Heart and Hammer. (Hey! I Said Stay Awake!, D.O) (god!au)
Warnings: Jongin is a dick in this one. Dub-con mentioned. Extreme bodily injury mentioned. Hopefully it is somewhat sweet at the end. Please enjoy! :)
-
You could pinpoint the exact moment Kyungsoo's heart broke. Hell, if the world were silent enough, you would be able to hear the cracks before a chasm appeared in the place where kindness and love for his husband resided.
And yet, the god of love did not care in the slightest. His beautiful face was still stretched into a smile all while his hips undulated on top of Taemin's lap. They apparently didn't give a damn who saw them and who didn't- and the one person who wasn't supposed to see, did.
Without a word, the god of Blacksmiths turned his scarred back to the scene and left. Usually, he would be conscious of your predicament and slow his pace for you, so you could wobble behind him unsurely on a wooden leg and crutch, but this time, he was numb to the world.
Numb to the surroundings.
The lovers did not move from their position, but as you turned one last time to catch a glimpse of them, they both had a victorious smile on their faces.
This was all planned.
There wasn't much you could do- you already had a taste of what gods can do to you when they think you've wronged them; a painful and phantom pain just slightly above your right knee, the pain that prevented you from catching up to Kyungsoo and doing something, anything to calm him down.
You didn't even know if he would allow it; after all, it was his kindness that helped you survive, and his gentle soul that brought you back to his smith when you were halfway into the embrace of his brother ruling the underworld.
Is it in your place to comfort him after something as heartbreaking as the infidelity of the god of love, who vowed to love him and only him?
It took a while to return to Kyungsoo's palace.
Many times you believed it was not for you, on the lonely rock teetering near a volcano, the source of Kyungsoo's powers. It dried out your skin much quicker than normal environments and it was only thanks to the ingenious idea to carve out a hole into the deep rock, filling it with ocean water that you were able to stay with him as long as you had.
The sky turned gradually from the softest of blue into a reddish hue, cotton-white clouds darkening into ashen grey and then black, mirroring Kyungsoo's mood. There were times when the sky rejoiced with Kyungsoo, each amused snort of laughter releasing a joyous white cloud in the sky, his warm approach mirroring in the soft wind softly blowing and sun caressing the skin instead of blistering it.
Today was not that case. The mountain was unlike you had seen it before. The black and red falsely made you think about the scorching heat, but as you approached the realm of the god blacksmith, the closer you huddled into your feeble covering, trying to conserve warmth, wobble up the rocky hillside and hurry at the same time. The furnace was not happily puffing with warmth, the fire inside was ice blue, almost white.
The closer you came, the more you were unsure whether you wanted to face the god and his anguish. It was difficult to walk up the stony pathway that was crushed under the hard steps of Kyungsoo, who oozed destruction in every way. The further inside you got into the mountain, the more broken possessions you had seen; it was mostly objects of Jongin's or something that they shared that lay crumbled on the ground. Jongin's mirror, enchanted by Kyungsoo to magically fix whatever blunder dared to appear on the face of the god of love, was punched out, the lasting shards of glass tinted red from Kyungsoo's knuckles. Their bed, made from both the softest satin for Jongin and the hardest mattress for Kyungsoo's back was splintered, one of its legs sticking from the portrait of at that point happy newlyweds.
Amongst the destruction of their joint life sat Kyungsoo. His scarred back was turned towards you, as he sat in front of the caldera, his furnace and piece by piece, he dropped in objects from Jongin that he held dear. He was naked, the clothing given as a birthday present ("It is enchanted to cover those horrid scars on your back. I really can't stand looking at them at times," the red flags were always there, but so were the pink glasses on Kyungsoo's eyes) lay beside him, soon to be thrown in the fire as well.
