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Andrew sighed when he stepped outside and noticed the blooming helleborus, roses, elderberry, irises, and calla lilies – all in dark shades of purple bordering on black, and all over the walls of his castle, of the grounds surrounding the dark grey stone building and the surrounding pale lands stretching off to the distance until they reached the river Lethe. Having an idea of the cause of the sudden outburst of flora, he strode toward the river where he found Cerberus lolling around with a certain young god who sat with his feet dangling in the river Lethe.
Neither were supposed to be there.
“What did I tell you about invading my kingdom and corrupting my guard dog?”
Neil gave an elegant shrug as he continued to rub along Cerberus’ many ears, during which the traitor lolled out all three of its tongues and rolled over to expose its belly. “That I don’t care?” To add insult to injury, Neil flashed a bright smile Andrew’s way.
Andrew… Andrew wasn’t used to this. He wasn’t used to visitors, to people willingly coming to the underworld. He was used to being the least popular of the gods because really, who liked anything associated to death? People were drawn to everything associated to life, to war and sun and prophecy, to healing and earth and thunder and the sea.
People wanted to be reassured, to know that life would go on, that they would win and be victorious and have some sort of legacy.
Andrew just wanted to do his damn job and be left alone. So of course he had the son of Mary, the goddess of the earth and hearth, invading his realm to grow flowers on a whim and turning his ferocious guard dog into an overgrown puppy.
A very attractive god of spring who smiled at him and wouldn’t go away.
Andrew needed to stop thinking of such things and just dwell on the dead.
“You should care,” he insisted. “You should also stop coming here.”
Neil’s smile faltered as he focused his gaze on the middle of Cerberus’ head. “But it’s so quiet here, so peaceful. I’m tired of listening to my mother scream about my father, of hearing from his latest messenger about how I should accept the marriage contract he’s set up for me.” He shuddered as he spoke those words. “I’m tired of hiding out in one of her gardens. I like being here with you and Cerberus.” He gave Andrew a pleading look. “Don’t make me go away.”
It was clear that Neil was the son of War because he didn’t fight fair. Andrew gazed at him with what he hoped was no emotion as he struggled to hide what he felt upon hearing that. “You know the rules,” was all he said before he looked away.
As the son of two gods, Neil did indeed know the rules – he couldn’t take part of any ‘hospitality’ on Andrew’s end or else owe ‘homage’ (end up stuck in Andrew’s realm), couldn’t eat any food or drink any beverages while he was there. Which explained the small sack next to Neil’s left hip and the grateful smile on his lips as he continued to reduce one of the most feared creatures in all of creation to a simpering pile of mush just by scratching his fingers through thick black fur.
Andrew detested that he wished that those long, slim fingers were doing things on his own body.
Neil stayed for almost two ‘days’ before Mary threw a fit (which resulted in multiple earthquakes and failed crops) which forced him to return to the surface world; it was a pattern which had been repeated multiple times already, of Neil fleeing to Andrew’s realm for them to spar verbally while… well, he didn’t know what, exactly, since Neil seemed to spurn every other suitor presented to him, had declared himself uninterested in men and women and everything else in-between (yet kept returning to the underworld and Andrew).
Neil, with his auburn curls (a bit too long, which somewhat explained why the mortals mistook him for a girl when coupled with his short, lean build and the loose, flowing chitons he wore to hide the myriad scars left on him because of his father – he detested sharp blades anywhere near him, also because of his father) and tan skin and brilliant pale blue eyes and… dammit, Andrew hated how everything about Neil drew him in, made him want when he had done what he could to stamp down on that awful emotion.
He was used to everyone spurning him, was used to his own twin turning his back on him to go off and heal the masses. Everyone but Bee and Renee and Nicky because they were hopeless and fools and too stubborn for words.
Speaking of Bee…. He went to her after Neil’s latest visit, confused as always about how Neil could breach his world so easily, could find some sort of comfort in his dark realm. The mortals considered her ‘Pysche’, at least at the moment (all of them had alternative ‘names’ which changed on a whim, which was why they basically ignored them considering the short lives of the creatures and their fickle nature). “Why won’t he leave me alone? Why won’t he leave my poor dog alone? Do you know how difficult it is to find a suitable guard for the underworld,” he complained as he folded his arms over his chest.
