Eidos • Zarry AU

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Harry is smitten. As he walks back from the house on the cliffs, a smile doesn't leave his face the whole time till he reaches his mother's house. He greets townspeople doing their usual chores around town, smiles at them as he walks past. He even starts whistling at one point. To put it simply, Harry's just happy. Sated, after a night of food and wine, followed by hours of lovemaking. He finally spent time with a lover that didn't just fuck him and left until they would do the same thing. Well, technically, this night wasn't that different in this aspect, it was a world away thanks to their conversations that weren't shallow. He felt appreciated, loved and not used as he did with some of his past lovers. Zayn is a God and yet he gave Harry his undivided attention all those hours they were together. He listened to Harry's mundane problems like he didn't have a million better stories and greater worries from his millennia of rule. A God and a human, and yet their rendezvous weren't tainted by a power imbalance. It was just passion and affection, two souls coming together to get lost in each other's bodies.

Harry's mother yells at him when he comes home, stressing the fact that it's already the early afternoon and Harry didn't tell her he would be gone that long. He apologizes and she hugs him with a scoff and a slap on the back of his head.

Harry's life doesn't suddenly change just because he's sleeping with a God. He still helps his mother with the house and their garden goes to the market and visits his sister. Sometimes he goes to a taverna or a kapaleia to see his friends, see what's the newest gossip around town. It's all the same as it was, only now he has nights when Zayn comes to see him to look forward to.

He doesn't research anything more about the Gods. Since most of the stories he read after the first time he met Zayn turned out to be completely bogus, he figured that reading more of them would only end up the same. His mother asks him a few times if he wants to go to the temple with her but Harry just declines with a smile and an " I pray to them on my own, mother.".

Their second night starts with a dinner they cook together. Zayn's already waiting for him on the patio outside the house, playing with a stray orange cat. Harry wouldn't even know he's a God, much less the most powerful one of them if there wasn't a certain heavenly aura around him. As though he's constantly illuminated by the brightest sun rays, shining just for him. The way his eyes glow like they have their own little fires inside them. He's a divine being through and through, even if he's flawless at presenting his humanity.

Zayn meets Harry in the middle, kissing him and whispering " Hello" into his lips. Then he leads them inside like the last time, only now they go into the kitchen.

"I saw how strangely you looked at the food last time we were together so I thought we can cook together," Zayn says when Harry notices the ingredients on the kitchen table and lit a fire in the oven.

"You can cook?" Harry asks with disbelief.

Zayn smiles and kisses the back of Harry's left hand. "Yes. Gods don't need to eat but we do indulge in food and wine very often. And believe it or not, I get bored sometimes and on one of those instances, I learned how to cook from an emperor's chef."

"How did that happen?" Harry laughs.

"Well, I disguised myself as kitchen help. Told the chef I wanted to become great like him too and I guess he had a good heart so he taught me almost everything he knew."

Harry shakes his head with a smile. "Next time the people are in a temple, begging you to do something and you're ignoring them, you're probably playing dress-up and learning skills you don't need."

"Or I'm with you," Zayn whispers before kissing Harry again. Harry gets lost in the kiss, his hands trying to reaching any part of Zayn's naked skin. His fingers find the gold pin holding Zayn's chiton together, trying to unclasp it before there are slim but strong fingers around his wrist, pulling his hand away. Zayn pulls away and Harry frowns at him.