You knew he heard you, how could he not, with the tapping of your wooden cane against the volcanic rock, but he gave no acknowledgement to your presence. Hobbling to stand next to him, you became unsure of yourself; how to lower yourself gracefully and without hurting yourself? You've been on your feet for far too long, and the wooden leg was already painfully cutting into your thigh, causing immense pain. As you pondered about lowering yourself with your canes, Kyungsoo extended his scorched hand towards you, offering an anchor to slowly sit yourself next to the bubbling lake of magma. Usually you would watch it curiously as it bubbled in happiness of its master, baffled by how pure fire looked so similar to its polar opposite, water, but watching the pure blackness slugging rather made you turn to look at Kyungsoo. He didn't return your gaze and kept staring into the darkness.
"You should go take a dip," his voice was quiet, no emotion hanging off the syllables. It could have been evident that the opposite for the god of fire and brimstone would be the absence of any passion, the absence of life. "You are already drying out."
"I don't want to leave you alone." you murmured in reply, your hand twitching, unsure whether reaching out and grabbing his hand would be a good idea or not.
"You don't need to do that, ___, I'm fine."
"Kyung-"
"It was expected." he sighed, leaning back on his hands, and looking up at the dark sky. Kyungsoo frowned, as if he didn't know why the sky was weeping, as if he didn't know it was angry and wept for him.
"A god of love with a god of metal, of permanence? How absurd." You had no idea what to say to him. Your heart broke at how Kyungsoo, a god who showed you mercy when his uncle didn't, thought of himself as not enough.
"He deserves to be with somebody more fleeting. And who is more fleeting than the god of wind?"
"What he did was bad." your words rung out in the emptiness of the hilltop, searching Kyungsoo's face for any recognition. The only response you got was a frown.
"He gave you his word. He vowed to keep you happy, to be faithful. Kyungsoo..." you really didn't know if you should have told him the next information, but if anyone deserved to know, it was him.
"They looked like they planned it." His eyes turned to look at you. Not saying anything, he stared at you, bidding you to continue with your accusations.
Kyungsoo wouldn't tolerate any vile words aimed at his partner. Jongin was without error, without capability of being bad. However as of now, the god of blacksmiths was not so sure.
"As you were leaving, they paused...they paused and looked over, making sure you saw them. If they were having an illicit affair, why do it so obviously, in an open space?" not able to hold his gaze anymore, you turned to look down at your hands, curling them into fists at the frustration of unfair treatment towards Kyungsoo. The silence was palpable. It was thick as the magma swirling underneath you, slow, angry, oh so angry, as it turned from black to bright red. Kyungsoo's body temperature seemed to shoot up, even sitting next to him felt as if you were touching a white hot object.
"Why would he hurt me like that?" was the most heartbreaking thing he could utter in anger. "What did I do to him for him to want to hurt me like this?" even if he wasn't the one who did something wrong, he still blamed himself.
"You didn't do anything wrong, Kyungsoo." you tried, but he was already not listening to reason. The scars on his body began to seep through with magma, filling him with passion, but not the passion that you seemed to know. This was passion to hurt, passion to create a weapon.
Passion to hurt the one that he vowed to keep safe.
Taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo stood up, the scars drying into dark lava. Before you could do anything else, he already put his hands on you, gently unstrapping the wooden leg, the leather straps feeling like teeth, the same teeth that brought you into this predicament. Making sure not to touch your bare skin, Kyungsoo lifted you up, bringing you over to your small pool of ocean water, giving you the hydration your body sorely needed. The feeling of being filled with water was so overwhelming that you almost missed the fact that Kyungsoo forgot to bring over your prosthetic leg.
"Kyungsoo...my leg..."
"It will be safer for you to stay here for now." Â
You have stayed outside for too long. The soothing effect of water on your skin made it hard for you to keep your eyes open. You knew you should stay awake and speak to the god, make him feel like not everybody in the world turned their backs on him, but you struggled to not slip into the land of dreams.
