Archive of Our Own ^beta

It's pleasantly warm, the sun shines down on him from the water painted sky. He looks at it, it's bright. His eyes are wide with something, joy? Curiosity? He frowns, trying to decipher his feelings.

He's pulled out of his thoughts by someone pulling on his arm. He turns, someone he recognises smiles at him, almost as bright as the sun was. Maybe brighter? It's as if the child itself is the sun, the center of this universe.

He smiles back at his brother, lets himself be tugged along. They walk and weave through the market stalls, giggling and whispering. It's unbecoming, Mother had told them to stay calm and quiet, they weren't supposed to be acting like overexcited children.

He's worried, all of a sudden. He knows Mother is here somewhere, he doesn't want her to see him like this. He doesn't want her to be disappointed in him.

The sky seems to darken, clouds hiding the sun. The bright green leaves in the trees stop rustling in the wind, the chattering of the market around them dies out. It's quiet, eerily quiet, he can feel everyone looking at them.

Featureless, hazy faces, all turned towards him, watching him with wide open eyes. For what, he doesn't know. He straightens up under the watchful gaze, body tensing.

Hands take hold of his face, and suddenly he's turned to look at his brother. Wide open eyes look at him, golden one moment, then purple the next, then a colour that he knows should not exist, swirling like a liquid inside the pupil-less iris.

He blinks, the eyes are gold. Dilated pupils stare at him. He frowns, trying to place the expression.

Thinking feels like wading through the thick waters of the Styx. Slow and heavy. Difficult like he's trying to go against the stream.

His brother smiles at him. "It's okay, nobody's here. You don't have to worry." His voice chimes, sounding like soft bells, light and airy and musical.

He furrows his brows, looks around to find that his brother is right. The stalls are unmanned, there's no one else looking through the wares.

Mother isn't here. Did she abandon them here? Is this a test? Are they supposed to make their way home alone? Are they supposed to stay here till she returns?

"Where is Mother?" Did she not bring them here? Why is she gone?

His voice is softer then he expects, youthful, quiet. He sounds like a child. He doesn't know why he expected otherwise.

How old is he?

His brother's expression twists, just for a moment, countless smooth iridescent feathers ruffling in what Thanatos knows is agitation.

Thanatos. A name. That's him? Isn't it?

His brother is still smiling, a soft and precious thing. He doesn't look worried at all.

"Mom is over there, see?" His brother, what is his name?, points at one of the farther stalls. Mother is conversing with the man running it. He squints, tries to make out a face. They must be too far away, because all he sees is a blur.

He doesn't know whether he feels better or worse, knowing she's still here.

Thanatos lets his brother lead him. He doesn't know where they're going, the market a confusing maze that seems to shift and change while they walk through it.

He can't see an end to it.

They stop by one of the stalls. It's selling jewellery. All kinds of pieces from all kinds of qualities. The seller's face is generic, the kind you forget as soon as you look away.

His brother picks up something, a delicate looking pin. He holds it up to Thanatos. "Do you like it?"

It's shaped like a butterfly, a poppy below it and on either side. Golden metal adorned with gems in tones of purple and red.

He nods, it's pretty.

His brother smiles, bright, almost blinding with how the glow around him seems to intensify. It feels like his eyes should hurt, looking at him. But he feels no pain.

He gets turned around, his brother grabs hold of his long hair, carefully braiding it. He twists the braid around itself to make a circular bun, pins it into place with the butterfly.

He doesn't think it should hold, but it does.

The whole process takes only a minute or so.

It's perfect on the first try.

Thanatos looks over his shoulder, sends a soft smile at his brother.

The sun shines down on them both, bathing them in golden light. The air around them shimmers, glittering like it's filled with gold dust.

He feels the sun looking down at them, gentle and full of childish joy and wonder. It's attention is a soft, careful pressure across his entire physical form.

Sunlight clears an obvious path through the stalls. He doesn't hesitate, knowing he's supposed to follow it.

His brother follows, holding his hand.

He feels light, happy maybe. There's nothing here that can hurt him.

The path clears into a meadow, filled with poppies.

He turns around, the market is gone, the line of sight broken up by trees and bushes, but his brother is still right next to him.

He worries for a moment that Mother might dislike them running off like this, but then his brother pulls him down to lay between the flowers and all the worries vanish from his thoughts.

He laughs, a soft, delicate sound. His brother responds the same.

The flowers reach towards him, stems curling softly against his limbs. Curious, affectionate.

