Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"A manager?"

"Yeah," Gil sighed, looking at his staff - as small as it was - as he made the announcement. "Y'know, a lot of places have managers."

"Yeah, but," Kingo shrugged, looking around at the small crew consisting of him, Sersi, Gil, Druig, and a very pregnant Ajak. He waved his hands, "a manager?!"

"Y'know," Gil frowned at his dramatic lead server, "you technically already have one."

Kingo rolled his eyes at Gil, "Ajak is not a manager she's...our mom."

Ajak gave Kingo's shoulder a little squeeze (before flicking him in the ear). "And I'm about to be someone else's mother. That's why you need someone who can take over for me."

"A manager wouldn't be the worst thing in the world for us anyway," Gil shrugged, although it was clear that he was somewhat nervous about the idea himself. "It's a lot to manage the books and the kitchen by myself."

"Fine, fine," Kingo sighed even harder, only Sersi up to the task of comforting his woes. "So who's this new manager, then?"

"We don't know yet," Gil shrugged, giving them nothing short of his usual honest self. "I put out the ad like an hour before you all got here. We might not even get a-"

"There's already a response."

"Wait, really?" Gil looked at Ajak, who was scrolling through it on her phone. "That fast?"

Ajak nodded, though, smiling as she read. "She says she's leaving her other place unexpectedly--has a lifetime of experience, grew up in the business, she has open availability."

"Oh," Gil blinked, visibly caught off-guard by the suddenness of things. He wrung his hands in front of him a little, "well, that's, uh, good...then."

Druig tilted his head at the chef, "is it?"

Gil cleared his throat, "i-it is. Maybe if someone is here to watch the place while I'm gone I can sleep a little better."

"While you're gone?"

"Watch the place?"

"Sleep better?"

Gil sighed, shaking his head. "I just mean figuratively. I'm not going anywhere. Although, if I did have to go somewhere, a manager would help you guys not have to shut the restaurant down for a whole week--all I'm sayin'!"

Druig tilted his head, taking his feet off of the chair he dragged over just to act as his stool. "Okay, so we get a floor manager to help with the biz side'a things. That all she's gonna do?"

Gil nodded at his reticent sous-chef. "Nothing on the menu is changing, nothing about how we run things is going to change. I need a bookkeeper, someone who knows how to direct traffic, manage the reservations, maybe a little promotion–nothing else."

"Okay, Boss, if you say so," Kingo mumbled, still acting like a child being told about a newer, stricter babysitter. He stood from his chair, "when will she start?"

"Well, I don't know Kingo, I haven't picked them yet."

"But," Sersi looked from Gil to Ajak, who was still eagerly looking at her phone, "Ajak seems quite married to that one candidate."

"Well," Gil shrank somewhat under the watchful eyes of his staff, "sure. But the ad hasn't been up that long. Shouldn't we wait for more applicants?"

"You can set up an interview with her!"

"Maybe it'll go well!"

"Maybe it'll fuckin' suck."

Gil sighed. This was the real reason he needed a manager. He wasn't made for the 'bossing' part of being The Boss. He liked how close they were as a staff, and he liked how he ran his restaurant less strictly than most. But having someone else be the bad cop to his good cop was almost as appealing as the idea of having someone who could do payroll for him.

"I'm setting up an interview," Ajak declared, even pulling herself up out of her seat for it. "She's more than qualified, and I have a good feeling about her."

Gil just nodded, happy to let Ajak take the reins on this one, "does that mean you'll interview her for me, too?"

"No, I have an appointment tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?!"

"Gil," Ajak looked at him with that look she got sometimes. It was a very 'mom' look. "This is not going to wait, it's not going to get better the longer it's left. Now is the time."

She was right, and he knew she was right. He had put it off so long that by the time he had found her to be host, he couldn't have been happier to find someone who naturally fell into the role of a captain of sorts. She wasn't technically his manager on paper or anything, and he still handled all the business of the place, currently. But she managed everyone well, they liked and respected her. It all worked.

"Fine, tomorrow," he sighed, and immediately heard Ajak typing up the response. "Any other questions or concerns?"

"Can I have a raise?"

"No, Kingo. Anything else?"

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not an accountant, and we are not rich, Kingo," Gil shook his head, ignoring Kingo's hand raised the third time around. "Let's get started, doors open in an hour."

"Yes, Chef," Druig echoed sardonically, getting one hell of a glare for it, too. He patted Gil's shoulder on his way past, "chin up, mate, maybe a manager's just what you need to get that anxiety eased a li'l."

Gil pursed his lips at his young line cook, "I don't have anxiety."

Druig leaned back, holding a hand up to his ear, "wassat, mate? Can't hear ye."

Gil shoved Druig's bony shoulder into the kitchen, "shut up."

Chapter Text

"Hello."

"Hi." Her name was Thena, Gil looked at her resume, mostly so he could avoid her razor sharp and frosty gaze. Her resume was indeed packed with experience, and in a multitude of different roles within the industry. It went back pretty far, and she was obviously confident in her skills.

Gil cleared his throat, holding his hand out for her to join him in one of the booths. "Uh, please."

She did so, not saying a word as she sat across from him. Her shoulders were level, her back straight, her chin high. She looked like a statue. "Thank you for having me."

It said she hosted for a time on her resume, but Gil had to wonder if she really had the...personality for it. She didn't seem to have the same social charm as Ajak or Sersi or Kingo. He looked at her resume again, "thanks for coming. I'm glad we got a reply so..."

"Promptly?"

He was going to say desperate; he shuffled her resume around with the other - blank - papers he had in his hand, just to make it seem like he wasn't interviewing only her today. "Yes, exactly; Ajak said you left your other job suddenly?"

"Unexpectedly, yes," Thena nodded, not flinching or twitching in the slightest. "I was quite glad to see a posting for a floor manager come up. It's not always easy to find one."

Gil looked down at the table and then back up at her. "If the posting had been about another role, would you have taken that?"

"Perhaps."

Well, that was a little surprising.

"Gilgamesh, if I may," she began, whether he said she could or not. "I know of this establishment, I know you are a very talented and competent chef. I have witnessed your staff and I believe this is a very respectable business of which I could be a part, under the right circumstances."

"Right circumstances?" Gil echoed. He was the one interviewing her, no?

"I would very much like to shadow your staff for a dinner service, but if you have doubts as to why I applied for this job, look no further than that I am good at it." She didn't lack confidence, that was for sure. Or maybe that wasn't the word. Self-assurance, maybe; it was a statement of fact when she said it. "You said you needed someone to handle the business side of things. I have been doing so for what may very well be my entire life. I have no doubt about whether or not I would be an asset to you. The question is if you would like to make use of my skills or not."

She drove a hard bargain. And she was the one being interviewed! Gil blinked, trying not to feel overwhelmed by everything she was throwing at him. "Uh-"

"I have experience in business management, I am certified in basic accounting and book keeping, I am more than equipped to host come my predecessor's departure-"

"W-Well," Gil held out his hand, rushing to interrupt her avalanche of words, "Ajak is...going to come back."

That did make the nearly automated sounding stream of words pause on Thena's tongue. She nodded, "I understand. And I will not fight you for the position. I only want to be of use where and while I can."

She was a perfect candidate. Entirely too perfect, actually--perfect in a creepy way. Gil nodded as well, "o-okay, then. Just...so that's known."

"Indeed."

Now he had made things awkward. Gil shuffled the papers around again.

"You needn't pretend I have competitors, I can see through the papers."

Gil blushed.

"Sorry," she nearly whispered, and he looked up to see that it was because she was almost laughing (almost). She was smiling, that was certain. He could see why she would make a good host; even without a certain social charisma, she was out-of-this-world beautiful. Not that it mattered. "I have used that tactic before. I promise it's not so obvious otherwise."

"Thanks," Gil muttered, setting down the papers, given there was no longer a point to them. He looked up at her, "you've interviewed people before?"

She nodded. "I wouldn't call it a fun activity, I suppose. But a necessary evil."

"Yeah, something like that," he sighed. She had basically interviewed herself and still he was exhausted. He tilted his head, "let me ask you something not in the handbook, then."

"Please."

"Ajak said you had a lifetime of experience," Gil began tentatively. He didn't want to ask anything that would get him written off as a nosy boss, but he had his curiosities. "Your resume only goes back so far."

"When I say I have a lifetime of experience it's not hyperbole, or even exaggeration," she allowed with a faint smile. She looked down at the table as well, though, something softer coming over her and weighing down her rigid shoulders. "My family owned a restaurant."

Gil sat up straighter.

"I have always been in the restaurant from a young age," she explained more gently than anything else she had said thus far. "Even when our restaurant closed, I suppose I never had any desire to go into any other work."

"I have always worked in restaurants. I have done so many different jobs within service because I have always been familiar with them--even those I seem less suited for."

Gil looked down again, mostly ashamed to be caught thinking exactly she was describing.

"But I want to work somewhere," she inhaled, looking around the dining room for a moment, "like this. Somewhere independent, where it feels I can make somewhat of a difference, I would like to think."

That was what had made her jump on the ad, and what she meant about ads for managers not coming up as often. Chains needed managers; independent places always had one of the owners already as manager. But she didn't want to work for a corporation, she wanted to work at a restaurant.

"You're hired."

She raised her brows at him, and honestly, Gil was a little surprised at how quickly he had spat it out, too. "It is rather sudden, no? I had expected a call back a little later."

"I can do that if you want," he shrugged, and she smiled again. "But it sounds like I'm not going to find someone better, for this place or for me."

She blinked.

"A-As an owner," Gil blushed again, rushing not to sound like he was coming on too strong--coming onto anyone, or anything! He was about to be her boss! He cleared his throat, "that's what anyone wants, right?--someone who's gonna care about the business and your team more than their paycheck?"

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

Gil stood, as did Thena. He offered his hand; she accepted. Her hands were long and lithe, good for carrying multiple plates. Skinny, though; so was the rest of her. He averted his eyes again, "happy to have you."

"The pleasure's all mine," she offered graciously as their handshake ended and she clasped her hands together in front of her again. "I look forward to learning more about this place and everyone here."

"Right!" He had to tell them that he had hired someone (their very first applicant, at that). "Uh, h-how about tomorrow? Dinner starts at 5 officially, but-"

"When do you come in?"

"Oh, uh," Gil blinked, rubbing his sweaty palms on his jeans. She was back to staring at him like a hawk. "I get in about noon--I just live upstairs, so...yeah. Druig comes in for 2 to help me with the prep, and everyone else gets in at 4 so we can set up the dining room and have a little jam sessh."

"Jam sessh?"

"Y-Yeah," Gil flustered, ready to gesticulate his way through things, "y'know, just like a, uh, team meeting to-"

"I understand." Then why did she--?! She half turned towards the door, her ponytail swaying faintly, "I will come in when you do, if that's suitable. I can go through the menu and our stock and inventory while you prepare. I can introduce myself to the rest of the staff then at the meeting."

"Uh, yep, that sounds," Gil smiled, waving as Thena started to head out the door, "great."

She offered one last smile before walking out.

Gil looked down at his phone, which had been buzzing in his pocket. It was Ajak.

She's perfect, right?

Isn't she perfect Gil?

And a real looker too huh?

Gil stuffed his phone in his pocket; he didn't have time for that now. He had to make sure everything in the back looked acceptable for his new manager to take a look at everything tomorrow.

Chapter Text

"I don't wanna talk to her, you go talk to her!"

"Why me?"

Kingo and Sersi continued to crouch behind the kitchen doors and spy on the stately woman smack dab in the centre of the dining room. She looked like a statue in a botanical garden, rigid and beautiful and carved just so.

"She won't bite, eh?"

Both servers flinched and turned back to Druig, who was chopping the garnishes. Sersi adjusted her purse on her shoulder, "I wouldn't expect her to bite. It's-"

"It's the 'liking us' part," Kingo finished for his quieter, shyer friend, gesturing between them with his thumb. "What did she seem like to you?"

Druig looked up from his chopping, the same dry look on his face as always, "mm, when I got in she was already here. Goin' through the walk-in with Gil, takin' stock, that sorta shite. Seems to have'er head on her shoulders."

Sersi looked out again, "Ajak did say she was very qualified."

"Yeah, but can she vibe?" Kingo huffed, shuffling around his bomber jacket under his arm. "Is the real question."

Sersi gave him a more bemused look as she put her hand to the swinging door, "is it?"

Thena didn't immediately look up and turn to greet them, staying at the most central table in the room with material of some sort laid out in front of her.

Sersi gulped, "um, h-hi? I'm-"

"Sersi?"

She looked just as intimidating from the front as she did from the back. Sersi smiled and walked over with her hand already extended, "that's me."

Thena didn't even blink, shaking her hand and taking her in as she sat herself at the meeting table. "You're a teacher during the week, yes?"

"Y-Yes," Sersi nodded, sitting as primly as possible in front of their new manager. "I teach science for elementary and middle school, and I sub in to teach biology or chemistry to children in high school on occasion."

"Very impressive," Thena murmured, not necessarily sounding incredibly impressed but not sounding disingenuous either. "Teaching any youth is a hard pursuit, I think."

"Oh," Sersi blinked, pleasantly surprised by the praise - no matter how flatly delivered - and question about her other work. "Well, I do enjoy it."

"You like children?"

"Yes," Sersi nodded, not that Thena was looking at her.

"I suppose if you didn't, being a teacher wouldn't be a wise pursuit." It sounded like a joke but it wasn't delivered like one. She did finally look up at Sersi, though, "are you looking forward to when Ajak has her baby?"

Sersi inhaled, her shoulders rising as she smiled, "I am quite thrilled. I helped her with her baby shower."

"Aren't those thrown by other people usually?"

"Well, Ajak," Sersi shared a look with Kingo, "enjoys planning things for herself."

"Hm," Thena flipped over her paper, perhaps Sersi's resume. She moved onto Kingo, "you're full time?"

"Yes ma'am," Kingo grinned, happily strutting his stuff where Sersi would rather speak when spoken to. "Been with Gil since he opened the place."

"And what keeps you here," Thena muttered before finally looking up at him as well, "if I may ask?"

"I guess--you're the boss now, right?" he joked, although Thena merely tilted her head at him. "Well, it's about paying the bills, y'know? I do acting stuff on the side, but one gig at a couple thousand bucks isn't going to pay my rent the whole way through the year."

"Indeed," Thena concurred, scribbling something down.

"So, uh," Kingo leaned forward in his chair, although Thena's notes were still far from his view, "what'cha writing about us?"

"Kingo," Sersi whispered to him, like a sister admonishing her brother to keep out of trouble.

"Notes for myself, mostly," Thena answered without a hint of bashfulness. She set her pen down, "I'll be shadowing and observing how things go tonight. I understand you are all very comfortable with how things run here and, believe it or not, it is not any mission of mine to disrupt that."

Kingo smiled blithely at her, "you talk like you're from Bridgerton."

"I can't say I've been there before."

Sersi hung her head for a second before looking up with a very teacher-y smile. "I'm sure we'll all fit together just fine, here. Won't we, Kingo?"

He made a grand display of rolling his eyes, "ugh. Yes, Miss Sersi."

Sersi swatted at him, although he dodged, making her hand smack his shimmering purple jacket instead.

"Hey, watch the custom embroidery," he muttered to her.

They both looked up, nothing short of shocked as Thena laughed quietly. She put her notes away, at least for the time being. "Gil told me that you had a very amiable relationship. Well, what he said was that 'they can fight like brother and sister, but you can tell they get along'."

Sersi watched as Thena took a seat at the meeting table as well, although a few chairs away from herself and Kingo. She angled herself deliberately in Thena's direction. "How are you finding Gil?"

"Hm," Thena paused for a moment, visibly considering her answer. "Gilgamesh is very friendly, although his hesitancy to put full faith in me is understandable. He is a sole owner, and I imagine it must be difficult to relinquish control to an outsider like this, given the circumstances."

Sersi scooched her chair a little closer to Thena too, since Kingo was on his phone and officially opting out of the conversation. "Gil is very sweet, maybe a little shy. But he knows how to run a kitchen, and he is nothing if not kind and honourable as a business owner. Not many places are understanding of my lack of availability on weekdays all together--even the nights."

Thena gave her a curious look.

Sersi offered a sheepish little smile, the beauty marks around her lips bending with them. "I try to leave them open for the kids' extracurriculars. I do my best to say I'm unavailable on weekends, though. But kids do a lot of things, and schools only have so many teachers-"

"Yes," Thena mused, "I imagine it's already quite lacking even before you have to devote your time to coaching teams and helping with plays and such."

Sersi's eyes lit up like the candles on each table, "y-yes! Yes, exactly!"

Thena's smile was smaller than Sersi's, but no less genuine, "I've heard as much, at least. I can't imagine the time and devotion it takes."

"Miss Sersi givin' a science lesson?"

Kingo and Sersi blinked as Druig also pulled out a seat, leaving one between him and Kingo so he could put his feet up on it.

"Dude, come one, I have to steam clean those!" Kingo whined at him, smacking his clogs off and away. "Since when do you sit in on these, anyway?"

Silence stretched from Druig's cold blue gaze to Thena's cold green one. "I was asked."

"Consider it an inaugural meeting," Thena countered, neither falling prey to his grouchy tone nor holding herself above it. "I won't ask anything else of you...today."

Sersi and Kingo looked back at their bitier, snappier line cook, expecting him to make some remark to the interloping manager. He merely grinned though, seeming humoured by her remark.

"Druig, are you smiling?" Ajak rushed in as quickly as she was able. She claimed the seat between Kingo and Druig, tossing her purse onto the table and leaving her coat there, but rushing down to Thena's end of the table. "I'm so happy to meet you in person!"

Thena merely blinked as Ajak leaned right over - despite her state - to hug her. Sersi and Kingo offered no help. Thena patted Ajak's shoulder, "it is lovely to meet you too. I must thank you for setting up my interview in the first place."

"Oh, please," Ajak waved her off, scurrying back to her seat. She threw herself into it with a sigh, "I told Gil that you were perfect."

