Work Text:
[Zagreus ❤️]
I'm home, waiting for u <3
______
Thanatos' lips twitched upward when he read the words as he stood before his place, keys in hands. It has been a long day, driving all across a part of the region he was hardly familiar with, got lost two times and almost ran out of gas on the road. He was finally back home at past ten, and was exhausted, annoyed, and starving altogether. The single fact of knowing that Zagreus was waiting for him on the other side of the door boosted his mood substantially, and it was with barely hidden enthusiasm he entered his place.
When he made one step through the threshold, three informations instantly slapped him in the face:
-The loud sound of oil (or something else) sizzling.
-The acrid scent that had already quite filled the air and walls.
-The subsequent thin trail of smoke coming from the opening of the kitchen, snaking near the ceiling and starting to wrap the apartment into a white veil.
Shi—
Thanatos tossed his jacket and briefcase aside to dashed in the corridor and reached the kitchen in a few large steps. A large puff of black smoke—apparently coming from a frying pan—welcomed him in what, after a quick glance, could have been a piece of meat. It was reduced to a chunk or carbon, which was an achievement itself to reach such a state of overcooking. He quickly turned the induction plate to minimum and opened the window to wind the smoke away.
"Oh, evening Than," a cheery voice said from behind.
Thanatos turned around to see Zagreus sitting at the table, looking over his shoulder and greeting him with an odd grin and small wave of his right hand, the other hidden under his arm. His legs dangled playfully against the high chair bars, as its height bested him by a couple of centimeters.
"What is the meaning of this, Zagreus?" Thanatos demanded.
His boyfriend's strange smile slowly disappeared to pinch on his lower lip and briefly looked away.
"Well, you said this morning you'd probably come back late today, so I thought I could surprise you."
"Even though you were conscious you're a real disaster in the kitchen?" Thanatos countered. "You could have set a fire!"
Perhaps his voice had sounded harsher than intended, because Zagreus slightly flinched at the words and hunched a bit more on his seat. Guilt immediately snarled in Thanatos' stomach. His day had been quite exhausting already, he didn't want to end it with a pointless argument; Zagreus had done this with the best attention, after all. After making sure the window was open enough, Thanatos looked around to take account of the damage.
Surprisingly, it looked to be more fear than harm, with stains on the floor and the countertop for the most part. From the ingredients that had been taken out, it seemed Zagreus had tried to roast a beef steak; the olive oil bottle was a third empty of its content, while most of the garlic head had disappeared, as well as half of a big onion.
Such a delicate attention, yes, Thanatos couldn't deny it, but at what cost.
"Alright, let's clean this mess first, we will discuss later," he said while rolling his sleeves up. Then, without waiting for Zagreus to respond, he picked a scrub from the sink and began to wash the stains on the floor.
For some reason, Zagreus looked to have tried to use tomato sauce, as there were a few patches here and there—and quite big for some of them.
"Tried to make Bolognese sauce?" Thanatos asked amusingly as he prepared to wipe the red stains. "You've been a bit too much carried away with the quanti—"
His words died when he noticed the thickness of the ‘sauce’. Then his brows pinched together as he connected the dots.
There was no tomato sauce out.
That strange expression on Zagreus' face.
The fact his left hand had been hidden.
Thanatos abruptly got back to his feet and looked at the table.
Shit.
How could he have missed this? Half of the first aid stuff of his medicine cabinet was scattered on the table. The box of bandaids and compresses looked to have been opened in urgency, as a few of them had rolled around. The adhesive medical tape was creased, as if someone had tried to cut it with teeth, and a part of the disinfectant bottle had spilled around the table.
All traces of annoyance vanished from Thanatos' mind, to be replaced by a pang of guilt in his guts.
"Zagreus," he said with a tight voice, "can you show me your left hand? Please."
For a second it seemed Zagreus hesitated to obey. His eyes glanced aside again but he decided to give in a few moments later, and moved his right arm from the other.
The whole dressing was poorly done, as it was obvious Zagreus had to use the hand he wasn't familiar with. Thanatos gently took his boyfriend's hand and began to carefully remove the layers one by one, until he reached the skin.
Thanatos bit his lower lip at the sight.
The cut was large. It went from just beneath the junction of Zagreus' thumb and index to the other side of his palm. Thankfully it didn't look too deep, but the knife had ripped clear and neat along the skin and made the wound bleed easily. Without a word Thanatos took a chair to sit down and began to redo it all.
