#Thenamesh and Jack

[softquietsteadylove]

Birdie, I've got an idea for Valentine's Day! 🖤✨

Jack is asking his uncle Gilgamesh for an advice for Valentine's Day. So he and Gil are baking heart shaped cookies for their loved ones. On Valentine's Day Jack is giving his cookies to Thena because he loves his aunt very much and Phastos is complaining because he doesn't get a single heart shaped cookie.

Hugs and Love🖤✨

"Did you find out who it is?"

"No," Phastos huffed, watching from around the corner as Jack held up a decorated cookie for Gil to examine and certify. "He won't tell me."

"Perhaps it's best left alone," Ben posited from his chair, much more relaxed than his husband. "If he's not ready to tell us, he's not ready. He is only 11, habibi."

"Exactly, he's just a kid," Phastos hissed back at his partner. He looked back into the kitchen, where Jack was trying to sneak another taste of icing. At least Gil had taken seriously that Jack could not eat that much raw egg safely. He could like the cookie dough spoon, that was it. "He's too young for this."

Ben sighed, shutting his book and standing to join his husband. He slid his hand up his back gently, "well, some humans develop those kinds of feelings early. It's probably just a little crush."

"Little crush my ass," Phastos grumbled in response. He looked at Ben, "he's my kid too, and Eternals love...intensely."

Ben simply nodded, knowing very well that every bond the Eternals had tended to span thousands of years.

"Why are you spying on them?"

"F-!" Phastos sucked his lip between his teeth before he could let out a curse that would rattle even his superpowered glass windows. He glared at his sister, "T, I swear to god, okay?"

"What?" the Warrior Eternal merely blinked at him, still soft around the edges from her nap. She looked into the kitchen as well. "They seem to be enjoying themselves. What is the occasion?"

"Valentine's?" Phastos prompted, only to be met with Thena's 'statue face'. He rolled his eyes, "poor Gil, stuck with you for every damn one of 'em."

Thena pursed her lips at her brother before reaching up and pinching his side. "I will have you know, Gilgamesh prefers to take the lead on such occasions. I participate--that is enough for him."

"I'm sure it is," Ben assuaged, eager to get in between the two immortal beings who bickered like children. "Jack asked Gil for help making the cookies just after you went back to your room."

"Hm," Thena tilted her head at the scene. "Gil often makes something for this day; there is no secret to it."

"Well, this time, there was," Phastos muttered darkly, back to spying. He glared as Jack laughed and Gil patted his shoulder. Phastos turned back to Ben, "he knows I'm his dad, right? We can help him with this stuff!"

"Phastos," his husband chided instead of comforted, back to rubbing his back. "This is what it's like for kids to have uncles and aunts. They get to enjoy their company in a way that's different from ours."

"You go ask," Phastos prompted, shoving Thena away from him and in the direction of the kitchen. She glowered at him for it.

"Ask what?" she seethed at him, raising her fist to punch him in return.

Ben slid in between them again, again trying to mediate their typical family squabbles. "Who the cookies are for. He wouldn't tell when Phastos asked."

"Hm," Thena blinked, but accepted conditions. She turned away from Ben and lowered her fist, "Jack?"

Phastos kissed Ben's temple, "good save."

"Aunt Thena, you're up!" he turned in his chair, getting up on his knees and leaning against the back of it to beam at her. "Did you have a nice sleep?"

"It was lovely," she smiled down at her precious human nephew. She tilted her head, admiring the bounty behind him. "You have been making confections."

"Uncle Gil!"

"It's okay buddy, it wasn't like we were gonna be able to keep 'em secret for long," Gil chuckled as he stood from his chair. He wrapped his arm around Thena's waist, pressing his forehead to hers. "Get some rest?"

"I did," she promised her own partner and husband as he leaned in for a kiss.

"Ahem!!!"

Both Eternals parted, glaring at their agitated brother briefly. Thena looked down at Jack, who was nibbling on his little lip. "Who shall receive your hard work, Jack?"

"Well," the boy fidgeted, his expression shy. His fathers held hands behind his uncle and aunt, but Jack stood from the chair and took Thena's hand. He pulled gently, guiding her to sit where he had been. He turned the plate, on which he had arranged all the heart shaped cookies into one big heart shape. "They're for you, Aunt Thena."

Thena blinked at the platter of cookies. They were all frosted, with varying degrees of colour and skill. They were soft, white sugar cookies with red icing on them. "Me?"

"Of course," Phastos huffed behind them, but was shushed by Ben.

"Valentine's is kinda cringe, but it doesn't have to be for, like, love-stuff," Jack shrugged. "At least that's what they said at school. They said we could do something for our favourite person."

"My own son," Phastos continued to lament.

"So," Jack looked up at Gil, who nodded for him to keep going. "I asked Uncle Gil if he would help me make some cookies for you. But I cracked the eggs perfect! And I decorated all of these ones."

Thena smiled, picking up one of the more grotesque, early experiments. She took a bite, smiling as she chewed the soft, buttery cookie. "They're perfect."

"Really?" Jack lit up.

"Partake in your spoils," she said as she handed him one. "Thank you, Jack. I daresay you are my favourite as well."

"Hey Jack," Phastos inched forward as his son wolfed down one of his own cookies. "Are any of those for your old man, maybe?"

Jack just stared. "You can ask Aunt Thena."

Phastos glared at her , though. "T, remember-"

"Ben may have some."

"Oh, come on!"

Gilgamesh stood aside, laughing at Thena's innate desire to be petty with their brother. He slapped the back of Phastos' shoulder as Ben did sneak in to steal one for himself. "I mean you should've seen that coming, man."

"You guys are married," Jack gesticulated, pointing at the two couples in front of him respectively. "You got each other stuff for today, right? You don't need me to do anything."

Phastos continued to pout about how his own child made his sister cookies but none for him. But Ben smiled, "that's right, we did get each other gifts for today. It was very nice of you to make something for your Aunt Thena, Jack."

Thena moved from the chair to let Jack sit again, "but I shall need help eating all these. Jack, if you would be so kind...?"

"Sure!" It didn't take much to convince him.

Ben led Phastos into the living room to nurse his wounds, while Gil pulled Thena to his side again, further up the table. She sighed as he pressed his lips to her cheek, "is this what you did all afternoon?"

"Yep," Gil whispered. "I think he waited for you to have a nap so he could surprise you."

"It's rather sweet," she smiled at the image of her nephew enjoying a few more cookies. She looked down at this plate, decorated significantly differently. "And these?"

"For you," her lover confirmed, holding one up to display the meticulous design he'd made. "It's Australia!"

It looked like a smear of dirt in a sea of blue.

"Don't worry, I made my own preparations for today," he whispered before nipping at her ear, promising fun more than just some cookies.

"Hm," Thena purred, allowing him to kiss behind her ear and down her neck in their small window of privacy. "You do love this particular occasion."

"Damn right I do," he said against the soft skin of her shoulder, just inside the collar of her dress. "An excuse to lavish my wife with gifts and attention? And make love like wild animals-"

"AHEM!!!"

Gil sighed as he pulled away from her to also glare at Phastos, "what, dude?--don't you also have lavishing to do?"

"Not in the kitchen I don't," Phastos snapped with his hands on his hips. "None of us are having a romantic time until 9 o'clock anyway."

That was Jack's bed time.

"So we're gonna go out for a nice family dinner instead," he declared firmly, as if it were a mission order, and not an invitation to a nice restaurant. He slapped his coat over his arm, "and you two are gonna behave!"

"We always behave," Gil rolled his eyes, following Phastos into the living room and front hall to also retrieve his and Thena's coats.

"Nuh-uh, no, I mean it Gil," Phastos snapped in his brother's face as they both glared at each other amidst helping their partners into their own coats. "No ooey-gooey eyes, no playing footsies under the table, no sneakin' off to the bathroom."

"What if he has to go?" Jack asked much more innocently as he retrieved his own coat. He smiled as Thena held it out for him the same way Gil had done for her.

"That's not-" Phastos sighed, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. "Okay, never mind, family dinner, let's go."

#Thenamesh and Jack #family valentines!!! #thank you Love this is such a sweet idea #of course Jack would make something for his favourite aunti! #Phastos is like my own kid doesn't love me that's fine #Ben just rolls his eyes because maybe all Eternals are drama queens #Phastos and Ben are out here worrying Jack has a crush #meanwhile he's a literal child and he's like no it's still gross when you guys kiss no thank you #they do go to dinner #Thena and Jack go halfsies on his kids spaghetti and her risotto #but she does accept the bites of steak and asparagus Gil offers her #every time the poor server asks how everything is she looks him dead in the eyes and says #it's nothing like my husband's cooking but it is edible #Phastos: don't mind her I swear I'll tip thank you #Jack goes to bed with a tummy ache #because he ate seven cookies #three in the afternoon and four when no one was looking #and Thena doesn't get up until noon the next day and the bed is in literal pieces #Gil: fun family trip to Ikea yay! :D #Phastos: I hate both of you

[dalhia28]

TITANIA AND MOMMY SERSI PART 2

Imagine Sersi's horror upon hearing her 5-year-old niece Titantia pleading with her to open the door after some mothers decided to lock her up because she had defended her new friend by his mistreated son. Sersi had always been a devoted teacher as well as a protective aunt to Titantia and jack.

Sersi: Titania are you there baby?

(Sersi's in panic mode)

Titania: open mommy open

(Titania banging the door crying)

Sersi: OPEN THIS DOOR NOW!

(Sersi yell to the mother's behind her, One of the mother signal the maid to open the door, Sersi try to make a calm expression when she burst in the door to calm Titania who cling tight on her, The other mother's keep there distance watching the scene.)

Sersi: It's okay darling I'm here it's alright

(Calming titania down but her face it's all red in anger)

Titania: Th-they lock me here mo-mommy the-they said I'm a bad girl but i promise you I'm not mommy I'm not.

(Titania said between sob tilting her head to sersi like she's trying to convince her she's telling the truth but sersi didn't even needed her to explain she already know it from the start)

Sersi: I know, you are the most good girl i ever known also the bravest I'm sorry sweetie you been through this, why don't we go home we will have our own party i promise.

(Sersi smoothing Titania, when she give her little nod sersi carry her outside the house then she put her down for a moment leaving a kiss on her head)

Sersi: Wait for me here Sweetie i just forget my purse i be right back.

(Sersi left Titania with sally outside the house, When she get back inside the other children were in the other room and all the mother's is in the living room she walk in already taking off her ring and earrings.

Mother1: She punch my son in the face so we just teach her some lesson it's not proper for a young girl punching a boy in the face

Sersi: uh-uh

(Not caring)

Mother2: She just over reacting with all her crying she should be discipline

Sersi:uh-uh

(Taking her coat off)

Mother3: You should even thank us

(Sersi close the door and turn to look at them and smile )

Sersi: oh sure thank you then.

.

.

.

Titania outside the house hearing a loud noise inside the house like someone doing a construction all of the sudden, and then Sersi came out smiling sweetly at her she carry Titania again she said good bye to sally who turn white already, before sersi leave she turn the living room in metal so that the mother's gonna have one hell of a problem to go out not to mention the damage that sersi made of them it's lucky if one of them could stand and ask for help.

Sersi: I'm really sorry Titania this happened

Titania: It's okay mommy sersi i had fun! Besides i made new friends so I'm happy

Sersi: really? Well I'm glad you're happy but i still would like to make it up to you, how about we go to arcade i buy you many tokens as much as you like, and daddy ikaris wanted to watch movies with us.

Titania: Yessss please!!!!