"I can make my own decisions, Ajak, you do realise that?"

"Ah," Thena greeted/acknowledged as Gil came out from the kitchen, wiping his hands off. She looked down the table at everyone and then up at Gil at the head of it, "this is everyone."

"Sure is," he grinned at his team, who responded with equal warmth. Even Druig mustered what warmth he could spare. "They're the best in the biz."

"Damn right we are, Boss," Kingo hyped Gil up further, giving him a wink and a snap and fingerguns to boot. "What've we got tonight?"

"Well, first," Gil shifted, glancing at Thena beside him, "I thought we could get the formalities out of the way."

"Well, we did kind of meet already," Kingo shrugged, obviously eager to dispense with any and all aforementioned formalities. "Since you're the last one to the party."

"Still," Gil huffed. He held out a hand, "I chose Thena as your new front of house manager and Ajak's replacement, come the time."

Thena stood, running her hands down her pristine white skirt before clasping them together, "thank you for having me. I'm sure you have questions and concerns about any possible changes or transitions. I hope to put them at ease over the coming days."

Nothing if not concise, his new manager.

"Any questions right off the bat?" Gil asked, and received no feedback. He nodded, "okay, then onto tonight."

Thena sat down again, opening her little black book of notes and clicking her pen.

"Special is the ribeye, and it's getting past its prime, so really push it. And try to focus on a side of young spinach, 'cause that's going too. If it really comes to it, offer that and only list the others when asked."

Sersi and Kingo nodded, absorbing what they needed to. Thena scribbled notes quietly.

"Nothing is 86 yet, but we're pretty low on the crostini, so don't be surprised if we run out part way through service," Gil continued running through the general things they would need to be aware of in the coming hours. "Dessert is cheesecake."

"Wowie Boss," Kingo snickered, "when did you have time to make that?"

"You make the desserts?" Thena blinked at him, truly surprised by it. "You said we got them in."

"Yeah, from him," Kingo pointed at Gil blatantly. "He tests the recipes at home and if they're good he'll make enough for one night of service. And then we get to have the leftovers at the meeting the next day!"

"And that's why there's none today," Gil snorted, sitting himself down, "because the blondies sold so well."

"Everyone likes a blondie," Ajak shrugged, grinning at Gil, "right?"

He chose not to answer that.

Chapter Text

Gil unlocked the door and looked both ways as he entered the back of the restaurant. The lights were on, and the alarm system was disarmed. He had shown Thena all of it, of course, but he didn’t think she would arrive without him, at least for a little while.

She hadn’t said much after last night.

Dinner service had gone well, too! It all went smoothly, no egregious errors or huge items to take off a bill. Everyone seemed happy, except Thena. Although she didn’t seem unhappy, either. She was…quiet. He was getting quite used to that, between his already quiet sous and his now very quiet manager.

“Thena?”

She was standing at the centermost table in the dining room, scribbling in that notebook she kept. She had really made herself at home.

“Thena,” Gil repeated, on the off chance she hadn’t heard him, or was deep in thought. It was hard to tell with her. “Morning, how are-”

“I’m thinking of changing their sections.”

Straight down to business, of course.

“S-Sorry?” he blinked, coming over to where she had stationed herself. He had to admit, he could see every inch of the room, from the slightly elevated back section with its circular booth to the front with its longer tables without high booth backs.

“I believe a change in sections will be overall beneficial to the flow of service.”

Gil squirmed. This was exactly the kind of thing he usually left up to Ajak to handle, if not Sersi and Kingo themselves. “I don’t-”

“Kingo is full time and thus gets the section that’s larger by default,” Thena interjected, as if he hadn’t started speaking at all. She pointed around the room with her pen. “But I believe I have a different method.”

“Families tend to sit in the front because of the access to the window and the larger tables. Sersi loves children, and this will put her in a better mood for the night overall. Plus, she and Ajak can converse more regularly for both socialisation and for the sake of reservations on larger tables.”

“Kingo on the other hand prefers light conversation and to have less mess to clean up. If he takes a larger section with smaller tables, there will be less chance of messy tables with large parties or children or drunks. The more he gets to speak with people, the better a time they all have, the more he upsells to keep people engaged, the more money we all make.”

“This is what the new layout will look like,” she gestured to the paper on which she had been scribbling this whole time.

Gil blinked, but it was a completely comprehensive drawing of the floor and all the tables, including Ajak’s station and the overflow table she could take if they really needed the help. “What about that spot?”

“I’m removing this table.”

“Whoa now, hey,” Gil frowned. Rearranging the floor was one thing, but taking out an entire two-top? That was money they could be making–people they could be serving. “That’s-”

Thena tapped her pen on the top of the very table in question. “It seems to become a floater because of the ambiguity of whose section it’s in. It’s already in a bad spot, so no one wants to sit here anyway. I can make this something of a service station to assist everyone, and we can always make use of it if there is true need.”

“Well-”

“We can add a seat to the bar, which will help compensate for the loss of seats and also utilise Ajak’s personality better,” Thena once again continued her tirade of a description of her floor plan. She clicked her pen again and finally set it down. She looked at him, “you did say she is one of your best personalities, and her physical attractiveness is an asset to her service. She’s more than capable of handling more seats.”

Gil just stared. For the singular night she had been here she certainly seemed to have a total grasp on things and how they happened. He blinked, “well, I mean, it’s…it’s really up to them, right?”

Thena nodded, not swayed in the slightest at the thought of having to present her proposal herself. “Of course.”

“Right,” Gil nodded numbly, not that Thena minded. She went right back to her little diagram and notes and whatever else was in that spellbook of hers. Gil blinked, “do you…want some cheesecake?”

“Hm?”

“Cheesecake,” he repeated, “there’s leftovers from last night. The others will have it for the meeting today, but-”

“Thank you, but I’m not overly partial to sweets.”

Of course she wasn’t. Gil nodded with the same wobbly smile on his face. He wasn’t so sure about this. He himself had vouched that nothing would change that much when he brought on a manager.

“This is the kind of thing I did at Ti-”

She caught it just before it could slip. He knew, of course, where she had worked before. It was on her resume after all, and he knew it was a very prestigious, very popular, generationally owned restaurant.

“At my old place,” she sufficed to say, snapping her notebook closed. She looked him in the eye, practically challenging him to argue with her airtight plan. “Is this agreeable to you?”

He couldn’t deal with this right now. He both nodded and shook his head as he started to back away and into the kitchen, “just…just let me… ”

He escaped through the swinging doors before he had to follow that thought up with anything real. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say, of course. She had all but slapped him across the face with this new floor plan and then asked if he had a problem with it or not (in not so many words).

He wasn’t looking for this much to change, and certainly no one else was either.

Gil groaned as he heard banging on the door–probably just some idiot trying to ask if they were open when they obviously weren’t. He had bigger things to worry about. He set down his bag, ready to wash his hands and start prep when the banging increased in volume.

Thena could handle it.

He didn’t pay much attention once the banging stopped. He assumed Thena had told them to shove off–in a very professional way of course. Maybe that was the best use for her; dealing with the crazies. And it was only as long as Ajak was out, and she didn’t seem to plan on being away from work for very long, by how she talked about it. He wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to finally start maternity leave when she was literally in labour.

“The answer is no!”

Gil’s head shot up. That was definitely his unflappable manager, becoming very flappable. He dropped his knife pack and rushed out of the kitchen, “what’s going on here?”

The stranger was vaguely familiar to Gil; young with a pretty-boy face, probably a server or bartender. He had a crazy amount of brown hair on his head and a surprisingly tall stature. He didn’t seem like some asshole insisting they open just for lunch, just for him.

“Sorry to disturb you,” the younger man offered in apology, his accent drawing his words low and close together. “I saw Thena through the window and…wanted a word.”

“Oh,” Gil looked between them, although Thena was unreadable as always, and he had no desire to read this new guy. He half turned, “I’ll-”

A tug. It was slight, almost so faint that he didn’t notice it. But Gil blinked at the feeling of his sleeve being held in place. It was being pinched between two small fingers, hidden from view.

It was Thena, and she was asking for help. She was asking him to stay.

Gil felt something change in him; his stomach and his heart switched places and he frowned at the visitor, “I’ll…have to cut things short, actually. I have things to discuss with my manager, here.”

The ‘guest’ clearly didn’t buy the charade, able to smell bullshit as it was being laid. He glared at Gilgamesh, “it’ll only be a moment.”

Thena was still holding onto him. Gil angled himself more between Thena and this stranger, “sorry man, but that’s a moment I don’t have time for. We’re on the clock, you know.”

The stranger held his tongue at least, as Gil ushered him towards the door, all but sweeping him out. The walking hairdo looked at Thena, though, “I mean it, Thena. If you-”

Gil slammed the door in his face, locking it and then the inside one again. He looked back at her, “was he about to threaten you?”

In which case he really would go get the broom and ‘sweep’ the guy out of here.

She swallowed, looking a touch paler than she already was (which was already a little concerning). Her expression was still a perfect poker face, although she had tucked her hands away completely, “no. No, that was…I’m sure it wasn’t.”

Well, if she said so, And clearly that was all she would say on the matter at all, as she turned and walked towards the kitchen. Gil was ready to do the same when she paused in the doorway for just a second, “thanks.”

She didn’t pause to let him say anything in return, but that made sense for his staunch manager.

Chapter Text

Tonight was going…less smoothly.

The new sections weren’t the problem, actually. Sersi and Kingo had taken to the change like champs. And, Gil was only a little reluctant to admit, Thena was right. Kingo liked having more people to talk to for shorter bursts at a time. Sersi liked having the tables who had children with them. Ajak liked having Sersi closer to talk to when she was stuck at the hosting station and bored, or Thena was more able to take over for her when she had to tend to the bar.

The problem was the people.

“Gil, I’m sorry.”

“You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” Druig huffed as he saw Sersi coming back with the plate in hand.

“He says it’s not right,” Sersi explained, although she was already shaking her head. “I swear I checked on two tables while he was trying it. I turned around and a quarter of it was gone but he was waving me over again.”

“Okay, Sersi, we’ll give him one more,” Gil accepted the ‘wrong’ steak from her and already putting another on the grill behind him. “And this is it.”

“Of course,” Sersi nodded, taking just a second to rest her head on the cool steel of the pass. “He’s something else.”

Kingo came into the kitchen behind her. “How’s [table] 12?”

“He’s possibly the most difficult prick I’ve ever had to serve,” she practically whimpered as Kingo dropped off the plates he had cleared into the dish pit. “I don’t understand his problem.”

“Is it possible he’s the problem?” Druig scoffed from his station beside Gil.

“That much is obvious,” Sersi mumbled, shuffling on the spot, “but it doesn’t get him out of here faster.”

“Okay, Sersi,” Gil sighed, putting up the hot new plate, “this is a lightly mid-rare steak, hot and fresh–last one he’s getting.”

Sersi sighed, “I don’t want to go back out there.”

“Let me.”

The temperature of the kitchen dropped a few degrees at the cold and solitary statement. Sersi lifted her head and straightened her shoulders, “s-sorry, Thena, I’m just–I’ll take it!”

But Thena approached the pass and, with a napkin folded in her hand, picked up the hot plate, “it’s okay, Sersi. Let me deal with him.”

Looks were traded all around in the kitchen in Thena’s wake. Gil tilted his head to try and see, but Sersi and Kingo were actually able to go back out front and watch what was about to take place.

“Finally!” the man at the table complained loudly and brazenly, his arm thrown over the back of his chair and his legs spread needlessly far apart. “It’s about time, sweetheart!”

The poor woman sitting across from him was already visibly mortified.

The man took a look at the steak and then glanced up at Thena with the utmost disdain, “uh, that’ll be all, honey.”

Thena stood tall, though, crossing her arms, “try it.”

“You don’t have much of a bedside manner do ya?” he snickered at her, but Thena didn’t flinch. He snorted, “you might be pretty if you cracked a smile, y’know.”

Thena watched him take a bite of the steak.

He loudly clattered his fork onto the plate, “you just can’t get it right, can you?”

The woman across from him sank even further into her seat.

“Look, I don’t know what kinda hack is back there putting this dog shit out, but I’m not paying for this,” he continued to speak at an unbearable volume for the small and intimate dining room.

Thena didn’t even blink. “That is perfectly fine. In fact, I’ll comp your meal myself, if you’re so desperate for a free one.”

“Excuse me?”

“Across three different steaks, you’ve eaten almost a full one,” she pointed out, tapping her finger on his table. “And I know there’s nothing wrong with it because you’re being provided for by the best chef in the damn city. So, if you didn’t want to pay for your date with the poor lady present, you could have simply said so, sir.”

Obviously not one to take embarrassment lying down, he slapped his hand on the table, standing and getting right in Thena’s face, “you’ve got a lotta nerve, sweet cheeks. You know who I am?!”

“I’m afraid I simply do not care,” she smiled in the face of his attempt at intimidation. “You did ask me to smile, and now I will ask you to leave.”

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding.”

“Not in the least,” she dropped her smile again, stepping back only to allow him to storm out, “you have gotten your free meal, harassed my server and made enough of a spectacle of yourself already, no?”

Nearly every head in the restaurant turned as the man stormed out. The inside door was propped open and he didn’t succeed in slamming the outside door in his huff. It was a very anticlimactic exit for the hassle he had caused.

Thena simply watched him walk past the restaurant, giving her any number of obscene gestures on the way. She looked down at the poor woman still there.

She toyed with her napkin on her lap, “I-I’m so s-”

“Do not apologise for him,” Thena said plainly as she moved away from the table and to her ‘service station’ table.

Sersi and Kingo drifted over to her. “Thena, that was-”

“That was badass, Boss!” Kingo said more outright with a grin.

Thena all but ignored the praise, scribbling on the bill in her hand and then handing it to Sersi, “tell her she can have dessert on us, either here and now or she may take it to go. The bill has been taken care of.”

“Oh,” Sersi blinked at the written off bill being handed to her. It was a kind and generous offer, considering the small meal for two now had two other perfectly good steaks going to waste to its name. “That’s-”

“The poor thing has suffered enough tonight,” Thena offered as an explanation, already going back to her other managerial duties written for herself in her notebook. “I don’t think we want to add anything more to it, do we?”

Sersi blinked as Thena met her eyes. Whatever she saw there made Sersi smile and nod before going back to her worst table of the night. Thena looked back down at her notes.

“That was nice of you, Boss,” Kingo commented, still lingering as Sersi spoke softly and gently with the poor woman. It was probably best that Sersi deliver the news, able to connect with just about anyone for any reason. “Given what a prick he was.”

“We’ll know not to let him in again,” she shrugged, happy to leave it at that. “And that poor woman is not responsible for his mess.”

“Yeah, guess you’re right.”

Thena looked up and over at the server, who was smiling at her with his arms crossed as if he had observed something fascinating. She frowned, “do your tables not require attention?”

“Yes sir, Boss-Lady!” he laughed.

Thena rolled her eyes and went back to the kitchen. Hopefully things would run smoother without the steak fiend demanding their efforts needlessly. “How are things in here?”

“All smooth, I’d say,” Druig answered first, surprising both Gil and Thena.

She looked at the head Chef in question, who had a funny grin on his face. “What?”

He put up a plate of balsamic chicken before tilting his head at her, “best chef in the city?”

Thena rolled her eyes and returned to her post. There were other tables that needed their attention. And she was done flattering for the night.

Chapter Text

Thena frowned as she stepped out of her car. “Gilgamesh?”

The chef startled, turning and somewhat trying to hide the bundle he had with him. “Th-Thena!”

She tilted her head, walking over with her purse still on her arm, “going somewhere?”

“Uh, just gonna,” he shifted on his feet, “y’know.”

“No.” Thena tilted her head, spotting movement behind her jumpy executive chef.

A mangy white muzzle of fur poked out a little, making eye contact with her and then shrinking back again.

She looked at Gilgamesh, drawing up her shoulders, “you’re feeding a stray?”

He gulped, “no.”

Thena put her hands on her hips, walking over to him and his mystery bundle. “Let me see it.”

Like a child guilty of dipping into the cookie jar, he revealed his prize. There were some broccolini florets, mostly the ones deemed too old and sad to serve. A few pieces of bread ends, and - most notably - the remains of the ‘failed’ steaks.

She tilted her head at him, “really, Gil?”

“Aw, come on,” he pleaded, stepping aside to reveal the hiding spot of their first guest of the day. “He’s just a hungry little guy!”

Thena crossed her arms, looking towards the corner of the dumpster where the little head appeared again. Her intimidation was no match for the temptation of food, drawing the little dog into the open.

It kept its head low, ears somewhat folded over and fur looking tight and wiry on its body. It was no taller than her shins, the closer it got. Its legs were short and slim, its tail was half cropped and stiff, even as it wagged. When it had arrived close enough it sat itself in front of her.

Gil crooned, “oh, what a good boy!”

Thena just stared at the little mutt with its dirty muzzle of fur and its waggy little stick of a tail. She frowned as Gil came closer to her to be more in the dog’s line of view.

“He likes you,” he offered with a smile, as if it mattered to her if some stray animal favoured her or not. He bent down, “here y’go, pal.”

“Gilgamesh,” she drawled, not that he was paying attention to her over the cute little customer eagerly scarfing up the broccolini first.

“You’re gonna eat well today, buddy,” Gil said as he set down the seared steaks as well. “Some dick couldn’t-”

“Gil!” Thena barked, getting some of his focus back, at least. She put her hands on her hips over her coat, “how long have you been feeding it?”

Gil was petting the little cretin, “not long, maybe a month or two before you got here?”

That long?! Thena sighed, “and how much product are we wasting on this creature?”

“None!” Gilgamesh protested, again sounding like a child defending himself and his minor crimes. “I only give him the leftover scraps. We’re gonna toss ‘em anyway, there’s no harm in him having them.”

She sighed and shook her head. She should have guessed Gilgamesh would be soft enough to feed some stray beast. They didn’t know anything about this dog! If it had an owner, what parasites or diseases it carried!

Yes, it was a cute dog, but that was not the matter at hand.

