Isiah
Surrounding the Atlas Observatory is the Titan's Respite Park, a sprawling green space adorned with statues and monuments depicting the titan Atlas and other legendary titans. The park provides a serene environment for contemplation, relaxation, and connecting with the enduring spirit of the titans.
Kevin
Aether wished he came here more often, but even after the thousands of years passed, the statues in memory of the Titans always hit him. 

That night, he couldn't sleep, and he needed room to breathe. 
Not in the sense of Hemera having any fault, but rather, to free himself from his perch on the end of the bed. He would look at the corner of the wall, able to see both of the door and the tower window in his peripheral and wait until his mind could no longer take the deafening silence or his need to sob.

The God of Light was nothing but a flicker in the blanket of his mother's embrace - Nyx. It was comforting, and his eyes found themselves staring at the night and the array of the cosmos beyond. 
His hand rested on Gaia's statue, wishing he could feel her energy again. 
His gaze fell from the sky to her face. It was all he had left of his children, even if the statues never thoroughly caught their nuance.

Aether wrapped his arms around her skirt, cold and stiff and pressed his forehead to the cement. 
Finally, he felt the lock come off the well of his emotions and tears poured down his cheeks. 

**"What I wouldn't give to see you- what your mom wouldn't give. We miss you so much- Our greatest gifts. You should see your siblings- you would love them. They connect our planes like we've always dreamed."** 

Despite his tears, his voice was certain- he was sad and full of love simultaneously. Mourning, and celebrating all at once! 
Aether found calm in being able to hold both of anything; life and death werw a natural cycle, one he accepted, even if it hurt. 

The God rubbed his face on the stone, scraping his cheek and sniffling. 
He used his arm for the second attempt of trying to wipe the tears away. He needed this now so he could go back to Hemera with a clear mind, and a better mood. She deserved to wake up happy, and he would see to it.

Sighing, he rested his chin against the statue and looked at the stars again, appreciating all the hardwork every God was doing. They were still doing their part regardless of the war. That took dedication.

**"We don't have to fight like this..."** He muttered, to no one in particular. He was tired, even if he knew the war wouldn't stop just because he wished it would.
Shirl
Olympian was a terrible place. It was full of arrogant people, both divine and none, and seemed to be accumulate within itself the very finest examples of why Boreas typically avoided places of high population. Long lines for everything, from a counter at a simple café to something necessary like the hospital; traffic that seemed to stand still for hours before properly moving and people that let that fact get to them as if it were a personal affront to their family and their bloodline. A million inconveniences and annoyances that just build and build and build. It used to be that he could handle it... By fighting. Stalking his way to the front of a line, blowing through the crowds, ignoring everyone else. Taking what he wanted and destroying whatever stood in his way.

But he couldn't now. He had to try to be better, to best those more impatient impulses. To stand in line for coffee, scowl etched deep on face. To suffer the slings and arrows of a thousand insults levied his way by the normal populace who had no idea who he was, that risked reprisal from the North Wind, a god so tantamount to destruction that he was utilized in an allegory for the benefits of gentleness and kindness instead of cruelty. Fuck whoever thought that Helios was kinder than him... That idiot couldn't get his head out of his own ass long enough to tell which way was north and which was south to save his life.

All of those things were important to avoid, given the situation at large in the world. Gods fighting one another again, in a way that hadn't been seen since the Titanomachy. A terrifying and destructive ten-year conflict that saw the very fabric of existence fighting against itself. Boreas could still remember the swords which caused his scars and the battles that laid low mountains, toppled oceans, subdued the very earth and sky to the will of the Gods. It had been... Terrifying. And the concept that he would have to join a side, either Poseidon or Zeus, both men whom he hated almost to his core for their arrogant treatment of not only their own family but the humanity they purported to rule, it tore him apart inside.

Boreas had his rivals, he had his enemies, and he especially had his *Brothers*... But to forced by the ambition of foolish men to not stop there at his past? To move forward into the future and fight his enemies' children until a line of gods was eliminated? It terrified him to his core. He had seen the pain that the Titanomachy had wrought and he was desperate to avoid it. Which was why he was on his best behavior.

Behavior that required much effort. The kind of effort that had him walking through the night rather than sleeping, trying to have his mind settle from the worry and anger of the day. Normally, he would walk in the Boreal Groves to the north, but with Pan's nymphs and dryads having discovered the land, he was uncertain that it was anything close to relaxing for him now. Who knew when one of those sneaks would jump out of a tree and challenge him to some sort of... Of game!? That foolishness is not what he needed currently.

