serpents and sons | taekook

The End

****

Months, years, decades, centuries will pass. Years and years and years will go by and Jeongguk will watch them slip away with the knowledge that he will never change. He is eternal, frozen in time.

He sighs, sinking lower into the heated water of their home's hot tub. The jets soothe his aching muscles, tense from the early morning plane ride. He sighs again, eyes lazily tracing the city's skyline. It's been a long, long time since the last time they had been in Seoul. Some things have changed, improved, worsened, but most is just as he remembers it. Still home.

Jeongguk rakes his fingers through his hair, gathering the purple locks at the top of his head. A few pieces fall but he ignores it, grateful for the breeze against his undercut. His tattoos seem more vibrant in the water, stark against his pale skin and he admires them for a moment, hand outstretched towards Seoul.

It's been a long time, he thinks again.

His chest still aches - a phantom pain.

Taehyung couldn't handle the city after that night, not that any of them blamed him. It was a city with so many good things only to be stained by one cruel, cruel man. One who misunderstood his own importance and the wishes of those around him.

Jeongguk remembers when Frigg had appeared that night, arriving in a flurry of feathers and tears, hands grasping for her son cocooned in fragile flowers. They had all watched in uncomfortable silence as she grieved over her lost child, her wayward son, but there was nothing they could offer in condolences - and she did not want them.

"I knew, of course," she would tell them once Baldr's life and body had finally faded, nothing but a pitiful wreath that Frigg tucks close to her chest. "There are things that will always happen." She had looked at Taehyung then, at Hodr cowering to the side, and giving them a smile more painful than the wound that had cracked Jeongguk's chest open. "I am sorry," she had whispered, and they had continued in silence. There were no other words she could say, and they did not want them.

Jeongguk remembers when he had finally slipped into unconsciousness only to wake days later in Taehyung's bed, held close to the god's chest as he slept beside him. Jeongguk stared for hours, the night peeking through the curtains, and marveled. Had admired the curves of Taehyung's face in a way he never would before - with a freedom he hadn't known was available before.

When Taehyung had finally woken up at the gentle press of Jeongguk's lips to his own Jeongguk had then pulled Taehyung into his own embrace, cradling his head to his heart as Taehyung cried into his shirt, clutching at the fabric with a grip so tight Jeongguk worried he might tear the material.

It was guilt, Jeongguk knew, and he still sees it. Still sees the look in Taehyung's eyes during their softest moments. There's still a hesitation in his actions as if he's worried Jeongguk will slip away at any moment- and he wouldn't. Ever. And Taehyung knows that, but Jeongguk cannot, and will not, ever fault him for it.

There's the click of a latch and Jeongguk smiles as he feels lips at the base of his neck, sees a large hand reach out over his own, fingers curling into the spaces between Jeongguk's. Hands linked as they both stare out over the skyline.

"You look beautiful," Taehyung murmurs, lips dragging up Jeongguk's shoulder.

"I'm half naked and exhausted," he says and Taehyung only laughs, nuzzling into his hair.

"That's what I said."

Jeongguk rolls his eyes, smiling at the cheesiness. "Are you done now?"

"Mhm, Namjoon is taking over now." Taehyung sighs and his arms loop around Jeongguk's shoulders loosely. Jeongguk is sure he's kneeling up on the bench around the tub, probably still fully dressed. His fingers dip into the water and Jeongguk squeezes their still clasped hands. "How do you feel?" He asks, lips to Jeongguk's jaw. Jeongguk tips his head, eyes slipping closed.