#I actually might have some implications of a ballet past planned in another fic

[softquietsteadylove]

I just read the little ballerina and boxer one and wanted to ask you if you can continue it. Maybe Gil showing up to one of her shows and invites her to dinner afterwards. And of course, he brought a single flower, because one flower says more than a thousand.

Hugs and much love! 🖤✨

"Bye Miss Thena!"

"Goodnight, girls," Thena bid her little goslings goodbye, the young women flitting out of the dressing room and already laughing about the cast party about to take place. Everyone was on their way for it, and as the newest troupe of performers making their debut, they would be the toast of things.

Thena was just looking forward to going home and getting some hard earned rest. Then, she could finally wake up to her normal life again. No more rehearsals, no more gruelling days of endless practise. She could go to the studio again.

She could see Gilgamesh again.

She hated to admit it, but she had missed even just seeing him in the hallway deeply over the past two weeks. The most intensive rehearsals required full commitment and attention, and that meant leaving classes to Sersi while she was chained up in the Eternal Theatre all day and most of the night.

She never used to think of it that way before.

But she missed the less pressured atmosphere of teaching classes with Sersi. She liked keeping a more normal schedule. She liked getting to see Gil's big, bright smile and his cute little wave in the mornings.

Thena groaned, running her fingers through her hair and throwing her scarf around her neck. She could torture herself more with those thoughts when she was home, preferably sinking into a hot bubble bath.

"Uh, sorry," he poked his head in with a sheepish smile, "door was open, so..."

Thena blinked as he walked in, one hand behind his back and the other in his brushed back hair. He looked rather dashing in a suit. "Gil?"

"Hey," he smiled at her, and the ache in her feet faded from her mind. "You were...wow."

Thena gulped, feeling her cheeks flood with warmth. She looked down, not-so-accidentally burying her nose in her scarf. "You're sweet."

"Well, you were, though," he shrugged, stepping in a little closer. He looked around him, seeing the many, many bouquets of flowers set around the counters. "But I guess you knew that."

Thena looked at the bundles of mostly red roses and arranged bouquets, shrugging at them. "It's a standard practise on the last night. Not all of them are for me, mind you."

"So a good number of them are?" he raised a brow, and she offered a more sheepish smile. He blushed, rocking back on his heels as he pulled out his hidden hand. "It's no bouquet, but-"

Thena gasped. It was a rose - singular - white in colour, clipped of thorns and leaves, bare stemmed save for a shimmering green ribbon tied in a bow around it.

Gil handed it over to her delicately accepting hands, his shyness showing through as he looked everywhere but at her. "I figured you'd get plenty, so maybe this would stand out...or something. And they offered me a white ribbon to match it. But I saw the green one and i-it matched the colour of your eyes, so I chose that one instead."

Thena's eyes were wide, bouncing between the flower in her hands and the beautiful man presenting it to her.

"I don't-"

"It's perfect!"

It wasn't the first time their words overlapped, and once again, Thena felt as if she was saying far too much within the two word sentence. But she pulled the flower as close to her as she dared, not wanting to rustle a single petal. It really was perfect, just like the gifter.

Gil flushed red to his ears, his laugh bubbling out of him. "O-Oh, good! I, well, uh-"

Thena looked up at him again from sniffing the rose gently. It was sweeter than any of the nameless, faceless bouquets around her from nameless, faceless people. "Gil?"

He tugged at his tie, clearly unused to it. "I was wondering...if - maybe - you'd, uh, wanna get dinner--sometime! Doesn't have to be tonight--you probably have a party, or something, with-"

"I'm free."

It was quieter than she thought it would be, but somehow she just couldn't get the air to stay in her lungs.

Gil looked surprised by her interruption, but he clearly didn't mind at all. He smiled, a sureness - a confidence - falling over him as he stepped closer still. He reached out, pulling her hair out of her scarf and fanning it out behind her. "I never get to see you with your hair loose."

Thena's eyes fluttered closed as he used the proximity as an excuse to kiss her forehead.

Then the flirtatious smirk faded against the brightness of his usual megawatt smile. "It's cute!"

Thena reached for her purse hung over the back of one of the chairs, hoping that maybe her blushing would subside a little (somehow, in the three seconds it took her to do it). "Well, where were you thinking of going?"

"I guess wherever you want to go," he shrugged, happily claiming her hand in his as they started to walk out of the dressing room. "I don't know if you want a big, huge meal or if something lighter would be better."

Thena laughed faintly, feeling his fingers squeezing tighter around hers. "If I had another show tomorrow I'd suggest something quite light. But I'm free as of tonight, so maybe something richer than usual wouldn't be the end of the world."

"If that's the case, I know this great Korean barbecue place."

"Sounds-" Thena startled as the backstage door slammed open.

"Miss Thena, are you coming to--oh!"

"Don't interrupt, didn't you see her boyfriend looking for her earlier?"

"Yeah, they probably have a date planned!"

The door closed again but the damage was done. Thena sighed; she was going to kill her little goslings for this.

#I actually might have some implications of a ballet past planned in another fic #so I wasn't sure how to go about the first one of this #but I ended up really liking it #so I'm glad to know the dynamic of it captured other people too #and for the record #Gil spent the whole two weeks #looking into the studio everyday #and being bummed when Thena wasn't there #Sersi had to tell him Thena hadn't had the chance to even come and check on them #but she was the one to tell him how to get a ticket for the last night of the show #and she was sure Thena would l o v e to see him there #Gil picked the white rose himself #and he secretly is a little curious when he doesn't see it in the studio #or her office or whatever #but Sersi tells him #entirely without Thena's knowledge #that it has a place of honour #in a vase on Thena's nighstand at home #and now Thena has to kill Sersi too #Thenamesh Ballerina/Boxer AU