Chapter Text
“Zzz… Oh… Hi, Than? I was just about to start looking for you!” Dream stretched on his hallway couch as he awakened from a shallow sleep.
“Hello, Hypnos” Thanatos halted mid-step, clearly having no intention to stop for more than a moment. “I’m afraid I don’t have much time. It’s wintertime up there.”
“But you have some time, right? Can we talk? Just for a second, I promise!”
Death leaned heavily on his scythe. “Alright. Speak.”
“I was thinking about your work lately.”
The House of Hades’ very own Reaper tensed visibly.
“You kinda seem to have a lot on your plate right now. No time to rest, waaaay too much work… I’m a God of Sleep, Than. I can tell when someone’s sleepless. Guarantee.”
Thanatos stopped him right there.
“I don’t need your advice on how to do my job, Hypnos.”
“I know, I know. You made it very, very clear when I asked about your harvesting schedule! So clear, in fact, that I figured I’d better stop before you start smiting me on instinct every time I so much look like I’m going to ask how you’re doing. But, lucky me, turns out that I have very official reason to check on you now – I’ve been appointed Assistant to the Assistant to the Head of House Administration-”
He’s working under Mother?
“Congratulations”
“Yeah, yeah, thanks. So Master Hades gave me the key to the Archives – it was all very serious, no sleeping on the job, y’know how it is – and that means that I got to go trough the employee records! And wow, Than, you’ve been very busy these past few millennia, and, uh… I kinda backtracked your schedule, aaaand…” He pulled out a bunch of papers, meticulously avoiding his brother’s eyes.
“I don’t need your advice on how to do my job, Hypnos,” Thanatos repeated.
“Completely fair, but how about just looking at it? Please. Pleeeaseee? Just a peek.”
It was foolish, but he couldn’t refuse Hypnos this much. He accepted the folder.
The papers were loosely bound by a couple of mangled-up stitches and had his name scribbled in ink at the top. The exposed bits of parchment crunched under his touch, smooth and thin from wear.
He truly loved Hypnos’ plans – they soothed the stir that was left in him after the Great Winter, and made Hypnos so happy. Simply watching him plan his day was enough. There was little need to say anything; some days Death quietly shared his ideas, but mostly he just sat by, just to spend time together.
On the other hand, he really wished Hypnos would keep his plans to himself, just like his “good advice”. When he even had time to make this?
He sighed and looked into the file.
Then flipped trough the entire sheet a few times.
He knew that recently Hypnos was praised by everyone, but he had to admit that the God of Dreams mastered his skill well beyond his expectations. Of course – he was allowed to the Archives, after all, and Thanatos himself was bursting with pride when Lord Hades was extolling the mysterious author of the new color-coding system – but the thing on his hands was so much more. After a few pages he could see that over a hundred or so years the weird energy that appeared whenever Hypnos sat by his desk would be more valuable for the House than everything he ever done by the entrance.
Hypnos was nervously bobbling in front of him, efficiently preventing him from focusing on the text.
“Look at-” Hypnos cut himself off, wings fluttered. “Ok, no. See for yourself. Unless you want me to explain. Just sayin’.”
Interruption ended, ad Thanatos opened on the pointed to page, and read it. It was intriguing, even after considering Hypnos’ newfound mastery.
What he said before? A few millennia? The sheer amount of data… Gathering it had to take weeks from his off-duty (Thanatos hoped) time. And, apart from the volume, there were also corrections, crossed-out lines, calculations stretching over several pages… hand-drew maps. Every detail filled in, revised, used to draw well-explained conclusions.
One example: he tracked the few instances when Thanatos was late to measure the number of seconds that could pass before anyone notices that their dead aren’t exactly dead… yet. He also measured teleportation efficiency and noticed something he named “geographical confusion”, that, supposedly, took split seconds from each travel. Using both he suggested (only suggested!) new order of reaping, and he also cross-referenced it from another data to ensure that every soul will get exactly the same treatment as always. Data, which – and the Reaper was sure of it – couldn’t be gathered from the Archives alone.
It meant that Hypnos truly tried to tailor it for him. Some of it was actually good advice.
He couldn’t help but sound a little shocked.
“It’s a very insightful proposal, Hypnos. Thank you.” He hid the file in the folds of his robe, at which Hypnos breathed a sight of relief and smiled.
“Really?” he asked. “You mean it?”
“Of course. I’m looking forward to discussing it in detail later.” Thanatos answered, tucking the material around the gift to make it safer, and addressed Hypnos again. “How could I thank you for it?”
“Oh, you know me. Just a good night’s sleep will do! Or a good day’s sleep?”
“Are you sure? You worked really hard for this.”
Hypnos floated on his back and pondered, looking at the ceiling.
“How did you know, there is something!”
Of course there was.
“You noticed that everyone that has something important to say to someone always ends up having a meal together? You, and Achilles, and you and Meg, and you and… Ah, and good, ol’ Zag! All of you are constantly meeting in the lounge on some secret, serious chats, and I thought that maybe… maybe we could get a serious chat like that? Or… or something else.
Thanatos couldn’t help but smile fondly. It was so characteristically… Hypnos. Trust him to be so theatrical about something so simple.
“Drinks after work it is.” He said with a nod. “Until then, take care.”
Hypnos’ grin, like a beacon in the dark, lit the entirety of the corridor – from the pool of Styx to the Cerberus’ cushion.
“Surely” Thanatos thought, bathed in green light. “His enthusiasm is the only undying thing in this House.”