“Gilgamesh-”

“Thena, come on, it’s just a little dog with nowhere else to go,” he restated his case as he stood. He looked at her more firmly, spoke more seriously. “I’m not gonna stop feeding him, so let’s get that straight.”

She raised her brows at him. This was the firmest he had been about anything since she started work. She had expected him to have his protests and arguments, just not about feeding scraps to a dog.

Gilgamesh crossed his arms.

Thena eyed how thick they were, briefly wondering if his head possessed the same needless thickness. She sighed, “please wash your hands more thoroughly after handling that mutt.”

She turned to head into the restaurant, but she heard him chuckle, as if this was so funny, “aw c’mon, he’s a cute mutt!”

“Please tell me you haven’t named it,” she looked at him with a frown, although she had a sneaking suspicion she already knew the answer to that.

“Well, I was trying to think of one,” he shrugged innocently as they came down around the back and into the kitchen. He dropped his backpack off by the fridge, “Snowball, Snowy, that kinda thing. But maybe that’s too cliche.”

She had no comment to offer on that, “I’ve looked into some of the events that are happening in the city.”

“Mochi would be kinda cute, but I don’t think it suits him.”

“There’s a food festival going on,” she continued, determined to get him to talk about business for at least five minutes. “I know you haven’t entered into anything like that since you opened but-”

“Maybe Cheeseball.”

“Gilgamesh,” Thena frowned, snapping her notebook shut. “Are you listening?”

“The Sips and Snacks thing downtown, yeah,” he blinked, as if he hadn’t been droning on about that dog while she was trying to discuss business with him. “If you wanna enter I’ll think up something to serve. But I don’t know much about cocktails–I’m more of a suds guy.”

Somehow she had guessed that.

“Do you need anything from me for the entry?” he finally looked at her.

“Not as of yet,” she informed. “I have someone I can contact to do promotion and take the photos for the event’s website and social media. I’ll think of a drink and you just make sure to have an idea for the food by the end of this week.”

“Okay, okay,” he mumbled in defense against her early morning agenda. “You want something to eat?”

“No, thank you, I eat at home before I come in.”

“Of course,” Gil sighed, almost sounding a little disappointed by that. Although she was quite sure no one else got offered a fresh meal when they turned up to work. Although perhaps Druig was more than capable of making one for himself, and then the others arrived late enough in the day that it was a moot point.

“Hm,” Thena set her notebook down, “I’ll be right back.”

She forgot her coffee in her car.

“Oh.”

Sitting outside was that dog again. She had to admit, Gil was right, the dog was seated as if very well behaved for a stray. It seemed almost demure, with its small stature and big, wide eyes. It tilted its head at her a few times.

She walked past it, reaching into her car for her coffee and the powdered sugar coated, jelly filled doughnut she had indulged in for once. When she closed the door again the dog had angled itself to look at her. “No.”

It stared at her, wagging its little tail, resisting the urge to leave its sitting position and really, truly beg her for it.

“No,” she repeated, and the dog firmly planted its backside on the pavement again. It did listen. She looked down at the cheap pastry in her hand. The little thing had literally gotten its fair share of food already. She tore off a small piece of her morning indulgence. “I’m quite sure this isn’t good for you.”

The dog stood, tail wagging so hard his little butt swayed side to side.

“Wait,” Thena directed, holding her hand out as she placed a little chunk of the sugary dough on the ground. She already wasn’t a dog person, let alone one to invite one to eat from her hand.

The dog patiently and intelligently eyed her hand.

“Fine,” she stood to full height again, and the dog trotted forward to scarf down his little treat–yet another, really. “Good.”

She walked back to the restaurant door, pausing only to look at it again one last time. It bobbed its head at her, probably waiting for more, but it did look charmingly like it was thanking her. “You’re welcome.”

He licked his chops and let out a faint whining sound.

She groaned, closing the door again behind her; she would regret this, she was sure of it.

Chapter Text

“It’s a girl?” Sersi crooned at the scans Ajak handed to her.

“It’s a girl,” Ajak confirmed as she patted her belly amidst their ooh-ing and ah-ing. “She looks good, they say, only two more months, now.”

“Still don’t feel ready to pop yet?” Kingo asked, although with somewhat less of a sweet tone to it.

“No, but thank you for asking so nicely,” she rolled her eyes at him.

Gil looked away from the current baby crooning to the kitchen door. Thena had said she had to take a call and had yet to return from it.

“Gil?”

He looked down, caught being inattentive red handed. He smiled, “she’s beautiful, Ajak.”

But his hostess rolled her eyes at him, taking on a curious look for herself, “and how’s Thena?”

Gil’s eye twitched a little, “and what’s with the tone?”

“I’m just asking,” Ajak feigned some innocence on the matter.

“She’s great, you already know that,” Gil crossed his arms at his nosy hostess, determined she was onto something where there wasn’t anything. There was nothing to be found–nothing! “You were right about her for a manager.”

“I’m not talking about as a manager.” He barely got his mouth open before she continued on, “how is she settling into things?–I mean. Does she seem a little less uptight?”

Gil rubbed the back of his neck, “I’m not sure if I’d say that. She still seems pretty…stiff.”

“Well,” Ajak tilted her head, “talk to her a little. You two are going to have to know each other better for this to work.”

Gil huffed, feeling a little hot under his collar, “you sound like a mom nagging me to get married.”

“Who says I’m not?” she smirked at him before nudging his arm with her fist, “go ask her to join us.”

Not that she wasn’t ordering him around when he was technically her boss, but he took the opportunity to escape her needling. He walked into the back, trying to listen for Thena’s voice. The back door was cracked.

“No…no, I won’t be…no, it’s not that either.”

Gil gulped. He didn’t want to interrupt or intrude, but that tone in her voice…it was like when that bartender had come in. She sounded even more tense, even more wound up. He knocked on the back door before stepping outside.

The dog was there.

It was seated at her feet, whining up at her as if concerned. She was leaning against the column of his back deck, nodding to him before her expression resumed its firmness for her conversation. “I have thought about it.”

Gil shuffled over awkwardly, despite being under his own balcony, in the parking lot of his own home and restaurant. He looked at her, mouthing ‘you okay?’

She smiled at him.

She had a nice smile; Gil leaned against one of the other wooden columns, keeping an eye on her as she held her ground.

“Okay,” Thena sighed, hanging up without a second thought, let alone well wishes. She looked at him with knotted brows, “sorry.”

He shook his head, dismissing her apology easily. “Everything okay?”

“My old place,” she held her phone up before crossing her arms and clutching the slim, slippery iphone in her hand. She had a dinner roll in the other one. “They’re more desperate than I thought.”

“Oh,” Gil blinked. Right, the bartender who had made Thena seem well and truly rattled was also here about her going back to Titan. He frowned, “are they…what’s the offer?”

She shrugged it off a little too easily and eagerly. “Doesn’t matter.”

Gil nodded. He could leave it at that, but he had wondered about it enough, he thought. He risked a look at her, “why…if you don’t mind me asking.”

She looked like she did, at least a little. But eventually, it faded. “I had to leave.”

Gil turned sharply at the entirely new tone in her voice. It sounded almost unlike the Thena he had come to know. It was soft, and delicate–almost fragile sounding. It reminded him of the moment when she had gripped his sleeve.

“Eros is the bartender there, and his family has owned the business for generations,” Thena continued, toying with the dinner roll she had brought out for this dog she claimed not to like. “I wouldn’t say we were friends, but certainly I had known him for some time. I hadn’t expected…I didn’t think he would…”

Gil frowned, immediately pulled to her side, “he would what?”

She shook her head, tossing the rest of the roll away with the things she was feeling in the moment. The pup scarfed it up eagerly. “He tried to kiss me, wasn’t very good at taking no for an answer. It got to a point where I had to wrestle him off me in the back of the wine cellar.”

Gil gripped his fist tight until he could feel his blunt fingernails pushing into his skin.

“He deleted the security footage of it and tried to have me fired. They wouldn’t accept his lack of a reason, but I quit on the spot, after working there for years.” Thena sighed, looking at Gil without a hint of fear or teariness. As far as she was concerned, she was over it. “That’s why you found me so quickly–why I leapt at the opening here.”

When she said she had to leave her last place suddenly and unexpectedly, she wasn’t exaggerating.

“Did-” Gil started to ask and didn’t even make it the rest of the way. What was he going to ask? Did she want him to beat him up like they were high school sweethearts? “Are you-”

“Please,” she scoffed with some hint of her usual acidity. “I’m not scared of that kid, or his family.”

Gil withered again as she did, her shoulders drooping.

“I suppose…I thought I was of some use, there. I liked the people I worked with, thought I was fulfilling my role properly. I wanted to feel like I was helping in a family owned business.”

Knowing how her family owned a restaurant, it made sense that she felt strongly about contributing to an independent business and not a chain franchise. And she had been at Titan a long time, for a good chunk of her career.

“Not that it matters,” she dismissed, clapping and rubbing her hands together to get rid of the last few crumbs. She tilted her head as he tottered closer to her. She held up her hands, “no more.”

But the dog whined faintly, coming right over and touching his cold little nose to her leg.

Gil smiled, “I think he’s trying to comfort you.”

“Chivalrous,” Thena murmured in good humour, although it had to be said that she did give the little dog a little scratch between his eyes with the back of her knuckle before heading inside again.

Gil looked down at the little guy, whose tail was going into overdrive. He gave the sucker a thumbs up, “I think she’s warming up to you, pal!”

Chapter Text

Gil poked his head over the deck railing, “uh, Thena?”

“Gil,” she waved to him, beckoning him down to work early. “This is the new supplier I’ve arranged.”

Right, Thena was changing their produce suppliers, their phone/internet plan, she had even asked about the restaurant insurance, as well as his own insurance on his apartment above it. She was nothing if not thorough, his manager.

Thank you for the help, Kari, Thena signed to the petite woman unloading things like the wind.

Hey, I told you to let me know when you were at your new place, she signed back with a bright grin. She looked towards the back door. And it was nice meeting you.

“Druig,” Thena prompted the man hovering just within the doorway, “she says it was nice to meet you.”

Gil rounded the corner of the stairs and caught Druig looking positively lovestruck.

“Uh, y-yeah, nice meetin’ you s’well,” he mumbled through his accent, his eyes dashing around a few times.

The produce supplier tilted her head at him, perhaps having to read his lips a little more carefully with the shape of his vowels being so different. But she gave him a wink and a little wave.

“You’re in early,” Gil nodded his head at Druig, who had a milk crate full of produce in his hands.

“Well,” the younger man looked between his two bosses, one recent and one less so. “T asked me if I’d come in to meet the new suppliers so I could get to know ‘em and see the new stock for m’self.”

Thena had a certain smile on her face, “I believed you would get along well with Makkari.”

Druig blushed and hurried inside with their bounty.

Gil came over to Thena, his backpack on his shoulder for the brief trip downstairs. “How do you know her?”

Thena waved to Makkari as she pulled the van out of the driveway, waving out her window to her. She smiled, “she supplies a number of restaurants in the city, including Titan.”

“Is, uh-” he paused, unsure of how to phrase it. Private suppliers were great, but they could come at a cost. “Are we-?”

“Kari gives me a good deal for being her personal friend,” Thena clarified before he had the chance to shrivel up with anxiety over it. “We pay a fair price, but less than the inflation some pay, I suppose.”

Gil just nodded, following her in as Druig put away the stock and rearranged the fridge contents. “You have a lot of connections like that, huh?”

“A lot may be an exaggeration,” Thena shrugged like it was nothing. This was just part of her job, to her. “But if I can find some leverage for us, then I will. Also the insurance company got back to me about your new coverage plan and everything is set.”

He wasn’t entirely sure why he needed a new coverage plan, but sure.

“And you do remember the photographer for the food festival will be here today?”

Gil groaned; it was nonstop with this woman. “Right.”

“Don’t worry, Gil,” Druig nudged him on his way past and into the kitchen, “I’ve got the steamers goin’, I’ll have the bao ready for when she shows up.”

“Thanks,” he sighed. At least Druig was keen for the publicity, because he really wasn’t so sure about this. Kingo handled their social media, and Gil was more than happy to let him. He didn’t think of himself as a gimmicky chef. “I’ll come in and get it when she’s ready.”

Thena held out her hand, gesturing to a petite woman with freckles, shining blue eyes and rich brunette hair. She and Thena looked about as opposite as possible. “Gil, this is Alari. She’s another contact of mine from the past–she’ll cover our publicity for the food fest.”

“So, this is Chef Gilgamesh,” Alari beamed, shaking his hand with fervour. She looked at Thena, “you were right, he is cute.”

Gil stared.

Thena bristled, glaring at the shorter woman. “That is not what I said.”

She shrugged, though, “same thing.”

“It is not,” Thena practically hissed at her, but clearly her friend knew her well enough to know there was no real venom in her bite, “I said he thinks he’s cute.”

“So I’m thinking of using the natural light,” the woman blatantly ignored Thena’s protesting statement. “Or we could take a picture of it on your pass in the kitchen–your choice.”

“Uh,” Gil blinked, looking between the two of them. He was still a little hung up on the ‘cute’ thing but he tried not to let it sink in. He was more apt to believe she hadn’t called him cute–just didn’t sound like the woman he was coming to know. “The natural light could be cool–get some steam comin’ off it?”

“I like the way you think,” Alari grinned and winked at him, taking the lens cap off her camera and practically skipping to the front window table of her choosing.

Gil looked at Thena, resisting with all his might the urge to ask if she had, maybe…

“Forgive Alari, she’s a little too eager to pull a needle from a haystack,” Thena muttered, more or less dismissing the matter in not so many words. “But she’s an experienced food editor, and I trust her to give us a good write-up for the festival magazine.”

“Well,” Gil shrugged, glancing back at the kitchen, where he would be safe from any more possible misunderstandings. “All press is good press, right?”

“That’s not necessarily true.”

Of course it wasn’t. “Well, still-”

“Gil?”

He looked at her, once again surprised by the softness in her tone. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard it or anything, but it still felt different from how she normally was. And damn, it was compelling. “Yeah?”

“I got you something–or him, rather.”

Who the hell was him? Gil looked at his hand as Thena pressed a collar into it, already with a shiny new tag with the restaurant phone number on one side and a name on the other. He blinked, “Doughnut?”

“Doughy.”

“Doughy?” he repeated, even more baffled.

“You will have to lure him out to get the collar on him, of course,” Thena began in the same tone she would use to inform them of a food critic coming in or a specifically important reservation. “Once you’ve done that, I can arrange a vet appointment, as well as a grooming, which I’m sure is long overdue.”

For…the dog?

“I wasn’t sure if you would want him to be an indoor or outdoor dog, seeing as there’s technically room under the deck for a little doghouse if you so desired,” she continued. It sounded like she had the little guy’s life all planned out for him. “But I already have everything he’ll need, I can simply bring it once he’s chipped.”

Gil tried again to contain his bewilderment, but it was a lot to process! “Wait, so…I’m taking him?”

Thena shrugged, as if he’d asked a uniquely stupid question. “He lives here already, Gilgamesh, it only makes sense.”

Well, if she put it like that. He nodded, “Doughnut.”

“Doughy.”

Gil felt a smile come over him. He looked down at the collar, simple in form but obviously new and carefully selected. He nudged her elbow with his, “I knew you liked him.”

“Gilgamesh,” she repeated, but she wouldn’t ‘full name’ him out of it, this time.

“I told you he’s cute,” he grinned at her, maybe feeling a little emboldened by the light mood in the air. “Like…a certain someone?”

“I’m going to choose to ignore that,” she shook her head at him, “for your sake.”

“You two getting a dog together?” Alari asked completely casually, even pointing at both of them.

“W-We’re not-” Gil gestured between himself and Thena, blushing faintly.

“No,” Thena answered a bit more…directly. “Are we ready?”

“Yep, bring out the guest of honour when you’re ready,” Alari smiled at him before landing at Thena’s side.

Gil lingered at the kitchen door a little, eager to hear their whispers.

“You said he’s cute!”

“I said he thinks he’s cute.”

“And I said ‘well, is he cute?’, and you said-”

“It doesn’t matter,” Thena cut her off, rolling her eyes at her in both a very frustrated and very familiar matter. She did catch him hovering, though, “Gil?”

“Uh,” he blinked, really - really - trying to get this ‘cute’ thing out of his head, “sorry, yeah.”

Chapter Text

"You ready?"

Thena nodded, although it was hard not to notice that she was already all but shivering in her white peacoat. But it had been her own suggestion that they cover this event just between the two of them, rather than asking Kingo or Sersi or even Ajak to assist. By Thena's own word, this was entirely about promotion and networking, but if the night was a bust, it was best that only the ingredients be a sunk cost rather than hours of overtime labour.

That did, though, mean it was up to Thena and Gil to man the booth, on the pier downtown, right on the water, on an already chilly night.

"Thena," Gil frowned as he set out their steam baskets. "You're already shaking."

"I'll warm up," she insisted, choosing to ignore the chatter of her jaw, "just worry about the bao. I'll handle the drinks."

The ice shaken drinks.

Also by Thena's own word, everyone would be serving hot drinks--because that made sense, it was freezing down by the water. And true to her word, when they looked at the entries of everyone else, it was mostly mulled wines and hot chocolates and irish coffee type offerings. Thena knew they needed to stand out if this was to be a success.

"Trust me," she bit at him as she started loading up her shaker and began the process of making trays of half-cocktails.

Gil had to admit, she was right; the sound of the shaker was more than enough to catch people's attention. He opened one of the steamers partially, letting the cloud of warmth draw them in the rest of the way. People flocked to them, eyes glittering. "Step right up!"

"Steamed bao," Thena smiled as she poured out the liquid in double walled glasses, small enough for a double shot of espresso. "And a spicy kimchi margarita."

The couple traded a look.

"Don't worry, you won't feel how cold it is through the glass," Gil smiled at them, handing over the steamy and fluffy mini-bao. "If anything, it's going to warm you up more than this."

"Thank you!"