Disinfecting was no use, as the big yellow spot proved that Zagreus had quite poured enough on it. It needed to be cleaned though, so Thanatos began by rubbing a damp cloth, careful not to press too much on the cut. Once most of the blood and product looked to have been washed away, he quickly pressed a clear compress on the wound to prevent new bleeding. With his free hand he picked the bandage and coiled it around Zagreus' wrist and palm, then slipped it in the crease of two of his fingers to maintain the compress in place. After a few rolls around the hand, Thanatos carefully knotted the bandaid and applied some adhesive tape to fix the craft.
"There. It's much better, don't you think?" Thanatos said when he finished. "Anyway, I would require you not to overdo it for the time being, alright? As for work, I would suggest letting your mother know you need a few days—at least—for the wound to heal correctly. It's deep, but not enough to necessitate stitches. Also—"
Warm lips captured his own, ending his soliloquy.
"It's true having a doctor as a partner has good perks," Zagreus said with a satisfied grin at Thanatos' frozen expression. "Good grief I have the solution to end the whole prescription-talk."
Thanatos' mouth moved like a fish's while his face darkened noticeably.
~
"Can you tell me the meaning of this now?" Thanatos asked when he finished cleaning up the counter.
He turned around to lean against it and folded his arms over his chest. Zagreus shifted on his chair. still hesitant to look at him directly.
"Look, Zagreus, I'm not angry," Thanatos said, "I just want to know why you decided to cook, when you are painfully aware you're fated to transform any kitchen into a battlefield."
"...Well, let's say I just wanted to… fight fate? Somehow," Zagreus eventually muttered, rubbing his nape. "I wanted today to be a special occasion, and since you said you would come back late… I thought it was a good idea."
The end of his phrase was no louder than a murmur. Fondness rushed over Thanatos' chest. He wasn't angry to begin with, this was true; but seeing Zagreus wanting to fight his worst enemy for whatever ‘special occasion’ today was terribly endearing. Thanatos stood up and joined his boyfriend to drag him into a close embrace, careful not to press his body against the wounded hand.
"You fought fate once, it's plenty enough already," Thanatos murmured. He followed his words with a soft kiss in the jet black hair, and a quiet laugh shook Zagreus' shoulders as he returned the hug.
"Sorry about earlier," Thanatos added in a whisper. "I've never meant to be angry at you. I panicked and let my exhaustion take the best of me. Sorry."
A silent peck on his lips made him understand of Zagreus' response. Their embrace grew slowly closer then, hands wandering in lower places, sometimes teasing around the waistband of their pants. Each other's lips brushed skin a bit more eagerly after each new kiss, and became more insistent around particular parts.
"Bed?" Zagreus eventually suggested.
"Hm, shower first, if you don't mind."
His boyfriend laughed and happily took his hand to drag him in the bathroom direction.
"What— Zagreus, why are there a bunch of flowers on the table?"
They were just about to go across the living room when Thanatos went to full stop as he observed the coffee table. It was literally crumbling under what looked to be the biggest bouquet he'd ever witnessed. It was faintly lit by a couple of candles—which were dangerously brushing the edge of the table—and allowed him to see the flowers' colors, mostly made of red and bright violet. It was only then that he noticed the room was set in the dark.
Beside him, Zagreus made a dismissive love of his free hand. "Oh, hum, nothing. This is a… kind of an advance I asked from my mother. It's no big deal, don't pay mind; dinner is ruined anyway, right?"
Thanatos frowned in confusion and prepared to ask another question, when Zagreus tugged at his sleeve. "Anyway! Shower time?"
"Ah— yes, sure."
He couldn't help but throw one last puzzled glance at the odd scenery as let himself be dragged to the bathroom.
~
"How are you feeling?" Zagreus asked as he rolled over to rest his chin on Thanato's chest.
"Exhausted, but refreshed," he replied with a lazy smile.
Beside him Zagreus smirked happily, perhaps proud his performance got the expected effect. Fool would be the one to misestimate the young florist in that regard: even wounded Zagreus still had plenty of vigor to share. How ironic it was, Thanatos thought, to have claimed being exhausted, when he'd eagerly accepted his boyfriend to take care of him. With a content sigh Thanatos threw an arm around Zagreus' waist to bring him close and let him play with his hair. Zagreus would never get tired of carding his fingers through it, always marveling how soft and silky it was.