"Kyungsoo..." you murmured silently, reaching out to grab at him, but you were only met with the stuffy air against your fingertips. "You're drained, ___." came his velvety voice from afar, and through blurry eyes you saw him put on his apron and prepare his hammer. The open caldera was once again bubbling, but not happily, more agitated, prepared for whatever Kyungsoo was thinking up.
"You should rest. I will be here once you wake up."
"What are...what are you doing..."
"A gift. One last gift for Jongin."
And in that moment, your consciousness slipped away.
-
You swam through the world of sleep, disoriented. Usually you would not dream, and you didn't need much slumber to feel energized once again. However this time, you felt as if you had been dreaming for eons, just swimming through the murky and starry waters of the sky. Your leg was still attached to your body, as if it had never happened.
"You know, ____," Poseidon's voice rumbled through the darkness of the waters, from all and none direction at the same time, filling you with the same amount of dread it did the first time you heard it.
"You really are beautiful. Much more than my wife." the phantom feeling of his fingertips against the lower of your back made you kick faster in the water, hoping to get away from him. But how can you get away from something that was not there in the first place?
Something glistened in the dark waters, a thing that made your heart clench in fear.
"It makes it really hard to not do anything about this. About you." From the corner of your eye you could see her. Beautiful, and terrifying at the same time, Tethys with arms crossed at her chest, deep frown between her brows, gaze that can and will hurt you in the end. You tried to open your mouth, to plead with her, to explain that you had no intention to woo her husband nor to give him access to your body, but rather than sound coming out, water rushed into your lungs, cutting off your speech.
"Nobody has to know, ___," Poseidon appeared once again, heated whisper brushing against the shell of your ear.
"Nobody will know if you do this one thing for me," but she will know, you tried to argue, but there was no sound coming out, and no matter how fast you tried to swim, he was always there, following you like a shadow.
"Imagine the power I can give you," came the enticing voice from the waters, and the image of Poseidon appeared in the distance, swimming towards you. Strong strokes had him meandering confidently through the water, through his domain and in the moment, you understood how a seal cub felt as it was circled by predators.
"Just one night with me, to once again feel...young, by holding a dainty thing like yourself... and I will give you anything you want." You want him to leave you alone, though. There is nothing more you wanted, you wanted to be left alone to frolic in the waters and serve your queen, not betray her.
And yet you knew you couldn't fight this. This was already set in stone, and no matter how much you wished you could change the past, how you could change the reluctant nod of your head to a determined shake; no pleading, no crying, no anger can change what you had done in the past.
Poseidon was still around you. You couldn't see him anymore, but you still heard the lewd and heated whispers traveling through the water like oil. You stopped trying to swim away, and you floated in the dark waters. It made no difference whether you kept your eyes open or closed, and yet you still shut them to protect yourself from what was coming next.
You nodded, agreeing to shame Tethys by sleeping with her husband. And this time, you didn't see the great white shark surge from the darkness, biting at your leg and shaking until it gave way.
-
You woke with a start, kicking against the bottom of your pool as if the shark who mutilated you was waiting for you at the bottom. You only dreamt of this when you were extremely tired and restless, your biggest insecurities following you into the realm of sleep.
"Hey. Hey, ___..." the rich voice broke through the splashing in the water, and you understood that what was keeping you in the water was the gentle yet firm grip of Kyungsoo's hands on your shoulders. You sighed out his name, fingertips sliding across his hands and forearms to make sure it was him and not the scaley grip of the former master of the seas.
"You are still weak," he murmured, softening his grip once he felt you relax into the water. "You should stay in the water for a little bit longer." there was something wrong with his voice, and with a frown you pried your eyes open to look at the blacksmith.
There were heavy bags under his eyes and his whole body hunched under a mixture of pain and exhaustion. He was no longer wearing the apron and you could see the new scars that crisscrossed his chest and arms like white hot strings. You whined in confusion as you tried to get out of the pool for another reason, to assess his injuries, all while asking him what happened.
