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“What is this?” The low voice of The Ruler of The Underworld rumbled, making the Embodiment of Sleep nearly throw his knitting needles into the air from surprise. It was either a testament to his constant sleep–deprived state or to his intense focus that the man managed to sneak up on him.
“It’s wool, sir.”
“I can see that you…” His boss nearly growled with frustration and whew, wasn’t that enough to make someone’s hair stand on end? “... I mean what are you doing ?”
“Oh! K-Knitting, sir! I’ve found it to be a wonderful way to pass the time while I’m working here, you know? Sometimes the line moves so slowly, there’s just nothing for me to do! N-Not that YOU are working slowly, of course! The souls can just be pesky little things, you understand? But, yes, I’ve found it keeps my focus enough to keep me wide awake through my whole shift! Ain’t that neat? I really didn’t think it’d be worth anything, but Zag’s adviser- Ooh what was his name? Ajax? Aeson? A-something, you know, it’s just on the tip of my tongue-”
“ SILENCE. ” Hades boomed. Hypnos’ mouth snapped closed. The god sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “This… This does not interfere with your work then?”
“O-Oh not at all sir! If you take a look, you’ll see I’m more on track than I’ve ever been!” The godling beamed, handing his ledger over. Where it was usually covered in doodles of sheep, sleep scribbled notes, and missing checkmarks, it was now neatly kept. There were even notes on the methods of death each person experienced! Not that he thought Hades needed those taken down, of course, but with his increased focus he realized that the matter greatly interested him.
Hades squinted at the ledger in his far too big palm and hummed, the sound shaking Hypnos to his core. If he had a beating heart, it surely would have stopped.
“Very well,” Hades muttered, handing back the ledger, “So long as this continues to improve the quality of your work, I will allow it. But should you show any sign of letting this distract you from your duties-”
“Oh, of course not, sir! I take my job here very seriously!”
Hades huffed and seemed to stare into Hypnos’ soul before turning and stomping back to his desk. The godling let out a sigh of relief, letting his posture relax. He adjusted his sitting position and quickly got back to work on his personal project.
“What is this?” Thanatos spoke with an exasperated, yet monotone air. It was good to hear, at the very least, that that hadn’t changed in all the time they’d spent apart.
“It’s- ah- It’s a shawl! Well, a hooded one, but still a shawl!”
Thanatos looked at his brother, an eyebrow raised on his otherwise unchanged expression, prompting more of an explanation.
“Well, I thought that, well, it must get pretty depressing out there, you know? Going out there all on your own, bringing people to their ends, et cetera, et cetera. And uh, well, I know the light bothers you! So I figured, ‘why not do something to help him out for once?’ Finally make myself useful, you know? Isn’t that what you’re always saying?” His voice trailed off as his brother continued to stare at him.
Thanatos didn’t express himself strongly, in facial expressions or vocal range. It was never something that came naturally to him. Hypnos was the same, though he made up for it by teaching himself to be extra expressive, lest his words or actions be misconstrued. It was something Thanatos had always seemed to resent him for, even as children.
But not expressing himself strongly didn’t mean he didn’t express himself at all. Hypnos had learned, over the years, to pick up on the minute shifts in his brother’s expression. The tension in his jaw and cheeks when he was angry, the unnatural crows feet which seemed to manifest at the corner of his eyes when he was trying not to laugh at one of Hypnos’ jokes, the loss of tension in his brow when he took pity on someone. And now, the shift in his eyes told Hypnos everything he needed to know.
Gratitude echoed back at him in twin gold.
“This will suffice.” Thanatos grumbled, bringing the item close to his chest, as if he could force it into his heart.
Hypnos couldn’t help but beam.
The procession of shades moved at a snail’s pace along the halls of The House of Hades. Each name was taken down with quill and ink, along with their cause and date of Death. And through the halls, the click-clacking of knitting needles was just audible over the clamor and mutterings of the dead.
After the gift was (rather successfully, he might add) given, Hypnos felt no need to stop his new hobby. After all, it really was helping him focus on his work, and saved him a heart attack each time Zagreus’ footsteps approached from the end of the hall. Speaking of, according to the sudden text which appeared on his ledger…
“Hey Hypnos!” Zagreus shouted from the end of the hall as he began to wade his way out of the Pool of Styx. Hypnos gave a wave and a small smile as the man approached him, taking a glance over to his ledger.
“Natural Causes got you again, huh?” Hypnos snickered. Zagreus just shrugged, plopping down onto the couch next to him.
“What are you working on there?”
Hypnos hummed, holding up the relatively small amount of knitted yarn, “Not sure yet. Just kinda seeing where it takes me. Fibre Arts really help you see why The Fates work as they do, ha!”
Zagreus chuckled, letting his head drop, “You’re impossible.”
“I’m your favorite.”
He bumped his shoulder, looking up with keen eyes, “Oh, speaking of! I was wondering if you could make me something. I would pay you for your work, of course.”
