLANET

sprite is in love with ikaris? oh wow

i really thought makkari and phastos were in the entire movie not just bits and pieces 🥴

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IKARIS

“i’ll remember. i’ll remember.” I HATE IT HERE

“he gave up on humans a long time ago.” ummm isn’t he married to one??? 😭

phastos has a beautiful family 🥺

“fall collection. ikea. ass.” lmfaooo

his goodbyes to his family ☹️

did they just forget makkari’s existence??? they haven’t mentioned my girl once this whole movie

MAKKARI THERE YOU ARE MY LOVE

“at least my boredom will end.” she’s just like me

DRUIG REALLY GAVE UP TWINKIES(is that what they were) FOR MAKKARI OH HES DOWN BAD

“MY BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL MAKKARI DID YOU MISS ME?”

i hate sprite

HE KNEW???!!!? glad my hate for this guy is valid

THAT’S WHY HE REACTED THAT WAY WHEN KONGO SAID THAT TO HIM. BC HE SAID IT TO AJAK BEFORE KILLING HER

IKARIS IS NOTHING BUT A COWARD

need ikaris GONE immediately

i hate how almost none of the eternals sign when talking to makkari

“i already gave that speech! ✋🏻" i love thena lmao

oh God makkari’s cry for druig i am not doing okay

MAKKARI KICKING IKARIS ASS IKTR

WACK HER AGAIN DRUIG

IKARIS DIED? WE ALL CHEERED

SHE FELT HIM

“it’s okay. it’s okay.” CRYING

sprite doesn’t deserve to be human

“stand behind me, actually.” 😭

“don’t go anywhere near him.” lmfaoooo

oh shit sersi

oh there’s definitely a sequel coming

so the movie was good i guess? i liked the characters a lot more than i liked the plot if i’m honest.

i’m gonna need a shit ton of makkari and phastos scenes in the next movie bc the ones we got in this one weren’t enough

[miss-crazy-rose]

OI HERE’S MY UNREQUESTED OPINION ON THE ETERNALS BUT LIKE NOT THE MOVIE THE ETERNALS THEMSELVES (after my second viewing)

Spoilers, obviously

Sersi: At first I thought she was a little bit bland, you know this “main character syndrome” where the creators want so badly to make you understand THIS is the main character and they are the GOOD GUY that they end up not having any personality and you fail to get attached? That’s how I felt at first. And then I thought about it and I figured what was Sersi’s personality: she is inherently human. She is the one who assimilated the best and in the end, that was the point of the movie : do the Eternals better the humans or do the humans better the eternals? The answer is both and she is the proof: the Eternals were supposed to be incapable of evolution and yet she evolved, her powers became stronger. This humanity is the reason Ajak chose her to succeed her because she knew she would put the humans first because she is the most compassionate and the most human of all. She is not my favorite but I can recognize that she is a great character.

Ikaris: bitch ass fly boy I’m glad you threw yourself into the sun. Nah nah real opinion here: I think Ikaris is equally a great character for the complete opposite reason: he completely failed to become human and therefore never questioned anything and never evolved. He was so blinded by faith and so detached from humanity he failed to recognize how wrong Arishem grand dessein was (ironically a whole lot of humans are so blinded by faith nowadays that they fail to see they are cruel. Does that make Ikaris human too? That would be a great subject to meditate on). The plot twist of him knowing about everything and killing Ajak was brilliantly executed: the promo and the biggest part of the movie presented him as mister perfect and I was so focused on finding him boring and bland that I was completely taken aback by his betrayal. I don’t like him but he is truly a great character

Ajak: I don’t have much to say because we barely saw her. She was like the mother of the group and for that I do like her but apart from that? Why did she decided to rebel specifically on Earth? You’re going to tell me that in the millions of year she lived not a single other planet seemed worth saving??? I don’t know it doesn’t make much sense to me. I would like to learn more about her though to try to figure her character better

Thena: oh my how much I loved Thena. The balance between her strength and her weakness was so brilliantly executed. The phase 4 is really bringing mental illness into the light while not making it the characters whole personality and in the mainstream media it’s a huge step forward. I also love how she is not only a warrior, she is compassionate, she loved her family. I also noticed that her suit was the most feminine looking of all and she is still known as the best warrior, femininity and strength going together (I know Athena who she supposedly inspired is often represented in modern media as tomboyish because “pretty girls don’t do war” and it’s fucking refreshing to see Thena looking so feminine). Also her relationship with Gilgamesh is everything. That is a married couple your honor

Gilgamesh: speaking of the devil! We don’t see much of him (😭) but I really loved what they did here with him. Yes he is brutally strong but he is also very very very gentle. When they meet him again with Thena in Australia and he’s basically a stay at home husband who cooks and brews alcohol all day? While taking care of his danger wife? I melted. He deserved more. Forever in our hearts Gil ❤️

Sprite: while I am annoyed to find another “I betray you all because I love the bad guy” trope, I understand where her anger is coming from (if I had to stay in my 12yo body for eternity believe me I would have snapped earlier 😅). The “I can make you human” seemed to come a little bit from nowhere but I thought it was a clever decision from the studio (so that they can bring back Lia in future movies without having to explain why she grew up)

Phastos: oh the disillusioned god trope. It always works so well. If the Hiroshima scene did not break you you don’t have a soul. I really enjoyed this character who I felt had a real evolution over the movie timeline. His family is so adorable (first openly gay character in a MCU movie and it’s not a big deal it just is yesssss). Also I loved how he used his powers in the final battle: no he’s not a fighter but he has a big brain and that’s better 🔥

Kingo: at first I found Kingo annoying. But after my second viewing I realized that this extravagant persona was mostly a facade and deep down he’s just a character who cares about his people. In fact he cared so much he made movies about them. His conversations with Sprite are always full of truth and love and you can see how much he cares about her. I was kinda disappointed that he didn’t join the final fight but now that I had time to think about it, I understand him: even though he didn’t agree with the plan of stopping the emergence he disagreed even more with the idea of hurting his family and stepping away was the best move he could make. Bonus point for the moment he tried to kill Ikaris for killing Ajak and trying to kill Makkari (I think it was Makkari?), he was really looking up to Ikaris during the whole movie but in the end he loved his family more.

Makkari: if you don’t love her you’re a monster she is such a beautiful ball of sunshine. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize she was supposed to represent Mercury and it made so much sense! Lovable little thief. I LOVED the scene were she beats the shit out of Ikaris, we’ve never seen a speedster fight this way before and it was so impressive and efficient? The Flash and Quicksilver who? We don’t know them in the Makkari Nation ❤️. I loved how her disability was never a problem in the movie, the subject was never even brought. Yes it’s part of her but it’s not her. My only regret is that we didn’t see her much (for real I spent the movie waiting for her to come back). Also Lauren what the fuck is your skin care routine??? she looks 30 top I was shocked to discover she was 43 😳 what a gorgeous woman I absolutely love her sparkling eyes and her smile ✨

Druig: haha I left him for the end because it’s about to get embarrassing because OH. MY. GOD. Favorite character BY FAR. I admit i’m an easy target give me a sarcastic bitch with emotional trauma and my brain goes “HIM. We pick HIM. He is the ONE we will love the MOST”. My first viewing left me with the idea he was a brooding quiet boy (which seems to be the consensus among the people in this fandom), but after my second viewing I realized that… not really??? Before Teotihuacan he’s always in the background chilling, eating (the man spent the whole movie snacking something I swear he is a mood), making snarky remarks. I feel like this brooding image comes from the Teotihuacan scene where he stays in the background, quiet, until he snaps, which was probably the consequence of the build up of watching humans being violent and cruel for millennia and the genocide of the indigenous people of South America was the last drop. I think he is a very interesting character because he has good intentions but his powers make him inherently morally gray. Mind control is always incredibly difficult to handle as it questions free will and privacy, which we can see he struggles to understand. I really hope the next movies will address his time in the Amazonia and the village he had under mind control and that Druig will be able to understand that what he did, while coming from a good place, was terribly wrong. On another note: his relationship with Makkari is EVERYTHING. Oh the way I melted when he said “my beautiful beautiful Makkari did you miss me”. They both live in my head rent free since i first saw the movie. All the other MCU couples can go home now they are the moment. On another other note: the most unexpected plot twist of this movie is Barry Keoghan being oh so fine like whaaat? Was he always this fine???? I was slapped in the face by this man’s charisma. Also whoever picked his costumes knew exactly what they were doing and I am very grateful ✨

Bonus the non-eternal buddies: I can’t wait to learn more about Dane Whitman, I know virtually nothing about the Black Knight and it really picked my interest. Also we stand a good human boyfriend who is 100% supportive of his Eternal girlfriend. Karun was a treasure I loved him and his unholy amount of cameras. Ben and Jack were so adorable give them their husband/dad back Arishem 🥺

[softquietsteadylove]

heyyy 🫶🏼🫶🏼

can we have some more spicy ten things I hate abt you AU?? I really loved the last one!!! And can we also have Thena being vulnerable to Gil? I love your writing so so sooooo much 🫶🏼🫶🏼

—- Eternalfanatic (I forgot my account password lmao) 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

"Hey."

Thena furrowed her brows, determined to keep on kissing him as their hips moved together. She tangled her tongue with his, trying to dissuade him from interrupting things.

"Thena?"

She huffed, pulling away and bracing herself on his shoulders to glare at him. "You keep saying how much you enjoy our intimacy, yet you insist on interrupting it!"

Gil wore a sheepish expression, despite literally being buried inside of her. His fingers tapped on her bare back. "I do!"

