"You never wanted to venture out into the world? Not at all?"

"I didn't feel the need to,"

"Why?"

"I didn't want to see how the world ended up hurting itself," Druig explained as we were still sitting together on the couch. We already talked for a good few hours, bringing back old memories and stories from our past together. I knew we were liking time, waiting for Sersi to call us once she got a hold on Phastos. There wasn't much to do, but all we did was talk with one another.

We talked as if we never left one another.

I told him about my travels, going from place to see to see what the world did have to offer. I tried to move along with the world and how it was changing, thing finding jobs that were pointing to serving and helping others more than having it be about myself. I was a social worker, then a nurse through some of the major wars, and then I found a true calling in teaching when it came to children. I could see Druig barely smile when I mentioned that I worked with children.

Druig told me all about his village, how he found it on his own and protected it for so long without any suspicions from outsiders. Some of the soldiers that were there at Tenochtitlan ended up having families there in their new home, then they had children, and then their children had children. I realized that when we went to see Druig, there were at least a few families that had a direct bloodline to the soldiers 500 years ago, it amazed me to hear such a thing.

But it also showed the devotion that Druig had for these people. He wanted to keep them away from anything and everything that could threaten them and their well-being. Druig made sure his people had all they needed, that they didn't need to go out into the sins of the world, and he did it for so long on his own.

"It did hurt itself, I saw it at times when there was war," I explained to him while I got up from the couch, going over to the kitchen to grab the both of us two glasses for water, "But good came out of that hurt too. I've seen it, after wars and famine, and even after a loss. Goodness always won, and maybe it's how it's embedded in humans now."

"You see the goodness in everything," Druig commented from the couch as I got two glasses of water filled with ice-cold water, "It's second nature to you,"

"And yet you sound surprised by it," I responded lightly as I was getting the waters ready in my hand to walk back over back to the living room. As I turned, I saw that Druig was watching me. But he stood up from his spot on the couch, standing like a pillar in the middle of the living room and keeping his gaze at me.

"It always an occurrence," Druig stated, having me give him confused look as I walked over to hand him his glass. Once he was in reach, I held his glass out for him to take, "When I think I know as much as I can about you, you surprise me."

"What do you mean?" I asked, seeing him take his glass gently from my hand. He only shrugged, almost as if he didn't want to say anything but he was going to be cautious with his words with me.

"Just hearing about all that you've done all this time." Druig answered, "Hearing where you have traveled, what you did to help humans. You were busy,"

"You make it sound like a bad thing," I commented, though he chuckled and shook his head as I took a sip from my water.

"It's not bad at all," He reassured me, "But you've done anything else for yourself? Tried new things?"

"I have tried plenty of things," I reasoned with a shrug.

"Seeing anything new?" He asked another question, in which I had to give a smaller laugh.

"I did, the perk of being able to teleport within a split second," I answered. Druig paused for a split second, almost faltering with what he was thinking in his head. Maybe he was thinking of some obscure question to ask me and replaying it in his to make sure it sounded right.

"Have you ever been with someone?"

Now with that question, I did pause. I almost forgot where I was, heading that question to go off in my head over and over like the record play that was still playing softly in the background. My eyes traveled to the glass in my hand, trying to focus on one particular object to get my mind together and not freak out. It was something I was harboring inside, a deep secret that I never once released to someone.

Not even the Eternals knew about it. It happened plenty of times before, the opportunity come forth in front of me and almost tempted me to take the plunge. For as long as I could remember, I've had men try to seduce me, even in the earlier times when the humans thought of me, like the other Eternals as Gods. Men tried to bed me, giving me gifts and showering me with affection. Yet every time I found a way to escape that situation, to walk away before things would go farther than they should. I made excuses time after time, and thankfully the rest of the family never even posted me about it.

Until now.

It was just a simple question, something that one friend would ask another. But it wasn't for me, since I knew what it meant. Druig was only curious, I knew it was since we were talking and trying to catch each other up with the lives we had while we were separated.

Maybe I paused for too long, Druig was sensing something was off as I was still looking at my glass of water as his playful demeanor then looked like he was worried.