Hypnos’ eyes widened. “Me?”
“Who else?”
“Anyone??”
“Hypnos, that shawl you made Thanatos is holding up incredibly well despite the conditions he’s put it in. I can think of no one else I would want to commission such a project from.” Zagreus placed a hand on Hypnos’ shoulder and gave him a smile so genuine and kind it nearly evaporated some passerby shades.
Hypnos has never claimed to be strongly willed, but who could say no to that?
The godling chuckled nervously, picking up the Prince’s hand from his shoulder with his index finger and thumb and returning it to the loveseat they sat upon, “Alright, you’ve convinced me. What are you thinking?”
No amount of gold or silver could equal the satisfaction Hypnos got from seeing the guard hound(s?) of The Underworld wrapped in soft, fluffy, yellow, orange, and red wool. The godling beamed with pride as he watched his dear friend wrap each head loosely in a different colored scarf. Each one boofed happily, with one slobbering the Prince in kisses, which he accepted with a loud laugh and many pets.
“Oh, Hypnos, he looks incredible. Thank you so much.” Zagreus breathed, his smile brighter than the flames which surrounded them.
The godling waved his hand dismissively, “Ehh, it’s nothing. Don’t worry about it. Gave me something to pass the time with.”
Zagreus laughed, sweeping him into a hug. Hypnos let out a gasp at the unexpected affection, but leaned into it all the same.
He pulled back, hands still gripping his arms and a nervous smile on his face. “So… You wouldn’t mind if I gave you another project?”
Hypnos smiled and leaned back in the Prince’s hold, confident he wouldn’t be dropped. “I’m listening…”
Hypnos felt like he was going to be sick. The air around him felt thicker than usual as he put intense focus on his most recent commission from his dear friend– who he was really and truly considering impaling with one of his needles.
He had asked if he would be willing to make Megaera something. Megaera. He didn’t specify a color palette, a timeframe, or even an item! He had free range with a project and all he could bring himself to make were granny squares! His fingers shook as he knit and he paused, taking a deep breath.
This was fine. This was completely fine! It was a commission by his best friend to the second most dangerous, powerful, and beautiful woman in The House of Hades. (The first being his mother, of course, who currently wore a pair of knitted fingerless gloves.)
He groaned, dropping his needles and looking up towards the ceiling. The weight of gold in his newly made coin purse felt heavier than ever. He couldn’t just make nothing. The amount Zagreus had paid him between the scarves from Cerberus and this was enough to fund a small army. Not that Hypnos had asked him for that much, but the Prince of Hades seemed to act as though coin grew on trees (Maybe for him it did).
“Hypnos,” A voice spoke over him, sending him scrambling for purchase on the loveseat below him. Looking up, he met eyes the color of sweet ambrosia and the look of a tiger ready to pounce.
“Megaera!” He yelped, fumbling again, this time for his ledger. Looking quickly down, he noticed her name didn’t appear on the page the way it usually did when Zagreus bested her in combat. So then… Had she come here of her own accord?
“What is all this mess?” She folded her arms, gesturing with her head to the pile of yarn balls beside him.
“O-oh! I uh, I’ve taken up knitting!” He spoke, seeming unable to find his words under her gaze.
She cocked her head, like a bird of prey examining her meal. “Really?” She drawled.
“Really! Really really! Have you seen Cerberus lately? Or my brother? Or my mother? Or-” He cut himself off, realizing the amount of projects he’d completed had steadily increased without his knowledge, and with that his skill, but his brother and mother had never once asked him to redo their gifts. Pride swelled in his chest as he continued, “Well, if you have, I made them all their woolen objects. It helps me focus– pass the time, you know?”
Megaera hummed, tilting her head to the other side, “I see. My sister does something similar.”
“Ooh, which one? The sadist or the judge/jury/executioner?”
Megaera snorted – SNORTED! At his joke! — before turning her head to look down the hallway, “Tisiphone. It helps her ground herself during the worst of her… Episodes. Sometimes she can even talk to us.”
And oh, that sounded sad. The words themselves, yes, but her voice as well. It went quiet in a way Hypnos had never heard before.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this… It's just…” She mumbled, just barely audible under the clamor of the dead. She brought a hand to her mouth, eyes still sharp as a hawk, but something had changed.
“Hey… Hey, Meg, it’s alright,” Hypnos spoke softly, matching her tone, “Do you wanna sit?”
Megaera nodded, shuffling over and sitting in the empty space on the loveseat. They sat in silence, Hypnos watching her expression slowly morph into emotions he couldn’t quite pin down. After a minute, he averted his gaze, giving her privacy as he returned to his current square. Hypnos couldn’t tell how much time passed with them like that; Megaera staring quietly into nothingness, hand covering her mouth while Hypnos knit, occasionally breaking to speak to the new shades which entered his reach.