"Then why," she growled, leaning forward and forcing him completely under her again. Not that she enjoyed the thought of his eyes having a full on feast of her naked body. But she enjoyed being on top--it gave her the control she so desperately needed, especially at times like this. She dug her nails into his shoulder, "are you?"

He sighed, glancing away as if they were having a light, normal conversation, and not in the middle of having sex. "Well...is something on your mind?"

"Now?!" she barked at him. Neither were close to the point of no return, obviously, but she wasn't exactly ready to call things off and have a little heart to heart, either. "You're asking this now!"

"Sorry," he whined faintly, holding her hips still as she tried to resume their pleasure. He gave her a distinctly concerned look. "I'm happy you came over and all. But I dunno--you seem kind of...angry."

She was.

"If you wanna angry fuck, then fine," Gil amended, holding her hips more firmly. "But I'm not some exercise bike you can use to blow off steam and then ignore."

Her brows raised. It was the first time he had expressed his qualms about their relationship so clearly. He had a right to, of course, and she knew he was right, too. She was using all the benefits of their closeness without offering any return on his emotional investment.

Gil made room for her as she lifted herself off of his completely erect hardness and flopped onto the bed beside him. "Y'know how they say 'don't go to bed angry'? Well, I'm pretty sure they would say don't have spite-sex, either."

She shook her head, staring up at his ceiling with her arms wrapped around herself futilely. "Sorry."

He shook his head as well, also staring up instead of at her. It did make things feel a little easier. "I'm sorry--I should have asked before we got into things."

In all fairness to Gil, she had positively pounced on him as soon as they were in his room. He wouldn't have had much time to voice his concerns before she was undoing his belt and asking if that box of condoms still had anything in it.

"So?" he prompted, slipping his hands under the covers and over the tent in his sheets. "What pissed you off?"

At the moment, he was at the very top of that list. But that also wasn't fair, and she knew what he was asking and how he meant it.

They had met at the party, as promised. And things had been fine. Sersi had found Dane immediately and Thena had happily left the young lovebirds to flirt and giggle through the evening. She and Gil were talking, relaxing a little out of the thick of the crowd. It had been fine.

"Ikaris," she began. Part of her almost wished the solitary statement would have been enough, but she knew it wasn't. She tugged his sheets up more firmly around her. "When I went to find the recycling."

Which there wasn't one, much to her frustration.

Gil nodded, both of them still flat on their backs. "What did he say?"

Thena gulped. Looking up at the white painted ceiling of Gil's room was easier. The spots hastily plastering over something exposed, the edge where ceiling met the brick walls. "He asked me what we were."

"Oh."

She sighed through her nose. She hadn't had much intention of telling him this. Truly, the desire to tell anyone at all any of this was completely absent. But she owed Gil this much. "I told him to fuck off and mind his own business."

Gil snorted.

But the story wasn't nearly so simple. "But he guessed we were together in at least some capacity. He asked...he asked if I was finally ready to get off my high horse and just fuck--in his own words."

Gil sat up partially, his face drawing in and suddenly radiating a righteous indignity on her behalf.

She reached over, pressing on his chest and making him resume looking up at the ceiling with her. It was the only way she was going to get through this.

"His pursuit of me...he did earnestly try to date me. At least, I thought it had been earnest," she dragged out of herself. It was her least favourite thing to remember of all her life, it wasn't coming out easy. "He had wanted to advance rather quickly. I told him I hadn't done anything with anyone and I doubted I was ready for it with him."

Gil waited through her heavy pause.

She sighed, "he laughed, and laughed, and laughed."

"I'll kill him."

She shrugged, "even that would be more attention than he deserves to be paid. I sent him away and he's thought derisively of me ever since. That's why my contempt for him runs deeper than simply him being a prick, and him thinking he has some right to my sister."

"Wow," Gil scoffed, his voice dripping with disdain, "I thought he was a creep but I didn't know he was a disgusting bastard."

Thena inhaled slowly, running her hands over the sheets. "Sersi doesn't even know. I've only told her that she is not to even so much as speak to him."

Gil had the wisdom not to offer his opinion on things, as least just yet. But he reached over under the sheets until he could grasp her hand.

She let him. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

She shook her head again, her hair a hopeless mess on Gil's pillow (and he only had one, so of course he saved it for her). "It's not fair to you."

He sat up, apparently - unfortunately - done with the anonymity of avoiding eye contact. He leaned on his knees, "I guess not."

She had been the one to state it, but his quick and firm agreement still made her stomach clench. "I-"

"But it's not fair to you either."

"Hm?" she blinked up at him. She expected some lecture but he leaned down again, stretching his body out against hers and scooping her waist into the grasp of his strong arm. She sighed as he kissed her.

"I hope I don't have to tell you I'm not like that asshole."

No, he didn't.

He pulled away, looking at her so tenderly that she wondered how she could ever muster the effort to be cold with him. "But I shouldn't have to tell you. You should just...feel it, or something."

He had his own eloquence, and she found it unwittingly charming.

"Thena," Gil frowned, holding her against him, both of them on their sides. "Were you ready--when you first came over, I mean? 'Cause if you weren't, I can't-"

She leaned in, kissing him again to divert the trajectory of that thought. "I came over, I initiated the kiss, I told you I was ready. Is that not enough?"

But he didn't rise to her bait. He stared at her like he would never see her again if he blinked. "I...I...I really like you, Thena."

It certainly wasn't what he had initially started saying, but it still made her freeze like a deer in headlights. Excitement and dread flooded through her in equal amounts.

"I'm not asking you to feel the same," he whispered, and she had to admire that he was strong enough to say that, while she was too afraid to even tell him she liked him in the first place. "But I'd rather you know. And it has nothing to do with, uh, this. I liked you before. I liked you as soon as I saw you glaring at me at the theatre beside Sersi."

She rolled her eyes, because there was no way that was true.

"So, even if you don't wanna hang out anymore, or come over like this," Gil trailed off into a mumble, his eyes drifting downward. "Then, that's okay. But I'll still like you--unless you tell me not to, I guess."

She smiled--even laughed. There was just something so earnest and sweet and charming about this delinquent. She kissed him again, just for the enjoyment of it. It was actually rather dangerous, how much she liked kissing him.

Gil laid his head down again. She really needed to get him another pillow (such a boy thing, to have only one). "Sorry, but I guess I'm glad I interrupted."

She supposed it was out of concern for her. Although there was still a faint ache within her, and the insides of her thighs were quite sticky. "Was angry sex so bad?"

He grinned, satisfied that she seemed in better spirits. He ran his hands over her back again, "not that it's bad. But I prefer making love."

Thena let him lure her into making out again. It was a great excuse not to look at him as he expounded such romantic nonsense. "I've never met a boy who called it that."

"Well, I'd call myself a young man, at best," he protested with a faint pout (before kissing her again). "And I think it's only fitting, if I'm gonna worship you like the princess you are."

She didn't have a clever comeback for that, gasping as he latched onto her neck. "Do you still have that condom on?"

"Yeah, but let me do something."

She half expected him to pick up the firm and nearly frenzied pace she'd had before. To roll them over and start absolutely ravaging her. But all he did was move her onto her back and lie himself over her. He stayed close, his head always hovering within kissing distance.

"This okay?" he whispered as he pushed into her again, much more slowly and gently this time. "If I wanna get romantic with the girl I like?"

It was so juvenile, so trivial sounding. And yet when he said it, her heart and her brain screamed in joy. She never felt so elated, despite her fighting against this very thing.

"Gil," she gasped, her hands on his chest as he thrusted slowly but steadily. They had actually never been in this specific position before. It felt intimate, even fore the act of physical relations. Her legs splayed out on either side of him, but her foot was pressed to his calf muscle, as if scared he would slither away from her. Her hands were on his warm skin, she could feel his rapid heartbeat.

"Thena," he moaned as he picked up speed.

Looking into his eyes was too much. She didn't know where he ended and she began. She was being too vocal and the longer she looked into his eyes the more red spread through her cheeks and down her neck. She clung to him. "Fuck, Gil."

"Thena," he groaned again, panting and grunting and meeting her lips in hasty, open kisses.

"Gil, please," she whimpered, her voice thin and high like the last note on a violin. She didn't want to, but she slung to him desperately. "Please, please come with me."

"I'm there, I'm so there," he confirmed. Neither of them had the stamina of seasoned experts, but she felt so much more acutely than usual every movement and breath he took.

Making unfathomable sounds while rutting her naked body together with a boy she liked: she was no princess. She was just Thena, and she was unfortunately quite in love with the boy in bed with her.

And the boy was quite a fine man, she purred as she felt him come first, within the condom, his muscles twitching as he held himself over her. He stayed close but made an effort not to put his full weight on her.

She accepted it eagerly, lifting her hips as she came around him. Her thighs gripped either sides of him, soft flesh to soft flesh. She had no control over her body, or her voice, although he helped absorb some of the sounds of her ecstasy directly against his waiting lips.

They laid like that, both catching their breath. Gil moved first, but her legs tightened around him, unwilling to part with him just yet, even in his softened state.

"You feel good?" he asked aloud (needlessly). He kissed her cheek.

"Hm," she purred, still languishing in the feeling of his skin against hers. She ran her hands over the sheen on his skin and the hair there, fine as it was. "Don't make me move yet."

"Okay," he chuckled, kissing her forehead and only moving enough to lie himself down not quite on top of her. "Whatever her ladyship wants."

It was a teasing nickname, but she didn't even have it in her to scold him for it.

"Does this mean you'll stay?" he whispered, the light touch of his fingertips on her cheek tempting her deeper into sleep.