(Titania giggle hugging sersi look like she already forgot what happened)

Titania: I saw you in the window your naughty mommy sersi

(Titania tell in whisper sersi eyes widen)

Titania: thank you

(Titania kiss her)

#Ikaris wanted to burn the house down when sersi mentioned what happened #sersi having trouble telling thena and gil what happened without someone ending up dead #thena asking for names #druig and kari make a little visit to each houses of the mother's #kingo rented the whole Disneyland for titania and jack #ajak trying everything she could to calm thena #titania telling them how her mommy sersi kick ass #Gil is like how they could do that to my little baby and the asking for names to #Phastos calming them and telling this type of things really happened sometime #but already distroy 2 of the mother's houses ACCIDENTALLY while on his morning run #gilgamesh #thena #thena x gilgamesh #thenamesh #the eternals #thena and gilgamesh #sersi and ikaris #titania daughter of thena and gilgamesh #i know I'm the worst when it comes to updating I'm so sorry

[delphiniumblooms]

eternals ramblings from my rewatch today:

EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. ikaris makes an entrance he is accompanied by a huge swell of music, often the eternals theme, to the point where it almost feels like his theme. something to be said here about how he believes himself to be more Eternal than the rest

our first sight of sprite in modern era being her clearly trying to hook up with a guy but the moment he touches her the illusion breaks and she has to go - i cannot believe the pain of living for MILLENNIA in a child’s body she never got to do human things like romance or puberty or whatever

when they first go to earth sersi looks to ajak AND THEN IKARIS for reassurance/permission before going to make contact with the human kid 

watching sprite’s London convo with sersi knowing that she’s in love w ikaris and jealous of sersi hits different. she told sersi to move in with dane. it could be sweet, it could be a ploy to push sersi and ikaris further apart, it could be both bc family relationships are difficult like that and sprite clearly loves sersi even though she’s ‘always envied’ her

sersi TURNED THE GROUND INTO QUICKSAND to fight a deviant this is a big deal to me because i wrote a ton of speculation fic based on the trailers before the movie came out and i had her do exactly the same thing in a fight scene - not to toot my own horn but im impressed at how much i managed to extrapolate correctly just from the teasers

i CAN ACTUALLY TELL WHAT MAKKARI IS SAYING OH MY GOD I COULDN’T TELL THE FIRST TIME BECAUSE I WAS WATCHING A SHITTY PIRATED VERSION THAT DIDN’T SUBTITLE HER SIGNING

makkari’s last line is ‘the truth will set them free’. this is a bible verse. i don’t know if it’s intentional but they’re quoting jesus

sersi is such a jesus character to me. treats sprite and ikaris with love even though they hurt her massively

sprite is one of the most storytellers actually (gilgamesh did all these epic things. one day you and your people will sail around the world and make your own legends!)

how does ikaris know how to woo. did he watch the humans and learn from them? 

related: i think it’s super cute how he just. makes his regard for sersi clear by following her around everywhere like a puppy

thenamesh are just clintasha 2.0 (though to be fair it is fanon clintasha. but the him trying to stop her from attacking everyone and loving and protecting her even though she’s clearly unstable? screams clintasha)

i was so touched by sprite helping thena break out of the flashback by showing her illusions of her past like it works SO well

they should all have just stayed together. kingo was right. they should all have stayed together. they hurt each other but they also know how to help each other

touched by kingo’s loyalty to ikaris. man respected and loved his leader so much

also ‘i like watching him too’??? kingo darling sprite’s not the only one in love w ikaris

why is everyone in love with ikaris really if he betrayed them in the end

‘are you going to charm me or threaten me’? that’s probably why. he’s a leader. he’s the strongest one. he knows how to be charismatic and how to be firm, keep the peace, et cetera. half of them love him and the other half are wary of, even maybe jealous of him

it’s really interesting to me how druig listens to and respects sersi even though he hates ikaris’ guts. he obviously doesn’t see them as a unit. 

in fact everyone’s feelings towards each other are really intriguing i should chart a family tree but instead of ‘birthed’ and ‘married’ lines its ‘loves’ ‘hates’ ‘envies’ etc

the way sersi whisper shouts at ikaris and tries to pull him away they were both staring at jack and phastos but she knows it’s rude he doesn’t he’s just staring openly until she reminds him 

the way he SNATCHES THE BOOK FROM HER

phastos’ husband speaking arabic to him. karun speaking in hindi to the eternals. whenever anyone speaks in babylonian. i love the usage of foreign languages in english media and eternals does it so much and so well

the way makkari smiles at everyone and signs ‘ready to go home?’ when they come back to the domo hit me like a TON of BRICKS. she was the last one to find out. goddamn. i can’t imagine the existential crises they were all collectively going through no WONDER tempers were high no WONDER they fought

related: i’m sure they said a lot of things they didn’t mean especially phastos. ‘i’ve always wanted to clip your wings, ikaris’ doesn’t mean he actively hated ikaris the entire time. it’s just like you know when you find out someone did something shitty and your reflex response is to go ‘i ALWAYS KNEW YOU WERE THAT KIND OF PERSON! YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THIS KIND OF PERSON!’ because memory bias you remember the shitty things more than the good things. same with ‘you did always underestimate [sersi]’. did ikaris really?? or did he live and fight with and watch and love her for five thousand years and conclude, like the rest of the others, like sersi herself, that sersi’s powers only go so far? her powers didn’t begin changing until she was selected as prime eternal. if ikaris underestimated sersi so did everyone including sersi herself.

my take on why ikaris did what he did - he wanted to believe that his previous actions were justified/had a purpose. he lied to everyone, he left his wife, he told no one the truth for years because ajak had him convinced that his life’s purpose was to serve the mission. and then ajak calls off the mission at the last moment. he didn’t want to believe that he had hurt other people, had hurt himself, for no reason. he couldn’t accept that his suffering was for nothing. he had to go through with the emergence because otherwise none of it mattered. and he couldn’t deal with that. ikaris i can tell isn’t good at dealing with the fact that he makes mistakes. he told sersi he was sorry and then flew headfirst into the sun. he smacks of eldest child syndrome AND gifted kid depression. 

ok for real this is the last bullet point. the writing was questionable. the editing was bad. the characters weren’t given enough establishing time - it was a bad idea to do such a huge story in movie format (it should have been a tv show). that said the actors put their whole actussy into this and you can tell chloe zhao tried her utmost best. it’s not a great movie but i still love it because i love this huge unconventional, complex family 

#eternals #eternals 2021 #eternal spoilers #ikaris #sersi #thena #druig #ajak #sprite #makkari #gilgamesh #kingo #phastos

[distinguishedstudentcat]

...so I finally watched Eternals...

And like... Yeah the pacing was WHACK.

I went in loving the premise of Eternals, the characters, and like I knew the plot and came out going 😐 it wasn't bad? Perse but everything came shy of hitting the emotional marks??? One big thing happens, a bomb gets dropped on us but before we can process we're yanked to the next thing?!?! It could have been so much better like all the wasted potential UGH

I don't blame Chloe tho she had to stuff so much into one movie and like just- sigh.

Also Malaysian censorship??? 😒😒😒

But Makkari???? STOLE THE EFFING SHOW??? Makkari running Makkari beating Ikaris' ass Makkari speedreading Makkari EXISTING Makkari hand in marriage PLEASE

Also Drukkari in 4K HD??? My beautiful beautiful Makkari??? The crescendo in the forehead touch scene??? Also Druig is much less edgy than I thought he would be anyways I was right he baby.

Also Thenamesh OUCH when Thena had to release his ashes into the river I-

And fuck Ikaris AJAK LOVED YOU IT WAS SO CLEAR YOU WERE HER GOLDEN BOY. HOW COULD YOU

And Ajak's mom energy OH she stumbled a little but she loves all of them so much 😭😭😭

Oh and Ben calling Phastos HABIBI screaming crying throwing up Ben/Phastos and Jack was the sweetest, purest thing 🥺🥺🥺

#eternals #makkari #druig #makkari x druig #drukkari #thena #gilgamesh #sersi #ikaris #ajak #eternals spoilers #Ben #phastos #phastos/ben

[softquietsteadylove]

some more jack and thenamesh? jacks grandparents, bens parents, come to visit as a surprise but jack is home alone with thena and gil because phastos and ben are on a date and jacks grandparents are a bit worried and confused because they don't know these people but jack is happy to say: this is my aunt thena and my uncle gil

"Jack?"

"Jaddi! Jaddati!" he smiled, rushing over to them as they closed the front door behind them.

"Hello," his grandmother leaned down, patting her grandson's head while her eyes were occupied with the strangers at the top of the stairs. "Jack, wh-who is here with you?"

Jack looked up the stairs as Aunt Thena stood first, always the most on guard when it came to meeting new people. Uncle Gil moved to stand beside her, watching things quietly. He grasped his grandmother's hand. "Jaddati, this is Aunt Thena and Uncle Gil. They're from Dad's side of the family."

Their eyes bulged, never having thought they would meet Phastos' mysterious family. They looked between themselves before trying to smile somewhat naturally. "H-How nice to meet you."

Aunt Thena watched as they ascended the stairs with Jack leading them. She took a few steps back to make room for them. But he had seen Aunt Thena meet new people before, and this was pretty normal for her.

"Aunt Thena, Uncle Gil," Jack moved between the two couples, trying to introduce them properly, like a grownup. "This is my Jaddi and Jaddati. They're Baba's parents."

Aunt Thena tilted her head at them, speaking slowly, "hello."

"Uh," Uncle Gil tried more to smile at them, "h-hi. Ben's family--we've heard about you!"

"Really?"

Jack twisted his lips as the events unfolded. They weren't being unfriendly, but there was something not quite right, either. He looked between both sets of people in his life. "Aunt Thena and Uncle Gil helped Dad save the world!"

His Jaddati smiled, clearing her throat and toying with the edge of her hijab. "Jack has such a wonderful imagination."

Thena just barely got her mouth open before Gil wrapped his arm around her waist. "Kids are great for that."

"Phastos has such a, uh," his Jaddi floundered, touching his hands to his jeans, "broad family tree. Where have you come from?"

"We are visiting from Australia," Aunt Thena finally spoke up. "Phastos and Ben were kind enough to open their home to us during our stay."

"Ah, yes," Jaddati smiled at them, the edges of it still shaky. "A-And how long are you staying?"

Uncle Gil and Aunt Thena just looked at each other. As far as Jack knew, they were staying until they had to go back to Australia for some reason or another. Maybe to do house stuff? Jaddi and Jaddati spend half the year back east, maybe his aunt and uncle would do the same with their home back in Australia.

"Until we have outstayed our welcome."

Jack eyed his grandparents. He could understand why they were nervous around his other relatives. Dad said everyone from their family just...had that effect on people (humans).

His grandmother straightened her shoulders and moved closer to the other woman present, both of them tall and statuesque when eye to eye. "Thena, was it?"

"It was."

She continued despite the peculiar woman naming herself Jack's aunt. "We have had the pleasure of knowing Phastos for a very long time now, and having him as a son for some of that has been a blessing."

Jack watched Aunt Thena closely. She had little things about her that could tell him a lot about how she was feeling. He caught the way her shoulders lowered faintly and her hands became less tightly clasped closed.

"I understand that there was a time when you were all," Jaddati searched for the right word, "separated."

Uncle Gil's hand slid over Aunt Thena's, moving their fingers together.

"But Phastos is a good man, and my son married the right person for him." Jaddati straightened her shoulders more, matching Aunt Thena's rigid posture. "And it is through them both we were given Jack. So I am thankful to your brother, and that he was brought into our lives."

Gil raised his eyebrows. Thena smiled at the human woman.

"Family of Phastos'," his grandmother held out her hands to Thena, "is family of ours."

Thena observed the hands for just a second before slowly holding her own to mirror the position. Her pale ones slipped against the hands of Jack's grandmother's. She blinked. "You have aged remarkably well."

"Thena!" Uncle Gil pinched her side, making her make a face at him. He chuckled, smiling at Jack's grandmother especially, "s-sorry. We, uh, don't get out much."

But Jaddati smiled, the same way Baba smiled at Aunt Thena when they were getting along so well. "It was a compliment, was it not?"

"It was."

Uncle Gil sighed. He often said he wanted Aunt Thena to meet and get along with more humans. Well, Jack thought this was a perfect opportunity! "Hey!"

Thena and Jaddati both looked at him sharply.

"Uh," he lost some nerve but tried to stay strong, clasping his hands in front of him (if he acted cute, maybe they would agree). "W-We should all do something together."

"Like what?" Uncle Gil chuckled, the way he did when he was humouring him.

"The..." Jack eyed his collective family, looking at him expectantly. "Movies?"

"I do believe your fathers have said that your screen time is too much this week already."

Jaddati looked at Thena, clearly pleased with her input. She put her hands on her hips, "you should listen to your aunt, Jack."

He sighed, looking down at his feet, "yes, Jaddati."

"What about this?" his grandfather held his hands out, eager to salvage the bonding moment. "We were going to take Ben and Phastos and Jack out to dinner when we arrived. We can call them and meet them in the city--all five of us!"

"That's a great idea!" Gil joined in, especially eager to bond over food, even more especially with their new extended family. He looked at Thena, "c'mon, baby, please?"

Jack and Jaddati both looked at Thena, who visibly squirmed, trying to look away from Gil's big puppy dog eyes. Jack made the same expression, pressing his hands together, "pretty please, Aunt Thena?"

All three humans - plus her husband - witnessed the second her resolve melted in the face of her nephew. "Very well."

"Yes! It's gonna be great, I promise!"

Jack's grandparents traded a look as he skipped and wrapped his arms around his aunt's torso. She didn't seem entirely natural about the physical affection, but her hand could not have been gentler as she laid it atop Jack's head.

"Wash your hands and wear something warm," she directed.

"Okay!" he agreed readily in his excitement. He took Jaddi and Jaddati's hands again. "You should bring your stuff in here. And you can sit next to me at dinner! Aunt Thena sits next to me too, because she doesn't always like food that's not Uncle Gil's, but she'll go halvesies with me no matter what I get."

#Jack and Thenamesh #I hope you like it! #I love seeing this little family dynamic #and I love Thena with Jack #I just think she would be so soft with him #so so gentle with this little human boy #his grandparents are like oh my god Ben was right they're not human #but they figure hey #Jack loves them #they can't be terrible #They get in the car and they're like Jack don't you want to be in front? #he says no it's okay #he's gonna sit in the back and hold Aunt Thena's hand because she gets carsick #his grandmother wants to cry because oh my this boy is just so sweet #and they see all night how much he adores her #they do sit together and they whisper about what to get and Jack asks her questions #dinner comes and Thena and Jack really do split her chicken pasta and his kids burger and fries in half #she gives him all her broccoli #only for Gil to then give her his because dammit they both need veggies #his grandparents think it's so sweet and lovely #Ben: I know right? #Phastos: do not encourage those idiots they'll spread the stupid to our son

[softquietsteadylove]

We need more Thena and jack stories!

