I’m sure that Thena loves Gil’s feathers in the Maleficent AU. Maybe you can do soft moments where Thena observes his feathers and wings without Gil’s knowledge? <3
"Thena!"
"Hm?" she blinked, looking over at Ikaris who huffed through his teeth in annoyance. "What were you saying?"
"I was asking if you are sure about this," Ikaris nodded his head at their younger brother, very visibly, very publically, offering Makkari a little trinket upon her return to the nest.
"Sure about what?" Thena mumbled, her eyes on the head of the guard, walking further into the nest from the stormy weather outside and flapping his sodden wings with displeasure. "We have known from the beginning that Druig was taken with that sentry. I think they make a very sweet pair."
"We do not live here, Thena."
"Don't we?" she countered, finally giving her brother the benefit of seeing how serious her expression was. "We have already extended our stay, brother. Druig is very happy with Makkari, and I believe you too have found companionship in Ajak's ambassador."
Ikaris flushed, whether by guilt or anger at her needling him. Or perhaps it was a truly emotional response to the bringing up of Sersi. "She is...pleasant. But I never would have expected to ground you and Druig here because of it."
"Do you think he does?" Thena argued again, gesturing to how Druig, thorny and disagreeable in nature, offered sweet and gentle smiles to the quick winged flyer. Her scarlet red feathers complimented Druig's pitch black ones.
They were different from Gilgamesh's, whose feathers were iridescent and dark, with earthy brown undertones.
Ikaris looked at her, "you want to stay."
"I wish for Druig to be happy." It was far easier to say that than thinking about any particular reasons she had for delaying their departure again and again and again.
Gilgamesh flapped his wings a little before walking further into the nest.
"And I do wish the same for you," Thena gave Ikaris a look that made him roll his eyes. She flicked his wing, "against my better judgement."
With that, she took off, letting her wings guide her gently down from the loft of her observations to the floor of one of the many entrances. She walked quietly, keeping her feathers from dragging behind her as she followed the captain of the guard into the mothernest's twisting tunnels.
"Gil?"
He turned, surprised at first but then offering her one of his very warm smiles he had.
"How was your flight?" she asked, regarding his still dripping and somewhat bedraggled wings. "Is the storm coming in fast?"
He nodded with a sigh, his wings sitting heavy behind him. "I think so. It'll be on us by tonight, from what Kingo spotted."
"Let me see."
Gil blinked, not catching on at first that she meant his wings, and their current condition. He fussed, "n-no, it's okay, really, I'm just-"
"Gilgamesh," Thena pursed her lips at him. Was he really embarrassed of his ruffled wings, like a young fledgeling. "I'm sure you need help at least with your pinfeathers. Allow me."
Gil simply went quiet as she took the liberty of turning him by the shoulders and examining his wings. He cleared his throat, "I, uh, guess you saw Druig and Kari."
Thena smiled as she brushed some of the beading dew off his shimmering feathers. "Indeed I did. I was the one who advised him on presenting her with something upon her return."
"Oh really?" Gil moved his wing to try and peek at her over his shoulder.
She moved it back in place to continue her work. "I want Druig to be happy. And it seems my fledgeling brother has finally chosen a mate."
"You think it's that serious?"
She smiled at the centre of Gil's back as she plucked an errant feather barely clinging on. "I think he asked me if he should serenade her."
"Ah." Gil's shoulders moved as she continued to preen him. It was a very intimate activity by sheer merit of how sensitive one's wings were, and how vulnerable any fae's back was. "You're right, the gift is way better."
They both laughed, the gentle sound of it echoing down the corridor one way and then out the other. Thena cleared her throat, "so, if you have any advice on courting rituals here, then I'm sure I would like to know for Druig's sake."
Gilgamesh moved his wing to look at her again, "hm, nothing fancy I guess. We don't have a lot of ritual to it--you wanna court?--court. If no one objects, then fine."
How easy it sounded. Thena moved his wing between them again. "I suppose it is becoming less common to have such archaic tradition. In the Isles, the trinkets and serenading are rather standard practices of courting. Many have mellifluous voices for song."
"Do you?"
She laughed again and pulled a feather more harshly, "certainly not."
Gil's shoulders rolled again, although his wings certainly seemed relaxed with her work on them. He sighed, "me neither."
Thena raised an eyebrow, not that he could see her, "I suspect that is not true."