"You know, from the look you're giving me right now, I might have overstepped my boundaries," Druig commented, his voice sounding a bit low and almost concerned as I clutched my glass a bit tighter. He took a small step towards me, shortening the distance to almost giving me some comfort, "I didn't mean to—"

"It's fine," I grunted, moving away from him before he could get close enough. Perhaps I moved too fast, almost spooked in general as I walked briskly over to the kitchen counter, facing away from him and placing my glass on the counter a bit too hard to hear the glass hit the countertop. Why was this so hard to answer a simple question. He was my friend, my best friend even. Druig knew how to make me laugh and how to make me feel grounded. But this, this was something he didn't know at all about me, and I felt like I exposed myself before I was ready to.

"Clearly, it's not," He said, his voice laced with a hint of worry as I heard him take a few steps over in my direction, stopping right before he would go into the kitchen, "I didn't mean to ask that if it's bothering you,"

"You did though," I muttered, tapping my fingers against the countertop as I looked down at the countertop with tense eyes, "And I can answer it. It's just…I've never told anyone,"

I finally turned around and saw Druig right at the edge of the kitchen, watching em interlay as I leaned back against the countertop and folded my arms in front of myself. Maybe I was showing one a skeleton in my closet, unlocking something deep within me that I swear I would never tell anyone. But on the other side of my mind, I figured I would lay it all out in the open since we could lose this fight and the world could end. What was there to lose? I had to trust that what I was about to confess to Druig was going to end on a positive note.

"I'm Asexual, Druig,"

Those three words rang in the air between the both of us in my apartment. I heard it rang from my lips and into the air, hovering almost like a cloud and then floating away into the night. Druig said nothing, and although I knew that was coming, I was still a bit skeptical to keep talking to him

"I have been since…since we came here to Earth," I explained some more, trying to keep my voice level, "At first I thought were was something wrong with me, not being attracted to anyone like…like that before," I grimaced after saying that part to him, almost making me feel sick from having this kind of conversation with him.

"I think I was naive then, or at the time I was in hoping that whatever I was feeling would switch off when I would find a particular person. But it never did, and I still felt the same. There was….nothing there," I shrugged as I gestured that last part with my hands. It was making me feel more bitter, having the small hope that my feelings about attraction would change sometime. But the more I hoped, and as time went by, nothing changed.

"After seeing it with Ikaris and Sersi got together, and as much as I was happy for the both of them, I knew I would never have that in my life. I've seen others have it, I've seen it so many times with humans. It's so natural to them, ad it's a part of their evolution and how they populate the earth. For them it's easy, but not for me. It made me think that I was…amongst other things…broken,"

This was not how I wanted to tell him, or anyone about my sexuality or how I felt like sex. That nagging feeling that I had on the top of my spine that was telling me that no one would understand or feel what I feel never left. But then again, I should feel safe enough to tell Druig, or any one of the Eternals. Did any of them have a clue about what I was feeling? If they did, would they have told me?

Yet I felt lighter, the heaviness that felt like weights that were trying to sink me and stop me from telling him was no longer there. In fact, it felt like I was floating in a way, no longer dreading what I was saying since it was now in the open. I've read articles about telling people something as important as your sexuality, the feeling of freedom after you do since it felt like you had it hide it your whole life. I hide it from others for the past 7,000 years, such a long time to hide someone personal deep within me and never let it be exposed.

It felt like I was soaring instead of drowning.

After telling Druig all of this and seeing that he was still watching me gently and with kind eyes. He didn't show anything negative on his face, nor he was rushing to say anything. Maybe he knew I had to say everything and just let it hang in the air, with no judgment or comment. He was implying watching me unfold a new layer to him that he has never seen before.

"They came up with the term for Asexuality back in the early 2000s, and up until then, I didn't think there was a word for it. But it was the human race that told me that it was okay to be Asexual, and it is," I hummed, feeling less heavy as I explained to him, "It has been easier to live with in the recent years. I don't mind telling other people if they do ask, especially here in Portland since they're open-minded here. But this ….…this is different,"

"How is this different?" Druig asked quickly, taking another step over to me and giving me a serious look, trying to understand.

"How?" I asked, a bit confused.

"How is you telling me this different?" he asked, almost sounding a bit agitated at the notion of me not willing to tell him about this part of my life. It was evident there in his eyes, how he was standing right in front of me, and yet it almost felt like he was too far away.

