Rebirth

“I swear it’s easier to get a gun than it is to file a marriage license.” Petrichor sighed as they left the courthouse and walked the streets of the city together, the phoenix’s arm loose around Gabriel’s waist. It was unseasonably cold, particularly for Greece, but the phoenix didn’t think anything of it. As it turned out married life was very much like their life together dating, except now Petrichor had given the other unbridled access to all of his accounts. “So what’s first -?  I know it isn’t very Greek, but I’ve gone thousands of years without carving a pumpkin. Feels like a crime if I don’t start now.”

    At first Henry wasn’t sure whether it would be a good idea to practice his shifting with Pete. But his friend gave him good reasons, and while Henry was cautious and afraid – he was also excited and wanted to learn as much about this new side of himself as possible. “If you really want to, I would not say no to some practice with you,” he admitted, a small smile on his lips. One that ended in a laugh at Pete’s next words. “Yeah, those are the kind of things I would like to avoid. I would rather not read stories about my dragon self misbehaving in the newspaper.”

-

Henry was his best friend. Of course he wanted to help him through this. It wasn’t too long ago that Petrichor was talking him off a vampiric ledge, but this power - this was a gift, one that had been inside Henry all along. Waiting. Perhaps this was what his soul had known when they first met. “Shall we heat out then?” Petrichor asked as he quirked a brow at his long time friend, “If you’re going to master this then there is no time like the present.”

Retired, Theseus grins at the idea, and yet he doesn’t think Petrichor is joking. No, he would believe that after all this time the phoenix had decided to step back. He did wonder how many other’s there were in Corinth of his kind, how many he’d made. They could be allies, but the entire train of thought is derailed by that single word. “Manticores?” He asks with much skepticism, brows raised. “I thought you’d ridded us of all of them long ago.” It’s a curious thing and he can’t say he isn’t a little excited because he has never grappled with one himself, but he’d surely like to. “How could I say no?” His lips quirk upwards, but he thinks Petrichor knows him well enough to know that he’s not entirely joking. “Haven’t met other big names aside from the couple I know personally here yet. I have but a vague idea of what I’m in for.” He was trying to have fun with it, but it wasn’t realistic, he wasn’t a boy anymore. He might crave a challenge, but he knew his limits, even if he didn’t like acknowledging them.

-

“My siblings and I hunted them to extinction. Their scourge was one of the reasons we were created.” Petrichor said, the creatures were different than what had emerged from the other side of the veil. They were monstrous then, now they retained a vestige of their humanity but were still dangerous. “When the veil was sundered, its reparation was not wholly successful. It created damage in parts of the world, the gates of Tartarus were affected and now manticores have slipped out from the Erinyes to invade the city.” If any had left Greece in favour of the open world, Petrichor could not say, but he did not put anything past them. “Sounds like the job for a hero, another labor for you, perhaps.”

