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softquietsteadylove · 2 months

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Hello! 🫣

I had this idea: thenamesh academic rivals?

Gil is a top student, mostly getting a mark of 100. but whenever Thena asks her rival what he got he always says a lower point (for example he says 97 and she got a 98) , hiding his exam behind his back 🫣

Thena glared at the chair next to hers as it was taken.

"Uh," Gilgamesh attempted - yet again - to strike up a casual conversation, "hey."

Thena tapped her papers on her desk, waiting for the professor to come in, as well as tell them how they would be conducting the labs with their students for the day. "I trust you've already looked up what your score for the mid-term was."

"What was yours?"

Thena clenched her teeth in her jaw. It didn't matter what she got, he would get just the same, if not better. She had worked her whole life to become a historical scholar, as was expected of her. And this guy always managed to stand shoulder to shoulder with her, seemingly without so much as blinking. "I achieved 98. I believe the two point demerit was due to my oversight in the essay section."

Gilgamesh merely nodded, offering a nervous kind of smile. "Ah, well, the essay parts are always the toughest."

She slid her eyes over to him. She didn't truly wish to know, but she also couldn't resist knowing. "And you?"

"Ninety..." he trailed off, as he always did when they were discussing their academic performance. She glared at him to finish, "seven?"

Thena smiled, although she did her best not to appear smug and unbecoming. "An admirable mark."

"Thanks," he laughed off, like it was nothing. Professor Stoss was a famously tough professor despite his young age, and getting any good mark from him was already a feat.

Thena did somewhat believe that the affability Gilgamesh possessed made people go easier on him. And even then, she had to concede that he was intelligent and competent in their field of study. It infuriated her.

She had the weight of the world on her in the expectation to perform. She was even a teaching assistant entirely to advance her studies and career. Otherwise, the interaction with other students was far too much for her own preference.

But Gilgamesh said he was good in historical studies merely because his mother had possessed a fondness for them. Thena devoted hours to studying and research and Gilgamesh worked part time at a diner close to the university. And yet he used to consistently beat her in every assignment and quiz and test.

Only in recent months did he seem to be coming just a single point under her, and even that was not enough. Thena had already heard from her own family how outstanding this no-name student was and how those in their field of work were asking about him.

"Did you...do anything this weekend?"

Thena looked over, somewhat astonished that he was still trying to make conversation with her.

He shrugged, tapping his fingers anxiously on the cover of his textbook. "I heard there was a fancy party for the TAs, I mean. I assumed you went."

Thena frowned. There was indeed an event for the faculty and their chosen assistants--those who showed promise enough to earn extra credits in teaching. She hadn't attended because she felt no need (nor did Phastos, in her defense). "I assumed you had gone."

"Oh, no," Gilgamesh smiled down at the desk. "I take the late shifts on weekends. They're long, but we don't get many people, so I can get studying or work done, y'know?"

Thena swallowed her words. She had all this envy for his natural skill, but his work was just as legitimate as hers. And he worked to pay his rent, living off campus, while she lived in a dorm for female academic leaders. Gilgamesh stole his time studying as opposed to building his entire life around it.

"You deserve to enjoy yourself a little."

She looked at him again, still frowning. "I beg your pardon?"

"S-Sorry." He went back to staring down at the tattered edges of his textbook. But she kept looking at him, waiting for him to elaborate. The silence worked, dragging his words out of him. "I just mean...you work really hard, right? You're always top of the class. You should be allowed to have some fun, sometimes."

She did work hard. She devoted every waking moment of her life to her studies, and the one person who continuously thwarted her attempts at perfection was the one to point it out?

It would be easier to be angry with him if he were dislikeable in any way. As it stood now, all she had to go on was that he always beat her in academic achievement, and so effortlessly at that. But even with that, she had to concede that he worked just as hard, if not harder than her for it! And it was infuriating!

"Sorry," he repeated, looking away from her glowering at him.

She sighed. "No, I'm sorry. It was an innocent question."

He looked at her, completely astonished. She would like to snap at him for thinking she couldn't even just apologise for being overly adversarial with him. But that would defeat the point. "Well, I know you don't really like small talk."