"I have something to do, ___. It's not safe for you to get out right now; the earth is still too hot." the water around you was still enticing, luring you back under to sleep, and you could hardly fight against it.
"Kyungsoo...don't..."
"Sleep now, ___...it will all be better soon..."
-
Going down under, you found yourself almost at the same spot when you were ripped out from your dreaming. Your body was being whipped back and forth through the strong currents of the sea, banishing you from the realm you were born to live your entire life in. When your head broke the surface of the water, the sky was just as dark as the sea underneath, occasional lighting forking through the clouds to illuminate the fact that you were left out at sea, forced to swim or drown. Your leg was still bleeding profusely, and as it was a miracle you were not dead yet, you knew that Tethys must have made sure that the shark bite is a certain, but very slow way to drag you into the underworld.
More sharks were circling under you, fighting over who deserves to get a chunk out of you first.
This is it. This is the end of your small, pathetic life. Being ripped apart because of injustice done to you. The sky above you roared with lightning, and with a start you realized that the crack you heard was the sound of the bolt hitting the ground. The darkness that you mistook as night and storm was a looming cliffside.
Seeing that land mass made something in your heart burn. It made it yearn for life, for getting the chance to explain yourself, to ask for forgiveness from your mistress, for being able to look into the eyes of the one who caused your death and show him that even a nymph like yourself was able to survive the order of a dying god.
And with that surge of hope and anger, you kicked as hard as you could, swimming straight towards the land. Not knowing whether the sharks have already began following you, you didn't look back, trying to fight against the current that at one moment pulled you further back into the sea and then the other surged you on top of a wave closer to land. At one of the pulls into sea, you felt your leg bump into the coarse skin of a shark close behind you, and you kicked its nose with the remaining strength that you had before with the final wave forward, you could feel your front skid across the jagged, but solid side of the rocks on the cliff. Grabbing at the cliff with both hands, you held steadfast as the water of the sea kept slapping against your back, pushing the air from your lungs and trying to pull you back into the sea. Another crack into the mountain top had you seeing fire on the edge of the cliff, indicating life just a few meters above you.
The cliff, as jagged and dangerous as it looked, had many roots and rocks sticking out and realizing you had to choose between waiting for the tide to come in and the sharks in the nearby water to pull you back down, or falling to your death, you began the arduous climb up the cliffside. It could have taken hours. It could have taken minutes, and you would be none the wiser, but after many moments when you thought you would just give up in the lightning illuminated night, you finally reached the top of the cliff, dragging your broken body over the edge and into safety.
That was the last bit of energy you had. You were going to die, but you were going to die knowing you tried to do everything to prevent it. And as your eyes were closing for what you thought was the last time, you caught a glimpse of a figure rushing towards you.
-
Heavy hits of a hammer dragged you from slumber. Still disoriented, your eyes fluttered open as you tried to locate the source of the noise attacking your ear drums with a shill 'pang!' every time the hammer hit the metal.
With blurry vision, you saw Kyungsoo's naked back straining to pound the hammer with efficiency against the desired product. Even from a distance you saw his form shake. Focused on his product, he was overworking himself once more, putting the satisfaction of a customer above his wellbeing.
He was like this even the first time you've met, on that cold and rainy night that you've escaped Poseidon's deathly grip.
What you thought was the last time your eyes close was a lie; they sprang open when you felt searing pain in the place where the shark bit off the majority of your leg. You tried to get away from the pain, eyes brimming with tears and whines ripping from your throat when you noticed that a deep voice was murmuring apologies into your ear, making sure your thrashing would not burn you more than it should. The pain was excruciating, but also short-lasting and moments afterwards you were being turned away from the white-hot furnace, your stump sizzling as your wound was burnt shut.