"Hm, I shouldn't," she sighed, curling against him on her side, even as her energy left her. That was all she got out on the matter. It was simply too tempting to remain all snuggled up with him. He certainly had no complaints, even as she felt him moving around to clean up or some such.

If he wanted to be her boyfriend, then he could be her boyfriend. And that meant letting her sleep as long as she wanted.

[softquietsteadylove]

I have another idea (sorry if this is too spammy, please tell me if it's too much) also sorry if this one is a bit dark, my life long love of true crime is showing. so human au, Thena and Gil have been married for years, Thena has a history of mental health problems but specially seeing/hearing things that aren't there so when she starts talking about someone following her that nobody eles can see people are skeptical, until one day she goes missing, the police don't do much at first because she's a grown woman but then letters start showing up from someone who claims to have her, Gil is frantic trying to find his wife and he feels like he's slowly losing his mind, maybe a hopeful yet open ended end with potential to be expanded. Damm this one is long, sorry

Gil crouched down behind the shrubs as another car passed. He knew very well he could get in a lot of trouble for this. Technically, the cops were supposed to be doing this.

Well, the cops were supposed to be investigating his wife's disappearance. What he thought they were doing was instead standing around with their dicks in their hands talking about how 'wives leave their husbands all the time without explanation'. They didn't know Thena. And they didn't know him either.

And he was damn sure they didn't know Kro. He had mentioned that Thena had an abusive ex-boyfriend who was obsessed with her, but they didn't care. All they saw was that Thena had a diagnosis of schizophrenic episodes. It was more than enough for them to write off her reports of being followed as paranoia.

Gil moved closer to the house. He had been watching for days.

If this bastard was going to stalk Thena then he could do the same. He had watched Kro, watched when he left the house--seldom. Watched what he did when he did go places--always for basic needs like food, never anywhere else. If he had a job, it was remote, or he had quit it to become a full time freak and kidnapping felon.

It started with Thena saying she was being followed. And he had tried to catch a glimpse, but he had never managed to get a look at what she had seen. But she said it wasn't a vision, that she knew what those felt like and this was different. She said it was tall, and that it was watching her.

It certainly sounded like Kro at the time, and the letters confirmed it was him, as far as Gil was concerned. They were printed computer paper, generic and untraceable. They said things like 'I have her' and 'she's mine now'. Cops didn't have proof it was from him, or even about Thena.

Gil knew better. It was the way someone obsessive and possessive would talk about someone. It felt like Kro, saying to her now-husband that she was his, her ex-boyfriend's, again. According to the cops, Kro had an alibi which eliminated him as a suspect. They hadn't even held him for 24 hours.

Gil stuck his finger into the crack of the window being left open. He had found a day when they were left open and stuck a twig in the slider to keep it from latching. It sounded insane, he knew. He was behaving criminally. But he didn't care what he had to do to get Thena back.

He pushed the window up, slipping through slowly. He had done his research. He knew that there was no alarm system because he had a creepy looking dog walking around. The dog would trip any motion sensor that was active.

Said dog lifted its head. It looked like a malnourished, mangy thing. Gil pulled the chicken out of his pocket. If this thing was supposed to be a guard dog, it wasn't very well trained. It hadn't even barked before he tossed the dog toy full of chicken at it. It was some kind of special puzzle, supposedly it would keep a dog busy for hours.

He moved slowly and carefully. The house had a basement, there were little barred windows on the front at the base and the rest of the houses on the street did too. If Thena was anywhere, he had to assume she was there.

"Thena?" he whispered. He was pretty damn sure Kro was upstairs doing his remote work in a home office at the far end of the house.

It was almost foolhardy: man kidnapped a woman and was arrogant enough to leave her two floors down from him all day and night?

"Thena," Gil whispered again as gently twisted the basement door handle. It wasn't even locked. He glanced down, it was pitch black, depriving Thena completely of any comfort. His steps were careful, he didn't want to make the stairs creak too much.

He walked down carefully. He had no proof Kro wasn't just sitting down here, lying in wait for him. And worse yet, he had to be ready for what he might find. He didn't think Kro would hurt Thena, but he didn't have proof that he wouldn't.

"Thena," Gil whispered again. He looked around, hoping his eyes would adjust. Those little windows must have been blacked out as well as barred.

"Gil?"

His heart leapt. He reached in his pocket for his phone. Pulling it out he swung it around with the flashlight on. The basement was actually not so bad, at least more than a dirt floor cellar. His gut twisted, "Thena."

She squinted, although he moved the light away from her, just lighting the corner of the basement that was hers. She was handcuffed to a support post, seated on what seemed to be an old mattress. It looked like the blanket she had been given was one for the dog, and the pillow was somehow worse than that.

"Okay, sweetheart, it's okay, I'm here," Gil rushed, kneeling down and immediately reaching for the handcuff. He had looked this up too, purchasing a cheap pair with keys online just in case.

Thena lurched forward, barely able to hold herself up enough to bury her sobs into his chest.

"I'm here, I'm here," he repeated, stroking her hair. She was in the same clothes she had been wearing friday. It was 37 hours later. He must have gotten her right as she was coming out of her office and before Gil had pulled up to the curb. It was such a slim window.

"Gil," she whispered into his hoodie. She dug her fingers into it, but her nails were bloody. She had tried getting the nail to which her cuffs were attached out of the wooden column. "He told me he would let me go if I promised to leave you."

"It's okay, honey, I've got you," he whispered. Of course this psycho wanted to play some sick game like that. He probably would have let her go, too. Nothing had been proven to link back to him yet, and he knew very well that no one would believe Thena about it.

He didn't have to have her. He just needed no one else to.

Gil rubbed her wrist, which was red and raw from her struggling. He pressed his nose to her hair, "sweetie, did he hurt you?"

"No," she whimpered, to at least some of his relief. "He hasn't touched me. He said he would let me out of here if I told him I never loved you."

Gil had read up on that. Kro was a narcissist, he needed to feel in possession and control. He wanted to know that Thena couldn't be with anyone else the way she had been with him. But they had been married for five years by now, in comparison to the year and a half she had been with Kro, including courtship and the lengthy process of Thena changing all her contacts and moving as far away from him as possible. Only for him to follow her here.

There was no use wondering about it. Gil pulled his hoodie off and wrapped it around her. "Have you been down here since friday?"

She nodded, barely conscious as he threaded her arms through the sleeves. "After work..."

"Did he give you any food or water?"

She shook her head again as he zipped it all the way up. "He would only come down every few hours to check if I was ready to give up."

Gil held her cheeks. He did his best to smile at her instead of crying. "And you never broke. That's my Thena."

She sighed as he kissed her forehead. "Take me home."

"Okay," he whispered. He pulled out a mini bottle of water, just enough to keep her conscious. He also pulled out a baggy with two pills. "Here y'go."

It wasn't an immediate concern, but it couldn't hurt to get her medication into her as soon as possible. Thena took them instinctively.

"Can you walk?" Gil whispered to her. This was the next step he had prepared for. There were a few different actions to take depending on her answer.

She shook her head. Even if he could have gotten her on her feet, she was weak, hadn't eaten or slept, and Kro had taken her shoes.

"Okay," he resolved. He buttoned the cargo pockets of his pants again and crouched down to get Thena in his arms. It was ideal to be ready to fight if he had to, but he wasn't about to sling his wife over his shoulder like old laundry.

Thena pressed her head to his chest as he lifted her.

"Let's get you home, sweetheart."

"You're not going anywhere!"

Gil froze. Thena was in his arms. His phone in his shirt pocket was still the only source of light. Kro was at the top of the stairs. He didn't seem armed, but Kro was 6'5" and decently muscled in his own right. He didn't think he needed a weapon. "It's over."

"It's not," the monster growled at him. He didn't even sound human. "Put her down."

Gil held her tighter as Thena buried her face in his neck. "She's my wife, Kro."

"She's a liar!" he bellowed at them and charged down the stairs to the bottom. "She said she would never get married and she lied!"

Who would want to marry a beast like this? Gil backed up just a step. "That's enough."

"Put her down!"

He really did match the description. Thena had said that a figure had started following her. That it was massive, way higher than six feet, shadowy and lurking around corners to follow her. And none of her visions had ever looked as monstrous as this man did now.

Gil did, but only so he could keep her away from him. He set her down on the mattress again, as much as she tried to cling to him. But he turned around, swinging his fist wide in the hopes of getting him in the face.

Kro did stumble back, but he was far from done.

Gil charged at him. If this was really going to be a fist fight to the death, then he was prepared for that, so long as Thena didn't get hurt in the meantime.

Kro snarled at him as they back into one of a few shelves scattered around the room. Junk and a few loose tools clattered to the ground. Kro clawed at his back but Gil slammed him into the shelf again.

He heard Thena cry out behind him as Kro tossed him away. He tried to stand but Kro sent him into another shelf, this one with paint cans. "I'll kill you!"

"Go to hell!" Gil yelled back at him. He grabbed whichever paint can he could swing, even an empty one. It did the job at least. He scrambled past Kro to Thena. "Go, run, I'm right behind you, go!"

"Gil, no!"

Gil hissed as Kro found his dropped phone and shined the light in his eyes. Next thing he knew, something that felt an awful lot like an empty paint can was colliding with his head. "Shit!"

Kro landed one hell of a punch to his jaw.

"Gil!"

He tried to stay on his feet. He couldn't see and his head was screaming at him. But he came here for a reason: for his wife. "Thena, run!"

His vision was just barely starting to bleed back to him. He could see Kro's massive silhouette. He got his hands up, ready to fight, when a flash of silver arched through his vision.