It was that she wasn't good at it. She angled herself in her chair, destroying her perfect posture to face him somewhat more properly. "Should you not have also...enjoyed yourself? When do you have time to socialise if you are either studying or working?"

"Well, I have friends I can see in my other classes," he shrugged.

Oh. Yes, of course. Thena felt her hackles raise again at the idea that she was so unfamiliar with the idea of having friends in any of their classes. But she was trying to be nicer to him.

"But," he offered another sheepish smile, bending closer to whisper like children trading a secret in grade school. "This class is my favourite."

Thena just stared at him. She supposed that made sense. He always said he had the same like of history and classics that his mother had. But the idea that she was included in the categorisation of his favourite anything; a warm feeling spread in her chest.

"The lovebirds are here already."

Students began filtering into the small lecture hall, facing them seated at the front of the room. The one who made the comment plunked down close to the door. Another one looked in their direction, "don't you two ever sleep in?"

They got jokes and insinuations that they were together all the time. Apparently, everyone could see some kind of brewing, invisible tension between the two of them. Thena always found it ridiculous.

"We don't-!"

The student startled, as did the rest of the room slowly taking their seats. The declaration was sharp, and loud--far louder than was needed for a room this size.

Thena felt warmth rush to her cheeks, first for the outburst, then the realisation that it seemed overeager to deny something that wasn't even said. She cleared her throat, turning towards the board (since she had shot to her feet in her denial). "Sit down and start copying."

The student body present groaned but obeyed. Gil was the far preferred teaching assistant because he didn't scare anyone, and even if they under-performed, he had kind encouragements as opposed to scathing condemnations.

"Guys, come on, you heard her."

Thena barely glanced over her shoulder. There was nothing new about their students complaining about her teaching methods. But Gil usually didn't take quite so stern a tone with them. Even in her defense.

He peeked at her with a smile, perhaps hoping to show that he was indeed her ally and not her enemy.

Thena whipped her head forward again. So long as they were pitted against each other in any setting, he was no friend of hers. No matter how winsome his smile was.

#Thenamesh AU #a true enemies to lovers #thank you for the ask sweetheart #I really like this suggestion!#I think there's a delicate balance in enemies to lovers #and Gil is so sweet #he just wants the mean girl he teaches with to smile sometimes!#everyone says Gil buddy I know she's pretty but you've gotta give up on the wicked witch of the west branch y'know?#meanwhile Gil is like you just don't understand her #he does lie #he says that he gets one point below her #specifically because if she finds out he scored above her #and be furious at him #he can say oh it slipped my mind it's only a two point difference #Thena absolutely hates that he's always beating her #but don't be mistaken #she knows she dislikes him for completely illegitimate reasons #and she doesn't tolerate any disrespect of him #she hears a couple students laughing because he served them at the diner #she gives them two extra assignments each #and marks them so harshly they go crying to Professor Stoss #Phastos: I dont' like you either you have bad attitudes and you use AI to write your essays get out of my office #Thena's roommates notice her daydreaming more often #Sersi asks hey so what about that guy you TA with #Thena: WHAT ABOUT HIM #Makkari: *she knows*

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softquietsteadylove · 4 months

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Gil takes care of Thena very secretly while she still has her bullet wound. Thena learns that he is the strongest guard here and yet the most kindest and gentlest of them all. Plus she can’t resist touching his feathers 🤭

"Thena?"

"Up here!" she called back to him. She could hear him climbing from the branches holding her nest up to the canopy where she was sitting (hiding). "Careful."

Gilgamesh had such large and magnificent wings. She had cleared a path for herself, of course, but she hated the idea of him snagging any of his beautifully dark feathers on his way up.

"Hey," he huffed, finally emerging in the canopy with her. His wings rustled behind him as he settled himself on the same branch. "How did you get up here?"

She smiled. He had been very vigilant about her injury since she had disclosed it to him. He even snuck her extra food in hopes the protein would help her heal faster. "Carefully, rest assured. I've started coming up here to watch the sunrise. And it assures that Druig and Ikaris will leave me be and seek their own food."