Thena slid her eyes over to Gil with a hint of satisfaction - maybe some smugness - to her smile as she loaded her shaker and started shaking a new round.

"This is incredible!"

Gil beamed with pride at the reception of his bao, and the drink accompanying it. He nudged Thena's elbow with his, "incredible, hm?"

She gave him the facade of an annoyed look, "don't jostle my shaking arm."

The couple laughed at the warm exchange between them, licking their lips, "You were right, that cocktail has a kick to it!"

Thena smiled as she poured a few more through the shaker's built-in strainer. "I promise it will fade. It's a kimchi infused simple syrup, for a little sourness to balance the sugar. The bao's outside will absorb it somewhat as you eat it."

Gil gave her another look, gleeful as they watched their first 'customers' enjoy their experience, more lining up behind them. "You were right."

Thena clapped her shaker into her palm with a grin, "I am aware. But hearing it is not unpleasant."

They managed to draw quite a crowd with their unusual combination and display. Words were exchanged, cards were taken. The general public certainly enjoyed and even a few of the other booth owners came over to discuss the restaurant business with Gilgamesh.

Thena remained beside him, even as the numbers slowed and she no longer had to replenish the drinks.

"Yeah, it was great to see you, man!" Gil waved as the most recent patrons took their leave. He turned to her, "you've been to his place?"

"I have," she nodded, her hands tucked into her sides with her arms crossed in front of her, "I admire his business model."

Gil just chuckled; he was a fan of the guy's good, but he wasn't exactly surprised that Thena was preoccupied with how he ran his business. He did somewhat of a double take at her, furrowing his brows, "how are you doing?"

She returned his look of curiosity with her own, "I'm fine."

Gil tilted his head at her, "are you?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"Thena," he frowned more, leaning closer to get a good look at her shaking in the faint glow of the string lights above and around them. "You're shaking again."

"It is cold out, Gilgamesh. Forgive my vulnerability to the weather."

"No, I mean," he shook his head, putting his hand on her arm, "you're really shaking--you must be freezing."

Thena just looked away from him with a stubborn set to her jaw. She was shaking like a leaf. "Shaking litres of ice at a time may have that effect, I would expect."

Gil opened up the steamer and pulled out a bao, "here."

"Gil, those are for-"

"We're one of the last ones here," he argued, holding his hand up to gesture about the increasingly empty venue. "Even some of the other restaurants are starting to pack up!"

"But-" she blinked as he forced her to uncross her arms and plunked the bao into her hands, enclosing them around it and within his own.

"Just hold it, at least," he frowned. "You should have told me, or asked to switch or something. I know I'm no bartender but I can shake the damn thing for you."

"Really, Gil, it's fine," she frowned, although it was hard to ignore that she was shaking less with the little steamed bun in her hands.

"It's not," he insisted, even standing closer (as if she could absorb some of his body heat through his coat and hers). "The drinks were a hit, but that doesn't mean I want you to freeze out here."

Thena gave him somewhat of a dry look through her lashes, "you're out here."

He shrugged, focused on rubbing her hands in his, "I've got more meat on me than you do. And you've been shaking glasses of ice for hours."

Well, the thing about the ice was true. Thena tilted her head as he continued to enforce a bubble of warmth around her hands. "How are your hands so warm without gloves?"

"I'm handling hot bao."

"One at a time."

"They're still hot."

"You must be naturally hot," Thena muttered. She heard him chuckle and looked up at him just so he would see her rolling her eyes. "Don't."

"I wouldn't dare," he said, still with a hint of laughter in his tone. "I just hired you--can't go risking an HR scandal so soon."

Thena did at least laugh a little. “So you do have some business acumen.”

“Um-”

The two snapped apart, the air becoming foggy as they tried to laugh off their nervous energy. Gil tugged at his scarf. “S-Sorry!–just, uh, warming our hands for a sec.”

Thena wasn’t sure if that made them seem less guilty, or more.

Chapter Text

“What a handsome boy,” Sersi cooed to the little dog lapping up her attentions. “Aren’t you?”

Thena simply observed as the little terrier enjoyed all his glory. “Do you have pets?”

Sersi scrunched her lips, “my husband isn’t much of an animal person, I’m afraid–his one flaw.”

“One of many,” Druig murmured to the right of GIl, although it seemed only Thena had heard him. She was good at keeping her laughter quiet, it seemed.

“Gil, how long have you been feeding this little guy?” Kingo asked next, giving the little pup his much deserved attention (as much as Kingo was capable of surrendering from himself, of course).

“Couple of months,” he shrugged, watching as Doughnut pranced around the room, proudly donning his shiny new tag and collar. He looked at Thena, “she’s the one who named him.”

“Yeah, why Doughnut?” Kingo asked.

Thena tilted her head, as if he had asked the most obvious question possible. She pointed at him, “all white, the tongue sticking out looks like the jelly in a powdered doughnut, hence the name.”

Doughy himself yipped in delight, trotting back over to Thena and clicking his claws on the floor as he did.

“Sit,” she ordered, and the energetic little thing obeyed. “Good.”

“When did you have time to train him?” Ajak asked.

“Didn’t,” Gil snorted as Doughy happily trotted around Thena’s legs. “He’s just like that with her.”

“Who wouldn’t be weak to this face?” Ajak grinned, nudging Thena, and even receiving a gentle pat in return. She gripped the back of her chair as she stood. “I’m getting too big for this.”

“We can get you a stool,” Thena offered surprisingly candidly.

“What’s with Doughy?”

Doughy yipped and barked and growled as a man walking by the restaurant came to a dead stop and turned on a sharp 180. Doughnut continued to try and warn his new family about the unwelcome guest.

“Shit.”

Thena left the serving station and walked swiftly and directly into the kitchen. Doughy was still barking at the intruder, but she snapped her fingers and patted her thigh, swiftly bringing the little dog into the kitchen with her (which was against her self-proclaimed and very strict policy on where Doughy was or was not allowed).

Ajak looked from Thena’s hasty exit to Gil, shaking her head in question. He unlocked the door, beginning without so much as a ‘hello’, “we’re not open.”

“I saw her through the window,” the younger man protested. This was definitely Eros, it had to be. Young guy, tall, good looking, and Gil had been right about him being a bartender/server. He tried to move inside, even with Gil’s hand on his chest. “Please, I just wanna talk to her.”

“Gil?” Sersi frowned, she and Ajak lingering around the host podium. Kingo occupied a middle ground between them and Gil. “Who is this?”

“Thena!”

“Hey,” Gil hissed at the idiot screaming full blast into the restaurant. “We got a problem?”

“Thena!” he repeated, “I know they called you! I’m sorry, okay?! Thena, please love, just talk to me!”

Gil grabbed a fistful of the kid’s shirt and gave his shoulder a shove, “I see you loitering around here again and I’ll call the fuckin’ cops, man.”

“Thena!”

“Hey!” Gil’s one fistful turned into two, bringing the taller but slimmer man nose to nose with him. “I mean it. I see you anywhere near Thena, you and me are gonna have a talk in my walk-in.”

Eros didn’t exactly cower at the idea, but he wrestled himself away from Gil’s hold on him. He sniffed, not willing to leave his dignity at his feet. He gripped the strap of the bag he had with him, “tell her I just want to talk.”

Gil tipped his chin up at the young bastard. “In the wine cellar?”

He was certainly prepared for this to become an all out brawl. Like Thena said, she wasn’t scared of this kid or his family. Gil wouldn’t be either.

Eros seemed possibly ready for a fight but Kingo must have moved forward behind him, making the younger man stand down. He nodded at them, then at Sersi and Ajak, “sorry for the trouble, ladies.”

Sersi let out a breath once he was gone and the door was locked. “Gil, who was that?”

He looked around at his team–his work family with whom he had no secrets, realistically. But he also looked towards the kitchen doors, where his very quiet, very private manager was literally hiding from the problem at hand. He sighed, “doesn’t matter.”

“Wait,” Kingo pointed from the door and back to the kitchen, “I know that guy.”

Gil frowned, moving away from the front door, “no, you don’t.”

“Yeah I do,” Kingo protested, audibly confused as to why Gil had denied it the way he had. “He’s the bartender for…Titan.”

Gil paused in front of the swinging kitchen doors, close enough to feel the padded velvet helping keep sound out and in. He looked around at them as they put the pieces together. “Don’t.”

Almost frighteningly as a unit, the three of them moved to rush into the kitchen.

Gil planted himself in the threshold of the swinging doors, keeping Thena on one side and the entirety of the rest of the team on the other. They all looked at their amiable boss in question, but he was serious about this. “I said don’t.”

“Gil,” Kingo started at the head of the pack, “we just want to-”

“No,” he repeated, louder but not harsher at all. “Last thing she wants is an even bigger deal getting made out of all this. You know her, Kingo–just leave her alone.”

Gil sighed at the discouraged looks on his team’s faces as they left their attempt to clamber their way to Thena in support of her. He knew they meant well, and he knew that she knew that too. But all he had to do was see the look on her face as she hid in his kitchen to know that she needed space–a lot of it. The best way they could help her was to facilitate that.

“She’ll talk when - and if! - she’s ready,” he advised, and it was obviously received, based on their resigned expressions. He nodded, entering the kitchen through one of the two doors.

“Thank you.” She whispered it, just barely audible over the hood fan and the hum of the dishwasher. But she grasped just the edge of his sleeve again, a sweet and almost shy gesture of her gratitude. He was starting to become more fluent in her language, he was pretty sure.

He smiled down at the thumb and finger pinching his jacket sleeve. He raised his hand, giving her sleeve a similar little pinch in passing. “Any time.”

Chapter Text

“Hey,” Gil greeted as he came in through the back, dragging himself down the stairs to the kitchen.

“Hey,” Druig greeted back as he peeled potatoes. He bobbed his head, “Ajak came in early to show T how to use her reservation shorthand. She’s handin’ over the book’n everything.”

Gil nodded, peeking out into the dining room, “it’s really happening.”

Thena would take over the hosting duties for the restaurant as of tonight, officially relegating Ajak to watch over the bar, where she could pour wine gently and sit on a stool when not moving around.

“Seem to be gettin’ on like a house on fire,” Druig mumbled again.

Gil kept looking, watching as the two women spoke and even laughed together. He pushed the door open quietly, not wanting to interrupt.

“And,” Thena handed over her phone, “that’s Jack.”

“Oh!” Ajak gasped in delight at the photo. “Isn’t he sweet!”

“Very,” Thena agreed with pride simply dripping from her tone. She accepted her phone back, gazing at the screen. “I still can’t believe he’s already 10. I feel it was yesterday I first held him.”

Gil frowned, tilting his head as he walked forward slowly.

“I can see why he’s your pride and joy,” Ajak complimented, further encouraging that pride in Thena she had mentioned. “He’s handsome too.”

“He has Ben’s dimples.”

Who the hell was this Ben? Thena said it with such clear adoration in her voice, too. For such a closed off woman she was basically glowing as she talked about Jack and whomever else. Gil frowned.

Thena tucked some hair behind her ear with her left hand.

Ajak turned and looked at him, “Gil?”

His face twitched. He tried to smooth it into a smile a normal person might have, “hey. Sorry to interrupt, just…checking on things.”

Thena looked at him like normal–if anything maybe a little more cheery than usual given her chat with the exuberant woman beside her. “Ajak was just showing me her system for the resos. I think I’ll do fine taking up her mantle.”

Gil’s eyes flicked over her. “I’m sure you will.”

Ajak tilted her head at him, but showed considerable restraint considering how little of a filter she usually applied with him. “Thena’s been host before. I basically just told her how things usually go for us on an average night.”

“Of course,” Gil nodded, his hands in his pockets. “I’ll, uh-”

Thena and Ajak just watched as he headed back into the kitchen, not even turning until he was a few steps away. Thena moved half a step, “Gil-”

He turned, letting the kitchen door swing behind him in his hurry. He let out a breath.

“What’s with you?”

He glared at Druig, who blinked at the response to his simple question. Gil ran his hand over his mouth before pointing at the door, “did you see that?”

Druig’s eyes moved a few times, desperately searching for what had Gil so concerningly riled up. “What?”

“That-!” Gil moved back to the kitchen door window, glaring out into the dining room. The sun was pouring through the window, and he could see even from this distance that thing glinting against Thena’s skin. “She’s never had that on before.”

“Uh,” Druig blinked, giving up on his potato for the time being. “The…dress?–I’m pretty sure that’s one’a those things you’re not s’posed to comment on, boss.”

Gil flushed, but he pointed his finger out at them again, “n-no, not what she’s wearing!”

Druig only became more and more befuddled. “Okay, so…what?”

“The ring!” Gil snapped and then ran his hand over his scruff again. He knew how he sounded, making it seem like he’d seen a ghost or something. But he had to know! “Thena is wearing a ring.”

“Uh,” Druig repeated, making his complete bafflement known. He blinked at Gil the way he would look at anyone trying to convince him of a wild conspiracy, “that…against the rules, er-?”

“It is when I didn’t know she’s married!” Gil hissed. He looked out the window again, at Thena and Ajak having a grand old time. “Even heard her talking about her…kid?–I guess.”

Druig merely pursed his lips, attempting to resume his potato peeling. “Well, T kinda seems like the private type, eh? Wouldn’t surprise me if she didn’t think that shit was ‘need to know’, y’know?”

But Gil did need to know. He had to know for…transparency’s sake! He was her employer!

“Hey,” Sersi greeted as she came down the steps first, although Kingo could be heard rifling around at the back coat hooks. She smiled, “how’s-”

“Did you know about it?”

Sersi glanced from Druig back to Gil, who was right in her face with the question so urgent she couldn’t even ask how they were. She blinked, “about what?”

“That!”

Sersi gave Gil a look before looking out into the dining room. But it was just Ajak and Thena talking. “Oh, well, I think it’s lovely they get along so well.”

Gil huffed again, more than frustrated with no one else having noticed the obvious band of gold on Thena’s finger the way he had. “The ring, Sersi–the wedding ring. Did you know Thena is married?–with a kid, apparently!”

Sersi took her time looking back at him with wide eyes and that same doubtful expression on her face. If anything, she looked a little concerned for him. “Gil-”

“I heard her talking with Ajak about a kid named Jack, who has his father’s dimples?”

Something came over Sersi, calming the look of alarm on her face that would make someone believe Gil had gone off the deep end. She glanced at Druig again before looking at Gil more squarely. She relaxed her features, taking up more of her usual, calm, teacher-y ‘Miss Sersi’ face. “It’s okay, Gil.”

“What?” he balked. He had asked if she knew Thena was keeping something of this magnitude from them all and she said it was okay?! “Did you know or didn’t you?”

Sersi put her hand on Gil’s shoulder, still smiling in a funny way, “I think you should ask her yourself.”

He didn’t wanna do that. He squirmed, “I-I mean…I probably shouldn’t…”

Druig rolled his eyes audibly, “now you’re worried ‘bout HR? I thought you were gonna hire a PI just to find out if T’s taken or not.”

Gil sputtered, his cheeks warming anew. “I-I’m not concerned if she’s single! My concern is if…if–if she’s going to keep things like that from me, then we need to talk!”

Sersi laughed faintly, patting his shoulder again before moving away, “just ask her, Gil.”

“Fine,” he grumbled, since no one else was going to be of any help in this. He pushed the kitchen doors open again and walked towards the host podium again.

Thena turned, and the sun caught on the ring on her hand again. “Gil, is everything okay?”

Ajak slipped back a few paces to make room for him as he stormed over.

He crossed his arms, “is there anything I should know?”

Thena raised her brows but didn’t say anything. He knew he could be intimidating if he really wanted to be, but Thena certainly wasn’t the type to scare easily. “I beg your pardon?”

“I’m not saying you have to give me personal details,” Gil continued quietly, leaning closer to her, “but I usually want to know the basics.”

Thena gave him another look, “if this is about the offer from Titan, I haven’t even-”

“I’m talking about this.” Gil caught Thena’s hand mid-dismissal, waving in front of him. He held it gently, careful not to let his frustration let him hold it too tight. But he glared down at that singular, stupid gold band. He raised his eyes to hers, “I’m talking about your wedding ring.”

Thena’s eyes went wide.

“And Jack?” Gil asked further, and her expression shifted. He hesitated; maybe he really was digging up something she didn’t want to talk about. Maybe she was separated. Maybe she was only with her husband for her son? He lowered his voice to a whisper, “is there something I should know?”

Her expression changed again, but it softened. And then she smiled. She didn’t snap her hand away from him, or slap him for his inappropriate conduct. “Jack is my nephew.”

Nephew?

Thena pulled her hand from Gil’s gently, although she did so only to slip the ring off her finger and hand it to him, “and this is my defense against getting hit on while I’m hosting.”

It was unusually light in Gil’s hand, even though it was a small ring to begin with. Her fingers were so slim this thing would probably fit over half his pinky at best. But it was light because it wasn’t real metal–at least not gold. It just looked shiny and gold coloured.

“I was telling Ajak that I helped Jack’s fathers quite often when he was a baby,” Thena continued with clear humour in her voice. “I’m by no means a physician, but if she wants help, then I do have some experience.”

Jack’s fathers.

“They chose me as his godmother,” Thena clarified even further. It was necessary, even at the furtherment of his mortification. She raised her brows at him, “any other questions?”

Gil blushed vibrantly, especially still holding that stupid little ring between his fingers. He blinked, “so this…?”

“I’ve used it since before Titan,” she mused with a smile. “It doesn’t dissuade the more determined, but it’s enough to keep the average idiot from asking if I can sit down and join them.”

Of course she would get questions like that, and of course she would need a defense against it since she couldn’t tell customers to go fuck themselves. The ring made a lot of sense, when he thought about it that way. It was subtle, and it was a smart defense, and a pretty harmless lie.

Thena tilted her head as Gil held her hand, slipping the ring back onto her finger.

“Smart,” he managed to blurt out before turning and walking back into the kitchen. No need to stay and wallow in his humiliation, right?

Ajak was hot on his heels. “What the hell was that?”