So he found somewhere that was in theme to his musings recently. Titan's Respite, the memorial park dedicated to those who fell during the war. Those that are now never forgotten, that were dreaded enemies in the fighting but after thousands of years of separation just felt like... Lost family. Tragedies in the form of husbands and wives, brothers and sisters...

Sons and daughters.

He had been walking for nearly an hour down the paths, looking at the faces of men and women that he'd personally fought. Some that he might have been the final blow for in the chaos of ancient battles. And after that amount of time, that was when he'd seen him... Glowing slightly, like a weak star had fallen to earth, and laid itself along the skirt of Gaia. Aether was here, one of the few that had been there since the beginning and felt most harshly the stinging curse of war. And one that had been... Close... At one time, to perhaps understanding the North Wind.

Stepping quietly, as he had always been able to move as silently as the wind when he wanted, the man moved in closer to where his former acquaintance was mourning. He never got closer than three yards, before sitting down on a bench and crossing one leg over the other, watching. Waiting for the tears to subside just a little, for his sobbing to come under control. Before finally speaking.

"It's dangerous to be out this late." The North Wind almost grumble, his low voice easy to hear in the sable cover of Nyx that night, but would easily have been lost in the wind during the day. He was wearing a weathered, dark brown leather jacket over a black cotton t-shirt, simple dark blue jeans... And iron-toed boots that seemed to be slightly damp, like they had been trudging through snow. Even through the night, his bright steely eyes were clear and set unwaveringly on Aether.
Kevin
Aether let himself stew in the sadness just a little longer, before retracting his arms from the statue and letting out a relieved sigh. 
A voice that struck a chord of both anxiety and familiarity thrummed through him. 

*It's dangerous to be out this late..* 
The chilled voice reached out to him with a gentle breeze. He hadn't expected for anyone else to be here at this hour, and tapped a finger against the stone base like a kid who had got caught with something that wasn't his. Though, he was allowed to be here, and he knew that. 

Nibbling his lip, he filtered through his emotions, and finally turned.
Aether's gaze fell on to Boreas, sitting on the bench. His heart skipped and his palms suddenly went clammy at the flurry of emotions that blew through him. 

**"Dangerous?"** 
Aether gave a little smile.
**"If anyone is willing to attack me while I'm mourning, it's a fool's illusion of an opportunity.."** 

The God of Light may have been a bit air headed at times, but he could focus when it was time to be serious. His youthful appearance only eluded to the fact that he was a Primordial God, exceptionally powerful in his own right.

**"I'm sorry you had to see me like that friend..."** He started, leaning against the statue and folding his hands over his abdomen. 
Aether wasn't actually sorry for crying, but he was a little embarrassed that this was the circumstances that they were meeting under again. On the other hand though, Boreas wasn't always good with expressing fondness. Perhaps... Even after all this time, it was a way to let Aether know he

Wasn't alone?

**"It's good to see you, however. It's been awhile, though... You must have gone into hiding. Has the mortal realm been treating you well?"**

He studied the other God, noting that the last time he saw him... They were still in ancient Greece, and it was strange to see Boreas in modern clothing, being such a stark contrast to his memory of him.
Aether was in a basic white tanktop, light blue demin jeans and some white tennis shoes. Nothing as fancy as Boreas looked like he was wearing.
Shirl
For a good moment, Boreas thought that he was going to have to defend himself. Whether it would be verbally or physically was the only real question in his mind, the hesitation that Aether displayed before turning around setting the old warrior on edge almost instantly. They hadn't ended their previous arrangement on a happy note, at least not in Boreas's mind, and the possibility that the older god still harbored resentment for that was incredibly present in his mind.

And then, as soon as he did turn around, it was like a light had turned on in front of the North Wind. Nothing like a spotlight, or the light of the sun, but a simple streetlight. The smallest smile, and yet it had massive effects to the place around them... Quite literally, things brightened. And his combat-oriented mind noticed how those palms turned away, like they were trying to hide something, before nervously associating together in front of the other man's stomach.

