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bultaonene · 5 months

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tk american gods au

"Well well well, if it isn't my favorite god."

Jeongguk slams his glass on the counter at the words, so violently that he almost expects it to shatter. He really isn’t in the mood.

"You know why I'm here," he hisses through gritted teeth, words barely escaping his mouth. He rushed here as soon as he got the news, both to desperately try to drown his worries with alcohol and to see Yoongi.

"Do I?" Of course he does. Every living god, old or new, has heard of it.

The Allfather has died. The king of the gods is no more.

And Yoongi has to know what happened.

"Do not play with me, Lògos."

He uses his old name, one of the many. Yoongi is far older than him, he has been the same for so long. Jeongguk is so young compared to him, a child. Even if his domain is just as old as Yoongi's. Even older.

"I want to know what happened. I want to know who did it. And you are going to tell me."

Yoongi laughs at that, low and deep as the sea, humorless. His hair is so fair it looks white and it only adds to his overall paleness. He looks like a ghost.

"I am an old god, Watatsumi. That doesn't mean I know everything."

He uses another name for Jeongguk too, but if the younger one did it to try and make him remember (who he is, who he should be), Yoongi does it to mock him. After all, it’s his name, yes, but it isn’t at the same time. Jeongguk is too young of a god to have heard that name on the prayers that have reached him.

Yoongi makes a gesture to the bartender, not speaking a single word.

(And oh, the irony of that.)

Jeongguk grips his own glass even more tightly and he can't contain his rage, which spills out of his mouth like water pouring from a pitcher.

"Don't bullshit me, you are-"

"I know who I am, child." He speaks with a booming voice and Jeongguk feels his power, his authority. Now more than ever, Yoongi is looking down on him. Jeongguk doesn't dare to speak and so the old god continues, reaching for the drink the waiter has just set on the counter.

He twirls the glass, watching the dark liquid swirling around. Whiskey, or maybe rhum. Jeongguk was never good with alcohol you have to taste – he's much better at downing it.

"I know who I am," he repeats, sounding sure but dejected. Like he knows but it doesn't count anymore, it doesn't matter. "But oaths and promises have no meaning now, humans only speak lies. I am nearly meaningless."

Yoongi looks at him, eyes burning but so terribly tired. He has always looked immortal, powerful, even ancient; but now, even with the face of a twenty-something years old as his eternal appearance, he looks old. Weary, worn out.

"Words are empty. Being their god has little meaning in this world, doesn't it?"

---

Yoongi didn't give him anything to work with, but he did give him a name.

"Kim Seokjin. Sounds like a human name."

It does, but Seokjin is another old god, just one closer to humans than most. He has been living on Earth for so long that he behaves like a mortal, even if his power is in no way so low.

"We all have plenty of names. He just has one that sounds different, don't underestimate him for this."

Namjoon is sitting in front of him, legs crossed and fingers drumming impatiently on the sofa’s armrest. Next to him Hoseok is sprawled on the couch, his feet tapping a rhythm on the floor that only he can hear.

"I need to question him. I will drag him here and beat the answers out of him, if I must."

Hoseok laughs and it sounds mocking. It’s always difficult to tell with him – he is genuine and honest, but he is above most and he knows it. "You? Against Seokjin? You wouldn't last a second."

"His domain is lust," declares Namjoon, as a way to complete Hoseok’s sentence. They are a strange pair, different but made from the same material. Namjoon is dressed in a smart suit, Hoseok in street clothes, and no one would be able to tell they are brothers, twins, two sides of the same coin.

Jeongguk feels the difference between him and them like it’s a bag of stones sitting on his shoulders. "A god of fertility? He might be ancient, but I have no reason to fear him."

Hoseok laughs again, feet playing a different beat now. Quicker, more frantic, and it’s almost creepy that he can be so still while his feet are dancing away. Next to him, Namjoon clicks his tongue and checks his watch, the fingers tapping on the armrest getting quicker. He scoffs and goes straight to the point.

"No, foolish boy. Lust isn't only restricted to the sexual sphere. Bloodlust. Wanderlust. Lust is craving, yearning – I said his domain is lust, but maybe you would understand better if I tell you that his domain is desire."

"You can't win against him, Epactaeus,” adds Hoseok and again, another name that Jeongguk has but that is not his. “If you wish for something, he will have power over you. If you yearn, you are doomed."