This gesture of familiarity—now a domestic habit—made Thanatos go pensive. It was still quite hard for him to believe how much things changed ever since Zagreus' operation. Though it was true he still had a few asthma fits, those were exceptional and happened only after real big effort. That aside, Zagreus was constantly full of energy and always radiating that beaming joyfulness all around him. Having him at his side was perhaps Thanatos' greatest boon, as it was very much like having a piece of the sun at home. They weren't that shy anymore about each other, and Thanatos couldn't tell enough how good it felt to have Zagreus' strong arms around him and tucking him close. Before, this never happened; as much as Thanatos could remember, his embraces with Eros never reached such a peak of tenderness. Satisfied, certainly; happy, not quite.
But now, everything felt… more balanced? Or natural, perhaps? It wasn't about convincing the other to lay down; not in their case. The mood would set itself, they would start slow and tender, most of the time when they spent time cuddling on the couch. Then it would grow into something warm and pleasant—not forcibly leading to carnal desire, but they would stick close to each other, basking in the other's warmth and lulled into sleep just like that. Sometimes it led to something more passionate, sometimes they would happily spend the evening napping or chatting. That said, Thanatos had to admit that being tucked in the crease of Zagreus' strong arms, to have the solid chest of a sportsman against his own, was a moment he enjoyed more and more as they shared the bed. Zagreus' set of mismatched irises, shimmering in the dark and above him like two stars in the sky was a sight to behold, and he would happily stay all night for them, weren't it for their respective job.
"I'm still intrigued about your behavior from tonight, though," Thanatos said pensively. His fingers played lazily in the eternal mess of Zagreus' hair. "What has been up in your mind about earlier?"
Strangely, Zagreus ducked his head in the crook of his neck and made a strange noise there. It could have looked like a sob, and yet not quite.
"You really don't have an idea?" Zagreus' muffled voice asked. This time, Thanatos perceived a hint of what resembled… amusement? What was amusing about throwing chaos in a kitchen?
"Should have I known?" Thanatos frowned in confusion. "Did I miss something, then? Not your birthday I believe, it's next month. Unless my memory tricked me."
A warm breath puffed against his collarbone and Thanatos shivered. Then, two lips came to press on his skin, drawing into a smile as the caress lingered. "I'm still in the haze," Zagreus breathed against his ear, barely hiding the amusement of his voice now. "Can you recall which day we are?"
Thanatos blinked. His brows pinched together as puzzlement took over him. "If I'm not wrong, we're the 14th. But why are you—" A pang of realization struck him like thunder.
The 14th.
Of February.
A shiver of horror crippled all over his body. "...Gosh, Zagreus I'm so sorry, I—"
Laughter shook Zagreus' shoulders and he propped on his elbow with an idiotic grin plastered on his face. All tension left Thanatos' chest.
"Of course I expected you wouldn't notice; you were so busy lately," Zagreus explained. "Well, I kind of hoped you would notice anyway, just in case, so I decided to make this whole dinner thing, and then—"
"Then you remembered why your mother never allows you to stand less than five steps from an induction plate," Thanatos finished.
"That's the idea, yeah."
Thanatos sighed and made a gentle tap on Zagreus' head, to what Zagreus countered by nipping lightly on his throat. Giggles and kisses soon echoed in the room, until Thanatos suddenly sat up to grab on the sheet with one hand, the other firmly wrapped around Zagreus' shoulders, and threw it over their heads.
"Hey, you haven't eaten yet!" his boyfriend pouted as he tried to wriggle out of Thanatos' arm. "What's the big idea?"
"I know well how this usually goes, and as much as I'd love to keep going, I really need to rest my bones," Thanatos explained. "Don't worry, I knew it would be tiresome today, so I took the day off tomorrow."
"But the candles on the table—"
Thanatos pursed his lips. Point taken.
"I'm going to blow them," he said before Zagreus could start a move. Not even listening to his boyfriend's muttered protests, Thanatos dressed in his bathrobe and walked to the living room.
~
It was odd, Thanatos silently wondered when he reached the coffee table, that Zagreus purchased such a big bouquet. Even for Valentine, it was a bit too much, and not quite his style to display flowers that weren't in a pot; hell, even their aromatic herbs for cooking were cozily growing on the balcony.