Now was not the time, however, for focusing on Aether's body, no matter how good the other man might have looked in that tank top. No, his words held an important message that struck an ill chord with Boreas. Almost immediately, he frowned slightly, glancing away and looking off toward the next statue down the way. "... There are plenty of fools these days." He responded quietly, voice containing just a little more iron, a little more grit, and just a skosh more volume.

In particular, he was thinking about Ares, a god which he already knew well from the Titanomachy and his plots against Boreas's relatives, the children of the city of Athens. And he had already heard tale that the ever-aggressive God of War had sided with Poseidon against Zeus... A certain King of the Gods which Aether had aligned himself with through the conflict so far. While the idea that Ares could perhaps kill the old primordial in front of him or even really sneak up on him was laughable, the idea that he could injure him? Or even just lay a hand on him?

Well, to Boreas, to say it was distasteful would be... Understatement.

Slowly, the North Wind stood up to his full height, one of the things about him that inspired the tales of his close relations with northern barbarians back in Ancient Greece, before taking a few steps forward. Indeed, it only took a few steps before he was close to the only other person in the park that night, close enough to put his hands on him, to push him against the statue, perhaps to violently inform him of his return to the city of Olympian in any number of ways evoked by his reputation amongst gods and mortals.

"It's cold tonight. You should wear heavier clothing." Boreas informed Aether, before slowly slipping off his own leather jacket and then, in a swift motion, wrapping it around the smaller god's shoulders. And then he took a respectful step back, glancing away and waiting for his old... Acquaintance to make the next move.
Kevin
The God of Light only gave a small smile in response to the way that Boreas called the general populace "Fools". He wasn't so unknowning about the mortal world that honestly... Not much changed. It was much more crowded and the probability of issues arising were more likely. 
That thought alone made Aether smile just a little wider. 

Finally realizing that Boreas was standing, the blonde's gaze fixated on him. His eyes were bright with curiosity, not feeling threatened in the slightest. If anything... Based on their past, Aether felt safe. 
He hadn't taken his eyes off of him, even when he has close enough to be considered a somewhat... Questionable distance. Because of their height difference, the blonde looked up just a little. 
Before he could ask what it was that was on the other God's mind, Boreas was taking off his jacket. That jacket was placed on his own shoulders and the warmth enveloped him immediately.

**"Boreas..."** 
Aether's smile widened and he nuzzled his face into the collar of the jacket, his lips surfing over the fabric, taking in the smell of whatever it was he was wearing: a spritz of cologne, soap, or his musk.

The God of Light reached out for the God of the North Wind's hand. He gently tugged him forward into a hug, letting his cheek rest against his shoulder, arms tucked under the other's and hands against his back. 

**"It would be a shame to cause a lightshow and have the mortals miss it..."** He teased, but it wouldn't be the first time people didn't see the Aurora Borealis. 

**"I missed you... Really, even if I knew you were never gone..
Tell me. What are you really doing out here tonight?"**
Shirl
It was always so strange to watch those eyes brighten at the sight of him. Everyone else in Olympian, if not the world, only seemed to darken at the approach of winter, like the very sun itself was overcast because of his approach. And yet, Aether never darkened because of him, he only ever seemed to get brighter... Perhaps it was the nature of his domain. It would be strange for light itself to disappear simply because another force appeared. There would be no reason for that to happen unless his mother Nyx appeared or perhaps his father Erebus. Light always made way for darkness and... At the very least, Boreas could be satisfied that Aether did not see him as some form of darkness.

For a moment, he hoped that his jacket was... Not unpleasant to him. He could only assume it smelled like... Him, to be truthful. A little bit of ozone, the identifiable sharpness of pine, and just a little bit of cloves that he admitted like to use in his own soap. For just a second, as Aether put his nose to the collar, there was a moment's dread in his chest, but it disappeared soon after; at the exact moment that the warm god reached out and took his hand, unexpectedly drawing him into a hug.

The North Wind almost froze, not knowing what to do... It had been centuries since anyone dared touch him, let alone wrap their arms around him. His breath stuck in his throat and surely, in the wintery places around the world, people were confused as to why the wind suddenly died. He could feel his heartbeat against his chest in surprise, getting faster as that soft blonde hair rested against his shoulder and he could feel just how *Hot* The other man's breath was against his neck.

And then a different kind of dread descended. What if someone *Saw* Them? What if someone saw Aether doing this and told his wife? Or thought him strange? Or any number of things?