Thena connected the hammer with Kro's skull so solidly it was audible. She was breathing heavily, probably lightheaded. She looked at Kro's body, watching to see if it moved at all. Then she looked at him.

Gil eyed Kro as well, but he was out like a light. A hammer to the head was hard to beat, he honestly wasn't even sure if he was still alive. He looked at Thean, "sweetie, it's okay."

Thena stumbled back, dropping the hammer. She looked at him, "a-are you okay?"

Gil dragged himself to his feet. He wobbled a little, his knees being worse for wear (he wasn't young anymore). "I'm okay, are you?"

Thena moved numbly, stumbling into his embrace again, still looking at Kro. "Is he alive?"

"I don't know," Gil stared, even as he pressed his lips to her forehead again. "Let's get you outta here first, okay?"

Thena nodded, letting him herd her towards the stairs. "What do we do now?"

He had committed a crime, breaking and entering to get his wife back like this. Although maybe they could get lucky considering Thena was just defending herself against a certified psycho. Either way, he was leaving with his wife. "I don't know. You don't have to worry about that. We're just going to get you home."

[softquietsteadylove]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What would you like to know?"

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

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

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

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

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

This story was getting worse and worse.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The marriage itself was becoming less taboo as a subject.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

She raised her eyebrows at him.

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

"Don't avoid the question."

"You didn't ask a question."

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

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

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

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

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

"Guys?"

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

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

She had a point.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[softquietsteadylove]

Hey love! So, I know you already have the proposal au, but I was wondering if you could do an arranged marriage au. And basically, Gilgamesh is in the mafia and Thena's horrible abusive father (Arishem) steals money or drugs from him that Thena doesn't know anything about. And Gilgamesh and his men just show up to her home while Thena's not there and when she comes back she finds out that she's being forced to marry Gilgamesh (which she's not that mad about bc Gil is fine asf🤭). But Thena is basically just shocked and she has to get used to being treated how she should and with princess treatment (like opening her door, giving her gifts just because, etc) Maybe a little age gap like Thena's in her early 20s, Gil is in his Early 30s👀. Also maybe like Gil gives her princess treatment but disrespectful in bed vibes😜.

But anyways I love you and your whole existence and when I found your Tumblr acc it quite literally the happiest day of my life and I literally would kill for you. You're my whole world I live for all your posts and sit waiting everyday for you to post. You are the best thing that happened to me and I'm so grateful you're alive. I love you so much!😘❤️

"Thena?"

She startled, but a warm yet gentle hand touched her shoulder, "hey, it's okay. It's me--I'm sorry to startle you."

She looked around her. She wasn't at home--well, she was. She was no longer in her father's home, where falling asleep out in the open could lead to her getting her hair pulled if he was feeling particularly inebriated and particularly mean spirited.

She was home, in her home with Gilgamesh. It was a massive, modern and sprawling house. She had her own room, despite sharing the house with her husband. It had its own walk-in closet and full bathroom suite. He had installed a library having found out that she liked to read (that was all the incentive he needed, apparently). The only thing her room didn't have was a kitchen, and Gilgamesh did all the cooking anyway.

The first two weeks, when she wouldn't emerge from her room at all, he would leave trays out for her to take inside where she felt safe.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, speaking softly and moving so she could see him, showing her his hands. "I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that. I wanted to see if you were hungry, or if you wanted to move into your room."

A gangster for a husband, and he made sure her room was always open for her, that only she was allowed in it, unless there was any house keeping she wanted done. He had even hired a female cleaner, specifically in hopes of making her feel more comfortable.

"Thank you," she smiled at him, hoping to assuage his fears of scaring her. She let the book on her lap fall closed and curled her legs up under the blanket thrown over her. "Sorry, dozed off between chapters."

"You don't have to apologise," he assured her, moving slowly as he took a seat on the sofa. He wasn't at the far end of it, but it was more than enough space for her to feel separate from him. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Are you okay? You seemed to be having a bad dream."

She was. Even removed as she was from that place, sometimes she would think was waking in her room, her desperate attempts to start a real career crammed into the corner of her room where her father wouldn't know to go digging for money.

The crinkle of her clothes in plastic bags so that he couldn't get them all wreaking of alcohol before a job interview. The way she would walk on the balls of her feet so as not to wake him when he was passed out on the couch in the middle of the day. The fear that every knock on the door would be another debt collector.

"Hey," Gilgamesh said as softly as he could again, "what do you need?"

If she hadn't woken from such a terrible dream she might swoon. It was almost a shame their relationship was one of contract. Gilgamesh was very good at seeming romantic.

She inhaled, putting on a braver face. "Some food sounds good."

"Okay," he nodded. His hand hovered, as if he would pat her knee under her blanket. But he stood instead, pulling himself away from her. "I can do that."

Thena stood, nearly slipping on the stairs of the elevated seating area to follow him into the kitchen. "Do you need any help?"

He did let his surprise show on his face, and instances like these she was reminded of the menacing - as well as cocky - gangster who had first appeared in her home and informed her of their marriage. "Setting a fire?--no, sweetheart, thank you."

She huffed, and she even managed to get a chuckle out of him. Laughing suited him more. "You must have had a hard day."

He immediately looked at her, trying to tell how any clue of how his work had gone could have slipped through the cracks. He worked very hard to keep all aspects of his business out of their home life.

She leaned against the spotless granite island/sink. "You seem more tense than usual."

He didn't rise to her bait, focusing on putting together a meal for her--for them.

But she was in the mood to poke the bear, as it were--the big grizzly teddybear in the pinstripe suit. "I figured I would get a 'no need, princess', at least."

He shook his head at her, pulling out a clay pot and retrieving the ingredients necessary. For a man living outside the law, he really was a great cook. "No need for a house fire--that's true."

"I am not that bad," she insisted, rising to her own bait if need be.

Gil - not Gilgamesh but Gil - finally looked at her with a little more mirth. He even chuckled, "Need I remind you of the eggs?"

She rolled her eyes at him. He had this big, beautiful kitchen, and she was home alone all the time. And sometimes she didn't want to wait for delivery to make it all the way to the house (and past security) while Gil was at work. She had figured making herself some eggs couldn't possibly go wrong.

"The hob at our-" she paused and moved on like it was nothing- "at my old place would take ages to heat up. I could never have known that this monstrosity can boil water in under a minute."

Gil glanced towards his very fancy oven on the other counter and then back to her. "Who turns the heat up all the way to make eggs in a pan?"

She shrugged, "they cook faster."

Gil let out a real laugh now, finally relaxing some as he finally started preparing the veggies. She could tell he was enjoying it when he slid them onto an angle to slice them. If it were strictly business he would cut them into little cubes instead. He shook his head. "I told you not to lift a finger while you're here."

That was true. After the fire had been put out, her housekeeping companion had insisted she simply ask if she wanted a meal. It was part of her requirements for the job and everything! Which was a little insulting, no matter how aware of her own cooking habits Thena was.

"I thought men wanted a wife who would cook for them as soon as they got home."

But Gil didn't latch onto her joke. He put down his knife, slowly and gently. He dried his hands on the hand towel below. Then he moved towards her, holding his hands out and asking for hers.

She watched as he did, curious enough to give her hands over to him. He held them so gently, even as he brought them up to his lips to kiss the back of each. She shivered.

He opened his eyes, peering down at her as he stroked her hand with his thumb. "Those aren't men. And you are not just 'a wife', Thena."

Did he want her to fall in love with him or not? The times when he was at work, and then completely secretive about it at home really seemed that he didn't. It seemed that he was upholding his end of the agreement with her father, and his vow to respect her and not to allow any harm to come to her.

But then other times he would say things like this, and she wouldn't know what to think.

She blushed as he left one last kiss on the tip of her finger. Then he was back to chopping, as if he hadn't nearly swept her off her feet (metaphorically speaking).

"Why don't you go sit down, sweetie? I'll come up and join you once this is on the heat." Back to that respectful distance.

She pursed her lips, moving away from the kitchen island as he started rinsing the rice and mixing sauces. That was just like Gilgamesh, to say something so breathtaking and sweet one moment and be a husband in name only the next.

She glanced at her book, although she couldn't even remember what she was reading in it before she had dozed off. Throwing herself back on the couch did seem to catch his attention somewhat; she could tell by the tilt of his head only vaguely in her direction. She also pulled the blanket over her again, with a little more force than the light cashmere needed.

If he only wanted to be half a husband then fine, but he didn't have to be a full time flirt to do it.

She peeked up from her phone as Gilgamesh walked up the three small steps to join her. He had a bad knee but wouldn't admit to it, maybe that was adding to the pressure of his day today.

"Okay," he groaned as he too threw himself onto the couch. He looked over at her, at her safe and respectful distance. "So?"

"So?" she asked in return, bristling at the grin on his face. It suited him a little too much.

He nodded, as if he had been thinking something to himself and had the affirmation he needed. She didn't know what he thought he knew, but she almost didn't want to. He leaned back on the couch, relaxing his posture. This was how a gangster would sit, she imagined. "Well."

"Well?" she prompted him again. But all he did was lazily wave his hand at her. She raised her shoulders, "you want me to...?"

He shrugged, even turning his head away from her. "If you want, I mean. You seem like you want the company."

He was calling her out on her wanting his attention, he meant. And he was right, but she didn't appreciate it. She turned her nose up at it.

"If you wanna sit in my lap, you can say so."

She shivered again, turning and half expecting him to be nose to nose with her. But whens he did look, he was back to pretending like he was halfheartedly watching something on the obscenely large tv mounted on the wall.

To his credit, he didn't say anything as she quietly shifted her position. She didn't tuck herself into his embrace or anything. They weren't actually married.