He furrows his brows, tugs one of his arms free. He doesn't know why, but he thinks he dislikes the feeling of the plants winding around his body.

The air feels cold, the sun doesn't warm him.

His brother gives the flowers a look, looking eerily similar to Mother when she's disappointed in them.

The plants let go of him, retreating, giving him space.

Only him. They're still all over his brother. Thanatos frowns, a pool of uncomfortable dread low in his stomach. He reaches out, carefully tries to brush the plants of his brother.

He thinks he dislikes seeing his brother restrained.

The plants obey with ease, loosening their grip on his brother, until they're merely brushing against him instead of winding around.

"Aww" His brother coos at him. "Are you worried about me Than? Don't worry, they won't hurt me."

He scowls, not sure whether he feels embarrassed or offended or something else. He knows the flowers hadn't seemed actually harmful, he just, didn't like what they were doing.

"I'm not." He huffs, glaring at his brother.

"Sure, you're not." He can practically feel the condescension dripping from the other's voice.

They're sitting across from eachother, Thanatos doesn't remember when they got into the position, but it doesn't seem important.

His brother laughs, pats him on the head, Thanatos feels his face burn.

"Don't do that!" He hisses out, dislodging the hand from his hair.

His brother just grins at him, entirely unapologetic. "But you're so adorable like this, I forgot how cute you were at this age" Thanatos doesn't know what he's talking about, they're the same age.

He reaches out to do it again, Thanatos doesn't intend to let him.

He glares, tackles his brother down to the ground. They roll around in the grass, a flurry of limbs and feathers and laughter.

Thanatos is caught of guard by the strength his brother possesses. His brother doesn't seem to tire at all, he easily overpowers Thanatos.

Soon enough he's laying in the grass, held into place by his brother, who's sitting on top of his torso, legs on either side of him, pinning down the bases of his wings.

It should be uncomfortable, knees dig into his feathers in a way he knows should hurt at least a little bit, but he doesn't feel any pain. His brother is oddly light, insubstantial, he can breathe easily, the weight forming no obstruction.

He still dislikes it, being pinned down like a butterfly. He glares up at his brother, half amused, half annoyed, his brother just grins at him in response.

"Get of me" He huffs, tries to dislodge the other. Despite the lightness, his brother doesn't move even a centimeter.

His brows furrow.

His brother leans in, hands placed beside his head. "Just a second, I'll get off you in just a moment." He looks oddly focused, looking at Thanatos with an uncharacteristic intensity. Thanatos wonders what he's doing or thinking, to look so deep into concentration.

Staring at his brother's face is making his eyes hurt. He can't recall what he's supposed to look like, his features keep slipping away out of his mind.

He blinks a few times, tries to get rid of the prickling needles behind his eyes.

Hypnos stands up, dusting the non-existent dirt of his clothes. Thanatos is left on the ground, he feels kind of woozy, light-headed.

His brother kneels down beside him. "You feeling okay?"

Thanatos frowns, unsure of how to respond. His thoughts are sluggish, he's struggling to make sense of anything around him.

Hypnos looks wrong. Too young, constantly in flux in a way that makes his head hurt when he tries to make sense of it.

The flowers around him are too bright, the grass too green. The colours of the sky look more like a painting than the real thing.

He doesn't recognise this place.

He sits up, trying to ignore how dizzy he feels. He realizes he's the same size as Hypnos. They're both too small.

Are they? He doesn't know, actually.

How old are they?

Hypnos is looking at him with a mild expression of concern. "Careful, don't try to make sense of anything." He warned.

Thanatos feels immensely confused. Nothing seemed right. Everything just felt off.

"..Where are we?" Everything around him was so intense, so real it felt unreal.

Hypnos furrows his brows, looks at him. "Okay, not fully lucid yet" he murmured, seemingly to himself.

He took hold of Thanatos his face, holds him gently, looking him in the eyes.

He goes along with it, doesn't try to pull away or avert his gaze.

The air around him feels heavy, he blinks, frowns. Tries to make sense of it.

He doesn't feel real. Nothing feels real. Everything about this place is wrong.

Where is he? He tries to figure it out.

He closes his eyes, trying to tune out the dizzying mess of colours that make up their surroundings.

Two presences, three if he counts himself.

Hypnos, swirling all around him as if he's holding him, his essence concentrated in the spot infront of him where his body is.

Someone else, everywhere and nowhere. Paying attention to the both of them. He furrows his brows, tries to place the magic signature. It's familiar, he knows he knows it.

