Work Text:
"This time, you answer me."
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"What did you…" Zagreus pushes himself away from Thanatos' body. He's panting, lips still glossy from their kiss. He seems stunned, for once the one speechless, and it's strangely satisfying.
"I think I'm making myself quite clear." Thanatos takes his scythe in hand and with a burst of green, it's gone.
Zagreus blinks his eyes at the sudden flash. His gaze darts up and down Thanatos' body, at first considering, then distracted. He licks his lips and there's no doubt he understands Thanatos' intentions, but his voice still comes out careful, unsure: "...Here?"
Thanatos understands the confusion. Normally Zagreus has to fight to get as much as a kiss within the sickly-hued maze of Tartarus' cells. Misty walls, stained floors, hundreds of hands reaching up through foggy rivers, grasping for lives they have already lost...it truly is a wretched place, one ill-suited for intimacy. Not to mention its proximity to the House.
But hunger does strange things to one's senses and somehow, things feel different now.
This time there is something intoxicating about it, the dusty scent of obols, shackles and candle-wax mixing with the soot of burning coals and purifying incense. It stings like spices when inhaled, glides hot and sharp down his throat and Thanatos feels it in his stomach, a reminder of cravings unfulfilled.
"Here," Thanatos repeats. It takes a single step to close the distance Zagreus created between them. "Now."
Zagreus' mouth forms a small, quiet oh, of which Thanatos takes immediate advantage. He kisses him, hard and restless, and Zagreus' surprised moan sends a tremor through his bones. When he pulls back Zagreus sways forward to follow, stumbles slightly on his smoldering feet.
"Gods, Than," Zagreus' voice comes out shaky, smoky, heady and lush. Thanatos kisses him again, drives his tongue greedily into Zagreus' mouth to swallow as much of it as he can but it does nothing to fill him up, and the void inside him growls.
His impatient hands drop to Zagreus' waist where they work to unfasten his belt, steady steps leading him back towards whatever surface they hit first - thankfully, that happens to be a wall. (The pillars in Tartarus can't be trusted.)
Zagreus groans when his back hits the cool stone and for a moment Thanatos fears he might have been too forceful. But when he tries to pull back he finds himself caught by Zagreus' strong arms, wrapped around his neck to keep him close - closer still, now that the wall's at Zagreus' back to keep him in place, to keep him pinned right where Thanatos wants him.
And Gods, Thanatos wants him.
It's almost painful to allow enough space to unclasp Zagreus' pauldron, and it's hardly hit the floor before Thanatos is on him again, hands at the hem of his chiton, dragging it up and over past his hips, his sides... Thanatos pauses briefly to press his palm to Zagreus' bare chest, fitting his hand over his heartbeat. The pounding rhythm is entrancing and Thanatos gets so lost in it he doesn't notice Zagreus' fingers working at his armor - until his golden wings clatter to the ground with a noise that could raise hell if they weren't already there.
Thanatos draws back to find Zagreus grinning proudly, a glimmer in his wild eyes, his clothes barely hanging onto his body and Thanatos almost forgets to breathe.
"What are you thinking," Zagreus asks.
"Get naked," Thanatos replies.
For a second, Zagreus seems stunned. The next second he's stripping down in a hurry, nearly losing his balance when he stands on one leg to get rid of his greaves. Thanatos steps in just in time, and with him there to hold Zagreus still, the last of his armor slides off smoothly. Just in time, too, because Thanatos couldn't have gone a moment longer without another kiss. The soft purr of Zagreus moaning into his mouth is near-torturous and it's not fair, how Zagreus can let Thanatos take control, yet still have him wholly at his mercy.
Thanatos watches his own fingers as he slips them into the waistband of Zagreus' tights; the heat trapped underneath feels like a secret, Zagreus' increasingly fast breaths whisper at his throat. Slowly, Thanatos rolls the tight red fabric down Zagreus' thighs, his knees, his calves, his ankles. The fire of Zagreus' feet bites at his hands, but it doesn't burn nearly as much as Thanatos' insides, hot as coiling magma.