A clock strikes midnight somewhere near and both gods turn towards it with a snap of their bodies, like dogs that have sniffed out prey. But only for a moment. They turn to Jeongguk soon after.

Some people call them Fate, or Destiny. Some call them Death and Life. But everyone calls them Time. And they are both Time, both powerful and ancient, yet different.

Hoseok is the beat of a song, Namjoon is the click of a metronome. One is Chaos, the other is Order.

And Jeongguk hates asking for help, hates needing it, but he can’t do anything else.

"Then what do I do? I need him."

Namjoon does something with his mouth that almost looks like a smirk. "You are lucky. Seokjin may have power over all our weaknesses, but he has a weakness of his own."

"He has a brother,” continues Hoseok, always following his brother and always with him. “Powerful too, but less than him. Or in a different way, at least. Seokjin would do anything for him."

Namjoon and Hoseok tilt their heads then, at the same time, and it’s just as creepy as when the clock struck midnight. But it is to be expected – they are the same thing, after all. Just in different forms.

"You won't be able to face Kim Seokjin. But Kim Taehyung, him you may be able to tame."

---

Namjoon and Hoseok, like Yoongi, have given him only a name to work with. Kim Taehyung is even stranger than his brother – he seems to be everywhere, but no one knows anything about him. They say he's powerful and they say he's weak, his power flowing and ebbing like waves of the sea Jeongguk controls.

He doesn't understand this desire the Kim brothers seem to share, this wish to be near the humans. They ruin so much, with their petty fights and unreasonable wants. The gods depend on them to exist but Jeongguk's domain is the sea and he can't help but hate them for what they are doing to it, to him.

He is Jeongguk, but he also has been and is Olokun, Tiamat, Morskoi and so many others. But he will never have a human name.

No one seems to know what this Taehyung is god of. Jeongguk thinks about it, trying to figure out how to corner him, how to find him. He is related to Seokjin, so maybe a god of love? Of pregnancy or motherhood? Taehyung is a male name but gender has always been a human thing. The gods don't care and they take female and male forms going from one to another, sometimes refusing to settle on either.

But it feels wrong somehow. Seokjin's domain is so big. Thinking his brother is the god of love seems too restrictive, too obvious and irrational at the same time. So he doesn't know and he can't understand, and it makes his blood boil.

He spends weeks asking around, looking for him. He makes a show of it, leaving his name everywhere so that Kim Taehyung will know who is after him. It’s a risky move, but Jeongguk can feel how the world is shifting after the death of the Allfather. How humans are abandoning them, letting deities that have served them since the first human was born fade away to nothing. It was hard before the Allfather died, but now faith is crumbling like a poorly built sandcastle and the gods are sinking like ships with pierced keels.

The prayers of sailors and wives waiting at home, the wonder of children swimming for the first time – it all keeps him alive, saves him from the worst. But for how long? Years? A decade? A century?

And then what? Will he die as the Young God? Will he fade away inexperienced, killed by a war among gods desperate to stay alive? No. He won’t.

He needs Kim Seokjin. And to get him, he needs his brother. So he looks for him, searches in every nook and cranny, screams his name in a void and gets no answer. He doesn’t give up.

He doesn't find Kim Taehyung. In the end, Kim Taehyung finds him.

---

“I don’t want to say this is all very underwhelming, but it kinda is.”

Dressed in a suit, a toothpick between his teeth; Kim Taehyung doesn’t look like the person Jeongguk has been desperately searching for. As he said himself, Jeongguk too was expecting so much – a mystery, an enigma, a terrible foe.

Kim Taehyung feels dangerous, yes, but he came to him so bluntly, so simply, that Jeongguk feels unbalanced.

“I have been looking for you,” he says, tone harsh. Jeongguk has been begging smaller gods for a scrap of information on Kim Taehyung and in the end, this is how it is? He just needed to wait and he would appear in front of him, unarmed and cocky?

Fucking gods with human names. Always so messy and irritating.

“Oh believe me, I know.”

The arrogant tone is what makes Jeongguk snap. If he was a more mature god, maybe he would’ve noticed how innaturaly angry he is. How quick his annoyance rose, how the desire to fight has taken hold of him in a span of seconds. How suspiciously emotional it is, even for him.

