SAVAGE

Julian looked up at the blonde with interest as she neared his little space only to look at her with wide eyes. Before him is a whole bunch of fruit covered in ink, various sketches, all of his pens. He sets the one in his hand down and then he’s straightening up, his teeth chewing at the inside of his cheek. He’d done the one teeny tiny design on Kasey, but that’d been his only instance of tattooing a real person so far. This wasn’t just a friend though, this was Hippolyta, his technical boss, and someone who had been tattooing for years. “Are you sure?” He doesn’t even try to hide his skepticism.

“Well, no. Actually, I just told you to give me a tattoo because of the kindness of my heart.” She rolled her eyes for a moment. “Of course I’m sure. Plus, I’m getting sick of seeing you tattooing fruits all day. I could be eating those, you know.” She sat down on the tattoo chair next to him and pulled up her shirt slightly. “It’s just going to be a small crescent moon. You think you can manage that?” Then she pointed to the spot where she wanted him to tattoo her right next to her panty line.

     “You just wanted to do your own thing,” Elias guessed from Hippolyta’s explanation. One that was understandable. She was a headstrong woman, very much unlike him. A sigh escaped him and he buried his face against his knees. “I don’t know,” he repeated, his favorite sentence to use from his vocabulary. “It’s just… we got engaged before he died. And it happened right after we had a big fight, one we never really talked about. And then when he was dead I slept with other people, but he didn’t care. And I don’t get it, because I always cared that he slept with others, but I arranged myself with that because he had to do it to survive. And now he’s some sort of monster, and Atlas said that a different kind of monster messed with my head and I feel like I can’t tell him these things because I’m afraid he’ll get into more trouble or die again or that… I don’t know. I’m constantly afraid and worried. And that’s not what I pictured being engaged to feel like. I thought I would be happy. But I’m not.”

     “That was, like, a million years ago.” And certainly not how most marriages happened today anymore. At least in the world Elias lived in there weren’t many arranged marriages, or marriages happening after only weeks of knowing each other. Most people seemingly stayed engaged forever. “What was your marriage like?”, he asked curiously. He knew her husband had been bad, but he didn’t know many more details than that. “What? No.” It was a quick reply, and it ended with Elias rethinking his answer and correcting himself. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

     “That’s not long. Most people wait three or four years to even get engaged.” Sometimes it all felt differently to Elias though. Considering the time of their separation after he first found out Kaan was an incubus, to the time Kaan had been dead, to the ups and downs in between. It felt like a lifetime sometimes, both in an exhausting and in a good way, and sometimes it was hard to comprehend it had really mostly happened in the span of a year. “With our luck, I’m not sure we’ll ever make it to the altar.”

It occurs to him all of a sudden, there on the green couch, that there was a possibility this would be their last house together. He imagined, if things went well, that he and Mateo would move in together eventually. Hell, maybe Hippolyta would beat him to it, move in with Rafael and their third before that happened. Looking at her, he can’t help but think of all the places they’ve gone, all the flats, all the waiting he’s done while she’d been behind the veil. How he’d welcomed her home every time she’d come back. They’d been constants in each other’s lives for so long, she was his person, and perhaps when they’d first met, they’d both been looking for that stability, for someone to lean on. “You’re a great cook, what are you talking about?” Leighton gives a light shake of his head and offers a soft chuckle, smiling at her fondly. “I’m happy for you, truly.”

Hippolyta didn’t like the possibility that Leighton would want to move out eventually. Nor did she like the possibility of her ever moving out. No. They would be roommates for as long as they both lived. She wasn’t going to have any other roommates even if they were her partners. Leighton was technically her partner, right? Her platonic partner, but still one nonetheless. What would she do without him? She knew she could survive if he wasn’t around, but she didn’t want to. She didn’t think that was a bad thing to want to be near your best friend all the time. She had always had him and they would always have each other. They just bought a house for fuck’s sake. There was no way that was changing anytime soon, but it was something to think about. For the future. And she hated it. “Who are you trying to fool, Leighton? I suck at cooking. You’re a vampire. You don’t even eat to know that my food is good.” She looked up at him from under her lashes. “I’m happy for you, too. I’ve got a knife at your neck though if you try to leave me.”

    “See, but that just means you have no idea what others really think.” Hippolyta was absolutely biased, and it was part of the reason why Elias loved her. She always made him feel like he wasn’t as bad as he thought he was. “You make it sound like we already got married. It’s just a dog, Hippo.”

                                                       ~ TIME SKIP. ~ 

They enjoy the time after with their beloved almost as much as the sex that preceded it. To bask in Hippolyta’s presence is a pleasure all in itself, the sphinx is as golden as her hair and shines just as warmly as the sun. It is something Anemos could stand in all day, and never become tired of it. Their hand reaches out, stroking against her face gently as a smile of fondness settles over their lips. “I do like the couch,” they say playfully, leaning in to kiss her. It currently holds them both, lounging in an embrace as the setting sun creeps in through the window. It’s a cozy setting, and though the spirit does not tire, they would not mind remaining like this with her all evening. “But there is little that would not look magnificent, with you atop it.” Anemos is of the opinion that Hippolyta could make anything look good, simply because she wills it. Their hand trails upwards on her face until it reaches her forehead, thumb smoothing against her forehead as if to rub away any troublesome thoughts. “How are you feeling now, my love?”