Bee smiled as she handed him a cup of honey-sweetened ambrosia. “But Cerberus is an extension of the underworld so him accepting Neil is a sign of your realm accepting Neil. Take the hint, Andrew.” She gave him a pointed look before sitting down, her purple robes flowing around the small stool.
He snorted at that bit of nonsense. “He’s the god of spring, the child of war and earth,” he reminded the fool goddess. “How can he possible survive the underworld for any length of time if he was possibly interested in something like me?”
Bee appeared pained for several seconds before she tossed back her own cup of ambrosia. “Andrew… he keeps appearing in your realm,” she stressed. “Do you have any idea of how many gods and goddesses across the pantheons who would gladly court that particular god of spring?” she asked with a great deal of emphasis. When he shook his head, she appeared pained. “Let’s just say that there are many of them, yet Mary and Nathan are upon rare agreement that Neil is upsetting them all by paying attention to only one god, you.” She stared at him until he huffed and looked away. “He doesn’t spend time with anyone other than Mary except you.”
Andrew refused to feel a faint spark of hope. “That doesn’t mean anything, it-“
“Why won’t you listen to me?” Bee appeared confused by his refusal to listen. “You know how these things work, you know the rules. Why can’t you acknowledge that someone accepts you as you are and wants you for those things? You are worthy of want, Andrew.”
That was it right there – how could anyone want Andrew, could want a god of death, of the underworld, could want a being discarded and-
No one could want Andrew.
He fled back to his own realm, to the underworld, where it was shades of grey and peaceful and quiet, where the undead roamed about under his control and he had complete domain (at last).
Where he was safe and in control. Where no one had power over him, no one at all.
Renee stopped by… eventually (time was odd in the underworld). She appeared with a couple of hounds at her heels and one of her ash bows strapped across her back, her expression mild as she glanced at the withered plants still clinging to the grey walls of Andrew’s castle. “How are you doing?”
She was one of the few goddesses that he could tolerate so he nodded to her and didn’t banish her back to above earth right away. “All right, for the most part,” he admitted. “Seems to be a war building and I hate work.”
She sighed and gave a one-shoulder shrug. “Humans always seem to be building to a war.” She was quiet as she touched upon a shriveled rose bush. “You know, Mary’s hidden Neil away again because Nathan’s pushing for him to marry that tengu once more.”
Andrew felt something twist inside of his chest. “What does that matter to me? And to you, considering that you’re against marriage.”
Renee grimaced as she straightened up. “At least among men and women, but I’m not against all unions.” She gave him a significant look as she exposed the crumbling black rose held in her hand. “Neil refuses to be a mere item exchanged to improve his father’s status. He also doesn’t grasp the common definition of relationships, of attraction. It takes something ‘special’ for him.” She grinned at Andrew, the expression a bit on the impish side. “Perhaps someone with his own realm and a three-headed dog?”
Andrew refused to feel a bit of hope just then. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Hmm, well, let me just say that quite a few gods have tried to draw his interest, yet he always seems to run off to a certain underworld. I wonder why that is.” Renee gave him a wide-eye look before bursting out into laughter when Andrew clicked his tongue. “Have you offered him anything to eat yet?”
“But that would mean he’s bound to me,” Andrew replied in a scathing tone.
“Exactly.” When Andrew glared at her for that answer, Renee sighed. “You can’t tell me that Neil wouldn’t know what you offering him something to eat would mean. If you want to know if he’s interested in you, just… offer him something to eat one day.”
He continued to glare at her, but… he had to admit that it would be a resolution of sorts, especially considering how Neil brought his own bag of food all of the time. If he offered food and Neil declined it, then he knew that Neil only came for a quiet escape and nothing more. If Neil accepted the food….
Neil would never accept the food.
It took another moon before Neil returned, appearing tired and worn down. The dark flowers were once more in bloom all over Andrew’s realm, and he found Neil huddled with Cerberus near the river Lethe, his clothes torn and bruises all over his skin.
Andrew fought to control the rage he felt at the old and new scars he saw peeking through the slashes in the pale grey chiton, in the tumble of loose auburn waves that spilled down Neil’s shoulders and back, the bruises on his arms and legs.
The fool had the audacity to smile at him despite the shadowing on the left side of his face. “I taught Cerberus a new trick, do you want to see it?”