Just before he was ready to blow the first candle Thanatos noticed a strange glint catching the corner of his eye, apparently coming from the bouquet. With a frown he put the candle down and began to shuffle the pack of flowers; did Zagreus try to set the table and somehow managed to stuff a fork in there? The bouquet was so huge, Thanatos couldn't just pick it and shake it to get the thing out. This, and the obvious consequence of scattering leaves everywhere. He checked flowers one by one, feeling like some sort of prospector, but unsure of what he was looking for in the first place. Then his fingers brushed on a piece of metal, and with a confused frown Thanatos dug into the leaves to extract it from there.
His eyes flew open when he managed to get the thing out: it was a ring.
A beautiful one, certainly made of gold Thanatos assumed—it could be a trick of the dim light—and a piece of art. The central gem (onyx, perhaps, and cut in a water drop shape) was shimmering at the candle's flame, tiny white sparks reflecting on the surface. Two butterfly wings were encircling it up and down, like a close and protective embrace.
He blinked owlishly at this piece of jewelry. Then, as if realizing his brain had been set on pause, he snapped back to reality and barged back in his chambers after crossing the living room in three steps.
"Thanatos? Is something wrong?" Zagreus asked when Thanatos entered, as breathless as if he'd just sprinted.
That cunning fox had the guts to act all innocent before him, sitting up on the bed and faking a concerned expression. Thanatos' heart was close to jumping out of his chest, his fist clenching on the ring.
"How far?" he asked in a ragged breath.
Zagreus frowned. "Sorry?"
"How far did you figure out tonight's events?" Thanatos repeated louder. Damn, he hoped the tremble of his voice wouldn't be perceived as anger.
In front of him, Zagreus did his best to keep up on his act, tilting his head to the side. "Tonight's events? What do you mean?"
Thanatos lifted his arm to hand the ring out, holding it between his thumb and index. From the soft light of the bedside lamp, it shimmered like a small star in his fingers.
"You planned this," Thanatos said. "How far did you figure it?"
At last, Zagreus' expression wavered. He lowered his gaze down his knees, almost looking like a child caught in the act; except he had a sheepish smile drawing on his face.
"...Depends on your answer, I guess," he murmured, so low Thanatos feared to have missed a word.
Thanatos pursed his lips. So many emotions whirled in his being he couldn't begin to count them. Too much, too fast, too hot, too—
"You know, I'll get it if you're not ready, or, well, if you don't want to. I mean, I got this idea after talking it out with my father—as surprising as it sounds—but since I live here most of the time now, well, I thought that maybe , we could… take another step forward, something like that, but then, it's also up to you to—"
"Yes," Thanatos whispered in a breath.
Zagreus' soliloquy stopped and he lifted his gaze, eyes wide as an owl's.
"...What did you say?"
"Yes," Thanatos repeated with more assurance. "Yes, Zagreus. I want to."
A silence stretched out between them. Then Zagreus' eyes watered, red and green shining like the two gems they looked like. Clenching his hand back on the ring, Thanatos made one last step, almost jumping on the mattress to dive into his lover's arms.
"Blast it you don't even know how much I feel reassured right now I was sure you would panic and say nothing—" Zagreus sobbed as he desperately grabbed onto Thanatos' back, as if he was scared Thanatos would disappear.
Thanatos remained silent, only tightening his embrace, burying his face in the crook of Zagreus' neck, and feeling tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.
Never in his life he'd felt this happy.
~
The next day, Thanatos woke up alone in his bed.
They had fallen asleep in each other's arms, their embrace so tight it was surprising Zagreus had managed to untangle himself without notice. Thanatos stared at the empty space beside him, still lukewarm from Zagreus' body. Then, a faint sound from the living room came to his ears. He rolled over to the door's direction, which was slightly open, daylight from the living room piercing through the tiny crack. From there someone was talking alone, apparently.
"Y-yeah," the voice, a familiar one, said. Thanatos' frown deepened as he tried to focus, his brain not helped by his sleepiness.
"Yesterday… little accident… sorry—"
The haziness of his mind cleared a little—of course it was Zagreus, seemingly speaking over the phone. And on the other side surely was…
"So you asked him, right? Did he say ‘yes’?"
Persephone's cheery voice came out so loud and bright from the phone it managed to fully wake him up. Soon after, Thanatos realized it all and felt heat rush over his face.
"Y-yes, he did."
"Congratulations son!"
Thanatos buried his face under his pillow.
He'd say yes.
He was going to marry Zagreus.
