Chapter Text
Zagreus felt awareness slowly return to him as he woke up. As he did, he also felt a headache forming. He was laying on his side, curled up under a blanket. Slowly, he allowed his eyes to open.
He was not expecting to come face to face with Mort.
The stuffed animal rested safely in his arms in front of him, tucked under the blanket as well. Zagreus' glanced at the blanket, which was a soft purple colour. He sat up begrudgingly, feeling the soft bed pull him back to rest. This… was definitely not his room.
"Oh, you're up." An all too familiar voice confirmed Zagreus' realization.
"Mmmmm morning Than." Zagreus yawned, stretching his arms above his head as he spoke. He opened his eyes fully, taking in the room, before tilting his head to look towards the door and his friend, standing in the frame. As per usual, Thanatos looked prepared for the day. His outfit was put together and his hair neatly parted down the center. Amber eyes met mismatched ones. "I- uh- why am I in your bed?" Zagreus asked finally. Thanatos' face seemed to drop for a second before his eyebrows knit in a tinge of concern.
"Do you…" Thanatos paused, choosing the words carefully. "Do you not remember last night? At all?" His voice tried to mask any worry, but Zagreus has known Thanatos long enough to hear the slight emotion in each word. His train of thought halted. Did he remember last night? Zagreus' face concentrated. He turned away as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to remember… whatever he did last night.
"Um… well…" Zagreus spoke, trying to fill the silence as he desperately tried to remember anything. This headache was not helping. He snapped up to look at his friend again, a worry rising. " I didn't do anything… bad, did I?" Thanatos bit his lip as his expression remained. Zagreus groaned as the horror arose that he probably definitely did something bad. "Oh my god, Than, whatever I did, I am so sorry I don't-"
"Zagreus." Thanatos' voice broke off the attempted apology. His eyebrows had lowered, his expression changing to concern. He stepped further into the room, towards the bed. "You really don't remember anything that happened?" He was a few steps away from the bed, crossing his arms around himself. Zagreus took a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
"I'm really trying but yeah no. Also, do you have any pain killers? I think my skull is about to split." He tried to joke at the last bit, attempting to lighten whatever worry was going on in Thanatos's head. From the lack of expression changing, he wasn't successful. Thanatos opened his mouth before pausing.
"Yeah… yeah, I got some ibuprofen if that's alright." He finally said. Zagreus shot him a thumbs-up as he let his head hang. Thanatos placed a hand gently on Zagreus's shoulder as he responded. "Alright then, I'll be back in a minute. Lay down if you need to." Zagreus nodded, now having closed his eyes. There was a moment of silence before Thanatos removed his hand and walked out. Zagreus let himself flop back to the bed. His mind raced, trying to recall any event that happened last night. Hell, what even was the last thing he remembered doing at all? He knew he had called Hypnos about meeting for lunch, he had met with Achilles for extra practice, he was supposed to do something before he went home-
"You still awake, Zag?" Zagreus opened his eyes, looking up. He was met with Thanatos staring down at him.
"Yeah, sorry." Zagreus sat back up, despite his body's protest. Thanatos stepped back and over to the nightstand next to the bed. Zagreus' eyes followed.
"Nothing to apologize about." The taller man replied as he set down a pill bottle and glass of water. He opened the bottle before pausing, thinking.
"I could use five of those right now." Zagreus grinned. Thanatos shot him a glare.
"Absolutely not. I'll give you two for now." Turning back, he shook said two pills out. He turned to Zagreus, offering up both pills and water. He took them with a smile.
"You're an angel." Zagreus threw the pills into his mouth and washed them down.
"I know." Thanatos smiled as he screwed the lid of the pill bottle back on. Zagreus sipped at the cold water before asking.
"You want to fill me in on what happened, then? Last night?" His words were shaking more than he intended. Thanatos looked at him before turning back to the pill bottle on the nightstand.
"In… in a bit, ok?" He grabbed the bottle and turned back to face Zagreus. "You need something to eat, so I'll go make you something. It'll be basic, something plain. in case you start to feel nauseous." He ran his fingers along with the cap of the bottle, looking down before returning eye contact. " Stay in bed if you need to." Before Zagreus had a chance to respond, Thanatos spun on his heel and left the room. Zagreus stared blankly at the door. A sigh left him as he decided that as nice as staying in bed sounded, he should probably get up.
•••
Zagreus stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom connected to Thanatos' room. He looked… like shit. His eyes were laced with tiredness. His bed head was particularly all over the place. Zagreus looked down at the shirt he had on. His mind stopped. The black t-shirt was oversized on him and read 'Lernaean Hydra'. Thanatos favorite band. Holy shit, this was Than's shirt. Why was he wearing it? When did- Did Than give him it?
A loud buzzing rang out from back in the bedroom. Startled, Zagreus made his way over to find the source. He found it in his varsity jacket pocket, which he noted had been draped over the chair at Thanatos' desk. As Zagreus pulled out the phone, the ringer stopped. Great. He sighed, opening the phone and checking to see who called. He checked the recent caller IDs and stared down at the last number. Dionysus.
