Chapter Text
2 WEEKS LATER
Makkari and Druig had only been back in South Dakota for a day and a half when Phastos announced that the Domo was ready for interstellar travel. They had stayed and helped with repairs for the first five days after the team’s arrival but had then offered only the excuse of ‘business’ before taking off together.
‘Business’ had included a few days at the village. They said their goodbyes to the people, explaining that they were headed back out among the stars. Druig couldn’t tell if anyone planned to remain in the crippled village, or if they would all just assimilate into modern society. He picked up sadness from the elder members but eagerness from the younger generation, and he didn’t allow himself to pry into their minds for more information. One of the nights spent there, Makkari had woken up in a near panic attack, convinced Druig was dead. They’d had to walk all the way out to the Waterfall House before she could breathe normally. A long night of tender lovemaking had finally soothed Makkari enough to fall asleep, and they continued to sleep in their secluded nest for the rest of the visit. It was difficult to say goodbye to the village and the Waterfall House, but Druig knew he was making the right move. His duty to this group of humans had been fulfilled.
There were a few more errands. Makkari returned some objects to governments or tribes interested in preserving history. A small number of treasured items (including Druig’s Emerald Tablet) were being kept on the Domo, but the rest she had moved into a storage locker the day after their arrival in South Dakota. Phastos had promised to manage that treasure trove in the best interest of history. She settled most of her properties on the Eternals remaining behind, but she left some money and properties for the Khans to supervise in her name in case her team ever returned. That included a parcel of land in Fiji for Thena, as Gilgamesh was never able to share Viti, (later named Fiji by the rest of the world) with his love. Druig, after considerable pleading, was able to get Makkari to have the Khans change his identity to Drew Druig. It wasn’t much better, but it was still preferable to Druig Druig.
Then of course, there was an important matter in London to take care of. They were even able to catch a farewell dinner with Sersi.
Finally, they wound up back in South Dakota. Ben and Jack had already arrived, and a few games quickly cemented Makkari’s and Druig’s status as favorite Aunt and Uncle with Jack. (Especially since Thena tended to avoid Jack like the plague.)
Crashing on the little couch with Phastos, Makkari pulled out her phone to show him pictures of their recent visit to the Tower of London. Druig sat down on Makkari’s other side and turned on the TV, flicking through the channels. The pair still needed to be in close proximity to each other at all times.
“Is that you… wearing the Crown Jewels?” Phastos exclaimed, lifting his glasses for a better look.
In one picture, Makkari was making a flirty face at the camera, wearing St Edward’s Crown. In the next, she was wearing the crown and holding the Sovereign’s Sceptre. In the following picture, she was wearing the crown while holding the scepter and an ancient mace. The picture after that showed Druig wearing the Imperial State Crown and holding the Sword of State.
“Wait, you got Druig to put on a crown?!” Phastos gasped at Makkari.
She nodded proudly.
Phastos turned disbelieving eyes to Druig.
“Eh, it’s much easier just to go along with her on these things,” he shrugged flippantly.
“You really are magic,” Phastos told Makkari in awe. She grinned and raised her chin.
He kept scrolling only to find both Makkari and Druig in the next batch of pictures. They were wearing an assortment of royal and consort crowns, while battling with maces, pretending to drink tea, or blowing on trumpets.
“Who took these?”
“One a’ the guards,” Druig answered with a glint in his eyes. When Phastos just stared, Druig winked. “Don’t forget, I’m magic too.”
“Here we go,” Ben came bustling out of the kitchen like a waiter, passing a bowl of blueberries to Druig, a plate of French fries to Makkari, and a plate of pizza to his husband.
Makkari signed her thanks while Druig grunted. Phastos kissed Ben on the cheek. “Thanks honey, we appreciate it.”
“No problem, but should I alert you that Thena is in the kitchen? I’m not sure, but she might be attempting to cook something.”
“The one we have to worry about cookin’ is sittin’ safely here beside me,” Druig joked. He received a sharp elbow to the ribs from his love and laughed.
“Is it okay if I turn on the news?” Ben asked, facing the outdated little cable box to turn the channel.
Druig rolled his eyes and signed to Makkari what he’d asked. “She has to be able to see your lips mate,” he scolded Ben with annoyance.
“Easy Druig,” Phastos cautioned.