Your confused babbling was soothed by the man holding you, now pulling you away from the furnace and onto a makeshift bed, still gripping tight and making sure you would not fall. It was so sudden, and the fact that you were already prepared to begin the afterlife before somebody gave you another chance at life made you feel extremely weak. You already fought as much as you could. You didn't think you can keep holding on; your whole body burned from the chafed skin with dried salt in its deep ridges and every time you wished you squirm and move your leg a bit to the side you were hit with the sudden realization that you did not have a right limb anymore.
It was all so tiring. You only wanted to die. Whoever is trying to save you is not doing you any favors, and that much you tried to convey to them, but it seemed that they were not listening. They were still mumbling something calming, trying to ensure you that you were in a safe space and that you were taken care of.
The rag that they used to try to wipe out the salt in your wounds made you hiss, but there was no more energy in your body to squirm away. Only then you realized that you were not alone.
"I don't think she will last, Soo," came an almost disinterested voice from behind the man treating your wounds. "Look at her. She's barely hanging on."
"The bleeding stopped. She looks like a sea nymph...I think that if we clean her and make sure she has contact with water, she will survive."
"She's been evidently banished. Probably screwed by Poseidon and attacked by Tethys. She isn't the only body that washed up near here, you know." in the murky confusion of your mind, it finally made sense why you haven't seen many of your friends anymore. Their names were forbidden in your realm, and the same fate awaited you.
The man treating you was kind. From first glance, he did not seem like someone you would want to talk to; scars forked out under the frayed and dirty tunic that he wore and his overgrown hair fell deep into his eyes, covering the sliced scar that started at his temple and ended under his right eyebrow. His left cheek had been sliced open as well, leaving a deep ridge in the otherwise meaty flesh. His back was hunched, and he was missing a piece of his little finger to the second knuckle, but the moment his eyes met yours, you knew you were in good hands.
Chocolate brown eyes, round with wonder and with the determination to help you were mixed in with a bit of worry.
"Don't be afraid, nymph..." his voice was deep, and yet soothing. In a strange sense, it didn't seem to match his appearance, and yet on the other hand you couldn't imagine him sounding any different.
"Just stay awake."
You tried to speak, but the sounds got caught in your dry throat, making you cough. The stranger frowned at your state, turning back to look at his companion.
"Jongin, could you please go get some sea water from below? I think she's thirsty." The name rang a bell in your mind, but you were not sure where you heard it first. He was replied to with a scoff.
"I'm not your servant, Kyungsoo, I'm your husband." there was rustling heard, as if something was being packed away. "Just because I'm tolerating her messing up the dinner I made doesn't mean that I'll play hospital with you to ease your mind." The hunched stranger was quiet, gently stroking at your eyebrows to ease out the crease between them.
"I couldn't let her die..." was his mumbled reply, and with a sigh, Jongin rested his hand on his shoulder, thumb rubbing gentle circles into the muscle.
"I know it's your thing, darling, this...obsession with broken people and cliffs." the hand slipped away from him before Kyungsoo was able to grasp at it with his scarred hand.
"But just because you were flung from that cliff and survived doesn't mean that she climbed it and will live."
-
It took you a long time to realize how cruel Kyungsoo's husband Jongin was, and it took you even longer to realize why the god of love can be cruel to the god of blacksmiths in such a way. Kyungsoo was cast away at birth, flung from the same cliff on which his smith now stood, left to die by his parents. By some fateful intervention however, he survived and through quiet and persistent work he showed he was worthy of living and of a place within the deity pantheon. His father was so impressed by Kyungsoo's ability to overcome any difficulties, that he gave him the love of the god of love himself, and Jongin was forced by the majority of the gods to marry the scarred blacksmith with a heart of gold.
Your recovery took a while, but Kyungsoo made sure to cater to your every need. After being on the ground for too long, he carried you down to the beach, digging a hole deep enough in the moist sand that it filled with water, safe from the sharks lurking and hunting for your life but still close enough to the source of your power so you could replenish your energy. Your wound began healing, but your leg would never grow back in its place, that much Kyungsoo was told by the god of medicine who came to check up on you after the first crucial week that you had survived. Your body was still littered with bruises, both black and purple, ridged with red strings caused by the jagged edges of rocks.