Let’s say thenamesh and jacks family go to a big amusement park when suddenly 4 giant deviants attack.

Let there be action and a little drama!

"Do you want some ice cream, Aunt Thena?"

She smiled, prying her eyes open and looking down at the kindest hearted human in all the galaxy. "You should be enjoying it, no?"

Jack twisted his little lips and turned the heaping dish of ice cream around in his hand a few times. "Hm, I think it'll be too much for me to eat by myself."

Thena smiled. She had heard loud and clear the urging by Jack to get the three scoop cup, despite his father's insistence that it would be too much for young Jack. He had asked for the three scoops with the intent on sharing. She leaned and pressed her lips to his hair, "thank you, Jack."

The boy blushed, offering the dish to her.

Thena picked up the spoon and took a delicate bite of the strawberry scoop. "Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, lots of fun," he mused idly, swinging his feet off the edge of the bench upon which she had been seated for the last hour. He squinted as the light filtering through the tree over them shifted and changed. "Are you?"

This amusement park was a nightmare designed specifically to be her own personal hell.

Jack had insisted she and Gil come with them, though. Jack always wanted them to be included when they went on family outings, and it was endearing to no end. So Thena endured car rides and school functions and the general crowding of city life for her nephew.

He had let her decline to actually go on rides, though. She had found this bench for herself in the shade, close enough to see them but far enough that she wasn't in the depths of the crowds.

"I am," she smiled, and he pursed his lips at her (in the way that she often did). It made her laugh, ruffling his hair again, "so long as you are."

"Well, okay," Jack accepted, taking a scoop of chocolate for himself while she had more strawberry. "I'm glad Uncle Gil is having fun."

Uncle Gil was currently on a ride with Ben which consisted of going through a completely dark section of tunnel on a rickety metal boat at unacceptable speeds.

"I believe he is quite enjoying the experience," Thena smiled even more. She wasn't sure how else poor Gilgamesh was supposed to experience the thrill of a theme park, so she was happy to be part of that for him as well.

"I've tried going on that ride before," Jack said quietly, looking at his black and purple sneakers. "Baba loves it, but it's too dark for me, and I think it makes Dad carsick."

Phastos was better than Thena when it came to automobiles, but it seemed that the accelerated speed and jerky turns of the rides also reduced him to a motionsick mess.

"Then we can enjoy our ice cream together," she suggested gently. If Jack was going to be melancholy for even a moment of his day of fun, she would not have it.

"'Kay!" he beamed up at her, with his teeth becoming less gappy as time went on. According to Phastos, he was in the process of losing all his small teeth and growing new ones.

What amazing processes the human body could endure.

Thena looked around the park. People were mulling around along the concrete pathways. The sun was beaming, but there was at least a breeze to rustle the trees and people's hair. For as little as she had experienced major metropolitan areas, this was by far the most bustling. There were people everywhere, several children crying as loud as they could, the sounds of machinery, of people screaming in joy. It was a lot to process.

She looked around. Something didn't seem right. It was just something at the edge of her mind, but it didn't feel like the beginning of an episode. Although, even then, she needed to have eyes on Gilgamesh. "Where are your fathers?"

Jack watched her looking around, swivelling her head like a bird of prey. "Uh, Dad said he was gonna look up places to eat after we leave. And the ride Baba went on with Uncle Gil is that way."

Thena followed the point of jack's finger to a line of people no more than a kilometre away. She stood sharply, holding their cup of ice cream, "they should be done by now."

Jack scrambled to his feet to join her. He was no longer so young that he was willing to hold hands just for the sake of it. But he was used to the nervousness that existed in her at times. He reached up, tugging at the sleeve of her white dress. "Aunt Thena, are you okay?"

She inhaled. She could feel something in the air. Something familiar, but also distant in her mind. And her Cosmic Energy was crackling inside of her. "Jack, I think something is coming."

"Like," he huddled somewhat closer to her, "bad guys?"

"Possibly," she murmured. She was thinking more along the lines of a horrific creature designed to look like a beast and a nightmare rolled into one. But she gave Jack's hand a gentle squeeze, "nothing will happen to you, Jack."

He looked up at her with wide eyes, "are you gonna fight them?"

"If I must." She would do what was necessary to protect the humans here, most of all, this human child.

"W-What about Uncle Gil, and Dad?" Jack continued, tugging at her sleeve more to dissuade her from seeking them out. "They'll fight whatever it is. You could let them handle it."

Thena stopped in her hurried steps, looking down at the worrisome boy beside her. "Jack?"

His little lip tightened, both of his hands attempting to anchor her wrist where she stood. "Don't go."

Thena's heart ached. In all her years on the planet, she had no experience to compare with this one. She had never felt the desire to turn away from the fight like she did now, just because Jack asked it of her.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut as she knelt down in front of him, kissing his forehead on the way.

She collected his tiny hands between hers. He would grow up so fast, his hands probably becoming larger than her own in no time. He would become a fine young man, then a grown man, just like his fathers. But that could only happen if she used every breath in her lungs to protect him. "I do not wish to leave you, Jack. But I will let the planet split apart at the seams before any harm shall come to you."

Before he could dissuade her further with his big teary eyes and wobbly lip, she turned away, looking through the crowds. A human would have no hope of seeing from their distance, but she picked out the head of her husband in an instant.

He looked their way, already frowning. He knew as well.

Thena scooped Jack up under her arm and jumped. If she moved fast enough she could probably remain undetected. It was a mere matter of dropping Jack at the feet of his father so she and Gil could deal with the danger at hand. "Do not leave your father's side!"

They were gone in a flash. If there were people recording their surroundings, they would look like blurs of motion. And the world was growing increasingly used to happenings like this.

"I thought they were gone," Gil voiced beside her as they ran towards the outer edge of the park.

"I cannot say I'm surprised by anything, at this point in time," she lamented as they skidded to a halt before leaping over the outer fence. The threat was still far enough away that those inside weren't panicked yet. They may be yet able to stop them within the parking lot.

"You two are show offs."

Thena offered no comment to her snarky brother, already summoning her blades to her hands. The bracelets around her wrists tightened around her skin. "You should be with Ben and Jack."

Phastos huffed at her, his rings floating around them with a gentle tinkling of metal. "They're fine. And I am not leaving you two to handle these things alone."

"How many are there?" Gil asked him, needing no further preparation than clenching his fists.

"Looks like four," Phastos looked at the palm of his hand. "And they're big."

"Then we will have to stop them here," Thena declared. She looked at her hands, reminding herself why she was holding weapons in the first place. No matter what, she could not leave this post. What was behind them was far too precious to risk.

"Hey," Gil whispered to her, touching the back of his fist to hers. Their Cosmic Energy sparked and fizzled at the contact. "You're not alone here, okay? Just stay close to me."

She looked at her husband, trying not to think of the last time they had been in combat. She nodded.

"You two take those ones!"

Phastos faced down the two larger ones prowling closer. They looked crocodillian, massive maws of teeth and scuttling legs at their sides. He thrust his fists forward, leashing them together with lassos of energy.

"Gil!"

He didn't need to be asked, grasping her by the waist and launching her up into the air. The flying ones were always the most troublesome. And this one would be capable of flying over the fences and walls and plucking those inside like ripened berries.

Thena grabbed onto its foot, already enough to shifts its balance. She reached up, climbing up its form until she could strike out, driving her blade through the membrane of its wing.

The winged beast roared as they plummeted, crashing to the ground again. Its body was met with the frame of several cars below. Thena tumbled off and away, rolling a few times before scraping her feet against the pavement. She wished she had the durable boots of her armour, but she was in sandals and a light sundress.

"Y'okay, T?!" Phastos called out from holding the other two at bay, with Gil grasping the tusks of the third one.

She didn't bother answering. They would know she was fine by that. It was if she called out them that would mark cause for alarm. She pulled up her blades again, sticking one straight through the underside of the Deviant's 'beak' and through its head. "One down."

Phastos did what he did best - one of several things, to his credit - sending an electrical current through the creatures tethered to him. They writhed in agony. "Finish 'em off!"

Gil tossed away the tusked one's positively mammoth body just to turn around and deliver a bone shattering punch to one of them. It was easy to tell it was effective when the Deviant's eyes exited the cranial cavity.

Thena leapt over the other one, easily landing with her blade pointed down, driving it in similar to how she had taken down the winged one. She was not going to waste time on these things. They were interfering with Jack's fun day. "That one."

Gil shook out his fist after killing one of the reptilian ones, only to look at the tusked one again, which was dragging its front feet to signal being ready to charge. "You ready, baby?"

Thena grinned. She had almost forgotten what a thrill the hunt could be. The battle thrummed through her veins as she took her stance beside her lover. "Always."

Gil focused his energy into his feet, driving them into the concrete and refusing to budge as he caught the elephantine Deviant by the tusks again. "All yours!"

Thena jumped onto one of the tusks as her launching point, twisting and leaping over its head to the back of it. There was quite a hump there, and clearly it was built to b e durable. But she wasn't going to hack at it blindly (who was she, Ikaris?).

The Deviant bellowed as she found the softness where its neck and head connected, and pierced. The creature reared up on its hind legs in one last ditch effort to rid itself of her.

Thena leapt off, flipping over a few times before landing. She'd had her feet out to land, but she found herself in her husband's arms. She blinked at him.

He smiled at her, "one of your sandals is torn, hon. Don't wanna ruin them before we get home."

She laughed; what a sweet Eternal her husband was. She nuzzled and then kissed his cheek as dust and wind rushed around them, signalling the fall of the largest Deviant.

"Seriously?" Phastos rolled his eyes at them, cleaning off his glasses with his shirt collar. "Can we go?"

Indeed, they had to go. New castors were arriving, crowds building. If they wanted even a semblance of a chance of escaping, it had to be now.

Thena sighed, "where is Sprite when you need her."

"C'mon," Phastos motioned to them to follow him, taking a roundabout route closest to the emerging crowds. They could blend in and pretend to be early spectators.

Gil laid his light jacket over her shoulders, "you feel okay?"

Thena looked down at the bracelets around her wrists. Her powers were in check and her mind was clear. She nodded, letting him kiss her cheek as they melded back into the human masses.

"Aunt Thena!"

She blinked, receiving a bundle of human youth hurtling at her. She patted his shoulders, "you should not have run off from your father, Jack."

"Are you okay?!"

She melted; how could she not, in the face of those big puppy eyes? She sighed, letting him cling to her after she had disappeared from his side so suddenly. They continued back into the depths of the park, Ben mere steps behind his son. "I am."

Ben put his hands on his hips as his husband also rejoined them. "Should I expect alligators if we ever go to Six Flags?"

Phastos rubbed his husband's back as they walked towards the other end of the park. "You know we can't go there, babe."

"Why not?" Thena asked with Jack still clinging to her as Gil patted his head to reassure him.

"It's all water," Phastos sufficed to say, and she had to agree. They all sank like stones (them and their semi-inorganic bodies, and all).

"Aunt Thena, will you come to Six Flags if we go?"

This boy--her one weakness! She sighed, "of course."

#Jack and Thenamesh #some action! #Jack making sure Aunt Thena is having an okay time #he brings her ice cream the sweet boy #meanwhile Thena is in hell #listening to screaming kids and in the heat of the sun and already motion sick from the car ride over #but Jack wants to go so she sits and watches #all the other moms sitting and watching are like which one is yours? #she finally looks at them and says that she is thousands of years older than all of them #they're flabbergasted but at least they're not talking to her anymore #Phastos loses it on her but it's not like anyone believes her she protests while rolling her eyes #Ben says oh honey it's fine let Thena have some fun #Gil gets back from the ride #baby it was so fun! #he's soaking wet on either side of him #but he's having fun that's all that matters #Thena takes his damp jacket from him and kisses him #if he wants to walk around in a damp white t-shirt she's not going to stop him #they watch it on the news when they get home #there are only some blurry shots of them from a distance #Phastos tells them they got lucky #Thena does not care #she looks at him after they had a deadly battle like #Thena: why do you not have strawberry ice cream? #Phastos: T we battled aliens today can you have priorities? #Thena: my priority is why there's no good fucking food here #For all I talk about how Kingo and Druig are great brothers #Thena and Phastos are actually peak brother and sister #Phastos: when are you gonna leave my house? #Thena: when you stop being ugly did you order the pizza?

[softquietsteadylove]

some confused thena? xoxo

"Aunt Thena?"

"Jack," she blinked, looking down at him as he walked away from his friends and the curb of the school's front entrance.

He looked around them, "what...are you doing here? I'm taking the bus home today."

"Oh," she blinked again, also looking around and appraising herself of her surroundings. She was standing in front of Jack's school, humans mulling about, cars idling while waiting for children. "Yes."

"I thought you were home with Uncle Gil," Jack continued as he took in his aunt, standing with such a bewildered expression on her face. He toyed with the straps of his backpack. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she repeated, although she didn't look any less confused about her surroundings. "I...I thought I was."

Jack reached up for his aunt's hand, sliding his smaller one into it, "did you get confused?"

Thena smiled.

That was the word for it that had worked thus far. Aunt Thena had her 'episodes', or 'fits', or whatever the rest of them called it. But Jack simply said 'confused' to suffice for what clouded the Warrior Eternal's mind.