“I’m so sorry, Makkari,” Ben turned around and spoke to the speedster. He tried to sign ‘sorry’ and signed ‘please’ instead. On either side of Makkari, both men immediately showed him the correct sign. He blushed and changed the open hand to a fist.
Makkari waved him off and replied, “Don’t worry, I appreciate the effort!”
Ben made a nervous laughing sound through his nose and looked between Druig and Phastos. He didn’t worry so much about offending Makkari, who’d been perfectly gracious to him as he struggled to communicate. But Druig was over-protective and snappish to boot, and he always called Ben out on his mistakes.
“She said don’t worry about it, she appreciates you tried,” Druig interpreted impatiently.
“Druig, will you lay off him? A lot of people don’t know sign language.”
“Yeah, well if ya’d just let me teach him-”
“You don’t mean teach; you mean putting the knowledge in his head!”
“So what?” Druig argued.
“Hey, isn’t that Tiamut?” Makkari pointed to the TV.
Everyone tuned into the news. Ben sat down in the little armchair. After a few minutes he faced the three Eternals on the couch slowly. They were more absorbed in their snacks than in the giant stone head. “Uh… you guys did that?”
“I love you so much,” Phastos replied.
Space --- 3 Months Later
“Four of a kind,” Makkari signed after slapping down her cards on the table.
“There is no way!” Pip the Troll shouted, slamming his own hand down in frustration.
“It would seem the lovely Makkari is a card sharp,” Eros flirted with her over the table, giving her a heated look.
“It’s yer deal pretty boy,” Druig unceremoniously hurled the deck of cards at the interloper. Beside him, Makkari put her hand on his thigh and gave him a pert smile. Druig allowed her laughing eyes to soothe his jealousy, admitting reasonably to himself that Eros had been coming on to all of them since he and Pip had teleported onto the Domo.
Eros claimed to be another Eternal, and to prove it, he was in possession of a Celestial Communication Sphere. He and Pip had boarded the Domo through one of Pip’s portals a few weeks into the team’s journey… right as they had decided they needed to return to Earth to discover why they’d lost contact with Sersi, Kingo, and Phastos. Thena had suspected Arishem’s involvement, and Eros had confirmed that their friends had indeed been taken to the World Forge to await the Celestial’s judgement.
Thena, seated between Druig and Eros, pushed back from the table, gesturing to her non-existent pile of poker chips. “That cleans me out. I think I shall retire.”
“I have some chips to spare,” Eros caught her hand and kissed it briefly. “All you have to do is ask me nicely, pretty lady.”
A knife materialized in Thena’s hand and was thrust up under Eros’ chin before he could blink. “Touch me again and I’ll slit your throat.”
“Stab him, Thena!” Druig cheered.
Eros put his hands up in surrender. “My apologies, darling. I was only attempting to prolong your company.”
“I’m not your darling,” Thena growled. The knife pressed closer to Eros’ skin.
Makkari was at her side in an instant. She steered Thena back a few feet from the table and flashed Druig an imploring look. He acknowledged her signal and then harangued Eros into dealing for the remaining players at the table.
The women turned their backs to the game and started signing.
“I wasn’t about to have an episode,” Thena assured her quietly.
“I know. Just didn’t want you to gut Eros while we still need him,” Makkari teased.
The unfamiliar Eternal had promised not only to help them break into the World Forge, but also rescue their friends. No one trusted him exactly, but they didn’t have a lot of options.
“It’s hard when he… flirts,” Thena broke off and looked at the ground with a frown. “I feel disloyal to Gil just by letting him touch me.”
“If it’s any consolation, I don’t think Eros is able to help it. He’s even hitting on that little troll he brought with him,” Makkari pointed out offhandedly.
“Mmm,” Thena smiled a little. “You’re right, I’m probably over-reacting.”
“Hey, you don’t have to put up with it Thena,” Makkari assured her. “But if you do decide to murder Eros, let Druig do it. I think it would make his year.”
Thena shot her an amused look. She glanced over her shoulder at the troll and the two Eternals, arguing over whether or not to incorporate a wild card.
Makkari touched Thena’s arm to regain her attention. “I know you miss Gilgamesh a lot.”
“It hurts like a gaping wound,” Thena confided.
“For a little while on that beach, I shared your pain,” Makkari told her. “The love of my life was gone, and I was slowly going insane, wondering how I would be able to live without him.”
