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vocab_drabblesTitle: Morale Boost
Fandom: Hades (Videogame)
Author:elidelio
Rating: G
Word Count: 887
Summary: Hypnos comes looking for Zagreus, worried about a few things Thanatos has been saying to him…
“Hey, uh, prince Zagreus?”
A high-pitched, timorous voice came from behind the young prince, who was enjoying a brief moment of rest in the lounge of the House of Hades.
“Oh, Hypnos,” Zagreus turned around, mildly surprised to find the sleepy god away from his post, “What can I do for you, mate?”
“Well, you see,” the god of sleep let out an awkward chuckle, “My brother’s been acting really weird recently and I was wondering if, um, maybe you knew anything about it?”
“Than’s been acting weird?” Zagreus asked with genuine concern, “How so?”
Hypnos hesitated, seemingly choosing his words, “He’s been going out of his way to tell me some really strange things.”
“'Strange things?' Hypnos, mate, you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”
“At first I just thought he was trying to be nice, you know? In the past few days he’s told me to keep calm, and to make lemonade, and to shoot the moon—okay, that last one was a little strange but I felt like he meant it encouragingly—but lately his words started to get a little… threatening?” Hypnos looked around the lounge with shifting eyes, moving closer to the prince and lowering his voice, “For example, just earlier today, he told me it was my last day to live, and the day before that he told me I would miss one hundred percent of my shots? It really sounds like he's challenging me to a fight! Do you know if he's angry at me for some reason?”
Zagreus was slightly taken aback by his words. Thanatos could be a little mean to his brother when he was frustrated, sure, but to outright challenge him to a fight? That didn't sound like him at all.
“I haven't heard anything about that.” He spoke after a moment, “Don't worry, Hypnos, I'll get to the bottom of this for you.”
“Thank you!” Hypnos clapped his hands together in front of his face, looking like he could weep with relief, “I really owe you one.”
And so the young prince set off once again, this time not in search for the surface, but rather in search for death.
Surprisingly enough, finding death this time was as easy as looking around the western hall.
“Than, I’m glad I caught you.” He greeted as he approached, his flame-licked feet making slight sizzling noises on the carpet.
“Do you need something, Zag? I’m in a bit of a rush.” Though his words were curt, he spoke them with a smile.
“Yeah, actually,” Zagreus was thinking about how to phrase his question, deciding to just be direct, “What’s this about you challenging Hypnos to a fight?”
If Thanatos had still been walking, he certainly would have tripped, “What? When did I ever do such a thing?”
“Well, Hypnos came to me under the impression that you’ve been threatening him.”
“I would never—”
“I know, Than, which is why I wanted to help clear up this misunderstanding.” Zagreus kept a serious face, but inwardly felt like laughing out of helplessness at the unfolding situation, “Think about it, is there anything you might have said recently that could be misconstrued as a threat?”
Thanatos paused for a moment, then responded, “I have been trying to be more encouraging, like you said, but I’ve been so busy I just couldn’t find the time to have a proper conversation with him.” At that moment, death incarnate pulled out a glossy booklet from his robes, “This was a gift from Hermes, he said he got it from the surface, and he figured it would save me some time in figuring out things to say.”
Zagreus received the booklet titled '100 encouraging phrases', and he began flipping through it, quickly noticing a pattern.
‘Keep calm and carry on.’ ‘If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ ‘Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll still land among the stars.’ ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ ‘Live every day like it’s your last.’
Every page was filled with similarly hackneyed words conveying roughly the same message.
“So you’ve been…” Zagreus summed up, “Saying these to Hypnos?”
“I’ve been paraphrasing,” Thanatos cleared his throat, “I felt like most of them were pretty self-explanatory, so I just wanted to get the message across.”
“I see.” Zagreus was quiet for a moment, until he finally couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.
“What?” There was a trace of something in Thanatos’ voice which Zagreus couldn’t determine between indignation and genuine confusion. Maybe a bit of both.
“I think—” Zagreus stifled his laughter, “You should forget about the booklet. Hypnos would probably appreciate it more if the words came from you.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Thanatos clicked his tongue, and the booklet burned up in a plume of green fire.
“Also, before you go,” Zagreus reached out to put his hand on Thanatos’ shoulder, sensing his imminent departure, “Please let Hypnos know you’re not actually challenging him to a fight. He looked downright terrified.”
“…Very well.” And with that, the god of death disappeared in a slightly disgruntled flash of light.
