Archive of Our Own ^beta

Zagreus let out a long-suffering groan, running both hands up over his face and through his hair as he stepped out of the Pool of Styx. He plodded up the walkway, feet slapping against the stone floor a little louder than strictly necessary.

“Wow, this must be a new record!” Hypnos piped up as the prince approached, cheerful as always. “I don’t think you’ve ever died that fast before!”

“Things didn’t quite go to plan,” Zag muttered as he walked by his sleepy friend.

“Well, look at it this way,” continued Hypnos, undeterred, “you can’t possibly do any worse than this, so your next attempt has to be a good one.”

Zagreus gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Thanks, mate.”

As he rounded the corner to the West Hall, he could hear his father laughing, obviously at his expense. He grit his teeth and continued on his way. Zagreus was thankful to see that Achilles wasn’t at his post, as there was no way he could face his mentor after the spectacular failure of an escape attempt he had just committed. He made his way to the end of the hall where Thanatos was standing overlooking the river.

“Back so soon?” Than asked as Zagreus stepped up beside him. “I haven’t even finished my break yet.”

Zagreus leaned his back against the balcony, looking at Than with a wide grin. “I just couldn’t stand to be away from your pretty face for a second longer, love.”

Than looked at him, unimpressed. “What happened? You didn’t even make it out of Tartarus.”

Zag crossed his arms over his chest. “Well,” he started, looking down at his feet, “it’s kind of a long story–”

“It can’t be that long, you were only gone a few minutes.”

The prince glanced up to see Than trying and mostly failing to suppress a smile. Zag glared at him. “Fine. A lout popped up and bashed me into a spike trap. The end.”

There was a moment of silence during which Than’s smile fully emerged. Seeing Death smile was a rare treat that Zag typically cherished, but in this case it only made him feel a strong compulsion to smack it off his smug face.

“And then what happened?” prompted Than.

Zag’s unhappy stare turned into a look of confusion. “Uh, what do you mean? I washed up here like normal.”

“Zag, we both know you’re too stubborn to give up after just one death.”

The prince could feel a blush blooming on his face despite his best effort to will it away. He opted instead to stare back down at his feet. “Ah, well, I came back and, uh, tried to dodge that same lout again and, erm…” Zagreus mumbled the rest. Than leaned forward into the younger god’s space.

“What?”

Zagreus closed his eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. “I tripped... into another trap,” he said, voice clipped.

Than stood back up straight and made a thoughtful sound. “And this was in the third chamber?”

Zag looked up, indignant. “It was the fifth, thank you,” he spat. “You know, you’re supposed to comfort me after I’ve had a bad day-or-night at work, not make me feel worse about it.”

Thanatos blinked at him, face back to its usual neutral expression.

“Ugh, you’re always so cruel to me.” Zagreus turned around, leaning on his elbows against the railing, opting to stare out into the Styx rather than at his disparaging lover. Dark arms suddenly appeared on either side of him, hands gripping the railing next to where his elbows rested.

“I’m often very nice to you,” said Than, pressing up against his back. Zag felt a kiss against the side of his neck, then another above it as Than’s mouth made its way up to his ear. “And sometimes I’m very, very nice to you,” Than murmured before licking up the edge of his ear. Zagreus bit his lip to stop the breathy noise that was trying desperately to escape his throat. Than continued, moving his bare hand to Zag’s stomach and slowly moving it up to his chest, caressing the exposed skin. Zagreus didn’t even realize he was being pulled into a standing position until the back of his head rested against Than’s shoulder, the elder god’s meandering hand now wrapped loosely around his throat to hold him there.

“Uh, no, wait!” Zagreus quickly spun around, placed both of his hands against Than’s chest and pushed, putting some space between the two of them. “I’m upset with you,” Zag said in a somewhat convincing tone, “and you’re not going to distract me with your…” The prince gestured vaguely at Than, struggling to find the right word while trying to forget how nice Than’s cool hands had felt traveling along his skin, how his deft fingers had just started to curl around his throat, how the gold adornments sitting above his defined chest matched his gorgeous eyes that had a hungry gleam to them, staring at him like he wanted to— The prince cleared his throat, looking anywhere except at the god in front of him. “…self,” he finished lamely.

Than took a step forward which caused Zagreus to take a step back until he was pressed up against the balcony with Than’s arms bracketing him again. Than leaned in, stalling mere inches away from connecting their mouths. Zag had to consciously stop himself from leaning in the rest of the way.

“Challenge accepted,” said Death.

Zagreus blinked, brows knit. “No, it’s not—”

Than closed the distance between them, crushing their lips together and wrapping his arms around the younger god, pulling him flush against his chest. Zagreus instinctively responded by throwing his own arms around Than’s neck, knocking his hood back and threading his fingers into his lover’s silky hair. The thoroughly distracted prince moaned softly as Than licked into his mouth. Than pulled away but quickly moved to Zag’s neck, licking and sucking to mark the tender skin there, much to Zag’s delight.

“I have some time before I need to return to work,” Than murmured.

Zag tilted his head to expose more of his throat to Death. “Mm, then how about you shift us somewhere more private?” Zagreus could feel the other god’s smile against his skin.

“We’ll have to be quick,” said Than. “But that won’t be a problem for you, right?”

Zagreus bristled. “Oh, blood and— Than!” The prince tried to escape his lover’s hold, but couldn’t break free from the strong arms around him. Through his struggling, he heard Than laugh.

“I’m sorry, I’ll stop,” Than conceded, pulling back enough to see his prince’s eyes which were regarding him very suspiciously. “It’s just fun to tease you sometimes.”

Zagreus huffed. “Yeah, well, I’m not much in the mood for it.”

“Oh really?” Than forced his leg between Zag’s thighs, eliciting a gasp as it pressed up against the prince’s obviously hard length. Zag tried to glare at him, but the blush adorning his cheeks greatly diminished the effect.

Before the flustered prince could utter any further protests, Than pressed their lips together in a searing kiss and the two disappeared with a flash.

“You have got to be joking!”

Zagreus stared up at the board, eyes disbelieving and burning with anger. Staring back at him was the lout responsible for his earlier demise, its portrait adorning the board in the lounge as the current featured house servant.

“Good work should be rewarded,” Megaera commented behind him as she brought her drink up to her smirking lips.

The prince stormed out of the lounge toward his chambers, muttering to himself about how one bad run shouldn’t negate a hundred good ones.

“Try not to suck this time,” Meg called after him.