elliot

We have watched and guided. We have helped them progress. And seen them accomplish wonders. Throughout the years, we have never interfered until now.

33. "I was lying earlier."

Sprite hesitates in the doorway of the living room, fists curling and uncurling. It's been - hard, adjusting to human life. To real human life. It's everything that they had wanted for so long, the chance to really grow up, to live a normal life. But now that they're there, growing up still feels too slow. True, a few years is a blink of an eye to someone who's seen centuries, but they can feel the time in this new body like they never could before, in its aches and pains, its growth spurts. Its limits.

And they aren't treated like they've already seen centuries. Most days, they're grateful for that. It gives them some normalcy, and they know that it will soon be gone, and they can have so much when that time comes. A few more years is a small price to pay, isn't it?

But some days, they're tired and frustrated and their head hurts and they're upset close to tears for no good reason, and Kingo looks at them all soft and sympathetic and calls them kiddo, and they're snapping at him with a viciousness that should be harder to pry out from underneath their usual aloof demeanor. They don't even realize what they've said until he's pulling back like he's been burned, and they feel a terrible, clear moment of satisfaction before the guilt and regret sink in like icy water.

34. "When did you know for sure?"

Thena watches Gilgamesh as the light of the breaking dawn starts to filter in through the cracks of their blinds. She knows every rise and fall of his chest by heart by now, catches the slight shift when he drifts from sleep to wake. They're curled up as they always are, fingers tangled together - once, they said it was only so that Gilgamesh could wake in an instant if nightmares sent her thrashing, no matter the increased risk closeness might pose.

It's been five hundred years. They have long since dispensed with excuses, letting the simple truth of love take their place.

Gilgamesh lets his eyes open when he's ready to, that familiar smile brightening his face when he meets her clear gaze. Anyone could think that year after year of the same thing would grow old. But he's so handsome in the sunlight, like he holds all of the warmth in the world caged in his chest, and Thena wants millennia of it.

"When did you know for sure?" she asks quietly, tone far more vulnerable than anyone else would hear. His brow furrows slightly, and she clarifies, "That you loved me."

"Ah," he says, considering it with a faux-serious expression. "Let's see...from the moment I first saw you."

He grins at her, pleased with himself, and she shakes her head and pokes him in the chest, a smile tugging at her lips. "No, really."

"I don't know," he says eventually, thoughtful. "I have known you for so long, Thena. What I remember of then is all combined with what I feel now. I have loved you forever." He raises her hand to his lips, gently kissing the back of her knuckles - still raw and healing from an episode the other day. "And I always will."

You’re not a God. You know that, right?

Something vaguely between Ikaris & Kingo and Ikaris/Kingo, relationship study. Kingo centric. 1.8k words.

---

They pass out the rest of the tangerines at dinner, and Kingo slips away from the table. He tosses a tangerine from hand to hand as he walks, catches it without looking, strips away the peel - and offers it, quietly, to Ikaris. "You don't have to stand guard on your own, you know. You're missing out on some real fun, Gil is trying to outdrink Thena."

Ikaris nearly smiles, a small curve in the moonlight. "Someone has to ensure the Deviants don't catch us unawares." But he takes the tangerine, turning it over under his fingers, and Kingo savors the victory with an uncharacteristic lack of crowing.

-

Kingo and Ikaris, from the beginning to the end.

Showing affections.

goodnight kisses

hand kisses

smiling while kissing

lips barely touching

morning kisses

slow kisses

passionate kisses

kisses on the cheek

first kisses

goodbye kisses

welcome home kisses

kisses on the corner of their mouth

frustrated kisses

kissing each other breathless

soothing kisses

nose kisses

kisses as a promise

short pecks

forehead kisses

kisses on head

“we’ll face this together” kisses

kisses in the rain

life-or-death kisses

kisses for a cover

hard kisses

giggling while kissing

desperate kisses

neck kisses

hushed conversation in-between kisses

eyelid kisses

gentle stroking of cheeks

small kisses

kissing it better

jaw kisses

wake-up kisses

kissing away tears

public kisses

relieved kisses

kisses for comfort

tummy kisses

kisses to shut them up

slowly kissing down the body

“we’ll see each other again” kisses

kissing each finger

sleepy kisses

angry kisses

feather-light kisses

kisses with trembling lips

secret kisses

kisses with their last dying breath