Gil lowered his arm from the back of the couch to her shoulder, letting her lean partially on him but not so close that she would feel trapped. "Put on that show you like."

"The one that puts you to sleep?" she smirked, even as she picked up the remote.

"It does not put me to sleep."

"It does," she corrected him, and it was moments like these when the marriage did feel less like a business agreement and more like...well, like something. "What about the food?"

"It has a timer, just take it off the heat when it's done."

It was he who was on the verge of nodding off, now. He really had endured a truly terrible day to be so exhausted. And she wouldn't be the one waking him.

She did put on her show, a historical drama she liked. And he really did nod off, the clay pot dinner simmering in the background silently. And only because he was dead asleep did she take the liberty of tucking herself against his chest. Just this once.

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello love, how are you doing? 🩷🤍

I saw this meme today and i can only think of thenamesh

I feel like Thena would try to set up a romantic dinner for her husband, with candels and flowers, and she would also try to cook, she wants to make a perfect dinner for her perfect husband.

But when Gil arrives to the aparment it smells like burned food, the smoke detector is going off, Thena is on a chair trying to turn it off and the kitchen is a mess.

Gil checked his phone yet again. Thena had told him that she wanted to try being the one to take care of their anniversary this year. Exactly by what means, he didn't know, but she wanted to surprise him, and he thought it was sweet.

According to her, she had even left work early to set things up so that he could come home to things already in motion. He had to admit he was excited, if maybe cautious.

Things like this hadn't always worked in his wife's favour. Not for lack of trying, she did want to be the romantic one from time to time--spoil him with gestures and sweet words. But cooking wasn't her strength, she wasn't much of a poet, and sometimes she got herself more worked up than anything.

He always tried to tell her that she spoiled him when she agreed to marry him. Every little affection she gave and allowed was a gesture. And he didn't need her to do anything big or romantic to know that she loved him.

Thena wasn't one for words, but she did value loyalty and actions reflecting who a person was. That was what made them such a good team.

Gil got off the elevator. The first thing he noticed was the smokey smell in the air. And they didn't live in a building that allowed smoking. He picked up his pace a little.

The next thing that hit him was the sound of the smoke alarm. He picked up his pace even more. He had a bad feeling about this, and the further down the hall he got, the worse it set in.

He was right in his feeling, arriving at the door to their apartment and knowing the alarm was coning from inside. He fumbled with his keys in his rush to get inside. Without a thought to denting the wall behind it, he threw the door open, "Thena!"

There his wife was, in all her glory. She had flour all over her, something on her cheek and her sleeves. She was standing on one of the dining chairs trying to fan the smoke alarm with a towel that looked suspiciously charred on the corners. All the windows were open, but the oven was simply giving off too much noxious gas.

Thena looked up as he burst in. She attempted to smile, "hey...honey."

He didn't know if he wanted to laugh or cry. On the one hand, his wife was safe, and that was all that truly mattered. But he couldn't completely drown out the cacophonous background surrounding them. The kitchen was a disaster, he could see candles and another possible fire hazard on the table--a vase of flowers that seemed a little sparse on one side. He didn't even want to imagine what was actually cooking in the oven.

Thena took his silence for condemnation. She pinched her lips closed, climbing down from the chair now that the smoke alarm was silent again. She wrung the ruined dishtowel in her hands. "I'm so sorry, Gil."

He just stared as she slinked over to him, her delicate shoulders bunched up tight.

"I really wanted to do something special for you," she admitted in a miserably small voice. Her throat tightened. "I studied this recipe, and I was going to have it ready when you got home, and I picked up flowers, and-"

He shook his head, pulling her into his arms at the first sign of tears. Thena wasn't much of a crier, but he knew that when it did happen, there was truly a huge amount of feelings stuck inside of her. He rubbed her back, "hey, hey, sh, it's okay."

"But-" she mumbled, smothered by the softness of his sweater. "You're always-"

"Sweetheart, I love that you tried to put on a big, romantic anniversary dinner," he chuckled, kissing her forehead. She pulled her head up to pout at him, unsatisfied with his lacklustre comforting. He smiled at her, though. "You really went all out!"

She sighed heavily, letting him turn her in his arms so they could truly assess the damage. "There's something of a pot roast in the oven."

"Pot roast, huh?" he mused aloud for the sake of it. He was already running through the recipe, wondering what on earth could have possibly tripped her up so much as to cause this amount of damage.

"I also attempted yorkshire puddings," she lamented, tilting her head up at him behind her. "I know how you love them."

He did love them--he had grown a fondness for a lot of English recipes, against all odds. And he could see how the scorching hot oil - as required for good, proper puddings - could have gone up in smoke.

"I'm sorry," she sighed again, going back to burying herself in his chest. "This isn't the anniversary surprise I intended."

He kissed the top of her head again, swaying them with his arms around her. "Are you kidding? You made pot roast and homemade puds?--with your track record?"

She gave his side a pinch, which was a good sign.

"This is amazing," he rested his cheek on her hair. Thena hated cooking of any kind, and not just because she was bad at it, and she wasn't bad at it just because she hated it. But despite that, she had tackled what even seasoned home cooks dreaded, just for him.

She sniffled away the last of her self pity, pushing at him. "You should go and rest. You've had a long day. Let me clean up my mess."

"Nice try," he chuckled, as if his teeny-tiny wife was going to be able to push him anywhere. Thena was stronger than she looked, sure, but he was stronger. He captured her around the waist again. "We're gonna get this cleaned up together. Then we're gonna get some fresh clothes on, and you can find us a place that makes the second-best yorkshire puddings in town."

"Second best?" she challenged.

He scratched the base of her spine in the way that made her shiver. "After mine, obviously."

"Obviously," she murmured as he lifted her off her feet just enough to walk them over to the sink. "You don't have to help me."

"For better or worse, sweetie," he reminded her as he bent to take a look at just what had happened in his precious oven. He used the dishtowel - singed as it was - and an oven mitt to retrieve her labours of love.

All things considered, the pot roast looked pretty good, although maybe the vegetables surrounding it were a little black on the edges. And to his surprise, despite the black stains of inflamed oil all along the bottom of the oven, the puddings did actually puff. He plucked at one with his fingers, and it wasn't stuck in the least.

"Gil?"

He even managed to pop it into his mouth. "Y'know, I've had worse."

"You're not serious," she droned. Although, when he offered her one, even she couldn't deny that the colour and shape of it wasn't grotesque. She sniffed it.

"So, you made a smoked pot roast," he shrugged, chomping on another pudding. "It's pretty good, babe."

She took a more critical bite of it, staring him down the whole time, looking for any indication that he was lying to spare her feelings. But she conceded her pleasant surprise as she chewed. "it's not awful."

"I think it was just the oil," he shrugged. If she had used olive oil, which he was guessing she did, it would have started smoking immediately, and it did explain the slight bitterness to the outside of them. But that aside, they really weren't bad little pastries. He took another one, "I'd say you did a bang up job!"

She rolled her eyes at him, as she always did when he tried to put on some form of a bad cockney accent. But she smiled as she swiped away some crumbs from his lips. "Thank you, love."

He leaned in, capturing her lips, sharing in the taste of bitter olive oil and yorkshire pudding dough. "I should be thanking you. This is one hell of a surprise."

"Hm," she pulled away, looking from the kitchen to the dining room table, still set, although at least the candles were extinguished. "I wouldn't say it was positive."

"Hey," he nudged her, asking for another kiss (which she granted). He touched his forehead to hers. "You're supposed to say 'happy anniversary, Gil, I love you too'."

Thena laughed, which completely drowned out the rest of the stress of the mess they had to clean and anything that could come out of the rest of the night. Her hands found their home on his chest as he kissed down her temple to her cheek, "happy anniversary, darling."

"That's more like it," he grinned, finally arriving at the angle of her jaw and the curve of her neck. She pushed at him again before he could distract them both from the task at hand. He pouted at her.

"Mess," she ordered, with her hand trailing lovingly over his arm. "Then food, then fun."

His eyes sparked, "fun?"

His blonde fox of a wife gave him a look that was both sly and coquettish as she unwrapped his apron from around her. "This was not the only component I had in mind for you. And it would be truly impossible to light the other part aflame."

"I dunno, I feel pretty hot under the collar," he chuckled as he eagerly started running the tap. He would scrub the oven out properly this weekend. For now, he had a lovely evening to spend with his wife.

[softquietsteadylove]

Let's turn the tables!

Sersi and Dane have the eternal/human relationship. What if Thena and Gilgamesh have this relationship? They've been married for a long time and live their lives together. But through an incident, Gilgamesh learns of Thena's true identity as an Eternal.

"So," Gil started as he took a seat next to her, among the other civilians who were caught up in the 'alien incident' and being treated by the first responders.

Thena inhaled and immediately sighed, budging over with her shock blanket over her shoulders. He took a seat beside her. She pulled the blanket tighter around her, "so."

He was used to having to guide the conversation between the two of them. Even if he'd gotten some pretty new information in the last hour. "So...you're not a wizard?"

Thena let out a faint kind of laugh, although her throat was tight. "I'm afraid not."

Gil nodded, looking down at his feet. He turned to her, looking at her hands tucked away inside the blanket. "Can you show me again?"

Thena pulled out her hand, and even regardless of the general masses mulling around, she furrowed her brows. But all that happened was a faint golden spark, fizzling as soon as it appeared. "I shouldn't have been able to do it at all."

Gil waited, as he always did, patiently biding his time as she sorted her words out the way she wanted. He was owed the explanation, of course, after witnessing her pull up her shield into her hand after hundreds of years of her powers being dormant.