He looked over, now lifting up his entire wing over her head, "I guess I could serenade you to test it."
Thena blushed faintly, his feathers still in her hands. "I wasn't done!"
"Sorry, sorry," he acquiesced, turning and offering his wing to her again. "I guess I've never really tested it out."
Thena pursed her lips. "Ikaris and Druig have no voice for song either. Trinkets are a much better language for them."
"And you?"
Thena blinked, wondering if she had heard him right. It seemed impossible, given their hearing ability and the general quiet of the caverns. But even a whisper could travel through the corridors, and Gil had such a nice, gentle voice.
It was most definitely suited for song.
"Hm?" she asked in not so many words, trying to focus on plucking any loose downy feathers.
"Almost done?" he asked more firmly, his wing still between them.
"Almost," she muttered, running her fingers over the smoothed out feathers only as far as she dared. He seemed much more preened and presentable, at least. She snapped her hands away, his feather pressed between her palms. "There."
Gilgamesh turned, lifting his wing up and over her again in their tight proximity. They settled at his back, sitting higher after a nice refresher. He smiled, "thanks."
Thena looked down at the sandals on her feet. The straps were wearing from age. "Any time."
"I, uh," Gil nodded his head behind him, "should get outta these wet robes."
Thena nodded. Indeed he should. "I'll make sure there's a plate for you by the fire."
"Thanks," he repeated, with a slight change to his tone. He tilted his head at her, "I'll see you out there, I guess."
"Right," she smiled, taking a half a step back from him. Her wings trembled nervously behind her.
"See you soon, I guess," he said finally, turning and continuing down the tunnel with his drier, lighter wings.
Thena looked down at her hands and sputtered. She still had his feather in her hands. "Gil!"
"Keep it!" he shouted back to her before dropping down into the lower tunnels, "a trinket!"
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hi. so i had some uhhh. thoughts that i needed to write out.
basis for this uh. one shot is a headcanon i have for how the fierce deity's mask works. basically, if a wearer can withstand the deity's power, their soul starts to become intertwined with the deity's, until the two are indistinguishable from one another. in other words, the wearer becomes a vessel for the fierce deity.
(i tend to headcanon fd as morally grey/true neutral. they tend to work for themself and in their own best interest)
(um. sorry if this makes no sense? i kind of just wanted to write about this specific thing)
(tw for mentioned death and war, as well as talk of dissociation/losing time)
The mask seemed to call to Link as he held it in his hand, weighing his options.
At first, the mask had been nothing more than an aid. Emergencies only, he told himself after Majora was gone, trapped back inside their mask. The power of the Fierce Deity’s mask scared Link, back then. He wanted nothing more to do with it than what had already come to pass.
But, it would not stay that way. Emergencies came, and went, and Link found himself loosening his definition of an “emergency.” He ate less, slept less, and yet he felt stronger than ever. He used the Deity’s power more and more, just to make things easier on himself. It wasn’t lost on him that the marks that had begun to fade had etched themselves back onto his face, brighter than ever before. As of late, Link no longer recognized the man staring at him when he looked in his own reflection.
The blank eyes of the Fierce Deity’s mask looked up at Link, taunting him. If he kept wearing the mask, how much longer would it be before he lost himself in the Deity’s power? Would he keep living, a vessel for this forgotten god, or would he drop dead in the middle of Hyrule Field, for all to see?
Ganondorf’s war raged around him. Countless dead and dismembered lie across the grass, their blood turning verdant green to vibrant, vicious red. He could turn the tides of this war in an instant. Emboldened by the deity’s power, he could fight his way to Ganondorf and stop him where he stood, once and for all. But Link hesitated.
The Deity is dangerous. He’d known it ever since he first laid eyes on the mask and held it in his hands. He swore, after losing a month with the Deity last time, that there would be no more. The Deity is harmless inside of its mask. If Link kept it safe, it wouldn’t hurt anyone else. Besides, who would be able to stop them if his soul merged with the Deity’s once and for all? Would they even need to be stopped? The Deity is a war god after all, but not cruel. It was never cruel.
The sound of a horn across the field snapped Link to attention. It was foolish, he knew, to waste so much time lost in thought on the battlefield. He had run out. Ganondorf was here.
Link took a deep breath, his decision made.
He raised the mask to his face, one last time
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