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If Techno could go back to the day he and Phil did sign that contract, he may have asked himself to question this a bit more. This was a blood oath between gods, something that didn’t happen often, or at all. There was no breaking a blood oath other than death. Phil could never die, and Techno would never die. There was no breaking the oath the two young gods had jokingly laughed about centuries ago. The two hadn’t realized how quick time had flown.
Did he regret it? Never.
The day was young with dew slick grass. The bees were awake and working on coating their fuzzy bodies with pollen. Young fawns trotted carefully after their mothers with a shy look around. Bears slumbered on, waiting till day to wake from their naps. A cold front’s winds feathered through the air with a chill that nipped at an immortal nose.
Blonde hair with a simple green straw hat covered the face from the sun’s warmth as the deity tended to growing flowers. The fauna was one of his favorite things around their cabin deep in the woods. It was coated in moss and vines. Wildflowers bloom around their stone path. A weeping willow shadowed the perfect reading spot.
It was addicting. The plants would thrive without the helping hand of any sapient, but Phil couldn’t help himself but to enrich the soil with minerals that would forever stay there. There was no need for rotating crops when he could simply wave his hand and let the soil be as rich as an untouched jungle’s.
He enjoyed being up well before dawn settled into its own slumber as day broke through the horizon. It brought all the animals close enough for him to feed them by hand. He had even helped deliver some of their darlings. His touch was addicting for anyone, which is why he had to play keep away from many of his beloved humans. Eternal life was an intoxicating liquor that many could never break from. But these animals never waged wars over a simple touch from his hands. They would never know anything but eternal life.
His hands cradled their souls, rewinding and rejuvenating their youth when it came time for them to return to the soil. Perhaps it was because he was a jealous man, or that he wished he could be a jealous man. Gods do not have feelings. They did not experience emotions much like the frivolous humans that occupied his precious Earth. Perhaps that was a reason why Phil kept away as well. He couldn’t dare look at his lands without wishing to banish the curse that deserted his soils.
Jealousy did not exist in the land of Gods, but it took over the world of Man. Phil could never wish for them to be gone as they were once a creation he loved just as much as his own plants and animals. Phil couldn’t feel the heart wrenching emotion that forced several grown men to their knees. He wished he could, but bringing himself to that state would force himself to abandon his godhood. He could never burden another with the horribleness that was immortality.
Until it came to him.
Phil could never love someone more than for companionship. Love was an exiled emotion, much more so than jealousy. Love was just as toxic, but a thousand times more deadly. Love fueled the jealousy. As much as Phil would want to be a jealous man, he would never wish to be a love-struck bastard. He saw how the humans turned on each other over the simple thing called love. Their romanization of each other was only what they saw love as.
They never knew love could be companionship. Perhaps that’s another reason Phil could never experience love. He never had companionship or anyone to love except his projects. He was a God, and as a God, he was forced to step back and watch. He couldn’t interfere or be called upon. But, sometimes he broke that rule. Especially around his cabin.
It was so deep in the woods and shrouded in so much magic, it was impossible to be found. Which is why Phil was so confused when a human found themselves at Phil’s steps.
When prompted, the pinkette only responded with a, “I followed the smoke.”
There was no smoke.
“I saw smoke from a wood burning furnace. I knew there had to be a home and good food near. So I came.”
“I do not have a need for a furnace,” Phil had answered so easily as he forgot he was speaking to a human. He did not interact with his cursed creatures.
But, the man had not responded to Phil’s odd answer. Instead he asked another, “I was traveling looking for the youth.”
“Impossible. Youth was your past.”
The man’s smile curled up in a way that showed off the man’s canines, but it wasn’t in the way that Phil could see as threatening. A knowing smile, but one that didn’t make Phil banish the man from his world. The man spoke again, “Youth is the present. You should know that.”
“Why did you seek me out?” Phil abandoned his carrots, but he picked up the basket to take to the composter.
“Humans are creatures I do not wish to interact with. Too greedy. Too…angry.”
Phil hummed, a verbal agreement. He popped open the lid to his composter, breaking and setting the less desirable carrots into the soil before gathering a few of his leaves to cover it. He enjoyed creating rich soil much how it was supposed to be done, “My creations do that, sadly. It was a project I had no control over. All the Gods wanted to play with my creations, and with that my bastards were made.”
“They’re interesting though?” the human hummed as he leaned against the wall of Phil’s cabin. The god didn’t react. He did not have emotions to react to the way the human disowned his own kind. There was no anger nor any interest. The pinkette only turned from the man and looked over the bushes, “They’re complex. They have emotions that Gods cannot comprehend.”