Andrew gave him a bland look before he motioned to his castle. “Come inside first,” he ordered, determined to go through the motions of the farce that would see to Neil leaving his realm once and for all.
“Okay.” Neil smiled as he scrambled to his feet, Cerberus an eager (and disgusting) puppy at his bare heels as he followed Andrew into the impressive building (not that it was filled with much more than Andrew, a few loyal servants and a bunch of shades). “So, what’s happened in the last… uhm, it’s been almost a whole season since we last saw each other. A few heroes and demi-gods died from what I heard, did any of that impact what happens here?” He gave Andrew a hopeful smile that faltered when Andrew merely gazed back at him in an impassive manner. “So, things were quiet, eh? I like quiet things.” He rubbed at his midsection which was covered by the pale material of his chiton. “Quiet is good.”
“Is that the only reason you come here, because it’s quiet?” Andrew snapped as they stepped into his abode.
Neil gave him a hurt look for the question. “There’s always the Elysian Fields, but I’m much happier here with you.”
Andrew hated how that answer twisted him up inside, hated Bee and Renee and especially Neil.
They continued into the expansive building, Cerberus trailing after Neil much like an obedient puppy, until they reached one of the many formal dining rooms with a large table was almost over-spilling with an abundance of food; there were a variety of meats, cheese, fruits, vegetables and breads on its surface, an almost impossible selection from all the realms.
Neil gaped at the abundance before him while Cerberus’ heads whined and snapped with the desire to feast on the food until Andrew gave it a quelling look. He could tell that the god of spring was hungry, had neglected the bag slung over his left shoulder from the rumbling of his stomach and the pinched look on his face. “It’s all for you,” Andrew said with a slight bit of sarcasm, expecting for Neil to decline, to turn away and leave or to pat his bag and say that he was ‘fine’.
Instead, Neil stood there for several seconds (for many frantic beats of Andrew’s heart) while he gazed at the table’s contents before he began to stalk along its borders with Cerberus trailing at his heels, as he examined its contents as if looking for a pearl among swine. It took a few minutes, but eventually Neil leaned over and plucked a reddish shape from the mass of food.
“Hmm, this looks good,” he told Andrew with a sharp smile as he gripped the spherical shape between his hands and then tore it apart, which caused a few reddish objects to rain down to the floor.
Before Andrew could say anything, could object, Neil raised half of the sphere – a pomegranate – to his mouth and began to hollow it out as if voracious. Andrew was still with shock for several heartbeats, was frozen at the sight of Neil eating, at breaking one of the major rules, and then he forced himself to move.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he demanded to know as he jerked Neil’s right arm down, but not before the pomegranate half was already empty.
Neil smiled at him, his lips and teeth reddened from the flesh of the seeds. “What I want to do.”
“You’re being an idiot,” Andrew hissed out as he batted the other half of the pomegranate aside. “Your parents-“
“I don’t care about my parents,” Neil insisted as he gazed at Andrew; out of all the gods, Andrew only had to look up a few inches when it came to Neil, could wrap his fingers around the idiot’s neck and give a faint tug to pull him down for a kiss or- not now, he told himself.
“You’re only doing this to get away from.”
“No, I’m not!” Neil let out a frustrated sound but didn’t pull away from Andrew. “I could run to Matt or Dan or Allison, they’ve all offered to give me sanctuary,” he admitted as he gazed at Andrew with bright red juice ringing his mouth. “But I-“ He fell silent as he wrapped his arms around his middle, as roses and helleborus and elderberry began to creep into the room.
Despite the uncertainty filling him, the huge risk if he was wrong, Andrew stepped closer to the younger god. “But what?” he asked as he dared to reach out to brush his fingers along Neil’s pointed chin. “Why are you here?”
“Because I want to be here,” Neil admitted as he gazed at Andrew through thick lashes despite the slight difference in their height. “Because I’m happy when I’m with you.”
There was a… a kick of something to Andrew’s chest at that confession which he refused to show as he shuffled closer. “Yes or no?” he asked as he brushed his right thumb along Neil’s reddened lip.
It took a couple of heartbeats for the meaning of that question to sink in, it seemed. “Ah, yes,” Neil breathed out as he continued to clutch onto the sides of his pale chiton. “Yes,” he repeated in a slightly firmer voice.