Jeongguk is not a mature god, and so he grabs Kim Taehyung by the lapels of his jacket and slams him against the wall.

“Are you playing with me?” he growls, eyes storming like the sea he commands. “Because I am not. I need something from you and you will give it to me.”

The loss of the Allfather, his uncontrolled powers, the need to prove himself and his failings at that – it all rises like high tide inside of him, threatening to spill. He can barely see Kim Taehyung’s stupid face with fury and helplessness clouding his sight.

But then he does see his face for a second. The Kim brother before him is smirking like a madman, happy to see Jeongguk like this. The fucking toothpick is still in his mouth as Jeongguk slams him against the wall again, then releases him like he’s burning his skin.

“What the fuck have you done to me?” he asks, hackles rising. The fury recedes, goes back to normal levels instead of threatening to suffocate him and it’s like a veil comes off his eyes.

Kim Taehyung looks exactly how he did seconds ago, except he doesn’t. It is there now, the mystery and the enigma, and power sits on his skin like morning dew on the fresh grass. He fixes his jacket, crinkled by Jeongguk’s hands and there is something red smeared on his white shirt.

“I did nothing, little sea god,” he throws a smirk at Jeongguk, playful and sharp. “You just… indulged in your own repressed emotion. With a little help, maybe.”

"You are a god of violence." Jeongguk says it with absolute certainty. He doesn’t let rage and bloodlust take him, never. The sea can be storms and tsunamis but there is far more danger in still waters that you don’t know the depth of.

Taehyung makes a displeased sound, rolls the toothpick between his teeth. "Violence? That sounds so crass. No, my domain is simply what humans must do to survive: fight.”

He says it so easily, like it’s not atrocious when humans destroy each other, when they pollute the waters with dead bodies and blood. No, he says it like it’s glorious and fun, a huge smile on his face as he talks.

“You know, in the end we aren't so different, you and I. You are born from the sea and I am born from blood. Just two different kinds of liquids."

“We,” he spits out, disgusted by the comparison, “couldn’t be more different. How can you mingle with humans and encourage their death in the same breath?”

“Ah little dolphin, so young. So naive.”

Jeongguk clenches his fists at the patronizing tone, but doesn’t give in. It’s Taehyung’s game and he won’t fall for it twice.

The blood-stained god chuckles at him and his gaze is a weapon on its own, one Jeongguk isn’t sure how to defend himself from. He takes one step towards him then a second one, and Jeongguk can only watch, too tense to do otherwise.

“Humans need to thrive and to thrive, they need to prevail. And for some to prevail, others need to lose.”

He says it so matter-of-factly, so detached. Maybe the Kim brothers don’t live on Earth because they love humanity more. Maybe they just want to be close when humans crash and burn, when they’ll collapse like a dying star.

Jeongguk doesn’t care. Humans are a tool, one they all need, but he has more pressing matters.

“Fine, the humans must fight each other. But the gods are different, better. We must stop them, must stop the gods from-"

"Stop the gods from what?” interrupts the other and this time he is the one who’s angry, tone sharp. “The humans are forgetting us, Jeongguk. They don't pray and they don't believe. If we have to fight to survive, just like they do, then we will."

"We are not like them. We have the power-"

"We?” He laughs loudly and Jeongguk reddens in shame as he recognizes the irony, but he doesn’t say more. “Who's this 'we' you are talking about? You are a god of the sea, younger than most. And I have no interest in stopping what's coming next."

Taehyung stomps towards him with purpose now, a predator cornering his prey. His eyes are blazing with fire and he seems sharper now, as if someone shaped his features to be cutting and deathly.

He is in front of Jeongguk now, shoulders wide and mouth in a thin line. The toothpick is still there.

"You think you are endless just because you rule over the sea? Your domain is vast, but there's something that reaches much further than that."

His voice is deep and Jeongguk can almost feel it rumbling in his chest, his bones. Kim Taehyung carries himself like he’s a loaded gun, a keen-edged blade, and Jeongguk thinks that maybe he is, that with eyes like those he could be.

Taehyung speaks with his deep voice, looks at him with deep eyes, and Jeongguk feels like what men dying on the battlefield must feel.

"A dam can stop the sea. But nothing can stop war."

or: The king of all gods is dead. In an era where people do not believe in gods anymore, the deities are weak and almost disappearing. They have to fight among themselves and the ones to prevail will be the gods who stay. The others, forgotten.