“Nothing,” Gil grumbled as he rushed back into the kitchen, nearly plowing over poor Sersi, who was also watching with intrigue.

“Like hell it was nothing,” Ajak hissed at him as he tried to pull out his knives and pretend that none of it had happened. “You storm out there in a jealous rage-”

“I was not-!” Gil sighed, setting his knife and his sharpener down. He had made enough of an ass of himself already. “Let it go, Ajak.”

“Gil,” Ajak gave him an increasingly perfected ‘mom’ look. “You came out there because you saw a ring on her finger and overheard her talking about her nephew.”

“Gil what?” Kingo asked as he came down.

“Gil nothing,” he snarled at all of them, determined to escape their nosy needling. “It was a misunderstanding.”

“Gil thought Thena was married for a second and wasn’t too happy ‘bout it,” Druig told Kingo shamelessly.

Gil growled, “I wasn’t happy that I thought she had lied about it.”

“When would she have lied about it?” Sersi tilted her head, “unless you were asking her specifically if she was married?”

“Kept it from me,” Gil corrected, shaking his head with more and more agitation. “But she didn’t, so it doesn’t matter!”

Despite their relentless needling mere seconds ago, they all went silent, trading looks between themselves. Then they all looked at him, but he glared back.

“Do you not have work you could be doing?” he huffed. At the very least, Kingo and Sersi went out to the dining room to start preparing for the night. Ajak hovered, giving him another look. “What?”

She shrugged just one shoulder, “nothing.”

Chapter Text

“Do I need to file for a restraining order?”

Eros held up his hands as she closed her car door, already glaring at him. “I’m on my way to work, I swear. Mum wanted me to ask if you had gotten her offer.”

“I received it,” Thena confirmed, holding the strap of her purse on her shoulder (and ready to swing it if necessary).

“Right,” he pressed his lips tight at the sharp and inarguable rejection.

“I don’t want to hear anything more about it.”

“Thena, please,” he leaned forward, holding his hand to his chest. “I’m sorry, truly I am. Mum is losing her mind trying to run the place herself. She’s willing to offer anything, we all are!”

“I don’t need any more offers, Eros,” she crossed her arms. “I’m happy where I am now.”

Eros shrugged, “well, it is more of a temporary thing, no?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“You’re taking over for the pregnant woman, right?” Eros held out his hand. “Once she comes back, will you just go somewhere else again?”

Her knee-jerk reaction was to say that it wasn’t any of his godforsaken business what she did with her life. But she refused to let him rattle her cage. “I think you should go, Eros.”

“We both know you’re not a floater, Thena. You’ll want somewhere to call home sooner or later again.”

“I can hear Gil coming down,” she threatened, and actually got him to flinch this time. Not that she was particularly proud of threatening to call on the bigger, stronger manager to help her with his presence. But it worked, nonetheless.

“You can always come back to us,” Eros promised with finality, “all I’m saying. I’ll leave you alone, swear on my brother’s life.”

“Your brother is even worse than you are,” she sent him off. She kept her arms crossed and her stance defensive until he was completely out of sight. Only then did she sigh and unwind her posture. She hated to admit it, but her heart was a little jumpy.

Doughy charged down the stairs, even with his short little legs, barking up a storm. He ran right past Thena to the corner of the building, still smelling the interloper he could remember smelling last time.

“Easy, boy, I think he’s gone.”

Thena looked at Gil, who ruffled his hair after not being up for all that long, it seemed. He raised an eyebrow at her, “you okay?”

She nodded, without needing to pretend she was more unbothered than she was. “He’s becoming a real nuisance.”

“I told him next time I saw him I’d call the cops,” Gil recalled from last they’d seen him, “or beat him up in the walk-in.”

“Would you really?”

“Hm,” Gil put his hand to his chin, pretending to really think it over before grinning, “nah. Not food safe, but I can beat him up out here.”

Thena laughed, calling Doughy back to them at the sound of happier moods. “I can beat him up myself if need be.”

Gil watched Doughy circle their legs a few times before sitting himself very properly in front of Thena for adulation and praise, which came in the form of scratches between his ears. “So, you wanna tell me about this offer they made you?”

She sighed, focusing on scratching under Doughy’s little chin as opposed to facing Gilgamesh and the question at hand. But she couldn’t avoid it forever. “Remember that call I took?”

Gil blinked, “I mean yeah, the one from a while ago? No wonder they’re getting desperate.”

“I have no care for whatever desperation they have,” she scoffed without a second thought. “They offered me my old position with a raise, or the managerial position at any of their locations I desired, same pay increase. Full hiring and firing power, even a share in the company.”

“Whoa,” Gil’s brows rose. He may not have been a businessman by choice, but he knew enough to know what a stake in the business really meant. “That’s a pretty serious offer.”

“Which I turned down,” Thena crossed her arms, “without hesitation.”

“I mean,” he slipped his hands into his pockets, squirming faintly, “you sure you didn’t wanna hesitate…even a little?”

Thena frowned. Of all people, she didn’t think Gil would have misgivings about her not wanting to go back to her old job.

“Okay, I don’t blame you for not wanting to go back,” he held up a hand at the expression on her face. “I’m just saying that it’s a pretty big offer, so they’re obviously desperate. And you wouldn’t have to work with that guy, right? They even said you could fire him!”

She stood, adjusting her purse again, “I doubt that stipulation included their own son.”

“Sounds like it might.” She rolled her eyes but Gil continued, even as she moved towards the restaurant door, “I just mean I think you should consider it.”

“Really?” she glared at him. She couldn’t quite pinpoint the reason, but it bothered her that he was the one - of all people! - trying to convince her to take their deal. “You think I should go crawling back to that family and their monopoly?”

“No, I don’t,” Gil said more solidly, refusing to pull out his keys until they had truly hashed things out. “If I’m being honest, it benefits me way more if you stay here–maybe even forever!”

Thena drew her shoulders up, her stomach clenching at the conviction with which he said it.

He pulled back though, slouching his shoulders again. “But I don’t believe in being selfish for the sake of my own business. And I think anyone who cares about you would tell you to consider at least negotiating a proper deal.”

Thena smiled, as much as she would rather be angry with him. Gilgamesh had a soft heart, and when he cared, he cared deeply. She hadn’t expected him to express how he felt about the situation beyond a disdain for a business competitor. But the notion of protectiveness on his part was…endearing. “Thank you, Gil, I’ll…think about it.”

He shrugged his massive shoulders and cleared his throat, just as embarrassed by her reaction as he was about being so forthcoming with his opinion. “Well, y-yeah, just…lookin’ out for you, I guess.”

“I appreciate it,” she said in earnest, tilting her head at him faintly. “It would be impossible to tell he was such a softie from the look of him.

Gil blushed faintly. “Well-”

Doughy barked, eager to get into the restaurant for whatever leftovers he could beg for as a second breakfast.

Thena looked down at the little dog, “you have already eaten.”

He whined faintly, looking at her with literal puppy dog eyes.

“Okay, okay, buddy, just for a little,” Gil chuckled, unlocking the back door and letting the pup run in ahead of them. “And hey.”

Thena blinked as he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze, a more serious expression on than usual. It was like when he had been dead set on finding out if she was married or not. “Gil?”

“If he gives you a hard time again, I want you to call me,” Gil scowled. “I mean it, Thena, wherever, whenever. I know you can handle yourself but…I wouldn’t want that asshole thinking he can get away with something.”

She smiled again, somewhat bemused by the roughness in his voice. Protectiveness suited him. “Thanks, Gil, I’m sure I can handle him. But if he happens to end up here again, I’ll let you beat him up in whatever location you want.”

He chuckled, dragging his fingers down her arm gently before turning and finally walking into the restaurant, “that’s all I ask.”

Thena tugged at her cardigan as she followed him, suddenly feeling goosebumps on her arm.

Chapter Text

“I don’t want to do it.”

“Well I don’t want her either!”

“Rock paper scissors?”

“What is going on?” Thena asked as she arrived at the side of the bar, catching her servers whispering between themselves.

Sersi’s lips pressed and sealed together. Kingo, on the other hand, was happy to blab about their mumblings. He even pointed, “we don’t wanna take that table.”

Thena looked over her shoulder, seeing three women chatting among themselves, obviously out for some fun, already laughing loudly and flipping around their silken and styled hair. She looked back at exasperated Kingo and trembling Sersi, “why?”

“Well,” Sersi’s eyes darted around, as was her way when she was trying to think of the way to work something delicately (or not at all). “It’s…she comes here every few months, actually. She…can be a little difficult.”

“She’s Gil’s ex.”

Thena’s eyebrows rose–higher than she really intended to raise them. But she couldn’t quite form an understanding of what Kingo had said. Gil’s ex? Gil’s ex-girlfriend; Thena blinked a few times, “and she still comes here?”

“Well,” Sersi shimmied her shoulders anxiously, clutching her drinks tray. “She used to get free food, and she still asks us every time.”

“To comp their meals?” Thena nearly raised her voice in the middle of balking at Sersi’s statement. There was boldness and then there was brazen audacity.

“Well, not anymore,” Kingo shrugged, much more annoyed by the subject. “But she still kind of acts surprised when she doesn’t get a free drink or appetizer here and there. And she always argues with us about it.”

“I see,” Thena crossed her arms, looking across the room to the table in question. They were starting to look around in their chairs, obviously trying to guess who would be serving them. Thena set her jaw, “I’ll take them.”

Sersi and Kingo traded glances, although neither truly lept and rushed to dissuade her. “A-Are you sure, Thena?”

“Positive,” she mumbled before heading towards the table. She made sure to plaster on a gentle but perfectly acceptable smile before she arrived. “Good evening, ladies, I’ll be serving you tonight.”

“Great,” the head of the table answered in a clipped tone, not even looking up from her menu. “We’ll start with the prosciutto crostini and a bottle of riesling with three glasses thank you.”

She hadn’t even paused to take a breath. Thena didn’t flinch, though, “of course, although the riesling we actually don’t sell by the bottle, I’m afraid.”

“Oh it’s okay, I’ve done it before,” she smiled ‘cutely’ at Thena, even waving her hand to dismiss either the denial or Thena herself (or both).

“I’m afraid I still can’t sell you the bottle.”

She obviously wasn’t used to being told no, perhaps even more specifically at this particular establishment. She glared at her, “I said it’s okay. I know the owner, so… ”

“As do I.” Thena almost blinked; she hadn’t really meant to say it quite so firmly. Nonetheless, “and I can only sell the riesling by the glass. Or you can buy the bottle, but you’ll be charged for six glasses.”

“Uh, okay, we’ll just do glasses,” the head of the group rolled her eyes, not waiting a millisecond before looking at her friends with an expression that asked if they could believe what she was putting up with.

Thena clenched her teeth in her jaw, “of course.”

She could see why Sersi and Kingo were competing to see who would be required to endure her presence.

Ajak either had overheard the unabashed argument or simply was familiar with this signature demand. She poured three glasses right on the tray, ready to be taken. “So, you’ve met her.”

“I’m afraid so,” Thena murmured, looking back over at the table of doom, glaring right back at her. She squirmed at even the thought in her head, but she couldn’t resist. “How long?”

Ajak did her best to hide her surprise that she was asking, but her poker face wasn’t quite perfect. She smiled, “just short of a year. He brought her out with us once or twice, and…”

“That would be more than enough,” Thena confirmed as Ajak poured the last glass. “Do you know why they…?”

Ajak shrugged through, “Gil just said it didn’t work out. But you know Gil; if she had a problem with us, he wouldn’t just look the other way. I don’t think he was exactly brokenhearted over it.”

Thena merely nodded as she pulled the tray onto the flat of her palm. She couldn’t fathom how someone like Gil, with a heart as beautiful as his, could end up with someone so entitled and demanding. She did have to admit she was beautiful, with silky black hair to her back and sharp, dark eyes.

“Thank god!”

Thena set down the glasses gently; it wasn’t as if they were going to die from dehydration in the two seconds it took her to retrieve them. She stood again, holding the tray in front of her, “and have you decided what you would like to eat?”

“Mm-hm,” she pursed her lips. “And those apps are coming, right?”

Thena’s eye twitched; they had ordered them less than five minutes ago, “they’re being prepared now.”

“Okay, great,” she adjusted herself in her chair, waving her hair out behind her. “So, she’ll have the chicken, she’ll have the steak, and I want whatever the special is tonight.”

Thena blinked. Apparently the other two didn’t need to speak for themselves at all. Who would get the chance, with a ‘friend’ like this anyway? She held her breath, “would you like to know what it is, first?”

“No,” she gave Thena another ‘cute’ smile that was so thin it was translucent. “Gil always makes something special for me.”

Thena inhaled, putting a nice thin smile of her own. “I see–well I’ll tell him to come up with something very special, then.”

“Okay, thank you so much.”

Thena released her breath as the menus were all but slapped against her fingers and the tray. She accepted them, trying not to seem like she was trying to rip them out of the younger woman’s hand. “Thank you.”

“Gil still makes you specials?”

They had specials every week, sometimes per night, depending on what he bought.

“Poor thing is still so in love with me.”

Thena nearly dropped the menus and tray in her hands, catching them just in time to keep them from clattering to the floor. She swallowed an uncomfortable lump in her throat as she went to type in and send their main course order.

“See what we mean?”

“Indeed I do,” Thena confirmed, feeling Kingo hovering around her as she kept her eyes on the screen. “She is…unique.”

“Is that manager for-” Kingo began until Sersi cut him off.

“At least it’s over for now. All you have to deal with is her asking for a free meal,” Sersi offered half in sympathy and half in glee that it wasn’t she who would have to fight that battle.

“And asking if Gil has time to come out and talk to her.”

Thena shook her head, typing in the orders with a little more force than necessary. “Which he absolutely does not, do you understand me?”

Kingo and Sersi traded looks.

“That woman is not allowed to disturb Gil in any way,” Thena grumbled as she sent off the order, including a ‘special…whatever that may be’. “As far as she’s concerned, he’s indisposed, and I don’t care if she threatens to burn this place to the ground.”

Kingo made some kind of face that entailed a smile, but nodded, “yes sir, boss lady!”

Sersi had a somewhat less cryptic expression on and smiled as she prepared to go back to her other tables as well, “I’m sure Gil will appreciate you protecting him.”

Thena just blinked, considering her words as she was left to the only table of hers that needed seeing to. She wasn’t being protective of him. She was just…trying to contain a problem. That was her job, as the manager, after all.

The rest of them were already suffering enough. There was no reason to condemn Gil to the same fate.

Chapter Text

“Thena!”

She looked up, not at the back door to the restaurant, but up at Gil’s balcony, where he was leaning over the railing and waving at her. “Hi?”

“Come up for a second?” he asked, beckoning her with his hand, “I want your opinion on something.”

Thena watched as he disappeared back into his apartment; she had no idea why felt the need to be so cryptic about it. But she walked up the back steps as slowly as she desired. Yesterday - mostly serving Gil’s ex - really took it out of her.

“Right this way!” he beamed at her, holding the door open like he was escorting her into paradise. “Hey Doughy, look who’s here.”

He needn’t have called for him. Doughy came trotting out, spinning himself in circles at the sight of his favourite co-parent.

Thena bent down to the little dog, petting between his ears and accepting his eagerly given paw, “and good morning to you, too.”

Doughy sat himself nicely in front of her.

“He wants more of today’s dessert.”

It did smell wonderful in the apartment–a pleasant mix of whatever Gil had been cooking and something…something muskier. It was a nice smell, though, Thena noted as she walked in further. The living room was astonishingly bright, due to the massive window taking up almost the whole wall.

“Ta-da!”

Thena laughed, smiling as Gil slipped the powder-sugar-covered doughnut into her hands, complete with the signature spurt of jelly sticking out of it. “You really made them?”

“Try it,” he said more gently, picking up one for himself too, although he immediately tore off a chunk, blowing on it before tossing it into the little food dish in the corner.

Thena took a careful bite. Rather than a cakey, yeasty doughnut dough, it felt chewier, almost like a bao bun. And the filling wasn’t a fruit jam, so much as it seemed to be a thickened syrup of some kind. “Gil, it’s…amazing.”

“You think so?” he asked eagerly, already enthralled with her enjoyment of it. He took a bite of his own. “I’m calling it a dough-tteok.”

Thena looked at it. She knew that hotteok were handheld snacks in Korea, usually with a sugar filling. But she had never had one for herself. “A hotteok doughnut?”

“Yep!” he grinned at her before moving closer to her, “the idea is kind of inspired by the bao buns I made for the food festival. I thought about that dough and then, why not fry it? So I gave them a light double fry, dusted them in sugar, and for the filling I made a brown sugar syrup with just a little strawberry juice for the acidity. Have to make sure it looks like him.”

Thena smiled down at Doughy, who did indeed bear a resemblance to the dessert in her hand. She looked up at Gil again, who really did look so elated by her praise she wondered if maybe she should have been eating his desserts more often before now. “Really Gil, it’s delicious. People will love them.”

“Well, it’s a little bit different,” he shrugged, turning more sheepish when considering how the general public might receive them. He put the lid on the containers he had on the counter. “I just made two dozen to start, and that’s if-”

“They’ll sell out in a second.” Gil looked at her as if he were surprised, but she wouldn’t be shaken from the confidence with which she had stated it. She took another bite of hers, even licking the sugar off her fingers, “I wouldn’t be surprised if people ask us to make them a staple.”

“Ah, well,” he blushed, nothing short of modest about his own creations. “Thanks for being the taste tester for them. I was hanging out with Doughy last night and it just…hit me.”

The Doughnut himself barked happily at being talked about so much, whether it was himself or his namesake dessert.

Thena tilted her head, looking out into the living room off of the kitchen, “are you ready for that big storm that’s coming in?”

“Right, that,” Gil sighed as he slid the containers into his backpack to carry flat in his arms down to Olympia. “I mean, I guess?–I have some bottles of water, and plenty of food for the little guy. I was going to tarp up the window just in case, but-”

“You could come stay with me.”

“Huh?” Gil turned to her as he was slipping his feet into his shoes.