Carefully, Boreas took hold of Aether's hands and slowly extricated himself from the hug. While he thought he might have been gentle or somewhat sincere about it, the actions definitely did not read... Much concern. They were far too direct, harsh even. And then those frozen steel eyes looked down at Aether with just a little too much squint applied. "I have been... Thinking. As usual." Boreas explained, before looking around at the park again. "I... There's much to think about these days. I find myself drawn to the Titanomachy and... Other conflicts... Like thoughts enjoy like scenery, it seems..."

Once again, the eyes were back on Aether, now a more respectable foot distance between them. "And you? Why are you here tonight?"
Kevin
Aether never minded Boreas' chill. There was a time when he hummed Winter Wonderland for him, with a cup of hot chocolate tucked in both hands. He watched families shop and children caroling. There was a time when songs through seasons reminded him of Boreas, but only closer to the end of Fall, when he knew the North Wind was the most prominent.

The God of Light didn't mind being pryed away from the other. Aether was often a bit clingy, and given their history, he wasn't thinking too hard about boundaries. To him, they'd broken that long ago. He needed to remind himself that things weren't as they once were, especially after all this time.
His hands stayed in Boreas' until those too dropped away or were pulled away to place in pockets. Aether's fingers gripped the edge of the jacket. It felt like college, when a football player offers up his jersey. The thought only provided a bit more shimmer along his hair and cheeks. 

Aether toed the ground at the question, leaning back against Gaia's statue. 

**"My children..."** He didn't look at Boreas when he said it, and instead slid down to a bench just a step or two away. Aether finally looked at Boreas, and then to Gaia, before taking in all the statues there. 
**"They are gone... Grief is a cycle. Some nights are... Harder than others."** 
He gave the other God a small, sad smile. For some reason he couldn't communicate how much that hug before helped, if only because he was trying to honor that Boreas was alive as they stood in a graveyard.

Aether patted the bench next to him, looking at Boreas expectantly. 

**"What is it that's been on your mind exactly? No time like the present to catch up."** 
A happier looking smile graced the God of Light's lips. It was probably a more welcome one than seeing him sad, though Aether couldn't assume.
Shirl
Admittedly, his hands did linger on Aether's fingers for a moment. They were... Warm. And warmth, to the god of winter, was a very distant and rare commodity that he often found himself subconsciously clinging to it when he was graced with its presence. Eventually, however, his conscious mind reminded him of his actions, of the time it had been, and the North Wind slowly pulled his hands away and put them in his pockets. Again, those blue eyes could help but watch the other man pull his jacket around himself, fighting against the cold that surely for which his acquaintance was responsible.

They couldn't act too familiar. This was no longer a tryst in the distant frontiers of humanity. In the cities and hidden places that man could make, where two gods could know each other without the sights of others. Without sounds becoming known so well to those who would judge. The taller of the two followed closely behind Aether and sat next him, burdened by different thoughts of the past now. Surely, if someone saw them being... Too familiar, it would get back to Hemera? And no spouse would allow a husband as handsome and kind as Aether to stray far without reprisal.

Eventually, Boreas turned to look toward the statue as Aether did, connection again with the conversation instead of thinking on other things. His own eyes moved past Gaia toward the statue of Hyperion, his own grandfather. "Sadly, my thoughts are of... Similar things as yours." He could still remember the warmth that came off of Hyperion, the Old Sun, the feeling of being tossed into the air and surrounded by strength and light and warmth. And then all of that suddenly being gone, when Zeus ordered the Titans imprisoned.

"I'm worried, Aether." Boreas continued, slowly pulling out a cigarette and looking into the distance, over the rest of the city from the hill the graveyard rested upon, "I'm worried this war will happen. That we'll make the same mistakes... Like when Cronus overthrew his father, and then became a tyrant. And Zeus overthrew him... What's to stop the demigods from repeating the process? Or Apollo and the other younger gods? It seems like... Like so few of us remember the Titanomachy these days. So few remember the true terror of a war in heaven..."
Kevin
Golden honey hues lingered on the statues for a moment, dark like molasses against the reflection of his mother's work, yet his own light were cosmos in crystallized amber.

Worry wasn't something the other God so readily admitted to, not in the way he said it. The chill that reality brought made Aether curl his legs up on the edge of the bench, hunching further into the indirect comfort of the North Wind.
His own eyes twinkled in an uncanny way when his head turned to address Boreas. 
It had been eons since he saw him, his square face and deep bridge, ending in lips that were so distinct in their shape that Aether could feel the contour just by imagining it. How wide and soft...

