Initially, Taehyung wouldn't let you drive.
"I do not want to... what is it you call it... end up smushed in your metal chariot," he'd huffed crossly when you finally unwound yourself from him, clutching your things and reminding the demigod you should really be getting home before sunset.
You'd made a severe face at him and he grimaced, relenting.
After a quick text to your undoubtedly concerned friends, who you assumed probably slipped out after realizing you weren't in any danger with Taehyung to coax you through your little panic episode, you'd essentially marched him to the car in your desire to get to your bed after a harrowing day.
"You should teach me how to operate this contraption," Taehyung muttered, still in a petulant mood after being forcibly removed from the quiet hug he'd— guiltily— enjoyed, the warmth of your body and relaxed demeanor in his hands making his heart flutter. "What am I meant to do if you're unwell and I must travel? I haven't seen a single horse since we've arrived and this jungle of stone is too confusing to traverse on foot."
Not for the first time, you quirked a smile and felt a laugh bubbling in your throat at Taehyung's choice of words. A month of being in the 21st century clearly hadn't scrubbed the Ancient Greek part of the demigod's brain clean, and it was endearing to watch him grow before your eyes.
You caught your observations before they wandered into a mushier train of thought. You'd just, in a debatable decision, opened up to Taehyung about your past love. You couldn't be crushing on him now.
Even if he did technically say...
You gripped the steering wheel tighter and instead tried to imagine teaching Taehyung to drive.
The thought made you on either the verge of laughter or tears, and you weren't quite sure which. All you were certain of was that the phrase 'train wreck' was many times too passive a word to describe what Taehyung would do you your poor car.
You grimaced. "Horses have gone out of fashion, Tae, but I'm not sure I'm in the right state of mental stability to teach YOU to drive."
"I'm an excellent learner!" Taehyung protested, "I'd be good!"
You snorted. Taehyung crossed his arms and poured, to which you tried not to smile and shook your head.
You pretended not to notice how Taehyung, instead of resting his head against the window and staring, fascinated, at the way the buildings and predestines zoomed by past his plane of glass, instead fixed his dark eyes on you, a soft look of wonder flitting over his pretty face.
The ride home was quiet, but an easy sort of quiet. It let you think without that frantic scrambling and stress. It felt as though Taehyung had taken your fear and slid it away during your hug back in that classroom.
Taehyung may be irritating at times, but this wasn't one of them. Your kind kept flicking back to how you were at the classroom— vulnerable and scared, and yet Taehyung stepped up to take care of you. The way his arms wrapped around you made you feel like you could stay in them forever. The way he radiated heat and warmth made you want to snuggle into him until you burned up.
You didn't pay attention much to what he said. Your story often incited strong reactions in people. But as you'd stayed in his embrace, you felt a bell ring in your head.
Taehyung was many things, but at least this one time, you could say that his heart was true.
Your thoughts were swept back to the first time you met him, then your first trip to Target, his constant teasing, your rendezvous at the museum... the weeks you'd spent with him flashed before your eyes.
He'd changed from when you first met him. Not much, but the difference was noticeable when you glanced away from the road and curiously peered into his dark eyes, which hadn't left your face in the last 10 minutes. The look of reckless mischief and lust you'd first noticed in him had faded to simply a little glimmer of playfulness at this moment. His eyes looked softer, less like obsidian and more like honey; kinder. His comfort made you feel safe.
You exhaled, a slow realization creeping through you.
Hana was right. You didn't trust many people, but somehow, you trusted this man. This demigod. This manifestation of war.
You shook your head, trying to clear your thoughts, and fixed Kim Taehyung with a wry smile after a long span of silence. "You know... I AM sorry for trauma dumping," you chuckled finally, scrabbling for some closure after that intimate moment back inside. "We were having a decent time together, and..."
Taehyung shook his head.
"Trust me, I've heard worse stories," he chuckled, "and you didn't bother me in the slightest, baby."
"Oh, again with the baby," you groaned dramatically, "and here I'd thought I caught a break."
Taehyung quirked his lips up at your "complaining". "Don't even try to deny you adore it when I call you that, baby."
You stuck your tongue out at him as you pulled in to park. At least his relentless teasing hadn't faltered in the slightest. He laughed at your indignant look, pearly white teeth gleaming as his lips pulled into his signature box-shaped grin.