She had offered before she even knew what was flying out of her mouth. But, looking at Gil and Doughy, she repeated it. “Y-You could come and stay with me through the storm. I’m at least on the ground floor of a townhouse, and the trees have all been trimmed on my street already.”

Gil looked down at Doughy and back to her, “uh, you sure?”

Thena frowned, straightening her back. “When have you known me to not be sure of what I say?”

He snorted. “Okay, you got me there. I mean, if you’re really sure you wouldn’t mind.”

She shook her head, giving Doughy another pat on the head before they left for the evening, “I’m sure the company will be nice, if the storm is as bad as they say.”

Gil shrugged, pulling out his keys, “I don’t know if it will be. I’ve never paid much attention to that stuff before.”

She knew he hadn’t. That was exactly why she had examined his insurance policies herself. She turned to Doughy as she went out ahead of Gil so he could lock up, “be good. We’ll come back tonight.”

The little dog tilted his head, maybe not understanding all of it, but dutifully resigning himself to watching the apartment while they were gone.

Gil chuckled as he pulled the door closed to lock it, “such a little sucker for you.”

She was a bit of a sucker for the little dog as well, she feared.

“I have to thank you, anyway.”

“For what?” she blinked as they started the short trip down to work, keeping her eyes on the stairs ahead of her.

“Protecting me from my ex last night.”

She didn’t stumble at least, but an annoying streak of heat shot up the back of her neck at the mention. “Hm?”

“Sersi and Kingo and Ajak all told me she was here,” Gil snickered, although she didn’t appreciate feeling lied to by omission. “Plus when you sent a request for the special, even though I said there wasn’t one–I knew it was her.”

Thena’s embarrassment didn’t subside, although she didn’t even know what she felt so flustered over. “I was attempting to spare you from that.”

“I mean, I didn’t have to come out and listen to her tell her friends about what a terrible boyfriend I was,” he shrugged, entirely in good nature despite the insulting nature of what he was saying.

Thena frowned. She had overheard the woman claiming the exact opposite–that he was madly in love with her. But perhaps the words of a customer like that weren’t worth their weight. “I suppose if we get a bad review about my service, you’ll know why.”

“Ah, I wouldn’t believe it anyway,” he waved it away easily. “You’re never a dick to anyone unless they deserve it.”

“I would prefer to think I don’t behave in such a way at all,” Thena muttered to herself, although even she knew better than to think she was always the picture of customer service’s finest. “But I see what you mean.”

“Thanks for keeping her at bay, anyhow,” Gil shrugged as he finally opened up the back door and let her in ahead of him.

“Just,” Thena held her head high, ignoring the mess of things she was feeling from the exposure, “doing my job.”

Chapter Text

“Whoa.”

Thena’s place looked kind of…the way he expected it might. It was pretty, for sure. The whole place was either white or a light cream colour, kind of like her hair. Either she went to the trouble of cleaning up before he came, or it always looked this immaculate.

Doughy trotted in, happily wagging his tail and sniffing around the new place.

“Hey, Doughy, go easy buddy,” Gil attempted to talk some sense into the little dog already making the place his own.

“It’s fine,” Thena smiled, letting the little guy sniff out her place as he liked. “He’s never been anywhere else. I would expect him to be trepidatious.”

Gil chuckled, setting down his bag with supplies for him and Doughy. “I didn’t exactly have time to give him etiquette lessons.”

“Well?” Thena cooed to the little dog, kneeling down to him. He cantered back over to her, sniffing around her palm before giving it a few licks, “just for a day or two, my little Doughnut. Then you’ll be home safe and sound again.”

Gil just shook his head, astounded as ever that the dog seemed to understand Thena on a near spiritual level. She nodded at the little fox wire terrier, who offered his paw in agreement. Gil resumed unpacking his bag, pulling out what Doughy needed first. He had brought a container of regular old food, as well as whatever he didn’t think would keep in the restaurant fridge. “C’mere bud.”

Doughy circled Thena’s legs a few more times before coming over to Gil, who raised an eyebrow at him. “I feed you every single night, take you on walks-”

“I do accompany you on occasion for those,” Thena interjected.

“Take you on walks,” Gil resumed, smirking at her for the interruption. He shook Doughy’s food container as he stood, moving into the kitchen with her. “We’re here for one night and he’s ready to move in.”

Thena was too amused by Doughy’s little claws tip-tapping on the tile of her kitchen floor. “Sit.”

Gil set out the bowls he also brought, handing one to Thena, “you’re gonna eat like a king tonight, buddy.”

Thena knelt down with the water dish, “you’re quite famous now, little Doughnut.”

Doughy tilted his head at her.

“The dough-tteok tonight were a huge success,” Thena smiled, and Gil had to actually look up at her to make sure she was saying this to him and not Doughy. He blushed faintly at her unabashed compliment of the dessert.

“I’m glad people liked them,” he murmured quietly.

“They loved them, Gil,” Thena continued to speak gently as Gil emptied a container of boiled veggies to add to his regular old dry kibble. She scratched Doughy’s back as he waited patiently, “I had plenty of people asking me if we planned on making them a permanent fixture.”

Gil squirmed. He mostly made the desserts because he actually liked it, and it was ultimately cheaper than ordering from some ready-made company. But as much as the average dessert could be appreciated, he hadn’t really taken a chance on a creation quite like the dough-tteoks before.

“I personally loved them.”

Gil’s brows raised, although Thena stood and moved away from Doughy as he started eating. Her hand, which had ever so gently touched his arm as she expressed her pleasure with the dessert as well, moved away with her. “Are you trying to flatter me into making them again?”

“Are you so susceptible to flattery?” she challenged before retrieving what she had stood for initially. She extended a beer to him, “hm?”

“Thanks,” he grinned, letting her deposit the nice cold bottle into his palm. He took the cap off with his hand while Thena used a dish towel to protect her softer skin from the cap’s ridges. “I didn’t take you for a beer drinker.”

Thena shrugged at the statement, “I can indulge on occasion. We’re closed for the next two days at least anyway–why not?”

She had a point. Gil sighed, leaning against her kitchen counter. The night wasn’t particularly busy, as he had guessed with the coming storm. Kingo and Sersi had both helped them close things early, while they had given Ajak the night off all together. She was due within the next week, after all, and none of them wanted to risk her going into labour at the restaurant.

“So, what do you think?” he asked, mostly to fill the silence while Doughy was scarfing down his food. But he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious, “being here for a few months now?”

Thena smiled. She gave him the same challenging look, almost a little flirty. “Is this my quarterly performance review?”

“I’ve never done one of those in my life,” he countered honestly, making her laugh. She had a cute laugh. “I’m asking if you like working here.”

“I do.” It was a short and sweet answer, but he guessed it was honest, based on the almost shy way she looked down at Doughy when she said it. “I’ve turned down a hell of an offer to return for you, haven’t I?”

Their faint laughter settled between them and Gil looked up at her again. “Have you considered?--I mean really considered it, though?”

Thena looked down again. He wasn’t used to seeing her avoid the problem at hand. “I’m still not taking it.”

Gil eyed her before leaning off his edge of the counter and walking closer to her. “Have you told them that?”

“Repeatedly.”

Right, still Thena. He smiled though, “has that little creep come around to bother you again?”

“No,” she smiled as well, which at least meant she was being truthful. “I’ve gotten a few more calls, though. I don’t know why in the world they can’t seem to accept no for an answer.”

They just wanted her back that badly. Gil took another sip of his beer. “Do you think there’s any offer in the world they could make for you to go back?”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

She asked it with a light, jovial tone. But Gil felt that he had gotten to know Thena somewhat well in her time with him. And he could certainly tell that something was off about her little joke. “Do you think I am?”

She shrugged, running her finger around the mouth of her beer bottle. “I am temporary, no matter what offers I do or don’t have, aren’t I? Once Ajak comes back to work, you’ll no longer need me.”

Was that what she thought?–that he would decide he was done with her and just shove her out the door with a severance package? Gil frowned, “what?”

Thena turned sheepish again, her hands desperately fidgeting with the bottle to displace her nervous energy, “sorry.”

“Thena,” Gil drew in a breath. “I did mean it, when I told you that I could see you working for us forever. Or however long, I mean. You’re part of the team and everyone, including Ajak, thinks so. I’m not exactly counting down the days until you leave.”

He dreaded them.

“You,” Thena started and then paused, running her tongue over her lower lip. She tilted her head at him, “you would keep me on?–afterwards, I mean?”

In a heartbeat. “You kidding? I had my doubts, sure. But since you came on I’ve been sleeping better, my back hurts less. And I have a dog now!”

Doughy looked up from his food, just to bark his way into the story they were telling without him.

“That’s right,” Gil chuckled, smiling at the pup until he went back to his food. He turned his attention back to Thena, who seemed surprisingly pleased to hear it. “Thena, if you would consider it, I would love to have you stay on.”

“I-” she paused again. As much as she didn’t want to go back to Titan, maybe staying at Olympia hadn’t really been in her plans, either. “I would-”

“Look,” he interrupted her as gently as possible. He motioned with his beer bottle, “you don’t have to decide anything right now, okay? You can feel it out–you can see if you get a better offer.”

She opened her mouth to assert once again that she wouldn’t be doing that.

But Gil just smiled, pulling her empty bottle from her hands and set it next to the sink with his own, “just think about it, okay?–really think about it?”

She smiled at him, her hand lingering close to his but not really reaching out. “I’ll think about it.”

Chapter Text

Gil startled awake from some debris from outside hitting the window. He had done pretty well with the wind and its volume up until now. He peeked out the curtains, mostly seeing the lighter sky against the completely black silhouette of the trees and buildings across the street.

He saw the quickest of flashes, and then a sharp clap of thunder followed it. There was probably not much of a chance he would be sleeping tonight. Thena had said goodnight after a little chatting over a late night cup of instant noodles and a second of two beers on the couch. Doughy had spent the evening living the best night of his little life, his chin on Thena’s thigh as she rubbed the fur on his back.

Initially she had said he wasn’t allowed on the couch. Gil had even brought his little dog bed with him! But by the second hour of them being there, she had him up on her lap, receiving all sorts of praise and compliments about what a ‘good boy’ he was. Gil had never seen him so happy.

“Doughy?” he whispered into the dark, his eyes adjusting slowly.

All he got in reply was a faint little whine.

“Doughnut?” he whispered again, sitting up from the couch. He sighed, touching his sock feet onto Thena’s area rug again. Doughy was so little, he had to crouch down slightly to try and find the little white terrier. “Doughy, where are you?”

Another little whine.

“Gil?”

He turned, much more spooked by the soft and beautiful voice calling his name than the storm outside. “Thought you were a ghost for a second.”

“Sorry,” Thena offered sheepishly, even looking the part with a flowy cardigan on over her long nightdress. She shuffled into the living room further, “I just wanted check on-”

Another crack of thunder made Thena physically jump, wrapping her cardigan and her arms tighter around herself. Gil raised his eyebrows, for all she had talked about storm preparation and the precautions they would have to take, she had never mentioned she was scared of thunder.

“Doughy!”

Gil rolled his eyes, although he did hope Thena didn’t see it. Of course she was checking on the dog.

“Doughy,” she called again, but the pup was hiding as well as he could behind her couch, whimpering and trembling. She walked over, kneeling down to pick him up, “you poor thing.”

“Whoa!” Gil’s shoulders jumped as another loud bang of thunder felt as if it shook the townhouse. Thena curled around Doughy in her arms, both of them positively shaking. Gil moved closer to them, his hands held out, hovering around her, “whoa, it’s okay.”

Thena cleared her throat, looking around them in the dark of her living room. “S-Sorry.”

Gil hovered close. “Hey, you never said you hated thunder.”

“I don’t-” Thena halted just to flinch at another crack. She made a face at herself, “it’s not something I particularly like.”

Gil raised a brow, but he didn’t poke at it further. Maybe she didn’t seem like the type to get scared of thunderstorms, but he shrugged, “I’m claustrophobic.”

“You are?”

He shrugged just one shoulder, although he was sure his expression would be sheepish. “Just a little. I try to avoid it, but don’t ever let me get locked in the walk-in, is all I’m saying.”

Even in the dark, he caught the way Thena’s face changed. Her focus shifted, presented with a problem that needed managing as opposed to herself and her own problems. She tilted her head, “I had no idea.”

“Well, I don’t like advertising it,” he sufficed to say, although he was happy to share if it got Thena to stop shaking. He let his hands come down from hovering aimlessly to landing on her arms. She felt cold, too. “But I guess it’s unavoidable at times.”

“You let Druig handle the stock, the walk-in fridge,” she noted aloud. “When you said you wouldn’t beat up Eros in the walk-in, you weren’t kidding.”

“Well,” he chuckled, moving his hand down her arm to pet poor little Doughy’s head. “I’ll make an exception if it’s for you–and if it’s to teach that little snot a lesson.”

“How gallant.”

“Fears have to be faced sometime, right?” Another flash of lightning punctuated the moment, making Thena flinch closer to him again. He let her fold herself in closer, his face nearly nudging the side of hers. “You okay?”

“I thought-” she breathed through her next wave of nerves, thunder rolling around them. She huffed at the last of it before dragging in a deeper, rougher breath, “I thought I would be fine.”

“Is that,” he tilted his head right back at her, although he wasn’t nearly as cute when he did it (he was quite sure). “Is that why you invited me here?”

“Gilgamesh, please,” she chided, petting Doughnut for her comfort and his. “Am I so transparent to you?”

“No, and I don’t really think that’s why you invited us here,” he chuckled, also rubbing Doughy’s trembling back. “But maybe it’s nice to have a little company?”

Her eyes lowered, avoiding the truth in his guess. “I really did invite you because I was worried about you and Doughy in that apartment.”

“It’s better for him here, I’m sure.”

“I’m happy to have you both, thunder or no.”

Gil watched the light shoot across Thena’s ghostly pale skin. Her eyes were so green, even in near pitch black. He looked down at Doughy between them. “Hey, why not…sit for a bit?”

“Hm?”

“Is the thunder worse in your room?”

She sighed, pressing her lips to Doughy’s head. “It’s off the main street. There’s a tree outside my window that keeps rapping on it between the thunder.”

Gil nodded. He could see how that would make her anxious. “Exactly–so sit out here for a bit.”

Doughy adjusted himself in Thena’s arms, trying to arch his snout up to lick her face. She laughed, even faintly, but at least it was something. Her affection for the little dog really came through as she held him in her arms, burying her nose in the fur on the top of his head. “Okay.”

Gil turned back to the couch, picking up the blanket she had left for him, moving the pillow and the other throw pillows he’d arranged for himself. He pulled the blanket up around them as Thena took a tentative seat. Doughy settled onto her lap again. He was still panting from his rapid heart, but he settled into Thena’s softness.

“Sh, it’s okay,” she whispered to him, petting his back gently.

Gil stretched his arm out over the back of the couch, behind Thena’s hunched shoulders. He pulled the other blanket she had left out for him over their legs. “A little better?”

“Hm,” she let out gently, but he took it as a yes.

He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling like a teenager again, trying to gather the courage to put his arm around the girl he liked. Except this was Thena, his very strict restaurant manager, and he hoped that she had some trust in him. And certainly if she did, then it was trust in him to not make a move while they were waiting out a terrible storm.

“It’s not just Eros.”

“Hm?” he looked over at her. Her face was perfectly sculpted, even in profile.

“Even if I don’t have to work with Eros, I’m still not sure about working at Titan again,” she clarified, fingers running through Doughy’s fur. “Certainly my memories of the place could be better, at this point. But I suppose I have to admit that maybe I wasn’t particularly valued there, when I left, anyway.”

Gil scoffed, “how the hell does that place - or any place, for the record - let you go unappreciated?”

“Gil,” she scoffed, but he didn’t offer any amendment to his statement. She sighed, “he was a big part of it, I admit. But maybe it was more…he was more a reminder of being stuck.”

“Stuck?”

“I was at Titan for years,” she shook her head. “I got so comfortable there, doing the same thing day in and day out. It was no wonder Eros became enamoured by me.”

“Hey,” Gil turned more in his seat, his arm landing on her shoulders, “that little shit has his own problems. I’m not saying I can’t see why he’d have a little crush, but he’s taking it way too far, and you know it.”

“Yes, that is true,” she sighed down at her lap. “I just…I just never realised that they had come to expect that I would always be there. And then all of a sudden Eros was talking like I would be by his side when he inherited the business, or at least that location, and how happy his parents would be, and I-”

Gil watched her raise her hand in frustration, grasping at nothing in the thin air. He grasped the hand, pulling it back down to Doughy for her. “Thena, you don’t owe them anything. And…and sometimes what you think works for you won’t always.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. He shrugged; she had met his ex, whether this was about her or not. “I’ve always been in search of a more permanent position for myself.”

“Well, what about just a,” he postulated, feeling oddly nervous, “‘good enough for now’ position?”

“Hm,” she said (in a way) as a reply. Her eyes drifted down, and he thought for a second she was looking at his lips, but that seemed unlikely. “A ‘for now’ position.”

“If you’re happy,” he professed, and meant every word, “I’m happy.”

Doughy pawed at her leg, echoing the statement until she resumed petting him.

Chapter Text

“Wow.”

Olympia was a disaster. Shattered glass was everywhere, there were tree branches broken off and sitting in the front window booths. The floors were littered with debris, although at least they had stacked all the chairs and tilted the tables back.

“Gil?”

He walked in with a numb expression, completely blank in the eyes, looking around the remains of his dining room. His head shook faintly.

“Gil,” Thena said gently, walking closer to him, “I-I’m so sorry.”

He didn’t say anything, just staring at the wreckage of the place. “It, uh…it’s…not as bad as I thought.”

“Gil,” she tried again. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to see the state of one’s home like this. His dream was literally sitting shattered around his feet. “Gil, are you okay?”

“Sorry,” he breathed, clearing his throat. He finally turned back to her, a smile on his face but his eyes looking positively aggrieved. “I wasn’t expecting to see it like this, I guess.”

