"...right. Take us to my room?"

Guh-dong.

Zagreus takes a cross-legged seat on his bed.

"Okay. Tell me what you're feeling."

He scoffs and drops to his feet, folding his arms and looking away. "If only it were that easy."

"Can I try to guess?"

He nods.

"...well, come here. On the bed. And get rid of the sharp bits, they might be fun some other time but now is not the time for sharp."

Thanatos turns to look at him again and hesitates for a second but then complies, phasing his gauntlet and shinguards and scythe and—everything, really, he's only left with his chiton and a belt.

Zag's only sharp bits are the shinguards and he gets rid of those, too, making the way his skin fades into fire about halfway down his calf visible. Once Thanatos is sitting there, himself, looking kind of awkward, Zagreus pulls him around so they're facing each other then grabs both of Thanatos's hands in his.

"It... freaked you out. We were just done working through the way me wanting to leave made you feel insecure, and then I... succeeded. You had no time to think about what that meant, what that meant for you and for us, we didn't have any time to see where we'd settle and things changed out from under you. You were... nervous... upset... scared? You were scared. That... not that you couldn't reach me, you knew you could reach me, but that... the possibility was... only theoretical? No, not that, but something like that. You're death, and—oh, come on—"

"Zagreus, if it were any more obvious it would be biting you in the face. I was right about Yvette being Elpis and I am right about you being life."

"—Yvette is—ohhhh she totally is, how did I miss that—"

"Same way you continue to miss the obvious about yourself."

"...fine. So you're worried that there's going to be some metaphysical severance here, something we're not expecting, if I am life and am on the surface then that's—that's the kind of separation that matters, to gods. And the way it'd manifest for us isn't clear but it wasn't going to be good.

"So you were pretty relieved when I showed back up here. Meant I still had a connection to this place. To you. And you're... feeling sad. Guilty? Guilty. You're feeling guilty about how relieved you feel. Oh, Than..."

Thanatos closes his eyes and breathes deeply, slowly, steadily.

But he doesn't say anything.

"Than, I... I left. I left the Underworld. Against my father's wishes. Against the order of the universe itself. If the universe decides, if your sisters decide, that they're going to get in the way of us, then so much for them. The only people who get to decide what happens to us is us, alright? I'll break whatever laws of nature I need to to make that true."

"That's quite the change from—no. Sorry. I should move on. You already apologised."

"Than, it's fine to feel what you're feeling, even if you think it's dumb or irrational. I did hurt you deeply, and even if I apologised you still get to feel betrayed and you still get to be mad at me."

"I'm not mad."

"Well, pick another word, then. The point is, you shouldn't be trying to fight what you're feeling. Accept it. Live with it. It's yours. Maybe you don't like it, of course you don't like it, but it's still a part of you and you'll understand yourself better if you stop trying to resist it. But if you want rational reasons for it, once someone is hurt they get a flinch response, everything that reminds them of the way they were hurt almost hurts the same way again. That's how we all are, mortals or gods. And it's not until the hurt doesn't happen for a long time that we get used to it, that we really accept that it's not gonna happen, inside.

"And... maybe I'm not the right person for it, but if I am, you can just ask me. You can ask me to reassure you, to tell you I'm not leaving you, as many times as you want, as many times as it takes. I'll tell you again and again, every time you feel insecure or afraid or anxious. It's not a cost, to give you comfort and happiness, it's part of the whole deal. Whatever we are, whatever we'll get to be, a very important part of it is that we're both there for each other. Good or bad, thick or thin, high or low." He lifts Thanatos's hands up to his face, cold knuckles against his warm lips, and kisses them. "I love you, I always have, and I always will."

He blushes. "How could you know that?"

"Well, you knew I was the god of life, I know this. I just do. But you don't need to trust me. Just watch me be there for you, day after day, forever."

"...okay."

Zag kisses his hands again and then says, "Now tell me the other thing."

"How can you even—it's pointless to ask. Uh..." His blush deepens. "I'm in love with Elpis."

"—of course you are. Death, in love with life and hope. That's such a cliché. Have you told her?"