"Yes, it appears I have," Thena sighed as she enclosed her hand ever so gently around Jack's precious little one. "I seem to have ended up here."

Jack merely shrugged as he began the walk home with his aunt beside him. "Yeah, I guess that's how I get here too."

Thena merely walked beside him, looking around her still, but perhaps with less apprehension. She recognised more of their surroundings as they walked. She knew the school, and the route they took when Jack was coming and going.

"Do you feel okay?"

Thena smiled down at her brother's child, so gentle at heart. She wasn't sure if all humans had such sweetness to them and she didn't much care. There were many things which paled in comparison to Jack in her mind in that regard.

"I was at home," she narrated as they walked slowly and gently. Jack got to take his time with his little legs, while Thena drifted idly beside him. "I remember looking for something to eat and then... "

Jack merely nodded, so easily accepting of the fact that sometimes Aunt Thena would wander out into the yard and stand still for a long time. He had no fears nor reservations about it, as far as he was concerned.

Thena looked down at their hands and then around them. She tilted her head at him, "do you not fear judgement from your peers?"

He tilted his head right back at her and her antiquated speech.

"You do not wish to hold your fathers' hands."

She was referring to how 'holding hands was for babies', as Jack had so boldly proclaimed last time Phastos attempted to hold his hand in the parking lot of the mall.

"Mm, well," Jack twisted his lips as he made a face for the sake of his thought process. He shrugged, "that's different."

Thena accepted the statement for what it was, as he had done for her. She gave his soft little human hand a squeeze, "thank you, Jack--for helping me get home."

Jack smiled up at her as well, showing off the young teeth in his mouth still finding their permanent placement. "You're welcome. I get confused too sometimes--it's pretty scary to be alone for it."

"Yes, I suppose it is," Thena conceded to the young boy's wisdom, well beyond his years and even the words he had at his disposal.

Jack looked up at her, "does Uncle Gil help you with that?"

Thena smiled at the mere mention of her most constant in life. She nodded, looking at Jack and then at the golden bracelet around her wrist, keeping her powers in check.

True, at first Phastos hadn't gotten them quite right. Gil hadn't been very happy about the side effects they'd had on her. But she wore them still, because they were for the safety of her nephew.

"Aunt Thena?"

"Yes, Jack?" she asked softly as a breeze passed by them.

"What makes you feel better?" He looked up at her more sheepishly, "after you get confused, I mean."

There were some things, although she had more of a history of violence before coming to Chicago and getting these bracelets shackled to her. But she supposed that going dormant on the spot was a small price to pay instead of becoming the planet's deadliest force alive.

"Uncle Gil," she answered plainly and honestly. Truly, the man who had been by her side for - in many ways - her whole life was her strongest pillar of stability. She smiled and uncrossed her other arm from around herself to pat Jack's head, "and you."

"Really?" he blinked at her, baffled by the suggestion. "What do I do?"

He reminded her that life was full of promise, and love, and joy, and that it was worth protecting. It was worth all the pain and fighting and the sacrifices she had seen - and made - with her own eyes.

She leaned over, kissing the top of his head, "plenty."

Jack rubbed his hair, now thoroughly embarrassed by the public affection. "Okay, I guess."

Thena smiled, allowing his resistance to her gesture. It was part of his maturation, she was told. He no longer liked hugs and kisses and holding hands by family. She seemed a slim exception to the rule. "Indeed."

Finally turning down their street, with the house in sight, Jack looked up at his aunt again. "Do you feel better now?"

Thena inhaled as the front door opened, Gilgamesh clearly on his way to sprint out of the house to come find her. She smiled, "much."

"Good," Jack sufficed, although his hand did give hers a little squeeze.

"There you are," Gil greeted lightly, although his eyes ran over her frantically in search of distress or injury.

"I walked home from school with Jack," she explained needlessly. She let go of Jack's hand as he walked past them and into the house to shed the school day from his mind.

Gil looked at her, "you okay?"

She nodded, leaning into him without hesitation as he pressed his lips to her temple, "I'm sorry I frightened you. I woke and...there he was."

The two drifted into the house, watching as Jack independently got himself a glass of milk and some cookies. Gil chuckled, "great kid."

"He is," Thena agreed.

"Aunt Thena," Jack called out as he slapped the tupperware of homemade cookies onto the table, "have some!"

Gil ruffled Jack's hair on his way past him, "at least put 'em on a plate, buddy--come on."

Thena just smiled, seating herself at the table and taking one of Jack's preciously guarded cookies (which Gil made). "Thank you, Jack."

"Aunt Thena, do you know math?"

"Not at all." She had lived throughout the life of some of the world's greatest minds. She chewed on her chocolate chip, "ask Uncle Gil."

"Hey, don't look at me," he laughed, setting some of the cookies on a plate for the two of them and putting the rest away. "You'll have to ask your dad."

Jack let out a loud groan before rifling through his back for other homework that required his attention.

Gil and Thena traded a look over his head, assuring that she was safe home after another bout of Mahd Wy'ry--this time thwarted by a ten year old human.

#Jack and Thenamesh #this was the first thing I thought of at the word confused #it's just so...kind #it's so much more gentle than the condition causing it #Jack's readiness to say that he gets confused sometimes too #because kids do get confused #and I think they would also know what it's like to have people not understand why #and get frustrated with them when all they're looking for is help #Jack adores Aunt Thena and you can pry it from my cold dead hands #she is actually the ONLY one he genuinely talks to so #write that down #he tells Phastos and Ben to stop embarrassing him and treating like a baby #meanwhile Thena gets a little nervous about the escalators at the mall #and Jack takes her hand and steps on with her to show it's okay #such a sweetie #and Phastos is like I hate it here #and Ben is like he's not supposed to think his parents are cool Habibi it'll be okay #Gil is practically crying from how cute it is

[softquietsteadylove]

Hi!

I’m curious my dear and I have a request!

Would you write something where Jack asks Gil to see him using his powers? I can imagine that Gil never used them actively since he is strong enough to do things without them. So Jack is curious and wants to see them! He wants to see why he is the strongest Eternal!

Thank you for all of your story’s!❤️

"You want me to what?"

"Please, Uncle Gil?" Jack pleaded, turning his big brown eyes on him. It was how he had already swayed his aunt in his favour.

As if it was hard; she was always in his favour.

"I know you're super strong, but I've never actually seen you use your super powers!" Jack continued in his excitement. "I've seen Aunt Thena's."

"Not in action, you haven't, and that's a good thing," Gil pointed out in an attempt to curb the boy's excitement. It wasn't working, though, with Jack practically bouncing at the opportunity to ask him about it. "What brought this on?"

"A film," Thena finally spoke up from the chair behind Jack. She had been lazing about all morning, like a cat in the morning sun. "He wants to know if you could lift the car."

Gil chuckled, setting down his plate and taking off his apron. "Buddy, I'm pretty sure any of us could do that."

"No way!"

"Yup," Gil nodded, bringing the plate over to his curled up wife. He even wafted the plate around her a little before she picked her head up. "I'm pretty sure even Sprite could pick up a basic sedan if she really tried."

"If she lifted with her knees," Thena both added and agreed, unfurling just to follow the temptation of Gil's lovingly made breakfast.

"Okay, but could you throw the car?"

"Why would I want to throw the car?" Gil asked, although he had a feeling the answer would be-

"'Cause it'd be cool!"

"You can't go around throwing cars because it's cool, Jack," Gil shook his head with an exasperated smile. He held out a piece of toast, letting Thena take a delicate little nibble of the corner of it. "That's not what insurance is for."

"But Uncle Gil-" Jack tried again, only to be shut out by his disgustingly affectionate uncle and aunt canoodling right in front of him. He huffed as Uncle Gil tickled the tip of Aunt Thena's nose with his own. Jack turned to his more likely ally, "Aunt Thena?"

"Yes, Jack?" she humoured him, even as she was making eyes at the man in front of her.

"What's the heaviest thing you've ever seen Uncle Gil pick up?"

"It's hard to say." It wasn't--it was probably the carcass of the largest Deviant they had ever fought in their lifetimes. Once tied up, Gil was able to pick the thing up over his shoulder, as if carrying the mast of a ship. "Maybe the stone blocks for the pyramids."

"You guys built the pyramids?!

"Helped," Thena corrected singularly, but Jack never minded how few words she chose. She smiled at him, "Makkari was positively adored there. They called her a Goddess."

"You're a Goddess yourself," Gil pointed out needlessly, just for the excuse to compliment her and brush his hand over her cheek.

"Please just show me a little bit of your powers?" Jack repeated, now to the confusion of both Eternals. He dropped his scrunched up fists in a change of tactics. "I've seen Dad's powers but he never explains them. Or he explains too much."

His father's siblings seemed to sympathise with him over that.

"He told me about your powers," Jack continued. "I thought you were using your powers this whole time, but you weren't!"

Gil chuckled, sharing a look with Thena. "You got me there."

"So, all the times you grabbed stuff out of the oven, or picked up Aunt Thena, or even the time you picked up the couch-?!"

"Sorry Bud, those just aren't difficult for me," Gil shrugged, ruffling Jack's hair to ease the blow. "Aunt Thena doesn't weigh anything-"

She gave his side a poke, but he braved on.

"And I pick up the couch at home all the time to clean it," Gil shrugged, although it only made Jack's pout worsen. "Okay, okay, what do you wanna see me lift?--away from anyone who could see it!"

Jack put a hand to his chin. He had asked and asked and asked and now he had to think of what he actually wanted out of all this. "Well, in the movie, he can lift a whole train car by himself."

"We're not going to some train yard and getting the cops called on us for trespassing," Gil shot down the idea without a second thought.

"But-"

"What if Uncle Gil lifts the car for you, hm?" Thena attempted to compromise between Jack's bold ideas and what they could realistically get away with doing without being noticed.

"I guess that's pretty cool," Jack relented, although he clearly had been hoping for something more dramatic.

"Come on, we can do it in the garage," Gil put his hand on Jack's back as they moved towards the garage, where they could exercise even a fraction of their strength behind closed doors.

"Aunt Thena, could you lift the car if you wanted to?"

"Of course."

"But," Jack paused, "you don't want to?"

"No."

"Okay."

Gil shook his head, catching his wife's eye. "He asks and asks me, but for you, if you're not in the mood, then that's it?"

"Yes," she smiled right back at him, reaching idly to pat Jack on the head. "Because he's a nice boy."

"Okay, okay," Gil sighed as he stepped into the garage. He lowered himself to the ground, grunting as he had to lift it a little just to shimmy under it. "You ready?"

"Ready!" Jack beamed.

Gil took in a breath, just barely exhaling as he lifted the family's hatchback from the undercarriage of it. He could technically grip the bumper and lift it that way, but it would be ill-balanced, and he was likely to bend the bumper in his grip doing it that way. "You see, Jack?"

"That's so cool!" the young man said in awe as Gil didn't even blink as he lowered the car down again. "Is that your workout routine?"

"We don't really have to 'work out', as you put it," Thena advised next to him with an indulgent smile. "Although he does regularly pick up the water tower at home and shake it to test when it needs refilling."

"Is there anything Uncle Gil can't lift?"

"I've never quite seen him try to lift something and fail," Thena mused as Gil scooched out from under the car and dusted himself off. "But that's part of knowing your limits, Jack. There are things of which even Eternals are not capable."

"Like what?" he asked immediately, really trying to imagine his superpowered family struggling to accomplish anything.

"Like saying no to you," Gil laughed as he wiped his dusty hands off on Jack's shirt, tickling him in the process. "Have you seen her do it yet?"

"That is an unfair challenge, and you know it," Thena asserted in her own defense. She turned her head, "the phone."

"I'll get it!" Jack rushed inside and to the kitchen to pick up the house's landline. "Dad?"

"Does some wanna tell me why I got an alert that the garage was opened, only to see my idiot brother benchpressing the car?"

"Uh," Jack blinked before holding out the phone to his aunt, "it's for you."

"Phastos," she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Don't Phastos me, T! What are you-"

Thena hung up.

Gil gave her a look as she put the phone back on the receiver. It rang not a second later but she hung it up again. "He's going to be furious when he gets home."

Thena picked up and hung up the phone a third time without even blinking an eye. She looked at her nephew with a smile, "what would you like to do now, Jack?"

"Can you jump, like, super far?"

"Yes."

"Can you jump over the house?"

"I'm sure I could."

#Jack and Thenamesh #Jack is really out here giving his father a heart attack #he's like Uncle Gil do you think you could pick up the house with one hand? #Gil: I might need two #Phastos: ??!!!?!?!?!?!! #Thena pretends she's the responsible one #but as soon as Jack looks at her #she's game for anything #she's not allowed to pick up Jack from school alone #because if he suggests they race a car to see who's faster #she'll do it #Gil is a little better at being reasonable with him #but let's face it #saying no to Thena isn't exactly a strength of his either

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello!!!

I miss cute interactions between Jack and Thenamesh!! Would you write something sweet? Jacks birthday party for example. So he can introduce his cool aunt and uncle to his friends. And Phastos totally disliking it?

THAAANK YOUUUUUU

"You must stop sulking, Habibi," Ben chuckled as he patted his husband's shoulder. He emptied another bag of pretzel sticks into a bowl.