It was rough, to say the least. It looked positively desecrated, not to mention what it would take to fix the windows. Closing for two days had been too optimistic of them. It would probably take them a whole day just to get the place cleaned up.

Thena hovered a few feet back from him. She didn’t have the words. Even after their talk last night - and incidentally waking up on the couch together this morning - couldn’t prepare her for helping him with this. Olympia was Gil’s pride and joy, after all. She gulped.

Gil turned as she came up beside him, her hand on his back. He nodded, although he still seemed shocked.

Thena moved her hand slowly and gently. She wasn’t sure what constituted too much–a step over the line of what a manager would do in this situation. Even as his friend, this might be too much. But then she looked at his face, and she just wanted to do something to fix that look. She gripped his arm, “we’ll take care of it. It’ll be good as new.”

He sighed, and this time his shoulders sank with it. He looked at her, her hand on his arm and the other on his back. He smiled, though, weak as it was. “Thanks, Thena.”

Anything sprang to mind, but she pinched her lips closed to smile at him instead. She let go of his arm, clearing her throat and switching from expressing her feelings to business–in which she was much more fluent. “This is why I updated your insurance policy.”

She rolled her eyes at herself. But Gil looked at her as if she had said something else entirely. He was looking at her as if she had professed something very loving and heartfelt, which she hadn’t, so she didn’t know why he was staring at her like that. She blushed.

“Thanks,” he sufficed, turning around and kicking at some stray branches on the floor. “I remember you telling me about it way back; I guess it really did pay off.”

Oh, it would. She had asked for more coverage, and for a larger pay out given the time he had spent with the company.

Thena walked around the room, searching for a good place to start. She pulled her notebook out of her coat pocket, “we can get most of this cleaned up ourselves. Although I would like to consider getting services in here to resurface the floors.”

“Sure.”

She frowned. Gil drifted around, listlessly kicking at glass shards and leaves. She closed her notebook gently; this was not the time. But it was the only way she knew how to do what she did. Her fingers tapped against the edge of the book. She needed to expand her skills.

Gil stopped short as she threw her arms around him.

“Gil, I’m so sorry, but I promise we won’t rest until Olympia looks as good as new again.” The words came rushing out of her mouth, spilling over in her desperation for him to understand what she was trying to communicate, both in words and otherwise.

Slowly his arms came up from his sides and wrapped around her as well. He relaxed against her, his cheek on top of her hair as he let go an even deeper sigh than before. “I know. It’s hard to see her like this, but I guess this was bound to happen.”

“I’m glad you weren’t here for it when it happened,” she professed. Maybe it wasn’t the nicest thing to say, but was as honest as she could get. “You or Doughy.”

He chuckled. “I’ll have to take a look at what the apartment is like. Doughy probably shouldn’t be out here at all–too much glass for his little paws.”

No, their little Doughnut would come nowhere near this disaster. He was in the car currently, leashed to the steering wheel with the windows down.

“You should check upstairs,” Thena suggested gently. She pulled away, running her hands down his arms, “take a look at what has to be done. I’ll start making arrangements here.”

Gil looked around the disaster of a dining room and then at her, “are you sure?”

She smiled as normally as she could, “I’ll just start things off for us.”

He ended up nodding, drifting back towards the kitchen and out back, hands still in his pockets. Not that she would expect him to perk up just like that, but there was something so disheartening about seeing him saddened. And she intended to change that.

Thena pulled out her phone, putting it to her ear as she started kicking debris away to clear a path at least to the front door. “Sersi?”

“Thena!” her light and fluttery voice greeted on the other end. “It’s so good to hear from you! How was the storm?”

“Unfortunately, I think it took a rather hefty toll on Olympia, and Gil’s apartment,” Thena lamented into the phone as she finally reached the door. “I’m here with him now. He’s gone up to see what the damage is upstairs.”

“How bad is it?”

Even being there for the brief time she had, it pained even her to see the state of the place. “Bad.”

“Oh, poor Gil,” Sersi sighed.

“Indeed,” Thena got back to business, which was what she was good at. “I can start making calls, but I think seeing Olympia less decimated would really lift his spirits.”

“When should we come?”

Thena paused. As much as she had thought it would be such a grand gesture to call them here to help clean the place up, they also had their own lives to attend to. “Just…if you can. You must have-”

“I didn’t ask if we should come, I asked when, Thena.” Sersi laughed on her end. “Ajak has already texted me and Kingo to ask when we were planning on coming over to help you anyway. I might as well tell them the sooner the better.”

Gil really did have a wonderful family for a staff. “Thanks you, Sersi.”

Chapter Text

It really did take a solid couple of hours of work, between Thena doing what she could in the dining room while Gil did the minimum of work up in his apartment. He eventually joined her downstairs again, helping move some of the larger branches outside for the city to collect.

Thena did manage to get someone to actually respond to their call for an emergency window consultation. It made sense that window businesses all over the city would be completely swamped with calls.

“I need it in three,” Thena clarified to the glaziers, who were tarping up the frame after their assessment.

“It’s a big sheet, ma’am,” one of the workmen tipped his hard-hat up as he looked at her. “Usually it takes two days just to get it cut.”

“So three is doable,” Thena jumped at the opening, and he chuckled at her gumption. She unfolded her arms, raising her brows and widening her eyes at him, “please?”

Gil watched the poor guy blush in the face of his beautiful client, clearing his throat as she visibly flustered him with how cute she could look. Gil rolled his eyes.

“We’ll, uh, we’ll call you when we’re en route with the pane–whole thing will probably take about thirty minutes to install.”

“Any time,” Thena smiled at him, fluttering her lashes a little for good measure. “I’ll be here.”

Gil stepped up beside her, also looking at the man in whose hands his restaurant hung. Although he neither fluttered his lashes nor smiled at the guy. “We appreciate it.”

“You folks take care,” he nodded to them before heading outside with the rest of his crew.

“Ugh,” Thena let go of her scrunched up posture, rubbing her eyes as if it had been painful to flirt like that. “I was really hoping they could get it done in two.”

Gil chuckled as she walked past him, all but throwing herself into table 23 (the small booth facing the window). He joined her, also throwing himself down with a certain fatigue to him. “Hey, you really gave it your best shot.”

“I do what has to be done, Gilgamesh.”

“Thena,” Gil laughed, much to her annoyance, “you got that poor bastard’s hopes up for nothing?”

She stared at him for just one more second, before actually letting out a little laugh. “I suppose I’m a terrible, wanton woman for it.”

“Hey, I don’t think he’d like my attempts,” Gil shrugged, getting even more laughter out of her. “If you hadn’t smiled at him like that we’d probably be getting it two weeks from now.”

Thena sighed, leaning against the back of the booth as the weight of everything settled over her. “We should tell the others that we won’t have anything to open for until after this weekend.”

“I’ll put it in the group text,” Gil nodded, also leaning against the plush back of the booth seat. At least the view out of the remaining window was nice. He looked at Thena beside him, visibly calculating things in her mind after doing a few hours of manual labour with him. “Hey.”

She looked over at him.

It reminded him of last night, sitting on the couch with her talking about what the near future looked like. It had been a long time since he’d been able to talk with anyone about that kind of thing. It didn’t feel right talking about it with most of his employees, feeling a little too much like their futures were in the palm of his hand.

But Thena already had her future, any variation of it, well in hand. He was the one trying to convince her to make him - them! - a part of it.

“Gil?” she frowned at him again, scooching closer in the booth. She had been worried about him since he was so shell shocked upon arriving.

He slipped his hand under hers on the pleather seat, turning it over so he could hold her slim hand more properly in his. “Thanks, I mean, for everything.”

She paused, and he could practically hear her brain running a mile a minute to think of what to say to him. Thena was always careful about her words and which exactly would serve her the best for the current situation. Eventually, her thumb came up to the side of his hand, “of course, Gil.”

It was all encompassing, because Thena was nothing if not efficient. She meant of course she was here, of course she would help, of course it was her job, and of course she was going above and beyond for him, yet again.

She was much more actions than words, his staunch manager. Like how she could bring up his changed insurance policy as a way of saying that she would do everything she could to help him through his difficult time. The message was the same, just different words.

“We should check on Doughy.”

“In a second,” Gil smiled. He was tired, and he was enjoying relaxing for a quick moment, her hand in his hand. He reached up, brushing some hair back and behind her ear for her. “I think he’ll understand if we need to rest for a hot minute.”

“Hm,” Thena allowed, with maybe just as much fatigue in her. It was just a suspicion, but she also relaxed against the back of the booth more, curled in his direction, the work they had done thus far catching up with her.

He hadn’t told her, but he had woken up before her this morning on the couch. She had been completely curled up in his arms, Doughy in her lap like the little dough-brain he was, an utter baby in the embrace of his favourite human. Gil had held both of them through the night.

He had pretended to be asleep when Thena started waking up. He’d had a feeling she would only feel embarrassed about the whole thing, and the last thing he wanted to do was startle, or embarrass her or make her uncomfortable in any way. This wasn’t even just about her working for him, he just…he just wanted Thena to feel at ease around him.

She did look completely and utterly stunning first thing in the morning though.

“Hey, Gil we–oh shit!”

Gil and Thena startled apart in the booth. Her pale cheeks flushed vivid rouge. Gil sat up to peek over the back of the booth, where Sersi was wrestling with Kingo not to blow their cover, spying on them from the kitchen. He sighed, “well, they’re here.”

Thena cleared her throat, “good.”

Gil sighed through his nose as she slid out the other end of the booth to go brief them on the situation. It was a short lived moment, but he would prefer it over no moment at all. He smiled as she paused part way across the room, pressing the inside of her jacket collar to her cheeks.

“Sorry,” Sersi apologised the second she was in the room. “We didn’t mean to-”

“We’re glad you’re here,” Thena cut her off, not allowing so much as an acknowledgement of the moment they had in fact interrupted. “The window will take three days to make, and be delivered some time next week.”

“How’s Gil doing?” Kingo asked, straightening out his jacket after Sersi had wrestled him away from the scene.

Gil smiled as he walked over to them, Thena looking at him just to check that he was indeed okay when she stated, “he’ll be fine.”

“How did you all do?” Gil asked as he joined his team in their huddle between the kitchen and the dining room.

“My power went out,” Kingo pouted and crossed his arms, “sucked.”

“Yes, I imagine you were quite bereft without your usual level of stimulation,” Thena mused and maybe even had a hint of a joking tone as she said it. She looked at Sersi, “Ajak?”

“I’m here!” the woman announced herself, huffing down the stairs with her swollen belly dragging her very petite frame. “I’m here.”

“Will you sit down,” Gil frowned, rushing forward to help her, although she just swatted him away like an errant fly, “please?”

“I’m fine,” Ajak grunted, although her face dissolved into shock as she got a look at the dining room, even after the work that he and Thena had already done. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Gil still winced as the tarps in the windows cracked with winds outside beating against them.

“And I thought outside looked bad,” Druig added, completely unhelpfully as he sauntered in at last. “Least we’re all still alive and standin’, I s’pose.”

“Speak for yourself,” Kingo snorted as he finally got Ajak lowered down to a chair.

“You did just fine during the storm,” Thena less asked and declared as a fact. He tilted his head at her but she gave him what almost qualified as a smirk, “Kari texted me.”

Gil managed to hide his laughter by pretending to rub the scruff on his cheeks. He’d never seen Druig blush. “Okay, okay, let’s get this show on the road.”

“I brought brooms!” Sersi volunteered entirely too happily for the manual labour that was about to happen. “I had extra at home. Ikaris wanted to help, but he’s currently at his office, probably doing the same thing we are.”

“It’s okay,” Gil assured her, taking a broom for himself and handing one to Thena as well. “We’ve got the big stuff out, at least. It’s mostly gonna be sweeping and mopping and getting everything upright again, from here. Can’t power anything on until the windows are done anyway.”

“Okay, let’s do this,” Kingo droned like a teenager being forced into his chores. He and Druig both grumbled, and yet gravitated towards the messier walkways to do the heaviest lifting.

Thena and Sersi moved to the corners and behind the bar, making sure everything was in order. Gil moved over to his previous hostess’ side. He nudged her shoulder, “how you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Ajak rolled her eyes at him at first. But she smiled, patting her belly. “We were just fine through everything. You and Thena did okay?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, looking out over the restaurant that was almost as much Ajak’s as it was his. “We were nice and snug at her place–I don’t know how I’m ever gonna get Doughy settled in my place again. Little bugger was in paradise, there.”

“You could always split custody of him,” Ajak suggested, half teasing him and probably more serious than he wanted to think about. “How was she?–with the thunder, I mean?”

“You knew?” Gil frowned. He really had no clue about Thena’s aversion to it, but if everyone else knew he was just going to feel like an ass. And maybe…left out, or something.

“Just a feeling,” Ajak excused immediately, patting Gil’s arm as if she had sensed his feelings over it. “There was a night when Kingo was getting a bus bin to help Sersi clear off a table. He dropped some plates in a little loudly. Nothing broke, but I didn’t think it was possible for Thena to get even more pale than she already is.”

Gil just nodded. That would be something Ajak would notice, he supposed. Had he known, he would have given Kingo an earful. But then again, that probably wasn’t part of being their boss.

“Don’t worry, Gil, I’m sure you were a big comfort for her to have there.”

He blushed, fidgeting with the broom in his hands. He should have been out there helping them, but he looked down at Ajak again, “enough about me. What about you? Was everything okay?”

“Gil, it’s fine,” she shrugged, standing up for herself, although she winced as she did. She put her hand on her back with a sigh, “my water broke last night, but nothing’s happened since.”

“What?!!”

Chapter Text

The waiting area was tensely silent. No one else was there, which seemed a miracle. But perhaps the waiting areas for the emergency room were much more occupied than the waiting areas in obstetrics.

Sersi sat silently, hands clasped over her inward drawing knees. She had texted her husband about the situation, who was continually texting her with such urgency that one could assume she was the one having a baby. Kingo was beside her, muttering about what possible names Ajak had chosen (given her refusal to tell any of them beforehand).

Druig was across from them, in his own little world but still there for them, as was his way. He had texted Makkari, it seemed, who had become closer with the rest of them via Thena and now himself.

Gil sat closest to the door, his knee bouncing as he hunched over his knees. He kept thinking over and over about Ajak when she arrived. She had never had trouble with the stairs before, even this late in her trimester, he should have guessed something was wrong. She never had trouble getting up and down from her seat either. How much had he not noticed?

Thena’s hand slipped over his, silently and subtly, the way she did everything.

She was right next to him. It might almost appear that she didn’t have the level of worry the rest of them did, seeming to sit quite normally. Her posture was a little stiff but she didn’t appear a nervous wreck. But Gil knew better.

Her other hand was squeezed into a fist on her lap, her fingers wringing repeatedly, the muscles and bones of her knuckles plainly visible in her slim physicality. Her legs were still, one crossed over the other, but every once in a while he could see her calf muscle twitching under the shimmering pearl/cream colour of her leggings.

Gil moved his hand to grasp hers. It was less subtle than she had been, but he didn’t have it in him to care that much about it at the moment. He was far too worried about Ajak being in there by herself to care if the rest of them saw him holding hands with Thena.

He had offered to go in with her, even if Ajak said she had planned to deliver alone. She had told him that if he thought she was going to let him watch her push a baby out of her nethers and possibly shit the bed in the process, then he had another thing coming–her own words, of course.

“She’ll be fine.”

He lifted his head faintly. Thena had whispered it, so gently that even in the utter silence of the rest of the room, no one else seemed to have heard it. He nodded, squeezing her hand in his again. It was so slim, so soft and delicate and lovely. It felt so smooth against the callouses and burns that he suddenly felt extra conscious of on his own hands.

“You’re the family?”

“Yes!” Gil shot to his feet, as did everyone else, including Thena beside him, her hand on his arm. He was still holding her hand. “Yes, w-we’re all the family, is she okay?”

“They’ve both pulled through wonderfully,” the doctor informed them with a very generous gentility, obviously used to seeing people positively sick with worry. “She’s being moved to her room now. Usually only a few are allowed in at a time, but the mother has requested you all be permitted to see her.”

“Thank you,” Sersi thanked the doctor before they headed back into the delivery room. She let out a shaky sigh of relief.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Kingo comforted her, reasserting himself as her annoying but supportive work-brother. “They’re both doing great. And I knew you’re dying to see that baby.”

Sersi sniffled, “I am.”

“Well ‘en, dry yourself up,” Druig grumbled but also offered Sersi some tissues that were on top of a stack of magazines. “No use gettin’ ‘em all teary.”

Thena looked at Gil with a smile, “they’re sweet.”

“They can be,” he chuckled, following behind the three of them as they headed towards the room. “It doesn’t feel real yet.”

“I suppose not,” she said gently as she walked at his pace, as if afraid he would collapse if she didn’t watch him closely. “It’s a good thing you got her here when you did, Gil.”

Ajak herself had insisted that she didn’t have to come in yet because she was barely dilated. Gil had heard ‘water broke last night’ and threatened to throw her over his shoulder and run to the hospital himself.

He locked his fingers together with Thena’s. She didn’t complain, and frankly, he needed this. “I don’t know what I would have done if-”

“Hey,” Thena said gently, bumping her shoulder against his between soft, tiny steps. “No ‘if’s, and that’s not the case, anyhow. Ajak and the baby are both alive and well.”

“And well,” Gil repeated. He would believe it when he saw it. Kingo and Sersi turned the corner into the room first. He smiled; he could hear Sersi’s gasp from all the way back next to Thena. He looked at her, “you ready?”

“Hm,” Thena’s lips pinched together just for a second before nodding. “It has been a long time since I’ve been on baby duty.”

“It’ll be fine,” Gil chuckled. “Just think of Jack.”

Thena smiled at him, “you haven’t forgotten about that?”

“How could I?” How could he forget utterly embarrassing himself like a petty, jealous boyfriend over a story about her nephew?

She was beautiful.

“Come on in,” Ajak smiled, holding the little bundle, already cleaned and tested and now sleeping the first hours of her little life. “Come see her.”