Fandom: Hades (Videogame)
Author:
elidelioRating: G
Word Count: 887
Summary: Hypnos comes looking for Zagreus, worried about a few things Thanatos has been saying to him…
“Hey, uh, prince Zagreus?”
A high-pitched, timorous voice came from behind the young prince, who was enjoying a brief moment of rest in the lounge of the House of Hades.
“Oh, Hypnos,” Zagreus turned around, mildly surprised to find the sleepy god away from his post, “What can I do for you, mate?”
“Well, you see,” the god of sleep let out an awkward chuckle, “My brother’s been acting really weird recently and I was wondering if, um, maybe you knew anything about it?”
“Than’s been acting weird?” Zagreus asked with genuine concern, “How so?”
Hypnos hesitated, seemingly choosing his words, “He’s been going out of his way to tell me some really strange things.”
“'Strange things?' Hypnos, mate, you’re going to have to be a little more specific than that.”
“At first I just thought he was trying to be nice, you know? In the past few days he’s told me to keep calm, and to make lemonade, and to shoot the moon—okay, that last one was a little strange but I felt like he meant it encouragingly—but lately his words started to get a little… threatening?” Hypnos looked around the lounge with shifting eyes, moving closer to the prince and lowering his voice, “For example, just earlier today, he told me it was my last day to live, and the day before that he told me I would miss one hundred percent of my shots? It really sounds like he's challenging me to a fight! Do you know if he's angry at me for some reason?”
Zagreus was slightly taken aback by his words. Thanatos could be a little mean to his brother when he was frustrated, sure, but to outright challenge him to a fight? That didn't sound like him at all.
“I haven't heard anything about that.” He spoke after a moment, “Don't worry, Hypnos, I'll get to the bottom of this for you.”
“Thank you!” Hypnos clapped his hands together in front of his face, looking like he could weep with relief, “I really owe you one.”
And so the young prince set off once again, this time not in search for the surface, but rather in search for death.
Surprisingly enough, finding death this time was as easy as looking around the western hall.
“Than, I’m glad I caught you.” He greeted as he approached, his flame-licked feet making slight sizzling noises on the carpet.
“Do you need something, Zag? I’m in a bit of a rush.” Though his words were curt, he spoke them with a smile.
“Yeah, actually,” Zagreus was thinking about how to phrase his question, deciding to just be direct, “What’s this about you challenging Hypnos to a fight?”
If Thanatos had still been walking, he certainly would have tripped, “What? When did I ever do such a thing?”
“Well, Hypnos came to me under the impression that you’ve been threatening him.”
“I would never—”
“I know, Than, which is why I wanted to help clear up this misunderstanding.” Zagreus kept a serious face, but inwardly felt like laughing out of helplessness at the unfolding situation, “Think about it, is there anything you might have said recently that could be misconstrued as a threat?”
Thanatos paused for a moment, then responded, “I have been trying to be more encouraging, like you said, but I’ve been so busy I just couldn’t find the time to have a proper conversation with him.” At that moment, death incarnate pulled out a glossy booklet from his robes, “This was a gift from Hermes, he said he got it from the surface, and he figured it would save me some time in figuring out things to say.”
Zagreus received the booklet titled '100 encouraging phrases', and he began flipping through it, quickly noticing a pattern.
‘Keep calm and carry on.’ ‘If life gives you lemons, make lemonade.’ ‘Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll still land among the stars.’ ‘You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.’ ‘Live every day like it’s your last.’
Every page was filled with similarly hackneyed words conveying roughly the same message.
“So you’ve been…” Zagreus summed up, “Saying these to Hypnos?”
“I’ve been paraphrasing,” Thanatos cleared his throat, “I felt like most of them were pretty self-explanatory, so I just wanted to get the message across.”
“I see.” Zagreus was quiet for a moment, until he finally couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.
“What?” There was a trace of something in Thanatos’ voice which Zagreus couldn’t determine between indignation and genuine confusion. Maybe a bit of both.
“I think—” Zagreus stifled his laughter, “You should forget about the booklet. Hypnos would probably appreciate it more if the words came from you.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Thanatos clicked his tongue, and the booklet burned up in a plume of green fire.
“Also, before you go,” Zagreus reached out to put his hand on Thanatos’ shoulder, sensing his imminent departure, “Please let Hypnos know you’re not actually challenging him to a fight. He looked downright terrified.”
“…Very well.” And with that, the god of death disappeared in a slightly disgruntled flash of light.