"We're called Eternals, from the planet Olympia," she began. "We came here 7000 years ago on the Domo, our starship, to protect humans from the Deviants."

"Deviants," he nodded, looking around. The carcass of the beast in question was already being covered up and transported by the authorities. "That's what that thing is?"

Thena also looked over to the beast's body. "We thought they were extinct. I killed my last one over four hundred years ago, before my family parted ways."

Gil looked at her.

She fidgeted with the blanket again, "my, um, siblings."

"Okay," he said aloud more than in response to anything. It was his way of trying to talk through what he was feeling. It sounded just the same as when she would tell him she threw out his terrible smelling sourdough starter. Or when she had asked about getting a pet but only if it was reptilian. "So, you and your siblings fought these things...hundreds of years ago."

She nodded.

"So," he blinked, making a face. He was uncomfortable. "Why did you stay on earth?"

Thena looked down at her lap--at her useless, powerless hands. "We weren't called home, so we remained on the planet. But with the Deviants defeated, there was no reason to stay together for some of us."

"Some of you?" Gil asked with a frown. He had at least some of the story. He knew that she had favourites among her siblings, to say the least.

"There was something else." That was quite an understatement, even for her. She held out her hand again, still unable to get more than a few sparks. "There is a sickness you can develop as an Eternal. It's called Mahd Wy'ry."

Gil's face showed a mix of things, but she knew he wasn't entirely happy when he said, "does it give you migraines?"

Thena winced, but she knew that he wasn't saying it to worsen what was happening, or hurt her in any way. He had a right to feel deceived. Their entire marriage probably seemed deceptive given what he was learning.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, slipping his hand into the blanket to close against hers, even pressing her little fizzles of Cosmic Energy between their palms. "I'm just trying to understand all this."

She couldn't blame him, really. She squeezed his hand, their fingers woven together, as they often were. "Mahd Wy'ry degrades the powers over time. It slowly affects the ability to call upon the Cosmic Energy an Eternal possesses until they are all but estranged from it."

Gil squeezed her hand again. "You had a shield in your hand. It was gold and it looked like it was both clear and-"

Thena shook her head. "Gil, I haven't been able to do that in centuries. I don't know how I did it then."

Gilgamesh sighed, though. He pulled her hand towards him, out from the blanket until he could kiss her wedding ring. "You saved my life, hon."

That was how. Thena looked at the man - the human man - she loved, feeling as if her heart could weep. This sweet, gentle human man who had given her his whole heart was still here with her. Upon hearing she was ageless, that she was an alien and that she had powers lying dormant within her.

Thena leaned up and in, tipping her head up for a kiss. Once, years ago, this movement was completely foreign to her. But now, she was practised in it. And her husband granted her request, pressing his lips to hers.

"Hey," he whispered, pressing his forehead to hers and holding her cheek. The simple word brought tears to her eyes. "Look, this is a lot to absorb. But...you're still Thena, right?"

She nodded, too teary to speak quite yet.

"Okay then," he resolved with another kiss. He pulled back enough to look at her. "So, what else do I need to know?"

Thena sighed again. Oh, her sweet, sweet Gilgamesh. Always so ready to face whatever came his way. Even the positively poisonous dinner she cooked for him on their second wedding anniversary in an honest attempt to be romantic.

"Sersi really is a humanitarian, and she helped me adjust to living as a human for the first few decades when I was on my own. And she did go north to make it work with Ikaris, but instead of being stationed in Alaska, he just...flew off, one day. None of us knew why."

Gil made a face but kept silent. He knew how they felt about Ikaris.

"Druig was most worried about my illness," she smiled at the thought of her brother. "He offered to stay with me, make sure I was safe. But in the end he agreed that I should find a way to live my own life."

Gil nodded and kissed her hand again. He was a big believer in living life the way one wanted without regrets.

"After I managed to go a few years without questions about my 'oddness' or my skin routine, I figured it was safe to venture further. I travelled some, taught languages to cover for my knowledge of things," she smiled. She always did value those years. And she could see why Sersi fell so in love with the planet at first sight.

"How did you end up here?"

"I travelled with Kingo some. I liked the heat of the eastern continents and eventually I determined Australia was a good fit for me," she concluded, looking around them. There was damage, certainly, but Sydney as a whole would recover.

Gil squeezed her hand again, "will they come? If these things were supposed to be dead, I mean."

Thena nodded. She could imagine her siblings with the same issues, at least some of them. There was no telling what it meant for them if Deviants were indeed roaming the earth again. And for them to find her here, even without her powers, they could surely find Druig in his remote commune or Sprite buried in her illusions.

"Well," Gil cleared his throat and shifted his posture. He gave her his most encouraging smile, like when he was trying to tell her that just stirring what he had on the stove would not make it explode. "Think they'll like me?"

Thena pulled him in to kiss her again. In all honesty, she didn't know what they would think of her human husband. Even the siblings with whom she was closest wouldn't call her one to share details of herself. But she held his cheek as she told him, "I love you, so they will have to as well."

[softquietsteadylove]

Can I have your headcanon of Thenamesh in the movie pleaseee? 💌🫶 love yaaa😘

Original Thenamesh headcanons! I've got plenty, let's talk.

So...Arthur proposed. He had been in love with Thena for plenty long enough of course, and everyone just kind of thought...oh, that's...cute. Gilgamesh just laughed and laughed. He thought it was adorable, like when little kids say they'll get married when they grow up or something. Arthur did not like being laughed at in this situation.

Sprite did make up the Epic of Gilgamesh, but she added the bit about him being a tyrannical king and huge asshole after he ate some dessert she had been saving. Gil felt really bad that this would go down in history but he agreed to let it go. Thena did not; she threw Sprite into the ocean the next day. They can't drown, keep in mind, but Sprite doesn't like swimming.

None of them are great swimmers. The movie shows that they can, but really they should all sink like stones. Sprite, Druig and Phastos are the worst, but Thena isn't much better, just kind of claws and flails around.

Thena did manage to help Gil with the Deviant that found them all the way out in Australia. It was the first time she had fought in literal centuries but Gil got in somewhat of a tight spot and they pulled it off. So, when Sersi says "even Ikaris couldn't kill it" it really is funny. The old married couple handled it just fine.

Everyone thinks Thena was the one who sewed Gil's frilly cute apron, but Thena doesn't know how to sew. Gil sewed the initial 'kiss the chef' and the face. Thena told him he should add a personal touch to it, and then he added the flowers.

Thena is still a restless sleeper by nature, but if she's dealing with the aftermath of an episode, she's like a cat drugged up for a flight. She'll close her eyes and fall right asleep. Gil just picks her up and moves her when need be. She'll wake up eventually.

Thena loves tending to all the lizards she finds. She's like a princess in a fairy tale, except instead of cute little furry creatures they all have scales and cold blood. She doesn't get along with snakes, though.

Gil is always trying to discourage her but there's at least one or two scaly dudes hanging around the house. In fairness, she has let him take in a pet a few times throughout their hundreds of years together. It's not all the time, though. They die so quickly, and he gets sad about it, so she only says yes once every fifty years or so.

Ignoring certain events in the movie, Jack and Thena and Gil get along great together. Jack and Thena really do vibe. He thinks her powers are cool, and she doesn't dress up her words or keep things from him just because he's a kid. Likewise, Thena can tell pretty easily what Jack is thinking or feeling. The first time he calls her Aunt Thena is the first time she experiences cute aggression and wants to pinch his cheeks. She pinches Gil's instead.

They spend some time travelling after everything rather than rebuild the house right away. They do hit Fiji, and plenty of other places. Thena doesn't do well with cars or boats or anything but Gil gives her a little something for her nerves and lets her sleep. Dane freaks out when he sees her taking an entire bottle of benedryl but Sersi tells him it's fine, it's just for the train ride.

Thena and Dane get along surprisingly well. Dane grows more confident the more he can get used to her, and Sersi and Gil are just happy their partners are getting along. Thena thinks Dane is funny, and Dane actually kind of likes how direct and dry Thena can be.

The more they're out in the real world, the more Gil learns that men these days have the audacity. Thena is getting not just flirted with but harassed constantly, and he is not here for it. He's always been Gilgamesh "my wife" the Strongest Eternal, but it's time for him to truly enter his my wife era.

It takes a lot for him to get drunk, but also alcohol isn't the same as it was hundreds of years ago. Gil learns what shots are and starts challenging people to arm wrestling. Sersi tells him he can't because he'll kill them, or at best rip their arms off.

They travel the planet for quite some time, spending some with their family, maybe even a few years depending on the place. Then they're off again. Eventually they wonder if more of the galaxy is worth seeing too.

[softquietsteadylove]

If you have the muse for it, could we maybe get a circus au or life interrupted update? Missing those two lately! Thank you!!! 😘

"Gil?...Gil!"

"Huh?" he turned, ruffling his hair with his free hand. "Uh, s-sorry, what were you saying?"

But his friend just frowned, "you sure you're okay? I know you're a doc to the animals, but are you really qualified to diagnose yourself?"

Gil subconsciously shifted his arm in his sling. He was no expert, but he did know how to reset a shoulder. Granted, it was because of getting into fights in his school days, but still. "Yeah, it'll be fine, really."

He shrugged, picking up some of the coiled ropes, "y'know you can take it easy if you want. We can finish setting things up for tonight."

Gil nodded, looking around them. Technically, all he did was light stuff to help out here and there. He wasn't really a regular crewman. But he had hung around all morning on the excuse of checking on the animals and helping out wherever his one good hand could help. "You, uh, seen Thena yet?"

