#after the unjust murder of her husband tho

[softquietsteadylove]

ready for some touchy (not spicy) fluff with Thena and Gilgamesh in a bathtub?

"This is nice."

It was nice. It was really nice--particularly, nice and warm.

Thena was practically purring as she rested against Gil's chest, curled up on him in the heated bath provided for them by Olga. Thena was officially the regent's war advisor, after all, and with that title came certain perks. Certainly Eternals weren't prone to taking bribes, but Thena was not about to say no to a nice hot bath.

She still had not quite adapted to the frigid temperatures of Kievan-Rus.

Gil danced his fingers along her arm as he held her. He was not quite sitting, not quite lying down, Thena on her side, not quite in his lap, not quite lying on top of him. "How do you feel?"

"Good," Thena sighed, letting the soft sound rise up to the ceiling with the steam of the hot water.

"Are you sleeping better?"

"A little." She was sleeping in her own room more, certainly. Although she still ended up in his room - in his bed - more nights than not. It was the damned cold. "I wonder if I'll ever get used to this place."

"You will," Gil promised, pressing a kiss to her temple as he did. Some might have called it an empty promise, but he had full faith in his Goddess of War to adapt and overcome. "In the meantime, we have the baths here. I'll make hot soup for you for every meal and you can crawl into bed with me as often as you like."

Thena let out a low, roiling laugh that vibrated through Gil's bones. "You spoil me."

"Mm," he pursed his lips, moving from tapping along her arm to swirling her hair around in the water, "I think of it as taking care of you."

"I need caring for, now do I?"

"Everyone needs caring for, Sweetheart," he sighed as one of her hands emerged from the water to lightly massage his shoulder. "And even if you didn't."

Thena smiled to herself as Gil shifted them, reclining even more with her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I'd do it anyway," he resolved with a kiss to the top of her head. He let out a groan as he stretched out his legs, although Thena curled up even more against him in contrast.

"And what am I to do for your care?" she asked back with a playful tone lightening her cadence.

Gil rubbed her back. "This is pretty good for me, I think."

Thena pulled her head--going to the trouble of it just to look at him. Her eyes were hazy and soft, with no trace of the deadly sharpness her Cosmic Energy demanded. "Is this truly sufficient for you?"

Gil smiled at her. Thena often fretted about what she could offer him in terms of this relationship of theirs. She might argue that he was always doing things for her, large and small, consciously and without a thought to it at all.

But Gil argued that they simply spoke different languages.

True, he lived to care for Thena: her protection, her well being, her happiness--top priority for him. And for him, he best expressed that with the things he could do for her. It was knowing her as well as he did, making foods that she liked, holding her when she was cold, sticking close to her when she was ill at ease. It came naturally to him, doing all these little things.

Thena's language was quiet, but just as expressive.

Thena had her own ways of loving, from her watchful protection, to her silent support that could speak far louder than anyone or anything. She did little things for him, from reorganising his precious spices to making sure his meals were always attended and appreciated. But more than that, Thena's words came in the form of her hand in his, her hand on his shoulder or holding a shield between him and an enemy. Her love was her company, allowing herself to be close with him in a way she would never with another soul.

Different methods--different languages, but they were fluent in each other completely. It was an understanding that could only come with being as close as they were, for as long as they had. Gil liked to think that their souls were like two flower buds, borne from the same stem. And when Thena bloomed, so did he.

"Gil."

He laughed as she pinched the plumpness over his hip in a way that really only tickled.

"You're thinking too loud," she whispered, settling her head under his chin again.

"Sorry, Solnyshkuh."

Thena peeked up at him again, intrigue and possibly some adoration plain to see on her face. "Picking up their endearments already?"

Gil gazed upon her freely, running his hand over the back of her head, trailing over her hair from where it was dry to where it dipped into the water. "I've heard people calling their loved ones that. It refers to the sun--my sunshine, I think."

"So sentimental."

It almost sounded like an admonishment. But her arms wrapped around him until she was giving him a hug only the water could witness.

#being soft #so utterly painfully soft with each other #this is also part of my headcanon #of them spending time in Russia for a bit #Thena is the advisor who made St. Olga of Kiev so infamously violent and cruel #after the unjust murder of her husband tho #this is also close to that other one about Thena not being able to sleep she's so cold #and the fire doesn't work to warm her up #but you know what does work?--Gilgamesh #her sweet beloved Gil is all she needs #I have a bathtub scene like this in How to Build A House that's still a favourite of mine #so I wanted to make sure they felt different from each other #hence why this doesn't take place in Australia #also you decide if they're clothed or not #I decided it didn't really matter #because even if they're not #they're just here to enjoy each other's company #they've been alive far too long to believe that nudity inherently equates to sexuality #Thenamesh Rus AU