-

Gabriel huffed out a laugh, going easily when they reversed positions. He looked up at the phoenix now, his hands sliding up the other’s arms. The feeling of his soulmate was enough to get the incubus excited for the rest of eternity together. He kept his curse, and he got to still plan on lifetimes with Petrichor. Nothing would tear them apart again, and definitely not death. He pulled the phoenix down to kiss him, and he fucked one more lifetime out of him. 

~~~

He knew it would be exciting, but the nerves were a bit much for the incubus. After all, it wasn’t like he’d married anyone else in his life. Gabriel had Penelope and Kaan there, and that was enough to make him relax as much as he could. The island of Skopelos was everything he wanted it to be and more. The vows were heavy handed perhaps for someone like him, but there were few people he’d allow to see him in such a way. A soul knew its other half by sight alone, and that’s how it had been for Gabriel, anyway. Perhaps as a human, he hadn’t known what to look for. Soft blue eyes, kind features, that’d been enough for a soldier to trust in a stranger. It had felt like losing air when Petrichor had left, and he knew he could breathe once more when reunited. Even the past year had done little to quell the incubus’ love for the phoenix, despite the good and the bad, and the murderous intent against others, they were at this place, together. And Gabriel had zero plans to let anyone get between them, even this idea of starting the end of another world. And as he pulled Petrichor in by the lapels of his suit, he sealed that promise with an I do and a kiss.

-

Too many years Petrichor had spent alone, tasked with protecting the world all the while believing himself above it. It wasn’t enough to fall in love, because anyone could do that. He’d been chosen by Eos, by Artemis, and to him this meant sacrifice. Putting himself last and doing whatever was necessary to save even the undeserving. The phoenix had known love once, thousands of years prior when he was young and the world was still new to him. Gabriel was something else entirely, another mortal, though one who’d been found out by immortality thanks to the phoenix’s touch. It had taken losing himself entirely to find himself in the incubus he’d left behind so many centuries prior, while Gabriel’s vows were laid on thick, Petrichor’s were characteristically sappy. He owed the other man a great debt, because even when he was at his worst - hated by his sister, despised by the phoenixes for wishing to tear down the veil. Gabriel was still there, he was always there. Consistent, witty, charming. It would be them always, eternally, and for the first time in over a thousand years Petrichor found himself looking forward to the future. To the next day and the day after, because each morning he awoke it was to Gabriel next to him. Petrichor’s lips pressed against Gabriel’s, his hand curved around the back of the man’s neck and he promised him just that: forever.

-

Gabriel laughed, wrinkling his nose, “You are an accomplice. Fraud, embezzlement, what else should I call it?” Luckily for everyone else, he was out of the soul stealing business. Now, he just liked to collect memories. But he’d save that for the honeymoon, they could have fun with how many weird ones he’d collected. It was a ridiculous sentiment, and Gabriel wouldn’t accept such a touching thing to say if it had been from anyone but Petrichor. The phoenix’s lips seemed to hold fire, setting Gabriel’s nerves alight as they brushed against his skin. “Fuck, how do you always know what to say?” he sighed, putting his hands on either side of Petrichor’s face so he could kiss him again, “Think you have another round in you or are you going to burst into flames at the altar?”

-

A litany of long years had brought him here, back to Greece where it had all began, and to Gabriel who had somehow already been in the city waiting for him. Petrichor had run from this once, now all he ever wanted to do was run towards it, towards the incubus who - even without his charm - held the phoenix in the palm of his hand. Petrichor flipped Gabriel over, maneuvering him now so that he could be on top, splaying the incubus’ legs around his waist. Their connection drew his soul, warm and free from the depths of his essence as it slowly but continuously filled the other. Despite Gabriel’s taint he was always warm, Petrichor could see the parts of himself that sustained the other and he relished in it. “Call it what you want,” the phoenix replied, distracted by the responsive feel of Gabriel’s skin, pale skin pressed beneath warm hands- soft lips that maneuvered expertly against his own. “ but I still have lifetimes left in me.” 

-

“That’s a possibility. Everyone usually wants me,” he grinned, rolling his eyes a little at the though. “You know I’d be a terrible servant. I talk too much.” Gabriel pressed another kiss against the phoenix’s neck, huffing out a breath, “Have you seen how much money I’ve won? Just in case I needed to buy more things, I have all those scratchers. I could try the lottery – but I think this is much more subtle. Too bad you don’t have your own luck.”

-

“Oh I know, maters and paters everywhere won’t let me forget it.” While it was true that Gabriel could talk about just anyone’s ear off, Petrichor liked it. There was never much silence between them, something the phoenix had only discovered once they’d gotten together that that was a thing the stoic sorely needed. “I try not to think about it, makes me feel like I’m some sort of accomplice in a longcon of yours.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to the other’s chest, his hands wandered to the small of Gabriel’s back. “I don’t need it, I already have everything I could ever want.” 

-