He heard a few quiet chuckles and blushed; everyone knew why he was hanging around. He was eagerly and desperately trying to get even a glimpse of Thena. He hadn't seen her since the night she had admonished Kro - and her beast of a husband had dragged her away by the arm - and he was going nuts.

Of course, no one else knew that she had kissed him, either.

He was lying awake at night! And part of it was the pain, but another part was thinking about how she had leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't just a mistake of a peck, either, it was a real kiss. He could feel how she meant it, no matter what that really meant for them. She was a married woman, and married to the man who was both their boss, in a way.

"No one's seen her," another crewman shrugged. "Assumed boss had given her some time, I guess."

It was a reasonable guess. She had suffered quite a scare, after all. But her husband was not a reasonable man, and Gil was confident in guessing that Kro would sooner put on her costume himself than give her a day of rehearsal off without injury.

Gil picked himself up and tugged at one of his suspenders. "Thanks guys, I'll grab some lunch I guess."

They sent him off with well wishes. He wasn't in any shape to do any of the usual heavy lifting he could be asked for anyway. But rather than go in search of the group lunch being cooked behind the main tents, he slipped away towards the train.

He hadn't seen Thena in two whole days. She had once said that Kro would never really hurt her, but that was the only time when Gil wasn't really inclined to have confidence in what she said. He didn't trust anything about Kro. And he was really trying not to let the kiss influence that thinking in him, either.

He couldn't let it. She was a married woman. Whether she had kissed him or not, it wasn't his place. And he was concerned about her regardless. This wasn't about him and his feelings, it was about making sure she was okay.

"Thena?" he whispered, sticking his head out and between cars and looking around like a common cat burglar. He crept around, picking his boots up lightly.

Maybe Kro had her chained up like a ruffian. Not that he really thought he would, but he wouldn't be as surprised as he would like to be by something so barbaric.

"Thena!" he whispered again, slowly making his way to their shared sleeper car. If he was found, Kro would probably feed him to the lions. But he had to know.

Once at their sleeper car, he checked around him one more time. He knew Kro was in the main tent, snapping his cane against the ring and shouting up a storm. No one had been able to ask how Thena was without getting a real earful.

Gil knocked on the door with his good hand, pressing his ear close, "Thena, are you in there?"

"Gil?"

She didn't sound hurt, or teary or anything. He gulped, "can...are you hurt? Can I see you?"

"I'm fine Gil, you can come in."

Part of him still imagined a nightmare in which he would walk in and find her on the floor, sitting crumpled like a bird fallen from the sky. But Thena was no fallen angel. He closed the door behind him as he saw her seated at the little table barely big enough for a single plate.

He had never seen her in a normal dress, but the soft, creamy fabric looked just like her hair.

"I'm sorry I worried you," she professed immediately, still sitting primly at the table. "Kro told me I wasn't to leave for the next two days. People should think I'm in recovery."

Which was very different from actually wanting her to recover from her fall, but it would make people think of the monster more favourably.

"Have you eaten anything?" he asked, still almost whispering as he dared to come a little closer. "Are you resting?"

She smiled at him, like having not seen him for days was completely normal and expected. "I'm resting fine. Kro has been bringing me food twice a day."

So, she was missing a meal, Gil surmised. He frowned, but that was the least of his worries. "Why won't he let you out?"

Thena's expression finally cracked, and he saw her eyes drift to his shoulder. "He asked if there was anything...with you."

The words she didn't say weighed a lot more than the ones she did, and Gil found himself flustered again. He had always known what his feelings for Thena meant. But he had thought it was a harmless crush on his unattainable and lovely boss' wife. The implication that she cared for him too...it was enough to have his stethoscope picking up his own heartbeat from ten paces.

"I assured him there wasn't," she looked down at the little table, tucking some hair behind her ear. "He said then there should be no reason I should want to leave."

There should be no reason for her to ask to see him--that was the threat that had kept her in here. If she asked to see him, or probably even ran into him accidentally, Kro would have grounds to suspicions. And Gil wasn't sure which one of them would face worse consequences for them.

Gil looked around the sleeper car. It was larger than the others, of course, or maybe it was just arranged neater. It had a small but proper bed, rather than just a cot and some hay. The little table, there was a trunk that probably held their collective things. There was even a little radio on top of it, as well as an oil lamp.

"It's not a prison."

He didn't feel comforted by that. She was unharmed, sure, in a physical sense. But sometimes animals could seem fine, then they'd give out the next day of a broken heart or some such. He moved even closer, even kneeling down to face her better (he wouldn't dare move the chair across from hers). "Birds get real down if they're in cages too much."

She laughed a little at the insinuation.

"Really," he whispered. Without him telling it to, his free hand drifted up to hers, feeling the softness of her pretty linen dress. "They're meant to be free. Clipping their wings...it seems harmless, but it really hurts them, even just a little bit, everyday."

Thena tilted her head at him, her hair slipping over her shoulder. She was so beautiful, and far too delicate for a cage like this.

Gil sighed as she brought his hand from resting over hers on her lap to her lips. In another life, he could imagine this would be a beautiful moment.

It was brief, but for just a split second, her lip wobbled. She whispered, "I wish I had met you a lifetime ago."

Gil's heart broke inside his chest. It fractured, just like his stupid shoulder. Oh, to have met her a lifetime ago. To have met her as a student, to have scraped and scrimped for pennies so he could buy her flowers and take her on swan boats on the lake. To have swooned over her everyday until he could kneel just like this and hold up an embarrassingly modest ring and ask for another lifetime.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but he rose from his knee, tilting her head with his palm and kissing her as if she weren't married. As if they had this lifetime to get it right. Which wasn't true, but it wouldn't be something he would regret, either.

Thena sighed against his lips, her hand moving to his hair. She kissed like she hadn't drank in days and he was an ice cold lemonade. "I wish I could love you."

He loved her anyway, wishes be damned. "Thena-"

She pressed her fingers to his lips, breaking the spell around them and forcing him a precious few inches away. "He'll be back soon. If he catches you in here-"

He gripped her shoulder, "I won't let him hurt you, Thena. Never-"

She grasped his hand between hers, "I am not worried about what he will do to me."

So, Kro had threatened him to get her to comply with his sick delusions of ownership. And Gil hated to admit it, but in his current state, he wasn't so sure he would in a fight against the ring leader.

His heart groaned in his chest, begging not to be separated from her. He made a face, "I can't just leave you like this."

She looked him square in the eyes, and the frosty, fiery acrobat he knew - and loved - was back. "You can, and you will--for both our sake."

She was right, he would because it would be best for her, if not both of them. But he didn't have to like it. He gave her hand another squeeze, even as he picked up his feet again. "When will he let you out of here?"

"I don't know," she whispered back, their hands dragging apart like lines of a frayed rope snapping string by string. "Until he's satisfied he has nothing to fear from you."

Kro had everything to fear from him, and as soon as his shoulder was better, Gil would see to it, too.

"I'll try and find you when he does."

He turned back to her, his hand on the car door. "Don't do anything risky. If he tries anything-"

Their eyes both shot to the side. It wasn't dangerously close yet, but it was definitely Kro's voice drawing nearer. Thena eyed him, begging him to leave before their lives were changed irreparably.

Gil nodded, dragging himself out and closing the door as quietly as possible. He held his arm as he slipped away, the muscles screaming at him like a storm was on the horizon. He stopped on the other side of the car.

"Well?"

"What?" Thena's softer voice came, but Gil was relieved to hear her usual sharpness in the demand.

"Usually you're begging to know how your little boyfriend is doing!" Kro barked at her. Gil heard the rattle of a container being tossed down, perhaps one of Thena's meals for the day.

"You told me to stop bringing him up," she fired right back at him. There was a pause before she added, "dearest."

Gil felt his gut clench. He had seen Kro use that term of endearment for her, and it never failed to make her squeamish.

"Very well then," Kro snarled back at her, "darling."

Gil waited a little more, but that seemed the end of it. And he had no choice but to leave it at that, at least for now. He dragged himself away, feeling just a little bit of a coward for it, too. His shoulder was aching again.

"Hey, Gil, you get some yet?"

It was lunch time. He eyed the pot of stew. Maybe that would be just the thing. "Say, will you do something for me?"

He was heard out as he explained that he was worried about Thena--heard she was on bed rest and all. It didn't come from him, but maybe - just if there were leftovers after everyone had their share - if someone could ask the boss nice and casual if Miss Thena would like it...?

Again, everyone saw right through him. But Thena was not her husband, and the crew agreed readily that they would ask in a very normal and friendly way if Miss Thena wanted any of their extra portions for the day. The lady needed her strength and all.

And Gil needed his too. The quicker his shoulder healed, the faster Thena could stop worrying about him, and the faster he could confront Kro about the treatment of his wife.

[softquietsteadylove]

Secret Lovers AU???

Heyyy

I just wanted to know if you could write an AU where Thena and Gil have to keep their relationship a secret? In this AU I imagine that Arishem is Thena’s father, and he is very controlling. He keeps Thena in the house all day and has decided that on her 25th birthday she will be wed to Kro. Thena hates this

(Bc she’s already in love with Gilgamesh, Duh)

And she has to sneak out the house to see Gil.

So what do you think?

Tysm Byeeeee 🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼

"Delivery!"

"Gil!" Thena rushed to the windows, opening them fully for him to climb in and onto her window bench. "I told you not to come tonight."

He just smiled at her, setting down his picnic basket and pulling down the hood of his jacket. "Yeah, but that's when I know you need me the most."

"I thought Father took the lattice down," she frowned as she helped him into her room.