Eventually though, the eldest fury seemed to collect herself. She straightened her posture, dropping her hands to her lap.
“You…” She started, and man, could the godling feel her eyes in the side of his skull or what?
“It’s not a problem, Meg. Really.” Hypnos smiled, glancing over briefly before returning his eyes to his work, nearly cursing himself as he lost count of the stitching.
“No- That’s- Urgh! That’s not what I was going to- Well, I mean, yes, but it wasn’t…” She groaned, facepalming, “I wanted to know if you would be willing to teach me and my sister. How to knit, I mean.”
Hypnos froze, turning slowly to look at Megaera. He let out a single, nervous laugh, before promptly fainting in the hallway.
“URGH!” Alecto screamed, throwing her needles and nearly poking out Hypnos’ eye, “This is IMPOSSIBLE!”
“Sister, be patient,” Megaera mumbled, a poor attempt at soothing by anyone else’s standards, but one which seemed to work just fine on the youngest fury, who’s posture softened and head lolled forward.
“I am trying, ” She muttered.
“If I may suggest something?” Hypnos spoke, near immediately regretting it as he had the undivided attention of two furies. He gulped before continuing, “If you think about each stitch as its individual parts – the cast, the loop, the stitch itself – it can make it a bit easier to keep track of exactly where you are in the process.”
Alecto stared, blinked, and nodded. She lifted her hand, and Hypnos nearly shrieked as the needles she had thrown flew back into her palm. She didn’t speak another word as she grabbed the yarn and began again, focus as intense on her new craft as it was in battle.
The godling stared for a moment before turning to Megaera, who was looking at her sister with a soft smile. He smiled at the sight, quickly returning to his own stitches before he was caught.
Maybe this wasn’t such a bad idea after all.
“So how did craft night go?” Zagreus said in a sing-songy voice with a shit-eating grin.
“Better than expected, honestly,” Hypnos smiled up at his friend, before letting his expression drop to that of neutrality. “You owe me 100 coin for each time I had a knitting needle thrown at my head.”
Zag laughed, pulling out his coin purse, grabbing a handful, and dumping it into the godling’s lap, “I’m just glad you made it out of that alive! You know I commissioned an item for her, right? Not a lesson?”
“You never did specify! It was up for interpretation! And besides, I wasn’t even the one to suggest it. Meg thought it’d be a good sisterly bonding activity if they learned together!” He left out the part where he saw the three furies sitting in a circle, each focused on their own projects, while Tisiphone spoke with more clarity than he had ever seen.
Zagreus rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say. Oh! Before I forget,” He opened his coin pouch again, rummaging through it for a good minute before pulling out something small and gold and holding it out for him to take, “Your brother sent this along. Said it was a repayment of some sort.”
Hypnos raised his brows, placing down his needles and plucking the item from his hands. It was a small, flat pendant, made to be worn on a chain or string, though one was not attached. On one side was engraved a sprig of lavender and on the other words “The only god who heals the heart of sorrow,” a quote Hypnos immediately recognized as coming from the poet Homer. His heart ached and he wished he’d held his twin a little tighter the last time they’d hugged.
“Thank you, Zagreus.” Hypnos smiled, not looking up from the pendant, simply turning it in his hand. After a moment, he moved, cutting a string of yarn and threading it through the pendant’s hole before tying it around his neck.
If one was to frequent the halls of the House of Hades, they might note that the procession of shades seemed just a bit more orderly than they usually did on their way to meet with the God of the Dead. The ruckus which normally filled the halls was replaced with quiet murmurs, the loudest things in the hall being the soft click-clacking of knitting needles and the words spoken from Hades himself.
Several figures stopped to speak with the source of said clacking: first, a man with embers at his heels and a smile so bright it stoked the flames of hades. Then, a woman, tall and broad, who seemed to be as amused by the godling as she was exhausted. After that, a few more frequent patrons of the hall, coming to give praise or coin in exchange for his craft.
And as the day dragged on and the day turned into what those who resided in the Hall of Hades considered night, one more figure approached the man.
“You’re late.” Hypnos chided, tutting, “What would mother say?”
“Mother would say that I must complete my duties before I engage in such frivolous things as this.” Thanatos sighed, sitting down carefully on the edge of the loveseat.
Hypnos giggled, holding his hands to his chest in balled fists as he rocked slightly with his own laughter. “You better leave your work brain out there or you’ll never finish that, you know.”
Thanatos rolled his eyes, but made no comment. He reached into a bag which laid at their feet, pulling out a pair of needles and the beginnings of a scarf.
And in an instant, they were in their own world. Neither speaking, but neither needing to. Hypnos leaned to the side, resting his head on his brother’s arm. There was still a rift between them, something that shawls and pressed metal couldn’t fix, but there was a start. Pausing his work, Hypnos yawned, leaning further into his brother’s solid form.
To the sound of soft wood tapping and his brother’s shallow breaths, Hypnos fell asleep.