Zagreus makes a pleading kind of noise and Thanatos looks up from his place at Zagreus' feet, looks up at his naked body. Soft tremors ride his every breath, lidded eyes stare back at him with longing. Thanatos bites his lip at the way Zagreus leans back against the harsh, shackle-studded walls of Tartarus, as if it's his spine, as if it's all that keeps him standing.
(And something dark inside of him suggests shackles might not be such a bad idea, but no, now is not the time for such experiments.)
"Please say something," Zagreus breathes, "You're driving me crazy."
Deliberately, Thanatos comes back up until he's towering over Zagreus once again. Still mostly clothed, he takes a moment to appreciate the feeling of Zagreus pressed up against him, wanting, waiting for his touch.
"You want to know what I'm thinking?" Thanatos asks.
Zagreus shudders. Nods.
"Here." Thanatos takes Zagreus' hand, and pulls it down between their bodies. Zagreus' fingertips stutter briefly around the outline of Thanatos' cock, hard and demanding through the fabric of his robes.
"Oh," Zagreus moans quietly, "fuck, Than, you're killing me."
"If you dare die on me now, I'll take you home myself," Thanatos promises. He pushes his thigh between Zagreus legs. Leans in. Zagreus' head tips back against the wall, baring his throat. Thanatos kisses him there, slowly, scrapes his teeth gently over Zagreus' most vulnerable veins. "And I'll have you there."
Zagreus swallows thickly. "No dying then, got it." He can't keep still, can't help rubbing his erection up against Thanatos' thigh.
"Not until I'm done with you," adds Thanatos. He takes one of Zagreus' knees and brings it up to hook around his hip.
Zagreus' whole body seems to sigh with pleasure the second Thanatos' spit-slick fingers push inside, and a low moan escapes Thanatos' parted lips. Zagreus feels so hot, so tight on his fingers he can barely stand it - he needs more of this, more of him, he needs to fill him up completely, wants it so bad it aches.
Standing on one leg, raised up on his toes with his eyes closed, Zagreus struggles to keep his balance. A slight sheen of sweat shines on his skin and he's beautiful, far too beautiful for this dark and desolate place, but that doesn't mean Thanatos will let him go.
(He'll never, ever let him go.)
"Look at me," Thanatos whispers.
And Zagreus looks at him, breathless, hungry, his exhales hot on Thanatos' skin. Thanatos curses, pulls out his fingers and Zagreus groans as he gets hoisted up off the ground completely.
Thanatos brings the head of his cock up against his asshole, a soft searching pressure and Zagreus goes slack-jawed, dead silent for a single breath. Then he moans, his voice breaking on a gasp when Thanatos slowly pushes inside.
Thanatos shudders. It's nearly too much, feeling Zagreus' tight body stretch around his cock while watching his face twist at the sensation of being filled. Zagreus' thighs twitch and it's clear from the noises he's making that he's equally overwhelmed. For a moment they just breathe together, staring into each other's eyes as their bodies attempt to parse the intensity.
"Alright?" Thanatos rasps, searching Zagreus' expression for any signs of discomfort. All he finds is fire, a slow burning flame that stirs the heat inside of him anew.
"More,” Zagreus breathes, squeezing his legs around Thanatos' waist, urging him impossibly closer.
Thanatos slides his hands down, grabs at the swell of Zagreus’ ass to pull him into a better angle. He watches Zagreus’ abs flex, watches the color deepen on his skin and he deserves better, so much better than a quick, messy fuck up against the shifting walls of Tartarus - but something about the way Zagreus digs his burning heels into Thanatos’ back tells him that maybe, maybe it’s not just Thanatos who’s overflowing with this deep, dirty craving for something a little less refined.
Each thrust of his cock inside Zagreus’ perfect ass feels better than the one before. Zagreus’ voice goes wet with pleasure, a waterfall of moans pouring out between their bodies as Thanatos fucks into him with dwindling restraint. Zagreus legs shake with each push of Thanatos’ hips and the look on his face is downright obscene, so much so that Thanatos has to look away, lest this ends too soon.
