Work Text:
Anaxagoras looked down at his phone where the notes app was open on a text called ‘SAVE FOR FUTURE MANSLAUGHTER’, many addresses were listed along with the names of people he could do without in his life but one was specifically marked in red, with all capital letters.
He then looked up at the luxurious house in front of him, it wasn't a mansion exactly, but surely not something the average citizen could afford.
He knew saving this specific address would be helpful in the future, although he didn't expect this would be one of the reasons.
As he jumped over the fence, with a little effort, because he couldn't be bothered with ringing the bell lest he get shot on sight for showing up at this ungodly hour at a stranger’s home.
He neared the entry door and tried the doorknob. It didn't give. Had she not even bothered getting up to unlock the door?!
He huffed and rolled his eyes with annoyance, although the line of his shoulders grew stiff with concern he would never, even if the universe were to freeze over, admit to having.
Could she really be in such a bad state that she couldn't get up?
He caught his eyebrows knotting in worry and immediately shook his head pinching his nose to will the folds on his face to dissipate.
He grabbed his phone once again and opened a chat with one hand quickly typing as he looked for something with his other hand.
‘Open. I’m here.’
The message simply read. He continued searching for what he was looking for while he waited. Where had it put it again?
No answer came. He texted the same chat again while the phone buzzed in his hands with messages from that ungodly GC.
When even then he wasn't answered he resorted to sending a call.
Nothing.
He sighed, his face creasing up again. This time he allowed it as he finally found the pin hidden in the inside of his sleeve.
He kneeled before the door, eyeing the lock. It had been sometime since he'd done this, but his skills shouldn't have rusted too much he would get caught.
As he masterfully twisted the metal pin beneath his fingertips he prayed Aglaea didn't have an alarm or had deactivated it. For the sake of his unusual mission.
It took him about three minutes to get it right, then the door clicked open and thankfully nothing went off.
He slid the door open and slightly jumped backwards, suppressing a scream as someone unexpectedly stood in front of him.
Aglaea's figure was lit by the moonlight that seeped from outside, a silky night gown was draped over her lean form. However her usual elegance and composure ended there, for her skin looked as pale as that of the dead, a stark contrast from the deep dark circles that sat glaringly obvious under her eyes, tangible proof of just how exhausted she was.
But that wasn't all, her short, curly hair were a mess and a strap of the dress had slid down her shoulder as she held herself up with the support of a table set at the entrance as if she was about to fall over.
Now, Anaxagoras would've laughed at seeing his one and only academic rival in such miserable conditions. However he was a wise young man and thought that laughing in the face of a woman who hadn't slept in something like 96 hours and that was currently holding a gun pointed at him wasn't the smartest of ideas.
He'd reflexively raised his hands, slowly taking a step forward.
“Aglaea it is me, Anaxagoras, I came with the melatonin that I texted you about, remember? So could you please set the gun down and let me in?”
He carefully whispered as he looked into her unfocused eyes. After a moment too long the words seemed to register in Aglaea's mind and she sighed, closing her eyes and lowering the gun.
He slowly stepped inside, still weary of the weapon she held, and shut the door behind him with the softest of clicks.
Now that there wasn't any light anymore he couldn't see much of anything. He tried at his sides, in an attempt to find a light switch but the tell tale sound of it came from across the atrium.
The room was bathed in soft golden light from the lampshades set on the walls. Yet even this light that fit Aglaea much more than that of the moon couldn't hide the sheer exhaustion that seeped through every pore of her being.
She was still holding herself up as the young man approached her. Once he was at arm's length he reached for her hand to take the gun out of it as he muttered.
“I come here in peace and bearing useful gifts yet this is how you greet me? I knew you wanted to shoot me dead, but I didn't know you prioritized that over your mental sanity. I must say, I'm almost honored to be of such importance to you”
He said as he held the revolver up to the light, admiring the way the smooth surface glinted dangerously. It was a good gun, well kept. He also noted that it still had the safety pin on, whether it was an oversight on Aglaea's part due to exhaustion or a calculated choice he couldn't tell for sure.
Aglaea sighed beside him, it was so heavy it almost seemed like the World bearing titan had dumped the sky onto her shoulders instead.
She didn't answer him, nor snap at him, she didn't have the energy to. The lack of her characteristic comebacks felt wrong and left a sinking feeling of disappointment in Anaxagoras’ guts.
He quickly brushed it off, instead setting the gun on the wooden surface and opening his mouth to ask.
“Are your parents at home? Just checking to know how high it's the chance of being mistaken for an I'll intentioned criminal and being shot on sight.”
Aglaea massaged her temple before finally opening her mouth for the first time since he'd intruded, with consent, inside her house.
“My mother is on a work trip while my father just passed out after coming back from his night shift. I'm sure he'll kill the both of us if we wake him up”
Anaxa huffed a laugh. “Great, seems insomnia runs in your family. Well then, should we go somewhere else so I can give you your much awaited medicine?”