Despite their many years of life, Gabriel could say this was at least a first. It would be his first and only, and there was something funny about it all. He had already joked that he couldn’t wear white or he’d be stricken down where he stood if he went outside. Straddling the phoenix, Gabriel smiled, “Well, you’re supposed to be marrying a virgin, too. I could always send a prayer up to Zeus, ask to be re-hymenated. I’ll still wear white, push my luck.” Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to the other’s lips, “Good thing I’m really lucky, though.”

-

“More likely he’d transform into a goose and have you for himself.” Petrichor mused, “Maybe you’d get lucky and he’s spirit you away like Ganymede. You do pour a nice glass of wine.” The phoenix offered, “In case you were thinking of a career change.” Petrichor couldn’t wait to see this ceremony through, to finally be done with the planning and the date changing and the guest list. There was none of that now, just them and a few people who were close to their heart. Family. “You do have me to thank for that, I saw your collection of scratch tickets.”

Eloping wasn’t something that Petrichor ever saw himself doing, not with Gabriel, not with anyone. And yet here they were in a hotel on Skopelos the morning of what was to be their big day. It took some work but they’d found someone to officiate, Petrichor’s siblings were coming to the island and apparently Penelope and Kaan were set to be there as well. “Isn’t it bad luck to see each other the day of our wedding?” Petrichor mused as the incubus straddled his waist, warm hands rested idly on Gabriel’s hips as the warm light of the early morning spilled through the bay window. They could stay here awhile, their own paradise away from the darkness and chaos of Corinth Bay. 

petrichorxathanasios​:

“Why wait?” Petrichor asked simply, he was tired of pretending like they needed to plan a big ceremony when the truth is they didn’t. The phoenix never cared for any of that, all that mattered to him was what was going to come after. Their life together. “Lets go, right now.” The phoenix breezed, “We’ll find someone to marry us on Skopelos, I don’t care about anything else.”

-

Gabriel paused, looking back at Petrichor now. The phoenix was serious, and it wasn’t like the incubus could lie and say he wanted to wait. “Really?” He had never wanted a large ceremony anyway, and the only people he’d invited were Penelope and Kaan – they could come with. Including the other original shifters, he supposed. “Then let’s go. I’ll tell Penelope – and we can go.”

-

-

For someone who had the same name for over a thousand years, he could understand it. Petrichor had left his original name behind years ago, but he wasn’t going to say much else about it. Gabriel leaned forward, his fingers trailing down the phoenix’s back, “Fuck, you’re right.” He grinned, claiming Petrichor’s mouth in a hard kiss before he pulled away, “When are we doing this thing? How much longer you want me to wait?”

-

“Why wait?” Petrichor asked simply, he was tired of pretending like they needed to plan a big ceremony when the truth is they didn’t. The phoenix never cared for any of that, all that mattered to him was what was going to come after. Their life together. “Lets go, right now.” The phoenix breezed, “We’ll find someone to marry us on Skopelos, I don’t care about anything else.”

*

Rowan now understand and knew what the new species were that had crawled forth, Dryads and Manticores. She was still in the dark about dragons but with time, that would come to light. Rowan smiles, warmed by such a thought of pleasing the original shifters and she nods, ready to let him depart before a glint of light reflects off a new band he now wore on his left hand. “Excuse me.” She says, quite pointed in her speech as she raises her eyebrows in the direction of his engagement ring. “What is that?”

-

“What’s what?” Petrichor asked, he stopped mid transformation and looked at her, perplexed. Rowan had always been perceptive, though perhaps a trick of the light had gotten the better of her. Maybe it was just happiness that she was unfamiliar with seeing on him, that was probably the only thing that had changed about him. “Oh.” He remembered something suddenly, “Make sure you’re checking your mailbox, there’s something coming your way.” Petrichor smiled, an unusual sight but Rowan seemed to have that effect on him. “Until next time, be safe.” His transformation once again took hold and he was off in the skies, headed for the horizon. 

“It’s more I’m still trying to find my way around.” August was often harebrained, half cocked and full sent. She has energy that she can’t quite disperse as the wolf stalks inside of her caged and restless, so it often translates to a nervous energy that she carries within her human shell. Her slight shaking hands finally find the switch behind an unsuspecting bookshelf. “Couldn’t wait to open the door or the windows, wanted to greet the new city. What can I do for ya’?”

-

“I’m looking for something for someone.” Petrichor offered, “A gift for a librarian, got anything for snobs who’ve already read everything?” The phoenix asked, his eyes raked over her soul without ever so much as twitching. She was one of Fenrir’s wolves, a creature that historically Petrichor had turned his nose up. He still helped them when he was required, but the coldness that the phoenix felt for the creatures who were a byproduct of Fenrir’s ritual had in the past been palpable. Now he’d graduated to indifference, she was not Hel. “I like what you’ve done with the place.”

     “Yes, I have. Several times.” Henry had done it mostly when he was alone. He knew that he was still in control, but he was still afraid of this huge form that could spout fire. What if he practiced and accidentally hurt someone? Or got attention from the wrong people? “I know,” he confirmed, before shaking his head with a sigh. “I guess I’m just afraid of the consequences. Of accidentally hurting someone. Being a dragon with fire breath is not the same as turning into… let’s say a fox or bird or snake. I could accidentally burn the whole forest down.”

