Work Text:
“Good news and bad news,” Thanatos announced. No, Zagreus thought. Announcing was the wrong verb for his usual running buddy’s laconic demeanor. Stated? Pronounced?
Zagreus frowned and blew into his cupped hands. It didn’t matter. “Give me the good news first,” he said at last. “Too early in the morning for bad news.”
“The good news is I did find someone to help us work on our sprints.”
“I figured as much.” Zagreus gestured to the track; normally he’d be on the outskirts of town, just starting to warm up into his morning 10K. But he and Than had decided that if they were going to take the next step competitively, they needed to work on increasing their top speeds. And that meant sprinting, developing a top gear even if they were never going to use it in a cross-country race. “What’s the bad news?” He bounced from foot to foot, equal parts cold and nervous energy.
“There was only one person willing to help us on short notice.”
Zagreus closed his mismatched eyes as he turned to face the approaching sneakered footfalls, the familiar gait and Thanatos’s clue giving away her identity even before he opened them again. “Hello, Megaera.” Well, he thought, taking his first look at his ex-girlfriend in a while, noting her figure in the dark blue sports bra and tights, maybe not all bad news. And she couldn’t be that mad if she was willing to help him, right?
“Zagreus. Thanatos.” Meg nodded to each of them in turn before her face broadened into a smirk. “Don’t worry, I won’t be chasing you around the track with a whip…” Zagreus shared a groan with Thanatos as he twitched uncomfortably in his shorts. “...although you might be up for that, apparently.”
“I now know more about your love life than I had really wanted,” Thanatos replied, the hint of a blush in his usually pale cheeks matching the tinge of embarrassment in his monotone.
Megaera merely tipped Zag a familiar wink as they lined up to start drilling; he gulped, knowing exactly what that wink meant. That was the “I guarantee they’d be down” wink. And he’d be lying if said he hadn’t thought about his friend and training partner that way, just… He sighed. So much for running helping to clear his mind, he thought.