“Gods,” Zagreus breathes.
“No,” Thanatos hisses, and Zagreus nearly screams when Thanatos drives him hard into the wall and takes his dick in a rough, strong fist. Those Gods of his aren’t here right now. “My name, Zagreus,” Thanatos demands. “Say my name.”
“Thanatos,” Zagreus cries out, voice raw. “Ohh, f-fuck, Thanatos…” His nails dig into Thanatos’ shoulders, his feet singe skin and Thanatos drinks it in, Zagreus’ glassy, sex-drunk eyes, his kiss-bruised lips, how every part of him goes hard and soft and static in his arms.
The position makes it impossible for Zagreus to move up into Thanatos’ hand, and his noises gain a desperate edge when Thanatos decides to hold still, long fingers curled tight around the velvet heat of Zagreus’ aching cock.
“Please,” begs Zagreus, and Thanatos can’t deny him, can’t look away as Zagreus keens and shudders through an orgasm that has him clenching down on Thanatos so hard it almost hurts.
Zagreus’ thighs go weak. A wet, fucked-out mess, he slumps and begins to slide down the wall but Thanatos is there to hold him up, bodying him back up against the dark, smooth bricks. He feels Zagreus twitch when he pulls out just a little, a soft gasp of overstimulation— and then a broken cry when he slams back inside, a sound that pries inside of him and lights something explosive.
“Zagreus,” Thanatos sighs, an act of worship, a sign of surrender to the desire consuming them both.
He chases that feeling, mindless of any rhythm he might have tried to hold, oblivious to anything that isn’t Zagreus. Sparks wash over him like a rising tide and his thrusts grow erratic, stars crowding the corners of his vision as he gets closer and closer to the edge. Zagreus clings to him, sings for him, hot, tight and perfect on Thanatos’ pulsing cock and Thanatos nearly chokes on the moan that escapes him when his orgasm hits. It punches through him in waves and Thanatos lowers his head, watches himself pump every last drop of pleasure deep inside Zagreus’ trembling body.
When the aftershocks subside and Thanatos’ sight sharpens back into something more familiar, he carefully slides out of Zagreus, a wet, slick movement that draws a soft gasp from them both. Gathering Zagreus in his arms, Thanatos gently pulls him away from the wall. Slowly, Zagreus lowers his feet back to the floor.
Even while stumbling and undoubtedly sore, the glow Zagreus wears is so attractive Thanatos would have him again, lay him down, kiss him all over and bury himself deep within his warm, pliant body...but such things will have to wait. Zagreus' breathless laugh shakes him out of his daydream.
“What is it,” Thanatos asks, startled at how raw his own voice sounds. He looks around- they’ll need to collect Zagreus’ clothes before they leave.
“Does your offer still stand?” Zagreus asks him, his eyes boasting a playful shine.
Thanatos blinks. “My offer,” he repeats, unsure what Zagreus is getting at.
“Of you taking me home,” says Zagreus.
“Oh,” Thanatos thinks out loud. “You mean, right...now?” He looks on as Zagreus bends over to pick up his tights.
“I’d rather save fighting Meg for when I can feel my legs,” Zagreus says simply. He sizes Thanatos up and tilts his head. “Unless you’ve got someplace to be?”
“No,” Thanatos answers immediately. (Maybe his daydreams won’t have to wait that long at all.) He frowns when Zagreus nearly loses his balance trying to put on his greaves. “Wait.”
With some calculated, short-distance shifting, Thanatos has scooped Zagreus up in his arms. His naked body feels cooler now, but the rush of his red blood still makes him warmer than anyone Thanatos knows. He’d be happy to hold him like this forever.
“Showoff,” Zagreus teases, circling his arms around Thanatos’ neck.
Thanatos holds him closer. “Hold on,” he tells Zagreus, who clings to him in response. The steady beat of his heart reaches him through his skin and reminds him that he’ll never, ever have enough of Zagreus to truly feel satisfied.
But that doesn’t mean he’ll stop trying.