Evergreen

“You’re looking quite hot and bothered there, Sei.” Said Hariel with a soft chuckle, her voice was breathy and teasing as she looked at him.

Which made him feel strained in reaction to the sound of it.

“Well hard not to, when I'm quite worked up at the moment, Hariel.” He then replied, his voice sounding much low, and rough, which he with a smirk had realised made her react in a way to it.

She then tilted her head at him, 

“I am just trying to keep the pace, old man, but if it’s too much for you…” she then said with a playful look.

Poseidon then groaned at that, especially when he gazed at her body in front of him then. 

Especially at the way her tanned, and toned body glistened in front of him with a bit of exertion, her muscles flexing with every tiny movement she made.

It made his pulse raise. 

“I’m just…pacing myself.” He then uttered with a breath, his eyes darkening at the woman before him.

Hariel’s lips then twitched, a hint of a cocky smirk showing.

“We should keep going.” 

She then brought a hand towards him,

“Come on, let me help. It’s alright.” she then soothingly said, but still with mirth laced in her tone, which made him feel quite out of it during it all. 

“Come on, it’s just a little hike now, see?” She then told him, when he was taking too much.

And looking up from her tightly covered body in front of her, which consisted of a lovely short tank top, with as equally short shorts, he then brought his hand up towards her, even though he wasn’t in actuality that much winded, but it surprised him nonetheless, that it did wind him up at all, this sudden hike they were partaking in, which Hariel had suddenly sprang up on him the day before, which shouldn’t have surprised him in the slightest, seeing as it was a norm with Hariel now.

They’ve gotten quite closer from the days after the picknick, with the both of them going on abrupt trips to see and experience the whole of the city, with or without her family.

He especially liked it when he got to be with her alone, which was understandable. 

They’ve started this hike to the nearby mountains this morning, it’s almost past four pm now. 

“You truly are like a goat, have I told you that?” he then huffed at her in amusement while he looked down at her, after he let her pull him up, which she giggled at, making his smile widen at the sound of it.

“No, you have not, and I’ll take that as a compliment, thank you very much.” She then answered with a smile to him, which he chuckled at.

“Well you should, because it definitely was a compliment in fact,” He then charmingly told her with a wink, all the while he pulled her along with him towards the trail in front of them. Her hand being in his was a normal occurrence now.

“Did you enjoy the hike?” Hariel then curiously asked him after they continued to eat their lunch, which she had provided for them for the day.

They were sat on the grassy top of the mountain overlooking the beautiful view in front of them, but Poseidon wasn’t looking at the view at the moment, no, he had been watching her throughout it all, especially with the way the sun shone on her, making her look ethereal to him.

She then met his gaze, and he stood frozen at the way her eyes, that shone even brighter than the most beautiful gems he had ever seen, looked towards his. For there was a curious warmth to them, he realised, which made him feel content by looking in to them.

Shovelling another forkfull of the pasta, he then took his time to answer her, but also to pull himself together.

Being used to the best of everything, food including, Poseidon admits that he liked her cooking best,which he had let her know before this in seriousness, which Hariel had simply laughed at, but thanked him for the compliment nonetheless. 

“I enjoyed it very much, did you?” He then finally answered, while he once more turned his gaze to her awaiting one, which then beamed at his answer.

“I’m glad, truly, and yes, I enjoyed it as well, I might even do this again in the future,” She then told him with a chuckle, which he grinned at.

“Well do let me know whenever you’d like to, I’ll join you, well if you aren’t against it?” He then asked her, his head tilting at the side at her, but furthermore at what her reaction would be to his straightforwardness.

Which wasn’t the first time he had tried it, each time showing his intent on a more than just friendly level, which went over Hariel’s head, every time, he thought with an amused huff.

For he wasn’t annoyed by it, not in the slightest, it was endearing, the way she was so oblivious at someone showing their romantic interest in her, that is.

It made her a challenge, a challenge he would win.