Thena put a sympathizing hand on her shoulder.
Just then, the poker table erupted.
“Let him go!” Eros shouted.
Pip was frozen beside him in the act of dealing cards. His eyes were gold.
“Make yer stupid troll stop dealin’ from the bottom of the deck!” Druig replied snidely.
“I’m warning you!” Eros threatened with a malicious gleam in his eye.
“Yeah, what are ya gonna do, paint me nails to match yers?” Druig rolled his eyes.
“Of course not, but you seem very, very hot. Maybe you’d feel better if you took off all those heavy clothes, eh?”
Against his will, Druig stripped out of his jacket. Mechanically, he tugged off his t-shirt. But just as he bent to unlace his boots, he shook his head and fought the mental compulsion. Druig broke free long enough to command Pip to dump out his mug over Eros’ head, breaking his spell on Druig. The mind reader put his clothes back on in a huff, but he did release Pip from his control.
Makkari heaved a sigh with her whole body at their juvenile antics and commented dryly, “That’s right ladies and gentlemen. Back off, he’s all mine.”
This time, Thena laughed. The men looked up at her in surprise.
“It wasn’t at you. You three are idiots,” Thena told them. Spinning around, she and Makkari continued their private conversation.
“Childish behavior aside,” Thena told the smaller woman, “I know how deeply in love you two are. I envy you that. I miss that.”
“Well, what if you could have it again?” Makkari asked slyly.
“I hope you aren’t suggesting I move on?”
“No, I’m suggesting that maybe when we get to the World Forge, we bring back four Eternals instead of three.”
“We-” Thena froze, giving Makkari an arrested stare. “You mean…”
“Druig told me about Sersi’s visit with Arishem. All the shell bodies standing around that looked like us.”
“But it wouldn’t be my Gilgamesh.”
“I don’t know about that. In the Uni-Mind, I felt past memories and feelings sort of zip by me. Like they were locked away inside me, somewhere.”
“And my flashes… when I have Mahd Wy’ry episodes… I see things that happened at different times, on different planets.”
“So, if we bring back a Gilgamesh, maybe Phastos can figure out how to restore his memories.” Makkari shrugged. “And maybe he can’t. I don’t know. But either way, it’s still Gilgamesh, and he’s awesome. You’d fall in love with each other in no time.”
Thena shook her head fondly at Makkari. “Rather hopeful of you.”
“Someone on this ship has to be the optimist,” Makkari joked.
“And you really don’t mind taking the risk? Have you discussed this with Druig?”
“Of course,” she nodded emphatically. “Is he slightly less enthusiastic than me? Maybe! But we both want to help you. You’re our sister.”
“Thank you,” Thena kissed the top of Makkari’s head. Makkari snaked an arm around her middle. They turned and watched as another heated argument broke out. “You’d better go intervene before Druig gets totally naked.”
Makkari smiled up at Thena and squeezed her hip. Then she walked over to the table and sat right in Druig’s lap. Thena saw him blink in surprise, before an adoring look quickly spread over his face. The speedster pulled his head down to hers and kissed him hotly, heedless of their audience.
“No fair teasing me!” Eros cried. “At least let me join in!”
Eyes golden, Pip clonked his beer mug against the back of Eros’ head.
“Damn it Druig!”
Makkari sat back and smiled at her lover. “Want to go test the limits of Phastos’ sound proofing?”
Druig laughed low in his throat, utterly and helplessly in love with the petite woman perched in his lap. “Thena,” he said turning his head slightly, but keeping hungry eyes on Makkari. “We’re gonna disappear for a while. If Eros looks like he might follow, disembowel ‘im for me, would ya please?”
Grinning broadly, Makkari rose and pulled Druig up, holding onto him as he rapidly towed her out of the room.
Eros looked over at Thena. “I don’t suppose you-”
A sword erupted into Thena’s hand. “Unless the rest of that question is ‘would I disembowel you’, the answer is a resounding no.”
“Thanks for clearing that up,” Eros mumbled to her back as she strode out of the room toward her own chamber.
“What the hell have you gotten us into?” Pip scowled at Eros, shaking out his empty mug forlornly.
“Don’t worry old boy,” Eros shuffled the cards idly in front of him. The unassuming expression he wore turned devious. “It will all be worth it in the end.”