The first month or so you didn't want to leave the haven that was the small pool of sea water that Kyungsoo created for you. Even though he made sure that you knew that there was always a place for you at his table, a fact that annoyed Jongin to no end, you didn't have it in yourself to leave the safety of the water and more importantly, to show the world your new form. The absence of your leg haunted you incredibly. Water nymphs were extremely proud of their forms, of how fast they could swim, of how strong their kicks were, of how enticing they were to sailors and other poor souls that came in contact with them. The attention nurtured them, made them feel important.
Who and why would anyone find you attractive now? You were broken. Banished for your vanity, hurt for your insolence. There were many nights when you couldn't help but to burst into silent tears, feeling so alone and so abandoned in that tiny hole in volcanic rock, so far away from everything that you knew.
And yet Kyungsoo never pushed you out of your shell. He kept you company, made sure that the Vulcan did not overheat your water, brought you food and news of the outside world. He was the one that brought you the news of Poseidon's stepping down and the reining of a new king of the seas. You met Junmyeon before and even though you knew there was a strong chance you would not be let back in your home anymore, you rejoiced. He was a just and kind ruler, and the terror of Poseidon's lust came to an end.
As time passed, you became more curious about what the master blacksmith was doing when his husband was out. Seeing your curiosity, he would bring over his finished products to show you, and in a matter of days you were his advisor in Jongin's gifts. Kyungsoo's husband was extremely lucky to have a partner like him. On an almost daily basis Kyungsoo would spend hours to craft the most intricate of gifts, cradling the finished product with such warmth in his eyes it made you almost look away from the intimate moments, as he wished they would bring joy to Jongin. His husband would always receive them with lukewarm reactions, planting a sloppy kiss to the blacksmith's face as thank you, and yet it seemed to be enough for him. He was the one to create a crutch for you, made out of driftwood from the sea, regulating the moisture in the bark to let you know how long you could be on the surface without feeling sick. At night, with both of the gods sleeping, you stared at the crutch with a mixture of admiration and disgust; admiration for the blacksmith god and disgust at the fact that you now needed an aid like this to move around.
-
A loud groan ripping from Kyungsoo's throat brought you back into reality, into the land of all the beautiful gifts shattered on the volcanic rock, and the god in front of you crumbling to his knees. He didn't hear you calling out to him, his hands curling into fists, knuckles white as whatever pain he felt coursed through his body.
You still weren't strong enough, that much was evident; your arms shook as you tried to lift yourself from your pool, and your leg immediately buckled under you as you tried to straighten up. However, you needed to get to him, you had to help him, as in the end, his body sagged and the tension it held snapped like a rubber band. Your heart skipped a beat at the sight, and for one horrifying moment you thought you had lost him. That thought alone fueled you to abandon your attempts to hobble over to him with your crutch, and you crawled over the volcanic rock, eyes misty, hands shaking, heart going so fast you thought it might jump out of your chest.
The reason for your survival was lying on the floor, feeling abandoned once more, just like all those decades ago when he was flung from the cliff. The reason for your recovery shook in overextension, eyes rolled back. For one second you thought that his eyes detected yours, and you cradled his head in your arms, gently caressing his scarred cheek.
"It's alright, Kyungsoo...just stay awake...we will make you feel better, I promise..." you tried to murmur to him all the words he whispered to you in your darkest moments, tried to make him feel as loved as he made you feel the moment your whole world crashed around you. In a sudden spasm, Kyungsoo coughed up blood, spraying your neck with the red liquid, and his eyes closed once more.
"Hey!" your voice grew urgent, wiping at his lips, rubbing at his chest to bring back some heat into the abnormally cold body.
"I said stay awake! Please!" You didn't have any healing properties like your sisters. You didn't even know if you could concoct some potion to make him feel better. You didn't know who, or if you could call somebody.