I knew what he was feeling: He thought I would be afraid to tell him. And it did hurt him.

"Because you're my best friend, Druig," I explained calmly, "You are someone who I consider very important in my life. My sexuality is something that I was struggling it for the longest time, and I wasn't willing to let that side of my life be shown to you. I would have rather struggled with it alone than to have you think of me differently because of this,"

"I wouldn't have thought of you different, Soteri," He said to me, his voice sounding so sure of himself as I stared at him intensely, seeing nothing change in his eyes as he was still talking, "You are still you, the same selfless, protective, and kind Soteri I have known for as long as we have been on this planet. I don't want you to be anyone else,"

I gave him a small smile then, nodding my head to show that I understood what he was saying and how it was making me feel. I hung my head for a brief moment, taking a second and just letting it soak into my bones. All that time that I was afraid to tell him, was wasted on fear. The fear of the unknown, or being rejected by someone who is considered a part of you. Someone you even once considered being in love with.

Was I ever in love with him? Was I still in love with him?

I finally looked back up at him, seeing him give his rare smile. It felt more natural since it was just the both of us there with no one else around, having this moment together of me telling him about me being Asexual and Druig fully accepting it.

"Thank you, Druig," I thanked him.

"For what?" He asked, the smile still on his face.

"For loving me for who I was, who I am," I explained, making it sound simple enough. I did feel love from Druig when we would be together. It was easy to be myself around him, it took some work in the beginning since we were closed off from each other within the mind. But because of that, we talked and got to know each other on another level. We learned how we each felt about the earth, how we felt about humans, and we learned about each other in hopes that the world would change for the better.

Druig walked over the last few steps and hugged me, this time it was a more intimate hug than it was in the Amazon I sighed, melting into his embrace and feeling a sense of peace floating between us. I knew, in some way, that he did love me and cared for me deeply. I saw signs of it sometime before, and I just ignore them thinking that it was simply because he cared about me and my well-being. I only ignored them then, thinking I was a fool to have those kinds of thoughts about another Eternal. I was never sexually attracted to another person. But love?

Was this love?

"I will always love you, Soteri," He said to me against my head, having me rest my head against his shoulder. I knew he loved me, that we all loved each other on the ship in such a way it was evident throughout the years. We all cared for one another as a family, being close in bond and seeing the world together. Maybe he was thinking the same thing too, and I would accept it from him.

But there was a pull in my gut just to get a bit closer, to go with my instincts with how I felt about it. I did believe in love and what love can do to a person. Being this close to Druig, after not seeing him for centuries and thinking he was out of my life for good, awakening something deep within me that I thought was long gone. A small spark, a lick of a flame that was itching to come out.

Feeling his body against my own was almost dizzy for a moment, having me forget reality as I lifted my head and I felt his face so close to mine. We were very close, having me see how blue his eyes were and how they were bright in the kitchen lights. I saw how soft his skin looked, seeing a particular spot under his eye that somehow I wanted to touch with my fingers.

His fingers that were around my shoulders were slowly moving, cradling my neck within his calloused palm. I felt his fingers touch the small hairs against my skin, making me slightly shiver. His eyes were searching my own, being so close together I could breathe him and ingest him.

I never left love before for another person, not the kind of love I saw in movies or read in books, or even amongst humans walking on the street. That feeling of falling and yet flying, and seeing that we were close together, wrapped in each other's arms and my hands slowly sinking to be around his waist just to have an anchor, I was about to fall. If only we leaned in a bit closer.

My phone rang on the coffee table, the both of us snapping away from each other as if we were electrocuted. I moved so fast I thought I was going trip, the haze we were both in floated away and we were back in reality. It happened so quickly: one minute we were embracing each other and were about to kiss…..and then it was gone. I thought I was going to kiss him, to faintly kiss him, and for him to see how he affected me. But as fast as it was about to happen, it went away as I reached down with a shaky hand to grab the phone. I looked to see it was a text message, clicking it open.

"It's Sersi," I said, seeing what she sent me before I looked back over at Druig. He was glued to the same spot, his hands at his sides out and almost looking flushed. He watched me as I raised my phone to him to show the message and a recent picture of an excavation out in Iraq.

"They found the ship."