“And your point?”
“Humans are interesting,” the other human hummed as if that answered Phil’s question. He continued, “You created something that could end you. You refuse to understand them, even when they desire to rise to your level and overtake you.”
Phil scoffed as he picked back up the basket of the good carrots. He fed them to his bun. Turning, the God walked past the human, “Immortality is a curse no human would understand till they’ve had it in their grasp.”
A deep laugh that sounded more like a bark came from the human, “You’re lonely!”
“What?” the god sputtered. He turned on his heel, looking at the human who somehow made it onto his territory, “What gives you an indication that I could even feel the emotion you call me?”
“You haven’t smited me yet,” the human grinned.
Phil hadn’t realized the making of this friendship yet. He hadn’t known what emotions Gods could feel without leaving their godhood behind. He hadn’t realized how right the human had been, because Phil had been lonely. The God was horribly missing a piece of excitement that the human brought to him. It wasn’t until the human had broken through his enchantments and reached him before he truly realized how amazing emotions could be.
“We should get married.”
“Mate, what!?” Phil looked over at the pinkette. His companion sometimes said things out of context, which was more often than not. However, this was the first time Phil was hearing of this.
“We should get married. Is your old age getting to you, Phil?” the man was looking over the city from the roofs the two sat on. It was odd watching nations rise and fall over night, but Phil found them entertaining as he shrouded Techno from the brunt of the aggression.
Phil’s eyes widened as he stared at the human over the cone of his ice cream, “Where is this coming from, I mean? It’s marriage a huge commitment to humans? Love and some shit?”
“I’ve been teaching you better than that, Phil,” Techno hummed as he bit into his own waffle cone. “Love isn’t all romance and sex. You know I despise both of those.”
Phil hummed as he bit into his own ice cream. It was nice seeing as the ice cream stand-hand had given Phil an elderly discount because he had cracked a good joke. Phil only looked over to the sunrise, chewing on the sugary cone. As he swallowed, he voiced what he knew, “You gave me a rundown, but it’s confusing. I don’t understand human emotions like you do. I know what platonic emotions mean, but I don’t know what they feel like. I know what romantic emotions mean, but I can’t feel them like you do. But, what does this have to do with marriage? Isn’t that strictly a romantic thing?”
“Gods, you really are an old man!” Techno laughed as he bit into his mint chocolate chip. “Platonic is, like, the love you have for your creations. You love their companionship, and their presence comforts you. Like, you see them more as your family rather than as a partner.”
“And marriage can be both? But doesn’t that counteract the ‘partner’ thing with platonic emotions?”
“Well, in theory it does, but there are so many people who claim a person to be their platonic partner. Partner doesn’t have to be romantic either. It's confusing, but essentially your emotions dictate how you decipher if you have romantic or platonic feelings.”
“We both know I am useless with emotions,” and it was true, too. Even after a century, Phil couldn’t understand these odd emotions Techno had unlocked in his unbeating heart. There was no way he could explain the tightness in his chest or the way sometimes he felt a lack of oxygen he didn’t even need. Panic, Techno had once said.
“You’re learning, which is what matters,” Techno hummed as he licked up the cone where a dribble of ice cream had melted onto his hand. They had been foolish to not grab napkins from the kiosk beforehand. “It’s a brotherly companionship for us, I’d say. That’s how I’d describe my feelings for you.”
Phil looked at his friend with confusion deep into his wrinkles, “And what about this marriage thing, though? Humans see that as a declaration of eternal love?”
“Yes, a binding of two people who love each other, but that love can be romantic or platonic,” Techno hummed, not at all upset that he has to repeat himself several times.
“I don’t think I am going to understand, Techno. This is all too confusing for me.”
“I understand,” Techno hummed, continuing to watch the sunset with the only friend he could ever want. “How about this? In a hundred centuries, we will get married, platonically of course.”
“A blood oath?”
“If you want? I think a hundred centuries would be quite a long time. Who knows if Gods can even live that long?”
Phil chuckled as he looked at his first and only friend, “Yeah, who knows if Gods can live that long.”
Techno chuckled alongside him, “You know, we’re made of stardust?”
“Of course I know that, Techno. I created the first humans, remember?”
“I just wanted to confirm. Besides, I’m sure your memory will be failing in a few years, so I should learn everything I can so that I can inform you about everything later,” Techno said in such a serious tone, it had Phil looking to see if he was truly serious. It was safe to say Techno had that curved smile on his face like he knew exactly what he was doing. Phil nearly pushed him off the side of the building.