He looked away, and found his mind falling into a trap door. 
Blinding lights of his own violition and the hot stream of blood that leaked from his own broken heart. It was an anger he never felt before, and left him an antiquated vessel of light, full of cracks where the rays leaked out of him like he could shatter at any moment.
The God of Light stared at the internal microcosm of the memory world like it was a snow globe - a television to be observed. 
His thumb idly picked at the edge of his shoe were the rubber banding began for the bottom tracks. 
Aether was a thousand years away until a particular snap of the material of his

Shoe brought him back. 

**"For those demigods, this war is their terror and for some, with how intergrated the world is nowadays... There is so much to set humanity back. 
Just Hades resurrecting the dead recently... Everyone is scared. Those who didn't believe in end times and that an apocalypse wouldn't happen are now believers in the worst way. 
They have their own up and coming generations, their own children. Imagine living in two worlds like that. I can't imagine what the demigods must be going through... They have to choose sides? Because of us? We are their creations just as much as they are our's. Without them... There is no praise, no love.
How much right do we have to take this world away from them when they are the reason we are here? That we have children of our own?"** 

||
Shirl
Boreas recognized that look in Aether's eyes. Not only was a familiar sight from the time they had spent together prior, even though then the god of winter had never cared to mention his noticing, but it was also something he'd seen mimicked in recent months. A look that he'd seen in his own mirror several times, after long periods of considering the news he'd received on the tensions, the conflicts, and the different events on the gods. Moments where the memories of the war were far too close for comfort... Where memories of every war became far too close. From the Titanomachy with its thrown mountains, his boiling oceans, the wind and rain itself fighting against each other, which nearly wiped man from the face of the earth...

To the wars of men themselves, ones where he had directly fought for those who properly cowered before his might. General Winter had always been a terrifying opponent in many a culture's eye, but it was those that figured out how to fight on the side of the snow that he usual found himself... Standing beside. He could remember the Germans turning back the Romans at Teutoburg Forest, the invasions of the Goths into the Byzantine Empire... The rides of the Dorians against the Mycenaeans toward the dawn of the Greeks. Yet, the biggest memory was never the movement of his sword or spear, the weight of his armor... It was always the bright red blood and the biting cold as men who would have lived succumbed to exposure from the season he had brought. So many men, pointlessly dead, without glory, or honor... Two things that they never would have had in war anyways.

Shaking himself out of the moment's reverie, Boreas reached out an arm, wrapping it around Aether's shoulders and bringing him closer to him, just after the snap of the rubber on his shoes brought him back. The North Wind sat and listened, considering, before shaking his head so lightly. "Spoken very well... For someone supposedly on the side of Zeus." He whispered with a small smile, before letting his arm drift off of his shoulders before settling with a sigh.

"The truth is that we don't. We have no right to push them into a horror like another war between the gods. To make our children, mortal or not, choose sides between parents and friends, siblings and cousins. And here we are, standing yet again at the precipice because our own fucking pride demands that we do..." Boreas commiserated, before shaking his head, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "... It's bullshit. And I don't know how to stop it."
Kevin
The blonde God looked at the North Wind as he encircled an arm around him, and he instinctively leaned in for something like the acceptance of a half hug. 
Supposedly, yes. Aether nibbled his bottom lip, thoughtfully.

**"My personal feelings come from being a father. I can't help that those ideals are foreign concepts to the man I serve. It's like that in any war, isn't it?"** 

He tried to stay vague and somewhat practical on the matter. It had been a long time for the both of them, and even though Aether was not a man who enjoyed hiding the truth... He couldn't let Boreas know about his true intentions...*Yet*.
Honestly, Aether adored what the demigods were doing... But he needed to use Zeus' standing to sheild the demigods somehow. 
His ideals were torn between Zeus' affect on his family, and how best to use his position in the Wrath's ranks to ensure that he could somehow... Protect some of the others. 
It was a difficult spot to be in. 

The God of Light focused on their shared bond as father's themselves, and he turned his head back to Boreas as his arm fell away and his seating position changed. 