He opened his arm gesturing Aglaea to lead the way. She slowly nodded, still holding her head like it hurt so much she wanted to tear it off. She wobbled as she pushed off of her support and only managed to find her balance when her arms reflexively reached for Anaxa’s shoulder.
Now, the young man would have shaken her off were this any other situation, but at such a pitiful sight, he didn't have the heart to. Instead he leaned down, wrapping her arm over his neck to stabilize her even further.
She breathed yet another soft sigh which grazed the side of his face. “Thank you”.
They slowly but surely made their way to the living room, where Aglaea separated from him to plop ungracefully on the couch. She covered her eyes with her forearm.
“When's the last time you've eaten something?” He asked as he gazed down at the sight for half a second too long.
Aglaea let out a mix between a groan and a thoughtful hum. “I’m not sure… like, 7 hours ago? Bloody, what kind of question even is that?” She grumbled irritatedly.
Anaxa snickered at the ‘Bloody’ which earned him a deadly glare, he quickly schooled his face. “Alright then, I'll go find something.”
Aglaea gritted her teeth about to stand up and pounce on him. “Anaxa, just give me the bloody melatonin”.
Anaxa managed to stifle the laugh this time as he placed a hand on Aglaea's shoulder guiding her back on the couch.
“It’ll just take a few minutes,” He promised, grabbing a blanket from a nearby armchair and draping it over Aglaea. She looked on the verge of opposing it, until Anaxagoras tucked her in with a gentleness that was so uncharacteristically his.
He made his way further inside the house before she could argue any further. Despite its size he thankfully managed to find the kitchen on the first try. He stealthily checked most of the cabinets and smirked as he found what he'd been looking for.
He grabbed the delicate kettle by its handle, it was made of ceramic and was beautifully decorated, then filled it with water as he went hunting for calming chamomile.
Once he was done setting it all up on the stove he moved to the search of some cookies, or as the Brits would say, ‘Biscuits’, to accompany it with.
What better midnight (although it was already something like 4 AM) snack could you give to an insomniac British?
It didn't take long for him to finish and, although he wasn't very familiar with it, he also didn't handle the kettle too badly. He'd only slightly grazed past it and now a small spot on his hand burnt like hell but at the very least he hadn't knocked everything over. That could’ve been much worse, since either Aglaea or her father would've come for his head.
He carefully brought everything back to the living room, setting it on the low coffee table at Aglaea's feet. The young woman had her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side but her eyelashes fluttered open too quickly for her to have been sleeping.
Anaxa carefully poured the liquid inside a cup, although it wasn't the appropriate type they used for tea, Aglaea let it slide since it meant it could contain more calming chamomile.
The young man handed over the cup to her as she'd snaked her hands to peek out from under the blanket. His rings gently twinkled against the ceramic as he did so.
“Do you live with those on?” She asked as she blew on the hot beverage, scattering away the steam that rose from it.
It took Anaxa a second to understand what she meant. He looked down at his hands turning a ring that had twisted on his pointer finger into the correct position.
“Yes, why?” He answered, narrowing his eyes in confusion and slight irritation at the unexpected question.
She shrugged the blanket slipping down her shoulders as she leaned forward to take a cookie to dip in the chamomile.
Anaxa sat on the other end of the couch, grabbing the melatonin container from the pocket of his hoodie. He pressed and turned to open the cap pouring into his hand a reasonable amount of tablets that wouldn't send Aglaea into an overdose.
She eyed him as she finished her cup and biscuits to make sure he wasn't attempting to kill her, not that she would've minded at this point since her brain felt like it was a second away from imploding.
Everything around her felt surreal, almost detached. Also she could swear she saw moving shapes in the darkness that surrounded them.
She quickly finished and took the tablets in her palm planning to swallow them all in one go. Anaxagoras had most likely predicted this for he grabbed her wrist and aborted her action.
“One at a time” He said firmly, looking every bit annoyed as he usually did. She didn't have it in her to argue nor tell him not to patronize her, so she obliged and took them one at a time.
After that she kicked Anaxa off of her couch, he had no idea where all that strength came from and didn't get the time to ask before she plopped in a laying position on the cushions wrapping the blanket tighter around her shoulders.
He sighed, shaking his head. “Are you not going to bed? Your neck will hurt in the morning and, although it was quite funny, I don't think you’ll enjoy having another crash out.” He asked, looking down at the way her golden hair spread messily around her head almost like a halo.
“Shut it Performer” She simply bit back, snuggling further under her blanket. He sighed again and took a seat on the armchair. Perhaps he could move her once she fell asleep.
He opened his phone, setting it on the lowest luminosity, not that he usually kept it any higher, and opened the chat to see what else those idiots were saying while he’d been gone.
Half an hour passed when he closed the cozy Dramas game he’d been playing on muted to check on Aglaea.
Sure enough, when he slowly creeped forward and placed a finger under her nose her breaths were soft and even. She’d finally fallen asleep. Anaxa looked around, walking down the hallway looking for her room.
He assumed her father slept upstairs, so he hoped Aglaea's room wasn't there. He most definitely didn't have the strength to carry her up there.
