Lost Solitude [Pre-Olympian Greece] (tag: Hybris)
With his arms lifted over his head, Hypnos rolled forward onto the balls of his feet and stretched out all the muscles in his body. Then, just as fluidly as he lengthened his body, he let it relax and fall back into a more natural position. This was followed by a long, slow yawn. Once that was complete, he glanced at the small pot that was on the hanging bar over the fire.
Nope. Still not boiling.
Hypnos sighed and pondered if it was truly worth it to make the apple mint tea if it was going to take so long to boil the water to steep the leaves. True, it did make one wonderfully sleepy, and Hypnos always loved that feeling, and it was quite tasty, but really he'd been standing far longer than he liked. He could sit, he supposed, but it was a poor substitute for lying down as he wished to do. With a little sigh, Hypnos gave in and sat on a nearby stool.
Within moments, the water in the pot bubbled over the side and he was forced to get up and retrieve it from the fire, using a thick cloth to grasp the handle without burning himself. After steeping the tea for a few minutes, he added a healthy dollop of honey. Then another, and again, a third. He liked it sweet. Using a smooth stick designed for the purpose, he stirred it as he strolled back toward his bedroom in the rear of his temple.
He loved the quiet that permeated his home. On occasion, he did miss some of his family; his mother most of all. He would miss Thanatos too if his twin was not there as often as he was. But the rest of his siblings, with precious few exceptions, were too noisy and rowdy for his tastes. They kept talking and moving about, always interrupting his naps or asking him to come do things with them. The smartest thing he'd ever done was to create his own temple, Hypnos decided. It was his bastion of cool silence in a noisy world.
He was quite pleased in that moment. His plan was to go to his room, slowly sip the soporific tea, and take a long, relaxing nap. That it was a plan that seemed to repeat on an almost daily basis did not disturb Hypnos in the least. He'd found a formula that pleased him, so he was going to stick with it. And there was nothing here to deter him from that path.