"What ever happened to having a secret identity, hm?" Phastos huffed as he peeked out from the kitchen and into the living room. "He's in there telling them that his 'superpowered' relatives are gonna lift the freakin' car for them."

"He's exaggerating," Ben excused for his son, as well as maybe hoped that if he said it then it might be true. "I'm sure they know that."

Phastos just sighed as Jack's friends oohed and awed at Gil and his muscles as three of them hung off one of his arms. "He has to at least make it look like it takes effort."

"They're children," Ben shrugged, offering Phastos some pretzel sticks, "and look at him."

"Baby," Phastos turned to his husband, "if you start checking out my own brother, I swear to-"

"Could you blame him?"

Ben just laughed, while Phastos nearly jumped a foot in the air. He put his hand on his chest, "Thena!"

The Warrior Eternal merely looked at her brother, enjoying her newest favourite American snack: cheese puffs. "The children are enjoying themselves."

Jack had eagerly asked Uncle Gil and Aunt Thena if they would be around for his birthday party. They agreed, of course, although Gil may or may not have whispered in Jack's ear that Aunt Thena wasn't really one for crowds. Jack, being a very sweet and considerate boy to his favourite Aunt, told her that she didn't have to hang out with them the whole time.

She had emerged to greet them and then for cake, solely to oblige her dear nephew. She smiled, "kids love Gil."

Ben smiled at the look on the surprisingly gentle hearted woman's face.

Phastos shook his head at her, "that look on your face makes me long for the days of Kievan-Rus."

Thena punched her brother right in the side.

"Aunt Thena!"

Thena shoved her bowl of cheese puffs into Phastos's hands (who was both already holding the pretzel sticks and also still winded from her punch). She smiled at Jack, leaning down to him, "are you enjoying your party, Jack?"

"Come on, everyone wants to see Uncle Gil lift you up!"

Thena let Jack pull her along into the living room with everyone else. She eyed the children among them, "hello."

"Miss Thena, is it true you picked up Jimmy and his friends on Halloween?"

She tilted her head at the question, as if she hadn't even understood the words. She looked at Gil.

"Remember the kid who took Jack's candy?" he asked, which immediately sparked some recognition in her. "Yeah, the one you picked up from the back of his jacket."

Thena nodded, indeed remembering that incident. She looked at the child who asked the question, as well as the others crowded around them for the answer. "We work out together."

"I told you they're cool!" Jack hollered, to which his friends also cheered their agreement. He looked up at them, "Aunt Thena, will you lift me up?--please?!"

Gil nodded, "sure thing, bud. Just not like she lifted up Jimmy, or you could get hurt, okay?"

Thena looked at Gil, and then down at her precious little nephew. Humans were so delicate already, and children were a whole other story. She sighed, "very well."

Jack and his friends all whooped and hollered as Thena lifted him right up off the ground like it was nothing, holding him under the armpits like a baby, or a pet.

"Enough," she smiled as she set him down again, making sure he was unharmed from having his body weight held from just two points.

"Me next!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"No," she stared the kids down without hesitation. They all just laughed, unbothered by the dry response. "Only Jack."

"Okay, okay," Gil laughed, ready to intercede for the sake of his wife. He came up behind her bending down and scooping her up on his shoulder without a care in the world. "Aunt Thena is off limits now."

"Uncle Gil!" Jack laughed. His friends all admired his display of strength.

Luckily the living room had a higher ceiling than the dining room and kitchen. Thena leaned over slightly anyway, her hand on Gil's opposite shoulder and her hair swaying against the back of his neck.

Phastos sighed, left with just the pretzels and the cheese puffs, "unbelievable."

#Jack and Thenamesh #Poor Phastos #stuck here with his lovebird siblings #his own husband checking out his brother #and his sister on a mission to scare him into mortality #Thena was willing to endure the party for Jack's sake #but she would be lying if she said she wasn't relieved when he told her that she didn't have to stay for the whole thing #she's been hiding in the basement watching the fish in the fish tank #she knows how to work the tv #she would rather watch the goldfish #Gil keeps her on his shoulder just for fun #and then also none of the kids can bother her too much

[softquietsteadylove]

I thought about some Thenamesh and Jack kitchen chaos, because Jack wants to do something for this Dad's for fathers day.

Hugs and love!! 🖤✨

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"What?" Jack asked as the hand mixer was taken from his hand from above and behind him, as well as the mixing bowl.

"You can't hold it from the edge like that when you're mixing," Gil corrected, far from the first time and it would be far from the last, too. "It could slip outta your hand and you could hurt yourself."

"I'll hold it right," Jack attempted to insist to his Uncle. But Gil was already holding the bowl and mixing the batter himself.

"Let him, Jack," Thena smiled at her nephew. She had never handled the beast known as 'hand mixer' either, but she was in favour of whatever couldn't hurt her nephew. "You can crack the eggs."

Jack beamed; now that, he could do. "Okay!"

Gil chuckled, watching Jack rush over to Thena's end of the kitchen. The place was a disaster. There were bowls everywhere, eggshells on the counter and the floors, turkey bacon packaging in the sink. It was complete chaos.

"Very good, Jack."

It was well worth it for how cute it was. Thena leaned over Jack's shoulder as he cracked the eggs with obsessive care and precision. Thena didn't intervene, despite being a real egg cracking pro (even on her worst Mahd Wy'ry days, she could usually manage to eat an egg).

"Is three enough?" he looked up at his Aunt, who looked at Gil.

He shrugged and nodded.

"Yes," Thena smiled blithely. She had no idea if that was true for humans, or if their fragile bones needed more nutrition than that. She was used to having entire feasts served to her at a time, after all.

Gil let the pancake batter settle as he came over to the stove with the bowl in hand. "You got it?"

"We've got it!" Jack answered happily as he stood at the stove to scramble his lovingly cracked eggs in the pan.

"Okay," Gil murmured, still keeping a close eye on them as he moved to the cast iron skillet that would cook their pancakes for them. "Should be ready."

"Hm," Thena looked at it, instinctively moving to put her hand on it to test.

Gilgamesh grabbed it, both fierce in intent, but holding her hand gently. "Don't even-!"

She gave him a look, "I may not have your hands, but I can touch it for a second, Gilgamesh."

He shook his head though, pulling her hand up to his lips to kiss it. "Not even that. Not these precious hands."

Thena smiled as Gil endeavoured to kiss each knuckle.

"Uh, Uncle Gil?--the pancakes?"

Gil laughed at Jack's eagerness to interrupt their affections. But he obliged, "okay, okay, pancakes."

Gilgamesh did indeed put his palm to the hot iron, unbothered completely by what would be a dire injury to even another Eternal.

Thena smiled, leaning against him on one side of her with her hand on Jack's shoulder on the other side. "It's like back home."

Gil smiled; he made pancakes for her often back in Australia. "You want berries in yours?"

She kissed his cheek, "please."

"But they're for Dad and Baba, Uncle Gil!"

"Don't worry, buddy, there's plenty of batter," Gil assured their nephew (who was cooking the eggs to death). "Your dads will have plenty for them. But no way I'm making pancakes and leaving out my wife."

Thena smiled, leaning forward and pursing her lips.

Gil happily obliged.

"Are the eggs done yet?"

Yes, they were almost burnt to the pan. Thena smiled, turning off the heat for him, "I believe they are. Bring them to the plates at the table."

"Okay!"

Gil leaned closer to her as Jack did so with reckless abandon, swinging the hot pan around without a care in the world. "It's cute to watch you cook with him."

She tucked herself into his side, leaving his flipping hand free. "That is how I feel when I watch you in the kitchen."

"Aw, you're such a softie," he teased, giving her waist a pinch with one hand and flipping the first three pancakes with the other.

Thena purred against him, "he makes me soft."

"You were already soft," Gil argued in a whisper against her cheek.

"Hm," she humoured him, in quite a good mood from how happy Jack was. "I suppose if anyone were to know, it would be you."

Gil blushed faintly as she trailed her hand up his chest and to his chin to kiss him again.

"What's next?"

"The bird bacon," Thena declared, reaching for the next pan that needed their attention. The strips of processed meat were already laid out and heating slowly, just not sizzling yet.

Jack grimaced at the unpleasant name for it.

"Add a little bit of oil," Gil advised, watching even more closely than before. Jack reached for the bottle, "and I mean a little!"

Thena took the bottle gently from his smaller hand for herself, tipping out just enough for the strips of turkey bacon to actually fry and crisp at the edges. "Now we only need wait."

"That's right," Gil patted Jack's head. "We're almost done, if you want to see if your dads are up."

Jack fidgeted with his hands for a second before running off this time. He peeked up at Gil and then looked up at Thena, "thank you for helping me."

Thena leaned right over, kissing his forehead in a rare display of affection. "You are most welcome, Jack."

"Hey, this was fun," Gil laughed in a much more jovial acceptance of Jack's thanks. He gave Thena's waist a squeeze, "I'm havin' a great time."

"Indeed," she murmured, not totally obliging him with Jack watching. She nodded her head in the direction of the hallway, "fetch your fathers. We shall finish the cooking."

"Thanks Aunt Thena!"

Gil snorted at the sound of Jack's thunderous footsteps filling the house. If Phastos and Ben had been asleep, they weren't anymore just from that.

"Berries?"

"How could I forget?" Gil chuckled, grabbing a few frozen raspberries from a bowl beside the stove. He dotted one with them, and one with blueberries. "Not my darling wife."

"Hm," she humoured him again, leaning in to kiss him more slowly. He savoured the longer affection from her, their lips meeting gently. She smiled against his lips, "you are father to a brood of lizards back home."

Gil both laughed and sighed in one sound. "They're all mamas boys, I'm pretty sure."

"Still," she kissed him again. "Phastos and Ben shall enjoy what Jack has done for them. And I will provide you with celebration later."

Gil raised his eyebrows. Thena just pursed her lips at him again, promising their continuation once in their guest room again. And again, he blushed, "oh."

She really was in a good mood.

#Jack and Thenamesh #for father's day! #Jack certainly would have his hands full with this one #I think he's done small things for them before #he brings toast to them in bed and stuff #that kind of thing #it's either burnt or underdone #there's sliced banana #for Ben #Phastos hates bananas #but this year he has help! #he asked Thena if she thought Uncle Gil could help him #and she said they both would #Jack and Phastos and Ben get all snuggled up and eat breakfast together #Gil hand feeds Thena berry pancakes in the disaster of a kitchen #happy Father's day to whom it applies

[softquietsteadylove]

So, it's Christmas time and i thought about something cute that would match the little interaction between Thena and Jack. Jack would have loved Gil and his food. So maybe Gilgamesh is helping Jack to bake some cookies and other sweet things for a Christmas charity event at Jacks school. The earned money will go to poor families and their children, who cannot afford buying Christmas presents. So Gil and Thena, obviously, and Ben and Phastos are there, at this charity event, watching (and maybe helping) Jack selling the self-made stuff to nice people.

I hope you feel better and less stressed. No one needs Christmas filled with stress and discomfort. It should be a time of joy and making other people and yourself happy.

Once again i want to thank you for your work, for your stories and your kind words. You're a special person, bringing so much light to the people in this fandom. Thank you. 🖤✨🎄

"Will you two stop feeding each other cookies!"

Thena and Gil both barely looked at Phastos, caught up in sharing cookies one bite at a time until they would inevitably end up kissing. Thena licked her lips, "it's only one cookie each time."

"Thena, I swear to-" Phastos huffed but cut himself off. He knew damn well that not only was it futile to argue with his sister, especially over something like this, but also that they were here for more important things.

"Hey, I made them," Gil complained loudly before kissing Thena even louder again. "I get to use them to lure my wife into kissing me as much as I want."

"Jack made them," Phastos corrected his incorrigible siblings freely, "you two canoodled the whole time."

"Actually, Dad, Uncle Gil made them," Jack corrected, completely oblivious to how he was betraying his father. "I helped measure some of the stuff, but Aunt Thena and I mostly decorated them."

Yes, Thena had been giving only white icing and very specific instructions. If given red frosting at all, she tended to start illustrating various injuries on the gingerbread men.

Ben turned away from yet another sale, putting away the profit in the name of charity. "Leave them be, Habibi."

"They're eating the product," Phastos reminded his husband with a hand on his shoulder, "it's not good business practice."

"Thank you," Jack smiled as he sold another cookie to another bake sale goer. He looked back at his family, "it's okay, Dad. Uncle Gil said he that he would make extra just for this."

Of course he did. Phastos rolled his eyes before glaring at his brother, "you are the worst, y'know that?"

"Hm, I can't hear you," Gil laughed. He was far too immersed as Thena raised another shortbread to his lips, letting him take the first bite. She leaned in for the second, and once again, by the third, he was kissing the buttery crumbs off her lips for her.

Phastos shook his head, instead looking down at his son, "how are things lookin', buddy?"

"I think we're almost there," Jack smiled, looking into the box provided by the school to keep their earnings in. They would all be compiled together into a water cooler jug and then donated to the appropriate local resources to help those who couldn't buy gifts for this season.

"We're very proud of you, Jack," Ben smiled at their son, running a hand over the boy's hair. "It was a great idea to volunteer for the charity bake sale."