-

“Well, you and I have that in common. Just don’t. Or practice at a body of water.” Petrichor offered, “We could do it together if you’re afraid, if you set anything on fire I can put it out easily enough. I’m also fireproof, so, you don’t really have to worry about hurting me.” The phoenix was proud of his friend for showing restraint, not a lot of people would be able to hold back when they were given this kind of power. Petrichor still remembered when Eos had called to him, Artemis and Circe walking side by side. Guardian they called him, though at the time he’d felt more like a titan. Immortal and powerful. “Humility is good, it’ll keep you from you know. Swallowing livestock and hoarding gold or whatever it is dragons do.”

“Poseidon.” He’d hardly spent time with either father in the grand scheme of things, but he’d always felt closer with Aegeus. It hadn’t taken long for the two of them to fall into place side by side, father and son, after Medea had practically ran from the dinner table. The fond smile on Theseus’s lips falter for a moment and his head cants to the side just slightly as a sigh escapes him. “It would seem the gods are still going about things as they always do.” With little regard for who was caught in the crossfire. Such an opinion felt pointed and while he agreed with most people that the gods were, at their core, quite petty, it didn’t feel appropriate given his status. “I haven’t quite figured how to put an end to such a thing. As if it could ever really be stopped.”

-

“Then it is a good thing you are here.” Petrichor offered, “I’m retired.” The phoenix waved a dismissive hand at Theseus’ clear avoidance of his question. “Apparently manticores have returned, I’m sure you’d have fun hunting one of those.” Petrichor and his siblings had once hunted them to extinction, now they were back. Theseus was no Herakles or Perseus, the minotaur was a feat but when compared to wrestling Nemea or slaying Medusa the Athenian’s past labors were miniscule. If he was in Corinth it was for greater glory than what he’d earned in life. Theseus himself was far more interesting than whatever the poets ended up writing about him. “You aren’t the first big name to come back across the veil, if Poseidon sent you here you must have something to prove.”

-

Gabriel wrinkled his nose, hoping that his father was burning in Tartarus. He’d seen him as an Eidolon, and that had been enough to make Gabriel skip out on sleeping for a week. He didn’t need to sleep, but it was nice to do so beside the warm phoenix. The question caught him off guard, though he couldn’t even tell if Petrichor was joking or not. “You’d want me to?” He said finally, meeting the other’s gaze as he thought about it. Nikephoros, bringer of victory, was a name that haunted him. His father took it from his mother, branding it as his own during the Byzantine empire. It was a connection that was tainted, and Gabriel couldn’t think of a good reason to keep grasping for it. “I think my mother would like that.”

-

“Of course. Gabriel Athanasios has a nicer ringer to it than... I don’t know, Gabriel Nikephoros-Athanasios. Way too many syllables.” Petrichor mused, his arms folded comfortably around the other as he pulled him closer. It was not hard to guess the other’s feelings towards his surname but the original wouldn’t ever force anything on him. It was an offer, “And yeah, I want you to. If it needs to be said. You’re going to be my husband after all. Can’t have you getting mixed up for any old Vidalis or something.”

    “I don’t know. Good? Bad? I’m not sure how the rules are with this.” Henry exhaled a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. “I’m having some trouble… pushing myself to actually shift. It’s still strange, to be an animal. An extinct fire spitting animal to that. I’m just scared to accidentally hurt someone, or break something or… I don’t know. There’s so many possibilities this could go wrong. And I don’t want to be perceived as a monster.”

-

“Well... Have you shifted yet?” Petrichor questioned, that was a pretty good determination for how well things were or were not going for Henry’s practicing. “Well, the good thing with being a shifter is it’s not like you’re suddenly turning into some feral animal. You’ll still be you, fully in control and capable of rational thought, you’ll just be in a different form. It’s not like I start hunting smaller birds or field mice when I turn into a falcon. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

At the mention of Fenrir, Theseus can’t help but chuckle, raise his hands as if to surrender. “That’s fair, I cannot fault you for that one.” It’s not like he’d planned on such a thing happening, in fact he’d once tried to steer clear of the other man because of the relationship. Fenrir had been off limits, and yet Fenrir was something grand and in the end, he’d had a curiosity that he’d needed satisfied. And boy was it satisfied. He wants to ask of the great wolf, if he is truly back, if he’s alright, but Petrichor’s question derails the train of thought. “My father asked me to come to Corinth, how could I say no?” His shoulders raise, his arms cross over his chest. “There’s challenges here, surely. Things to slay. Though I’ll admit, I feel it has been a lot of talking so far.”

-

“Which father was that?” Petrichor asked, only half serious. “Aegeus or Poseidon?” Theseus was one of the rare cases where he was truly born of both mortal and immortal seed. The Greek Gods were just so interesting like that. “It can feel that way, if there’s something here you wish to slay then what’s stopping you?” Petrichor questioned, he had no feelings either way towards the people of Corinth, save for perhaps a select few: Gabriel, his siblings, etc. “Things aren’t so different this age, so many things have changed, and yet, so much has stayed the same.”