And he can’t wait until he did, for the anticipation of truly winning her over, of having her, fully, the thrill of it, it simmered beneath his skin, and made his pulse quicken. Even now. For he knows that when that time would come, when she realised the depth of his feelings for her- when her quite guarded heart would open up to him, that it would be all the more intoxicating. He would savour the sweetness of it all, of a victory hard-fought, and long desired. And when she would finally succumb to him, when the gates to her walls would truly shatter for him, like brittle stone beneath his grasp, the triumph, sweetness, and fullness of it all would be beyond even his godly comprehension- deep, primal, and absolute. 

The moment would be carved from the very bones of the fates themselves.

“I would like that,” Hariel then truthfully told him, with a smile, the warmth of it all taking his breath away for a moment, especially because of the thoughts he had earlier. The darker being in him, for one, curled at it. As though she had heard his thoughts, and agreed with them.

Which would have been quite something, but Poseidon knows that it wasn’t truly that, even if he longed to hear it- her acceptance of it, of him and his feelings for her, the true depth of it, for the way he feels for her, he had never, not once felt for another. That, and of him as a whole, even the darker, primal part of him.

He thinks she wouldn’t be afraid of it, of him. 

That she would accept him for him.

“Oh before we leave, I have a question for you, you can say no, that’s no problem if you don’t want to-” Hariel then started to hastily mumble, not once looking him in the eye all the while, and Poseidon was absolutely enamoured by it then, by her.

For she looked utterly adorable to him then.

As if he would deny her anything.

“Yes.” He then simply said, which finally stopped Hariel from rambling even more, seeing as she still did not get to the point of her question, of well, finally asking him it, that is.

She then looked at him like how a deer would under the headlights, which made a chuckle then escape him, which she then pouted at.

“You don’t even know what I was going to ask you!” She then glowered at him, which made him then truly chuckle at the way she looked at this instance. What with the way her lips were fully pursed then, and her cheeks full of indignation and rosy at the way he continued to chuckle at her, he almost fell off the mountain then, by the way his body was convulsing with laughter.

“Hey! Stop laughing,” Hariel then shouted in affront, and he then tried to put a stupor to his laughter, which he did after five more minutes.

Which of course then made Hariel look at him in blankness, for she was truly done with his antics it seemed.

He only grinned at her, before he reiterated.

“Whatever it is, it’s a yes from me.” 

“That’s a dangerous thing to say you know? What if I asked you to jump from this mountain then, huh? Would you jump, no, I thought so. So wait ‘till I finally ask my question, and then decide if you would agree to it or not, like Merlin Sei, that’s common sense,” She then huffed at him, with her brows raised up at his amused gaze.

He would have jumped if she asked. He then thought. It wouldn’t hurt him, much.

But Hariel would never have asked such a thing of him, for she cared about him. He knew, with utmost certainty, which made him once more feel warm at it, the knowledge of it.

“You would have never asked it of me, Hariel, I know you. And I know that whatever you would have asked of me, that I would never have minded, not in the slightest.” He then told her with utmost certainty, which took her by surprise, especially at the way he was most certainly looking at her, he knows. Especially with the way he had then leaned closer to her, to state his point. Her eyes seemed to have widened for a moment before she then simply shook her head at him.

“Alright, well here’s my question then: would you like to have dinner with me? Well with the family, at our house, that is.” She then expounded at the end, after she saw his grin widen at her lapse.

He would have most definitely liked to have dinner with her.

“Yes.” He then once more answered.

Fumbling with her earrings in her bedroom, Hariel set off to get ready for the evening, the dinner. She stood before her vanity in complete concentration, an elegant dress on for the time, it clung to her like another skin. 

Nymphadora then slinked into the room without a knock, which was to be expected, seeing as it was Nymphadora, but what set her off, was the playful way her older cousin was looking at her.

“Well, well, I see someone’s going all out for today huh, are you trying to impress someone, baby coz?” Nyphadora then purred with a knowing look in her eyes, her mouth turned salacious at that then. 

“A certain someone, I mean?”

