Work Text:
The day was warm, not a cloud in the sky, it was peacefully cheerful to match the day of the Pink Moon. A heavenly event that started when the Goddess of Love and Affection wanted to give back to the Realm and coloured the moon a soft shade of pink for a single night, so every year on the same day, she illuminates the moon that same pink shade she did centuries ago. It garnered the name 'The Pink Moon Phenomenon' when citizens of the Realm began to notice it was happening on the same day each year.
With it started the legend that the goddess would repay the Realm's love for her with her own gifts, it took a few instances of it happening before it became known. That the overwhelming love emitted from the pink moon's glow would bring about a blessing from the goddess herself, that if you watched the moment the moon turned pink with the person you loved the most that they would love you in return.
The only problem was that it was a different time in the night every year, sometimes the moon turned pink as soon as it rose and other times it would be in the sky for hours before it even started. But that didn't stop some people seeing the legend through, and some have said it didn't work to equal amounts of people saying it did, so it was left unknown to the people of whether or not the Pink Moon Phenomenon's effects were completely placebo or not.
Even if the event was placebo, it gave people the courage to speak their true feelings anyway, believing that the goddess' blessing was a real happening. But either way, it gave people a way to feel the love of the Realm, which was what the pink moon was made to represent in the first place, the goddess giving back the Realm's love for her.
But it made Buck nervous.
He was never the type to be superstitious, but then he got friendly with gods and that changed every view he had. So when he really got to know how heavenly powers worked he had no clue what was real and what was a lie anymore. He didn't know if the pink moon's legend was real or not, but something in him didn't want to find out.
Buck had questioned it for a while, how just spending time with Jenos had drastically changed how he felt about him. That over time his feelings turned from admiration of a higher being into something a little more. It was probably the time where Buck stopped really focusing on his insightful and deep conversations with the other and instead the lovely way blue silken strands of hair brushed over perfectly defined cheekbones and the entrancing soft curvature of the god's top lip that made Buck really stop to think;
'Since when did I start thinking Jenos was cute?'
He brushed the question off for ages, but with the pink moon happening tonight, it crept back up on him. Buck wasn't even sure if heavenly legends applied to gods or not and it wasn't as if he could just ask Jenos to watch it with him since that was just an indirect way of saying 'Hey I want us to be together through this oddly coloured moon' .
Not that Buck would need to ask anyway, since they were walking together, alone, to the mountainside, which had the best view of the moon. Just for meditation though, just for meditation. The cloudless sky let the moon sit perfectly peaked over the horizon, the last rays of sun dipping under the hills. It was still pale, no sign of any pinkness just yet.
The opening was quiet and only with their presence were a few animals chased into the bushes, leaving the forest opening on the mountain's edge completely clear. Jenos was the first to sit down, he didn't say anything and didn't look in Buck's direction at all. That of which was a heavy blow to Buck's heart, he didn't want the god to be uncomfortable around him just because it was the night of the pink moon.
Sitting down next to Jenos' figure, Buck struggled to shut his eyes. He could see the way Jenos had awkwardly shuffled away and put some extra distance between the two, the way he didn't talk to Buck first either, usually to relax his always excitable self.
He wasn't sure how he was supposed to meditate at all, it felt so awkward that he struggled to close his eyes at all, his gaze was kept trained on the moon, hoping it would just turn pink and he could prove to himself that he had nothing to dwell on and all his worries and maybe even wishes would come to an end. Screw this damn goddess, why did she have to make his non-existent love life so confusing and hard?
"Y'know... I don't- I- I don't really want ya' to sit next to me if ya' aren't comfortable... I know alotta people get a bit jittery on the pink moon night, 'm not gonna force ya' to stay..." Buck twiddled his thumbs in his lap, flicking his eyes back and forth between his lap and Jenos. Watching as the god shifted and cleared his throat momentarily.