Part of Andrew didn’t believe in that answer even as he leaned in, as he reached up to grasp the younger god’s chin (lightly, so he had a chance to pull away – except he didn’t). He kept the kiss gentle at first, except that Neil tasted so tart and fresh (like the pomegranates he’d eaten), except Neil groaned so faint and sweet and parted his lips, kept his hands wrapped around himself until Andrew pulled one free and set it on his shoulders.
He didn’t know how long the kiss dragged on, just that he grew dizzy from the tart taste and the feel of Neil pressed against him, all that earth energy against his skin and beneath his fingertips. He pulled away with a ragged breath and took in the dazed look on expression on Neil’s face. “I thought… I thought you didn’t care for anyone,” Andrew accused.
Neil shook his head as if to clear it. “I don’t, usually.” He gave Andrew a loaded look as he dared to slide his hands over Andrew’s shoulders. “But for some reason… for some reason you stand out to me. Only you.”
Andrew wanted to argue with that, to deny it… but Neil had eaten the pomegranate grown in his meager garden, had broken the rules and condemned himself… hmm.
“You only ate half the fruit,” he pointed out as he combed his fingers through the unruly auburn waves.
Neil frowned at that as if displeased and glanced around the floor. “Where’s the rest of it, I can- oh dammit, Cerie!” he wailed when he caught sight of a tail-wagging hellhound with red juice dripping down one of its mouths. “That was mine!”
“Half a fruit, so half a year,” Andrew sighed as he rubbed his forehead with his right hand, his left wrapped firmly around Neil’s waist for some indescribable reason. “Those are the rules.”
“But I can always eat another- what?” Neil blinked when Andrew kept him from reaching for another piece of fruit.
“If you do, your mother will wreak havoc.” She already freaked out when Neil was gone for more than a few days, what would she do when he was gone for more than a few months?
Neil glared at him for several seconds before he sighed. “She is a bit overprotective,” he admitted. “Maybe she’ll settle down once she knows I’ll come back for part of the year.” Then he smiled in what appeared to be happiness. “But I’m yours for the rest of it and my father can’t say anything about that.”
There was another painful twist in Andrew’s chest. “And is that all this is about?”
“Do you really think that?” Neil gazed at him for several seconds then let out a slow breath. “Yes?” he asked, and then leaned in once Andrew nodded.
It was just as sweet as last time, just as intense, with Andrew’s heart thundering in his chest and throat tight with some unnamed emotion, and when he opened his eyes the room was filled with more of the dark-colored flowers.
“I don’t wanna go back after six months,” Neil moaned as he leaned against Andrew. “I wanna stay here forever.”
Andrew felt their powers merge together and refused to admit that he agreed, instead he pushed Neil back onto his feet. “Stop it with the damn weeds,” he ordered. “And what did I tell you about corrupting my guard dog? You’re not going to do whatever you want when you’re here.”
Neil blinked at the words and then grinned. “So I’m staying? I’m staying,” he said in a rush. “You want me here.”
“No, I’m stuck with you,” Andrew insisted even as he felt something settle in his realm at the fact that Neil was now a part of it (at least for part of the year). “Because of your shitty decision-making skills.”
“I have great decision-making skills,” Neil insisted as he reached for Andrew’s right hand and then smiled when their fingers entwined. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
Those ‘great decision-making skills’ were going to set off the god of war and the goddess of earth… but what did Andrew care? He was more than powerful enough and had the goddess of the hunt and the goddess of the soul behind him, possible (probably) others, so they’d manage. After all, he was the god of death so what were they going to do to him?
Who else would take over in his place?
As much as Mary and Nathan might complain, in theory there was nothing wrong in Neil joining with a god of death – Andrew’s rank was much higher than almost everyone’s else, after all.
(He was just the god of death.)
Yet judging from the way that Neil smiled and asked him ‘yes’ yet again, at how more stupid flowers bloomed each time they kissed… the foolish god of spring had no issues with him being the god of death.
Well, no one could say that the god of spring was particularly smart, could they? Yet Andrew found himself tugging Neil closer for another kiss and mentally counting down their current six months together.
Only six months together… but half a year stretching onward and onward (until a certain god realized better).
He found himself hoping indeed that Neil was ‘staying’.
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