Hariel’s fingers then froze at the last earring she had in her hold, before she recovered and finally closed the clasp against her earlobe. She then shot a sideways glare from the mirror at Nymphadora, who was now lounging on the edge of  her bed, her arms were folded, and she wore a raised eye-brow then, awaiting her response.

“It’s not like that,” She then almost hissed at her, feeling her cheeks heat up at the thought of it.

“We’re just friends, and I always dress nice, you know that.” She then told her older cousin with an eye-roll.

“It’s the fact you know who I mean that gets me baby coz, and just friends huh. And yes, sure, you do always look nice, but now?” Nyphadora then questioned, and then leaned closer to her from where she laid, her eyes gleaming all the while, and her tone then turned sultry,

“You look ravishing Harry, very hot. Almost like you are expecting a certain someone to notice. And trust me, if I were him, or just a man in general, and not your blood- I would definitely notice you, and I would gobble you up like the delectable meal you are.” she then purred with a playful bite and a wink sent to her, which Hariel made a face at.

“What the fuck Nymphadora!” She then hissed at her in shock,  which her older cousin like-wise hissed at, at hearing her full name,

“And it’s not like that, stop being weird! Now out with you, go! Morgana, you’re impossible, Nymph’” Hariel then grouched before she  pointed to the door, which Nyphadora huffed at, before she pulled herself away from her comfortable spot on her bed.

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop and go, Merlin, you’re just so fun to mess with~” Nyphadora then told her while she raised her arms up in the air, still chuckling at her, till she finally left the room, and Hariel was alone in it once more, for Seraphina was out hunting prey for the night.

She then exhaled a long breath, and put her hands against her still burning cheeks.

“He isn’t,” She then quietly whispered to herself.

He isn’t in love with me, he’s just my friend.

And neither do I have feelings for him. She then firmly thought to herself, but why did she not believe herself then? 

She then bit her lip at the thought, before she turned to gaze at herself in the mirror.

Sei was just a nice person, friendly to everyone, not only her, she knew. Sure they shared a few laughs, or smiled at her in that warm way, with his eyes always upon her, solely on her, which always made something flutter in her belly at the sight of it, of him.

Or especially when he was all attentive with her, not ridiculing her even if she was being ridiculous, or the way he would always hold her so softly, as though she were fragile, something to be taken care of, cherished.

But that couldn’t be true, right?

Sei wasn’t in love with me, right?

Of course not, she then thought. By Morgana, it hasn’t been that long since they’ve been friends! He was just being nice, and there was nothing to it.

Bloody hell, Nyphadora. She then thought in annoyance.

Her hands manicured hands then fiddled on the table,

“Why would someone like him be interested in me?” she then whispered to herself in her suddenly small room, everything felt tight then.

And she felt utterly small.

But even then, she felt her heart sunk at it, which confused her to no end. 

Because deep down, a part of her wanted it to be true.

But she as quickly flicked that thought away, before she finally had enough and left the now suffocating room, even though it was large. 

Poseidon shook his broad shoulders before he finally knocked on the door, he was wearing a suit for the occasion, without the tie of course, which made it less constricting, but he still did not feel that much normal in it.

How his little brother keeps wearing them, is beyond him.

But he wouldn’t think of that fool now, for he had better things to do.

And neither was his brother worth a thought, besides annoyance of course.

“Ah there you are, come in!” He then heard Nyphadora shout from at the entrance, she was carrying young Teddy in her arms, he then noticed with a small, especially at the way the young boy locked his widened eyes on the wrapped package he was holding in his arms, which he gave to the boy.

“For you,” He told him with a quirk to his lips, which then transformed into a gentle smile, especially at the way the boy cheered at it and thanked him profoundly for it, but what the boy called him at the end, stopped him in his tracks.

“-thank you, uncle Sei!” 

He then heard the boy’s mother chuckle at that, before she then got a holdof him and pushed him inside, all the while she told him to sit down in the living room with Teddy and the rest, and that Hariel would be coming down in a moment, which he then simply nodded to, still in shock from before.

But most especially at the way his chest had tightened at hearing it, that the boy considered him family. The way he considered his godmother, who by right was of his blood, his aunt.