Morpheus? Maybe?

He opens his eyes again, looks up at the sky. He's laying down again, Hypnos seated on his knees beside him.

It isn't winter. He frowns when he realises it. It's warm, the trees are green, flowers blooming. There's no snow.

It doesn't make sense.

Hypnos waits patiently, presumably for him to figure out what's going on. He doesn't remember how they got here.

"...Is this a dream?" He hesitantly asks. He can't recall falling asleep, but he can't think of any other reasonable explanation.

Hypnos beams down at him, blindingly bright. "Yep!" He's grinning.

Thanatos hums, tries to figure out how he feels. He doesn't really like sleeping, but it's seemingly been okay so far this time.

He feels oddly warm on the inside when he realises it's because Hypnos must've been looking out for him.

Hypnos runs his fingers trough his hair, loosens the braid Thanatos had completely forgotten about. He can't really remember when Hypnos styled it, only vaguely knowing that he did.

Hypnos smiles at him, speaking in a soothing, soft tone of voice. "Do you want to wake up or stay asleep for a bit longer?" The hands pull back, Thanatos his hair falling loosely around his head.

He reaches up, takes hold of one of the strands, glides his fingers trough it. It's long, the length strikes him as odd, though he doesn't know why. It's always been this long, hasn't it?

Hypnos waves a hand infront of his face, pulling his focus back.

"Did you hear me?" He questioned, sounding so gentle and caring, not even slightly annoyed or disapproving in his lapse of attention. It made something inside Thanatos ache.

He could feel tears pricking at his eyes.

Hypnos his expression twists, concern, panic, a million other things Thanatos couldn't place. "Hey- hey- what's wrong? Why are you upset-?" Hypnos seemed almost frantic, worried.

Thanatos didn't have an answer for him. He didn't know why he was crying. He rubbed at his face, trying to wipe off the tears.

"I'm unsure" he confessed, pulling Hypnos just that tad bit closer so he could wrap his arms around him, holding him close.

Hypnos softened, brows still furrowed with concern. "Okay, okay... Is there...something I can do?" He questioned, voice soft and unsure.

"Just let me stay like this for a bit" Thanatos murmured, tightening his grip on his brother just the slightest bit.

"Okay" Hypnos sighed, softly petting Thanatos on the head, a hand gliding repeatedly over his smooth hair. Thanatos released the breath he'd been holding, relaxing just a bit.

Hypnos hummed, a soft, slow song that Thanatos didn't recognise. He felt good, safe, he could feel Hypnos all around him, holding him with such care and love, more of it than Thanatos had thought anyone could feel towards him, more than he deserved.

He hadn't done anything to earn this care. Hypnos was always so strange, giving his love out way too freely, even when Thanatos hadn't done anything to deserve it.

It felt so nice. He felt selfish, taking advantage of Hypnos his naive and caring nature like this. Taking what he hadn't worked for.

He blinked, his eyes felt heavy. He wondered if you could fall asleep inside a dream.

Hypnos cooed at him, hands expertly weaving flowers into his hair. He felt his earlier thoughts slip away from him like sand, doubts and worries and guilt disappearing like they'd never been there to begin with.

He felt content. His tears were gone, forgotten about.

He allowed himself the comfort, didn't try to fight against it or remain alert. He just let himself sink deeper into Hypnos his soothing embrace.

"That's it, you're doing so good" Hypnos murmured soft praises to him. "No need to worry right now, okay? I'll take care of you, just rest, I'm here, I'm watching over you, I'll keep you safe"

He felt warm, a smile finding it's way onto his face. He hummed, nuzzling his face into the folds of the soft, thick blanket that was wrapped around them both.

He couldn't recall when that had gotten here, but it didn't matter.

Everything felt soft, unthreatening, safe. Like the world was made out of pillows and clouds and soothing, comforting touches.

He didn't try to stop the purr building up inside him.

He felt safe. He really, really did. Everything that could hurt him was so far away, Hypnos around him like a shield, keeping it all away.

He was safe.

He felt nice.

He wanted to stay like this, for just a bit longer. He wasn't sure how long it had been, but he felt good. He felt safe and protected.

He allowed himself the childish comfort it brought him, reminded of when he was still small enough to be allowed to hide behind his Mother when afraid.

He felt small. Vulnerable.

It brought a strange relief to him. It was nice, to be able to forget about everything for a little while, to be able to place his safety in the hands of another and not need to worry about anything.

It was nice.