Thankfully, that didn't seem to be the case, as he opened a creaking door to reveal a clean and tidy room. Two mannequins on the farthest door were embracing in some sort of quiet dance next to a golden mirror where his figure was reflected in the shadows. On his right the low key most comfortable queen bed he’s ever seen while on his left a wide and ornate wooden table was completely covered by different fabrics, along with a sewing machine and a crochet pin cushion that looked like his face.
He frowned unamused at it.
That was most likely her room alright. It also wasn't too far from the living room where Aglaea was now passed out cold in.
He rubbed his chin as he walked back, calculating how long it would take him and how high was the probability that Aglaea woke up and shot him dead.
But as he saw the way she was laying on those hard cushions with not even a pillow under her head, his neck cried in pain for hers.
He massaged it before leaning down, an arm slipping ever so carefully under her shoulders while the other went under her legs. He hauled her up and found that she wasn't too heavy that he couldn't carry her but heavy enough that he would drop her in a matter of minutes.
He swore he could hear Cerces' annoyingly calm voice reprimand him for not going to the gym in his brain. It felt so real he almost bit back a biting remark before catching himself and remembering that he was wasting precious time.
He made his way through the dark hallways with a bit of effort due to the burden he was carrying, thankfully he'd memorized the way and didn't waver at any turn.
During the trip the blanket had mischievously unwrapped from the cocoon that Aglaea had formed around herself and had started precariously hanging from her body, almost tripping Anaxa with every step he took. Not only that, but it also left him in a pretty compromising position as he hadn't realized his hold on her legs was way too high up.
He swore under his breath only to breathe a sigh of relief as the door to her room was in sight. He managed to walk in without hitting Aglaea against the door frame and giving her a concussion, although he’d dreamed of doing it many times and finally reached the bed.
However on his last step that would've finally liberated him he tripped on the damned blanket and ended up falling, with Aglaea still in his arms forward onto the bed.
At least they hadn't impacted with the ground, but he became eerily still as he waited for Aglaea to wake up and claw his throat out.
However that didn't happen, some titan, it seemed, had blessed him despite his reputation as an heretic and he genuinely hadn't felt such a strong need to thank the titan in a decade or perhaps more.
Still, he held back, cuz, morals and principles and was instantly punished for it as he came face to face with the sleeping Aglaea as he tried to stand up.
He froze, again, his eyes observing her features carefully and settling on her parted lips for a moment too long before he found his bearings again and snapped himself out of that daze as he stood up.
He shook his head, no, that was nothing, it was just his own sleep deprivation doing things to him. He turned around towards the wall seconds away from banging his head against it before remembering where he was.
See, sleep deprivation that's it. Stop thinking about it.
He forced himself to focus on anything else which just so happened to be Aglaea that had been carelessly flopped onto the bed by him and had a lean arm dangling from the side of the bed, the blanket still haphazardly wrapped around her.
Just as he was about to slip in a daze he reminded himself why he’d gone through all that effort and why his arms were currently burning like the fire of a coreflame.
Which was to ultimately put Aglaea to bed, which didn't stray far from the topic that currently ringed in his head, but that was not the point.
He finally decided to do something, instead of looming like a grin reaper by her bedside while she laid there as if she were on her death bed like in one of those Victorian paintings.
He wrapped the blanket around her better, almost turning her into a taco before carefully moving her around so he could slip her under the covers and closer to the center of the bed.
(By the way, what did she need such a big bed for? It isn't like she had five big sized dromas plushies on it)
After he was done tucking her in (he ignored how that had been the second time that night) he sighed in exhaustion. He looked at her calm sleeping face, the dark eye circles still posing a stark contrast against her fair skin.
He shook his head again.
Get your mind out of the gutter, he reprimanded himself.
‘Lover boy's several voices screamed in his brain making his face heat up.
He turned around to silently stomp his way out of the room, not before whispering under his breath “Goodnight Seamstress” despite knowing no one would answer.
He closed the door behind him and made his way to the atrium, he was about to step out of it when he heard a creak of steps coming from upstairs.
He froze, before bolting out, not even wanting to look behind him. No gunshots came, thankfully, as he remembered the gun he’d set on the table in the atrium. However, he was almost completely sure Aglaea's father had heard someone running out of the house and would most likely find the remnants of the tea he’d prepared Aglaea which would cause more than a few questions to be thrown her way in the morning which would consecutively result in him also getting a beating in the morning.
He ran home with these beautiful thoughts in mind, the only comfort being that his house wasn't too far away from Aglaea which meant he could at least get a few hours of sleep before facing her wrath in the morning.
He jumped inside his room from the window and gracelessly fell to the ground. He groaned and massaged his temples as he held his phone to his face to see the time.
6:12 AM
Crazy how the weirdest of things can happen in the span of an hour. His arm fell to the ground, still sore from that undesired physical activity he’d done a few minutes prior.
He didn't have the strength to change into his pajamas and relocate himself on his bed, so instead he fell asleep on the floor, dreaming of cocoons and golden butterflies.