But still.

“‘Lo Sei” Theodore then greeted him with a nod, with drinks in tow, which he then offered him, which Poseidon then gratefully took a gulp of.

“Thanks.” He then uttered, finding his manners, which the young man simply nodded to before he made his way to his fiancee, who then greeted him as well from where she was sat on the very large U-shaped couch which he gathered  could seat a fairly large group of people.

“It’s good to see you, Sei!” Susan then beamed at him, when he took a seat next to them on the couch, which he smiled at, before he answered her in like, his gaze then turned to look at the young boy, who was now playing on the ground with the toy Poseidon had gotten him, which was a motorcycle with a Wolverine toy riding it, which he knew was a favourite character of the boy’s, from the cartoon show he was watching.

“It’s really nice of you, he seems to really like it by the looks of it,” Susan then chuckled when she turned to look at Teddy as well,

“It was nothing, he said he liked it,” Poseidon then honestly answered her. 

“You didn’t have to, but thank you.” Another voice then joined the conversation, and looking up, Poseidon was met with the pursed face of Remus, who seemed to be at the standstill on how he felt for him, which amused Poseidon to no ends.

Because of the way the man clearly disliked him, well for being near Hariel that is. Seeing as he must know, well everyone but Hariel did, he realised. Which would have annoyed him on any other occasion, that others knew, and that they might but in, but he didn’t really seem to mind it.

“Ah Harry, there you are,” He then heard Theodore say in greeting from next to to stairs, and looking up, Poseidon was frozen at the sight of her.

As always, in his mind, she stood at the center of every room, this one being no different. She always looked exquisite to him, but now? And in that dress?

She looked radiant, and yet, effortlessly graceful, with the way she walked into the room, and turned her gaze at him.

In that moment, it was as thought the world had stopped, for the only thing that existed to him- was her.

Her hair enveloped her lovely face with delicate curly waves, and the shimmer of her earrings then caught his attention for a moment, because of the subtle shimmer it emitted when the light touched it,  before he as quickly returned his gaze back to her. She then smiled at him in greeting, a small, but warm smile, which took his breath away.

She then then thanked him for the gift, after Teddy ran over to her to show it off in happiness, softly tangling her hand in the boys own ever changing curly hair then, which the boy leaned into, while he spoke about the toy to her,  and Poseidon watched her throughout it all.

It was hard not to. For he thinks, his eyes were meant to stay on her, always.

“It was nothing, really. “ He then replied, after he pulled another button open from his shirt, feeling it tighten against his neck all of a sudden, he couldn’t breathe.

But while he was doing that, he did not notice her eyes had shifted to it suddenly, especially at the sight of his chest. He especially did not hear the small breathy gasp she had let out. 

For the slight edge to  his appearance,  combined with the seemingly relaxed, but lethal confidence he naturally carried, made him seem even more otherworldly then. 

For the first time ever, Hariel felt truly at a loss for words, and her heart then made a traitorous flutter as she registered how truly good he looked to her, which she knew, that he was a handsome man, but now was different.

And its not like hasn’t seen his chest fully that is, for she had, whenever they had gone to the beach together. 

She hadn’t acted weird then, nor felt it.

And it was all Nyphadora’s fault.

But she wasn’t the only one staring, for he was staring at her as well, with those intense eyes of his, but most especially now. 

He held her captivated.

Unbeknownst to either of them, the rest of the occupants of the room, minus her godson,who returned to his spot on the ground to play with his newly gifted toy,  stared at the sight of them with intrigue, excitement, or with narrowed eyes in Remus’ case.

Looking at the way Sei was looking at his niece, his cub really,  Remus frowned in annoyance at the way he kept on looking at her, and she him as well, as though they were stuck in their own orbit. 

His protective instincts, as always, kicked in at the sight of the overtowering man. He made him feel on edge, for there was something too sharp, dangerous to the man.

Sure, he seemed kind. And the rest of their little gathered family seemed to fully welcome him with open arms and everything, but Remus wasn’t completely sold.

