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After Sersi and Ikaris had finished the nuptials, Druig had retreated to one of the higher rooms of the building to enjoy the rest of the night in peace. Unfortunately, he had already depleted his supply of foods and wines. He supposed he could just go back down to retrieve some more but within a flash, Makkari appeared right in front of him with a large tray of fruit in her hands.
With a smirk, she asked, "Hungry?"
“Well, well, don’t you know the way to my heart, my beautiful Makkari?” He lifted a pear from the plate, savoring the taste of it. Makkari smiled before briefly turning her attention to the joyful celebration below them.
“Sersi and Ikaris look so happy.”
"They do," he agreed. He watched as her attention went back down to the wedding festivities, the smile on her face was infectious. Druig tapped on her hand, asking, “Do you want that?”
She shook her head, “Do you?”
“I like what we have,” he answered, cracking open the pomegranate before offering the arils to her.
She smiled before taking a bite of bright jewels of the fruit that still laid in his outstretched hand.
Once they had all gotten to Ajak’s old home in the rural plains of South Dakota, Druig had spent a good chunk of his time sleeping away. It’s been centuries since he’s slept on something more comfortable than his cot in his village, so who could blame him for wanting to sleep in longer?
Unfortunately, someone needed his attention. At least he assumed so by the tapping on his chest. He would’ve been more irritated, but once he opened his eyes, he just smiled at the familiar beauty in front of him. He’d thought that he would’ve had a couple more hours after the…games that they were up to the night before, but it seems that Makkari was bursting with energy.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Druig. There’s something I want to do.” The smile on her face is wide and makes her look all the more gorgeous.
“Which is?”
“Let’s get married.” He slowly blinked, trying to see if what she just said was part of a dream he was still having or part of reality. But her weight on the bed and the aches of his body were very real, so he can only assume reality. “I found a lovely place in Colorado, so we can get our nuptials done before the day is up. What do you think?”
An unusual proposal.
Certainly not something he expected to hear this morning.
But how could he say no to such a tempting offer?
His smile grew, “How soon do you want to go?”
Luckily, she did allow him to have a meal before they went off. He enjoyed traveling with Makkari, it gave him the perfect excuse to hold onto her. Not that he really needed one.
“So where have you taken us, love?”
“They call it the Garden of the Gods.”
“Funny, I don’t recall ever coming here.” She lightly punched his shoulder. He merely chuckled in response.
“So? Do you think this is a good place to have a wedding?” Druig nodded. It seemed so peaceful with the dawning sun above them and large red rock formations that towered over the luscious green fauna. “Pretty, isn’t it?”
“I guess. It’s hard to say when no sight can compare to you, my beautiful Makkari.” She rolled her eyes to show her annoyance, but that smile of hers was undeniable. “So how do you propose we start this wedding?”
Makkari tapped on her chin, “Well, how did they start in your village?”
“The entire community would come to give their blessings and well wishes to the bride and groom before they gave their vows,” he recalled, “Bit hard to do that when it’s only the two of us here.”
She shrugged without much care in the world, “Then why don’t we just start with the vows?”
“You know most of the vows that humans make don’t apply to us.”
“Who says we need to use those vows? We can always make up our own to better suit us.”
“Ingenious idea, milady. Would you like to start or shall I?”
"You start.”
“With pleasure," he said after a low chuckle. Druig looked at her, with the smile on his face growing by the second, “You know, you’re still as stunning as the first time I’ve laid eyes on you, my beautiful, beautiful Makkari. I love our games, I love how you always like to keep me on my toes, I love our conversations. I’m utterly enamored with you, my love. After being away from you, I realize that I want to remain by your side for as long as we have.”
“My sweet, sweet Druig. Some of my favorite memories are when we used to roam the marketplace together, looking for my Emerald Tablet, looking for more things to add to my collection. My other favorite memories are every time we played our little games and I would win."
"Excuse me, I'm pretty sure that I won sometimes."
"Hush, you know that I always won. I loved everything we've done together. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but no matter what happens, I want to be by your side.” She lifted his hand, placing a kiss on his knuckles. The gesture made his heart flutter and he felt his face go warm. Makkari looked up at him, giggling at his expression, “Why so shy?”
He regained his bearings and leaned his forehead against hers, “Didn’t expect you to romance me.”
Her smile shifted to a mischievous one before she pulled him down a little so it was easier to capture his lips. Every time they kissed, it just felt so right. It was a routine that was so, so easy to fall back into. It was a habit that he’s not sure he’ll ever break.
“Time for rings?” He nodded. From out of nowhere, there was a gold band in her outstretched hand. It looked a bit worn, but well kept. The words, ‘ Autre ne vueil’ was engraved on the inside of the ring. Druig wondered when she got this one.
“Where did you get this from?”
“Secret,” she answered with a mischievous smile.
“I’m surprised you’re not wearing it yourself.”
“It didn’t fit any of my fingers.” She placed it on his finger smoothly, “But look at that, it fits perfectly on yours.”
“Indeed it does,” he said, admiring it in the sun. He was never a huge fan of jewelry (with the exception of the beaded bracelets that Makkari had given him), but the trinket made him smile nonetheless. “So do I get to place a marital ring on your finger too?”