On the black rock, holding the body that you felt so grateful to, you were lost.
"There are so many people who love you, Kyungsoo," you sniffled, leaning down to press a kiss against his forehead, uncaring whether you crossed any boundaries. "There are so many people for who you are a joy. Jongin is wrong. You are not unlovable. You are loved in each and every way. Please, please, wake up!"
You heard a rumble behind you, but you couldn't care less about anything that was not Kyungsoo, the man that deserved the world and seemed to receive only broken shards. And why? Because of his appearance? Because he let himself be walked over, since any attention is good attention to a boy who was flung from a cliff? Your heart bled in anger, it cried in grief, and yet it pulsed with new-found love for the man.
You never knew that you would find it. Love was not meant for nymphs like you, and it was definitely not for you to give to a god. However, you couldn't help it, the way your shaky hand brushed through the matted hair, soothing at Kyungsoo's scalp. Unable to keep your sudden revelation anymore, you cupped Kyungsoo's full cheeks, squeezing at them in hopes to wake him up.
"I love you, Kyungsoo. I love you for how gentle you were with me when I needed it the most, for how you always give your best, even to people that don't even deserve a speck of your attention." you choked on your tears, and to calm yourself down, you peppered soft kisses to the brow of Kyungsoo's arch, the skin feeling salty underneath your trembling tears.
"Whatever you're trying to do...please...stop. It's killing you, and you, of all people, deserve to be happy in this life. Please...come back..."
You haven't even noticed that the rumbling gained on its intensity as you tended to the broken god of blacksmiths, but it got to such a level that you could not ignore it anymore. It attacked your earbuds, a sound jarring and uncomfortable, and when you looked up in annoyance at the source of the noise, the trembling object on the anvil suddenly broke in an explosion of light, swallowing your entire vision.
After the shock of white, everything turned black.
---
It could have been moments between your periods of consciousness, but it also could have been hours. The feeling of floating you felt was not imagined, and when you gradually began feeling more lucid, you realized that you were back in your pool.
However this time, you weren't alone.
Strong arms were holding you secure, making sure you would not slip off the lap of the person you tried to save before. On the back of your thigh, you could feel his fingertips prune from being in the water too long, and when you tried to voice your protest in a mewl of discontent, he replied in a comforting grumble. Your eyes opened and as you regained focus, you saw the entire scenery change.
Gone were the dark clouds marring the sky. It was left without a spot, the sun on the horizon casting hues of deep orange and soft pink across the starry canvas. The furnace, bubbling and huffing in anger before was as calm as the evening sea. The smithy was no longer trashed with Jongin's broken belongings, and it looked pristine. And at the edge of your pool, an object took your breath away. Â
"As you were asleep, I was trying to create something to punish Jongin." behind Kyungsoo's voice, you heard exhaustion.
"A net. I wished to catch them in action once more, so I could throw a net over them and drag them to the pantheon, to shame them for their deeds. I wanted them to feel as humiliated as I was when I saw them. I wished they would feel the pain I felt when I realized that Jongin's promise was as light as the wind Taemin wields." you reached out, grabbing at the hand gently stroking your side. When his fingers relaxed, you slipped yours between them, gripping in support.
"The net I wanted to create requires the pain from the blacksmith in order to work. I thought I was broken enough to create it. My parents didn't want me at birth, my husband didn't want me in marriage, my brothers didn't want me in the pantheon...I was okay if I died in order to create the net." the words had you grabbing at his hand in fright, and turning to watch his face. However, as you looked into Kyungsoo's eyes, you saw nothing but comfort and calm, the same calm the sea has after a horrific storm.
"And I almost thought that I did. I was ready to meet Tao, and I hopefully had done enough good deeds to go on into Elysium. And then, I heard your voice. I felt your touch, and your kisses..." bringing your clasped hands up to his face, Kyungsoo peppered a gentle kiss over your knuckles.