"It is a coincidence you should mention the pink moon because I was speaking to the goddess herself a few days ago when it came to my attention that the pink moon was only a few days away. She told me it doesn't effect how someone actually feels if you witness the moon with them, it is only an onset exchange of feelings if both people love each other. The doesn't change the way someone feels about you, it merely forces a confession of feelings for people that love each other, blind or not. So I believe you have nothing to dwell on." Jenos turned his body slightly further away from Buck, he took in a deep breath, slightly jittery. But he refused to make any eye contact.
"Oh, okay... but why shouldn't I worry about it?" Buck tried to put a hand on Jenos' shoulder, but it was swatted away. Buck could feel himself tearing up slightly, he felt dismissed by the god even though he thought they were at least friends.
"I'm not in the correct head space to discuss it with anyone and I would appreciate it if you didn't push the subject any further" Jenos stood, he turned away, his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't make it too far before Buck shot up from the floor behind him and grabbed onto the god's wrist and Jenos didn't object even though he wanted to pull away.
"Look, I get it, you're pretty uncomfortable sittin' with me on pink moon night but I at least wanna talk about it so we don't get on bad terms or somethin..." Buck pulled Jenos back slightly, the god complied but he only looked at the floor. Buck could feel the god's wrist excessively sweating, he didn't want to ask why.
"Tonight it will be a testament to the one thing I will never have, nor will I deserve. I have power, knowledge and eternal life, yet I'm still not fulfilled, I still yearn for true happiness. And that one true happiness is something I will never have or ever deserve in my lifetime." Jenos could feel hot tears prickle his eyes, rolling down his cheeks so they peaked out from under his mask. The god balled his fists up in the other's robes, wanting to force his face into his chest and cry out his frustrations that he keeps bottled up so nobody will see.
"I can't help ya' if ya' don't tell me what ya' want. You're one of tha' most selfless people I've ever known, I get that service is a huge Tau-Kor thing but ya' do so much for others, the least I can do is help." Buck shifted his hand from the god's wrist into his palm to calm him down, pulling him close to his chest so Jenos could breathe calmly as he pat soothing circles into the god's back.
"What I want is not an object, for it is worth so much more. For it is willful, selfless, compassionate, kind and absolutely gorgeous. But it is something that in a thousand years I would still never deserve to hold, something worth so much deserves a thousand times more." Jenos looked up, tracing a delicate finger over Buck's cheekbones, but he dropped his hand, almost defeated. He stepped away from the other's chest for a moment, looking back down at the floor. Buck stood, dumbfounded, he still wasn't completely sure what Jenos wanted, but he was determined to be supportive.
"I don't understand, what do you mean?" Buck looked deep into the whites of Jenos' eyes, knowing that behind the mask there was softness and vulnerability.
"It means..."
The soft shade of pink illuminated their faces, dazzling and glittering in the starlit sky.
"It means I love you."
Wait, Jenos didn't mean to say that. Not at all did he mean to say that.
The pink moon was only supposed to do it's work if it was a mutual love...
Wait.
"Wait, do ya' really mean it?" Buck pulled Jenos even closer to his chest, their shared body heat became like a heatwave to match their twin flushing faces. Buck needed to know if Jenos was completely sure, he didn't want to have pressured the god into telling a lie.
"I am certain."
"Like really?"
"Really."
"No jokes?"
"For the love of me." Jenos sat back for a moment before pushing himself upwards to catch Buck off guard in a thirsty kiss, placing his hands flat against the other's chest. Buck gasped into the others lips, face turning deep red, but he melted into the touch, reveling in every moment and hanging onto the closeness he could feel. The god's lips were smooth and angelic to match his disciples slightly chapped ones. They pulled away and Buck could feel his heart pounding in his ears.
"You think I would lie on Pink Moon night? Absurd." Jenos leaned back, his tone slightly playful which was only accentuated by the pink glow that caressed his face.
"Ya' liked to yourself thinkin' ya' didn't deserve me, ya' got no idea how long 've wanted to do that." Buck tried to lean back down for another kiss but was pushed away by the god, he puled back, confused.
"Perhaps if you ask nicely, I'll let you do it again."