You couldn't help but stare at him for a moment.
His red hair was so shiny it gleamed like a dark ruby in the golden afternoon light, the caramel-copper-bronze of his skin a pretty glow that suited him perfectly. With his cheeks squished and eyes in crescents from his smile, he looked...
Innocent. Sweet.
The type of boy you'd take to meet your parents and whose ideal date is a little quaint picnic.
He looked like the Felix you fell in love with.
Taehyung caught the way your lips fell and the shadow that flitted behind your eyes. Without thinking, he reached out and tipped your chin up towards him with a grin.
"You're so pretty," he hummed, "prettier when you smile, though, so it's lucky I'm good at making you laugh."
You felt like sparks were flying under your skin at Tarhyung's casual words and touch. "Who said you were good at making me laugh?" you managed, sure you had some sort of arrhythmia at this point.
A wicked look flitted in the demigod's eyes.
"If you tickle me, Taehyung, I will kick you in the nose and break your pretty face."
Taehyung pouted. His fingers still brushed at your chin and the hollow of your neck, his hands were so big compared to you. The sparks feeling remained.
It was only when you looked down at the hand caressing you that you realized.
"Tae!" you jerked back, astonished, and Taehyung startled from his daydream. "Tae, you're not wearing gloves!"
Taehyung yanked his hand back and stared at his fingers.
"I— I am not!" his eyes widened. "I— baby I touched you!"
Those words sent a jolt of heat down your gut and you were tempted to tell him to do some more touching—
Y/N. Shut UP.
You regained your bearings at this revelation. For all this time, the two of you had danced around this irritating (or sometimes helpful, in your case; the incident with Jin at his mom's place came to mind) consequence of your decision to take the sword. But now, all of a sudden...
If appeared to have vanished in midair.
Taehyung still seemed in shock, so you didn't stop him when he trailed his fingers down your neck and ran them on your hand, through your hair, lacing his fingers with yours. Tae had always been physically affectionate, but the unadulterated joy in his eyes as he gazed at and touched you was devastating.
"Do you know what this means?" you hummed, a shot of glee hitting you hard, "it means Phobos and Demios are getting weaker! It means the curse it fading!"
Taehyung glanced at you and the joy behind his eyes faded a bit. "Ah..." he murmured, "yes. Of course."
"But," you mused, contemplative and oblivious to the way Taehyung's mood has spiraled, recalling the warning Adra had given the two of you somberly, "but, that would mean they're getting desperate, which would mean..."
"Monsters," the demigod beside you finished, crossing his arms over his chest, the smile on his face having been pressed into a hard line.
You hummed assent. "They must be getting desperate."
"Knowing them, they'd be getting whiny," Taehyung snorted.
You let out a long sigh, pressing your fingers to your temple as the two of you remained in the parked car. Why could you never catch a break? It seemed as though one problem was fading for another one to spring up in its place. Now, you could touch Taehyung— goody, now he had more leverage to drive you mad— but you had to be worried about supernatural beings trying to eat your soul.
Taehyung's brothers, you had to admit, we're slightly more annoying that the demigod himself.
You prayed Joon was getting close to coming home.
Taehyung watched you rub your head, as if you had a migraine coming on, and his eyes softened in concern. He gently put his hand on your shoulder.
"You know, pretty one," he hummed, a mischievous look flickering in his eyes, "you shouldn't worry so much."
"You may not be afraid of monsters, Mr. I've-slayed-more-than-you-can-count," you said crossly, "but I don't want a repeat of the harpy incident."
A smile quirked over Taehyung's face as he recalled the first time he ever laid eyes on you.
"There will not be a repeat of the harpy incident," he assured you, though you were fairly certain the memory was forcing him to bite back his laughter, "because something's going to be different this time."
You raised an eyebrow at him.
"Come on," he wheedled, unlatching your seatbelt and pushing you towards the door, "it'll be fun!"
You would have made a snippy comment. Really, you would have. But the issue was, the warmth in your chest from earlier, when the demigod in front of you had cared for you so tenderly you almost thought you'd dreamed it, had yet to fade.
Your mouth stayed shut.
Taehyung took this as assent with a grin and leaped out of the car, and even through your warm fuzzy mood, you were fairly certain you were going to regret this.
A/N:
...
No banners, no breaks, no pictures, no fancy fonts. But, well. I'm back.
What did I miss?