https://augustwritingchallenge.tumblr.com/post/658304871864418304/first-day-starting-off-strongperhaps-literally
At first, it had been an arranged marriage for the good of the world.
"Thank you X, oh God of Life. It makes sense doesn't it? Life married to Death would make the Balance of Life and Death more stable."
Back then, X hadn't known what to expect, having worked alone up to this point, never once crossing paths with the God of Death. He had only heard what others said about the God of Death, and the picture they had painted did nothing to ease his worries.
But X had no choice. He loved the people he created and he knew that as long as Life and Death were not in Balance with each other, they would never be happy. And so he swallowed his fear and went through the wedding.
As this was one of the earliest weddings -if not the earliest wedding-, it was a simple affair. Despite the fact that as Gods, their wedding could have been as extravagant as they wished, they didn't know what exactly a wedding should have, so it was only an exchanging of vows in front of a fellow God. X's veil was never even lifted until later.
It was only when the two of them were alone that the God of Death had lifted X's veil. As X had kept his eyes glued to the ground throughout the whole wedding, this was the first time either God saw the other's face.
X wasn't sure what he expected to see. But he wasn't expecting the God of Death to look so... normal. Well, sure his blue hair was strange and those dark blue eyes definitely conveyed his status as a God, but the rest of his features were normal, or as normal as a God could get anyway. Meanwhile, those same deep blue eyes seemed to be analyzing X in a similar way, before nodding and extending a hand.
"I'm Four, God of Death."
X hesitated for a second, before realizing that he couldn't sense any malice from Four.
"I'm X, God of Life."
It took X some time to adjust to his new situation, but other than the occasional dinners or times when they would cross paths, Four and X never got much time to spend with each other.
"Well, after all, we are still Gods," X thought to himself. "Even though our situation has changed, that doesn't mean we can slack off on our Godly duties."
However, one day, Four told X to meet him later that day. That whole day saw X panicking, racking his brain for anything he could have done to upset Four, but he still couldn't think of anything by the time he was supposed to meet with Four. Sighing, he just decided to apologize right away when he arrived, but-
"Shush," Four said, cutting off X's apology. He turned and pointed down at a group of people in the human world. "Look!"
"Wait, is he going to kill someone?" X thought worriedly. "Why would he show me that? He knows I can't do anything to stop him because it would interrupt the Balance of Life and Death."
However, instead of anything related to death, he instead watched an exchange.
"Let's take some time to commemorate Blocky's birthday," a man had said to two young girls while a red haired boy about their age stood nearby.
"No! Pssh. Let's not do that," one of the girls, a blonde, replied.
"I agree! Let's not," the other girl, a brunette, said.
X watched in confusion as the young boy frowned and the man simply answered, "Fine. Whatever."
"Ha ha ha ha!" Four laughed loudly. "Did you see that, X? Leafy and Pencil didn't think Blocky's birthday was important!"
"Uh... yeah," X said, still confused as to why Four showed him this. "Uh, is this what you called me here for?"
Four nodded. "They're funny, right, those humans?"
"Uh, I... guess?" X said, "but I feel kinda bad for that Blocky guy."
"Cheer up, Little Buddy. It's just a bit of schadenfreude!" Four replied, ignoring the confused look X gave him at the last word. "I just wanted to share one of my favorite pastimes with you. We are married after all. I'm not going to force a lovey dovey relationship on you but it would be better for both of us if we could at least be at ease around each other, don't you think?"
X chewed his lip. He did want to at least get to know Four and he knew it was beneficial to the Balance of Life and Death, but he still couldn't reconcile someone who controlled Death with the friendly face beside him. He was at a disadvantage because up until the marriage, the God of Life never had to comprehend Death. Death, however, follows Life, so it was safe to assume the God of Death already understood Life.
"What's it like for you when you have to do your job?" X asked in a whisper. He was going to regret asking this later, but he needed to know what went through Four's head as he carried out his job.
Four frowned. "...I wish it weren't permanent."
X resisted the urge to point out that everyone probably also wished so, instead nodding for Four to continue.
"...But at the same time, I get why I have to keep doing my job," Four continued. "The Balance of Life and Death must be maintained. Even if I'm the one who has to get my hands dirty to maintain it. Even if I'm vilified. I gave up on trying to be recognized for anything but being the source of Death a long time ago."
"...I'm sorry," X whispered, gently taking Four's hands in his.
"...It's alright," Four muttered, leaning his head against X.
And that was how what was once just an arranged marriage started to bloom into a friendship. Later on, they'd become more than mere friends, but that's a story for another day.
Fandom: BFB but most of my fanfiction is about BFB so what else is new?
I swear FourX gives me Beauty and the Beast/Hades and Persephone/Arranged Marriage Otome Isekai vibes. Sorry the endings rushed I'm big lazy.
