Gene & Anubis

It was strange.

Walking side by side with a god I’d read about in books that used to be worshipped, that people used to be afraid of. And yet to me he looked like another boy my age, all innocent but interesting nonetheless.

“It’s…uhm…this way,” I said and before I could open the door, Spiti did it for me, letting us both into my art studio.

I kept my gaze trained on Ani the whole time watching for his reaction to my work in progress that had been left unfinished when Horus took me.

I’d been such a fool. I didn’t know why I believed him. Why would anyone want to sponsor my art? I was a complete and utter nobody.

Ani’s eyes went wide and a small smile pierced his face and he approached my canva with both care and wonder. As if he hadn’t seen anything like it. As if it was unique, or interesting, or anything worth studying.

“Oh my, Gene. This is beautiful,” he said and hovered his hands in front of the low-grade crystal spells dotted all over the canva but he didn’t touch, which I respected.

I shrugged.

“It’s okay.”

“Okay?” He turned to me with a wild expression and shook his head. “This is more than okay, Gene. This is stunning. It’s a true work of art. I can’t keep my eyes off it.”

I blew raspberries and pushed my glasses up the bridge of my nose.

“You don’t have to lie for my benefit. I’m not a delicate flower. I know it’s not great.”

“But it is!” Ani said and cocked his head to the side with a frown.

I dared glance at him and once I did I couldn’t stop looking.

“I know you’re lying because…because you’re ancient—”

“Oh that again?” He sighed.

“No! I didn’t mean it like that,” I said. “I just meant…you’ve been around for so long. You’ve witnessed true art. True mastery. True beauty.”

Ani moved toward me with such tenderness and grace he was almost ethereal. Which I guessed wasn’t that far off the truth although I knew very little about gods and their true nature.

“It’s true. I’ve seen masters in their element for centuries, millennia. I’ve seen amazing art pieces. Intricate craftsmanship.”

“There. See?”

Ani raised an eyebrow.

“See what?”

“You’ve seen incredible work. This…my stuff is just…weird.”

He chuckled.

“Maybe. I wouldn’t say weird. I’d say a bit eclectic. A bit more cerebral. But even if it wasn’t, it wouldn’t make it any less art. Art isn’t a monolith. It doesn’t have an expiration day. Just because I’ve witnessed some fantastic art doesn’t mean anything you make now isn’t worthy. Or that it isn’t considered beautiful.”

I wanted to believe him, I truly did, but I was sure he was just being nice. Nothing more. Nothing less.

He came even closer and leaned in with a grin.

“It is beautiful, Gene. It’s wonderful. And you know why?”

He felt so close and that in turn made me feel pinned against the wall even though I wasn’t and there was still a generous amount of space between us. Maybe it was because I couldn’t stop staring into his beautiful silver eyes that looked like two crescent moons lighting up the night sky.

“Wh-why?” I asked.

Why was my mouth feeling so dry all of a sudden?

“Because,” he said but it was almost a whisper. “You made it. I can see your heart and soul on that canvas and it’s beautiful. You are beautiful.”

All right now we were crossing into ridiculous territory.

“Okay I know you’re messing with me because I’m not.”

I tried to walk away, to turn my back on him and compose myself and my raging heart but he didn’t let me. He put a hand on my arm and it felt like fire.

“You are beautiful, Gene. I want you to believe that.”

“I can’t.”

“Why?”

My throat closed up and my temples throbbed, a pounding that rang stronger and stronger in my head the more he looked at me.

“Because I’m not. I’m not beautiful and I’ve accepted that I never will be.”

“Why would you think that?” Ani asked and his hand moved from my arm up my neck to my jawline. “Whenever I look at you that’s all I see.”

The throbbing was so intense now it reverberated through me like an earthquake.

“But I’m not. I’m ugly and weird and I don’t even know what I am or what I like or who I like…”

“That doesn’t make you ugly. That just makes you human.”

“Exactly. Why would you, a god, think I, a human, am beautiful?”

Ani smiled and pressed his lips together.

“What a silly question. Because you are. And don’t forget I’m the god of souls. And no matter what your soul makes you the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

No one had ever said these kinds of things to me. No one had ever told me I was beautiful, or that my soul was beautiful, or whatever he was saying and even though I didn’t believe it…when he looked at me like that, I wanted to.

A little whimper escaped my lips and Ani pressed closer to me until he was pinned against me but not in a possessive or dominating way. In a delicate, tender way.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered. “If that’s okay with you.”

I couldn’t barely move my body, not even to breathe but I managed to nod somehow and braced myself for impact.

Soft lips touched mine. They felt like cotton against mine. Soft like cotton and sweet like candy at the same and I couldn’t help but deepen the kiss, lick along his lips, explore his mouth wanting more.

The throbbing of my temples, the pounding of my heart, the earthquake that trembled throughout my body shook me to my core, awakening my senses and my cock as if for the first time.

It might as well be the first time considering I’d never been kissed or felt that attraction for anyone.

But kissing Ani…it felt as easy as breathing. It felt like this was what my body was made for. It was like coming home.

“Wow!” The words slipped from my mouth as soon as he pulled back and I felt unable to move as if frozen in time.

“Wow indeed,” Ani exhaled and his face brightened up.

“What?” I asked.

Ani stared at me but didn’t speak and for a moment I worried that he’d realized I wasn’t beautiful, and not who he wanted to be with but then…

“Gene, sweetheart, I don’t want you to panic…”

I frowned.

“Shit. I did it wrong, didn’t I? I knew there was something wrong with—”

“No. There’s nothing wrong with you. In fact, you are perfect. The most perfect creature. Gene? I think…I think you’re my godmate.”

My jaw nearly fell to the floor.

“What?”

He nodded.

“That kiss…it was undeniable. I think you’re my soulmate, Gene. And I think I’m yours.”

I blinked. I blinked again. I kept blinking, staring into his beautiful eyes thinking of every boy, girl, or nonbinary person at school that had ever shown interest in me but who had never sparked anything inside me. How I felt so wrong I thought I’d spend all my life lonely and alone.

And then I looked at his lips.

“After that earth-shattering, world-changing kiss I think I…I believe you,” I said and this time I kissed him.

Just to be sure.