Rating doesn't really show until later chapters, nothing's graphic, I promise. I just figured it'd be best to be safe. More tags will be added.
It's nothing more than busy work, toying with one of his many models. Turn it this way. Turn it that way. Add some light, and he's done.
He's bored.
The low light of his workshop is usually comfortable but it seems dull now. Lifetimes ago, his workshop was a towering spire a short distance from the Palace, glistening with stars, dowsed in moonlight. Gods and goddesses, nymphs, fairies, and all sorts would come around.
The Moon God's Domain climbed into the sky. Home to magic, spells and all manner of artifacts. One could watch the seas change from the spire's top balcony.
The spire is empty now, nothing more than a darkened tower, devoid of anything and everything that once made it so wondrous.
He's fine with his workshop, prefers it even. It's out of the way, hardly any visitors, and it's quiet. He can work in peace, constructing and creating whatever he wants. The spells are his own and he can keep to himself. Occasionally, of course, he'll get a messenger sent by his former colleagues, requesting his attendance at a gathering
He always declines.
With a sigh, Kei pushes away from his work desk. There's nothing much in the day to do at the moment. Or at all, really. He still holds his position, his reputation, but he doesn't present as a figure head anymore, perfectly fine to keep to himself. Heavy lifting is something he doesn't have to do anymore, and he's not entirely sure if he misses it.
His workshop sits along the cliffs facing the sea. He can see one of his moons rise against the water.
This one is his favorite.
Kei sits on the cliff's edge. It will be dark soon. Yamaguchi's constellations appear one by one, nothing new, so Kei closes his eyes. The age of heroes is over, there is no one to put amongst the stars now. But Yamaguchi continues to care for his connections, he keeps them together, he speaks with all of the minor deities pertinent to his constellations and convinces them to keep the stars alive.
It's admirable, really.
"What are you doing?"
Kei opens his eyes, squinting against the unnatural brightness.
Whoever it is, he must be a fire sprite of some kind, for all that his glow and stature give away. The sprite emits a bright orange-yellow glow, pulsing as he breathes. His eyes are widened in curiosity, warm brown ringed in red and holding rampant flames in their confines. He holds more presence than a sprite should.
That's when Kei sees the wings.
Massive despite being folded against his back, they shimmer as though made from gold. They radiate heat, much more than Kei is used to in his frigid workshop.
This no sprite, not with wings like that.
"Resting. Who are you and why are you here?" Kei asks. He stands up, not prepared to find out just how much taller than this stranger he actually is.
"I'm wandering," the not-sprite says, "I'm the Sun God, Hinata Shouyou. I didn't know anyone lived out here."
The Sun God? Kei had heard a while ago that they'd finally found him, Yamaguchi always had news, but this is not at all what he'd been expecting.
Kei is only slightly shocked.
Hinata looks more the part of a fire sprite, or some other elemental, minus the wings of course. But there's no way. He's just so unassuming.
Kei waves off his question phrased as a statement and starts walking back to his workshop, he'd like to see the moon rise completely, but not with this apparent Sun God.
He doesn't expect Hinata to follow him.
"Are you a Minor God? I haven't seen you at the Palace. Were you banished? Is that why you live out here?"
Minor God? Kei almost scoffs aloud. What kind of Minor God controls the tides of planetary oceans? What kind of Minor God is entrusted with magical artifacts? Or creates defensive barriers powerful enough to keep any and all unsavory beings out of the Palace? What kind of Minor God holds enough secrets to rip apart the peace they all exist in?
Tsukishima Kei is no MInor God, and he certainly doesn't need to be questioned by a so called Sun God the size of a sprite.
"I live here because it's quiet," he says instead.
"Oh, that's nice. It's never really quiet at the Palace, I like it. But it's nice here too!"
Kei spares the small God a look before his attention drifts elsewhere.
The moon, bright and blue and Kei's favorite, is settled half against the horizon line. It illuminates the water, gives it a glow. The moon seems to bleed into the ocean, spreading along, and Kei finds a smile twitching at his lips.
"Pretty."
Kei looks down to Hinata.
The little god's eyes are wide, shining as Kei' moon reflects perfectly in his fiery irises. His wings unfurl, fluttering lightly and lifting him off his feet. The tip of one of his wings brushes against Kei, just one breath on the side of painfully hot.
"I never knew the moon could look like this," Hinata says after a stretch of silence, eyes still transfixed to the horizon, though he's back on his feet.
"There are many moons," Kei says flippantly.
"They don't look like that at the Palace."
Of course they don't, Kei's not there to make them so.
He gives Hinata a noncommittal grunt in answer.
Soon enough, the moon rises higher and Hinata snaps out of whatever trance he'd fallen into. There's nothing left to do, so Kei resumes his walk back to his workshop.
"Where are you going?" Hinata calls, easily catching up with a boost from his wings.
"Back."
"Back where?"
"To my workshop."
Kei really wants Hinata to leave. It's too warm, too loud, to uncomfortable.
"What do you make in your workshop?"
"Things."
Luckily, Hinata isn't so dense as to not realize when he's getting the soft boot out the door. So he nods.
"Okay!"
Kei watches him fly off, sees the brilliant streaks of red and orange shine behind him like a trail of stardust. He's fast, and in seconds, he's nothing but a dot of light in the distance.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "You already have a bunch of open stories you need to finish," and "There's a bunch of stuff you said you'd finish before this," and also "How many AUs does this make now?" I get it, I totally understand. All that stuff is getting worked on, but here's my problem(s). I get side tracked easily. I get sporadic bouts of inspiration and motivation. I live in a constant state of exhaustion and stress.
I promise, swear up and down and all, in progress stories will be finished. There are just going to be a bunch of detours along the way, so thank you all for being patient with me.