She pulled out a pouch of rings and gave them a little jangle, “You get to pick.”
There were a number of them that he didn’t recognize so he could only assume that she acquired some of them after Tenochlitan. But quite a number of them were the ones that he had given her before. They glimmered with different metals, engravings, and gemstones, but which one would be suitable as a wedding ring?
Druig dug in the pouch a little more before seeing a band made from two interlocking rings. Well, isn’t that a nostalgic sight?
It was right before they left to go hunt for Deviants in what would be later known as the Americas, during one of their last nights in Europe. Druig had wanted to get Makkari a last memento from the town that they were staying in so he had gone to the marketplace and discovered an unique ring- or rather unique rings. It was a set of rings that could be connected together to form one ring.
He remembered the vendor telling him that it was intended as a marriage ring, although he didn’t pay any mind to that at the time. He just wanted to get her something that she hadn’t seen yet.
Druig smiled.
Isn’t this the perfect one then?
“Will this one do?” Makkari examined it before nodding, “Is it the right hand or the left?”
“Does it matter?”
“Don’t you remember? Humans had believed that there was a direct artery from the heart to one of your fingers so they placed their wedding bands on that finger,” he recalled, finally deciding to place the ring on her left hand.
“I remember.”
Humans and their silly little ideas. But it was those kinds of things that made them all the more loveable, all the more real. Unlike the machines or beings that they were. But even if they didn’t have a planet to return to, even if the blood in their bodies weren’t real, they weren’t just Arishem’s pawns. At the very least, his feelings towards Makkari and Makkari’s feelings towards him, aren’t they something real?
Wasn’t the adoration and love that they had for each other enough to rival the greatest romances that humans fantasize about?
Wasn’t the joy and relief at the realization that they made it out of the Emergence alive so… so palpable that it felt as though the world stopped and smiled with them?
Despite coming from inorganic beings, these feelings are real. They’re real.
“You and I have never cared about doing things the way the people of this planet have.” If they did, they might have bothered to do a ceremony a long time ago, like Sersi and Ikaris had. But it’s not like a ceremony would change anything between them. “Why the sudden impulse?”
Her eyes looked at the ring on her finger. She twisted it, as though to confirm that it was real. She then looked at him, her beautiful eyes piercing through him as though she could read all of his secrets like the back of her hand. “You almost died.”
He placed his hand on her cheek, as an attempt to wipe away the worry on her face. “I’m still here.”
“I know,” She placed her hand over his, closing her eyes for a moment, taking a moment to engrave the sensation of his hand in her memory. When her eyes opened, she said, “We’re leaving this planet soon.”
“We are.”
He, Makkari, and Thena were gonna set out to find other Eternals to tell them the truth about the Celestials’ plans and who they truly were. Both Thena and Makkari didn’t have any lasting attachments to Earth and Druig, without his commune, was the same.
“We’ve lived for so many lifetimes, but we only remember this one. Is it strange that I want to spend as much time with you and make as many good memories with you on Earth as possible before we go?”
“Not at all, love.” They had a few centuries to catch up on, perhaps even a few millenia if he counted their previous missions. While it certainly won’t be enough in the time that Phastos needed to get the Domo repaired, it’s a start. “We can make as many as you want. I’m yours to have and to hold for as long as you’d like. Since we’ve just finished our wedding, shall we start on our honeymoon?”
She beamed, “Where do you want to go?”
“I’ll go anywhere if it’s with you.”
“That’s not an answer.” She offered her hand towards him. “But if it were up to me, then I would say we should go to Bali first. What do you think, my darling husband?”
He took her hand, kissing it, “Sounds perfect, my beautiful, beautiful wife.”
They swung the backdoor of Ajak’s house open to reveal the rest of their family sitting around the dining table, amidst breakfast.
“Nice of you two to join us,” Sprite greeted.
“Always a pleasure, I’m sure,” Druig said as he pulled up two more seats for him and Makkari.
“Coffee? We got beignets too,” Makkari asked, as she passed Phastos the coffee tray.
“Thank you.” Sersi smiled at them as she took a coffee, “So what were you two up to yesterday? You weren’t anywhere near the ranch.”
Druig looked at Makkari with a smile, nudging her shoulder a bit. She just smiled back before biting onto a beignet. Right before Druig took a sip of his coffee, he answered, “Nothing too crazy. We got married.”
Clang!
Sprite slowly blinked as though they had just woken up before asking, “What the fuck?”
“Congratulations,” Thena said, unphased, with a small smile on her face. “Phastos.”
“Yes T, I will make sure that there is soundproofing in their rooms,” Phastos promised, eyes still wide in shock at what Druig just said.
“Thank you.”
“If you were gonna get married, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve gotten Karun to call up some people to give you two a big shebang!” Kingo began typing on his phone at a record pace, “You know, I could still make this happen. Give me like 12 hours. Phastos, what time is your family coming in again?”
“2?”
“Great, we’ll meet them at the airport then head off to Dubai. It’ll be the wedding of the millennium! Or at least the wedding of the century, we’re working fast.”
As Kingo continued to ramble on, Makkari nudged him and asked, "Ready for round 2?”
He smirked, signing back, “Ready if you are.”