"I couldn't do it. I can't punish for Jongin for looking for love elsewhere, in a relationship that had no future. Especially if I myself had doubts about its genuineness."
"Kyungsoo..."
"I'm not trying to promise you anything," he added hastily, sitting straight up, and holding your hands between his. Under your fingertips, you felt the wrinkles caused by the water. How long was he holding you here?
"After such a long time that I lived for Jongin, I think I need to figure out what I should do next...about my existence outside of this marriage...I mean, I don't even know whether you yourself feel something else, but, ___..." your fingers gripped back, and you sat up straight to look into his genuine eyes.
"Would you allow me to court you?"
The question that has been denied you in the past. The need of affirmation from your side is what had you nodding through tears, your heart bursting with new affection for the immensely shy god who surprisingly found courage to ask you, a lowly creature, the approval of courtship. He tried to not make it evident, but you could see the relief on his features, and the smile that graced his features as he leaned over and pressed a kiss against your forehead.
"Will you then accept my first gift?"
Bidding you to look over at the object at the edge of your pool once again, Kyungsoo smiled at the uncertain question of "is that for me?" that escaped your lips.
"I know that the crutch and the prosthetic were just temporary solutions. You tried not to let it show, but they were quite cumbersome to use, yes?"
At the edge of the pond stood something that resembled a pillar. It slimmed down into a pen-point blade, and the surface was pearly, shining with iridescent hues as the sun cast its light on it. It was beautiful, and you almost feared touching it, but with Kyungsoo's encouragement, you reached out and slid your fingertips along the smooth surface. It was surprisingly warm to the touch, and despite the seemingly hard material, the object felt almost life-like.
"I think we need to get out in order to see if it works..." Kyungsoo murmured, pulling himself out of the pool first, in order to help you sit on the edge. "This is my first time trying something like this, and maybe it will not be perfect, but I can try again..." as he spoke, more to himself than to you, Kyungsoo gently grabbed at the prosthetic and placed the thickest side of it against the stump of your right leg. It felt warm against your skin, and you thought he would fetch ropes from somewhere in order to attach it to you, but Kyungsoo patiently held the marble against your skin, watching it with brows furrowed from nerves.
Moments passed, moments that had you holding your breath in tension.
It was in the moment you both thought that the prosthetic did not work that you saw the tendrils of white reach out and clasp at your skin.
"Look!" was the only thing that stopped Kyungsoo from pulling the prosthetic away, and despite your first fright, you realized that the tendrils did not hurt, and instead of burrowing into your skin as you thought they would have done, they latched onto it. Before your own eyes, you watched the marble form and change, vein-like grooves appearing along the length of it, tiny petals and leaves blooming in one place or the other. The sharp point slowly changed, and within moments, you stared at a marble-white foot lying right beside your left one. The prosthetic never changed its iridescent hue, but to the touch, it felt as if you never lost a leg in the first place.
"Would you like to try standing?" Kyungsoo tried not to sound too giddy about his gift working, and you immediately nodded. The blacksmith grabbed at your hands, and with gentle strength, helped to lift you to your feet. In reflex, you still held the majority of your weight on the left side of your body, gripping at Kyungsoo's hands in fear that he would let you fall.
"Slowly..." he instructed you, patient, as he watched you transfer some of the weight on the prosthetic. Still in awe, you watched your now two feet.
You wiggled your left toes, gently padding against the warm volcanic rock under you.
You then wiggled your right toes, the movement just as suave as the one on your left leg.
Kyungsoo watched you with a great smile on his face as you took your first steps in months, strides still unsure. What you thought you would never do again; you took your first steps after a god plotted your killing.
Looking back, you still saw Kyungsoo smile, the warmth and happiness making his scars disappear. In this moment, in your eyes, he was more beautiful than the god of love.
The two of you were broken, yes. But maybe, with each other's help, love will seep into the cracks and make you whole again.