**"...It's not something we can do alone. It's going to take a lot of cooperation from people of each side..."**
Aether's jaw tensed and he clipped the thought short. He knew what he would say afterwards would give away too much, but equally propelled him into something he hadn't thought of: he needed to find more people on the inside of each group who were willing break down forces from the inside.
Why fight the battle from the outside? When they could be carefully working from within? Like carefully clipping tennis racket wires to relieve tension...
Or being inside the wave to ride it. 

The blonde looked back to Boreas, scanning his face with some hope in his eyes. 

**"You're not currently sided... Are you?"**

||
Shirl
The warmth that spread throughout his body as Aether's head leaned against his shoulder caused Boreas to tense. He was never good with... Unexpected affection, especially of the physical kind, and the added difference of their body temperatures was something that made the effect particularly striking. He almost had to fight the urge to stand up and distance himself from Aether in the fear that his own desire, his surprise and uncomfortable urge to get angry at the sudden contact would cause him to do something he would regret for a long, long time.

So, instead, he removed his arm from the situation. Carefully extricated himself from the contact and put distance between them. As much as some part of Boreas might have protested, it was the best for now.

Instead, he focused on the political part of the conversation, rather than remembering what might have been or had been a long time ago. Those blue eyes narrowed as he tried to piece together what Aether was insinuating. It wasn't particularly difficult... It was clear that he was being obtuse about actual specifics, but it was clear that he wanted to avoid a war. And that people on other sides would be required to handle some of the effort on that. The god of winter let out a sigh; his former flame was not incredibly clever when hiding his intentions, was he? If Zeus were around, it would be clear as day that the god of light wanted to work against the war and have everything come to a screeching halt. A double agent, one might even say.

Boreas crossed one leg over the other, before turning to face Aether more directly on the bench. The arm that had wrapped around the other man's shoulders returned to rest on the bar of the bench behind him. "... It was Athena that called me back to Olympian." He responded quietly, raising an eyebrow, "We have been... Communicating for the last few months on the state of things and she asked that I come help her in her efforts for peace. I could not turn down a call from my one old ally."
Kevin
Aether didn't like that sigh or the look that Boreas gave to him because he knew the other God was much more clever than the God of Light was trying to be. 
He'd been caught in a vulnerable state that made it too obvious where his true vision of the war was, but he'd never been much of a liar. Would it be a good time to start? Maybe talk to some other Gods who were better at deception?
Or would it be too obvious then too? 

All of it was moot. 

Aether's gaze had wondered to the concrete of the wall way just underneath the bench they sat it. When Boreas placed his arm against the back of the bench, he turned his head to address the North Wind more fully. 
Aether wasn't surprised that it took months to convince Boreas to join the war, especially since there was much lost. 
For himself, his mantle wad protecting his home, protecting his children - Aurora - as far as he knew. He wasn't sure he could handle any more loss before what was left of him was thrust into darkness. 
He was a product of two personifications of night and dark... Sometimes he wondered who he could be if he let the darkness inside of him win. 

**"It's... Silly to reminisce, but sometimes I go back there. To a time where people were in love with the earth and the joys of music and... I mean... Not all the time, but music is not the same these days. I miss the choirs, I miss the pantheons.."** 
Aether drew his legs closer to himself, placing his chin on his knees. 

**"The chariots..."** He sighed, before turning his head to look at Boreas again, silently letting his mind wonder to the day they met. He wondered if the North Wind remembered. 

||
Shirl
There was a look on Aether's face that Boreas had never seen before... Or, at least, if it had happened prior all those centuries before, he'd never paid enough attention to it to remember it now. Frustratingly, it was only recently, within the last couple decades, that the North Wind had realized just how close he had come to knowing someone that cared about him in Aether. Back when they were actually together, he had never even considered thinking about him as a person, as someone that might be interested in talking to him... As a friend or something more. It was just a situation he had been in... And so his eyes had never been as drawn to figuring that face out as it was now.

It looked like he was thinking about something unpleasant. Something he disliked, but not enough to be angry about it. Maybe... Yes, there was fear there, too. Maybe about the war and what it might bring? About exposing his true intentions, even veiled, to someone he didn't exactly trust? There were so many things it could be, at the end of the day, and Boreas was never good at figuring people out.

