Gil would never admit it, but after their fall-out, he had almost jumped on his phone every time it buzzed, only to be disappointed when it was not Van texting him. And last time he and Van had talked, it had not ended well at all. And every day, that little leap of heart would decrease, simply because he kept getting disappointed.
Hope was a folly, Gil had decided, because it could be crushed so brutally. So when Van approached him, he was trying not to entertain any wild notions, simply because they would probably end up fighting again.
And then Van tried a look Gil had never seen on him before: candor.
The elf was briefly at a loss for words, unsure how to respond. But, now that his tongue was failing him verbally, he knew exactly what to do instead. He stepped forward and put his hands on Van's cheeks, before leaning in and giving him a fierce, breath-stealing kiss.
Somewhere in the woods, a bird tittered. The wind picked up around them. And, finally, Gil broke the kiss. "Yes," he said, and the elf's honeyed voice sounded almost choked with emotion, "a thousand times yes."