"Yeah, but Karun did us a solid and left the ladder out for me," he chuckled, completely unbothered by her father's efforts to keep them apart. Not that he knew that Gil used it to sneak in. He thought Thena used it to sneak out.

If he knew Gil used it to sneak into her room at night, he would sooner burn down the whole estate.

Gil had been using it for years, though, even when they were just children, whispering about books on Thena's roof under the stars. He had scaled the wall lattice as a pre-teen just trying to get to know his rich and mysterious neighbour. As a teenager, working up the nerve to ask Thena if she'd ever had a boyfriend before. He had scaled that lattice and recited the speech he had memorised from Romeo and Juliet, just to get told that it wasn't exactly Shakespeare's most romantic, despite popular belief.

She had kissed him anyway, though.

"Hey," he smiled, leaning in and kissing her gently. He ran his hands down her arms, "I know you're scared."

She sighed, plunking her forehead onto Gil's chest, laughing when she felt the traces of leaves and bristles from the ivy leaves. "He won't give up on this 'Kro' business, you know. He's determined to marry me off to that monster."

"That won't happen, baby, I promise," Gil attempted to assuage her worries, rubbing her back over her satin robe.

She shook her head, "we got in another fight about it. That's why I told you not to come; if he gets even the slightest idea you're here, he'll have me shipped to the Antarctic."

Gil shrugged, holding her by the waist, "I'd still visit you. Wouldn't have to climb a lattice to do it, either."

She laughed, toying with the strings of his sweatshirt hood. "You shouldn't have to, though."

"I would anyway."

"Gil," Thena insisted, looking up at him, her in bare feet and him still wearing his heavy steel toed boots. "I mean it. I thought now that we were graduated he would have let this go, but-"

But Arishem had only pushed even harder for Thena to form an alliance with his chosen protege and CEO-to-be.

"What did he say?" Gil asked her softly, guiding her to sit with him on the plush window seat, where they'd spent some of the most important moments of their lives, by this point.

She sighed, wilting against Gil's side. "On my 25th birthday he'll announce our engagement to his associates and the whole world. And if I don't go through with it, he'll disown and ex-communicate me completely from the family."

Gil scowled, "that's a bit harsh, hon. I know your dad's a psycho, but we were pretty sure he wouldn't actually kick you out, right?"

She sighed even more heavily, her shoulders dragging down so far it hurt. "Apparently, I thought wrong."

"Oh, Thena," Gil made a sympathetic face, which was all it took for Thena to move closer, clinging to him. He held her just the way she liked. "I'm sorry."

Perhaps she hadn't been hoping that he would suddenly change his mind on things. But was it so foolish to think that he would want his daughter in his life in some way? And he still didn't know anything about her and Gil, and she intended to keep it that way for Gil's safety.

"I shouldn't be surprised," she conceded quietly as Gil pulled her into his lap. "Father has never hesitated to choose his work over me before. I just thought...I thought for once-!"

Gil kissed her temple, "I know, honey, it's okay."

Was it, though? Not that she had any intention of going through with marrying Kro, but her father was far more powerful than she cared to admit. Even if she didn't want to go into the same line of work, she wasn't sure there was any field of society where she could be guaranteed safety from him.

"Hey," Gil whispered again, tipping her chin back to him. "What do you wanna do?"

Thena sniffed, pressing her tears into his shirt and then shaking them off. "I'm not marrying that cretin."

"Great start, babe," he chuckled, and even got a smile for his efforts. He brushed the last of her tears away, "what else?"

Thena inhaled, trying to wrap her mind around things. "I have my own job prospects, although I'm afraid I wouldn't be surprised if Father was capable of rescinding those, given his influence. I might have to start over, maybe even...somewhere new."

This was her most dreaded reality.

They had always known her father would never let her so much as be alone in a room with him, even as children. It was against all odds they had managed to steal what time they did. They had faced being in different classes in school. They had faced Thena's extracurriculars and Gil getting a part time job to help support his family. They had faced her going into university and Gil starting trade school.

They had even faced her being entrapped into a date set up by Kro and her father.

"Okay, where would you want to go?" Gil asked gently. Despite his smiles and joking tones, he was serious. Because wherever she went, he would follow.

"Gil," she shook her head, new tears arising. "Your mom and Sersi are here, you can't move just because I'm getting thrown out."

"They know I'd go anywhere for you."

Thena smiled against his lips as he kissed her again. For all her father's efforts not to let any love into her life, she had been able to sneak Gil her heart, and he had kept it safe for her ever since.

"Really, Thena, you say the word and I'll pick you up, we can go to Mom's until we figure something out," he suggested with a shrug of his shoulders. His tone was light, but his hand on hers was solid. "You don't have to be scared of him, honey."

She rolled her eyes, "I'm not scared of Father, or Kro."

"That's my girl," he winked at her.

Her smile faded slowly, but it did eventually. She squeezed his hands, "But I am scared to not be with you, Gil. And if Father has me thrown out and cuts off all my accounts?--I struggle to think of how far I would have to go just to find a firm willing to let me intern."

Gil tilted his head at her, letting himself smile again. "You say that like you like being rich."

She rolled her eyes again. She hated when he called her 'rich'.

"You already don't use any of that money you have hidden away," Gil shrugged. It was him who had told her that if she took out a little at a time in cash and stashed it away that she could use it without him knowing about it. "So, take what you can and get outta here. He's gonna kick you out anyway so just...come with me."

Thena stared at his outstretched hand. How many times had she dreamed of this?--Gil offering to help her run away from her father and her gilded cage of a home. The delusional and romantic notion of running away with the boy she loved (now the man she loved).

"You're your own woman, Thena, you don't need his name, or his money, or anything!" Gil urged, eager to pull her spirits out of the pit he could see her spiralling into in real time. "I always knew you'd be a badass lawyer, whether he wanted you to or not!"

Oh, Father wanted her to be lawyer, but one that would make good money. He wanted her to be a corporate lawyer, or even a criminal defense. Not a divorce lawyer who worked pro-bonos all the time.

She shook her head, "I'm just done law school, Gil. I haven't even taken the bar, yet."

"Which you'll nail!" he shrugged like it was nothing at all. "I always knew you would, and your dad knows you will, too. That's why he wants you to marry that creep! Because you're too badass on your own and you could take him any day of the week."

"I do not want anything to do with either of them," she shook her head and pulled her robe tighter around herself. She looked around her room, immaculately cleaned for her, full of expensive clothes picked for her. It was a very personalised hotel room, as far as she was concerned. "I should pack."

"I'll help you."

"It's okay," she whispered, kissing his cheek. "You came for a date, not to help me uproot my life."

"Actually," he chuckled as she stood and went to her desk. "I came after you told me not to, because I knew my girlfriend needed me."

She attempted to contain her smile but couldn't. She loved it when he called her his girlfriend.

"And because I will always be right here, babe," he finished more softly, kissing her hair as she collected up what little of her possessions she actually cared about. "You wanna leave tonight, we'll go. We can go anywhere, do anything. I'll go downstairs and fight your dad bare handed if you want me to."

She gave Gil a dry look. He was big, and strong in every sense of the word, but her father was like an eldritch horror out of a fantasy book.

"Okay, fine," he conceded, pulling out the bag she'd used to sneak herself over to his house plenty of times before. "What else do you need?"

She shoved her work materials into the bag. Her textbooks she could access online, and it wasn't like she could keep them physically after the bar, anyway. She bundled up her laptop and phone charger. "Just the stuff in the top drawer."

Gil unceremoniously opened her dresser and shoved everything from the top shelf in. "We can get you new stuff, too. You know how mom loves to go shopping with you."

Thena smiled; Gil's family always felt more loving than even her most fond memories of her father. "Yes, she does."

"Cash?"

She turned and smiled. Gil had no discomfort with the idea that he was going into carpentry and contracting while she came from an ivory tower. As far as he was concerned, she could rob her father for all he was worth and then be happy to sneak cheap snacks into a movie for a date. "Underwear drawer."

"Ooh!"

"Gilgamesh," she drawled, needing to remind him to grab what was necessary, and not whatever of hers was his favourite.

"Feels kind of exciting, right?" he grinned at her as she zipped the main section of the bag closed, including the cash that could keep her comfortable while she was literally finding her footing. "Like we're running away together?"

"Well," she raised her brows at him as she grabbed her hairbrush, "we are, aren't we?"

"Always said we would," he whispered before kissing her again. "You wanna put something else on or go like this?"

"And climb down that ladder in this?" she scoffed, gesturing to her silky little night dress, "no."

"Aw," Gil faked pouting before laughing, "I'd carry you down if you wanted me to."

"I know you would," she answered from her walk-in closet. She truly wouldn't miss anything from in here. Anything of hers that she liked and Gil liked was in that top dresser drawer, for all the other times she had left in the night like this.

Karun had helped them many, many times before.

"Okay," Gil smiled as she stepped out in a perfectly normal looking white sundress. "Ready?"

"Ready," she nodded, her resolve continuing to firm up with everything they packed. She looked up, "what?"

Gil shook his head, setting the bag down, "you look beautiful."

How she loved him. Thena smiled down at her feet shyly before slipping on the sandals she kept hidden in here. They were her only decent walking shoes. "Okay, let's go."

"Hey, you need one more thing."

"What?" Thena blinked, going over everything they'd packed. She had been planning this escape in the back of her mind for years, she was absolutely certain she wasn't forgetting anything. She looked at Gil.

He smiled at her, equal parts terror and excitement. His hands were shaky as he reached into his pocket and knelt down in front of her. He pulled out the ring box, gulping. "You'll need this."