Words, however, words he understood. And these he understood so deeply that it caused him just that bit of anxious relief that sparked enough energy for him to move again. Was it intentional that he moved closer? Perhaps. Perhaps not, he couldn't say anymore. "It's not silly." He muttered quietly, staring out over the city, before tilting his head back, up toward the sky. What he wouldn't give, to be his siblings the stars, all the way out there and separated from all of this... So much closer, naturally, to Aether. "I go back there... Every couple of years."

Boreas looked back down at the man seated next to him. "To the Parthenon. They've tried painting it again... It's nothing like how it used to be, nowhere near as pretty. But they tried. I could almost... Remember..." He explained, before looking away at the last word, staying silent for a while, and then, "Do you still sing?"
Kevin
The God of Light wondered how long it had been that he'd felt the biting chill of the North Wind God's sanctity. He couldn't count the years in the matter of decades, but rather the span of centuries. 
Aether's mind was thrown back to the two of them in an ancient Greece, well acquainted and engaging in... Less than ceremonious rites at the altar. 

At first, Aether had come to the Parthenon to bring peace offerings to the other God. Despite being extremely friendly, after the War... Aether holed himself in the tower with Hemera. He became somewhat of a recluse to mourn and work through his own paranoia. 
Deep down, he knew that finding another who had suffered tragedy akin to his own loss would perhaps give him a chance to find solace in connection again. 

What had happened instead had set in motion something Aether hadn't planned on with Boreas. 
He remembered the way the North God had arrived to the Parthenon, war torn and angry. Aether had been singing, hoping to call forth the God to explain his intentions.
They became more than friends very quickly. 

Aether's mind swam through the murky ocean of memory, occasionally opening up tp a clear bubble to see a fraction of a event. 
He realized this Boreas... Different. 
His chill wasn't tearing through him, threatening to take every ounce of him in an extreme shift of mood. He was more like a gentle snow. 
The slight inching towards himself made Aether realize what he was feeling, and his cheeks were a burgundy flecked with golden constellations of light. 

The last evening Aether had seen Boreas, he almost hadn't seen his face, sitting similarly like this. A younger

God of Light had to peek around Boreas' large frame to try to see his face. 
He never got to see the look in his eyes that he must of held when he knew he wasn't going to come back.

Their ending had come abruptly.
Aether visited the Parthenon for three days, back to back... And then spent a week there, hoping he'd see Boreas again.
Like some broken hearted puppy. 

Time had replaced those wounds with others, and Aether couldn't say he wasn't surprised when he remembered suddenly how much he'd missed Boreas during that time. 
Did the North Wind know that?

*Did he still sing..?* 

**"Ofcourse I do... Would you like me to sing for you sometime? I've tried to... Sing to you before but you never replied. I'd sit on a hill at night, watch the Aurora Borealis and..."**

Aether hummed the song he'd sung to Boreas before, but it was quick; rushed as if he was nervous and feared the memory would strike the wrong nerve.
Shirl
His heart broke.

The moment that Aether began talking so quickly, Boreas could only tilt his head in confusion. Why was he so eager to... To engage with that topic of conversation? The North Wind had assumed that the man would, for all the compounding reasons and events that had happened between then and now, would see his leaving so suddenly as something negative. To be completely honest, he had been certain that Aether would see the meeting in the Parthenon as something terrible as well. It made perfect sense to him for the other man to bury that memory, to hate him, to find some kind of spin that made him into a villain... It was the same kind of thing Boreas was used to for the entirety of his life. It was so familiar to him that he'd already guessed what the spin might sound like were it to be spoken aloud.

Yet, there was none of that. There was a blush on Aether's cheeks, a beautiful red speckled with freckles of golden light, that seemed to drag Boreas's sight away from those enticing eyes and to the light itself spreading across the other man's skin. Was... He embarrassed? Was he remembering how they met? The same thoughts were sparking across his own mind, the confusion of being called to the Parthenon, finding what was basically a beautiful human lamenting to him, feeling the... Desire... And everything that came after. The illicit meetings, the warm embraces, the moments where taking felt more like a coupling despite his own intentions. The God of Winter could not blush, his skin was pale and lacking warmth always... At least, it seemed so to him... Yet his face seemed to mimic the heat growing on Aether's cheeks with some of his own.

And then the god of light started to hum. It wasn't his usual well-paced, even, calm tone, like it was an intentional thing. No, there was a desperation there that sped up the beat, that ruined the rhythm. There was... There was pain there in the song. And... Something else.