Gil chuckled, "did you find food for them when they were fledglings?"

Thena rolled her eyes at it. "I do not know of yourself, but my brothers knew I was the best hunter of us, so they would half-attempt to fish until I assuredly brought back the best yield for us to share."

Gil rolled his eyes as well, although they did share in their laughter. "I guess that shouldn't surprise me."

"Even when Ikaris started hunting in earnest, he's too impatient to skim the water at a reasonable pace, so everything slips from his grasp," she shrugged, picking at a few berries she had in a leaf cup. "But he can crack open shellfish better than I, I must admit."

"You like shellfish?"

"Scallops and shrimp are sweeter than oysters and muscles," she commented freely, barely even noticing as Gil angled himself, running his hands over her wings. She shifted in her position, turning her back to him so he could examine her side.

"Has it opened back up again?" he asked seriously, examining her white dress for signs of blood.

"No, the healing springs are working," she answered honestly. She was still soaking her wound morning and night. "The skin is a little tender, but I do believe it had closed, at least."

"Hm," he grunted, moving on to straightening some of her feathers while he was examining her. "Still soak it for a little longer, though. Until it no longer hurts to poke."

Thena sighed. She poked it regularly to test if she was healed yet. "Indeed."

"Makkari is rushing home after last perimeter checks a lot," Gil commented lightly as he idly combed through her feathers with his fingers. "Are they official now?"

"I do believe I could say they are courting," Thena smiled to herself, watching sun stream through the gaps and crags in the top of the mothernest, and even through some of the crystalline ice structures up there. "I look forward to the day he brings her home to me."

It was quite serious to have one's mate introduced to the family formally. Thena and Makkari had spoken of course, could even be considered to be friends. But if Druig brought Makkari to her nest to meet her, that would be more like bringing Makkari to meet his mother.

"You think he will?" Gil asked, plucking out an errant feather.

"It will take time," she sighed, her wings fluttering faintly at the thought, just for Gil to move them more for his angle. "But I do hope so. I would welcome her to the family."

"You wouldn't feel like you have a," Gil paused, and she heard his clothes rustle as he fidgeted, "I dunno--empty nest, or something?"

Thena looked down at her berries, almost eaten completely. "Perhaps I will mourn the days when Druig was a sweet little hatchling, even when Ikaris was not so...Ikaris."

Gil snorted.

"But they are long grown, and I want for them to stretch their wings," she concluded. She moved her leaf cup, offering up her last windberry. "I brought them all the way here for it, all told."

"Thanks," Gil whispered (awfully close to her ear). He reached for the berry, his thumb brushing against hers as he fished it out.

"I have never seen them so much as show an interest in courting, or preening, or," she shrugged, flapping her wings faintly as she felt Gil pull away.

"Well, preening is pretty, y'know," Gil postulated as she turned around to face him again.

"Oh?" she grinned, automatically moving forward to return the favour of his preening of her wings. She nearly gasped as he allowed her to do the same, brandishing his shimmering black wings in all their glory. They made her want to bury her face in the valley between them.

"W-Well," Gil squirmed, and she could just imagine the sweet, somewhat shy expression on his face. "Preening is pretty, uh, personal."

Intimate might be another word for it. Certainly no acquaintances or even casual friends were going around picking at each other's feathers. It simply required a level of trust and understanding of a fae's most vulnerable feature.

Thena was not ignorant to that. She simply acted like she was.

She moved her fingers over Gil's feathers delicately. They were so stunning, each and every one of them. She nudged a few back into place, examining the most misplaced ones. He had navigated his way up here with care.

"Should I not be...?" she asked quietly, even pausing in her actions. She pursed her lips while he was turned away from her, "if you have a potential mate who is going to come and tear my nest apart, I-"

Gil snorted again. He half turned to peek at her around his wing, "please."

She only felt more dissatisfied with that answer. She plucked a downy feather straight out roughly. "I do not see what is humorous about the question."

"Well, guard life doesn't exactly let you go out and court," he shrugged, not seeming all that bothered by it. "I've been the captain of our patrol for a long time, Thena. I've never so much as been approached."

