The Prodigal Son of Nyx Returns Who: Thanatos and Hypnos What: Death comes home When: Late afternoon Where: Thanatos's apartment. Warnings: None.
He was home.
How long had it been since Thanatos left Miami? The god of death wasn't quite sure. It had been many weeks ago when he'd gotten wind of a number of violent and dangerous ghosts living in a condemned hotel clear on the other side of the country in Seattle, Washington. Because of them a child who had been wandering inside it on a dare from his friends had died, so Thanatos had taken it upon himself to go and take care of the hostile spirits, leaving both his brother and Takshi in Miami for the time being.
He hadn't expected to be away so long, but the job turned out to be more complicated than he'd initially thought. What was now a condemned hotel had, once upon a time, been a mental institution back in the early 1900s, and it turned out there were more spirits inhabiting the place than he'd initially assumed.
But Death would not be denied, and eventually he sent all of them where they belonged
When Thanatos stepped into his apartment, it seemed to be empty. Takshi was nowhere in sight, and neither was his brother. He sighed as he set his glamoured guitar/scythe down beside the sofa and made a beeline for his empty bedroom. At the sight of the large bed and the poppies still flourishing, he smiled. He'd missed this. Dropping the glamour from his own form, he stretched his wings and arms leisurely before easing himself onto his bed and closing his eyes with contentment, drifting off to sleep.
A few minutes after Thanatos went off to bed, Hypnos walked through the door. He was still wearing his Starbucks uniform, and unceremoniously dumped it on the couch as he headed for bed. Helping the Lady Persephone go to sleep had been hard... He always forgot how little power he had now! Groaning softly with exhaustion, he collapsed onto the bed, with his shoes still on.
...Huh. The bed was lumpy now. And full of feathers.
The lump also made an "oof" noise, and the black feathers, which were now very much ruffled, writhed and flapped a little bit as the person attached to them attempted to get up. "[Hey! What the--?!]
"[Mrrr, sorry brother.]" Smiling from ear to ear, he rolled to the side before hugging the form under the sheets.
Grinning similarly, Thanatos hugged his brother back, savoring the reunion with his twin. "[So good to see you. Missed you.]"
Hypnos' own soft wings unfurled as he snuggled into the sheets and against Thanatos' form. "[I missed you, too. It has been crazy here.]"
"[Has it?]" Thanatos snuggled against Hypnos, suddenly wishing that he'd thought to change out of his travelling clothes and into something more comfortable before getting into bed. "[What's happened?]"
"[I'm not entirely sure,]" sighed the sleep god. "[Something about other gods, I've heard a little about. But for me, mostly, it has been trying to help Persephone. Her sleep is plagued by dreams. Bad enough that she retreated to her mother's for a week."]
"[oh? Well that's not good... How's our lord taking the fact that his queen is with her mother right now?]" Thanatos asked curiously.l
"[She's back...]" For now, he added silently. "[And, not well. He went all the way to my workplace just to ask me to play that table game with balls and poles with him.] Pool? [Yes, that game.]"
Thanatos shook his head. "[I'm going to have to go and see him...]" he murmured before tugging Hypnos closer. "[...later. Right now I'm exactly where I want to be, have wanted to be, for the last several weeks.]" Thanatos smiled and pressed a kiss to the nape of his brother's neck.
Purr~~ Hypnos returned the tight embrace and returned the kiss with a nuzzle to his forehead. "[Next time, I demand to go with you...]"
"[Mmmhmm... I promise]" he murmured, now rather sleepily. "[Oh how I missed this.... Missed you.... ]"
Oops! Hypnos Side Effect (tm)! The sleep god chuckled and pet his hair, torn between wanting him to sleep beside him or keeping him awake for the company. "[We missed you, too.]"
Thanatos chuckled softly, settling in comfortably next to his twin before stifling a small yawn. "[I'm tired... jet lagged... let's get some sleep.]"
"[That's always a good idea.]" Reaching into his pocket, Hypnos tugged out his wand of sleep and tapped it gently onto his twin's head. Night night.
Summary: Thanatos returns from an extended trip away from Miami and is promptly reunited with his beloved twin brother.