"Well, I knew Uncle Gil would help with the baking," Jack admitted sheepishly.

"Hey, I would have helped you," Phastos frowned.

"Yeah, but Uncle Gil's cookies are the best."

Phastos sighed, patting his poor, weathered heart, "gets me every time."

"He's right," Thena stated proudly, much to her brother's further frustration. She leaned over her nephew's shoulder, admiring his riches. "Is this sufficient?"

"I think so, and we're almost sold out!" Jack grinned at their increasingly sparse inventory. "I knew they'd be popular."

"Everything Uncle Gil makes is popular," she smiled at Jack, patting his shoulder in a rare instance of physical affection.

"It's a wonder we got any sales with you two back here makin' out the whole time," Phastos turned on them again, batting Gil with his scarf in substitute of snapping a towel at him.

"Jack wanted us to come!" Gil laughed, swatting away the scarf easily. "And I told him expressly there would be kissing."

"They're always kissing," Jack shrugged as he sorted the money in their box properly. "I'm used to it by now."

Thena made her way back to her husband's side, grabbing the end of Phastos' scarf and taking it for herself. "Now that this is done, is it technically your winter break?"

"Yep!" Jack turned to his Aunt with a grin, having told her excitedly that once he was officially on Christmas break from school that he wanted to do all kinds of things with her and Uncle Gil. "Can we still build a giant hill to go sledding on?"

"Anything you want," Thena responded instantly her sweet nephew.

"Yes!"

"Excuse me," Phastos frowned, still reaching for his scarf and still being denied. "What giant hill is this?"

"Dad, it's fine," Jack pouted, already whining about his father's habit of overprotectiveness.

"Yeah, I'll be there," Gil shrugged, letting Thena wind Phastos' scarf around his neck instead. "And she won't let anything happen to him."

Phastos knew that, of course, but he still had very strict rules about Jack's feet leaving the ground and for how long.

"Let them go sledding, my love," Ben attempted to placate his husband, pulling him over for a kiss of their own. "We have last minute shopping to do."

"You're right, you're right," the Genius Eternal sighed against his husband's shoulder. They had a few last things to pick out for Jack, a few items Ben insisted he wanted to get for Gil and Thena (despite Phastos' insistence that they neither needed nor deserved them).

And Jack specifically had requested to get something for Aunt Thena all by himself. Which they would let him do, but they were going to go today to scope out exactly what to steer him towards given the time and budget they had.

"Fine, just behave like adults," Phastos snapped his finger and pointed at the couple once again canoodling. Thena glared at him, in the middle of using his scarf to pull Gil towards her again. It was Gil's scarf, now. "Human adults, please."

"Yes, sir," Gil gave him a mocking salute, which only increased Phastos' dread. They brought Jack over to the teachers supervising the event, just until he was finally free to join them again.

"Hm?" Thena tilted her head at Gil as he rubbed her back idly.

"It's cute," he shrugged, watching their brother and his family from afar, "all their little traditions."

"Isn't it?" she sighed, leaning against his shoulder as if they were curled up in front of a fire, and not sitting in uncomfortable, state-funded plastic chairs. "Jack seems happy."

Gil rubbed her arm. Her utter adoration of their nephew continued to make his heart throb in his chest. "Do you want any presents?"

"Presents?"

"Yeah," Gil grinned as she looked at him with those big green eyes. "All this talk of them has me thinking about it, I guess."

But Thena happily snuggled right up to him, even loosening the scarf around his neck enough for her to poke her head in with his. He eagerly pulled her right into his lap in return. "You're the only gift I need."

"Aw," he cooed, making her laugh in his arms, "being around humans makes you so sappy."

"You don't think it's being married to you for hundreds of years?"

"It can be both."

#okay so first of all #you are so sweet #and this is so lovely #honestly the holidays are kind of rough for me personally #but since I started writing in this fandom #asks like this and people like you have really gotten me through #so thank you #I hope everyone is doing something kind for themselves today #no matter what kind of day it is for them #happy mistlefoe season everyone! #also shoutout to #taran-chan #because this is absolutely in reference to her last post #and as for #Jack and Thenamesh #Jack wants to get something special for Aunt Thena #who will say she doesn't understand why he thought she needed anything #but also no one is allowed to touch it forever back off #they take him sledding #after building a hill that's so high the city is...alarmed #but Jack has the time of his life #and Phastos has a heart attack because Jack flies through the air and separates from the sled every time #but of course Aunt Thena and Uncle Gil are there to catch him #every time

[softquietsteadylove]

Let’s do some Christmas stuff! You choose wich AU! A snowball fight :D

"It's snowing!"

Jack's declaration of excitement had woken the entire house as soon as he was up. He was bouncing with excitement over the powdery snowfall all through coffee/cocoa, and breakfast, and presents.

Until Phastos was finally - finally - ready to let everyone outside.

The Genius Eternal yawned as he dragged himself to watch his son from the covered porch. He smiled as he felt his husband come up beside him, laying his head on his shoulder.

"Which number Christmas is this?" Ben asked softly.

"Jack's 11th Christmas, technically," Phastos answered easily as he rubbed Ben's shoulder, "that's all that matters."

"Baba, come on!" Jack waved to his fathers, but they both held out their mugs of coffee as their excuse not to roll around in the snow, at least just yet. Jack rolled his eyes at them. "Uncle Gil?--Aunt Thena?"

Thena, who had been avoiding the snow very purposefully, shot out the back door. Snow was not her favourite weather, and she actually didn't adapt to cold very well for an ageless being of Cosmic Energy. It made her sluggish.

But the Warrior Eternal flew into the backyard at Jack's beckoning, landing in deep - up to her knees - and sliding next to him. She smiled at Jack's excitement, who never tired of the displays of their inhuman strength and speed. "What are we doing?"

He held up a fist sized collection of snow, "build a snowman with me?"

Gil emerged only a few minutes later, with his own coat thrown on and Thena's draped over his arm. He cleared his throat loudly (aggressively). "Ahem!"

Jack blinked over at Uncle Gil, only now realising that Thena didn't have her gloves or scarf on, having leapt out to join in him in only the long sweater dress she had been wearing since that morning. "Aunt Thena, you'll get cold!"

"Eternals can't get cold," she stated rather factually as Jack started pulling off his mittens to try and offer them to her.

"That's not true," Gil corrected freely as he walked into the backyard with them. "Especially about Aunt Thena."

Thena sighed, sounding an awful lot like Jack. But Gil held her coat open for her with an expectant eyebrow raised. She let go of the snowball now rolled as high as Jack's shoulders, and slipped into it. She turned, letting him button it up for her. "Being around Phastos for so long has made you nervous."

"You," he corrected with a kiss to her nose, "running around in the snow makes me nervous."

Thena let him pull off his scarf and loop it around her hair, although she smiled as he used it as an excuse to pull her into a kiss. She sighed, eyes glittering as she watched a few snow flakes get caught in his dark hair. "Lucky I have you to warm me up, then."

"Uncle Gil, can you help us get the head on?"

"Sure can, buddy," Gil chuckled, releasing his hold on Thena to help Jack with the second, smaller snowball.

Jack watched his uncle pick up the snow barehanded. But he had also watched Uncle Gil pull stuff out of the oven without ovenmitts, so maybe he was the one exception to that rule, even among Eternals.

"Just two?" Phastos called out to them from the porch, "it's gotta be three pieces, Gil! C'mon, I'd expect you to know that!"

"We live in Australia!"

Ben hid himself behind his husband as he saw Thena's hand go up. Right in his assumption, he heard the snowball make contact with Phastos. "Oof, that sounded intense, Habibi. Are you okay?"

Thena merely looked at her brother, holding another densely packed snowball in her hand. "Shall you be a Fighter today, brother?"

"Oh, you are so in for it," the Genius Eternal chuckled. He pulled some snow to his hand with his powers, using them to shape it into the most perfect of spheres before launching it.

Gil caught it in his fist before it could reach her, the snow exploding back into powder as soon as it was in proximity to his Cosmic Energy, "nice try!"

"Jack, help your Dad!" Phastos cried out as he dove behind the barbecue for cover.

"Every man for himself!" Jack screamed out in a laugh as Aunt Thena menacingly approached him with a loose handful of snow.

"There's no escape, Jack!" Gil laughed as he caught their nephew, who was prepared for the capture and tossed a snowball at him. "Sneak attack!"

Jack scrambled up the back porch to his father's side. "Alliance?"

"Alliance," Phastos nodded seriously at his son, peeking out to look at the backyard. "They're gonna be hard to fight."

"We can do it," Jack said as his other father crouched down in their huddle as well. "Uncle Gil will get distracted by Aunt Thena soon and then we can get 'im."

"I believe our time is now," Ben chuckled, pointing around the barbecue's covering.

"Gil!" Thena laughed as he wrapped his arms around her waist, spinning them around with snow at their feet. It almost looked like they were still in the snowball fight, but it quickly devolved into him dipping her down in his arms to kiss her amidst their little dance.

"Now, Jack, now!" Phastos whispered, handing Jack a perfectly crafted snowball.

"I don't wanna hit Aunt Thena!"

"Let your father throw it," Ben chuckled, ruffling his son's hat.

Phastos had no trouble taking aim at his sister. But of course, there was no getting a sneak attack in on the Warrior Eternal. Phastos sighed as she let her shield materialise to block their kiss.

Gil pulled them upright again, staring at Thena as the snow fell gently into her already sparkling hair. He stared into her eyes, catching his reflection in them. "I almost forgot how beautiful you are in the snow."

Thena blushed softly, leaning into his touch as he held her cheeks in his hands, "almost?"

"I could never," he whispered before pulling her into another kiss.

Thena sighed against his lips, reaching inside his coat to wrap her arms around him.

Gil's lips gave her an extra little bump as the snowball collided with the back of his head. He brushed it off, of course, turning around to glare at his brother (who was being abandoned by his husband and child, knowing what was to come).

Thena, already crafting the densest snowball yet, relented as Gil held his hand out. "Don't crush it."

"I won't," he laughed, holding it just so and letting his Cosmic Energy build up behind his hand instead of in his palm. Ben held Jack a good distance away, both of them laughing in preparation for what was to come.

"Now, Gil," Phastos held his hands out, moving away from his precious barbecue so it wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. "Let's just...talk this through."

But Gilgamesh was already laughing. "No one interrupts me when I'm kissing my wife!"

The snowball flew, faster than any pitch any human professional could make. The ball of snow hit Phastos like a brick, tossing his sturdy body into the side of the house and then down to the powdery snow below.

Ben laughed. "Darling, are you okay?"

"Fine," Phastos grumbled in return. It had been a long time since he'd trained or sparred with any of his relatives. How could he forget the punch Gil packed in whatever he did? And this was Gil, joking around and having a good time. If Thena decided she wanted to get serious... "I yield!"

Thena had been preparing an attack of her own when she heard his admission of defeat. She sighed, knowing it would only be dishonourable to attack him now. She dropped her tightly packed snowball - half of it pure ice - to the ground, "fine."

"Dad!" Jack ran over to his father to help him up. "That was so cool!"

Gil wrapped his arm around Thena's waist again, all of them slowly heading back inside after their little battle. "You get it out of your system?"

"Hm," Thena mused. Gil wasn't asking if she had burned off her energy; he was asking if she was going to try and get revenge on Phastos later for the snowball he'd thrown. "Maybe."

Gil kissed her cheek, "Ben and I will be cooking dinner in the kitchen. Just don't do anything to damage the house."

"Of course," she murmured, letting her husband nuzzle his cold nose into the hollow of her cheek. He took her coat right off of her, as well as the scarf that had, at one time, been Phastos'. She pulled Jack's hat off his head for him.

"Aunt Thena, come on, you can show me how to use my new sword game!" Jack beamed at her, pulling her to the tv where Ben was hooking up the motion sensors necessary for it.

Phastos smiled as his son excitedly booted up his new game. Thena looked ever serious as the Warrior Eternal, but Jack could have no one better to show him how to stand and how to move without hurting himself. As much as it was in her nature, it was a nice change to see her smiling as she instructed.

"Cute, isn't it?" Gil chuckled beside his brother before setting his stockpot full of ingredients. "Be careful, though."

"Huh?"

"Thena hasn't forgotten you nailing me in the back of the head with that snowball," Gil advised as he started sharpening the knives and Ben pulled the turkey out of its salt brine. "She's still gonna get you for that."

"Oh, come on, you already got me," Phastos sighed, although he knew it was true. His sister was the Warrior Eternal, and she did not forgive any transgression against the Strongest Eternal.

"Yeah," Gil snorted, "but she didn't."

"I'm sure Thena's more mature than that," Phastos said loudly, as if that alone would keep him safe.

Thena listened from where she was watching Jack play his new game. She grinned as she heard Phastos scream at the top of his lungs. He could assume about her maturity all he wanted, but she had put snow in his slippers, in the sleeves of his house robe, even inside his news paper, all in the name of her husband.