Hope. Hope and fear and desperation, all in a quick little hum of that familiar tune, and Boreas could feel his own heart breaking at the sound of it. He could feel a rush of emotion, anger first, hope second, disappointment an all-consuming third. Had he really hurt Aether so much to make him so afraid of connecting with him again? Had he truly been that stupid in the past? And... And Aether still willing to reach out to him? It was like a damn had broken and everything was rushing out at once and fucking hell was it terrifying. He was terrified, horrified at the amount of things he was feeling in that moment and it just had to stop! It had to stop!

Boreas reached out a hand. He placed it gently on Aether's cheek, just enough for the heat of his hand to become obvious, though it was still so less than the heat of the other man's cheek that it was cool to the touch. And slowly, the god of winter shook his head. "Not... So fast. I cannot go so fast." He muttered quietly. There were so many things to think about, to consider. "I'm so sorry I hurt you. I... I want to know you better, now. If that is okay, if that would make you... Happy. But I can't do all of this tonight, no matter..."
No matter how much he wanted it.

Slowly, the taller of the two men stood from his position on the bench and took a few steps away. He needed time. Time to think and consider and figure out what it was that had suddenly burst through from his heart. Was he lonely and just needed connection? Was he guilty for what he did in the past? Or was this what it felt like, that same feeling from so long ago, when he had looked into different, yet just as kind eyes? Boreas turned on his heel and looked at Aether with his brow furrowed. "I want to see you again. Sometime... Soon. When... Where can I see you again?"
Kevin
The humming ceased the moment that Boreas lifted his hand. Aether's heart jumped into his throat and his eyelashes fluttered at the sudden caress. 
Hands from different times came cascaded all around him: that simple touch reminded him of all the others.
Though, longing filled his chest, his heart nothing but a lone bouy in crashing tides. 

The God of Light parted his lips, but no words were formed nor did his tongue try to partake in any dance that could raise sentences. Golden eyes looked between frosted blue as the boundary was set between them. It was like a fence was erected between them. 

Boreas stood a thousand thoughts of his own ran through his mind. 
It wasn't often he was stunned into silence, but truthfully he was surprised that... After everything... That the God of the North Wind was sorry. 
An unhealed part of Aether mended back together as it was seen. He hadn't been expecting an apology. 
As the other man was walking away, what was he supposed to say? 

Instead it was Boreas who stopped and turned and Aether swore he felt the fabric of space and time open a new path for them to take. Or merged... Or- 

**"Zeus' Aegis park or... The Serendipty Square Market in Tyche's Gambit. When-? Uhm-"** 
Things were topsy turvy in the blonde's head. He was trying his best to envision a calander. 

**"In three days time, at night,"** He finally coordinated, pulling the front of Boreas' hefty coat around him. Realizing he still had it on, he started to take it off. 
**"Do you want your coat back?"**
Shirl
Those lips had broken open when his hand landed on Aether's cheek. For a good few seconds, the thoughts in Boreas's head had to contend with visions of memories, of times before when they had opened like that for much different reasons. Or, perhaps, similar reasons that had just much more violent coatings around them. It was difficult to think, to get to the point of his emotions, when his desires for physical contact were getting in the way, and his memories were pathing a road to one result only.

To put it simply, it was becoming increasingly difficult not to kiss him. And that would not have been a productive end for the night, not in the least, not when... Well, when Aether had a wife.

That was another reason he stood up. The sudden memory that Hemera existed and could, at any point, come bounding into this scene to accuse a good and loyal man straying, when it was all Boreas's fault in the first place. It was all his fault, this temptation. And yet... Yet he needed someone. Anyone to talk to that might agree with his ideas but wasn't radical enough to yell at him or just accept what he was saying. He needed someone reasonable, someone... He needed Aether, who was he lying? He needed someone warm and willing to talk to him and understanding. He needed a friend.

If only to have just one real friend outside of this war. And Aether was the closest chance he had.

As the other man started to pull off the jacket, Boreas crossed the distance between them in a stride, reaching out both hands. They settled on the lapels, pulling them tight around Aether's shoulders and keeping it there. "... Keep it. It will keep me from..." From running away? It'll force him to show up? It'll certainly give him ideas of just what Aether might do it in later that night, and Boreas shook his head to throw the thought out. "I'll meet you in the market. Three days time. At night. Goodnight, Aether. Go get some sleep."

And with that, he disappeared in the gentle, cooling breeze.