It was a beautiful little girl, with features just like her mother’s, including a few wisps of already jet black hair.

“Ajak,” Sersi blubbered, already a mess at the sight of her friend, mother and baby together at last.

“Stop it,” Druig nudged her with his elbow, although he was blinking more than he usually did.

“Look at you,” Kingo whispered in utter glee, actually the first to lean in and get a better look at the little one.

“Gil,” Ajak whispered from the bed, pulling him forward. Her eyes drifted down to Thena, actively letting go of his hand to let him settle at Ajak’s side.

He sighed, sitting in the stool beside the bed. He blinked, completely in awe of the little life a mere hour old. “Wow, hello there.”

The baby stirred, scrunching up her little face.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Gil whispered, raising his finger but stopping just short of actually touching her. As if he radiated warmth, it seemed to settle her, though. “I didn’t mean to.”

“She likes you already,” Ajak laughed faintly, her voice obviously gone from the delivery. “Thena.”

The blonde went stiff, shuffling forward almost shyly. “How are you feeling?”

“Now that I’ve got the drugs in me, just fine,” Ajak laughed a little more strongly this time. She adjusted herself on the pillow. “Thanks for keeping him calm.”

Thena blushed, although Gil glared at her, “hey!”

“I’m guessing he would have been a complete wreck out there,” Ajak smirked, and was right of course. And even if she weren’t, no one was going to argue with her about anything in this moment.

“So,” Druig spoke up gently, “what name’d you pick?”

Ajak smiled, looking down at her bundle of joy again. “I know you all had a bet going, but I’ll tell you now: none of you are going to win.”

Druig and Kingo both scoffed and rolled their eyes. Sersi was still too much of a mess to think about what she had bet on, nor the wager.

“So?” Gil prompted her, still possessed by the sight of the little one. She looked like she could fit into the palm of his hand.

“I thought about it, but something came to me while I was in there,” Ajak narrated, adjusting the baby in her arms. “I looked at her and none of the choices seemed right. So I thought…”

Thena blinked as Ajak looked up at her, but the dots seemed to connect, and both women smiled. Thena leaned over Gil’s shoulder, also gazing at the baby, “it suits her.”

Kingo made a face, “c’mon, why does she get it and we don’t? Mom!”

Ajak shook her head at her other ‘kids’. She angled the baby, “this is Olympia.”

Gil pulled Thena closer, pressing his tears into the sleeve of her sweater. Sersi began a new round of tears and gaspy ‘so beautiful’s. Druig patted her shoulder with the utmost reluctance, while Kingo also ended up sniffling loudly at the name.

“Hello Olympia,” Thena greeted more formally, but no less gently. “You have been born into a wonderful family.”

“She certainly has,” Ajak whispered, kissing her baby’s tiny little forehead. She tugged at the little cap they had already given her. “Gil?”

He was busy crying.

“Gil,” Ajak whispered more strongly.

He sighed, feeling Thena gently pull him up to look at Ajak again. He swiped at his tears messily and sniffled, “okay, okay.”

“Gil,” Ajak said more definitively, bouncing Olympia in her arms. She met his brown eyes with her own, “this is your goddaughter.”

Thena looked at him in alarm as he was the one to go white as a ghost. He shook his head, hands flailing, “n-no, Ajak, I-I can’t-”

“I can’t think of anyone better,” Ajak smiled, the very picture of warmth, even more so than Gilgamesh. She patted Olympia’s shoulder with just the tips of her fingers. “Olympia is your pride and joy, and home to your family, right? Well, mine too, now.”

Gil sighed, blinking through his tears as Ajak leaned over in the bed. He stared at his goddaughter, shaken by the idea of being entrusted with something so beautiful and fragile. Ajak continued to lean, starting to extend her arms. He gulped, “I-I-I-”

“It’s okay,” Thena knelt beside him, moving his arms for him to be able to hold the brand new life. “Hold her here, then move this hand to the side of her.”

Gil watched as Ajak and Thena essentially got Olympia situated in his arm for him. But once they let go, he was truly holding her. She was so light, less than a bag of rice or a hefty steak. He rocked her gently, “h-hey, Olympia. I’m, uh, Gil.”

“Hey, I wanna hold her!”

Sersi elbowed Kingo in the ribs before moving ahead of him in the line to do so.

“You can all have a turn,” Ajak smiled as Gil swayed Olympia gently. Druig stuffed himself into the corner, “unless you don’t want to. You can watch Sersi.”

He shrugged, although he did eventually wander to Sersi’s side to witness the miracle up close.

Thena put her hand on Gil’s shoulder, “she’s comfortable with you.”

He felt both serene and panicked. He was calm with her in his hand, her little body projecting so much warmth, as if she were hot out of the oven. But he also was thinking about how he now had to learn baby stuff, what they could eat, how to burp them. He looked at Thena.

Thena knew all that stuff. Thena had held babies before. And she was looking at Olympia with such a sweet expression. Surely if he needed help with her, he could ask her. She was even a godparent! She would know exactly how to help him, as she always did, of course.

“Gil?” Ajak whispered to his right. “Gil.”

He was still looking at Thena, though. Until she looked up at him, then it was time to look at Olympia again. He blinked, “you know you scared the shit out of us, kid.”

The baby did not care.

“Gil,” Sersi chided, as if the words could already be absorbed into the young mind.

“Okay, okay,” Gil chuckled, getting a little more comfortable with the baby. “Welcome to the family, Olympia.”

Chapter Text

“Thena?”

She looked over, seeing Ajak looking at her while everyone was cooing over baby Olympia. “Hm?”

“It may not seem the time,” Ajak nearly whispered to her, not that anyone was really listening in on their conversation. Gil and Kingo and Druig were all competing to see who could make the newborn laugh (not that it would be possible for some time). “But I have to ask you something.”

“Anything,” Thena lowered herself to Ajak’s side.

“Once upon a time,” Ajak began, looking over at Gil, who was reluctant to let go of his goddaughter in any way. “I had it in my mind that I would be back to work as soon as I possibly could. Get a night sitter, that kind of thing.”

Thena gripped the edge of her balled up jacket on her lap.

“But I think things might be different now.” Ajak looked over as Sersi voiced her protests that Gil was hogging the baby. He resisted, but he was much more helpless to Sersi than he was with Kingo and Druig. Ajak laughed as Sersi lit from within. “She’s so good with her.”

“Of course,” Thena replied, watching the woman rock the infant gently with a blanket already over her shoulder. “She loves all of you, it only-”

“Us.”

“Hm?” Thena blinked, looking at Ajak again.

“She loves all of us,” Ajak clarified, poking Thena with her fingertip, as lazily as possible. “You’re one of us, Thena.”

She smiled down at her lap. She was feeling like that more and more, but she had never been presumptuous enough to voice it of her own volition. “I am happy to have been so accepted by you, no matter how temporary.”

“Well, that’s what I’m saying,” Ajak urged, recapturing her original point. “Thena, I won’t be coming back to work.”

She frowned, “what? Ajak, you-”

“Not full time, anyway,” she shrugged, after giving Thena the fright of her life (and clearly thinking nothing of it). “I thought maybe I would, once upon a time, but I think it’s better if I just be part time.”

Perhaps that did make the best sense. Even since Thena had arrived, Ajak still had a busy schedule. Being pregnant and exhausted was one thing, but actually having a baby to care for and exhausted would be something different–something new.

“And in saying that,” Ajak continued, unbothered by Thena’s silence and contemplative expression. “I would like you to take over for me permanently–if you want, that is. I guess I just assumed, given… ”

Thena furrowed her brows at that, “given what?”

“Well, given-” Ajak made a funny face, her lips twisting in amusement. She moved her eyes obviously and purposefully to Gil, who was already asking for Olympia back from Sersi.

Thena huffed, not appreciating the blatant incrimination. “Excuse me, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay, honey,” Ajak smiled to herself as she dismissed her denial. “Anyway, my offer stands, and they’ll all be on board.”

“Are you quite sure about that?” Thena asked, even as they watched Sersi transfer Olympia back into the crook of Gil’s elbow ever so gently.

“I damn well am.”

Thena looked down as her phone buzzed: Titan.

Ajak cleared her throat, raising her voice just from a whisper to speaking quietly. It wasn’t much, but it was enough, “you should hear them out, Thena.”

Gil’s head whipped up, his eyes bouncing between them before landing on Thena heavily. “Is it them?”

Thena glared at Ajak before shaking her head with a smile, “just spam.”

Gil didn’t buy it. “Take it. Call ‘em back and tell them they can go to-”

“Gil!” Sersi hissed at him.

He sighed, angling himself away from Miss Sersi and her classroom rules, “where the sun don’t shine.”

Thena smiled at Gil, as well as the rest of the group, who were also giving her looks of approval at the idea. She looked down at her phone; they were calling again. She frowned at Ajak, “this is a joyous occasion.”

“And I’ll be even more joyous after you tell those pricks to shove their offer straight up that kid’s ass.”

“Ajak!” Sersi gasped, positively offended on Olympia’s behalf.

Thena laughed, though. They made such a funny little family, the lot of them. She looked down at her phone, “fine, I’ll be back momentarily.”

Perhaps it was high time she told the entire Titan family where they could indeed shove their job offers. Not that the staff had ever felt like a family there. Not in all her years working there did she feel at home, now that she was looking back on it.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” she blinked as Gil slid into the hallway with her, “You let go of Olympia?”

“Well, Sersi’s ready to murder me to get to her, so,” Gil excused lightly with a chuckle. His shoulders drew up faintly, “you, uh, really gonna call them?”

“I know you told me to consider their offer,” she began, tucking her phone under her jacket laid over her wrists for a minute. “But I would much sooner tell them definitively why I won’t be accepting.”

Gil smiled, though. “Hey, if that’s what you want, we’re behind you.”

We–not I, it wasn’t just Gil, it was all of them.

“And uh, can I give you one more thing to consider?”

She tilted her head at him, “sure.”

Gil leaned down, pressing his lips to hers. It was gentle at first, hesitant, just like him. But she leaned into him more, and his hands came out of his pockets so he could hold her waist. His hands were so warm.

Her eyes fluttered open, but she was pleased to see that his were closed for just a fraction of a second longer. She gulped, warmth rushing through her. She hadn’t been kissed like that in…longer than she had been at Ttitan, that was for damn sure.

“Call it a personal offer,” Gil shrugged, although he was somewhat more confident about it than she would have expected him to be. “If you want, uh, I guess.”

That was much more like the sweet and somewhat nervous Gilgamesh she had met a few months ago.

“I’ll tell them I have a much better offer here, then,” she smiled, biting into her lip as a smile threatened to grow well beyond her control.

“Give ‘em hell,” he smiled, leaning in for one more kiss before returning inside. “And, just for the record, this - just now - isn’t, like, conditional. I, uh, I’d like it, at least, if we–if you, that is-”

Thena leaned up, completing the trifecta with another last kiss. She was kissing this man - for whom she worked - an awful lot today, it seemed. He was a good kisser, though. “I’d like that, Gil. If you would too?”

Gilgamesh - dear and sweet - blushed to his ears. “Uh, y-y-yeah!”

She was guilty of a little blush herself, but that was beside the point. She fidgeted with her phone in her hands under her jacket, “I’ll give them a call, be back in a moment.”

“Okay,” he nodded, drifting away slowly and almost reluctantly. “I’ll see you in there.”

“Okay,” she agreed, their eyes lingering like young crushes reluctant to say goodbye. He even gave her a wave as he finally re-entered Ajak’s room. Perhaps her heart did have a bit of a pitter-patter to it. But she had more pressing matters to attend to.

Her phone buzzed: Titan.

“Hey,” she picked up, filling her lungs as she did. “No, you let me talk.”

Chapter Text

“This place is really coming along!”

“She’s here!” Sersi looked up from her job of mopping the refinished floors, practically throwing down the mop and running over to them.

Ajak rolled her eyes as she did not receive the hug from Sersi she might expect, instead being ignored for the baby in the carrier she had in hand. “I should have known.”

“There she is!” Gil popped up from the counter - still under construction - that used to be the bar. “There’s my favourite girl!”

Ajak shook her head, stepping aside for her work family to fawn over her daughter. She looked up at Thena, who had also left her post of overseeing the installation of the new pastry case to see the baby. “Shouldn’t you take offense to that?”

“Hardly,” Thena scoffed, ignoring the implication behind it. “I do believe she is everyone’s favourite girl, as well as the apple of Gil’s eye.”

Indeed Gilgamesh was holding up his goddaughter and making faces at her scrunched up little face.

“How’s construction going?”

“It’d be better with some bloody help, that’s how!” Druig barked at them, not that he was really working up too bad a sweat to take off his black leather jacket.

“Don’t listen to him, we’re almost done,” Kingo laughed as he happily abandoned the group work of installing the shelves on the new dessert station. “Guess whose favourite uncle is here!”

Gil glared at him, holding Olympia against his shoulder, “yeah, dream on, pal.”

Thena rolled her eyes at the boys’ rivalry over the eponymous little girl. She looked at Ajak, “how are you feeling?”

“Oh please, I’m fine, and going nuts stuck at home,” Ajak huffed, although she didn’t really resist as Thena pulled out a chair for her. “Are we on track to reopen next week?”

“I do believe so,” Thena smiled. “Alari will be coming by to write an article for our grand reopening and everything. She’s excited to feature our new dessert sensation.”

“I don’t know if they’re a sensation,” Gil attempted to dissuade her flattery.

“A sensation,” she corrected with a certain smirk. “They sold out within an hour of their debut, I have no doubt they’ll be a hit. And people love being able to see the desserts they’re ordering.”

“And getting them to go,” Kingo added, wandering back to them (since between Gil and Sersi he wasn’t going to get to hold Olympia any time soon). “Major impulse-buy vibes.”

“So you do have some business acumen,” Thena laughed.

“Bless you.”

Ajak laughed more heartily, happily soaking up the chaos around her. She looked up at Thena, “you see that snot rag again?”

“No,” Thena shook her head. “I think he may have attempted to stop by before service one afternoon, but Doughy scared him off.”

“What a dependable little guard dog,” Ajak smiled, looking around, “where is the little Dough-ball?”

“Thena said he’s not allowed to meet Olympia yet,” Gil chuckled, bringing the baby over to her mother again. “He’s upstairs.”

“You know,” Ajak gave him a look as he - finally - handed over her daughter again. “I’m starting to think that my daughter isn’t my own, here.”

“Well, she’s not just yours,” Sersi - of all people - shrugged, completely remorseless in her statement. “She’s our baby.”

“Watch that carrier,” Gil pointed to it with a laugh as he moved towards the kitchen, “she might just pick it right up and leave with it.”

“I would not!”

Kingo and Druig both piped up, “would.”

Thena laughed as Sersi argued with her two work-brothers, the three of them bickering like children. It was like music–made the place more lively. She followed Gil into the kitchen.

“Hey,” he smiled, pulling her in as soon as the kitchen door was closed.

Thena smiled against his lips as he pulled her in for a kiss. She kept it brief, leaning her head back, “where are we?”

“Not in sight of the others,” Gil pointed out, leaning in again.

Thena sighed, her back melting into his touch. She patted his chest, “at work, nonetheless.”

“So?” he whispered, entirely too happy to be breaking the most basic rules of maintaining their professionalism. He swayed them slightly, his hand at the small of her back. “Are you coming up tonight?”

“Hm, we’ll see,” she whispered.

“It’s Doughy,” Gil interjected with a completely straight face. She laughed but he raised his brows at her, “he misses you.”

“I’m sure he can live a few more hours,” Thena argued, leaving his arms with another small kiss.

“I don’t know if he can!” Gil shouted after her as she headed to the walk-in fridge. He sighed, walking back into the dining room. He blinked at the look on absolutely everyone’s faces. “What?”

“Are you still pretending you aren’t together?” Kingo crossed his arms at him, “because you’re doing a terrible job.”

“Wh-!” Gil sputtered, although he knew that his guilt was already spelled out all over his face and to his ears.

“I lost the name betting pool,” Sersi pointed at him, “I am not losing this one too!”

“Sersi!”

“Gil, please,” Ajak rolled her eyes as she patted Olympia’s little butt, the baby over her shoulder for a burping. “I could have told you this would happen as soon as I met her.”

“Okay, that’s an exaggeration,” he huffed, waving as the installation of the pastry case was finalised.

“Then why are blondies one of only two permanent desserts on the menu now?” Druig argued, even waving the newly printed menu in front of his face for dramatic effect.

“W-Who doesn’t like a blondie?” Gil shrugged, avoiding looking at his work family and their devilish little smiles. “Look, let it go, guys. You know what Thena’s gonna have to say about this?”

“About what?”

“About you and Gil trying to be sneaky,” Kingo pointed right at her as she came back out with a batch of said blondies in her hand. “But we all know.”

“Of course you do.”

“Wh-?!” Gil floundered again, but his statuesque manager - and girlfriend - was no help. He waved his hands, “you knew they knew?!”

“Gilgamesh please,” she raised a cool brow at him, “you don’t give our staff enough credit.”

He just smiled, though. It wasn’t his staff, it was theirs. “Okay, fine, but I would like to state that we repeal our one rule, then.”

“What rule?”

“Nothing.”

“It’s just we can’t-”

“Nothing!” Thena repeated, startling everyone except the one actually in trouble. He gave her a smirk, although she turned away from him with reddened cheeks, “I heard back from the sign people; it’ll be here by opening.”

“Really?” Kingo ran over first, quickly followed by Druig and Sersi.

Thena held out her phone for everyone to see. “It’s not that drastic a change.”

“Hm,” Gil chuckled, leaning on her shoulder and giving it a little squeeze on the way. “It’s a big deal to us, hon.”

Ajak blinked through her tears, “it’s perfect.”

It was just a little apostrophe and a letter, but it really made a difference. Most probably wouldn’t pay any mind, but it was the first thing Gil wanted to do when discussing their new image and brand for the reopening.

The sign change was subtle, but it would look perfect as Olympia’s.