The thought seeped in his mind, the words tickling around his heart and toying with his lips; he was going to have one a stupid grin of happiness, and he couldn't stop it. Those smiles he witnessed then and now, or each time Elysia's owners were both behind the counter. Smiles he never really paid much attention to, at best wondering how people could show so easily their happiness to the world, at worst how stupid it could make them look. And there he was now; and finally understood what this kind of smile implied.
It was like having a swarm of butterflies in his chest. It tickled, pleasantly so; it was almost intoxicating, as if he had drunk a high quality alcohol. The swarm soared up to his throat, making him smile and bite his lip in a vain attempt to keep his cool.
Eventually surrendering to his curiosity, Thanatos grabbed on his bathrobe and walked up to the door.
"Mother, of course we haven't decided anything yet," Zagreus sighed. "We did the asking thing before sleep. Y-yeah, I tried to stick to my plan, but like I said, an accident happened and— oh, wait."
Zagreus grew quiet and Thanatos held his breath. Then, after a few seconds, "No, nothing. Yes, he's still asleep, he had a rough day and— yeah, I was going to hang up soon anyway, just wanted to let you know. Haha, yes, I'll tell him. Thank you, mother, have a good day."
Thanatos walked in the living room just when Zagreus put his phone down and ruffled his messy hair. His boyfriend—fiance should he think now?—perked up and greeted him with a bright smile.
"Good morning, Thanatos. Slept well?"
"Like a log. How's your hand?"
"As fine as ever," Zagreus grinned and waved it for good measure. "I get to have the best doctor at my side, after all."
Thanatos huffed a breath through his nose and pinched his lips. The previous night events seeped once again in his mind, making him feel suddenly hot and embarrassed altogether. "Hum, well. A-about yesterday… I guess we— well…"
"Guess we are, yes," Zagreus replied with a shy smile. "Come over?" he added as he stretched his arms out.
It didn't take to be asked twice for Thanatos and he swiftly walked around the sofa to lean in his fiance's arms—‘fiance’, the word had a strange taste, but not a bad one. They both stared at the bouquet on the coffee table for a long time, almost allowing themselves more sleep, with just the faint echo of the ticking seconds of the clock to fill the silence.
It was carved in stone now, Thanatos thought. They were going to get married.
"We are going to be so busy as of now," he muttered.
Beside him, he felt Zagreus breathe a laugh. "I admit I haven't really thought about the whole organization thing. Let's not think about that right now, what about just enjoying the moment?"
"Hm, true." And once again they grew quiet to enjoy the other's warmth.
~
"You never replied to my question, by the way," Thanatos said when they finally prepared their breakfast. "Had you planned to ruin your own cooking? How far did you plan this?"
It was almost noon, cuddles and loving time had taken most of the morning, but Thanatos didn't; he would always enjoy his day off after a long driving-across-villages day, even more so in Zagreus' company. And breakfast at lunch were fun to have, from time to time.
Zagreus carefully put the two steaming mugs on the table and took his seat at Thanatos' side. He made a little embarrassed giggle as he scratched his cheek.
"I… kind of really hoped to succeed, really," he admitted. "I took a very simple recipe, just a piece of meat and basic sauce, so you could eat something good when you came back home. And then, well… me being me, I guess.
"I was hoping to show you the bouquet when you would start eating, and make you find it while checking the flowers. Stupid and cliche, right?"
A wave of affection rushed all over Thanatos. "You went through the trouble for my sake, I don't care if it's cliche," he said as he held Zagreus' hand. "You can't even imagine how happy I'm being right now."
"From what we've done last night, maybe I have maybe a little i— ow !"
Thanatos shut him, flickering his forehead. Then, he took the ring out of his pocket to admire it once again in the daylight. A real piece of jewelry, made of gold plate and tiny diamonds carved the two butterfly wings, while the gem between them looked indeed to be polished onyx. The droplet shape gave it a singular aspect, a very elegant and unique one.
"Can I, hm, put it around your finger?" Zagreus asked timidly. His face had just turned adorably pink, his gaze slightly watering from both bliss and embarrassment.
Thanatos smiled and extended his right hand. "Sure, go on."
It looked just a tiny bit cramped, but it was fine; luckily Zagreus had managed to commission the right size. When Thanatos lifted his eyes to meet his fiance's face, Zagreus' gaze was still watery, his lips strongly pinched together.
"To us?" Thanatos suggested as he raised his mug when his boyfriend finished fitting the ring.
Zagreus' face beamed and he quickly grabbed on his own mug to clap it softly against Thanatos'. "To us."