#I'm bumping this up in the queue #because it's mistlefoe season #happy holidays everyone #I hope you're taking care of yourselves #Jack and Thenamesh again #because we're here for good vibes today everyone #but is Gil still going to flirt with his wife? #of course! #Thenamesh #always has time to flirt #whether they've been married for hundreds of years at this point or not #And if anyone #has the audacity to throw snow at Gilgamesh #they are going to get to know why Thena is called the Goddess of War #especially if he's their brother #I mean she's already taken his scarf from him #Jack gets to see his dad actually acting like siblings with them #and Phastos gets to see them acting like a family with his son #everybody wins

[softquietsteadylove]

I love your stories so much. How do you feel about thenamesh baby stories? Also, what about Thena and Gil taking Jack to a fair/arcade and one of them winning a prize for the other?

"Almost!"

Jack huffed at the game, taunting him with the still-moving targets. "Man, this is bogus."

"I don't know if that's a curse word or not, but don't say it around your dad," Gil patted Jack's head from behind him. "I don't care if you say it, but I know he'll blame me if he hears it."

"Wanna try again, little man?" the stall worker asked, holding out a hand.

"Naw, I still won't win anything," Jack sighed, mimicking Gil and sliding his hands into his jacket pockets.

"I will win whatever he desires."

"Five tickets for three shots! What'd'ya say, Missie?"

Gil almost laughed at the stark difference between the carnival worker's slang and Thena's staunch attitude. He touched her elbow with the back of his hand, "go easy on him, Sweetheart."

"Darling, please," she hummed with a smile, and he already knew that look in her eye. "It is only a game."

"I don't know, Aunt Thena," Jack murmured, ignorant to Gilgamesh's worries about Thena and her lack of restraint. "Dad says these games are always rigged."

"Hey, if the lady wants to play, I say let 'er take 'er shot!"

"Indeed." Thena nodded, and Gil held back his laughter as best he could as he handed over the tickets for her round. She eyed the moving targets. "Which yield the best rewards?"

"Uh-"

Jack pointed, fully accustomed to his aunt's peculiarly old-fashioned speech. "The ones in the back row, with the red hearts for targets. They're worth triple points. If you get one it's worth one of the small prizes by itself, and all three get you the top shelf stuff."

"I see," she nodded, taking Jack's advice gravely serious. She looked at him, "which object do you desire?"

"Hm," Jack pressed a hand to his chin. His eyes travelled over the rows of prizes. "I guess the soccer ball might be cool."

"Then you will have it." She was frighteningly resolute.

"Remember," Gil called to her mildly, but still very much present, "honey. Don't get carried away."

Thena smirked. She picked up the darts, immediately handling them like a pro. She was a seasoned expert in any form of weapon, after all. It was easy for her to discern the weight and balance of the objects.

The attendant's jaw dropped as the dart sailed through the air. It struck the duck in the heart, so deep the tip of the needle - as old as it was - stuck out the back. "W-Wh-Who the hell-"

"My nephew's prize," she cut him off, glaring at him until the ball was in Jack's hands. She turned to the boy, "anything else?"

"Mm, I'm good," he shrugged, already toying with the ball in his hands. He was grinning from ear to ear, though. "You should win something for you and Uncle Gil."

"Yeah, Sweetie," Gil chuckled, leaving the background to step up beside her again. She naturally leaned closer, nestling her shoulder against his. "Win something for me."

She wasn't even looking this time, and still, the dart landed dead on.

"Show off," Gil grinned, so close he could nuzzle her cheek with the tip of his nose. "I told you to go easy. You need more restraint."

"You love me without it."

"Of course I do."

"Gross," Jack whined, rolling his eyes at his uncle and aunt. "If I wanted to witness something like this I would've hung out with Dad and Baba."

"Last shot, baby," Gil chuckled. The attendant was already blown away, and Thena did exercise some restraint (she could have thrown the ordinary dart so hard the entire target would be torn clean off). He tipped her chin backwards to him.

"No fuckin' way-"

Thena smiled against Gil's lips, easily making the bullseye shot yet again, even with her eyes closed in the kiss. They pulled apart only to laugh. "What do you want?"

"Mm," Gil hummed, wrapping both arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. "That cute white cat."

"Of course," Thena rolled her eyes at him, absolutely dripping with affection. She pointed, "I want the bear."

The attendant retrieved them, too stunned to speak.

Thena accepted the plush rewards. "You shouldn't use profanity in the presence of children."

"Aunt Thena-"

"His father blames us for it," she sufficed to say before leaving with Gil and Jack in tow. She ran her fingers against the bear's brown fur.

"They're cute, right?" Gil grinned, holding his own prize with affection. Thena said nothing, but when he swiped for the bear she dodged his reach, holding it closer to her other side.

"Jack," Thena called out, and the boy stopped tossing the ball as they walked to look at her. "What else would you like to play?"

He smiled. For all her saying that she didn't understand any of the games at the fair, as soon as he said he wanted to go she all but dragged Uncle Gil out the door behind her. "I don't know, I guess. But I think Uncle Gil should play that hammer game."

"Hammer game?"

"It's to test your strength," Jack laughed. "I wanna see him blow it up!"

"Well, I don't think it would blow up," Thena mused, looking at her lover with a raised brow. "He has more restraint than that."

"Hey," he nudged her, "maybe it's my turn to show off."

#Also! #to answer your question #I love a parental Thenamesh vibe #even though I don't think the Eternals would be able to have biological kids #and I was adopted #so I believe very strongly that blood has nothing to do with family #I don't have any plans for a Thenamesh kid right now #but I guess that's part of what makes #Jack and Thenamesh #stories so popular

[softquietsteadylove]

Hey, it's me again! I thought about this for al long time and decided to ask you to write it. I thought about Sersi and Dane getting Married after she and the others got rescued after the Emergence. And they are all at their wedding, dancing, having fun. Everybody but Thena. Jack is trying to cheer his aunt up but it doesn't work. And Eros comes to the party with his "wedding present" for Sersi and Dane. It's Ajak ('cause she didn't wanted to die and wanted to try safe the earth) and Gilgamesh, because he realized that he's got no chance to take Gilgamesh's place and Thena will love him forever. So he brought them back. As a present.

This roamed my head for weeks now. And i live for cuteness and reunion and fluff and AHHHHH

She looks beautiful, Thena thinks, and she does. Sersi looks lovely in the emerald green wedding gown. It contrasts Makkari's dark red one, as she swirls between dancing with her sisters and returning to Druig's waiting arms.

Sersi is dancing with a Sprite that looks closer to Druig's age than Jack's, now. They both have tears in their eyes, laughing when Dane cuts in to spin around his - in a funny way - niece/sister-in-law and then his wife.

Thena is happy for them. She is. She is trying to be.

Everything is a muddled mess of sounds and colours and smells. And yet it all feels...bland. Like food that hasn't been seasoned properly. All the ingredients are there, but they haven't come together.

She knows she's being extra miserable when she's thinking in cooking metaphors.

She misses Gilgamesh.

Her Gilgamesh was always the life of the party. He would have been ecstatic to attend another of Sersi's weddings. He loved weddings. It was being around happy people, really--he was happiest when the people around him were happy.

They had danced at Sersi's last wedding. It was so long ago, and she doesn't blame Mahd Wy'ry when she has to search for memories of the day. But she could never forget the smile on Gil's face as he spun her around, pulled her into his arms, whispered in her ear that if she ever wanted to-

"Aunt Thena?"

She doesn't let it show--that he pulled her out of a deep, deep vortex of thoughts. She just looks at him, "what is it, Jack?"

"Are you okay?" the boy asks, and in such a quiet and understated way that she can already imagine him grown up. She can imagine him looking like his father - her brother - when he talks like that.

"I'm fine."

Jack doesn't take the words and run. He sways a little on the spot, pulls at the fancy clothes he's put on for the occasion. Then he looks up at her again, "you don't seem fine."

Damn the child and his perceptive abilities. Thena takes in a breath, hearing the tremor in it. Jack must hear it too, because he reaches up to her. Neither quite know what to do with the gesture, but Thena uncrosses her arms, and Jack takes advantage to hold her hand. His little palm closes around her long fingers.

"You miss Uncle Gil?"

The name spoken aloud rips something apart inside of her. She looks back to Sersi dancing with Dane. She forces her eyes to dry. "Yes."

Jack nods, still holding his stoic aunt's hand as if she might fall into a million pieces otherwise. She doesn't seem to like it, but he thinks that maybe she needs it regardless. "Dad told me about him. He said he was really funny, and kind, and he always had a smile for even people he didn't like. And he made great food."

Thena closes her fingers around Jack's smaller hand, feeling the warmth his human body gives off. He's so small, so breakable, and she realises that if anything happens to him, that she will destroy the world more thoroughly than Tiamut managed. "Uncle Gil...he was the very best, Jack. Kinder and warmer a soul, you would never find."

Jack listens to Thena describe the one of a kind soul that was Gilgamesh. He looks out at his other aunt, dancing in the arms of a human man. He only met Dane a few times, but he seems nice. "You saved Aunt Sersi and Dad from the World Forge, right?"

"Yes," she looks around the room. Druig has given up on dancing, happy to watch Makkari enjoy herself. Sprite has drifted to Kingo's side. "Sprite helped us too. She won't say it, but she loves your Uncle Kingo very much. He's as much her older brother as your father is to the rest of us."

"Who's the oldest?"

They all awoke at the same time as ageless beings in a spaceship, over and over again in a thousand and one different lifetimes.

But she says, "I don't know."

Jack accepts it, just nodding as if she's said more than she has. He looks up at her again. "Do you know how to dance?"

"No."

"Me neither," he sighs. But he stays beside her, looking around. His fathers are dancing together, speaking softly and looking at each other in a way that Jack doesn't quite understand yet.

Thena is pulled from her melancholy again when he tugs at her hand.

"Wanna try?"

Who is she to say no to her brother's child? So she offers what smile she can and lets him pull her to the dance floor. Everyone smiles at them fondly--adoringly.

Sersi smiles, and she knows immediately that her sister can tell what's on her mind. And that won't do, because she can't be the reason for her unhappiness on a day like today.

So, Thena lets Jack take her hands in his, looking down at their feet and counting steps out loud.

"One-two-three," Jack mutters, walking them in a box like his Baba taught him just for tonight in case he wanted to try his hand at dancing with someone.

"Very good, Jack," Thena smiles, charmed just for the effort. She follows his lead, taking smaller, more graceful steps as Jack trots around in circles. He smiles up at her and she feels just an ounce out of an ocean of grief lighten off her.

"Mind if I cut in?"

"Uh," Jack looks up, looking at the serious face of his aunt. "Were you invited?"

The man chuckles, pushing back some very fancy hair. "Smart lad--I suppose not. I'm here to...deliver some presents."

"Jack, go to your father."

"But-"

Thena doesn't repeat herself. The Goddess of War does not have to. But she pushes him away with a gentle hand on his shoulder, turning him towards the safety of his father's protection. Not that this man is necessarily an enemy, but she doesn't think she considers him a friend, either. "Are you here to collect on a debt?"

"Do you think so little of me?"

"You do not wish to know what I think of you."

"You wound me," Eros shakes his head and smiles in good nature, but she can see something else in his eyes as he says it. He works hard to keep it concealed, but he's not as good at hiding things as he thinks he is.

He's nowhere near as good at it as she is.

Thena crosses her arms, putting her deadly hands away, also in a show of good will. "We do owe you."

"I told you to go."

"Still," she tilts her head, "you held off the defenses so we could escape with them."

Eros looks over at Sersi, Phastos and Kingo, standing along the edges of the room. Anyone else might just think they have a bad history. But he knows that the other Eternals in the room as watching him carefully as he speaks with their sister, ready to pounce.

Makkari and Druig clearly remember him, looming closer than the rest. Druig's eyes are already aglow, daring Eros to make a single wrong move.

"But you had to leave something behind."

Thena keeps herself from grasping his neck and throwing him through the floor and into the level below. Just barely.

"A sacrifice we were all aware of you making in the moment," Eros concedes in a surprising gracious way, bowing his head in recognition. "They know better than I what it cost you to come so close."

No one knew--no one would ever really understand what it cost her to be so close to having him back and having to turn away.

"I'll go back for him again."

"You don't have to."

"You intend to stop me?" Thena glares, her palms burning. She'll pin him down--let Sersi evacuate everyone from the room. Then she'll let Mahd Wy'ry wash over her - maybe forever, this time - and destroy the man before her.

"I didn't say that," Eros holds up a hand. His smile is a little sadder now, "I said you don't have to."

"Ajak?"

The woman steps forward, looking around her in bewilderment. There's obviously a lot for her to absorb in the moment. But she sees her family there, staring at her. She opens her arms.

"Ajak!"

It's Sprite that reaches her first, throwing herself at her and crying all of her human tears. Ajak holds her precious Eternal Child--Eternal no longer. Sersi reaches her next, folding around both of them and burying her face in Ajak's lush brown waves of hair. Makkari leaps into the group hug, and Ajak is smiling and crying as she holds her children again.

Dane approaches more cautiously, knowing the name well enough by now to know that this is his equivalent of a mother-in-law.

Thena barely sees or hears them. Everything is a muddled mess of sounds and colours and smells. It all fades away as she feels familiar, heavy steps.

He looks around him, taking it all in. Perhaps he's gotten the same briefing as Ajak did. Because there's no confusion, or wonder when he looks at her. It's all recognition and warmth and love. "Hey."