Thena tilted her head beside/behind him. Her hair swayed around her shoulders faintly and the shadows of her horn and a half were cast over Gil's shoulder. She couldn't imagine Gilgamesh not being a prime candidate for a mate for anyone viable.

"Why?"

She looked up and suddenly he had a completely clear view of her. His eyes were sharp and warm, brown like the undertones of his rich black feathers. Her stomach leapt. "Hm?"

"You worried I have someone I'm preening with in another nest?"

Thena felt herself flush, although she did her best to look annoyed with the question. He wasn't in a teasing mood often. "I wouldn't take you for that kind of fae, Gilgamesh."

He laughed fully, having had his fun. He turned again, crossing his arms around himself. His wings shook with his laughter as well. "Well, that's good. And listen, even if I had ever liked someone, I've never been able to approach anyone. I'm used to doing my own preening, really."

She could tell, by the general state of his back-most feathers. Clearly he took good care of them, but every fae had those spots they simply couldn't reach on their own. "Well, good you have me."

"Yeah, it is."

Thena lowered her hands from his wings. She had let herself enjoy their secrecy too much, perhaps. "You need not, of course. If you didn't wish it."

Gil, sensing that she had pulled away from him, turning back to her. He lifted his wings to they could sit close despite the appendages of theirs which naturally demanded distance. "Do you?--wish it?"

Thena sighed, looking at the wonderful border guard she had met a full turn around the sun past, now. She leaned forward carefully, giving him time to refuse if he wanted to. In which case she would take off and leave these seas, perhaps forever.

Gil leaned in as well, their lips meeting gently. It was not necessarily as intimate as preening - especially in secret - but a kiss was still a kiss. He raised his hand to her cheek, tilting her head to kiss her deeper.

Thena sighed, their fangs meeting somewhat as their mouths opened more. He tasted of the morning stew the guards ate before first takeoff. It mixed with the taste of her berries.

Gil pulled away, tucking her hair behind the point of her ear in the morning air currents.

Thena just stared at him, her breath coming in soft sighs. She had never thought of finding a mate for her own.

Gil looked up, seeing a few fae beginning to fly around the dome of the mothernest as a warmup. He sighed, "I have to go."

"Go," she sent him off with a smile, her whole body tingling with warmth. "You are needed."

Gilgamesh let his hand drift off her cheek and to her shoulder as he stood on the branch. He lifted his wings, shielding them from witnesses. "I'll come and check on you tonight."

"Very well," she smiled. She waited the entirety of the day for him to do so eagerly. Her heart sang for him. "I shall wait for you."

"Okay," he whispered, their hands leaving each other the most slowly. He slipped something into her hand, "see you later, then."

Thena waved as he took off, launching straight from the treetops into the air to join the day's first shift of patrol. She could hear his voice, already directing his team and guiding them with the largest and strongest wings of them all.

Her hand tightened around the feather of his he had left her. It was a step past preening, and she would have to make sure Ikaris and Druig didn't find it--this gesture of exclusivity between fae. It wasn't necessarily a courting trinket, bus she felt a certain lightheaded giddiness as she tucked it into the layers of her white dress, over her heart.

#Thenamesh Maleficent AU #it's preening time!#I honestly think kissing someone can be like #oh it's like a peck #but you hear two fae are preening #and you're like whoa whoa whoa are you two that serious?!#Thena just can't resist because Gil is so sweet #and his wings are so big and beautiful #and Gil knows what they're doing could be considered improper #he faintly is like well maybe it's not as big a deal in the southern Isles #but then Thena wants to preen him the second he sits down #and he's like is she...interested...in me?!!?!?!?!#meanwhile Thena #poor Thena is horns over heels for this handsome fae with the dark wings #Druig is like what's up with her?#Ikaris is just like what #She keeps sighing and all she does is sit in the canopy all day #then she takes off at sundown #Ikaris: no brain head empty #Druig: I am detective pikachu #Thena: Lover by Taylor Swift #thank you to all who read my tags #obviously I think I'm funny

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