Gods change. At least, most gods do. So Jeongguk is the new version of the god of the sea, a young deity. And he has no intention to die so soon.

He needs to solve the mystery. Who killed the Allfather? Why? Why now? To solve the puzzle, he will need help. And that won't be simple, not at all.

The Kim brothers are a different kind of god. Every god is born from people, but they are born among them. They can't rise to the Dilmun, the land of the gods. They aren't involved with the Allfather's death, but it is very convenient for them.

Until something tries to kill them.

Whoever killed the Allfather doesn't want any of the old gods around, not even the rejected ones like Seokjin and Taehyung. Taehyung thrives on war. But maybe, he needs to wage war on the right people.

The second time he appears in front of Jeongguk, it ends with a pact between the two of them. Jeongguk, the young god with the legacy of thousands of other deities, will protect the Kim brothers and find a way to let them in the Dilmun. Taehyung, the old god robbed of his own birthright, will help Jeongguk find what he needs. The oath they take is unbreakable and ties them until their ends are met.

The god of the sea and the god of war will march together this once, even if it's only for a while.

They make an Oath. Despite what Yoongi told him last time, words do have power and words spoken by gods... the pact they make is unbreakable, infinite. They are linked now, entertwined. They have power one over the other.

And thank fuck they do. Taehyung is... reckless, to put it very mildly.

Sure, he is a god born by war and blood. But is it really necessary to try and resolve everything with violence?

They need a diversion. Taehyung proposes to spill blood. They need to get in someone's good graces. Taehyung looks out for enemies he can kill. They need information. Taehyung wants to capture someone and stab them until they speak.

Jeongguk has to spend so much time reining him in, it's starting to be ridiculous.

He believes in order and diplomacy and being sneaky. Taehyung believes in barging in and scaring people to death. Their Oath binds them, so they both spend much of their time "tugging" each other through the Oath.

(Which basically means that Jeongguk has to restrain Taehyung from murdering everyone while Taehyung sometimes enjoys egging Jeongguk on until he is the one unleashing chaos and Taehyung can watch him while sipping on a glass of wine.)

Tae sacrificed his pride when he asked gguk's help and gguk will NEVER let him forget that, the annoying little shit

So of course working together and being near each other all the time isn't bad at all 👀👀 gguk won't admit that he's attracted to Tae tho and he blames seokjin sksksjskskss

Tae: r u done undressing me with your eyes? ;)))

Gguk: what?? Me??? How- what??? how dare u. I Would Never. It's your brother's influence!!!!

Jin: you two are DISGUSTING just make out and stop blaming me

But as they get to know each other better they also get to know their similarities – Gguk is afraid to never live up to his legacy, Tae knows that no matter what he'll always be considered a "lesser god". They are dismissed by other gods in a similar way and so they start to defend each other bc they know what is like when no one stands up for you :')))

At some point they get close to discovering what happened to the Allfather but they are attacked. Gguk leaves unscathed, bc his status as a major god makes him immune to certain weapons, but Tae is hurt very badly :((( cue gguk showing everyone exactly how violent can the sea be >:)) he wrecks and destroys everyone involved in the attack and he starts to be feared by ppl who dismissed him so easily >:))) when Tae wakes up he is so pissed lmao he can't believe he missed gguk wrecking havoc ALL ON HIS OWN his baby is grown :''))

Gguk: Tae... I did something wrong... I obliterated everyone in an extremely violent matter

Tae: and you DIDN'T INVITE ME???? BITCH!!!

ok not to be NSFW but... Since they are gods and they live through prayers they both have a major praise kink 👀 the first time they Do The Deed™, Tae spends HOURS just worshiping gguk's body and just TELLING him what he wants to do with him and gguk is so riled up 🤤🤤

(NSFW) gguk literally comes as soon as Tae touches him that time and Tae brags about it for the rest of their lives lmao

(NSFW)

Gguk: and this is why I'm not listening to your advice.

