Even If It Means War || Ennead

Even If I Have To Pull You Out

Days after the incident, Seth had still not come out of the room. Only Isis was allowed to tend to him, though, Horus couldn't imagine what exactly that meant.
His mother's face revealed none of which happened inside that room. She told him to be patient, to wait.

But Horus couldn't wait anymore. He needed to know what happened that day. He was the king, he deserved to know. But he was also his lover, he wanted to know.
Hathor had woken up long ago but fled to her temple before Horus could confront her.

Imsety was a bundle of nerves, similar to Horus. Maybe seeing Horus so tense, influenced him but it was hard to pretend that everything was okay when neither of them was allowed to see Seth.

Horus tried to be strong for the boy, to be the father that he needed him to be, though he didn't really know what exactly that meant. He has never really had a father. All he ever knew was that there was a dead man somewhere far away who had merely come out into the living world to conceive him. Then there was Seth, who held him like a son for a little while but was too drunk to really care for him. So really, Horus went off of instinct.

They found it easier to pass the time together while they waited. Horus flew them out into the desert where they spent their days marveling at its' vast beauty. Only on the third day did Imsety dare to open his eyes in the air.
They laid down on the warm sand and closed their eyes. It felt like an embrace by Seth himself.

And they talked and laughed as they laid there, in the sand. It almost felt like it was the three of them, together. Imsety would tell stories of his early childhood, only the good memories of course, and Horus told him the great stories of Seth's time as a god.

"Are you going to marry father?"

"Yes."

"And I will be your son, lawfully?"

"You are my son in every sense of the word," Horus answered and opened his eyes to look at the boy.

On the flight back Imsety would hold on a little bit tighter, making himself more comfortable in Horus' arms. Still, even at night, they didn't part.
They'd lay in Seth's bed with Horus whispering bedtime stories until Imsety fell asleep.

One morning, they didn't wake up alone.

"Seth?"

Seth shushed Horus and pointed at the sleeping son between them. Horus wanted to ask, not sure what, but something.
Seth's red hair was sprawled over the pillows as he looked down at Imsety and pulled the sheets over his small body.

Horus sighed and relaxed back into the bed as he opted to watch Seth instead. He looked calm, nothing like how he did that day. He realized that he didn't want to see him like that ever again.

He was a god now but Seth wasn't, and he hated it. He needed the man to be able to protect himself when he wasn't there. Maybe he hated the fact that he couldn't always be there.
Loving a demigod wasn't a problem, it was his weakness that Horus was scared of.

Because what if Isis hadn't been there to protect him? What if no one had been there?
But Seth had a punishment decided by Maat. Nothing he could reverse, even as the Supreme.

Seth reached out and flicked Horus' forehead, "Stop thinking. You look ugly when you think."

Horus frowned and rubbed his face, at least his horrible sense of humor had been left untouched.
He had been worried to find that Seth would somehow act different once he left that room. Or that he would still be terrified of Horus, that he would grab Imsety and flee the palace and away into the desert never to be found again.

He realized how stupid that seemed now.

"My son said I'm more handsome than you." He whispered back and stuck out his tongue.