Thena throws herself at him. She uses her full strength, not wasting a second to get to him and feel his arms around her again. But he braces himself and stands strong, as he always had. He holds her as if she's delicate, and not the deadliest Warrior the planet has ever known.

"Sorry I'm late."

Her tears fall freely, and she lets them. His shirt absorbs them.

Gilgamesh stays silent, running a hand over her hair as he holds her, letting her get her grief out. He knows exactly what she needs, what she wants, and the balance between the two. He has spent his entire life with this woman at his side.

Thena pulls away only to pull his lips to hers, and it's neither new nor old, but it's right. It's so right to have him here, with her. For him to be alive and well under her hands, feeling his heartbeat--nothing could be wrong so long as she has this.

Gil holds her, the moment stretching out and bubbling around them. Their foreheads rest together, his hand at the small of her back, just like it was at Sersi's last wedding. He could never forget the feeling of dancing with his Thena.

"Gil, we should-"

"Um, excuse me?"

Gil blinks, pulling away from Thena with the utmost reluctance. But she turns, giving her attention to the young man shuffling towards them. Gil doesn't know who this kid is, but he reminds him of someone. "Uh, hi?"

"Are you," the boy shifts nervously. His eyes move to Thena's, and Gilgamesh realises that the boy trusts Thena, and even more shockingly, that she is fond of the boy. "Are you...Uncle Gil?"

Gil instantly loves the kid. He smiles, leaning down to him with an open palm. "I guess that's me."

Jack shakes the open hand with a smile. "Aunt Thena was waiting for you."

He has no idea how true that is. Gil blinks his tears away, still holding Thena's waist in his other arm. "I know. But I'm here now."

Jack smiles as he catches sight of the smile on his aunt's face. She has the same look that his fathers get that he still doesn't quite understand. But she seems happy. "You can dance with her now, I guess. But she says she doesn't know how."

Gil chuckles, taking Thena's hand in his as he leads her away. "That's not true."

And he's right, Jack realises. Maybe Aunt Thena doesn't even know it, but he sees her moving smoothly and gracefully - Uncle Gil's hand, wrapped around hers - and thinks she can dance.

So long as she has her partner with her.

#Sweetheart you get the most incredible ideas #I am honoured you trust me with them #I hope you like what I did with it #Thenamesh #Eternals #Thena #Gilgamesh #It's a bit of a long one #but I wanted to do this justice #and I hope I have #Jack and Thenamesh

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello Darling!

would love to read more Babysitter Thenamesh but with some action? Them doing something fun but something goes wrong and Gil protecting Jack? Impressing both Thena and Jack and Gil making sure that Jack is fine afterwards? some sweet stuff?

"Why does it have to be canines?"

But Jack was already off and running around, observing the dog breeds around them as he found a good distance for ball throwing.

"Well, it's not like it's cats," Gil shrugged in consolation as he easily reached out and caught Jack's softball throw in his hand. He tossed it back, careful of both his throwing force and Jack's little human body. "You know how much Jack loves dogs."

"Yes, I am aware," Thena lamented, looking around them at the various animals running around with their owners. "I don't know what help he expects me to be--I also don't want him to have one."

"Yeah, but you'll still help him convince Phastos to get him one," Gil chuckled, sneaking an arm around her in between throws. "All he has to do is look at you with those eyes."

Thena huffed, "it is unbearably effective."

"I know the feeling," Gil sympathised, tossing the ball a little farther this time. Thena looked at him curiously but he nuzzled the tip of her nose with his. "I'm a sucker for your eyes, too."

"Uncle Gil, pay attention!"

Thena reached out and caught the ball this time, although it drew just a little too much attention. She let Gil toss it back, "don't underestimate us, Jack!"

"Sorry, Aunt Thena!"

Gil tossed the ball back again, but as Jack backed up to catch it, a dog ran in behind him. He felt Thena coil in his arms but held her to his side, "easy, Sweetheart. It's just a dog."

Jack startled as he toppled over the dog, fairly large in size and not taking nicely to the collision, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Thena was in front of him instantly, even after Gil reminded her that they were trying to seem human. She held her hand out, not at all startled by the animal bearing its teeth at them, "Jack, stay behind me."

"Aunt Thena," he pleaded, obeying his Aunt but clinging to her coat, attempting to pull her back and away from danger with him.

She had no intention of fighting an animal, but if she had to call up her shield at the very least, she would. Nothing was coming near her nephew while she stood.

"Hey!"

Gil slid in between them, holding his own hand out with just the hint of a glow to it. His powers were more capable of subtlety than Thena's. To any onlookers, he just looked like a man protecting his family. "Watch it!"

The dog barked and snapped and snarled at them. It leaned forward on its front paws, drool dripping down from its teeth.

Gil held the animal's eyes, feeling Thena's hand on his arm behind him, "don't even think about it."

Gilgamesh could easily bear the dog biting into his forearm. In all honesty, the dog wasn't even close to breaking his skin, and not just because of the leather jacket he was wearing. He let the poor mutt sink its teeth into him, staring it down, "you had enough?"

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

The owners rushed over, desperately pulling their dog off of Gil and clipping its leash onto the already agitated animal.

Thena just glared at them, holding Jack's shoulders protectively.

"It's not his fault," Jack mumbled from the safety of his Aunt's embrace, "I tripped over him while we were playing catch. I'm sure I just scared him."

"Don't worry about it," Gil rushed to defuse the whole affair, waving off the owners' worries. "Really--everyone's fine."

Thena held her tongue, diverting her frustrations with the strangers to checking on Jack, "are you sure you're unharmed?"

"Really, Aunt Thena, I'm okay," he nodded as she tilted her head to check for the slightest scuff or scrape. "Uncle Gil, are you okay?"

"Ah, I'm fine," he laughed, ruffling Jack's hair and wrapping his arm around Thena again. "Don't you worry about me, kid. That poor dog's the one who had to try and sink its teeth into the toughest Eternal around."

"The toughest?" Thena raised a brow at him with a smirk.

"Okay, the thickest."

Jack laughed, collecting up his ball and glove, more than ready to head home after that incident. Perhaps he would hold off on asking his fathers for a dog, just for now.

Thena leaned into Gil's side, leaning up to whisper, "the thickest, hm?"

"W-Well," Gil laughed, blushing as his wife slid her hands over his chest.

"Oh, fear not, Love," she purred against his cheek, "I am not arguing that."

Jack turned back to his Uncle and Aunt, who were giving him that smile that meant that they had been kissing just before he turned around. But he was used to it.

#Jack and Thenamesh #Phastos would never in a million years let Jack get a dog #I really solidly believe he would have a no pet policy #and he blames Thena #who had brought lizards in to live with them for years and years #back in the day #also Thena pls #which I say as if I didn't write that dialogue

[softquietsteadylove]

Could you write the Eternals taking Jack trick or treating and Thena scaring the shit out of someone while Gil just laughs and Phastos just questions why he even tries to deal with either of them?

"Trick or Treat!"

"Thena, stop eating the candy!"

Jack and Thena both looked behind them at Phastos, shaking his head with his hands on his hips. Jack - with his plague doctor mask pushed up on top of his head - shrugged. "I told her she could have some."

"Oh, sure, she can have some," Phastos huffed at the unfairness of it all, "but last time I asked you told me that you had to make it last all year."

Thena stared her brother down, popping another sour candy into her mouth. "The sweets are his bounty, Phastos. He may do with it as he pleases."

Ben just laughed, watching as Jack dug around for more candy he thought his aunt would like. "He's sharing, Habibi--it's a good thing."

"Yeah," Gil snickered to the other side of Phastos, elbowing him, "don't be so jealous."

Phastos raised a brow at his brother, "I don't see you getting any."

Gil shrugged, trailing behind them as Jack left Thena a few last pieces before joining his friends again. "More for her."

Despite his happiness to let Thena take what she liked of Jack's generosity, she drifted back to his side, selecting a green apple candy and slipping it into his pocket.

He looked at her, but she was concentrating on the tart candy on her tongue. He extracted the hand from his pocket to wrap an arm around her. "I'd rather have that one."

But Thena turned her head, letting his lips collide with her cheek instead of her lips. "No."

"No?" Gil feigned shock and dismay.

"I already gave you one," Thena eyed her husband with a sly grin. "This one was selected specifically for me."

"Mm," Gil mused, touching the tip of his nose to hers, "I could always find a way of slipping it away from you."

"I swear to all the stars in the sky, you two-" Phastos began ranting at the couple while Ben continued to laugh at his husband and his in-laws' antics. "The only reason you're here is because the other parents wanted more than just me and Ben to watch them all."

Thena popped another candy into her mouth while Gil settled for the one she had given him. "That's not true, Jack invited us."

He had--he had insisted, actually, that his friends meet his 'super cool' uncle and aunt visiting from Australia. Although he had been disappointed to learn that he was not allowed to show off their superpowers.

"Don't remind me," Phastos grumbled. The kids returned from the next porch, jostling each other and laughing. "Okay guys, come on, two more blocks and that's it, that was the deal."

"Dad!"

"Don't 'Dad' me, mister," Phastos wagged his finger.

"Aunt Thena?" Jack turned to his greatest ally, but she avoided his eyes.

She was doing it on purpose. If she looked at that cute little human face she would definitely defy Phastos' very strict rule about not watching his son without at least one other person present.

"Uncle Gil?"

"Sorry buddy, your dad was pretty clear about this one," Gil laughed as the kid ran out of options. "But after the two blocks how 'bout I make some special hot chocolate when we get back?"

"What's so special about it?"

"No, you don't even know," Jack shook his head at his friends, waving them along to the next house. "It's so good."

Thena unwrapped the last candy gifted to her, chewing it slowly as the children ran ahead again. "Are these available constantly?"

"I think so," Gil mused, examining the wrapper she was about to stuff into his waiting pockets. "We can always bring some with us in case they're not in Australia."

"Hey!"

The adults all looked up with alarm. There was a traffic jam of sorts at the next house--a big, beautiful, visibly well off house with nothing but a bowl on the front step. The owners were away on vacation and trusting people to be honourable about the full size candy bars they were taking.

"You can't take five, that's not fair!"

Thena was already walking towards the house. Gil gave the back of her dress a little tug, "easy."

Phastos adjusted his glasses, "whoa, guys, what happened here?"

"They're taking all the candy!" Jack belted, pointing at the offenders.

Thena examined the older boys, not even concerned with pleading their case. Her eyes narrowed. "I thought there was an age restriction on such an event."

"Whoa, Jack, who's the milf?" one of the older ones laughed, clearly some low number of teen.

"Yeah, you kids should probably stick closer to home."

"Okay, boys," Phastos grumbled, his own veins starting to itch with energy. He considered himself a reasonable man. But this was his child they were messing with (not even wanting to think about the comment on his own sister).

Thena wasted no time. She gripped the back of the leather jacket the tallest one was wearing. She shook him, making the bars in his pockets drop to the ground. "What else have you pilfered?"

"H-Huh?! I-I don't--put me down!" his voice broke as he flailed in the taller woman's reach.

"Let go of him, bitch!"

Gil picked up the next one, also holding him like a stray animal getting a little too aggressive. "Okay, that's enough, kids. Why don't you all just run home, huh?"

The other three didn't have to be told twice, already halfway down the walkway and pushing past Ben on their way. He sighed--he was going to have to handle the calls from angry parents.

"It's okay, guys."

Surprisingly, it was Jack who was the voice of reason, holding out his palms to indicate the teenagers be put down. Thena tilted her head at her sweet natured nephew. She shook the older human again. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, Aunt Thena," Jack nodded, watching the humiliation colour the older boy's face. "He's probably learned his lesson by now."

Gil looked at Thena, asking her what she wanted to do. But she nodded; if Jack was sure, then so was she. He nodded, taking the boy from her grasp the way he would receive a kitten by its scruff. He carried his two human nuisances down the walkway, away from Jack and his friends. "You guys better not go around bothering anyone else."

As soon as they were on their feet again the two panicked, scrambling away desperately.

Phastos sighed again, at his family more than his son. "Do you know how much I am gonna have to deal with now because of this?"

Gil rolled his eyes, patting Phastos on the arm. "Like you weren't going to teach 'em a lesson of your own for messing with him?"

"That's not the point, Gil." Of course he was going to.

"Why're you so strong?"

Thena looked at Jack's friend (she hadn't bothered to learn any of their names). She looked at Gil, waiting for them all to rejoin them on the sidewalk. "We have the same workout routine."

"That's so cool!"

Kids were so willing to accept things. Thena smiled as they bounded off the deck, each with a candy bar of their own. She slipped one of the stolen ones into Jack's bag on his way past her.

"Thanks, Aunt Thena," he gave her a shy, toothy smile, holding up a second one he'd procured just for her. "I knew it was a good idea to bring you along."

She loved this human boy so much. Thena smiled, accepting the chocolate gently in her palm. She walked beside Jack behind his friends, breaking the slab in half and handing it back to him without a word.

Jack bit into it with a grin, watching as she bit into her half, holding it in her teeth. But he did roll his eyes as she greeted Uncle Gil with it, him leaning in to bite it off while kissing her at the same time.

#It's spooky time! #happy spooky season everyone! #I love spook season #I love ghosts #I love vampires #I love #Jack and Thenamesh