Hypnos - Part Two
* He’s not ashamed of how he fled to his mother when he was being pursued by Zeus. He knows full well that Zeus would have killed him had it not been for his mother’s protection. To this day, he still harbors a bit of fear for the king of the gods.
* Regarding the whole Zeus fiasco: The first time was a favor to Hera. He felt a bit sorry for her, knew that Zeus’ infidelities must have been a hard thing to deal with, and wanted to give her a bit of satisfaction. He did not believe that Heracles would be seriously harmed—and, luckily, he was right. The terror that he felt at Zeus’ anger, however, was so strong that he couldn’t sleep for weeks afterward. And so, when Hera came to him the second time, he had every intention of turning her down. It was nothing against her—he liked her as much as anyone—but he didn’t want to put his own life in danger again. But, when she offered him the hand of Pasithea (one of the Graces), his heart would not let him refuse. He’d been love, and maybe a bit obsessed, with her for a long time before that. After the whole ordeal, he felt a touch of bitterness toward Hera for using his love for her own purposes.
* He truly loved Pasithea. But they eventually separated, and he found himself oddly unaffected by her absence. He was never sure whether his love for her had just run its course, or if it was merely sleeping.
* He’s always loved sleeping outdoors, but he has to be careful not to fall into too deep a sleep when he does. Dozing off on a warm spring day and waking up in the middle of winter under two feet of snow is never fun.
* As a child, Hypnos was small and silent. He only spoke to his mother and Thanatos—at least until the Oneiroi were born, after which he spoke to Morpheus, as well. This continued until he was nearly full grown. He did love his other siblings, though, and he often went out of his way to make them happy.
* He started following Nyx out at night when he was very, very young. At first he’d sneak out and try to follow her without her knowing (which, of course, she did), but eventually she “caught” him and they started leaving together. He’d cling to the train of her gown and follow her on her course through the night sky. It’s one of the first memories he can remember.
* He misses those days a lot—the days when they used to work together, as a family. Mother Nyx would bring the mists of night, he would put the world to sleep, and his brothers would give the mortals dreams. He also misses later times, when he and Thanatos would carry the injured and dying off the battlefields—Thanatos taking the hopeless, and he giving rest to the ones in need of it.
** Dora, if you’re reading this – I was thinking maybe Hypnos and Thanatos could have some sort of code in which they used to leave messages for each other or that they’d speak in when there were other people around. I just love the whole twin thing, and I’d like to find some cool ways to play with it. Let me know what you think!