Tae: remember when I made you cum just by talking to you??? My words were important back then 😪😪 you used to listen to me 😪😪

Gguk: can u stOP!!! IT HAS BEEN 20 YEARS!!!! AND IT ISNT RELEVANT RIGHT NOW!!!!

btw since they are immortal they flirt for like 149 years and everyone around them is Tired™ but they are still like "he isn't my boyfriend!!! I don't like him at all!!!!" and the other r just like

[viking of disapproval meme]

WAIT INTERMISSION this meme is Taehyung in one image, just imagine gguk trying to have a normal conversation with someone for info and Tae is sitting next to him like this

[violence works for her meme]

ok I don't have anything else to add stan immortal dumbasses taekook who take like 3839 to """officially""" get together

#taekook #american gods au #mythology #deity taehyung #deity jeongguk #to rewrite #i wanna fix this i wanna turn all the latter part into “real” writing

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audisive · 1 month

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♪ WEST COAST. (💌) – next part

౨ৎ simon 'ghost' riley | reader

synopsis: soap accidentally finds out about simon's girl.

tags: fluff, romance, simon is a big baby !! let us all accept this fact, soap and his assumptions, uh bad jokes, very rushed fic, crack ?, reader can indeed fix simon

Soap isn't sure when his assumptions started, nor is he sure how it got to Gaz and Price himself.

Maybe it was when he started to notice that Ghost left base whenever he could. (How come ye never leave base? It's a hassle havin' to go back and forth for nothin', Johnny.) Maybe it was the smudged color of red and pink on his balaclava, the lingering perfume on his hoodie, or his new wallet taking the place of one that was once worn out.

"Wha's yer favorite perfume, LT?" "My enemies' sweat and tears."

(It's well-known that despite the fact that Ghost does consider the 141 to be his family, he keeps his personal life very private and away from them. They respect that, in turn, but let's face it, Soap is nosy.)

Really, it was an accident. Soap swears it was!

He just happened to be passing by his lieutenant in the bar where the team had all gone to celebrate a wreck of a mission that they've managed to successfully finish. Truly, it was an accident when his eyes caught a glimpse of Ghost's new wallet, and he really, very much so did not mean to watch a little too long – long enough for it to open and reveal a hefty amount of cash and a small square of colors, barely noticeable.

Soap's feet move before he could quietly search for more.

"Got a new wallet, aye?" He slides beside the taller man smoothly, just as the Brit had grunted out another order of Bourbon. Ghost hums in acknowledgement.

"Y'got a crush on me or somethin', Johnny?"

Soap chuckles even if the other does not. "A just happened tae see it. Fancy little thing."

It doesn't take long before Ghost disappears into the night, but the Scot swears his pace was a bit faster than usual when he left the awfully-smelling bar, and Gaz would be lying if he said he didn't see the little picture of a pretty bird tucked away in his scarily huge lieutenant's wallet.

It's not that Soap often makes bold assumptions about people and their personal lives, not when they're out of reach from him, but can you really blame him for thinking that the words 'Ghost' and 'girlfriend' do not sound right in the same sentence? Would it be considered an assumption this time if he'd seen the photo himself? Surely, his superior isn't some perverted freak who keeps an image of a breathtaking woman he randomly found in his private items. Uh, he hopes not, at least.

"Bullshit!" is what a drunken Soap yells when the Brit nonchalantly discloses to the team, without hesitation, that he is simply not interested in dating. He spills everything he's gathered in the past few months, from the smallest hints to the biggest; the unfamiliar strand of hair on Ghost's hoodie to the wallet from months ago.

"A'm no crazy!" Soap convinces no one as he's ushered back to the barracks for making such an insane assumption about the lieutenant in his unreliable state. Ghost's lips curl up into a smirk against the cold glass of Bourbon in his hand, sat back and relaxed with his legs spread wide.

Call him a big baby (he is) for making a fool out of his sergeant instead of just telling the truth and bragging about his angel to the others, but can you blame him? He just wants to keep you tucked away in his pocket, away from everyone else. What are you talking about, lovie? 'Course 'm not ashamed of you. You're just too pretty for them, is all. Gotta keep m' girl safe, yeah?

Besides, they don't have to know the way Simon melts into the nook of your neck when he gets home from deployment or know that he uses your lavender-scented shampoo. And no, it doesn't matter that Johnny knows. It's his word against the lieutenant's. He spares his LT and turns a blind eye this once.

When the time is right, Simon is sure to properly introduce his heart to his unspoken family. For the time being, he just wants to keep you his pretty little secret.

divider by @cafekitsune !

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