"What does he want?" Zagreus muttered as he checked to see if his cousin had left him a message. Sure enough, when he looked, there was a short voice-mail. He sighed and pressed play.
"Heyyyyyy Zag Maannnn. Listen, I just wanted to give you a quick call and make sure you got home alright! I know you said that white hair guy you always hang with was going to come and pick you up but, well, you weren't 100% with us by that point, I think. But hey, that means you had a great time then, huh! Did some real partying! Well, judging you didn't pick up, I'm gonna assume you're still crashed- no judgment here- but do let me know when you get up that you're alright, man!" Zagreus stared down at the phone screen as the message ended, mouth open. He blinked and shook his head. Dionysus… partying… white-haired guy… picking up. All at once, the pieces clicked, and with that click, Zagreus raised his hand to his face.
"Oh… my god." He sighed out. He had blacked out. Zagreus groaned into the palm of his hand. Not being able to remember, the headache- or, hangover- Than being worried. Duh. He let his hand slide down his face before checking to see his call history once more. Sure enough, at around one in the morning, there was a call to Thanatos. Putting the phone down, he turned and marched back into the bathroom. "God, I owe him. Big time." Zagreus muttered as he splashed his face with water, and began to try and fix his hair a bit.
•••
"There you are. I was beginning to wonder if you had passed back out." Thanatos didn't look up from his laptop, set in front of him next to a mug and plate. He nodded towards the seat next to him. There was another plate with toast on it and a glass of water. "I figured toast was a safe bet, but I also have cheerios if you want really easy on the stomach."
"This is fine, Than. Really, you didn't have to." Zagreus pulled the chair out and sat down. Thanatos glanced over to his friend before returning to whatever he was typing.
"Yes well, it's the least I can do." Thanatos reached over to grab the mug next to him. Zagreus stared down at the toast.
"You've already done a lot." He picked a slice up and took a bite, testing if his body would let him eat anything right now. Thanatos took a sip from the mug before staring at Zagreus. "Look, Than, about last night… I don't remember almost anything, but I got a call from Dionysus just a bit ago and he said I was preeeetty wasted." Zagreus' stare remained on the toast in front of him, trying to avoid meeting the other man's gaze.
"That's a pretty accurate way to put it." Thanatos closed the laptop and folded his hands in front of him as he listened.
"Ok well," Zagreus bit down another bite of toast. "I meant… he mentioned that I called you in the middle of the night to see if you could pick me up." Zagreus could feel Thanatos eyes staring at him, but couldn't bring himself to match the eye contact. "And judging that I'm here right now, you picked up."
"Zagreus, I wasn't just going to ignore my phone going off that late."
"You could have."
"You wouldn't have called me if there wasn't a reason." Thanatos leaned slightly towards Zagreus. "You sounded completely out of it, too. I couldn't not go make sure you were alright." Zagreus sighed, hearing the words.
"But I shouldn't have gotten that wasted. God knows you don't get enough sleep already and-" Zagreus looked forward, "Oh my god, I got you up at one in the morning, made you pick me up, and kicked you out of your own bed?" He brought his hands up to his face. "I'm so sorry Than, I'm the worst."
"Stop that, it's not a big deal Zagreus." Thanatos reached out and placed his hand on Zagreus' arm. Zagreus looked over at him immediately.
"Yes, it is." Zagreus looked at Thanatos's face. He stared right back at Zagreus, expression unreadable but worry shined through amber eyes. Thanatos. His friend since ever. Who played with him when they were little. Who went to concerts with him. Who stood up for him. His friend. His best friend. His best friend who forgave him after he ran away without a word. Who, hell, helped him once he found him. Who always was willing to lend an ear, a couch, a meal, anything Zagreus needed.
Zagreus swallowed the lump in his throat before he spoke, finally looking away. "You got so much shit already, Than. The last thing you need is me throwing you off schedule because I'm dumb. I shouldn't have gone to that party- I told you I wouldn't do that shit anymore- but I still did." Thanatos face softened as Zagreus spoke. "And then I came running to you for help again because I-"
"Zagreus." Thanatos's voice was quiet yet direct. Zagreus stopped and looked up. He hadn't realized the tears starting to swell in the corner of his eyes. "That's enough of that." Thanatos sighed and looked on at him. Reaching over to a tissue box on the table, he handed one over to Zagreus before continuing. "I know I'm busy, but- god- I'm here for you, no matter what. No matter how many stupid choices you make. You know that, don't you?" Zagreus blew his nose before looking back up at Thanatos.
"I know. I just… I don't want to burden you-"
"You don't. You never do. So stop acting like you do." Thanatos spoke every word directly. Zagreus swallowed and smiled sadly.
"Sorry, still working on that part I guess." He muttered. Thanatos sighed before continuing.
"Look… Zag. I-” Thanatos opened his mouth before pausing “Last night, you were a mess. Like, a genuine mess." He closed his eyes before returning his focus to his friend in front of him. "I was worried."