“Well, shall we get to dinner then?” His wife then called out, making the pair in front of them finally look away from each other then, with Harry, he noticed in alarm, blushing afterwards.

Oh no.

Nonononooo

NO!

Dinner was a blur of conversation and laughter, the clinking of glasses and tableware on the plates filled the air. And during it all, Poseidon remained his polite and charming self while he engaged the people surrounding him. 

His witty remarks especially even, made the table, minus the sour wolf Remus, erupt into laughter, Hariel’s sounding the most beautiful to his ears, while he grinned down at her, for having made it come out of her.

He as always, even when he was engaging another in conversation, always found gaze returning to her.

For she had him in complete enrapture. And everytime she spoke, he clung to her words, admiring the way her eyes would lighten up every time.Especially when her lips would form into those soft smiles of hers.

But what he did not notice, was that she too was staring at him during it all.

As the evening wound down, with the young Teddy being put to bed, his mother then leaned over the table with a large smile, her eyes focusing on Hariel but also him at every moment, as though she knew a secret no one knew but her.

“You know what’s coming up soon, right,” Nymphadora chirped with a quick laugh.

Which made Poseidon quirk his brow in question at, especially at the way Hariel, who was sitting next to him then groaned in annoyance.

“No, ‘Dora, don’t make a fuss about it, it’s nothing.” Hariel then huffed at her older cousin, trying to make her stop from continuing with a look alone, which to be honest, but also surprisingly, made Poseidon stand at attention at it.

While it wasn’t directed at him, he did feel as though he were getting scolded from that single look alone.

It was good he wasn’t on the end of her ire.

Very good indeed.

But well, this was about to be very interesting he gathers.

“Oh come off it, babes! You only turn that age once, come on! And besides, it’s going to be very special, I know it!” Nyphadora then cut in, and before Hariel could even say anthing in response to it, where he saw the rest of her family look at the sight with grins on their faces, seemingly in the know.

And Poseidon then turned to Hariel in realisation, 

“Is it -” he started to say, before he was cut off by Nymphadora. 

“It’s going to be her birthday! Twentieth in fact, our big girl!” Nyphadora then coed at the soon to become birthday girl in question, who simply looked annoyed at her.

He was correct in his assumption.

“It’s going to be the best birthday, ever, especially because its being handled by yours truly! And no buts, you are coming, and Sei of course, most definitely as well, for I will hear no complaints!” 

“Don’t make a big deal out of it, it’s nothing really-” Hariel then started to say to her delighted cousin, when Poseidon cut her off.

“No,” He started to say, his eyes locking on her own, his voice was deep and sincere when he spoke next.

“It’s not nothing, Nyphadora’s right, your day should be celebrated, for it is special, because you exist, Hariel. And I would be delighted, if you’ll have me.”  

The room fell silent at his interruption, and then Hariel felt her breath hitch at what he said next, spoken with such conviction and warmth, with his gaze firmly holding hers prison.

“It’s not nothing, Nyphadora’s right, your day should be celebrated, for it is special, because you exist, Hariel. And I would be delighted, if you’ll have me.”  He told her, which made something in her chest tighten then. 

The certainty of it all- it shook her to her core.

And Hariel could only utter one thing, which made Nyphadora entirely pleased,she even jumped from her seat in cheer,  while Remus tightened his jaw at it, especially at the admittance of him. 

“Alright.” She said to him, and Poseidon then warmly smiled at her, and then gave her a kiss to her cheek, which she started at.

“Thank you, and that was for before, because I forgot to greet you properly. That, and to say how beautiful you look.” He then said with a rumble to his tone, his sea-like eyes dark, she feels like she’s drowning. 

The rest of their table occupants simple looked at one another in knowing, while one fumed from the seat in front of theirs, if he could, he would have burned a hole straight into Poseidon with his gaze alone, it was only Nymphadora that kept him tightly in check, what with the way she then sat on him.

But well, the both of them were none the wiser of it all, seeing as they were solely focused on one another.